Not every decision in Crow's life ended with regret. Becoming a pro-Duellist had left him with no regret. Joining the New Domino Police Department had been tricky after his criminal career but there had been no regret. Risking his life various times – Yliaster, Dark Signers, upsetting Jack just because he could – left Crow with no regret. Even the majority of his morally questionable actions to survive the Satellite had little effect on his sleep. "Sherry?" Taking in a deep breath, Crow picked a chunky object from his shoulder and threw it a good distance away before watching it scurry further into the darkness. "Remind me who thought this was a good plan."
It had been possible to feel their journey under the Seine tributary as the temperature dropped. Then it had been obvious when the group had reached the fresher stone tunnel beneath the Basilica Cathedral of Saint-Denis. Sebastien had insisted that they wait in the tunnels while he sought out an ambulance to transport them to University Eight where Musume had vanished. That had been an hour ago. Part of Crow had realised what an inane plan it had been after barely two minutes in the network of catacombs. Sitting in the near darkness with only the light of a single green glowstick, the scowling face of Sherry and rats occasionally dropping onto his shoulders for company, Crow would have preferred to walk directly up to the temporary Yliaster stronghold and smash his face into the doors until they let him in.
In case his feelings hadn't been made clear already, Crow really hated rats and – due to his recent experience – being locked in the dark. Gettnig glared at from beneath hidden eyelids was also giving him the creeps as Sherry was somehow able to spend her time calmly meditating while staring at him intently.
"You, Sebastien." Cracking open an emerald eye, it was more disconcerting for Crow to be glared at with one open and one closed eye than it was with two closed ones. "Me." That was the final word in the exchange. When somebody didn't deign to even open both eyes to answer a question, they were clearly far too important for the conversation.
"How much longer do you think Sebastien will be?" It was only twenty minutes able to the hospital, a few minutes for Sebastien to work his criminal contacts and five to drive back. Literally, a walk across a park followed by a relaxing drive. A more unflattering view from Crow had a darker take. "Are you sure he isn't going to betray us?" Both eyes opened this time.
"If Sebastien accepts a job, he sees it through to the end." Sherry relaxed back against the wall again. "Afterwards is a different matter."
"What if Yliaster bribes him?" Inhaling in through her nose pulled Sherry upright in exasperation. She had been patient but being stuck in a tunnel with rats and a paranoid ginger would grind down any nerves.
"Crow, I am going to ask you a question and want you to think carefully before you answer." Questions like that were always bad ones. People asking them genuinely had either a solid idea or patient ear, typically both. "What happened in America?" Opening her eyes slightly revealed the depth of her gaze. She knew the sort of struggle he was going through. Chasing after Yliaster had not been easy and Sherry had been tempted to make many choices that she would come to regret.
"I'm fine." But he wasn't. Every twitching rodent that fell onto his shoulders sent a little twitch through his frame. Everything that lurked beyond the tiny light of their single glowstick was far too similar to the bleak space he had seen after sacrificing himself for Musume.
"Very well." Letting the subject go, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes again. "I will be here when you change your mind." It was apparent that Sherry was being sincere in her respect for his privacy as she sat in silence.
"... It was dark down there. Not like it is here. Much worse." At a much, much later date, he would eventually come to realise just how sneaky a manoeuvrer it had been. For now, he simply started talking to the only person who was just proactive enough to shatter his pretence of coping while not being overbearing.
One minute, Crow Hogan had been riding on the edge of his seat in yet another Duel for his life. Then his vision clouded over and he had been overcome with the sensation of falling in every direction at once. When he returned to his body, it wasn't quite where he remembered it being. For one thing, it had been day. For another, Kansas had been closer to Dorothy than it was to him. Rocks were strewn in every direction and lay as far as the eye could see. Not that it could see very well. Dim light was about as much as could be spared and had an unhealthy tinge to it. Judging from the local décor and Yusei's scant description of his own experience, Crow could point himself to the seriously bad end of the interdimensional neighbourhood. The Netherworld.
Unlike Yusei, Akiza, Luna or even Jack, he didn't have any special powers that could make an inch of difference in his situation. When Ark Cradle had descended from the skies, he had been able to keep using his Duel Runner. But as a quick test proved, that had only extended as far as his Signer powers had lasted. Instead of the engine catching and giving him some modicum of hope, it lay silent and still.
Looking around in the hazy light, two options presented themselves: wait or start moving. If there was an invisible hole back to the world – and carefully aimed pebbles just skipped across the same ground he was on – it wasn't going to open from this side. Staying put would just leave him with the tiny circle of sight he had now. Better to keep moving. Without any recourse, Crow set both feet firmly against the ground and began pushing his Duel Runner in the same direction that it had landed in.
One step morphed into the next as he tried to keep count. The electronics on his Runner were probably fried (he was careful not to think the word 'dead') and there was no music to play and pass the time. Outside the shower, his voice was far from good enough to keep even himself entertained so singing was wildly out of the question. Not that there wasn't a more disturbing sensation already available. Looking back over the tracks proved that the tires kept in a straight line across the miles he was walking. Tracks that sometimes crossed back and forth over themselves. Common sense clearly didn't tend to work in the Underworld.
Nor did time. Crow had an almost antique mechanical watch strapped to one wrist that had been a birthday gift from Martha that he kept in working order. While not about to earn any prizes, it kept the correct time to within a few seconds and served purpose well enough. Except since landing in the deity-forsaken, soul-crushing, poorly lit Netherworld. Not a second had passed according to his watch but there was definite wear on his mental state after the first few hours. Namely a sense of utter exhaustion on everything from an emotional level upwards.
Just because I can't see Jack doesn't mean that he hasn't lost. After an undetermined time alone, Crow had started thinking about what might have happened after his being sent to the dark place. Particularly the most unpleasant possibility – that Jack had also lost and would spend the rest of eternity haunting him in this bleak wasteland. Maybe he just arrived somewhere else. That was a more pleasing idea. Losing the Duel didn't bother Crow more than it usually would (aside from the permanent exile outside his home dimension) but knowing that Jack had succeeded where he hadn't was playing on Crow's nerves. Not that I would want him to be stuck down here. Neither of them being trapped would better but having his mortal frenemy stuck as well would just increase the total misery.
Solitude does funny things to the mind. Flickers of colour kept appearing in the edge of his vision as Crow continued to walk through the murky haze. Flashes of grey, swirls of dark purple and the odd glimpse of something white. Each time he turned to see what they were, the colours vanished again. A thick fog was constantly swirling around and it was easy for Crow to pretend that his mind was just playing tricks. What he could clearly hear the sound of running water gradually getting closer as he walked.
Up until the moment that he came into sight of that winding river that dully gleamed in the dim light, Crow had thought that nothing more could surprise him. Getting someone out of the Netherworld was incredibly difficult at best. Either his friends would come through or they wouldn't and neither avenue would really surprise him. But even being stuck at the far end of an empty void couldn't have prepared him for coming face-to-face with an actual ghost. Squatting on the bank of the river was the faded shade of an old friend Crow had long since bidden farewell.
