Author's Note: At long last, here it is. The final chapter of The False King. I hope everyone enjoys it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and the character of Raven is the creation of sammycrusinix.
Chapter 20: Burning Xyz! The Ultimate Archfiend Dragon!
"I'm sure as you're both aware, Earthbound Immortal Uru can make direct attacks." Rudger reminded Jack and Carly. "Not even your dragon can stop it."
"I set one card on the field and end my turn." Jack announced.
Rudger chuckled as he drew his next card. "Uru, attack Jack and Carly directly! Hell Thread!"
"I activate my Trap, Half or Nothing!" Jack quickly announced. "Now you can either cut the ATK of all your monsters in half for this Battle Phase or stop the battle right now!"
"What a futile move!" Rudger laughed. "But then I suppose it's the best you two can manage considering the circumstances. Fine, I choose to halve the ATK of all our monsters! But it makes little difference, as Uru can still attack directly!"
Jack and Carly were both struck by the razor-sharp silk threads the spider spat from it mouth. The attack dropped their life points down to 4700.
"I end my turn." Rudger announced.
"Man, that was a close one!" Crow declared down on the sidelines. "That was actually a pretty good move Jack pulled, cutting the damage in half like that."
"Yeah, but things can only get worse from here. Both the Goodwin brothers have Earthbound Immortals." Greiger reminded them. "And with Domain of the Earthbound in play, both their Immortals can be on the field at the same time. If Rex summons his Immortal on his next turn, Jack and Carly will be finished."
"Then it all depends on Carly's next move." Yusei observed.
Carly drew her next card. "I summon Fortune Lady Fire in Attack Mode!"
The second youngest of the Fortune Lady sisters appeared on the track and noticed Uru. "Wow! This does not look good."
"Because I have a Fortune Lady on the field, I Special Summon the Tuner monster, Time Bending Witch!" Carly announced. The infant witch appeared next to Fire. "Next I activate the effect of Time Bending Witch and raise her level from one to six!"
The witch glowed with a purple aura and suddenly began to grow older. When her transformation had finished, she had grown into a young woman. Her pink hair had grown half way down her back, and her sparkling purple cloak had opened in front, revealing a red short-sleeved shirt that showed her midriff and a red miniskirt with a gold belt. She had on blue boots and elbow-high gloves, and in her right hand she carried a wooden staff with a golden clock on the top.
"I tune the level six Time Bending Witch into the level two Fortune Lady Fire for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Carly announced.
The clock on the witch's staff began to spin as she waved it in the air. Time Bending Witch changed into six rings of pink light and encircled Fire, changing the Fortune Lady into two balls of white light.
"The stars of fate change here and now! Reveal the dark path to the world beyond!" Carly chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear before us, Witch Queen of the Netherworld!"
The lights flashed and erupted into a pillar of red energy. The energy soon faded to reveal Carly's otherworldly witch queen, her black bladed scythe in hand.
"That ends my turn!" Carly announced.
"That's a rather imposing monster you've summoned, young lady." Rex remarked as he drew his next card. "But I'm afraid it won't help you, because I'm about to bring this duel to an end. I sacrifice Gram to summon Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca!"
The angelic warrior shattered to bits and a column of purple light erupted from the ground below. In moments, the light faded to reveal a massive shadowy black condor with purple marks on its body. Most of these marks were on the bird's gigantic wings.
"In order for Wiraqocha Rasca to gain his full power, I must return three of my cards on the field to my hand." Rex announced. "So I return Heavenly Veil, Heavenly Shield, and Heavenly Arua so that Rasca's ATK rises from 100 to 3100!"
"This is just what we were afraid of." Kiryu spoke on the sidelines. "If the attacks of both those Immortals get though, Jack and Carly are finished."
"I attack directly with Earthbound Immortal Uru!" Rex announced. "Hell Thread!"
"I activate the effect of Witch Queen of the Netherworld!" Carly announced just as Uru launched its attack. "Once per turn, when one of my opponent's monsters attacks, I can banish it from the field until the beginning of my opponent's next turn!"
