I can feel my heart hammering in the back of my throat. I toy with my helmet and breathe in through my nose.
"Okay?" Evan asks, his hand skimming my shoulder.
"Yeah," I breathe. "I don't wanna fuck this up."
"You won't. I have faith in you."
I think of Aki in her hospital bed and heat courses through me. I have to win. For her.
In the past week, I've been working to try and keep my mind busy. In between the usual activities, I've been practice dueling using Crow's Blackwings and using every little bit of spare time I have to piece Aki's duel runner back together. Her parents, who have been at the hospital almost every second of every day, tried to pay me for it until I just stopped answering their calls about it.
Aki's still under. They've been giving her a lot of medication so she can sleep, since apparently, whenever she wakes up, she'll be in a lot of pain. One piece of good news is that I've been able to speak to Andore; he's doing well, pissed as all hell about Team Catastrophe, though. He was discharged from the hospital a few days ago, and he's in the process of debating with Breo and Jean about leaving the city, now that they're officially out of the tournament—something that I'm… not sure what to think of.
Today, we're in the Main Circuit again. My shiny, new riding suit is like a warm second skin. I look at the scores of screaming people in the stands and wonder if this is real. If I'm really about to duel in the same place I first tasted freedom. And with so many people watching me.
Yusei's hand rests on the back of my neck. "You good?"
"More or less," I admit. I can see Breo and Andore in the audience with Kiryu, Ushio, and Mikage. Ushio and Mikage are dressed like they're going to work, Ushio in his uniform and Mikage in her prim and proper blue suit; Jack tipped them off about Team Catastrophe, so they'll be ready when we expose them for cheating. Meanwhile, Breo and Andore are wearing these almost hilariously obvious disguises to keep anyone from recognizing them; hoodies, hats, sunglasses, the works. I think Jean may have been still too salty to show up and support us.
Yusei rubs a little at my neck, like he's trying to relieve the pressure I'm carrying in my shoulders, and then awkwardly steps back. "You look good."
"Thank you."
"Hey, Silvan?" Crow comes out from the back room with Jack. They pass by the twins, who are heading to stand where they usually do at the gate. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Team Catastrophe watching Crow from the pit section next to us. They start to pretty noticeably whisper to each other.
"Yes?" I ask, feeling breathless.
"Good luck," Crow says. "Remember to breathe."
"I'll… try." I glance back at Team Catastrophe's pit. "Somebody remind me one more time."
"The guy with the black hair is Nicolas. He's the leader. Hermann's the bigger guy with the reddish hair, and Hans is the guy with the pointy nose," Bruno tells me.
"Okay," I say as I watch the big red-headed guy, Hermann, adjust his helmet and head out toward the duel runner in front of their pit section. He's the one I'll be facing first. Oddly enough, I don't feel anything from them. None of them feel like psychics.
Evan claps his hand on my shoulder and leans in to kiss my forehead. "Good luck."
"Thank you."
Yusei hands me the Team's patch and I stick it on over my forearm. "Silvan?" he blurts, his voice a little choked up. He's standing on the gate channel now, looking at me as I make my way to my duel runner.
"What is it?"
He opens and closes his mouth. "Be safe."
"I will." I slip onto the back of Hiraeth, secure my helmet over my head, and pull out to the starting line. Out from behind the pits, the stadium is so much bigger. The MC starts to talk, and I focus on my duel runner rumbling underneath me to keep myself grounded. Don't choke, don't choke, don't choke.
"For today's headlining duel, we've got a semifinal match between surprise standout, Team Catastrophe, and Neo Domino's very own Team 5D's! Dueling first for Team Catastrophe—he's a mean fighting machine—Hermann! Standing in for Aki Izayoi this week, we've got a newbie, Silvan Levine!"
"Testing," Evan's voice comes in through the earpiece we fitted in my helmet just for today.
I swallow. "Hi."
"Sound a bit more excited," Crow's voice says, and I can hear the smile in it.
"If she's got stage fright, she's got stage fright," Yusei says hotly. "Remember what I told you. Keep an eye on the time ticker, Silvan. At green, step on it."
I watch the countdown clock run towards zero, but when it hits, I hit the gas too late and I don't compensate for the inch of space until we've both swung around the first bend. Hermann gets the first turn, which means I may have to go on the defensive.