"Robert? Robert Pearson?" Original owner of the Blackbird, Black-Winged Dragon and strong moral compass that had been all inherited by Crow, the grizzled mechanic would have been fast friends with the rest of Crow's family if he had lived long enough to know them. Pearson had been betrayed by Bolton, his business partner who had rivalling ideas for their designs.
"I had hoped that you might not have been as stupid as me." Bolton had Duelled Pearson using a Shadow Card to inflict actual damage. By the time Crow arrived, Pearson had been too wounded to survive and died as his warehouse burned down around him. Apparently, that hadn't been the end of his torment. "Welcome to the end. At least you will have somebody to talk to for the first few decades."
"My friends don't seem to be here either, so that's good." At that point, Crow had yet to uncover the reality of just how much faster time moved between the realms. "We were in working in pairs for a Turbo Duel. Looks like they pulled through." Shuffling down to sit beside his old friend, each doubtless took comfort in no longer being alone.
"A Tag-Team-Turbo-Duel? That sounds ridiculous." Such a thing would have been unthinkable once upon a time. It at least sounded preposterous enough that Pearson seemed to be warming up to him.
"Most of the opponents were ridiculous." Crow still had yet to check with the others but he was certain that one of them had lost bladder control along the way.
"Except the one that sent you here." It was an unfair point. Nobody had been expecting the Yliaster Duellist – including the research them she had infiltrated that had thought she was over a hundred miles away. "What were you even doing getting involved in a Shadow Duel?" There was nothing else to do so Crow decided to catch up his old friend on everything that had happened. How Jack had betrayed them all to leave the Satellite. Why Yusei had chased him to the city. Dark Signers. Getting an honest job. Something about Paradox and history falling apart. Yliaster in general. Going their own ways. Teaming up again to take on the world for the King of Games title. Then what had clearly been a rigged Duel to overcome Crow's limitless natural talent.
"Limitless natural talent, my ghostly backside." Being stuck with little else to do had almost forced Pearson to endure Crow's only slightly embellished story and the older figure was unimpressed with the additions. "It took everything I had to teach you how to fix Runners. If Bolton hadn't killed me first, my head would have exploded."
"Please, you learnt far more from me than I did from you." Only if lessons in how not to do something counted.
"Heh." It was not exactly a laugh – their surroundings made that impossible – but a single chuckle was better than nothing. "In any case, I'm glad things went better for you than they for me."
"If I get out of here, getting you out is the first thing I'll look into." For the first time since he had arrived in the Netherworld, a tiny ray of light appeared in Crow's surroundings.
"That may not be as easy as you believe." A stronger voice than Pearson's broke through the gloom as an old and familiar figure appeared behind the pair.
"Look who decided to show up." Pearson sounded more annoyed than surprised as Crow struggled to his feet.
"Forgive him." Ignoring his ghostly counterpart, this fresh face spoke directly to the newcomer. "This place is relentless on the human mind. Robert frequently imagines himself to be funny." Trying to think of something smart to say, Crow gave up and treated the new ghost just as with that of his old friend.
"Yeah, I can see that." Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it! "Yusei really does look just like you." Damn it!
"Why are you here, Crow Hogan?" Even for a dead man, the late scientist had limitless concern for others. "This is no place for the living."
"Yliaster is back. They're using Shadow cards to take us on. One of them sent me here." There were subtle differences to the face before him and that of Crow's brother. One eye covered up by drooping hair, lacking that slight smile at the corner of his mouth. "Can you get me out like you did Yusei?" A moment of unease passed across the shining face before it cleared away.
"Your stay here will not be for long. Events are already in motion for your return." Quite how the shining spectre knew what was happening outside the confines of the dead zone was not clear but the news was eternally welcome.
"What about Pearson?" The other ghost had made little in the way of talking during the conversation between the other two.
"Robert cannot leave as easily as you." Sorrow was expressed in the same way by both Fudo men, a deep sadness in their eyes. "But he has turned this curse into a gift by helping sooth the restless spirits doomed to haunt these wastes alongside him." Those chilly ghouls that had plagued the last person to be trapped hadn't appeared to Crow. Maybe because they didn't hold him responsible for their plight, possibly because of Pearson's relentless influence.
"A fat lot of good that it's done me." Even from beyond the grave, Pearson had the uncanny ability to gruffly help anyone in need without making it seem like an imposition. "Most of them can't hold a conversation that's not a memory for very long and none of them can keep shape for more than a few minutes. I haven't seen a pretty lady in decades." Being dead was clearly no excuse to stop flirting. "And all this guy ever talks about is science or his kid. Almost wish he wouldn't speak at all." Speaking of which, Fudo senior looked like he had a pressing question.
"Can you tell me something?" It was impossible to really tell but Crow thought the ghost looked troubled. "My son, is he... happy?" There was an anxious pause between the words. Almost as if scared of the answer. But what could a ghost have to be afraid of?
"... He's unwell. Some sort of brain disease." Terms like 'unique neurological condition' meant little to Crow. If something could be summarised in five words instead of seven, he would cut it down to the basics. "But he's got the best doctor on the planet looking after him. I don't think he realises it just yet but yeah, I think he's actually happy right now." Every time he had seen Yusei over the past few years – in person or in the media – there had always been a slight tension in his shoulders. Pressure from his condition, stress from his job. It had been noticeably absent for the last few weeks. Just having Akiza close by seemed to take the edge of worry from his life when she kept calling him on it.
"Then, please, do not tell him what happened here. It would only cause him more harm." Father and son alike seemed prepared to fall on their swords to protect the people close to them. An endearing trait but stupid for the living. "Ah, it appears your time here is at an end." Not exactly a glow came from the Blackbird Runner but more like the clinging fog was being pushed away. "Take care. There is something dangerous coming for you all. I cannot see exactly what it is but it is close already. Be careful of those about you." There had been just enough time to properly settle back onto the Duel Runner before it was summoned back into the world.
Light broke through his recollections like the sunlight that returned him to his family. "My friends." Appearing like a morally ambiguous angel, Sebastien was outlined by light as the top of the damp cellar stairs. "Who's ready to die?" Considering the recent story, Sherry felt that maybe a different choice of words might have gone better.
Right up until he saw the ambulance sitting in front of him, Crow had actually doubted Sebastien's ability to get it done. Having Sherry's vote of confidence had carried him a long way in Crow's estimations but even that could only go so far against the weight of reality. Ambulances were constantly tracked by both the owning hospital and government. Within seconds of an ambulance being stolen, police would be closing in from all directions. Any unregistered use would trigger the system and sirens would sound.
"I had a friend of mine register it as out for a mechanical check." Palpable levels of jealousy were rolling off of Crow and Sebastien nonchalantly explaining the trick was liable to make his head explode. "It took a few drinks and some... convincing." Meaning that he had been off seducing hospital workers at the expense of leaving his customers locked in a dark tunnel. "What matters is that we have an ambulance for the next hour." Looping an arm around them both, the familiar embrace was quickly shrugged off as he led the pair to the ambulance. "We should be able to get to University Eight in just a few minutes so you had best get into disguise now." Inside had been cleared of all medical equipment and medication. Probably to help sell it to the hospital that it really was out for an inspection, possibly because whoever had handed it over to Sebastien wasn't completely trusting of the conman. Good to know that Crow wasn't the only person in the whole of Paris that wasn't swayed by those charms. Less pleasing to fully realise how their simple plans of acting as corpses had been adjusted to reality.
