Sorry for the huge lag in updates! It's been what? 3 months or so? I'm such a terrible author! Chapter 8, after months of work has finally been finished, and Chapter 9 shouldn't be all that hard. I'm not going to bore you with my writing process, but I definitely know what is happening in Chapter 9 compared to Chapter 8. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5D's, and if I did, IT WOULDN'T BE ENDING. D:

Yusei was busy working on Crow's engine for the return of the WRGP in a few months. Crow, on the other hand, was flipping through the channels on the TV lazily. They had just gotten back after trying to help Ushio and Mikage track down the Thrasher's in a vain attempt to bring justice. Jack had opted to stay with Carly, who was still an emotional wreck and probably scared to death that they would appear at her doorstep in the middle of the night. Sector Security had given her a new door, and top of the line locks for her windows and doors, but Jack still wanted to stay, "I just have too," was his only reply when Crow and Yusei had announced they were leaving.

That was when they heard a scream come from above them.

At first, Yusei had dismissed it as coming from the television, but after looking up at Crow who was staring up at the ceiling in suspicion, he knew his assumption had been incorrect. He and Crow shared eye contact for a brief second before Yusei dropped his wrench and Crow dropped the remote. They both headed for the stairs that lead to Ally's apartment.

They both ran as fast as they could, but it was Crow who had made it their first, and he could barely breathe when he saw that Ally's apartment had been trashed just like Carly's had been. Duel Monsters cards were scattered around the floor, her couch had been flipped over, bathroom door on the floor and her work uniform had been trashed. His eyes scanned the room, looking for Ally.

His eyes landed on her slender body, curled into itself, crying while staring at a broken picture frame. Crow walked over to her and encircled his arms around her shaking form in a futile attempt to calm her down. She responded to his touch by burying her face into his chest and sobbing, dropping the broken frame onto the ground, the glass scattering across the floor.

He stroked her hair softly, rubbing soothing circles onto her back while she cried and glanced over at the picture frame she had dropped. He picked it up with his free hand and looked at the slightly torn picture. The photo was of a boy and a girl, twins by the looks of it, who looked to be around Rua and Ruka's age. They had dark brown hair with what seemed to be red highlights, Crow couldn't really tell in the darkness. They had pale skin, and eyes the same color as Ally's, blue green ones that reminded him of the ocean. He could only infer that these were her twin siblings, Logan and Addison.

Crow looked over at Yusei, who was busy surveying the room, his cobalt eyes scanning every inch of floor space. Yusei walked around the room, avoiding some glass and neglected duel monsters cards that were strewn across the floor. He came to a stop by her bed, for the first time noticing the red spray paint above the headboard.

"You should've kept your mouth shut," it read.

Yusei's eyes widened slightly, there was no doubt that the Thrasher's had done this to get back at Ally. Carly was the writer, and Ally was her source. They should've figured it out sooner…

Are we all in danger? Yusei thought, the Thrasher's only knew Ally and Carly's names because they were in the paper, but after finding their addresses, it wouldn't be long until every single member of Team 5D's was at risk.

Yusei tore his eyes away from the wall and walked over to Crow and Ally who were still on the floor. Ally's sobs had stopped and she was now breathing softly. She removed her head from Crow's chest and looked at both of them, her blue green eyes red from her crying.

"I'm so stupid," She said simply, looking down at the hard wood floor. "If it wasn't for me Carly wouldn't be so scared…"

Crow looked over at Yusei, his arms still encircling the strawberry blonde. "What are we gonna do?"

"The only thing we can do," The raven-haired duelist responded, grabbing one of Ally's arms and with Crow's help getting her off the ground, and getting her to stand on her shaking legs. "We're getting her out of here and calling Ushio and Mikage."

Crow nodded, and the two turbo duelists helped her down the stairs and sat her down on their sofa. Yusei went and grabbed the phone while Crow sat down besides Ally who had suddenly taken interest in the coffee table.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Now, you're just being stubborn."

Ally broke her staring contest with the coffee table to look at him, her blue green eyes wide with fear, her hands shaking, "I'm scared, Crow," she whispered, her voice somewhat hoarse from her crying, "I… I feel like Jack is right, maybe I should just go back…"

Crow shook his head, "You can't just leave," he said, staring at her with his pure grey orbs, "You can't let some thugs run your life, and you certainly can't run away from a problem. You've gotta face it head on, and we'll be here with you; me, Yusei, Aki, Rua, Ruka, Carly and maybe even Jack." He smiled, and she returned it.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. As his arms encircled her body, he heard a small "thank you," from the cyber duelist. They both pulled apart as Yusei walked into the room.

"They're coming," Yusei said, "Aki too."

Ally raised an eyebrow, "Aki?"

"Yea," Was his response before sitting in an armchair next to the sofa, "If anything, she's probably their next target considering she practically killed them with Rose Tentacles."

Ally nodded, and wasn't all that surprised when she heard the familiar roar of a D-Wheel engine enter the garage. The violet-haired duelist then appeared before them in her usual attire. She gave Ally a sympathizing look before sitting on the arm of the chair Yusei was sitting in, giving him a quick kiss hello.

A few minutes later, Ushio and Mikage appeared at their door, a small forensic squad behind them. Ally hesitantly led them to her apartment so that they could investigate. Mikage showed the girl back downstairs. Since Ally wasn't in hysterics like Carly had been; she'd thought it'd be a good idea to ask her some questions.

