Yusei didn't get very far, not like he expected to anyway. The night was warm and welcoming, roads quiet as a sleeping mouse. The teen was no fool, it was the calm before a storm. His suspicions were only confirmed the moment he passed an alleyway; the start of another runner, yellow and blue lights flashed on, lighting up the area and face of the culprit.
Previous theories of Trudge's blockade came out of the dark, the culprit speeding past the pair and forcing Yusei to slam on the brakes. The headlight of the runner cut through the thick blanket of black, showing the face of the other rider a little clearer. Even if he didn't have the light, Ringer's growls could have told him who it was.
"Evening, Yusei," Trudge snarled. "I finally have you and that pest of yours alone. Now, there's no way of anyone interrupting our duel." Yusei gritted his teeth. When were they going to get a break from this? Ringer's chin rested on his shoulder, whiskers tickled his neck as the fox bared his teeth at the officer.
"Calm down, Ringer." Nothing changed. His gloved hand reached for his partner's head, where he tried rubbing the snarl out of his furred features.
"You ready to go back to the Facility?" Trudge asked.
"I'm not going back," Yusei replied, getting ready to tear out of the alley. Trudge did the same, revving his engine with a twist of the gas. The cherry runner howled back. The officer backed his ride only a few inches before getting cut off.
A pair of lights shone over their measly beams. They didn't belong to any runner, but to a car. A single shadow was cast upon the two ready duelists, a man shorter than Rally stands the cause. His purple hair curled into horn-like spikes, a small lock stuck to his forehead. A line of red cut through each green eye. The man's pointed ears were pierced with a single blue gem. His trench coat was long, covering a white and gold shirt.
Yusei paused, hands uncurling from the acceleration. Ringer was behind him, trying to move to the duelist's lap, the only way to protect his partner. Quickly, the ebony wrapped one arm around the fox's middle and the other around his front legs.
"What do you want?" Trudge snapped. So he knows this man? Yusei held tighter, being careful not to hurt the growling animal in his arms.
"I came to deliver a message to Mr. Fudo." The man's green glare locked onto Ringer, staring the fox down. His partner didn't stop, not even a slight hesitation in the warnings. "Calm down, Fido. I bring no harm to you or your partner." He didn't back off.
"His name is Ringer," Yusei interrupted. He studied the unknown man, who was right. The man didn't appear to be a threat to them, but the same could be said about Crow. The teen could hold his own in a fight if Spark let him that is. "Who are you?"
"My name is Lazar. I'm head of the special investigations." The man opened his mouth, ready to say something else when he was interrupted by the watching officer.
"What do you want with this criminal, Lazar? He stole this runner and it's my job to put him away for it. You're interrupting an investigation. That's something you could be demoted for." The officer smiled. He looked pleased about this.
"You won't be 'doing your job', officer Trudge."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because it will be in your best interest not to disobey the director's orders." The clown, Lazar, produced an envelope from his coat, similar to the one Leo had shown him and handed it to him. Ringer watched the man the whole time, teeth bared in a vicious grin.
Yusei uncurled his arms from the fox to open the letter. Inside was an invitation to the Fortune Cup, his and Ringer's names etched in gold on a cream piece of paper. There was something else inside the envelope with the invitation, something to make his heart drop and breathing to hitch.
"Ringer?" He said with a slight hesitation. The fox's growls faded, red eyes looking back at the now pale duelist. In his hands was a picture, no signs of aging or when it was taken, but they knew when it was. Printed on the smooth paper, was a picture of his friends. Rally, Tank, Blitz, Nervin, Crow and Spark, all happy and smiling, unaware of the person taking the picture. It must have been taken recently. Blitz and Nervin still had a few bruises on their faces from the scuffle with that insect duelist about a week ago. This must have been before he left.
"You are going to enter the tournament," Lazar said, pulling the pair from the photo.
"And if I don't?" Yusei pondered. He needed to hear it, didn't want to hear the worse, but he needed to hear it. Maybe he was wrong and he was jumping to conclusions, but sometimes people just think up the worse situations.
"Then, they will pay for everything you have done," Lazar chuckled. His stomach sank, swirling at the thought of causing any kind of pain. "One more thing." He reached back into his jacket, searching for something, before pulling it out. "In order for your… pet to compete with you, you need this. Then again, you need it in order for him to walk around with you."
He handed the thing to the half listening duelist, grabbing it in a relaxed grasp and eyes glued to the picture. The ebony didn't bother looking at the object, which felt like a long, flat heavy cord.
The man left, after telling Trudge that the director wanted to see him. The officer left shortly after, leaving Ringer to calm his partner. They sat there in the dark of the alley, eyes glued to the picture in Yusei's hands.
"What do we do, Ringer?" The fox wished he could say something, instead of the comforting gestures he made. He wished he could tell him their friends will be alright and the man was just bluffing. All he could do was creep back to his seat and press his fur to the duelist's back, whimpering in concern.
