Around the Satellite, the souls of the people who had been absorbed by Uru had been released, including Rally and Yusei's other friends. "Can anyone tell me what just happened?" Nervin asked. "No clue. The last thing I remember was that crazy fog rolling in out of nowhere," Tank responded.
Meanwhile, Jack was approaching the hummingbird control tower. He reached the top of a hill and pulled to a stop, seeing the tower in the distance. "That's where you're waiting, Carly," he thought to himself as he remembered how Carly had helped him and given him the courage to try and repair his friendship with Crow and Yusei.
He pulled out Carly's glasses and gazed at them intently. "Why did you become a Dark Signer?" he asked himself before he put them back in his pocket and drove up to the tower. "Carly, I'm here! If you're out there, answer me!" Jack shouted. Just then, a duel runner pulled out from behind the tower and drove up next to Jack, the driver removing their helmet and revealing Carly.
"I've been waiting for you, Jack," she greeted. "Carly, is that really you?" Jack asked, still not wanting to believe it. "Yes. In order to meet you, I came back from the brink as a Dark Signer," Carly responded. "What do you mean? What happened to you?" Jack inquired. Carly explained how she snuck into Sayer's office and how she nearly fell to her death after she lost to him.
"T-that can't be! Why did you do that?" Jack asked. "Because I wanted to get closer to you," Carly answered. Jack clenched his fist, shouting that he thought Carly had sacrificed to an Earthbound Immortal. "So you thought if you beat the Dark Signers, you'd be able to save me, right? Are you saying you can't duel me then?" Carly asked.
"Quit messing around! If you're going to shoot an arrow at me, I'll break that arrow with my own two hands!" Jack resolved. "That's right, as Signer and Dark Signer, it's our fate to battle each other!" Carly shouted as she raised her mark, creating a duel track in the same shape as her mark. "Now the stage is set for our duel of destiny," Carly declared as she put her helmet on before she raced down the track, Jack following behind.
"Are you serious about this, Carly? Are you really going to battle me?" Jack asked himself. "Destiny is ironic, Jack. In order to chase after you, I became a Dark Signer. And now, you're chasing after me," Carly pointed out. "What are you getting at?" Jack asked impatiently. "I'm saying that you can't oppose destiny!" Carly responded. She then activated the Speed World field spell, telling Jack to do the same.
Jack said he didn't take orders from her, but activated Speed World as well. "I know your instincts as a duelist won't allow you to refuse a duel. Jack, that's why you're the man I chose!" Carly shouted. "If this is what you want, I'll accept your duel of destiny!" Jack responded.
Jack: 4000 LP
Carly: 4000 LP
"Whoever takes the first turn gets to go first, so try to catch me!" Carly taunted as they approached the first bend. "I'll figure out Carly's true intentions in this duel," Jack thought to himself as he accelerated, slowly closing the gap between himself and Carly.
Carly wouldn't allow Jack to pass her and pressed him against the wall, allowing her to pull ahead and go through the corner first. "I'll go first, so I draw! And I summon Fortune Lady Light in defense mode," Carly declared.
Level 1/Light/Spellcaster
ATK ?-200/DEF ?-200
"Fortune Lady monsters gain an additional level during each of my standby phases," Carly explained as she thought back to when she first became a Dark Signer.
Flashback
Carly was sitting on a bed in the remains of the employee housing in the original Ener-D reactor research facility. "Why was I chosen to be a Dark Signer? What am I supposed to do now?" she asked herself before a voice called out to her. "Carly, if you want to know the answer, then tell your fortune," it commanded.
"My fortune?" Carly asked. "Yes. Tell your fortune to learn about your destiny," the voice suggested. Carly pulled out her deck, but when she did, one of the cards began glowing. She pulled out the card and looked at it, her sclera turning black as she was shown a vision.
End Flashback
In the duel, Carly was holding the same card that showed her the vision in her hand. "I place one card face-down and end my turn. It's your turn Jack, so bring it on!" Carly taunted. Jack started his turn before he looked over his hand.
Jack: 1 SPC
Carly: 1 SPC
"I end my turn," Jack declared, not making a single move. "You're really going to end your turn without doing anything? Perhaps you've finally accepted your fate. In that case, I'll use all my power to end this duel right now. I draw," Carly shouted.
