A/N: Special thanks to HunterHQ, who has been giving me tons of useful cards suggestions and ideas to design Garome's deck. Sorry I couldn't include every idea.

Fun Fact: Sometimes, Yuri likes to encourage the younger kids at You Show to start fires. Then he reports them and gets them into trouble.

Description: Jack and Yugo work to bring down Garome once and for all.

"I rowed down my boat... and found out where the fish roam~"

Who's singing? Yugo wondered that as he opened his eyes.

"Now grab my hand. Let's go and see."

It sounded like Rin. No, Yuzu. Yuzu sad a softer way of speaking, and it came through with her song.

The first thing Yugo saw when he woke up was a ceiling fan. It was attached to a burgundy ceiling with several stains of various colors.

"Maybe you can help me. And that's when I met the love of my life~"

"His eyes are opening."

"Yugo?" It sounded like Rin's voice now. "Yugo..."

Yugo slowly rose into a sitting position. Though it was surprisingly painful on his back, and his head started to pound as he moved.

Rin, with her orange eyes, was sitting with him. Behind her was a big desk, some chairs, and tire tracks. They must have been in Garome's office, then.

"Are you okay, Yugo?!" Rin asked desperately.

"Argh..." he grumbled. "Yeah, I think I'm fine."

Rin (or perhaps Yuzu) responded by giving him a healthy smack across the back of his head with a paper fun. Yugo let out a yell and started to rub his wounds.

"Acha-cha, what the hell?!" he groaned.

"That's for letting yourself get hurt!" Rin snapped at him. "You reckless moron!"

Yugo lowered his head. "Jeez, Rin, try being a little nicer next time. It's not my fault I crashed."

Though it hurt to turn his back, he forced himself to look around the room for any more information. Now he could see Gongenzaka by the window, En by his feet. Crow walked over from a corner to stand by Rin, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed.

"So, guys," Yugo said. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"You crashed your bike," Gongenzaka said, not looking away from the window.

"I figured," Yugo said flatly. "Where's Jack?"

"Come see."

Rin and Crow held out hands for Yugo. Yugo took their hands in his and, with a bit of struggling, let himself be lifted into standing position. Once he was on his two feet, he joined Gongenzaka at the window.

Looking down at the field, he could see Jack standing on one end of the field. His Duel Disk was activated, and Red Gargoyle (DEF 1400),Red Warg (DEF 1400), a Loan Token (DEF 0) and two face-down cards protected him from his opponent: Garome.

Garome had his own field: a Toichi the Nefarious Debt Collector (DEF 1300) and a face-down card. He also had two face-up cards in his Spell/Trap Zone, though from Yugo's position, he couldn't make out what the card was supposed to be.

"Why are they dueling?!" Yugo asked.

"You couldn't go after Garome," Rin said. "And since you couldn't, Jack did."

Yugo looked to her. "Gimme a quick rundown on what happened."

"Garome came to congratulate Jack on his victory. But Jack managed to convince him to duel him for the future of the orphanage."

"Garome was against it, and wanted to put Jack under the same deal he gave to you," Crow explained. "But Jack refused and demanded a duel with Garome."

"The crowd started going nuts over it, and I guess Garome had to agree to it."

"Jack's putting himself at risk, Yugo," Gongenzaka added. "If he loses, he'll be under the debt."

Yugo let out a growl. "Bullshit! He yelled at me for doing it, and then he goes and does it?"

"You don't get Jack!" Crow said. "Jack wanted to push you and make sure that you were strong enough for this."

"Then I guess I'm not strong enough," Yugo said bitterly.

"That's not- I-..." Crow let out a sigh. "Hey, Jack has a lot of respect for you and the other boys. He doesn't count this as a loss against him, since you wiped yourself out and couldn't fight."

"It wasn't my fault!" Yugo protested.

"Why did you crash, Yugo?" Rin asked him.

Yeah, why? Yuya asked him.

We didn't see, Yuto said.

"I... I..." Yugo muttered.

He looked at Rin's concerned face. Poor thing, she was so angry and worried right now. Telling her the truth would just make things worse for her.

"I was just so tired, and I guess I just passed out."

Rin frowned. "Reckless idiot, riding your D-Wheel when you're tired..."

