"So, what you're telling is that Mikage and Ushio asked you to take care of some amnesiac stray. And you had to because Crow ate some fancy steak. Also, kinda, because Jack punched him a bunch. But turns out that he's a master mechanic. So, Yusei basically adopted him and now he's helping him build the engine, and Yusei has been ignoring you ever since."
"Basically." Crow sighs. So that's why he hasn't answered my texts since last night.
"You're a bunch of idiots."
"What do you mean by that?" Jack glares at me.
"Yusei's glad that he has someone to talk about D-Wheel stuff with. I mean, sure Crow built his own D-Wheel, but he's not exactly the most interested in this stuff. He talks to me sometimes about it, only to realise that I got distracted like five minutes ago." I normally just stare at his cute face. Once I actually started crying, he thought something was wrong, but no, he's just too beautiful for this world.
"Yeah, I guess that's true." Crow sighs, resting his head on the back of his hands. Jack stays silent, as usual.
"Yusei, let's duel!" Rua bursts into the kitchen.
"Rua discovered a new combo!" Ruka appears just after.
"Yusei, can you help me with this Physics problem?" Aki walks in right after. Crow shushes them, looking in the general direction of Yusei and Bruno, the amnesiac, sitting at the deck in the kitchen.
"Who is he?" Rua asks.
"He's a vagabond forced upon us by the Public Maintenance Department." Jack scoffs.
"Yusei hired and promoted him to super mechanic." Crow rolls his eyes. Both of them are being very salty about this.
"Super mechanic? Can he improve my Duel Board?" Rua's eyes and mouth are wide.
"Maybe." Crow's tone is giving a definite no answer.
"They're not bored. Are there that many topics to discuss?" Ruka pouts.
"I don't know." I shrug my shoulders, sitting on the arm of the couch next to Crow. "Have you seen Yusei talk about D-Wheels? He could go for hours."
"They've easily surpassed the number of conversations I've ever had with Yusei." Crow sighs again.
"Crow, that's a lie and you know it. You've known him longer than I have." I raise my eyebrows at him, he looks away.
"They're like a pair of lovebirds." I must admit, Rua's comment makes me chuckle.
"Rua, they met yesterday. You can't call them that." Ruka chides him.
"Oh yeah." Rua scratches the back of his head. Aki sighs. "What's wrong Aki?"
"I'm going home." She shakes her head. "I have so much homework to do."
"I didn't take Physics, but I'd say ask Kaoru, he's good at that kinda stuff." I lean back to look at her.
"Oh thank you." She waves. "Goodbye everyone." She says before going back down the stairs.
"Bye!" Everyone chirps out in some fashion.
"Well, if this gets us one step closer to creating a new engine, it's a godsend." Crow crosses his arms.
"True that." I answer.
"You have to give up your couch though." I can hear the smirk in Crow's voice. "You can't just stay over here whenever you want, unless you wanna sleep on this couch."
"Shit." I murmur under my breath.
Yusei hasn't slept in days. I know that for a fact, even though, I haven't been staying here. Yusei tells me that he's close to finishing to the programme, so I stay that night. Only heading up once Crow and Jack have gone asleep. I'll wake early in the morning and pretend I slept on the couch in the kitchen. My general plan. I'm used to it at this point. Good thing both Yusei and I are early risers. I can't sleep, knowing the possibility that Yusei could walk through that door any moment. I practically jump up once he does. I make grabbing motions in his direction. I hear him chuckle, taking off his jacket.
"We finished the programme." He says once he gets in the bed.
"Congrats honey, you did such a good job." I pull him tighter. "So, y'know with Bruno, do I get you on the weekends or is it more of an openly sharing thing?"
"Goodnight Yuuka." I feel him shaking his head, but I know he's smiling. I roll my eyes.
"Night honey." I let him, cause I know he hasn't in days. He'll work himself to death one of these days.
I'm making coffee the next morning for us when I feel Yusei's aura suddenly darkens. Following by panicked talking. Then, Jack starts shouting.
