Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's my story 33

(Aerial shot of the not-so-classy part of the City in which Blister's hideout is located.)
Trudge: You two got a lot of nerve asking for my help, you Satellite reject and whatever this kid is. Hah!
(He approaches Yusei and Cortez and at the end of the line tries to grab Yusei aggressively by the shoulder. Yusei calmly stops him, and replies, deadpan--)
Yusei: Good to see you, too, Officer Trudge.
(Yusei walks past Trudge. Trudge turns around and keeps talking.)
Trudge: Let's get something straight-- you want my protection, you need to respect my authority. Hey! Did you hear what I said?!
Cortez: Just do your job.
(Yusei and Cortez has ignored him and climbed into the back of a Security car. Trudge shouts through the window glass.)
Trudge: If you two keep this up with those attitudes, the deal's off, ya got it?!
Yusei: Let's get going.

(Meanwhile, Security is releasing Carly and returning her personal effects)
- Here ya go.
Carly: That should be everything. Ahh! No! Where's my camera? Nononononono, come on! Okay, joke's over; where's my camera? I'm serious, buddy, where is it? That thing is my life! Where is it?! Hand- it- over!
- Calm down, miss. (checks a handheld holo-screen) Ummm... no camera on the inventory log.
Carly: I am a big-time journalist, and I am *not* afraid to shout conspiracy!
(The phone in the box of belongings rings and Carly answers it; it projects a holographic image of Mr. Pitts' head)
Carly: Hello?
Pitts: Know what's on my front page today, Carly, I'll give you a little hint, it's not a big story!! Did I imagine you telling me you had something hot for me?!
Carly: I'm- sorry Mister Pitts--
Pitts: GET BACK TO THE OFFICE SO I CAN RE-FIRE YOU!
(The phone hologram disappears; he hung up.)
Carly: Ah! M-Mister Pitts?
- Ma'am, we're going to need you to step outside.
(Two Security guys drag Carly to the door and push her out of it. She almost falls over, then catches her box of stuff that they toss out after her.) <4:00>
Carly: This is the *worst*. No story, no camera, and now I'm about to lose my job *again*. Time to consult my fortune for the day.
(Takes her deck out of a pocket in her vest)
Carly: I draw! Let's see-- oh, great, Fortuneteller Swee. (sic) That's perfect.
[Fortune Fairy Swee 0/0/L4/water]
(The card is a forlorn fairy with flowing blue hair.)
Carly: This means I'm going to have bad luck all day. That's just great; might as well just go crawl in a hole. Wait-- I can't give up! Journalists don't quit!
(Carly pumps one fist into the air, determined!)
Carly: So I'm gonna get to the bottom of Goodwin's lies!!


(Night is falling outside a fancy theater somewhere in Domino. A male reporter is speaking, thus setting the scene)
-I'm at the red carpet for the world premiere of 'Atlas Rising-- The Rise of Jack Atlas'.
(Others at the sides of the red carpet are gossiping.)
- This flick has 'box office dud' written all over it. Nobody cares about Jack Atlas anymore. He's yesterday's news. I mean, seriously-- he lost the championship. He's done.
- I heard that movie was goin' straight to DVD.
- If they'd waited, they could have made it 'the rise and *fall* of Jack Atlas.'
(Carly holds up her frilly white dress to climb over the red ropes and get in front of the guys we've been watching.)
Carly: Ooh, uh, excuse me, uh, comin' in!
- Hey!
- Outta the way!
(Carly has regained her camera or gotten a new one; she eagerly snaps red carpet photos as celebs promenade past.)
Carly: Hey! Tommy! Look over here! Heyy!
Angela: Ugh! Watch the elbow!
Carly (shouting in her face, not sorry at all): Angela! Didn't see you! <5:00>
Angela: Carly! What's with the getup? Didn't you wear that same hideous house dress to our high school prom? Oh, I'm sorry-- I shouldn't have brought that up, Prom must bring bad memories. Since you went alone and no one would dance with you and all!
(Suddenly there's a commotion.)
- Misty! Misty, over here!
- Whoa, check it out! It's Misty Treadwell!
(There is a very famous celebrity on the red carpet now, the famed supermodel Misty Treadwell. She is wearing a white skirt with several layers that give it the appearance of being a wraparound, and a red sleeveless top. She has a lavender teardrop or jewel in the middle of her forehead, framed by sleek, dark brown hair, thin grey eyes, and flawless alabaster skin. She conveys the impression of elegance and demurity.)
- You were voted the world's number one supermodel; d'you have anything to say to your fans?
(Carly and Angela are equally starstruck, their spat forgotten)
Carly: Oh, wow!
(Misty glances over at Carly, and the world falls away for a moment. Carly gasps and looks around; Misty couldn't have been looking at anyone else!)
Carly (think): Ah-h! Did-- she just smile at-- *me*?!

