Hey everyone. HQ here.
Before we begin, I just wanted to open by saying that there'll be a slight tweak to how Turbo Duels work in this fic. The Turbo Duels in 5D's were fine at the time, but now I realize just how much of a pain it is to write them because of the restriction on non-Speed Spells and how Speed Counters were basically useless the whole of the first season and even in the second it felt largely gimmicky. Then ARC-V came along and it made the whole thing better.
So when I wanted to write The Twin Voices, I figured I wanted to stake my claim on revamping Turbo Duels. But I couldn't make them like ARC-V duels, they just won't fly here. I asked around, and got a couple of ideas.
So here's how Turbo Duels will be handled from here on in:
1: This is the new version of Speed World I'll be using.
Speed World
Field Spell
During each Standby Phase: Place one Speed Counter on this card. (max. 12) When you take damage: remove one Speed Counter from this card for every multiple of 1000 damage you took. Then, if this card's effect would result you having more Speed Counters than your opponent: draw a card, also inflict damage equal to the difference in Speed Counters x 100. You can only activate this effect of "Speed World" once per turn.
2: There is no longer a restriction on Spell Cards. Speed Spells, however, still exist. They are instead pre-programmed into the Duel Runners. At the start of the duel, three Speed Spells are randomly drawn among the ones they have. You can only play one Speed Spell per turn. All Speed Spells require removing their minimum requirement of Speed Spells unless specified. After a Speed Spell is played, it disappears, and cannot return to play.
Make sure you read and review, I want to know what people actually think of these rules.
...I think that's it. ROLL TAPE!
Duel One: Enter The Redcoat
Domino City had climbed out of the ashes after disaster had struck the area some seventeen years prior. Although now named New Domino City, it still remained the heartbeat of the world's greatest card game: Duel Monsters. Created by Industrial Illusions and brought to life by KaibaCorp, the game had evolved again and again. But the game wasn't the only one that evolved in that stretch of time, but also the way the game was played. The reveal of the Duel Runner gave Duel Monsters a new face. Duel Runners allowed duels to be held while traveling at high speeds on race tracks. These Turbo Duels created a new generation of stars. But none more popular than the King himself.
Jack Atlas had come out of nowhere in the last year or two, but he'd blown the competition away at every turn, with both his white Runner and his deck, and hadn't been defeated once since he won his first major tournament and become the new King of Turbo Duels. He was a bonafide star to the people of the city, with short, curly blonde hair and piercing purple eyes. He cut an imposing figure to his enemies and an inspiring figure to his fans.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the time has come for our main event! Everyone give it up for New Domino City's greatest phenomenon, your King of Turbo Duels! JACK! ATLAAAAAAAS!"
Jack came flying out onto the track on his one-wheeled Duel Runner, the Wheel of Fortune. He raised a finger to the sky as he took a lap around the track to greet his populace.
"Your King has arrived, New Domino City! Now, what say we kick this duel into overdrive?!"
"Hey! You alright? Pull yourself together!"
The young man woke up, staring up into a cloudless mid-afternoon sky. But there was a shadow of someone hanging over him. Someone small with curly hair. "Ugh...what did I do to myself…?"
"Oh, thank goodness! You came to," the kid said. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine, just a little light-headed..."
Slowly, he picked himself up from the ground, dusting himself off. He was wearing a red trenchcoat, wrinkled from his time on the ground, with a black V-neck shirt, black pants, and black boots. The kid, meanwhile, was dressed in a blue shirt one size too big, with a large patch in the back, with an orange shirt two sizes too big, and a yellow beanie over brown curly hair. In a way, he almost looked like a raggedy version of the person he'd just come across.
The kid gave him a once-over before nodding. "So you weren't attacked by thugs. That's good. But it's dangerous here, you know. What were you doing in a place like this?"
The redcoat cracked his neck and closed his eyes, trying to run through his memories. But nothing came. It was such a spooky thought. "I...uh..."
"You don't want to answer me? Well, have it your way..." the kid said with a mild eye roll. He didn't sound disappointed, however.
"Where am I, exactly?" asked the redcoat.
The kid blinked, not expecting that question. "Um...this is Satellite. I guess they used to call this place Domino City a long time ago...oh, right! I still haven't introduced myself! The name's Rally! Rally Dawson! So what's your name?"
