Wow, it's been a long time since I've written anything. I've had this plot bunny chewing on me for the last several weeks and I'm hoping this will dull its teeth some.

Celestian: So are you going to let them read it or are you going to blather on all night?

Yeah, yeah. This is Celestian, you'll find out more about him as the story continues.

Celestian: Yeah, so let them read it already!

Ok, ok. I don't own anything within the 5D's universe. Celestian is mine, though, as are any other characters you don't recognize. If I did then, you'd be watching this instead of reading it and you would recognize them.

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Prologue: Setting the Stage

Approximately 17 years before the Fortune Cup

"What happened here?" asked a tall lady with teal and red hair.

"The momentum generator they were working on here must have exploded," responded her silver-haired companion.

"Why, then, were we drawn here?" she mused quietly. A soft crying sound rent the air. The pair turned to see a small red dome of energy shielding an infant, who bore a glowing birthmark.

"A signer," the man sighed, "That explains it. This child's parents must have worked here." He walked over and picked up the infant. The infant immediately stopped crying and looked up with watery blue eyes. "Wonder what your name is? Too bad you can't….," his voice trailed off as he looked deeper into the infant's eyes.

"Celestian? Are you ok? Celestian!" the woman called out to her companion.

"Huh?" Celestian looked up at her.

"You spaced out. What was that about?" she asked.

"Bonding," he replied. "This child, his name's Yusei Fudo."

"Bonding? You're certain?" The woman's companion nodded his head in response. "Well, then he certainly can't simply disappear with us," she said.

"Mirale, yes he can. Or rather we place a doppelganger in his place to protect him. I'm not about to leave my signer alone in this place, who knows what could happen." Celestian said. "Zeraphros isn't going to like that much, but even he'll agree that it's ill advised to leave a signer alone."

Mirale sighed, "Not much choice but to place a doppelganger and raise him ourselves. You go ahead and take him, I'll arrange for the doppelganger. "

"Alright, I'll see you back home then." Celestian turned and opened a portal. "Let's get you cleaned up and fed." He addressed the infant. Yusei simply closed his eyes and fell asleep. "Or you can take a nap. You've probably had a long day."

***** When Celestian returns "home" *****

"Well? What happened there?" asked a tall black haired male.

"The momentum generator exploded," Celestian replied, "This child, Yusei here, survived the explosion only because his birthmark protected him and summoned us. Mirale is arranging a doppelganger to take his place, so there isn't reason to worry he might be missed, Zeraphros."

"Then he's an orphan?" asked an approaching woman with blood red hair.

"Yes, both his parents worked with momentum. He's my bonded so I'll be raising him here, Radira"

"That's terrible, to have your parents taken away from you at such a young age." Radira said sadly.

"Yes it is, but he has me now so he's not really alone." Celestian responded.

"Oh, like we're not going to have a hand in raising him, Celestian. He technically has all five of us, Celestian." chided a golden haired male.

"Deneiran, I didn't mean to leave you all out, but you can't ignore the fact that you will eventually bond to your own signer as well," Celestian reminded him.

"I didn't forget, but we're still going to help. Besides, the more we interact with him, the easier it'll be to teach him to use the abilities given by the birthmark. Helping you teach him will also help us teach our bonded ones in the future," Deneiran reasoned.

***** Back With Mirale *****

'Well, the doppelganger is in place,' Mirale thought to herself, 'All I can do at this point is see that he gets out of this place. Let's see if I can find someone willing to care for him as he grows.' It was then that she remembered hearing about a woman that took in children from the streets. 'I'll take him to her. She should be able to see he reaches adulthood.' With her decision made, Mirale took the doppelganger of the infant Yusei to this caretaker woman.

When she arrived at the location of the woman, she saw that the residence was well cared for, if a little worn. She approached and knocked on the door.

"Yes? Can I help you?" the woman answered the door, with a child of about 3 trailing behind her.

"I was wondering if you could take this child in. I found him alone in an alley," Mirale answered.

"Yes, yes I can. I've had another brought to me today as well. It'll be no trouble to raise them together," the woman responded. "Oh, you must think my manners are awful. I'm Martha, please come in."

"It would be a pleasure to meet you, but I can't stay," Mirale said, smiling sadly. "His name's Yusei Fudo, I think. I found a badly blurred paper of some sort with him."

"Oh well. I'll see if I can put him down for nap then. Then, perhaps, a bath and food," Martha said. "Thanks for bringing him here. Who knows what could have happened to him if you hadn't found him."

As Mirale smiled and turned to leave, Martha turned back inside with her new charge. 'I'm glad you came little one. I think you and Jack will get to be good friends as you grow up,' she mused quietly to herself.

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In a different part of Neo Domino, another child was sleeping too. She, however, wasn't an orphan; her tale of tragedy had yet to begin. Young Aki had no idea what lay ahead of her, nor of what lay dormant within her.

Another boy, about 3 years old, watched a couple with their own boy. He watched and wondered if this boy, too, would run from the odd birthmark on his arm. It was scary looking sure, but he didn't understand why that caused the kids he tried to play with to run away. Was there something wrong with him besides the mark? Or, were the kids just too terrified of the mark to stay?

9 years later…..

"Aw, man! I lost to a three year old girl," groaned a kid. The girl in question smiled, but then suddenly passed out. As her family called out to her, a birthmark briefly shimmered on her arm.

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Ah, it does feel good to start another story. Thank my Beta, Hiromaru413,for editing this and future chapters.

Reviews are always welcome, but please be mature enough not to flame. No one likes to be insulted.

I'm getting most of my background info on 5D's from the Yu-Gi-Oh wikia, (http:// . com/ wiki/ Main_Page) (remove spaces) So if I get any information on the canon characters wrong check there first before telling me about it. Keep in mind, though, that there isn't much information on what happened to them right after the Zero Reverse incident, so a lot of this is from my imagination.