Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - Drowning

~ by Yusei ~

Summary - "When one faces a slow death with someone they barely know, what runs through their mind? Before the common link between two seizes everything. Oneshot drabble, set during 60 / 61, Ushio x Mikage x Jack".

Disclaimer - I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's or any of the characters.

A / N - Something I was hoping to upload after watching Episode 60 but seemed to forget. The idea originated from the predicament that Mikage and Yusei, how it was their first time alone and speaking, a chance to discover the common link they share in Jack. And to ponder exactly how much damage Divine's ambush could have dealt. Please read and review.

- DROWNING -

Y u s e i ' s ~ P O V

The stench of sweltering metal filled the room, in the cage we had been lured into. The man that had led me into this deadly trap laughed menacingly as he prepared stride away. As strong as my resolve was to give chase, with the grate welded shut, there was no possibility of fighting back. On top of that, Mikage-san was laying unconscious right beside me. Ignoring the man standing over us contently, I crawled towards her, both back and abdomen screaming in agony. The handgrip of the Psycho Sword had slammed into my intestines and the onslaught had continued; whoever he was had brought his foot to my chest in the momefnt of vulnerability, the final move necessary to drive me in to the lower level of the chamber. The fall felt as though an eternity passed before the crunch rang through my body, struggling for air as the wind was literally knocked out of my body.

But there was no time to worry about myself; Aki could be facing the final Dark Signer and Mikage-san needing waking. If she had been lured into a trap, then what did that mean for the Rear Claw Signer? My hand gripped her shoulder firmly; we had no time to waste.

"Are you alright, Mikage-san?" I asked frantically. "Mikage-san!"

Without any warning, water began to gush into the room; several openings spilled the clear liquid in ominously; a never-ending flow of water that was going to flood the chamber.

The tormenting laughter of the assailant above filled the room; looking down at us like we meant nothing. He turned his back to us and began to stride towards the only entrance. A cold wave rushed through me; he wasn't working for the Dark Signers, but he was going to offer Mikage-san and I as offerings in the way a duellist's life would end in a duel within the blazing borders of the geoglyph.

"This isn't good".

The concrete sank beneath the shallow pool in seconds; if I couldn't wake Mikage-san soon, then her unconscious position would merely exacerbate the predicament we faced. I leaned over her slender body and dropped as much of my hand as I could into the pool around us, flicking water onto her face. Her face shivered from the abrupt waking, her hazel eyes opened gradually. Before I could retreat from over her, she shot up, her tender chest meeting my arm. I withdrew my arm instantly, perceiving the faint blush that glowed briefly across her face. The icy water against the bare skin of her calves set her mind straight in a flash; her eyes darted to the four valves that granted passage to the liquid.

"W - W - What's happening?" she shrieked in terror.

"Mikage-san, do you remember what happened before you passed out?" I queried. We had to identify that man; I prayed that perchance Mikage-san had observed his eyes, something about him that we could use to hunt him down if he were to ditch the masquerade he had used to deceive us.

"I don't really remember" the woman sighed, pressing the palm of her hand against her pate, wincing briefly. "When we arrived, Aki-san travelled into this amusement park, but I didn't feel she would be safe alone, I decided to follow. Shortly after doing so, I had located a large water slide, a man in a brown trench coat appeared. He said that he had arrived under the Director's orders. I guess I foolishly believed his story".

She released a sigh of bitter disappointment in herself, I laid my hand on her shoulder soothingly, I had fallen for the man's guise; she had nothing to feel guilty of.

Something that crossed my mind was the matter that this was our first conversation alone, the last time I could remember being in her company, and hers alone, had been after she had presented Aki with the clandestine agenda of the Arcadia Movement she had felt at home within. Aki raced from the room in disgust at what that man - 'Divine' was the name she repeatedly uttered throughout our duel - had planned for her. He had been the first person she felt had truly shown her any love, a caring side she had lost in her parents based on the words of her father's tale. She had been betrayed once again. Mikage-san failed to have Aki see the light and after a moment of silence in the room, I departed, leaving the short woman alone. The door sliding unobtrusively behind me closed the opportunity for me to hear anything else Mikage-san had been willing to add.

Seemingly, Aki had led us together again, a less desirable situation, but together nonetheless. I shifted the weight of my body from kneeling to forcing myself up, wincing lightly at the brusque sting shot through my back. My right hand rested against my throbbing back.

"Are you alright?" Mikage-san cried out suddenly, almost leaping from the submerged ground.

