Although they were forced into a Tag Duel, Yusei and Crow had little to no trouble beating Sector Security. At least... he'd like to have said that, for Sylvia's sake.

But he'd been whittled down to 400 Life Points before he could turn the duel around, and with Crow's help, too. Thankfully, he'd managed a 4000-to-none turnaround, just like Sylvia had. But thinking back, maybe he shouldn't have let them get that close. Sylvia and Rally would've been too worried for him if they found out. Then again, they'd always believed in him for some strange reason.

Despite his toughness with her when they'd first entered the City, Yusei worried for her well-being.

"Keep driving! Ignore him!"

"Isn't this illegal?!"

"Do you want to get to the City or not?!"

Yusei never intended for her to get caught by the police, but he didn't want her to get caught by the Movement as well. He still had too little information about them to know what exactly he could do to save her. He'd had half a mind to barge in there on his Runner alone and duel the man in charge into submission, but Tanner--who had somehow become the wiser one of the two, and that was saying something--told him it was too dangerous and not nearly the kind of help Sylvia needed.

After they arrived at Crow's hideout near Daedalus Bridge, Yusei was swarmed by children and forced out of his thoughts, feeling a little out of place. However, Crow handled them like a champ, after letting them have their fun and asking all sorts of questions--some admittedly a bit more invasive than others, the way kids tended to ask--before he shooed them away from him and set up a campfire as the sun set. Rally, Tank, Blitz, Nervin, and Blister all gathered around the fire with him, while the kids got around to poking at and inspecting his Duel Runner, and Crow gathered up some soft blankets and pillows he'd scrounged up. Extras, he'd said, for whenever the kids got sick and needed more than they had.

Yusei knew there couldn't nearly have been enough for all of them, and that Crow had to have given up his blanket and pillow as well, but he didn't mention anything. Crow wouldn't let him if he had, anyway. He was just that kind of guy.

As they sat around the fire, though, while Crow milled about babysitting the kids and gathering things for the night, Yusei relayed the story of what had happened in the City to his friends, including Sylvia's whereabouts.

"I don't know how she's doing right now, but the last I'd heard of her, she was handcuffed and tired," he finally said, avoiding everyone's gaze in favor of the mesmerizing fire. "I... need to go back to save her. But I needed to check on you guys as well. And with all of this stuff about Satellite's destruction and this so-called 'destiny' that's been forced on me, I..." Yusei faltered for a moment, searching for the right words. "...well, it's a lot."

Rally looked sympathetic. Nervin was nervous--not just like usual, but even more so, it seemed, for he and Sylvia were sort of close in their shared anxiety and nearly constant state of fear or panic. Tank and Blitz exchanged complex glances, and Blister refused to let any emotion show on his face, hardening into a somewhat neutral glare the way he tended to do when he hid his feelings from others.

"So with all this Dark Signer shit," Blister began, his voice sharp enough to catch Yusei's attention, "if the Satellite is swallowed up in the future like you saw in your vision, does that mean that Satellite is gonna become the battlefield between light and dark?"

"Most likely," Yusei relented.

"Wait wait wait, hold on--" Nervin forced himself to straighten up. "Can you even trust Goodwin's little fantasy story? He's the one who marked you, isn't he?"

Yusei nodded with a hesitant swallow. "I know. But... at this point, there is no other way for me to turn." He rolled up his sleeve for his friends to see. "Everything that's happened up until this point, and even Stardust Dragon, tell me that they--that the Dark Signers--are the real enemies."

Crow finished drinking from the bottle of expired--whatever it was, Yusei couldn't tell what kind of alcohol it was, nor did he care, so long as Crow didn't drink too much of it--wiped his mouth and chipped in his two cents. "Even if this place becomes the battlefield, I'm gonna protect them." With the way he looked at the kids playing with Yusei's Duel Runner, it was clear what he meant. "I'm the only one who can, after all. Those rascals couldn't protect themselves if they tried, and someone's gotta be around to teach these gremlins how to live right. So count me in, Yusei!"

Yusei furrowed his brows. "W... what? No, Crow, it's too dangerous--" But even as he said that, he knew what Crow's answer would be, although he never got around to saying it.

One of the girls--Lilie, Yusei remembered from Crow's description--ran up to him from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Big Bro, tell us the Story!" she giggled.

"The Story, again?" one of the boys complained.

"You really love it, don't you," another sighed.

"So what?" she pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "I like Crow's stories!"

Crow seemed amused by the kids' antics--Yusei would be lying if he said he wasn't, too--so he turned around on his rolled-up blanket and announced proudly, "Alright, settle down kiddos. I'll tell you the Story."

"Yay!" Lilie cheered.

He cleared his throat and began to talk. Now that Yusei thought about it, Sylvia liked stories, too.

"Wait, Crow, give me a second," he stopped him as he took a breath.

Crow gave him a weird look. "Huh? What for?"

Yusei jogged over to his Duel Disk and disconnected it from his Duel Runner, much to the kids' delight, and hurried back to his spot. "Sylvia loves stories, and I want to share this moment with her when we finally get her free. Can I record your voice telling this story?"

Crow grinned. "I gotcha. She needs somethin' to look forward to, yeah? No worries, man. Record away!"

Yusei thanked him and pressed the button.

"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."

But the kids interrupted him. "You're talking about the City and Satellite," one of the boys said.

"This story isn't a long time ago," another giggled awkwardly.

"Wait, is that true?" Lilie asked, confused.

"Oh, c'mon, you need to be gentle with these kindsa things," Crow moaned to the boys. "Don't you guys have any imagination?"