Jack: 2 SPC
Carly: 2 SPC
Fortune Lady Light: Level 1-2/ATK 200-400/DEF 200-400
"And now I sacrifice Fortune Lady Light to summon Fortune Lady Earth in attack mode."
Level 6/Earth/Spellcaster
ATK ?-2400/DEF ?-2400
"And since Fortune Lady Light left the field, I can special summon a Fortune Lady monster from my deck, such as my Fortune Lady Dark."
Level 5/Dark/Spellcaster
ATK ?-2000/DEF ?-2000
"If both her monsters attack directly, I'll lose all my life points!" Jack exclaimed. "Fair warning, this is gonna hurt, so you might wanna brace yourself. Fortune Lady Earth, attack directly with Cursed Skewer!" Carly shouted. Earth struck the ground with her staff, causing metal spikes to come up out of the ground in Jack's path, throwing his duel runner around.
Jack: 1600 LP
Jack: 0 SPC
"Fortune Lady Dark, attack with Dark Fate!" Carly ordered as her monster began spinning its staff, creating a mass of purple energy. As Carly's monster was preparing its attack, Jack was thinking back to when Carly helped him leave the hospital.
Flashback
Jack was sitting in Carly's hotel room, and Carly had just finished bandaging his arm. "This should help you get better soon," she said with a smile.
End Flashback
"I know you're the kind of person to hurt others, Carly," Jack said as two streams of blood began to flow down his face from under his helmet. "Since you already attacked me directly once this turn, and are now trying to do it again, I can special summon Ogre of the Scarlet Sorrow to the field!" Jack shouted.
Level 4/Dark/Fiend
ATK 0/DEF 0
"When I summon him using this effect, my ogre's attack points become equal to the damage I received from your first attack."
Ogre: 0-2400 ATK
"And that's not all, because now your monster that declared the second attack has to attack my ogre," Jack explained as his monster raised its club and slammed it into Fortune Lady Dark.
Carly: 3600 LP
"You've decided to fight back, but you can't oppose fate. I set one card and end my turn. Now, attack me if you can, Jack," Carly taunted. "Someone has to be controlling Carly. There's no way she would be doing this of her own free will. I'll get you back, even if it costs me my life," Jack resolved.
Across the Satellite, Mina was still driving Akiza to the final control tower, but Akiza's mind wasn't on her current mission. "The Dark Signer challenged the Signers to battle. It's destiny that they're our enemies. Who is Jack facing in this battle?" she wondered to herself.
Akiza turned to Mina, who seemed to be troubled. "You worried about Jack?" she asked. "I'm fine. There's no way Jack would lose," Mina assured. Back at the duel, Jack had just started his turn.
Jack: 1 SPC
Carly: 3 SPC
"Mine and Carly's monsters have the same attack points. If I have them battle as-is, they'll both be destroyed," Jack thought to himself as he pulled a monster from his hand. "I summon Power Supplier in defense mode," he declared.
Level 2/Earth/Spellcaster
ATK 400/DEF 400
"And due to Power Supplier's special ability, I can raise the attack points of my Ogre by 400," Jack explained. "I activate the trap Bending Destiny. This card negates the activation of a spell or trap card or the summon of a monster while I control a Fortune Lady and banish it," Carly explained.
"Say what?" Jack asked in surprise. "But don't worry. Whatever card gets negated by this trap returns to my opponent's hand during the end of this turn. It's pointless to try anything because your destiny is already decided!" Carly shouted. "She did more than prevent my monster from powering up. Fortune Lady Earth's attack points will go up on Carly's next turn, so it will be stronger than my monster," Jack thought to himself.
Jack looked over his hand to see if he had anything that would help him, when his eyes landed on a specific trap card. "This card will have to work," he said to himself as he pulled it out. "I place one card face-down and end my turn," Jack concluded. "You're already done? That's boring, but it's fine. My turn, I draw!" Carly shouted.
Jack: 2 SPC
Carly: 4 SPC
"I'm going to defeat you this turn, Jack!" Carly declared. "Go ahead and try if you think you can," Jack responded. "Acting tough until the end. I'll show you no mercy! During my standby phase, Earth's effect causes her to gain one level," Carly explained.
