I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters.
The night rained hard and long as Yusei, Jack, Crow and I raced to Kalin. It was pretty easy to tell where he was based on the hundred loud sirens and the flashing lights: Black n' Blue's old hideout. When I got there I saw a familiar face step in front of us.
"Citizens, I must request that you stay back. The man in that building is wanted for assault and battery of an officer."
"Trudge, don't you think that this is an excessive use of force?" I asked.
"Not my problem, I just follow orders. Besides, we try to maintain order through fear of force rather than force itself," he replied.
"The Tarkin Doctrine shouldn't apply to the slums! It shouldn't apply here!" I yelled.
"The what?"
"Nerd reference."
"Regardless, I can't let you through. Despite the goodwill of the Steel Militia you still have had personal relations with the suspect prior to the formation of the militia," he said.
"That's a load of Kuriboh!" Crow cried. "He used to be our friend, let us go in there and we'll try to talk him out. All of this is unnecessary!"
"Let me talk to my superior - HEY, GET BACK HERE!" Trudge broke off from his stance to chase after Yusei, who had gone running straight through the police line. He got to the front gate of the hideout, then he got an uppercut in the stomach from a nearby security goon.
"Yusei!" Kalin rushed out of the hideout to attack the goon, but was immediately assailed from all sides by Sector Security forces. He was cuffed and beat until he was unconscious, all the while screaming about how Yusei had tricked him. Then he saw me, and his final act before blacking out was a glare of pure, unadulterated hatred directed at me. See that there was nothing more for me to do, I turned around without a second glance.
"Trudge, can we get Yusei back?" I asked.
He nodded. "We only need Kalin. Yusei was a useful distraction, but believe me, he's on our watch list now."
I motioned for Jack and Crow to go get our friend. Then I left. I hadn't gotten far when I realized that the entire world had simply turned white. It was warm and welcoming. Then I saw the strangest looking dragon that I had ever seen. It was blue and had gigantic wings more becoming of a fairy or a butterfly than a dragon.
"I hope that is enough, that's all that I can do for you right now. I really hope that the Supreme King doesn't mind that I've distracted you from your mission" it said. I heard the voice and it was similar to an angel's, almost as similar as Anna's.
"Enough of what? What is going on? Who is the Supreme King?" I asked it.
"Your memories. There are a great many that I cannot reach. I was barely able to take this much away from your keepers, and they can't wait to see you again. We'll cover the King later." It said. Then I decided that it was a she because it sounded like a she.
"Can't I at least say goodbye to Anna?" I pleaded.
"You didn't get to back then, so I can't give you that now. There are still two years of memories that you need to account for, and they are not mine to give you. I've given you all I can, but my powers are suppressed at present, and I need you to help my chosen so that those powers can be restored." she said.
"If I can help I will, but may I ask if there's anything in it for me?" I asked.
"It would greatly please Anna to know that you're alive, and it would greatly benefit your own memories if you were to free your keepers from our collective captors." she said.
"If it will please her, then take me where I must be." I resigned. It almost seemed like the strange dragon was smiling for a moment, even if under extreme duress. Then I was back in Arcadia Movement vestments, sitting underneath the shadow of a massive tree. I saw paths, and I immediately starting following a few.
I felt extremely uncomfortable, I was in an unfamiliar forest with no way of knowing where I was or where I was supposed to be. Making matters worse were all the realizations that piled on top of me. I had flirted with Seria, and even though I now knew that I had no recollection of Anna at the time, it still made me feel really guilty. The weight on my hip from the Wakizashi that Anna had given me only felt empty, and I had no deck or duel disk. The only method that I had at my disposal to protect myself was my fist, and I doubted that it would serve me very well in a world with dragons and probably a few other monsters brought to life.
Eventually, I came to a tree so massive that I could not get around it, then I got lucky. I spied an axe. The blade on it appeared to have grown out of a massive knot on the haft. When I touched it there was a red glow around the axe, and I felt an immense power come from the axe.
"So I guess that you're the Axe of Despair, then." I grinned before I swung the axe and felled the tree in a single swoop. With the axe I made quick work of any trees that stood in my way, though I tried to avoid using it if I could. Eventually, I made it to a broken bridge that crossed a river. I couldn't figure out its depth, so I looked around at what alternate routes were available to the gate on the other side. Then I saw a boulder on a ledge that was covered in ivy. I threw the axe and it cut the ivy, releasing the boulder, which stopped the river, even if for only a brief time.
I immediately regretted losing the axe, and felt that maybe I could go back and get it, but then I realized that I would die if I did from the torrent of water that was about to spread back over, under, and around the boulder, in addition to the powder that the boulder would ground me into. Instead, I continued to the gate and entered a walled city.
Inside the city I was immediately confused. The architecture looked slightly medieval but was entirely too pastel in nature, and some of the columns even seemed like they were greek. What was even more confusing was a marketplace full of fresh food and goods, but no one anywhere in the street. Then I was tugged into an alleyway.
A small boy wearing clothes that resembled the Dark Magician in style put his fingers against his mouth in the universal symbol for keep quiet. I was about to protest his hand over my mouth but then I heard the marching boots of some kind of soldier, so I did as I was told.
