Footsteps approached us, and Trudge stood in front of me, "What happens now that the gates weren't locked in time?"
I opened my mouth just as a bright white light appeared over the city, "What the-"
We all moved so we could see the city without obstruction, just to catch a glimpse of a bird mark hovering above the city. As we stared at it, Crow and Jack somehow pulled up next to us, despite the fact that we were in the middle of an amusement park.
Crow smiled at me, "Hey, Yusei! Found our crazy brother, just like you asked. But what in the world is that thing?"
"I wish I knew…"
Jack took off his helmet, and I was shocked to see a massive cut across his face, along with dried blood. His helmet was missing a large chunk of his wind visor, and from the location of the break, it meant that it was the object that cut him.
All of us nearly fell over as the ground started to shake violently. Twisting around, I saw a pillar of light coming from the general area of the Reactor, "Crap."
Crow grimaced, "Didn't Roman warn us that the portal would open after sunset?"
"Yes, and I don't know what exactly that will entail."
Almost as if it heard me, a huge mass of black sludge-like stuff bubbled to the surface. As we watched in horrified disgust, multiple spider like legs emerged from the blob. It hauled itself onto its feet, forming into a skeletal version of a dragon as more of the sludge dribbled off of its form.
It looked towards the city, and started slowly making its way towards the city, two antlers popping up as it moved.
Mina whimpered, "What is that thing?"
Shrugging, I pushed down the urge to hide behind one of my brothers, "All I know is that it wants to go to the bird mark."
"Condor."
"That's a type of bird, so I wasn't wrong."
Crow turned to me, "Didn't Roman warn us that the King of the Netherworld would show up if we didn't close the towers in time?"
"Yes."
Trudge piped up, "Does this mean that it's the end of the world."
Mina whispered, "We're still here, so we might have a chance to stop it."
Luna grabbed her arm and looked to her side, "Kuribon says that bad things will happen if we let it get to the bird."
All of our marks lit up as lightning struck over our heads. Look up.
I glanced at the sky to see some red floating through the purple clouds, "Looks like we have some backup."
The others looked up as well, "It's the Crimson Dragon!"
Leo had barely said that before the said Dragon plummeted down to us, surrounding us with red light. When the light faded, we were all flying at an incredible speed through the air.
Mina was curled up, "What's going on?"
I looked around, "All things considered, I'm pretty sure we're inside the Crimson Dragon."
Aki was gliding next to me, "I think that we're slowing down."
In the blink of an eye, she was proven correct as we found ourselves outside of Goodwin's mansion. The tower that had once been under it was now coming out of the ruins that were left behind.
Leo freaked out, "Did we just teleport or something?!"
Glancing around, I saw the three runners and both cars behind us, "Okay, that doesn't make me feel better."
Jack muttered, "Why is the tower outside now?"
Aki shrugged, "I don't know, but it probably has something to do with the giant bird."
Leo glanced around at the scenery, "Did we teleport from the Satellite to the city?"
"I think so."
"Welcome back, Signers. Congratulations on defeating the Dark Signers."
Glancing up, I could barely see Goodwin on top of the tower.
He walked to the edge, "But you failed to close all of the towers in time."
"Then is the world going to end because we failed?"
"Not immediately, but yes."
I gritted my teeth, "Then why is the King of the Netherworld coming here?"
He dramatically waved his right arm around, "Because this tower is the sight of the ancient rituals. He has to be here in order to destroy the world. But before that can happen, the final Dark Signer has to duel at least one of the Signers to determine the fate of the world."
Goodwin's left arm came out from behind him, revealing a glowing green tube. As my eyes locked onto the tube, my arm screamed in pain just like it had when I had first met Aki.
"That's the final mark!"
Jack yelled, making me aware of how close he was to my back, "Is that your arm?"
"No. It belonged to Roman. He gave it to me before he made the Reactor spin in reverse."
Trying to restrain my anger, I called out, "Then why are you just carrying it around like a sociopath?"
He put it down and turned so we could see the purple condor mark on his back.
"Oh shoot."
As we watched, his body grew more muscular, and marks started to cross his body. His cries of pain could be heard easily by us.
Finally, his transformation came to a stop, and he turned back around to face us, "That's right. I was chosen as the final Dark Signer. And now I am going to use my new powers to connect my brother's arm to what's left of mine!"
None of us made any noise as he ripped off the metallic arm. But a few gasps came out of us as he reached into the capsule to pull out the limp arm of Roman. He pressed it against his stump of an arm, and a flash of purple light sealed them together.
Our arms ached more as he tried to control his new arm, "It seems that the Crimson Dragon doesn't yet appreciate this idea. But I will win against it."
"Why are you being so stupid?"
He glared at me for saying that, "I will become the most powerful deity with both the powers of light and darkness!"
Goodwin raised his arm high in the sky, which set off yet another earthquake. I turned to the others, "You guys, we need to get to the end of the bridge! Now!"
We rushed into our respective vehicles, then hurried away as the tower continued to grow out of the ground.
After the tower stopped rising from the ground, a hologram of Goodwin appeared at the top of the tower with a pedestal in front of him, "This will come as little surprise, but the ritual is a duel. We will duel on the mark of the Condor, where I will crush you Signers and offer you as sacrifices to the King of the Netherworld."
I looked up at him, "What happens when we win?"
"IF you win, the King of the Netherworld is destroyed, but I won't let that happen."
A/N: Thanks to Let's-Go-To-Vermont and an anonymous Guest for reviewing on the original version of this chapter!
