AN: I'm sorry about the wait, guys! I was going to release this chapter yesterday but if you've seen the news, you know there was a pretty bad hurricane down in Florida. I'm several miles inland from Tampa, so I didn't experience any flooding, but I had to move everything inside and prepare. You just never know where it will strike until it does. The worst thing in my area was a branch landing on my lanai. To appease the lords, here's a nice long chapter for y'all.
It wasn't just the angle. The future was dim.
The pitch black curtain of night was broken only by the streetlamps that line the bridge. This clown has driven us out here to either meet with Godwin or swim with the fishes. I regard the deep waters, looking down from the relative safety of the fenced highway. The area we stand in is a long road with a dead end, going nowhere but right in the drink.
Headlights roll up the road, promising the arrival of the man we await. The slick black door pops open at the driver's tug, held open for Godwin to extricate himself from the leather.
"Yusei. I wished to speak with you." He eyes me disappointedly as he nears us. "Alone."
Yeager, flustered, tries to explain. "My deepest apologies, but he insisted on bringing the girl! I told him it wouldn't be-"
"I'm not leaving her." The taller Satellite takes a guarded stance at my front, obscuring my view of the Director. He addresses the shorter man with lavender hair. "Especially not with you. "Monitor her all hours of the day," I believe were your exact words."
"I was just-"
"Enough!" The outburst from the cunning older man makes his subordinate jump. "I'll tell you the truth."
"The truth?" Yusei asks dubiously.
Godwin turns our attention to the horizon with the point of his gloved finger. On the other side of the sea, a skeleton made of pipe and scrap metal reaches into the air, trying to make a connection with the city. We're staring at the Daedalus Bridge.
"I want to ask you one thing," Godwin says once he's reached the very edge of the incomplete bridge. "Yusei, why do you ride a D-Wheel?"
"I'm not required to answer you."
Godwin ignores the defiance in his voice, opting to remain collected. "This bridge was supposed to link the city with Satellite. You built your own D-Wheel and crossed this ocean. I sense great destiny for you. The person who links this bridge someday might be you."
He seems so disciplined, but he's hot and then he's cold. Unless Godwin has a use for you, you get him cold. I wouldn't be amiable with a guy like that, so why does it feel so familiar? There's something in the pale green irises that gives me a strange sense of deja vu.
"With your political power, you can complete this bridge," Yusei argues, widening his stance and facing the other man.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because that will cause Satellite's catastrophe to come into the city."
"Satellite's catastrophe?"
"The time has come for me to tell you the truth."
I hope the broad man in the gray suit hadn't been stalling for time because the recent darkness had passed long ago with the entrance of dawn.
"Is this the truth you're talking about?" Yusei rolls down his glove and pulls back his sleeve, revealing the mark of the dragon on his arm.
The taller man glances over succinctly, moving nothing except for his seafoam-shaded orbs. "That's right. The legend of the Crimson Dragon is five thousand years old."
"You're expecting me to believe that occult tale?"
"Many unbelievable destinies exist in this world, Yusei." Godwin's head snaps toward us, his gaze lingering on mine before darting to Yusei. "You met duelists with strange powers, didn't you? The dark signers."
"You know about the dark signers?" Yusei barks, wholly unprepared for the notion. "The man with the spider mark!"
"They are the enemies of the signers. After five thousand years, their evil souls have been resurrected. When the gates to the underworld open, the signers and the dark signers will battle with the world at stake."
"The world at stake?"
"Ever since the creation of the world, signers and dark signers have battled every five millennia. In the battle five thousand years ago, the People of the Stars used the power of the five dragons that served the Crimson Dragon to seal the evil god in the land of Nazca and close the gate to the underworld. Afterward, the Crimson Dragon was separated into five pieces and sealed away in the human world."
The man must be referring to the mark of the dragon. The five pieces of the Crimson Dragon undoubtedly include Yusei's dragon tail mark.
The blue-eyed mechanic looks down at the red lines. "Why is the battle between the signers and dark signers happening again now?"