(Later on, red carpet guests mingle around small round buffet tables)
Loudspeaker: Ladies and gentlemen, your host-- Rex Goodwin!
(Goodwin descends the huge staircase at the front of the room to substantial amounts of polite applause. The mingling crowd stops mingling and gathers near the foot of the stairs. A few people comment.)
- What a guy!
- Great suit.
(Goodwin's suit is the usual grey suit, perhaps a bit fancier.)
Goodwin: Thanks for coming, everyone! What makes a champion a champion? What drives the driven? Was he born great, or did he have greatness thrust upon him? All of these questions and more will be answered in 'Atlas Rising-- The Rise of Jack Atlas'! Ladies and gentlemen--

(As Goodwin speaks, Yusei and Cortez walks into the waiting room they've been installed in to wait for their audience with Goodwin, and hears all this.)
Goodwin (on screen): Allow me to share with you the untold story behind the legend!

(Jack is also watching from his hospital bed, his right arm in a sling, while Mina arranges red and pink flowers in a vase on the bedside table next to his duel disk, as the screen shows some clips, probably from the movie.)
Movie Jack (via screen): What say we kick this turbo-duel into overdrive! Who's the one master of faster?! Who rules the duels?! That's right, it's *me!*

(The audience at the red carpet preview is clapping)
Movie Narrator (via screen): Jack's journey began at the top. He was born in New Domino City's Tops District.
Goodwin: And now, ladies and gentlemen, I have some matters to tend to, but I'll be back. Please enjoy yourselves, and enjoy 'Atlas Rising'.
Angela: Wait a second! Director Goodwin, one question! Regarding the narration of the film; it's saying that Jack was born in the Tops, but that's not true.
Carly: W-what?
Angela: According to my sources, the *former* champion Jack Atlas was born in the Satellite Sector, just like the new champion Yusei.
Carly: Wh- oh...!
Angela: And do you know anything about this mysterious duelist that appeared from nowhere? Is he from another world....Could he possibly an alien even?

(In Jack's hospital room, Jack suddenly leans over and shoves the vase angrily off the table with his good left arm; it shatters. Mina is aghast.)

(Back at the movie, the reporters follow up eagerly; Angela looks rather pleased with herself)
- Is this true, Director?
- If so, did Yusei and Jack know each other *prior* to the tournament?
- Isn't it true, Director, that Satellite residents aren't allowed to duel?
- Is there some kind of cover-up going on here?!
- Is it true that this mysterious duelist is an alien?
- Or could he be some future duelist who brought those unknown cards with him?
Goodwin: I'm afraid I don't have time to discuss wild speculation and ridiculous rumors. Now please, enjoy the screening.
(Goodwin exits, ignoring the reporters' shouting cacophony. Angela can be heard above the general hubbub.)
Angela: You can't avoid this issue, Director! The people have a right to know the truth!
Carly (think): If Jack's the story, why's everyone standing around *here*?
Movie Jack (via screen): You've had your fun, but it's time for my victory lap!
Carly (think): I'm gonna find out from Jack himself!