I feel like you're not being honest, Yuya told his brother.

I'll tell you guys later, Yugo answered. "Guess I learned my lesson. I embarrassed myself in front of Jack, lost the duel, and now Jack's in danger 'cuz of me."

"He put himself on the line for a reason," Crow said to him.

"Eh?"

"Jack felt like he owed the people of the city," Crow explained. "They hailed him as a champion and a hero, and supported him. Even when they hated him, it was because he wasn't acting like the beacon he should have been."

"But that's not Jack's fault," Yugo said. "He couldn't fix the city."

"But you and the others did," Crow countered. "And he wants to be a hero to those in need, like you guys."

Yugo looked back down on the duel. "But it should have been me down there..."

Crow walked closer and put a hand on Yugo's shoulder. "I think your words to him meant a lot to him. And he wants to be the hero he couldn't be earlier."

Back on the field, the duel was heating up. Only two turns had passed, but the duel was already proving to be a memorable one.

Jack still had his two monsters and his face-downs. His hand had five cards, while his Life Points were at 2300.

Contrast Garome, who had his monster, a face-down, and four cards in his hand. His face-up Spell/Trap cards were the Continuous Spell, Attraffic Control and the Continuous Trap, Endless Loan. His Life Points were much more plentiful, at 3700. And it was his turn to act.

"I summon a Chainsaw Insect!" Garome announced.

Garome placed a card on his Disk's blade. A large beetle insect appeared before him, to the right of his other monster. Its mandibles had the teeth of a chainsaw, and they were buzzing with life. (ATK 2400)

"I enter the Battle Phase," Garome declared. "Chainsaw Insect attacks Red Warg!"

The bug scuttled across the field, holding up its pincers. The teeth started to whirl and move like an actual chainsaw. And once they reached the red doggo, they also hacked away at the monster's body. Soon, Red Warg was reduced to shattered remains. (Jack: 2300 → 1300)

"Since Chainsaw Insect's effect triggers: you draw one card."

Jack kept his eyes on Garome while he moves his hand over his deck. With two fingers, he pulled out the top card of his deck, then added it to his hand. He now had six cards in his hand.

"My Battle Phase is over," Garome said. "Now I activate the effect of Toichi the Nefarious Debt Collector!"

The collector walked over to Jack's field slowly. It Judging from the smile that peeked through its upturned shirt collar, it seemed to like it was going to enjoy what was coming next.

Meanwhile, the reptilian beast Loan Token started to sweat. It struggled to hold the heavy weight it was holding, but Toichi's approach seemed to be causing it the most visible distress. It started to sob and whimper in unheard words.

"Once per turn, I can inflict 1000 damage to my opponent for every Loan Token on the field."

Toichi lifted up his briefcase, slammed it hard against the top of the weight. The extra force was enough to force the Loan Token monster onto its knees and make it help in pain. And with a more more whacks, it cries grew louder.

One more whack caused the monster to let go of the weight. The weight fell and hide the monster entirely under it. The poor creature was crushed by debt. (Jack: 1300 → 300)

Garome lifted a card from his hand. "I set a Trap card face-down and end my turn. Good luck trying to beat me now, Jacky Boy."

With Jack's next draw, he now had seven cards. More than enough to pay his Loan Tokens as he gained them... But he wasn't going to throw away his cards to give Garome what he wanted.

Garome pointed down to one of his face-downs. "I activate my Trap, Purse with a Hole."

His first face-down rose up, revealing itself to be a trap. The artwork depicted a green money purse with sad eyes. It had a butt hole ripped out from the back, and gold coins were falling out from it.

"When my opponent has 6 or more cards in their hand, I can make them randomly send cards from their hand to the Graveyard until they have 5 cards left."

Jack looked down on his Disk. His hand, displayed at the bottom of his screen, had two cards highlighted: Synkron Resonator and Red Resonator. Jack complied with Garome's actions by pulling out these two cards and dropping them into his Graveyard.

Garome sneered. "And for the rest of this turn, you cannot activate, summon, set, or otherwise play cards from your hand."

"Mr. Garome has put Jack in a tough place to get out of!" shouted the announcer. "Good job, boss! But without his hand, Jack's cut off from most of his possible plays!"