"I'm fine. Just a reverberation from the fall" I hissed through my clenched teeth. "Don't worry about me; we have to figure out what we're going to do about getting out of here".

My eyes rose to the grate overhead, with the end of the opening welded closed, it had become impossible for us to force it open from beneath. Mikage-san sounded a gasp of disheartened shock, she sounded close to tears, I glanced back to see her eyes dampening gradually. If she were to panic, then she would unintentionally place another obstacle in the way of our freedom, I stepped towards her and laid my hands on her shoulders firmly. The movement forced her eyes to meet mine.

"Everything will be fine".

"Excuse me for sounding rude, Yusei-san" she cried out. "But how do you suppose we get out of here? We can't get out until Atlus-sama comes to rescue us!"

She shrank back to her usual timid character after the outburst. Apparently she was extremely fond of Jack, a relationship built over the time he had spent in Neo-Domino after our final meeting in Satellite; the ultimatum he presented me with. My hands fell from her shoulders; I felt so helpless, she was crying out for Jack when he couldn't come to save us, there was nothing I could do to help her. She admired him that much to call for him, even when I stood in front of her. Granted there was nothing I could do in order to avert our predicament; but her heart had been set on depending on Jack to rescue us from sinking.

But we had to stay strong, I couldn't lose it now, if Mikage-san were on the brink of panicking, then I had to be strong for her, not fight her. I glanced at the knee-high water with downcast eyes, Mikage-san was slightly shorter than I.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean-" she whispered sorrowfully, each word sounded the aching of her heart. She was on for standing on the sidelines and watching the rest of us battle, not to get involved herself.

"Don't worry, I promise you we'll get out of this" I answered firmly. It was all I could say.

The timid woman fell silent, almost as though she were ashamed of her uncharacteristic outburst. My eyes rose again to the unoccupied upper level of the pool's structure, clicking my tongue anxiously, Jack wasn't about, but hopefully one of the others would stumble upon the area, perchance they would hear the raging of the water pouring into the pit. Mikage-san's whimpers poured into my ears; after everything I had faced and all the agony felt, the possibility of drowning of all things had occurred. My eyes darted from corner to corner, analysing the entire base of the pit.

"What is it?" Mikage-san inquired, leaning forward slightly as though to catch the reflection of the focus in my eye. Seemingly, my sudden shifting eyes had given her hope.

"I was hoping there would be a way to drain the water, this has to be a pool after all. But it seems we've hit a dead-end there" I sighed bitterly.

"Whoever that man is, he's dangerous. And he seems to be after Aki-san" she commented.

My eyes narrowed at the thought of another Psycho Duellist targeting Aki with the intention of dragging her back to the Arcadia Movement infuriated me. It was sickening to think of how selfish they were and to such an extremity. Divine had tried to stand in the way of uniting the Signers once before according to the twins; now it seemed a man working for him had assigned himself the task of hunting Aki down with the same intention. Did they not realize what was happening? Sunset was upon us and if Aki couldn't defeat Misty - I believe that was what she previously called the Lizard Dark Signer - by the time the sun sunk beneath the horizon, then the King of the Underworld that Rudger had spoken of would rise. We couldn't allow that to happen, but at the same time, I couldn't tell her the vital revelation.

"I hope Aki-san is alright" Mikage muttered.

"She'll be fine" I answered without looking back to the woman. "I only hope she can conquer the Lizard Tower before sunset…"

I trailed off, feeling Mikage's eyes set on me, she remained in the dark about the sinister twist in the war of Signer and Dark Signer. But I couldn't bring myself to worry her more than she already was. She was already unstable, I didn't want to push her further.

"But what if Atlus-sama and the others find her and watch her duel instead of finding us before it's too late?" she cried.

I shot a glance at her, my eyes beholding the woman whose lower half had sunken beneath the water, I wasn't far behind. Suddenly, I felt eternally grateful that my deck had been left in the Duel Disk equipped to my D-Wheel. What would I do if my cards were ruined because of an undignified incident like this? How reckless to lose Stardust in such a ludicrous manner. I opened my mouth to protest Mikage's focus on Jack, only to be swiftly cut off by her desperate cries, laced with fear. Like she had known what was coming and couldn't bear to hear the truth.

"Help! Atlus-sama! Atlus-sama!"

Her calls filled the room for seconds until each reached the edge of their travel, the words had yet to fall onto ears. If they were going to. As expected, Jack didn't come. No-one came. Being an amusement park, this place had to be immense, the others could be who knows how far away and we could be dead before they would stumble upon the building. Hope was evaporating fast, even I was beginning to doubt our chances, but my mask wouldn't crack.

