Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - Fractured Bonds

by Yusei

Summary - "AU. Alone in this cruel world. A world not whole, the remnants of that place loved slowly fade beneath the chaos that has engulfed everything. A world shattered; the shadow of a Signer still wanders amongst the darkness".

Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's or any of the characters.

A / N – Like 'Crimson', this was planned a long time ago and got pushed aside due to bursts of inspiration for other fics that have been updated since. This particular one was planned during the weeks of Jack and Carly's duel under the idea of 'what would happen if Carly's vision was truth?' It since expanded to include more characters and bring in more minor characters that could be useful, just for something different. This does include themes such as death, violence and the like, with a few suggested pairings. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review.


Echoes haunt the blackest nights. Tremors rattle the country in the dimmest days. The streets had been stained by the blood of innocent civilians fleeing for their forsaken lives; the stench of death tainted the once fresh air. The fabled horrors of the Apocalypse were nothing compared to the real thing, leaving a fraction of mankind clinging to life. Every day, the number sharply decreased. Six divinities were said to have risen approximately around the time of the event, some falling before the collision between Earth and the Underworld; Hell. Those that had suffered overthrow returned, as though nothing had happened. Mankind struggled and four individuals were chosen to face the great beasts.

Failure awaited them.

Some theorise that souls of the departed wander the planet, trapped by the wretched divinities that bind everything to the Earth. Economies collapsed after the rise of the towering beings, natural disasters occurring weekly, countries devastated. Japan was, by far, the worst affected region, the country where the battle for mankind's survival began and ended in tragedy. Though strong-willed and capable, the four duellists standing opposite the beasts, known as Earthbound Gods, were unable to overcome the terror that awaited the Earth, falling amongst their allies prophesied to be incapable of defeating the returned souls, tainted by blackness.

Four chosen individuals, each bearing a symbol of the legendary Crimson Dragon. Four tragic stories.

The first belonged to the Wings. Pride consumed Jack Atlus when a gateway opened to him through the Maintenance Pipeline connection between the devastated Satellite and the prestigious Neo-Domino City from which the former originated. Guided by the two servant dragons of the Crimson Dragon that were in his possession, he rode on into a new life. Red Demons stretched its wings and soared into a place where he felt he belonged. However, the one who he betrayed to climb to the top of the duelling world with his partner by his side emerged two years later like a nightmare returning to haunt him. Jack Atlus fell to the other man at the tournament designed to seek out the Signers, known as the Fortune Cup. It wasn't long after the tournament that he met a young girl with sleek black hair and glasses that hindered any view of her shimmering eyes, filled with a thrill for life. One girl by the name of Carly Nagisa. That ill-fated girl perished in the war between Signers and Dark Signers, life and light against death and darkness. When she stood firmly behind Jack, she plummeted to her death, rising opposite him as an enemy in need of destroying. While he was somewhat prepared to take her on, he ultimately failed.

And the darkness claimed him.

The other male Signer had been one Fudo Yusei. The Signer of the Tail who once held and lost Stardust Dragon. The glistening white and blue dragon that could light the night sky. Two years after losing the card to Jack, Yusei pursued the thief who had forced him into a corner. The only thing that changed about him was the yellow Marker imprinted onto his left cheek after being apprehended by the authority in the City. He later met with each of the other Signers, placing a role in uniting them at the Fortune Cup where he overthrew Jack, standing proudly with Stardust in his hand once again. He travelled to the place he grew up to find that a close friend from the past had met the same fate as Carly; suffered an end to their life and rose with murderous intentions. Kyosuke Kiryu had his sights set on Yusei because of an incident that occurred in their history, the former believing the latter had sold him out to the same authorities that arrested him two years later. The Tail Signer met with defeat, pierced in the waist by a piece of debris; however, Kiryu did not end everything there. He decided to prolong the suffering of his former friend and allowed him to live. Yusei gathered the Signers and led the return to Satellite days later. A second encounter with Kiryu brought the catastrophic demise of Team Satisfaction to an end, ushering in Kiryu's time to rest. Enraged, Yusei raced off to find the man responsible for his father's death and the incident that split Satellite from Neo-Domino, one Rudger Godwin. The same fate that embraced Kiryu caught up with Rudger after seventeen years and his body was reduced to dust, but not before he gave one final warning - a being known as the Underworld King was set to rise.

