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savage-sinister · 2 days ago

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Deicide: Red Shift (113890 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth Chapters: 24/24

Summary: A mysterious signal is drawing ships across the Grand Line to a place called Elegia for the first ever concert by the rising star singer, Uta. Following the signal are Cross Guild and fallen emperor Shanks, the Charlotte family, the Donquixote Pirates and the shattered remnants of Law's crew, and Kid's crew, and Cavendish and Bartolomeo.

And the Straw Hats and their captain Luffy, who hasn't seen Uta since they were both little children at their idol Shanks' knee.

Perhaps this meeting was ordained by fate. Perhaps, in the end, there was only ever one tragic outcome possible.

But Luffy has other plans.

catch up here

"I want you to meet my brother!" Luffy proudly proclaimed, waving his hand at Sabo.

Sabo, whom Law had very much met, however briefly, in Dressrosa.

".....Hey Sabo," Law stared at the rather distinctive face. He knew—like…he didn't know the guy that well. Dressrosa, that whole mess at the Pirate Festival, a handful of interactions really. But uh, he was hardly a stranger. "How's things been since…fuck, that whole mess with Bullet, was it?"

Sabo grinned awkwardly. "Well. They've been better admittedly. But it's nice to see you? Uh. My brother's playing a kind of prank on you I think."

Luffy, who had not let go of Law's arm, was giggling and snickering in that almost donkey-ish way of his. Like he was privy to some kind of private joke.

Law looked over at him for a long moment, his eyes lidded as he glanced back at Sabo.

Luffy's dumbass snickering was—well, okay it was fucking cute. As cute as it was uninsightful as shit.

"I'm gonna be honest with you, man. I don't get the punchline."

"That's not just my brother Sabo, Traffy! It's my brother Ace, too!" Luffy grinned widely, continuing to giggle.

Sabo rubbed the back of his neck, and gave Law an apologetic smile.

"...." Law looked between them again, rubbing the back of his neck. "....Yeah uh, I'm not seeing it Luffy I…"

He suddenly paused, and the memory of Monet and Sugar hit him like a brick. Two spirits sharing space after a traumatic death of one of their bodies.

He held his hand up without waiting and twisted his fingers to activate his room enough to get a sense.

"....hold still."

Luffy was still giggling like a maniac, but Sabo held still for him, that same apologetic little smile written on his face. Law's room unfolded and gave him access to understanding of the world beyond mere sight.

Two 'hearts', just like Monet and Sugar.

"Well I'll be damned. ...it happened twice. Just like Monet and Sugar." He lowered his room to run his hand through his hair with a tight grin. "...it's a pleasure to meet you too, Ace. Though, I guess it's possible we ran into one another before—depending on how long you've been like this."

'Ace' smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we've run into one another before. I just never had time to explain what was going on to Luffy, so…"

Luffy stuck his tongue out at him. "I punched him for keeping it from me!"

"He sure did," Ace huffed. "And I almost deserved it. But what did you mean, it happened twice?"

"Sounds like you almost deserved it, yeah." Law snickered. "Almost. Luffy loves punching people, it's practically a hobby at this point."

He bumped his shoulder against Luffy before he gestured back towards the Donquixotes— making sure to point to Sugar, who was currently in a heated back and forth with Baby 5 over something ridiculous.

"This is the second time I've seen a dead person sharing a body with someone close to 'em. An adoptive 'sibling' of sorts. Sugar over there—her adoptive sister Monet died 'cause of something I fucked up back on Punk Hazard. Only she didn't pass. She's still in there with her."

Ace laughed, and his manner changed– Back to Sabo. "Somehow, knowing it happened to someone else makes it even weirder than if it was just us! Do you know what causes it?"

Law shook his head, his arm looping around Luffy again as he shrugged his shoulders. "Not a clue—sorry. I mean…if I can be corny, I'm gonna say maybe the strength of a bond that was formed outside of blood ties? You know. A deep and meaningful connection."

"Well, I can't say I hate the sound of that at all," Sabo chuckled.

"Hey!" Luffy crossed his arms, suddenly petulant. "Does that mean you guys were closer than me and Ace?"

Sabo put his hand on Luffy's shoulder. "No way, Luffy. I think if anything your personality and heart are just too big to fit a second one in your body."

Law laughed , bumping him again with his shoulder as he smiled sharply at him. "Another voice in there woulda been squished against your fucking ribcage, Straw Hat."

Luffy's nose wrinkled up as he seemed to genuinely consider it, before he bumped Law back. "Yeah, you're probably right! I don't really want any other voices in my head anyway. But I'm glad Ace is here."

Sabo gave a thumbs up. "We're glad too, you know? It's not ideal, but, we've had time to get used to it. How about your friends Monet and Sugar? Are they doing alright?"

"It was weird for 'em at first. They seemed like they were going mad or somethin'. But…now that they've settled they're doing real well. It's easy to tell which is which."

Law paused a moment, as the memory of his talk with Doflamingo flashed through his mind. "Actually…Doffy…Doflamingo. He's planning on trying to find a way to get Monet a separate body again. I can pull one of 'em out…but we need an organic housing. A clone or something, maybe."

Luffy's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Ehhh? You can do that?"

"I mean–yeah, you saw my body swap trick right? It's just that—only we need a second body. If we find one Monet likes, or find a way to make a new one…we just have t—"

Before Law could finish answering, a sharp voice broke the conversation.

"Hey Straw Hat!" Crocodile yelled from across the way. "When you have a minute!"

For fucks sake.

"Uuuuughhh!" Luffy flopped his head down dramatically, his hat falling over his face. "I'm busy though!"

Sabo– or maybe it was Ace– just laughed though and patted Luffy on the back. "Perils of being a big shot pirate, little brother. Everyone wants a piece of you. Go on and see what he wants. We can talk with Law any time, right? You're not going anywhere, man?"

"Unless Doffy decides to drag the whole fucking crew on some misadventure without warning, I'll be right here." It was mostly a joke, but he also knew the look in Doffy's eyes when he decided on a project. "I'm not going anywhere, promise."

Luffy thumped him on the shoulder. "You better not! Alright, alright. I'll go see what the Old Croco wants."

The little tent that Crocodile had commandeered for what he told Buggy was 'the meeting before the meeting' was packed full. Too full, probably. There was Buggy himself, Crocodile, Shanks, Mihawk, Hancock, Doflamingo, Luffy, Uta, and a couple of the Straw Hats, Vivi, thankfully, not among them.

Having everyone there was a 'formality' according to Crocodile; he'd explained that he expected most of the conversation to be mostly him and Straw Hat, and for it to be fairly short.

Buggy tugged at his collar as he looked around the table. It was certainly crowded—and somehow he wasn't sure Crocodile was right. Luffy could either be shockingly verbose or uh—not. Direct. He'd have to make sure the conversation went anywhere.

Hancock was filing one of her more claw-like than usual nails as she looked out over the table—Mihawk sat with his chair tipped back slightly and a blaise look in his eyes…and Uta.

The pop star.

She just looked from face to face with an excited grin that spoke of her just being eager to be there for this meeting of the minds. Luffy was half draped across her, drinking a beer. Crocodile had already offered drinks around, a runner had been sent back to the ship to get some of the booze while they all got set up.

Crocodile set his own drink down. "I know you're not a man for bullshit, Straw Hat, so I'll get right to the point. I want to talk about an alliance."

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, I heard. What about it?"

Uta nuzzled against his shoulder, chugging down a sip of beer herself. Tiny lady like her—Buggy admitted he was probably gonna be fucking surprised by how much she could drink. Shanks WAS her dad after all.

Hancock tilted her head to the side. "Are you inviting him to Cross Guild, Crocodile?"

"I am," Crocodile nodded. "And I'd be thrilled if he'd join. Though admittedly, I'd be satisfied, Straw Hat, if you'd prefer your crew to be formally allied with Cross Guild, rather than a part of it."

Straw Hat's nose wrinkled. "I don't get how that's different."

Shanks raised his hand. "I can field that, Luffy. If you're in an alliance, that means we can call on one another for help, but we don't have any actual say on what the other does. Whereas if you're part of Cross Guild, you get a say on what Cross Guild does, and Crocodile here gets to excitedly tell the newspapers that Straw Hat Luffy is a member of Cross Guild."

Crocodile snorted. "That's a very basic explanation, but yeah."

Hancock brushed her hand through her hair, which hissed amusedly as she nodded firmly. "Cross Guild is…well. It's effective. It allows one to utilize the combined strength of all of us."

Crocodile nodded. "Pirates working together toward a common goal, instead of constantly fighting among each other, and making the World Government's job easier for them."

"Well, I like the sound of that…" Straw Hat considered. "Who's in Cross Guild anyway?"

Buggy couldn't really believe how well this was going. Sure—they were buds with Straw Hat now, but he was certain he'd have some kind of inexplicable objection to throw in there. He tapped his fingers on the table with a tentative smile.

Crocodile put his hand to his chest. "Me. Everybody in this tent besides you and your crew. Our crews, obviously. Kaidou and Gecko Moria recently signed on. They're here too, but they wouldn't have fit in the damned tent."

"Are they the huge looking guys??" Uta asked excitedly.

"Indeed they are," Mihawk murmured as he leaned forward. "and on that note, captain—there's a few others here we should invite. The Charlottes and perhaps even Germa, for one."

Crocodile nodded. "There are. And I wanna invite all of those guys to join Cross Guild too. That's my next move. But not until we square things with Straw Hat Luffy here. That's important to me."

Luffy rubbed his neck, looking around the tent. "So Cross Guild's basically everybody I've beaten up, huh?"

"Not the most tactful way to put it, Captain," Zoro said from behind his shoulder, smirking. "But yeah. Well. Not Mihawk."

"Right." Luffy nodded. "Not Mihawk. Yet."

Mihawk scoffed softly under his breath, and a look of amusement came to his sharp eyes. "Yet. Though when that day comes—it may very well be a fight to the death."

"Oh come off it." Hancock waved her hand "Men and their swordsman pride. Make it near death and nobody needs to be deprived of anyone else's presence."

Buggy snorted himself—before breaking down into a giggle. It really was a tent full of people Luffy handed out a can of whoop-ass to.

Luffy nodded approvingly. "Near death sounds better. Or just for fun. I don't–" Straw Hat paused and he bit his lip. His nose wrinkled again and his face twisted up. "I beat everybody here up, but everybody's my friend, too. At least, friends of my friends? Crocodile, you're Vivi's friend, and Robin's too, I think. And Mingo's Traffy's friend. And Zoro and Mihawk spent two years together. That's longer than I got to spend with him! And Hancock and me are going to maybe get married! And Shanks and I made up now. And there's Buggy, too!"

And then there's Buggy too. Wow. He was flattered. Really. Wowsers.

Buggy was halfway to rolling his eyes when they bugged out of his head. "MARRIED?"

"Jealous, clown?" Hancock purred from across the table as those weird ass snakes that replaced her hair all hissed like they were laughing at him.

Doflamingo was laughing too. "Guess I missed my chance to propose!"

Crocodile waved his hand, shaking his head. "Gentlemen, ladies. Let's hear the man out. You're very right, Straw Hat. We've all gotten pretty cozy. Interconnected. You have some thoughts on that?"

Luffy nodded firmly. "Yeah, I do. I like fighting. I like fighting a lot. But not– not when it hurts my friends. Or the people who are my friends' friends. And like, we are all friends, right, that's the point of Cross Guild?"

"It's a sappy way to put it, Straw Hat, but yeah," Crocodile agreed. "Yeah it sure fucking is"

Luffy nodded again. "Right. So, I don't wanna fight you guys. We already fought. I won. I'd rather be friends now. There's only one question, I have."

"I'm glad we're friends," Buggy murmured as he brushed his hair out of his face. He leaned on his hands, watching Straw Hat's face curiously. Was it a condition? or…?

Luffy nuzzled Uta for a moment, and then stood up, making himself eye-height with the taller people in the tent. He cracked his knuckles. It seemed more like a nervous habit than a threat.

"I've been thinking a lot. Today, especially, because of Traffy, but before this too. About how all the bad things that happened to me happened because of arguments about… about pride, and rank and ambition and stuff like that." He bit his lip. "And those are the reasons that bad stuff happened to some of you guys too, I think! and that sucks! I don't want to do that any more!"

A thrum seemed to go through the room for a moment. Luffy's haki, conscious or not.

"But I don't want to give up on my dreams, either." Luffy lifted his chin, looking around at all of them in turn, his dark eyes fierce and bright. "I want to be friends, and if that means joining Cross Guild, that's great. But I still want to find the One Piece and be the King of the Pirates. That's my dream. So if that's gonna be a problem if I join you guys, we gotta talk about it now."

Hancock clapped her hands together with a smile. "the One Piece was never my own goal—it doesn't bother me in the least!"

Mihawk shook his head. "... it's not a problem for me, certainly."

Buggy grimaced slightly, looking at the way the assembled thought amongst themselves or blurted out their stance. He watched the way Uta nudged her brother's side with a grin—clearly supportive.

Of course he had to open his big fat mouth. "How'd you feel about having a rival? Ya know a bit of friendly competition, huh?"

Luffy's stoney, serious face shifted like the rubber it was into a wide smile. "I love friendly competition!"

"And as long as we're allies, friends, as you said, Straw Hat," Crocodile spoke up, "I don't give a damned rat's ass which one of you calls himself 'king'. Hell, you can open the One Piece at the same time and both call yourself 'king' for all I care. So no problem on my end. What about you, Doffy?"

"I got bored of being a king," Doflamingo waved his hand. He giggled a little. "But if everybody ends up getting crowns, I don't want to be the only one without one!"

Crocodile snorted. "You're more of a clown than Buggy is, you ass. Well? That satisfy you, Straw Hat?"

Luffy was quiet for a moment.

Buggy felt himself sweating a little bit, grinning widely to compensate. "I think it sounds good, huh buddy?"

He really hoped this wasn't one of Luffy's famous mood swings.

Uta put her finger to her lips, before she stifled another comment with a sip of booze and snuggled his shoulder again.

Luffy cocked his head, turning it at an almost unnatural angle. "Shanks didn't say anything."

Buggy watched as Shanks smiled, and held up his hand. "I was never going to be King of the Pirates. Even though I've got my ambition back, I'd rather support you and Buggy. Though I'd rather not have to pick who I'm rooting for. Maybe listen to Croc and open it at the same time."

Luffy was quiet again,and another hum of haki shimmered through the tent. But then he broke out into a smile, putting his hands on his hips. "If we're there at the same time, we'll get the One Piece together, as friends! But you guys better not be slow!"

