I honestly didn't know how much time had passed since Yusei and Roman had fallen into the rainbow-colored light. It had happened so quickly that I was still trying to take it all in. One moment, Yusei had won his Shadow Duel against Roman, the next, Roman took out the bridge's support and sent them both into the light together.
"Yusei's dead! Yusei's dead!" Leo cried, tears running down his face.
"He can't be…" Luna muttered. Although she wasn't crying like her brother, her voice was wavering. I heard footsteps coming up from behind me. I turned and saw Crow, who ran up to us and peered down into the light.
"Yusei wouldn't go through all this just to die here! He's fine! I'm sure of it!" Crow assured Leo, causing him to cheer up slightly. "The only thing we don't know is where the light leads…"
"Didn't you hear what Roman said?" I asked softly, causing everyone to turn to me. "How that light leads to Hell?" I moved just a little bit closer to the edge, crouching down and steadying myself to get a better look at the light. "He said that this Momentum served as a Passage to the Underworld, and I've heard that you can't go back through the same Passage. That being said, there are several other places where one can not only enter Tartarus, but leave as well. These places were cut off from the Gods by way of Adamantine Gates. The gates can only be opened by the hand of a mortal. That has to be why the King of the Underworld requires the assistance of the Dark Signers in the first place." I shook my head. "But I digress. If Yusei can find one of these gates, he can escape."
"So Yusei still has a hope?" Leo asked. I nodded once more. "Alright!" Leo cheered. "That's awesome!"
"Tyler…" Luna muttered, causing me to turn to her.
"Yeah?" I asked her softly.
"How do you know all of this?"
I looked down at the floor. "To tell you the truth, I don't know how I know." I sighed. "I'm sorry I can't be more specific. I'm also trying to figure out some of the stuff I said. Most of what I said is probably wrong anyway." I turned to Crow. "Hey, uh… It might seem like a bad time to ask this, but where'd you run off to?"
"Well," Crow began, scratching his head. "I noticed a building that was just on the other side of the crater. It had, like, a military aircraft carrier out the front of it. I went to investigate, but I didn't wanna tell you guys in case you followed me and we all got caught."
"What did you find?" Trudge asked.
"I think that the building is just an extension of the reactor here. One of the rooms was basically trashed, but some of the equipment in the room was still working, and it actually pointed to this place right here." Crow explained, motioning to the pool of light. "That's how I was able to find you guys."
"It's all connected, isn't it?" I asked. "The Momentum Reactor and the Operations Room, I mean."
"Yeah…" Crow informed.
"Then the other gates…" I muttered, slowly trying to piece everything together. "Crow, where is this room?"
"Uh… It's a fair ways away from here. Why?" Crow asked.
"We need to go there right now!" I shouted.
"What?! Why?!" Trudge asked.
"If it's connected to the reactor, then the Operations Room could serve as a way for Yusei to get out of the Underworld!" I explained, causing everyone's eyes to widen.
"Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way, Crow!" Leo shouted. Crow nodded and headed back the way he came as I followed closely behind him. Trudge, Leo and Luna struggled to keep up, but we all eventually made it to a room blocked by a steel door.
"This is it…" Crow muttered.
"Did you go in before?" I asked.
"No, but I saw what was inside." Crow admitted.
"Okay…" I murmured, slowly opening the door. "Stay close, everyone." I ordered.
We walked in, but the room was pitch-black and we had no idea where we were going. The only source of light was coming from Luna's Signer Mark. I heard Leo yell out as a thud accompanied him. Suddenly, all of the room's overhead lights switched on, revealing a computer and the same pool of multi-colored light, only this time, it was protected by glass.
"Leo! Are you alright?" Luna asked, helping Leo to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I must've tripped on something." Leo said sheepishly. "Whoa! Check it out!" Leo shouted, walking up to the glass and running his hand along it.
"Leo! Stay back!" Luna shouted, clutching her arm.
"If you break the glass, we don't know what'll happen!" Trudge added.