"Yusei-san, please!" Mikage-san called, her intense eyes fixated on me. "You've got to help, if we shout together, then maybe someone will hear us!"

Call for help? The concept was foreign to me, I hadn't called anyone for help in years; not since Jack, Crow and I were children playing in the wastelands of Satellite. Chewing my bottom lip for a second, I acknowledged that there was only one choice; I had to discard my pride for now and bow to her proposal.

"Can anyone hear me? Someone, help us!" I screamed, feeling the vocal cords hiding beneath the skin of my neck vibrating wildly. "Rua! Ruka! Ushio-"

"Atlus-sama!"

Of all people that could have been wandering the park's grounds, Mikage-san had selected the man she wished to come as her saviour - the one person who wasn't in the amusement park once known as "Monster World". I pitied her, she had no idea that her desperate and panicked cries were fruitless, no matter how far her voice would travel. The fact she was calling for a man who wasn't even around rather than trying to help me conjure a plan - however unlikely it was to succeed - was like a blow to my pride. But the matter that we didn't even know each other lingered in my mind, she had been looking over Jack for up to two years, she seemed to love him. We were merely acquaintances.

I reached over and wrapped my hand around her arm, careful not to accidentally come into contact with her breasts again - the last thing I needed was to grab somewhere so personal on a woman's body, I was trying to help, not take advantage. She moved closer, our shoulders came into contact, if I could keep her close, then at least I wouldn't have to worry about keeping an eye on her. The water had swiftly risen to our torsos. That was when I realized how inappropriate her attire was; her grey jacket seemed to be of a thin material and beneath that was a white shirt. I kept my eyes from her in order to avoid misleading her, I had no interest in her; especially seeing as her heart had been set on someone she was familiar with. She continued to call out for the both of us, I simply watched in the dying hope that someone would arrive, clenching my teeth. Just waiting.

"Someone! Someone, please help us!" she howled desperately. "Atlus-sama! Atlus-sama!"

I began to chew my bottom lip again, she was still calling one name; the name of the one person that was in no position to cross our prison. What would the others make of it if they could hear? Would they realize the danger through the panic in Mikage-san's cries? I turned to her, brow creasing as I waited for her to return the look. She swiftly felt my eyes on her and looked back, her eyes lit with curiosity at my gaze.

"Jack isn't with us!" I articulated finally. "We haven't found him yet, we chose to search for you and Aki; there's only Rua, Ruka and Ushio that can save us",

"What?!" the woman gasped in horror.

My eyes turned to the roof overhead that blocked any view of the sky, hindering us from learning how long until the sun would set and the final conclusion of our race against the sun's descent. We were lightly bobbing in the water inches above the ground; it wouldn't be long before we were fighting to keep our heads above the water, struggling to breathe as the height of the water would make it impossible for us to keep above the surface.

"Though if he were here… that would make a different story" I muttered without even thinking. Were the words running through my mind automatically coming out of my mouth? Or was I sinking into a state of accepting death, to get things off my chest?

"He's a kind person, he would come to save us no matter what" she replied in a similar tone.

"He's proved it in the past" I added. Whether I had acknowledged her words or not, I can't remember. "When we were younger, Jack rescued me. I found a true friend in him. We were there for each other and we promised that we always would be. The offer to leave for Neo-Domino was just an exception, he did what he had to in order to move onto a better life. I never hated him for it, he must have known I was coming once he took Stardust".

"You think that Atlus-sama was trying to lure you after him into the City? To try and give you the life you lost?"

"Perhaps. For a while, I ignored that logic and believed he had just been selfish. But when I actually thought, that was how I began to see things; a new light. Jack's light".

I witnessed the woman's mouth flip into a gentle smile in the moment without words through the crashing of the four waterfalls adding to the supply in the pit. I looked back at her, she had to know the truth; there was no point in hiding things if we were to die here and now.

"Mikage-san… how long had Aki been gone when you encountered that man?"

"She couldn't have been gone too long. Why do you ask?"

"I faced Rudger again; he told me something. Aki is fighting the last Dark Signer and if she doesn't overcome the Lizard, then someone known as the 'King of the Underworld' is going to rise. And he may hold an Earthbound God even stronger than those we've seen".

"Even stronger?" Mikage-san gasped, fear flashed across her eyes hastily.

