"I've just now released him from my control." Rutger states, looking down at us all. "If he wants to win, then fight. If he wants to lose, then lose. However, surrendering is not allowed in this duel. Now, kid, do whatever you want!"

Yusei stares up at the Dark Signer that stands above the field and its inhabitants. The blue-eyed duelist tenses, ready for the rug to be pulled out from under him. "What are you saying?"

"Yusei," Rally finally speaks. The man with the spider mark had disappeared and the young duelist took his place. "Whoever loses this duel will be terminated."

"What?"

The man with the spider mark had disappeared and the young Rally was forced to take his place.

"Because of him, Blitz, Taka, and Nerve are gone." The small boy isn't short tempered, but he turns to scowl at Rutger above us. What kind of man must one be to take so many lives? I feel the grief of their loss sweep over me, adding onto the already suffocating dolour. Though we hadn't known each other for very long, these four boys were like brothers to me. We had been through too much together for it not to affect me.

"How dare you!" Yusei's harsh words are directed only at Rutger for his sick machinations.

Rally places his hand atop his deck, pulling out a card swiftly. "My turn!"

"Don't do it, Rally!"

The leader of the Dark Signers laughs maliciously. Wicked joy splits his face in a wide grin. "You have to fight if you want to live!"

Rally looks as if he might cry, but then he stifles those tears and puts on a tough face. "Earthbound Immortal Uru's effect! I release one monster on my field to gain control of one monster on your field." A web shoots from Uru's mouth, wrapping around One Shot Booster and spins it over to his field. I can see him bracing himself and trying to keep the tears at bay. He's being so strong. Why did it have to be him? "I summon One Shot Rocket!"

Yusei stiffens, then reaches out to the younger duelist. "Don't do it, Rally!" He then places his hand on his chest. "Attack and defeat me!"

"No!" I've never seen Rally look so determined before, so vehement in his disagreement. My shoulders sag when I realize that there is no changing his mind. "Yusei, you're Satellite's only hope! That's why..."

"Rally, don't!"

"Level 2 One Shot Rocket tunes Level 1 One Shot Booster. Synchro Summon! One Shot Cannon!"

One Shot Cannon? The monster effect on that Synchro Summon... No way! Rally is going to...!

That was why the other were all shouting his name. They knew. "Please stop, Rally!" I cried, figuring out his plans to sacrifice himself.

"Don't do it, Rally!" Yusei pleads.

Rally's eyes stay wet but he stubbornly refuses to let himself cry. "One Shot Cannon's effect, I destroy one monster on the field and the controller of that monster takes damage equal to it's attack points."

"Rally!" We both scream.

"I'm sorry, Yusei. This is all I can do." Rally's small, private smile is replaced by a detached anger at the Dark Signers. "The monster I select is Earthbound Immortal Uru! Final Shot!" The robotic monster floats high up and almost disappears into the sky to become equal height with Uru. It shines bright yellow, before a beam comes out and strike the Earthbound Immortal, causing it to implode. The small redhead is blasted by the effect as well, rolling to a stop on the ground. With Uru's 3000 attack points, it depletes Rally's life points effortlessly. I wish for nothing more than to be able to run to him. He treated my wounds when I was down, and now I couldn't give him the same treatment. What failure, to be unable to help my friends when they need me.

Yusei runs to him, turning the boy over in his arms. I leave the boys with Jack once the flames die down, cursing and sprinting toward the crumpled form of the blue-eyed duelist. Scampering forward, I almost reach them but trip and face plant into the asphalt. I slide from the momentum, my outreached hand stopping short of touching the redhead's sleeve before he turns to stone. I can feel the scrapes on my front start to burn, but I block it out, eyes locked on Rally's that were once so full of life. I have only a few short seconds, then all he is is dust in the wind.

He had just slipped through my fingers. One second he was there, and then he was gone. Still in shock, I barely recognize the hot tears spilling down my face. I couldn't even say goodbye.

A wail tears through the man beside me as his dear friend disintegrates in his arms. We lost two amazing people in such a short amount of time. I can't possibly imagine what's going through Yusei's mind. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I can hear the others approaching, but I ignore them, as well as my clothes which had seen better days.

Martha, Rally, Taka, Blitz, Nerve... We won't let your deaths be in vain.

