Editing done! We are finishing this story in the next chapter!
This had taken a while to get out as I am trying to make sure the finale wraps up all the loose thread that was left behind over the years. For now, I am very happy with how it turned out and will aim to publish the final chapter in a week or two. There is a certainly a lot that I tried to tell in this story, and the theme did shift a little over the years. I won't say too much here because I know I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger. I will most likely write a more lengthy reflection at the very end of the story. So for now, I will hold back.
Thank you in advance for reading this! Enjoy!
1 - Paradise Lost
"Fudo Yusei. Izayoi Aki." Rex Goodwin's voice was as calm and serene as they remembered. It was a voice that had called out to Yusei and Aki when they were children, a voice that was once a source of comfort and security. As the ruined office lied shattered and broken around then, Rex was still speaking in that dispassionate, cool voice, as if the wreckage were of no concern.
"I am surprised that you made it here today. To think that your ruckus of rootless orphans, your joke of a team that was as organised as fallen leaves, would come to confront me - I applaud your effects, children."
The giant black bird belonging to Rex fluttered its feathers outside, its massive body coiled around the tip of the Security Bureau headquarters building like a stubborn, hungry malice. Aki and Yusei huddled close to each other, trying to keep both Rex and his creature within their fields of vision.
Black Rose Dragon was snarling in animosity, the smaller dragon's form miniscule against the swirling masses of black feathers summoned by Rex. Mentally, Aki commanded her dragon to stay calm. There was no need to antagonise Rex, who had yet to turn to face them.
"Uncle Goodwin…" Yusei took a cautious step forward. A strong gust was blowing through the remains of the office, despite the presence of Rex's giant monster. "Please. Tell me the truth. What exactly do you want?"
The large black bird slithered around the building as Rex delayed his answer. Its feathers scraped against the remaining glass and concrete in a scratchy, ear-piercing noise. Aki shuffled closer to Yusei, intimidated from the monstrous size of their potential enemy.
"What I want?" As if these words touched something within him, Rex gave a small laugh of mockery. "Ha! Of course I want what is fitting for the City!"
"Fitting for the City? Just look at what is going on below you. There's no electricity, no residents, no security - that's your idea of 'fitting'?" Aki couldn't help but bite back a reply. This was not something Rex Goodwin should have said. He was the governor of Neo Domino, for heaven's sake. Shouldn't he want the place to be prosperous and happy, instead of this empty shell they were seeing today?
"Aki. Izayoi Aki." Rex shook his head with another jeering laugh, turning around fully to face them. Whatever had happened today, it definitely revealed an aspect of his personality no one had seen before. There had never been such a mocking and spiteful expression on Rex Goodwin's face as he leered at them. "To think that I would get accused of damaging the City by little Aki of all people… Do you even know what you want from the City, after your own merry adventure in the past few months?"
Aki frowned and narrowed her eyes at Rex. It was evident that he knew everything.
Rex shook his head slowly. "Look at you, coming here to accuse me of wrongdoing. You had betrayed the City, ran away from your duty as a Psychic Duelist, and slaughtered dozens in Rosewood. And just when I thought you would stay loyal to my brother's cause, you threw all that away and switched sides again as soon as Yusei showed up. Your whimsical behaviours have caused such damage. Don't you agree?"
"You knew everything that was happening in Satellite? And you allowed it to happen?" Aki questioned incredulously.
"Of course. I kept tabs specifically on you. You are our most powerful Psychic Duelist in years. I suspected Rosewood would eventually get you involved with Momentum. What I didn't anticipate was how quickly they messed it up." Rex heaved a sigh. "You are the most powerful Psychic Duelist outside of the surviving members of the prototype team. I thought they have more patience and tact."
"So the stories about the team were true." Yusei gritted his teeth. He pulled Aki back, who had taken an angry step forward. "I've asked Rudger and my father this question, and I will ask you too - what exactly happened with Momentum prototype and the people working on it?"
Rex laughed again. The more Aki listened to him, the more she was afraid that Ruka and Rua might have been right - Rex might have genuinely gone mad. "So many things happened to us! Yusei-kun, you have no idea! It was the project that changed all of our lives. It started innocent enough. It was ground-breaking work, and the team grew quickly. Yet my brother, myself, and your father quickly realised while people could join, nobody could quit."
