"There is only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken."
— Stephen R. Donaldson, Against All Things Ending
Rex gritted his teeth as he came face-to-face with what had become of Crow. Clothed all in black and the purple of the Condor, with his grey - grey eyes, how rare a thing, in Japan, even rarer in Satellite - eyes overpowered by the now-black sclera. It was unnerving how much had not changed, just as much as how much had. His hair still shot straight up, an almost luminous orange in the night with the main light coming from the geoglyph itself, his stance recognisable even with the cloak flying behind him in the wind.
'Blackbird', as they called it, at least had been spared any such drastic changes, even if the orange that had highlighted the bike had been tainted to match his robes.
The boy smirked, and started to walk over. The expression was different from the last time they'd met. Crueler. Unrelenting.
"Hah! So you're finally here, huh? Took you long enough!"
"Crow-! You- why are you doing this?"
He began to laugh, a somewhat unhinged quality to the laughter that set Rex on edge. He'd wanted to avoid seeing this from Rudger. Fate was cruel indeed to instead gift him with it from his- from Crow.
"Jack! Yuusei! You of all people should know - the only way this could be settled is through a duel! If you want me to tell you anything, you're going to have to fight me for it! And you'd better be quick - the longer we stick around chatting, the closer the King of the Underworld gets to the geoglyph and your precious temple!" The last was aimed at Rex himself
"Crow..."
"You aren't being yourself," Rex said, interrupting whatever Yuusei had been about to say. "When we talked, you expressed your wish for the bridge to be completed. How can it be finished if everyone is dead?"
"Spare me. You really think I'd buy that coming from you? You- you could've had it finished any time! But you chose not to."
He'd known it was a long shot, but even somewhat prepared he still found himself frowning as Crow stalked off with a suddenly cold expression back to the Blackbird, and set the ground rules for the duel.
Three against one. He, Yuusei and Jack would all have four thousand life points, and Crow would have the same amount as the three of them put together.
The two Signers knew Crow's deck much better than he did, but had given him a few spare warnings on their way here. He swarms the field, and all of his monsters support one another, Yuusei had said. I don't know whether that would have changed, but keep it in mind.
He probably should have let Yuusei go first, or Jack. But he found himself revving the bike forwards, to come almost level with the black-and-purple bike that had once been his.
"Crow!" He said, ignoring the surprise of the others and Crow's own annoyance. "I don't know what you're trying to achieve through this, but it isn't going to work! The god's powers are warping whatever you had in mind!"
But words alone weren't going to get through to him, that much was evident. He drew, and made his move. Two cards face down. One summon, defence mode, that had an effect when flipped.
Crow only laughed his efforts off.
"That's the best ya can do? Ha! Somehow, I ain't surprised!"
...What?
Something in the way that was said put him ill at ease, but he held his tongue and eased the hitch in his breath.
Nothing. It was probably nothing. Taunts, to throw him, and the others, off their game. He ended his turn.
Next came Yuusei, who spoke to Crow of their bond, their friendship, trying to speak to the part of their opponent that hadn't been taken over yet. Who knew if he would be successful, but it certainly seemed to not have the desired effect just yet. A fact that only made Yuusei more determined.
"And the kids, Crow! If you continue with this, what happens to them? You lost them once, if you don't stop, you'll lose them forever!"
"You don't get it, Yuusei! I'll rise above it! Above it all, and I'll be the one to decide! I've had enough of leaving things to you guys, and now I've got the power I'm damn well gonna use it!"
I wanted to be a god, Rex mused. How much of that would have been me? Would I have been able to have resisted the pull?
And if I hadn't known about Crow... would I have wanted to?
The answer in its simplicity was what unnerved him, and as he forced himself to focus on the here and now, the turn passed to Jack, the boy's tactics almost as familiar to him as his own after two years of watching him duel in the stadium under his gaze, although there were some elements that were new, brought on by the presence of his friends - and a new factor entirely, in the form of the reporter he'd heard that Jack had stayed with shortly after the Dark Signers had made their move.
"My turn!" Crow, now. "I special summon Servant of the Hellgod - Blood-Red Dawn, since my field's empty and yours isn't! Then I'll summon this guy, and attack Godwin's defense monster!"
Rex's eyes widened - why him, why not either of the other two? - and flinched away at the impact as his monster was destroyed.
"This isn't rising above anything! You're only-"
"Oh yeah? Only what? C'mon, answer me, GODWIN! Isn't it your own tower the King of the Underworld's heading towards? I should thank you for that!"
He could feel Yuusei and Jack's eyes on him, judging him.
"Go on! Try and tell me I shouldn't!"
When he didn't answer, Crow started to laugh again, much like he had before. Rex gripped the bike, unable to contest what was being said.
"Godwin. What is the meaning of this?"
He couldn't stop him. What good were excuses and pretty lies up against the truth?
"I..." He hesitated. Could he say it? In the end, when it all came down to it?
Even more, could he believe in himself again, that old self who had built the bridge and flown with only the hopes of Satellite and his own dreams, to face off against fate and win?