I silently walked over to the computer and tried to make sense of what was on the screen. One of the applications running was just an audit application managing the glass container, the specifics of which I couldn't quite understand. The unfortunate thing was that there were also a number of secondary processes running on the computer as well, and the image names weren't showing up. Crow walked up to me and peered over my shoulder. "So… uh, any of this making sense to you?" he asked.
"Please, Taze. You don't give me enough credit." I gasped once I realized what I said. It felt so easy for me to say it, and it just sort of slipped out.
"What?" Crow asked as Leo, Luna and Trudge came over.
"Um… nothing… wow, okay, sorry about that… I was… thinking about something else…" I panted. "Yeah, I um, I understand this. This computer is managing the stability of the light, and there's a whole bunch of secondary processes running too."
"Sounds like you know what you're doing then." Crow smiled. "You know, back in the Satellite, you were quite a whizz with computers."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's actually how Yusei was able to first learn about computers – from you."
"Really?" I asked once more. "That's pretty cool… probably why I walked over here, now that I think about it…"
"So what do we do?" Trudge asked.
"Well, I can terminate the other processes to make the program managing the light have maximum priority. It's simple enough." I said. It was actually weird that the computer was giving me the option to kill all the other processes but not actually tell me what they were.
"And what will happen if you do that?" Crow asked.
"Well, I don't know what any of the secondary processes are, the computer's being a dick and won't tell me, and if this thing shuts down, then Yusei won't be able to come back." I hypothesized. "So I'm really afraid to do anything at this point. But there might be a chance that if I shut everything else down, Yusei will be able to come back."
"Then shut 'em down!" Leo stamped his foot on the ground.
"Leo!" Luna groaned.
"Alright, you guys might wanna hold onto something." I suggested. As Leo and Luna held onto one-another and Crow and Trudge braced themselves, I closed down all secondary processes and background applications, causing the overhead lights to shut off. "Hmm… So, this computer was controlling everything in the room…"
The entire room started to shake as the multi-colored light pierced through the glass, causing me and everyone else to have to shield their eyes. When the shaking stopped, I slowly opened my eyes to find a figure lying where the glass container once stood.
"Hey, it's Yusei!" Leo and Luna shouted. Indeed, lying in the middle of the room was Yusei, who surprisingly seemed to have been healed from the injuries sustained in his Duel with Roman. We all ran over and crowded around Yusei.
"Yusei! Open your eyes!" Crow ordered.
"Say something!" Leo insisted.
"Are you okay?" Luna asked as Yusei's consciousness began to stir.
Yusei slowly opened his eyes as they met with all of ours. "Hey there!" Leo cheered.
"I won't forget what you said, father…" Yusei muttered, slowly sitting up.
Did Yusei meet his father in the Underworld, I asked myself.
"Uhhh… you feelin' okay, Yusei?" Crow asked
"What…?" Yusei whispered.
"What exactly happened down there?" Trudge asked.
"Hey! Give him a break, would ya? He's just a little shaken up! Give him a moment to get himself together!" Leo shouted, turning to Trudge.
"I'm fine. Thanks for looking out for me, you guys. But, how did you know I'd end up here?" Yusei asked. "I mean, I don't even know where I am."
"Tyler knew exactly where you'd be!" Leo grinned, sounding pretty impressed.
"How?" Yusei asked, turning to me.
"Eh, just a hunch…" I shrugged, honestly not sure I had the time to explain everything to him, or even if I'd be able to. A loud beep emitting from the computer brought me back over to it. The screen read: FATAL ERROR. A dialog box below it simply said "Ok." I clicked on the box and the entire room started shaking again. "Yeah… I think we'd better get out of here…" I said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
"Right!" Yusei agreed. We all quickly darted out of the room and proceeded to head back to the bridge, the ground around us just starting to crumble at our feet. Right as we made it to where the bridge had been, Luna fell back and dangled off the edge, having lost her footing.
"Luna!" Leo shouted, running to her, but he was too short to reach her.
"You guys head for higher ground, I've got Luna." I said.
