A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF STAR WARS OR YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS
GO TO THEIR CREATORS!
Chapter 23: Final Battle of the Dark Signers
Crow moved ahead of his allies to take the first move as he drove. "I summon Blackwing- Mistral the Silver Shield (Attack 100/ Defense 1800). Now since a Blackwing is on my field, I can special summon Blackwing- Bora the Spear (Attack 1700/ Defense 800)," Crow declared. "Finally I set a face down and end my turn."
Jack they moved up to his move. "I summon Mad Archfiend (Attack 1800/ Defense 0)," he declared. "I set one face down."
Yusei took the lead for his move. After drawing, Yusei asked Goodwin, "Why did you become a Dark Signer?"
Goodwin explained the events that caused Roman to become a Dark Signer, "Roman was the host of both the Mark of the Dragon and the Spider mark of the Dark Signer. My brother's body was chosen as the first place of battle. The powers of both a Signer and a Dark Signer resided within Roman's body. However, the Dark Signer mark began to take over his body. Roman believed that by throwing away his left arm, which carried the Signer's mark and leaving it to me, fate would take care of everything else. I met Roman and he handed me his left arm in the canister. He told me that the Signers would appear one day and asked me to gather you all and use you to defeat him. He explained to me that two gods resided in his body and that he had chosen the path of evil. He told me to take the canister while a small part of his normal self remained. Then he triggered Zero Reverse. I obeyed fate and gathered all of you. And up until then, I had reached a certain conclusion as I stared at the depths of the depths of destiny. I lost to Roman though I could've won. But I lost the duel on purpose. Roman asked me why I lost. I wanted to be like him. In another five thousand years, those sharing the same fate would appear, use the world as the battleground for their gods and eventually die. But it is my destiny to break this chain. I would do so using what Roman couldn't withstand. I will use the powers of the King of the Netherworld to destroy the world and rebuild it using the Crimson Dragon's power. I will recreate the world as I see fit!"
"Don't joke around," Yusei told him.
"Your selfish desires have affected the lives of the people from Satellite, including Martha and the children," Crow pointed out.
"I'm not going to allow you to do what you like with those delusions of yours," Jack refused.
"You're wrong, Goodwin. It isn't a god's power that tears down destiny. It's what everyone creates by gathering and fighting together," Yusei told him.
Goodwin grinned. "What are you gathering to fight for?" he asked.
"The bonds between our friends," Yusei answered bluntly. "I summon Max Warrior (Attack 1800/ Defense 800) in attack mode. Next I set a face down. That ends my turn."
Goodwin began his turn. "Since I control no monsters why you do, I can special summon, Oracle of the Sun (Attack 1000/ Defense 2000)," he declared. "Next I normal summon Fire Ant Ascator (Attack 700/ Defense 1300). Now I tune both my monsters. When the sun arises, all darkness is dispelled. Light, shine brightly. Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Sun Dragon Inti (Attack 3000/ Defense 2800)! Now I remove Fire Ant Ascator from play to special summon Weeping Idol (Attack 0/ Defense 500). Next I pay 1000 life points to special summon Dark Tuner Goddess Witaka (Attack 0/ Defense 0)," Goodwin stated and his life points dropped to 3000. "Now I use Dark Goddess Witaka's effect to copy Sun Dragon Inti's level (Dark Tuner Dark Goddess Witaka: Level 8). I tune my Dark Tuner Dark Goddess Witaka and Weeping Idol together. When the path of darkness is opened, the voices of despair can be heard. Become death. Dark Synchro! Show yourself, Moon Dragon Quilla (Attack 2500/ Defense 2000)! Finally I set two face downs." Quilla sunk below its sun counterpart as its effect activated destroying itself.
'I wonder if all of this was part of Goodwin's plan,' Crow wondered before he began his turn. "I don't know about God or fate, but I do know that I will surpass them like the legendary man from the Daedalus Bridge legend."
"That man lost his left arm," Goodwin pointed out.
