Hello and welcome back. Prepare yourselves, for in this chapter…a power of the Star Princess is revealed! Have a nice day. Oh BTW, we have an illustration up! Drawn by Coke head. I waited awhile to post the chapter to get this in.
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Scene: Sidney floating in the pink Jell-O blob. (From Episode 1)
And now…Episode 5.
For the first five days of living at Goodwin's house, things seemed relatively normal. This had been the first summer in several years that Sidney had no major commitments, since she had summer classes and had a job in the summer since she was fourteen. The good news was she was going to attend New Domino University in the winter. At least when there she wouldn't have to stay with Goodwin anymore, she thought. The only thing of significance was being brought in to be studied by Zigzix every morning, but other than that, since Goodwin often was very busy, she was often left to her own devices.
The late June air was warm, toasted by the morning sun's rays. Sidney leaned on the front steps of the mansion, wearing a lacey lavender tank-top, a light smoky gray, knee length pleated skirt, and dark gray Lady Jane shoes. She was reading the newspaper when a servant came and called her.
"It's Mr. Goodwin; he wants you at Zigzix's lab he's sending a car to come get you. It will be here any minute." The servant informed her.
"Let's see, blood tests, a skin test, endurance tests, and let's not forget the visual stimulation test…ugh," Sidney muttered to herself, "What is it this time? And what the heck are these weird tests for anyway? I doubt it's all because of the accident…whatever it was…"
Wait, she thought. A week ago, at the hospital Yusei said Goodwin helped me because he knew about those marks on my body that Yusei saw before I fell.
She remembered her dream. Did those marks show up before then as well? Maybe when I was in a coma? Is that what this is about? He's looking for the marks or something?
She also remembered that Yusei had given her a code to contact him. After the test, she would call him and try to see if she could meet up with him. Maybe he could tell her more about whatever the marks meant. After all didn't he PROMISE to 'explain it to her sometime'?
After she rushed upstairs to grab the code and a pouch containing her deck (just in case), the servant had returned to the house and the limo had just pulled up. Today would be a busy day, she thought. A very busy day.
…
Goodwin and Lazar were seated in chairs across From Zigzix in his lab. The energetic professor handed them what appeared to be a pewter dragon pendant on a leather cord. He was so excited her couldn't contain himself.
"I finished it last night, Mr. Goodwin." He began, "Remember how we had those big energy readers in the Kaiba Dome to pick up the energy a signer gave off? Well, this is like a mini, mobile, and discreet version of the same thing. AND, it has a GPS in it. If Sidney wears this, we'll be able to know when and where her powers activate, and how much energy it produces. But…unfortunately there was no way I could put in a device to determine what..."
Goodwin seemed pleased none the less. "This will do for now, but I would like you to work on a way to determine WHAT her powers ARE, Zigzix…Anyways, did any of the test you've conducted on her revealed anything worth knowing?" He asked.
"Well…the skin test did pick up slightly higher levels of heat where her signer marks supposedly showed up…but the blood tests and endurance tests didn't tell us anything more beyond what we already know. And…the visual stimulation test came up basically with results we would expect to see in a girl her age and in her current situation, and with her neurological condition of course…"
"Neurological condition, Zigzix?" Lazar questioned.
"I think your little Star Princess may have a form of High Functioning Autism, especially after I interviewed her a couple days ago…"
"And? How is this significant?"
Zigzix gave his best short and sweet explanation. "It means she's not the best with social situations and may have trouble with some social skills that many people take for granted. Like body language, for example. That also may account for her clumsiness…people with the disorder have trouble with sensing themselves in space…"
"Can you get on with it!?" Goodwin was starting to lose his temper.
"Alright, Alright! It may mean when she gets her powers she may have more trouble using them…But it might mean her powers might show up faster, since she may be more likely to be seen as a target by a passerby. People can often tell when someone is vulnerable, especially if they seem oblivious of the world around them…"
Just then, Sidney came walking in the door, escorted by a security guard. Goodwin sighed.
