Author's Note: I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I was really hoping that Rin's Dark Synchro Monster would be a twist that would get a lot of response, so I'm totally thrilled to see I was right.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
Chapter 37: The Shocking Truth, Part 1
Yugo and Rin were not the only ones who Bruno and Sherry came and got for the meeting with the mysterious Rudger Goodwin. The pair had also requested that Crow, Jack, Carly, Aki, Shinji, Matsuri, Anastasia, Ruka, Rua and Hitomi be in on the meeting as well. Once everyone had agreed to hear what Sherry and Bruno's employer had to say, the duo took them out on a drive through the city. Within minutes they had wound up in a part of what used to be the Commons that Yugo somehow found familiar, even after Iliaster's mechanical transformation of the former slum. Before long, the young turbo duelist saw that they were heading for a building that he recognized almost immediately.
"Hey! That's the place where those jerks from security had me in stasis!" Yugo identified.
"Actually, the security force had nothing to do with your placement in stasis," Bruno revealed as they came ever closer to the building. "The night that you had your confrontation with security, Sherry and I retrieved you and placed you here under Rudger Goodwin's orders."
"Say what?" Yugo exclaimed.
"At the time, it was the only way to keep you out of Iliaster's clutches," Sherry told him. "Now come on. Our boss will explain everything."
The garage to the building opened up as soon as the ground came near, and closed behind them as soon as everyone was inside. Once Yugo and others dismounted, Bruno went over to the far wall of the garage that Yugo never noticed during his first visit. As soon as the switch was flipped, a heavy door hidden in the wall opened up to reveal a staircase leading to a much lower level of the building. The others followed Bruno and Sherry down the stairs, and moments later they found themselves inside a massive cylindrical chamber with polished black walls that had lines of green light running along them in places, and a black floor that one could see his or her reflection in. In the very center of the chamber was a very large silver and grey computer with a massive screen on the front.
"So, where the heck is this boss of yours?" Crow asked Bruno and Sherry as he looked around the room.
As if on cue, the screen of the computer switched on to show the face of an older man with tanned skin and long spiked dark-blonde hair. Yugo and the others immediately noticed he bore a strong resemblance to the deceased Rex Goodwin.
"Good evening, everyone," the man on the screen spoke. "I want to thank you all for coming here. My name Rudger Goodwin."
"Just what sort of game our you playing at here?" Jack demanded to know. "You Goodwins are all alike! If you have something to say to all of us, say it in person!"
"But I am speaking to you in person, Mr. Atlas," Rudger told him. "Or rather… what's left of me is."
Suddenly a circular hole in the floor opened up in front of the computer. Rising out of it was a metal cylinder with a glass tank at the top, showing a human brain. The tank of liquid that the brain was in was lit by a green light at the container's top, and the brain itself is was hooked up to several wires. Yugo and many of the others were visibly stunned. Rua though reacted as though it were the coolest thing he had every seen.
"I suffer from the same condition that my brother suffered from, though my case was obviously more severe," Rudger continued. "My body had become useless to me, so the only way I could continue my work was to place my brain in this machine. Of course even now, I do not have much time left."
"Wow! This is… this is just all kinds of freaky," Crow declared.
"I'll say," Matsuri agreed.
"Hold on just a sec!" Rua spoke as he suddenly eyed the brain suspiciously. "How do we know that what we're seeing is actually your brain? For all we know, you really are trying to trick us somehow."
"Rua's right!" Yugo agreed. "You could be trying to pull something over on us."
Ruka rolled her eyes. "Rua, do you even hear yourself right now?"
"Yeah Yugo. What would be the point of a trick like that?" Rin pointed out.
"Well… okay, yeah. That does seem kinda stupid," Yugo admitted.
Rudger chuckled a bit as the tank containing his brain lowered back into the floor. "I do not blame you for your suspicions after what you've been through with Rex. As his older brother, I must apologize for all the things he's done, though I know that no apology can ever make up for his misdeeds. Rex always had the best of intentions for this world, but he was also very misguided."
"We didn't come here to hear you defend that monster to us!" Shinji interrupted.
"No, you didn't. You came here for answers, and that's what you'll get," Rudger responded. "I will tell you all about why my brother formed Iliaster and what led us to this point. It all began years ago with the discovery of a lost city in South America."
