Author's Note:
The chapter that took 6 years in the making, is finally here.
How did the duel between Yusei and Mahdi end? How did Ra get into this? What happens next? It's below.
NineInchNailed.
"…But they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."
~Leonardo da Vinci
Stretching across the warehouse ruins, the slick crimson skin of the Sutekh Sacrificō emanated a murky glow. Pulsating sporadically, it appeared organic, almost as if it were breathing.
Yusei stood tall and calm within the sacrificial seal. Blood had soaked into his clothing and there were splatters of it on the ground all around him.
Yusei's wounds have now become irreversible but he did not feel them. He didn't care about his doomed condition while the warm sapphire aura radiated about him, numbing his true physical form and clearing his mind. There was thus not a trace of fear in his attentive eyes as they studied the gargantuan golden form that's appeared to have blocked out the sky.
The Winged Dragon of Ra hovered next to the tiny ghost of Mahdi, releasing a stream of scorching air with each rare breath. Its unspeakably powerful fiery aura was as bright as midday's sun and the Egyptian god's very presence commanded utmost respect…and terror. Gold washed armor covered every patch of its titanic body – including its mechanical claws and angelic wings – and made the divine creature appear as if it were conjured from precious metals. Ra's motionless, vacant red eyes appeared to be locked on the equally immense form of the Sky Dragon of Osiris on Yusei's side of the field.
On the most intrinsic level Yusei understood that Winged Dragon of Ra was one of the most intimidating and powerful monsters he has ever faced – or perhaps even the most. And yet, for unknown reason, the only thing he spoke when he opened his mouth, expressed nothing relating to panic or awe. Conclusively and evenly he stated, "That monster doesn't belong to you."
Mahdi's mouth contorted into a smile – or rather something resembling a grisly scar – and it signaled that he continued drawing acute pleasure from it all. "What makes you say that, Osiris?"
Yes, why? Yusei actually agreed and, almost as if on command, Mokuba Kaiba's accusatory voice floated out into his consciousness:
Do you mind explaining what one of the three forbidden Egyptian God cards and one of Mutou Yugi's most prized possessions is doing in your deck?
Ah yes…of course, Ra was Mutou Yugi's monster too. The second forbidden Egyptian God card. Everything always returned to this person, whoever he was.
But why does he have it? Did Mutou Yugi give it to him or did Mahdi take it from him? Yusei pondered and scowled."How did it come in your possession?" he demanded from his enemy.
A burning exhalation escaped Ra's wide and perpetually grinning mouth. It was as if it was rehearsing the white-hot flames it'd release with an attack. A weird feeling suddenly tugged at Yusei: he felt as if the monster's completely stagnant orbs were watching him, like anticipating something.
A mischievous smile still stained his opponent's eerie features. The bright tongues of fire rendered him made of glass. "As an essence of the most powerful deity in existence Winged Dragon of Ra owes allegiance to no one," Mahdi answered. "God cards choose their masters… Further it is only by its own desire that Ra even chooses to have one." He also spat with disgust, "And its pride will keep it from becoming anyone's slave."
So you think of your cards as slaves, Yusei thought and glanced at the Sky Dragon. God of Osiris' yellow eyes were as blank and unmoving as Ra's but its constantly moving tail protectively snaked in front of the Yusei. You're not my slave, Sky Dragon…none of my monsters are or ever have been. I'm only borrowing your power with Mutou Yugi's blessing…for one last time. The Signer returned his clear attention back to Mahdi and frowned. His answer was vague; it made it sound like the powerful monster just dropped on his lap one day. But was he telling the truth, that Ra didn't stay loyal to Yugi?
"Behold!" Mahdi exclaimed and raised his arms. "The attack and defense of Winged Dragon are the combined attack and defense of the monsters used to summon it. Thus…" Mahdi's lips stretched further, revealing teeth, "Its attack is 5800 points and defense 5600."
Golden god released an ear-splitting roar equivalent to a sky breaking open. Aki shrieked, uselessly trying to raise her hands to her ears and Yusei too lost some of his composure and had to cover his own. His Life Points were at 2300, superior to Mahdi's 350, but Sky Dragon's attack points were only 3000.
Mahdi sighed loudly; happily. "So this is it, Osiris."
Yusei calmly faced him.
"Winged Dragon attacks and it's all over," Mahdi hummed forebodingly. And Yusei knew that was very much true. The monster was as real as any of them and it didn't matter how or why, but this was the final turn and everything would end one way or another.
Mahdi once again began stirring the mobile phone between his emaciated fingers. His gaze dropped to Yusei's face down card. "Oh and just for your information, Osiris, when Winged Dragon of Ra is on field…you can't activate any Spells, Monster effects or Traps. Just thought you should be aware."
Aki couldn't help a shocked gasp. No!
"Yeah, that's right," the white-haired man emphasized, smiling broadly after noticing her panic. His intonation became sharper. "When Ra attacks, it's over. And doesn't matter that you're some kind of a glow-stick now – you'll be dead."
Pretending like he wasn't even listening, Yusei fixed his eyes on Aki. He saw how frightened she was. He wished he could speak with her without his enemy eavesdropping and assure her that everything was going to be okay.
When no response came from his opponent – not even a change in expression – a frown overtook Mahdi's triumphant smile. He was getting irritated. "Do know that I'm still actually considering striking a deal with you. You can still live. But," he bared his teeth, "You've gotten on my nerves, Osiris. So I'll let you survive…But only if you beg for mercy."
Yusei regarded Ra for yet another brief moment. Again, that uneasy feeling that the god's unsettling vacant stare was fixed upon him. As if waiting for him, expecting something from him.
"Do you hear Osiris? Yes, you'll go down on your knees and BEG ME!" Mahdi shrieked and finally lost it. "Be-because after everything I've done for you you've done nothing else but insult me, disrespect me, SPIT IN MY FACE! You know what you would've gotten out of our deal, our primordial balance? Peace, and not only for this unworthy city – polluted with these weak useless sheep! – but peace for you too!" He pointed his finger at the Signer and hissed. "Being a hero sucks, doesn't it? Always being the one to save everyone? You give and you give but the people you're trying to protect give nothing in return – like gluttonous bloodthirsty leaches they only take! I'd have taken the burden off your shoulders! You'd never have had to worry about saving anyone again! You'd never have to risk your life for those ungrateful bastards again!"
Aki winced, remembering Yusei's confession on that fateful day; remembering how he worried about letting everyone down. She wondered if perhaps Yusei made a mistake. Could he have?
Disgust and pity, Yusei thought while watching Mahdi in silence, Are the only things I feel. For this man who slaughtered hundreds for his own deranged gain. Whoever he once was, he has now drowned in chaos. There is no return. I have no other choice.
"Deny it, I dare you to deny!" Mahdi screamed.
No matter what, I'll do everything in my power to protect this city, these people, Yusei reflected while filtering Mahdi's rambling from his train of thoughts. To secure their futures free of threats that I can help. It will always be the most important thing.
"You're saying nothing because you know what I say is true!" Mahdi was foaming at the mouth, blue veins protruding on his transparent face.
And while it can never be enough… He continued, thinking back to all the enemies that came and went, all the victories achieved and defeats encountered. The simple truth that the world never stops spinning, that life always goes on, that a tragedy of one life passes in a blink of an eye in the history of the world. A sliver of a moment – gone as soon as it is born, as bright as a star.
"You're too scared to admit you are wrong. You're a fucking coward, Osiris!"
Maybe in the end the best I can do is protect this little bit of the world, this little corner where my friends and this girl live. Yusei's gaze lingered on frightened Aki and the amber-brown eyes held his own. Maybe that's what I was always meant to do.
"That's what you are! A coward because who'd rather die than admit he's wrong!"
