I've been considering whether I should return to DeviantArt and put down my blog, because I've been getting inspired to draw artwork again and it's slightly complicated to upload artwork on the blog. Should I return to DA full time? What do you guys think?

Some of the parts in the Crash Town arc chapters are going to be based off on FlowerHeart17's ideas. Thank you very much for your help and support!

The chapter begins in Estelle's point of view.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 77: Crash Town – Part 1

I was on the balcony connected to my bedroom and leant against the railing with my elbows while resting my chin on top of my clenched hands, enjoying the lovely early May weather. The birds were chirping in joy as they flew with the warm wind. My hair ruffled with the wind as I relaxed and took a few deep breathes to enjoy the sweet air. The joyful laughter of my foster sons echoed from the garden where they were playing with Bruno. That put a smile on my face.

I couldn't believe myself that it was already May, the month I was born in, and almost a whole year since the Crimson Dragon brought me to this dimension. I had experienced so many things and overcome situations that were usually outside of my comfort zone. I had grown so much and that had helped me to mature and believe more in myself.

I turned around and headed inside my room to write down some notes in a special notebook that was for the Crash Town case. Kalin had been sent off to the town for an undercover mission after his family, little sister Cassandra and grandfather Klaus, told me and Goodwin about the current circumstances with the clash between the Malcolm Family and the Radley Group. The town was literally occupied by those two gangs who fought over the Dyne mines and forced people to work without resting.

It had gone almost two months since Kalin got sent to Crash Town. He would sometimes contact me through email and give me valuable information that I wrote down and stored away until it was time to storm the town and arrest the two leaders, and maybe other people who I knew were going to backstab one of the leaders.

I almost jumped when I heard my smartphone ringing next to the notebook. I grabbed it and saw it was Yusei calling. Speaking of, he and the others didn't know where Kalin was because none of them had been told that he was on a mission, except his family, Goodwin, Trudge, and I. My friends believed his depression had returned and he had fled the city to try taking his life. Jack gave me an earful and said I should've paid more attention at Kalin's well-being and not let him wander off, since I was his superior.

I shook out of my thoughts and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Estelle", Yusei responded. "Am I disturbing you?"

"No, you're not. What's up?"

"I just got a letter from someone named Barbara. It says there's a friend of mine who needs help. I have a weird feeling it could be Kalin, so I was wondering if you can come with me to Crash Town and help me bring him back home."

So it was time for the Crash Town arc. This could be the first step to finish the mission. From the information I got from Kalin, he had won nonstop for the Radley Group since he arrived to Crash Town. It was part of the plan to gain enough trust until he could one day lose, either on purpose or he gets defeated by a stronger Duelist, and be dragged to the mines to record and collect evidence of how the groups were harshly treating the miners.

That was literally the last piece of evidence we needed.

"Absolutely! If it's Kalin and he needs help, we better bring him back to New Domino City", I nodded. "Do you mind if I call Cassandra and ask her if she can come along? After all, she's his little sister and both she and Klaus have been worried sick."

"Sure. The more the merrier, and perhaps Cassandra can talk some sense into his head."

"Alright. I'll call her and prepare myself for the trip. I'll be at the garage in an hour. Sounds good?"

"Yeah."

There was some silence as it sounded like Yusei wanted to say something else.

"Um… I'll see you later."

"Yeah. See you soon."

That was odd. Yusei had been behaving a little weirdly since the time we chased after Lazar. Was it triggered at the time when Stardust Dragon saved us from the factory explosion and had grabbed us in the same hand? That time felt quite intimate, especially when our faces were so close to each other.

I shook my head, trying to erase the thoughts of possible being together with Yusei. I turned my attention back at the smartphone and scrolled down on my contact list to find Cassandra's number.

XXXXXXXXXX – Yusei's POV

I didn't know why, but I felt nervous when I called and talked to Estelle. Why was that? I felt like something with our friendship had changed in the last few weeks, mainly after the events with Paradox.

"What's wrong with me…?" I murmured to myself after I ended the call.

"What'd you mean, Yusei?" Crow asked as he walked down to the garage. "Did Estelle say no on going to Crash Town with you?"

"No, it's not that", I shook my head.

"Then what is it?" Jack asked as he drank a cup of coffee. "What changed between you and Estelle?"

I sighed softly as I rubbed the back of my head. "I don't know… I feel like I want her to be by my side, but when I think something's going to be dangerous I want her to stay away, like a need to protect her. But the other side of me tells me she's capable of protecting herself and help me confront the danger. These…urges have grown since Paradox sent Estelle to the future, because I sincerely thought I was never going to see her again."

