Me: *huff, huff* Do you know how hard it is to catch a muse in a 'destruction by fire' rampage with a broomstick and a garden hose? Nearly impossible. But I did it, and I'm updating Blue Sky for once!

Sky: Great! A distraction from Rewind!

Me: Actually, Rewind is a distraction from this story. But the real reason why I wasn't able to update Blue Sky is because there are only three things I can write fanfiction on. My family's iPad, my family's laptop, or the Chromebook I just got through school. The iPad is just plain annoying and likes to delete my work at random times, and almost everything including this site is blocked on my Chromebook. Also, the laptop battery kind of broke, and my dad hid the charger, but then we got a new battery last week and we got the charger back yesterday. So, I've managed to work on this.

Luna: Hey, you never really tell us much about how your life is going on in Rewind. How has it been?

Me: Busy. I have dance on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, marching band practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a game on Friday, and starting next week, I have competitions for marching band on Saturdays. Then, I have church choir on Sundays. Also, I'm in all Honors classes. So, writing fanfiction has not only come to be when I have access to do it, it's also an issue with the time to do it.

Sky: *Whistles* And yet, you've updated Rewind a lot.

Me: I don't need to reference that one when I'm working on it, so I can write that with no problem on my Chromebook. It's Blue Sky that I make sure is close to the storyline, hence the spotty updates. *Shakes head* I'll continue with stuff at the end of the chapter. For now, I'm going to say that I don't own 5Ds and all that stuff. But, you might be confused if you haven't read Rewind, because there's at least one mention of part of that story in here. Other than that, enjoy!

Chapter 44

The celebration for both of our victories didn't start until that night, when we pushed back all of the furniture other than a large table into another room, and we got a lot of good food out. Why would we celebrate after only one win? I don't know, but it was Yusei's idea.

The celebration isn't even eventful, other than an argument between Jack and Crow (set of by Leo), and another argument between Mina, Carly, and that girl from the coffee shop across the street—Stephanie I think her name is. The second argument is pretty amusing, since the three women are arguing over who gets Jack or something along the lines of that.

Suddenly an odd feeling rises in my gut. Something's going to go down here, and soon. I hear footsteps behind me, and I whip around. It's Sherry—and her aura is still just as unreadable as it was the last time we met. Even if she seems much calmer than last time.

"Well, Team 5D's and Team Cosmos are already celebrating after only one win?" she asks.

"Uh, are you?" Carly asks.

"My name is Sherry LeBlanc," she replies. "I don't believe I've met everyone here."

"Is your first Duel already over?" Bruno asks.

"Yes," Sherry says. "I had to enter with only Elsworth helping me, though, because Yusei refused to join us."

Like Yusei would even consider joining Sherry's team. He's already got his own. "I'm assuming you won, despite the disadvantages?" I ask. I haven't seen Sherry's Deck, but Elsworth's was quite a bit to be reckoned with, so I have no doubt that they won.

"I beat all three of the other Duelists," Sherry says. "I must win this tournament no matter what it takes."

I nod, impressed. Not many people can pull off something like that. Though, why would she need to win no matter what? Does it have something to do with her unreadable aura?

"Is this about Yliaster?" Yusei asks.

"What? Sherry knows about them?" I ask, incredulously.

"I do," Sherry says, and for a brief moment her fiery aura wavers, though not for long enough for me to see what it wavered to. "I've also found information that points towards the Ghost you met is involved with Yliaster."

How in the world does Sherry know all of this? I know Sector Security kept that incident with Ghost under wraps, and the only people that know that I Dueled him (or it, really, considering that Ghost was a robot) are Mina, Trudge, and my friends. I'll have to find out later… "It wouldn't surprise me. Ghost was a pretty powerful opponent, and his Meklord Emperor was practically off the charts powerful. And since Ghost was a hijacked robot… someone had to be behind it."

Yliaster would definitely be my first guess. That Infinity Symbol couldn't have come from nowhere, and the Meklord Emperor was far too sophisticated to have randomly shown up, and in the hands of a robot.