Buggy felt like a weight was lifted off his poor aching shoulders. He sighed with relief before he cackled. "Ya know, Straw Hat! I was gonna say the same thing to you! You'd better not be too slow either, Mr. Popularity!"

Luffy laughed along with him. "Count on it!"

"Well, that solves that then, doesn't it, Straw Hat?" Crocodile put his hands together hopefully.

Luffy turned his bright, questioning smile on the members of his crew who were assembled, whether looking for a sign from them, or just reassuring himself they were with him, or who knew, with Straw Hat, admittedly.

Then he turned his bright smile on Crocodile, and nodded. "That's that!"

Crocodile stood up, and offered him his hand. "Glad to be on the same team, Straw Hat. Welcome to Cross Guild."

Luffy snickered, and shook his hand. "Uhuh!"

The way he grinned at Crocodile, holding back giggles as if with some private joke, was a little unsettling.

Once again Buggy assuaged himself with the reminder that Straw Hat Luffy was just as baffling to other people as he was to him. It was charming. Unsettling and charming. He chuckled quietly to himself as the Straw Hats gave a mixture of approval and amusement—mostly, anyway.

Robin blew a kiss Crocodile's way over Luffy's head.

That seemed to be just what Straw Hat was waiting for. While Crocodile was very slightly distracted by Robin's gesture, Luffy stretched up tall– and planted a kiss right on Crocodile's face.

"Now we're officially friends!"

Crocodile couldn't have looked more staggered if he's been hit in the chest with a cannon.

"....that's how you officiate friendships?" Buggy demanded, laughing. "I don't remember that from Impel Down."

The look on Crocodile's face at least was priceless.

Robin certainly agreed, laughing into her hand. And Doflamingo was cackling of course.

"We were really busy at Impel Down!" Luffy protested, sticking out his tongue.

Crocodile finally rallied enough to join the laughter himself. "Is that so? Alright, sure." He grabbed Luffy by the chin and pushed a kiss on him in return. "Fine, now that you've made a mockery of the whole meeting, we're friends."

Luffy just grinned at him.

Buggy leaned on his hands with an amused huff of breath. "I got the feeling this whole meeting's gonna turn into a big joke. Take it from me, I'm the clown here."

It broke the ice, right? Cross Guild had gained the Straw Hat Pirates—the most terrifying crew of fucking weirdos on the Grand Line—and were probably going to net a couple more emperors too.

Things were looking up. Things were REALLY looking up now.

Croco had assured Luffy that there was some time before the 'big meeting', and that no, he wouldn't have to pay that much attention if he didn't want to, which Luffy was thrilled by.

"Is it weird to say I can tell you're serious about this, Captain?" Zoro murmured, as the Straw Hats hung around the edges of where the big crowd of pirates was forming.

He shook his head. "You already know I was thinking about it last night."

"Law's crew," Zoro nodded. "It's a good alliance, Captain. And it doesn't change anything for us, does it?"

Luffy shook his head. "We just have more friends."

"I never would have said it when I met you, Captain, but I guess you can't never have too many friends." Zoro smiled and clapped Luffy across the shoulders.

"Yeah! And never too many crew, either, right Uta?"

Uta jolted , nearly falling backwards where she was thoughtfully leaning while looking out at the crowd. She shook off whatever thought was going on in her head to flash Luffy a bright smile.

"I mean—I'd say! Though it's been a long time since I've been on any crew at all, I'm a little out of practice!" She leaned forward. "Are you that excited to have me?"

"Well, yeah! Of course we are!" Luffy grabbed her hand with his free one. "Right, Zoro?"

Zoro smiled at her. "Absolutely."

Uta beamed from ear to ear, flushing a bit as she squeezed Luffy's hand and swung it back and forth.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Zoro~. I'm gonna hold you all to it!" She winked. "Like—I can't believe you guys got this far without a musician."

"I know, right?" Luffy pouted a little thinking of it. "I guess we were just waiting for the right time. We had to run into you!"

Uta tucked her hair over her ear, before she shifted to wrap her arms around his shoulders, resting her chin on top of his head.

"I'm glad—you, and your crew, you deserve the best musician to ever grace the Grand Line, right?" She closed her eyes. "...you ever think you'd find me out there? I used to daydream about you landing on the shore of Elegia—playing with me again."

Luffy smiled brightly. He didn't always think very far ahead, but he had thought of Uta a lot during the years that they were apart.

Instead of answering, he tugged on her wrist. "Come on! Let me show you the ship!"

She let go of him with an amused tilt of her head towards Zoro. "Is it big?" she asked "I'd ask Luffy but he always used to exaggerate."

The swordsman nodded. "It's pretty big. The first one was a lot smaller."

Luffy tugged on her wrist. "Come on, come on!!"

Uta laughed, finally letting Luffy drag her forward.

"Alright, alright! Keep your pants on, Luffy! Geeze—it's 'cause you're so impatient that I keep beating you at everything!" It was clear though—she was absolutely excited about seeing the ship. "You think it's got room for my instruments?"

Luffy said the name of the ship was the Thousand Sunny. Standing on its deck in the Elegia harbor was the first time Uta had been on a ship since she'd landed on the island ten years ago.

For ten years, she'd been told again and again the dangers of the sea—kept locked away from ever setting foot on the polished wooden deck of a ship or hearing the flapping of its sails in the wind.

She leaned on the rail, looking at the spiky and smiling figurehead in her periphery with a wide smile.

The wind tickled her nose with the scent of salt. The sway of the deck below her feet was somehow familiar even in the decade of landlocked isolation. It was a beautiful ship—a massive ship, even though technically it was one of the smaller ones in the port. It was a home for the pirates who lived on it full of little touches like those that Uta hadn't ever been able to leave for herself.

She closed her eyes, feeling a song welling up inside her for the first time since the end of the concert. And for the first time since even before that—it was a song that made her heart flutter with excitement and the promise of being a pirate. It wasn't a song that made her feel small, or trapped.

She hummed, tapping her fingers against the polished wood as she bobbed her head to the rhythm.

She felt a hand on her back. It was Luffy's. "You sound happy."

Uta leaned back, enough to look at him as she hummed another bar or two.

"First time I've been really happy in a long time, so I'm trying not to hide it. ...the ship's gorgeous, Luffy. I never thought a shrimp like you could manage to even get a ship like this."

He grinned widely, sitting on the rail next to her and slipping his arm around her. "You didn't huh? So you're impressed, right?"

"I thought you'd be out here in a rowboat missing a sail and like…one guy looking seasick." She leaned against him as she teased. Another few soft notes hummed through the air before she admitted what she was really feeling. "Yeah— I'm pretty impressed. It feels homey. Loved."

"I'm glad." He rested his cheek against her head. He didn't say any more, but the way he nuzzled against her said a lot. That he had missed her. That he loved her, especially.

It was nice when feelings were conveyed through more than just words. Words were so easily lost, drowned out under the music— or under the roar of the crowd. She snuggled up against him, letting her affection pour out in the minute brushes of skin-on-skin.

She loved him too. She'd cried out across the ocean, singing about that love as long as she could remember. Singing for a reunion that finally came.

Uta and Luffy, once more by the sea. "I'm glad too."

"There's gonna be a lot of stuff happening on our adventure. Think you're ready for it?" He looked at her with his big, dark eyes, his smile mischievous and teasing.

The mischief glowed in her own eyes as she met his, leaning in with her wide and ear-to-ear smile. "Which one of us was a pirate first, huh?"

He pushed her shoulder gently. "Sure, but you're way outta practice!"

Uta pushed him back, her smile hitching wider. "And I still wiped the floor with you at one of our old contests! So I think that's proof enough that I'm gonna bounce back before you can even blink! Like the last ten years never happened!"

"We'll see about that!" Luffy laughed confidently. "I think you saw, I've had a lot more competition lately, huh? I've gotten way stronger!"

All those people in the tent 'cross guild', people Luffy had apparently beaten, and who were now their friends.

Uta ducked in and kissed his cheek.

"Well…even if the jerks on Elegia tried to stifle me, I've gotten stronger too! So you'll just have to see for yourself!" She grinned. "I'll put you to sleep and draw all over your face, maybe."

His nose wrinkled and he leaned in and kissed her back. "I'll have Zoro stand guard for me."

"What makes you think he'll still be awake to stop me?" She nuzzled back against his kisses. It was tender. It was familiar. Teasing competition—the feeling of affectionate touch between them. "Maybe I'll draw a smile on him."

"He smiles on his own sometimes!" Luffy laughed, and squeezed her against him. Finally, he said it out loud again. "I really missed you, Uta. I worried I was never going to see you again."

Uta half turned against him, smelling the salt of the sea beyond as she wrapped her arms around him in return. "I missed you too, Luffy. I'd never known how lonely I could be until I lost you. I thought—I thought I'd only ever see you in my dreams."

He stroked his fingers through her hair, tugging a pale lock of it. "You've got a lot more than dreams, now, okay? Now's the part where we're gonna make our dreams come true."

She rested against him, and her pale bangs fell from her bright lilac eye.

"The whole crew's dreams, right?" She bit her lip. "OUR dreams. Not the gods in our heads."

He nodded again, his face taking on a serious, distant look. "It's not gonna be easy, but we'll do it. Our dreams. To hell with what those things in our head say."

She smiled softly.

"No New Genesis—no god of liberation. It'll be hard—but you've got me right there with you, ya know?" She rested her hand on his back "you'll be the pirate king—and I'll be your musician. They're not going to take me away again."

He grabbed her hand suddenly and squeezed it. "I'm not going to let anybody take you away again, Uta. And I'm not gonna let anybody stand in the way of us, and our friends."

Uta looked into his eyes for a long moment. Adventure, freedom, dreams of their own, a pirate crew, a beautiful ship, inspiration for songs that weren't just praise to the greedy voice inside her head—they all called to her in that moment.

Nobody was going to stand in the way of them, or their friends. She was overcome with emotion. A musical pang in her chest, expressed the only way she could without a note sheet and a song.

She pressed her lips to his in a firm and affectionate kiss, pressed against the banister of the Thousand Sunny, the open ocean and its endless promise at their back.

#lawlu #acesabo #saboace #asl brothers #trafalgar law #portgas d ace #monkey d luffy #buggy the clown #cross guild #luffy x uta #uta one piece #one piece film red #film red #fanfiction #fan fiction #fanfic #archive of our own #ao3 #fic: one piece deicide

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silverloreleysfanfics · 2 years ago

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A few short snippets of the tteotm/lbfad fic I have in the works.

1 - (this is going to be a flashback during the nightmare sequence)

In a corner of the courtyard, Yingxin was sitting next to Jin, who looked at some servant kids playing by themselves not far. They both were wearing much better clothes, new and of high quality, and looked better fed.

Despite so, the child didn't have a smile yet.

He was watching the kids intently, as if he was trying to figure out something.

"Yangfu doesn't let them bully me. He's the owner and they fear him, but they all like him too, so they do what he says"

"So it is" was the maid's reply.

"Why didn't my real father do the same? Isn't a king more important than a landowner?"

The poor maid was taken aback "Prince... kings don't act like other people do"

"She's right" Xiao Run arrived at that moment and smiled to the child "I knew a king, once, who was very harsh to his own family. He drove his mother and then his younger brother away with his cruelty, although many said he was a good ruler, he wasn't good with his family"

"Why?" the child asked.

"Some people are taught wrong, or develop the wrong ideas and no one has the courage to teach them better. Kings are even more so, because they have so much power people are scared of angering them"

Jin frowned "Should I become scary?"

"I thought you wanted to be liked. Scary people are feared, not liked"

"But they don't get hurt and don't need anyone to protect them"

"Jin'er, everyone, even the most powerful person, can get hurt or need to be protected, but they can have help only if they have someone on their side, and if they scared everyone away, no one will aid when need comes"

2 - (this should go in chapter 4)

"Everyone has their secrets, Ye Xiwu. Some are more dangerous than others, some are to be shared only with few, selected, people, others are to take to our graves. By being married, we'll be bound to guard each other and our secrets"

The glow in her eyes dimmed at that "So that's the reason. And here I thought..."

"You thought...?"

"Nothing. I was expecting too much, obviously, for someone like you to grow a heart all of sudden"

"Now I'm wounded, Ye Xiwu, hit in the heart you say I don't have" he grabbed her hand and pulled it flat against his chest "Here, can't you feel it?"

She could. Oh, even through the thick fabric she could feel it, the strong heartbeat, quick and agitated. Not the calm unfeelingness she expected, but a frenzied rhythm.

Her gaze alternated beween their hands and his face, both crazed and soft, the question and longing mixed up, scary in its intensity.

She turned away and retreated her hand from his grasp, unable to take the warmth of it all, his gaze and chest alike, as well as her own face.

[...]

It was hard not to wonder what drove him to her, when they had nothing but animosity and bitter banters in their current history. Yes, even with the secrets he wanted to protect, it was hard to say why he'd flat out propose. Without love strings, he surely didn't love her, that much she was certain of. Unless...

"Are you sure you want this, though?" she couldn't but ask. Then, almost softly: "Why me? Secrets aside"

A shadow seemed to fall over his face, sorrow and guilt, hopeful dread. A strange mixture, for someone who had always been so flippant, so far. It weirdly reminded her of his old self, of the self-deprecating emperor in her prison cell who lied his heart at her feet even in the midst of the pain she caused him.

"I'll tell you after the wedding" was his quick reply, before leaving in a rush.

3 - (somewhere in chapter 6, I guess)

"So complicated" Xiwu pouted.

"Your younger brother is the nominal head of the family while your grandmother is the practical one, your father has two concubines and I can't tell which one is the mother of each your siblings, and you are the only legitimate of his children, but I am the one with a complicated family?"

"If you put it that way..." she pouted, then a thought crossed her mind: "Don't they have concubines in Yungmenze?"

"Some do, but it's not a norm like around here" he then tilted his head "If that was to ask whether I plan to marry others, the answer is no. I find absurd the idea of having multiple partners, love is supposed to be an absolute, marriage a proof of devotion. Divorce isn't contemplated either"

"Till death do us part then?"

"If you think death can get you out this relationship, that's your mistake"

4 - (not sure what chapter this will be yet, probably 9)

"I can't believe you've been so foolish" Xiao Lanhua said, the healing flux not stopping "You could have told us, we could have talked about it..."

Jin scowled "You've been very clear on not wanting to allow Ye Xiwu and I to get married. You wanted to take me back to Lucheng" he accused.