"This is after people started to show signs of distress, right?" Aki surmised.
"The City's Senate was not keen on people quitting even before that point. Once deaths started occurring and someone of us were confirmed Psychic Duelists, letting people go became out of the question." Rex snorted. "The City greedily took too much money from sponsors, and couldn't risk disappointing them and failing to provide returns for the investment. We had to continue. My brother, the smart and perceptive one, wanted everyone to go on strike and quit. But these cowards and filth were either too scared or too content to agree. That was how Rex fell under the curseof Psychic Duelists himself."
"You seem to hate Psychic Duelists, but you…" Aki's gaze shifted between Rex's synthetic arm on his body and the item shining with an ominous light in the safe. "You are a Psychic Duelist yourself."
Rex shook his head and frowned. "You don't understand. I hate Psychic Duelists because they are cursed. I no longer consider those who freely use their power as human."
"… what?" Aki said slowly.
"My brother became a completely different person after he became a Psychic Duelist." Rex continued. "He was always kind and gentle, sensible and attentive. Younger researchers on the team adored him. But when he discovered his powers, his actions changed completely over only a few days. Instead of trying to help researchers turning into Psychic Duelists to control their power, Rex wanted an army to overcome the City by supernatural force. He even spoke of how Psychic Duelists could become a higher class of citizens. His way of thinking became… very dangerous."
Yusei and Aki shared a look. They knew how this story would end.
"My brother became mad with grandiose dreams of power. He thought Psychic Duelists would achieve the Senate's ambitions of making Domino a world leader, and the City only rewarded his dreams with taking him away to be presumably another lab rat. I watched my brother being changed by the power of Psychic Duelists over just a few weeks. Nothing anyone said or did could sway him. Even when I cut off my arm and the Psychic Duelist mark on it to show him how I detested his power, he simply laughed at my face. He was not my brother anymore. The City's demands and the curse of Psychic Duelist had destroyed him. I could not bear to stay on that vile project any longer. As soon as Momentum was relocated to the City and I had clearance to leave, I left it for good."
Yusei offered tentatively. "That's when you decided to become a politician?"
Rex shook his head. "I drifted from one management position to another. It was much later that I realised what the City was doing. Psychic Duelists were being kept in Satellite to support Momentum. That was also where… I found my brother again."
Rex's bird puffed out its feathers, then lowered its head into its tail and groomed itself.
"I then saw a change in the attitudes of the City's leaders and citizens." Rex muttered. "When we worked on Momentum, the citizens feared us. Yet when Momentum was up and running, anyone who was on the team was held at high regard. The City was developing rapidly and I could get into any organisation I wanted. That was when I had my idea. I will get into the heart of Neo Domino and make them pay, for what they did to my brother and to all the researchers who worked on Momentum."
"You were trying to make the City pay?" Aki asked, confused. "Were you torturing Psychic Duelists to punish the City?"
"I was doing both!" The loud exclamation from Rex startled Yusei and Aki. "If it weren't for the City, my brother would have left before he became a Psychic Duelist. But if there were no Psychic Duelists, my brother would never have fallen into this madness! I didn't care if I was destroying the City's or that I was crushing the Psychic Duelists. If it weren't for the city and the Psychic Duelists, this would have never happened to Rudger!"
Aki and Yusei looked at each other in concern. As if he did not register their presence, Rex continued without a pause.
"If there was no such thing as Psychic Duelists… if there was no Momentum… then I wouldn't have lost my brother. I wanted to make both pay."
"But… but your brother is right there." Aki gestured in Rudger's direction. "He's not dead. He's not gone forever. Why are you-"
"No!" Rex's impassioned voice cut through Aki's sentence. "That person is no longer my brother."
"What do you mean? He is Rudger Goodwin." Aki insisted. "There is no need to avenge him."
