Judgement of the World

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: Original ending wasn't good enough, so I fixed it.

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Yusei pulled up to the school, watching the clock on his screen while he felt a sudden passive stirring sensation from his Mark. Despite his desire not to be seen, it felt as though somehow Ruka was already aware that he had arrived a day early into Neo Domino. Where as he only let Jack know, over the communicators, that he was and the taller duelist already agreed to meet him at the school.

So what if Yusei neglected to inform Jack he was still popular at the school, Jack would be a good distraction so that Yusei could focus on Aki and the twins. But thinking of Jack seemed to summon the duelist as the communication system alerted him to a call. For which turned out to be Jack himself, helmet on and clearly still in transit. "Why is my arm tingling?"

"I think Ruka is trying to ferret out my presence here. I'm trying to subdue it... but I don't know how to even control this." Yusei explained, after all the Marks didn't come with instruction manuals and he didn't want to confess that if she mentioned sensing his presence, it would work against the teacher. Because Rua would 'not' sit still if he knew that Yusei was outside the school gates waiting on them.

"And Crow is going to look after Martha's orphanage?" Jack reiterated from their earlier conversation, the trio had spent several hours in discussing what Crow's plans were. Unlike Yusei, Crow had a literal brood of children who depended on him. There was no question as to if he would just abandon the children to live in Neo Domino. But he wouldn't just drop them off at Martha's orphanage like a delivery service dropping off laundry.

"Yes, though I don't know if he's going to actively choose to live in Neo Domino at all." Yusei answered as the sensation in his arm began to settle down.

"Ah yes, using the bridge, the one that isn't officially opened yet. I've been meaning to ask, if you jumped it to get here so fast or did Aki bring you. But I guess the answer is that you jumped," Jack pondered aloud as an invitation for Yusei to explain himself.

An invitation that Yusei declined by not gracing Jack with an answer, but it was a pretty obvious answer. Either way he had gotten to Neo Domino on his own, and the ribbon cutting ceremony was going to be the next day anyway. Though he could hear the sound of a vehicle approaching him and with a glance saw that it was Jack.

The Wheel of Fortune was as pristine as ever and looked like Jack was keeping up with its maintenance despite not being a mechanic. Jack parked next to Yusei, following Yusei's lead by not dismounting his D-Wheel. The sound of the engine cut off cleanly, leaving only the vibration in the air to be felt and even that faded away quickly.

Leaving only the vibration that came from the scar to the relationship between the pair, Jack's pride wouldn't let him apologize for his actions and words. But at the same time he was fully aware that he crossed a serious line with his error and would have to rectify that mistake. From stealing Stardust and Yusei's original D-Wheel, which they never fully dealt with that issue, then Jacks' remarks about Aki.

"Did you find anything about Rua?" Jack finally asked his eyes taking in the walls and towering structure behind said walls, the Duel Academy building.

Yusei nodded stoically before finally answering, "its the reason why I'm going to live with the twins for a while. He went through an experience that resulted in his black out and possibly even his trouble with dueling."

"So having an adult figure around, since the twins live alone, might help them to settle down enough to let Rua process? Hn, sounds good." Jack admitted, before finally rolling back his shoulders as he asked casually, "how bad was it?"

Yusei strained his ears to ensure that the school was still closed off, ensuring that they were alone. He lowered his voice to help the privacy of their conversation, "I believe its referred to as 'justified homicide' and he was four years old."

"FUCK!" Jack swore banging his fist against a smooth platform of his ride. He 'understood' what 'justified homicide' meant, that the kid went and killed someone at age 'four'. No child should have to be put in that position, and the idea of that bright eyed, hyper kid pushed to kill. But more than that his mind was brought back to when Rua had passed out and how he neatly convinced himself it was just Rua being exposed to some strange power surge. That he never bothered to try to find out further what happened, just let it go.

"I know, and we can't investigate, Security has it as a cold case file. We can't get involved without them finding out that Rua was the one." Yusei answered his hand going to his marked check seemingly on reflex. "Not only that, he's our original fifth Signer, he has Life Stream Dragon. But that night caused him enough trauma that the Card transformed into Power Tool."

"It... transformed?" Jack asked, turning his upper body to face Yusei as though he was trying to process all this information. "How...?"

