Soul of the Dragon

Chapter 12: Black Roses

"This is the place, Yusei." Blister directed Yusei to yet another secluded garage. He wheeled in his runner backward. Lise leisurely walked inside. "You'll be safe here until the Fortune Cup. Not quite five stars, but it's got all the creature comforts you would expect from this part of town: cockroaches, mice, stray cat..."

"Thanks...I think..."

Lise plopped onto the couch. "It's not that bad."

"I decorated the place myself," Blister joked. Nobody laughed. "Er...get some rest. You still haven't recovered from that fall you took. And if you plan on dueling and winning the Fortune Cup, you're gonna need a clear head.

Yusei lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I'll rest, Blister, when our friends are safe."

Lise pulled her knees up to her face. "I hear ya, but you're no good to anybody if you don't have all your strength. So stop being a stubborn mule and go to bed."

/

Next morning dawned bright and early for everybody except one person.

"He's gone! No! No! No! No! No! No! NO!" Leo shouted, searching in highly unlikely hiding places.

Luna sleepily walked downstairs. "Tooth fairy forget you again?"

"Luna, he took his runner and left!"

"Well, did he leave a note or something?" Luna asked, not as hyped up as Leo.

"No! This is all your fault! You should've been nicer! He was going to teach me to be the best duelist ever and-"

"Will you calm down? Look at these..." Luna raised her upgraded duel disk. Leo's was fixed in the exact same way.

"What did he do to them? Hey, it fits now! So how does it look, Luna?"

"Pretty good. Now I just wish we knew who he was so we could thank him."

"Well, it's his own fault for not telling us his name. I mean he had amnesia. We helped him. If he wanted a thank you he would've stayed."

"I guess so, but why no goodbye? Maybe he wanders the city streets and helps out struggling duelists. Kind of like a knight in shining armor, but with a deck!" Luna let her imagination run wild.

"A knight? Sounds more like a superhero, and his name's some big secret!"

The video chat monitor beeped and Leo checked who is calling them.

A boy with brown hair, glasses, suspenders, a white shirt and a red bow tie to match his reddish brown eyes smiled on screen. "What up, my main man!"

"Dexter, get this! Some guy-"

"Boss, there's no time for that. I got us a lead," Dexter said mysteriously.

"A lead..." Leo put his hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"Duh, the Black Rose!"

"Come on, Dex. The Black Rose is just some urban legend!" Leo scoffed.

"Ya miss me, Dexter?" Luna teased from behind Leo.

"Uh, no. Listen, the Black Rose is no legend. She's the most amazing duelist ever! Her cards come alive! I know where she is, and I rebuilt my deck to take her on!" Dexter explained, fanning out his cards so Leo could see.

"So, where is she, Dexter?'

"I was scanning some blogs earlier this morning, and check this out! There's a rumor going around saying she's gonna pop up at the street duels today!"

Leo brandished his duel disk with newfound pride. "Then let's go!"

"Leo, how come your duel disk isn't falling off anymore?" Dexter adjusted his glasses inquisitively.