They were serious when they said they'd take me in and give me a roof over my head. They've done more than just that by now.

Tank, Blitz, and Nervin work at a factory, from what I understand, and that factory is how people in Satellite scrape together enough resources or money to get food to eat. I was absolutely right in thinking I'd be a burden to them, but they don't seem to care that I'm just dead weight they're feeding.

Rally has been examining my wounds and exchanging my bandages. The scars on my arm won't go away, so it looks like I'll have to wait for them to heal on their own. Rally said they should be better soon, since it's already been a few days since he first found me.

During the time I've been staying with the others, they've really welcomed me as a member of their group of friends, even going so far as to attempt to find my Duel Runner, if it's still around, to match up with my hybrid Duel Disk and jog some more memories. To be honest, ever since I saw that scary room, I've been afraid to learn more about my past. At the same time, my morbid curiosity keeps getting the better of me. I find myself often switching between the two, never really settling on a single feeling for long.

Rally says that Yusei's been in such a rush to keep training and tuning up his Runner because he has a sort of mission he's been dead-set on for years and years now, and that soon we'll witness Yusei's first escape from the Satellite into the City. Apparently it's ordinarily illegal for anyone from Satellite to go to the City. (Why?) So Yusei has resorted to shirking the law itself and taking a 1 in 100 chance in an underground trash pipeline.

As gross as it sounds, it's the only way. Now I understand why Yusei was so quick to leave yesterday. Apparently his mind has been set on this for a long time, and when Yusei gets started on something, it's hard to get him to stop.

Rally has been helping me with regaining my confidence in my dueling skills. I've avoided using my Duel Disk for the time being, especially considering I don't want to carry it around and garner other people's attention. As it turns out, my Duel Disk really is a one-of-a-kind model, and a lot of people would do anything to get their hands on it.

I've also learned a few new things about myself in the past few days. For starters, despite my low self-esteem, I actually do have some objectively decent skills. Even I can't deny that I'm at least half-decent. One day, Rally found a torn folder of blank papers and fashioned together a pretty-looking pen for me to use. By now, I've gotten through almost one-fourth of the papers, and it's only been maybe two or three days. I do many different things with the papers. Sometimes, I write short stories or prompts, and others I draw things based on the Weather Painters or my friends.

But I've often found myself inspired to write simplistic blueprints of a vehicle. A Duel Runner, actually. Mine, most likely. But my drawings are too vague to truly resemble any actual vehicles. As it turns out, despite apparently being a Turbo Duelist and knowing how to do basic things with it, I can't draw machinery to save my life.

Just like I can't Duel!

No, that's not true. Rally and even Yusei have said it lots of times by now. I can Duel, I just need to get back into the swing of things and learn to re-balance my deck. Did something happen to it before?

Today was a day. Tank, Nervin, and Blitz were all watching the computer monitor Yusei had left set up, while I was going through my cards and double checking their effects to have them memorized. But I couldn't concentrate over the sound of the MC's voice from the laptop, and the guys were really, really loud.

I didn't mind it; they were enjoying themselves. But anytime they cheered that loudly for something, I couldn't help feeling left out, since I didn't understand what the hype was about.

"Duelists young and old, professionals and amateurs alike! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! So make some noise for the Number 1 Turbo Dueling King in the world! Jaaaaack Atlaaaaas!"

Jack Atlas... Where did I hear that name from before? I held a Rainbow Kuriboh card in my hand as I turned my head to the sound of the computer.

"...Jack Atlas... sounds familiar?" I cocked my head to the side, confused. Of course, I was too quiet and the boys were too invested in the computer to hear me, so I never got my answer for it. That's okay. I could ask them a little later, as long as I didn't forget to.

As it turns out, even with amnesia, I just have a bad memory in general. I had a habit of mixing up some of my cards' effects, mostly between the Weather Painters and their respective Canvases rather than each other. Not to mention all the other cards I had placed in my deck, undoubtedly to provide extra, well-needed support for the cards.

