Author Note: Before we begin I'd first like to thank everyone out there who either reviewed, favorited, story alerted or combined doing any of these things. I really appreciate your support with "Underground Pulse". I realize this chapter is quite OOC and I apologize for that. It's hard to keep in character for me sometimes but I do try to do as best as I can to a certain point... anyways I hope you will enjoy the story!
Underground Pulse Chapter 7 - A Yu-Gi-Oh 5DGX Story
Judai laid on his mattress of his and his roommate's apartment. It had been three full days since Shane had passed away and friends and acquaintances were still constantly text messaging Judai asking to see if he had heard anymore about what had really happened with the accident. Judai's phone went off once more he sighed as he went to reply to yet another text message but left the message displayed and set his phone down beside him instead. Putting his hands behind his head he looked up to the ceiling in thought flashing back to the same familiar memory that had been flashing through his mind for the past couple days. He closed his eyes and opened again.
"Why can't I stop thinking about it? Yusei... and him... hugging me. I don't understand. Why does this keep on coming back? It's like a song on re-play it keeps on running through my mind. It felt so... and why do I want to hug him again?"
"Yo Judai!" a voice hollered as a figure walked into the room snapping Judai from his thoughts.
"Oh Johan what's up?"
"Are you still sulking? Come on Judai you know Shane wouldn't have wanted that."
"Yeah I know... but it's hard when I keep on getting constant text messages reminding me about him."
"Leave your phone behind and let's go for a ride or a race or something. I got my motorcycle outside grab yours and let's go yeah?"
Judai nodded; "Yeah okay that sounds good." he sat up from the mattress leaving his phone and grabbing only his keys to his D-Wheel.
"Maybe we can even find Rei and Christine make it an official race of sorts!"
"Sure sounds like it could be fun. But do you think Christine would be up to it? I know how close she was to Shane."
"Yeah she needs a distraction too everyone needs some fun. Now come on let's find those flag girls!"
"Sure let's go."
"Yusei Yusei Yusei!" shouted a very excited green ponytailed hair boy to the brunette.
"Yes Rua?"
"Can we do something fun today? Can we duel can we can we?"
"Rua slow down. Geez your going to annoy Yusei." the green pigtailed hair girl replied to her brother.
"Aweee stop being such a downer Ruka! So Yusei what do you say want to duel today?"
"I don't see why not. Just let me finish a few things on my D-Wheel here and then we can have a match alright?"
"Allllright!" Rua shouted as he shot a fist into the air.
"It's been a couple of days... I wonder how he's doing..." Yusei thought.
"Okay are you guys ready?" A long haired brunette girl winked as she started to wave her flag.
"Of course we are Rei! Are you both ready?" Johan shouted back over the idling of his and Judai's motorcycles.
"Alright boys here we go!" Christine shouted back.
"3, 2, 1 ACCELERATION!" the two girls shouted as they waved their flags down to the ground. Judai and Johan both sped by leaving dust flying at the girls they quickly stood up coughing and dusting themselves off roaring and cheering in excitement as the two boys raced.
"You ready Judai?" Johan shouted across to Judai as they raced match in speed side to side.
"Huh what are you talking about Johan?" Judai asked. Johan smirked and with a rev he shot off speeding ahead of Judai. Judai smirked as well; "You think you can beat my D-Wheel's speed huh Johan?" Judai increased the speed of his D-Wheel as well catching up to Johan.
"Woah! Judai! How did you? Never the less! I can go faster!" Johan exclaimed as he sped up some more slowly passing Judai's D-Wheel. Judai increased speed as well passing Johan but Johan fought to keep up.
"Sorry Johan! I'm afraid this is the end of the road for you!" Judai shouted and with one final rev shot off. "Woah!" Judai shouted not expecting the sudden speed to kick in as fast as it did.
"Judai watch out!" Johan shouted to him as a sudden corner was coming up.
