Episode 6: Invitational

"Mei-senpai!" Kanako-chan called my name from behind and I turned in time to see her catching up to me in the hallway.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me, Kanako?"

She ignored my cruel comment and continued with her question, "I heard you got in trouble with your folks yesterday for skipping your afternoon classes. Was it bad?"

I rolled my eyes, turning to continue down the hallway and as usual Kanako-chan fell into step alongside me. It was morning, just before homeroom. As usual I'd gotten to school really early (one benefit of living right next door), so I had some time. However, spending the few moments of peace I had in the school day explaining stuff I didn't want to think about was hardly high on my list of priorities, "It was nothing. My folks try not to be too hard on me. My mom was pretty annoyed, gave me the same old talk about responsibility, but she didn't do anything."

"Oh. I suppose that's good." she didn't seem convinced, "I sorta wish my parents were like that, but I bet it could get lonely sometimes."

"Hm?" I gave my underclassman a quizzical look.

My direct gaze seemed to make her uncomfortable, "I mean,... never getting punished no matter what you do must make you feel like they don't care. Or am I wrong?"

Turning away, I grunted negatively. She wasn't entirely wrong. It was true that I hadn't be punished in a long time, not in the traditional sense at least. Dad would just sit me down and talk about what I'd done, get my reasons, and try to teach me how I was wrong when I was. Mom would be a bit harsher, but never did anything solid except at school. If I did something wrong at school I was punished to the letter by the rules of the school. It didn't bother me too much at first, but things had changed in the past few years. Ever since... 'then'... my mother had acted afraid to even speak too harshly with me. Dad stopped his little talk thing almost completely, just reprimanding me in passing at meals and not talking to me for the rest of the day. Not that we never spoke, he only ignored me when I was acting up. That's not to say our relationship was very vocal either, at least not as much as it had been.

"Mei-senpai?" Kanako-chan spoke up, "Are you okay? You've been looking really distracted lately. More so than usual I mean." She grinned mischievously at that last sentence, a bit of innocent teasing.

I didn't look at her as I replied, "I've just been thinking a lot about various things."

"Ah, I imagine so, what with the upcoming tournament and all. You might actually get the chance to meet him."

I froze, putting aside the fact that Kanako was the only one aside from family that knew I was a Jack Atlas fangirl, I'd totally forgotten about the qualifiers for the Fortune Cup. "Honestly, it slipped my mind.... Great, now I have something else to think about. Like I need that."

"Oh but don't you want to meet Jack? The only way to participate in the Fortune Cup tournament aside from being invited is to win the qualifying tournament. Oh, and just think about all the duelists you'll meet on the way! It's a great opportunity!"

"You don't have to tell me that." I turned and continued on with a scoff, "You act like your in some fan fiction handing out thinly veiled plot exposition."

"That reminds me! I finished my story about Jack!"

"You mean that one where he meets a goofy reporter whose glasses conceal her beauty and he falls in love with her honesty and quirky behavior, becoming a better man and remembering what really matters in life?"

Kanako smiled, "Yep! That's the one."

"Like that would ever happen."

My upperclassman hopped in front of me and spread her arms out to her sides with enthusiasm, stopping me in my tracks, "That's the great thing about fan fiction! No matter how unlikely the situation, you can make magic happen!"

I gave her a sideways look, "You are so weird."

Kanako pouted, "Says the girl who secretly makes Jack Atlas slide shows set to Avril Lavigne hits and posts them on YouTube."

"Hush! Someone could hear you!" pushing her gently aside, I continued on my way again, "That aside, I'll be ready enough for the qualifiers. It doesn't matter who's going to show up to face me, I'll beat them just the same."

"But I hear some dangerous types might be entering."

"Dangerous?"

Kanako nodded, "Yeah, they're letting people from Satellite enter."

I rolled my eyes, "Dumpster divers don't scare me, criminal marks or not. Nobody in that backwater pit could ever be a threat to me."

Koyou's Perspective

As his life points went down to nothing and the holograms or our monsters vanished, Blitz chuckled to himself, "Wow, you're strong, Koyou. You really must be from the city. I've only seen a handful of satellite folks that can duel anywhere near your level."

