Disclaimer: amithegreat25 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

Chapter Four

Yusei gasped for breath as he jogged down the rather large hill. He could see Martha's house at the bottom, but the hill was just so large… how had he gotten to the top in the first place, anyway? He had no idea.

"Damn!" Jack growled from behind him. "This is not my idea of a fun time!"

Yusei had no idea how Jack could speak without any pauses even while having run for so long, but he didn't bother asking, because unlike the blonde-haired man, he needed to conserve his oxygen for movement purposes.

Surprisingly enough, Kalin didn't seem to be having much difficulty, which was interesting; Yusei had thought that after having spent such a long time without much food or exercise in the Facility, he should at least be the slowest of them, and he had planned accordingly—which was why he had set thirty minutes for them to get to the rendezvous point. But strangely, Kalin was keeping pace almost as easily as Jack was, although Yusei could hear that he was breathing rather heavily. That was good; it meant that roughly fifteen minutes later, they were almost there, in half the time Yusei had expected. Adrenaline definitely helped, he surmised.

And then his thoughts returned to the present as he and the others neared Martha's home. The lights were on, shining brightly in the darkness, and immediately a wave of calm washed over Yusei. Almost instantly, he felt the tiredness slip out of him and become replaced with warmness and comfort—he couldn't help it: It was simply impossible to feel out of place at Martha's house.

Yusei came to a stop in front of the house, bending over and placing his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. After several seconds, he straightened and gave his two cohorts a smile. "We've made it," he said.

Jack grinned back at him. "Yep! It took us a while, but we definitely made it! I never doubted you for one second, Yusei!" He checked his watch. "…And with two minutes to spare, too!"

Kalin looked suspicious, although not quite as much as before. "…Two minutes to spare before what?"

"You'll know soon enough, Kalin," answered Yusei, basking in the glory of his accomplishment. "In the meantime, though… Jack and I need to get going." He raised his right hand and knocked on the door.

"Ah," Goodwin mused, turning to the door. "That must be our little friend. Officer Trudge, please welcome him inside."

A heavyset man in the standard Security uniform grinned. "I'd be happy to, Director!"

With that said, he marched over to the door and threw it open, at the same time that Crow, yelled, "Yusei! Get out of here!" There was a brief pause in which Trudge stared at the new arrivals, dumbfounded. There were three of them? But there was only supposed to be one!

And then chaos broke out.

The door swung open before Yusei heard Crow's unmistakable tone: "Yusei! Get out of here!" Then his eyes registered a very familiar-looking Sector Security officer in front of him, and he was briefly thrown—why was Trudge here? He was supposed to be in New Domino City with Mina Simington—then reality struck. Of course—he was in the past—how could he have forgotten? Trudge was not on his side at this point in time, and in the original timeline, he wouldn't be for a very long time—which meant that if he was here—then that had to mean—and Crow's warning—

Yusei moved forward almost instantly, slamming his gloved fist straight into Trudge's gut; the tall officer gave a grunt of pain, his eyes bulging comically before he collapsed to the ground, winded and most likely out of commission, but not permanently injured. The crab-head then stepped fully into the house, and the first thing he noticed was that it was filled with Sector Security officials—there were at least twenty of them in the small space that was Martha's house. The next thing that he noticed was that his friends were bound in the middle of the room, in between the living room and the kitchen—Yusei's protective instincts flared up, and he almost started toward them, ignoring the fact that he was completely outnumbered—but then he saw one final person that made him stop.

It was a good thing, too, as the officers chose that moment to get over their shock of him beating Trudge and surged forward as one; had Yusei tried to get to Martha and the others as he'd originally intended, he would have been captured and incapacitated almost immediately. It was lucky, then, that he'd stopped after seeing Goodwin, and doubly so when at that precise moment, Jack and Kalin moved in, one motivated by loyalty and friendship, the other by hate for Sector Security—time slowed down…

"What?" he heard Goodwin cry. "Jack is with him?" A few seconds passed in silence, during which absolutely nothing moved… then chaos broke out.

One officer grabbed Yusei by the waist; grunting, the spiky-haired hero elbowed him in the face and sent him reeling—thanking whatever deity was out there for the emergency combat skills he had attained in the Satellite, Yusei permanently downed the officer with a kick. As another one approached, almost as if sensing him psychically, Yusei spun and lashed out at the man—he was rewarded with a crunching noise, and the man went down, clutching his nose—

Jack was also holding his own, Yusei noticed—being forced to survive in the Satellite did have its benefits—and Jack was definitely making use of some of the more cringe-worthy skills in his arsenal—one officer he brought down by hooking his fingers around the corner of the former's mouth and literally dragging him around by the face before letting go, and another was quickly stopped by a painful-looking throat strike.

But the most vicious of them was definitely Kalin—his original anger toward Sector Security seemed to have been compounded by his time spent in the Facility, and now it was apparent that he had finally found a release—unlike Yusei and Jack, he didn't seem to bother toning down his force so that his blows were non-lethal—indeed, he seemed to be aiming to severely injure or kill as many officers as possible, and every person he felled, he proceeded to kick mercilessly while they were on the ground—an act that Yusei suspected had more to do with the teen's boiling anger than anything else—

Slowly, the number of active and capable combatants decreased, and finally, there were only three opponents left—then two—then one. Panting from exertion, Yusei moved toward what seemed like a certain finish, striking at the man and putting him down for the count.

Then Goodwin intervened. Leaping forth, his mechanical arm shot out, and Kalin, caught off guard, was hit by the hard metal of his hand, his glove doing little to soften the blow—the silver-haired Enforcer crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Oh, no!" Jack yelled at the same time that Yusei called out, "Kalin!"

In the middle of the room, Martha and the others sat bound, their eyes wide at the carnage. "Did… Goodwin… just… knock out Kalin?" asked Crow incredulously.

