Disclaimer: amithegreat25 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Chapter Two
Yusei Fudo woke up, groaning. He sat up, taking in his surroundings in a split second, almost instantly remembering where he was. He blinked. Well, that was interesting; his reactions were definitely getting quicker again as he was forced to deal with the unexpected nearly every day in the Satellite, and he was getting used to waking up in his old bed, as well—if one could even call that pile of rags a bed. In a way, it felt… refreshing, as if anything was possible the second time around.
The past month had been relatively uneventful; sure, there was the occasional encounter with some thugs and about a week ago Rally's Turbo Booster card had been stolen—Yusei had dealt with the thief swiftly and decisively—but all of that was just usual fare in the Satellite, and with Jack by his side most of time, really, aside from the first day Yusei woke up here, there was really nothing particularly difficult. He'd slowly gathered the required materials needed for a Duel Runner from the scrap heaps, and he'd done his best to make sure that the finished result would resemble the red Runner that he had had in the future—that one seemed to reflect his personality better than the white one, which he planned on giving to Jack just as in the past—the difference being that this time, Jack would have Yusei's consent.
After several straight nights of work, the red Runner was finally finished, and Yusei was fairly satisfied with the overall result—it could nearly pass as his old Runner from the future. (This was one major difficulty of being in the past—none of the verb or adjective tenses made sense anymore—old Runner from the future?)
Yusei had taken a well-deserved rest after that, but now he was fully awake, and he found that his stomach seemed rather cramped today, and he felt as though he was confined in an abnormally small space. These symptoms were normal, he knew, because he was nervous about today. Why was he nervous? Because the only thing that had been delaying Kalin's rescue mission was the fact that he didn't have a working Duel Runner yet—actually, as far as Jack knew, Yusei did have a Duel Runner and he didn't, but since Yusei was planning on giving the white Runner to Jack, he considered it building a working Runner for himself. But—now that Yusei's familiar red Runner was completed, that automatically meant that the mission would commence, and although Yusei had drilled both himself and Jack on the plan so thoroughly that they could complete each other's sentences when talking about it, he knew from experience that complications could and would arise. It wasn't everyday that you broke into the Facility to help your captured leader and friend, after all.
Yusei would have preferred to have Crow with them as well, but that point the orange-haired man hadn't met Robert Pearson yet, and as such didn't have a Duel Runner either—and not only would it have taken too much time for Yusei to construct one for his ginger-haired friend as well as himself, he inwardly felt that the Blackbird suited Crow too well to be replaced by one of his creations, even if Crow hadn't exactly obtained it yet. When the fellow member of the Enforcers found out, he of course had insisted that he come, but luckily Yusei had been able to talk him out of it—the orange-haired teen was surprisingly easier to convince than Jack, even though they had quarreled so much with each other in the future. Even so, Yusei would have felt better having his friend by his side.
If worst came to worst, the three of them—himself, Jack, and Kalin—could always Duel their way out; Yusei had no doubt that they were much more skilled than any officers that happened to present, and in fact he had built another Deck from spare cards for Kalin specifically for this purpose (assuming, of course, that they failed to retrieve Kalin's original Deck)—but this solution was sloppy and would doubtlessly create a whole host of new problems for them to deal with, not least of which would be the fact that they would instantly find themselves on the news and on the run—and although that could be fun, Yusei supposed, it would completely wreck his plan to fix things by preventing him from safely contacting Goodwin. No, the best way was to get in and out, unseen.
And now, today was the day. Those were plenty of reasons to feel nervous—it was human nature, and Yusei wasn't ashamed. But he couldn't help but wish he was more relaxed today: Heavens knew he needed it.
These were the thoughts that were running through Yusei's mind as he dressed himself, preparing for the mission. Finally pulling his trademark dark blue jacket on, he strode out of his "room".
Jack, Rally, and the others were waiting for him… and unexpectedly, so was Crow. "Hey, Yusei!" Rally chirped brightly.
"Hey, yourself," answered Yusei, but his gaze was fixed on Crow, mildly surprised. "Why are you here, Crow? Don't you have kids to take care of?"
"Eh, I left them with Martha for a while," Crow replied disinterestedly. "Even if I can't come with you guys, I figured I wouldn't be much a friend if I didn't come see you guys off, especially if you're going on a rescue mission for another one of my friends, right? The kids can take care of themselves for a few hours."
"Pshht," snorted Jack. "Admit it, Crow—you're just jealous you don't get to come with us, because you don't have a nice new shiny Duel Runner."
"What was that?!" Crow shouted. "Say that again to my face!"
"I just did!"
Nervin sighed. "They sure do get along well, don't they?"
"Yeah," agreed Blitz irritably. "You'd think they'd at least shut up at an important moment like this, but nooo, it's nonstop arguing with those two."
Yusei, however, simply watched the supercilious duo (more so Jack than Crow), fascinated by their antics. They looked so similar to their future selves that the resemblance was uncanny.
"Yeah, well—you wouldn't even have a Duel Runner if Yusei here hadn't built one for you!"
"At least he did build one for me—now you, on the other hand—"
"What exactly are you implying…?!"
"I'm implying that I'm better than you, and that's why Yusei wanted to take me on this mission, and not you!"
"Oh, yeah? I bet I'd do just as good as you on this mission if I came, and maybe even better!"
"Too bad you're not coming, so we'll never get to find out, eh?"
"Why, you…!"
"All right, all right!" Yusei interrupted. As entertaining to watch as Jack and Crow may have been, they were on a schedule, and they couldn't afford to waste more time than necessary. "Jack, Crow, you can continue this argument later, but we have business to do!"
"That's right, Crow!" Jack sneered. "Stop wasting the grown-ups' time!"
Crow bristled. "Hey, you were a part of it too, you know!"
Yusei sighed. "Anyway, Jack. I didn't tell you this before, but… you know that Runner you thought I was building for you? Actually, it's for—"
"I knew it!" Crow interrupted. "It's for me!"
"No, Crow," Yusei corrected, "it's for me."
Jack let out a snort of laughter before immediately stopping. "Wait, what? But you already have a Duel Runner… why would you need two?"
Yusei shook his head. "The white Runner, Jack… that one's for you. I think it suits you better."
"Huh?" Jack blinked in confusion.
The rest of the room looked equally confused, until Rally broke the silence. "Yeah!" he chimed enthusiastically. "White is completely your color, Jack; it looks really good on you—just look at what you're wearing!"
Jack looked down at his signature white jacket, which flared out impressively behind him. "I—I suppose you're right!" He smirked, striking a pose. "Not only does Jack Atlas Duel like a King, he also looks like a King!"
"Uh…" Nervin tried, completely dumbfounded.
"Anyway," Yusei cut in, "we need to leave soon, and I'm going to ask one more time: Before we go, Jack, there's still time to back out, but I need to know now, so I can modify the plan accordingly. After we arrive at the Facility, Jack, there's no turning back. Do you understand?"