Yusei pocketed the envelope and picture, then to the other thing handed to him. It was a collar. The red color stood out against the darkness, but anything else couldn't be seen, other than the silver loop and tag dangling from the thick nylon webbing. Yusei was sure it had Ringer's information since this Lazar person seemed to know who he was and where he's from. The collar joined the picture and envelope.
Placing his hands on the acceleration, he made it out of the alley and on the road when a thought struck him hard; where were they going to go? They could sleep on the streets, but he doubted Ringer would sleep at all, alert and ready for anyone who wanted to jump them. Maybe he could contact Blister? Then, again the young man had done a lot for them already.
Like the universe had heard him, Yusei's dashboard changed to a call screen, the name text in large white block letters. They recognized it instantly. Yusei pressed the call button.
"Yusei! Finally, you answer," Blister sighed in relief. "I've tried calling you all day. What happened?"
"Sorry," was said in unison with a huffed bark. "We were kind of busy with something. What's up?"
"Other than you both giving me a heart attack?" Blister questioned. He sighed. "I'm going to be sending you a location, meet me there A.S.A.P. Be careful of Sector Security. Ever since the run in with Trudge, they've been crawling all over the city looking for you and Ringer." With that, he hung up.
Less than a minute later, the screen lit up again, this time with a map of where they were. A single blue dot rippled on a grey line near the upper left edge of the screen. At the bottom of the screen was a blue arrow pointing forward. The dot must have been where they were to go, the arrow signifying where they stood.
They followed the map, watching the arrow turn when the runner did and the dot gets closer. Ringer seemed to enjoy watching the dot, glaring at it with mild curiosity washing over the kit like playfulness he had when they were little.
The made another turn and Ringer's head cocked to the side as the map did. Another turn and the same result. Honestly, Yusei found it amusing. Even in situations like the one they were in, Ringer always seemed to find a way to cheer him up. The little things he does just to take his mind off a bad event.
Soon the small dot was capping off the arrow, Yusei was trying to hide a smirk as he looked around for any sign of Blister. The fox yipped, jumping from behind and sprinting off down a near alley.
"Ringer!" Yusei shouted after. Setting his runner at a slow pace, he followed his partner. The fox barked once more, followed by shouts and a thud. The worry started to set in, hoping Ringer didn't chase a stranger. The fire was extinguished when he saw what happened.
Blister was on the ground, Duel Runner next to him. The ex-duelist was pinned to the ground by Ringer, whose tail wagged in delight. Pink tongue hung out of his mouth, dragged across the man's stubbled cheeks.
"Hey! Yusei, how about you call off your partner?" Blister half laughed. Yusei could help a small chuckle.
"Knock it off, Ringer!" The teen called. "The man is helping us don't give him a reason not to." The fox jumped away, scrambling to the duelist's side, then sending a sorry glance Blister's way. The man got to his feet, brushing any dirt off his clothes and fixing anything askew in the 'scuffle'.
"You're fine, Ringer," the man assured. He patted the fox's forehead ring. He turned to Yusei and whispered, "Do I need to get used to that?"
"Why did you want to meet here?" Yusei asked. He glanced around the alley. It was rundown, like most of the allies, trash clung to the sides like the cobwebs in their old home. Rats scurried around them, fighting over trash and places to hide. Near them was a garage, hiding its contents.
"Well, I figured you would need a place to stay since you're not from around here," Blister replied, stating the obvious and stepping to the garage and placing a hand on a control panel. "And I have space, so I did a little cleaning up." He pressed a few buttons on the pad, commanding the large metal door to open. Inside was small, enough for a single person or a car to live in.
Though from the state it was in, this was no place for a car. A brown futon was shoved in a far corner, a spare parts bin on the same side. On the far was was a set of stairs leading to the inside of the house. A shelf held boxes filled with smaller parts and larger ones too big for the parts bin. Between the futon and the parts bin was a metal table, legs ending with small black wheels.
"Hopes this works for you," Blister said. He helped Yusei push the red runner into the garage, Ringer in tow. The fox hopped onto the futon and took a seat. "At least, till you get your own place."
"Thanks, Blister. For everything." The young man pressed the same sequence of numbers on the inside panel and stepped back, allowing the large metal door to glide down.
"No problem," he replied. "But you'll have to hang low here for now. At least, till Sector Security gives up." The man took a few steps to the stairs, taking the red rail in hand and scaled the stairs. Then, turned around to face the pair as he opened the door. "Just call if you need anything." The brunette disappeared behind the door, leaving Yusei and Ringer to get comfortable.
The teen didn't bother with his runner yet, shrugging his jacket off and laying it on the couch next to his partner, gloves followed. Calloused hands reached into pants pockets, pulling out the red band and the picture. A tired, sad sigh escaped him, knocking him to the couch. The picture was tossed to the metal table on wheels.