The Witch Queen cackled as she swung her scythe. The black blade tore a hole in space that intercepted Uru's threads. The tear then moved forward and quickly expanded, enveloping Uru before shrinking away to nothing.
"Impressive, but you still can't stop my next attack!" Rex pointed out. "Wiraqocha Rasca, attack them directly! Death Singularity!"
The giant condor flapped his massive wings, creating a massive vortex of black wind. The force of the gale was so strong that it almost knocked Jack and Carly off the track, down to the earth far below. Somehow they survived, but their life points had fallen to 1600.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn." Rex announced. "I commend you both for managing to survive for another turn, but I'm afraid that there's nothing more you can do. Now that I've summoned Rasca, the strongest of the Earthbound Immortals, there's nothing you can do to stop me and my brother."
"I'm sorry, but did you just say that big chicken of yours is the strongest of the Earthbound Immortals?" Jack scoffed. "I don't know much about these Immortals, but from what that giant, Greiger, told me on the way over here, it seems that my Immortal's the strongest."
"Your Immortal?" Rex repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Wait, he couldn't possibly be talking about the Crimson Devil, could he?" Raven wondered on the sidelines.
"Didn't you say if that thing woke up, the world would be destroyed?" Crow recalled.
"Yeah, I don't see how he could possibly control it." Raven answered. "If he tries to summon that thing, it'll be as bad as if the Goodwin brothers open the gate to the underworld."
"Do you really expect me to buy such an obvious bluff?" Rex scoffed. "Very well, Jack. Show me this Earthbound Immortal of yours."
"You asked for it!" Jack replied as he drew his next card. "I activate the Spell card, Resonator Call! With this, I add Creation Resonator to my hand! Next I summon Barrier Resonator in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on the track was another of Jack's Resonator monsters. This one had a large blue and silver storage battery with two antennas on top. On the front of his green sash was a red lightning bolt.
"Because I have a Synchro monster on the field, I also summon Creation Resonator!" Jack announced. The small windmill demon appeared on the track. "I now tune the level one Barrier Resonator and the level three Creation Resonator into the level eight Red Dragon Archfiend for a level twelve Synchro Summon!"
The two demons clinked their tuning forks and transformed into four rings of red flames. The flames encircled Red Dragon Archfiend and formed into a massive ball of fire.
"The King and The Devil, here and now, shall become as one! A Raging Spirit! Lift up the very cries of Creation itself!" Jack chanted. "Synchro Summon! Come forth, Red Nova Dragon!"
The fireball exploded and the evolved form of Jack's dragon emerged with a roar. The Goodwin brothers were in awe of the dragon, as were Yusei and the others down below.
"Raven, is that really the Crimson Devil?" Yusei asked.
"Yeah, but I never expected this." Raven confirmed. "Somehow Jack merged it with his dragon in order to control it."
"Red Nova Dragon gains 500 ATK for each Tuner monster in my Graveyard." Jack revealed. "Right now I have four, which means Red Nova's ATK is 5500!"
After a moment, Rex got over his initial shock and smirked. "I must admit, that is a very impressive creature. But for all your posturing, you've forgotten one important thing Jack. Your new dragon may have a much higher ATK than Wiraqocha Rasca, but Rasca can't be attacked!"
"You let me worry about that." Jack told him. "I end my turn!"
"Then it's my move!" Rudger declared as he drew his next card.
As soon as Rudger drew, Earthbound Immortal Uru reappeared on the track in the middle of its web. But when the spider reappeared, Rex and Rudger were hit by a wave of energy that dropped their life points to 5600.
"What just happened?" Rex wondered.
"Oops, I guess I forgot to mention that when a monster banished by my witch queen returns to the field, my opponent takes half that monster's ATK as damage." Carly explained.
"It masters not!" Rudger declared. "I now play a Spell card, Offering to the Spider God! With this card, I summon a Spider Offering Token to the field!" Appearing on the field was a small black spider with purple markings on its body. "While it can't attack our Immortals, that dragon could still be a problem. So I activate Uru's effect and sacrifice my Spider Offering Token to and take control of Red Nova Dragon until the end of the turn!"
