A/N: It's been a LONG time since I've written something. I'm just gonna go straight off with the story, so, no introductions or anything.
To 'you know not', if you're reading this – if you're still on , I wasn't sure whether you are still active or not, which is why I didn't send it to you for beta-reading.
Rua and Ruka were having breakfast, as they do every morning, in their flat.
"What do you want to do later?" asked Rua, before stuffing another spoon-full of corn flakes.
"Patty invited me to go watch a movie at the cinema. Maybe I'll do that," replied Ruka, before doing the same.
"I might go to Yusei later on. I want to ask him about a new strategy I'm thinking about…" said Rua, as he finished his breakfast.
Just as Rua was washing his hands, there was a ring at the door. "I'll get it," said Rua, while drying his hands, to which Ruka just nodded.
He went ahead and opened the door, and there stood, a man in a black suit.
"Long live Yliaster," said the man in the suit bowing, before pulling out an empty brown card.
It took a second to hit him, but as it did, he backed away. "Yliaster…?" said Rua, in shock.
"Who is it, Rua?" asked Ruka, from the kitchen.
"I am not here to fight. But I do have my orders. I am here to bring you back that which belongs to you," the man said, before throwing the card at Rua, who managed to catch it, less than an inch from his face.
As soon as the man turned away, he was smiling. As Rua tried to look at the card he was given, he doubled over in pain.
"Rua, what is it?!" said Ruka, as she came running to Rua.
He couldn't say a word. The hand, with which he had caught the card, felt like it was turning to lava, while outwardly, there was nothing wrong with it. The same feeling was slowly spreading throughout his entire body. He tried to scream, but could not. He could only grunt in pain, which he did.
The card vanished into thin air, before Rua blacked out. Ruka, in a panic, tried to wake him, before hurrying over to the phone and calling an ambulance. The ambulance got there in about twenty minutes.
He was brought to the hospital, and put into a room. As far as they could tell, he was most likely in a coma. But what had caused it, or how it had happened, they didn't know.
After being called, Yusei, Aki and Crow came to the hospital, as well. It took them a while to find the room where Rua was in, but when they did, they also found Ruka, who was by his side.
"Ruka, what happened?" asked Aki, hugging her, being the first to speak up.
"I don't know. We were eating breakfast… there was someone at the door, and then Rua collapsed," said Ruka, with a breaking voice. It was clear to the three of them that she had been crying.
"What did the doctors say?" asked Yusei, looking at the window-like door, where doctors and nurses passed by.
"They don't know what's wrong with him," answered Ruka, looking at Rua.
Not knowing what to say, Crow and Yusei, sat on the bench that was near the bed, while Aki stood by Ruka's side.
A minute of silence passed before Aki realized that there was a board attached to the bed. It had a few test results on it. She picked it up and tried to make sense of it.
Thankfully, she actually knew some of what it said. One thing that made her worry was the electrocardiogram. It suggested severe heart damage, as far as she could tell.
"Where is the doctor?" asked Aki, placing the board back on the bed, making sure not to worry anyone.
"She said she'll come back in a few minutes," replied Ruka, looking at the ground.
Aki sat back down, next to Ruka and just waited there. "Did he ever show any pain in his chest?" asked Aki, looking at Rua.
"No…" said Ruka, who had been asked the same thing by the ambulance medics and the doctors at the hospital.
"Did you recognize whoever was at the door?" asked Crow, getting up.
"I didn't even see him. When we eat, I'm facing in the opposite direction from the door. We heard the doorbell. Rua went to open it, said something to whoever was at the door, and then…" explained Ruka, before her eyes got watery, to which Aki put a hand on her back, trying to comfort her.
"I'm sure he'll tell us what happened, when he wakes up," said Yusei, trying to sound positive.
Then, they just waited there for the next minutes, in silence, no one knowing what to say. Eventually, the doctor came back to check on him, and informed them that visiting hours had passed.
Aki spent a few minutes chatting with the doctor, where no one could hear them, before she went back to the others, who, by now, were outside Rua's room. She sat down on the bench, together with the others.
It had already gotten late, so Yusei suggested they go home until morning, but Ruka protested.
"I will stay here," said Ruka, as Yusei made his suggestion. "He stood by my side, until I got better. I'm not going to abandon him," she added.
The others, not really knowing how to reply, gave in and agreed. Seeing as only the girl would stay and wasn't going to go away, the doctor agreed that she could stay by her brother's side.
While they were on their way home, Yusei decided to ask Aki about her conversation. "What do you think is wrong with him?" asked Yusei, driving on her left side.
"I don't really know," answered Aki, looking away.
"I saw your face when you looked at the results… they worried you, why?" asked Yusei, worried about his little friend's health.
A few seconds went by before Aki replied. "His EKG… it showed that there was damage to his heart," she explained. "I suspect it's from the duel they had with Aporia back then…"
"I see…" said Yusei, remembering the events that happened in the Arc Cradle. "Could that be why he's not waking up?" he asked.
"Probably not… but… it could 'cause complications, which they will not be able to deal with…" explained Aki, hesitantly.
Yusei, seeing that this conversation was making her more than uncomfortable, decided to drop the matter.
It was already 2AM at the hospital – Ruka had fallen asleep next to Rua, a couple of hours ago.
Rua opened his eyes. They were no longer amber, but a bright red. He stood up from his bed, quietly.
He got his clothes and changed into them, before going to Ruka's side. "I'm so sorry for this…" he said, kissing her on the cheek, before walking to the nearby desk quietly. It had his deck and duel disk in the first drawer.