"Kinda hard to imagine when it's not exactly fake to begin with," Nervin piped up in the background. His friends--and the kids--laughed a bit at the snark, and Crow gave him a playfully frustrated groan.

"Look, do ya wanna hear the Story or not? You guys keep interruptin' me and we might not get to the end."

The kids laughed again, because it was funny, seeing Crow like that, and Yusei figured that for the sake of the recording, he'd allow himself a little laugh as well. Maybe it'd make her feel better when she heard it for the first time.

"But I digress," Crow went on, turning back to the kids. "This story is about the City and the Satellite. It's about a legendary man who tried to free the Satellite. Long before you were born, there was a man who always looked toward the City from this exact same spot." Yusei was tempted to say something to fill in the blanks, but he was certain Sylvia would get it as the story went on, when he would one day lead her here. She'd love it, he thought to himself.

"That man came here riding on a Duel Runner no one had ever seen before. Day after day, that man stood here and gazed at the City. But one day, he stopped."

"Why?"

"He realized what he needed to do. He realized that he had to build the Daedalus Bridge in order to link with the City."

"So that means this bridge didn't always exist," one of the kids said.

"But he didn't finish, right? That means it was pointless," another sighed sadly.

"It was an impossible task," the first boy said again.

"Yeah, that's what everyone thought at first, too," Crow said, adding on their commentary to the story. He didn't seem to mind being interrupted this time--maybe he never did. Probably not, actually. "They made fun of him, calling him crazy. However, he never gave up. Even those who insulted him in the beginning began to think that, 'Hey, maybe there's somethin' to this guy.' Day after day, the only thing Satellite citizens did was recycle garbage from the City. They felt no hope until they saw the Daedalus Bridge as a bridge towards the future. It became the bridge of hope.

"However, the people of the City didn't like that. They stopped the construction and had Security come to arrest them. Everyone gave up, realizing it was impossible from the start. They would arrest the man and it would all be over."

Rally interrupted him this time, fully outraged and invested in the story. "I'll never forgive those garbage Security folks!"

"Hey, get outta the way!"

"Be quiet! Crow, what happened next?"

Rally had gotten in and blocked the kids' view of Crow, and Lilie flinched at Rally's tone as one of the boys patted her head comfortingly. Crow was equally surprised at Rally's outburst, but kept going.

"Uhh--r-right. So, uh... Security cornered the man. He had two choices: Either be captured by Security and live in prison for the rest of his life... or live as a legend. So he chose to become a legend. Refusing to be tied down by logic or authority, he flew. And from that day on, Duel Runners became the symbol of freedom, and that man became a legend, forever living on in the spirit of the Daedalus Bridge."

Yusei was about to stop the recording when Rally asked him to keep going. "Wait, but then what happened to the man? Was he okay?"

Crow shook his head. "No one knows what happened to him. However, at the very least..." He stood up, raising his hand to his heart, and the kids mimicked him in a way that was clearly practiced, rehearsed, well-known like a fact in the back of their minds. "He lives on in our hearts!"

The kids cheered and laughed excitedly, and when the laughter died down, Yusei ended the recording with a smile.

"She'll love this story when we can get back to her," he muttered, not quite intending to be heard or unheard.

Rally turned to him with a sad smile. "Yeah. Sylvia will definitely appreciate it."

Yusei hadn't read any of the stories she'd written when she was in the Satellite, but from Rally's recollection of them while he built his Runner, she seemed to appreciate the small things.

"She doesn't remember her childhood, right?" Tank added. "It might be worth sharin' a part of our past since she doesn't have hers."

"That's right, you said something about her being an amnesiac, right?" Blister muttered. "Guess it's good to give her something nice to hold onto like this story."

"Hey, that's why you have wings on your Duel Runner, right, Crow?" Rally asked.

"Well, yeah, every kid in their right mind would admire that kinda strength," Crow admitted easily. " 'sides, I wanted to see what it'd feel like to fly like he did. And I'm gonna tell you right off the bat, it was definitely worth the installation."

Wings... Why did something about that sound almost familiar--

Wait, "Sylvia had wings on her Runner, didn't she?"

The others' attention snapped to him. Rally was the first to speak up. "I think so? They were a lot smaller than Crow's, though, and they didn't look like they could glide the way Crow's Runner can."

"Hey, now that I think about it... She used them for that huge jump in the sewers, didn't she? When her Runner was strugglin' to catch up with yours, Yuse," Blitz recalled. "We saw it on the monitor, where she pressed a button of some kind and suddenly her Runner was right behind yours. Or... maybe it was the sharp turn she made. I don't really remember anymore, but... didn't she have somethin' like that?"

"If she had wings on her Runner, does that mean she's heard the story before?" Nervin asked, sharing a nervous look with Tank, who shrugged.

Another mystery to add onto the list of things they didn't know about Sylvia, then.

"Well, storytime's over kids. Time for bed."

"Good-night ya rascals," Rally snickered.

"Good night, Crow!"

"Hey, you should go to bed too," one of the kids told Rally.

"Oh be quiet! I'm a grown-up too, y'know!" Rally snapped, though the kids only seemed excited at his display of frustration and giggled as they scattered to their nooks and crannies, tucking themselves into bed.

It's a good thing, Crow is doing. Sylvia would love to meet all of the kids when she's better. Yusei couldn't stop thinking all these things, berating himself that he should be breaking Sylvia out of the Arcadia Movement, rescuing her friends, rescuing Akiza, bringing them all somewhere safe. But he's in the Satellite now, and there was nothing he could do. It made the sour feeling in his gut churn worse than ever before.