"Are you sure?" I hear from up here. I already have a headache. I take the coffee cups into the basement. "What? Someone stole the data?" I nearly drop the cups.
"What?" I ask.
"We were careless. We should've made a backup." Yusei shifts in his spot, uncomfortable from all the shouting Jack's doing. He takes the coffee cup off me.
"Yusei and I were both exhausted. It couldn't be helped." Bruno steps up to Jack. Bad idea on his part, but okay. Jack then proceeds to grab Bruno by the front of his shirt.
"You're the thief! I was suspicious of you from the start!" Jack keeps shouting. Can we put a muffle or something on him please before I get a headache?
"You're wrong! It wasn't me!" Bruno's not lying. What little aura he has is telling me that. Another metallic aura, seriously what's with that lately?
"Wait, Jack!" Yusei goes to stand between them.
"Don't stop me, Yusei! I'll uncover his identity!" I sigh.
"Stop it!" Crow walks up to Jack too,, stepping in before I can.
"You're also taking his side?" Jack is taking everything as personal attack again today, isn't he?
"It's not about that. If he was the thief, he would've already left after stealing the data. A criminal doesn't remain at the scene of the crime." Crow moves his head to his mouth.
"Crow would know about that." I try to make a joke out of it, but no one is taking any of my shit today.
"That's true, but…" Jack's eyes flick back and forth, pushing Bruno away. "Can't you rebuild the programme again?"
"It's not that simple. Building a programme is like a live concert. There's lots of ad-libbing, so it's impossible to recreate it." I sigh at Bruno's answer.
"So our only option is to find the thief?" Jack pouts.
"Yep." I groan. Crow walks over to the deck.
"But the thief didn't leave any evidence behind. Even the fingerprints have been wiped clean." Crow blows on the desk, looking for fingerprints.
"Maybe he wore gloves and didn't leave any in the first place."
"If there are no leads, how can we find the criminal?" I shrug my shoulders at Jack's question. Bruno suddenly gasps.
"What is it, Bruno?" Yusei asks.
"One of the cup ramens is missing." Oh here we go, Jack's gonna flip now.
"What? My cup ramen!?" He cries, as expected. Bruno stares at the bin before going to take a pair of tweezers out of the drawer. He takes a clear wrapper out of the bin, holding it up.
"I found the thief's fingerprint! While stealing the data, the thief was also eating the cup ramen." A smile cracks on Bruno's face.
"What?" Jack's eyes widen.
"Are you serious?" Crow just looks like he's trying not to get his hopes up.
"The criminal couldn't tear the cellophane, so he took off his gloves."
"Oh yeah, I hate that layer of plastic." I shake my head.
So now that we have the thief's fingerprints, our natural reaction is to hack Security. Only these people, I swear.
"Are you really going to do this, Yusei?" Jack asks, clearly worried about his personal safety, and y'know, not being arrested.
"Yeah. We can identify the thief by searching for this fingerprint in Security's database." Yusei seems awfully calm about all of this.
"But Security's database is protected by a powerful firewall. If they trace our hack, we'll be arrested." Jack taps his fingers on his arms.
"Couldn't we just call in a favour to our old pal Ushio? Imagine that he owes us one because we took in a stray amnesiac for them, oh wait." I shake my head, sighing.
"It will be quicker this way. If we relay our hacking connection through servers around the world, we have five minutes." Yusei answers me without looking at me before turning to Bruno. "Bruno, can you break in within five minutes?"
"Hopefully." He answers.
"Do you want us to stop, Jack?" Yusei turns slightly but doesn't look away from the screen, knowing that Jack won't say yes.
"I'll leave Jack Atlas's fate to you!" He grits his teeth.
"Don't hit me if I fail." Bruno jokes.
"No guarantees there pal." I joke back.
"Of course I'll hit you!" Jack glares down at him.
"Here we go! Begin access!" Bruno acts like Jack didn't just threaten physical violence. There's a lot of typing going on, and I don't understand most of it.
"The trace has started. Can you do it?" Yusei asks Bruno again.
"I think so. It's a simple system." Bruno says, nodding.
"I don't fully understand, but…" Jack's words trail off.
