With the dark events shrouding their lives and the danger waiting around every corner, winning the Pegasus Trinidad Tournament had given the group a shining moment of joy in the middle of their torment. It didn't matter if Yliaster was still waiting, irrelevant that they had a dark new entry to the story of their lives. Laughing and having fun, the seven greatest Duellists of their age celebrated the undisputed crowning of the best and brightest Duellist as one of their own.
"I wish that Leo had given us some warning." Unlike her usual approach to anything with alcohol, Musume was gently sipping from her flute as she laughed and smiled with her whole family for the first time ever. "We could have made a killing on the bets." Not a single person had managed to win a gamble on the Duel between Jack and Leo. A few hundred plucky players had put money on Leo somehow winning but the vast majority had bet that Jack would win and nobody had wagered on a draw.
"Look at it this way," A pragmatist when it suited him, Crow was seeing an even funnier angle than the rest of them. "Because Jack and Leo drew, they tie with me for second place." It was a sobering thought for the tallest Duellist in the room. "We could always Duel to see who gets the bronze medal." Unable to help herself, Akiza burst into a laugh at the twisted expression on Jack's face. Being brought down by Leo was hard enough to accept but he was one more joke from using the champagne flute as the murder weapon with Crow playing the part of the recently deceased corpse.
"That will not be necessary." Striding in ahead of a pair of hulking guards, a young woman in a sharp suit clicked her fingers until the photographer left. It took one click.
"Are you sure?" Looking over the precisely cut black hair, expensive suit and instantly commanding air, Crow pushed his luck against the obvious tournament organiser. "It wouldn't take long."
"No, it wouldn't." Setting down his flute on a chair, Jack carefully gauged the powerful woman. "Leo can make short work of Crow."
"Ah, the legendary Atlas/Hogan wit." Cutting them both down to size, she quickly brought about an end to the argument. "As I said, another Duel will not be necessary. It was clearly stated in the rules that each match would only consist of a single Duel." With Leo muttering something about definitely not having read the rules and trying to weasel his way out from between the overwhelming pressure of both brothers, Musume tried to hide herself gently behind Luna and Akiza as Yusei was approached.
"At least one of them probably would prefer them you to refer to it as Hogan/Atlas wit." Not liking the particular vibes coming from the women, Yusei kept his tone polite but guarded.
"Hmm, that is unsurprising." Anybody seeing Jack and Crow in a conversation for more than five minutes would understand more than they wanted to about the pair. "At least their equal standing will make the press conference a little easier to distribute."
"Press conference?" Hearing the word, Leo's ears pricked up like a hunting dog's, Crow's eyes brightened and the scowl on Jack's face lessened slightly.
"Press conference?" Hearing the word, Yusei's mouth ran dry, Akiza tried not to think of how she would explain the limelight to the bureaucrats who would determine the state of her medical license and Luna wondered where she could find a screen to watch her family on. Unwilling to repeat the phrase a third time, Musume watched in amusement from her unnoticed peripheral position.
"Quite." With a carefully cultivated lack of humour, the young lady looked on as they all processed the information. "A stand will be in place at the north end of the field in thirty minutes. We have already had three attempted breaches so security has been tripled in all the nearby areas." For just the faintest moment, her right eyelid flickered in a flutter of expensive mascara and dubious motivations. "International news crews are already setting up but we have a small group in the lobby to take a few questions for posterity. Kame Game, KaibaCorp, Industrial Illusions, some of the teams you might have met throughout the tournament. They will be asking a few questions each to capture the moment for history." Smiling with all of the warmth of a shark, she eyed Musume over one shoulder. "Of course, we would enjoy hearing a few words from your guests as well. One big, happy family always brings up the ratings."
Intuition is underrated. Biologists, neurologists, psychologists, all manner of companies looking for that edge have been researching it for decades. Millions of people wanted to understand why the subconscious could provide a feeling of unease before the conscious could even grasp the problem. Something about this woman was curling in her gut like a new chew toy for Red Nova. Being a walking, talking prison for the warring spirits sometimes gave access to a wider, more esoteric view of reality. Nobody in the room had ever seen the woman before that day but Musume knew she was trouble. Nothing concrete but with more evidence than a bloody knife and a signed confession. All that flashed through her head in the time it took Yusei to say "We'll be right down."
"We look forward to seeing you all there." Subtle but powerful use of a plural. Giving clear directions but failing to actually give anything away. Using the power of authority and a distracting presence to detract from the way no name had been given. Even as the woman strode from the room, Musume could see a lot of shared qualities.
"I have to make a call." Lowering his flute to the tray, Yusei stepped back from the group slightly.