Trudge, Yusei and Crow nodded and ran for the stairs, but Leo twitched. "No! I'm not leaving my sister!"
"Leo! Please!" I shouted. Leo took a short step back, before heading off with the others. "Hang on, Luna!" I shouted to her, peering down, noticing she was almost into the light.
"Ah! Tyler! Help me please!" Luna begged. I skidded down and grabbed the idle piece of rope that she was clinging to.
"Hold on tight!" I ordered as I began to pull Luna up. Bit by bit, Luna got dragged up, and in a split second, I let go of the rope and grabbed Luna's waist as gently as I could, pulling her to safety. The rope fell into the light.
"That was close! Thanks, Tyler." Luna panted, clutching me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her to my chest.
"No problem…" I muttered, before releasing Luna from my embrace. "Look, we still gotta get out of here!" I shouted, motioning for her to follow me up the stairs. I turned back as I heard Luna gasp. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"I-It's my Signer Mark!"
I looked down at Luna's sleeve and noticed that her Signer Mark was no longer there. "What's that mean?" I asked.
"Someone must be calling on the full power of the Crimson Dragon!" Luna explained.
"Okay…" I whispered, as we continued up the staircase. My main priority wasn't who else was Dueling, it was getting Luna to safety. "As long as you're alright though…"
We didn't say anything more as we luckily and conveniently just got off the staircase as it un-wedged from its place in the crater and shifted into the pool of light.
Leo, Crow, Yusei and Trudge must've heard our footsteps because as soon as we planted our feet into the Earth, Leo ran over and almost tackled Luna with a hug. "Luna! Thank goodness you're safe!" he bawled.
"You don't need to worry about me so much, Leo!" Luna blushed.
"We're brother and sister! That's what we do!" Leo laughed, turning to me. "You saved Luna again, Tyler. Thanks."
"No problem," I smiled. "And I'm sorry if it seemed like I was yelling at you back there, but I couldn't risk something happening to you either."
"Hey! Check it out, you guys!" Crow shouted, pointing to specks of purple light in the distance.
"It looks like it's coming from the Hummingbird's Control Unit…" I muttered.
"Do you think this means that Jack won his Duel?" Luna asked.
"Yeah!" Leo cheered, thrusting his arms. "Sure it does!"
"Then there's just one Control Unit left to seal… And I have the feeling that it's going to be the most difficult one of them all!"
"Well we haven't got a moment to lose then. We'd better get there as quickly as possible." Trudge suggested. We all nodded, each of us getting into our respective vehicles. Trudge, Leo, Luna and I in the patrol car, and Crow and Yusei on their Duel Runners.
Without another word, Trudge revved the car and shot off with Yusei in tow.
I still couldn't understand how Trudge could be speeding and yet still call himself an officer of the law. I mean, I get that he's speeding 'cause we're on a massive time-crunch, but still…
"The only Control Unit left is the Lizard's. That's the one that Akiza and Mina went to, right?" Leo asked.
"Yeah, but they need to get there quickly! If Akiza doesn't take it down before sunset, the Gate to the Underworld will open again!"
"That reminds me, what did you actually see when you went into the light, Yusei?" Crow asked.
"Well… I," Yusei paused. "At first I seemed to be in some weird red wasteland and I was all alone, but then these ghosts came out of nowhere and tried to pull me into the ground."
"Shades…" I muttered.
"Shades?" Yusei asked.
"The dead. Dark, fading echoes of those who once inherited the world of the living. If they tainted you, you'd be inconsolable, but you should pity rather than fear them…" I explained.
"Wow…" Crow muttered.
"Well, if you buy into that crap then sure…" Trudge said sarcastically. His remark gave me half a mind to hope that the King of the Underworld would be summoned, just so I could rub everything in his face. But it wouldn't be right to wish that just to prove a person wrong.
A run-down carnival site soon came into view. I glanced over at Yusei with a questioning look, as I found it kind of odd that a carnival site would be put up near a control unit. "Are you guys sure this is the right place? I mean, really? A carnival site?"
