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Yusei was barely able to grasp Kiryu's hand. As he pulled Kiryu from his Runner, Savior Star Dragon pierced the Earthbound Immortal like the blade of a sword. It went right through it, soaring into the sky as Ccapac Apu feel to the ground, disappearing in an explosion of blue energy.
Everyone was blinded for a moment or two.
"Yusei!"
Sidney started running down the hill. When the light cleared, Savior Star Dragon was hovering above Yusei. Kiryu lay in his arms, the black had disappeared from the whites of his eyes and the mark of the giant had vanished from his arm. He was bruised in several places.
Midori started following Sidney.
"Yusei…" Kiryu's voice was slightly hollow and ragged.
"Kiryu…I drove you to this."
"No, Yusei. Listen…I couldn't stay mad at you…
I wished to have the last duel of Team Satisfaction…at least that wish has come true…
Even if my anger is what got me here…if I didn't let it consume me…I would have let it go…It has brought nothing but suffering for me…"
Kiryu's body slowly started to disintegrate.
"Kiryu!"
"I guess I can't be satisfied at all…at least not like this."
He saw Midori and Sidney coming out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm sorry for what I did. I hurt my friends, and I have left a scar on someone's life…" At that moment, his body was dust in the wind. His Duel Runner was gone as well. The fire dispersed.
"Kiryu…"
Yusei stood up. Savior Star Dragon flew up into the air over Satellite, and all the others could see its body fade into the darkness. Luna was surprised to see her mark return to her arm. Leo breathed a heavy sigh. Trudge sat quietly in the car, saying nothing.
Yusei's shoulders began shaking.
"Kiryu…you are still my friend…and I forgive you. I…"
Tears trickled down his face.
"I promise we will save you and the others from this nightmare of the Earthbound Immortals, Kiryu…"
Sidney and Midori stopped, seeing the last of Savior Star Dragon's light dim and fall away from the sky.
"Kiryu!" Yusei cried loudly. He remembered at that moment that he had also cried the night Kiryu was taken away.
Sidney wanted to comfort him, but she felt a hand firmly keep her in place. She turned her head to see Laura had followed her.
"Give him a minute, ok?" Laura shook her head, "It's the best thing you can do for him right now."
"But…" Sidney whimpered.
"He lost one of his close friends. Sometimes you need to give people a little space." Laura patted her on the shoulder.
"It's ok, I get it."
Sidney gazed down at the ground. Her marks had returned but quickly vanished. A spider crawled passed her and went up the hill, staring intently at the scene below.
…
Meanwhile, Rugder sat at the table in the ruins of the old laboratory. The light of a second candle in front of him was extinguished. Only one of the three candles before him remained lit: his own.
"Of the three Dark Signers who had first been awakened…I am the last. Kiryu has been defeated." He muttered. He looked at the mark of the Spider on his arm, which was pulsating and growing veins.
"There may be no stopping at this point," He peered up at a framed picture featuring three men, "The matter of 17 years is to be settled today, Hakase. But only my brother and I are here in the flesh. Your son will have to face me instead."
He heard a noise and turned his head.
"Cassandra?"
The singer walked in cautiously with tears in her eyes.
"All of this…After all of this…What has happened…to everyone…This is all Crazy, Rudger!"
"It is not for you to decide. Nor is it mine. We are all bound to destiny as its slaves and we cannot break those chains which bind us to it. Not as mere mortals fighting as soldiers for Gods…"
"But…"
"Even Rex will not tell you any different."
"But Rudger… you don't understand…" Cassandra pleaded with him. Out of the blue, Rudger embraced her.
"I'm sorry you were caught up in this. … I know not what my brother's plans are for you. I wish nothing bad to befall you, dear Cassandra."
Rudger was swiftly away before Cassandra could catch her breath.
It wasn't long before she got up and followed him down the corridor.
"Wait! Rudger!"
…
Yusei walked into the tower of the giant and activated the control panel with his Stardust Dragon. He sighed. The tower shook. He grabbed the card, fleeing to safety before the tower descended to the Earth.