The audience started to murmr now. Quite a few of them were expressing annoyance or worry for Jack. But that didn't matter to him; he cared not for their doubts. When it came to dueling, he only respected the opinion of one person: himself.

As far as Jack was concerned, Garome already lost when he gave him a Loan Token.

"Trap, activate!" Jack announced. "Revival Gift! I can Special Summon a Tuner monster from my Graveyard!"

Jack's face-down rose up. The artwork depicted a distressed duelist, who looked at the two cute, bug-eyed, black monsters before him.

A portal opened up before Jack, and those two monsters rose out of it. They carried with them a Red Resonator from Jack's Graveyard. (ATK 600)

"My monster's effect is negated," Jack continued. "And 2 Gift Fiend Tokens are Special Summoned to your side of the field."

The two little fiends made their way over to Garome's side of the field. They parked themselves to the right of Chainsaw Insect, turned around and gave Jack bright, happy egaos. (ATK 1500)

Garome smiled. "More protection for me, and one more And one more Loan Token for you. I like where this is going."

Another little goblin materialized on Jack's side of the field. Lacking the weight, it was happy and free. And without a crushing debt, it was free to do a little dance. (DEF 0)

A weight fell from the sky crushing it.

"I'm not done!" Jack said. His voice boomed throughout the stadium. "Red Gargoyle's effect: when a Red monster is summoned to my field, I can double that monster's Level!" (Red Resonator LV 2 → 4)

You can bet that Garome wasn't smiling so much now, because he was now aware of the trouble that was coming. But if he only knew how much trouble awaited him this turn.

Jack pointed up to the sky. "I tune my Level 4 Red Gargoyle with my Level 4 Red Resonator!"

Red Resonator clanged its implements together. The sound caused its body to break apart into four Synchro rings, which surrounded Red Gargoyle. The gargoyle itself also divided its form into four Level stars, which combined with the rings to create a bright new form.

"The heaven and earth shall tremble before the king's might!" Jack commanded. "Let the power of the one supreme ruler be carved into your soul! Synchro Summon!"

The heavens almost ripped apart when the right arm of Scarlight punched itself through the light. The dragon burst forward and rose high above the field, breathing fire and flames at it soared.

"My very soul, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!" (ATK 3000)

And a third Loan Token took to Jack's field. (DEF 0) Loans to the left of him and Loans to the right, Scarlight was now stuck in the middle with Jack.

But Garome was quick to counter. "I activate my face-down card, Effect Tax! A monster cannot attack the turn it activates its effects!"

The face-down card rose up, showing it to be a Continuous Trap card. The artwork depicted a sweating Relinquished being held upside-down by Giltia the D. Knight and Gene-Warped Warwolf. A Kuriboh seemed to have fallen off of Relinquished and landed on the floor below it.

"If you activate your monster's effect, then you can't attack me this turn," Garome informed his opponent. "It's best that you pay off those loans and go for an attack."

Jack let out a small, deep chuckle. "You really think that I would let you have what you want?"

"What...? But..."

Garome looked at the cards in his hand. He had a Spell Card, De-Synchro, to combat the dragon when it would eventually arrived. He hoped that he would survive long enough to use it.

"Once a turn, I can destroy all Special Summoned monsters with less or equal ATK to that of my Scarlight," Jack went on. "You also take 500 damage for each monster destroyed."

The dragon raised its right fist and slammed it on the ground. Waves of flames poured from the crater it left, surrounding the entire field in a ring of fire. The heat meltde the weights, and the three Loan Tokens, and the two Gift Fiend Tokens were instantly incinerated.

(Garome: 3700 → 1200)

"But because of Effect Tax, your monster can't attack this turn!" Garome cackled.

But Jack egao'd.

"What?" Garome hissed. "What are you smiling about?"

"Trap, activate!" Jack declared. "Red Carpet!"

Up come Jack's face-down. The artwork showed a red carpet being laid out for two Resonator monsters, while the shadow of a dragon lurked in the background.

"If a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster is on the field, I can Special Summon up to two Resonator monsters from my Graveyard."

Two portals opened on either side of Scarlight. Synkron Resonator (ATK 100) and Chain Resonator (ATK 100) rose from the portals and joined the dragon on the field.

