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

Chapter 16: All for the Movement

I wasn't supposed to win that duel. She should've countered me. I shouldn't have won that duel. It was supposed to just be simple. I lose, I'm locked away, and Akiza moves on to the final round with Yusei with seeds of doubt about Sayer planted in her mind. But... no. I won and stole her position.

I won, and things turned out even worse than they should have.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o

Because of the rain, a recess was called on the duels, with the potential of even having them postponed until the next day. However, it dissipated before long, and staff were hard at work drying the road artificially to fit the Turbo Duel in.

Right... The final duel was decided to be a Turbo Duel. Yusei versus Sylvia.

Yusei absentmindedly fiddled with some of the inner workings of his Runner, checking everything, absolutely everything, to make sure it was in working order. The CPU was a check, the engines were a check, the cooling fluid tank was about half-full, which was more than plenty for just one more duel, and...

His fingers ran over the stainless steel chain connected to the wheels; the one Sylvia had provided him with because his old one was too quick to rust. Something about the cold chains made him almost regret having to go through with this. The way she'd looked during that duel, it was as though she'd completely lost her mind. She just... wasn't herself. He'd only known her for about a month, but he just knew. That wasn't like her.

In fact, that was something he'd have expected more from Akiza. Especially the powers... Sylvia was not in her right mind at all, and those powers... Were they hers? Did she have the same kind of power as Akiza did?

She was saying how she was afraid, and how she'd be locked away once that duel was over. At least, that's as much as he could glean through the howling wind and deafening attacks. He couldn't see Sylvia's face, having approached her from behind, so he couldn't know for sure if she actually even said that or not, nor what her facial expression was, but he could without a doubt see the tear streaks staining her cheeks when he caught her after she collapsed. She was too weak to say too much, but the pain was there, and the message was clear.

This had been burdening her since she came around to him, didn't it?

"We're cursed together... I didn't want to lose you..."

That pretty much confirmed her newfound bond with Akiza. Originally, he had gotten a bad feeling about her, and almost expected to have to face off against her in the final round. Her powers would have been difficult to fight against, but he was confident he could save her and find the real Akiza hidden somewhere in her Black Rose charade. But it seemed Sylvia had beaten him to it, simply by being compassionate and, at the same time, just plain scared.

Her anxiety had gotten worse since he was last with her. He had a strange feeling about the man--the apparent "medic" who took her away, too. He took both Akiza and Sylvia away, and from what he remembered, because of Sylvia's new attachment to Akiza and her strange uniform, it became clear that she'd forgotten him entirely in favor of... well, wherever Akiza came from.

There were also the two boys that were usually seen at her side that he had to take into account as well. They wore matching uniforms like she did, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that they were part of that same organization.

Yes, an organization. That felt like an apt description until he had a better name for it.

Yusei's mind was muddled with thoughts as he continued tinkering with his Runner, double- and triple-checking everything to make sure it was in perfect, working order. Because now, he thought, would be the final match. Even if it was friend against friend, something told him, something deep in his heart, that this would not be an easy match.