Yes. Yes, that's it, Yusei decided as something inside him grew brighter, happier. This is my final act.
"Or maybe you'd rather die than admit-"
"Are you done?"
Mahdi's voice died midsentence and his eyes bulged out of their sockets.
"Are you done?" Yusei repeated and purposelessly glanced at his watch.
Voice gurgled in Madhi's throat as he struggled to speak. "Wh-wh-wh-" his frenzied face distorted with rage.
"You're wasting your time," Yusei said and calmly met the wild deranged flame that flickered within the sinister darkness of his eyes. "Your time, Mahdi, because there is no point."
"H-how DARE YOU, you-"
"Because I want you to know, Mahdi, from the bottom of my heart," Yusei narrowed his eyes and spoke his next words slowly, articulating every syllable. Loathing dripped like poison from every word. "That…I. Don't. Care."
Mahdi still couldn't form a coherent sentence and Yusei threw his head back, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply into his superficially healthy lungs. "I just…don't care, Mahdi," he exhaled. "I can't even bring myself to pretend like what you say interests me anymore."
"…What did you…just say?" Mahdi rasped out, his face dark red. The mobile finally escaped his sweaty fingers and crashed to the ground. His hands reached up and were now twitching in his disheveled sallow hair.
"I've spent the past hour trying to make sense of your incoherent manic rants," Yusei went on, glancing at Ra whose permanent grin offered no comfort, "And I've had just about enough. So I'm asking you again: are you done?"
"Am I…d-d-?"
"Yes, are you finished?" Yusei clarified. "Because at this point I'm not only tired of listening to your psychosis-induced drabble but frankly…bored."
Aki had to bite back a choked gasp of surprise, something that could even have resembled a snort of laughter.
"BORED?" Mahdi released an inhumane screech, throwing his hands down with some clutches of his white hair.
Yusei opened his mouth to add more insult to injury but Mahdi cried, "No, SHUT UP!" finally able to spit through his fury. "Just SHUT THE FUCK UP! You say you're bored, huh? Bored?" He broke into rolls of hyena laughter, veins popping out on his face. "I'm going to KILL YOU! Rot in hell, both of you!" With twitching fingers he picked out a green Spell and dropped it hard on the duel disk.
No! Aki winced, tugging painfully against her binds. No, don't let it be Hinotama! Please don't make me materialize that, please, please DON'T!
"Your dragon is a pathetic Level 1 monster compared to Ra – because for the duration of one turn it is affected by card effects!" Mahdi howled. "And one turn is more than I need – I play Mirror Wall! It halves your monster's attack points and I'll force your whore to inflict that damage on the dragon! I was going to spare her but now YOU WATCH as I fry her!"
Steady…steady…Yusei battled uncertainty and sickening fear which threatened to slip past his consciousness.
"Yes, before Ra roasts you into a pile of ashes, watch your whore DIE FIRST!" Mahdi screamed and on the duel disk he twisted the shock voltage to its very maximum and then slammed the blue receptor button. "Do you care now, huh? DO YOU? ARE YOU BORED NOW?"
Aki shrieked and squeezed her eyes shut for the last excruciating blow while the light erupted out of the materialized mirror and struck the divine beast on Yusei's side of the field. Sky Dragon released a roar of protest as its Attack points were drained to 1500. Horror twisted Yusei's insides as he watched Aki's frail figure.
Mahdi's shoulders shook as he giggled. His fingers splayed over the left side of his face. "She's DEAD and you're next!" he screamed and then turned to Winged Dragon, a bright wet smile climaxing over his face. "Ra! Kill them! Kill them all! They're unworthy of your presence!"
Ra opened its grinning mouth ajar and appeared to suck out all the light out of this world and the next; the sun beams were now forming in attack. From afar Yusei could feel the scorching heat on his face.
"DIE, OSIRIS!" Mahdi bellowed.
Aki's eyes slowly flickered open and breathing shakily she looked around. I…I'm not dead? her gaze lingered upon the error messages on the computers she was attached to. The electroshock…didn't work? The computers broke? Her brown eyes searched for the distressed blue ones.
Yusei saw that she was alright and could breathe again, doubt and worry erased, hope filling him to the brink. This is it, he thought, his mind crystal clear one more, and reached out his hand towards the hidden card in front of him. "Trap card open! – Card of Last Will!"
Mahdi's broke out into screeching laughter while the ball of flames in Ra's mouth reached impossible proportions. "You're doing what? Ra can't trigger traps! Is that your failed plan?"
"Ra can't but you can!" Yusei shouted, needing to speak over the booming scraping sound of Ra charging its attack. "When my monster is destroyed or loses Attack points, I can draw five extra cards." Quickly, before the golden dragon would unleash hell-fire, he drew the cards from his deck and Sky Dragon of Osiris's attack went up to 6500. The divine monster bellowed at Ra and seemed to grow even larger in size, sheathing itself in electricity while a blue flame began secretly forming in the depth of its cavernous jaws. Ra released a low threatening growl, as if challenging any inferior attack.
"…Eh?" Mahdi asked with a silly smile, as if he didn't comprehend what was just said.
"By playing Mirror Wall you trigged my trap, Mahdi," Yusei explicated. "By desiring to inflict more pain you've sealed your own fate!"
Mahdi hummed something unintelligible, looking up at monstrous Ra with bewilderment. The corners of his mouth tugged downward and a nervous tick twitched at a drooping eyelid. "Um…"
"Go, Sky Dragon of Osiris!" Yusei directed the red monster at the most powerful being in existence – defeat of which has been sealed by its current owner's lust for more power. "Attack!"
A crackling sound ensued as Sky Dragon charged its final electric round.
With a swooshing boom Ra released its deadly blaze but not before Osiris released its own. With an explosion impending in milliseconds, Yusei observed how self-realized terror permanently engulfed the chaotic darkness in Mahdi's eyes.
Don't look, something surfaced within him and he shielded his face with his arms.
Gold and blue clashed with a deafening bang and brightness rivaled by a supernova. The ground shook and the thunderous blast blocked out his opponent's horrified scream.
And then it was over.
[Winner: Yusei Fudo]
The onslaught of brightness slowly dissipated against his eyelids. He did not know how much time had passed but his ears were still ringing and perhaps they would never quite recover to their original form.
Yusei slowly opened his eyes.
Within vision were the eerie ruins of the old warehouse and the battlefield that once was: the pulsating walls of the Sutekh Sacrificō dissolved, there was not a trace of the two God cards, the high-tech computers next to Aki were blown open, and Aki herself still bound to a chair, quivering all over and eyes shut tightly, yet completely untouched by the explosion.
A couple of metres away lay the emaciated body of Mahdi. His limbs were grotesquely flayed about as if he were a diluted ragdoll. His face was turned to the side, mouth frozen open in perpetual scream intermixed with awe. His wide eyes – charred raw red by the flames – were fixed on a spot impossibly far away.
It's finished, Yusei averted from the disturbing view and directed his attention to his hands. All of it.
The warm cerulean aura of Osiris still resonated about him but his attention was fixed upon the right forearm where glowed the all-familiar red Signer mark of the Crimson Dragon. It'd begin to dissipate any second now and this was the last time and Yusei knew it: the very last time that a crimson birthmark appeared on him; and the last time he'd been a part of the mystical and unifying bond of the six Signers.
Oddly enough this was something he had always predicted would happen one day.
The first moment the Signers came together, they who were the team 5D's; he remembered looking at each and every one of them – his friends, his family, his life – and a chilling realization nudged at the back of his head.
One day we will be Signers no more. One day this destiny will end…and there might be nothing else keeping us together.
He had felt it on some instinctual and almost fundamental level and it was frightening. Painful. He understood that although fate brought them all together…that, ultimately, it won't keep them together. That a day would come – and come sooner than they realize – when team 5D's will seize being Signers and that their bond – bond that felt closer than blood, bond that felt unbreakable – would dispel.