Once more, Jack threw his finger up to the ceiling above. Jack threw a finger up into the air. "With my Level 8 Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, and Level 1 Tuner monsters, I perform a Double Tuning!"

The two Tuner monsters became the two flaming rings that surrounded Scarlight. Scarlight gave way to the eight Level stars, and they created a mighty wall of flame that separated the duelists.

"The king and the Devil, they cross here and now! Touch the soul of the Crimson Dragon, and raise up the cry of creation!"

A crimson dragon rose out of the flames, flying into infinity and vanishing before everyone's eyes. The flames themselves were ripped apart by a powerful and enormous dragon.

"Synchro Summon! Appear! Level 10, Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend!" (ATK 3500)

And now Garome realized how much trouble he was in.

"Y-you can't attack me, though!" he stammered. "E-even if you destroy my Chainsaw Insect, I'll still have 100 Life Points left!"

And then, he smiled. "... And if you destroy Toichi, you don't inflict any damage. So either way, I can win next turn."

Garome could see his own path to victory before his eyes: get rid of the Synchro monster next turn, and either attack directly with Chainsaw Insect, or wait for Jack to summon a monster, give him a Loan Token, and make him pay the final price the turn after.

"It's not too late to back down, Jack," the man said to his enemy. "If you surrender now, perhaps I'll reduce your inevitable debt. By a modest amount, I mean."

Jack closed his eyes and smirked. "Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend's effect: one per turn, I can destroy all other cards on the field."

Garome jaw dropped. "B-b-but Effect Tax! Then your monster can't attack-"

"Effect Tax is a Continuous Trap. And once it's no longer on the field, its effects cannot continue."

The tyrant dragon flew high into the air and, like a falling star, descended towards Garome's side of the field. Its right fist punched the ground, and flames spilled forward. Everything on Garome's side of the field was consumed by the fire.

Goodbye to Toichi. Goodbye to Chainsaw Insect. Goodbye to Attraffic Control. And goodbye to Effect Tax. And with them all gone, there was nothing left to protect Garome from Jack's burning wrath.

(Garome: 1200 → 0)

Garome was now on his hands and knees. His cards had fallen from his hand and Disk, and they were left scattered all around him.

Jack stood over the man, looking down his nose at him. "So, will you keep your word? Or do I have to teach you another lesson?"

Garome looked up to Jack. He could see the audience from the corner of his eye, watching him. Some must have been taking pictures, because he could see flashes from some sports in the crowd. Humiliating...

Really humiliating. Given how pathetic he felt (and looked!) now, he knew he couldn't challenge Jack again. He didn't want to give up his loan on Martha, but backing out on a deal could turn off potential borrowers.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Consider the orphanage's debt cleared."

The audience burst out cheering. He could see Jack's triumphant, smug smirk. And as he rose back up to his feet, he could hear the cheers and jeers of people all around him. People were praising Jack and insulting Garome. As if he wasn't the most dangerous person there.

Oh, he wanted to remind them of that little fact.

"I may have lost this duel, Jack Atlas," Garome berated. "But I'm still one of the most powerful people in the city. Hundreds, thousands of people answer to me. This stadium belongs to me."

He smirked greedily."And even this duel gave me money to keep my empire growing. So giving up the orphanage isn't a big loss for me."

People in the audience started to murmur and talk. No longer did they speak ill of Garome. In fact, they all were reminded about just how powerful he was to them.

Eventually people went almost completely silent.

Like the audience, Yugo heard everything Garome had said. And like the audience, he wasn't happy with it at all.

But unlike them, he wasn't so willing to keep quiet and let Garome have his way.

Yugo turned to the others in the room. "Okay, we still need to stop Garome."

But Gongenzaka, Rin and Crow just looked at him sadly. None of them spoke then, because their awkward silence would tell most people what they were thinking.

But Yugo wasn't most people. "Well?"

"What can we do?" Rin asked him. "It's not like we can pay off everyone's debts. And if we duel for him, we just bringing him more money and people."

"I don't think he'll accept another duel from us," Gongenzaka added. "I'm willing to duel for you, but I don't think Garome will risk another deal going against him."

Yugo threw his hands up. "Am I really hearing this, guys?! We can't just let Garome get away with this!"

