Chapter 2 of the rewrite! Enjoy and review!
Chapter 2: The Revival of a Legend Part 2
Jack Atlas wasn't sure if he should actually be following Yusei or forcibly dragging him back to his Duel Runner. His friend was in a sort of daze, practically stumbling through the ruins of the Satellite and Jack, being the responsible older one for once, was making sure that Yusei didn't get himself killed. The blonde honestly wished he knew what was going on. First, Yusei's strange behavior all day; apparently having been caused by a dream that was in turn caused by a red spirit dragon that wasn't the Crimson Dragon. Then, the younger man went and disappeared for several hours. Now, both he and Jack were being shot at by Goodwin's lackeys. Whatever was going on, it must have been big if Goodwin was resorting to violence.
Yusei stumbled over a large piece of ruble and Jack rushed to catch him.
"Yusei, you need to rest. Let's get you home an-"
"No... Whatever's going on, I have to deal with it now... I don't know how I know, but I know that it'll be too late tomorrow..."
Jack sighed, he knew well enough by now to trust Yusei's almost supernatural instincts by now, but that didn't make seeing his friend in such a state any easier, "... Alright. I'm going to trust you, Yusei. Just... take it easy, alright?"
Yusei nodded and shakily stood, "Don't worry... We're close..."
Jack nodded and helped Yusei stay upright as he kept walking. They were in a part of the Satellite that few people went near. Rumors of everything from mutated animals roaming around to demons haunting the buildings surrounded this place. He didn't believe in most of them, well some of them seemed a little more believable due to recent events, bit he still stayed away from this place.
He heard a growl to his left and turned to see a red light slithering towards them. He pulled Yusei to the side as it darted past them. It stopped for a second to look at them with unblinking gold eyes.
"... Slifer..."
He glanced down at Yusei for a second before looking back up at Slifer. It was only about the size of a large van, but Jack had a feeling that it could make itself whatever size it felt like being. The dragon almost seemed happy to hear it's own name and made an almost pleased growl. It turned and flew towards a large ruined office building and rushed inside, it's red glow spilled through the windows.
Yusei glanced at Jack, "See? ... We were close."
Jack rolled his eyes and helped Yusei to the building, "I have half a mind to leave you here and go home."
Yusei gave a weak chuckle as he was half carried to the large building. It was a five story office building that didn't really stand out from any of the others in the area. The only thing that made it slightly different was the remains of what might have been a sign over the door. The aforementioned door was long gone so Jack just walked in. He was meet with a decrepit reception area. It was all basically untouched, it seemed that looters believed the stories about this area too. The red light flowed in from the hall to the blonde's right.
Jack set Yusei down in one of the ancient chairs, "Yusei, do you think you can make it?"
Yusei looked slightly better than he did before, but he still had to worry. Yusei was prone to hiding his problems from others.
"Yeah... Just... Just give me a minute..."
Jack nodded and to that minute to look around the room. Everything was exactly the way it was when the Zero Reverse Event occurred and it gave him chills. He walked towards the front desk and started looking through it. There were computers that didn't work so he wouldn't get anything from them, but there were lots of papers scattered around, and most were still readable.
He read a few of them, most of them were just financial reports and letters to various personnel that once worked here. One, however, was very out of place. It was a letter, buried deep in a file cabinet, from Kiaba Corp, dated forty years before the event. Anything involving Kiaba Corp raised red flags for the blonde, however this was long before Goodwin was in charge. He opened it and quickly read it's contents. It stated that Kiaba Corp would "continue to send a maintenance team to attend to the subjects without notice to any higher ups" and that "no one who wasn't directly involved with the project was to know, including any unauthorized employees and any of the employers."
This raised multiple red flags for Jack. Whatever this place was, it wasn't just an office building. He walked back over to Yusei, whom looked much better, and showed him the letter. Yusei had the same concerned and suspicious look on his face as he probably did. Jack looked around at the reception area in a new light.
"... Yusei. What is this place?"
"... I'm not sure... but we're going to find out."
Yusei was able to stand on his own and walked towards the hallway bathed in Slifer's red light. Jack followed close behind, constantly looking around for any signs of trouble. The red glow of Slifer gave the hall an eerie feel to it, and it put him on edge. The blackette followed the red light down the long hall with so much determination that Jack was getting more annoyed than he already was with his friend.
The rounded the corner and saw Slifer hovering in front of a section of wall. Yusei approached the dragon with no hesitation and eyed the wall.
"... There's something here."
