A/N: Listening to rock and metal while writing this. Anticipate angst.


"No one's here." Rally is at my side, examining the small street at the base of the Daedalus bridge. We haven't seen a soul since we got here.

"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to meet?" asks the tall brunette. Saiga is the only one of us that isn't a Satellite.

"There's only one Daedalus Bridge," I shoot back.

"Maybe security captured Yusei and Crow!"

"Don't talk like that." I give Taka my best stink eye. "Yusei wouldn't be defeated but he wouldn't leave anyone behind either. Maybe Crow lost and he had to back for him?"

"They're here!" shouts Rally, putting our conjecture to an end. I spin with him to see the two D-Wheelers turning the corner at a slow pace. Yusei is smiling and following after his old friend. "Hey, Yusei!"

I'm about to approach them when a storm of young people spews from the corners of the street. There are too many to count waving and cheering at the appearance of the orange-haired duelist. The two machines slow to a halt.

"Where are our presents?" yells one of the children swarming about Crow's bike and legs.

Taking off his helmet, Crow looks at them aghast."What's wrong with you? The moment you see me, you start asking for presents? I gave you presents this afternoon!" The reproach is all for show, Crow giving into the demands after a few of them resist.

"Don't be stingy!"

"Give us some!"

"Fine!" He calms the objections with a movement of his hands, palms down. "I don't have presents, but I brought the new King. The hero of Satellite, Yusei Fudo!" Tossing his palm out, he indicates the blue-eyed duelist removing his helmet.

I leave Rally behind then, going to the man in the center of the little kids.

"I know who you are! You beat Jack!"

"Awesome! It's really him!"

The children shout for him while I approach, prompting Crow to scold them.

"Come on, kids. Don't touch the King with your dirty hands. That's bad luck."

"Yusei," I call him. Our eyes meet, blue and green linking over the head of the kid's heads. When he's finally able to uncouple himself, the kids make a move for the bike he leaves behind.

"Was it hard coming here?" He asks. He almost reaches out but drops it, his hand twitching at his side.

"Not exactly," I confess. "We didn't run into anybody on the way. Nervin put something on my bruise and it stinks to high heaven."

The sky's rosy hues have gone, making way for the inkiness of the descending night. Shade casts the world in a dark tint but the rising moon covers his face in its cool light.

"I meant because of your past." He does reach for me then, his fingers dancing over the ridge of my knuckles and taking my hand in his. The gesture is sweet if unexpected. "Because of your relationship with this bridge."

It makes me look down shyly. I didn't expect him to be thinking of me. "Yeah. I think I'll be okay."


She lets me lead her to the campfire. Crow had passed out some extra bedrolls and Nervin, Blitz, Taka, and Rally sit on them, appreciating the heat of the centerpiece.

Three empty bedrolls sit within the circle between Rally and Taka. My oldest friend is nowhere to be seen. She hasn't yet withdrawn her hand from mine, humoring the faint rubbing of my thumb on the back of her hand. I take her to sit next to Rally, releasing her hand only when she sits on the roll closest to him. I drop down on her right, one more unclaimed bedroll between me and Taka.

Our host joins us soon, passing out bottles of beer to the four older men across the flames to resounding thanks.

"Crow, aren't you Yusei's age?"

Armed with two longnecks, the other orphan sits down and sends her a doubtful look. "What are you going to do, tell on me?" He holds out one of them across my lap to her. Crow knows that I don't drink.

She takes it graciously, tipping the bottle at him in gratitude. "Never."

"Is that a true story, Yusei?" Over the licks of heated air, the bespectacled Satellite stares me down.

"Yeah. I saw it." I look down at my hands, my fingers lacing together between my knees. "Satellite is destroyed in the future."

"You must be kidding," Blitz says.

"Does that mean Satellite is going to become the battlefield against the dark signers?" Taka wonders astutely, but Nervin cuts off any answer I may have had.

"Wait a minute," he says, meeting Taka's brown orbs that have turned amber in the light of the fire. "Can you trust Godwin's story? He's the one who put markers on the two of you."

Pinoko remarks in agreeance, "He did a lot of screwed-up stuff to us in the facility. Especially to you."

I close my eyes, reliving the vision behind my eyes. "I don't know if it's true. However..." Removing my right glove, I indicate the mark of the dragon burned into my flesh. "This and Stardust Dragon say that they're the enemies.

