"When Vanishing Lanius is normal or special summoned I can summon another from my hand." Shun watched his opponent fold her arms with a malicious smirk.
"So what bird brain? It doesn't matter how many of your dumb birds you have - you can't destroy my monsters and so long as I leave them in defense you can't do anything!"
Shun was already proficient at resisting that xyz summoning itch. He didn't have a problem winning without the extra deck. "Battle! I attack Toon Goblin Attack Force with my Vanishing Lanius!" Shun declared. The green bird circled around the dedicated duel field angling in on the cartoon creature. The bird dove in and was stopped by the beast's massive club.
"Why are you even trying, featherhead? Because of Toon Kingdom I can banish a card from the top of my deck and prevent my Goblin's destruction." She laughed, "Even with 0 attack points you can't do anything without piercing effects!"
"I activate a facedown, Raptor's Gust!" shun declared. "When an opponent activates a spell card I can negate the activation, and destroy that card!" The floating book kingdom crashed into the ground shattering into holographic pieces. The goblin screeched shattering as well.
Shun ignored the outraged cries of the dueling novice as her plans collapsed. "My second Vanishing Lanius can attack you directly!" with 1300 atk cutting away from a measly 1000 life points, Shun took another match from the straggler.
He promised Ruri he would avoid the dueling gangs. He wouldn't join one and he wouldn't take any on while he still relied on the base to come home to.
The last thing he would tolerate is anyone trying to follow him home.
If anyone found their way out to the base - he be sure to thoroughly deal with them. After a brief scare back at start of the invasion Shun found himself clinging tighter and tighter to his family and friends.
Especially in this new world - he refused to let a single one of them experience that danger again. So he kept his duels to stragglers or jumpers on the edge of major duel areas.
Dodging the bikes on street level was easy compared to running from a giant gear golem. He slept better knowing that everyone in his group was pretty much safe from police involvement. The leveled city made running from anything on wheels simple. It's why duels stayed primarily in those areas.
You can't outrun a bike in the flatlands though.
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to climb, you can't outrun an engine.
Still, he couldn't get distracted cause he was tired - they had a deal.
"The deal." He demanded. They dueled for the only currency Shun cared about. The girl scowled and spat at his feet. The moon danced off the marker on her check as she ripped two potatoes out of her backpack and threw them on the ground. She spat down and swore then sprinted back through the old apartment complex as if Shun would chase her.
He scowled picked up the food and began the long walk home.
When he got there he found his best friend unconscious under the desk in the corner again. No one had moved him, meaning Ruri wasn't back yet. Shun twisted the doorknob before silently gliding the door shut. He dropped off the food in his customary place before returning to the living space they all shared.
He knelt down, Yuto was pale and his breathing was quick. Shun's original idea was to carry him to a booth and let him sleep - but they already made a pact about nightmares. He shook Yuto's shoulder. Back in Heartland Yuto would wake up for a pin dropping - work on the belt must be dulling his edge.
Nerve was jamming his feet into his shoes earlier than he expected to in the morning. His routine was waking with the sun, making sure Yusei was actually attempting sleep instead of working on some project or other - then rising slowly with some hot water and some Struggle O's for breakfast. But this time Jack intervened.
There is no routine when Jack gets involved.
So his morning was instead spent forcing himself into a state of alertness. Jack sat down and did the unthinkable. Jack was the master of shaking things up - he hated boredom the most. He didn't waste time with small talk he simply watched Nerve like a hawk for some special moment.
This happened to be the point when Nerve reached for his cereal - Jack intervened. He offered a trade. "I have the bottom of a cup of old instant noodles. They're yours if you get that rival here today." He took a step back and revealed the instant cup steaming, open, catching the morning light like some kind of advertisement.
Nerve's stomach said yes.
When he arrived at the work line and saw Shorty hitting the low point in his wellness pattern, he slammed his head against the hideous yellow smock hangar. Regret. Slam. Regret. Slam. Regret.
Shorty went through cycles - and everyone noticed who worked with him. The kid was at his best at the start, alert watching everyone and everything in the room with his dark eyes. People noticed because he made them uncomfortable.
Slowly he declined - lost his edge. He usually peaked day two or three when the lack of sleep got to him. He'd get shifty; sometimes he'd sway at work. Nerve wasn't always next to him in line (no matter how interesting the pretty boy was Nerve wasn't giving up a chance at good trade) so sometimes he'd watch others glance down at the guy, reach out sometimes.
Everyone on that line that stayed more than a few days was genuine good people. Sure if you cut in front of the Frost brothers at the front you might catch a fight outside after work - but there was no bad blood.
Bottom line was - everyone needed the job and no one wanted to have anyone risky at work. If someone threatened the order they were dealt with and force out some way or another.