"During the duel it showed up as 'Life Stream Dragon' but all the following duels it appears, rare though it is, as 'Power Tool Dragon'. The forms match, and don't forget that Stardust actively called it 'Life Stream' back at Carly's. I can only guess that Life Stream is actively disguising itself to stay with Rua without giving him full access to what he can do." Yusei explained, his memories going back to those text files, because he 'did' go back. Recalling how the plays that Rua was already showing skill in seemed to disappear. The child could have a full hand that he could win with and do something completely irrational. Something he wouldn't have done 'before' that terrible night in fact.

"So... any clue who the corpse was?" Jack asked, as he tried to settle down so he didn't alarm the twins when they got let out.

"No... "

"Damn it Yusei... And their parents just let them live alone?" Jack asked as he recalled what little he could of his own parents and Martha's dedication to being there for the kids.

"Not really great parenting, though given Aki's upbringing I'm getting a suspicion that work is pretty much the only thing adults do..." Yusei answered as he heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from behind the wall. "I think school is over."

"Sooo?" Jack asked, not really knowing school protocols seeing that he never went to one either.

But Yusei merely got comfortable in his seat as though preparing to pull out again so Jack followed his lead. Finally an older man came to the gates and began unlocking them, he glanced up at Yusei and Jack. Clearly taken aback that there were people, duelist no less waiting, but he still opened the gates.

Yusei revved up his ride and as soon as the school employee had the gates open fully and was on his way back inside, Yusei drove onto the school grounds. As he did so, Jack rode in after and parked himself to the right of Yusei this time and took a moment to look at the exterior of the school.

"Thanks Jack."

Yusei didn't sound normal, while gratitude, like admiration, was always welcome Yusei sounded smirky.

"You're welcome, for what?"

That was about all Jack managed before he started hearing cries from the school of his and Yusei's name. Whipping his head around he watched as a virtual 'flood' of children about the twins age came pouring out. The children immediately swarmed him cheering and crying out for the attention of the Duelists when it hit Jack.

'Son of a... Yusei used me as a decoy.'

And the flood of fans didn't stop as older kids started joining in though they were showing more self control. Most of the kids saw Jack first, but he was already a known resident, thus the die hards stayed fixed on him. Others noticed Yusei secondly and broke off from Jack so they could give the new Duel King their admiration.

While the twins came bounding out going straight to Yusei in excitement after months of Yusei physically living away from them. He knelt down letting the twins throw themselves into his arms for a hug which he readily gave. The twins excitedly released him quickly letting him stand back up while the other fans swarmed about. Though he could see Bob, Tenpei and Patty working their way through the crowd towards them.

Then there was Duel Spirits.

"Yusei!"

Aki called out his name in delight as she quickly made her way over as well, amid a massive sea of Duel Spirits of seemingly every style manifested as though to herald her presence. It stole all the attention away from Yusei and Jack as everyone quieted upon suddenly coming face to face with their Signature card come to life. Yet the youngest, again, led the charge with their joyful cries. The young ones who had been at the twins place with Aki readily gave and received hugs of welcome from their Duel Spirit.

The sight of multiple small children being lifted into the air as they were hugged by large, seemingly scary, Spirits was surprising. Fairies, warriors, animals of land, sea and sky, merfolk, dragons, spirits, machines, otherwise terrifying undead beings, the school grounds became a Wonderland of Spirits. Soon making even the most dignified of students regress into childlike glee and wonder as they hugged or welcomed the chance to meet their own Duel Spirit.

Aki turned a shade of red that put roses to shame as she realized that, in her enthusiasm, she had actively unleashed seemingly hundreds of Duel Spirits to the point where they were physically interacting with the world. She could already hear the students screaming about 'the Witch' and as she desperately tried to settle her powers back down...

"THIS IS AKI'S GIFT!?" Momoe squealed so loudly that Aki was forced to turn around to check if she heard that right.

'Gift'?

And there Momoe was, her arms around Sky Scouts' neck and honestly one could 'see' the hearts floating over her head at the presence of her Duel Spirit. And he wasn't helping because he had his arms wrapped around her and a rather seductive charming smile under that mask he wore. Junko was in silent awe of her Cyber Harpy earning her a smug smirk of approval from the winged Spirit. While Asuka still there with all the casual, been there done that, grace of someone used to this.