The collar wrapped around Ringer's throat, silver belt latch securing it from behind. Sure enough, Ringer's name was engraved on one side of a steel rounded plate, Yusei's full name on the other. But something about it felt… off.
It might have been the fact this was a dog collar. Things like that labeled an animal as someone's property, not the friend and partner Ringer had become the moment they met. It made that little stone in his stomach grow, claiming space in the small pouch and forcing a wave of nausea to consume him.
The feeling got worse with each passing second he stared at the red collar around the fox's neck. It was just wrong. Did Jack do this, too? Labeled Celeste as his property, not the dueling partner she was? Either way, Yusei didn't like it. Judging by the look on Ringer's face, he didn't either.
Shaking fingers worked quickly, pulling the metal barb from the offending material. Nothing stopped the apologies rolling off his tongue. Some were for Ringer, the mere thought of the collar felt heavy with guilt. Others were for his friends in the Satellite, dragging them into this was never his plan.
At some point, the apologies became unintelligible, more like rambling, but he was sure he mentioned Crow. They didn't know what happened to the young teen after Sector Security came, he just followed Jack's orders. Even Crow's runner was under Jack's care.
"What are we going to do?"
Early the next morning, Yusei was at work trying to fix the small damages his runner had received in the crash. It wouldn't take too long to do, just smooth out the metal and check for any internal damage.
The garage was silent, except for the occasional sound from cars outside and the clinking of tools at work. Ringer had found safety in the small noises, red eyes sealed from the flickering garage light as he listened. Even the light gave a noise in the orchestra of sound.
It gave him something else to focus on and not the small panic his partner was in last night. It unnerved him when the sheer panic crossed Yusei's usually calm features, he hadn't seen any kind of panic since the Facility. Ringer never experienced panic like that before either. Now, someone had threatened the life of his friends.
"Hey, Yusei," a familiar voice called. They both turned to the source; Blister. The man stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at them. "I've been meaning to ask you; why is Sector Security so interested in you? I know this isn't just about a stolen Duel Runner, based on the amount of Security I've seen in the last hour."
"Not sure," Yusei said with a shrug. His attention was turned back to the damaged runner. Ringer watched the young brunette's scruffy features move into a suspicious grin, not seeing the chaos happening under the ebony's calm and collective mask. Thankfully, Ringer knew when the teen was calling out for help, to talk about what was troubling him. Sometimes, he needed to let others know, others who can help.
The black fox grabbed the photo in his teeth from where it laid, leaving a small wet trail on the futon to dry with his tongue. He trotted up the stairs and to the man standing above them. Blister took the photo in his hands, giving a small thanks, then looked.
"Who are they?" The sounds of tinkering hesitated, thinking of what Blister was talking about. Ringer watched the gears in Yusei's head shift, changing into different positions to put pieces together. They clicked in place, the duelist sighing in realization.
"They're my friends," was mumbled. "If I don't join this tournament, then they pay for whatever I did to get my runner back. Sadly, I don't think they'll stop there." The tinkering faded back in, growing louder to block out any worrying thoughts. Ringer watched his partner, ears pressed to the sides of his head to touch yellow marks on either shoulder.
"Don't worry," Blister sighed and turned to the black fox still standing beside him. Then, lowered his voice, "I'm going to call up some friends. Maybe someone can check on your friends. You know to make sure they're alright." The man left with red eyes boring into the rough material of his vest, picture still in hand.
Hopping from the stairs, Ringer padded to his partner, working hard on the ruby runner. It was where no thought could touch him, but Ringer can. With a simple nudge, the duelist would snap back to reality.
"Hey, Ringer? Could you hand me that wrench from the shelves, please?" The thought was pushed aside with a black nose as he searched the bottom shelf for the requested tool. A single bark asked for a further explanation. "It should be on the second or third shelf. You should be able to reach."
He rested his black-furred chin on the metal surface, pushing a few stray parts for a better look. When his searched turned up blank, he stretched and balanced on his back legs, letting his front claws click his weight in place. Only a few things had to be brushed to the sides before the long metal tool was in his sights.
The steel tasted terrible, of oil and dirt and grease, but it was something familiar. It just missed the rusted taste of old age. Ringer placed the wrench into Yusei's brown gloved hand and received a, "Thanks, bud." The fox beamed, happy he was able to help, and besides the ebony, waiting for his next request.
What's up, everyone? How's everyone's summer vacation going? Mine's going great. Now that I don't have to worry about school, *Cough* For now *Cough* I can try updating the story a bit more often. Sorry, I had something stuck in my throat. I also wanted to thank you, my readers, for 2k+ reads! This amazing, this story's not even a year old, yet.
Again, Thank you for all your reads and I hope you all are having a fantastic summer!