"Huh?" Judai looked back to Johan and then back in front of him to see the approaching corner but it was too late. He squeezed on the brakes as hard as he could, tires squealing. He put his feet down but they were no help as they just dragged along the dusty gravel. He continued to keep hold of the brakes and shut his eyes waiting for impact to the debris in front of him. A loud crash echoed through Judai's mind as he opened his eyes blinking a couple times trying to figure out where he was. He heard a couple of people shouting his name as he laid wherever he was.
"Judai Judai!"
"What happened? Where am I?" Judai thought as he looked from side to side. He slowly sat up and looked down to find himself on a gravel road. "Oh yeah I was racing... wait how is my D-Wheel?" he slowly got up concerned for the machine but his knees buckled a bit and his ankle gave out making him fall back to the ground. "Damnit." He winced as he went to get back up again and hobbled over to the device checking it over.
"Judai are you insane? Why didn't you jump off?" Johan yelled at Judai.
"I don't know. I just froze." Judai stated as he continued to look over the D-Wheel which was in surprisingly good condition. A few scratches here and there... a cracked windshield... but the body hadn't taken too much damage which was surprising. "Well I'm glad there's not much damage." Judai said as he went to walk over to Johan. He winced as his right ankle throbbed as he applied weight to it.
"No just you!" Rei screeched back slapping Judai's arm. "How can you be so careless? And I can't believe you just went straight over to your motorcycle and looked at it before even thinking about yourself!"
"Rei your not exactly helping my physical condition."
"Stop being such an idiot Judai!" Rei shouted at Judai once more.
"Why are people always calling me that? Judai thought.
"Seriously though Judai are you okay?" Johan asked.
"Yeah I think I'm fine. Just a sprained ankle I think. I'll just get some rest, sleep it off and maybe I'll go see Yusei tomorrow about deck building for riding duels."
"Riding duels?" Johan asked.
"Yeah it's kind of cool it's dueling on D-Wheels which is what Yusei built me here."
"Sounds fun you'll have to show me how it all works."
"For sure! But for now I'm just going to head on back to the apartment." Judai said as he got on his D-Wheel starting the machine and began to ride to his and Johan's apartment.
"Awe man!" Rua exclaimed as his life points dropped to 0. "I'll defeat you one of these days Yusei you just wait and see!"
"Just keep on practicing and you will Rua." Yusei said.
"Come on Rua the sun's starting to set we better get home." Ruka said.
"Awe okay. Thanks for the duel Yusei!" Yusei nodded;
"Anytime now you two better get home. Be safe."
"We will!" Rua said as the two twins walked up the stairs.
"Thank you Yusei!" Ruka yelled back as they went through the door.
"Rua and Ruka go home?" Crow asked walking up behind Yusei.
"Yeah they just left." Yusei replied.
"Okay well I'm going to head off to bed early got some early deliveries tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure those two got out of here before dark. Night Yuse."
"Night."
The sun shined through the light colored blinds of Judai's room. Judai woke up in a sweat panting as he sat up on his mattress.
"Now I'm dreaming about it too? What is the big deal about this hug... why won't it go away?"
Frustrated Judai quickly got up from his bed, his ankle stung as he bit his lip hard.
"Augh I forgot about that... so much for sleeping it off. I thought it would have just been a bit stiff by now. Ah well maybe some hot water from a shower will help." Judai thought as he headed to the bathroom. He showered as long as he could stand, dried off and then went to get changed. Judai heard a groan from a hardly co-herent Johan as he walked out of his bedroom rubbing his eyes.
"I wonder... no I couldn't possibly. That just feels too weird. Hugging Johan? But why do I want to hug Yusei again...? I need to visit him today... I'll make a deck with him and somehow... somehow as an experiment I'll have to hug him again to see what happens."
"Why are you staring at me?" Johan asked Judai.
"Huh? Oh sorry must have spaced out there." Johan shrugged. "Hey where you heading?"