"All I'm saying is, we need to count our blessings," Crow said sadly. "It sucks, Yugo. I know. But Garome's still too big to knock down. It could take all our lives, and we'd never be able to stop him."

Yugo glared at Crow, but Crow stayed firm.

"We can warn people about him," Crow advised him.

"But a lot of people already know the dangers beforehand," Rin sighed. "They come to him when they're desperate because they think things can't get any worse."

"I know that, but we can't do anything about that. As much as we want to, we can't bear all their burdens."

"Wait. What about contacting the authorities?" Gongenzaka proposed. "Surely they could discover something illegal in any of Garome's actions."

Crow shook his head. "Then Garome could out Jack, Yugo and Rin for participating in underground dueling. And I don't doubt you kids will wind up in a Junior Facility, Lancers or not."

"Maybe we can make an anonymous tip?" Yugo offered. "Or like, Reiji can convince them to get rid of our sentences?"

"Garome knows you all know. If we made a move against him, he'd hit us hard however he can."

Rin sighed. "So it's useless to fight. Let's just take our victory and go home."

"We'll figure something out!" Yugo barked. "We can't let Garome keep winning!"

"I know it sucks, Yugo. But what can you do? We're just a few people going up against an empire."

But Yugo smirked. "What's an empire to a king? A Duel King?"

"An emperor would be more powerful than a king," Rin informed him.

"Oh."

Well, awkward.

"Well, I have an idea!" Yugo said. "I'm going to be this city's savior, no matter what!"

"Yugo, stop," Crow said sternly. "You need to understand that there are no easy solutions here. We can't always win."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Crow," Yugo said. "That's where you're wrong."

Gongenzaka egao'd. "So what's the plan?"

Two tall, muscular men came to Garome's aid. While he stood in place and smoked his cigar, the men gathered up all the cards he had dropped. Yes, Garome could have simply picked up the cards himself. But he wanted to show Jack - show everyone- that he still had some of the strongest people working for him.

"I trust that this will be the end of our meeting," Garome said to Jack. "Unless you want to fight against 100 duelists in a row first?"

Jack grunted. "I bet you'll be glad to be rid of me, now that you've tasted the fear I can instill in you."

Garome frowned and countered with his own harsh words, "Well, I hope the same for you. Because you're never going to stop me, Jack. Not now, not ever."

"Perhaps we'll see."

"You think being a strong duelist is enough?" Garome scoffed. "Hardly! If I see you try to undermine me again, you'll see just how powerful I really am in this city."

Before either of them could keep talking, they were drawn to the sound of a D-Wheel's engine. The sound grew louder and louder as it grew closer, until finally, they could see the source of the sound as it barreled over through some of the protective glass and landed on the track.

A helmeted Yugo was on his bike, and he was driving down the track. It must have been in auto-pilot, because Yugo was using both hands to wave to the audience.

"Yo, people!" he called out. "You guys want to know something about Garome?"

There were discussions amongst the audience. Garome's eyes followed the bike closely, while also glaring suspiciously at Yugo.

Yugo kept on yelling, "Did you know that he rigs matches? Yeah! He rigs matches to make you lose more money to him!"

People were talking. And they didn't like what they were hearing. Quite frankly, a few people started to rise from their seats and walk out. Or throw their trash over the glass and onto the track. Unfortunately, no one managed to hit Garome. Yet.

This will make deal-making harder, Garome thought. I'll have to do a lot of damage control later.

"Doesn't that make you guys angry?" Yugo called out. "This guy sure is an asshole, right? Doesn't it make you want to fight back?"

The response this time was a lot quieter. People sat back down, others averted their eyes. But people weren't talking.

Yugo was confused. "What? Why aren't you guys angry? Come on, we can fight him!"

"And do what?" a man called out from the stands.

Yugo slowed down his D-Wheel. The engine's sounds grew quieter, so he could hear the man better.

"I owe him money! I can't do shit!"

"I don't want him breaking my legs!" a woman shouted.

Garome scowled. Well, this was becoming a PR disaster. He had no doubt that people would always come to him. But this demonization of him certainly wouldn't be helping his career.

"But what he's doing is shitty!" Yugo protested. "He's taken advantage of you guys! Scammed you! He can't keep getting away with it, guys!"

"And get killed?" another man called out.

