Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds. I do own several pencils though, which I have been using to stab myself with every time I see a dubbed episode.
This is part one of my updates, the chapter became 20-some pages in word, so I split it in two again.
Enjoy!
Life
Third Person POV
Lizard Mark
Their soaking wet feet squished with every single step they took, leaving a trail of puddles behind them. Rua chuckled in amusement, splashing in the water with the glee that only a child could have, chanting continually, "We did it! We did it!"
Ruca smiled thinly from behind him, her gaze cast towards Yusei and his unusually defiant stance. He was tense all over, seemingly unaware that they were even approaching him or that Aki had left his side to retrieve Misty's locket. As a matter of fact, he didn't seem to notice anything going on around him at all. His troubled blue eyes were locked at a point in the distance as the raging purple inferno vanished.
Curious, she tried to spot what it was he was seeing, but she failed miserably, only finding the lights of Neo Domino City. She frowned, studying the city harder and tuning out Rua's loud cheers completely. There was still nothing out of the ordinary... but maybe it wasn't the city Yusei was glaring at.
Her frown deepened, and just as she was about to question the older teen, she felt it. It was something like she had never sensed before, a presence of pure unrestrained maliciousness and death, and it was reaching slowly towards them, towards Yusei.
"Yusei!" she shouted, her voice coming out loud and tense. His eyes cleared and he took a quick look at her, understanding her cry in a millisecond. He nodded to her and touched his arm in a fashion that showed it was bothering him, but he wouldn't admit it verbally.
The others stared at the two of them, Aki returning to Yusei, wiping the tears away and adding Misty's locket to her arsenal of necklaces. Her tortured and saved eyes focused internally as she brushed her hair back in the device that kept her powers in check. Quickly, she sensed the same presence as the others and made a chocking noise.
"What is that?" she gasped, touching her temples and shaking her head as if to rid herself of its gloating triumph. Yusei and Ruca exchanged a glance while the non-Signers raised eyebrows. They both knew that only one thing not in this world could have this kind of presence, this kind of absolute power over the Underworld that sent shivers down the spines of the living.
"We were too late," Ruca answered, falling back to her brother as he came to an abrupt halt, his sneakers soiled with mud and dirty salt water. His eyes were unusually wide and fearful for only a moment, but then he pulled himself together and put on a confident face for her.
"Wait—so that means that he's been released?!" Ushio exploded at Yusei, pointing his finger in the general direction of Old Momentum. The unmasked teen's eyes narrowed in response as he turned towards the city, the grip on his arm tightening painfully.
"Yes."
The very second that simple horrible word escaped his lips, not a moment too soon or too late, the new threat appeared over the city, exactly where his blue gaze was set. The screams of the terrified Neo Domino citizens could be heard from over the raging body of water as the great golden condor mark suddenly appeared in the sky, taunting them with its power. But that presence wasn't the same as the one that they had felt just a few moments ago...
A shiver ran up Yusei's spine and he flinched, but his gaze remained determined and justified as all of their marks lit up once more. Ruca tried to reach out of his spirits to see if she could figure out what was going on within her friend, but only found the same cold passion and challenging energy emitting from Stardust Dragon.
She frowned, confused. There were several things that happened within this past hour that she didn't have a handle on, but Yusei was the one major issue that burdened her heart. She knew that there was something wrong with him, physically and mentally, but he refused to admit to it. And the way he had been acting... well she always knew how much he cared about all of them, but he had never actually showed it like he had after he'd fallen into Momentum...
And that speech he made to Divine... what was he talking about there? When did he ever face down his own darkness or death for that matter? Was he talking about his dip in Old Momentum or something else entirely? And just the way he had delivered that speech...
"What are you all talking about?" Aki asked, casting her confused gaze around our beaten group. She smoothed out the last strands of her hair, becoming herself again and destroying any evidence of the Black Rose Witch.
