IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
IMPORTANT: THIS IS PART TWO!! HIT THE BACK BUTTON BEFORE YOU START READING THIS. YOU MUST READ PART ONE FIRST.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds.
Shi
Yusei POV
I was... floating.
It was... warm.
There was... something.
The whispers would not stop; they were surrounding me, crashing over me, destroying the nothing, and bringing disconnected images to my eyes. I held onto them, knowing that they were important to me, wondering what they were saying, why they were here.
It doesn't matter. Ignore them, they mean nothing.
That voice... I didn't like that voice. It dampened the others, and they needed me... no, I needed them!
"It is not a matter of loving you too little Yusei! It is a matter of trust and bonds, like was said before! Nothing needs to be said because I have faith in you—hope that you've shown me! So hear me Yusei! Is this what you wanted us to see through this duel? A devil with your face?!"
... Jack.
"Yeah Yusei!"
Rua!
"Listen to Jack Yusei! We know you're in there, we've heard your cries! We'll stand by you no matter what!"
Ruca!
"I agree with the others. You said that your light is your darkness and that it has saved you before. Well, that same thing is why I'm here right now, rooting you on. Break free from the Gods Yusei, show us your path!"
Aki!
"We'll reach for you Yusei! You can call for all of us! We'll lend you light!"
Mikage!
"You've helped and guided us this far punk, now its time we returned to favor. You wouldn't let me take your place in the Spider Mark duel earlier, so don't you dare let this imposter take your place now!"
Ushio!
I knew them—these people were my important, cherished friends! These people... this was like before, before with Crow! Crow... Crow has fallen already! I would not let these... but... Yusei...? Who was that? Was that... me? My name?
No, you are not Yusei; you are the King of the Underworld.
The King of the Underworld? Was that... no... just thinking about it sent agony along my right arm and up into my soul... something was... wrong with all of this...
"Our bonds will see us through. Finish this duel Yusei!" Jack Atlas rode into my range of vision, startlingly white in this darkness, an angry angel come to avenge me. He held me in his powerful purple gaze, reached out for me with his eyes, they all reached out for me, and I grabbed their hands, held on tight...
Overcame nothing to find everything.
I am Yusei Fudo! I am not the King of the Underworld; I am a Signer, I am the center of those bonds that my friends cherished, I am the son of someone who created Momentum, I am the godchild of my current opponent, I am... I am not the Creator or Destroyer!
That is my will through this duel! That is how I will surpass destiny Jack!
I opened my mouth to say so, to regain my body, my place in this duel, but was too late. Jack vanished in a blast of great white light that blinded my eyes, made me shield them to the dazzling sun, stole my words and left me with only one thing left to say.
"Jack!"
The scream continued on and on as I clawed my way back towards reality, fought past the storm clouds to reach the eye. This place was vivid in my memory now, the cold empty wasteland were I had stumbled, the rushing River Styx, the presence of my father, the great talon that had infected my soul, they were all there below the clouds! This was the Underworld within the King, hell, somewhere I could not let myself be!
The closer I came to the light of the real world, the more my body ached and groaned; trials of my plight there. But I had to reach it, I would not let the light my friends gave me die!
I broke past the surface gasping for breath, for life, blind to the sudden world of light where my eyes had only seen darkness before. I closed them almost immediately, seeing black, and felt the cold grip of his talon seize my soul. Caught somewhere between reality and hell, I lashed out at him with everything I had, remembering the vow to myself, the vow to my father, and the vow to my friends.
Wind whipped at my face in the real world, buffeting my arms as my struggle pitched the D-Wheel back and forth along the track. I saw Jack fallen, unconscious or worse, and screamed for him again only for it to turn into an agonized holler as my heart was crushed by his pressure. Swallowing my pain with blood from my bitten tongue, I grit my teeth tight and steeled myself against his pull, holding fast to the hands of my friends.
"Let go!" It was a command, from both him and I, and we both refused to budge, despite the pain we brought each other. My friends were cheering and screaming, calling for both Jack and I, begging for both of us to rise where we had fallen.
I had to...! I had to...!
