I decided to add some dialogue from the subbed version of 5D's in this chapter, since I think it would be more fitting. I might do this in the future chapters as well; blending the sub and the dub together. Let me know if I should continue doing it or not.

Get ready for some StarParticleShipping fluff at the beginning of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 29: Emotional Discovery

I didn't know for how long I had been unconscious, but when I woke up I was met by a naked ground that glowed in magenta colors. I was slowly getting up on my knees when I felt a weight on my left hand. I looked down to my left and spotted Yusei's blurred body lying next to me, his hand still holding mine. I quickly realized my glasses were missing! Did they fly off my face when Yusei and I fell into the Ener-D?

I snapped out of my trance and used my right hand to shake the Signer's body. "Yusei? Yusei, wake up."

Yusei grunted softly before he opened his eyes, making me sigh in relief that he was alive. He let go of my hand as he slowly sat up on the ground and looked around. "Where are we…?" he mumbled.

"I don't know", I shook my head. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine", Yusei nodded before he turned his eyes on me, raising an eyebrow. "What happened to your glasses?"

"They must have fallen off my face when we fell into the Ener-D", I shrugged as the two of us stood up on our feet.

"Can you see without them?"

"I'm nearsighted, so it shouldn't be a problem… I hope."

All of the sudden, we were surrounded by white glowing bodies of humans that raised up from the ground. Once they stopped glowing, we saw they looked like a combination of ghost and zombie. I couldn't see their faces so well, but I still flinched back in fear because I hated zombies.

"What are these things?!" Yusei exclaimed as he pushed me back to shield me from the spirits.

"They're spirits of the people who died at the meltdown!" I replied. "And they're after us because they think we're the ones responsible for Zero Reverse!"

I shrieked when I felt a pair of hands grab my left arm with the Duel Disk. When I turned around to see who it was, I felt like I was in my worst nightmare. The face of the dead spirit looked like a scarier version of that scream ghost I accidently saw once in a parody movie based on the "Scream" series when I was just five years old. That had traumatized me for the rest of my life.

"SLÄPP, SLÄPP, SLÄÄÄPP! (LET GO, LET GO, LET GOOO!)" I screamed as I shook the hands off my arm.

"Let go of me!" Yusei yelled at the spirits as they tried grabbing us.

I looked down when I noticed I was sinking, like the ground underneath my feet was quicksand. I turned to Yusei and saw he was also sinking. "Yusei!"

The Signer turned around and saw I was reaching out my right hand to him. He quickly put the dots together and took my hand with his left hand. If we were going to die now, then we would face the death together.

"Can't our Marks help us, Estelle?!" Yusei panicked as we fought against the sinking ground.

"If they could, they would have helped us already!"

We had both sunken down to our chests when the dead spirits hovered above us, trying to push us down deeper into the ground, as if they wanted to seal us away for eternity. Yusei and I never let go of each other's hands as our arms disappeared into the ground. The spirits kept pushing our heads down until the ground was up to our shoulders.

Yusei and I shared one last glance before I closed my eyes, ready to accept my death. That was, until a bright light shone upon us, distracting the dead spirits.

"Stand down, oh lost spirits of the Netherworld!" a voice echoed from the light. "It is not yet these ones' time!"

The dead spirits moved back as I opened my eyes. One by one, the spirits vanished into particles, leaving me and Yusei alone. Another light shone underneath us as we were pushed up to the surface and lifted up in the air.

Yusei had his full attention at the light as we floated closer to it, still holding each other's hands. A black figure grew bigger as we came closer. It was a man and I knew who it was.

"Yusei, there is still much for you to do back in Satellite", the shadow man's voice echoed.

"Who…are you?" Yusei asked hesitantly.

"Someone not to be questioned", the shadow man replied as the light behind him shone brighter.

The light shone so strong that I had to shield my eyes once again, but at the same time I felt my other hand was slipping out of Yusei's grip. It was like a strong pair of hands was pulling me away from him.

Everything soon became black again, but before I lost consciousness I heard this whispering voice in my head.