"Protect…", Jack mumbled as he turned his head away. "Sounds like how I feel for Carly…"

Crow caught the soft mumble and got a wide grin. "Aha! You like her, Jack! You've finally admitted to it!"

"S-Shut up! I don't like her!" Jack retorted with bright red cheeks.

"So you love her, hm?" Crow teased.

"I-…", Jack stuttered with his words for a few seconds before growling. "Whatever!"

Crow giggled evilly before turning his attention back at me with a smirk. "Yusei, it's as clear as the wide sky. You're in love with Estelle!"

"W-What?!" I exclaimed while blushing hard. "No, I don't love her… No, I mean, I do, but not in the way you think!"

My heart clenched a bit in pain after I said that. But why?

"Oh, c'mon, Yusei!" Crow said while throwing his arms up. "You think I didn't see the way you looked at her after the final battle against Dark Signer Goodwin when you carried and smiled at her? And all those other times when you were staring at her while she was in the garage and you quickly turned away when she looked at you?"

"Umm….", I hesitated as I looked aside, randomly looking at the screwdriver on my working desk.

"And the other day when Zora's son, Lyndon, suddenly showed up to fix the town clock and tried flirting with Estelle?" Jack added. "You looked ready to rip him apart when he held her hands and tried asking her to go out with him on a date."

Jack wasn't wrong with that. Something had ignited within me when Lyndon touched and flirted with Estelle in front of us. I wanted to push him far away from her and hold her close so her head was against my chest and make sure she wouldn't make eye contact with him.

Wasn't this starting to look like I was being possessive of Estelle?

No. I just wanted her to look at me and me alone.

These feelings I had right now resembled a lot of the feelings I had before the Duel against Paradox. My body slowly relaxed as I decided to finally admit to myself.

"You're right. I love her", I confessed.

My two foster brothers looked surprised at my sudden admission, but then Crow's grin grew bigger for each second. "Finally you said it!" Crow cheered in joy.

"It was about damn time", Jack nodded with a small smile as he crossed his arms.

I chuckled softly as I laughed sheepishly at their reaction. My soul felt freer after my admission and my heart didn't hurt anymore. It must have been because I kept denying my own feelings.

"So you're gonna confess to her?" Crow asked.

I froze when I heard that question. That was one of my biggest dilemmas.

"I don't know…", I shook my head as I looked at the big windows of the garage. "Estelle's meant to be sent back to her dimension after her duty in our world is done. And she's got her biological family waiting for her. She must be missing them a lot, and I don't want to hold her back because of my selfishness."

And the most important thing of all; I wanted Estelle to be happy. If she felt happiest with her family, then I would let go of her so she could be reunited with her family, even if it was going to hurt my heart.

"Are you sure about that?" Jack suddenly spoke up.

"What?" I said as I turned to my foster brothers.

"She has barely mentioned her biological family for the last several months and I don't get the homesick feeling from her", Jack elaborated.

"Hey, now that you're saying it, that's true!" Crow nodded in agreement. "Maybe Estelle actually wants to stay here in our world permanently."

"I…didn't think of that", I mumbled as I started feeling hopeful.

"Look, try asking her discreetly of what her plans for the future are", Crow suggested. "If she says she's considering staying in our world, then take that chance and confess to her before it's too late! It could give her more of a reason to stay and have a future with you!"

"I hate to admit it, but Crow's right", Jack nodded. "You two are like two peas in one pod."

They were right, especially Crow. I never once thought of the possibility that Estelle wanted to stay here. I had been so into the idea of her leaving that I forgot there was another side of the same coin.

"Thank, you two", I smiled softly in relief. "I feel a lot better now. And you're quite the love expert, Crow."

Crow blushed softly in embarrassment as he rubbed his finger under his nose. "I've been good at observing situations and people for a long time, partially thanks to my nest."

"Just don't butt in between me and Carly, thank you very much", Jack muttered.

"Oh, I will, Jack!" Crow grinned while laughing. "When I see it's time for a confession!"

"What?!" Jack blushed ten times harder than before. "Who said anything about confessing?!"

I could only chuckle and shake my head while watching Crow teasing Jack about Carly. My foster brothers could sometimes be a little annoying, but they were priceless friends and family to me. I wouldn't want to replace them with anybody else.

Now that I felt better about the situation between me and Estelle, I was filled with relief and hope. I was going to take Crow's advice and try finding out if my crush really wanted to go back to her world or stay here with us.

