Me: Yay, my muses are finally agreeing to work on Blue Sky! They kinda got stuck at this one part, right about halfway through this chapter.

Sky: So that's what took so long. I don't want this update, and yet you have me really curious.

Me: Hehe, too bad not all of the questions get answered.

Sky: Oh, great…

Me: Don't worry, they'll get answered eventually, but probably only in the climax of the Duel. Speaking of which, the Duel starts back up halfway through the chapter (hence why it took so long). I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but I do own my OCs, and some of the backstory stuff. Enjoy?

Chapter 52

But my questions remain unanswered as the scene changes once more, over to some building—I don't know what one—with the future Sky, Hana, Aurelia, Lester, and the comatose Yusei. Hana and Aurelia are next to the bed that Yusei is on, and Lester is leaning against the wall.

Sky paces back and forth, clearly trying not to burst into tears again. "There has to be something… I refuse to… to let him go…" A short pause, and she continues, "That light has to mean something. A new power, perhaps? But why… why does it come when I'm the only Signer who is really alive…?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lester comments. "I thought that light was already one of your powers."

"No, it's never happened before…" She clenches a fist for a moment, and then lets her hand relax. "I feel… strange, though. Like I just ate a lot of sugar." She shrugs, "It's probably nothing."

"I feel it too," Hana adds.

"Me three!" Aurelia exclaims. "'S like the time I ate fouw chocolate baws in two minutes!"

"Now that you mention it, I do feel like running around," the maroon-haired boy says.

Sky stares at the future Yusei. She is silent for a few moments before nodding. "I think… maybe… we need to look for other survivors. There has to be more than the four," she flinches and amends her statement, "five of us."

The scene freezes again.

"That… didn't answer any of my questions," I mumble.

"You mean why Yusei did that?" Dusk replies. Her face darkens a little, "I honestly don't know why. Even though I never gave up on him waking up… he's still in the future, in the Ark Cradle, with Paradox and Z-ONE. I have yet to learn the truth of what happened, because I am certain that the Crimson Dragon hid things from me. Me! Its Envoy that had to suffer so much, from spending almost an hour in the Netherworld to losing everyone…"

"You've been in the Netherworld?" Yusei asks.

My future self nods. "You have as well. The time that you and my past self fell into the Reactor? That dimension was the outskirts of it."

I guess it would fit, because of all those ghosts… but… my dad is there, so… he's in the Netherworld… I never realized… "What… what about that light?" I ask.

She smiles sadly. "That light… that light was my curse. Well, Yusei's curse since it was his own powers that caused it… A curse, nonetheless. We didn't know what it did until a few years later, after we'd found Primo, Antinomy, and Paradox in London."

'A… curse?' And then I gasp. "Lester! Lester mentioned something about a curse when we met at the monument."

"I did?" Lester asks, a quizzical look on his face. "Oh yeah, I did. Well, it's not active at the moment, just dormant. That's what I meant."

"So then… what curse?" I ask.

"You know how apocalyptic stories generally end with either complete annihilation or… repopulating the Earth?" Dusk asks. "That isn't what happened. Mostly because that light slowed our passage through time, effectively making us and anyone I touched, because that's how it spread, immortal."

Okay. Not what I was expecting. Definitely not. I was expecting something along the lines of more death. But… immortal? That's something that happens in stories, not real life! And this ability is supposedly dormant inside of me and Yusei! Shouldn't it have activated during or after our crash? I know it definitely wasn't activated, because I've definitely touched other people after it, and that glow didn't happen…

My friends don't take this news too lightly, and for about ten minutes, Jack and Crow argue with Dusk about the logic behind it, etc.

"Enough!" Dusk shouts. "The story is almost done… actually, all I really have to say is that we found Z-ONE quite literally in the middle of nowhere and that we don't know what he looks like… or if Z-ONE is his real name…"

"I was the last to be found, many years after Z-ONE," Jakob says. "I had truly thought I was the last human alive, but I regained some hope when I found them."

The scene changes once more, to where Jakob—now clearly older than the last scene he was in—staggering past a ruined city.

Then it zooms in, where Aurelia scrambles to the top of a piece of rubble to get a better look—the future Jakob can be seen in the distance, but barely. "Meema!" she cries. "Thewe's a stwanger neawby!"

"Another survivor?" Sky walks out of the shadows of an alley. "I thought we'd found them all… and it's been so long since the… incident." She stops and calls, "Hey! Over here!"

The future Jakob spins around, and doesn't move. Sky and Aurelia run over to him. "Are you… real?" he asks.

