"The baton has passed!" I take a deep breath as Yusei leaves the pit. "Both teams are down to their last Wheeler! It's a one-on-one fight between Yusei Fudo and Jose! It's the climax of the WRGP Finals!" I feel very bare without Yusei's arms around me. I had gotten use to the protective warmth.
"I don't know why Crow left you a Synchro Monster. Since Machine Emperor Granel Infinity can absorb your Synchro Monster, it onlys serves as a parting gift before you go to hell." Jose speaks, I grab onto Aki's arm. She looks down at my hand and back up at me. She puts her arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer.
"Duel!"
"My turn!" Yusei declares as their Speed Counters climb to 4. "I summon Wave Wall in defense position(DEF:2000)! I set two cards and end my turn! Crow, I promise to get to that card!"
"My turn!" Jose says. "Machine Emperor Granel Infinity attacks Black Feather Dragon with its 15500 attack points. My hands shake. If Yusei takes the piercing damage, he will lose.
"I activate Wave Wall's effect!" I sigh in relief as Yusei interrupts him. "For every Synchro Monster on my field, your monster's attack is negated once!"
"Nice!" Aki exclaims. She turns to smile at me. I can't quite manage a smile right now, which makes her eyebrows furrow. "As long as he has the Synchro Monster, Black Feather Dragon, he can avoid Granel's attack. Machine Emperor is one monster made up of five monsters, so Granel can only attack once."
"I activate the trap, Attack Cannon!" Jose proclaims. "When a Machine Emperor fails to destroy your monster in battle, I can send Granel Attack on my field to graveyard to destroy one of your monsters. Fire! Annihilate Black Feather Dragon!"
"Black Feather Dragon! Crow, I will fulfill your wishes! I flip over my trap card, Shadow Impulse!" Yusei activates the trap that Crow left him. "When my Synchro Monster is destroyed, I can Special Summon a Synchro Monster with the same Level and Type by making its attack points become 0 and negating its effects! Appear, Stardust Dragon(ATK:0)!"
"Avoiding Machine Emperor's attack once isn't a cause for celebration!" Jose clenches his fist. "Your bond can't defeat Granel, similar to how a bunch of ants can't defeat an elephant!"
"What?" Yusei squints, turning to look at him.
"An elephant doesn't know there are ants beneath its feet." Jose explains. "It stomps them and keeps waiting. Similar to how history doesn't care about humans, all your efforts are worthless! My left arm resurrects with even more power! Granel Attack 3(ATK:1800)!"
"Machine Emperor is whole again!" Yusei exclaims.
"When I have 4 or more Speed Counters, I can activate Speed Spell - Silent Burn from my hand. For every monster that didn't attack this turn, you take 300 points of damage!" Jose declares. "Four parts didn't attack, so you take 1200 points of damage! The elephant's foot known as the future will stomp you!" I flinch as Yusei screams when the purple beam hits him. His life points fall to 2800. "If you were willing to be crushed instantly, you could've avoided pain and anguish. I set one card and end my turn!"
"I won't give up! Since you're trying to rewrite history, I'll keep fighting you!" Yusei declares, pumping his fist.
"You fool. You're so childish. I'll teach you the history of mankind's foolishness." As Jose speaks, a green infinity sign appears in the sky. The Signer Marks start glowing.
"What's this?" Aki stares at her mark. I close my eyes since the bright light coming from the mark hurts my eyes. When I open my eyes, we're floating in a black sky. Light pink clouds stand still around us. There's not even a breeze.
"Where are we?" Yusei asks, having suddenly appeared beside me. I take a cautious look down at the bright red ground beneath us. I reach for Yusei by instinct. He holds onto me as I try to avoid looking down. I've never done well with heights since falling into the Old Momentum.
"I'm going to fall! Help me!" I hear Rua scream.
"We're floating?" I hear Ruka question.
"What happened to us?" Crow asks.
"I saw this before inside the wormhole." Yusei mutters before gasps. I look at his face to see him staring below us. "What's this?"
"It's like a graveyard." Jack points out as I notice the stone tablets in the ground. I feel my heart pounding in my chest. I tear my eyes away from the sight forcefully.