"Rudger told us," Yusei began, his voice spiking at the mention of his father's murderer, "that if we didn't seal every tower before the sun set then the King of the Underworld would be revived."
"King of the Underworld?" Mikage repeated, her voice carrying through the tunnels of Divine's maze. "Is that the Condor Mark's owner?"
Silence answered her as the duelists exchanged unsure glances and downtrodden hopes. The two powers they felt coming from Old Momentum and the city were similar, but so very different at the same time. The Condor mark seemed to have the potential to be all of the things that the other presence was, but had yet to achieve that... that... indescribable hatred and rage for all living things.
"Not yet," Yusei answered finally, drawing the eyes of everyone to him. There was pain in his, but he didn't bother to hide it from them this time, making them both grateful and worried.
"What do you mean 'not yet'?" Ushio complained, closing his pointing finger into a fist and bringing it in front of him. But Yusei didn't have to answer him this time; the King of the Underworld did it for all of them.
Three very loud hisses filled in the quiet void between them as the Signers clutched at their birthmarks, agonized by the sudden spike of power and heat the Crimson Dragon sent them. A warning issued just in time, for the ground beneath their feet began to tremble and shake, throwing a fit equal to a child's temper tantrum.
Rua toppled over, landing in his puddle with a splash. Ruca was at his side, clutching his shoulders and screaming silently at the malevolent spirits being released from the hold the earth had claimed on them for five thousand years. Yusei cried out suddenly, falling to his knees and clutching his arm so hard they feared he'd break it.
"Yusei! What's—?" Aki began, stumbling over to him as the maze walls crashed down around them, toppled by the quaking earth.
For a heart-stopping moment Yusei couldn't answer—his face screwed up in so much agony. Even though it seemed impossible, his hand squeezed his arm even tighter until the pain there outmatched whatever else was torturing him. He forced his eyes open halfway; his teeth clenched together, and managed to shout, "It's him! He's breaking through Old Momentum and he's going to—"
Whatever it was Yusei was about to say was cut off by a terrible screech as a blinding pillar of darkness exploded into existence over the sight of the Zero Reverse Accident. It was not difficult to see despite the grays and purples of early night, and the sound it made covered their skin with goose bumps and made them feel so much fear that they would be able to tell you exactly how many hairs were standing up on their necks.
Supporting half of Yusei's weight, Aki managed to pull him back to his feet as the ground finally stopped shaking. The maze had been completely demolished by the appearance of the blacker-than-black cloud, and with their marks glowing so brightly in the darkness; it took no time for the being to spot them. Or at least they thought it spotted them.
It had no visible eyes, it was just simply a mass of swirling pitch darkness that was stretching across the sky, blocking out the feeble light of the waning moon through the smog. Then, slowly and delicately, almost as if it were afraid it'd hurt something, a hand emerged from the darkness, hovering over the stunned Satellite area.
There was absolute silence as the hand—no talon—floated above the destroyed city, leaving fear so terrible several recently saved people felt consciousness leave them. Then, with a horrible screech echoing in its eternity, it shot straight at the Signers, claws bared. Someone screamed from within their group, but it was lost to an impossibly loud clash of thunder from the—purple?—clouds above them.
Unable to help it, their attention faded from the terrible force about to crush them flat or claw their guts out and focused on the sky, the flashes of red lightning, and the suddenly gentle ache in their arms.
"It's coming," Ruca whispered, holding her arm with one hand and her brother with the other. Her green-gold eyes were wide with both fear and admiration as the lightning began to take form above them. "The Crimson Dragon!"
Sure enough, the mighty beast burst from the storm above them, screeching at the extended claws. Instead of stopping, it simply changed directions, taking a swing at the Crimson Dragon instead of its Signers. The God of the Dragon Star met the attack with its own claws and teeth, opening gashes in the darkness that rained misery and death down towards earth before they closed again.
