Outcasts

Chapter Seven: Grounded

As it turned out, being grounded ended up being a much lengthier punishment than the children had expected. The fog rolled out with the end of the week, replaced by shockingly nice weather in the form of late August. But while Martha's children pawed at the windows and yearned to take advantage of the sun, the house arrest continued for everyone. Where once Security had only gone about in pairs and singles, now it was a surprise if the groups marching past the orphanage had less than four members to their names, coming around every hour.

Through some crafty sneaking, Crow was able to learn that their area in particular was being targeted due to two officers being wounded in the line of duty in Charity Park. The boys elected not to let Aki know about this. With how cut up she'd been after taking them down, implying that the whole orphanage was still on lockdown thanks to her was the last knock her self-esteem needed. And with Martha adamant that their true punishment was only going to start after the enhanced Security patrols died off to make it fair on everyone, they settled in for the long haul.

Jack thought that he'd be bitterer over the current turn of events. If someone had told him a week ago that a girl would barge into his life, turn everything he knew about his birthmark upside-down and get him barred from playing Duel Monsters for weeks on end, he'd have sworn never to speak to a girl again. But the star chips had fallen as they had, and now curiosity had overtaken any sense of indignation that he might have felt.

And so it was that he climbed the stairs to the third floor of the orphanage with a bowl in either hand, making his way to Aki's room. The knock was less of a polite request to enter and more a thud as he bumped one of them against the door. It didn't take long for the girl to appear, the door cracking open a slight, then more fully when she saw her visitor.

"Hey Jack. You on breakfast duty?"

Not everyone enjoyed piling around the dining room tables with every other kid, especially as it was a prime place for elbows to fly as everyone scrambled to eat. As such, delivering food to the more introverted kids was a common chore. Jack himself probably wouldn't bother joining the rabble if not for Yusei and Crow's love for being in the thick of the crowd, chatting to the other kids in-between bites.

"Aye. Swapped with Satsuki. Wanted to talk with you."

For a girl that could make monsters come to life, Aki really was a timid little thing, wilting in the doorway and stepping aside, offering him inside. They sat on the bed, bowls in their laps. Western-style today, some sort of cornflakes in a thin milk that was more like cloudy water than cream. Hardly his favourite, but they were limited by what Martha could acquire from Security. If you didn't eat what you were served, you went hungry.

Aki took a bite, her face curling up in distaste. She might have been doing her best to fit in, but it was clear that she was used to better fare. But she'd also been around long enough to learn the rules, and dipped back in for seconds.

"What did you want to talk about?" She said, ever so small.

"How did you figure out you had powers?"

It had been bugging him the last few days. He'd had his mark as long as he could remember, and yet he couldn't make cards come alive. The closest he'd come to magic powers so far had been the weird visions and odd feelings, and he'd yet to experience either of those ever since the day of the fog. No amount of poking or prodding could cox any sort of response from his arm, the etched wings as dull and inert as they'd been before Aki had entered their lives.

Beside him, Aki cringed, almost crumpling up on herself.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, you already told me some of it! Something about blowing up your dad on a boat?"

"What? No! It wasn't… those were two different things!"

She twisted away from him, showing him her back.

"And I just said, I don't want to talk about it. And you don't want powers like these anyway. They're not as cool as you think."

"Nuh-uh. They're exactly as cool as I think. You were able to get rid of Security! Anyone around here would die to be able to do that."

Aki refused to engage, biting down on a heaping spoonful of cornflakes. As she went about the process of regretting doing so, Jack kicked himself off the bed, leaving his own bowl on the bedside table.

"Don't go anywhere. I'll prove to you that powers are cool."

He rushed off to his own room. Despite having to go all the way up a floor and back down again, he found Aki exactly where he'd left her. Throwing himself back onto the bed, he pushed a book into her empty hands.