"For your own good"

"Taking away my choices is for my good now?"

"Look where your choices led you: you're poisoned, bleeding, marked as a criminal by Sheng, hunted by all parts, and you almost died"

"I'm fine"

"Are you, now?" she stopped the healing and pushed a finger in his ribs, eliciting a pained sound.

"I'll be fine" he corrected.

"Because we're here, Jin'er, but what would have happened to you if we hadn't gotten here in time? You almost had Xiwu killed too, have you thought about it?"

He inhaled sharply and sent a guilty look towards Ye Xiwu.

#My writing #tteotm/lbfad crossover #it's just some bits from the draft #I'd love comments about them though #Till the end of the moon #Love Between Fairy and Devil

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ohmycale · 2 years ago

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Catherine Jour (CJ) - troublesome plot bunny

Some notes

- my first story outline so forgive the lack of details/dialogue, inconsistencies with fandom and omegaverse

- omegaverse: og!calexog!alberu (basic knoweldge of omegaverse apply.)

- Catherine = my name for Alberu's mom; Jour is Cale's mom

- Zed Crossman and Jour Thames are friends in this Universe.

- Mostly Deruth’s POV but other POVs coz its outline

- I guess I am an Alberu shipper now

Warning: mentions of shitty behaviors of some 'fathers'

- Deruth receives a report in his office. The report is about the birth of Cale and Alberu's third kid and first daughter, Catherine Jour.

- Report says Cale delivered a red-haired daughter earlier. Currently, the couple has two older sons coz heir and a spare. Both boys are golden-haired.

- Report mentions Alberu was allowed in the delivery room coz Cale said he should be there in case something happens. spoiler: he just wants to punish Alberu for getting him knocked up. ofc the kingdom freaks out because historically men aren't allowed in the delivery room.

- The third pregnancy is the easiest, Cale had a scare with their second kid coz the baby was in breech.

- Back to Deruth POV, he's a bit shaken that his first wife's name was used since Cale allowed Alberu to name the boys. However, Alberu's mom's name was also there so he thinks it was a joint decision.

- He received an earlier report that Alberu and Cale were heard fighting. Unknown to him, the fight was about the name. Cale was insistent to use the name while Alberu was in ‘king and politics’ mode. Cale got angry because he felt that there is no good reason not to use the name as a tribute to their mothers. Cale points out that he and Alberu grew up not mentioning their mothers’ name or speaking about their mother due to their stupid fathers caring more about their stupid feelings - Cale's verbatim. And other related reasons like their fathers not wanting to upset their stepmothers.

Alberu gives in because you shouldn’t upset your omega who is carrying your child and he does want his mother to be remembered and not forgotten. Cale also wants to spite Alberu’s stepmother because he doesn't like her due to her past mistreatment.

Besides the name combo is a great name – Catherine (pure) + Jour (day) = pure day.

Deruth wants to kick Alberu’s butt for upsetting Cale but he doesn’t know that he’s one of the reasons why Cale was upset in the first place.

- Deruth is apprehensive since he mostly hidden or given away Jour’s things and told servants not to mention Jour when Violan first came into the house. Naturally, Cale wasn't happy. Cale was forced not to speak of his mom and only to the Molan duo. He feels this is a little bit of revenge on Cale's side.

- Deruth also learned that Zed Crossman has met the newborn, which ticks him off (ha!). He thought that Zed would reject the kid coz of the red hair but the emperor granted the newborn title of Grand Princess (any title for the firstborn daughter of the Crown Prince) as future protection and recognition of her birth.

-Side Note: Cale was also apprehensive about giving birth to a red-haired child coz Crossman kids are supposed to be blondes

- Zed Crossman’s wife is ofc pissed coz she hated Alberu's mom. She has no beef with Jour's name because she expected Alberu to pacify Cale by granting the name. She is angry with Catherine's name because she expected Alberu to oppose it for her behalf.

- The older boys were delighted to have a sister as they are pestering their parents to have a younger sibling to play with. The two are already fighting about which brother she likes more….as a newborn.

- They already asked Alberu if she can train when they grow up. Alberu is not in the right headspace but is thinking CJ is better a knight than a princess being forced to marry.

- Cale is in his world and just happy that CJ inherited his hair and most of his looks.

- Zed Crossman is so excited about his first granddaughter. Coincidentally (nah, I planned it), she is also Deruth's first granddaughter. Deruth reads that Zed Crosman seems to be intent to find Cale's features in CJ rather than his son’s.

- CJ is not to be presented to the public, unlike her brothers. Excuses are made but the real reason is that the family doesn’t want her to be exposed to greedy nobles and nobles they don’t like.

- Deruth is thinking of baptismal gifts for his granddaughter. He's planning one-upping Zed since the latter splurged a lot when their grandsons were born. He’s having doubts about being invited since the previous baptisms were a formality and included the whole nobility.

--The rest of the plot is to be decided.

Okay, This plot bunny has been gnawing in my brain for a while and I wanted to share this because I want to shine on Alberu’s mom and Jour and their place in their children’s lives. These women had been in the background and I just want to dedicate a space in my fictitious plot bunnies for them. I believe that they were instrumental to Cale and Alberu and they are sidelined because they were killed off even in the beginning.

To my dismay, this plot bunny gave birth to another plot bunny – an omake (you sure, self?) feat. Catherine and Jour reacting to this plot. And yes, another one – the kids’ reaction edition feat the boys, On, Hong, and Raon. I knew this plot bunny is trouble.

If you enjoyed this plot bunny, pls leave a comment or anything. I appreciate any feedback about the post. I really don't know this one is good, bad or anything.

Let’s hope I have time to write and publish the full story.

#og!cale #og!cale henituse #alberu crossman #alberu x cale #tcf fanfic #trash of the count's family #original cale henituse #tcf alberu #tcf cale #zed crossman #deruth henituse #jour thames #jour henituse

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shanaraharlyah · 2 years ago

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15 Questions, 15 Mutuals

Thank you for tagging me, @snowymage

1. Are you named after anyone?

A soap opera character XD

2. When was the last time you cried?

a couple of weeks ago when I heard my brother's cat crossed the rainbow bridge (probably going to cry again now just thinking about it)

3. Do you have kids?

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Sometimes, but not a lot

6. What's your eye color?

Brown

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary Movies

8. Any special talents?

Art?

9. Where were you born?

10. What are your hobbies?

Art, playing video games and reading

11. Have you any pets?

Currently 1 cat

12. What sports do you play/have played?

None, I am not competitive or athletic

13. How tall are you?

5'8"

14. Favorite subject in school?

Art, otherwise Science

15. Dream job?

Working for a museum, possibly as an educator/interpreter since I love learning and sharing cultural ideas and history with people

Tagging: @jessiesjaded, @tessa1972, @cleverblackcat, @kojottek, @sealeneee, @slothssassin, @alexandbear, @raflesia65, @darth-salem-emperor-of-earth and anyone else who would like to play. And as always, not pressure to do it if you don't want to!

#tag games #about me

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majickth · 2 years ago

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Hey Majick, interested in your au your currently writing rn? Could you give us some stuff about the empires emperors and what their life is after the whole door incident?

Heck yea!!

Pix — post incident, hes got a background in archeological research and works as a history professor at a pretty prestigious uni. Ironically good about putting the past behind him. He’s the first to leave the group, having been pulled out of the school by his parents, but also the first one found by False.

Scott — he runs a small antique shop. hes learned to move on from a lot of things: his brother, his old crush, losing an eye (wears a prosthetic now, a purposefully flashy thing whose origin always changes depending on who he’s telling the story to; it’s never the real reason though)

Pearl — even after the incident, shes the only one who continues to return to the garden. 10 years later, she’s a janitor for Imperium, happy enough with the job (according to her strange musically inclined roommate that is). but she’s always yearning for something more. so one night she just disappears, nothing left behind but strange letters and an amnesiac to deliver them.

Sausage — he starts off as a bit of a rebel. not exactly a punk, but definitely an outsider of sorts. his only real friend is pearl. As an adult, though, he’s come to terms with a lot of things and now runs a sorta safehouse for kids who were like him. he’s even got a son now (it’s joel’s kid but that’s a whole thing to get into). Hes still friends with pearl and deadset on finding her

Joel — he wanted to be an artist; instead he inherits his fathers company, Stratos. hes rich, powerful, hes even got a family now (with sausage but, again, that’s a whole thing). comparatively, hes doing well for himself, except…he’s not happy. hes missing something, or rather that he left something behind. Or maybe something left him behind

Lizzie — before, she was captain of the swim team, but injuries sustained during The Incident forced her to drop out. As an adult, she works as a vet tech, which is a nice enough job. although she may tend to exaggerate a bit when talking to old friends (a lot actually, she’s lied about being mayor of a town and now she shes stuck with a mask of her own making)

Jimmy — he’s a sheriff. sorta. technically. so hes not an actual sheriff, but he does play one at a Wild West themed amusement park. And it’s a fun job! but when joel or fwhip are asking questions, its not the sort of answer he wants to give, not yet anyways.

Fwhip — a technician of sorts. he specializes in making flashy things: light fixtures, displays, special effects. his designs are eye catching. but rarely are they ever practical; thankfully, with ties to the filmmaking industry, his clients want flashy. he’s still in contact with jimmy despite their spotty relationship.

Gem — she hasnt forgotten The Incident, though she finds it easier to process when she pretends that all of that was just some elaborate play. Fittingly, she’s an up-and-coming actress whose most recent role involves playing a princess.

Joey — hes still looking for a thrill, that same rush as before when he was exploring another world. he travels, mostly by boat, occasionally doing jobs for people like ferrying them around. sometimes he smuggles things, but that’s neither here nor there and definitely not something he’d say aloud.

Shelby — she was expelled from the school following the incident, a mix of failing grades and being caught in restricted areas. She runs a small flower shop with Katherine.

Katherine — was part of the unofficial official gardening club with Shelby, Sausage, and Pearl. The Incident pushed her into wanting to protect the people in her life, especially her roommate/business partner Shelby. Has secretly been learning to fight and occasionally moonlights as a bodyguard for hire.

Oli — he’s in crippling debt! A struggling musician and pearl’s roommate. has no idea what’s going on but he’s here for the ride! A surprising voice of reason and an outsider pov for everything

#some of them I only have a vague idea for #others im more solid on #also sorry this took so long to answer Akdksks #the garden AU #empires #empires AU #empires smp

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chromatic-lamina · 3 years ago

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songs to play at funerals—chapter 1041 spoilers

Okay, so we get Zunesha and Momonosuke’s besties relationship, and Yamato’s knowledge of Oden’s journal, and that rapscallion Oden, tore out the crucial pages about Laugh Tale (or did he)?

AND we get the Five Elders giving impossible orders to both the remaining CP0 and Drake overhears, I think. Whole page. And watch out for the last panel.

It’s interesting too that CP0 feel for their colleagues here. We haven’t seen that before. And even the Elders aren’t privy to all the details (or CP0 isn’t)?

Maybe because it’s Im’s instruction? Got the feeling that Izou’s playing dead there, but just in case he isn’t, take the panels below.

Okay, we do not want that to be the end of Izou. Nup. Nope. Never. Was it @ninhaoma-ya who noticed the foreshadowing on this last chapter? AND, CP0 asks:

why Izou was there wanting to help out, and so the family connection, and Wano connection is unknown. Man, I’m gonna be so sad if it’s curtains for Izou.

But I wonder also if the Whitebeards being involved links into something larger. Maybe Raizou is also referring to this his talk of ‘preparations’. After all, why did Nekomamushi deliberately seek out Marco? For the past connection, for sure, but is there something else in those ripped-out pages of the journal?

It seems that CP0 would’ve known that Ace was Luffy’s brother, so—not dismissing that connection, but why wouldn’t they think that the Whitebeards would help Luffy? Not knowing about the Kiku connection is another thing altogether and very poignant.

Okay, so Kiku and Kin’emon are hanging by a thread, and so is this guy (above. Our man Zoro). He’ll be okay, but, and these two (below) are knocking on death’s door, or will be if Kaidou (or any other opponent) comes down/out to play:

So last chapter I said it was unusual that Law was upright after such a wild ride, ant “THUD”, there you go, he’s out for the count.

Kid too. Law said, and Kid agreed, that their awakened powers would put them in jeopardy. It was a great fight. Don’t care what unawakened dude bros say anywhere, I loved it.

Now, also a chapter of bullies somewhat getting their comeuppance:

Pudding’s not happy with the Vinsmokes, but more so, Komurasaki plays the song that her father requested he play at his funeral, he loved it so much (and caused her to cry for the day). The below is from chapter 973.

And from the current chapter:

I’m also hoping that her playing the tune somehow helps this guy:

due to the Enma connection, but I don’t think it will contribute to Zoro’s survival, but who knows?

And Nami crediting Law, and Luffy crediting Kid (or Tora-o and Giza-o: Like, credit can only be given on Straw hat terms, and fair enough), the crews kinda know their names:

But that brings us to Lin-Lin, and Kaidou’s Weepy Drunk stage. Man, I guess the Emperors need to be taken out, but I don’t want to think it’s the end of Big Mom. I’m not surprised that the woman got taken out first, or in conjunction with Kaidou, but at least her strength wasn’t underestimated, even if she was basically a running gag. Though I know aspects of all the emperors and bad guys are lampooned.

Kaidou’s still as drunk as, and it seems he was a quiet kid. I’m not gonna show that panel, but Big Mom asks if he knows how to talk and asks how old he is, 15? (yup).

Now that I think about it, he says, we were great friends! Sentimental drunk is sentimental. Even if we say he’s weeping. And she did rule the seas of certain domains. Vale Big Mom, if it really is an end.

Oh, Carrot, Wanda and Neko are going in to the castle (I think), or away from the edge of the island. Nami and Zeus cement the contract between them, Marco is with Toko, Nami, and Toko’s dog and baboon (I know they have names. Forgive me). Luff’s fighting, of course.

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shijiujun · 4 years ago

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Okay if y’all have read my top 2020 danmei list from a week or two back, you’ll know this is currently my favourite danmei (outside of Qi Wei Shang + 2ha hahaha), so here’s a proper, full rec!

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

Ji Yan Ran is the Emperor’s brother and wields military power in the novel, and it starts with an object being stolen from the palace. Ji Yan Ran has to retrieve the item secretly, and so enlists the help of Feng Yu Sect’s Sect Master, Yun Yi Feng, who heads the martial arts world’s one and only information trading post. Yun Yi Feng does not deal in business that involves any royalty, but Jing Yan Ran offers him something he cannot refuse - the Blood Red Lingzhi, a rare and mystical herb that is rumoured to be able to treat his life-threatening condition.

