Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds: The Judgement of the World

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"I wonder if they would even recognize this place," Malik pondered as he leaned his weight against the window frame. His traditional clothes reflected brightly against the slightly shaded window.

Zalinka looked over from the VR game she was playing, the headset tilting to the side reflecting her curiosity.

They had ended up in Ryu's office as she put the VR headset through its paces. Outside was strangely overcast, windows were all coated to block direct sunlight, so it was never really an issue of being 'blinded' when the sun was out. But it had a tendency to dull out everything, muting the colors so even white looked off. So much so that the R&D department could be sent into frothing rages when they were expected to get colors 'correct'.

"Father?" She walked towards him, the world she was walking through in the game suddenly presented her with a waist high garden bush wall. She followed it while her hands felt the sensation of the wooden desk that Ryu sat at when he was there. She followed it along and while she figured he was standing at a window looking out at the world. In this game world he appeared to be staring at a wall of bushes.

"Every time I've come here, the city changes in some way. I just wonder how far will it change before its so unrecognizable that..." Malik shook his head, trying to drive the buzzing flies of nagging thoughts away. When he first came to Domino, the buildings all had sharp corners, these neatly crafted blocks of solid stone. Sunlight would glitter across the glass at various times of the day, and the roads wove their way through all of it.

Now the 'modern take' of buildings was to round the corners, so while nothing looked like tubes or domes... 'If you guys come back you may end up with tube towers and dome buildings,' Malik thought to himself.

"I wonder what we're going to do if the priests and priestesses 'are' starting to come back to the world. I can't train anyone to use their Ka beasts..."

"Well the spirits are self aware right? There's bound to be a few that are experienced enough to teach others." Zalinka pointed out as the sound of bird song filtered in the back of her awareness. But it was sharp, a touch out of tune and causing her to take note. Lifting her hands up she began recording the error to be sent to the R&D department.

"While that's true, a person with a newly awaken Ka doesn't get an experienced Ka mentor. The Ka is a part of them, their spirit, soul, identity... With the doors to the Duel Spirit World open to only those who know how to find it as well..."

"Father, ever think someone could just have blundered through? People go missing all the time after all," Zalinka pointed out. A comment that earned her a smile of approval, oddly enough, from her father. "Then having learned come back and be able to teach others?"

"Yeah, that would be the nicer option. When Yugi made that world he made it hospitable to people as well. When compared to Zorcs' followers who were kidnapping people and using them as human sacrifices en mass... Its a lot better idea too."

Zalinka scrunched her nose up as she recalled the history lessons from school. While obviously not 'ancient history'... "They said in school approximately a million people died because of Zorc... Well they don't mention him by name..."

"I'm not surprised, there's a bit of old Kemet magics that get taught in our homeland because of that. Names are one of them," Malik admitted as he saw the length of a limo driving towards the office building. Given the time of day, he would be willing to put money on it that it was Ryu coming back from school. 'The kid is coming here to work and not just be a kid,' Malik mentally grumbled. It wasn't right by his point of view, but he wasn't Ryu's father either.

"Well..." Zalinka began but got distracted as the office wall suddenly jutted its way into her line of sight as she transitioned from garden to beach setting. Not very beachy to have an office wall half way sticking out of the sand! "Its a shame that Mahaado isn't here, even saying his name doesn't compel him. But I'd love to learn magic from him! What he taught Yugi sounded exciting!"

"You would like the ability to wear magical disguises!" Malik lightly bumped his daughter on the top of her head. Even if it was protected by that silly headpiece.

Well it protected her head... but for the pieces inside...

She frowned and gave a small 'uh oh', leaving Malik to watch as she began to quickly try to 'tickle the air' as he teasingly called it. Zalinka stood there as she began to rapidly fill in more 'glitch reports'. Her head turning to both her left and right, up and down as she looked for potential glitches.

"Head set is rather delicate this time," he noted casually as she grimaced.

"Very, they said it there was complaints about the weight before so they are trying various types of plastics to deal with it. But if a bop is going to... uh... wow who are 'you'?" Zalinka's tone shifted into a mixture of awe and curiosity.

Malik blinked before relaxing back against the wall of Ryu's office. Zalinka looked as curious as a kitten, poking about and seemingly trying to observe whatever the glitch was from all angles. "So I admit I'm not really into technology, but what do you see?"

"Well... remember that woman you said I summoned who gave mom the impromptu bath?" Zalinka began. Causing Malik to straighten back up and become more attentive. "She's here, lots of red hair piled up on her head and spilling down, white gown and sleeves with deep blue skirts..."