Rapture.
Shatter.
And that…perhaps without the magical power binding them the six of them will discover that there was nothing else keeping them together. That they no longer have anything in common.
That, one day, they will all go their separate ways.
And that understanding was so potent but so upsetting that Yusei rebelled against it – that brief, awful gut-feeling – and he pushed it far away, suppressed it so it could never surface again. He couldn't let himself fully understand it. He refused himself to think of the day he could possibly watch any of them leave and leave forever, never to return; and that there was nothing he could do to stop it because they would make their own choices and it'd be what's right for them, what's good for them, what will make them happiest. Because he couldn't stand in the way of his friends' happiness and he wouldn't.
But…how could he stand and watch them walk away? Just stand and say nothing? Not scream for them to stay? How could he?
However, as Yusei now studied the fatal crimson blots decorating his sleeves and brown gloves he thought that he was perhaps spared of that selfless fate; of needing to say goodbye to them, of watching them exit his life and likely never to return.
Instead he would be the one to leave. And in some twisted way maybe this turned out to be a blessing at the end of life. He received a final chance, a gift to be selfish, and he has accepted this.
A sad smile grazed over his lips and the glow of the Crimson Dragon died. Farewell, Yusei thought to all of them. The time spent with you was forever. He then closed his eyes and drew in as deep a breath as his ruptured lungs could take while under Sky Dragon's divine favour, and waited.
The blue aura glowed steadily for another couple of moments and then began to disappear.
It all returned then – or rather assaulted him like a tidal wave – the scattering, dizzying pulse, the dreaded weakness, the cold…and the pain. His mind had once again become in synch with his broken body.
For a split second he froze in shock, unable to help a pained gasp escaping him. Then swaying as if from impact he clutched at his chest and shuddered. With each beat of his now wobbling heart he struggled to intake another breath, realizing now that he could no longer draw enough air into his lungs. Oh but dreaded sensation of pain was still dulled, it hasn't entirely returned…the swelling ache centralized in his belly but it was starting to catch up and spread and overwhelm. So before the dire reality could render him completely immobile, he called out Aki's name and started towards her.
Aki winced and her eyes flew open. She squinted against inexplicable vividness in her field of vision, eyes sore like she'd walked out into sun after having been in darkness for days. Ears ringing. Why, what time, what day, why couldn't she move, where…
Her vision focused and she was plunged back into nightmare. Seeing Yusei walking towards her she screamed for him, not noticing either that the duel was over, that they were free of the seal's boundaries or that Mahdi was out of the way. Everything inside her churned and wilted watching him press on. Heal, she begged and pleaded, still keeping up the hopeless regime of utilizing her cursed psychic powers for good. Heal! Why won't you heal him? What's wrong with you? Why do you fail here and now? WHY?
Yusei's originally long (and relatively effortless) strides were rapidly becoming shorter, more strenuous. There was a sharp distinct pain now, drawing out in sick throbbing waves. Pressing his hands at his side, hard, this action giving miniscule relief to his impending suffering and then forcibly concentrated on the path ahead of him. His body withstood all this time and like hell was he going to give up now. He could do this.
Mahdi's corpse was just ahead and he stopped there, picking up the switchblade knife and the cracked mobile phone. Remarkably, it was still working. He succeeded in dialing an emergency number with increasingly sluggish fingers. "P-please send ambulances to the warehouse at Shinjuku East," he requested with a breaking voice to the ER operator. "Yes…No, the bridge. Yes, that's the place. Three people are hurt, there was an explosion. Please hurry."
The operator confirmed and Yusei dropped the phone and staggered over to Aki without rewarding another look to his enemy. He worried not about the horror-movie trope of the dead bad guy jumping back to life and trying to stab him.
"Yusei…Yusei…" Aki could utter nothing else, tears engulfing her but not enough to prevent her from seeing how slouched and unstable he was, the grimace of pain on his pale face, quick labored breaths…and then there was the blood, oh god, blood was everywhere, it soaked into his t-shirt completely and into his pants almost down to the knees, it stained his jacket, his mouth, his hands… It was the most horrifying thing she has ever seen.
Yusei stopped in front of her and absorbed every detail about her as she was at that moment: the traces of tears on porcelain skin, beautiful, watering amber eyes, disheveled red hair, the wires attached to her temples… He fought a desire to put his arms around her and to simply collapse (into nothing). He could think of nothing sweeter. But instead he swallowed back the awfulness and began cutting loose the ropes binding her. "B-be still, Aki," he croaked, realizing his shaking hands and fearing hurting her by accident.
Aki nodded, somehow holding back the waterfall of tears. She was so scared but she knew she couldn't be; it was so much scarier for him, her despair wasn't what he needed to see right now. He needed to see…to see what? An ambulance, a hospital, the world's strongest painkiller? Yes…and hope. Trying not to break down she blurted out the first thing that came to her head: "Mahdi, is he…?"
"Gone," Yusei released her hands and with deteriorating effort going down on one knee so he could cut the ropes binding her feet.
Aki opened her mouth to say something but her throat clogged up. Instead, she nodded again and ripped off the electrodes stuck to her temples; then began detangling the ropes around her.
The last of binds were cut away and that was when Yusei realized that he couldn't get up. Arm cradled over his midsection. Swirling vision focused on the blue marks around Aki's ankles where the ropes have cut into the circulation. Cursing his enemy's name wouldn't do any good but oh god, how did he want to, that bastard, that sick, sick bastard. But pain was now viciously tearing through his insides like molten lava; like a gradual explosion which would eventually reach white-hot intensity; could quite possibly rival the cosmic explosion caused by Osiris and Ra... probably worse, there was no rational way that this could be described or compared. It was so horrible that he didn't know how he hasn't collapsed yet, how he kept himself whimpering or from throwing up. At that point he just wanted to close his eyes and slump on the ground at Aki's feet; to lay his head on her lap and fall into painless oblivion, darkest nothingness.
Nothingness.
Forever.
It was…wonderful. The sweetest anticipation. Sooner…rather than later.
"Yusei…" he felt her hands on his shoulders and gradually got up to his feet like a man possessed, somehow finding his legs despite having had no strength.
Aki studied him and was silent for a slow moment. Then lips trembled and tears gushed and she lost battle against despair. She threw herself on him, wrapping her arms about his frail form and sobbed, pressing her face against his chest.
"Yusei…Yusei I'm so sorry. Oh god I'm so sorry."
"Aki-"
"H-he said I was going to help him kill you. H-he said he'd use me as bait; he said he'd use me to get to you. I-I was so stupid, Yusei. It's all my fault." Her body convulsed in his arms as she hiccupped her words, and it was a horrible, horrible sound.
"Aki don't," Yusei struggled. He lightly tried pushing her so he could look at her but she wouldn't budge.
"I wanted to help you, I thought I could help you, I wanted to do at least something, any-anything to help you-"
"Don't do this now." She was completely hysterical and he couldn't understand what she was saying, and he didn't have enough time to console her, to find out what happened here and say what he needed before the time was up. "He only knew which buttons to push. What he could take away from me. What would hurt most." Stop, please. I beg you.
"No, no, NO!" she screamed. "There had to be another way, there had to be, Yusei – you wouldn't have come then! You would've brought our friends, you…you wouldn't have gotten hurt, he'd have had to find something else, anything else, he wouldn't have seen me…but he saw me, Yusei, he saw me!" She continued muffling other things into his chest but more incoherent and still as inconsolable as before.