"What're you talking about?" Crow wondered. "Whatever. I activate the Speed Spell- Tune Up 123. This raises Mistral's level back on a dice roll." The dice rolled and stopped on two. "Since it landed on a two, Mistral's level goes from 2 to 3 (Blackwing- Mistral the Silver Shield: Level 3). Now I tune Mistral and Bora to synchro summon. Come to the field, Blackwing Armor Master (Attack 2500/ Defense 1500)! Now since I have a face-up Blackwing on my field, I can special summon Blackwing- Elphin the Raven (Attack 2200/ Defense 1200). Now Blackwing Armor Master, attack Sun Dragon Inti!" Armor Master shoved a Wedge Counter into the face of Inti's sun and survived the counter attack due to its effect. "Now I use Armor Master's effect to remove that Wedge Counter left in Inti dropped its attack to 0 (Sun Dragon Inti: Attack 0)." The sun in Inti cracked up as the attack was dropped. "Now Elphin the Raven, attack that dragon!" Elphin left huge scratch marks in the monster causing it to explode and drop Goodwin's life points to 8800.
Goodwin laughed. "It's an unforgivable offense to retaliate against a god. The man from the Daedalus Bridge legend learned this by losing his left arm," he said.
That's when Yusei realized it. "Are you the man from the legend?" he asked.
"What?!" Crow exclaimed.
"I use the effect of Inti to destroy Elphin and inflict damage to Crow equaling its attack points," Goodwin declared playing on as normal. Crow's life points dropped to 1800. Since Inti was destroyed, Quilla returned. "The legendary man failed. He couldn't go against destiny because he was a normal person and a useless human. In order to change fate, one must surpass humans and become a god."
"I won't believe it! I won't let you shatter the legendary man!" Crow refused.
Goodwin raised his arm and caused the Marks of the Dragon to disappear from the Signers. The marks joined together as the full dragon symbol on Goodwin's chest.
Goodwin laughed. "Now I, a once ordinary man, am now an ultimate god through the powers of the Crimson Dragon and the Earthbound Immortals!"
Crow and the duelists battling Goodwin didn't give any acknowledgement other than Crow completing his turn by setting two face downs. The King of the Underworld continued to make its way to the geoglyph while Goodwin continued his talk about fate. Meanwhile, Akiza, Leo, Luna, Trudge, and Mina were watching anxiously from the sidelines.
Jack pulled up in front of his two partners to make his move. "I don't know much about God and bonds. But I will surpass them. It's my move!" Jack declared and drew his card. "I set a face down. Next I summon Magic Hole Golem (Attack 0/ Defense 2000). Now with Magic Hole Golem's effect, I can attack you directly with Mad Archfiend. But his attack must be halved (Mad Archfiend: Attack 900)." Mad Archfiend attacked with it showering his with its Bone Splash attack while Goodwin's life points dropped to 7900.
"Jack, don't joke around. You can't get rid of our bonds that easily," Crow told him. "I activate Shadow Dance. This inflicts an extra 1000 points of damage to you Goodwin." Goodwin's life points dropped to 6900.
Yusei held his hand over his heart for a moment while he said, "We all have bonds. The bonds of a Signer and our friends. Even if you can't make bonds so strong that they blind you, you can still make bonds and keep them. I activate a face down, Rising Rush! This allows me to special summon Junk Synchron (Attack 1300/ Defense 500)."
"I end my turn. Your go, Yusei," Jack stated.
Yusei began his turn and drew his card. "I tune Junk Synchron and Max Warrior together and synchro summon. Rise up, Junk Archer (Attack 2300/ Defense 2000)!" he declared. "I activate its effect. This allows me to remove Moon Dragon Quilla from play until the end phase." Junk Archer fired an arrow through Quilla making it disappear. "Now Junk Archer will attack you directly."
"I activate, Offering to the Immortals! This negates the attack and allows me to summon two Ceremonial Tokens (Attack 0/ Defense 0) as well as add an Earthbound Immortal from my deck to my hand," Goodwin declared. He laughed and showed them his Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca card.
"Okay, that's just playing dirty," Crow accused.