"You know about Moment that's located underground below Kaiba Corporation. It's a dream machine that continually creates positive energy. But long before its creation, the first version of Moment was in the deepest area under Satellite. Seventeen years ago, the Moment Investigation and Development Section, also known as MIDS, turned on the first version of Moment when its control system was still incomplete. They did so because they believed the city's prosperity was more important. Then a tragedy occurred. Moment was supposed to have a positive spin, but it began having a negative spin."
Zero Reverse. The day that changed Satellite. The event had brought the encampment to its knees, destroying every major neighborhood center and window. That's what the stories say, anyway. My family never spoke of it and I was too young to remember it. Somehow, we got out in one piece.
"At the same time, Nazca emitted incredible energy. It was the same amount of energy as Moment. When the dark signers appear, the gates to the underworld will also open. With the passage of time, the seal on the dark signers has weakened. The old Moment began reacting with the gates to the underworld." The broad-shouldered Director turns his head to view us with one pale iris. For a moment, his pastel green pierces into my own soft seafoams with ire. The orb returns to a neutral indifference when it's targeting the D-Wheeler.
"I confirmed that the five-thousand-year-old battle was going to take place here once again. In order to close the gates to the underworld, the dark signers must be defeated. They're guarding the gates. That's why I created the Fortune Cup to awaken the power of the Signers."
"What happens if we lose the battle against the dark signers?" Yusei ventures, looking frustrated.
"The world will change. It will be a world of the afterlife. It's a world we know as Hell."
Yusei must have seen what the man speaks of. Yusei swore to put a stop to what he'd witnessed in the last duel of the Fortune Cup.
"If this battle is going to take place in Satellite, then evacuate the citizens immediately!" Yusei's anger flows out in his volume, ordering the man to save lives.
"I can't do that. If there's no one in Satellite, they'll change the battle venue to the city in order to find new sacrifices. That will get even more people involved."
"You knew that and still created Satellite? You don't care if the citizens of Satellite are sacrificed!"
Godwin points at our home across the water. "Do you want to save Satellite, Yusei? Then stop the dark signers! Stop them with the power of the signers!"
"With our power?" But Godwin turns away from Yusei. "Wait! You said there were five signers. There's one person missing!"
"I guarantee that the person will eventually show up. I guarantee it." As though it were on call, an airship rises from below the bridge. It hovers just in front of him, its back hatch left open to reveal Yusei's D-Wheel residing on board. "That's destiny!"
"Did you put everything you can't lose on the bike?" I ask, lowering myself onto the black fabric seat.
"Yes, dad," she huffs wearily.
"Don't call me that." There's an odd tinge in my heart, an image of her, rounded with child, strumming along my senses. I can imagine the way she'd call me in front of our hypothetical babes. "Say hi to Papa!" I shake the picture away with a toss of my head. Don't call me that yet.
"When are they going to land and let us out?" Pinoko fits the helmet over her pin-straight hair, squeezing herself into the space behind me. I lower the arm guard to lock us in. The rear hatch begins its descent not a moment too soon, lowering into a makeshift ramp.
I power the machine on, testing the throttle and brakes with a twist of my hand and a press of my toes. All seems to be in working order.
"Just hold on tight," I tell her, putting the D-Wheel in neutral. She complies, locking her wrists around my middle with a concerned stare in my direction. The crankshaft stops sending power to the wheels, allowing the bike to roll off the hatch door, taking the drop into my hometown. We're on the outskirts, where the earth is cracked from the arid climate without concrete and skyscrapers to cover the blemishes.
I shift into first gear, then second when the rotations are up. The whining in my ears isn't only coming from the engine, but the woman wrapped around my back. "Oh, stars!" Pinoko bites when we hit the ground with a jolt, the suspension bouncing to accommodate our joint weight.
It's a shock to the senses, seeing Satellite again after so long. It felt like much longer than two weeks. It's a straight shot from here to the edge of town where we'll devise a path to Rally and the others.
I bring the vehicle to a halt by one of many rock formations. This one is flatter on top, providing a better shade than jagged stones. Though it's midday, the sun is hazy beyond the sepia hues of the fog hanging in the stratosphere. Looking near it only brings my notice to the silhouette cresting the rocky mound.