"This is what I think." He began, recollecting his bowl and explaining his pitch between bites. "I've got wings, and you've got a claw. So there must be other people out there with the rest of the bird's body parts on their arms."

"A bird?"

"Yeah, that's Yusei's guess. What other animal has wings and claws?"

Aki looked down at the book, gave a gentle rifle through the pages.

"What about… a dragon?"

Jack stopped, as one of his visions came racing back to him. Coiling Crimson, a fire deeper and more intense than the sun itself.

"Ooh, even better! Dragons are way cooler than birds! Ignore what Crow says, he's birdbrained. Anyway, if all these pieces make up a big dragon, then there must be other people like us with the marks, like in the visions. And if you have powers, and we both saw those visions, then we all must have powers. And you know what that makes us?"

"What?" She asked, unsure and less still as he drained the milk, discarded the bowl and ripped the book from her loose grip, flipping it open to a centre spread. Five masked heroes took up both pages, posed and ready for action.

"It makes us superheroes! Like the Masked HEROES!"

She was giving him a quizzical look, and it made him realise just how much he'd been shouting. Very uncool. But she just wasn't going to understand otherwise. Girls normally didn't, especially when it came to superpowers and heroics. He cleared his throat, snapped the book shut and tried to dispel the red from his cheeks.

"Anyway, I know you don't feel like a hero, which is why I'll show you how to be one. But for that to happen, I need to know how you got your powers, so I can get mine. That's my responsibility as the leader of our new team."

"Wait, why are you the leader?"

"I'm the oldest, and I've had my mark the longest, and I'm the tallest, and because I'm a boy, and because it was my idea to make a team." He countered, listing off each point on his fingers in turn.

"But I've had my powers longest."

"Yeah, which is why you're gonna be my second-in-command. Everyone else we find will have to listen to you."

She considered him for a long time, then, with a long sigh, began to tell him how she'd acquired her powers. An absent father and a duel gone horribly wrong, the rush of anger and the burning mark that had followed. Absentmindedly, Jack remembered a night not too long ago, when his flesh had crawled and something like a fever had disturbed his sleep, the heat centred on his arm.

"I didn't mean to do it." Aki said, lost behind her fringe, her voice dull. "I was just so mad that he was running off again after he promised me he wouldn't that again. I just wanted him to… but I didn't want him to die or anything."

She suddenly went deathly still, looking away from him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's fine." He mumbled, doing his best to ignore the twinge in his chest. "I don't really remember my parents. Martha found me when I was young. Really young. And if she's what a mum's supposed to be, then we've all done alright for ourselves. Even if we do have to share her."

Aki flinched, somehow finding a way to avoid his eyes further. This time, he got the impression he was trying to avoid looking at herself as well.

"Well, it doesn't matter. They don't want me now. They told me so."

"That happens a lot. Lotta kids got dumped here cos their parents couldn't or didn't wanna look after them anymore. Less mouths to feed."

He let the silence hang for a second, before eradicating it with a snort.

"Right, so I've got to be in a duel, and get really mad. That makes sense, actually."

He cracked open the book once more, flicking to a page near the end. Masked HERO Dusk Crow roared furiously as he gave himself over to darkness, looking for the power to save his friends. The final page heralded the arrival of Masked HERO Shadow Demon, the monstrous masked man stalking his way towards the villain of the week.

"Sometimes heroes have to get angry in order to win. Even if that means they fight alone."

"What happens after that?"

"Dunno. This is the only volume I ever found. But he probably wins."

Aki gave a dull hum.

"There's something else I thought of. You'll probably need a duel disk. I find it easier to make the monsters appear when I'm wearing it."

In a heartbeat, he felt all the doldrums and sorrows of their conversation evaporate, destroyed by imaginations of summoning Red Dragon Archfiend on a real duel disk, showing off his monster to everyone.

"Really! You'll let me borrow yours?"

He stumbled, cleared his throat.

"I mean… as your leader, I humbly accept this responsibility, if you'll loan me your duel disk. Please?"