Damn. I can't necessarily go on the offensive in my second turn. Maybe not with Crow's cards, anyways. Not unless I get the right hand.
Hermann draws to begin his turn. "I summon Hook the Hidden Knight in Attack Position! Then I set a card face down to end my turn!"
"That's it," Yusei's voice says. "That same card, on the first turn."
The running theory is that the crashes are all tied to this monster. Hook the Hidden Knight. I've been watching footage of the Team Unicorn duel all week, listening to my friends argue about the significance of both Andore and Jean mysteriously crashing on the turn Hook the Hidden Knight activated its special effect.
It's this demonic looking creature with curved hooks for hands and beady red eyes. If there's a Physicalizer on this team, I don't think it's Hermann.
"My turn!" I draw and take a look at my hand. I've got Sirroco the Dawn, Gale the Whirlwind, Blackback, Defenders Intersect, Urgent Tuning, and Gravity Collapse in my hand. Sirroco has an effect that will allow me to summon it without using up my Normal Summon for the turn, similar to my Cyber Dragon. I'm going to try to attack, so I can see just what that Hook thing is capable of, but I'm also going to be careful. I can set the facedowns no matter what this turn brings.
"When monsters exist only on my opponent's field, I can summon up Blackwing - Sirroco the Dawn!" It's a monster with 2000 ATK; my duel screen tells me that Hook the Hidden Knight only has 1600. "Sirroco the Dawn, attack and destroy Hook the Hidden Knight!"
"Not so fast, there! I activate Hook the Hidden Knight's special effect!"
"Oh boy," I mutter.
"Be prepared," Crow pipes up.
"If a monster attacks Hook the Hidden Knight while it's in Attack Position, I can switch both monsters to Defense Position and deal you 800 points in damage!"
Both monsters retract into their defensive stances and turn dark blue. A gust of wind blows my duel runner back, and I brace myself. My Life Points are down to 3200, but that was a tell in and of itself.
I know what real damage feels like. And that was real.
Into my comm, Yusei shouts, "Back wheel! Your right!"
Before I even look back, I swerve left. That was something that I felt––I don't know what, but it wasn't normal. Nothing changes, I don't feel any shift in the air or the ground or my duel runner itself. I'm safe, somehow.
"Did you see that!" Crow is shouting. "Did you see that shit?!"
"I'm driving, I didn't see anything!" I hiss. "I set four facedowns, turn end!"
"My turn!" Hermann draws. "I'm switching Hook the Hidden Knight into Attack Position! Next, I'm summoning Dark the Hidden Knight!"
More Hidden Knights?
"Because of its special effect, I can send Dark the Hidden Knight to attack you directly!"
The damage shows up on my duel screen before it even happens; I get taken down from 3200 LP to 2400. This one, at least, didn't deal real damage.
"Next, Hook the Hidden Knight, attack Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn!"
The Hook has just enough ATK on Sirocco to take him out—I turn my eyes back behind me as briefly as I can, and as soon as I see the ground begin to shimmer, I swerve. Whatever it is, maybe it happens every time it goes in to deal damage.
"I'll set a card and end my turn." It's barely noticeable, but Hermann sounds unhappy.
"Whoops. Somebody's pissed that they can't touch you," Crow retorts.
"I haven't seen it yet," I remark, "But I can feel it every time it pops up."
"Just keep your eyes out. We need some real proof," Yusei's voice says.
Right. Of course. Because that'll be easy.
"It's my turn!" I call. I draw Blackwing - Etesian of Two Swords. That should be useful later on, because it allows me to deal effect damage after a monster of mine is destroyed. "I activate Blackback! I can use this card to resurrect Sirocco the Dawn in Attack Position! Then, due to its special effect, I can not only summon Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind from my hand, but I can use it to halve the ATK of Hook the Hidden Knight until the End Phase! Gale the Whirlwind, attack and destroy Hook the Hidden Knight!"
"I activate the effect of Hook the Hidden Knight! When it's attacked, I can switch both monsters into Defense Position and deal you 800 points in damage!"
I'm down to 1600. This time, I don't have the time to swerve. The only thing I can do is shift my weight and Expel just a bit so my duel runner sails off of the ground and lands a few feet further ahead. It uproots energy in my stomach, energy I've been keeping since Crash Town, and my jaw starts to feel heavy from it.