"I...uh...I don't know..." What was going on with his brain? Why was it choosing to prolapse at the simplest question? This was starting to get a little troubling.
"What!? You don't know!? Are you crazy or something?" asked Rally. "I mean, it's your name, you know!"
"Yeah. I know. It's spooky," said the redcoat.
"Huh...oh! Maybe you have amnesia!? Ooh, that's rough...so, what should we do? If only we had a clue to go on…" Rally said, resting his chin on his hand. "Hmm...hey! What's that on your arm? Isn't that a Duel Disk?"
"A what?" The redcoat looked down, and sure enough, there was some kind of device on his forearm, metallic and colored white with a red diamond-shaped gem in the center. Rally called it a duel disk, and hearing the name, he felt something in his brain click. "Ah. Okay. A duel disk. Yeah, that feels familiar."
"So you're a duelist!" Rally said, nodding his head a couple times. "Then maybe, you'll remember something if you duel with somebody? Why not duel me, then?"
The redcoat folded his arms. "...not that I don't mind a duel, but, how is it a cure for amnesia?"
"I'm thinking maybe if you duel with the deck you have, it might jog your memory a bit!" Rally said brightly. "Wait here! Let me go get my deck!" And with that, Rally ran off, leaving the redcoat all alone in the dusty junkyard.
"Well...this is...interesting..." the redcoat said to himself, reaching for the deck case at his belt.
There was indeed a deck of cards inside, but he was more focused on where he was at the moment. Frankly, the place was a wreck. He thought the streets were dirt, but no, they were just dirty. There was trash scattered to the curbs in small piles, but most surprisingly were the junk piles. Some of these junk piles were huge, reaching higher than some of the buildings. Those buildings had busted windows and doors, or they were boarded up. Something had blown through here, but why did it look like it never recovered. So many questions.
Thankfully, Rally wasn't gone long. A few minutes later, he came back, carrying a duel disk and a deck of his own. "Thanks for waiting! Alright! Let the battle begin!"
"Red Dragon Archfiend, end this! Absolute Powerforce!"
Jack's massive red dragon shot up into the air, bright crimson flames running up its claws. Then, with a roar, it dived at its target, swinging a massive fist into its target. A massive cloud of dust and flames rose up, and his opponent came out of it with his Duel Runner blasting steam out of its orifices. The crowd roared at the sight of their victorious champion has he took a victory lap, while his opponent slid off onto the apron in shame.
"Jack wins! Jack wins! He won again today! He's just too good! Nobody can take his throne!" the MC called. "How long will his winning streak go on? Who knows? He's a living legend, the one true King of Turbo Duels, Jack Atlas!"
Jack finally came to a halt, stepping off the Wheel of Fortune with a finger over his head, pointing to the heavens. "Who's the Master of Faster?! Who rules the duels! Who's the number one Turbo Duelist in New Domino City? That's right, it's me!"
The crowd roared again.
"Attack directly!"
Redcoat: 2200
Rally: 0
"Katsu!" The redcoat said, clapping his hands once before exhaling. "...and that's the end."
"Wow! You're really good! It's been a while since I had such a fun duel! Thanks a lot! That was cool!" Rally said, picking himself up from the ground. "...so! Did you remember anything?"
"Uh..." The redcoat looked down for a minute as he collected his cards from his deck. As he picked up Roland, something flashed across his mind.
"Liam!"
A girl laughing.
"Liam, dinner's ready, dear..."
A woman. His mother?
"Liam, come on. I need your help in the garage."
A man. Tall, lanky, like himself, with the same green eyes, a small but ever-present knowing smile on his face. And then the woman, the same blonde hair he had, but wavy. Her blue eyes, sightless, but full of light. And a girl, taller than him with white hair, wavy like the woman's. Was this his family…?
"Hey! You alright?"
The Redcoat snapped back to reality just as quickly as the vision arrived. "Yeah. I think I do remember."
"You do!? Like your name?"
The Redcoat nodded. "The name's Liam O'Hara."
"Liam O'Hara, huh?" Rally asked. "It'd be cool if you were, like, related to Cameron O'Hara somehow."
"Who?"
