Judgement of the World
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
A/N: Cleaned up a bit, fleshed out a bit of things, adjusted other things. Not so bad...
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"What do you mean 'no'?!" Crow yelled as he leaned forward towards the view screen on his ride, glaring daggers at Jack's half of the split screen communications. A group call between himself, Yusei and Jack and forget Jack making it easy to convey just 'one' little message!
"I have no reason to hunt down a deck of cards! Just tell me where the Guard will take the girl and I'll get her." Jack retorted coldly, clearly leaning back into his seat in disdain, which heated up the outrage in Crow's blood.
Until Yusei, ever the mediator, finally spoke up with a simple, "you got Jack's woman with you. He's been looking all over for her, so I'll go and check the outcropping areas of Domino and see if I can find anything. A black belt with a deck holder attached to it correct?"
"Shut up Yusei, no one is talking to you!" Jack growled upon Yusei's only input of this whole conversation.
Yusei didn't answer Jack's angry challenge, merely lifting an eyebrow was his sole answer and it conveyed more words than he would say. Stoically watching as Jack grew more angry and embarrassed as the seconds passed. As the silent stare defeated the angry outburst, again.
"Uh, yeah... Jack got a woman, too? Say is there a woman for every guy who goes there? Could I find one?" Crow asked with the biggest grin giving Jack a reason to look away from Yusei. Jack, seemingly ignored him, but Yusei turned his attention back to Crow with that ever calm air about him.
"I didn't realize you were looking for a relationship," Yusei commented casually as though Jack wasn't seething. As if Jack wasn't planning to murder Yusei with his bare hands.
"Nah, looking after the kids is all I need. Though since I got the future Mrs. Atlas, I'll send her off with a notice to keep a look out for lots of white with blond on top. She lost her glasses in the water, so she is blind as a bat at the moment." Crow explained for Jack's convenience since he was still glaring mostly at Yusei. But now he could relax back on his ride as he folded his arms across his chest in a thoughtful position.
"Understood," Yusei began and began reaching forward, so he was probably about the cut his part of the call when Jack snidely asked.
"So how was lunch with the family? Its just a few more tiny steps before 'you' get married."
Yusei's cheeks suddenly turned flushed from Jack's attack before he was gone from the screen. Leaving the grin on Crows' face to grow so big that it was a miracle his eyes didn't pop out. The notion that those two could find love at all was hilarious. Jack's ego was so big, that a girl able to get his attention was amazing, especially considering how klutzy cute Carly was. Yusei? Wow! Crow didn't think that Yusei knew that girls existed for dating! Mr. My deck is full of gender neutral robots and warriors.
Yet, like all unwanted memories, he recalled the last time he saw Yusei express real emotion. The guilt and anguish that Crow 'never' expected that Yusei had been carrying finally poured out. The change in personality from a cheerful kid to the somber self contained teen had finally been spelled out. Knowing that Yusei probably denied himself a lot of happiness out of guilt saddened Crow. But at least he was growing out of it if he was getting in a relationship right?
"Aren't you going to say anything more?!" Jack's disgruntled voice finally beat its way into Crows private reverie, bringing the red head back into the present.
"Huh! Oh yeah, if you go to the nearest station to us, that's where they're going to take Carly. She's missing her glasses though and Yusei mentioned something about her actively avoiding you guys? So try 'not' to blare out to the world that you are there to get her ok?"
Jack gave a haughty 'humph' before disconnecting his end of the call leaving Crow on the back of his ride and amused. Welp, now was the time to get to know his future sister in law from Jack. He was sure he'd eventually get a similar chance to know this 'Aki' girl even better as well. Jack seemed to fall for his polar opposite in personality, while Yusei seemed to get a more traditional girl.
Crow dismounted his ride before he walked along towards the small group, Carly sticking out due to her height. The kids were guiding her about by swarming around her and he had to shake his head in amusement. How much fun could be introduced by going to Neo Domino? "I got my friends on alert for you sis. So don't worry, they split up so one is looking about for your deck and one is waiting to pick you up."
