Me: *Sigh* Well, Lucy won't shut up, so I'm just going along with it and updating Blue Sky. HOWEVER, the next update WILL NOT be Blue Sky—I will lock Lucy in the Closet of Doom if I have to.
Lucy: *Eyes widen* Okay… I'll work on… uh… Shimmer.
Me: Good, I'm cool with that.
Sky: Anything but this story is fine by me. *Shivers* So, who dies in this chapter?
Lucy: Only one person! But it's really only talked about so…
Me: This chapter is basically going to be the tip of the iceberg of evilness.
Sky: Lovely.
Me: I know. *Shrugs* Well, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but I do own my OCs. As a fair warning, some characters might seem OOC, but since they're from an alternate universe, it's all good, right? Ah well, I hope you enjoy it anyways! Ooh, and I suggest listening to a remix by TheGuitahHeroe (it's on YouTube) called "The Greatest Loss of All" while reading the first two cutscenes, just because I feel the song fits the mood…
Chapter 60
"'What happened to me'?" Z-ONE repeats. "What happened to me? I lost EVERYTHING!"
A burst of light surrounds me, and when it dims, I find myself in the same white landscape that I was in when Dusk and the others were explaining everything to us. There is a scene playing out below us… of three children and their parents playing at the park.
I gasp as I recognize the children—myself, when I was ten, Yusei, when he was two, and the last girl has to be a one-year-old Natsumi. Natsumi is in one of the baby swings, cheering and saying stuff in baby language as my mom pushes her.
On the other hand, Sky has Yusei on her shoulders and is running around the park, rambling on explanations of what everything there was. The young Yusei looks around with curiosity.
I take a better look at Natsumi. I don't know why I didn't see the resemblance before, but I see it perfectly now. "Natsumi is—was—your younger sister, wasn't she?"
"Yes, she was," Z-ONE replies. "And she was the fourth to die. Although, you do have to see the others first, if her death is going to make any sense."
XXX
"See, Mimi? You kick out when you go back, and you pull your legs in when you go forward!" a young Yusei, about four years old, exclaims. The wind ruffles his hair as he kicks out his legs and the swing goes backwards.
"Coo'!" a little girl squeals from the side of the swing set. She has black hair, with a gold stripe on the left side, and eyes the same color of the stripe. The girl has on a plain white T-shirt, and short pink shorts.
Yusei puts his feet down to stop his momentum. His feet skid along the ground, kicking up sand. Once the swing slows to a stop, the boy hops off. He runs over to the smaller girl and grabs her arm. "Come on, you try!"
"But I don' wanna!" the girl protests. "Youw tuwn s'ill, nii-san!"
"I've had enough of a turn," the black-haired boy replies. "It's your turn now, Mimi!"
"Now Yusei, if Natsumi doesn't want to use the swing, she doesn't have to," a man in front of them scolds. He has on jeans and a grey collared T-shirt, black hair in almost the same style that Yusei does, and blue eyes—lighter than Yusei's. This man is Dr. Ryuu Fudo, world-renowned scientist, husband, and father of three. "Besides, it's almost dinner time. That means it's time to go home."
"Aw…" Yusei whines, but then his eyes light up. "Do you think nee-chan is better?"
Dr. Fudo smiles and ruffles his son's hair, "Possibly. It depends on whether or not she just has a stomach bug or if she has the flu."
"If she has the flu, can we come back here to-mah-ro?" Yusei asks. "It's con-ta-jus, isn't it?"
"Contagious, and yes, it is," his father replies. "If that's the case, then it'll be up to Martha."
"Okay!" the young boy exclaims. He suddenly starts running to the parking lot, shouting, "Race you to the car!"
Dr. Fudo chuckles, scoops up his youngest daughter, and walks quickly enough to catch up to Yusei just as the boy tags the red car.
"I win!" Yusei shouts.
"Yes, it looks like you did," Ryuu replies.
