There are certain silences so awkward that nobody involved can dare respond to it first. After the dramatic arrival of Musume had started to make the three brothers question their reality a bit closer, they had been slowly remembering bits and pieces of what had really happened. That wasn't the trouble. People forgot and remembered events all the time. What was causing the current silence was their transport situation.
As planned, Crow's 'miraculous' return to walking had been enough to distract Trudge so that he hadn't questioned the emotional embrace. By the time he noticed Jack catching the keys to the patrol car, the pair had fled the house and were driving up the road with him bellowing threats of bodily harm at their dust trail. Waiting right around the first bend had been the obtrusive figure of Musume, still scowling in Yusei's direction. Even that wasn't the awkward part.
What was causing an uncomfortable atmosphere was the seating arrangement. As the tallest of the three, Jack demanded the most leg-room. As the unspoken leader, Yusei was driving. Which had forced the two remaining members of the crew into the reinforced compartment in the rear of the car.
Crow – having once claimed a children's discount at nineteen – was seated as close to the door as he could manage without going through it. One cheek was being slowly imprinted with the outline of the mesh covering the windows as he was forced into the uncomfortable position. Filling the rest of the space with a radiance rarely seen by human eyes, Musume had folded her wings into as narrow a cone as she could and was currently bracing herself an inch from the filthy floor with her tail. Although the group could see through the translucent appendages, they were physical enough to be causing everyone discomfort. Eventually, someone had to speak.
"Are we there yet?" A tight flicker of the membrane pressed against his face told Crow that only extreme restraint was keeping them from crushing his head.
"If you start that," Shifting around in his seat, even Yusei was irritated by the question. "I'll tell Trudge stealing his car was your idea."
"Hey, at least you guys have legroom." One of his feet was almost pointing backwards on itself in the confined quarters. Police vehicles were rarely built for luxury.
"At least you can fit on the seat." As bad as his position was, Musume was fairly sure that she had it worse. The only arrangement which worked as to curl both wings tightly in, lean herself sideways against the seat with both legs extend into the narrow footwell. Although rationality said that she shouldn't be able to feel with the tail, rationality had been absent from her life longer than she had been alive. "Are we nearly there yet?" An outraged cry rang through the car and Crow began pounding on the wings. One adjustment later and he was wincing and apology to the window. "Well, are we?"
"About another two minutes." Traffic had started to build up over the morning. When he had first left Poppo Time, it had taken only half an hour to reach Martha's orphanage. Now, they would be lucky to reach their new destination within a full hour. "Why are we going to the park anyway?" An instinctive glance into the rear-view mirror only revealed a massive crimson separator between himself and the back windscreen. Not for the first time on the trip, Yusei was glad for the tinted windows on the car. Driving a stolen police vehicle would be hard enough to explain without people noticing Musume.
"Put your hands up if you've got a demon perpetually screaming in your head." No hands went up. "And that's why I'm in charge." Stretching her head as far as she could let her catch a brief glimpse of the road and the signs flicking past overhead. "Okay, now put your hand up if you just missed the fucking exit."
The park they were going to probably had an official name on paper somewhere but nobody cared for it. During the harsh days of the old Satellite, it had been one of the largest green spaces on the island. Violent and dangerous with few avenues of escape yet still beautiful in the daylight. Since one edge bordered the unruly 'Hells End' sector which had resisted the gentrification of the rest of the island, it had become one of the cleanest and crime-free (with the exception of the occasional trading of 'questionable' goods) areas in the city.
Once the group had reverted to sullen silence, the journey there only took ten minutes longer than Yusei had estimated. Parking was still plentiful and he quickly slotted into a space on the outskirts of the car park. Now that they were ditching the car, there was a more difficult problem.
"Do you really think that people aren't going to notice?" Currently struggling to get out of the car, Musume spared a moment to glare at Crow. "I'm sure that it'll work itself out." Wriggling the last few inches, she unfolded onto the tarmac and stretched her sore muscles. "Yeah, that's inconspicuous." Cutting an imposing figure at the best of times, having a pair of resplendent wings unfurling as she stretched was certain to draw attention.
"Here." Peeling off his lengthy coat, Jack held it out at arm's length. "Try this." It took several attempts (including one where she tried draping it about her head like a shroud) but Musume eventually managed to slip both arms in through the sleeves and tie the jacket closed at the front. It was bulky and unflattering but hid the wings just enough to avoid instant suspicion. "The eyes are your problem." Fortunately, there was another fashion guru on the team. Unfortunately, it was Crow.
"If I know Trudge," And he was ashamed to admit that he had seen the inner-workings of that mind enough times to be familiar. "Aha!" Rifling through the glove box pulled out a set of mirrored shades. "Promise not to tell Mina and you're welcome to borrow them."
"Your best idea is to disguise me like a pimp and walk through a public place with the three of you?" Taking a careful look at the resulting outfit, Crow was forced to admit that she had a point. At least he could try and take it as a compliment. Maybe she meant that he would turn heads with his looks.
"And what's your plan?" Appearances were the least of Yusei's issues. He was in possession of a stolen vehicle, on the verge of a nervous breakdown and struggling to identify which memories in his head were real or fake. He also hadn't had slept in a long time and was starting to crave anything with caffeine.
"Simple." Perching the glasses on the bridged of her nose, they managed to dim the light of Musume's eyes. What was left could be dismissed as a reflection of the sun, as long as nobody looked too closely. "Find whatever's doing this, make it stop."
"And you just assume that this thing is hiding in the park?" After one look at the size of the jacket, Jack had simply hooked it over one finger and tossed it across a shoulder.
"For the last time," Lowering her glasses, she gave a stare that reminded them all too much of Akiza. "Hands up who has a dragon god playing mix-and-match with their anatomy." One hand went up behind her. "Crow, if you're raising your hand to make a joke, I will punch you." By time she turned around, there were no hands. "Here's the plan." Drawing the glasses up against her face again, she stared at each of them in turn to build suspense. "We go for a walk and look for anything weird."
"That's it?" Crow was slightly underwhelmed. After the miracle of remembering how to walk, he had been expecting a more spectacular plan. When the mirrored shades started to reflect the sun which was directly behind Musume, he suddenly saw the merits of simplicity. "Good call. Let's do it." Eager not to incur her wrath any further, he set a strong march off down the nearest path.
Trying to be innocuous was a difficult prospect. No matter the surroundings, someone of Jack's height stuck out like a sore thumb. As the currently most famous Duellist in the world, he would draw crowds wherever they went. "Jack." Ever the balancing force in the equation, Crow was the first to broach the subject.
"Crow." Not everything was back in place beneath the blonde hair. Recent months were still in dispute inside his head. Thankfully, the majority of the previous few years was more or less the same as what he had been tricked into believing and the therapy had slotted right into place.