"Hey! Look over there!" Luna pointed.
Off in the distance was a circle of light, and when it disappeared, several people were standing where it had been.
"Who are those people!" Trudge exclaimed in disbelief.
Crow understood. Now that Kiryu's Earthbound Immortal had been defeated, all the people it entrapped were freed.
"The people of the Satellite are coming back…"
"That's a good thing, right?" Leo asked.
"Of course!" Etsuo laughed.
As Midori turned around, she saw the faint shadow of a spider up the hill crawling towards Officer Trudge.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, Trudge could feel something on his back and started trying to reach behind him to grab it.
"There's something on my back!" He yelled. Yusei, Midori, and Sidney rushed to see what was happened, but when they got there, Trudge had stopped. He stood there limply, and Yusei saw the mark of the Spider had appeared on his right arm.
"He's been turned into a shadow drone!" Sidney noticed the mark also and started arming herself with deck and Duel Disk. Midori put her hand over the Duel Disk as firmly as she could.
"Wait, Sidney. I think he's only a messenger this time."
She looked up. Trudge's eyes had become distant though he bore a malevolent expression. He swerved his head and laughed at the group.
"It appears only of us Dark Signers are left. I understand you defeated Kiryu…Yusei." He voice sounded hollow.
"Rudger…" Yusei clenched his fist.
Etsuo blinked. Laura cocked her head, puzzled.
"Wait, so Rent-a-cop is possessed? By the guy with the spiders?"
"That's right, and I'd like to extend an invitation to Yusei," He cackled, "…To be my next opponent. Come to the Old Reactor and we'll settle the matter between your father and I from seventeen years ago…"
Yusei said nothing.
"Wait a minute!" Sidney interjected.
"It is too late for me to do away with you, Star Princess. I have no purpose in dueling you again."
"Are you saying you're afraid, Rudger?" She questioned him sternly. He laughed coldly at her.
"You assume it isn't to my advantage you remain in this world…Alive, for now. Quite the contrary, for the undoing of the Crimson Dragon and the Star Princess lies not in the Netherworld…" His voice grew softer, "It lies in the grand nightmare crafted by the King of the Netherworld himself!"
The spider's mark faded from Trudge's arm. He shook his head and looked wonderingly at the people staring at him, astonished.
"What's up with you guys? Do I have something on my uniform?"
"Nah, you were possessed there for a second." Etsuo chuckled. Trudges faced flushed red from embarrassment.
"Oh, not again! I can't believe it happened twice!"
Crow turned to Yusei.
"It could be a trap. Do you really want to do this, Yusei?" He asked.
Yusei sighed.
"I have no choice, Crow. He has Martha and Rally… my friends. His Earthbound Immortal still has them. If it's destroyed, we can get them back. I want this to end…"
Crow nodded.
"We all do."
Everyone gathered back into their vehicles. As Sidney got on behind Yusei, he briefly looked at her with concern.
"I hope you don't think I am taking something away from you. I don't mean it that way." He said.
Sidney wasn't sure how to respond. She understood the personal enmity between the two of them because of the incident between Rudger and Professor Fudo. But she felt he was also trying to be overprotective again.
If Rudger was the head of the Dark Signers, wasn't it her job to fight him, being the Star Princess? Then she thought back and realized she had never really acted as a leader. It was Yusei who did that.
Then, what was her place in all of this? Jack was the brute force. Luna guarded the Spirit World. Akiza wielded great psychic power. What was she?
As her thoughts jumbled together, her words also become muddled.
"I…I am irritated…no…I understand, but…no…What I mean to say, Yusei…"
"It seems like you have mixed feelings." Yusei reached over and held her hand for a moment or two.
"I know this is something you need to do."
…
Lazar stood in a dark room, watching news repots. They talked about the mysterious geoglyphs that had appeared, the disappearance of many people, and how Sector Security was failing to inform the public about what was going on or if they were taking action.
"It doesn't matter what they say now…" He muttered. Just then, the phone rang. He picked it up, and a deep voice greeted him.
"I didn't expect a call at this point." He replied.
"Has Rex been on his way?"