Her face was suddenly grabbed and tilted, urgently and roughly, and Aki found herself staring up at him. His skin was green and covered with a layer of perspiration, eyes sunken in sockets like bruises, but there was such power and conviction in them that most people would never get, not in their best of days. Briefly she became taken back to hers and Yusei's first duel, the way he fought for her to think for herself and to love herself, his promise to take on her sorrows… Those determined blue eyes imprinted deep within her and were the ray of hope in her darkness, the catalyst of change. He believed in her so much and he fought so hard, for a stranger whom he'd barely just met. And she saw the same now, except even stronger, even more devoted.
The resilient and incandescent sapphire held her reflection and she saw it flicker…it was beginning to fade but it fought valiantly against the fact.
"What makes you strong but makes you weak and makes you vulnerable…" Yusei attempted, holding her firmly as he tried to convey the truth in his words. "That's the way to defeat someone. That's what you take from them. Listen to me. Enemies…they take what you love. Do you understand? Aki?"
Aki was staring wide-eyed, tears still streaming down her face, but abruptly feeling calmer than before. The power, the alertness and sincerity in his voice, his conviction. He was so strong and he was holding it together for as long as he could but with each millisecond passed he was breaking apart and she had to suck it up and be the stronger person for both of them. She had to stop being so selfish and do what was necessary for him.
"And it doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't. Please, Aki" he said, panting, and his gaze faltered. He released her to wrap an arm around his side, his posture worsening. We were caught in this and now this is over and we can move on… You can move on. You must move on. You must purge the darkness from your heart. "Enough," he exhaled.
Yes, it didn't matter what happened or who's fault or why, it simply no longer mattered and he couldn't waste any more of his precious energy on consoling her. He needed medical attention and he needed her to be strong and she was going to do her damn best, and no longer allow herself to drown in despair.
Sobered up Aki nodded and wiped her tears away. Forgive me, Yusei, you're right. It's enough. Forgive me, forgive me. With newly found strength she quickly pulled his arm around her shoulders to support some of his weight. "Let's go," she said with hard determination, "Lean on me, Yusei. We have to hurry and take you to the hospital. Paramedics may take too long."
Yusei had no energy to be surprised and only breathed some relief, no longer capable of maintaining composure. He permitted himself to lean on her a little and somehow felt if only marginally better. He could still walk…with her he could walk for awhile and her support elated him a little, gave him hope.
They started towards the exit of the ruins, where Aki's D-Wheel was in clear view and Yusei's was parked outside, and it was impossibly far. Aki counted each of their steps and pushed back all her panic. With newfound strength and determination, she guided them and felt that this was going to work, they could leave this place together and never have to think about this again.
They were about to pass Mahdi's lifeless body (to which she refused to give even a fraction of attention to), when Yusei rasped: "Wait. Aki."
She stopped and he motioned towards a table a step away. She led him over to it and he leaned for support. Placing both hands on his stomach he blinked hard against black spots multiplying and clouding his vision.
"Yusei?"
"Help me," he managed. "Take Ra away from him. It's not his." He couldn't hear his own voice well, it felt like he was dunked in water. Still, he persisted. "And destroy La Magra."
Aki obeyed and cautiously approached Mahdi's body. The fact that this was a corpse made her sick however her hate helped her get through this. Face twisting from revulsion, she grabbed the yellow card with mysterious writing from the duel disk. She also retrieved cards from the Graveyard and scavenged for that cursed Monster card which he copied and spread to the general population like a virus. Finding it, she ripped that card into tiny pieces with seething hatred and satisfaction, wondering if destroying the original would also get rid of all the copies he's put out there. Wondering, wishing, hoping.
Yusei had been studying his hands clasped over his side. Despite gloves, they were wet, freezing and numbing. The material stuck in that uncomfortable way when your hands were wet. The red had dried and blended in, a darker shade of brown. He thought he could see blood and, with it, precious warmth pumping through his fingers with each beat of his heart. He could feel it spilling down the leg of his jeans. The image or the thought or imagination, it hit him with intensified nausea. His eyes trailed off to look at the blood he glimpsed on the ground earlier. His own blood. It now looked black and viscous. He was beginning to feel violently ill.
"Yusei?" Aki called to him, having returned and seen that his condition had worsened noticeably in what seemed like a minute. He was shaking more, breathing shallower, lips cracked and eyes dull. He was staring at something on the ground far away, teeth tightly clenched and appearing unaware of his surroundings.
"Yusei, can you still walk?" she urgently wrapped her arms around him once more, offering her shoulders. She slipped the yellow God card into the dueling deck hanging on his belt. "Yusei?" she touched her hand to the cold cheek.
His vision swirled somewhere and he swayed, eyes rolling up into gray, but suddenly he felt her support and he was still upright, head as heavy as lead and all he could see was the dreary asphalt pavement and the tips of red shoes. "…-ei? –An…alk? …Walk? Can you?"
He hanged his head down and didn't respond to her, but with maximum effort got back up to his feet using her shoulder for support. He leaned on her and wavered violently and for a moment she was holding all his weight and she thought they were going to fall. But he stabilized somehow and Aki began slowly guiding him forward. She started talking rapidly and confidently:
"My D-Wheel is just right there and a hospital is just a few minutes away. Maybe we'll catch the paramedics on their way here," she was chatting, trying to speak to him even if he wasn't going to respond. She stifled her panic with realization each stride was getting progressively shorter and more sluggish. She wished she was stronger. She wished she could carry him better or be able to move him if he were to fall. But now she would stay as optimistic and hopeful for him as she could. And speaking helped alleviate fear.
"You can tell Crow and Jack, Rua and Luka and Bruno about everything, how you've defeated Mahdi and how it's all over. It'll be great Yusei. They'll be so excited, you know?"
Yusei could hear her voice but it was starting to come from afar. He strained his hearing to pick up all the words she's said but he knew he was missing something. Everything came to him from so far away, kind of muted. Wrapped up in quiet agony, each step taking a longer amount of time, more effort, legs so heavy. Where…where were they walking anyway…why were they… stop, he needed to stop…
Aki's wavering but upbeat voice reached him once more, in a distant echo, drowned by the white noise in his ears. "It'll be okay, Yusei…We're so close already. Tomorrow it'll be like…like this has never happened, you know? And…chanc-…that…-rds…-nt…-ember…" The lovely sound dissipated into incomprehensiveness and he no longer cared. He just wanted to lie down…why couldn't he just lie down.
He stumbled.
After all, how do you keep walking when…when everything is submerged in a thick gray cloud…when you can no longer see your feet or the ground, when your head weighs more than your body and your whole body is pulling itself somewhere on the side, when you no longer feel your legs…
He stumbled one more time.
When all you feel is that damn sword in your stomach, but the sword is on fire, the blade burning your insides with molten lava. The blade ripping you open. And twisting.
Twisting.
He stopped abruptly and squeezed his eyes shut, eyes which were blinded by heavy swirls of gray, and Aki couldn't incite another step. He screamed and screamed in his head and finally he couldn't take anymore. "Aki…" he half moaned, half rasped out. I…I can't…can't…I have to…
Worried sick she tried to catch a glimpse of his face but he was slouching almost in half, head hanging low from his shoulders and hair obscuring his features. "Almost there Yusei," she promised, using all her strength to support once more his weight on her shoulders, which had quadrupled. She tried to move him forward again but he wouldn't budge. They were so close, they couldn't stop now.
Yusei fell then. He didn't fall to his knees or gradually in a step by step manner. He simply tumbled over, dragging her down with him. Aki didn't know how but somehow she managed to hold him up a little right before he smacked his head on the ground, and laid him down on his side. She turned him over on his back.
"Yusei?" Aki called, freeing her arms and shaking his shoulders. Ashen and lifeless, he wouldn't stir. His head drooped to the side. "Yusei? YUSEI? Wake up!" What do I do? WHAT DO I DO? "HELP! Help! Somebody help us, PLEASE! PLEASE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs but only the emptiness of the warehouse heard her and echoed, mocking her despair.