"I think that it might be easier if you went your own direction." A veritable swarm of fans had grown around them and were clustering far too close for comfort. Nobody was actually touching them – yet – but Crow felt the search for weirdness would go a lot faster if they weren't there at all.
"Here's your phone." Tossing the handset over as if it didn't cost more than most people made in a month, Musume followed the same brand of tough love. "We'll call you if we need anything." An outcry was raised as she insulted the beloved icon in the middle of his fans. "Best hurry." She added while adjusting her glasses. "Because I can feel my temper starting to go." Taking the cue, Jack strode away with the fawning fans tailing him like lost puppies. Bringing both hands up to her head, she pulled them through her hair with a grimace on her glowing face. Nobody had been paying close enough attention to realise that the markings were not simple tattoos nor naturally that bright.
"What's wrong?" Yusei knew the face well enough (albeit from a different Izinski) to know the one which meant it was uncomfortable.
"Having these two run free like this is starting to give me a headache." As well as the extra appendages, there was enough raw power flowing through her to power a continent.
"Isn't there some way to, y'know?" Rolling his shoulder back, Crow made a sucking sound to indicate folding them away.
"Not if I want to keep my mind in one piece." Tapping a finger against the side of her head, she disliked lying to him almost as much as she understood the necessity of doing so. If she told him the real reason, it might cost more in the long run. "They're the only things keeping me from going as gaga as you were in that chair." Walking in silence for a bit, Crow felt a burning question form in the back of his mind.
"What happens if we don't find anything?" Looking down at his plodding feet, it seemed impossible that he had woken up unaware that he could use them. "Will everything go back to how it was this morning?" Resting one hand on his shoulder, Musume pulled them to a halt and gestured Yusei to keep on walking.
"I have it on the best authority that we'll get answers." Again, she felt bad for misleading him even though this was far from an outright lie. "All that we have to do is find whatever is causing this. Then, we throw Yusei at it. Preferably physically but I'll settle for what I can get." Pulling a face, Crow wobbled is head in not-disagreement. "Just think about it like this: do you trust me to find it and Yusei to stop it?"
As she lifted up the glasses, the glow in her eyes dimmed. Not all the way, not entirely but just enough that a flicker of memory broke through his mind and repainted the irises in a soothing brown. Just like her mother's. "Yeah." A small slew of information followed the recollection about the eyes and his mouth pulled downwards at the corners. "Why do I seem to remember that you're my daughter?" There were a lot of get-out clauses in that sentence for her to take advantage of. It screamed 'not ready for kids' more than a mid-life crisis and a mullet.
"Well," Patting him on the shoulder, Akiza's offspring led Crow down the path after his brother. "Let's just say that there weren't many choices available." As his mind tried to scream rejection to the fatherhood, he was frog-marched through the park at double-time. Without a tempering influence, their leader had managed to cover significant ground. Considering the situation, Musume would have uncharacteristically considered a degree of caution and restraint. Unusually, her normal approach of rushing headlong into the next problem was actually working this time.
"You're the expert on weird things." Squinting through a treeline on a rarely used path, Yusei thought that he might need to have his eyes checked, regardless of the outcome. "Does that qualify as weird?" Lifting the glasses to better follow his eyeline, Musume really tried her best.
"What?" All that she could see was the faint reflection of light bouncing off the water of a small lake.
"Right there." Aiming his finger with one closed eye, Yusei suddenly had two heads lined up behind his own. "Look, there." Not matter how hard he pointed, they refused to see what he was seeing.
"Hate to say it," Even shading his eyes with both hands failed to help Crow see what his brother was seeing. "But there's nothing there."
"Well." If she focused really hard and let the burning in her eyes clock tick up to twelve, Musume could make out something. Not anything in particular but the definite sensation that the area was being forced to act normal. "What's the worst if we check?" Deciding that the answer was 'not much', the pair begrudgingly followed Yusei off the beaten path and through the foliage.
On the other side of the treeline lay a splendid view of a small lake. Big enough for boating but not quite deep enough, no fish or fowl, ringed by trees thick enough that people rarely even noticed it was there. Average in every way and utterly unremarkable. What two of the three couldn't see was what was above the water. "Do you see it now?" For the first time in two days, Yusei was nearly certain about something. As much as he could be certain about a possible hallucination.
"Still no." Looking over the tiny puddle for any clue of what he was meant to be seeing, Crow was only operating on faith because it had returned his legs to him.
"Look, it's right there!" As Yusei and Musume fell into an argument of 'no there isn't/yes there is', he quietly leaned against a tree and pulled out his phone.
Whatever was going on at the other end was either a horror film or a fan attack. Either way, there was a lot of screaming. "Jack?" Raising his voice slightly, the ginger was doing equal parts to be heard and to hear himself over the growing squabble. "We might have found whatever we're looking for. I'll send you the area." Taking his phone away from his ear for a moment, he dropped map coordinates over a messaging app. "How soon can you be here?"
"Trust me," Laboured breathing sounded down the line as he struggled to keep the phone in place. "I'm already running." When asked, the answer would obviously be to try and help Akiza. Definitely not because the small flock of fans had grown to a massive crowd which was on the verge of turning into a mob. It was a Sunday and plenty of people had chosen to enjoy a gentle exercise to wind down the weekend. Bumping into a celebrity only adjusted their route slightly.
When Jack arrived, Crow was holding his white jacket, Musume was awkwardly hovering in a few feet above the ground and Yusei… "Am (gasp) I(wheeze)," Sucking in great gulps of air managed to make the black dots in his vision start to fade away again. After he had started running, curious parkgoers had paid attention to the sprinting figure. When they recognised him, plenty had started to chase, possibly thinking that he was doing a charity event.
Of course, that meant Jack had been forced to run increasingly faster to outpace them. His legs were burning and both lungs seemed to have collapsed. "Seeing things?" Waving a hand, he took his jacket back and draped it across his shoulder. "How is he doing that?"
"I think we found it!" Hopping back down onto the grass, it certainly looked like he had been floating a few inches above the surface of the water. Nobody present was deeply religious but there were stories of people walking on water. Above water was a bit more impressive since it negated the issue of wet feet.
Musume continued to hover in the air around the lake, not touching down for a single moment. "I don't care what you say." Spotting Jack, she glided in from above to drop the last foot and awkwardly stumble nearby the reunited group. "I still can't see it."
Shining out in radiant splendour was a sight few would ever believe. As if some unstoppable hand had reached back through the ages, an enormous stone structure occupied much of the area above the water with an imposing presence that nobody could ignore. Nobody except everyone claiming not to see it.
"Think of the parthenon." Several key differences separated the Greek ruins from the one before him. Firstly, these weren't ruins. Gleaming stones looked as if they had been hewn from raw marble only hours before and single slabs of pure white walled between the pillars without a seam to join or part them. "You're not the only one who thinks this is weird." Picking another clutch of sticks from the ground near his feet, Yusei tossed them onto the stone steps. Contrary to conventional physics, one set of matter passed straight through the other. Yet his shoes worked perfectly well whenever he placed a trepidatious foot against the first step. It was about a foot from the edge of the lake but he could easily cover the distance.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Happier now that they were making progress, the metaphorical smile was about to be wiped from Jack's psyche.
