Justitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius sum cuique tribunes. – Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to give everyone their due. – Justinian, Institutes
I – Blindness
As the weather took a turn for the worse, the older children in Martha's orphanage started to organise the younger kids into making sure the houses can withstand the coming storm. Together, little hands and big hands closed windows and locked doors. Crow saw some of them running around out of the corner of his eye and he smiled, remembering how he himself was one such kid not too long ago.
The rain was poised to fall any time now. The gloomy atmosphere was press down on the orphanage and its occupants. Those in the same room as Crow had fallen silent, having already given voice to their concerns and aspirations before. Yusei sat in his chair with his head lowered, evidently still disturbed by the questions Martha had presented him with. Jack and Carly were huddled in a corner, with the former apparently scolding the latter about her outburst regarding the situation at Satellite. Martha gave instructions to some of the children about managing the old and dilapidated building, and otherwise simply gazed at the coming storm with apprehensive eyes.
"This storm is going to be a big one." As if noticing Crow's eyes on her, Martha turned around and gave him a brief smile as she stood at the window, looking outside towards the clouds. "It's about time for some rain. It has been a very very hot summer."
Casting another look at the preoccupied people in the room, Crow stood up and moved to stand next to Martha, sharing the darkening view from the window. The orphanage sat on low ground and was surrounded by the remnant of the hills around the old Domino harbour. The clouds had cast the entire sky into an ominous, dark shade. The jagged hills around them reached into the heavens, only to serve as a background to the dancing sparks of lightning that was already reaching across the sky.
"It won't flood, would it?" He voiced his worry, looking over at the woman who had taken care of him as a mother for as long as he could remember.
"It usually won't. But no guarantees." Martha looked at the others behind them. "You know, perhaps some emergency work together could raise the spirits of these three. They look like they can use some team-bonding exercise."
Crow followed Martha's gaze. Yusei had been sitting silent for a while now, not looking up or paying any attention to other people's actions. Jack and Carly were still huddled up, presumably coming up with some sort of plot. Honestly, compared to Jack and the reporter, Crow was more worried about the King of the City.
"Is... Is Fudo Yusei going to be ok?" Crow enquired in a worried voice. Despite Martha's former strict attitude when she questioned Yusei about Izayoi Aki, the older woman now had a concerned, almost sad look on her face.
"He will. But it will take quite some time." Martha sighed. "I know I was tough on him, but I can't have him walking around Satellite without even realising what he is here for. It will be difficult enough for you to keep him safe. But if he doesn't even realise who he will be dealing with, or even if he should be here at all... then you will have an even tougher time."
"I didn't expect him to come here myself." Crow replied. "You reckon he really loves Izayoi Aki that much?"
"I wouldn't say that." Martha gave a bitter grin. "Love? Probably not something that profound. Look at him. He's still a child, as much as you and Jack -"
"I'm not –" Crow started to rebuke her, but Martha only raised her eyebrows at him.
"You kids all say that. Now, to answer your question, I think he feels more guilt than anything else. I don't know what exactly happened between the two of them, but if he liked her enough, he wouldn't have kept to his duty and left her alone. He needs to realise that the reason for which he came here may not actually make any sense – he probably came here wanting to save her and take her back to the City, but what would he do if that proves to be impossible? He has to figure all that out."
"I hear you, Martha." Crow replied grimly. "I will help him in order to stop Kiryu's crazy plots. As for Izayoi – it was my fault that she got a Duel Disk in her hands, so I will try my best to reverse that mistake."
"And what will you kids actually do when you come across Aki-chan and Kiryu?" Martha gave a shrug. "Actually kill them?"
"No –!" Crow instinctively refuted, then caught himself. "I mean, no – maybe – I suppose – "
"That's fine. I suppose we can probably arrange for Security to assist when the time comes to it. See – you, Jack, and Yusei all have your own reasons for pursuing Kiryu, yet your agendas are ultimately different. If you don't get everything sorted out before you meet Aki and Kiryu, you are going to be stuck in this little 'mission' and not get anything done before either Kiryu finds you, or Security comes along to take Yusei back and puts you behind bars."
