I have become a more responsible author as time went on, and I have finally adopted something that I should have done YEARS ago - that is, having a proper plan for all my chapters and write them in advance. This meant that, even as I am posting Chapter 28 now, I already have Chapter 29 completed, proof read, and ready to go. That way, I won't be forgetting old plot, and I have a few thousand words of buffer should I want to change anything at the last minute. It's actually taken away a lot of my writing anxiety. Gee, why didn't I do this sooner?
Meanwhile, in the story, our heroes prepare to fly back to the City, and the final battle for the City's fate is about to begin.
4 - Phlegeton, inflame with rage
The dining hall in Martha's orphanage was silent despite the number of people sitting in it. The only sound interrupting the silence was the creak of the old wooden floor as Yusei, Jack, and Aki walked into the room.
Carly was sitting at the table, although the unnatural pallor on her face remained. She was certainly still far from her usual bubbly self. As soon as Jack sat down next to her, he grasped Carly's hands tightly in his own, his thumb rubbing reassuring circles over her fingers. Crow was closing the laptop he had on the table with a resigned sigh.
There was a long stretch of silence. Jack, Carly, and Crow all had downcast eyes. Aki crossed her arms in front of her chest out of reflex, uncomfortable with the thick layer of apprehension settling over the room.
"Jack said that you guys couldn't reach Rua or Ruka." Seeing that the other three occupants were unwilling to talk, Yusei broke the silence first.
Crow shook her head. "Yeah. Couldn't get to them at all. No one is picking up the phone at their house or on their private numbers. This is giving me a bad feeling."
Yusei let out a long breath and put a hopeful tilt into his voice. "Perhaps they left Tops, with Momentum failing?"
"I mean… yeah, that is a possibility." Crow drummed his fingers on his closed laptop, stirring up an uneven beat that only made Aki more fidgety. "I'm just worried about them. They are still such young kids, and… and they shouldn't be getting involved in this mess."
"How did you know about Momentum's failure? Is it because of your phone call to the City?" Jack lifted his eyes. "Who was that for? How did it go?"
"It was… to my house. To my parents." Yusei hid his discomfort behind a cough, and it didn't surprise Aki to see everyone perk up at these words. "It didn't go well. They thought they were doing the right thing all the time, and I said I disagree with them."
Yusei returned the gazes the others were levelling at him. Jack deliberately shifted his attention away, staring at a corner of the room. Crow shook his head, heaving a long sigh. "I'm sorry to hear that, Yusei. The situation with your parents is even more messed up. Are you doing alright?"
"Yeah… I think I'm alright." Yusei exhaled slowly. Aki watched as his brow knitted into a thin, determined line.
The conversation died down again as Crow packed away the laptop. Carly was looking at Jack enquiringly and Jack squeezed her hand, but Aki had no idea what silent messages were being passed. Yusei remained standing against the wall, showing no signs of wanting to continue the talk.
"So, what are we gonna do next?"
it was Jack who directed them back to the matter at hand. "We can't stay here forever. Us being here is gonna get Martha into trouble, and we can't do anything about Momentum and the Goodwins from Satellite."
"I'm not so sure about that." Crow countered Jack as he leaned back in his chair. "If we really want to, we can fiddle with Old Momentum."
"Hey, even if you know how to use Momentum, we are not gonna be able to stabilise it." Jack rolled his eyes. "Activating Momentum without Psychic Duelists is only gonna make it blow up again."
"True." Crow shrugged. "But I just don't know what we should be doing at the City, you know? What are we gonna do in the City?"
"Rex Goodwin needs to pay for what he has done, and so does Rudger Goodwin. They are both in the City, and that's why I'm gonna go there." Jack narrowed his eyes.
"We could let the Goodwins fight it out themselves…" Crow dragged out the sentence. Jack didn't reply, but Yusei answered.
"No." The King of Neo Domino's reply was short and blunt. "I can't have that. Letting the Goodwin brothers run amok will only hurt the people of Neo Domino more."
"Sometimes I feel like these people deserve it…" Jack muttered darkly.
Yusei narrowed his eyes and tapped the floor with his foot. Carly, however, beat him to his complaints.
"No, Jack." Her voice was gaining more strength now. "That's not right. The people of the City have done nothing wrong personally. They shouldn't suffer just because of who their leaders are."