"As if I'd be scared!" retorted Jack boldly. "Don't you think for a second that I'm gonna abandon you, Yusei!"
"I don't know, Jack," snickered Crow, "this sort of mission is probably much harder than anything you've ever done."
"What was that?"
"That's enough!" said Yusei sharply. "Don't forget: It's Kalin we're talking about. If we fail… it's him that's at stake."
This stark reminder caused an immediate shift in mood from casual to solemn. Rally's face turned grim, Nervin fidgeted uncomfortably, and the rest of those present—excluding Yusei—looked unusually determined.
"Right," said Yusei. "Remember the plan, Jack."
"I know." Jack nodded.
"Exactly." Yusei turned to the others. "You guys might not be coming with us, but remember: You have a very important task nonetheless. Prepare for our arrival. When we get out… we'll be relying on you to provide the escape means, and although I'm leaving the method up to you, you need to keep in mind these two things: First, once we get out, we'll have no idea where to meet up with you if you just choose a random rendezvous point, and second, in order to avoid any hassles with Sector Security later on, Jack and I are immediately going to begin our journey to the city, so we must be provided with our Duel Runners. I'll give you a few minutes to think over those two requirements and come up with a doable escape plan, but remember: Time is of the essence. Don't rush when thinking of the plan, but… just work quickly, okay?"
"Um, Yusei?" Rally raised his hand, causing Yusei to have to suppress a chuckle. "I have a question. Why didn't you tell us this sooner, so we could plan better?"
"Yeah, that's right." Tank scowled at him. "You should have asked us about this earlier."
Yusei sighed. "You know, you're probably right: I should have. But I didn't want you guys worrying so much. Tank, Nervin, Blitz—you guys have had to deal with trouble at work nearly every day. Rally—you've already been doing everything you could to help out. I couldn't bear putting more burden on your shoulders. That's why I chose to bring this up only now. If I was completely honest with myself, that's shouldn't have mattered—I should have told you anyway. But I'm not that kind of person, and I never will be, and I don't regret that. In any case, though, what's done is done, and every second spent wishing things had gone differently is a second wasted. Our main focus is Kalin, remember."
His friends and Crow nodded before huddling around the table, whispering frenziedly.
Yusei took this opportunity to speak to Jack alone. "Jack. Remember our conversation a few months ago. I know how you feel. Just remember, no matter how tempting Goodwin's deals may sound in the future—there will always be a catch. I don't mean this as an insult, but you've always been the proudest of all of us. There is a chance that you may—"
"Don't worry, Yusei," returned Jack dismissively. "I know my faults, and I won't let Goodwin play me for a fool like he almost did last time."
Yusei nodded, giving him a surreptitious thumbs up. "Good."
A few minutes later, the huddled group around the table disbanded. Crow stepped forward, apparently as the speaker for the group. "All right," he announced. "You say that that you can get roughly anywhere within three to five kilometers of the Facility in an hour, assuming normal Security traffic, right?"
"Right," Yusei confirmed, "but just to be safe, we should always assume the worst-case-scenario, with heavy traffic and possibly the discovery of Kalin's absence. In that case, our our location must be narrowed down to an area two to three kilometers from the Facility."
Crow frowned. "That's not good enough," he muttered. "Not to mention that the smaller the area of search is, the more likelihood we'll have of being found—and if that were to happen, it wouldn't just be you, Jack, and Kalin in trouble—it'd be all of us. Hold on… lemme think."
"Wait!" Rally cried out suddenly. "I have an idea! Security officers usually search closer to the perimeter of the area, because they think that suspects usually flee as far as they can as quickly as they can, right?"
"Right," said Yusei, frowning, "but I don't see how that—" He abruptly stopped speaking as Rally's idea made itself apparent to him. "I see! That means that—"
"It means that it would be better for you to pick a location to meet that's actually closer to the Facility," finished Jack. "Because Sector Security will also think worst-case-scenario for them, which is actually best-case-scenario for us, they'll expand their search far and wide, while we'll be hiding somewhere close to the Facility where they'll be less likely to look! That could work!"
"The problem I see with that idea," Blitz said, scowling, "is that if they don't realize Kalin's gone and scatter their forces all over the place to look for him, they'll still be concentrated back at base, which means that assuming worst-case-scenario for you, you'll be better off near the Facility, but if it's the best-case-scenario, you'll actually be better further off. The problem is, there's no way to tell what will happen, so—"
"I agree," interrupted Yusei, suddenly smiling. "The problem for you, is that there's no way to tell how things are going on our end, and so we have no idea where to meet up with you because there can be no exchange of information about which location would be best for the particular situation we find ourselves in."
"Right," answered Crow.
"Well, think about this," Yusei continued. "In order to determine where to meet, it's always best to plan on the spot—so then you can adapt your plan to various situations—but the difficult part with that is that if you have no way of informing the other party of your decisions, it won't work—planning a rendezvous point is a cooperative task, and if you don't have both parties present making the decisions, you're stuck. That, in turn, sounds to me like a communication difficulty, doesn't it?"
"Communication?" Nervin asked. "What do you mean?"
"Communication is defined as the exchange of information between one party and another," Yusei explained. "If we can't exchange information, we can't plan together. So really, all of this hassle can be avoided… just by implementing an effective way for us to communicate."
"Well, that's easier said than done," scowled Crow. "How are we going to communicate when you guys will have just broken out of the Facility?"
"The same way we'll be getting Kalin's Deck back," Yusei answered. "Through the security vault, where they store everything from confiscated Decks from suspects… to standard-issue handheld transceivers for officers. And you know what the good thing about transceivers is? They're easily tapped. And luck has it that I know just the frequency Sector Security communicates on. All you have to do… is connect to it using that laptop of mine." He pointed to a beaten-looking laptop resting on a nearby desk.
"But if you try to talk to us on the radio, wouldn't that mean that security officers could hear you as well?" asked Tank skeptically.
"That's right," Yusei replied. "Which is why we won't be aiming for anything too complex. We'll still have some predetermined destinations—just two, instead of one. Now, listen closely, because this is important: We'll be escaping at roughly 11:30 PM tonight, which gives Jack and me around half an hour to get to the meeting location and then through the sewage pipeline and to the city. So slightly before 11:30 PM tonight, I want you to turn on my computer and tune to the frequency that I give you. Under the best-case-scenario, you won't hear anything, because I won't risk breaking our cover by attempting to talk to you over the radio. If the worst-case-scenario, on the other hand, you'll hear me say this: 'An unnamed suspect has been spotted on a Duel Runner in the south-western district of the Satellite. Requesting backup.' That will be your cue to meet us at the location determined for the worst-case-scenario, and if we're lucky, it may divert some attention from us, because even though the Facility is near the center of the Satellite, the south-western district is still the furthest from it."
"That's a great idea, Yusei!" exclaimed Crow, visibly amazed by Yusei's quick thinking. "We can always count on you to come up with the best ideas!"