"Have your paths crossed with anyone strange recently?"

"Ah! Ours has!" Leo pokes in. "There was this weird transfer student to our class, Lester. Luna and I ended up Dueling him."

"He had a Meklord Emperor as well!" Luna adds.

"And when the Duel started, this weird glowing eight showed up on the ground, and it made the damage real," Leo says.

"Just like what happened when the fake me tried to take my place," Jack says.

Ugh, that's not an event I want to remember. I still can't believe I lost.

"The same glowing circles appeared in our Duel, and the damage became real. Afterwards, we found out it was a Duel Bot, but that was all we got."

"Yeah, the cave where Jack and I were held disappeared directly afterwards," I say. "It didn't make any sense at all… It still doesn't."

"Interesting."

"You know," Jack says, "if we put together everything we've said so far, it amounts to our enemy having incredible technology."

"Hey! It's just like that factory we went to in pursuit of our stolen engine program!" Crow says. "Man, that place was like the inside of a spaceship. I bet that place has Yliaster written all over it, but what are they building in there?"

"Something that needs our engine program," Bruno says.

"Did you see anything there that we didn't?" Crow turns to Bruno. "You went farther than everyone else."

"I didn't… Some guy in this white cloak knocked me unconscious, and I don't remember anything."

So much for a possible lead. "Okay, but then why does Yliaster seem to have such an interest in us?" I ask. "It's not like there's a shortage of other people they could have something against."

"If I had to guess," Sherry says, "it would have to do with the fact that you are all Signers, or in your case, related to one."

I bite the inside of my lip. Maybe I'm not a Signer, but I could have been one. In a different world… I shove away that particular memory. If Sherry knows about the Crimson Dragon, could she know about Reshiram?

'No. There is no possible way she could know about me.'

'I find that a little hard to believe.' She shouldn't have known about my encounter with Ghost, or half of the other stuff this conversation has been about.

'Oh? But you have been doing so much at keeping this under wraps. Your brother, Kalin, and your aunt are the only living people who know about me.'

'I suppose you're right…' After this, I tune back into the conversation, where Mina finishes saying something about no one seeing any of the new Directors. I must have missed something—more than one person took over after the Dark Signer fiasco? That's new.

"And you don't think that's suspicious at all?" Crow demands.

"Of course I do," Mina says. She turns and starts walking towards the door. "I'm going to go demand to meet the new Directors, and I won't be taking no for an answer. I'll let you know what I find out." Carly and Stephanie follow Mina out after thanking us for the party.

So, Sector Security being involved with this? I guess it makes sense… "Sherry, I think you saw more than I did when we were in Sector Security headquarters. What exactly happened there?"

"I don't know," she says and looks away. "This violent storm appeared out of nowhere and started tearing the room apart. Then a blinding light filled the room, and it was like we were transported to another dimension. There was someone… or something… there with us."

Ah, this part is new. After the blinding light, I didn't see anything, and Yusei refused to talk to me about it.

"The floating eye," Yusei offers.

"The floating… eye? What does that mean?" I ask. Then another thought comes to mind. "You think this floating eye is pulling Yliaster's strings?"

"Perhaps… I don't know." Sherry starts to walk to her Duel Runner. "But I have no doubt that Yliaster will approach me if I continue to win in the tournament." She gets on the Runner and puts on her helmet. "Yusei Fudo, I hope we do not have to face each other before then. Otherwise, I will have to beat you." And she pulls off this wheelie that turns her Duel Runner around and leaves.

'Have… fig… on.'

I look at Yusei in surprise. Maybe that wasn't a full thought line, but I know that was Yusei's thought, and I heard it. That means Yusei answering my thought during his Duel must not have been a coincidence. But just as I go to ask to speak to Yusei in private, Bruno slams his hands on the table, and everyone's attention goes to him. Bruno looks pretty pale and has a near death grip on one part of the table.

"Are you okay?" Luna asks.

"I… I just got dizzy," Bruno says. "I'll go outside and get some fresh air. That should help." He lets go of the table and walks out of sight.

Well, this isn't much of a party anymore.

