Sector Security.
Fudo Yusei was led by two security officers up to the highest floor. From a distance, he could make out "Director Goodwin" already waiting by the rooftop entrance.
"You've done well," Goodwin greeted.
Yusei smiled faintly at the two officers escorting him.
"I'll take it from here."
The two officers saluted, then turned to leave.
Yusei approached, rolling up his sleeve to reveal the Dragon Mark on his arm. "You called me here for this, didn't you?"
Goodwin glanced at his arm—sure enough, the heated battles of the Fortune Cup had accelerated its awakening. Now, Yusei's Dragon Mark was permanently visible.
"That's right," Goodwin nodded. "A legend spanning five thousand years—the Crimson Dragon. You've already seen a fraction of that power for yourself."
Yusei stayed silent.
As a science enthusiast who had scraped together a Ener-D out of junk in Satellite, he'd always dismissed the supernatural. Much like Kaiba Seto in the DM era, Yusei believed in science.
Of course, nowadays, just like later Kaiba, he had witnessed supernatural phenomena with his own eyes time and again. So many things science couldn't explain had forced him to accept a new reality beyond the realm of the known.
The Crimson Dragon's power had appeared during his duel with Jack—and even pulled them into another dimension. Their fight was clearly influenced by those otherworldly forces—the "Solid Vision" had turned into real pain, and the "Crash King" was still lying in the ICU.
Not to mention the appearance that night of the Dark Signers and Earthbound Immortal. Such realities meant Yusei could no longer reject these paradigm-shifting truths.
"Signers and Dark Signers have battled on this land more than once throughout history," Goodwin said. "The Dark Signers are the destined enemies of the Signers—those who possess the soul of the Netherworld.
All of them were once dead, but their powerful obsessions were exploited by the King of the Netherworld, returning them to the living as walking corpses, bound to fight against the Signers.
Whenever the gate to the Netherworld opens, Signers and Dark Signers clash, with the entire world hanging in the balance."
"With the world at stake?"
Yusei was shocked.
"That's right," said Goodwin. "Five thousand years ago, a great battle like this took place. Our predecessors, the 'People of the Stars,' wielded the power of the Crimson Dragon's five incarnated dragons and fought the evil gods over the Netherworld's gate.
After a fierce struggle, the Crimson Dragon prevailed. The evil gods were sealed beneath the land of Nazca, and the Netherworld's gate was closed."
"Five thousand years..." Yusei repeated.
"But if it's been quiet for five millennia, why are the evil gods and Dark Signers awakening now?"
"Because of the Ener-D," Goodwin replied.
"The Ener-D?"
"That's right. You know—the Ener-D in the city isn't the first in human history. The very first one is deep within Satellite, in what is now considered a forbidden zone.
It's a wondrous machine that can produce endless positive energy—an infinite source of power, absolutely irresistible. Seventeen years ago, when the control systems weren't perfect, the research division forcibly activated the prototype engine.
That greed ended in tragedy.
The engine, which should have rotated forward, went in reverse instead, causing the so-called 'Zero Reverse' calamity. The united city of New Domino was torn in two: the present city and what became the Satellite."
Yusei was silent.
He knew all of this. His father had been one of the core engineers on that first Ener-D.
On the eve of disaster, Dr. Fudo realized it was unavoidable. He put the infant Yusei into an escape pod and launched him out of the disaster zone moments before the explosion.
Thus, Yusei—who should have been born in the city's elite district—was sent to the Satellite, where he was adopted by Martha, his foster mother. He grew up, discovering not only impressive physical strength (faster than bullets, or rather, with a "card-slinging" talent), but a fate unlike any other.
Frankly, Yusei's backstory shared—at least eighty percent—a certain homage to an "alien-red-underwear-wearing" world-saver from comics, though Goodwin would never admit it.
"On the same day as Zero Reverse, a tremendous energy burst erupted in the Nazca region, virtually identical to the energy unleashed by the Ener-D," Goodwin added.
Yusei frowned. "So the emergence of Dark Signers is linked to the Ener-D?"
"In part, yes. After five thousand years, the seals had weakened. Now, the old engine in Satellite is fated to become a new Netherworld gate."
Yusei asked, "So if we lose...?"
"The laws of the Netherworld will take hold, and our world will be transformed—merged into hell itself." Goodwin spoke calmly. "That's why this 'Fortune Cup' was held: to awaken you Signers, defeat the Dark Signers, and seal the Netherworld gate."
Yusei was silent for a moment, finally voicing what had weighed on his mind.
"You said there are five Signers, but only four participated in the Fortune Cup... Well, there were only four contestants, but the Crimson Dragon still appeared during my duel with Jack.
So that means... the fifth must have been there too."
Yusei looked up, meeting Goodwin's gaze, as if to pierce his thoughts.
"The fifth has been you all along, hasn't it?"
Goodwin narrowed his eyes.
It wasn't unreasonable for Yusei to think so. Based on everything so far and a few coincidences, it did look that way.
During the Fortune Cup, the fifth Dragon Mark indeed was nearby—but it wasn't a person. It was just an arm in a cultivation tank.
Of course, this wasn't easy to explain, nor was it the right time to do so.
"I'm not," Goodwin shook his head. "But don't worry. When the time is right, the fifth will reveal themselves. Sooner or later."
With answers in hand and even more doubts, Yusei left.
But not long after Yusei departed, yet another Signer returned—
Akiza Izinski.
A subordinate reported her arrival, and Goodwin nodded to let her in. Soon, Akiza stood before him once more.
Goodwin sat in his director's chair, his back to the rising sun outside the window, voice calm: "Miss Izinski, you're back.
I assume you've read what I left for you."
Akiza said nothing, but her expression and the tear streaks on her face spoke volumes.
She already knew the truth.
"So... what is your answer?" Goodwin asked. "Have you come to try and kill me again? Or something else?"
Akiza closed her eyes, chest heaving as if she were making a difficult decision.
Finally, she opened her eyes and murmured softly, "Your invitation... I accept."
…