They Go Witch-Hunting

By: SilvorMoon

"I'm bored!"

Ruka looked up from her crayons to give her brother a look of faint puzzlement.

"Why don't you do something?" she suggested reasonably.

Rua rolled over to give his sister a glare. He had been sprawled on his bed in an attitude that suggested he was only moments away from perishing of sheer dejection, and he resented having his act disrupted.

"If I knew something to do," he said, "I wouldn't be bored!"

"Then why don't you keep yourself busy looking for something to do?" Ruka replied.

Rua glared at her. "You act too much like a grownup! You're going to turn into an old lady."

"At least I won't be bored," she said.

"Aw, you're no fun at all," Rua complained.

He might have said more at that point - he had quite a speech worked out, in fact - but at that moment, his cell phone began to ring. Glad of the distraction, he bounded off to answer it.

"Hello?" he said breathlessly.

"Hey, Rua!" answered the voice of his best friend Tenpei. "You'll never believe what I just heard!"

"Is it something good?" asked Rua.

"It's unbelievable!" said Tenpei. "I've got an uncle who works for Security, and he says that some people snuck off the island!"

"Huh?" said Rua. "But... aren't there, like, Security guys and stuff everywhere?"

"That's what happened!" said Tenpei. "They knocked my uncle over the head and stole his badge and uniform and one of them pretended to be a Security officer and drove himself and his partner away in a van. And they're still on the run!" he finished triumphantly. He'd rattled off the whole description in one breath, which made it rather hard to follow, but Rua had gotten the gist of it.

"Wow! Are they dangerous?" asked Rua. He wasn't particularly worried about the idea. With Security officers on practically every street corner, he found it hard to be frightened of two escapees, no matter how cunning they might be.

"Well, they did hit my uncle over the head," said Tenpei.

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

"Anyway, be careful, okay?" asked Tenpei. "These guys might be anywhere now! There's no telling what they'll do next!"

"I'll be careful," Rua promised, already making plans.

He hung up the phone and turned back to his sister, who was still contentedly coloring.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Tenpei," said Rua. "Guess what! A couple of crazy people escaped from Satellite, and they're running loose in the city right now!"

Ruka regarded him with distrust.

"You have the wildest imagination," she said, and went back to her crayons. "If people really escaped, it would be on the news."

Rua started to say that he wasn't imagining things, and then changed his mind. He could have probably talked his sister into believing him - she was generally pretty reasonable about most things, once you made it clear you were serious about them - but it had occurred to him that this adventure might be more fun if she stayed home. Rua loved Ruka more than anything in the world, but she tended to get tired easily and have trouble keeping up with him. It might be better, he decided, if he left alone and told her all about it when he got back.

"I'm going exploring," he said.

That got her full attention at last. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, you know. Around," he said. "You were the one who said I should do something so I wouldn't be bored, right?"

"I guess so," she said, looking unconvinced. "Do you want me to come too?"

"No, it's okay," he answered quickly. "I'll be fine, really! If I get lost, I'll just call a taxi and come back home."

"Well, I guess that's all right," she said, "but don't be gone too long, okay? I get worried."

"It'll be fine," he assured her. "I'll be home in time for dinner."

Having successfully convinced his sister to let him leave, Rua packed a bag with some survival gear - his Duel Disk (you never knew when you might want it), some snacks, a flashlight, a jump rope (the only thing he could find that might be suitable for tying up criminals), his cell phone, and a secret decoder ring he'd gotten out of a cereal box. He had never quite figured out what the secret decoder ring was good for, but he knew it was supposed to be for spies, and included it in his criminal-catching kit on general principle.

Now, if I were from Satellite, where would I go? Rua asked himself, as he left his house. It wasn't a situation he'd ever gave much thought to before, so he let himself wander aimlessly while he considered it. Nobody ever said much about Satellite, other than that it was dirty and run down and full of criminals. If he were a criminal, he decided, he would probably go somewhere there were lots of people to steal from. The mall, maybe? There would definitely be a lot of people with money there. That might be dangerous, though - sooner or later someone would notice them, and wouldn't someone from Satellite be wearing the wrong kind of clothes? Rua didn't pay much attention to the latest trends, but he was pretty sure there weren't any designer outlets on Satellite. They probably made clothes out of old bedsheets and things.

Someplace to hide, maybe? That sounded better. They could find a secret hideout somewhere safe and start making plans for... what were they going to do, anyway? Maybe they didn't know either. That was probably why no one had found them yet - because they were hiding. Everyone would be really impressed if he found them. Where would they hide? Maybe someplace that felt like home...

The Daimon district was one of the rougher parts of town, one of the areas that had survived the disaster more or less intact, and had therefore never been rebuilt, but instead simply grew older and shabbier with the passage of seventeen years. Rua thought it must be enough like Satellite that a couple of refugees might feel at home there. He picked his way through the streets, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs that someone might be hiding nearby. So far, he wasn't finding much, but the novelty of exploring a new location was enough to keep him occupied for a while.

After he had gone several blocks, he became aware of a commotion somewhere in the distance. His first thought was, Aha, it's them! followed closely by, Darn it, someone else got to them first. But even in his disappointment, he couldn't fight back curiosity. Before he'd even thought about it, he'd set out to see what all the racket was about.

At the intersection of two streets, a someone was having a duel. Rua couldn't see exactly what was going on, because there was a great number of people in the way. All he could see was the tops of the monster's heads as they battled. After making a few attempts to squeeze through the crowd, he gave up and scampered around the edge of it. On one side of the street, one of the old buildings had been torn down at last, and something new was being built in its place. There were a lot of beams and boards stacked in heaps or joined into frames like an oversized jungle gym, and Rua had never met a jungle gym he didn't like. He found a conveniently placed beam and swarmed it, climbing until he found a crossbeam he could sit on and look out over the crowd. It wasn't a very comfortable perch, but he could sit there with his legs dangling and watch what was going on.

