Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bakugan, or any such properties. All rights belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 5: The Gratitude of Friends

A few days passed since the business with the salesman and his buddies, a few days of quiet, boring peace. When Haruka and Nervin limped back into the subway station, they were immediately swarmed by Blitz, Tank and Rally, the latter of whom launched into scolding the purple-haired man, but soon after took him off to get his injuries treated.

Once all was said and done, Nervin came out of it with two black eyes and a broken nose, and that was thankfully where it ended. Haruka was more or less uninjured, aside from some scrapes and bruises that he couldn't explain.

Of course, when he was telling the story of what happened, Haruka left out the Helios debacle. He wasn't even sure it happened that way; he told himself that it was just some rage-induced delusion.

Unfortunately, that explanation fell apart with the sudden and intense presence of Sector Security in the area.

When Rally and Haruka went topside that morning to start searching for any Duel Runner parts they could find, they found that the area to the east was blocked off by barricades and multiple rows of tape that read, "DO NOT CROSS BY ORDER OF SECTOR SECURITY."

Rally groaned. "Just great. Security's here now, too?"

"Security?" Haruka repeated, reaching out and touching one of the lines of red tape.

"A bunch of thugs even worse than those guys who beat up Nervin," Rally said. "They come over from the City and they do nothing but keep us down."

"Sounds like a pleasant bunch," Haruka replied.

"Real sweethearts," Rally agreed.

They were already beginning to turn around when a voice from behind said, "Hey, you two! Get away from there!"

When the pair turned fully, they saw a skinny man in a gray uniform and black boots, wearing a white helmet with a blue stripe going up the middle of it. He was glaring at them.

"We were just seeing what—" Haruka started to say.

The man walked right up to Haruka and pointed at him. "It's not any of your business, Satellite trash! If you see those barricades, that means stay away!"

A fire kindled in Haruka's stomach. He heard Helios's voice, howling angrily in the distant corner of his mind, wanting to be set free.

Instead, Haruka took a breath, let it out, and nodded curtly. "Fine." He said. "Can you tell us if it's something dangerous, at least? We live nearby."

The helmet-wearing man seemed to consider this for a moment. "A building caught on fire. It's out now, but the place collapsed. Now get lost!"

Haruka felt his stomach drop. "Big building in the middle of a square?"

"That's the one. Do you know something about it?" the guy asked suspiciously.

"Nope, not a thing!" Rally said suddenly cutting in, grabbing Haruka's arm and quickly pulling him away. "Anywaaay, we should be going! See ya!"

"Wait!" the man called after them, but Rally wasn't having it. With Haruka stumbling along after him, the orange-haired boy ran around a corner and disappeared.

The Sector Security officer watched the two teens make their quick exit. There was something seemingly familiar about the tall one. He would need to check in with headquarters later; he couldn't place what it was, but he knew there was something about the kid that was important.

"What a nice guy," Haruka commented once he and Rally were far beyond the officer's earshot. "I want to grow up to be just like him."

Rally laughed softly, but there wasn't much humor in it. "Yeah. That's how it is around here," he said sadly.

The two walked on for a bit. For some reason, though, the officer wouldn't leave his mind. "They're all like that?" he asked.

"More or less. Some aren't so bad, but…" Rally said, looking down at the ground and kicking rocks as they passed. "Maybe they're better in the City, but creeps like him are pretty standard in Satellite."

Haruka frowned, but said nothing.

It just… wasn't right, treating people like that. Of course it wasn't right. But what could be done about it?

The conversation died, and they continued to walk the streets in silence.

Suddenly, Rally took a couple steps ahead, folded his arms behind his back, and turned around to face Haruka. He had an odd smile on his face, his eyes flashing mischievously.

"Hey, Haruka… sorry, but I just realized that I've got something to do," he said, not sounding particularly sorry. His voice was tense with excitement. "Why don't you go back to the hideout? Yusei might need some help tuning up his Duel Runner, or something."

"Uh…" Haruka said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not so sure I'm exactly qualified to mess around with Duel Runners like that… are you sure you don't need help with whatever you're doing?"