"Does she appear awake or aware?" Malik asked, moving in closer to Zalinka's right side. She was facing the wall to Ryus' office, and looking at something that could easily been hovering in the air with the way her head tilted back.

"Awake? Eh, her eyes are open and she's looking at me, but she's not here here. You know what I mean," she explained as she observed the being before her. The glitched out ocean was a mess, the beach looked more like something out of 'Planet of the Apes'. Ryu's desk was half buried in the sand, but not upon all fours as it was. It was tilted half buried in the depths of the sand, its contents scattered across the sand and buried as well. The sky was dark, churning storm colors above her head, even though the stats of the simulation listed it as 'sunny'. Beyond the edge of the beach, the tips of the ocean were white capped and segments weren't moving at all.

Chunks of the ocean were missing as well, Zalinka could even see these blocks of empty space where water should have been. While strangely enough this one woman was wholly unaffected by all of it. She hovered in the air, her robes and skirt stirred as though they were hovering in the air. The folds of the fabric were just as clean and straight as a dry cleaned gown. It was the same level of detail that Mr. Kaiba always strove for, that complete realism that allowed a person to completely immerse themselves into the reality of the VR system.

Her eyes didn't sell that she was awake or aware though, they were focused on Zalinka and that was all. Zalinka could move left or right, the woman followed along with her eyes, turning her head or body as needed. But there just wasn't anything in the gaze, lights on, no one home. 'She's a dead ringer for what mother and father described back home... But I'm not that big into the game. Is she a pre existing spirit? Or...' Somehow thinking it was 'hers' was rather unsettling.

COOL!

Very cool, but also unsettling and a bit on the scary side. Her father had been very clear about what a Ka beast was. What it represented and the dangers that summoning and using one was. 'Imagine playing the game only if your signature card is destroyed, you die'.

Zalinka waved her hand up hoping to get a response out of the stranger, but there was not even a blink. A frown would have acceptable, a smile better, recognition great! "Hey did you give my mom a bath back home? She caught a cold because of you!" Zalinka began...

Causing Malik to shake his head, "Ka... don't really function like that as I was taught. 'She' didn't give your mother that ice bath, you did."

"I have no reason to give her a cold!" Zalinka argued, the same one she used before actually.

"Yes but you don't know how to control your Ka... They don't think independently from their other half." Her father was visible through the glitching graphics, scratching at his beard as he observed her. "I admit I don't know how to help you either, because I never manifested a Ka beast... Saw enough that it felt like the risks weren't worth the rewards..."

"So this is what my soul looks like and it can manifest whenever..." Zalinka asked feeling a little knot of worry form in her stomach. "Don't get me wrong, she's beautiful and looks strong, but I'm not interested in getting executed for witchcraft..."

"Agreed, your mother and I would be most displeased..." Malik agreed as nonchalantly as he could. When Zalinka began giving him a disapproving frown he added, "how would I explain it to her? 'Our daughter was executed for being a normal human.' Its not an easy thing to say."

But it was interesting enough, the first time the spirit manifested Zalinka had gone into a trance and snapped out when it was over. Yet here she was, aware and able to see her Ka beast? "Stran-," he was cut off when the door suddenly opened. Ryu walked into the room his suit custom tailored suit on, his school uniform ready to be hung up in the closet of the office.

"Uncle Malik! Big sister!" His voice didn't reflect a young Vice President, not when he was in the presence of his extended family. "I see R&D got a hold of you Sis," he noted as Zalinka pulled off the VR helmet.

"Ryu! Yeah, helping them out and not even done with the glitch report. Or even sure it 'is' a glitch report." Zalinka's cheery reply accompanied him as he shut the door behind himself.

"How's the hauntings been as of late?" Malik asked, lowering his voice even with the door shut. He moved to kneel so he could give the small boy a greeting hug, noting the curious expression on Ryu's face.

"Nothing really since the Turbo Duel King came for a visit. If you want to watch the video," Ryu offered, it was almost a macabre offering given the nature of those types of videos.

Malik nodded while Zalinka put the headset and controllers further to the side, they might as well have ordered the secretary to bring popcorn.

"Father did not have a good week at that time, discovering those figurines upset him terribly," Ryu explained as he finished putting away his brief case. "He destroyed this poor woman's life! He was erasing her identity all the way down to her birth certificate. I'm grateful that Ms. Izayoi was able to appease his rage." Ryu explained as he pulled out his keyboard and began typing away. "Then when Fudo and his fellow Dragons arrived... Well to have Fudo explain it, Uncle Yugi lead them up here himself."

"Mokuba must have been seething," Malik noted sharing a concerned glance with Zalinka.