"So there's more duelists like Yusei around?" I'd been starting to wonder. In the days since my first turbo duel and Yusei's departure I'd quickly realized why Danny, who was so much weaker than me, had grown so arrogant. Most people in the area seemed to only have weak cards, only a few people I'd come across had any ability to launch major strategies.

Blitz nodded, "Oh yeah, there's Crow, Johnson, the thugs with Danny that day are pretty good. Then there's Furry."

"Furry?"

"Big guy, lots of hair. He plays a deck built entirely around Kuriboh cards."

I scratched my head, "And he's one of the good ones? With only Kuribohs he must be some kind of dueling monster."

"He's a real beast alright." taking his cards out of his duel disk, my friend slipped his deck back into pocket and walked towards me, heading past me on the way out of the alley we'd been dueling in. He continued as I fell into step beside him, "I'm sure you'll find a lot of good competition soon, especially with the rumors going around."

The rumors he was referring to were about a tournament sponsored by Securities, a qualifier of sorts to earn the chance to participate in a tournament in the city called the Fortune Cup. The winner of the 'Satellite Cup' as people would face the winner of the qualifier held in the city. There was no confirmation of it though. Supposedly someone had just overheard some security officers complaining about scum getting a chance to participate.

"There's no guarantee that it's even true. Besides, doesn't the Fortune Cup involve turbo dueling? I might need a working runner to qualify and I still don't have a runner that can go over fifty miles per hour without overheating. I can't win a race with that."

"Maybe you should try a track down Danny and force him to give you a chip?"

I shook my head, "I'd rather stay in Satellite with no memories than deal with that prick again."

We turned a corner and headed back towards the hangout, "I can understand that. If only one of us worked in a section of the plant that builds CPUs. We could fix yours."

I pondered breaking into the factory, but I had no idea how to do something like that, and besides, it was open all the time. It would be more like an infiltration. Any failure would probably get my friends fired just for knowing me. My thoughts were broken into by Rally running out of the subway station with a joyous look on his face.

"Koyou! Koyou! It's true!" he said, holding up a flier, "They put up fliers announcing the tournament! It starts tomorrow morning!"

When he reached us I took the offered flier and looked at it. Sure enough, the Satellite Cup was officially on, and it was going to be starting the next morning. Unfortunately, there was also going to be turbo duels involved. By the second round actually. "There's no way I can get my runner working by tomorrow evening for the second round."

Rally looked sad, having promised to not steal again. I could tell he was tempted to steall another chip and sacrifice himself for me. I stopped the thought process right then and there, "No stealing, Rally. Even if I can't get a working chip and join this tournament, I'll find some other way into the city. I don't mind waiting a few months if I have to. You got that?"

He simply nodded.

Blitz sighed, "Maybe if you could talk to Crow he could help you get some tools to fix it. You can't get into the factory fast enough getting a job, but Crow's good at breaking into places and sneaking into them to."

"Crow's one the duelists you mentioned earlier. You know him?"

Blitz nodded, "Yeah, he's an old friend. Haven't talked to him in a while since he's usually pretty busy, but he wouldn't turn you down."

"Well that sounds good. Where do I find him?"

"That's kind of the problem. He lives in the B.A.D. Area. It's one of the more dangerous parts of the Satellite."

"I'm not afraid of a little danger."

"Danny's crew likes to call it their turf, you might get ganged up on if you go in there."

I scratched my head in annoyed thought, "That could be a problem. You think I might be able to get to Crow before they find me?"

"Maybe, I'll draw you a map. Come on." Blitz lead the way into the hideout and I readied myself for what lay ahead.

The B.A.D. Area was truly a decimated place, even by Satellite standards. I'd heard about the accident that had caused Satellite to be separated from the rest of the city, but guiding my runner down the streets and seeing the barely shoved aside rubble in person put some perspective I'd lacked to it. Making people live in such a place without making any attempts at repair was just inhumane. I was astounded that this Crow fellow could support an entire group of orphans like I'd been told. No wonder he was a break-in artist. No factory job could achieve the kind of revenue he would need. I hadn't yet met him, but I had to respect him.