I have to take a second to recover. "...that's fine, I've got another monster on my field!" I throw out my hand. "Sirocco the Dawn, destroy Hook the Hidden Knight!"
"By tributing my Dark the Hidden Knight, I can switch Hook the Hidden Knight into Attack Position!"
"It's the special effect all over again," Jack complains. "Now you're at 800."
"I could do without the commentary right now!"
"Silvan, the hook!" Crow warns.
It happens so fast. I try to make another jump, but when I land, it's not far enough out of the way. The only place left to go is down. I Waste myself down, and suddenly I'm sliding sideways along the asphalt. I can feel bits of loose gravel digging at my suit. The hook in question reaches fully out of the ground and takes the shape of a hook-handed shadow. It expected me to jump again; it sails right over me and out into the open. The sunlight makes its body dissipate before it can take a swing at me.
There it is. It's out in the open. I'm out of the woods, for now. With all of the strength I can muster, even with gravity forcing me down, I kick myself upright, Wasting up and shouldering back against the track to get back up. I'm so, so terrifyingly close to hitting the next turn that I have to bank sideways to slow down, drift right, and hit the gas again to continue down towards Hermann.
I didn't notice that the dome was almost silent until someone screams. The stands become an uproar. I think it's obvious that whatever just happened was super out of the ordinary. Not to mention the illegal Main Stage 2 attack.
"Incredible move there by Levine! She's gonna have a nasty scuff on that duel runner, but it looks like she was expecting that backward attack from Hook the Hidden Knight! Folks, I have never seen this before!"
As soon as I'm balanced again, I discard a card from my hand. "If a Blackwing monster on my field battled this turn, I can discard Blackwing - Etesian of Two Swords to deal you damage equal to that monster's ATK!"
Hermann is at 2000, according to my duel screen.
"Now, I activate the trap, Urgent Tuning! This allows me to Synchro Summon during my Battle Phase!"
"I-I play Shadow Concealing Darkness!" Hermann's voice shakes as he tosses over a facedown. "This prevents any monsters in Defense Position from being destroyed in battle!"
That has a secondary effect. If I were to have have a Light attribute monster on my field, Shadow Concealing Darkness would be destroyed.
But I don't. I'll just have to keep chugging.
I throw my arm out for my Synchro Summon. This drama, this showmanship that Turbo Dueling comes with is… new. But exciting. "I tune Sirocco the Dawn with Gale the Whirlwind in order to Synchro Summon Black-Winged Dragon!"
Crow's Signer Dragon—hidden in the Blackbird for as many years as Pearson has been dead, I heard. I've seen it in action a handful of times during Crow's practices; an absolutely massive monster, beautiful and covered in thick black feathers. I can feel that pulse of warmth in my fingertips again. The roaring water in my ears might just be the crowd.
"Now, I activate Defenders Intersect! This card allows me to switch all monsters on the field into Attack Position by negating their effects!"
Black-Winged Dragon destroys Hook the Hidden Knight, the damage calculation takes Hermann down to 0 LP, but he plays his last face down. "I activate Revival Knight! This lets me resurrect Hook the Hidden Knight from the Grave!"
"No, I think not!" I call. My beginning hand, I suppose, turned out to be loaded. Maybe my bad habit of setting every Trap as it comes into my hand is finally coming in handy. "I trigger Gravity Collapse! By tributing a monster on my field, I can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap!"
White smoke pours out of Hermann's duel runner. As I ride past the pits, I hear screaming and cheering, but I'm too afraid of losing my focus to look. There are still two more members of Team Catastrophe to take care of, with or without that strange, real card. And I'm out Black-Winged Dragon, until I can draw something to resurrect it.
The next contender, the one Bruno pointed out as Nicolas, comes out beside me on the track. "What a shame you survived our shadow card! It's a marvel such a little girl could be so resilient."
"You'd be surprised what I can weather!" What he said, though… what is a 'shadow card'?
Nicolas draws; the first turn is his. "I place a card face down and end my turn!"