Jack looked over the wall carefully. It looked like any other section of the wall to normal eyes. Jack, however, could see more. He'd always been able to see things better than most people could and he was able to see what Yusei meant. In the wall, practically unnoticeable to anyone not looking for it, was a thin gap between two sections. Running his hand over it, he felt air moving through it, which meant there was a space behind it. He traced the gap and found it to be about the size of a standard door. He felt a presence at his shoulder and turned to meet pupil less gold eyes. Slifer flowed through the wall, it's glow exposing the edges of the hidden door clearly. A series of clicking sounds came from the other side and the light died. Jack hesitantly pushed on the door and it creaked open. Behind the door was a staircase leading downwards, Slifer's light illuminating the way down.
Yusei stepped closer to the stairs, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Yeah..."
Jack took the lead down the stairs, he could feel them strain to keep his weight up so he went slowly. Yusei followed him just as slowly. The two duelists went down a three flights of stairs before they came to a floor. Everything looked like it had been untouched for years, which it probably was. Dust covered every surface and stirred at their feet as they walked. Slifer slowly flew down the halls, shining light on across the dark corners of facility. The ethereal dragon flickered for a split second and sped up, Jack assumed that whatever was keeping it here was fading.
Slifer flew threw another door and Jack cautiously opened it. On the other side was a room with three rows of eight human sized, capsule looking devices, a grand total of twenty four of them. All of the strange capsules were covered in what looked like the remains of white tarps. Yusei slowly walked up to the third capsule on the first row and shifted the tarp aside, revealing a glass covering. A dark mass was seemingly floating in a strange liquid, presumably water. Slifer moved above the capsule and illuminated it's contents. Floating inside the glass was the remains of a human.
Yusei immediately stepped several feet back and started coughing heavily. As brave and determined as the young blackette was, a corpse was never something he could deal with. Jack quickly recovered the capsule and moved to Yusei's side. He assisted the younger duelist to the ground and helped him slow his breathing. Slifer's light flickered more and it growled in what might have been worry.
When Yusei had calmed down, Jack helped him to his feet, "Let's just get what we're here for and go."
Yusei nodded and looked towards Slifer. The dragon was hovering over the seventh and eighth capsules in the last row. Both were the only ones with power, having been hooked up to an ancient looking generator. Jack walked Yusei to the capsules, pointedly ignoring all the others. He cautiously removed the tarp off the capsule and peered into the glass. Slifer strengthened it's dying light and the person inside. The person in question was a girl close to Yusei's age with long black hair and bright blonde bangs, gold almost. An air mask was hiding most of her face and the skintight, one piece red suit looked similar to the one in the other capsule.
There was a panel on the right side with what he assumed to be the main controls and life signs on it. Jack didn't know much about medical technology from a little less than twenty years ago, but he could make out that whatever life support this girl was on wasn't going to last much longer. She had maybe ten minutes at most. The urgency suddenly made a bone chilling amount of sense. Looking over the main controls, one button that read "Release," was flashing blue. Well, at least they made it obvious. He pressed it and the capsule began to hiss as the water began to drain out of it. When it was empty, it unlocked with a loud clack.
A drawer to the left of the control panel hissed open to reveal a blue backpack. Jack assumed it belonged to the girl, a collection of personal items perhaps. He picked it up and handed it to Yusei, whom was looking on from behind him. The blonde lifted the glass and looked over the girl. She had several IV's in her forearms and calves were the suit stopped, the failing life support no doubt. He carefully removed the IVs and unstrapped the mask from her face. She had soft, delicate features and was breathing heavily, the oxygen must have been failing too. He gently picked her up and felt that she was shivering slightly, which was good and bad. It meant she was responsive, but also very cold.
He set her only the floor and turned to Yusei, "Warm her up while I get the other one."
The younger duelist nodded as Jack went to open the other capsule.
He removed the tarp off the second capsule and was met with a man closer to his own age. He had long, completely wild hair and was wearing a similar suit to the girl, but it was blue instead of red, a way to distinguish between male and female probably. He opened the capsule the same way he did the other one. The same drawer opened and revealed a black duffel bag. He grabbed the bag and lifted the glass lid. The man was slightly taller than Jack was, so he half carried, half dragged the man out of the capsule by his underarms. He set him down next to Yusei and the girl, whom had finally stopped shivering. Jack kneeled next to Yusei and looked over the other capsules. He didn't want to think about it, but it was likely that all the other people down there had meet the sane fate as the corpse they saw. Why only these two were hooked up to a generator, he didn't know, but the biggest question was; what was going on down here in the first place?
Jack stood and placed a hand over one of the high tech coffins, because that's all they really were at this point, "What on earth happened here?"
