Author's Note:
Happy 2018th Year, everyone!
This is Chapter 35 of this long-running fanfiction. I can't believe I'm still writing this.
After a hiatus we're back to action now, no more beating around the bush with those "in-between" chapters.
Our storylines with Signers and our villains have overlapped in this chapter. The other storyline is Aki beginning her final duel against Yusei in the post Fortune Cup world, a parallel to the upcoming duel.
Also this chapter is really long and I'll need to proof-read it a few times this week to fix as many errors as I can.
Thank you for all your reviews, thoughts, favourites, alerts and everything else! And for still sticking with this insane, long-ass story, even when it was depressing or boring. You're all heroes. Also I love you.
NineInchNailed.
"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
~J.R.R. Tolkien.
The three remaining Signers and their friends – Bruno, Sherry and Kiryu – were hastily getting ready while in the background, the news on TV were reporting panicked live footage of sacrificial duels occurring across the city and interviews with distraught citizens of Neo Domino. Mayor Yeagar was due to make a statement in fifteen minutes.
"I thought people weren't dueling with the quarantine. How is it that all these duels are happening?" Bruno wondered out loud as he uncharacteristically struggled with the strap on his helmet.
Crow, who'd finishing zipping up his riding suit, guessed: "Well, the ban was supposed to end tomorrow, right? They've all probably relaxed and started dueling early."
"Especially since majority of duelists have already bypassed the ban by joining FDA," Sherry reminded.
"Ready?" Yusei asked, interrupting their discussion. He looked over at each and every one of his friends, all of whom have gone silent. It was time.
They nodded at him.
Yusei slammed the visor on his helmet down. "Then let's go."
And the six duelists headed on their way.
There was a monstrous hum coming from the Freedom Forward reactor. Low, droning vibration that pulsed uncomfortably against the eardrums, reached into the gums of your teeth, resonated inside the bone marrow.
Senator Tetsuo Higuchi was watching the massive TV screens and the reports of the mayhem outside with prideful glee. Behind him, his Freedom Forward creation emanated a murky red glow with each spin of its gears, accompanied by that awful pulsing sound. A group of five scientists were near the reactor, observing it carefully with earmuffs protecting their hearing.
Near the wall, senator's son Sho was cowering miserably, hands plastered over his ears. Neither his father nor a single other person paid an ounce of attention to him.
Some distance away, Dark Aki was sitting on the floor cross-legged and very still. Her eyes were open but empty, the fading amber glistening with streaks of crimson from the reactor.
The wounded palms of her hands were resting flat on the floor, blood spreading in threads towards Freedom Forward machinery. There was an IV hooked to her, four bags: two blood, one saline, one morphine. There would not be any mistakes unlike the first couple of times these sacrificial duels were facilitated. No loss of consciousness or near-death experiences of a wasted human body. She was still using tremendous power, more so than before and unfortunately it was finite. However, it didn't matter. Once the goal was to be reached within hours of today, none of it would ever matter again.
The god of Chaos had ventured above and beyond the temporary vessel that was Izayoi Aki. Reaching into the minds of every duelist into the city, one by one. Rising some from their sleep, interrupting those who were occupied with other tasks. It whispered to them, tendrils of persuasion ripping through their weak hearts and convincing them of what it was they needed to do.
It told a heartbroken teenager to duel his classmate. He had stolen the girl he loved from him. They used to be close friends and this had wounded him deeply. His friend had to pay for what he'd done.
It told one little boy to challenge his parents; to punish them for the time they took away his cards and grounded him. It told him to hurt them, to make them bleed.
It whispered to a sick patient at a hospital to get up and take up the duel disk. She used to be a high-ranking duelist before she got severely ill. She could use this power to punish the doctors who weren't doing enough and the nurses who refused to give her additional painkillers when she wept from pain at night. All that personnel that undoubtedly laughed at her, afterwards.
It told all the scorned WRPG duelists – all those who still held grudge and doubts over outcomes of their duels – to go against their past opponents. To defeat them the way they were supposed to, from the beginning.
Each and every one of them who had a taste of dueling in their hearts, were touched by this foul magic. And they've begun coming out onto the streets, in swarms.
One by one, more and more, sacrificial circles began popping up.
These battles were not going to be successful. Like before, they brought no real gain: the duelist calling the sacrifice often ended up bleeding to death regardless of the outcome. And the losing duelist's soul was forced to join all the others inside the reactor to serve the ultimate goal; they were but the necessary ingredients.
Dark Aki was the only one who could see the souls pouring into the station, funneling from the top. They were entrapped at the end of sacrificial duels and moved across the sky like a morose, crimson Milky Way. Hundreds of them were spinning inside the reactor, screaming in vain to get out. Hundreds, if not thousands more, to come.
"It's great!" senator Higuchi was cheering as he glanced back and forth from the news to his horrible invention. He couldn't see what was actually in it, the corruption that's settled in and its disastrous purpose, he saw only his life's work actualized. "It's all so great!"
Sho Higuchi couldn't take this anymore. The awful noise, the impending doom, whatever it was – he scrambled to his feet and scattered away without anyone noticing or caring.
As the fractured Team 5D's raced towards the Free Duelists Association, they passed by countless sacrificial duels along the way.
"Isn't there anything we can do to stop these right now?" Ruka asked her companions desperately. She chose to ride with Sherry on her D-Wheel, seated behind.
"There isn't enough of us to intervene," Kyosuke Kiryu answered reluctantly.
"No detours then?" Sherry asked the crew, watching with concern as they drove by yet another sacrificial duel.
"None," Yusei answered, keeping himself focused on the goal ahead and avoiding heartbreaking distractions all around them. To stop, to linger, to look elsewhere…even for one minute, would be their downfall.
"Also what the hell is that?" Crow shouted, pointing at the sky.
Yusei tore his eyes away from the looming dark building ahead and looked up. Ghostly, scarlet smudges burning across the sky, as if from a paintbrush…all flowing in the direction of the FDA.
"What is what?" Bruno asked, looking up and then around.
"That," Ruka said, gesturing at the prominent, fluctuating streak above them. "Don't you see? It's like a red stream of something."
"I don't see anything," Sherry admitted.
"Me neither," Kiryu confirmed.
"Yusei?" Ruka called out to him, worriedly.
"I see it," the captain of Team 5D's nodded. "But I don't know why not all of us can."
"Okay, let me check something," Crow dialed Ushio's number on the screen of his D-Wheel and the stressed-out man answered the videocall on second ring.
"Crow!"
"Ushio, are you-"
"Yes, we know!" their Public Security resource exclaimed. "All of police force is out right now, trying to stop these duels. It's a pandemic. It's like they're all possessed or something."
"They probably are possessed," Crow said and attempted: "It's probably got something to do with that red smoke or whatever in the clouds."
"What red smoke?" Ushio asked, his gaze anxiously darting somewhere offscreen behind him.
Crow glanced at Yusei's and Ruka's directions, silently asking for back-up on this. The three of them exchanged glances of uncertainty, leaving out their other allies from this silent exchange.
"Yes? Do you mean maybe light pollution from those duels, Crow?" Ushio prompted after a brief pause, frustrated with a possibility of another puzzle on his plate.
"Um yeah, that's it," Ruka called out, loud enough for Ushio to overhear, coming to a quick decision. "I think that's what it actually looks like." Clearly they weren't going to get any other clues from Ushio on this.
Maybe, Yusei thought, glancing down at his right forearm, at the symbol of the Crimson Dragon hidden under the sleeve. Or maybe it's only the three Signers who can see it.
"Okay," Ushio hastily agreed and went on: "We're trying the best we can out here but it's a nightmare. We've had to pull everyone from Public Security on these, even called-in adjoining sectors for help."