"I know what you mean, Tyler. It does seem odd, to put up a carnival site near a control unit. But that might be why. After all, no one would suspect it." Yusei said.
"I see your point…" I murmured. No one else said anything, as we headed to the front of the Abandoned Site Complex.
"Well it looks they got here fine…" Yusei muttered as we all pulled up on opposite sides of the other patrol car, which belonged to Mina.
"What if they Dueled already and Akiza lost?" Leo asked.
"Leo!" Luna sighed, probably angry that her brother was already jumping to that conclusion.
"Come on! Let's go find our friends!" Yusei shouted. I nodded, disconnecting my phone from the patrol car's connector and putting it in my pocket.
It had been at least half an hour since we all split up to find Akiza. Luna, Leo and Trudge went to cover one third of the carnival site, Yusei and Crow another, and myself the final third. I was confident that I would be able to handle myself pretty well, so I didn't really care about drawing unnecessary attention to myself if there was anyone out to get me.
"Akiza! Mina! Where are you?!" I called out, cupping my hands over my mouth in an attempt to project the sound of my voice forward.
As if in response to my latest shout, a tornado seemed to force itself up from a random spot in the area. I hoped that no one was caught in the middle of that. In a way, I was kind of glad that the tornado popped up, 'cause it told me something important was happening.
I made my way through all of the damaged rides and attractions at the site, only to be met with a dome of blue crystal surrounded by an irregular layout of buildings. In the center of the dome, I caught sight of Akiza locked in a Duel with Misty. I couldn't tell who was in the lead, but it seemed to be a very close game. Both sides had monsters out and neither seemed to be in any sort of disadvantage.
I looked to one side of the buildings and saw Leo and Luna perching themselves over a railing on the staircase in order to get a better look at the Duel.
I made my way over to them as quickly as I could. "Thank God you guys are okay…" I panted.
"Tyler!" Leo and Luna shouted. "Something's wrong with Akiza!"
"What do you mean?" I asked, recovering from my run.
"Just look at her!" Luna shouted. I did as she asked and leaned against the railing to get a better look at Akiza. In her eyes I could see a cold, vacant and yet dominating expression, like the one that Liquid and Okita had when they were both brainwashed. But that wasn't the only thing I saw.
It was difficult for me to make it out at first, but standing directly across from me in another building was a well-dressed man with auburn-colored hair that fell to cover half of his face. My eyes didn't deceive me. I could never forget a face like his.
Sayer.
The rage that I thought was gone returned in an instant, and I clenched my fists so hard that my fingernails dug into my own skin and I drew blood. It all made sense now! Sayer must have done to Akiza what he did to Liquid, Okita and all the others.
My breathing escalated and I shook my head fiercely before turning to the twins. "You two stay here!" I ordered.
"Tyler? What's wrong?" Luna asked, sensing the uneasiness in my voice.
"Just promise me you'll stay here!" I snapped, causing the twins to twitch.
"Y-yeah… Okay, we'll stay here…" Luna muttered. I know that it was horribly rude of me to go off at them like that when they had done nothing wrong, but I couldn't control myself.
The next thing I knew, I was already heading back down the stairs and running towards the building where I saw Sayer. The thoughts "Kill! Destroy! Murder!" flashing through my mind. I quickly ran up the stairs of Sayer's building where I was shocked to find that the door was already open.
I peered in to see Yusei dangling off the edge of the balcony, barely gripping it with his hand as Sayer was looking down at him, laughing maniacally. "You thought you could get the jump on me? Sorry! Not happening!"
"What did you do to Akiza?!" Yusei shouted.
"I awoke her true powers." Sayer chuckled. "And now that I have her, I don't need anyone else." Sayer brought his boot up to step on Yusei's hands to make him fall. "See you in Hell, Yusei Fudo!"
As Sayer began to bring his foot down, I summoned up all my strength, all my anger, and charged at him. I was apparently a lot stronger than I thought, because I was able to pull Sayer back by his shirt collar and throw him up against the back wall.
"What the…?" Sayer asked, struggling to return to his feet, when he finally caught sight of me.