"Whatever this is, I think that it only wants me." Neither pride nor hubris powered the words. Even if either of his brothers couldn't see the structure, it didn't necessarily prove anything. The fact that Musume's unusual eyes couldn't perceive it meant that it was deliberately keeping everyone else out.
"What can we do to help?" It was an open question. Crow might have mostly been along for the ride so far but that didn't mean he wasn't ready to give absolutely anything to help his friends.
"I don't know what's going to happen one I go in there." Looking up at the imposing structure, he had spied a section styled slightly different from the rest. Laurels framed an invisible crack down the middle. A doorway, just waiting for him to enter through. "But it might be dangerous. For me and the people in the park." Outside of the little grove, the sound of laughter and mixed voices filtered in. "Jack, Crow. I want you to gather as many people as you can. Get them to the car park, just in case anything goes wrong."
Rustling about in his pocket, Jack pulled out two very important objects. Walking over, he thrust them out at his brother. "Here." Although his Duel Disk wasn't strapped to his arm, he never let his Deck go far from his side. "You might need to use these." Held out in his hand were the two cards that nobody else had ever used. Jack was offering him Red Dragon Archfiend and – for the first time ever – Red Nova Dragon. Looking down at the cards, Yusei was touched by the gesture. It had only been a few hours since Jack had started to remember what had really happened and he was willing to give up his signature monsters on the off-chance that they could bring Akiza back again.
"Keep them." Gently pushing his brother's hand back towards him, Yusei made it clear it wasn't out of disrespect for failing to win their earlier match. "You might need them if there's other things trying to stop us." It was a sobering thought. Only he could see this oddity. There might be other ones hidden about that they hadn't found yet.
"You get in there." Grabbing his brother by the shoulder, Jack stared him dead in the eye. "You get in there, you find her and you bring her back. Understand?" Grabbing the hand, Yusei gave a solemn nod. "Right, midget." Throwing his coat on, Jack strode up the hill with Crow by his side. "Ready for a run?" For a man who had been crippled that morning, there was no sweeter challenge.
"Just try to keep up." Waving to the pair on the shore, he let Jack have a few seconds head-start through the trees before following. Sucking in a deep breath, he sounded the ultimate crowd-drawer. "Hey, everyone! I found Jack Atlas!" A minor stampede sounded as the crowd began to chase the Duelling icon across the park, gathering members and momentum as they went. After a few minutes, the sound of pounding feet faded away to leave just the two on the small hill overlooking the lake.
Looking straight at the impossible building, Yusei felt a twinge of unease in his gut. "Can you tell me anything about what I'm meant to do?" Pausing in the air, Musume was careful to pick her words. She might have been forced to deceive Crow before but this was the moment that really counted. She had to be as close to the truth as possible without giving away the source of her information.
"Something about a trial that could shame a god. Like a Shadow Duel in reverse." Reaching into the leather satchel he had brought with him from Martha's, Yusei emptied out the contents. It had been an entire decade since using it – or maybe mere weeks – but he was about to use it for the second time that day. "Are you sure you want to go in alone?" A strong force was pushing her back whenever she approached and that was even without the gift of seeing the building. Her next planned attempts involved a bit more violence.
"Yeah." Taking that step which carried him from the hill to polished marble, he stared up at the imposing doors. "If I can't do it and she doesn't come back." Looking back over one shoulder, an unusual force burned in one eye. "Smash your way in and take her back." Then he pushed open the doors and walked through.
Inside was strange. Thankfully, not in a way that overwhelmed him. More like one of those optical illusions. The elephant with no legs or the ladder with mismatched rungs. Probably the most accurate metaphor was a mirrored box he had seen once. Outside was a simple black cube, inside was a recursive reflection which magnified the interior towards infinity. The space he was standing in was a bit like that.
It was rectangular. A trained eye measured it at about seventy metres across and around a hundred long. There might have been a ceiling but he didn't check for one. Every surface was gleaming white, just like the outside. The outside which had been barely thirty metres across and maybe forty long. Again, not strange enough to overwhelm him. Just enough to be noted. Much like the curved gathering of ornate stone chairs, thrones almost, at the far end of the space. Unmoving in one was a dash of red that Yusei would have recognised anywhere.
Hurrying down the few steps at the edge of the vast hall, he sprinted towards Akiza as fast as his legs would carry him only to be knocked down without having even covered a tenth of the distance. "Akiza!" Standing back upright, he tried again, only to be met with the same result as before. It was as if the air had turned solid before him. Feeling his way along the invisible barrier, he soon met edges at either side. "Akiza! Akiza!" Pounding on the empty space did nothing more than hurt his hand as his words failed to rouse any reaction.
"No matter how hard you scream, she will not respond." The voice was feminine, even pleasant and echoed from all around without a visible source.
"Who are you?" Stuck in his little box, Yusei could do nothing but ball his fists tight enough to risk drawing blood. "Why are you doing this?" Silence reigned for a moment.
"Do you know where Aion is depicted in the pantheon? Not above, with Zeus and the gods." In the midst of the semi-circle of stone chairs, a soft light began to grow. "Not below with Hades and the demons." Solidifying into a white-robed figure, he could just barely make out a mouth. When it moved, the words echoed around the hall. "Not anywhere that man could imagine." Marble walls bled away until all that was left was the floor they stood upon and towering columns stretching high into eternity.
"Where are we?" As he struggled to think up a strategy, the white robe stepped from between the thrones at a steady pace. "The Spirit World? Another dimension?"
"Nothing so mundane." Pacing forward until they were an equal point between the two humans, the entity which had identified itself as Aion extended each arm until elbows could be seen peeking from the sleeves. "This is the place where realities do and do not come to pass and I have slumbered since my brother perished." Unbidden, entire planets were colliding and exploding in the endless emptiness. Horror and beauty on an unimaginable scale played out across the space and threatened to capture Yusei's gaze if he ever looked away from his goal for even a moment.
"Why did Phantom and Musume remember Akiza?" Since entering the structure, both sets of memories had slowly begun to take up an equal stance in his head. A world without Akiza and one where she had disappeared a few days ago. "How did I dream of a woman who was meant to have died? Why even allow me here at all?!" Each question was shouted to cross the distance with little more noise than a whisper at the end.
