Welcome to Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Servant of the Earthbound.
After reading Donjusticia's Signs of Renewal and some 5Ds stories I got hooked on the idea of a Dark Signer fanfiction so... here it it is.
I hope you enjoy.
"So… what's the catch?"
The shapeless entity shifted before him. Its green eyes narrowed. "Catch? What catch?"
"The catch." Yuju Sarai stared shrewdly into the two pinpricks of light that he assumed where the creature's eyes. "You know, you're telling me that I've died, but you can bring me back to life, I'll be a Dark Signpost or something, yada, yada, yada."
"Signer! A Dark Signer!"
"Signer, got it. This is way good to be true though. I get to come back to life even though I died." Yuju looked at his hand, which was faded and wispy. He flicked a lock of chestnut brown hair out of his eyes. "What's the price?"
A gaping hole that was probably the entity's mouth yawned open, twisting into a smile. "Your soul."
Yuju raised an eyebrow. "My soul? Should've seen that coming. How about we sacrifice some virgins and first-borns while we're at it?"
His dry sarcasm seemed to slip past the monstrous creature. "No need for any sacrifices. Your soul will be adequate payment."
"I see," Yuju said. "Before I make my decision… what exactly are you?"
"I am the Earthbound God"—
"No, no, you've told me that. I mean… what kind of thing are you?" He waved a hand through the Earthbound God's shapeless body. It passed right through with a mild tickling sensation.
The mist drew itself up, briefly holding the form of a giant, humanoid figure. "Ignorant human! I am a GOD!" A blast of freezing air pulsated through the room, knocking Yuju backwards. The black mist that surrounded his prison rippled, becoming transparent for a second. Outside, pale wispy figures milled around, heads hung low. All of them were completely grey, some with body parts that were faded away.
"Whoa." Yuju took a step back from the misty walls. "What's out there?"
The Earthbound God swirled. "That is what you will become if you do not accept my offer. Right now you are on the brink of life and death, but only because I choose to keep you here. If you refuse my proposition, then you will become less than nothing!"
Yuju shivered, remembering the faded, hollow people outside his prison. "Not the most appealing future," he muttered. "Okay, one final question… why me?"
The eyes of the Earthbound God sparkled through the mist. "It has been many years since we were last defeated. But now I sense that something is coming. Something… cataclysmical. In the chaos, the Dark Signers will rise up and reform the world anew!"
"Wait up." Yuju held up a hand. "Last time you were free, you had be defeated? So you're not exactly a good guy."
"Good and evil are mere constructs of humans. To an Earthbound God, there are no such things. There are only those with power, and those without. And I have chosen you, Yuju Sarai, to be one with power! You will be the first of a new order of Dark Signers!"
Yuju stroked his chin. "Well, I'm all for coming back to life. But this whole Dark Signer, reform the world thing? Not so sure about that."
"You only have two choices. Revive as a Dark Signer, servant of the Earthbound Gods. Or…" part of the Earthbound God formed into an arm which passed over Yuju's chest, turning it grey and transparent. "You could be… released."
Yuju stared in horror at his faded chest. His heart thumped loudly. "When you put it that way," he said hurriedly, "becoming a Dark Signer sounds like a great idea. What do I do?"
The Earthbound God seemed to buzz with excitement. "Swear your allegiance to the Earthbound Gods."
"I… err… I pledge my allegiance to the Earthbound Gods. Happy?"
The Earthbound God separated itself from the mist, becoming a snake-like creature. "Extremely," it said, before rushing forward and inserting itself into Yuju's mouth. Yuju screamed as the cold mist of the Earthbound God worked its way down his throat and dispersed throughout his body. An icy feeling spread throughout his bones.
He cried out in pain and terror he felt a wrenching pain in his chest, like a fishhook being pulled through his heart. Falling to his knees, the cold feeling spread throughout him completely, before a barb of sharp pain pierced his brain and his vision blurred. The last thing he saw was the glowing emblem of a tree before he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.
Yuju woke up in the middle of a street. Pushing himself up against the hard gravel road, he looked around. He was in the middle of an intersection, but it was night, so no cars were around.
Suddenly lights flashed in his head. Bright headlights, screeching tires and a truck coming right for him…
This was where he'd died.