"Down!" Natsumi calls, squirming in her father's arms. He puts her down, and she reaches up, grabs the handle to the car door, and opens it. She grins, "I open it!"
The two kids climb into the car, getting in their respective car seats—a pink one covered in unicorns for Natsumi and a black one with white stars on it for Yusei—and Ryuu buckles them in. Then he gets into the driver's seat, and is just about to put the keys in the ignition when his phone rings. Dr. Fudo grabs the phone with his free hand and answers it. "Hello? …Yes, this is he. …!"
A look of shock crosses the scientist's face, and he drops the car keys. He blinks a few times before saying, "What was that? …Y-Yes, my eldest daughter and my wife are both home. Did they make it out?" Worry now fills his face, and the two kids in the backseat can sense that something is wrong. "I-I understand," Ryuu says into the phone. "Where… where have they taken them? …Alright, thank you." Click.
Dr. Fudo drops his phone into the cup holder and grips the steering wheel tightly—so tight that his knuckles turn white.
"Who was that, Papa?" Yusei asks curiously, leaning forward in his seat.
"That… that was Sector Security," he replies. "There was a… fire at our house."
"A fire?! But… but Mama and Sky are fine, right?"
"…I don't know. They're at the hospital."
The boy leans back in his seat, the faintest trace of worry appearing on his face. "The doctors're going to fix them," he states, though his voice wavers.
Ryuu looks out the windshield. "I hope so," he mutters, too quiet for his children to hear. Leaning down, he retrieves the car keys from the floor, and grabs his phone. He dials a number and waits a few moments. "Ah, Martha? I need you to keep an eye on Yusei and Natsumi for… for a few hours. …I'll tell you later. …Thank you. I'll drop them off in a few minutes." Click.
"But I want to go to the hospital with you!" Yusei protests the moment his father hangs up.
Ryuu shakes his head. "The hospital isn't a place for kids your age. You'll be fine at Martha's for a few hours, won't you?"
Yusei pouts a little, but eventually says, "Yes Papa."
XXX
The screen goes dark for a moment, until it shows the inside of some house, with Yusei and Natsumi asleep on the couch, their father sitting next to them with sorrow on his face, and Martha standing in front of them, sympathy etched in her expression.
The sleeping form of the four-year-old boy starts to move, and his eyes flutter open. Rubbing them with one hand, he drowsily looks around. Upon seeing his father, he's no longer drowsy, and his eyes light up. "Daddy! How are Mama and Sky? They're fine, right?"
Because of Yusei moving, Natsumi also wakes up, muttering, "Mama…?"
Ryuu hugs the two close for a moment, and then lets go of them. "Sky is fine, but the doctors need to keep an eye on her for a few more days."
"Can we see her to-mah-ro?" Yusei asks.
"Maybe…" he replies.
"Mama?" Natsumi asks louder. "Whewe Mama?"
Their father closes his eyes, tilting his head down. He doesn't say anything.
"Is Mama… dead?" Yusei asks.
Dr. Fudo inhales sharply, "Do you know what that word means?"
"Yep! Alice told me!" Yusei replies. "It's what happens when someone gets reeeeally old or hurt reeeeally bad, and they go to sleep and never wake up, so we put them in a comfy box called a coffin and bury them so no one can hurt them, and we can't see them again until we die."
Silence fills the room, until Natsumi makes a funny noise, like a mixture of a sob and a moan. "I wan' Mama!"
"Mama's not here," Ryuu whispers. "Mama's not coming back."
"No! I wan' Mama!"
Yusei just sits there, not saying anything, while his younger sister pitches a fruitless tantrum.
XXX
I have no idea what to say. Losing my parents hurt, enough for me to want revenge on Roman for doing it. My only comfort was that Yusei wouldn't have to hurt like I did, because he was too young to remember them. But Z-ONE, being old enough to remember his mom dying…
"Not only did we have to deal with the fact that our mother died," Z-ONE continues, "we had to deal with how it affected you."