"Ah yes, your little pair of aberrations." Just like before, her voice seemed to resonate from all around and cut through the distance without effort. "That child of yours was nothing special. It was her little helpers that did the heavy lifting and kept her intact, though they were hidden from me for some time. And that fractured thing that helped you call her back... I admit that it managed to elude me because I failed to look hard enough." Despite the impossible reach of Aion, it seemed that Phantom had once again gone unnoticed. "And there's something about you that I must have overlooked that let your old memories seep into new dreams." A wave of memories crowded the room with hardened men and women dressed in ancient battle garb before reality overwrote them again. "These trials were a family idea – not that I agreed with it. They decided that any mortal foolish enough to challenge us was brave enough to wager their own fate. Few tried and fewer succeeded."
"A trial which could shame a god..." In a flash of insight, he understood what Musume had been trying to explain. A Shadow Game would punish the loser and award the victor nothing that they didn't already possess. If this challenge could be considered 'the reverse' then it would reward the victor and only block the loser from any change. "I challenge you to Duel. If I win, you change everything back to how it was. Akiza comes back with me and everyone remembers her again." For a moment, she contemplated the offer.
"That doesn't benefit me." Parts of the puzzle were still clicking into place in his mind. This woman called Aion claimed to be part of the Greek Pantheon. Yusei had never studied them in any detail. All that he knew was a handful of the more popular names. Zeus, Poseidon… Mars? No, Ares. Regardless, he had never heard of Aion.
Remembering the words of advice that Musume had offered him before he had entered, he made a second attempt. "We Duel. If I win, Akiza comes with me and everyone remembers her." He understood why she had rejected his original offer. There was nothing to be gained if she won. The only way that his loss would mean anything was if nothing was to change from the current situation. "If I lose," Swallowing, Yusei used every iota of his intellect to search for another way out. None came to mind. "Then you can have my memories. Erase the past two days and make it so that we never suspect anything." Ever since he had woken up from the turbulent dream, it had been like soup in a strainer. No matter how hard he tried, parts had been steadily dripping away. In a few days, they would be gone again. This would just make them stay that way.
"ῥητός." Peeling back a lengthy sleeve, she displayed a gleaming white Duel Disk with a Deck already loaded. It hadn't been there a few moments earlier. "μονομαχία!" Yusei didn't need to speak the language to recognise the meaning.
(Turn 1)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:6 Field: None Graveyard: None
Aion: LP: 4000 Hand:5 Field: None Graveyard: None
"I set two cards and a monster." He was in utterly uncharted territory. Not only did he have no idea how Aion duelled, he barely even knew anything about where she came from. It was like having to take on the Crimson Dragon. A flash of insight revealed just how much difficulty Musume went through every day as the turn passed over to the literal god standing at the other end of the field.
(Turn 2)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:3 Field: 1 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: None
Aion: LP: 4000 Hand:6 Field: None Graveyard: None
"I activate the Field Spell, Olympus!" An invisible ripple spread through the air and coloured the walls with acts of days long past. It didn't take a historian to recognise the Greek outfits and customs being portrayed between soaring pillars. "All Olympian monsters can't be destroyed by battle and gain 500 ATK." Such a care would normally be cheating. Normally, he also wouldn't be Duelling a god in a realm between realms so Yusei decided not to press the issue. "I summon Ares, War Olympian (L4/1800/300)!" Materialising in one of the thrones behind her, a finely sculpted physique of a man walked onto the field, resplendently dressed in antique Greek soldier's uniform. "Ares, destroy his monster!"
"I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" As a spear was sent hurtling towards him, the rusty defence appeared just in time. Even so, Yusei was forced to dive away as shards cut through the air. These attacks were more than holograms or illusions. Just like a Shadow Game, everything was dreadfully real.
"I set two cards and end my turn."
(Turn 3)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:4 Field: 1 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: None
Aion: LP: 4000 Hand:3 Field: 1 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: None
"Why are you doing this?" Drawing his card, Yusei tried to fathom the reasoning behind it. Maybe once, he had been important but not for years. One thing that his memories agreed upon was the Crimson Dragon departing long ago. "What did we do that you felt this was necessary?"
"It is not what you have done but what you will one day do." This was an argument that Yusei had heard before and it held no water with him. But that wasn't his concern just then.
"Then why take Akiza? Why not me instead?" If he was going to perform an act so horrendous that a god felt necessary to intervene, he could accept his fate. But he would sooner die than let any of his friends be punished for his crimes.
"Because the work of your life here will greatly affect the course of humanity. The witch was not important." Rage, pure and simple, boiled up inside Yusei.
"She is to me!" Why one of the cards in his hand was present was a mystery. All that he knew was it would be invaluable down the road. "I summon Road Synchron (L4/1600/800)." Grinding onto the field on what was best described as a balancing act on a single stretched wheel was a little yellow robot. "Now that I have a Tuner on my field, I can summon Boost Warrior (L1/300/200)." Bursting up from the ground, the short man with red hair reminded Yusei of his brother in the world outside. "By placing two Triangle Tokens on your side of the field, I can special summon Triangle Warrior (L2/600/1200)." An inverted triangle with appendages, it looked like a cheap cartoon design but slightly less than the two smaller versions which appeared on Aion's field. "And together with my face-down Level 3 Arbitrator, the numbers add up to one conclusion." Dissolving into rings and merging together in a familiar outline, a glittering outline began to form. "When used for the Synchro of a monster other than Road Warrior, the level of Road Synchron is cut by half." Yusei knew he was being reckless but he was beyond furious. "Come forth, Stardust Dragon!" Bellowing in a rage of its own, the mighty dragon distorted the already stretched space to impose on the Duel.
"It makes no difference." Standing indifferently as streams of energy diverted around Ares, Aion took little damage from the attack. "I know the future of every card in your Deck. They are as clear to me as you are standing there." A prickle of instinctive fear began to penetrate his seething rage.
(Turn 4)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:1 Field: 1 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 4 Monsters
Aion: LP: 3800 Hand:4 Field: 1 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: None
"In one turn, you've eliminated your forces, drained your reserves and inflicted a paltry amount of damage." Drawing her own card, she barely gave it a glance before stacking it into her hand. "For a mortal, it is a worthy achievement. My thanks for the tribute that you so generously provided." On either side of Ares, the two Triangle Tokens were eclipsed by blue flame. "I summon Hades, Underworld Olympian (L8/1800/0)!" The twin fires merged into a mighty pillar of fire which drilled down through the floor. Rising up out of the rubble came a floating spectre, topped by a twisted face composed of pain and hellish flame. "Lord Hades can't be destroyed by battle and gains power from every creature that he takes into his domain."
"Lord Hades?" When she had summoned the monster, it had just been Hades. Where had that title come from? A flicker of annoyance crossed beneath that hood.
"Although your beast is yet strong enough to survive, its time is coming. Count on that." Without much other recourse, she ended her turn with a face-down.
(Turn 5)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:2 Field: 1 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 4 Monsters
Aion: LP: 3800 Hand:2 Field: 2 Monster, 3 Spell/Trap Graveyard: None
"What is it that you think I'm going to do?" Playing for time, Yusei was also keen to learn the answers. "Why not just tell me so that I don't do it?" It would certainly have been less effort than toying with his memories, kidnapping Akiza and challenging him to a Duel.