Transfixed by the terrible battle raging above them, they almost didn't notice when Crow finally returned, Jack in tow. Aki's grip on Yusei was so tight by this point that she hardly realized she was supporting him completely or that he was barely breathing. All eyes left on Satellite were fixated on the war between life and death, the Condor Mark burning brightly in the distance all but forgotten.
Except by the three individuals who had started this war and were about to end it.
Yusei POV
The foolish notion that I could stand up against death with my friends and come out victorious left me as soon as he spread his dark presence into our sky, blotting out any light we had. The tugging at my life from the Condor Mark was nothing compared to his command for it, his shapeless overwhelming power. My soul remembered his touch all too well, was still trying to recover from the damage that had been done to something that was supposed to be immortal—untouchable. But death was supposed to be permanent as well, and those laws had already been bent and broken into oblivion. Who's to say that any other laws must be obeyed as well?
As he spread his form further, I began to realize that I had already seen his intangible figure. He had been the "sky" in the place I had fallen to—the place where I had died, or at least tried to die. My theory was confirmed when the clawed hand emerged from the black clouds, hovering over the city, waiting to strike, whispering to me with silent triumph and laughter.
You called?
I heard the voice, but the others didn't seem to notice that it had spoken in the least. Their faces were white with fear and confusion, and Aki's grip on me was tight to the point that it was painful, but compared to feeling my soul being dragged out of my body, it was only a small annoyance. I grit my teeth and steeled myself against him as he continued to pull my consciousness apart with his hatred—my hatred—of Rudger and the constant reminder that I was supposed to be dead anyway.
I felt his invisible siege on my soul, and the indescribable agony as he pulled it slowly, enjoying my silent, white-faced suffering as the resistance I put up only made the process more painful. It felt like... like... I didn't have the words. I could only think of my soul like a rubber band, slowly being forced to stretch longer and thinner until it would either snap back to me or tear in two. The latter felt more likely.
Slowly, so slowly, I felt the strength leave me, even though I fought back with everything that I had before. I thought of my friends through the blinding agony, I remembered their sacrifices for each other and their faith in me, I flung out my scattered feelings for Aki, the fact that she had defeated Divine's control with her own will, that she had chosen me over him, and I fought with Jack's feelings for Carley, Ushio's for Mikage. My father, although his face brought me pain and the photo in my pocket weighed a load on my mind, and everything he had done to save me from becoming him the first time; everything I had went into stopping the inevitable.
It's hopeless. I answered your challenge, and you've lost. Just give into me, Yusei. It's you I want, not Rex or Rudger. They can't give me what I want, what we want.
Rudger? Goodwin? What did they have to do with what he wanted? What did he want?
It didn't matter. He claimed that it was hopeless, but he seemed to forgotten one very vital fact about me, the statement that I was only now truly starting to believe as I slowed down the process of death with the force of my friends. I am hope. I hold the hope of Satellite in my soul, in a place that he could never have, no matter how hard he pulled, not even if he managed to split myself in half. He couldn't have it; it wasn't mine or his to touch. It belonged to Satellite, and even destroying it wouldn't make it attainable to him.
It was, once again, their light and faith and love for me that stopped Death. Stunned, the hand stopped advancing towards us, hesitating in all of its hubris. Coming back into my senses completely, I realized that breathing had become rather difficult once again, so I focused on trying to catch my own breath with one final jab at the stricken force.
I'm waiting.
That, perhaps, was a bit of a tactical error on my part, for damaging a dangerous being's pride while I can't even stand on my own two feet was not a smart thing to do, especially not when I'm surrounded by my group of friends, the most important people in my life.
And death, I would assume.
The hand, the King, screeched at us all and swung his talon at us, settling for crushing us flat instead of claiming my soul for whatever it was he wanted. Guilt clouded my eyes as I watched the end come rushing at my friends. I didn't want them to take the fall with me; I didn't want the cost of my personal victory to be their unfulfilled lives.