It was, in fact, quite a sight. In the middle of the street was a burly man in tattered jeans, his muscles straining against a stained white shirt, which was now gray with sweat. Even from a distance, Rua could see that the man was breathing heavily, and there was a streak of what looked like blood across his forehead. That gave Rua a momentary pause; people didn't ordinarily bleed during duels. On the other side of the street was a figure in a long dark cloak, with a hood pulled up to hide their appearance. The person's back was turned towards him, so Rua couldn't see their face, or even guess if they were male or female. Whoever they were, they didn't seem anywhere as distressed as the man they were dueling. They stood perfectly still, watching as though the man's discomfort meant nothing at all. Something about the shrouded duelist's nonchalance gave Rua a slight chill.

That's not the way you duel, he thought with disapproval. Where he came from, dueling was undertaken for the pure fun of it. Fighting with such grim detachment seemed strange to him. Even someone dueling for money ought to act as though they had some interest in the proceedings. He wondered what was going on.

He didn't have long to think about it, though. Even while he was wondering, the robed duelist summoned some sort of red and black dragon, covered in fluttering petals. A warm wind rushed past, and Rua was surprised to catch a powerful scent of roses. There were no roses here...

Then the dragon attacked. Rua wasn't sure what happened then, only that there was a huge burst of light and a blast of sound. The wall across the street crumbled into dust and chunks of brick, and the crashing of masonry was almost drowned out by the screams of the crowd as they fled in all directions. Rua watched as a piece of a wall sailed through the air, hit the pavement, bounced a few feet, and careened directly into the base of one of the posts he was resting on. The whole structure gave an ominous creak.

"Uh-oh," he said.

The post collapsed. The beam Rua was resting on, deprived of its support, began to tilt, and Rua grabbed onto it with both hands to avoid being dumped onto the ground. It didn't work. The slippery metal beam didn't offer any handholds, and he was slowly but inexorably sliding towards the unsupported end. He looked down at the ground. It hadn't seemed so far away when he was climbing up, but now that he was on his way back down...

Rua clung as tightly as he could, shut his eyes, and silently promised to eat his vegetables and to go to bed on time for the rest of his life if only something would get him out of this in one piece.

He slipped off the end. He gave a yelp as he felt himself dropping - but he only fell a short distance before someone caught him and lowered him safely to the ground. He opened his eyes.

There was a woman standing over him, watching him with an expression of concern.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

Rua stared.

"Ah," he said.

At eleven years old, Rua wasn't old enough to take an interest in girls. He'd shared a room with his sister long enough to know there were differences between the two, but he didn't see why they were anything to get excited about. This woman, though, gave him an inkling. She was tall and stately, with the kind of cool, aloof expression that wouldn't have looked out of place on a statue of some ancient goddess. Even in all the dust, her dark hair was glossy as satin, and her eyes were the color of arctic ice.

"I said, are you all right?" she repeated.

Rua nodded. "I... I think so."

"Then we should leave. It's not safe here," she said.

She took his hand and began leading him away. For such a slender woman, she was surprisingly strong. She led him towards the more upscale parts of town, far away from the strange cloaked duelist. Rua's new friend walked quickly, and all his considerable energy was required to keep up with her. He was somewhat out of breath by the time she finally stopped walking.

"We should be safe enough here," she said. "I don't think she'll follow us, but... better safe than sorry. Are you certain you're all right? You weren't bruised when you fell?"

"I'm fine," he assured her. "What just happened? And who are you? What were you doing out there?"

The woman smiled. "So many questions. Well, let me see if I can answer some of them. Do you like cake?"

"Yeah!" said Rua, whose curiosity about the situation was not nearly enough to outweigh his interest in desserts.

"Then let's have something to eat while we talk," she said. "Then I'll tell you what I know."

There was a small coffee shop nearby that sold desserts. The dark woman ordered a glass of cold tea for herself, and allowed Rua to pick out a slice of cake and a big chocolate milkshake. They went and sat at a little table outside, shaded by a big yellow umbrella. Rua, fully recovered from his ordeal, slurped his milkshake and regarded his savior with curiosity.

"This is good," he said. "How come you only got tea?"

She gave him an amused look. "A lady has to watch her figure. But I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. I was afraid when I saw you falling - I thought you might have been hurt."

"I'm fine," he said. He played with his cake. He was still a little bit in awe of this beautiful woman, despite how kind she was being to him.

"I'm glad to hear it," she said. "By the way, you haven't told me your name yet."

He had to think about it for a moment. "Rua."

"That's a good name. My name is Misty Lola."

Rua looked up, surprised. "I've heard of you! You're like an actress or something, right?"

"Or something," she agreed, looking amused. "I'm a model, actually."

"Oh!" He felt himself blushing, ashamed of his mistake.

"You were almost right," she said kindly. "I've been in a few commercials, so in a way, I am an actress."

"Oh," he said again. It was strange - most of the time, he could chatter a mile a minute, about anything, to anyone. It was unusual for him to feel so tongue-tied around anyone, but this woman seemed to be doing something to his brain. He felt hypnotized, like a bird in front of a snake... He shook himself. What was he thinking? This kind woman was nothing at all like a snake.

She laughed softly. "Don't be so shy. I promise I don't bite. We came here to talk, remember?"

Rua nodded. Then, realizing he was supposed to talk, he said, "What were you doing in that place?"

"I was looking for the witch," said Misty factually. "I knew she would be there. Wasn't that what you were there for?"

Rua shook his head. "What witch? I never heard of a witch."

"That was who was dueling earlier."

"The one who blew up the building?" asked Rua, intrigued. Anyone who could get away with blowing up buildings in real life was a subject of interest, if not admiration.

"Yes, that was her," said Misty. "I've been watching her for some time, now. She wanders the city, challenging people to duels for her own cruel amusement. She is a dangerous woman - not someone children should be following around."

"Why are you following her around?" asked Rua.

"Because I want to learn more about her," said Misty. "I want to find some way of stopping her before she hurts any more people, like she did today."

"Wow," said Rua, suitably impressed. "Can I help?"

"I wouldn't want to get you into any trouble," said Misty. "It might be dangerous."

"Please?" he begged.

She smiled a little. "I don't know. I'd have to think about it. Hm..." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then beckoned for him to come stand next to her. "Come here a moment. Let me have a look at your face."