"Reality isn't as simple as your kind believes." Watching from afar, transcendent eyes were mapping the possibilities of his cards. "This was the best way to avert the coming calamity." Settling on a future, Aion showed no outward sign of emotion. Similarly, she felt none inside either. "Your Card of Consonance will serve no purpose in this fight." Looking down at the card, he didn't need an explanation of her abilities. They were real, that was clear.
"Well, it can't hurt to try." Discarding the Tuner monster held in his hand, he drew a pair of new cards. One could be immensely helpful later on and he was quick to throw it down. "Stardust Dragon, shave off a few more life points." He might not have been able to destroy the monsters but he could wriggle in a little damage all the same.
"Temporal Attack, activate." As the stream of energy approached the warrior, it slowed to a halt. "This negates your attack and inflicts half the damage to you at the beginning of your next turn." With just the one monster to defend him, Yusei was forced to end his turn.
(Turn 6)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:1 Field: 1 Monster, 3 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 5 Monsters, 1 Spell
Aion: LP: 3800 Hand:3 Field: 2 Monster, 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 1 Trap
"I summon Poseidon, Water Olympian (L4/1300/2500." Frothing up from a puddle came a stout man in a tangled beard. The scent of saltwater hung heavy about him and there were scales adorning parts of his body. "And I activate Temporal Summon." A wind-up clock suddenly filled one of the spaces on her field. "This card allows me to summon one monster. However, if the monster is still on my field next turn, all of them are destroyed. Arise, Hephaestus, Fire Olympian(L4/1900/1600)!" Bellowing in pain and fury, a heavily burned blacksmith joined the already impressive ranks on Aion's field.
Aion… Aion… Aeon? Making a small leap in logic, Yusei felt a chill settle into his bones. An aeon was an incredible length of time. A random titbit he had picked up somewhere was that it had been named after a deity. "Are you Aion, the God of Time?" Ancient Greek theology was not a subject he had spent any length of time on. As he remembered, the Greek god of time was Chronos. Like figuring out Aion, he knew it as the route word of 'chronology'.
"That was how your ancestors understood it." It certainly explained her theme. Olympians and Temporal cards. "Their understanding of my reason was impressive for their state of advancement. My brother kept the past and future separated from the present. I had a more difficult role." Ending her turn, the news of her identity distracted Yusei from realising her field would be emptied on the next turn.
(Turn 7)
Yusei: LP: 4000 Hand:2 Field: 1 Monster, 3 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 5 Monsters, 1 Spell
Aion: LP: 3800 Hand:1 Field: 4 Monster, 1 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 2 Spell/Trap
As Yusei's turn began, he was instantly treated to the delayed damage from his attempt to strike Aion during his previous turn. Once the light and pain had died down, he was able to ask a straight question. "If you're a god of time, then why not just tell me how I can avoid this calamity you think I'm going to cause?"
"I tried to make it clear to you." Aion was unbeatable in every scenario he could think of. Any plan put in motion was powerless against one who could see it before it happened. "Recreated your first battle with the hunter in perfect detail before letting the damage seep through at the end."
"What Du" Memories of his repeated battle against Hunter Pace surged into Yusei's mind as part of him argued that the pair had never met in the finals. "That was you?" It finally made sense. Their Duel had been identical right up until everything had changed. Their hands, their Graveyards, all of it.
"Of course it was!" Another flicker of irritation turned the floor to granite for a moment before it changed back to pure marble. "How else would you have accounted for it? Is humanity still so blind that it can't see that which is right in front of it?"
"It wasn't the first time we'd seen it happen!" It seemed like a foolish notion now. Musume was containing two of the most powerful entities they had ever come across and been uncertain if either of them had been involved. They had never thought to think further afield.
"Really?" In her haste to rise to the occasion, Aion had neglected to do more than actually skim through the history of her targets. Only a few years here and there with most attention paid over the last eight years. Everything that she needed to make them forget Akiza.
(Turn 8)
Yusei: LP: 2750 Hand:2 Field: 1 Monster, 3 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 5 Monsters, 1 Spell
Aion: LP: 3800 Hand:2 Field: 4 Monster, 1 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 2 Spell/Trap
Despite his best effort, it appeared that they were entering a holding pattern. Although not the best result he could hope for, it meant that Yusei could plan and prepare to break out of it with an advantage. Unless Aion got there first. "Due to the effects of Temporal Summon, my four Olympian monsters are now destroyed." The black cloak of Hades spread out across her field, snaring its compatriots and dragging them all down through the blue fire it had come from. She was left with only one face-down on her field. It was either very powerful or just a distraction in the calm before the storm. "With four of his brethren lost to the underworld, my most powerful ally will now be realised." Clouds rolled in above as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. "By rescuing them from damnation, I can bring forth a power greater than your kind has witnessed in thousands of years." More lightning crashed together now, forming a mighty pillar of smoke which peeled away to reveal the sternest man Yusei had ever seen. "Zeus, King Olympian (L10/3500/3000)!" Wrapped in a white toga and carrying a sparking bolt of lightning in either hand, it was one of the most impressive spectacles that Yusei had ever seen.
It was also more powerful than Stardust by a long stretch and much, much bigger.
"Mighty Zeus, smite down this beast." As he ran for cover from the crackling electricity raining down on him, Yusei noticed it again. A strange addition to the name. "You fought valiantly." A few volts had managed to sneak past his attempts and crisped Yusei slightly. "Be proud of what you have achieved." As he picked himself up, he noticed the reason Scrap-Iron Scarecrow hadn't worked in his frantic sprint to evade death. Nearly hidden behind Zeus' left ankle was a Trap Jammer card.
It was a bad situation to find himself in but Yusei had been laying contingencies ever since regaining his cool head. "I know your strategy." Standing on the far side of the field, she had seen this moment coming since the Duel had started. "You intend to use Synchro Spirits to resurrect the monsters you used to summon Stardust Dragon and forth Road Warrior." Mouth dry, Yusei realised that he was being backed into a corner even more effectively than he had tricked Jack that morning. "Using its effect, you plan on summoning Sonic Chick to protect yourself indefinitely until you can compose a strategy to defeat me." Drawing a card from her hand, Aion seemed bored by the theory. "I activate Specimen Inspection."
"No." It was an old card from years back and exactly what she needed to stop his plan in its tracks. By declaring a specific type and level, she could send a monster straight from his Deck to the graveyard. And Road Warrior was the only Level 8 Warrior-Type that he owned.
"No-one has challenged me before and won." Slipping through his grasp, the card vanished into the graveyard and his plan along with it. "Be proud that you came this far."