"Martha... I've been meaning to ask this for a while. What do you think of Izayoi Aki?" Crow asked in a low voice, not wanting others to overhear.
"She's much like any teenager. She didn't know what exactly she wanted in life." Martha shook her head. "Kiryu gave her a purpose, though, and she grasped that full-heartedly. That's what I'm worried about. Kiryu must have proposed something to her that she cared about, but he's not a Psychic Duelist and Satellite hasn't known a Psychic Duelist for years. I don't know what could have interested her and what Kiryu told her, but I would like to find out if they are actively giving people the power of Psychic Duelists. That was my concern when I saw Kiryu. I don't like the idea of Kiryu having such abilities available to him. The last thing I want is you, Jack, and Yusei disagreeing with each other due to your different agendas when you do come across the people you're looking for. You need to take collective action against these powerful gang with black Duel Disks."
"Well, in order to promote teamwork, I suppose we could all board up the windows and doors." Crow gave another sideways look at the others. "Yusei's still acting shocked, and I haven't spoken to Jack for ages. As for that girl... well, I had a go at her friends back at the City, so I really don't know how we can start a normal conversation now."
"Tsk, tsk. You never used to have problems with talking to young ladies, Crow." Martha gave him a mischievous smile.
Crow could feel embarrassment creeping up his face and he hastily turned away from Martha, looking outside the window towards the Satellite buildings. The cloud was already forming an ominous shape. However, even in the midst of the dark clouds that enveloped the entire sky, there was a darker shape silhouetted against the steel-grey firmament.
A subtle hint of fear tingled Crow's consciousness. Martha was still standing next to him, being pleasantly oblivious to what he thought he saw. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to convince himself that it was simply a cloud and not what he suspected it to be. It looked awfully like the shadow of a winged beast, as if it was... a creature someone may have summoned using a black Duel Disk.
"Probably an everyday occurrence in Satellite by now..." He muttered to himself. He had no idea just how many people currently have possession of a black Duel Disk, nor where they were making these things and using what material. But he wouldn't be surprised if they now have a nice little group of Satellite misfits carrying such things with them every day. It could be anybody summoning monsters out there.
"Crow?" Martha gave him an inquisitive look. He turned and tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"Nothing, Martha. Just letting the clouds and the storm scare me. Don't worry about it."
It was nothing. It was nothing.
He turned around with her, ready to devise some 'team-bonding activity' for the visitors, when he felt the strange change in air pressure and heard the distinct sound of screeching.
"Shit! Martha! Down!"
He grabbed hold of the older woman's waist and dove to the floor with her, ignoring her surprised protests. There was no time to explain or apologise, but he knew what it was. It was Izayoi's dragon.
"What's going on?" Jack stood up instantly, his face also stern with fear. Carly's eyes were opened wide, and Yusei lifted his head, alarmed.
"Hide! She's here – " Crow felt himself panicking as he whispered hoarsely to the rest of the room. But to his surprise, Jack chose to ignore the shrieks that were becoming louder and louder, and marched straight towards the door.
"Jack?!" Carly jolted up in fear as Jack flung open the door to let in a gust of wind, which blew through the room and sent the plastic cutlery on the table flying to the far wall. She was on the verge of rushing up to pull Jack back but he turned around, a particular look of determination on his face as he set his jaw and glared at Yusei's direction.
"Yusei. You need to be prepared. She's here."
-/-/-/-/-/-
"No way!" Carly gasped before she was able to stop herself.
"It's not like Martha's place is secret or anything. Kiryu probably guessed we will be coming here from day one." Jack growled. "We're dealing with people Crow and I grew up with. At least I can guess how Kiryu thinks."
"I'll ask her to back off." Martha was climbing to her feet. "She was here with Kiryu, and we were on good terms. She should be able to listen to me."
