Thank you for all the readers out there, old or new, who are reading this story. I have as of now (July 2020) finished writing the entire story, and am going through the draft for a final round of edits. Most importantly, I'm also checking through all the details involved in this story. It's amazing how much you forget. Who still remembers the name of Aki's father? The full legal name for Rosewood? How many years did it take for Rex Goodwin to leave the Momentum team? I certainly didn't remember a lot of these!
There are 2 more chapters after this one, so buckle up, we've heading to the finish line after 11 years!
2 - Beyond this flood, a frozen continent
The Momentum building was struggling to keep itself together when Yusei's team reached its entrance. Without power, the doors were jammed tight, and Crow and Yusei pushed against it with all their strengths just to get it to open a crack. Ultimately, it required Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon's talons to fully tear apart the doors, and they finally managed to leave the frontal driveway, which was lying in shambles after their intense fight with Kiryu's men.
Still supporting Carly, Jack cautiously walked through the doors first. The rest of them quickly followed. While the interior of the lab building was utterly abandoned, it was still in much better shapes than the outside, with office cubicles and corridors still intact. Yusei directed the group towards the gates of the Momentum main lab as they stumbled through the occasional overturned furniture. The biggest hurdle was the lack of lights inside. The entire building seemed to be only lit up via emergency lighting, an ominous and bloody red glow that reflected eerily off the walls.
"Halt! Stop right there!"
Aki jumped when she heard that voice came booming out from the darkness. The entire team all stopped dead in their tracks, and Crow barely managed to bite back a curse.
The shapes of four men, who appeared to be Security officers given their outfits, moved slowly out from an office. They had their police batons uplifted, but given the visible shaking of their arms, they were not doing much better than the teens.
"Stop! And… and declare who you are! W-We are not going to let anyone pass!"
Aki guessed they were the remnant of the Security brigand tasked with protecting Momentum lab. If Kiryu's men had actually broken through, these officers would have been ordered to defend Momentum till their last breath. However, being stationed here with no power and no communication, it would have been enough to unhinge any Security officer.
"Hold on! We are here to help Momentum!" Crow held up his hands and took a step closer, trying to appease the men. But that only seemed to startle the officer as they all visible flinched back from Crow
"Bullshit!" One of the officers immediately yelled. "We heard what was happening outside! There was a fight between Psychic Duelists, and you are all Psychic Duelists! All of you!"
With a nervous, jittery glance at each other, the four Security guards raised their batons higher. Crow heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Look, if you heard what happened outside, shouldn't you have figured out we are the good guys? The Satellite gang that was trying to get in are all gone, and their leader is lying injured in a hole in the ground. We are-"
"No!" One of the guards scuttled backwards as he yelled. "You are Satellite scum, and Psychic Duelists! Director Goodwin ordered us to guard Momentum with our lives! We'll never let Psychic Duelists get in there!"
"Even if I am with them?"
Yusei stepped forward, out of the shadows cast by Jack and Crow, and allowed a crimson beam of the emergency light to shine across his face. There was a shocked gasp from the Security officers and two of them immediately lowered their batons.
"I presumed the Director didn't say anything about what to do if the King turned up." Yusei spoke in an even voice. "But I am most certainly a friend of Momentum and the City. Would you deny entry even to me?"
The remaining two officers lowered their batons too. After a long, awkward silence, one of the guards stepped forward.
"King, I respect you, and I recognise everything you've done for the City. But… who are these people? Why are you together with them? These are Psychic Duelists, who are criminals and enemies to the order of Neo Domino City! Director Goodwin gave explicit orders to defend ourselves against them!"
Yusei gave a tired sigh. "Have you ever considered that I might in fact be a Psychic Duelist?"
"What!" That startled the guards intensely. "No… no way!"
"Yes. That's the truth about Neo Domino." Yusei shook his head. "Director Goodwin had been lying about Psychic Duelists all this time. Everything we've done, everything Momentum had done, it was all connected to Psychic Duelists. Even Rex Goodwin himself is a Psychic Duelist. Let me pass, and I promise that I will deal with this crisis and help our City."
"No way… you're not the King!" The truth seemed to be too much for one of the officers. He leaned forward and shook his fist threateningly. "That can't be true! You are not the King! You're someone pretending to be Fudo Yusei!"
