I Am Become Death – Rudger Goodwin

Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. All Yu-Gi-Oh!-related characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi.

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We knew the world would not be the same. Few people laughed, few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says…

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Julius Robert Oppenheimer, 1965

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Doctor Rudger Goodwin was quite proud to say this was the first time in – or perhaps it was more proper now to say outside – his thirty-four years of life, that any experience had managed to strike him speechless. Though admittedly, he could hardly fathom how one could be anything but shocked…

Having just died and all.

Only a few minutes ago, he'd undergone the indescribable agony of Domino City's first Momentum reactor releasing its entire energy payload in a single burst…from point-blank range. Of course, there was a reason for this: namely, that he'd set off the event, personally, in order to attain precisely this result. But that didn't prevent the whole ordeal from hurting like fucking hell.

Oh, but that was no longer proper…the word "Hell" was not to be used henceforth as a casual oath. It was a place that was so very, very real – arguably, realer than the world he'd just departed – and thanks to his valiant deeds, the gateway between the two lay open like a gaping maw.

He could hear their voices now, screeching and howling in victory; the ones that'd revealed themselves unto his unworthy eyes and ears once Rudger had taken the advice of that enigmatic man in white. It was he, Yliaster's lowly agent, who'd first suggested that Rudger lay his sight – true sight, unhindered by the falsities and illusions imposed by this mortal coil – upon the Hikari no Yami; the light-that-was-darkness.

But one voice, a deep and imposing tone interspersed with otherworldly clicking noises, echoed far louder and far deeper than the others. And it was this voice that was commanding Rudger to rise, and finally seize his promised immortality.

Slowly, Rudger Goodwin's eyes reopened, steely blue now surrounded by pools of depthless ebony. The world outside his mind took several pregnant moments to come into form, but by the time it did the revenant found his field of vision far clearer and infinitely more detailed than anything he'd ever beheld in his previous life.

These were no longer mere inanimate objects surrounding him, refracting petty light that his ocular nerves absorbed and then processed into a mental image. Now, they were all part of a cohesive whole, a unified darkness to which Rudger's soulless body had finally been joined. Oh, if this were the glory of mere sight in this new form, the former human could only imagine what new ecstasies might be brought from indulging in his other senses!

Almost giddy with anticipation, Rudger decided to find out. Smell appeared to be right out, as both his mouth and his nostrils were steadfastly refusing even to draw breath, but that hardly mattered; what was the appeal of sweet scents to a dead man, after all? That this would also likely entail a loss of his sense of taste was an equally trifling matter. What use were they, if he'd no longer come to desire food or beverage?

No, the hunger that'd gnawed at his stomach as he worked tirelessly to bring his vision to fruition was permanently abated. The sensations associated with that wholly mortal weakness – the desperate, pathetic dependence on sustenance – would not be missed.

Of the basic five, that left only the auditory and tactile senses, and here the superiority of Rudger's new body to his feeble, human one was unambiguously apparent. Like his eyesight, the former researcher's hearing so far outstripped the eminence it'd held in life that it hardly seemed appropriate to even refer to them with the same word.

Humans were limited to listening the sounds of the planet, whereas he…no, there was no term in the Japanese language capable of describing this experience. Were the Bard correct and all the world indeed a stage, Rudger now felt as if he was cognizant of every single element of the theater – from the players to the backgrounds to the very script itself.

And as for touch…well, as with all the other elements of this cold and ashen shell he now inhabited, it'd been heightened to a point his science-obsessed mind had never dared to dream possible.

A casual punch against the steel walls of this now-ruined research center left a fist-shaped indentation. A dash from one end of the collapsed laboratory to the other crossed several dozen meters in a manner of seconds. An experimental leap propelled him high into the air, grasping a light fixture as he descended to the ground and hurling it hard into the opposite wall, simply to prove he could.

Continuing to jump across the floor and then from wall to wall, invariably reminding himself of that garish "Spider-Man" in those American comic books Rex had loved as a child, Rudger let out a hearty, bellowing laugh, projecting widespread echoes of pure elation all throughout the devastated facility.

The truth was undeniable: the experience of death hadn't only rendered Rudger Goodwin inhuman, but superhuman as well!

Indeed it has. But enough of these childish frivolities, My new host. We still have much work to do.

