"You can try again next week, Lise," Trudge said quietly. His hand drifted towards Lise's shoulder, but he withdrew the gesture, thinking better on it. "Whatever's bothering you is a distraction you need to get rid of. To be a turbo duelist you have to be completely focused." He gave her a kind nod and went off to test the next student.
Lise extracted her knuckles from the handlebars of her runner slowly. She hadn't passed, which meant no riding back, so she tossed her helmet on the seat and started pushing.
The way home was much longer than she'd thought. That or it was definitely shorter going as fast as she could on her runner. Lise hoped no one would be home. She didn't want to face anyone at the time.
It had started to rain just as Lise pulled into the garage. She locked her runner into place and looked around.
Thankfully, it seemed quiet so Lise went up into the kitchen. A note was on the table in Yusei's messy scribble-like handwriting. Lise, if you get home before we do, Jack is at the café, Crow is working, and I'm answering a fix request. Can't wait to see you tonight! Sorry we missed your test, but you can give us a play by play tonight. Crow is making your favorite. Love you, Yusei
Lise groaned and dragged herself up the ladder. Seeing them was going to make it even worse. She already felt stupid and pointless. Add that to the fact that her room was so empty and lonely after Fish had moved out.
Fish hadn't told a soul. She had bided her time until all four of them were out of the house for some reason. At the end of the day Crow, Lise, Yusei, and Jack had come home to an empty house, and half of an empty bedroom. She hadn't even left a note.
Lise threw herself down on her bed. Her bed sheets were just as cozy as they had been when she woke up, but they weren't comforting enough anymore. Lise kicked off her wet shoes and jacket and curled up into a ball, trying not to cry.
/
"Lise?!" A loud knock resounded on her door.
Lise's eyes flew open. A quick glance at her alarm clock informed her she'd been asleep for several hours. It was five PM, and clearly the boys were home.
Yusei knocked again. "Lise? What's wrong?"
Lise dove under the covers and pulled them over her head. She didn't want to see or be seen at all. "I-I'm just tired! I'll eat dinner later!"
"Are you sure?" Yusei opened the door a crack. "You're decent, right?"
Lise rolled her eyes and pulled the covers farther up. It was easier to be annoyed than miserable. "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired."
"You sure?" Yusei opened the door fully and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Yes, for God's sake!" Lise snapped.
"It's just that I thought I'd find you blaring your music and dancing around like a crazy person," Yusei said softly, his tone gentle, mildly probing. "That is…if you passed your test."
"I don't wanna talk about it."
Yusei sighed and leaned back heavily on his hands. He scanned the empty side of the room. "Were you thinking about Fish?"
"No," Lise said thickly.
"You do know you didn't do anything wrong, right?" Yusei continued. He took his boots off, turned, and crossed his legs on Lise's bed.
"I know that," Lise sat up, rubbing her eyes. "It just hurts so much." She looked at her hands in her lap, hating that Yusei was seeing her look this pathetic after failing.
Yusei threw his coat and gloves on the floor. "I know how much it hurts. I felt the same way after Jack basically betrayed me. Although…" he paused and held one of Lise's hands in both of his. "I suspect this is going to hurt much more."
"I didn't think about that," Lise admitted quietly. "When Jack left it hurt me too, but then again he wasn't my best friend."
Yusei nodded. "But Jack is still our friend now because he admitted what he did was wrong and apologized. Fish is never going to admit her actions were wrong or apologize for treating you so badly. That's why her leaving is going to hurt you more."
"Ugh, goddamnit, Fish," Lise attempted a laugh that sounded more like a hiccup.
"But you're strong," Yusei flashed her a thin-lipped smile. "You'll get through this, and get your license. It's a setback, a speed bump, not a brick wall."
"Thanks."
"And this time we'll all be there cheering you on," Yusei's smile widened.
"No way," Lise shook her head. "I hate people looking at me." Light pink color crept onto Lise's cheeks.
"But I like looking at you," Yusei murmured, pushing Lise's messy hair out of her face.
Lise's face went from pink to red, and she laughed for the first time in hours. Yusei relaxed, his shoulders lowering slightly. She wasn't okay yet, but she would be. "So…" he tugged playfully on her twisted hair. "Pity party today?"
"To get back up again tomorrow," Lise agreed. "I should call Akiza. She's great at parties, the pity kind and the fun kind."
"Already done."
Lise blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"I figured something was wrong when you didn't text or call, so I phoned Akiza. She agreed and said she'd be over as soon as her classes were done for the day."
"Oh…wow…" Not knowing what else to do, Lise threw her arms around Yusei's neck. "Thanks, sorry I'm so needy."
