Duel Two: The Matter of Satellite

"You can see me, don't you?"

Liam was standing on the old highway, looking out over the sea towards where New Domino City was. But standing across from him, hovering over the waves, was a woman. He'd seen her, it was the white-haired girl he'd seen in his first vision. He still wasn't sure what she was to him. A sister? A lover? An aunt?

"Who are you?" he asked her. "Who am I to you?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything. All I know is that you're here with me."

"Where were you before?"

"The city, of course!"

"That one?" Liam gestured toward New Domino City.

The girl looked behind her. "I don't know. Where is this place you're at?"

"Some place called Satellite."

The girl put a hand to her chin. "Satellite...I know about that place...somehow..."

And then she turned around, heading back towards New Domino City.

"Wait!" Liam reached out, trying grab her like a balloon flying away on a southward breeze. "Wait!"

Liam snapped awake on the dinged couch in the shack. He sighed as he swung himself into a sitting position, looking at his duel disk on the nearby table. First amnesia, now this. It was hard not to dismiss the idea he'd just gone certifiably insane at this point.

He took his Duel Disk off the table and made his way up the subway stairs back up into Satellite. He'd been asking around about Satellite, how it came to be, and the story was largely consistent. Satellite was actually once a part of New Domino City. They were two parts of one whole Domino City, but an incident of unknown but cataclysmic proportions some seventeen years ago had split the city apart, dropping a whole swathe of the city under sixty feet of water. Satellite survived as the seawaters wrapped around them, turning it into a lonely island eight miles away from the main city, which renamed itself New Domino City.

Liam sighed. A lot of the city had been just simply abandoned, especially areas with large skyscrapers and torn roads. Much of Satellite had retreated into what used to be a park, creating a small suburb for the people who worked there, living off of food rations that were flavorless, overdone, or sometimes both. It was a bleak life to lead, and a bleak place to lead a life. He'd been digging around with Rally (and Yusei if he was around) to find anything resembling usable Duel Runner parts. But they'd come up with largely nothing.

"Hey! Liam!" Nervin came running from the nearby street.

"What's up, Nervin?" asked Liam.

"You're not gonna believe this!" Nervin said. "Someone's selling a Duel Runner on the cheap!"

"Seriously?" asked Liam. "Where?"

"He's not that far from here. Come on."

Liam followed Nervin down the street headed west and towards what appeared to be an abandoned storefront. A man in jeans, a ripped green shirt, a leather studded vest, and mohawk was waiting near the door, looking a bit bored. Nervin approached him first. "Hey! Kasey at the recycling facility told me you might be selling a Duel Runner. I got someone looking to purchase one."

The man grinned like a shark smelling blood. That already raised a red flag with Liam, but he kept quiet for the moment as he came forward. The man actually looked surprised to see Liam there, but it disappeared quickly. Which was also another red flag. "Okay then. You're looking for a Duel Runner? Cool, but I'm not just gonna give it away just for free."

"That's to be expected," Liam said. "What's the going price?"

"I'm offering it for 1500 DP," the man replied.

Duel Points, or DP as they were often called, was another name for store credit for Duel Monsters card shops. Some would say that DP was just as good as cash in some situations. But if cash was hard to get one's hands on in Satellite, DP was at an even higher premium. Liam and Nervin shared a look. "Well, for that price we'll actually need to see the Runner. Where is it?"

"In the back. The boys are finishing touching up the paint on it," said the man, gesturing behind him.

"You really expect us to drop 1500 DP for a Duel Runner, sight unseen?" Liam folded his arms. "We're the ones shouldering the risk here, not you. We'll offer 750."

"No way am I giving up half, Redcoat!"

Liam rolled his eyes. Most of the people that saw him usually called him "Redcoat" instead of his name. It was obvious why, but Liam was preferring they'd just call him by his regular name. "We'll take this off of you right here now, but you gotta meet us halfway. 850."

The man tapped his finger against his bicep as he mulled it over. "1200."

"900."

"Now you're just screwing me around."

"Take it or leave it."

"1000 DP. You take it or leave it."

Liam and Nervin shared another look. Nervin grinned and nodded. Liam did the same. "Sold."

"Alright!" the man clapped his hands. "You guys are holed up in the subway, right? We'll have this delivered there once the paint is done."

"Sounds good," Liam said.

As the man walked back into the storefront, Nervin pumped a fist. "Nice! That worked out really well! Tell you what, I'll stay here to help move the Runner back to the subway. You can head back and tell everyone the good news!"

"Right." Liam made his way back towards the subway, but something about the whole deal felt off to him. Nervin was really convinced that this was working out, but why did this fill him with so much dread? He made his way to the old highway, staring back out over the water towards the city. The city the girl had gone to in his dream.

Who was she? And more importantly, where was she in the city?

Eight miles away, across open water, Jack Atlas was also looking out over the water, back towards Satellite. This apartment in the Tops had one of the best views of the new waterfront in the city. He wasn't dueling until later today, so he had a bit more time before he needed to head for the stadium.

Jack turned away from the sea to look at the card in his hand. It was a Synchro Monster, a white dragon with a green background with motes of light around its wings. He'd taken this card from one of his friends. It was a powerful card, to be sure, but it was wasted with its original owner in Satellite. He took it with him when he escaped, and while he hadn't used it at all, he still kept it with him while he dominated the scene with Red Dragon Archfiend.