Crow wipes his mouth before speaking, a drop of booze swiped away by his hand. "Even if this place becomes the battlefield, I'll protect them. I'm the only one who can protect them." We both look at the children that crowd my D-Wheel, playing make-believe in the dark. "Yusei, I'll help you!"

His headband is dislodged when one of them slams into his back, two little arms coming to link around his neck. "Crow-nii-chan, Tell me that story!"

"That story again?" says a young boy in a purple bandana, his dark hair framing his jaw.

His friend joins in. He shakes his head and his auburn tresses swish to and fro. "You love that story."

They pick on the girl lightly, but she won't defer to them. "So what? I like Crow-nii-chan's stories."

"All right, I'll tell you the story." He places his back to the fire, facing the young brunette in the pink dress. "A long time ago, there was a small island that was very poor. The people who lived on the island were not allowed to leave. All they could do was look at their neighboring island, which was large and rich."

The brunette girl nods, eating up Crow's fanciful tale.

"You're talking about the city and Satellite."

"This story isn't a long time ago."

At the boys' declarations, she turns to them in question. "Is that true?" Crow's hand comes down on her head in a soft pat.

"Sheesh, you have to be "deliver" with girls," he says, but sadly he's off the mark. His English is lacking.

"Don't you mean "delicate"?" Nervin cups a hand around his mouth for effect, smiling all the while.

"Well, that's another way to say it." The orange-haired duelist scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. The kids laugh, but he easily brushes it off. "That's right. This story is about the city and Satellite. It's about a legendary man who tried to free Satellite."

We all know what story he seeks to tell by now: the one about the most famous bridge in our hometown. Pinoko's eyes stare unflinchingly at the flames, her arms curled around her knees. He continues on.

"Long before your time, there was a man who always looked toward the city from this exact same spot." He looks up into the moonlit sky. "That man came here riding a D-Wheel no one had ever seen before. Day after day, that man stood here and gazed at the city. But one day, he stopped doing that."

Beside me, the copper-haired woman seizes up, her muscles tight and tense.

"Why?" asks the auburn-haired boy.

"That man discovered what he had to do. He discovered that he had to create the Daedalus Bridge in order to link with the city."

The other boy pipes up, giving the duelist a look from beneath the fabric tied over his brow. "But he never finished, right? That means it was pointless."

"It was an impossible task," his friend agrees. The young woman with the closest ties to the man in the saga is disquieted, her face darkening by the second.

"That's what everyone thought at first." Crow nods to them and gets back on track with the tale swiftly. "They made fun of him, calling him crazy. However, he never gave up. Even those that insulted him in the beginning began to think he might succeed. Day after day, the only thing Satellite citizens did was recycle garbage from the city."

Pinoko's stare is fixed on the flame's fingers that reach into the air, but they're becoming glassy with unshed tears. She doesn't allow them to fall. She said she'd be fine but the topic of discussion must be bringing up bad memories for her.

"They felt no hope until they saw the Daedalus Bridge as a bridge towards the future. It became a bridge of hope. However, there were people who didn't think this was good. They stopped construction and security came to arrest him. Everyone gave up, realizing that it was impossible from the start. They would arrest the man and it would all be over."

"I'll never forgive security!" Rally raises his fist, aggravated at a happening long past. The young audience had gained a member.

"Out of the way." The girl who asked for the story is much shorter than the teen. Placed behind him as she is, it's impossible for her to see her guardian-turned-storyteller.

"Be quiet! So what happened?"

"Uhh..." Taken aback by Rally's insistence, he proceeds with less flourish. "Security cornered the man. He had two choices. Either be captured by security be imprisoned for the rest of his life... or live as a legend. The man chose to become a legend. Refusing to be tied down by logic or authority, he flew."

The aura around the fire is melancholy. We all know this is a story that leads to a bittersweet ending.

"From that day on, the D-Wheel became the symbol of freedom... and that man became a legend."

"Then what happened? Was he okay?" presses the younger teen.

Crow shakes his head sullenly. "No one knows what happened to him." He stands, giving the boy an encouraging smile. "At the very least..."

He and the four children speak in unison, raising their thumbs to point at their hearts. "He lives in here!" they shout.

"We also heard this story when we were young," says Taka to the man at his side.

"Yeah, but I forgot about it," Blitz replies, a smile rising to his lips. Crow sends the kids to bed, returning to the fold when they've all run off.

The despondent woman on the bedroll beside me speaks finally.

"It was told to me differently." The scorn on her face speaks to the way she feels about him. She nudges my knee with her own, seeking the comfort of physical touch. I let our thighs lean against each other. "I know it better than most. Crow had most of it right, but he forgot one thing. That man had a family at home. A wife and a son that he left behind in pursuit of his goals. He wanted freedom from responsibility. That's why he started working on the bridge when she told him that she was pregnant again. She died eight years later."

I'd heard parts of her father's history in the past, but this is the first time she's spoken about him at length. She prefers to focus on the good memories that she made with her brother. She's sharing it with the others. It's clear that it's difficult for her, though she holds it together quite admirably. I lift my hand, placing it on her knee to provide her with the conviction to finish her tale.

"She left behind a son and a young daughter. Don't you think he's just a coward? He ran away from his family and for what? A half-built bridge that would only lead to his end." She doesn't thrive in the spotlight as Crow does, the eyes on her making her conscious of each movement.

"I've never heard that... are you sure?" Nervin, ever the skeptic, questions her version.

"What do I know? It's just a story."

"Regardless of who's telling is truer, he was a man that wanted to be free of Satellite and became a legend." Saiga's calm manner helps to bring down the tension. Pinoko speaks no further, eager to change the subject. She had spoken truthfully of the man without indicating that she was his progeny, an obvious testing of the waters. I'm proud of her milestone regardless. "I'm surprised there was someone like that in Satellite. Yusei, that makes me think... Your mark symbolizes that you're carrying on his spirit."

If what Pinoko's told me is the truth, I don't think I would want to carry the spirit of such a man. If Crow's version is the truth, then I wouldn't live up to the legend. My complacency almost allowed Pinoko to be snatched away.

"I'm not like that." I can't look him in the eyes. I start to rise, intent on laying out my bedroll. "It's late. We should also go to bed."

"You're right." Nervin has always been the one to turn in early among the five of us that live together. Of course, Rally needs more sleep than we do but the man with blue dreadlocks has no excuse.

"Let's go to sleep," Blitz says, a yawn catching the end of his words, rolling out his shoulders after closing his mouth.

"Goodnight," offers Taka, already laying under his own blanket.

Pinoko walks off to change in Crow's storage area away from prying eyes, her purse clutched in her off-hand. While she's gone, I unfurl her bedroll and my own. Rally calls out his farewell, getting down like the others and shutting his eyes with the young dog at his feet.

I mimic him, reclining on the roll and stretching the cover over my feet. The teen had gotten along swimmingly with Rocky before, but their seclusion from the original owner had only strengthened their bond. The female Satellite had expressed pride in the young canine and his protective nature over Rally. She did, however, criticize his wakefulness.

The creaking doorway alerts me to the return of my companion. The older woman approaches her spot. The empty bedroll is on my right, my feet facing away from the fire. Her night dress rustles when she sits in the bed, lifting the sheet over her legs before she lays back against the pillow.

The fire goes strong above her head, casting a halo of orange and red light around the crown of her head. She smiles at me, snuggling into the warmth of her cover.

"Hey," I greet, matching the soft look on her face with my own. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she says a little too quickly. She speaks in a hush so as to not disturb the other's rest. With just a raised eyebrow, I've convinced her to be more honest. "Well, I... I don't think you're anything like my dad. He may have built that bridge, but he let us down. He was a coward. You aren't afraid of anything." I lay on my back, the blanket up to my shoulders. The dark of night hides the blush spreading across my nose and cheeks.

"That's not true. I'm afraid of losing you." Realizing how that sounds, I tack on "And my other friends. I don't want anything to happen to the people I care about."

Smooth.

She curls up on her side, flinching when she rests her bruise against the down cushion. She puts up with the pain in order to face me. "I don't want to lose you either, Yusei. You're always risking yourself..."

"I won't promise to stop doing it. I can't stand by the sidelines."

"No, I know that. I wouldn't ask you to, but it's never going to be easy to see you sacrifice yourself." It's the second time tonight that her eyes adopt the sheen of wetness that warns of crying to come, but she only lets one tear be shed. "I can deal with it, it's part of who you are. What I can't deal with is not being there for you when it happens."