"Looks like I'll be going then." Depositing her own glass beside his, Musume pulled the riding mask from her pocket and slipped it back over her face again.
"What?" Although not fully adjusted to a reality only days old where she now had a fully grown daughter, Akiza also wasn't going to let Musume just walk out of their lives.
"What?" Slightly tipsy from her share of the alcohol, Luna took a moment longer to process the statement than the others. Leo carefully took her empty glass and added them both to the growing cluster on the side.
"Imagine a reporter pops the question 'Can you explain why your guest looks like a younger Akiza?'. What's your response?" Musume raised a good point. It was how she won every argument.
"We'll say you're my cousin." Akiza actually did have a cousin on her father's side. A falling out with her uncle meant that they hadn't spoken since before she learned to walk. "We all want you up there with us."
"I'm not going to put you all in danger just so you can get," Placing a silent finger to her own lips, Akiza shushed the question with a commanding air. "A dumb photo." Overriding the parental authority with rebellious youth, Musume finished the rest of her angry rant in a lame follow-up.
"Just do what your mother says." Tugging his jacket into place, Crow seemed oblivious to the looks he was getting. "It will be easier in the long run." Slight wisps of smoke were on the verge of breaking into existence as incredulous stares fixed him from every angle. "What?"
"Good advice, 'Dad'." It was not often that Jack managed to win an argument with brains but the simple quip was enough to force Crow to stop talking and retreat behind the safety of his phone.
"Is it me or are you lost as well?" Leaning towards his sister, Leo stumbled slightly. Both twins were lightweights and rarely drank. They weren't properly drunk but just slow to adjust. It would only last a few minutes but was dreadfully funny to watch.
"Okay, thanks." Closing his phone with a smile, Yusei rejoined the group. "Have you agreed to come up on stage yet?" It was the offhand way that Yusei believed Musume was just going to fall in line that earned him some extra hatred points in her eyes.
"It's not happening." Pushing Jack ahead of them both, Akiza guided Musume with a gentle touch on one elbow.
"What's the worst that can happen?" Blinking several times as they adjusted to the alcohol in their systems, the twins followed the adults through the door. Crow bashed his elbow into the frame as he walked through, all attention still on his phone.
"Thanks, I owe you... Of course." Trying not to think of the endless times he had heard the phrase as little as minutes before an explosion – with the record standing at a proud eighty-nine seconds – Yusei continued smiling to the phone pressed against his ear as he summoned the elevator. "Yeah, see you soon." Yusei finally joined the conversation as he placed his phone back into a pocket. "That sentence has never ended well."
"It's not often that I agree with Yusei but he might have a point." Pressed into the far reaches of the metal box between the two people she loved the most, Musume continued to argue for her privacy.
"Don't pay any attention to what he says," Still on his phone long after Yusei had put his away, Crow was only keeping one ear on the conversation. "Most of it is big words to sound smarter." Sensing eyes start to pry at his phone, he quickly finished what he was doing and put it away.
"Just because some of us utilise polysyllabic communication to imply increased neurological and academical cognition," It was maybe the single longest sentence Jack and ever used and it floored the argument. "Does not necessarily necessitate anything we utter is definitive to either extreme."
"What?" Even as they grew increasingly sober, Leo's intelligence didn't increase to anywhere near that of his sister's.
"Using big words to sound smart doesn't mean they're right or wrong." Feeling the booze buzz recede into a comfortable glow, Luna was still able to laugh at everything.
"Wait," Even the sharpest eyes have a blind spot somewhere and Musume just managed to catch a glimpse into hers as the lift opened. "I said I'm not going with you." At the end of the corridor was a pair of double doors that would inevitably open to the hubbub of a small conference on the other side. Even without Musume realising, Crow and Akiza had manipulated her into almost joining them.
"You guys go ahead," Holding the doors open with one hand, Crow indicated the others file out first. "Give us a minute." Assaying Akiza's fears with a firm nod, Crow watched his family cluster just outside the wooden double doors at the end of the hall.
"'m not going up on stage." Muttering sullenly beneath her breath, Musume made it clear that nobody could force her to do anything. "Can't make me."
"No, we can't make you do that." A twinge of nightmare flitted through his mind. "But we would like you to join us." Stepping out of the lift, he held out a hand just on the other side of the sensors that would hold the doors open. They both stared at the hand for a single long moment until the lift started to close again.
"Fine." Grabbing the metal panels, she curled her face into a useless grimace beneath the mask. "I'll hate every minute of it." There was the usual mixture of bland and surly looks as they rejoined the group.