Yun Yi Feng was used by his shifu when he was younger to test out all kinds of poisons and cures, and since then, his body flushes dangerously hot and cold frequently, with bouts of severe coughing fits in between. Throughout the first mission where he spends time with Ji Yan Ran searching for the stolen object, he allows Jing Yan Ran to take care of him. Their relationship is pretty flirty and touchy right off the bat, with Ji Yan Ran knowing really clearly that he wants to take care of Yun Yi Feng. When Yun Yi Feng goes anywhere without a coat, JYR always has one ready. He promises all his riches to him, even his mother hahaha (but that’s because he knows he deceived YYF with the Blood Red Lingzhi and is willing to give YYF everything else while also continuing to look for the lingzhi for him).

Of course, they have to uncover a plot and conspiracy against their enemies who are plotting to dethrone the Emperor, and also reveal the secrets of Yun Yi Feng’s birth.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua

Characters:

1. 云倚风 Yun Yi Feng (right) - The revered Sect Master of Feng Yu Sect as his sect controls the flow and movement of information. People from all over buy information or hire the sect to help them get information, and is considered a neutral sect within the wuxia world. Very intelligent, a cool-headed strategist who also loves riches, whose eyes light up at the sight of treasures and money.

He was a child remnant of a war, and picked up by his shifu Gui Ci, who brought him to this island to live with other kids he picked up. His first few years were spent rather happily there, but then one day the man gave all the children bowls of what they thought was soup but ended up being poison because Gui Ci wanted to test out his new concoctions. At the end, only YYF survived after multiple ingestions of poisons and experimental cures. Because he was the ‘strongest’ out of all the other children, Gui Ci began testing out all sorts of poisons and cures on him after. If someone came to him after having been poisoned, Gui Ci would poison YYF in the same way as a test subject to use cures on, and only after they worked on YYF would he use them on the patient.

His shifu is considered a mad man, and the last straw was when he locked YYF up with several scorpions for a few days and YYF was the closest thing to death at that moment, and afterwards, realizing that he’d gone overboard, Gui Ci is more careful about poisoning him, allowing him to have a slightly more normal childhood, but because of this YYF’s body would flush hot and cold frequently and unbearably. He manages to escape from Gui Ci and sets up Feng Yu Sect.

He only has 5 years left to live if he doesn’t find the Blood Red Lingzhi, when he meets Ji Yan Ran and his request. After meeting JYR he realizes how sweet life is, to have someone who always thinks of him, who cares about his well-being, who wants to make him happy, who buys and gives him everything he wants. In the beginning he is unable to reciprocate knowing he’ll die soon, but they get together anyway after a close call, as JYR tries to find the Lingzhi for him.

He also loves to cook and play the zither, but is so bad at both!! He’s so terrible that every time he approaches the kitchen or the zither the servants themselves try to redirect him subtly and chase him away because they CANNOT stand his dishes or his music hahahaha.

2. 季燕然 Ji Yan Ran (left) - Army commander/general, and a prince. Close to the Emperor, who’s his older brother, and takes a liking to YYF the moment he meets him. He bluffs YYF, says that he has the Blood Red Lingzhi, and then realizing how much YYF needs it, he feels more guilty and guilty for lying to him, and once admitting it, he promises to do whatever it takes to find it for him.

He’s very smart as well, has eyes only for YYF and is willing to indulge him in every single whim he has. If YYF complains that he doesn’t have anything to wear (even in jest), JYR has the garment stores in the whole city send 10 outfits each for YYF to pick. And even though he hates YYF’s cooking and playing of the zither, he lets him do it anyway, fond but exasperated while everyone is staring daggers at him for not stopping YYF.

A few years ago, a close friend of his and the Emperor’s died, and JYR suspects that their father had something to do with it. It’s something that has been troubling him for many years and it’s a dilemma for him because he has to balance between questioning the Emperor but also trusting him and being a good brother/official to him, as clues keep pointing towards the Emperor and his father being involved in shady deals/decisions. His relationship with the Emperor, his brother, can be described as close, but of course even though they are close and trust each other to a good extent, there is still room for a tiny bit of doubt that both brothers are well aware of due to their positions, not that this affects their relationship.

Openly is affectionate to YYF in front of everyone, including his mother, who likes YYF alot as well. YYF once worried if the Emperor would oppose his relationship with him, but JYR said that their relationship should put the Emperor even more at ease, because the world and other officials would not recognize an Emperor who liked men and didn’t have any children, meaning that JYR becomes an even smaller threat to the throne.

3. 暮成雪 Mu Cheng Xue - An assassin who keeps popping up throughout the novel, and is a frenemy to YYF especially because he stole the cuteass snow leopard that was supposed to be YYF’s and refuses to return it. Not good nor bad, he does whatever he’s paid for.

4. 江凌飞 Jiang Ling Fei - JYR’s godbrother, who didn’t have a good childhood with no one to protect him in the Jiang family, one of the big wuxia families in the novel, as he had no parents and was technically brought up by his scheming uncles/cousins etc. He befriended JYR when they were younger and acknowledged JYR’s mother as his godmother because she was truly and genuinely good to him, and spends a large part of his days running in and out of the Jing manor. He’s JYR’s right hand man, but his dream is to be a bum wandering through different parts of the world, having fun whenever instead of being boggled down by duties to the Jiang family and other things.

Amazing Scenes:

YYF unceremoniously using JYR’s arm as a pillow while he’s talking

Basically YYF fainting and getting sick a lot and JYR always there to catch him ;-; To dote on him!!! Ahhhh my heart

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

The first time YYF plays the zither in the Jing manor, JYR’s mother, shaking, goes to JYR and asks, “Is Yun-er learning some evil cultivation music?”

YYF tends to go out to the markets and will buy back 2kg of flour for example, while all the servants shudder in the fear and cry in front of JYR, who can only sigh but indulge him

YYF’s favourite things include JYR’s mother taking his blankets out to soak up the sunlight in the day so he has fluffy, warmth-filled and fresh-smelling covers everyday to collapse into

JYR once asked YYF if it’s a good thing that he met him, and YYF says, “Of course it’s a good thing I met wangye, because of you, I now know that life can be sweet and warm too.”

YYF carves out what he thinks the Blood Red Lingzhi looks like based on some bogus description JYR gave him and because he’s so hopeful and happy about finally being able to have the lingzhi, he carves it out and wears it like a pendant, and everytime JYR sees it he wants to slap himself for being such a motherfucking asshole and deceiving this man

YYF keeps forgetting his cape/coat, so JYR always gives him his, but YYF keeps taking and not returning and on the fourth time it happens, YYF looks at JYR expectantly, and JYR says, “You’ve already taken three, this is my last one, I’m gonna freeze to death, left without a cape if I give you this one”

JYR always tempts YYF into doing things by giving him treasures, and jokingly promises YYF his army commander ring, which symbolizes his authority and power, and YYF unceremoniously takes it knowing what it is, and refuses to return it to him - After a few times this happens, JYR makes a replica of it so they matchy matchy ;-;

They travel South in a holiday for a few months after the first arc is wrapped up, knowing that YYF doesn’t have much time left to live, and every single day is painful for JYR as the time YYF spends conscious decreases day by day

YYF asks for some oil/salve to use as lube from the army camp’s physician, a night before JYR is due to go off for war, and the physician scolds the messenger for having the time to think about such thoughts, and when the messenger says it’s for YYF, physician is like “... oh. okay, here you go, give this to him” without another word HAHAHAHA

#a sword of frost #danmei #danmei recs #一剑霜寒 #min's why you should read #cnovel #i'm determined to complete 10 so bear with me yall!!!#hahahahhaa

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kcuf-ad · 2 years ago

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Yugioh GX Rewrite: Chapter 13 (The Clear Rider)

The Shadow Riders have arrived and the war has begun between them and the Key Keepers. But one of them is familiar to the Key Keepers, but who is he exactly?

On my Wattpad, AO3 and Fanfiction.site (Name: kcuf_ad)

The life of Yusuke Fujiwara wasn’t the life that most kids wanted.

Despite being in a wealthy family, with loving parents and as many Duel Monster cards he could have, he always felt lonely. He didn’t have any friends, no relatives, no aunts or uncles, not even grandparents.

The only other person he had that loved him, was a Duel Spirit by the name of Honest, which was like his guardian angel whenever he was alone with him.

He felt lonely and sometimes even saddened that no one would hang out with him and he feared of being forgotten about in his school, with many of the students calling him creepy or weird.

The worst thing that has ever happened in the life of young Yusuke, was the death of his parents in a car accident. He felt horrible. He felt like he was forgotten by his parents to the point that they would rather die than be with him.

The day the accident happened was the worst day of his entire life. The only people that cared for him were dead, he had no one to go to for this. He only felt comfort from one spirit that no one else saw. He was depressed, not wanting to speak to anyone or leave his room.

Eventually, he was sent to a care home, where no one would be friends with him or much more care about due to his gloomy nature, he, like always, felt forgotten about.

A few years later, he went to a dueling pre-school, a school which most students go to before entering Duel Academy. It was better than in his care home, but not by much. The students were nice to him, but they didn’t care for him, not at all. The teachers weren’t much different.

One day, there was a group project, something about the history of the Pharaoh Atem and Abidos The Third, in which a group of three must make a project of the Pharaohs. No one wanted to be in a group with him, except for two students.

Atticus Rhodes and Zane Truesdale.

Those two made Yusuke’s life better. When they made the project, they quickly began liking each other, even Zane who had a tough way of showing it. They went to each other's house to hang out and either watch duels or shows, or play video games, they always did something together.

They went to Atticus’ house and befriended everyone there. His parents, his aunts and uncles, cousins and the grandparents, but the ones that Yusuke liked the most was his little sister, Alexis, to whom she had a crush on the green haired boy. Everyone liked the two kids, and vice versa.

Atticus and Yusuke also went to Zane’s house, and just with Atticus, they befriended his parents and his little brother, Syrus. Soon they realized that a few years ago, he went to a dojo to learn about the Cyber Style, which was his current deck. They also learned that his dojo had a rival dojo by the name of Jinzo Style.

The three were inseparable. Everything they did was a group thing. Including studying, group projects, hanging out, watching shows, learning new decks, getting new cards and more.

When they got to Duel Academy, things hadn't changed, for the better. They were placed in the best dorm, Obelisk Blue dorm, and met their headmaster, Doctor Vellian Crowler.

After a few weeks in, everyone, even the seniors, realized how undefeatable they were. Even Atticus, the weakest one, was much more tougher than that of anyone there that they were named The Emperor Trio.

The three of the strongest duelists that Duel Academy have and will ever have in their entire life. The Car was Atticus, The Kaiser was Zane and The Emperor was Yusuke, as he was the only person that could even match and surpass that of Zane and Atticus.

After a month, all of them gained…massive amount of fangirls, which made a lot of the students jealous of them, but only Atticus really enjoyed it.

In the short span, their bond became even stronger than before, even making some Obelisks their friends, like Torrey.

But all good things must come to an end, as around after the School Duel with North Academy, Yusuke became paranoid. Scared of one thing. Being forgotten about. Just like what his parents have done to him.

Everytime he hung out with his best friends, he felt scared that he would be forgotten about, but masked it very well. He began learning about rituals, dark spells that he was forgotten about, he wouldn’t feel the same pain when he would be forgotten about.

He got books from Professor Banner, and began researching about rituals. As soon as he began carving on the ground a pentagram, his blood was spilled, he then felt power and darkness overwhelm him that Honest was afraid of and worried for his master.

One day, when Yusuke was close to the ritual, he hung out with his friends for the last time, but this time it was clear that he was upset. Atticus went to him, being a way better emotional helper than Zane.

But what he saw shocked him. He saw Yusuke Fujiwara, his best friend, The Emperor of Duel Academy, in a room that not even he knew about, with a pentagram beneath him.

He locked eyes with Yusuke, who quickly did the ritual, but Atticus didn’t want his friend to be hurt, so he ran after him, but to his unfortunate, both he and Yusuke were trapped by the evil force known as Nightshroud.

He and Yusuke were gone, unable to see again, being trapped in a World Of Darkness. They were floating around, unable to do a single thing. They were trapped from the god known as Nightshroud, only able to be seen as vestiges to him.

When Zane heard about the news, all he felt was anger, sadness, denial, desperation, but he never felt acceptance. He knew that they were still alive.

Meanwhile at Banner’s class

Most of the students were currently in Professor Banner’s class, as some of them were confused on why he is late, as he is almost never late to class. Some were sleeping, Jaden, some were writing a new deck list, Celina and Bastion, talking to their friends, Alexis, waiting for him, Chazz and Syrus.

But then the door was opened as Banner entered in a hurry, “Sorry, I was late. I was talking to my friends. But anyway, where were we?” He looked around his chemicals and remembered what he was about to teach, “Oh, yes the importance of a good mixture.”

He took two chemicals and poured into one of them, “There is great importance on how you mix certain chemicals, and as such, depending on how you mix them, will create a reaction.” The colours changed, but then…

BOOM!

An explosion occurs once again, for the third time this week. The only thing different, it made Jaden wake up, “Is it lunch time already?” He yawned as he stretched his arms out as Celina jabbed him in the shoulders.

“It’s still class, don’t start eating or I swear on Ra that I will-”

“Oh, Jaden, I almost forgot to mention, Chancellor Sheppard needs a word with you.” Banner stood up, completely white, as all eyes were on the Slifer Red.

“Jaden.”

“Yeah?”

“What did you do this time?”

“What do you mean, Celina? I haven’t done anything.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am sure.”

“Of course, the Slacker has to talk to the Chancellor, big surprise.” scoffed Chazz as then Banner looked at him.

“Now, who said that he wasn’t the only one that Sheppard wants to see? You are also included as three more. Bastion,” Banner started as Bastion, confused but still listened, stood up, “Alexis,” Alexis stood up, also confused, “and Celina,” Celina swallowed whatever was in her throat as she stood up.

“Now, please, walk towards Chancellor Sheppard’s office while I continue to teach, okay?” he asked as all of them nodded, “Thank you.” they all now exited the room as they began walking towards Sheppard’s office.

“This doesn’t sound good.” Celina said as Chazz turned to her.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he said.

“I wonder why he needs a word with us.” said Bastion as he was confused why he needed them of all people.

“Maybe, it's another school event?” said Alexis as they began walking quietly towards Sheppard’s office as they saw two figures also walking towards Sheppard’s office.