"Forgive me, but I must speak to my son alone."

XXXXXXXXXX

Next thing I saw when I opened my eyes were the blurred and worried faces of Crow, Leo, Luna, and Trudge hovering above me. I felt a bit groggy so I had to blink my eyes a couple of times before I had enough strength to sit up.

"You're awake!" Luna sighed in relief.

I rubbed my forehead to lighten up the remaining grogginess in my head. "Y-Yeah…"

"Where's Yusei?" Crow asked concernedly.

I turned to my left and looked at the glowing mass of Ener-D that was still swirling around at the bottom of the crater. "He's still in the Ener-D…"

"What?! He didn't make it?!" Trudge exclaimed worriedly.

"No, he's safe", I replied calmly as I slowly got up on my feet. "He's…meeting someone who wanted to see him for a long time now."

The others stayed quiet, strangely not asking who Yusei was meeting.

"Hey, where are your glasses, Estelle?" Leo finally asked.

"They fell off my face when Yusei and I fell into the Ener-D", I replied, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the last inch of grogginess.

"You look funny without them", Leo commented.

"Leo!" Luna scolded her brother.

"What? She does", Leo retorted calmly.

"So all we can do now is wait for Yusei to come out of the Ener-D just like you did?" Crow asked while looking at the Ener-D.

"Yes", I nodded. "How long was I gone?"

"Only couple of minutes", Trudge replied. "Ten minutes at least."

That was odd. It felt like I had been away for hours, so ten minutes came as a surprise to me.

Minutes later, a bright light shone from the Ener-D, catching us all off guard. I could barely see the unconscious figure of Yusei before he floated down to us. Crow and Trudge reached out their arms and caught him.

"Hey, Yusei! You okay, man?" Crow called, trying to shake the Signer awake.

"Wait", I called as I zipped my jacket and removed it before I got down on my knees. "Let him rest on my lap."

I folded my jacket until it could be used as a pillow. Trudge and Crow lowered Yusei so his body was lying on the ground, but his head rested on my lap. The twins gathered around and watched Yusei with worried eyes, both of them chewing slightly on their lower lips.

It didn't take long before Yusei woke up, making everyone sigh in relief to see he was okay.

"I'll remember what you said… Father…", Yusei mumbled in a haze before he sat up while I helped him by supporting his back.

"You feelin' okay, Yusei?" Crow asked.

"What exactly happened down there?" Trudge wondered.

"Hey, give him a break, would ya?" Leo told the officer. "He's just a little shaken up, that's all."

"I'm fine", Yusei smiled softly. "Thanks for looking out for me, you guys."

"No prob. Now to look out for the rest of the world, and there's no time to spare!" Crow said seriously.

"In that case, we better get a move on!" Leo nodded.

"Right", Yusei agreed as the two of us stood up. "We have to seal the remaining two towers by sunset, or the King of the Netherworld will resurrect! Let's move!"

I put on my jacket and zipped it just as I noticed how Yusei and the twins' Marks started glowing brighter. My Mark was glowing too, and I quickly realized it was Jack Shadow Dueling Carly, but just as the Marks started glowing, the Signers' Marks disappeared from their arms.

"Our Marks are fading!" Luna exclaimed in surprise.

"Weird, that happened during Yusei's Duel with Kalin too", Leo pointed out.

"What's going on?" Crow questioned confusedly.

"Jack is lending the Signers' power to summon Majestic Dragon and evolve Red Dragon Archfiend", I explained. "It's a miracle Monster that only the Signers can summon with the power of unity."

"So Majestic Dragon is not related to your miracle powers?" Yusei questioned.

"Correct", I nodded. "Majestic Dragon is a Monster that only the Signers can create."

We hurried up the long stairs and made it out of the crater just as we spotted a cloud of purple pixie dust that glowed in the far distance. The pixie dust seemed to open up the dark clouds of the sky that still hovered above Satellite. Now the sky was around 90 percent clear from the black clouds, revealing the sun was about to go down for the day.

Seconds later, the Signers' Marks returned to their arms.