"I told you, everyone!" Rally shouted. "Yusei is the best!"
Even Jack looked grudgingly impressed. "I suppose that was some pretty good planning on your part, Yusei."
"Thanks, everyone," Yusei replied. "And now, all that's left… is to determine the two meeting places: best-case and worst-case."
"That's easy!" Blitz cut in. "While you guys were busy chattering, I thought of two places that seemed good! The Facility is in the middle of Satellite, and if the best-case-scenario we'll want to meet up at someplace far, right? How about Martha's place in the eastern district? She'll be plenty willing to hide Kalin for us, and she's not that far from here, so we'll be able to get your Runners there easily!"
"That sounds good to me," Yusei confirmed.
"And in the worst-case-scenario," Blitz went on, "how about that scrap heap to the south of the Facility? You know, the one where you always get your stuff, Yus'? The mounds of trash ought to hide you pretty well, and you might even pick up a few cards or engine parts or something!"
"Again, that sounds fine," Yusei answered. He looked around the rest of the room. "Is everyone fine with these locations?"
He was met with five resounding, "Yes!"s.
"Well, it's settled, then," concluded Yusei. "The frequency is 462.5875 MHz." He waited as Blitz quickly reached for a piece of paper and scribbled down the numbers before turning to Jack. "Well, Jack. You ready?"
"The King is always ready!" Jack shouted in reply. "I'm gonna be in and out of that Facility in no time at all! And if anyone gets in my way, I'll stomp them flat!"
Yusei smiled. "Good to hear. We'll leave our Duel Runners here; we don't need them to get to the Facility, and if we take them there, they'll just be confiscated. You guys'll take good care of them, right?" he shot at the remaining group.
"Completely!" yelled Rally.
"Mm." Yusei looked at Jack. "All right, then. Let's go, Jack."
And together the two sprinted out of railroad tunnel that was Yusei's home, out into the exposed streets of the Satellite—two members of the original four Enforcers, a group that had been shattered when Kalin had been arrested—but one that was about to be rebuilt once more—one member at a time.
Night had fallen, which was essential. After getting close to the Facility, he and Jack had stopped a distance away from the building and waited until it started to get dark, after which they had split up to separately tackle the Facility's southern and northern exits. Now Yusei was focused on one thing and one thing only: The single guard monitoring the outside gates.
He slowly approached the unsuspecting guard, taking care to remain out of the guard's peripheral vision. Back against one of the Facility's many walls, he edged toward the uniformed man at an agonizingly slow rate. It was crucial to the plan that this particular task be accomplished, but unfortunately, it was also the part of the plan that was most reliant on luck.
Suddenly, as if to illustrate this point, the guard stiffened before whipping around to stare some two meters to the left of Yusei's hiding spot; nevertheless, Yusei instinctively shrank into the shadows to minimize his chances of being seen. As the guard squinted closely at the spot before turning around again, Yusei briefly wondered if Jack was having any success, but he immediately quashed the thought. Now was the time to be worrying about himself, not others—and besides, he was nearly certain that Jack was fine—an arrogant prick the blonde-haired man may have been, but he knew how to handle himself.
The Facility really ought to have better security, though, he thought. Only one guard for the outside gates… there wouldn't even be anyone to sound the alarm if that one guard got jumped. There were most likely security cameras as well, but Yusei knew from his last trip there that they all pointed inward in order to keep a firm eye on the prisoners that would try to escape… not a single thought was devoted to keeping intruders out.
Almost as if to prove Yusei's point, the guard yawned and seemed to notice a nonexistent speck of dirt on his shoe. As the man bent down the scrub the boot, Yusei took the opportunity to scoot considerably closer to him. By the time the officer stood up again, Yusei was almost close enough to sprint over and grab him… but that would have been sloppy.
Instead, Yusei waited. Then, just as his target began to relax, the crab-haired adolescent took a small pebble out of his pocket and knocked it hard against the Facility's concrete wall. The result was a small but audible ping! Meanwhile, with his other hand, Yusei pulled out a small, dirty-looking handkerchief.
The guard stiffened, and Yusei was again surprised, this time by the guard's poor reaction time rather than the Facility's sloppily constructed security layout. Heck, even Rally could have reacted faster than that!
But that was irrelevant—in fact, it only made Yusei's job easier—as the guard slowly stomped over to where he thought the sound had issued from, the trajectory brought him within a meter of Yusei's location—and it was then that the blue-jacketed Duelist made his move: He leapt forward, grabbing the guard and pressing the hand with the handkerchief to the man's mouth. As the guard tried to breathe in, the fumes from the small piece of fabric trailed up his nostrils… and his eyes rolled upward before closing slowly, his body slackening—the piece of cloth had been dipped into some homemade chloroform Yusei had synthesized using household chemicals, such as bleach and acetone.
Although he felt a small thrill of satisfaction at completing the first step of his plan, and by extension getting that much closer to his friend, Yusei didn't allow his expression to change; he received no joy from having to do this sort of thing—furtive, illicit—it went completely against his philosophy… He remembered actually having legitimate living quarters at Zora's place, and the ease and relaxation that came with it—not having to hide for fear of being arrested—it was a wonderfully liberating feeling, so much so that Yusei had allowed himself to forget his hardships in the Satellite, but now… now he was reminded of why exactly time travel—he still had no idea whether or not that theory was correct, but it was the most optimistic one, so he was sticking with it—could be a bad thing: He had been dumped right back into his old life, the one full of desperate living conditions and scrabbles every day, just to survive on the streets. There was no doubt about it; Satellite was tough before it got connected to New Domino, and especially when you were attempting something on a scale as massive as this—and even though Yusei had dispatched the guard without too much hassle, the act sickened him, revolted him—and yet as he constantly reminded himself, this was necessary.
Necessary. Yusei shuddered. That had sounded too much like what he had been telling himself lately—the lying, the misdirection—all to hide the fact that he was from the future—all necessary for what he planned to do. And it was true, he knew, but that didn't mean he had to like it—it reminded him too much of Goodwin and his convoluted scheming.
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind—now was not the time to be having doubts. Besides, it wasn't as if the man was permanently injured: Yusei had been careful to apply a nonlethal amount of the chemical; there would be no real harm done—just a small, twenty-four hour nap. Shaking his head in an effort to clear it, the crab-haired hero pulled the unconscious man into the shadows with him.
From there, he removed the man's guard uniform and laid the stiff, dark-blue garments down besides their owner, who was now completely undressed apart from his boxers. He then proceeded to undress himself as well, after which he pulled on the man's clothes—effectively disguising him as a security officer for the Facility. Yusei was tempted to smirk—this would not have worked nearly as well had he still had his criminal marker—but the time travel had done a pretty good job of removing any scars and damages he'd acquired since Jack had left, his Signer birthmark and criminal marker included.