He'd died.
Frantically, he looked around searching for any sign of life. "Please," he said as loudly as he could. "Someone help me!"
"There's no-one here," said a voice.
"Yes!" he cried desperately. "Please! Help me!"
"Be silent, you idiotic human!"
Yuju tensed up. Where had he heard that voice before?
The voice continued. "Maybe this will make you remember."
A sharp barb of pain pierced his mind and random words crashed together in his brain. I pledge my allegiance… Earthbound… your soul… world anew… Dark Signer… I am a GOD!
He sat up straight, memories flooding in. "That's right," he said slowly. "The Earthbound God. You're in my head?"
"Yes. Our minds have been connected. You don't need to talk aloud."
"I see. Whoa… this is weird."
Yuju got to his feet and walked slowly to the side of the road, sitting down on the curb. "So… I'm back alive now? What do we do now, uhh… what do I call you?"
He felt the presence of the Earthbound God shift in his mind. "Take out your deck."
"My deck? Okay." Yuju reached into his back pocket, pulled out his deck of cards and began looking through. "I don't see anything new here… whoa, what's this?" The card he pulled out had a black background and blue stars to indicate its level.
"Earthbound God Sach'a-Sach'a?" he thought. "Is this you?"
He felt the Earthbound God nod in his mind.
"That's too long of a name though. I can't call you that. I'll call you… Sasha?"
A wave of annoyance spread throughout his brain. "I am not bound by the limitations of humans and should not be addressed with human titles."
Yuju shrugged. "Eh. Sasha it is."
Yuju pulled a phone out of his pocket. "You saved my phone too?"
"Anything that was with you when you died is with you now," explained Sasha. Yuju looked down at himself to see she was right. He wore brown cargo pants and a green t-shirt with something that he couldn't read on it. A brown leather jacket was wrapped around his waist.
Flipping his phone to the camera option, he turned it towards himself.
His face was... still the same. Same chestnut brown hair with the single lock that was always in his eyes and the golden sprig on top. Same quirky smile and brown eyes.
"I thought being a Dark Signer would make me look different."
"We need to stay anonymous for now, so you'll stay in your human guise."
Yuju shivered when she said 'human guise'. That was a little creepy.
He strolled through the streets of Maiami. It was pretty peaceful with no-one around. He turned a corner and walked into absolute chaos. A queue of hundreds of people was snaking its way around the block. People were shouting and shaking their fists, all trying to get into… Ryozanpaku Duel Boarding School?
Yuju walked up to a man in the queue who was raging at the person in front of him. "Excuse me," he said, tapping the man on the shoulder. "What's going on here?"
"What's going on?" the man guffawed. "What's going on? Why, this is the queue for the Ryozanpaku Duel Boarding School! It opens tomorrow morning, so we've queued up early!"
"Yuju!" interjected Sasha in his brain. "We should get into this school."
"Why?" replied Yuju. "I get resurrected by some God and you want me to go to school?
"This is a boarding school. We'll be able to set up here instead of living on the streets. Besides… I can sense much pain and anger here. We may be able to find new Dark Signers."
Yuju mentally shrugged. "Well, you resurrected me so I guess you're the boss."
"How do I enter this… Ryozanpaku School?" said Yuju to the man.
"The queue starts two blocks back. If you get to the front and you're good enough they'll let you in. But don't even think about pushing in!"
Yuju held up his hands. "Wouldn't dream of it."
He began walking to the back of the queue, ignoring the waves of anger that were searing his brain. Clearly the Earthbound God Sasha wasn't used to waiting in queues.
"So Sasha," thought Yuju. "How do we turn other people into Dark Signers?"
Yuju felt Sasha grin in his mind. "We kill them."
The queue for Ryozanpaku is actually a thing; when Gongenzaka and Yuya are talking about the school Gong says something about there being a queue a mile long to get in or something like that.
Sach'a-Sach'a means forest in Quechua (one of the official languages in Peru, where the Nazca Lines are located; those are the basis for the Earthbound Gods in 5Ds). This relates to Yuju's deck, which you'll see in the next chapter.
Hopefully this is good enough to encourage you to keep reading. If it's not... please keep reading anyway and it might get better.
Reviews would be much appreciated.