"Look!" Aki gestures to what remains of the centerpiece of Neo Domino's bridges. The jewel on top is chipped and dirty. The image inspires more sadness than it should. I don't know why, but I'm filled with rage too.
"This place is…"
"That's right." A vision of the three emperors appears in the sky. "For us, it's the real world. For you, it's the future Neo Domino City." Jose speaks directly to us.
"This is our future?" Yusei asks.
"It all started with Synchro Summons." As Jose explains, the world around us changes into a modern Neo Domino City. The roads are filled with duelists. All that we can hear are the words Synchro Summon. "People's excitement towards dueling further evolved the world. Synchro Summons were the symbol of prosperity. When you Synchro Summon, the D-Wheel creates waves that are linked to Moment. It resonated with Moment, which caused it to spin faster and speed up the evolution of the world. But it was too fast." The sky begins to turn grey. Luciano screams as thousands of Machine Emperors descend onto the City from the clouds.
"That's!" I go to speak but I'm cut off by the Machine Emperors beginning to attack. I feel horribly numb, like my body could fall away in an instant. It's a change from the searing pain. This is a vision, I remind myself.
"It's war…" Yusei mutters.
"Look." Rua points down to an empty street. A family runs through the streets, with the mother dragging a little boy behind her. "Luciano?" He turns to the vision of him in the sky.
"These are my memories of my era." Luciano closes his eyes as a Granel attacks. The boy kneels at the edge of the newly formed crater and screams. Another explosions rumbles.
"These are memories of my era." Placido says as the scenery changes around us. More fighting is going on. The other Placido turns to a girl and smiles, hiding from the Granel roaming the streets. They shoot at the Machine Emperor. However, it shoots back, causing half of the building to collapse. The other Placido lets out a bloodcurdling scream as he finds part of the girl's weapon.
"The desires of foolish humans had reached its peak." Jose tell us. "That's when Moment suddenly began to rotate backwards. As though it was responding to the people's hearts, Moment went out of control. Moments around the world simultaneously exploded and destroyed the world."
"You're lying! I don't believe Moment went out of control again!" Yusei shouts back. No. It never went out of control in the first place. I look over the City. This isn't our City. Similar, but not the one we call home. There's no Satellite, it couldn't possibly be.
"It's the truth." Jose sighs. "It was the fault of foolish humans, including ourselves. These are the memories of my era." The vision of the City ages as the other Jose wanders it alone. "Destiny chose me for some reason, and I walked the world alone. But there was no one who would answer my calls." The vision changes from the City to other places, deserts, snow, the entire world over. He returns to the City, looking at the remains of the bridge. "I despaired as I saw the end of humanity and history."
"This is our future…" Yusei mutters. Everyone else disappears, leaving me alone in the vision. I look around me. The other Yuuka appears a good distance away from me.
"You're not trying enough." She says. "Do you want Yusei to die? Is this the future you want?"
"Of course not!" I shout back.
"Then, do something!" She sneers. "If you continue as you are now, Yusei is going to die. I hope you know that."
"What do you want me to do?" I scream back. She goes to open her mouth but nothing comes out. The vision around me fades away.
"This is our power to open the future! Synchro Summoning and Accel Synchro destroyed your plans and phony future!" I hear Yusei's voice. I open my eyes slowly to find myself back in the pit.
"Oh really?" Jose asks. "I think you're approaching your destiny. Thanks to you, my field is a burnt field. But don't worry. We... I mean- Aporia will fix destiny!"
"Aporia?" Yusei echoes. That name… I've heard it before.
"Now is the time for three souls born from despair to become one!" An infinity symbols glows in the reddened sky. Jose detaches from his D-Wheel, flying up into the air. There's a bright light that engulfs Jose, Placido and Luciano. It fades away to reveal a single person. I see similarities to all three of them.
"What's happening?" Yusei shouts.
"My name is Aporia." He answers. Two more D-Wheels race up to Jose's D-Wheel. In another bright light, the three of them combine into a D-Wheel with three dragon heads. Aporia's limb stretch out. Wires burst forth from the D-Wheel, connecting to him. He joins to the D-Wheel, the centre head raising up to become a duel disk.