"No!" Rally said, a bit quicker than he meant to. "Sorry… no, it's something I need to do on my own. I know we were supposed to look for parts, but I really need to do this. I'll be back later, okay?"

"Well… okay," Haruka answered. He wasn't particularly enticed by the idea of going back near that officer. "Good luck with whatever you're doing."

Rally grinned. "Right. I'll see you soon," he said, before scurrying off.

And Haruka was alone again, just like the day he and Rally first met. Surrounded by the decaying shells of old buildings, piles upon piles of garbage, and the aura of disrepair.

Not for the first time, Haruka found himself wondering how this place could have come to be in such a state of ruin.

With a shiver, he remembered that Helios was somehow able to demolish that building.

Could he…? No… no, it couldn't have anything to do with him. It had to be some sort of coincidence—after all, none of his other monsters had that sort of destructive physicality to them. It was just a coincidence.

Right?

Haruka touched down on the old subway platform, thinking to himself about how he really was starting to get good at finding his way around.

Just a few days prior, he doubted that he would have been able to find his way back if Rally had left him like that, but here he was, taking only an hour to retrace his steps on a journey that originally took ten minutes. That was something to be proud of.

At first glance, he thought that he was the only one there. Blitz, Nervin and Tank were all at the recycling plant, and of course Rally had gone off to do whatever he needed to do.

His red Duel Runner was parked down by the tent, the brilliant, incomplete machine able to go as fast as whoever was pushing it could go. But after looking a little closer, he saw Yusei's Duel Runner down by the tracks, bathed in the glow of a portable spotlight. With its sleek, polished appearance, it contrasted completely with the overall rundown feeling of the Satellite.

As Haruka approached the tent, Yusei stepped out. He was heading toward the ramp to take him down to track level, but he stopped when he heard footsteps and turned his head to see who was coming.

"Haruka, hey," Yusei greeted. "Just who I was looking for."

The Pyrus duelist had been about to respond with a nonchalant greeting of his own, for some reason feeling compelled to look cool in front of the spiky-haired teen, but the last part stopped his brain mid-thought.

"For me?" Haruka asked. They hadn't been on bad terms, certainly, but he and Yusei hadn't talked much in the time he'd been staying in the subway. "What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for helping out Nervin the other day," Yusei answered. "Wait here for a second."

Before Haruka could say anything, Yusei disappeared into the tent and reappeared a few seconds later, carrying a small item wrapped in cloth. He held it out to Haruka, who took it slowly.

Haruka unwrapped the item, pulling away the layer of cloth to reveal a metal cylinder just a little bigger than his hand. He studied it for a moment, then realized, "This is a Duel Runner engine."

Yusei smiled a little. "That's right. Good eye," he said. "It's one of my old ones, but it still runs fine. Well enough to get you to the City, anyway."

"...I can't thank you enough for this, Yusei," Haruka said finally. "How did you know-?"

"Nervin told me," Yusei explained. "He said you've got amnesia, and think that you might be from the City. That's why you needed a Duel Runner to begin with."

Haruka nodded. "Right... we found a Speed Spell in my Duel Disk, and Rally said that you and Security are the only Turbo Duelists around here, so..."

"It makes sense," Yusei agreed. "It isn't impossible that you'd be from here, but it's not exactly likely." He paused. "I guess I'll be seeing you in the City, then."

"You're going too?" Haruka asked, surprised.

"That's right. I've got business there with an old friend," Yusei said. He didn't elaborate further, and Haruka didn't want to pry. Changing the subject, Yusei said, "I'm leaving tonight, actually."

"How?" Haruka asked. "I know that you can supposedly get there on a Duel Runner, but..."

"Through the Pipeline which connects the City's waste system to here," Yusei explained. "It's how all of New Domino's garbage gets brought here for recycling. Tonight, it'll be shut down for exactly three minutes for maintenance... and that's my window."

"Can you do it in three minutes?"

"I think so. The program that we have set up in the tent has been helping me with my time," Yusei said. "

"So that's why Rally didn't want me touching the computer," Haruka surmised. The orange-haired boy must have been worried that Haruka might screw something up, and ruin Yusei's chances of escape.

Yusei smiled. "Let's get that engine in your Duel Runner," he said.

