Dear Kalin

Dear Kalin,

Help.

I can't take it anymore with these two. Jack and Crow have been fighting nonstop these past few days. And over bullshit at that! I thought with the WRGP coming up next week they would have had their acts together, but I guess I was wrong. Crow is still hounding over Jack about not working and not contributing enough. Meanwhile, Jack is being his arrogant and stubborn self, who still acts like a lone wolf at times.

I'm the one who has been trying to end the constant fighting. Bruno isn't one for confrontation and still feels like he doesn't have enough seniority yet to yell at either Jack or Crow. I've tried to talk to Martha about it. I thought to have her come over and set those two straight, but she's been too busy with the kids. I'm not sure what else there is for me to do about them.

I don't remember Jack and Crow fighting this much when we were kids. Granted Martha kept us all in line and when we joined up with you, you were the one who was able to keep everything under control. I don't know how you managed it, but you did.

That's why I need your help. I need some advice for dealing with Jack and Crow. Don't get me wrong, I still care a lot about the both of them and we're still good friends. But the screaming and the fighting and the name calling has to stop before I lose my sanity. We can't go into the WRGP like this or we're not even going to make it past the first round.

Sorry if this sounds like mindless ranting, but I just feel like I'm under a lot of pressure right now. I tried to forget about everything I was stressing over when I was with you, so I could help you out and give myself a break from that other mess. But now I need your help.

Tell me what to do to get Jack and Crow to stop fighting, how to bring this team together for the WRGP and how to keep my sanity through it all. There's just too much going on for me to handle. I don't know how long I can keep this stoic front up.

By the way, we ended up choosing 'Team 5ds' as our team name. I hope you're free sometime over the next few weeks to come back to the city and watch us participate in the tournament. It would be nice to have you here for a little while.

Anyways, I hope everything in town is going great. Say hi to West and Nico for me. I'll be waiting for a reply.

Thanks,

Yusei

Dear Kalin,

I need to get shit faced drunk before the tournament starts and it seems like you're the only guy who I can do that with. Crow snarked at me for buying a six pack last week, even though I said he could have some. Apparently booze doesn't fall under 'groceries' in our budget. I did ask Yusei if he wanted to head out to a bar one Friday night. Unsurprisingly, he rejected the offer and proceeded to chug the last bit of milk we had straight out of the cartoon. And I don't even want to bother with Bruno, the poor sap.

I did hit up a bar with Kaz, that cop I'm friends with now, but he can't really go hard because of his job. And hell forbid that I binge alone at the garage because Zora will apparently kick me out if she ever walks in on me drunk.

When are you coming to visit us? I'm sure that town will be able to function without you for a few days and find a babysitter for those kids you adopted. I never realized how much I missed hanging out with you. And now that you're doing better and the four of us are friends again, let's just relax and be normal twenty-year-old guys for a change.

I hope you write back saying that you're coming up to get wasted. I'm sure you need it just as much as I do.

See you soon,

Jack

Dear Kalin,

It's been a long time since the two of us have talked. Sometimes I wish you would have decided to come back to the city and stay with us. We've all missed out on a lot of years together because of what happened between us. That's all in the past now...right?

Reading what I just wrote, it sounds really sappy. I don't know. Things just seem really strange right now.

Yusei has been on edge about the WRGP, Iliaster, the Ghost and the Synchro Solution. I can't even talk to him anymore about that the kind of crap. Jack is still an ass. Him and I are continuing to fight over money and jobs. Honestly, I thought that bull would be done with by the time the tournament started. It's not my fault he continues to waste money on coffee and alcohol.

Bruno is cool. He doesn't do much except work on our duel runners and eat ramen. You should meet him. He's kind of opposite to you: him being goofy and awkward and a genius at mechanics, while you're more of a serious badass with streets smarts, who's also dealing with a lot of shit. We're not even sure if Bruno is his real name.

I hope things are going good for you. Let me know how everything is going with taking care of those two kids. It's interesting to think of you as a 'guardian' type.

Anyways, there is something else I wanted to tell you. I don't think you knew Robert Pearson. I pretty sure I met him after you were arrested. But he was a really good friend to me and he passed away a few years back. It was only a couple days ago now I discovered that the fire that killed Pearson was started by another friend of ours. That friend confronted me about having one of Pearson's old monster cards and wanted to take it from me. I didn't think I had it in my possession, but when he challenged me to a turbo duel, I discovered that I had the card hidden inside my runner for all these years.

Black Winged Dragon.