That was when he detonated the device in his mechanical arm, ripping the bridge over the whirlpool of Momentum apart and leaving Yusei to descend.

And the darkness claimed him.

The third story, of the Rear Claw, began with most tragic circumstances. The only child of a senator in Neo-Domino, Hideo Izayoi. His daughter, Aki, grew through her childhood waiting for him to spare a moment for her. And when he finally did, his occupation beckoned him, snapping the final straw of the girl's patience and awakening the dormant psychic abilities in her. And with it, the Rear Claw Birthmark. The fatal slip of tongue in calling Aki a monster tore the Izayoi clan apart. Aki moved onto attend the City's Duel Academy and returned one night to find her parents enjoying themselves. No longer accepting of the ordinary world, she fled from home and school, winding up in the arms of Divine, a man belonging to the Arcadia Movement. There she believed she found a home, and remained there as she changed from a girl to a woman. The end of her time in the society came when the woman received an invitation to the Fortune Cup, where Divine believed it would be a suitable place to bring the Movement from the shadows of civilisation. That was when she confronted the Signers that bore the corresponding Birthmarks as she. She overcame her initial hate because of Fudo Yusei, only to enter the Arcadia Movement's walls again and hide. Then two Dark Signers arrived, one targeting Aki and the other exacting revenge on Divine - Carly Nagisa, unbeknownst to Aki. Divine plummeted to his demise and Aki fell into a brief coma. Once again, it was Yusei who came to help her see the light and finally succeeded. Once the group touched down on Satellite soil, Aki and Sagiri Mikage raced out to the furthest destination - the Lizard Tower. They arrived at an amusement park called "Monster World" and separated.

Izayoi Aki was never seen again.


Chapter 01 - Regret

The former-world has ceased to exist since the dreaded war between Signer and Dark Signer, ending in the victory of the latter. An incomplete team of four pitted in the opposite corner of a united front, a complete set of five with reserves. Humanity's darkest hour, stretched into months and years. The battlefield – Neo-Domino City – had been razed; once streets lined with skyscrapers, some housing the largest companies in the world, towers of residences, all gone. The envy of many cities around the world had been reduced to nothing, scattered ruins and a sea of debris. The deadly cycle of five millennia had claimed the planet's surface after only the second round.

Shadows flitted through the devastation, forced to pilfer whatever they could find in order to survive, rationing what small meals they could salvage. Help from the outside world hadn't come in months; other countries also struggling with the fallout from the collapse of the City. Japan as a whole was left on the brink of disaster; its economy had taken a massive blow from Neo-Domino's destruction, resulting in chaos for the international market. Countries were struggling; aid was frequently attacked by the demons that ruled the land. Japan had been disowned by the UN for the safety of other nations, all struggling for survival themselves. Riots ruled the planet, chaos reigning as emperor of the animalistic societies born from collapse and strive. Then the demons expanded their territory and moved across the seas.

A large proportion of humanity had been executed by the invasion of the demonic giants, threatening the remainder with extinction at any time. But they watched over the struggling survivors like entertainment, taking their places on the thrones in their trophy of Neo-Domino City – the beginning and the end.

The City's buildings were a fraction of their former glory, the tallest retaining its previous title – the homes of the richest named the Tops. The building was no longer safe for human residence, the upper half severed, decimated by the demons' rampage. The skies above the remnants was dyed scarlet, black clouds circling around like a deadly spiral; daylight never made it through the hellish roof.

