A Very Quick Update Chapter

Hello readers, this little chapter is mainly just a quick progress report and thank you. I don't expect it to get any rave reviews or too many views (unless you REALLY are into reading updates over and over again.)

First off, I wish to thank you all for the MANY contributions you all have submitted as far as characters and fan-cards go. I now have TONS of characters and decks for many sides of the conflict. I wish to take this time to thank my contributors one by one.

Ghost83: You are amazing my friend. You were the first to offer an original character and deck LONG before either of the special offers cropped up. It's going to be a while before we see your character, but trust me, you and all my other readers, this guy's character is going to be AWESOME when he appears!

Greninja: Thank you for submitting three characters to the story and their ace monsters. I have taken the liberty of making some slight modifications to a couple names of the cards and their effects, but I am sure you will absolutely love what I have come up with. Thank you for submitting your work early and for giving me so many wonderful details on your characters. It really saves me a lot of time and energy when I don't have to fill in as many blanks. As for the decks you requested I create, I think you will like what I came up with for the two sisters. Stay tuned for Thunder Avatars and Aqua Avatars.

Epsilon Tarantula: You sir, have submitted an army of characters, and I am loving each and every one of them! Trust me, I have given a great deal of thought as to how these characters will interact with the other characters, their history, and their future going forward with the story. Stay tuned for an epic future chapter of some amazing battle-royals featuring your characters, shady machinations from one particular character, and quite a bit of comic relief from a snarky character that will be appearing a little later.

Nox Descious: I feel like we're a pair of mad scientists coming up with a new scheme to take over the world. (I won't say whose Pinkie and who's The Brain though.) I absolutely love your character and was delighted to ally him with a character I had previously designed. For you and all the rest of you readers, stay tuned for a pair of some particularly nasty and powerful Academia agents. Won't go into too many details about who these guys are, but I will say that they KNOW Rin and Ruri, and will not be easily quelled by even the bracelet girl's new Dark Signer powers.

Solphage: Your idea has given birth to a character that I love and adore TO DEATH! (No, please don't misunderstand, this is not supposed to be a dark pun implying that he's going to die, I just REALLY love the character.) Thank you for suggesting a video game theme, it's helped me resurrect a very fun, but oftentimes overlooked, Yu-Gi-Oh card theme. Stay tuned guys, this character has a lot of heart and spirit.

KuroganeFang: Thank you for submitting two characters, and especially for submitting a Phoenix Guard character from Academia. This adds a very interesting, yet highly realistic dynamic to the story. I'm also very impressed that you submitted to me an ENTIRE series of deck lists for the characters. It was VERY detailed, and helps me out a LOT with time. Your characters will be appearing a little later, like Ghost83's character, but I absolutely promise you that I LOVE these characters and will give them justice!

FanOfKings: Oooooh, I am so STOKED to use these cards, they are just AWESOME! Thank you for your amazing fan ideas! Yugo is going to GREATLY appreciate the support you have provided for his deck. (Believe me, he will need them). There will be a couple ever so slight tinkering with card names, summon requirements, and effects, but ALL credit for the original ideas will be given to you!

Please let me know if I missed any of you! I REALLY love these fan contributions and can't wait to feature them in my story! "Signs of Renewal" is a TRUE fanfiction, inspired by fans, conceived of by fans, and written by a fan who receives support from the fans! Together, our ideas will conquer the world! Or save it. One or the other. We'll work out the details later.

Now onto a sadder update (not TOO sad though). Unfortunately, I will not be able to post a new chapter of "Sings of Renewal" tonight, mainly because I have been working with the MANY fan contributions you have provided for me. This is not a complaint, NOR is it a subtle way of saying, "Stop giving me your amazing fan contributions!" I appreciate each and every one of them! That being said, I will say that the earlier your ideas are submitted, the easier it is for me to work with them and the more likely it is that your character and decks will feature prominently in "Signs of Renewal." There remains no time limit for your submissions, but in future chapters, I will be periodically providing you with updates and warnings for when it's time to finalize some ideas just so I don't either have to delay work, or shunt your ideas aside for later use (neither of which are things I wish to do). The overwhelming amount of contributions you have given me as of now have prompted me to give one such warning and request.