"I know you guys are scared! The dude's strong, he has a lot of power over you! Just like the Tops!"

The discussions amongst the audience grew. A few people were talking to Yugo, giving him their varying views and questions. They all talked over each other, so Yugo couldn't hear what any one individual voice.

"But look what happened to the city now!" Yugo went on. "When we work as a team, we can beat anyone who tries to stop us!"

The people went silent again. All eyes were on Yugo again, and they were listening to every word he was saying. It... kind of made Yugo nervous, to be honest.

But he could feel Yuya over his shoulder. He could feel Yuya's support. And that moment of caring just made Yugo feel more conviction and determination.

"You're not doing this alone!" Yugo declared. "I'll help you challenge Garome right now! I won't let him bully you!"

Though many people in the audience didn't move, some were rising up from their seats and cheering.

Garome's jaw dropped. He could hear his employees next to him, grunting with annoyance. And he could hear Jack make a smug little "Hmph."

"What does that boy think he's doing?!" Garome snarled. "Someone, go and- and stop him! Get your D-Wheels and run him of the track!"

Garome's men nodded. They dashed across the field, paused to let Yugo pass them, and then made their way towards an exit door.

But the second they crossed the threshold, fists flew at them. They both went down like sacks of bricks.

Garome's jaw dropped as he saw Gongenzaka step over the unconscious men. The man, Gongenzaka nodded to Garome and started walking towards him.

"I stand with Yugo!" Gongenzaka stated.

Garome didn't react fast enough to stop Jack from grabbing him. Jack held Garome's arms and twisted them behind his back, holding him in place.

"I'll also stand with Yugo!" Jack said aloud. "Everyone! I will join the fight against this man!"

And that was when the speaker static came through the air. Everyone went silent and turned to the announcer's booth.

"Attention, attention! Yugo Sakaki!"

Yugo egao'd. He recognized that voice. It was Rin!

Rin sighed. "I figured you'd go and do something reckless. I can't let you do this alone, so I better join the revolution, too."

Crow's voice came through, too. "Count me in, too. Just as long as we don't kill anyone, okay?"

"Garome!" Rin declared. "We'll be patrolling the area. We already have our guard dog blocking the main entrance."

Granted, the guard dog was like a foot tall and only weighed as much as a stack of pancakes, but Rin didn't need to mention that.

"It's just you against the people now. Resistance is futile."

Yugo threw a fist up to the sky. "Come on, everyone! We can help each other out!"

"What about the debts?" a woman from the audience asked.

He can't hurt anyone if he's no longer alive, Yuri offered.

No. Shut up, Yugo told him.

"Then... We can make Garome forgive them!" Yugo said to the woman. "He's strong because he has power over others! But now's the time to take your power back!"

"You better not let your fear hold you back from this opportunity!" Jack added. "Together, we can bring him down!"

"Stop!" Garome screeched. "STOP! SECURITY, STOP THEM!"

Rin tssk'd, chiding the little man. "I'm ready to duel anyone who gets in the way! But if any employees want to end your debts now, come and join our side."

Garome gulped. "No..."

Yugo stopped his D-Wheel and looked to the audience members before him. "Angry mob! Angry mob! Angry mob!"

No one was cheering with him. But they were still shouting and jumping up from their seats. People were climbing over the glass or running onto the track.

"Angry mob! Angry mob... Angry mob?"

Still, no one was cheering. But at least people were gathering around and joining together. Now functioning as an angry mob, people were storming the field and gathering around Jack and Garome.

Garome was starting to sweat. Try as me might, he couldn't escape Jack. And even if he did, he couldn't see a way through the crowd around him.

Someone through a can at his head. Brown liquid spilled from the open lid and ran down Garome's face. This seemed to earn the scornful laughter of people in the crowd.

"So, Garome," Jack said slowly. "I'm willing to protect you from these people."

Garome turned up his head to look at Jack. Tears of joy were running down Garome's panicked little face. "What's the plan?"

"The plan is for you to erase every single debt," Jack replied. "Then we'll talk about getting you out of here unharmed."

"A-all of the debts?" the loan shark gasped. "What about some? Like, j-just the people in this stadium?"

Jack smirked. "We can do that. You'll forgive some of the debts, and I'll save some of you from the people."

