"And for our final duel for our 3rd anniversary tournament of Team 5D's saving us, make way for the King, JACK ATLAS!"
The Wheel of Fortune, that looked a bit too ironically similar to a donut, entered the stadium. Jack was as proud and cocky as ever. "There's only one king, and that's me! JACK ATLAS!" The crowd cheered for the former carrier of the Crimson Dragon's Wings, as the MC began to announce the other.
"And we have his challenge, and old team mate! Make way for Crow Hogan!"
The Blackbird entered the stadium as well. Crow's applause was a lot…quieter. They had both been climbing the ranks in the dueling world, Jack at a greater speed however. They both stopped at the starting line, preparing to duel.
"You haven't changed much it seems," Crow laughed, pointing out Jack obviously trying to appease his fans.
"Can't you say the same about yourself?" Jack pointed out, as the countdown began.
"RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!"
Neo Domino City. The home of Riding Duels and Synchro Monsters.
Those here are the ones to believe the legends of the Crimson Dragon, Akakiryu, and it's Signers. That's because they know it's true. They defeated the Earthbound Gods and united the City and Satellite, split over a decade before due to the Zero Reverse. Then when Yliaster's plan was completed and Ark Cradle was threatening them all, they fought again. And they lost those that they so deeply cared about…
How do I know?
My name is Fudou Yuusei, former bearer of the Crimson Dragon's head.
And I believe that even though one I cared about is gone…I still believe there's a way to save him.
It'd been three years since Yuusei had defeated Z-One. This day meant much more to him, as it had become the only time of the year he and all the former members of Team 5D's had a reunion. Jack and Crow were having a duel for the public, which Rua, Ruka and Aki were all attending. Yuusei was more interested in other things however.
It was strange to see a D-Wheel in an empty Duel Lane. Of course, seeing the Yuusei Go had become a much more common sight.
"Yuusei, it's not going to work," came a voice from the motorcycle. On the screen that would have typically showed the time, speed, etc. was instead a very…interesting figure. His expression was pretty obvious one of disappointment.
"No, it has to work! There has to be a way to save him! When I reach Clear Mind…it's like, just for a little while, I'm able to see a different dimension or something. You know that I teleport backwards when I summon Shooting Star Dragon. You're the reason I was able to summon it in the first place. Besides Z-One or…or.."
Yuusei stopped. Bruno. Bruno hadn't survived. He wasn't suppose to…it was all a cruel joke by Z-One. He knew that the latter had warped intentions because of declining over time but….it wasn't fair.
The D-Wheel had stopped, any potential it could have had to go beyond Accel. It was like his first duel performing it, yet there was no Crimson Dragon to help him.
"Yuusei. Snap out of it. Focus on the road. Please, don't lose yourself like Z-One…you're really the only person I can consider a friend right now. I miss him so much….I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Aporia, I'm fine…please don't worry. I….I care more about Bruno than myself now."
The android contained within the D-Wheel sighed. Truly, Z-One was like Yuusei even after the faceplate broke. Or was it vice versa? Aporia didn't really care, he just didn't understand what happened. While his memories of being three were rather rough…he never remembered Yuusei acting like this in any way.
Antinomy would have felt terrible and never asked to be revived should he have known Yuusei would end up like this. On the bright side, then maybe Paradox would have been more than the ultimate fodder.
"Yuusei!" Rua exclaimed, running up and hugging his friend. Yuusei flinched for a split second before smiling.
"Some people never change…" Aki laughed, as she approached closer to Yuusei.
"Can't say that you don't, though," Yuusei responded, noting that she had probably changed the most from when he first met her. Ruka and Crow approached from behind, same as always. Jack was farther away than the others, but of course he was, Jack Atlas would always be a caring asshole.
"Hey, Yuusei. Didn't you say you had someone I might like to see?" Rua bursted in, to the potential conversation that might go on with Aki.
"Oh, yeah. I did."
Crow glanced back at Jack and then towards Yuusei. Something was wrong…Yuusei hadn't been the same since Ark Cradle. Really only his friends could tell…but he seemed a lot more depressed. Jack had actually been the first to notice what was up, and realized why Crow had glanced at him.
"Come on, you aren't Z-One. Yuusei, what the hell would be the difference if me and Antin-Bruno, had swapped places?"
Rua looked at the D-Wheel, immediately recognizing the voice. The other former Signers did too, but Yuusei just gave the simple comment of, "Aporia. You know that I would have preferred that."
"Aporia!"
"Oh, Rua. It's been a while, hasn't it? I heard that you took the Machine Emperors…"
Ruka gave a glance at Rua, who in return looked up at the sky as if something would give him a good answer to lie about.
"Yes, yes he did," Jack remarked, ruining any potential chance of Rua trying to do anything. Crow was about to give a "Jack you aren't a parent" speech but decided it was best off without it, as for all he knew, maybe Jack was. He highly doubted it though, as Carly had stayed in Neo Domino City and it was very unlikely for anyone else to get ahold of the King.
Yuusei was already moving away, as he didn't want to talk about Bruno if it came to that.
He wanted to forget, but he couldn't. Maybe that was Z-One's mistake on the timeline.
"Shooting Star Dragon…" That card he had held onto for so long. Would he have had it if Z-One had never given it to him? So many questions…all because of a changed timeline. What was the original Yuusei like? They weren't like him…that was for sure…they never had Bruno. Did they have Jack, Crow, Aki, Rua or Ruka even? Satellite was never a thing…the Zero Reverse had never happened…Chacu Challhu and Wiraqocha Rasca had never returned.
Yuusei had dealt with so much, he'd survived so much…why couldn't he let go of one person? He thought Kiryu was bad….maybe if they'd ignored Bruno…they'd have been better off. But in that case, would their D-Wheels even have been good enough for the WRPG? Every route lead to the same conclusion. Yuusei couldn't let go.
"Aporia. How likely do you think it'd be for Z-One to have stored any data in the present?"
"…I doubt it, he was so…confident in his abilities. But if he did….I doubt you'd be able to save him that way….I think the way you've been going is your best bet. You've achieved much greater feats…you can pull off Clear Mind again."
Yuusei looked at the D-Wheel, muttered something about Jack being more likely to fucking pull it off, and sighed.
"I guess you're right about that one."