"My favorite duelist, of course! I mean, other than Yusei..." Rally said, scratching the back of his head.
"Who's Yusei?"
"You'll meet him eventually. He's usually out by himself, but he'll come by sometimes. Anyway, I gotta go do something, but there's a place my friends hang out! All you have to do is head to the subway station for West Domino and tell them my name! You'll see them eventually! Anyway, gotta run!"
And just like that, Rally dashed off down the street, leaving Liam alone by himself. Domino...Satellite….why did they sound familiar, somehow? Did he live here? Or did he come here from somewhere else? It was too much to think about. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was Liam O'Hara, the redcoat duelist, and if duels had helped to give him a sense of who he was, then all he had to do was get into more duels and he could find out everything he'd forgotten. At least, that was the hope.
So without further ado, Liam proceeded down the street until he saw what looked like stairs headed downward. That was probably the subway tunnel Rally had directed him to. Unfortunately, there was someone barring the way, a man wearing a dirty blue jacket, a green shirt, and jeans, his hair covered by a bandana.
"Hm?" The man looked his way, looking rather suspicious of who was approaching. "I've never seen you around here before. So what do you want? Only our friends are allowed to enter the subways."
"Rally Dawson sent me. He said I could come here and swap introductions, but he had other things to do and went another way."
"Rally, huh? Well, I don't know you, so no matter what you say, I'm not buying it."
"Seriously? Did you not listen to a thing I said?" Liam asked.
"Oh no, I did, but if you're understanding what I'm saying, you'd better leave. No matter what, you can't come in."
Liam rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever...I'll just stick around until he gets back..."
"...hey, wait a second. Is that a duel disk you got there?"
"Hm?" Liam looked down, noticing he hadn't dropped his arm. "Oh yeah. You a duelist, too, I take it?"
"Kinda...whatever. It was getting boring around here anyway. So why don't we have a duel, then?" the man put on his own duel disk, an identical one to the version Rally had. Why were theirs the same but his was different? "Alright. If you beat me, I'll believe this story you gave me."
"Is that it? Alright, let's do this, uh..." Liam said, activating his duel disk. "You never gave your name..."
"Seriously? That's what you're saying in a time like this?" asked the man.
"It's only polite," said Liam.
"Fine. It's Blitz."
"Blitz, huh? I'm Liam."
"DUEL!"
Blitz: 4000
Liam: 4000
"Challenged party goes first."
"Ah. Thank you," Liam said, looking over his hand, and then drawing a sixth card. "I'll start by summoning Infernoble Knight Ogier in attack mode!"
Flames erupted on the field, and a blonde man in black and red armor with a white tabard came onto the field. He was surrounded by six sprites, two green, two orange, and two purple. (LVL 4/ATK: 1500) "And because he was Summoned, I can send a Fire Warrior monster or a Noble Arms card from my deck to the graveyard!"
"Warriors, huh? A couple friends of mine run those," said Blitz.
"Sure, but can regular warriors do this?" asked Liam. "I activate the effect of the monster I sent, Infernoble Knight Maugis! If he's in the graveyard, I can equip him a Warrior monster on my field! So I'll equip Maugis to Ogier!"
A ghostly image of a man in white and red robes soared out onto the field before dropping a flaming staff into Ogier's hand.
"I end my turn."
"Draw!" Blitz said, pulling his next card. "And I'll summon Robotic Knight to the field!" A clockwork soldier appeared on the field, wearing a red "feathered" hat and armed with a sword. (LVL 4/ATK: 1600) "And just for good measure, I'll equip him with Lucky Iron Axe, which grants him 500 attack points!" The Knight's sword was replaced by an axe with golden kanji written down the head. (ATK: 2100) "Robotic Knight, attack Ogier!"
Steam flew out of Robotic Knight's ports as he charged at the armored knight. Ogier's sprites rose up to defend him as he raised his staff to defend himself.
"Huh? Ogier wasn't destroyed?"
"If Infernoble Knight Maugis is equipped to a monster, then that monster can't be destroyed in battle," Liam explained.
Blitz nodded. "Okay, that is impressive. But you still take damage from the battle!"
The steam from Robotic Knight increased, blowing past Ogier and clouding Liam in a large cloud.
Liam: 3500
"I set one card facedown and end my turn," Blitz finished.