"And the problem is," his colleague Mikage joined his side in the videocall, clearly having been present and overhearing the conversation the whole time. "We don't know how to stop these duels once they've already started. We've been able to confiscate all duel disks from everyone we see-" she moved back and gestured at a large pile of impounded duel disks next to the police cruisers "-but it's not enough. It's like this thing affected everyone. Some of our Public Security coworkers too. We've been able to stop some…but others…" her voice trailed off.
"We're doing what we can, guys," Ushio repeated himself, concern and affection evident in his gaze as soon as he rested his eyes on distraught Mikage. "But there are so few of us and so many of them. We won't be able to come help you at FDA anymore, not until we've gained some traction here. We need three, maybe four hours at least. You're on your own for now."
"It's probably exactly what those bastards wanted," Crow commented, gritting his teeth. They were now two allies short and that's not counting all the police force they were going to bring with them!
"We're continuing with our original plan," Yusei called distantly, not turning his head as he continued racing at the front with his D-Wheel leading the way. "Public Security must do what it can to maintain the situation out here. But we're going straight to the source and we will stop this from the inside."
"We'll try to come as soon as we've got it under some control," Mikage promised.
"Please," Yusei added. He was notorious for avoiding asking for help but this was way beyond anything resembling a comfort zone. Simply put: they needed all the resources they could get to stop this enemy.
"Roger," Ushio confirmed and hung up.
"So…" Crow uttered and sighed loudly. "Some unknown mystical shit in the sky. No help from Public Security. And it's all up to the six of us to save the day. Gotta say…it's a pretty typical turn of events."
"Team 5D's and our closest friends, ready to face our final enemy," Ruka commented, laughing uncomfortably.
"I'll be honest. I wouldn't ask to be anywhere else but here today," Kiryu said and a wide, satisfied smile appeared on his face. "I'm a little selfish though. I've been so bored this year."
"Whatever happens today," Yusei spoke up, glancing over his shoulder at all his friends, locking quick eye contact with each one before returning his gaze to the road ahead: "It would never have been possible without all of you. Thank you for being here. I'm honoured to have you all by my side, today. And it is why we will come out with victory in our hands. It is why we'll be able to rescue others: because of the strength of our bond and our combined power."
"Set and all his evil minions have no idea what's coming their way right now!" Bruno exclaimed.
"Let's hurry up, then!" Crow cheered. "I can't wait to see the look on all their faces as they see us roll in there and HAND THEIR ASSES TO THEM."
"Let's remember to celebrate properly afterwards, too," Sherry laughed.
"But of course!" Crow hollered. "Booze, games and Blackbird Delivery pizza! Coming this evening, guys. See you at the party."
"Oh I'll be there!" Bruno laughed.
"Not if I beat you there," Kiryu joked. The others joined in, cheering despite the graveness of the upcoming situation. Even Yusei, serious and focused at the front of the motorcycle crew, smiled and thumbed up.
It wasn't longer than ten minutes later that the five D-Wheels stopped, side-by-side, in the parking lot of the Free Duelists Association. There they took a moment of silence to behold the malevolent structure and mentally prepare for the upcoming showdown.
"How is everyone feeling?" Kiryu asked the anxious group.
"Alright," Sherry said.
"Queasy," Bruno admitted, worried in large part about the possibility of being locked in one of Set's revenge-driven blood duels.
"Me too," Ruka agreed with him.
"Yeah, me three," Crow complained, approaching to stand by Yusei's side. "And you?"
"I'm good," Yusei decided. "I'm ready."
"It's quiet out here," Crow noted, looking around. "Too quiet. Think they know we're coming?"
"More than likely," Yusei estimated. "Even if they've got their hands full."
"Well then," Sherry smiled and stepped forward. "Let's have a look inside, shall we?"
"Carly's shortcut is this way," Ruka said. The journalist's infamous secret path had allowed her to get in although she'd been explicitly prohibited since day one. "She took Rua and I through it last time."
Inside the building, way down in the basement, a member of Public Security approached the distracted owner of the FDA. Senator Higuchi had been splitting his attention between the concerning data the active reactor was producing and the outside mayhem being reported by the news, and had been unaware of all the other occurrences. "Sir?" the security guard spoke up timidly, cringing from the thunderous noise resonating across this area. "I'm very sorry to interrupt but you have some unwelcome visitors."
"What's that?" Higuchi snapped his head at his direction, irritated by the disruption. What visitors? There couldn't be any as they had locked down to keep all those dangerous duels on the outside.
"Some duelists have entered the building," the guard elaborated and hurriedly handed the politician a tablet screen.
The senator watched, furious, as six people whom he'd instantly identified as Professor Fudo's son and his posse of friends walking through the service delivery door that was supposed to be locked when not used by shop vendors. Furthermore this door was specifically hidden from the outside of the warehouse and looked like a normal wall panel. How did they discover this?
He handed the device back and barked: "Go out there and do your job. Kick them out of here! Why the hell are you still standing here?!"
"Yes, sir!" the security guard took off like a lightning and began spitting quick orders over a walkie-talkie.
"And you," Higuchi turned in the direction of the catatonic deity. She was still sitting cross-legged on the floor some distance away, silent and in deep concentration. She was also bleeding all over his floor, which was absolutely disgusting and unsanitary! "Didn't you say you were going to get into heads of all the duelists? But Professor's Fudo's progeny and his sidekicks are running around in my lobby and sticking their noises in my business again?"
Dark Aki did not answer him, far away inside the trance. She reached further and further out, stretching consciousness thin and spreading the duels like a virus, lips moving to form soundless words.
"Did you hear me?" Higuchi yelled, approaching. "Explain how you fucked that up!" And when he still heard no response, he made to grab and shake her but, instead, a monstrously strong hand closed over his shirt's collar and suddenly he was a foot up in the air.
Pitch black eyes of Jack Atlas were peering at him, icy and menacing.
Higuchi began choking, a little spit in the corner of his mouth.
"You're not allowed to bother her," the powerful bodyguard threatened. "She can't be distracted from this task."
The senator's hands began clawing pathetically at the single fist holding him up. This guy was ridiculously strong.
"What's that? You're hard to hear," the Dark Signer mocked.
"I said I GOT IT," Higuchi finally gasped-out, beginning to turn beet red from the lack of air.
Jack Atlas released him that instant and the politician dropped on the ground like a fat bag of bricks.
"You won't touch her. You won't talk to her," King Atlas loomed above him. And now, by his side, was also a young blue-haired teenager. Another one of Mahdi's eerie new converts too, going by the darkness even in the whites of the eyes. And this boy had a peculiar, nearly frightening blankness on his face. Just seeming slightly more…off somehow.
"Got that?" Jack demanded.
"Yes," the senator managed, fuming with anger.
"Oh…Jack…" a pleasant, female voice sounded – sweet in its resonance, albeit weaker in timbre than usual – and at its uttered breath King Atlas was already at its side. He crouched next to her and Dark Aki, awoken from her trance, relaxed into his arms for support. Her gaunt, pale face glistened with sweat and she spoke to him laboriously: "Thank you for protecting me, my love. But it's fine. I've done quite a bit of damage already and could use a break."
"As you wish."
"Sometimes you gotta sit back and enjoy watching the world burn," she smiled weakly.
"Yes, taking a break is so well deserved when you haven't done your job," Higuchi commented viciously. "With that Team 5D's having just entered this building. What, did you give them another personal invitation?"
Dark Aki tore away her tired, drugged-up gaze from Jack Atlas and frowned. "What's that?" Is that…is that how you talk to me now, mister Senator? Have you forgotten your place here?
"Are you hard of hearing?" Higuchi made an ugly smile and she had a vivid, satisfying vision within her morphine-heavy condition where she closed her hands around his neck and twisted until it popped off with all its gore, akin to a cheap doll. It would be an absurdly easy thing for a primordial god like her to do, even within this exhausted, half-dead body.