"Y'know, there's somethin' about that kinda story. Of a man who wanted to save Satellite. Heh, didn't think that kinda person exists. Kinda makes me think, Yusei," Blister said, turning to him. Yusei hummed in acknowledgement, signaling for him to go on. "Your mark could be a symbol that you're carrying on his spirit, y'know."

There was a tense moment of silence as Crow turned back to the group and everyone's eyes trailed onto Yusei.

Wanting to free Satellite, and all went unspoken from Blister, but Yusei and the others heard it loud and clear. Something felt wrong about that description.

If I could've saved Satellite just by being a legend, Sylvia would be by my side still, wouldn't have had to suffer and lose her memory for a second time. If I could've saved anyone just by having the spirit to do so, this might've all not had to happen, and I wouldn't have chased after Jack for my own personal agenda. Sylvia didn't need to tag along. Her purpose was much more pure than mine. If anyone has that kind of spirit, it would probably be her, not me.

That was what Yusei's guilty mind had thought for him. But he didn't dare say any of these thoughts aloud. His friends would deny him, and their words would conflict with what he felt. So instead, he shuffled his feet and breathed out a long, resigned breath. "I'm not like that," he muttered simply. And before anyone could object, Yusei went on. "It's late. We should also go to bed."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Let's go to sleep."

"Good night."

"Night, Yusei!"

Yusei laid in bed for several hours, listening and waiting as his friends fell asleep one by one. Rally was the first, out like a light as usual. Then came tank, then Nervin, and Blitz and Blister fell asleep at around the same time. He waited a good half-hour after everyone had fallen asleep, just to make sure, and Yusei couldn't exactly make sure Crow was asleep because he had the big shed he'd taken shelter in and turned into his hideout.

Still, Crow was often someone who fell asleep quick, so Yusei hadn't paid it any mind. When he finally stood up, he slowly, deliberately, and quietly folded up the Runner's kickstand and rolled it away.

But his carelessness came back to bite him in the butt too quickly.

"I knew it," Crow's voice said behind him. "You were gonna leave to fight those Dark Signer guys alone."

"Crow--"

"It ain't polite to leave without telling us," he went on, his stone-gray glare unmoving, arms crossed. Crow may have been a year younger than Yusei, but his intuition almost never steered him wrong.

"This is my fight. I don't want to involve you any more than necessary," Yusei answered.

Crow gave him a strange look before sighing and shaking his head with a relaxed smile. "You never change, do ya, bud?"

"I don't want to draw you into this battle." As Yusei moved to push his Runner again, Crow hissed in protest and ran in front of him again.

"Wait-wait-wait, are you saying that I won't be of any kinda help?!" he whispered harshly, careful not to wake the kids.

"Crow, you're not getting it. You risk your life in a battle against the Dark Signers," Yusei reiterated for him.

Crow's breath hitched, and Yusei finally thought he was getting through to him.

"It's different from a Turbo Duel that's purely meant for excitement and exhilaration. When you duel them, the damage you take is real. The injuries you acquire are real. Losing means--if not severe crippling to your body and soul--literal death. You risk everything in a duel like that."

Yusei could still feel the sharp stings of ice that had pelted him in that battle the first time he faced a Dark Signer--or their puppet, rather--and how he had scraped his chin on the cement when he was pushed up against the violet-flame wall with too much momentum, forced to hit the ground as his blood was drawn, dropping as quickly as his Life Points.

"Everything."

Crow sighed. "You're always so serious, man. I hear ya, I hear ya. You're tellin' the truth, I know it. From the sound of it, you might've even experienced a bit of it yourself." From the look on his face, that last comment left a sour taste in Crow's mouth. "But still, I vowed to risk my life to protect the kids."

As he'd thought, telling him all this wasn't enough to stop Crow. Not in a situation of this kind of gravity. "So you feel the same as me, then," Yusei prompted.

Crow gave him a determined nod.

Yusei took a moment to breathe and think. Crow wasn't a Signer. Not by a long shot. Goodwin seemed to think Sylvia was their fifth Signer, although Yusei still somehow doubted that was the entire truth. It was better than anything they had to go on, but that didn't make it any more likable as a possibility. Sylvia, a Signer, would undoubtedly have to risk her life for this as well, despite his wish for her to stay protected. Crow, a non-Signer, but a highly skilled Duelist, might be able to handle himself in this kind of Duel as well.

He could only hope that was the case. Against an opponent this big and seemingly impossible, the Signers could use as much help as they could possibly get.

With a relented sigh, he smiled at his friend. "Well, then don't say I didn't warn you."

Crow absolutely beamed at Yusei's acceptance and held up a fist for him. "Don't underestimate me, man. Just show me where to go!"

They sealed the deal with a fist bump.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

I woke up to a sharp pain in my marked arm. My cuts, bruises, and scars pulled at the seams, blood threatening to spill out, and still I couldn't take my eyes off of the ethereal crimson glow emanating from the hook on my arm. Immediately, I knew it was Yusei.

He was fighting. Yusei was fighting. This was the first news I'd had of him in days that consisted of endless training and punishment, and...

...and the first thing I woke up to in the middle of the night was Yusei, my best friend, fighting--something powerful. Someone powerful.

Akiza and Luna felt it too, didn't they? They were Signers, just like I was. And it stung and hurt, and I could feel myself practically splitting apart from the arm upward, but I still curled up in my bed and held onto that light as tightly as I could. It was the only comfort I had. The only light in that room that I slept in, where the bed was too soft and the windows too high and the glass was too thick.

The first time I got in contact with Akiza and Luna, I was pulling on a thread of power that wasn't there before. It wasn't here now, but I could still feel a connection of some kind. A sort of magnetic pull that gave me the general direction of Akiza and Luna, who were still in the city. Akiza was the closest to me, of course.

