Chapter 9: Tremble With Fear! Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu!
Late night, in a foggy corner of the Satellite. A gigantic fiery design burns upon the earth, the lone helicopter soars above it.
Inside, Minako and Carly are watching opposite sides of the holographic screen in the air, showing the two D-Wheels, while Jack and Sakura are looking out the side door. He's no longer even noticing the wing mark burning brightly on his arm. Sakura, on the other hand, has quite a bit of markings to look over.
Crow's watching from the top of a cliff, either natural or made of trash, when he hears.
"Crow!" Rally says.
Crow turns.
Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz are running toward him up the incline. "Crow!" Says Rally. They join Crow near the edge of the cliff. "Where's Yusei?" Rally asks. Crow points toward the purple fire. Kiryu races by, in a blur, followed by Hundred Eyes Dragon above and Yusei a short distance behind.
He presses a few buttons on his right-hand control and taps the left-side pedal with his foot.
They race onward.
Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz crowd around Crow's D-Wheel screen. "Yusei!" Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz all say. "Why is Yusei participating in a Riding Duel?" Asks Blitz. "Who's the opponent?" Taka asks. "It's Kiryu." Says Crow. "Kiryu?" Taka asks. "You mean Kyosuke Kiryu?" Asks Blitz. "Why him?" Nerve asks. "Crow, what's going on?" Asks Rally. "I don't know, either. But, I know for sure the flaming race course isn't 'Solid Vision'. And this is a real duel where Yusei is risking his life." Crow says. "Huh?!" Asks the other four.
Kiryu's life points stand at 4000.
Yusei's at 1800.
"What's wrong? Your D-Wheel is in pain!" Kiryu says.
Yusei's D-Wheel is starting to shake and a small bump in its path throws it off-balance. He fights to keep control, getting it back on the ground and steering away from the wall, sharply. It seems to be going slower, because the rate at which the wheels are turning can't keep up with the momentum Yusei already had, skidding against the ground and kicking up lots of dust, right in his face. Still, he's not about to let it show. "Keep it together until this duel is over!" Yusei thinks to himself. His front wheel is wobbling, shooting up little sparks as metal grates against itself where it isn't supposed to.
They race past Crow and the gang, who call out to Yusei. "Yusei!"
"What's wrong? During this End Phase, 'Power Baton's' effect ends. Therefore, Hundred Eyes Dragon's attack points decrease from five thousand three hundred to three thousand!" Says Kiryu.
"Kiryu's handless combo is scary because when he has zero cards in his hand, he can use the effects of monsters in his graveyard." Jack says. He looks inside the helicopter toward the holographic screen, which has just split to display two different video feeds. "However, Yusei should be good enough to beat this." Says Sakura.
"My turn!" Yusei says. He draws. "When he has zero cards in his hand, his handless combo allows him to activate monster effects. But, there's something I can do!" Yusei thinks to himself. "When monsters are only on the opponent's side of the field, I can Special Summon this card as a Level Four monster! Come, Level Warrior!" Says Yusei.
Level Warrior has 300 attack points.
"Then, I Normal Summon Hyper Synchron!" Yusei says.
Hyper Synchron has 1600 attack points and is a Level 4 monster.
"Hyper Synchron tunes Level Warrior!" Says Yusei.
Hyper Synchron unleashes four stars from its chest-plate, which form green rings through which Level Warrior soars, transforming into golden outlines.
"The wishes come together to form a new shining star! Become the path that lights the way!" Yusei says.
In a flash of green light.
"Synchro Summon! Soar, Stardust Dragon!" Says Yusei.
Stardust Dragon has 2500 attack points and is a Level 8 monster.
"That dragon is proof that you're a Signer! Come and get me, Yusei!" Kiryu says.
"Next is Hyper Synchron's monster effect! When Hyper Synchron is used to summon a Synchro Monster, that monster gains eight hundred points!" Says Yusei.
Stardust Dragon's attack points rise up to 3300.
"All right! Stardust Dragon's attack points are greater than Hundred Eyes Dragon's attack points!" Blitz says. "Nicely done, Yusei!" Says Rally. "But, what will he do about the handless combo?" Crow asks.