"What?" Yusei mutters. "Who or what are you?"
"My name is Aporia, the guardian of despair." He states with a definite tone. My head suddenly feels light again. "We three were formally one. This is my true form. Yusei Fudo, you truly are a great duelist. You destroyed the Machine Emperors, just as I wanted. Now the circuit is closer to completion."
"What are you talking about?" Yusei's voice raises.
"My turn!" Aporia ignores the question completely. "Due to the Continuous Trap, Infinite Prison's effect, I discard one card to take Grand Core from my graveyard and set it in my Spell & Trap Card Zone. I activate Infinite Prison's second effect. By sending it to the graveyard, cards set by Infinite Prison's effect return to my hand. The three despairs call forth the newest and mightiest power. I activate my trap, Machine Emperor Creation. I send Sky Core, Wise Core and Grand Core from my hand to the graveyard. I Special Summon Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity(ATK:4000)!"
"Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity?" Yusei echoes as the final Machine Emperor appears. My vision starts blurring at the edges. It shoots a beam of light up at the sky causing thunder to rain down. Aporia laughs as the Signer Marks begin glowing again. I hear the familiar screams again. My vision completely blacks out. I put my hand up to my face. I feel something wet, my nose is bleeding again. Aki's grip on me tightens.
"Yuuka!" A voice says.
"Listen to me!" The other Yuuka shouts at me. "You need to do something. We can't let Yusei die."
"What do you want me to do?" I ask, facing her in the dark abyss around us. "How is he going to die?"
"I don't know." She sighs.
"About what?"
"Everything!" She pulls at her hair. I notice something resembling burn marks peeping out of her black turtleneck. "I'm only going off what I've learned. I'm telling you everything I know. Two things will happen. Either the Ark Cradle falls and he dies, or Yusei stops the Ark Cradle, dying in the process."
"What do you want me to do?" I repeat, not getting my answer.
"Stop the Ark Cradle falling and keep Yusei from dying. If you have to die, so be it."
"You're so willing to sacrifice me." I say, her face twists.
"I know what you're like. You'd prepared yourself for that, don't lie to me."
"You're not wrong." I shrug my shoulders.
"Please." She pleads. "Save him."
"This is the door to despair." Aporia's voice booms in the darkness. "Yusei Fudo, you'll experience the same despair that I did. In order to fight against despair, I divided myself into three and came to this era. I'll tell you why I separated myself into Jose, Luciano and Placido and became the three Yliaster emperors." The dark abyss fades away into the graveyard far below my feet. Everyone else appears. The other Yuuka has vanished.
"What's that dome?" Yusei points down to something that resembles a stadium. We instantly get teleported back on top of the ruins of the other Neo Domino.
"Someone's there." Ruka points down at the City.
"Jose? No, it's Aporia." Yusei says as we watch the older Aporia fall to his knees and scream.
"After witnessing the end of mankind and history, I trembled in despair as the only survivor." The real Aporia explains. Three men in white robes walk towards him. "However, I wasn't the only survivor."
"We are the last survivors of this world. As survivors, we must carry out our mission." One of the men, who I assume is Z-One, stretches out a mechanical arm to the older Aporia.
"Moment's negative power destroyed the world, so our mission was to bring back hope for the future." The scenery changes to the men around a table. "The four of us used our remaining strength to find a way to resurrect mankind and this destroyed world. But all our effort was in vain." Suddenly, the other two men go into a capsule. Z-One is in the comma-shaped machine. "We spent endless hours, and two of us passed away." The capsules disappear, replaced by Aporia's body in one.
"Aporia…" Z-One mutters, his mask distorting his voice.
"There's no future here." The older Aporia coughs.
"You're going to leave me by myself?" Something hits me hard with that line. There's a sadness bubbling up inside me. I shouldn't be feeling this. Z-One is trying to destroy the City, and I'm feeling sorry for him?