"I'm afraid he had to step out for the moment."
"Just know this…We have waited almost twenty years for the Goodwin brothers to turn a new page in history. We are counting on Rex to make this work."
Lazar chuckled and assured the mysterious man that all was well. He hung up and sighed heavily. Maybe for them, it was at the moment. But, as for everyone else, it was a living hell.
He stepped outside the room. He couldn't just sit there and wait.
…
Meanwhile, Goodwin had set out for the Satellite with two helicopters and a team of skilled Sector Security agents. They landed above the Dark Signer's lair, surrounded by the Dark clouds and gloomy heaps of garbage and rusting metal.
Several of them escorted Goodwin out.
"It is best that you should head back now." He told them. Their leader, bearing the badge of a Security Captain, gasped in horror.
"You can't be serious, Director! Weird things have been happening and it's our job to protect you with our lives!"
"I understand you have every good intention, but guns will not work against the person I'm about to meet."
The captain held his ground.
"Very well, then. It is your choice."
Goodwin pushed a switch alongside the entrance and the door opened to reveal an elevator. They went in and were taken down beneath the earth. There was a hallway in front of them, and they could hear two pairs of footsteps not too far away.
Goodwin followed the sound with his guards following cautiously behind him.
They came to big open space leading to four other corridors.
A shadowy figure emerged from an entryway and a few of the escorts readied their firearms. They also heard a hollow voice greet them.
"I knew you would come."
Rudger stepped out into the open space, his face partially hidden beneath his hood. Goodwin motioned that the guards should hold their fire.
"Rex…I must thank you for coming all this way. But, what is the business of the people with you?"
"Sector Security. They are just doing there job, brother."
Suddenly, a giant spider emerged from the shadows onto the ceiling. One guard panicked and started firing at the creature. The spider quickly took down the escorts one by one, embalming them in its web hanging from above.
"I understand. But, I want to be sure that it is just the two of us. Our discussion may complicate from here."
The other pair of footsteps was not far away now, and Goodwin began to wonder.
"So…my elder brother…What have you done with Cassandra?"
"She is fine; no harm has come to her, if that's what you want to know."
"I am confused as to your purpose for kidnapping her. So far she has had little involvement in any of this." Goodwin inquired. Rudger shook his head.
"At this point the reason is meaningless…And if I had told her…it would have been too much. Our promise may have been revealed and our plan put in more danger than is necessary."
"And…as you know I have lived until now to keep my end of that promise, brother." Goodwin smirked.
Just then, he heard Cassandra's voice echoing behind Rudger, calling his name.
"Rudger!"
Rudger turned his face away, from the sound.
"It is too late to hide it now."
"I'm afraid it may be so. Rudger…I became the Director of Public Security…I hid my identity and threw away my future! All was on my part of our promise."
Rudger smiled.
"Yes, little brother. Seventeen years ago, I opened Pandora's box…and entrusted my last hope and my left arm to you…And now, our time is running out."
Rudger removed his cloak and revealed his right arm, his remaining real arm, was being consumed by the mark of the Spider. Goodwin wasn't surprised.
"My body won't last much longer. I want to know beforehand who will be the creator and the destroyer among those who bear the mark of the Crimson Dragon and those who are marked by the King of the Netherworld. I saw when I dueled Dr. Fudo's son and the Star Princess that the destiny of the world rests within him…within Yusei Fudo. If I am defeated, I want to know the outcome of that destiny."
Rudger pulled out a Duel Disk and prepared himself to battle with Rex.
"I have thought about it, brother, and I have seen a possibility that not even you are aware of."
"What possibility is that?"
Rex outstretched his arm. A Duel Disk emerged, ripping his sleeve and revealing his arm's mechanical nature.
"Rudger!"
Then, Cassandra ran into the open space. She gasped when she saw Goodwin.
"Cassandra…it is good to see you're not harmed."
He turned back to his brother.
"I assure you; brother…you will witness it soon."
Cassandra's eyes widened.
"The two of you…are brothers?"
To be continued…stay tuned for the next episode! Your reviews are deeply appreciated.