"This guy is incredible." Crow chips in, finishing his sentence.
"Told you guys." I say, crossing my arms. Yusei needs a friend on his level. To be honest, the three of us are pretty stupid.
"Alright! If I pass the next one, we're in the database!" Bruno says as a duel puzzle shows up on the screen.
"What's this? It's suddenly a duel screen." Crow moves closer to look at the screen.
"This is the endgame of a duel!" Yusei's eyes widen.
"I see." Bruno nods. "The Public Maintenance Department uses the endgame of a duel as a password."
"We had these puzzles back in Duel Academy. They're quite tricky." I cringe at the memory of them. I tend to do better in them than most, but still.
"If we don't solve this, we can't move forward?" Crow asks.
"That's right. Four minutes left." Yusei grits his teeth.
"We have to solve it within the time limit." Crow says, stating the obvious.
"The status is... The opponent has 2300 life points. We have 1000. The opponent has five monsters on its field. In its Spell and Trap Card Zone, it has one set card and the activated Continuous Spell, The Dark Door. Tragoedia is on our field. It gains 600 attack points for every card in our hand. We have six cards in our hand." Bruno explains the setup. I look closer to get a good look at the hand. Normally, these puzzles have you use every card in your given hand. I just need to know what that set card is.
"It says, 'You must win during this turn'." Crow reads the bar at the bottom of the screen. Standard goal for one of these puzzles. Normally they make it so the correct answer leaves the opponent's life points at exactly 0.
"Our main worry is the set card on its field." I nod.
"We have to reduce the opponent's life points to 0 this turn. Alright, I got it!" Bruno stands up so Crow can give it a shot. "Leave it to me! Since I have a monster with 3600 attack points and Shooting Star Bow - Ceal, the answer is simple! I equip the Equip Spell, Shooting Star Bow - Ceal on Green Gadget!" Since he played a card, Tragoedia's attack lowers by 600. "It loses 1000 attack points(ATK:1400-400)! Go, Tragoedia! Attack Green Gadget!"
"I activate the trap, Mirror Force." The duel bot's automated voice rings out.
"What?" I sigh, should have expected that one.
"Due to The Dark Door's effect, both players can only attack once. We can't win this turn." Yusei sighs too.
"Crow, how dare you waste precious time!" Jack grabs Crow out of the chair by his shirt.
"What?" Crow shouts back at him.
"But we learned something. We know that the set card is Mirror Force." Yusei tries to calm them down. The first attempt is very rarely successful.
"Mirror Force will completely destroy us if we attack. That's trouble!" Crow moves his arms dramatically to get the point across.
"We work our way around it." I answer.
"I can't watch your pathetic dueling!" Jack takes the now empty seat. "That's what you get for being sneaky and equipping an Equip Spell on the enemy to lower its attack points! A duel is about pushing through with your own power! I equip the Equip Spell, Axe of Despair(ATK:3600-3000)! Tragoedia has 4000 attack points(ATK:3000-4000)! Go, Tragoedia! Attack Green Gadget!" Jack gasps, realising his mistake.
"I activate the trap, Mirror Force." The duel bot's automated voice rings out again.
"Did you forget that the card was Mirror Force?" This time, Crow grabs Jack by the arm.
"I was testing to see if they changed the set card!" Jack's lying.
"Sure." I say sarcastically. I move closer to the screen again. Okay, the only thing that can stop Mirror Force is Antique Gear Soldier. Activating Cost Down, then Tragoedia's effect...
"We can't waste time!" Crow shouts at Jack. But even with both Equip Spells, we won't deal enough damage. But Stronghold, if I use his effect to my advantage...
"We have less than two minutes. Our next attempt will be our final chance." Yusei turns to me. "Yuuka, you said you have experience with these?"
"I have an idea, but I'm not sure it will work…"
"Will you let me try?" Bruno volunteers himself, I sigh in relief. I never do well under pressure, that's why my exam grades were so bad even in my dueling classes.
"Can you do it?" Yusei asks.