Aki looked away again, biting her lip.

"I'll… think about it. I burned down my house. I don't want you to accidently burn down the orphanage."

That was an annoying good point, one that rather obscured his visions of praise and glory. But now there was an itch in him, a desire to lock the disk in place and make his dreams come true, stronger now than even the first time he'd laid eyes on Aki and her disk. He didn't even mind that it was sort-of pink! It was close enough to red for him to ignore such petty details. It wasn't like anyone would make fun of any kid who had managed to get a hold of such a precious tool, no matter the colour.

"Right, well. Anyway, we don't have it right now, so there's no point in talking about it. We'll put it on the list of things to investigate."

She cocked her head at him.

"Oh, right, we didn't tell you yet. Yusei's making a list of things we should figure out. About the marks, and the visions and everything. We should go see him, add 'get Jack superpowers' to whatever else he's thought of."

"Sure." She said, brightening a little. "But we should probably take the bowls downstairs first."

As luck would have it, they met Yusei coming up as they were going down, Crow hanging at his side. After a long-roundabout trip to drop off the breakfast things, Yusei began escorting them up to his room. It wasn't too far away from Aki's, and for some reason she found herself counting the doors that separated them.

Inviting them in, he rushed ahead to his bedside table, pulling a pad of paper out of the top drawer. It had clearly been handed down from orphan to orphan, half the pages missing and much of what remained already scribbled on. As such, it was with great tenderness that he eased one of the last clean pages free, letting out a relieved breath when it came away without tearing.

"Okay, first thing's first – Aki, can you hold out your arm for me?"

"Alright, if we're doing weird arm stuff then I'm getting out of here." Crow declared, hands up as he vacated the room. Aki gave a confused look as he left, but with the other boys unconcerned she simply shrugged and held out her arm. Yusei slipped the paper around as a sleeve, pulling out a marker pen.

"Hold here please. This might tickle."

It did tickle, quite a bit. Even though the pen's touch was dulled by the covering, she could still feel the echo of its movement as Yusei ran it over the translucent markings that faded through the paper, sending tingles up her arm and down her spine. She managed to hold herself together enough to let him work, although she couldn't keep herself from squirming and shifting, just a little. She was taking a breath to stay calm when her hand was suddenly grabbed, a squeak escaping her in her surprise.

"Stay still a little longer, I'm almost done." Yusei muttered, more to himself as he pulled her arm towards him, straightening it out.

It felt harder to do so now, because she was reasonably sure that a boy and girl holding hands was step one of getting married, and her cheeks were awfully hot now. If Yusei was aware of such playground wisdom, it didn't show, his brow furrowed in focused concentration as the pen continued its looping path up and down her arm.

"Okay, all good. You're free to go."

As he pulled the paper away and went to do the same for Jack she aimlessly staggered over to a corner and collapsed there in a giggling fit. By the time she'd gotten all of the laughter out of her system and all of the heat out of her face, Jack's birthmark sat neatly alongside hers on the sheet of paper.

"So, other than making Aki pee herself laughing, what was the point of this?"

"I didn't pee!"

"This," Yusei said, holding up the traced marks, "is reference material. I don't want to have to bother you guys every time I need to remember what your marks look like. I've got an idea of where we can go to find out more as well, and this should help when we go to do research."

"If you can't tell by all the books, Yusei's a big nerd." Jack whispered to her in that loud sort of whisper that didn't conceal anything. Yusei shrugged off the comment.

"If we're going to uncover the mystery of the marks and whatever's going on with Aki's powers, let's do it right. Especially if you could have powers too."

Now that she looked, there were a number of books about the room. Quite thick ones, although not without pictures. A D-Wheel was exposed on the one nearest to her, showing all of the parts inside it. But there were also storybooks and ones for schooling, although these were rather more battered and aged, more hand-me-downs that he'd acquired. The pages within, however, remained clean and well-kept despite years of use. These books had been loved and respected even as they had changed hands, again and again.