The pastel green of her eyes meets my blues, piercing through my defenses. I don't notice my hand reaching out until I'm brushing the tear from beneath the pastel orb.

"I..." I pull back my hand, feeling awkward. It seems like a serious step to me suddenly. To profess that we fear losing one another. Admitting the need to be at the other's side. Promising to be truthful to the other. "I can try. It might take a while."

She gifts me with the grace of her sweetest smile.

"I can wait for that. Goodnight, Yusei." She rolls to her back, giving her injury the relief of not being squashed against her bedroll.

"Goodnight."

Despite what I'd said, sleep never claims me. Though my composure had nearly cracked, I couldn't bear to let her involve herself with my plans after what happened today. The image of her hanging limp in the grasp of that man haunts me.

Ensuring that everyone is asleep, I quietly remove my blanket and erect myself. It's too easy to make it away from the fire's light and begin pushing my D-Wheel away.

"I knew it." Crow stands behind me watching the scene transpire. "You were planning to leave all alone."

"Crow."

"It's not nice to leave without telling us. Pinoko will scream her head off when she finds you missing."

"They're all safer here." I'm quick to defend. She's not the only one I'm trying to protect by doing this. "This is my fight. This has nothing to do with you."

He recoils at the harshness in my voice. He finally settles into a long-suffering smirk. "You never change."

"I don't want to draw you into this battle." Considering the conversation over, I turn ahead and push the vehicle again.

"Wait up!" Crow sprints in front, blocking me with extended arms. "Are you saying I won't be of any help?"

I shake my head at him. "You don't understand. You risk your life in a battle against the dark signers." I fix him with a narrow stare and he blinks, listening with curiosity written on his face. "It's different than a riding duel where all you care about is excitement. When you duel them, the battle takes away your life. You're risking your soul. In the end, you may die."

"Since you're always serious, I know that you're telling the truth." He scratches the back of his head and sobers himself, staring back at me. "However, I vowed to risk my life to protect the kids!"

"So you feel the same as me," I say without breaking my gaze. The other orphan nods resolutely, but I let a moment pass while I think.

"If you're coming, you know the risks," I finally permit, having a large grin shown to me in response.

"Don't underestimate me. I'll be your guide!"

He puts out his fist, waiting for me to return it. I give him a bump with my own, sealing the deal.


"Stars save me..." I look at my belongings, strewn about where my purse had landed. The few things of importance were on Yusei's bike or on my body, but everything else was thrown into the bag that lies upon the rocks.

There's a pile of underwear next to a couple of my screwdrivers, as well as a small hairbrush that bounced a meter or two away. Shoving the closest back into it, I look around to ensure nothing else is missing.

Besides the hairbrush, one pair of panties made it to the middle of the street. The speed with which I pack away the brush almost rips a snag in the satchel, but I readjust it smoothly.

"There you are!" I'm at the last piece of clothing, squatting down to pluck it off the pavement. "Now I just have to keep a better hold of this thing." Securing the last of my personal items, I can't see the man that sneaks up behind me.

The lack of light on the asphalt before me is the first thing I know to be off. "You're a pretty one. I'd like to talk if you have a moment to spare."

I turn and am greeted by a looming robed figure. His face is twisted with a wicked smile, but his eyes are covered by his hood.

"No-" I swallow the saliva in my mouth. Something is weird about this guy and it's not just the cultist robes. "No thank you."

"Could you repeat that? I don't think I heard you right." The male steps forward, a menacing tension in his shoulders. He's poised to strike. "You can take a break to talk to me about the future of Satellite. Surely, that's something that's worth your indulgence, girly."

I start backing up, wanting some space between us and fast. "I'm really sorry but-"

"You aren't going anywhere." The stranger lashes out, finding purchase on my upper arm. His grip is crushing, definitely leaving irritated skin in its wake. If there wasn't a bruise under my sleeve later, I'd be pleasantly surprised. There isn't a chance left that this is going down quietly.

"I don't know you. Get your nasty hands- mmph!" My cry is muffled when he slaps his free hand over my lips. If he thinks I'm not going to fight in this kind of situation, he doesn't know anything about the people of Satellite. I bite down on the hand as hard as I can, tearing out a shallow chunk of flesh. He instantly removes it, crying out in pain from the wound. The mass carries the unpleasant tang of blood so I spit it out on the asphalt below.

