Chapter Eighteen

Orichalcum

Leaving the hideout meant approaching the dark, eastern horizon, where faint stars were fading into view. The sunset warmed my back as I hunched over my runner and raced towards Martha's cottage. The surefire empty streets allowed me to take corners sharp.

A hum rumbled my thoughts. The Crimson Dragon said, I am happy to see you determined, young dragon.

A smile graced my lips as I raced through the lengthy barterer's street. I dodged a pothole. "Wow. You? Happy? Never thought I'd see the day."

More. I'm proud.

"…Of me? Have you met me?"

Young dragon. The strongest of wills is required to deny your feelings and refuse to become a Dark Signer alongside him.

I thought, Well, I, uh, didn't exactly deny them. I mean, I-

We do not speak of that part.

Yes. Right. Sure! No talking. About. That. You're, um, being nicer than I expected after what I just did.

His gentle growl was like a purr. You have withstood such pain on my behalf, yet still you fight for my Signers. I truly feel like a part of you.

You mean our Signers.

The young dragon rises! roared the Crimson Dragon. The encouragement extended my smile. I jerked the handlebars towards the road that'd swing by the sorry excuse for a forest.

A man posted up in the middle of the boulevard. I turn-braked an inch from him. He hadn't moved. I yanked my helmet off and yelled, "What's the big idea? Standing still in the middle of a street is a good way to get-"

Air hissed in through my teeth. Black filled the outside of the man's ice-blue irises. My hackles rose. The red designing his dark robes like veins, his wisps of white hair, the scarlet marks on the dark skin of his face – he was the same person who'd shown me my stage and runner months ago. The dark mark of the Spider glowed on his forearm.

"You," I breathed. "You sent that woman to kill me. I know you're a Dark Signer! What's your angle? Why did you help me way back when?"

"Your aggression grows," he said. His grin raced chills down my spine. "Excellent. I have a gift for you, Soul Reaper."

I hopped off my runner and took a defensive stance. "I don't want any of your 'gifts.' You're nothing but an enemy to me."

The Dark Signer reached into the folds of his cloak and produced a small, glass ornament in the shape of a tarantula. A violet glow like flames of a dark glyph swirled within its confines. "Not even a memory?"

"Y-you know about my memories?"

The object's shine reflected off his black eyes. He boasted it in his palms like a trophy. "They're all right here. You're not quite ready for them yet, but I feel it's only fair to give you a taste."

A drop of gleaming, lavender liquid rolled down the glass tarantula's leg. The drop splatted against the broken, dirty concrete. A sickly-sweet scent drifted up from the liquid. My eyes rolled back in my head; darkness enveloped me.

Claws clinked against obsidian tiles. I marched through the front gates of an extravagant castle. Growls rumbled from my flanks. Two beasts covered in golden-brown fur walked on all fours at my sides. The sparse firelight in the abandoned halls caught in their beady black eyes.

I cut a right and entered a spiraling stairwell. Down and down we wound. The finer, painted walls shifted to poorly interconnected cobblestones. Dampness choked the air.

The staircase deposited our trio in an underground laboratory. Workbenches lined three walls. The fourth held a running waterway. A single man bent over a table. The torch over him reflected off glass and water at my feet. A beautiful arrangement of flowers lay crushed amidst the mess.

Anger conquered the man's features when he noticed us. "I told you to-"

At the snap of my fingers, a beast smashed the man's skull against the wall. I approached a workbench. A dark green circuit board rested upon a machine resembling a pinpoint microscope. I removed the board and traced a rectangle. Azure flames formed from my touch. A blank spell card was created.

I moved the circuit board back, grabbed protective goggles, and started up the machine. A laser sliced the circuit board into my desired shape. Sweat dripped down my face from the meticulous effort.

First, I flattened the disk. Second, I forged a perfect circle. Third, I crafted the six-pointed star. Lastly, I carved the words of my language into the outer ring. I whispered the words as the image in my mind became reality.

The stone sank and merged with the card. A smile stretched my lips.