"It's not being needy. It's being human. You told me that was okay. It's okay for you too, ya know," Yusei whispered into Lise's hair, rubbing her back as comfortingly as he could.
"You seem to be feeling better already," Akiza broke in. She smirked at them and raised one eyebrow knowingly at her friends' red faces. Her arms were weighted down with candy, popcorn bags, and movies. "Oh, don't stop on my account. We can still watch movies."
/
"Are you doing okay?" Yusei asked.
"Well, my hands are super sweaty and shaky, and it feels like my stomach is going to explode, but yeah. I'm totally okay," Lise nodded jerkily and adjusted her grip on her runner's handlebars.
"So no?" One of Yusei's shoulders pushed upwards.
"You'll be better than okay. You'll be fantastic!" Akiza squeezed Lise into a hug. "We'll be up in the stands cheering you on."
"Yay…" Lise tried to sound strong, but her voice came out more like a whimper.
"Good luck, mate," Jack nodded encouragingly.
"We're rooting for you!" Crow gave her a cheesy thumbs up.
"Look," Luna and Leo held up two little flags. "We made flags for you!"
Lise handed Yusei her helmet. "Here, bash this into my face until I die."
Yusei chuckled, but his eyes widened as he pushed Lise's helmet back into her hands. "How about I do that as a last resort?"
Lise groaned and hunched over her helmet. "Somehow this is worse than the first time."
"Are you gonna hurl or are we going to duel?!" Trudge called, readying himself at the start of the track. "Don't think I'll go easy on you!"
"Wouldn't want it any other way, Trudge. On my way," Lise responded, she had expected her voice to wobble, but she sounded much better than she felt.
"That's our cue to go. Good luck," Yusei whispered. "You'll do great," he kissed Lise's temple and followed the others into the stands.
Lise inhaled and exhaled deeply three times to calm her nerves. Now it was just adrenaline making her antsy, but she could work with that. She put her helmet on and met Trudge at the starting line.
"I almost thought you were going to back out on me. Your fan club didn't psych you out?" Trudge taunted, a smirk decorating his face.
"Not at all Trudge," Lise canted her head to the side. "Do you have an invisible fan club that you didn't tell us about?"
Trudge laughed and revved his engine. "Hopefully you're still trash talking when this is over."
"Let's just turbo duel, Trudge." Lise revved her runner's engine too.
"Good attitude," Trudge muttered with a smile.
The countdown ended and both turbo duelists burned rubber as they gunned for the first turn. No autopilot meant whoever took the corner coming up first would get the first turn.
Lise bit her lip, remembering her sorry performance last attempt. Last time all I could do was tail Trudge, but this isn't last time. Focus on the here and now. Go forward!
"Hmm," Jack tapped his lip thoughtfully. "I hope she's not letting Trudge take the corner first. She's got to be more aggressive as a turbo duelist. Some duels get very rough."
Crow nodded and tapped the railing in front of him. "Maybe she has a plan?"
Akiza and Yusei watched quietly, both unable to tear their eyes away. Yusei had removed his glove and was proceeding to chew on his thumb with vigor. Akiza picked at the skin on her fingers without looking. The twins clutched at their flags and stared intently at the two duelists below.
"You don't seem to learn very fast!" Trudge jeered back at Lise, who was once again right on his tail. He started to lean into the turn.
Lise saw her chance and took it. Trudge was taking the turn a little wide, so she had to take the run tighter to be able to go first. She increased her speed to pull out from behind Trudge and even with him, braking hard to turn sharply, and pouring on the speed as soon as her front wheel came out of the turn.
"She used Trudge as a wind break!" Yusei grinned crookedly, unable to hide his excitement.
"All right! Go Lise, go!" Akiza cheered, pumping her fist towards the sky.
"Whoo!" the twins cheered, waving their flags fervently.
"Well done," Trudge muttered, nodding. He watched Lise like a proud father. "But you've still gotta beat me to get your license."
Lise: 4000
Trudge: 4000
"I draw!" Lise was nervous, but she had practiced enough to drive with only one hand. "I summon Phoenix Flare in attack mode! Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn!"
(Phoenix Flare: Atk: 1900 Def: 1300)
"Good thing you aren't too scared to draw!" Trudge began his turn. "I set one monster in facedown defense position and one facedown. Your move."
"All right then! I play one monster in facedown defense position as well. Now Phoenix Flare, attack Trudge's facedown!"
"I'm gonna stop you there," Trudge sneered gleefully. "I play my trap No Entry! This card changes all your monsters in attack mode to defense mode."
Lise growled under her breath and rode on with a frown. "I end my turn."
