Gather Up

Jack was immobile. Crow was tired. Bruno had been working for hours. Yusei had just started to work with Bruno on the new engine model.

It was a cold, rainy night at the garage the four boys shared. No one had eaten dinner yet since nobody volunteered to cook anything. Jack was sitting on a chair with his eyes closed, legs and arms crossed, just listening to the rain pouring down on the side of the building. Crow was laying out on the couch, his face buried into a pillow. Bruno was glued to the computer screen with Yusei by his side, who had just gotten back from a repair job.

"I'm so bored." Crow mumbled, turning over on the couch. No one paid any attention to him. "Come on guys. Are we really just going to sit around all night?"

"Why don't we play the quiet game and beat the hell out of the next person who talks?" Jack sarcastically said in his familiar accent.

"Shut up, Jack." Crow replied.

"You asked for it, Crow."

"Will you two please be quiet while I'm working?" Bruno asked of his friends, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Why don't you two find something to do to keep yourselves busy." Yusei added, taking Bruno's side over their's.

"Want to have a practice duel?" Crow asked, glancing back at Jack.

Just then, Luna and Leo bursted in the door soaking wet. "Hey guys!" The twins said as they ran in.

"Leo. Luna. Why are you two out here so late?" Yusei asked, walking towards them.

"The power went out on our side of the city. Some lines went down because of all the wind and rain." Luna explained to them.

"Yea." Leo continued. "So we decide to visit you guys. The rain wasn't coming down this hard when we left our house. Could we stay for a little bit Yusei?"

Yusei smiled. "I don't see why not. We're not doing much here anyways." He replied. "Let me get you two some towels to dry off."

Yusei grabbed a pair of towels from upstairs and handed them to the twins, who began to dry off immediately.

"Hey. Why don't we all watch a movie or something?" Leo asked the group with excitement in his voice.

"Good luck with that. It will be a miracle if you can get Jack and Crow to agree on the same thing to watch." Bruno said with a snark after finally turning away form his work.

"I'm in the mood for some comedy. What about everyone else?" Crow asked, crossing his arms behind his head.

"I'm more in the mood for some action. The comedy movie you forced us to watch last time wasn't even funny." Jack said, setting the stage for another argument.

"Before anyone else say anything, why don't we let it be a surprise?" Yusei smiled again. "I could call Akiza and have her bring over a movie."

"You just want a chance to spend some time with her. Right, Yusei?" Crow snickered, knowing his friend's weak points. "I'd say you're crushing on her."

Yusei became flustered. "Come on, Crow."

"Well go ahead, Yusei. Call her." Jack said smirking along with Crow. Luna and Bruno were grinning also. Yusei took his phone into another room to call Akiza.

"Yusei and Akiza sitting a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g." Crow chanted just loud enough for Yusei to hear.

When Yusei walked back into the room, he told the group that Akiza was coming in a few minutes with a movie of her choosing. Immediately, the boys sighed realizing that Akiza would probably bring a chick-flick and the whole night would be a bust. But there was one more thing Yusei told them. Misty was visiting Akiza while she was in town and Yusei said it would be alright if she came too.

"Well this is turning into some gathering. I think we should invite Carly next, so Jack doesn't feel too lonely with all these people around." Crow chuckled, knowing Jack's weak points as well.

"Crow. Why are you being such a pest?" Jack responded in annoyance.

Suddenly, Yusei was already on the phone with the reporter. "Hey Carly. It's Yusei. A bunch of us are watching a movie together at the garage and were wondering if you'd like to join us."

"Yusei, wait." Jack tried to speak for himself.

"Too late, Jack. She's coming." Yusei said, ending the call. Just as his call ended, Yusei's phone screen lit up and he glanced down to see who was contacting him.

"Who's that Yusei?" Crow asked.

Yusei began typing on his phone with a true smile of happiness on his lips. "It's Kalin. He's passing through the city tonight."

"Who?" Bruno asked.

"Why don't we invite him too?" Crow smiled as well, happy to hear their old friend was close by. "I haven't seen him since the whole Crash Town thing. I wonder how he's doing?"