"With how it affected me? But why…? Oh. She was home when it happened."
XXX
With Natsumi in his arms and Yusei on his heels, Dr. Fudo goes to enter the room his eldest daughter's name is listed on. A nearby doctor—a man with brown hair and thick glasses, stops him. "Sir, I wouldn't go in there."
"Why not? She's my daughter," Ryuu replies.
"Well… last night the girl—uh, Sky—woke up from some sort of nightmare, screaming like a banshee. She eventually stopped, but every time a doctor went to check on her, she'd start screaming again."
"What about Dr. Izumi Kyosuke? Was she one of them?"
"Yes, and the same reaction ensued. The only difference was that she started screaming about 'white coats'."
"Interesting…" Ryuu mutters. He sets Natsumi down and takes off his own labcoat. "Maybe it's not the people, but the coats." He places the coat on a nearby hook. "I'm here to see my daughter, and these two are here to see their sister. We're going in there, alright?"
"Suit yourself," the doctor replies, walking away.
So the family of three enters the hospital room. Twelve-year-old Sky is awake, curled up in a ball, on the bed. Her right arm is wrapped in gauze, and there is a scab down her left cheek. The girl's eyes are red and swollen, and her lips move as though she's trying to talk.
"Nee-chan!" Yusei cries out.
Instantly the gold-and-silver haired girl blinks and looks in their direction. Her mouth hangs open slightly, until it slowly turns into a smile. Not a happy smile—more of a "thanks for trying to cheer me up, but it's not working" smiles. The grief is clearly shown in her eyes.
Natsumi wiggles her way to the floor, and along with Yusei, runs and jumps onto the hospital bed. The two younger siblings hug the older one as tight as they can. Sky simply flinches, her sad smile turning into a grimace. "Ahhhh…" she groans.
"Yusei, Natsumi, you can't be hugging her so tight. She's injured," Ryuu scolds.
Yusei mutters an apology as he lets go, and Natsumi does as well. Then Natsumi reveals something to Sky—a slightly singed teddy bear that has clearly been repaired over the years. The teddy bear is also holding a card that is doodled all over, though the words 'Get Well Soon' can be seen within the doodles. "Feo safe! Youws now!"
The injured girl slowly reaches out with her good arm, pulls it back once she gets close to touching the bear, but eventually takes the small bear from her younger sister. Tears well up in her eyes. "I'm sorry!" Sky exclaims, trying to blink them away. "I'm sorry I had to be sick and Mommy had to take care of me and—MOMMY!" She fully breaks down into sobs, her entire frame shaking violently.
XXX
"That's how you were, even after you left the hospital," Z-ONE says. "For almost half a year, you'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder at all hours of the night." He shakes his head. "But, the nightmares did stop, and a new 'normal' for us was created. We didn't go to a daycare or school; on days he had off, Father would teach us, and on days that he didn't, Martha would."
So, a mostly secluded life. I remember how that felt; all of the energy I wanted to let out; all of the curiosity and wanting to go outside, but not being allowed to. I suppose Z-ONE's seclusion wasn't as bad as mine… but… "What changed? How did you and Natsumi end up not… uh… secluded like that?"
A small grin appears on his face, like he's recalling a happy memory. It quickly vanishes, and he says, "You talked Father into letting us go to Duel Academy. At the time, I was almost fifteen, and Natsumi thirteen-and-a-half. Granted, we had to wait until the start of second semester, but we did get in. Surprisingly, we made friends quite easily—as strange as it might be, almost getting run over is apparently a good way to meet people. But that's not the point. We were quickly accepted into a group at school."
'Okay, the almost getting run over thing sounded interesting,' I think, 'but I'll let it slide…'
XXX
Yusei and Natsumi, now in their respective Duel Academy uniforms, are being dragged across the cafeteria by an orange-haired teen—who is in an orange variant of the uniform. They wade through the sea of people until they reach the other side, where most of the tables are full.