"Brother, no!" Rex called out a moment too late.
The small spider shattered to bits before Uru shot out a silken rope at Red Nova. But as soon as the rope wrapped around the dragon's waist, the rope caught on fire. The flames traveled down the rope like a fuse and set Uru's entire body ablaze. The demon spider let out an unholy shriek before collapsing and shattering into bits of black ash. Uru's web of purple flames soon faded to nothing.
"What… just happened?" a stunned Rudger wondered.
"What happened was your own Field Spell." Jack explained with a cocky expression. "Domain of the Earthbound can negate cards that target an Earthbound Immortal and destroy them. And that effect works on both side of the field!"
"Red Nova Dragon was created by merging Jack's dragon with the Crimson Devil. So technically it is an Earthbound Immortal." Raven realized.
"Damn!" Rudger cursed.
"Don't worry, brother. Your move was not as big a mistake as you thought." Rex assured him. "I activate my Trap, Earthbound Vengeance! When an Earthbound Immortal is destroyed by a card effect this Trap destroys all of my opponent's monsters!"
Suddenly a pillar of molten fire shot up from the ground below and struck Jack and Carly's two monsters. When the fire finally vanished, the Witch Queen of the Netherworld was gone. But Red Nova was completely unharmed.
"What! How is that dragon still alive?" a shocked Rex wondered.
"Nice try, but Red Nova can't be destroyed by my opponent's card effects." Jack explained.
"Your dragon may have survived, but you two won't survive this next attack!" Rudger declared. "Wiraqocha Rasca, attack those fools directly! Death Singularity!"
"I activate Red Nova's effect!" Jack announced. "By banishing him until the end of the turn, I can negate your monster's attack!"
Just as the condor whipped up another massive wind, Red Nova vanished in a flash of red light. In the dragon's place, a pillar of flames appeared and blocked the windstorm.
"Damn you!" Rudger cursed. "Fine, I set one card on the field an end my turn."
"And with the end of your turn, Red Nova returns to the field!" Jack announced. The demon dragon reappeared in another flash of red light.
"That's not all!" Carly added. "During the end of a turn when Witch Queen of the Netherworld is destroyed, I can add Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu to my hand!"
"You two are starting to look a little frustrated." Jack observed. "Looks like your little plan isn't going as well as you hoped."
"Your dragon is proving to be a minor inconvenience." Rex admitted. "I never imagined that you would ever gain control of such a powerful monster. How on earth did you obtain it?"
"About the time when Yusei got here, that Crimson Devil, or whatever he called himself, came before me and offered me power if I let him take control." Jack revealed. "I wanted power, but I was through with being controlled. So I took control of him with the power of my Burning Soul!"
"Burning Soul?" Rudger repeated.
"You know I've realized something just now Goodwin. I'm not the only one who has this kind of power." Jack continued. "Everyone's soul burns with a will that makes them want to take their destiny with their own hands! Not even someone like you and that weird brother of yours can put out those flames!"
"Don't be so sure, Jack." Rex smirked. "You'd be amazed how happy and compliant people can be when their heart's desire is handed to them. Look at how you were when you were still the champion of this city. You were happy with your position and wanted for nothing. And when my brother and I establish the new order, it will be the same for everyone else."
"You're wrong!" Carly cut it. "You don't know people as well as you think you do, Goodwin! Jack might have seemed happy, but I know that he always felt empty on the inside. And when he found out that you were using him, he felt hurt because he lost his pride! I won't let you do that to him or anyone else again!"
Suddenly the top card on Carly's deck began to glow with an orange light. Seeing as it was her turn, Carly drew the card from her deck. The light faded to reveal a card Carly had never seen before, but she knew exactly what to do with it.
"I summon the Tuner monster, Spirit Cleanser Fairy Witch!" Carly announced.
Appearing on the track was a young witch who appeared to be ten years old. She had short purple hair and emerald eyes. On her head was a black conical hat with a wide orange band. She also had on a black cloak with a pair of orange fairy wings on the back.
