The helicopter landed on top of a very tall building in the Tops, leaving Aki and I to duck as we walked towards the house on top of the skyscraper. We got to the door right as it swung open, releasing two missiles who collided with us. Luna looked up from where she was hugging me, "You're back!"
Meanwhile, Leo let go of Aki, "Welcome back!"
Aki smiled at the duo, "Hey guys, how are you doing?"
Leo waved his hand dismissively, "We're fine, nothing to worry about."
Luna rushed over to Aki to hug her, and I crouched in front of Leo, "Hey, be honest. Are you actually okay?"
He fake smiled so hard that his eyes closed, "Yeah, nothing gets me down for long."
"Leo, you are aware that I can tell when people are lying to me. It's okay to be scared of something that happened."
Every inch of his face went red as I stood back up to stretch, "So...where exactly are we right now?"
Luna piped up, "Jack's apartment. The others are waiting inside."
With that information, I scanned the place where we were, "It's disgustingly fancy here, so that tracks. Shall we head inside?"
Aki led the way inside, where I immediately sneezed, "Ugh! What is that smell? Did something die in here?"
Jack rounded a corner, "That is my cologne, thank you very much!"
In front of me, I could see Aki waving her hand in front of her face, "What is it called? Eau de SKUNK?"
Luna muttered, "Apparently all of the guys and Mina like it."
Pulling my shirt over my nose, I muttered, "Men never fail to confuse me with the things they like."
Another sneeze escaped, "Is there any place I can get fresh air?"
Tanner rounded the corner, "Yusei! How are you doing?"
Both Aki and I sneezed at the same time, "Just peachy. Once I get away from this stench that Jack calls cologne."
"It's not that bad, Yusei! It's just that you are from the Satellite!"
My glare seemed to silence Jack's protests as Aki spoke up, "Luna and I hate it, and we are from the city."
He rubbed the back of his head, "Well, most city girls like it."
The more flustered he got, the funnier the argument became, "How many girls have you been around? Ten?"
"Fifteen!"
"And how many of them can you name?"
"Mina, Carly, one of them was named Nobue, I think."
As yet another sneeze happened, I leaned against the wall, "You think?"
Jack started to fling his arms around as he spoke, "I was always getting interviewed when I was around my cheerleaders, okay? It's not my fault I never had a chance to talk to them!"
Before we could get really into our argument, Jack's assistant entered the room, "Are you ready to talk to the Director?"
Aki coughed, "Get us away from Jack's apartment as fast as you can!"
She looked over at me, who was still covering my nose, very confused as I spoke, "Please, I don't know how much longer we can deal with this stench."
Jack looked over at her, "They hate my cologne."
After being in the same car as Leo for twenty minutes, I was starting to wonder why I even came back to the city at all. He was bouncing around the cab at insane speeds, asking questions so fast that I honestly could not understand a single one.
It was obvious from the faces of everyone else in the car that this trip was taking too long. Jack's temper started to boil up, making me extremely grateful to see us driving towards the largest building that I had ever seen in my life.
"Is that his mansion?"
Leo shot towards the window, "Woah! It's so big!"
We pulled to a stop in front of the front doors, quickly exiting the car. Aki looked up, "I used to think that I grew up in a big house, but I was so wrong. This is a mansion."
Why does he get to live a comfy lifestyle? He and his freaking brother ruined my life, took away my family, and have suppressed hundreds of people. But sure, he gets to live in a mansion that's about the size of the BAD Zone in Satellite while I grew up on the streets. Sounds fair.
I bit back what I wanted to say, instead taking a deep breath as we came face to face with Goodwin.
He spread his arms wide, "Welcome to my humble home, Signers."
Carefully choosing my words, I spoke up, "Somehow I doubt that this building is anything but humble. But go ahead and tell yourself that."
Leo started to open his mouth, and I covered it, "Don't push your luck little man."
He closed it and stood behind me as Goodwin started glaring at him. Before Goodwin could say anything about him being present, Aki stepped forward, "Let's get this over and done with, okay?"
Goodwin looked at her instead, giving another slight bow, "Then follow me."
We followed him down a hallway towards an elevator, while we passed elaborate pieces of art. I kept a grip on Leo so he wouldn't get too close to any of it.
Jack was the first one to enter the elevator, taking a place on the far back wall. I joined him, still holding onto Leo, which meant that Luna followed me. Aki entered, as the last of the Signers, taking up a place in the corner near me. Goodwin came in, pressed a button, then had to scan both his thumb and eye. Only after that was a panel open, revealing a button.
Once that button was pressed, the elevator started to descend. Jack muttered from beside me, "Here we go again."
"What?"
The doors opened, revealing an ancient stone hallway, lit by tall braziers along the edges. I looked at Jack, "Have you been here before?"
"Once. It was right after our first duel against each other."
Goodwin continued to lead the way, "I brought the illustrious king here to explain the role of Signers."
Jack bristled like a cornered wolf, "I'm not the king. Yusei is the champion now."
My hand went over his mouth, "If people want to call you king, then let them. I am perfectly fine with people finding out that I am the Queen of dueling who just happens to outrank you."
Aki and Luna snickered, and even Leo looked to be a little bit happier. Jack however, sent me a glare and then acted like I didn't exist, just like he always did when I pissed him off.
Two massive doors slid open just long enough for us to go through, and then slid shut behind us. The second the doors closed, the floor burst into light.
My heart skipped a beat as I looked around at the massive, nearly empty, room that we were in. Only two things were in this room: an archway, and a very familiar tower. Now that I finally could see it from a stationary position, I could make out more details. It was very elegantly decorated, and was so tall that it looked like it would be quite the leg workout if someone was stupid enough to climb it.
Then I saw the symbol on the entrance of it, "Is that..."
It wasn't until that point that I realized that my arm was glowing, and that it was exactly the same as the tail on the symbol, "The Crimson Dragon?"
Goodwin nodded, "You are looking at the full symbol, which was divided into five parts to show the five hosts. And through destiny, each of you came in contact with your dragon."
So, the picture that Yunagi and I created was fairly accurate. Good to know.
A scoff slipped out of me before I could stop it, but he acted like nothing happened, "But that's not the reason that you are here. You have all been perilously close to a battle for your lives."
He waved his hand and we found ourselves standing in the air above some pictures in the dirt. One of them was really similar to Kiryu's mark, and another was the spider that Jack and I had seen.
Jack muttered so quietly that I could barely hear him, "The Nazca lines."
I raised an eyebrow, "The what lines?"
"Nasca, they're in Peru, and they started disappearing while you were in Satellite after the crash."
Goodwin nodded, "Indeed. Let me explain properly. Thousands of years ago, an army of shadows attacked the world, and the Crimson dragon chose five dragons to aid him in the battle. Together they locked away the darkness into what is now called the Nazca lines. Five thousand years ago, the dragons bonded with five humans, who also aided in the battle. Just as there are five Signers, there are five Dark Signers. Each Dark Signer is bonded to a creature from the Netherworld."
He waved his hand again, and we saw the ruins in the city with a giant bird flying next to the only intact building, "These creatures are called the Earthbound Immortals, and they all brought one minion back from the brink of death to kill one of you specifically."
My mouth spoke before I could stop myself, "But we can save these so called minions, right?"
There was no emotion in his eyes as Goodwin looked at me, "They are already dead. There is nothing you can do except defeat them and let them die."
Cold fear filled my chest as the truth hit me, in order to save the world, I had to kill the only boy I ever loved.
A/N: Thanks to Let's-Go-To-Vermont and Dark Lord of the Fallen Angels for reviewing on the original version of this chapter!