"But that's not how the world works." Aki disagreed. There were still grudges she found hard to forget. "These people were the ones who kept Rex Goodwin in power. And if we talk about punishing the innocent, that's exactly what the City did to Psychic Duelists and to the residents of Satellite."
"Do guys want to go back to the City, or not?" Jack, getting rather impatient, asked again. "I get it that we have different priorities, but we can't sit here arguing. The Neo Domino we know of is getting messed up as we speak."
"I'm not against heading back, and I am worried about Ruka and Rua. But it sounds like you guys just want to rush in, smack the Goodwins on the head, and then… what?" Crow, a more cautious man, clarified his answer. "Think about it. Without Momentum, there's gonna be no power, no security, probably not even running water. Who knows what kind of a mess the entire City is in? And how on earth are we gonna get to the City this time? The underground tunnels again? Get a ship from the Satellite harbour?"
"I don't want to risk the tunnels if it has no power supply. It'd mean no lights and no fresh air in there." Aki shook her head, and Jack nodded in agreement. "If we want efficiency, then I suggest we fly."
"Fly?!" The concept make Crow snap his head up to look at her. "Oh, right. Dragons!"
"I for one want to go back to the City." Knowing that she will be asked sooner or later, Aki started. "I… I know I've done a lot of things in the past. I hated the City, Yusei, and everything related to Neo Domino, especially Tops. But what I really hated were the oppression, the separating of people into classes, exploiting the innocents… I know I'm probably being naïve. This happens everywhere in the world. But I can't forgive what Rex Goodwin had done. And Rudger… now I know Rudger is not going to care about anything except his own goals. That's why I want to go back to the City, so I can stop the destruction Rex Goodwin and his brother will bring to Neo Domino as well as Satellite."
"I'm going back to the City for pretty much the same reasons." Yusei nodded next to her. "For all of my life, I thought I represented the freedom that Momentum enabled. But it was in fact just a fake façade put up by my father. If I can bring true freedom to Neo Domino, the kind that Momentum should have brought… then I will do it. I won't let the Goodwin brothers control everything anymore."
"You all know what I want to do. The Goodwins deserve to pay." Jack said in a low, gravelly voice.
He then looked at Crow, as if passing an invisible baton to the latter. Crow took a long breath.
"I hear what you're saying…" Crow paused. "I also want to sort this crap out with the Goodwins, but… you know, I've been thinking… If things don't work out well, and the Goodwins find out about Martha's involvement - "
"Hey! You can't back off now!" Jack stood up; his brows knotted together as he glared at Crow. Carly looked between Jack and Crow, momentarily puzzled, and then her eyes widened when she realised what Crow was implying.
"Jack, we are not going to force anyone to join." Yusei countered with a concerned voice.
"Look, if it was anyone else, I would have called them a coward and that would be it." Jack slammed the table. "But damn it, Crow, I know you aren't a coward! You've supported us all this time. I mean, god damn, if you didn't warn me and tell me to escape, I would already be dead. It's just… just so unlike you to be saying these kinds of bullshit!"
"I hear you. I hear you, Jack." The edge of Crow's mouth twitched. "But… I'm just gonna be a dead weight to you all, aren't I?"
"Like hell you will!" Even though Jack slammed the table with his hand again, Aki could tell this was the blond man's way of showing how much he respected Crow. Sure, the two of them obviously didn't get along in conventional terms, but Jack wasn't yelling at Crow because he disliked the latter. He respected Crow too much to allow the other to run away. "Crow, you know you've never been a dead weight, either as a fighter or as a duelist."
"You say that, but all of you sitting in this room, and all the people you are going to fight, are Psychic Duelists."
Jack visibly froze when Crow spoke those words. Then, his purple eyes quickly darted to his forearm. He quickly shifted his hand over his arm, covering up the birthmark, and turned his face away from Crow.
"It's a bit pathetic, isn't it?" Crow let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah, I'm as angry at Rex and Rudger as all of you. I even worked with Rudger for a little while, so I know." His eyes darted to Aki briefly. "I shouldn't be scared about Psychic Duelists, but I am. I'm scared. I'm… honestly scared. Not for myself, but about what is going to happen for all the civilians, and what you are all walking into."
Aki and Yusei shared an uneasy glance.
"People are gonna die tomorrow, aren't they?" Crow said in a low voice.
Jack looked even paler than usual. Yusei only narrowed his eyes, as if he already understood the gravity of the situation.
