Disclaimer: I don't own anything (only my beloven phone Ivano, Boris the laptop and a secret stash of junk-food in my wardrobe). Everything ever used in the story belong to their rightful owners, except the OCs. Don't even think of touching my preciousssss~ ಠxಠ
In the endless abyss that is known as the Void surrounded by countless mirrors floated a being of immense power. Some called it a god, others a devil, but if anyone ever bothered to ask, it would probably answer with "a universal cleaner". Not that anyone did or dared, for that matter. Sure, it was fun at first but the whole godhood business got old pretty quickly once you realized just how tedious it actually is. Get worshipped, do nothing for years, be cursed and shouted at for no reason, then save the world from some cliché dark force, get worshipped again and repeat. Tedious. Tedious and troublesome. Why couldn't they find somebody else to do this job? But we're getting off topic here.
The being, known as the Dragon Star, was frowning. So, another human wants to usurp its physical manifestations power. The god snorted before narrowing its eyes. While many tried, none have come as close as this one. The being had to applaud, this human's, this Rex Goodwin's, plan was quite ingenious. Using and manipulating its Signers, gaining the powers of a Signer and Dark Signer and then, to top it all off, use said powers to control its representation and remake the world. Simple, effective and ingenious. But also annoying, unoriginal and risky, with high possibility of universal annihilation. And that's something the god would rather avoid.
No, this needed to be stopped… or at least altered. And while it could just appear in front of the volatile human's headquarters in its whole burning crimson glory and just burn everything to crisp, this would cause a lot of unnecessary problems. It needed something subtler. Something… like an agent.
As the being mused it shifted its gaze onto one of the many mirrors around it. Slowly its eyes gained a gleam that would make a certain dimension hopping bloodsucker cackle in glee.
'Oh, this could work.'
It was a normal sunny day in a busy city of Tokyo. People were going around doing their business, students laughing here and there after a day in school, cars passing one another in a hurry, even birds were just that, simple avians cheerfully chirping a song only they knew of. Nothing out of the ordinary… Except for a human sized red vortex currently lazily spinning in residential area, in front of a mildly confused teenager.
Said teenager was simply standing and staring right back at it. Fortunately, the one sided staring contest didn't last long. Blinking a couple of times and sure enough, there really is some sort of red floating thing in front of her, the girl decided that some thinking was in order.
'Let's see, I got up today, showered, had a sandwich for breakfast, walked to school, greeted classmates, spent most of the day surfing the net and pretending I'm listening, had lunch, bought a cup of coffee on the way home and… ran into some sort of portal. Maybe I ate something?'
Hoping that that wasn't the case, the young woman silently patted her stomach and nodded when she felt no pain.
'Not food poisoning.'
The girl shuddered lightly, but quickly composed herself once more and looked back at the still spinning vortex.
'Hallucinations caused by overexposure to sun and heat?'
She snorted at the thought. Sure, it was warm but not that hot. Besides today she had chosen to wear her leather pants, converse, a spaghetti strap black tank top and a short black leather jacket that reached just below her bust with a hood, a hood that was currently hiding her face from said sun and thus preventing any heat from affecting her. And it was March, not exactly the warmest of months. She shook her head. Nope, not a viable idea.
After racking her brain for any more possible logical explanations and ending up denying or finding flaws in every single one of them the student finally gave up and went for the impossible.
'…Aliens?'
A light frown made itself known before she carefully set down her bag, pulled out her wallet and took out her student id. Sharp green eyes narrowed under the hood as they scanned the plastic card.
'Hoshikoka Akira, age 17, High school student at Tokyo metropolitan High, member of science and technology club.'
Akira paused and looked closely at the photo where an exact same set of eyes stared right back at her with similar intensity, taking in every detail.
'Pale skin, heart shaped face, pointed chin, a small indent in it, small nose and thin lips, sharp toxic green eyes that seem a little too big and jaw length spiked up black hair with two toxic green bangs framing either side of the face. Yep, all there.'
The high schooler then proceeded to flip the card over a few times before catching sight of a reflective glyph on its side, signifying its authenticity. She briefly observes how the images changed with movement before returning the id to the wallet and into the bag. The girl straitened and once again stared at the vortex.
'Not aliens, too detailed.'
Slowly the teens confusion bled away and was replaced with curiosity. She briefly considered poking it before remembering that weird anime she watched some years ago and shuddered. Oh no, no way is she getting sucked into some parallel universe where magic is real, people ride horses and resides an annoying pink haired tsundere with attitude problems, not to mention the general population. That's something she would rather avoid… very much. Besides, there were no sticks around.