Peeling myself off the ground, I feel Yusei's gloved hand curl around my arm, pulling me closer to him and closely embracing me with one arm. He doesn't make a sound, but the warm dribble of tears onto my shoulder speaks a thousand words at once.

"That was interesting." Rutger stands on a raised piece of broken asphalt, and behind him, the other four Dark Signers approach. Two men and two women. Oddly enough, it seems like a shadow follows them, it's figure unrecognizable and dim. They all wear black robes and have black sclera. "The real battle between the Signers and the Dark Signers is just getting started."

On his right, another man of similar stature speaks, but I can't see his face, as his hood obscures it well. "Each battle will be determined by the star of destiny."

Kiryu is the last to approach the edge to look down on us. His light blue locks curtain his eyes. "Yusei, you shouldn't think that you conquered your fear of Earthbound Immortals. There's still plenty of fears left, like your fear of me, or your fear of losing her." Kiryu says, laughing.

"Yeah, I'm scared." He releases me, slowing standing to his full height. Slowly, sorely, I copy his actions. He keeps a protective arm out in front of me, just in case. "I'm scared of my own anger! I will defeat you! Dark Signers... I'll never forgive you."

Ignoring him blatantly, the hooded man flashes a card at Ruka. Ancient Fairy Dragon! "Young girl. This was supposed to be your card. If you want it back, then you'll have to battle me. I won't run or hide. My name is Demak. I am the Dark Signer with the Cusillu mark."

Rutger seems like the leader of the group, dictating what they shall do next. "For every star of destiny, we'll meet at our destined location." But that doesn't please Yusei.

"Wait! We're ending this here!" He and Jack both sprint after the group as they recede into darkness.

"Dark Signers! Don't run! Let's finish this!"

I ran after him as soon as I noticed him running, but I still lost him. The fog was so thick, I could barely see. The shadows were intense, and I started seeing shapes in the clouds of fog, things that weren't truly there. Yusei's form morphed into someone else and I lost my bearings. I can barely see a foot in front of me.

Ryuuga just wasn't around anymore. There was no way I could see him passing by in the smoke. There is no way I can see him looking over his shoulder at me in the distance, nodding to me, as though saying, 'come get me!' I had to be seeing things because he was dead. He can't be here.

There are no Friday nights with instant ramen and televised duels anymore. There is no welcome-home hug and there is no dinner at 6. There is no "Goodnight. I love you, my little Queen of Games."

There is no Ryuuga and Pinoko against the world. Not anymore, but I still cry out for him with the last of my hope.

"Onii-san?" It's a question at first, then I'm sure. "Onii-san! Please, come back!"


We had returned empty-handed and no one had taken the sobering news well, but Yusei had managed to defuse the situation.

"Is what you said true? If we defeat them, will everyone who's soul was taken come back?" Jack asks from his place near Martha's dining table. His severe eyes leave no room for fibs, and Yusei waits to answer. "Well?"

"I don't know," he replies. His hair blocks my view of his eyes.

I try to catch the sob with my hands, but it escapes me and I turn around. I rest my other hand on the back of a chair, making an attempt at composing myself. I don't want it to be a lie. Yusei had sent the three boys to bed with the promise. What would we tell them if he was wrong?

"What?"

"What are you saying, Yusei?" Ushio scolds him loudly and approaches him.

I can't see the duelist's deep blue eyes under his bangs. "It's just what I want to believe."

Jack curses, pulling a chair out to sit on aggressively. When I look back, the Security officer has his hands in Yusei's collar. "What's the point of lying?!"

I approach rapidly, pushing at the far larger and stronger man. "He's grieving, you wad!" He doesn't budge, so I grab his bicep and start pulling and trying to get him off of Yusei when he nudges me, but it's far rougher than he intended. I fall onto my ass, feeling the sting of new splinters from the wood flooring on the palm of my hands. Rua steps over me, his small frame still big enough to mostly shield me from view. I can see him trembling but he holds it together well. He practically growls at the buff Security Officer, knowing he could face severe repercussions.

"Stop that. Since Martha and Rally are gone, Yusei and Pinoko are really sad!" He widens his stance, lowering his head. "And you should know better than to hit a lady!"