"One gurney?" Ambulances were used to quickly scoop up patients in desperate need to transportation and also begin treatment on the way. They were not used for mass transportation, something Sherry was unhappy to realise.
"But two bags!" Unravelling two lengths of black plastic over the moveable bed did nothing to abate her prickling fury. "And look!" Raising both protective barriers would stop either of them from falling off while also shaving off another few inches of room. It was going to be an uncomfortably tight squeeze.
"Crow?" Nothing could unnerve him like Sherry sounding pleased when speaking his name when she had made it a point to avoid him for several years. "You will owe me for the rest of your worthless life." Just a fragment of a moment went past when he no longer had Yliaster as his top concern. It was just about the same time that his future tormentor was negotiating her way into the sack and pressing it as far to the edge of the gurney as was possible with a glare of pure fire. Even the sombre nature of being inside a literal body bag was unable to hinder the indomitable personality that was Sherry LeBlanc. "This was a stupid idea of yours."
"What? But I," Before he could summon an articulate response, she had already zipped herself inside the world's most reliable one-time sleeping bag. "Sebastien, just kill me already." Hopping up onto the side, both legs were wiggled into the sack as he lay with his arms tightly folded. There was no way to fully close the join from inside so they would have to rely upon Sebastien to close them from the outside.
"Monsieur." Snapping on a pair of gloves gave a certain medical air to the conman as he nodded sombrely. "Nothing would make me happier." Closing up the zipper, he solemnly enclosed Crow up into the black sack. "Ashes to ashes, du"
"One more syllable and I will haunt you forever." The last thing Crow saw before the darkness closed over him again was an amused smile. Heavy rings sounded out as a pair of shuffling footsteps carried the disguised driver to his cabin and an engine was soon started as they pulled out of the narrow alley near the church.
It quickly became stuffy in that bag. Air too thick to breathe, not even the barest sliver of light creeping in around the zip. Trying to calm his mind, Crow told himself he was somewhere bright and sunny. Clear air, bright skies, warm light from above. Crow was abundantly aware that he was lying to himself, especially as a sharp corner slid his bag across the gurney and against his companion's. "Sorry." Trying to wriggle away, some pressure was applied to the bag around his hand.
"For what?" Their voices were muffled through the thick plastic but the garbled words reminded him that he was not alone in the dark. Sherry was there to help him, Sebastien was helping sneak them inside and Musume would soon be joining their reckless little group of renegades. This black space he was trapped in would only last a few minutes. Just keep breathing and everything would be alright. So that was what Crow did. Just breath in and out as their driver covered the short journey to the university. In, out, squeeze that grip slightly, feel it tighten slightly in response. Listen as Sebastien blagged his way past the guard at the external doors and quietly listed off the rooms as they went past. Take a chill inhalation as they entered a freezer in a kitchen – the following guard accepting the excuse that he was just covering for the regular deliverer. Even when he heard Sebastien say "Looks like this one rolled over onto their bag" and straightening fabric made it clear the pressure on his hand had just been from the bag, Crow continued to breathe normally. Only when the door shut did he drag in a gasp of cold air and tear himself free from the bag.
Industry-sized refrigeration units like the one they were in were obliged to have exit handles on the inside in the event that people became locked inside. "How long should we wait?" Peeling back the cover over his watch, the trembling man measured out the seconds as time ticked by and frostbite set in. If their porter had taken ten minutes to give a brief layout of the first floors then it would only take a couple to leave. Crow gave him one to get out of earshot. Any longer and bits would start dropping off.
"That should be long enough." Heaving on the handle, he gallantly let Sherry escape into the warmer air of the kitchen before prying one of his boots from the floor. Ice had been quick to settle in and apply itself to a sole. "Dddddidn't Sebbbastien say there was aaaa security office around here?" Stuttering as the warmth made his muscles tremble in joy, he hoped that he had the layout right. Being enclosed in a body bag had hampered his normally perfect sense of direction marginally.
"Down the corridor about fifty metres." Unlike her shuddering companion, Sherry actually had the focus to keep track of everything Sebastien had carefully listed out for them. She would have to remember to thank him for that if they all made it out in one piece. "What are you thinking? Shouldn't we be trying to avoid the guards?" A few stuttered syllables underlined just how much he despised the cold whilst giving her enough information as to his intentions. "Cameras. Not a bad plan." In a building this size, the camera feeds would typically be split between floors but (they hoped) still be accessible from the booth on each floor.
"Glad you think so." Blowing into his hands, he resisted the temptation to simply turn on the gas cookers for a few minutes. Being able to feel fingers was overrated anyway. How Sherry had endured the industrial freezer for even that minute was beyond his understanding but – to avoid the inevitable scathing remark – he wasn't going to ask.
"Are you quite done?" Freezing in the icy blast of her tone, Crow stopped his shivering through sheer force of shame as he silently followed Sherry in the direction of their first objective.
Ensuring Sebastien didn't wander off, a few extra guards had made sure to properly escort him from the premises. Their path down the corridor was clear but the pair solemnly crept as if ears were on every wall between them and the door at the end of the junction ahead. Cautiously peering around opposite corners to make sure that nobody else was coming, the pair hurried into the labelled room.
Rows of monitors would have filled this space when it originally operated. Some of the frames were still on the walls where heavy television sets had been installed. It was always easier to take the cheapest option instead of the better one. University Eight – like many underfunded educational institutions around the world – cut a lot of corners to make ends meet and the current camera feeds were split among four dated computer screens. Since the four screens could only be cut into quarters before the pictures became too small to see and there were upwards of forty cameras in the building, the images switched around every few seconds. As luck would have it, the person who was meant to be guarding the equipment inside had apparently left to have a break and the room was empty for their taking.
"This is giving me a headache." Focussing on several points is easy enough but checking for details was a skill Crow hadn't yet mastered.
"Are you sure that's not just your natural state?" Sherry was only being snippy because his skill clearly far exceeded hers. At least, that was what Crow was telling himself as they each tried to scrub the pictures for anything that might be useful before it changed.
Multiple images went flickering past every few seconds. Hallways, corridors, one broom closet (oddly enough), a room that had an aquarium if the way the light was flickering in the picture was any indication. A truly astonishing amount of guards. With the screens changing every time they looked, it was difficult to really estimate how many other people were in the building with them. One of them estimated somewhere in the mid-hundreds, Sherry guessed closer to eighty.
"What was that?" Stabbing at one of the monitors meant little with their combined lack of luck. "Wait for it." Even under the risky circumstances they were in, she could sense a trademark useless comment on the way. "There." It was difficult to make out on the small square but there was no mistaking the pixelated figure lashed to a hospital bed. Not noticeably struggling was only further indication that something was amiss. Impossible though it should have been, Yliaster had caught Musume.