It was somewhat of a theme of Yusei's room. A withered poster of former duelling champions held the wall together, curling at the edges and surviving day-to-day only by dint of some heavy application of sticking tape in places. The blankets on his bed had been worn thin with use, yet it was perfectly made in a way that made her former bedroom look untidy. The books were neat and organised, despite having to live on the floor instead of a shelf, and she suspected that if she opened up a cupboard, she'd find his clothes folded and prepared just as perfectly. A sort of tattered dignity that couldn't be found on Satellite's streets but was everywhere within the orphanage's walls, and stronger here than anywhere else.

Jack and Yusei were discussing something, but before she could turn her attention to the conversation, there was a slam that whipped all three of the room's inhabitants towards the door. Crow leant against the frame, panting heavily.

"Security… raid."

Her heart stopped for a second. Of course Security wasn't going to give up trying to jail them just because she'd beaten two officers up. If anything, now they'd be more invested in putting her away. And because of her selfishness, now the whole orphanage was involved. She stumbled back, her throat tight and vision swimming with tears. She wanted to apologise, but when she made to speak, her throat constricted harder, a bubble of air caught in the middle and refusing to move in or out. All she could manage was a few pinched breaths, but just as she thought she was going to collapse, a hand found hers.

"It's okay. Slow down, don't think about it. Just focus on breathing."

Yusei was in front of her, taking up the room. All she could see was him, the brilliant cobalt of his eyes drawing her in. Between his instructions, and the way he had become everything, something unlocked in her head, and she remembered how to breathe again, taking deep gulps and trying to slow the frantic hammering in her chest, so fast that it was painful.

"We're not letting them take you away."

He whipped around.

"What are they doing?"

"Talking to Martha right now. But they're gonna gather everyone together soon, ask them questions."

"Okay. Can you run interference? Tell everyone that we're not ratting Aki out, and to waste as much of their time as possible."

"You got it."

Crow vanished, Yusei locking onto Jack.

"Jack."

"Top floor, laundry room. They won't bother looking through every basket."

"Yup."

They bounced their fists together, Jack looking extraordinarily pleased to have been the one to voice the plan.

"Come on, we need to hurry. Sorry Aki, but we need to run."

She didn't so much run with them as she was dragged behind, flapping in the wind as they bolted upstairs.

The house call that Martha had been dreading had finally come. As a general rule of thumb, she and her lot managed to creep by under the eye of Security. Iron-fisted as they were, even the police force recognised that it was incredibly unlikely that any seedbed of crime would be rooted here, in a place where the children easily outnumbered the adults. But she'd always held the fear, that someday even that rock-solid lump of common sense would crack, bringing jackboots stomping all over everything she'd managed to build in the ashes of Domino. For some men, absolute control was everything, no matter how ridiculous it looked when they enforced it.

In fairness to the officers currently filling up her foyer, they seemed to recognise how out of place their presence was here. Their leader – a woman, which brought Martha a kernel of comfort – was keeping a tight leash on those under her command, and they'd strayed no further thus far, removing their helmets and generally playing nice with the few poor children who'd had the misfortune to be in the general area when Security had invited themselves in. One man had even brought a couple of packs of cards to hand out, although part of Martha couldn't help but wonder if it was more a bribe than a peace offering.

"So, just to confirm. You're looking for a child in relation to an… assault case?"

"I'm aware of how it sounds ma'am. But our officers were quite insistent. We'll try not to disrupt your morning too much. A couple questions for yourself and the children, a short sweep of the building and we'll be on our way."

More children filtered in, including the returning Crow, who had offered to run around and let everyone know that they were needed. He was whispering something in the ear of one of the younger children, and as they broke up she watched the girl totter over to a member of the slowly expanding crowd and put a whisper in the ear of the next child. That whisper went along again, and now, as Martha watched out the corner of her eye, Crow was passing the message on to someone else. That boy was up to something, and she had a good idea as to what it might be. And while normally she'd be trying to rout out his trickery herself, today was a rare day when she lent a hand.