"Those pesky duelists are in this building," the senator continued, unaware of the disturbing thought process that passed through his ally's mind. "I've had to send my guards to take care of them."
"Who? Fudo Yusei?" Could it be? You can't keep away from me after all, can you Osiris? You deny it but you come to face your destiny, time and time again.
"Him and whatever," the senator waved his hand irritably, "some others."
"Hmm," Dark Aki breathed out, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead and realizing the cold, slick perspiration. Fuck, she felt awful. Lightheaded and unclear somehow, the lack of feeling in the fingers, the numbness in the jaw, the not all here. It wasn't just the residual persistent headache or the grogginess from the drugs. It had all accumulated to this: with every passing hour, the body of Izayoi Aki was getting closer to purging him from it. Despite all the life he'd sucked out of it, everything he'd put through it, that Signer girl was still fighting and, soon, she would be winning. It was almost admirable in its impossibility. How? Did she have another secret power, some other hidden leftovers from her alternative self in the celestial realm, Isis? Some other help? Well. Thankfully, it wouldn't matter for much longer anyway. He'd have used this body for as long as he needed to, anyway.
Still lost in thought, she clenched and unclenched her jaw, concentrating on moving her fingers until feeling returned to them. Not quite yet, okay?
Osiris and his friends were annoying, at this time. Harmless but as irritating and unnecessary as the migraine jabs against the back of her eye. Normally she'd entertain some additional challenges but she meant it when she said she wanted to take a little break.
"Jack," she purred and the Dark Signer's handsome face came into her field of vision. "Can you help me?"
"With anything," he promised.
"Of course you would," she placed her palm against his cheek. "Help me with Higuchi-san's intruders, okay? Make sure they don't make it here and don't interrupt us?"
"I told you I've sent some guards to take care of it!" Higuchi's voice intervened. "Can't trust you to take care of things today, clearly."
Dark Aki had to take a small pause, to draw a breath, to count to three. Won't you shut the fuck up? You ungrateful, puny human, a fucking ant, a bacteria imagining its weight in the universe, a piece of s- "Jack," she smiled at her loyal servant. He was by far her most favourite convert, so far. "Can you make sure Higuchi's idiots don't screw up their jobs?"
The senator snorted and grumbled something inarticulate, having returned his attention to the Freedom Forward reactor and the chaotic news.
"Yes," Jack Atlas nodded and, carefully releasing her, got up to his feet. "It would be a good opportunity to confront Fudo Yusei, too."
"He also rubbed you the wrong way, huh?" she grinned lightly. "You've truly joined this club, Jack."
"I am King now," Jack said, taking his duel deck out of a belt holder. "But I've always known that Yusei is the one I need to defeat. Despite all I've achieved, he's the last one I must overcome if I were to truly be the King in everyone's eyes, too. The King is only as true as he is in his supporters' hearts."
What a poetic load of crap. "Only if that's the opportunity you seek," Dark Aki said sweetly, "I know you will win any battle you wish, my King." The image she continued conveying to him was that of Dark Signer Carly. As beautiful and radiant as ever. He was powerless to resist her.
"Definitely."
"Feel free to use the dark power as you see fit." And, you know, see if you can try killing him. Make Osiris bleed like a stuck pig again. See if he can come back to life again after that, haha. Help me out here, Jackie. Give me this nice little gift.
"No need," Jack Atlas suddenly refused. He was studying his cards, lingering on Red Demon's Dragon.
A look of displeased surprise appeared on her gaunt face. "What's that?"
"I've got all I need, with my own strength. I don't need anything else for that duel."
"I see." Her lips pressed into a thin line. So. Do you think you're better than that, Jack Atlas? Is that what you think of yourself? You will see.
"Victory is what I will bring you," he added and put away his cards. Then he walked away, tall and proud, the edges of his gray coat flowing behind him.
"Should I go too?" Rua asked, apathetically. She had nearly forgotten all about this second one.
"You stay, boy," she ordered, studying the bleeding palms of her hands. "Stay with me. And bring me some bandages while you're at it."
As the kid departed to look for a first-aid kit, Higuchi's voice once again reached her ears like poison. "You better not screw this up for me," he threatened, gaze glued to TV. "So far it's been…a disappointment."
Shut. The fuck. Up. Dark Aki thought against the waves of migraine pulsating against the walls of this skull, as if threatening to explode. The painkillers were helping subdue some of it but not much could be done when its strength was so scorching, so overpowering. Careful, senator. You're threading dangerous waters. And I don't think I can pretend like I'm your pawn, for much longer.
"Don't worry, Higuchi-san," she forced a mocking smile. "I've got a very good feeling about today."
The Team 5D's was inside the Free Duelists Association. All the shops and vendors were closed, the duel arenas were empty, not a duelist in sight. It was worse this way, harder to hide without the comforting anonymity the crowds offered.
Before they even had a chance either to panic or make a run for the nearest stealthy spot, "Stop right there!" sounded and in seconds they were surrounded by at least ten guards.
"What are you doing here, how did you even get in?!" one security officer shouted.
"You can't be in here!" another offered, helpfully.
"We have business with Senator Higuchi," Yusei offered a credible explanation. "Take us to him."
One of the guards snorted. The other one said: "Okay. If you won't leave nicely, we can make you leave." He held a baton in his hand out for them to see.
"We're not going anywhere," Ruka spoke up, bravely.
"She's right," Sherry walked out at the front, hand on her hip, a confident smile on her face. "We're not going anywhere voluntarily. Guess you'll have to make us leave."
"Yeah, that's no problem," the head officer nodded at his subordinates. All the batons were out now, sparks of electricity cracking. They weren't just going to beat them but to taze them, too.
"Bruno?" Sherry turned to the mechanic.
"Here goes!" Bruno cried and dropped something on the ground. Instantly the air filled with thick, gray smoke. The guards began coughing, rubbing their eyes. Meanwhile, the Team 5D's dispersed in different directions, just as they've agreed to do if a situation such as this one were to occur. They paired up: Ruka went with Yusei, Crow with Kiryu and Sherry with Bruno.
Five minutes later, some of Team 5D's reconvened successfully on the first floor of a decrepit café which Bruno identified yesterday as a good spot to meet and hide if they all should split up, due to its single malfunctioning store camera. Here they would not be discovered by any surveillance videos.
Yusei and Ruka made it to the gathering place first and were joined by Crow and Kiryu maybe a minute later.
The four of them crouched behind a seating booth, near the bar.
"Did you see Bruno or Sherry on the way?" Yusei asked, carefully looking above the booth to the outside and then quickly ducking when two officers ran by the café. There was some coughing and swearing coming from them both.
"Nope," Crow answered.
"How long do you want to wait?" Kiryu whispered.
"I don't," Yusei shook his head regretfully. "We can't all stay in the same place for long. We have to keep moving." They had to make it difficult to be caught and alternate their small groups.
"Two and two, again?" Kiryu reiterated while watching another security officer running by the café. This one had actually lingered for a few moments, lighting a flashlight to check the area sloppily, and then continued on his way.
"Yes."
"See you all soon," Ruka promised and then her and Kiryu took their chance and stealthily left the hideout, disappearing behind the corner.
"So far so good," Crow mumbled, watching discreetly from the side of the booth, fingers absently picking at the earring on his bandana. "Hopefully the others are okay."
"I don't doubt that Sherry and Bruno can take care of themselves," Yusei commented.
"Oh for sure. Especially Sherry. I'm sure she won't let anyone put a hand on her without putting up quite a fight," Crow said admirably.
"I'm certain you're right."
"Definitely," Crow turned back to him. "The coast looks clear. Let's go?"