"It really is an astounding view." Jack looked behind him to see a man in a gray jacket and pleated pants, with a silver suit depicting some kind of bird design, with wavy silver hair standing behind him. "Come down with a bit of nostalgia, Jack?"

Jack turned back towards the sea. Rex Goodwin was the city controller for the whole of New Domino City, having taken up the position from his predecessor some seven years ago, and the main conductor of his reign. He'd taken a unique interest in Jack's case since he left Domino, for reasons that even he couldn't quite fathom. But, he was the man who made him King, so it wouldn't do to start digging up dirt on the hand that feeds.

"Just thinking about how I came from that place..." Jack said.

"Of course. But you were also chosen by the stars, Jack. It'd be best to forget about your past in that abyss. After all, you and I have spent too much time getting you to this moment. Better to focus on your opponent for-"

Jack threw the card back towards where his deck was, on a table behind him a few feet away. It slid neatly into the deck with the rest of the cards. "You've got it wrong. I can't just forget. Every day living in Satellite was an absolute disgrace. Honestly, the whole thing should've just fallen into the ocean seventeen years ago."

"Alas, we simply can't do away with them. After all, Satellite is important for the city's survival. Every person in life has a role to play, and Satellite has their role in allowing those of us in the city to prosper. When we send things to the trash, it is sent to Satellite, where the people there sort them out for recycling. Is it glamorous? Hardly. But it is necessary. But the fact that you were chosen and came from Satellite should be interpreted less as nothing less than a trial, given by God unto you."

"Trial, huh?" Jack looked down at his right arm. Most people never saw this, because it was obscured by his riding suit, but there was a birthmark that ran down his forearm. It was a crimson color, shaped like the wings of a dragon. He wasn't quite sure where he got it, or even if he had it this whole time.

"You're the only one who found a way out of Satellite, and now you are King. And we're making sure that the only one who ever knows you ever came there is you," Rex finished. "Now. Enough of a history lesson we both know. Put aside your past, and come enjoy the present."

"Right." The past was the past, and was supposed to stay there. Jack knew this.

And yet, if he was right about what was coming in a couple of days, that past was going to rear its ugly head again.

Liam returned later that afternoon to find an unfamiliar blue Duel Runner was parked on the edge of the subways stairs. The Runner was built as some kind of hybrid between rally-style and chopper-style, marrying the former's compactness with the latter's design style. The handlebars were chopper-style, too, and a bit longer, which meant that while it was less responsive while turning than some others, it was probably to accommodate the spot in the center, which he assumed was for a duel disk. That meant this was a hybrid Runner, which were considered novelties by some. A windshield covered the top of the dash, and the front panel was triangular and shaped for aerodynamics, while the back panel had two triangular fins. However, what was strangest by far was that there were two panels on each side, shaped like wings and folded against the body, with flared edges to create down force. As the Runner was built longer length-wise but shorter height-wise, it resembled armor for a war horse.

Liam clutched at the side of his head. How did he know all this? And why did he only know about this info now? It was nice to know this amnesia was starting to clear up more and more, but the information he was getting was all over the place. Whatever this Runner was, though, at the end of the day, it was likely the one he'd bought earlier.

And yet, there was something odd about it that went beyond familiarity, or design. Something was off about it, he just wasn't sure what.

"Hey guys! Has it shown up yet?"

Nervin came running down the steps, looking excited. Liam jerked his thumb to the Runner. "I think it is. Is it?"

"Ah, it's here! Let's give it a look-see, shall we?" Nervin said, going over to the Runner. "It's a weird one, though. The frame looks like it's some kind of prototype. Probably belonged to a mid-tier pro and threw it out because it wasn't up to specs. Still, that means compared to most standard Runners out on the streets, this thing's packing some serious speed!"

"Hey guys!" Rally came bursting in. "What's all the-" he then saw the Runner. "Wow! You found a Runner!?"

"Nervin did, anyway," said Liam. "But something's bothering me about this whole deal."

"What'cha mean?" Rally asked.

"...huh!? Wait a minute! There's no engine!"

"What?" Rally and Liam looked over to see that Nervin had lifted one of the wing panels, exposing the engine compartment. And almost immediately he saw what Nervin was talking about as he pulled the "engine" out of it. Liam flicked it a couple of times. It was made of plastic, and covered with some kind of silver metallic paint. To a casual observer, it would be enough to fool the eye, but up close it was more obvious.

Rally, meanwhile, had reached for the computer screen. There was a click, and the screen pulled back, revealing the computer's inner workings. And then he said, "Wait! There's no CPU in it either!"

"Oh come on! Seriously?" Nervin cried, peeking over the boy's shoulder. Liam did too, and sure enough, there was a slot for a computer chip that was empty. "He's right, it's not there!"

"Without an engine and a CPU, this Runner's basically just a statue!" Rally said. "Ah, nuts! We just got played!"

"I'm sorry, Liam. I'm really sorry," Nervin sighed. "This is all my fault...and all because I actually trusted that dirtbag!"

"Don't be like that, Nervin, we both got bamboozled," Liam said, holding up a hand. "We've got a frame, at least, we can work with this-"

"Agh, that lowlife!" Nervin ignored him. "Trying to pass off junk like that! I'm heading outside to go give him a piece of my mind!"