“Kaiser? Doctor Crowler? What are you guys doing here?” asked Jaden as they were all a couple of steps away from entering Sheppard’s office.

“I could ask you the same thing.” said Zane as all of them stopped at the same time as Crowler looked around with a smirk on his face and eyes closed.

“Well well. Look at this convocation of students,” he started, “some of the best students I see.” He then opened his eyes to look at Jaden right at the eyes, “Oh oh! Which one of these things is not like the other?” he began singing, making most of the students sweatdropped, “Clearly someone is lost.”

“No he isn’t,” Jaden turned towards Chazz, “Chazz was invited.”

The Chazz turned towards Jaden, “He means you! And you lost to me! So you’re invited!” he argued back.

“Sure, but didn’t you also lose to me in the promotional exams?” he asked with a grin of his own.

“That was different!”

“Really?” he looked at Chazz with a grin, to which he glared back.

Celina had a hilarious idea inside of her head as she got between them, “Guys, guys, guys. Stop fighting,” they looked at her, “Because if someone was invited,” she grinned, “It’s Crowler.”

Most of them chuckled, as Chazz and Jaden gave her a high five as Crowler got angry and went towards the three Slifer Reds, but then Sheppard's door was opened and he had a serious expression, which made everyone know that this isn't a laughing matter.

“I want all of you in, and just so all of you know, whatever is mentioned in my office, shall stay in the office. Am I understood?” All of them turned to each other and then back at Sheppard, and nodded. “Good. Now come inside.” He entered the room as the rest followed him, as the rest of their school years will change for the worst.

As soon as they entered, Sheppard closed the lids and closed the doors of his office, so no one could hear him or see him.

He took a deep breath and looked at all of the students and Crowler, feeling horrible that he would send students in a war like fashion, but this was the best thing he could do. If he called in for Pro Duelists, they wouldn’t arrive on time. Even on Seto’s private jet.

“Have any of you heard about the Egyptian Gods?” he asked, a weird question since even a person that hasn’t touched a deck will know about the strongest monsters in Duel Monsters.

“They are the monsters that are considered to be the strongest monsters in Duel Monster history, that only those who are worthy, like Yugi Muto, could use them.” Alexis answered as Sheppard nodded.

“And that their strength is unrivaled.” added on Zane as Sheppard nodded again.

“Not to mention that they arrive from real items in Egyptian mythology. Ra, the Sun God, Obelisk, the monument, and Slifer, the God of Life.” explained Bastion as Sheppard nodded once again.

“Why did you ask us that?” Jaden tilted his head in confusion, but not in a mocking way “It’s Dueling 101, even beginners know that.”

“Maybe he is going to tell us why,” whispered Celina as he got quieter as Sheppard looked at him.

“Because, what if I told all of you that there are three monsters that rival that of the Egyptian Gods?” Everyone widened at the sound of that. Was it possible for them to be even rivaled? How powerful could they be? “I am afraid that those cards exist, and they are known as The Sacred Beasts.”

The name alone shook many of the juniors to their core as Crowler gasped in the name while Zane tried not to show any emotions of it, but he could feel how terrified Honest is on that name.

“Sacred…” began Chazz.

“...Beasts,” finished Celina.

“Right on. They are known for their destructive power and the last time they were used,” it wasn’t a common thing to see a Chancellor shivering, but the image of one was enough to know what they were dealing with, “it caused massive destruction.”

“Destruction…” muttered Bastion.

“This school was built with the Sacred Beasts in chambers, never to see the light, by our founder Kagemaru, never to be used again, but, to our unfortune, is a force that wants to use that power, for their own gain,” He looked at them, with a serious gaze, “They are known as, The Shadow Riders.”

“Shadow…” Jaden widened.

“...Riders,” Zane narrowed his eyes.

“That’s right, 7 powerful duelists, with their own abilities, that could even take down the strongest duelists around, and I am afraid that one of them is already here.” Most of the students gulped.

Sheppard sighed, “I know, what I am doing is wrong, and I feel terrible, but you 7 are our strongest duelists here, and thus, the protectors of Duel Academy. You can object and deny this, and I will allow it, but I will warn all of you, that this won't be an easy task. What do you say?”

Many didn’t dare to make a sound, but the ice was broken by the Slifer Red, “Of course! I always wanted to be a Hero in a story! So count me in!”

As then, all of them voiced their opinions out loud. “You can count me in as well!” “I won’t go down without a fight!” “If the Slacker can do it, so can I!” “I will show them what my 9 years of teaching can do!” “Sure, I guess I can see how the Pro Leagues will compare to this.”

However, Bastion was confused on thing, “I would like to join as well, but how will they know how to duel us and not innocent students?”

Sheppard smiled at the determination of everyone, but he had to answer Bastion’s question, “Well, that is an easy question.” He took out a box, “They will know that you are the protectors because you are wearing one of the 7 Spirit Keys.” He opened the box and revealed keys with different sizes and shapes, almost looking like relics, “These keys are the only things that are protecting the Sacred Beasts from unleashing, if all the keys are taken, the gates will be unlocked.”

“So wait,” Sheppard looked at Alexis, “how will they take the keys then?”

Sheppard closed his eyes, “By a duel.” Everyone, even the Kaiser of Duel Academy, gasped, “That’s right. The only upside is that it can not be stolen, instead, by beating the Key Keepers. They must be beaten by a duel, and once they win, they steal your key.” He looked at everyone, “So take one, they will all fit you all nicely.”

Everyone turned to each other, but Jaden took one, as then Zane took one as well, and the rest followed suit.

Crowler looked at Sheppard as he took the Key and put it on his neck, “I will make sure that the rest of students don’t know about this so they can feel relaxed.”

Sheppard smiled, “Thank you Doctor Crowler.” he then looked at the students, “You still have school to do, so get to it. You don’t want to fall behind, don’t you?”

Jaden dropped his head as he was dragged by most of his friends out of the room, with Crowler walking out of the room and Zane exiting the room last.

The Chancellor dropped to his seat and had his hands on his face, “Am I doing the right thing?”

After School

As the Key Keepers, not Crowler, and Syrus and Chumley, exited Duel Academy, Jaden was still down about a certain thing, “Man, I thought we will be free from school work during all of this.” he said as Celina looked at him.

“You did all of this, just to escape from school work?” she asked as he nodded. She put her hand on her face, “Unbelievable.”

“Typical Slacker.” Chazz shook his head.

“Don’t worry, Jay. Maybe you can get it after all of this.” Syrus tried to cheer Jaden, but to no avail. They didn’t mention the Shadow Riders or the Sacred Beasts, they just mentioned protecting the Keys from 7 Pro Duelists.

Alexis chuckled, “He will rather protect the school, and maybe the world ending, but homework? No way.”

Bastion clapped his hands together, catching everyone’s attention, “Well, if they would strike us at any second, it would be optimal to work and fix our decks to the maximum usage.”

They looked around each other, but they nodded. “Awesome!” Jaden lifted his head with enthusiasm, “I can’t wait to see how I can upgrade my deck!”

“Yeah, that sounds amazing.” said Celina as the rest then began agreeing with that, but then they looked at Zane, who had one thing in his mind, “What about you, Zane?”

Zane glanced at her, “Sorry, but I need some time to think about all of this.” He said walking off to his room, as they understood what he was thinking about. How they have to protect the school from them.

As he walking down to his dorm room, while looking at the key, he was thinking about how powerful would they, what abilities to they all have, what are their deck and dueling styles, but the one thought that was the most important to him was, “Would this help me find Yusuke or Atticus?”

Honest was quiet around this time, maybe also thinking about their safety, but more importantly, the safety of Master Fujiwara.

It only took him a couple of minutes as he opened the door and laid on the bed, thinking about all of this.

What he was feeling was strange. He felt excitement, but at the same time, he was scared? He wants to see just how much he can improve his skills and see how the juniors could handle this, but he wants to protect them with Crowler.

He doesn’t want to lose them, especially Syrus, since they were his closest friends, and the last time he thought about them, he felt horrible. Like he couldn’t have saved them from whatever took them.

He remembers that day like it was yesterday.

Atticus and Zane were currently in a room watching the TV, when Yusuke entered, but they knew something was off. Very off. He was clearly upset, and when they tried to ask and comfort him, he would pass it off as that he was just tired, which wasn’t the case at all.

It was uncomfortable for all of them as then Yusuke stood up and exited the room, both Atticus and Zane looked at each other.

“Zane, I think Yusuke is upset with something.” said Atticus as he looked at his best friend as Zane looked at him also.

“I can tell, but I wonder why.” He then looked at the door, “If he was upset, he could tell us why, but he didn’t.”

“Maybe he is hiding something?” Atticus theorized.

“Possibly,” Zane looked at Atticus, “I just wonder what is hiding if he did.”

Atticus shrugged his shoulders and waved, “No matter, I will cheer him up, since you two couldn’t keep a conversation for more than 5 minutes without my help.” Atticus teased as Zane rolled his eyes, “Well see ya later, buddy. I will tell you what happened.” He said as he walked out of the room.

Several hours later, Zane was worried about his two friends. It couldn’t have taken that long, could it? He shook his head, maybe they were just talking about the next project they would have like last week so walked into the basement of the dorm they were currently.

After he entered the room, he was surprised that there was no one there. The room was empty, not a single living being, “Could they have…” Zane shook his head, he knew that was impossible. Maybe they were pulling a prank on him.

So he walked towards Atticus’ room and saw no one, strange, but they could have gone to Yusuke’s room, so he walked towards his room, but the place was horrible. Several carvings, blood, books everywhere and no sign of live at all.

He ran all over the dorms, every room, every part of the dorm, but nothing. Not a single soul, not a single living being. The place was empty, everything other than his room. This couldn’t have happened.

He ran everywhere, towards the Slifer Red dorm, the Ra Yellow dorm, the Obelisk Blue dorm and even Duel Academy and nothing. He couldn’t find them, he couldn’t do anything.

He dropped to his knees, with tears down to his face. “N-no.” he began, “I-it can’t b-be.” he gripped the grass that he was holding, as tears were flowing like a river. “Please, be a prank, please.”

He tried getting up, but fell down as he felt all the feeling of his body crumbling down, his arms feel down to the ground, “It should have been me.” he began, a weak voice from the Kaiser, “It should have been me, not them.”

“It should have been me. Why them?”

“It should have been me.”

“It should have been me!” he yelled as the teachers heard this and ran towards him. They began asking questions, but he tuned them out as all that he could have heard his thoughts, “Why? Why? Why!? WHY?!”

“Zane!” Zane stood up by the sound of his friend’s duel spirit as he looked at him, “Look over there! One of the Shadow Riders is here!”

“What?!” He turned around to see a green haired male with an eye mask of a style of a dragon outside of his room and the glass door. The person wore a dark trench coat, a black shirt with dark pants with strands of blue and yellow around the jacket and pants.

He had his arms closed with a piece of paper in one of his hands as he left in the shadows, but the paper fell down on the porch.

Zane opened the door and saw what was written. It was Yusuke’s handwriting as he read what was written, “Meet me at the Abandoned dorm.”

Honest looked at Zane, “Are you sure, it is him? Is the person, Master Fujiwara?” Zane didn’t answer him as he went down to his duel box and opened it, “Zane, do you hear me?”

“I do, but I am just worried that he isn’t Yusuke.” Honest looked at Zane, as he took out a card and shuffled it, “We have done everything that we could have done and not taking any chance to take him or Atticus back would be an insult to what we have done.”

Zane then took out another card, the card that Atticus used against him to counter his Cyber Dragons and put it in his deck and shuffled it, like it was uniting the Emperors of Duel Academy in one deck. “I understand Zane and I fully agree with what you have said. I, no, we need to save him if he is Master Fujiwara or Atticus.”

A rare smile appeared on the Kaiser’s face, “Good to know we share the same opinion.” He was done with the shuffling and placed it on his desk, he then took out his duel disk and put it on his arm as he took his deck into the duel disk, “Are you ready? For what we have been preparing for months?”

“Of course, Zane.” said Honest as Zane raised his arm in the air, feeling the combination of his Cyber Style deck and the two cards from his friends.

“Good cause I am ready.” he said as he exited the room, making most students back off of the determined look of the Kaiser.

After a few minutes of walking he walked right towards the Ra Yellow dorm, to which the rest of the Key Keepers were studying their decks and changing their cards for better ones, but one saw a figure, “Hey, Zane! Are you here to change some cards in your deck?” asked Chumley as the Obelisk senior looked at him.

“No, I am here for a little walk,” lied Zane as he continued towards the abandoned dorm, but Chumley noted the duel disk in his arms.

He walked for a few minutes later as he then saw the entrance of the dorm, noting the dark essence of it, like a demon is there, but that won’t stop the Kaiser. He walked in, without saying a word and went towards the basement of the dorm and saw the figure.

“Looks like you showed up, huh, Key Keeper?” the figure laughed as both Zane and Honest realized the figure, and it all matched, the voice, the body, the hair and everything else.

“Yusuke! What are you doing with the Shadow Riders!?” yelled Zane as ‘Yusuke’ glared at him.

“Yusuke? Ha! I am not that weakling anymore! I am the darkness itself, Nightshroud!” Nightshroud exclaimed as Honest appeared beside Zane.

“Master! Zane and I have missed you! Come back to us!” pleaded Honest as Nightshroud glared at the duel spirit.

“Begone spirit! I am not that weakling known as Yusuke Fujiwara, I am Nightshroud and you will be my first opponent!” he said as he raised his duel disk and readied it at The Kaiser.

Honest looked at Zane, “Zane, I think it will be wise to duel him. There is a chance that if we beat him, he will return to normal.”

Zane narrowed his eyes, “I know that, and that’s what I'm going to do!” He raised his duel disk as he readied it and both of them yelled out, not knowing that his Key is glowing.

“DUEL!”

Nightshroud: 4000 lp

Zane: 4000 lp

Turn 1.

“I’ll go.” Nightshroud drew his card as he looked at his hand. He grinned, the perfect hand to defeat him, but first he needed to summon a monster for defense, “I summon Clear Phantom in defense mode!”

From the grounds of the ruins appeared a clear crystal with a beast with a visible rib cage with an eye in the middle, as in its shoulders were holes and an ear for a head.

(Clear Phantom: Level 3 - Dark Fiend - Attack: 1200. Defense: 800.)

“What the hell is that?” Zane asked as Nightshroud answered him.