"Actually before we leave. I must ask something of you."
"Sure?" Crow had a look of surprise on his face.
"A card. Can you give me a card?" Yusei asked urgently.
"What card?" the other Signer was completely mystified.
"Just a card. Whichever one you can part with today."
"What for?"
"So I have one from all of you." An offering from all the Signers, held in one deck.
Crow took out his duel deck and began flipping through it quickly. "Okay. Let me find something. I hope it will help you."
"It will."
"Do you want a Monster, a Magic or a Trap? With a Monster I could give you Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite-"
"Anything you choose will be the one to turn my battle today," Yusei said. "I'm certain of it."
"Hmm," Crow switched to another card, studying it. "Hopefully my pick meets your high expectations, Yusei."
"Don't worry."
Crow smiled then as something occurred to him. He flipped his deck face-down, hiding the cards. "You know what, I think it should be a blind draw. Yes, it's how it should be." He began shuffling the deck.
Yusei waited patiently while watching from the corner of his eye an occasional guard or two running by the café.
"You know," Crow said, still shuffling. "I would have always helped you, Yusei. You only ever had to ask."
"What do you mean?"
There was a brief pause while Crow reordered the cards. Then a signature, lopsided grin touched his face. "Just in general, I guess. I thought you should know this. You've rarely asked for help from us. I guess it's a good thing we also rarely listened to you and went ahead and helped you anyway, huh?"
Yusei returned a smile, uncertain why he was saying this.
"Here, take this one," Crow picked a random face-down card and handed it to him. "No idea what it is. Hopefully it's a good one."
"I'm sure it is," Yusei shuffled it into his own deck without seeing what it was.
"I just want to say one more thing before we get out of here," Crow said, watching the exit and listening for any sounds of approach. "I know a lot has happened. But I always thought that you and Aki – that was a good thing, the two of you getting together. It's how it should've been, much earlier than that even. So don't let a good thing like that go, okay? Get her back and let's finish this battle once and for all. I'm tired of that asshole Set ruining everything."
"Today is where it ends," Yusei said, surprised and touched by his words. "We're bringing Aki, Jack and Rua home." Ultimately, Crow continued being the most reliable, the most loyal friend he had ever had. He was the friend he could always count on in times of need. And if he didn't have Crow by his side now, this would have been hopeless. "And…thank you, Crow."
"All the best," Crow grinned and the two friends fist-bumped. Then they were up and running towards the second meeting point which Bruno identified yesterday in the blueprints. It was a dueling gear store close to the only two elevators that went to the basement level.
On the way there they saw Sherry engaged in a duel with four security guards near the Arena 1. By the assertive way she commanded her multiple monsters, it was clear that even with a four-on-one scenario she would be victorious.
There was no sign of Bruno and they could only hope that he was also engaged in battle, rather than captured and held somewhere.
They got to the shop and looked around, vigilant.
"See them?" Crow hissed, a little out of breath from running. They got here some five minutes later and Kiryu and Ruka should have already made it.
Yusei shook his head.
"That's as far as you will go," said a familiar voice and a tall figure walked out of the shadows, into the light. It was Jack Atlas, in his signature gray coat lined with purple, an active duel disk on his arm.
"Jack!" Crow exclaimed.
"Yusei," Jack uttered, ignoring the other Signer. "Still not giving up, are you?"
"Never," Yusei frowned.
"As I said, you're not getting further than this. You owe me a battle."
"I thought you've achieved your dream already, Jack," Yusei smiled lightly. "You've become the ruling King of Games within this underground world. Generously handed the throne by our enemy. Why would you care to battle me? Am I not just another duelist now?"
"It's true, you are not worthy of King's time," Jack agreed, uncharacteristically. "However," he narrowed his eyes, "You have always been the only one capable of defeating me, Yusei. My dream will not be fully realized until I've defeated you for the final time."
This will have to stay within your dreams, Jack. "Holding some grudges, are you?" Yusei pointed out.
"He is petty, isn't he?" Crow joined in. "What would Carly say to that, huh, Jack? She always thought you were a better man. Always believed in you for some reason."
Jack's dark gaze became steel cold as he finally acknowledged his other, once-best-friend. "Who do you think you are, Crow? You can't presume to speak on Carly's behalf. Besides, nobody has asked you for your opinion. This is between Yusei and I."
"Not quite right," another voice interrupted and Kiryu neared the two Signers, Ruka by his side.
A confident, satisfied smile appeared on Yusei's face.
"Sorry we're late," Kiryu told his teammates. "Had to take a detour when we were found by some guards. Had to lose them."
"Kyosuke…Kiryu?" Jack uttered and the hesitation in his voice betrayed his surprise. He may as well have said, What the hell are you, of all people, doing here?
"Oh right, you didn't know," Crow grinned and placed his arm around Kiryu's shoulder. "Our mutual friend Kiryu has agreed to come and help bring you down, Jack."
Jack still seemed too bewildered to say another word.
"Well? Do you accept this challenge?" Kiryu prompted. "You'd do me such an honour… It's not every day that I get to battle the current King of Games," he added innocently.
"I'm only dueling Yusei," Jack Atlas finally said. "The rest of you are not worth my time."
"Ah, he's afraid of us, Kiryu," Crow looked at his teammate and sighed with dramatic disappointment. "Figures. He'd never take both of us on."
Jack stared at him, wide-eyed with anger. "What the hell did you just say?"
"Yes, I can see that, Crow my friend," Kiryu agreed. "It's too bad. I used to think Jack Atlas was a most formidable opponent during our Team Satisfaction days. Never one to turn down a challenge. But as a King he's become quite – dare I say – cowardly."
If a look could kill this was the look on Jack's face right now. It was a wonder that bolts of lightning haven't begun shooting from the narrowed slits of his eyes.
"I guess you and I can just duel some of these guards, Kiryu," Crow sighed again, looking around. They were now surrounded by all the security officers that they've dodged thus far. There were at least twenty of them. There was nowhere to go and nowhere to run anymore. "Fuck, what a boring day."
"Is this what I came all the way from Satisfaction Town for?" Kiryu played along and stifled a yawn.
"Enough talking," the head officer intervened, out of breath. "We've chased all of your around long enough. We've asked you to leave nicely but there will be none of that now." He snapped his fingers, gesturing for his subordinates to act on this threat. "I don't care if you won't be able to walk out of here without an ambulance anymore." The guards began closing in, tazers cracking with electricity, the favourite torture tools of Public Security and with which Yusei, Crow and Kiryu have become quite acquainted during their law-breaking days.
"Wait. Hold up," Jack Atlas abruptly stepped in and the guards paused.
"Yes?" the leading officer asked impatiently.
"A duel has to happen, still."
The leader of the Public Security groaned. "Okay… Are you serious? What duel?"
"My duel," Jack said.
"Really? How come I haven't heard about it?"
"It's clear you don't have the full information clearance," Jack stared down the officer and cracked his knuckles and threatened: "I've been put in charge here. Are you looking to disobey my orders?"
Seeing Jack step up like this for them, even with his own evil agenda, was bittersweet. Yusei thought back to all the other times the blonde Signer had done this out of the goodness of his own heart and saved the day. Jack's strength and conviction had once been integral to this team. He had missed him.
The head officer sighed dejectedly, knowing that the scary chain of command around here indeed included the new King of Games. He waved at the other guards to give the aggravating duelists some space. "Okay. Whom are you dueling?"
"These two," Jack pointed at Kiryu and Crow.
Checkmate, Yusei thought. Both Kiryu and Crow grinned wide, ear-to-ear.
"What about this one and the girl?"
"Once I defeat them he owes me a duel," King Atlas glared at Yusei intimidatingly but he didn't back down from that stare. "Don't let the two of them out of your sight and don't let them proceed any further. I'll be done quickly."
