Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds: The Judgement of the World

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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A white hot sun rose up out of the ground in the distance racing upwards in a wall that went above the casual line of sight, burning through the concrete sludge. It burned away everything on its bullet train race towards the men. It ripped up bits of road and threw it down into its own throat, the pieces disappearing as it was consumed.

"Shouldn't we be dead?" Malik asked when his legs refused to move, logic pointing out they wouldn't outrun this. "Or is this a hologram?"

They didn't and the flames rolled on over them, racing over and behind them further into the city.

Mokuba frowned as he watched the flames move. KaibaCorp had strict rules against making anything full realistic. Safety for the players was always an important issue, and flames wouldn't be felt since it was a hologram.

Was this real?

Couldn't be. They weren't dead and the fire lacked heat. It had to be a hologram, that felt like the most logical answer. Save full scale city wide holograms couldn't exist because of D-Wheeling. Certainly not out of the center of an already damaged city. But the flames roared drowning out their voices all the same leaving them in roaring void of golds and oranges.

'Seto? Is the flames you? Or is it...'

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"That... wasn't me..." Yubel wasn't one for stammering yet the situation certainly brought the desire to do so to mind. Around them was a small dome that kept the flames that was consuming literally everything around them at bay. The dome wavered akin to a soap bubble yet stayed resolutely as the fire rolled past. They couldn't even decide what was more impressive, the destructive fire or the dome that could defy it.

Trueman was also impressed by the dome alone, the structure wasn't something he recognized. Certainly not a duel spirit, "true, but if we're here then Yusei and his group likely are alive as well."

"But who is helping us? The Dragons don't have this type of power, either the fire or these domes even the childs' dragon can't." Yubel pointed out growing thoughtful at the mystery fire. Being spirits the noise that the flames created didn't drown them out, so the roar in all its magnificence merely served as an impressive background noise. The crackling pieces of concrete as it burned and crumbled down into flakes of ash. While below them the ground began to give up and break down, as the concrete turned to ash leaving an ever widening crater below the pair.

"Whoever it is, I'm glad they're on our side." Trueman admitted, Yubel was unstable when they got motivated and this was clean. The orbs were from a central location and blossomed outwards the they began merging until they had become a single orb the way that the sun was. Yet the only 'spirits' that had that power were the 'Gods' of man and Demons. "Demons are not all duel spirits, they can be created outside of the Duel Spirit World. Gods are just as libel to have a card associated with them. Since they were meant to reach mankind and offer the children a strong protector..."

"Then where are they?" Yubel scowled as they looked about, there was nothing that stood out in the fire. No towering shapes of any demons or even the shadows of the dragons if they had survived the attacks. It was just a massive wall of gold and orange dancing before their eyes.

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"How many of these attacks do you think have to go off before Kaiba Senior finally just gets angry enough to come down here and deal with this himself?" Crow shouted into the white noise void around him. Crackling flame was the only thing he heard, even his own words were eaten by the flames leaving him with this horrible feeling of isolation. He glanced down at his duel disk, wondering if it was even worth trying to use it to communicate with the others. A fire without heat made him think a hologram yet the panic they had all been warned about was real. So it had to be Kaiba Senior again, but who sent 'this' attack? Yubel or Truman didn't seem the likely option, yet...?

While Crow was left pondering, Junko was hugging Momoe and rocking the girl back and forth. Natasha was on the ground, her elegant horse half curled to help Junko as Momoe just... looked gone. It was too much like those days when they were called to find the pair healing partners. Momoe looked so broken as she stared at the flames, tears ran down her face, but she didn't wipe them away. Disappearing to the Duel Spirit World was a right for the centaur, but abandoning the girls wasn't an option.

"Can't either of you hear me?" Natasha asked looking at Junko, the girl had let Momoe be in the front, so now she was sitting closer to Natasha's back quarter. Leaving her unable to see Momoe's face or what reaction the girl would have.

Junko's brows furrowed and Natasha could see the girl mouth a question at her.

"I'm asking if you can hear me!" Natasha shouted, even though it felt stupid with the girls right there. Momoe didn't have a hearing problem just a visual one when Spirit wasn't healing.