Rua was puzzled by this odd request, but after she had been kind enough to save him from falling and then buy him cake, he felt he could hardly turn it down. He got up and walked closer to her, so that he could look her in the eye. She touched a gentle hand to his chin, brushing her cool fingers over his cheek and pushing back his bangs. He stood very still and tried not to squirm.

"You have a kind face," she said at last, withdrawing her hand. "And a brave soul. And... you have a sister, don't you?"

"H... how did you know that?" asked Rua.

"I can read people's futures by studying their faces," she said. "Not every detail, but a few things."

"Cool!" said Rua. "Can you tell who's going to win the next big Duel Monsters tournament?"

She laughed again. "Bring me all the contestants to look at, and I'm sure I could. But I think it's more fun not knowing, don't you?"

"Yeah, maybe," Rua admitted. "But last time there was a tournament, I bet my allowance on this one guy and he didn't even make it into the semifinals. That wasn't fun at all."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, raising a hand to cover a smile. "Maybe you'll have better luck next time?"

"That's why you should tell me who's going to win!"

"We'll see," said Misty. "Does that mean you want to come visit with me again some time?"

"Well... sure. I mean, if that's okay with you..."

"I wouldn't mind," she replied. She stared off into space, her expression suddenly sad. "Actually, I've been a bit lonely, as of late. I used to have a little brother about your age, but... he died, a few months ago. I miss him terribly."

Rua stared. "Whoa... I mean, wow, I'm really sorry."

"It's not something for you to be sorry about," she said. "But if you would come visit me... it would make me happy."

"I'll visit!" he said. "I'll visit every day! Can I bring Ruka, too?"

"By all means. The more the merrier," she said. She fished in her purse and produced a card. "This is the address of my apartment. Come visit any time."

"Wow, thanks!" he said, accepting the card reverently. This day wasn't turning out to be such a big loss, after all. "My friends are never going to believe this!"

"Maybe you can introduce me to them too, sometime," said Misty, "but I think we had better start small and let me meet people one at a time."

Rua nodded. "Ruka first. You'll like her."

"I'm sure I will," said Misty.

Just then, her phone began to ring. She answered it and listened a moment.

"Yes... yes, I see. Of course. I'll be right there. Goodbye." She turned off the phone and looked at Rua. "I'm sorry. It looks like I have to go to work. But I should definitely be home tomorrow. Will I see you then?"

"You can count on it!" said Rua.

"I'll look forward to it," Misty replied. "Goodbye, Rua. I'll see you soon."

She got up and walked away, leaving nothing but the scent of her perfume behind. Rua watched her go. When she had disappeared out of sight, he looked back at his cake, but somehow it wasn't as interesting when there wasn't any company to share it with. With a sigh, he gulped down the last of his drink and picked up the piece of cake to sustain him on the long journey home.

When he arrived home, the first thing he did was go looking for Ruka. She had apparently gotten tired of coloring and was now busy building things with plastic blocks. Unlike Rua, who generally only put them together for the fun of knocking them over again, she had a flair for architecture. She had created a spectacular tower, nearly as tall as she was, and festooned it with balconies, turrets, and arches. She was busy adding a few finishing touches when Rua walked in.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "You were gone a long time."

"There was a duel and then I got cake," he said. " "And you'll never guess what else! I met a lady from TV!"

"Really?" Ruka asked. "Someone famous?"

"Yeah, and she gave me her card and everything." Rua proffered the card so his sister could see it. She took it and studied it with interest.

"Misty Lola? Wow, she's really famous," said Ruka. "I wish I could have met her. Why didn't you come get me?"

"I was going to," said Rua, "but she had to leave. She gave me that card and said we can come visit her another time. Maybe there'll even be more cake!"

"Wow," said Ruka, looking impressed. "She must be really nice."

"She was," Rua replied. "And I think she's lonely."

"Hm... It seems kind of weird, though. Why would a famous person like her just invite a stranger into her home?"

Rua shook his head, mildly annoyed by his sister's suspicions. "Like I said, she's lonely. And she says she can see the future! I bet it's like, fate or something. Anyway, you can meet her yourself and ask her, if you want."

"Well, maybe," said Ruka. "Anyway, are you ready for dinner now?"

"Yeah! I'm hungry! Let's go somewhere and get food!"

"But you said you had cake," Ruka pointed out.

"Well, yeah," said Rua, "but then I had to walk a long way to get home again!"

"Well, if you say so," said Ruka. "What should we eat?"

"I want a burger!"

"That's what you always want!"

Rua nodded. "That's right! I read in a magazine that burgers are Mutou Yugi's favorite, so I'm going to eat them too, so I can be a great duelist like him!"

"I don't think it works that way," said Ruka. She thought about it for a moment. "Burgers are still good, though. We can got to the Red Sparrow and get pineapple burgers!"

"Ew, that's gross! Who'd put pineapple on burgers?" asked Rua.

"Me," said Rua primly. "And if I get there before you do, I'll order one for you too."

"Oh no you don't!" said Rua.

"If you don't stop me, I will!"

She took off at a run. Rua laughed as he chased after her; his sister had never been able to outrun him. He had only gone a few paces, though, before he stopped and checked his pocket. There was no way he was going to run off until he was sure that Misty's card was still safely with him. He wouldn't betray her trust by losing it - but no, it was still right where it belonged. Satisfied that all was well, he started running again, determined to get to the Red Sparrow before his sister did.


Yusei was prowling. He was used to being able to move freely wherever he liked, at least within the confines of Satellite island. In this place, it seemed that he had no boundaries. Nobody seemed to be trying to stop him from going anywhere, even walking straight off the grounds of the manor and into the city. Mikage had even suggested that one of the chauffeurs would be happy to drive him anywhere he would like to go. Yusei wasn't buying it. Goodwin hadn't gone through the bother of bringing him here just to let him escape again. He knew he was trapped; he just hadn't figured out how long his leash was yet, and he kept expecting at any moment to feel it tighten around his neck.