A different kind of energy surged from within me as I looked at them, at the fright in their eyes and the bonds that kept us all together. So much was going to be wasted because I didn't find a way to beat him while my body rested within Old Momentum. It was my fault.
But this couldn't be the end for the Signers. We had won our fated battles, all of us had! There had to be some way to fix this, to stop it from happening, there had to be some way that I could intervene once more and take their fates upon myself. There had to be...
All the thoughts that constantly whirled within my brain quieted down until I was sure that I had just passed out. My mind went completely blank as I watched the hand come at us; I had run out of solutions. But I couldn't give up, I could never give up. I was carrying everyone's hopes with me...
Then, above the buzzing emptiness, it was Rudger's words that saved them.
"The Singers had no true power, and I had sacrificed him in the Crimson Dragon's name."
My Father, within Old Momentum, the power of the Signers, the light, the Dark Signers, the darkness, and their masters, the Crimson Dragon and the King of the Underworld. My Father, resting in Old Momentum, in the light connected with our powers... could he summon the Crimson Dragon now that the darkness was gone?
I had to try, no matter how foolish the thought sounded.
"Father... help..." I cried without the oxygen to make words. It was strange and belittling to have to call out for someone else to save me after everything that I've done. It was even weirder to have a person for me to call out to after Kiryu had died. But I had to; he was my last hope, our last hope. The Crimson Dragon was the force of light that was supposed to fight against the King, the only creature with enough power to. It fit together; this had to be the way to save us.
The clouds shifted. Lightning flashed in the sky. The light from my mark stopped being painful and became... loving almost. If I had the strength, I would have smiled. My father had answered my cries for him. Hope flooded through me as the Crimson Dragon appeared in a rush of life and bright red lightning, roaring out its power to the incoming hand.
Seeking out its true enemy, the King of the Underworld shifted its attention from me to the beast, changing trajectory and speed so that it slammed into our Dragon, jolting its entire body. But it was the God of the Dragon Star. A scratch like that was no where near enough to make it stop. Answering the challenge between death and I with teeth and claws, the Dragon inflicted damage back on the black sky.
"The Crimson Dragon," Aki murmured from within her trance, eyes cast towards the dark heavens. I couldn't help but smile as the strength left my legs and all of my weight was suddenly on the Psychic Duelist. My father had answered my cries; he'd heard me. And the Crimson Dragon was immortal; it would not lose this match...
I'm not sure when I closed my eyes exactly, but suddenly everything was swirling in bright prevailing colors behind my eyelids, and he was waiting for me with a smile and glowing body. I took a step forward in Momentum's power without feeling any pain, so soon another step followed, and another, and so on until I could reach out and touch his shoulder if I wanted to. And he didn't back away this time. He just continued to smile at me with his worn eyes, and he eventually reached out and pulled me towards his chest.
The reaction was automatic; I threw my arms around him and buried my head in the crook of his shoulder, suppressing confused sobs within my throat. "Father... thank you..."
He patted my back with his big hands soothingly. Then he broke apart from our embrace and held me at shoulder length, studying me with his intelligent gaze. "My son... I'm sorry to say that I have to be the bearer of bad news."
I blinked up at him, feeling vulnerable and fragile in his grip, something that I was having a hard time coming to terms with. Every time I saw him it felt like I was a child once more, my heart fluttering so anxiously in my throat and my emotions spilling so clearly over my face. I didn't like it, but there wasn't anything in particular I wanted to do about it either.
"Your fight is still not finished Yusei," he reported, removing one hand and pointing towards Momentum. "You and your friends must stop this force from being used by the Dark Signers once and for all. You must defeat the Condor Mark Dark Signer. When you all are able to do that... the King of the Underworld will have no more hosts to influence in this world, and he'll be unable to stay. He'll be forced to disappear back into hell."
"No more hosts?" I repeated, averting my eyes haphazardly in shame. I sensed him frown by the way his hands tightened on my shoulders.