"No. Martha, you should probably take care of the kids. We'll hold her off then get away. Kiryu and Izayoi may not harm you, but they have a lot more buddies now. I don't like the idea of having half of the Satellite lowlifes swarming at this place." Crow furrowed his brows, clearly unwilling to put Martha's institution in danger.
"We can't run forever, Crow." Jack grumbled, clearly unhappy about the proposed option. "Someone's gotta figure out what Izayoi and Kiryu want and stop them sooner or later. We've got some of the best duelists in this country right here. Best to face them on our turf."
"I agree. I need to face Aki."
"Yusei!" Carly whipped around when she heard those words from Yusei. Crow, Martha, and Jack all followed suit. While Crow still wore a look of surprise on his face, Martha and Jack somehow shared a common expression of relief.
"That's right, Yusei. You in particular can't keep running away from her forever." Jack was relentless as he turned around to speak to Yusei, positively urging the latter towards the door.
"Goddamn it Jack, close the door already." Crow took a step forward and slammed the door shut. "No need to let her know that we are all here, and definitely no need for more wind to mess the place up!"
"He needs something to wake him up." Jack squeezed Crow's arm far too tightly as the orange-haired man tried to lock the door. "Are you just trying to say we should sit here and wait for her to cave the roof in? We have black Duel Disks ourselves. We are not missing the tools we need to deal with them!"
"And what? Cave the roof in ourselves? Those things are powerful, and I don't want to use it on top of all the kids here!" Crow was not backing off at all. He struggled free of the grasp as Jack huffed dismissively. The two of them glared at each other, both adamant in their beliefs.
"That's... that's enough, Crow, Jack."
Yusei's stuttering voice stopped Jack and Crow in their argument. Both turned to look at him as the King of the City slowly stood up.
"I hear what you both are saying, and I know it was foolish of me to come to Satellite from the start." With lowered head, Yusei muttered in a low voice, rendered difficult to hear as the sound of something heavy landing outside shook the building with its impact. "But you are right. I did come for Aki, and she's probably here to find me. I can't run away from her forever... I've got to face her eventually, and I need to find out why she did all the things we know she did, and what exactly happened to her."
Jack and Crow both remained silent. Eventually, Jack gave Yusei an uneasy look and voiced a question.
"... Do you want a black Duel Disk, Yusei?"
"No!" Yusei's answer was immediate, startling even himself. He took a slow breath and tried to pull himself together. He had seen too much in the short amount of time that he had spent in Satellite, and he was still struggling to come to terms with it. He knew he had to do something to persuade Aki. He had expected this journey to be simply about finding and taking the girl he grew up with back home, but it had spiralled so out of control that his entire world had shattered around him. Black Duel Disks... those things enabled everyone to wield the power of Psychic Duelists. He didn't know what he would be capable of if he touched that... especially when going against her.
"No." He said it again, a bit more emphatically this time. "I grew up with her. I've faced her powers before... I know what it's like. It's fine. I'm not afraid."
"If you say so." Jack's tone was the completely opposite of reassured.
The sound of a roaring beast outside was unmistakable now, and Yusei saw Crow shudder. The blue-eyed young man recalled the sound too, although Crow must have heard it more times than he had, despite how many years Aki had spent living in the City. It was the sound of her dragon's cry. Yusei had only heard it two or three times, when they duelled each other during their school years. Of course, none of the grown-ups got to know about their secret duels.
It was a sound that brought back memories, and of the realisation that he knew so little of her.
When Yusei put his hand on the handle of the door and pulled it open again, he was greeted with the swirling wind of an approaching storm. The air was heavy with humidity despite the wind and he instinctively turned his face away, but it was impossible to miss the shape that loomed in the courtyard before him. He saw Jack, Carly, Martha, and Crow – all those who emerged with him – take a step back in fear, and he understood this might be the first time some of them were looking at this dragon close-up. He had seen it before, though. He recalled those thorns, those petal-like wings, those narrow and condescending eyes. What he wasn't familiar with was the figure that sat astride the beast. Instinctively, he knew who that figure would be, but he still found himself struggling against that realisation, still trying to hold on to the image of her that he had in his mind.
