Yet another Episode has come your way…Please enjoy it. And Review it while you are enjoying it. So… have a nice day!
Sayer was unconscious as he fell into the thick cloud of darkness below. Instantly, the darkness vanished, taking him with it. Akiza cried out.
"NO! Sayer!" But it was no use. Debris still fell from above as the building began rattling. Misty smirked as she began to walk away.
"It looks like we'll have to finish our duel another time, Black Rose." Misty retracted her Duel Disk before darting off down a corridor. Sidney resummoned her Lunar Solstice Dragon to allow Laura and Midori to escape.
"I'm going to get Aki out of here! I'll meet you on the outside!" Before they could say a word, the dragon scooped them up and took off, smashing through the wall into the night sky. As the dragon flew so that it was a safe distance from the building, Laura started to feel panicky. Midori tried to comfort her.
"It'll be ok, Laura."
"OK? OK!?! Nothing is going to be ok until I know my best friend is safe!" Laura took a deep breath and composed herself. As she looked down, she could see a white jeep coming up the road, with a red light emitting from it.
"It's Yusei! I can sense him…and someone else!" Midori pointed excitedly. The dragon muffled as it floated quietly. Laura sighed.
"Let's just cross our fingers and hope nobody gets squished in there."
In the meantime, a chandelier fell and smashed on the ground below and Sidney managed to get herself in the air again. The shaking made her floating awkward as she reached out to Akiza, who was holding on to a rail.
"Aki! Give me your hand!"
Just then, Akiza's eyes widened and she grabbed Sidney and pulled her out of the way of a mass of stone. She gave Sidney an almost scolding expression.
"You shouldn't have come." She said.
"Well, I'm here now. So, what do you say we blow this Popsicle stand?"
Akiza nodded as they swiftly bolted for an open spot. Sidney started to pull a card from her deck when Akiza slapped a card onto her Duel Disk.
"Black Rose Dragon! Take us away from here!" She called. Her dragon emerged in a shower of fire and flower petals. She hopped on the dragon's back and pulled Sidney up after her. The dragon breathed hot flames at one of the walls and used its long black tentacles to smash through and the wall.
They seemed to be on the safe side as they could see Luna Solstice Dragon bringing Midori and Laura in for a landing when all of a sudden; a giant claw struck Black Rose Dragon. The creature roared in pain as Akiza and Sidney were knocked off and sent falling. Sidney swerved around to see Misty's Earthbound Immortal making an attempt to attack as it was being sucked back into the ground by an eerie green light.
The other creature had already faded away as a faint orange glow could be seen across the way, slowly disappearing into the darkness. Sidney looked back to see Akiza falling side by side with her, and called to her. Unfortunately, the blow made to her dragon by the Immortal had been so great that she was knocked unconscious before being thrown from her dragon. She noticed the dragon was gone and tried to call back her own monster, only to find it had also disappeared. She swiped the card from her deck and summon it again, but nothing happened. As long as Akiza was out cold, she couldn't use the abilities that the Foreclaw mark granted her. But, she was not about to plummet to her doom, and neither was Akiza.
She saw her marks were still glowing and put her feet out, and concentrated very hard. After a second she was able to stop falling, as the ability of the Wings mark still worked, since Jack Atlas was safe and had no injuries whatsoever.
Once she became balanced and was floating in the air, she looked down to see Akiza halfway between her and the ground. She focused all her attention on Akiza's position and called out to her as she shot down.
"AKIZA!!!"
She swooped under her and tried to put Akiza on her back, hoping to piggyback her as she would float down to safety. But, she forgot to take into consideration that Akiza was taller than her, and therefore of a greater size and weight. She struggled as the weight of her body and gravity dragged Sidney down, despite her attempts to fight it off.
She turned her head to see both Immortals were now completely gone. Sidney began to feel dizzy and the world around her seemed to grow dark. Below her, Laura, Midori, Yusei, and Mina were horrified to see that she was starting to fall asleep.
"What's going…on? Why am I so…sleepy all of…a…sudden…?" She noticed that her left shoulder mark was glowing so brightly that it hurt her eyes to look at it. It was the Wings symbol, the one she shared with Jack, and the one that enabled her to float.
Down below, Yusei felt his arm burning as his mark shined like a warning light.
"She's straining her powers just to keep from falling…I can feel her using every ounce of it." Yusei said. He looked up and called out to Sidney.
"Sidney! You need to let go of Akiza! If you don't, you'll fall and you'll both be seriously hurt…or…" Yusei didn't even want to think of it.
Midori and Laura ran under them. "We'll catch Akiza!"
