The second that the car with the clown vanished out of eyesight, Blister emerged from the shadows, "I was wondering when you'd come out of there. That cop had the block surrounded for days, mostly because the guards for the Tops wouldn't let them in."
"The Tops?"
He waved his hand, "I'll explain once we get you to a safe location. Any second one of that cop's lackeys could show up."
"Are we going back to your HQ?"
"No. I rounded up a place for you to stay. That way we can both have our space."
I nodded, "That works for me. Do I have to pay you for it?"
Blister shook his head as he got on his runner, "I feel like it's my fault all of this happened, so it's free. Come on, it's this way."
We pulled to a stop in an alley next to a row of garages, and Blister grabbed the bottom of one, pulling it open, "I'd normally say 'hope you don't mind the rats', but I doubt that rats would bother you."
I pushed my runner into the garage, and Blister followed me in, "It's pretty small for a city place, but it has all the necessities. Running hot and cold water, toilet, pathetically small shower, a place to crash."
My eyes locked on him in surprise, "This place has a shower?"
He seemed taken aback by my interest, "Yeah, in the bathroom back there. Why are you so surprised?"
"In Satellite, you are lucky if your water is green instead of black. I don't think I've had a shower in...three months?"
Blister nodded, "So you are probably going to use it the second I leave. Anyway, what did that freakish thing tell you to get in the contest?"
Flicking the picture at him, I started working on my runner, "If I don't duel Jack, they all get put in the Facility instead of me."
After glancing at it for a minute or two, he put it down next to me, "I'm on it."
With that, he left, and just like he guessed, I went straight to the bathroom to investigate.
It was fully stocked.
For a good few minutes I just stared, before rushing back out to my runner. From under the seat I pulled out a change of clothes before rushing back to the bathroom.
Once my body was finally free of all of the grime, I put on the 'clean' clothes, and found some laundry soap. After one glance at the object I assumed was a washing machine, I scrubbed my clothes out in the bathtub. My boots, and gloves were cleaned off with a damp rag and left out to dry.
I also used this chance to look at my face, more importantly, on the newest mark on my face. One thing I liked about it was how it somehow made my face look tougher. Part of me was hoping that it would push my androgyny further toward the masculine side, so people wouldn't know about the truth about me.
My eyes went to my hair next, and my hands tried to spike it up. A mixture of water and gravity kept it clinging to my shoulders.
Dang it! Hopefully it will dry before Blister gets back.
Searching through my bag, I yanked out a headband, using it to push the hair out of my face. With that out of the way, I started to work on my runner, fixing what was damaged in the crash.
After two hours, my hair was finally standing up without help, and my runner was almost back to full power. I revved the engine to see how well it was meshing with the other parts when I heard Blister's voice behind me, "One second, can't hear you."
I was powering down my runner when Yunagi jumped into view yelling something in my face. I shut off Justice, "What on..."
Tanner walked over, "We got released this morning. Sweet ride."
A smile entered my face, "Thanks. Named it Justice."
He held out his deck, "I got my deck back, how about we duel to see how good you are with your own deck?"
Chuckling, I stood up, "Why not?"
Donning my jacket, shoes and gloves again, I disengaged my disk and grabbed the deck for foot duels, "Blister, you know this area better than any of us. Where can we duel?"
"There's a place just around the corner."
Blister led us to a nearby vacant lot, where he and Yunagi stood on the side. As we were getting ready to start our duel, we all heard a runner approaching us.
The High-Speed Ferris Wheel turned the corner and came to a stop between Tanner and I. Jack got off and I sighed, "Well Jack, what brings the so-called King of the Duels to the slums of his mighty city?"
He launched a card directly at my face and I barely managed to catch it before it cut my nose. I looked at Stardust's card for the first time in two years, and looked at my former 'brother', "And why are you giving this to me?"
Jack wasn't looking too happy, "We both know that I never break a promise. Since the duel was never officially finished, I'm loaning this to you. You beat me in the Cup, you get to keep it for as long as you would like. I keep my title, I get the card back and everything is settled."
"If this is encouragement to participate, you're already too late. Some guy named Lazar told me that my friends will all be sent to the Facility if I don't do what they want me to. Clear that up, and I might just actually try during the duel."
His face darkened further, "I may have no fondness for those friends of yours, but I still owe you for what happened back then. I'll do my best."