"Nervin, wait!" Rally said, but Nervin had already stomped up the stairs and out of sight.

"Wow. That's the first time I'd seen Nervin get angry at anything...ever," Liam said.

Rally didn't seem to comforted as he sat down on the ground in front of the Duel Runner. As he did, though, something caught Liam's eye: a streak of familiar blue across the back of his shirt. Now things were getting really strange. "Rally, can you move over for a minute?"

"Huh? Oh, sure," Rally scooted over a few inches to the left, revealing a streak of black and dark red amidst the blue. "Whoa! What the…?"

Liam put a hand on the nose of the Runner. When he did, the tips of his fingers came up blue. "Well. Guess I found one more thing they skimped on."

"That's really weird! Nobody just paints over a Duel Runner frame, especially this badly..." Rally said.

Now Liam knew something was really off. That guy ticked off more than a few things on the list of guys to be suspicious of buying things from already. But, taking that with Nervin's earlier observations and the fact that the CPU was gone and the engine inside was a phony…

"Stay here. I'll be right back," Liam made his way up the stairs again and headed back down the westbound street. As he approached, he could hear Nervin shouting something, and then, silence. Already fearing the worst, Liam picked up his pace. As he made it to the square, he saw Nervin being surrounded by two other guys while facing the guy they bought the Duel Runner from. One of them smacked Nervin over the head, and he fell into their waiting arms, where they dragged him away into the building.

"Dammit…!" Liam swore, ducking out of sight as the seller looked his way. This was not good. He scrambled away, headed back down the street and down the steps into the subway. Blitz and Tank were waiting for him at the foot of the steps.

"Liam! What happened?" asked Blitz. "Rally said something happened with Nervin earlier today."

Liam explained the incident involving the Duel Runner and what had just transpired. Blitz facepalmed.

"Agh, Nervin, you idiot..." he said to himself. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"

"We could always wait for Yusei. He's probably coming back soon," said Tank.

"Come on guys! We gotta do something to save Nervin!" Rally said, lugging a canister of something towards the shack.

"Rally's right," Liam nodded. "If we wait, they'll have the chance to set the terms first. Going now means we have the advantage."

"That's a pretty shady area you're heading into. You sure you're gonna be alright?" asked Blitz.

Liam nodded. "I'll try something. If I'm not back after sundown with Nervin, flag Yusei down and tell him I'd like some backup."

"Be careful, Liam!" Rally called after Liam as he made his way back up the stairs. He made his way north, to the area he'd been found in, and dug around the trash heaps, looking for a weapon of some kind. While a duel would resolve most of these problems fairly well, Liam wasn't going to take any chances. He eventually pulled out a piece of steel rebar the length of a shillelagh and made his way back to the storefront.

The seller was waiting outside the door. He looked up as Liam approached him. "Oh, what? Looking to gripe, too? I sold you the Runner, didn't I?"

"You selling me that dud is one of a few thorns in my side. But the biggest one is Nervin. You remember that guy? Lanky, dreadlocked hair, green vest, spectacles? Where is he?"

"Hm? Never heard of him."

"Don't lie, I'm already wise to your game, mate. I saw you take him away, now tell me what you did to him and maybe I won't get my solicitor involved."

"Solicitor? What the hell is a solici-oof!"

Liam gave him a hard poke in the stomach with the rebar. "This is my solicitor. His name is William Steel-Barre, Esquire. He specializes in personal injury cases. Now. Last chance to come clean: where's my friend?"

The seller scowled for a moment. And then he grinned. "Tell you what. Beat me in a duel, and you can find out for yourself."

Liam tossed the rebar behind him. "Fine by me."

Yusei rumbled up the stairs of the subway in the west tunnel, his expression focused. He knew about those guys in the old shopping center, and they were bad news. He was just hoping nothing would let them cross paths with his friends. He really should've known better, but now that Nervin and Liam had gotten involved, thanks to Rally telling him, there was nothing left to do now but come riding to the rescue.

He arrived to find a duel already in progress.

"Let's end this! High Laundsallyn, direct attack!"

And then it was over. Liam put his cards away and dusted off his hands. "So! You gonna tell me or what? Don't make me go fetch my solicitor!"

"Alright alright! Your friend's inside!"

"Thank you. Now beat it," Liam grunted. The man quickly scrambled away from the red-clad duelist.

"Liam!" Yusei hailed him, getting off of his Runner.

Liam turned around and saw him approaching. "Yusei! I wasn't expecting you to make it 'til later."

"Rally knows where I go to test my Runner. He's already told me everything," Yusei replied.

"Good. Looks like they're still keeping Nervin here," said Liam, sizing up the building. "We act now, we may get a chance to end this quickly."

"We don't know how many others there are," Yusei warned him. "This could take a while."

"It'd go quicker if we work together," said Liam. He went to go pick up a piece of steel rebar on the ground behind him. "Besides, I doubt we're running into a whole army."

Yusei pursed his lips. Liam was definitely reminding him of that person. He was just as quick to get his hands dirty as she was, his sense of justice, the same kind of strong and a little overbearing at times. It was one of the factors that led to the downfall that he and his friends ultimately suffered a while back. Still, if he was here, Yusei could at least attempt to keep him from going off the rails at some point…

"Okay," Yusei ejected his Duel Disk from his Runner and made his way to the door as Liam came back with the rebar. "Just try not to get too reckless."