I was going 45 down the road, which wasn't fast, but fast enough to cause damage to th kid that suddenly ran out into the street in pursuit of a ball. I barely managed to brake in time to avoid breaking him. "Kid, watch out. You nearly got yourself hit."

The kid looked at me in fear, probably because he was used to the gangs in the area or something. The fact I was pretty tall and a stranger likely didn't help much either. The kid was too young to have enough deductive reasoning and figure out I wasn't dangerous. After all, I'd stopped, not yelled, and had no marker, but he still started crying. I had no idea what to do. What little I knew of myself didn't include being good with children.

"Hey, kid, don't cry. I'm not mad or anything." I dismounted my bike and squatted down so I;d seem smaller.

"Oi! Patrick! Watch it!" a scolding voice came out from the same direction the boy had run from. I turned t see the source, a short but muscular guy with long orange hair held up by a headband. He was dressed like and bore enough criminal marks to match Blitz's description of Crow, "How ,any times have I told you to look both ways before you go into the street?" The man looked to me apologetically, "Sorry about that. He's lucky you cared enough to not just run him over."

"From that I get the impression that you've seen kids hit before."

"Only me that one time thankfully. It only winged me too. Otherwise I'd be dead."

I stayed where I was so the boy could keep calming down, but continued my conversation, "Are you Crow?"

"Who's asking?" he said, not necessarily suspicious, but being careful.

"My name's Koyou. Blitz said you could help me get access to some specialized tools for my runner."

"Oh, you know Yusei's crew?" he thought a moment and comforted Patrick,"Since it's Yusei you probably need tools for a circuit board. I know for a fact he has everything else."

I nodded, "That's right. My CPU is damaged, my regulator program can't keep my engine cool. Blitz said you could sneak me into the factory so I can fix it."

"It'll take a few days to gt that kind of thing ready."

"I need it done before tomorrow."

Crow cocked an eyebrow, "So you're entering the tournament?"

"Yeah, the second round is in the evening and I'll need a working runner for that."

Crow stood up again and I got the impression I should too, "Then let's make a deal. I meant to go make this deal with Yusei, but I've been too busy. Thing is I've got some tools, but I'm terrible at circuit boards."

"So you want me to help you with your runner, and if I do you'll let me fix mine too."

"Exactly."

Patrick seemed recovered, "Crow, are you entering the tournament after all?"

The orange-haired duelist smiled at the boy, "Seems like it. We have a deal, Koyou?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to help. Keep in mind though, when the time comes I'll be the one winning the tournament." I said this with a friendly smile on my face, as an invitation to competition later.

My new friend laughed, "Well, I'll look forward to that then. Come on. I have to take this rascal back to the others, then we can head over to my place, it isn't far."

The two of us chatted a bit as I worked on the motherboard of his runner and I learned a lot about the past of Yusei, Crow, and Jack. Apparently they were long time friends, orphans helping each other and the other kids like them survive on the streets. It made it seem all the stranger that Jack would betray them. Crow didn't go into too much detail, just opening up enough to explain his dreams of making the Satellite a better place. I explained to him why I had to beat him. Even if my motivations weren't as noble or important as his, I had to fulfill them.

Something I'd said seemed to make him think, as the moment I got done fixing my own runner, he challenged me, "How about we test them out, see what they can really do?"
"You're challenging me to a turbo duel?"

"Why not? It's a good way to see if or runners are at their best and see what we'll be up against in the tournament finals." he said the last part with a mischievous smile.

It was a smile I returned, "All right. What's the course?"

"A lap around the main street. We don't have a track so it's Street Duel rules. That fine with you?"

"You've got yourself a duel."

We wheeled our runners out to the street and Crow set the goal, "First one back here wins."

"Let's rev it up." firing up our runners, the duel was on.

Crow: 4000, Koyou: 4000

Crow shot off the starting line like a bullet, his runner was so much faster than my stock parts one that I stood no chance of taking the first turn, both in the race and in the duel. One thing was clear. I wasn't going to win in a contest of speed, even though my bike was climbing past 60 and working fine. I'd have to beat him in the duel portion.