"Yeah." Bruno nods. "The only memories I have left are about D-Wheels and dueling. Besides, this might trigger my memories."
"Okay." Yusei smiles. "Do it, Bruno." Bruno takes his seat back.
"Yusei, you can't count on him!" Jack starts shouting again. I'm really considering the muzzle at this point.
"Yusei trusts him and so should we." I scoff.
"Stop complaining! There's no time!" Crow turns to Bruno. "Can you solve this difficult problem in only two minutes?"
"Here I go. The first problem is Mirror Force. I can't let that card activate. The only one that can stop Mirror Force is... Only Antique Gear Soldier can stop traps activating during battle." Bruno is thinking the same thing I was.
"But, Antique Gear Soldier is on the opponent's field." Jack mutters.
"I'll use its effect. Due to Tragoedia's effect, I send a card in my hand to the grave once per turn. I gain control of my opponent's monster whose Level is the same as the monster I discarded." Bruno is on the exact same thought trail I was on. I swear if I was right all along. "But Antique Gear Soldier's Level is 4. I only have Level 6 Alector, Sovereign of Birds in my hand. But I have a card named Cost Down. By discarding a card from my hand, Cost Down reduces the Level of all monsters in my hand by 2."
"That will make Alector's Level equal 4!" Crow's eyes widen.
"Exactly! I activate Cost Down from my hand! I send Remove Trap to my grave to decrease Alector's Level from 6 to 4. Next, due to Tragoedia's effect, I send Alector to the grave to gain control of Antique Gear Soldier!" Bruno declares.
"I see. Now, equip Axe of Despair and attack Green Gadget!" Jack exclaims.
"No, not yet." I nod at Yusei.
"Yusei's right." Bruno says.
"The max damage using both Equip Spells is 1900, we need 2300." I explain.
"Then what should we do?" Jack asks, getting awfully invested.
"Check the screen again. There's one thing we're forgetting. It's this effect!" Bruno points to Stronghold.
"I see." Jack murmurs.
"But Stronghold has 3000 attack points." Crow raises an eyebrow.
"It only has 3000 attack points when Green Gadget, Yellow Gadget and Red Gadget are on the field. Without all three, it has 0 attack points." Yep, I was entirely right.
"I see victory!" Yusei says as him and Bruno nod at each other.
"I discard Shooting Star Bow - Ceal from my hand to activate the Spell Card, Tribute to the Doomed! I destroy Green Gadget! Stronghold's attack points become 0! Then I equip Axe of Despair! Antique Gear Soldier's attack points become 2300(ATK:1300-2300)! Go, Antique Gear Soldier! Attack Stronghold!" Bruno declares, ending the duel. The word clear appears on the screen. I was right in my strategy, should have gone for it. Ah well.
"We did it!" Jack and Crow cheer.
"Well done, Bruno!" Yusei smiles.
"Good job buddy." I pat Bruno on the back but it ends up being harder than I intended.
"We have to check the fingerprint quickly!" Bruno starts typing quickly. The picture of the thief appears on the screen, getting gasps from everyone.
"That's…" Jack trails off.
"Do you know him?" Bruno looks at us, confused.
"Public Maintenance Department's Vice Director, Jaeger." Yusei's brow furrows. "He's the one who stole our programme?"
"He's never come here before. But since his fingerprint is here, there's no doubt." Jack scoffs.
"Why would a high-ranked official steal? Is he planning to sell it and make money?" Crow asks.
"Public Maintenance Department, I wouldn't expect anything different." I say, crossing my arms.
"I don't know, so we have to ask him directly." Jack answers Crow's question.
"That programme is worth a lot to the robber. If he's going to give it to someone, he won't transmit the data. He'll hand it over in person." Pretty sound logic.
"You're right." Yusei nods at Bruno.
"That means he'll be acting solo." Jack adds.
"That's when we'll catch him!" Crow grins.
"It's decided." Yusei puts his hands on Bruno's shoulder. "That program is our bond to make our dreams come true."
"Yusei…" Bruno mutters.
"We must retrieve our bond!"