He then pulled his clothes over the comatose officer's head with some difficulty; the officer was considerably more bulky than himself, and Yusei had trouble pulling his thin blue jacket onto the man's well-muscled arms. He felt a pang; that jacket was his signature, but he'd most likely have to leave it behind. He only hoped that anyone who happened to find the man wouldn't look too closely at what he was wearing.
Completely dressed in the guard's clothing, hat included, Yusei strode toward the Facility's gate confidently. He reached into the right-hand-side pocket of his new trousers; inside was a small device with the Public Security Bureau's insignia engraved on it—this was the remote with which he could open or close the Facility's doors. Yusei was momentarily tempted to use it, but he decided that it would be much more prudent to simply wait out his shift—that is, the shift of the guard he had knocked out.
Five minutes passed… then ten… then twenty. Nothing happened. Another twenty minutes passed… then twenty more. An hour. Still nothing. Yusei permitted himself a small yawn, though inwardly he was nothing but tired. He checked his—the guard's—watch, which read 10:28. He frowned. That left him a mere hour to rescue Kalin. He had first approached the gate at around nine, which meant that one-and-a-half hours had elapsed since he'd come here—that was more wasted time than he could afford.
How long were the shifts, anyway? Two hours? Three? He really had no idea. Yusei grimaced, noticing for the first time a hole in his plan—he'd assumed that if he simply took over the existing guard's shift and waited, he would be admitted into the building in due time—but really, he hadn't the slightest clue exactly how long the shifts lasted—for all he knew, there could simply be a day shift and a night shift, in which case he would definitely not be able to stand out here for the entire shift. Yusei's frown deepened. Damn. He would wait twenty more minutes, he told himself. Forty minutes to rescue his friend. After that, if still nothing happened, he would use the remote.
Yusei drummed his fingers against his thighs, absentmindedly allowing his thoughts to drift to other things… the WRGP, Bruno, Akiza, Leo, Luna… he thought of Kalin in Crash Town, and speculated about how the silver-haired man was doing there—then he laughed at himself. Kalin hadn't gone there yet—he was right here in the Facility from which they were trying to rescue him…
As his thoughts drifted back to the Facility and the rescue operation, Yusei briefly wondered if Jack was faring any better than he was—probably not. The shifts were almost certainly the same throughout the entire Facility, so if Yusei's shift hadn't ended yet, odds were that neither had Jack's.
Yusei frowned as a thought suddenly struck him. Jack was never the patient type… What if he had decided that waiting outside was wasting time, and decided to barge in decisively? Jack's words from earlier that day echoed back to him: "I'm gonna be in and out of that Facility in no time at all! And if anyone gets in my way, I'll stomp them flat!" At the time, he had dismissed it as a joke, a way to raise morale—but, knowing Jack, the blonde-haired man would have no qualms about carrying out his bold claim… and if he did, and handled the situation rashly, the results could be disastrous.
Yusei checked the watch again. 10:43. If he knew Jack at all, he knew that the violet-eyed Duelist was not at all patient. Waiting for an hour? Unlikely. An hour-and-three-quarters—nearly two hours? It was unheard of. His only consolation was that no alarm had been sounded yet, so perhaps Jack had been more prudent than he had given the man credit for… but given the severe incompetence of the guards, that meant little to nothing. He toyed with the idea of going in right now… after all, he had promised himself he'd open the door in twenty minutes, and really, five minutes wasn't going to make much of a difference if his shift wasn't close to over, anyway. And if Jack really was in, well then, he'd need all the help he could get.
Reluctantly, the crab-haired teen pulled out the remote to open the gate to the Facility, pressing the red button that was squarely in the middle. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then a strange screeching sound started pulsating—Yusei jumped in surprise before realizing that the sound was emanating from the gate, which was slowly unhinging.
The gate came to a stop a full ninety degrees from its original position, allowing Yusei a wide passage to enter. He took a step inward, then sprinted full on, making his way to the main doors, which were chained together and held by a large padlock. Yusei reached inside his guard's pockets and removed a small ring of keys, any of which could be the one to unlock the padlock. He couldn't afford to test each one individually—there were at least fifteen of them, and every second longer he was out here was a second more time for him to be caught.
He looked at the lock. Rusty, and rather old looking—but after Yusei inspected the bottom of it closely, he found what he was looking for: A small, worn trademark, reading MasterLock. He then looked through the keys, searching for one that had similar wear and tear, and most importantly, the trademark.
No suck luck. Yusei grimaced. It figured that the Facility would use the same kind of lock for seemingly everything: Every single key on the ring had the word MasterLock on it. And every key looked the same as well—rusty, and well-worn. Apparently every lock that these keys happened to open was equally well-used.
Yusei frowned; he was being left with few options. Now there was no choice but to test all the keys, one by one. He inserted the first one… then the second… then the third… all the way to the eighteenth one, after which—wait. That couldn't be right. He had gone through all of them! But the lock still wasn't open.
He had no choice but resort to more… drastic measures. The door was framed underneath an archway, but it didn't reach all the way to the top of the structure, meaning that there was some space that one could pass through if he or she someone got all the way to the top of the gate. Yusei sighed. Time to see if his climbing reflexes were as good as they used to be.
He took several steps away from the gate, and measured how high the archway was. The result was not comforting: The gate was at least five meters tall, and the archway was barely a meter higher than that, meaning that if Yusei did somehow manage to scale the thing, he would have to be careful not to go too high, or he would hit the archway—and the concrete structure didn't look very comfortable as a headrest. Yusei frowned as he mentally analyzed the movements that he would have to make. Well, he had definitely done easier things than this… but he had also done harder.
He braced himself before sprinting forward and taking a running leap, barely catching on to a horizontal bar about halfway up the gate, pushing himself up using the bar as leverage—he was on the bar and there was only a meter or two of climbing left—he took hold of one of the vertical bars of the gate and thrust himself up toward the top of the gate, being careful not to hit the archway—he was nearly there—he was up—he was through the arch—he jumped—
Yusei hit the floor unsteadily, pausing for an instant to regain his balance—but he had made it. He was about to silently congratulate himself, but then—
"Hey, you! Yeah, you! What do you think you're doing?!"
Yusei whipped around to look toward the Facility's main entrance and saw one furious-looking guard heading toward him. His heart sank. This was not good.
"Hey, boss!"
"How's yer day, boss?"
"It sure is hot in here, ain't it, boss? I betcha your stinkin' employer's sittin' in his chair all fancy-like, with air-conditionin' an' everythin'!"
"I hope they're payin' ya well for babysittin' us, boss, 'cause we're a rowdy bunch!"
Jack Atlas strode through the hallways of the Facility, ignoring all of the prisoners shouting out to him, bellowing insults and innuendos. Lowlifes, every single one of them. The King would not stoop to the level of the mere commoners.
He made a face as he looked down at the guard's uniform that he was currently wearing—it was much too rough and uncomfortable—completely ill-befitting of a King. It had been very useful for getting in, but it would have been much better were he able to wear his signature white coat. The guard hat felt itchy, too. Did that man have lice? But then again, he wasn't here for opulence or lavishness, he reminded himself—he was here for Kalin. And so far, he had no idea where Kalin was.
