Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds: The Judgment of the World
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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200 classrooms crumbled empty.
Once upon a time Arcadia Movement was relocated here, outside the city limits of Neo Domino City. Gossip had it that the respected founder of the school and the son of Neo Dominos' most prominent and respected scientists didn't 'get along'. So the school was moved here and was occupied with desks that held students eager to learn. Books filled the oak bookshelves that lined the walls, with a teachers desk tucked to the side. Boasting long hallways that held statues in honor of the brightest of the school. There were lecture halls for the older students, a social area that was half a mile wide, both interior and outside gardens.
It retained the square shape with one side opened up like welcoming arms out to the world. Greeting those who would drive through the towering gates of elegantly twisted metal bars. Staring out into Neo Domino City; the gardens had been tended, the walls washed white and clean. Now those walls were black with soot, the roof fell in and the gates had melted down like candles on a cake.
The garden was dead with nothing growing, be it a flower, blade of grass, or obnoxious weed, the wood was rotting inside and out. Cracks rose from the ground, clawing at the lower eyelids of the windows of the school shattering its eyes. Blinding the building to the horror it had been forced to watch for over 20 years now.
20 plus years since the volcanos' of the world exploded. Belching out enough soot and ash to block the the light of the sun. Pock marking the whole planet surface and sending the global temperature to shatter all limits. Plants withered in an instant, the ground burned the seeds dead while animals collapsed. Aquatic life was cooked in the ocean with the beaches filled with a despairing assortment of life that tried to avoid dying in their homes. But that time had long past, the bones of whales and their smaller fellows clawed at the sky seeking escape.
The largest of forests ignited into flames that fed the sky with smoke and cooked through the animals trapped among them. Homes both for animals and people were consumed as the ground cracked open and began swallowing counties, cities, small nations whole.
Now all that was left was a nuclear winter.
It was too dark for the school to see what gutted it those years ago. The eyes were empty sockets with no spirit left to look out ahead. At the center of the landscape was a deep crater, thousands of miles deep it had pulsed with lava once upon a time. Now it was black slag as the lava cooled and hardened over the years. The crater was twice as wide as it was deep encompassing the whole city into its bowl shape. Spilling downward into that cooled lava bed was the remains of what had once been Neo Domino City...
Shattered concrete had been stabbed ruthlessly by a pillar of twisted metals from iron to steel. The iron had rusted out in parts leaving gapes along its structure the steel was weary curled up and twisted out when it was driven into the ground. Its body and fractured tip gave the appearance of an aged tree trunk, the top part had groaned and shrieked as it bent against its will. Perhaps to a person it would have been liken to an artists' metal interpretation to a Weeping Willow tree with the way the wires and metal bent low. Serving as one example of the devastation.
Even if the trunk was twisted on itself, it could have been that the tree was afraid of an angry god. The reddish rust hue of the iron had sprinkled itself liberally along the trunk, giving it color as its last offering to the living. As it lost its strength and integrity over the following years. The 'branches' hung down long and frayed, a mourning woman grieving over cruel fate.
But it took a person to make an interpretation of anything and there hadn't been one of those in almost two decades.
One only had to look around to realize no one could live in such a place. Buildings were tilted, blasted out, or crumbled heaps, broken beams of metal, cracks that raced up sides of buildings. They stood as silent obelisks and sentinels to a fallen age, with their blackened eyes of empty windows, glass that had shattered and fallen. Leaning as they did as a tree would in a strong wind, just tilted sideways, only they never got righted back up.
There wasn't even an effort to fill the massive crater with anything other than the city that collapsed into it in the first place. Tumbled down they had tilted inward, with whatever closest to the lowest most center point long since melted slag. Concrete and metal had melted down into nothing what little color was just tumbled playground equipment that had eventually tumbled their way to the Pit.
From above, there weren't roads, just shattered pieces of asphalt and concrete. No where to drive or anywhere 'too' drive. Vehicles tumbled into the Pit often near some jagged broken part of a road. Melted down into slag they served to provide a small bit of color that was lost to the ash choked sky. Beyond those little points of color one would be forgiven thinking they were colorblind. There was just shades of white to black and little in between.
There were bodies...
Broken and long dead, they had been left to decompose in their vehicles or homes or sides of the roads. Really just anywhere one could expect a person there was one. Many had been cooked in the lava or by proximity of said lava. Only being saved by the reality that they were already dead before the cooking began.
While those who hadn't reached the lava and stilled died well... Organs had relaxed, bodily wastes spilled out, rotting out organs as the skin now useless sacks eventually ruptured. Smell alone would have been ungodly, but there was no one around to smell anything. Or the irritating sound of bugs doing their nature given duty as nature's clean up crew with their billions of flies.