Crow strikes an imposing figure, his sleek, winged D-Wheel casting malicious shadows on the ground. I mirror his movements, parking my bike and dismounting it. I leave Pinoko in the saddle, watching the younger teen slide down the mass of dirt and stone. I make a deliberate caress of her arm when I step forward, approaching the man with a fist cocked back.
The vibrant orange of his spiked hair shakes to and fro when our hands clasp, performing a showy secret handshake from our childhood. "Yusei!" He says with a grin. I mirror him when he pats my shoulder with his free hand.
"Crow!" I greet him, matching his smile with my own. He laughs and it catches on, spurring a soft chuckle from my chest. "It's been a long time."
The slightly shorter male hasn't changed a bit. "You came back!" He presses a playful punch into my ribs, no malice behind the boyish knuckling. "I came here because I saw a helicopter, but I didn't know you were on it! I feel like I'm at the orphanage reunion. I mean, here I am catching you with a pretty woman on your arm and a marker on your face."
"Yeah." I look back at the woman in question. She devotedly remains on the bike, the helmet's visor doing little to disguise the confusion in her eyes. She stays put but emits an anxious vibration and it's like the pieces of a gear shaft fitting together and engaging. It just clicks. She trusts me.
"Wha- Hey!" Crow half-raises both arms, shaking his hands back and forth in exasperation. "Don't just say "yeah" and gloss this one over. Who's the skirt? You two get hitched or something? Have a romantic one-night stand in the city?" Crow grins, clearly aware that isn't the case, but he loves goading me at any and every opportunity.
I'm close to raising my voice at him, but I keep it hushed due to the woman's proximity. "No!" I clear my throat and run a palm over my shirt, smoothing out a number of wrinkles in the cloth. "We're not. That's Pinoko. She's a friend from Satellite." I should have kept my helmet on. It would've at least done something to camouflage the red flush that spreads across my features.
"Uh-huh." He nods his head, an insincere smirk playing on his lips.
"Just..." I sigh, knowing that he'd never stop being his nosy self if he hadn't changed after all this time. "Come meet her. I promise you'll like her and she can take a look at your D-Wheel program later."
He reluctantly agrees, putting his teasing to rest for now. "Alright then. If she's sticking around, I may as well. She's not touching my BlackBird though."
It was refreshing to just drive with Crow again. Pinoko's arms clench around my middle, putting a tingling feeling in the pit of my stomach. The time had passed in an instant. Seeing my old friend had taken a rather burdensome weight off of my shoulders.
"I see. You're caught in a horrible situation," he hums, looking into the distant line of the horizon. We sit on the ledge of a broken road, pushed skyward by the tremors of the earth caused by Zero Reverse, our legs dangling from the precipice. Between us, Pinoko lays on her back, green eyes gazing at the sky. Her booted feet swing contentedly, thudding for each tap they make against the asphalt.
The jagged cliff overlooks a forked road, the traffic signals and street lights long rendered useless. It's deserted and empty, like many places on the outskirts of Satellite.
"Shit." The female's kicking legs had been at a steady pace until she jostled her purse with the movement. Her right hand shoots out, grasping for the strap as its weight shifts over the axis of the road. She tries with her left, to no avail. Narrowly missing the bag, she watches it tumble down to the street level. She gives it a long-suffering glare."Well. Be right back."
She trots off down the lifted roadway, circling around to where the burnt umber satchel had fallen.
"I want to make sure that Rally and the others are safe." I amend the statement only after seeing the raised eyebrow from Crow. He certainly likes to pry. "Pinoko, too. She was around for maybe a month before we left for the city. She and Rally really hit it off so she's been very concerned."
The grin he points at me suggests that there's more to come at a later date. He was surprised at my fluster earlier. When we were still together, I hadn't had the time for romance, much less the inclination. He slaps my back, looking pleased. "Can't be helped, then. Let's swing by your hideout and check on them."
I look back down at the barren cityscape. The copper-haired woman was the only soul to be seen stirring up the dust in the intersection, stowing her scattered effects back where they belong.