"Yusei." Despite his best attempts, her voice still destroyed every preparation he made in his mind. "You are here."
"Aki." It felt like it had been an eternity since he spoke her name out loud. "Yes. I am here."
He had never imagined he would find her like this. He knew she would be alive, perhaps in a wretched state, perhaps broken beyond hope. And he had set out wanting to help her, to get her back on her feet again. But now... she was the one towering over him, and he found himself almost completely helpless.
"Aki." He called out again, his voice weak in the wind. "What happened to you?"
Sitting far above him on top of her dragon, her figure was almost too far away to be seen clearly. She wore a long, black cape, fitting her description as the Black Rose Witch. Yusei could have sworn that she wore some kind of mask, her face glittering with a white light in the setting gloom. As he watched, she moved her hand to brush back the hood that was half-covering her face, and he saw the mask for certain. A bone-white, expressionless visage showed instead of her usual mahogany eyes. She then moved to take off the mask and he saw, even in the gloom, that her face was now Marked with two dark lines.
All criminals are Marked upon conviction. Yusei knew this well, and he did not react strongly to the multitudes of Marks that covered Crow's face. It was the theory that serious criminals will never be able to hide from the sight of upstanding citizens after committing a bad offence, and it was also one of the reasons why so many of them ended up in Satellite, away from the City where they were openly discriminated against. Yet even though he understood this objectively, for some reason, he could not envisage her face with a Mark.
"Your face..." He gasped unconsciously, which only earned a chuckling laugh from her.
He had wanted to hear her laugh so often in the past months, but this was not the sound he was expecting at all.
Aki should not have so much spite in her.
"Surprised, Yusei? You should have guessed what happen to criminals." He had never heard of her voice like this before, and he shuddered at the unfamiliarity of it.
"Aki. I'm here for you now. You don't have to do this. I can get you back to the City." He took a tentative step forward. Now that he finally saw her in the flesh, it was hard to fight the urge to just call out to her, to try and get their lives back to how it had always meant to be.
It should have been so simple. Like all the other children born and raised in Tops, they should have spent the rest of their lives in such planned happiness. He would have kept his duelling throne for as long as possible before enjoying his older years with loyalty payments and teaching youngsters, and they would have married with the blessings of all the City's political elite. That was almost expected of them ever since they expressed some small affection for each other in preschool, before they fully realised what she was capable of.
"Aki. Come back with me. I can make it work out. It doesn't have to be like this for you."
"You don't understand it at all, do you, Yusei?" There was something in the tone of her voice that had changed forever, something alien that gradually instilled terror in him the more she talked. "You should have shown up earlier than this. It's too late for you to help me now, on so many levels of speaking. You can't do anything. You can't fix the situation, and there is no way..." She paused, but he didn't know why, "... no way I can go back to our prescribed lives now."
"Is that why you tried to infiltrate the city just to kill me?" His own voice lowered into a growl as a sudden surge of anger hit him, and he recalled her voice through the video feed that he heard at the Security headquarters.
"I..." She did not reply instantly, and he allowed himself to speak his mind again.
"Do you hate me that much, Aki?"
"That... yes, that is definitely what I should do." Surprisingly, she giggled. He looked at her, aghast, not expecting such an unfamiliar sound of glee coming from her at such a time. "Would it shock you to know that I fully intended to do that? Would it scare you to know that I can – and will still – do it?"
"Aki. I'm your oldest friend." Despite all the years they had known each other, he still hesitated to publicly describe their relationship as anything romantic. To be fair, there was never a deep kiss, never a suggestive embrace. He liked to think theirs was a platonic, mutually respectful relationship, that they are friends before lovers, but he was developing a sinking feeling that it was seriously wrong.
"And what did you ever do for me? You care about me even less than my new friends here." Her spite was fully boiling now.
"And all they've done is use you." He did not back down.