"Well, while we're waiting for the children, why don't I see what I can do for you?"

"Thank you ma'am. We're looking for a young girl. Red hair, amber eyes, about eight to ten years old by our reckoning. The incident involving her happened a short walk away, over in Charity Park."

"Oh, I used to love that little place. It's such a shame how it's gone to waste. I know things aren't what they used to be around here, but I really feel a little greenery would go a long way to improving everyone's temperaments. It's hard to be angry in the shadow of leaves."

"I'll pass your comments along ma'am. But, regarding the girl; could you tell us if this picture looks familiar to you?"

She prepared herself for the evitable, but as the picture was passed along, a hard lump stuck in her throat and refused to shift. The made-up girl in the identikit was undeniably Aki. Her eyes were sharper and harder, the hair less unique and her cheeks given a firmer line, but despite the coldness attributed to her, all Martha could see was the lost little girl, mumbling stories of monsterhood.

"Ah. You recognise her."

The lady officer had a keenness to her now, the pleasant face cut now by that of an officer of the law. One who had a lead.

"Ah… yes, yes, I know this girl. She stayed here recently."

She fought the tightness in her throat, constructed a story out of half-truths. She hoped Crow wasn't paying too much attention – the last thing she needed was for him to bring up this little episode the next time they had a conversation about lying.

"A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine brought her here. Doctor Jim Schmitt, he's got a small clinic up on Fourth Street. What's left of it, anyway."

She waited for a question, and received nothing but the bob of a pen as the lady officer made her notes.

"Go on."

"A-anyway, he brought her here for care. Poor thing had been out all night, frozen to death and half starved, her hand all cut up. He found her in that same park, if I recall correctly. I loaned her a bed and gave her a meal, but come the morning she just… wandered off. It happens sometimes. Things are so hard around here, so when you're used to living… surviving on your own, it can become that much harder to accept help, even when you're so in need of it. A wary mind can see hidden dangers, even in a place like this."

The pen tapped twice. The lady officer didn't so much as blink.

"I see. And- "

"It's bloody disgraceful is what it is. What the city has allowed to become of us, just because this part of the city happened to come under disaster. What it allows to happen to children, those who've never had a chance or choice in the matter."

"Ma'am, I understand your concerns, but we're not here to discuss politics."

"Politics? Politics! It's not a matter of politics young lady, it's a matter of basic human decency! Rex Godwin should be ashamed of himself, him and everyone else in government who allows this to carry on!"

The children's heads were turning now, called by the rise of her voice. Martha caught herself before she tapped too deeply into that vein of indignation that ran through every Satelliter. That feeling of abandonment and abuse, of undeserved victimisation. Some buried it deeper than others – she herself had long set about smothering it, making the best of what she had and what she could do to help others. And some let it run wild, clashed with Security every chance they got. Which, in turn, gave Security greater justification to continue their horrid treatment of the island.

She took a breath, calmed herself. It wouldn't do for the children to see her upset. The officer snapped her notebook closed, maintaining her mask of professionalism.

"Just to confirm. You briefly treated and housed the suspect in question, but you haven't seen her since?"

Her words were chipped, but Martha liked to believe that there was a quibble of quilt underneath. It wasn't fair on the poor girl. She was only doing her job, a job that famously didn't favour women and, in Satellite could often cause them to be targeted by particularly unsavoury gang members. The young lady might even be sympathetic to Satellite, and simply doing what she could to help in turn. Lord knew this raid could have been so much more violent. But she had to shoot the messenger. She wasn't going to play nice while they hunted down her children, no matter how good the reason.

"Aye. That's my statement."

"Thank you very much."

She cast an eye over the assembled crowd of children, all very quiet and still now.