She shook him again, harder, and this time elicited a quiet moan and his face contorted further in the grimace of pain but he didn't gain his senses.
Nearly going insane Aki squeezed his hands in hers, trying to figure out what to do. What could she do? Give CPR? She forced herself to calm down briefly enough to notice his chest heaving, labored and irregular. Maybe it was okay, he just fainted, and he would come to soon. She listened for the sound of paramedics on their way or their friends but nothing.
So CPR? Is that what you're supposed to do? But he's still breathing on his own. And how do you give CPR to an injured person like this, are you not going to hurt them even more? She struggled to remember what she had learnt in school, what she read when she thought she could study to be a doctor, what movies showed, but it had all flown out of the window and her mind and body were betraying her together when she needed concentration most.
Aki's gaze lingered on his stomach and, no longer knowing what she was doing or what she should be doing, she reached and carefully lifted his wet shirt.
The image was so grotesque that she turned away immediately, covering her mouth with her hands and gagged. Then again. She was going to throw up…yes…no…wait… She closed her eyes, gagging once more. No…no…suppressing it. It was going to be okay. She swallowed back the reflex and returned her gaze back and despite nausea studied the injury.
What was the most horrifying was not the amount of blood or that it had covered every inch of his stomach or the fact that some of it had dried and became viscid, syrupy almost, or the sloppy sticky tape bursting at the seams… What was scariest was that this was Yusei who was wonderfully fine mere hours ago… The strongest person she knew, the one who stood tall and proud no matter how much life tried to crash him. Yusei who never surrendered or held ill will against society which ruined his childhood and tried to suppress his future, and who defended the same people who marked him a criminal, a pariah… He who inspired everyone, established the bonds of their hearts, who created miracles… He was brought down in a heap of nonsensical violence and now lay broken on the ground. And as if fate wanting to have the final laugh, the criminal marker – usually an attractive accent to his handsome face and olive complexion – stood out like a grisly yellow scar on his green skin.
And this was real, this wasn't a horrible dream which you knew would leave, you couldn't press a reset button, all this was real, in films or pictures or anything it's like an unconscious filter separating you from what's real or not, and seeing it in reality is more horrible than you can imagine.
Her eyes watered again and Aki angrily rubbed away at them, cursing her weakness. Not now, she needed to act instead of reducing herself to a useless sniveling form and betraying Yusei.
What to do?
He was cold, so cold. She looked around for any source of warmth, like a cover or a blanket of sorts, or maybe even something she could make a small fire with but nothing. So she hurriedly removed her red coat and covered him with it. She regretted nothing more that it was sleeveless and thin in material. What else? Maybe she could take something else off and put it under his head for support or maybe a better idea is to try bandaging his wound better since the tape he put on had begun coming off a bit.
She ran and picked up the roll of electric tape at where he stood for his duel. She couldn't help but notice the blood tracks everywhere, the huge splatter of it where he originally stood and the drops leading away from here towards her…and finally stopping to where he had fallen. There was so much of it. She didn't know a person could bleed so much and it made her sick with fear. How much more does he have left?
She returned quickly and knelt next to him again, in her mind begging for his forgiveness for having forsaken him even for a few seconds, and as gently as she could began applying an extra layer of electric tape around his midsection.
She had succeeded adding a few layers but she had either applied too much pressure by accident or the pain demanded his awareness because his body suddenly spasmed at her touch. He coughed, then emitting a tortured sound that was part groan and part scream, arm shooting out and cradling over the injury. A tortured grimace decorated his face and his body began shaking uncontrollably, so ferocious it was akin to seizure.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry Yusei," Aki begged. She didn't mean to hurt him but him regaining his senses was a small comfort. His eyes were wide open but unfocused, staring up. He had begun making horrible, barely audible moaning noises and they disturbed her so deeply she felt hairs stand up on her neck. "Yusei? Yusei?" on instinct she clasped him in her arms and pulled his head to her lap.
He had started gasping something out, between the groans, something possibly resembling words but she couldn't understand. She leaned down lower.
Something incomprehensible. Then "…thought saved you…I didn't…betr…you…Kiryu…"
"What?" Aki asked, wincing at his agony and realizing he was disoriented. "Kiryu? Yusei, Kiryu isn't here. You fought Mahdi and you've won but he injured you. Do you remember? It's me…" She caressed his forehead, pushing back a wet lock.
"I've…betrayed you…Kiryu."
In that dark and rainy fateful night Yusei was frozen with terror: in front of him Kiryu stood grinning and holding the block of wood, blood splatter on his cheek, white hair clinging wet on his sunken face (like Mahdi), he looked more alive than he ever did and yet eerie, like an animated corpse (like he had already died then). Next to his feet a lifeless Public Security officer lay face down in his own pool of blood (the same way I was), having been thrown from his bike. The thunder rolled and the lightning lit up the smoky sky (how do you breathe when your lungs are full of smoke) in dazzling brightness. When Kiryu turned, Yusei saw the madness that had swallowed him and he feared the wild abyss within those yellow eyes.
Kiryu had raised the block of wood to bash the injured officer's head in and Yusei had leapt on him and they fought. Kiryu screamed and flailed, he'd lost it all, adrenaline and hatred circuiting his system, and he was beyond reason. He had enjoyed blowing up the floor of the Public Security office, he enjoyed inflicting all this pain and he strived to finish what he had started. Crow and Jack were tasked with holding back Kiryu and he went to Public Security, confessing to a crime to save his friend. However, his efforts were null: instead they've apprehended Kiryu, when his intentions were only to calm him and have them leave, together. Kiryu's screams of hurt and betrayal following after him and never ever quieting down.
Everything else had spiraled out of control then, a kaleidoscope of misery, dread and lunacy. The day he heard news of Kiryu's death and the hopeless numbness that settled inside him; the day he saw Kiryu again but as a vengeful Dark Signer intent on destruction; the night that he had crashed during their battle, a spike impaled deeply in his gut and it was the worst pain of his life, the wound felt as it were to burst (same place as now) and he couldn't understand how he was still awake, how he thought that not waking up would be better than coming back and facing the reality again, facing Kiryu and perhaps being the one to emerge victorious. No, he had to emerge victorious, they had to stop Dark Signers, and to stop them meant to kill Kiryu. And that was the way it would happen and he knew that he would go through with it and that he would never ever forgive himself.
"Yus-…Yusei…come…b-"
Kiryu lying weak and frail in his arms, apologizing, breathing laboriously, and him shaking his head to clear the tears blurring his vision, mumbling something, clutching his best friend's body tightly, not realizing that in their battle one of them had to die (he knew), how could he have known something like this (he knew) and Kiryu's body disappearing, as if it was never there, as if it instantly disintegrated into ashes. And human bodies weren't supposed to do that, a person can't just vanish like that (unless he's been dead for years), and though he'd come back soon after it never felt real, none of that, none of that strange little Western town and Kiryu fighting for himself to stay alive, none of that was really real was it, the only truth was that good-bye, that heavy limp body disappearing like a hologram and his own hysterical screams, inhuman almost, going on and on and on-
"Yusei!"
He gasped and blinked against the gray sky, lips moving, whispering nonsense, and came back. Aki's anxious, pale face came into focus.
"Aki," he breathed out in sweet recognition. The sick throbbing pain was dulling and getting better with less effort he had to make. If he could just sigh and close his eyes and go to sleep, it'd go away entirely and…
She shook his shoulder lightly but that was enough to bring him out of his lull and awaken the fresh immobilizing pain at which he could only recoil helplessly.
"I'm so sorry Yusei," she begged. She didn't mean to hurt him anymore than he already was but she was mortified of him passing out again, who knew if he'd be able to come back after the next one? "Hold on, okay? They're all on their way. Help will be here so soon, you'll see. Just hang on a little bit longer, okay? Please?" she swallowed back a stream of hot tears and smiled reassuringly at him, refusing to betray her confidence.