"Now wait a second-" Crow was about to rebuke, but there was sudden gust of wind sweeping through the corridor, blowing everyone forward. Glancing back, Aki was amazed to see Stardust Dragon standing behind them, its wings folded as it tried to fit into the corridor, its white skin painted a shade of dark red by the light.
"Do you believe me now?" There was a hint of stubborn determination in Yusei's even, gentle tone. "Do you still think I'm not the true Fudo Yusei?"
Seeing Stardust Dragon in the flesh seemed too much for these guards. They all stumbled backwards, with one of them falling to the ground in shock. The Dragon's summon only confirmed that Fudo Yusei had indeed became a Psychic Duelist, one possibility that had perhaps never crossed these guards' minds.
"Wait. have a question for you." While the guards were frozen in fear and surprise, Yusei took the opportunity to gather more information about the current turn of events. "Can you tell us where are the people of Neo Domino? Why is the entire city empty?"
"They they they… they are in the underground shelters." A guard stuttered out. "Di-di-director Goodwin ordered the entire City to evacuate early this morning."
"Underground shelters? What shelters?" Aki blurted out. She had never heard about Neo Domino possessing such facilities. The guards turned to her, and amid shrieks of 'Is that Izayoi Aki?!", they scampered back even more.
"Why are they going into the shelters? Where are they?" Yusei pressed for answers.
"To-to protect everyone from Psychic Duelists and Satellite residents!" And with that, the officers all ran back into the office where they came from, with one of them once again yelling 'get away from Izayoi Aki!'.
Jack muttered. "God damn it. That explains the empty streets…"
"Aki, are you alright?" Yusei whispered.
"I'll be fine." Aki sighed. "Let's just keep going. I have no idea what Rex Goodwin is planning, but we need to see how Momentum is, no matter what."
Dismissing his dragon, Yusei led the team through the dark, finally finding the gates that allowed entry into the Momentum labs. As they removed the bolts to open the gate, a flood of right light poured into the corridors, and Yusei gasped in surprise.
"There's electricity in here!"
Indeed, the entire area was lit bright as day. Amazingly, Momentum was also still running. There was not a single scientist to be seen, but the vast machine was still churning away, rainbow-coloured lights going in circles around its outer surface.
"… there are still Psychic Duelists here!" Aki was the first one to realise what this meant. " There must be Psychic Duelists still connected to the machine! Momentum might be weak, but it's still running. It will explode if it was running without Psychic Duelists!"
"Everyone! Let's all spread out around the lab and search every lab room!" Yusei's command got everyone into action. "We need to see if anyone is around to give us more information."
The King took the lead in scoping out the laboratory areas behind the main Momentum room. Crow and Jack went to the right and left of the main broom, checking out the storage rooms, cold rooms, and equipment rooms. The Momentum machine continued to hum along, showing very little signs of distress. Aki couldn't quite understand. Didn't she and Kiryu take out a whole lot of facilities holding Psychic Duelists? Why was Momentum still operating?
"STOP! Stop right there!"
A panicked shout ran out from one of the storage rooms. Everyone instantly froze and looked towards the source.
Jack slowly backed out of the room into the main hall, his hands raised and his movements slow. Aki held her breath as someone new poked his head out into the main hall. It was a bespectacled man in a white lab coat, presumably a member of the Momentum research team. The man was fairly young, his face twisted in panic he pointed a handgun at Jack and forced the Satellite resident to back away more.
Carly made an angry exhalation next to Aki, and Aki instinctively put her hand on the black-haired girl's shoulder to hold her back
"A-all of you!" Seeing that there were so many people in the main hall, the researcher panicked more, pointing his gun everywhere. "Get out! Get out of here! You have no idea what you're doing!" As he turned wildly in all directions, he barely managed to focus the weapon on anyone at all.
"You are the stupid one!" With a growl, Jack leapt forward at a moment when the man was distracted and grabbed his wrist in an iron grip. The researcher had no idea how to have a fist fight, and Jack easily twisted the man's wrist, forcing the gun out of the man's hand. As the pistol fell to the ground and Jack kicked it away into a corner, the rest of the team ran up, worry and concern and curiosity mixed on all their faces.
"I found him behind some sliding doors in this room. God knows what's in there." Jack gestured towards the room they came out of. Dragging the researcher up, Jack made the man walk in front of all of them, and turned back towards the storage room. The group filed into the room after Jack and their temporary prisoner, past some shelves that were tactfully conceal the sliding doors that Jack had discovered, into what was presumably a secret office space.
