Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx, or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds or any characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise. I do own any OCs I make, but most will be likely be minor characters (even more so than the minor characters in the show - save for Nozomi and Hiroshi. My fingers ran away with them, and I like the dynamic they made too much to change it. I find them amusing). I make no money from this fanfiction as it is a tribute to a fandom I really like and want to play around in. If you see this on a paid site, please note that someone has plagiarized me and let me know so I may take steps to prevent fines or whatever. Also, I will be using the Japanese names, so if you're only familiar with the English, 4kids swapped two names: Blitz is Nerve and Nervin is Blitz.
*cracks knuckles* Alright time for the Ushio Duel. Let's see if it can be one chapter, or if I need to split it like that Takasu one. I really, really, really want to get to the start of the reveals, but PLOT demands getting through the nitty gritty little details first. Oh, and if the end of last chapter was rushed to you guys, sorry, but the scene skipped was basically:
Saiga: *hacking*
Yusei: *looking at pic of Saiga and his tag team partner*
Saiga: *looks over, sees Yusei, gets defensive*
Yusei: *sits down, goes to sleep*
Saiga: *goes back to hacking*
So I just skipped the boring. I'm getting waaaayyy too eager to get to the good stuff, and it's getting hard to continue writing all the setup while my muses merrily skip ahead and cackle over the chaos to come. Reaching Episode 13 should appease them enough to slow down so I can catch up because that will open the door to start properly setting up PLOT for the post-canon Gx prequel. (And begin seeing where the newest development of my muses' crazy will fall into everything as well.) But that means getting through the rest of Episode 11 and all of Episode 12, and if it weren't necessary for Saiga's character development, I'd likely gloss over it like before. Heck, I still might to a degree and check in on the Gx Crew and Satellite Gang with Yusei's Duel breaking in for the important parts. Heck, that sounds good, let's do it.
Free-writer, here, remember. I plan the plot points then let my muses take control. Let's see where they take us on this wild ride. Maybe we'll get to ride a dragon!
Rainbow Dragon: *feels a sudden sense of foreboding*
OOoo, pretty dragon! *singsong* Johan, I think I got an idea for later with you~~~!
Johan: *shiver runs down his spine* Why do I feel doom approachi- *yelps as I sneak up and grab him* HELP ME!
Okay, time for the chapter.
Again, my beta is in college, and studying for midterms, so this is unbeta'd. The edited chapter will be uploaded later.
"What the he-eck?" Crow wondered, censoring himself last minute as he remembered the kid sitting behind him on his D-Wheel. What was going on? Who were those creepy cloaked guys, and what crazy was this? The Crimson Dragon is oppressing them? Like hell. Crow knew that wasn't the case. Not when Yusei apparently bore the being's Mark.
Yeah, he knew about that. Judai had been keeping them all updated on how Yus was doing in the City. Apparently he just got out last night and was working to get his D-Wheel and Deck back with some dude named Saiga helping him out. Ordinarily, he'd wonder how Judai was keeping tabs on things, but he usually sent one of the E-Heros in his Deck with an update, so… Yeah, pretty obvious how he does it. Now Crow was wondering when Judai planned to use all the dirt he no doubt had on Godwin.
"I think we need to get everyone to Martha's. That ain't good," Crow observed as he saw the crowd follow the cloaked weirdos in some sort of trance. He spun around, heading for his nest to contact Rei and get her to help with transport. Apparently the crazy woman was a Turbo Duelist too. Explained a lot. All Turbo Duelists were crazy to some degree. Crow was proud of his own special brand of insanity after all.
Things had gone smoothly at first. Too smoothly. Yusei was really getting sick of the stalker he had. Especially since Ushio was getting smarter about his attempts to bring the Satellite-raised down. The wielder of Stardust Dragon grit his teeth as yet another escape route was cut off, forcing him to turn sharply or collide with the new wall.
Yusei glanced at the card he drew, before setting it. It would buy him the time he needed until his next turn thanks to the fact that Ushio's Discord Counter trap was still in effect.