"Okay…Aki," he promised and, in order not to drift off again, asked: "How are you…feeling?"
She bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop herself from wailing. "I'm fine, Yusei. Please don't worry. Try not to talk to save your strength."
"Aki, I need to tell you. Before… I've figured it out. Why Osiris. I know…why this all h-happened. Why it happened the way it did."
I don't care! Who cares about anything if you die!? "Yusei, don't talk. Save your strength."
The heavy bulbous clouds were still stretching across the sky. A glimpse through the broken roof and their slow and dreamy momentum beckoned him. He forced his eyes away from them and focused on her again.
"It was a choice. Sky Dragon came…with a choice. Could have accepted Mahdi's truth…or carved our own future with our hands. The way we always…tried. To control our own…destiny."
"Yes," Aki nodded her agreement, caressing his face, comforting him. But she didn't quite understand what he was saying – and it didn't matter.
"The power lent…I made a temporary choice, to finish…what had started. Now…everything can go back…and continue with our power only…as Signers. It was just to finish t-this…b-battl-" he had trouble speaking and drew in another breath to continue but something had caught itself in his throat and he couldn't breathe and a wave of copper flooded his mouth and suddenly he was coughing, gasping and the agony was unbelievable, he tried not to move but his body was jerked by those desperate spasms for air, betraying him, and it was just too much, it was so awful, he wanted to die to make it stop, why couldn't he die right now, why wouldn't this stop, what did he do to deserve this, why, why, and his head was so heavy and he was floating and the pain was far away now, it stayed back with that broken body, and he felt so relieved, to feel no pain, to feel nothing really. And he could speak freely now but that wasn't necessary really, his thoughts flowed freely, a clear unbroken stream within the lights of Momentum, through the warm and transparent heliotrope crystal.
Because even if everything Mahdi said was the truth, ultimately only the future that you choose is the one that will happen. The choice to make your own destiny is something they had fought to prove, battle and battle again, and this was everything that coloured this reality. Life meant nothing if you weren't allowed to choose. And somehow Mutou Yugi knew this and leant some power to aid them with the choices they'd make. And somehow he had decided that Sky Dragon would be a good aid, a good fit in this destiny: perhaps with its mythological connection or maybe as simple as this inconceivable electric god representing so much of his life.
The electricity which had surrounded him safely, protected him, gave him back his strength to finish the duel and broke the machines torturing Aki; and yet he was no stranger to it. The fateful day the criminal marker was inscribed into his skin and though it took seconds, the sensation of the carving had slowed the time and it stretched on and on with each millimeter that the laser cut into the skin and this slowest patience mirrored with the appearance of the mark of Osiris, the way it went on and around, carving itself greedily wherever it could find a free spot of skin.
And when it was used to induce the appearance of the Signer mark. When they stripped him, bound him and shot the electric current, increasing the power, and he had struggled to break free (it was pointless); they could take his freedom, his friends, his cards, his bike, his clothes, but he refused to let them take his dignity. And it didn't stop there, it came back during his last prison duel with the main guard, where it hurt so bad towards the end he wondered how his heart would take one last burst like this, he mused dying in this filthy jail from cardiac arrest and what kept him going was the imagined laughter on Jack's face at his demise. It's stupid to think back on this now but earlier then he didn't doubt Jack's relief if he were never to come after him again or to challenge his title as King of Games.
He took power of what was used to torture him and he was able to change the path of this new destiny. The Egyptian dragon of Osiris picked him or maybe with his messed up life he was the one who picked it. Maybe he was Osiris reborn after all. However, now that he had used its power, he could choose another destiny. He wasn't just Osiris in this life. He was also Yusei Fudo. And Yugi Mutou's monster was free to return to its original owner. He needed to tell Aki to do this too, to take both Ra and Osiris back to Yugi Mutou, to find him and thank him.
Choice is a power. Your power. To be free to choose your own fate. This is what it means for you.
He still needed to tell this to Aki but how, he didn't realize what just happened, where he was, and why he didn't feel anything.
A precious gust of air filled into his lungs and it was wondrous. He drew in a short breath and his eyes fixated, regaining consciousness. He realized that Aki was shaking him lightly but persistently.
"Yusei, you've returned," she whispered, face streaked wet but with a smile of relief. "You've returned, oh thank heavens."
"How long…was I out?"
"Maybe half a minute or just under." But I don't think you were breathing, she agonized, you've coughed blood and your lips were blue and you jerked and twisted, I think maybe you had a seizure, and then you just sagged.
He thought much longer had passed. Actually he wasn't sure. He was confused where he was. He thought he had fallen but he didn't know if it happened just as Mahdi stabbed him or after. How long had passed since he had left prison? Since Jack and Crow were by his side while fighting Godwin? Since the WRPGs? Since he returned from Arc Cradle with Bruno after fighting Z-ONE? How had this day started, or even if it was still the same morning or evening, and what was a dream or what wasn't, except that he still had that perpetual feeling of needing rest, of not caring, of wanting to give in.
"Please hang on, Yusei. Help will be here any minute."
"It doesn't really…hurt anymore," he spoke up and it was the truth. He wasn't really feeling much. Nerves blunted. Agony was a parabola: a crescendo leading up to a peak and then numbness sets in and then unconsciousness leading to the bottom. End. He thought he had passed the peak finally and begun the descent. He welcomed the relief that dullness was bringing. He couldn't feel most of his body either anymore but…he didn't care. He was only glad the pain had begun dissipating… this was soothing him. Away, somewhere, and he wanted to follow. Eyelids growing heavier.
A sudden jerk of his body, side to side, and he moaned, turning his head away, whispering, "Don't…" She was trying to keep him here but he didn't want to.
"I know you're tired, Yusei, but please don't go to sleep," her voice reached from afar. "Once you're all better you can sleep all you want. But you have to try not to right now. Fight it. Hey. Look at me." Her hand on his cheek, turning him to her.
He focused on the sound of her voice and forced himself to let it lead him back from wherever it was he'd started leaving to. Trying to see her, gaze slipping across hers but not meeting it.
"…And as I was saying," she continued, "I hear sirens very far but I hear them. And I think sounds of D-Wheels. I think our friends are coming now. See?"
"Mmm," he blinked slowly again, thinking about the clouds of painlessness drifting away with him.
She grabbed his shaking hands, noting the blue fingernails. "You just need to continue staying here," she squeezed them hard, hard enough to hurt, watching his glassy eyes widen and liven, regaining some focus. "You hear that, Yusei? You're staying right here," she insisted, still squeezing his hands until they moved and held hers back in response. "You belong here. With us. With me."
He didn't realize that she had peeled off his gloves apparently at some point but the strength and warmth in her hands was possibly the best painkiller he's ever felt. It felt like energy pouring into his depleted body. He succeeded a small nod.
"You're not going anywhere so just cut it out with all that fainting, okay?" she added inflections of annoyance to her voice and that brought a smile to his face. He breathed out as much of a chuckle as he could manage and showed his brilliant white teeth (now half stained red). It seemed to her that he actually seemed to regain some colour in his face.
"You are very convincing, Izayoi Aki," he managed.
"Good, because I'm having none of it anymore," she threatened. "Remember that Aki means business, okay? I'm the Black Rose Witch after all. I have powers to make you stay here. So watch it."
It hurt to laugh but it was impossible not to, plus it actually felt so good, he just had to suppress his body from moving too much. "No, I remember."
"You better remember. You promise me to cut it out, okay?" she continued. Humour appeared to be making him a little better, so she would talk his ear out and force him to concentrate until help arrives. Actually she thought she could hear siren noises but it could also have been the auditory echo in her desperate heart. "Let me tell you a secret, Yusei. Here, listen. Do you know that when I first met you, I thought you were scary?"