"Yes. Facing the last Dark Signer, Aki is the only one that can prevent him from rising" I sucked in my breath, she was obviously curious about why I was disclosing the critical details with her now. Especially with what more I felt may transpire, the words of doubt that could unconsciously pass through my lips. Doubt would have to wait for now, I would merely have to fortify my mask until then. The mask I refused to allow cracks to surge through. "Jack may still be in the region that the Hummingbird Tower is. Crow has ventured out to locate him"

Uncomfortably, my eyes returned to her flushed face, watching her expression shift to disheartenment. But I couldn't permit her keep believing he was going to mystically appear. Her eyes widened, as though she couldn't accept the truth I spoke, her head gradually beginning to shake. I knew then that I was failing once again.

"He can't be…" she whispered hoarsely.

My teeth met the skin of my bottom lip, pinning it against the opposite jaw below before chewing it, agitatedly. I never was one beneficial in comforting another suffering soul. The though of silencing crossed my, to permit her moments of panic before our fates would be decided. Air passed through my nostrils, a surreptitious ejection in the place of a sigh. Just why was hope running dry inside of me? Because of how far the perimeters of the amusement park stood? I concluded inwardly that Rudger's words about the Underworld King followed by the descent through Momentum acting as a gateway to Hell had shaken my soul. I had forsaken hope.

In my mind, I could only assess Mikage-san's irrational longing for Jack to appear as an attempt to abandon reason in her panic ahead of what seemed to be our demise. An attempt of her own. Perhaps the only thing she clung onto was the belief that Jack would arrive and salvage us before it was too late. I simply watched, there was nothing more I could do, she could call for Jack to her heart's content, but there were others in a position to stumble upon the area.

"We're going to die, aren't we?" she sobbed.

Nothing. I didn't answer, I couldn't give her my outlook. I felt drained of hope, we had umpteen minutes left before we would be underneath the surface of the water, a substance that made the majority of us; an ironic demise. An undignified end. Our chests were sinking beneath the surface, time was running out.

But we weren't the only ones in danger; there was that guy after Aki, the Signers out there that had yet to finish this war before the sun could set. And if not…

"Aki won't shine unless it's in a world that I desire"

Rage pumped through my veins. After everything I had done to guide Aki forward, shattering her mask at the Fortune Cup, overcoming Black Rose Dragon, battling against her when she believed her parents didn't care. She was going to revert back to the Aki that had been the Black Rose Witch, the woman with a closed heart… all because I couldn't protect her due to naïvely believing a man who claimed to be an ally of hers. A man using her. I was going to let down Ruka and Rua who looked up to me, I was going to let Jack down, the man I had been with since the early years of our childhood under Martha's care. He would just have to resume his title as Duel King, I never cared for it. Participating in the Fortune Cup was all about retrieving Stardust and protecting my friends. Friends I had lost since to the Dark Signers.

Perhaps the worst part was that as I was finally going to die, I was going to drag an innocent woman with me. Someone who had only come because she had been ordered, someone who wanted to stay close to the man she loved. The hope that she clung to with all of her strength. Death would be my atonement for the incident where my father had unintentionally claimed hundreds of lives and ruined thousands more, the burden I had carried from the day I had heard about my origins. I would pay for him; to repent to Jack, Crow and the others. Those whose lives lacked opportunity that we Fudos had snatched from their grasp.

"Yusei…" the gentle voice came, pouring into my ears. I awoke from the world of thoughts that swamped my mind, turning back to her. "We must call for help, someone has to be around to hear us".

I nodded vaguely; we could release reason and scream until our lungs filled with the water gushing in fiercely. She turned her eyes from me; the pitiful Signer practically embracing death in silence; did Rudger descend through this battle? To regain his will to life. The timid woman with a formal exterior sucked in as much as she could before reversing the flow immediately. A desperate cry from a desperate woman. The howling that came before death.

"Altus-sama! Someone save us!"

That name again. Jack. My eyes rose again, to the unoccupied upper level of the chamber, how long before the sun would vanish into the distrait grey that blended Satellite and the sky? How long before the fate of the world would be decided? Aki.. I beg of you… win before the doors to the Underworld remain open, before the lock would snap and leave both Satellite and the City vulnerable to the darkness that circumnavigated the holed barrier. My neck craned backwards, feeling the back of my head touch the surface of the water, a chill running through my spine.