"Who…Who speaks?" Rudger demanded of the disembodied voice, unwittingly falling back down to the cracked floors and leaving a spacious crater in his wake. "I…I must be alone here! Who else could've survived that?"

You shall never, ever be alone again, Rudger Goodwin. That, I can guarantee. And as for My identity…well, I believe formal introductions are hardly in order. After all, We are now rather…intimately acquainted.

Rudger took in a sharp burst of breath as the epiphany struck him, before belatedly remembering there was no longer any point to such perfunctory gestures.

"You are…the voice of the god who entered my body when I was struck by Momentum's bounty," he said, utterly thunderstruck by the realization. "I can feel your essence even now, filling me, empowering me…becoming part of me."

That is because we are one, My chosen avatar, now and forevermore. Gaze upon your forearm for proof: you are the first in what shall be a small army for the cause of the Underworld, working from within the mortal world's own bounds to bring a Hell-on-Earth that shall never cease!

Yes, bear witness to My mark! The mark…of the first Dark Signer!

And even as Rudger did as he was bid, turning his newly blackened eyes upon a pattern running along his one remaining arm in the shape of a Nazca geoglyph, both the voice and the sinister glow surrounding the birthmark peaked in their intensity.

Purplish mist was streaming from the spider's sign, twisting and churning until it slowly coalesced into a massive figure – a very real arachnid that towered over the ruins of this ravaged test chamber. Its piercing cry, loosed from pincers of a deep blood-red, split the night as it stretched its eight legs for the first time in, were the stories true, over five-thousand years.

"Earthbound God Uru…your faithful disciple is honored," Rudger declared in soft reverence, prostrating himself upon the ruined ground. Despite never having learned it, he knew the name of his god, deep in the core of his being, as well as he knew his own. "Do with me as you will, for as long as it takes to bring this world to its blessed end!"

"There is no need to bow to Me, My host," Uru replied, now speaking in what were decidedly audible tones rather than hushed whispers across Rudger's mind.

The spider god's pincers occasionally clicked with enough force to bisect a tree trunk, but otherwise there was no visible indication it was speaking at any given time. Its words simply were, and it needed nothing so petty as a mouth-movement to convey them.

In any event, however, their meaning here was clear, and Rudger hastened to obey and straighten himself into what he hoped was a respectful stance of attention.

"I wish to impart upon you knowledge, Rudger Goodwin. Knowledge you shall use to wage War against the hated servants of the Crimson Light in the years to come," the Jibakushin continued. "Hear now Our story, mortal who hath ascended to his greater calling. Hear it, and heed its lessons well."

Then the ruinous Momentum chamber shattered and warped, and a few seconds later Rudger was no longer standing in what remained of Domino City…but somewhere far different. Their surroundings were pitch-black, the only light to be found being the scarlet glow of the laylines that crisscrossed Uru's body.

Except now there was something to be seen in these shadows, a twisting mass of color and shape which disappeared just as soon as Rudger noticed it. Taking a closer look, the former human gradually began to realize that this entire plane was in constant flux, forms and figures flitting in and out of existence with all the definition of a Jackson Pollock painting.

The sounds were far, far worse, however. Great screeches and cries, ranging from the wheezing moans that marked old men to what were unmistakably the agonized shrieks of infants, filled the blackness with an asynchronous, utterly miserable cacophony.

And yet, in the very next moment, all was perfectly silent. Attempting to truly get a handle on this place was an exercise in futility.

"Where…are we exactly, my Lord?" Rudger asked of his new god, causing the titanic spider to lower its head slightly and regard its new avatar, as if it'd only just remembered he was still there.

"Where else, My host? This realm is none other than the Underworld, the final resting place for the most sinful of mortal souls," Uru answered. "But be silent, now. Our Master shall soon address Us."

"You have a master?!" Rudger exclaimed, a bit louder than he'd intended. Uru was saved from explaining this further, however, by a piercing, banshee-like wail that seemed to rend this entire plane in two, heralding the emergence of another formless shape from the depths of this unending darkness.

Even with his newly heightened senses, Rudger knew instinctively that he wouldn't come any closer than this to perceiving this new creature within the confines of its home, its oozing extremities stretching and pulsing with an ancient, eldritch power as it approached both the man and the god.