"As you command," the head guard grumbled.
"It will be a Riding Duel," Jack Atlas commanded to his new opponents. "I trust the two of you brought your D-Wheels?"
"Of course, we just need to grab them from outside," Kiryu answered.
"Go with them to make sure they don't bail," Jack ordered a few of the guards and then turned to those who used to be his friends. "The duel will start in Arena 1. You have five minutes." Then he headed towards the arena to obtain his Wheel of Fortune.
"Yeah, yeah," Crow waved his hand dismissively as his future opponent departed. Then he turned to Yusei and Ruka and held a double thumbs-up to them.
"Be safe," Ruka wished.
"Win," Yusei said. "Finish it."
Kiryu gave them a fleeting smile and then the two of them have gone away, escorted by the guards to get their bikes.
Yusei and Ruka were the last to remain. Surrounded by the guards, they were next to the elevators leading to the underground levels where their own battles awaited.
Everything had gone exactly as they've predicted. This was one of the possible scenarios they've narrowed down to, yesterday.
Yusei glanced back to see that the elevator was on this floor, only a press of a button away. "Ready?" he mouthed silently to the girl.
She nodded, smiling nervously.
"Don't move, okay?" one of the guards threatened, noticing that they were about to try something. The electric baton was pointed at them.
"Appear, Stardust Dragon!" Yusei commanded and, as swift as the wind, he activated a card on his duel disk.
A splendid, grandiose dragon took flight and soared directly at the panicking guards. It was as bright as the silver light of the moon itself which descended from heavens. Its shriek was immense and confounding, more than enough to terrify some of the officers and cause a few of them to stumble back, even if it were only a hologram. And even without the power of a psychic duelist – for a few briefest seconds – the speed, the power and the brightness of the illusion had become real. Afterwards they would swear that they felt the heat of its immense body, the gust of air from its wings.
By the time the guards came around from the illusion, the elevator doors dinged and closed. The arrow on top pointed down and the duelists they were supposed to be watching were gone.
"Higuchi-sama," one of the scientists approached the senator.
"What?" the man barked, irritated to be taken out of his concentration. All he wanted to do was observe the statistics of the reactor with the background noises of chaos coming from the TV. The news was showing live footage on the ground, the red transparent circles everywhere across the city like festering wounds.
"It just came to my attention," the scientist attempted to explain herself quickly. "Our cameras are still capturing the situation on the floors above. I noticed that the intruders are still there." She pointed towards one of the smaller screens on the wall which held rotating surveillance across the building.
As Higuchi turned his attention there, with each passing second his face turned redder, darker and a prominent purple vein began pulsating in the middle of his forehead.
"Your security guards are being as useless as predicted?" Dark Aki asked. She was resting in a chair, hands bandaged and a plastic water bottle in one trembling limb. Next to her was Rua, blank and impassive.
He didn't answer. Instead, he silently approached the screen and maximized the images to other monitors, revealing:
Sherry engaged in a duel with three guards. Another one was sitting on the floor, dazed and disheveled.
Crow and Kiryu wheeling their bikes towards the duel arena, accompanied by the officers. Inside the stadium, Jack Atlas was doing a lap on his D-Wheel.
Next to the elevators going to the underground levels, six guards were mashing the buttons of the elevator so that the one still available would come up to the ground floor.
Yusei Fudo and a little girl were inside an elevator, on their way to the basement.
"Yup, thought so," Dark Aki confirmed.
"In case you didn't notice, your slave bodyguard was the one who made this situation worse," Higuchi hissed.
"Yes. That…was indeed pretty disappointing," she agreed, genuinely meaning that. He had let her down, badly. Well, screw-ups like this wouldn't be unpunished. But in the meantime…
"Rua," she turned to the last brainwashed Signer by her side. The boy fixed his empty, dark eyes on her. "Rua – the tainted heart of the Crimson Dragon – would you like to do something for me?"
"Yes," Rua said, passively.
"See her?" Dark Aki moved slowly and pointed at the images projected on the screens. The young girl with blue pony-tails in the elevator. "You know her. She's your weak, sickly sister. She's coming here right now. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"She's coming after you. She wants to take you home with her. And you know what's waiting for you at home, right? Nothing. No parents. No friends. No dueling. She's going to keep you prisoner with her."
Anger livened the young Signer's features. Dark Aki had picked at the pieces of darkness in his heart and exploded them. Anxieties mixed with moments of irritation, multiplied until there was nothing left but hatred and selfishness.
She took a knife and pressed it into his palm, keeping eyes on him until he flinched and crimson drops began seeping from his skin.
"Aren't you tired of having been stuck to her at the hip?" she resumed. "No room to breathe, to be yourself? Being stuck in that apartment with her for weeks, tending to her? She hated dueling. She never wanted to go out or play with others. She ruined your life, didn't she?"
"Yes."
"Then go out there and stop her from coming here. Make her pay for taking away your freedom."
Rua closed his bleeding fist and fastened a duel disk fueled by Freedom Forward technology to his arm. Then he left without another word.
"Don't like to do your own dirty work either, huh?" Senator Higuchi's voice jabbed at her like an icepick.
Dark Aki had to close her eyes again and concentrate on taking deep breaths while vividly imagining choking the senator to death and tossing his body into the reactor.
"This is going to be fun, don't you think?" Crow mumbled and pulled a strap on the bottom of his helmet, securing it.
"Jack has no idea what we have in store for him," Kiryu smiled, glancing at their once-friend. The Wheel of Fortune had stopped three metres ahead of them after King Atlas had finished doing a few laps around the stadium to warm up the engine.
"Oh he hasn't got a clue," Crow grinned. "This is going to be a duel to remember." At last, he tested his brakes and then looked back, trying to catch Sherry's attention as she dueled some distance away from the enclosed arena. "Sherry, how are you doing?" he yelled in her direction.
She heard him and turned in his direction. "Piece of cake, Crow," she bragged just as another Public Security officer succumbed to zero Life Points. There were only two to remain and she had 2000 Life Points left.
Jack Atlas was ready to go. He didn't bother listening to his opponents' conversations, only focused on the duel which was about to occur and on his strategy. He was going to finish this duel in two turns, saving the rest of his firepower for his duel with Yusei afterwards.
Absently, he reached into his pocket and produced a pair broken, bifocal lenses. He studied the fragile object in his hand, unsure of what he felt and why. Those belonged to that strange girl that surely died that day. She said weird things, did odd gestures… She called herself Carly too. How silly it was and, also, somehow…sad.
"Car…ly…" he uttered, slowly. The sound of his voice was but a whisper but it seemed to carry farther than it should have. It started and confused him. He suddenly wasn't sure what he was about to fight for and what he was even doing here, in this place, with these glasses in hand.
That abrupt confusion lasted by for a moment. "What the hell am I doing?" Jack berated himself and shoved that shattered object into his pocket, looking over his shoulder at his opponent. He frowned, loathing Crow Hogan's smug and cheerful face and Kyosuke Kiryu's uncharacteristically relaxed and dreamy appearance, far from the power-hungry demeanor he used to exhibit.
Both of them were a waste of his time. "The duel begins now," Jack warned them.
"Don't you worry, buddy, we're ready," Crow reassured him, revving his motor. Kiryu smirked and pulled down the visor over his eyes.
Jack Atlas looked away, irritated. "First to take the curve goes first."
"Standard rules," Kiryu nodded.
Speed World activated across the field and all three of them proclaimed: "Duel!"
The D-Wheels took off with screeching tires, smell of rubber permeating the air.
And the mark of the Crimson Dragon lit up on Crow's forearm.
Ruka's hands were shaking so she squeezed them into fists.
