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

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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Evening at the Kaiba mansion found Mokuba walking in to check on Ryu, expecting to find the child playing some game or reading a book. Ryu's game room, formerly his own, was mostly pale colors, white walls with a soft faint yellow carpet, making the rich brown wooden desk against the wall to stand out with the computer resting on it. A glance at the screen and Mokuba took a moment to ponder what could hold his son's interest.

Homework had long since been finished, normally Ryu would be spending time with his mother, having worked or been at school all day. Something that Mokuba fiercely welcomed given his own lack of a mother. Thus finding his son on the computer shuffling a deck and, in fact, looking 'at' the school website. Well Mokuba was a bit confused. Now curious, the CEO learned over his sons' shoulder.

"Student attendance list? What have I told you about hacking your schools' computer system? And Ryu is something going on at school? Something you didn't tell your mother or I?"

Ryu shrugged as he sat there, discreetly tucking the deck under his arms as he crossed them. Leaning back against his chair with this displeased expression on his face reflected back by the screen. "I'd report it if I understood it..."

'He sounds more and more like us everyday. He's a kid, I'm no better than Gozoboro, Big Brother...' Mokuba thought to himself with a small shake of the head. Not in class or at work and the child dressed in a polo shirt and jeans. Close enough to casual business wear it was a wonder if he knew he 'was' a kid. "Well give me the preliminary report."

"Well," Ryu's face twisted as he tried to rationalize what he saw that day, to explain the events going as far as to tuck his head down before he gave a helpless shrug. "Ruka said she sensed Aki on the school grounds, it got her in trouble with the Vice Principal... It was strange, there was a guy I don't recognize there..." With that Ryu dropped his head in his empty hand for a moment as he tried to see that moment again in his mind. But it was starting to blur, something... Something...

Mokuba gave a small snort before shaking his head, then he remembered. "Oh, yes the senators' daughter, well. You're not required to remember every person in Neo Domino. A person in the school that you don't remember is normal."

He got the look from Ryu the moment the snort left his nose, unamused and annoyed. Somehow Ryu learned his Bothers' disapproval expression, "She's... You know she's dead right?" He pulled a chair over and sat down facing his son before leaning his head slightly to the side. The news hadn't hit public media yet, due to her social status. Ryu would know simply by proxy of being a Kaiba, however; Mokuba had not the heart to mention that she had been 'murdered'. So the expression seemed wrong on Ryu. Now if the child knew she had been 'murdered' well... "that girl, Ruka, is half of a pair who live by themselves. Up until recently they had no real 'adults' looking after them. I can't fault her sensitivity to the slightest chance that Izayoi was still alive."

Ryus' expression shifted, not much, but it wasn't in that resigned 'parents don't understand' into something more deeper. Something he was thinking about that was stopping him from just accepting Mokuba's opinion. "I did it myself after my Big Brother and the others died. It hurts, its a betrayal of sorts even when you know their absence wasn't their intention. But you have to accept that they're gone, and she along with her brother will come to accept it as well."

"I know Father. I know it up here," Ryu pointed to the side of his head before bringing his hand down to his chest. "But its' here that keeps saying otherwise. There's something here in the school attendance records. I just know it," the boy replied, the soft sound of his foot tapping against his chair leg began.

"Well.." Mokuba sat back before shaking his own head slightly. "How about this, since your mother is going to be convinced that I'm hording you away. You go spend some time with her before bed, and I'll plug in the school attendance and see what I find when I have the chance."

Ryu glanced up at his father in surprise, Mokuba was immune to all types of manipulations if there was something. "You don't mind? Because its weird, I can't even remember everything clearly anymore..."

"All the more reason for me to go and get the program set up and running, so tell me what you 'do' remember while its still in your head. Then go downstairs and spend time with your mother," Mokuba instructed, ruffling Ryu's hair.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Later that night \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

'Well, that certainly 'is' interesting...' Mokuba mused as he leaned back from his desk. A frown on his lips that he covered with his hand. 'I think Ryu interrupted something...' The proud smug thought crossed his mind as he scanned the information. Ryu had hacked the schools' records and made a pure visual copy of it on his own hard drive. A wise decision, as it turned out, for someone had attempted to hack the self same school system information.

And they most certainly got in and made the changes they wished, Mokubas' own computer had recorded the incident and the change that they had implemented. It wasn't a new type of virus or hacking job. There had been the rare attempts at hacking schools' information to change grades and averages for students. But this didn't touch the grades, it was the 'names' that were changed...