People were yelling, laughing, screaming, crying, talking, throwing things at Garome, lighting matches and holding up weapons. And as Garome looked at all these people who were ready to tear him apart, he finally realized how truly, utterly boned he was.

"... Alright, all of the contracts," Garome sighed. "The papers are in my office. But don't think I'll ever be done with you, Jack Atlas."

"You can come after me any time!" Jack yelled. "Go ahead, send your goons after me. I'm not afraid of you!"

And with Jack's defiant words, the crowd burst into a sea of applause.

After all was said and done, Jack had driven off to parts unknown, leaving Yugo, En, Rin, Gongenzaka and Crow to drive back to the orphanage. En and Gongenaka were riding on the back of Yugo's bike, holding on as tight as they could to Yugo.

"Well, you did it, Yugo!" Rin proudly stated. "You successfully toppled a loan shark's empire and removed the chains of slavery from who knows how many people."

"You were fantastic, Yugo!" Crow said happily.

"Because of you, the city is a better place," Gongenzaka added, with the mandatory egao.

Yugo scratched the back of his head. "Eh, I wouldn't have been able to do anything if you guys didn't come and help me. You saw bad I was failing to win over the crowd.

"No, I saw you helping out all those innocent people."

"I think we all helped out today... Even Yuri, surprisingly."

"But you're the hero of today," Rin told him. "I hope you can forgive me for... Well for everything, I guess."

Hey, fuck you, Fusion, Yuri said.

"No, fuck you," Yugo scoffed.

Oh wait, Rin looked pissed at him. Did she think he was talking to her.

"No, wait! Not you, Rin! Not you!"

"I guess we all learned a valuable lesson today," Crow said, quickly changing the subject before Rin could throw a punch.

"Yeah," Yugo agreed. "Being a loan shark is a good career. But don't be a dick about it."

"I learned that a true hero isn't someone who saves the day by himself," Rin said. "A true hero can inspire people to fight back and be the change they wish to see."

"Nah."

Rin looked down. "I mean, that's bull. But at least what I said sounds better than your comment."

"At least I'm right."

"So, we didn't learn anything," Gongenzaka admitted.

For a solid minute, no one talked. There was simply an awkward silence as everyone struggled to come up with a way to salvage the conversation. But after a while, they just gave up.

"Anyway, Yugo," Rin began. "Only you could come up with something like that."

"I don't know," Yugo sighed. "I'm sure you could have. Yuya would have done a better job, definitely. Maybe even Yuto..."

"I'm sure Martha will be happy when you tell her all about today," Gongenzaka offered. "Hopefully Mr. Tokomatsu was able to manage the children while we were gone."

"Ah, about that..." Yugo said.

"What?" Rin asked.

"You guys go on ahead," Yugo stated. "Me and En have business take care of."

As they came up to a stop light, everyone parked their bikes. Gongenzaka hopped off of the bike, then placed En on Yugo's lap.

"Take care now," Gongenzaka said to them.

"Be back soon," Rin said.

Yugo nodded. "Thanks. I'll try and be before midnight."

Yugo sat on a hill overlooking the public park below. They were somewhere in the Tops part of the city; it was, in fact, where Yugo and Yuzu went when they originally jumped into the Synchro Dimension.

Yugo patted En's head. The dog was sitting on his lap, looking up at the stars in the night sky. It was a simple, but very relaxing sight for the both of them. Particularly for Yugo, because the shooting stars reminded him of someone.

"You like the stars, Core?" Yugo said quietly. "There's a meteor shower tonight, I hear. They're super cool, so I thought you'd like to see them."

En let out a bark.

"You think so too, En?" Yugo chuckled. "And from here, you get to look at the city and see how pretty it can be."

A moment of silence passed. Yugo could see En's eyes start to shut. The dog rested is head on his chest.

"You can't sleep now!" Yugo chuckled. "You don't want Core to be the only one to have fun, right?"

Yugo could hear the sound of footsteps against the grass. He turned behind him and looked down the hill. Yuzu (or Rin?) was trudging up the hill and waving to him.

"Hi, Yugo," she said to him. And judging from those two words, Yugo instantly recognized his Rin.

Yugo tilted his head. "How'd you know we were here?"

"I just did."

Once she reached the top of the hill, Rin parked herself next to Yugo. She sat cross-legged and to Yugo's left side.