Then the thing spoke. It was a voice unlike anything Rudger had ever before experienced, an inhuman gurgling that was impossible to parse as either male or female, and which in an indescribable way moved with the contours of this dimension – so thoroughly, in fact, that the newly christened Dark Signer was quite certain it'd be utterly mute outside the bounds of the Underworld.

But here, it had both Rudger's and Uru's fullest attentions…and it appeared eager to tell them a story.

Long ago, countless millennia before the Age of Humanity, cataclysm struck the Earth. In the fertile lands that would one day raise the Maya, I descended from My birthplace amongst the void sheathed in a shell of stone, and with one swift strike, brought an end to half the life on this wretched planet.

Oh, but the quarry I had come for had not yet seen its dawn. And so I slunk back beneath the desert sands, and overtook the continent that had become My home, biding My time until more intelligent worms could evolve. Worms upon which I could feast

Rudger's blackened eyes widened at the sheer amount of information he was being handed by this unknowable entity, all in such a short space of time. Three sentences in, after all, and he'd already learned what'd truly wiped out nearly every Earthborn species some 65 million years ago.

Too in awe to voice his full response to this history-making revelation – and feeling rather strongly that it wouldn't be proper to interrupt this "Master" so early into its speech – Rudger merely took a few steps back and continued to listen.

In time, this realm of Chaos and Death formed around Me, and My ambitions expanded with it. The first inklings of civilization had begun to take form above Me, and My own power had grown vast – too vast for even I to control.

So with this dimension as My womb, I sired an Heir: the first of My Jibakushin. I fashioned Him after the mortal beast known as the serpent, and named Him thusly. My Firstborn came to be called Asiru Amaru, although the humans of My continent knew Him more commonly as Scar-Red Nova, the Crimson Devil.

It was My hope that this child would work with Me in perfect symbiosis, directing the application of My boundless energies so I might be spared the constant burden of choice. But I had erred – I had granted Asiru Amaru too great a portion of My strength, to the point where I could no longer control or constrain Him.

So instead, that disloyal wretch turned His attentions to the entirety of the Earth-plane, and lay siege to it for over a century. Cultures within their barest infancies the world over would later tell stories of the serpent who brought misery and destruction to all He saw. His rampages ceased only when He decided to commit the ultimate act of betrayal, and slay His progenitor.

But I was well-prepared for His perfidy, and so were the forces of the Heavens. While My Firstborn had been away, in answer to the primitive humans' prayers the Dragon Star had incarnated into a being of pure holy Light: the Akaki Ryu.

And so it came to be that the Crimson Dragon and the Crimson Devil clashed in blood. By the slimmest of margins, the former emerged the victor, thanks to the intervention of the Akaki Ryu's first avatar…the original Signer. Wielding the mark of the mighty Dragon, this mortal struck the death-knell that brought an end to My failed first Offspring.

Meanwhile, as My deepest enemies battled for control of the Nazca, I had elected to sire a new God: the condor, Wiraqocha Rasca. Learning from My previous mistakes, this creature would never grow powerful enough to oppose My rule, but was more than capable of erecting a seal around the defeated Guren no Akuma. Ten-thousand years later, that barrier still holds firm, and so it shall until the end of time.

With my treacherous Firstborn finally out of the way, I used the next five millennia to breed more and more of My glorious Jibakushin, dividing My power between Them so that no one God could oppose Me again. But five-thousand years later, in the place that humans would come to call Peru, My old foe the Crimson Dragon declared War upon all My Children at once.

The Akaki Ryu and Its five draconic disciples hunted each and every one of Them down like wild beasts, and for the most part they succeeded. Nearly all My Offspring were in Their infancies then, little more than mean Spirits and Demons, and were powerless to defend Themselves against such experienced adversaries.

And worse, the followers of the accursed Crimson Light had observed the condor's sealing of my aborted firstborn with hawkeyed intent. Very soon, the vast majority of My brood were consigned to that selfsame fate, imprisoned beneath the desert sands.

Within only a few years, as the mortals count time, a meager seven of My Children remained unsealed: the condor Wiraqocha Rasca; you, Uru, my spiderlike thirdborn; the monkey Cusillu; the lizard Ccarayhua; the giant Ccapac Apu; the hummingbird Aslla piscu; and My most recent Offspring to mature, the killer whale Chacu Challhua.