"Are we all ready?" Gripping the handle on the left, Crow indicated she take the other as their friends all nodded in agreement. "Let's go." Stepping through the door was like walking into a thunderstorm. All flashes and roaring noise.
Directly ahead of them was a small raised platform only a few inches high with a single podium carefully arranged at the front where the suited woman was waiting with obvious impatience. Rows of reporters and photographers from every department of the major companies were waiting in attendance. From the view over the heads of the crowds, it was possible to make out the faces of their rivals around the large room. Team Unicorn, rumoured to have taken fifth place only a few seconds after Yusei had gained fourth. Team Turtle, Team Fury, both looking sick with jealousy. A scattering of individual opponents and faces from Jack and Crow's professional careers. Even some of the staff that had supported the competition from the beginning. It was even possible to identify that striking shade of blue suit from the Oceanside announcer. Clearly the excitement of the tournament had not infused him with a new sense of taste. There was also another figure present but not immediately visible. They preferred it that way.
"Now that we are all here," It was clear that their slight delay in convincing Musume to join had earned Team 5D's the wrath of the latest in a long line of unnamed and replaceable tournament officials. "We will be taking a few short questions for the Kame Game, KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions archives. Kindly try and keep your questions brief. A full press conference is scheduled shortly on the main field." Very often it is the things that are not said over the ones that are. A quick question was fast enough to disperse any possibility of the group on the stage realising what they had just missed.
"Yusei Fudo, how does it feel to be the third King of Games?" Cameras clicked and whirred as Yusei smiled like a hedgehog in headlights while the woman calmly stepped from the edge of the stage.
"Remember when you first found out that the world is spinning? All you can do is just look outside at all the trees and buildings standing still." Trust Yusei to try and squeeze in a science lecture. "It's easy to think of the words and numbers but the meaning takes a while to sink in. Ask me again in a week." Amidst another flurry of flashing lights and shouting voices, he stepped back from the podium for whoever would take the next question.
"Jack...dragon...Hogan...Runner...tournament..." Unable to hear for the constant babble, the group could only brace themselves against the wall of sound until somebody cupped both hands and shouted over the mess. "Who's in the mask?"
"An old friend of ours." Hurrying to the microphone, Luna was the quickest to formulate an answer/cover story. "She made it all the way to the finals so we invited her to watch Yusei, Jack, Crow and Leo Duel."
"Why did she forfeit to Team 5D's if she made it all the way to the finals?" Scribbling down a note, the almost too-normal reporter was clearly pushing for an angle. Suspicion instantly morphed him into a Yliaster Agent but there was no clear way to be sure. At least one silent onlooker imagined him bursting into flames.
"Let me get this one," Giving her voice a slight squeak to avoid anyone instantly making connections to Akiza, Musume moved Luna aside with a grip that was gentle enough not to rumple the cardigan but could move a small elephant. "For the record, you are insinuating that Team 5D's conspired to enter the biggest tournament in history, progress all the way to the finals with another group and then get the other team to drop out to bypass one round of the competition." When it was laid out in plain words, the scheme sounded insane. "Right up until the last round, there was a chance one of us might not make it. Nobody entered this tournament with the intention of giving up. But I knew that I couldn't beat any of them in a straight Duel so I decided not to waste either of our time or energy." Mild applause greeted the words as she returned to the background of the group amidst the screaming teams until another one rose to the forefront with a question, again aimed at Yusei.
"Is it true that you refused an offer to have your friends participate in the finals?" A pencil paused as it fished for the juicy story to add to the KaibaCorp archives.
"Not at all." Thankful that Leo at least had enough sense to keep his mouth shut, Yusei let Jack take the question. "Following the Duel with Team Turtle," A dangerous glimmer was in his eye at the satisfying memory of winning with a perfect three-Duellist combination. "Akiza and Luna were given the option of participating in the final round. Both of them turned it down because – though they were fully capable – it would have been unfair to the other competitors." It was the worst sort of interview that could happen. A humble winner who scattered praise across the fallen opposition, genuinely nice people turning down bribes and admitting it to the public. All fluff and no gritty details.
"What do you have to say to the rumours that your friends were also spotted by multiple Duellists across the country, sabotaging the competition?" Placing a hand on Jack's upper arm at that moment was like twirling a grenade by the hole in the pin but Crow did it anyway as Yusei rose up with the unstoppable might of a hurricane.
"Utter lies." All the reporters fell silent in the face of raw, unbridled authority. In all his years as a diplomat, scientist and public figure, Yusei had never been anything but patient and calm. Now he stood with the full force of his new title and stared down the modern economical equivalent of a serf with the imperious nature of a monarch. "If you ask anyone who actually spoke with them throughout the Legend of Duellist Kingdom, you will realise that they were giving vital aid to numerous teams without preference, prejudice or planning beyond how to help the most amount of people in the least amount of time."
