A/N: Thank you for giving my story so many views! And thank you for your patience. Chapter 3 is finally out!
The morning routine was simple. Aki brushed her teeth and washed her face while the digital radio buzzed out the news for the day and the weather prediction for the evening. She recalled her dream as she put some bread into the toaster. Her eyes drifted down to her arm. The mark was still there but the talons seemed sharper. Maybe it wasn't all a dream. She'd have to contact the others, ask if their marks disappeared for just a moment last night.
Aki felt her body tense when her phone suddenly rang. A call from Yusei at such an early hour in the morning. "Hello, Yusei?" Aki answered, looking into her fridge for some jam. "What's going on?" She set the phone to speaker mode and put it on the countertop.
"Aki, last night, my Crimson Dragon mark disappeared for two minutes," Yusei immediately said, not bothering with pleasantries. That was something Aki used to like about him. Now, it just felt like there was a great distance between them. "Did yours disappear last night around 1 AM as well?" She didn't have to ask them all individually after all.
Aki grabbed the jar of orange marmalade and shut the fridge door. "I was asleep pretty early last night," she responded nonchalantly. She reached into a cabinet for a plate and into a drawer for a butter knife. "Maybe someone really needed the Crimson Dragon's help with a duel. It couldn't have been me though. I was at home."
Yusei was silent for a moment on the other end. "You're probably right. Everyone else's marks disappeared so perhaps there's another Signer out there now. A sixth!" His voice held a tinge of excitement. "Isn't that amazing? I thought there'd only be five of us ever!"
The toaster dinged quietly, perfectly toasted bread slices popping up. Aki quickly dropped the bread onto her plate. "If we found that sixth Signer, would we have to change the team name to 6D's instead?" she joked, spreading a thin layer of orange marmalade carefully onto each slice. There was only silence. "Um, anyway, could you call me back later or send me a message about this? I'm about to eat."
"Ah, right. Of course. Goodbye, Aki." Yusei abruptly hung up before Aki got a chance to respond and she stared at the "Call End" screen on her phone. Perhaps the distance between them was greater than she'd thought.
She bit into her crunchy toast and resolved herself to tell Yusei about her real feelings later that evening. "I'm going to leave," Aki thought. "I'll join Sherry and Carly's team."
"Are you really going to tell him?" Aki continued to polish her helmet with a cloth. "Hey, Aki?" Her head snapped up to attention and the helmet nearly dropped to the ground. She was at the public track after school with Carly and Sherry again. Sherry was doing a test run for a new engine part so Carly was relaxing with Aki. The orange sky dotted with fast moving pink clouds, faster than Aki's eyes wanted to follow them.
"Tell him?" Aki echoed, still staring at the clouds.
"You said you were gonna tell Yusei how you really feel and leave Jack's team!" Carly answered.
"Jack's team? He's not the leader," the redhead laughed.
"If I treat both Yusei and Crow as equal to Jack, I'll be able to face them in top shape!" Carly winked at Aki, as if divulging some deep secret. Silence settled upon them once more. "Will you really be okay leaving them? They're your best friends."
The psychic's eyes narrowed. "They're my friends but they're hindering my growth as a Duelist." Aki rubbed her arm where her Signer Mark lay dormant. "And I have had little opportunities to actually be part of the team lately. I..." She trailed off as Sherry braked to a stop in front of the two. "Bruno has taken the place of benchwarmer for the team."
Carly's shocked expression made Sherry remove her helmet to shoot Aki a confused look. "Did you say something, Aki?" Sherry asked.
"Bruno took the place of benchwarmer for Yusei's team," Aki repeated. Sherry's brows furrowed. "I only learned about this last night."
"That might be an issue later on. Bruno is a wildcard and we have no idea how he duels." The blonde leaned against her D-Wheel in thought. Aki felt like Sherry was not saying something. "You should tell Yusei as soon as you can before it becomes any more painful for you to leave. But before we wrap up training today, why don't we come up with a team name, ladies?"
"It's gotta be catchy, easy to remember," Carly said aloud, flipping through the pages of her notepad. "How about... Team Jack Fan Club?"
"Absolutely not," Aki replied, trying desperately not to laugh. "Couldn't you come up with something a little less... Jack?"
"How about Team Emotion then?" the bespectacled reporter suggested once more. "Last night, while I was asleep, I had a dream that Aki was really sad and needed a friend. Her emotions were ignited by me being there!" Aki felt her face heat up in embarrassment.
"I do like the name," Sherry mumbled into her gloved hand. She turned to look at the redhead. "Aki, what do you think?"
"I think..." She trailed off.