"I can't promise you anything, but I'm not heading into the City to tear the place down." Yusei's voice lowered. "In fact, all I want is for the City people to know the truth behind Momentum, to know the price for prosperity. I didn't even think about what I would do to the Goodwins, or those who remain loyal to them…"
"I don't like what is happening any more than you do." Crow sighed. "I know the Goodwin brothers have wronged us all. But when I think about the carnage we've caused at Old Momentum – do we really know what we want out of the situation?"
"I am truly sorry for hurting all of you – " Thinking it was a cue for her, Aki opened her mouth to apologise, but Crow shook his head.
"No, Izayoi. You were just angry and hated everything so much. We were all like that once upon a time. But for Momentum to work out, for the City and Satellite and Psychic Duelists all to work out, we can't just hate and hate and hate. I'm just afraid we are breaking the Goodwin brothers down with nothing to replace them with."
"That's all the more reason to have you with us." Jack grumbled. Crow snapped his head to look at his old companion, clearly surprised.
"What, Jack? You think I'll bring common sense?" Crow clicked his tongue. "I haven't heard you say a single good thing about me since the gang split up after Kiryu's drama."
"Shut it. You're not gonna hear this from me twice, so listen up!" Aki could have sworn that Jack's face turned red. "If you are so keen on making sure we don't do anything stupid, just come with us. Even if you aren't a Psychic Duelist, you are more useful facing the Goodwins with us than staying here. What if you can't summon dragons? We are all in this together. Don't back out when you are already as involved as everyone here, alright?"
"… I didn't expect that out of you, Jack." Crow took a deep breath. "Alright. You convinced me. To be honest, I'm getting seriously worried about Ruka and Rua. Rex Goodwin might be cooking up something worse than his brother when it comes to Psychic Duelists."
"Good. Now that we got that sorted… Carly." Jack sat down. "Crow is coming with us, but I'd be a lot more comfortable if you stay here with Martha."
Carly blinked. "What? No. Not again! I'm coming with you to the City. I can help you. I'm a Psychic Duelist too."
"Listen, last time it was because you didn't stay behind with Martha." Jack shook his head. "We can't have you keep running into danger. You were not meant to be involved in this, but now… no. Just no, Carly."
"I don't see it that way, Jack." Carly was adamant. "Maybe this is how it's meant to be. I'm a Psychic Duelist and that would have come out sooner or later. But now I have the ability to help you."
Jack made an unwilling noise in his throat. Carly gave him a weak smile, then flipped their hands over and squeezed his hand back.
"You won't need to protect me anymore." Despite the fatigue on her face, Carly managed to squeeze out a happy expression. "I've been hiding behind you for so long. Jack… let me protect you this time."
Aki could have sworn that Jack blushed even more at those words. Crow had a secret, mischievous smile, which confirmed her suspicions.
Looking at Yusei, standing with his back perfectly straight and his face expressionless, Aki clenched her hands into fists.
Crow's words hit her at a painful spot close to her heart. At the same time, she knew he was correct. She knew there was something that didn't feel right anymore, and that was why she decided to walk away from Rudger. Ever since the day she burnt down Rosewood, Aki knew she was running on rage and nothing else. It made her feel justified - she had been wronged so much. What she was doing in vengeance must be right!
But if everyone was just running on hate and more hate, what would they become at the end of their journey? What will they build after they have stopped hating? How long will the hatred last, and how much can that achieve?
A small voice in her mind whispered that hatred had kept Rudger up for sixteen years. He never lost sight of Rex Goodwin thanks to that hatred, never allowed others to affect and control him, never permitted himself to become another mindless cog in the social machine.
But then he became something even worse, a bigger part of her answered. That much is evident.
Aki took a deep breath. She tried to come to terms with how she walked away from Rudger so easily, when she had thought herself devoted to his cause. What did that make her? A traitor twice over? A girl who can't make up her mind? But after what Crow had said, she figured maybe instead of wanting to tear everything down, she wanted to eventually build something back up.
Maybe she just became tired of hating.
-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
The five of them decided to fly into the City before daybreak and try to get a good night's sleep at Martha's before the journey.
Yusei was concerned that Rudger would have taken over the City already. However, Aki pointed out that Rudger would first need to gather his "army". Jack and Crow also reminded them of the strong attachment Kiryu had towards making Satellite gangs take over Neo Domino, and how unlikely he was to abandon that concept.