(As Carly runs out of the soiree, Misty is waiting in the doorway and calls out to her)
Misty: And where do you think *you're* going?
(Carly turns around, sees, who's addressing her, and flips.)
Carly: A-a-augh! Y-you're M-m-misty-y!
Misty: Your face intrigues me. I wanted to get a closer look at you. Do you mind?
(Carly is kinda weirded out but of course Carly doesn't mind! She babbles)
Carly: Ah! I-I got my dad's looks, that's what my mom tells me! Uh...
Misty: Carly, right? I heard you liked fortunetelling.
(Misty gently grips Carly's chin, looking closer; Carly is trying to stay cool and is way too excited)
Carly: Yeah, uh...that's right, I, uh, I use cards for my fortunetelling.
Misty: Well I use faces. *Your* face is haunting.
Carly: Uh, it's what?
(Misty gently removes Carly's glasses to look into her eyes.)
Misty: Your eyes! They're showing me the path you will take. <8:00> It is a path that will disappear into a darkness, Carly.
Carly: Oh yeah? Huh. Th-that's nice.
(Misty puts Carly's glasses back on.)
Misty: But-- when you choose to take this path, (points right at Carly; a prophetess) you will know yourself better than you ever have before!
Carly: Huh?! Ah, excuse me. (bows) This has been fun, but I gotta run home and feed my plant and water my cat! Haha! Ah!
(Carly beats a hasty retreat from the unnerving Misty, who demurely watches her run away.)
Carly (darts a glance behind her, think): I think fame has made her two tacos short of a fiesta!

(Trudge enters Cortez and Yusei's waiting room)
Trudge: Enjoying the film?
Yusei: When can we talk to Goodwin?!
Trudge: Be patient, Yusei; the Director is a busy man. If you're *bored*, we can always pass the time with a duel, whaddaya say? Are you game? Or are you afraid you might lose your title before your first endorsement deal comes through!
Lezar: Ha! Now that would be an interesting development!
(Lezar has walked up behind Trudge and his goons, and, hidden from Yusei and Cortez by the doorframe, is winking at Trudge.)
Lezar: Though I seriously doubt that Yusei would fall to a man of your *caliber*, even to someone like our new champion, Officer Trudge.
Trudge: Why you--
Lezar (steps into view and speaks to Yusei and Cortez): Sorry to keep you waiting. The Director is ready to see you now. (to Trudge) Mister Goodwin would like to thank *you* for escorting our guest here. *Now* we'd like you to go to the hospital and fetch Jack! Hmhmhmhmhmhmhm!
Trudge (salutes): Whatever he needs, sir.
(Yusei walks out the door between Lezar and Trudge, while Cortez walks behind Yusei; Trudge, Yusei and Cortez share a glance out of the corners of their eyes. Cortez and Yusei follows Lezar and Trudge watches them go.)
Trudge: Hmph.
(He walks down the other hall.)

(Outside the hospital, a female reporter is speaking to a camera.)
- Ted, I'm standing outside of Domino Hospital, where Jack Atlas has been recovering ever since yesterday's disappointing loss in the Fortune Cup finale. And as of now, nobody has been allowed inside to see him-- oh!
(Carly runs through the shot in a nurse's uniform and runs into the reporter)
Carly: Ah! Sorry about that!
(The reporter grumbles bitterly)
- I'll show you sorry...
(Camera guy)
- We're still live!
(The reporter puts her reporting face back on.)
- Ah! Uh, that's right, as of now, nobody has been allowed inside to see or talk--

(We cut away to Carly, who just made it through the door in her nurse's costume.)
Carly: I can't believe this nurse's costume is working!
(She proceeds into the hospital.)

(Trudge pulls up on his runner outside as soon as she goes inside. He takes off his helmet, muttering angrily)
Trudge: 'Go and fetch Jack'! Talking to me like I'm some *dog!* If only they knew I was doing this to get closer to Goodwin to find out what he's really up to!
(Trudge walks up the steps and into the hospital. As he walks down the hallway, a glowing purple spider drops onto his collar from above. He feels it immediately)
Trudge: Ah!
(It crawls down his collar. The nurses standing around in the hallway look at him with concern as he dances around frantically as though trying to get to an ice cube someone dropped down his back. Then he stops. The spider mark glows on his arm, and his facial expression is menacing.)