"And this is everyone under your care?"

Martha made a show of looking over the multitude of heads, only to click her tongue exasperatedly.

"Crow, where on earth have Yusei and Jack got to?"

Crow stood to attention; a parody of the stiff postures favoured by the Security men.

"No idea ma'am! Can't find them at all! I think they said that they were going to play on the top floor though!"

Martha sighed heavily, playing along.

"Those boys. Well, if there's no more questions, I can help you with your search."

"That won't be necessary ma'am." The lady officer cut in. "Officers, commence a search of the premises. You're searching for our target, and also two boys, from the sounds of it."

She looked back to Martha.

"Any identifying features of these two?"

"Jack is a blond boy, probably wearing white. You'll know Yusei when you see him. He's got a very… unique hairstyle. Absolutely untameable."

"You heard her. I'll stay here with the residents."

Three salutes, and the men donned their helmets and vanished into the building. Martha winced as she heard doors start to open in succession. The lady officer knelt down before the rest of the children, reproduced the identikit.

"Now, can anyone tell me if they've seen a little girl who looks like this?"

A hand went up from one of the younger children.

"Yes dear."

"What's a politics?"

"Who's Rex Godwin, and why's he so bad?"

"I can't see the picture!"

The hall collapsed into noise as everyone started babbling at once. Except Crow and Martha, who shot each other quick winks. She had no idea what the kids had planned, but she had a feeling that Security was leaving empty-handed.

God, she prayed that Security would only find Yusei and Jack.

Aki waited. She waited, and waited, and waited longer still. Jack and Yusei had brought her up to a big, dusty room filled with absolutely massive washing machines. Wasting no time, they'd pushed over a cloth basket filled with even more fabric and helped her inside. Turning it back upright, they'd piled the blankets back over her, asking over and over if she could still breathe. And then there'd been nothing. Just her in the dark, with her heart pounding in her ears and her throat still lumpy from her earlier shock. Just… waiting, not even knowing what she was waiting on. Hopefully, not Security.

She'd tried thinking about different things to pass the time. About how the blankets smelled funny, but not unpleasant. About how she wasn't going to find a deeper darkness than the one she was buried in, and how flinching at the shadows in her bedroom seemed silly now, especially when the moon shone perfectly upon the orphanage, guiding the children to sleep. And about how, for the first time, she might truly have friends.

Then there was a noise from out beyond the basket, and her thoughts fixed back upon Security, her heart growing faster in her chest despite her best efforts to slow it down. It thudded so fast that she was sure that someone was going to hear it, and the whole plan would be ruined.

The noise continued, uniform in the thud it made. Two short ones, then a heavier one. Over and over again, and even with her hearing dulled by the mass of blankets, she knew that it was coming closer. Closer and closer and closer still, until one final thud sounded, so close that it seemed to hang over her. It was followed by a voice.

"Boo!"

She couldn't stop herself from jolting, but she kept her hands over her mouth, swallowed the scream that almost revealed her. With her hands clasped, she prayed that she'd done enough.

A conversation started. Yusei, and some deeper voices. In her daze, she didn't catch all of it, but she heard the end of it.

"I'm sorry sir. Hey, Jack! Martha needs us!"

Something shifted above her, a great lump pushing up and stirring the basket, using her as a step to get out easier. She curled up tighter, praying again not to be found, hoping that the boys were right, and that Security wouldn't search all the way down.

Jack spoke now, and then there was silence.

She returned to waiting. Repeating her wish not to be found to herself, letting it roll around and around in her own head, not daring to release a word of it to the air. The dark was less comfortable now, and the musty smell of unused blankets slowly becoming choking.

She waited. And waited. And waited.

Then, long after she had given up counting the minutes, the weight on her began to ease. Layer by layer it came away, and she rolled onto her back, readying her arm in the way Jack had shown her. A quick punch from a kid probably wouldn't do much, but it could be enough for her to get a head start running.