Other than that, though, his stay hadn't been so bad. He'd spent most of the morning working on his D-Wheel, a task that was infinitely easier with a proper selection of tools and free access to any parts he wanted. There always seemed to be at least one person hovering unobtrusively nearby, ready to sprint off and fetch whatever he asked or even expressed a preference for. When he'd gotten hungry, he'd gone to the kitchen and been assured by the staff that they would happily prepare anything he requested. As a child, he had never known the privilege of eating as much as he wanted of whatever he liked. There had been days when there wasn't enough to go around, and he and his playmates would lie in the shade and dream of the foods they head heard of, seen pictures of, but never tasted. He had wondered, while he ate, what Jack was doing, and whether he was doing anywhere near as well as Yusei was. After lunch, he had taken to wandering, exploring the entire spread of the mansion, or at least as much of it as he could get to. There were a lot of rooms that were closed to him. He suspected he could have picked the locks, but that would have gotten him into more trouble than he was ready to deal with, at least for the moment.

As evening began to draw near, he was summoned to the dining room to eat with the rest of the household. This turned out to mean that the Director himself finally made an appearance. Mikage also appeared to have an invitation to dine with them. Goodwin himself ate in silence, apparently deep in thought. Yusei found the silence unnerving. Meals, in his experience, were generally boisterous affairs, full of people chattering with each other and shouting across the table to pass the dishes down. He wouldn't have minded striking up a conversation with Mikage, but she plainly had something else on her mind and looked impatient to finish. After being answered in monosyllables a few times, he gave up and applied himself to his food.

His intention was to finish as quickly as he could, and then perhaps go back to the garage to work some more before he slept, but he was detained by the Director.

"Just a moment, Yusei," he said. "I want to talk to you. In private, if you would be so kind."

"Of course," answered Yusei. What else could he say?

Goodwin led him outside. The dining room was on an upper floor, with large glass doors at its rear, which opened onto a small balcony with tables and chairs on it, for the use of those who might enjoy taking a meal alfresco in fine weather. It had a fine view of the lake that surrounded the island, and of the city beyond. It was beautiful, especially at that time of day, when the sun was beginning to set and flush everything with a soft pink light. Yusei gazed out at the skyline. He could not see Satellite from here, but he knew in which direction it must lie, and he turned towards it like the needle of a compass. Goodwin gave him a knowing look.

"You miss the island," he said. Not your friends or your home, just the island.

"I didn't want to come here," said Yusei.

"Neo Domino City is your home. You belong here," Goodwin replied. "You will adjust, in time. Haven't I treated you well?"

"That depends."

"Ingratitude doesn't suit you, Yusei," said Goodwin. "I went through a lot of trouble for you. More than you realize. It wasn't easy, arranging for you to come here."

"Why?" Yusei demanded. "What good am I to you?"

"As of now? No good at all," Goodwin replied. "I am thinking of the future. Your father was the most brilliant man I've ever known. This city was built, in a sense, on his shoulders - it is because of his invention that Neo Domino City could thrive this way. His death was a tremendous loss, not only to me as his friend, but to the world. You, Yusei, have inherited his genius. I've seen the D-Wheel you're building. You patched it together out of spare parts, didn't you? Without any sort of plan or blueprint but what you see in your head. And yet I'd swear that cobbled-together machine is as good as any you'd pay a fortune to have."

Yusei shifted, unaccustomed to such praise. "This is my second one. The first one leaked." It had not been much of a bike, that first D-Wheel. He'd never been able to work out exactly why it kept leaking coolant, and the air intake had broken at least once a month no matter what he did, but he and his friends had loved it because it was theirs. He and Jack and Crow had taken turns learning to drive it, racing it around the island and reveling in that fleeting sense of freedom. Security had found it about the time they had arrested Kiryu, and had confiscated it more or less on general principle. Yusei missed it.

"Your second try is as good as the work done by those who have been working on D-Wheels for years," said Goodwin. "And they have had training. You have only your observations and your innate genius. I would like to see what you could do with a proper education. If you stayed here, you could receive tutoring, go to college. You could do great things."

"For whom?" Yusei asked. "For you? Or the city? Or the people I actually care about?"

"Possibly all three," said Goodwin. "We shall see."

"You aren't telling me everything," said Yusei. "How can I trust you when I know you're holding something back?"

Goodwin turned away from him. "Some things are difficult to talk about. I know - you want me to tell you why things are the way they are on Satellite. You think it would be easy for me to say, 'Build a bridge. Connect the city to the island, rebuild the ruins, and make the two parts into one.' You believe I have that power, and that I am refusing to do so for some perverse and untenable reason."

"What else should I believe?" Yusei retorted.

"Let me tell you a story," said Goodwin. "I have told you before that I worked with your father in developing the Momentum engine. You have never seen that machine up close. It is an awe-inspiring sight, a machine that draws its power from the fundamental bonds of the particles that make up the universe to produce a never-ending supply of energy. Your father saw it as being... symbolic, in a way, a tangible monument to the harmony between all things. But there was someone else who worked with us. For some reason - envy, insanity, ignorance, who can say? - he chose to sabotage the project. He seized control of the Momentum and put it into reverse. Do you have any idea what that did?"

Yusei had a sneaking suspicion he knew. "Nothing good?"

"Chaos. It produced a wave of pure destructive force that scythed across the city like the wrath of an angry god. Winds, waves, earthquakes, all of nature thrown out of balance."

"That was what created Satellite? Everyone said it was an earthquake..."

"That was a story, put out to reassure the masses," said Goodwin. "But I'm sure you've seen the proof for yourself. Isn't there a crater in the center of your island? A black pit, where no one dares to make their home, and even the cockroaches fear to tread. The poison of that negative energy still lingers there, and no sane man will set foot in such a place."

Yusei said nothing. It was true, though - there was such a place. He had always avoided it; it gave him a bad feeling. The only people who lived there were outcasts that not even the other residents of Satellite wanted: the incurably violent criminals and the dangerously insane.

"And that's why you keep the island blocked off?" asked Yusei.

"You know about medicine, don't you? When a limb is gangrenous, you don't try to save it - you cut it off," said Goodwin. "But there is something else. The man who destroyed the Momentum and killed your father... he is still alive."

"How is that possible? He would have been directly on the site of the blast..."