(At the Domino Hospital, Mina is peeling an apple with a knife and humming to herself at Jack's bedside. The TV is off. Jack is sitting up in bed, frowning.)
Jack (serious): I'd like to be alone right now, Mina.
(Mina sets aside her apple, bows, and turns to leave, forlorn.)
Mina: Call my cell if you need... *anything*.
(As soon as she leaves, Jack reaches for his duel disk, hanging on the wall above the bedside table. Like with the vase earlier, he must reach across with his good hand because the bedside table is on the right.

(Outside in the hallway, Carly is walking the hall alone, looking for the right room.)
Carly: Jack's in room three-oh-four.
(She rounds a corner just as Jack is letting himself out of his room. His characteristic white blazer is on his shoulders, but the right sleeve hangs limp)
Carly: Mister Atlas!
(The legend turns, still not noticing her presence; it is indeed the one and only. He walks right past her, ignoring her.)
Carly: Um, uh, say, I was wondering if, ah, oh...
(He rounds the corner on which she's standing, and sees another person walking down the hallway. Jack sounds frustrated; he doesn't mind throwing a casual insult.)
Jack: Trudge. You're lookin' a little rough, Officer.
(Then Jack notices the spider Sign glowing on Trudge's arm. He gasps aloud!)

(Flashback. The Signers ride on a glowing road over a vision of destruction below; a giant, fiery spider has been etched onto the landscape of the Satellite, demolishing everything it touches.)

Drone Trudge: Heheheheheheheheh!
Jack: What's goin' on! Why d'you have that mark on your arm?!
(Carly, cowering behind Jack, gasps.)
Carly: Ah!

(Flashback. Carly watches the duel through the lens of her camera as it records, as the drone from the previous night sends his Frozen Fitzgerald to attack Yusei.)
FB Drone: Attack! And wipe 'is mark clean!
(It destroys Sonic Chick. Yusei takes damage, and is thrown backward, bouncing painfully on his shoulder blades, flipping over, and slamming into the fiery wall of the arena.)
Carly (think): That's the same glowing mark that hooded duelist had on *his* arm--
(End Flashback.)

Carly: --When he was dueling Yusei!
(Trudge activates his duel disk.)
Jack: So, you the fifth Signer?
Drone Trudge: My master is a Dark Signer, and he sent me here to extinguish the light of your mark, so that we may envelop the world in a cloak of darkness! And you will be the first to fall.
Jack: I seriously doubt that!
Carly: Hang on! You can't duel him, Jack! *Yusei* and Cortez battled someone like him.They were some guys dressed in a bathrobes, and they had the same weird purple marka glowing on their arms, and-- I'm Carly, by the way.
Jack: What! Did you say Cortez and Yusei? When did all this happen?!
Carly: Last night for Yusei and the night before for Cortez, and, uh, they won.
Jack: Carly.
Carly: Yeah. H-hi!
Jack: Tell me something, Carly. D'you know how to duel?
Carly: Well, uh, kind of, but--
Jack: In that case, lend me your hands, will you?
Carly: W-what?!
(He grabs the duel disk from the top of the bag he packed, drops the bag, hands the duel disk to her, spins her around. Carly is kinda freaked.)
Jack: You just have to hold the cards for me and draw, right?
Carly: Huh? But I, uh...
Jack: I have no idea what this purple glow is all about, but if Yusei and Cortez were able to take someone like *him* down, then I'll have *no problem*! Come on. Put the duel disk on my arm.
Carly: Right, uh, okay...
(Carly slides Jack's duel disk onto his left arm. His right is still in its sling against his chest.)
Jack: Are you ready?
All three: Bring it on!
Carly: Wow-- did I just *say* that?
(A ring of purple fire springs up around them.

(On other stories of the hospital, bystanders are inexplicably swamped with a strong gust of wind.)

