I don't own yu-gi-oh and la di la. Really tired of writing this.
Missions and Visions
The streets were quiet. Darkness was everywhere, only broken by a ray of purple light that came from the purple flames, a sign that a battle was taking place somewhere. Nothing was disturbing the night, except the sound of the ravens and the rats. Then, out of the darkness came a security car that ran at full speed on the road. The ravens flew and the rats crawled back inside the buildings that looked abandoned.
Kokusho was completely oblivious of this scene. His eyes were fixed on the road ahead of him, his face was made of stone and his mind was focused on doing two things. The first one was to try to locate Rua in order to make sure that he was safe and if he wasn't, to help him no matter what. The second one was to slap himself mentally for being so reckless. He felt so stupid. For once, he would have gladly given up all the progress he had made to be more aware of his feelings if he could just turn back time to prevent himself from making the mistake he did. Because no matter how he thought about it, he was always coming to the same conclusion.
He was lost.
After a couple minutes, Kokusho finally calmed himself down and stopped the car. While sitting back on the seat, with a hand over his eyes, the Dreamwalker began to recollect the events of the last 15 minutes. Yep, he thought, he acted like a total idiot. He had rushed inside the ghost town just because he wanted to protect his young apprentice and with only one clue of the place he could be: the mark of the monkey that was burning inside the city. It didn't occur to him that the mark was huge or that Satellite streets were like a gigantic labyrinth. Result: he was lost in the middle of nowhere and he had no idea what to do. Silently, Kokusho began to curse his own lack of control. It was the second time that he had let his emotions take control of himself. The first time was when Martha was taken away and he almost attacked the dark signers out of rage. The second time was this one.
Kokusho breathed loudly and his forehead suddenly became very friendly with the wheel. It was so much easier when emotions were information like any aspects of someone, himself included. He would just see them as things to analyse before making a decision and that's it. Now it was them that were controlling him. How stupid he was! Was what the point of acknowledging these feelings if they only lead you towards your downfall. For a moment, Kokusho thought of Rua. The boy was full of energy and passion. And he wasn't hiding it either. He jumped into all sort of situations without thinking of the consequences. And apparently, it had brought him a lot of problems. So why did he kept doing it? It was so illogical. He just couldn't grasp this concept of following your feelings. It was just beyond him.
Kokusho's thoughts were interrupted rather violently by an earthquake. The shockwave was so strong that he momentarily lost his grip on reality. When the ground finally stopped shaking, silence fell again on Satellite. A silence broken by a powerful scream that echoed in the night, which brought Kokusho's attention towards the north. There, a large black and yellow monkey with a long curled tail was standing on his two feet, his hands raised like a boxer. The sight would be quite impressive for anyone, but for the white haired boy, it only brought him more worries. This was obviously the Earthbound God linked to Demark, the Dark Signer of the monkey. He was the one that Rua was facing. If that creature was anything like the giant spider that Rudger used, his green haired friend was in serious danger. With great haste, Kokusho turned on the car and rushed towards the creature. At least now he knew where to look.
The road took him to a part of Satellite with many skyscrapers. There were so high that the Earthbound God was impossible to be seen. Only the sound of the raging battle between the two fighters was guiding him. And it only made him more nervous by the second. Then, after a few minutes of research, a great light shined in the night, followed by an extremely loud scream. The mark of the monkey that was blazing in the sky vanished a moment later. Kokusho concluded that the duel was over. But his worries didn't fade away so easily. Who was the victor? Finally, after a long search, the Dreamwalker left the skyscraper zone and arrived to the site of the battle.
The view he had was quite something. Four people were there. Rua was sitting on the ground, obviously hurt. Ruka and Yusei were beside him, on their knees. Finally, Ushio was looking around, like a bodyguard. It was him who first realised that they had a visitor.
-What are you doing here, Kokusho, asked Ushio, clearly surprised to see the young man here. Kokusho paid no attention to him. Instead, he ran to Rua.
-Are you alright, asked Kokusho with haste, while looking for any possible injuries. Are you hurt? What happened? Did you win?
-You want the answers in order, asked Rua, slightly taken back by some many questions.
Kokusho realized that the others were thinking that he was insane, since he burst out from nowhere and started to ask all kinds of questions. One look at the others' faces confirmed that theory.
-Sorry. I had a bit of a hard time lately.