"I just got the feeling you'd be here," Rin explained. "And I wanted to hang out with you."

Yugo nodded. "That's cool. I was just showing En and Core the sights."

Rin nodded. Her eyes then scanned over the city in the distance, looking for anything notable. She eventually pointed a finger directly across from them, to a circular, roofless building.

"That's that dueling stadium, where they hold the Friendship Cup," she explained. "That's where Yugo and I always dreamed of dueling."

Yugo pointed to another location. "That's the Yggdrasil Foundation building. I don't know what they do, but they have a cool name."

"And that over there... That's the zoo where Yugo snuck into the gorilla exhibit."

"Traumatizing times," Yugo added.

"Remember when those gorillas tried to rip out your hair?"

Yugo chuckled nervously. "Yeah, let's talk about something else."

His eyes rose up to the sky above, back to the stars that shone above them. The moon was in a waxing crescent phase, and the lack of clouds allowed everything in the sky to sparkle clearly.

There was a light that flew across the sky. Yugo nudged Rin and pointed out the shooting star to her.

"Make a wish!" he said to her.

"Well, my wish already came true," Rin said happily. "I have what I want right here."

"I would wish for something cool," Yugo said. "Like a bike that has guns on the side."

That earned him a nasty glare from Rin. "Be serious, Yugo!"

Yugo rolled his eyes. "I was being serious! Jeez..."

"What else would you wish for?"

"To..." Yugo paused for a moment. "To be good enough for you."

Rin looked over to him, surprised. "What? What do you mean?"

Yugo's eyes fell down to En. He started to stroke the dog's head. And for a moment, he didn't answer her.

"Yugo?"

"Honestly, I wish..." Yugo said quietly. "I- It feels like I'll always... always be chasing after you."

"What do you mean?" Rin asked. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

"That's not what I mean," Yugo told her. "It's like, I feel like I'll never be mature enough. I could never protect and watch over you like you always did for me."

Yugo rose his head to look back up at the stars. He wanted to see the shooting stars, instead of the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"And I'm not as smart as Yuto, or as skilled as Yuri, or as talented and fun as Yuya. We're a team, but like, I'm the weak link. I'm not as good as them."

Rin put a hand on his shoulder. "That's not true."

"It is," Yugo insisted. "You're fun, smart, caring, full of life... and you're always ahead of me."

He lifted a hand to wipe his face. Then he looked back to Rin and egao'd.

"Yugo..." Rin said.

"You're like a shooting star," Yugo told her. "Like, you're high above me, and you move so fast. It's like I can't ever reach you and be like you."

"But I don't want Yuya, or Yuto, or Yuri," Rin told him. "I already have my own shooting star."

"Yeah, right," Yugo said sarcastically.

"My star is full of compassion," Rin explained. "He's always there for me, because he's a hero. He's my hero."

"No, Rin-"

"He'd never hurt me, and he's the one person I can always count on. He calls me out when I'm being a brat, but he sees the good in me. Even when I don't see the good in myself."

"Rin, stop."

"And I wish that I could be like him," Rin said proudly.

Yugo blushed. "Rin... You can't mean that."

"Though he's also a dummy sometimes," Rin added, flatly. "Because he doesn't get that I'm right and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

There was a moment of silence between them. The only sounds came from crickets in the distance and En's quiet snoring. The moment wasn't awkward or painful. Rather, it was a moment of peace and tranquility.

Yugo pressed his lips against Rin's forehead. But a feeling of embarrassment made him pull back soon after.

Rin didn't feel that same embarrassment. She responded by kissing Yugo on the cheek.

"I'm really happy to be here with you, Yugo," she said to him.

"Honestly," Yugo said contently. "... There's no one else I'd rather be with right now."

Rin rested her hand on Yugo's shoulder, then gently put a hand on En's back. Together, the three silently watched the stars above. They had no thoughts about anything outside of that moment, and those they were able to share it with.

A/N: Jack was originally going to use Red Reborn of Call of the Haunted to revive his Tuner. But when I saw that the original Jack used Revival Gift, I had to include it. Bonus points for actually being extra useful for Jack's combo.

Next time: Yugo goes toe-to-toe with a duelist from the Link Dimension.