"When Fairy Witch is summoned, I can Special Summon an Earthbound Immortal!" Carly announced. "Appear, Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu!" A pillar of orange light shot up from the ground and Carly's shadowy hummingbird emerged. "Because she was summoned with Fairy Witch's effect, Aslla piscu's effects are negated. But that doesn't matter, because I now tune the level two Fairy Witch into the level ten Aslla piscu for a level twelve Synchro Summmon!"
The young witch changed into two rings of white light. The rings expanded and encircled Aslla piscu.
"A heavenly resonance reverberates through the sky! Its shining power casts away the darkness to bring new hope!" Carly chanted. "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Earthbound Guardian Aslla piscu!"
The rings shrank and went inside Aslla piscu, causing her body to glow with a blinding white light. The light quickly faded to reveal a white Aslla piscu with only one pair of eyes and a much gentler appearance. Her wings had changed to have a more feathered appearance.
"When Earthbound Guardian Aslla piscu is summoned, Jack and I gain 800 life points equal to the number of monsters on the field!" Carly announced. The white hummingbird flapped her wings and showered Carly and Jack with sparking white specks of light that increased their life points to 4000. "I now activate Aslla piscu's effect, which lets me negate the effects of an opponent's monster until the end of the turn! And the monster I choose is Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca!"
"You forget, my dear. Domain of the Earthbound allows me to negate and destroy cards that target Earthbound Immortals." Rex reminded her.
"Normally you'd be right. Except the effect of Aslla piscu can't be stopped by any other cards!" Carly revealed.
Aslla piscu shot a beam of orange light from her long beak that struck Wiraqocha Rasca in the chest. The lines on the condor's body changed from purple to a dull grey.
"Because Raca's effects are negated, his ATK drops back to 100, making him 2900 points weaker than Aslla piscu." Carly revealed. "And now, Aslla piscu attacks Wiraqocha Rasca! Sky Guardian Spear!" The hummingbird thrust her beak into the condor's chest, causing Rasca to explode in a flash of white light. "Red Nova, attack Goodwin directly! Burning Soul!"
Before the light of the explosion completely faded, Red Nova flew into Rex with a body covered in red flames. It seemed that the duel was over. But when the light of the explosion cleared and Jack and Carly checked the consuls of their D-Wheels, they both saw that the life points of the Goodwin brothers had gone up to 14000.
"What the duce?" a stunned Jack exclaimed. "How is it that your life points have gone up?"
"When you launched your first attack I activated my Trap, Healer's Web." Rudger explained. "All I had to do was banish a Skull Spider from my Graveyard and all the damage my brother and I would've taken increased our life points instead."
"Those dirty rotten cheaters!" Crow cursed down on the sidelines. "Just when Jack and Carly had the duel in the bag, those two bastards turned the tables on them!"
"It's not all that bad. Rex and Rudger don't have any monsters left." Yusei pointed out. "So even though they have a lot more life points, Jack and Carly still have the advantage."
"Besides, both Goodwins' Earthbound Immortals have been destroyed." Aki added. "I don't see how they could really turn the duel around."
"Darn. I guess I have to end my turn." Carly sighed.
"Carly, don't worry about it. You did well." Jack assured her.
"Not well enough, I'm afraid." Rex spoke as he drew his next card. "The two of you have proven to be much more of a challenge than I expected. But while you may have destroyed our Immortals, you've yet to face our strongest monster."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"I summon Heavenly Sentinel-Vestra the Priestess!" Rex announced.
Appearing on the track was an angelic woman with long blonde hair that went all the way down to her waist and a pair of white-feathered wings. She had on white robes, and a white helmet covered the top half of her face.
"When Vastra is summoned to the field, I can add a Ritual monster and a Ritual Spell to my hand." Rex announced. "Next I activate the Spell card, Heavenly Salavtion! By returning three of the cards in my hand to the deck, I can add Mistral and Gram from my Graveyard to my hand. And now I activate the Ritual Spell, Hour of Judgment! I sacrifice Vastra, Mithral, and Gram to summon the Ritual monster, Heavenly Judge Seraphim!"
