Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds: The Judgement of the World
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
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Everyone, human and spirit alike turned to look at Judai, a scrutiny that felt far less imposing than the snake who wasn't even paying attention to him!
Shimmering mountains of color it could have been glaciers as large as it was with this steady light that emanated from within. Only they weren't glaciers rather the multitude of scales that snakes were known for having. Each one precision placed against each other as this smooth rippled wall, so exact that it would have been easy to believe he was staring at a perfect statue of a snake. Except that it was moving, each muscle that rolled down the body enlarging its presence as Judai stared straight at its face. And what a face! It was that which broke the 'snake' image because no snake had two mouths, or a mane of any sort!
The mouths were opening independently the jaws releasing and letting it lower and lower. Both bore these split tongued paths that lead the eyes into this black void in the back that had to be the throat. It churned with a strange darkness that 'could' be churned, though Judai couldn't place how his brain was saying 'yeah its dark but there's different 'types' of dark'. A thought process that pulled at his sanity when the snake shook its head breaking Judai's locked gaze on the its mouth.
The flash of golden light snatched at his eyes pulling it to the strange crown of elemental forces. In the back of his head a small voice whimpered that it looked like Yugi's unique hair style. But even with that voice the rest of him heard nothing really. Fire that crashed down behind the captive lightning producing yet more light that illuminated these blood ruby red whirlpooling eyes into life.
It was so primal, raw, this being that looked as towering as skyscrapers and he 'had' to stare at the snake. There was a blue and green orb on his right hanging in the air that he couldn't look at. He couldn't Look At It!
'It can't be earth, it just can't...' He fought the impulse to check. It was as tiny as a marble against this snake and if it was that small... This snake was... So...
A puff of air, exhaled by the great snake brushed against him, warm and leaving him so very cold. For all its warmth the sensation of disappointment weighed so greatly that it clung to Judai's clothes and skin. Such a breath should have carried Judai away, instead it latched on to him, sending him hurtling to his right! With all the speed of being hurled by the angry fist of God Judai found the scales of the snake, transitioning into a patch of golds, reds and dark blues before streaks of light.
Aki glanced at Yusei in concern before turning her gaze to the rest of her high school friends. While Yusei exchanged concerned looks with the rest of the Dragons.
Eeriness ran up multiple spines as they studied Judai's presence. He was so covered in soot it was only the shape of his hair that hinted who it was.
That and his quiet voice.
Excitable was something of a hallmark of Judai's personality. But given what they knew of his history, of Yubel's history perhaps it was expected? When Yubel got control over him it had disappeared, replaced with this cruelty that found joy in the anguish and suffering of others. If he was ever to sound remotely 'nice' it had been while talking to Jesse. But this was a completely different side to him. Covered from head to toe in soot, he could have been the dead, and the fear in his voice even the way he was just... looking straight up at the eye above them...
"He was possessed by corrupted Light..." Zalinka pointed out before working her way over to Judai. "Hey, kid, before you got here what was Yubel doing?"
Judai didn't answer at first, so Zalinka grabbed his wrest with a loose grip to get his attention. Causing the teen to finally slowly look down at her.
"I'm sorry... what did... that snake is so scary, what did you ask?" Judai politely asked.
"Gods that snake 'must' be terrifying..." Momoe whispered to Junko who nodded mutely as Zalinka repeated her question.
"They were in pain... They sounded a bit happy but also in pain... That cloud... that snakes' breath... It... I don't know... like a cleansing breath." Judai shook his head as he tried to focus on them again. "Its a cleansing breath..." He repeated it a few more times getting more confident. "That's the closest I think I could call it..."
"It would make sense but it worries me all the more," Ancient Fairy finally spoke up her voice filled with worry. "We're an inconsequential speak by its head and its not facing us yet its breath has impact on these worlds."
"I think we figured it out," Ryo corrected while he affixed his gaze onto Yusei, "Judai didn't come out of it until Syncron went into that cut. Its time for us to split up."
The Dragon group blinked a bit in surprise before slowly nodding. It was just too clean, sending in Syncron had caused the cuts to be 'blown' away, the snake was guiding them... or maybe they were being guided by the shrug of God.
"Judai, can you stay here? Like not get taken over by Yubel again?" Crow asked, the guy looked a wreck after all. Caked in soot and when he talked about the big slither in the sky tears had streaked down his face. It caused the soot to drip down and now that the world was basked in this glow of gold and soft shades of blue it was more obvious.
