I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.
"He's awake!" was the cry that I heard as I blinked my eyes open. I was lying on a hospital bed and all too familiar voices were clamoring towards me. The haze eventually left my sight and I tried to see who was there, the mint twins and Jack were at my bedside, though Jack had on a ridiculous white and silver coat with way too many buckles everywhere.
"Jack?" I tried to sit up, but then barely held back a scream before stopping the effort.
"Woah there, buddy. You're hurt enough as it is. You have better things to worry about right now than sitting up." Jack rushed to my side and helped guide me back down.
"You look ridiculous." I groaned.
"Well, this ridiculous guy and his duel runner are the reason why you're still alive, so show some gratitude." he folded his arms and huffed.
"Sorry, last I remember of you is a two-year-old memory," I said.
"You don't know anything about how I'm the King of Turbo Duels?" Jack asked incredulously.
"Former King," Luna said.
"Yeah, Yusei beat him pretty badly in the Fortune Cup!" Leo added.
"So long as it's an Enforcer, I don't care." I sighed.
Jack sat down in a chair next to me and wrung his hands, "Do you seriously still think of us as Enforcers?"
"Well, I always thought that was what we'd call my cell of the Militia." I chuckled.
Leo and Luna looked confused, but Jack adopted an extremely serious expression. "What is the last thing that you remember, mate?"
"Jumping at a Ra-forsaken witch who had her giant pet lizard try to eat me, then falling out of a skyscraper. And breaking every bone in my body, apparently." I replied.
"Not every bone, just a few ribs, two dislocated arms, two broken shoulders, and a massive amount of bruising." Leo corrected me. I shot him a glare.
Jack sighed, "Before that, Wilhelm."
"Turning around after watching Kalin get arrested," I said.
"I guess that it was a hard fall. You've been out for a few days." Jack said.
"Yeah, but that isn't the reason for the two-year gap in my memory. The guy in charge of the Arcadia Movement had been brainwashing me, and I have no idea what has been happening to me in those two years." I said.
"Well, if the scars are anything to judge by, in addition to the internal damage that usually are signs of starvation, I'd guess torture in a dark hole that we'll probably never be able to find." said a woman with blue hair who walked in.
"I'm Mina," she said. "Jack Atlas's assistant. How are you, Mr. Jernigan?"
"I've been better. I'm two years late. Jack, when is the soonest boat to Satellite?"
"How should I know? I'm not planning on ever going back there!" he said incredulously.
"But Anna. Is she alright?" I asked. "And where are Yusei and Akiza? I thought that I'd rescued them."
"You should really ask Yusei about all of that, and he's busy tending to Akiza," Jack said. I heard an explosion coming from down the hall.
"I can only assume that is how he tends to her, with a duel?" I asked.
"Well, she's upset that this Sayer fellow fell to his death. Apparently, he was good to her and now she feels like she's all alone, so she's lashing out at everybody and everything. Yusei's trying to calm her down. I couldn't keep watching all that mushy stuff about friendship and how he'll always be her friend and stuff, so I left to see you." Jack leaned back with an air of apathy.
"I think it's rather romantic, Mr. Atlas." Mina huffed and turned away. She poked her head back in to say, "You really should thank Leo and Luna, too. They're paying for your medical coverage." Then she was gone.
I looked over at the mint twins and Leo scratched his head, "We're kinda sorta filthy rich. No biggie."
"Yeah," laughed Luna. "And we owe you our lives, so it's the least we could do."
"Thanks. I would've been proud to see you both in the Militia." I said.
"What's the Militia?" Leo asked, suddenly very interested.
"Wilhelm's Duel Gang back home. He had a junior cell for all the kids." Jack explained.
"Cool! Do you think I could have a duel with any of them?" Leo asked, jumping out of his seat.
"If they agree, sure. I'd duel you if I had my deck and my disk." I joked.
"Well, your deck is in the side table drawer, and your disk is back in Satellite, with Anna," Jack said. "We left everything of yours that we could find with her, including the keys to your man cave. Even Sector Security helped out with the search, but we were never able to find you."
"Sayer must've kidnapped me. But I'm no psychic, so it must have been for my connection to the Spirit World, like Luna over there."
"That's better than most explanations that we got." Jack turned to Leo and Luna. "Would you twerps leave us alone for a little bit? There's something I need to talk to Wilhelm about in private."
Luna tugged Leo out of the room, though he was complaining about it the entire way. After closing the door behind them Jack sat back down next to me, then he pulled out a smashed pair of glasses, but I recognized them easily.
"Hey, those belong to that reporter girl, don't they?"
Jack seemed sorrowful, "I was wondering if you'd seen her, if you knew whether or not she got out alive."