"Da!" There was nothing like seeing three giant Russians with the ability to carry a bear on each shoulder crush corrupt media using only the deep rumble of their stoic voices. "Without their help, we would not have reached Riding in Battle City." They had placed seventh, barely twenty minutes shy of taking the place of Team 5D's. Even failing so close to the finish line, they were grateful to have received the chance at all. "They gave us supplies, aid and friendship. Tell us," Even from thirty feet away, Team Pobedonosnyy somehow hulked over the reporter. "Who has been spreading these lies?" Clinging to the laws – laws being imaginary rules that everybody followed and were about much use at stopping three angry mountains as sneezing hard – that protected news sources, he quickly lapsed into silence.
"Ivan!" Waving from the side of the crowd, Luna's smile turned the hulking grizzly into a blushing teddy bear as she waved across the distance. "It's nice to see you again." Gossip making one set of notes as political writers scribbled down another, the innocent act would surely blow into a minor storm before nothing came of it and it was forgotten again.
"Mr Hogan," A shorter reporter was standing on their chair to make direct eye contact. "Why did you hold back during your Duel against Yusei Fudo? By all accounts, you could have easily become the next King of Games."
"Easily?" Laughing as he stepped up to the podium, Crow was willing to accept his limitations as well as Jack. "Nothing was easy about that Duel. My brothers and I have Duelled a lot over the years and he always manages to wriggle his way out of a corner. I might be good at Duelling but Yusei can see five moves ahead of anyone else." Applause overwhelmed the group as Crow waited patiently for it to end. "Final questions." A fresh round of screaming was silenced as Leo singled out a handsome brunette to the back left.
"How would you describe your game-ending move against Jack and were you doing it to ensure Yusei won the title?" Sneaking an extra probe into the sentence, he lost any hope of being asked out for drinks once the interview was over.
"Being in the same Duel as Jack Atlas has been my dream since I was a kid studying at New Domino Duel Academy – Hi, Miss Bartlet!" Waving to a video camera, his old teacher on the other side of the world gave a damp chuckle at seeing how far her children were going. Good teachers tended to think of all their past students as part of the family. "When he told me I couldn't win, I really thought that it was the end. But then my friends spoke to me," Dangling his gangly arms about the group, Leo pulled them all in close as more cameras clicked. "And I realised it didn't mean he had to win either. Clearing the road for Yusei didn't even occur to me until afterwards."
"Do you think that you are ready for the pro leagues now?" A gorgeous blonde with a deliberately tight shirt open a button too far hoped to trip up the enthusiastic young man with feminine wiles.
"Nah, I can't keep up with them just yet." Unabashed and unaffected, Leo was honest to a fault. "Crow's old team invited me along for a few practice runs. I'll be starting as a benchwarmer with them in a few months. Just wait though, I'll be back."
"Picture time!" Overriding the shouts or more questions with a single command, Luna drew the press conference to the final stage as she gathered her family together into the frame for the photographers. Grabbing each of his brothers by a shoulder each, Yusei forced them apart and tried not to think about the inevitable 'buddy cop' pose they had been going for as Akiza dragged their newest member into position between herself and Crow with Luna on the far end. It made for an impressive array. Twins on one end, Jack and Yusei taking the middle of the stage with Crow on his left and Akiza at the far end, squeezing their newest member between them as the flashes of blinding light came.
There was something in that moment. It was a bubble of calm in the sea of madness. Even after all the tricks and traps that Yliaster had pulled, the group had decided not to give up on living their lives by their own choices. Reaching up, Musume slowly pulled down her mask and ruffled her spiky hair back into its normal fashion. People would inevitably draw comparisons but they would have found out sooner or later. Against her previous objections, she was willing to give her family something to remember her by. If the time paradox did finally erase her, maybe one of the pictures would last. Wrapping one arm around Akiza's shoulders and her right arm around Crow's, Musume gave a genuine smile to the cameras. Yliaster would have discovered her face at some point. She was going to make sure it was done on her terms.
"That will be all for now." Stepping onto the stage, the authoritative woman took control with a single chilled look and cut short all the camera flashes. "If you would kindly make your way to the field and join the other reporters, we will be holding the full press conference in five minutes." Grumbling and moaning, reporters and Duellists alike were slowly shuffled from the room by several security guards. "I suggest you make the most of your time." Flanked by her personal guards, the young woman turned to face the group. None of the cameras in the room were able to see her front from the careful position. Specifically, the tight smile, flitting wink and eyes flicking in the opposite direction of the door the reporters had departed from. "See you soon." Putting that careful front back up, she turned and followed the reporters.