Vastra suddenly flew high up into the air. Gram and Mitral appeared on the track a moment later and followed. The three angels flew higher and higher into the sky until the faded from view. Suddenly there was an explosion of white light that illuminated the darkened sky. Descending from above was an angelic being with ten gold-feathered wings covered in heavy gold and white armor. In his right hand, the being carried an ornate golden staff, and his entire body generated a powerful white aura.
"Even your dragon is not a match for this monster, Jack." Rex declared. "The divine aura generated by Seraphim negates the effects of all Synchro monster on the field. Which means Red Nova's ATK returns to its original amount, and he loses his indestructibility and the power to negate attacks."
"All this time he had an anti-Synchro monster?" a stunned Kiryu asked.
"With Red Nova's ATK back to normal, Seraphim is now 500 points stronger. But I'm not going to destroy your dragon just yet." Rex revealed. "I activate Seraphim's effect! Once per turn I can reduce the ATK of an opponent's monster to zero and deal damage equal to the ATK that monster lost!"
Seraphim aimed the tip of his spear at Red Nova and fired a beam of white light. The dragon was struck through the chest by the beam, which continued to pass through and hit Jack and Carly. Their life points dropped down to 500.
"Seraphim can't attack during the turn I use this effect. So I now end my turn." Rex announced. "Go ahead and make your last turn, Jack. Though I assure you, there's nothing you can do."
Jack drew his next card, but as soon as he did the earth suddenly shook. Just then, a massive pillar of black energy burst up from the ground, destroying the pyramid below the track, and shot high up into the sky.
"What's going on?" Jack demanded to know.
"I'm afraid my brother and I had an ulterior motive for having this duel." Rex revealed. "The sole purpose of this duel was to open the gates of the underworld and allow the king to rise."
"Wait, I thought the gate was in Satellite where the old Momentum Reactor was!" Carly recalled.
"The Zero Reverse created by the reactor creates the energy to open the gate completely, and also provides the sacrifices needed to satisfy the king." Rudger revealed. "But the true opening of the gate is here, the site of the ceremonial duel!"
"Once your life points reach zero, the reactor in Satellite will reactivate." Rex added. "It is time for you to finish your role in this ceremony, Jack."
Jack looked into the pillar of energy and scowled. There was nothing in his hand that he could use to turn the duel around. And he could sense a dark power coming from inside that pillar. It was a power that seemed almost like the Crimson Devil's. Suddenly, a wild idea came to Jack.
"Carly, do you trust me?" Jack asked.
"Of course I do Jack." Carly assured him. "Why?"
"Just follow my lead." Jack requested. He turned his head to look at Rex. "I've already told you before, Goodwin! I'm through being your puppet!"
Suddenly both Jack and Carly drove their D-Wheels off the track of light into the pillar of dark energy. Their two monsters followed them into the darkness. Yusei and the others watch from below in horror.
"JACK!" Yusei called out.
"How typical of Jack." Rex indifferently remarked. "Preferring to die rather than admit defeat."
"It makes no difference, Rex." Rudger pointed out. "In moments the King of the Underworld will rise and we will finally be able to kill Z-one and change the world."
Suddenly the ground began to shake again, only much harder than before. The pillar of dark energy burst into an expanding pillar of red flames. The sky became red and cracked with thunder. Then in moments the flames vanished. Hovering in the sky of the track of light was a new dragon that was three times the size of Red Nova. It had six red-feathered wings that were the color of dried blood. Its body was primarily black and covered in red stripes. The font of its torso was covered in silver armor with a blue gemstone on the front in the shape of a diamond. On its head were a large pair of curved dark-grey horns and a mass of stringy grey hair. Jack and Carly were riding on the back of the dragon's neck. Carly was sitting behind Jack and wearing a red cape with a high collar with a red miniskirt and a skimpy red shirt and a pair of knee-high red leather boots. The hummingbird mark on her right arm had turned blood red. Jack was wearing a long red coat with silver armor on the torso. In his hands he held a black chain that served as the reigns of the new dragon. Orbiting around the dragon were two balls of red flame.