"You don't understand. He is no longer the brother I knew." Rex shook his head. "The Rudger I grew up with died when he became a Psychic Duelist. He was no longer the kind soul I have known since childhood. In his body there was now an obsessed, delusional, violent fanatic who believed only in the power of Psychic Duelists. The man I was avenging had been dead for sixteen years. If it weren't for Psychic Duelists, the City, and Momentum, he would still have been alive."
Yusei stepped up, his voice grave.
"Then, everything you've done - all the Psychic Duelists tortured, all the negligence against Satellite, and even locking City residents into shelters today - it was all to avenge your idea of a brother, who was lost sixteen years ago?!"
"Yes!" Rex answered emphatically. "My brother would never have turned out like this if it weren't for Psychic Duelists! That power changed him, corrupted him! It made him a completely different person! I wanted to get him to go back to who he was, but he had completely changed. He… he couldn't be saved."
Yusei shook his head.
"How would that explain yourself? You are also a Psychic Duelist. How can you say that about all the Psychic Duelists?"
"That's because I cut off my arm and discarded that identity!" Rex glared at Yusei, his eyes flashing with anger. "All the other Psychic Duelists fell into that madness, even Izayoi Aki, standing right here! None of them escaped the curse of violence and narcissism. None at all! Psychic Duelists killed my brother. Without that curse, he would still be here!"
"And have you ever considered perhaps your brother was actually violent and narcissistic, deep down?" Yusei questioned. "Have you thought about whether it was a matter of who he really was, instead of the psychic powers changing his personality?"
"Never!" Rex growled. "How dare you question me over this? You are so young and understand nothing of what it feels like to lose family to the curse of Psychic Duelists!"
"No. You're wrong." Yusei replied as he tugged his glove loose, rolling up his sleeves to show Rex the red mark on his arm. "I know exactly what it feels like when it comes to Psychic Duelists. After all, Aki is one. And as it turns out, I am one, too."
Rex stared at Yusei as the latter lifted up his arm, showing the mark on his skin. The Director's light-coloured eyes blinked rapidly, then he turned to look at Rudger's form and turned back to Yusei quickly, as if checking what he saw was indeed real. Then, his face twisted as he snarled at Yusei.
"You… you are a Psychic Duelist?"
"And yet he is perfectly sane." Aki stepped into the conversation. "What you said about Psychic Duelists isn't true. There are plenty of Psychic Duelists who are kind, pleasant, and gentle. How are you any different to a child throwing a tantrum? You are destroying millions of lives just to avenge a man whose mind will never return to how he was!"
"You are accusing me of throwing a tantrum? Isn't that what you and Yusei have done?" Rex pointed at the teens with his metallic arm. "Did you not start the City's downfall by acting as you desired? Izayoi, you decided to wreak havoc in Satellite, while Yusei insisted to seek you out and retrieve someone he should have given up!"
"You know deep down that this is wrong, Rex Goodwin." Yusei shook his head. "People may change when they become Psychic Duelists, but it depends on who they intrinsically are. The power of Psychic Duelists isn't a curse. It just shows you the true personalities of people. You brother may have been a good person before Momentum, but it doesn't mean he wasn't also a repressed, angry, and selfish man. Claiming that Psychic Duelists are the roots of Rudger's personality change is nonsense!"
Rex's face twisted into a furious scowl. He lifted his metallic arm and swung it down, as if executing an order. Sensing something to be wrong, Yusei and Aki both dove aside. Right on cue, the large black bird poked its giant, pitch-black head in through the window frame, snapping at where Yusei and Aki were standing at moments ago.
"What monster is this? I don't recognise it." Aki breathed to Yusei.
"It's another Earthbound God." Yusei grunted. "Earthbound God Wiraqocha Rasca."
"That's enough of your defence for the cursed species that is Psychic Duelists." Rex growled. "I won't hesitate to destroy you, Fudo Yusei, even if you are Professor Fudo's son."
Aki frowned and gestured at Black Rose Dragon. "You are welcome to try."
As Wiraqocha Rasca made another lunge at Yusei, the smaller Black Rose Dragon latched its teeth into the soft underbelly of the larger bird. With a screech, Rex's monster reared its head and shrank back. Aki quickly ran up to the window frame as Wiraqocha Rasca retreated. Calling Black Rose Dragon to her, she leapt onto the back of her dragon, shouting at Yusei as she did so.