"I could not say for certain," said Goodwin. "It is possible that the same energy that caused the explosion is also preserving him. Perhaps he took precautions. Perhaps he was simply lucky. Whatever the reason, he is still there. I do not think he can stray far from the source of his power, but I have reason to believe that he has some power to influence others to do his will for him. As long as the island is closed off, his influence is limited. Were I to open free passage between the island and the mainland, he would be able to extend his reach anywhere he pleased. I cannot allow that to happen. I was taking a risk in bringing you here... but I am putting my trust in the belief that you would never collude with the man who killed your father."

Yusei frowned. "You are suggesting that he has some kind of... magical powers?"

"He has power, yes. If 'magic' is the word for that which is not yet understood by science, then yes, you could call them magical," said Goodwin. "I ceased to be a scientist a long time ago. I am no longer interested in the technical explanations of how things happen. I am a politician, now, and that means I am interested in practical results. I am aware of a problem. I wish to prevent it from spreading. If possible, I would like to remove it entirely. I have been working toward that end, but it is time-consuming. If I could remove the last vestiges of negative energy from Satellite, it would be made safe. Then - and only then - could I give you your bridge and rebuild what is broken."

"How do we do that?" asked Yusei.

Goodwin smiled, a bit smugly. "You said 'we'. That is good. I was counting on you wanting to help."

It dawned on Yusei just what sort of a trap he'd been coaxed into, but like all good traps, he knew it was nothing he could walk away from.

"Just answer the question."

"Very well. The source of the danger lies in the ruins of the old Momentum. The heart of the machine still exists, leaking waves of negative energy into the surrounding area. It must be shut down. The master switch is located in the heart of the crater, but this will be heavily guarded, possibly inaccessible, if it is still even functioning. Moreover, the machine was meant to run forever, and would only be stopped in case of great emergencies, so the only way it can be shut down is by means of an override relay controlled by four locked towers, which are located on various points around Satellite. The towers are controlled by a set of five cards. You will need at least four of them to unlock the towers. Some of them have been lost. One of them is the Stardust Dragon."

"You brought me here for a card?"

"In a sense, yes. Do you believe it is only a bit of paper and ink? That card chose you as its owner, Yusei. It will only obey you, so only you can unlock the tower it controls," Goodwin replied. "But there is another reason. One of the other cards is in the hands of your old friend Jack Atlus."

"Ah," said Yusei. Goodwin didn't need to explain that comment any further - Yusei knew. Jack was a proud man; he wouldn't cooperate, not for any offerss the Director might make. He would do things his own way, and threats and promises wouldn't work. Yusei's powers of persuasion probably wouldn't work, either, but he had a slightly higher chance than anyone else. If nothing else, he would probably at least be able to get close enough to talk to him. Jack would never sit still long enough to let someone from Security explain matters to him.

"So, let me get this straight," said Yusei. "If I help you find Jack, you'll fix Satellite."

"Ideally, I would like you to help me find all of the remaining card holders," said Goodwin, "and there is still the matter of unlocking the control towers. But if you can do that, then yes, I give you my word that once the old generator is completely shut down, I will begin the rebuilding of Satellite."

"What about my friends? You mentioned Kiryu and Crow..."

"Jack and Crow will both receive full pardons," said Goodwin. "Kiryu... is a more difficult case. I can, at the least, get his death sentence mitigated. It is possible I can shorten his prison term. Is that enough?"

Yusei frowned. He still had the feeling that there was something more going on here that he didn't understand, and he was reluctant to agree to something without being sure of what he was getting into. On the other hand, the rewards were things that he normally would have said he would do anything for. If only he felt sure he knew what "anything" was going to end up meaning...

"How much time do I have to decide?" he asked.

"That depends on what you mean," said Goodwin. "I do not know how long it will be before our enemy decides he is tired of waiting. It could be tomorrow, or years from now. My promise to you is good until that happens, or until I die, whichever comes first. However, your friend Kiryu's sentence is due to be carried out in three days. You may want to think quickly."

Three days. Yusei felt his stomach clench. That wasn't enough time to think. That was just enough time to spend all of it worrying that he would choose the wrong thing. He felt Goodwin looking at him, and realized that he was expected to say "yes, I'll do it" right away, faced with a deadline like that.

"I'll think, then," he said.


Jack had not come home for dinner. Carly was in the kitchen, pensively scrubbing the dishes and pretended she wasn't listening to Saiga's radio as it rattled off the local news. So far, it had given her information about a minor house fire on the outskirts of town, a traffic accident, a sex scandal involving a local sporting star, and debate over the latest change in the city's budget, but so far, there had been no report of an escapee from Satellite being captured. For once in her life, she was hoping she wouldn't hear something earth-shaking on the news.

"They're not going to catch him," said Saiga, from where he was tinkering with his laptop at the kitchen table. "Even if they did, they wouldn't put it on the news."

"How do you know?" She was annoyed to hear her voice come out as a whine.

"Because if they were going to say anything, they would have done it by now," said Saiga. He half-turned to face her, casually draping an arm over the back of his chair. "I know a thing or two about how Security operates. They may not know everything, but they come damned close to it. You bet your life, they knew you two were gone fifteen minutes after you left. They know your names, what you look like, how old you are, and probably what size shoes you wear. Take my word for it, if they wanted everyone to know you're here, your faces would be all over the news by now."

"So why aren't they?"

Saiga shrugged. "Probably to save face. Why would Security want anyone to know you two escaped? You're a petty thief at worst, and Jack hasn't got a criminal record - you two aren't a danger to the public. And of course, you aren't going to be walking around shouting, 'hey, we escaped from Satellite!' so you're not going to give them away. Anything they say will just make them look stupid for letting you escape in the first place. Take it from me, they're just going to keep quiet and try to catch you before anyone notices you're here."

"Oh," said Carly. She chewed her thumbnail thoughtfully. "That's not going to work too well for us, is it?"

Saiga gave a bark of laughter. "You're the ones who want to be famous. Me, I'm just along for the ride."

There was a sound downstairs, as of a door opening and closing, and then the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Carly looked up from her dishes, beaming.

"He's home!"

Saiga glanced at her. "How do you know it's him?"

Carly just looked at him as if she thought he might need to lie down for a while, and then hurried to meet Jack at the top of the stairs. He arrived, looking tired but pleased with himself, and carrying several shopping bags.

