Turn 10: Home Away From Home
“So you have evidence that Yusei has been harboring the alien, correct?” Callos asked over the phone.
“…Yes,” Crow answered reluctantly.
“And evidence that the missing officer had, indeed, been in the apartment?”
“…Yes.”
“Then you know what you have to do.”
“You can’t possibly—”
“Do you wish to be seen as a failure?”
Crow remained silent.
“My orders are absolute. If you’re not willing to take action, I’ll have no problem firing you and finding someone else who will.”
A click sounded the end of the conversation.
Crow pulled the phone away from his ear as the officers located several other imprints throughout the apartment.
“It can’t be…” he thought. “Now I have to choose between my friend and my job?”
He scoffed.
“That answer’s simple. I just wish it didn’t actually come to this.”
He knew it all along. He knew the “alien” was with Yusei the entire time, ever since the search for the crown in the sea. Crow hoped whatever was going on would be resolved before his job would end up being on the line before having to go after Yusei. His boss was being oddly overzealous about it, though. Sure, harboring an unknown alien is punishable, but Callos’s attitude was simply… a bit over the top.
It was suspicious, to say the least.
In any event, his next choice was clear. Crow turned towards the door.
“Crow, where are you going?” Trudge asked. “Shouldn’t you be helping us finish things here?”
“No,” Crow replied. “I’ve got something else to take care of.”
“It’s not about Yusei, is it? Look, I know he’s a good friend and all but we can’t abandon our duties as Sector Security. Crow!”
Crow was silent as he left the building.
“Do I really have to stay inside this box? It’s kinda cramped in here,” Twilight complained.
“Sorry, Twilight. But it’s the best I could do on such short notice. We’ll be there soon,” Yusei responded, his Duel Runner pulling a wheeled cart with its closed but with small openings for air.
“What’s the big rush anyway?”
A ringtone was heard. Yusei pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What is it?”
“Yusei,” the voice on the other line said.
“Blister?”
“I need you to meet up with me right now.”
“At Martha’s place?”
“No. Somewhere else. You’ll need to bring it, too. You don’t have much time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now, you need to leave. Sector Security is on its way and they know you have the alien.”
“What?!”
“That’s why I said you don’t have much time.”
“But if not Martha’s place, then where?”
“Your old hideout.”
“I’m sure Blister can clear this up for us when we meet up with him,” Yusei stated.
“Who’s Blister?” Twilight asked, her voice slightly muffled by the cart she was in.
“A friend who helped me a while back. According to him, Sector Security’s onto us.”
“How would he even know?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out. My best guess, right now, is that he hacked into their database. Though, I’m not sure why he would do something like that in the first place. He must have a good reason.”
Twilight groaned. “Well, the sooner we get there, the better. I’m not sure how much longer I can take being cooped up in this cart.”
“You won’t have to wait much longer.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight could feel the speed of the cart decreasing until it came to a halt. She then saw the ceiling of the cart open.
“It’s okay to come out,” Yusei stated.
Twilight stood up out of the cart and stretched her legs. “Where are we?” she asked, gazing around.
She saw that he had stopped on railroad tracks inside an underground tunnel. She then turned her head to see Yusei walking towards a desk and shelves full of metal parts.
“This was my old home,” Yusei answered. “It’s where some old friends and I used to stay, here in the Satellite. That is… before it was united with New Domino City.”
Twilight hopped onto the tracks. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for a while.”
“That’s because they’ve all moved into the city.” Yusei walked around, inspecting the area.
“Does anyone else know about this place? Besides your friends, I mean.”
“Not very many.”
Twilight glanced around the area as she approached Yusei. She wasn’t sure how one could live under such conditions. Although, she couldn’t help but wonder how Rarity would’ve reacted. Her unicorn friend would probably have gone insane from all the dust.
“So this is the alien I’ve heard rumors about,” a male voice said. Yusei and Twilight turned their heads in the direction of the speaker.
“Blister,” Yusei responded.