Carly gave a fragile smile that held no hope that her deck could be found safe, resigned to the loss. But if she was going to be riding with Yusei and company; eventually, she would have to get used to the miracles that they could pull off.
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"I have to go, Crow found Carly," Yusei dismounted from his D-Wheel that was parked in front of the large home and walked up to Aki. Aki's family home was large, as to be expected of a Senator, but the silence of the place made him uncomfortable. Something that big made him keep expecting the sound of small feet running around and the lack of such sound felt wrong. Yet it was to be expected considering this was the home of a family of privilege, not an orphanage.
Breakfast had been at the twins home, shared with the pair of eager happy kids before leaving him with instructions to eat anything he wanted. Followed by an intense few hours looking up the history of duelists like Aki, only to find the information strangely prolific and sparse at the same time. There were tons of rumors and discussions on the dangers of such duelists. But little on where and when they first appeared.
Most sites only had rumors about psychic duelists ranging back about 10 years, even then as rumors. But if Yusei was going to get a grip on how Aki's hair clip worked he needed to know the tech that went behind it. But who built anything and did 'not' put the information in some form online? No concrete information regarding how these people came about. Was it from exposure to some substance, an environmental change, evolution kick started by any one of these factors?
If these powers 'were' controlled by the emotional stability of the person, there should have been more information online. Designs for ways to suppress these powers even if it was purely from the governments' preservation of people. Keeping those deemed too dangerous out of sight of the rest of the country. But, than perhaps that explained why there 'was' no information, they may have already been locked up. Only, if that 'was' the case, why not lock up Aki, as well? Or was she protected by her fathers' status or was it Divine?
There should have been some type of specs somewhere for inhibiting the power of a person's ability. Unless Divine kept everything off the grid by keeping it in hand written documents. Only that seemed irrational considering the fact that he saw Aki as a weapon for a war. Yusei started thinking he would have to hack the Arcadia Movement directly to get that type of information. But despite it being disbanded he didn't want to start hacking things using the twins computer system. He didn't need anything traced back to the twins when it was just him doing the research.
So Aki calling him inviting him to lunch had broken him out of his research mode, which had she not, he would have just skipped the meal. But it was Aki inviting him, and he begrudgingly left the computer to attend said lunch. All the while his mind churning away at questions about her abilities and what would or could set them off. If the last attempt was any indication, cards had minds of their own so being triggered to react to something could become dicey.
So maybe if he spent more time around Aki, her deck would learn to trust him? If that could happen he could, maybe, get her to take off the clip and begin researching the thing. Doing so would possibly mean keeping her isolated from people with a deck so spirits couldn't find and bothered her. Which was the excuse he gave himself to justify the lunch meet up.
Since it hadn't been just 'attend lunch' it was 'have lunch with my mother and I'. Which besides being a modest, though richer than he was used to, meal had made him to put work thoughts on the back burner. Coupling the thoughts on improving Aki's hair clip was Aki's mother in her subtle to some interrogation of Yusei. She was modest, a demure woman trying to get to know Yusei better, and Aki was trying to emulate. But Aki was strong willed and determined when motivated, despite sharing her mother's looks, she was just a stronger woman. So did Aki want to be lady like because that was who she aspired to be or because she felt that was what was expected of her?
Learning that Carly was actively hiding from Jack had been disconcerting, despite her being Jacks' responsibility. She was one of those who had died and been brought back, he had thought she didn't remembered anything and went on with her life. Aki had confirmed that, through her interactions with Carly, but she had also revealed a startling fact about the 'return'. Memories were tampered with, but the history of the world was not all that different, a brief check showed that death certificates existed. For those who had been dead longer the certificates had rescinded notations added, acknowledging that these people were no longer dead.
So Yusei had been surprised when Aki told him that Jack had been looking for Carly, Jack wouldn't waste the time on something he considered trivial. So his persistence in finding her spoke volumes on how much she meant to the blond. Thus helping Jack find Carly became important to Yusei, not just for Jack's romantic endeavors, but also as a foundation on figuring out what happened to Kiryu and the others.