"And now comes the counterattack! Draw!" Liam said, drawing his next card. "I activate the spell card One For One! By sending a monster card from my hand to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 1 monster from my deck, so I'll be calling in the one and only Squeakknight!"
A portal opened in front of Liam, and out of it came a small mouse warrior in knight's armor, with a shield that had a mousetrap and a spear with a head made of cheese. It squeaked a battle cry as it raised its weapon. (LVL 1/ATK: 500)
"Cute, bro. But it doesn't exactly stack up to my Robotic Knight," said Blitz.
"Well, Squeakknight here shouldn't be underestimated. When he's Special Summon, he turns into a Tuner monster!" said Liam.
"A Tuner? Wait, do you-?" Blitz began.
"I now tune my Level 1 Squeakknight with my Level 4 Ogier!" Squeakknight drew a circle in the air, and then jumped into the air, turning into a green circle. Ogier dropped Maugis's staff and jumped through the ring made by Squeakknight. His body vanished, transforming into four stars.
"The bards of yore tell the tale of martyred royalty! Prince of the faith, take to the field! Synchro Summon! Level 5! Sound the horn, Infernoble Knight Vanguard Roland!"
Another armored knight with black and red armor appeared on the field, with bright red hair and a red and black cloak. He was armed with a red-bladed flamberge. With a flourish, he swung his blade, and it ignited in bright red flames. (LVL 5/ATK: 2000)
"You have a Synchro Monster?" Blitz asked.
Liam shrugged. "It was on me when I went through it. Who knew?"
Blitz stared at Liam for a moment. Why would he something like that? Didn't he know what he had? "Well, regardless, Roland's an interesting choice, Liam, given he's still weaker than Robotic Knight."
"That's true. But first, I'm activating Maugis's effect! If he's sent to the graveyard, I can put three Fire Warrior monsters or Noble Arms Equip spells in my graveyard back into my deck, and then draw a card. So I'll shuffle in Squeakknight, Ogier, and the Infernoble Knight Olivier I discarded with One For One!" Liam took the three cards back and put them back in his deck. The auto-shuffler rifled through his deck before he drew his next card. "Perfect! I now equip Roland with Noble Arms – Gallatin!"
A bright light came out Roland's flamberge, and the flames turned from red to white. "Gallatin may reduce Roland's attack by 200 during my Standby Phase, but it gives Roland an extra 1000 attack points to start with!" Roland smiled and readied the weapon. (ATK: 3000) "Roland, attack Robotic Knight! Divine Sword Froberge!"
Roland charged, swinging his sword at the robotic knight. One slice split the mechanical soldier in two, and it shattered behind him.
Blitz: 3100
"I set one card facedown and end my turn."
"Okay. Not bad," said Blitz. "But I'm not going to give up that easily!" He drew. "I activate my facedown card, Birthright! This lets me Special Summon a Normal Monster from my graveyard, and I'll be bringing back Robotic Knight!" The red mechanical knight returned to the field. (LVL 4/ATK: 1600) "Next, I activate the spell card Share the Pain! We now both Tribute one monster on the field."
"Ah..." Liam sighed, and Roland vanished from the field along with Gallatin, as did Robotic Knight.
"And now, I summon to the field Battle Ox in attack mode!" A humanoid bull came onto the field, wearing red and gold armor and menacing Liam with its axe. "Attack Liam directly!"
Battle Ox charged, swinging his axe against Liam's body. Liam stepped back, touching vaguely at the part of his chest he'd been hit.
Liam: 1800
"I end my turn," Blitz finished.
"My turn, then," said Liam, drawing. He nodded at the sight of the card he drew. "Perfect. I activate the spell card Last Chapter of the Noble Knights! If you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can Special Summon a Noble Knight from my graveyard, and then equip it with a Noble Arms equip spell from my graveyard! I'll bring back Ogier, and equip him with Gallatin!"
The red-armored knight came back to the field, and a sword with a golden handle and a white-blue shining blade appeared in his hand. (LVL 4/ATK: 1500 → 2500)
"But he's not going to be around for long," Liam said. "Because I control a FIRE Warrior monster, I can special summon Noble Knight Renaud from my hand!"
