Angel: …zzz… *Sneezes* Ngh… muh…?
Lucy: *Smiling about an inch from Angel's face* Hello, sleepyhead.
Angel: Gyah! What the hell are you doing, Lucy?
Lucy: Waking you up, of course.
Meri: It's time for something that isn't Memories of Destruction!
Muse-Jack: And by that, we obviously mean your story!
Angel: …You mean Crimson Fall? As in, the one you ended the previous chapter with an arrow landing in Yusei's hand?
Shade: Do we have anything else that could be considered your story?
Angel: Well… no…
S-S: *Enters the room, engrossed in her 3DS* *Mumbling* Okay… last time I stalled with the Fate events and he ended up dying. Maybe if I actually hunt for the extra RAM…?
Angel: What are you going on about?
S-S: *Ignores her, still mumbling*
Lucy: She's busy playing Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker. …Mm, and she's trying to save this one character she accidentally let die during her first playthrough.
Angel: She's really into this game, isn't she?
Faith: You think? She has me on overtime trying to come up with OTPs for that game… made even harder by the fact that she won't decide on one! Ugh.
Rudolph: Hey! We should get back on topic!
Piano: Yeah!
Angel: Er… right…
Lucy: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds! Sorry for the wait you guys, but here's chapter two!
***This chapter is brought to you by Akashic Record, from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2***
Chapter 2
Natsumi screams, but other than that it's the only noise any of us make before throwing ourselves under the table. That arrow had to come from somewhere—and clearly the shooter had ill intentions. They shot Yusei, of all people.
I see Leo crawl over to Yusei, and I know I shouldn't worry about him anymore because Leo'll heal his hand. No, what we need to do is find who shot the arrow…
…There! There's someone cloaked in white hidden in the trees—I can't see their face from this distance, or tell what gender they are—but they're definitely holding a bow. Whoever it is, they jump down from the branches and start running towards us. It's at this point when I realize that our assailant is no more than a child—they can't be older than twelve. Also, he's a guy. He's slid the bow onto his back next to the quiver, and instead has some ornamental blade in his hand.
"Those weapons… They are…" Dai's voice echoes in my head.
"I know…" I whisper back. It shouldn't be possible, but this boy has Ancient Fairy Dragon's Spirit Weapons… and I can still sense Luna—who's perfectly fine—so he can't have stolen them from her. Then how does he…? No, maybe they just look like them. There's no way anyone could use a Spirit Weapon that didn't belong to them…
My own weapon appears in my hand, a rapier with a dark green blade. Its sweeping hilt is made of lighter-green material—and if one looked close enough, they would realize this material is actually high-speed wind channelled throughout a pattern. It always surprises me every time I look at it…
Wh-What the hell?!
The white-cloaked boy… is gone. Poof. I'd only looked away for a split second… there's no way anyone could move that fast! And especially not to… to behind Natsumi… ready to plunge his blade into her…!
"Oh no you don't!" I scream, catapulting myself over Yusei and Leo (the latter still trying to heal the former's hand), knocking the ornamental dagger out of the boy's hand. "I don't know who you are, but you aren't gonna hurt any of my friends!" I go to stab him in the chest, but some sort of invisible force stops my blade while he jumps back, out of reach.
He scrambles for his dagger, and though I can't see his eyes I can feel his glare. "You don't understand, that thing isn't—"
"My daughter is not a THING!" Ryuu roars.
The boy twists out of the way of the shuriken thrown his way—the black and pale-blue lines on it signify that it's Shimi Nolidae, the Moth Immortal's Nether Weapon—but it catches the side of his hood and rips it open.
I still can't see his face—it's hidden behind a black and white mask—but he has very long maroon hair…
"Tch… dammit, I can't… Don't make me…!" the boy reaches his hand to his waist, where a Deck Box is.
The sky above him tears open—and my heart freezes in my chest because all I can think of is watching those other worlds fall apart—and two people drop out of it, landing next to him. I can tell they're both men, one in his late teens and the other a few years older, but they're cloaked in the same style clothing that the boy is. I gasp when I see what weapons they're carrying—the older of the two has Stardust Dragon's spear, and the other has the twin obsidian swords complete with fire that belong to Red Dragon Archfiend.
The younger man looks at the boy, "What have you messed up this time, Lucciano?"
"I hit his hand instead of the cup…" Lucciano, apparently, replies.
The older man snarls, "You were supposed to aim for his heart, you idiot! I'll finish this; you two take care of the demon!"
I have absolutely no idea what's going on right now. A demon? Who's supposed to be a demon?