There was a familiar humming of machines. Aki paused, the sound bringing back a distinct memory. She frowned, but before she could recall the sound's meaning, she had turned the corner and beheld the scene before her eyes.
"Oh my God."
Crow was walking behind her. When he saw what was going on, he turned around and punched the researcher full in the face.
"You BASTARD! You're doing this even to children?!"
The researcher crumpled as Crow's fist hit his face. If it were not for Jack holding him up, the man would have completely collapsed. Not yet satisfied, Crow bent down and grabbed the man's shoulders and bodily shook him for good measure.
"Is this what you guys do here in Momentum?! Putting every Psychic Duelist through this pain just to power your machine?!"
There were pods for Psychic Duelists everywhere, pods used to keep Psychic Duelists in a semi-conscious state and harness their brain waves to contain Momentum's power. All but one of the pods were empty. Within that one single functioning pod, there was a waft of green hair peeking out between the gaps of the main doors. And within the transparent semi-dome, a familiar young face was sleeping a fitful sleep.
Ruka. Rex Goodwin had used Ruka.
There was a muffled sound coming from the closet opposite the pod. The entire thing was shaking irregularly, and strained moans could be heard from the inside. Frowning, Aki slowly edged towards the closet, took a deep breath, and yanked open the door.
Instead of a hidden trap, there was a tied-up and gagged young boy inside.
"Ru-Rua…?" Aki barely caught the green-haired boy as he tried to wriggle free of the closet, clutching him in her arms when he tumbled out and almost fell face-first into the ground. Rua acted as if he didn't even register her presence. He was turning and twisting continuously. Aki had to grab his arm and squeeze for him to pay attention to his attentions.
"Rua, stay still! We need to untie you first!"
Large, tear-filled eyes turn to Aki, together with more muffled sounds as Rua tried to talk through his gag. Yusei came over as well. And as soon as Yusei worked the gag free of Rua's mouth, the boy was screaming.
"Turn it off! TURN IT OFF! Please turn it off!"
"Rua! Rua! Shhh, Rua, calm down. It's me, Yusei!" Yusei put his hands on Rua's shoulder and gave a firm shake, but even that was not enough to stop the hysteria that had taken over the young boy's entire body. Aki was trying to work on the rope holding Rua's wrists together through all this mess. Rua's wriggling didn't help at all.
Yusei put his hands on Rua's face and squeezed, forcing the boy to look at him straight in the eyes, trying to rip the boy's mind out of whatever nightmare he had been living in while he was trapped in the closet.
Gasping for breath, Rua's eyes slowly focused on Yusei's face. "Yu-Yusei? King…? Are you even real?"
"Yes. I'm real." Yusei nodded affirmatively. "What's going on, Rua? What do you want to be turned off?"
"Mo - Momentum." Tears streaked down Rua's cheeks as the little boy screwed up his eyes and started sobbing openly. "Turn it off… please turn Momentum off."
Aki had finally worked her way through the knots and threw off the rope. Yusei had wrapped his arms around Rua's small body, letting the boy bury his head into Yusei's shoulders. The King then looked at Aki, his brows furrowed, as he motioned with his head towards the Momentum room.
Crow rushed up to the poor boy at that time and lifted Rua's face to look at him. "Rua! What happened to you? Who did this to you? I swear- "
"Please just turn Momentum off." Rua's voice was weak and broken as he mumbled. "It's not safe to get Ruka out unless the machine has completely stopped. Ruka is the only one… the only one hold it all together."
Crow swore loudly, and Jack kicked the researcher lying at his feet for good measure. Ruka - innocent little Ruka - had been used in a last-ditch effort to keep Momentum stable. If she really was the last Psychic Duelist holding the entire operation together, then the little girl must be under significant amounts of mental and physical strain.
"Hey, Rua." Yusei spoke softly to Rua again. "I need to turn off Momentum. Can I pass you to Crow for a moment? I'll be right back. I promise."
The little boy was still clinging to Yusei, but ultimately relented. Crow gently extracted Rua from Yusei's embrace. Yusei gestured to Aki as he walked towards the door. The two of them whispered in a corner, out of Rua's hearing.
"I probably know the most about Momentum in this group." Yusei started. "I'm going to work with the Momentum control panel to turn it off properly. Meanwhile, can I ask you to please extract Ruka from… whatever that is?" He gestured uncomfortably towards the pod. "I figured you might know the most about that machine."