"Where have you been?" she asked him.

"Out," he replied. "I went back to the underground. The bookie says Security is on to us, but I got some dueling in. Here." He pushed the shopping bags into Carly's arms. "Look and see if this is everything we're going to need."

Carly obediently dumped the bags on the kitchen table, drawing a yelp of outrage from Saiga as his computer was pushed out of the way. The results of Jack's shopping appeared to be a few changes of clean clothes and some toiletries. She stared at it all.

"You bought this?" she said, holding up a box of tampons.

Jack glared at her. "I said they were for my bedridden mother. Are you happy?"

"You're an angel, Jack," she said, beaming.

"Hmph," he said, but he stopped glaring. "Go change your clothes. The ones from that bag are yours."

Carly picked up her new things from the heap on the table and bounded into the spare room to change. She had never realized just how tired she could get of wearing the same outfit again and again, especially once it had become as ragged and dirty as clothes could when you ate, slept, and worked in them for weeks on end. The new clothes weren't the style she would have chosen - lots of dark colors and cleanly tailored lines, quite unlike her casual jeans-and-T-shirts attire. On the whole, she decided she rather liked them; she felt as though some of Jack's fierce personality had been transferred to her. She thought she could feel braver wearing them. She brushed her hair back into place with her fingers, put her glasses back on, and stepped back outside.

"Did everything fit?" asked Jack.

Carly nodded. "It's fine." Then something occurred to her. "Wait a second... How did you know what sizes I wear?"

"I looked at your things while they were drying," he said.

"You what? All of it? Jack!" She punched his shoulder. "It's not right to peek at a girl's bra! That's an invasion of privacy!"

"Ouch!" he complained, rubbing his arm. "What happened to being an angel?"

"That was before I knew you got into my things!"

"Only because I had to!"

"You could have just asked."

Saiga laughed. "You two fight like an old married couple."

"We do not," Jack grumped.

Carly blushed, looking flattered. "You think so?"

"I'm not having this conversation anymore," said Jack. "Saiga, where is that camera?"

"I'll get it," said Saiga, and retreated to his room. He returned a few moments later with camera in hand, and passed it to Carly.

"Here," said Jack, and handed her a map. She could see that he'd made a number of new marks on it since he'd started scribbling on it at breakfast. "These are the places where street duelists are known to gather. Pick a spot and stake it out. You know how to do it."

"Right," she said. She felt a flutter of nervousness. It was finally time...

"Don't screw this up," he told her.

"I won't!" she said. She put on her sweatshirt and pulled the hood up, and then started for the door, clutching her camera like a precious relic.

"Wait," said Jack. "You can't go out like that."

He disappeared into their room for a moment. When he returned, he was carrying the plastic mask that she had worn at the underground duel arena. He slipped it onto her face for her.

"There," he said. "That helps."

"I'm going to look like an idiot," she complained.

"Own it," said Jack. "Make it work for you. Develop a persona."

"Oh. Right. A persona," she said. "Hmm..." Come to think of it, she decided, that didn't sound so bad. Without a mask, she was just a clumsy, bespectacled girl from the sticks. With a mask on, though, she might be anybody. And that was the whole idea, wasn't it? The mysterious (perhaps even beautiful? A girl could dream, after all...) reporter with the story of the century, the one only she could tell...

"Yeah," she said, smiling slowly. "Yeah, I can do that!"

"Good luck out there, kiddo," said Saiga.

Carly nodded, tried to wave, and nearly dropped the things she was carrying. She scrambled to catch them, shouted a hasty goodbye, and scurried out of the room. She thought she heard Saiga chuckling at her, but she couldn't be sure.

I'm going to do this, she told herself firmly. I'll make everyone proud of me. Look out, world! This time I'm going to get it right!

She stepped out of Saiga's shop and into the street. There were people wandering around: a few early-evening bar-goers, one or two women in short skirts and tall boots who looked inquiringly at the men passing by, a few thrill-seeking teenagers in clusters, and the rest of the motley crowd you were likely to find in a seedy neighborhood at sunset. None of them paid much attention to Carly, but she kept the hood of her sweatshirt up and avoided meeting anyone's eyes, just in case.

After she'd gone a block or two, she paused under a lamp post and unfolded her map to get a better look at the areas Jack had marked. Most of them were a good distance away. It seemed the street duelists didn't care to get mixed up with the underground duelists. She was going to have to walk a distance.

I sure hope Jack gets that D-Wheel soon. I don't want to have to take the bus like this...

In the meantime, there was nothing she could do but walk. She picked the area that looked the closest and struck out. It was, at least, a nice night to be out walking. If she hadn't been in a hurry, she would have enjoyed admiring the brightly lit buildings and the clear night sky. As it was, she scampered along, trying to stay inconspicuous. With any luck, her dark clothing, raised hood, and bowed posture would make people mistake her for an angst-ridden teenager.

Jack's map eventually led her to a small public park, just large enough to hold a pond and a few trees and benches. By daylight, it would have been a good place for a picnic or a game of frisbee. By the light of a waxing moon, the lake gleamed silver and the trees seemed full of blue shadows. Carly took a moment to admire the beauty of it before turning on her camera and fiddling with the settings, trying to find the best way of filming something so that it wouldn't look too dark. She would be mortified if she managed to film a duel and it turned out to look like nothing but a collection of shadows.

She had just about gotten it to where it looked good, when she heard the sound of voices approaching. Hastily, she dove for a nearby tree and managed to scamper up into its branches. From there, she had a good view of a large group of people - mostly men, but a few proud-looking women as well - all of them carrying Duel Disks. They gathered in a circle on one of the clear patches of grass, and one of them produced a rather ordinary-looking cardboard box. He said something that Carly couldn't hear clearly, but it prompted a reaction from the onlookers. Some of them began going through their pockets, producing handfuls of cash or cards, which they tossed into the box. The rest shook their heads sadly, evidently unable to muster up enough of a bet to be allowed into the game. These spoke quietly to each other, and Carly suspected they were making side-bets, hoping to win enough money off of each other to join in on the next round. The rest of the duelists drew cards to determine who would go first, and everyone else arranged themselves along the sidelines to cheer for their preferred player. Carly stealthily moved to another branch to get a better view.

