Outcasts

Chapter 5: Searching, Hunting

Satellite was eerily quiet as they crept through the fog. Unable to see beyond their noses, the usual loiterers had gone for cover, with even the loudest and most belligerent drunks nowhere to be seen or heard on the street corners they claimed for themselves. Of course, the current Security crackdown, and the promise of a baton to the head that came with it likely had just as much to do with that as the unfortunate weather did.

They kept to the side of the road, feeling their way forward with each lamppost as they came, each one as uniquely bent out of shape as the last. No-one had spoken in a good while. Crow, the usual perpetual quip machine that he was, had found himself with less and less to say as they carried on, his comments and jibes swallowed up by the endless fog. There was an uneasiness between them, and Yusei was utterly lost on how to lift it.

None of them had been expecting that Jack's curiosity would have exploded into the lightshow that it had, let alone one so painful. The red light was still echoing in his eyes, casting shifting patches over his vision, the skin on his arms prickling in the aftermath.

"Do you… do you guys think that I'm a monster?"

Yusei stubbed his toe in one of the deep cracks in Satellite's pavements, almost completely falling over if not for some hasty windmilling to keep his balance. He'd never heard Jack sound so small.

"Well…" Crow drawled, earning himself a punch to the shoulder.

"Ow! See, that don't exactly help."

"Shut it."

"Seriously though, you're not a monster. I don't think so anyway. You can be a real jerk sometimes though."

"Crow's right. You don't think things all the way through sometimes, but you're not a monster."

Jack just huffed, returning to silence and walking a little quicker. Crow stared at him for a moment, conflicted, before trying to smooth things over in his usual way.

"But thinking about it, that sure was crazy, huh? When did you get lights put in there without telling us?"

He made to playfully slap Jack's arm, only to be left hanging as Jack ducked out the way.

"Did you two see anything in the light?"

He came to a stop, the others pausing with him.

"We were too busy trying to keep you from jumping Aki, and for the rest of it we both went blind. Right Yusei?"

"Yeah, although I'm seeing coloured spots now, if that's what you mean."

Jack squinted into the fog. Looking up, to where cracked concrete should have been towering over them.

"When I grabbed her arm, I saw… stone buildings. Like a pyramid, but not quite."

"A ziggurat?" Yusei offered. "Did it go into a point, or was more like it had separate floors to it?"

"Something like that." Jack shrugged. "Doesn't matter, I guess. But there were these people on top of it. They were wearing cloaks, and…"

He trailed off again, that dazed look back in his eyes.

"They had marks like me and Aki. And there was this… Crimson Dragon."

Crow shot Yusei a concerned look, shared in kind.

"You feeling okay there bro? You've been drifting in and out of it ever since we left."

On cue, the sharpness raced back into Jack.

"I'm fine! Come on, she's not far off!"

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, okay?"

"Okay…" They repeated. Jack went off like a shot ahead of them, Yusei and Crow following in his determined stride through the fog. Crow dropped a step or two, beckoning Yusei to fall back with him, until they weren't quite close enough to be heard.

"Seriously, how does he know that?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything right now."

And he hated that. Hated the unescapable feeling of not being in control, of not knowing how he could help. As if he and his friends were being poked and twisted by forces unknown, something that couldn't be avoided or appeased by keeping their heads down and waiting until jackboots had gone marching past. His best friend, lost in visions. Coming apart, and not seeming to know it. A potential new friend, who thought of herself as a monster for some reason. Hurt by simple curiosity.

"Let's just get Aki home for now."

At some point, Aki reasoned to herself, she was going to have to stop running away from very horrible thing that happened to her. Every time she did, it only seemed to make things worse and she ended up just as miserable if she'd stuck around anyway. Charity Park was just as filthy and depressing as before, and now with the fog about she was half blind and vaguely damp and cold to boot. Her mind was playing tricks on her, she was sure of it, because she kept getting the feeling that there something shifting just out of sight. But every time she tried to focus on it, the shadows would shift away, leaving only the flat greyness of Satellite's unhelpful weather.

Then again, her mind was all messed up in more than one way. The dull red glow from under her duel disk and the images imprinted on the back of her eyelids reinforced that theory. More figures, these ones sporting marks on their arms.

In a way, it was a comfort, seeing more people with the same brand she had. More women with claws marking them, often protected by rose petals, but sometimes black feathers, coiling blue scales, sheer muscle, a shining blade or starlight wings. But always by Crimson. And yet, the more she thought on it, the worse her stomach churned. She'd thought she'd been alone, wanted to be alone. That what was happening to her was a freak accident, that she was the only monster in Neo Domino. But she'd found another person like her in what had otherwise been the safest place in city.

