A full week had passed. After the first few days, Trudge had asked Crow to make an official statement on his brother. Jack lacked the finesse to actually order a drink and Akiza… Akiza had been embroiled in the mysteries of the human body. What had begun as a passing fancy had evolved into a deep study and was actually on the verge of becoming a dangerous obsession. She continued to visit Yusei every day but had taken to streamlining her wardrobe. Luna had actually gone into the Spirit World to ask for any advice or knowledge she could find but was only met with concern and goodwill. There wasn't much anybody could do.
All in all, events were finally settling down. After waking up from her hangover, Musume had slipped away again. She had chosen to leave a note with Crow but it was full of vague mentions of settling promises and hunting down leads.
Unlike Akiza, Leo and Luna were still forced to attend classes at Duel Academy but were routinely 'falling ill'. With Yusei having beaten their Vice Principal and rumours of the twins having been involved with both the Dark Signers and Ark Cradle incident, the teachers were willing to turn a blind eye for now.
Jack had basically vanished from the face of the planet. Unlike even the stranger in their lives, he hadn't left a note. One day he was there and the next, he had vanished, taking what little savings he had and his Dueling equipment. Word occasionally floated in that he had been spotted here and there but never anything substantial and always too late for anybody to act on them.
Most bizarrely, Sherry seemed to be staying in New Domino. There was certain business that she still had to settle with Musume and sticking near Crow seemed like the best way to find her. Whenever their future friend was nearby, she always seemed to find time for the little man with the big heart.
Of them all, Crow was the only one to have landed on his feet. Certain words of his Dueling abilities had reached the right ears and he had been moved to Patrol faster than anybody else in the history of Sector Security. It wasn't exactly the worst job in the world. There were almost daily Duels to enjoy but it was starting to get irritating whenever he had to explain to speeding motorists that whilst he might have indeed been going faster, he was only allowed to do in order to catch them. And no, he would no be following their various suggestions as to where he should insert various appendages.
On such days, he would usually retire to his provided accommodation at the provided barracks and enjoy an early nap. They weren't actually called barracks. There was some fancy legal wording they used to get around paying taxes which included the word 'housing'. But all the new recruits who were required to spend a few months away from home in order to understand the psychological impact it could have on their lives and bond with their new family had dubbed them 'the barracks'. Unfortunately, Crow's quick promotion had rubbed up most of the other residents the wrong way and he spent most of his time caring for his Duel Runner in the garage. They weren't necessarily mean but always just a bit chilly.
"Hey, Sparrow!" One thing that always pulled people together was working on their motors. Of the entire roster of recruits currently staying at the barracks, Crow had made firm friends with those who also spent a lot of time around Runners. Despite his best attempts otherwise, they insisted on calling him by other bird names but his own.
"Yes, Taku." A sharp brunette in glasses raised his head over the saddle of a standard Sector Security Duel Runner. Unlike Crow, most new officers didn't own their own Duel Runners and were allocated one from the pool. "I really am this pretty when you remember to wear your glasses." Jeering laughter sounded out along the concrete hallway. There was always light banter going on but everybody knew when to stop.
"When you're done preening yourself, Peacock," The laughter turned against Crow this time. "Can you pass the toolbox?" Between tight budgets, light-fingered recruits and the inevitable way that things disappeared, there was only one decent set of tools to share between the dozen or so grease-monkeys.
"Nice house." Loading the tools onto a crawler, Crow sent the tools wobbling across the lane to his friend.
"Ha. Like I haven't heard that one before." One hand fumbled through the box as the other held a plate in pace. After several minutes, Taku looked down and risked dropping the plate. In accordance with the rules of the universe, Crow was still using the one tool he actually needed. "Bluebird, care to share?" Careful to keep his own Duel Runner together with a hand and foot, Crow lobbed the spanner in the general direction of the voice. Several curses followed the sound of broken glass. "You owe me a new pair of glasses." The pair raised their respective heads enough for Taku to display his bleeding right eyebrow and shattered lens. "And don't you dare say it." Muffled laughter spread around the room as everyone enjoyed the bad joke about to happen.
"You should have seen it coming." A few of the less serious people actually fell over in shock that anybody would have made such a pun. Things seemed to be finally looking up for Crow.
Far away from the city, Musume stopped in her tracks. She had simply picked a direction to go and then gone. Even after a full week of nothing but walking, there wasn't anything deeply on her mind. She had come to save Bruno but apparently failed. Now stuck far before her birth, there wasn't anything left of her previous life. It was almost ironic. She had come back in time to save her own future. Now there wasn't a future left for her. She dropped the worn leather bag on the ground and finally stopped. The road had curved in an unfavourable direction some days ago and she had simply stepped off it and kept going. From what little she knew, the town Team Taiyo came from was somewhere in the next few miles. Doubtless they would be willing to take her in and let her work with them. There were countless ways she could take advantage of upcoming events should she be inclined.