"Isn't that what you were doing yourself?" She shot back immediately. "Haven't you been using me as well?"
"What – what do you mean, Aki?" He stared back at her, not understanding what she was saying.
"Weren't you doing exactly what they are doing to me? Everyone expected us to be a couple ever since we were in elementary school, just because our parents were of the same social standing and we showed the slightest amount of affection for each other." The words she spoke were full of vehemence. "You were the first person who befriended me when we were – what? Four? Five? And that was enough for our fathers to start talking about love and marriage. That was what kept us together during elementary school, at least for me. Isn't that true, Yusei?"
"I..." He couldn't talk back to her. "Yes, but that doesn't mean..."
"Then we both enrolled into Duelling Academy because that's what was expected of us." She didn't give him time to continue. "And you went through the accelerated course, both because of your brains and because of your father. You were too busy to really date any girl, but our parents all affirmed that it was fine, that Aki is a proper young lady suitable for Yusei. Yes... 'suitable' was the most important part in that statement."
She cracked a bitter laugh, the sound of which made him bite his lower lip.
"That was probably why your support team didn't allow you to come back to Neo Domino in time for my trial. You were already the King of the City, but I had yet to make a name for myself, and I probably never would have gained my reputation back, not after being exposed as a Psychic Duelist. For you to be associated with me would have been a disgrace to the City. I was no longer useful for the poster boy of the City as a potential partner, and so the collective decided to discard me in order to protect you."
"If that is what's making you feel bitter, then I apologise sincerely." He looked up at her. "But –"
"I wanted to quit the Duelling Academy." Once again, she stopped him. "But I was strongly discouraged from doing so. Because, and I quote... 'You are associated with the King'."
"I..." He never knew. Then again, who would have told him?
"If I quit the Academy and never had a chance to touch a Duel Disk, then this would not have happened." She quieted down now, as if she was immersed in the might-have-beens, in a world where she would be free to do as she wished, a world where she did not have to live in his shadow.
"Aki. I... I'm sorry."
What else could he say? He had to admit that a part of him suspected there had been some unspoken plot to keep Aki out of his life after her scandal came to light. His family and friends, who had always smiled and encouraged him to stay on friendly terms with Aki, now smiled and encouraged him to forget her.
He was the King. He thought he understood what it meant, that his actions reflected not just on himself, but on the millions of people he represented. Yet for the first time in his life, he was questioning whether the price of this duty was more unbearable than he had anticipated.
"Yusei, I'm not here to punish you for anything you did yourself."
Standing on her dragon, Aki made an audible sigh and puffed out her chest, as if to reassure herself.
"Still, you need to be punished. Not because of what you did, but because of who you are and what you represent. You are not just one person, Yusei. You represent everything that is the City, and you are a hindrance to how I want to live the rest of my life."
"How you want to live the rest of your life?" Yusei narrowed his eyes. "By that, do you mean following cruel and mad men like that Kiryu?"
He meant exactly what he said, even though he suspected how much Aki was now attached to Kiryu. There was no doubt that Kiryu wasn't willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals, and he did not want Aki to follow that path. Yet her fury – even though he had always known that she had a temper – was something he had not seen before.
She lifted her head and laughed, madness positively seeping out of her entire being as her cloak flapped furiously in the wind, her dragon echoing her cry with a screech that reverberated throughout the compound.
Carly yelped and hid behind Jack, plugging her ears. Jack frowned and took a step back as well. Martha's jaws were clamped tight, a slight shade of fear showing up in her eyes for the first time. Only Crow stood his ground as he faced her, his countenance serious and full of gloom.
"He accepts me for what I am, Yusei!" She all but shrieked at him atop her dragon. "All you ever did was tell me to change! Telling me you would accept me as long as I changed, so I would be the way you and everyone else want me to be! But I can't. I'm not! Why will you never see me as I am?"
"That doesn't explain –!" Yusei was determined to stand against her this time, even as her dragon roared and stirred up wind in the gathering storm. "That doesn't mean you should go along with his ideals! There is no justice in what he believes!"
