Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: The Judgement of the World
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Darkness was settling comfortably around them, a cool evening breeze chilled the teens causing them to shiver. The faint sounds of helicopters and trucks rumbled on them warning the teens that the volcano's collapse was noted by local authorities. But they kept waiting...
Stars started to appear through out the sky and reluctantly the group moved off the soft ground, working their way to the edge of the volcano and climbing their way out. The mask was tucked under Fubuki's coat as he helped his sister and Ryo hobble along. Kazu helping the girls as they sought the protective cover of trees. After all, they 'were' just Japanese students illegally on Chinese soil.
But they kept waiting at the tree line hidden under brush and leaf.
"Where are they? Aki you better get your spirits in line and come out right now." Junko grumbled fanning the pain from the fall against an unnamed growing concern as she shivered in the evening air..
"Its so dark I can't see anything, and once the crews show up we 'really' shouldn't be here," Momoe agreed hugging her scratched and bloody knees.
"Fubuki, what are the Spirits saying?" Kazu asked his senpai politely as the girls began to huddle against him.
"Dunno, I can't see duel spirits with my naked eyes..." Fubuki answered before, begrudgingly, pulling out his mask. While he couldn't see Duel Spirits his time seemed to have left him with 'some' enhanced sight. He could see the mask, a type of soft blue outline, an outline that was reflected around the hips of the group with him. In the shape of duel monster cards. But he sucked in a breath and lifted the mask to his face when Asuka's hands grabbed his wrists.
"No! You can't put that on! We just got you back!" She argued defensively, earning a sweet little smile from her older brother.
"Aww its ok Asuka. Its not the mask that held me back, I lost a duel, I had to pay the penalty," Fubuki answered with a tired grin.
"You'll have to forgive her, until we met Aki even the thought of magic being real was preposterous to us." Ryo answered quietly as he kept his eye out for strangers.
"Is she cute? And way more importantly, is she your girlfriend?" Fubuki teased and got jabbed in the side by Asuka earning more life to his grin.
"She's the girl to current Turbo Duel King and I don't think Fudo believes in dealing with would be rivals with a deck of cards," Momoe answered with a grin of her own.
"More like 'deck you with his fist'," Junko agreed with a nod and a smile of her own.
"Ooooh high school sounds more fun than when I was last there," Fubuki chuckled as the familiar weight of the Red Eyes Black Dragon mask was placed back over his face.
"What if he can't hear us? I mean its a mask that covers his eyes, but what about his ears?"
"We need a magician..."
"Does Time Wizard count?"
"Don't shh he's got the mask on."
"Uhh Hello..."
Fubuki blinked before his lips twisted into a rueful little smile, "Well everyone is here and I can hear you so..."
He began only to be cut off by a very anxious ballerina looking duel spirit out right rushed him..
"Tell Asuka I'm sorry! Aki's power cut off and I couldn't carry Asuka anymore! We know you're waiting for Aki to show up... But she's not going to! We don't know where she is! Please tell them that Aki's gone! Completely vanished!" The eye shield did nothing to hide the anxiety and panic the dancer had on her face or the tone in her voice. While all about them other spirits nodded with various degrees of worry.
"She spoke to Red Eyes, but as the volcano began coming down she commanded us to rescue our partners! We fled but we thought she was behind us." Ryo's Cyber Phoenix explained with far more calm than the dancer.
Fubuki frowned behind his mask as the spirits continued explaining what had happened once they disappeared. The weight of his coat pulled his shoulders down as they continued talking while the other humans in his sight sat there silently around him. 'Mr. Jounouchi dying is bad enough, I never wanted for anyone to die. But now this girl too?'
"The spirits are still here, and they say they don't know what happened to Aki. She clearly can talk to dragons and was talking to Red Eyes. When the volcano started coming down she ordered the Spirits to go and rescue you guys. They thought she was behind them, and since you guys have been calling out to her, they've been checking underground..." He began refraining from removing the mask, needing its presence to hide behind his guilt and shame. "There's nothing, they can't find her at all."
Junko and Momoe grabbed each others' hands in horror as what he said hit them. Kazu pretty much covered anything Ryo might have said even as his head sank into hands. Asuka just began crying, his wonderful baby sister sat there, tears trickling down her face.
Which how could she do anything less, this trip to the volcano was for her. 'I did this. Oh dear Kami I made this happen! Aki can't be dead, she came here for me! Came here to help me find my brother...' Now she had her older brother, but at the cost of finding a dead body and losing Aki. 'How are we supposed to go home? How can I face her father... OH MY KAMI! A senator, I have to face a 'senator' and tell him I got his daughter killed!? I feel sick... I feel so sick and horrible...'