“Long time no see, Yusei,” Blister replied. “I figured you had kept the alien at your place, but I never imagined it would be a talking purple horse with a horn and wings.”
“That’s ‘pony’ to you,” Twilight said.
“Wouldn’t be the word I’d use. Either way, you don’t exactly look dangerous. Except for maybe that horn.”
Twilight could only stare at Blister with an expression that portrayed a lack of amusement.
“Sheesh, lighten up,” Blister said.
“So, Blister. What exactly is going on? How’d you know Sector Security was coming after me? And why the rush?” Yusei asked.
“I’m sure you figured that part out already. I hacked into their system.”
“But why?”
“Crow spent the night at Martha’s place. Just before he left, his boss must’ve called him. He seemed awfully pressured by whatever he was told. I thought that something was up, so I did a little digging. I found out that the warrant to search your apartment was signed earlier today based off some very unconvincing evidence.”
“Unconvincing?” Twilight replied.
“Most other judges wouldn’t have signed the warrant so soon, considering it hasn’t been that long since this…”
“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle,” she corrected.
“Some name. Anyway, it hasn’t been long since… Twilight… had appeared. The warrant being signed this quickly just makes it seem fishy to me. That’s why I called you over here. Because they were coming to get you. And seeing as how you did have Twilight with you the whole time, they would’ve arrested you on the spot. They also seem to think you’ve abducted a Sector Security officer.”
“What?” Yusei responded. “Wait, they can’t mean…”
The man collapsed onto the floor.
Akiza breathed a sigh of relief as Yusei approached her side.
“Good job, Akiza,” he congratulated.
“Thanks, Yusei,” she replied. The two then looked towards the man wearing the Sector Security uniform… only to see that he was no longer in sight.
“What?!”
“Where’d he go?”
“He just disappeared,” Twilight answered, entering the room.
“Twilight?” Yusei responded.
“I… saw the whole thing. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself. So I guess that’s… the Duel Monsters card game you were talking about before? Anyway… as for that human… after you won—so it looked like—I just saw him vanish into thin air. I thought humans couldn’t use magic!”
“They don’t. Not normal people, anyway,” Yusei answered. “I don’t think he just simply… ‘disappeared’, either.”
“You mean that human that was Akiza’s opponent in Duel Monsters?” Twilight asked. “He literally just vanished without a trace. I’m not sure how anyone could do that without magic.”
“…Magic?” Blister replied, in disbelief.
“Yeah, magic. In Equestria, unicorns and alicorns, like myself, can cast spells with our horns.”
“Sure. Next you’ll be telling me that you’re some kind of princess from a world where there are pegasi that can change the weather and other… ponies… with other outrageous abilities. Although, I can’t really rule out that possibility considering you’re a talking horse.”
Twilight glared at Blister once more.
“But if you hacked into their system, can’t they trace it back to you?” Yusei questioned.
“I already went and covered my tracks after I found out what they were hiding,” Blister answered, holding a flash drive in his hand. “It’ll take them some time before they find out it was me. Remember, I’ve done this before. But here, in case you want to take a look at the data yourself. I think you might some other bits of information that might be important.”
“Right.” Yusei held out his hand beneath Blister’s as the latter dropped the flash drive into his palm.
“In the meantime, you two will have to lay low and crash here for the time being. I'll go ahead and get some supplies to last us the next few days while we figure out how to deal with this mess that you both are in.” Blister put on his helmet and boarded his Duel Runner. “See you in a bit.” He darted towards the tunnel’s exit.
“I don’t like him,” Twilight commented, once Blister was out of earshot.
“You can’t really blame him,” Yusei answered turning on a computer. “It’d be hard for anyone in this world to believe without actual evidence.”
“But you and Akiza believed me.”
“There was no reason not to. You also don’t seem like the kind of individual that would lie.”
“Yeah, I guess so. So what are we supposed to do?”
“Lay low for now.”
“Seriously?”