Looking at one another as the door closed behind the tournament official, they all weighed the implication. A few short questions for the founding companies of the modern world had been hard enough. An hour or more of fielding questions from every newspaper outlet from across the world was painful just to think about.
"Which way was it to the field again?" Feigning stupidity – and doing a remarkable impression of doing so – Musume wandered over to the subtly indicated doors and peered through into empty service hallways.
"It was," Slapping a palm over her brother's mouth until his brain could start working, Luna marched him in the direction of the door.
"I think this is the way to the team entrances." Pointing at the doors with an air of somebody unfamiliar with his surroundings, Crow led the drifting charge in the heavily implied direction they had been prompted. "Maybe we're meant to do another big reveal. Yusei?" Seeing his family already well on the way to escape, the personal thoughts in Yusei's head muttered something about screwing professional appearances and running out of the door. Professional thoughts blearily raised their head's from the mental equivalent of a fortnight-long sleep and agreed they were still on vacation so screw the consequences.
Both parts of his conscious – professional and personal – not in disagreement, Yusei was chasing his friends down the hallway before the doors had even closed behind them.
"What about the press conference?" Unused to actually being in the spotlight, Musume had no real understanding of the fallout of an angry newspaper.
"You remember what Yanagi said at the Fortune Cup?" Dodging around misplaced pieces of equipment and jumping over fallen items, Jack was unwilling to admit that he was actually having some fun just ditching all the responsibilities for once.
"You have a new enemy" Everyone laughed at Akiza's querulous voice. "The media~h!" Freedom beckoned in the form of a helpful sign up ahead. It was not the sort that they normally sought out but there was a clear reason to go through the doorway.
"It's nice to see you again so soon." Having loosened his outfit and recovered from the excitement to a degree, Ackah was waiting just outside the door labelled 'Staff parking'. "Somebody told me you might want a lift back to your hotel." Breathless at the headlong sprint down the corridor, smiles adorned the faces of all but the surly Jack and aggressively protective Musume.
"Do you have a plan?" Even from all the way down the compound, the angry shouts of the reporters were starting to get loud.
"Follow me!" Bursting out between the doors, Ackah let slip a small glimpse of the escape plan that had been put in place long in advance.
"Oh, he cannot be serious." Even with his carefree attitude, wide breadth of patience and vast sense of humour, Jack was struggling with the vision presented to him.
"Oh, I hope he is." If their escape vehicle was anything but the cherry on the cake, Crow would eat his headband.
In the single most ludicrous getaway ever, the entirety of Team 5D's, Team Meian and the impressively titled Pegasus Trinidad Tournament King of Games Duel Announcer Department were squeezed into a narrow five-seater hatchback. Ackah was a wise man with his money. The car could last him twenty years before anything vital would break and it was so nondescript that nobody gave it two looks. But no matter how efficient or long-lasting it was, nothing could overcome the problem of having only five seats.
"I still think we should have shoved Jack in the trunk." Sarcastic though Crow was, the point was clear. As driver of the innocuous vehicle, Ackah had a seat to himself but was the only one. Leo and Luna were illegally squeezed into the front passenger seat. Jack was curled slightly against the left door with Crow sharing the chair. Fiery to the end, Musume was crammed into the narrow middle section and was making do with even less available space than the others. Comfortably tucked to one side, Yusei was pressing himself as much against the right door as he could to give Akiza extra breathing room with the good doctor almost sitting on his lap.
"How did they find us so quickly?" Even with their unexpected early exit, the group had only managed to gain a five-minute lead over the reporters. If it hadn't been for the celebrating crowds spilling out onto the roads, the reporters' vans would have been on them in seconds instead of constant weaving to avoid hitting pedestrians and each other.
"Somebody must have tipped them off." Bobbing his pompadour out of the window, Ackah could see the news vans in the distance bearing down on the small group like a heard of rampaging rhinos.
"It must have been somebody at the hotel." Though they had little doubt the almost robotic hotel manager had kept their secret and probably most of the staff as well but there was any number of people who could be working on the periphery. Leo had been sniping from the fringes of professional tournaments long enough to know how to sniff out the secrets and didn't begrudge whoever had needed a quick and powerful payday from reporters desperate to get the first shot at the story.
"Okay," Levering his arm from behind Akiza's back, Yusei managed to pull his phone from one ear. "Kaneesha has arranged for all of our luggage ready outside. All we have to do is cram it in the Runner's and get away." As with every step of the Pegasus Trinidad Tournament so far, the competition board were footing the bill. Every coin they spent would be coming back with bundles of notes under each arm from the live streaming rights they had already forked out, not to mention the large fortune on the way from merchandising.