"Crow, there seem to be fewer people than usual," I remark, eyeing my companion as she shoulders her bag.
"This mysterious group recently arrived. Here they come now." He points out two men in gray robes. They lead a group of four average-looking citizens across the tarred street. "It's rumored that they trick people with their shady lectures and gather them deep within Satellite."
"Deep within Satellite?" Befuddled, I prompt him to explain, looking at him in askance.
"Even Satellite is becoming weird."
It's all he can offer, a high shriek ceasing our chatter. "Get your nasty hands- Mmph!" I stand suddenly. The men in robes had approached her while my head was turned, one of them pulling her toward their other four followers. His hand seals her jaw shut, preventing any sounds from leaving her, or so he thought.
Crow is on my heels, descending the hill constructed of rebar and asphalt. I'm barely aware of him, preoccupied with the danger of the situation. If what Crow says is correct, they'd make off with her into the harshest areas of the island, never to be seen again.
"Fuck!" Rounding the base of the incline, I find myself facing my partner and the man who assaults her. The hulking mass shrouded by dark fabric clutches one hand in the other, droplets of garnet refracting the low sunbeams when they sink to the blacktop. I'd be glad if he lost his hand for the attempt he'd made on her. "That hurt... Bitch! You'll pay for that."
The cultist grabs her forearm roughly, backhanding her with spite. The back of his fist leaves a welt of equal size on her face. Pinoko ragdolls in his grip. He holds her weight off the pavement with his uninjured hand, but the crown of her head kisses the road with a crack.
"You had best back away from her." At that point, he could have followed my commands to a t, and still I would have raced forward with a cocked fist.
Socking him in the jaw feels kind of good, a natural release of the tension from recent events. I wind a limb under her armpit before she's dumped on the blacktop, using the leverage to clamp her against my chest. That she can remain standing like this is a secondary benefit, the first being that she's in my arms. She's close, alive, and back where she belongs.
Her dead weight in my hands sparks my concern. Her fiery fringe sweeps her dripping forehead, her eyelids fluttering in and out of wakefulness for a time.
"Pinoko?" I call her, retreating as a unit back to where the D-Wheels are parked. She's dazed but conscious. I lay her out with her back resting on my D-Wheel. The machine offers her some light shade from the dusty beams of the sun's light. I lightly slap her right cheek, marred only by the golden marker. It's a poor imitation of the tears she'd shed, the doleful look on her crying face wrenching its icy claws into my chest to wrap about my beating heart.
I... I could have lost her... and she trusted me. How can anyone trust me?
"My fuckin... purse again." The slurry of words tumbles from my lips, my brain still playing catch up with my mouth. Right. First day back in a Satellite and this creep tries to kidnap me but instead, he ends up robbing me. Thank the stars for Yusei's foresight. I'd have lost the deck Ryuuga helped me build if not for him.
Toothbrushes and underwear can be replaced.
"Pardon?" Crow puts a hand to his ear exaggeratedly, leaning over my prone form. "We save your life and you're upset about a missing purse?"
"Not missing." Leaning against the familiar red bike, I twitch at the stab of an ache in my jaw. "Cult's full of fucking thugs. Asshole took my shit."
"Are you feeling okay?" The blue-eyed duelist crouches next to me, the lines of his face pronounced by the soft reflection of light on his profile. "No blurry vision? Pressure behind the eyes? Do you know how you got here?"
"Gee, overprotective much?" Crow mocks. In lighter circumstances, he may have pushed further.
"None of that, but my cheek aches something awful. You guys came and saved me." My words aren't coming out as clear as I'd like, the swollen tissue of my face restricting the movement of my teeth and muffling my speech. That or it's just head trauma. "Thank you both."
"Ready to go? Has Doctor Fudo given you the all-clear?" Crow snickers when I stand with Yusei's aid. He gestures to his black D-Wheel, touches of orange caressing the metal in places. "Sorry. BlackBird is too chunky to glide with more than one passenger. And I don't want to hear the "two shorties make a whole person" shit."