The visions had only started when he'd grabbed her arm. Maybe that was his power? Or maybe he could hurt people too, and just hadn't shown it yet. He'd said it was a birthmark, maybe he'd grown up knowing what he could do, how to hide it. And Martha hadn't mentioned having another monster in the orphanage. Or maybe he'd been around for so long that Martha knew how to deal with monsters, and didn't mind taking on another one.

It made sense, until she thought on his reaction. The pure offence in his voice as he'd caught her, like he'd never considered it. The casualness of his friends, out of the loop though they had been on the whole affair, and how they didn't seem to be scared of him.

But then again, he'd also been frightfully rough with her. Monster or no, children weren't supposed to grab others by the arm and yell at them, or so her teachers had said to the rowdier boys in her class. Especially not to girls. But even before that, he'd been awfully blunt.

She sighed, and kicked the ground. Her head hurt enough from the bright light and the visions, trying to figure out what Jack's deal was going to drive her mad. It'd be better to wait out in the park for the fog to clear up, then go back and tell Martha about the whole affair, if she didn't get scolded for leaving the orphanage first.

She was just making herself comfortable when hurried footsteps came rushing up, her name cutting through the fog. She didn't have time to hide behind the bench before the rolling grey rippled and burst open, the three boys she'd just been thinking about spilling into sight. They staggered for a second, looking about franticly, but Yusei locked onto her almost immediately.

"Aki!" He called, waving. Crow slipped behind Jack, interlocking his arms behind the older boy's neck in a clumsy full nelson hold. Being a good three inches taller and twice his size, it didn't take much for Jack to break free.

"Told you she'd be here." He sniffed, pushing Crow off of him. Yusei ignored the spat in progress, keeping Aki in his sight with his hands open and held up. Focused, but keeping his distance.

"We wanted to say that we're sorry. We didn't mean to scare you."

"Wait, I never agreed to this!" Jack snapped, trying to hold Crow off.

"Jack, you started all this in the first place. You should at least say that you're sorry."

"You started it by losing in the first place!"

"I don't understand." She said, her much smaller voice somehow stopping the boys from getting into a three-way argument. "You didn't have to come and get me. We don't even know each other. And you shouldn't have come to get me anyway. I'm a monster."

Jack scoffed, but looked somewhat put off. Yusei went all stiff, but found himself quickly.

"Of course we had to come get you. You're one of us. One of Martha's kids."

"And she's going to kill us if she finds out that we've been outside, so can we maybe have this conversation back home?" Crow asked.

"You're Martha's kids. I'm not."

"What are you talking about? Of course you're one of us. You eat the same food as we do, sleep in the same beds. And like I said, we're sorry. We know that you don't really want to talk to anyone just yet, it's just… Jack has that birthmark."

"I know. I saw. I felt it."

"He's never met anyone else with a mark like that before. None of us have. So he got excited."

"I'm not a kid Yusei! I didn't get excited!"

"Oh please." Crow rolled his eyes. "You were buzzing to go talk to her."

"I told him we should wait." Yusei overrode them. "Until you were more comfortable at the orphanage. He bet me on a game of Duel Monsters as to who we should listen to… and I lost, so we came over to find you and… well, you know how it went. So, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. Really, I am."

"Yeah, me too." Crow added. They looked to Jack, who turned his chin up and looked away.

"She still called me a monster; you know!"

"It's okay. I've been thinking about it a lot. I don't think you're a worse monster than me. Your friends seem to like you a lot, after all."

The boys shared confused looks. Yusei once again took the lead.

"I don't think anyone's a monster here actually. Jack's a bit rough…"

"And a jerk, we figured out he was a jerk."

Crow earned himself another punch to the arm, darting away from the attempt time and time again as Jack chased him around the park. Yusei shook his head, ignored their antics.

"But he wasn't trying to be mean. He just wanted to ask you about your arm marking. To be honest, you seem really nice to me."

An odd tightness captured her throat, just like when Martha had invited her to stay. She swallowed it before it could paralyze her.

"Doesn't matter what you think. You saw what happened, just because he met me. That sort of thing happens to me all the time."

"But we saw you on the day that Martha brought you in, and there wasn't any light then."

"I dunno." Aki shrugged. "But people get hurt around me all the time. Because of this mark. Maybe he'll hurt people too. Maybe he has already. But if he's had it forever and nothing's happened until now, then it's probably just me. I told you guys, it's the mark of a monster. It hurts people."

"I mean, it was kinda bright, but this guy punches harder than that." Crow stopped to say, giving Jack just enough time to nail him in the shoulder, then add two more for good measure. He was about to say something else when he stiffened, turning into the wind.

"Someone's coming!" He hissed in an urgent whisper.