Earth: Level 6-7/ATK 2400-2800/DEF 2400-2800
"And due to Earth's second effect, when her level increases, you take 400 points of damage," Carly informed as her monster launched a bolt of lightning from its staff, hitting Jack's duel runner and causing him to yell out in pain.
Jack: 1200 LP
"And now my monster attacks your ogre with Cursed Skewer!" Carly shouted as her monster struck the ground with her staff, causing metal spikes to sprout up out of the ground and strike Ogre of the Scarlet Sorrow.
Jack: 800 LP
Jack had stopped his duel runner and Carly drove back to where he was. "That's… not enough to make me give up!" Jack resolved. "Soon, Jack. Our true destiny will begin soon," Carly assured. "There's no such thing as destiny! I'm going to make you come to your senses!" Jack promised.
"You're the one who's going to come to their senses. We're battling in this duel so that we can be together. When the battle is over, we'll have eternal destiny. That's what the cards told me! I used my deck to tell the fortune of our destiny," Carly informed as she gazed at the card she set at the first turn of the duel.
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked. "This is the card I drew. I activate my trap!" Carly shouted as her trap flipped up, emitting a bright light that blinded Jack. When he opened his eyes, Carly was standing over him. "Jack, are you alright? You looked like you were having a nightmare," Carly pointed out.
Jack sat up and looked around, seeing they were in a lavishly decorated room, like in a castle. "Where am I?" he asked in confusion. He looked at his arm, but what he saw surprised him: Carly's Dark Signer Mark had replaced his Signer Mark. "What happened? Why is there a Dark Signer mark on my arm?" he questioned.
"Pull yourself together. Are you still dreaming?" Carly asked. "Carly, what's going on here? Answer me!" Jack demanded, but as he glanced to the side, he looked in a mirror in the room and saw his eyes had changed, and his sclera were black like Carly's. "My eyes. Why are my eyes like that?" Jack asked, still confused.
"Don't you remember? You lost your soul. I defeated you in our duel, and then I resurrected you with my power," Carly informed. "You mean… I'm a Dark Signer?" Jack asked. Carly led Jack onto the balcony, and everything was barren and destroyed, molten lava flowing over the ground.
"What happened?" Jack inquired. "Do you remember now? Thanks to you joining our side, the Dark Signers won the battle that took place every 5000 years," Carly reminded, sparking a vision in Jack's head of him and Carly destroying the Signer Dragons and even the Crimson Dragon.
"That's right. I remember everything! Since the Dark Signers won, the world was transformed into the Netherworld," Jack remembered. "That's right, and you're the king who rules over this world," Carly responded. "That's right. I've come to my senses by dying. I don't need friends, bonds, or peace! By ruling this world, I've reached the heights of a true king!" Jack shouted as he gazed out over the world he wrought.
"Fantastic! This is the world we desired," Carly said before Jack snapped out of his vision, finding himself back in the middle of his duel with Carly. "The trap card Enlightenment. I understood everything when I selected this card. Why I became a Dark Signer. What I'm trying to obtain by battling you. It's so that we can reach our perfect future!" Carly declared.
"What?" Jack asked. "Due to the effect of Enlightenment, the monster that destroyed yours can attack again! Let's go to our future Jack!" Carly shouted. Carly's glasses began to slip out of Jack's pocket as he had another vision of his future with Carly.
Jack and Carly were being carried on a mobile throne by ghastly spirits. "Jack, everyone in this world has pledged their undying loyalty to you," Carly informed. "I see. It seems there are no humans left in this world," Jack pointed out before he looked to the side and saw Carly's glasses, causing him to snap out of it.
"No! This is wrong! This isn't the world you desire!" Jack argued before he snapped out of his vision. "I activate the trap Changing Destiny! This card negates your attack!" Jack shouted as a barrier appeared in front of him, blocking Fortune Lady Earth's attack. "Jack, why are you opposing destiny? If I win this duel, we can have a happy future!" Carly shouted.
Jack reached down to the ground and picked up Carly's glasses. "That future is a sham! It's not for us! You're the one who taught me that, Carly!" Jack responded as he held out Carly's glasses for her to see.
To be continued…