I'm just about two days late. Many apologies for that. It's been an interesting past few days. So, yeah. Oh, and I only have one more chapter after this, so unless I get another one written in two weeks, then we'll have our first empty week after chapter thirty-four. I'll do my best, but I'm afraid I can't make any promises. ^^;

As per usual, my thanks go out to the lovely reviewers! This week, we have FiringShootingStar, AnimeKiwi369, Q-A the Authoress, Shinn Tsukishiro, theforgottenpeople96, RobotFish, Rapis-Razuri, SunsetRika, ProChampionDuelistAKAPyro, Seeker Heart, RunoandAkizafan, melan anime, and JennyBlu!

And anons are LDC, ChibiX, and anon! LDC: Well, I think most people in Yusei's situation would be. Here's the new chapter and I'm sorry it's late! ChibiX: I'm glad you like the believability behind Yusei's character! And, you know I love it when readers like my version of Z-one XD I am having too much fun with him. anon: Thank you!

And thanks to my beta, RobotFish!

I think you guys are either going to love this chapter or hate it. Here's to hoping for the former. –crosses fingers–

Sunset Horizon
Chapter 33 – Painful Resolve

Akiza wiped the bar counter clean of alcohol, mentally cursing the Underground delinquent who'd gotten himself drunk at two in the afternoon and spilled his drink. She did her best to be submissive and keep from catching their attention, but she could only take so much. When one of them got drunk and caused problems, she had it and threw them out.

Really, what man hit on a pregnant woman?

She just shook her head, boiling in anger while doing her best to keep it down. Finally, the door opened and the man she was waiting for walked inside, looking around in question before approaching the bar. Colonel Dragan walked over and leaned one hand on the counter, saying, "Miss Akiza? I take it you sent this?"

In his other hand, he held up a note with the simple words, 'Come to the Claw at two.' She nodded, moving to toss her soaked cloth in the water bucket beneath the bar and replied, "I did." Dropping her voice to a whisper, she hissed, "I have information on the Enforcers, but I want to speak to you directly. You seem like an honorable man."

His chin dipped in conformation. "Thank you for that notion. I imagine you don't want to talk here?"

A wave of relief washed over her. He made sense. That meant he was at least a few steps higher than every other person from his troop. "This way, if you don't mind." She nodded to Carly to tell her to watch the bar, then lifted the divider so Dragan could join her and follow her to the back. Leading him down the hall, she kept her eyes forward and away from the door that held the secret passage, moving to another door instead. Pushing it open, she let him walk in first before slipping behind him and shutting the door.

He froze, his eyes trained on the gun barrel pointed at his forehead as he slowly raised his hands. The man holding the weapon kept his eyes narrowed and a frown on his lips as he spoke, saying, "Dragan Lord… What brings a man of your caliber out to this backwater town?"

A short cough fell from his lips as he lowered his hands again, saying, "Yusei Fudo… I'd recognize that hair anywhere. How've you been these last few years?"

He reached up to run his free hand through his unruly hair, finally letting a smirk fall on his face. "Can't complain. It's been—what?—nine years? That makes you… twenty-four? Twenty-five?"

He smiled, moving over to sit in a chair in the room, folding his arms in front of him. "Twenty-five."

"Not bad for a colonel. How's Broder?"

Giving a slight shrug, he replied, "My little brother's still the same. Only a captain, but he's having fun with it."

"Sounds like Broder. And Halldor? He's gotta be senator by now, right?"

Nodding, he replied, "Yeah. My cousin inherited the Wôdan title four years ago now."

Akiza watched as the two mean exchanged updates like long-lost friends, but bit her lip in worry. Yusei still hadn't lowered Stardust, which made her wonder what the exact extent of their relationship was. He said the colonel's cousin was a senator, but was he with the Underground or the coup?

Leaning back in his chair, Dragan said, "I'm sure your father and grandfather have spoken to you by now, right?"

He kept his expression neutral and remained silent, letting him continue. Sighing, he waved a hand dismissively, completely ignoring the gun trained on him, and added, "Relax, Yusei. My family supports the coup. I'm here to keep our cover going and see if I can help."

He finally lowered Stardust and shook his head, saying, "The only way you can help is by getting out. I can't guarantee your safety if you stay. This place is going to become a battlefield, like it or not. I won't hesitate to kill anyone associated with the Underground."

Akiza bit her lip, her hand instinctively settling on her stomach. She knew Yusei would fight, but she couldn't help but worry when he actually spoke of it. After a month of his absence, she finally knew he was all right, but she had no idea what would happen when an all-out battle broke out.

A slight look of shock fell over Dragan's face as he picked up on the somber mood, slowly looking between the two other occupants of the room. Addressing Yusei, he said, "You… You're the father, aren't you?"