"You are not his host Yusei, you've beaten him more than enough for him to cling onto you," he replied, his voice set in hard, cold stone. I knew he wanted me to look at him and smile, agree, and forget about the touch that marked me from the others. But I was just as incapable of doing that as I was of giving up the guilt that had haunted me all of my life.
"I've heard him speak Father, he says that he wants me over Rudger or Goodwin," I replied levelly, still unable to make eye contact. Then the gentle quiet around us was shattered by the tears that were suddenly raining down my face. Why was I doing this now? Was it frustration, shame, or sorrow that was making me abandon my tough exterior? Why couldn't I control myself any longer?
"My son... Yusei..."
"What does he want from me?!Why is he so keen on obtaining my soul and body? Why can I fight against him when Misty was immediately overpowered?!"
I don't even know who I was screaming my questions at, just that they had to be released before they destroyed me. The shining ghost in front of me twitched his hands like he wanted to hold me again, but I wouldn't let him this time. It was my turn to back away from him.
I would stand tall on my own, supported with the power of my friends and weighed down by the hand of death.
"Yusei, I can't pretend to know of his intentions," he began, not hurt in the least by my denial to his touch. He made to reach out and wipe away my tears, but stopped by something he saw in my eyes. A heavy sigh covered whatever he was going to say next, and we stood in the shards of quiet while I swiped away my weakness by myself.
For some reason this made him laugh, and I—startled—looked up into his light eyes as his smile turned sad. "I'm sorry," he chuckled, his eyes soft with remembrance and emotion too thick for even me to decipher. "It's just you reminded me of your mother... she did that same angry swipe whenever she'd cry... and she wouldn't let me hold her either. She was a very strong and proud woman... I'm glad that you carry on her pride."
While I was trying to deal with this new splinter of information, he shut off his smile and turned back to a serious tone. "Yusei," he tried again, shaking his head. "You have a very difficult path to follow. But you're not alone on that path; make sure that you never forget that."
"I know."
"As for the King... you should know something."
I looked back at him, waiting for his answer with hope trapped in my eyes and heart. He smiled at me again and patted the top of my head absently, pretending that my stiffening didn't hurt him. "He did not kill you. You are as alive as I am dead. It was through the power of the Signers that your body was protected in Momentum, but it was through his power that your consciousness travelled to the Underworld. I'm sorry that it took me so long to find you, but your light had been so extinguished by that point that I had barely a guiding star for me to find you with."
There were no words to say to this. I wasn't dead? My vain attempt to die before the King of the Underworld could crush my soul along with my body was for naught? I was alive and well, able to live freely in the mortal world long after the Doors were closed?
I couldn't process this. It seemed too good to be true. After all of this worrying, fearing, the taunts and demands of the Underworld, the constant fits from the King and my subconscious... how could I be...?
"My ribs?" I felt the need to ask, touching the part of my body in question. "Did you heal them?"
There was a delicate pause between us, and I knew the answer. He shook his head. "Alas I did not."
"Then..." My brow furrowed with the complexity of the situation, straining to discover a grain of understanding from the King's intentions. He had healed me instead of letting me die; he had, in fact, saved the enemy that he constantly commanded his Dark Signers to destroy. Why? What were his motives in keeping me alive if my father was so sure that he couldn't use me?
"Yes, it was the King. He used the same powers that he used on the Dark Signers to heal you, because he wanted you. If you had died you would have been worthless to him, so he had to help you before he could hurt you."
"But wouldn't it have been easier for him to control me when I was dead?" I frowned, the thought just striking me. Of course it would have been... he's the King of the Underworld. So no matter what I could have done in that situation... I would have lost—the world would have lost.
"I think I know why the King wants you Yusei, although I am not certain," he continued as I stared in disbelief at his honest face. I drew a steadying breath and locked eyes with him once more, already suspecting what he was about to say, but completely flummoxed by the reasoning behind it.