Yusei told me Black Wing might be the Signers fifth dragon. I don't think that's true though. All the other Signers were granted with the mark of the dragon through destiny and were given great abilities to use in fulfilling their fates. Me? I got Yusei's hand-me-down mark at the last duel against a Dark Signer with no dragon to wield. At times I don't feel like a real Signer, or at least not on the same level as the others. Hell, if it wasn't for Rex Goodwin screwing with two marks, I might have not even gotten my mark of the dragon.

Was it a mistake? Was I not supposed to receive a mark in the first place?

I'm really sorry for this. This is probably the last thing you want to think about after all you've been going through. I just needed to vent to someone.

Is there any chance you could make it here for the WRGP? Maybe we can sign you up as our substitute rider! Although, I'm not sure if you've heard, but Akiza has been getting really good at turbo dueling. Sometimes her and Yusei will drop everything to duel each other. I think those two are going to hook up. But if not, I'm certainly not opposed to take a stab at Akiza.

I'm not going to stab Akiza.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Hope to hear from you soon,

Crow

Dear Kalin,

I'm not sure if Yusei or any of the others has told you about me, but my name is Bruno. I'm living with Yusei, Jack and Crow for a little while until my memories return. I have amnesia and Security has no information on my true identity.

After Crow told me about you, I thought it was cool there was someone else who could put up living with these three guys. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but they're a handful. Yusei gets stressed out and keeps to himself most of the time. Crow has a short temper and is always running around doing something. Jack is stubborn and won't share his ramen with me anymore. But I'm sure you know all this already.

Anyhow, I hope you don't find this weird that I'm writing to you without even meeting you first. But I would love to meet you sometime! I've heard a lot about you and, again not to be a weird freaky stranger, but Yusei told me about the old runner you used to have and I would love to know if you still have it laying around. I'm kind of obsessively into duel runners and engineering and mechanics.

You probably think I'm a lunatic.

Alright. After this stunt, I completely understand if you never want to meet or hear of me again.

But I do want to ask if you would consider visiting Yusei, Jack and Crow sometime in the near future. It seems to me like they're getting overwhelmed with everything going on. And, from what I was told about you, you could help them refocus and maybe relax before the WRGP.

From,

Bruno

Dear guys,

I hope your preparations for the WRGP are going well. Nico and West have been asking a lot about you guys entering the tournament. I'm sure you're going to go far, if not win the whole thing. Just try to remember this is team dueling, so don't fight with each other over bullshit. And try to keep your heads. I realize things are becoming stressful for you guys right now, but you need to relax once and awhile.

Hell, if you can put up with me and my crap, you can get through anything.

So anyways, I wanted to ask if it would be alright if I were to visit you all soon. I know you guys must be busy with practicing and finishing up before the WRGP starts. I just figured the only way to make sure you guys aren't falling apart is to see for myself.

And guys, don't hesitate to call anytime.

Good luck,

Kalin

P.S. Tell Bruno I'd like to meet him too and I have the runner hidden somewhere. We can get it whenever I end up visiting you guys.

Kalin could not wipe the smirk off his face. Judging by the letters spread out on the table in front of him, his old friends were all about to have mental breakdowns. Who knew city life would be too much for them to handle? Well that and having to keep the city safe from whatever was hiding within the WRGP.

Those three needed a break and apparently he was supposed to help them with that. Kalin wrote down his new phone number at the bottom of the letter being sent back to the city so the guys could contact him easier. He hoped the letter would reach the boys within a day or two, so they could have him come up before the WRGP starts. There was no way those poor bastards would make it past preliminaries in the state they are in.

And something told Kalin there was more going on with Yusei, Jack and Crow then what they're letters suggested. And their letters told him a lot. Also guessing Bruno could be clumped into that stressful state as well.

"Hey Kalin. You need a top off?"

The young man glanced up at the friendly bartender offering more to drink. "No thanks. I'm probably going to head out soon. Got a letter to send back to the city."

"Are those from the same guys that showed up awhile back to help you out?" The man pointed to the pieces of paper with poor handwriting on them.

"Yea." Kalin held back a laugh. "Apparently, they're all frustrated with each other and want me to come up to fix everything."

"Good." The bartender motioned to leave Kalin's table. "A kid like you shouldn't be stuck here for the rest of his life."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily." Kalin rolled his eyes at the continued want of the townspeople for him to experience more adventure. If only they knew what his eyes had seen before the ripe old age of twenty-one.

Kalin read over the letter to be sent to his friends one last time and finally sealed it away in an envelope. "Alright guys. I hear ya'."