Some of the color drained from Rin's face when she heard Rudger talk about a lost city in South America. Rex had already told her a little something about those ruins. Yugo noticed Rin's reaction and took her hand.
"The ruins were identified by the archeologists who made the discovery as Seibal, the City of the Gods," Rudger continued. "Legends said that the city itself had come down from the heavens, and it was from here where gods once ruled this world. As the archeologists examined the ruins, they discovered a vast network of tunnels beneath its foundation that contained some startling secrets. There in those ruins of a city thousands of years old were pieces of technology far beyond anything that humans of that era could've constructed. They also discovered what could only be described at the time as power generators build into the city's foundation.
"As soon as news of the discovery spread, it was decided that a team of some of the world's top scientific minds were sent to investigate it. I was part of the team leading the expedition, along with Rex, Leo Akaba, and my friend, Dr. Fudo, the inventor of the Momentum Reactor and the father of your lost friend, Yusei Fudo. Dr. Fudo and I had the task of examining the power reactors, while Rex and Professor Akaba were to help examine the rest of the city's ancient technology. As soon as we arrived at the ruins, we all noticed that Leo had started to act strange. When we asked him if he was okay, he said he felt as if he had come home.
"In the beginning, Leo's feeling of belonging to those ruins all seemed totally innocent. No one could've predicted how his attachments to the city were going to affect him. In order for you all to understand the events of what happened next, it would probably be best to show you some of what happened next rather than simply tell you. What you're about to see takes place inside the main tent of our basecamp just five days after we had arrived."
Suddenly the inside of the chamber began to transform, and the machine showing Rudger's face vanished. In moments, Yugo and the others were standing inside a large brown canvas tent. All around the edge of the tent were long tables with pieces of lab equipment and strange artifacts scattered all over them. A young Rex Goodwin was standing in front of one of the tables examining what appeared to be a small and ancient piece of machinery. Back then, the future despot's hair was black and slightly shorter, and he had on a white lab coat.
There was also another man standing in front of one of the tables. He had tanned skin, purple eyes and short dark hair. Like Rex, he also had on a white lab coat, as well as blue shirt with a red tie and black slacks. Rin recognized the other man as her father, Leo Akaba. Rudger Goodwin was also inside the tent looking at something on a computer screen.
"No matter how many times I look at these artifacts, I'm simply amazed!" Rex declared with a large smile. "Leo! Do you realize what this fine means?"
"I believe I do, my friend," Leo responded. "The legends of this city coming from the heavens themselves… may not be a legend after all."
"Exactly!" Rex agreed as he turned to face him. "For ages there have been theories that ancient aliens came to visit Earth, and now we have irrefutable proof!"
"So the gods were nothing more than little green men," Rudger remarked with a smirk as he swiveled his chair to face them. "I kinda feel sorry for the ancient people who worshipped these guys. They totally got taken for fools."
"Really brother, why do you always have to see the dark side of things?" Rex asked as he sighed and shook his head.
"Oh come on Rex! If you think about it, it's not like these aliens did much to show those ancient people that they weren't gods," Rudger pointed out. "Instead they just let them bow down and do whatever they felt like telling them to."
"If these beings did allow the ancient population around here worship them as gods, perhaps it was because they just had the best interest of those people at heart," Leo remarked, causing Rudger to raise an eyebrow.
Just then, another man in a lab coat walked into the tent. This man had purple eyes and spiked black hair that seemed somehow shaped like a crab. Yugo, Rin, Jack and Crow instantly noticed that family resemblance this man had to Yusei.
"Rudger, did you get the data I sent you?" Dr. Fudo asked.
"I was just looking it over now," Rudger answered, pointing his hand at the screen of his computer. "From what you've just sent me, I think these ancient power reactors might be engines of some kind."
"That's just what I was thinking as well," Dr. Fudo agreed. "I don't know how, but I think there's some kind of advanced vehicle underneath this city."
"Or perhaps this whole city is a vehicle itself," Leo theorized. "Fudo, do you think you could reactivate those engines?"
"Well… I suppose it might be possible," a surprised Dr. Fudo answered. "Of course I'd have to figure out how they worked before I could find out one way or the other. Why do you ask?"