To Jack, such a problem had an easy solution: Look through every single cell in the Facility. That… wasn't working out that well. The Facility easily had thousands of cells, ranging from ground level all the way to the top, in a structure referred to affectionately by the guards as the "Hive". Jack had quickly found that looking through each and every one was immensely impractical and would not suffice as a good way to get Kalin out.
So what had Jack done? He decided to try to sneak into the server mainframe room, from where he could access prisoner records. The only problem was, he had no idea where the mainframe room was, and so he was now walking around randomly searching for it.
Getting in had been the easy—all he'd had to do was use the keys in the guard's coat pocket in order to unlock the gate—and it had literally taken him all of five minutes. He was sure that Yusei had gotten in just as easily (he had no idea just how wrong he was). But this was infuriating! What kind of bozos built this place, anyhow, and why would they make the mainframe room so hard to find?!
"Hey, boss, I don't think I've seen you before, and I've been here a long time!"
"Maybe he be a new guy!"
"All right, then! Listen up, everybody: This guy's mine!"
"Ya got the last one, Bonzo, remember? What makes ya think yer gettin' this one here?"
The voices piled up in Jack's ears, rattling his eardrums until he couldn't think clearly anymore. Where was the damn mainframe room?!
"SHUT UP!"
His fist slammed into the wall, making a dull thunk and creating a thin layer of cracks branching out from the point of impact. The hallway instantly fell silent.
After a few tense moments, whispers started up.
"Never mind, Bonzo, y'all can have 'im!"
"Damn, that guy's strong! I wouldn't want to get on his bad side!"
"It looks like we've got ourselves another keeper, boys!"
But in the corner of one of the many dank, damp cells on that hallway, by sheer luck, an emaciated man with long, dirty-looking silver-hair raised his head. That voice… he'd heard it before—but he couldn't be sure—that scream had been too loud and vibrational to tell for sure. Who was that guard?
Then he heard the guard's voice again, but softer, more toned down. "Where's the server room? Why's this place gotta be so freakin' large?!"
The silver-haired man leaned forward, hardly daring to believe it. Was it…? Could it be…? There was only one way to find out, if the guard was truly one of his old friends turned traitor, if his old friend had actually come into the employ of the Facility. If it was true, he wondered how the man would have pulled off something like that. But speculation was useless, so the silver-haired man opened his mouth, a feeble sound issuing from it. "…Jack?"
"What are you doing, Steve?!" The man stomped up to Yusei, gesticulating wildly as he talked. "You're not supposed to go climbing fences! I mean, I knew you were stupid, but why would you go and do something as ridiculously idiotic as that?! And how did you climb that fence, anyway? I've never seen you do anything like that—wait a minute—" The man paused, inspecting Yusei's face closely. "You're not Steve!" he yelled, leaping half a meter backward, pointing excitedly at Yusei. "I know your look—you're one of those Satellite punks! How did you get in here? What did you do to Steve?!"
Yusei risked taking a step forward. "I didn't do anything—"
"Shut up!" shrieked the man, eyes fixed on Yusei. "You're on government property, punk! And you know what that means?!" He slowly shifted his stance, removing a pair of handcuffs from his jacket. "It means that I'm authorized to place you under arrest!" He moved forward.
Yusei reacted instantly, leaping backward whilst reaching into the his guard's pocket for his Deck—he'd removed his Deck from his own pocket and placed it into the guard's pocket when he had switched clothes. As he pulled the stack of cards out, he simultaneously reached into his black-and-red undershirt—he'd never bothered switching that out—and withdrew a small Duel Disk, which he deftly hooked on to his left arm and slotted his Deck into, activating it and causing a five-slot panel to slide out, flashing once.
The officer's eyes narrowed. "Where'd a Satellite punk like you get a Deck?"
"Does it matter?" returned Yusei evenly. "What matters is that I do have one, and that I'm challenging you to a Duel!"
He was rewarded with a terse chuckle. "You've got a point there, trash. So you want a Duel, huh?" He officer held out his left arm, seeming to materialize a Duel Disk on it which instantly activated, a five-slot panel that was identical to Yusei's sliding out. He then withdrew a rather thick Deck from the folds of his jacket, slotting it in and causing the slots to flash.
Yusei and the officer faced each other, their Duel Disks at the ready.
"Let's Duel!" the both cried simultaneously, instantly drawing five cards and placing them into their respective left hands.
Officer – 8000 LP
Yusei – 8000 LP
"Since I'm the challenger," Yusei declared, "I'll be going first! I draw!" He slashed his right hand across the top of his Deck, retrieving a sixth card and uniting it with the five already in his hand. He looked down at the cards and smiled in remembrance of his old Deck. Removing a card from his hand, he made a swiping motion and deposited it onto the Duel Disk's middle Monster Slot. "I Set a monster face down in Defense Mode!"
A horizontal card appeared on the field in front of Yusei, face down.
"Next, I place one card face down in my Spell/Trap Zone and end my turn!"
Another face down card appeared behind the first, this time right side up.
"My turn, then!" the officer cried. "I draw!" He looked down at his hand before grinning. "I Summon out Assault Dog to the field in Attack Mode!"
A growling dog with a green machine-like device appeared on the field.
Assault Dog – LV 4 / 1200 ATK / 800 DEF
"Go, Assault Dog!" cried the guard. "Attack that face down monster of his!"
The dog gave a single bark of agreement before leaping forward to crunch its powerful jaws onto Yusei's face down. As it closed in, the face down card flipped face up, revealing a powerful-looking soldier holding a spear and crouching behind huge shield who immediately turned a dark shade of blue, reflecting the fact that he was in Defense Position.
Shield Warrior – LV 3 / 800 ATK / 1600 DEF
"Oh, no!" the officer cried out. "That thing has higher Defense Points than my Assault Dog's Attack Points!"
"That's right!" Yusei yelled. "And even though your Assault Dog isn't destroyed thanks to my Warrior being in Defense Mode, you still take damage!"
The dog crashed headfirst into the shield, letting out a yelp of pain and causing a shockwave to spread out from the point of collision. The officer yelled out as the shockwave reached him, whipping his hair and clothes around fiercely—even though the monsters were only holograms, they were still highly realistic and carried with them some simulated power.
Officer – 7600 LP
Yusei – 8000 LP
"Attacking so quickly off the bat is reckless!" Yusei chided. "Don't make a move until you know what the opponent is planning!" This officer was obviously inexperienced, he decided. He would have no problem beating the man.
"Grr…" the man growled, his teeth grinding together unpleasantly. He raised a card high above his head before slamming it onto his Duel Disk with considerable force. "You just got lucky, kid, so don't start feeling cocky! I place a card face down and end my turn!"
A face down card appeared in front of the officer, mirroring Yusei's own.