Slowly and cautiously Akira started to back away from the portal. Just as she turned around and was about to high tail, the vortex emitted a sound not unlike the one you usually hear from a vacuum cleaner, a very strong wind blew her off balance and before she knew it she was falling right through the portal, her vision turning red and consciousness slipping.
Right before blacking out Akira managed to promise in her mind.
'Whoever is responsible for this better have a good explanation or I'm driving them insane the second I get a chance… especially if it's the tsundere.'
And with that Akira disappeared from the face of the known Earth for a very long time. The crimson portal stayed a few more seconds before flickering out of existence, it's job done, leaving no evidence of what has transpired behind.
Akira very slowly started the process of returning to the world of the waking. First came the sense of touch and balance. Her mind briefly flickered with confusion when she felt no pressure on her back as judging by her position she was laying, but she was still too out of it see it as a serious problem. Second came the sense of smell, which didn't really help, because she didn't pick up any distinct scent. Then her hearing returned. She could hear a faint sound of something flickering, suspiciously reminding her of the sound fire makes. Finally came her sight, her vision was colored bright red while darkness danced at the edge of her eyes.
The girl didn't dare open her eyes. Oh she knew there was something very bright in front of her. Key word something. She had no idea what that something is and didn't really want to find out. Now that she was fully awake and aware she knew the situation was very wrong. First, some kind of red vortex portal thing appears in front of her in the middle of a street. Then she gets sucked into it, falling unconscious and being transported who knows where in the process. Finally, there is SOMETHING in front of her. She really hopes it's a lamp and she's in an interrogation room where a mean looking cop is sitting in front of her behind a table and waiting for her to wake up to question the living daylight out of her.
'Whatever it is, I'll just pretend I'm asleep and maybe it will go aw-'
"You can now stop pretending you're asleep." Akira's planning was interrupted by a deep masculine voice.
'…Goddamn it.'
Cursing she silently noted that the voice echoed in space and seemed to radiate power before sitting up and opening her eyes. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the bright light.
The girl blinked, then blinked again, her eyes widening ever so slightly and mouth forming a small "o" as she stared with surprise and no small amount of awe evident in her gaze. There, right in front of her, in a star filled black space, floated a dragon of humongous proportions made entirely out of slowly burning crimson flames. Its head had to two horns, sitting just above a pair of flame like eyes. Flaming frills danced at each side of its head. The young woman nervously noted the razor sharp fangs in the being's mouth, not really wanting to get intimately acquainted with them. It's long serpentine body curving to make it appear standing on two clawed back legs. Two wicked looking hands gleaming in the light produced by a pair of wings each as big as its body is long. Something behind the dragon flickered drawing her attention. Her eyes slightly widened recognizing the familiar grinning tail.
'Well, damn.' not really knowing what else to do, Akira finally let her eyes meet two brightly blazing yellow orbs, that haven't moved even once since she has awoken. Sucking in a breath, face blank of any emotion, she finally spoke out loud.
"Crimson dragon."
It wasn't a question. She knew exactly what and who the being in front of her was. What she couldn't understand was HOW. Last time she checked fictional ultimate power creatures were not supposed to be… well, real.
The dragon in question cocked its head to the side studying the teens expression.
"I see that you are confused." it spoke without moving its jaw. It was like the voice came from all around her creeping her out a bit. Nevertheless, Akira nodded.
"How? How are you real?"
The dragons one eyebrow rose at the question.
"Not where or why but how?"
Akira shot it a deadpan.
"Those are obvious. One, we're obviously not on Earth anymore, I'm guessing this is a sub-dimension of your creation seeing as the vortex I was sucked into was some sort of portal, I can breathe despite being in what looks like space and I have a sense of touch, proving this is not a dream. Two, you obviously want something from or with me, you wouldn't have kidnapped me otherwise." finished with her observation Akira stared the all-powerful dragon right in the eyes as if daring it to prove her wrong. Said dragon remained silent throughout her small rant. Then suddenly it threw back its head and released a roaring laugh. If Akira was offended by the gesture she didn't show it, her face retaining its normal blank mask.
Finally, the dragon calmed down and gazed down at the still sitting human.
"Oh yes, you will do quite nicely."
Akira cocked an eyebrow at that but remained patiently silent, knowing that it will be explained in due time.
"Right you are. This space is a sub-dimension created between the borders of multiple universes. It is also currently being powered by me and the only thing keeping you from being torn apart to pieces." explained the dragon.
While she expected something like this, Akira still couldn't stop the shiver that traveled down her spine upon hearing those words.