"His ideals are the only things that will bring justice to everyone in this land!" She yelled back. "Not just trying to accommodate the privileged!"
A torrential gale surged through the entire courtyard as the dragon reared up and whipped its tail about, stirring up dust as well as wind. Surprisingly, Aki managed to hold on to her dragon and keep her balance with ease, as if she was simply riding a petulant pet.
"Aki!" Yusei yelled at her again through the roaring wind. Air whipped violently past his face, dirt and debris scratching at his skin, but he dug in his heels and stood his ground. "Aki, you've gotta stop this! That's not how you are!"
"And how much do you know about her, anyways?"
An alien voice, someone Yusei had not heard before, suddenly spoke from somewhere above them. Crow and Jack tensed. Puzzled and nervous, Yusei looked up and saw the shape of another flying beast hovering behind her, with a figure perched on that demonic Duel Monster as well.
"How much do you know about her that you dare to comment on how she should live, Fudo Yusei?"
"You must be... Kiryu!" Crow's expression told Yusei that he was right. There could be no other person who would say these words and speak of Aki in such a way. Yusei narrowed his eyes, staring at the shape of the man who had twisted the girl he grew up with into such a vengeful woman.
"I'm honoured that you know who I am, O King of the City. Aki." Kiryu then directed his attention to the girl on her dragon. "Aki, if you're here to get rid of Yusei, do it."
"Are you actually going to listen to him and kill me, Aki?" The King tightened his hands into fists, fighting hard to defeat the tension rising within him.
"I want you out of our way, Yusei." Her voice was steely. "Unless you want to join us... I will have to put you permanently out of action."
"... If I go with you, can I then convince you to see the error of your ways?" Yusei took a deep breath.
"Ha!" Kiryu cracked a laugh. "Errors? The City is the one that's been wrong all this time! Are you kidding me?"
"At least I do not kill the innocent!" Yusei took one step forward but Crow suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Yusei twitched and instinctively tried to shake Crow off, but Crow held on even harder.
"Don't... Don't follow them, Yusei."
"Let go of me!" Yusei all but growled in his frustration. All of a sudden, he felt it was just too much. Way too many people had intruded into his life since he arrived at Satellite, and even his old acquaintances all seemed like strangers. "Maybe going to them will finish this madness –"
"No. You can't trust Kiryu when it comes to things like this!" Crow was not letting go any time soon. "You are our last hope to counter Kiryu and Izayoi at this rate! We can't lose you to them as well!"
"Let go! Satellite has nothing to do with me!" Yusei growled back.
"The King is right. Crow, let go of him. Let him go kill himself!" And further behind Crow, Jack joined in the yelling with his annoyed, baritone voice. "We can save Satellite ourselves. If he wants to give up his life for Izayoi, he's free to do that!"
"No – Jack!" Carly was trying to say something from behind Jack, but the latter held her back. She then changed the target of her words to Yusei. "King! You just can't do that!"
"Everyone, be quiet!" Amidst all this yelling, it was Martha who finally put a stop to it. "Kiryu, Aki, you stop this mess right now! There will be no killing in this place as long as I'm around!"
"Martha..." Aki replied in a low, rumbling voice. "Kiryu and I both respect you, but we have a job to do. Now, if Yusei comes with us, there will certainly be no killing. But if Yusei does not come with us… Then we can't guarantee anything."
"What kind of a job can you possibly have?" Martha fumed visibly. "You are hurting people, can't you see that, Aki? You may be doing what you think is right, but if you're destroying people's lives while you're at it, then that's not right at all!"
"What do you know about what's right?" Kiryu yelled higher up, joining the verbal fray. "The City and the Momentum team hurt Satellite so much in the past. They used us, then abandoned us after Old Momentum straight up killed our parents, and you're still arguing in their favour?"
"It wasn't like they deliberately blew up Old Momentum to screw with Satellite!" Martha was losing her composure and formal vocabulary as Kiryu taunted her. "If anything, Momentum ultimately benefited Satellite by providing us with clean energy. You don't even know how it was when we were still burning coal!"