Even if it only happened once before.

"And that is why you should give up on Aki. You don't have a snowballs chance in hell of competing against Fudo for her attention. Just showing up makes her lose this much control," Kazushi commented lazily to Judai who was following in pure awe of Aki's power on display.

Aki sighed sighed in resignation and in desperation turned back towards Yusei to make her way towards the duelist. Stardust had materialized behind him so it was easy to spot where Yusei was, while Black Rose Dragon wasn't present fully, her vines 'were' wrapped possessively around Stardust. Everyone... seemed ok...

And the ribbon cutting of the bridge was 'tomorrow' how was Yusei here 'today'?!

The Rose duelist moved easily around the spirits the students were so distracted no one was really crowding Yusei or Jack anymore. It had been months since she had seen Yusei in person and just seeing him in person made the fact that her powers had suddenly got out of control not seem so bad. So long as he was here, everything would be fine.

"So he turns your power on?" Judai asked, immediately causing Aki to wince in annoyance as a spark glimmered from her inhibitor.

\\\\\\\ Evening \\\\

"I'm not going to fix it." Yusei finally spoke into the sky, as he laid out on one of the twins pool side chairs. It was finally quiet, the school had settled down, the students had finally gone home, and he had finally been given a chance to settle his bags in the room the twins set up for him at their home. And by setting up, they basically took the toys and games out of the spare room.

"Yusei I need it," Aki argued turning to look back at him with a frown crossing her face and growing deeper as she saw his set expression. Before her bangs fell past her eyes blocking her view of him. Her hair clip was resting on the small side table between them and the scent of burnt metal had finally drifted away.

"You don't need it, you got excited, true. But you notice how all the Spirits reacted, there was no anger or confusion. In the end all its doing is holding back your bangs; you've grown since the first day we met, more than when we defeated the Earthbound. There's no reason to use crutches like that when you've learned control."

He spoke calmly, as he had watched her dealing with her powers after school showed it, there was no fatigue. The spirits, aware that she was why they could be seen, were mindful to her as though there was an unspoken understanding that she would never bring them back out if they misbehaved. While the occasional sign of a wild rose garden reminded those who 'did' remember her dark side that they were being watched.

"Have I? Hmm it... it 'is' nice not to be feared..." She confessed as she looked up into the sky, and now that Yusei was in Neo Domino... Well maybe now 'would' be a good time to let her hair down... see if this Bad Witch 'could' be Good. "I guess I would need to get a hair cut then, since my bangs are so long now..." She confessed as she lifted up her hand with some of her hair twined in her fingers.

"Or just grow the rest of it out, I don't mind," Yusei offered glancing at her raised hand before turning his gaze back up to the sky.

Akis' gaze turned thoughtful as she examined her bangs letting the silky texture of her bangs slip through her fingers.

"Patty seems to be doing much better now," Yusei commented as he continued thinking back over the group. Making sure he didn't miss any signs of distress from the twins group.

"Yeah, her grandma is living with the rest of the family now, she needs more help and Patty isn't enough anymore. So don't be surprised if she shows up here more often, because there's not enough room in their apartment for four people and well..." Aki reported thoughtfully before rolling her side, so she could look at Yusei better.

"I thought both her parents worked though," Yusei asked turning to Aki in response. "How will Patty go to school if her grandmother needs her?"

Aki's pensive expression was the only answer he got and he laid back as he began thinking of finding out how infirm the woman was now. Depending on things he could possibly build something or at the very least maintain it for them.

"All these kids and the burden they're being expected to bear..." Aki spoke aloud as she laid there her eyes going back to her hair clip.

"Was our lives any different?" Yusei asked in patiently...

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Outside Neo Domino \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

High above the city of Neo Domino a long serpentine dragon of crimson red danced along the wind streams that flowed about the city. It was invisible to the living, invisible to those who could see Duel Spirits. Dancing in the air, the mighty beast moved along invisible to the living worlds that it protected.

While outside the city, in the shadows of darkness that came with nightfall a single red jewel sparked to life. From the depths of a shadow born from a tree blocking the light of the moon a red jewel glimmered faintly like a red star. A distortion of red compared to the crimson dragon high above it, a sign that light was being restored to the world. The darkness that he ruled was being threatened and it was time to deal with this...