Junko's expression became increasingly concerning as she turned her head and leaned forward. Momoe was in a state, staring straight ahead and soundlessly saying something. Only she wasn't, given that Natsha was clearly making an attempt to speak and wasn't heard. Momoe was probably the same... So she did the only thing she could do, slipping forward and pulling Momoe into a hug. They couldn't hear, but maybe Momoe could still feel a pair of honest arms holding her.

"Its going to be ok Momoe, this isn't the fire. Its going to be ok. We're safe. We're safe..."

All the while the dragons were in disarray.

"Ok I'm blinded, and not even by science." Stardust grumbled, the love birds were in his hands, and he was in the smallest bubble. He was curled up with the pair in his arms while looking about at the edge of his wings. The world was just flames, yet it was slowly coming back to him, the first thing being the Momentum building.

Still standing in defiance even in this inferno.

"Honestly whatever the higher ups want, I hope it gets done fast." Stardust looked down at the charred ashed surroundings. "I don't think the area can take much more."

'Anti-matter canons?' Yusei frowned, taking hold of Aki's hand he pulled her close to him. Likely enough given the explosions, but that those machines had them attached. Only those types of weapons defied the Geneva Convention. Before Momentum the mere idea of a 'canon' that could produce Anti-Matter at that size and ability was a dream. Once Momentum came online the Pentagon had established what could and could 'not' be made.

It was on par with openly firing a nuke on a nation.

Yusei sat there, Aki in his arms, while trying to figure out if this was a lone madperson who just happened to have enough space and resources to make this. Aki said they weren't spirits after all. So no one was dropping this on their heads from the Duel Spirit World. He hadn't been able to see any type of national association tied to it, and that was probably for the best. No one would be able to start firing retaliation weapons. But if Arch Fiend could not damage the lasers, could any of the Dragons deal with these giant robots?

While Yusei was pondering that, Aki sat nestled against his chest. Startled a bit by how calm his heart was. It was a little quick, but not horribly so, as though he was just thinking excited and not the least bit afraid. The flames were real, yet somehow they weren't being baked inside these rather tiny domes.. 'Oh be nice Aki, we're literally sharing it with Stardust... but is this an extension of the earlier blessing or a brand new one?'

The Crimson Dragon's foot that was tattooed into her arm and hidden under her glove wasn't glowing. So it wasn't a protection from the Crimson Dragon, and she was deciding to hope that it 'was' the Elder Kaiba. As it would mean that the others were ok, and it wasn't just her and Yusei left.

'Actually the Crimson Dragon hasn't been active for a long time, but maybe that's because Yusei was talking to Yugi?'

Aki shut her eyes and brought her focus inward towards the Mark. Robots out of thin air felt so off, neither Yubel or Trueman called forth such spirits. While Jesse dealt purely with the Crystal beasts and Judai, the Heroes collection. Robots, especially these faceless, soulless machines had nothing in common with any of those. They wouldn't naturally sink up if there was a lack of bond, proof just in how Fubuki fumbled. He had the talent to duel only with half his chosen deck gone and trying to form bonds with Mr. Jounouchi's deck was proving time consuming.

'Crimson Dragon, come to life if these robots are not associated with Trueman and Yubel.'

It was a second before she watched her Mark ignite, burning around until the whole Mark glowed!

Emboldened by her realization Aki began looking out into the flames. Where she could just start making out the wavering shadow of Jack from the crack between Stardusts' wings. Being upright was a positive sign as the evening began to dilute the blazing light with a more comforting darkness. Aki turned her gaze to the sky directly above, to the calming darkness that denied everyone the ability to see the stars. A frown crossed her lips as she noticed the smallest blemish of light in that darkness.

'A spark of light? Is this big enough to be reflected up there? But if that's the case than the stars really aren't absent. Something is 'between' us and the stars!' It was a sickening confirmation as the light wavered and something in the pit of her stomach clenched. The longer she stared at the darkness with this hellish inferno raging around her the more the feeling grew. 'It moves like an eye would, but if it is, its just the pupil.'

There was an agreed upon sentiment about it from the scientists who tried to study it. Whatever it 'was' it was a slit. If it was an eye, what type of eye was it? This wasn't a Duel Spirit, massive though it was, she couldn't sense any 'spirit' about it. But it made sense, the feeling in her gut settled once she realized she was looking into the eye of a great beast!

She could feel Yusei's gaze fall on her so she pointed up to the sky. "The robots are 'our' prey. They're not connected to Asuka's groups' duty! And look! The explosion was reflected in the eye of that slice. I think its a beast of some sort," she called out causing Yusei to look up as well.