As they re-entered Jack, Crow and Yusei's apartment, they saw that everyone else had left the living room except for Aki, who was sitting on the couch.

"The boys are making some food," she said, offering a small smile to Ally, "They'd thought you might be a little hungry."

Ally returned the smile and sat next to Aki on the couch, while Mikage took the chair that Yusei had previously occupied. She took out a notepad from the pocket of her suit jacket and extracted a pen from the binding.

"Let's start from the beginning," Mikage said, "How did you guys come across the Thrashers?"

Ally explained her and Jack's duel, to the Thrasher's showing up, Aki using her psychic powers to save the boys, to her telling Carly all about them and eventually Carly writing the article leaving them to their current predicament. Aki added some comments here and there adding to the story.

Mikage had finished scribbling down the rest of her story before asking, "Do you have any past with these people?"

"No," Ally responded, "I haven't seen any of them until the other day."

"Same here," Aki added.

Mikage brought the pen to her chin in thought, "There have been some other complaints and tips about duel gangs roaming around the city, but nothing to suggest that they were harmful in any sort of way…"

Mikage then began mumbling to herself, trying to think of all of the anonymous tips they've been getting recently at Security HQ, trying desperately to make connections. After some more thinking, Mikage got up out of the arm chair, "When I get back to HQ I'll start building a case file, until then I'll go see what Ushio has uncovered," With that, she excited the living area.

Ally sighed; she hated reliving and thinking about what had happened. Seeing all of her stuff trashed, and torn, her privacy invaded. It was definitely an experience she hated. Her parents had done stuff like that. She clenched her fists tightly, digging her nails into her skin. Aki took notice of this; she looked at the strawberry blonde, genuine concern evident in her amber eyes.

"Is there something the matter?" She finally asked.

Ally glanced up at the other woman and offered her a small smile, "It's nothing, just thinking about my parents. They never respected my privacy either."

"Parent troubles?"

"Oh yea,"

"Tell me about it," Aki huffed, leaning back into the couch.

Ally grinned a little, maybe she had a little more in common with Aki then she had originally thought. "Do you still talk to your parents?"

"Yea, things are a lot better now," Aki smiled, "How about you?"

"They're the reason I graduated early and moved out," Ally responded, "At least you've reconnected with yours. I don't think I ever will."

Aki placed a hand on her shoulder, "It will get better," she said, giving her shoulder a little shake, "and if worse comes to worse you could always kidnap my parents."

Ally smiled widely at that, her first true smile in awhile. "Thanks Aki,"

"No problem."

A few seconds later, Crow came in with some food and set it in front of Ally on the coffee table.

"You'd better enjoy, I worked my butt off," Crow teased, in an attempt to lighten up Ally's mood.

Ally gave him a half smile and took a small bite of the sandwich he had given her. She grimaced and looked at Crow who had a big grin on his face. Aki held back a snicker and got up to join Yusei in the kitchen. Once she had entered the kitchen she saw Yusei, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs nursing a cup of tea.

"You look like you're in deep thought," Aki pointed out, taking the chair right next to him and putting her hands on the table, "What's up?"

Yusei looked at her, his eyes filled with concern; he turned his gaze back to his tea, trying to think of words to say. "I'm just trying to connect everything; it doesn't make any sense…"

"Well not everything has to be connected. Not everything is about the Crimson Dragon and people bent on taking over the world. Some people are just evil and want to hurt people, I should know…" Aki trailed off.

Yusei grabbed one of her hands that was resting on the table, still staring at his tea. It always amazed Aki when he did things like that; it was like a sixth sense. "You aren't like those people Aki. The Thrashers are just some thugs; cruel and decisive, you were in pain, they aren't; they're ruthless and I don't want anyone getting hurt because of them anymore."

Aki squeezed his hand and offered him a small smile. "We'll be right here with you, Yusei."

He looked up from his tea and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, "Thanks."

With that the couple got up and returned to the living room to find Ally and Crow throwing couch pillows at each other. Both Aki and Yusei gave the pair strange looks as they entered.

"Tell me my food is awesome!"

"If I did I would be lying!"

"Lying is fine in small doses!"

Ally kept on laughing, and was starting to become her normal stubborn self. Crow always knew how to make people feel better, but both Aki and Yusei couldn't help but think that this was different. The two redheads couldn't see it, but they had a different connection. Sure, Ally had bonded with most of the members of Team 5D's, but she was closest to Crow above all. They'll just have to see how things play out… you never know they may be adding a new member if things kept progressing the way they were.

Ally was on the couch, a thin blanket covering her, staring at the ceiling. The boys had offered her the couch for tonight considering both Ushio and Mikage said that it would be interfering with the crime scene if she re-entered her apartment before they had finished gathering all the forensics they could. Ally sighed, she knew that they were trying to make her hopeful, but reality was she knew that the Thrashers were good. She had heard them talk earlier at Carly's apartment, "there are no fingerprints, no fibers, nothing."

Ally turned on her side, staring at the coffee table, glaring at it. The Thrashers had gone and done what her parents had done her entire life, invaded her privacy, made her feel vulnerable, but this was the last straw. The Thrashers weren't going to keep her silent; she was going to do everything in her power to stop them from wrecking havoc on Neo Domino.

Nothing was going to stop her, not Yusei, Jack, Carly, Aki, the twins… not even Crow.

Hope you enjoyed, please review! :D