"I should hope so!" Sky replies. "I'm sorry, if I'd known you were out there I would have kept looking, maybe caught you at a younger age…" she sticks her hand out. "The name is Sky. This is my daughter, Aurelia."

"Jakob," he replies, shaking her hand. The moment he lets go, the same crimson glow envelops him for several seconds. A look of confusion crosses his face, "What…?"

"It's a long story," she replies. "I'll explain once we get back to the others."

"There are more survivors?"

"Seven more, although one is in a coma." A brief look of sorrow crosses her face. "Let's go!"

"After that," Dusk says as the scene freezes, "we really started to come up with a plan to return the world to where it once was. Time travel seemed to be the only option, and somehow… Z-ONE knew exactly what he was doing. Only two years after we started on that plan, we successfully got a time machine working."

"Then… what? You started screwing with the past?" Crow asks.

"We tried to fix the past, you idiot," Lester says, his voice layered with annoyance.

"Ener-D was undeniably the cause of the destruction, so our main goal was to get rid of it," Dusk says. "Each time we tried, it didn't work. Even talking directly to the leaders of the project…"

The scene changes once more, to where Rex, Roman, and Dr. Fudo are standing next to a table that has blueprints for the Reactor on it. They aren't staring at the blueprints, though. They're staring at Dusk, clothed entirely in black, who appears in the room, seemingly out of thin air.

"Rex Goodwin… Roman Goodwin… and Ryuu Fudo," she says. "You must understand how daring this is, me talking to the three of you. But our measures have to grow drastic; none of them have worked so far…"

"Who are you?" Dr. Fudo asks. "And, why do you look so familiar?"

Dusk smiles sadly. "I cannot say who I am, in fear of a time paradox… I will say that I am from the future. One that has been destroyed by a combination of Synchro Monsters… and Ener-D."

"No, that can't be right," he replies. "The Planetary Particle is not that unstable that it would turn catastrophic by a card game."

"It's what I lived through," she says, shrugging. "Believe it or not, it's your choice. But please… not only for my own sake but yours as well. Figure out a way to make it stable, or shut it down."

Then she vanishes into a bright light, the time portal.

"…still failed," Dusk finishes. "It merely delayed the inevitable. The timestream is not one that likes to change. The only way to change the past is by drastic measures."

"Which is how the idea to cause Zero Reverse came into existence," Jakob says.

They interfered with time. That's what must have caused the split into two different timelines; one with and one without Zero Reverse, the latter being the one I've lived through. But for Dusk, and the other five, it seems like they've lived through both timelines. That they know everything about both.

A realization hits me. If Zero Reverse was their plan to permanently fix the future, then why are they here? Why are they trying to destroy everything, if Zero Reverse should have taken care of their problems?

"It didn't work," Dusk says. "Disaster that it was, Zero Reverse was pointless. The event was covered up, and Ener-D still existed. It still spread around the world. It looked hopeless for a while after that—after all, absorbing how the events of that changed our lives was certainly… terrifying."

The scene seems to take a mind of its own, because it changes to show a strange plate. Its background is purple, with yellow lines travelling across it in the rough shape of an infinity symbol. There are places where the individual lines don't line up.

"Trying to speed us along, are you Z-ONE?" Dusk mutters. "No matter. The thing that you see is the Circuit. Powered by energy released from Duels, this device will allow us to see our full plan through—the destruction of Neo Domino City, and of Ener-D!"

"Exactly how do you plan to do that?" I ask.

"The Circuit will allow our time machine to bring the entirety of Ark Cradle into this time," she replies. A look crosses her face, something like a mix of joy and sorrow. "Then… Ark Cradle will descend upon this city. Its own Reactor, that helps power the Circuit from the future, spins in reverse. When it collides with the one here… the blast will be large enough to erase both Neo Domino and Satellite from the map."

"All we need now is to finish our Duel," Jakob adds. "The Circuit will be completed when either Team New World or Team Broken Time wins."

XXX

I jolt forward, realizing I'm back in the pit. 'So… that's what is going to happen if we don't win. Yliaster really will destroy Neo Domino…'

"What in the world was that?" Sydney demands. "You and Shoshan, and the others! You vanished into thin air for almost ten minutes!"

"It's a… long story," I reply. "Just know that we can't lose this Duel, or else Neo Domino is going to get destroyed."

"O…kay, but you better explain everything later," she says.

We both turn our attention back to the Duel. It seems that we missed something, because Red Nova Dragon has been destroyed again, Chaos Rose Dragon is no longer on the field, both Shoshan and Jack only have 500 Life Points left, and it's Shoshan's turn.