"Fate has never been kind to me. I had intended to do something - something drastic - that would have put me in your place, Crow. To become a god, and use the power of both forces to remake the world, so that there would be no more Signer wars... But faced with the fact of what that would mean, at the last moment I couldn't do it!"
"Godwin... you...!"
That was Jack. And perhaps the fragile trust he'd hoped that they could have during the duel was already shattered, but he could at least trust in their bond with Crow, even if they had no love of Rex himself.
"I activate the trap card, A Hand From Perdition! It allows me to special summon one level four or lower Heavenly Halo monster from my deck or graveyard when one is sent from the field to the graveyard, and draw one card."
The new monster took its comrade's place running in front of him, but it was little comfort.
"Haha-haahaha-! As if that's gonna help you any! Who d'you think you're kidding, anyway? It's not as if those two are gonna trust you after this! Turn end!"
"Crow! Didn't you say yourself, that a bond is more important than what a person might have done? You were the one who kept me fighting, before! In return, we're going to keep fighting with all we've got to get you back. All of us!"
"Hn! That god has to be messing with your head, because you should know there's no way this Jack Atlas would be swayed so easily!"
Rex closed his eyes briefly, and hardened himself.
"My turn!"
He drew. With one tuner on the field from the previous turn, he was able to summon another monster with 'Heavenly Halo' in its name to the field - and in doing so made it possible for him to synchro summon, to match Jack's Red Daemons Dragon that was already on the field. The new monster lit up the area surrounding him with its light, but didn't seem to faze Crow in the slightest.
"HAH-hahaheh, nice monster, 'god wannabe!' But I'm gonna break that halo in two! You can try all you want, but I'm gonna-"
"What? Rise above me? Open up a new possibility? With how you are now, How are either of those possible? How can you say that you are trying to live up to the ideal of the Legendary D-wheeler with this?"
"Gk-! You leave that out of it! What even gives you the right to mention him!"
"You're Icarus, Crow! You tried to follow in his - in MY footsteps! But-"
"The hell are you saying, bastard?!"
That I shouldn't have assumed that you perished along with her. That just because they found her body, and you were such a small child... not even a year old...
But it was too soon for that. Too soon.
"You heard me."
"Godwin..."
"TRAP, ACTIVATE! RAGE OF THE HELLGOD!" Crow screamed, flinging out a hand to flip the trap. "All players controlling Synchro monsters other than the player controlling this trap take a thousand damage for each Synchro on the field!"
Rex's breath caught as the dark energy flared towards him and Jack - Yuusei, thankfully, didn't meet the requirements of the trap, but that still left two of them with two thousand or less life points and he could feel Jack glaring at him from behind.
Of course. This was a Shadow Duel - even if other elements hadn't already been in play, the damage was real and he hadn't had any defence against it.
"Kh-! Turn... end..."
Yuusei and Jack continued the duel against their friend with all of the flow of those who knew each others' decks by heart. Crow's monsters and their support were obviously not his usual, but they were treated with an eerie amount of familiarity, as though they were similar, yet tainted versions of old friends. Yuusei tried to use this against him, tried to back up Rex himself, but he could see that Crow's patience was wearing thin, and most of that anger was aimed towards not Yuusei, who was trying to reach out to him, not Jack, who didn't care what happened as long as Crow was brought back to his senses (preferably, if Rex knew Jack at all, with an adequate beatdown), but Rex himself.
He should have seen it, and he berated himself for being so rash as to think that it would be so easy as to say 'I'm the one you were always looking up to, trust in me, let go, stop this'. Of course the boy didn't want to see what was right in front of his face. It was only natural.
But then - why did it still hurt?
"My turn! I activate the magic card, 'No Stars In Hell', and it allows me to lower the level of one of my opponent's monsters and add the same number to one of my own! I choose Jack's Red Daemons Dragon, and move the stars over to Servant of the Hellgod - Frostbite!"
The offended noise that came from his old protégé - though who knew whether the term would stay relevant even should they win and the world wasn't devoured in darkness - would have been amusing had it been under any other set of circumstances.
But Frostbite was a Dark Tuner, and with the stars added...
"Servant of the Hellgod - Galeforce! Servant of the Hellgod - Frostbite! Darkened gales, become the wings that blot out the sun and leave the world in shadows! Dark Synchro! Ally of the Hellgod - Dragon of the Decapitator!"
It was here. A dragon with 'legs' like a spider's and the black feathers of its wings that were dyed red with each monster it defeated.
"Do you really think this is the sort of legacy that I wanted to pass on to you? Crow! Think-"
"SHUT UP! I ain't listening! D'you really think I'd believe any of those lies?!"
"What would I have to gain from lying about such a thing?" He cursed internally, wondering if was being too specific, and if anyone would notice. "It is true that at one point, I may have made decisions that would have lead to my being in your place... but like I did once before, I went against fate! Even if it took something just as important from me instead!"
For his flight from the bridge, he had lost his arm. By not sacrificing himself and instead giving in to sentiment, he had lost Crow. The only reason he was still able to fight was because he could not imagine being able to look himself in the eye... or Crow... if the Signers were somehow able to win and he hadn't tried his hardest to reach the one important person left to him.