So I focused on her, trying to reach her somehow with my voice, or with my mind's eye, or whatever.

It was a long shot, and in the end, I didn't succeed in getting full contact with her. But I did manage to find her, and to try to pull her closer to me--to tug on her soul, even for a moment, to remind her I was still here.

I didn't get to feel for a response in time before I was practically thrust back into my body, exhausted, and the light on my arm died down as soon as I did that. But... I did it, I guess. I didn't quite know how to feel about doing it. Relieved? Worried? Confused? Mostly, after all these days of training, I felt numb.

And lately, I hadn't been singing as often. I was quiet, resorting to simple nods and quick, quiet footsteps as I followed Sayer down the halls, or looked Liquid in the eye as he attacked me, or avoided Okita's gaze when he healed me about halfway, just enough to know that I needed to be punished for a bad job done, but enough that I could at least move again.

They never cleaned my injuries, and the only time I showered was the first day that I'd been imprisoned. I was given scheduled bathroom breaks so that I wouldn't ask to go at random times, and I was always supervised. If I did anything wrong, Liquid and Okita would pay the price. They didn't deserve that.

My nights were often plagued with nightmares now. Sometimes I retreated into the Spirit World, trying to heal, but I was always rudely reawoken by the pull of psychic power before I could fully do anything. It wasn't even a conscious thing I was trying to do or able to control. It was less that I retreated into the Spirit World and more so that the Spirit World itself pulled me in.

I couldn't hear Ancient Fairy Dragon's voice anymore, and my cards were too far away to be able to speak to the Weather Painters. Pikeru kept trying to heal my spirit, but she said she could never do much because I was so alone, and her power relied on the presence of others.

Sometimes while I was in the Spirit World, I called out into the void, hoping Luna could hear me. Sometimes, I could hear Luna calling back. But all we could say was one another's names. I tried telling her what was happening to me, but my voice wouldn't reach her. So instead, I... well, I pleaded, repeating her name over and over. She pleaded back.

And that was it. That was our one conversation. Just "Sylvia" and "Luna", back and forth. Sometimes, my smaller phrases would go through. Like, "I'm sorry, Luna," or "I miss you, Luna," but... well, after the promise I made to her, I couldn't bring myself to say "Help me, Luna."

She was too young. I didn't want to put her in danger. I'd already pleaded to Yusei at the tournament, and I was certain he'd heed my call. It's been a little while, but these things take time. I believed--still believe--in him. Although it hurts, there's a good reason he isn't here with me right now. I was sure of it.

Sayer was certainly doing his best to destroy my belief, to play with my emotions the way he best knew how. He kept saying things like "You were abandoned by your friends," and "You'll never get back to your home," all to rile me up and get me angry. He only succeeded once, and that was the time I'd nearly turned his powers against him.

I felt that madness of his. I knew how he felt. He was ecstatic that I was a success, after plenty of patience and hard work. He wanted me to be his weapon alongside Akiza, whom he'd preyed upon in a similar fashion to myself. And, he found, he could use my emotions--even my care for other people--against me, and against those I cared about.

But I still needed to disappoint him, just enough that he thought he was close, so he couldn't get rid of me yet. So I suppressed that euphoria I felt, practically morphed it all into horror when I saw he was going to get killed by his own power, and I stopped myself and retched.

And here I sat, curled up in the corner of my bed, holding onto my scars like my life depended on them, because they may as well have been my last lifeline, recalling the harsh memories of the past few days, having just finished trying to reach out to Akiza.

I couldn't sleep. I was far too tired to do that. But I couldn't quite stay awake, either. I wanted to, though. I'd lost almost all feeling in everything else, and in my little dark corner, the only thing I could think was that I wanted to stay awake. No reason why, or a future goal in mind. No thoughts about my friends outside my door, guarding me against their will, or Yusei, who I now knew was about to be locked in a harsh battle against a terrifying force.

I just... wanted to stay awake. That was the purpose, and that was the desire.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Something hurt. I didn't know how long I stayed awake, but I did. Somehow the time passed far too slow and far too fast at the same time. My mark pulsed with power at times, filling me with either despair or hope, but usually despair.

Yusei was hurting, I finally realized after it pulsed a few seconds too long one time. I hung onto that pain, unsure what else to do with it, but I felt it, and it hurt in a way it hadn't felt before. An indescribable pain, which felt somewhere between spiritual and physical, somewhere between empathetic and real, somewhere that wasn't where I was, but pulsing through my mind and body as if it were a part of me.

Like I said, indescribable. A feeling that couldn't be replicated for anyone to feel, and one you'd only know if you felt it yourself.

And yet, despite how much it hurt, and how it meant Yusei was in danger, I clung to that pain, because it was somehow better than what I was going through, all the pain I'd felt over the training and dueling I'd done. Somehow this pain was more comforting to me than anything I had in that entire room, including the empty plate I'd mistakenly forgotten to give back once I'd finished eating my dinner, which was just slightly bigger than usual thanks to my recent success.

But just as I had a sliver of hope to cling onto--to at least know what state Yusei was in, to know what he was feeling, to understand the amount of pain he was currently in--the mark's glow quickly vanished all at once, and I was left with dark red scars again, no pulsing, no pulling at the seams of my injuries, no nothing. My hook stared at me, condescending in a way, or mocking, as if to say that "you wished you could have that kind of comfort, but you don't deserve it."

In that moment, I remembered Akiza's reminder about our marks being curses, and I found myself believing her again. Despite learning that Yusei has the mark, Jack and Luna have the mark, and that maybe it isn't actually a curse, it certainly felt like one in that moment. I felt cursed to be alone.

