Chapter 21

Jack got up from the couch and headed for the elevator. Cassandra stayed by the coffee table, unmoved. The paramedics would help Bommer, as they did for her.

"Bommer, are you okay?" Yusei asked as he rode up next to him. The large man stood up and brushed himself off. Jack stopped when he heard Yusei's voice. Yusei was stalling their duel.

"Yusei, I'm fine," he told him, his voice was heard all over the stadium thanks to the microphone piece that every duelist had to wear, "But it's not over."

"What's going on?" Lazar asked then picked up his cell phone, dialing a number, "Turn his mike off!" he yelled into it.

"I was hoping to do this differently, but if it needs to be like this, so be it," Bommer told Yusei, "I told you about my village, Yusei. I told you about the fire and the destruction, but I've learned the truth. Goodwin isn't going to help me rebuild m village like he promised!" Cassandra strode up next to Goodwin, her heart beating fast. "How could he when it isn't even there anymore?"

"What do you mean?" Yusei asked him.

"Look!" Bommer pointed to a holographic sphere that produced a picture of a homely little village, huddled deep in the mountains, "That was my village, before Goodwin came along."

Cassandra gazed up at Goodwin expectantly. "How's he doing that!? Someone turn off the sphere!" she heard Lazar shout next to her.

"Let him have his moment," Goodwin said. Cassandra opened her mouth to speak but she waited to hear Bommer's story.

"I had looked at Goodwin's personal files before the duel and discovered it wasn't a natural disaster, Goodwin came along and decided to use our little valley as a testing ground. He tried to resurrect his precious Crimson Dragon, but it was too powerful, and then," the sphere showed the village being destroyed in a white light.

"He's going to expose everything!" Lazar shouted angrily, "We must silence him." He stopped and turned to Goodwin, who stood silently next to the irate and surprised Cassandra. "Uh, aren't you concerned?" he asked him.

"Don't worry," Goodwin told him, "No one's going to believe him."

Both Cassandra and Jack gasped. "How could you?" Cassandra asked Goodwin and Lazar. Goodwin didn't move or even acknowledge she was there. She grabbed his arm and pulled on it, but it didn't affect him, she was just a weak girl against this old man. He cast her a mean look and she let go.

"The village is gone! Everyone who lived there, all gone, vanished, nowhere to be found."

"Bommer, are you sure about all this?" Yusei asked him, not buying it.

"I saw the files myself, I'm certain about it, Yusei. And now Goodwin is going to answer for all his lies!" Bommer jumped back onto his duel runner and shot off down the track. "Now that the world knows what you did, it's time for you to pay!"

He ran up the curved guard and had enough speed to get into the air before he went flying at the tower. Yusei came behind him and cut him off in the middle of the air, tearing the spinning Chariot Pile off his tire.

The spike came whirring at the tower and Goodwin pushed Cassandra back as it came through the window. He grabbed it with his left arm and Lazar fell back on his rear into the glass, scared of the sudden crash. Cassandra fell back also, but away from the shattered glass. Goodwin groaned as he tried to stop the spike from spinning. His glove was torn and Cassandra saw his metal hand.

"How are you doing that?" Jack asked during the most inappropriate time. The spike finally stopped and Goodwin tossed it to the ground, hiding his hand behind his back.

"Are you okay?" Cassandra asked, leaping up to check on him. She grabbed his left hand and examined it. Even though she knew he lied to Bommer, she was still worried about him. All those years under his care, she had to have an ounce or two of sympathy for him.

"I'm fine Cassandra. Check on Lazar," he ordered as he snatched his hand away. She obeyed him and helped Lazar up onto his feet. He was calming down, but he was still shaky.

Goodwin stepped forward and smiled. Holograms of him appeared all over the arena. Cassandra and Lazar sat on the couch, Cassandra trying to calm Lazar down. "People of Neo Domino City, it is always a tragedy when gifted duelists like our very own Bommer, suffers a very serious nervous and emotional breakdown following such an intense duel, but rest assured, he'll get all the help he needs."

Jack sat down next to Cassandra and Lazar, seeing that he probably won't be able to duel Yusei just yet. Cassandra patted Lazar on the back as he took deep breaths. Goodwin turned to them, the smile fading from his face.