But I was just a mortal, where he had the strength of a god. Bonds and all, he dragged me back into the darkness, pinned me tightly in his grasp, crushed me with his willpower, raged at me for being able to escape, goaded me with everything he could...
But I refused to release those hands.
It was as my father said: the safest thing was for them was to fight. Now I could truly appreciate that statement.
Do no waste the power of those bonds on this Yusei! You've seen how they fight for you, for us! They fought for the world we can create! Do not let that go to waste!
They never fought for your world! They fought for me, and thus I will fight for them!
Then suffer in silence!
In the world beyond I felt my arms jerk out another card, continuing the duel without my will. No! I will not allow him to win the duel for his world; I would overcome it to save this one!
Fighting with every ounce of light I had did nothing to him other than annoy him, but I could not give up! I may not have the mark of the Crimson Dragon to keep him at bay any longer, but that meant nothing! I still had the bonds that it brought; I still had the power of my friends!
He still had control of my body though, as he demonstrated by declaring, "I activate the special effect of Junk Archer to remove Sun Dragon Inti! Dimension Shoot!"
The arrow cast the clouds and his talon firmly around me in a strange blue light, spurring a memory of what he had ordered that card to do last turn. I faltered with anger at myself, and his grip tightened, menacing and gloating about his actions against Jack.
But his split attention was not missed.
"While you struggle with yourself, you have become weak and naïve! I activate the counter trap Temper of Vei which negates your effect and destroys your monster!" Goodwin deflected, something wavering in his black eyes. What had the King said to him? What had he made me say? "Now you see that your bonds will only kill you King!"
"Goodwin!" I called, surprised when he heard my voice. The opportunity ended abruptly when the talon shook me, rattling my spirit into pained silence so that the King could continue to speak through me. "You will see that those bonds will win the duel for me. Now I place Shield Warrior in defense mode (Atk: 800, Def: 1600), add a face down and end my turn."
"Yusei! We heard you! We're here, keep fighting!" my friends shouted, dispelling the darkness like the bright light of a raging fire.
Goodwin laughed at their chants and at the King's play, an uncertain noise above all the hope and miracles happening around him. "You are so confident about the power of those bonds, yet all you can do is play a useless defense monster that can't protect you against my God's power? Yusei! King! I will have you both taste death and defeat!"
Yusei: 4000 (12)
Goodwin: 7900 (8)
"Ore no turn! Draw!" he cackled, ignoring the new card in favor of the Earthbound God above him. I took it in from my prison with watchful eyes, knowing somehow what it was going to do. "If you treasure those bonds with your friends so much then I'll send you down to hell with them! Make them meet despair Wiraquocha Rasca, Polar Star Obey!"
So this was the last thing Crow and Jack saw: the great shadow of the King of the Underworld calling upon its power and blasting them into oblivion with a burst of white fire. I embraced the pain the light brought when it collided with me, felt the feelings my friends had, and screamed alongside the King for the agony it brought with it.
This... this pain! It—I—
It only lasted a second compared to everything else, and when my dazzled eyes could see, the only thing that had changed on the field was my life points. There, I still rode towards Goodwin, smarting and in pain, shaking with the effort to break free. There, my friends still called out for me, worried, hopeful, and waiting for me to return. There, I could sense Crow moving around under his D-Wheel, floating back into painful consciousness while Jack forced himself to his knees on the track.
Here, everything had changed.
The King had not felt the same pains that I had tonight, being caught between the two gods. He was not prepared for the blow; for he had never felt pain through a mortal body before, just as he had never felt death. The sensation sent him into the same spasms as Jack and Crow, loosening his grip just enough for me to break free, to climb for the surface again, to emerge, and to move my aching body of my own free will.
No! You will not—Agh!
The shared pain of my friends and I kept him at bay, spurring fear across his occupied half of my soul. Air came easily into my abused throat, just as fire came easily from my right arm. I turned my head to the side through blurry eyes and caught sight of the Crimson Dragon watching me from where it had been pinned by the King.
I understood.