"I place one card facedown. I end my turn."
Yusei: LP 3500; SC 3 → 4
Field: One facedown Spell or Trap
Ushio: LP 4000; SC 3 → 4
Field: One facedown Spell or Trap; Search Striker (1600/1200); Pursuit Chaser (1400/600)
Ushio grinned smugly. "Hmph. I bet you do. Considering you can't summon a monster this turn due to my Discord Counter! All paths are blocked off for you!"
Yusei held back a growl as he was forced to make another sharp turn as Ushio said that to avoid a crash. Cheating little- he cut himself off. No letting the anger take control again. No making another mistake. No repeats of Takasu, he reminded himself, feeling his powers attempt to rise up again in response to his emotions. Keep it cool.
Easier said than done, again. Especially when Ushio laughed and taunted, "You've got nowhere else to go now! Only thing up ahead is a dead end! Just give up. Your only option is to surrender!"
There was an elevator up ahead and no places to turn. He was boxed in. Shi-
"Push on."
Yusei's eyes widened. Was that?
"Is this… Saiga?" he wondered aloud. After this morning, he thought he'd have his work cut out for him to get Saiga to understand friendship again.
"Just push on!" Saiga snarled impatiently. The worry he had for Yusei was clear though. That was all Yusei needed. Saiga apparently decided to take a chance - with Yusei. This was the make it or break it moment. Either Yusei trusted Saiga and reaffirmed what he said about bonds before, or he ignored the man and broke his ability to trust forever.
Yusei revved the engine and sped up, heading straight for the so-called dead-end. He let out a roar as he pushed on to release some of the pent-up anger from before and psyche himself up for whatever Saiga had planned. He trusted the guy. He had to. This was the only way to help both of them. A leap of blind faith.
"Hmmm… Sounds similar to the Society of Light back during our school days, doesn't it?" Judai asked Asuka who shuddered at the memory. Judai smiled sheepishly, knowing it was a bad time for her, even if the memories weren't clear.
"Society of Light? What's that?" Blitz asked as he polished his glasses.
"It was made up of people brainwashed by the Light of Destruction. Or Light of Ruin. Either works," Judai explained. "See, there's a balance to things. Not all Light is good, and not all Darkness is evil. On the side of Evil you have the Light of Destruction and the Nihilistic Darkness, while on the side of good you have the Light of Hope and the Gentle Darkness. I'm the Herald of Gentle Darkness. The Nihilistic Darkness can corrupt me if I'm not careful, but not the Light of Destruction. Same goes for the Herald of the Light of Hope. She's still recovering from her ordeal."
Brows raised at that.
"So… Are you saying the Light of Destruction is back?" Nerve asked.
"No, I'd know if it was back. I'd feel compelled to fight it as the Gentle Darkness is what keeps the Light of Destruction at bay. No, I think this is the Nihilistic Darkness. Yubel's still a bit messed up, so that's why we're not picking up any need to confront these guys. Well, that and the Avatar for the Light of Hope is active again," Judai answered, pushing away from the wall he was leaning against to poke at some flowers across the room. He was pretty sure he had undiagnosed ADHD. Oh well. Not like he was in school anymore and had to pay attention to every little thing the teachers said. (Not like he ever did anyway.)
"Whoa, hold the phone, you never told us Yubel was the Herald of the Light of Hope!" Manjoume Jun demanded.
"I didn't? Could've sworn…" Judai trailed off, thinking. "Oh, yeah, you were drunk, no wonder you don't remember. Man that was a fun party."
"Still can't believe you managed to convince Dark Magician Girl to be one of the strippers," Kenzan chuckled, remembering Sho's face when a bunch of popular female Duel Spirits seemingly crashed Manjoume's bachelor party.
"I won a bet."
"I'd love to hear that story…" mumbled Taka, earning him a slap from his pregnant lover.
"We're getting off track," Nozomi stated, giving the men the stink-eye.