We camp across the road from Security HQ, waiting for Jaeger to appear. We've hidden ourselves behind a corner because he'll run if we're spotted.
"He's here." Yusei whispers.
"Yes!" Crow tries to keep his cheers to a whisper, doesn't really work. Once Jaeger drives off in his fancy limo, we follow on our D-Wheels. He leads us to the shopping mall. He's trying to shake us off his tail, I say. We followed the car a little too closely.
"So?" Jack asks as we hide behind yet another corner. I spot Jaeger moving over to a ramen stand, must be his weakness I think.
"Alright. He's all alone right now." Yusei whispers.
"This is our chance!" Crow kind of whispers as he moves forward. He sneaks to the other side of Jaeger while Jack goes the side nearest to us.
"Oh my! The new Japanese sauce noodles have been released!" I hear Jaeger fawning over the cup ramen. "And that's the re-release of the rare Yellow Weasel!" Jack and Crow jump on him. Jack manages to grab his arms while Crow takes the legs. Crow has to squat, but they manage to keep him upright. "What are you doing? What do you want with me?" Jaeger struggles like he's innocent.
"You stole our programme!" Yusei, Bruno and I move closer to him.
"Give it back!" Bruno says, kneeling in front of him.
"What are you talking about?" Jaeger's eyes flick back and forth, clearly lying.
"Don't act dumb! We found your fingerprint in our garage!" Crow shouts.
"Fingerprint?"
"That's right!" Jack rubs his forearms together, squishing Jaeger's face. "I'm going to get revenge for my cup ramen!"
"I have no clue what you're talking about." Jaeger moves so suddenly that he's almost a blur. Then, he's at the end of the hallway. "Until next time!"
"You!" Crow shouts after him. Jaeger, using some metal, manages to heave himself up onto the next floor. "He always escapes so quickly!"
"After him!" Yusei says. We start running up the nearest escalator.
"Where did he go?" We scramble, looking around when we get to the next floor.
"What?" Yusei directs our attention to two Jaeger walking strangely.
"There are two of him?" Bruno mumbles. It's a trap, my gut instinct says.
"What's going on?" Both Jaegers run off in one direction.
"After them!" Jack cries. They start running.
"I'll look somewhere else in case he's tricking us." I say before running down the escalator. There can't be two Jaegers, so one's a fake. That's what he would want us to think, so we go on a wild goosechase. He's actually going to leave the building now. I spot Jaeger on the floor below me as I run down another escalator. I manage to fumble my phone out of my pocket and call Yusei. "Jaeger's leaving the building. Meet me at the entrance we came in." I trip at the bottom of the escalator. "Shit!" My kneepads save me from wrecking my knee. "I'm okay." I feel the need to add that for Yusei's sake.
We spot Jaeger hailing a taxi in the car park, as soon as it takes off, we follow on our D-Wheels.
We hide behind what I'm hoping is the last corner of the day. We're outside a factory that looks abandoned with danger signs in front, so a cool place really. Perfect fit for a duel gang. Yusei peers around the corner and nods.
"The exchange will happen here." Yusei whispers.
"What should we do? Should we wait for everyone else?" I shake my head at Bruno's question.
"No, I already transmitted our location to Jack and Crow. Unless we catch him in the act, he won't confess. Let's follow him." Yusei answers.
We enter the factory and it's dark, very dark. I feel like I'm in a horror movie kinda dark.
"What are they building in this factory?" Bruno asks.
"Your guess is as good as mine." I reply. This place gives me the creeps. Not just because it's eerily dark. No, there's something in here causing this reaction.
"It's like the inside of a spaceship." Bruno mumbles.
"Yeah, I've never seen such a technologically advanced factory." Yusei nods. Suddenly, alarms start sounding. We turn around, looking for some clue as to what's going on. "A security camera!" He exclaims. "Let's go!" We start running again, down the corridor.
"Okay!" Bruno shouts back. A door in front of us starts lowering. Yusei quickly rolls underneath to the other side. Since he had a head start, Bruno tries to go through, only to barely miss the opening. The door closes and the alarms seems louder.