Black swallowed my vision. A voice reverberated in my mind. "You are foolish to believe genocide is the answer."

"Rain. Rain!"

The shaking of my shoulders dragged me back to reality. My blurry vision took a few moments to adjust. Violet fires raged around me. A dark sign shone against the black clouds: the Spider. The darkness and height of the moon in the sky suggested the memory knocked me out a few hours. I blinked a few more times to focus on the person grasping my shoulders.

Martha's smile was the reassuring sort. "Good morning, Rain. I need you to keep your hands still for me."

Tight silk bound my wrists. The thick webbing could only be an arachnid's handiwork. I grimaced. My ankles appeared to have been wrapped by the same, silky fetters, but they'd been cut free. Purple caught on the blade of the kitchen knife in Martha's hands – the same I'd used to aid her time and time again.

I gulped, nodded, and held my hands forward. She sliced the bonds apart. I said, "Thank you. What happened? Where are we?"

"A Shadow Duel."

The answer came from high above us. A spider web wove among buildings and stretched across the street. The Dark Signer who'd returned my memory stood upon the highest, silky branch.

The crimson spark set my heart to thumping. Red traced through the black of night in the form of an Earthbound Immortal. The massive arachnid's six eyes glowed like rubies.

The Dark Signer wasn't dueling, though; no duel disk adorned his crossed arms. I peered through the fires. Yusei faced down a young boy. Martha said, "Don't look there. We need to escape, Rain. If we don't-"

"Fool," the Dark Signer said. "You fight to save what is already lost. Rain is in no danger of having her soul consumed by the Earthbound Immortal. Why would a god destroy its own servant?"

I said, "What do you-"

"Oh, but the other is now in range," he said. "You shall be wonderful energy towards the razed world."

The Earthbound Immortal's cry shattered the night. I covered my ears and shut my eyes. I cracked one open. Martha observed her hands. A transparent copy of them phased away from her.

I lurched forward and grabbed her wrist. I pleaded in my thoughts, Please, Dragon, save her!

A whine pierced my mind. I am sorry, young dragon.

Her transparent self ripped apart. The apparition transformed into violet energy and streamed into the Earthbound Immortal. The kitchen knife she used to save me hit the concrete. My tears sprinkled the blade.

"Martha!"

The cry came from so, so many different directions, but the loudest and most desperate originated from the boy Yusei dueled. He whined, "This can't… keep happening. I tune Turbo Booster and Turbo Rocket for Turbo Booster Cannon! Its effect c-can- I'll destroy a monster on the field, and the controller takes damage equal to its attack!"

Yusei, his expression grave, said, "Rally. Rally, don't-"

"I target Earthbound Immortal Uru!"

The tiny, white machine blasted through the dark god. Red cinders rained through the violet sky. Yusei, the duel's victor, sprinted towards his opponent. The child crumbled to gray and disappeared.

"Such is the fate of the loser of a Shadow Duel," the Dark Signer said. He hopped down from his perch. His dark eyes reflected in the knife's blade in my hands. The violet fires snuffed out. Darkness fell upon the landscape.

"I'm not afraid," Yusei announced. Jack, Crow, and Aki joined him. Luna knelt by my side and touched my shoulder. "I'm not afraid anymore! You'll pay for everything you've done to the Satellite, Roman! You and all the Dark Signers!"

Roman chuckled from his ridge above us. "Your quest should be fair, so I'll offer a tip: There is a traitor in your midst. Rain Orichalcum!"

My lungs shrank. That name. He unveiled his glass tarantula. "If you long for the full return of your memories, challenge me on the morrow."

"Stop the lies," Yusei hissed. "You don't care about us. That much is clear. You're not psyching me out any longer. Rain's on our side. I'll duel you and win for her, just like-"

He choked on the words, but we felt the meaning. Roman said, "I suggest Rain come alone. To put it quite simply, I have not returned her memories because I am afraid of what she is capable of. The Crimson Dragon shares my fear considering I have it on good authority he never returned to his former vessel."

"W-what do you know about the Dragon and me?"