"Oh… just curious, I suppose," Leo answered.
Suddenly a young woman with long dark-green hair and wearing a long with lab coat and half moon spectacles rushed into the tent past Dr. Fudo. In her hands she carried something balled up into a white cloth.
"Professor Akaba! Dr. Goodwin!" the young woman spoke as she rushed up to Leo and Rex. "One of the other teams found this inside the city's main building."
She unwrapped what was in the cloth, revealing the item to be an all-too-familiar silver bracelet with a green gemstone. Rin looked at her own wrist to confirm what she was seeing was true. There was no doubt that the bracelet that the young woman had was Rin's.
"They thought it might be another piece of alien technology and asked me to have you look at it," the young woman continued.
Rex carefully took the bracelet from her and looked it over. "Hmm… well, it is an interesting find… but I don't think it's technological. You should have one of the archeology teams look it over."
"One moment, Rex," Leo spoke as he came over and took the bracelet to have a closer look. "We shouldn't be too hasty. For all we know, this bracelet could have a type of technology we've never seen before hidden within it. We'll take a closer look at it."
The young woman nodded and hurried out of the tent. Leo meanwhile continued to look over the bracelet carefully.
"Leo, do you really think that this bracelet is actually an advanced alien relic?" Rex asked.
"Actually, I'm not sure," Leo answered. "I do get sort of an odd feeling from it though. But actually, I held onto the bracelet for a totally different reason. I think it might make a good gift for my daughter. It seems like it would suit her somehow. Rex, I'm wondering if you would do me a favor and make arrangements to have this thing sent back secretly?"
Rex chuckled and took the bracelet from Leo. "Consider it done."
"Hmm… if Akaba is sending something from here home as a gift for his daughter, maybe I should find something here that my son might like," Dr. Fudo remarked.
"Don't even think about it," Rudger told him. "Leo, sending that bracelet home seems like a bad idea. You could get into some real trouble."
"I don't think any real harm will come of it," Leo responded. "Besides, I don't know why, but I feel like my daughter is the rightful owner of that bracelet."
Suddenly the four scientists vanished and the inside of the tent returned to its original form. The machine that Rudger was using to talk to Yugo and the others also reappeared.
"As they days went on, Leo's strange attitude about Seibal persisted," Rudger continued. "My brother was unconcerned, but Fudo and I were increasingly troubled by Leo's attitude that the city was somehow his ancestral home. It also concerned the two of us how Leo seemed to think it was right for these ancient aliens to let the ancient humans of that area worship them as gods. That concern peaked during a lunch conversation that the four of us had a few days later."
Once again, the chamber began to transform and the machine showing Rudger's face vanished. This time the audience was inside what appeared to be a mess tent filled with scientists and archeologists having lunch. Rudger and Dr. Fudo were sitting across from one another at the end of the table that Yugo and the others had ended up near. Both of the scientists had troubled expressions on their faces.
"Is it just me Rudger, or is Akaba starting to go off the deep end?" Dr. Fudo asked.
Rudger let out a heavy sigh. "No… this place definitely seems to be having an effect on Leo's mind."
"The other day, I heard him and Rex talking about how these aliens were worshipped as gods," Dr. Fudo revealed. "They both seemed to think that these gods were acting out of some kind of greater good, like the human race needed their guidance or something like that in order to survive."
"Are you serious?" Rudger asked before shaking his head. "Oh boy… Leo is one thing, but my brother?"
"You two seem to be having a very interesting conversation," a familiar voice spoke. Rudger looked and saw Rex and Leo standing next to him. "Mind if we join you?"
"Uh… not at all," Dr. Fudo answered as he pasted on a fake smile. "Please sit down."
Rex and Leo sat down on the bench next to Rudger. There was an awkward silence that hung over the four for a moment.
"Leo and I overheard some of your conversation," Rex calmly revealed. "Are you really that troubled by our earlier discussion?"
"Well… to be honest you two, yes," Rudger admitted. "Leo, it sounds like you wish these ancient aliens were still around making us bow down to them."