"Fuck!" The man shouts, releasing me in favor of grasping his wrist just below the fresh wound. "That hurt... Bitch! You'll pay for that."

He's upon me once more, this time wrapping his unblemished hand around my left wrist and laying into me with a bloody backhand against my jaw. The hit knocks me off my feet, the man tightening his hold on my wrist as I go down.

"Wake up! Yusei's gone!" I shoot up out of bed before I can analyze what I'm hearing. Rally's frantic voice had sapped me of the sleep in my bones. The boy leans over my sitting form. "We have to go find them!"

"Gone? No..." I drag myself out of the warm covers, the last memory of this turning my veins to ice. "I need to..."

Last time, he ran into a dark signer. If he and his bike are gone, he didn't leave spontaneously.

Taka and Nervin stand nearby while Rally briefs me. "Crow's D-Wheel is gone too!" Blitz says, returning to the group.

"You mean they both left?" Taka asks, stunned by the thought.

"Fuck!" I can't reign in the frustration. Tugging on the black boots at my bedside, I eye the brunette man sitting by the fire. "Saiga, would you stay here? In case they come back?" It goes without saying that he should watch the orphans as well, the bulk of them congregating at his back.

He salutes me, a quiet answer. Nodding, I don't even bother to lace up my shoes, just throwing them on and grabbing my purse off the ground.

"We'll split up and search," Nervin agrees.

"Right!" The other three assent to the plan, turning and running off in search of our friends. Nervin follows their movements, allowing me to take off in the last direction.

"Run like the wind!"

"That's right, Pinoko. You're even faster than me!"

I never had the heart to tell Ryuuga that it was from running away. If he knew I was training by sprinting from bullies, he'd become more protective than he had already been. The constant number of muggings and theivings I ran into almost daily in my adulthood kept me agile, swift enough to get out of a bad situation.

It wasn't often I wished I was faster, but tonight is one such instance.

Highrises line the streets, debris demanding I step around them in order to keep going. There is darkness around every corner, but no sign of Yusei.

I shout his name as I comb the alleys. The city dumps me out at its edge. There's nothing to interrupt the jagged lines of barren wasteland, the leftovers from Zero Reverse coating the outskirts.

My eyes are drawn skyward, however, at the shine from above. The obsidian of the sky is disrupted by amaranthine strokes that paint its dark canvas.

"What the hell are Nazca lines doing in the sky?" I ask myself aloud, already starting the trek in their direction. Something is wrong, no doubt about it. Despite my concern, the only thing to be done is to get there and maybe smack Yusei around for running off in the night.


The commotion from over the ridge was intense, but so was the climb. Journeying the distance on foot, it took a long time to get out to the secluded spot.

There's not just shouting and screaming, but the crash of battle. My fingers wrap around the very crest of it, nearly at the top, and pull myself over the ledge. I lay on the ground but it takes me just a moment to catch my breath and stand, hurrying to the orange-haired figure that stands ahead.

"Crow!"

The man turns back, sighting me at once. "Pinoko, what are you doing here?" He at least has the decency to look embarrassed, curling his shoulders forward in a protective position.

"You swine!" I stomp up to him. "I've been looking for you two all night! Where's Yusei?"

"That's the thing." His eyes swivel back to the blinding purple wall that matches the Nazca lines in the sky one-to-one. "He's dueling one of the dark signers, Kiryu. This one is... He was our friend."

I follow his gaze when a shout full of agony breaks the short silence. Kiryu's dragon has sent a stream of energy at the other D-Wheeler. The screen on Crow's bike depicts the profile of my protector being slammed with 800 points of damage. His yell pulls at the edges of my soul, the blast of light spreading the smell of ozone through the air.

His bike is pushed airborne, colliding with the wall of their impromptu track. The flames conceal him, seemingly eating the man up. It's more than Crow and I can bear.

Kiryu's howl is full of malintent. "This time, make sure to burn, Yusei Fudo!"

"Yusei, please be alright," I pray.

"Kiryu! Stop this, Kiryu!" Crow's voice doesn't carry enough for them to hear, but he tries anyway.

Righting himself on the track, Crow and I let out a sigh of relief at Yusei's reappearance. It halts Kiryu's sick laughter. The batting of blades denotes a helicopter somewhere above us.

"Yusei..." All of Kiryu's previous delight is gone, only malice remaining. "You traitor!