"This is going to be close." Drumming fingers against her cramped and maligned knees, Musume could practically taste the unending excitement. "Was this what you it felt like every time?" She had never taken part in an adventure, if the term could apply to the Signer's previous world-saving antics. Her plan had been precise, swift and over before anybody could process what had been going on.
"Butterflies in the stomach?" Peering over at the young woman by his side, Crow was starting to get a better understanding of the daughter he could have had. "Bile in the throat and the overwhelming urge to look for the nearest toilet?" Exactly why the toilet was needed varied depending on who was asked and when. Some things are best left unknown.
"What, you feel all that?" Musume was actually feeling a very unusual addition to the adrenaline mix. "I meant the urge to tear them all apart with my bare hands." Although operating with no spare room for breathing, Crow and Akiza managed to crush themselves slightly further towards the doors.
"That's normal." Pushing himself against the headrests, Jack was the only one who really felt the same way as she did. It had nothing to do with the challenge. "You'll learn to control it."
"Everyone get ready." Crushed against the window with no room to move, the sweet smell of Akiza's hair was starting to make Yusei very nervous for some reason. "We're almost there."
Arrayed outside the ramp that lead down to the underground garage, Kaneesha and most of her staff had managed to gather everything belonging to Team 5D's and even pull the five gleaming Duel Runners to the road outside. Trucks had been parked around them to prevent any spry reporters for spotting the vehicles before time and the chasing flock was on the verge of rounding the not-distant-enough corner they had just left behind.
"Thanks for the lift." Timing the movement perfectly, Jack simply stepped from the car as it screeched around in a tight circle and headed for his Duel Runner.
"Give me a call if you ever need a favour." Rolling from the vehicle, Crow sprinted for the Blackbird as the rest of the group unpacked in a more normal manner.
"Let me take you out for coffee some time." Far from the whirlwind romance that gripped the hearts of the public, it was still something for a middle-aged man to be offered a date by somebody as attractive as Akiza.
"If you ever want somebody killed or something stolen, tell Crow to call me." Having kept her face hidden beneath a mask the entire day, Musume simply a mysterious friend of Team 5D's to Ackah.
"She's joking." Giving Ackah a heartfelt kiss on one cheek, Luna reconsidered her words. "I think." Stepping out of the car, Yusei wasted precious seconds trying to find adequate words and failing.
"We can't thank you enough." Shaking hands with the enthused old man, Yusei felt a spark of utmost respect flare between them.
"Think nothing of it." Eyes glimmering with that same energy that lay behind every joke, Ackah could tell his heart was beating strong and steady as it ever had. "It was my privilege to announce the new King of Games." While the news was starting to sink in, hearing the phrase applied to himself was still stunning Yusei. "Take care of yourself. I'll see you soon." Ackah spun the wheel beneath his grasp and headed off down the street, dodging into an alleyway and even managed to draw a few of the reporters after him.
"What are Luna and I going to do?" With her friends having already packed their belongings into the Duel Runners, Akiza and Luna were left standing beside their bags and waiting to hear their part in the plan. They were very eager to hear it before the reporters arrived in the next minute.
"Hold tight for a minute." Securing his helmet atop his head, Yusei gave instructions as quickly as he could. "Somebody will be along in a minute." Powering off down the road, he set a winding course for the others to follow.
"Who do you think," Luna's question was cut short as the familiar Grayston truck lumbered from out of nowhere and made the answer seemingly obvious. Wheels screeched tarmac smoke as tires shaved slim lines from the road. Grabbing luggage in hands, the pair flew in through the open door before the cloud had even cleared.
"We're in." Slamming the door for good measure, Akiza dropped her luggage in the freshly cleaned booth at the top of the stairs and clung for her life as the driver pulled away in a hurry to keep up with the departing Duel Runners. "What made you come back? I thought that you would be gone for good." There was one problem with her statement. While Obake wasn't in the most stable place, he was bound by the rules of his confinement and could only be 'gone for good' in a permanent way. That said, he also wasn't the current driver. "Who are you?" With Luna hanging back slightly, Akiza went straight for the obvious question as they skidded slightly around a corner onto the I-50 highway at speeds not normally reached on the road.
"Director Morton." Their driver – a handsome ageing African-American with cornrows – seemed to be enjoying himself too much to be anything but a friend of Yusei's. "How have you enjoyed my truck?"
"Your truck?" Strapping herself into the seat directly behind his, Akiza was enjoying the thrill of the chase even as she tried to decipher exactly who the man was.