"Yusei! I'm going to distract this bird! You handle Director Goodwin!"
"Bold words. I have had far more experience commanding my monster than the both of you!" Rex sneered. Yusei had also summoned Stardust Dragon, which shimmered into being behind its master inside Rex's office.
Meanwhile, Aki commanded Black Rose Dragon to fly outside of the building. Rex's office was too cramped and dangerous for a fight. They might be standing on a floor, but it was on top of the Security headquarters and in a ruined room. If either of them falls outside, the consequences would be unimaginable. Moreover, Rex's monster literally had them encircled. Aki would rather fight out here in the open skies, where she could take advantage of her dragon's agility. Besides, if she could successfully distract Rex's monster, Yusei has a better chance of dealing with Rex.
Wiraqocha Rasca made an upset screech and immediately dove after Black Rose Dragon. Aki manoeuvred to avoid the attack. She flew lower, trying to take the bird's attention away. Rex's bird took its gaze away from its master and screeched at her instead, not yet leaving the building's vicinity.
There was a flash of white light as Yusei took his chance. There was a loud bang, accompanied by a shower of broken glass. Two shapes, one white and one black, emerged from behind the building. Yusei was on the back of Stardust Dragon, while Rex had also mounted his gigantic bird. The two of them were flying parallel with each other as they moved towards her, with Rex's bird gathering a ball of dark energy in its mouth, ready to strike. Aki instinctively ducked. Rex and Yusei passed overhead, with Rex's bird delivering its attack and Stardust Dragon barely managing to dodge it.
The situation became an air battle as Aki drove her dragon to catch up with Yusei and Rex, staying behind them as the dragons started to attack each other in the open sky. Yusei was not as skilled in controlling his dragon as Aki, making large evasive manoeuvres that took him out of the optimal position to attack Rex. In contrast, Aki could see that Rex was indeed experienced. Despite his monster's large size, Rex used its fearsome form to push Yusei away from the Security building, forcing Yusei to roll and dodge. At this point, Yusei was at real risk of accidentally falling off. He had only been a Psychic Duelist for a few days.
As Rex's bird reared up to deliver another attack, Black Rose Dragon fired a barrage of black lightning towards it.
The attacks landed on Wiraqocha Rasca's tail and the bird didn't even flinch. As if nothing even happened, the bird still attacked, forcing Yusei to swerve hard to the left. Rex turned to Aki. His voice was booming even in the open sky.
"Aki, I see you also insist on defying me?"
"Did you expect anything else?" Aki yelled back. "I thought our respective positions were clear!"
"You are right." Rex snarled. "I should not have expected more from you. You have never been a good child. You are the epitome of the violence and madness within Psychic Duelists!"
"You and your brother are not much better!" Aki replied as loudly as she could. Yusei pressed Stardust Dragon into a nose dive, leading them closer to the ground. Rex followed closely, fixating on Yusei as his prey. Aki plunged down as well, keeping close to Rex's bird and firing off small bolts of black lightening towards the creature whenever she could.
The giant bird seemed to have had enough of Aki's pestering at one stage. It flapped its wings and twisted its tail, attempting to smack Aki's dragon. Aki barely managed to dodge it.
Yusei swooped close to the to the residential buildings. He only started to retaliate against Rex's attacks when they were much closer to the ground, and Aki suspected he was concerned about the height. Aki didn't blame him. In fact, she was happy to see how fast he had adapted, and that he had accepted his new identity without the amount of struggle that Rex Goodwin evidently went through.
In fact, it was more like Rex Goodwin still had not accept who he or who his brother was. Forget about how Rex became a Psychic Duelist more than a decade ago. The man was still struggling to understand that Psychic Duelists was not an external, insurmountable curse. It was simply another hurdle in life and would not drive anyone mad on its own. It was the subsequent treatment from others in society that made Psychic Duelists fonts of rage, violence, and instability. Without those negative trappings, a Psychic Duelists treated on equal grounds - much as Yusei was - was no different than any other human being.
If Yusei had once represented the hope and power that Momentum could bring to mankind, now he represented the harmony and co-existence that Psychic Duelists could see in a world shared with the rest of humanity.