In the shadow of the crushed tower, a young man stood, gazing at the surviving sections of the building. The adolescent's auburn hair hung limply either side of his head, cracked squared lens fitted into frames hung in front of his eyes – half-closed and tawny in colour. The eyes of a haunted soul.

The ghosts of those who had lived within the tower loomed around him, whispering and lamenting, wishing for freedom from the apocalyptic world they had been trapped in. At least, that was what he told himself – there was no-one. None of the families he was acquainted with, none of the children he played with. The twins…

Hayano Tenpei's eyes narrowed further, glistening with the brimming of tears soaking the base of his sockets. Each day that passed since the City's destruction slowed to the pace of a snail, dragging on like months or years. Each prolonged minute ached of remorse and regret. Tenpei's head sank, vision tumbling to the scattered fragments of the City he once called home. A heavy sigh left the teenager's ghostly lips, fingers rising and pressing themselves across his right eye, sliding underneath the glass and scratching the growing tears away. In a world of pride, men weren't allowed to cry. In a world over, there was almost no-one to care.

Tenpei grasped the hood of the thick shirt he had salvaged form the remains of his home, an aquamarine shirt and jeans that hung loosely over his stick-like legs. His closest friends had once lived in the building, able to gaze at the entire city from their rooftop dwelling. His heart sank, thinking back to the smiling faces of the teal-haired children and turned his back on the remains. In time with a heavy sigh, Tenpei slid his pale hands into the pouch of his hoody, limping away from the site of his childhood memories with his sights low. His posture only reflected a fraction of the weight on his heart; it had been months or years – he could no longer tell with the absence of dawn and dusk – since he could smile. Or feel alive.

It was in the Daimon Area, already notorious in the days of society and human rule, where the ghostly girl stood in a mood even worse than Tenpei's. Golden eyes dimmed by endless depression, almost as though the light had vanished entirely during the times of darkness. A burgundy shirt with yellow markings running across the centre and edges with sleeve extending three-quarters of her arms' length. Over the jumper, a shell-pink jacket resembling a hoody itself with much shorter sleeves, accompanied by white shorts. Her spring-green hair had been divided into two pigtails, tied by blue hairbands and locks hanging over her shoulders, reaching out for her torso.

Unlike Tenpei, there was no sign of emotion in her eyes; only the exhaustion that came with living in the hellish world, struggling to come to terms with the heavy losses humanity had suffered. She surveyed the ruptured plaza where underground duels had once taken place, luring in those seeking adventure – it had never been the type of scene she wished to be caught in. But the lure of such duels brought in secret crowds from other sectors of the city. The girl pressed onwards, treading deeper into the obliterated land. She had never seen the appeal of the area, nor the fascination surrounding it – but due to its original, neglected state, it was the area of the city that resembled its pre-Apocalyptic state. She paused in the centre of the land, able to spot chunks of rubble sporting the white paint that once marked out a duelling field, her eyes closed and air escaped through her nostrils; a mute sigh, the acknowledgement that the desolate planet she loitered in wasn't that which she cared for.

A shadow crept over the miniature dam of debris; crumbled pieces of building and torn road; bricks and concrete. Hayano Tenpei clambered over the trench cautiously; even in a world littered with the remnants of the last, he was much more cautious than most, the embodiment of rationality to those who knew him. He paused whilst balancing above the miniature range, eyeing the sickly pale girl standing ahead blankly. Even from a distance, he could recognize her among the lingering shadows of the presumably coming night. Tenpei staggered forward, clambering down the trench of rubble and moved towards the young girl no older than himself. He cautiously approached the girl who showed no sign of acknowledging his presence, lost in her own detached world, pushing Tenpei to creep discreetly, leaning forward to check the girl's awareness so as not to startle her.

"Ruka?" he muttered.