-If you really want to know, said Rua smiling, I am fine, just a little bit, Ruka and I duelled against Demark and finally, we won. Now it's my turn. How did you know I was the one duelling?
Kokusho looked around in order to avoid the question, but all he saw was the curious faces of his friends.
-I guess its confession time, said Kokusho, a resigned face on him.
After sitting down, Kokusho began to tell them his story, from his travel inside the Crossroad of Dreams to the appearance of the Earthbound God. He only decided to let out the part where he was cursing his inability to control his actions. At the end of his tale, each one had a different reaction. Ruka was intrigued, Yusei and Ushio were smiling since they were happy to know that Martha was still alive, and Rua... was grinning.
-Can Martha be saved, asked Yusei, full of hope.
-I don't know, replied Kokusho, his arms crossed and his thinking face back on. The most basic theory would be that when the Earthbound God is destroyed, the souls would be released. But it was destroyed before and they are still there. So I have no idea.
-Yes, said Ruka, conviction in her voice. It is possible.
Everyone's attention was now focused on the girl.
-How do you know, asked Kokusho.
-Kuribon told me that all the spirits that were used by the Earthbound God were back in the spirit world.
Kokusho looked at Yusei with a face that said one thing: what the heck?
-She can communicate with duel monster spirits, explained Yusei, like it was obvious.
-Right, said Kokusho, not very convinced. I guess we have seen things weirder than that. In any case, it means that the captive can be freed from their prison. But what worked for the monkey didn't work for the spider. There must be a difference between the two events.
-The two monsters were different, noticed Ushio.
-And it was Rally that destroyed the spider, added Yusei, suddenly becoming sad because of the memory of his lost friend. Not me.
-Yusei, I think this is the key, said Kokusho. Since your friend Rally wasn't a Dark Signer, he didn't have any link to the Earthbound God. It could be the reason why Martha and the others are still stuck. But Demark was bonded with his monster. When he lost, the link must have been broken, destroying the anchor that the demon had in this world, forcing it to release the souls. It's only a wild guess, but it seems logic.
It was at that time that Kokusho noticed that Rua was looking at him with a big devious smile. For a second, he thought that the cat from Alice in Wonderland had his eyes on him.
-What?
-Nothing, replied Rua. It just that you were worried for me.
-What are you talking about?
-You drove all the way from the house just because you were scared for me, explained Rua, clearly enjoying the situation.
-I..I..I wasn't worried, replied Kokusho, suddenly embarrassed. I just thought that you might have difficulties with the Dark Signers and I believed it would be logical to help you since he had an advantage on you. And besides, I didn't want the only person who I could transmit my knowledge to would vanish. You see. No feelings. Just logic.
-Of course, said Rua, completely not convinced and still smiling. Of course.
-What, said Kokusho, still uncomfortable. You don't believe me? You guys believe me right?
But from the similar smile they were now wearing, it was obvious that they didn't buy it.
-W..w...well...what about you, said Kokusho rather quickly, in a clear attempt to change the topic. What happened here?
Although tempted to continue torturing the poor Dreamwalker, Yusei and his friends decided to finally focus on the problem.. And for a few minutes, the group shared their common knowledge of the recent events. After that, the group began to discuss the next course of actions.
-I'm going to the tower of the giant, said Yusei with determination. I have to face Kiryu.
-I'm going with you, Yusei, happily claimed Rua.
Beside him, Ruka and Ushio nodded with their head to show that they would be coming as well.
-I think I should go on a different path, said Kokusho.
-Why, asked Rua, puzzled.
-We need to find more about these Earthbound Gods, explained Kokusho. Right now, the Dark Signers are the ones in control. They decide where and when their fights take place. Moreover, the demons inside of them were also a major force on their side. If I could figure out a way to weaken them or destroy them, it would greatly help us.
-You think you can destroy them, asked Yusei, a bit disbelieved.
-To be honest, I don't think so, bluntly replied Kokusho. But the smallest knowledge can turn the tides in our favour. It's a risk I have to take.
-But why don't you do your research with us, questioned Ushio.
-It would be far too dangerous, replied Kokusho, while shaking his head. If the Dark Signers become aware of my actions, you guys might get caught in the crossfire. And you guys are much more important than me. Besides, we don't need to be together. I saw a radio in the security car I was driving. We can communicate by using my radio and the one in Ushio's car in case one of us discovered something or in case of a problem.