"As he looks to add to his unbeaten streak today, one begs the question: Can anyone take this man down?!"

This Jack Atlas guy must've been really skilled as a duelist. I envied him. His confidence must've taken him far. I could never get to that point.

"What say we kick this Turbo Duel into Overdrive?!"

He had a slight accent to his voice. It didn't actually sound familiar to me, but I could hear the confidence in his voice plain as day. He was ready to take someone on and he wasn't going to give up until he'd taken them completely down.

"The duel of the century is about to get underway! But will the competition ever show its face?"

Hm... Had I always had Rainbow Kuriboh in my deck? I could vaguely hear something behind me, but it was probably nothing. There were lots of strange noises underground in the Satellite.

"And Hunter Pace has finally shown up, eager to regain his title!"

"I'll fire things up."

Duel Mode engaged. Setting Field Spell: Speed World. Autopilot standing by.

I could practically hear the CPUs of both Duel Runners in my own mind, activating and preparing to duel. Rally and the others were practically convinced I had to have been a Turbo Duelist, but I don't see it. I don't have the necessary equipment, save for my hybrid Duel Disk. And still, that had to be luck, hadn't it?

I mean, I did have some Speed Spells on me, but not enough for a full Turbo deck. I must've just been a fan or something.

"With their Speed World Field Spells activated, the action's about to start! Now, for those of you joining us for the first time..." The MC proceeded to explain the rules of Turbo Dueling to any new fans, and I took the opportunity to grab Tank's attention.

"Tank, why does 'Jack Atlas' sound so familiar to me?" I asked him. "Did I know him in the past?"

Tank turned to me and shrugged. "I doubt it. You've probably heard of him as the Turbo Dueling King. He's kinda really famous and all."

"More than that," Nervin added on, "Jack used to be Yusei's friend. He's the reason Yusei's going out to the City in the first place. Jack stole Yusei's Stardust Dragon from him, so Yusei's going to get it back from him."

I frowned. "Jack was Yusei's friend? So... he betrayed him?"

"That's right," Blitz spoke up. "I dunno why. But that doesn't matter now. Yusei's gonna get through that trash chute and meet up with him, finally, and win his Stardust Dragon back."

I rested Rainbow Kuriboh at the top of my deck and pursed my lips. "...I see."

I zoned out as the duel played out, and the boys' cheering became somewhat of a background noise to me. For the umpteenth time that day, I tried to think back on who I was, but I came up empty. Over the past few days, I'd dueled a little here and there, trying to practice and at the same time regain my memory. But all that came up in my flashbacks was the same room. Different parts of it, and small bits and pieces that meant nothing on their own, but I clung to them in case they came together like a puzzle at some point.

Maybe...

With a hefty sigh, I carefully pocketed my deck and took my Duel Disk with me as I left the tent. Walking around, I found, refreshed my mind quite a bit. I could talk to myself and no one would pay me any mind. Most people would challenge me to duels if they saw me with my Duel Disk, so I stuck to pacing around in the same spots back and forth in the subway, just by the steps to the surface.

I was the first one to notice Yusei walking his Duel Runner back and I hurried to help him hook it up to his equipment. I don't think Yusei expected me to be much help with his training, because every time I had come to assist him in the past couple of weeks, he looked surprised. Maybe he was used to doing it alone.

"Are they watching Jack?" Yusei asked me quietly, so we wouldn't disturb them.

I nodded. "Yeah. Jack Atlas." After a pause to check up on his Runner's condition, I hesitantly asked him a redundant question. "...he's the reason you're doing all of this?"

Yusei nodded after a brief pause. "Yeah. He stole something very important from me."

I nodded again, and silence befell us. Once I finished hooking up my side of his Runner, Yusei began typing some things into his mini-monitor and reached for the handle of his vehicle, testing the engine again.

It didn't rev as loudly as it usually did, meaning its energy probably burned out again. Although I didn't know how to fully tune up a Runner like Yusei did, I at least was learning quite a bit from helping him work. He was saying something about the CPU not matching up to the engine before, and so it kept breaking down.