“We don’t exactly have any other option at the moment. Dealing with Sector Security isn’t that simple. They are a legal force,” Yusei asserted, typing away furiously on the keyboard.
Twilight let out a heavy sigh. “Fair enough. I don’t think I’ve ever been in trouble with the law before…”
“It isn’t something I usually do, myself. Not unless I have to.”
“What do you mean? Have you fought against them before?”
“Yeah, but the circumstances were a bit different that time.”
“How exactly?”
“A long time ago, I was once part of a group called the Enforcers. It was me, Jack, Crow, and our friend and leader, Kalin. An incident caused us to disband.”
“What kind of incident?”
“The Satellite was split up among a bunch of Duel gangs. We did everything in our power to overthrow them. Then Kalin became power-hungry and targeted Sector Security next.”
“He… WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“At the time, Kalin saw Sector Security as another gang that didn’t belong in the Satellite. Crow and Jack left, while I stayed behind. But I couldn’t go on, so I went off on my own as well. That didn’t stop him, though.”
“What happened then?”
“In their last battle, I tried to stop Kalin myself. When he got arrested, he saw me talking to a Sector Security officer. He thought I betrayed when I was actually trying to take the fall for him.”
“Oh…”
“After he became a Dark Signer, he tried to use the power of his Earthbound Immortal to get revenge on me.”
“A Dark Signer? You had to fight against him?”
“Yeah. Dark Signers are people who typically hold powerful grudges and would do anything to get their revenge.”
“Revenge…” Twilight repeated. The word struck a chord. It was something that rang all too familiar to her. “I knew somepony like that, too…”
“Stop picking on my friends, Trixie!” Twilight demanded.
“You and I have some unfinished business,” the blue unicorn replied. She trotted towards the Twilight, wearing a black shroud. Around her neck was a red amulet. “My magic’s gotten better since I was here last. And I’m going to prove it! Me and you. A magic duel. Winner stays, loser leaves Ponyville forever!”
“Forget it! I’d never make a deal like that!”
“Your choice,” Trixie scoffed. Her horn activated, surrounded by a bright red aura that matched her glowing eyes.
Twilight turned towards Spike as she helplessly watched him scream while being squeezed into a ball. Everypony looked on as he was used as a basketball.
“Trixie, put him down! Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Why? Because you humiliated me!” Trixie answered. “After you showed me up with that Ursa Minor, I became a laughingstock! Everywhere I went, I was laughed and ostracized. I even had to take a job on a rock farm just to earn a living! A rock farm!”
“Hey!” Pinkie interjected. “You’re lucky a rock farm would take the likes of you!” In an instant, the pink earth pony felt her muzzle pulled off by a magic arrow and dumped into a trash bin.
“Now I want revenge! And I’ll just keep casting spells ‘til you agree,” Trixie continued.
A red lightning bolt shot from her horn towards her library, the entire tree being lifted up and turned upside down. Twilight watched as her books were being shaken out of her home before turning back towards the blue unicorn.
“Well? What do you say?” Trixie challenged.
Twilight looked once more at her friends.
Two young colts, Snips and Snails, were struggling with their horns melded together.
Applejack was comforting Rarity, who was still recovering from her panic attack from a terrible fashion change.
Pinkie Pie was sobbing from not being able to eat and talk.
Rainbow Dash was flying unbalanced with a larger wing on one side.
Spike was still being bounced around. “Whoooaah! Help… me!” he pleaded.
“Alright, Trixie. Let’s duel!” Twilight accepted.
“Excellent,” Trixie replied as she quickly reversed the damage, save for Pinkie Pie’s muzzle. “If I lose, I won’t set hoof in Ponyville again. But if you lose, you’re the one banished from this one-horse town!”
“I lost the first time, but only because she—Trixie, that is—was using an item called the Alicorn Amulet. It was an item that greatly enhances one’s magic, only it corrupts them as well. Even worse was the fact that only its wearer can remove it,” Twilight stated. “I still wish I had recognized it right away…”
“You said you lost the ‘first time’. What do you mean by that?” Yusei asked.