"Relax," Liam said with a wink. "It's me, remember?"

Yusei and Liam pulled the doors apart together, revealing the insides of what appeared to be a small hardware store. The place was dark, the lights having been shattered in the great catastrophe. A lot of the shelves were picked dry, probably by scavengers looking for tools. What were inside, however, were two more people, one in black with a red vest similar to the seller's, and another guy in blue, waiting in a nearby doorway.

"Hey! This is the territory of the Kameno Gang!" said the one in red. "How'd you get in?"

"A friend. He was happy to let us in. It took a bit of convincing," said Liam, smacking the rebar against his palm.

The guy in the blue vest immediately turned around and started walking back into the darkness.

"I got him!" Liam shot after him, vaulting over the counter as he did.

Yusei sighed. So much for not getting reckless.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" the one in the black vest turned around, starting to follow Liam into the store's depths.

Yusei put a hand on the man's shoulder, stopping him from leaving. "Sorry, but I'll be your opponent here. Duel me."

The man growled. "Fine! If you want to get burned by my dragons, then that's your fault!"

"DUEL!"

Liam kept the bar out as he navigated the dark aisles. He probably would've taken a flashlight from the shack if he knew this was going to happen, but there was still enough ambient light from the small windows at the top of the wall. Slowly, he worked his way forward into what was once the back storeroom, until he finally saw what appeared to be an area sectioned off in the back. That had to be where they were keeping Nervin. This was confirmed when he saw the thug he'd been chasing outside the door. Strange. Was he waiting for him?

Nonetheless, Liam made his way towards the thug. "So, you must be the man running the show around here, I take it?"

"That's right. I'm Kameno, leader of the Kameno Gang," he replied. "I heard a bunch of noise outside. So that was you?"

"Yes. Your man out there stiffed me on a Duel Runner, and then had the gall to kidnap my friend when he called you out on it. Anyway, I introduced him to...a legal-leaning friend of mine," Liam said, waggling William Steele-Barr, Esquire, in Kameno's face. "and another friend of mine is cleaning up your other man right now. It's just you and me here."

Kameno grinned. "Okay. So how can I help you today?"

"Well, I'd like my friend back for one. Second, maybe you can point me towards where you're keeping the engine and the CPU for that Runner? No way you'd just toss it if you went through the trouble of making a fake."

"Oh, you mean this CPU?" asked Kameno, pulling out a small black square with silver spines from his vest. "Sorry, but this isn't for sale."

Liam lifted his head, staring down his nose at Kameno. "Tell you what. I challenge you to a duel. If you win, I take my friend, you keep what's yours and I keep what's mine. But if I win, I'm leaving with Nervin and that CPU."

"Fine! But there's no way you're going to win against my deck!" Kameno said, activating his duel disk.

"That's because you've never faced mine!" Liam countered.

"DUEL!"

Liam: 4000

Kameno: 4000

"Challenged goes first!" said Kameno. "And I'll set a card in face-down defense mode, and then one card facedown. That ends my turn." A black cloud came onto the field, staring at Liam with red eyes.

"Huh...you don't see that a lot anymore. Draw!" Liam drew his next card. "Right! I summon to the field Noble Knight Pelenor!" A white-haired knight in black and gold armor appeared on the field, astride a black horse and a golden sword in his hand. (LVL 4/ATK: 1900) "And just for good measure, I'll equip Pelenor with Noble Arms of Destiny!" Pelenor's sword was transformed from a golden one to one of silver, and he now carried a silver shield. "Pelenor, attack his monster!"

Pelenor spurred his horse forward, swinging the silver sword. The card flipped open, revealing a large purple worm (DEF: 600). Pelenor sliced through it easily.

"Hah! You just flipped my Needle Worm! And now you have to send the top five cards from your deck to the graveyard!" Kameno said.

Liam rolled his eyes as he put the five cards in his graveyard. "I'll set this card facedown and end my turn." (Liam: 29 cards remaining)

"Draw!" Kameno said. "First, I activate my facedown card, Soul Levy! Now, each time you Special Summon a monster, you send the top 3 cards of your deck to the graveyard!" A host of ghosts suddenly swirled around the field, circling like hungry sharks.

"Next, I activate the spell card Messenger of Peace!" A man in a white robe stepped onto the field, radiating a holy aura in front of Liam. "This card may cost me 100 Life Points at the start of my turn, but it prevents monsters with higher than 1500 attack points from attacking, meaning your Knight's not going on a quest any time soon! Next, I set another monster card facedown in defense mode and end my turn!" Another smoky blob appeared on the field.

"I've got a bad feeling about this...but, I don't have time to bleed! I draw!" Liam drew his next card. "I summon to the field Noble Knight Drystan!" A white-armored knight with brown hair, with a white tabard and carrying a harp, appeared on the field. (LVL 4/ATK: 1800)

Kameno laughed. "Forget your glasses at home? He's too strong to fight with my Messenger of Peace on the field!"

"You need to settle down and butter your turnips, mate," said Liam. "Because I'm activating Glory of the Noble Knights! This Quick-Play Spell lets me equip a Noble Knight on the field with an appropriate Equip Card! And I'll equip Drystan with Infernoble Arms - Durandal!" Drystan's harp vanished from his hands, and the red-handled blade appeared in his hand. "This activates Drystan's effect! If Drystan is equipped with a Noble Arms card, I can destroy a face-up card you have! So that Messenger of Peace can job on!"