Nodding once, he murmured, "Yeah. I am."

"Then…" he looked over to Akiza and asked, "Is it 'Mrs. Fudo'?"

She gave a light laugh and shook her head, saying, "No, I'm still Akiza Izinski."

Frowning, he folded his hands together and kept his eyes on the floor. "Even knowing you have a child coming, you would still fight? Knowing you might not survive?"

Akiza felt hurt flood through her being and averted her gaze when Yusei looked her way. His voice sounded level, wavering ever-so-slightly as he said, "I have to make this town safe. I have to make sure it's a place where my son or daughter can grow up happily and securely." After a brief pause, he added, "And I have no plans on dying."

"I see…" Dragan murmured as he shifted to stand. "I'll do what I can to get as many out of town as possible. But… you should know… My command is only temporary. When the general arrives, my word won't mean much to the troops."

"General?" Akiza asked, "What's his name?"

Moving for the door, he reached out to take the handle and paused. He stayed silent for a long moment, then finally murmured, "I will tell you that he is not sympathetic to the coup as I am. He is a member of both the military and the Underground and has no plans to change that."

Sighing heavily, Yusei muttered, "Who is it, Dragan?"

"Yusei, it's Roman. He's coming, and he will be your enemy."

…

Crow leaned back against the cave wall, sighing as Jack ranted on about their predicament. They all knew what a bother it was to be stuck in the caves, so what was the point in complaining about it? At least they now knew Yusei was all right, but they still had the Underground up top to take care of. It would be a tough fight, but they could handle it. Their actions for the past few years had been leading up to this final showdown and it was about time it came.

"Hey, guys."

He looked up to see Yusei leaning in the doorway of the room, silently offering a prayer of thanks for being saved from Jack. Or, in the worst-case scenario, he wouldn't have to suffer alone. "What's up?"

The dark-haired man looked around the room for a minute, then muttered, "Kalin's not here? I was hoping all of you guys would be here at once. Whatever. I'll tell him later."

Jack crossed his arms, disgruntled for being interrupted, and looked away. Crow pushed himself off the wall and ignored the blond, asking Yusei, "What's going on?"

He bit at his lip for a minute, folding his arms over his chest, as he sorted out his thoughts. "Well… I'm not sure if you guys have noticed, or if someone else told you already, but…"

Raising an eyebrow, the youngest of the Enforcers asked again, "Yusei? What's up?" Whenever their fearless leader hesitated, it meant something was seriously wrong.

"It's…" He reached up and scratched the back of his head, turning his attention to the floor before finishing, "Akiza's pregnant. I'm going to be a father."

His jaw dropped. He definitely had not heard that from anyone else. Snapping his mouth closed before Jack could make a comment about him catching flies, he said, "Seriously? How's she taking this?" After a pause, he added, "How're you taking this?"

Sighing, he ran a hand down his face before muttering, "Akiza's happy. I… I'm still trying to figure it out."

He set one hand on his side and raised the other to make a point. "What's there to figure out? Either you love her or you don't."

"See, that's not the problem." He continued to avoid eye contact, instead choosing to stare at the floor. "I love Akiza. There's no doubt about that. What I need is to figure out how the hell I'm going to be ready to be a father. It's a lot harder than you'd think, so don't feel like you can judge me until you go through it."

Crow threw his hands up in a form of surrender as Jack said, "I won't, but I think you'd be a bloody fool to give the girl up now."

"I'm not planning to give up on her. I'll stay with her and I'll be a father, but I need…" Shaking his head, he turned for the door and called over his shoulder, "I don't know what I need. But I wanted to tell you guys myself."

Crow nodded as he watched his friend leave, frowning and muttering to Jack, "In retrospect, we probably should've seen this one coming."

He gave a shrug, shifting to sit back in one of the alcoves before saying, "What are we supposed to do about it?"

"I dunno. Support him?" Glancing the way his friend had gone, he grumbled, "I mean, I'm not planning to volunteer for diaper duty, but we can, you know, not judge him. I mean, in all seriousness, I thought you'd be the first father out of all of us with the way you were before."

He glared sharply, grumbling, "Hey!"

…

Akiza stood in her room, sorting through some of the spare blankets she'd brought down into the tunnels. With the start of February, the weather was as cold as it was going to get and the children needed more blankets. She always had Yusei she could cuddle with for warmth, but the children needed extra covers. Biting her lip, she prayed that the Underground would leave without the need for a large-scale battle. It was a fantasy, but she still believed there was hope.

It was already late and the Claw was closed for the night. She found herself closing earlier than she used to, just so she could retreat back to the tunnels and be with her family as soon as possible. Sighing, she set a hand on her stomach and once again found herself praying that everything would be okay.