"Why I had you… kidnapped, as you so kindly put it, I will explain it later." it continues after a small pause, clearly finding the whole situation amusing. "To answer your previous question as to how am I real, well, why not?"
The Crimson dragon's lips pulled back a little in an imitation of a smirk when it noticed Akiras right eye twitch a little. Deciding show some mercy to the young woman the being started to explain.
"It is because of the laws of your universe."
This caused both of Akira's eyebrows to disappear into the hairline.
"We, who are aware of this, call your universe the Origin. What makes your world so special is the law that allows any story created to become a new realm that at some point of its existence follows the story from which it was created. Multiple universes were created this way. My world is one such realm." the burning dragon finished its explanation and looked at the silent human, waiting for her reaction.
Akira silently stood up upright to float in space. At first nothing happened, then she raised her hand and with a loud slap her palm connected with her face. Dragging down her open palm she looked at the dragon incredulously.
"Are you telling me that all those movies, books and games human kind has created out of sheer boredom and need for entertainment actually became independent parallel universes and worlds with all the stuff involved within the stories such robots, magic and gods, and that we in a way are those world creating gods that so many secretly aspire to be however impossible or worship in so many religions without even realizing it?" she asked robotically, even as her eyes practically screamed 'what the hell?!'.
"Yes." The being chirped cheerfully. Akira's fingers twitched at its tone as she began to wonder if she shouldn't just strangle the overgrown lizard then and there. Damn the consequences, its amusement is too annoying. Her hands now hanging by her sides, she released a heavy sigh and calmed down.
"Great, just… great. And just like that, one of mankind's greatest questions has been answered… by a supposedly fictional magical god from another dimension."
The young woman sighed again and focused on the clearly amused dragon in front of her who had been patiently floating and observing her as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I'm assuming you are telling me all this because of the reason why you brought me here in the first place." she said seriously.
Any amusement that was present in the dragon's eyes was gone without a trace as a serious expression overtook its features.
"Yes, you are right again, young one. You see, I am in need of help." the magical being admitted seriously before continuing seeing that the human was listening "As you know the one known as Rex Godwin seeks to control my power to remake the world in his image. I must say, I do not appreciate this nor can I allow it happen to transpire."
Akira nodded understanding the god's feelings, no one likes to be controlled.
"And while the Signers can and will prevent it from happening, there are some events and happenings that could have been prevented."
"Bruno's death." Akira mumbled quietly looking at one of the stars in the space while the dragon nodded.
"Yes, that and many more. Thus I wish for the forgotten one to return and fulfil its duty." that got Akira's attention.
"Forgotten one?" she waited the dragon to explain but all it did was tilt its massive head to look somewhere behind the young woman. She was about to ask the deity to elaborate when a hissing roar sounded from somewhere behind her and she was hit by a strong gust of wind making her close her eyes and cover her face with her arms as the sound of flapping wings reached her ears.
When the wind settled down, Akira slowly opened her eyes, lowered her arms and was about to ask what was going on but froze when she felt a hot breath ruffle her hair followed by a snake like hiss. Cautiously she peaked over her shoulder and stared in surprise.
Behind her floated a big, although nowhere near as big as the glowing lizard, dragon she's never see before. It was black as the night and looked vaguely humanoid standing on two long legs, each ending with three vicious looking clawed fingers and a talon on the back of its feet. Two black circles with dark blue outline spun lazily on each of its lower leg. The dragon's knees were covered in sharp dark metal armor, its points shooting out in four directions to resemble a four pointed star glyph, only opening at the center to show dark blue jewels. Similar precious stones where positioned all over its body: one at the center of its chest in an opening in its protective covering, taking up no small amount of space, digging deeply into its skin, one on each of its elbows where more armor was positioned in similar fashion to its knees and a few dozen going down from both sides of its long neck down to the tip of the tail where a very sharp knife like attachment hung. Its torso was bare of any armor but instead was adorned by cobalt and white veins that went up until they were hidden behind a jagged chest armor piece. The dragon's shoulders where covered in more armor with sharp tips that opened and revealed more veins that ran down to its elbows. Down on its forearm, just like on its lower leg, span two more circles. The creature's hands were three fingered, each finger covered up in segmented plate that formed sharp claws. Behind it, spread out like a mantle, were two black wings, each about the length of the dragon's body, with a similar vein pattern all over the inside of the wings and small dark blue particles slowly falling down from them like snow. Finally, the dark dragon's head was adorned by four curved horns: two of them going down the length of its face on each side and the other two standing from the back of its head and curving slightly down its neck. The shape of its head was pointed and long, resembling a snake and ending with a sharp chin and a raised snout, while its lower jaw was covered in dark blue and white veins.