"I set two face downs," Yusei finished. And due to it being the end phase, Moon Dragon Quilla returned because Junk Archer's ability finished.
Goodwin began his turn. "I release my two monsters to tribute summon," he declared. The Earthbound Immortal heart appeared in the sky and sucked the people in the vicinity into it. A flash of light appeared around the heart before Goodwin called, "Arrive, Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca (Attack 1/ Defense 1) (A/N: Okay, to be clear, Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca's really attack and defense is 100 each. And its ability allows it to destroy a number of cards on your opponents side of the field by the same number for the cards you destroy on your side, and then it gets about 1000 attack points for each card. Added, as far as memory serves me, this Earthbound Immortal has no ability that allows it to reduce your opponent's life points directly to zero. So this has always bothered me with it being so different. Don't be harsh, please. I hate it as much as I'm sure most of you who actually know the game do)!" The condor descended from the sky and spread its wings and it hovered above the stairway.
Yusei, Jack, and Crow worriedly look up but their attention was quickly directed by the noise coming from the King of the Netherworld. The King of the Netherworld had spotted Wiraqocha Rasca and launched an army of smaller condors from its body in the direction of the Earthbound Immortal. The condors circled the duel circuit while Goodwin laughed in triumph as he called that his plan was reaching its climax.
A few of the small condors began to sneak up on Yusei. Just as he noticed, Black Rose Dragon struck them. Ancient Fairy Dragon was fighting off others as well. Leo, Mina, and Trudge cheered Yusei, Jack, and Crow on. Obi-Wan just stared at Yusei as he stared back for a moment.
Yusei turned back and began to talk to Goodwin about how bonds and friendship could surpass fate. But Goodwin continued his turn and activated Wiraqocha Rasca's effect.
"I looked up to the legendary man from the legend. He taught us to be strong and never give up," Crow commented. One of the smaller condors struck Crow causing him to slightly move off course but, thankfully, did no major damage. "I activate Life Exchange! This switches your Immortal's attack to me."
"I activate Life Exchange! This switches your Immortal's attack to me," Crow declared.
"Wait, Crow!" Yusei exclaimed but it was too late.
The attack hit Crow in a massive blast and threw Crow off the geoglyph and dropped his life points to 1. Crow quickly switched the Blackbird to flight mode and flew through Moon Dragon Quilla who was destroyed due to Life Exchange. With Quilla gone, Sun Dragon Inti rose again.
"I activate Blackwing Anchor, releasing Blackwing Armor Master," Crow declared. He then landed on the circuit again, causing damage to the Blackbird, which he fell off of.
Goodwin teased Crow about the legendary man and set a card before ending his turn.
Crow looked up ahead at the Blackbird. He still had one life point left and the card Blackwing Anchor continued to flash on their monitor. "Our bonds haven't broken yet," Crow said before he collapsed and was excluded from the duel.
Furious for what Goodwin did to Crow, Jack began his turn. "I summoned Sinister Sprocket (Attack 400/ Defense 0). Now I tune it with my Magic Hole Golem and Mad Archfiend to synchro summon, Red Dragon Archfiend (Attack 3000/ Defense 2000)! Next I activate, Half Straight. This halves Red Dragon Archfiend's attack and allows me to attack you directly if you have a monster with a higher attack (Red Dragon Archfiend: Attack 1500)," he declared. "Now Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Goodwin directly (A/N: Two words: God. Dammit! *ahem* Forgive me again. Don't mind my swearing. I don't swear unless I really am tempted into it. So I apologize now if you see me swearing in any other "Author's Notes" again. Well… To the story, I guess…)!"
"I use Sun Dragon Inti's effect to reduce its own attack to 0, meaning your Red Dragon Archfiend can't attack directly since it no longer has the lower attack. And since Wiraqocha Rasca cannot be selected as an attack target, Red Dragon Archfiend can only attack Inti," Goodwin fought.
"But then both monsters would be destroyed," Jack commented in a low, frustrated growl.