"So have you tasted it King?" Goodwin taunted, oblivious to the switch that had just happened. "Now you know pain, now you feel sorrow! Despair that your last moments will be full of it; despair for if you had kept your vow to me you would have lived on towards the future!"
"I won't despair Goodwin because there is still hope!" I shouted.
"There is no hope for you, King! I will destroy you!"
Despair? I'll show you despair Yusei! I'll put an end to your hope!
I could feel him around me, yanking me away, back to that place where he had held me silent. But it was a weaker pull than before, he had been wounded by his own servant, and I was empowered by the encouragement of my friends.
"You're right Goodwin! There's no hope for the King!" I replied, startling all the watching eyes and listening ears. I could feel it rise with my words, feel it expand across the city and protect me from the painful touch: hope. "My friends have saved me from him, and we will defeat him and you!"
"Yusei!"
There was so much emotion in just that single word, my name, so much joy, so much hope, so much love... so many emotions that made me feel shame for what I had done to them. But just as before, I would strive to make it up to them through this duel; I would fix what Rudger had wronged seventeen years ago and the damage the king had done with this single victory!
"We will press onwards, towards our future!"
"What?! You broke free?! But... how?! That is impossible, how can you find yourself—how can you surpass destiny while being just a mortal?! You are not even a Signer—I have taken that power!"
He was close to the breaking point; I could see the desperation in his eyes. He wanted proof that what he was doing was for the better, was the only way to achieve a great world. He needed to know that he did not make a mistake by dying. He needed me to be that devil. He needed me to give him false hope.
But I would never do that. "Goodwin, everything that's been said tonight is true! It is our choices that free us from destiny! You don't have to follow this path of evil; you don't have to turn your back on your brother! He hasn't abandoned you either, he told you to defeat him!"
"I don't need bonds like that! You say the same things whether you're the King or Yusei! You are the one who is a two-faced villain!" he shot back, wounding me more than I could let show. It was true, from what I could remember during my absence, my friends had not noticed the difference between the King and me. I felt the pain he felt, he spoke to me, I heard him, and we could challenge and defeat each other.
But I would not allow myself to be him. That was my choice backed by the bonds I've made.
"That's not true Goodwin, there are bonds that people can't lose, and yours is with you brother! That's why you've become a Dark Signer, so you could escape the pain he brought you! Look around you Goodwin! Can't you see that this world doesn't need to be changed? Can't you see that there's happiness here? Those things can only happen through our bonds, and your world will destroy them!"
"Have you forgotten already what your world will be like Yusei?" he spat back, voice harsh with something the others would interpret as anger. I knew differently, it was how I would react to a situation like this; it was how I would hide my suffocating sorrows.
Eyes soft with the remaining life point, I drew my card, already feeling everything falling into place. "That is not my world Goodwin; that is the King's. Although it was the voice of my dear friends that woke me,"—I smiled at them sincerely through the screen, shaking heart calmed by their proud faces—"it was your attack against the King that allowed me to return."
"What do you mean?" he asked with narrowed eyes, shaken by my statement without showing it. Almost subconsciously he covered the mark of the Crimson Dragon with his arms, crossing them with apparent disdain.
"It's as Jack said, the King was born in the Underworld so he does not understand death, life, or pain. When you gave him a taste of the despair he caused, the agony he experienced through my mortal body overwhelmed him. Your attack weakened him enough for me to break free, and my friends pulled me out of the darkness."
"So the King of the Underworld fears death, and that is why he occupies your body so full of life?" Goodwin mused. "And that is why he fled, for he does not understand pain when he has existed without it in his immortality?"
Irony. I almost laughed, recalling Divine's assumption that the air was full of it tonight. It seemed that he was correct. His death sobered me, and I returned my full attention to the present, where Goodwin was trying to process what I just told him.
"So he will return for you," he finished, "when he recovers himself. Then I can destroy that monster that lied to me with you Yusei. I will kill a god while it is housed in a mortal body! I will take out those who oppose my new world!"
He will return for you.
"He already has Goodwin," I replied, knowing that this truth was the only way to keep us both sane. "He is pulling at me now, and he's growing stronger. But when my time comes, I will make the right choice. I will act against him, and I will make sure the world remains for the sake of my friends. I will stop you if I can't help you."
