Chapter 29: Going Home

After the talk at Goodwin's mansion, the four signers, Leo, Trudge, and Mina boarded a helicopter bound for Satellite. Akiza stared out the window, eyeing the landscape deep in thought.

"Hey."

A gentle hand on her shoulder caught her attention. Turning her head, she was met with Yusei's kind smile.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Akiza sighed, and leaned on his shoulder.

"I'm scared."

Yusei nodded.

"I am too."

"You? The fearless Yusei Fudo?"

Yusei nodded.

"Those Immortals are something entirely different. I barely escaped my duel with Kalin alive. Of course I'm scared, its natural to be. I don't want to lose you, Akiza."

Akiza smiled, and kissed his cheek.

"You won't, but I don't want to lose you either. So you'd better not die!"

Yusei chuckled, and pulled her into a hug.

"Deal."

"Everyone, we're approaching the landing zone. Get ready to depart."

The helicopter landed right outside of Martha's orphanage, where the woman herself was outside waiting to greet them. Akiza smiled, and gave her Foster Mother a big hug.

"Akiza, so good to see you! Just look at you, you're almost bigger than me!"

"It's good to see you too, Martha. Is Crow around?"

Martha sighed, and shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid I haven't seen him since he dropped Yusei off after his duel with Kalin. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll be around at some point."

Akiza nodded.

"Now come in, let's get you something to eat."

"Oh, that's okay. I-"

But Martha insisted, dragging her into the house.

"Come on, you know you missed my cooking."
Well, she had her there.

Dinner was a pleasant affair, with Martha's cooking pleasant as always. Akiza got a good kick out of Martha forcing Trudge to help with the dishes. But still, the looming presence of their coming battle made her uneasy.

That night, she stayed in her old room, staring up at the ceiling. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Can I come in?"

"It's open!"

Yuseii pushed open the door, walking in and taking a seat at the foot of her bed.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Yusei shook his head.

"I keep thinking about these immortals. Back during my duel with Kalin, I couldn't even hope to scratch that thing. Now there's more of them?"

Akiza nodded.

"I didn't even get to face one, but the sheer power of those Dark Signers…"

Yusei smiled, and pulled her into a hug.

"We'll get through it. We always do."

Akiza returned the smile, and rested her head on his chest.

"Signers…come out and play!"

The two jumped, already on edge. Even without looking out the window, they knew who it was.

"I guess it's showtime."

"We've got this."

The two of them ran out to find a man with white hair, a cloak, and a glowing Spider mark on his arm waiting for them.

"What do you want?"

The man chuckled, a deep booming laugh that sent shivers down Akiza's spine.

"Why, the destruction of you signers, of course! And it all starts now! My name is Roman, and it's time for the war to begin!"

Raising his hand, the Dark Signer summoned flames all around them, cutting Yusei and Akiza off from each other.

"Yusei!"

"I'll be fine, don't worry! Just keep an eye on everyone else."

Akiza nodded, and ran inside.

To say things went bad would be an understatement. Roman got off to an early lead with a Dark Synchro Monster which could absorb Yusei's monsters. And even when Yusei managed to deal with it, Roman then brought out his Earthbound Immortal Uru, and even from where she was standing, Akiza could feel its tremendous power.

Things took a turn for the worse when the shockwaves from the duel began rocking the building. Martha, who had come to the roof to grab back one of the children who wanted to watch, slipped and nearly fell into the geoglyph, but Akiza was quick to catch her. But the roof they were standing didn't help, and she started to slip.

"Hang on, Martha!"

"Save yourself!"

"No! I won't leave you!"

But Akiza couldn't hold on forever, something Martha could tell. So with a sad smile, she uttered her final words:

"Take care of Yusei."

And let go, plunging into the battlefield.

"Martha!"

Everyone could only watch in horror as Martha's body turned into an orb of energy and shot into Uru's body, much to Yusei's shock. Roman just chuckled.

"Aw, how sweet. Don't worry, you'll be seeing her soon!"

Seeing his foster mother die in front of him did give Yusei resolve, and he began pushing back. But just when it looked like he might prevail, Roman revealed one final trick up his sleeve by switching places with Rally, forcing him to duel Yusei in his place. Yusei couldn't bring himself to finish Rally off, but The Satellite resident wasn't going to let Yusei sacrifice himself for him, using his Turbo Cannon to destroy Uru and lose the duel. Yusei could only hold his friend in his arms in despair as he turned to dust.

"Rally…"

Roman chuckled, drawing the attention of everyone as four other individuals appeared behind the Dark Signer, each bearing a different mark.

"So, we finally meet! Signers vs Dark Signers, the battle begins anew!"

"Why are you doing this?" Leo shouted. "Those people didn't do anything to you"

"Why? Because it's destiny!" Roman chuckled. "And if you want to see any of them again, you'll need to defeat us and seal the towers before sunset!"

"Little girl," Roman's second in command snarled to Luna. "I have something you may be interested in."

Luna gasped when she saw what it was.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

"If you want it back, then I suggest you meet me at the Monkey tower. I'll be waiting."

With that, the five walked off into the mist. But Jack saw something that caught his eye.

"No…it can't be…"

"Jack?"

Before anyone could stop him, Jack took off running after them.

"Jack, wait!"

But Jack was too far ahead to hear, leaving the other three signers to stare in shock. They didn't know what was in store for them, but they knew it couldn't be good.