The only one with space left holds four people—a girl who looks exactly like the boy that just pulled them across the cafeteria, only in the female uniform, a black-haired girl with violet eyes and a slight smirk on her face, another girl—trying to seclude herself from the rest of them—who has long magenta hair, amber eyes, and a strange metal hairpiece holding up her bangs, and a boy with green hair and gold eyes, a grin on his face.
"Okay, so you know that I'm Crow, and my sis is Angel," the orange-haired teen starts, "that's Alice Atlas," he points at the dark-haired girl, "Rua Heartily," he points to the boy, "and finally, Aki Izayoi," he points to the remaining girl. "You gonna sit with us?"
Yusei and Natsumi exchange looks. "I don't see why not," Yusei replies.
"Sure, we'll sit with you," Natsumi says.
"Great!" Crow plops himself down next to Angel, at the same time pulling a slice of pizza out of his lunch box. He looks at Rua, "Say, where's Ruka?"
"Sick today," the green-haired boy replies.
"On the first day of school?" Alice asks. "Ah, well, I hope she feels better."
"Who's Ruka?" Natsumi asks.
"My sister," Rua replies. "And she should be better soon! Divine is certain she'll be well enough to come to school tomorrow," Rua replies.
"Your sister is part of the Arcadia Movement?"
"Uh… yeah…? I am too, but only because Ruka wouldn't join without me. I'm not psychic like Aki and Angel," Rua admits. "How'd you know? All I did was mention Divine."
"He's tried to make our older sister join a few times," Yusei says, a sour tone in his voice.
Rua's eyes widen, and his jaw drops. "Wait, you… you're Fudos, aren't you?"
"We are," Natsumi replies. "I'm Natsumi, and he's Yusei. Why, there something wrong with our family?"
"Nah, you're like, a legend between the members of the Movement," he replies excitedly. "The only people to repeatedly turn down an offer to join."
"Well, it's more like Father won't let her join…" Yusei says. "He says it isn't something Mother would have wanted."
An awkward silence befalls the table, until someone loudly announces, "Hey! What're you doing in my seat?"
Natsumi turns, and finds herself on the receiving end of a death glare from a tall blonde teenager with violet eyes. "I didn't know there were assigned seats," she replies calmly.
"Give her a break Jack," Alice says. "Besides, there's still room at the table for you."
"Hmph." Jack sits down next to Alice, slamming a tray of food on the table as he does so.
Alice rolls her eyes. "Well, this here is Jack, and if you can't tell, he's my older brother."
XXX
"Wait wait wait, what?! Jack has a sister?! And what's with the name changes?!" I exclaim.
"In my world, yes, he did. But here? No," Z-ONE replies. "As for why some names are different and some are the same, I have no idea. Perhaps it is just another way to make our worlds different."
'Another way?' I think. 'What was the other?' The answer clicks into place. "You… you never had Zero Reverse, did you?"
"Correct. Momentum—what you call Ener-D—never spun in reverse in my world." He closes his eye, and a snarl appears on his face. "But it was destructive all the same."
"I… don't follow," I say, utterly confused. "If it didn't spin in reverse, then how could it be destructive?"
"…Not yet. You need to see one more scene before I tell you the secret of Momentum—the one that sets the stage for the other nine deaths," he says. "This was about two months after first going to Duel Academy, if you care for when this happened…"
XXX
"…So Stardust Spark Dragon attacks you directly, and you lose!" Natsumi exclaims proudly.
The teenager is sitting at a placemat across from her older sister. The mat has several cards on it—one face-down on Sky's side, three on Natsumi's—and the only monster on the field is the 2500 ATK, 2000 DEF Stardust Spark Dragon, in the younger Fudo's possession.
"Not so fast, little sister," Sky counters, flipping up the face-down card. "I activate my Trap Magic Cylinder, so you take the damage instead, and I win."