"Asuka?" Fubuki pulled her into a hug as he watched her start shaking. The first time he could see her wholly as himself and he was causing her this much grief just ate away at him.
"How could this happen?" Momoe asked as Junko gave a resolute expression.
"I refuse to believe that! There are portals in various areas right? What if she took one? We can't see them but she can! She must have taken one and gone into the Duel Spirit world! If she's there of course the Spirits wouldn't see her here!" Junko argued, earning a slight shake of the head from Fubuki.
But it was so dark it wasn't as though any of them could see him clearly anyway. He was just another shadow lost in darkness.
"You're right! Where's Witch? She must be around here or there? She wouldn't abandon Aki so shes must be near by!" Momoe desperately clung to Junko's logic as they turned to look at Fubuki. "Oh I shouldn't cry, ow my eyes sting..."
"I... guess its feasible to check around. We just go home but they need portals..." Djinn begrudgingly noted as she sat next to Kazu.
"That is true.. But I saw no such portals underground. It would be a useless place to just have one in a spot that was once solid earth. But they are merely trying to deny the a bitter reality," Phoenix noted as he stood on a non existent perch. "I wonder, does that mask afford you to see portals young man?"
"Yeah... I can lead the group through the forest," Fubuki answered promptly.
"Ah good, good, we'll go and search. Please look after our partners," Phoenix answered as he turned so he didn't just fly into one of the other spirits. One after another disappeared, leaving only Gilford sitting off to the side, his gaze stoically fixed on Fubuki.
"They've gone to find Panther Warrior. Going to bring him back to the deck... We didn't realize those cords on you were suppression. Maybe if we hadn't been so gullible, we would have gotten you out sooner. Maybe we could have saved Jounouchi and that girl. But I suppose its true what they say, decks reflect their partners. What are a bunch of thick corded, dumb meat head warriors compared to a God? If it had been Yugi, Dark Magician would have been on him in a second. Kuriboh would have been on him just as fast and it doesn't even have a mouth! Us? We just... We let that kid 'die' for trying to help you." The blond warrior's face was half lost in darkness, only flicks of lightning giving him any appearance.
But his presence was a reminder that Jounouchi's deck was here as well now...
"Hey, I'm pretty sure I broke my leg. Here take my deck with you." Jounouchi pulled his deck out from the duel disk and handed it and its case over to Fubuki.
"I... I can't take your deck.. These duel spirits are real..." Fubuki began as he felt the weight of the deck get pushed into his hands. The gruff pain in Jounouchi's voice made him feel guilty to leave the man, while at the same time he had to go.
"Kid, trust me. Its a shame to think he's killed off your deck like that... But I know from experience there's a lot more to our world than just ink on card stock. Go on, save your friend then come back and help me."
"We all messed up Gilford. You could have helped me yeah, I could also have been a better duelist. I 'knew' I was being handed a different style of deck. And I still tried to play like it was mine, even after being made aware that duel spirits existed. You waited for Mr. Jounouchi and I was too flippant even though I was trying to save my friend. But the cords are gone and all we can really do is move on from here.." Fubuki noted with regret before pushing himself to his feet.
"Guys we can't stay here, there's going to be people and questions, we have to go now. I can lead us to the portals that will bring us to the Duel Spirit world at least." He held his hand out as he spoke, offering a hand down to his sister. When he felt her hand slip into his he grasped it and began pulling it up.
Ryo, for his part, had sat in silence while studying their surroundings and also futilely waiting for Aki to reappear. 'Come on Aki. Where are you? I want to duel against the Turbo Duel King, but not with the knowledge that you're dead because I didn't look after you right. I doubt he'll use his deck, he'll probably just come after me with his bare hands. He's a marked criminal after all, he's had to have done 'something'.'
But Fubuki was back and that amounted to something! Save that the loss of Aki didn't serve as a equalizer for Ryo. Loss of life was loss of life, and coupled with learning what happened to one of the big names in Dueling. 'I should have held Asuka back from this. If we had all gone together, with Yusei maybe things would have ended differently.' Only sitting around and getting lost in his own guilt wasn't going to help him. 'Even if the hand is bad, I still need to finish this match.' he thought as he moved to help Kazu get Junko and Momoe to their feet.
Their bodies groaned in pain and resentment that they were being forced to move. The whiplash that came from branches stung until they were numb. Only to ignite again as the group was forced to move. They couldn't even move 'delicately' because the ground was still soft, sinking under every foot and ensuring that there was no solid ground.