"Then it's my turn!" Yusei answered. "I draw!" After a short glance at the card he had picked up, he smiled. Just one more card, and then he would have everything he needed to Summon his ace monster. But in the meantime… "I Summon out Speed Warrior in Attack Mode!"
A strange humanoid creature appeared on the field with a what appeared to be roller skates and a helmet reminiscent of that of a scuba diver, letting out a muffled battle cry.
Speed Warrior – LV 2 / 900 ATK / 400 DEF
"Hah!" the officer snorted. "That monster's not nearly strong enough to take on my Assault Dog!"
"Take another look, officer!" Yusei retorted, pointing at his Warrior, which suddenly began to glow white as flames engulfed it, its Attack Points shooting up. "Look so weak now?"
Speed Warrior – LV 2 / 1800 ATK / 400 DEF
"What?!" cried the officer, stumbling backward. "Why'd his Attack Points go up?!"
"That's an easy one!" Yusei answered patronizingly. "During the Battle Phase of the turn Speed Warrior is Normal Summoned, his Attack Points double!"
"What?!" the guard repeated. "Th-that can't be!"
"Now, Speed Warrior," Yusei cried, "attack! Destroy that Assault Dog!"
The warrior gave a grunt of acquiescence before roller-skating toward the officer's monster with extreme speed. As it approached, it did a series of quick flips and kicked the dog in the face. The beast let out a small whimper before shattering into thousands of glowing yellow shards and releasing a blast of wind toward its master.
"Aaarrgh!" roared the officer as the wind struck him, propelling him backward and causing him to lose his balance, landing him smoothly on his rump.
Officer – 7000 LP
Yusei – 8000 LP
Not to be outdone, the man quickly got to his feet growled murderously at Yusei. "Don't think for a second you've gotten the upper hand, Satellite! You just did me a favor! When Assault Dog is destroyed by battle, I can Summon another one straight from my Deck!"
A carbon copy of the original destroyed dog reappeared onto the field, growling every bit as ferociously as its predecessor. The officer smirked at Yusei, obviously believing that he had just done something extremely impressive. "So you're back to square one, kid! And next turn, my Assault Dog is going to be doing some serious mauling!"
Assault Dog – LV 4 / 1200 ATK / 800 DEF
"I beg to differ!" replied Yusei, his eyes narrowed. "That overgrown puppy of yours won't be doing any more mauling than its friend did before Speed Warrior destroyed it!"
"Oh, really?" challenged his opponent. "And just why do you think that? You've already attacked with that Warrior of yours, and once the Battle Phase ends, his Attack Points will return to normal, allowing my beast to maul him quite good!"
At that moment, as if to emphasize the guard's point, Speed Warrior's white, flaming aura disappeared and his Attack Points decreased once more, leaving it looking quite unimposing.
Speed Warrior – LV 2 / 900 ATK / 400 DEF
"That doesn't matter," Yusei retorted, "because I'm now going to Tribute Speed Warrior to Special Summon this: Turret Warrior, in Attack Mode!"
A gigantic stone golem appeared and rose up from the ground, towering over the dog that belonged to the officer.
Turret Warrior – LV 5 / 1200 ATK / 2000 DEF
"Before you say anything about Turret Warrior's Attack Points," Yusei continued, "let me tell you about Turret Warrior's effect: When I Special Summon him by Tributing a Warrior-Type monster, that monster's original Attack Points are added to his, so he's about to get a lot stronger!"
As if in response to the crab-haired man's words, the golem's already huge body suddenly glowed and grew even larger, massively dwarfing both Yusei's Shield Warrior and his opponent's Assault Dog.
Turret Warrior – LV 5 / 2100 ATK / 2000 DEF
"Unfortunately," Yusei said, "I already entered my Battle Phase this turn, so I can't attack with this big guy just yet, but with those Attack Points of his, you can be sure that he's going to be sticking around to pummel that dog of yours next turn! And now I end my turn with a face down card!"
A second face down card appeared, adjacent to the first.
Yusei looked straight at the man, his cool blue eyes issuing a direct challenge to the man's authority. "It's your move, officer."
The guard bristled at Yusei's attitude, his face contorting—he was clearly infuriated at being talked down to by what he perceived as an inferior kind—and he wasn't about to let this kid get away with it. Allowing his anger to pervade him, the uniformed man grabbed the top card of his Deck and pulled it off violently, so much that his posture shifted as he did it, his feet sliding on the ground. "I draw!" Without even looking at the card that he had drawn, he cried out, "I Tribute my Assault Dog in order to Summon Handcuffs Dragon in Attack Mode!"
A red, flying dragon appeared with a weird, curved face superficially resembling a handcuff. Yusei was strongly reminded of a hammerhead shark.
Handcuffs Dragon – LV 5 / 1800 ATK / 1800 DEF
"Now, Handcuffs Dragon," the officer roared, "attack! Tear that Shield Warrior of his to pieces!"
The dragon was only too happy to oblige, flying forward and closing its cuff-like jaws onto Yusei's warrior, crushing it into thousands of yellow shards. The officer leaned back, pleased. "Now that annoying Warrior of yours is gone for good! And I'm going to show you what happens to Satellites who mouth off to law enforcement! I end my turn!"
"You shouldn't let your anger get the better of you like that," Yusei murmured under his breath. "It leads to poor judgments and bad decisions."
"What was that, kid?!"
"Nothing. It's my move. I draw!" Yusei added the drawn card to his hand and smiled. This was it: the very card that he needed to Summon out Stardust Dragon. "I Summon out the Tuner Monster, Junk Synchron, in Attack Mode!"
Junk Synchron – LV 3 / 1300 ATK / 500 DEF
"What?" the man yelled, looking stricken. "A Satellite with a Tuner Monster?!"
"Yep! And prepare yourself for more surprises from this Satellite because now, Junk Synchron's effect activates!" Yusei declared. "When Junk Synchron is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard to the field in Defense Position, as long as that monster's effects are then negated! So I'm bringing back Speed Warrior to rejoin the battle!"
The masked humanoid reappeared on the field, looking beaten but ready to battle once more.
Speed Warrior – LV 2 / 900 ATK / 400 DEF
"And what use is that?" laughed the officer weakly, trying to calm himself down. "That monster is too weak to take on Handcuffs Dragon!" And if your Turret Warrior attacks, he thought, then I can use Handcuffs Dragon's effect, bringing that monster of yours down a notch! Yeah… no sweat! I can still beat this guy!
"That's okay," Yusei yelled, "because I'm activating the Spell Card Double Summon, allowing me to Normal Summon once more this turn! And I'll be making good use of that extra Summon by bringing out Nitro Synchron!"
Nitro Synchron – LV 2 / ATK 300 / DEF 100
"Next, I Tune my Junk Synchron with my Turret Warrior!" Yusei yelled. "Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
An enormous shining dragon appeared, its wings twinkling as though they were made of starlight, floating slightly above the field.