Flames erupted behind Liam, and a red and black-armored knight galloped onto the field, astride a black horse with flaming eyes and a flaming sword in his hand. (LVL 1/DEF: 200) "And when Renaud is Special Summoned, I can get one of my FIRE Warrior monsters or an Equip Spell card in my graveyard and add it to my hand! So I'll be taking back Infernoble Knight Maugis!"
"Your deck has a dizzying speed to it," Blitz said, looking mildly surprised.
"Wait until I get going!" Liam said with a grin. "Renaud's effect activates! If I Special Summoned him through his own effect, Renaud becomes a Tuner monster!"
"Another Tuner?" asked Blitz.
"I now tune my Level 1 Renaud with my Level 4 Ogier!" Renaud's horse reared and then galloped into the sky, turning into a single green ring while Ogier shot through it one more time, turning into four stars once again.
"The bards of yore tell the tale of a fallen man of honor! Knight of black, descend upon the Round Table! Synchro Summon! Level 5! Ignoble Knight of Black Laundsallyn!"
The pillar of light typically created from a Synchro Summon immediately turned dark purple, and a new knight stepped out. But unlike the white, black, and red armor of the Infernobles, this knight had black armor accented with a deep crimson, and it was reflected in his sword. The knight himself was a gaunt figure with long black hair. And then his eyes opened, and turned red as he shouted something to the sky. "AAAAAAAARTHUUUR!" (LVL 5/ATK: 2100)
"This activates of Gallatin! See, Noble Arms cards never truly go away. They just wait for new bearers to pick them up. What that means in game terms is that if they go to the graveyard from the field, I can target a Noble Knight on the field, and it'll equip itself to that monster instead!" The sword in Laundsallyn's hand surged with power, turning bright blue. (ATK: 3100)
"Next is Laundsallyn's effect! When he's Synchro Summoned, I can equip him with a Noble Arms card directly from my deck! And I'll equip him with Infernoble Arms – Hautecleure!" Laundsallyn's sword glowed bright red and then split into a pair of red-bladed sabers, with the white-blue edges of Gallatin. "Then, I activate Hautecleure's effect! By destroying it, a monster I control gains a second attack!"
"Uh oh..." said Blitz as the twin sabers ignited, reaching over Laundsallyn's head.
"This will finish it! Laundsallyn, attack Battle Ox! Arondight Overload!"
Laundsallyn roared, swinging both blades down on the monster. It vanished amidst the all-consuming flames.
Blitz: 1700
"Second attack! Laundsallyn, attack directly!" With barely a stutter in step, Laundsallyn charged forward and swung the sabers once. Blitz fell into a sitting position.
Liam: 1800
Blitz: 0
WINNER: Liam O'Hara
"Katsu!" Liam repeated the same motion from before, clapping his hands once. "...and that's the end."
"...ah, you got me," Blitz sighed from his position on the ground. "Okay. I'll believe you actually knew Rally."
And like Cao Cao, Rally came by at the mention of his name with a couple bags in hand. "Hey Blitz! Ah, you guys were dueling, weren't you?"
Blitz got up off the ground and dusted off the back of his jeans. "Well, he was a total stranger and certainly doesn't dress like a normal Satellite, so I was gonna drive him off. But, he's pretty strong with these knights of his."
"I know, right! We've got a real duelist on our hands, here! So, let me introduce you! This is Liam O'Hara, we met a little while ago. Liam, this is Blitz, he's one of our best buds!"
"Well met, Blitz," said Liam, extending a hand.
Blitz took it. "Sorry for doubting you back there. It's good to meet you too, Liam."
"Say, Blitz, I think Liam has amnesia or something. Isn't there anything we can do to help?"
"Amnesia? Like he's got no memories or something? Oof, that's rough..."
"Although, dueling Rally helped me remember my name, at least," Liam said, raising a hand. "Everything else-"
He was about to continue, when, suddenly, the visions came again.
He was packing, pulling things together.
"Liam, you don't have to leave..."
"She's out there, Mom. I have to find her. I won't let her disappear like Dad did."
Deck. Duel disk. Same as he had currently. His mother, the blonde woman from his previous vision, was worried, hand resting on the nearby doorjamb.
"Liam, please. I know you want to find them just as much as I want them found, but I can't just let you go. You're the only one I have left."