It hurt to laugh but he couldn't help it. It was worth it. He thought he's never heard anything funnier. Once he managed to calm a little, he played along: "Likewise. When I saw you, Aki, I thought you were really scary… I was scared what would happen if we ever lost a team battle."
Her mouth snapped open. So cheeky! "You really thought that?"
I did but never since then. You are the strongest, kindest person I know. And there isn't time left. He felt it, despite everything she was doing and despite his resistance. Deepest sorrow twined around his scattering heart. So heavy it tugged like an anchor until it'd rupture into dust. His smile had vanished and he looked at her seriously, with finality, conveying the truth in his words. "Aki. You must never forget to smile."
She winced, taken aback by a tone change. This seriousness frightened her. "Yusei…"
"Promise." Promise me you won't. Promise me that you will take the future into your own hands. That you will live long and attain everything you have dreamed of. "Because there's no one in the world with a smile better than yours."
Her throat clogged up and her sunken heart dropped even more. Don't say such things to me. She continued holding his cold hands in a strong grip, trying to pass as much of her body heat as possible. Why are you saying such things now? "You're the one who put that smile on my face, Yusei. You always knew this…right? Didn't you?"
She wanted to say something more to him, say anything, beg for forgiveness or maybe make him laugh again, (tell him you love him) but she was frozen in this horrible and yet tender moment. In that silence she became acutely aware of the sound of his breathing and it has become a slow and wet sound. She realized she was listening and counting each breath.
Yusei nodded imperceptibly and relaxed, giving into soothing tendons of unconsciousness. Barely any time at all left…almost all gone. Rapid gasps for air finally slowing down, calming him. He studied her, memorizing each contour, each freckle, each strand of hair, taking it all in as if for the first time. And for the last.
There was no fear. He thought back to the duel against Z-ONE, where he fell plunging to his death, and to the choice he had made to die for this city. When those had come and passed, he figured he might die an old man, surrounded by friends and family. But as it was going to happen now…he wished for otherwise, and there was still so much he had wanted to do... But it was alright. He wasn't afraid but regret ran deep through his wounded veins. We had so little time. It's like all my life I was moving towards you and then I saw you and it fit somehow, it didn't matter how or why. And I was given this chance to be selfish, to have you, and I had never wanted or needed anything else. We were so happy. We had so little time but within this time I had loved you over a thousand times over, until the end of eternity.
Yusei blinked slowly and sighed. A single soft exhale. Eyelids fell heavy, and did not rise. And Aki felt the weight of his hands in hers, the loosening of the fingers.
On automatic she put his hands down and shook his shoulders again. "Yusei…Yusei, don't. I know you're tired and want to sleep but don't."
He wasn't moving.
"Yusei, hey! Hey!" she gently slapped his face. "Hey. Wake up. Wake up," she slapped him a little harder, regretting her actions instantly but it didn't do anything. "Hey. Mmm? Come on, Yusei. Not again, you promised me." She tried to smile (just as he had asked her to) and maybe laugh a little to make this situation better. "Come on. Cut this out. Wake up."
A shallow small breath, then a pause. But he wouldn't regain his consciousness.
"Yusei, don't, you're really scaring me now," she begged in a small, broken voice, still trying to wake him. "Don't, don't, you're almost as scary as when I first saw you, remember? We just went over this. You were so scary, Yusei. The way you looked at everyone. You were so serious. I understood why, too. They had all hurt you. And you kept trying to talk to me and it scared me, I didn't know what you wanted to. I couldn't understand why you didn't hate me. So stop, Yusei. Stop scaring me."
One more breath but not until five long seconds later. Then the other one wouldn't come. Panic struck her and she had lost it, her heart having exploded and not coming back together, its sharp pieces broken and cutting everything else apart, making everything drip with blood.
"Yusei, Wake up! WAKE UP!" she started screaming, shaking him hard, and then helplessly looking around, terrified and crying, "Help, help, help, somebody please help us, please HELP, somebody, anybody!"
Nothing and no one at all. They were the only two people in a whole world. Hysterical she turned back to him and continued slapping his face, saying his name over and over again. Then starting CPR, compressing his chest hard at regular intervals, then breathing into him, then rinse and repeat, not knowing if she was doing it right (maybe there is no right way of doing it if the person had died) and she couldn't hear anything over the wild thumping of her heart in her ears, not a breath and not a sound.
After what felt like hours of doing this (realistically wasn't it only a minute?), she had stopped, drained to exhaustion. Mumbling something, anything else, maybe even praying to gods, any gods, any that could hear, any that wanted to hear. Whispering now, wrecked beyond repair:
"Yusei, please don't do this. You can't do this, how can you do this, what is Jack going to do without you, what is Crow, what about me, I can't, I can't…" She fixed her jacket over him, so he could be warmer. "And how can you do this when we still have so much we haven't said to each other. Mmm, you know you never told me you loved me? I kept waiting for it… When we were on a date. But you didn't. Were you shy? Mmm, well maybe you didn't love me. Didn't…ha," a burst of laughter had escaped her and she accepted her insanity, wiping a sleeve roughly over her wet face and tears that wouldn't stop. "Don't. Don't. Maybe you don't love me, Yusei, but you know, that's okay. Mmm, it's okay because I love you and I think you know this already but you know, you look at me when I say this. Fudo Yusei?" she shook him again and then cupped his face, turning him to her. "You see my face when I tell you this, I tell you that I've always loved you. See? Why aren't you looking?"
She released him and aimlessly fixed her jacket on him again, trying to pull it down to cover him as much as possible, because he was so so so cold and if only he could be a little warmer, maybe he would…maybe he would… "I-I-I tth-th-" she started hiccupping her sobs and began wailing, screaming, her hands glued over her mouth but the screams just wouldn't stop, they returned to her in an echo and they were horrific noises, almost like an animal's and yet she couldn't stop, they kept going and they were ripping out of her empty shell of a body and they couldn't be stopped and nothing was changing and the clouds in the sky were moving like nothing so horrible has happened, like the world hasn't just ended, like the planet hadn't stopped spinning.
Quivering viciously, she gathered him into her arms, not seeing and not hearing anything, humming something, a song from years long past, rocking back and forth. So when Jack Atlas appeared in front of her, she did not even really register him, not him, not Crow, not Rua or Ruka, she didn't hear anything they were saying, she just sat there humming and rocking and clutching, staring out into space and nothing happened in that vacuum until strong persistent hands grabbed her and suddenly pulled her back with what felt like monstrous strength and Yusei was pried out of her hands.
Alarmed, she started mumbling something, struggling to break free but those damn arms were holding her back and far away and Jack was now kneeling in front of Yusei and he looked like he was yelling and he's started shaking him too but so cruelly and Aki screamed for him to stop, he was hurting him! but she couldn't hear her voice, the world was on mute, maybe it's because this wasn't real and she didn't exist, maybe-
"AKI!" the awful sound broke into her ear and abruptly it had all came to as if someone pressed an "unmute" button.
Ruka was standing a distance back, sobbing with hands covering her face, and Rua was hugging her, hiding his own undoubtedly tear covered face. Bruno was standing near them, still as stone, expression of anguish, Carly cupping her mouth and noticeably trembling. Jack had stopped shaking Yusei but continued yelling at him, threatening that he needs to wake up, because what the hell, if he knew he was going to freaking get hurt like this in a duel other than with him, he would never forgive him! And what the hell, he promised to give him his card back, so what the hell, did he break his promise to Jack Atlas? And now he is also officially the new King of Games by default, but he's not really complaining, actually this was all he really wanted but you know what, he doesn't want it unless he wins it himself, unless he crushes him during duel with his own power, Damn you, Yusei! Damn you! and his deep booming voice carrying an echo through the warehouse.