Shoshan S.C. 9, Primo, Jack S.C. 3, Hana S.C. 6

My green-eyed friend studies his hand for a few moments. "I… I Summon Azelf, Being of Willpower in Defense Mode."

Azelf, Being of Willpower ATK: 1500, DEF: 1500, Level 3

Azelf has a small blue-gray body, two tails that each have a red stone in the center, and a blue triangle-shaped hat on his head. His eyes are golden, and a red gem is in the center of the hat. The monster's tails curl in front of him, and he turns blue.

"And then…" he looks at Hana's field, where there is still a card face-down. "I'll go ahead and use four Speed Counters again, since I still have the two Speed Spells in my hand!

Shoshan S.C. 5

The magenta-haired girl scowls and says, "Fine! But Aurelia is going to defeat you!" The burst of electricity from Shoshan's Duel Runner hits her.

Hana's Life Points: 0

She glares at him one more time, before returning to her team's pit and Aurelia replaces her.

The young girl comes out, wearing a golden jacket and black cargo pants, on a Duel Board of her own. It is the same color as her jacket, with a fin on the back of it. There are silver stars on both sides of the fin.

Aurelia's Life Points: 4000

Aurelia swerves past Jack and, as she passes Primo, smiles and gives a short nod. Then she says, "Since the Duel is in the End Phase, I can Special Summon Staw Paladin of Watew!" Though she can't pronounce the letter 'r', I think I know what she's trying to Summon.

Star Paladin of Water ATK: 0, DEF: 0, Level 4

Despite the name, the monster that appears is little more than a blob of liquid. It doesn't have a face, arms, legs, anything other than a faint star drawn on its front. But the lack of power means it probably has a good effect…

"That's all I have, you can go Pweemo," she says. I try to hold in a laugh.

"For the last time, there's an 'r' in my name, not a 'w'!" he says, annoyed.

"I know," she says. "I can't say it wight."

Primo sighs. "Fine then, I'll just take my turn."

Shoshan S.C. 6, Primo, Jack S.C. 4, Aurelia S.C. 7

He scans his hand for a few moments, then declares, "I release my Wisel Carrier in order to upgrade it to Wisel Carrier 3!"

Wisel Carrier 3 ATK: 1200, DEF: 1000, Level 3; Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity ATK/DEF: 2500 to 2900

The lower part of the silver robot vanishes, and then reappears, only the new version is designed different and slightly larger.

"But my carrier isn't the only part getting upgraded," Primo continues with a grin, "That was a Special Summon, and so is this! I release my Wisel Attack in order to Summon Wisel Attack 3!"

Wisel Attack 3 ATK: 1600, DEF: 0, Level 3; Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity ATK: 2900 to 3300

This time, it is one of the arms that disappears. When it reappears, the arm has gained two gold blades, and a slight green glow.

"Wisel Attack 3 allows for piercing damage," Primo says, "so my Meklord Emperor Wisel Infinity will attack your Azelf, Being of Willpower!"

I watch the attack with curiosity. Sure, the attack will probably finish of Shoshan's Life Points, but why attack him instead of Jack, who is pretty much wide open? just what is their plan in this Duel? The blast of energy hits Shoshan head-on.

Shoshan's Life Points: 0

"Dammit, looks like that's my cue," Sydney says, hopping on her sleek black Runner. "You don't mind if I completely destroy them, do you?" she asks, looking at me.

"Not at all," I say. "Broken Time and New World need to be stopped."

She grins wildly as Shoshan comes into the pit, slightly battered from the attack. He passes the baton and the cards he had over to Sydney, saying, "When you have a chance, use the second effect of Life Aura. But please be careful with Xerneas. He's one of my two aces… and I've never parted with him since I found him."

"No prob," she replies. "Don't worry, I'll show that Meklord that messing with my friends is a bad idea." Then Sydney bolts out of the pit, quickly catching up to the other three Duelists.

Sydney's Life Points: 4000

I look over to Shoshan, whose hands are visibly twitching, and his face is as pale as I've ever seen on anyone. "Shoshan, are you okay?" I ask.

"N-not really," he mumbles in reply. "It's not every day you get to watch your own death, I mean. I'm glad Primo chose to get rid of me. I don't think that I would have fought very well if I'd stayed in."

"I know how you feel," I reply. "You know how Dusk kept mentioning that I knew what happened in the 'original' timeline, the one without Zero Reverse?"

He nods.