"What… what is this?" a stunned Rex asked.
"This is your King of the Underworld." Jack revealed. "Carly and I went through your little gate, and using the power of our Burning Souls we took control of the King of the Underworld. With its power we overlaid Red Nova and Aslla piscu to perform a new move, Burning Xyz! And this is the monster that was created, Archfiend Emperor Dragon-Crimson Nova!"
"How is this possible?" Rudger wondered.
"Your Seraphim's power doesn't work on Crimson Nova, so Jack and I now activate his effect!" Carly announced. "By detaching his two overlay units, we can reduce the ATK of one monster on the field to zero! And the monster we choose is Heavenly Judge Seraphim!"
The two fireballs orbiting the dragon went into the gemstone on his chest. A blue beam shot from the gem and hit Seraphim, causing his aura to fade.
"Crimson Nova also gains the ATK of every Synchro monster in each player's Graveyard." Jack revealed. "Which means his ATK rises from 5000 to 22700!"
"Impossible!" a shocked Rex exclaimed.
"Crimson Nova, attack Seraphim!" Jack and Carly commanded together. "Crimson Soul Fire!"
The demon dragon opened his jaws and blasted Seraphim with a stream of crimson hellfire. When the attack struck, it created a massive explosion of blinding white light. After a moment the light finally faded and the surroundings had returned to normal. The sky had cleared and the pyramid had vanished without a trace. Not even a piece of rubble remained. When Yusei and the others looked, they saw a severely injured Rex and Rudger on the ground near the wreckage of a broken D-Wheel and the broken skeletal remains of a horse. Jack and Carly pulled up near the brothers on their D-Wheels, wearing their original outfits.
Jack dismounted and walked over to Rex. "What a pathetic sight you are. You tried to be the king of the world, and this is what you ended up as."
"It appears… I sorely underestimated you." Rex replied weakly. "But you realize… that by defeating us… you have doomed the future of the world."
"Goodwin!" Yusei called as he walked over. "Taking over the world and planning out peoples' lives isn't the way to save the future! As far as I'm concerned, you and your brother are no better than Z-one!"
"You… may be right… Yusei." Rudger admitted. "If there truly is… a better way… than I'm sure… you'll be the one to find it. You are… your father's son… after all."
"Hey bonehead! What about my gang?" Crow demanded to know. "What happens to them now?"
"Yeah! And what about the people of my village?" Greiger added.
"Don't worry. They… have been released." Rudger assured them. "For them… it was as if… nothing ever happened… to them."
"Tell me Yusei. Are you… angry at my brother and I?" Rex asked.
"You killed my father and caused all the suffering in Satellite." Yusei pointed out. "Not the mention all the stuff you've done recently! So how do you expect me to feel?"
"Those eyes… you're looking at me with. They're the same eyes… that Z-one looked at me with… when we spoke." Rex revealed, startling Yusei a bit. "He's been trying… to change the future. But I wonder… just how much of the future… has already been changed. And… how much of Z-one's past has changed as well."
"What do you mean?" Yusei asked.
"If you face Z-one… you may find out for yourself." Rex replied. "Good luck… Yusei Fudo."
With that, the Goodwin brothers suddenly turned to black dust and collapsed into nothing. The dust that remained of their bodies blew away in the breeze.
"Good riddens if you ask me." Crow remarked.
"You okay Yusei?" a somewhat concerned Aki asked.
"Yeah… yeah I'm fine." Yusei assured her.
"Yusei." Jack interrupted.
"You had me worried there for a bit." Yusei told him.
"Please, as if some underworld demon could kill me." Jack scoffed.
"So this Z-one guy Goodwin was talking about, is he still coming?" Carly asked.
"He is." Bruno confirmed with a greave expression. "And it may not be much longer before he strikes."
"Just who is this Z-one, anyway?" Jack asked.