I'd told Akiza that pain was better shouldered together than alone. I hadn't known how right I was until that moment. I was all alone again.

Hopeless, helpless, and broken, I hid my head under my bleeding, scarred, barely-healed arms and sobbed.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Somewhere outside Sylvia's room, Akiza heard and felt the moment Sylvia's heart broke. She saw the two boys, dazed and exhausted and hurt, but still in that half-asleep, forced-aware mindless state. Okita, whose gaze was hidden behind his thin-rimmed glasses, and Liquid, whose sharp eyes were clouded over. Looking closely, she could see their eyes welling up with tears as well, desperately breaking free of their forced imprisonment, standing vigil in front of her door.

She didn't linger in the hallway for long. If Sayer saw her here, she may face the same punishment Sylvia did, and Sylvia had proved useful almost as much as Akiza did. She'd do no good standing here now and getting herself caught, despite that tug she felt from her mark of Sylvia trying to reach out for her help.

A cry for help from someone so precious, and Akiza couldn't even answer it. I'm sorry, Sylvia. At the moment, I can only watch.

She turned away from the door, wiping away tears yet unshed from her own eyes and bit her lip to keep from showing too much emotion. Right now, she needed the Black Rose mask. What she had once considered her "safe haven" wasn't so safe anymore, and she needed to find the right moment to escape.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

"Since the Crimson Dragon battles against the evil gods, does that mean that the Signers are a team?" Leo had asked Yanagi after freaking out when Luna told him she'd seen a similar dragon to his Power Tool in her dream of the war five-thousand years ago.

In truth, it did look similar, in Luna's defense, even if it wasn't quite the same one. For some reason, The Weather Sky Dragon actually wasn't present, which was all the more confusing to her.

Still, she listened in as Yanagi answered Leo's question.

"That's right. Yusei, Jack, Luna, Akiza, and young Sylvia, whom we have yet to meet."

Luna felt a shiver up her spine at the mention of Sylvia. Her desperate pleading echoed in her mind from her few visits to the Spirit World in the past week. She sounded so completely different to the Sylvia she'd met at the tournament.

Scared and hurting and shaking, but just too hesitant to ask for help. Luna was young, but even she could understand when someone was in pain when she heard it--felt it, even, if only for a brief moment.

"And me, right?!" Leo exclaimed.

"R-right..."

"If Akiza Izinski is part of the team, does that mean the whole Movement is on the team?" Tanner asked reasonably. "We already know they're practically holding Sylvia at gunpoint at this point."

Luna pursed her lips and nodded grimly, but Leo panicked as he tended to do. "Huh?! Whaddaya mean gunpoint?!"

"It's a figure of speech," Tanner quickly corrected himself. "They might as well be, though. She's been in the Movement for far too long for it to feel comfortable at this point."

"I heard her voice," Luna spoke up quietly. "I... I could barely feel her soul. As if she was just holding onto the threads that kept her from falling apart. She was scared, and--and really hurt. I want to save her."

Yusei wanted to save her too, but it seemed with what had happened in Satellite, he may not be able to.

"Wait, back up a second. What's the Arcadia Movement, anyway?" Leo asked. "I've heard it bein' thrown around here and there, but I don't actually know who they are or what they do. They have Sylvia captive, right? Yusei's friend?"

"And Akiza's part of it too," Luna informed her brother. "Though... does she count as a captive as well?"

"The Arcadia Movement isn't pretty," Tanner explained. "You don't hear good things about it. Rumor has it they're collecting psychic duelists and taking on all sorts of mysterious experiments."

"Psychic duelists...?" Leo muttered.

"Right. There're duelists out there with special abilities," Yanagi took over. "Rare cases, they are, but they're often hated for their abilities because of the power they wield."

"Why's Akiza there too?" Luna asked Tanner. "I mean, I know she's a psychic duelist, but..."

"Well, she must have her reasons," Tanner said, almost dismissively. "It probably isn't our business, to be honest."

There was a brief pause in the conversation before Leo jumped right back in with the suggestion. "Let's go break Akiza and Sylvia out!"

"Are you nuts?!" Tanner exclaimed.

"Hear me out!" Leo exclaimed, jumping out of his seat on the couch and expressing with his hands a little too much. "Yusei's too busy doing things in the Satellite, and if we succeed, we get two Signers to join our side! Plus, you said it yourself, Tanner, it's been too long anyway! And, maybe we don't even have to literally 'break' them out! If the Arcadia Movement hears about the Dark Signers, I'm sure that they'll cooperate. It's only rumors, right? We can steal Sylvia back right under their noses!"

"I don't think that'll work, Leo," Luna sighed. "They're psychic, remember?"

"Err... we can figure it out as we go!" he suggested with an embarrassed giggle.

"No, we should plan it out now," Luna argued. "If we're going to do something so dangerous and reckless, at the very least let it be planned out."

Yanagi and Tanner didn't seem to keen on the idea until Tanner seemed to remember something, and Luna turned her attention to him. "Actually, didn't Yusei say something about a certain police officer being rather fond of Sylvia? If we got Sector Security on our side, maybe... it's not an impossible plan."

Luna and Leo's eyes shot wide as saucers, one shocked and the other vibrating with excitement like an old telephone. "We can get the police in on this?!"

It shouldn't have come to surprise Luna when they both said that together. Strange as it was, if they could get actual authority figures on their side, then Luna had a lot more confidence in getting Sylvia and Akiza back.

"But how do we even get in contact with--well, with both of them? Sector Security and the Arcadia Movement?"