Natsumi throws her hands up in defeat. "So, you won't go easy on your little sister even on her birthday?"
"You know I don't do 'easy'," Sky teases. "Sorry if you expected anything different."
"Meh, I really wasn't…" Natsumi mumbles.
The doorbell rings, and the two sisters look up to the door. Yusei goes and answers it—several Sector Security officers stand on the porch. "Can I help you?" Yusei asks.
"Yes, is a woman by the name of Sky Fudo here?" the lead officer—a man with twin jagged scars on each cheek asks. "We need to ask her a few questions concerning… the fire."
Sky tenses up. "I've told you everything I know!" she says forcefully. "Leave me be!"
The officer pushes Yusei to the side. "Unfortunately, we have evidence that says your entire testimony is a lie… and that the fire was set on purpose."
The golden-haired woman's eyes become wide as saucers, and a short gasp escapes her lips. The room falls so quiet, someone could drop a pin and it would be heard. Sky blinks, and whispers, "…That can't be right. It was… it was an old… gas pipe…"
"Miss Fudo, the evidence we received last night overwhelmingly proves that the presumed cause of the fire was incorrect," the officer continues. "The truth is… you're under arrest for the murder of Ayame Fudo."
"NO!" Sky screeches, grabbing her head. "NO! I DIDN'T KILL HER!" She closes her eyes, shakes her head a few times, and jumps off the floor, dragging Natsumi up with her. In one fluid motion, she has her sister in a choke hold, and some sort of knife is in her other hand. "Stay… stay away from me or-or…"
Natsumi says nothing, but complete shock appears on Yusei's face. "Sky! What are you doing?"
"I… I… the dreams… the nightmare… real, all real… white coat… Godwin… white coat… Mommy…" Tears start to fall from the eldest Fudo's eyes, and she releases Natsumi, throwing the knife to the ground. "No! Not real! Just a nightmare! The fire wasn't my fault!" she screams. A Duel Disk appears on her arm—how, no one will ever know—and she places a card on it. A giant flash of light surrounds her, and when it dims, she is gone.
The officer swears, pulling a radio off his belt. "Fudo's on the run! I repeat, we've got a runner!" He turns around, running through the still-open door.
The two siblings stand there, staring at each other in shock. Their sister, wanted for the murder of their mother?
XXX
As soon as that scene cuts off, I'm stunned to silence again. The fact that I don't know what the 'evidence' is supposed to be only makes me more confused. How could the other me possibly do something like that? What sort of evidence is it, that proves a twelve-year-old started a fire that killed her mother and injured herself?
"You think that she—my Sky—is innocent, don't you?" Z-ONE asks. "I did as well. I refused to believe what the officer had said. My friends backed me up; they didn't think that something like that could have happened. In the end, we were right and wrong… Our 'investigations' brought us to the truth we wanted, yet we got a much larger one along with it."
I swallow, "That's, uh… Momentum's secret, right?"
"Yes, it is. We—Rua, Crow, and I—discovered it before the truth about Mother's death by breaking into Rudger's office."
XXX
The room is dark, with only two flashlights and light from the crack in the door being the only sources of light. Rua stands by the door, looking out through the crack. On the other side of the room, where there are several cabinets and a desk, Yusei and Crow dig through files they keep finding.
Returning a file to the desk, Yusei tries to open the bottom drawer in it—but it's locked. He motions to Crow, and the ginger crawls over. He stares at the lock and grins, pulling out a ring of keys. He puts the smallest one in it and turns it. A satisfying click, and the drawer opens.
"Guys! Somebody's coming!" Rua whispers.
Yusei looks up. "Hide, then! I'll lead the guard away, if it comes to that!"
The green-haired teen nods, ducking into a side closet. Crow grabs as many things as he can out of the previously locked drawer—two journals and a bunch of lose paper—while Yusei stands up and walks to the door.