"Listen to me, Z-One." The old Aporia turns with his head with the last of his energy. "My heart is made of three despairs. Despair for losing people who loved me. Despair for losing someone to love. Despair for not needing love. Z-One, use this power to split my heart into three despairs and use them as your minions. You must regain hope for the future."
"I promise, Aporia." Z-One says as the older Aporia closes his eyes one last time. The scenery around me disappears, everyone disappears except for Z-One.
"Luciano, Placido and Jose resurrected as three despairs and created Yliaster." I heard Aporia's voice echo in the empty space. "I'll fulfill the final promise I made with my friends and stop the future from being destroyed! To do that, I must erase Neo Domino City from the historical timeline." Timeline? What an odd word to use. Is he implying there's more than one timeline? "Our plan is to destroy the beginning of Moment and save the future. When Team New World wins, Neo Domino City will be destroyed. And the future will change! We have once again become one. Since the three despairs are now one, you cannot defeat my overwhelming power. Witness the power of hate created from despair!"
"What are you doing here?" Z-One turns to face me. Everything around us returning to that vast white space. His aura hits me all of a sudden, as if he wasn't really there before. There's something that's becoming more and more familiar about his aura.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You're just a ghost. You don't belong here."
"A ghost?" I echo. "What are you talking about?"
"Was I wrong then?" He floats closer to me. I notice the small details of him. His mask. That design, it almost looks like… "I suppose we will find out when you board the Ark Cradle. I'm sure he will uncover the truth."
"He?" I ask.
"That's for you to find out, Yuuka Hattori." The white around me fades into black. Z-One vanishes all of a sudden.
"No, wait!" I cry out.
"Shut up for once in your life, will you?" I turn around to find the other Yuuka in the darkness. "We have more important business to deal with."
"What was that?" I point behind me as if Z-One is still there.
"Not important."
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"Not now." She sighs. "Okay, we need to be prepared for when the Ark Cradle begins to fall."
"When?" I squint at her. "Not if?"
"That's my guess. Z-One is very persistent. If he starts something, he will end it. That's who he is."
"You know him?"
"Not important."
"What is important then?" I grit my teeth, tired of her games.
"Saving Yusei, that's why you're here. Geez!" She throws up her arms in a fit of frustration.
"You said that if Yusei steps foot on the Ark Cradle, he will die." She nods. "What if I can't stop him? He's not easily swayed."
"Then you go with him, if he tries to go into a dangerous situation, you stop him." She fiddles with her fingernails. "You have your powers, use them." She waves her hand. My aura quivers, before I fall to the floor. "Like that."
"Seems too easy." I say. "It's not going to be that easy."
"I know, that's why I'm worried." The other Yuuka exhales sharply. "I'm hoping that Crimson Dragon helps you."
"The Crimson Dragon only helps the Signers." I stare at the darkness above me. There was once, I correct myself. After I came back from the wormhole, the Crimson Dragon brought the Signers to where I appeared. Why?
"Who knows?" She answers my thoughts. Maybe I've been talking out loud the whole time, who knows? "Not me."
"What's the deal? With all of this?" I ask, hoping for a definite answer.
"You will learn, I promise. Knowing now is only going to make things worse." She sighs. I look up to see a melancholy expression on her face. She catches me staring and she goes back to the usual unreadable expression. "This may be the last time I can talk to you before it happens. Good luck." She says. "You'll need it."
"That's right. I still have hope." I open my eyes at the sound of Yusei's voice. I'm back in the stadium. Everyone is staring intently at the monitors. I do the same. "This draw is the final hope. Cards, hear my voice! My...turn!" Yusei shouts. "It's here! I activate the Continuous Trap, Hardship's effect. By sending this card to the graveyard, the equipped monster is destroyed(ATK:10300-4000)!" Shooting Star Dragon is destroyed due to Hardship being equipped to it. "Then, all Equip Cards on the field are destroyed!"
"But you have no monsters on your field. That means you can't defeat Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity!" Aporia scoffs. I notice Jack and Crow riding alongside Yusei.