Yusei stood next to her. He pulled at the pendant on his neck and studied it. The Eye of Horus. Aki's bare fingers touched his palm when she gave it to him, the ghost on his skin which he still recalled so clearly. It's an ancient symbol of protection, she had said. And since you usually find yourself in trouble I thought that this could be something useful.
"Do you…do you like it?" she had asked him, hesitation in her voice. Her gaze was elsewhere, betraying her nervousness. His heart raced with delight. The room had grown smaller, brighter with her presence. Her vivid, white smile. The shy, mischievous sparkle in the amber of her eyes.
"Do you think we're going to see Rua soon?" Ruka asked, taking him out of his thoughts.
"I think so," Yusei looked at her. He noticed that she was trembling and felt a shard of pain cut through him. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe he never should have gotten everyone involved in this battle. He should have protected Ruka, not lead her to this dangerous place. Maybe-
"My brother will be okay," the girl spoke up. She then nodded with certainty and Yusei saw then courage and conviction shine through her. It was the most brilliant light within this place and it grounded him back. "Yes. Today I'm going to save him. I'm the only one who can."
The elevator slowed and then stopped. A ding and the doors parted.
A blue-haired boy was standing there. The duel disk on his arm was active and emanated a murky, red energy.
"Rua," Yusei breathed out. Ruka stumbled out of the elevator, wide-eyed, and he followed her. The door behind them closed.
"Signers," Rua spoke up. He raised the duel disk. "This is as far as you go."
"Rua!" his sister finally gathered some senses. "We came to find you! Snap out of it!"
The young teenager focused his angry gaze on her. "Well, I came to take you down. To pay you for all you've done to me."
"W-What?" the girl stuttered, dumbfounded.
"I've…always hated you, Ruka. For ten years I had no friends because of you. You were always so sickly. I never went out because I had to babysit you. And you hated dueling."
"Rua…" she whispered, her face pale. Heartbroken, she staggered back a little but Yusei stepped in and his hands on her shoulders steadied her.
"Rua, stop this!" he exclaimed. "That's not you. You'd never say such things to Ruka!"
"Fudo Yusei, at least you came along after all those boring years," the brainwashed teenager acknowledged him. "We were finally able to do something. Actually go out, meet people? But what happened next? That boring, sickly Ruka was chosen to be a Signer. None of you cared about me. For two years you all took pity on me, let me tag along, spoke insults behind my back. I bet you were shocked when Crimson Dragon finally recognized me, huh? You were all thinking, how can it be, him?"
"That's a lie!" Yusei was appalled, unable to believe the vicious words coming out of Rua's mouth. So this was the extent of Set's power, that disease he placed into duelists' heads? This was Rua, the most selfless of them all, the heart of their team, the one who'd have done anything out of love for his sister.
The boy's black eyes glistened dangerously. "I'll show you, Yusei. I'll show you and my sister the power you've never thought poor, useless Rua ever possessed."
"Stop it!" Yusei lost his composure.
"Rua," Ruka spoke up and stepped forward, away from Yusei's touch. Her gaze was determined and also angry. "I know my brother is in there somewhere. Real Rua would never say such things to me. This makes it so much easier for me to duel you today."
"Bring it on, sister," the boy grinned with an unsettling, wicked smile. "You too, Yusei. You're not going anywhere either. You both can die today, sacrifices to Set." He held up his hand and revealed a bleeding cut on his skin.
Yusei flinched, realizing what this meant. This is going to be a sacrificial duel. He looked wide-eyed at Ruka. This duel will end with a death.
And he understood now, that he couldn't proceed further. To fight Set, to save Aki. No. He had to remain here, with the two siblings.
"I...I'm staying, Ruka," he said.
She met his gaze, shocked. "What?"
"I can't leave you."
"You must!" she exclaimed.
He didn't move a muscle.
Rua didn't waste any more time. He pressed his hand against the ground and began to chant: "I offer a sacrifice worthy of a god's glory-"
"Yusei!" Ruka grabbed at his shirt. "What are you doing? How can you make a decision like that, huh?" she screamed at him, upset. Her next words were mature beyond her years: "Have you forgotten what each of us came here for?"
Bright shining red lines began spreading on the ground.
Yusei looked at her, distraught. "I know. But-"
She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly, pulling him down to her eye-level.
"Please go. We're going to be okay," she whispered. "I won't let this duel end like that. Rua and I are walking out of here, together."
"-and to offer agony in return for righteous justice-" Rua continued chanting as the lines continued spreading, taking over a massive diameter.
"Ruka," he embraced her.
"This is my duel. And…Aki-san is waiting for you."
This was the hardest choice Yusei ever had to make. He fought against his instinct and accepted what had to be done. He hated everything about himself and the world within this moment. "Be careful. We will be reunited, soon." All of us. We can defeat this and we go back to the way things used to be.
"Yes," she nodded. And then, just as it was about to become too late, and both of them were going to be trapped here her breath touched his ear. The words, soundless and impossible: "I loved you, Yusei."
And she pushed him away. "Go!"
He was up on his feet and away from the bubble of Sutekh Sacrificō seal which had closed in.
"NO!" Rua yelled, realizing what's happened and that his battle was going to be one Signer short. He opened his mouth to yell something at the one who'd escaped but he was well on his way, away from here.
Rua met her brother's gaze, calm and resolute.
"He left you here to die, huh?" Rua droned, as Yusei's shadow grew smaller on the distance. "He's not even your friend. You know what he is? He's a coward."
"You know that's not true. Yusei is your hero, Rua. You've always wanted to grow up to be like him."
Rua stifled a fake yawn. "The old Rua, maybe. I no longer need anything like that. I'll have everything I need once I get rid of you. You're like a parasite that's been stuck with me all my life."
"I've heard enough lies!" Ruka exclaimed and activated her own duel disk. "I'm bringing you back right now, Rua!" The sign of the Crimson Dragon lit-up on her arm, the bond connecting her with other Signers.
"Duel!" the siblings shouted.
Yusei raced down the hallway, his pulse manic in his ears. He couldn't stop, not even to catch his breath. He was the last one. His way was open and he had to keep going. He had to find her.
To find Aki.
As he ran through the dark, labyrinthian hallways, he felt a vibration rhythmically shake the ground, rattle the walls. Running further, approaching where he knew he had to be, he realized that this vibration was actually a low, dismal noise. It was a periodic sound akin to perverse Momentum; the opposite of that light, melodious ring. It sounded like a primordial, sinister monster in itself.
Senator Higuchi's Freedom Forward technology.
There was a slouched figure on the distance, sitting by the wall.
Yusei halted his stride and approached cautiously. The figure did not move and as he drew closer, he was surprised to realize that it was Sho Higuchi, the son of the insane senator and the brother of the one who'd become Mahdi.
The very same person who'd first brought him and Aki to this place, made them realize that conspiracy drew deeper and that it wasn't just the Egyptian God of Chaos wrecking mindless chaos; it was systemic, thoughtful, deliberate.
"Sho-kun…aren't you?" Yusei asked.
The guy looked up, blinking away what almost seemed like a daze of pain. Yusei neared him enough to notice that he looked very sick. He wasn't particularly memorable from the one other time he'd seen him, however this time he was clearly worse in some way: dark bags under eyes, unkempt appearance, uneven stubble. "Fudo…Yusei?"
"What are you doing here?"
"My father is here," Sho Higuchi answered. "I've got to stay. I've got…no one else left."
"Where is he?"
"Over there. Where the reactor is."
"Who else?"
"A few people," the duelist answered weakly and rubbed his face. He looked on a verge of passing out or vomiting all over the place.
"You have to leave," Yusei said. "It's dangerous here. Something is happening. This sound-"
"I know this sound. My father's creation. His…what's it called again?"
Yusei crouched so they would be on the same level. "Freedom Forward?"