The sound of the engines caught the attention of the boys, who turned off the computer. They apologized, said something about the cable not reaching, the TV not working, and then Nervin was saying how amazing Jack was in the duel. Blitz was quick to tell him to shut up, though.

Yusei didn't seem to mind them, though. "Jack's opponent was weak, right?"

Nervin nodded. "Yeah. Pace was completely played by Jack the entire time."

I wasn't surprised. If Jack Atlas was the King of Turbo Duels, he had to be really strong. Not only that, but confidence in a duel was half the battle. Even if I was a remotely skilled duelist, my lack of composure and confidence would make me easy prey to pick me off right off the bat.

"So hey, Yuse, did the new chip work or not?" Tank asked.

"Duh, Tank. Does it look like it worked?" Blitz snapped.

The mood was getting more and more tense. I didn't like it.

The two began arguing, and I couldn't tell if it was lighthearted anymore. Yusei didn't give off any kind of emotion, only focusing on his Duel Runner. I didn't know what to do with my hands, since Yusei wasn't giving me instructions yet, so I simply sat patiently and waited.

"Hey, see if the engine's damaged on your end, wouldja?" Yusei finally asked me.

I complied and examined Yusei's engine from my side. I didn't know too much about how it worked, but when Yusei revved the Runner again, nothing seemed to be broken or overly worn down.

"Engine's in working order," I told him. "I think it must've overheated, though. There's a lot of cooling fluid leaking from the back."

Yusei let go of the handle and turned to the back wheel of the runner. "The engine's too advanced for the chip. If I try to go the speed I need to, it overheats and the Runner automatically locks itself to stop."

That was the third chip in the past three days. Nothing seemed to work for Yusei's Runner.

I glanced at Yusei, sympathetic. I might've had a somewhat bad judge of emotion in other people, but I could at least understand that Yusei was getting frustrated with constantly switching chips to make it work for his Runner. It was lucky that Rally came at that moment, too.

"Yusei! Hey, Yusei!"

"In here, Rally!"

"What's up, little buddy?"

"Wait'll you see what I got for Yusei! Yusei!"

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this..."

"You always have a bad feeling, Nervin."

It was refreshing to see Rally so excited about something. He jogged to Yusei and dug around in his pockets for something. Everyone gathered around to see what Rally had brought.

Rally's smile was absolutely radiant when he fished it out of his pockets. "Check it out! A Skyline 30 Acceleration Chip!"

Nervin bent over to look at it. "That's tiny."

I recognized the chip in Rally's fingers. It was brand-new, and if I recalled correctly, which I usually didn't, it was really expensive. I furrowed my eyebrows. "R-Rally... how'd you get that?"

Blitz grabbed Rally's wrist to get a better look at the chip. "It looks like it's never been used. Don't tell me you stole this!"

Rally pulled away from Blitz and hugged the chip close to his chest defensively. "I didn't steal nothin'! It was just on the ground near the junk pile..."

Blitz sighed. "Rally, you shouldn'ta taken what don't belong to ya."

Tank joined in. "You know how things are here. No one leaves nothin' just lyin' around."

"Except me, maybe," I spoke up. "I remember that chip, I think. I might've used something similar."

Rally gasped. "Wait, so it's yours?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. If it is, I have no use for it now; my Duel Runner's kind of MIA at the moment."

The boys scratched their heads, but Rally eagerly jumped at the chance. "Does that mean you're giving it to Yusei?"

After a moment of thinking, I nodded and smiled at Yusei. "If it really is mine, then sure. Consider it a thank-you for taking me in," I told him.

Yusei didn't exactly smile, but I could see his tension loosen up. "Rally, let me see that." Rally handed Yusei the chip. After examining it only a little bit, he turned to his Runner. "Thank you, Sylvia and Rally."

Rally cheered. "Will it make you run faster?"

"Absolutely."

Yusei exchanged the chip in the motherboard of his Runner's computer and re-installed it.