"Do you think this means that Jack won his Duel?" Luna questioned.

"Yeah, sure it does!" Leo grinned.

"That makes one seal left", Yusei concluded. "We're going to put a stop to the Dark Signers' ambitions!"

"We better hurry and go after Aki and Mina", I told the group. "The sun is going down, so there's not much time left."

"Right", Yusei nodded as he turned to Crow. "Crow, find Jack and tell him to head to the control unit of the Lizard."

"I'm on it, man!" Crow saluted.

XXXXXXXXXX

After we gave Crow the direction to the control unit of the Hummingbird, he went off in a hurry while the rest of us headed to the last control unit. It felt like time was going faster as we hurried to the area where Aki and Mina headed to. The sky was colored in orange as the sun had reached the horizon.

However, what worried me most was that Sayer was going to show up and try regaining control of Aki, manipulating her with his words once again.

We reached an amusement park that was in ruins and quickly found the other Sector Security patrol car, but it was abandoned.

"Well, it looks like they got here okay", Yusei said as we parked next to the vehicle.

"What if they've Dueled already and Aki lost?!" Leo asked worriedly.

"They haven't Dueled yet. Otherwise, our Marks would have informed us about it", I explained as I got out of Trudge's patrol car.

"C'mon, let's go find our friends!" Yusei got off his Duel Runner and removed his helmet.

Trudge and the twins got out of the car too, but the twins had their Duel Disks strapped on their arms. I did the same thing just as Yusei connected his hybrid Duel Disk with his Wrist Dealer.

"Should we split up to cover more ground?" Trudge suggested.

"Wait!" I called, getting everyone's attention. "Before we head into the amusement park, I need to warn you guys about something."

"What is it, Estelle?" Yusei asked.

"We might encounter a strange man in a trench coat here", I replied. "If you see him, don't listen to him no matter what, and run away from him as fast as you can."

"Why? Is he someone dangerous?" Leo wondered.

"Is it someone we know?" Luna added.

I hesitated for a moment before I answered their questions. "It's Sayer."

"Sayer?!" the twins exclaimed in disbelief.

"You mean, the Sayer who was the boss of the Arcadia Movement and hurt me so bad with his psychic powers?" Leo asked.

"Yes, the Sayer", I nodded.

"I thought Aki said he died when the two Dark Signers attacked the Arcadia Movement", Yusei pointed out.

"Yes, but he somehow managed to survive", I explained. "Maybe it was his psychic powers that saved him."

"If Sayer's around, I have to apprehend him", Trudge spoke up. "Sector Security's got a warrant so we need to bring him in for questioning."

"But he's dangerous when he's got a Duel Disk and his Deck!" Luna said worriedly. "He can really hurt us, and it doesn't matter if it's in a Duel or not!"

"Yeah, he's a lunatic!" Leo growled.

"Then we need to split up and find Aki before he finds her", Yusei said determinedly. "Trudge, you and I split up. Estelle, you watch over Leo and Luna."

"Okay", I nodded.

With that said, we split up into three groups and walked around in the amusement park. It was kind of hard to see where I was going because I could barely see if there was an object in front of my feet until I actually felt it with the tip of my boots.

"Aki! Mina!" Leo yelled.

"Where are you guys?!" Luna shouted from a broken carousel.

"Aki! Mina!" I called.

"Where could they be?" Luna wondered as she jumped down from the old carousel.

"I think I know where Aki is, but there's something wrong…", I mumbled.

"What? What's wrong?" Leo asked.

I pulled up the sleeve of my right arm and eyed my Mark. "There's something odd with the connection I have with Aki. I can feel she's in trouble, but her heart…is not in the right place. I think she's in an emotional turmoil."

"Is it Sayer?! He's found her already?!" Luna panicked.

"I honestly don't know…", I cold sweated.

"Help!"

I jumped in surprise when I heard that sudden cry of help. I looked up and spotted a blurry orange figure floating in front of me. Its shape looked like…

"Junk Synchron!" Luna exclaimed.