Shorty was a part of that order now.
After yesterdays incident? He and his friend would be welcomed back to defend the belts for as long as they could work their share.
Nerve settled in before the guy was at his station. His palms were sweaty his stomach churned. He wasn't risking pissing one guy off - he was quite possibly risking his job.
Yuto thought he would get in earlier - better chance at finding a coil for that electro magnet he'd need. He left the base early but somehow after the sun beat down on him through the morning walk, he clocked in at exactly the same time as usual.
He settled into his spot at Nerve's side and began the day settling through the city's trash. The first hour was groggy for everyone - Nerve being the exception. For some strange reason his working neighbor was feeling an uncanny energy rush and was fidgeting like crazy.
Yuto tried to ignore the rhythmic tapping. It was excessive. His head was bobbing he was getting into some rhythm, some kind of musical groove. Of course in the absence of anything but the stuffy hot room and the aggressive silence of the other workers, he looked ridiculous.
Yuto squirmed. He didn't like attention. A good chunk of his life was spent avoiding unwanted notice - a significant portion made that his first priority. A quick glance around the room found a number of aggravated half-glares direct his way.
He ducked his head further into his shoulders and wished for once in his life that he were even shorter.
The air was so thick the short movement sent him swaying back on his feet. He caught the edge of the belt with his hands and dragged himself into place. Yuto figured it would be time to eat around dinner - first would be Nan's shift - he worked the sales street and would need the energy boost during the day to deal with afternoon crowds.
After him, Yuto would get to eat.
He watched the belt pass him through a haze. He was sluggish in his work, he barely had the focus to mentally berate himself through the smog in his mind. It seemed worse than the last time he struck out on the food list. Something felt different.
His face felt hot, the belt and its mechanical parts felt like picking up chunks of ice. He took longer looking over pieces to the point that Nerve was starting to essentially take them from his hands. He needed to be faster.
He forced his hands into action when he noticed the slight tremor. A trick he learned a long time ago: his hands shook less when they had a task. The muscles moved with a plan of action - they had less time to shake. He tried to pick up his pace.
He picked up a solid drive - it was thoroughly fried and between all the melting and the rusting he doubted anyone could get use out of it other than for scrap. It took him longer than it should have to put it back on the belt. Someone could probably melt it down.
It slipped out of his fingers a third of the way there and dropped onto his toe.
Then, Yuto collapsed.
Crow was doing pretty well considering his record. He dropped off the food with the kids on 5th and started down the street on the way home. He did good, got in got out - nothing was marked. A load of potatoes and canned vegetables from the city, it was a gold mine. Those kids would be well fed for a week if they could ration it out.
Feeling high he decided he'd stop by the markets - see if he could catch Yusei out trading for parts. He was trying to gather up some replacements for his duel disk - the wire Kiryu installed got jammed after the last job and needed a new part.
They were sitting out on some big action in the meantime. Apparently there was some phantom outlier picking off duelists when they were alone in the dead of night in the unstable parts of old uptown.
Crow felt the skip returning in his step. He'd done his good deed - soon he'd be able to keep the fighting away from those learners too. Just one or two more days and they could be back out on the streets as a team!
Kiryu said they'd be hitting up a group of known insect duelists while Yusei was benched but that seemed to be running late. He was a pretty considerate guy, he'd probably switch off to another target knowing the team mechanic's fear.
That's when he saw the curious sight of someone half dragging a body through the square in the middle of the day. After the obnoxious bandana choice clicked in his mind Crow sprinted to catch him.
"Nerve, what the hell is going on?" Crow's mind was flying a mile a minute. Short, male, dark hair, definitely unconscious and dragged sloppily over his friend's shoulder - it couldn't be that duelist from work could it?
Nerve was gasping, "Help me get him back, he passed out I don't know where he lives or anyone that knows him" He paused his frantic pace lifting the guy off his shoulder and setting him on the ground. His body was screaming at him sweat streaming down his face in the summer heat. "I don't know what to do. He just- He just-"
"Get him on my back. I'll run him home." Crow was panting in the heat. It was oppressive. He probably passed out from heat exhaustion, he wouldn't be the first.
"What do I do?" Nerve bounced on his toes.
Crow hissed, "I don't know - find out who knows him someone has to be worried his gone missing, they'll probably look for him at work."
"I don't know who knows him! Crow, I don't even know his name!"
"You saw his one friend right? Go! Find him go!" Crow took off running and Shoed nerve off on another trip. It would be easier without having to wait around on him - Crow was in better shape to be doing this anyway.
He made it home in record time, slipping through a crack in the sidewalk, in through a basement to the door to their base. He knocked twice, paused, then once more. It didn't take long for Jack to get to the door.