Of these, only the middle five were fit to challenge Our enemies directly – the condor was required to guard the Underworld and My physical body, and the whale was still heavily weakened from Its transformation from mere phantom to true God, leaving It in no condition for the stresses of War.

As such, the battle-lines were ultimately drawn between the spider and the Dragon of Life; between the monkey and the Dragon of Spirit; between the lizard and the Dragon of the Rose; between the giant and the Dragon of the Stars; and between the hummingbird and the Dragon of Righteous Fire.

But while We had some notable successes, including the severing of the Fifth Dragon's soul from Its mortal body, and Uru's abduction of the Fourth into the Underworld itself, the Akaki Ryu ultimately proved an insurmountable obstacle for My forces.

One by one…They fell.

And worse yet, the Crimson Dragon and Its remaining disciples took that opportunity to bring the fight to Us, invading the Underworld directly and challenging Me in a final, climactic duel.

By bringing all of My strength to bear, I managed to survive that night…but at a hefty cost. The doors to the Underworld were sealed shut around Me, and My final two Offspring were wrenched from My realm and sealed in the mortal deserts with Their fellows, leaving Me alone and powerless for the next five millennia.

"In that case…what has happened to change those circumstances now, your Lordship?" Rudger asked hoarsely, finding the strength to speak again for the first time in several minutes.

To say this tale of celestial Warfare had him enraptured would be…quite an understatement.

You have, Rudger Goodwin…or rather, your former employer has. Professor Takashi Fudo could never have envisioned the true scope of the power his projects have harnessed – a power that is incomprehensibly primordial, and essential to the preservation of all Thirteen Dimensions of existence.

By enacting the release of those limitless energies, you have allowed Myself and My seven greatest Progeny to rise again, and to finally revenge Ourselves upon the accursed God who was once destined to be your Master.

"You speak of the birthmark that once burned upon my left arm, correct?" said Rudger to the eldritch mass. "Please, oh ancient god of darkness – I need to know more! About these marks…and about my role in all of this!"

Very well. Long before the Age of the Jibakushin – or indeed, before I even arrived upon this paltry planet – I was locked in an eternal struggle with the entity of the Dragon Star. Oh, it came in many forms over the eons, with the Akaki Ryu simply being Its most recent favorite.

But always, It remained a thorn in My side, dedicated solely to preventing Me from feasting upon the Worlds I encountered.

Yet on Earth…yes, on Earth, it was different. Here, I had a head start of countless millennia…albeit, one I foolishly squandered by warring with My perfidious Firstborn.

Even still, the scales would not have been tipped fully in the Crimson Dragon's favor, had It not chosen to sequester some of Its power in a mortal "hero." This human, whose name has been lost to the winds of history, became the First Signer, an avatar who could harness his God's energies and battle by Its side. And as unorthodox as this strategy was, there is no doubt it was the deciding factor in bringing defeat to both the Crimson Devil…and Myself.

But while I and My remaining Offspring have rested in silence all these centuries, other forces of Chaos and Evil have continued to act in Our stead. In combating their ascendance, the Akaki Ryu decided to continue the lineage of the First Signer, reincarnating his power into each passing generation and guiding each successive avatar in defending your World.

Eventually, however, the Dragon realized that one emissary hosting all of Its donated power was inefficient, and divided up the First Signer's original birthmark into five. It was one of these marks that you were "blessed" with from birth, Rudger Goodwin; the emblem of the Dragon's head, marking your destiny as leader of the coming generation of Signers.

But unique among your maddeningly submissive race, you made the choice to turn your back on that legacy – a choice that has earned Uru's eternal respect. It is for that reason that My thirdborn requested a bond with your departed soul, and why you stand here now…fortunate enough to speak directly with the once and future Lord of this wretched planet.

"There are…no words to describe the honor I feel in your presence…" Rudger whispered, his voice quivering with raw emotion. "Tell me what you wish of me, and it shall be so. Allow me to spread your word, your will, across this unworthy Earth…and all my immortal life-that-is-death shall be dedicated solely to that task!"

As expected, your zeal for Our cause is…welcome. And in that case, Rudger Goodwin, I have three great tasks for you to perform, once I return your walking corpse to the mortal plane. Do you accept these burdens?

"Anything, my Lord…anything," said Rudger, bowing his head obsequiously.