And somehow between two deeply complicated matters he managed to have a delicious lunch with Aki.
Now, with Crow's call having been completed he knew he was free of having to find Carly, all he had to do was find her deck.
"May I help?" Aki asked as she approached his D-Wheel her fingers lightly resting on the handlebar.
Yusei considered her aid, being chauffeured would also mean a third person to look for the deck. When Aki reached up and pulled off her hair clip before she brushed back her long bangs with a casual gesture. The long bangs framing her face as she reached down and lightly placed her finger tips on the small box she wore clipped to her hip that carried her deck. Focusing her mind on her Witch of the Black Rose in an effort to call forth the spirit without 'everyone' showing up as well. But such a passive summons, would it even work?
For which, the sight of Black Rose Witch floating up from her hip to face her was a little less upsetting for Aki. The Spirit looked at Aki with her own large eyes and realizing she had been intentionally summoned caused a big grin to spread on her face. Her ghostly appearance began to solidify until she looked as though she was physical floating between Aki and Yusei. "You called me!"
"Ah, yes, I was wondering if you could help us with something?" Aki asked, while Yusei moved around the Witch and stood to Akis' side. His eyes observing the witch with the clinical eye of a strategist. "Wait, Yusei? Can you see my Witch?"
A quick abrupt nod from him, filled her with reassurance that she didn't look like she was talking to thin air. That she 'could' control her powers and bring out the spirits on her own terms. But she forced her mind back on track, "We need to find Carly's deck, its a Fairy themed one. Can you help us find it? It's not on her at the moment."
"Sure! Just me or all of us?" Black Rose Witch asked, waving her wand towards Aki's deck to remind Aki she had a small army at her disposal.
Leaving Aki a little wondering on that herself, she had never really summoned a great deal of her cards at once. Could she summon all of them or just the those she could fit on her duel disk, or sustain all of them if she did? Exhaustion was something she had suffered before when summoning one of her Spirits. Though was it because it was a tiring business or because she was whipped up into an emotional frenzy that destroyed things? Questions she would need to learn eventually if not sooner.
"Carly lost her deck around the edge of Neo Domino and likely the part facing Satellite. So its really up to Black Rose, keep in mind though, that a large group of duel spirits could cause a situation. Also, depending on how close you have to be to her, I might not see her after a certain distance," Yusei provided with a slight shrug at the idea of the offered aid.
Black Rose looked between the two of them, seemingly stunned that Yusei could see her, then she turned her attention back to Aki. "Hmm well... I think I should be ok on my own. Though you might need to be with me. If I fade out of his line of sight before I can find the girls then what good is it? 'Sides those Fairies have their hands full with her, so they would probably be scouring the area looking for her as well. But if they're doing that, then they may not be protecting the deck at all. Its a toss up really, cuz I don't know them all that well."
Yusei nodded and looked down at his ride, "I have a spare helmet you can wear if I carry you."
"Wait? Ride on your D-Wheel? Where would I sit?" Aki asked in mounting panic at the thought, what with her wearing a short dress and there was no real room for her on the D-Wheel.
"You can sit there," he pointed to the side bar on his D-Wheel, then pointed down. "Or stand up holding on and have your feet down there and you can stand like surfers do."
"I can't sit there! My lap is almost at eye level with you!" Aki protested, her cheeks getting flushed while a hand instinctively went to pull on her mid thigh length dress to bring it down further.
"You live here, don't you have pants?" He countered casually, despite the fact that her observation and retort brought a blush to his own cheeks.
They had this moment of consistent staring with Black Rose hovering between the two and trying to figure these kids out because OMFG! When suddenly, amid her trying to fathom Yusei, Aki tore the poor witch out of the air and began towing said witch with her towards the house. Quick stepping with Black Rose tucked in her arms like a small doll no less.
"Wait you're going to get on that machine with him?!" Black Rose began blustering in shock as she was carried. "That can't be safe!"