“A monster that has no attribute.” Zane narrowed his eyes at the weird effect, something must be up with effect, but Nightshroud took one card, “I end my turn by setting a card face down. Your move, Zane.” A card was set vertically behind the Clear monster.

Turn 2. Zane - 4000 lp - 5 cards

Zane knew that he needed to be careful of the monster, the effect wasn’t normal. No attribute? It means that his opponent has cards that affect cards with attributes, but he couldn’t do anything against them.

He drew a card from his deck and placed it on his hand, as he reached for another in his hands, “When you control a monster and I don’t, I get to special summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode!” On Zane’s field appeared his trusty metal dragon, making his Key start to shake strongly.

(Cyber Dragon: Level 5 - Light Machine - Attack: 2100. Defense: 1600.)

Meanwhile with the other Key Keepers

As the rest of the Key Keepers were talking about strategies on how they can improve their deck, Jaden stretched his back, “Man, these deck building things are really getting tough! I swear, we have been going at it for like a couple of hours.”

“Yeah, maybe because yours takes us the longest,” said Celina as she looked at him.

“What? What do you mean by that?” asked Jaden as he grabbed a drink that Syrus was offering him and opened it.

“Well for starters, you have way too many Trap cards for a Hero deck. I understand they can be helpful, but cards like Insurance, Super Junior Confrontation, Clay Charge, Cross Heart and much more don’t really fit your playstyle.” said Alexis as she took out some of these cards, to which Celina took one of them.

“Not to mention, most of them are very situational like Bubble Illusion, Feather Shot, Burst Return and such.” said Bastion as he took out a card from his deck box, “I would consider adding more search cards as such.” He put Reinforcements of the Army on his deck.

“I guess what you are talking about, gu- Hmm, what is it Celina?” he asked as she held a Cross Heart on her fingers.

“Do you mind if we switch this card for…” she looked around for a card in her deck and gave it to him, “...this card?” Jaden took the card and looked at it.

It was Dandelion, a card that summoned two Fluff Tokens when sent to the graveyard. He thought about it and asked the others if it would fit his deck, as all of them, even Chazz, nodded to it since it would give him a good advantage in a duel and he can use it for Gaia.

“Sure! I would love to switch!” they shook hands as they placed it in their respective decks.

However, one Key Keeper was getting really annoyed with something, “Will you stop dancing?” Chazz hissed as Ojama Yellow began dancing while his Key was shaking.

“Sorry Boss! I am just trying to get the rhythm down to your Spirit Key!” Ojama Yellow was shaking like crazy as Chazz realized something.

“Will this Key stop shaking?” asked Chazz as then everyone else, sans Syrus and Chumley, realized that their Spirit Key was shaking like crazy, which means…

“Someone is dueling a Shadow Rider!” yelled Jaden as he stood up and ran out of the room as the rest followed suit.

Back at the Duel

Zane announced his move, “And I will use Cyber Dragon to attack your Clear Phantom with Strident Blaze!” Cyber Dragon then shot a green beam at the monster with no attribute, but Nightshroud was prepared.

“So close, but so far, I activate my Trap,” Nightshroud yelled as a card was revealed, “Clear Barrier! This protects my monster if it doesn’t have an attribute from any attack or an effect.”

A crystal appeared, in front of the Clear Phantom, from the ground and stopped the attack from the Light Machine monster with ease, but it quickly disappeared.

Zane narrowed his eyes, the card must be important enough to protect it, so he took one card from his hand, “I end my turn after I set a card face down.” a card was set vertically behind the Cyber Dragon.

Turn 3. Nightshroud - 4000 lp - 4 cards

The Shadow Rider drew his card, and as soon as he saw it, even without the mask, Zane knew that he had something good as he then began laughing, “This is fantastic! I will show you the true power of my deck and The Shadow Riders!”

He reached for the Field Spell zone and then activated it, “I will activate the Field Spell of your doom, the clear reason why the Shadow Riders will win and get the Sacred Beasts, Clear World!”

The background changed to a look that Zane. It was cloudy, but they were no clouds, it was like they were battling in a different dimension. Despite not even seeing them, he could feel crystals above the dorm.

At The Other Key Keepers

As soon as they exited the Ra Yellow dorm, they then heard four ginormous crystals hovering over the abandoned dorm, the same place Jaden fought Titan, they couldn’t just stand there, so they ran directly towards the crystals.

At Crowler’s Office

“Hmm, I wonder why my Key is shaking?” Crowler asked himself as he continued writing a poem with a feather, but then he heard the holograms appear, “What was that?” He walked over to his porch and his eyes widened as he saw 4 crystals hovering over the abandoned dorm, “WHAT IS THAT?!” he yelled as kicked the door open and ran to the exit of the Obelisk Blue dorm and directly towards the dorm.

At Sheppard’s Office

Sheppard was still contemplating that what he is doing is the correct thing to do. “What am I doing? I am sending kids to war! I am giving them trauma that will never recover! As the Chancellor, I should have thought about my student’s safety first!”

Before he could continue thinking about what he is doing to his students, he heard a summoning, “A duel? This late? I wonder what’s goin-” his eyes widened at what he was seeing, 4 crystals at the abandoned dorm. He ran over to the door and opened it. He is not going to see his students lose their soul!

Back To The Duel

“You want to know why my monster has the effect of not having any attributes?” Zane snapped his view back to the Shadow Rider, “Well here is the reason! If you have a monster on the field with an attribute; depending on the attribute itself, you get negative side effects!” Zane’s eyes didn’t change as he was wondering about something.

“What negative side effects do I have?” The Kaiser asked the Clear Rider as he laughed.

“You have to show me your entire hand and even the cards you draw!” he exclaimed as Zane’s eyes widened, “Well? Show them to me!”

Zane gripped his hand, but nevertheless, he showed him his hand: 2 copies of Cyber Dragons, Second Chance and Power Wall. Nightshroud’s eyebrows were raised, as he realized what the Kaiser had in plan.

“So he thinks he can just Fusion himself out of this mess? Not a chance!” The Clear Rider took a card from his hand as he then exclaimed his next move, “Clear Wall, activate!” A wall made out of crystals was then summoned, protecting the monster behind it, “I will soon explain the effect, right after I summon Clear Rage Golem!”

As soon as the Shadow Rider put the card down, a golem made out of floating rocks with a core in the middle, covered by a crystal, was summoned onto the field.

(Clear Rage Golem: Level 4 - Dark Fiend - Attack: 1600. Defense: 1800.)

“All of my Clear monsters share the effect that they don’t have an attribute. But how about we go on the offensive, shall we?” Nightshroud yelled out as he pointed out with his smaller monster, “Clear Phantom attacks your Cyber Dragon!”

“What?” Zane couldn’t do anything as Cyber Dragon shot a green beam at the Clear monster, “That’s a suicide move!”

“On the contrary! Clear Wall negates any and all damage below 1000 life points, but my monster still gets destroyed.” Before the Clear monster could do anything, it was destroyed by Cyber Dragon’s beam attack, Nightshroud grinned, “And when he is destroyed by battle, one monster on your side of the field gets destroyed also!”

Shreds of the destroyed Clear Phantom appeared and targeted the Light Machine monster, destroying it, “When that happens, you have to send the top 3 cards from your deck to your graveyard.” Zane did so as he saw the top 3 cards he sent.

“Polymerization, Power Bond and Overload Fusion.” he thought, three cards that could have helped him to summon his strongest monster, as he then saw Clear Rage Golem appear in front of him, almost like he teleported, “Clear Rage Golem now attacks you directly!”

“It’s now or never!” Zane then reached out for the set card, “Not so fast, I activate Offensive Guard! Half of the attack points of the attacking monster is taken away for the rest of the turn!” he then braced himself as the Golem slammed him, (ATK: 1600 - 800.) but way weaker than the amount he would have taken.

Nightshroud: 4000 lp

Zane: 4000 - 3200 life points

And just like that, Zane took the first hit and his entire body was shaken, even when he didn’t show it clearly, but that didn’t stop him as he pointed out, “Thanks to the second effect of Offensive Guard, I can now draw a card.”

However, much to the Key Keeper’s dismay, that didn’t stop Nightshroud, “Nice job, not taking the full hit, but tell me? Will it stop Rage Golem’s effect of dealing you 300 points of damage for every card in your hand?”

Tiny shreds of rock appeared from the golem as it sent towards Zane.

Nightshroud: 4000 lp

Zane: 3200 - 1700 life points

Zane’s breath became hagged as he lost more than half of his life points in one turn, almost like his heart was about to stop, but he shook it off as he glared at the Shadow Rider, “I won’t lose you, Yusuke.”

Nightshroud then took a card from his graveyard, “I am done tormenting you, for now, as I end my turn with 1 face down.” a card was set vertically behind the Rage Golem.

Turn 4. Zane - 1700 lp - 5 cards

“Alright then, I draw!” He drew his card, as he took out two cards, due to not revealing his entire hand, “I will start by setting 2 cards face down,” two cards were set vertically in front of the Kaiser.

As he was taking out a card from his hand, “Due to me not having a monster on my field-”

“You can special summon a Cyber Dragon, right?” Nightshroud said as not in a confused expression, but a knowing one.

Sadly, he was correct with his current hand, but that doesn’t mean he will stop, “That’s right, so come out Cyber Dragon! Have a second chance!” A second copy of Zane’s Cyber Dragon was then summoned onto the field, roaring.

(Cyber Dragon: Level 5 - Light Machine - Attack: 2100. Defense: 1600.)

Before he could reveal his hand for now, Zane continued on with his turn, “When I summon a Cyber Dragon on my side of the field, I can then summon Cyber Dragon Vier from my hand in defense mode!”

A more advanced version of his trusty Cyber Dragon appeared onto the field, with little pods for every part of the body, like the more iconic monster, it roared when summoned onto the field.

(Cyber Dragon Vier: Level 4 - Light Machine - Attack: 1100. Defense: 1600.)

Zane then pointed out, “Vier’s second effect activates, all Cyber Dragons on the field gain 500 attack and defense points!” Both of his metal dragons roared in power as both of their stats jumped up.

Cyber Dragon: 2100 - 2600 attack points/ 1600 - 2100 defense points

Cyber Dragon Vier: 1100 - 1600 attack points/ 1600 - 2100 defense points

Nightshroud knew that his Clear Wall would be destroyed if he attacks with Cyber Dragon, but he wasn’t worried, instead he looked at Zane, “You know the negative effect of Clear World when you control a Light monster, don’t you?”

Zane sighed as he revealed the two cards in his hand: Cyber Dragon and Second Chance. “So he set Power Wall, interesting.”

“And now, I will destroy your Clear Rage Golem with Strident Blast attack!” Cyber Dragon roared as it shot a green beam at the Clear monster, but for some reason, it glew yellow, just like his attributes.

“Zane, look!” He heard Honest’s voice as he turned around and saw that Cyber Dragon attacking Vier, shocking him.

“What did you do?” Zane asked in a calm manner, but he could tell he wasn’t calm.

“What? Did you not see me activate my Trap card?” Zane looked at his field and his eyes narrowed at the now revealed Trap card, ��Attribute Gravity, all of your attack position monsters must attack monsters with the same attribute.”

Zane remained silent as he took out a card from his hand, “Thanks for the info, for now I know what I must avoid doing, but right now, I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Second Chance! If the monster I targeted wasn’t destroyed by battle, my monster gets to attack your monster once again! Go, Strident Blast!”

Cyber Dragon roared, as its eyes shined its emerald eyes, as it shot a green beam at the Clear Rage Golem, but Nightshroud yelled out, “Don’t forget Clear Wall’s effect! It negates all battle damage if it is lower than a 1000!”

“I didn’t forget it, but still, your monster is destroyed!” The fiend roared in agony as it exploded by Cyber Dragon’s attack.

“Excellent maneuver Zane. Able to use the advantage of losing one attack and then destroying a monster in the process, not to mention taking out a card so your opponent won’t be able to predict your next move.” complimented Honest.

“Thank you for the kind words, but I get the feeling that this duel is only beginning.” A sweat went down on Zane’s face as he could feel the pressure of the next turn of his opponent, “I end my turn.”

Turn 5. Nightshroud - 4000 lp - 1 card

As then, not only he, but also the Shadow Rider, heard not only the rest of the Key Keepers, but also Syrus, Chumley and Sheppard running in the basement of the abandoned dorm, “What are you guys doing here?” Zane asked as he looked around them.

“Why else? To support you against the Shadow Rider!” yelled Jaden, a few minutes ago all of them explained the real reason why they wore the keys, and the two Slifer Reds were scared, but they understood this was serious.

“No, get out. It’s for your own safety.” pleaded Zane as the rest of them shook their heads.

“Are you kidding, no way we are leaving you here!” yelled out Celina.

“That’s right, with our help, we can beat that Shadow Rider!” agreed Alexis.

“And you are the best one here, so leaving you would be a horrible decision!” yelled Crowler.

Zane then gave out a rare grin on his face, but he almost fell, but he took a step back to readjust himself, making others worried, “Zane!”

“Are you alright, Zane-big bro!?” yelled out both Sheppard and Syrus, almost terrified to see their student/brother like this, but Zane waved it off, “Don’t worry, I am just a little tired and I won’t lose this duel.” He assured all of them.

Nightshroud remained silent the entire time, eyeing the person that defeated him in this same place, but he shook his head as he laughed, “Are you kidding, Key Keeper? You think you are gonna win? You should have kept a better promise, I draw!” yelled Nightshroud as he drew his card and then automatically activated it, “Go, Pot Of Greed, I get to draw 2 cards from my deck!”

He did so as then all of them could feel a presence, a dark presence. “This will be your demise,” he took out a card from his hand, “I activate the Spell card, Clear Sacrifice! When I have to summon a Level 5 or higher Clear monster from my hand, I have to banish Clear monsters equal to the amount of monsters I need to tribute for its summon! I banish Clear Phantom and Clear Rage Golem so I can normal summon a dragon that makes your look like a toy, Clear Vice Dragon!”

Both Clear Phantom and Clear Rage Golem appeared from the graveyard as then both of them were sent into the sky for a tribute. From the sky appeared a gray coloured dragon with spikes in its hands encased in a big crystal appeared on the field.

(Clear Vice Dragon: Level 8 - Dark Dragon - Attack: 0. Defense: 0.)

Many took a step back, but most of them noted the 0 attack points of the dragon, “Wait 0 attack points?” Chumley tilted his head.

“It must have a devastating effect.” noted Bastion as Nightshroud smirked.