"I can check Blister's data for that," Tanner said easily, opening up the computer he'd had packed earlier. "He's a master at gathering information and knowing the right people."

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Akiza couldn't display the same amount of power as she had before. Not since Sylvia was captured, since she promised her friendship, wished the best for her every night.

But she did the best she could anyway, and ended up even more exhausted for it. Still, she had on her mask and expertly kept her eyes level, even as Sayer walked up to her when she exited the training room designated specifically for her.

"What's the matter?" Sayer asked her, searching for her eyes. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No."

"Tell me what's bothering you," he further badgered. "We are friends, after all. There is no need to hide anything from me."

"Nothing is bothering me," Akiza answered, neutral, near-mechanical.

Sayer tried a different approach. "Akiza, psychic duelists like us are social outcasts. Though we didn't want these powers, we were born with them. And due to these powers, our friends, parents, and society discriminate against us. You were always alone."

I was, before I met Sylvia, Akiza reminded herself.

She remembered distinctly what Sayer obviously wanted her to remember. The glares of the students as she passed by in the halls after mistakenly losing control. The fear in her parents' eyes when they saw a monster entering their home.

She remembered everything. But Sylvia wasn't a psychic duelist. Sylvia was hurt over and over again by Akiza, and she only clung to her more, drawn in by some unseen magnetic force that Akiza hadn't been able to understand. Still doesn't understand, but she heard Sylvia muttering to herself in her room, telling Akiza "I'll be okay. Not now, maybe not even anytime soon, but... but--but I'll be okay--I think--a-and you'll meet Yusei, too, and--and I know he'll accept you for who you are, because--because he accepted me--me, a useless little--well, me--and if he'll accept me, he'll accept you, too. And--and I know it's hard--it's so scary here, it really is--and I tried, I tried to lie, but I just can't wear masks the way you can, I can't protect myself the way you can--but I'll try, and--and maybe... maybe we can be friends again, in person, instead of in here, with--with who knows how much distance between us--"

And Akiza heard her voice break as she tried to keep reassuring herself or her imaginary version of Akiza, that it would all be okay, that she was scared but it wouldn't last, and that she was weak but she could grow strong, that "I'm not a psychic duelist and I get that you blame yourself for hurting me but it happens, some on bigger scales than others, and I don't want you to lose friends over something you just can't control."

And there was something about that overwhelming kindness and genuine care that steeled Akiza's resolve to stay hidden, to strike at the weakest moment. Right now, it was too dangerous. Sylvia could be used against her, as could Sylvia's friends.

Sayer seemed to remember that, too. "Sylvia didn't cooperate with me, you know. She didn't have the same power as us in the end and lashed out in jealousy. But I knew better. You're safe now, okay? I promise. I created this place--the Arcadia Movement--to create a home for people like you, you know? For people like us."

Sylvia's scared face flashed in front of Akiza's eyes. How she was so unwillingly transparent in her fear of Sayer as he passed in the hallways, stiffened at the mention of his name, tugged uncomfortably at her uniform's clothing in a way she hadn't until she'd "woken up."

He's lying.

"I understand you."

He doesn't.

"Only I can stop the anger within you."

No, he can't.

But Akiza had to answer, so she did. "I know." She stepped away from him, through him, to the hall he was guarding from her. It wasn't Sylvia's hall. She just wanted to get to the window.

"You believe in Sylvia that much, do you?"

Akiza halted in her tracks. No, don't react! You shouldn't have reacted!

"I'm the one who rescued you, you know. I had rescued her, too. But she was too stubborn to take my kindness for what it was, and she revolted. But you don't have to follow in her footsteps. I gave you a home when you had nowhere to go. Don't forget you owe me a debt of gratitude."

He was trying to rile her up, Akiza realized. He needed her anger to get the results he wanted. And this time, he knew exactly which buttons to push. To get to her heart, he had to tackle the bond she'd dared to make.

Her anger would soon be redirected at him, but she couldn't dare risk it. Not while Sylvia was in such an unstable state. So she simply nodded stiffly--or did she even nod at all?--and walked away.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Yusei had awoken from a nightmare of his duel with Ccapac Apu and Kalin--Kalin, whom he'd thought dead for three years--to the pleading voice of Sylvia, begging him to wake up.

When he did, he'd shot upright in bed, her name on the tip of his tongue before it quickly died out as he registered where he was, and the pain burning in his abdomen.

"You awake, Yusei?"

A familiar voice. The voice of the woman who raised him. Yusei turned toward the woman as she pulled apart the white curtains hiding him from view of the rest of the House's infirmary.

"M-Martha? I..."

"You were hurt," Martha said, resting her hands on her hips, "so Crow brought you here."

"Crow did?"

His engine had failed him due to the abuse it suffered in the Turbo Duel against Kalin, Yusei recalled. His mark was burning, everything went wrong, and the Earthbound Giant was reaching for him, its hand the size of the House itself and darker than the night.

"Kalin and I were dueling, and..."

"The doctor said it was a miracle that you only had a few wounds," Martha chided him.

Yusei turned to look away from Martha, ashamed, when his gaze passed over the window by his bed, giving him a clear view of his Runner--beaten-up, but not broken--as children played with it out in a calm, daylit field.

"Rally and the others pushed it all the way here," she went on.

"Rally did?"

"They all came down with a cold," she added, almost smug with the grin she gave him, "so make sure to thank them all later. Crow left real quick after you were treated. Honestly, you kids are so ungrateful. Once you learn how to talk, you push aside the people who raised you so that you can focus on building those strange machines of yours. And then you leave and go to dangerous places. I'm shocked speechless." With a shake of her head, Yusei's mother turned and walked back to the cupboard she'd been working at, cutting some apples from a nearby plate.