Just as he sat down on his runner, he turned to me, "And Yusei? How long can you keep this mask of yours on?"
I shrugged, "As long as I possibly can."
The runner shot off and they all came to me, Yunagi yelling extremely loud, "What card did he give to you?"
Gently turning around Stardust, I showed them, "A card he borrowed from me a couple years back."
Before Yunagi could keep talking, Blister spoke up, "What did he mean 'keep your mask on'?"
Yunagi piped up, "That is one of the Signer dragons!"
I sighed, "Yunagi, we aren't sure if I'm a Signer or not. And Blister? I'd rather not answer your question in public."
Switching gears, I lifted up my duel disk, "You ready Tanner?"
We were in the garage after I beat Tanner before Blister asked again, "What charade are you keeping up?"
Rather than tell them, I simply brushed my hair down. Rather than spiking, my hair flowed down my back like a waterfall.
All three of them looked at me in complete shock. Even Yunagi was dead silent.
I laughed as I shook my head rapidly, causing my hair to go back up, "That's right. I was born a girl, but in Satellite girls are targeted more than guys, so I grew up disguised as a guy."
Blister was the first to recover, "How did you hide that so well?"
"Years of practice. I only grew up with guys, so I learned how to act like them. Plus I had a hard time getting nutrients that I needed, so I stopped growing around the time I was thirteen. I'd appreciate it if we changed subjects now."
Tanner smiled as he slapped my back, "No problem."
Almost instantly Yunagi was in my face, "How about how you are a Signer?"
"I am not a Signer."
We headed back outside, Yunagi refusing to let the subject go, "But you summoned the Crimson Dragon."
"Remember, I wasn't alone in the stadium that night. Jack was the one dueling me."
All three of them came to a dead stop, and Tanner asked the inevitable question, "Why did you come to the city?"
Together we wandered to the local dueling corts as I answered as carefully as I could, "A group of us promised when we were younger that we would always respect each other's choices, and we would never mess with each other's decks. Then one day Jack decided that the rest of us were complete losers because we didn't have the same ambitions that he did. He called us losers and next thing I knew, he nearly killed one of my other friends just so he could steal my first runner and Stardust. I came to get Stardust back."
Blister asked the one question I always dreaded hearing, "Did you two ever date?"
Gagging, I stared him down, "He's basically my brother. I wouldn't date him if he was the last guy on earth."
A familiar voice echoed across the area, "Hey, it's you again!"
I looked toward the voice and saw Leo running toward me with someone in tow, "Hey Leo, where is Luna?"
"She didn't want to come out today. Thanks for fixing my duel disk!"
Once again he brought a smile to my face, "You're welcome Leo. Did Luna like hers as well?"
He nodded, gesturing to the person next to him, "This is my best buddy Dexter."
For a couple seconds, it felt that my mouth opening caused the world to explode. My arm burned once again, and I was struggling to stay on my feet as I looked for what had caused the world to turn to chaos. The dust settled down just enough for the silhouette of a person and their dragon to be seen.
But what really drew my attention was the glowing mark on their right arm.
My friends came to my side as I removed the glove, revealing the triangular mark on my arm. Yunagi whispered, "That is one of the Signer marks."
"Okay, so now I can't deny it. But what about the person over there?"
Blister was speaking in shock, "I think that's the Black Rose Witch. She makes cards come to life."
So she's like me. Someone else who has unexplainable powers.
I took a step towards her, but the wave of fear that came from her was so strong that I had to stop. Before I could keep going to her, she disappeared in another cloud of smoke. As she left, my mark stopped glowing, taking the pain away and letting me stand upright again.
While the dust was still settling, I walked over to Leo and crouched next to him, "Are you alright, Leo?"
He nodded, "I think so."
I looked him in the eye, "Then go home. I'll see you tomorrow."
Confusion came in equal parts from his face and his emotions, "Why am I going to see you tomorrow?"
An invitation was pulled out from my jacket, "I got an invitation as well."
Leo hugged me in glee, then hurried off with his friend, both whispering conspiratorially. I headed back to the garage with the men. Blister started talking, "I found someone to smuggle me into the Satellite. Tanner and the old man can stay at my place."
Tanner nodded, "Since we can't all stay in the same place, sounds like a good idea."
Popping my back, I nodded, "Then I better get sleep before tomorrow."
A/N: Thanks Let's-Go-To-Vermont for reviewing on the original version of this chapter!
