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

Chapter 20: At This Point, I'm Pretty Sure We All Now Have PTSD

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?"