"From what little we've seen so far, these beings came here to guide the human race," Leo argued. "And from what I've seen of the world, humanity is in desperate need of guidance. The fact is we're nothing more than a race of irresponsible self-destructive children! And children need a firm hand. I'm confident that if these fallen gods were still here today, the world would be a much better place."
"You're saying that we'd all be better off if we were slaves to some alien beings?" Dr. Fudo asked.
"Why do you think that would mean slavery?" Leo calmly asked. "It seems like the ancient humans from the time of Seibal worshipped these beings willingly."
"And what about those few ancient humans who maybe didn't agree with the commandments that these aliens gave them?" Dr. Fudo asked with a hint of outrage in his voice. "What do you think these 'benevolent gods' of yours did to them?"
"Sometimes children need to be punished," Leo calmly replied with a shrug. "You're a father, Fudo. You should know that better than anyone."
"You and my brother both seem to be selling the human race pretty short," Rudger declared.
"I don't think so at all," Rex told him. "The fact is that humans have a natural and destructive inclination towards competition, the need to dominate and conquer all others. Our society in Neo Domino is proof of that fact."
"I admit that things back in the city are bad, but I don't think we can call that proof that human beings are incapable of being master of their own destiny," Dr. Fudo told them.
"That's exactly what it means!" Leo declared. "The human race needs to be guided by a higher power if it has any hope of surviving. You and Rudger are too naïve think otherwise."
With that, Leo took his lunch tray and got up to leave for another table. Rex got up and followed him a few short seconds later. Soon after Rex and Leo left, the mess tent vanished and Yugo and the others were back inside the chamber with the machine housing Rudger's brain.
"The four of us really began to drift apart after that conversation," Rudger continued. "In the weeks and months that followed, more and more of the chambers underneath Seibal were mapped out and examined. One of those chambers was some sort of library, and through examining that library's contents the archeological team was somehow able to translate the written language of the city's inhabitants. That breakthrough not only allowed us all to eventually uncover this history of Seibal and its supposedly divine inhabitants, it also allowed Dr. Fudo to figure out the controls for the engines underneath the city. Meanwhile, Leo Akaba's strange behavior regarding the city continued to grow worse.
"Then one day, the archeological teams discovered a hidden chamber containing the mummified remains of some of the city's inhabitants. Careful autopsies were immediately performed on the mummies, and it was discovered that while these beings seemed physically similar to humans, there were enough anatomical differences to confirm that they were not human at all. After that discovery, there was no longer a doubt in anyone's mind that Seibal was a city build by people from beyond the stars."
"So… you guys really found some lost alien city?" Matsuri asked.
"Indeed we did. And we eventually discovered the name of this bygone race," Rudger revealed. "They were known as the Anunnaki."
"Okay! Time out!" Crow interrupted. "You had me going there for a while, but I'm calling crap on this whole thing. That psycho running the Arcadia Movement also gave us that exact same story about these Anunnaki too. Your credibility just took a nosedive, and it wasn't all that high to begin with."
"I understand your skepticism, Mr. Hogan. But Divine was telling you the truth about the Anunnaki, as far as he knew it," Rudger told him. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Before we get too far into the topic of the Anunnaki, I must first tell you what happened with our expedition. Rex was helping with the examination of the DNA of these mummies to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were from another world. I was present on the day he was examining a sample from a mummy that seemed to be a very important figure in the Anunnaki's society from the elaborate sarcophagus he had."
Once again the inside of the chamber began to change and the machine showing Rudger's face vanished. The audience was now inside another much smaller tent. Rex was sitting at a table with an advanced microscope connected to a computer. Rudger entered the tent as Rex was scribbling down something on a tablet of paper.
"Something I can help you with, brother?" Rex asked, not once taking his eyes from his work.
"I just came in here looking for this pen I might've lost," Rudger answered. "So… those mummies really from another planet?"
"The DNA clearly does not match any known life form of this planet," Rex confirmed. "The interesting thing though is that it is compatible with human DNA."
"You saying that a human and one of these aliens could've had a kid together if they wanted to?" Rudger asked.
"It's very possible," Rex answered. "Humans do seem to be physically compatible with the Anunnaki. A hybrid of those two life forms does not seem out of the question."
At that moment, Leo entered the tent. "Rex. How goes your examination of the DNA?"