Judai gave Crow a look and something seemed to break in the guy. "Jesse got in trouble because of me too, I... kind of remember his heart being attacked? Do you know if he's ok?"
The groups were at a loss for that, the only one or rather 'ones' with Jesse was Carly and her Fortune Fairies now Ladies. None of the Ladies had returned to update them on what was going on, but also she couldn't summon or maybe didn't know if they were still with her or what.
"We don't know. The idiot attacked Carly and her spirits put him in his place," Jack boomed in annoyance. "He should be at the hospital, they both should though it took a great deal for Aki to get them that far. Given he wasn't awake and she has no powers to speak of save fortune telling."
"Yeah well, you were a stupid kid who did a stupid thing and someone got hurt because you have a special ability. Aki shares that issue and boy am I glad to be hum drum boring," Crow chirped up.
While at Aki's side, Ruka waved for the attention of her Fairy Dragon, "Ancient Fairy, can you find the cut that Junk Syncron took? We should start there, I think."
Yusei and Aki blinked in surprise but it was Asuka who gave their amused expressions voices. "oh? How come?" She crossed her arms in a mock defiant way as Fubuki leaned over to peer over her shoulder at the twins.
"The person who sent those machines recognized Junk Syncron as a spy, if we tried to go directly to them they could likely do the same thing." Ruka explained with Rua picking up the thought.
"And Junk was just one little spirit, there's a bunch of us, what happens if they knock us 'all' off course?"
"Oooh I see, ducking behind cover until you reach the goal," Fubuki elaborated with a nod, "you two are smart... Which is scary because kids should be dumb not battle harden." With that his smile twisted to this sadden expression.
Yet the twins just beamed up at him through their own tears of concern for Yusei and Aki, "well we 'are' the reincarnations of adults, its everyone else who was the 'kids' so to speak." The twins recounted though Rua held more bluster in his voice than his sister.
But it was something that caused Momoe to freeze up before shaking her head. "If you're going to do that, Yusei and Aki needs to be the most protected, look after those two guys."
"Huh?"
It was a confused sound, causing everyone, both human and Duel Spirit, to turn and face her only Kazu answered instead.
"Yeah, the romance lover would recall that first... You said Aki killed Yusei by mistake in your original lives. That's why Black Rose Dragon is broken, and you're going to another possible reality where you're both dead again..." Kazu pointed out rubbing his thumb against a patch of his Queen's furry back.
Death was not a topic that anyone really wanted to ruminate on, yet somehow in that one moment it hit Yusei how intrusive it was. They were fighting two beings who wanted them dead, it was true about their past lives and how Aki had been used. No it was being brought up in topic, the memorial being the creepiest and worrying thing of all.
It was foreboding as Queen Angel of Roses.
With a name like that it was clear it was likely a duel spirit tied to plants and one that Aki likely would have. But if Aki was 'dead' how was Queen still active in the real world? Aki was using her powers to let the duel spirits interact with them. On the surface level he wanted to shrug it off, after all both she and Junk Syncron were Duel Spirits, it was safe to say that she could be there an invisible to the living world. Without another living person there was no way to fully know.
Yet on deeper observation, Junk Syncron reported that Queen was tending the roses and Duel Spirits couldn't. Could they?
"Junk Syncron?" Yusei turned to the little conductor dressed spirit. He watched as it stiffened to attention before turning to face him. "When you said that Queen Angel of Roses was watering the flowers, were they all real? Or duel spirits like the Black Garden? Was she affecting the the world you were in? Or were you in some variation of the Duel Spirit world?"
Everyone blinked in surprise and while some retained confused expressions others blinked and seemed to start connect to his thought process. Meanwhile the spirit was blinking thoughtfully before it straightened up.
"Beep! Location was Earth, flowers were not Duel Spirits...? Query: If Aki is dead how were we there? On reanalysis the ability to keep spirits about seems inconsistent. For that would imply spirits were still active where her original body would be laid as well correct?"
Junko looked at the others near her and whispered "I don't get it?"
Kazu leaned closer in answer though, "Sounds like those spirits were in this world and interacting with this world. Which is only possible for spirits that are in the range of Aki's power, but if she's dead. And no other person was near by with that power too, how were they there?"
The girls found themselves pondering that and the idea that Aki's power could still manifest even after death...
"Regardless, you should be careful." Ryu spoke up as he looked down at his deck and found his thoughts swimming between various possibilities. "If Queen is or was a partner of Big Sis, she may have a strong reaction when you arrive seeing our Big Sis." His father must have had a reaction seeing Blue Eyes after all. Having given up on his Older Brother ever returning, Ryu could imagine that his fathers' reaction would have been explosive.