"Going to see Yusei about building a deck for riding duels remember?"
"Judai it's morning give me a break your lucky if I remember my name."
"Right... I'll see you later then."
"Later."
"So if you look here and use this formula you should get your answer." Yusei said explaining some physics work to Aki.
"Ah I get it now! Thank you again Yusei! I better get going don't want to be late for class!" Aki beamed as she sprinted up the stairs out the door meeting with Judai. "Oh hello Judai! Sorry I can't stay to chat I'm going to be late for my next class if I do!"
"Not a problem! Have a good day at school Aki!"
"Thanks! Yusei's inside if you came to see him! Just head on in!"
"Alright thanks Aki!" Judai shouted as he waved farewell to Aki. He walked down the stairs to see Yusei at the bottom gathering up some papers. He sighed and stretched making himself stand up straight. "Hey Yusei?"
Yusei looked towards where the voice that called out his name to see who was there; "Oh Judai? You feeling better? I was going to call you yesterday."
"Yeah much... did you try to call yesterday?"
"No never did. The twins came over and Rua wanted to duel."
"The twins?"
"Oh right you haven't met them yet. Their some kids who I met once in a situation... they like to come over here and duel and see Jack, Aki, Crow, Bruno and I."
"Ah I see. Well I didn't have my phone on me yesterday so it's good you didn't call just wanted to make sure. I haven't had a chance to check my messages yet today."
"Oh okay. Well should we start on making a deck then?"
"Uh... yeah. Right." Yusei started to walk over to a different table that was empty.
"You coming?" Yusei asked stopping before he reached the table to see Judai in the same place.
"Uh... Yusei. I..." Judai looked down at the floor.
"Is there something wrong Judai?"
"Could I... I mean that is if you don't mind..."
"What is it?"
"Could I have a hug?" Judai finally spurted out quickly. It took Yusei's brain a minute to process what Judai had just said since it came out so fast. Yusei began to walk over to Judai and Judai's body tensed unsure of how he was going to react to his request. Yusei wrapped his arms around Judai pulling him into his body;
"Is it Shane? Are you still upset about your friend?" Yusei whispered to Judai.
"Sure let's go with that..." Judai thought even though truthfully he had felt a lot better about Shane after his fun yesterday. This was just an experiment to see if it was awkward to get a hug from Yusei like it would have been hugging Johan, or if it was comforting and felt... well good. "Yes... I guess I'm just not quite over it yet... I'm sorry Yusei." Judai replied as his body began to become less tense.
"It's okay Judai are you sure you want to work on building that deck yet or do you need more time to yourself?" Yusei asked waiting for a response. "Judai?" Yusei asked once again after a little while of no response.
Judai had his eyes closed as Yusei hung onto him and even though he wasn't hanging onto Yusei he had to admit it was the same as before. Why was Yusei's hugs so comforting and why did he just want to stay like this for a little bit longer? Was it going to be like this everytime he saw Yusei now, would he want a hug? That just seemed far too weird. "Judai?" A voice had called. Judai slowly opened his eyes looking up to see Yusei staring down at him.
"What did you want Yusei?" Judai asked almost breathlessly.
"Are you sure you want to work on the deck today?"
"Oh yeah I'm fine..." Judai stated as he continued to lean onto Yusei before his mind finally snapped himself out of his cloud like state. He quickly pushed himself off of the mechanic and stood straight. "Sorry! Shall we?"
Yusei looked a bit confused. "Uh sure. Let's go over to this table over here." Yusei stated as he began to walk over to the same table he was approaching before.
Judai followed the mechanic to the table and winced silently biting his lip as his right ankle stung after weight was applied from walking. Looking over top of Yusei's shoulder he saw cards spread out all over the table. "Woah... that's a lot of cards."
"Yes well we have to see what works with your deck."
"My deck? I thought we had to re-build a whole different deck all together!"