Lastly, as Aki eventually grumbled out, they were just too damn tired. If they flew back to the City overnight with no sleep, they would not be in shape to fight Rudger or anyone else.
As the night went on, Old Momentum finally stopped running, and Martha booted up the backup petrol generator with Jack's help. Looking out from the orphanage, they saw miles of Satellite lying in darkness, a thick black cover broken only by the occasional weak flicker of a solitary light. There was no energy supply to anyone's D-Wheel. The Black Duel Disk that Crow kept still had some life in it, but only at a sluggish pace. It offered some consolation that Rudger and Kiryu might have had to find alternative transport than D-Wheels.
With minimal lights and tired minds, they all headed to bed early. And yet, despite the need for sleep, Aki failed to get any good rest. She could blame it on the wounds on her back, but she knew it was more than that. Ideals that she once held dear quarrelled with each other in her mind, and she found herself continuously wondering what she would do to once she was in the City.
Finding the Goodwin brothers wouldn't be hard. Rudger was hell bent on finding his brother. Knowing Rex Goodwin, he would either be in the Security building, at the Momentum site, or at some other politically significant landmark. Neither of the Goodwins were men who ran away from things. It was their style to wait for their foes to come to them. Funny enough, Aki was not worried about the ensuing battle either. After all, fighting to the death was the part she was good at.
But what about afterwards? What would she want to happen to Momentum and the City after her destructive impulses were over?
Was this why Rex decided to betray his brother, sixteen years ago?
Aki sighed for the umpteenth time and sat up in the darkness of her room. It was pointless to force herself to sleep. She got out of bed and got dressed, then padded out to the kitchen. She was not surprised at all to see that Crow, Jack, and Yusei were already all awake, all wearing tired faces. They were packing for their upcoming journey, hardly speaking to each other. At least they treated her civilly. Crow and Jack nodded at her, and Yusei gave her a brief smile that momentarily wiped off the gloom in the dim candlelight.
The group was planning to bring as little as possible. Martha, however, had packed them plenty of food, water, and fuel without telling anyone. Jack and Crow had found it next to their vehicles when they woke up. Yusei had wanted to leave it there, but Jack and Crow, in a surprising moment of unison, said they should take them anyways. Martha would be very upset to learn that they had left without her gifts.
Aki, being the most experienced with controlling physical Duel Monsters, was responsible for distributing the load amongst their dragons. She had asked Yusei to try summoning Stardust Dragon again, concerned whether he could do it. But Yusei did manage it, albeit with a coughing fit and face crunched up in pain. Aki was sympathetic. Even though she was used to her dragon, she still remembered how draining the first few summons were.
Jack then went away and brought back a sleepy Carly with him. Aki asked Carly to materialise her Duel Monster as well. Surprisingly, Carly managed it without so much as batting her eyelids, showing she probably had quite the psychic potential.
"I'm sorry…"
"Huh?" Aki was not expecting Carly's soft apology. They were making their way back inside the building, and the dark-haired girl muttered these words barely above a whisper.
"I'm sorry for covering your case and putting you through such pain, Aki-san." Carly sniffled and turned towards Aki, her face lowered and her long fringe making it hard to see her eyes.
Aki frowned. How was she supposed to answer this?
"I understand if you can't forgive me for making your life even worse during the trial." Carly continued in a low voice. "It would make sense. Without the media focusing on you, you wouldn't have been so stressed, and you might not have been sent here… right?"
Aki shook her head. "It's not your fault. You were only doing your job."
Carly raised her head. Aki couldn't be sure of her expression, but she heard another sniffle - was Carly crying?
"That doesn't excuse anything. Security officers working with Director Goodwin were only doing their jobs, and whoever kept you and tormented you in Rosewood were only doing their jobs, too…" Carly paused and brought a hand to her mouth. Then she restarted. "Just… just, please, I feel bad for having made things worse for you."
"I… I understand." Aki was at a loss as to what to say. She was so engrossed with her feelings towards the City in general, she had hardly thought about Carly's role. Why was the bespectacled girl apologising, anyways? Any reporter in her shoes would have done the same. If anything, the fault lied with the people who wanted to read about the trial, not the reporter.
"T-thank you." Carly sniffed again and nodded. Aki was even more confused.
"Why were you thanking me, Carly-san? I didn't do anything. I probably made yourlife worse instead."