My new friend drew as he rounded the first turn, "I've got the first turn, so I'll draw and play the continuous spell card 'Black Whirlwind'. Whenever I normal summon a Blackwing monster to my side of the field I can bring a Blackwing monster from my deck to my hand that has less attack." the card appeared next to his runner. It was a formidable one indeed. Even knowing little of this Blackwing archetype, I could tell it was powerful, "Next I'll summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear!" a bird man with a huge spear and 1700 attack hit the field, "Black Whirlwind activates, and I add Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow to my hand! To end it all I'll place 2 cards face down. Your move."

I went to work, drawing a card from the top of my deck, "My draw, I summon forth Gemini Scorpion! His effect activates, special summoning Evocator Chevalier from my hand." the the dark armored Gemini Scorpion appeared and Evocator Chevalier stepped from his shadow in all his 1900 attack glory, "Now, from my hand I activate the equip spell Supervise! Equipping this to Evcator grants him an effect. By sending one equip spell I control to the grave, I can destroy one card on your side of the field."

Crow reached for a face-down card, "I don't think so. I activate the trap card Icarus Attack. I trubute Bora the Spear and destroy your Evocator and your Scorpion!" Both by monsters shattered from the effect and I winced, but it wasn't over, a pillar of fire erupted, birthing Evocator Chevalier anew. Crow was surprised, "What?"

"By destroying Evocator Chevalier you sent Supervise to the grave. When Supervise hits the grave I can special summon a normal monster from there. Since Evocator is a normal monster in the grave, I just brought him back. Now, Evocator, direct attack!" the swordsman lept into the air, coming down hard blade first.

Crow: 2100, Koyou: 4000

Crow cried out from the blow and swerved a little, slowing down enough in his attempt to regain control to let me pass him. Looking back I could see him smile, "Caught me off guard there. Your virtual impact is ridiculous, especially for a monster that size."

"Thanks." I said, not really taking the compliment seriously. Why would my impact be any harder than normal? "Two face down cards end my turn."

"My draw." fully recovered, Crow's superior runner was already gaining on me, "I summon Blackwing – Blizzard of the Far North!" a bird resembling a pelican appeared, "When he's summoned I can special summon a level 4 or lower Blackwing monster from my graveyard in defense position. I summon Bora the Spear! Black Whirlwind adds Vayu the Emblem of Honor to my hand. But I remove it from play to activate Allure of Darkness and draw 2 cards."

I gritted my teeth. Even though I was in the lead, this guy was clearly incredibly strong. In fact, I wasn't sure I would survive his counterattack. Those two cards seemed to include what he needed.

"Now, I use the effect of Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, as long as I control a Blackwing monster other than another Gale, I can special summon him from my hand." a tiny bird man arrived on the field. "Next a face down! Delta Crow – Anti-Reverse! If I control 3 Blackwing monsters I can destroy all of your face down cards."

"Denied!" I proclaimed, "I activate my first face down, Call of the Haunted to special summon Gemini Scorpion from my graveyard, his effect special summons Tuned Magician from my hand! To that effect I chain Gemini Booster! It equips to Evocator Chevalier, raising his attack points to 2600."

Crow laughed, "Boy, you're a stubborn one! In that case I'll activate the other effect of Gale the Whirlwind. Once per turn I can half the attack points of one monster on the field, I choose your Chevalier!" Chevalier's attack went down to 1300, "Next I tune my level three Gale the Whirlwind to my level 4 Bora the Spear." the two monsters soared into the air, ""Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Fly, Blackwing Armor Master!" A large armored bird man descended with a formidable 2500 attack. "Armor Master! Attack his Chevalier!"

I was struck hard, but I refused to cry out as Crow passed me. It wasn't from the damage that he took a lead in the race, he was just that much faster than me.

Crow: 2100, Koyou: 2500.

"When you took out my Chevalier you also destroyed my Gemini Booster! When it's destroyed I can grant a gemini monster of my field its effect. Tuned Magician becomes a tuner monster."

"What? I've never heard of anything like that. You really aren't from satellite. Nobody here could have a deck like that. I end my turn. Show me what other tricks you have, buddy."