The blue-eyed duelist interrupts his raving, revealing the depth of our bond with but a few words. "It's alright, Crow. She's with me."
Yusei is graced with a wide-eyed stare, Crow rendered near speechless- emphasis on near. "You get a new engine or something?" The vested teen asks, a hand coming to rest on his chin. He stares with renewed intrigue at the machine. "I remember you building a motor for a single rider."
I near the vehicle, appreciating the white racing stripe that stretches its length.
"I'm just dainty, unlike your overstuffed bird," I tell him with bravado that can only be gifted by drink and/or a bump on the noggin, swinging a leg over the seat. "I eat "shorties" like you for breakfast, Crow. I like to ring in the new day with a nice shrimp cocktail."
It rouses a deep, belly laugh from the spiky-haired teen. "Okay, I'm convinced! She's a keeper!"
"And I should've known that the moment I stepped foot back in this place that it would happen again." My discontent shows in my face, my swollen cheek giving a pathetic tinge to my grimace. I take care to rest my uninjured cheek on the expanse of Yusei's back. My indignation is the only barrier between my tired body and blessed sleep. "If it were only the losses from this year, which was just under six hundred and fifty bucks, maybe I'd break even after a time. But, no! Year after year, it's the same thing! That's 22 purses per year on average!"
The old subway tracks are nostalgic to me, but it all passes too quickly to know how close we are to the dark-haired Satellite's hideout. An old purse I'd found at home rests over my shoulder, filled lightly. Inside, there sits a new toothbrush, a simple nightgown, and a few pairs of underwear and socks. Crow's face rests in a satisfied grin during the drive.
The fiery-haired duelist easily keeps pace with Yusei, as though their bond runs deep enough to predict the other's speed. "Hold up, I've got to hear this. You lose your purse that often?"
"Lost?" anger "I didn't lose anything! They were stolen from me, Crow! In the elevator, the bakery, the market, the women's changing room, my own damn workplace; nowhere is safe!"
"But it hasn't been happening as much lately?"
"Right... not since I met-"
"It's Yusei and Pinoko!" the young teen with fluffy curls of auburn cries out at our arrival. Rally waves from the doorway, Nervin and Saiga bracketing the youngest.
Nervin jumps at the sight of us, arms in the air. "They're back!"
Taka and Blitz pop their heads out from the tent's dark corners.
"What?"
"They're back?"
Yusei dismounts first, clearing the way for me to do the same.
"I'm glad you're all safe," he says, removing his bright red helmet. I follow his action, my lengthy hair pouring from the padded head protector. I wipe the congregation of sweat from my hairline and stand beside the blue-eyed duelist.
"Yusei!" The redhead crashes into his legs, wrapping Yusei up in a hug. He retracts one arm and makes to grab for my sleeve, pulling me into the hug. "Pinoko! I knew you guys would come home!" He retains his hold on us but looks up in tears, the drops collecting at the corners of his eyes. Rally steps back, parting from us though it's much too brief.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Rally." The duelist redirects his gaze to the brunette at the tent's entrance. "Saiga, thank you."
"It's nothing."
"Whoa!" Blitz remarks, falling in line behind the jack of all trades. Under his kerchief, his brows wrinkle together. "What happened to your face?"
"You want to rephrase that, Blitz?" I say and the swell of my cheek is just pronounced enough to change my speech. "Good to see you, too, thanks." The taller Satellite droops, humbled.
"Are you okay? You're injured," the younger redhead says. Rally's face contorts as he looks me over with a wince.
The mark feels much worse than it looks, but I don't tell him that. "I took a few shots but it's fine. A hero came and rescued me."
"You mean Yusei, right? He's been that way since we met." Rally smiles at me and lets out a soft snort. "Wait! Rocky is here, too. He'll be so happy to see you." At the sound of his name, the young dog lumbers out from the tent having been disturbed from his rest. At the sight of me, he bounds ahead and wags his tail. I have to remember to properly thank Saiga for all he's done later.
Squatting down to his level, I eagerly await the touch of wet nostrils on my arms and legs.