"Where is that?" It took another rotation of the screen for the information to appear in one corner of the image. "Second floor. Somewhere in the East corner." Either that or '2E' was a room number. Possibly both. "That's on the other side of the building. Come on."
"Wait." Tapping away at a keyboard, another jolt happened on the screen. "I put a loop on the feeds. It should help us get around without being noticed." Getting this far without her help would have taken Crow more luck than he had and several weeks as well.
"Smart. Can you teach me that one?" There wasn't enough distaste in the world to factor into her look. Although Crow had evaded Sector Security for a few months, Sherry had tracked Yliaster for years. It was like a fingerpainter asking for tips from a master artist. "Maybe later." A scowl answered his attempt to bargain. "Or I can just ask Yusei." If Crow hadn't already seen her angry, he might have assumed she was getting upset at the suggestions. Unexpectedly, it was Yliaster who rescued him from the awkward situation as the guard returned from his break by opening the door behind them.
Spotting each other at roughly the same moment, all three froze in that micro-second that preceded a decision. Reacting fastest, Crow took two sprinting steps and launched himself into the air with a slight uttering of "Hup" before both feet smashed into the gradually alarmed face. If the blow didn't knock his target out, the sickening crunch as head collided with floor finished the job. "Come on, help me get him away." Dragging the still body into the security room, Crow ripped out a power cord for one of the monitors and bound both legs together as Sherry repeated the exercise on the arms. Electrical cables made fantastic restraints and the guard was trussed up like a chicken in seconds.
What they hadn't counted on was the way that all the guards in the building had been working in pairs. Remembering this fact as a burly arm wrapped around his neck and drew him upright did nothing to stop him from dangling an inch off the ground. Growing a few inches over the years had put him just barely into a normal height but that didn't stop the muscle-bound freaks like the one holding him from being bigger. "Who are you," A thin, cold line pressed against his throat and Crow tried very hard not to swallow. "And what are you doing here?"
"Here for the P.E. Booster sessions." Risking a quip, the knife edge slightly closer into Crow's throat as the guard made it clear that he was in no laughing mood.
"Let him go." Reaching into a back pocket, Sherry pulled out a knife that hadn't been there when she arrived. No threatening words or angry tones. Such tactics would have avoided any number of fights between the two brothers.
"Where did you get a knife?" Asking that question may have saved Crow's life. It meant the guard knew he was unaware that Sherry had brought a weapon. Which could also mean that she lacked training in how to use it properly.
"From our friend in the corner." Watching how those emerald eyes were tracking each movement, a single thought came to mind. Uttering a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening, it was possible to signal acceptance with a single wink. Yet another item was joined to the list of regrets as the wrong eye was closed and the open one let him see just how close that knife came to stabbing him in the chest instead of the arm around it. Dropping him with a scream, the guard automatically lowered the knife from Crow's throat.
"How many," Smashing the screaming face into the doorframe until it stopped making noise didn't alter the flow of Crow's words. "Times have you done that?" Silence indicated that it was the first time Sherry had thrown a knife directly at a hostage to hit the kidnapper. The recently freed victim pondered the wisdom of his choice as a thin stream of blood pooled at his neck where the knife had nicked through the outer layers of skin with ease.
"Room 2E?" Taking care to strap the wound she had inflicted closed, Sherry tied up the first guard alongside the other one. Smashing the handle from the door as he locked them both inside, Crow wondered just how wise his choice of companion had really been. Pressing a hand to his throat to stem the bleeding, he carefully followed her lead for the rescue of their mutual friend.
Creeping up through the hallways was slow business. Each step was carefully done to avoid making any unnecessary noise, ears remained pricked for the sound of any approaching guards. Stairs were their only recourse, lifts would be easily noticed. In case guards had been left on the stairs near their destination, they took the west stairs to the second floor before creeping through the empty corridors. All that time, not one other person was seen or heard. It was like there were only guards on the perimeter and none inside. A massive tactical blunder unless they were simply too late to arrive.
"2A." Speaking in a hushed whisper, Sherry pointed out the sign above a set of doors with a slender digit. Each letter appeared to indicate a wing rather than a single room. Opening up their area of search slightly, it at least confirmed that they only had a limited section to investigate on the far side of the seemingly abandoned building. In fact, it was even easier than they might have allowed themselves to readily hope for.
Only one room in the correct hallway had opened blinds. Slowly covering the angles just to make sure they weren't discovered, it was a grim sight slowly coming into view. Bags of medication hung from dozens of poles, needles in every limb, thick straps around every possible angle. Quietly letting themselves into the room, the pair left the door open just enough to hear if anyone was coming.
Being tied down would normally have been a minor inconvenience to Musume. An added benefit of being a walking human container for the two warring beings was the sorts of strength that most people would work their entire lives for. Judging from the thick straps holding down her limbs and the many bags of various substances being pumped into her, Yliaster had accounted for that and taken precautions.
"None of these are pain-killers." Looking through the assembled bags of medicine, it was the clear lack of pain relief was the only thing missing from the collection. Several sedatives but nothing to dull any pain.
"That doesn't make sense." Such thick straps failed to open easily but he had almost released one of her feet. "What's the use of risking her waking up?"
"Because they don't care if she's hurting." As it turned out, Sherry was almost right. Yliaster were pumping her with so many other substances that adding more to the mix would have likely killed Musume before they got what they needed from her. Every combination of chemicals was precisely calibrated to keep her alive as long as possible. Adding literally anything else into the equation would throw everything into chaos.
"But what is this thing?" A chunky box was set off to one side, linked up to the patient by a sturdy plastic tube set into one arm. Blood was either being drawn up into the box or being pumped from it into Musume. Both were worrying procedures.
"Dialysis?" Kidneys purge the blood of toxins in a healthy body but failing organs could be aided by regular dialysis. A notable difference between regular dialysis and whatever was happening to the prone form was how her extracted blood was being purged and filtered into a nearly full bag while the replacement blood was coming from a different bag altogether. Something was deeply wrong as the noise of heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor outside.
By the time both of the men arrived in the room, it was seemingly empty. Shuffling slightly under the mattress, Sherry slipped her thumb over the end of a scalpel's handle. If either body made a move to look under the bed, a quick slice to the Achilles tendon would suffice to immobilise them. Then they would only have to worry about the other one. No problem by herself. Maybe a few minutes work if Crow tried to help.
"So why do we keep topping her up if we're just going to drain her again?" Carefully slipping the full bag from the hook, another soon replaced it to begin pumping fresh blood back in. Whatever they were trying to do, this seemed deliberately counter-productive.
"Boss wants us to keep diluting her blood with this synthetic stuff for as long as we can." From his perspective in the cramped cupboard, Crow watched as the pouch was secured in the bottom of a sturdy case and looked inside. "I heard the guys in the lab have been extracting these tiny robots from it or something. Things just keep exploding on them but they go right on trying." Was this what the new Yliaster was after? Musume had only mentioned her the nanites in her system had been keeping her from making a decision between the two spirits as part of her plan to draw them both to a final end. Could there be another use she hadn't mentioned?
"What's that about?" Only non-communicative noises came as a response. "Didn't you hear the rumour how they want to use the blood to create superhuman soldiers?"
"... You've been watching vampire films again." Just below the average threshold of human hearing, the sturdy palm of Crow's hand was steadily smashing into his skull. How was it possible that such a powerful organisation could be composed of such idiots? "Or was it zombies this time?"
"You know what? Screw you." Task completed, the pair soon left the room amidst the squabbles of working partners as Crow rolled himself out of the cupboard. He hadn't realised just how uncomfortable Yusei would have been when his brothers had locked him into the bedside cabinet back in America. If the situation repeated itself... well, he'd still do it again. It had been funny the first time.
"Come on, let's get you out of these." Sherry taking the far side of the bed, he set about removing as many of the needles and buckles as he could. It would take a few moments but Musume started coming around almost as soon as the needles were removed. She was one of the toughest people either of her rescuers had ever met.
"C...Crow?" Gripping the front of his jacket in a lax grip as muscles failed to respond properly, she was clearly struggling against the effects of whatever medications were still in her system. "They took them." What he was thinking she meant could not possibly be the actual meaning. It was too big a leap, too large an impossibility. "Yliaster took... them... both." Ice filled his veins more fully than blood for one instant.
"Sherry?" Maybe it was just some sort of delusion. Many things could affect the mind and she had clearly gone through a lot in the few days since they had parted. "Can you check her for a mark, like a tattoo? Right about here." Tapping his sternum, he shuffled over to the door so that Sherry could keep Musume's modesty intact. Carefully pulling the fabric of the hospital gown to one side, Sherry uncovered a few scratches and some fresh bruises but not the curled symbol that he had desperately been hoping she would find.
"Nothing." That loop on the monitor could be noticed any moment now but they had to be sure of the situation first.
"What about on her back? Anything?" More bruises than the front but not even the emblem that told more the more sinister of her unwanted captives was still inside. Against all possible hope, Musume was as powerless as the rest of them. Yliaster had somehow taken not only the Crimson Dragon but Red Nova as well. Their forces were all around the building, their invitation to Crow almost certainly a trap and now the sinister group had taken away the only possible hope of facing them in an outright battle.
"Time to go." Grabbing one of her arms around his neck, Crow dragged Musume from the bed and was relieved when Sherry took the other arm for herself. Hurrying back over to the far side of the buildnig, they headed for an external fire escape to avoid being seen at the building's exits.
"Doesn't this feel a bit too easy?" Elbowing open the door with one arm, Sherry gave a cautious peek outside. Nobody was on the external stairs since they could only be accessed from inside. "Musume gets caught, we find her. She's guarded, we break her out."
"Finding her probably wasn't easy with the amount I'm paying Sebastien." Finding real francs was an expensive business and her criminal contact had a pleasing refund policy on the rare occasion he failed. Dumping all that back into finding Musume had set Sherry back more than most people would be comfortable with but she knew every penny would have been put to good use to verify the information this time. Sebastien wouldn't want to owe anybody twice. "But something about this does seem... strangely uncomplicated." Giving him credit for a genuine observation was beyond her current levels of charity but she was willing to admit to least seeing Crow's point. Even if their guards had left to steal away the pair of powerful spirits, more than the meagre handful should have remained to guard Musume through whatever remaining experiments she was undergoing.
"I hope that we can make it back to the catacombs before they catch us." At least Yliaster hadn't been crawling all over the dark corridors beneath the city. Despite the cramped quarters and constant feeling the ceiling would cave in on them, it was at least quiet except for the scurrying inhabitants.
"That makes two of us – I also cannot wait until you are back in those rat-infested tunnels." Each footstep would a slight ringing in their wake if they hurried so the group were slowly creeping down the metal staircase. Their journey so far had been mostly uneventful but all three of them knew that didn't eliminate the risk of being discovered. Well, two of the three were aware of the risk as the third drooled slightly.
"Las time..." Each eye was focussing in a different way and making it incredibly difficult to properly look at either figure. Even though she had the substantial willpower to keep herself awake, her speech was still impaired from the drugs in her system. "Last time Crow... thaw a rat."
"We don't need to talk about that right now." Nobody had such a quick answer unless they were prepared. Finding Musume chained up had not been planned which only meant something more embarrassing was being covered up.
"What happened?" Hefting her share of the burden slightly higher, Sherry had to hurry around the outside curve of the stairs to keep pace. If she was going to run and carry someone at the same time, she was going to get paid for her work.
"We really don't need to talk about it." Covering the outside distance of the stairwell was matched by having to effectively hop on one leg around the inside and try not to slip.
"H' screamed and... shhhat hisself." In order to keep Crow from overhearing, Musume lent over to whisper in an ear.
"Wrong side." Hindsight made it instantly obvious that telling her had been the wrong decision.
"Oops," Leaning over, she repeated the words to Sherry.
"I was three." Slowing to a halt on the middle landing between two floors, Crow stretched his hands as wide as he was able. "And it was this big." Considering the hands were about four feet away, doubt showed in the eyes of each beautiful woman. "This big?" Lowering the size slightly produced no results. "Let's just leave before they catch us." Trying to move down the stairs again was waylaid as Musume plucked at the back of his shirt. "What? You want to hear about the dog incident as well?" That was definitely information filed away for later but more pressing concerns took precedence.
".. 'm spirits." She was gently growing more lucid as time passed but it was definitely slow. "Haveta ... get 'em back!" It wasn't her most articulate argument but probably the most resolute.
"Not enough time. The Crimson Dragon will have to look after itself for a while." Even with every inch of his burning anger pushing them forward, the resisting positions of his companions were enough to dramatically curtail any progress. And they were literally inches from the ground floor and escaping to freedom.
"Z-one spoke of the Crimson Dragon once." And they had been doing so well in pretending Sherry hadn't once betrayed them for the other side. "It was the only thing Yliaster was scared of. If they have it now, they will be unstoppable." A fair argument when dozens of people weren't hunting them down.
"Look, this isn't a democracy. We came to save Musume, mission accomplished. No time for another suicide run." That may have been an overbearing comment under most other circumstances but many people with a kill order were likely on the way already. Nobody sane wanted to be in the middle of that unless the fate of the world might be in the balance. It very well might and two-thirds of the group were willing to take that risk. Actually, one of them was fairly drugged up so maybe round it to half.
"We go back." Pulling some way up the stairs, Musume just dangled uselessly between Sherry and Crow as they argued the point of sacrificing their lives for something far bigger than either of themselves. It was unusual of Crow to take the more restrained approach but his last encounter with Yliaster had left an impact.
"Where to? Where would Yliaster be hiding them?"
"The aquarium." Brains and beauty, Sherry had one of the finest minds in her country. "Why would they need an aquarium in the physics building?" On the greyscale monitor, the light coming from inside the room had looked like it was passing through or reflecting off a body of water. What if it had actually been illuminating that way from the beginning?
"Where is it?" Racking his brains, Crow tried to remember any sort of detail from the room he had seen for barely an instant. Pinboards on the walls. Potted plants in a corner. A floor map with a dark outline! Each of the floors was colour-coded with a colour of the rainbow (doubtless some dumb attempt to invigorate weary students). It had to be either red or indigo to show up black on the screen.
"Either the top floor or the second." Three incredulous stares met one another. "What?"
"We were on the second floor." After a moment of cultural warring inside his head, the point made itself clear. Japan considered the ground-level floor the 'first floor' but the French maintained the 'first floor' sat above the first flight of stairs. Without an innate understanding of French culture, Crow would have wasted precious time searching an empty floor.
"Then we know they're on the top floor." Grinding his teeth, Crow heaved Musume upright and tried to think of a plan. "Probably with all the guards we were expecting." His pool of ideas shrunk slightly. "And guns." It dwindled to a small puddle. "A lot of guns." A dribble of inspiration labelled 'last stand' trickled through his mind. "It's not as if we can even get the drop on them." And then an idea happened. Not the sort of idea any member of his family would understand the subtleties of. They suffered from an unfortunate condition known as 'common sense'.
"So somebody snuck into the building, grabbed our primary test subject and escaped without being seen?" Hearing those words brought a flicker of a smile to the intruder currently creeping in closer by the second. "Can anybody tell me how?"
"We think that they got in by hiding themselves in a corpse delivery about an hour ago." It sounded like Sebastien would be getting away without anybody being aware of how deeply he was really involved. A regular thumping noise could be heard as fate sent vibrations through the ceiling. "They also seem to have incapacitated a few guards. We can't raise them." Most people would have said 'knocked out' but Yliaster cared little for the average grunt and wouldn't care if they were dead.
"Did nobody think to check who was inside the bags before taking delivery?" Shouting in an increasingly angry voice to be heard, the apparent head scientist was in risk of screaming the building down. "So now we have no template, no source of materials and no way to get them back? And what is that noise?!" There was never going to be a better time to enter and Crow seized it.
"Guessing you just need to... vent." Which would have been a good line to drop from the ceiling from had Sherry not crushed him under the drooping body of Musume as punishment. Getting in through the building would have been an impossible task with so many guards roaming the halls. Getting to the roof and opening up one of the exhaust vents that filtered out air from all over the building had been simple. Much like the SRC, many institutions placed their most potentially explosive experiments near specifically weakened outer rooms. It had been a simple matter to crawl to the noisiest vent and drop in. Sometimes, Crow amazed even himself.
"Ignore the idiot and leave. We won't be asking again." People were normally more scared by her threats but some of the huddled bodies in the room actually cackled at the words. "Is something funny?" Few laughs this time as the fury in her eyes quelled all humour.
"Why pretend? You're one of the 'good guys'. We know you aren't going to hurt us." Propping Musume against a cupboard, Crow walked over to the voluntary leader with a smile about his face.
"You're a scientist." Throwing a friendly arm around those narrow shoulders, it was clear this was the sort of scientist who spent all their time working and not enough working out. "So calculate the odds of a former Signer hurting you." Drawing him in close, Crow made sure to drop the friendly manner. "Especially when it happens to be the one your side recently sent to the Underworld and seriously pissed off." Tightening his grip elicited a slight squeak from the man in his grasp. "Now then, what do you think would happen if you happened to hurt one of his friends?"
"Errrr..." Facing death can do funny things to a man. Actually being worse than dead – no matter for how short a time – could do even stranger things. "We'll just get out of your way." Crow squeezed the trembling form as other members of the group started to flee from the lab.
"One more thing," Grabbing the back of the coat as it tried to flee, Crow treated them to a smile tinged with unpleasant thoughts. "Leave the coat." Draping the stolen fabric over one shoulder, he impatiently waved the rest of the crew through the doors before slamming them shut and engaging both locks as the sound of running feet came from the other side and the grunts started to converge on the lab. Then slamming a thick chunk of wood from under a desk through the handles just as they arrived outside. As an afterthought, he dragged a table over and pressed it against the door. Then toppled one of the heavy filing cabinets to slide under the table for extra weight. Only once he was relatively sure that it would hold for more than a few seconds did he finally turn around.
Avoiding looking directly at the problem hadn't made it simply vanish. They were both still there, circling one another. Each vast container stretched out and around the others, forcing them into a perpetual cycle of harming and being harmed. Neither was strong enough to split their attention from protecting themselves against the other and break free of containment at the same time. Too weak to attack harder, not strong enough to break free.
Standing in front of the two creatures that had tortured her for years and driven her family to their deaths, Musume had a revelation. It was absurdly simple. Smash both containers, let the two opposites meet directly and the nightmare would finally be over. Paris might end up a smoking ruin but the world would be safe from the sheer horror of their war for the rest of time. Humanity would be safe from one more supernatural threat and their end could be postponed a while longer.
"Musume?" Then she returned to a reality where the one parent she had known and loved was standing right across the room right beside the closest thing to an actual friend that she had ever known. Losing them in addition to a few hundred thousand people tipped the risk into the realms of 'unacceptable'. Outside the door, every member of Yliaster was starting to converge on the reinforced and barricaded doors.
"You know," Tearing the sleeves off the lab coat, she wound them around each fist. Adrenaline was giving her a temporary boost of clarity just enough to focus. "I always wanted to see if this worked." There was a gap of about four feet just between each shimmering jar. Just enough to squeeze inside and punch the outside layers. "Merde." Something was definitely clicking in her right wrist and at least one of the fingers in her left hand was broken. "Tell me what you're thinking and find out if your heads are less sturdy than whatever these are made of." Even with sturdily locked doors hammering under the weight of Yliaster personnel and blood starting to drip to the ground, both her accomplices were at least smirking.
Taking the proffered length of pipe that Sherry had ripped from under a counter, Musume's second attempt managed to put tiny cracks in the winding exterior pipes. A few more blows opened narrow slivers in the lengths and wisps of probably not smoke began curling up. "Wait." Stopping just before she could actually make contact, Musume turned to look at Crow with incredulous eyes. Literal minutes before the bodies outside the room were pounding the bodies inside the room and he wanted to have a heartfelt discussion. "Are you sure about this? Can't one of us do it instead?" Whilst being included purely by being in the room – Crow forgetting for a moment the finer points of supernatural genetics – Sherry felt strangely honoured to be part of the somewhat limited group of available stand-ins.
"Second question, probably not without exploding." Minds pictured that demise. Minds weren't exactly appealed to living the reality. "First question, nope!" Then she slapped a hand on each pipe before thinking too far through the decision could deter her.
Razors of ice sliced up her left arm as radiant warmth seeped through her right. After so long in silent peace, her soul was torn back into two screaming halves as the beings moved back in and made it their home. It was different than the last time, harsher. Originally, she had already trapped the Crimson Dragon before it could fully understand the plan she had concocted. When Red Nova had stepped inside her, it had been waiting and already at power. This time, they were vying for a dominant position from the very start. Nova forced her to endure hellfire in an effort to sway a pained decision as the Crimson Dragon strained her jaw shut and her tongue to lie still. Musume couldn't convey the sheer agony shed was underwent. In physical terms, every nerve ending would have been forced to erupt in the most brutal pain to even come close. She could have boiled alive on the surface of the sun and been diced into literal dice as a precursor act by comparison. Undergoing literally every mundane humanly devised torture at once would be put to shame when compared to that agony.
Shades both bright and dark radiated from her body and blazed across the room, shredding the surfaces and bubbling the contents of a metal refrigerator Crow had dragged Sherry behind as soon as Musume had started glowing. After too long for comfort – especially since time in that room seem to wobble under the undulating waves of ordered chaos – a balance was eventually reached and she could collapse back to what remained of the floor. Last time she had done this, the fight had been confined to her soul and she never let slip any outward sign of the turmoil inside. This latest skirmish had let them leave painful marks across her skin before they could be confined. Even now, fragments of their powers were sparking throughout her body in sickening jolts energy. But she wasn't conscious enough of her surroundings to really feel the burn. Absent inside that smoking skull, her mind had relocated itself somewhere else in an effort to remain intact through the procedure.
She remembered this day so clearly. It was long after she had made up her mind to try and leave. Just a few hours after she had stolen the last few items she had decided to take with her. Blister had let her use this tiny garage – just like Yusei had so many years before – to hide the beginnings of her radical plan. Yet Crow was waiting for her in that smelly little cupboard of space already. Of course, he would have discovered the ruse. Nobody knew her as he did.
"I would try to stpuffughugh" Even squeezing out those few words had him reaching for the oxygen tank constantly kept at one side. Doctors had given up on trying to keep him alive and were settling on making him comfortable. Even that was proving to be beyond their abilities. "Guessing... you can see why... I'm not trying to stop you." Wheezing through the pure oxygen, it was obvious his end was overdue far too early. That damn patron of theirs, constantly stealing away her family. No more.
"Scared of showing me up?" Laughter had been one of the first things that they had to dispose of to avoid aggravating his failing lungs but the pair allowed themselves brief moments of humour from time to time. "Just sit there and wait. I'll be back before you can blink." Cataracts were also making his vision fail but Crow claimed to still see blurry outlines. One way or another, he still had an uncanny accuracy for mechanical items.
"Shouldn't you check... before leaving to see... if you've forgotten anything?" Dragging a pair of wrinkled fingers over his jacket, he was just about able to pull two cards from his breast pocket.
"How did you get those?" She had taken great pains to avoid being caught but the dying thief had still managed to pull one up on his young pupil.
"Never underestimate... a good misdirection." So when she had stopped by the hospital to check up on his condition that morning, he must have swiped them from one of her pockets. Clever boy. "A dangerous plan, running off to... change the past."
"Because I'm the only one who can actually do anything about it." Moving to take the cards back, she watched as he pulled them just out of reach. "Fine, keep them. I don't even need them. They're just something I thought could come in handy."
"Ah. That's a... good reason." Negotiating the thin strap of plastic over his head was as difficult as lifting an engine had once been. "I thought it might... be something to remember... us by." Ignoring the rambling words of a dying man, she was checking over the contents of her bag to make sure he hadn't stolen anything else. "Because you will be... the only one left once... you've gone back." Gently lowering the flap into place, she secured the straps and perched herself on the crate beside her mentor. "I'm not as smart... as to all this stuff." No, but he almost was. Like how he had taught her mathematics in her formative years. Here's the equation but it's missing something. Only this time, he genuinely struggled with the missing piece. "But one idea suggests... everything goes away... as soon as you change... anything in the past."
"Yeah." Picking up her helmet – different from the original model only by a distinctive tint – she gazed at the darkness it reflected. "This entire world changes just a little bit and everything changes with it."
"So what if... you can't get back?" She hadn't dared to answer in case Crow spotted the lie. He saw it anyway. "Ah. You're not planning... on coming back." Sorrow resonated behind that plastic mask like another echo.
"One-way trip. If everything works out, I won't even be born." An obvious choice. Her life had been comfortable but constantly marred by an ongoing procession of losses that started on the day of her birth. Not an uneven trade to end a war that had cost countless human lives through the centuries. "But I'll take them both down with me."
"Maybe there is... a special place for... people who un-lived." A callous term but accurate. Their lives – or these versions of them – would simply be undone as if they never happened to begin with. "And I will see you... on the other side." Neither of them needed to point out how long a shot that was. Maybe there was another existence after death and maybe there was even one for people who 'un-lived' and maybe pissing off a god and a demon wouldn't stop her from reaching that place when she died. Maybe. "I got something... for you." No detail of being forced into an old man had been left unfollowed and there was a tartan bag tied to his oxygen stand. Waving off any attempt at help, he risked his life to lift her gift from his bag.
"An old Sec-Sec drone?" Hardly the most invigorating present but his mind was not what it had once been. Flicking a switch, Crow turned on the piece of junk that had been old when he was young.
"I had it... programmed with... my entire Duelling history." Hovering at about shoulder height and covered in scratches, it reminded her a little of the man presenting it. "Not bad for... an old fossil."
"Yeah." Finding a proper opponent had been the last item on her list. To take on the best versions of Crow in his prime? That was as good as it was likely to get. "None too shabby."
"Can you do me... one last favour?" Chuckling into coughing and back to painful breathing, he tried for one last dash of humour. "Would you ask for... something so outrageous... that I would never... let you have?" Thinking for a moment, she quickly came up with a wicked little idea.
"Is it okay if I set you up with Sherry?" An alarmed look came into his dim eyes. Crow had severed all contact with the Frenchwoman at the first wrinkle. 'Better she remember the handsome young man I really am' is what he would always say. Taking an extra drag on the purified oxygen, he built up enough energy for a full sentence.
"Over my dead body." Spluttering from the exhaustive effort, the fit helped cover her adjustment to the gallows humour. Few people actually had the opportunity to knowingly use the term appropriately and he was taking advantage of it. "Which should be... any time now." A good stroke of fate would have him die on those words but fate had never really been on their side. "It would be nice... to know that... she actually had the opportunity to... reject some version... of me." It was an unspoken conversation that they both knew he had been wildly impressed by her sheer strength of will. Failing ill had just given him an excuse to let his own fear and doubt stop Crow from asking her on a proper date before his time ran out.
"Lucky you, but she always sounded a bit crazy." Gently teasing his past crush was too easy at times. Especially since he had both learned and taught her French out of his admiration. "Because no sane woman would ever go out with you." A quiet smile indicated it was a fair jab. Probably the sort of thing that Jack would have said. "Don't worry, I'll give you both a nudge in the right direction. See if I can give Akiza a run for her money." She had never really felt the urge to call Akiza 'mother' or 'mommy' or 'mom' or anything like that. It was always just her name. Nothing else because there had never been time for anything else. She knew that Crow frowned on it but he respected her stance. Just as he ignored it and never referred to Akiza by any other title.