"It's a long story, but we could really use your help stopping him." Yusei answered.
"Fine. I suppose I owe you that much." Jack agreed. "Besides, this Z-one seems just as bad as Goodwin. But let's get one thing straight Yusei. You and I still have a score to settle. When all this is over I want to face you on equal terms."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Yusei smirked as he and Jack brought their hands together.
A week passed since the fall of the Goodwin bothers. And much had happened in that time. Just as Rudger Goodwin had said, the rest of the Blackbird Gang had been returned to the Bird's Nest as if nothing had happened. Greiger had decided to go back to his old village to repair the damage the Goodwin brothers had caused. Meanwhile, with Rex's mysterious disappearance, Jaeger had ended up taking the position of Director of Neo Domino. And with a little convincing from Yusei and some intimidation from Jack, Jager had agreed to build a proper bridge that would finally reunite Neo Domino and Satellite. Carly had gotten a new job at a small local newspaper where she was a bit more respected, and Jack of course had moved in to her place. Crow and Raven had returned to Satellite with Kiryu and Sect, while Yusei and Aki remained at the Fudo mansion Bruno and the twins.
On that particular evening as the evening sun began to set, Yusei was standing out on the deck looking out at the city. There was a lot he had on his mind.
After an uncertain amount of time, Aki joined Yusei out on the deck. "I thought I'd find you here. I just got a call from Raven over in Satellite. Everything's going fine at the Nest."
"Good." Yusei replied.
"She asked if we were going to change our minds about staying here at the mansion." Aki continued. "Are you sure you want to stay here?"
"For now anyway." Yusei answered. "This is a better place for the twins. Besides, this house is the only thing I have left of my parents. I may sell it one of these days, but for now…"
"I understand." Aki replied. "…Yusei, is something bothering you?"
"…What Goodwin said before he died about my eyes being like Z-one's. I actually got to me a little." Yusei admitted. "It reminded me of what Bruno said about Z-one after we beat Aporia. He said that Z-one was a lot like me."
"Well I wouldn't pay attention to anything Goodwin said. Besides, Bruno's memory isn't the best." Aki pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Yusei agreed.
"So is that the only thing bothering you?" Aki asked.
"Well… actually there is something else I've been meaning to talk to you about." Yusei admitted as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"What is it?" Aki asked.
After a moment, Yusei took a deep breath and got down on one knee. He then presented a small red velvet box to Aki and opened it to reveal a gold ring with a small diamond on the top. "Will you marry me?"
Aki was simply at stunned by the question. Her face turned a deep shade of red.
"I mean I know we're young, and we might be rushing into things." Yusei began to babble. "If you want to wait, I'll understand…"
"Yusei?" Aki interrupted.
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
"Yes what?" Yusei asked.
"Yes I will marry you." Aki replied.
Yusei smiled and got back to his feet. The two looked deeply into one another's eye before meeting in a deep passionate kiss.
Misty Lola awoke to find that she was inside a large white room of some kind. Just where she didn't know, all she knew was that it was not her room at the mansion in the Pit. The room was incredibly cold, so cold that she could see her breath. There was some furniture in the room. There was the soft bed she was on, as well as a small table an a couple chairs, and few tall shelves full of books. And all of it was white like the room. Misty also noticed that she was wearing a white bodysuit with green markings on it.
"Good, you are finally awake." A deep booming voice spoke.
Misty looked as saw hovering before her some sort of strange white machine shaped like an inverted coma. The device had a head with a strange mask on it, and Misty could see at least one human eye inside. Whatever it was, it was clearly alive.
"Who… what are you?" a frightened Misty asked.
"I am Z-one, the last human." The machine replied in a gentle yet somehow cold tone. "You needn't be afraid of me. I will not hurt you."
"What do you mean the last human?" Misty asked. "What's going on?"
"You have been sent here to my time." Z-one explained. "This place is my fortress, the Arc Cradle, which is in a time you would know as the future."
"This is supposed to be the future?" Misty asked with disbelief. "How did I get here?"