Who says you will have the time to make that choice Yusei? I will take you soon, you can feel it.
Ahh, I hissed as his strength increased on time, pulling my soul apart again, furthering the spread of the dye he had blackened it with. Goodwin watched this with a white face, hesitant and unsure of how to react to the situation.
I would clear that with this turn. "I a-activate the speed spell Angel Baton!" I forced out, already losing blotches of my vision to the power of a god. But I had to withstand, I had to set it up for our bonds to shine through, to save Goodwin, to save the world... "I draw two cards and discard one from my hand!"
Yusei: 1 (10)
Goodwin: 7900 (9)
Road Runner and Debris Dragon looked up at me from their cards, giving me just what I needed to play out what my friends had left me. Sending Road Runner to the graveyard, I summoned Debris Dragon to the field in attack position, readying myself for what was about to happen. "I activate the effect of Debris Dragon! When it is successfully summoned, I can special summon a monster with at the most 500 attack points, so appear, Road Runner!"
"So then it's coming," Goodwin murmured. "But what use will your Signer Dragon be without your mark Yusei?"
Ignoring that comment, I declared, "I'll tune Debris Dragon into Road Runner and Shield Warrior! Clustering desires will now become bright stars! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Stardust Dragon (Atk: 2500, Def: 2000)!"
My other half appeared in a burst of starlight and roared over the great bridge, nearly masking my screams. Just as before, the King reacted negatively to the presence of a Signer's power, thrashing and fighting against the force that burned him to touch. But now that I was without the shield of being a Signer, I felt it all too. Not just his fit as he ripped into my soul, digging in to prevent himself from being ejected, but all the immortal agony he felt in the presence of a Crimson Dragon servant was shared by me.
Where that may have only been a small burn to a being like him, to my mortal body it was unbearable, and it gave out of me, sending my D-Wheel into a dangerous spin cycle, caught in the storm around me.
"YUSEI!!"
There was no one here to grab me this time, just my own strength to go by, just the power they could lend me though spirit. I tipped dangerously to the side, seeing the faraway stars as if they were beside me, and caught sight of Jack's white Wheel of Fortune behind me, Crow's Blackbird, both fallen riders on their knees, panting and screaming for me.
No! I couldn't crash, I couldn't lose control... this duel depended on the fact that I...
Hollering harshly into the night, I hauled my half dead body back into action, feeling like I was back on the other bridge, dueling with a destroyed rib cage, battling for the last time to clear the path for my friends.
I shook, but regained control. I could barely breathe, but carried on. I couldn't hear past the King's angry scream in my ear, but rode towards the future.
My first gulp of fresh air was coughed back out, nearly drowning Goodwin's taunt about my plight.
"So this is the pain you spoke of earlier, the agony of being the Creator or Destroyer. So what can you do other than harm yourself by summoning that dragon Yusei? Its attack points are too low to damage the Sun Dragon Inti."
The words were sandpaper against my aching throat, "Stardust is the symbol of hope between my friends and I, and although its presence wounds me, it gives me strength! As will the power of my friends, the sacrifices they've made will not go unnoticed!"
"What are you talking about now?!"
"I'll activate the effect of Crow's continuous trap, Black Feather Anchor!"
"What?! But that duelist has long since been defeated!" Goodwin protested, looking past me to Crow's ending place.
"Although his life points are only one, even if he can't ride with me, he's still here Goodwin! It's the same with your big brother! Now watch to power of bonds in motion—by destroying this trap card I can increase the attack power of Stardust Dragon by 2500, the amount of Black Feather Armored Wing that was released before he fell!"
"What?!" he shouted, palms slamming onto the ancient table as he leaned forward, as if getting a closer look would take away what he saw. "5000 attack points?!"
"Feel the strength of this world's bonds! Stardust Dragon, carry us skyward! Shooting Sonic!"
Strangling another scream at the increase of Stardust's power, a gasp escaped my lips, revealing the pain I was still in to Goodwin. For some reason this was keeping him in denial, keeping him from seeing the truth. For some reason he thought that the pain I felt between the two gods justified his world, that my struggle to overcome the destiny that bound them wouldn't exist if I wasn't "some devil."