"Judai I would never think of abandoning a duelist's most precious cards. A duelist and their cards go through some of the most challenging times together. I know that probably holds just as true for you doesn't it?"
"Yeah... my deck and I have been through a lot."
"As I thought. We can still incorporate some of your cards into your new deck for riding duels we just can't use your current deck right now for riding duels. You need some speed spells and some synchro monsters."
"Synchro monsters?"
Yusei sighed; "You've never heard of synchro monsters either?"
"I'm afraid not. All my friends and I we just use fushion monsters."
"I see... well my friends and I use synchro monsters. Would you be interested in using them in your new deck?"
Judai nodded; "Sure! I don't see why not! They sound cool!"
"Well first things first did you bring your deck with you today?"
"Yeah I got it." Judai said as he reached under his jacket and removed his deck from his deck pouch on his belt handing the deck to Yusei.
Yusei looked the deck over thinking. "Mhm... do you have certain cards that you absolutely must have in this deck?"
"Well... I really like all my cards but I know I'm going to... well I probably aren't I..."
"Part ways? Well if you want to learn about synchro monsters... I mean you could have fushion but they would be a disadvantage in riding duels."
"Yeah I remember that painful life point penalty with that duel with that guy..."
"So what is your decision?"
"I don't know... you know best about this kind of thing Yusei."
"Well... I have various types of cards on the table here if I know what you want to incorporate from your deck into your new deck then we can work from there."
"Who do all these cards belong to anyways...?"
"Their all from different people. Some are mine, others are Jack's, others are Crow's and Bruno's. Their all cards that we no longer need in our decks or extras that we thought we could part with."
"Seriously... you all did this for me?" Judai was silent for a moment. "I'll make sure to take good care of them."
"I'm glad to hear that. Now about your deck..."
"Oh right! Well... uh Winged Kuriboh for sure has to stay within my deck." Judai admitted sheepishly.
"...Winged Kuriboh?"
"Yes he's been through a lot with me and he's gotten me out of some tight jams."
"Alright... I'll set out Winged Kuriboh then. Now go through your deck and choose the cards that you definitely want in this deck and I'll try to work from there with you to make a new deck."
"Alright." Judai looked at his deck shuffling through trying to pick select cards. He had to admit it was hard. Judai loved all his cards they all meant something to him and it was hard to only pick a select few. It was as if his heart tore every time he passed by another card that he decided to keep out of his new riding duel deck. After quite some time he was finally done thinking and sorting and the new deck could start to be built.
Yusei placed the selected cards onto the table with the other cards. He stood back from the table for a few minutes with his hand on his chin thinking of how he could incorporate these cards into a strong riding duel deck. Multiple times he slid various cards with others and then shook his head in disapproval moving them back.
"Look Yusei if you want me to I can..."
"No. I know how much these cards mean to you I'll make it work I promise Judai."
"...Thank you Yusei."
Hours had passed and cards were no longer just on the table they were on the floor as well. Yusei sighed and tapped the bunch of cards he had in his hand together against the table. He turned around to find Judai sitting on the floor looking through the other cards that were sprawled there. "Judai?" Judai continued to look through the cards, eyes sparkiling unaware that Yusei had said his name. "Judai?" Yusei tried again. This time Judai looked up;
"Yes Yusei?"
"Your deck." Yusei said as he reached down with his arm holding the deck to Judai. Judai looked up at the new deck and then to Yusei. He reached for the deck, taking it he looked back at Yusei and smiled with a thankful expression over his face.
"Thank you so much Yusei. I really appreciate it. I'll put it into my deck pouch with my remaining cards. I promise I'll take care of your guy's cards." Judai declared as he set the cards into his pouch. He then went to stand up getting up on his right foot he winced once more, his knee slightly buckling as he stood.
"Judai are you-" Yusei was about to ask Judai a question but was interrupted by Jack and Crow who had just entered the building coming down the stairs. Crow spoke to Yusei as he walked in;
"Hey Yusei what's going on?"