“When I found out how she won our duel, Zecora—a zebra friend who lives in the Everfree Forest—helped me create an amulet using her doorstop. Then I went back to challenge Trixie to a second duel.”
“A fake amulet? How did you combat Trixie, then, if your magic wasn’t strong enough?”
“Let’s just say I used a different kind of magic. The magic of friendship. With some help from my friends, I was able to convince Trixie that my amulet was more powerful. She took the bait and replaced the Alicorn Amulet around her with mine.”
“Right. I get it now. You must have a strong bond with your friends,” Yusei smiled.
“Definitely. After that, Trixie took some time to think about her actions and what I said then apologized. She’s still somewhat boastful, but definitely not mean-spirited anymore.”
“I see. Just like your first re-encounter with Trixie, my first time meeting up with Kalin after that ended the same way. The power of his Earthbound Immortal shook me to my core, but I eventually gained the strength to face him again. He came around when I told him the truth about what happened that last night before he was arrested.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“But even after Kalin’s arrest, Sector Security was still a problem. Sometime later, Jack decided to steal the Duel Runner I was working on along with my Stardust Dragon.”
“Really? But why?”
“He was bribed. He wanted to become King. Lazar, who was the Vice Director at the time, approached him and offered him a clear shot at it without letting anyone know that he was from the Satellite.”
“Was it considered a bad thing?”
“During that time, it was. The people of New Domino City, then, looked down on us. After Jack left, I worked on a new Duel Runner to pay him back. It eventually came to the point where I was only missing one part. One of my friends, Rally, managed to find the part only because Sector Security left it lying around.”
“So they set a trap?”
“They did. And I ended up facing Officer Trudge.”
“You mean you Dueled him?”
“Exactly. I won and, as per our agreement, he let me get away. Not that he was happy about it. When I actually attempted to escape into New Domino City, he tried to stop me.”
“He sounds… stubborn.”
“Just like our Duel before that, I won and got away. I faced off against Jack only to have our Duel cut short by the Crimson Dragon. At that point, I was arrested by Sector Security and taken to the Facility after they confiscated my Runner and Deck.”
“Facility?”
“It was essentially a prison. Some things happened and I was let out. I was told by a friend I met there to meet Blister, and he helped me retrieve my Duel Runner and Deck.”
“You mean the guy who was just here?” Twilight asked with an annoyed tone.
“Yeah. He helped locate the building where my Runner was stored and I managed to reach it, but not before Trudge tried to stop me again.”
“Seriously…?”
“He was definitely persistent. It was sometime after that when I met Leo and Luna.”
“What about Akiza?”
“I met her a bit later, though she was known as the Black Rose at the time.”
“…Black Rose…?”
“I tune Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight with Level 4 Revival Rose!”
The man scoffed.
3 + 4 = 7
“Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!”
Black Rose Dragon
LV: 7
ATK: 2400
“I can see where she got the name,” Twilight commented. “Anyway, does Trudge still…”
“No, we’re not enemies anymore.”
“Seems like you really know how to make friends, Yusei.”
Yusei smiled. “But even so…”
“Hm? What?”
“That doesn’t change our current circumstances. Even if Trudge and certainly Crow refuse to work against us, that won’t stop Sector Security and those in power. I doubt they’re going to overlook this at all.”
Twilight sighed. “I guess not. And I suppose we’ll have to stay here for the time being?”
“For now, until we figure out what to do next.”
“What can we do?”
“I don’t know yet. This isn’t like fighting an evil force. We’re dealing with a legal power. This won’t be an easy battle. In fact, there’s a high probability that we will end up losing.”
“Wh… what…?” Twilight grew wide-eyed.
“I might’ve broken the law before, but not one like this. I’m pretty sure what might happen to me, if I get caught, would make the Facility look like a juvenile hall. You, on the other hand, will probably be tested on by scientists. Even if you use magic to escape, they’ll eventually find a way to capture you. You might even die.”