“The brainiac is correct as I will attack your Cyber Dragon with Clean Malicious Stream!” yelled Nightshroud as the dragon’s head escaped the crystal to shoot a dark blast made out of matter, to which the Cyber Dragon countered, “When my monster attacks, its attack points are double that of the monster it is attacking!”

Clear Vice Dragon: 0 - 4200 attack points

“If this connects-” Chazz started.

“Zane will lose!” finished Sheppard.

“That won’t happen,” Zane pointed at his two set cards, “Go, Cybernetic Firewall! My monster can not be destroyed by battle or by effects for the rest of the turn!” Cyber Dragon was covered by electricity, “And that’s not all, I activate Power Wall! I will negate 100 points of damage for every top card I send to the graveyard, and I will send 21 cards!”

Zane took the top 21 cards from his deck to the graveyard, and he noted that most of them were Light Machines or his Fusion Spell cards, he gritted his teeth as he knew that they didn’t have any graveyard effects.

Clear Vice Dragon’s attack overpowered that of Cyber Dragon’s, but thanks to the electricity, it was protected from the attack and wasn’t destroyed.

Clear Vice Dragon: 4200 - 0 attack points

“After the Battle Phase, Clear Vice Dragon changes into the defense mode.” His Clear monster was changed into an X position as he took the last card in his hand, “WIth that, you can go after I set a card face down.” a card was set vertically behind then Clear monster.

Turn 6. Zane - 1700 lp - 1 card

The Kaiser drew his card, but the Clear Rider said out loud, “Don’t forget Clear World’s effect! You have to show me your entire hand if you control a Light monster!” Many widened at the sound of the card, that means that he can’t outsmart his opponent.

Zane gritted his teeth as he showed his entire hand: Cyber Dragon and Half Shut. “I can’t summon a monster with this hand, but I can still…” , “Time for a counter attack! Cyber Dragon attacks your Clear Vice Dragon with Strident Blast!”

From the mouth of Zane’s trusty monster came out a mighty green beam and shot it at the defense position Clear monster, but that didn’t stop Nightshroud from activating his set card, “Not so fast, Key Keeper! I activate the Trap, Negate Attack, it negates your attack and ends the Battle Phase!”

A barrier appeared in front of the Clear Vice Dragon and protected it from the Cyber Dragon.

“Ahh man, he was so close!” Syrus hated seeing his older brother in a position where he couldn’t do anything.

Zane knew that if he didn’t do anything, he would lose his Cyber Dragon and the rest of his life points so he opted for a different strategy, a one he never used before, “I sacrifice my Cyber Dragon to summon a third copy of itself in defense position!”

His trusty Light Machine monster disappeared from the field as then a third and final copy of his monster appeared in a lower position than before.

(Cyber Dragon: Level 5 - Light Machine - Attack: 2100. Defense: 1600.)

“A brilliant move. Due to his monster attacking already, it couldn’t have switched positions so a move like that protected his life points.” complimented Bastion.

Due to Zane already revealing his hand before, he didn’t need to reveal his hand as he took a card from his hand, “I end my turn with a facedown.” a card was set vertically behind the Cyber Dragon.

Turn 7. Nightshroud - 4000 lp - 0 cards

“My turn. I draw.” Nightshroud said as he drew his card and he looked at it…right before he began laughing out loud, “Ahahaha! This is great! I will defeat you right here and right now with my Spell, Stop Defense!”

Everyone’s eyes widened as Zane’s final copy of his trusty Cyber Dragon turned upwards, eyes glowing as soon as it did. “And how about I return the action? I switch Clear Vice Dragon into attack position.” His dragon made the X position disappear as soon as it rose up, roaring and shaking the entire Field.

“This is the end! Clear Vice Dragon attack the Key Keeper’s Cyber Dragon and finish this duel with Clean Malicious Stream!” yelled Nightshroud.

The head of the dragon exited the crystal only for it to shoot a dark beam at the Light Machine monster, but Zane activated his set card, “Not so fast, Yusuke, I activate my set card, Half Shut!”

“This card halves any monster’s attack points until the End Phase and it can not be destroyed this turn,” normally he would use the card to cut down the attack of his opponent’s monster so his Cyber End Dragon has a better chance of defeating their monster and the opponent in one attack, but right now he activates it for a different reason, “And I choose my Cyber Dragon!”

Cyber Dragon: 2100 - 1050 attack points

Clear Vice Dragon: 4200 - 2100 attack points

“Good.” Alexis started, “He cut his own monster’s attack so he would take less damage.”

“Yeah, it's a good thing too, since Clear Vice Dragon’s attack points are exactly doubled of the attacking monster, so using it on your own monster would make it better than if you targeted the Vice Dragon.” noted Bastion.

Nightshroud grinned, “Even if my monster loses attack points, you still take the damage!” Clear Vice Dragon’s attack went through, even a little weaker than before, as it made Zane fall down on his knees.

Nightshroud: 4000 lp

Zane: 1700 - 650 life points

The Clear Rider began laughing as his monster changed position, “Give it up, Key Keeper! You know that I know all of your strategies before you even make them thanks to Clear World, you can’t deal me less than a 1000 life points and even if you did more than that I can tribute it so I don’t take the damage, and don’t even think about summoning a monster, you know that thanks to Attribute Gravity that your monster has to attack it instead! I end my turn!”

Turn 8. Zane - 650 lp - 0 cards

Everyone then turned to Zane and they realized just how much he is being cornered. All of his strategies were being countered, all the damage he could deal for a one turn kill would be meaningless and even if he did summon a monster, he couldn’t do anything about it as they would be destroyed instead.

It was hard to see Zane Truesdale, The Kaiser of Duel Academy, Syrus’ big brother, one of the only people to defeat Jaden, the heir of the Cyber Style, down on his knees and being tormented for the rest of the duel and then they felt shivers down their spines when they saw him passing out.

“Zane! Are you okay, man?” Zane looked around to see two people, one dueling him and one on his back on a tree watching the duel. He recognized both of them, the one that he is dueling is Yusuke while the other one is Atticus. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

He looked at his field and saw his field having 1 Cyber End Dragon while Yusuke had no monsters on his field, despite him ending his turn. A smile formed on his face, “It’s alright, I was just dozing off.”

“Really? That’s not like you, Zane.” said Yusuke as Zane brushed it off, it was nice seeing them once again.

“Don’t worry about it, Yusuke, I am just having fun with this duel.” Both Atticus and Yusuke smiled at their friend’s words, it was rare to see him smile, like seeing a rainbow after a rainstorm.

“That’s great to hear since I think it's my turn!” Yusuke yelled as he drew his card and smiled. He pointed at his graveyard, “When I have 4 or more Lightsworms with different names in my graveyard, I get to summon Judgment Dragon!”

A dragon that akin to an angel appeared on The Emperor’s field.

(Judgment Dragon: Level 8 - Light Dragon - Attack: 3000. Defense: 2600.)

The smile on Zane’s face remained unchanged as he remembered the duel as it was one of the last times either him, Atticus or Yusuke dueled each other.

“As much as I would love to use the effect of my monster, I have less than a thousand life points, I think I will engage in battle!” Both he and Atticus knew what was going to happen next as his true ace was going to be activated.

“I activate Honest in my hand! When a Light monster I control attacks a monster, my monster gains attack points equal to the targeted monster!” An angel was discarded as his dragon roared in power.

Judgment Dragon: 3000 - 7000 attack points

As soon as it gained all of those attack points, it went through the Cyber End Dragon, making an explosion and Zane fell down on his knees, not like he hated it in any way.

Yusuke: 250 lp

Zane: 2500 - 0 life points

YUSUKE FUJIWARA: WINNER!

As soon as it was finished, Atticus walked towards the two duelists and started clapping, “Amazing! Spectacular showing of pure emotions! Great job, both of you!” He cheered for the amazing duel.

“Come on, Atticus, I know you want to cheer Zane for losing.” said Yusuke as Zane looked at him.

“Hey, I am not a sore loser…unlike Atticus.” joked Zane as Atticus made an overexaggerated gasp and clenched his heart.

“Ahh! I can’t believe one of my best friends will backstab me! How could you, Zane!?” overreacted Atticus as both of them deadpanned, which made Atticus pout, “Dang it, you always reacted differently.”

“Yeah maybe if you don’t make that joke every other week.” said Yusuke as he turned towards Zane, “But for real, great duel Zane!”

Zane’s eyes opened a little as he saw everyone trying to wake him up, “Come on Zane, wake up!”

“This isn’t humourous!”

“Don’t lose, Zane!”

“You got this, Kaiser!”

“We believe in you Zane, but please don’t lose!”

“This is so anti-lischus!”

“Zane, don’t! You’re the only person able to help Master Fujiwara!”

As all of the pleading fell dead on Zane’s ear and his eyes almost closed, even the Shadow Riders laughed, but one voice stuck out harder than all of them combined, “Zane-big brother, please! I don’t want to lose you!”

Zane’s eyes widened in intensity as heard his younger brother’s plead, not wanting to lose him like he did with Atticus and Yusuke, he stood up and glared at the Shadow Rider, “Don’t worry, Syrus. Your big brother won’t lose this.” It wasn’t a prediction, it was a fact with his tone of voice.

Nightshroud scoffed, “Let’s see if you can hold on that promise.”

He gripped his hand and drew the card with more intensity of any of his dragons. He closed his eyes as he brought the card on his face and opened his eyes. His eyes narrowed as he looked over the card. It was Atticus’ card as he used it as a last resort against Zane’s Cyber Dragons.

“Yusuke, I hope you could remember Atticus’ card,” Alexis’ ears perked up at the mention of her brother, “Because I am going to play it! I activate Ultimate Retrieval!”

“What!?”

“Ultimate Retrieval!?”

“Why does he have that card in his deck?! It ruins his strategy!”

“This card skips my Battle Phase, I lose the ability to activate any other cards after I played this Spell this turn and summoning any monsters, with the added price of half of my life points,” (LP: 650 - 325), “I get to shuffle EVERY card in both of our fields to our decks!”

“WHAT!?” yelled Nightshroud.

“You heard me! And this card doesn’t target and it can not be negated in any way! So begone, all of our cards!” yelled out Zane, as then, every single card in their field were gone.

Both Cyber Dragon and Clear Vice Dragon roared in agony as both of them disappeared as the Clear World disappeared with it, making the terrain back to its original form, with the rest of Nightshroud’s Spells and Traps going with it.

Both of them glared at each other as they shuffled their decks and put the deck back into their duel disks. Both of them have no cards in their hand, as then it was anyone's game at this point.

“I end my turn.” said Zane as everyone looked at Nightshroud, as his hands were at the top of his deck.

Turn 9. Nightshroud - 4000 lp - 0 cards

Nightshroud drew his card, and he has a monster with 400 or more attack points, it’s over for Zane, but judging by the look of his face, that isn’t a case at all.

“I summon Clear Cube in defense mode.” a small red machine in a crystal was summoned onto the field in an X position.

(Clear Cube: Level 1 - Dark Machine - Attack: 0. Defense: 0.)

“Like the others, my monster has no attribute.” The rest of the duelists now understood why Clear Vice Dragon wasn’t affected by Clear World, “I end my turn here.”

Turn 10. Zane - 325 lp - 0 cards

At last, it was a stalemate between the fight between the Key Keeper and Shadow Rider, and one step closer for Yusuke so he drew his card and nodded. He took the card and placed it on his duel disk, “Appear, Cyber Valley.”

A more technology advanced version of the Cyber Dragon appeared on the field, but its head was a different shape, it had two red orbs around its neck and it was much smaller than his known monster.

(Cyber Valley: Level 1 - Light Machine - Attack: 0. Defense: 0.)

“Both monsters have 0 attack and defense points.” noted out loud Crowler.

“Both of them must have strong effects then.” concluded Celina.

“If so, I know Kaiser will win.” Jaden smiled at the one of the two people that defeated him.

Zane breathed in and out as he looked at the Nightshroud, and an image of Yusuke appeared next to him, “I end my turn.”

Turn 11. Nightshroud - 4000 lp - 0 cards

“Come on, give me something.” Nightshroud drew his card and activated the card, “When I control a monster with no attribute, I get to activate Clear Draw! Making me draw 2 cards!”

The Shadow Rider did so as then he grinned as he pointed at Cyber Valley, “If my opponent controls one monster, instead of two tributes, I get to tribute 1 monster instead,” his Clear Cube vanished as he smacked the card on his duel disk, “Come out, my strongest monster, Clear Vicious Knight!”

From the depths of the floor of the ground came out the biggest crystal yet, making the others look like rocks in comparison and inside of the crystal was a knight in dark green armour, with dark yellow shoulder pads, a sapphire on the helmet, bones around his rib cage and a sword above his hand.

(Clear Vicious Knight: Level 7 - Dark Warrior - Attack: 2300. Defense: 1100.)

Many took a step back at the sheer image and the attack points of the monster, but Zane stared it down, “Right there is,” he grinned, “The last monster I will defeat to beat him.”

“It was fun tormenting you, but all good things must come to an end! Clear Vicious Knight attack Cyber Valley with End Of The Clear!” Knight escaped the crystal only to slash, creating an energy beam from it directly towards Zane’s final monster.

“If this connects, Zane will lose!” yelled Alexis, but he wasn’t done.

“When Cyber Valley is attacked, I can banish it, negate the entire Battle Phase,” His Cyber Valley disappeared from the field as the attacked missed him, but then he reached for his duel disk, “after all of that, I get to draw a card from my deck.”

He did so as then his eyes narrowed at the card, it was him. It was his card. Honest. He looked over as an image that only people that see duel spirits can see, making Chazz and Jaden widen at seeing him having duel spirits.

“Zane,” the blue haired teenager turned to his left as he saw the monster that was on the same team for months for a specific mission, “We are almost there. We are close to saving Master Fujiwara.”

“I know, I can hardly believe that we are this close,” Zane breathed out, almost falling, but his determination said otherwise, “I can not take this opportunity to save him. We need to win.”

“We will.” It wasn’t a promise, it was a fact that they will win this next turn.

“Talking to yourself, man you really are desperate. What are you hoping that you will survive this duel?” Nightshroud smirked as he took out the other card in his hand, “Well I don’t think so. I end my turn with a face down.” a card was set vertically behind the Vicious Knight.

Turn 12. Zane - 325 lp - 1 card

It was quiet as Zane looked at his deck, “Are you ready, Honest?” he asked the duel spirit.

Honest looked at the Obelisk Blue student and gave a smile, “Yes. Zane, let’s win!”