XXX

Later, I find that Yusei has gone outside, and I go over to him. I shouldn't put off asking about this anymore. "Well, today was pretty eventful," I say.

"It was."

"I don't mean to add to the excitement, but I have a really important question, and I really don't think it should be put off. Yusei, when you said 'Don't worry, I've got something' in your Duel with Jean, was it in response to something I said?"

Yusei raises an eyebrow. "Yes… Why? You weren't saying something through the com-link?"

I shake my head. "I didn't say anything. You responded to a thought I had."

"What?" A second, and realization flashes across his face. "Oh… Just like before, then."

"Yeah. And as far as I know, this shouldn't be possible. Once that bond breaks… it's gone for good. Or at least, it's supposed to…" I trail off. Really, since when as 'supposed to' ever applied to either of us? I honestly don't know. 'Supposed to' and 'normal' are two things that never apply to us.

"Well… Why don't we make sure this works?" Yusei asks. "Think of something."

'Testing it would be a good idea,' I think. Upon Yusei saying exactly what I had thought out loud, I say, "Okay, you're turn."

But, like before, I must only be getting pieces of it, because all I get is 'I… thi… ight… sting…' I shake my head. "I heard something, but not much. What did you think?"

"I think this might be interesting."

"I didn't get that, but yeah. You're definitely right about this being interesting."

XXX

The door to the garage swings open and hits the wall rather loudly. I jerk up from my position on the couch and see Yusei, Jack, Crow, Bruno, Carly, and Breo come inside. "You guys are back already? And why is Breo with you?" They hadn't left that long ago to go watch Team Unicorn Duel in their next match.

"André and Jean both crashed in the middle of their matches," Breo says. "Like I told Yusei earlier, I don't believe this was an accident."

"We were going to run their Duel Runner's memory cards," Yusei adds.

"Okay." So I stand up and help them get up the data. For some reason, there is a sharp drop in both Runner's wheel rotation. That could explain for the loss of control. But what could have caused the same malfunction twice?

"I think Team Catastrophe is behind this," Breo says. "But I don't see how they could have interfered during the Duel. We would have seen something."

"Ah!" Crow exclaims. Everyone looks at him. "I just remembered! When my Runner crashed, it felt like the wheels had locked up for no reason!"

And the data proves it. Crow's Duel Runner registers the same loss in wheel rotation.

"So, those creeps are responsible for my crash? That does it. Revenge will be mine!"

"Crow," Yusei says, "we don't have nearly enough evidence to prove it."

"And even if they are," Bruno adds, "how are they doing it? They couldn't have hacked in, that would be in the data. And it's hard to see how someone watching the Duel didn't see anything suspicious."

"Oh, I have footage of the Duel between Team Catastrophe and Team Unicorn," Carly says. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a flashdrive. "I have it all on here."

I hold in a facepalm. Oh, Carly... Why didn't you mention this earlier.

XXX

But, as it turns out, the footage isn't very helpful. We watch both of them going perfectly fine, and then they just start losing control. And both times, there's this strange monster with hooks for hands on Team Catastrophe's field. Wait a second... Hooks for hands? "I've seen that card before!"

"What? Where?" Yusei asks.

"I don't know what it's called, but... I saw that card in this weird little half-vision. It's why I knew Crow had crashed before you called." I shrug. "That's not important. See when and how that card was used in the Duel."

"Let's see..." Bruno types in a few commands. "Okay, André tried attack the card, Hook the Hidden Knight, and that's when he crashed. Jean crashed during his opponent's turn, after Hook's ability was activated. You think the monster has something to do with this?"

I nod vigorously. "In the half-vision, I felt some sort of dark powers running through it."

"Then you guys need to be careful on your Duel Runners," Carly points out. "They already got Crow. Who's to say they don't try to get someone else on this team?"

And, like those words were some sort of trigger, a wave of dizziness runs through my head, and two images cross over in front of my eyes. One of three guys, whom I believe are the members of Team Catastrophe, laughing maniacally as their hook-handed monster does something. The second, and Akiza is lying unconscious on the highway, her Duel Runner broken and in flames nearby with a slowly disappearing Rose Tentacles hovering over it.