"Bommer is going to be sent to the Satellite for an execution," he said sternly, waiting for Lazar to call up the security on his cell phone, but he was still spastic from the crash. Cassandra stood up from the couch.

"No! You can't do that. You promised him…" tears came to Cassandra's eyes.

"He tried to assassinate me, Cassandra. I have every right to execute him!" he yelled, making her cry even more.

"But he's the prince from my dream, I know he is!" her fists shook at her sides and Lazar stopped to look up at her. Goodwin seemed surprised.

"What's this about a prince?" Lazar asked but he was ignored.

"Is that the kind of prince you want? The kind that lashes out when something doesn't go their way?" Goodwin asked her. Cassandra looked down at the floor. "Come here, Cassandra," he whispered as he opened up his arms. Reluctantly, she hugged him. She really needed a shoulder to cry on. "I'm certain he's not the prince from your dream. Try to think back and compare the two. You're still hurt over Ken. Don't let this loss affect you," he whispered to her.

"Why did you lie to me? It wasn't a natural disaster," Cassandra wept. Goodwin remained silent. He couldn't answer that. She didn't understand the old ways.

"If it makes you any happier, I will send someone to fix the village. I'm sure there are refugees there," Goodwin told her. Cassandra nodded and sat back down next to Lazar.

"Cassandra, what about the prince?" he poked at the subject again, his hands shaking in his lap, but not from the incident. Cassandra shook her head and wiped her eyes. She couldn't explain at the moment.

"Lazar, please go and make sure Yusei is ready for his duel against Jack," Goodwin told him to get him out of the room. As Lazar was heading for the door, Yusei bursted in, surprising Lazar and knocking him down. Both Cassandra and Jack leaped from their seats. Jack moved towards Yusei and Cassandra moved towards Lazar.

"Just in time," Goodwin muttered with a smile. Cassandra gave Lazar her hand and helped him up once again as Yusei walked up to Goodwin and Jack.

"We need to talk, Goodwin," Yusei said angrily, "Before my duel with Jack; I need to get this straight."

"Very well," Goodwin said as a servant poured him a glass of his favorite drink and handed it to him. "What would you like to know?"

"Don't play dumb, Goodwin," Jack snapped, "He wants to know about this!"

Jack pulled off his right glove and revealed a red mark of a wing. Cassandra caught a glimpse of it. She had never seen a mark before.

"This tournament wasn't just a coincidence, you brought all of us here to reveal our marks," Yusei told him. "Now I want to know why."

"He wants to revive the Crimson Dragon, Yusei. He told me this not too long ago. Below the mansion he's got this huge temple and he told me that we signers were going to save the world," Jack explained. Goodwin kept his mouth shut. Yusei's eyes widened in surprise.

"The Signers have to fight against the Dark Signers to save the world," Cassandra said, joining the circle. She remembered the story all too well.

"Cassandra, are you a signer too? How do you know this?" Yusei asked her. Cassandra shook her head and showed her right arm as proof.

"Goodwin told me about this also," she replied. Yusei felt left in the dark. It seemed as if Goodwin had told everyone about this but him.

"Goodwin," Jack turned to him, "You said that you need five signers to summon the Crimson Dragon. You've revealed four of us, and Cassie isn't a signer, so who's the fifth?"

"I'm working on that, Jack. I knew only a few of you as potential signers. The fifth signer is still out there, oblivious to his fate, perhaps," he told them before taking a sip of his drink. Cassandra wondered if it was his ambrosia, like what the gods drank in the myths.

"So now what?" Yusei asked, "We're all here."

"You and Jack will duel, maybe then, the fifth signer will be revealed. They are probably in this very audience," Goodwin said.

"On one condition," Jack stepped forward, "You release Yusei's friends. He's here now and I would like a clean duel between me and him."

"If that is what my champion wants, then that's what he gets," Goodwin lifted his glass, signaling for Lazar to call for a release. Jack nodded, satisfied and headed for the elevator, followed by Yusei.

"Good luck!" Cassandra shouted from behind them. Jack sort of waved but he didn't look at her. She sighed and sat back down on the couch, waiting for the next duel to begin. The final duel.