As we drove away from the crashed pursuit bot, I looked at Crow, "Why are you living in the most dangerous part of Satellite?"
"It's the only place Security won't go. With my marker, the only way I can hide is by living where they can't even be. Plus the only real danger is the buildings, the other people who live there are like me. They won't bug me if I don't bug them."
"I guess you aren't a total Bird Brain."
"Gee, thanks sis."
Crow stopped, "This is the smallest part of the canyon. Do you think you can jump it?"
I walked to the edge, "Is there a ramp nearby?"
He pointed, and even with him pointing it out, it took me a little while to recognize it. Clearly the locals on the other side of the bridge didn't want security to find a way to get their runners over there. I looked at him, "That's perfect. Thanks."
I drove down the road, spun around and shot up the ramp, flying over the canyon, This is so cool!
I landed a little roughly, and I turned around to see Crow jump. Did he install wings on his runner? He really is a bird brain.
He landed next to me, "Like my runner's special feature?"
"Where did you get the runner?"
"A friend made the frame and I finished the rest of it on my own. I call it the Blackbird. By the way, what do you call yours?"
I blushed, "Justice."
He started barking with laughter, "I like it. It's not overwhelming and it says what's most important to you. Let's go to your friends."
I gladly started following him, closer and closer to the bridge that represented so much hope for our people.
We finally rounded a corner and saw my friends looking relieved to see me. I rolled to a stop as a group of kids came out of nowhere and started mobbing Crow.
I took off my helmet just as I heard Crow say, "I brought the new ruler of turbo dueling: Yusei Fudo!"
Suddenly the kids were completely surrounding me.
"Can I have an autograph?"
"I watched your duel with Jack ten times!"
"This is so cool!"
"Can I see your deck?"
How many kids does Crow take care of? I feel like I'm in a mob! I cleared my throat, "Can I get off my runner?"
They parted and I walked over to my friends. Aki looked like she was trying to not laugh, "You looked so defenseless with those kids."
"I'll admit, I'm not great with a ton of kids."
Lucky for me, the kids were mostly content to check out my runner.
We all gathered around the fire, eating hot beans yet again. Aki turned to me, "How often do you guys eat beans here?"
"Too often. It's one of the things that is still good when it gets here. If it's not beans, it's something else from a can."
Crow came out with water bottles, "I managed to 'borrow' a couple of these from Security headquarters when I was getting cards."
I smiled, "Good job Crow. And I may have brought some stuff from Blister's place in the city."
He shrugged it off, "I'm not going to be back there for a while."
I went over to my runner and pulled out two loaves of bread. Crow stared as I handed him one, "Why is this bread soft?"
Aki seemed shocked, "That's how bread is."
"Not in Satellite."
She realized what I was saying, "Oh, well then I think that the kids should definitely get some so they know what real bread is."
Crow nodded, "Hey! Get over here! Yusei brought all of you presents!"
The kids mobbed, and he explained, "This is bread fresh from the city. She wanted you to have some."
I watched as each kid was given two pieces of bread, and then they came over and gave me a hug before running back to their bowl of beans.
One of them was apparently a fast eater, because by the time we had gotten our bread they were back for a nighttime story.
Crow chuckled, "How about the one about the Bridge to Nowhere?"
"Yeah!"
"There was once a small island where everyone is always sad, and hoping to move to a nearby island, where everyone was happy."
One of the boys interrupted, "We all know that it's the city and the Satellite. Why are you talking so fancy?"
Crow grabbed their heads, "You gotta delicate when you tell stories to girls."
Nervin laughed, "Don't you mean deliver?"
"That's another way to say it."
Everyone chuckled as Crow continued, "One day, a stranger appeared at the shore, and started watching the city. Then one day, he stopped watching the city and started building a bridge."
A different boy interrupted, "One guy can't build a bridge, it'd take too long!"
"That's what everyone around him said, but instead they came to laugh at him, and stayed to help him build.
"Before this all they had was their work, and not even all of them had work. To have a chance to recycle the garbage into something that meant so much to them was a change they all seized. The progress shot forward, and within a month it looked like it might actually get finished. This encouraged them to work even harder.
"But about this time the Securities came to this side of the Satellite and started arresting anyone they caught working on it. But everyone knew that their real target was the man who started all of this in the first place.
"One day, they finally started chasing him down on his runner, and cornered him next to the bridge, where he had two options. Die in the Facility, or die a legend. He chose to drive off the end of his bridge, and as he shot off it they saw wings fold out of his runner. No one ever saw him again."
Rally seemed really upset with how the story ended, "Someone must know what happened to him! He couldn't just vanish!"
Crow nodded, "You're right, but if ever need to find him…"
"Just look in your heart," his kids said with him, pointing at their hearts. They ran off to their bed as Crow rejoined us.
Blister looked at me, "I've never heard of that story. Yusei, do you think that you could eventually connect the two islands?"
I shrugged, "I don't know," I said looking at the sky, "But we should get to bed too."
They all nodded, and one by one they fell asleep. By the time the last one fell asleep, it was past midnight.
I quietly slipped out of my bedroll and walked over to my runner. I put up the stand and started pushing it away.
"I knew it. You're trying to sneak away to fight those Dark Signers by yourself."
I spun around and saw Crow giving me a dirty look, "You aren't the only one in danger 'cause of those wackos, and I promised to protect these kids no matter what."
"These duels aren't easy Crow. From what I've experienced, they actually steal part of your energy every time you take damage. With that in mind, I think the loser actually dies. Does that sound like something you want to risk?"
He looked me in the eyes, "Like I said, I am willing to die protecting these kids, and I'm the only person you trust who knows this side of Satellite."
"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Where do you two think you are going?"
We both whipped around and saw Aki looking at us. I whispered, "He's taking me to the place where the Dark Signers are."
Aki held up her uncovered arm, "Crow's right, you aren't the only one in danger here."
Crow smiled, "Then you should probably ride with me. My runner has more room in back, and they probably are after Yusei."
After driving for a few minutes, Crow glanced over at me, "Are you sure you want to go to the Reactor? That place has been known to make people disappear."
I sighed, "Because people who want to destroy the world live there."
"Oh, right."
Suddenly my arm started burning like it did with the Drone dude, and a purple fog showed up in front of us, "I think they sent out a welcoming party."
Aki looked at me, "Remember Yusei. Goodwin said that you might know the Dark Signer."
The fog disappeared, and Crow muttered, "I don't like this."
Suddenly a card shot in between us and we both swerved to get control. Aki screamed as Crow nearly crashed into something, and I looked for what had nearly hit us.
It was Vorse Raider. His card.
I looked around, "Kiryu Kyosuke, where are you?"
"You remember me? How sweet!"
A/N: Hello everybody! Happy Christmas Eve! I was so excited to get started writing Kiryu vs Yusei. I actually have the entire duel typed up right now, I'm just working on how to split it up best. AH! I love the duel so much that I have watched them more times combined than episodes in the second season.
Review time!
Let's-Go-To-Vermont: Good to hear from you again, hope that you enjoyed this as much as you hoped you would!