"But…I don't want you guys to miss. I won't forgive myself if something bad happens to her!" Sidney said, still struggling.
"Sid, I promise we won't miss. We'll catch her!" Laura shouted. Sidney finally found the courage within herself to let Akiza slip from her grip. As she let go and allowed her to fall, she could feel herself gently floating down after her, still looking into her face.
Laura and Midori had locked their hands in a lopsided circle and Akiza fell on top of them, knocking both of them down on their chests. However, nobody was seriously hurt. Sidney felt the darkness still closing in on her as she was only a couple of feet from the ground. The spark in her eyes dulled.
Yusei put his arms out as she fell into his chest and wrapped them around her. Mina walked over to him and looked with concern at Sidney. Laura and Midori managed to scoot out from under Akiza and stand up, holding her up by the arms. Laura used her free hand to press a button on her car keys and her Jaguar rolled up from not too far away. Midori struggled with her tiny frame to help put Akiza in the car until they could get an ambulance to take her to the hospital.
"Akiza looks like she's ok for the most part, but she's out like a light, man!" Laura commented as she tried to rouse her before taking any drastic measures.
"Sidney, wake up." Yusei sat down and rested Sidney on his lamp, trying to wake her, but realized that she had fainted just before he caught her.
"Looks like they both need to go to the hospital." Midori worried. Mina whipped out her cell phone and dialed the emergency number rapidly.
"Hello? I need an ambulance here, stat! We're in front of the Arcadia Movement building with two unconscious victims!" After a quick exchange of information with the hospital, she quickly dialed Goodwin's number.
"Goodwin, we've got a problem. Sidney and Akiza were at the Arcadia Movement building…No…they're fine, as far as I can tell, but unconscious. We called for an ambulance and they'll be here soon."
Laura looked up at the sky and spotted a black helicopter hovering over the Arcadia Movement building. Perhaps there were people who were trapped on the roof who were being rescued, she thought. But, then Midori began shivering, and tears started to well up and trickle down her face.
"It's HIM. He's in that helicopter up there!"
"Him? Midori…what are you…?"
"The Dark Signers! They're in that helicopter!" She pointed.
Laura's eyes widened as she clenched her fists.
"I guess they're here to pick up Misty and whoever that friend of hers was that was dueling Sayer…well good riddance, for now."
Yusei gently stood up with Sidney in his arms, trying not to strain himself too much. He gazed over at Akiza worriedly. Laura saw his expression and tried to reassure him.
"Don't worry about it, Yusei. I may not know much, but she looks like the kind of girl that's as tough as nails." It didn't help, because he knew that Akiza was more vulnerable than she let on to most people. Before they met, she had hid behind her mask as the Black Rose, hoping to protect herself from other. He had told her that if she continued to stay mad at the people who hurt her she wouldn't be happy. She had told him that hate was all she knew, that it would be hard just to forget and embrace what she was. He wondered if she ever would.
"You know something, Midori?" Laura asked, wondering aloud. Midori perked up as she saw the helicopter flying away into the distance, carrying HIM far away from her, she hoped.
"What?" She asked, holding the rim of her black tunic down as a cold wind blew, causing her hair to get in her eyes. She shook her head before turning back to Laura.
"Do you remember what Sidney said before she let go of Akiza, she said she wouldn't forgive herself if something bad happened to her…what was that about?"
Midori shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"
Laura shook her head. "It's nothing. I just thought that you might know something… I mean, with you being a psychic and all."
"I may be a psychic…but…I haven't been able to read minds exactly. I just seen into the past, especially of people I'm around."
Just then, the ambulance arrived to take Sidney and Akiza to the hospital. They started to pull out the stretchers when Laura's phone rang.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Laura? It's me, Shinju! Is everything ok?"
"Not exactly. Can you meet me at the hospital in an hour?"
"No Problem. I'll be right over."
"Is everything ok with your parents and Uncle Kuro?"
"Yeah, my dad passed out when he saw the giant monsters from the window, but everything is cool otherwise. Your parents called to see if you were with me and they're fine. Call them as soon as you can, ok? They were losing their minds!"
Laura sighed. "Ok…I love you Shinju. I'll see you later."
…
Blister had his computer hooked up as he started checking up on the news in New Domino City. Etsuo and Crow sat across from each other at the dining room table after helping Martha with several chores.
"It does my heart good to do some work." Etsuo rested his head in the palm of his hand. Crow thought for a moment and perked up, and Etsuo got a inquisitive look on his face.
"So tell me…Crow, are you aware of my daughter's special gift?" He asked.
Crow blinked. "If you mean the whole blackout thing…"
"Exactly. Do you know why that happens?" He asked.