The girl's head appeared to flinch faintly, twisting to reveal her ghostly, worn face to the young man. Tenpei smiled vaguely, relieved that she could still react to the living damned. She showed no sign of positivity back, watching him with the same drained, dimmed eyes and unreadable expression, as though another living soul was a foreign concept to her. It wasn't an unusual matter; Tenpei couldn't blame her as seeing her in such a state neutralized the small smile quickly, resuming the sorrowful expression he had worn shortly before. After all, there had been another like her, appearance-wise at least. He let out a small chuckle, shoulders bobbing with hollow fondness of the peace.

"You know… It's too quiet" he added. ".. Without Rua…"

Ruka failed to respond; the subject of her brother was still an untreated wound; mental scars that would never heal, no matter how much time passed. There had been peaceful days in the past when the two would attend the Duel Academy fashioned after the original, decades before, along with Tenpei and a collection of the city's aspiring duellists. Ruka's eyes slid closed, reflecting on such times; happier days when the eccentric boy's lively nature would brighten even the grimmest of mornings. Those times cut deeper into her wounded heart, pushing tears through the slits and reaching for her eyelashes. The girl kept her eyes closed, squeezing them in an effort to prevent the escape of the tears.

Tenpei said nothing, watching melancholically. There was never going to be an easy way of bringing up the male twin in conversation – he had played a large role in both lives, leaving tremendous holes in their hearts and damaging their previous personalities with his absence. Ruka, who had once been as cautious and optimistic as Tenpei, had been rewritten into a depressed and antisocial member of the miniature society made of Neo-Domino's survivors. It pained Tenpei to witness such a dramatic transformation, especially as there had been nothing he could do about it – he had tried all kinds of options, but nothing could salvage the Ruka he had grown up with.

A moment of silence dragged on, leaving Tenpei feeling awkward and guilty over his mentioning the missing twin.

"Rua…"

His eyes shot back to Ruka, watching as her eyes opened gradually; glittering with sorrow and unfulfilled desire. All she wished for was the return of her brother; one of so many she had lost as a result of the clash between Signer and Dark Signer, of which, she was the only confirmed survivor. Tenpei exhaled with a heavy heart, advancing a step towards the girl and laid a hand onto her shoulder. He flinched after touching the sinking skin, stunned by how thin Ruka had grown, her shoulder blade sticking out as though it could tear through the skin clinging to bone.

She was supposed to be at an age when appearance was everything; perhaps even she would have fallen under that umbrella if the world was still whole. He would never know; something that pained him. When the three had been mere children attending Duel Academy, he had looked at her often, wondering how beautiful she would grow to be, hiding the faintest signs of growing affection for the sister of his best friend. A sister who no longer existed, departed with her brother.

"I hope…" he choked, swallowing the lump that had grown in his throat. "That he's doing well… Up there with Bob… Wherever they are".

Ruka's eyes opened narrowly, glistening with tears of grief, flooding her eyes immediately as they were exposed to the chilled air. Rua had been fighting for her – had she not wished desperately for his protection, his presence in the face of such a terrifying enemy, there was a much greater chance he would have survived the rising of Hell. He had been selfless, rushing to shield her from the Dark Signer marching towards her, clutching the dragon she had lost, sacrificing himself for her sake. He had been the one who put his life on the line to contend with the Monkey Earthbound God when she was supposed to; he had offered himself up to fate in her place. It was guilt that weighed heavily on her heart.

Although he had managed to survive the opening stages of the battle as a result of protection from her returning the favour; that had not been enough. The Crimson Dragon had fled the world, leaving the Signers to defend themselves and let Rua down, leaving him vulnerable to the wandering reaper. Ruka clenched her hands, pressing them as one over her chest and sniffed, struggling in her battle to keep the tears back from their escape. Tenpei watched the display sympathetically; he understood that Ruka blamed herself for what had transpired, and as a result, had been determined to hide her emotions. But each time, the immense strength of loss overpowered her.