"But… it still feels good to just say what I wanted to say and tell you I'm sorry." Carly tried to laugh. Aki frowned at the half-forced sound. "You listened to me, and I'm better because of it. That's why I'm saying thank you."
"I… see. Okay. Um, you are welcome." Aki just nodded as Carly took her leave, leaving her brain still in a bit of a haze.
She can't help but wonder if the City and its representatives would ever apologise for what they did.
Closing her eyes to centre herself, Aki turned her attention back to the task at hand. It was surreal to have so many physical Duel Monsters resting in Martha's courtyard, their massive bodies almost blending into the darkness as they softly huffed and shook their wings. When she was still with Rudger and Kiryu, she was the only one who could manifest her dragon on-demand. Now she knew Rudger could do it too, but he had kept it a secret, unwilling to expose this trump card. To have other people who possessed the exact same powers as her, doing the exact same things she could do… it was an experience she had never even anticipated.
There were four D-Wheels: Hers, Yusei's, Crow's, and Jack's. Carly's car was lost when she was captured, and there was no time to search for it. Aki set about stuffing all the things Martha packed for them into the storage compartments of the three normal-looking D-Wheels; she couldn't be bothered to fiddle with Jack's D-Wheel and how utterly useless it was at holding anything but its rider.
They had three dragons: hers, Yusei's, and Carly's. Being the bigger beast, Aki resolved to get Carly's creature - the Earthbound God - to carry two D-Wheels. It took her some time to get all the beasts sorted, just on time for Jack to call her back in for some breakfast.
The atmosphere at the breakfast was subdued. The food was extremely simple, just porridge and hot water. Yusei and Crow huddled together, comparing ideas about how they could fight off Kiryu. Aki looked at the two of them conversing in low tones in one corner of the table, occasionally drawing lines on the table with their fingers, gesturing to each other as if they were long-time companions. On the other side of the table, Jack and Carly also held a hushed conversation. The long-haired girl shook her head repeatedly, presumably because Jack insisted on looking after her, and sighing with a resigned smile when Jack wouldn't be persuaded.
These two pairs took the only two candles in the room, the wavering illumination bathing each of them in a warm glow. Even though Aki might have once felt jealous that she was left in the dark, now she felt comfortable as she gazed from one group to the other.
There they were, Psychic Duelists and normal people, Tops citizens and Satellite Marked criminals, all sitting together and interacting as if none of those labels separated them. A few months ago, Aki would not have imagined such a situation - she was determined to cut down all who did not accept Psychic Duelists. She answered to the hatred in Rudger's heart because she felt it was the only way, the best way. It was to kill or be killed. There was no other choice.
But now, with what was happening in this room?
"What's wrong, Aki?"
Yusei was looking. Jack and Carly had also fallen silent. Aki blinked, confused as to why she suddenly became the centre of attention.
"You were sighing a lot." Yusei explained. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Really." Aki shook her head. "Just… didn't think I'd ever see all four of you sitting together like this, you know? Up to a few days ago, I was… I was convinced it would take a war to get people to accept Psychic Duelists and Satellite folks into society. It's just a bit surreal."
"Heh." Crow raised his head. "Well, I dunno about Psychic Duelists I've never met before, but I knew Jack as a person. You don't need a war to accept that your friend is a Psychic Duelist."
"That's not - " Aki started to protest. She wasn't talking about these things on a personal level. It was going be about changing society, putting new rules in place, and getting old enemies to accept each other.
"This is what it comes down to in the end though, isn't it?" Yusei gazed at her from his seat behind the candle. The flickering light danced in his blue eyes, his face serious and his jaw casting sharp shadows onto his dark riding suit. Aki held his gaze. She understood what he was trying to say, and though she still loathed to admit it, it was better than what Rudger had proposed.
"But it will be much harder this way." She replied quietly. "I don't think I can let go of my anger. Not quickly, at any rate."
"I don't think any of us can." Jack huffed. "I'm still pissed at you, for one - "
"Jack…" Carly gave him a remonstrating look. Jack shook his head.
"Lemme finish, Carly. I'm pissed at you, Izayoi, but I can still work with you because I can understand where you're coming from." Jack clicked his teeth. "It's not saying what you did was right. You hurt people and liked it while you were doing it. But honestly, I can't say I would have done any better. So yeah, I'm angry at the situation. Can you work with that, Izayoi?"