Just placing a card? That's it? He's got five cards in his hand and I've got… what, one? I draw for my turn and make it two—the card I drew was Trap Unit, which will allow me to sacrifice Life Points down to 100 to negate effect damage. I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point, and there's not much I can do, since the other card in my hand is a Speed Spell. I set it down, but just as I end my turn, Nicolas flips his face down.
"I activate Doom Ray!"
Doom Ray?
"Due to this card's effect, I can deal damage to both players equal to the number of cards they have in their hands times 800!"
4000 LP for him, and 800 for me. We're both out, just like that, but I remember the face down I threw before I tried to end my turn.
"I activate my facedown: Trap Unit! I can sacrifice my Life Points down to 100 in order to stop myself from taking effect damage this turn!"
An explosion rocks the track, and there's a buzzing in the air. Smoke pours over us, and my ears pop as a number of explosives batter Nicolas' duel runner. I know the feeling that comes with that, and immediately I know what a shadow card is—it's a card that deals real damage.
In the moment, I'm trying to figure out how to deal with the collateral damage, but a shield has extended over my runner because of my trap activation. I speed past Nicolas, still atop his crumbling duel runner. When I throw out my hand for him, he doesn't hesitate to take it. I don't think he understood the full power of the card he used. What 4000 points of real damage really feels like.
The smoke begins to clear away to reveal the wreckage of Nicolas' duel runner, and by default, that means we've secured our second win. He can't transfer his Team's patch to Hans. This win means that we're out of the preliminaries and into the actual tournament.
I won a match. I… I dueled in a circuit and I won.
I leave Nicolas a little ways away from the pits and pull up to where Team 5D's is stationed. I'm pulling my helmet off and still trying to process the fact that I actually won a tournament Turbo Duel when Jack, Yusei, and Crow barrel into me.
"You did it!" Crow's shouting. "You're a fucking pro and you did it! C'mere, ya little prodigy!"
He and Jack start squashing kisses on both of my cheeks. Evan elbows through them to hug me, practically yanking me up off of the ground when he does.
"I'm so proud of you," he says into my hair. The word proud bounces around in my mind for a while, this beaming, glowing happiness suddenly the only thing I can focus on. I get hugs from Bruno, too, and from the twins, who won't stop talking about how cool I looked and how awesome my slide was.
At some point, Yusei comes at me from behind and wrangles his arms around me. Startled laughter flutters out of me as he hoists me off of the ground for a second, then sets me back down. I turn in the circle of his arms so I can hug him for real.
He's smiling like someone turned a light on inside of him. There's some quiet, boyish joy in his voice when he says, "How do you feel?"
I say, "This is the best I've ever felt."
He almost seems like he can't contain himself when he says, "I could tell."
"Thank you for believing in me," I tell him.
"Always," is his response. "You're a natural."
Oh, I could fly right now, I'm so happy. I almost don't notice the noise of the MC tapping a microphone, trying to get everyone's attention. Even Ushio, mid-arrest of Team Catastrophe, pauses.
"Folks, we ask you to remain calm!" The MC says. "I have received word that scores of unknown duelists have infiltrated separate city-wide tracks and are in the process of attacking competing duelists! I repeat, please remain calm! The Security Maintenance Bureau is aware of the situation and is working to contain it, but we ask that you please exit the stadium immediately!"
Evan is the first of us to respond; he whips around toward the audience, looking for Kiryu in the mass of people suddenly rushing for an exit. I reach to put a hand on him. "Go! Go look for him!"
"Rua! Ruka!" Evan shouts. "Come with me!"
Rua exclaims, "But what about—"
"Come on!"
From my duel runner, I can hear the sound of the interface suddenly switching modes. "DUEL MODE ACTIVATED. BATTLE ROYALE ENGAGED."
"Battle Royale?" Yusei asks. "That's…"
"Free-for-all," I say. "Who changed the highway protocols?"
"I don't understand," Crow says.
"Battle Royale mode is a free-for-all mode," Yusei repeats. "It means that any duel in progress can be joined by anyone else also engaged in Battle Royale mode. I've never seen it active before."
"Yusei!"
A familiar white-clad figure ekes to a stop next to us, riding a duel runner decorated with candy-colored flames.
"Sherry." Yusei sidles up to her duel runner; another massive blue runner pulls up next to her, its rider tall and built like a wrestler.