But something deep inside - possibly one of her own guests - seemed unable to let her leave unfinished business behind. Gently folding her silk robe over the bag, Musume admired the view from the top of her hill before reaching out with her Psychic powers. She didn't use them very often but they ran strong in her family. Strong enough that she had never found it necessary to focus on a place and only ever on a person.
Reality tore itself apart around her, new sights appearing before her upon the slightest of subconscious commands. Jack was in a gym somewhere, punching a bag with enough force for dust to fall from the ceiling around where the chain was connected, the walls evidently grown weary with their beating. He and Yusei had beat more than enough out of each other over the years, trying to figure out who going to be the World Champion. Now, neither of them was and Jack was a dethroned King. "You should tighten your stomach a bit more. More power to the punch."
"RRAARGHH!" The next blow sent a new crack through the ceiling. Chances were more on her surprise triggering his sudden burst of strength and not him taking the advice. The future-Jack had... changed a lot over the years. Many people found it hard to accept the new Jack. Musume was humble enough to realise that she was one of them. She had never through that Jack and herself had much in common. He was so different from her, so different from what she thought she had always thought a Duelist was supposed to be. It was only now that she was starting to realise how similar they really were.
Space bent before her whim and she found herself floating above the still form of Crow, hunched over his Runner and tinkering with something in the engine compartment. The Crimson Dragon had chosen Crow as a Signer and she initially couldn't understand exactly why he'd been picked. So far behind Yusei, nearly as far behind Jack and so much still to learn. But Crow had proved himself everything a Signer was supposed to be, everything a hero was supposed to be. In her past and his once future, it had cost him dearly. His life marked with more tragedy than any man should have to endure. Crow ended up dead from a pledge he hadn't fully understood, putting himself in harm's way to save others. And through it all, he never lost hope. He never turned away from the responsibility. Strangely, the only thought that she had about the picture was that it was somehow so natural to find him up to his elbows in an engine. "Not the gearbox... Clutch?" He briefly struggled with his spanner, the nut refusing to shrink down a size.
"This one okay Crow?" He had been her friend and confidant growing up. The Sherlock to her Holmes.
"OW!" He sucked the cut on his finger, remaining the best mechanic she knew as he withdrew his bleeding digit. Given a plank of wood and a pair of stone wheels, he'd be able to make it run smooth as anything. He knew Musume growing up, long before she realised the significance of the Mark on his arm. All he had wanted to do was help, just the eager child at heart. Well, they both remained children long after their time and treated the everyday like a glorious adventure.
"Sume? Musume!" He pulled a plaster from his pocket and wrapped it tightly around his finger. "How... Why are you here?" Musume offered a sad smile as she took a seat against the wall.
"I should be asking you the same thing, Crow." A guilty look spread across her companions face as he leant against his Runner to face her.
"You mean.. You mean tinkering with my Runner. I don't..." Crow ran a distracted hand through his hair. "I guess that it everything that's happening, Musume. Everything with Yusei, Bruno, that thing..." A deep breath was pulled in from between his teeth. "I've stared down the end of the world twice but this is just... so big. How am I supposed to deal with stuff like this? I feel like I should be doing something. And this is what I know how to do." He straightened up suddenly. "But I bet that's what you're doing! Fix everything, save everyone, just like you always do." Crow picked up a cup of congealed noodles from the side and poked them hopefully. They continued to congeal back at his glare whilst he poured some hot water into a fresh cup.
"I appreciate your... faith... in me, Crow." Crow was always loyal to her. Probably more than he should have been. After all the years she had known him, Crow was still able to teach her new things. A sharp tug and Crow plucked the faulty spark-plug from its socket and held it aloft triumphantly, the image fading as she moved away from him and appeared slowly inside the gated ruins of a graveyard.
"Hello again, old friend." Musume knelt down in front of a headstone and gently ran a hand over the worn surface. "I've disappointed everyone again. All the people who looked up to me, who trusted me." She pulled down her hood to reveal her face to the starlit sky. She was far, far away from Domino now, the day exchanged for the warm night of a distant country. "I owe them more than my failures." A smile managed to touch her lips at a distant memory. "You always knew how to make me laugh. Which doctor is the witch doctor and all, eh?" She patted the stone once again. It didn't belong to the person she was speaking with. If there had even been one at all, it would have long since faded into nothing. "I'll be seeing you soon. Get you a good end to your story." The darkness eclipsed her once more, obscuring her from the world for a small length of time. There had been others, of course, but none of them mattered like she did.
Akiza Izinski, the Psychic Duelist known as the Black Rose. It seemed suitable that she was saved for last. Akiza had always believed in the happy ending. Raise a family, grow old together with the partner. That seemed right too. "I wondered when you'd show up." She didn't even look up from her book as she sat in the chair beside Yusei's sleeping form.
"You don't seem surprised to see me, Akiza. You're the only one." Musume gently seated herself into the chair across from Akiza with the patient between them.