Very good…My emissary. Now, your first task shall be by far the most important: the matter of recruitment. For you see, as the moment of Our Second Coming draws nearer, the remainder of My sapient Children shall require hosts as well. And those hosts…shall require a leader.

Rudger Goodwin, you have become the first mortal to be awakened to true enlightenment, but you shall not be the last. Gather the rest of My Dark Signers as they are each reborn in turn, and guide them toward the fulfillment of their respective vendettas.

But seven Dark Signers will not be enough to bring a final end to the forces of the Crimson Light. You must also commence the gathering of an army.

To that end, I am infusing your mark of Uru with the Power of Command. Each of My offspring's eight appendages now represents a smaller arachnid you can use to enthrall the minds of weaker humans. Employ this power well, and ensure that by the time the remaining Signers of your Age have all awoken, your forces will be able to crush them into the dust.

And that brings Us to your second task, Rudger Goodwin: arranging the circumstances of those Signers' advent, so that it might ultimately prove to Our advantage. While I cannot identify them by name so long as I am imprisoned, I am certain that at least two of your former "compatriots" have already been brought into the mortal world, with yet more to come.

With any luck, one or more of them will rise to prominence before realizing Our presence, and I want you prepared to test their strength when that time comes. All Our work shall be for naught, if the Akaki Ryu's servants fail to offer an adequate challenge.

"Err…if I might be so bold, my Lord, why is that so?" Rudger asked, his brow furrowed in bewilderment. "Would it not be wiser to kill the Signers as quick as possible, before they can pose a threat to our mission?"

That…brings Us to your final task, Rudger Goodwin. Mystical forces are aligning alongside the marvelous energies generated by your mortal "science" even as we speak, and I have determined they will reach their peak at a very specific hour, exactly eighteen years in your Earth's future.

At that moment, should all requisite factors fall perfectly into place, the Door to the Underworld will open for the first time in five millennia, and I shall finally be free to wreak my vengeance upon this dismal planet.

"And one of those 'factors' is that the Signers need to try and stop us…is that correct?" Rudger responded, his expression shrewd.

Indeed. The Laws that undergird Our very reality are quite explicit: the Signers must be afforded a fighting chance at stopping the ritual, or the gathering magicks shall become utterly worthless. As I understand it, Our unwitting pawn Takashi Fudo has installed towers to act as emergency switches, constraining the enormous pool of Hikari no Yami your actions so generously left behind.

And as that exposed crevice between the Worlds is the very gateway I intend to use for My escape, I believe that informing the Signers of those machines should suffice in fulfilling the conditions of Prophecy.

If you allocate your resources well enough, however, I doubt the Signer whelps shall prove able to seal every tower before their "deadline" passes. In the end, all that truly matters is that they make the attempt at that particular juncture…and that they fail.

So in summary, the first of My immortal envoys, it is hereby decreed that you spend the next eighteen years of your second life wandering about the shadows of this World, gathering allies and followers, and accumulating all that is necessary to achieve My objectives. No action you may take is forbidden, should it be for the sake of the Underworld's victory.

And when the rest of Signers finally do awaken unto themselves, you shall permit them nothing more or less than one, single chance. There, they shall fall, by your hand, and all that has been written since time began shall finally be fulfilled.

Once those events have come to pass, Rudger Goodwin, I shall make My triumphant return to the Earth-plane! And your World shall tremble as My children and I plunge it into an eternal Hell! A nightmare from which there is no awakening!

"I shall not disappoint you, my Lord! Mark my words, I shall not!" Rudger shouted, falling to his knees as the image of this ancient evil began to fade from view. The Underworld's Master returned to the depths from which it'd spawned, as the Jibakushin Uru shot a massive strand of silk webbing at its prostrated avatar and pulled him back into the physical realm.

For a brief few seconds that seemed like a lifetime, Rudger's world was nothing more than a stream of blurred colors and the overwhelming screams of the damned. Then, he was standing in the ruins of his laboratory once more, looking straight over the enormous lake of shimmering energy that now stood in place of the floor.

"How did you enjoy that experience, My host?" asked Uru, now scurrying up the walls like the beast it was based upon. "For you to have met the true Master of this world, and maintained consciousness all the while, is not an unimpressive feat."