"Alright." Aki nodded assent.
"Thanks. I'll work as fast as possible with Momentum. As soon as I'm back, you can unplug Ruka." Yusei gave her an encouraging thumb-up and a grin.
"Do your best." She patted him on the shoulder.
As soon as Yusei dashed out, Aki turned to Ruka's pod. Through the glass lid, she could see the young girl's small outline, looking helpless amidst the loud humming of the machine. She first worked to unlock and lift up the heavy lid. Once she had unlocked the myriad of latches, she lifted the heavily lid slowly and carefully. Seeing her struggle, Jack came over from the group that was trying to console Rua and helped her push up the lid.
"Rex Goodwin is a piece of shit." Jack muttered, fuming. "He deserves to get taken down by Rudger."
Aki didn't reply to that. She ran her hands through the familiar tubing and dials and turned everything down as low as possible. She wanted to say that Rudger was not any better. Rudger might have imagined a world where the Psychic Duelists are not suppressed in the same way, but would he return Neo Domino back to a state before the invention of Momentum? The dilemma of Momentum would not be answered by his revolution.
There was a sudden mechanical groan coming from the main room, and all the lights in the room started to flicker. Aki grabbed a tighter hold on the main tube connecting Ruka to the machine underneath her. It was most likely Momentum slowly winding down to a stop.
Sure enough, Yusei burst through the doors in no time. "It's stopped." He didn't need to specify what he meant. "She can be unplugged now."
Aki reached underneath Ruka's head and felt on her scalp for the magnets and glue that was holding her brain connected to the Momentum's power. Slowly, she peeled off the electrodes and sensors, releasing them one after one into the chemical solution inside the pod. As the last of the electrodes fell away, she pulled apart all the tubes, disconnecting her one at a time. When the main tube fell off into the liquid, Aki reached down and pulled Ruka out. The little girl was cold and drenched, her clothes dragging her down back into the liquid. Jack grabbed Ruka's legs and pull her lower half up. Together, they hastily wrapped the little girl in a towel they found nearby.
The little girl's body was extremely cold. Aki rubbed Ruka's hands and feet, trying to get her to regain heat as soon as possible. The main Momentum machine was still rumbling a little in the main hall as its acceleration slowed. Then, Ruka's eyelashes started to flutter as she slowly woke up. As Ruka finally opened her olivine eyes, Momentum came to a grinding halt, casting a deep silence across the entire facility. All the lights around them blinked out instantly. In the absence of Momentum, Neo Domino went out of power completely.
Electronic doors beeped and opened wide. The place was instantly covered by the blood-red light of the emergency lights, just like the offices outside.
"Ruka! Ruka!" Rua was still openly crying, and he buried his face into the towel wrapped around Ruka. Looking rather disoriented, Ruka looked all around her, with recognition only slowly returning to her face a few minutes later.
"Where… am I? Yusei, Aki-san, Jack, Carly-san, Crow-san… how are you all here?"
"You are in the Momentum lab. As for us… we flew here." Yusei stated. "We got here from Satellite to stop Rudger Goodwin, who was leading a team of Satellite gangsters to take over the City."
"Rudger… Rudger! He's here?" Ruka gasped and struggled. Jack and Crow instantly reached out to steady her. "What… how?"
"Shh, calm down." Aki tried to soothe Ruka's. "Let's start from the beginning. What happened since Jack and Carly left the City?"
Jack went to tie up the researcher in a different room. After he returned, the entire group shared their information with the twins as fast as they could. They told Ruka about what had happened to Rosewood, Kiryu and Rudger's plans, and what had happened to Yusei since he lost contact with Security. Carly quickly explained that she was in fact a Psychic Duelist as well, much to the twins' surprise.
"I see…" Rua sniffled again. "It's been a lot for all of us… This sucks. This honestly sucks."
"What about Neo Domino?" Yusei enquired. "And where are your parents? Are they still overseas? Do they know about what's happening to the City?"
Ruka and Rua exchanged a look. And then, to Aki's confusion, Rua turned to her and gave her a deep, serious bow.
"Aki-san, I would like to apologise… on account of my parents."
"Your parents…?" Aki was more confused. "What did your parents ever do?"
Rua said with a low voice. "After we sent Jack and Carly to Satellite, Ruka and I did our own research. We were trying to figure out who set up Rosewood. And… and it was created by one of the charities Rex Goodwin ran before he turned to politics. But then… then we looked at who is funding it now, and it turned out to be… one of Mum and Dad's companies."