(Jack's Sign is glowing through his sling.)
Carly: Hey! Jack, look, your arm is glowing too!
Jack: I can *see* that.
Carly: Yusei's arm was glowing last night as well, and this same circle appeared! What's it all mean?
Drone Trudge: Let's cut the conversation, shall we?
(The duelists begin with 4000 lifepoints each.)
Drone Trudge: I'm summoning Warm Worm in defense mode!
[Warm Worm /1400/]
Carly: This is real, front-line journalism right here!
(Every fangirl's dream! She daydreams Jack cradling her in his arms.)
Carly: Getting to duel alongside the dauntless and dashing Jack Atlas! (draws) It's my turn--!
Jack: Actually it's *my* turn.
Carly: Oh, right, sorry. <12:00>
Jack: To start things off, I'm summoning Vice Dragon from my hand.
(Carly frantically looks through the hands she's holding for the card, then places it on the duel disk.)
Carly: Right!
[Vice Dragon 2000///]
(Vice Dragon's attack points decrease to 1000 because of its special ability.)
Jack: Whoever you *really* are, you've got some gall coming here! Did you think you could kick me while I was down? Well I'm *not* down, and there's no way some daddy long-legs is gonna trip me up! I release Vice Dragon to summon out Strong Wind Dragon, in attack mode!
[Strong Wind Dragon 2400//]
Jack: Next I'm activating Strong Wind Dragon's special ability! Now it gains half the attack points of the dragon monster I released in order to summon it!
(Carly counts on her fingers)
Carly: So, uh, right, uh, okay, since Vice Dragon (sic) has twenty-four-hundred attack points--
Jack: It gains a thousand more.
Carly: Whoa-- thirty-four *hundred*?
Jack: Strong Wind Dragon, attack Warm Worm!
(Hits and destroys, then the attack smashes into the floor behind Trudge and he shields his face from the dust.)
Jack: Why'd the floor explode?!
Carly: I don't know, but the same kinda stuff was happening when Yusei was battling that *underground duelist* from last night, it was like duel things were really happening or something! <14:00>
Jack: So he's making this duel real.
(Trudge's lifepoints are now 2000.)
Carly: By the way, Warm Worm was in defense mode. How come he *lost* lifepoints?
Jack: Strong Wind Dragon's special power enables it to fight through a monster's defenses and attack directly. As long as its attack points are greater than the opponent's defense points, the difference is dealt as damage.
Carly: This is great! I'm dueling with the deck of a once-great duelist!
Jack: A once-great duelist? I only lost yesterday, ya know.
Carly: I-- uh...uhh.
Drone Trudge: Hey has-been! When Warm Worm is destroyed in battle, you have to send three cards from your deck to your graveyard!
Carly: Oh! *I'm* supposed to do that, right? The top three. That's how it works, right?
(Jack keeps glaring at their opponent. He glares back. When Carly holds their hand up for him to look at, he indicates a card with a slight nod.)
Jack: I place one card facedown and end my turn!
Carly: Uh, right... (places it)
Drone Trudge: It's my move, and from my hand I summon Shield Worm in defense mode!
[Shield Worm /2000//]
Drone Trudge: When this monster is successfully summoned, you and your little assistant must send one card from your deck to the graveyard!
Carly: Ah-- Again?!
(Carly sends another card to the graveyard; Dark Tinker.)
Drone Trudge: And now I play one card facedown and end my turn.
Carly: Then it's (draw) *my* mov-- uh, I mean...
Jack: Lemme see *my* cards. That spell card could be quite useful right now. But I would have to release Strong Wind Dragon in order to activate it.
Carly: *I* know what you should do-- Strong Wind Dragon, take out his Shield Worm with a direct attack!
Jack (alarmed): Dimwit!
Carly: What-- did I mess up?
(Too late to call off the wild attack. Strong Wind Dragon destroys Shield Worm.)
Drone Trudge: Ha ha ha ha! You walked right into that one! Shield Worm is able to deflect *any* attack!
Carly: A-a-ah...
Drone Trudge: Therefore, it also negates Strong Wind Dragon's special ability! And with that, I reveal my trap card-- Regret Reborn!
(Known in the TCG as "Regretful Rebirth")
Drone Trudge: This enables me to re-summon a monster that you destroyed in battle, as long as I summon it to the field in defense mode! And of course, since Shield Worm has once again been successfully summoned to my field, you have no choice but to send another card in your deck to your graveyard!
Carly: This is all my fault, isn't it? Jack, I am so, so sorry!
Jack (think): Not as sorry as *Trudge* is going to be!
Drone Trudge: Heheheheheheheh...