And then abruptly he turned and caught her eyes and Aki saw such deep hatred in them that she recoiled against Crow as if she had been punched. He's blaming me, she saw, he's blaming me for this. But of course he is, he should be, I was the one that killed Yusei. Killed…Yusei… her gaze froze on her lover's broken form again and everything just swirled violently and she had no balance, and the gray ground was inches from her face and a hand was holding her forehead and her name was called repeatedly on the distance. She thought she had dry-heaved once or twice or maybe multiple times but there was nothing in her stomach, it just made her suffer - But I deserve to suffer like this, I deserve so much worse than this. And then her ears were ringing, the vision gray and a warm callused hand caressing her forehead, soothing incomprehensible words, and another arm holding her as she was laid down, one knee underneath her, and she drowned in her own unawareness.
Crow watched as four paramedics, who arrived maybe seconds after they did, had pushed back everyone including Jack. They had begun working quickly, trying to resuscitate Yusei: they pulled out a breathing tube and another wheeled up an oxygen tank and IV. Another one yelled at them to get away, to give space if they wanted to help him, and all Signers jumped back obediently. All but Crow who was farther enough and unable to move while hanging on to comatose Aki.
While two paramedics were working, the other one ran over to was Mahdi (is that fucker dead?) and another one approached him and Aki.
"Was she here too when explosion happened? How is she?"
"Um," Crow looked down at Aki as she lay limply in his arms, blank eyes staring into space where Yusei was (although he was blocked off by the health workers), not blinking, not reacting. She was shivering aggressively, teeth chattering loud enough for them to hear through her tightly set mouth. "Not great, she's very sick." He continued gently caressing her, pushing back strands of hair from her cold damp forehead.
The paramedic hastily listened to her pulse, tried talking to her (unsuccessfully), and then shone a small light at her eyes, at which she blinked, moaned lightly and indiscernibly turned away, closer into the nook of Crow's arm. "It's shock," the health worker deduced, "And I don't see other injuries." He still recommended that they take her for a check-up in case she had a concussion due to an explosion.
What explosion, Crow glanced around the ruins. This looked pretty much exactly like the Satellite infrastructure he knew all his life.
Finally, the health worker promised that more personnel were on their way to help and excused himself so he could go attend to others who were in more urgent need. Crow thought that if he was leaving Aki to check up on Mahdi instead that he would lose it. But the helpful man only joined the other two who were working on Yusei.
The fourth paramedic was in fact checking up on Mahdi. Crow craved to tell him not to bother but bit down on his tongue. He saw Jack's furious expression and was surprised that Jack hadn't yet shoved the health worker away and begun kicking Mahdi on the ground.
The paramedic had attempted brief CPR and then held his fingers to Mahdi's throat, observing his watch. Then some long seconds after he shook his head at the others and got up. This one had been dead and for some time.
Meanwhile the other paramedics successfully stuck a breathing tube down Yusei's throat and established a semi-regular and shallow rhythm of breathing, covering his face with a mask. "I can't do it," one of the workers mumbled a quiet update to his colleague. They had tossed Aki's red jacket away, cut open Yusei's sleeves and were attempting to insert an IV needle but it wasn't happening. Tightening the ropes didn't do anything, the victim's veins had collapsed. "Gotta move him now while he's still breathing."
His coworker nodded, squeezing the oxygen bubble at regular intervals to regulate the flow. The third helper had cut away the tape covering the guy's abdomen and instantly applied a freezing glue to hold back the blood. Quickly and carefully they had then transferred him to the stretcher when two more ambulances pulled up, followed by two fire trucks and Public Security.
More help is here, Crow thought relieved, watching them take Yusei into the car. He thought they should follow Yusei to the hospital but he didn't know how to move Aki. He looked at her again and studied her face as she lay there as limp and expressionless as a doll. Her eyes were red, puffy and unblinking as they stared at the same spot, her cheeks decorated in dark smudges, hair messy and unbrushed. He still thought she was so beautiful and he loathed himself. He also saw unpleasant blue marks on her temples. Bruises? he pondered.
Jack approached him. "Hey, we'll be following Yusei," he said. "Are they going to take Aki somewhere too?"
"I don't know but you go ahead, we'll catch up," Crow answered.
Carly neared as well. "Aki, hey," she tried speaking to her, kneeling and touching her shoulder lightly. "Aki," she repeated but her friend wouldn't react. The brunette's pretty watering eyes looked up at Crow through the circular lenses, dismayed and pleading for answers but he could only shrug helplessly.
"Carly, let's go!" Jack growled from the distance and Carly, lingering one last look at Aki, hurried away. She took terrified Rua and Ruka in her car and began following Jack's Wheel of Fortune.
Another paramedic approached them and Crow let her examine Aki again. Her conclusion was the same as the other one's but she had given them blankets and water. She also motioned for the others to bring in a stretcher so they could help take Aki away.
It was then that Bruno's voice sounded and Crow realized that he had stayed back as well. "How can I help?"
"I'll be going with Aki. Can you either stay and watch over our D-Wheels or try take them home somehow?" Crow requested. They had to take care of their friends' D-Wheels. Yusei would flip if his D-Wheel was stolen or worse, not properly tended for, when he got better.
"Of course," Bruno agreed and promised to figure out an arrangement, maybe ask the Public Security office to help them. He looked out for signs of Ushio and Mikage.
Crow begged for the ambulance to take him with Aki and asked if they were going to the same hospital as the other car, reassured that they were. Before climbing on he saw Aki's tattered red jacket lying where Yusei was. He picked it up, wincing after seeing the blood stains but nonetheless folding it carefully and being prepared to return it to her when she'd get better. As the ambulance doors shut, he saw a group of Public Security officers and a few remaining health workers surrounding Mahdi, also taking him away. He fought hard from spitting in that general direction but had decided instead not to waste his energy.
The vehicle was on its way and he could catch a glimpse of flashing lights on the far ahead distance: the ambulance carrying Yusei and others following close. He sat down next to Aki and rubbed his tired eyes, watching as the medical technician inserted an IV needle into Aki's arm.
"Crow," sounded a small voice, so soft that he thought he imagined it if not for a cold and weak hand suddenly clamping over his wrist. She was still staring off on a side, that same empty and unnerving gaze.
"Aki, hey," he pulled up closer and focused all his attention on her. "We're on our way to the hospital. Everything will be okay. How are you?" Where are you?
"Yusei," she muttered. "Where?"
"They took him away first. He's going to be okay, Aki. They were so fast. They put that oxygen thing on him and they got him hooked up to all these machines. They'll get him patched up and all will be okay."
Aki said nothing. A second later her eyes closed and her hand dropped. Distressed, he called at the paramedic who's been watching over her but after a quick check of the stats, the health worker assured him that his friend had fainted, probably from exhaustion.
The first ambulance raced across Daedalus Bridge, the sirens breaking through the sleepy gray morning and reaching equally into Neo Domino and Satellite. Inside the vehicle the parademics had started up a heart monitor. After repeated attempts they had also succeeded in inserting the IV needle to start replacing fluids. They had also performed a blood test and took the tumbling pressure. One of them had paged the hospital to prepare the trauma room and bags. "Abdominal injury, currently contained but possible damage to the liver and internal bleeding," the man gave updates like rapid fire, "Stage III, possibly IV hypovolemia. Blood type A." The electric beep on the heart monitor was slow and weak. Automatic paddles on the victim's chest were performing regular CPR to regulate blood flow. But despite their best efforts the patient had suddenly begun seizing up and sent the monitor beeping all over the place.
The seizure ended almost as quickly as it started. A trickle of blood escaped the mouth and clogged up on the inside of the oxygen mask. The line on the heart monitor went flat.