-I hate to break your bubble, said Ushio, a bit hesitant, but the radios don't work.
-WHAT, yelled everyone except the poor policeman.
-It's true. When we arrived at Satellite, I tried to contact the city, but there was no answer. Something must be jamming the signal.
-Maybe it's only the communications outside the island that are blocked, said Kokusho, practical as always. We should try.
Unfortunately, Kokusho's theory proved to be wrong. No matter what they tried to do, no words would come out of the radios. The only thing coming from it was a beeping sound.
-Well, looks like they really are useless, said a resigned Ushio.
-Maybe not, replied Kokusho.
Everyone looked at Kokusho like he was crazy, while he was using the radios to make the beeping sound. After a few second, he looked at them, a smile on his face.
-I know how we can communicate with these things.
-How, asked Ushio. You know how to speak in Morse code?
-No, replied Kokusho, but we don't need them to talk. Only to signal our intentions.
The blank look on everyone's faces made Kokusho groaned. Obviously, he would have to elaborate.
-If Rua and I each have a radio, one of us can signal to the other that he wants to talk. Then, all we need to do is to enter our Dreamwalker state to communicate.
-That's so smart, yelled Rua, overexcited.
However, his enthusiasm wasn't shared by everyone. Yusei was especially sceptical.
-What if someone caught you while you are asleep, questioned the Signer. You could be in serious danger.
-I'm not a particular target of the Dark Signers, said Kokusho, while putting a confident smile on his face. So I should be safe from them. And all I need to do is to hide myself before I talk with Rua and everything should be alright.
Yusei still wasn't convinced. But there wasn't much he could say to convince the white haired boy to change his mind. The only thing he could do was to pray that he would be safe as he watched the two Dreamwalkers decide the codes they would be using. A few minutes later, the group was ready to go and the final goodbyes were exchanged.
-Good luck everyone, said Kokusho, with the most encouraging face he could make. It wasn't much, but Yusei and his friends could see he was trying.
-You too, replied Yusei.
-Don't worry, cheerfully said Rua. No Dark signer can stop us.
-I'm sure of that, replied Kokusho. See you soon.
After saying that, Kokusho started the car and drove towards the North, where the source of the darkness that shrouded Satellite came from. At a last minute impulse, Rua sat up and yelled at Kokusho.
-MAKE SURE THAT THE DARK SIGNERS DON'T DESTROY ANY OF YOUR PRETTY GIRLY HAIR, PRINCESS.
Rua was obviously enjoying himself. And Kokusho's respond didn't wait.
-COME HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU LITTLE BRAT.
Kokusho's loud reaction caused him to lose the control of his car for a few seconds, before he could correct it. And it brought a smile to Rua that not even Ruka's lecture could remove.
The scene was becoming very familiar to Kokusho. He was driving in a ghost city by himself in the middle of the night with only his thought to keep him company. The only difference were that he was driving safely now and that he was thinking of something different. Last time, he only had the safety of Rua in his head. Now he was worrying about the Earthbound Gods. When he came in contact with Uru, he quickly realized that these Deities were extremely powerful. If he wanted to attack those creatures, he would have to come up with a plan. But first, there was something he needed to do.
When he told his story to the others, the thing that scared them the most was the fact that the Dark Signers were able to react so quickly. They were afraid for the kids still at home. But to him it wasn't the worst. It was something that his opponents said before disappearing. Before turning into dust, Norad said to him that his disciple, Rua, was about to be taken by the shadows. How could he have known that the kid was his apprentice and that he was important to him? The only time he showed any signs of affection towards him was when they were together a few hours ago. But this meeting happened inside of the house. And in a room with no windows. That leaved only four possibilities. There was someone or something that could detect their powers, read their minds, spy on them wherever they were or had a spy somewhere on Neo-Domino city that was close to them. Kokusho stopped the car in what used to be a parking lot. He needed to remain focused on the problem at hand before he could go anywhere. Turning the car off, he closed his eyes and stayed completely motionless with no emotion on his face. One by one, he analysed the possibilities that came to him.
He quickly concluded that this thing couldn't read minds. Otherwise, he would have read the minds of Yusei during his duel with Rudger and transmitted all the info to the Dark Signer, sealing Yusei's defeat. And if it could see them wherever they were, he probably would have never reached Rua and Ruka since he would have been intercepted before that. Only two options were left: it was a detector, or there was a traitor in their ranks.