"It was most certainly…eye-opening, if nothing else," answered Rudger, somewhat hollowly; the power of speech was only just returning to him, so staggering had the whole affair been to his worldview. "To meet an entity so much more ancient than mankind itself, one that's seen more of the Universe than I ever dreamt of…I'm truly unworthy. I was nothing but a simple researcher before today; a pathetic member of an even more pathetic species. I simply cannot understand why this…this King of the Underworld would choose me to carry out its sacred mission…"

"King of the Underworld? An…interesting designation for Our Lord, to be sure," said the spider god, almost looking curious despite its complete lack of expression. "Such beings have always been above the constraints of such paltry things as names. Our titles were bestowed upon Us by the humans of old, lingering remnants of a bygone civilization that knew and feared Our might."

The Earthbound God paused here, seeming to choose its next words carefully, before speaking again.

"The important thing for you to realize, My host…is that I was the one who chose you for this task. And I would not have done so, were I not absolutely certain of your worthiness," Uru continued, tilting its head downward in what might've been a god's attempt at sympathy. "You possess an uncommon strength of will for a mortal; a rare breadth of resolve, that sets you apart from any human who has ever before died. To be sure, My fellows were…apprehensive about My bonding with a former Signer, but They shall see soon enough. This is a brave new world We seek to conquer, and We cannot succeed if We limit Ourselves in any way. It is time for the Jibakushin to carve a fresh path across this wretched planet…and you, Rudger Goodwin, will lead Us there."

"I…thank you for your confidence, my Lord," Rudger murmured graciously. "Rest assured, I'll do everything in my power to earn it."

"I should think so. Now set forth, My host…and walk the path that leads to the End of All Things!" the spider commanded, and without another word the god was once more slinking into Rudger's new birthmark, which glowed bright as the voice of the scarlet arachnid returned to a whisper in the corner of its avatar's mind.

"Very well, Earthbound God Uru. I suppose it is time for us to get to work," said Rudger Goodwin, both to himself and to the entity that now took up residence right within his very own tarnished soul.

Then, without another word, the first of the Dark Signers set forth to explore what remained of the Momentum research facility, both minds within his body whirring with plans large and small.

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The next few years proceeded without much incident, god and avatar learning from each other as their minds continued to meld closer and closer toward perfect unity.

Uru, it transpired, knew little to nothing about how humankind had advanced since the sealing of its brethren, and was particularly interested in learning of the "mortal magic" of science. Conversely, Rudger was a readily admitted neophyte to the mystic arts, and spent every waking moment not dedicated to carrying out his King's will training the incredible powers death had granted him.

Day and night – he slept only when Uru itself needed to conserve energy, which happened every two weeks or so at most – Rudger tore through tome after tome of arcane literature, salvaged from decrepit ruins or dusty museums upon the advisement of his god. Fortunately, the first trick the spider had saw fit to teach him had been a teleportation spell generated by his birthmark, making such acts of petty thievery veritable child's play.

In any event, with his body now properly attuned, Rudger was slowly but surely gaining mastery over a variety of abilities he would've considered impossible just a few years prior: from turning himself invisible to the naked eye, to projecting bursts of dark energy from his palms, to clairvoyant visions of the Worlds that lay beyond this one.

This last technique was particularly vital, as fulfilling the King's commands required identifying and recruiting each of his destined fellows, whensoever they were fated to be reborn in turn. It was something of a lonely existence, to be sure. But Uru remained alongside him (or rather more often, within him) every step of the way, and so the point where he would be joined by those enlightened few drew nearer with every passing sunset.

He could see them all now – a university student searching through page after page of forbidden lore, desperate to resurrect a long-lost companion; the scion of a small Peruvian tribe returning to his village to find it utterly eradicated, falling to his knees and wailing in utter despair; a little girl preparing food as she shared a moment of purest joy with her beloved baby brother; a young boy wandering around the slums that existed outside this facility, nursing his bloody wounds but determined never to cry; and an even tinier girl toddling about the Japanese countryside, her dark-green hair swaying in the breeze as she took in the bright day with an expression of naïve wonder.

But while these brief flashes of mortal men, women, and children would doubtless take time to coalesce into the unstoppable legion Rudger knew they were capable of becoming, the first Dark Signer was hardly concerned.

After all, if there was one thing a dead man was sure to have plenty of…it was patience.