Yusei nodded and responded to Kalin asking him to come over.

"This is great! Who else are we inviting over for movie night?" Jack said in his most sarcastic tone yet.

"Cut it, Jack. Kalin is coming. And no complaining or fighting. We can't let him think we can't function without him, like when we were kids." Yusei said in a demanding tone.

"Again, who?" Bruno asked.

There was a sudden knock on the door. Crow signaled toward Yusei to answer it, receiving a mad glare in return. Yusei opened the door to see a shockingly beautiful young woman standing there.

"Carly? Is that you? You look amazing tonight." Yusei stumbled to let her inside.

"Oh yea." Carly stepped inside. "I was at dinner with my parents a few blocks away at some fancy restaurant. Thanks for getting me out of it."

"Yusei, stop staring at Aki...Carly?" Jack stopped mid-sentence after looking at who really was at the door. Carly had never looked to pretty before, with her hair pinned up and wearing a beautiful dress.

"You can sit here, Carly. We're still waiting for Akiza and Misty to get here with the movie." Crow said, finally standing up from the couch to make room.

"Alright. So, what movie are we watching?" The young lady asked, pulling at her dress as she sat down.

"Yusei told Akiza to surprise us." Luna explained.

"It better not a girly film." Leo complained, until he was interrupted by the sound of a duel runner outside the garage. "Uh. Do you guys hear that?"

"It must be Kalin." Crow smiled, seeing Yusei walk outside to greet their old friend. Bruno waved his hands in confusion, never getting an answer to his previous question.

The gang inside could hear the two old friends started a quick conversation. Suddenly, there were more voices coming from the outside, more feminine voices. The finally door opened to four people and rain water fell on the steps. Yusei, Kalin, Akiza and Misty entered the garage.

"Hey everyone!"

"Akiza, what movie did you bring?" Leo asked immediately.

"It supposed to be a surprise, Leo." Akiza said grinning. "You have to watch it to figure it out."

"You two ladies can have the couch. I'm going to heat up some popcorn." Crow said while running upstairs to the kitchen.

"It's nice to see you again, Misty." Carly smiled, standing to greet her old ally.

"It has been awhile hasn't it." Misty said, going to hug Carly.

The girls all took seats on the couch and kept their conversation going.

"Well. This is great. I never wanted to have a quiet, peaceful night anyways." Jack mumbled to himself sarcastically. Crow, who had just reenter the room, heard Jack's smug comment and shoved his shoulder. "Watch, Crow!" Just then, Jack and Crow both noticed their former leader glaring at them. "Kalin, what's with the outfit?"

Kalin glanced down at his new turbo dueling suit, also noting this was the first time the guys had seen him after cutting his hair short again. "Oh. Well, after the town finished rebuilding, I got a job testing new duel runner models. It's nice. Pays well and it's based near Crash Town." Kalin responded to their glances.

Bruno coughed.

Yusei finally picked up on the queue and got his friend's attentions. "Kalin, this is Bruno. Bruno, Kalin is our old friend from the Satellite." Yusei introduced them.

"Yusei has told me about you, Bruno. I hear you're pretty good with duel runners." Kalin said, walking to stand by Bruno as he stood up from the computer desk.

Bruno smiled at the complement. "It's nice to finally meet someone else who can deal with these three."

"Hey!" Yusei, Crow and Jack all yelled.

"Enough you guys." The all girls interrupting the boys.

"Aren't we supposed to be watching a movie?" Leo asked with anticipation.

"Leo's right. Hand over that movie, Akiza. I'll put it in." Crow said with his hand out.

Crow took the movie disk and walked over to the television, while everyone else found a seat. The girls controlled the couch, Jack stayed in his chair, the twins sat on the floor in front of the couch, Bruno and Yusei used their desk chairs, and Kalin and Crow found some space to spread out on the floor.

The storm outside was intensifying as the television screen turned on and the lightening lit up the night sky.

"This movie looks really strange. What's it called, Akiza? Where did you get it?" Luna asked, a bit scared as the opening began.

"I just got it at an old movie shop back in town." Akiza stated. "What is this?"