Until chapter twelve is completed, I invite fans to submit no more than one additional character for "Signs of Renewal." (If you have already submitted a character(s) don't worry, you can still submit one more, but for now, let's keep it at just one more). This will help free up my time so I can focus all my energies on the next chapters which are still in the works (though trust me, they will be EPIC, not going to say too much but, *cough* "Meklords." Yeah, I said it. Scream your fan-boy and fan-girl screams and make of it whatever you will). For the next little while, I recommend sending me info on the characters you have already submitted so these wonderful guys can be as well-rounded and close to your original vision as possible. Thank you so much for your work and your continued support. I promise to continue delivering new content and chapters to you my readers!

On a slightly different note, I wanted to address a concern a few of my readers have raised to me. It involves a certain revelation on the use of brain parasites with Ruri and Rin. Basically the concern goes, "If Ruri and Rin were being brain controlled, how can your story mesh with canon if your story depicts Ruri and Rin voluntarily trying to escape from Academia?"

First off, I would like to say, thank you for your questions. I believe we all like it when our fan-fictions mesh well with the original canon. Some writers even fear that their fanfiction will somehow be ruined if a new revelation from a series contradicts what they have written. So does this revelation ruin "Signs of Renewal?" My answer is an emphatic and absolute, "NO!"

For one, I knew full-well going into this project before Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V had been completed, that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to mesh the events of the story 100% with canon. This did not and does not bother me. I was able to have immeasurable enjoyment doing things like creating Ruri and Rin's decks before those had been released, and it was fun to do a little comparison of the deck I had come up with Rin vs. the deck that she actually used. (I KNEW there'd be an instrument theme! Bell's still count as instruments, right?) Although I like to keep "Signs of Renewal," fairly close to canon, it is not a requirement or even an objective of mine to align the story with every tidbit the show will reveal going forward. If such a requirement DID exist for fanfiction, none of us would be doing anything on this website. This story is an Alternate Universe story formed from the premise of: "What would happen if Ruri and Rin died and the forces of the Dark Signers existed? How would this alter history?" If something is different between "Signs of Renewal," and Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V, don't panic, this is a normal and natural part of belonging to an alternate universe where some character decisions are different, some technologies do or do not exist, etc.

A second, far-less important point. I don't know if the revelation of brain parasites in Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V necessarily contradicts the scenario I had outlined in the beginning of "Signs of Renewal." Some of you have already heard my ranting on this topic, but if the Professor always had those plot-convenience brain parasites, why didn't he just plant one in Selena a long time ago!? She was NOT a well-indoctrinated and compliant Academia student! She kept trying to run away and do all kinds of things against the professor's will! She even joined the Lancer's for crying out loud! Don't tell me that the Professor just couldn't bring himself to brain controlling Selena! This is the Professor we're talking about, who's brain controlling Ruri and Rin as I type and rant! The point being, that I believe, given this evidence, that the brain parasites must have been a more recent countermeasure the Doctor developed in response to the loss of the Xyz Dimension, the rise of the Lancers, etc. As a general rule, I loathe sudden 180 degree personality changes, and brain control just feels like a lazy way of avoiding realistic character development. The brain control chips Roger introduced, I could (kind of) live with, because there was no real personality change. Just shutting down someone's brain and making them a drone. But the whole idea of the Professor being able to completely control a person's character just opens up a whole can of worms that can lead to all manner of unsightly plot holes like, "Why doesn't the professor Parasite Fusioner EVERYONE who works for him?" "Why hasn't the Obelisk Force just been focusing their efforts on flying jumbo jets over the dimensions and dropping clouds of Parasite Fusioners on the inhabitants of the other dimensions?" etc. Regardless, however Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V decides to address the whole brain control theme, "Signs of Renewal" will chug merrily along its original intended narrative train route. I do not intend to panic and start updating the chapters to have an earthbound god suddenly appear to Ruri and Rin in their towers and say, "Hey girl, you've got something in your ear, mind if I clean it out for ya?" So don't worry. Relax. This story IS NOT and WILL NOT ever be canon. That's the magic of creative fanfiction, and I certainly hope that the fear of something being non-canon will not deter any of you my readers from submitting your creative ideas. I love them all, no matter how non-canon.