For everyone else seeing Ryu standing there with all these Duel Spirits that were connected with people who had been missing.
"Understood," Aki affirmed with a quiet nod. "Here's to hoping Queen isn't like me..." she muttered. But it was less about 'her' that worried her and more like 'Black Rose Dragon'. How would Queen react if she saw Aki if her Aki was dead? It didn't sound like a peaceful death, and given how emotionally charged Aki was in her current and past life...
Ancient Fairy flickered the glow of her presence to get everyone's attention, or rather 'tried to' but with the warm glow of dawn... She was only partially successful. "I found the cut, its a bit of a walk through all that ash..."
"Then its settled, Yusei's group goes. We keep Judai with us and we'll let Carly know what's up if and when she gets back here," Ryo announced, tossing his head a bit in the direction where Carly had been carried off to.
"A 'cleansing breath'," Asuka mused aloud as everyone began setting up to depart. "Judai isn't prone to fear though, why would a snake, no matter how massive scare him if it was just taking a breath?"
"Its a snake with hair like Yugi and Yugi is God..." Fubuki pointed out. "Perhaps there's something special about him too? Something that makes him privy to more than just the surface level of a massive snake?"
"Its as good as any question to ask," Cyber Tutu pointed out, "Carly can sense out the future after all and she can't see duel Spirits on her own. Who knows what else could happen?"
Everyone in earshot turned to observe Judai. Not an easy task with all the soot that covered him, but he was looking back in the direction he had come from. Maybe because he was a ploy trying to get them to lower their guard. Or perhaps it was borne out of guilt given how his actions caused this situation by exposing Yubel to something dangerous.
Asuka trudged over to Judai and though it was useless she tried to brush some of the soot off his shoulder. A gentle touch that startled him into turning to look at her.
"Hi Asuka... I'm sorry about Yubel, I really am its all my fault..." He began to spill over with apologies while she shook her head and started trying to pacify him. "Its ok, you were trying to do right by them and its... Well its them you have to apologize to, but that cleansing breath you mentioned. That freed you, why not the others?
Judai looked at her with such a kicked puppy expression, it was almost alarming. Agitated and nervous he began to observe their surroundings, probably trying to process the amount of damage a lone fight with Yubel caused here.
"Because its not... I... I call it a cleansing breath because that's what it is... Like what we all do when we need to clear our minds you know?" He explained before he began hugging himself. "It didn't feel like the snake was trying to 'blow away negativity', the snake in question was disappointed. I got that feeling the most strongly when I could think for myself again. That snake is disappointed and we're right next to its head where it has been looking at us."
Asuka felt the color drain from her face, as did Jack, Crow, several duel spirits who didn't even have blood. Just a swath of their group staring in growing horror at the teen then up at the eye staring down side eyeing? Them?
"Yusei get Yugi online would you?" Crow asked in alarm causing the teen to turn his attention back to Crow in concern.
"What's going on?" Yusei asked as he approached, everyone looked white faced while staring at Judai, yet Judai seemed shame faced more than anything.
"That snake feels 'disappointed? Did Yugi ever tell you anything about... like if he gets emotional or whatever?" Crow asked, earning a shake of the head from Yusei.
"The snake IS Yugi," Zalinka explained as Ryu joined herby following her path. "Father said that Yugi roughly has four forms though the weakest form has the most variations." She explained as she Ryu puffed after her, "what about the snake?"
"Four forms?" Jack questioned before anyone could answer her, but the feeling of air trapped in his lungs. He needed to say 'something' to justify expelling it.
"Why do you think you Asian types associate the number four with death? If Yugi goes to his full form he wipes out everything," Zalinka pointed out.
Asuka wanted to shove the goof that was her brother away from herbefore calling out, "How can the snake be Yugi?"
"Its the form he took, symbolism, no one really asked back then because as dad put it 'saying he was God was enough to knock anyone off kilter. No one was looking for details.'."
"Oh great, wonderful. God is disappointed in us..." Crows' head dropped into his hands. "So what does that mean?"
"I've never met him, and he doesn't talk to me so I can't tell you, but what little father understood was that the Snake is above Yugi, there's Yugi or any of his variations, then Horakhty, the Snake form, then the Creatrix. Each one is more powerful the higher up but snake is a primal entity, you can't talk to it like you can to Yugi. You can argue with Yugi because he knows all the things you 'might' say he just wants to hear what you ultimately commit yourself to, the snake is primal and doesn't care it just does as it needs to."