"Oh goody, you're just on time." Lazar smirked. Sidney wanted to tell Lazar to put a sock in it, but in order to keep some space for herself, she would have to play along with these guys.
Goodwin handed her the necklace.
"Think of it as a reward for being so patient with us, Miss Clay-Jacques." Zigzix mused. Sidney reluctantly put it on, not even thinking that there was something odd about it.
"So, just so I know, what are your plans for the day, Sidney."
"I'm taking the car downtown." She lied nonchalantly. "I'm going to go look for some new cards to put in my deck."
"Sounds like a good time. Be sure to bring your phone. Anyways, I have several meetings today. But, you've been good on your own so far, so I have no reason not to trust you." Goodwin fabricated a tale of his own.
Sidney knew that may not last long. But if it meant getting some answers, than it was worth a try. Goodwin could see she was lying. But for him, it might mean on opportunity to see if Zigzix's gadget would serve its purpose well.
Sidney waved goodbye and walked out the door, shutting it behind her. He contacted the limo's driver.
"Tell me where she has you drop her off and if she meets anyone there. Don't bother to pick her up, I'll send someone else."
"Yes sir!"
"Hoping someone closer to us will get a glimpse of her in action?" Lazar mused.
"Maybe…we'll have to wait and see. We may to need to intervene if I am correct about where she is going…"
"You're not worried about Yusei, are you?" Lazar sneered.
"If he finds out just how important she is to my plans, he may try to smuggle her away…"
"He can't do that. If he did, you could throw him back in the facility for kidnapping. After all, you're Sidney's legal guardian…Why don't we send Jack to bring her back…" Lazar was still extremely amused with using Jack as some form of guard or way of keeping Sidney under their control.
"Fine, but we need to wait until we know where she's going and who she's meeting, if anybody. And he's only allowed to bring her straight back here, understand?"
Lazar nodded quietly. "Yes Director."
…
When Sidney got into the limo, she whipped out her raspberry colored video-phone and attached a headset to it, so the driver wouldn't hear Yusei when she got a hold of him. IF she got a hold of him. She dialed in the code and started waiting for anyone to pick up.
After waiting a few minutes, she was ready to give up, when Yusei's face finally showed up on the screen. He looked like he was in some sort of garage somewhere, and he didn't have his jacket on. She hoped she didn't catch him at a bad time.
"Yusei! Hi…I'm not sure if you remember my name, but I was wondering if you'd be willing to meet me somewhere and give me that explanation you owe me?"
"Sidney. I was wondering if I was going to hear from you. I'm glad you called… Where are you?"
"In a car…I was going to have the driver drop me off downtown…maybe pick me up in a couple of hours or so. Don't worry, Goodwin's booked today so I don't think he'll be much of a problem."
Yusei looked a little suspicious, but nodded.
"Ok. Have him drop you off at the corner of Kent and Mizuki. I'll wait for him to leave, and then I'll pick you up, ok?" Sidney's cheeks flushed pink for a second or two, but she quickly composed herself.
"Wow, you'd do that? …Thank you, thank you, thank you…I'll see you there…" She hung up then. Now she was excited, maybe this would work out better than she had planned…
…
Meanwhile, at the other end of the line, Yusei suited up and put on his helmet when his friends, Bolt Tanner and Yanagi came in to check on him. Bolt had spiky blue hair and eyes to match, with jeans, a black shirt and a brown vest. Yanagi was an elderly man with muffled gray hair, wearing a gray yukata and a yellow jacket. The old man had just gotten a glimpse of the young girl on the other lone when they showed up.
"…I'll see you there." There was a bleep and the call ended.
"Hey, Yusei, who was that young dame you were just talking to?" Yanagi chimed in. Tanner sat down on the worn blue couch on the right side of the old, dusty steel garage. Yusei was just getting onto his duel runner.