Finished with her observation, Akira gathered up enough courage, turned around to face the new arrival fully and looked straight into its dark blue snake slit eyes. They held each other's gazes, one filled with caution, the other – wariness, not willing to back down. Seconds ticked by but still both continued the silent challenge to see who would lose. The dragon's eyes narrowed as it unclenched its jaw to reveal a mouth filled with razor sharp fangs and it released another hiss. Akira, upon hearing this tensed, ready to bolt for cover the second the creature made a sudden move. Before anything could happen, they were both interrupted by a powerful voice.
"Night Void, enough."
The now identified Night Void twitched and finally broke away from the staring contest to look at the Crimson dragon. It stared for a bit before looking away and huffing, its shoulders relaxing as it crossed its arms against its chest, silently admitting defeat. It distinctly reminded Akira of a scolded child. As if sensing her thoughts, the dragon sent a glare in her direction to which she responded with a small smug smirk, causing the glare to sharpen. The deity huffed and decided to just get on with it.
"Night Void, you know why I called you here." stated the burning dragon.
The smaller dragon was silent for a moment, its eyes briefly flickered in the teens direction, who by now has moved to stand to the side so she could see both of the magical beings, before locking gazes with the red one.
"You want the shadow to return." hearing the voice Akira blinked a little in surprise, while the dragons voice, like the deities, too came from all directions, it sounded younger and distinctly feminine… not to mention displeased. She shook her head and focused on what was just said.
'Shadow?'
The girl decided to wait and voice her question later as she focused back on the conversation.
"Indeed and you know what that means."
The dark dragons frowned and shifted uncomfortably in place.
"I'll have to go too and face THEM." the female dragon sounded very uncomfortable and even a bit angry.
"You would have had to eventually." came her answer from the Crimson dragon.
Night Void continued to stare but looked away after a few seconds so that Akira couldn't see a sad expression that appeared on the dragons face.
"…They won't accept me, like always." the dark dragon said in a quiet voice the same sentence it has said hundreds of times.
"HE always accepted you."
Hearing this the smaller dragon flinched but didn't say anything, only gripped her arms harder, her armored fingers digging deeply into her skin.
The Crimson dragon observed the dark dragon before signing and shaking its massive head.
"The final decision is still yours."
Night Void stared into the endless space reflected in the sub-dimension, her eyes distant and unseeing. Finally, the dragon clenched her eyes tight making a hard decision before opening them again now gleaming with determination. She released a tired breath, uncrossing her arms and looking back at the patiently waiting burning dragon.
"Knowing you, you wouldn't have called me back without a good reason, so the problem must be serious enough, that it would require the shadows presence." the dragon raised her hand to rub the side of her horned head in a very human like display of frustration as she continues after a pause. "…fine, I'll do it."
The moment those words left her mouth the Crimson dragons body started glowing more brightly as its expression shifted into an imitation of a smile, happy at the return of its forgotten dragon, while Night Void released a low hiss, annoyed at its reaction.
During the whole ordeal Akira has remained silent, sensing that that part of the conversation was supposed to be private. Nevertheless, she heard it whole and while she understood some of it, much of it remained a mystery to her and caused dozens of questions to rise. But among them all, one stood out the most.
'What is this shadow they keep talking about?'
She had theories upon theories based on the implications and her knowledge of the 5D's universe, but without anything solid she couldn't work. She was brought of her reverie by the sound of a deep male voice.
"I believe you already noticed that we have company today." said the Crimson dragon as it drew it attention back at the only human in this space.
Night Voids eyes turned to study Akira and she unconsciously tensed, feeling those dark blue slits register every flaw and imperfection. Apparently, the dark dragon wasn't so happy. Turning to the other she spoke her thoughts.
"So, this is the human you chose? I don't see anything special about it."
'Rude.' Akira thought. She's not an IT, she's a SHE. The burning being if anything, looked amused, smiling like it knew something the other didn't. The dark dragon noticed the evil eye Akira was giving her and scowled.
"What are you glaring at, human?"
"It."
Night Void drew back a bit in confusion, before realising the implication and glaring.
"I'm female." she hissed out annoyed.
The girl tilted her head innocently to the side in curiosity, mischief shining in her eyes.
"Are you?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's hard to believe," Akira started, a small smirk spread over her lips, as she raised her hands and cupped both sides of her bust "when you don't have the important assets~" she finished in a singsong.