"Well, I watched Yusei and Crow both flat-out die, then them as Dark Signers, which is about as pleasant as their deaths, and the other Sky sacrifice herself in an attempt to save Goodwin. Then I watched as, right after the final Dark Signer was defeated, as Yusei and the other Sky came less than an inch from dying permanently," I explain.

"Huh. Sounds… uhm… rather torturous." Shoshan says, though it's more like a question, the way his voice raises a pitch at the end.

"It really was, especially since I promised not to talk about it to anyone," I say. "Guess it doesn't make much of a difference now, since Dusk and the others half-revealed what I saw, but there were definitely some details that they didn't share or even hint at that are quite interesting."

"Like what?"

I chuckle a little as I think of the things I haven't told them. Kalin is my cousin… Goodwin is Angel and Crow's father, making Roman their uncle… oh, and I'm the descendant of the envoys of both light and darkness, thanks to my mom's side of the family. "Sorry, not sharing that just yet. Maybe once this all finishes, and I'll have more time to actually enjoy life."

"Oh, okay," he says and stops talking.

Once again, I've missed out on a turn, but it wasn't very important—just everyone gaining a Speed Counter, Jack Summoning Dark Resonator in Defense Mode, and him setting a card face-down. Also Aurelia drawing her card at the start of her turn.

Sydney S.C. 7, Primo, Jack S.C. 5, Aurelia S.C. 8

The young girl looks at her hand and smiles. "Thanks to having a 'Staw Paladin' on the field, I can Special Summon two of the ones I have in my hand—the Staw Paladin of Earth and Staw Paladin of Wind!"

Once again, all of the 'r's are pronounced as 'w's. But why? She's technically older than four, because of the whole immortal thing… wait a moment. I'm not sure about the others, but I know that Primo can connect with his Runner—he's in that position right now—and when Yusei defeated him last time, I definitely saw mechanical parts rather than human guts inside of him. That's alright with me, since I'd really not like to see human innards, but it doesn't add up.

If they're supposed to be immortal, then why is Primo exactly like one of the Duel Bots—an android? I'll have to ask when I join the Duel…

Star Paladin of Earth ATK: 0, DEF: 0, Level 4; Star Paladin of Wind ATK: 0, DEF: 0, Level 4

The two new monsters are little more than spheres of earth and wind gusts, respectively. They both also have stars on them.

Suddenly, the star on the one made of earth starts glowing orange, the one on the orb of wind gusts glows green, and the one on the water droplet glows pale blue.

Star Paladin of Earth DEF: 0 to 1500; Star Paladin of Wind ATK: 1500; Star Paladin of Water ATK/DEF: 2000

"I bet you want to know why they did that, wight?" Aurelia asks with a giggle. "Earth gains 500 DEF fow all 'Staw Paladins' on the field, Wind is the opposite, gaining ATK instead, and Watew gains 1000 ATK and DEF for the ones othew than it on the field. I switch Watew into Attack Mode and… Wind and Watew, attack Dawk Wesonator!"

'So, she knows about the battle-survival effect that works once per turn,' I think. 'Smart girl.'

Jack looks annoyed as the two elements hit his fiendish monster, destroying it. But at least he doesn't take the damage that would wipe out the rest of his Life Points.

"I set two cawds and end my tuwn," she says with glee.

"You know, I wonder why they let you into the WRGP," Sydney says. "You're what, three?"

"Nuh-uh! I'm oldew than you!" Aurelia snaps.

Sydney laughs. "Really now? You can't even pronounce the letter 'r'!"

"Because I'm the one who had to get stuck at the age of fouw!" she screams. "'S not my fault!"

Sydney rolls her eyes and draws her card.

Sydney S.C. 8, Primo, Jack S.C. 6, Aurelia S.C. 9

"Heh, I've got the perfect cards! I Summon the Tuner Fang Scout in Defense Mode!" she exclaims.

Fang Scout ATK: 500, DEF: 500, Level 2

A baby wolf with dark grey fur appears. On the center of his forehead is a mark of a crescent moon, which is lighter grey than the rest of his fur. The pup growls playfully.

"When Fang Scout is Summoned, I can Special Summon a 'Fang' Normal Monster from my Deck, like my Silver Fang!" Sydney continues.

Silver Fang ATK: 1200, DEF: 800, Level 3

A wolf with silver-white fur appears between the baby wolf and the blue-grey creature that Shoshan had left behind.

I smile. The last time Sydney played her Fang of Night, she didn't have enough time to reveal his effect. But I know what it is—and that Meklord Emperor isn't going to like it.

