Ok, the week was busy when I was writing this, so if it got up late, I apologize. But, after this chapter, I will be taking a short hiatus to gather my thoughts and work on other things. I will remove this part of the notice when the next episode is posted.

Midori looked around at all the bright LED screens as they all showed various parts of the Satellite, shrouded by the cloud of darkness. Several people in lab coats were working at the computers nearby, monitoring the situation. Mina and Lazar stood off to one side. The Signers were gathered near the door, in shock at what had taken place.

"So, everyone is gone?" Aki asked. Mina nodded. Jack leaned against the wall, his fist clenched. Leo and Luna each had scared looks on their faces. Yusei seemed to be rather calm, of somewhat focused. But in the inside, he was wracked with worry. What happened to Martha and the kids? Blister?

Rally stood at his side, having insisted that he come with them. He peered around to see Sidney and Laura and pulled Yusei's jacket. Yusei turned his head and sighed with relief. Sidney briefly smiled at him before gazing up in horror. Laura looked down.

"This is what I was talking about."

"The Dark Signer's shadow has taken hold of the Satellite. Any soul caught in the mist was absorbed by the Earthbound Immortals." Midori grimaced.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Jack grunted.

"We'll leave as soon as the helicopter arrives. It shouldn't be to long now." Mina reassured him. He pulled out Carly's glasses to remind himself to be at ease; he now had a real reason to fight. Lazar hid his anxiety in a cocky expression.

"I hope Cassandra won't wind up becoming a sacrifice." He muttered.

Midori quietly snuck over to Yusei, Sidney and Laura, who were all standing together. Laura noticed her and greeted her.

"Is there something on your mind, Midori?" Laura questioned. She was going to speak when Goodwin entered the turned to hear him speak.

"Alright. The helicopter has just arrived. I will speak with all of you before you leave. In the meantime, I think some of you may recognize the pilot."

He motioned for them to follow him. As they were walking down the hall, Lazar pushed ahead and walked alongside Goodwin.

"Mr. Goodwin, are you going to say anything about Cassandra?"

"If they have the opportunity to rescue her, they should seize it. But, if not, I am intending to come for her on my own. Besides, I need to visit someone there."

Lazar gave him a quizzical expression. "Who might that be?"

"My brother." He answered matter-of-factly.

"Your…brother?" Lazar seemed confused. Goodwin shook his head.

"There is a matter of business I need to settle with him."

…

Rudger sat at a desk with his dueling deck, checking through his cards. Cassandra walked by, peering in nervously. He heard her tiny footsteps and smiled.

"It's alright. Is there something you need?"

"Rudger…there's a black fog that came from the …Momentum…it's covered the whole Satellite and it seems as if everyone has vanished!" She hid a slight air of fear.

"Good. The battle field has been set. Now all that's left is to await the Signer's arrival." He looked down at her. His blackened eyes seemed to be glowing with eagerness. Cassandra glanced away.

"Do not look so crestfallen, princess. It doesn't suit you."

She didn't respond. Rudger put a hand on her shoulder. The singer noticed a set of blueprints set off to the side of the desk. She looked at them curiously. Rudger noticed.

"It's just the blueprints for the building." He said honestly.

Cassandra nodded, she noticed a faded signature in the corner. She guessed it belong to the Architect. Rudger took a seat back at his desk for a moment as he studied them carefully. Cassandra peered over his shoulder.

"Gale Clay-Jacques…" She read the name slowly. It sounded strongly familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"She was the woman who constructed this building for the Momentum project."

"Did you ever meet her?" Cassandra asked.

"Once. I was introduced to her by the man who was in charge of Momentum. He had met her when he went to one of the hearings he attended to pass funding bills. The woman was friends with the future Senator Izayoi, apparently.

Why do you care to know, Princess?"

"No reason…I just thought I saw the name somewhere before."

"It is no coincidence that fate chose her daughter to fight against me alongside Professor Fudo's son…" He muttered to himself.

Cassandra blinked. She suddenly remembered the name. But she kept it to herself. Rudger rolled the blueprints into a bundle and stored them in his desk.

"I wish to be alone for the moment. I ask that you leave."

As she anxiously walked away, he looked after her with a vigilant glance. Cassandra was relieved that he didn't suspect her prying. He actually knew, but guessed her natural curiosity would not matter at this point. The end would soon come anyway.

…

Everything seemed quiet in the now barren city. Etsuo slammed the door of the Fridge open and whipped Crow out. The elderly man looked around as his companion caught a deep breath. Black fog still blanketed the area.

"I think we're safe now." He spotted their Runners just a few feet away.

Crow looked up.

"What the heck happened? Everybody's gone!" Crow exclaimed.