"Join us, Aki!" Yusei's voice called out to her in her mind. "You can join us and we'll help you through anything. Don't you want me to guide you to become a better Riding Duelist?"
Aki swatted the voice away. "I don't need your guidance anymore," she thought.
"... Team Emotion sounds good," Aki finished, suddenly putting on her helmet. "I'll be taking my leave now. I have to hurry over before Jack and Crow drag Yusei on another evening trip around the city." Sherry squinted against the setting sun's glare reflecting off of Aki's helmet. It was utterly blinding and all the blonde could make out under the visor was Aki's warm smile. It was only later that evening Sherry realized Aki had been crying.
The first person to approach Aki when she parked Bloody Kiss outside of the garage was Crow. He was dressed in his riding suit but he looked worn out. "Hey, Aki! Looking for Yusei?" he asked.
"Yes. I need to see him immediately." Aki took off her helmet and exhaled deeply. "Actually, I need to see everyone right now if possible."
It took a few minutes to drag Jack out of the bathroom but all members, including Bruno, were gathered in the garage. It was strange, being looked at by all of them for the first time in so long. Aki breathed in, steeling her nerves. "I've decided to leave our team," Aki recited from memory. "I'm joining Sherry's team instead."
Crow was the first to break the silence. "Why?" he asked with a glare. She felt her body stiffen at the question but forced herself to relax.
"I would like to walk a path separate from all of you. I wanted to be part of this team but I'm no longer interested in participating in the WRGP with all of you. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure this out for myself but..." Aki gave Yusei a wry smile. "It's not like I was even a benchwarmer or potential swap-in." For the first time in Aki's life, Yusei wore a surprised expression in front of her.
Jack didn't say anything, continuing to sip the cup of coffee in his hand. Yusei was silent and Aki could hear the gears in his brain spinning, smoking in effort to find something to say. Bruno looked confused more than anything. Rua's eyes were the size of dinner plates and Ruka didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"Aki, duel me!" Crow demanded, his face red and his body trembling with barely kept together rage. "I demand a Riding Duel right now!" Aki gave him a pitied look.
"I'm afraid not, Crow. It was only out of respect for all of you that I told you all about my decision rather than leaving you high and dry on the day of the tournament." Aki exhaled and put on her helmet, pushing the visor down. "Besides, it's not like I would've had a chance to duel with all of you at the WRGP. You should talk to Yusei if you want to know more about who your potential benchwarmer will be." All eyes suddenly focused on Yusei, the mechanic looking down at his boots with a mixed expression.
"I'm leaving now. Have a good evening." Aki strode to her D-Wheel and heard light footsteps behind her. Ruka had followed her out. "Ruka, I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"Aki, are you happier with Sherry and Carly?" the young girl asked directly.
"Something like that. They give me their time and attention and they actually want me on their team." Aki started up the engine. "They both make me want to grow and make my own path."
"I don't feel upset you're leaving us. We're all connected by our Signer marks." Ruka got a bit closer and put her hand over Aki's. "You look a lot happier, Aki. I just wish the others could see that too. Have a good night!" Aki took Ruka's mature words to heart, watching the youngest Signer run back towards the garage.
The empty highway always made Aki nervous. A vehicle could come out of nowhere at any time. She had to be vigilant. Bright headlights flashed behind Aki and she checked her rearview camera to see who it was. She clicked her tongue. Crow had tailed her and he was catching up quickly.
"Aki, duel me! I demand it!" Crow screamed over the intercoms between their D-Wheels. "I can't let you betray us like this!"
"You think this is a betrayal, Crow?" Aki asked quietly. "I just want to be happy." Her voice rose with each word. "Can't you let me have this? Can't you let me follow the path I want?" Crow fell silent. "Leave me alone, Crow."
Aki accelerated, leaving her former teammate in the dust.
"I just don't want you to leave like Jack did," he muttered, turning his vehicle around.
The following week, Aki poured herself entirely into training for the WRGP. Over and over again, Team Emotion ran through practice duels and discussed card strategies. Even though Carly was still a beginner to some aspects of dueling, she was adapting surprisingly well. 32 teams were competing in the WRGP in 8 blocks with 4 teams per block. Team Emotion was in Block A with no particularly outstanding teams in the running against them except for Team Armor.
As their resident snoop and researcher, Carly warned them that Team Armor would be the ones to watch out for in their block. "Undefeated in over 50 tag duels and specializing in highly defensive playstyles, Team Armor is a favored contender for the semi-finals. Their team members, Jonathan, Jonah, and Joker, are triplets who have been dueling together since primary school and their playstyle is inspired by their time on a rugby team in high school," Carly read aloud from the holopad. She visibly deflated. "They sound super strong. How could we possibly beat them?"