"It doesn't blink..." He replied, but it lacked confidence. Animals weren't something he knew, and his instinct was to point out how 'if it was' an eye, it didn't blink. But he found himself brushing the point aside. It didn't blink, true, and it was missing everything 'except' what could be considered its pupil. Yet when he pulled back and tried to reason that he could see only mass hysteria if more was visible.

Everyone would be up in arms if a full eye appeared above them hovering in space like this especially given that it was the eye of an animal. Perhaps a question he could pose to Yugi, yet it felt dangerous to do so. Given what Yugi was, the sudden appearance of this could very well been a warning of dangers to come.

"I suppose though as big as it is, it would take a long time for us to see the effects of a blink. But is it part of the Anti-matter attack that just got used?" he answered earning a shocked look from Aki.

"'Anti-matter?' Isn't that the vacuum implosion thing?" she asked confused only to watch him shake his head.

"That's only in space. It actually will produce fire here because there's more fuel for it." He explained, but this really wasn't the time for lengthy lectures. "But its been hovering for quite some time and if its an eye, someone is watching us." Logically it could be one and the same, an eye spying on them and merely choosing now as the ideal time to strike. Only this eye was shaped like a slitted cat or reptile and while cat shapes fluctuated reptiles stayed the same.

'Which narrows it down, what exists that would be interested in earth, animal in origin, and intelligent enough not to kill and only observe?'

Martha's voice came up in the back of his mind, calling up memories of talking about God and demons from the bible. She didn't know about Yugi, but if it 'was' a demon...

"It might be Yugi, or if somehow its possible, a demon. But those things are outside of my field of experience. Let's stay focused on the giant robots trying to blast us." He decided, resulting in Aki nodding.

"How do we fight something that our Dragons' can't seem to damage..." She agreed, fire was a natural element and the whole Anti-Matter threw her for a loop. Was natural elements not going to be useful or be counter productive?

Stardust unfurled his wings with a relieved sigh as he felt the dome stretch out from him, his tail uncurling. Stretching his neck up he turned to observe the world and felt this pit of sadness grow in him. The first blast had turned the landscape into this pitiful sludge gray, what life used to exist here now felt fully gone. Covered by the concrete man used to harden themselves from each other and the world.

Now it was a scarred black.

In the sparks of his own light, he could see little bits of the world. Before the cold gray of the concrete still offered to bounce back the light produced by himself or the flames of the Witch. Now this seared land offered no light. Witch's fires were still burning, yet the ground soaked the flames up and gave nothing of itself back.

"Rosie?" he called out.

Raging orange gates snapped open before him...

Vivid green had been charred into a mound of burned earth that began to churn in front of him, as those gates rose slowly into the air swaying as a snake. Those beautiful silvery petals had bled out into a deep death kissed red.

"Yusei..." Stardust whimpered.

"Stardust?" The pair were taken aback by the grief that came out of the silvery dragon. Yusei most of all as he spoke to the other half of his soul.

"Everything looks like Rosie back then. How am I supposed to protect people or give them sanctuary against this?"

Yusei pulled off his gloved hand and rested it against his dragon's leg the anguish pulling at him.

"Its... all gone..." Kazu could be heard from the void that surrounded them now. Lost to darkness his voice felt like a ghost from the past. They could still see Momentum standing, an Obelisk to futility at any effort to see it felled. Silent, dark, emotionless, while all around them... More flames burst into being as Witch began trying to restore some since of location.

There just wasn't any.

Even a burned forest was a graveyard of burned, dead or damaged trees. This was nothing, what relief there was in seeing the remaining buildings in the distance felt so hollow here. Where was the ground they were meant to be standing on? Even in the colored lights of Stardust or Witch the ground was black. Empty of light, sucking in what it got and giving no comfort in return. A pitiful chuckle escaped Rua's throat.

"I bet if we took a step we'd fall into this void. Like there isn't even any ground beneath us at the moment."

"Don't say that," Ryu chided, as his own inner fear chimed in that Rua was probably right. "Though I'd rather be standing in a room with the lights out rather than here."

"Understandable when we can see fire and light and the ground isn't having any of it," Fubuki confessed. His voice floated away carried on some nonexistent breeze making him question if the ground was even able to bounce sound back.

Robots above them, nothing below them...