"I'm pretty sure she did. I rescued her myself." I said.
"Thank you…" Jack nearly whispered, clutching the glasses as if they were everything to him.
"By Obelisk, you really love this girl, don't you?" I grinned.
"And so what if I do?" Jack stood up and loomed over me.
"Stand down, Jack. I'm not worthy of being judge to your love life." Jack sat back down, his head in his hands as though he had failed miserably at something.
I reached out to him, which didn't hurt too bad, apparently, they set my arm back in its place, anyway, I reached out and patted Jack on the head, like when we were kids.
"Don't worry, pal," I said. "We'll find her and get her back to you."
I was in a wheelchair when they brought me into Sector Security Director Goodwin's room. He'd sent for the group of us, and despite the hesitations from his goons he was forced to accept me as part of that lot.
Jack wheeled me in, pushing both Leo and Luna away for the "right" to push me, apparently. He wasn't happy and thought that we were being baited into a trap with the promise to show us what a couple of visions meant.
Goodwin addressed us shortly after we all entered, "Welcome, Signers. It's unfortunate that it has taken this long to get you all here, but alas… I am simply glad that I can be here with you all today.
"Something smells fishy about this guy," Jack whispered in my ear.
"Goodwin, what is it that you want?" Yusei asked impatiently.
"Well, well, it doesn't seem like there's too much love for me here, does it? Very well then. Let's move on to the main topic at hand. Behold," Goodwin pressed a button on his desk and the massive garden behind his house shifted so that some strange mesoamerican temple rose up towards the sky. An oddly circular image vaguely resembling a dragon lit up around the temple.
"This is the temple that lies underneath the mansion." Goodwin beamed.
"That looks exactly like the marks we all have!" Luna piped in.
"What marks?" I whispered to Jack.
"I'll tell you later." he said.
"The Crimson Dragon…" Akiza paled.
After allowing a moment for awe to set in, Goodwin spoke again, "That's right. It's the mark of the Signers passed down as a celestial legend. I'm sure you all saw it too… The vision that the Crimson Dragon showed us during the Fortune Cup."
"Yes, we did," Yusei spoke gravely and Akiza seemed to edge closer to him.
"That was all part of its guidance for us. You all coming to New Domino City was also part of the path that it laid out for us…" Goodwin seemed like a madman.
Then I remembered my own experience at the Fortune Cup, "So that's what that weird dragon was!" Everyone looked at me funny, and Goodwin looked like he wanted to swat me out of the room like a bug, but he was also giving the look to Leo, so I knew that neither of us would be booted anytime soon.
Yusei finally brought the room back to attention by saying, "So you're saying we were led there?"
"The Crimson Dragon works in many ways." Goodwin started to speak, but Yusei was angry suddenly.
"No! That was all part of your plot to trick us into going there!"
Jack added, "This has got nothing to do with the Crimson Dragon! We choose our own fates!"
"That, in itself, is the destiny brought forth by the power of the Crimson Dragon. I am merely following the guidance of the Crimson Dragon. That is all." Goodwin smiled.
"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Jack barked.
"What you believe is up to you. But as long as you are Signers with power granted by the Crimson Dragon, you cannot escape fate."
"If everything is 'destiny' as you say, is it also destiny that I have this power at all? This miserable power that has hurt so many, and has caused me to be hated by everyone?" Akiza looked down and Yusei put his arm around her to calm her.
"Akiza…" Luna said, visibly worried about her friend.
"But without that power, you all would never have met and your fates would still be unknown," Goodwin said. "Such is the case for you, too, Luna."
"Me too?" Luna suddenly seemed scared. Leo stepped up next to his sister.
"You were all selected to be the reincarnations of the legendary Signers. This is a fate that was promised a few thousand years ago. You cannot fight against that." Goodwin said.
Leo suddenly got excited and said, "Um… Weren't there supposed to be five Signers in all?"
Jack saw what he was going for, saying, "There's only four here now."
"Does that mean… Wilhelm? He is connected to the spirit world too!" Luna asked.
"And maybe me?" Leo added.
"No, it is not either of them. The fifth Signer already knows of their power." Goodwin quickly put it in.
"Besides, Luna, my connection to the Spirit World is very different from yours," I said, which caused Goodwin to look at me strangely.
"Then who could it be?" Yusei asked.
"When the time comes, they will appear before you." Goodwin shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"A few thousand years ago, all was nearly destroyed by evil incarnate, the King of the Underworld. However, the Crimson Dragon descended and sealed away that evil into the ground. Those are the Nazca Lines. Those which were sealed away as a forbidden part of history have become active again. This is all the work of the Dark Signers. If our duels are based on the power of life, then their duels are based on the power of the Underworld." Goodwin said.