"I'm not going to be gone forever. I'm only going to search until the end of the summer. By that point, I'll be back in time to start school."
She placed her hand on his shoulder as he left his room. "We both know that's not like you."
He placed his hand on hers. "I know. But if I don't at least try, I'll regret it forever."
The woman nodded. "Be safe, honey."
Liam grinned. "Relax. It's me, remember?"
Liam came back, clutching at his heart. Another vision. Another piece of his past. Whatever pseudo-science or whatever it was that Rally's theory was predicated on, apparently, it was working. He felt like he should know the actual answer as to why, but that part was eluding him. It was like something he'd studied before.
"You remembered something, didn't you?" Rally said excitedly. "What'd you remember this time?"
"...the actual reason I came here. I'm looking for someone. Someone close to me," said Liam with a nod.
"Really? Someone close to you?" asked Blitz. "Like who? Family?"
"I...think...so?"
"...you think so?" Blitz asked.
"Well, that just means we have to duel some more, right? Come on! We'll introduce you to the others!" Rally said, pulling him into the tunnel, with Blitz behind him.
The subway tunnels were much cooler than the humid weather outside, despite the cracks in the ceiling that opened it to the sky from the streets above. Much of what was left of the once-functioning subway system was long gone, with rooms being blocked off by debris, eternally locked, or boarded up. This particular area appeared to be some kind of maintenance tunnel adjacent to the subway proper. As they approached, Liam saw two more people heading towards them. One of them was a portly man with spiked brown hair, dressed in a green shirt, a brown furred vest, and black pants. The other was a lanky man with navy hair tied in a dreadlocked ponytail, wearing a white shirt with a green vest and brown shorts, and small spectacles.
"Hey, Rally!" The portly one raised a hand in greeting. "Who's that guy?"
"Tank, Nervin, this is Liam O'Hara. We met earlier," Rally said, gesturing to Liam.
"Did Blitz let him in?" asked the lanky one.
"Of course!"
"Well, I guess that's okay, then," said the lanky one. "I'm Nervin."
"I'm Tank," said the portly one.
"Oh, I almost forgot! Liam's a duelist! And a good one, too!"
"A duelist, huh? Howzabout a duel with me?" asked Tank.
"Ah, Tank, I was gonna duel him!" said Nervin. "...fine, but I got next!"
Jack finally made it back to his penthouse, finally given a chance to relax after spending time with interviews, signing autographs, and ultimately basking in the glory of being the King. After all, the King had many challengers and it was only a matter of time until the next fool came to him, seeking to claim his throne, and Jack had no intentions of giving up any of it yet.
He removed his white and periwinkle trenchcoat, leaving only a black tank top and pants, as he looked out towards the sea. In the distance he could see Satellite, the place he was born. A place he had escaped, and nobody could know about it. To the world, he was someone born in the Tops, the district of New Domino City reserved for the wealthy elite. He had people to make sure of that, or at least, that was the assurance given to him.
He looked down at his arm. There was a birthmark there, but it wasn't like typical birthmarks. It was angular and V-shaped, almost like a pair of wings. He was told that this mark was special. Why, he didn't know. Nobody had said anything yet. But he knew that information would turn up sooner rather than later. It was only a matter of time.
And speaking of time, there was a full moon in a few days. Knowing him, he'd be making his move that night.
Jack looked back towards Satellite.
He'd be ready.
And this time, he'd prove for sure he was the best of them both.
"Vanguard Roland, direct attack!"
Liam: 1700
Nervin: 0
"Man, Liam! You're definitely something else!" said Rally.
"I'll say. Those knights of his are pretty strong!" said Nervin. "Makes you wonder how well he'd do against Yusei."
"Ha! That'll be the day! Nobody's been able to beat Yusei yet!" said Tank.
"Well, of course you'd say that," sighed Nervin. "Then again, I don't think you've beaten any of us..."
"Hey! What was that for!?"
Liam turned to Rally. "Never a dull moment, is there?"
"You said it!" Rally laughed. "Come on. Let me show you where the shack is."