I blink and the images vanish. "Akiza!" Yusei has the same panicked look on his face that I have on my own.

XXX

We're at the hospital now. Yusei and I are outside of Akiza's room, on the phone with Bruno. "...And she won't be able to be in the next match," Yusei finishes summing up the extent of Akiza's injuries.

"What about you, Bruno?" I ask.

"It's the same as the others. Her wheels definitely locked up all of a sudden."

"That's what I thought," I mutter.

"Those punks!" Crow must have walked out of Akiza's room when we weren't paying any attention. He storms off. "We know what they're doing. I'm going to go call them on it."

"Wait!" Yusei runs over to Crow. "Look, I'm angry about this just as much as you are, but we can't act impulsively."

"Yeah, well I'm not going to sit here and do nothing. I want to settle this, now!"

"And we will! In our Turbo Duel!" Yusei says.

Crow sighs in defeat. "Alright. But I'm going to be the one doing the settling." He takes off the sling his arm is in, and lets it fall to the floor. "I don't care what you guys say. Akiza stood in for me, so I'm going to stand up to her. I'll be in that Duel."

XXX

I sit down uncomfortably in the stadium seat as Crow and Hermann arrive at the starting line. I don't have a very good feeling about this Duel. And when the two Duelists take off, Hermann takes the lead. Then, Crow catches up just in time for the corner, and is just about to take it when Hermann gets really close to Crow's Runner and elbows my friend's still-injured arm. Crow loses speed and the corner. "Hey! That should be a penalty!" I shout in anger.

"This is Turbo Dueling. Unfortunately, there's no such thing," Trudge says.

I sit back down, muttering in frustration.

Hermann's Life Points: 4000 S.C. 1, Crow's Life Points: 4000 S.C. 1

"For my first move, I Summon Hook the Hidden Knight in Attack Mode!" Hermann declares.

Hook the Hidden Knight ATK: 1600, DEF: 0, Level 4

The hook-handed monster appears, and I shudder as a chill runs up my back. That monster means bad news.

"I'll end my turn with a face-down," Hermann says.

"Alright it's... agh... It's my turn!" Crow announces, drawing his card at a rather odd angle.

Hermann S.C. 2, Crow S.C. 2

"And now I Summon Blackwing-Siroco the Dawn in Attack Mode because you control a monster and I don't!" Crow says.

Blackwing-Sirocco the Dawn ATK: 2000, DEF: 900, Level 5

"Now, Sirocco the Dawn is soaring into attack Hook the Hidden Knight!Go, Dark Wing Slash!" Crow orders.

This is it, I think. Crow's put himself in the same situation as André by attacking that monster. It's time to see what it does.

Hermann grins. "You're going to have to do better than that," he says. "I activate Hook the Hidden Knight's ability, Shadow Hook. When he's selected as an attack target while in Attack Mode, both he and the attacking monster are switched into Defense Mode."

A wave of purple light flashes out of Hook, and both monsters turn blue and bend down, holding their arms in front of them.

"But the best part of this ability is that when Hook is changed into Defense Mode, you get slammed with 800 points of damage," Hermann says.

Crow's Life Points: 3200

The Blackbird starts wavering on the track, and my attention goes to it's wheels. And, right near the back wheel, the shadow of a hook appears. If that's what I think it is, it means that the dark powers in that card could make that shadow real and that means... "Crow! Your wheel!" I stand up and shout.

"I know!" He steers his Runner into an awkward swerve and just about loses his balance, but he regains it and manages not to fall.

"Did you see that?!" Trudge shouts.

"Yeah," Mina says. "It looked like something tried to attack Crow's back wheel."

"I set four cards face-down and end my turn," Crow says.

Hermann shakes his head and smiles. "It doesn't matter what you do, as long as I have Hook, this Duel is mine." He draws his card.

Hermann S.C. 3, Crow S.C. 3

"I'm switching Hook the Hidden Knight into Attack Mode and Summoning Dark the Hidden Knight to join him."