"Yuuka! Bruno!" Yusei shouts through the door. "Are you okay, Yuuka!?"
"I'm sorry, Yusei. We're fine!" Bruno shouts back.
"I see. I'm going to keep going." Yusei says.
"Okay. I'll call Jack and Crow!" Bruno looks behind us.
"Thanks!" Yusei shouts, he's about to run I think.
"Yusei!" I shout through. "The level of security means they're hiding something. Remember that!"
"Gotcha, Yuuka!" Bruno and I start running. We try making our way back to the entrance, but we only get lost. I grit my teeth. It shouldn't have been that difficult. We took a wrong turn somewhere.
"Is this the right direction?" Bruno asks me as we find a locked door.
"Judging by that, no." I shake my head, starting to turn back. "It's a dead end."
"If a door's locked, then unlock it!" Bruno opens his jacket to reveal many pockets with many tools.
"No wonder you and Yusei are such good friends!" I laugh. Bruno manages to get the door open after a little bit of tinkering. The door opens into a pitch black room.
"Where are we?" He mumbles. My head throbs as an aura appears behind us.
"This place isn't for you." The voice says.
"Who are you?" Bruno mutters as his pupils dilate. "You're…" He doesn't finish this as the man in white punches him in the stomach, knocking him out. I jump back. I read his aura. Metallic again. Wait… It's the same as that Luciano kid's. That can't be possible. How are these two related?
"I won't let anyone interfere." The man's single eye narrows.
"Who are you?" I ask again. No answer. The fight instinct triggers inside me. I run at them, getting to get a well placed kick in. He blocks me with his arm. Steel. That's what his arm is made of. I go for other. He blocks me with both arms, pushing me into the doorframe. I bang my head and everything goes black for a split second. I try getting up. He merely walks away. I try holding onto the wall as I hobble my way after him. I only get so far before black clouds my vision.
I wake up to the sensation of my chest burning, and the sound of engines roaring. I can barely stay conscious, let alone get up. My head throbs so hard, it's enough to knock me out again.
"I repeat. This factory will be destroyed in ten minutes." The sound of alarms stirs me awake.
"Yuuka…" I hear Bruno's voice. He's struggling to get up himself. "Where are we?" He helps me stand up. We walk around the dark empty space, this must be the room we unlocked.
"No idea, and who was that man?" I answer.
"What were they making here?" He questions again.
"Whatever was here is gone, they mustn't have wanted us to see it." I shake my head. Things are only getting stranger around here.
"Yuuka! Bruno!" I hear Crow call out.
"Crow!" I answer back. Crow runs into the room with Jack.
"What happened?" He asks.
"We followed Jaeger to this factory." Bruno explains.
"What happened to Yusei?" Crow asks, sounding panicked.
"We were separated." I sigh.
"Damn!" He curses, thinking of our new time limit. "Where is he?"
"That looks like the control room." Jack points to the top of the room. "If we go there, we might see what's going on in this building."
"Alright, let's go!" We start running. I suddenly become aware of how little time ten minutes is. I only hope Yusei is okay.
"It's turned on!" Crow shouts as we enter the control room.
"What's this?" Jack scans the control panel, all of it red from alarms.
"It can't be!" Crow exclaims.
"The self-destruct is on!" Bruno starts typing furiously. "There's no mistake! The self-destruct is on!" Dammit.
"Self-destruct?" Crow echoes.
"Can you stop it?" Jack asks.
"No! The keyboard isn't working!" Suddenly, screens come up showing Yusei in a duel.
"Yusei!" Crow exclaims. "He's dueling. What's that robot?"
"Why is Jaeger also there?" Jack ponders, confused. Admittedly, I am too. I look over at the mic on the control desk, no harm in trying.
"Yusei, can you hear me?" I shout into the mic. Yusei looks towards the camera.
"Yusei!" Crow leans into the mic with me.
"Yusei, are you okay?" Jack shouts from the other side of the deck.
"What's going on, Yusei?" Bruno shouts next.
"Yuuka! Jack! Crow! Bruno!" Yusei exclaims.