"The battle is only beginning!" Yusei answers. "I summon Mystic Piper from my hand(ATK:0)! I can release this card to draw one card. If I draw a monster, I can draw another card! I drew a monster card! Therefore, I get to draw another card! I have assembled hope in my hand! I activate the Continuous Trap, Ghoul Summoner! I Special Summon a Synchro Monster that was destroyed and sent to the graveyard this turn and equip it with this card. I Special Summon Black Feather Dragon(ATK:2800)!"
"Black Feather Dragon? Don't you understand that Synchro Monsters don't work against Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity?" Aporia sneers.
"Due to Continuous Trap, Ghoul Summoner's effect, I discard a card from my hand to Special Summon a Synchro Monster from my graveyard." Yusei explains. "But I take damage equal to the Synchro Monster's attack points. Appear, Red Nova Dragon(ATK:3500)!"
"You're going to take 3500 points of damage and destroy yourself?"
"Black Feather Dragon's effect!" Crow exclaims with a grin.
"When I take effect damage, I place on Black Feather Counter on Black Feather Dragon. Black Feather Dragon loses 700 attack points per Counter and negates the damage(ATK:2800-2100)!" Yusei smiles.
"Scarlet Nova Dragon gains 500 attack points for every Tuner in our graveyard." Jack explains. "Mono Synchron and Formula Synchron are in our graveyard. Therefore, it gains 1000 attack points(ATK:3500-4500)!"
"Then due to Ghoul Summoner's effect, I discard a card from my hand to Special Summon Shooting Star Dragon from my graveyard(ATK:3300)! Black Feather Dragon absorbs Shooting Star Dragon's effect damage by putting one Black Feather Counter on it(ATK:2100-1400)!"
"They're all together!" Crow cheers. Excuse you, Trishula's missing.
"It's our bond!" Jack pumps his fist.
"Is this the power of the Signers?" Aporia mutters.
"This is our hope! Here I go, Aporia!" Yusei proclaims. "No matter how much despair you give, our hopes will never vanish!"
"Alright!" Everyone in the pit cheers. Except for me, I'll still a little shaken from that vision. But I manage to smile. I know Yusei can't see me, but I hope my feelings get through to him.
"By removing all Black Feather Counters, your monster loses 700 attack points for each Counter. You also take damage equal to the decrease in attack points!" Yusei explains. "Black Feather Dragon has two Counters. Therefore, Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity loses 1400 attack points(ATK:4000-2600)! You also take the same amount as damage! Black Burst!" Aporia's life points also fall to 2600.
"Since Black Feather Dragon has no Black Feather Counters, it gains 1400 attack points(ATK:1400-2800)! Black Feather Dragon has more attack points than Mekanikle!" Crow grins.
"Black Feather Dragon, attack Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity!" Yusei declares. "Noble Stream!" Aporia's life points fall again, now to 2400.
"I activate Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity's effect." Aporia interrupts. "By removing a Machine Emperor part in my graveyard from play, Mekanikle isn't destroyed! I remove Granel Guard from play!"
"Yusei, finish him at once!" Jack shouts, to which Yusei nods.
"Go, Red Nova Dragon! Burning Soul!" This attack leaves Aporia with 500 life points. My hands grip the table, it's possible.
"I activate Machine Emperor Astro Mekanikle Infinity's effect!" Aporia repeats. "By removing Granel Attack in my graveyard from play, Mekanikle isn't destroyed!" Rua cheers. "Impossible... Am I going to lose?" He mutters.
"Aporia! Our hopes overcame your despair! This is the final attack! Go, Shooting Star Dragon! Stardust Mirage!" Shooting Star Dragon splits into five visions of itself, each going for a different part of the Machine Emperor. Fire spews from it as it disappears. Aporia's life points fall to 0.
"We've come this far only to fail?" I hear Aporia's voice say before another explosion cuts him off. His D-Wheel keeps flying with a plume of smoke trailing behind it. It plummets head first into the Sound. All that's left is a pillar of smoke and flames on top of the water. Yusei, Jack and Crow come to a stop.
"Yusei." I hear Crow say.
"We did it." Jack smiles.
"Yeah. We won!" The three of them share a fistbump as the sky clears back to a peaceful blue. It's then everything sets in.