"Battle! Stardust Dragon, roar! Shooting Sonic!" Says Yusei.
"Hundred Eyes Dragon gains the monster effect of Infernity Guardian that's in my graveyard! Due to this, it won't be destroyed in battle!" Kiryu says.
"However, you'll still take battle damage!" Says Yusei.
Kiryu's life points decrease to 3700. He groans a bit when it hits, then is laughing again by the time it clears. "Heheheheh. That's a nice amount of damage, Yusei! Let's keep having fun and shave away our lives!" Kiryu says.
"Since Stardust Dragon dealt battle damage, the Continuous Trap 'Shard of Hope' activates. I draw one card from my deck. If that card is a trap card, I can activate it by destroying 'Shard of Hope'." Says Yusei. "I'm betting everything on this draw!" Yusei thinks to himself. He draws, his card seems to form an arc in the air as it travels. Yusei drew 'Miracle Locus'. "I did it! My combo becomes a path that lights the way!" Yusei says.
His strategy clicks together in a shining pathway, 'Shard of Hope', 'Miracle Locus', a face down, Stardust Dragon, Hundred-Eyes Dragon and finally 'Synchro Destructor'.
"I destroy 'Shard of Hope' to activate this card. I activate the trap card 'Miracle Locus'! You get to draw one card, and my Stardust Dragon gains one thousand attack points and can attack for a second time this turn! Now draw, Kiryu!" Says Yusei.
"Hmph. How dare you!" Kiryu says. As he draws.
Stardust Dragon's attack points rise to 4300.
"Nicely done! He can only activate his handless combo when he has zero cards in his hand!" Says Crow. "I see! That's why he forced him to draw a card!" Rally says.
"Go! The second battle! Roar! Shooting Sonic!" Says Yusei.
Hundred Eyes Dragon explodes, in midair, showering Kiryu with smoke and debris.
His life points fall to 2400 and he drops a speed counter, leaving him with 6. "Uuaaghhh!"
"All right!" Rally says. "He destroyed Hundred Eyes Dragon! Now his handless combo is completely broken!" Says Crow.
"When Hundred Eyes Dragon is destroyed, I select one card in my deck and add it to my hand." Kiryu says.
A symbol in glowing blue pulses in the gloom, there's something powerful about the card he just put in his hand.
"This is the final blow! I activate my trap! 'Synchro Destructor'! When my Synchro Monster destroys your monster in battle, you take damage equal to half that monster's attack points. Furthermore, if the destroyed monster was a Synchro Monster, you take that damage again!" Says Yusei.
"All right! Half of Hundred Eyes Dragon's attack points are one thousand five hundred! Taking that twice would be three thousand points of damage!" Crow says. "Yusei wins!" Says Taka. "Yusei planned his combo excellently." Blitz says. "You're incredible, Yusei!" Says Rally.
"Gah! How dare you, Yusei!" Kiryu says. He then grins. "Just kidding. I activate my trap 'Damage Translation'! This halves the damage I take from card effects!" Says Kiryu. He takes the first blast and it hurts, he's down to 1650. Then the second one, which also hurts. 900 life points left. Kiryu slumps over, apparently exhausted, then comes back laughing. "Heheheheh. That was good damage, Yusei!" Kiryu says.
"He survived!" Says Taka. "But Kiryu has no more monsters left on his field. Yusei has Stardust Dragon that's been powered up by Hyper Synchron." Nerve says. "Even if Kiryu Special Summons a monster, Yusei has 'Scrap-Iron Scarecrow' set on his field, so he can negate his attack." Says Blitz.
"At first glance, it looks like Yusei is guaranteed to win. However…" Jack says. "Huh?" Asks Carly. "There must be something special about the card that Kyosuke just added to his hand." Sakura says. Her arm starts its burning sensation again, although she can't figure out why, since that scar has never bothered her before.
The menacing, fiery sign still burns on the earth of the Satellite.
"On the next turn, my Speed Counter will be eight. If I activate the 'Speed Spell-Final Attack', Stardust Dragon's attack points will be doubled." Yusei thinks to himself. "I end my tu…" Says Yusei. "'Damage Translation's' other effect activates. During the End Phase, I can Special Summon the same number of Ghost Tokens as the number of times I took damage from card effects." Kiryu says. "What are you planning to do?" Asks Yusei.