"It's coming along fine," Rex answered, swiveling his chair around to face Leo. "We can easily prove to the world that these people came from another planet."
"Splendid," Leo replied, looking past Rex to his microscope. "Say… would it be possible for you to examine the DNA of another life form and see if it has any common genetic traits with those of the Anunnaki?"
"Well… bare in mind, my expertise in genetics is a little bit limited, but it should be possible," Rex answered.
"Good. Then I want you to examine this blood sample and see if the DNA has any traits in common with the Anunnaki," Leo requested as he handed Rex a plastic sample container. "I'd like to know what the results are as soon as possible."
"Of course," Rex replied as Leo turned and headed for the door. "If you don't mind me asking though, whose blood am I running this test on?"
Leo stopped at the doorway and looked back at Rex. "My own."
As soon as the image of Leo walked out, the tent returned to its original form. Yugo and the others were once again standing before the machine showing an image of Rudger's face.
"Rex did as my brother asked, and after he triple checked his findings, he confirmed that Leo was indeed descended from the Anunnaki," Rudger revealed. "In fact, Rex was able to determine that Leo was descended from the very Anunnaki king who's DNA he had been examining at the time Leo made his request."
Rin suddenly staggered back a couple steps as a look of horror formed on her face. "No… it can't be true!"
"I'm sorry, my dear. I asked that Sherry and Bruno not tell you about the truth of your ancestry because I knew this is how you might react," Rudger told her. "Though perhaps I should've let them tell you about this sooner. It may have prevented what finally happened during your duel with my brother."
"If it makes you feel better Rin, you're not the only one here with alien ancestors," Sherry spoke. "I too am also descended from Anunnaki royalty. That's how I'm able to Pendulum Summon, and how I sensed you summon that Dark Synchro Monster. You and I are very distant cousins."
"Ms. Izayoi, Ms. Winthrop and Ms. Stirba are also of Anunnaki descent, though their ancestors were commoners among the Anunnaki," Rudger revealed. "The same was true for Divine. In fact almost every psychic duelist has some Anunnaki present in their lineage."
"I'm still not buying any of this," Crow declared.
"You should," Aki told him. "Truthfully, I only half believed what Divine always told us about the Anunnaki. But after hearing everything that Rudger Goodwin has told us, I'm absolutely convinced that all of it is true. And… I'm sure that both Rin and Yugo are convinced too."
"Give us the rest of the story, you talking brain," Jack ordered.
"Once my brother told Leo about his alien heritage, everything got worse and worse," Rudger continued. "Leo became convinced that it was his duty and obligation to revive Seibal and rule the Earth with the intention of guiding the human race along what he believed to be the proper path. He felt that he was a superior being to the rest of us. Rex eagerly went along with Leo's plan, as he truly believed that humanity needed to be guided by what he called a higher power in order to survive. Eventually Fudo and I had figured out what the two of them had been planning, but by the time we figured out a plan to stop them, it was all too late."
The chamber once again changed to the inside of the main tent that Yugo and the others had seen at the start of Rudger's tale. Rudger was standing in the middle of the tent looking over something on a clipboard when Dr. Fudo rushed in.
"Rudger, we have a major problem!" Dr. Fudo declared. "A few minutes ago, your brother had my team power up the engines underneath this place. After that, Leo ordered all the other teams to leave. Seibal is coming back online! Pretty soon it'll be airborne."
"So… it's as we feared. Leo and my brother really are going to try and conquer the Earth," Rudger spoke. "We have to stop them somehow! Is there any way for us to sabotage those engines?"
"Causing them to blow up probably wouldn't be a good idea," Dr. Fudo answered. "The explosion would be so great that this planet would look like an apple with a giant bite taken out of it. Millions of lives could be lost!"
"Is there any other way to stop them?" Rudger asked.
"There is one possibility I can think of. From what I can figure out, this alien fortress can move into other dimensions," Dr. Fudo revealed. "If I can get to the controls in the engine room, I think I can sabotage things so that Seibal shifts into a dimensional void. I think I can also program it so that the engines crash once the dimensional jump has been made. It'd be virtually impossible to power them up again without the aide of some kind of outside power source."