"Maybe I just know you better than anyone else." Musuem shrugged carelessly.
"I don't think that that's possible. Nobody knows me." A bitter twist of a smile made it's way onto her face. "Not anymore."
"I know you, Musume." Akiza forced herself to look at the emotionless helmet. "It's because of what's happening, and you think that you can do something about it." Careless shruggery seemed to be a favourite pastime of Musume's.
"I want to help, yes. That's what brought me back. But it might be beyond even me. I don't know if I can do what's necessary." She lent forward intently. "Akiza, what I can do is take you and Jack and Crow and the twins somewhere far away from here. Give you everything that you thought was lost." Even before she had finished speaking, Musume knew that Akiza would never accept the offer.
"This isn't about me, it never was. It's about everybody else, everybody who needs the Signers to save them or protect them or help them. That's why there never was an 'I' or a 'me'." Musume felt the last path of alternate possibility slipped away. "I've been sitting here for too long. I need to stretch my legs a little." Musume watched her close the door behind the poor lie and listened to the soft steps of her footfalls tap down the corridor.
"All right then," Musume felt her mind drift down into utter darkness. "Let's get this over with." It had been with her since she had first planned to come to this time, barely there, a stray thought, a rare whisper. Musume still wasn't sure exactly why it hoped to accomplish itself to her. Keeping tabs maybe? "You know what you have to do?" There was a grudging feeling of acknowledgement from the twisting form. She cast her gaze towards the floor, the piles of bones opening out before her like a living extension of her soul, not the dead remnants that they truly were. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but our deal has to be put on hold for a while." The beast below howled and bellowed in anger, punching and thumping the prison of bones that contained it. Eventually, it saw the helplessness of it's situation and pressed a bloodshot eye to the underside of the hole with hatred boiling up through the opening. "I know, I know. A thousand years of torment on my soul. Sue me."
The hole closed up again. Musume turned it all over in her mind: from the moment she had been born into the world... she had been blessed. Her entire life had been played out on a grand scale. She'd done miraculous things. And terrible things. Committed sins that she never though possible. Did she plunge herself into the abyss of madness and despair and lose herself? Or did she simply gaze into it for a time and turn away? Musume tugged the old helmet from her head and held it before her, examining the cracked reflection pensively. In the end did it really matter? A nebula of silver emitted from her hands and enveloped the helmet, tearing it apart into infinitely smaller pieces until nothing was left. The whole of her life, the triumphs and the tragedies, had led her to this moment. To this choice. The only choice that she could live with. "Oh well, all good things must come to and end." Musume rose to her feet, cracking her knuckles on the armrests as she stood up.
Doctors might say that Bruno had spent enough time healing to be woken up but they didn't know what she did. Careful to disconnect a few cables first, Musume slowly lifted two pieces of equipment from their cradles and pressed them both tightly against Bruno's chest. A wry smile spread across her face. "Clear." Enough electricity to stop the human heart pounded through his chest and gleaming eyes burst open in his face. Despite all her knowledge and everything she had assumed, she was taking a gamble on this moment. Now that Bruno remembered his life, she hoped that he would have control over the Antiomy persona. If she was wrong and it was still a rogue element, there was every possibility that she didn't make it out of the room in either one piece or alive. It was a tense moment. Bruno was sitting upright in his bed with burning eyes. "Welcome back."
After several seconds of heavy breathing, the light faded from his eyes and Bruno finally relaxed down from his rigid posture. "Who are you?" Their locked eyeline had yet to let Bruno notice the patient to his right.
"Musume." She folded her arms impassively. Despite the veritable legends she had grown up hearing about him, the tied mess slumped against pillows had yet to impress her in any measurable way. It was like turning back time and discovering that Einstein was actually a fanatical partier. "And I'm here to make you a deal." And that was the moment when Bruno turned and saw Yusei.
Akiza was still absorbed in her slow pacing back to the room when the first nurse pushed herself past. The second nurse was brusque enough to arouse her curiosity and the third cost the cleaning staff an extra twenty minutes of moping as he knocked the cup of coffee from her grasp and rushed towards the room at the end of the hallway. Grabbing number four allowed her to receive some garbled message about an emergency in Yusei's room. Then she was sprinting down the corridor with the first nurse quickly falling into the distance.
By the time she arrived, no fewer than three senior doctors were already inside taking readings. Bruno was slumped back in his bed with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth but Akiza didn't actually notice him. Yusei was sitting upright in his bed and looking very confused over his surroundings. Although it tended to be frowned upon to try and crush a patient to death, the doctors were willing to give her a pass as Akiza hurtled across the room and wrapped herself tightly about him. The situation usually called for either squealing or a hearty kiss. Surprisingly, it got both. At roughly the same time that Akiza tried to kiss the man she loved, he was trying to voice something. Barely a second after she had begun kissing him, Yusei pulled back enough to speak and his words froze her heart so badly she thought it might never thaw.
"I'm sorry, who are you?"