Stardust Dragon – LV 8 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF
"I-Impossible!" cried the man. "That monster! Not only is that monster a Synchro monster—it's the kind of monster that I wouldn't be surprised to see wielded by the King! No lowly Satellite dweller should have a monster like that!"
"Impossible, you say?" Yusei's eyes narrowed. "Well, then explain away this! I'm Tuning my Nitro Synchron with my Speed Warrior to Synchro Summon again! Appear, Armory Arm!"
A weird mechanical squid-looking thing with a black body and pink appendages appeared onto the field.
Armory Arm – LV 4 / 1800 ATK / 1200 DEF
"You have another one—?" the officer gasped, now clearly panicking.
"That's right!" answered Yusei. "But this one won't be sticking around for long, because I'm activating Armory Arm's effect! Once per turn, I can take Armory Arm and equip it onto another of my monsters! So I'm equipping Armory Arm to Stardust Dragon!"
The machine floated over to the enormous dragon's torso, wrapping its pink appendages around it, causing a bright aura to flare up around both monsters.
"When Armory Arm is equipped to a monster," Yusei continued, "that monster gains 1000 ATK Points!"
The beautiful dragon suddenly roared, as if to emphasize the point.
Stardust Dragon – LV 8 / 3500 ATK / 2000 DEF
"N-no!" stuttered the man. "That thing's way stronger than my Handcuffs Dragon!" Even with my dragon's effect, he thought, he'll still be at 1700 ATK—which is stronger than anything I've got other than my biggest monster!
"Now, Stardust Dragon!" Yusei yelled. "Attack his Handcuffs Dragon with Cosmic Flare!"
The big dragon roared, opening its mouth and forming a ball of energy inside. After several seconds, the bigger dragon fired a bright stream of iridescent light toward the officer's smaller cuff-headed one, blasting it into particles instantly.
"Aauughh!" screamed the officer as the force of the attack swept over him.
Officer – 5300 LP
Yusei – 8000 LP
"Urgh…" the officer groaned, slowly straightening. "Too bad, kid! Now Handcuff Dragon's effect activates! When your monster destroys my Handcuffs Dragon—"
"Not so fast! First, I've got some extra damage in store for you!"
"Huh?"
"Armory Arm's effect now activates! Since Stardust Dragon destroyed your Handcuffs Dragon, you now take damage equal to that monster's Attack Points!"
"What?!" yelled the officer as another wave of force swept toward him. "AAAHHH!"
Officer – 3500 LP
Yusei – 8000 LP
He groaned, but quickly recovered. "You may have gotten me down quickly, kid, but I won't lose to the likes of you! I'm activating my Handcuff Dragon's effect! When it's destroyed through battle, it equips to the monster that destroyed it and reduces that monster's Attack Points by its own! So prepare yourself, Satellite scum! I don't how you got your hands on that Synchro Monster, but you're going down! Go, Handcuffs Dragon! Cuff that Dragon of his!"
The weirdly shaped dragon reappeared and closed its cuff-like appendages around Stardust's neck, causing the shining dragon to roar in agitation.
Stardust Dragon – LV 8 / 1700 ATK / 2000 DEF
Yusei scowled as his dragon's Attack Points decreased. "I place one card face down and end my turn!"
"Then it's my move! I draw!" The officer looked down at his drawn card and smirked. "You're going down here and now, Satellite!" He took three cards from his hand and fed them into a slot on his Duel Disk, where they then vanished. "By sending my Assault Dog, Guard Dog, and Tactical Espionage Expert from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Summon out my Montage Dragon!"
A gigantic, three-headed blank-faced dragon with bluish-black skin appeared on the field, rivaling Yusei's own Stardust Dragon in size.
Montage Dragon – LV 8 / ? ATK / 0 DEF
Yusei grimaced, remembering the dragon's effect from his Duel against Trudge and the massive Attack Points it could gain from its effect.
"Montage Dragon's Attack Points are equal to the combined Levels of the monsters I sent to the Graveyard multiplied by 300!" cried the guard. "And since I sent two Level 3 monsters and a Level 4, that puts Montage Dragon at a whopping 3000 Attack Points—far stronger than that Synchro of yours!"
Montage Dragon – LV 8 / 3000 ATK / 0 DEF
"Go, Montage Dragon! Attack Stardust Dragon!" the officer cried out, pointing at Yusei's glittering dragon.
The gigantic creature reared back and opened all three of its mouths, prepared to send a triple-stream of destructive power toward Yusei's monster.
"Not so fast!" countered Yusei. "I play my face down card: Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! This card puts a stop to your Dragon's attack!"
"Heh!" smirked the officer. "I've been waiting for you to play a Trap like that! I activate my own Trap Card: Wiretap! This card negates your Trap and shuffles it back into your Deck!"
Yusei felt a jolt. He had successfully baited the man into using what he had suspected the face down card all along: the Wiretap Trap Card. He removed his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow from the Spell/Trap slot and placed it on top of his Deck, which was then automatically shuffled by his Duel Disk.
"Go!" roared the officer. "Continue your attack, Montage Dragon!"
"I activate another Trap!" Yusei called out. "Say hello to Equip Shot!"
"Equip Shot?!" The man reeled. "What does that do?!"
"It takes a card equipped to one of my Attack Position monsters and equips it instead to one of your Attack Position monsters! Right now, I have Armory Arm and your Handcuffs Dragon equipped to my Stardust Dragon, so guess which one I'm choosing?"
"Oh, no!" yelled the guard as he realized what was about to happen. "That means…!"
"It means that I'm equipping your Montage Dragon with your own Handcuffs Dragon!" Yusei yelled. "Equip Shot! Do your thing!"
A force field expanded from Yusei's Trap, forcing the Handcuffs Dragon's cuff-like jaws apart and flinging it back toward the officer, where it landed and attached to Montage Dragon.
"Now watch as the Attack Points of our beasts change!" yelled Yusei.
Montage Dragon – LV 8 / 1200 ATK / 0 DEF
Stardust Dragon – LV 8 / 3500 ATK / 2000 DEF
"Crap! My Montage Dragon!"
"And that's not all!" Yusei continued. "Not only does Equip Shot re-equip a card, it also forces the two monsters that had their Equip Cards switched to do battle! So that means that your Montage Dragon equipped with Handcuffs Dragon is now forced to battle my Stardust Dragon equipped with Armory Arm! Go, Stardust Dragon! Attack with Cosmic Flare!"
The two dragons simultaneously released twin beams of energy headed directly for each other, Stardust's rainbowish and Montage's pure white. The two beams collided in mid-air, forming a huge ball of lightning, but slowly, Stardust's stream overpowered Montage's, forcing the beam back toward the dark blue dragon until the lightning ball in the middle exploded, shattering the officer's monster and sending another wave of wind toward the unfortunate man.