"Okay, one problem. Wouldn't we be trapped in this other dimension along with Seibal?" Rudger pointed out.
"Already thought of that," Dr. Fudo told him. "There's also a teleportation device in the engine room. Rex has been using it to move a lot of the alien technology out of Seibal to another location during the past few weeks, along with some of those stone tablets we discovered in one of the lower chambers. Anyway, I should be able to program the system to make the dimensional jump and crash the engines after a delay of two or three minutes. Then we just use the teleporter to get off Seibal before it vanishes."
Suddenly the whole tent began to shake. Pieces of lab equipment fell of the tables, falling to pieces as they crashed to the ground. It was almost as if the earth was going to tear itself apart. After a few minutes though, the shaking stopped and the two scientists got the sensation that they were somehow rising into the air."
"Looks like Seibal has been launched," Rudger realized. "If we're going to try your idea, we better do it now!"
Soon after Rudger and Dr. Fudo rushed out of the tent, the surroundings changed again and Yugo and the others were suddenly inside a massive chamber containing at least four very large cylindrical devices made of glowing orange coils secured inside dark-grey metal support frames. Yugo and the rest of the gang assumed that these devices were Seibal's engines. There was also a small control center inside the large room right by the door. The small door of the engine room slid open, and Rudger and Dr. Fudo rushed through it.
"Okay. Hopefully this won't take long to set up," Dr. Fudo spoke as he headed for the controls.
"That's far enough, Fudo!" a familiar voice spoke. The duo looked and saw Rex emerge from around one of the engines with a gun in his hands. "You too, brother. I don't know exactly what you're planning, but I'm not going to allow it to happen."
"Rex! This whole thing is madness!" Rudger told him. "You and Leo need to stop this now!"
"What Leo and I are doing is for the good of all humanity," Rex insisted as he approached them, keeping his gun aimed at Dr. Fudo. "First we shall use the power of this fortress to do away with the corrupt society of Neo Domino! Then we shall change the rest of the world!"
"And you think that people will just roll over and let you and Akaba conquer them?" Dr. Fudo asked.
"We do expect some resistance at first, but that resistance can easily be broken," Rex declared. "This is the new age of the Anunnaki! You and the rest of the world will have to get used to that."
"No way! Not while I have anything to say about it!" Dr. Fudo told him. "I'm going to stop your twisted plan right now!"
Dr. Fudo continued towards the controls. Rex ordered him to stop, but his former colleague would not listen. Once Dr. Fudo got behind the main control panel, Rex opened fire and shot him in the chest. Dr. Fudo started to cough up blood and had to grab onto the controls for support.
"Rudger! Keep… keep him busy." Dr. Fudo spoke. "Just… give me some time!"
"Don't make me shoot you too, Rudger," Rex warned as he pointed the gun at him. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes!"
"Damn you!" Rudger cursed as he suddenly rushed towards Rex.
Before Rex could fire off another shot, Rudger managed to grab his wrist and tried to wrestle the gun out of his hand. Rex attempted to punch him in the side, but his older and larger brother managed to grab his other wrist. As the two brothers grappled, Dr. Fudo used what remaining strength he had to work the controls of the engine room. Rudger and Rex continued to struggle, twirling around the room as if locked in some sort of strange dance. Then eventually, Rex ended up pushing Rudger into one of the engines, causing the elder Goodwin to be electrocuted by the strange power coursing through it. A bolt of that same energy also struck Rex in the shoulder.
Soon after this happened, some sort of alert siren began to go off inside the room. After recovering from the shock, Rex looked over at the controls and saw that Dr. Fudo had a bloody but triumphant smile on his face before collapsing behind the control panel. Scowling, Rex dashed to a large yellow hexagonal panel in the floor a few feet from the controls. He pressed a few keys on a small control panel on the wall behind the hexagonal pad, and within seconds he disappeared from the room with a flash of yellow light. A few seconds after Rex vanished, Rudger got back to his feet.
Rudger staggered over to the controls and saw Dr. Fudo sitting against the wall, holding a hand over his now extremely bloody wound. The engineer was still conscious, but Rudger realized that his wound was a fatal one.
"Fudo! We have to get out of here!" Rudger told him.
"You… you go," Dr. Fudo responded. "I'm… not gonna make it. You and I both know that."