"Junk Synchron? You see his spirit, Luna?" Leo asked.

"Priestess, please hurry and help!" Junk Synchron panicked. "Master and one of your companions got trapped by someone and they're in danger!"

"Oh no…", I mumbled softly in fear. "Sayer got Yusei."

"Sayer attacked Yusei?!" the twins exclaimed simultaneously.

I turned to the children. "You two, go and find Trudge! I'll go with Junk Synchron and see if I can free Yusei!"

I ran before I could hear the twins' answer. Junk Synchron's blurry spirit floated ahead while I had a hard time keeping my eyes on him. His colors blended into the surroundings that it almost camouflaged him.

I soon found myself by a waterslide area where Junk Synchron led me to an abandoned building. As I ran towards the door, I heard the sound of running water and two cries for help. Junk Synchron vanished as I opened the door and was greeted by a very dark and large room.

"Guys?!" I called.

"Over here!" Yusei's voice yelled.

I rushed towards the source of the voice and felt myself walking on metal grate. I looked down and tried to find Mina and Yusei, but I was blind like a bat in a dark cave right now.

"Are you okay?!" I shouted.

"Yeah, but water's pouring in and we can't get out!" Yusei replied below me.

"Please help us!" Mina panicked.

"I'll see what I can do!" I told them.

I brought my left arm up and activated my Duel Disk. I made the device shuffle my Deck before I drew the top five cards. Somehow, I was able to see which cards I had when I brought them up very close to my face. I got four Duel Monsters that could help me.

"Dragon Knight of Creation, Paladin of Felgrand, Protector with Eyes of Blue, and Vylon Stella, lend me a hand!" I called as I slammed all four cards on the Duel Disk.

Four gates appeared before the four Duel Monsters came out of them. The three humanoid Duel Monsters were around the same size as grown male human, except Dragon Knight of Creation who was around two meters tall. Vylon Stella was half my size, but she was big. Thankfully, she emitted a soft but bright light that shone up the giant room like a lamp.

"You three, can you use your swords to open this?" I asked while pointing at the mangled hatch.

"Yes, Priestess!" the three humanoid Monsters nodded.

"Vylon Stella, when they get the hatch open, try to pull it up and then bring up Yusei and Mina", I told my fourth Duel Monster.

"Yes, Priestess", Vylon Stella replied.

The three humanoid Duel Monsters used their swords to try bending the hatch upward. They struggled a lot, but the metal was slowly giving in, making grunting noise as the metal broke apart bit by bit.

"Vylon Stella, it's your turn."

Vylon Stella floated over to the hatch and grabbed the grate before trying to pull it up. The plan seemed to work as the four Duel Monsters worked together to remove the hatch. The three swordsmen slashed the remaining metal before Vylon Stella pulled the entire thing with a loud groaning noise. She threw the rusty hatch aside and floated down to Yusei and Mina. She grabbed Mina first and brought her up to safety before she floated back to the pool to get Yusei.

I helped Mina up on her feet just as Trudge barged into the building. "Hey, you guys okay?!" the officer called.

"Yes, Trudge, we're fine now…", Mina said with a small smile while she hugged herself and shivered due to her wet clothes.

Vylon Stella put down Yusei on his feet once she got him out of the pool and floated over to the three Duel Monsters. "Thank you, all of you", Yusei thanked them.

"It is our duty to serve Priestess", Paladin of Felgrand nodded softly with a hand on his heart.

"Thank you so much for your help", I smiled to my Duel Monsters partners.

The four Duel Monsters nodded or smiled with their lips or eyes before they vanished in tiny particles. That sadly caused the whole building to get dark again. I removed the cards on my Duel Disk and put them back in my Deck, which I removed and put in my pocket instead.

The four of us walked out of the building, but first we made sure to look around and see if Sayer was still lurking around. He was nowhere to be found, so we were safe for now.

"Did the twins tell you to come here, Trudge?" I asked.

"Yeah, they told me you got an emergency call from Yusei's Junk Synchron and sent me after you", Trudge replied while he had his hands on Mina's shoulders. "It did take some time to find you, though."