(Trap Eater is the next card Jack and Carly discard.)
Jack: Trudge, you're not gonna win this duel. And to make sure of it, I'm summoning Twin Shield Defender to the field in defense mode!
Carly: Uh, uh, here!
[Twin Shield Defender /1600//]
Drone Trudge: It's my turn, then! From my hand I'm activating the spell card "Worm Bait"! And as long as there's a worm monster on my field, I can use the power of this spell to summon out two worm tokens! Next, I release the two worm tokens in order to advance-summon Dark Tuner Catastrogue!
[Dark Tuner Catastrogue ///]
Jack: Did he say *Dark Tuner*?!
Carly: Okay, th-this might be bad. This happened last night.
Jack: What're you talkin' about?
Carly: Well, um--
Drone Trudge: Now I dark-tune my level-eight Catastrogue with my level-four Shield Worm.
Jack: What's this dark-tuning business all about, Carly?
Carly: The robed duelists did the same thing. Something about monsters using negative energy, and shadows, and all sorts of other really eerie-sounding stuff.
(As Carly speaks, Catastrogue's eight stars swirl into the air and plunge down into Shield Worm, swarming around within its outlines, merging into one another and turning into four darkly glimmering stars, orbiting around each other in a dance of crackling black energy.)
Drone Trudge: When shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back and reveals-- a world without light! Now, rise! Dark Diviner!
[Dark Diviner 2000/1000/L-4/dark]
Jack: What? So *that* thing's level is a *negative* four!
Drone Trudge: That's right! The monsters of the netherworld don't come together and build on one another the way *your* pathetic monsters do! *They* devour one another, and feed off each other's negative energy, like a snake eating its own tail!
Carly: Right! That's kinda what the underground duelist said to Yusei last night, after performing the same kind of synchro-summon!
Jack: Interesting.
Drone Trudge: Catastrogue's special ability activates from the graveyard. Because I used this card to perform a dark synchro, I'm afraid you have to send five more cards from your deck to your graveyard!
Carly: Keep doin' that, and we're not gonna have any cards *left*! Oh...
(She fusses with the duel disk, throwing away the cards)
Drone Trudge: Now, Dark Diviner, slay his Strong Wind Dragon!
Carly (turns back to the duel): Wait, *what*?! But Strong Wind Dragon has more attack points than your Dark Diviner thingamawhat!
Jack: That's not what matters to *'im*.
Drone Trudge: That's right, because when Dark Diviner attacks, your monster's attack points become the same, and for every one hundred attack points your dragon *loses*, you have to send one card to your graveyard!
Jack (deadpan): I *really* don't like you.
Carly: Um, that means fourteen cards, right? What does that leave us with?
Jack: Just enough. <19:00>
Carly: What?! A-are you feeling okay?
(They discard: Big Piece Golem, Megamorph, Cost Down, Revival Gift...)
Drone Trudge: We of the netherworld came here to rob you of your power, to extinguish the light of your world by burying you in the shadows! Dark Diviner, attack!
Jack: Bring it, Officer!
(Carly yells and throws herself in front of Jack, shielding him from the blast of wind.)
Jack: What're you--
Carly: I'm protecting you! Agh!
(She almost falls over backward and he reaches out and catches her.)
Jack: Hey! (catches her; to Trudge) Attack all you want, but Strong Wind Dragon can't be destroyed by a monster with the same number of attack points!
Drone Trudge: Dark Diviner can't be destroyed in battle, so we've got a stalemate!
(Jack and Carly's lifepoints decrease to 3400.)
Carly: I'm so- so- sorry, Jack. (sob) This is all my fault...
Jack: Don't be ridiculous, you were just trying to help... um, what was your name again? Cally?
Carly: M-my name's Carly.
Jack: What say you, Carly? Let's finish this together.
Carly: Ah! Oh--
Jack: It's my...
Carly: A-a-and my...
Both: Turn!
(Draw; they are now really functioning as a team.)
Jack: From *our* hand, Carly and I are activating the "Mind Trust" spell card! <20:00> With this spell, we can release a powerful monster, to pull a weaker monster from our graveyard and add it to our hand. So we release Strong Wind Dragon! And then from our graveyard, we add Dark Resonator to our hand! And now we summon, Dark Resonator!!
[Dark Resonator 1300/300/L3]
Jack: Next, Dark Resonator gives Twin Shield Defender a tune-up! We synchro-summon-- Exploder Dragonwing!
[Exploder Dragonwing 2400///]
Jack: When this monster battles against a monster with fewer attack points, that monster is instantly destroyed without calculating any damage. Then you get slammed with damage equal to your vanquished monster's attack points. It's over, *chum!*
Carly: Wow! So back when you were thinking of activating "Mind Trust", you knew his goal was to send your cards to the graveyard, so you *waited*...! You still have it, Jack.
Jack: Of course I still have it; I only lost the championship *yesterday*. And now, Exploder Dragonwing, attack Dark Diviner!