"Whatever it's called now. It's made him sicker. For some years now, he was bad. But so much worse now… ever since…"
"Since your brother's passing?" Yusei guessed.
"No," Sho looked elsewhere. He didn't seem to mind being grilled about these things. Perhaps he's wanted someone to talk to about this, for some time. "It started years back. Once Kenjiro had…changed."
"Can you tell me what happened then?" Yusei asked, deciding to seize this chance and to fill in all the blanks of this story. After all, since Set's awakening he had worked to drive this family into the ground to achieve some indeterminate, final end-goal.
Higuchi's youngest drew in a short breath as if to start. Then he changed his mind and shook his head. "It's not important anymore. It's all going to be over soon, anyway."
"What's going to be over?"
"Everything, I suppose," Sho answered, his eyes blank and impassive, despite the next horrifying words escaping his mouth: "The reactor is going to explode. It's going to level everything within the city's radius. Possibly more, towards the islands."
Yusei stood up, quickly, a sickening shock circuiting through his system. "…What?" he managed, his voice hoarse.
"My dad always used to say it was a high risk. That's why it was never ready. He'd abandoned working on it after Zero Reverse, knowing that it would probably end up causing the same type of accident."
Yusei was staring, wide-eyed and deeply frightened. Up until now the mission as to put a stop to sacrificial duels, defeat Set once and for all, and to rescue all their friends. But now they were in the centre of a second Zero Reverse about to happen? And with the radius of the blast, if true, being more than enough to sink the whole city of Tokyo, not just Neo Domino and Satellite? No. No. No.
"You want to hear my advice?" Sho asked uncaringly despite having just shared some truly terrifying news. "Get whoever you still have left in your life and see if you can board a plane somewhere in the next thirty minutes. Everything is about to become rubble."
"No!" Yusei snapped. "There has to be a way to shut that thing down. Don't you want to help stop this?"
"Help? Help you?" Sho repeated, strangely. Then he looked at him directly. "Were you not the one who killed Kenjiro?"
Yusei took a step back.
"Didn't you?"
Yusei shook his head slowly, feeling as if he were dunked in ice. But… didn't I? He had wanted to kill Mahdi that day. He knew he was beyond saving. But he didn't think there was a carrier, that there had once been a real person underneath. He didn't think…he didn't know…or, once he saw the tortured and kidnapped Aki, maybe he didn't care?
"He… we fought," he finally attempted. "I couldn't save him. I didn't know I could." Excuses… misunderstandings… begging for forgiveness?
"Yeah," Mahdi's brother finally looked away. He paused. Then a small smirk touched the corner of his mouth and he seemed to have accepted this with finality. "Yeah, you couldn't have. He was gone two years before that day. I had already mourned him, a lot time ago. There was nothing anyone could do. But-" he returned his gaze. "You need to know that my father has never accepted this. He will never forgive you. Not for that parasite that took over Kenjiro, not for your father's Momentum overshadowing his invention and not for Zero Reverse. He'd lost my mom then."
"Look, if-" Yusei tried. "If I could take all of that back, I would." Not just what happened to this family but Professor Fudo's blood-stained legacy, the beautiful invention gone wrong for just one moment but a moment enough to ruin the world. He was forever destined to struggle through this corruption, the gray field of ashes in the wake of Zero Reverse.
"I'd take it all back, believe me," Yusei continued, clenching his fists to keep his composure. He couldn't fall apart. Not here, not with so much at stake around the corner. "But I can't," he said, meaning every word. "So look. Don't help me. I don't deserve your help, I know that now. But – what about the others? All the people in this city, all the kids? Don't they deserve your help? A chance at life?"
Sho shrugged his shoulders, slowly, still apathetic. It looked like something had broken inside him. He was barely human in his indifference.
"If you don't do it for everyone else, do it for your dad!" Yusei shouted.
"What use could I be?" Sho laughed, lightly. "I don't know anything. I can't help anyone, not even myself."
I can't do this anymore, Yusei thought, furious, devastated and revolted. I wasted too much time. He thought he could obtain a new ally, find out more, but it was completely futile. And now the fate of millions of others was dependent on stopping this reactor. Before the temperature could reach the red zone, the power could be cut before the boiling point. The safeguard installed inside every reactor… theoretically, at least. "Fine. Then stay here."
"That was my plan all along. No use in fighting the inevitable," Higuchi's remaining son agreed and sunk further into himself, arms covering his face. A resolute suicide.
And Yusei, throwing but one fleeting glance back, hurried away, far from this exasperating and upsetting encounter.
"Yusei, you came to save me?" Aki Izayoi asked, hopeful, shy and a little disbelieving. After their battle at Fortune Cup, after what she did to him with her power, he was here. She sat up on the bed and gazed upon him, heart beating just a little bit faster. What is he doing here? But…does it really matter? He came. Yusei Fudo came to see me.
"Aki!" sounded a voice so familiar and so frightening that it had frozen her in the spot. She turned and saw him. Her father. Her parents. Those concerned (fake) looks on their loathsome faces.
"Why are you here?" she demanded of them. "I don't need you anymore! I have Divine!" But the second the last word escaped her mouth something triggered in her. A memory. A realization. Divine falling countless stories down…
She shuddered, shaking hands reaching up into her hair. "Divine," she moaned, starting to become hysterical from grief. "Divine is… is gone!"
Memories from that whole night awoke in her. The awful things Misty said, accusing her of killing her brother. She had regressed into a self-pitying shell, pushing all those uncomfortable things about Divine aside. Because he was the only one…the only one who understood her, took care of her and loved her. He was the only one who could. "Divine told me," she groaned, for Yusei and for anyone who could hear. "He said that I no longer needed to think! That he would think for me!"
"Izayoi, calm down!" Yusei Fudo ordered, concern plastered all over his face.
Aki was on her feet now, inconsolable. "Divine was… Divine was what my father took away from me!" she told Yusei (as if he cared). Tears escaped her eyes and she shook her head: "He gave me a home! You came to laugh at me because I lost my home!"
Before Yusei had a chance to say something to his defense, she shoved him away from herself (he's too close, why is he always so close, why is he always looking at me) and jumped back to keep the distance, activating her duel disk. "In that case I'll show you again the power of a monster!"
"Izayoi, stop it!" he attempted. "Your father is hurting too!"
A fresh surge of anger awoke inside her. Who the hell did he think he was, saying things like he understood what's happened between her and her father? "You said that the Signers…that my friends would guide me!" she accused. "But you're also my enemy!"
The look on Yusei's face was nothing short of hurtbut she decided she didn't care. They weren't buddies. Ultimately, they didn't really know anything about each other, did they? Despite the bond she had conjured up of them in her heart? No. Yusei Fudo was only a stranger. They all were. They were all out to get her. She wanted all of them out of her life and now.
"You're an enemy who took away my home!" she screamed, losing it, and activated a duel card. Instantly, strong gushes of wind exploded, pushing everything out of her way. The kids Rua and Ruka, and ex-King Jack Atlas too (why are they here anyway?)
"Aki!" her father exclaimed and she hated the sound of his voice. She slouched, trying to catch her breath.
"I can only reach her heart by dueling," Yusei decided then and activated his own duel disk.
"That's right," she agreed with him. "We aren't friends. It's our destiny to battle."
Yusei raced without stopping towards that horrid, humming buzz of the reactor. He'd begun noticing the dark, scarlet glow coming from the area ahead and distinguishing the sounds of voices ahead.
There was a thick, heavy smell in the air. Coppery, persistent and stale. A smell of blood.
Just before the hallway was to open into that final zone, Yusei pressed his back flat against the wall and creeped up, silently, hoping to be unseen.
"Higuchi-sama," a timid voice sounded a short distance away.
"I'm busy," the irritated Senator retorted.