Then this wasn't enough—I needed to go further still. I needed to summon...
The Sun Dragon exploded into contact with the powerful blast of the stars, dropping Goodwin's life points by 2000 critical points, setting up the path for victory that my friends had made for me.
We will take that path to the finish, where we will gain immortality in a world immune to pain!
Recovering quickly, Goodwin turned to his steadfast strategy, calling for damage dealt for destroying the sun.
"Not this time! The stars will outshine the sun with the light of hope! I activate Stardust Dragon's effect to stop the damage step! Victim Sanctuary!" My dragon vanished the same way he had come, leaving my body weak while the King only grew stronger. I had to act quickly.
"The moon will rise again Yusei! Just as you cannot escape the cycle fate has trapped you in—!"
That was it! The way to reach him, by ending the cycle! "You've triggered Jack's trap card, Conquest of the High Ruler!"
"What?! Another trap from a phantom on the field?!"
Twisting back in gratitude, I could just make out the smile on Jack's face as his card was played from my hand. I wondered briefly if he would have acted any different if the King had gotten hold of it, but dismissed the thought quickly.
Not quickly enough.
He wouldn't even know the difference. We are the same Yusei. Just give in, it will save you pain.
It's too late for that.
"With this trap I can negate any normal or special summon, so your Moon Dragon Quilla will not return to the field!"
"W-What?!"
"This marks the end of your cycle Goodwin! Now you've seen that the world can be changed through the power of bonds!" That marked the end of my turn and return of Stardust Dragon, along with protective pain from the King and my symbol of hope. Gritting my teeth like I had so many times tonight, I forced myself beyond the pain and gave myself one last goal to meet.
Reaching Goodwin.
"You've tried to change the world through bonds before as well Goodwin, and we are the result of that!"
"What?" This time he whispered it, and I could almost believe past the drumming in my ears that he hadn't spoken at all. But he had, and it gave me hope for him.
"You are the legendary duelist that flew to the city from the Satellite, and that legacy is what gave Jack, Crow, and I our first glimpse of hope for a better future. We all held onto that in our hearts because you showed us it could be done. You may have forgotten that person, but you have not forgotten the past Goodwin. You know the reasons you made that jump, you did it for your brother. Do you really want to be able to forget him when your bonds with him have gained you so much? Are you truly going to throw away your life to escape it?"
"I..."
"You took on your brother's will when you made that jump Goodwin. You gathered the Signers because of him, you challenged death to see him again, and even now you're trying to stop this cycle because it caused him pain seventeen years ago. I've taken that pain onto my shoulders now and I'll surpass destiny like you did with the power of my bonds! Goodwin! You can't keep yourself in the dark for much longer; we will light up the sky with our combined strength!"
"Then I will cut you down! Ore no turn! Draw!"
Yusei: 1 (11)
Goodwin: 5900 (8)
"Perish Yusei! Feel the power of my Earthbound God's direct attack, Death Singularity!" he demanded of me, the great beast he commanded winding up for its final attack.
"That will not happen! I activate the trap card Forceful Stop! By releasing this card I can end the battle phase this turn! Wiraquocha Rasca cannot touch my l-life points!"
The King yanked me further away, making it more difficult to compete with the faltering god before me.
"You are weak and naïve! I won't fall for a trick like that! I activate Meteor Prominence, which deals you 2000 points of damage if I discard two cards from my hand! Burn in hell Yusei!"
Forcing my hand to move, I activated my last counter trap for the game, knowing that the outcome depended on the success of this card. "Trap Card open, Joint Future! I send one card to my hand to negate a spell or trap card!"
He growled, "You are your cursed luck. But it doesn't matter, if Meteor Prominence is sent to the graveyard I can add it to my hand instead of drawing in my next turn!"
"Your card isn't going to the graveyard Goodwin!" I disagreed, spurring a vicious snarl in my direction. "Joint Future makes it so that the destroyed card is shuffled back into the owner's deck."