Rua had survived the initial war, something that none of the other Signers appeared to have achieved, but his fate had been grim in the following stages. The Signers failed to achieve their goal of sealing the Momentum towers by dusk, leaving the gate to unlock and the Meikai no Ou to rise from the depths of the Underworld and begin the chain of events that ended the world. Old Momentum and New Momentum were connected, allowing the power to spiral out of control once more, amplified by a terrifying degree by the influence of the Earthbound Gods and sealing humanity's fate. Zero Reverse happened once more, stealing millions more lives than the initial incident. The same place where thousands perished, even after the initial damage was done.

Rua had been alive then.

No more.

The army of six demons were responsible for the Apocalypse that ruled over the remnants of mankind, the enemies lost returned to the planet's charred surface by the rise of Hell, splitting the Underworld into two levels. Six individual beings that had since tainted a Signer of the fallen Crimson Dragon and sealed the planet's fate. The Spider, the Hummingbird, the Giant, the Lizard, the Monkey and the Whale. Six menacing divinities that conquered the Earth where they failed five-thousand years previously. Of five dragons that served under the so-called supreme Crimson Dragon, only one was known to exist anymore.

"It's strange… isn't it?"

Tenpei's faintly amused tone directed Ruka's attention back to the brunette, finding a half-hearted smirk on his face. "What is it?"

"The people here… they always used to judge and discriminate against the people in Satellite. They would talk about how those people deserved the conditions they lived in" he claimed, snorting at the very beliefs of the generations before them; the people from which they had been born. "But now Neo-Domino is in the same state. If not much worse than the way Satellite had been back when. That place could be on the brink of complete collapse for all we know, but people are too scared to think outside surviving themselves. Basic human nature: selfishness. This place that once hated Satellite and left it in that state has become the victim to the same fate. Ironic, huh?"

"Tenpei…" Ruka breathed.

She had never even considered that brunette possessed such a wise, yet cynical outlook on the city's elitist population. Her head hung, eyes narrowed by the idea of growing up in such a society had the Signers not appeared in their lives. Would she and Rua have come to look down on those less fortunate as they grew older and more experienced? At least… not Rua. He was far too gentle and kind, always thinking of someone else, to become such a cold-hearted person. Tenpei smiled gently, understanding her thoughts as good as any mind-reader and squeezed her shoulder tighter, holding back in fear that he could easily snap the blade of the fragile companion without even trying.

"How are you doing nowadays?" he inquired.

Ruka twisted her head, eyeing him with the same dulled look that had covered her innocence for the past three years – the same damaged and lost expression. Tenpei bit his bottom lip; Ruka's ability to express herself properly deteriorated rapidly after she was left alone – Rua's departure had unintentionally snatched her happiness, leaving her a bitter young woman, almost resembling the witch that once been Izayoi Aki.

"I'm hanging in there" she answered eventually. "But what about you? Patty has been wanting to see you for some time now".

"Is that so?" Tenpei asked. He averted his sights, examining the area around them, abandoned where once crowds would have come to witness the Black Rose Witch's violent tendencies. "It's still hard to come to terms with what we've lost. Maybe I should be treasuring the fact that I still have you and Patty, I shouldn't mope over what's happened to everyone else…"

"Rua wouldn't want anyone to be sad" Ruka choked, tears filling the bottoms of her sockets once more, body shivering with the failing fight to keep them contained. "But he wouldn't have wanted any of this to happen. He would have been strong, he could have carried everyone and been the hero he always wished to be".

"I see…" Tenpei sighed. "I still think about what wonders he could have done for a world finished like this, what small light of hope he could ignite. It would be just like him to insist on fighting, even when our backs are against the wall like this. How many have we lost? How many people are missing that we could never imagine life without? I always expected Rua to hang around in the same way until he got a job, unless, that is, he made it to the Pro League. I swear he had that potential in him". His auburn eyes, shimmering with fond memories of the lost twin, shifted back to Ruka, who watched his spirits rise. "What about you, Ruka?"