"You really expect me to just leave you here?" Rudger asked.
Dr. Fudo coughed a bit before shaking his head. "It's… it's too late for me. Just go. If you don't… there won't be anyone left… to stop Rex."
After a moment, Rudger got onto the hexagonal pad and pressed the keys on the control panel behind it. A few seconds later, there was a brilliant flash of light that seemed to fill the room. When the light faded, Yugo and the others were outside standing beside a giant crater. Rudger was standing a few feet away, shading his eyes from the sun as he looked up into the sky.
"Brother!" a voice called, and Rudger saw Rex standing several feet away. "How could you do this? Leo and I were going to change this corrupt world! That fortress was the key to humanity's salvation!"
"No Rex! I understand why you did all this… but what you and Leo almost did wasn't the way to change this world!" Rudger told him. "You can't force piece and harmony on others!"
"This is not over!" Rex declared. "I will find a way to bring back Seibal! Just you wait! And you had better not get in my way again!"
Rudger merely stood and watched as Rex walked away. Suddenly the surroundings changed again and Yugo and the others were once again in the chamber with the computer containing Rudger's brain.
"I'm sure many of you have already pieced together most of what happened next," Rudger continued. "Rex had salvaged a lot of technology from Seibal, and he was able to use it to establish the foundation for Iliaster and build the fortress he used to send power to Seibal's engines in the hopes of brining Leo Akaba back to this world. Meanwhile I began my work to stop my brother's ambitions. I reached out to Sherry's father, who happened to be an old friend of mine. He had access to certain technological resources that I thought might aid in the battle against Iliaster.
"Unfortunately, my health proved to be a major obstacle in my efforts. The power surge from Seibal's engine that Rex and I took exposed us both to a strange and unidentified radiation that was slowly causing our organs to fail. The reason I'm in the state you see me in now is because I took most of the blast. I needed helpers to assist me, so I recruited Sherry and Bruno. Sherry agreed to help me after she and I discovered her Annunaki roots. Bruno was a young mechanical prodigy that I discovered some years later."
"Originally I was a young engineering student who worked on a team that was part of Neo Domino Security's research and development division," Bruno revealed. "In fact, I assisted with the development of the security droids used by Iliaster. When I eventually found out what Rex Goodwin had planned, I decided to escape and reached out to Rudger Goodwin so that I could put a stop to it."
"What about Yusei?" Jack asked. "I know you had something to do with why your brother got rid of him."
"…Yes. I had Bruno and Sherry recruit Yusei Fudo to help me," Rudger admitted. "I thought he might be strong enough to defeat my brother, and that he would make it possible for me to avoid using Yugo and Rin in this whole business. When I told Yusei that my brother was responsible for his father's death, he became more than willing to stop Rex's plans. I never expected Rex to use such an underhanded tactic against Yusei though. But in hindsight… perhaps I should have."
"Well, I guess that's the whole messy story then," Crow assumed.
"Like hell it is!" Yugo exclaimed. "I wanna know why Rin and I had to get wrapped up in all this!"
"So do I!" Rin agreed. "And… I want to know more about the Anunnaki too."
"And so I shall tell you," Rudger responded. "You deserve to know the full story about all this. I shall tell you all I know about the Anunnaki, and about the barbarian king who slew them."
"Barbarian king?" Jack repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. The original master of Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon," Rudger revealed. "The legendary Signer known as… Zarc."
Author's Note: I've always found Rudger Goodwin to be an interesting character. While his brother, Rex was an evil guy who cloaked himself in a mask of good and even acted with what he thought were the best of intentions, Rudger was a good man who was forced to do evil things by outside forces. In the 5D's anime, he was compelled to do evil because he had been chosen as a Dark Signer, and in the manga he had no choice to become the Skeleton Knight and use Yusei's friend, Sect as a pawn to stop Rex from unleashing an evil god upon the world. So in this story, I guess I wanted to try and show what a good guy Rudger actually was, even though some of his actions in this story might be considered a little evil. Incidentally, the idea to have Rudger as a brain in a jar in this story came to me while watching Captain America: Winter Soldier.
We've still got another chapter of revelations to go, so stay tuned.
Please review and let me know what you think.