"Hello, Sayer…" I smiled, a sadistic grin on my face.
"You…! I never would have imagined I'd find you here!" Sayer remarked.
"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled, causing both Yusei's and Sayer's eyes to widen. I continued in a little above a whisper. "I'm gonna make you pay for what you did, you cunt… We're not through… not by a long shot…" My face twisted into a smile as I noticed the profanity covering Sayer's face. I was thrilled to see that none of it had healed. I had never been more proud of anything in my life. "Nice tattoos…" I snickered.
"You've still got quite the mouth on you. You'd better be careful with the things you say…" Sayer muttered as Yusei was able to finally get to his feet.
"Tyler…" Yusei muttered, though I paid no attention to him.
"What? You think that you're better than me because you're a psychic?" I asked Sayer. "You may be a psychic, but you're also a lowly little fuckwit who preys on the weak."
"Fuckwit, am I?" Sayer sneered, drawing a card. "And one that preys on weak people? I wonder what that would make you."
A searing pain shot through my head, as though my brain was growing to an exponential size and pushing against my skull. I clutched both sides of my head in agony and forced my eyes shut.
"Tyler!" I heard Yusei shout. "What are you doing to him?!"
"Bringing him back under my control. I think he'll make a good punching bag for Akiza to let out her frustrations." Sayer spoke with an almost jovial nonchalance. "You know, I really must thank you for taking care of all the other Dark Signers. After all, once Akiza's finished off Misty, there'll be no one else left to challenge me. I'll revive the Arcadia Movement and bring it back to its former glory! And with Akiza by my side, no one will be able to stop me!"
"Yusei…!" I managed to force out, the pain quickly becoming too much for me to bear.
"Oh? You're still with us?" Sayer sounded surprised that I was able to resist his control. "It seems you're more trouble than you're worth. Such a shame too. After all, you've got the uniform on and everything… but I don't need people I can't use."
After an intense burst of pain almost took me, the pain started trickling away and I was able to open my eyes.
"Tyler, are you alright?!" Yusei rushed to my side.
I shakily got to my feet. "I-I'm fine…"
"You won't be." Sayer said firmly. It was at that point that Sayer drew a card, holding it up to the sky as a sword materialized in his hand.
I knew what Sayer was going to do. He was going to kill me. And I had two choices: either give in and let him kill me, or fight through the pain and make the bastard pay for everything he did to me, Akiza, Okita, and everyone else.
Sayer went to take a swing at me, but I parried the blow with my Duel Disk and, focusing all my anger, gave him a roundhouse kick in the chest, causing him to drop the sword and fall back.
I actually didn't know how I was able to knock a man down who was clearly much older and much stronger than I was. I guess it must've been my adrenaline or something like that that. After all, there's no way in Hell that I'd have been able to do that under normal circumstances. Then again, none of what has happened over the past few days would be anything I would consider 'normal circumstances'.
The notion that Sayer's sword kept its solid form did surprise me, although I refused to let it show on my face. Instead, I reached down and picked up the sword in my right hand, before giving Sayer a maniacal laugh of my own. "You know, in a way I'm glad that you were able to cheat your way out of death. Because it's gonna make it so much more satisfying when I cut off your head and keep it as a trophy."
It was probably the first time I had ever seen Sayer truly afraid. The first time that I knocked him out, he seemed surprised or maybe even a bit pissed off, but not afraid. No. Now I could see into his eyes, and they were filled with fear. I would be going too far to say that his eyes also showed shame and regret. A person like Sayer would certainly not be capable of showing either of those things. In spite of everything that had happened, and all that he had done, we were back here again. Sayer was beneath me, and I had the opportunity to take his life. That's 'destiny' for you.
I raised the sword above my head and prepared to bring it down on Sayer's. Unfortunately, Yusei raised his hand out to my side, forcing me to stop or I'd cut off his arm.
"Y-Yusei?! What the fuck are you doing?!" I asked, enraged.
"Tyler, I know you're angry, but this isn't the way to do things. You can't just kill him." Yusei said.