A few moments later the boy spoke, "They're gone now. We shouldn't have to worry about them for another few minutes, now who are you?"
"Wilhelm Jernigan. And you are?" I asked.
"Torunka, master wizard and mage extraordinaire!" he replied.
"Isn't that kinda redundant?" I asked.
"It is rude to disrespect your elders, young one. Besides, I've never heard of a duel spirit named Wilhelm." the boy replied.
"My elder?"
"Yes! Due to the time magic being used to keep all the duel spirits of this realm trapped in stone, My age was vastly reduced as a side effect."
"Eh, I guess that makes sense. So what do we do to rescue the she-dragon thing?"
"We save Ancient Fairy Dragon later, first we need to make certain that Luna is safe and sound," Torunka said.
"So this Luna is the dragon's chosen?" I asked.
"Well, technically destiny chose them for each other due to Luna's being a Signer and all and HEY! How do you know about all of this?"
"The dragon told me before she dropped me in the forest after restoring a bunch of my memories. She said something about pulling me away from my mission for the Supreme King. Do you have any idea what that meant?" I spilled.
Torunka paled, "I thought that you had gone off the grid two years ago when the agent lost track of you!"
"Apparently? Who exactly was this agent?"
"You don't need to know. Not right now anyway. We'll talk about it after we've saved everyone, alright?"
Exasperated, but out of my element, I agreed. "So what is our complete plan?"
Torunka sat and thought for a moment, "Save Luna, then see if Ancient Fairy Dragon has given her any orders. If so we follow them. If not then we look for other survivors of the time magic to mount a resistance against the monkey soldiers."
"Fair enough. Where is Luna?"
"Do you see that castle up on the hill?" Torunka pointed to the structure.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"She's in there somewhere. I say we run in there, get her out, run back out. You can deal with any resistance. You're much more suited to the task."
"Do I get any weapons for that?" I asked, drawing attention to my bare hands.
Torunka facepalmed, "That's what I forgot! Give me a moment, it has been a few hundred years since I practiced this spell and I barely have sufficient magic for it but…" He waved his hands for a few moments, then I saw my duel disk and deck materialize on my left arm. I felt a weight added to my right hip.
"Your deck and duel disk, Captain." Torunka saluted. "I even brought the box for it that you like on your belt!"
"Thanks, but I was hoping for something a bit more violent." I shrugged. "I guess that this will do. I have a knife hidden in the blade anyways."
"You do?" his eyes widened very quickly, then I showed him, popping it out of the farthest left end of the blade. "Oh my, I had forgotten that the spell restores your cards and disk to you in the same manner in which you recall them being last."
"Time to storm the castle," I smiled. I rushed up the hill towards the massive gates and encountered very little resistance. There was a single monkey on duty at the time and I got there so quickly that it didn't have time to react as I hit it in the neck, causing it to faint. The armor it was wearing made a loud sound as the body hit the ground. I kicked open the door and rushed in, thankful for the signs that the soldiers had so conveniently placed everywhere that led me to the prison block, where I knocked out another monkey and kicked in the door that it had been guarding. There was a young girl in a pink shirt and a pristine white jacket with odd mint green colored hair.
She looked extremely startled to see me, "Who are you, and why are you wearing an Arcadia Movement uniform? I thought that I was the only human connected to the spirit world!"
"My name is Wilhelm Jernigan and I'm here to rescue you, now let's go," I said, getting out of the way so that she could get a move on quickly.
As she passed me she said, "Ok, but we need to find Regulus. Ancient Fairy Dragon said so!"
"Understood ma'am, and I'm sure that Torunka would love to hear that the moment that we get out of here." I guided her out of the castle within a minute, getting to the gate that Torunka had only just gotten to from the other side, panting.
"What?" was the alarmed look on his face and the only word that came out of his mouth when I scooped him and Luna into my arms and ran back down the hill, finding a random alleyway back in town and hiding from the rushing monkey soldiers. We stayed quiet until we were sure that we were safe, which was when Luna started speaking.
"We need to find Regulus as soon as possible, Ancient Fairy Dragon said so. And do you know who Wilhelm is? It was so cool when he rushed into the room, but it was also kinda scary. But we're safe now, right?"
Torunka, still miffed about my picking him up, said grumpily, "I know where to Find Regulus, and we start off there first thing. I do know who Wilhelm Jernigan is but I don't have the proper authority to tell that to either of you."
I picked the little runt up by his collar, "I don't care who has the authority, but getting all of my memories back in one day has made me a very unhappy man because it all feels like it was on the same day now, the good and the bad, and now it is obvious that I'm still missing the information that I need. Like why you called me captain. So tell me who does have the authority so that I can go rescue them too!"
"They're not here, they can't come to this realm without Ancient Fairy's permission, and she's trapped. Just as soon as we save her you can get the rest of your memories back, but until then if Ancient Fairy Dragon tells us that we need Regulus to rescue her then we go get Regulus!" He squeaked out. Luna looked up at me disapprovingly.
"Violence should never be our first resort." she said.
"No, it shouldn't be, but today hasn't been a very good day for me." I glared at Torunka. "I'm pulling no punches until I see Anna again and apologize for being late by two years."