'Ahh Ryu, whatever got you curious has a bit of a trail. Normally it would be amusing to play with them in the corporate world. Only you go to that school so its off limits. What's going on...'

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When dawn finally made its appearance it found Yusei glaring at it with all the intensity of a drill sergeant. A lesser being would have curled back to whatever hole they crawled out of, but dawn was an eternal signal that no matter what. The world would carry on without his attitude so he better drop it. Soon the alarms would go off, the twins would wake up and as soon as Yusei could get them fed and in school. He was free to spend the day looking for that black car.

Until then, he stood outside, leaning against the railing of the condo and staring into the soft shades of dawn.

'Yugi wouldn't say the twins would see Aki at school if it wasn't going to happen. Maybe I'm jumping at shadows, but I need to know.' The thought of just asking Yugi sprang up to his mind, only to be brushed aside. 'He made it pretty clear he's not interested in holding my hand in everything. I may not be asking about the future, but at the very least I can check around. At least he won't be able to accuse me of being lazy or taking advantage of him.'

Thoughts of getting Jack to help him canvas the city came to mind, only to be pinned to 'things to do once the twins are at school' in his mind. Crow would be busy with the very least Patty's family so it would be better to leave the redhead out of the search. Though he probably could get Crow to keep an eye out while he was at work. Plans that had been established and in place in his mind were checked over as something to do. Before he finally pushed himself from the railing overseeing the city and turned back towards the condo.

The twins would be waking up soon, and while it wasn't ready to eat, Yusei 'did' have everything he planned for breakfast ready. Just pull it out, heat up the pans and make breakfast, like any other day. In the distance, under the shadows of the condo, Yusei could see the recognizable pair of sleepy heads. If nothing else their eternal loyalty and support were about the only thing that helped ease him down from his anxious desire to get out and do something.

'I suppose they're technically holding me back. But I appreciate it all the same,' Yusei thought as he approached the sliding doors. As blood splattered across in jagged pieces, an wholly unbidden and unwelcomed reminder of what poor, loyal Rua had endured for his sister. What a version of Yugi had actually done that night as well. Yugi had said one of his alternates, a 'girl' Yugi had answered Rua's plea for help.

Put aside the whole god thing, what she must have felt when confronted by that night. 'If I met her, I'd have to remember to thank her for helping them.' Blood leaking down from the glass brought another thought to the front though, amid regrets that life wasn't as simple as he thought. That it wasn't just card games and motorcycles, but a full... 'What do I call it? A supernatural layer? Magic? I barely can fathom the fact that Psychics exist. How do I even begin to label this? I don't know...'

How could he help? He couldn't summon like Ruka could, when Divine struck him with those energy blasts Yusei could handle those. Energy couldn't be destroyed, only transformed or dissipated, so hitting Yusei with a fireball was one thing. Summoning Black Rose Dragon and using her to slam Yusei into concrete, he could handle. But now it was spirits, nebulous, intangible entities that he couldn't grab, quantify or label.

Because Jounouchi Katsuya was dead, and yet everyone swore that they spoke to him. 'Ghosts, Duel Spirits, Reincarnated souls and Gods... Give me a machine any day.'

In the distance he could see Rua stick his head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush sticking out the side of his mouth. The frown just dipped his brow enough to make Yusei aware that the twins probably were trying to talk to him. With a sigh, he slid open the door and stepped inside again, forcing himself back into his mundane physical world. Nice, safe, Rua you look like a rabies infested human puppy...

"Is everything ok big brother?" Ruka asked as she poked out of the bedroom, half her hair up, the other half in her hands and already being expertly put into place.

"Yeah, sorry I'll go get breakfast ready," Yusei apologized as he turned his steps directly towards the kitchen. "Actually do you know if Patty will be going to school today?" He called out as he went to the fridge.

"Um yes? So far as I know she'll be there," Ruka replied.

'So maybe I can borrow Crow for the day...' Yusei thought as he started redrawing the canvasing lines he had drawn up in his mind.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Carly's apartment \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"I will be out today lending Yusei a hand," Jack announced as he strode into the living room of the apartment. Carly sat on the couch her work bag on her lap with her hands buried in it, she looked up at his announcement. Her eyes invisible behind those thick glasses, but her brows were furrowed enough before smoothing out. She wasn't wearing anything too flashy, if he was any judge of fashion, she even looked as though she was trying to look proper. Jeans and a nonstripped sweater that gave her a bookish, innocent touch.