"Because I am alive," I offered, curling my hands into tense fists. "But how will this help him? He controls the dead in his domain, so how could my life be beneficial to him in any way?"
"You are the only one that he has touched who is still alive," he repeated as if trying to make me understand the significance. "You aren't tied to the Underworld; you belong in the world of the living, something he can't be in. So if he were to seize your body, he would be alive for the first time, and he would continue to be immortal. Your fellow Signers wouldn't be able to fight against your face and win knowing that the result would kill you. He would be taking revenge against the Signers for imprisoning him and he would also have a body that didn't rely on the door of the Underworld being open to live."
"He'd be invincible," I finished in a whisper, the truth of his words impacting me like a freight train. "Because even if we defeated the Condor Mark's Dark Signer and the doors to the Underworld closed he'd have me to cling onto, because I wouldn't fade away like the Dark Signers!"
He nodded. "Exactly."—a proud smile—"You don't have to worry about your friends because of the result of this last duel any longer. You'll be fine; the departure of the King won't kill you. It will allow your mind and soul to heal. But Yusei, you must continue to fight against him. Just because you know that you're not dead you can't allow your guard to fall. He'll continue to hammer at you throughout this final battle; he won't stay on the sidelines and fight the Crimson Dragon while you're getting away."
I touched my heart and took half a step back, averting my gaze once more. Sighing, I closed my hand into an even tighter fist and tried to believe everything that he was saying. I was alive. The heart that beat in my chest wasn't property of the King; he couldn't cling to me if I didn't let him.
But then what had he been doing before the sun set? I had been fighting him, hadn't I? What if I wasn't strong enough to conquer death? What if I let my friends down? What if I was too weak to cling onto the power that they supplied me with?
I still remembered the rush of his power when he had slammed into me during my trip to his domain; how he had shattered any forms of defense I had and tainted a shard of my soul while I lay defenseless and useless. Who's to say that won't happen again?
"Yusei, stop beating yourself already," he commanded, his brow scrunching up with concern. His arms trapped me in his embrace once more, and even though I struggled, he didn't release me. "Hey, hey. Stop it. Acting and thinking like this will ensure your defeat! Yusei, you have to stay strong in this fight. In all of this time I've watched over you from Old Momentum, I've seen all of the faith that you put in your friends. Why can't you transfer that strength to yourself? Don't you see how much they believe in you as well?"
I knew he was right, I already knew everything he was saying. But I had been depending on the strength they constantly gave me throughout the day, and here I was, unconscious, barely able to throw away the influence of my enemy. And no matter how many times I managed to scrape a victory out of the rubbles of defeat, he returned stronger and more forceful. Now he was free from Old Momentum, free and battling against the Crimson Dragon. He was corporal, he was real.
And the force that kept me going? It was powerful and held the truth as well, but it was spiritual. It was fortified and determined, but it was so fickle and fragile. He was Death, and death would shatter the lines that connected us all more effectively than betrayal or misguided love.
I knew that he would resort to harming my friends to weaken me, as he had displayed when he rushed at us just moments ago. There would be no way I would be able to keep myself bathed in their light while it faded from their eyes. My darkness would consume me, and thus, the King would live eternally.
I would cause the end of the world.
"I have to protect them," I declared to my father's ever watching eyes. He understood instantly, smiling when he saw the passion I felt within me cover my fears and doubts. Releasing me, he drew his arms to his sides and let his fingers dangle loosely, at ease, completely confident in me.
"Perhaps the best way to protect them is to let them fight Yusei," he supplied, smiling down at me like I was the sun, the brightest star in our sky. I was tempted to avert my gaze once more, but avoided the urge. He was absolutely right; I must stay strong in this final battle of wills. One sign of weakness could be my downfall.
He only had to get lucky once.