"Impressive riding, jolie." Sherry nods at me. Heat floods my cheeks; I've read enough to know that one. "We have another problem, however. One worse than illegal shadow cards."
"Tell me what to do," Yusei says.
"The duelists crowding the highway," Sherry says, "are Riding Roids."
Yusei looks visibly taken aback. I think I see his face lose some of its color before he recovers himself and says, "How? Where did they come from?"
"No clue. But there are over fifty of them. They're engaging with tournament duelists through Battle Royale."
I see Yusei still floundering, trapped in those memories of the Ghost, and I step forward. "How can we help?"
Sherry turns her brilliant green eyes on me. "We have to take the bots out. Keep them from crashing any of the contenders."
"Do you play hero every day?"
She gives a wry smile. "Robots like these run on a similar circuit. If we start to destroy them, their creator may show their face."
"Great. Let's do it."
"I'll come, too." Jack claps his hand on Yusei's shoulder. Now we're both here bolstering him. Yusei seems to realize we're on both sides of him and almost visibly relaxes. "I came for a fight today."
"I…" Crow sounds disgruntled. "I'll go with Evan and the twins."
"You keep everybody out of trouble," Jack tells him. "Get somewhere safe."
I disengage his deck from my wrist dealer. "Here. Just in case."
He accepts it, looks at it for a moment, and says, "Yeah, I guess I can stand and duel on the off-chance I need to."
"Thank you for letting me use it."
"You're welcome. Thanks for taking us to the next fight."
"Anything to see you on the track again."
He smiles ruefully, says, "Be careful," and bolts for the fast-emptying stands.
Yusei, still pallid but more inclined to speaking, says, "Okay, then. What's the plan?"
The man on the runner next to Sherry says, "There are fifty two Riding Roids loose in the city. Three other circuit duels were set to begin about fifteen minutes ago, five to seven minutes before the first Riding Roid was spotted."
"How do you know all that?" Jack retorts.
"Bureau scanners," the man replies. "They don't do a wonderful job of keeping their frequencies secure."
"...okay, carry on, then."
"Only three roads have been blocked off this morning for the WRGP," the man says. "That's not counting every other highway in the city that could hold commuting citizens in cars and duel runners—the latter of which will be forced into Battle Royale and could prove dangerous to their surroundings, should they lose."
"In Battle Royale, anyone can attack anyone," Sherry adds. "And we know from past experience that anyone who loses to a Riding Roid ends up painted on the road. So our goal is to insert ourselves into their duels and crash them before they can crash anyone else."
"Seems simple enough," I say. "Fifty two, you said? If we all take on around ten, that's quick work."
"You're not suggesting we all go alone," Yusei remarks.
"Though one on ten sounds like a welcome challenge," Sherry says, "I'd like to agree with Yusei. We should travel in numbers. We stand a better chance together than apart, and it is likely that the Bureau will have sent their own agents to fight."
"It was just a suggestion," I say. "So. Who's going with who?"
"I go with Ms. LeBlanc everywhere," the man on the other duel runner says.
Jack, Yusei, and I exchange looks.
Sherry says, "Yusei, I am going after whoever is behind this once the path is clear. I could use your skills."
"...all right," he says.
Jack claps a hand on my shoulder. "All right. It's you and me, then, Silvan. Betcha I can rack up a bigger kill count."
"Don't get your hopes up," I retort, fishing my Turbo Duel deck out of one of the pouches strapped to my belt. "I'm on a winning streak today."
"We'll keep in touch," Yusei remarks. He goes to grab his helmet off of the top of one of the computers in the pit section. "Let each other know when we take one out."
"I can keep count," I say.
"Perfect."
Sherry flips her helmet visor down. "Let's do some damage, then, shall we?"
I slip my deck into my wrist dealer and mount my duel runner; Yusei and Jack come around from the pit garage in moments, both ready—certainly not eager, in Yusei's case—to ride into trouble.
There's… this capability in me right now. This rush of belonging. I had the ability to win in a tournament. I must have the ability to beat a few robots, too.
The five of us bolt out. One of the track extension doors in the western side of the stadium has opened, possibly via whoever sent out the Roids. Once we're out of the Memorial Circuit and the track begins to split, Yusei, Sherry, and Sherry's friend split left. Jack and I go right. Both stretches of track split further and further away from each other, until Jack and I are suddenly driving south and I can see five duel runners up ahead of us.