"I…" Honestly, Aki was not expecting Jack to say something like this. Based on what she knew from Rudger and Kiryu, Jack Atlus was a foolhardy, rash, emotional guy. And yet, maybe because of his simpleness, what he just said sounded genuine. It explained the internal conflict she was starting to feel.
"I guess you are right." Aki conceded with a wistful smile. "Yeah, it… it's odd, isn't it? I feel like I really should keep up the struggle against the City, but I really don't have that much left to hate. It's a very strange feeling… I don't know what to do with it."
Crow nodded. "It's weird for sure, but it's progress."
"It's better than us all smacking each other." Jack mumbled.
The rest of the breakfast was continued in silence, although Aki felt something had changed in the group as they got ready to leave Satellite. Having that awkward conversation seemed to have brought a lot of things out in the open in a good way. Yusei also seemed happy to give up control. He allowed everyone else to fuss over the dragons and the vehicles, while he only occupied himself with checking their supplies.
Blowing out all the candles in their wake and leaving a note of thanks to Martha, the group moved outside, where the dragons were starting to fidget. The air was clear and crisp. If it wasn't for this turn of events, Aki would probably be waking up in her room in Tops, ready to be greeted by a rosy and bright morning. But now, the lot of them were trying to sneak into Tops in air, with God only knows what was happening in the City below.
They climbed on top of their respective dragons in a fumble of arms and legs. Carly's beast, being the biggest in size, took on the majority of the burden. Jack and Carly had to help each other to get on top of the massive creature, which ruffled its pitch-black feathers like an actual bird. Yusei's dragon also didn't like having people climbing up its back and gave out a few annoyed shakes. Aki's dragon was the one who was most used to such handling, and just sat docilely as Aki and Crow both got on.
Jack gave a whistle when they were all settled, making them look towards his direction.
"Who's going to lead this flight? All the GPSs have no power." Jack was trying to keep his voice down, but given the distance between them, it still sounded a lot like deliberate hollering in the dark.
" I am not the best at it, but I have had some experience." Aki volunteered "I can lead."
There was a marked silence after that. Aki looked around, only to hear Crow give a low chuckle.
"Good, Izayoi. I was almost worried we won't get a leader."
"And here I thought we were more prepared than this." Aki allowed a small smile to creep into her voice. She thought Yusei had it sorted, but he wouldn't have gotten any experience going from Satellite to the City, flying or not.
With soft words, whistles, and guiding touches, the three Psychic Duelists with dragons got their beasts to take to the air. Aki took off first, closely followed by Yusei, with Carly's large creature being the last to lift off. The cool winds of the night whipped at her hair as Aki circled the orphanage slowly. Yusei's dragon must be close by, but she could barely see it in the dark. When Carly's monster finally lifted off, Aki whistled.
"We are going north from here!" She yelled into the darkness and heard Yusei and Jack hum in acknowledgement. "We can then follow the land bridge to the City from there. Don't stay directly on top of it though. Security might still be able to fire at us. Once we are in the City, we will fly towards Tops straightaway. The height of the suburb should make it an unmistakable landmark."
Yusei and Carly both let out a loud "Okay". Turning her dragon, Aki felt for the direction of the wind. They were not too far from the old harbour and the sea breeze could still be faintly felt. However, she had underestimated how far Satellite was out in the sea – there seemed to be a sea breeze in all directions.
"I know it's dark, but there are still some lights in Satellite." Crow spoke up behind her. "Lemme help you to get to the north of Satellite."
"Thanks, Crow."
"No problem."
Using miniscule signs from the ground, such as the shape of lights that suggested the layout of the suburb, Crow managed to guide the entourage back across Satellite towards the City. However, they soon ran into another problem. The night sky was so dark that even though they could sometimes make out the silhouette of Stardust Dragon, it became harder and harder for the other two groups to follow Aki's completely dark Black Rose Dragon.
"We might need to whistle to each other a lot more." Crow muttered. "It's not a good idea, but at least the others can keep up."
"A-Aki-san!"
Aki turned when she heard Carly's voice and felt the wings of the other girl's giant Duel Monster approach them. She barely managed to swing Black Rose Dragon out of the way when Carly, still new to her power, almost clipped into Aki's dragon with the Earthbound God's giant feathers.
"Aki-san!" She couldn't see Carly, but the other girl's voice was tight with eagerness and concern. "I was wondering if you don't mind me flying in front of you? My Aslla Piscu can actually glow if I want it to, so both you and Yusei-san can follow me!"