-\-\-\-\-\-
Yusei was just trying his best to hold on to his dragon as he dove down from the dizzying heights of the Security Bureau, trying to continue the fight at an elevation he was comfortable with.
The size and power of Rex's monster honestly scared him. When he confronted Rudger's monster, the darkness within the Old Momentum cave meant he didn't initially understand just how big the monster was. When Carly summoned her Aslla Piscu, its status as an ally meant he didn't have to assess the creature as danger. But now, faced with the enormous creature that Rex commanded, he was truly worried.
He distinctly heard Aki and Rex's exchanges bird over the rushing wind in his ears. Sparing one look behind him, he saw that Aki was engaged in avoiding Rex's attacks. Reining in his dragon, Yusei turned around, and unleashed a ball of white lighting towards Rex as well.
Rex's bird simply raised a wing and blocked Yusei's attack, preventing it from reaching its master. The creature itself barely reacted to Yusei's attack. Yusei could not see any evidence of a wound or even a dent in its feathers.
This was going to be a tough fight.
Aki started to circle around Wiraqocha Rasca, using Black Rose Dragon's speed to her advantage. The bird kept its eyes on Aki and turned to continuously watch Black Rose Dragon's movements. Yusei saw his opportunity and urged his Dragon to fly up higher. From his elevated position, Yusei looked down upon the black bird and unleashed a powerful bolt of white light from right on top of Rex.
"You think I won't see you?!"
Rex roared and Wiraqocha Rasca instantly snapped its head back up, spitting out a stream of dark crimson light that instantly swallowed up Stardust Dragon's own attack. Yusei barely had enough time to get out of the way.
Cursing, Yusei changed tactics and tried again, climbing to a greater height and moving to a different angle. However, he realised that while Wiraqocha Rasca kept its eye on Aki, Rex kept an eye on Yusei. Any time Stardust Dragon tried to sneak in an attack, Rex's bird instantly snapped its attention back to him. Even if Yusei and Aki attacked at the same time, Rex's bird was able to move in disturbing ways, twisting its body or raising a wing without even looking at its attacker. It was as if Rex was directly feeding what he saw into his monster's mind. The Director and his monster moved as one being, directing limbs and heads in perfect synchronisation, making Yusei and Aki unable to distract them for even a split second.
So much for hating Psychic Duelists. Yusei thought in frustration. Rex Goodwin is a better Psychic Duelist than either of us!
"Dealing with you is a waste of my time." Rex grunted as Yusei and Aki once again failed in their attacks to harm his bird. "Now it's time for you to perish, filthy Psychic Duelists!"
Wiraqocha Rasca reared back its head, ready to spew out another torrent of crimson lightening towards Yusei. Yusei moved sideways, but the dragon kept its aim on him. Feeling slightly desperate, Yusei ordered Stardust Dragon to fire off a string of small attacks towards the bird, yet all of them were shrugged off. Attacks by just one dragon hardly did anything for Rex's bird, yet Yusei felt had to try.
Just as he ordered Stardust Dragon to erect Victim Sanctuary around itself and him to prepare for the attack, Yusei glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye. From his vantage point, he could see several suburbs in the City below. Most of Neo Domino's buildings were in peaceful colours, swathes of blue and green being the dominant shade of the skyline. And yet, Yusei swore he saw a speck of red fire erupting on the ground.
"What the-" Yusei whispered softly as he watched the fire growing bigger and bigger, then realised it wasn't on the ground. It was getting bigger because it was coming closer.
As he watched, his brain in confusion, he realised it was a pillar of crimson flames and golden light, wrapped together in a powerful stream and heading straight towards the beasts fighting in the sky. With the fire came the heat as well. The air around him felt dry and scorching, and there was a heat haze in the air. It was actually a familiar feeling. In fact – he thought as his heart skipped a beat – wasn't this what it felt like fighting next to Jack?
"Yusei! Aki! Get out of the way!"