"Don't listen to him," A very attractive woman with skin equally as dark as her companions and even bouncier hair was sitting in the co-pilots seat. "He's just upset that Dr Fudo got to have a peek. Tembi Locke."
"Akiza, Luna." Holding tight to any surface that could take the weight, Luna was falling around the galley in whirls of excitement as Akiza made the introductions. "How do you know Yusei?"
"We conference now and again. My criminal partner and I," Catching the hand of his wife, the pair shared a smile equally as exciting to them as the moment in the tunnel had been to Yusei and Akiza. "Run a small research facility like the one Yusei does. Just, you know, better." It was an ongoing professional rivalry that had kept them both entertained across the years. If it was better for the sheer output that the SRC could do or the enjoyment Morton's facility had – mishaps and all.
"Don't mind him." Tembi was all gentle smiles and tender goodwill, just like a mother. Akiza instantly saw her as an aunty figure to the eccentric young Yusei whenever he visited Morton. "Joe's just grumpy that somebody managed to fix the bug with the independent wheel subroutine." Chasing along behind the truck was every possible news vehicle in the entire city. With traffic still at a standstill from the tournament, it was obvious exactly which roads to follow and difficult to lose the tail as they raced through the morbidly named Blue Star Memorial stretch of the road.
"It's not that I mind the work," It had taken Obake a few hours to code the patch, days less than a lot of the people who worked for Morton would have taken. Although he had originally planned to ask Yusei to check the code before implementing it, adding the patch in the middle of a high-speed chase at least gave him some extra credit. "It's just that I like my work to be in complimentary languages." Normal people tended to think that writing computer code relied on tapping away at a few keys. There were actually dozens of different types of coding language that could easily interact and cause glitches in the resulting programs.
"Honey, they're gaining on us." Looking out of the mirror, Tembi could see the more reckless news vans slowly closing the distance. "You might have to do something a bit more useful than complaining and running away." They were about midway across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge when she raised the point and reminded her husband they were there to do more can continue the long rivalry.
"Oh, you think I'm just running away." Watching Morton teasing his wife with a charming grin, Akiza wondered if that was how she and Yusei might have once been. "There's a strategy at work. Are you ladies buckled in?" Indicating that Luna join her in being seated, Akiza could see that same spark of raw energy in Tembi's partner that suffused her own. "Watch this!" Bringing up a painfully familiar program, Morton was displaying an even better grasp of controlling the truck than Obake ever had.
Throwing the truck into a sideways drift, two of the passengers screamed in exhilaration with the driver. One suffered a minor flashback to the last time the back had swung out like that and the body count that had followed. Jackknifing across the road, the behemoth machine slowed to a halt almost perfectly blocking the road with no room for the media vans to get by. Leaning out of his window, Morton put on a face of inarticulate outrage and the anger that came with being chased off the road.
"What's the big idea?" Waving his arms at the crowds of reporters, Akiza and Luna could see their friends getting clean away from the other window. "Are you trying to kill somebody? Getting that close almost got me to crash!" Sounding horns, some of the pursuers didn't stop as they tried to cut across the hard shoulder only to find out that road laws were trumped by physical laws and that lampposts didn't move very far. Caught in an endless traffic jam, the faster draws were trying to pull cameras even as Morton slammed the window shut again.
"Where did you learn that trick?" Breathing heavily, Akiza watched the screaming crowd recede as Morton managed to navigate the truck out of the seemingly impossible angle it was stuck in and pull off down the road, continuing to weave slightly in an effort to slow down the ravenous hordes.
"Buddy of mine is the town sheriff. Lets me ride with him when he needs help." A partnership like the one between Yusei and Trudge existed not only on the American continent but dozens of places around the world. Cutting-edge theory pairing up with ground-working peacekeepers.
"Yusei gave Joe a call just after the big match." That must have been the call that made the new King of Games smile so much. Team 5D's master escape plan. "There's a private plane on standby at Kent Island to take you both back to Japan and another that can take your friends anywhere they want. No charge." Chased by the bloodthirsty reporters, Joe moved over to the right of the road as he waited for the majority of them to pass on the inside lane with a tirade of honking horns and crude hand gestures. Once most of them had passed by, he calmly pulled off down the slip road without even indicating first.
"Honey, I'm sure Yusei can work off the cost by contributing a few hours work." There were companies who would genuinely pay millions for the chance to have Yusei spend even a day working for them. What days he had left wasn't precious just to him but to every unknowing suit on the planet.