A knock sounded on the doorway behind, her, followed by the words, "Miss Izinski?"

She turned around, knowing who it was by the psychic waves they gave off. "Senator Fudo. Or is it 'governor'?"

He smiled sadly and asked, "May I come in?"

She turned back to folding the blankets and said, "Yusei isn't here. He left to tell his brothers about-" She froze, not sure if his father knew about the baby or not. Would Yusei be angry with her for telling him? Surely he'd already seen her bump?

He slowly stepped inside the room, but kept near the door until he received a proper invitation. "I'm aware. Z-one told me. That's part of why I'm here."

"Then, by all means. Come in," she said, gesturing towards the dugout bench. She didn't know why there were so many of them, but she assumed the miners might have used them as sleeping spaces while deep at work.

He walked in and sat down, then said, "Both are technically correct."

She raised her eyebrow inquisitively. "Hm?"

"My title. Both 'senator' and 'governor' are my title, yet they won't mean much for long. Please, call me 'Katsuro.'"

She nodded, but felt the need to ask what he meant. "What do you mean, 'they won't mean much'?"

He sighed and folded his hands together. He definitely gave off formal waves. "If the coup succeeds, an entirely new council will be elected and I'll be retired as senator. If it fails, I'll be hunted down and imprisoned or killed for my treason. Either way, I'll no longer be senator."

She paused in her folding, thinking his words through. "Is that all right with you?"

"I made up my mind when I decided to support Senator LeBlanc. After all, my title is the reason I lost my son. I have no regrets on this matter."

He sounded so sad and apologetic, the emotions she sensed psychically only adding credibility to his tone. He truly wanted to make amends with Yusei, though she knew he would never give him a shot. He intended to keep hating his father until the day he died.

She wished she could do something about it.

"Katsuro…" she started, carefully saying his name. "May I ask you something?"

He nodded. "By all means."

"How… How do you feel, knowing your son is going to be a father?" she asked, her hand moving to settle on her stomach again.

"It's my understanding that he's still confused on the matter, yes?" After she nodded, he continued, "I… am a little shocked, to be honest. I am confident that he will overcome his fears soon enough, and he will take a liking in the idea of being a father."

She nodded slowly, absorbing his words, and replied, "That's reassuring to hear, but I didn't ask how you thought Yusei would handle it. I asked what you thought."

He gave a dry laugh and leaned back, assuming the most comfortable position she'd seen him take. "Fair enough. As I said, I am surprised. I hold no distaste for you, Miss Izinski. Rather, I am thankful that my son found happiness with someone when I failed him so horribly. I am grateful to you. Please, continue to give my son the love he deserves."

She felt the urge to cry, seeing how strained the relationship between father and son had become. Now, she felt she understood what Yusei meant a little better when he told her parents he didn't want this child to feel abandoned. Wiping her tears back, she murmured, "I intend to. He gives me the same love in return."

"I see. Thank you, Miss Izinski. I'm glad we had this opportunity to talk."

…

Yusei walked through the tunnels with frown, looking down every path. Kalin had disappeared a few hours ago, leaving him to look for his friend. He wanted to tell him about the baby before too much time passed, and he had his nerves built up after telling the other two.

When his friend first vanished, he assumed he had been spending his time with Misty. Even if neither one had made a move yet, it was obvious that they were attracted and had several things in common. However, he'd stumbled across the woman about an hour ago and she said she hadn't seen him. He assumed, that, had she been covering up a dirty little secret, that she would have caved when he said he was worried about his friend.

Instead, she seemed mildly surprised and immediately offered to help him look. His immediate thought was that he had somehow been captured by the Underground, but he was forcing himself to believe that wasn't the case.

He had to.

A slight motion caught the corner of his eye, causing him to run after it. A flash of white hair flew past and he called out, "Kalin! Slow down, it's me!"

Finally, he turned a corner and found his friend standing there with a smile before he said, "Sorry, Yusei. I panicked a little bit, there."

He frowned, studying his friend. Something didn't seem quite right. He shifted his torch to his left hand and held it up, looking more closely. Kalin wasn't the type to 'panic.' He was the calmest of all four of them. What was going on?

Then he noticed it.

His eyes were pitch black.

Freezing, Yusei felt a cold chill creep up his spine as he connected the pieces. Kalin was… possessed by an Earthbound? He had to be. His eyes were too dark, the lighting too bright for it to be a trick. Swallowing his spit, he slowly said, "Kalin… What happened to you?"

Shrugging, his smile suddenly snapped into one much more malicious as he clapped his hands together in mock congratulations. "So, you've figured me out, did you? Damn bastard always was too clever for his own good. Can't leave well enough alone, can you?"

Well, that confirmed it. He braced himself for a fight, hoping it wouldn't come down to that. He didn't even know what his manifesting powers were. "Why Kalin? What do you want with him?"