"That was the girl I met a few days ago. She's a signer…"
"No kidding." Tanner commented. Just then, Blister, the guy who owned the garage entered the room. He'd overheard the conversation and it caught his attention. He was rugged looking, with brown hair, and dark eyes, wearing a leather vest over a shirt and slacks. "But didn't Goodwin's people pick up the last signer at the Fortune cup?"
"We never saw them…But, there was something different about hers, she didn't just have one mark on her arm…"
Yanagi eyes widened. "Multiple marks, you say? Where? What did they look like? How many of them were there exactly?"
"I didn't get a good look, but it looked there were marks on her shoulders, arms, and neck. But they look just like the mark Jack, Luna, Akiza, and I have. Like she had a complete set or something."
Yanagi started waving his arms hysterically as he started giggling uncontrollably.
"Oh my, Yusei you're never going to believe this…" He composed himself, "If you bring her back here, I can explain to the both of you."
Before Yusei left, Blister chucked him a helmet. "She may need that…Oh, I went to find you're friends again. I found them this time…Goodwin let them go as he promised. They're back in the tunnel again."
Yusei smiled for a fleeting moment before speeding off. "Thank you, that's the best news I've heard all week."
…
It was several minutes before Yusei was a block from Kent and Mizuki. Sidney had just gotten out of the car. The driver was looking around outside, and spotted him. Yusei drove back around a corner to make it look like he was going elsewhere.
This can't be good. Goodwin must have told him to report if he saw me.
The driver pulled out a car phone. Yusei couldn't hear him, but he looked at Sidney and saw her waiting at the bus stop on the street corner.
However, the driver had been talking to Goodwin. He whispered into the phone. "Yeah, we're on the corner of Kent and Mizuki. I saw the guy ride past here. He might be trying to trick me, though…"
"It's as I feared. Yusei has made contact with the girl. I'll send Jack the coordinate via her reader's GPS program and have him go immediately to retrieve her." Goodwin replied. The man hung up and got back in the car.
"Have a nice time, Miss." He told Sidney, trying to keep a straight face. He drove away. Sidney reclined on the bench. When Yusei decided the coast was clear, he drove up to Sidney. He handed her a helmet.
"Safety first, right…" She mumbled. "And…I just want to say thanks…"
"No problem….I have to warn you that you may not be able to stay long…I think Goodwin knows you're here." Sidney remembered the driver and slapped her palm on her face.
"Darn it. I thought I'd eased my way past him." She said as she put on her helmet. She carefully pulled herself over on the Duel Runner so she was sitting behind him.
"Hold on tight." He warned her. Sidney put her arms around Yusei's waist. The engine started rumbling and they were off in a flash. She enjoyed feeling the wind in her skin. But then she remembered her dad telling her to wear a jacket on a motorbike unless she wanted to leave her skin on the pavement. But that didn't ruin her joy. Next time, she thought. If Goodwin's coming to get me though, there may not be a next time…though…
They got to Blister's garage where Yanagi waited by the open door, jumping with glee. Sidney cocked her head in confusion as they pulled in and Yusei helped her off. She set the helmet on a nearby table. Tanner and Blister had gone Inside Blister's house, planning a reunion between Yusei and his friends from the Satellite by getting them over to New Domino.
Yanagi greeted her with a handshake. She was slightly hesitant, but the teen shook his hand firmly and introduced herself.
"I'm Sidney. Are you a friend of Yusei, then?"
"Why yes! I'm Yanagi, and it's an honor to be in your presence."
"Say what?" Sidney was confused again.
"So Yanagi, what were you all excited about earlier when I told you about Sidney's marks?" Yusei asked. Sidney hoped this was the explanation she was waiting for. Yanagi smiled as he let go of Sidney's hand.
"Sidney, do you happen to have a Dragon Card in your deck?"
Sidney rummaged around in her deck and pulled out a shiny Synchro-Monster card. The asianesque dragon was ivory with a blood red belly, red whiskers, a blue jewel on its forehead, and night-black eyes.