No one answered, as they were too busy gaping at said Director, who stood in the midst of a sea of groaning or unconscious Security officials, looking completely at peace, his left arm pointing directly at Yusei and Jack. The crab-head tensed, looking warily at Goodwin's arm, recalling what it had been able to do to Greiger. If they tried anything, he had no doubt that that robotic limb would have little to no trouble eliminating them. The problem was, Jack didn't know that; for all he knew, Goodwin could have simply dispatched Kalin with brute strength, with admittedly wouldn't have been difficult given the latter's condition—but there was an enormous difference between a strong, well-muscled arm, and a metal one… If Jack went for Goodwin…

"Jack!" Yusei called, trying to warn the blonde without being overtly suspicious. "Something's up with that arm of his! Don't get any closer to him!"

At this, Goodwin frowned. Yusei had managed to tell that something was off with his left arm, just from that single strike? How had he been able to tell…? If he could discern something as subtle as that, then perhaps Goodwin had underestimated the Satellite… Very impressive, Yusei Fudo.

"His arm?" Jack narrowed his eyes. "All right. Thanks for the heads up, Yusei. I'll be sure not to get anywhere near it.

Goodwin's forehead creased as his frown deepened. "…It seems we find ourselves at something of a stalemate," he began.

Yusei risked glancing at the clock, which read 12:01. Shit. Their escape to New Domino was being massively thrown off by Goodwin's presence, and loathe as he was to admit it, the well-dressed man appeared to be correct… Then, for the first time that night, his adrenaline deserted him altogether, and then the impact and strain of his actions that night finally got to him—running around for nearly a full hour, fighting guards in the process, and then an all-out free-for-all at Martha's place, which he, Jack, and Kalin had somehow won against all odds—that wasn't something you could realistically expect to do all in one night and stay tire-free. Yusei could now see that hoping to get past Goodwin and to New Domino now was just plain unrealistic, and as successive waves of exhaustion swept over him, he felt at first dizzy, then nauseous, and finally, tendrils of black crept up and obscured his vision, and the last thing he felt as his world faded was that he was falling… falling… falling…

"Ohh…" Yusei groaned, his limbs sore and his head hurting something awful. He opened his eyes and looked around, but saw nothing but blackness. Feeling around, he deduced that he appeared to be strapped to a chair. "Where am I? …What happened?"

"Perhaps you would care enough to tell me that, Yusei Fudo," a voice rang out in the darkness. "What exactly did happen last night?"

Yusei gave a start—he knew that voice. "Goodwin!" he growled. "What have you done? Where are you?"

"I'm surprised that you know my name, Yusei," Goodwin mused. "I shall have to make some inquiries about that later… but that can wait. In the meantime… I should tell you that you have caused me a great deal of trouble."

"Yeah?" Yusei spat. "What kind of trouble?"

"Oh, all sorts…" answered the Director. "For instance, did you know that my Vice Director, Lazar, had to pull some, ah, rather… unsavory strings to allow me to arrive at the Satellite quickly enough to intervene in your little exploit? There is also the fact that Sector Security has worked themselves up into a frenzy trying to find the perpetrator of that break-in—"

"They're still trying to find me?" Yusei broke in. "But—they all saw me—and you—"

"Oh, yes, they did indeed see you," replied Goodwin. "But they didn't see you fall over, or me take you, you see, because you did an excellent job of taking them out of commission before that happened—I suppose I should thank you for that; it saved me much time from being interrogated by reporters on this newest scandal—so as far as they know, you took off after defeating all of them and are still at large. After all"—Yusei could feel the smirk on the man's face—"very few people know about my little, ah, arm issue."

When Yusei did not answer, the man continued. "Nevertheless, suffice it to say that no one knows that you are here, although I think that your friends should be able to figure out at least that I took you—of course, I am counting on the fact that they are very unlikely to cooperate with Security, thus allowing me to do whatever I want with you without fear of any public repercussions."

Yusei was jolted by this statement. "My friends! Did you do anything to them?!"

"Hmm… interesting." Goodwin sounded amused by this outburst. "I take it they are close to you, then?" He smirked to himself. He now had something with which to control Yusei Fudo, if ever the need arose… "Rest assured: I did not harm them, take them, or do anything else unpleasant to them. However… if you displease me, that may change."

Yusei growled softly. This was the same stunt Goodwin had tried to pull last time to initiate him into the Fortune Cup… but last time, he didn't know what he knew now. His own words from his first conversation with Jack: "I plan to make a deal with Goodwin. One that he won't be able to go back on." And then Jack, ever skeptical: "Oh, really? And what makes you think he'll listen to you?" And finally: "…I've got some dirt on him."

If Goodwin was going to try and blackmail him like he did last time, Yusei thought, it was only appropriate that he respond in kind. Of course, as with Jack, the difficult part wouldn't be the actual manipulation—the crab-haired hero was sure Goodwin would cave as soon as he heard what his captive had to say—but how to reveal that information without appearing suspicious, as though he knew things that he wasn't supposed to know. Oh, well, he thought. Might as well try now.

"So you're blackmailing me," he said.

"I prefer the term forceful persuasion," Goodwin answered confidently.

"…And what would it take for you to just let me go, and forget any of this ever happened?"

Goodwin let out an audible laugh at this absurd question. "I'm afraid that that is simply not an option at this point, dear Yusei. Once I have gained confidence that you will not attempt to betray me… perhaps then we can move on to something more pleasant. But for the time being, you will remain here."

"What if I told you that I knew things that you wouldn't want to get out?" Yusei asked.

He was met with another short laugh. "Plenty of people do," Goodwin informed his captive, "especially those bearing a particular hatred toward me. But none of my secrets have ever escaped to the public, I assure you, and if you wish to know why… it is because I keep a very tight hold on those people. If you so please, I suppose you may count yourself among their numbers."