"I activate my face down, Scrubbed Raid!" Yusei played. "Jack, you need to use its effect to send Red Dragon Archfiend to the graveyard and end the battle phase."
"Jack, you should take the path of a true king," Goodwin told him.
"Jack, don't listen to him," Yusei tried.
"I betrayed my friends to become King," Jack reflected.
"The King I knew would never make a mistake as big as trusting on bonds. Or friends," Goodwin stated. "You should eliminate Yusei."
"Well, I'm not that King anymore. Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Inti!" Jack retorted. Goodwin's life points dropped to 5400 while Jack's dropped to 2500 due to Inti's effect. "I end my turn with a face down." Quilla was revived due to its ability. 'It was Carly who taught me about love, bonds, and friendship. I'm not going to stop until this is done,' Jack thought.
Yusei started his turn. "I use Junk Archer's effect to remove Moon Dragon Quilla from play," he declared.
"I activate Destruct Potion, destroying Quill and allowing me to gain life points equal to its attack," Goodwin retorted and his life points rose to 7900. Inti was revived due to Quilla's absence. "Look how futile I made of Junk Archer's effect."
"I end my turn," Yusei declared.
"I dare you, try to fight and defeat me," Goodwin called and he laughed malevolently about creating a new world.
Yusei turned as the King of the Underworld drew closer sending his minions to attack the two Signers who were dueling. Fortunately, Akiza and Luna were fending them off with their Signer dragons.
With the King of the Underworld approaching, Goodwin called down, "The King of the Underworld is getting closer. And when he arrives, you Signers will be sacrificed and the darkness will reign. But first, we must take some destruction."
"No matter what, we will keep fighting," Yusei retorted.
"That's right. We won't give up," Jack agreed.
Goodwin began his turn. Yusei then realized as he thought, 'Goodwin's going to attack Jack since his field's open.' And it worried Yusei.
"I play Fiendish Chain. This negates the effect of your Sun Dragon Inti and stops it from attacking or being tributed," Jack declared.
"You once said that no matter how much a person casts aside, people don't become lonely. But people fall into loneliness easily and that loneliness is death. Before death, a person thinks of neither his friends nor himself, much less about bonds. It's obvious since he falls alone," Goodwin stated. "Just return to your former self, Jack. When you were the King of Turbo Duels by restoring your feelings of loneliness and despair." Jack looked at him with a glare. "I use the effect of Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca to reduce Jack's life points to 1!"
The attack was sent and Jack's life points fell as Arch protected him again from the blast. "If my life points are below 1000, Fiendish Chain is destroyed," Jack commented.
"Look, Jack, and feel the death before your eyes. King of the Underworld, take him as your sacrifice!" Goodwin ordered. The King of the Underworld sent a blast across the city in the direction of the duel, causing Jack to lose control of his duel runner. "Do you feel death and despair?"
"I feel despair and loneliness, but only because death isn't before us," Jack replied. Jack crashed into the geoglyph and he flew off from his duel runner, excluding him from the duel along with Crow. But still, as Yusei left, Jack said to Yusei, "Even if my duel runner isn't beside you, my feelings are." He looked at his face down that he had set earlier.
"Even if our life points are at 1, our feelings are at 10,000," Crow added.
Leo, Trudge, and the others encouraged Yusei from below.
Yusei continued to duel saying, "I've got everyone's feelings."
"Are you trying to lessen the fear of death before your very eyes?" Goodwin asked. "I set one face down and end my turn."
Yusei drew his card to take his turn. "I activate Junk Archer's ability," he declared.
"I activate Passion Baimasse negating your ability and destroying your monster," Goodwin fought.
"I summon Shield Warrior (Attack 800/ Defense 1600) in defense mode. I set one face down and end my turn," Yusei declared.
"Is Shield Warrior everyone's feelings?" Goodwin asked. "That defense is meaningless against Wiraqocha Rasca. I shall let you taste death and loneliness. Bonds don't exist." He took his turn. "I'll take you where Jack and Crow are. I activate the effect of my Earthbound Immortal, reducing your life points to 1!" Everyone called for Yusei to watch out as the attack hit.