"Right, well, the Avatar is active, so we just need to follow its lead. Thankfully the Avatar of the Nihilistic Darkness is sleeping again. Judai beat it before graduation," Johan began, only to be interrupted.
"Yeah, thanks for the help throwing off its influence."
"No problem, Judai, anyway, we'd be in REAL trouble if both were awake at the same time. Creation and Destruction clashing on Earth? Yeah… If that ever starts, is there a way to send them somewhere without life?"
"Uhhhh… I'll get back to you on that, I got no clue," Judai answered, already wondering if Timegazer even knew. Yeah, he knew a lot, but only what Time showed him. That answer might not be in his domain.
"It isn't."
Everyone whirled around to see a Duel Spirit with an uncanny resemblance to Yusei suddenly in the room.
"Hey! You're out of your Tower! Or are you a Time Clone?" Judai peered at the Spirit, trying to determine the answer.
"If I was a Time Clone, I'd be taking on my original appearance. I still see myself that way, even after all these millenia. White Wing Magician is keeping an eye on things for me," Timegazer Magician said. "And to answer the question you all are thinking, sorry can't answer that yet. It's not the correct time for it. Also, no, I'm not a mind-reader, you all asked me these questions in an alternate timeline."
"Dude… That's so cool. Creepy as hell, but cool," Crow declared. Timegazer smiled.
"Thank you. And thank you for being such a good friend to Yusei. I wish I could have done more, but I did all I could. You'll also be getting your own answers soon enough. I know you know what I'm talking about," Timegazer said cryptically. Crow laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he resisted clapping that hand over his right forearm. It had been burning something fierce when Yusei was apparently having his duel with that Warden in the Facility, but there was nothing there. Nothing visible at least. Crow had the strangest feeling whatever it was was hidden until further notice.
"Yeah. Though I still hope I'm baseline human. I wanna be the badass normal of our little group. No offence to anyone else," Crow admitted sheepishly.
"There needs to be at least one 'badass normal' per generation, and you are one of them," Timegazer confirmed, smiling as Crow whooped and rushed to Rei to get tips. The Spirit shook his head, amused.
"Kids."
Leap of blind faith indeed. When and how did Saiga set up those explosives? Still, he wasn't going to complain. He enjoyed the feeling of freefall, even if he wished he wasn't riding his D-wheel, but instead was diving for the fun and thrill of it.
...Which begs the question why he felt he should be able to soar when humans don't have wings?
"Draw!"
Yusei: LP 3500 SC 4 → 5
Ushio: LP 4000 SC 4 → 5
Opponent Ushio's Turn
Yusei snapped back to himself. Right, there's a Duel happening. Also, he can't fly, it's impossible for humans to fly, so he should ready his D-Wheel for a landing soon.
"I activate my Speed Spell, Rapid Shot Wing, from my hand!" Ushio played the card as he continued, "For this turn, for each of my Speed Counters, one of my monsters on my field increases in attack power by 100 points!"
Search Striker: ATK 1600 → 2100
Ushio laughed. Again. Yusei was starting to hate opponents that laughed more than twice in one Duel. "That puts both my monsters' attack power at 3500. Now they're at the right amount to defeat you this turn! Search Striker, attack him directly! Clever Strike!"
The impact caused Yusei to lose his grip on his D-Wheel, barely holding on with one hand. Sometimes he hated how lightweight he was, even if it was useful most of the time. This was one of the times he wished his weight was normal. He was almost sent flying from his D-Wheel. And while he'd survive easily, Hope would be smashed to pieces at the bottom of the shaft if Yusei didn't ensure the angle was right.
Yusei: LP 3500 → 1400; SC 5 → 3
"And now, the end," Ushio gloated gleefully. "Pursuit Chaser, attack him directly again!"
Yusei glanced back at the attack coming his way before managing to pull himself close enough to hit a button on Hope. "I activate a facedown! Confusion Chaff!"
Pursuit Chaser's attack stopped and it was sent reeling back.
"What the-!?" Ushio began.