"I know something that I think is much more serious than whatever anyone else knows."

"Is that so?" Goodwin narrowed his eyes, even though he knew Yusei couldn't see. Whatever the teen knew couldn't possibly top what some of his more prolific detractors knew… Sayer was a prime example, but it could be amusing to see what sort of information about him the young Satellite deemed so important he thought he could buy his freedom with it. "Would you care to share?"

Yusei forced his mouth into a deliberate smile. "…I know about the marks of the Crimson Dragon."

Goodwin was thrown. He quickly reached behind him and groped for the light switch. When he found it, he quickly flipped it on, causing lights everywhere to turn on and flood the room with illumination and revealing his captive tied to a chair in the center of the room, which was a tall, cylindrical space that looked brand new. However, Goodwin wasted no time surveying the room, instead quickly striding toward, Yusei and grabbing the latter's chin with his mechanical arm and forcing the youth's head up painfully to look at him. "What did you say?!"

Yusei smirked in his face despite the fact that his neck was hurting painfully and rather preventing him from talking smoothly. "I know… about the marks… and I also… know… about your plan to gather them. And… I also know… the identities of… their owners."

Goodwin abruptly let go, allowing the spiky-haired man's head to drop back down. He knows?! But three of them are in New Domino City, and one of them…I've never told anyone about it! Externally maintaining his composure, he asked, "And what makes you think that you will be allowed to reveal this information?"

Yusei laughed, his neck hurting slightly less and letting him speak freely. "Contrary to popular belief, Goodwin, Satellites aren't as dumb as you think we are. I don't need to reveal the information, because as I told you earlier, I know who all five of the Signers are. And all it takes for your plan to crumble is just one of them not cooperating."

Goodwin drew breath. "And you believe you can influence these people while within my grasp?" he asked, his tone light, although his heart was pounding. "If so, you sorely underestimate the security of this place."

Yusei made a deliberate sigh, hoping to stir Goodwin up even more. "I already told you, Goodwin; I know the identities of all five Signers. And there's no use in bluffing me, because I also know this: I'm one of the five Signers."

"You?" Goodwin forced a laugh. "You think you're a Signer? The self-importance you show is nauseating, Satellite. If that is all you have to say to me, then I'm afraid—"

"How did you know my name earlier?" noted Yusei. "You hardly seem the type to keep track of the poorest people of the Satellite, by name, no less. Yet you somehow knew my name was Yusei. Am I so interesting that you would keep tabs on me, even though I'm nothing but a Satellite?"

"What makes you think that I could not simply have matched your image to your profile in the city database?" asked Goodwin, his hands trembling almost imperceptibly.

"That database does not keep track of any Satellite citizens born after Zero Reverse," Yusei replied immediately. At Goodwin's look of shock, he smiled. "I'm very good with computers, Director. After hacking into the city database for certain reasons that I won't disclose right now, I noticed that every Satellite citizen in there was at least sixteen years of age, whereas the age of New Domino City's citizens ranged far more wildly. You were probably wondering how I found out about three of the Signers, am I right? Here's the answer: Two of them were in that database, and a bit of background reading and logic led me to conclude that they were Signers. As for the third… I investigated on the age discrepancy, and that led me straight to Zero Reverse. You did a good job of hiding the true cause of the incident, but I did a little digging, and I'm sure you're aware who my father was, so it wasn't hard for me to find out what I needed to know. I know that my father was Professor Hakase Fudo, and that you worked under him… and I also know about your brother."

Goodwin recoiled as if struck. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, and Yusei took the opportunity to plow on. "And since I was saved by my father and grew up in the Satellite… you wouldn't have been able to find me in the database, or any of my friends. So that begs the question: How do you know my name?"

Goodwin still didn't respond, so Yusei continued. "There's only one possible answer: You and I both know that I am a Signer, and if you try anything against me or my friends, ask yourself this: Do you really want to antagonize one of the Crimson Dragon's chosen ones?"

Goodwin remained silent for several more moments, but Yusei, having already said his piece, also fell silent, waiting for the white-haired man to process what he had just said. Finally, Goodwin closed his eyes, and his posture and expression seemed to relax. Then he opened them again and turned back to Yusei. "I must admit, your deductive abilities are truly impressive, Yusei. You are truly Hakase's son, and your great intellect only reinforces this conclusion. But there is a flaw in this wonderful plan of yours—or should I say, a flaw in your very character itself, Yusei, that makes you very unsuited to these sorts of negotiations, and in this way, too, you are like Hakase. You are far too loyal, and you hold your friends far too dear. To save them, you would sacrifice the world itself, and if someone takes them hostage—well then, you would be completely at that person's mercy, would you not?"

He paused and pulled a pure white handkerchief out of his pocket, which he briefly coughed into, before continuing. "You are rendered completely immobile and incapable of negotiating anything at all if your enemy possesses the one thing you hold most dear, and this is both yours and Hakase's greatest flaw. As I said earlier: To save your friends, you would sacrifice the world itself. Ask yourself this, Yusei: Is that statement true? In your heart of hearts, you know."

He stopped talking momentarily to let Yusei think, and Yusei grimaced inwardly, a scene from the old timeline drifting back to him.

He stood in front of a helicopter that was hovering in front of them with Jack, Akiza, Leo, and Luna, one that was ready to take them all to the Satellite to battle the Dark Signers. Goodwin was there as well, along with Trudge and Mina.

"Well, then," Goodwin spoke solemnly. "Our time is short, and we cannot afford to waste it any longer. Please board the plane. We will arrive in Satellite shortly."

"Wait," Yusei heard himself say. "Before we go, I want you to promise me one thing: After this whole ordeal is over, I want you to finish building the Daedalus Bridge connecting New Domino and Satellite."

Goodwin frowned. "That will be a difficult thing to do, Yusei."

"And why is that?" Yusei asked defiantly.

