S-S: *Staring blankly at a wall*

Angel: …Uh, Shimmer? I'm pretty sure you have something to do.

S-S: …

Angel: Earth to Shimmering-Sky… can you hear me? *Pokes her face repeatedly*

Lucy: Aha, I wouldn't try doing that. She's been like that for the past, like, hour.

Angel: H-Huh?! What did you do to her?

Lucy: Me? Nothing. Shim did this to herself.

Shade: Death Note's ending is certainly not for the faint of heart… and neither is this chapter.

Angel: …Yeah. Okay. Now I'm worried.

Lucy: *Laughs* Oh, you should be! This prologue… oh, this prologue…

Meri: We totally don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but we do own our OCs! Enjoy the prologue to Crimson Fall!

Angel: Wait, THAT'S what you're posting?!

***This chapter is brought to you by Low of Solipsism (I hope I spelled that right) from Death Note (because this anime is the BEST!)***

Prologue

The Crimson Dragon was dead. The last line of defense from the overwhelming clutches of the Queen of the Netherworld, gone. The Signers had been snuffed out one by one. Even as she ran for her life, the woman hidden under white robes and a black mask could remember how each of them fell.

Jack was the first, the product of a misinterpreted prophecy. Torched into an almost unrecognizable shape from battling—and losing to—the Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca.

The second, Crow. Driven to commit suicide rather than kill his own sister, or let her live with the guilt of killing him. His actions, which ultimately were pointless, still scarred the memories of the ghost of a woman.

Then it was Yusei. The sacrifice in order for the Queen of the Netherworld to return; stabbed through the heart by his older sister. His younger sister, Natsumi, fell to the same blade not moments later.

Brave Luna was the fifth to die. She had been in the Spirit World along with her brother when an army led by the Second Prince of Nether, Milon, attacked. Luna fought until the very end, and her sacrifice only ensured that her brother survived. The Spirit World still fell to ruin.

But then there was Leo, in a mad state of grief for not being able to save his twin. Angel silenced him for eternity, before she herself ceased to exist.

And Akiza, the only one left… Betrayed by one she held most dear…

I… I promise you, your deaths will not be pointless, the masked woman thought as she continued to run through the ruins of the original Ener-D Reactor—the last safe haven for humanity in this desolate world.

We will change the past…

Finally, her destination was in site. What used to be the central control room had been transformed to hold the time machine—their only hope—that Roman Goodwin had made. He was still there, sitting next to its control pad. So were two others. Children, they both were, cloaked in a similar outfit to the masked woman. The older one, who was nearly fifteen, was a boy. The younger, a twelve-year-old girl. They were both orphaned far too soon.

"A-Athena!" the girl—hidden behind the name of Pearl, in order to not mess up the past—exclaimed, catching herself before she called the woman by her original name. "You're back! B-But… where's my mother…?"

"I'm sorry," the woman replied, but she really wasn't. How could she be, when she couldn't feel anymore? "She died… when she fell for an illusion. We… both did." Why it couldn't have been her, she didn't understand. She was nothing. A ghost; no more than a shell of her former self. Her husband was dead, and their daughter had been lost to the darkness. Her friends had all fallen one by one in front of her. She would give anything to trade places with Pearl's mother. Athena had no reason left to live…

None, save the promise of saving everyone by fixing what happened in the past.

Pearl's hands flew over her mouth as she let out a wail of anguish. Her mother and older brother were the only blood family she had left alive… Now, it was only her brother. The twisted versions of her father, grandparents, and aunt hardly counted as such. "N-No… why…? Why did she have to…?"

"I don't know," Athena replied, "but she will not die in vain. The others have already gone through the portal, right?"

"That is correct," the boy—Miles—said, putting a hand to his face as though he was trying to adjust glasses that weren't there. "Pearl and I… we were just waiting for you to show up."

She humphed. "And if I hadn't?"

"Then…" he paused for a moment. "We would have gone through without a leader, but we still would have fixed the past."

Athena nodded her approval. "Very well. The creatures of darkness can't be far away. Let's go, before—"

The door behind her exploded, sending the woman in white flying through the air. She crashed into the wall opposite the door, and was on her feet immediately. "Go!" she screams to the two children. "Go! I'm right behind you!"

She turned around while she shouted, and her worst fear came true. This time it was the Second Prince of Nether who stood in her way… Milon, who looked far too much like a man she once knew, ready to kill her and anyone else who dared to change the past.

"Well… I find not only one, but two traitors?" Milon mused aloud after seeing the remaining occupants of the small room. "All the more reason for me to just kill you and be done with it."

"Athena…" Roman said quietly, attracting her attention. "I never… I never intended to go to the past with you, anyways. I'll keep him from following you. Just go."

It didn't pain her heart to run through the portal, even if she wanted it to.

Too much tragedy to deal with… Too much sorrow to stop… Too many wounds to be healed…

To be continued…

Angel: *Gaping at screen*

Lucy: Huh? Oh, don't worry. This is set in the future, obviously.

Muse-Jack: And Athena, Pearl, and Miles are far from those people's real names…

Angel: You… You just… how… why…?

Lucy: Because this is so much more fun than working on something else right now.

Shade: Not to mention the ideas we have for the true identities of the other four who travelled to the past…

Angel: You mean… you aren't using the canon people from the post-apocalyptic future of 5Ds?

Meri: Oh, we're using four of them. We've just changed one of their names and the other three… their real identities are drastically different.

Lucy: Basically, expect what happened in Blue Sky except a million times more evil. And insane.

Angel: I… don't want to picture that…

Lucy: Suit your self. In any case, you guys all BETTER leave reviews!

(PS: All of the other Signers we added in Crimson Feathers are dead as well. They weren't focused on in this chapter because they're all Minor Signers, with the six canon ones, Angel, and the Envoy being the major ones. Because there's DEFINITELY a difference between the two even though they're all still Signers. Also, Death Note really IS the only reason this is getting posted now because Shimmering-Sky isn't functioning right now.)