Two semi-opaque ghosts swirl like streamers above Kiryu, moaning ethereally. "Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"What's so funny?" Yusei asks.
"I can't stop laughing! Thanks to you destroying Hundred Eyes Dragon, I was able to add the strongest Dark Signer card to my hand." Says Kiryu.
"What?" Yusei asks.
"It's showtime!" Says Kiryu.
Beyond the haze of the fiery edges of the arena, dozens of figures in drone robes begin to appear around them, waiting silently.
"What? Who are they?" Yusei asks.
"They're people! There are people in the geoglyph flames!" Says Rally. "Who are they?" Taka asks. "They're the people who vanished from Satellite." Says Crow. "Huh?" The other four all ask.
"You were the ones who made the Satellite citizens vanish?" Asks Yusei.
"Hahahahahahaha! It's my turn. But due to 'Power Baton's' effect, I can't draw." Kiryu says.
Yusei's drawing even with him and is starting to panic. "Kiryu, what did you do to them?" Asks Yusei.
"Huhuheheheheheh! They're going to be sacrificed to this card." Kiryu says.
"Sacrificed?" Asks Yusei.
"With their sacrifices, this card gains the power of a god! I release the two Tokens." Kiryu says.
In the sky, the two Ghost Tokens twine around each other and vanish, replaced by a large object, stone-looking, apparently coiled up on itself, more or less the shape of a land snail shell, with large black veins. On top of that is what looks like a couple of apparatuses like square metal pipes, stacked on top like a hook that hangs the shell in the sky.
The figures in robes begin to scream, as one by one they glow purple and turn into streams of energy, these all shoot up toward the thing in the sky, creating quite a light show, reverse fireworks. "What?" Asks Yusei.
"What's happening?" Jack asks. Sakura suddenly falls to her knees and hands, wincing in pain. Grim moves himself from between her and Jack, standing beside the former and pressing himself close to her. "What's wrong?" Asks Jack. He notices that Sakura's holding at her left arm. "Is your arm bothering you again?" Jack asks. Sakura nods. Jack then kneels down, kneeling down to one knee next to her. He grasps her arm, gently, and pulls the sleeve down taking half of her coat off, making that half of it hang down, and slips her arm bracelet and glove down. The long scar on Sakura's left arm looks as if it has lava running through it and it looks pretty painful, too.
"I sacrifice their souls. Descend, Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu!" Says Kiryu. His shoulder is starting to bother him, too. Kiryu pulls his sleeve up, revealing that he has a deep scar through his right shoulder, seeing it's doing the same as Sakura's. He raises the card, as the streams of light shoot into the thing in the sky, the black veins begin to pulse with shadowy purple light.
Then the whole thing explodes, creating a column of purple fire from ground to heavens, with dark mist swirling around and ripples spreading across the dark clouds above, rapidly. The whole scene begins to shake, violently. A massive hand bursts from the ground and the Earthbound Immortal rises. Glowing blue stripes form inlaid designs on its black stone exterior and the whole thing glows with blue-white light. It raises a hand, that the helicopter just manages to dodge, barely.
Jack's hanging onto the edges of the doorway, eyes wild, still holding onto Sakura, while she holds Jace close to herself. Grim's still maintaining his balance, as he stays close to her. Carly is in the background, tears of terror exploding from behind the lenses of her glasses. "Impossible!" Jack says. "Aaaaa-aaa-aaaaih!" Carly screams.
The massive golem towers over the field.
"No way…" Says Crow.
The circle in the center of the giant's face glows and it stands to its full height. Lightning crackles in the sky above it. Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu has 3000 attack points and is a Level 10 monster.
"That monster is humongous!" Yusei says.
"Hahahahahahaha! Yusei, taste the curse of the dead! My Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu! Swing the steel hammer of justice on our enemy, the Signers!" Says Kiryu.
"Ogh!" Yusei says.
The giant is reaching one huge knobbly black hand toward him.
Yusei's D-Wheel is rocking back and forth by now. He gives a battle cry and fights back, defiantly. "Stardust!" Says Yusei.
Stardust flies at the hand descending on him and passes right through it.