"I don't hear any– ".

She wasn't given time to correct him, as the boys moved in a flash, Jack and Yusei pulling her up and over the bench, fingers to their lips as the four of them hunkered down behind the old wood.

"Crow's got good ears." Yusei explained, softer. They were so close as to almost having their noses squashed together, and someone's back was pressed flush against hers. "If he says he heard something, he probably did."

Something rustled against her hair. It took her a second to figure out that it was the motion of a nod. They waited there, holding their breath, poking up to look through the gaps in the bench, trying to catch a hint of whatever it was Crow had heard. They weren't left waiting long. Twin shadows sauntered forward, walking with long strides. Two men, one fat and one thin but equally tall, dressed in black and white with helmets fixed firmly on their heads. Security.

The boys kept their kneeling positions, watching the men walk by. Aki didn't dare raise her head. Not after what had happened last time she'd run into Security. The yelling came back to her in the dead of night sometimes.

The footsteps came and went, and she heard the boys sigh in relief.

"That was too close."

"We need to go home. Now."

Aki thought about protesting, that everyone at the orphanage seemed keep getting the wrong read of her, but in truth her heart was pounding heavily and she really wanted to get back inside, away from the vaguely damp fog that never ended. And if Jack wanted to know about her mark, she'd just make things up until he was happy.

"Okay Jack, if you could magically know the way back, that'd be great."

"We're at the park, right? So we go east."

"Okay, and which way is east right now, genius?"

"Well, it's…"

"I think we need to walk so we get behind the angel's back, then walk forward until we reach the gate. Then turn right."

"That's a better idea than what I've got. Good going Yusei."

"Aki, I don't suppose you remember how you got here, do you?"

They were all looking at her now. She felt her cheeks light up from being put on the spot.

"I… don't… really. I just walked… and ended up here."

"Same as us then. Fine, we'll go with Yusei's idea for now."

The boys nodded, Crow poking up for another look.

"Okay, coast looks clear."

He stood up, and a hand fell upon his shoulder.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

They locked up, slowly twisting back to look at the Security man who'd snuck up on them. Crow shouted something and tried to bolt, only to be reeled back in, pulled back and dragged away from the group.

"Ah-ah-ah, let's not do anything stupid now."

It was the thin man who had Crow, gripping his shoulder tightly. Other than his proportions, there was nothing to say of him. His face was concealed behind black glass, every inch of him covered up in the standard uniform of Security. It felt wrong. Security were supposed to take their helmets off, settle down to a knee when talking to children. This man loomed over them like one of Satellite's twisted, leaf-deprived trees, their own frightened faces staring back.

"What'd ya find there?" Came a second voice. Deeper, less reedy. The fat man lumbered out of the fog with heavy footfalls. He was bigger than even the largest of her papa's bodyguards, and similarly hidden by black anonymity. A gut feeling told her this was for the best.

"Pack'a street rats, up to no good."

"We weren't doing anything!" Jack bit back.

"Really? Cause it looks to me like you lot were awful quick to hide away when you heard us coming. Like you've got something to hide. Whispering amongst yourselves, planning directions. What's out east then kids?"

The thin one had yet to let Crow go, the redhead starting to look awfully pale as long fingers dug into his collarbone. He squirmed under the pain, but he couldn't pry the hand free and only invited deeper grooves being impressed into his shoulder.

"Let him go, you're hurting him!" Someone cried. To her surprise, it was her voice.

"Am I now? Funny, because a lot of my friends got hurt recently. Maybe you kids know something about it. Big fight down at the docks at the behest of the gangs, hmm? Ring any bells, you Satellite Scum?"

The grip tightened still. Crow's grunts of resistance spiked into a whimper, and then he was silent, tears crowding the corners of his eyes.

"And I happen to know that brats like you lot are always running messages for some gang or another. Couple'a coins and a square of chocolate and you'll be halfway cross this rock before you can say boo. Helping them plot under our noses, feeding civil disobedience. So, who're you lot working for?"

"Probably the Silver Fists." The fat man rumbled. "They've been trying to expand this way as of late."

"Excuse me sir, but we don't do things like that. We don't know any gangs."

Yusei stood, bolt-upright and polite as can be.

"Oh, of course you don't. You were just minding your own business, and making sure no-one heard or saw you. Avoiding good, honest, law-enforcing officials when they pass through."

"It's not like that sir, really." Yusei continued. His voice was steady, but his gaze didn't leave the point where Crow was pinned. "We had an argument with our friend, and she went running out into the fog. We know Security's very busy right now, and we didn't want to get in your way. So we came out to look for her, and planned to be home without bothering anyone."