"Satellite and New Domino City have been separated for a long time," began Goodwin carefully. "If the Daedalus Bridge were to be completely, that would suddenly change. People do not react well to change, and especially such a huge change as this; it's in their nature. It would be… a disruption of the status quo, if you will."

But Yusei stood firm. "I won't take excuses from you, Goodwin. This condition is not a negotiable one. Either you agree to build the bridge, or you'll find yourself one Signer short."

There was a long lapse of silence, during which the tension between Yusei and Goodwin seemed almost palpable. Finally, Goodwin appeared to relent. "…Very well… I will do as you ask after you defeat the Dark Signers," he acquiesced.

Yusei nodded, satisfied. "All right. I'll hold you to that, Goodwin." Finally, he boarded the helicopter along with the rest of his friends. The helicopter lifted off, ready to begin its long journey to Satellite, and Yusei sat within it, satisfied that his demands would be met and that his promise of a better life for his friends could finally be fulfilled.

"You cannot think clearly when your friends are in danger," continued Goodwin with a smirk when Yusei failed to respond. "You may pretend to value them less than you actually do, in order to try and bluff me, but I know the truth, Yusei: You would never dare refuse to cooperate with me, not with your friends' lives hanging in the balance. Your father was just the same, and that was his—and your own—greatest flaw."

"Shut up!" Yusei yelled out, enraged. "Don't you dare speak about my father that way!"

This remark was met by Goodwin with a triumphant smile. "I only speak the truth, Yusei. You will obey me, and both you and I know why: It is because although you possess the power to completely derail my plans, as you said, you will never use it, because I hold a bargaining chip you deem far too precious, Yusei Fudo. But before I put you to work, I think that I should give you some proof your friends are alive and well, yes? Just to make sure you don't start getting any ideas…"

So saying, he inserted a hand into his pants pocket and pulled a small device with a screen on it and pressed a small button at the top. At once, the device flickered on, and Goodwin held it up to Yusei, smirking broadly.

Yusei gasped. He was looking down at his friends in his old Satellite hideout from above; they were walking around and indeed unharmed. The camera was too far to discern what exactly his friends were doing or saying, but it was apparent that they were huddled in the middle of the room, seemingly intensely discussing something. But there were three very familiar people that were missing…

"Where's Jack, Crow, and Kalin?!" Yusei growled at Goodwin.

"Ah… Kalin. So that is his name," his captor mused softly. "Well, the answer is quite simple: I had him shipped back to the Facility. We can't have disruptors running amok in the Satellite, and although I applaud your efforts to get him out, I'm afraid that I had to render all of it useless. Rest assured; your friend is unharmed, though I am sure his cellmates will be eager to meet him again, as well as the officers that he injured so severely last night…"

Yusei couldn't stop himself from drawing a small intake of breath—Kalin was back in the Facility! He had no idea what the silver-haired man's state of mind was, but he doubted it was good, seeing as the ex-leader of the Enforcers had actually seen and spoken to Yusei, only to have the crab-head completely ignore his questions and say that they were "short on time"… Knowing his luck, his efforts to stop Kalin from becoming a Dark Signer were about to be rendered all in vain when the furious teenager was approached by Roman and the others…

He spoke through gritted teeth. "And Crow?"

"Crow, hmm? I take it that he was the orange-haired person?" Goodwin asked. "I would have liked to send him to the Facility as well, but seeing as he technically never committed any crime, I'm afraid that I wasn't able to… So rest assured; your friend is still roaming freely in the Satellite, rousing all sorts of hubbub, no doubt—but that is none of my concern, really. The short answer would be that he is fine."

Yusei breathed a sigh of relief. At least Crow was fine. But that left… "What about Jack?"

"Well, you said you know the identities of all of the Signers, Yusei," Goodwin laughed, "so surely you wouldn't expect me to be so careless as to leave Jack on the streets? Why, I had sent Lazar to recruit him a few months ago for that very reason, so if you were so kind to deliver yourself and a fellow Signer to me—well then, I saw no reason for me to not take advantage, Yusei! Again, however, I will reassure you; your friend is unhurt. Is that all, then?"

Yusei frowned. As loathe as he was to admit it, Goodwin was right; he had been completely cornered and outmaneuvered, and even his ace in the hole had been unable to save him. "Yeah."

"Wonderful." Goodwin clapped his hands, and the ropes binding Yusei to the chair instantly loosened and retracted back into the chair itself, allowing the crab-haired Duelist to stand up warily.

"You're… letting me go?" he asked.

"Letting you go?" Goodwin repeated, chuckling. "Heavens, no, Yusei. I was originally intending for you to become the King of Turbo Duels, but I think that with the sort of things you know, it would be best if I put Jack in that position instead. It wouldn't do for you to go spilling my secrets to the media, after all, and if I think about it, Jack does seem more the type than you… Besides, Yusei, I have work for you to do."

Yusei made no reply. So Jack would become Goodwin's protege after all, just as in the original timeline. That was no good.

"Come now, Yusei," Goodwin chided. "Don't be so standoffish. I'm sure you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your friends, right?"

"…What do you want?"

"Well," Goodwin said, "as I'm sure you've gathered, I have been doing my best to gather the Signers, but some of them have been… less than willing to join my cause, to say the least. In fact, one of them has been picked up by another person whom I must confess I rather detest…"

"…Sayer," Yusei growled, remembering the man at once.

"So you know him!" Goodwin said, sounding at once surprised and pleased. "However, he has acquired quite the iron grip on my potential Signer, and that may prove to be most annoying in the future…"

"…So you want me to go and sway her to your side?" Yusei asked, grimacing at the prospect. It would have been good to get Akiza out from under Sayer's control, but in this case, all he would effectively be doing would be pulling her out of the frying pan and throwing her into the fire—she would away from Sayer but under Goodwin's control, and Yusei had a hard time judging which was worse.