"Gladly. My draw!" I drew a card and poured on the speed as we rounded a turn. Looking at the card I was struck by familiarity. I'd never played it since awakening, but I remembered. One of my father's most powerful cards, and it was perfect for my situation, "I summon Dark Valkyria!" the dark armored angel was summoned to field, taking flight on metallic wings, "Time to answer a synchro summon with a synchro summon!"

"Bring it on!" Crow said with a smile.

Tuned Magican and Dark Valkyria flew into the air, "I tune my level 4 Tuned Magician to my level 4 Dark Valkyria! Burning fire purging ire, fists of stone crushing bone! Synchro shokan! Charge on through, Black Brutdrago!" a massive stony dragon the size of a small bus slammed into the ground and stampeded next to me with 3000 attack points. "Go! Attack his Armor Master!"

My dragon slowly spat fire which wreathed around his body as he charged the enemy monster. Crow raised a card from his hand, "I activate Kalut the Moon Shadow in my hand, discarding it to give Armor Master 1400 attacl points until the end phase."

"What?" I cried out in shock as Armor Master suddenly had 3900 attack, enough to destroy my monster. Which is exactly what it did. My monster crashed into a heap of magma, from which Dark Valkyria rose, "Good one, but I'm not so easily gotten rid of. When Black Brutdrago is destroyed, I special summon a gemini monster from my graveyard with its effect. I chose Dark Valkyria. Have some of this!" Dark Valkyria swooped down and took out Blizzard of the Far North.

Crow: 1600, Koyou: 1600.

We rounded another bend as I continued my turn, "The battle phase is done, but I'm not! I activate the effect of Dark Valkyria, giving her a counter worth 300 attack points. It won't be there long however because her other effect removes the counter and destroys one of your monsters. Say goodbye to your Armor Master!"

Crow went wide-eyed. I thought it was because I'd managed to clear his field, but that changed when I saw him slam on his breaks. My gaze went ahead of the duel to the road ahead and to young Patrick, chasing after that ball again. I slammed on my breaks hard and swerved to avoid him. I wasn't sure if I missed him or not, because my bike fell over and started skidding across the ground with me on it. I held on as hard as I could without even thinking about it, as if I could stop it from hitting anyone by hanging on. Darkness overtook me before I came to a stop.

My mind went back to my forgotten past, my life apparently trying to flash before my eyes. It couldn't do it though. All it could conjure up were famliar voices crying out my name, begging me to be okay. Soon though, they were replaced by different voices, the voices of children, and of Crow. When I openned my eyes he and a bunch of kids were kneeling over my prone form.

"Thank God! He's not dead." Crow said with relief, "Koyou does anything hurt? Ow many fingers am I holding up?"

"Sixty seven and a half." I groaned, "Where's the kid? Did I-?"

Crow shook his head, "He's fine, you missed him." graoning again I tried to stand up, but Crow placed a hand on my chest to stop me, "You shouldn't move, you might have hurt your neck."

"Is my runner alright?"

"Of course I haven't checked it yet, but it didn't look like it took much damage. Paint job's probably even worse now."

I shoved his hand aside and climbed to my feet, "Good, I need it tomorrow."

One of the older kids gawked at me, "Wow, mister, are you really fine?"

Looking at my torn jacket, which I'd found discarded, I spotted blood flowing from bad scratches on my elbow, there were also some on my knee. Flexing both, there was no serious pain, "Just some bad scratches, my clothes have seen better days."

Crow laughed, "Wow, man. If you took a crash like that and got up you must be a born turbo duelist."

"I just landed right. Should have worn safety gear."

He laughed again, "Dang, you're so practical. A lot like Yusei. Come on, we've got some medical supplies over at the orphanage that we can use. Gotta get ou patched up. After that duel I really want to meet you in the tournament."

"Be gentler next time. You duel crazy." I kidded.

"Same to you man. Same to you."

Next Chapter: Wrath of the Duel

In the next episode of Stardust Accerator, the tournaments to decide who gets a chance at the Fortune Cup begins. Koyou must face one of the elites in Danny's crew named Kameno and Mei must square off against a spiteful fellow student with a dark deck. Can Koyou beat Crow? Even if he can get passed the Blackwing user, will he meet the fearsome Mei at the final stage? If they clash, will the ghosts of his past finally surface?