"I don't think you want to know the answer Jack."
He couldn't say that Yusei was wrong, but these people, at the very least, deserved a proper burial, not... this.
A quiet moan of discomfort tore the blonde duelist's attention away from the dead and back to the living. The girl shifted slightly towards Yusei, she was probably still cold. Slifer, now looking considerably better than before, settled itself on the girl's lap; it's red energy pulsating. Jack assumed that it was trying to keep her warm.
A noise from above startled the three conscious beings. Jack knew the sound of an engine anywhere. He picked up the man and held him over his shoulders, "Grab the girl and let's go, but stay quiet."
Yusei nodded and picked up the girl bridal style. Jack silently headed out the room and back up the stairs. They creaked even more with the added weight, but the engine didn't get any closer. They must have split up to look for them and didn't know exactly where to look. He glanced back at the three behind him, more specifically he looked up at the dragon spirit.
"Slifer, you need to turn down the glow or we'll be spotted."
Slifer apparently took offense to that because it growled at him, but it did flicker out of existence, revealing how dark it really was. Jack had to go even slower to make sure he didn't trip and fall. They did reach the first floor without falling, which was good. Yusei shut the hidden door behind them, no need for Goodwin to find what this place had hidden in it's walls, and headed for the back door.
The walk back to Jack's Duel Runner was almost too tense for Jack's liking. Goodwin's goons were crawling all over the place and there were way too many close calls. They did make it to the white vehicle, but they unanimously decided to not drive it yet; the engine would alert anyone nearby. So, they walked the Runner several miles away from the area. It was nearly dawn when they felt they put enough distance between them and the two duelists were exhausted. Jack was tempted to find a place to rest for a few hours and go back to their house in the morning, but he didn't know this area as well as he used to. Yusei, on the other hand, did know this area. He said that the hideout he used after Jack left was close by and well hidden. Jack didn't like the reminder of his departure from the Satellite; he turned his back on his best friends and stole Yusei's Runner. Yusei either didn't notice his discomfort or ignored it and he was thankful for that. The two of them hadn't spoken much about the events of that day and now definitely wasn't the time.
The hideout was underground in the old subway system that ran all over the Satellite. It was practically invisible from above and large enough to keep several people hidden. Jack was glad that Yusei was able to find a decent place to live in, or at least decent by Satellite standards. They set his Runner out of sight and laid the two unnamed people down. They gave the girl the bed and the thickest blanket and the man got a fold out couch.
Jack took a minute to make sure that Goodwin didn't place a tracker or anything on his Runner. With how determined Goodwin seemed to be to find what Slifer was leading to, he wouldn't put it past him. After a through inspection, he didn't find anything thankfully, and walked back into the makeshift living room. Yusei was doing a quick inventory of what was left here.
The blackette stood as Jack entered, "There's not much, but there's still some canned foods here. It's not perfect, but we won't go hungry."
"Alright. We weren't bugged, so they shouldn't find us here."
Yusei nodded and sat in the only seat that was actually a chair, the other was just a box, "We should call Crow. Let him know we're okay."
Jack nodded as Yusei pulled out his phone, "Just make sure to turn it off afterwards. Goodwin could track us using it."
The younger duelist nodded again and rang up Crow, they all had each other on speed dial. Yusei went to step out to talk without disturbing either sleeping person, but Jack could hear Crow pick up halfway through the second ring with a very loud, "Yusei! Jack! You're okay!"
Jack and Yusei both chuckled, it was nice to know their oldest friend had stayed up all night to make sure they were okay. As Yusei walked outside, with a serious, "We're not out of the woods yet," the blonde took out his own phone to turn it off. He stopped for a moment when he saw he had a message from a number he thought he deleted a long time ago.
"If you think that you can get away with this, you are very wrong."
He turned off his phone immediately and took out the battery. Whoever these people were, Goodwin wanted them and he wasn't a man that took not getting what he wanted well. They were powerful, or at the very least smart. Whatever the reason Goodwin wanted them, it wouldn't be good for anyone. Yusei walked back in on Jack pacing in a concerned manner.
"Jack? What's wrong?"
The elder duelist stopped and looked towards the unconscious man on the couch, "Yusei, who are they?"
"... I don't know Jack. I really don't."
Next time on The Hands of Fate:
"... Where... am I...?"
"You... don't know who I am?"
"We need to go. Now."
"Oh my god..."
"What... What happened here?"
"Stop them!"
"Hang on!"
"Wow..."
"Um... Guys... Who are these two?"
"... We have a lot of explaining to do, don't we?"