"What? Do you want me to beat him in a Duel first?" I asked, the sarcasm dripping from my voice. "You just saw what he did to me! This man is a cunt who deserves to die for what he's done. I will not let him affect anyone else like he has me."
"Tyler, please." Yusei pleaded. "If you kill him, you'll be no better than him."
"I don't care, I want him dead!" I growled. "I want my revenge!"
Yusei shook his head. "The Dark Signers are led by their thirst for revenge. Don't let yourself get taken by the darkness! Don't give into your anger!"
My eyes widened as I realized that that was exactly what happened with Kalin, and what I had been so afraid of. I thought back to how Leo had said that he had been beaten in a Duel by Sayer, the looks on Okita and Liquid's faces when Luna and I Dueled them, and Akiza's pained expression when she saw how much she hurt me during our first Duel. It was all to do with Sayer, but there was more to it than that. I had taken my anger out on everyone because of it. Akiza, the twins, Joel, Explosivo.
I brought my hands up and looked at the dried blood on them. I clenched my free hand, watching the blood pour out of the open sores. I had gone too far. I had reached the point where I was able to cause myself pain and not even think anything of it. That wasn't healthy. My state of mind wasn't healthy. I wasn't healthy… I was insane…
I was a monster.
I dropped the sword, collapsing onto the ground, tears beginning to form in my eyes. I clumsily wiped my tears away as Sayer slowly stood back up.
"Pathetic…" Sayer muttered, causing me to cringe.
"Tyler…" Yusei murmured, before turning to Sayer. "Tell us what you did with the others!"
"Others?" Sayer asked.
"The ones who failed your 'initiation tests' into the Arcadia Movement. What did you do with them?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sayer replied nonchalantly.
"Don't screw with me, Sayer! Misty said she became a Dark Signer to get revenge on Akiza because she killed her little brother, Toby! Is that true?"
I frowned a little, thinking back to what I could remember of one of the last conversations I had heard between Seria and Sayer. Seria wanted Sayer to be careful because of what happened to the 'last one'… was that Toby?
So Misty was angry at Akiza because she thinks she killed her brother?
"Whatever Misty chose to believe regarding her brother's death is her choice." Sayer answered, sidestepping the question. I took the opportunity to take my phone out of my pocket and use the voice recorder. If Sayer confessed to Yusei about his wrongdoings and I recorded it, then I could tell Misty, and then maybe she'd stop her Duel with Akiza.
"Answer me! I wanna know the truth about Misty's brother, Sayer!" Yusei yelled.
"I couldn't jeopardize the work of the Arcadia Movement." Sayer finally answered. "Akiza's troubled past made her the perfect scapegoat. Toby's telekinetic abilities were not up to the standard that the Arcadia Movement required. He was a pathetic child who could not withstand even the most harmless of experiments we were conducting." Sayer then turned to face me, although he didn't catch sight of me recording the conversation. "You, however, were rather skilled. At least while you were brainwashed anyway!"
"You won't get away with this!" Yusei growled.
"Won't I? See, your biggest mistake was stopping him from killing me." Sayer said, gesturing over to me. "Because now," Sayer began, drawing a card from his Deck as I looked up. "I'll make sure that you burn in Hell for all the trouble you've caused me!" Sayer held the card out and aimed it at Yusei.
Tremendous Fire.
Before Yusei could react, a pillar of fire shot out of the card straight at him. I quickly got up and pushed Yusei out of the way, taking the hit in exchange, blocking the stream with my Duel Disk.
Unfortunately, the force of the blast pushed me out of the room and off the balcony. As I fell to my apparent doom, it was as if time had slowed right down. It took all of my willpower not to scream as I lifted my arms up to keep my phone and slightly burnt Duel Disk safe.
It wasn't long before I came crashing down into the dome, landing with a thud near Misty's side of the field. "What in the…?" she asked, surprised.
The impact that my body felt was like nothing I had ever experienced. I luckily wasn't dead, but I wasn't far off either. My hands dropped to opposite sides of my body as I let out a gasp, desperately trying to breathe. I realized I could no longer feel my arms or legs.