I can't miss the exchange of glances between Ushio and Yusei. The officer sent an apologetic look to both him and me while the mechanic's was admonishing and visibly upset.

The Senator's daughter interjects. "I'll believe that Yusei spoke the truth. If we defeat them, everyone will return." There isn't a sliver of doubt in her voice and it almost gets me to believe it, too.

"You just want to believe that because you feel guilty for everything you've done!" the former King rages from across the room.

"You may be right." Aki turns to Jack and opens up her striking tequila brown eyes to bore into him. "But from now on, things are different. I want to duel in order to protect everyone! I want to believe that our fates are connected beyond the duel!"

"Aki may be right," Mikage says, turning to the group of us as Yusei picks me up off the floor and places me gently on my feet. "We must close the door to the underworld."

"Exactly." Yusei nods. "We have to believe in our future."

Saiga, ever the skeptic, questions the Dark Signers' last message. "They said they'll be waiting at the four stars of destiny. What are the stars of destiny?"

"They're probably the four control units that maintained the previous Moment," Mikage offers, ever the historian. It begs the question: How does she know so much about the previous Moment? Did Godwin teach her? "Their seals were broken right before the previous Moment went out of control. Those control units had four code names."

"I've heard of these. Ccapac Apu, Ccarayhua, Asila Piscu, and Cusillu," I say, forgetting for a moment that I haven't told any of them about my past. The eight pairs of eyes that look questioningly at me prompts me to explain a little about myself. "My brother, he... He did a lot of odd jobs, and I mean really odd jobs. That's how I know about Professor Fudo and the previous Moment. Its also why I know about the fifth card. Fudo had given a card to my Brother, one he held onto with all he had, until his death. I never met the Professor myself, but Ryuuga often told me what a stand-up guy he was. Crystal Gleam Dragon is a card I haven't thought of in a long time. I... left it on his casket. When we buried him."

It wasn't a card he gifted me, no. Rather, it is one that I inherited from him. Her defense was the craziest thing about her at 3400 points. Each of her effects come from payments of her attack and defense points, but she deals a lot of damage in other ways. Her monster effects were Ryuuga's favorite to use in battle, besides his unbreakable defense of course.

"I was not informed of such things." Mikage's stare takes on a stern manner, but she doesn't direct it at us. She's probably questioning why Godwin would withhold information from her. "Anyway, those names translate into the geoglyphs that disappeared."

"But, what about the spider? And the dog?" Ruka questions.

"The spider is Uru, the code name for the previous Moment itself. The dog is Allcu, the gate on the previous Moment." placeholder "In order to seal the previous Moment, you must turn on those control units."

"So, what, Rutger is the Final Boss of the Dark Signers?" The former witch wonders aloud.

"He's telling us to face him after we defeat the other four... five?"

"The cards that you're using... Ancient Fairy Dragon is in the hands of the enemy and Crystal Gleam Dragon is nowhere to be found." Mikage tilts her head down, looking displeased at not having the whole truth before. "But we need those cards to seal the units. I don't know what Crystal Gleam Dragon is used to operate, but it must be important. Professor Fudo entrusted those cards to the Director."

"My father? Can it be?" Yusei's face transforms into one of surprise. "He was the one who broke the seals?"

Ryuuga would sometimes just go get them meals and take them to the labs, but other times it was delivering parts and equipment if necessary. Professor Fudo said they sometimes had problems with Security swiping ingredients. Professor Fudo is the one that gave Ryuuga his most precious card. It then became my most precious card, once he passed. They wouldn't let me see the body. It was a sombre affair, no laughing nor smiling, though he would have preferred it that way.

It wasn't a card he gifted me, no. Rather, it is one that I inherited from him. Crystal Gleam Dragon. Her defense was the craziest thing, 3400 points. Each of her effects come from payments of her attack and defense points, but she deals a lot of damage in other ways, too. Her monster effects were Ryuuga's favorite to use in battle.

"No, Yusei. He was trying to stop Moment from going haywire."


At the behest of Yusei and surprisingly Jack and Rua as well, I agreed to stay home while they meet the Dark Signers, hoping to be less of a burden on those who are going to fight. It would be best if I stayed with Saiga and the kids for the moment. Yusei told me it would be best for non-Signers to stay away from their activities, and we agreed for once. It didn't make it any easier to be sending him off tomorrow. All of them could be going to their deaths while I'm sitting safe at home. It doesn't feel right.