"So you do know who they are," Goodwin mused. "After all, I never told you her gender… and yet you knew right from the beginning that it was a 'she'. Excellent; it is good to know that you were not bluffing about knowing the Signers' identities earlier, Yusei. However, to answer your question: No, you will not be approaching that particular person quite yet… No, I'm afraid I'll be saving the most difficult for last…"

He rubbed his chin. "However, what concerns me most right now is the youngest of the Signers. Her name is Luna, and she lives in the Tops District with her innocent twin brother, Leo. However, her powers are not yet fully developed, her parents are always away on business trips, and the low level of power that she is exhibiting right now is quite frankly worrying… Now, normally, the twins' parents hire someone to look after them, but I'm afraid that this time, they will be away for quite a while… three years, to be exact. And poor Luna's father, I'm afraid, is too protective of his children to allow just anyone near them for that long a period of time, and so, being quite rich and well-connected, he approached me, to my delight, to find someone who I thought would be up to the task…"

Yusei didn't answer. Was Goodwin saying what he thought he was saying?

"At first, I had no one particular in mind, and so I was leaning toward Lazar to keep an eye on the children, but if you must know, Yusei, your unexpected intrusion has proven most convenient for me… After all, if I am to recommend someone to look after the youngest and most fragile Signer, what better choice than a fellow Signer? In any case, I would much rather have Lazar handle my personal affairs than relegate him to babysitting duty, and you… well, you get to do that for me instead, Yusei."

Yusei paused to digest this information. "You're asking me to spy on them for you."

"Spy? Me? Never." Goodwin looked genuinely hurt, although Yusei knew it was all just an act. "Yusei, I am insulted that you would think so lowly of me. No, all I am asking is that you keep the twins company while their parents are gone… and one of them in particular. You won't be spying on them, Yusei, because you won't be reporting back to anyone about their movements or anything of the sort. No, you'll simply be grooming young Luna and preparing her to be the Signer that I—that the world—needs her to be. And as for how you'll do it… I'll leave that up to you. After all, Yusei…" Goodwin smiled threateningly, holding up the monitor that was still displaying Yusei's friends go about their business. "…you do seem to be quite good at coming up with plans, yes? Just keep in mind what you have to lose, and I'm sure you'll think of something."

Yusei scowled. He knew exactly what Goodwin was implying, but still… this approach seemed awfully… unintrusive for Goodwin. What was the man playing at? With the hold he had over Yusei, the man could have just ordered him to send him information about the twins regularly, and the spiky-haired teen would have been forced to comply… So why hadn't he done so…?

Goodwin, seeing and misinterpreting the look on Yusei's face, smiled. "Don't worry, Yusei. I am a man of my word, and if you uphold your end of the deal, I shall uphold mine. No harm will come to your companions in the Satellite."

Yusei sighed in defeat. "You win, Goodwin. I'll do it."

"Wonderful!" Goodwin walked over to the door and punched in a four-digit passcode before stepping onto a weight-measuring platform and placing his eye in front of a retina scanner. After a few seconds, there was a series of beeps, and then an electronic voice rang out: "Access granted. Have a nice day, Director Goodwin."

"I am glad we were able to sort that out, Yusei." Goodwin smiled at the Satellite, stepping out into a long, narrow hallway. "Please, come along. Lazar will make the arrangements for you to take care of the twins."

"I'm going right now?" Yusei asked, once again surprised.

"But of course." Goodwin strode briskly down the hallway, Yusei following. "I trust we will have no issues, yes?"

"But…" Yusei looked around for some sort of clock. "What time is it?"

"Ah, that is true," Goodwin conceded. "I suppose you need some rest, don't you? After all, judging by the way you passed out last night, you can't be in very good shape right now… Very well. Lazar will arrange some suitable accommodations for you for today; however, I expect you to be in Tops by noon tomorrow, Yusei; do you understand? Time is short, and we cannot afford to dally."

Yusei gave a nod of assent. He would play by Goodwin's rules for now… but he didn't intend to just lie back and allow the man to order him around indefinitely… He had promised himself in the beginning that he would make things better, and obeying Goodwin as long as the man pleased would not help in that regard… He would not allow the situation to become any worse; that much was certain—and with any luck, Jack and Kalin would be out of each of the Goodwin brothers' respective grasps in due time…

As Goodwin and Yusei strode down the hallway and approached a sharp turn, Yusei allowed a small smile to grace his face for the first time since last night's fiasco.

He had a plan…

"Guys, guys, guys!" Rally yelled for the fiftieth time. "C'mon; we have to think of something! Yusei and Jack are both gone and we're just wasting time!"

"We're just as worried as you are, Rally," Blitz said through gritted teeth, trying to sound reassuring but simply managing to sound ticked off. "But running around screaming our heads off won't accomplish much, either." He let out a dry laugh. "It's not any of our faults either that none of us can come up with plans off the tops of our heads the way Yusei can with his. We're going to do something, Rally, believe me—but we have to take some time to think, okay?"

"Yeah," agreed Tank, his usual scowl somewhat deeper than it normally was. "Then there's the fact that Yusei and Jack got taken by Goodwin, of all people, and getting them back is gonna be tough… We're going to need all the help we can get if we're gonna get them back…"

"Yeah, Rally," Nervin chimed in. "I mean, think about it this way: Yusei and Jack were already two of the most competent people here—they were part of the Enforcers, for goodness' sake—but even with both of them on the rescue mission, and then with Kalin himself helping after he got out—even with all of that, they still failed, and that's just trying to rescue someone from the Facility. Only God knows how much harder it'll be rescue someone from Goodwin himself—and if I'm being honest, I have to say, I don't know if it's possible…"

"What're you talking about, Nervin?!" demanded Rally angrily. "What d'you mean, 'you don't know if it's possible'? We have to, we just have to!"