The partially open door now crashes open, an angry security guard glaring at the first person he sees inside—Yusei. "Well well well, looks like we've got a trespasser," he notes.
Instantly, Yusei tries to come up with an excuse. "S-Sir, I didn't mean to! I was trying to surprise my father, but I haven't been here in so long that I wandered into the wrong room! Please, don't report me! It was an accident!"
"Sorry kid, I've got orders straight from Director Godwin himself," the guard replies, grabbing Yusei's arm. "Anybody come in this room without permission, and I arrest them. Accident or not."
As the officer drags Yusei out the door, the teen spares a look back to the desk. His eyes lock with Crow's, and the ginger mouths, "Sorry!"
Yusei just blinks in response, and follows the officer away.
XXX
"What were you thinking?!" Dr. Fudo demands as soon as he slams the car door shut.
Yusei—now branded with a Criminal Mark—says nothing; just stares out the window.
"I know that what you told them was a lie," his father adds, anger laced in his voice. "Why? Why Rudger's office? Do you know what you've done?"
"I'm trying to find out what really happened to Mother!" Yusei snaps.
"Well, now that you've done that, you'll be able to ask her yourself!" Dr. Fudo blinks in surprise. "I…" he coughs.
"…What?"
"Nothing. Forget I said that."
"I have the right to know what happened to her! Unless…" a livid look crosses Yusei's face, "were you a part of it?"
"Of course not! I just… I know who did, and I… I don't want to lose you or Natsumi…"
"So the fire really wasn't an accident?"
"…It wasn't. They orchestrated it because… because Ayame was poking in their research too much. Found some… irregularities." A tear falls down the scientist's face, "They were killing people—they claimed it to be for science of all things—and she was going to turn them in…"
"Who are 'they'?" Yusei demands. "And how does Sky fit into all of this?"
"No, I've said too much," his father replies. "Just… give up on this path. Please."
"But…" Yusei frowns, biting the inside of his bottom lip. He looks back out the window and says, "Yes, Father."
The rest of the ride home is in silence.
XXX
"Yusei! Natsumi!" Crow calls.
The two siblings stop walking towards Duel Academy and turn around, just in time to see their orange-haired friend trip over the curb and land on his face. He quickly gets up and dusts himself off. "Ah, that's gonna bruise," he pokes his left cheek and winces. Looking back at Yusei and Natsumi, he says, "Oh, they didn't mark you?"
"They did. Makeup," Yusei replies. He shakes his head, and his fingers twitch a little. "Never mind that. What were you going to say?"
"You aren't going to believe what I found in one of the journals I stole from my uncle's office," Crow replies. "Him and my dad have been working with Divine, running all these kinds of experiments. I've only been able to read to the results of the first couple—didn't have time to get to the rest—but… Man, you have to read it yourself."
Crow hands over a journal after opening it up to a certain page. He points to a line near the bottom that's circled.
Yusei reads it aloud. "'Conclusion: Psychic Duelists do not inherently have abilities. Rather, they subconsciously manipulate the Momentum stored in their hearts, and the energy responds in various ways.'"
"…What in the world?" Natsumi asks, summarizing all of their thoughts.
To be continued…
Me: That's it for this chapter.
Sky: What. The. Heck. You… that… *Throws arms and gestures at Lucy in frustration* Myeh!?
Me: Er, yeah. She's trying to pull out the most magnificent backstory… that might end up becoming a sidestory like Rewind…
Sky: Seriously? I don't even want to think of the horrors a more in-depth telling of that might bring…
Me: Neither do I, Sky. Neither do I. *Claps hands together* Well, this is only part one, and part two will only come out with reviews! I thank everyone who has reviewed—especially because the last chapter got five, when I usually get three! I really like to hear everyone's comments about the story, so please leave a review! If you have a question, I might answer it (or say that it'll be answered in the next chapter or two)!