"Stop wasting time! Hurry up and leave! The factory is going to explode soon!" Jack moves closer to the mic, though I still grip it for dear life. I realise that if something goes wrong, this could be the last time I talk to Yusei.
"What?" The panic shows in Yusei's eyes.
"I knew that's what the counter was showing!" I hear Jaeger scream in the background.
"Hurry up and leave, Yusei! There's no time!" My hand shakes as I struggle to get the words out.
"I can't. The door won't open unless I defeat it."
"What?" Crow shouts into the mic without intending to.
"No way." Bruno mutters.
"Then stop playing around and defeat it quickly!" Jack shouts again.
"He can't. It's using a powerful lock deck!" Jaeger screams back.
"There's no time left!" Jack's tone only gets more frantic.
"Forget about me! Leave!" Yusei screams back.
"We can't do that!" I feel tears burning in my tear ducts.
"Don't worry. I know how to win." I believe in Yusei, I tell myself. I let go of the microphone.
"How can you say that you're fine? Everyone, please save me!" Jaeger just keeps screaming.
"There's no time! Go!" Yusei's tone is firm. I start walking.
"Yusei…" Bruno mutters.
"Fine. We leaving, Crow, Bruno!" Jack follows my lead.
"I can't leave Yusei behind! You can leave if you want to!" Bruno shouts. Jack lands a solid hit on Bruno's face, throwing him into the control desk. "Ouch! Why did you do that?"
"If you're not going to leave, then I'll drag you out!" Jack's tone is deadly serious. I close my eyes and sigh.
"What?" Bruno asks.
"You're not the only one who's hurting!" Crow grits his teeth and walks with us.
"Crow... Jack... I understand." Bruno nods.
"Yusei, I'll be waiting for you!" Crow shouts back at Yusei.
"Yeah. Jack, I leave the rest to you." Yusei nods at the camera.
"I won't forgive you if you die here!" Jack lifts his head.
"Yusei, make sure you come back!" Bruno says.
"If you don't come back, I'll kill you myself!" I shout back at Yusei before I start running.
"Right." I hear the smile in Yusei's voice. "Go!"
We run down the darkened corridors again. I nearly stumble a few times as usual. The knock on the head really had an effect on me.
"You don't know Yusei. He told us to leave because he felt that he was troubling us." Jack says to Bruno as we run.
"But neither we nor Yusei are giving up!" Crow adds.
"Even if his chances of losing are 99%..." Jack's words trail off.
"He believes in the final 1% and wins!" Crow finishes Jack's sentence with a smile.
"That's the kinda guy Yusei is." I add.
"Jack... Crow… Yuuka... Okay. I'll believe in Yusei!" Bruno smiles.
The robotic voice over the speakers starts counting down from sixty. We starts running quicker, if that's possible. We barely make it out the door as the timer hits zero. We hear explosions in the background. Fire starts erupting from the building. We're a good distance away from the building when it finally explodes. The force of it is enough to knock us to the ground. I cover the back of my neck in my panic. As soon as I fall on the ground, it hits me. Yusei. He was still in there. Jack, Crow and Bruno stand up. But I can't find the strength, tears threaten to fall.
"Yusei…" They all repeat.
A plume of black smoke and fire fills the sky. A yellow balloon peaks out from the smoke, Jaeger following, then Yusei hanging on for dear life. My breath is so shaky that every part of me jitters. I nearly cry from the relief alone.
"Yusei!" I shout followed by Crow and Bruno.
"I knew you'd be safe!" Jack helps me up.
"It's just as you said, Jack." Bruno smiles.
"Of course!" Jack grins.
Jaeger drops Yusei on a nearby grassy hill. I run as fast as my feet can carry me.
"Yusei!" I scream again. I hug him so tight that he falls to the ground, taking me with him. My face feels embarrassingly hot as I get up off him. We both laugh. His hair is a mess, which makes me laugh more. I laugh off all of the stress that was in my body.
A/N: Ruka's reaction to Rua saying that Yusei and Bruno has always rubbed me the wrong way. I changed that to something a bit more in line with how Ruka is presented with canon normally.