"The power of the Underworld?" Yusei asked.
"Basically, within them is a limitless amount of power. That power has already exceeded even my own expectations. The recent events in Satellite have also occurred in the city. But that is only the beginning…" Goodwin kept monologuing.
"What do you mean?" asked Luna, visibly terrified.
"Everything is still in the initial planning stages. The final plan is to ultimately revive the King of the Underworld."
"What happens when he is revived?" Leo asked.
"Everything will be destroyed," Goodwin said with a wave of his hand.
"So, as Signers, we were all gathered here to stop that from happening. Am I right?" Jack asked.
"Correct. The key to reviving the King of the Underworld is in the Old EnerD System in the B.A.D. Area of Satellite. Around that area, there are four devices used to control the power of the Old EnerD System." Goodwin said.
"I never knew anything like that was in B.A.D... " Yusei said.
"Your mission is to seal those four control units. The Signer's Dragon Cards that you have each obtained through your destinies are no regular cards. The power to seal the control units lies within those cards." Goodwin told us.
"The Ancient Fairy Dragon is one of those cards, right?" Luna asked.
"It is. Unfortunately, it is currently in the hands of the enemy. And because of that, the Spirit World is indeed in danger." Goodwin said to Luna. She adopted a grave expression that most little girls shouldn't be capable of.
"You must seal the control units if you want to save this world. Of course, the Dark Signers will attempt to stop you. If you do not defeat them, the threat to this world will endure. Defeat the Dark Signers and seal the control units. That is your destiny as Signers according to the path set forth by the Crimson Dragon." Goodwin concluded.
"It seems like a pretty tall tale, but something strange is happening in Satellite, and I want to stop it. Jack, Wilhelm and I have friends there, and we'll do anything to protect them." Yusei spoke for us. I was surprised to see Jack nodding his head, given what he told me a few days ago. Akiza looked scared for Yusei. I could tell that Luna was scared for the Spirit World, but at least she wouldn't be alone there. I'd be there with her.
"I see…" Goodwin said."Whatever you reasons, as long as you can bring peace back to this world…"
With that we were dismissed. Jack wheeled me outside ahead of the others, and I could see two figures waiting for us. Mina was obviously there for Jack, as hopeless as that was. Trudge, however, I wanted to talk to.
"Trudge!" I yelled. Happy to see him. He was completely flabbergasted to see me.
"Well if it isn't the Commander of the Militia! Where have you been?" he asked.
"A torture and brainwashing chamber. Long story. What's with that scar on your face?"
He reached up and touched the scar with his left hand, "I… Satellite turned into complete and utter garbage after you left. The Militia held for a few months under Gushizawa and your girlfriend Anna, but then the cells started separating and nobody seemed to care anymore, not even Gushizawa. Only the girls are still trying to do good."
I was torn. I was definitely proud of Anna but disappointed that I didn't have a bigger legacy.
"The rest of the Enforcers separated and stopped hanging out. Crow stuck to the kids, Yusei found a few other mechanics to keep working on duel runners, and Jack got away by stealing your old bike. Yusei eventually built another one and tried to escape with it, and while I eventually caught him, I couldn't help taking a few pieces of shrapnel from the garbage we were riding through." Trudge finished his story.
"Jack, is this all true?" I asked my friend.
He hung his head in the closest thing to shame that he could express, "It is, mate. I'm sorry, but that thing was a piece of junk anyway."
I laughed, "I know it was, that's why I loved it. But that's alright. I won't be able to ride in time to help you guys anyway. All I'm good for right now is sitting around and looking pretty, in this world, at least." Jack cheered up a little at my light heartedness, but little did he know that I would eventually have my vengeance against him.
Mina spoke once the group was assembled, "I have a helicopter that can get us to Satellite. It even has a ramp for wheelchairs and specialized straps."
"I appreciate it Mina, but where did you get it from, a hospital?" I joked.
"Yes, actually."
"Don't they need those?" Akiza asked.
"Yeah, but who cares! Get to ze choppa!" Leo said in an absolutely terrible german accent.
"You're too young to watch movies like that!" Yusei laughed as we all got onboard the large helicopter. We all needed a laugh.
When we first got off in Satellite, I convinced Trudge to take me to see Anna first. After all, I'm not a Signer, and I wasn't needed yet. Trudge wheeled me around to my old home, surprisingly, and then he knocked on the door.
She opened the door, wearing the same blue dress that I first met her in, though it was more faded now. My old vest was on over it, and by Obelisk, those gray eyes of hers… I was crying when I said, "Hey, Princess…"