Drystan blazed with white light as he swung Durandal at the robed man. The man groaned and vanished.

"Now that that is out of the way, let's continue! Pelenor, attack his monster!" Pelenore charged, swinging his sword.

"I activate my trap! Wall of Revealing Light!" Kameno's facedown lifted up, and a wall of bright light suddenly crossed between him and Liam. "With this card, I can pay a number of Life Points of my choice, and monsters that have attack points lower than that can't attack! And I'll pay 3000 Life Points, stopping Pelenore and every other monster in your deck cold!"

Kameno: 1000

Pelenore's horse reared as the Wall suddenly shot up in front of him, walling him off.

"I end my turn," said Liam.

Kameno sniggered as he drew. "Feeling frustrated yet? Most Satellites don't have a lot of strong cards, so that means I can do whatever I want to 'em!"

"Are you serious? Most people barely got a quid or two to their name around here, and you're sitting here drinking in all that misery while you rip off people left and right? That's despicable!" said Liam.

"That's Satellite! You either get tough or you get trampled, and ain't no one trampling me! I Flip Summon my face-down monster!" Kameno's shadowy blob transformed into a white and red jar. The inside of the jar was black, until a single eye opened up and a sickening grin formed beneath it. "Meet Morphing Jar #2! This means we both now send every monster in our field back into our decks!"

Morphing Jar #2 cackled as its face shot out of the jar on a long black tendril. It swallowed Drystan and Pellinore whole before it retreated. It gave a large burp, winked at Liam, and then vanished from sight. Durandal and the Noble Arms of Destiny clattered to the ground and vanished.

"And then part two happens, where we excavate the cards on the top of our deck until we summon monsters equal to the number of monsters we had before!" Kameno added. "And the rest go in the graveyard!"

Okay. This is a bit of a problem, but it's not all that bad. Because Noble Arms of Destiny was destroyed while on the field, if I Special Summon a Warrior monster, it'll equip itself right to him! All I have to do is draw at least one out of two!

Liam's hopeful attitude quickly soured as his cards piled up in his graveyard: Noble Knight Eachter, Phoenix Gearfried, Last Chapter of the Noble Knights, Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade, Gemini Ablation, and Until Noble Arms Are Needed Once Again. Then, he drew his next card.

"Dammit."

And then his next card.

"For God's sake-!"

"You done yet?" Kameno asked. "Because I'm setting this monster face-down in defense mode." Yet another shadowy blob appeared on the field.

"Yeah, I'm done...I summon to the field Gwynhwyfar, Queen of Noble Arms, and Lady of the Lake in attack mode."

Two women, one a brunette in a pink dress with a red cloak (LVL 2/ATK: 300), the other a woman with long blonde hair in a blue robe with white leggings (LVL 1/ATK: 200) (Liam: 20 cards remaining)

"Hah! Sucks when you need a hero and you only get a couple of girls!" Kameno said. "Plus, thanks to Soul Levy, you lose 3 cards off the top of your deck!"

Liam's face soured further as he took another six cards off of his deck. (Liam: 17 cards remaining)

"I end my turn!"

Liam drew. Gotta focus here. If I start tilting because of this stupid control-mill deck, then that's when I lose control of this duel! He looked over the field. Wait...I forgot, Lady of the Lake is a Tuner monster! Maybe I can still wangle something!

"I activate the effect of Until Noble Arms Are Needed Once Again from my graveyard! I can banish it to Special Summon a Noble Knight monster with a different name than the ones I control or have in my graveyard! And I'll use it to summon Infernoble Knight Astolfo in attack mode!"

Another knight shot out of the card in an aura of pale blue light. He was vaguely feminine, with long red hair, but he was still clad in the Infernoble Knight's white and red armor, and had two flaming blades in either hand. (LVL 1/ATK: 500)

"What's the point of summoning something that small? Nothing you've got's gonna be able to get over this wall!" Kameno taunted. "Plus, you lose three more cards with Soul Levy!"

Liam tried to not let that fluster him as he took away three more cards. (Liam: 14 cards remaining) "That confident, are you? Let's see how you feel about this, then! I tune my Level 1 Lady of the Lake with my Level 2 Gwynhwyfar and my Level 1 Astolfo!"

"Huh!?" Kameno's sunglasses dropped.

"The tales of yore speak of one with a blackened blade! Rise, dead warrior, and begin the end! Synchro Summon! Level 4! Underworld Fighter Balmung!"

A chill fell over the area as a black portal opened up on the field, and a warrior in silver and black armor appeared, with a red cloak and a massive black blade hung on his shoulder. (LVL 4/ATK: 2100) (Liam: 11 cards remaining)

"Next, I activate the effect of Astolfo! I banish him from the graveyard so that he may return to the field in two turns!" said Liam, pocketing the bishounen knight. "And finally, I equip Balmung with the spell card Noble Arms – Gallatin! This increases Balmung's attack points by 1000 attack points, while decreasing it by 200 at the start of my turn!"

Balmung's sword edges began to shimmer with bright blue-white light. (ATK: 3100)

"With 3100 attack points on hand, that's more than enough to clear your Wall of Revealing Light! Balmung, attack his monster! Ragnarok Slash!"