"Sure, is there anything I can do?" she asked as she counted in the back of her mind all her supplies.

Jack, riding leathers already on, opened his mouth to boastfully inform her that, she could investigate a black car. But there was a nagging guilt that ate away at him, 'I don't need her getting snoopy around anyone related to the bastard that murdered Aki. Specially when I'm not around...' For all of a brief moment he pondered excuses of why she couldn't. Kings' duty, or some other grand gesture felt flat... 'She hasn't touched her damn fortune telling since... Bah why not.' "The king wishes for a reading!"

Carly's glasses slipped down to the tip of her nose, giving her a cute owlish blink as she stared up at him in surprise. But not in confidence, that had been in hiding for a time now. Stumbling over her surprise she finally gave a, "but you never want a reading... Since when would 'the king' need some fumbling fool..."

"ENOUGH WOMAN! I said I wanted a reading, now go get your damn fairies!"

"HEY! Watch it! They have feelings to you know!" Carly shot back with some of her normal vigor. But the elephant in the room was now poking its trunk and waving merrily at the pair. Carly fairly squirmed as she reached over to her hip to produce the deck. One hand pushed her glasses back up her face, her lips a straight line of apprehension.

'Its not as though he ever believes in my readings... I suppose he just wants me to feel better, the big lug.' She told herself as she felt the smooth leather of the deck holder under her fingers. She pulled out her deck and began shuffling if for no other reason than to please her 'King'. "Just draw a card or do you have an actual question?"

"ooooh no this is NOT a good day for a reading!" Hu cried out uselessly as Carly began shuffling, while her fellow fairies joined into the spiraling dance. A dance that was struck with a sudden and terrible case of turbulence. The fairies fought desperately to get into their normal rotation. Something buffeted with enough force to send them spiraling off if they tried to relax.

"This makes no sense! There's no wind!" Hikari protested as her wings beat with a humming birds' speed just to stay close to the others.

"Carly! Help us!" Swees' plea fell on deaf ears as the glow of water that was her element swirled more like a whirlpool.

It caught Hikari's own light and scattered it across the room for only them to see En strained just to ascend up towards the group. Colors of light clashed and crashed against each other across the room. Jack's white riding suit looked more like a mottled target of paint gun target practice, as the fairies strained. Their wings didn't stop pumping against the nonexistent wind while they squinted against the pressure that pushed against them.

"Calling it now, we're about to get the Chee reading," Ann announced in a neutral voice. "Even the day that Carly died, we didn't have trouble."

It was the last thing she managed to say before the forces that had been pushing the fairies apart seemed to change its mind. Shoving the fairies together and flinging them in a cruel parody of their normal prediction dance.

Unaware of their struggle, Carly continued shuffling as her cards slipped out of her hand. Despite the same style of shuffling she had used for ages, two of her cards slipped out and tumbled down her lap to her feet.

Face up.

"Super Lucky and Super Unlucky." Jack read aloud, leaning down at the waist to look at the two cards that stared up at them. He wanted to grind his teeth as he heard Carly whimper and before she could speak he took her deck from her unresistant hands. "How can you have two of the fairies next to each other? The probabil-" he began when he turned over the top of the deck, then the next card, then the next... "This isn't possible..."

With Hikari and Chee on the floor looking up at them, the next four pulls were of Hu, Swee, En, and Ann. It was like getting Exodia on your opening hand, impossible especially with the way Carly shuffled her deck. But she didn't have repeats of her fairies in her deck, and this was enough to make Jack more tense than he liked to admit.

"I see. We're going to be super lucky on our search. But who we're looking for is going to be super unlucky when we find them! Very good Carly," Jack announced recognizing her silence and achingly wanting to stop whatever upset emotion he had inadvertently brought about.

She sniffed hard before she looked up at him. Through her thick lens he could see her struggling to believe him. "Yeah?"

"Yes!" He stated with confidence he didn't feel, standing up to remind her of his towering, confident presence. Even if it was false, or an outright lie he could see Carly take heart, if nothing else he was there.

'He's just trying to cheer me up, I didn't have a good idea what I was even shuffling for so it... please let it be ok!' She thought as she stood up.

"You dumb lug."

Several fairies commented as one, while they hung exhausted in the air in various positions of cast aside. "You're right, but you don't realize just how right and in which direction its going you are."