"Dragon of the Decapitator! Attack Godwin's monster!"
He grunted as the attack hit, dealing damage to his lifepoints and making his bike skid, causing him to wish he'd spent more time practicing his riding skills as well as everything else.
Crow's turn ended, thankfully without too much more damage to himself or the other two boys riding with him.
But he couldn't have not heard Jack, even barely audible, over the audio capabilities of the D-wheels that were present due to the difficulties of duelling at high speeds, not always being able to hear your opponent...
"It can't be...! Godwin, you're...?!"
"Jack!"
One shout from Yuusei. One warning, and that was all it took for him to realise that, inadvertently, the only one who still did not know the secret he had been trying to keep was the one it was most important to.
It was Yuusei's turn - he drew - and yet Rex found himself resigning himself to the inevitable. Sooner or later, the truth was going to come out whether it was under his control or not, and he would prefer it to be from his own mouth than anyone else, and not have the betrayal of having deliberately kept this from the boy even when it was no longer necessary added to his list of reasons to hate.
And so he told the story. The duel continued as he recounted but briefly certain things that they all would know already. Of how he, his brother and Yuusei's father had been developing Momentum, how Rudger had gone, and when he'd come back changed, set events in motion that would create Zero Reverse, and open up the way for the Dark Signers.
He told of how Yuusei's father had sent the boy to safety, and he had been the one to take him someplace safe, make sure he was raised properly, knowing his own name.
He told of how, after that, he had cut ties, looking out over the water from Satellite, and eventually made his first attempt at defying fate... and built what would become the Daedalus Bridge. How when Security came looking for him he had to choose from one of two options - allow himself to be arrested, or to become a legend, and fly. He told them how he had flown, and how doing so had cost him his arm.
And when Yuusei destroyed Crow's Dragon of the Decapitator... anything. To put off the inevitable, to keep the God from being summoned.
And so... he told them, amid Crow's protests, his insults, his denial, through Jack's disbelief and Yuusei's quiet acceptance, how in the aftermath he had tried to find her, only to be told that her name was among those who had been officially declared deceased as a result of the 'natural disaster'. How he had never once thought that a child as young as theirs had been could possibly have survived...
Crow shook his head, frantically, a motion that could be seen even from behind his D-wheel.
"It's not true. You're lying. LYING!"
In the end, even that wasn't enough to so much as pause the advent of the god; Crow's anger only built up more and more each turn, attacks becoming yet more vicious and defenses rash, yet at the same time just as dangerous.
Because the turn, God was summoned.
"Crow, you can't do this!"
"Don't try thinking you can tell me what to do, Yuusei! GODWIN! I KNOW WHO I AM, AND IT'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"
"The kids, Crow!" Yuusei shouted, pleading for just a shred of sense. "How do you know you aren't sacrificing them as well as everyone else?!"
Crow began to laugh. The condor cried out, a roar that reverberated around the sky, as if to echo the futility of questioning the last Dark Signer.
"You really don't get it! I'm the one in charge! I'm the one who gets to say who gets sacrificed! And if I say they're gonna be fine then they're damn well gonna be fine!"
"And what about you, Crow? What about all of the people who would do for you what you're trying to do for your kids? Have you even thought about what you're doing to them?"
Rex's eyes widened slightly for a moment as he realised what Yuusei was trying to do. Then again, he should have seen it coming; this was Yuusei, and more than that, this was Dr. Fudo's son.
It would only take a moment, and with Wiraqocha Rasca's effect, the ability to skip the battle phase in order to reduce the opponent's life to one single point left-
Crow activated the Earthbound God's effect. Yuusei braced himself, as Jack cried out in protest. Rex couldn't take the risk.
"Trap, activate! Life Exchange!"
"What?"
With the god's effect redirected at him instead of Yuusei, the blast knocked his D-wheel off balance, skidding from one side of the track to another. It was all he could do to simply keep upright, let alone from falling the height from the suspended geoglyph to the sea far below.
It was because of this, the bike teetering and scraping against the lines keeping them in, that caused the already damaged compartment at the back to start flapping open.
No. NO!
But he was still having trouble righting himself, let alone able to catch anything, just one small thing, as it fell out.
Time seemed to stop. His eyes closed - with only one lifepoint left, there was little to fight with.
It was gone. His last remaining link to his brother. The symbol of his promise.
He didn't even hear the splash as it hit the water.
He almost didn't notice as the bike failed further, tires and metal squealing, giving out underneath him. His left, metal arm - duel disk not extended due to the need to be able to control the D-wheel with both hands if necessary - was all that kept him from being taken underneath it.
He couldn't do it.
He hadn't been able to do as he had promised his brother. He hadn't been able to save him. He hadn't been able to bring himself to fight fate, to become the 'ultimate god' by using his brother's Signer mark and the powers of the Dark Signers.
And now, he hadn't been able to save his son.
He could only do as he had been doing ever since the war had started.
Believe in Fudo Yuusei and Jack Atlas, and hope that they could do what he could not.