"What the hell?" Jack stepped out of the way and Crow rushed his way inside. "Where's Nerve?"
"Out." Crow was preoccupied. "Yusei clear the table." Yusei was on his feet in an instant, the plates and Tupperware were shoved to other flat surfaces and the chairs moved out of the way. He approached Crow and grabbed the stranger under the arms.
Working together they gently laid him down on the table. Crow put a hand over his forehead, the diagnosis was instant but his breath was still coming in gasps.
"Fever?" Yusei supplied. Crow just responded with a tired nod. Kiryu moved downstairs hearing the commotion. He was shoving his deck back in its rightful pouch as he assessed the situation.
"How did he pass out?" Kiryu turned to Crow. "He might have a fever but it might be because of something else."
"Do you need anything else? It's like a million degrees out!" Crow groaned. He collapsed into a chair and gratefully accepted the glass of water Jack handed him.
Kiryu moved over the stranger assessing him. He was first struck by the state of dress. The teen was in some form of collared shirt still wearing a tie. No matter how battered or bruised clothes like that still were out of place in satellite.
The biggest stick out was the shoe choice. No one would get their hands on a pair of shoes like that - they wouldn't make it through the trash, or security.
"How did he get here?" Kiryu muttered.
Crow stopped gulping down water, "Uh, I carried him - Nerve carried him out of the recycle belters, we don't know where he lives or who knows him."
Kiryu leaned over the stranger sizing him up, "I don't think anyone would. He's not from satellite."
Jack approached, "What? That's not possible! He doesn't have a marker."
"Yeah, also why would he get a job here if he was from the city?" Crow echoed, "Makes no sense."
Kiryu exhaled, "No, look at these shoes. The clothes I could see on a lucky trade but there's no way you'd get those in satellite. I haven't seen anything in the market come close to that."
"They're basically ruined. Everything is all stitched together" Jack wrinkled his nose.
Jack reached for the stranger's deck pouch but Yusei brushed his hand away and shook his head. "Nothing there will help him get better." They locked eyes from across the table. "We should get Martha."
"It's too hot out - we shouldn't take him out in the heat." Kiryu reasoned, "It might make him worse."
"I can bring her here." Crow decided. "Nerve should be up top asking around about who knows him. Apparently he has one friend, maybe they'll show up here." The group all shared a nod of approval and Crow again sprinted out of the house. He was the fastest out of all of them.
Jack, Kiryu, and Yusei settled over the stranger. It wasn't the first time they'd intervened to help someone, but it was the first time they couldn't figure out who to contact about it. They didn't know anything about him and until he woke up - they weren't sure what to do with him.
Jack sighed, "Well I don't want him on my bed, he smells." Yusei assaulted him with the usual disapproving gaze. "What?" Jack huffed, "I'm just stating my opinion here. We have a series of beds and I'd rather not have him getting the table gross either."
'Jack speak' for: get this poor kid on a bed. Kiryu smirked, "We could stick him in Crow's, he's not here to say no." Yusei sent the stare. Kiryu shut his mouth and turned away, a smile still on his face. "Well, if you're bent outta shape about it we'll stick him in yours."
Yusei saw the trick for what it was. Still it was the most sensible option out of the other suggestions. He moved to the stranger's legs and Jack helped loop his arms around the mechanic's shoulders. The stranger slumped into place and shifted, not even half conscious.
Yusei carried him up to ground level and deposited him on top of his own sleeping space. There wasn't exactly a frame - he had number of pillows and soft things piled into his corner all wrapped up in a sheet and 2 blankets.
He tried to straighten out the bedding as much as possible before dropping his charge off. Aside from the bedding his room had a number of notes scattered around the floor and a personal project in the corner.
He caught himself staring and thinking through the mechanics of the hefty short-range radio station again. He snapped himself out before he got lost in the theories of how to make it function again.
"How do you even sleep in that?" Jack groaned from the doorway. Yusei turned back to the bedding to find the stranger had half rolled onto his side with his head pressed into an awkward angle. His face was shifting expression slowly in a negative direction. "Is he waking up?"
Jack and Yusei approached the bedding as Kiryu moved back downstairs to get some water. "I don't know." Yusei hummed. He reached out to the stranger's head. Waking up like that might put a strain on his neck. He thought he'd move it.
Yusei made to grab him by the temples and felt a sudden shifting. Behind him Jack felt a hot pain jolt through his forearm. He kept it covered at all times, but sometimes secrecy got a little difficult when the damned thing had a nasty habit of glowing.
The stranger stirred once in his sleep and Jack didn't press his luck. With Yusei distracted he made sure to drop one last sarcastic line before ducking out.