"We won?" I mutter.
"It's over!" The MC roars over the speakers to an empty stadium. "The WRGP Finals had many unexpected twists and turns! What a historic battle! The first-ever champions that stand atop all D-Wheelers are... Team 5D's!"
"We did it!" We all scream, pumping our fists in the air.
"We won!" Rua starts tearing up.
"I can't believe it." I take a deep breath. I stand up and walk into the center of the track. The Ark Cradle has vanished from the sky. Maybe the other Yuuka was wrong. A smile comes to my face.
"It's the triumphant return of Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan and Yusei Fudo!" I look behind me to see the guys coming up the track. They stop just short of me. Yusei takes off his helmet, meeting my eyes. As soon as he disembarks his D-Wheel, I'm already on top of him, nearly knocking the both of us over.
"You did so good!" I manage to say between the kisses I'm pressing all over his face. "Well done honey! I'm so proud of you!"
"No! You stop that now." Jack groans. "We just won the WRGP and I don't need to see that shit."
"Well, my boyfriend just won it for the team, and he deserves it." I answer, Jack just roll his eyes and walks away.
"I deserve it, do I?" Yusei raises an eyebrow at me.
"You do, you're kind of amazing actually." I smirk. "I think you deserve more but y'know, this will do for now."
"What would that be?" I have to cover up my laugh at Yusei's attempt at flirting.
"The best goddamn cuddles of your life. I don't think you're ready for them." I put my hands on his chest, pulling at his jacket.
"I think I am." Yusei presses his lips to mine.
"Team 5D's." I hear Harald say. I pull away with a sour look on my face.
"Team Ragnarok." Yusei turns them as they walk towards us.
"You did it." Harald looks between Yusei, Jack and Crow.
"You're thanking us too?" Crow looks at Brave with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course." Brave grins. They share a fistbump. It's a shame that I didn't pay attention to their duel, in hindsight.
"Everyone, congratulations." Mizoguchi walks up to us. I raise my eyebrows. I wasn't expecting him to show up.
"Mizoguchi, you came back?" Yusei sounds just as surprised as I am.
"Yes." Mizoguchi puts his arm across his chest, and bows slightly.
"Thank you everyone." Yusei nods, looking around us.
"I'm getting the scoop on the victory celebration!" I hear the grin in Carly's voice as she moves around us.
"I still can't believe it." Yusei says.
"Neither can I." I answer. "Look." I point at the sky. "No Ark Cradle."
"You're right." His smile grows wider.
"I love you." I say. Despite how tired and bruised he looks, I still think he's the single most beautiful person ever.
"I love you too." He moves a small bit of my hair that had fallen down into my face. "Don't cry now."
"I'm not gonna cry." I say, blinking a little too fast.
"You're making that face. The one where you start crying if you look at me for too long." He is right, but I'm not going to tell him that.
"Shut up!" In order to get him to shut up, I pick Yusei up bridal style. Which grabs the attention of everyone around us.
"Yuuka, put me down!"
"Nope." I tease him with a grin. He sighs. I notice Carly moving to take a photo, so I smile for the camera. "Give me a kiss and I'll put you down." Yusei quickly pecks my lips, slightly embarrassed. "Okay now, I can put you down."
"Just how strong are you?" I hear Crow shout at me. I just shrug my shoulders at me. It's not like Yusei is heavy or anything. Or maybe I'm just too strong. One of those.
"Yliaster's plans are over." He sighs in relief, looking up at the sky. My head throbs again as everything around us starts shaking.
"What's happening?" I hear Jack shout. White cracks form in the sky. They spread out further and further. Suddenly, it gives away. My grip tightens on Yusei's arm. I feel my knuckles turning white. Shards of the blue sky give away to reveal a darker teal colour.
"The sky is shattering…" Aki mutters. Then, slowly something descends from the teal sky. No. This isn't happening. It can't be. It was gone.
"That's the Ark Cradle!" Yusei exclaims. I feel my legs starting to collapse beneath me, but Yusei keeps me from falling. There's only one thought running through my head.
Should the Ark Cradle descend, Yusei Fudo will fall.