Once more she was the centre of attention, and once more her throat locked up and her face burned as sets of eyes fell upon her. The fear she'd felt before came back in full force – no longer was Security a friendly face performing day visits to the school, letting the kids sit on a real police D-Wheel and charming them with cheerful mascot characters. These men were hurting Crow for no reason, and they were going to lock all of them up using a story they invented. She thought of her face, scarred by a criminal marker, and already tears were starting to bubble up.

There was a low whistle, and now it was her turn to be manhandled, her arm wrenched backwards, the fat man inspected her duel disk.

"Would you look at the kit they're equipping their runners with these days. This is… this is a top-of-the-line model. My kid's been begging me for one just like it."

"Get off me!"

She twisted to escape, to lessen the burning in her arm. There was a pulse, a rush of heat through her, and suddenly the fat man was stumbling backwards, rocking on his heels.

"You leave her alone! It's not yours to take, pig!"

Where she'd been expecting more shouting in the wake of Jack's insult, instead there was nothing but dread silence. Yusei, already ramrod still, somehow found a way to become more of a statue.

"Pig, huh?" The fat man asked, shaking off whatever had dislodged him. He took a step forward, locked on Jack. "Kids these days. Not an ounce of respect for the law."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. What else can you expect from scum?"

Jack took the blow well. Chin up, eyes blazing hatred as the fat man swung wide and clocked him clean across the face, sending him sprawling into the garbage nearby. The crack of whipped flesh sat Aki's teeth on edge, and for some reason her cheek stung as if she'd been the one struck instead. Already half of Jack's face was lit up in brilliant red, but he was pulling himself out of the sodden trash without blinking, the same anger on his face as he pulled himself together and stood before the fat man once more.

"Thank you, sir. May I have another?"

"Jack, you're not helping!"

"Who wants to help? They're the problem!"

"So, what do you make that? Four counts of obfuscating justice, four counts of assisting organised crime?"

"I'd add assaulting an officer to that. You know, for the loudmouth here."

"What, you want to tell the guys a kid got the jump on you?"

"I didn't say he got to win the fight."

"Eh, fair dos. Let's subjugate and confiscate. I'll keep the brats in line, you get the disk off that girl."

"With pleasure."

The duel disk on the fat man's arm snapped into readied position, and as it glowed, Aki's own disk almost tore itself clean off her arm as it forcefully came to life, flashing a warning about a Security-mandated duel. Locked into duelling mode no matter how many times she asked it to recall, all she could do was watch as the boys were dragged off by the thin man, the fat one towering over her as their decks were automatically shuffled.

"Please, don't do this. Just leave us alone. I promise, we weren't up to anything bad."

"If you wanted a peaceful life, you shouldn't have thrown in with the gangs, little girl. Now, as you're technically the challenged party, the first turn's all yours."

"Kick his ass, Aki!" Jack yelled as he was dragged into line alongside Crow. Yusei, as the only one co-operating, was allowed to remain free of any iron grasp.

"Yeah, wreck him!" Crow echoed, a patch of colour back in his cheeks. The two of them earned cuffs about the head for their comments.

She looked forlornly to her deck as it finished preparing itself, five cards slotting out the top, ready to be drawn. Every instinct in her body told her not to pull them free. She couldn't duel a member of Security. Only villains did that, and they hadn't done a single thing, which meant that Security shouldn't have been duelling her at all. But if she drew her cards and duelled, the man before her, unpleasant as he was, was going to get hurt. And then she would be a villain, no matter what.

But there was no choice. Not really. It was an odd realisation. Sudden, intrusive thoughts were supposed to help one with their problems, but as she stood there, staring at the cards, she understood that whether she duelled or not, it made no difference, and that was not help at all. But it was true. Security had already accused them of a bunch of crimes that hadn't happened anyway. If she refused to duel, all that would happen is that they'd be arrested a little bit faster. And even if she deserved it, the boys didn't.

They were loud and rough, like all boys were, but they'd still come out to find her, even when her powers had reacted badly with Jack's. They'd even taken the blame for it, told her in no uncertain terms that she was one of them. That she had a place to live. They'd risked the fog and the Security crackdown and whatever Martha was going to do to them when she found out, all for a weird girl that wasn't even their friend. And they were telling the truth. They weren't in a gang; they didn't pass messages. The boys had no part in what had happened at the docks.

They didn't deserve to be slapped and pulled around. They didn't deserve to gripped so tightly that they cried and have horrid lies talked about them. They didn't deserve to be arrested.

Heat blossomed in her arm, but it was a good warmth. Maybe, just this once, someone deserved to get hurt. Maybe this time she could be a monster and not feel awful afterwards.

She drew five cards, Life Point counters on both sides skyrocketing upwards to the standard four-thousand total.

"Duel!"