Balmung took a flying leap over the wall of light, spinning once in the air as he brought his Gallatin-empowered sword to bear. The card flipped up, revealing a teal jar much like the one he'd just seen. (DEF: 600) Balmung still dispatched easily with one swing of its sword.

"You fell for it again! That card was my regular Morphing Jar! This card's effect means we both discard our hands and draw five new ones!"

"Are you kidding me-!?" Liam sent the three cards in his hand to the graveyard, and drew five new ones. While a fresh hand was always nice, Kameno had the cards to spare. Liam did not. (Liam: 6 cards remaining)

"Deck's looking a bit thin, there, buddy! But don't worry, I'll promise to make this quick!" Kameno drew. "I'll just set two cards face down and end my turn!"

Liam's free hand was twitching in frustration. How on earth was he supposed to deal with this guy's deck? He had maybe three turns left to finish this, given Balmung's weakening power (ATK: 2900) and Astolfo was still another turn out. He was wide open, but that facedown was giving him bad feelings. Better to just do nothing and make a stand for later. "I summon to the field Noble Knight Iyvanne in attack mode!"

A green-armored knight with dark red hair charged out onto the field, followed by a magnificent golden lion. (LVL 4/ATK: 1700)

"And I activate my facedown, Book of Twilight! All monsters on the field are now changed to facedown defense mode, and then at the end of the turn, they're turned back to attack mode and you have to draw a card for each one!"

A small sigh of frustration left Liam's mouth as a book with a maroon cover appeared on the field, summoning a solar eclipse from its pages. Balmung and Iyvanne transformed into shadowy blobs like the ones Kameno had been summoning throughout the duel, Gallatin falling to the ground and shattering.

"I end my turn," Liam said slowly. The eclipse passed, and Iyvanne and Balmung came back to the field. He then drew two more cards. (Liam: 4 card remaining)

Kameno drew. "Ready for the last turn? I set one monster face-down in defense mode and end my turn!"

Liam reached for his deck. There was no way he could let it end like this! Never mind the Duel Runner, he couldn't bear to see the looks on the others faces when he was going to have to tell them what happened with Nervin. He really should've listened to Yusei, but, what else could he do?

And it was in that moment of thought his mind struck again.

...

"Honestly. How am I going to win this?"

He was younger again. He was facing his mother in the backyard. She had angels on her side of the field. Fairies. Not sure which kind.

"Liam, at least give it one more turn."

"...what's the point. I'm not going to win against you, anyway."

His mother nodded, and the angels vanished. "Alright. But, just out of curiosity, what was the next card you were going to draw?"

"Dunno, let me see-" He drew. "Wait! What!? With this, I could have...have..."

"Well, I dare say you could've won, but unfortunately, you gave up. Rather pointless, I'm afraid."

"Agh! Why can't I be good at dueling like you and Dad! You always seems to know exactly what you need and you get it! I never get what I need until it's too late!"

His mother laughed and started ushering him back inside. She never let go of him. "That's because a true duelist knows that if he never gives up and fights to the very end, his deck will respond in kind. Fate bends itself in funny ways to those who believe in their deck."

"So why does Dad spend so much time tinkering with his deck?"

"Well, he needs to, because that's his job. But he'll tell you, just like I will, that if you really believe in your deck, in the Heart of the Cards, it will not lead you astray, not even once."

"You really mean that?"

"I've seen its effects for myself. And one day, you will too..."

...

Liam snapped back to reality. These visions of his past were getting a bit too thematic.

"Hey! You gonna go at all or should I just throw you and your bum friend out?" asked Kameno.

"Easy, keep your pants on," Liam said, putting a hand on his last card.

If there was a time to believe in the Heart of the Cards, it'd be now. All I need is one chance-!

"Destiny...Draw!"

He drew.

He looked down.

His eyes widened.

"...my God."

Just like she said.

"Alright. Looks like it's gonna be a good day. First, Infernoble Knight Astolfo returns to the field!" Astolfo reappeared on the field, spinning his twin blades of fire. (LVL 1/ATK: 500) "Then, because Astolfo was Special Summoned from banishment, I can Special Summon a FIRE Warrior monster from my graveyard to join him! And the monster I choose is one of the cards you milled: the one and only Command Knight!"

A man in red armor with blond hair and a black cloak appeared on the field, armed with sword in hand. (LVL 4/ATK: 1200)

"Hah! Soul Levy now activates twice!" Kameno crowed. "With no more cards in your deck to mill, that means I win!"

Liam started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You colossal moron. You forgot the one rule of mill decks! You only win on deck-out when your opponent can't draw!" said Liam. "So if you're popping the champagne, you may as well hand it over to me, because I'm going to be winning this duel, right here, right now!"

"What? How? None of your monsters can pierce my Wall of Revealing Light!" said Kameno.

"Really? Watch this," said Liam. "First, Command Knight increases the attack of all Warriors on the field, including himself, by 400!" Command Knight drew his sword and raised it. (ATK: 1600) A red aura came over Astolfo (ATK: 900), Iyvanne (ATK: 2100),and Balmung. (ATK: 2500)

"Next, I activate the spell card Synchro Gift! For this turn only, I can take all the attack points of a Synchro Monster I control, like Balmung, and then hand them over to one of my non-Synchro monsters! So I'll transfer Balmung's attack points to Iyvanne!" Balmung fell to one knee (ATK: 0) as black flames erupted from his body and swirled around Iyvanne's sword. (ATK: 4600)

"It won't be enough! You still can only attack with that monster, and I still have a monster defending me!"