Yusei reseated himself on his D-Wheel and explained, "Confusion Chaff can be activated during your second direct attack. Its attack gets negated and that monster battles with the monster who attacked directly first."
Pursuit Chaser turned on its partner, opening fire. Search Striker retaliated with its own attack, destroying Ushio's weaker monster.
Ushio: LP 4000 → 3300
"Dammit. I place a card facedown and end my turn."
Search Striker: ATK 2100 → 1600
"Raise your D-Wheel!" Saiga suddenly ordered. "Raise it! Hurry!"
Yusei quickly got Hope into position to land. He smashed through the roof of the elevator, bounced once, then tore out as soon as the door opened a second later, still in a wheelie position. The doors then closed, just as Ushio came down. Yusei was slightly amused as Saiga sent the elevator up.
Yusei doubted that was the end of it though. That officer was worse than a dog with a bone, after all. Sure enough, Ushio caught up and smash through the barrier on the second floor to drop down beside Yusei. He purposefully rammed Hope to try and throw Yusei off. All he did was annoy the raven.
"So, scum, thought you could escape, huh?"
Yusei bit back a growl. No getting angry. Don't give in. He's not worth it. He's a jerk but he's not a murderer. He doesn't deserve your wrath.
The burning of the seal keeping his power at bay dissipated as his power stopped trying to break free. (For now.) Well, that's something at least.
Didn't hurt that at that moment where he nearly lost control, Saiga appeared and kicked Ushio in the face while still riding his own D-Wheel. That took skill. As Ushio fell behind, Saiga rode up beside Yusei.
"Saiga. Why are you here?" Yusei needed to know what Saiga's thoughts were. He needed to see how he could open the man's eyes to the truth of what happened.
"I just wanted to see the fate of someone who casually prattles on about 'bonds with friends'. I don't have any mushy gushy feelings for friends, or what have you."
Yusei could practically hear Nozomi's teasing response to that, "Well, that's a Suspiciously Specific Denial if I ever heard one. What else do you not do? Hack heavily encrypted Security impounds?"
Yusei still didn't understand what she meant by Tropes. Then again, he never bothered with what little TV reception the Satellite got, and Nozomi did say it was related to television.
Saiga glanced away as he continued, "I'll just have what you owe me figure up financially."
Yusei decided not to call Saiga out on his poor lying skills and instead asked, "What happened?"
Saiga looked away again before answering.
"Ugh, so bored," Rei complained as she patrolled Yusei'sneighborhood with Kenzan after their meeting. Seeing Asuka and Manjoume again was nice. Asuka taught at their alma mater, though she was working on transferring to the City since Judai hinted things were going to be changing for the better here soon. Good thing too, they were all getting tired of sitting on their hands. Well, relatively speaking, at least. Everyone in the Gx Crew had used the time to become successful, influential people to help Judai's plans however they could. Given he was always pleased when he heard what they were doing, well, they guessed they were on the right path.
Though Johan hadn't exactly wanted to become a CEO. Pegasus kinda pushed it on him. He didn't trust anyone else to run his company who wasn't already occupied elsewhere, and, honestly, being a Psychic Duelist was practically a must for I2's CEO to keep it successful. Yeah, Pegasus had lost most of his potential with the loss of his Millenium Eye, but he still Saw Duel Spirits without it, even if he couldn't summon them anymore. Divine had tried to butter Pegasus up to become CEO - until Johan was appointed the man's successor. That was probably what provoked the first attack that Cobalt Eagle thwarted. The rest were because no one was allowed to best Divine and get away with it, apparently.
"Well, then I suppose I should assist you with that," a smarmy voice declared. Rei turned slowly and raised a brow at the head of the Arcadia Movement.
"And what are you doing here in the Satellite of all place, Divine?" Rei asked, casually tossing a balled up piece of paper into hole in the street. It vanished into the shadow, unnoticed by Divine.
"I could be asking you two that same question. Shouldn't you be guarding that Anderson kid?"