The last blanket came away, new dusty air washing over her, somehow cool and warming at the same time.

"Aki? Are you okay sweetheart?"

Her readied punch withered, and she reached out desperately, drawn up into the softness of Martha's arms.

"You're alright dear. It's fine. They've gone."

"The next time you see some injured Security officers, I want all of you to avoid them. I know it's not what I taught you, but if they're going to come up with stories like this, then I'd rather you not get involved, even if it's to help."

The four of them found themselves in Martha's office again, whisked into here once Martha was positive that Aki wasn't about to suffocate on old, dusty blankets. Aki didn't know what kind of story Yusei and Jack had invented while they'd be separated, but it seemed to be working.

"And I know it's not what you want to hear Aki, but I think you all need to stay inside for a while longer. Just until Security finds something better to do than chasing after little girls."

"I'm okay with that."

"Umm, what about the rest of us?" Crow asked sheepishly. Martha sighed, unlocked a drawer.

"I think, in light of everyone's quick thinking today, that all punishments have been accounted for. You got in trouble for bothering Aki, so it's only far that you can go free for helping her. Here; your cards. Just don't go mad when you play outside, just in case."

"Thank you, Martha." They echoed. Aki locked her duel disk back into place, doing her best to ignore the little wobble of Jack's lip, quickly schooled into stiffness.

"Sorry, I just… want it back for a while. For safety."

"Jack, have you been bothering her about it again?"

"No Martha, just a… never mind!"

"Hmm. See that it stays that way."

"Yes Martha."

With a round of hugs and pats, she set them on their way.

"You're probably going to get a lot of questions about you fighting all of Security single-handedly from the other kids. I tried to field most of them, but you know what it's like." Crow warned. Aki didn't know what it was like, and so stuck close to the boys as they drifted towards the dining hall, and the empty table waiting there. Fortunately, no-one came dashing at them, not even after they took seats, the boys shuffling their cards.

"Well, my plan was for us to go to the old Domino library and look up birthmarks and things." Yusei said. "I don't think that's happening any time soon."

"Isn't that place a gang hideout now anyway?"

"I'll have to look into it." Yusei frowned.

Apropos of nothing, a card game started, Jack and Yusei idly playing while Crow sorted through the cards he'd stolen from Security, organising them into types and then dividing them between the four of them, until everyone had an equal share.

The game came and went, Jack winning without much flare. It was only the early afternoon, yet everyone was terribly tired, not really saying much of anything, until Aki broke the silence.

"Thank you. For everything. They would have caught me if you guys hadn't been here."

"Well, you saved our butts in the park. Let's call it even."

"You can pay me back with a duel." Jack grunted.

"I… I can't do that. You'll get hurt."

"Didn't you say it was only easy to use the power with the disk on? Maybe if you just play your cards on the table, nothing will happen. Let's call it power investigation."

Yusei rummaged in a pocket, withdrew a low level monster. A cute pink bird with big green eyes.

"I don't think this one could hurt anybody."

He offered it to her, and she took it gingerly. Slowly, far slower than anyone had ever played a Duel Monsters card before, she lowered it to the old wood and placed it in attack mode.

"I… summon Sonic Chick?"

She held her breath, waited with baited hand to snatch it back up.

But nothing happened. No hologram appeared, no real monster either.

"I… attack with Sonic Chick?"

Jack looked about the room, letting the silence sit for a second.

"I think we're good. Unless it's so small I can't see it pecking out my eyes."

"That's not funny."

"You think that's unfunny? Crow would have pretended to have a heart attack by now."

"Aw, he knows me too well."

"You're predictable, more like."

Aki sighed, released her deck from the disk and handed Yusei his card back.

"Fine, but just the one."

One turned into three. Three turned into five, and seven, and nine, and so on, until it was time for dinner. Which, all in all, ended up being a pretty good way to forget about their dreadful morning.