The realization that Death was beckoning, the true end. The end that Kiryu spoke of. That Rudger spoke of. That each Dark Signer had suffered. Those lost to a force that none could comprehend, a darkness that clouded their hearts, their reason. Dragged into Hell by the memory of a single person they had set their hearts on - through revenge or whatever else one could feel towards a Signer - to walk the Earth like undead minions, targeting the Signer their hearts sought in their demise. Just what had disjointed my mind like this? Each Signer faced death each time a Dark Signer activated the power of their Birthmarks and raise the flames of their hatred in the geoglyph duel field they would choose as their final confrontation. Was this like those that spoke of life flashing before their eyes as their end came? Was a breakdown an accompaniment?

"Atlus-sama!"

The voice of that woman dragged from beneath the surface of my cluttered mind once again, my head shot forward, my outlook shifting from the roof that blocked any scrutinizing of the sky to the flooding chamber beneath the grate. The potential future without Mikage-san or I walking amongst those opposing the darkness; what would Jack say? How would Aki and the twins cope? Would Aki even get to feel if that man encountered her - either before, during or after her duel with Misty.

"Mikage-san!"

Thuds thundered from overhead, my eyes shot upwards to observe Ushio racing over the grate, heading towards us. The grate that had come shockingly close in such a short span of time, our heads bobbing atop the water's surface a couple of meters beneath the iron bars. Ushio paused overhead, his legs set apart, eyes shooting across the room in the hopes of finding Mikage-san. He sounded so panicked. He couldn't be… could he? My hand gripped Mikage-san's shoulder, bringing her beside me once again; someone had heard her desperate cries for salvation, but our freedom had yet to be obtained.

"Ushio, below you!" I yelled. Had Ushio, for the first time, evoked hope within me? My words were strong, my voice unwavering. Doubt and angst lingering following the duel with Kiryu was evaporating; at least I felt that was the sensation building within me.

Ushio's arms fell by his sides, gazing ahead blankly when he failed to register the origin of my voice. He quickly followed my instructions, finding us floating atop the water, bouncing enough for our shoulders to rise then descent enough for the water to brush against our chins icily.

"Officer Ushio!" Mikage-san cried, her eyes shut in her blind terror. She was beyond caring about the identity of her saviour. At least that was what I had led myself to believe. Ushio yelled in shock at our position, dropping to his hands and knees over the hatch above our heads.

"Open the hatch!" I directed; he could gawk later.

The scared officer gripped the sealed edge and pulled in the faint hope of lifting the opening with his bare hands. Quickly he learned that approach failed and gazed around shiftily. The man sprinted away, only to return a moment later with a steel rod, thrusting it into a small gap - one just large enough for it, luckily - and pulling down against the metal that bent so feebly.

There was little we could do but wait; watching the muscled man struggle to force the hatch from its hinges and permit us liberty. His jaws locked shut, sounding his struggle against the physics of the unnamed man's plot to strip us of our lives. Mikage-san began to splutter, rejecting the water that poured into her mouth throughout her flailing to keep her head above the surface. I turned my eyes to her, practically feeling the blaze that had been reignited within my eyes.

"We're going to be fine" I insisted sternly. "Ushio'll get us out of here before anything else can happen".

The tentative woman persisted with her own method of waiting, my words had fallen on deaf ears. Ushio grunted again, drawing my eyes to him; a man who had chased me in the beginning of my bid to reclaim Stardust from Jack, even before racing through the Maintenance Pipeline. The man who had seen me as nothing more than "Satellite scum" during each of our undesirable encounters. He now stood above, the only possible liberator from Death's grasp.

The hatch refused to open, no matter how much pressure Ushio applied, it was ineffective against the sealed opening. My eyes ran along the thin steels bars of the grate; perhaps Ushio couldn't force it open from the above alone, but I could assist from beneath.

"Mikage-san, get back a bit" I demanded.

The frail woman retreated gradually, her short and slender body pushing against the flow of water that forced us into the centre of the pool. Her golden iris trembled in the scleras of each eye, unenlightened by my strategy. Beneath the surface, my legs began to test the muscles nested beneath the skin, bending and straightening in rhythm. Ushio raised one of his thick eyebrows when my entire body began to bob ore fiercely.

"What are you -?"

I launched myself upwards, slamming my shoulder against the underneath of the grate. Though immediately, a burning pain shot through my arm which, in turn, forced a gasp from my mouth. In a moment without control, my body flopped against the water, sinking temporarily. The muffled humming of each movement beneath the water that poured into my ears snapped me back to my sense instantaneously, legs kicking to reach the surface just above my head. The reverberation following the movements of Mikage-san's approach exploded into a panicked cry, the sounds familiar to me returned. I was above once again, coughs erupted from my throat, gasps for air following swiftly.