"But where are Leo and Luna now?" Yusei questioned.

"I…kinda left them in the dust", Trudge confessed as he scratched his right cheek with a sheepish grin.

It was then the ground started to shake. We stayed cautious and waited until the earthquake was over. A purple geoglyph appearing in the sky and my and Yusei's Marks glowing indicated one thing.

"The last Shadow Duel has begun", Yusei stated.

"But something is definitely wrong with Aki. I can't feel the connection with her", I said worriedly. "It's like she has put up a very thick wall around her and I can't get past it."

"It must be Sayer", Yusei growled. "Just like you said, Estelle, a man in a trench coat appeared out of nowhere and claimed he was from Sector Security. I tried to stay away from him, but he knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the water-filling pool with Mina."

"He tricked me too and led me into this building before he knocked me out", Mina said. "I remember him saying something about getting Aki back."

"He must have taken control over Aki", I concluded. "He's turned her back into her old Black Rose Witch ego."

"We need to find her and Sayer, and fast", Yusei declared.

"Hold up!" Mina called. "Misty thinks that Aki killed her younger brother."

"Aki killed Misty's brother? Is that true?" Yusei asked in disbelief.

"I don't know", the bluette said worriedly. "Aki said she doesn't remember. There were also unclear points reported concerning the death of Misty's brother, Toby, even with the Sector Security. The Arcadia Movement may have manipulated the information."

XXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long for me and Yusei to find the ongoing Shadow Duel. Aki and Misty were trapped inside a Field Spell that looked like it was made of colorful glass. Leo and Luna were watching the Duel from a platform, but they were safe and outside of the purple mist of the Lizard Nazca Line.

And, sad to say, Aki was her old Black Rose Witch ego with her energy stabilizer missing from her messy hair. Even when I was only meters away from her, I still had no connection with her. Her mind had shut down and only acted due to someone else's control, like a mindless puppet.

"You three stay right here!" Yusei suddenly said before he ran off.

"Hey, where're you goin'?!" Leo yelled after him.

"He's going to take care of Sayer", I replied while placing a hand on the male twin's shoulder. "Aki is out of control because of that manipulative egoist."

"Sayer's got her? That explains why she's using her psychic powers!" Luna realized.

"But what can the rest of us do?" Leo questioned. "Shouldn't we help Yusei and bring Sayer down together?"

"No, Sayer's too dangerous for us", I shook my head. "I could have gone with Yusei and help him, but I can't see properly without my glasses. I would just make a huge mess for him."

I remembered briefly something during the time the Signers and I stayed in Goodwin's mansion. Yusei took the liberty to install a Multi-Duel Voice Network in each of our Duel Disks. With those, we could communicate with each other or overhear what was going on at the other side. I switched to the audio and waited to hear the truth coming out of Sayer's mouth.

The twins snapped their heads up when they heard the dialogue between Yusei and Sayer from my Duel Disk. Trudge and Mina joined us just as Misty Tribute summoned Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua. The Earthbound Immortal's stone heart appeared in the sky and beat in a nice rhythm before it was replaced by a purple pillar of light. The purple mist of the Nazca Line grew bigger as Ccarayhua crawled out from them, groaning in hunger. To my surprise, Ccarayhua was smaller than the other Earthbound Immortals I had seen so far. It was the smallest of them all, but it gave me the mother of all headaches.

"So you were behind it all along, Sayer!" Yusei said. "You killed Misty's brother, didn't you?! Then you pinned the crime on Aki, right?!"

"If you found out, I might as well say it", Sayer chuckled. "Yes. I was the one who killed Misty's brother. I did it, and I disposed of his body!"

"Look!" Luna suddenly called. "Misty's looking really weird!"

I couldn't see Misty's expression. "What is she doing?"

"She's staring at Aki's Duel Disk", Leo replied.

"Toby just couldn't handle the experimentation", Sayer continued. "He was worthless. Seeing as how he succumbed to such simple experiments… In contrast, Aki is excellent fodder. She always tries to measure up to my expectations."

"Damn you!" Yusei growled angrily. "You'll pay!"

Next thing we all heard was an explosion coming from the other side of the field. We turned our attention at the building that was under smoke before it cleared up.

"You should learn a little humility", Sayer chuckled. "This time, I'll make sure you disappear forever."

"Yusei's in danger!" Trudge called. "I've gotta go and save him!"

"No!" I exclaimed. "Stay here!"

"What?! Are you crazy, woman?!" Trudge retorted irritably.

Now we heard a soft laughter coming from the Duel Disk.

"What are you laughing about?" Sayer asked confusedly.

"My Duel Disk is home-made. I had the Multi-Duel Voice Network switched on!" Yusei revealed.

"What?!"

"Misty heard our whole conversation through Aki's Voice Network, which I installed in her Duel Disk not long ago."

"Sayer… You… You killed Toby?!" Misty's angry voice echoed from my Duel Disk.

"So what if I did?! Your brother was inept! People who are of no use to me are worthless!" Sayer retorted.

"In that case, you're not worth anything to me!" Misty snarled. "So prepare yourself for the Netherworld!"

Ccarayhua stepped towards the building where Sayer and Yusei were. I could see its black body and green lights moving around, but I couldn't see what was happening next. However, due to my group's reaction, with Leo gaping in shock and Luna covering her eyes, I knew this meant that Ccarayhua ate Sayer alive. At the same time, I felt the connection with Aki slowly returning, meaning she wasn't under Sayer's control anymore.

The rest of the Shadow Duel continued with Misty getting controlled by Ccarayhua when she wanted to forfeit. Aki managed to defeat Dark Misty, but the prize was the model's body transformed into dust and faded away with the wind just like the other Dark Signers.

We quickly gathered around to see if both Aki and Yusei were okay. Thankfully, none of them was hurt after the whole ordeal. Luna gave Aki the energy stabilizer so the teenager could fix her messy hair. When she was done with that, she walked over to where Misty once stood and picked up the pendant the model got from her deceased little brother.

Only then did we realize the sun had gone down!

"The sun's setting and the last tower hasn't been sealed", Trudge pointed out.

"At least all the people that were absorbed by that Earthbound Immortal have been returned, right?" Mina asked.

"Yes", I nodded, but I then bit my lower lip worriedly.

My worry got answered by another earthquake that was so strong it shook the entire island.

"What's happening?! Why's the earth shaking?!" Yusei called.

A bright yellow light shot up to the sky from New Domino City and it shaped itself into a bird-like symbol. I knew immediately what it was, despite not seeing the entire symbol properly.

It was the Condor of the Earthbound Immortals!

"Another Dark Signer?!" Yusei gaped in disbelief. "But who could it be?!"

"Goodwin…", I mumbled softly.

"Did you say Goodwin, Estelle?!" Leo asked, causing the others to turn their heads at me. "How can he be a Dark Signer?! Was he a Dark Signer this whole time?!"

"No… He was human…until he Dueled his brother and lost", I confessed.

"Yusei!" a familiar voice called. "Look who I found!"

We turned around and saw Jack and Crow drive toward us with their Duel Runners. Both of them were safe, but Jack's Duel Runner had some scratches on the paintjob after his Shadow Duel with Carly.

"Jack! Crow!" Yusei called in return as his foster brothers braked their Runners meters from us.

"What is that?!" Jack asked when he saw the condor geoglyph in the sky.

"So you're Aki, huh?" Crow asked when he saw the psychic Duelist. "Guessin' that you won your Duel. But what's with the lightshow?"

The earth started rumbling again as a rainbow-colored light shone from Satellite at the location of the Old Ener-D Reactor.

"Now what?!" Jack growled irritably.

"Hey, I know that area!" Crow said.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that I do too", Yusei nodded with a cold sweat. "It's where the first Ener-D Reactor was. Does this mean the door to the Netherworld is completely open now?!"

I nodded slowly. "Because we failed to seal all control units. The King of the Netherworld is coming…to swallow the world into an eternal darkness."