"No, Yusei, you can't do this, you gotta make Rally return the chip," Blitz insisted. "We don't even know for sure if it was Sylvia's."

"But if it'll make the Runner run faster, maybe he shouldn't?" Tank tried to offer.

"Tank!"

"What?"

Nervin pinched the bridge of his nose and pointed at Rally. "Look, we don't wanna get marked like Rally here. If Rally stole that chip from someone, he'll get us all arrested for sure."

I vaguely remembered the yellow criminal marks that identified people. The more marks one had, the more crimes they've committed. Rally only had one, thankfully, but I've seen people in the Satellite with dozens of marks all over their faces. It wasn't just a temporary thing, either. Those things were tattooed to your face, and you couldn't take them off if you tried.

I didn't want to think about trying to take a criminal mark off.

The others were arguing about whether it was really right for Yusei to go off to the city, weighing the dangers of his being there. Rally was strongly advocating for Yusei to go into the city despite the danger, and Nervin didn't want Yusei facing too many dangers.

I understood both sides of the argument. To be honest, seeing Yusei training so hard to go to the city made me want to leave Satellite too, and follow him. Maybe I was simply clingy, but the fact was that I had devices and cards that were higher quality than most things in Satellite were, and it made me a big target. Not only would it be dangerous for me to stay in the Satellite, I could also find my memories if I went to the big city.

At least, that's what I hoped.

"Yusei, you should just stay put," Nervin finally said. "Us Satellites don't belong in the big wigs."

"Jack didn't stay," Yusei simply said.

"I think Nerve's right. You should put the past in the past. Don't risk your freedom for some wheels and a card," Blitz said.

I wanted to speak up, or say something about wanting to join him. I wanted to find my own Runner more than ever now, and follow Yusei when he left. But it was too late for that. We only had a few days until Yusei's day of departure.

In just that moment of silence between Blitz's statement and my hesitation, Yusei's computer finally updated to match the chip he installed, and he tested the engine again. "Sylvia, check the back for me. make sure the cooling fluid is at a light trickle."

I nodded and bent down to keep an eye on the back wheel. Yusei revved the engine, but this time instead of the light rumble it made earlier, the motorcycle let out an incredible, mighty roar that echoed down the empty subway tracks. I flinched away from the sudden noise, yelping. The cooling fluid was only dripping every now and then. Not too little, and not too much.

Nervin whistled. Blitz stood shocked. Rally's smile was absolutely huge.

"So? It's totally better now, right?" Rally exclaimed, ecstatic.

Yusei nodded, and a small smile tugged at his lips. That was the first time I'd seen him really smile. He turned to me. "How's the cooling fluid?"

"Light trickle, perfect amount," I said, cradling my poor ears. "My eardrums could probably use some repairs, though."

"Sorry about that. I didn't expect it to be so loud."

I shrugged and stood up. "Test your time on the Runner. With a chip that can keep up with the engine, you'll probably optimize your speed to get through the tunnel."

But Yusei didn't get a chance before bright lights flooded the broken ground opening up to the sky in our underground base. From the sudden brightness of the outside lights, I realized night must've fallen without my noticing it.

It was my first time encountering such a threat. Everyone looked tense or afraid. I turned to Yusei, scared. "W-what's that?" I asked.

"It's Sector Security!" Blitz answered me.

I turned my attention to him instead. "Security?! What for?"

"They secure the Satellite," Tank explained to me. "To make sure we don't go out of line!"

Out of line? That sounded like prison, or punishment! "W-why're they here now? What did we do?"

Everyone except Yusei turned to look at Rally.

"Identification Number AWX 86007, Rally Dawson, you are under suspicion of robbery! Escape is not an option! Surrender now!"

Blitz raised a fist, and I was afraid he was going to punch Rally, who had Yusei's helmet in his hands. "Rally--"

"I'm sorry, okay! I took it from the factory! I just wanted Yusei to win against Jack!" Rally exclaimed, holding the helmet up to defend himself.

"That's no excuse, Rally!"