"Then it's my move again!" Trudge declared, drawing a new card. "I'm summoning out Samurai Sword Baron in attack mode! Sorry Lise, I want you to get your license, but I like winning much more!"
(Samurai Sword Baron: Atk: 1600 Def: 1200)
"If you win, Trudge," Lise reminded him over her shoulder and increasing her speed. She couldn't help but smile. The speed and the wind in her face was exhilarating.
Trudge cocked an eyebrow and came up on Lise's tail. "We'll see, won't we? I flip summon my Sinister Sprocket and tune him with Samurai Sword Baron to synchro summon Stygian Sergeants!"
(Stygian Sergeants: Atk: 2200 Def: 1800)
Trudge's new monster was like a more grotesque version of himself. A draconic monster, it rode a security duel runner as well, and had two gold and purple heads.
"Uh oh…" Leo uttered.
"I think Lise might be in a spot of trouble," Jack crossed his arms, his violet eyes clouded.
"My Sergeants love 'good cop, bad cop,' but unfortunately for you they both like to be the bad cop," Trudge smirked, pulling even with Lise. "Stygian Sergeants, attack Phoenix Flare!"
Lise winced as her monster when up in a blaze of white and yellow chips.
"Now my Sergeants gain 800 attack points to attack again!"
The monster Lise had placed facedown also went packing for the graveyard. Trudge rammed the side of his runner into Lise's. She kept herself upright, but Trudge used her correcting efforts to pull ahead of Lise.
Yusei bit down so hard on his thumb he drew blood.
"Dude," Crow nudged his friend's shoulder. "You're bleeding."
"Huh?" Yusei looked down at his bloody appendage and accepted a band aid Luna had scrounged from her pocket.
"Leo's always hurting himself somehow," she explained.
"Thanks."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"How about summon a new monster?" Lise countered with a smile. "My facedown monster was Masked Dragon, which means I can take a dragon type monster in my deck and summon it to the field if it has 1500 attack points or less! I summon out Pyrus Starburst in attack mode!"
(Masked Dragon: Atk: 1400 Def: 1100)
(Pyrus Starburst: Atk: 1000 Def: 1000)
"Not bad, but let's see what you do with your turn."
"Be careful what you wish for, Trudge, I draw," Lise smiled widely. This is awesome! I'm not winning or losing, but I'm having so much fun! "Since I have five speed counters, I can play my Fissure speed spell! Since you only have one monster on your field, it goes bye-bye!"
"What?!" Trudge exclaimed, eyes wide.
"That's right!" Lise accelerated heavily and pulled ahead of Trudge. She smiled widely at his scowl. "And now that your field is wide open I think I'll summon out another Masked Dragon to keep Pyrus Starburst company! Now Pyrus and Masked Dragon attack Trudge directly!"
Lise: 4000
Trudge: 1600
"Yeah!" Leo cheered loudly, doing a little victory dance that involved a lot of bird-like arm movements.
Luna laughed at her brother's comical behavior and cheered, waving her flag. "Go Lise!"
"She's winning! She's winning!" Akiza cried, jumping up and down.
"Not quite," Crow's eyes were cloudy with his thoughts. He tapped his chin with his fingers. "I doubt that's all Trudge has in store for her."
"Oh…" Mood dampened by anticipation, the onlookers kept rapt attention.
"You managed to knock a chip out of my lifepoints, but real turbo dueling is grueling, Lise. You beat me once, but you won't beat me again," Trudge declared, his jaw set rigidly.
"Oh yeah?"
"And my monster Search Striker is going to help me out!"
(Search Striker: Atk: 1600 Def: 1200)
"Now I play the speed spell Double Summon, which I can play because we both have six speed counters. It allows me to summon Jutte Fighter to my field as well!"
(Jutte Fighter: Atk: 700 Def: 900)
"With his ability, I switch your Pyrus Starburst into defense mode and attack with Search Striker!" Trudge snickered with glee. He was enjoying himself a little too much. He had liked defeating Lise her last attempt, and although he was no longer on poor relations with the others, he enjoyed the challenge of facing an old rival. "I'll end with a facedown. Keep up! If you can."
"I'll do more than keep up!" Lise drew a new card. "I sacrifice Masked Dragon to summon my Inferno Wolf!"
(Inferno Wolf: Atk: 2100 Def: 600)
"Inferno Wolf, melt his Jutte Fighter!"
"I think not," Trudge smirked and widened the distance between himself and Lise. "I play my second No Entry! Now as you know, your wolf can't attack because he gets switched into defense mode!"
"Damnit," Lise swore under her breath. "I play one card facedown and end my turn then."