"Yeah. But I can remedy that with this final card I just drew. I banish Infernoble Arms – Durandal from my graveyard to Special Summon this! Immortal Phoenix Gearfried!"

A massive gout of flames erupted behind Liam, taking the form of a large bird as it screeched to the heavens. And from that massive wall of fire came a knight in white and red armor, a massive sword and shield in his hands. (LVL 9/ATK: 3000 → 3400) Kameno actually had to step back from the intensity of the flames. "And with his appearance, this duel has reached its end! Immortal Phoenix Gearfried, attack his monster! This activates his effect, allowing me to equip a monster I control to him as a spell that grants him 500 attack points!"

Astolfo winked at Kameno before vanishing in a haze of flames, and Gearfried's armor turned bright gold. (ATK: 3900) Gearfried roared as he slammed his sword down on the shadowy figure. Kameno's monster's flipped up. It was a familiar white and red jar.

"Hah! Looks like your number's up, kid! My Morphing Jar #2 means all your monsters go back to your deck to get summoned or milled off! Looks like you put in all that work for...nothing?" Kameno looked down, and realized that the jar was still impaled on Immortal Gearfried's blade, and was not doing a whole lot, other than melting in the warrior's intense flames. "Wait! Why isn't his effect activating!?"

"Immortal Gearfried's effect," Liam said simply. "If a monster effect is activated, I can send an equip card I control to the graveyard, and negate that effect's activation. So Astolfo went to the graveyard, and so does your Morphing Jar, without any fanfare." The monster shattered, along with Kameno's hopes of winning.

"Um...mercy?" Kameno asked weakly.

"Um, no," Liam replied flatly. "Noble Knight Iyvanne, finish him off! Attack directly!"

Iyvanne raised his flaming sword, black flames rising higher and higher into the air before finally crashing down on Kameno's head.

Liam: 4000 (0 cards remaining)

Kameno: 0

WINNER: Liam O'Hara

Kameno fell to the ground in a dazed heap, eyes rolling into the back of his head.

"Pleasure doing business with you, mate," Liam said briskly. He went to where Kameno had fallen and checked the pockets of his vest, and found the CPU chip he'd flashed Liam with. It was hard to tell in the dim lights, but it looked like it would fit in the spot on the motherboard. But that could wait. He entered through the door, and he found Nervin was in the far corner of what appeared to be a small office space. He was sporting some scuffs and bruises on his person but not seriously hurt from Liam's perspective. "Nervin! You okay?"

"Better, now that you're here," Nervin grinned. "Didn't mean to cause a fuss. I just started ripping the guy and then his friends came in and beat me up and dragged me here. Where are the others?"

"Back in the subway." Liam extended a hand and helped Nervin up. "Yusei's in the lobby, he's probably finished cleaning up that one guy."

"Good. 'cause I'd like to get out of here and take a really long nap."

It was at this point Liam looked up and saw something glinting, up on one of the shelves. Curious, he stepped back a bit, trying to get a better view, but still couldn't quite see.

"Liam? What is it?" asked Nervin.

"I'll be right back." Liam went through the storeroom, looking for something that could help him reach the object on the shelf. He found a nearby stepladder mounted on wheels and wheeled it over to the shelf.

"You gonna explain at all?"

"There's something on this shelf," Liam said, climbing the stepladder. Upon reaching the top step, he could see the object clearly: a long metallic cylindrical object. "Aha! I think I can reach it from here." Liam reached out and managed to hook his fingers on an opening on one side. He began to pull. It was rather heavy. "Nervin, come on around and help me get this thing out."

Nervin swung around Liam and the stepladder as Liam slowly pulled the object. "What is it?"

Liam finally got the object off the shelf and into his arms like a large metal fish. "I knew it! A Duel Runner engine!" Slowly he stepped off the ladder and back onto the ground. "Check around for a cart we can put it in."

"Seriously!?" Nervin, re-energized by the thought of something positive finally coming out of this whole mess, checked around for a bit, and then went back to where Liam had gone to get the ladder. He came back with a large flatbed cart, and Liam placed the engine on the flatbed. The two pushed it out of the storeroom and back towards the front of the store.

"Nervin!" Yusei looked up as Liam and Nervin came in from the back room, with Liam rolling the engine on the flatbed. His opponent was nowhere to be found.

"Sorry for the trouble, Yus," mumbled Nervin.

Yusei shook his head. "You're okay, and that's all that matters. Blitz's waiting outside, he'll take you to back to the shack."

"Sure," Nervin nodded. "Thanks again, Liam. You really saved my bacon, there."

"Any time, bruv. Just no more confronting gangers on your own, okay?" Liam said. Nervin nodded and walked out of the building.

"Thanks, Liam. Not a lot of people around here are willing to help people they only met a couple days ago," Yusei said.

"It was the right thing to do. But, if you want to repay me somehow, how about you help me get this engine out of here," Liam said, gesturing to the engine on the flatbed.

"Where'd you get that?" Yusei asked, making his way over.