"But your trespassers," the timid voice tried and Yusei thought that this was it. They were about to point out that he was stupidly standing here, trying to be stealthy. "Just take a look here-"
"I've had ENOUGH of interruptions today. Hey, instead of bothering me WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?" he yelled, seemingly for no reason. Yusei wondered if the whole Higuchi family had been twisted in the head and if maybe Set didn't end up corrupting any of them, after all.
A second later, two scientists in lab coats scattered past Yusei. One paused his stride, noticing him, and stared.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" his colleague shouted while sprinting as fast as she could go.
The scientist hesitated, studying Yusei.
Yusei looked at him calmly, silently questioning if he was going to do something about his presence. It actually didn't matter as he was about to walk out, anyway.
Then the scientist shook his head and took off after his coworker. Both of them appeared to have had enough of this farce.
Yusei turned the corner and came out into the main room. It was massive, echoing the dimensions of the broken warehouse where he'd dueled Set for the first time.
In the middle of it all was the gigantic, red and loud reactor, exactly as the preview they've seen four days ago inside the Free Duelists Association.
Three timid, bullied scientists were still near the reactor, studying charts and data on their computers.
There were only two other people in addition to them. One was the gray-haired senator Higuchi who was watching multiple large TV screens showing different news channels, all covering the same thing: the sacrificial duels.
And the only other person, some distance from everyone else, was the thing in Aki's body. She was scrunched over a chair, splitting her attention between the reactor and the news. She was even thinner, even paler, even sicker than before and he never thought that could be possible. A sheen of sweat glistened over her green skin. On Aki's already tiny, slender frame, she appeared to have dropped at least another twenty pounds in three days. Her cheekbones were protruding, highlighting the blue eyebags. Her hands were bandaged, streaked with red. She looked like a terminal drug addict and the vision alone was enough to frighten him as much as the news of the second Zero Reverse.
It was maybe two seconds before another anxious scientist realized that they weren't alone. She stared at Yusei who was just standing there, observing them. "Um," she spoke up hesitantly. "Senator?"
"Oh my fucking god. WHAT?" Higuchi snapped impatiently, about to give another interrupter an earful. He turned and noticed the source of this calamity. He paused. Confusion registered on his face when he noticed the shadow Yusei was projecting on the floor. "Professor Fudo?" he uttered, bewildered. The figure, the hair. The scientist who took away everything from him. He was back, haunting him.
Dark Aki turned her head lethargically and finally registered the interruption. She then lighted with a weak but maniacal grin. Underneath Aki's drained body still shined the full-blown power of that disturbing evil. "Ah, Osiris. You made it. I thought you might. Although…to be honest…I hoped you'd have dropped dead somewhere along the way."
The senator managed to snap out of his brief delusion and gave himself a shake. "Right. Professor Fudo's son. Made it past all my useless guards, I see."
"I told you they were fucking useless," Dark Aki taunted him, beginning to laugh hard.
"Shut up, won't you?" Higuchi growled. "You said you were going to take care of this. Sent your bodyguards to take care of this. YOU FUCKING FAILED AGAIN AND AGAIN."
The wide grin on Dark Aki's face slowly morphed into a cold, chilling sneer. She didn't seem bothered by those foolish words. If anything…almost prepared.
"Shut off this reactor! Now!" Yusei pleaded to the group of the three remaining scientists, while the two villains were busy sorting out their issues. One of the workers cowered, the other went so far as to hide his face behind the clipboard. "There will be an explosion! You HAVE to stop this before it's too late!"
The senator returned his attention. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Please!" Yusei continued beseeching to the scared researchers. "You have to know what's going to happen! Look, there it is," he gestured at the temperature gages showing the accelerating pressure, the orange zone, the unbalanced data graphs. All the data they, themselves, were monitoring. "The fission chain reaction, once it goes into the red, it will blow and then-"
"Alright, get him out of here!" Higuchi interrupted, ordering his remaining workers and the deity that had once promised to obey him. "What the fuck are you all doing?"
The scientists exchanged a couple of anxious looks amongst themselves.
Dark Aki continued watching him with that frightening, cold calculation, and the smallest of smiles.
"What are you all waiting for!?" the Senator yelled, nearly foaming at the mouth. Yet he did not dare do anything about this himself, not even to dial for his security team or even try to get closer to Yusei himself, as if discomforted by him.
When no one answered, his yells got even louder, crazier. He was completely gone to whatever insanity had burrowed in him. "Intrusions! Incompetence! Laziness! DOES NO ONE KNOW HOW TO DO ANY WORK AROUND HERE?"
"That's enough," a quiet voice escaped Dark Aki's mouth and it did not belong to her. It wasn't layered somewhere deep within, miming from her voice register. No, it spoke from within itself and it was deep, malicious, somehow akin to the low, monstrous growl of the reactor.
A black mass materialized from her shadow. A hissing, dark shape, collected like mercury. It launched towards Higuchi and immediately swallowed him whole. From inside came dulled, gruesome wet noises. It was chewing.
The three scientists have let out panicked screams and ran away.
Yusei was staring, pale and wide-eyed, hairs standing up on the back of his neck.
The obscure form retreated from the spot and slowly dripped back into the shadow at her feet. "I've had more than enough of him," Set murmured, speaking with Aki's voice, pouring like poisoned, black honey.
Yusei looked back to where the senator Higuchi once stood. There remained only a huge visceral puddle of blood; fresh and viscous. There were a few things in it…perhaps remains of the clothes…or maybe some other pieces.
The blood began systematically spreading in streaks towards the reactor, as if getting sucked there by invisible straws.
Yusei quickly turned away and gagged, a hand over his mouth.
Dark Aki laughed. "Oh come on, Osiris. I thought you were supposed to have a stronger stomach than that for all the undead things."
Gasping for breath to fight off nausea and trying not to pay attention to the revolting vision in the corner of his eyes, Yusei faced her. "You… killed him!"
"Oh yes. All useless things deserve to die."
"He was your ally."
"Once. But I no longer need him. I've used him up to his full value."
"You know then?" Yusei tried. "That the reactor is going to blow? Is that what you were really after?"
She smiled, slowly. "Is that why you really came here? To stop that colossal explosion?"
"Yes. And to rescue Aki."
"Well. Honourable task although entirely stupid. How many times have I told you it's futile. Your Izayoi Aki is dead."
The corner of Yusei's lips lightly tugged upwards. If there was one thing he could find confidence in, it was this. "You and I both know it's not true."
"Do we?" Set sighed, although his enthusiasm faltered a little.
"Yes. And also I'm here because it's what you've always wanted, isn't it?" Yusei activated the duel disk on his arm. "Otherwise you could have killed me. Killed all of Team 5D's a long time ago, like the way you've disposed of so many others. And yet you were the one who discouraged the senator from finishing the job that day he orchestrated arson across Neo Domino."
She continued smiling.
"You like to play games, don't you Set? With me, with others. You think you can outwit us all. Otherwise it'd all have been too easy, huh?"
"Maybe. What fun is there when there is no challenge?"
"Then it will be your own downfall."
"You will be wrong, Fudo Yusei. Everything that's transpired up until this moment, on this day…has lead to my uprising. But don't worry – you've contributed a lot more than you know."
Yusei wouldn't let this intimidate him. "I don't have to believe in what you say."
She chuckled and reached for the red duel disk, snapping it on her arm. Senator Higuchi's broken legacy, the Freedom Forward disk infused with the bloody glow of that unstable reactor. "It's okay, you'll see it for yourself in just some minutes now. You can keep me company until then, Osiris."
A comforting, familiar sensation lit up on Yusei's forearm. The glow of the Signer mark bestowed upon him by the Crimson Dragon.
"Duel."
The final battles have started! How will this all end? Stay tuned!