"It's called Lunar Solstice Dragon. It's pretty, but not very strong." Yanagi looked the card over. The monster was level seven, had 2300 attack points and 2000 defense points, and had the Light attribute. But, its effect was it could change its attribute once per turn and, once per round, for the cost of 1000 life points, it could allow you to bring a Field Spell card from graveyard or deck and add it to your hand.
"I don't know. That card would be pretty decent of it didn't cost so many life points to use…Anyways, that's not the point. Do you know what those marks on your body mean?" He handed her back the card.
"Ummm…Well, I know Yusei has a mark on his arm, and Goodwin's interested in them…" Sidney stuttered.
"You're what's called a Signer, Sidney. It's because you have those marks. I'm signer, too. And so are Luna and Jack." Yusei said flatly. Sidney stepped back. That little twin girl that came to see Yusei at the hospital had a mark, too? And Jack Atlas!? But then…why didn't she see their marks before?
"Wait a minute, Yusei! She's not just any signer! She had multiple marks, right?" Yanagi interjected. Yusei nodded. Yanagi stared at Sidney excitedly, which made Sidney a little uneasy.
"Sidney is the STAR PRINCESS!" Yanagi shouted. Sidney covered her ears.
"You don't have to say it so loud…anyways…what?"
"The Star Princess?" Yusei asked.
"The legend of the signers mentions a sixth entity known as the Star Princess! She's a being a great compassion that houses the very essence of the Crimson Dragon inside of her, and because of that she gets a power for each signer mark. But…I don't know what or how that exactly works. But it means that you're destined to help the signers save the world, Sidney!"
Sidney was leaning on the wall at this point trying to take this all in. "Woah…so you're telling me I'm like some sort of superhero?"
Yanagi started rolling his thumbs. "Well, not exactly…"
Just then, the sound of an engine could be heard and a white streak came whooshing by down the road. The group looked outside to see a white Duel Runner parked next to the Garage. Yusei and Yanagi recognized it right away. Yusei had built that runner years go, and it was stolen from him by none other than Jack Atlas. Surely enough, Jack emerged from the bike and removed his helmet. He could see Sidney hiding in the background and leered in her direction. He brushed the dust off his white and blue riding suit and walked casually over to the group like he owned the place.
"Well, well, well… If it isn't Yusei." Jack mocked him. "I'm looking for a little lost kitten named Sidney; you haven't seen her, have you?"
Sidney didn't really have an opinion of Jack when she first met him, since he didn't say much before. But after hearing him talk that way about her, she didn't have a high opinion of him at all. In fact, he really made her feel anxious this time. She tried to edge away out of sight.
"Ah! There you are! Goodwin sent me to come get you." She walked up next to Yusei and gave him a hurt expression, hoping to gain his sympathy.
"Well, what if I don't want to go just yet?" She asked defiantly. He grabbed her arm and started pulling her away.
"I don't think you have choice in the matter."
"Let her go Jack." Yusei warned him. Sidney tried to pull against him, but it wasn't doing her any good.
Why did I have to be born so puny?
Suddenly, the wind and started to pick up. Yanagi shivered anxiously. Yusei's arm started burning with pain. Jack's arm also stung, but he still pulled Sidney along towards his Duel Runner.
She growled at him. "I don't want to go yet, Jack. You can't make me go."
Suddenly, Yusei and Jack's signer marks were glowing bright red. Sidney's marks also appeared, and she whimpered from the stinging it caused her. The wind seemed to start spiraling around her, and aid her in pulling away from Jack as it blew in his face.
His symbol started glowing more brightly than before, and so did the wing symbol on her left shoulder. Sidney didn't quite understand what was happening…was she somehow controlling the air around her?
Sorry to leave you hanging, folks! But we will continue this exciting story in Episode six! Be there or be square! Also, please feel free to R&R. As someone I once read said…reviews are love. This isn't the best chapter I've ever written. Writer's block can do that to you. I have learned the cure for writer's block is to work on something else for a while.
Have a nice day. And be sure to look forward to more illustrations in the next chapter, too.