"Damnit, Crow," Akiza echoed Lise's sentiment. "Why did you have to be right?"
Crow shrugged and put his hands palm out. "What? Trudge isn't a bad duelist and it isn't like he'd make it easy for her!"
"Still, I think Yusei is on his way to losing his thumb."
"Do we have to sit on your hands?" Jack offered Yusei, who had chewed the skin on his thumb raw.
"No, no, I'm just worried."
"You're telling me."
"It's my turn and I summon out Stygian Security," Trudge began. His new monster looked like a very safety conscious blue bat with its police officer gear and emergency light glowing annoyingly on its head.
(Stygian Security: Atk: 100 Def: 600)
"This little guy is going to tune with my Search Striker to synchro summon my second Stygian Sergeants!"
"No way! You have two?!"
"Absolutely! And that means double the trouble for you!"
"Shit," Lise cursed, biting her lip. "This is gonna sting."
"Stygian Sergeants attack Lise's Inferno Wolf, and now that he's out of the way, attack her directly!"
Lise: 1000
Trudge: 1600
"You should just throw in the towel. With only a thousand lifepoints left, it's only a matter of time before I beat you again," Trudge taunted. Sorry kid, but these turbo duels get tough, and you are too. Show me what you're made of!
"Since when did I give up? I have everything I need right…" Lise put her hand on her deck. "Here!" she drew her next card. The spectators watched with baited breath as Lise cracked the tiniest of smiles. "It's time to take down those big ugly Sergeants of yours for good. First up, I play my facedown card Call of the Haunted to bring back my Inferno Wolf from the graveyard. Then I summon out my tuner monster Solar Butterfly! I tune my two monsters together to synchro summon my new monster Fire Opal!"
(Fire Opal: Atk: 2200 Def: 1700)
Lise's new monster was a gorgeous, tall woman with fiery red hair pulled back into a ponytail and framing her face. She carried a bow meant for shooting arrows in her four arms, and a luminous opal was set in the pale skin of her forehead.
"Next I play my speed spell Riryoku, by taking away two of my eleven speed counters, in order to halve the attack points of your Sergeants!"
(Stygian Sergeants Atk: 2200 -1100)
"This isn't good," Trudge muttered, his earlier smile long gone.
"But I'm not even at the best part!" Lise gunned her engine, zooming past Trudge like a rocket. "For every monster you control, Opal gets a present in the form of 500 extra attack points!"
(Fire Opal: Atk: 2200 2700)
"That's perfect!" Akiza gasped, her face hurting from smiling for so long.
"A perfect win!" Jack's smile was full of pride. "I guess we'll have to make room for another turbo duelist in our garage."
"I thought we already did," Crow chuckled, his eyes shining. "The license just makes it official."
"GO LISE!" Leo and Luna waved their flags around like maniacs on a sugar high.
"Go Fire Opal! Attack Trudge's Stygian Sergeants and end this!"
Fire Opal raised her bow and drew her free arms back, fiery arrows emerging for her to fire. The monster's aim was true. The fire arrows lodged in Stygian Sergeants and sent it packing.
Lise: 1000
Trudge: 0000
Trudge coughed, waving away the smoke pouring out of his runner the best he could. He came to a halt on the track, smiling despite his loss.
"WHOOHOO!" Lise squealed at the top of her lungs. She threw up both fists into the sky in her excitement, and had to quickly balance herself or risk crashing. Lise laughed at herself and stopped abruptly. She took off her helmet and leaned back on her runner. "I did it…" she muttered as if she could scarcely believe it.
"That you did," Trudge smiled with no hint of competition or menace behind it. "Congratulations, Lise, you're a turbo duelist."
"Thanks, Trudge," she granted him a weak thumbs up.
He chuckled and returned the gesture. "I'll leave you to collect your license on your own. I have more kids to test, and I have a feeling you'll be just fine." Trudge turned his runner and rode off.
Lise sat up and dismounted just in time for Yusei to tackle her into a huge hug.
"You did it! I knew you would, but I got to see it! You did it!" Yusei set her down for a minute so she could breathe and see her other friends too. "You're officially part of the world of speed!"
"Not the drug, the turbo dueling speed world," Crow joked, a grin spreading across his face like warm butter over toast.
"Good to be here," Lise couldn't stop grinning, getting fist bumps from Jack and Crow. They knew Leo, Luna, and Akiza were already glomping onto Lise so much it was a wonder she could still breathe.
Lise eyed the sky and the entirety of New Domino City on the way to getting her actual physical license. It was just sitting there, waiting for her to turbo duel in. "Good to be here…"