There were no bugs to disturb the dead.
A legless android floated over the landscape unbothered by the lack of flat surfaces to walk with single minded focus. Upright, angular in frame it projected a surveillance beam from its 'head', sweeping along the area as it continued on its course. It wasn't made with stylish metals, it was a dingy gray color, old dents that were never worked out marred its surface. It just traveled the edge of the crater maintaining a fixed distance above the ground.
The cracking sound of a chain losing its war against gravity didn't disrupt the machine as it traveled.
Nothing did.
The sky was a choked darkness, overcast with ash from volcano's that had spewed out their fire and ash into the sky. The world was cold and lifeless, the sun was cut off from the earth, so no plants grew, or animals seen.
For all intents and purposes, the world had stopped. Without the ability to see the sun, there just was no proof that the world was moving at all. It could have just stopped in the heavens and took not another centimeter forward on a normal path around the sun. Just the androids traveling across the surface of the planet.
Even on the outside from where Yugi created the Duel Spirit world originally. Serving as a place to store the original tablets that were created. More over the nature of the place allowed those spirits to roam free instead of being forced into constant slumber. From there he had wrapped the world around those tablets and gave it lush fields of grass and trees, towering mountains. Rivers and oceans, lakes and springs, and in memory of their lives or love of their partners spirits made humble villages from time to time.
During the night they could look up into the sky, and gaze upon the moon and the earth. For Yugi didn't just throw a dart on a galactic map about where he was placing this world. He tethered it to the earth and kept it trailing after the planet. A vibrant, beautiful world lovingly crafting and towed behind the earth like a balloon in the hands of a child.
Divine gazed up lazily into that night sky and looked at the smoky black ball that was once Earth. His clothes were no longer of the elegant suits, there were no more factories that made clothes for humans. While the spirits saw no purpose in such things as they manifested with whatever they wore and didn't change clothes.
So he was reduced to hyper simplistic robes that he had to craft himself. But it was worth it, the vegan diet, the lack of clothes, just to see that dirty ball of smoke and ash in the sky. Despite his advancing age he was well enough to move freely. Only the slight pain in his shoulder from that day decades ago. While the space station that had been in the works now sat empty. Its lights blinking uselessly off to the side. The lone bright adornment on the lifeless planet he was looking at, the white and red blinking to an empty universe. And no other human remained to even try to enter the Duel Spirit world.
But that was just one earth.
"Its 'Natasha', Asuka!" She whispered in squee tier glee as the spirit went about meeting the group. The centaur was currently with Ryo and Kazu who were closer to the doors. While Asuka and Junko were giving Momoe some space so she could get to know Spirit of the Breeze.
"I remember," Asuka replied with a faint amused smile on her face. "You wrote that fan fic about Cyber Harpy, Natasha and you going on adventures..." Asuka recalled with such warmth in her voice as she recalled that twenty page story. While most of the beats of the story were lost to Asuka at this age she could still remember the friendship. Junko had wrote how the three of them were friends and gave the two spirits elaborate backstories. "Harpy was a fashion model turned agent and Natasha was a government agent...? Right?"
"Oh my Gods don't bring it up! I can't stand it if she finds out!" Junko moaned in embarrassment. Hoping against hope that Asuka didn't remember that Junko did shipping with her 'friends' as well.
"Fan fic?" Witch repeated inquisitively.
Causing Junko's heart to stop beating as the witch began drifting forward, her face set in the 'I have questions that must be answered' smirk of doom.
A wail of 'Noooooooo' could be heard, a wail that the guys resolutely ignored while they began vetting Natasha.
"Soo besides being late, for you to be aware means you have a partner right? What happened to them?" Ryo asked as he craned his neck up to look at the towering spirit.
She in response began lowering her body so she was laying down, still towering but at least they weren't about to tip over! "Well he died during that big machine thing you had happening years ago. He never dueled with any of us, he was a card collector and he used to brag that the case he kept us in could protect us from anything..." Her lips ticked up to a smile under her mask, and her voice was mostly steady only with a small, almost miss-able, hitch. "He was right. It kept us safe while he got blasted to pieces shielding us."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Kazu offered while Queen watched the garden in a guard mode state.
"Its ok, its been years and he was a good guy. I heard good humans have nice afterlives so I'm not worried. After that I've just traveled about the Duel Spirit world and living life until the Ancient Fairy set out her call."
"And you answered," Fubuki added, 'but how was she late?'