"It was never meant to be," said Rua, looking at Life Stream Dragon. He picked up the card and looked at it, before he started concentrating. His Signer's mark started glowing furiously. "I release you from your prison," he says to the card, before it starts to glow a bright red and vanished – at the same time, his hair starts turning a darker shade of turquoise. And then, his Signer's mark calmed down, and stopped glowing.
He looked out of the window. "Z-ONE…" he said, before going to the door and opening it. There was a nurse outside the door, but he managed to slip by.
Yusei, along with his friends, this time even Jack, came in a hurry, on their Duel Runners, to the hospital after being called by Ruka.
They found her in front of the main entrance, looking distraught, scared, confused and a lot of other emotions that showed the others that something bad had happened.
After she explained to them what had happened, they got into the hospital's security office, thanks to Jack and Crow "persuading" the guards, who weren't going to allow it. They watched the footage of last night, and saw a black-haired Rua, walking slowly through the corridor, as if he was injured. They were left speechless.
Yusei and Aki, who had only gotten more worried from their conversation last night, assumed the worst, and were a bit relieved that he was seemingly OK – even though he looked odd and not very healthy.
"We have to find him!" said Ruka, worried.
"And we will! Crow, let's go!" replied Jack, with confidence.
"Call Ushio, and have him look around. We'll do the same," said Crow to Yusei, before he and Jack went back to their Duel Runners and started searching around.
Before going to search himself, Yusei called Ushio and Kazama, and asked them to help the others look.
"Aki, could you please take Ruka to their place? Maybe Rua could be there too," asked Yusei, to which Aki only nodded in response. 'I doubt he is, though…' he thought.
Yusei was looking around the city, asking who he could about Rua, and whether they had seen him, but no one had. Looking for someone in such a big city wasn't easy…
Just as he was about to make a turn in a small alley, he noticed a flash in the sky – it seemed like a small meteor, which was falling to Neo Domino. "This can't be happening…" he said, remembering the previous times "meteors" fell to Neo Domino.
Crow had noticed it too, and called Yusei, but since Yusei was already going there, Crow decided to keep looking for Rua instead.
Meanwhile, the meteor had landed, and Yusei was almost there. He had the crater in sight, and it was exactly what he had feared – a stone tablet, but there was more – there was someone close to it.
"Who are you?" Yusei demanded to know, while he was getting off his Duel Runner.
He didn't receive a response. The person, who was looking at the tablet, didn't turn around to look at Yusei. He was dressed in a blue jacket and black pants.
Yusei observed the situation for a few seconds – the person was a child, maybe he was just around when the tablet had fallen. 'He looks similar to Rua – his height and hair, at least… No. No way he could've made it here on foot,' he thought. He then looked at the stone tablet – it was of a dragon, and it looked like it would be very powerful.
Yusei went closer to the boy, "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Don't come any closer, Yusei," said the boy.
"That voice… Rua?!" said Yusei, not believing himself. 'Even with four hours head start, he couldn't have arrived here… Why would he be near a stone tablet anyway?' he thought to himself – his brain was running wild with questions.
"Please, just… don't," replied the boy with a cracking voice.
"Rua, why did you run away from the hospital? What happened to you?" asked Yusei, worried.
"Don't call me that. My name is not…" started Rua, before clearing his throat. "…it's not Rua, it's Alexander," he explained.
"What are you talking about? Rua!" called Yusei, before getting even closer. "Ruka is worried sick about you. We all were," he added.
"I am Alexander, the bringer of dawn – current leader of Ylliaster," explained Rua, turning around to face Yusei. His eyes were a bit puffy.
"No… You're not, you're our friend, Rua," replied Yusei, remembering when a similar thing happened a few weeks ago.
"I was brought into this world, with only one purpose: In case of Z-ONE's failure, I shall continue the battle for him, so that the Earth can have a future," explained Rua, with a reluctant voice.
"Rua…! That is not you! You're a Signer, you're one of us!" said Yusei, hoping this would not go like the last time.
Rua looked at his arm, more so to avoid Yusei's eyes, than to actually look at his mark. "I would remove it, but I don't know how to. Not permanently, anyway," he explained.
"You said you will continue Z-ONE's battle for a better future, but he himself said that the future has been changed. Do you remember when we battled him, together?" said Yusei, trying to get him to remember.
"Yusei…" said Rua, before looking away from Yusei, and back to the stone tablet. "Nothing you, or I, say, will change something," he added. "You and Jack have three days," he said, trying to keep a straight voice.
"Three days…? Three days, for what?" asked Yusei, confused.
"In three days, I will duel the both of you. Make sure you are ready," answered Rua, before taking a deep breath and raising his right arm to the sky, "Crimson Dragon, hear my call!" he said loudly, as his and Yusei's marks began to glow a bright red. "I hereby declare war on the Signers, by the names of Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo," he exclaimed, earning a confused look from Yusei.
Suddenly, both of their marks started glowing, before vanishing entirely.
"What did you do?" asked Yusei, concerned, looking at his arm, which now didn't have the mark anymore.
"I leveled the playing field. Until our battle is over, none of us will be able to use the Crimson Dragon's power," explained Rua.
"Rua, you don't have to do this!" said Yusei, desperately.
"Yeah… I do," replied Rua, looking down on the ground. He got the empty brown card from his pocket, and pointed it towards the stone tablet. The tablet got a soft glow, as the image of the dragon vanished from it slowly, while starting to appear on the card instead.
"Fair warning, I will not be using the deck that you're used to," explained Rua, before a portal opened next to him. "Tell Ruka, I am truly sorry, more than she will ever know," he said before passing through the portal.
"Rua!" shouted Yusei, trying to follow him, but the portal closed too soon.
A/N: …and… scene! So, what do you think? Is it worth continuing?
Also, you may have noticed the name Kazama - he was some guy that helped Jack, when a fake Jack did some crime.