Right on cue, he heard Jack's loud voice as Red Daemon Dragon flew up towards them from the sky. Aki quickly dodged out of the way, then directed Black Rose Dragon to fire off a small ball of black lighting to join up with Jack's attack. Unfortunately, Jack's voice alarmed Rex as well. Wiraqocha Rasca looked up and shifted its wings, ready to flee. At this rate, Rex was going to escape before Jack and Aki's combined attack even hits him.
"Ancient Fairy Dragon, trap him!"
Yusei took in a sharp breath as a golden barrier shimmered into being all around them, entrapping all the combatants within. That was Ruka. Startled, Wiraqocha Rasca let out an upset screech and paused, only for the combined attack to hit it square on the tail. This time, the bird faltered, screaming as some of its black feathers evaporated in black smoke.
"Ruka? And… Jack Atlus?" Rex turned around slowly. "I should have thought about this possibility. Jack Atlus, the boy whom both Rudger and I knew to be a Psychic Duelist, had finally learned to summon his own beast. And Ruka… I see you are running away from your duty."
Ruka and Jack were both sitting on Red Daemon Dragon. Ruka was sitting fearfully in front of Jack, her hands tightly clutching some of the protruding scales on the dragon's back. Her own Ancient Fairy Dragon hovered close by, making sure its mistress was not going to be hurt. Jack, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at Rex.
"I don't know what your plans are and why you have done everything, but I've learnt what you did today to the people living in the City." Jack growled. "And you've even put Ruka into that god damn machine! Are you even human? What you've done is utterly unforgettable! Without you, the City would never have turned out like this!"
"Hmph." Rex only huffed. "The City deserves everything I've done to it, and so do the Psychic Duelists."
"…What?" Jack was evidently confused when he heard those words. Aki quickly interjected.
"We'll explain everything later. Jack, Ruka!" She gestured. "For now, we need to attack Rex's monster, together!"
"You've got it." Jack replied confidently, lifting his head to glare at Rex. "It's about time we finish this crap off."
"So silly. You should have realised what was going on years ago." Rex only sneered as his bird stretched out its wings, its feathers bristling threateningly. Yusei didn't miss how a red light was welling up inside the bird's chest.
"Careful! Attack incoming!"
Wiraqocha Rasca unleashed another torrent of red lightning. The bird turned its head, spreading the damage as far as it could. Aki dove downwards and avoided the damage, while Yusei flew around Rex, trying to stay out of the way for as long as possible. Jack and Ruka were clumsier. While they avoided the worst of it, the damage still scorched Red Daemon Dragon's side, and the beast roared in pain.
"Shit…" Jack growled, clutching his chest. "This really hurts."
"You are nothing before me." Rex lifted his head. "Scatter!"
"We need to attack together!" Aki was continuing to pest Rex's bird with small attacks despite its ineffectiveness. "Jack, Ruka, coordinate with me! Aim for Rex himself!"
Their opponent heard the words and scoffed. Rex commanded his bird to raise a wing to protect himself as Aki readied her attack. Seeing this from his side of the battlefield, Yusei ordered Stardust Dragon to join as well.
Four jets of light - white, gold, red, and black - shot towards Rex's bird, all impacting on the same wing. Yusei saw the bird visibly jolt and toss its head in irritation. When the lights faded, the feathers at the impact area were smoking and scorched, with some dissipating out of existence. Rex was wearing a deep frown, his hand over his chest in the same way that Jack was moments ago.
"It's working!" Aki exclaimed.
Rex then changed tactics. His bird turned and gained speed, then gained altitude as well. He was giving up on the fight and was turning back towards his office.
"We can't let him go!" Jack growled and was about to give chase. Aki whistled loudly.
"Fire together! Aim for the base of the tail!"
The four dragons all reared back and fired their attacks at the same time, four stream of light heading towards Rex's bird. With its face towards the Security building and its tail towards its pursuers, the four attacks all landed onto the bird. With a loud screech of pain, the bird wobbled and fell downwards. Yusei could see wafts of smoke drifting off the bird's tail.
"Keep it up!" Jack was relentless. "We need to knock him out!"
"But the rest of the citizens - " Yusei started, but Jack cut him off.
"We got that sorted." The blond man said confidently.
"Jack and I are here to help everyone deal with Uncle Goodwin." Ruka, who was previously quiet, added to their resolve.