Hey, I know that guy! Dick Pitt - he's famous! Lucky! Film of a well-known duelist would bring in viewers, and she wanted all she could get. She trained her camera on him. Go on, guys - give me a good show!

For the next hour and more, Carly sat in a tree. It wasn't long before her muscles began to ache from the strain of holding the same position for so long, and her fingers were frozen by the chilly breeze off the pond until she was sure they would have to be thawed off the camera later. She had her doubts about being able to get out of the tree, at least without falling out of it, but she put all of that out of her mind. The only thing that was important to her at the moment was making sure she got everything on film. She could worry about little things like hypothermia later. At last, the gamers decided that they were done challenging each other and began counting up their winnings. Carly gave a little sigh of relief at the thought of being able to get back down to solid ground and go home to where there would be a hot drink available. She hoped the duelists would leave soon so she could get down without being noticed.

Then something happened that drove all thoughts of leaving out of her head. From out of the darkness, a new duelist appeared. Carly guessed the newcomer was female; it was hard to tell from a distance. Whoever she was, she wore a long black cloak with a hood, from which tendrils of reddish hair escaped, and her face was covered by a white mask. Carly, concealed in her tree, nevertheless felt a chill, as though the eyes hidden behind that mask had seen straight through her cover. It had to be her imagination that this woman knew exactly where she was, but...

"Who among you has the courage to duel me?" said the stranger.

"Hey, lady," said one of the duelists, "I don't know who you think you are, but around these parts, we play for money. Let's see your stakes."

In response, the woman flicked a card out of her deck and held it up before her. Something bright flashed from it, and a bush beneath Carly's tree suddenly burst into crackling flames. The duelists exclaimed. So did Carly; she liked words, and she had picked up a number of new ones in Satellite. She used them all now, in various combinations, but there was too much commotion going on for anyone to notice one more voice in the general hubbub.

"Here are my stakes," said the robed woman. "Duel me, and I might let all of you go home alive."

There was an uncertain moment, as the group seemed to waver between wanting to run and wondering if she would actually let them. No one wanted to end up like the shrubbery. At last, one of their number was pushed forward to face her. He looked rather pale, but determined to go through with it.

"Since you challenged me, I get the first move," he said.

She nodded and said nothing. Her silence seemed to unnerve the other player, who fumbled his deck as he tried to draw his first hand. He set a monster, apparently at random, and set a few a few trap cards with the air of someone getting firmly entrenched.

As it turned out, he needed entrenching. As it also turned out, it wasn't enough. The robed woman summoned a monster to the field and sent it launching at her opponent. It was plainly stronger than the defense monster, and tore straight through it without resistance. That was to be expected. But when the attacking monster left gouges in the turf...

How is that possible? It's just a hologram...

But it wasn't a hologram - it couldn't have been. The next attack flung the young man off his feet and into the arms of his friends, and soon he was so battered he could barely stand.

"Stop it!" shouted a girl in the crowd. There was an edge of tears to her voice that made Carly wonder fleetingly if she was a sister or a girlfriend. "You're hurting him! He can't win like this - just let him go!"

The woman's blank mask was implacable. "He doesn't deserve to be let go."

"What are you, some kind of monster?" someone demanded.

"She's a witch!"

"Yes," said the woman. "I am a witch. And I will act according to my nature. Make him get up."

The crowd tried to help their champion to his feet. He was breathing heavily, and there was a cut across his cheek from where he hadn't dodged an oncoming monster in time. His eyes didn't seem to be focused anymore.

This is wrong, Carly thought, staring through her zoom lens at his white, bleeding face. This isn't a duel, this is torture...

The bitter end came quickly. The witch made her last move, and her victim fell to the ground, unconscious or... no, his friends were gathering around him, helping him to his feet and moving him deeper into their ranks, hiding him. The robed woman watched them all impassively.

"Who else?" she asked.

There wasn't going to be anyone else. The crowd edged away from her as one being, eyes all pinned on her. She continued watching them silently until they could no longer bear it, and they scattered, disappearing into the darkness, dragging their semi-conscious friend with them. The cloaked woman stood a while longer, and Carly thought she heard her mutter, "Cowards," before turning and gliding away.

Without thinking about it, Carly scrambled out of the tree, half falling from her branch and landing with a whumph in what used to be a shrub, her shoes stirring up clouds of smoke and ash as she staggered and regained her footing. She had enough presence of mind to turn her camera off, to save its battery, and then hurried after the cloaked woman.

This could be really big, she thought, her heart racing with excitement. Despite what had just happened, she felt no fear, only a sense of elation. This was a story, and it was happening right in front of her! Moving as silently as she could, she followed the woman, always keeping her just barely in sight. They were moving, she soon realized, in the general direction of the downtown area. There were larger buildings than there were near Saiga's place, but they were mostly businesses, closed now save for a few lonely workers burning the midnight oil. Cars rushed by, in a hurry to get somewhere else, but no one stopped to bother the two masked women who moved swiftly down the sidewalks.

At last, the witch finally came to one of the more impressive buildings, something that looked more like an office building than an apartment complex, though it was brightly lit inside where all the other buildings were empty. She started up the front steps, but slowed and stopped partway up. She looked around, and Carly quickly found a corner to duck behind.

"Don't bother to hide," said the witch. "I know you're there."

Carly deemed it wisest not to say anything.

"You are not afraid of me," the witch continued. "Not as frightened as you should be." There was a pause before she added, flatly, factually: "I could kill you."

Somewhere there was a thought, in a place so far away that it might have been in another person entirely, that Carly ought to turn around and run as far and fast as she could, but she couldn't obey it. She was rooted to the spot.

"Come out where I can see you," the witch commanded.

Slowly, reluctantly, Carly moved. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk with her camera clutched before her like a shield. The witch walked closer to her, until they were only inches apart. A stray thought struck her: the witch was wearing perfume. She smelled of roses. How could anything so horrible smell so sweet?

That thought was driven from her mind as the witch reached out and pulled Carly's mask away. Carly gave a yelp and tried to shield herself, but it was too late.