With a much better mood than before, I turned to my Duel Runner to change the tires for the trip to Crash Town. After looking it up on Google Maps, I saw the town was located in the middle of a desert, so I had to use terrain tires.

XXXXXXXXXX – Estelle's POV

When I told Cassandra about Yusei's letter from Barbara and Kalin had been located, she agreed on coming along, since she knew some inside secrets of the town and she wanted to see if her big brother was okay. The two of us agreed on keeping up with the act; that we had no clue where Kalin had been. It was to hide the truth from Yusei.

Before leaving the mansion, Goodwin gave me a remote control device with a red button that was covered by a plastic shield. It was an emergency button, so as soon as I would press it, it would send a distress signal to Sector Security and alert the officers to hurry to Crash Town and commence the operation on freeing the town from the claws of terror.

Yusei, Cassandra, and I rendezvoused by Zora's clock shop and said goodbye to Jack and Crow before leaving New Domino City. Since Crash Town was several miles away from the urban city, it was going to take a couple of hours to reach it.

It took us two hours driving on the highway with natural habitat around us until we reached a barren wasteland. At first, it was just cliffs and infertile soil for a few miles and then came the wide and open area of just sand and bare mountains.

The sky was clear, so I could feel the heat in the air even though we were driving fast through the sandy terrain. I spotted a few animals once in a while, but besides that we were the only one in the desert. We could barely talk to each other through the intercom because there was sand in the air and I didn't want to get it in my mouth. The place reminded me heavily of Nevada from all the pictures and photos I've seen on the Internet.

When I saw we were getting closer to Crash Town with the help of the GPS on the dashboard of my Runner, Cassandra led me and Yusei aside to show us a secret. She drove to a small mountain next to the edge of a cliff and got off her Runner. Yusei and I followed her as she stepped over to the wall of the mountain.

"What are we doing here, Cassandra?" I asked.

"There's a secret tunnel leading to an underground garage", Cassandra explained as she placed the palm of her right hand on the mountain. "Only my family, Toru, and two friends of mine know about it."

The part where Kalin's sister placed her hand on the mountain glowed for a second. I quickly realized it was a high-tech camouflaged hand scanner. It scanned Cassandra's hand before a tiny lamp glowed green and a door opened on the mountain next to the scanner.

"Good. The secret entrance is still working", Cassandra nodded. "Push your Runners in here."

The three of us rolled our Duel Runners into the tunnel before the door shut itself behind us. As soon as it did that, the tunnel lightened up by moving sensor lamps on the ceiling. We got on the Runners and drove the last part to the garage. We made it to a big room where there was another Duel Runner already in there, but it was covered by a white and dusty sheet.

We parked our Runners and grabbed our Duel Disks and backpacks that we had prepared for the trip and were about to walk back to the entrance of the secret tunnel when Cassandra stopped by the covered Duel Runner.

"Cassandra?" Yusei called.

Cassandra sighed softly as she pulled the sheet up a little bit to reveal a Duel Runner that had the same frame as hers, but the coloring was different. Hers was ice blue while this one was dark red.

"Is this Klaus' Duel Runner?" Yusei asked as he looked at the motorcycle.

"No…", Cassandra shook her head. "Both my parents had motorcycles, long before Duel Runners were invented. When they first heard about the Runners, like months before Zero Reverse, they tried modifying their motorcycles into the real deal. Sadly, they were never able to finish them, so as I got older, Toru and I did our best to finish the project so I could inherit Mom's Runner. This one used to be Dad's, and it was meant for Kalin to inherit it…"

I could tell by her voice she was tearing up by the thoughts of her deceased parents. She was just a toddler when she lost them, and Kalin too for a long time, so I knew it was very sensitive for her to think about her parents, but she still kept them very close to her heart and she had worked on the two motorcycles and rebuilt them into Duel Runners.

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look at me. "I'm sure your parents are watching over both you and Kalin. And they are giving you the strength to save Kalin and bring him back to his family, and present him this Duel Runner you worked so hard on."

Cassandra nodded as she wiped off a few tears from her cheeks. "You're right. Let's go."

It took ten minutes to walk back to the entrance of the secret tunnel. I didn't complain because the air was cool and chilly; perfect way to prepare my body for the heat outside. It felt like I got hit by a fist of heat when we made it outside. It was even hotter than any other summers I had experienced back in my home country for the last few years. Cassandra made sure to lock the door and just as we were about to leave, we heard cries of help coming from the other side of the low mountain.