"Looks that way. We should check on Martha's place. Somebody might of hid themselves like we did and escaped." Etsuo suggested. Just then, a thought occurred to Crow. He started shaking.

"My nest…the kids… the dog…What about THEM?" He started to feel panicky.

Etsuo put a hand on his shoulder.

"Your family, huh? If they managed to find a place to hide, then don't worry about it. But, assuming the fog took them…We can only hope that defeating the Dark Signers will bring them back. We need to have hope. It's all we got." Etsuo adjusted his glasses. Crow sighed and nodded a yes before fixing his helmet and pulling himself up onto his Runner. Etsuo jumped on his.

The two started their engines and raced back where they were going in the first place. All they could hope was that Martha and the others, if any, would still be there when they arrived. If nothing else, they could meet the Signers and prepare for battle.

"Midori's never been too keen on fog. It's made her nervous in the past. I hope she doesn't get too scared." Etsuo sighed.

…

A helicopter awaited everyone on the roof. Goodwin waited with Lazar at his side as everyone arrived. The wind swirled around them.

"I think some of you will recognize the pilot." Goodwin informed them. A tall man emerged from the helicopter, scratching his head. Upon seeing Yusei he pointed at him with disdain.

"What's the meaning of this, Goodwin? First you want him in, and then you want him out. Now you want me to give him a ride!?"

Laura chuckled. "Well, well, it's ricky-ticky- rent-a-cop!"

"Hey, you're…"

"Officer Trudge. You saw him briefly when we first all gathered at Goodwin's. Apparently he and Yusei have a history." Laura taunted the officer. Mina approached him in a friendly manner. He blushed upon seeing her.

"Why, Mina! I didn't know you were coming!" He said with enthusiasm. Laura raised an eyebrow, and elbowed Sidney to get her attention.

"Of course I am." Mina replied.

"You didn't happen to get the flowers I sent you, did you?" He asked shyly. She nodded politely. Goodwin cleared his throat to get everyone refocused.

"Though it will be difficult, your objectives in the Satellite will be simple. You must deactivate the original Ener-D reactor and defeat the Dark Signers. This will reverse the flow of negative energy that is being released from it. Mina will go into further detail upon your arrival.

There is something of concern that I must speak of. As some of you are aware, the popular singer, Cassandra, has been kidnapped and is being held captive by the Dark Signers. If any of you should have the opportunity to rescue her, I would be grateful if you should take the chance."

Laura grew bug-eyed. "Gosh, I sure hope they haven't sacrificed her to an Earthbound Immortal or anything. Poor thing…she must be terrified."

"She's ok, for now. My psychic vision tells me that so far, she's not been harmed." Midori closed her eyes.

"I still don't get what they'd want with her. She's not a Signer or a Psychic…as far as I know." Laura blinked.

"Come to think of it, other than Misty and Kiryu, we really don't know that much about who we're facing off against. I'm guessing Yusei and Aki are going to duel them, but who are the rest of us going to face?"

Sidney looked down at the ground. Just then, Goodwin mentioned something that perked her interest.

"It's ironic. In a twist of fate, the original Ener-D reactor was constructed by Yusei's father, in a building designed by Gale Clay-Jacques."

"Hey, Sidney! Did you know that?" Laura peered at her sideways.

"I…heard…But…My mom only designed the building. If she met anyone that was involved, I would think it was a brief meeting."

"Yeah. I guess your right. Your mom wasn't the type to hang around the big shots…Except for Senator Izayoi and his wife. My dad told me about that."

"Wait, are you sure? Do you mean our Yusei?" Leo asked.

Yusei was silent. Sidney wrapped her hand around his. He then looked up at Goodwin. He cocked his head.

"Yusei?"

"Goodwin, if we succeed, I want you to finish building the bridge between here and the Satellite."

"I'm not sure that is possible, Yusei." Goodwin replied.

"If you don't, you're going to have to find another Signer." Yusei warned him. Sidney looked upon him with concern. Then she turned to Goodwin.

"I won't either. …I want our saving the world to mean something. Things need to change. People need to be brought together instead of being pushed apart."

She thought of Yusei and herself and what they had been through prior to this point. But, she also thought of Shinju, whose family came from the Satellite, and Midori and Crow as well. It was being united that made them strong.

Goodwin closed his eyes and tilted his head down.

"Fine. If it comes to pass, then we shall see to it."

Trudge grew impatient as everyone was boarding and Yusei was still behind with Sidney and Goodwin. Jack was at the back, with Laura behind him.

"I can't believe I have to fly economy class." He grunted.