Sorry for the epic rant. It's just a little pet-peeve of mine when some people criticize a work of fan-FICTION for, quote on quote, being "SO NON-CANON!" as if that were the greatest sin in the world. I could maybe understand the complaint if a writer claimed his/her work meshed completely with canon, but as far as "Signs of Renewal" goes, I'm just letting you all know, that it is neither my claim nor my goal for this story to be totally, 100%, in-line with canon .

Whoo… finally got that out of my chest. Thank you all very much for your continued support. You truly ARE AMAZING! I love the GENIUS ideas you guys have come up with. It really adds spice to this series when all the characters and decks don't come exclusively from my limited perspective and imagination. Please let me know if I have forgotten any of you in this acknowledgement page! I don't want to leave ANYONE out! (PM me if I have, and I will update this update, which sounds weird but it's important to me.) And now, in compliance with Rules and Guidelines, here is a sneak-peek of the next chapter in order to make sure this story is not entirely non-story.

"Errrrrrrrrrrrrrgh…"

Sora struggled to open his eyelids, which pressed down against his eyeballs like sheets of cold steel. The second he managed to crack them open just a little, just enough to make out the blurry outline of clouds in the sky… he immediately regreted it.

As his heart hammered against his chest, it seemed to spread a wave of pain throughout his body. He became conscious of several blisters burning with heat, gashes screaming with a sharp stinging sensation, and the great thumping pain of bruises against the back of his head. With a sharp groan he cracked open his eyes the rest of the way and began groggily blinking as the burning rays of the sun scorched his pupils. When he had finally adjusted to the light of the sun, he slowly tried to lift his rigid body off the ground.

"AAAAAAAAGH!" He yelped before collapsing back onto his back. The second he had pressed his hands on the ground and lifted his body up a few inches, he had been completely incapacited by the twin pains of heat blisters popping on his hands and the feeling of a shattered rib stabbing against his side.

Sora desperately began trying to remember how he'd gotten in this position. There was Ruri… beating him to death with her monster… what was that thing? It was unlike anything Sora had ever seen before. It annihilated every single card Sora had on the field and his graveyard, and it was just about to annihilate him. But…why didn't it? Why was he still alive?

He suddenly remembered what he had seen, just as Ruri had raised him into the air to deliver the finishing blow.

"Yuzu!" he groaned, tears streaming out his eyes. Suddenly, all the pain he was experiencing seemed utterly miniscule, completely overshadowed in comparison to an even more overwhelming agony that gripped his insides and refused to let him find comfort and peace.

He had failed her. He had vowed to do everything in his power to protect her, but he had failed. Crippled by the overwhelming power of Ruri's monster, he had been utterly helpless as he watched Yuzu get ruthlessly off the track by a raging psychopath before crashing head-first into a building.

Why!? Why did it have to be her!? Why hadn't he been able to prevent it!? Why was he still alive when she was now dead!?

"YUUUUZUUUUU!" Sora screamed with agony, ripping himself from the ground and managing to stand on his two legs before violently falling down on his hands and knees and getting sick. Utterly stripped of all dignity, he let himself make a huge mess of himself and the building as he let out the scanty watery contents of his stomach, before letting out a few final wretches. Pressing down on his throbbing hands, he panted for a long time for breath, the pain in his chest threatening to make him black out once again.

Gritting his teeth, he looked in the direction of Yuzu's crash site. She couldn't be dead; he refused to believe it! There had to be a chance she survived. And if there was any chance she did, he didn't care how much he hurt. He didn't care if Ruri showed up again and killed him. There was absolutely no way he was going to let her get to Yuzu!

Thank you for your continued support, and until next chapter, this is Donjusticia, getting back to work!