The second possibilitie forced him to use a lot of thinking before he could scratch that option. Since it wasn't possible that any of the Signers could be spies, there were only five people that were close enough to them to act as one: Ushio, Mikage, Godwin, Rua and himself. Two people could be removed immediately: him and Rua, since it would have been stupid of Demark to destroy his own spy. Ushio didn't know about his relation with Rua, so he could also be eliminated. Mikage gave them too much information on how to fight the Dark Signers to be a traitor. Plus, he had seen a lot of liars in his life, and he could see that she couldn't lie about something. Godwin's case was much more complicated. This man was very good at lying and he knew much more then he said, like the fact that he was once part of the group that worked on the first momentum. Also, his brother was the leader of the Dark Signer. But he helped them too much to be a traitor. So he had to put him on their side, even if he had a strong feeling that he was hiding something.
This could mean one thing. Something had detected them while they were in the Crossroad of Dreams. The first thing that came to him when he realized it was that it might not be a good idea to communicate with Rua while using their minds. But after looking at this idea on each of its angles, he concluded that it could be a blessing in disguise. If that thing could reach them, maybe he could do it the same way. Moreover, if it turned out that the responsible was one of the Earthbound Gods of the Dark Signers, then if they could use powers similar to him; his own power should affect them. Furthermore, if this thing could intercept their communications, it didn't seem to be able to locate the position of their real bodies. Otherwise it would have attack long before he could touch the Earthbound God. So he should be safe during his operations. With this knowledge, Kokusho finally opened his eyes.
The first thing that brought his attention was the now familiar purple light in the sky. Looking at the distance, Kokusho saw that a duel with a Dark Signer had begun. However, he didn't recognize the sign. It looked like some kind of whale. But Mikage didn't mention any whales during her explanations. Could it be that a new Dark Signer had emerged? Was he the one responsible for what happened with Norad? But his interrogation soon came to a halt. Suddenly, he felt very tired. It was like something was forcing him to fall asleep. He tried to fight it with all of his might, but in vain. Soon, darkness took him over and he felt asleep.
Kokusho's eyes flashed open. At first, the blazing sun blinded him for a few seconds. Then, he gradually got used to it. When it was finally done, the boy saw that he wasn't in Satellite anymore. He was floating in the sky above a huge desert. Since he was used to seeing strange things inside the dreams of the people he had visited, he knew that this wasn't real. It was some kind of vision. But he hasn't entered anyone's mind. In fact, he didn't use his power at all. Was this a trap of the Dark Signers?
A movement on his left side brought his attention. Five dragons were flying towards him. Kokusho recognized two of them: Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend. Those must be the dragons owned by the Signers. Like he wasn't, the five winged reptile passed him and went towards something he hadn't noticed before: a gigantic black cloud. On second thought, it couldn't be just a cloud. Clouds usually don't have browns eyes and they don't move that fast. Whatever it was, the dragons obviously didn't like it, since as soon as they were close enough, they began to attack it with all their might. But it was like catching mist with mere hands. The attacks of the dragons passed right through it without hurting it. Soon, the five beasts realized that the battle was hopeless and ran away. Kokusho looked at this scene with the same unemotional state he has every time he entered the dreams of someone. No special feelings came to him, not even pity. For him, the only thing that matter was to gather as much information as soon as possible.
The scenery changed quickly. Now, he was in a native village of South America. Most likely Peru. A gathering seemed to take place in the center. Like it was responding to his thoughts, the image focused on the meeting. Two groups seemed to be in a very important discussion. He couldn't understand a single thing since they were talking in a foreign language, but he could understand the situation. It appeared that the first group, made of five people that were wearing ceremonies dresses, was asking for help to the second group, mostly made of people that seemed to be shamans. While they were talking, Kokusho saw that each of the five visitors had the same birthmarks that Yusei and the others Signers had. Kokusho concluded that these must have been the previous Signers. Finally, after a couple of minutes of discussions, the leader of the shamans bowed before the Signer wearing the dragon head birthmark, who bowed has well in return. Obviously, the two groups came to an agreement.