The "shack" was basically a shack in name only, more like a mounted cover attached to the wall. Crates and blocks were holding up the yellow sheet draped over the top. When he stepped inside, he found that a workshop table had been set up on the right, with an open laptop resting on it with several other tools laying here and there. There was also another computer on the nearby table across the room from him, with a blanket and a dinged mattress on the ground across from it. It seemed like an alright place to hide out, but it seemed to be better served as a hidden workshop than a shelter. Liam went over to the computer. The screen was on, showing some kind of motorcycle schematics.
Then, Liam heard a sound coming from further down the tunnels.
"Huh?" Rally looked up, also having heard the noise. "Has Yusei come back? Come on, let's step outside for a minute."
Liam followed Rally out of the shack right as a red motorcycle rolled up. And astride that motorcycle was a young man around his age, maybe a little older. He was wearing a red helmet, with a dark blue jacket that had orange shoulder pads, dark wash jeans with orange kneepads, and leather gloves and boots. He took off his helmet, revealing a head of black hair with yellow streaks in them. He looked up as Rally and Liam approached him. "Hey, Rally. Who's the other guy?"
"Hey Yusei! This is Liam O'Hara. There's something odd about him, but not in a bad way. I brought him here to meet the rest of the gang, and now everyone's cool with him! Guess what: he's also a pretty good duelist, too!"
Yusei looked over at Liam for a few more seconds than he was expecting. Liam had noticed that when Rally mentioned his last name, Yusei gave a slight jolt. Why? Did he know him from somewhere? Did he know Yusei? It was hard to say, but it was only for a second and then he was back to being himself. "I see. I'm going to take another ride."
And with that, he put on his helmet and rode off back down the tunnel. As he did, though, Liam felt something cross his mind one more time.
He was on a motorcycle, not unlike the one Yusei was riding. He was on a circular track, riding at rather incredible speed.
"You're doing great, Liam! Now, go ahead and switch it to duel mode!"
Liam nodded, took one hand off the handles, and pressed a button on the screen.
"Duel mode engaged. Speed World activated. Auto-pilot standing by."
The duel disk in front of him suddenly snapped into activation, and the dash transitioned to a duel field. Virtual cards shuffled itself on the field and then reappeared on the field. Speed Spells.
"Transition complete! Speed World is active and I've got three Speed Spells on call!"
"Perfect! We'll make a Turbo Duelist of you yet!"
Liam snapped back, breathing a little heavier than before. These memories were starting to get a bit more intense.
"You okay, Liam?" asked Rally. "Did you remember something?"
"Yeah, I'm just...not what sure what I saw. I was riding a motorcycle like Yusei's and there was something involving Speed Spells..."
"Really?" Rally's eyes actually started sparkling. "If you remembered something like that, then that means you're a Turbo Duelist!"
Liam blinked. "I'm a what?"
"You know! A Turbo Duelist! Someone who duels while riding a Duel Runner! Yusei's one, too, so if you want one, you should go talk to him later!" Rally said.
"If you ask me, if Liam's really trained as a Turbo Duelist, then maybe he already has one," Blitz said.
"That's a good point, Blitz!" Rally said. "So, Liam, do you remember where your Duel Runner is?" Liam gave Rally a flat look. Rally got the message. "Oh yeah. Amnesia. And I don't remember seeing one where I found you..."
"Man, amnesia sucks...still, it's not all bad," said Blitz. "Even if you don't have a Runner of your own, making another one shouldn't be that hard."
"Seriously?" Liam asked.
"I mean, this may be the Satellite, but with all the trash people in New Domino City send to us, finding parts isn't impossible. I mean, one's man trash is another man's treasure, after all," Blitz said. "So if we all work together, putting together a functioning Runner shouldn't be that hard at all!"
"Yeah!" Rally nodded. "What'cha think, Liam?"
Liam smacked a fist against his hand. "Let's do it."
Meanwhile, Yusei had stopped halfway down the tunnel as he got off his motorcycle. He took off his helmet, looking up at the sky through the cracks in the subway tunnel roof. O'Hara...he'd heard that name before. It was a name he'd never thought he'd hear again, belonging to a person he'd known only for a short time, but the lack of her presence was still a big deal. In fact, most of his other friends were gone. Rally, Blitz, Tank, and Nervin were all that he had left.
And now this Liam person was here, with a last name he'd not heard in a long time.
Such a strange happening. What did it mean?
"I wonder...did you send him…?"