(With that attack, the roof of the hospital explodes, hailing debris down on the sizeable number of reporters gathered below.)

(The purple fiery ring disappears. The hallway is dark, and the floor beneath their feet is shattered. Trudge slumps over and falls to the ground on his face. His lifepoints go to zero. Jack and Carly stand looking at him for a moment. Carly looks nervously at Jack, who is staring intently at the purple spider mark on Trudge's arm as it vanishes. A spider falls off his neck and vanishes in a little puff of smoke.)
Trudge: ...Where am I?!
Carly: That's how the *other* guy was. It's like they were being controlled by someone else!
(Suddenly Jack sways on his feet and nearly faints. Carly catches him.)
Carly: Jack!
Jack (whispers hoarsely): Would you mind... helping me get out of this hospital?
(Carly gasps; that's quite a request!)

(In a flash, she is wheeling Jack on a gurney, covered with a sheet, at a mad dash, through the crowds in the lower levels of the hospital, and amazingly no one is stopping her.)
Carly: 'Scuse me! Pardon me! Comin' through! Outta the way, please!

(Outside, the reporter from earlier is speaking into a mic as her camera guy keeps the camera trained on the hospital)
- There were several smaller booms from the top floor, and then there was a sudden explosion. <22:00>
(Carly runs through the aisle at the center of the crowd-- and no reporters question her, amazingly, and then slows to a jog, as it hits her...)
Carly (think): This is crazy-- what'm I supposed to do with 'im *now*?!


(Cut to the underside of a highway bridge, then pan up. The only light is from the headlights of the car as Goodwin steps out of it. Cortez, Lezar and Yusei are already standing there. The scene has kind of a ransom-exchange or mafia-meeting feel to it, Cortez, Yusei and Goodwin meeting late at night at some undisclosed location. Goodwin speaks.)
Goodwin: Yusei, Cortez . It's time you learned the whole truth.
Yusei: About what?
(Goodwin points dramatically, backlit by the headlights; Yusei turns to look, and gasps. Behind Cortez, Yusei and Lezar, the bridge they're standing on cuts off abruptly, and in the distance there are tall X's of iron, supports for a different bridge coming from the even more distant island beyond; the way across is cleanly severed.)
Goodwin: About where you come from, and where you're going.
(Yusei and Cortez keeps looking out toward the distant supports; the car headlights shine bravely, toward that daunting stretch of night-dark sea.)