Twilight shrank in her place as her heart sank.
“However… I’m not going to give up hope,” Yusei stated, ceasing his typing. “We need to stay strong until the very end.”
Twilight was silent for a moment. “How can you be so confident?”
“Because if we give up, we’ve already lost. And neither of us can afford that. After all, we both have friends to save. If we can’t get through this, we won’t be able to help them.”
Twilight sat as Yusei’s words sank into her mind. “I suppose you’re right… I suddenly feel a bit overwhelmed by what we’re dealing with. I mean… even if we manage to deal with Sector Security, there’s still the problem of those humans that invaded Equestria and finding and rescuing our friends. What are we supposed to do?”
“Take it one step at a time.”
“'Take it one step at a time'?”
“Exactly. For now, we just need to keep a low profile until we can figure out what’s going in Sector Security.”
“What do you mean?”
“From the data Blister’s recovered, there appear to be some under-the-table actions taken by a couple of the higher-ups.”
“What exactly?”
“Not sure just yet. But from the looks of things, there might be signs of corruption. It’s going to be a while before I can figure out what it all means.”
“All right,” Twilight yawned.
“There’s a few beds behind the curtains if you want to take a nap,” Yusei said, turning back towards the computer screen.
“Yeah… I suppose I’ll do that.” Twilight walked through the curtains. “Hey, Yusei?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for helping me.”
“Of course. Like I said before, you’re my friend now, too.”
Twilight smiled as she glanced around the area once again. “I guess… it’s not too bad once you get used to it… It does have a bit of a home-like feel,” she thought to herself, turning towards Yusei with a concerned look. “I feel like I’m just being dragged around, not able to do anything. I wish I could do something to help.”
The door to the Sector Security headquarters swung open.
“Lieutenant, we need to talk,” Crow said, standing in the doorway.
“There is nothing to talk about,” Callos immediately replied. He stood in front of a woman in a judge’s uniform. “Your orders were clear.”
“Officer Trudge is currently gathering evidence for you. Why do you need me? Don’t you think that I should not be involved in this case because I’m his friend? You can’t expect me to betray him.”
“It is because you are Yusei’s friend that I want you on this case. You know him. Or does your reputation in the eyes of those orphans in the Satellite not mean anything to you?”
“They do matter. But… if this how things are going to be, I’ll find another way to make them proud of me. Even they are compassionate and smart enough to understand that I’d never turn my back on my friends!”
Callos glared intently at Crow. After a momentary silence, he and the judge quickly glanced at one another.
“Very well. I’ll consider withdrawing you from this case.”
“What…?”
“Is there a problem? That is what you want, isn’t it?”
Crow stared at Callos. It was too easy. “…Yeah. It is.”
“I’ll make my decision tomorrow after your regularly scheduled medical exam. In the meantime, you are not to contact the suspect directly.” The lieutenant and judge turned away and walked towards the interior.
Crow stood confused as the two disappeared from sight. “I don’t like this,” he thought. “Why not just make the decision now and get it over with? Does he really think he can pit me against Yusei?”
The two entered the dark room.
“So much for that,” the judge spoke.
“Not exactly, Celena,” Callos replied.
“Without that one in check, we’ll have three Signers to contend with. I thought his dreams of making those children proud would keep him in line.”
“As did I, but I suppose he was pushed over the edge. Relieving him from Sector Security completely simply wouldn’t get rid of him. Rather, it would make him return to Yusei’s side.”
“Any ideas?” Celena asked.
Callos chuckled. “Oh, I do. It’s time we prepared that formula.”
“You mean…”
“Indeed… and I know the perfect test subject.”
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I eagerly await the oncoming shitstorm.
Also, if what Twilight said near the end means she'll acquire a deck, it'd be nice if it was something unexpected. Wolfgang gave her the spellcaster structure deck in his Dueling is Magic trilogy, so give her something different if she's gonna duel.
I think Crow's going to get dragged into a duel. But not just any duel.