(Turn 9)
Yusei: LP: 1750 Hand:3 Field: 2 Spell/Trap Graveyard: 7 Monsters, 2 Spell/Trap
Aion: LP: 3800 Hand:0 Field: 1 Monster, Graveyard: 4 Spell/Trap
Staring down at his Deck, Yusei couldn't grasp one simple fact: that anyone had ever won. Aion had said it herself, back when he had challenged her. 'Few tried and fewer succeeded.' Which meant that people had won in the past. Others who had refused to bow their heads.
Staring out over the space, he looked past Aion, past Zeus, to the uncomfortable chair in which Akiza still slumbered. There was no way that he would be leaving without her. It wasn't going to happen. While he had been going through the motions of living out his final days, she had burst in and given him hope. Hope…
Looking down at the Deck strapped to his arm, he felt that same hope starting to ignite inside him. "I want to up the stakes." It was a final roll of the dice. Either she was right and he was going to lose either way or Yusei was about to show up a god and win it big. "If I win, you have to help prevent whatever it is that you think I'm going to do." Aion paused, perturbed by the display of resolution.
"You have a remarkable tenacity." Weighing the risks for herself, she wondered if all of humanity had potential to share such strength. "What do you barter in exchange? Will you accept to leave your life behind and begin anew in a different land? To never again interact with anything which might cause you to remember?" Her best attempt had failed once already. Further actions might be needed to reinforce the narrative she planned to feed him.
"If I lose, you can put me on the moon for all I care." Putting on his best game face, Yusei knew that there was no way he could do this alone. But he wasn't alone. Looking over at the scarlet mane, he made himself a silent promise for when this nightmare was finally over. "It's a deal. Now, I activate Synchro Spirits!" For a moment, his opponent appeared disappointed. After such a display of inner strength, it seemed to have been nothing except a cover for his denial.
"I know the future of every one of your cards." Sighing across the space, she was impatiently awaiting her turn to end this charade. "None of your Synchro monsters can be summoned without a specific tribute and the only option you had was Road Warrior. Your future is empty."
"Perfect." Over in her pedestal, an unwitting prisoner began to stir. "Because that means I can write whatever I want in there." Aion was not unsettled. All that she had to do was look into the futures of his cards and see that they went nowhere. As they had done all along. "Let's write this one together." On his field, three of the monsters began to dissolve into beads of light.
"What is this?" Looking further ahead, she still saw nothing. All of his choices and decisions had led here and no further. His cards had no future and neither should he. This should have been impossible. "How are you doing this?"
"A cold flame warms the stars," A quake ran through the room. Not one of Aion's slips which had displayed images on the wall or illusions of days long past. This was her losing her grip and letting the edges of her control weaken. "Dark flowers which inspire the cosmos." A pillar of palest rose exploded behind him and scattered petals around the entire hall. "Appear! Black Rose Dragon!" Coiling up from the earth in thrashing tendrils and razor-sharp petals, the beautiful monster filled the impossible place with its scream.
In the world outside, an anxious onlooker noticed the flicker in the air. Not much but enough to spot the outline Yusei had described. "There you are." After so long repressing the two creatures inside her, letting them have a longer leash had been uncomfortable. Yet it was definitely worth it at the moment. Falling gracelessly to where she had seen Yusei enter, one massive purple fist was drawn back. "Knock, knock."
Having the doors explode in behind him was the least exciting part of his day. There was only one person with the drive and ability to break in and – for once – they were in complete agreement. "Get Akiza." Keeping his eyes locked onto Aion, he was gambling that she couldn't do anything. If she tried to stop Musume, it would break off the Duel and he would win by default. Not that it mattered. He was starting to remember the past months, years. Working at the SRC, participating in the Pegasus Trinidad Tournament. Everything.
"Can you still see the future?" Pulling a card from his graveyard, Yusei displayed it plainly for his opponent to see. It had been discarded by Cards of Consonance to gain a fresh hand. A tactic which Aion had said wouldn't be of any use. "Because I think your gift has left you blind in other ways. Black Rose Dragon," Curling protectively around him, the vicious beast hissed at the towering being on the other side of the field. "Cut that sparking fool down to size with Black Binding Bloom." Puffing out a deep breath, thousands of sharp petals swarmed about Zeus and began slicing through the out layer of his muscle.
"So what?" Terrified now that she could no longer predict the outcome, Aion was as lost as Jack was with three maps, two guides and a literal Sherpa trying to show him the way. "Mighty Zeus cannot be destroyed by such a lowly creature. It," Those eyes! In all her many centuries, she hadn't seen eyes like those!
"Never." And he reached for a card that had been waiting a long time. "Insult her that way again. Rose Curse!" Until that moment, the only damage that Aion had taken had been the consolation points she had let Yusei score at the beginning, sure that she had been leading him down a path to failure. With a sudden shift in ATK points, Rose Curse was able to take that number and inflict it to her as damage. Worse, the effect of Black Rose Dragon was still in effect. Her only line of protection was a crippled god. "Black Rose Dragon." Looking up at the monster, the last of Yusei's memories fell into place. He had won and the conditions were fulfilled. "Bring her home."
Game Over
Winner: Yusei Fudo
"That's impossible." Cards tumbled from her fingers only to fly back to Aion's Deck. They were as tightly bound together as any family and loathe to be apart. Near the seats at the rear of the hall, a column cracked and fell. Then another. Each one let the space inside the hall almost wash away as the natural state of the place they were in start to encroach once more.
"Maybe you are a god of time." Whatever pressure had been preventing him from coming any further had vanished with the end of the match. Walking across the space, he was passed by Musume carrying a half-conscious Akiza out in one arm. "But when it comes to games?" Towering over the defeated party, Yusei seemed to swell into enormity with his overwhelming presence. "I'm the King of Games!"
Another pillar crumbled and fell, letting more of the almost-reality wash into the place. "That blasted dragon of yours had enough of a connection to its overlord to stop me targeting you directly. It forced me to manipulate your memories, hide Akiza away personally." Not exactly gracious in defeat, Aion was spitting the words at him. "I witnessed the future of every one of your cards. When they would be drawn, how they would be used." A wave of possibility rushed over the plain thrones and took them back to the raw material they had been forged from. "How did you do it?" Barely able to stand, Yusei almost towered over the diminished deity.
"Not my cards." What narrow path they had left to the entryway was vanishing and leaving the pair stranded on a disappearing island of reality. "My Deck mixed with Akiza's. A few cards changed it from being mine or hers to being ours." A simple accident after collecting his Deck following the events on the burning boat. And the result had been strong enough to rewrite their fates. A brief scent of real air and proper water made it clear that his efforts had pulled through. Akiza was safe, Musume had seen to that. Even with their tiny island shrinking by the minute, Aion remained bowed on the rubble-strewn floor. It was a pathetic sight for one such as her.