Aki blinked, amazed that the idea hadn't occurred to anyone. Rudger's Monster, which seemed to be related to Carly's, also glowed during their fight. It seemed so natural now that Carly offered it.
"That would be great, Carly. Crow is still guiding us through Satellite though, so I would need to fly very close to you."
"We just have to be within earshot of each other." Crow sounded like he liked the idea too. "We are about halfway through Satellite. It should be much better once we get to the sea."
After a bit more work was done to figure out how the two dragons can fly next to each other safely, Crow continued to direct them in whispers. The Duel Monsters glided through the air in the vast emptiness of the sky. Looking outward, Aki could only see the soft orange glow of Carly's monster. Looking back, the orange light was reflecting on Yusei's white dragon, glittering a little on the horns and claws of Stardust Dragon. For a creature that Aki had always associated with Yusei's superiority, it seems much more docile and reserved in the half-light, as if it felt the weight of trepidation before they finally committed to their crazy adventure.
There was a sudden change in the air when they finally left Satellite. The sea air rushed up to meet them, bringing with it a tangy exhilaration that made Aki squint her eyes. Crow gave out a relieved sigh as the vague form of the narrow land bridge came into view. Aki gave a glance towards the eastern sky and saw it was getting bright. The waters below shimmered in the slowly clearing sky. On Carly's dragon, Jack sat up gingerly and peered towards the land bridge.
"A lot of Satellite's gangs are trying to cross the bridge on foot." Jack growled; his voice thick with annoyance. "I can see a whole lot of them, and they have the balls to wear their gang's uniforms too. You wanna do anything about them?"
"What… do you want to do about them?" Yusei's voice was cautious.
"Let's mess up the main road on the land bridge, so they can't pass through it." Jack sounded like he was gritting his teeth. "This is not how Satellite should 'liberate' itself from the City! Invading the City would only result in worse crackdowns. And here I thought Kiryu had learned from his mistakes."
"I actually agree." Crow spoke up too. "Not to mention them being in the City will make our mission even more dangerous."
"Crow's right." Aki brushed a stray bang out of her eyes. "So, should I do it? I can dive down and blast apart the road. They wouldn't be able to cross the land bridge on foot for a few hours after I'm done."
"Please don't overdo it, Aki-san…" Carly was somehow not objecting to this. "But wouldn't this expose us to all the people down there?"
With a hum, Yusei was the one who interjected. "We don't have to have Aki showing herself. In fact, I can probably do it, and it would damage these people's morale even more, to see the King of the City attacking from the sky."
"Are you… sure about that?" Aki didn't think Yusei would offer himself up for this.
"Yeah, it's just to collapse the road. I can do that." Yusei was already nudging his dragon away. "You guys keep going ahead. If I don't manage to get back to you on time, just keep going and land in Tops."
"Alright. You be careful." Aki wanted to say more, but there was no more time. The sky was getting brighter, dispelling the darkness they were using as cover. The rain clouds had withdrawn from Neo Domino, allowing a few rays of sunshine to sneak through the thick cloud cover. They could already see the pristine white buildings of Tops peeking through the morning ocean mist, the pre-dawn glow reflecting off the spotless rooftops. Yusei spoke up again.
"I'll definitely be careful. You stay alert. Don't let anything stop you."
Yusei raised his hand as he directed Stardust Dragon towards the land bridge and away from them. "Let's meet up at the gardens on the second level of Tops if I don't catch back up with you. We are going to stay as a team."
With that, Yusei was gone, swooping downward into the dark waters below, where even darker shadows beneath the water indicating ruins that once formed parts of Satellite. His white dragon became a swift streak of silver that quickly gathered the attention of the Satellite gangs walking on the land bridge, if their swift movement away from Yusei was any indication.
Aki took a deep breath and sat up straighter, guiding the rest of the team away from Yusei. She gazed at the radiant City – the beautiful white cage that had tormented her for so long – before swerving her dragon to curve around the bay, approaching Neo Domino from the darkest corner possible.
It finally felt right. Not just what they were doing, but everything finally felt right. These people – this group – they were no longer rivals vying for supremacy, no longer battling to defeat each other.
As she pressed her dragon into a downward dive to the City standing isolated on the plains below, Aki had to bite back a small grin tugging at the corner of her lips.
This time, they were a team.