"In that case… keep going!"
With Aki's shout, the four of them renewed their attack, making sure to have their attacks land on Rex's monster on the same time and aimed at the same place on the bird's body. The tide of the fight turned quickly as the four of them combined their forces against Rex, landing hit after hit on the bird, hindering the Director's ability to get away.
"This is… this is impossible!" With his bird descending lower and lower, Rex turned his fury at the four of them. "You are all Psychic Duelists! Monsters! Mad men! You shouldn't be able to work together?!"
"That's what you still think, even after all those years?" Aki spat back. "Do you honestly believe Psychic Duelist are incapable of working together for a common goal? That we are unable to even possess reason?"
"You are a pestilence that destroyed my brother!" Rex roared as he fired a black beam directly at Aki, which was narrowed dodged by Black Rose Dragon. "Why didn't you just disappear in Satellite? Why did you ever come back?!"
"Rex… no, Uncle Goodwin. You still don't get it at all, do you?" As Rex's bird tracked Aki's movements and continued to fire at Black Rose Dragon, Yusei shook his head and spoke out loud.
"You are no son of your father, Fudo Yusei! To think you would have turned against the City in this fashion…" Rex glowered at Yusei.
"You are the one who turned against everyone because you held on to an absolutely unreasonable grudge." Yusei replied. "You wanted to destroy everyone and everything in a most irresponsible way. Do you not realise how infantile your beliefs are?"
"How are you one to talk?" Rex roared back. "How dare you criticise me, when you were the one who believed Izayoi Aki was still alive in Satellite? When the entire world insisted otherwise?!"
Yusei noted that Aki and Jack were edging closer together as Rex fixed his gaze on him, the older man's steel grey eyes glaring at Yusei with the most hatred and spite Yusei had ever seen from his kind uncle. Jack was gesturing, pointing to Rex's head then pointing towards his own head. Aki then joined the gesturing. From the frenzy of weird hand movements, Yusei guessed they were trying to say that they would be aiming for Rex's head, and wanted Yusei to keep distracting the Director.
"At least I didn't insist on destroying the City because of my anger." Yusei retorted. "You, on the other hand, wanted to drag everyone down with you. If what you are saying was true, what was the point of your rule over the City in the last decade?"
Rex spat out his words. "I was biding my time to destroy the City. There was no way I could get the City to pay for what it had done. What I wanted to punish the system, the institution, not any single person. The best way to punish this system was to get control of it and twist it, so the entire being of Neo Domino could suffer just how I wanted it!"
"And the City today is how you wanted to punish it?" Yusei asked incredulously.
"Isn't it magnificent? The City had finally suffered the penalty for persisting with its Momentum research." Rex chuckled. "If it knew about the downsides of such over-reliance, it wouldn't have pushed my brother to his limit. The City kept pursuing energy out of this world without ever thinking of negative consequences. The people were reduced to blind sheep, fat and ignorant in their happiness. They wanted nothing else except more Momentum, more energy, more toys for them to play with. To personally bring out their deaths and the death of the system… you have no idea how happy that makes me feel."
"… And what about me, Uncle Goodwin?" Yusei lowered his voice. "You portrayed me as the hope of Neo Domino, the miracle of Momentum personified. Were you laughing behind my back whenever I won glory for the City? Were you counting down the days till you would destroy the City, even when you congratulated me on the stage?"
There was a pause as Rex became still. He seemed to smile, but his eyes were downcast, not meeting Yusei's at all. Behind Rex, Jack gave Yusei a thumbs up. Yusei could see the three dragons, Black Rose and Red Daemon and Ancient Fairy, rearing back and preparing for their attack. But Rex appeared to be deep in thought. When he looked back up at Yusei, he had a bitter grin on his face.
"I don't know what to think about you, Yusei. You were so obedient, the perfect poster child for the fake prosperity I wanted to show to the world. You believed in everything I told you about Momentum. You were so jubilant when we explained to you the story behind your name, even though it was a giant lie. To be honest, sometimes I look at you, and you make me wonder what I am doing. I want to punish your father for his selfishness and greed, for his lack of resistance when the Prototype started to malfunction. But if there was a possibility that everything I told you was true…"
"Did you… did you ever try to find Rudger?" Yusei questioned, even as he saw the balls of light gathering in the mouths of the dragons behind Rex. The Director and his bird were both completely focused on Yusei, oblivious to the danger behind them.