"Ah, don't be so hurt," he said, but his grin was chilling. "You aren't the only one the Crimson Dragon abandoned. I sense my host's longing for the Dragon's return every now and again."

"I- I don't understand!" I shouted. "You're talking like the Crimson Dragon and I have known each other for a long time! He- it's just some mystical god thing, isn't it? And, and even if I did know him, why would he abandon me?"

His smile taunted me. A shadow passed over the moon. "Rain Orichalcum, creator of the Seal of Orichalcos. Do you recall its purpose?"

"W-well, obviously I don't! I mean, it's just a card to use in a game! It's just…" The scorn of the final voice in the memory returned. Thinking genocide was the answer?

But what did that mean?

Young dragon! the Crimson Dragon called. The Spider is a master of manipulation. Do not allow Uru to convince you with his web of lies.

"A card," I said aloud. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Roman – no, Uru – shrugged his shoulders. "Your denial makes no difference to me. You don't have the Crimson Dragon. You aren't a threat; you're a tool. Your alliance with the Signers makes you a ticking time bomb at my disposal."

I ground my teeth. "I am no tool."

"Ah, but you are," he said. "A terrifyingly bloodied one at that."

"Afraid of a mere human?" A Dark Signer appeared at Roman's side. The others, too, appeared from the shadows: Misty, Carly, and Kalin. The man who'd spoken had stark yellow lines through the black fabric of his robe. "That's unlike you. Only the Signers have a chance against us, and their power is nothing compared to ours!"

Luna stepped in front of me. She said, "Rain's the best duelist out there, and she's going to help me beat you!"

"She won't get that chance." Kalin's voice forced my heart to drop. "Because I'm going to kill her."

I raised my eyes to his. He was smiling, and the sheer glee in his expression made me want to crawl away. Yusei skidded in front of me. "Leave her out of this. This is between the Signers and Dark Signers, no one else!"

Roman crossed his arms. "I will allow you some brutal honesty, Yusei Fudo. Devack knows me well. I would never fear that thing behind you masquerading as a girl if it were a powerless human. It is aligned with neither the Crimson Dragon nor the King of the Underworld. Its sins are incomprehensible, and its existence will be the downfall of your race."

"She is our friend," Yusei said, "and we'll do whatever it takes to win her memory back."

He laughed. "Let your hopes build. It will be oh so satisfying to crush them when the time comes. Signers! We meet for war at the five stars of destiny! Until then!"

Kalin's and Devack's glared burned through me. The laughter in Roman's eyes mocked me. I had to stare at my feet, and I clenched my fists so the shaking in my arms would be less obvious.

Until then.

Roman strode away from us. The Dark Signers followed their leader. Jack gave chase. I was paralyzed. It didn't make sense. Why would my partner want to fight me? No, he said more than that. He wants…

Aki drifted near me and asked, "You alright there?"

"The only partner I've ever had wants to kill me," I wheezed. "Roman acts like the person I used to be was… terrifying."

"Don't worry about Kalin," Yusei said. A blend of fury and conviction rumbled through the steady words. "I'll take care of him."

That wouldn't happen, though. My eyes unfocused. Martha's knife in my grip was blurry. Roman laughed when she faded. He laughed, and my partner was deadly and heartless as him. All the Dark Signers were. I would have to face two of them and both wanting my heart to stop, my blood to run cold. Three if I wanted my memories back from Roman. But.

"I'm n-not sure I want to know. Whoever I was- Roman makes me afraid of myself."

Aki glared at me. "You're joking. This gang puts up with me. Me. I'm known as a witch, a killer, a sadistic psychic. They didn't care. Whatever's in those memories won't make a lick of difference to us."

"That Dark Signer is trying to mess with your head," Crow said. "C'mon, don't let him get to you that easily. You're stronger than that!"

Leo said, "Yeah, Rain, you're way too tough for that dude. Like, you have the-"

Luna smacked him before he could spill anything important. Leo whined. Their words eased my worries. I breathed in, out. Sharpness returned to my vision. My own eyes stared back at me from the knife's blade. "Thanks. Thank you all."