Dark the Hidden Knight ATK: 800, DEF: 0, Level 3

The monster that appears looks similar to Hook, only his cloak looks more like wings and has claws rather than hooks for hands.

"Get ready Crow, 'cause Dark the Hidden Knight can attack you directly!"

Crow's Life Points: 2400

"And now Hook the Hidden Knight is going to attack your bird and then you!"

The hook on Hook the Hidden Knight extends and smashes Sirocco the Dawn. And again, the hook appears from the shadows, and Crow narrowly dodges it. But can he keep this up? "Grr... I'm setting one card face-down and ending my turn," Hermann says.

Crow grabs his injured shoulder. Is it bugging him? I guess the rest of his team thinks so, because Leo holds out the green arrow that signifies a pit stop. But Crow, being Crow, ignores it and keeps going. "I'm not going back until I get rid of that monster. It's my turn, I draw!" Crow says.

Hermann S.C. 4, Crow S.C. 4

"I'm starting off by playing my Trap Blackback," Crow says. "This card lets me revive a Blackwing monster with 2000 or less Attack Points in exchange for my Normal Summon this turn." Sirocco the Dawn returns. "And he won't be alone for long, because Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind can be Special Summoned when I control a Blackwing monster."

Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind ATK: 1300, DEF: 400, Level: 3

"Now, Gale the Whirlwind's ability activates, which halves your Hook the Hidden Knight'sAttack and Defense Points!" The small bird sends a whirlwind of black feathers at the hook-handed monster, and the feathers stick to the monster, making it look like it had just been in a pillow fight.

Hook the Hidden Knight ATK: 1600 to 800, DEF: 0 to 0

Crow grins. "With Hook's power now lower, Gale the Whirlwind is going to swoop in for a Black Scratch attack!"

I say nothing. Crow has to have a plan, but this is going to trigger that shadow hook again. I hope he can dodge it again...

"You just don't learn, do you?" Hermann asks. "Just like before, Hook the Hidden Knight forces himself and your attacking monster into Defense Mode, and inflicts 800 points of damage!"

Crow's Life Points: 1600

The purple wave happens again, and the two monsters bend down and turn blue. And again, the hook comes out of the ground, so Crow pulls off this mini jump to dodge it. "Now, Sirocco the Dawn, finish up what Gale started! Attack Hook the Hidden Knight with Dark Wing Slash!"

"Too bad for you, now Dark the Hidden Knight's ability activates! I can release him and switch Hook the Hidden Knight back into Attack Mode!" Hermann counters. "And that means Hook's ability activates again, so there goes your plan to get rid of him! And you get 800 points of damage for your troubles."

Crow's Life Points: 800

I hold my breath as the hook appears again. Crow even switches his Duel Runner into Flight Mode, and even then, the hook tries to get him. Instead of a small swing at the tire, the entirety of a shadow Hook the Hidden Knight comes out of the ground. The shadow swings, but luckily misses, and Crow returns to the ground. He's safe for now, but... His attack still failed to connect, and he only has 800 Life Points left. If Hermann has a Speed Spell...

"That may have stopped me this time," Crow says, "but it allows me to activate the effect of Blackwing-Etesian of Two Swords from my hand. Because a Blackwing monster failed to destroy a monster in battle, this ability makes up for it and slams you with damage equal to Sirocco's Attack Points."

Hermann's Life Points: 2000

"Now I activate my Trap, Urgent Tuning," Crow continues. "This lets me Synchro Summon during the Battle Phase."

Hermann snarls at the card. "I chain my own Trap, Shadow Concealing Darkness! This will prevent my monsters in Defense Mode from being destroyed in battle."

"I'm still Tuning my Level 3 Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind with my Level 5 Blackwing-Sirocco the Dawn," Crow says. "Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

Black-Winged Dragon ATK: 2800, DEF: 1600, Level 8

Out from the column of light comes a dragon with a snake-like body that I don't recognize. The dragon's whole body is black, with its jaw a dark yellow, and white wings with black markings on them. Then, the dragon turns blue, signaling that it is in Defense Mode.