Fubuki sat on the edge of the bench, with Ryo bracketed between himself and Kazu. On the edges of his vision he could see Panther Warrior and the other spirits from Jounouchis' deck beginning to spread out. Looking outward ever since the Ojama came calling for help. While high above Cyber Phoenix had began circling the hospital. 'They're afraid aren't they? They're afraid of Yusuke and Yubel.'
"Pretty late one might point out," Queen rumbled out while her tail twitched in answer. But her point earned a flinched half grin from the centaur. The two quickly locking in a staring contest, leaving Ryo and Kazu trapped into watching the pair and wondering what the hell. Seconds dragged into minutes, until Natasha's hands began clenching in tension.
"OK! I ADMIT IT! I FORGOT!" Natasha blurted out, cutting every conversation into silence as everyone turned to look at her. "I FORGOT I CAN HEAL! I was trying to sign up to help defend one of the Ancient Libraries! Only for one of the Apprentice Magicians to point out that I have a healing ability! That while, yes, there was a need for a 'powerful' healer, there was also a need for a healer in general!" Natasha confessed before leaning forward to glare more intensely at Queen.
"I like her," Kazu leaned over and whispered to Ryo a half smile on his face. "She and Junko would get along great I think."
Momoe smiled a bit from her seat as she watched the guys with the two spirits. Spirit of the Breezes' presence alone was stirring a gentle breeze about her. The touch was cool on her heated skin, soothing even the itching that came from her body's attempt at growing new skin. It was failing, the fire was eating it away, but it didn't stop trying. But it was still itchy and still under the bandages she had to wear. Causing her fingers to pick at them and try to wiggle the tips of her fingers under them in an effort to alleviate the itching.
"Dian is a nice spirit aren't they?" She asked Spirit, her voice a little cracked from lack of her normal use. But Spirits eyes flickered with some awareness when it heard Dians' name.
"Yes, nice..."
Momoe sat there and openly studied Spirit out of curiosity, having been told how these spirits came about. Understanding her importance in how Sky Scout turned out the way he did, 'I wonder what attributes she would have had if her partner had continued living. She's not like the other spirits with their full robust personalities. She's almost like a little kid herself, just very closed off," she mused.
"Can you tell me about your partner? I know he's not here anymore, but I'd like to hear about him..." She offered.
Spirit turned slowly to observe Momoe, the spirits' hair flowed about her, dancing on a self sustaining breeze. "He didn't move a lot. He got tired fast. Sick, he was 'sick'. Cried a lot, tall people gave pills to make him smile..." Her eyes drifted down to the flow of her gown and glow of her body. "He doesn't move anymore. But I'm always moving."
"I bet he would have loved to see you moving, you're so pretty, if there had been someone who could make you visible for him. I'm sure he would have loved to see how you flow and glide." Momoe admitted, there was just this softness to the spirit. It kept her mind on a bubble the way the light danced along the surface. 'Her colors will probably darken into their proper shades the more she develops...' Momoe thought to herself as she saw Aki rejoining the group and head straight for her.
The Rose Duelists' approach was quiet but she looked at Spirit and smiled with approval, "I'm glad you're getting to know them Momoe. I was hoping I can work on getting the healing done now while the doctors are away. Eventually they'll want to bring you back inside but its such a nice day..."
Momoe blinked before nodding slowly, "Oh, I... actually I've never seen the spirits use their abilities like that.." she confessed. Fly? Change things around? There were things she had seen, sure, but 'healing' felt... different, special. Knitting flesh back together? Healing bones? Those were different than blasting things apart with an energy blast.
"Spirit of the Breeze? Would you allow me to call upon your ability?" Aki asked, her voice softened in a way no one had heard before. Even her own unseen spirits perked up at this soft, kind voice.
Spirit answered turning slowly to look up at Aki before drifting over to her. Allowing Aki to quiet her thoughts and strengthen her bond with Spirit, the way her own spirits felt to her. A temporary bond of course. But as she gave the gentle voiced command she felt Spirit answer, the small girl like being extended her arms towards Momoe, the breeze that had been cooling Momoe's overheated skin grew stronger.
Momoe felt the need to scratch at the itching fade away, the stilted discomfort that was her days long struggle eased. She felt the bandages on her skin again, the rough fabric used to wrap around her head. The black void that had once been part of a whole line of sight was brightened to a grayed about the edges presence. Coming back into focus... "I wish you could do this all the time..." She began as her voice cracked. "I want to go back to how I used to be... I can see out of my eye... the world is coming back … Bring it back to me Aki... Please bring back the world..."