"We had two Enforcers on the job trying to rescue Kalin at first," replied Nervin, frowning, "and after Kalin got out of his cell, there were three of them. If three Enforcers couldn't even escape from the Facility, and we've only got one of them free right now—Crow—how do you think we'll fare against the City Director? I want Yusei and Jack back every bit as much as you do, Rally, but I'm just thinking realistically, and I'm saying that realistically speaking, we don't have a good chance of doing much at all… Not to mention that we don't even know if Crow'll be willing to help…"

"Now, what are you going on about, guy?" came a familiar, throaty voice.

"Wha…" Nervin whipped around toward the entrance of Yusei's hideout, as did the rest of the gang.

Crow stood before them in all his criminal-marked glory, grinning broadly. "You were being all grim and talking about how I would be unwilling to help and all of that other nonsense, weren't you? Well fear not, Crow the Bullet is here now, and I'd be perfectly happy to help you fix your head, eh?" He cracked his knuckles.

Nervin gulped audibly. "Uh, th-that won't be n-necessary!"

"Good," Crow said confidently, "because we don't need any pessimism on this job. Besides"—he pretended to punch an imaginary foe—"I deserve to crack some heads too, right? Yusei, Jack, and Kalin got to have all the fun last night, so it's only right that I get in on some of the action—and what better way to do it than to beat up Goodwin's security guards while rescuing Yusei and Jack at the same time?"

"Uhh…" Rally, Nervin, Tank, and Blitz all said simultaneously, each one of them being able to instantly think of several better ways for Crow to get some "action", as he had put it.

Crow, however, clapped his hands, taking their lack of response as encouragement. "Well, I'm glad to see that you guys all agree with me! All righty; now that that's settled, let's move on, why don't we? First order of business is to get to where Goodwin, Yusei, and Jack are, and if I know anything about the citizens of New Domino City, especially their Director, that somewhere is going to be in the city itself—which means, of course, that to get there, we're going to have to get from here to there."

"Okay…" said Blitz, wisely electing not to make any sardonic remarks this time around. "Go on."

"Well, luckily for us, Yusei had already cooked up a plan to get there right from get-go, now didn't he?" said Crow happily. "Of course, it was for him and Jack, not for me"—Crow's voice briefly lowered to a grumble before rising back to normal—"but they're not using the Duel Runners right now because they got to the city another way, courtesy of Goodwin—so that leaves the way open for us, now doesn't it?"

"And 'us' refers to—let me guess—you, Rally, and Nervin, doesn't it?" asked Blitz, scowling.

"You read my mind, Tank!" Crow answered, grinning at Blitz. "Great job!"

"I'm Blitz, not Tank," said man answered, looking ready to murder Crow.

"Blitz, Tank—same difference," answered the ginger-haired teen dismissively. "What's important is that neither of you are heading on this little road trip of ours, so you guys just get to sit back and relax while Crow the Bullet gets to work—so basically, you're not part of the plan at all," he finished.

"Oh, great!" snapped Blitz angrily. "Got anything else to tell us, Crow the Bullet—or should Tank and I just leave now?"

"Hey, hey, now," said Crow placatingly. "I don't mean that you guys are useless or anything; I'm just saying that you guys don't get to come along, okay? Don't take it personally or anything—" he added hastily at the look on Blitz's face, "—it's just that only Nervin really has any riding experience, and we need all the experience we can get to get through the pipeline safely—"

"I can already tell you're not nearly as skilled a planner as Yusei is," said Blitz immediately. "For one thing—the pipeline only closes once a month for maintenance, and unless you're planning to sit around and do nothing for a whole month while Goodwin does whatever he wants to Yusei and Jack, I don't really think heading to the city through there is much of an option. For another—I'm guessing that you probably have no idea what to do once you actually get to the city, am I right?"

"That's completely wrong!" answered Crow, grinning crazily. "I have a perfect idea of what to do!"

"Okay. What?" spoke Blitz.

"First, I'll… uh… I'm probably gonna… um, uh…" Crow trailed off as he realized for the first time that he indeed had no idea what he would do once he reached the city.

"My point, proven exactly," stated Blitz boredly.

"Okay, well, maybe I can't account for as many contingencies as Yusei can!" Crow retorted, losing his cool for the first time since his arrival. "So what? No one can plan as good as Yusei! What were you aiming to prove, anyway? That I'm not as good at planning as Yusei? Well, guess what, genius—no one is! So congrats on having proved something that everyone knew anyway! But right now, my plan is the best we've got, so unless you've got a better idea—"

"That's what I was saying earlier," Nervin ground out impatiently. "We don't have any better ideas, and I'm just saying that if this is the best plan we've got, we won't make it. It's that simple."

"Oh, will you just shut up, already!" said Crow hotly. "Don't you know that the Enforcers were known in their day for always trying to do the impossible—and oftentimes succeeding, I might add?"

"Well… I suppose," allowed Nervin, "but that doesn't mean that—"

"You know of our legacy," Crow shouted wildly, causing several stares to be directed at him, "and yet you still doubt?! The Enforcers thrive under pressure!" He puffed out his chest, pointing a thumb directly at himself. "And I… am no exception!"

After several seconds of awkward silence, Blitz valiantly tried to return the conversation to a more reasonable and realistic discussion. "So… basically, what you're saying is… despite all the obstacles we've brought up, you're going to try out your insane plan anyway and thrive under pressure—and if I were going to take a guess at whatever that means, I'd guess that it means you're going to make it up as you go along."

Crow smirked grandly in some sort of self-satisfied way. "Yep," was his only reply.

There was another awkward silence, punctuated only by the soft drip, drip of water leaking out of a rusted pipe. Finally, someone spoke.

"Yep. We're doomed."

Jack strained against his bonds uselessly, his face contorted with anger. "YOU!" he yelled into the darkness. "Let me go, you psychotic idiot!"

