Akiza's hunch was right.
The Fortune Cup's final, the King's Challenge, between Yusei and Jack, was the climax—a battle meant to awaken all the Signers.
Both sides pulled out every trick they had. Yusei summoned "Stardust Dragon," Jack summoned "Red Dragon Archfiend." As the two aces clashed, all the Signers' marks began glowing red, and all the holographic attacks became real damage.
And even that wasn't all. As the top two Signers fought ever more fiercely, things quickly spiraled out of control.
The Crimson Dragon appeared.
At the height of Stardust versus Red Dragon Archfiend, the legendary Crimson Dragon appeared, bursting through the stadium dome, spreading its wings across the sky.
The entire audience was dumbfounded.
What was happening? When was this monster summoned?
And wasn't the hurricane supposed to be just a hologram? Why did it actually feel cold and hard to breathe…?
As the duel intensified, the audience soon couldn't see anything at all.
On the track, Yusei and Jack's Duel Runners shattered through space, leaving the stadium and entering a vast void.
Around them was a scene like an endless starfield; stars twinkled in the great darkness, and in this cosmic vastness, only a long white track remained.
And not just them—the two Signers who should have been watching outside, Luna and Akiza, were transported into the void as well.
But it wasn't their bodies, more like projections of their consciousness. The Dragon Marks' power kept them floating alongside Yusei and Jack, as if experiencing the Riding Duel together.
Yusei and Jack's Duel Runners raced down the track, images flashing through the surrounding dark.
Scenes included the ancient tribe known as the "People of the Stars," worshipping the Crimson Dragon around an altar.
There was also their shared hometown: Satellite.
Huge Nazca lines appeared on Satellite's ground, burning purple like fire. Finally, the land cracked and everything perished, Satellite becoming a wasteland with no survivors.
"Satellite!"
Yusei exclaimed in shock.
What is this? Satellite's past—or its future? Are all his childhood friends, everyone he ever knew, doomed to perish along with Satellite?
And those Nazca lines…
In the original story, Yusei and Jack didn't yet recognize the meaning of those Nazca lines at this point. But the night before, Greiger—who'd become a Dark Signer ahead of schedule—had come to challenge "Director Goodwin," and Yusei and Jack had seen it.
At the end of that duel, those Nazca-like lines had appeared, and with it, a terrifying monster known as an "Earthbound Immortal" was summoned.
Yusei was uneasy. What did the Crimson Dragon mean by showing them these visions?
Was this a warning that Satellite would be destroyed by an Earthbound Immortal?
If it was that Earthbound Immortal, it might well have such power. He knew Earthbound Immortals had destroyed Greiger's hometown, using countless souls as fuel to resurrect.
Was this Satellite's destiny?
Of course, he also thought immediately of the "Supreme God, The Wicked Dreadroot" summoned by Director Goodwin in their previous fight.
That was an even greater, more sinister power than the Earthbound Immortals.
So, who exactly was Director Goodwin? What role did he play in this maze of fates and battles?
Right now, there were only four Signers present, though legend said there should be five.
Could the mysterious fifth be… Goodwin!?
As Yusei had this thought, everything seemed to start falling into place.
Why had Director Goodwin bothered to organize the Fortune Cup, why go to all that trouble to gather the Signers and design trials to help them awaken?
And why, even though there were meant to be five, had only four shown up by the finals? Unless the simplest explanation was—Director Goodwin himself was the fifth!
And when Yusei was in the facility, the Director had explained all about the Crimson Dragon's legend. He'd drawn each Dragon Mark and said which part of the Crimson Dragon they corresponded to.
Now, the four revealed Signers: Akiza Izinski—the Dragon Foot Mark. Luna—the Dragon Claw Mark. Jack Atlas—the Dragon Wing Mark. Yusei Fudo now bore the Dragon Tail Mark.
Which left only the fifth, as-yet unknown: the Dragon Head Mark. The leader's mark, the core that would bring all the Signers together.
And Goodwin's actions matched perfectly.
In the duel with Greiger and the Earthbound Immortal, "Goodwin" had shown overwhelming strength—Yusei felt sure he was at least as strong as himself. If that man was the Dragon Head bearer, the top Signer, it made sense.
And Goodwin was the one who organized the tournament, gathering the other four—acting as the "core of the team."
In fact, not only Yusei, but Akiza floating in the void, was thinking the same.
Rex Goodwin—the final Signer? Was it really him?
Plenty made sense with that theory, but Akiza also had doubts.
If Goodwin was a Signer, why hadn't her Dragon Mark reacted when she dueled him? When facing Yusei, she and another Signer, their marks responded and even allowed them to sense each other's thoughts and emotions.
And now, as the four current Signers were drawn into the void, Goodwin wasn't there.
Could it be the leader's Dragon Head Mark was somehow different from the others?
"..."
Boom!
The duel was over.
As in the original story, the result was the same. As the duel ended, reality returned, and the four returned to the real world.
Yusei won; Jack lost again. This time, Jack's Duel Runner crashed out of the void and sent him tumbling, head bleeding from the crash.
This, perhaps, was also the origin of Jack's infamous "crash king" fate in 5D's.
Kira stood in the Watchtower, watching the scene below, hands behind his back, and smiled gently.
"Well then, the new chapter is about to begin."
…