"Just finished building Judai's new deck for riding duels."
"Oh awesome!" Crow replied.
"So your going to be participating in riding duels now as well huh? Well then maybe you should duel me." Jack proclaimed.
"Hold up Jack he just got into this. He doesn't need to be dueling you yet don't you think that's a little harsh?" Crow argued.
"I don't mind. I would like to go over the deck first a little bit before I duel you though Jack if that's alright." Judai responded.
"Hmmph I guess that's only natural to be scared of the king and all."
"I'm not scared!" Judai defended.
"Then why not have a duel right now huh? I'm challenging you!"
"Jack stop your out of line." Yusei chimed in as well. "You know he's new to this and I don't want to see anyone getting hurt."
"Fine. Another day then." Jack finally decided.
"Oh!" Judai exclaimed. The three duelists looked to him with questioning expressions. "I wanted to thank you! Crow, Jack I know that the cards that are put into my new deck are some that are from you as well as Yusei and Bruno! I promise I'll take good care of them!"
Crow smirked; "Keh. Is that all?" he said as he rubbed his index finger against his nose. "It was nothing but I'm glad you'll take good care of them I'll hold you to that."
Judai nodded. "You can count on it."
"Hey Crow Jack now that your both here... I haven't explained synchro monsters or speed spells to Judai yet would you guys like to help me explain?"
"I don't see why not!" Crow exclaimed.
"Who better to learn from than the king himself?" Jack boasted.
"Alright Judai take out your new deck and we'll go over the cards and the basics alright?" Yusei asked Judai.
Judai nodded. "Sure thing teach!"
Crow snorted. "Teach?"
Yusei placed a hand on his face. "Yes... he likes to call me that for some reason."
Judai scratched the back of his head. "Well you are my teacher!"
"Right... anyways your deck." Yusei asked annoyed.
"Oh yeah, here we go!" Judai said as he took the deck out from his pouch.
Jack, Crow and Yusei all worked together teaching Judai the basics of what was needed to summon a synchro monster. Among with the ways of speed spells and the common rules in riding duels. They looked through his new deck teaching him strategies and what each card did and what it's effects were and where it would be most useful. A few more hours had passed and Crow, Jack and Yusei had decided that what they had talked about would have been enough for the day.
"I know it's a lot to digest for one day but there is more to learn do you think you got what we said today Judai?" Yusei asked.
Judai nodded; "Yeah I think so. I'll look over my deck tonight and think about the rules if I got any questions I'll be sure to ask you guys. Thanks alot!"
"Not a problem. I'm gonna go to bed now though got some early deliveries again tomorrow morning." Crow said.
"And I'm going to find some ramen noodles to make." Jack said.
Yusei yawned. "Well I think that's enough for tonight. Go home and get some rest, contact me when your up to having a practice duel."
"A practice duel?"
"Yeah. I'll be your opponent... after all I am your teacher." Yusei said poking fun at Judai's previous statement.
"Sounds great! Thanks again Yusei. Tell Jack and Crow my thanks again as well and please thank your friend Bruno for me too. And um... about today when we were alone... and the hug you know... I uh I'm..."
"It's okay. You still miss your friend. I understand. I'll make sure to give your regards to Jack, Crow and Bruno."
"Uh yeah... I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to. What I'm saying is... if you ever need someone to talk to Yusei you know... you can talk to me after all the things I've said to
you I owe it to you."
"It's okay Judai. Go home and get some sleep, study your deck and I'll wait for your call."
"Okay... thanks."
"Stop thanking me and get going."
Judai nodded and headed for the stairs. His ankle throbbing once again. He was definitely going to have to find some ice for it since it had a numb burning feeling going on. He didn't notice but he was walking up the stairs one at a time. He leaned against the doorway as he made his way out.
"I thought I saw him wince when he stood up... now he's taking the stairs one at a time. I wonder what happened..." Yusei thought as the brown and orange haired boy left the building.