Knock knock knock

"Yusei?" I call out to him through the door, hoping he hasn't fallen asleep. In short manner after the patter of feet, the door swings open. He's not dressed like I expected, clad in only dark green flannel pajama pants.

"What's wrong?" he asks, eyes scanning my face and body, searching me for injuries. "Is everything okay?" His hand cups my jaw, thumb stroking my cheek and the look he gives me makes me feel so cared for that I almost forget why I came.

"I-I couldn't sleep. Too much happened today. I was hoping I could, you know," I look at the pillow and blanket bundled up in my arm pointedly. "Bunk with you tonight?"

His shoulders slump and his chest deflates, like he was holding in a bated breath or tensing for battle and finally let it go. "Of course you can. I'd honestly appreciate the company, right now." He holds the door open a little wider for me to slip through, and I do. "I've missed you. Having you close to me." I can tell, as I'm not even fully through the doorway and he's grabbing my waist.

"Do you want to talk about...?" I'm sure he knows what I'm asking, but I don't have the heart to put it into words.

"No, thank you." His reply is too quick. Maybe someday later, he will be ready, but that day is not today. "I'd rather just... hold you. Even if I don't end up getting any sleep. There's a lot on my mind and I haven't been sleeping well." He guides me to the bed and holds the covers up for me to get under. I get in and throw my blanket atop us both.

He switches off the lights from his side of the bed, and I turn to him in the darkness. "Goodnight, Yusei. Good luck, if I don't see you before, well..."

He leans over me, his muscles standing out against his bronze skin. I can barely make it out from the moonlight shining through the window. "I love you. I don't know if I'm going to come back, so I..."

"I love you, too." I blurt out, not thinking about the ramifications of what I just confessed. I was too focused on his possible loss. "But don't talk like that. I don't know what I'd do if you were gone, so don't go thinking that's an option." I sniffle, holding back the waterworks that threatened to flow.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm going to make them pay for what they did, for trying to take you as well." Embracing me, his skin brands me, so hot it feels like lava where it touches me. I know we shouldn't do anything untoward in this house, not with all the kiddos around, but I can't help feeling it. I want to be closer to him than I've ever been to a man. I had never known the touch of a man, but this was the one I feel I've been saving it for. I'm ready. My mom had always wanted me to wait for marriage, but I just wanted to wait until I found the one.

He leans down to kiss me, but it's only a chaste thing, a goodnight kiss that he pulls away from too soon. I guess it really is time for bed. I still savor the press of his chapped lips against my own, soaking up the love he pours into it. I'm so lucky. I fall asleep encircled in his embrace, feeling his warmth all night long.


I wake up to a shooting pain in my chest, enough to make my eyes prickle with hot, unshed tears. When I open them, I see a faint blue light although the room only has one small window and the light is completely obscured by the curtains. I'm alone in the bed, Yusei's side stone cold as if he'd been gone for a while. My throat is ice cold and yet also burning hot. I'm not sure what hurts more.

Some nights, the image behind my eyelids feels so real that I'm not certain if it's a dream. Lengths of gray hair, a flash of sea foam green orbs with no sympathy for our plight. I was just a baby, but emotional memories always leave their mark. I was so young when he left that it's all I remembered of my so-called father. Last night, the images were more solid. Not just him but also my brother. The two men that made the biggest impact on my life were both gone forever.

Ryuuga was more of a guardian to me than he ever was. But the thought doesn't last long, as I am back in the throes of wretched pain. Something is pulling me away, something needling me in the chest and yanking me in the direction it wants to go.

I got dressed as quickly as I could, following that tug. Careful not to make too much noise, I tiptoe out the front door. Stopping by the house to stand up the leaning moped I had left here what seemed like forever ago, I wheel it into the cover of the forest before I try the engine.

The ache doesn't subside, so I follow that tug hoping it will soon. It feels like hours, but has actually only been twenty minutes, according to the watch on my left wrist. It's pathetic, how little it takes to bother me. Yusei and the others have been toiling all night, and as soon as I have a little chest pain, and all I can do is complain.