…Whatever, the guy with Stardust's spear seems dead-set on killing Yusei…! I charge at him, and this time I actually succeed in stabbing my target in the chest. …Except not. For whatever reason… it looks like there's a hole in him right around the blade of my sword, allowing it to pass through. And that hole was not there when I stabbed at him. Is he distorting reality or something…?
"Get out of my way!" he roars, slamming the butt end of his—Stardust's—spear onto my head with quite a good deal of force.
My vision blurs as I fall down like a limp noodle. Everything is kind of echo-y now… G-God, my head hurts… I close my eyes—I swear, only for a moment. When I open them, my vision is cleared, though my head still hurts. I drag myself up off the ground, and see my friends trying to hold off the three psychopaths that are trying to kill Yusei and Natsumi. W-Wait… there's… more than three of them. There's… a girl, maybe the same age as Lucciano… and another guy… maybe the age of the guy with Archfiend's swords. The girl… she has Black Rose Dragon's Spirit Weapon, a thorn-covered black staff that creates fires or more thorns, and doubles as a club if magic isn't usable at the moment. The new guy… I almost let out a scream—he has my rapier. But I have my rapier… and there's no way two of these exist at the same time… but there's just no way anyone can copy it… so how?
Someone grabs my wrist, tugging my unstable body back to the ground. I'm about to protest when I see it's just Toby, looking at me with his nervous eyes. "Angel, you're hurt… let the others handle it," he says.
"No, they're not handling it…" I retort. Because they really aren't. Leo and Yusei aren't fighting because the latter's hand is just taking a while to heal, and Natsumi is refusing to let go of her brother's arm. Akiza and Luna are still inside. The other Signers and Dark Signers are trying to fight off these five maniacs, but their attacks aren't working on the five in white—either due to teleportation or the weird dimensional distortion stuff or a combination of the two.
"ENOUGH!" a male voice suddenly booms, so loud everyone instantly freezes. There are two more people here now, dressed in the same white clothes as the other strangers. One of them—the one who spoke—is… well, he's a lot taller than most people, with very wide shoulders. The other one is a woman around my height, but she carries herself with a lot more authority than the others.
It's this woman who steps forward, pointing her katana—that black-and-red steel can only mean it's Black-Winged Dragon's Spirit weapon—at the man dead-set on killing Yusei. "Placido, I told you we aren't killing anyone. I know how you feel about him, but we aren't going to let Yusei die." I swear her voice sounds familiar…
The guy growls or something, and lets the lance in his hands disappear. Then he turns around and storms off into the woods.
The woman watches him leave before turning her attention to the others in what I assume is her group. "Lucciano…" she shakes her head disapprovingly, sighing. She looks at Yusei; my friend is looking back at her cautiously, clenching and unclenching his freshly-healed hand. "I'm sorry Yusei. My friends seem to think that drastic measures are what's needed to change the future… when, in fact, the only one needed is this!"
Time seems to freeze, but of course it doesn't really freeze. No one has any time to react. This mysterious woman takes her katana… and swings it at Natsumi. Blood flies everywhere as Yusei screams—and everyone else joins in, a combination of grief and horror when we watch her head fall to the ground, separated from the rest of her body.
Oh god, no. No. Not Natsumi.
And that's where things get weird.
Instead of her body shattering into a million pieces, it turns into purple smoke and vanishes in the wind. Like a Dark Signer, not a Signer. But Natsumi was a Signer, so then why would her body vanish like that?
"The fiend I just slayed was not Natsumi Fudo," the woman says, flicking her—Crow's—blade quickly, to get the blood off of it. "That was one of the Queen's soldiers disguised as her, whose goal was to capture Yusei Fudo, Sky Kazuki, Rex Goodwin, and Jack Atlas after drugging the drinks you all have."
The… queen…? Who… and why would she need Yusei, Jack, and my father…?
"Wasn't… Natsumi…? Then where is she?" Yusei asks, his eyes portraying complete terror at the thought of his sister being missing.
"This place isn't safe," she continues. "If you want more answers, you'll have to come with us."
"Hell no! Why should we trust you?!" Crow shouts. He doesn't actually seem angry though… his eyes are locked onto the blade in the mysterious woman's hands.
"For once, I agree with Crow," Jack says, scowling at the fact that he does agree with my brother. "You all show up out of nowhere and attacked us."
