When Hikaru arrived at the scene, the sky was thick with black smoke, and the heavy stench of gunpowder made him want to cough.
He saw countless ragged people wearing Duel Disks, gripping iron rods and pipes, locked in a desperate struggle with the Security forces.
Hikaru stood still, silently observing from a distance.
A riot?
Or… was Shinji trying to rescue one of the Resistance's key members?
He thought for a moment. If that was the case, it would be better not to get involved.
He parked his D-Wheel at the side of the road, and among the chaos, he spotted Crow Hogan. It looked like Crow had followed Shinji here.
Not far away, Shinji Weber stood with his arm raised, shouting passionately:
"Brothers! Now's our chance!
Raise your Duel Disks and show those upper-class pigs our courage!"
"YEAHHHH!!"
The Resistance members roared in response, charging toward the detention center in a furious wave.
Crow watched, face twisted with pain, but his reason kept him from intervening.
At this point, it didn't matter that the prison also held real criminals.
What mattered was rescuing their friends trapped inside.
Seeing Crow remain silent, Shinji didn't thank him, he simply picked up a loudspeaker and continued to rally the crowd. The Dark Signer mark on his left hand glowed faintly, pulsing with energy.
BOOM!
Before he could say another word, another explosion ripped through the detention center.
"Shinji! That's enough! Stop using explosives, you'll hurt your own people!"
"No, no! That wasn't me! I never planted any bombs!"
Even Shinji froze in disbelief.
CRASH!
A man in a Security uniform was thrown out of the wreckage,
and right after him emerged a white-haired man with a twisted grin, laughing wildly as he stepped through the smoke and fire.
"Mr. Kalin!"
Seeing him, Shinji's expression lit up with relief and excitement.
"You've come to help us, haven't you!?"
Although Kalin looked completely deranged, Shinji still wanted to believe in him.
After all, it was Kalin who had given him the means to rise up against the upper city, and Kalin, like him, bore the mark of a Dark Signer.
He was his guide… and his idol.
But to Crow, this was something else entirely.
"Kalin… what the hell are you doing?"
Kalin jumped down from the debris, his grin stretching wider under the flickering firelight.
"Heh… What do you think I'm doing? Revenge!"
He walked over to the fallen Security officer, kicking him hard.
"Hey, bastard, do you remember me?"
The officer, dazed and bloodied, looked up at him in confusion.
"Who… who are you?"
The manic grin on Kalin's face vanished. Then his expression twisted into fury.
He kicked the man again and again.
"You filthy scum! I'm the Duelist from the slums you murdered!
Try to remember me, you worthless dog!"
He stomped on the man, over and over.
He had come for revenge, to find the man who had killed him.
But when he finally found him… the man didn't even remember who he was.
"Tch… How unsatisfying.
Not the least bit satisfying, But that's fine."
He grabbed the guard by the throat, lifting him into the air. As the officer choked and gasped, Kalin's twisted smile returned.
"Revenge isn't something you do just once. You have to make it last, draw it out, until it feels good!"
And as his words fell;
BOOOOOOM!
Another explosion thundered through the facility.
A surge of deep blue light erupted from within, blasting the detention center apart.
"Mr. Kalin! There are still our comrades inside!" Shinji cried out in horror.
"Kalın, stop this! Nobody wants to see you like this!"
Kalın broke into wild laughter that echoed down the alleyway. Then, with a sharp motion, he hurled the Sector Security officer to the ground and roared at Crow, "And who do you think made me this way?!
You punks teamed up with Security to throw me in a cell! Didn't it ever cross your minds that this day would come?!"
"Sector Security? What are you talking about, Kalin?"
Kalin let out a low, mocking laugh. He took a few steps forward and slammed his boot down on the officer's throat, clearly ready to finish him off.
Bzzt—!
Just then, a streak of red lightning ripped across the street. A Duel Runner roared past, its slipstream forcing Kalin back. Crow dashed forward, grabbing the officer and hauling him out of danger.
Normally, Kalin would've exploded in rage, screaming, chasing Crow down, but this time was different.
He looked toward the parked Duel Runner nearby, and for the first time in years… smiled. A real, genuine smile. Like an older brother seeing an old friend again.
"Yusei… it's been a long time."
Yusei stayed astride his Runner, his face unreadable. "I knew it," he said quietly. "No matter how deep you hide, once someone digs up your secrets, you always show yourself."
Yusei let out a long breath, glancing toward Hikaru standing nearby. "You doing okay out here?"
Hikaru nodded.
"Sorry you had to see this," Yusei said to him softly. "These are our mistakes." Then he turned back to Kalin, his tone serious. "When Sector Security took you away, we wanted to save you."
"Save me?" Kalın snarled. "Then why did I die alone, without seeing a single one of you? And don't give me that garbage, it was you who ratted me out!"
The warmth vanished from Kalın's face, replaced by the same deranged smile born from darkness, the mark of the Dark Signers.
"No! It wasn't like that!" Yusei shot back. "That Security officer just talked to me that day! None of us betrayed you!"
"Hah… even now you can lie to my face, huh?" Kalin sneered. "You really are the New King. Looks like you're ready to join the upper class of New Domino City. If that's true, then why have you been hiding from me all this time?!"
Shinji stood frozen, staring at the two men.
One was his mentor.
The other, the Satellite's greatest pride.
Which of them was right?
And yet… deep down, he found himself wanting to believe Kalın.
Just like when he'd argued with Crow before, if Yusei really stood with the people of Satellite, then why had he disappeared? Why hadn't anyone seen him for so long?
Why?
Where had Yusei gone?
If he wasn't in the Satellite anymore… then he must've gone up to the City, to live among the privileged.
"I'm sorry," Yusei said at last, regret weighing in every word. "There were things I had to do. More important things." He clenched his fists, frustrated that he couldn't put his friend's soul to rest.
Kalın raised his arm, the Dark Signer mark glowing bright on his skin. "So you're still pretending to be the savior of your 'chosen ones,' huh? Fine then."
A storm of dark-blue mist burst outward from around him, spreading fast.
Yusei twisted the throttle of his Duel Runner, then exhaled slowly. "All right then…"