"Kid? Please, you're, what, 23? Besides Johan's perfectly capable of handling things himself. And if there's something he can't handle, he has an extremely protective boyfriend that can," Kenzan scoffed.
"Oh? Do tell. I could use some new recruits," Divine smirked.
"Sorry, Divine, but there's no way in any Hell Dimension I'll ever join you."
Divine jumped and whirled around. His eyes widened at seeing the first ever documented Psychic Duelist standing behind him, looking no older than 19. "How?"
"You done goofed, Divine. You attacked my boyfriend. Multiple times. You attacked Nozomi - my goddaughter. You murdered so many innocents for not being 'worthy' in your eyes. You ruined lives. You're going to cool your heels a bit the Empty Dimension. And if you survive, you'll wish you hadn't one I finish with you." And with that, Judai summoned the power of the Supreme King as Shadows engulfed them both.
"How long are you gonna keep him in time-out?" Rei asked casually, looking at her fingernails. They needed clipping. Long nails got in the way of decent punching.
"However long I can get away with," Judai answered, stepping out of a different shadow than before.
"Translation: Until Timegazer says, 'Judai, you've had your fun, now we need this jerk to play his part, bring him back before I get my wife'," Kenzan smirked. Judai shuddered. Rei cackled.
Why are all the women in my life terrifying? Judai wondered, unknowingly echoing a certain raven's thoughts from the day before.
Yusei had managed to beat Ushio. Hopefully Saiga got out okay, considering he let himself fall behind to help Yusei get away. Yusei was in pain from the electric batons he had been hit with, followed by the crash that left him lying in a surprisingly clean alleyway.
Footsteps. Two- no three people running toward him. A soft voice soothing him in an unfamiliar language, but one he understood somehow, telling him it was okay, they were here to help.
"Kuribon, can he hear you?" Yusei heard a girl ask someone.
[Yes.] the gentle voice answered.
"Huh, no wonder your Duel Spirits told you to help, Luka. Lua, help me turn him over so I can check his wounds," an adult male voice said before gasping. "Yusei…"
"Dad, do you know him?" a boy wondered.
"He's your godbrother."
FINALLY! I reached a major plot point! Yes, I made Lua and Luka's dad Yusei's godfather. Surprise! You'll find out why Yusei wasn't raised by him next chapter. There's a good explanation, actually. Also, I failed. I didn't write out the whole Ushio duel. I have mixed feelings on him, though they're only mixed before his character development. I hated Ushio before his character development, but quite liked him after soooo… I'm kinda glossing over what I didn't like, but trying not to gloss over too much because it's important too, and it's just… Argh. Balancing stuff is hard sometimes. Hopefully I'm not doing too bad a job with Ushio, and I did progress things with the scenes looking into the Gx Crew in the Satellite, while keeping what I thought was important for Saiga's character development.
*sigh* Anyway, next chapter is one I've really, really, really been looking forward to writing, like, since I first began planning this rewrite. Yes, this isn't something my muses sprung on me, it was actually planned. (Though I wouldn't put it past them to add something I didn't plan in the next chapter, but will still work.)
We're getting close to the good stuff! *rubs hands eagerly at her plans for the Fortune Cup* Oh, Godwin, you'd best have your affairs in order! You've pissed off several highly powerful and influential members of society who have just been waiting for the right time to tear you apart. And Timegazer says that time is close now.
And before I go straight to the next chapter, I want to congratulate DanelerH on Archive of Our Own for guessing who the twins' dad is. You have until I start writing the Zexal sequel to pick your choice of what you want for the eventual side-stories collection. No one has guessed what Yusei is yet. The reveal will happen at the Fortune Cup (for readers - in-story characters not named Yusei or part of the Gx Crew or Satellite Gang won't find out for longer), so make your guesses before then if you want to give me a prompt!
Oh, and the explanation about the different Universal Forces was heavily influenced by Heleentje's So Far, So Good. I headcanon it as post-canon canon. (Though not in the timeline of my story since it unfortunately won't work.) If you haven't read it, go do so now.
s/5464058/1/So-Far-So-Good