We looked at each other before we climbed up the mountain and see what was going on. We looked down the cliff and saw three men clad in torn blue uniforms. They were being chased by two other men who were from the Malcolm Family. The tired men tried climbing up the cliff, but they were too weak for that. One of them grabbed something and threw it up the cliff that landed next to us.

I recognized the pendant straight away. It was the pendant Nice and West's father threw in the anime! What was his name again? Sergio or Jordan? I was going to roll with Sergio.

I snapped my eyes back when I heard painful cries from the bottom of the cliff. The Malcolm Family grunts were tasing the poor miners by using their gun-like Duel Disks that were remotely connected to the collars around the miners' neck. It was horrible to watch in real life.

"This is awful…", Cassandra mumbled sadly. "Nothing has changed…"

Yusei, however, couldn't keep quiet and stood up to yell at the two Malcolm Family grunts. "What are you two doing?!"

The grunts glanced up at the cliff and spotted us. "It's just as you see!" one of them replied. "We're capturing those bad people who tried to escape!"

"Let those people go!" Yusei demanded as the two grunts picked up the fallen miners and dragged them away.

"Sorry, but we can't do that!" the second grunt shouted. "You three look like Duelists. This town welcomes you. If you're good at Dueling, there will be lots of work for you, but that's for men only! Your two girlfriends are welcome too, but they'll have another type of work waiting for them!"

I shivered a bit in disgust when I heard that. I had a feeling what they meant with that, but I shook it off. What mattered the most was to free Crash Town from the two terrorist groups.

Cassandra picked up the pendant that Sergio had thrown and pocketed it in her jacket before turning to me and Yusei. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXX

Crash Town felt like it was a ghost place. There were zero people outside and I meant by both villagers and grunts from the two groups. I still noticed a couple of curious faces staring through the windows as my group walked to the famous crossway where the evening Duels took place.

"Home sweet home…", Cassandra mumbled softly as she looked around. "Or I wish I could say that with a happy smile…"

"Why is that, Cassandra?" Yusei asked. "What exactly is this place?"

"It's a…long story", Cassandra replied as she turned around to face me and Yusei, only for her eyes to widen in shock at something behind us.

I could tell by the footsteps behind us that a couple of grunts had come to give us a "warm" welcome.

"Well, well, look at that! Three Duelists have come here!" one of them chuckled.

"Strange fellow too", the second grunt commented. "And he's got two girlfriends with him."

"Looks like he's the type who prefers more of one thing", the third laughed. "He's perfect to work here."

"Vidrigt… (Disgusting…)", I mumbled to myself at the comments.

"Sorry, but I only Duel Duelists", Yusei told the Malcolm grunts.

"What?!" one of the grunts growled angrily before they surrounded us with their prepared Gunman's Disks.

"That's a nice insult", the first grunt said. "But saying those things will get you to hell faster."

"To hell?" Yusei wondered.

"That's right!" the second grunt nodded. "By the time you realize it, you'll be surrounded by demons."

"Now then, let's see your skills, boy and girls!" the third grunt demanded.

"3 versus 3?" I suggested.

"Why not? It'll be more entertaining", the first grunt chuckled.

Yusei, Cassandra, and I prepared to activate our Duel Disks when a new voice spoke up.

"Please stop!"

A tall woman with black wavy hair walked out of a flower shop with a bouquet of white flowers. I knew right away she was Barbara. I also noticed how Cassandra flinched slightly at the sight of the harpy, as I liked to call Barbara, and stepped back to hide behind me. Did she feel uncomfortable around the blackette?

"It isn't Duel Time", Barbara continued. "This is a violation of Crash Town's rules! Don't disturb these flowers anymore." She forcefully shoved the bouquet into the first grunt's arms before she walked over to Yusei. "I called this person, so he's my guest. And his friends here are also my guests, so leave them be."

"You?" Yusei asked.

"I'm Barbara, who wrote the letter", Barbara introduced herself. "Welcome to Crash Town."

The Malcolm grunts growled before they deactivated their Gunman's Disks and walked away to leave us alone. Cassandra sighed in relief, but that caught Barbara's attention.

"Is that you, Cassy?" the blackette smiled sweetly. "It's been a while. I'm glad to see you again."

"Hi, Barbara…", Cassandra mumbled quietly.

Something about their interaction made the alarms go off in my head. I couldn't ignore it, so I made a mental note to ask her later about their relationship.