"Uncle Mokuba is that influential? Wouldn't people... say something about him doing that on a whim?" She asked as her fingers danced on arm rests of her seat.

"Seems that way," Malik answered. "Its a slow decline, since he can't do the stuff his brother can, obviously. But he's taken every advantage he can take while it was still open to him."

The computer rotated around smoothly revealing the screen before the video came up.

"They just walk in... Not Uncle or Ryu and they just walk in like that elevator doesn't have its own 'personality'." Zalinka noted in a quiet awe as two teenagers and a pair of kids just 'walked' in. The Turbo King and the red head had very distinct expressions. Fudo looked suspicious and wary, but the red head appeared as excited as the twins themselves. It was all perfectly normal except the fact that there was no one interacting with the red head or the twins. Watching as the twins pulled out these books with such earnest expressions of joy twisted in Zalinka's gut.

"And they said it was Yugi?" Malik asked taken aback by how easily this flowed. The camera never changed, it stated a staunch device recording a seemingly casual conversation with... no one there visibly?

Ryu paused the video and with a bit of key clicking brought the camera in so the pair could watch as sentences began forming. Signed by Yugi himself... Just ink bleeding into the pair as easily and fluidly from any fresh pen.

"Uncle Yugi is in Kaiba Corps elevators?" The words worked their way out of Zalinka slowly, her eyes filled with concern. There had been full mass slaughters in those elevators, corpses hanging from the ceiling, body parts and just blood! People trying to hurt the Kaiba's had paid for it in a multitude of ways, to think it was 'Yugi'.

"Doesn't surprise me, given what he is," Malik replied, but he couldn't hide the discomfort from his voice as he watched the video. "He's not one for violence though, if he wants someone 'gone', he used other methods. Usually toying with them in some manner before just... erasing them from reality."

"Is that red head getting a..." Zalinka blinked before squinting at the image of the redhead. He seemed over the moon as he held out his hand, the fingers folding in the manner of grasping something thin and small.

"Its a white card, its the size of a dueling card, but its completely white." Ryu explained as the elevator finally reached the top floor.

"I remember when he made his first card, the demon made a spirit and Yugi gave that spirit a name and a card to reside in. So if its a white card that size? I suspect he's probably got that card set up for the chance of a spirit..." Malik explained thoughtfully.

"He does love his choices," Zalinka grumbled as she settled back, eyeing the last frame of the video and Yusei's expression.

"Yeah, face it he could easily have come back and just prune all other possibilities, but he lets this go on for us," Malik admitted.

"Feels like torture, but I suppose its because I know more than most," Ryu admitted thoughtfully. "From what I've been told he's ordered the Dragons not to involve themselves in the events going on. But whatever event that is, Judai, Yuki has gone missing." Ryu explained before putting his briefcase on his desk.

"Who?" The Ishtars asked in mutual confusion.

"Judai, Yuki, one of the people with the ability to see Duel Spirits, there was a duel at the park with him and Fudo, Yusei. Judai has been missing since, and from what Fudo described he's not the only one." Ryu pulled out a sheet and after putting the case away began typing into the computer. There wasn't much, just a western name placed on the screen, a single part of it no less.

"Apparently Judai is a 'Gentle Darkness' he has a responsibility to the world he hasn't been doing..." The kid continued as he began filling out a search engine with a few other words, hair and eye color, spoken language...

"And Yugi has been talking to Fudo?" Zalinka repeated.

"Yes, but from what I've been told there's now been three 'different' Yugi's that have made appearances. The woman is taking a far more active role, the other one seemed to be just passing through." Ryu explained and noted the pairs' stunned expressions.

"A female Yugi?" Malik asked while Zalinka perked up. "An aunt who isn't just Aunt Anzu?"

Malik turned to look at his daughter before shaking his head, "Anzu was like that until Mai joined the group fully since sister was often on the boat working."

"I miss Aunt Mai, I wish I was old enough to remember more of her," Zalinka answered wistfully.

"Uncle Malik, how did you get a message from Uncle Yugi to buy those pictures?"

Malik gave a faint sad smile, he leaned back in his seat and sighed. "The message came from Superia, my sisters' Ka. She stood at the foot of the Pharaoh's throne..."

Superia, who already appeared as a winged variation of Isis, walked up the dais to an elevated throne. Light radiated from the very being seated upon it, such a brilliance that there was no chance to see who sat there... But Malik 'could' just barely make out a faint outline. Someone sleeping, their head resting on a curled fist... Surrounded by people, four in outlines he knew by heart. At the foot of the dias were three more figures slumbering. All of them resting and Malik recognized the outline of many of those figures...