Officer – 1200 LP
Yusei – 8000 LP
The officer buried his face behind his arms, preparing for the finishing blow. After several seconds passed and nothing happened, he risked lifting his head. "Wha… I didn't take any damage?"
"Unfortunately," Yusei answered, "Armory Arm's effect calculates damage based on your monster's Attack Points while in the Graveyard, and since your Montage Dragon's original Attack Points are unknown, you don't take any damage."
The guard lifted his head incredulously. "So… so I'm still in this, then!" A ray of hope flickered in his eyes.
"For one more turn, yes." Yusei lifted his Duel Disk up to his shoulders. "But you'd better do something, quick, or next turn will be the final turn!"
Jack whipped around in search of the voice. He had definitely heard that voice before. "Kalin?"
"Jack!"
There it was again! Jack spun in place, looking wildly. "Where are you, Kalin?!" he yelled. "Talk to me!"
"I'm in here!" came the voice. "On your left!"
Jack instantly re-oriented himself, whipping out the remote control for the cell and pressing the blue button. The wall pad for the cell switched from the glowing red word, "LOCKED", to a light blue "UNLOCKED". The door made an audible clicking noise, and Jack rushed in, looking for his friend.
There sat Kalin in the corner, hugging his knees, his silver hair dirty and matted.
"My God!" Jack immediately made his way over to the thin man, bending down to look Kalin in the face. "What happened to you, Kalin?"
The silver-haired man coughed. "Why… should you… care?"
Jack reeled backward, his confusion evident. "What do you mean? We're friends, right?"
"Friends… are we, now?" Derision and resentment dripped from Kalin's every word. "Do you still expect me to believe that, after you sold me out?!"
Realization dawned on Jack. "Are you still on about that?! We didn't betray you! Yusei was trying to get the officer to arrest him instead of you—not ratting you out!"
"Oh, really?" Kalin's brown eyes—so kind and warm before, now cold and untrusting—narrowed. "Then why are you here, under Facility employ?"
"What?" Jack looked down at himself before laughing. "This is just a disguise, Kalin! I came in here specifically for the purpose of rescuing you! Now quit being an idiot and come on; we're getting you out of here!"
"'We'?" Kalin's eyes narrowed even further. "Who's 'we'?"
"Yusei and me!" Jack answered, his patience thinning. "I have no idea where he is, right now, but you need to hurry up or—"
"Wait," Kalin interrupted abruptly. "Yusei's here, too?"
"Yeah!" said Jack. "Now let's go!"
"Where is he? I want to see him first." Kalin's voice was resolute.
"Oh, for goodness' sake—come on, Kalin, we don't have all the time in the world here, y'know!" Jack checked his watch, which read 11:23. "Hurry up!"
"Where's Yusei?"
"We're supposed to meet up with him and get out of here—but that won't work if you keep on being so stubborn!"
"I'm not moving until I see and talk to Yusei!"
"Why are you doing this, Kalin? You hated Sector Security the most out of all of us—now that you have a chance to be free, to escape—why won't you take it?!"
Kalin stood firm.
"You… idiot!" Jack paced in front of Kalin for a few seconds before seeming to come to a decision. "I didn't want to do this, Kalin, but you're causing too many problems for me, so—" He reared back and punched Kalin square in the stomach. The silver-haired man had been ill-fed and was hardly in good shape, and as such was in no way prepared to withstand the strike, collapsing instantly.
Jack picked his unconscious friend up, lifting him over his shoulder before stepping out of the cell. Quickly glancing to see if there were any guards, he took off running down the hallway, eager to find a way out.
The man slumped over, his posture reflecting how tired he was. But then, his mouth slowly curved into a smile. "The final turn, you say? But I don't need that long. Check that watch of yours."
Yusei's eyes widened, looking downward. The watch read 11:27. Crap!
"You probably don't know this, seeing as you're nothing but a pathetic Satellite," the man continued, "but at 11:30, the guard shifts switch. So if I hold out for three more minutes…" He lifted a hand to point as Yusei. "People will come. And when they do, you'll be captured and taken by Security. And you know what the best part is?" He laughed. "There's not a bloody damn thing you can do about it!"
Yusei's eyes narrowed in frustration. As much as he hated to admit it, the man was right. And even though he only needed one turn to finish the Duel, he doubted that he could complete the task in less than three minutes, especially since the man's turn was coming up. All his opponent had to do was stall a little, and he'd be finished… Finally, the crab-haired Duelist decided to try to appeal to the officer's sense of fair play. "You would back out of the result of a Duel? That's dirty."
"Actually," the officer corrected, "our Duel technically never would have finished, seeing as it would have been interrupted by whoever appeared to arrest you, and I'm afraid that would count as a no-result, so I wouldn't be obligated to do anything. And second, even if you did end up defeating me, this Duel is a no-holds-barred, unofficial, illegal match between an esteemed officer under the employ of the Public Security Bureau… and a pathetic kid from the slums of the Satellite. I don't think anybody would hesitate to ignore the standard rules of Duel etiquette in a case like this. Face it, kid. Coming here was a big mistake, and although that jump of yours was pretty impressive, this is the end of the line. You might as well give up now."
Yusei gritted his teeth, his eyes darting around the nearby area.
"So, shall we finish this?" The officer pulled a card from the top of his Deck, moving with deliberate slowness. "I… draw! And next, I'll be activating—"
"Freeze!" came a voice.
Both Yusei and his opponent looked up into the blinding beam of a high-powered standard-issue Sector Security flashlight. "Hey, Tony!" laughed the man Yusei had been Dueling, powering off his Duel Disk and in the process causing Yusei's Disk to power off as well. "You're just in time! Take this Satellite in for me, will ya? And while you're at it, make sure to torture him for info on where he put Steve!"
"Steve, huh?" The owner of the flashlight switched the beam off and strode toward Yusei, a stern expression on his face. "This kid abducted him? And took his clothes, by the look of it, too… You know what sort of trouble you're in for, kid?"
Yusei tensed as the man approached him, removing a pair of handcuffs from his belt. As the man neared, the crab-haired teen finally decided to take action: He lashed out with his right hand, hitting the officer squarely in the temple; the man crumpled instantly, out cold.
"H-hey!" The other officer, the one Yusei had been Dueling, started toward him, but the Satellite dweller quickly dispatched him with a well-placed kick.
Yusei looked around, groaning out loud. He had certainly made a mess of things. Deciding that the best course of action was to take refuge and try to reunite with Jack and hopefully Kalin, he sprinted off in the darkness of the Facility's many hallways and corridors.
Jack has successfully retrieved Kalin, but the silver-haired man's stubbornness has forced Jack to knock him out and carry him, putting a huge burden on his shoulders! Meanwhile, Yusei has found himself in a difficult position, having been caught by two guards, and although he successfully fought them off, he must now move quickly! Will Yusei and Jack meet up and manage to salvage their plan, despite initial complications? Or will they be apprehended by Security, sending the two of them and Kalin back to the Facility, this time for good? Find out next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rewriting the Future!