The vision changed one more time. He was back in the desert. But the battle was different now. The five dragons now had a large red dragon with them. It wasn't hard for Kokusho to guess that he had the mythical Crimson Dragon before him. Also, their opponents were now the five Earthbound Gods of the Dark Signers. The battle was brutal and for the moment, no party seemed to take the advantage. However, the black cloud that he had seen before appeared above them. Its brown eyes were looking directly towards the dragons and Kokusho knew that if it joined the fight, the dragons would lose the fight in a matter of minutes. But suddenly, the cloud froze in midair. Something invisible had caught it. And from the looks of it, it seemed to cause it great pain. Like a magnet, the force pulled it towards a range of mountains far away from the battlefield. The vision followed the same direction, like the battle wasn't important anymore. On the top of the highest mountain, the shamans that were taking with the Signers before were now forming a circle, eyes closed and arms lifted. They seemed to be the ones that trapped the cloud and from the looks of it, they were doing much more than that. It was like they were destroying it from the inside. The shapeless creature screamed as it was slowly shrinking into the shape of a ball. The only part that remained the same was its brown eyes, which were still reflecting only one thing: pure hatred. At last, after much effort from the shamans, the monster was finally defeated and exploded in a burst of dark light. Kokusho's vision was temporary clouded by the darkness and when light returned at last, he was back in his car, in the parking lot.
-What was that, asked Kokusho to himself, a bit shaken by the grand final of the vision. Where did that come from?
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a solution. He knew that those images must have been a vision of the previous battle with the Earthbound Gods, since it was very similar to the story that Godwin had told to the Signers. However, he had no idea who could have sent it, since he wasn't using his powers the whole time. It couldn't have been the Signers or the Dark Signers, and Rua would have warned him before. Furthermore, Godwin didn't mention anything about a living black cloud that fought against the dragons or about the group of shamans that vanquished it. Something was definitely fishy here.
Since he couldn't figure it out, Kokusho decided to focus on the problem at hand: the duel with the new Dark Signer. He looked towards the purple mark that appeared before and was rewarded by a very impressing sight. A large black and purple killer whale was now floating above the mark on the ground. The Dark signer must have summoned his Earthbound God. But from that distance, he couldn't see the duel, which bothers him quite greatly. He needed to know more about this Earthbound Gods. However, getting too close to it was out of the question, since the danger of being absorbed was still very present. He thought about it for a little while before snapping his fingers.
-Rua might know.
Reassured with this thought, the Dreamwalker grabbed the radio to send a signal to his little apprentice. However, a sudden and violent headache stopped his movement right on his track. The pain was unbearable. It was like a thousand sirens were screaming inside of his head. It was so painful that Kokusho though it would kill him. The only thing he could see were flashes of light. Then, images began to form themselves. It wasn't clear, but he could see two duelists having a riding duel. One had a black and yellow D-Wheel that seemed to be inspired by a bird. The rider had a helmet of the same color and a brown vest. His opponents had a much bigger D-Wheel that had large wheels designed to ride in the most difficult environment and a bull skull at the front. His owner had a very dark skin tone, proof that he was a stranger. He was wearing a black and purple bodysuit and a helmet with bull horns. Furthermore, glowing purple marks were all over his body and a mark in the shape of a whale was on his arm. He appeared to be in great pain, like he was fighting something inside of him. Unfortunately, the vision wasn't clear. It would shake become less visible every second, until it disappeared completely, along with the pain. While taking deep breath, Kokusho tried to gather his senses. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was looking directly at the ceiling of the parking lot. Somehow, he had fallen on the ground during his crisis. He remained still for a couple more minutes before getting on his feet. Still, his face clearly showed that he was still shaken from the episode. What's going on, asked himself Kokusho. Who were they? His questions were interrupted by the ringing sound of the Radio. Rua was calling for him. After shaking his head to come back to reality, he looks around to see if there was any potential danger. Seeing there was none, he took seat in the car and grabbed the radio to send the code to tell Rua that he was ready. He didn't know why his young apprentice was calling him for, but no matter the case, he was sure of one thing.
This war was much more complicated that they had though.
Author's notes
Hello everyone. Yes, I am still alive. And I am so sorry for the delay. More than 2 months. It's unforgivable. Unfortunately, it might take a while before I can post the next chapter. I started the University and it's hitting hard. But I will do my best to continue my story.
I want to thanks everyone that had reviewed this story. It really appreciated. See you next time
Volcaniclord