Yusei reached a hand to stop Blitz, thankfully. "That's enough. It's gonna be alright."

Somehow, I believed it. Yusei took his helmet back from Rally, and with my help, we unhooked the Runner from his testing equipment.

"So what should we do, then?" I asked Yusei, closing the last of his opened compartments on his Runner.

"There's nothin' we can do, Sylv," Tank protested. "That marker Rally's got is like a homin' device. It sends a signal to Sector Security and they'll always find us."

Yusei typed into his miniature monitor and activated some sort of broad satellite program that I didn't get. "I got that covered," he told us.

I didn't get what that meant, but he finally mounted his Runner and put the helmet on. "I jammed the signal. You guys have a couple of minutes."

"Then what do we do until then?" Blitz asked.

Yusei pointed down the tunnel. "You guys take the east tunnel. I'm going for a test drive."

He was going to distract Security. Sparks flew as his Runner sharply turned around and quite literally drove up the steps to reach the surface. I moved back as fast as I could to get out of his way.

"You heard the man, guys! Let's bolt!" Blitz told us. I had to detour to grab my Duel Disk, in case Security found it, and took off after them.

I could hear Yusei driving away, and the sound of sirens faded into eerie silence. No more lights trailing us from the surface, either. Yusei did what he set out to do. I just hoped that he was alright doing it.

It wasn't long before those couple of minutes Yusei had promised us passed. No one came after us, though, and I was starting to think we were safe.

I was half-right. "We" weren't safe; the boys were. Somewhere along the way, I suddenly felt incredibly exhausted and sleepy, and it wasn't long before I just barely caught myself lying down so that I wouldn't fall over spontaneously.

This is where stuff got really weird.

I woke up on some fluffy white clouds, at the foot of a set of stairs leading up to a temple or gazebo of some kind. The sky was bright, so it was no longer nighttime, for... some reason. I could hear a faint voice calling my name, but once again, I'd forgotten how I got to that point. It didn't make any logical sense to me. First, I was in the subway, underground, at night, running from some cops while one of my new best friends went and played decoy. Next, I'm in a bright, sunny, almost fairy tale-esc area where pretty much everything looks magical and none of my friends are in sight.

How. Literally how.

Standing around wasn't going to do me any good. I didn't have my Duel Disk or deck on me here, for some reason, so I really was left with nothing this time. Behind me were only more clouds and possibly inevitable doom, if I stepped off of one and into the long, long distance below, and although there were more places to go, I couldn't get to them from where I was. The floating islands all around each had their own color representing it, meanwhile this one was pure white. From the looks of it, it seemed to be the biggest of the... how many? eight islands.

I thought I'd be exhausted from running through the tunnels, but for some reason my breath was light and airy, and every step was as light and careful as a cat. I felt some strange feeling of ease in this new environment.

I walked up the steps, one by one. It didn't matter to me how long it took to get there. Every step was important, and my drive to keep going only pushed further as the platform slowly shifted into view. I could see eight canvases all lined up perfectly with one another, the exception being the center canvas in the middle of the arc of seven. Each one had a Weather Painter on it, save for the one in the corner.

The Weather Painter Sun, The Weather Painter Thunder, Aurora, Snow, Rain, and Cloud. Even Rainbow was in the middle. The canvas that was supposed to be red stayed white, blank, with no Weather Painter to fill its colorless space.

Sylvia Reviar. You have returned.

Reviar? Sylvia Reviar? Was that my full name? Also, "returned"? But this place didn't look familiar at all.

It's time for the test. A test to see if you're truly worthy of this important thing you possess.

These weren't exactly "statements" or "sentences". The thoughts floating through my head weren't my own, though; I could tell that from the start. They just... appeared. The best way I can describe it is through words, however.

"What's this test...?"

You can't know yet. It isn't time. But the deed must be done. You have to do something. It is of utmost importance.

"Do something? Like what? That's not much to go on..."

It's not meant to be obvious. Just follow your heart.