Crow slowly shook his head. "So, your parents were in fact…"
"They were the ones funding Rosewood." Rua muttered. "They were doing it to help Uncle Goodwin. Also, because Uncle Goodwin held Ruka – held her powers – as hostage. He said if Mum and Dad continued to help run Rosewood, Ruka would be spared from being harvested for Momentum. He also said it was my parent's fault for deciding to use you, Aki-san. That's how we ended up here. Rex Goodwin was running out of options, and he wanted to punish my parents for disobeying him. That's why he put Ruka in the machine to keep Momentum going."
"That's sick…" Jack clenched his hands into fists. "Where is Rex Goodwin right now?"
Ruka looked up. "He was preparing to confront Rudger Goodwin when he left. He was going to set up preparations in the Security headquarters. That was right after he gave the order for everyone to evacuate into the underground shelters, and then told Security officers to lock the shelter doors and make sure everyone stays inside."
"Tell me more about these underground shelters." Yusei insisted. "I have never heard about them."
"It was news to everyone." Ruka replied. "Rex Goodwin had been building them in secret for years. Apparently there have been underground spaces since the time of old Domino, kind of like the cave system in Satellite's coast. Rex Goodwin made sure all the residents in Neo Domino got in them. But… I didn't like how he emphasised Security needs to make sure people stay inside. He even got the majority of the Security officers to go into the shelters too. There are hardly anyone left outside in Neo Domino."
"… So how was he going to fight back Rudger and Kiryu's forces?" Aki queried, her brows furrowed.
"That's the horrible part." Ruka answered in a small voice. "I'm afraid Rex Goodwin… never intended for the citizens of Neo Domino to survive."
A deafening silence fell across the room,
"It didn't sound like Rex Goodwin was planning to let everyone back out any time soon." Ruka continued. It sounded like he locked everyone into prison, and had no plans to restart Momentum or use any other energy source. I think he did not act for the benefit of the City even for a moment today. No… maybe he had never acted for the City for all these years."
"These underground shelters… they must run on electricity, right?!" Aki started slowly. "Now that we've turned off Momentum completely - "
She stopped, looking around at the rest of the team in concern. Yusei swallowed uneasily, then asked:
"Where is Rex Goodwin?"
"Most likely in the Security Tower. That's where he said he will be." Ruka answered.
Yusei and Aki looked at each other. The Security Headquarters tower wasn't too far from here, but if Akiwas right, they do not have a lot of time to lose.
"What do we do?" Carly asked with a small voice. "If both of the Goodwin brothers are there, how do we even manage to get in between them?"
"At least, there will be no Security." Jack grumbled.
"We might have to fight it both of the Goodwin brothers." Aki analysed. "It will be a fight between Psychic Duelists. In that case, I have to head there."
"Aki, I don't think-" Yusei started, but Aki didn't let him finish.
"I'm the strongest Psychic Duelist here. I need to go."
"I should go as well, being Fudo Yusei." Yusei declare. "I want to see this through and get some answers out of Rex Goodwin."
At that moment, a small sound cut through the silence of the facility. There were faint sirens of Security vehicles. Right, no matter how many officers Rex Goodwin had locked into the shelters below, there must still be a certain number of officers above ground. They sounded like they were now heading towards the Momentum tower.
"Damn Security." Crow huffed.
"… I'm going to stay here with Momentum." Carly said after a brief pause. "Knowing them, they'll want to fix up Momentum as soon as possible. We've all been taught that Momentum is the City's bloodline. I still have some contacts with Security officers and some reputation as a journalist. I'll stay here and convince them not to touch Momentum. Besides, if we have to use force, I can still use my Aslla Piscu-"
"Carly - " Jack started, and everyone felt they already knew what he was going to say.
"This is the least I can do to help everyone in the city." Carly countered. "And this is as safe as things can get at this stage."
Jack exhaled heavily, surprisingly tame for once when faced with Carly's retorts. He then turned to Yusei.
"My apologies, King. I know that I probably should go with you, with me being a Psychic Duelist and all. But this time, I want to stay here with Carly as well. Would that be okay?"
Jack looked around, as if he were expecting someone to at least say something, but everyone was quiet.
Yusei started. "I understand, Jack. I can guess what you're thinking and respect your decision." Here he sighed softly. "Maybe I should have done the same thing with Aki years ago."