He paused at that, holding the card between his fingers as if struck across the face. Slowly, reluctantly, he returned the card to his deck and placed it on the table, knowing that victory had just eluded him.
"It seems that my plays have been stopped," he muttered, ending his turn. He said nothing else, but I heard it through his eyes. He saw the truth now, saw it and wished that it was false, but saw it still.
My turn had finally arrived, that last turn. Looking towards the Crimson Dragon I smiled, understanding that now was the time. Eyes closed, I breathed heavily into my speakers, preparing for what was about to pass. "Goodwin, my time has come. I've made my choice."
"Your choice?" confusion flashed across his face and was then replaced by awed understanding. "You will perish and become the Creator?"
My friends' breaths hitched, all of them about to burst out in protest, but I intercepted with a small smile and hard eyes. "No. I will do as I said before. I will rise above this cycle through my bonds! I will show you how destiny can be surpassed, even when it is deemed hopeless!"
"Hopeless?" he repeated.
"And where there is none, I will create it!" I shouted, the soft voice of life whispering in my ear. "I take on my role! I'll take that burden!"
With a roar from the Crimson Dragon, the full mark vanished from Goodwin's chest in a trail of bright crimson. He cried out in a strange mixture of surprise and frustration before unleashing his eyes on me, on the new mark that had come to me, that had given me a small taste of relief: the mark of the head.
Crow's surprised exclamation told me that he had received my old mark. I smiled at the strength of our bonds, glad that he had finally achieved his true mark now that Goodwin had finally released mine.
"But how is that possible?! I was chosen to surpass destiny, I controlled that power!" he bellowed, more upset than angry. I shook my head as some form of answer, once again reduced to forcing out words past my clenched teeth.
"The Crimson Dragon has chosen our bonds!"
"And I entrust mine to Yusei!" Jack shouted from where he kneeled, voice loud and powerful as ever.
"Me too!" Crow added.
"And I!" Aki agreed.
"Win Yusei!" Ruca called.
With searing accurate agony, the full mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared on my back, livid enough for me to follow its course across my skin. If I had thought that pain before was too much, I was wrong. This was the true burden of the Creator, of the Destroyer. This was a feeling of hatred and suffering so great that it numbed my body to any other sensation.
And it was only just beginning. The top card on my deck shone with the arrival of our clustering bonds, and I drew it with shaking hands. Without hearing myself, I activated the effect of Stardust Xiaolong in my graveyard, special summoning it forward. Savior Dragon came next, stunning Goodwin with its appearance. Something was said between us, but it was lost in my struggle between the two gods fighting within me.
Do not summon that beast Yusei! You will destroy us all!
You cannot move my heart any longer. My friends have filled it past its capacity.
"Clustering minds will now become a new miracle. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Descend, Savior Star Dragon (Atk: 3800, Def: 3000)!"
As the dragon took me within our shared soul, I felt my heart begin to slow with my mind. The shockingly numb pain had reached them as well, leaving me with just enough time to play the last card.
"Trap card open, Synchro Baton... this increases the power... of one Synchro monster on my field... by 600... for each Synchro monster in my, Jack's, and Crow's... graveyards... giving Savior Star Dragon... 6200 attack points... activate... the effect... I can negate... Wiraquocha Rasca's effect... and attack it..."
I heard my voice from very far away, holding tightly onto consciousness. This attack had to go through before darkness overtook me. I had to finish this before I could meet up with my friends in the end...!
"S-Shooting Blaster Sonic!"
Together we struck the shadow of the King with the force of our friends backing us. The Earthbound God screamed once before dying, taking whatever life Goodwin had left with it. The King wavered within me, but the battle was far from over.
Savior Star Dragon changed course, flying through Goodwin's hologram as the man faded to ash, a smile on his lips, and charged towards the enemy that was tearing at me from within. But I was fading fast... there was so little time despite my will to fight...
In the end, I was just a mortal caught between two gods. It was no surprise that they consumed me.