"I know," I agreed, frowning at the thought that the safest thing for my friends to do was confront the Condor Mark and the strongest Earthbound God we'd ever see. Divine's words about irony appeared in the back of my mind, taunting me with his cruel smile. But he had been right; this night was full of heavy irony. The safest thing to do was to fight for our lives, the immortal King of the Underworld was depending on the mortal Tail Signer of the Crimson Dragon to live, our enemies were actually our friends, and our families had become our darkness...
Families—brothers! Wait a moment...
"Why did the King mention Goodwin?" I asked, a horrible thought brewing. There was just no way that... Crow said Goodwin had been in the basement to say goodbye to his brother... he'd have been there far before we had... but why would he...?
"Yusei, I almost forgot to tell you. Goodwin wanted you to go find him if you beat his brother."
But why? Why would he want to see me unless...? And he was the only one alive in the city who knew the truth about these battles...
My father sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I think you'll find that the corruption of Negative Momentum has spread farther than just Rudger."
Gears turned within me, their speed alarming and necessary, everything suddenly falling into its rightful place. "Goodwin challenged Rudger, and because he's not a Signer, he must have lost. And to lose these matches means death, and through his will... he became the last Dark Signer, the one who controls the Condor Mark."—something within me told me that I was undoubtedly correct. But the confusion and disbelief continued—"Why? What's his motivation? Rudger wanted an all out battle to see who would come out victorious... perhaps Goodwin was just carrying on his brother's wishes?"
He didn't have an answer for me this time. "I won't pretend to understand the workings of insanity. But I know that Rex has his reasons. Once upon a time he was a good man Yusei, and I trusted him with everything I had... I even considered making him your Godfather. I guess it was a blessing in disguise that I was killed before that could happen, eh? Who knows how his corrupted views would have affected you... Or perhaps you could have kept him away from the darkness of being alone..."
"You really trusted him that much?" I had to ask. I didn't trust any part of Goodwin with all his schemes and the way he withheld important information. But the man who was currently waiting for me to show up at his manor was the result of the incident seventeen years ago, and I understand how the death of people that you hold dear can change a man. It appears losing his brother and my father in the explosion was more than enough to send him plummeting over the edge into insanity.
I suppose that's what happens when the bonds between people are more powerful than the people themselves. I certainly knew what would happen if I lost the bonds that I have.
"I trusted him with the Signer's Dragons Yusei," he smiled sadly, gesturing towards the device that attached to my duel disk on my arm. "I trusted that man with the fate of the world and with the lives of you and your mother. Perhaps I was a fool."
He sighed heavily, shifting his position so that his back was turned to me. He studied Momentum in silent contemplation as I tried to put words to a question forming in my mind. It was just how he was talking about Goodwin... how he had put all of his hopes for the future and his family in the hands of one man... how that man had fallen because of how much he cherished his bonds...
"Father... Goodwin... he, uh," I started uncertainly, not entirely sure I could finish my sentence. The addressed spirit faced me once more, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
"That's the first time I've ever heard you hesitate to speak what you think needs to be said," he commented dryly. I frowned, unsure of how to continue without sounding like I was searching for the worst in myself. He saw my embarrassed fumbling and his expression softened, his glow wavering slightly, "Yusei, I will not judge you on whatever it is you are trying to say. I'm your Father, through thick and thin. I'll love you no matter what you think you are."
I started sheepishly for not understanding that. Of course I could tell him what I thought. It was foolish of me to think I had to keep things hidden from him when all he did was tell me the truth and love me. I took a deep breath, resigning myself to an awkward silence while my father saw how I had connected two people together.
"It's just that... by the way you described Goodwin... he and I seem... Are we similar?" I finally blurted, done with trying to be technical and formal. Now was not the time to waste with words.
A stricken look crossed his face, and the awkwardness that I had predicted descended between us with a wave of Momentum. I saw a sentence form on his lips, something about how I was not insane or evil like Goodwin had become, and then he seemed to find the question I was actually trying to ask him, and his eyes studied me once more.