XXXXXXXXXX

We got to witness the Duel Time of the day between the Malcolm Family and the Radley Group by the time the sun was going down. Yusei couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Kalin with the Radley Group.

Speaking of Kalin, his looks had changed a little bit. Before he left New Domino City, his hair reached down to the nape of his neck, but now he looked just like as in the Crash Town arc anime. He was also wearing a black long Radley Group cape, but I knew he had bugged it with microscopic cameras and microphones due to his undercover mission.

The Duel ended with Kalin being the victor while the Giant was forced into a coffin in a horse carriage that brought him to the Dyne mines. Yusei tried confronting Kalin after the Duel, but Kalin had to keep up with his act and ignored the Signer before leaving with the Radley Group.

Barbara told Yusei the best way to save Kalin was for him to join the Malcolm Family, become their newest Duelist and defeat Kalin in the next evening's Duel Time.

My group settled down in the Kessler house. Cassandra grabbed an old brown poncho and a holster with a Gunman's Disk that used to belong to Klaus. She explained for Yusei how this Duel Disk worked before he and I left the town to go to Malcolm's base.

The base was located less than two kilometers away from Crash Town, so we didn't have to hike so far. As we got closer to the building, I felt my heart beating rapidly in fear. What if something would go wrong? What if someone had an actual gun and they would fire at Yusei if he were to fail the test?

If that were to happen, I wouldn't hesitate to jump in and push Yusei out of the way and take the bullet. He had to live.

No.

He needed to live to make a difference for the future in this dimension.

"Estelle?" Yusei called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?" I asked, realizing we were standing in front of the double door gate leading into the enclosed yard of Malcolm's base.

"You've been so quiet this whole time. Are you okay?" Yusei asked with worried eyes.

I softly shook my head and massaged my cheeks to get rid of the frown on my face. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little worried."

Yusei looked like he didn't buy it, but he didn't push it further. "Just stay behind me, okay?"

I nodded before we pushed open the double doors together. We were greeted by Malcolm's angry and rainbow-colored voice as he cursed profanities left and right. Let me tell you, some words were so colorful I couldn't even bare to repeat them myself.

"DAMNIT!" Malcolm yelled as he poured a whole bottle of beer into his mouth, not even caring about the liquid that ran down his chin. "How dare he… How dare he humiliate me this much?! That damn Radley…!"

Malcolm threw the now empty beer bottle across the garden before it hit the wall and shattered into pieces. His men got scared by his outburst and took several steps back to not get a bottle thrown at them.

Yusei and I looked at each other for a second before I nodded to him, silently telling him to go forth and commence the operation of saving Kalin. Yusei walked toward the group while I stayed behind by the doors. I leant against the wall and crossed my arms to watch. My body was tense as I was prepared to jump in if something awful were about to happen.

"Boss… Don't drink too much…", a young Malcolm grunt shakily tried to stop his boss from drinking.

Malcolm refused to listen as he opened another bottle and drank it faster than I've seen Jack drinking his Blue-Eyes Mountain coffee. He then smacked the bottle at the poor boy's head, causing it to shatter into pieces. "Shut up! Everyone is getting on my nerves!"

Now every grunt got scared and ran into a further distance to avoid Malcolm's wrath. "Really… Once my little brother, Lawton, comes back, that Kalin would be nothing…", he growled loudly. "He would defeat him at once!"

"Hey!" Yusei called, getting the Malcolm Family's attention.

"Who are you?!" Malcolm demanded.

The three grunts we encountered before recognized us. "Y-You are…!" the first grunt mumbled.

"From back in town!" the second grunt finished the sentence.

"Not just him, but one of his girlfriends are here too!" the third grunt added.

I just gave him a glare in response. He flinched by it, which made me smirk inwardly. Back in my world, Mom and Dad told me I had a very frightening glare, so I was glad to see it was working here as well and it even scared thugs like these guys.

"That's right. And I'm here for some work", Yusei answered, ignoring the girlfriend part, before he swiped open his poncho, revealing the holster with the gun Duel Disk strapped around his waist.

"Just what I've been waiting for!" the first grunt cheered happily as he and the two other grunts rushed in front of him to prepare Dueling. "We'll be your opponents!"

Malcolm laughed amusingly, but I could also hear how he was already drunk by all the beer he had just drunk. "Fine. I'll look at your skills. If I like you, I'll hire you. And if I don't like you… Then you won't return safely."

The last comment made my body even tenser than before, but I held myself back. I had to believe in Yusei that he could defeat Malcolm's men and not get a bullet in his head instead.

Please, Yusei… You had to win!