This must be Crow's Signer Dragon, I think. I can sense strong energy from the card. Good energy, not dark, like that Hook the Hidden Knight gives off.

"Hmph. So, you know you can't win, so you're beefing up your defense?" Hermann asks.

"What kind of Duelist do you think I am?" Crow asks, offended by the comment. "I activate another Trap, Defenders Intersect! This card negates the abilities of both our monsters, switches them into Attack Mode, and forces them into battle."

"Yes! Go for it, Crow!" I shout. This could mean his victory.

Black-Winged Dragon's wings slowly turn black with red markings as Crow shouts, "This isn't just for me! It's for André, Jean, and Akiza as well! Black-Winged Dragon, demolish that Hook the Hidden Knight! Attack with Noble Stream!"

A stream of black and red energy bursts out of the dragon's mouth, causing the hook-handed monster to explode and send Hermann's Duel Runner spinning off track quite a bit.

Hermann's Life Points: 0

"I'm not letting it end like this!" Hermann declares. "I activate my Revival Knight Trap card! This brings back Hook the Hidden Knight in Defense mode." The card returns, and Hermann continues, "So take this! The power of a Shadow Card!"

The shadow appears again behind Crow's Duel Runner. "I'm not letting that happen! I activate my Trap Gravity Collapse! Sure, I have to get rid of my Black-Winged Dragon, but this lets me negate the Special Summoning of your Hook the Hidden Knight!" Crow counters.

A blast of electricity leaves the Trap and destroys the dragon, and then the ground under the shadow and the hologram of Hook the Hidden Knight cracks, sucking both into the ground. Crow grabs his injured arm and, despite being in the stands, I can hear him groan. He returns to the pit, and Jack comes out to Duel.

XXX

Jack beats Nicolas in one turn, with there being another Shadow Card (this time a Trap), which resulted in this gigantic explosion. Both Jack and Nicolas are okay, but Nicolas' Duel Runner isn't, which resulted in an automatic win for Team 5Ds. So, I go down to congratulate them over their victory and to see if Crow's arm is doing okay, but just as I go to talk, pain runs through my head. For the first time in a while, I have a legitimate vision, rather than separated images with limited sound.

Duel Bots. So many Duel Bots. All of them look like Ghost. They're flooding out of a storage facility. And, on top of the facility stands a man in a white robe, hood pulled up, and a sword strapped to his waist. Something like horns stick out from under the hood. The man shouts, "Go forth, my Diablo! Remember what your mission is, and send this City plummeting into chaos!"

The vision cuts off abruptly, and I realize that I am on the ground, with everyone looking at me with worry written all over their faces. I look over, and I see Yusei being helped to his feet by Akiza. Yusei locks eyes with me.

"If that was what I think it was," Yusei says, "then we're in big trouble."

"You saw that?"

"Yeah."

So, not only is the mind link returning to the way it was, but he had the same vision that I did? I think. That shouldn't be possible, especially if he doesn't know of his powers. Which means... something is very wrong here.

To be continued...

Me: Yep, I just took a break for a month and I ended with a cliffhanger. Don't you just love me?

Sky: No.

Crow: *Pokes head in door* Definitely not!

Me: Too bad! Hey, have any of you played Final Fantasy III? I got it like, two weeks ago and I love it. It's hard though... Especially when you're the idiot that only has two magic users when in Mini form. That is not a good idea by the way. It makes the game overly complicated.

Sky: Where did that come from?

Me: Oh, I get sidetracked easily, remember? And then, every once in a while something random pops into my head, and I end up changing the subject. My friends call it having a 'Shimmering-Sky moment', only with my real name. It's quite funny, actually. Like some reviews I've gotten. So, I don't have much more to say... I would love to hear what you guys think about this story or any of my other ones! Just leave a review, and you will be my friendly friend! Also, you really need to check out Rewind. Sure, it's not done yet and it's rather evil, but there might be more mentions of stuff from it in the future of this story, so you will end up confused. Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing, following, and/or favoriting this story! I'll try to update as soon as I can!