No longer able to duel as he was unable to keep riding, Rex was forced into watching the rest of the duel unfold from his place on the Geoglyph.
Moments went by as the others still in the fight made their way around another of the Condor's bends. Minutes. He saw turns being taken, knew that Crow was holding nothing back, no more so than when he turned on Jack, directing the Earthbound God's rage and effect at the boy he'd had so much hope in - who he'd spent so much time, energy, resources on, just to get to point. Not for nothing; he was sure that Jack hadn't given up just yet, leaving behind something for his friend to use. But for Rex, it was one more disappointment. One more failure... not only of those around him, but also of his own making.
And yet now everything rested on Yuusei's shoulders. One boy, grown up too fast like all of them had after Zero Reverse, but still a boy. The professor's son, who didn't think twice about taking on everyone's expectations.
Anyone else might have buckled underneath their weight. He... Rex could no longer deny that he had. And yet there the boy went, still believing that there was a possibility of survival.
Not even believing. Certain, even, that with the feelings of his friends behind him, that the duel could - had to be - won.
Then... the ocean below him began to glow, with a faint, red light that must have been blinding from closer up, before the light vanished entirely. That red glow... surely... it can't have been? His brother's arm with his birthmark on it, likely still in its case, now sinking to the bottom of the channel between Neo Domino and Satellite. Yet he saw the glow from the screen of his broken down D-Wheel, of Yuusei looking at his arm, and in the distance further along the geoglyph as Jack looked at his own, and then further away smaller glows of light as three others received the mark of the Crimson Dragon.
The marks were reacting to something, that was for sure, and it did seem as though something was different, although he didn't know what.
But with that, the marks were now all reacting, and within moments were all realigned on Yuusei's back.
Then - never... not up close, not in person, never had he seen such a thing in person, so to speak. The Crimson Dragon's power incarnate as one of the Signers' dragons - the 'Saviour Star Dragon', in this case, as Yuusei called it.
"No matter what you try, I'm not about to give up on you, Crow! Not me, or any of the others! You think you're fighting for your kids... we'll make sure nothing like this happens to them ever again! And if that's how you feel... what do you think that person feels about you?!" The dragon roared, lighting up the night sky as it flew after Yuusei, keeping pace until its summoner called the attack. "We're not just doing this because we want to save the world - it's because that's what a bond is! And bonds like ours can't be broken that easily!"
Saviour Star Dragon shot clear through the Condor, destroying the Earthbound God in one attack and with it, the rest of Crow's lifepoints as the God cried out one last time and disappeared along with any other cards still set on the field, leaving Crow himself alone on the field, bike forcibly drawing to a halt with his loss. Yuusei riding as as fast as he could to catch up, to be there in time, and yet...
"Crow? Crow?!"
Rex's eyes widened the moment he realised what must be going on. Crow, then... just like the others...
No... no...!
Shooting Star Dragon hadn't yet finished, however, making a swift turn and heading straight back toward the King of the Underworld, this time surrounded by the Crimson Dragon's raw power. Rex steadied himself, knowing that unless a miracle happened, they would all be left in the sea when the Condor's geoglyph finally disappeared. And Crow... Crow and Yuusei were several bends short of the other side, too far to reach in such a short amount of time.
The Blackbird began to slow, the automatic braking system coming into play as the Hellgod was destroyed, with no sign of Crow to be seen.
The Condor Geoglyph shone like gold, and then scattered like shimmering dust.
Crow...
...
It was dark, where he'd found himself. Dark, and cold, even with the cloak around his shoulders. It was funny, though, he thought. He hadn't imagined death to feel like anything. Not 'real' death. The other one had kinda been cut short by a bastard featherbrain of a 'god' butting in.
Not like he wanted it to have stuck. That would've royally sucked, being dead, as if what he'd ended up as hadn't been far worse.
But still. This wasn't what he'd expected. And he was sure he could hear voices...
Yuusei...? And... someone else? 'M sure I know that voice from somewhere, damn it...
But too much of him was too tired, too spent, to care. He'd felt himself disappear, he'd felt it.
"They're going to wake up soon," that almost recognised voice was saying. "Make sure you look after them... and my brother, could you?"
Wait, brother? What? He was missing something here. He had to be.
"He lost everyone, and I'm partly to blame for that, so he never learned what it meant to be a father."
What...?
"But- Rudger!"
Rudger. That was it. The voice, he'd heard it before in that duel. Yuusei... he'd been, not losing, but questioning himself, and this person...
Rex Godwin's brother.
"Please tell Rex I'm sorry I couldn't come back for him as well could you, Fudo Yuusei? And that it- is good to see my nephew with my own eyes... even like this, just this once."
His... nephew?
"RUDGER!"
And then, he was... breathing again. Not the fakery that being a Dark Signer had made of life, but... actually breathing.