"Piercing damage and effect damage could probably reach them with ease," Sherry suggested. "Their strategy is one of attrition and manipulation. They usually set Trap Cards that force opponents into attacking their high Defense monsters or create situations where the opponent can do nothing but end their turn."
The table in Carly's apartment was covered in each woman's cards, arranged to create a map of strategies and anchor points. All three of them were aware that their strategies could fall apart at any moment in a Riding Duel and so anchor points became their main topic for the afternoon. When switching between team members in the event of a loss during the relay duels, Graveyards, hands, and Decks were swapped but all cards that were on the field prior to switching remained.
"Fortune Lady Every is the best option as an anchor point monster," Sherry decided. "She has a banish effect and can be easily brought back from the Graveyard by banishing a Spellcaster monster from the Graveyard." She gestured at the cards on the table. "And we all have Spellcaster monsters in our Decks. Carly, you're a great starter and you can set up the field with ease using your Fortune Lady's effects."
Carly blushed in embarrassment. "Oh you're really laying on the praise today, Sherry!" she gushed, Sherry chuckling in response. "I've been practicing and really applying myself thanks to you two." She fixed her glasses while looking down at their cards. "But... don't you think we should also get some monster protection cards too then? Since Every will be the basis for our strategies, we'll want to make sure she can't be locked down right?"
"I have just the cards for that." Aki reached into her bag to pull out a small stack of cards. "These are Trap Cards I got that specialize in negating Battle Phases or ending them entirely. Take a look at them." Sherry scanned each card before releasing them to Carly's grabby hands. "I'm not sure where I belong in the strategy of our team dynamic against Team Armor though."
"Isn't it obvious, Aki?" Carly said with a huge grin. "You're the anchor!"
"Wait... me?!"
Just as the last bell rang for the day, Aki's phone buzzed to life and she quickly ducked under her desk to answer. "Hello?"
"Aki, today I won't be able to meet with you and Carly," Sherry said with some urgency in her voice. "I'm sorry. I have some prior business at the Security Building today."
"That's fine. Today's a good day to take a break anyway." Aki hung up after they said their good-byes and she left the school building. Today was a special half day since the Academy's buildings were undergoing maintenance. Her parents had given her some lunch money for the day too. She walked along the sidewalk, dreaming about the different restaurants she could visit.
Maybe that cafe with the specialty omelets, the gyudon shop that always had a sale during the afternoon, the curry store had a special sandwich on sale today... Aki snapped out of her trance and wiped some drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. She had to pick a place and stick with it. She leaned against a brick wall, thinking, drooling, shaking her head, rinse and repeat.
Udon. The word exploded in her brain. Today, it had to be udon. Nothing else would do.
A short walk later, Aki was sitting at a run down udon restaurant that had old fashioned wooden placards on the wall for their menu. In the upper corner of the room, a TV was giving the day's weather report rundown. "A kitsune udon please," Aki ordered as she sat down at a table in the back area. The weather report shifted to a breaking news report.
The reporter silently flapped his lips with a smoking building behind him. The elderly owner picked up the dusty remote and turned up the volume. "... bombing at the main Security Building, allegedly caused by terrorists," the reporter stated shakily into his microphone. He tugged on his collar nervously. "All residents have been asked by Security to stay in their homes and to avoid the Security Building until further notice. We will now be showing CCTV images of the terrorists in the building."
Two blurry images appeared on screen side by side of two people in Security uniforms. Aki's phone slipped from her hand and clattered onto the table. No matter how pixelated and blurry it looked, Aki could recognize that blonde hair anywhere. Sherry and her butler were inside of the building. With hurried steps, Aki grabbed her phone and bag and rushed out of the restaurant, nearly knocking over a woman.
She dialed Carly's number and shoved the phone to her ear as she hailed a cab. Five rings, six rings, finally Carly picked up. Sheets shuffled in the background. "Hullo?" Carly mumbled, yawning loudly into the microphone.
"Carly, I think Sherry's in danger right now. Have you seen the news?" Aki directed the taxi driver to Carly's address. "The Security Building was bombed and Sherry and her butler have been branded as terrorists."
"WHAT?!" Carly exclaimed, fully awake and scrambling for her laptop. "Oh shit, oh shit. I'm not sure how we can even get inside. I'll meet you at my front door. We gotta be prepared for anything!" They hung up and Aki put the phone back into her pocket. Something wasn't right about this situation. Why in the world was Sherry a terrorist? What was she doing in the Security Building?
The taxi halted in front of Carly's apartment complex and the reporter waved at her. Aki gave her lunch money to the cab driver with a curt, "Keep the change."