I waited, staring back at him with all the force I could muster, asking him not to lie to me because I knew that answer anyway. His mouth opened and closed a few times, half-thoughts formed on the tip of his tongue. Then he laughed aloud with surprise.
"I guess my wish for you to connect people has come true, huh Yusei?" he chuckled, shaking his head to rid himself of the laughter without amusement. I waited for his answer, and he met my blue gaze with his gray one.
"To answer your question Yusei, yes, you are like Rex. But, and this is perhaps the most important piece of information you can get from me, you only are similar to the man Rex used to be. You're standing in his position seventeen years ago, when your bonds are threatened by the presence of the King of the Underworld. So yes, Yusei. You could very much take the same path that he did. You could let your bonds tear you apart until it leaves you in the same state that he is. You could very well become evil."
"But I know you won't Yusei. Even though you are similar to him, you are a different person. You've made different choices than Rex did. You're still controlling your own destiny while Rex forfeited his to so-called fate. You've already made your decision to fight for your bonds with Kiryu, your mother, and me by cherishing our memories instead of drowning yourself in them."—the smile on his face was fiercely serious, and I knew he was speaking from the very depths of his heart, something that comforted me greatly—"Yes Yusei. You and Rex are connected to each other in ways different from just being hesitant allies and hated enemies. But because of this, you are stronger than he is. You know who you are. Rex has lost himself."
I was quiet for a while, staring back at the fiery scientist in front of me, the way he held his hands out in front of him, balled up into determined fists, the way he looked at me with legitimacy in his soul. And I knew that he was the one person I could still look up to, the one person I could still trust with all of my soul. I knew that he would never let me down; he would never betray me as I had been so many times before.
Slowly, the corners of my mouth upturned into a heartfelt smile. It was all I could think to do in this situation and I knew that he would understand the significance of it better than a hug or emaciated words.
And he did, he understood me better than I did myself. He returned my smile with one of his own and breathed in deeply, preparing himself to say what I knew would be the last things I would ever hear from him.
"Yusei, now that the King has gone from this place, all of the souls trapped within Momentum can finally be released into Afterlife," he whispered, continuing to smile at me. He knew I could handle his departure with grace and strength, he was truly my father.
I blinked, looking up at him with a face that was both happy and distraught. "I understand. This is the last time I'll see you." My heart shuddered at my own words but remained intact, following with the logic that this needed to happen, that it should have happened seventeen years ago, that I was impossibly blessed to have even spoken with my dead father at all.
"Not the last," he reminded me with a rough pat on my back. "Not even you can permanently conquer death."
Instead of frightening me, the thought of dying brought me comfort and serenity. He was right. After I was done living out this life with the people I cherished, I would meet back up with those that were waiting patiently to see me again. My smile trembled under the realization and resilience of the bonds between people. "So I'll see you in the end, old man?"
Expression soft, he put his warm hands on my shoulders and spoke his final words to me. "I'll be waiting. And Yusei, know that no matter what happens in this duel that you've made me prouder than any parent could ever be. No matter what the outcome is, I'll still hold onto these feelings. How many parents can say that their children stood in the face of Death himself to protect the people they loved?"
I smiled, "Five." (1)
(1) They are: Crow's parents, Jack's parents, Rua/Ruca's parents, Aki's parents, Yusei's parents, and Rally's parents. I'm sorry that this took a while to get out. I was freaking out and think that I was going to have to write a duel for this chapter (which I hate doing) so I kept researching the cards that Crow, Jack, and Yusei use in their match against Goodwin. Which really annoys me by the way. When I saw in the preview that Crow was in the duel too I was all: DX! Not another duelist for me to butcher the duel with! Meh. Oh well, I hope you all liked part one. It's probably the second most important chapter in this entire story, the ending being the first of course. Um, I'm out of here before I give anything away. Thanks for reading! AxJfan