"More like a few weeks. Did you see what he did to the suspension?" Morton was not an idiot. He knew that there was no way Yusei could have been driving the truck and partaking in the Trinidad tournament. At the time, he assumed that Akiza had been driving the truck. Either way, her boss would be fitting the bill. "It's going to take me all afternoon to get those replaced. Think of all the paperwork that I'm going to have to delegate." Pulling onto the runway, Morton laughed with his wife as they drew close to a pair of large cargo planes. Even though the open hulls gave impressions of grim efficiency, both had a comfortable lounge just behind the cockpit for passengers to enjoy during the flight. Yusei, Jack and Leo were already securing their Runners in the hold of the plan going back to Japan. Musume had challenged Crow into a race to the end of the runway and was idling at the far end as they stared back at the distant city that was still deep in celebrations.
"What kept you?" Striding down the ramp, Yusei seemed unimpressed with the time it had taken Morton to arrange everything and then convey his friends. "We've been waiting at least a minute." Hanging out of the door, Morton greeted his young friend with a wide smile.
"Where's that power converter you said you were going to fetch?" In an effort to sneak away from a boring conference when they had last met, Yusei had promised to reveal the latest revolutionary project of the SRC.
"What can I say?" Spreading his arms wide in feigned innocence, Yusei approached his colleague. "All those clearly labelled hallways look the same." Deftly sliding past Morton, he and Tembi grasped one another's upper arms and clapped them thoroughly. "I was blinded by the brilliance of my fellow scientists."
"Uh huh?" Clearly not buying the smooth line, Tembi still smiled. "Well, maybe you can explain everything that happened to the truck while it was under your authority?"
"No time." Grabbing their bags from the booths, Akzia piled both Luna's luggage and her own into Yusei's arms. "He has to get our luggage." Recognising the power dynamic between the two, Tembi instantly set about exchanging contact information with the redhead as Joe helped Yusei carry the luggage aboard and gave some final instructions to the pilots. Down at the end of the runway, Crow and Musume looked on from afar as they had their own conversation.
"What are you going to do next?" Checking they were out of earshot from anyone else, Crow leaned forward on his Duel Runner and looked across at Musume.
"Check up on some old friends." That was, after one last race on Dilucesco. There hadn't been a machine like it before and she was going to enjoy every second she could. "What about you? Any plans?"
"Canada." She might have seen his phone in the lift so Crow deflected the question with an almost perfect lie. "Take some time for myself." Lying was an art. A good lie should encompass as many elements of the truth as it could before the lines blur. Only one person in the dysfunctional family could lie as well as Crow.
"Be careful out there." Reaching across, she held out a fist for him to bump. "Yliaster isn't going to take this one lying down."
"What can they do?" Smiling as he knocked knuckles, Crow felt himself lucky to have made such a fast and firm friend. Even if they happened to have been his daughter from the future. "I'm famous now. Untouchable." Fame didn't go to Crow's head. It was bloated enough with his ego.
"Uh-huh." She clearly didn't buy it. Every scary story from her childhood starred Yliaster as the boogeyman lurking behind every face. "What about your Runner?" Wherever he was going, it would be tough to take the vehicle with him.
"It's going back to New Domino with the others. And yes, they will take yours as well." Having disassembled her Duel Skates the day after getting her new toy, it was clear that Musume was new to the difficulties of caring for a Runner. "Of course," Crow smiled as he slowly edged his Runner back around to face towards the plane. "That's only if you can beat me back." She did so with ease. With whatever engine was hidden inside the machine, Musume could probably have kept pace with the heavy cargo planes.
Yusei shook hands with Jo and Tembi, laughing off the problems with the truck, promising repairs. A quick round of introductions with his family before they all saw a stream vans quickly coming down the distant ramp. Giving a quick and impetuous wave and missing the fleeting shadow slip into the plane headed back to Japan. Some brief hugs and embraces with Crow as he boarded the other plane. Quickly climbing into the sky before they could be caught again. Musume wondering if maybe it would be possible to be happy and open with her family. With all the weirdness that had happened on the American continent, they were eager to resume normal lives again. Maybe she could enjoy a brief window of happiness with them before the end.
Unfortunately, due to some large changes in my personal life, I will be unable to continue working as much on The Last Adventure as I anticipated being able to. Because of this, I made some minor changes to this chapter to make it a possible soft ending to the series.
If that sounds like a cop-out to you, congratulations! Have yourself a cookie.
I will continue to write chapters and segments where I can but do not expect any new chapters until around July 2019. Make no mistake, this story is not dead. Like many things we wish for in life, it is simply suffering from delays and will be along a little later than we would all like.
That aside, any and all reviews are always welcome and provide a source of encouragement when the writing seems set against me. Be kind and leave a few words :)