Yusei, Crow, and Leo headed towards the cottage. I remained balancing Martha's knife on my fingertips. Luna whispered, "I don't get it, though. I thought Kalin was nice to you. Only you, but still…"

"I ran into him," I said. "I talked with him earlier, and I said I was going to be the one to duel him."

"Makes a lot more sense," Aki commented from the side. "It seems more your conflict than Yusei's. Kalin bites back. Yusei could hardly hurt the guy, but Kalin enjoyed the attacks he landed."

"Enjoyed," I murmured. I set my jaw. "Can I ask you a tough question, Aki?"

"Shoot."

"When you- when you hurt people with your powers, did you ever enjoy it?"

Her features darkened. "I hate to say it now, but yes. There were times when I thought they deserved the pain I dealt. I wish I could say it wasn't true."

The card my past revolved around, the Seal of Orichalcos, weighed heavily in my palm. I said, "I have that same feeling."

"It's okay!" Luna said. "You two aren't any kind of monster or witch or whatever people say. Seeing how you guys fight to save everyone from the Dark Signers – who could think so?"

Both Aki and I managed a smile. My single memory nibbled at my conscience, and my disposition flattened. "Can I ask one more question?"

"Go ahead."

"Aki, what's genocide?"

Luna looked confused like me and turned toward Aki. Her expression seemed almost afraid; it reminded me of Kalin on our first day as partners. I'd asked a horrific question that day. I wondered if I'd just done the same.

Aki breathed in deep. "Genocide is the killing of an entire group of people usually based on something related to the way they were born, like their race or religion. Why do you ask?"

I stared at a point in the distance. "Why would someone want to do something like that?"

A sigh passed her lips. "I couldn't ever understand, to have enough hate in your heart to want to remove so many people from the planet… it's something truly evil. What are all these questions for?"

"I just- I don't understand it, either. Isn't that like what the Dark Signers are trying to do?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said. "If they win, it'll be a massacre."

MASSACRE.

Screaming pierced my thoughts. Screams, screams everywhere from men, woman, and children. I gripped the sides of my head and resisted the urge to shout with them. Luna and Aki said, "What's the matter?"

Remember yourself, young dragon. The crimson threads woven into my heart warmed my soul. Steady breaths slowed my heart rate. The screams died down. This is a product of Uru's manipulation. He will try to turn you against our Signers.

And there's not a chance that'll happen! I said, "That Dark Signer did something to me, but- I know I'll be fine. Let's head back."

I kept the kitchen knife in my grip. Jack appeared behind us, his forlorn expression in solidarity with mine. In Martha's cottage, everyone gathered around the table. The children were sobbing.

The Security man, Trudge, charged me. He pushed me against the wall. "Apologize right now."

"W-why?"

"Martha!" he barked. "Martha's gone because of you – because she went to save you!"

My eyes widened. I observed the kitchen knife. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. "I- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Lay off!" Yusei said. "Rain didn't do anything wrong. The Dark Signer set it all up. He wants to convince us that Rain's some sort of enemy. Falling for it will only cause something like this to happen again. Martha would never want her loss to cost us."

Trudge sagged. "Sorry, kid. Martha was the first Satellite I learned to like. I thought you were all garbage up to no good. To think she created all this, and I'm squandering it."

He straightened and puffed his chest. "That's it! I won't let this set me back. I'll do whatever you Signers need!"

His determination inspired me. If I stopped now, if I kept crying without moving forward… I stabbed the knife into the table. "For Martha."

My and Trudge's transformations seemed to lift the kids' spirits. Their crying stopped. The doctor gathered them up and lead them out of the room, explaining that the adults were holding an important meeting.

"Gather 'round." The Security woman with the blue hair, Mina, spread a map of the Satellite on the table.

Leo said, "What did that guy mean by meeting up at the 'five stars of destiny?'"

The Dragon's voice echoed in my mind. Giant, Lizard, Hummingbird, Monkey, Spider. My dragons must seal them all.