"I loved your mother. And I think... she loved me too... in her own way." Gripping her hand as tight as he only caused the atrophying muscles in his arm to make them both shake slightly. "Don't you ever forget that I am... proud of you. Even if... you happen to have... my stubborn streak." A tired smile cracked open the corner of his mouth. "Try and live... a life that includes... yourself." Turning her palm over, he pressed the pair of doubly-stolen cards into it with a terrifyingly weak grip. "Don't focus on... these tiny things." One finger carefully prodded her in the chest. "We're always... in here." Cracks appeared at the corner of his mouth as he smiled at an old joke. "Who would have... thought it, eh? Crow... Hogan and Akiza... Izinski sharing... a kid." It had seemed almost funny her entire life but she knew Crow was just as amazed at being her parent as anything. "What a wonderful woman she turned out to be." Such a big collection of words without a spare breath exhausted him and Crow gently folded back against the wall as his grip dropped away from the two cards he had given to her: Black-Winged Dragon and the Black Rose Dragon.
"Way that I remember it, you were basically the only option at the time." Catching his hand, she gently returned it to his tiny lap. Everything about him seemed smaller than it had been before falling ill. "Take it easy. We'll be together again before you know it." No reply came. Patting the appendage, she dragged her eyes upwards to his restful face. That damning mask proved her permanent fear had finally come to pass. It should have fogged up when his tired body exhaled but the cone over his face remained painfully clear. Final seconds spent, it was clear that Crow Hogan had finally gasped his last.
"Just you watch." Putting on that tinted helmet did little to stop the tears budding in her eyes. "Your daughter is going to change the world." Strapping on her boots, she tightened her bag to stop it from falling off. There was no telling what would happen to the objects that she dropped in transit. "Come on." Wobbling at her side, the old drone seemed eager to get moving. "I think I'll call you Bluebird." It was stupid of her to give it a name but she needed very much to not feel as alone as she did at that moment.
Keeping herself balanced at the opening of the tiny garage, she tormented herself with one last look at the man who had raised her. "See you on the other side." Closing the door wouldn't be fair nor would it even matter. When tomorrow rolled around, Crow would either be alive and well or she had failed and somebody would find the body. Turning off, she raced through the city with Bluebird struggling to keep up.
Their Duel was fast, electric and the most beautiful experience that Crow could have left to her. Circumstances ripened, she managed to unfurl her own twist of the Accel Synchro and when the smoke cleared, she was almost right where she wanted to be. A mountain pass, people far below streaming up to meet her. Ark Cradle hung in the shattered skies, more imposing than the few archival photos that she had seen. It was later than she would have liked but still enough time to turn everything around. All she had to do was apply herself to events and shape them to her will.
As the brutal process was gruellingly finalised, Musume had the unnerving sensation of squeezing herself back into her own limbs. "Right." A slight squeak came from Crow while even Sherry shuddered. Somebody once said Musume had the voice of an angel. Mix in the bellowing screams of a devil and the growl of a raging dragon and the result was nothing short of terrifying. Feeling the odd sensation of being crushed in stone, she managed to pivot around on one heel and stare at the barricaded doors. In the past few seconds, it had gone from impenetrable to tenuously constructed with the small army bashing it down. A heavily drugged mind was swiftly purged under the insane mystical energy pounding through her body and she was able to realise the extreme hurt she personally wanted to inflict on her captors.
It was the look Crow had that quelled the burning rage inside her with concern. Her life didn't matter much but he had come to save her nonetheless. As smart as his criminal instincts were, the rest of his intellect was floating through a gutter when he cooked up this plan and a flicker of fear was rustling through his eyes at the army banging down the door. But it wasn't the monsters outside that were worrying him. "Musume, you have wings?" Sherry was at least able to form a coherent sentence even if it came out as a question upon reality. People with wings were generally lumped into one of two categories and neither of them human.
"Do I?" Something curled around her head. It was a translucent red, flexing slightly as it moved and explained the lack of balance that she had been attributing to sudden sobriety. "Merde." Swearing in French was in danger of becoming a permanent habit. Especially when something else began tapping at the back of her leg.
"Amazing but can you fly?" Adjusting to the momentous news faster than he would have thought, Crow moved straight back to practicality. Ignoring the miracle before him, he was measuring the pounding on the door. At least five people were at the front of the crowd but several more were lending their weight. They would be through in a few minutes if not sooner. A window was in the next room and attackers on the other side of the only door. One group could (maybe) fly. It was a simple equation.
"No better time to find out." Were it not for the open flaps on the back of her hospital gown, Musume would have been in for an embarrassing situation. Those wings may have been insubstantial but she was fairly sure that wouldn't be accurate forever. Even now, she was starting to feel flutters of air movement through the new appendages.
"Great, new plan." Grabbing Sherry by the shoulders, Crow held her tight in an unexpected embrace. "Take care of her for me." It was the shock at Crow's move as he whispered into her ear that betrayed Sherry. One of the many needles from the room jabbed into the top of her buttock and pumped her with just enough muscle relaxant to make the leg simply collapse away from underneath her.
"You utter..." There were more words that followed but her tongue refused to make more than a few slurred grunts as Crow caught the sagging body.
"Same instruction." Hefting the body over to Musume, it was clear there was going to be no discussion about his staying. Too many childhood memories of being told what to do triggered at once to disobey his words. "Head to La Réserve Paris. It's off to the south. Keep the sun on your left." Dawn had been growing increasingly closer and part of the sky was light enough to provide a marker.
"What about you?" Repeated thudding from the far side of the doors had stopped. Brute force clearly wasn't working so an alternative route had been taken up. Cracks started spreading across the paint as a safety axe – irony was working overtime on that one – had been liberated from the end of the hall and was making quick work of the door.
"Don't worry, I've got a plan." Anyone who knew Crow would typically become more worried when hearing that he had a plan but something about the serious look his face put that concern to rest. It was just as well that she couldn't see what passed for a plan in his mind.
When the doors burst in, there was just Crow squatting in the middle of the ruined floor with either the most duplicitous weapon ever or the start of a simple strategy. "Evening." It was the line that every juvenile man-child dreamed of saying. If he made it out of Paris alive to share the story with his brothers, it might even cause enough jealousy for a heart attack after the stress of beating him for the sheer stupidity of going to Yliaster in the first place. Raising the broken chair leg, he let the torn remains of a lab coat ruffle in the air as a white flag of surrender. "Take me to your leader." Glances were shared. Weapons were lowered. Whoever was behind this half of Yliaster had clearly given instructions to not kill him. Good to know.
"Where are the other two?" Collecting their forces from across the surrounding area had left no possible holes for the others to escape through. It was like a magic trick.
"It's just me here. Nobody else left." Over his shoulder, it might have just been possible to imagine a pair of invisible wings unfurl and soar through the air of a rising dawn. It had been a long stay in the shadows but those days were done. "Come on." Rising to his feet, the young man dusted himself down and straightened his jacket. It would be lonely without his companion so he just put on a smile and a brave face and kept right on fighting. "Time to start moving."
For Graham, who helped me when I really needed it and taught me to be free in all sorts of wonderful ways.
I will always miss you. Sleep well.