"And it also seems like you know absolutely nothing about the nature of Momentum, Martha!" Kiryu was not about to back down. "What would you think if I tell you that Momentum is built upon the suffering of Psychic Duelists? That the very source of your 'clean energy' is human misery?!"
"You are talking bullshit now, Kiryu…" Martha stiffened, and there was the start of a tremor in her voice. "Momentum is the epitome of quantum physics, not some bullshit psychic magic source…"
"The benefit of the many shall be built on the suffering of the few. Philosophical, isn't it, Martha-san?" As Martha's voice grew weaker with less and less conviction, Aki concluded, her voice once again regaining its composure and frozen scorn. "I don't expect you to understand us, so don't stand in our way, either. I am aware that you have a history with the Momentum team and that you brought up Kiryu, but I will do what needs to be done. Our goal is to keep Yusei away from the City, and I will do whatever is necessary to achieve that."
"Aki." All of a sudden, Kiryu spoke again. His voice was unexpectedly soft, and even sounded concerning. "Some news just came in. Security is heading our way and breaking through our men."
Aki was silent for a few seconds, as if taking her time to process the information.
"Luck is on your side this time then, Martha-san." After that period of consideration, Aki spoke again. "We will have to step out to eliminate whatever Security is throwing at us, but we will be keeping an eye on Yusei. No matter where you run to, we – no, I – will find you and deal with you as soon as possible."
She then gave a small, backward glance at Kiryu as she said this, her postures stiff as if she was accusing him of failing to detain Yusei when he was escaping with Crow.
"Pfft. You're right, Aki, but it's more fun to let the prey feel the tinge of terror." Kiryu outright chuckled, ignoring her unhappy look. "Let's get going then, Aki-chan?"
She did not reply but simply patted her dragon. The creature, as if sentient, stretched its wings according to its mistress's will and flew upwards, narrowly missing Kiryu and his dragon, no doubt in a small act of rebellion.
With an audible giggle, Kiryu took off after her, not even leaving a word to the people still standing at ground level, gaping at him.
"These kids… these kids!" Martha could barely contain her fury as she stomped her foot. "They will ruin Satellite and the City. Utterly ruin it! And they will lose their own lives while doing it!"
Crow rushed up to comfort his adoptive parent, cooling her down with words of reassurance. Carly looked worriedly at Yusei, but neither Crow nor Jack went up to the King. She made a move to step towards Yusei, but a strong, forceful hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
Startled, Carly looked up. Jack's stern purple eyes were glaring down at her as his hand held her arm in an iron clasp, and he gave a small shook of his head as he indicated towards Yusei.
-/-/-/-/-/-
"Why did you stop me from going to help the King?"
"It wasn't your place, and he needed to set things straight in his own head." Jack replied casually as he munched on some peanuts. The night had thoroughly settled down after Martha managed to scrape together some food for the newcomers as a sort of dinner. Yusei had already gone to his room, and so had Crow and the kids. Martha was off somewhere assessing the buildings to see if the rain had damaged anything. It was just Jack and Carly sitting in the common area, which was bare of furniture except for a large dining table and the crude chairs surrounding it. The sound that accompanied them was that of the continuous heavy rain, providing a dull, never-ending background noise.
"He was suffering… He's the one who got dragged into this against his will." Carly shifted in her chair as she crossed her arms and looked dolefully at Jack, who for his part just kept pecking away at the peanuts in the most dismissive way possible.
"Join the club then." Jack didn't so much as give her a look. "You think any of us here are involved because we want to?"
"There must be a culprit somewhere. All this… the Momentum, Psychic Duelists… Someone must have done something back when they first developed Momentum, and the way they said that Momentum was actually using Psychic Duelists… Aren't you even remotely concerned about the truth behind the very conception of our City, Jack?"
Jack just turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Carly even when she raised her voice.