"You…" Misty said, walking over to me. "You're that boy from the Arcadia Movement, aren't you?" she asked softly.
It took all my effort to nod, and even that was a struggle. "Pl…please listen, M-M-Misty…" I croaked. "It wasn't Akiza who… killed your brother, it… it was… S… Sayer…" I gasped. Misty's eyes widened as I continued. "Listen…" I said as loud as I could, which ended up being around the same volume as a whisper. "Pick up the phone and… press… play… p-please…" I begged. Misty did as I asked, picking up the phone and pressing play as she put the phone to her right ear to hear the recorded conversation between Sayer and Yusei better. "I know… how you feel…" I muttered. "I was put… through the same tests as your brother…"
When she finished, Misty bent down and gave the phone back to me, tears in her eyes. "Thank you. I now know the truth…"
"Sayer… is in the b… building a-across from you…" I struggled to explain.
"Sayer…" Misty spat, her black eyes widening as she looked up to where Sayer was. "I won't forgive you, you bastard!" Misty yelled. "Prepare yourself!"
"If you're going to get angry at anyone, get angry at your brother for being so pathetically weak to begin with." Sayer taunted.
"How dare you…! I'll make you eat those words!"
"What are you gonna do?" Sayer shouted down to her. "Send me to the Underworld?"
"No! Not even the residents of the Underworld deserve company like you! I've got a better idea!" Misty smirked. "I sacrifice Reptilianne Scylla Dragon and my Queen of Tragic Endings to Summon Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua!"
All I could do was look on as Misty's dragon disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a giant black and green Reptilian abomination. The creature's massive eyes squared down on me for a few seconds before looking at Misty [ATK: 2800].
"Ccarayhua, take care of Sayer however you see fit!" Misty commanded. Ccarayhua reached down and grabbed Sayer by his head.
"How dare you! Put me d-" Sayer was unable to finish his sentence as Ccarayhua applied a minimal amount of pressure and squashed Sayer's head like a grape, blood splattering everywhere, before wrapping his gargantuan tongue around his body as he proceeded to swallow him whole.
In that moment, I was probably the happiest I had been in a long time. Although I wasn't able to kill Sayer, watching him die in such a horrific way reaffirmed my faith that he wouldn't come back from the dead this time. I could feel the restlessness in my soul die down as I closed my eyes and rested my head against the ground, waiting for the end to come.
"My dear brother… I hope wherever you are, you're looking down on me right now. Forgive me, Akiza. It wasn't your fault. I'm so sorry for blaming you for everything that happened. Perhaps… If I forfeit this Duel, I can atone for my sins." I heard Misty say.
I just continued to breathe in and out slowly, not bothering to open my eyes. I heard the rush of footsteps getting closer to me. I felt myself getting eased up into a seating position. "Tyler?! Are you alright? Please say something!" Akiza insisted.
I cracked a smile without bothering to open my eyes. "I'm fine…" I lied. "G-Go and seal the Control Unit… quickly, before-" I felt something in the back of my throat come up and flow into my mouth. I quickly swallowed whatever it was, which I thought would help. It didn't.
I eased myself away from Akiza, falling over as I began wheezing and spluttering onto the ground, my eyes opening in response. Aside from the phlegm I had just coughed up, I could barely make out Akiza's shadow on the ground. It couldn't be sunset already! "Quickly! Get to the Control Unit!" I begged. "Leave me here!"
"She won't make it in time…" Yusei's voice muttered. I realized that Yusei, Crow, Leo, Luna, Trudge and Mina had all gathered around Akiza and myself.
"We're too late…" Trudge added.
"Who cares?!" Crow asked. "We need to get Tyler some help, and fast!"
By this point, I had lost the ability to speak due to my pain, reduced to whimpering and grunting. It wasn't long before I collapsed once more as my body completely gave out.
"Tyler!" I heard Luna cry out, but it felt like she was miles away. I tried to say something, anything, but no sound came out. And then…
Darkness…