As though out of thin air--or maybe it really was out of thin air--a sketching pencil materialized itself in my right hand, the one Rally bandaged a few days prior. But what was I supposed to do with a pencil?

My immediate instinct was to draw something. I had to draw something, whether it's messy or a concept art of some kind, or mostly written words with a loosely drawn diagram, I had to use the pencil somehow. I was itching to use it. But the only thing close to a blank piece of paper was the canvas in the corner.

I didn't want to ruin the canvas, though. What if it was going to be painted on later?

Does it matter?

What a foolish thought. Of course it matters. I didn't want to steal someone else's supplies.

They belong to no one. You're free to do what you wish.

And for some reason, I believed it. In the end, I walked, slowly and lightly just like on the steps to the gazebo, to the blank canvas resting on an easel in the corner. And I lifted my pencil, trying to think about the kind of design I had in mind for the final piece of the puzzle to make it fit, and what I wanted it to do.

And I drew.

I don't know if I expected some fantastic thing to happen when I drew, or even when I finished drawing. Sometimes I even took the canvas off its easel and drew sprawled across the ground, as though that'd help me any.

In art, it's important to note that whatever the artist sees and wants to depict may not always match up with their style of drawing. In fact, often times, it doesn't. Sometimes, your hands do unexpected things and you, as an artist, have to adapt to those changes you've made. No drawing ever goes the expected way.

But even with a drawing style different from the general idea I had formed in my head, what my hands drew was exactly what I was thinking. The image I'd painted in my head came to life on the canvas, in ways I didn't know were possible. In fact, I most likely wouldn't be able to do anything remotely similar had I been underground in the Satellite.

The pixie I drew was small. Smaller than even Thunder or Snow. She had delicate, detailed wings, which looked like whirlwinds, and her cape looked like the clouds of a sunrise or sunset. Her chosen art supply was just like mine, only much better-looking. She had a big, beautiful mechanical pencil with bright red graphite, swirling patterns on the inside, and a magical red twister element to it. Despite her apparent wind-based design, I knew she was a LIGHT monster.

My sketch was complete, but the pencil in my hand didn't disappear. Instead, it transformed into a paintbrush. I wasn't given a choice of colors, though. I moved back to the canvas's easel and propped the pixie up where she had been before, and poised the dry paintbrush in my hands at the ready.

It took only one stroke to completely color in the entire easel. Where there shouldn't have been a single splash of color, from the tip of my brush, the canvas spread and burst into beautiful warm colors, creating the small pixie I had envisioned in my head into something brilliant and beautiful.

A red, swirling background, mixed with lighter pinks and whites formed behind her, and her wings looked transparent, but definitely red, like I wanted them to be. Her cape was some kind of in-between of brown and red, her dress exploded into pastel reds and pinks, and her skin flushed with a healthy rosy color. Her eyes were a striking golden color, and her hair was the brightest red I'd ever seen.

Now for a name...

She wasn't just red. This pixie was crimson. And so, with a smile, I dropped the brush from my hands and stepped back from the easel.

"The Weather Crimson Pixie."

As soon as the name left my mouth, powerful winds whipped at my entire body, and I was knocked onto the ground. The peaceful nature of the gazebo and the rainbow islands was suddenly gone, replaced with the intensity of a thousand different storms. I was hot, but cold; dry, but wet. Everything was brilliantly loud, while simultaneously being intensely quiet. All the winds and clouds and snow, rain, lights, everything surrounded me, overwhelmed me, and I could no longer feel my senses anymore.

The last thing I saw in that place was a crimson light, although I could've seen a little ball of something rainbow flying into my arms.

Your answer has been sealed.

Once again, I blacked out.

---

(I realize this probably seems like a sudden stop to the chapter, but it goes into the next episode from here, and I want to give proper attention to what happened. It seems cliche, I know, but I swear there's a direction I'm going in for this.

Also, yes, the character is Sylvia and my name is Sylvia online. This is a self-insert. I don't care. This is my comfort fic and no one's probably gonna read it anyway. I just finally decided to publish something I work on for once.)