The second Savior Star Dragon joined its crimson leader; a rushing sound overtook me, snapping my soul in two between the battling forces. In that moment I saw everything as they, the ant like people around us, the bright red burning of the Signers, the black shadows of watching demons, the sky as it was without spot lights, and the world below without the city. I heard the melody of life as it coursed through me, and the final gong of death. I saw myself slow midflight, saw the dragon around me fade, felt the mark on my back die out, and felt myself plummet through the clouds.
This was it; I had finally burned myself to the end of the wicker.
My vision went first, followed quickly by sound as my friend's screams vanished. Taste left with the copper blood in my mouth, smell went astray with missing salty air. Touch stayed long enough for me to feel the wind plastered to my face, to feel the mark vanish from my back and reappear on my arm, to feel Savior Star Dragon vanish into stardust around me, marking my descent into death.
But it still went, leaving me in total blind darkness, unaware if I flew alive or plummeted dead. I was no where, there was nothing, I had no one.
But I've learned by now. I was never alone. I could call for them, and they would answer.
So I did.
Though I knew reestablishing those marks would end me with pain, I knew it had to be done. This was my final testimony, this was my ascension past destiny. Four bouts of pain, of love, were all I needed to achieve that...
Please, come...
"Don't give up Yusei!" The sweet scents of nature filled my nose as the first red light shone upon me, accompanied by the roar of a lion and the whispering of playful spirits. With it, sight returned to me, revealing the rapidly approaching ocean foaming below. Ruca's front claw mark.
Ichi.
Only... three more...
"Wake up damn it! My rival shouldn't be so weak!" Cheers and screams revived my ears along with the beating of great wings and the whispering of fire. Hot pride and determination seared through our bonds, jolting my sluggish heart painfully with its presence. Jack's wings.
Ni.
Ahh, the pain was back, forcing shadows to cross my eyes again, blocking the world. But I was so close to victory, so close to stopping them... I couldn't... give in...
"I'm here for you as you were for me." Warmth and adoration swept over me, mingling with stale fears and sweet relief, uncertain feelings and tentative trust, and a strong desire to protect her home. Aki's back claws.
San.
The clouds were swallowing me, beckoning me with long dead voices, determined to watch me fall into the abyss and fail, determined to destroy me before I could destroy them.
No... just one more... one...
"I'm right behind ya, just wake up Yusei!" Outright worry overcame me, mixed with the cleverness of a quick tongue and trusting selfless bonds. With the sound of wings, Crow's tail mark finally arrived, completing what I had lost.
The full mark burned on my back, accompanied by the roar of my revived dragon.
I smiled.
I had... we had...
... Their last breath will be to win the war for those they love...
Through the veil I saw the great glow of crimson turn me towards the stars and watched the world fade to black.
Somewhere beyond space I saw them with smiles and cleansed souls, with gratitude and love that would never die. Swirled glasses glowed softly in the starlight along with a jewel on the center of a forehead, arms wrapped around a small boy with her face, and another held a village in his arms. My face welcomed me softly, my eyes wept as female hands swiped them away, and a familiar grin sparkled at me sadly, "There's no satisfaction in an ending like this."
I thought of my friends, waiting for me to return below, eyes dazzled by my light like I was to theirs with the waves crashing at their feet, their cheers filling the air, their hearts bursting with joy at my final victory.
I thought of Martha and Rally who would be returned now, scampering through the ruins towards the sea, smiles on their faces as they led the others behind them, eager to see me again.
I thought of all the hope and joy they had created on me, on my miracle, and felt a solitary tear run down my cheek, tracing the criminal marker Crow, Kiryu and I shared, that Jack had given me, that had scared Ruca and excited Rua, stumbling over the small scar Aki had dealt me, and watched it fall into oblivion, making ripples in the ocean below.
"Yusei, it's time."
They held out their hands.
I took them.
We'll meet up at the end.
Shi.
Alright, explanation...
Ichi means 1
Ni means 2
San means 3
Shi means 4 or death (dead)
So... I took advantage of the Japanese numerical system for a little bit more irony, which I happen to love.
Umm... yeah... I guess now would be a good time to take off running, right? One more chapter to get through, the Epilogue!
Thanks for reading!
~AxJfan