As the dust settled everyone was uneasy but Yusei rode out of the dust barely scratched and still able to continue though it was only with one life point. "I'm not going to be discouraged, not yet. As long as there's hope, I won't despair and the support for that hope is the bonds I share with my friends," he called. "Now it's my turn!" Yusei drew his card to take it. "I activate the Speed Spell- Angel Baton! This allows me to draw two cards as long as I discard one of them. Next I summon Debris Dragon (Attack 1000/ Defense 2000). With its ability, I can special summon one monster with 500 or less attack points from my graveyard. So come on out, Sonic Chick (Attack 300/ Defense 300). Now I tune Sonic Chick and Shield Warrior with Debris Dragon. Out of two will come one, and out of one will come great cosmic might. Take flight, Stardust Dragon (Attack 2500/ Defense 2000)!"
"This is as far as you go because your dragon's attack points are too low for mine," Goodwin responded.
"Not quite, Goodwin," Yusei retorted shocking the said Dark Signer. "Through my friends' bonds, hope will not be weakened."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Crow didn't complete the effect of his trap. It's the reason he tributed his Blackwing Armor Master. So I activate the last effect of Crow's Blackwing Anchor! This increases my dragon's attack by the attack of Blackwing Armor Master (Stardust Dragon: Attack 5000)," Yusei informed. "Now Stardust Dragon, attack Sun Dragon Inti with Cosmic Flare!" The dragon shot Inti.
"Now I activate Inti's effect-" Goodwin started but Yusei cut him off.
"Not with Stardust Dragon's ability. By tributing it, I can stop the effect of your Sun Dragon Inti," Yusei declared.
Goodwin's life points dropped to 5900 and he sighed. "The cycle of the Signers and Dark Signers won't end this way," he said. "Using its ability, I get to bring back Moon Dragon Quilla!"
Yusei declared, "I activate Jack's face down. Conquest of the Supreme Ruler! When my synchro monster destroys your synchro in battle, I can activate this card. With it, you can't normal or special summon any monsters until the end phase."
"But that means…" Goodwin trailed off.
"That's right. Moon Dragon Quilla isn't coming back anytime soon," Yusei finished. "I end my turn there. As long as we're not lonely, we won't fall into despair. And thanks to its ability, Stardust Dragon returns to the field!"
"I have fallen into complete darkness and perfect despair. I can't reset the world until I become a god," Goodwin retorted.
"Have you forgotten about your brother, Roman?" Yusei asked.
"What are you talking about?" Goodwin asked.
"You went against fate once when you went off the Daedalus Bridge, but only because you wanted to be with your brother. That arm you have is Roman's, remember?" Yusei explained.
"It doesn't matter since your life points are at one and the King of the Netherworld is getting closer and closer," Goodwin retorted. "As long as Jack and Crow can't resume riding, victory is mine once I defeat you. Now it's my turn." He drew his card. "I'll use the effect of Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca to attack you directly and finish you off!"
As the Earthbound Immortal went for the Signer, Jack called out, "Yusei, use my card! Use it right now!"
"That's why you didn't use that card earlier," Yusei realized. He turned back to Goodwin. "Again, Goodwin, the power of bonds triumphs. I activate Scrubbed Raid to end your battle phase by sending one card from the field to the graveyard.
Shocked, Goodwin called, "I activate Meteor Prominence. By discarding two cards, I can inflict 2000 points of damage to you."
"I activate the trap card known as Joint Future! By sending one hand from my hand to the graveyard, I can negate the activation of a spell or trap card," Yusei retorted.
"I activate its second effect. By skipping the draw phase of my next turn, I can add it right back to my hand," Goodwin fought.
"Sorry, Goodwin, don't think so. I activate the second effect of Joint Future. When it negates a card, that card is returned to the deck which is then shuffled," Yusei countered.
Goodwin glared in frustration as he placed the card back in the deck. "I end my turn," he declared with nothing else to do.