"We're going." Aion looked up in amazement. Nobody who had come before had ever shared the slightest hint of humility or care towards the losing party. Gods looked down on people and people feared gods. That was how it had been for all of history. "Don't forget," Grabbing bundles of cloth in his hands, Yusei threw the weakened enemy over his shoulders. "You set out to stop a calamity. It's going to be hard to do that if you stay here."
Sprinting as fast as he could go only seemed to make the void chasing him grow faster. Stones frequently dipped from below his feet and fell into the growing abyss and – on more than one occasion – he had the disconcerting feeling that parts of his feet were actually dissipating before reconstructing themselves as the void nagged at his heels. As he neared the translucent portal to the outside world, part of the roof above collapsed and let chaos flood into the area.
For a moment, he paused at the egress and looked back on the dissipating arena. In a single moment of compassion, he realised that this was what Aion beheld every second of existence. That something could possibly undo all that had come before and must never occur. Then he stepped through the archway and let the pantheon disappear once again.
When he had entered the strange building, it had been floating a few inches above a pretty little pond. When he stepped out of it, gravity took a sharp look in his direction and pulled the pair towards the expanse of water with a vengeful grip. Three inches of water is enough to drown a person. Coupled with the additional weight of an entire additional person, the three feet he was floundering in was definitely enough to put up a fight.
Breaching the surface, he noticed a sight both wonderful and aggravating. "No, don't help." Keeping Aion's head just above the waterline, he began wading ashore.
"Wasn't planning on it." Ignoring the struggle in the water, Musume was bracing Akiza upright. They were having a difficult conversation trying to explain why she had woken up in the middle of a Duel between Yusei and a Greek deity taking place in a floating partheneon. It was neither a quick nor easy explanation.
"Thanks." Flopping ashore, he literally dropped his cargo the minimal safe distance from rolling back into the lake and collapsed about a foot closer. "Really." Aside from nearly letting him drown – which was par for the course – Musume had been invaluable in getting him this far. Without her help, he wouldn't have ever reached the park.
"Don't mention it." Ignoring his current struggles, she was more interested in the state of her mother. "Are you okay?"
"She was never in any danger." Breathing heavily on the damp soil, Aion was struggling to process the first loss she had ever experienced. She was sure that every eventuality had been planned for. Sheer, dumb luck had beaten her. "Once enough time had passed to prevent the coming calamity, I would have released her back into the world."
"Keep talking and you'll see me really lose my temper." Because her mother was present, Musume was resisting the urge to tear the kidnapper apart and beat her with her own bloody limbs.
"Wait," Still catching up on the events she hadn't been entirely present for, Akiza could grasp the theory readily enough. "Your plan was to keep me asleep on a stone chair for years on end?" Because her daughter with anger issues was present, she was resisting the urge to walk over and begin kicking the fallen figure.
"That seat belonged to Aphrodite. You should be grateful for the honour." Because Yusei was sick of his head being messed with and had little patience left, he did flail one exhausted leg in the rough direction of the speaker. Then he remembered the way she had been referring to her monsters.
"And where is Aphrodite?" Rest period over, he stumbled to his feet. Seeing Akiza safe was enough to drive him for a while longer. "Or Poseidon, Ares or the rest?" There had been twelve empty seats in the vanished building. If he was a gambling man, he would have bet that their owners hadn't used them in a while.
"Gone." An empty tone underlined her words. "I am the only one left."
"What happened to them?" Musume knew that voice. She had heard it before. It had used to be hers.
"My family loved the company of our people." Sitting upright, she began to wring out the white robe. It was sodden from the brief immersion in the water. "When their world began to change and faith began to wane, my family decided to spend their last days with their followers. Even my brother departed to fade alongside them." The decline of the Ancient Greek empire was a bloody affair. After Alexander fell and Rome invaded, the empire crumbled. With their faith starting to dwindle, the various gods had gathered up remaining followers and gone off to join them in the twilight. "I'm sure that it brought them all some comfort."
"Can we circle back to why I was kidnapped and where I've been for the past two days?" Giving a tentative sniff, Akiza was building up through the smaller details first. Last time that she had missed two days, it had involved studying, dangerous levels of coffee and a smell she didn't wish to smell ever again.
"Why are you being so forthcoming?" Three thoughts occupied Yusei's mind. Foremost was Akiza's wellbeing. Last was they would deal with the fallout of everyone forgetting she had existed for the last two days. (That one was a more minor concern. People forget people every day.) Sandwiched in the middle was that Musume had just used 'forthcoming' in a sentence. "Fuck off." Noticing his glance, she also remembered that her mother was standing two feet away. "Shit." Which didn't help her credit.
"I agreed to the terms of the trial." Pulling back her hood, an icy mane of silver hair cascaded out over Aion's back. "I'm bound to my word and must assist you in stopping the coming calamity." Standing up, she turned to face the group for the first time.
"Now's the part where you actually tell us what that means." Golden eyes stared at Musume from an olive complexion with a look she hadn't seen before. Not contempt but closer to disdain. Like that one co-worker who always flouts the rules and constantly gets away with it because they know the boss.
"Nothing that your kind has ever faced before." Looking at her recent defeater, a slight scowl settled on her face. "And you're right in the middle of it." Gazing at him with sight that went far past what they could understand, even Aion was struggling to recognise what she was seeing. "You and yet… not you. Just not yet." Taking a step forward, she stumbled slightly.
"Hey!" Musume would generally have shoved anyone stumbling in her direction away but Aion actually fell as she approached. Instinctively catching the falling figure, her still glowing fingers detected the sort of strangeness that should have been over. Throwing the pair into Akiza, she dragged all three to one side just as another bolt of darkness speared into the ground where Aion had been standing. "Run!" Dragging her mother in one hand and the shuddering body in the other, Musume sprinted into the treeline with Yusei barely following before another one smashed into a tree beside his head.
"What's happening now?" It should have been over after beating Aion. That's what he had planned on. Hopefully, Musume had some insight into what this new twist was.
"No idea." Although most of the visitors to the park had been distracted by Jack, there were still a plenty of pedestrians hanging around to get witness the impossible. Grunting between steps, Musume managed to slowly recede the wings and tail until they disappeared over several seconds. "Nobody mentioned this." Realising that carrying a body in one hand was probably the second-most likely part of her appearance to draw attention, she tucked one arm around her shoulders and threw the other to Yusei. "How bad is it?"
Struggling to keep up with the constantly changing situation, Akiza's healing instincts could at least focus on her patient. Smoothing out the robe as she ran along behind the trio, any concern about the entourage was alleviated by the sight of a famous Duellist with a Duel Disk one arm and a famous doctor in tow. It was obviously a horrible accident during a Duel and they were running for medical aid. "It looks like she was burned." Enough damage had been done that she could tear open a small hole to examine the surface beneath. "Whoa!" Even in the midst of a panicked fleeing, her tone was enough to draw Yusei's attention.
"What is it?" Shifting the arm over his head, he held it in front of him as they continued to run in the direction of the car park. "Urgh." What looked like skin wasn't probably not meant to bubble and stain like that. Like custard on a heat too high.