Haruka nodded, giving a slight smile in return. "Thanks again, Yusei."

The two rounded the tent toward Haruka's Duel Runner. "Have you ever worked on a Duel Runner before?" Yusei asked.

Haruka gave a slight shake of his head. "I can't remember for sure," he admitted. "I remembered having a Duel Runner, but that's it so far… I guess we'll find out if I'm any good at it, though."

Yusei nodded. "I'm willing to give some pointers, but it's important to make it your own. No better way than to get up inside there yourself."

When the others returned to the subway later that day, they found Yusei and Haruka clustered around Haruka's machine. The spiky-haired rider was standing above the other teen, holding a flashlight and speaking softly while the other was crouched down, moving through the innards of the motorcycle with almost surgical delicateness.

"Hey, what are you two up to?" Rally called, running over.

"I gave Haruka my old engine," Yusei explained, not looking up from the open mechanical area. "So, we put it in, and we've been checking out what's inside. Turns out it's more than just a standard Alpha—can't be sure exactly what was in there before those guys ripped it out, but there was some higher standard stuff."

"It's got an older chip, but it's a pretty decent one," Haruka chimed in, sitting back on his feet and closing the cover. "Or so I've been told. I'm not exactly a good judge of these things."

"He's pretty handy for an amnesiac," Yusei said. He straightened up and turned off the flashlight. "Anyway… I should probably get a little sleep before tonight. I'll see you guys soon."

With that, Yusei turned on his heel and walked into the tent.

"So he's going to the City tonight…" Haruka said softly, his eyes settling on his own Duel Runner.

He knew how much time and effort Yusei put into maintaining and testing his Duel Runner. The constant test drives, reviewing results, making adjustments to various parts.

But he also had an idea of just how far it was from Satellite to New Domino. Rally had taken him to the harbor one day and pointed out the City, a shining point nestled in the middle of blue ocean. Could someone really make it that far in three minutes?

"He'll do it," Rally said softly, as if sensing Haruka's thoughts. The taller male turned to look at him. "He can do it. He has to do it."

Haruka glanced at the doors of the dimly lit tent. "Yeah. He'll do it," Haruka agreed, nodding once.

Later that night, the residents of the subway were gathered down on the tracks, standing around Yusei and his Duel Runner.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Blitz asked, a look of concern on his face.

"A test run is one thing, but this is the real deal," Nervin agreed.

Tank grinned. "Don't worry about it, Yusei! Just crank up the speed and don't look back!"

Yusei smiled. "Thanks for the concern, guys. I'll see you again."

"Yusei, wait!" Rally said, running up to him. He pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Here… this is for good luck!"

Yusei took the card and held it up. "Turbo Booster? Wasn't this your dad's card, Rally?"

"Yeah… I want you to have it. Just like my dad always says, you never know when you might need a boost!" Rally said with an encouraging smile. "Just promise me you'll use it to help get back Stardust Dragon!"

The rider looked at the card a bit longer then nodded, sliding it into his deck. "Are you guys going to have the monitor running?"

"Yessir. So make sure to do your best for us!" Nervin said.

"Rev it up, Yusei!" Rally said.

"And don't slow down for nothin'!" Blitz said.

Yusei lifted his helmet onto his head, then looked at Haruka one last time. "I'll be looking for you, Haruka. Don't keep me waiting too long."

Haruka smiled and gave the other teen a thumbs up. "Good luck, Yusei. I want a duel the next time we see each other."

The Duel Runner's engine revved a couple of times, filling the station with the loud, mechanical roar. And without a moment of hesitation, Yusei shot off.

Minutes later, the gang found themselves at the top of a nearby building, clustered around an old laptop. Excitement and nervousness made the air around them electric as they watched camera footage of Yusei's runner tearing through the Pipeline facility.

"Hey! He's in, he's in!" Rally cheered. "Go time, Yusei!"

"Hey, watch out for that garbage!" Blitz cautioned as Yusei swerved around a pile of trash.

"Just a bit further!" Tank called. "He's making great time!"

"Go, Yusei! You're almost there!" Nervin howled.

"He's got it!" Haruka whooped, feeling a surge of warmth welling up in him, a flame of triumph. "He's got it, he's got it, HE'S GOT IT!"