"It was an accident…" Lucciano whined. "And all my friends saw was you guys attacking me, and there wasn't enough time to explain anything. This fight was pointless…"
The mysterious woman folds her arms across her chest. "If you don't want answers, fine. Good luck holding your own against all the forces of the Netherworld, and also figuring out everything else. Jose and Miles," she gestures to the bulky man and the boy who was using my rapier, "will stay behind, but only to protect the Signers who bear the Claws of the Crimson Dragon."
Meaning Luna and Akiza… Oh crap, they have no idea what's going on out here, do they…? Wait. The fact that this group wants to protect them has to mean something. Do they know Luna and Akiza are both pregnant somehow…? I-I mean… you can't tell Akiza's pregnant just by looking at her yet, and she's only told us…
"…Wait. Not all of you have a choice in whether or not to come," the woman suddenly says, a hand on her hip, the other one pointing while she lists off names. "Yusei, Crow, Angel, and Sky. You four must come, otherwise we run the severe risk of messing up exactly what we came here to fix."
The boy who was using Archfiend's swords pipes in, "Don't forget Ryuu and Roman. We kind of need them alive to have had a time machine in the first place."
…What.
"Oh, so now you not only show up out of nowhere to attack us, but you've got some sorta time machine on you? Who the hell are you guys?" Crow shouts angrily, pointing his own blade at the mysterious woman.
"We've come to change the future, one that has taken a very dark turn. Nothing more, nothing less." She makes her copy of Black-Winged Dragon's Spirit Weapon disappear, relaxing her shoulders a bit. "I do wish you would stop arguing with us, though. The more time we waste here, the higher the chance of our failure."
"And you don't want that!" the much younger girl adds, her tone attempting to be cold but… there was still very clear grief behind it. "The future we want to change… is one where the Netherworld has destroyed both Earth and the Spirit World. Or to be more specific… the Queen of the Netherworld and her followers caused it. She… hasn't quite forgiven you Signers for killing off her grandchildren and mortally wounding her eldest son, even if they are all alive."
Placido, the guy who had stormed off into the woods, returns. He's empty handed, but his knuckles are stained in blood. His own…? "Anything that sides with the Crimson Dragon must be punished. That's her way of thinking," he says, obviously still displeased with the fact that he was not allowed to kill Yusei.
XXX
In the end, Jack, Ayame, Alice, and my parents are the only ones (other than the four of us the lady required) who follow the group in white into… what is apparently a temporary rift in the space-time continuum created through a combination of Lucciano and Placido's powers, the only place where we would have guaranteed safety from whatever the hell they're trying to protect us from. Yep, absolutely perfect sense.
The others stay behind either not wanting to leave their children without both parents (Toby and Carly), not wanting to leave their sister behind (Leo), or wanting to protect those who stayed behind (everyone else).
At least we know their names now. The young girl is Pearl, the male teenager I didn't have a name for was Paradox, and the woman… is apparently named Athena. She swears she isn't related to me… but the fact that her name is the same as my daughter's has to mean something, right?
I don't trust any of them, but I don't exactly have a choice in the matter in coming with them. Because apparently I'm the center of this madness again, just like my brother. And Yusei and Sky are this time around… What sort of importance do we play when it comes to the Queen of the Netherworld destroying Earth and the Spirit World? Why do these strangers have the weapons that only Signers should have? Exactly what happened in their destroyed future? Those are the answers I certainly want…
…and boy, does the truth hurt.
To be continued…
Angel: Great. The Netherworld again? And just why was Placido so hell-bent on killing Yusei, anyways? What's up with Lucciano and Placido's powers? AND WHERE'S THE REAL NATSUMI IF THE ONE "ATHENA" BEHEADED WAS A FAKE?!
Lucy: Geez, calm your jets. You know we totally aren't going to tell you right now, right?
Meri: Yep! You'll just have to wait like everyone else!
S-S: HAH! I DID IT! I SAVED JUNGO! WHOOOOOOOOP! *Cough* …So what did I miss?
Shade: Chapter two of Crimson Fall as you can see.
S-S: Oh. Yeah, meh. I saw the rough draft and it didn't seem very inspired… or any of your best work…
Shade: Perhaps… but come next chapter with some of the quite evsane exposition, and I am certain our inspiration will return.
Lucy: Definitely! Man, I am so looking forward to—
S-S: *Clamps hand over Lucy's mouth* It seems you haven't broken your spoiling habit…
Angel: Ugh… I'm going back to sleep. This chapter raised more questions than answers…
S-S: Suit yourself.
Rudolph: Oooh! Please review!
(PS: Yes, there's a reason why Jack and Rex were not included in the list of people the gang from the future must protect, despite being included in the list of people "Athena" said the fake Natsumi was going to kidnap.)