"Well, I was told she was some sort of psychic called the Oracle of Twilight…"
"Oracle of what? I know nothing about that. But, I do know that she had psychic abilities from an early age. But, it started after Sector Security took my son, her father and her mother away to the Facility when she was three years old."
"And they were never released?" Crow wondered.
"No. I've raised Midori for most of her life. She's the only family I have left now. And I don't know if she or I will ever see her parents again." He said solemnly.
"You said earlier that a guy named Sayer from the Arcadia Movement visited you guys every six months asking to have Midori join them." Crow remembered.
"Yes...after her first few blackouts occurred, word quickly spread and the Arcadia Movement got wind of it. They heard the stories of a little girl who had psychic visions and could even seen into the past. When Sayer, the leader of the movement got word of it, he decided to show up in person when she was about ten years old. It was the only time he ever spoke with her, and it was because of that time I forbade him from ever talking with her again. I would never allow her to be one of his puppets."
Martha heard them talking and listened as Etsuo recounted Midori's first and only encounter with the Arcadia Movement, so far.
(Flashback)
It was a fairly sunny autumn afternoon. Etsuo and Midori sat on the shaggy blue carpet in their tiny ground floor apartment. The building was one that he and a group of others in the Satellite had worked to covert from an old office building into a place for people to live, since it was one of a few scattered buildings that was in better condition than other places on the ruinous island. The white walls seem to intensify the light around them as they sat together, playing a game of Duel Monsters, the old fashioned way, with just a mat and two decks.
They were both laughing when Etsuo heard the doorbell ring.
"Can you wait a minute, Midori?" He asked. She nodded and waited patiently. Etsuo ran around the wooden table and two chairs to answer the door nearby.
Outside the austere black door was a young man with swirly, light brown hair and sparkling eyes. He wore a fancy green vest, a white tie, and a brown trench coat over a black dress shirt and pants. Etsuo was suspicious of a man so well dressed and groomed here in the Satellite. He gave him a polite smile.
"Good afternoon, are you Etsuo Tsukino?" He asked. Etsuo leered at him and narrowed his eyes, giving him a gruff expression.
"So what if I am?"
"Then I would be talking to the right person then. I'm here to talk to you about your granddaughter, Mr. Tsukino." He peeked over to see Midori still cross-legged on the floor in a small, knee-length green dress that her grandfather had gotten from a seamstress who lived in the Satellite as payment for helping with tending to the trees around her neighborhood.
"My, and she looks a cute little doll, doesn't she?" He asked, trying to flatter Midori. The little ten year-old cocked her head, confused by the strange man talking to her grandfather. The expression on the man's face was unusual to her; she couldn't tell what he was thinking about.
"What about my grandbaby?"
"Oh, well, I was here to discuss her special gifts with you. I think she might be happier if she were among others like herself." He was vague in his explanation.
"Special gift…you mean her powers? Who are you? If you're some kind of worker for a science do-hickey I'm not going to let you take her away to be experimented on or something. My grandbaby is not a freak, or some mutated lab rat you can run tests on." The man laughed.
"Oh, no, sir, nothing of the sort. I am Sayer, and I am the leader of an organization of Psychics known as the Arcadia Movement. I heard of your granddaughter's special powers and I think we could help her develop them to their full potential…and let her be with other like herself, where she would be happy and safe from the scorn of society."
Etsuo scoffed. "Sayer, huh? Well, let me tell you something, Sayer! My grandbaby is well treated by the folks here in the Satellite. True, some of the children are a little scared when she goes into one of her episodes…but people pitch in to help her. Out here in the Satellite, we've only got each other, we can't afford to be judgmental about the same things fancy folk like you are."
"Who's being judgmental?"
"…And…she's happy! I've never seen a kid so happy with a lot like hers in my life. It makes me proud to be her grandpa." He nodded. Sayer raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so, Mr. Tsukino? Is she really happy? Is she concealing her misery just to make you happy? Why don't we ask her?" He gave him a challenging look. Etsuo huffed, agreeing to it.
"Very well. But, if you try anything funny, you'll be out of her on your rear end!" Etsuo warned him. Midori giggled at her grandfather's statement. Sayer approached her with caution and sat down in a chair at the table.
"Midori, would you come sit with me, please?" His voice was low and gentle, attempting to coax Midori from her spot. As she walked over to sit across from Sayer, she kept her eyes on her Grandpa, who stood at the corner of the room near the door, watching him carefully and occasionally giving her reassuring glances.
To be continued! I haven't gotten to do a long flashback yet, so this was fun. Anyways, you know the drill, so be sure to review and be back here for the next installment. Be there or be square!