Four Roids—one duelist. The lone duelist is on the bigger side, wearing a distinctly feline-shaped helmet and a fur-lined jacket. My duel screen updates the closer we get: the competing duelist is sporting two face downs, against two Ally of Justice Nullifiers and three Ally of Justice Garadholgs. The duelist is at 2500 LP; the Roids, all in order, have 2400, 4000, 4000, and 4000.
We're already engaged in battle, thanks to Battle Royale. I activate my deck's shuffle and draw five cards: Machina Gearframe, Yellow Gadget, Speed Spell - Angel Baton, Cyber Summon Blaster, and Nostalgia Lock. My first draw is Time Machine.
I take the first shot.
"I start by placing a facedown—" Cyber Summon Blaster, "—and then I summon Machina Gearframe in Attack Position! Due to its special ability, I can add one Machine-type monster to my hand from my deck!"
Machina Fortress flicks out of my deck, and my cards reshuffle.
"By discarding Machine-type monsters in my hand whose levels equal or exceed seven, I can summon Machina Fortress in Attack Position!"
Discarding Fortress and Yellow Gadget did it just fine—now I've got two monsters in play. Two monsters I can take out.
"Machina Gearframe—"
"I-I activate a Trap!" The lone duelist, voice shaky, flips one of their cards. "Unjustified Kamikaze Attack! This Battle Phase, you have to attack twice!"
Good. Now that there's more of us here to fight the Roids, the cornered duelists can fight back, too.
I continue my attack; Gearframe takes out both Ally of Justice Nullifiers. With Fortress, I take out one of the Roids, and I cut the LP of another down to 1500.
"I place a card face down and end my turn!"
Now it's Jack's turn; three more Roids, two at 4000 and one at 1500.
"When my opponent controls monsters and I control none, I can Special Summon Big Piece Golem! Next, by sending a monster in my hand to the Grave, I can summon Power Giant in Attack Position!"
He's swarming—probably shaping up to attack with smaller monsters before summoning Red Demons.
"Then, I'll summon Dark Resonator in Attack Position!"
A Synchro Summon with one monster left over, almost certainly. We won't take two turns to take these four out, I don't think, unless Jack has something in those last two cards in his hand.
"Big Piece Golem, Power Giant, destroy those two Ally of Justice Garadholgs! Dark Resonator, attack directly!"
So we have a 2100, a 3500, and a 1500. A near clear field, save for one more Garadholg.
"Now, I'll tune Big Piece Golem together with Dark Resonator to Synchro Summon my almighty Red Demons Dragon!" He throws a face down, and then it's someone else's turn. Whose, we'll have to find out.
It's the other duelist that claims their turn. "I activate the Speed Spell - Half Seize! If I have three or more Speed Counters, I can halve the ATK of a monster on my opponent's field and gain it as LP!"
There's half of Garadholg's ATK—800 points—for this duelist, now up to 3300 LP.
"Then, by removing an Earth attribute monster in my Grave, I can Special Summon Gigantes in Attack Position! Attack Ally of Justice Gardholg!"
Three Roids, still. 2100, 3200, and 1500, but an empty field.
"Now I end my turn!"
Now we just have to hope that it's not impossible to break these three next time the turn order resets.
"I summon Ally of Justice Cyclone Creator in Attack Position! And I end my turn!"
That's the first one, down. And Cyclone Creator is a Tuner.
"I Summon Ally of Justice Rudra in Attack Position! And I end my turn!"
Why didn't it Synchro? It would've had a Level 8.
"When I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Ally of Justice Tractor from my hand!"
"I activate my face down, Cyber Summon Blaster!" I say. "Any time a Machine-type monster is Special Summoned, you take 300 points in damage for each one!"
That's the 3200 Roid—now down to 2900.
"Next, I summon Ally Salvo! And I tune together Ally of Justice Cyclone Creator with Ally of Justice Rudra and Ally of Justice Tractor to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice Field Marshall!"
That's 2900 ATK—and the other duelist is exposed.
"I activate my Trap!" Jack chimes. "Staunch Defender! Now, all your monsters have to attack and they have to target my Red Demons Dragon!"
Nice. This could end fast, after all.