"Yusei will look after me, don't worry. Besides he has a point, if I have to be in a certain range of you for you to be visible... No, I need to be with him, you can't expect me to believe you would be willing to risk the Fairies safety out of this." Aki countered as she thought about it. Thought about how she would feel if she lost her deck to a situation out of her control? Yusei was right about where the likely places to look would be. Anywhere else and Carly wouldn't have survived to be found by Crow. She would have died in the deep waters, and probably only got into her situation in another attempt to avoid Jack.
Now that Aki was learning about her abilities and the Spirits involved in her life, she couldn't help but feel for Carly. Aki had collected her deck over the years, even if they became weapons to lash out at the world with. She still felt a bond to those cards and the idea of losing them was like losing a piece of herself. Perhaps if she had still been under Divines' tutelage, she might have willingly gotten rid of the deck. Her association of her powers and Divine made her deck just a tool for war, but if she wanted control. If she wanted to learn and be able to live with her powers she couldn't see the deck as weapons but as people. For that matter just having Black Rose Dragon and Witch of the Black Rose interacting like they had, brought about the proof that they weren't just weapons.
Carly was overly dependent on her deck and viewed them as alive despite having no ability. She would be crushed if those cards were damaged or lost, feeling like she had failed them. Unlike Aki who could always see her deck and viewed them as non living entities. Their situations being reversed made Aki not want Carly to lose her friends. So Aki struggled to force any discomfort out of her as she dashed into her room and quickly stripped out of her dress and into a black pair of pants and a princess cut rose colored top.
She started looking for the matching necklace when Black Rose floated into her line of sight again. "What are you doing?"
"I have a bracelet and necklace that goes with this outfit."
"And how does that help us find the Fairies?" Black Rose asked, crossing her doll like arms, the tip of the wand glinting with light.
Then Aki stopped, her brain making her go over what she just said, then she snatched up her witch and started out the door again before said witch could go off on 'that'.
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Jack was grateful for the chance to get his nerves back under control, now that he knew where Carly was. Raging at Yusei and Crow had helped give him an outlet for his distress when Crow informed them that he had found her. Calling Misty's agent in the later hours of the night demanding to talk to her right then had got him an answering machine. One that he blew up with his outrage that the phone wasn't instantly picked up for someone of his position.
Yet Misty, herself, had called him back directly during the morning with a simple, cryptic message that he wouldn't find her that 'his family would'. No amount of ranting, raging, or imperious orders was enough to sway the woman. Indeed she sounded 'amused' by his frustration as he tried to drag the information out of her! His anger making him ignore the tingling in his arm from his mark as he drove about Neo Domino again.
Now across Neo Domino, he had a direction to go in! Thanks to Crows' call he knew where she was, and even that she was on her way back! The drive helped ease his nerves from when he got the call that Crow began with 'So I fished this girl named 'Carly' out of the ocean.' Growing up on Satellite, there had never been a time when he heard that line that didn't involve a corpse. The sentence had plunged Jack into the darkest of grief before Crow merrily continued on that she was ok, but she lost her glasses and deck.
It was all Jack could do to avoid plunging his fists into the screen and choking Crow for his casual ambivalence about the situation. The only things that stopped him was that without the screen his D-Wheel would wreck and because Crow wasn't there. She was alive though, she was safe with Crow and his kids so Jack could regain his regal composure. He could calm down and brace on facing her despite having killed her. Granted he tried to burn with her, but she had foreseen that and stopped him.
The loss of her memories of those recent days was fine as far as Jack was concerned, she just had to woo him again like she had the first time! It wouldn't be hard, she just had to be herself while pursuing him and they could resume what was already developing. She just had to get over her ridiculous unfounded fears! But if she was going to run and hide every time she saw him, well it was for the best if she was cornered in a Security building. They would talk, and hopefully she would understand that she needed to stop running from him. They would get her home somehow, since his D-Wheel was a single person vehicle and resume their relationship while she went about getting new glasses. Simple.