The five watchers cheered and hooted as Yusei's Duel Runner disappeared from the screen. Yusei made it.

Tank pulled Nervin in for a bearhug that surprisingly didn't seem to bother the skinnier man. Blitz beat his chest with his fists like a proud ape.

Haruka felt the urge to jump up and down, but before he could, Rally tugged on his sleeve.

"That's one friend in the City. One more to go," the shorter boy said, smiling. "We'll get you there, too. So you can get back your memories."

"That's right," Haruka said softly. He looked at the laptop screen, which now showed the Pipeline tunnel as garbage swarmed over it. "If Yusei can make it, so can I. I don't know what's waiting for me there, but I have to get there."

Later, after all the excitement faded away and everyone else went off to sleep, Haruka lay awake on the couch in the shack. He stared up at the ceiling, listening to Rally's soft snoring.

I have to get through the Pipeline, he was telling himself. It's the only way to get my memory back. I have to get to the City.

But how long will it take? He wondered. How long did it take Yusei to get skilled enough, and to get his Duel Runner ready? I'm handy enough with a wrench not to break something, but…

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden searing pain in his arm. He coughed in shock, his other arm reaching across to grab it. The pain was familiar.

It was that same burning sensation that had struck him when Helios appeared.

He immediately rolled off of the couch and landed on his feet, lunging out of the tent and expecting to see the enormous form of Helios lurking somewhere in the darkness. Helios wasn't there, but he saw some sort of faint glow coming from the stairway up.

He blundered his way up the stairs in the darkness, doing his best not to trip over the steps as he went. When he reached the top, he saw a red light filling the sky from somewhere, but his view was blocked by the claustrophobic buildings. The pain in his arm was even more intense now that he was up there, but he knew he had to see what it was.

He ran a couple of streets over, to where the view wasn't so obstructed. The light was fading fast, but he could see the remnant of a pillar of crimson light slowly disappearing from the direction of New Domino.

The pain in his arm slowly subsided. He clutched at it for a few moments still, breathing heavily from the running.

What was that light… and why did my arm hurt like that? He thought. And did it have anything to do with Helios?

Or…

Yusei?

"You had something to report, Officer Izumi?" the voice on the other end of the radio asked.

"That's right," answered Eiji Izumi. "This morning while I was by that collapsed building, I spotted two Satellites loitering around. I was able to identify one of them by his marker as Rally Dawson, but the other I haven't yet been able to identify. I have a description, if you can search him in the system."

A pause. "Go ahead."

"Male, late teens. Average height, no more than six feet tall, average build. Short brown hair, green eyes, wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt and sweatpants. Any ideas?"

Another pause, longer this time. "No criminal record on anyone matching that description," Dispatch answered. "However… a bulletin from the higher-ups came in for a person with a similar appearance. Did you get a name?"

"Negative, but again it seems he's associated with Rally Dawson. Should I investigate more?"

Pause. "Keep your distance, but keep an eye on him. Subject we're looking for is named Haruka Godai, see if you can catch a name."

"Understood. Izumi out."

With a click and a hiss of radio static, Officer Izumi cut off the transmission.

"Haruka Godai… wonder what you did to have a bulletin put out for you."

Author's Note: And we're back! I'm very sorry that this wasn't out in two weeks as I had said I'd try for (two weeks and a couple days, sue me). Apologies also that this was perhaps a shorter chapter, but I wanted to go ahead and get Yusei out of the way to set up the next few chapters. No duel, I know, but we'll have plenty coming up soon enough. Now, who is this Officer Izumi? Who in the City wants to locate Haruka, and why? And is every OC I create going to be some sort of Kamen Rider reference? (Spoiler: Probably. I've been watching OOO lately, if there are any rider fans out there)

Anyway, I've got spring break next week, so because I have no life I'm gonna try and write some more so that I'll release the next chapter within two weeks. Smell ya later!

P.S., to answer a couple of reviews - King Gai: If you mean the actual characters from Bakugan, no. If you mean the other attributes, yes, every attribute will be used at least once. - clank2662: Apollonir will be added relatively soon, I plan on him being important for plot purposes.