The aftermath of forcing both Ally Salvo and Field Marshall to attack Red Demons is 2900 LP; just enough to take out one more of the Roids. We swerve past its duel runner as it tumbles to the asphalt.
The second, though, reactivates Ally Salvo. "When Ally Salvo is destroyed in battle, I can choose two cards on the field to destroy as well! I choose Red Demons Dragon and Machina Fortress!"
"I activate my second face down, Time Machine!" I say. "When a monster is destroyed, I can return it to the field in the same position it was when it was destroyed! Come on back, Red Demons!"
Jack throws a thumbs-up my way.
The Roid's turn is over. I claim mine next.
My draw is Machina Sniper.
"I summon Machina Sniper! Sniper, Gearframe, attack directly!"
We swerve past another wrecked Roid, and I set my card and end my turn; Red Demons sends the last Roid spiraling, in pieces, into the barrier. We follow this lone duelist until they can leave the highway.
And Jack and I keep cutting through them. Like butter. He compensates for my bad calls and slip ups more than once, and I feel rotten for everything I try that gets turned back around, but he doesn't mention it. He just keeps being there, keeps being my safety, and I do my best to be his when he needs it. The duelists we encounter fight back with us until their Life Points dip dangerously low—and then we take the heat while they flee the scene.
They keep coming, again and again, more every time. We pass our quota of ten Roids each, and still they keep coming.
We've taken out near thirty, somewhere on the road beyond Daimon, when suddenly the streets empty. Jack and I eke to a stop, surveying the broken duel runners we've left in the distance. Watching the storm that's beginning to gather over Neo Domino, the clouds twirling downward like fingers from gods.
"Is it over?" I breathe. "Are we done?"
Jack doesn't answer. I can feel static biting in the air. It's been a long time since I've smelled ozone this strong.
In the distance, in the city, the clouds keep swirling down and down and down. I've only seen tornadoes in books. In movies. The wind threatens to rip my helmet from my head.
Jack says, "Maybe it's time for us to try and be useful somewhere else."
By the time we reach the center of the city again, the tornado has already touched down. It's ripped quite a few buildings out of the way, and we can't get too close to it for fear that we'll get sucked into it, too. We stand on an overpass and watch it coil through the streets, hoping no one is in its path.
After a few minutes, Jack puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. "The hospital."
It takes me a second to understand what he means—the path the twister is taking.
I barely even hear myself say "I can do something, I have to do something," high on this feeling of victory. Of contribution. Jack is yelling for me, screaming at me to come to my senses, as I throw my helmet off and go spiraling down off of the edge of the overpass.
What the fuck am I doing, what the fuck am I doing? I can still feel that pressure from Crash Town rattling around in my jaw, the force of my jump off of the overpass clanging against the insides of my knees. But if anyone could stop something like this, to try to at least somehow defy nature, it has to be me. Right?
The wind threatens to tear me from the ground, and in order to keep running, I have to let it pass through me quick—quick enough that I'm getting lightheaded.
Internalize, Expel, Internalize, Expel. When I get as close as I can to the base of the twister, I find that my brother is here, and he had this idea first.
And he's fighting a losing battle.
He's standing in the eye, both arms outstretched, blood pouring down his chin.
Is this what I look like, when I overexert? I never thought Evan could. I've always thought he was invincible.
When I dive for him, the wind rips through me. It churns in my body for only an instant, dredging up splashes of color and cold and pain somewhere behind my eyes, somewhere deep in my bones. The twister lifts me upward, out of myself, and lightning crackles out of my fingers as I make more and more room for the wind to pass through me.
Then I hit solid ground again.
Evan tumbles, slack, to the street. My wind-ripped hair settles by my ears. I feel so light that it's like I shouldn't have any limbs at all.
My brother is still bleeding from his nose and his mouth, but he's breathing. I can't feel my fingers, but I hold onto him still, like having him here can put the life I gave to the storm back into me.
I sit there and breathe. I sit there and be.
And as I coil my brother closer to me, trying to remember how to speak or breathe or hear or disentangle myself from becoming a force of nature, I think that today has made me something more than just me.
This is what it's like to feel powerful. This is the first time I've ever felt so far away from C.
A/N: Sorry for the unintentional hiatus, hopefully we're good for a while now!