A dark blue blush spread over both sides of the dragons face as she started sputtering in outrage and embarrassment.
"I-it's the a-ar-armour!"
"Whatever you say, bustless~"
The Crimson dragon watched the bypass and smiled.
'Definitely worth one another.'
It cleared its throat to get their attention. Night Void was blue in the face and ready to pounce, while Akira was wiggling around taunting the other further, but both stopped and looked at the source of the noise.
The crimson deity directed its gaze to look directly into the teens eyes before speaking.
"I said I would explain to you why I had you taken."
Akira straitened up, her face morphing into an emotionless mask, knowing that the coming would be serious, and listened.
"You no doubt know about my worlds history and about the Signers, with you coming from the Origin."
To the side Night Voids eyes widened as she whipped her head around to look at the human girl in astonishment.
"What you don't know is that there is another Signer, one that is called upon only when absolutely necessary," the great dragon pause and looked at Akira seriously "the Shadow, the one that protects from the darkness, guardian of the Crimson Dragons shadow." hHere the dragon held up its head high and proudly finished "MY shadow."
Akira blinked a bit surprised at the new piece of information as she stared at the dragon before frowning and looking puzzled.
"So, you want me to find them or something? Because I have no ide-"
"I want you to be it."
A long silence followed. The emotionless mask Akira has been wearing all this time shattered into pieces, her eyes slowly widened until they were the size of dinner plates as her jaw hung open, her mind not really registering anything anymore. Finally, she forced her jaw to work again.
"W-what… but… t-that's not… impos-" she was cut off by an irate hiss from the side.
"Oh for the love of, he wants you to be the Signer of the shadow, what's so hard to believe?" came Night Voids snide voice. The dark dragon crossed her arms and leaned back observing the human.
Hearing her speak the girl, tried to calm down and after several deep breaths she opened her eyes she didn't notice were closed and looked at the deity who had been silently waiting for her to compose herself, hundreds of questions reflecting in her eyes.
"Yes but… WHY? I'm sure there are lot of better alternatives. Besides, the series have a happy ending, another Signer is not needed." she tried to reason.
"Correction, the version you know is the one that with a… 'happy ending'." the bigger dragon corrected her causally. A frown formed on the youths face.
"Explain."
Signing the dragon looked into the endless void they were in with a faraway look.
"As you know, there are endless possibilities. While the main events do come to pass they might not end as you know them. Thus I need the Shadow."
Akiras eyes narrowed at that.
"You need insurance." she stated bluntly and waited for the dragon to respond. She didn't wait long.
"Yes. As I said, I do not appreciate it when someone is trying to control me, alas us gods are not allowed to interfere directly with the lives of the mortals, not even if they are far above normal humans and such. We are allowed to give aid or leave cryptic messages, but outright elimination of threat is only allowed in special circumstances. Last time I was free to do so was 5000 years ago."
This time it turned and looked directly Akira in the eyes while pulling its lips back into a small smile.
"That's why I need an agent, one that knows what's going to happen, what needs to be changed and is far more subtle than a dragon the size of a small city."
Akira cracked a small smile at the last remark but it quickly disappeared as she closed her eyes and released a tired sigh. Crossing her arms, she opened her eyes again.
"Then, I guess my question is simple: why me?"
The dragon cocked its head gesturing to elaborate to which the lone human complied.
"You could have chosen anyone from my world, yet you choose me, a 17-year-old high-schooler with a thing for anime, manga, technology and card games. Even then there are many more who should qualify way more than me. Besides, I'm not exactly the hero sort." she finished and gave the dragon a pointed look.
Said dragon has kept silent. Then it stretched its wings and leaned down so it's flaming face was just a couple metres sways from Akira, who silently noted that the flames produced no heat.
"And yet you would still do what you think is right." This made Akira twitch but the dragon continued not letting her protest "I know a lot more about you than you think I do, Hoshikoka Akira. I know for a fact that you have a lot of talents and skills and are not afraid to put them to use if a need arises. I know that you are intelligent and a very capable strategist. I know that despite the emotionless and cold front you put up you are in truth a very kind and caring person." the dragon's eyes twinkled "I also know that you have a gift for mischief and an ability to cause chaos and mayhem wherever you go. I do believe those bullies at your school are still afraid of bright flashes and oranges."
Akira had the decency to look a bit sheepish as she scratched her head. She knew she should have laid off on the oranges, but there was a sale that day and it's always better when you have more to spare. Although, the bullies probably didn't really appreciate being pelted with oranges by berserk baseball pitching machines while their photos were being taken by hidden photography club members they bullied earlier that week only to appear the next day all over the schools notice boards. After the incident they were never the same.