"Yusei!" Mikage-san cried, forcing her way into the bubble people called 'personal space'. "What on earth were you thinking? Are you alright?"

I could just imagine how she had reacted once meeting with Jack at the hospital after our Fortune Cup duel. Determined not to cause her to fuss, I nodded my head mutely. She didn't give a facial response to the silent claim, though my torso throbbed in agony; I had to lie. Deceit was just a part of me; it always had been. Even before I knew how to lie.

A roaring gust threw the door about its hinges, slamming against the wall that possessed the only threshold. Dread was then born in my heart; was that something to do with Aki? Was she duelling Misty? Had the Lizard Earthbound God risen? My heart pounded against the inside barrier of my chest, fighting to escape.

"Ushio, hurry up!" I demanded, watching the officer through the gaps.

The man grunted, forcing his end of the rod down harder, his face displayed the strain he felt. He was putting everything into his efforts to save us.

"I already… know that!" he moaned.

The lower half of Mikage-san's face sunk beneath the surface for a brief moment, her rising forced a small wave into mine, causing me to splutter just as she had. Past my rejection of the wave, her voice rang out again.

"Help me, Atlus-sama!"

Ushio froze on the upper-side of the grate. In a way, I felt for him - fighting his hardest for a woman he seemed to care deeply for, only to heart her call another man's name. A man she had grown close to over the course of their acquaintance. Pity fell upon the man on a mission to rescue the woman he adored, the oblivious female that cried for another; the one who her heart had rested upon.

"Why…" he hissed, pulling harder than before on the rod set in place. "…is it Jack?!"

He yelled the name of the competition as the hatch flew off its hinges, falling against the remainder of the barrier with a loud clang. I smiled up at the officer, floating just beneath the finally open escape.

"You saved us, Ushio" I stated; something I could feel proud to say. The first time I could speak with gratitude in a positive way for days now. "Mikage-san, you go on up first".

The woman glanced at me in surprise, I offered her a gentle smile. She had been blind to Ushio's assistance, but perhaps once they were together in the same place, she could understand just what he felt beneath his boisterous exterior. She approached the end where Ushio extended his hand for her; she grasped it, allowing him to drag her through the escape and onto the upper level of the chamber. I drifted towards them, eyes falling downwards briefly. Amongst the raging waters, a small cloud-like crimson floated, my teeth clenched at the sight, quickly gripping the edge of the open hatch and pulling myself up. My torso screamed again, all my strength pouring into my arms to avoid their desire to tremble from fatigue. From pain.

"Yusei, Ushio-san… I'm sorry about what I said. You came to find me, I should be grateful" the tentative woman uttered, on her knees beside the oficer. "I just panicked; it's not like I've become accustomed to this kind of situation, I'm not one built for peril".

Built? Is that was Godwin made her feel; like a servant or android? My hand hung in front of the waist's right side. At a later time, we could deal with Godwin and the undisclosed addition to the tale of Signers and Dark Signers, something deep within my soul insisted he was aware of the Underworld King that his elder brother spoke of. Until then, there were more pressing matters to deal with. Launching myself forward, I broke into a sprint towards the door before either Ushio or Mikage-san could sound their protest of a hasty departure. Ignoring them once they came.

Leaping through the threshold, the path back to the entrance of the theme park where the vehicles we had utilized to reach the destination remained; my Duel Disk may come in handy if I were to encounter that Psycho Duellist again - the 'if' that I was well aware would become a 'when'. He was after Aki.

My abdomen flared in pain, forcing me to slow to a brief halt and lift the saturated shirt that clung to my skin. Beneath, I could see the wound left from my duel with Kiryu opening; between the handgrip of the Psycho Sword slamming into my abdomen and the failed attempt to help Ushio open the hatch, the healing skin had torn open again, leaking blood gradually. I pressed the black shirt over it again; hopefully the damp swathe would slow down the bleeding, there was nothing around to help me now anyway. My dash resumed; there were more important matters to attend to. Then I could worry about myself.

Until that time, the sun that was rapidly setting worried me. Aki had to win before it vanished from the sky, the end of the war had to transpire before the King of the Underworld could rise from Old Momentum. The site of Zero Reverse. The site of my parents' deaths. The site of my life's end.

Aki… please win. End this war. I'm coming to watch this legendary conflict conclude.

- END -