"I don't know what to do." Stumbling as they reached the gravel car park, she had no idea even what sort of wound it was. Nothing in medical school had covered what to do when a former god was struck by a blast of pure darkness. "Did you bring a car?"
"Oh, yeah." Spotting the patrol car, Musume reached out a hand towards Yusei. "Keys!" They were in a rush and there was no time to argue. Tossing over the set, he hoped that she knew how to drive a car. From their experience in America, he knew that she hadn't learned to drive a Duel Runner until the opportunity had arisen. "You," Dropping the arm she had been holding, Musume gave the other redhead a slight push around the car. "You're riding shotgun."
Sliding in after his quarry, all doors shut within a second of each other and the same second in which Musume had the vehicle childishly skidding around to spray gravel and shot towards the exit.
"Who was that?" There hadn't been time to check for the attacker. Maybe Aion had seen who it was in advance. Unfortunately, she wasn't in any condition to provide any great insight.
"My brother told me something before he left." The pain burning through her was beyond human comprehension. "That the past was behind him, that he would live in the present and the future was mine to protect." Gripping him by the front of his jacket, she stared into his eyes with an intensity born from desperation. "I will stave it off as long as I can. The rest is up to you." Pulling him in close, she whispered into an ear. The last words were barely out before her grip slackened.
"She's unconscious." Checking for a pulse, Yusei regretted their choice of seating arrangement. He only had a basic understanding of human anatomy. Broken bones and emergency first-aid was the extent of his skill set. "But I think she's alive."
"Where should we go?" Blaring sirens through heavy traffic was a heady dream of Musume's. She had known Crow had several run-ins with Sector Security and their prime advantage in chases was being able to overcome their lack of skill by clearing the streets in advance. Being able to mesh her skill with that ability had them reaching speeds rarely seen outside action films. Turbo Duels rarely went that fast because the wind resistance would rip cards from hands.
"I know one place that should be safe."
There were some mixed feelings about locking Aion away in the hidden floor of Building Eight. Part of Yusei was ashamed to use his position in such a way without telling any of the other staff. Part of Musume was jealous that the room she had spent eight years in had been given away so callously. Part of Akiza wandered if there was any point in trying to strengthen the new walls. Doubtless, they had been reinforced to keep somebody of Musume's level inside but there was no telling how powerful Aion could be if she awakened. At least they would be able to keep her safe inside.
"Jack and Crow are okay." They had been the first call after escaping the park. Yusei had felt bad about leaving his brothers behind but the car didn't have enough space for six. There also hadn't been much time to stop and search for them. "Whatever happened over the weekend seems fuzzy to them but they're fine." Of course, both his brother's had understood the tactical reasoning and also had a variety of choice criticisms regarding his duplicity.
"The twins don't seem to have noticed." Akiza had called them both while Yusei tried to placate his brothers. Hers had been the much easier task. "Leo was studying Duel Monsters all weekend and Luna just thinks she was tired after arranging some functions. Whatever Aion changed didn't seem to affect them too much." Her own experiences as a dissipating spirit were another matter. One nobody was able to discuss right then.
"Just like that, she gets a full pass?" Being shunted sideways from reality had made Musume less than pleased with the slumbering deity. Peeling the gleaming Duel Disk off, she placed it on a nearby table. It was very tempting to pick out a few cards. But some things were better left alone.
"After changing the course of history, taking away my memories and endangering my family to try and do the right thing?" It was not a gentle reminder of her own past actions that had been begrudgingly forgiven. Even now, when she continued to express displeasure at his every breath, she received a blank record. "Just like that."
"I don't get it." Attaching wires and monitors to the sleeping being, Akiza couldn't figure out the reasons behind her abduction. "Why come after me?" Whatever facsimile of humanity was lying on the bed had the most perfect vitals she had ever seen. Textbook to the last detail. Inserting a nutrient drip, she couldn't think of anything else to do. This was beyond her expertise.
"She didn't say." There had only been time for a few short sentences before Aion had passed out. After the strain of summoning the departed images of her family and then being struck like that, it was unclear if she would ever awaken.
"What did she tell you?" Walking out of the cube, Akiza watched as Yusei began sealing the layers of security. It was best if nobody was ever able to get into the box. None of them were even going to pretend that it would present any difficulty for Aion. "After you won?"
"That she was only trying to stop the progress of something worse than anything we have ever seen." Typical. There was always something worse. If it wasn't Sector Security, it was Dark Signers. If it wasn't Dark Signers, it was Yliaster. If it wasn't Yliaster, it was family. "Standard stuff." Stepping back, he indicated the panels to Akiza to enter her own passwords and biometric data. In the likely event that the delayed investigation by the International Criminal Court stripped him of his position, they would need someone who could still get into the room.
"I was there for that bit." Letting the light scan her retinas and palms, she inputted a lengthy combination of keys and characters to use should Yusei not be around to unlock the box. "What did she tell you in the car?" If it had been anyone but the two Izinski women, Yusei would have mulled over the information for a while longer. As it was, Musume was the most suited – and indeed only – one of his friends to help next and Akiza... Akiza was special.
"Whoever's behind it all isn't just coming after Yusei Fudo anymore." It was strange to refer to himself in the third person. Strange but necessary. "They're coming after the King of Games." Watching the heavy panels slowly whirr into place, the three Duellists watched their view into the light get slowly stripped away. "All three of us." Then the door closed, leaving them in darkness.
In a future that was long past, a very particular phone call was connected. "It's me." On a polished table, dozens of cards were spread out. Some of the rare, some of them impossible, all of them powerful and dangerous in the wrong hands. It had been years in the planning but the moment was nearly upon them. Nothing could be left to chance. "You know why I'm calling."
"Then it's time?" Each voice was parts sombre, exhilarated and angry. Nothing like this had ever happened before. New ground was being broken in ways nobody had thought possible before. History in the remaking.
"Yes." A sinister eye looked out over the view from the window. Liquid fire erupted in the distance under a crimson moon, the night sky glinting with dark intentions. "I assume that you've got a plan?"
"This has been a long time coming. We have plans within plans." Standing at a window to gaze over the twinkling sea, the recipient of the call felt a powerful hunger gnawing away inside that could only one thing could sate. "I'll be there soon. Have your group prepared?"
"As much as we can be." It was a move nobody could see coming. Everyone involved had taken great pains to ensure that. "We'll be ready when you get here." Power, raw and wild flooded out across the vast office and shook the mighty building. Creatures and beings most people would never know of took note and rose up as they heard the call to arms. "It's time that Yusei realises the merits of his actions."
This was the one that I got stuck on. I really wanted to make a good Deck for Aion and spice up the show-down. It just took me a while longer than I expected.
Remember: patience is a virtue and painkillers help those headaches as much as reviews bring smiles. (Make me smile.)