"I Tune my Level 2 Fang Scout with my Level 3 Silver Fang and Level 3 Azelf, Being of Willpower!" she declares. "The moon shines down and the great wolf howls! Synchro Summon! Roar, Fang of Night!"

Fang of Night ATK: 2800, DEF: 2000, Level 8

A man with tanned skin appears. He is dressed entirely in black fur that is the same color of that on his head. His head is that of a wolf.

Aurelia and Primo sigh simultaneously. "Anothew Synchwo." Aurelia comments. "Gweat."

"Wait until you see his effect," Sydney replies. "But until then, I'll make do with setting a card face-down and… attacking your Star Paladin of Water."

"Nope!" the golden-haired girl exclaims. "I got a Twap! Negate Attack! Sowwy, my monstews need to stay safe!"

My brown-haired friend glares at the girl for a moment, and says, "Fine. I end my turn."

"Then it's my move!" Primo announces, speeding in front of everyone.

Sydney S.C. 9, Primo, Jack S.C. 7, Aurelia S.C. 10

"Hmph! You Summoned a Synchro Monster, and you'd be an idiot to think I wouldn't try absorbing it," Primo says. "Go ahead, Meklord Emperor Wisel, absorb that Fang of Night!"

Tentacles of light come out from the robot's chest compartment, aiming for the wolf-man. Sydney smiles as her monster holds up the small claw-like dagger he has. The dagger turns into purple energy, and the energy sphere grows. It surrounds the wolf-man, and when the light-tentacles try to penetrate it, they can't.

"What… what is this?" the red-eyed Duelist demands.

"'This' is my monster's effect!" Sydney says. "Once a Duel, when Fang of Night is selected as the target of a card effect, that effect is instantly negated! But it gets better—all other monsters on the field are destroyed. Then, anyone who controls monsters takes damage equal to the number of monsters they lost times one thousand!"

"No… way…" Primo says, snarling.

The purple orb explodes, and it destroys the silver robot and the three spheres of elements. Both Primo and Aurelia swerve a little, but Jack remains unaffected due to him not controlling any monsters. Primo takes it the worst because of him controlling enough monsters to run out of Life Points.

Primo's Life Points: 0; Aurelia's Life Points: 1000

"Hmph! Infinite Aura gains 40 more counters, and I use the effect of Infinite Prison to place Wise Core as a Spell Card in my Spell and Trap Card Zone," Primo says.

Infinite Aura: 80 Aura Counters

"I have something else, too!" Aurelia says. "When a 'Staw Paladin' is destroyed by a card effect, I can Special Summon Staw Paladin of Fiwe from my Deck in Defense Mode!"

Star Paladin of Fire ATK: 0, DEF: 0, Level 4

This time, the sphere that appears is of flames. It has a star on it as well. Then it turns blue.

After that, Primo reluctantly returns to his team's pit.

To be continued…

Me: *Grins* Yeah, that's what you get.

Sky: Seriously? You finish the backstory stuff but neglect on telling us some of the details Dusk was going to talk about? Like how Leo and I became Signers.

Me: Like I said, all will be revealed later.

Aurelia: *Appears in the room* Did ya weally have ta wight me like that?

Me: Well, it's kind of how you talk… *Snickers*

Sky: *Backs away slowly* Uhm, since when do villains get to come in here?

Aurelia: I'm not evil!

Me: Well, it depends on your point of view. *To Sky* What do you expect her to do?

Sky: She's what? Only a little bit younger than Joseph?

Aurelia: I'm older than all of you!

Joseph: Yeah… she's not really four, remember? Oh, and btw, I'm actually seven. Just… oddly short.

Sky: *Facepalm* You're… seven… and you wrote that newest chapter of Rewind?

Joseph: Yep!

Sky: Great…

Me: …Well, the only other thing I have to reveal is that I will be starting up a truth-or-dare fic.

*Everyone gasps*

Lucy: *Appears* YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Me: Well, you were really being unbearable, and both Shade and Meri feel like that'll be a good way to distract their evilness or something? I dunno. But I will say it won't be exactly like any others that have gone up.

Sky: That is quite an overused topic for fanfictions…

Me: That's part of why I was so reluctant to start one.

Lucy: I'll go start on it right away! *Vanishes*

Me: Well then… guess that's it. Please leave a review! I love hearing your comments! I can't guarantee what gets updated next, but it'll probably be Blazing Shadows or Crimson Feathers. Or both at the same time, because my updates seem to come in pairs… Bye for now!