Aki looked at Yusei and heard the words he did not say. Maybe the both of them should have done what Jack and Carly did. Maybe they should not have taken each other for granted, maybe they should have defied what was expected of them. At the same time, it made sense that it would be Yusei and her who were heading to face the Goodwin brothers. This was a curse invoked by the government and scientists of Neo Domino. It made sense for Fudo Yusei and Izayoi Aki to see it to its end.
"And… well." Jack started again, looking at Crow, "I'm not suggesting anything, but it might be better for Crow to stay here. The fighting with Psychic Duelists might get nasty. I don't want to…" Jack paused and coughed. "After what happened with Kiryu, I don't want to lose more people I know."
In a surprising gesture of camaraderie, Crow nodded slowly and sombrely. "I understand." Turning to Yusei and Aki, the orange-hair man asked. "So, what are you going to do to get to the Security Headquarters? On foot? Or…?"
Aki gave Yusei one firm look before stating. "Fly."
"I agree. We don't have a lot of time to lose." Yusei nodded assent. "We can also go out the back of the Momentum Tower from. It's closer that way."
"Please be careful." Ruka looked at Yusei and Aki in concern. "And… And I'm sorry for everything my parents did to you, Aki-san. I… I don't know how face you from now on…"
Aki gave a small smile. "It's… it's not your fault, Ruka. You parents believed what they were doing was right. None of it is your fault."
"Stay safe." Yusei looked around. "We'll do our best as well."
With a few more words of encouragement, Yusei and Aki dashed out, heading towards the back of the Momentum labs. Without any power, the gates were wide open. A range of delivery vehicles and forklifts were scattered across the underground car park lot behind the dock. Yusei led Aki through this dark maze, using his knowledge of this place to the best of his ability. Aki soon heard a loud bang.
"I've reached the end of the carpark!" Yusei yelled out in the semi-darkness. "There is a lever to open the roller door. Aki, once you're here, could you please give me a hand?"
"Coming!" Aki yelled back and stumbled towards Yusei. A few more cars later, she felt the steel roller door. Fumbling towards Yusei, she grabbed onto his hand, which was outstretched in her direction.
"Here. Let's roll this up."
Together they rolled up the door and lock it in place. As the door rose slowly, the sunlight poured into the dark parking lot inch by inch, revealing that the sky outside was still as blue and serene as before. With one last crank, the door rose fully and locked into position. Yusei wiped a small drop of sweat from his brow.
"We should be able to see the Security Headquarters from this place. That's why I suggested it. It'll make the trip much easier."
"Thanks for the foresight." Aki nodded to him.
Yusei was silent for a while after they finished raising the lever. When he spoke again, he was hesitant. "I'm not… slowing you down, am I?"
"What?" Aki whipped around. "You would never. In fact, I was always looking up to you."
"Not in terms of duelling." Yusei shook his head. "But in terms of… this." He waved his arms vaguely. "Commanding Duel Monsters, sneaking through buildings, fighting in general. It's something that you've had way more experience in. I've always been… protected from such activities."
"No, Yusei. You've been… you've been a great help in the past few days." Aki took a deep breath. "Rather, I should be saying sorry for dragging you into this mess. You can't change what happened with me and Rosewood. It would have been easier for you to have ignored everything, but you didn't. I'm thankful for… for you coming out to Satellite, deciding to look for me, and not giving up on me once you found me. You could have walked away at any of these stages, but you didn't. That… that's way more than I could have asked for."
"Thank you. I… I think I really needed to hear that. You probably don't know, but while we were hiding from you at Martha's House, Jack punched me and yelled at me for not wanting to face what you've done." Yusei chuckled uncomfortably. "And now I've seen how Jack and Carly treat each other, I just want to be completely honest with you whenever I can."
"Funny enough, Crow also give me an earful at Martha's House after we came back from Old Momentum, this time about why I keep running away from you and our past." Aki shook her head. "Honestly, to think that these two would try to give relationship advice to us…"
"It goes to say how much of an idiot we've both been, doesn't it?" Yusei coughed to cover up his awkwardness. "We-"
There was a loud 'boom' coming from a distance away. Startled, Aki and Yusei looked at each other, thinking it might have been Momentum again. Instead, as she looked up, Aki let out a gasp.
"There's smoke coming out of the top of the Security Headquarters! The Goodwins might already be fighting!"