It was full night now, the reds of the sky had blended into purple and flowed into black with a few brave stars starting to peek out. Much in the way that they were all expecting their bruises to appear in by morning. School was certainly going to be a hot bed of questions and looks. The air was chill making the desire for a hot meal and warm bath more enticing. All the while carrying the soft sound of rumbling, man made rumbling.
As they moved though, Ryo felt Junko slow to a stop, but it was too dark to see what she was looking at. "Is something wrong Junko?"
"Aren't we forgetting something? I keep thinking we forgot something..." She asked as she began to pat herself down. Her hand tapped comfortably on her still shut deck case assuring her that her cards were still with her.
Everyone else stopped to look back at her before they began patting themselves down for their own decks. Voices rose up confirming that they had everything on them, no case was open, no precious card that reflected a spirit that they had bonded to was lost. Even the cards in the Duel Disk that Ryo had been using were all present and accounted for. Even if it was 'accounted for' by touch alone and Ryo's own nerves of steel given how he rode out of the volcano...
"I guess its nothing, come on, lets go home and face the music..." Junko apologized as she resumed walking. 'Please be ok Aki, you're our friend! Come back to us!'
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What a pretty little bird cage.
Crow sat on the couch in the twins' condo and did everything in his power to ignore how quiet it was. It was dark outside, night had fallen completely, the moon was in the sky with an overcast sky that was encroaching to block the sight of the silvery orb. While far below the condo Crow got a first hand look at how night looked in Neo Domino. A brightly lit city with a strangely quiet night life, maybe it was the mythical 'school night' that he heard about from snippets of tv?
Not that it helped with the quiet that he was surrounded by.
While the interior of the condo was insanely fancy for someone from his station in life. All the furniture was clean and upkeep kept it without a single tear. The fridge worked and even made ice and kept water that he could hear faintly in the distance. There was just all this 'space' that the rich could afford and yet it was just a pair of kids and Yusei who lived here.
Just a pair of kids and Yusei...
And Yusei knew them better, they trusted him as their older brother so when it happened...
Crow struggled to shove the thoughts away, and in frustration brought out his whole deck for something he could look at that he knew.
"Rua?" Ruka's voice was reedy and thin, she staggered between her brother and Yusei as they quietly arrived in the condo. Grateful for the escape from KaibaCorp and the absolute enigma that the place had become to them. Even as she fell, Yusei had already been sinking to bended knee to catch her.
That's when it hit.
For the first time since the EarthBound Gods fiasco, Crow felt his Mark burn to life, literally. Visible through the thick fabric of Yusei's coat even, they burned with a sharp flame color and the pain was intense. It was emotions, raw without context or elaboration. Fear, alarm, almost a sensation of rejection and then silence. A sharp knife of sorts seemed to cut across his arm, severing Crow from the emotions his Mark had suddenly shoved into his being.
He couldn't even feel his hand, but he could see.
Yusei was gripping his arm, while Ruka gripped her chest, her small frame curling up on itself. She couldn't even speak anymore and was reduced to soft moans of pain then nothing...
Crow couldn't even 'try' to move his fingers, Yusei seemed to have the same issue with the way he moved his arm. But he pushed through it, like a masochist Yusei pushed through the pain and caught Ruka before she hit the ground. Only to find Ruka had stopped breathing...
Yusei had performed CPR on the small girl, while Rua... just stood there zoned out in a way that actually brought out more concern from Crow. It wasn't natural, the boy's expression was vacant right before he collapsed, a house of cards made human. But he was breathing, and Crow could only hope it was the shock that Ruka had that affected her twin. Not that it lessened Ruka's condition leaving Crow anxiously watching as Yusei worked.
It was when she finally sucked in her first breath and resumed breathing on her own that Crow finally felt comfortable enough to sit back. She blinked and rubbed at her tear filled eyes, but she didn't move much beyond that. With her coming out of her, whatever that even was, Rua followed behind though he had the energy to sit up and talk. Thus Crow and Yusei carried the twins to their room, while the house phone began ringing.
With the voice mail projecting Carly's concerned voice filling the air, calling out to them...
"Hey! Is anyone home? I hope you are, better you being there than on the road. Jack's arm did a weird thing and I'm curious if you guys felt it too?"
"Woman!" Jack's voice barked out in annoyance that masked worry, a mask only the most highly experienced in speaking 'Jack Atlas' would know. It came from the background of the call, and Carly's blithly continued talking over him. Proving that Jack found himself a keeper, since he clearly needed a woman who didn't take his shit.
It was reassuring that Jack was ok, and they were ok, after Ruka's episode at least. So where was Aki?