"Do you really want to become a god?" Yusei asked.
"I cannot become a god unless I surpass my brother," Goodwin told him.
"You're wrong. People have things they can never forget. Believe me, I know," Yusei retorted thinking of his father. "It's in their hearts and Roman is still in your heart, Goodwin. You're not trying to surpass fate but you're trying to go against Roman. Isn't that what we call a bond?"
Goodwin looked to the side as he saw a young version of Roman appear before his shaking his head at him. Almost like he was forsaking Goodwin. Yusei's deck lit up and full mark of the Crimson Dragon disappeared from Goodwin's chest shocking him as the marks reappear on their respective Signers.
"Our marks?!" Luna exclaimed.
"They're back!" Akiza followed.
The Mark of the Dragon Tail disappeared from Yusei's arm but was quickly replaced by the head. The Mark of the Dragon Tail travelled to Crow. "The Mark of the Dragon Head is with me?" Yusei asked shocked.
"What?! Why is the Crimson Dragon not lending me the power to be a god?" Goodwin asked shocked.
"The Crimson Dragon realized what was better than power for you. He chose the bonds and our bonds will surpass fate!" Yusei told him. The full Crimson Dragon mark appeared on Yusei's back once more as everyone put their hopes in him. "Now, Goodwin, it's my turn!" Yusei exclaimed drawing his card. "Due to Stardust Dragon being on the field, I can special summon Stardust Xiaolong (Attack 100/ Defense 100) that's sleeping in my graveyard. And next I summon, Majestic Dragon (Attack 0/ Defense 0)!"
"Not that! No!" Goodwin exclaimed.
"Whatever it is that Yusei's doing, he better do it quick," Trudge stated as the ones on the ground ran from the King of the Underworld who was making its final approach to the altar.
"Next I tune level one Majestic Dragon with level 8 Stardust Dragon and level one Stardust Xiaolong!" Yusei declared. "I harness all the power of the stars; I channel all of the might of the dragons! I synchro summon, the Majestic Star Dragon (Attack 3800/ Defense 3000)!" The dragon surrounded Yusei and engulfed him so Yusei was riding within it. "And now, I'll use his ability! It negates the power of your Immortal!"
"What?!" Goodwin exclaimed.
"And then I reveal my card, Synchro Baton! Thanks to this, for every synchro monster that's in our graveyards, I can increase the attack monster on my field by 600. And since there are four synchro monsters in our graves, Majestic Star Dragon gains 2400 attack points (Majestic Star Dragon: Attack 6200) and he gains the distinction of being the toughest monster on the field. You know what that means. It means Earthbound Immortal Rasca is going down. Go Majestic Star Dragon!" Yusei ordered.
Goodwin watched in dismay as his monster was pierced and taken down. "I've lost, it's over," he muttered as his life points were taken out.
"Now set yours sights on the King of the Underworld!" Yusei ordered. His dragon went for the demonic creature. It shot a blast at Yusei while the Crimson Dragon surrounded him and Majestic Star Dragon, allowing them to slice through the blast. It didn't take long before they went through the King of the Underworld.
. . .
Yusei opened his eyes and found himself standing in a space like area with Goodwin in front of him and looked to the side to see Misty, Carly, Kalin, and Greiger floating unconscious.
"Kalin… Greiger…" Yusei muttered. He turned back to Goodwin. "Where are we?"
"In between the light and the darkness, Yusei. A place of peace," Goodwin answered. He turned as Roman appeared beside him looking as he did before he was a Dark Signer. "Hello, Brother. It's been so long. It feels almost like an eternity."
"Indeed," Roman agreed before they both looked at Yusei.
"You were right, Yusei. Deep down, I was still honoring my brother's memory. The bonds we form are all that really matter in life," Goodwin said and looked at the unconscious Dark Signers. "Yusei, take care of them. Their place is back on Earth." They turned as a portal of light opened up from behind them. "Now if you'll excuse us, my brother and I have some catching up to do."
"Wait!" Yusei called but he was cut off by the light as they vanished and light engulfed him as well.