Suddenly the deities features darkened "And… I know that you are very lonely after what happened 2 years ago."
Akira tensed almost instantly. And just like that the light-hearted mood vaporised. She felt Night Voids curios eyes on her but she ignored her. It wasn't something she wanted to talk nor think about. It has been hard, even after 2 years she still couldn't properly move on and probably never will. She dragged a palm over her face, trying to forget the dragons last sentence.
"Wouldn't at least someone older be better?"
"You know that the current generation of Signers is quite young, it would be better if someone their age was to help them."
Well, she couldn't argue with that. The dragon stood up straight, its flaming wings stretching out behind it, and looked down with a serious expression.
"Let me put it like this way, I have seen your life, judged it and found you fitting for this duty. Hoshikoka Akira of the Origin, will you accept the position of the Shadow? Will you protect the other Signers just like the previous Shadows have before you? Will you help me insure this story has a true happy ending?"
The words were spoken with power and unyielding will, just like what you would expect from a god. But none of this mattered to Akira now. She was still unsure. Sure, the prospect of travelling into the world of an anime she liked endeared her but… she would be going into an unknown land, not knowing anyone and alone, more alone than she already was. The girl frowned, still, she couldn't deny that she craved, what many of her world did. She wanted adventure. Oh she knew how dangerous the adventures in the 5D's universe really are, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't interested. The simple idea that she could escape the normal reality she has deemed "boring" years ago and to go do something more, be something more than just a simple high school student, was almost too much. Almost. But not enough.
The teen raised her head and looked around. They were still floating in the endless space within the sub-dimension, stars dotting its surface. She could see her bag, containing her laptop, books, other essentials and a deck of duel monster cards she always carried around, floating in a distance away from her. To her right stood the black armoured dragon known as Night Void, silently looking at her with wary slits, but she could see that much of the previous animosity had been replaced by curiosity and, dare she say, a bit of respect. Finally, her gaze landed on the Crimson dragon who hasn't moved and inch since it finished its questions and she stared deeply into its eyes. And there she saw what she was looking for. A plea for help.
And so she made her decision.
Akira stood up straighter, shoulder broad, head held high as she spoke her answer, at the moment feeling the need to speak formally.
"Very well, I shall help you and become the Shadow."
The Crimson dragon's expression brightened as a bright red glow outlined its body. Instantly Akira began feeling a searing pain in her right forearm. Gritting her teeth and hissing she used her left hand to pull back her jackets sleeve and watched as a mark started forming. First, an outline of a dragon's head appeared, quickly followed by a long neck and two clawed hands. When it reached the torso, a pair of wings sprang out in two different directions as they hugged the arm almost touching each other on the inner forearm. Its torso finished, two short legs formed at the bottom and, finally, a long waving tail formed, its weird tip ending just below Akiras elbow. Process completely it stopped glowing, allowing Akira to see the new addition to her body.
'Looks like somebody made a satellite shot of the Crimson Dragon flying in the sky.'
The girl noticed that it also looked like the dragon's silhouette, but didn't comment on it. Instead she turned and shot an annoyed look at the now clearly happy dragon, if its bright glowing is anything to go by.
"You could've at least given me time to prepare before doing that. It hurt." she rubbed her now marked hand to get rid of phantom pain. She heard a snort near her.
"Don't whine, human, or is a small burn all it takes to make you cry?" Night Void snipped mockingly, her head waving back and forth tauntingly.
Akira just shot her a calm look.
"It's called complaining, get your facts straight or should I fetch you a dictionary?"
"What for? Can't beat me in game of words?"
"No, just need to check if your picture is placed near the definition of 'tsundere'."
"Why you-"
Further arguments were interrupted by an amused voice.
"You do realise you two are now going to have to work together."
The dragon and human both stopped, glanced at each other and in unison both dropped their faces into their palm, one releasing a hiss, the other - groan in annoyance. The dark dragon was first to recover. She turned and faced the human girl fully.
"Like it or not, we're bound now and will have to work in this together. Just don't get any ideas that I'm fond of you, human, because I'm not."
Akira was a bit surprised that the dragon could actually act mature but quickly hid it. Instead she nodded and met the dragons blue gaze.
"Good, because I want to earn your respect, not be given it for nothing."
Night Void was taken aback by the declaration for a split second, not expecting what she saw as an arrogant creature to say those words. She then noticed that the human had extended its arm towards her and was standing there, waiting, as if expecting something from her.
"What… are you doing?"