"He must have meant the four control units of the old Ener-D reactor. They were codenamed after the Nazca Lines. When the reactor spun out of control, the seal on them was broken. Ccapac Apu, Ccarayhua, Aslla Piscu, and Cusillu. Uru wasn't included in the control units but was the name of the reactor itself."

She showed us five marked points on the map while explaining. Mina said, "The cards in your possession seal these units and will close the door to the underworld before the King rises. Director Godwin planned it this way. The Signer Dragon corresponding to your unit is with you: Yusei's Stardust Dragon to Ccapac Apu, Akiza's Black Rose Dragon to Ccarayhua, Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend to Aslla Piscu, and Luna's Ancient Fairy Dragon to Cusillu."

"Not Ancient Fairy Dragon," Luna said. "That man with the yellow symbols, Devack, showed me he has the Ancient Fairy Dragon card."

"Then I should go with you to Cusillu," I responded. "To help free her."

"The Giant," Yusei said. "That's where Kalin will be. I'll go there first."

The Crimson Dragon asked, What about our plan, young dragon? If Fudo duels Kessler-

My destiny is to battle my partner. I have made it so.

He laughed. Where is this confidence coming from?

I'm not sure. Ever since that memory, I've felt it. But…

The chilly assertion my partner made drained my hope. First he said he wanted us both to live. All of a sudden, he wanted me to die? If he fought me with the dedicated scorn he used to target other gangs in the Satellite, the same that had inspired and taught me – how could I stand a chance?

The Crimson Dragon's growl was gentle. Young dragon. Whatever the truth turns out to be, you will save him.

His soft affirmation fought off the freezing of my conviction. Luna said, "Shouldn't we stick together as a team?"

"We're under a strict time limit," Mina explained. "The underworld unlocks at sundown. If we don't seal all the control units by then, the King of the Underworld will rise. It's game over if that happens."

"Ya don't say," Crow commented. "Hey. What about the spider thingy? Does it have a card to go with it? Is that the fifth Signer's job?"

"No. Godwin was very secretive about the fifth unit connected to the reactor itself," Mina said. "He said whoever was tied to it would know. I wish he wasn't so ominous. All we can do is hope."

"The Lizard. Ccarayhua, you said? That's Misty," Aki said while pointing to a mark on the map. "I'll go here to face her."

"And I'll take that girl with the Hummingbird mark," Jack said. His voice lacked its usual ferocity. The Hummingbird was what Carly had become. My heart sank. Jack and I were in the same position.

"Akiza, I'll take you to the control unit," Mina offered.

"I'm going with Luna and Rain, of course!" Leo exclaimed. I was actually glad to have him along.

"I'll drive you guys, then," Trudge stated.

"S'pose I'm left as the babysitter," Blister uttered. "I guess that's okay. I'll make sure they don't go off and get into any trouble. It'll probably be easier than taking care of marshmallow over there."

I shouted, "Hey!"

After their laughter tapered, Mina declared, "All right, everyone! It's time to save the world!"

I was the last out the door, falling in behind Luna. Jack and Yusei's duel runners were revved up and ready to go. I walked up beside Jack, leaned on his frame, and whispered, "I know you can save her."

He tensed. "Hoping is all I can do. The same goes for your partner."

I'd never heard him so… torn. I said, "Let's get rah-min after. Everyone together."

A miniature smile sprouted. He said, "Ever the dreamer. Let's, Rain."

I smiled as my runner arrived. I boarded alongside everyone else and slipped on my helmet. Trudge and Mina's cars stopped beside us with Luna, Leo, and Akiza. Yusei announced, "Everyone! Remember our bonds as friends will hold us together and give us strength!"

The normal blue of my eyes transformed to red as the crimson spark blazed. The four marks of the Crimson Dragon sent scarlet skyward. Engines roared like a red dragon to pronounce destiny's approach.

End of Chapter Eighteen

A/N: sooo which potential VS Dark Signer duel are you most excited for?

I know I tend to pace things fast - let me know what you think (too fast? not fast enough? why isn't this gd fic over already?) c: