"It's over! Yuuka Hattori has made a come from behind victory!" The crowd cheers just for me. "She claims the winning move in this tournament." I stop my D-Wheel just in front of the pits. My body seems to move of its own accord.
"Yuuka!" Aki throws her arms around my neck as soon as I take my helmet off. A blonde mop of hair falls around me. It's mine, I realise. It tumbles down to my waist, far longer than my actual hair. "We did it!" Aki seems different then I remember. There's a youthfulness to her face, or maybe it's the bangs she had back at Duel Academy. Another D-Wheel stops just short of mine. Aki takes her arms away, so I can look behind me. Its rider disembarks, making his way over to me.
"Since when did my little cousin get so strong?" Kaoru takes his helmet off as he smiles with a hint of melancholy. Cousin? But…
"Yuuka." Yusei takes my attention away from Kaoru. His hair is longer in back, just like in my dreams.
"You did good, babe." I hear Takumi's voice, I look over to him just as he kisses Kaoru's cheek. Wait what?
"Yuuka, are you okay?" Kaoru looks at me, confused. The stadium becomes eerily quiet all of a sudden. Everyone around me becomes frozen in time. I look around me for an answer. She stands there on the track. Dressed head to toe in black. I stare at the mirror image of myself. Her long blonde hair curling at her waist is the only thing that separates us. I can't make out the emotion on her face. I feel my heart race as the world moves me closer to her. I collide with her and everything turns white.
I return to the vast emptiness, nothing but white. The man inside the machine appears again. He spins ever so slowly that I'm convinced my mind is playing tricks on me.
"Humanity is an endless cycle of creation of destruction." A voice says. "You are on a path to an inevitable future. It is Yliaster's job to fix that."
Yliaster.
"What they say is wrong." Another voice speaks. "The future can be changed. All hope is not lost. I believe in these kids. They can save our world."
The machine faces me. I tilt my head slightly, realising that he's upside down. Or maybe I'm upside down. The ceiling and floor look the exact same. I can't tell. My right arm starts stinging again. No ominous light flashes.
"You are foolish. Humanity has gone too far. Yliaster will put things right in this world. Even if it means sacrificing this City."
I look back to the machine, only to find that he has disappeared. A Machine Emperor stands in its place. Everything around me fades to black. This one is different from the others. It stands tall, its orange body shining in the darkness. For a split second, my Earthbound Immortal appears. A wall of flames erupts around me. I feel an unshakable fear in my stomach. I hear screams, then nothing. Yusei reaches his hand out for me as it attacks.
I jump awake, nearly falling off the bed in the process. I push my hair off my forehead. I rub my hand off my chin, smearing fresh blood onto my hand. My breath catches in my throat. The infirmary again. I hop off the bed in a fit of panic. I hear the nurses call after me, but I ignore them. I run down the halls, following the noises of the crowd. I crash into Yusei, nearly knocking us both over.
"Yliaster." Tears start falling down my face. "Their screams. I hear them die."
"What are you talking about?" Yusei brushes some hair out of my face while keeping me in one arm.
"Yliaster are going to destroy the City. They'll stop at nothing until there's nothing left of us." Yusei's face hardens. His eyes close.
"I know." He places his hands on either side of my face. "Don't worry. We'll stop them together."
"You're going to Peru?" Crow raises an eyebrow at me.
"Of course I am." I answer. "The last time one of us got a letter asking us to come to a desert location, it ended badly. So, this time I'm going and make sure those two are okay. Besides, that message seemed very cryptic so I know Jack's gonna get himself in trouble."
"If anything, Yuuka." Jack interrupts. "We'll be taking care of you since you've fainted twice in like a week."
"Excuse you." I whip around to face him, my hair flying into my face. "Neither of those were my fault."
"It's your own fault for not eating breakfast." Jack huffs at the excuse I've given for my fainting spells. Yusei gives a look, as if to tell me that he's not buying it. I fainted and coughed up blood just as the hoard of Diablo showed up at the end of the match. The only reason I wasn't taken to the hospital was that the power had only just come back on in the stadium when I woke up. There's some weird spiritual shit happening, and I don't want everyone being worried about me. Aki's in the hospital, still barely conscious. In my last visit, she seemed as if she was close to waking. Her aura was reacting to me just being in the room.
"Yuuka, we're going to the Nazca lines." Yusei sighs, bringing my attention to him. "That will probably make you faint at some point, given your history."
"I don't care, I'm going and you can't stop me. Besides, they speak Spanish there and do you two speak Spanish? I don't think so, you're going to need me anyway." My eyebrows furrow.
"Yuuka." Yusei uses that pleading tone with me.
"Nope, you can't make change my mind. I'm gonna buy my plane tickets right now and you can't stop me."
"Oh my gods, it's too hot, I'm going to die." I fan myself with a brochure I found on a help desk.
"Yuuka, we're in Peru during the dry season. What did you expect?" Jack stares at me. I can tell he's already done with my shit.
"I put on lighter clothes, and I'm still dying. I don't know how you two are coping right now." Yusei and Jack, being generally who they are as people, are wearing their normal clothes. I've swapped my regular outfit for lighter maroon trousers and a light pink and white shirt. I'll be able to wear my riding pads for the journey to where Bommer lives, but it's still light enough that I won't die of heatstroke. My genius isn't appreciated enough, I swear.
"Jack, it's like forty degrees, give her a break." Yusei sighs as we wait in the queue to claim our D-Wheels back. I slick back my bangs that have started sticking to my forehead. I fix the hairpins keeping it in place. Yusei has pointed out how weird it is seeing my forehead, given how I've always had bangs. Jack agrees. But given I feel like death, I'll keep my forehead out with a high, tight bun, please and thank you.
"If you faint because of a heat stroke, it's your own fault." Jack tuts. I can tell deep deep down Jack is somewhat grateful that I'm here. He's nearly gotten us lost twice since we've been here.
"Sure sure, whatever you say Jack." I answer back.
"I never thought that I would see these horrible drawings again." Jack says as we reach the Nazca lines.
"Me too." I answer. I can feel the dark energy of the Earthbound Immortals stirring deep beneath the earth. My skin tingles and itches, though I blame that on the scorching sun. There's a noticeable silence between all of us. Anything to do with the Dark Signers gets brought up around me, this happens. They're afraid I'd start crying, I reckon. While not an unreasonable assumption, a part has come to terms with what happened.
"I'm surprised Crow approved the travel expenses." Jack says, changing the topic.
"It took a lot of work to convince him, but he finally approved the travel expenses." Yusei responds. "But I don't know about your coffee budget." He says, turning to smirk at Jack. Despite Jack now occasionally drinking instant coffee if forced to, the amount of money he spends is still ridiculous."Anyway, I'm surprised Bommer is out here, of all places."
"Hm, a message from a dream is stupid. However…" Jack's words make me sigh. If only he knew. Prophetic dreams are a terrifying thing.
"This is what Bommer's e-mail said: If Jack Atlas doesn't find a new way to battle, he'll perish due to his own power." Yusei explains.
"It's like a cliche from a fake fortuneteller." Jack scoffs. "But he's right. I've been thinking of a new way to battle for days. And I've reached a conclusion."
"You'll battle by using power to apply pressure?" Yusei glances at Jack from the side of his eyes. I spot a temple on the horizon, we're here.
"Yeah, that's the only way." Jack answers.
"Is it really?" I ask. If that's supposedly bringing about his doom, shouldn't he really be looking for other solutions?
"But Jack, I think you're unsure whether that's really the best way to battle. That's why you're here." We pull up to the temple, the kind I've seen in history. Bommer stands at the top, waving to us. "Bommer!" Yusei greets him with a smile. We disembark from our D-Wheels as Bommer comes down the steps to meet him.
"Yusei." He puts out his hand for Yusei to shake. "Thanks for coming." Yusei moves his helmet in his arms to shake his hand. "Jack, long time no see." Jack accepts his handshake. "And you must be Yuuka, it's nice to meet you." Bommer puts his hand out for me to shake, confusing me.
"It's nice to meet you too." I shake his hand, nervously.
"I came because of your practical joke." Jack's statement cause Bommer to chuckle.
"What's this temple?" Yusei turns his attention to the temple. Steps lead up to an altar. The stone is carved into dragons at the bottom of the steps. I recognise this dragon from somewhere. Given the fact I spent some time researching the Crimson Dragon after the Fortune Cup, I realise it's probably from that.
"I built it to appease the Earthbound Immortals that have returned to this land as geoglyphs." Bommer explains.
"Appease the Earthbound Immortals…" Yusei echoes. This does nothing to quell the dark energy beneath the earth. I feel them crying out to be released. I hear children laughing. Two kids run out from the cottage besides the temple, towards us.
"They're my siblings, Max and Annie," Bommer smiles as they come closer to us.
"You've reunited with your family, Bommer. That's great!" Yusei says as the children stop in front of Jack.
"Hooray! It's the King!" Max cheers.
"I'm not the King!" Jack's glares send poor Max running behind Bommer.
"I'm sorry," Bommer sighs, "When the Earthbound Immortals took their souls, they don't remember anything during that time." The poor children, getting dragged into that mess. "That's why they still think that Jack Atlas is the King. Actually, Max-"
"Be quiet, Bommer! Your brother is correct!" Jack shouts, pointing at the sky. "There's only one King! Jack Atlas!" The kids clap at Jack's signature action and catchphrase. I cringe at the campiness of it.
"Having a family is great." Bommer says more to himself than anything. I catch Yusei looking at me from the corner of my eye. I smile back at him.
"I should probably explain myself first." Bommer says as he brings us into the cottage. He gestures us to the table in the centre of the room. We sit down at the table together. I hear Max and Annie talking outside. Bommer takes a deep breath before speaking. "After the battle, when I reunited with my siblings in my hometown, I finally was happy again. The three of us left on a journey to search for a new goal. But before long, I realised that I wasn't travelling to find a new goal. I was travelling in order to escape from my crimes."
"Bommer, you're wrong. You don't need to feel guilty." Yusei shoots back almost immediately. He had told how Bommer had become a Dark Signer. It was only a matter of time before he pulled out his usual dialogue.
"But I couldn't forgive myself." Bommer continues regardless. "Everyone makes mistakes. One choice is to forget about my mistakes and move on. But I made a different choice. I decided to move on while holding onto my mistakes." The more Bommer speaks, the more I'm reminded of my own story.
"Hold onto your mistakes?" Yusei echoes. He glances at me quickly, but I don't meet his eyes.
"That's right," Bommer nods, "Instead of running away, I would face my mistakes. That led me and my siblings to this land." Bommer meets my eyes. For a second, I swear I see his eyes widen, realising the reason why I'm here. "After the battle between the Signers and Dark Signers, the Earthbound Immortals were sealed away. But there's no guarantee that a different evil won't try to use the Earthbound Immortals again. This land seals away various spirits. We built a temple to appease the Earthbound Immortals and the other spirits. We decided to stay here as their guardians. But recently... Livestock have died for unknown reasons in various villages. People say it's because of the Crimson Devil."
"Crimson Devil?" Jack raises an eyebrow.
"A few spirits must have escaped from the earth," Bommer nods again, "Something is trying to resurrect from this land." I was able to tell that myself. The spirits in the earth are restless. They cry for someone to release them.
"Is this related to Yliaster's exploits in Neo Domino City?" Yusei's fist clenches as if Bommer would know the answer.
"Are the evil god and Earthbound Immortals going to resurrect?" Jack asks a more reasonable question.
"I don't know," Bommer shakes his head, "But it may be impossible to seal everything. That's when I dreamed about you Jack. This isn't coincidence. I was able to sense it because the evil god overtook my soul in the past." Bommer felt like the Earthbound Immortal possessed him? Interesting. Not how I'd describe my experience. "The dream was a premonition. According to that dream, you're going to perish due to your own power, Jack. If you keep relying on power and don't change your ways in battle, you'll eventually fail. This dream could be a revelation to stop that from happening. It's telling you to find a battle technique that's the opposite of power."
"I also thought about this a lot!" Jack smacks his fist on the table, leaning forward in his seat. "But my only battle strategy is to keep applying pressure with power!"
"Then show me that power!" Bommer's eyes narrow. "Convince me that Jack Atlas is power! In a Riding Duel."
Bommer asks us to light lamps in a line to substitute for a duel lane. I drive my D-Wheel around, lighting them one at a time. Thankfully, I don't have to light every single lamp. Each lamp is connected by a rope drenched in oil, so if you light a lamp, that rope and the next lamp also become lit. It's a very therapeutic experience. I feel like I'm ready to burn everything left behind by the ex I never had in an attempt to move on with my life. The temporary duel lane twists and turns all over the place. Bommer says that it forms the shape of the orca geoglyph, the mark he bore back then. Yusei and I pull back up in front of the temple at the same time.
"We did as you asked." Yusei says, disembarking from his D-Wheel.
"Thanks for your help, both of you." Bommer nods.
"It's fine, but..." Yusei takes my torch from me, placing both of them in the bucket of water beside Bommer, extinguishing them. "Why do you want a geoglyph?"
"It's a substitute for a duel lane. Since it's bright, it'll be easier to see." Bommer explains.
"Still…" Yusei looks back towards me. I think Yusei is used to my way of dealing with what happened, which is ignoring it completely. I get lots of criticism for it, so I ignore that too.
"I'm ready, Jack." Bommer shouts to Jack who remained sitting on the temple steps.
"Me too!" Jack puts his helmet on and moves his D-Wheel to where we're standing. "We can start anytime you want, Bommer."
"No." Bommer turns to Max. My head pains for a split second as the spirits lying beneath the temple stir. "Jack, Max will be your opponent."
"What?" Jack's eyes narrow. "What's the meaning of this?"
"A child shouldn't battle Jack." Yusei interjects.
"Are you making fun of me?" Jack raises his voice.
"Of course not. He's the perfect opponent to bring out all your powers." Bommer answers.
"But I just looked at Max's deck." Jack exhales through his nose.
"I'll do it! Nothing will make me happier than dueling the King!" Max says. His eyes seem a little glossed over, but I let it slide.
"Well said, Max." Bommer moves, heading for the starting line.
"Max…" Annie mutters beside me. Yusei meets my eyes, a clear sense of confusion in his eyes.
"Jack, show the land your power!" Bommer shouts, pointing down the path of the track once they reach the starting line.
"Set Speed World 2!" Max declares.
"Duel Mode, on." The familiar computer generated voice drones.
"Riding Duel!" Bommer starts.
"Acceleration!" Jack and Max chant in unison as they set off. Yusei switches on his D-Wheel, letting us view the duel on the monitor.
"I'll let you have the corner!" Jack says, letting Max take the first turn.
"My turn!" Max starts. "I summon Freedom Bird in defense position(DEF:0). I set one card and end my turn."
"My turn!" Jack declares as their Speed Counters increase for the first time. "When monsters are only on the opponent's field, I can Special Summon Vice Dragon from my hand(ATK:2000). When Vice Dragon is Special Summoned due to this effect, its attack and defense points are halved(ATK:2000-1000)!"
"When you summon or Special Summon a monster onto your field, Freedom Bird's effect lets me Special Summon one Freedom Bird from my deck in defense position(DEF:0)!" Max interrupts.
"I summon Dark Resonator(ATK:1300)!"
"I Special Summon a third Freedom Bird(DEF:0)!" Max interjects again.
"Level 3 Dark Resonator tunes Level 5 Vice Dragon! The ruler's heartbeat will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Demon's Dragon(ATK:3000)!"
"Red Daemon's Dragon's effect burns all monsters in defense position." Bommer comments.
"I'll show you the power that's known worldwide!" Jack shouts. "Red Daemon's Dragon attacks Freedom Bird! Due to its effect, all monsters in defense position are destroyed! Daemon Meteor! You're not quaking in fear. I admire your courage." I hear the smirk in Jack's voice. "I end my turn!"
"My turn!" Max declares. "When monsters are only on the opponent's field, I can Special Summon Bewitching Butterfly(ATK:800). Bewitching Butterfly is destroyed when there's a monster on your field with more attack points."
"Why did you choose to self-destruct?" Jack questions. This kid must obviously have a strategy.
"I Special Summon a second Bewitching Butterfly and destroy it(ATK:800)." Max continues.
"What?"
"And a third!" He declares. "Then, I summon Ancestor Bird in defense position(DEF:0)! When there are three monsters in my graveyard with the same name, Ancestor Bird can't be destroyed." Case in point.
"What?" Jack exclaims. "Red Daemon's Dragon's power had been sealed away? That's why he was sacrificing cards with the same name!"
"I set one card and end my turn."
"His deck is tailored to stop Jack's power deck. He's doing surprisingly well." Yusei comments. It's true, though Jack does notoriously bad against anti-power decks. The D-Wheels fly past us. Pain shoots into my temples again. I swear if the Earthbound Immortals keep doing this to me for the entire trip, I swear that I'm going to claim the power of the Crimson Dragon for myself and fight the entire pantheon of the Earthbound Immortals by myself.
"My turn!" Jack declares as their Speed Counters climb to 3. "I summon Lancer Archfiend(ATK:1600)! Max, Red Daemon's Dragon's red soul will burn up your shallow strategy! Red Daemon's Dragon attacks Ancestor Bird! Lancer Archfiend's effect activates! When my monster attacks, it deals piercing damage! My crimson power destroys everything! Absolute Powerforce!"
"You're determined to use power to win?" Bommer shouts at Jack. The pain still lingers in my temples. Yusei makes me sit on his D-Wheel.
"I flip over the two Smoke Mirror trap cards!" Max interrupts Jack's turn. "When there are three monsters in my graveyard with the same name, one of my monster's defense points increase by one of your monster's attack points until the End Phase. Ancestor Bird gains Red Daemon's Dragon's power and now has 6000 defense points(DEF:0-6000)!"
"What?" Jack exclaims. Fire erupts from the mirror conjured by the card. It swallows Red Daemon's Dragon whole.
"This is…" Bommer mutters. Red Daemon's stretches out its wings. Its body is now completely composed of fire. It flies towards Jack.
"Crimson Devil…" I hear Jack's voice on the speaker, as his life points drop instantly to 3000.
"Jack!" Yusei shouts. Flames hover around the Wheel of Fortune, causing it to swerve off the course. It jumps before crashing and landing on its side, Jack thrown from it like a ragdoll. We starts running over to him, luckily not too far from where we were.
"Jack!" I shout, as we approach him.
"Are you okay?" Max asks as we come to a stop.
"Don't touch me!" Jack swats his hand away. My brows furrows. I see Jack's expression falter for a split second. "That wasn't enough to take away my power!" He stands up and walks towards his D-Wheel.
"Jack, I'm sorry." Bommer sighs. "I just wanted you to rethink the way you battle instead of relying on power."
"I won't abandon power!" Jack shouts before taking off.
I sit at the top of the temple, overlooking the Nazca plain. Jack took off hours ago. I let him go. He needs to clear his head. Yusei was a bit more apprehensive. I left Bommer and Yusei to catch up in the cottage. I sigh. I've tried meditating, to no avail. The spirits in the earth call for me. Images from that old dream start to surface again. It feels like a million years ago that I tried to figure out what those rainbow lights were and why Kiryu was there. I suppose there are some demons that never leave us. If I concentrate hard enough, I can pinpoint each of the spirits. Something that resembles Carly's aura is not too far from where I'm sitting.
"Mind if I join you?" Bommer's voice breaks my concentration.
"Sure, go ahead." He takes a seat beside me on the top step, his feet resting on two steps below mine. He stays silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. I already know what he's going to say.
"You were apart of that battle too, weren't you?"
"I was," I sigh, "Unfortunately." I focus on Bommer's aura, trying to find the spirit that matches it. Then, I realise something. "Were you in the Old Momentum in the Satellite by any chance? Back then, I mean."
"I believe so." He answers. "I never knew exactly where I was before it happened, but I think they took me there."
"I figured. I think they kept you a few rooms down from me," I say, keeping my eyes on the horizon, "I remember your aura."
"Aura?" Bommer asks.
"Well, it's hard to explain." I bite the inside of my cheek. "It's an energy that radiates from certain people. I don't know why. Some psychics, like me, are able to read them."
"What do you mean by certain people?"
"That's what puzzles me. I thought it was just psychics, but now people who are Signers or former Dark Signers have them, which just confuses me."
"Interesting," Bommer says before pausing, "I've read that certain cultures believe in a type of spiritual energy. One linked to Duel Monsters, and its strength varies. Maybe that's what you're able to read. Psychics are able to summon monsters into our world, while Signers and Dark Signers are linked to their Dragons and Earthbound Immortals."
"Maybe." I mutter. "I think it's something greater. It's something we're all tied to. There are some people with auras that aren't psychics or supernatural at all." Shinji springs to mind. "It's possible that everyone with an aura is connected to fate itself." Shinji saved my life in my darkest moment. If that wasn't fate, I don't know what was. He told me that I had stopped breathing when he found me. It must be some higher power pulling the strings, making the world turn the way it does. "That this energy allows us the ability to change fate, even if it's just the life of one person." Shinji's aura suddenly appeared once he had saved me, I realised. It's the best reasoning my brain can come up with. Maybe everyone has an aura, but I'm strong enough to sense the weakest ones. Bommer stays quiet for a while, though it's a comfortable silence. I realise how beautiful the stars are here. There isn't civilisation closeby, it's just us and the empty plain.
"It's possible that both are true." Bommer says after a while.
"I guess you're right." I smile.
"If you need help finding your geoglyph, you can just ask me."
"I think I should be okay, I can feel the spirits beneath the ground. I think mine was called the Vulture, in case you're curious."
"That would be that way." Bommer points to my left. "It's quite a trek from here."
"I'll be fine." I assure him. "Tell Yusei that's where I've gone, will you?"
"Of course." He says as I stand up.
I don't know how long I've been walking. Every step fills me with a sense of dread. I stop at the next geoglyph I reach. I put my hand on the ground, trying to sense an aura. Some geoglyphs don't have any spirits lingering just under the surface, those weren't used in the last iteration of this battle. This one was, I realise.
I reach out for the spirit, trying to get a feeling for it. It calls out to me. I focus on it. It swishes around, severe motions rather than fluid ones. Its aura is vaguely familiar, so I sit down at the edge of the geoglyph. This was mine. I'm certain of it. Its cry to be freed is louder, more definite. I freed it one and it hopes that I can do it again. I close my eyes. I am brought back to that place. Bathed in a cold, multicoloured light as I breathed my last. Kiryu's eyes, daring me to do the unthinkable, waiting to swallow me whole. I feel the spirit press against the earth, as if willing itself to move up my arm and into my chest, where it once rested. It yearns for death and destruction. Just like I once did, or maybe I still do. That time has long since passed.
"Yuuka," I turn to see Yusei, walking towards me with his jacket thrown over his shoulder, "Are you doing okay?"
"I don't know." I answer. "Depends on your definition of okay."
"Your standard of okay, I've learnt what that means now."
"I suppose you have," I stare at Yusei's face. My eyes trail down his neck as he sits down besides me. There's a scar that hovers over his collarbone, you can only see it at a certain angle because of his shirt's neckline. I absentmindedly trace my fingertips over it. He shivers slightly underneath my touch. "This scar is different to the others." The edges of it are ever so slightly jagged, with almost a burn scar surrounding it.
"I got that scar from an Earthbound Immortal, just like the one on my stomach." The scar that Kiryu gave him is not like this one. There's something unnatural about this scar. The image of Yusei standing opposite me comes into my mind, bruised, bloodied and betrayed. I push the sounds of his screams from my mind.
"I don't know if I'll ever be truly okay," I sigh. A part of me has always known this. The quiet secret between lovers. The deepest secrets we only tell each other. Yusei knew my demons, and I know his. They may never leave us, but we can at least ease the burden, if only for a little while.