Akira tilted her head to the side briefly confused.
"It's called a handshake, humans do it when they greet or meet each other. Also when they are grateful for something or agree to a deal." she explained patiently.
Night Voids eyes widened slightly at the implication. Then, slowly, she extended her arm and let it rest before the new Shadow, her hand so big it was almost the size of Akiras body. Nevertheless, Akira grasped one of the dragons clawed fingers and shook it. Looking up again, she nodded at the dragon and bowed slightly.
"Hoshikoka Akira, Bearer of the Shadow, please take care of me."
The dragon was stunned for a second and stared at the human before answering the same way.
"Night Void Dragon, the Vengeful Chaos… likewise."
Akira offered the dragon a small smile before letting go of her finger and turning to the other dragon. Said dragon was smiling, knowing that everything would work out eventually between the new partners.
"So, how are we going to do this?" asked Akira, curious of what the deity was planning.
"I will send you into Neo Domino city, 6 months before the 'main' events, so you would have the time to establish yourself in the new world."
"What about living arrangements, money and documentation?"
The Crimson dragon shook its head.
"That is something you will have to take care of on your own, but I'm sure you already have some ideas how to solve this."
Akira gave a curl nod, confirming the dragon's words.
"Your purpose is to guide the other Signers, make their work easier and see to it what everything ends well." Then it gained a mischievous gleam in its eyes. "Oh and make sure to cause as much headaches as possible to that infuriating human."
The Shadow raised an eyebrow at that. The protector of light could hold grudges and actually had a mean streak. Who knew? She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.
"What about Yliaster? They'll know about me the second I appear in that universe."
The Crimson Dragon's eyes lit up in an unholy light. Night Void instantly tensed and started fidgeting in place, recognising the look and its meaning: whoever is on the receiving end of it, is going to be in a lot of pain in the near future. Luckily for the occupants of the sub-dimension, none of them were the target.
"No they won't. After all, they come from the future where there was no Shadow."
Akira stayed silent. Then, slowly, a shit-eating grin spread out on her face, glowing with nothing but malice and pure evil. She released a very uncharacteristic cackle as she realised the implications of this.
'This is going to be glorious. The potential this situation has… oh sweet chaos~'
She calmed down and decided to plot plans of revenge later. She still needed to ask the one question that's been bugging her for months now.
"How come the Dark Signers have all those powers while the Signers don't?"
If anything the flaming dragon looked very amused.
"Who said they don't?"
Akira blinked, blinked again, then slapped her palm on her face.
"They never figured it out, have they?"
"Nope." it popped the 'p' in the end.
"Marvellous."
"See? That's why the Shadow is so needed, just started and you're already asking the right questions."
Akira rubbed her forehead to ward away the headache she knew was coming. She signed and looked at the frustrating lizard.
"You're not going to help me figure what those powers are, are you?"
"Now where the fun would be in that?"
So it has decided to play the 'I'm an ageless god and I need my entertainment' card, huh? Akira looked to her new partner for help. Night Void just shrugged.
"He gets even worse when he's bored."
The girl groaned quietly and turned back to the overgrown lizard.
"Can we… please, get on with this? It's been a long day and I don't think I can handle any more bombshells dropping on my head."
The Crimson dragon nodded and brought its hands together. A bright light started shining in between its claws as a familiar spinning human sized red vortex came into existence. The deity releases the newly formed portal and floated back letting it levitate in place. Akira spared the new portal an aggravated glance before kicking off slightly to float up to her forgotten bag and grabbed it. Floating up to the new vortex she paused a bit and looked up the big dragon.
"Is there anything else I should know?"
The deity tiled its horned head to the side as if contemplating something before nodding.
"As a matter of fact yes, your presence might affect some events. For example, while the 'main' events are still be mostly unaffected, some 'side' events might play out differently from how you know them or cease to exist all together, while new ones might appear at any time. So do be careful, you'll never know when trouble comes your way."
Akira nodded in thanks for the warning and turned to Night Void. Crimson Dragon sensing a silent question decided to answer.
"Night Void will follow shortly after you, do not worry, you'll find her with you when you cross over."
The girl stared at the bright being before turning to the dark dragon wanting her confirmation. Night Void frowned but reluctantly nodded her head. Seeing this Akira turned to the portal once again.
"Good luck and be careful, young Shadow, may the stars shine the right path for you for dark times are approaching."
She heard the Crimson dragon speak and paused a step from the portal. The Shadow threw a glance over her shoulder.
"Just for the record, I'm calling you Lizard from now on."
Then she looked over Night Void.