"What? 'Scrap-Iron Scarecrow'!" Yusei says.
"You fool! Do you really think such cheap tricks will work against an Earthbound Immortal?" Asks Kiryu.
'Scrap-Iron Scarecrow' activates and is immediately pulled back into its card, it's useless. "Damn! I can't even defend with a monster or a trap!" Yusei thinks to himself.
Kiryu races onward.
As the ground around Yusei explodes and the hand looms closer, casting a shadow over him.
"Yusei!" Both Jack and Sakura say.
"Yusei!" Says Crow, Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz.
Yusei's heading into a dead end, teeth clenched, braced for impact. He closes his eyes, bracing himself for the end. Just then, the engine on Yusei's D-Wheel explodes. He skids backward, out of control and out of reach of the big hand, as it descends where he was a moment before.
"Yusei!" Jack, Sakura, Crow, Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz all say.
The giant's hand smashes into the ground and Yusei comes flying in its wake, thrown free of his D-Wheel.
Luca's mark soon fades. She, Velvet, Subaru and Lua have been watching it. "The mark is vanishing. Did something happen to Yusei?" Asks Lua. "I don't know, but something must have happened." Luca says.
Aki's mark soon fades, too. She looks down at it, then out at the City. "Something happened to Yusei." Aki thinks to herself.
Godwin's watching footage of the Earthbound Immortal on the TV in his office, resting his chin on laced fingers. He looks grumpy.
Yusei and his D-Wheel hit the ground, separately, they both bounce and roll several times each.
Kiryu rides up to where he lies on the ground, who's wincing, in pain. "The duel was suspended right before you would've lost. Your D-Wheel's bad performance saved you." Says Kiryu.
Yusei can only answer with pained moans.
Kiryu laughs. "Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Feel pain! Be scared! Let fear conquer you so that you burn in the fires of a living hell! You'll face the same hardships that I faced! At this rate, your sister is as good as mine! And believe me, I'll make her feel more pain than she can endure!" Kiryu says. He raises the card.
The Earthbound Immortal raises a hand to the sky and descends into the shadowy flames from which it came.
The fiery border around the dueling field fades.
"You're safe for now. Until the next time we meet, feel the shame while you tremble in fear." Says Kiryu. He rides away.
Sakura is about to actually jump out of the helicopter, but Jack grabs her by the arm and near her ribs, pulling her back in. "What do you think your doing?" Jack asks. "I have to help him, Jack. He's my brother and he is hurt." Says Sakura. "I understand how you feel, but jumping out of here isn't the best way to help him." Jack says. "Jack, please. I only have to stay with him until I know he's alright. I'll be back before you know it." Says Sakura. Jack closes his eyes for a moment and as he does, she kisses him on the cheek, making him open his eyes. "Sakura?" Jack asks, surprised. "Thank you for understanding." Says Sakura. She gives Jace to Jack, who takes him and holds him in one of his arms. Sakura looks down at her son and brushes at his hair, slightly. She then summons up one of her red and black portals before her. Sakura steps into it, with Grim in tow, and she's gone.
The portal suddenly appears near Yusei. Sakura, with Grim following alongside her, walks out from the portal and as soon as she steps onto the ground, it closes up behind her. She then kneels down right beside Yusei, while Grim lies down next to the two half-twins, close to the latter's head.
Yusei's friends are already running toward him. "Yusei!" Rally says. "Hang in there! Are you okay, Yusei?" Asks Nerve. Sakura turns Yusei over onto his back, carefully. He's been impaled in the abdomen by a large shard, with blood already seeping through his shirt where the sharp object is pierced. Everyone, excluding Sakura, gasps, in shock and horror. She places her hand near the injury, gently. "Oh." Rally says. "This is bad." Says Taka. "Yusei, pull yourself together!" Rally says.
"Don't touch him!" Says Crow. He races down the side of the nearest pile of garbage on his D-Wheel and stops on the other side of Yusei, where Sakura's kneeling beside him. "Sakura?" Crow asks, surprised.
"Hello, Crow." Says Sakura.
"Is it really you?" Crow asks.
Sakura nods. "Yes." Says Sakura. "Crow! Sakura!" Rally says.
"Hurry and put him on! Sakura and I'll take him to Martha's place!" Says Crow.
Sakura then stands up, and walks over to him and his D-Wheel. "So, I guess Yusei was right, you've been marked." Crow says. Sakura looks aside, he notices. Crow reaches a hand towards her. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it." Says Crow. Sakura grips at his extended hand, lightly. "It is not a criminal marker. However, it carries with it the same burden as one." Sakura says. She returns her gaze to Crow, with a small smile. "Is this a problem for you, Crow?" Asks Sakura. "No, not at all. I dig the new look, by the way." Crow says. He helps Sakura to the back of himself on his D-Wheel.
Grim gets up, and approaches Crow and his D-Wheel. "Hey, Grim." Says Crow. He extends his hand out to Grim, who sniffs it, and he pets him. "Wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again, buddy." Crow says. Grim hops up on his D-Wheel and lies down in front of him, lying across his lap, encircling his unnaturally long tail around himself.
Nerve and Taka each grab one of Yusei's shoulders and lift him onto the back of Crow's D-Wheel, placing him over Sakura's lap. "Martha's place?" Asks Blitz. "The house?" Nerve asks. "Yeah. You come later!" Says Crow. He rides away.
"Yusei…" Rally says.
Up in the helicopter, Jack grabs the pilot's shoulder. "Hey, pilot! Hurry up and land the helicopter!" Says Jack. "Immediately return to the City!" Minako says. "Stop messing around! You're going to abandon Yusei and Sakura?" Asks Jack. "Master Atlas, what can you do when you don't have a D-Wheel right now? Besides, isn't your son's safety more important right now?" Minako asks. Jack sighs, he's frustrated, but she has a point. The helicopter flies off towards the City.
Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz now stand alone in the wasteland. "What should we do?" Asks Taka. "There's only one thing to do. Let's go to the house right away." Blitz says. Nerve and Taka nod, smartly, and the three start to set off.
"Wait a second." Says Rally.
"Huh?" Nerve, Taka and Blitz all ask. "What is it?" Asks Nerve.
Rally kneels beside Yusei's smashed, fallen D-Wheel. "We have to take this with us." Rally says.
"C'mon, Rally. Are you seriously thinking of pushing that all the way to the house? There are lots of thieves up ahead. If we take that with us…" Says Blitz.
"That's an even greater reason why we can't leave this here! Did you forget that this treasure is important to us?" Rally asks.
"Mmm." Says Blitz. "Eh, you're right. It's an important bond between us and Yusei." Taka says.
Flashback. "We all gathered parts that we thought were useful, and then we brought them to Yusei." Says Taka, in voice-over. As he speaks, flashback to Taka sifting through a dump, cheerfully. Rally unscrewing a bolt of some kind, quietly, that probably actually belongs where he's taking it from.
And the four of them running through the Satellite, happily. Rally and Taka carrying bars, Blitz rolling a wheel and Nerve toting a cardboard box on a shoulder.
In the flashback, Yusei revs the engine of the red D-Wheel, Taka, Rally, Nerve and Blitz cheer, clustering around him and the D-Wheel, Rally hugging him and Nerve ruffling his hair. They're standing in the doorway of the subway tunnel hideout. "Yeah, and we were so happy when we built it." Nerve says, in voice-over. The flashback ends.
Back to the present. "It's because we all did it together. Let's take it with us!" Says Taka. "Yeah! It's the symbol of our friendship." Nerve says. "And our bond!" Says Taka.
"Thank you!" Rally says.
Taka and Nerve run over, starting to lift the D-Wheel.
"All right! It's not my fault if something bad happens!" Says Blitz.
Later on, the four are pushing the D-Wheel, doggedly, through deserted, half-wrecked streets, surrounded by buildings much the same. Rally looks up and notices someone watching from a hollowed-out building and the person walks further inside, with a sinister laugh.
More quiet, unpleasant laughter surrounds the four, it's like swimming among shark fins.
"Doesn't this area seem really dangerous?" Taka asks. "This isn't the time to be scared." Says Nerve. "That's right! You knew the consequences!" Blitz says.
