When All Was Lost...
Chapter Twenty-Five
25
Picking Up The Scattered Pieces
"And there we have it folks! He won, won won again~ Our grand champion, Jaaaaaaaaaaaaack~ Atlaaaaaaaassssss~"
I could hear the tv announcer belt out the victor of the turbo duel that was broadcasting from the Domino City track. Yusei's group of friends gathered around the small box tv. I tried to continue my sleep. I tossed and turned on the musky couch that I had fallen asleep on some time during the previous night, still draped in Yusei's Jacket as my blanket.
Jack...Atlas...
I repeated this name and as I did so I saw flash images. Some from a distant past, and some rather recent. I saw myself running, hiding in shadows. I was searching for something. I looked to be in the event hall...
"Who's the master of faster!? Who rules the duels!? That's right it's me! Jack Atlas!"
Jack...Jack...
There was information on Jack in my oddly vivid dream. Though I couldn't quite make sense of it.
"And so spoken are the great words of a champion!"
The Tv's still playing...
It seems to be an interview with the champion.
"Tell us, , do you have any words for any of your fans and spectators who may want to challenge you?"
"Indeed I do!"
He speaks smugly. With a familiar confidence that somehow comforts me.
"Bring~ it~ ON-"
But Jack...I don't think you understand...you're in-
VRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOMMNNNNNMM~
"Ahhhhh~!" I let out a yelp and found myself stumbling out of the couch, startling the rest of the group as I fell onto the floor behind them,startled by the sound of a revved up engine and tied up in the sleeves of a blue leather jacket. Whatever dream I was having, it was gone now.
"Hahaha~ Good morning~!" Yusei grinned from behind the drapes,"I didn't wake you up, did I?" he wore a sarcastic smile which I countered with a sleepy pout.
"I think you know damn well that you did..." I grumbled,"What gives!?"
He stoped and stared for a moment, and suddenly a relieved smile rested on his lips.
"What gives is that it's the middle of the afternoon! You should be getting up!" He huffed walking over to me,"I guess it's good to see your sleeping habits haven't changed." he chuckled,"You've always been able to sleep anywhere any time...thank you`~!" he said thanks as he swiped his Jacket from my shoulders and threw it back on over his arms as he chuckled.
"Wow, Akarii, you jumped about 10 feet there~!" Nervin snickered playfully.
"Hey in her defense, Yusei pulled kind of a dick move~!"
"Hey, in my defense I think the best way to handle her situation is to treat her normally as though things haven't changed with her!" Yusei argued back,"I have faith that her memories will return on their own so long as we behave naturallyt."
Though the term 'naturally' was different for the others. They didn't seem to share the past that Yusei and I did, but they knew the stories. Yusei must have spoken about it with them from time to time. Rally tried to defend me but it was hard not to laugh. I'm sure I looked silly. I scoffed and stood to dust myself off. I could hear the group talking about Jack Atlas. It was in scattered muttering, but I thought I heard something about Jack having stolen Yusei's best card and his duel runner, which he used to leave the Satellite.
That can't be true...can it Jack?
Did you really do what they say you did?
It just doesn't seem like you...
I blinked at the thought and looked over to him on the television wondering if that were truly the case. But I didn't linger long on it, it sounded serious, and I was already dealing with a serious situation of my own. Still, something about it continued to weigh in me...
The memories of Jack that played when Yusei described them, just come across so different than the image they were painting of him now.
"Hey, Akarii." Yusei approached me and knelt beside me on the stair case where I sat alone to think,"How are you feeling today?"
"Hard to say..." I sighed,"I don't feel any different than yesterday."
"I guess you didn't remember anything then?" he sighed sadly.
"Well...I'm not sure that's entirely true." I blinked. This seemed to catch his attention,"I haven't quite been able to putall of the pictures to them yet..." I said softly,"But I hear a lot of voices and familiar statements, especially when I sleep." I sighed, " I recall familiar conversations and events in my memories, but I have yet put them with the right faces."
Yusei listened patiently. It seemed lost to him. Understandably so,it was complicated even to me, but I could also sense his empathy as he tried to put himself in my place to understand them better.
"You know..." he said softly,"They say when memories are formed, we never truly forget them, but they store themselves in our mind." he said," They will resurface naturally on their own, and most likely while we sleep." he blinked, "You know what helps me when I'm lost in my own head?" Yusei asked softly.
"What?" I blinked and looked up at his smiling face while he handed me a wrench,"Tinkering." he chuckled and led me to the back area where he seemed to hold his personal workshop,"It was something we did together, you and me." he smiled,"We treated it as our bonding time, so maybe tinkering...might re-awaken some of those old memories." There was a mass under a drape and he whipped it up revealing his Duel Runner underneath.
"Give me a hand, will you?" he smiled at me warmly and patted the spot next to him,"I think the front tire could use a little tightening."
I stared blankly for a while, shifting my gaze between his red runner and the wrench in my hand. The runner was a different color then, the one I was recalling. Though I think the runner in my memories may have been mine. Holding the wrench in my hand felt natural to me and I gripped tightly, focusing on that memory, I would kneel down in the same way that I recollected, and began tightening any loose bolts, working naturally without much thought, allowing myself to do what my body seemed to be knowingly doing on its own.
Sitting next to Yusei was so peaceful. So familiar. I would close my eyes and listen to the distant voices from my past. Trying to pin point the ones that were his.
"Hey can you pass me the whatchamuzit?"
"The Whutchamuzit?"
"Yeah this thingy is loose."
"Thingy?"
I remember...
I would hear Yusei's teasing snickers with every word I said.
It was amazing that he even understood anything I said at all...yet somehow he knew and would just laugh.
"Let me guess, you're going to use the whutchamuzit on the dohickeymabob, right?" he would say to me.
"...It's a majigger."
"Ah, got it!"
The memory faded into an echo of Yusei's laughter. And this time with my eyes closed, I could actually see it. The two of us together in our grease stained enforcers uniforms, tinkering my old runner that they made for me...
A smile creased my lips when I opened them again in the present.
"Yusei...can you pass me that whutchamuzit? This thingy is loose...I should..tighten the dohickeymabob..."
From the corner of my eye I could see Yusei cracking a smile.
"Actually..." he said gently with a chuckle,"...That's a majigger."
I returned his smile as we stood.
"Revv her up." He said, with his arms crossed and a grin.
I returned his gesture and moved to the handle bars. I gave it a few revvs and the engine whir echoed around the tunnel followed by the cheering of all of Yusei's friends. I felt a sense of accomplishment, and yet also, a sense of uneasiness.
"That's great, Akarii, thanks a lot." he smiled as he adjusted his gloves. Watching him like this, made me feel like he was leaving...
"Hey...Yusei." I reached for him and lightly tugged at his sleeve,"I...heard you all talking." I said softly,"Is it true?" I blinked,"Did Jack really do those things?"
Yusei remained silent for a moment before relieving a held in sigh.
"A lot of things changed when you disappeared, Akarii." he said softly,"When Kalin got arrested, and then you disappeared...Jack changed too in fact, we all did."
"I see...and so...you're really going to the city?"
"I am." he said firmly,"He has something of mine, and I aim to take it back." he huffed, "I'm leaving tonight."
I swallowed hard at the lump in my throat.
I knew he was going because he had to...but something else bothered me about it. I couldn't help but feel this was some kind of lure, a trap. Though without a proper explanation I knew I wouldn't be able to convince him of this theory, and the red flags would remain unchecked.
To Be Continued