"My three heralds, Lucciano, Placido, and Jose sent you to me after witnessing your power." Z-one explained. "They felt that you would prove useful to me."
Misty still felt like her mind was in a fog. She was trying to remember just what happened before she blacked out. Then it suddenly came to her. She remembered the room where Divine was about to perform some sort of procedure on Aki. She recalled the three she knew as the Infinity Triad enter the room. And then, Misty remembered calling forth some sort of horrid lizard creature that devoured Divine. She was horrified by this memory.
"How… how could I?" Misty asked as she curled into a ball on the bed. "How could I do… such a horrible thing?"
"You remembered killing Divine, didn't you?" Z-one deduced.
"You… you know about that?" Misty asked, raising her head to look at Z-one.
"Placido informed me of it before sending you to me." Z-one revealed. "You need not feel remorse for that deed, for Divine deserved to die. After all, did he not torture your brother to death?"
Suddenly another memory came rushing back to Misty. She remembered how Lucciano had shown her a video of Divine torturing her younger brother to try and bring out his full psychic ability. That was the thing that had caused her to summon the thing that devoured him.
"Divine was the worst scum of humanity" Z-one continued in a bitter and somewhat angry tone. "You did your time a favor by terminating his existence."
"Did… did you know him?" Misty asked.
"…In another time I did." Z-one replied after a short pause. "It's strange that I would still feel emotion after all this time. But I find that the news of Divine's death brings me great pleasure. I hope you will forgive me for saying that I hoped he suffered a great deal when he died."
The conversation was interrupted when an electric door in the room suddenly slid open. Walking in was a young-looking man with long blonde hair wearing a sleeveless black leather shirt and pants. He had some sort of purple ornament adorning the front of his hairstyle, and on his cheek was a red marking.
"What is it, Paradox?" Z-one asked the man.
Paradox kneeled down before the floating cyborg. "Lord Z-one, I've come to report that Rex Goodwin and the Skeleton Knight are no more. The Signers have eliminated them. And just as Aporia's incarnations had thought, they were plotting against you."
"I am not surprised by this." Z-one indifferently replied. "Rex Goodwin was always one to do things his own way. In any case, it matters not. The Goodwin brothers had outlived their usefulness long ago. The time has come to move ahead with the plan."
"What shall we do, my lord?" Paradox asked.
"You will go to the past and eliminate the Signers." Z-one ordered. "And at the same time, you will finish what Aporia has started. Very soon I shall erase Neo Domino and bring forth a new future, one way or another."
END OF BOOK 2
Author's Note: Well, that's it for book two. I would like to explain a few things about the duel real quick. When I make up cards for a story, I usually write out the card's stats and or effects before doing anything else. So when I wrote the effects for Domain of the Earthbound, I had it include Earthbound Immortals, Earthbound Guardians, and Red Nova Dragon as the monsters it could be used for. Of course when I was doing the outline for this duel, I realized that in the duel between Kiryu and Greiger, Kiryu could've used Domain of the Earthbound to negate the effect of Greiger's Earthbound Guardian. So I had to make a quick edit and make it so no card effects could be activated in response to an Earthbound Guardian's effect. Just one of those tiny little error that I overlooked.
So once again, I used an Xyz monster in a 5D's story. This time in the form of Archfiend Emperor Dragon-Crimson Nova. It just seemed kind of fair to do that, since Yusei and Aki got an Xyz monster in book one. Plus the Xyz monsters are sort of represent something in this trilogy that I hope will become clearer in the next story. So I hope no one's ticked off that I used an Xyz monster again.
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this story. Actually this story ended up being a little hard for me to write. Partly because of some personal issues that have been going on in my life right now. And I sort of feel like there are some parts of this story I could've done better. All and all though, I think it turned out pretty well. But of course this story isn't over yet. We've dealt with Aporia, and we've dealt with the Goodwin bothers. In the next story comes the final battle. All I'm going to say right now about the next story is that it's going to be big and include a lot of "guest stars".
So stay tuned for: 5D's Alternative Book 3: The God of Time
In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.