"Of course I did." Rex sighed. At that moment, he truly looked his age. Yusei felt the Director almost shrank a little. Rex narrowed his eyes, his gaze focused on somewhere far behind Yusei. "I found a wreck of a man. He had been used to power Momentum for years when I found him, deep in Satellite. He was heavily sedated. When he was lucid, he was still as power hungry as I remembered. He was still lost to me no matter how hard I tried to cure him. He never returned to the brother I knew."
"So you left him in Satellite?" Yusei frowned.
"He was one of the most powerful Psychic Duelists available to us. Removing him would have endangered my position in the City and broke the illusion of Momentum's power." Rex huffed. "So I gave him up for lost. I will avenge him and make the City pay. I remembered my revenge every time I remember the brother whom the City took away from me. Finding him… finding him alive was nothing short of a bad dream."
"See, that's where we differed." Yusei said in an even voice. "For you, living with your changed brother was a bad dream. For me, finding how Aki changed had been a blessing."
"What - " Rex's complete attention was focused on him now.
In a way, Rex was right. It was hard to imagine that something as bizarre as this so-called revenged maintained Rex for so long, but who was Yusei to talk? He was indeed considered mad for believing Aki was alive when then world wanted him to forget. If he were wrong, then he would be regarded in the same light as Rex was right now.
But Aki didn't die. And Yusei wasn't wrong.
Yusei felt that somehow, through a cosmic irony, Rex Goodwin and he were equals. Both had a loved person taken away because of Psychic Duelists, and both because Psychic Duelists themselves in the end. However, while Yusei chose to accept Aki and the consequences of her actions, Rex chose to reject his brother and pretended everything Rudger did was under the influence of a will not of Rudger's own.
"I finally understood Aki when I saw how she behaved in Satellite." Yuei explained. He no longer cared whether it was going to get through to Rex. It was more to draw a close to all the things he had experienced in the past few months, to summarise everything he had faced and to move forward. "I finally knew her as an entire person, not just as a Psychic Duelist. There was more to Psychic Duelists than their label. They are not different to us. The kind ones won't lose their kindness when they become a Psychic Duelists, the brave ones won't lose their bravery, and those who were originally evil… " he looked up at the Security building, where Rudger presumably was still located in, "won't get any better."
"But my brother - " As if enraged even further by what Yusei was suggesting, Rex edged closer to Yusei and his dragon. "There is no way that what I believed all this time was false! No way that it was not real!"
"Uncle Goodwin, I can't understand what made you believe such a thing for so many years." Yusei shook his head. "I can't understand how you have ruled the City for so long while wishing for the City's destruction. I can't imagine how you must have felt all this time. But what you believe was indeed false and was nothing but a dream. In fact, I daresay that everything in the past decade must have been like a bad dream for you. In that case… as your protegee and your supposed hope for Neo Domino, it is only my duty to wake you up."
Behind Rex, the combined forces of three dragons opened fire, black and gold and red lightning rushing towards Rex. Startled by Yusei's declaration, Rex looked around in surprise, but was too late to dodge the oncoming attack. The light and crackling lightening from the three dragons hit Rex's beast square on the back, sending feathers and even pitch-black skin flying. There was a pitiful screech as Earthbound God Wiraqocha Rasca futilely flapped its wings. With a final, gurgling noise, the giant bird all but disappeared, dissipating into thin air as Rex fell downwards, plummeting straight towards the ground.
Ruka's Ancient Fairy dragon immediately swooped downwards, catching Rex on its back. When the dragon flew back up, Yusei saw that Rex had fainted. Given the amount of agony that would have come with having one's monster defeated, Yusei was not surprised.
"Yusei! We are not done yet!" Jack was calling for him and waving for him to fly closer. "We found out some info about these supposed shelters that Rex had locked everyone into. We need to hurry up and save these people!"