And for some reason, he couldn't keep himself from crying. The others weren't quite awake yet, and he couldn't bring himself to care about that just yet anyway.
All of the things he'd done. The things he might have done. The things he might as well have, for all that he'd been stopped, because he'd meant to, and oh god.
The tears wouldn't stop, and maybe it was that which made it easier for the others to realise that he wasn't asleep still, or maybe it was the fact that he was sitting up instead of lying down, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs, shoulders shaking.
As much as he hated what he'd found himself still in, he didn't have the strength to tear any of it off just yet. This was what he'd let himself become, wasn't it? What the hell reason was there to lie about it? He was... he was just as bad as any of them, when it came down to it...
Arms. Arms around him, without warning. Strong, gentle, careful. A feeling that reminded him of Martha, if that was possible, but Martha wasn't here, and it didn't feel like Martha anyway, so who-
"Alive... you're alive-!"
Godwin? It was hard to believe given all of the emotion, when the man had never been like this before.
All of the things the man had said during the duel, and all of the things Crow had thrown back at him, resurfaced violently, and he flinched away.
"Get..." He drew in a sharp, painful breath around the now sore eyes and scratchy throat. "Get... away from me, you..."
Godwin stilled, but didn't move.
"I've almost lost you twice now," he said, getting his voice under control again. "Although you may not agree with the decision... I won't be making those mistakes again."
The grip did loosen, however. Not gone, but looser. For the same reason that he hadn't torn off the black and purple yet, he couldn't bring himself to throw off the comfort of who'd done... all that... just for him.
He rubbed at his eyes, opening them just slightly when he heard voices.
Bright. That was the first thing he noticed. The second was Yuusei, looking back at him in concern, but obviously more worried about his state of mind than the fact that Rex Freaking Godwin had his arms around him.
And speaking of Yuusei, he was a few feet away. Talking with a reluctant Kiryu who wouldn't meet his eyes. Jack was likewise with a woman with long, dark hair, and he was... holding out glasses to her? Aki was talking to some person he was sure he recognised from magazine, and...
He shuddered.
Footsteps. Boots on pavement. He looked over again only to find that Kiryu was hanging out over at the 'side' of the group, leaning against something with eyes as dead as Crow felt inside.
Despite himself, he laughed, brokenly. Man, we're a really messed up bunch.
"Crow...?"
"..."
Yuusei sighed, and sat down on the ground next to them. Godwin adjusted himself, still irritatingly leaving one arm around his shoulders.
"Crow... I meant what I said back there. And the same goes for the rest of us. I'm not about to give up on any of you. None of us are."
"And if you feel like leaving," Jack said, the woman he'd been talking to now staring at her glasses, confused and apparently unaware of anything that'd happened for a good while, "then you've got another thing coming!"
He felt rather than saw Godwin nod from behind and to the side. "Along with any and all customary duties involved in bringing the city back to its former glory, I would like it if you would watch as I fulfill a particular promise I made to the two of you."
"Eh?" That was... the first he'd heard of any promise.
Yuusei apparently knew more than he did, however.
"You'll finish the construction of the Daedalus Bridge, then," he said seriously.
Godwin inclined his head slightly, to which the others surrounding him - even Kiryu, several feet away from where they were sitting - reacted with surprise. Crow himself stilled, remembering the conversation in the Old Momentum research facility. Remembering their words during the duel.
"I see no reason to keep Satellite and Neo Domino separate any longer. If in fact they should have been in the first place," he said pensively, and Crow wondered if he was remembering how so many in both areas had died, how so many places completely destroyed. "With the completion of the bridge, we should be able to start repairing Satellite itself."
"Aah," said Yuusei, leaning back against Crow, apparently not caring that they'd been fighting mere minutes before and that at that point, Crow would have been quite happy to have seen his friend dead. "That's good."
Even so, he couldn't argue against that.
Satellite and the City joined up at last, huh? Looks like the 'Legendary D-Wheeler' finally got what he wanted, he thought to himself, not wanting to vocalise those thoughts just yet. Took him long enough.
And somehow... through some miracle... he'd be able to see it happen.
...
AN: For some reason, it took me forever to get the first few lines properly going. And then it seemed to flow within a matter of days. Seriously.
I think a few of the points here were toned down from when I first conceived the idea, but I think it works out; I actually managed to get one plot point in when I'd almost forgotten it, although I'm not saying what that is.
Because it's such an interesting concept and it gives the opportunity for quite a few funny moments, I'm not going to completely stop here. Although I don't know how long the chapters are going to be from here on out, I'm going to see if I can get more scenes and moments done from the rest of the series.
And this is the end of the stuff I've already gotten written up for the story! For anything else, you're going to have to wait until it's written. Sorry. But I thought that since I'd reached the end of the main action that I'd originally planned on writing out, I'd share this over on FF rather than just keep it back.