Despite being speechless, she'd had quite a few words to say to Yusei, and she wasn't quite done yet.

As she wrapped her fingers around the knife handle, she turned to him. "So what's the story this time?"

'This time,' she said, as though implying that Yusei had done this more than once. He'd gotten injured often as a kid, but not this bad. Never this bad.

Still, he deserved this. It's what he got for worrying his mother, after all.

"I was investigating why people from Satellite were vanishing," he answered. "It's related to the first Ener-D machine hidden in the center of Satellite."

"That old thing?" Martha asked, grabbing an apple from the plate and moving it to her second one. "But that area is dangerous. Surely you can't handle it all by yourself."

"I don't know," Yusei admitted.

"That's not like you," his mother pointed out. "If you can't handle it alone, then why would you try and do it anyway? Jack and Crow were raised as your brothers. They can help you. Why won't you ask them for help?"

Yusei couldn't answer her questions, because he didn't have one. In hindsight, it was rather foolish, wasn't it? He'd worried his friends, nearly died, and quite frankly got nearly nothing out of it other than... pain. And lots of it.

"When you lived here, you were honest with your feelings and believed in your friends," Martha went on, knowing he wouldn't answer her. "There are times when a man has to do impossible missions on his own, but no matter what that task may be, your friends will help you as long as you believe in what you're doing."

Believe. Sylvia believed in him. Rally, Tank, Nervin, and Blitz believed in him. Leo and Luna believed, Crow believed, Tanner, Yanagi and even Blister believed.

His friends, who had built his Runner, grown up with him, learned to love with him, and taught him to love in return, all believed in him.

But Yusei was hesitating.

"Here," Martha said, handing Yusei a plate of cut apples. "Eat. It's easy on the stomach and not too much to swallow at once. Make sure you chew thoroughly, because your injuries may protest if you don't."

"Martha, thank you."

"Listen, if you dare try to leave before your wounds heal I will personally drag you back to this house and pummel you!" That was the final warning, Yusei knew, and he'd heed it carefully.

He smiled at his mother and cast his gaze at the mark on his arm. My friends, huh...

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Trudge held the communication device close to his ear, a hand on one of the handles to his Runner just in case things went sour. The operation was highly delicate, he'd heard, and as much as he hated to admit it, the girl they had trapped in there was someone he was indebted to.

So he listened as some kid rattled off a nonsense story about Signers and Dark Signers and taking over the city or the world or some shit, gauging the reactions of the person they spoke to. Supposedly, this man was in charge of the entire Arcadia Movement.

When Trudge had received the call, he was about to deny them right then and there. But after the girl's name was mentioned--Sylvia, they'd said--Trudge needed time to think on it. In the end, he'd wound up heading to Goodwin to ask permission to lead the forces on this mission. It was meant to be completely undercover, but should things go sour, Trudge would be the backup.

"And that's why we want Akiza and Sylvia to help us. They're both Signers, and they have the power to save everyone!" the boy finally finished. "And since they both have the mark, they can also save Yusei!"

Yusei?! Again with that damned brat. Still, for the mission's sake, Trudge had to keep his temper under control.

"Have you received any contact from Yusei?" the man in charge asked.

"Not yet," came the gruff voice of Tanner, the man who'd contacted him about this in the first place. In a sense, did that make Tanner his current client? Eh, details.

"Very well. Then we will do everything we can to help you," he declared.

Trudge didn't trust this one bit. Thankfully they had him muted on their side--he'd made sure of that--so he could open contact lines and report what was happening.

"The man in charge agreed to assist," he told them. "Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, especially from up top. I don't trust his easy agreement just yet, not with all this shady business going around."

"Understood, sir."

"Keep an especially vigil eye out for the highest floors. If there's a heavily-guarded door, it may be one of the targets we're looking for."

"Yessir."

Trudge opened a separate channel for those who were stationed on the ground. "Keep an eye out for any hidden entrances or garages. Try and find a white-colored Duel Runner. Should have colorful decals on it. It belongs to the target."

"Roger."

"The Arcadia Movement does research on psychic duels," his bug kept talking, "but we're facing trouble because people spread false rumors about us. If we can help you, then we'll gladly do it!"

The kids cheered, but Trudge trusted that even less.

"They may be making their move. When I give the signal, we infiltrate. Remember, people, stealth is key!"

"Yessir!"

"Oh yeah, I'll go bring the girls. Please, wait right here. I'll return soon. If you'll excuse me..."

Footsteps echoed from the transmission and Trudge didn't quite hear the moment the man left the room, but when they started talking, he knew they had to be alone now.

"How's that! We can see Akiza and Sylvia now!" the boy exclaimed.

"I'm surprised it went so quickly and smoothly!" the old man added.

"It is surprising, but we shouldn't let our guard down," Tanner said.

"Aw, c'mon! It's going great! With Akiza and Sylvia's help, we can fight the Dark Signers!" the boy exclaimed. "Anyway, how about that meal? I'm starving!"

"Leo, sit and be patient," his sister scolded.

The boy yawned. Trudge's attention snapped at that.

"I'm suddenly real sleepy..." he complained.

"Shit," Trudge cursed, though it was too early to do anything yet. He'd been so full of energy before. Why was he suddenly so tired?

"Me too..." his sister replied.

And suddenly the kid was out like a light. He could hear the snoring coming in. Trudge couldn't risk opening up a communication line with Tanner--who would undoubtedly fall asleep soon too--and instead focused on his men.