"Heh!" He laughed, rolling his eyes. "Why not Kalin? He was there, I needed a host. Made sense to me." He raised his right hand and smirked as a blue fire erupted around his fingers, then illuminated brighter as he clenched his hand into a fist. Rearing his hand back, he snapped it forward and threw the flames towards Yusei.

He barely dodged to the side, feeling the intense heat on his back as he dove out of the way. That answered his question about Kalin's powers. Gritting his teeth, he knew he would have to fight. Pulling Stardust from his holster, he snarled, "Get the hell out of my friend!"

He leapt back easily, gracefully repositioning himself before he murmured, "If I let Kalin live in peace, I will fade into nothing. Sorry, but my life is on the line!"

Growling in anger, he fell into fight mode and tried to clear his thoughts. He was on his own. They were deep enough in the tunnels that no one would hear them fight. He knew Kalin would rather die than be a slave to that thing. He would feel the same way. Luna was just through the tunnels, though. If he could knock him out, he could drag his ass back and get him purified.

How about that for a cruel twist? Just last week, he was moaning about how he would never be able to understand Misty to the fullest.

"So careless! You didn't even realize there was a child back there, did you?"

He turned sharply, looking the way Kalin pointed to see one of the boys from Martha's group hiding around the corner, fearfully peering out. His name was West, he was pretty sure. The kid had gotten attached to Kalin, if he remembered right. Waving his hand, he called, "Get out of here, West! Go find Jack and Crow and send them this way!" Turning to glare at the Earthbound in his friend's skin, he called, "Tell them to bring chains!"

The kid looked terrified and huddled against the edge of the tunnel, but turned and ran with one more forceful, "Go!"

He turned his attention back to the fight and snarled, "Why did you tell me he was there? Is there still a trace of my friend in there?"

The Earthbound frowned distastefully and muttered, "Apparently. I should have just killed the kid."

Raising Stardust, he fired on instinct. He missed as Kalin fluidly moved out of the way, giving him the indication that he got a little reflex boost when he became this monster. Something in his gut told him this would be a tough fight, but he'd probably survived worse. The fight with Sayer was probably worse, but he had help then. He didn't really know how to fight something supernatural alone.

Suddenly, a rush of cold shot down his arm, sending a tendril of frost through his blood. He turned to look at his arm, wondering what was going on. Was this another one of Kalin's powers? His tattoo lit up, casting an eerie red glow through the room as he stared at it. What was going on? Was this a part of those 'abilities' Black Rose Dragon had mentioned? The cold was painfully numbing, sending a sensation like frostbite through his arm.

Without his consent, his arm lifted and pointed Stardust at his friend and fired, two white lights circling the bullet as it sailed through the air. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the shot connected, hitting his friend in the thigh and knocking him down to his knees. His aim shifted slightly and he fired again, taking out his other leg and dropping him to the floor.

The ice in his arm vanished at once, leaving him in control of his own body once again as he slowly made his way over to his friend, curled on the floor as he reached his hand to one of the bullet wounds. He dug inside, then, a moment later, shifted to toss the bullet pulled from his leg. He pressed his hand to the injury again and lit his hand, using the fire to attempt to cauterize his wound.

Yusei moved closer, standing above him and pointing the gun down at him. Gritting his teeth, he fired on his leg again, causing him to yelp in pain. Voices sounded from down the tunnel, making him assume that Crow and Jack were getting closer. He swallowed the bile in his throat and shot his arm, keeping him from trying to seal off his injuries again.

A hand gripped his shoulder, a brash voice shouting, "What the hell, Yusei?"

He turned slightly, taking in the sight of Crow standing there and noted Jack in the background with Archfiend pointed at him. Turning back to Kalin, he muttered, "Look at his eyes."

Crow turned to look as the white-haired man glared up at them, lying on the ground in a collapsed pile. His eyes opened enough to show the black color, causing the youngest to step back once in shock, muttering, "Wha-?"

"What is it?" Jack snapped, not amused by the situation at all.

Yusei looked down at his friend with a sad look, murmuring, "Kalin's an Earthbound."

Silence fell through the area for a long moment before the leader continued, "Crow, go get Luna. Let her know what's going and ask her to prepare for the ritual. Jack, can you help me chain him up so he doesn't get away?"

Crow darted off down the tunnel to go find his childhood friend while Jack walked over to observe Kalin. "Please…" the Earthbound moaned. "I don't… want… to die…"

"You're already dead, you sick bastard," Yusei sneered, rearing his foot and slamming a kick into his forehead to knock him out. "You'll be okay, Kalin. I promise."

So… I think I'll stay silent and let you guys make your comments :) Lots of new stuff going on.

Please review!

-Valk