Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rainbow Stardust (OLD)

Chapter 4: Proving Myself

When we had come back with the Runners, even Yusei looked incredibly proud of me. Everyone was cheering me on, and Rally looked especially pleased to see I'd returned with both the Runners.

Lenny apologized for getting in our way, promising to duel me again someday, (returned my cards, which I'd nearly forgotten about,) and I... well, I honestly nearly collapsed from all of that adrenaline. As soon as I'd given Yusei back his Runner, I suddenly felt like an entirely different person. Shy, withdrawn, and quiet again.

Did I really do all those things while riding a freaking motorcycle?!

We still had a few hours before it all went down, and when Lenny and his goons left, Yusei turned to me with a serious expression.

"Do you seriously plan to go with me down the pipeline tonight?" he asked.

I knew this was coming. I'd known in the middle of the duel that Yusei and the others could hear what I was saying while they tracked how it all went down through his paired monitor. I slowly walked over to my own Runner, setting up and running my CPU's diagnostic program.

After a moment of tense silence, I nodded. "I do. And I think I can make it with you."

Our voices were the only things echoing in the eerie stillness of the underground subway station. Yusei spoke up after another pause. "You've shown to me today that you're a capable Turbo Duelist, and that you know how to keep up with everything. But we don't know what your Runner is capable of, and we won't be able to tune it up in time. If it isn't ready now, you're going to have to stay behind and join me next month."

I fully agreed with Yusei on that front. There wasn't a lot I could use from Satellite, especially without Yusei's help. So I prayed that my Runner's diagnostic test went well.

It sort of did. The engine was perfect, according to Yusei, and the acceleration chip was exactly the same model as what Rally gave Yusei.

That must've been why it was so familiar to me.

Yusei read over the results of my diagnostic test. "The power output could use a bit of work," he told me. "Most of the stuff here is top-notch, though."

Rally pumped his fists. "She really does have to be a city girl, doesn't she?" he asked excitedly. "Otherwise, how could you have gotten such high-quality stuff?"

I tried as hard as I could again, but... I just couldn't remember. Something about the apparent quality of my Runner and Duel Disk just felt wrong to me. Like it was mine, but... it wasn't?

Yusei was saying something about how it wouldn't be hard to reroute the engines to optimize the power output, but I excused myself for just a moment. I definitely wanted to leave Satellite with Yusei; I wouldn't know what to do without him. However, there was something I needed to find.

Find? Find what?

I ran up the stairs to the surface, looking around for any familiar land. Night was falling, and already I knew I couldn't stay out here for long. But I didn't have anything too valuable on me, so maybe it was alright.

I turned to the right, looking around at the broken street and buildings. Keep going. Just a little further up. I didn't know exactly what this feeling was that I was following, but I jogged ahead, all the way until the road turned to the left. Amid some garbage in the side of the road, I found a few familiar-looking knee and elbow pads, as well as a black long-sleeved shirt someone threw out and some dark blue leather gloves.

Were these mine too? Why were they there? How did I know they'd be there?

I couldn't answer the questions, so I simply took what I needed and ran back home. I was gone for maybe fifteen minutes, but Yusei was already nearly done with my Runner somehow.