"Oh, I don't think so," returned that utterly annoying voice, seemingly closer to Jack now than the last time it had answered. "I'm afraid I'm not authorized to do that just quite yet… But rest assured, when I do…" At this point, the voice took on a slightly menacing tone. "…you'll wish I hadn't."

Jack, needless to say, wasn't perturbed in the least by this poorly veiled threat, although it did send his blood pressure levels skyrocketing. "You dare to speak to me this way?! You should be bowing and scraping before my glorious presence, peasant! Why, when I get out of here—"

"You won't be getting out of here any time soon," returned the voice, which had regained its infuriatingly happy tone. "Although I am intrigued by your use of the word 'peasant'. What do you think this is, medieval times?" At this, the man chuckled, a sound that, like everything else he did, was extremely irritating to Jack.

"You're one to talk," the furious blonde shot back. "What do you think this is, a circus for the clowns to crack stupid jokes and laugh even more stupidly? The King has no use for a royal fool, and especially not one that does nothing but sit around all day and annoy him! I swear, the more you prolong this torture, the more my wrath will descend upon you when I do get free, you idiot! If you want to live beyond this day, you will let me out, and now!"

"Well!" the voice declared, growing more high-pitched. "I have never been more insulted in my life! You do not remember me, Lazar—the one who came to recruit you to the city? Royal fool, indeed! Why, if it were not for me, you would not even have had a chance to become King!"

Jack reeled back. "Y-you?!"

"Yes, me!" Lazar said haughtily. "And if you need proof, then see this!" He reached dramatically for the light switch and flicked it on, revealing himself standing near the wall of a tall cylindrical room. "Ta-daa!"

"You!" Jack growled, fixing the clown-like man with a murderous glare. "So you are working with Goodwin, then! I knew that voice sounded familiar! What's your plan?!"

"You really shouldn't be so edgy all the time," Lazar chided. "It's not good for your health. And as for what I—or rather, what Director Goodwin is planning—well, that's for myself and Director Goodwin to know and for you to find out… or not."

"Jack will find out in due time, Lazar," came a voice from the entrance to the cell, and both of its occupants swiveled over. Goodwin stood in the doorway, dressed as elegantly as usual, his arms tucked behind his back. "But in the meantime, I must insist that you leave now. Your assistance is greatly appreciated, but right now, our, ah… other resident is in need of assistance."

"Oh?" Lazar's ears pricked up. "That quickly, Director? I am most surprised."

"Yes, well… I had certain key cards that came in most useful during our negotiation session," Goodwin admitted. "However, now is not the time to discuss such things. You are to go and give our guest whatever he needs for the night, and in the morning, he shall be off."

"Yes, Director." Lazar gave Goodwin one last bow before stepping out of the cell. The doors slid shut behind him.

Goodwin sighed, gazing at the closed doors. "Lazar… what must I do about those theatrics of yours… not to mention that hideous clown make-up." Then his eyes cleared, and he turned around to face Jack. "Ah, Mr. Atlas. How are you?"

"Goodwin," the tied man spat, his tone of voice making it clear exactly what he thought of the Director.

Goodwin smiled benignly. "Such animosity, Jack… But then, you will need that sort of aggressiveness if you are to become the King, Jack, are you not?"

"That again?!" Jack growled. "I know better than to accept any of your deals, you snake-faced bastard!"

Goodwin drew back as if hurt. "My goodness… What an attitude. I can only imagine the things young Yusei has been telling you about me…"

Jack stiffened at the mention of the crab-head. "Yusei?! What have you done with him?!"

"How alike," Goodwin mused softly. "I should tell you that Yusei asked the exact same thing about you when I spoke with him…"

"Answer the question!"

"Come now, Jack; don't look so worried—it ill-befits you. Don't you want to be the King of Turbo Dueling?" Goodwin's voice was soft and persuasive, but at the same time, there was a mocking quality to his words.

"What gives you that impression?" Jack snarled.

"Jack, Jack." Goodwin smiled. "You mustn't be so secretive. If you believe for a second that I did not hear your conversation with Lazar—why, then, you underestimate the power of technology, Jack. What was that I heard about 'peasants' and 'Kings' and 'royal fools' earlier?"

"I don't need anything from you!"

"Ah… so now we come to the crux of the problem." Goodwin stepped forward until he was standing directly over Jack. "You see, Jack, I think you do need something from me. It is my understanding that right now, you are my… guest, shall we say, which means that as the master of this house, I am the one holding the power in this scenario. Now, I dislike having to resort to underhanded deals and threats, Jack, but I'm afraid that right now, I have the capacity to decide what will happen to you for the rest of your life."

Jack snorted loudly. "Was that little speech supposed to scare me or something? Listen, you pampered rich chump: I grew up in the Satellite, which means I've seen a lot scarier things than you, and that means that I am not intimidated in the least by your little threats. Now I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told your little clown friend: Let me go now, or I'll clock you a new one."

Goodwin chuckled. "I can see that I made a good choice in you as my future protege, Jack. That temperament of yours will come in most useful in the future. But right now, I'm afraid, you're doing little to move us along in this little business endeavor of ours. I can make you King, Jack! Is that not what you want?"

"You've asked me the same thing three times now," spat Jack. "I'll give you the same answer I gave before: I've got nothing to say to you. Where's Yusei?!"

For the first time in their conversation (if one could call it that), Goodwin's mask of serenity seemed to slip. His expression darkened, and he leaned forward until he was nearly nose to nose with Jack. "You seem to be under the impression that you have some say in the matter. You will find out about your friend Yusei in due time. In the meantime, however…" He spun around and began to walk away from the blonde-haired Duelist. "…you will stay here and think over your decision. I am sure that you will make the right one after I give you some time alone to ponder."

"Where are you going?!" Jack shouted. "Come back here! When I get out of here, Goodwin, I swear I'll—!"