I revved the engine, driving what felt like all night, but must not have been since it was still dark. Nothing had changed except the gas levels which were now almost empty. I had been so absorbed in looking for geoglyphs and signs of what I was searching for that I didn't realize how much time had passed. Watching the scenery go by allows me to think calmly. What will I do when I run out? Push it? Leave it? Sell it when I can?

The engine sputters. I'd have to decide sooner rather than later.


"Yusei..." I say to myself, looking up at the geoglyph of the giant in the sky, the same as when Yusei and Kiryu dueled before. It's fortunate that when I look back down, I find a sight that makes the tugging on my soul feel more like it's tearing apart. A big hole sits in the middle of a barren land, but I know what it is. Unlike many others from Satellite, I've been here before. I had come here looking for him once and was sent packing. I go back to pushing the worn-down moped toward the place that the pulling was leading me. "Don't stop fighting."

The sun hides under the horizon still, the dark of night in full swing. It's hard to see, but by looking next to my target, my eyes adjusted and I could make out the large pit and the figure on the other side of it. I got closer, and closer, dropping the moped in shock. The clang of metal on rock is deafening, especially in the relative silence around us. I also notices that the pit was quite shallow, a large metal shield covering the entrance and with only a small indent in the middle.

My older brother, who I thought to be dead, was on the other side of the chasm. How can he be standing in front of me right now? How is this even possible? He died more than XX years ago. I can't be looking at him. There must be some other explanation.

"I am the Dog. The guardian, the partner, the hunter, the affectionate, always-there companion, just like my lady Azure Dragon. I was always there for you, but I was going to die, Pinoko. I was going to die and leave you all alone, so I took control. I died my way, and I became something stronger. Capable of the revenge we both deserve, against the man who left us for dead."

"You became a Dark Signer, is that what you mean?" I wipe away the stray tears, not wanting him to see me like this. "To get back at our dad?"

"Not quite. I'm not a Dark Signer, my little Queen of Games. I'm something worse, I'm the dog of the scorned lover of the Crimson Dragon! And we are destined to duel, my precious nee-chan." He activates his dueldisk, taking a fighting stance. He has a second one in his free hand, and it's sea foam green, just like my eyes. "Have you ever heard of the Azure Dragon?"

"No." I wonder what he's going to tell me. Everywhere I turn, there are more speed bumps and twists than I bargained for. When will it all end? Will there be a day when we can simply relax again?

"She was the Crimson Dragon's lover, and he had forsaken her. Therefore, she ran away from the Spirit World and found herself here. She split into equal parts, love and hate, and one of them possessed each of us." He rips his shirt open, the black fabric made him look just like a Dark Signer, so forgive me for being confused. Between his pectoral muscles, a dark blue tattoo shines intensely into my eyes. It looks like a... pair of teeth? Maybe fangs? "When I was murdered by some thugs who dueled me in a crumbling sewer, I died in agony and with negative momentum. That allowed me to be reborn as the true part of my soul that I was blind to: The Azure Dragon's hatred. Her need for revenge. It wasn't the sickness. No one else turned out like me, though. None before and none after have had my blue mark. I'm a Dark Monk possessed by the Azure Dragon's hatred of her ex-lover, and you are the embodiment of her love. Family or not, we were destined to duel like this. It doesn't matter what we feel for each other, we are fated to be at odds." His words are harsh, but his expression is solemn. Even when he laughs, there is no smile upon his features.

"Yes, it does! Onii-san, of course it matters! I love you and I'll never forsake you no matter what you become!" I put on the duel disk he throws in my direction. There is no way around this part. I feel a burning hot sensation of ice in my chest, at the center of my bust, and the same blue light as earlier lights up my vision. "I will duel you to make you understand, but know that I cannot allow myself to lose. Not when so much is at stake!"

He throws his head back, his overgrown ginger mullet flying back. He really needs a haircut, but he doesn't care for appearances anymore. "You were never able to defeat me before, little Queen of Games. What makes you think anything will be different now?"

"I can't believe we're finally reunited... for one final duel, and it has to be on opposite sides. I'll prove to you I learned all that I needed to kick your butt!" I insert my carefully curated deck into the compartment, letting it shuffle the cards in preparation. No more stalling. "Duel!"