"It's the same, really" she answered solemnly. "Rua was always an amazing duellist, he would have easily made it to the Pro League, regardless of how he graduated from Duel Academy. He would have been just like everyone else… Just when I began to feel like I was bonding really well with them… Yusei, Jack, Crow, Aki-san… and now… They're all gone. Jack is walking this place as a Dark Signer, taken in by that girl who possesses the Hummingbird and Yusei vanished into Old Momentum when he defeated Rudger. It's not fair… why was he revived and not Yusei?"

"Ruka…" Tenpei whispered.

"There's been nothing from Aki-san or Crow" the haunted girl continued. "They disappeared when we got separated three years ago. Crow said he was going back to protect the orphans, he couldn't see anymore he could do without a Birthmark. And we never found Aki-san after splitting up to confront the Dark Signers. We were supposed to be a team, but we separated to face the problem before time ran out. But… we couldn't do it".

Ruka's hands rose, folding over her chest and grasping the closing arms. Her shoulders jolted, unwittingly shaking Tenpei's hand away. The brunette allowed his hand to fall by his side, watching his childhood friend wistfully as the tears finally broke free and slipped down her ghostly face.

"But even though we fought so hard to save everyone, the instant they won, everyone that was beaten was revived and we were not just thrown back to square one, but much further" the young girl sobbed. "I let everyone down, Tenpei".

No matter how many times he protested the claim, she continued to believe it. Consumed by despair and guilt, claiming that it should have been Yusei or Jack or Aki that had lived to face the Dark Signers in the doomed world. Someone that would have been strong enough. He sighed, clenching his fists passionately; even if she would dispute the idea, he had to press on. Rua would have.

"You let no-one down, Ruka" he answered firmly. "You did your bit – it was Izayoi Aki and Jack Atlus would failed to defeat their opponents before the revival of the Meikai no Ou. Rua helped you take down that guy, Demak, you did everything that was asked of you".

Ruka twisted her neck, peering over her shoulder to the brunette with her flooded face. Tenpei's expression softened, preceding the tapering eyes that locked onto him, pushing more tears out and streaming down the narrow streams flowing down her face.

"Tenpei…" Ruka managed a strained whisper.

"It's alright" Tenpei responded, raising his hands.

His arms were raised slightly, offering a shoulder to cry on, signalling to the girl that it was fine to enter his arms and he would offer the comfort that Rua would have. Ruka examined the pose of her childhood friend and lifted her sight to his face once more, checking the gentle smile was still there. And indeed, it was, welcoming her warmly. Ruka bit her bottom lip, forcing down all urges to wail in despair and merely tipped forward, falling into his arms that closed around her. Tenpei closed his eyes gently, feeling Ruka's ragged breathing against him, jolting in her arms, restrained sobs and tears that leaked onto his hooded shirt.

As far as the girl was concerned, she had failed once Yusei vanished into the light of Momentum, Jack had been recruited as a Dark Signer and Aki had disappeared without a trace. Inside, however, he felt the same heavy weight upon his heart; he felt terrible to have survived without a reason – he wasn't a Signer, he hadn't fought, but he had escaped the wandering reaper. His cheek brushed against Ruka's hair, followed by a hand sneaking up her back and pressing itself against the back of her skull. His eyes moved to the desolate scenery around them; a place that once promised a bright future to younger generations as they worked for the years ahead .Those promises broken when their future had become a nightmare. For those that survived, those who had perished were sometimes considered the lucky ones – they escaped, they could see a happier world and flee from that which followed.

His arms tightened around his distraught former-classmate, standing alone in the wasteland that had been their glorious hometown with the sun shining brightly overhead, gazing in despair at the aftermath of their living world. Their futures.

Everything they had ever known.

Torn apart and left in ruins. The curse of the living.

The world that Rua had escaped.