"Oh, waaaah! So you have to be out of your comfort zone for a while! Oh, it's terrible!" Laura's sarcasm irritated him like the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

"Look here, you won already! Didn't Sidney tell you…"

"…All the juicy details? Well not really, but I know that She's happy. That makes me happy. Now I might be willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself…assuming you play nice." Laura laughed.

"What is that supposed to mean? For your information, I have someone that I'm really fighting for now!" He turned his back and went inside. Laura shrugged and followed in after.

"Are you coming or not, pretty boy?" Trudge yelled at Yusei. He gently tugged Sidney with him as the two of them finally boarded. The officer squinted.

"Hey…your Goodwin's foster daughter, aren't you?"

"Technically speaking." Sidney replied promptly. He shook his head.

"And you hang out with him? Nothing makes sense anymore! Then again, your not the first one Goodwin took under his wing, I suppose."

"Well, there's Jack…"

"I meant Cassandra. He's raised her since she was very young, I've heard."

Sidney's eyes grew wide. She looked back, but Goodwin had already gone back inside. How could Goodwin have raised her? Sidney had never seen before at his house. But, it seemed like another one of those inconvenient truths that he kept to himself.

She said nothing as she went inside. Yusei sat next to her pensively. What was it that his dad did exactly? Trudge finally came inside and launched the helicopter into the air. There was an uneasy silence between everyone on board.

After a while, they passed through the barrier of black clouds, lightning crackling around them. Trudge looked back at everyone.

"Is this lightning bothering anyone else? One strike and we're finished. I say we should turn this bird around."

"Our primary directive is to reach Satellite." Mina firmly refused his offer. His face turned red as he looked back. As they went along, another thought came to his mind.

"How did someone like Yusei's dad get such an important job is he was from the Satellite?" He wondered. Jack glared at him.

"Yusei and his dad were born in New Domino City."

"So you're saying this Satellite reject isn't actually a reject?"

Jack growled. "I'm from the Satellite, Trudge. Got a problem with that?"

Trudge shook his head. "No, of course not."

"That's right. Turn your head around." Yusei ignored Trudge's words. Sidney reached at her hand, but he stroked it to reassure her that he wasn't bothered. He stood up and leaned over Trudge as he looked down at the ground of the Satellite.

"Set us down by those trees in the park." He requested. Trudge cocked his head.

"Do as he says." Mina urged him. Trudge acquiescently pulled down the control stick as the helicopter softly landed. Nearby was Martha's house. She waited outside with Blister as a small band of children came to greet the Signers as they boarded off from the helicopter. Martha smiled to see everyone doing well.

A swarm of kid crowded around Jack.

"Hey everyone, isn't that Jack Atlas?"

"Wow, you're right!" Jack felt slightly strange having so many small fans fawning over him. He had felt isolated and rejected since the Fortune Cup. Leo and Luna scratched their heads, surprised to see everyone in such a cheery mood.

"I thought everyone in the Satellite would be all creepy and sad."

"That's how they trick you," Trudge scoffed. Blister smirked at him.

"Oh yes, we're terrible, aren't we?"

Just then, a small boy in a yellow sweatshirt and shorts approached him. His blue hair was messy, but could not conceal the zeal in his brown eyes.

"Hey, are you Sector Security, mister?"

"What if I am?" Trudge grunted. The boy want unaffected by his disgruntled mood. He laughed with delight.

"That is so cool! I want to be Sector Security someday."

Trudge perked up. "Do you now? Play your cards right and you could look as good as me in this uniform."

Both of them chuckled. Martha gathered everyone in the house. The Signers, Mina, Trudge, Martha, Rally, Midori and Blister sat around the dining room table. Her expression turned somber.

"I'm glad to see you and the kids are doing fine." Laura said. Martha thanked her.

"Yes. Fortunately the fog didn't come here. But it's taken everyone else. There hasn't been word from Crow or Etsuo, and I don't know about your other friends besides Rally, Yusei."

"Don't worry, Martha. They're all safe in New Domino City! We're managed to escape not to long ago with Blister's help!" Rally chimed in. Midori grew nervous.

"What if… the fog has taken Grandpa and Crow? I'm not getting any visions…" She whimpered. Sidney, who sat next to her, leaned over, trying to comfort her.

"It's ok. We don't know for sure…"

Before she could finish, there was the sound of slamming on the front door.

"Who could that be?"

"Hey! Hey! Is any soul in there? We're still alive! We promise we're not boogy-men! Just let us in if you can her us!"

Midori got teary up as she heard her Grandfather's voice. She shot up from the table and bolted for the door. Martha shook her head and smiled.

"Grandpa! Hold on! I'm coming!"

Remember to R&R and be back here next time! See you then!