"I'm shocked! Is that you?" Over my shoulder, Nervin questions the orange-haired duelist. He steps up in front of my protector.
"Yusei isn't the only D-Wheeler in Satellite."
"We found you, Crow!" I raise my head to look at the wide split in the roof as the voice echoes around the underground tunnel. He scratches his heavily marked face with a finger, a smirk spreading his lips. "This is security! Come out nice and quiet!"
"It seems we brought some unexpected guests," he remarks while sirens blare above us. His smirk drops, however, when a metal canister falls into the subway, releasing a cloud of thick smoke. Rocky growls at the sudden interference.
"Fuck!" I react on instinct, blocking Rally from the emission. I lift the front of his sky blue hoodie to cover his mouth and do the same to myself with my inner elbow. "That's tear gas!"
"Leave it to me. Let's meet at Daedalus Bridge. My hideout is there." Crow is already preparing to board his vehicle and draw them off.
"Pinoko." Yusei stands next to me, a soft glove finding my arm. His eyes speak more plainly than he does, spelling out the urge to leave with Crow. "Take care of the others. I'll meet you there."
He's on his bike before I can argue, trailing after his long-lost friend in a hurry. That leaves us to exit through the opposite end of the tunnel, Rocky right on our heels. There are no officers waiting in ambush and not even a hint of their presence left.
"Ouch." We're far enough from home that I don't recognize the area well. I'd seen the Daedalus Bridge before, of course. In my youth, I was obsessed with the man who sired me. I thought he had chosen a path that was better than our family.
I was highly disappointed when I first saw it, thinking he had abandoned us for something so incomplete. It was a point of contention between me and my mother.
"Stop squirming and this will end faster." Nervin smears the viscous paste on my inflamed wound. The awful stench is close to my nostrils, providing me no escape from the smell. Capping the small tub of green goo, he turns back to the crossing we have to make. "You're lucky I even brought it."
This side of Satellite is paradise compared to where we're going. Zero Reverse had left a giant scar on the town, a rip through the earth that would never heal. It divides the civilized hubs from the district that belongs to hooligans and criminals.
I had thought I'd never go back there. We start crossing, but the planks are only wide enough for a single-file line. Nervin heads us off, followed by Taka and then Blitz. I'm as near to Rally as I can be, the young boy's hand in mine. Saiga covers our behind, watching us all struggle to walk behind our leader.
"Hey, stop shaking it!" Nervin yelps, the swinging bridge making him anxious.
Taka eyes him irritatedly before making a suggestion. "Why don't you walk faster?"
"You're holding us up," Blitz agrees crossly, but the blue-haired man at our point doesn't alter his speed.
"Many people with markers are up ahead."
The utterance from him turns the others thoughtful. They must know how dangerous the Barbaric Area After Damage is. Taka speaks first.
"Even security doesn't dare enter this lawless area."
Blitz's statement comes next. "It's like a district in Hell."
"That's where I first got robbed. I was seven." Things like stealing cards and toys had predated the event, my first mugging having been around the time that my Mother passed. I never returned until now.
"I'm telling you it's a curse," Taka says, shrugging in a facetious manner. "It will haunt you forever until you pass it on."
I just shake my head, unwilling to hash this out with him for the third time.
"I see. It's a perfect hideout for people with markers." After Saiga speaks, Rally turns to face the rope railing of the crossing.
"Look over there," he commands, pointing to the spine that breaks the horizon. The scaffolding that holds up the far-off bridge is older than I am yet still standing.
Saiga makes a noise of appreciation upon seeing the fixture for the first time. "That's the Daedalus Bridge, the symbol of Satellite."
"Not everyone thinks of it that way," I rebuke the brunette, squeezing Rally's hand just a little tighter. "It's the most dangerous place you can go. That side of Satellite is called the Barbaric Area After Damage, also known as BAD."
As perilous as it is, the great incomplete bridge is our destination.
A/N: I understand this is a very dense chapter start, but thanks for bearing with me! I promise the best is yet to come. This story is outlined and plotted from start to almost finish. I hope my research hobby helps make these characters more inviting and their world more tangible. Stay tuned for more!