"You will not be leaving this room until you are ready to tell me your decision, Jack," came the answer. "So I suggest you make yourself comfortable. Hopefully, you will be able to sort through your options quickly enough… and choose the right one."

Goodwin reached the door, stepping onto a weight-measuring platform and allowing a digital machine to scan his eye. A digital voice rang out, and the doors slid open. "Access granted. Have a nice day, Director Goodwin."

The white-haired man stepped through the doorway, turning around to take one final look at his captive Signer. Then the doors slid shut, obscuring him from view.

Within the soundproofed chamber, Jack let out a roar of fury. "GOODWIN!"

The next morning, Yusei awoke with a start. "What the…" He looked around at his room before letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Oh, right. Today's the day I go and meet the twins. Standing up, he stretched himself before quickly dressing himself. Seeing as he had left his signature jacket and the rest of his clothes in the Satellite when he had dressed himself up as a guard, he had not choice but to select from the clothes Goodwin had seemingly placed in the hotel room's closet; the end result was rather more formal than Yusei was used to, although it was nevertheless comfortable.

He'd more or less grown used to the crazy situations he always seemed to find himself in, but as he stood and stretched, Yusei was struck with a mad urge to laugh. He rarely thought about it while on the move, but he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he was about a year out of time—not to mention that the mechanics of the swap didn't make sense at all. (For instance, where had his younger self gone when he had replaced himself? Or why had he ended up in his old body at all, when he could have simply traveled back in his own body?)

And then, Goodwin had caught him, thoroughly outmaneuvered him, and was about to use him to "observe" the youngest Signer, Luna… which meant that the man was inadvertently doing him a favor.

He had already brought Jack to his senses, but Akiza was a bit more difficult. After all, she was in the city, most likely already under Sayer's control, and although he and Jack and been planning to get to the city anyway, he would have been forced to try to contact her while maintaining his cover illegally in the city. But Goodwin—he had given him the perfect excuse. Even though Goodwin had requested that he look after Luna and not Akiza, he would still have a free pass to be in the city—and even if he did get caught, Goodwin would have no choice but to release him unless he wanted to lose a Signer.

Which meant that he could do whatever he wanted in the city, within reason. Which meant that Goodwin, by bringing him to the city through legal means, actually made his job considerably easier.

A crazy situation, indeed.

Fully dressed, Yusei stood and headed over to door of his hotel room, marveling all the while at how clean it was—even his stay at Zora's couldn't match this. He had to give Goodwin credit—the man may have been a lying, scheming manipulator, but he certainly had assets. Stepping out into the hallway, he stood and waited, still looking amazedly at the decor.

Yusei was startled out of his thoughts by Lazar walking down the corridor of the hotel. As usual, the short, clown-like man was smiling ominously. "Ah, Mr. Fudo. Judging by your appearance, I take it you are ready to head to the Tops District."

Yusei looked away from Goodwin's Vice Director. "…Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good, good." Lazar clapped his hands gleefully like a child. "Well, then, Mr. Fudo, your ride will be downstairs shortly.

"My ride?" Yusei asked, surprised.

"Of course," Lazar replied smoothly, inspecting his fingernails disinterestedly—or at least he would have been if they weren't covered up by a pair of thin white gloves. As it was, Yusei had no idea what the light-haired man was doing—checking for holes in the fabric, perhaps?

Lazar resumed speaking. "We wouldn't want you to appear lowly or uneducated in front of the twins' father, Mr. Fudo. As I'm sure you're aware, he is a very important businessman, and he usually hires someone of the utmost quality. I assume that the Duel Runners we found in the Satellite near your friend's home belonged to you and Jack—that was a very impressive feat, by the way, constructing not just one, but two Duel Runners—but impressive or no, we can't have you riding over there on one of those horrid-looking things—the poor man would throw a fit! No, no, no—that simply would not work, and for that reason, I have arranged a ride for you."

Yusei thought it over. It made sense. "Okay. So it's downstairs, you said?"

"I would think that it would be here by now, so… yes, indeed!" Lazar smirked at him. "And by the way, don't worry about checking out of the hotel or anything of that sort—we've already taken care of it."

"I guess I should say thanks… but really, I don't feel like thanking my kidnappers." Yusei turned around and began to walk down the exquisitely carpeted hallway. "But before I leave, make sure to give Goodwin this message: He's going to regret messing with my friends."

"Oh, my." Lazar chuckled annoyingly. "I'll be sure to pass that along, Mr. Fudo. Have a nice day."

Yusei strode down the stairs and into the lobby. He could see a pure black sedan waiting outside through the transparent rotating doors. As he walked through, the sedan's door automatically opened, and Yusei stepped in. The inside of the car was completely clean, and the seats were composed of pure leather.

The driver didn't look at him, but instead simply stepped on the gas. The car began to move, and Yusei looked out of the window at the rapidly shrinking hotel behind him, thinking about Jack, about Kalin, and about Goodwin. I'll get you back, Jack. You too, Kalin. I'll make sure that the Dark Signers never get to you. I'll get you out from under Sayer's grasp, too, Akiza.And as for you, Goodwin… I'll get you for this, too. You may have gotten the advantage right now… but I will get you.

Yusei has gotten himself and Jack captured, and worst of all, Kalin is back inside the Facility as if they had made no change at all. However, out of this grim situation, an unexpected positive side emerges: Yusei is now free to wander in New Domino City, and Goodwin has just unwittingly placed him next to two of the most important people in the world, providing him with a priceless opportunity. However, Yusei is suspicious of Goodwin's motives behind this decision, as well as its uncharacteristically unobtrusive nature. Meanwhile, however, Jack remains in confinement as Goodwin's captive. Will Yusei be able to rescue all of his friends as he has sworn to, or is this the obstacle that will finally stump him for good? Find out next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rewriting the Future!