"See ya."
And with that Akira stepped through the portal, disappearing into a new world where adventure awaited her.
Left behind the Crimson dragon blinked, then shook its head and released a chuckle.
"Isn't she an interesting one, Night Void?"
The other dragon scoffed and asked.
"What did you want to tell me?"
The deity smiled slightly.
"You know me too well." It said before becoming serious. "Night Void, I want you to look out for that child."
Night Void turned her head, surprised at the request. Seeing this the Crimson dragon sighed and looked at the still spinning portal.
"That child has been through a lot: hurt, rejection… loss. She is ridden with guilt and self-loathing. And while she might hide it well, her need to atone still shines through in the most dangerous way." The dragon turned and looked the smaller one right in eyes. "She lacks self-worth and is prone to self-sacrificing. A lot like you."
Night Voids eyes widened and darkened, her expression becoming unreadable, as she too looked at where the young Shadow had been standing minutes ago. Finally, she released a hissing breath and turned to the other.
"I'll look after her."
The Crimson Dragon smiled, grateful that it's request has been accepted, before its smile turned mischievous as it added.
"And I expect grandchildren by the of this adventure."
Night Void choked on air, a very large dark blue blush spreading all over her face as she started sputtering violently.
"F-F-FA-FATHER!"
The Crimson Dragon just laughed at her reaction. Not knowing what to do and trying to escape further humiliation, Night Void jumped up, glowed dark blue brightly, shrank down into a small dark blue ball the size of a golf ball and took off into the portal, passing through without any problems.
Left alone the being watched as the vortex flickered away. It closed its eyes and smiled.
"Good luck you two, I'll be watching."
And with a red flash the being disappeared to return to its realm among the endless mirrors, shattering the sub-dimension into pieces and leaving behind no evidence of the conversation that has transpired.
Over the technologically advanced city of Neo Domino unnoticed by its inhabitants a small shock-wave passed through the cities night sky, its ripples alerting six certain dragons.
Deep in the bowels of the Netherworld, the dark immortals narrowed their eyes in suspicion but soon dismissed it, not believing that THAT dragon would ever agree to return. Within an endless white dimension, a masked humanoid looked up feeling something shift within the fabrics of the universe.
In dark rooms 6 cards lit up in different colours, their owners none the wiser.
The red one released an angry growl, not liking the meaning of this. The blue card keened sadly. The burgundy spirit radiated with shame, not proud of what it had done. The black light shifted anxiously, while the yellow one dimmed from guilt. Finally, the last one, shined silvery with hope, elated at the chance to see and once again fight alongside its long lost friend. Nevertheless, they all shined brightly.
For they knew that their forgotten comrade has returned. Night Void Dragon, the ever-vengeful bringer of chaos and with her - Signer of the Shadow, the dark protector, have come and that can only mean one thing: a new battle is approaching and it will be like nothing the world has ever seen.
A.N.
So... I was bored and decided I needed to play through Tag Force series. Then an idea formed 'why not mess with the 5D's universe' and then... THIS came to be. Honestly, I don't know where this is going but at least I'll try to write it.
I got bored of Tokyo Ghoul and the amount of work at the time prevented me from writing that story (work at the time: program a game, design said games environment, make a gif of a 3D model, write 2 essays, do a programming/math homework, prepare for exams, stay fabulous) Yeaaaah... it was basically hell, I even got a fine for riding without a ticket in bus, because I fell asleep in said bus before I could even mark it. That's what living on Red Bull, with less than 2 hours of sleep a day for 3 week, does to people. Don't try it at home, kids.
Anyway, if you are wondering about the dragon, Night Void Dragon to be exact, yeah, you can stop searching the net for the Yu-Gi-Oh card. It's OC. As in, I made it up at the top of the hat. And what a headache that was. I'll say this, if you're having a hard time picturing it, I used Gandora X (an existing Yu-Gi-Oh card) and Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon (Cardfight! Vanguard) as reference, otherwise, let your imagination fill in the blanks. Her effect? Well, while I've already came up with an idea, I'm always open for suggestions. Do keep in mind that she is a 'vengeful' dragon and, as stated in the chapter, shares Akiras 'sacrificial' way of thinking.
As for romance. I don't know. If there's gonna be any, it's gonna slow, the 'and suddenly it happened' type of things annoy me. Although, I've already thought of some humorous situations involving Akira that would make even Yusei blush like there's no tomorrow. Neheheheh~ She wouldn't be a walking mayhem otherwise.
There, I've said my piece, read and review if you dare. I'm going to get my long deserved cup of tea. Ta~