"Aki! Let's hurry. We're awfully lucky I live close by to the Security headquarters," Carly thanked, leading them towards the billowing plume of smoke visible from all parts of the city. The streets were lined with officers and yellow tape. "Dang it, how are we gonna get past all of them?" Aki reached into her bag and pulled out her Deck and Duel Disk. "Hey! What are you doing?"
Aki fanned out her cards and pulled out two. "I activate the Spell Card, Opti-Camouflage Armor," she whispered, setting the two cards into her Duel Disk. Carly yelped in surprised as her skin and clothes warped and faded until she was completely see through. The only parts left visible were the two copies of the Equip Spell that Aki had just activated alongside her Deck. "C'mon. Let's go." They snuck past the officers and Aki clicked her tongue at the metal panic doors blocking their way. Just a short distance over Ushio was panicking about how to get back inside.
"Hey, why don't we just... teleport past the door or something?" Carly suggested.
"I have a better idea," Aki responded, an invisible grin spreading across her invisible face. "But first we need a distraction. Carly, give me your Deck." The heavy stack of cards was clumsily put onto Aki's hand. It was difficult to see someone's invisible hands, after all. "I summon the Fortune Fairies Hikari, Swee, Hu, and En! Distract Security for me!" The colorful fairies giggled playfully, darting in unpredictable patterns around the officers, immune to their stun guns and anti-crowd weaponry.
"Suppress the fairies!" Ushio declared, panicking even more than he was before. "Suppress them!" Fortune Fairy En blew a raspberry at him and flew off. "Grrr... whoever gets that stupid red one gets a 20% bonus on their next paycheck!"
One last Monster graced Aki's Duel Disk. "I summon Rose Tentacles!" The enormous plant monster erupted from the ground and grabbed both Carly and Aki, its thick tendrils immediately slapping onto the smooth sides of the buildings. Despite how slow moving this monster usually was, it legged up the building and through the smoking window.
"Erk!" Carly coughed through the smoke. "Well... we made it!" Aki coughed while removing the Rose Tentacles card from her Duel Disk. "Now what?"
"We keep going. Do you have any idea where Sherry might be in this building?"
Carly pointed at a door down the hall. "There! That's a CCTV room. We should be able to find Sherry through there." Three rows of flickering screens and two well used seats sat in the room, an overflowing trash can to the left of the desk that held the screens. All but one screen was still functioning, a hastily taped piece of paper labeling it as "Card Scanning Level." It was dark but both Aki and Carly recognized Bruno and Sherry approaching a large machine. Words were exchanged between the two and suddenly, the screen went white with light.
"What hap-" Aki's sentence was cut short by the white light emerging from the floor, swallowing everything in its pure emptiness. "Carly, run!" The two women ran out of the room, Carly stumbling from the sudden adrenaline rush. There was nowhere to run. The light had already reached both sides of the hallway and Aki froze up as her body sank in, light flooding her senses.
White. Aki hated this color. It was so easily stained and it reminded her of those walls she saw so often as a child, doctors measuring brainwaves and nurses whispering in the corner as an IV drip cooled her veins. Divine... how long had it been since she last thought of him? At least eight months now. He'd understood that same sense of helplessness of being surrounded by white walls. The walls of her sleep chamber were a darker color, a suitable color for her frumpy emo self back then.
The bright and dark reds and purple she dressed herself in threatened the white around her, dying them pink as she walked by them.
But this white space she was in, this vast area would have taken ages for her to dye. Carly was at her side, looking around. "Where are we?" she asked, her voice wavering from fear.
"I don't know. Something must have happened in the building." Aki turned around and in the distance floated a strange object spinning slowly in place. "Hey, Carly?" Carly turned to face the same direction as Aki. "What is tha-"
A sharp, piercing gaze struck both women and time froze as the white around them cracked and shattered. Before they were plunged into darkness, Aki heard voices in the distance. Was that... Yusei?
Aki woke up groggy in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed. The small window to her left was dark, save for the bright moonlight, but the occasional sound of a vehicle passing by and the sight of the Kaiba Corp building confirmed she was still in Neo Domino City. The room was dark but Aki heard someone else in the room.
"You're finally awake." Sherry stepped into the moon rays, an exhausted look on her face. "You... you saw the same thing I did, didn't you?"
"That strange object in the white space? Yeah. I... I saw that too," Aki answered. "Where are we right now? where's Carly?"
"Carly is in another room. She's still asleep." Sherry turned her head towards the window.
"What were you doing in the Security building?" Aki's question was met with silence and Sherry's face wrinkled in concentration.
"Have you heard of Yliaster?"
A/N: Thank you for reading. Chapter 4 will probably be out next month (no promises though because writing duels is so difficult lol).