"Men, move out. They've used laughing gas on the guests. They don't intend to comply."

"10-4!"

Trudge, as much as he hated it, had to stay hidden on the roof of the building he was stationed on, sheltered from view by a neighboring skyscraper on his rumbling vehicle. If they weren't gonna play nice, neither was he.

It wasn't long before he heard the old man and Tanner's snores through the receivers. But there was something interesting he caught through his little bug.

"Little Luna... I've always wanted to make you a part of my Movement. You would match quite nicely with Sylvia, after all."

So the bastard did have her, that son of a bitch.

The line didn't cut out--hidden inside Tanner's suit, thank God that man at least had a brain on him--but Trudge could no longer hear them or what they were planning aside from a few muffled orders here and there.

"Go check on my protege."

"Make sure her guards are doing their jobs."

"Check up on Akiza."

"Bring Luna to the observation room."

"I'll take care of Leo."

"Do whatever with the two men. Lock them in the basement for all I care."

So he wasn't going to get anything useful out of Tanner's bug anymore. He kept it on, just in case someone passed by or something happened, but now seemed like the best time for him to move.

Trudge exited using the elevator and left his vehicle behind, skirting around to a hidden rear entrance meant for storage and garbage disposal, where a few of his men had discovered a small, less-guarded infiltration point.

One of them had prepared a disguise, a replica of the Arcadia Movement uniforms in... random colors, frankly, because they didn't know how the ranking system worked here. Sylvia's uniform was dark teal with her accents a somewhat dark maroon or pink-ish color, but he'd seen her friends who wore black versions of the same uniform, so it was hard to tell, really. In particular, The officer's uniform was white with a dark teal signature down the center. He'd had to practically change in the bushes, but the uniform wasn't a bad fit.

The officers reconfirmed some information and handed the infiltrator a hacked card key to get him through as many floors as possible. They'd even constructed a Psychic deck for him to work with just in case, though the man took his security deck with him as well.

And thankfully, this man was incredible with memorizing locations based on maps that he'd only need to study for, quite frankly, only a half-hour, which was incredible considering the size of the place. Trudge could study the map for hours at a time and still not find where anything was. It was why he relied on his Duel Runner.

"Last thing," Trudge told the man before he went in, target in mind. "Take a bug with you. I'll use it to continue recording any information. Our current bug is locked in their basement."

The officer nodded and pinned the bug to the inside of their uniform, hidden from view. "Understood, sir."

This man was an absolute gem with acting like he belonged. Thank god he was on this mission and not some rookie who couldn't shuffle his deck right.

Okay, that wasn't fair. Most rookies were actually pretty good and learned quickly. But still, it felt good to be working with someone reputable in the task force.

Especially since their target was not only valuable to Goodwin as a Signer, but regrettably, was someone to whom he probably owed his life.

Once the man was inside the building, the officers scattered, including Trudge, who made himself scarce by returning to the building where he'd left his Runner behind. He needed to get back to his equipment fast. As much as he'd have liked to be the one rescuing Sylvia, his pride could wait when lives were at stake.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Something was stirring. I could feel it. Something dark was stirring, and there was suddenly activity in the lower floors of the building. I heard voices. Well, not heard, but felt, more like. It was a strange kind of thing.

That day, when it all happened, I'd been training again. But Sayer ordered me to be locked in my room early, and I took that opportunity for a break as it had come. I was worried, of course, but there in my little room on the top floors of the building, I was remotely safe from the training, and I allowed myself to slip away into the Spirit World again.

That's where I'd felt the stir. Voices echoed in my mind and all around me, and suddenly my connection to Luna was so much closer than I'd ever felt it before.

I tried to reach out to her. "Luna?" I called.

She didn't hear me. That was the conclusion I'd come to when I heard Sayer's voice echo through the Spirit World.

"He was a worthless piece of garbage. What a waste of my time."

A mechanical monster appeared in front of me, dragon-like in its appearance and searching around, confused, as if this was the first time it had ever been here.

We were in a forest. It's unsurprising that the spirit was surprised to be here.

I noticed dents in its armor, having just recently come out of a battle, and I cautiously approached it, worrying. "Are... Are you okay?" I asked it.

The dragon glanced down at me, ruby eyes shimmering with... something. A feeling, for sure, but it was hard to tell what it felt, because its entire body was mechanical and it couldn't emote.

It bent down onto all fours and curled its tail around its feet, whimpering softly. I took that to mean that something unpleasant happened, so I approached it, resting a hand on its cold, iron-plated golden head.

"Did you lose just now?" I asked, because that seemed like the only thing that was right. The dragon's silence was answer enough as it dipped its head lower to the ground.

I didn't know who the dragon belonged to, or why it was here, but it was clearly sad and hurt. But because I didn't know who or what the dragon was--or what its connection was to, frankly, anything, all I could do was sit and offer it comfort, telling it that everything would be okay.

It never spoke. It never breathed. But the anxious whirring in the joints between its neck pieces, its limbs, and every part of it that moved, as well as the overheating of its anxious engine, slowly calmed and cooled to a slow and gentle buzz, and I hoped that meant that I was at least helping a little bit.

I'd later come to learn that the dragon was called Power Tool Dragon, and that he'd been sent into the Spirit World after Leo failed a test Sayer had set up for him. The reason for his anxiety, looking back, must've been his failure to protect Leo.

===

(Huh. Didn't expect this to happen. It got dark pretty quick, but I'm glad I ended it on a happier note, sorta. Or, at the very least, a calmer one. In which Sylvia gives the robo-dragon moral support from her little jail cell.

She'll be out soon, hopefully. I'd been imagining this moment would come for SO long.)