People in raggedy clothes appear out of the buildings on either side, surrounding them. They sport a wide variety of tracking dye, very few are not marked. One of the main ones that speaks is a black guy with no dye, he might be one of their leaders.
"They showed up!" Says Blitz.
"Heheheheh."
"Who are you?" Nerve asks.
"What kind of greeting is that?" "You're the trespassers." "But it looks like you brought something interesting."
Nerve grabs a pointy stick off the ground and brandishes it at the nearest thug. "Don't come near us! Don't touch this with your dirty hands!" Says Nerve. "Nerve, stop it! You're only riling them up!" Blitz says.
The thugs close in.
"I told you so!" Says Blitz. "Forget what I said. We're in a hurry, so can you please let us pass?" Nerve asks.
"Then pay the toll."
"A toll?" Asks Blitz.
"Yeah. Leave that behind."
"You must be kidding! We won't even give you one screw!" Taka says.
"Then leave your cards behind. You must have those."
"No way! You can't have our cards either!" Says Taka.
"If you don't, we'll take both."
"What should we do?" Nerve asks. "I don't know." Says Blitz. "Our cards aren't as important as Yusei's D-Wheel." Rally says. He reaches into his jacket. "Everyone, take out all your cards." Says Rally. "Dammit!" Blitz says. He, Taka and Nerve pull out their decks, grimly, and the four toss all of their cards up into the air.
The thugs descend on the fallen cards.
Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz flee the scene. "Now's our chance!" Says all four.
Some distance away, they're catching their breath. "That went well." Rally says. "It looks like we gave them the slip." Says Blitz.
Just then, they hear menacing chuckles once again, their way is blocked by thugs. "Pay the toll." "Another group appeared!" Blitz says. "What should we do? We don't have any cards left." Says Taka. "Damnit, in that case…" Rally says. The four fling their clothes up in the air and the thugs scramble for them.
"Now's our chance!" Says all four. They flee the scene again, this time in their underwear.
Elsewhere in the Satellite. Crow's D-Wheel comes to a stop outside a house. Not many people in the Satellite seem to live in houses that stand alone, but Martha's place is an actual house, with what looks like a backyard and no other houses around it. It looks pretty spacious and considering the disrepair of the Satellite, somewhat like a haunted house. Grim leaps off of the D-Wheel and stands off to the side of it. Crow jumps off and bangs on the window paned door, urgently.
Sakura gets herself out from under Yusei's body-weight on her lap and steps off of the D-Wheel, standing on the same side of it as Grim. She looks over his condition, leaning against Crow's D-Wheel. "Yusei…" Sakura says, softly.
"Martha! It's me! Hurry up and open the door!" Says Crow. He's banging on the door.
"Who is it? It's the middle of the night." Martha says, through the door. She opens the door, holding a candle. Martha's about as tall as Crow, middle-aged, with brown eyes and thick, black, shoulder-length, dreadlocks. She wears a dark red dress, with a wide, white collar and a black, clinging top underneath and a white apron. Martha looks only half-awake. She sighs. "Crow!" Says Martha. Crow points. "Martha, big trouble!" Crow says. "Huh?" Asks Martha. She looks shocked, seeing what Crow's pointing at.
Yusei's slung over the back of Crow's D-Wheel, like a sack of flour, still wearing his helmet.
"Yusei!" Martha says. She's wide-awake now and leaves the door wide-open to run to Yusei's side, Crow right behind her. "What happened?" Asks Martha. She raises the candle to see Yusei better, blood has seeped through his shirt and onto the seat of Crow's D-Wheel. "This is bad." Martha says.
She then brings her attention to a face she hasn't seen in a couple years. "Sakura, is that you?" Asks Martha. She raises the candle to see Sakura better. "Hello, Martha." Sakura says. Martha places a hand under her chin, looking into her dark-crimson red eyes, deeply. "Oh, of course it's you. I know those eyes of yours anywhere." Says Martha. Grim then walks up from around Crow's D-Wheel. Martha looks down at him, as he approaches her. "Oh, Grim." Martha says. Grim comes to a halt before her. Martha leans down and pets him, scratching him behind one of his ears. "Yes, I missed you, too. You big, puppy dog, you." Says Martha. She then stops petting Grim and straightens herself up, bringing her attention back up to Sakura. "It's been two years, but it feels like its been so much longer." Martha says. "We can catch up later. However, right now, Yusei's in need of some serious help." Says Sakura. "Of course." Martha says. She turns back toward the house. "Anyone! Help me carry Yusei inside!" Says Martha, calling back toward the house. She brings her attention back to Yusei. "Hang in there! I'll save you, Yusei!" Martha says, gently and tendering.
Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz push the D-Wheel up a hill, in the middle of the bad part of the Satellite, late at night, barefoot, in their underwear. "I'm dying." Says Taka. "Let's rest for a little while." Blitz says. "Yeah." Says Nerve. "Why are you complaining? The person who's in the most trouble is Yusei! And we're the ones who are going to rest? We promised to protect this D-Wheel, no matter what!" Rally says. "Rally…" Says Taka. "You're right. We can't be the ones to give up when Yusei's hurting." Blitz says. "Yeah, we have to bring this symbol of friendship to Yusei." Says Nerve. "Let's go to Yusei!" Taka says. "But wait. Even if we want to go…" Says Blitz. "It's a dead end!" All four say. "What should we do?" Asks Rally.
An old man comes out of a nearby building. "Are you in trouble?" "Another one showed up!" All four say. "We can't pay any more tolls!" Says Rally. "I don't need that. There's a path over there." He points, behind them there's an alley. "He's right." Rally says. "I'll help you. This way." The five rush down the alley, moving faster with the old man's help. "Thank goodness that there are nice people in this area." Says Taka. "This way!"
Suddenly, the D-Wheel and the four of them go flying over an edge, it was a trap.
Below them awaits a rickshaw and two guys. Then, Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz bounce off in all directions, the two guys catch the D-Wheel and spring into action, tying it down and pulling the rickshaw away along with a third guy. "Now!"
Yusei's friends land in the heap of wooden boxes left behind, breaking several of them. "The D-Wheel!" Blitz says. "Our symbol of friendship!" Says Taka. "Hey!" Nerve says. "Help us!" Says Rally.
Suddenly, the rickshaw crew is pinned down by a bright spotlight. There's a voice coming from the same direction, but the spotlight obscures their view. "What is that?" "This is Security! Leave that D-Wheel and surrender!" "Security!" All three put up their hands and wail. "Scatter!" They scatter in different directions.
Rally, Nerve, Taka and Blitz walk up, reunited with the D-Wheel. "This is what it means to have a savior in hell." Taka says. "Thank goodness!" Says Rally. "Security is everywhere." Nerve says. "But Security isn't supposed to come all the way out here." Says Blitz. "Then who is it?" Rally asks.
The 'Security officer' walks over to them. The rickshaw crew was duped by Saiga with a floodlight. "Hey." Says Saiga.
"Saiga!" All four say.
"That's an interesting choice of clothing. What happened?" Asks Saiga.
"Well… Yusei was…" Rally says.
Sometime later, in Martha's house. Saiga leans against a wall, solemnly, as Blitz, Taka and Nerve, each now wrapped in a plain brown blanket, sit nearby. They have the same look on their faces as Saiga, but that might also be that they're half asleep.
Sitting on a set of wooden stairs elsewhere in the room, Rally, also in a blanket, hugs Yusei's battered helmet close. Crow leans against the outside of the stair rail, his expression closed.
In an adjacent room, they seem to have set up a crude operating room, the cracked and dusty walls notwithstanding. Several bright lamps are rigged on poles to light a table on which Yusei lies, motionless. Sakura is not far from his side, holding at his hand. Grim's sitting beside her, with his head lowered in almost sorrow. Martha is acting as nurse, as a man in a lab coat examines Yusei's stomach, both of them are wearing cloths over their mouths. He looks like he's either fighting the pain or having terrible nightmares. "Yusei…" Sakura thinks to herself. "Yusei, hang in there!" Says Martha. Sakura closes her eyes and doesn't look happy at all. Grim lifts up his head, looking up at her, he can sense her sadness. Martha places one of her hands on Sakura's shoulder, she places her free hand on that hand, while her other hand is currently being held in Yusei's hand.
Rally hugs his helmet to his chest and looks like he's trying not to cry. They all wait, silently.