"It was in the back room where they were keeping Nervin. We had a theory that Runner we picked up was some prototype comp Runner that didn't meet specs. So when Nervin found out the engine inside was a fake, that got me thinking," Liam said, taking the CPU out of his coat. "Sure enough, they must recognized the Runner for what it was, figured they could sell the frame and keep the engine and CPU for themselves. Found one, grabbed the other, and now we have everything we need."

Yusei looked the engine over, nodding to himself. "It'll be a challenge getting it down the stairs."

"Not as hard as beating up gangers, though," Liam grinned.

The two of them rolled their way down the street, Liam with their prize on the cart and Yusei pushing his Runner. They made it back to the subway right as the sun was beginning to set, the skies shifting from blue to fiery orange. With both of them holding the engines in both hands, they slowly descended down the steps back to the shack. But when Liam and Yusei stepped off the stairs and onto the landing, the two found something was different when they arrived.

"Where's the frame? We had it parked here," said Liam.

Indeed, the frame was no longer in the same place that it had been parked when it was brought in, and had been when Liam last left it with Rally and the others.

"Did the Kameno Gang take it?" asked Yusei.

"I only saw the three in the building...there is someone we can ask, though. Yo! Rally! You here?" Liam called down the tunnel.

Rally came out of the shack, wiping something off of his hands. "Hey guys! Did you bring Nervin back-" His eyes fell on the engine. "Whoa! Where'd you get that?"

"We took it off of those guys' hands as recompense for kidnapping Nervin." Liam said with a grin. "Where's the Frame, though? Wasn't it parked over here?"

"Oh yeah! Tank helped me move it back to the shack while you were gone."

"Why?" asked Yusei.

Rally grinned. "It's a surprise. Come on!"

Rally led Yusei and Liam into the shack (the two of them still carrying the engine between the) and then swept his hands over to where the frame was parked. "TA-DAAA!"

The Runner was no longer blue and yellow, but now was the black that had been exposed by Rally earlier, and the yellow bits were now a rich dark red. On top of that, there was now an off-white stripe running down the front panel. Liam blinked in surprise. "Rally..."

"Did you do this all by yourself?" asked Yusei.

"Well, Blitz and Tank helped. We were just antsy while you and Liam went to go help Nervin, and, well, I thought the Runner looked better black than it did blue. So, we cleaned it up, and now it looks way better!" Rally exclaimed.

"It sure does," Liam said with a nod. "Now could you get a table for this thing so we can mount it later?"

As Yusei and Liam checked over the engine to make sure nothing major was missing, Blitz and Tank hoisted the Frame up on a pair of wooden crates. Nervin, having been patched up with a first-aid kit they had. lifted one of the wing panels, allowing Yusei and Liam to take the engine and mount it into the open space where the fake engine had been, locking it down with a vented panel. With that done, they took it off the crates so that Liam could pull back the screen and put in the CPU. Upon doing so, there was a brief electric whirring noise, and when he put the screen back in, it flickered on.

"Alright! We're online!" Liam said. "A little space, please?"

The four Satellites stepped back, and Liam placed his hand on the throttle and gave it a twist. The engine roared in response for a second or two before returning to a low whistle. Liam nodded, dusted off his hands, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have one complete Duel Runner!"

Everyone cheered. Well, except for Yusei. He just simply gave a small eighth of a smile and walked off. However, as Blitz, Tank, Nervin, and Rally celebrated their hard work and Nervin's safe return, Liam turned back to the Runner. He went to shut off the engine, but when he did, he noticed a name painted on the side panel he'd missed when they were working on it.

Trombe.

And then, his mind raced into action once more.

"Who is Trombe, Dad? What kind of person is he?"

He was in the garage. The Duel Runner he'd just finished assembling was there, although there was also a second Runner nearby.

"Trombe isn't a person, Liam. It's actually the name of a horse." There was his dad, at the nearby table. There were other people in the room, but Liam couldn't see their faces.

"A horse? Why a horse?"

"Because that horse belongs to a friend of mine. To give a hourse the name of Trombe is a blessing so that it may run as fast as its name, according to him. I just felt like it was fitting. This Duel Runner is going to be the next step forward for our Duel Team. And then one day, when you're old enough, we'll give this Runner to you."

"Are you saying one day I could be with you? On the team?"

"Who knows? But I certainly think that'd be a great idea, Liam."

And then he was back. Now that was a revelation he was not expecting. He looked back to the Satellites, who were now giving him concerned looks.

"Did you remember something?" Rally asked.

"Yeah...I was getting a weird feeling about this Runner, and now I know why: this is the Runner I inherited from my dad!" Liam said.

"What!? No way!" said Rally.

"That probably explains the shoddy paint job," said Blitz. "Those thugs must've panicked when they saw you and decided to paint it that blue and yellow so that you wouldn't recognize it. Although, it likely wouldn't have mattered, given the circumstances, but still."

"It's still one heck of a coinky-dink!" said Tank. "Your Runner got jacked, but you ended up getting it back in one piece!"

"It still cost me a 1000 DP, but given the circumstances, I'll still call that a steal at twice the price," said Liam.

"Now that you got your Runner back, you can do Turbo Duels like Yusei!" Rally said. "What Speed Spells do you have loaded on it?"

"Let's find out," Liam said, cracking his knuckles as he turned back towards Trombe. With his Runner back, he was a step closer to figuring out the truth.