"We need to stand together with Yusei, and Crow-san, and Martha-san, and find out the truth. That's how we'll figure out how to deal with Kiryu-san and Aki-san. Don't you see any of that, Jack? I know you were called the King of Satellite, so you must be a very impressive duelist yourself. We will be so much stronger if you'd care more about the big picture."
"I do care about the big picture, and I know I need to be in it to help." Jack put his hand down on the table, finally ignoring the peanuts and turned to fully face Carly. "But if I can't manage to stay alive, then I'm gonna have to look out for myself. That's the issue with you, Carly. Why the hell are you even in this mess to begin with?"
"I – I'm a reporter, and I'm the King's friend – "
"That doesn't explain anything." Jack's voice dropped a notch. "There are plenty of jackass reporters out there who would happily ruin other people just to get a sensational story, and if you're after Yusei himself, then anyone can tell he's not even remotely interested in you. He's got his head full of Izayoi, even after she messed up what he believes in and betrayed his expectations over and over."
Carly suddenly slammed her hand on the table, which earned her a surprised look from Jack.
"What do you think you know about me, Jack?" She puffed out her cheeks, as if she was on the verge of crying. "Sure, the media industry is rotten as hell, but that's why I am trying to make it matter! And I'm not into Yusei like that… and how can you accuse Aki-san? You didn't know her when she was back in the City. I was in the courtroom with her. I was the one who looked into her life. Her entire city – everyone in her life – was out to get her and she wasn't even allowed to fight back! Just because you don't care what others say about you and can make your enemies pay doesn't mean everyone else can do that!"
"Are you… are you trying to help Izayoi's case even after seeing her today?" The surprise still hadn't left Jack's face.
"Yes, because I try to understand everybody, unlike all the judgmental pricks who fill up the ranks of reporters!"
"… That's even more reason to give Yusei some alone time." Jack paused before answering Carly, who was now glaring at him with an agitated, flushed face. "He needs to figure out what he actually feels about Izayoi, and if that feeling is enough for him to try to save her."
"That's not how Yusei was brought up…" Carly muttered. "We all assumed that he was just going to be together with her when they came of age. It's… I don't think either of them had any time to think about it."
"I don't know about Izayoi, but Yusei definitely didn't." Jack snorted. "Not to mention we all need some time to figure out what Kiryu and Izayoi meant about the Momentum business…"
"I wouldn't totally dismiss what they said as impossible." Faced with a mystery, Carly's investigative instincts kicked in. "I mean, the Momentum team keeps the actual science behind Momentum as some kind of a secret, and even though I got to know Yusei and his Dad very well, I still don't know what exactly happens in that machine. So… there could be a connection…"
"Tch." Jack sighed. "That's what I don't understand about you. You're so into everything about the situation, you're not paying any attention to yourself."
"What – " Carly opened her mouth, but Jack didn't give her time to rebuke. He stood up and fixed his eyes on her.
"Stop getting yourself mixed up deeper and deeper into this. None of us are in this messy business because we want to, but you're throwing yourself into it headfirst. Martha is right. Satellite is a dangerous place and it's definitely not safe for you, so stop while you still can, Carly."
Carly paused, as if he said something that gave her serious thought, and lowered her head.
"What? Are you doing this because you think you're the one who got Izayoi in here in the first place? That your reporting ruined Izayoi and Yusei's lives?"
"Jack, how – how did you know?" Carly looked up and stuttered, dumbstruck.
"It's not hard to guess. You care about other people way too much." Jack didn't take his eyes off her. "I never should have allowed the kids to get you in here. This is getting far too dangerous."
"But I 'm already here." Carly bit her lip. "I might as well do my part."
Jack leaned back and stood straight up. Just as Carly thought he was going to say more condescending comments, he walked around the table and patted her on the head.
"Wa –!" Not expecting that at all, Carly gave out an undignified yelp.
"Just don't go too crazy." He grunted.
"I - I won't." She stammered a reply as he took his hand off her head and walked out of the room, leaving her to gaze at his back in confusion and wonder.