"I see," said the witch. "So... you, too, are an outcast."

Was that a hint of sympathy in that cold voice? Carly seized on it like a lifeline, and used it to draw her courage back.

"Yes?" she offered.

"Hm," said the witch. There was no reading the face behind that mask, but her posture was thoughtful. "Do you have a deck?"

Carly reached into her pocket and produced her cards, but couldn't quite bring herself to hand them over. Instead, she fanned them, so that their faces could be clearly seen. The witch studied them.

"A fortune-telling deck," she remarked. "Does it work?"

Most of the time, if someone had asked this question, Carly would have laughed nervously and said the fortune-telling thing was just a hobby, just something she did for fun, really, not something she really believed. Not that it was true; it was just what she had to say so people wouldn't think she was crazy. She hadn't even come out and said as much to Jack, and she doubted that Saiga even knew her cards existed. But she didn't think she could not tell the truth to someone like this.

"Yes," she said.

"I see." The witch stared at her a while longer before finally turning away with a sigh. "You're not strong enough, though. You wouldn't survive being trained."

"Trained for what?" Carly heard herself asked, and winced internally. Sometimes a reporter's instincts could be a real pain.

"To be one of us. We could protect you," said the witch. "But it wouldn't work."

"What wouldn't?" Carly persisted.

"You had better go," said the witch. "If you follow me, I'll have no choice but to turn you over to Divine. He'll test you. You'll never make it. Go away."

There was no arguing with that tone of voice. Carly fled. She pummeled down the street, tripping on cracks in the sidewalk, stumbling and staggering and avoiding falling by sheer willpower - not because she didn't want to hurt herself, but because falling would inevitably mean dropping the camera, and she'd as soon cut her hand off. She ran until her chest ached and her throat burned, and then she stopped to lean against a wall and catch her breath.

That didn't go so well, she thought. She wished there had been a chance to ask more questions... or rather, to get more answers. But at least she'd gotten all the dueling on video. She checked her camera. Most of its memory had been used up; there was nothing more she could do tonight unless she went home and changed out the memory card. It was probably time to leave. Besides, she had a lot of writing to do tonight.

When she returned home, she found everything more or less as she had left it. Saiga was at his best computer, tinkering with lines of code. Jack sat nearby, sipping coffee and looking out the window. He jerked to alertness, though, when he heard her come in. His eyes swept over her, taking in her bedraggled appearance. Her shoes and the cuffs of her slacks were now covered in ash, and there was a twig in her hair. He raised an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?" he asked.

"I've been busy," she said. "You won't believe what happened!"

"I'm not sure I want to hear it," said Jack.

"But there was this woman! She started summoning monsters, and they were really real! And she blew up a bush! The guy couldn't even walk afterwards!"

"If this is how you write your articles, I'm going to get a new reporter," said Jack.

Carly shook her head. "There was a woman who was summoning real monsters that did real damage to real people. I got it all on film! This could be a really big story!"

"No," said Jack. "No story."

"What? Why?" asked Carly.

"Look," said Jack. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because we want to be famous?" she guessed. "But this is..."

"A big story," Jack finished, "and that's exactly why you shouldn't use it. The idea was that we were going to do this together. I was going to be your story, and you were going to write about me. That was the plan. What made you think it would be a good idea to go looking for another story?"

Carly blushed. "I guess I just wasn't thinking..."

"Obviously," snapped Jack. "You weren't thinking of anyone but yourself, were you?"

"I guess not," she said, hanging her head.

"Lay off the girl," said Saiga. "You can't blame her for following her instincts."

"Yes, I can," said Jack. "This isn't my style either. If I can adjust, then so can she."

"You're right," said Carly. "I'm sorry. I guess I was being selfish. I screwed up, didn't I?"

Jack's expression softened very slightly. "You didn't. I would have wanted to follow a powerful duelist, too. Just don't do it again, all right? You'll get hurt, doing stupid things like that."

He was worried about me, Carly realized in a flash. She felt her face warming again, with mingled embarrassment and pleasure. In hindsight, it probably had been a dangerous thing, chasing off after a strange and highly destructive woman. She could have gotten hurt. If the witch was to be believed, she could have gotten killed. It had definitely been stupid... but it was nice to think Jack cared what happened to her.

"I won't do anything like it again," she said. "I'll behave next time. I promise!"

"Good," said Jack. "Now - did you manage to get anything useful on that camera of yours?"

"You bet!" she said. "I got really lucky - there was a famous duelist there, and I got some good film of him! I'll just need to do a little editing, and it will be ready to go."

"Anything I can do to help?" asked Saiga.

"Get coffee," she said. "And give me the computer."

Saiga obligingly saved whatever he was working on and scooted out of the way so Carly could have the machine to herself. She tossed aside her mask and cloak, plugged the camera into the computer, and cracked her knuckles, looking the very picture of a woman getting down to business. She pulled up a word processor and began to type at a rapid pace. When Saiga brought her a large mug of coffee, she nodded slightly in acknowledgment and reached for the mug, apparently navigating toward it by pure instinct, because her eyes never left the screen. Jack stood aside and watched, impressed in spite of himself. He had never actually seen her doing what she did best. It made for a dramatic change. She almost looked competent.

"There!" she said at last. "All done! You two read it, and tell me what you think."

She scooted out of the way to let Jack and Saiga have a look at her work. Jack leaned in for a better view, curious in spite of himself. He was pleased and rather relieved to see that she'd done a good job of commenting on the duels - she may not have been a serious duelist herself, but she obviously knew the game well, and had made interesting and insightful comments. She had used a comfortable, gossipy style that he imagined would draw in a wide reader base.

"Looks fine to me," said Saiga.

"It will do," Jack agreed.

"All right! I'm posting it," said Carly. "I just need an account..."

She opened a window to a blogging site that she had selected earlier and started filling in blanks.

"Have you decided what you're calling yourself?" Saiga asked her.

"I've been to busy to think about it," she admitted.

For a moment, she pondered. Then she took her cards out again and drew one at random. She nodded.

"This will do," she said. "This will be me. Fortune Lady."

To Be Continued...