Together, Yusei and Aki watched in horror as thick black smoke emerged from the top of the looming Security building, as if an explosion had just taken place.
"We need to start heading there now." Aki sprang into action. "Can we go on Black Rose Dragon together? It will be faster than on two separate dragons."
Yusei nodded in agreement, and the two of them jumped onto Black Rose Dragon as soon as they could. Aki instructed Yusei to hold on to some of the protruding scales on the dragon's back. They then carefully took off, flying as steady as they could up to the dizzying heights. As the dragon approached the Security building in a steep angle, Yusei shouted.
"Aki! I think there is a Duel Monster in Rex Goodwin's office!"
The wind was blowing against their faces, and Aki had to tilt her head to hear him. He pointed towards Rex's office. Aki could see something – a black tentacle?! – shifting past the ceiling-length window there. When she squinted, she could make out a flash of fluorescent pink. That shade of pink looked awfully familiar…
"I think it's Rudger's spider!" She shouted back and urged Black Rose Dragon to fly higher. The wind was starting to sting against her face now, but Yusei and her need to get there before the winner of the Goodwin fight had time to recuperate.
As Black Rose Dragon skirted close to the building, Aki and Yusei peered into the fully glass-clad headquarters. The entire building appeared to be empty, with only loud crashing sounds coming from Rex Goodwin's top floor office occasionally. But as they rounded one side of the building, a giant black limb erupted out of the structure, bringing down a small shower of debris.
Aki instinctively yelped and directed her dragon to fly further away. They were close to the top of the building now, and Aki had to shield her eyes from the sharp wind whipping against her face. With her eyes open only a crack, Aki spied how multiple spider limbs protruding from a crack window. Rudger and Rex were still fighting, yet as they watched, the black spider retreated into the building and disappeared.
The top floor was within sight now. Surprisingly, most of the glass walls surrounding the office was still intact. Aki spied Rex Goodwin's signature white hair. The man seemed to have his back towards them, and Aki made the split decision to have Black Rose Dragon break the windows closest to them. With one blast of dark lightning, her dragon shattered the glasses lining that floor. Black Rose Dragon then wrapped two of the its vines around Yusei and Aki, delivering its two riders onto the carpeted interior floor.
"Well well, who do we have here." It was Rex's solemn tone as usual. Yet when he turned to face Yusei and Aki, it was a sight that neither of them had ever imagined beholding on the director.
Rex Goodwin's immaculate and white jacket and shirt were torn off violent by some creature, leaving bloody streaks on his skin. Much of his face was covered in blood, and his silver hair all mangled and bloodstained. Behind him, the lush office was all but destroyed, furniture reduced to splinters. The only item still intact was a steel safe nailed to the ground. The door of the tall safe was open, and the item within was shining with a familiar red light that was on Yusei's skin just two days ago.
"The mark of a Psychic Duelist…?" Yusei whispered softly.
Rudger was lying in a heap at the far end of the room. Although his spider was rampaging lower in the building just a minute ago, it was now nowhere to be found. Rudger was unconscious - or worse - judging from how still his body was. Lying on his back, his eyes were tightly closed, and his face was as full of blood and grime as his brother's. He was still reasonably clothed when compared with how much Rex's clothes were utterly gone disarray, yet his unmoving form spoke of another story. Rex must have overpowered Rudger's gigantic spider with something even more formidable.
Rex turned to lock his gaze on Black Rose Dragon, turning his profile to Yusei and Aki. In doing so, more of the carnage of the room was revealed. There were gorge marks on the carpet, and the various monitors that used to line this room were all smashed. Aki also got a better look at the glowing item within the safe.
It was a severed human arm floating in liquid.
Rex raised his arm at Yusei and Aki – his metallic arm that he always maintained was lost in a car accident – and smiled. It was a crooked, ecstatic, sadistic smile.
Yusei and Aki collectively took a step back in fear, back towards the light and safety and Aki's dragon outside. However, the sunlight streaming through the windows was suddenly blocked by an immense shadow, larger than even the form casted by Black Rose Dragon against the sun. There was a gigantic Duel Monster floating outside, a truly monstrous being whose proportions that Aki had never seen. Its dark wings wrapped around the entire building, and violet streaks ran down the creature's wings and tail and its rugged, spiked head. It was the same kind of Duel Monster as Rudger and Carly's, a pitch-black bird that covered up even the sun.
This was, without a doubt, Rex Goodwin's monster.