Zane smiled as he then drew his card and then looked at it. He looked at Nightshroud, “This is over.” he muttered as he raised his duel disk, “From my graveyard, I banish 8 Light Machine monsters,” many were shocked that Zane would use so many cards in his graveyard for almost no reason.

Key word: almost.

8 Light Machines appeared onto Zane’s field as he took them from his graveyard: 2 copies of Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Vier, Proto Cyber Dragon, Cyber Photon Dragon, Cyber Barrier Dragon, Cyber Kirin and Cyber Larva. They were all then sucked into a vortex in the sky.

Zane took a card in his hand, “So I can summon my strongest monster yet; Cyber Eltanin!” The entire dorm began shaking as from the floor appeared a dragon that was the same size as the Slifer Red Dorm, with 8 heads that were the same as that of the Cyber Dragon. Its head was the same as the original Cyber Dragon, but the body was different. Its stomach was that of a dragon’s face, with teeth sharper than any katana, breath so hot it could forge a katana, its yellow eyes were the deepest shade of yellow as it glowed when it roared in power, almost deafening the Key Keepers and the others.

The monster looked like a Kaiju in a movie.

(Cyber Eltanin: Level 10 - Light Machine - Attack: ?. Defense: ?.)

As the rest stared in awe at the monster, Sheppard smiled at his student showing the true power of Cyber Style as he summoned a monster that could even rival that of Cyber End Dragon, but…ultimately fail against the other monsters of the same archetype.

“When my monster is summoned, his effect allows me to send the rest of the monsters on the field to the graveyard and that includes your monster.” said Zane as Cyber Eltanin shot a beam at his opponent, however, Nightshroud smirked.

“So what? That’s useless against the second copy of Clear Barrier!” Crystals appeared from the ground protecting the Clear monster from any harm, making Zane gripping his hand.

“That’s fine as Eltanin gains 500 attack and defense points for every banished monster used for his summoning!” he yelled as his monster roared in power.

Cyber Eltanin: ? - 4000 attack points/ ? - 4000 defense points

That didn’t scare Nightshroud, in fact, that made him cockier, “And? When Clear Vicious Knight is the only card on my side of the field and on my hand, he gains attack points equal to the monster with the highest attack points! Admit it, it’s over!”

Clear Vicious Knight: 2300 - 6300 attack points

Zane was quiet as he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, “Not yet.”

“Not yet?” The Clear Rider scoffed, “What? You think you are gonna win?”

“Not think,” he opened his eyes and his eyes rivaled that of actual flames, “I KNOW IT! Cyber Eltanin attack Clear Vicious Knight with Draconis Ascension!”

“What!?”

“Zane, are you insane?! You are gonna lose!” yelled out Syrus, but the Shadow Rider laughed along.

“Let him! Let’s end this duel with my victory!” yelled Nightshroud.

Zane looked at his hand, “Honest, lend me your power.” He then revealed the card to everyone, “I activate Honest’s effect! When a Light monster attacks a monster, my monster gains attack points equal to the targeted monster’s attack points!”

“What?!” yelled Nightshroud as he realized something.

“With this-” started off Jaden as the rest finished with him.

“- ZANE WON!” they cheered.

An angel appeared on the field and looked at Nightshroud with sadness in his eyes as he flew straight towards the Light Machine monster, making it the strongest monster on the field.

Cyber Eltanin: 4000 - 10300 attack points

“Yusuke, I couldn’t have saved you before, but now, I am saving you from the darkness itself.” Zane closed his eyes, before opening them again as he pointed at the monster he was destroying, “Cyber Eltanin! Finish Clear Vicious Knight and save Yusuke! Draconis Ascension!”

All of the heads and the stomach charged beams with different colours and shot it at the monster ignoring Nightshroud’s pleading, “No! No! Don’t! Don’t do it! NOOOOOO!” he yelled as the Light Machine monster vaporized the monster, but not before a dark entity, now invisible to even the ones that could see duel spirits, removed the mask from Yusuke’s face.

The entity looked at the Obelisk Blue with interest in its mind, “I will look over you, Zane Truesdale.” Nightshroud said as he disappeared into the darkness.

Yusuke: 4000 - 0 life points

Zane: 325 lp

ZANE TRUESDALE: WINNER!

“We did it…” said Zane as he fell to his knees, as he won against a Shadow Rider, keeping his Key.

“We saved Master Fujiwara.” Honest looked at Zane with tears of happiness, “Zane, I thank you with all of my heart.” Zane smiled as he fell down. Not from any injuries, but from exhaustion.

The rest of the group ran towards him, congratulating him as Chumley picked him up and carried him on his back, but Zane needed to know one thing, “Please…I need to see… the face of the person I defeated.”

They were confused, as Sheppard and most of the Key Keepers walked over to the defeated Shadow Rider, as only Sheppard and Bastion gasped at him, knowing of his popularity and status.

All of them rushed towards the body as then Alexis, Syrus and Crowler covered their mouths in shock as Zane looked at him, a tear of joy running down on his cheek as he went to sleep.

“No way.”

“It’s him.”

“How can I forget?” said Syrus, Crowler and Alexis one after the other as the rest looked confused.

“Uhh, who is he exactly?” Jaden rubbed his cheek with his finger, confused.

“It’s one of the missing students, Jaden.” said Bastion as Sheppard finished what he would have said.

“One of our best students we ever had, Yusuke Fujiwara.”

Somewhere in a unknown location

The Shadow Riders watched the duel and the defeat of one of their own members. Three of them shook their heads as he lost towards Zane, except three of them. The red haired Shadow Rider and the amazon like Shadow Rider.

“Come on, everyone. You all can’t be this gloomy.” said the amazon like Shadow Rider.

“I agree. At least agree that it was an entertaining duel.” agreed the red haired duelist.

“We are disappointed that he didn’t retrieve a single Key,” said the cloaked Shadow Rider.

“Of course he did, it would have been better if I made the first move,” hissed the vampire like Shadow Rider.

Two of them stayed silent. One didn’t care for the Rider as he only cared about his brother while the other watched the winner with great interest. “It would be fantastic if I get to duel him.”

“Well then, you had the intention of going first before Nightshroud was defeated, right Camula?” asked the cloaked Rider as the vampire Shadow Rider, now known as Camula, nodded, “Good to know since you can go first.”

Camula grinned as she stood up and began walking out, while holding her choker, but a voice stopped, “Hey, wait a minute!” She turned to the other Shadow Rider, the red haired one, “Can you defeat the one with a trenchcoat? I heard that he has some ancient cards that I really need for my deck.” he asked as Camula sighed.

“If you allow me to go first and don’t bother me after I give you the cards, then yes.” she said as she opened the door.

“Many thanks!” yelled out the red haired duelist as the cloaked Shadow Rider looked at Camula exiting the room, “Good luck out there, Camula.” he thought.

Authors note:

It’s the Shadow Riders arc, everyone! One of my favourite arcs in Yugioh and I have some ideas for the arc. The story will be the same as in the canon, but with a few twists in the canon as you can see.

The Shadow Riders in canon were cool, but some of them were….lame. Like seriously we have a group of idiots, a Pharaoh that can’t duel for shit that even Syrus admitted to be lame and a woman that wants a husband. What is this? I wanted to make the Shadow Riders to be tough and scary to fight, not jokes like Abidos The Third. If you can see one of the Shadow Riders is dueling, while another one wants to upgrade their deck so I can make a reference to their deck in canon.

Also yeah, I changed Yusuke’s backstory a little.

Yusuke Fujiwara as a whole is an interesting character in my opinion. You can see the reasoning on why he would turn to the darkness and I like that he, like Nightshroud, isn’t completely evil. They just think that their points of view are the right ones and aren’t cocky or condescending like for example Kagemaru. Nightshroud is a character that I enjoy watching and seeing how other writers write him. He is most likely my second favourite final Villain, first being Z-one.

Zane winning here is, in my honest opinion, 100% reasonable and justified. This man is the best duelist in Duel Academy and was able to defeat Jaden in a duel that not even Bastion, a guy that researched his entire deck, and Chazz, that got the strongest deck from North Academy, could do and him losing to Camula all because she threatened to use Syrus’ soul as a sacrifice if she lost was complete and utter bullshit. I know it has to show that even with all of that tough skin, that he still is a caring brother that loves his younger brother, but don’t show it like that.

Alright, next up is Camula, one of them that I decided not to remove, and just like with Yusuke, all the Shadow Riders, sans for 1, will get a backstory on why they became Shadow Riders.

Also I started watching VRAINS (dub obviously) and I am loving it, currently 15 episodes in. Maybe if I finish it, I could write LINK VRAINS being apart of the story, but only in Japan, created by Pegasus with Seto’s help.

That’s all. See ya!

Made Up and Altered Cards:

Cyber Eltanin: Basically I made it like a Chimeratech Overdragon, but as a Main monster that the user chooses to banish any number of Light Machines that they want and the remove all monsters is an effect that could be negated.

Clear Barrier: A trap that protects Clear monsters, nothing big.

Second Chance: A Double Or Nothing, but without the attack doubling.

Ultimate Retrieval: A card with BIG restrictions, but with an amazing effect.

Clear Draw: An archetypal Pot Of Greed.

#yugioh gx #gx rewrite #yugioh arc v #zane truesdale #yusuke fujiwara #darkness yugioh #nightshroud #jaden yuki #celina yugioh #syrus truesdale #vellian crowler #chazz princeton #alexis rhodes #bastion misawa #sheppard yugioh #lymann banner #camula yugioh

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ibijau · 3 years ago

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Futures Past pt14 / On AO3

three conversations as Nie Huaisang's time in Gusu comes to an end

Summer had finally come to an end, implacable heat replaced by a more pleasant warmth as the world took on new hues. It also meant that the final few exams of the year were fast approaching, though Nie Huaisang felt unconcerned. He’d been ordered to fail after all, not that he thought he could have succeeded even if he’d tried.

Comforted by that permission to not study, he was currently laying in the grass in the back hills of the Cloud Recesses, enjoying the afternoon sun. A history book, chosen for the promise of the many scandals it revealed about a past emperor’s reign, laid forgotten on his chest, Nie Huaisang having realised that the contents were far more serious than he felt like dealing with at the moment. At some other time he might have taken a nap, encouraged by the warmth, but he’d found it difficult to sleep since that visit of his future self a few days earlier.

Just as Nie Huaisang was about to pick up his book again, Su She finished his series of sword forms and came to lay on the grass as well. He was sweaty and looked tired, but appeared quite happy with himself. Su She had confessed that he’d made a real leap forward with his cultivation since teachers and other disciples stopped constantly putting him down, something for which Nie Huaisang felt as proud as if it had been his own progress.

They stayed silent for a while, just basking in the sun, enjoying that beautiful day, until Nie Huaisang found that his recent worries were too heavy on his chest and he had to share them.

“Su-xiong?”

Su She made a noise to signify he’d heard, but couldn’t be bothered to speak. He looked comfortable, and had closed his eyes as if he might succeed with the nap that eluded Nie Huaisang. It was almost a shame to ruin that.

“Do you think people can be so evil that nothing will redeem them?”

The silence changed around them. After a moment Su She sat up to get a look at Nie Huaisang. Finding him looking serious, Su She’s initial puzzlement quickly turned into mild irritation at being dragged into a discussion like that on such a pleasant afternoon.

“Gusu Lan’s principles state that…”

“Not you as a Lan disciple,” Nie Huaisang cut him with an impatient gesture. “You as a person. Do you think people can be so evil that there’s no going back for them, that nothing they could do or say would ever compensate for what they’ve done?”

Some of Su She’s irritation eased away, glad as always to be given a chance to voice an opinion that wasn’t that of his sect, and he laid down on the grass again.

“That’s a pretty intense question,” Su She said after a moment. “I guess there’s got to be a limit to what’s forgivable, yeah. I’m not the best to decide what that’d be though. I’ve been told I have an issue with holding grudges. But I think yeah, in general, there’s got to be a moment where a bad person becomes so bad there’s no going back and they just need to be eliminated.”

It wasn’t the answer Nie Huaisang had been hoping for, but it didn’t exactly surprise him either. He thought the same after all, if only because a person such as Wen Ruohan existed, proving to him that some people had to be beyond redemption.

“Then do you think…”

“What’s wrong with you today? Was this morning’s lecture about ethics again?”

“It was about the proper way to address people depending on family and allegiance links, and I fell asleep. No, this is something else. I’m just thinking about stuff lately.”

“Like good and evil? That must have been a pretty nasty nap you took.”

Nie Huaisang shrugged. “I just wonder what makes a person bad or good. Do you think some people can be bad from birth? Just, they’re born and they’re evil, and there’s no way they’re ever going to be anything but evil.”

It really bothered him, the things his future self had said during his last visit. About Lan Xichen, about Su She, but mostly the way he’d spoken of that Xue Yang boy, as if that child were no better than a cockroach needing to be squashed before it could proliferate.

“I think there’s definitely people who think that about some other people,” Su She said. “I’m pretty sure if you asked some of the other Lan disciples, they’d say I’m like that, just because I have a temper and I don’t hug their knees quite enough and I ask too many questions during some lessons. I guess it’s easier to hate someone if you tell yourself they’re the worst and they deserve it.”

“You’re not evil!” Nie Huaisang cried out, reaching out for his friend’s hand. “You’re not! I’ll fight anyone who says you are!”

Surprised by that outburst, Su She blinked a few times then snorted, pushing away Nie Huaisang’s hand.

“I appreciate it, but it didn’t go so well last time you tried to fight for my honour.”

“I’ll still fight all of them!”

Su She laughed, but appeared quite happy to hear that. Even now that other Lans gave him less of a hard time, he still liked being reminded that Nie Huaisang was on his side, just as he made sure Nie Huaisang knew the opposite was true as well.

That was why Nie Huaisang was telling him about his thoughts, rather than going to Lan Qiren or even Lan Xichen who surely might have more elaborate opinions on the matter of good and evil. Su She might not have read quite as much, but he was also less likely to judge Nie Huaisang for asking that kind of thing. Besides, since Su She’s opinions were often less polished, they felt more honest than if he’d quoted great thinkers of the past.

“But really, do you think a person can actually be evil from birth?” Nie Huaisang insisted when Su She had stopped laughing. “Like. Like a child, but they’re evil. Do you think that’s possible?”

Su She grabbed a strand of grass, and started twisting it between his fingers.

“Maybe. But like I said, people will mostly say that about someone they don’t like, or someone that doesn’t play by their rules, or else they’re not from a prestigious family and they’re just doing what they have to survive.”

He paused to pluck some more grass to play with, and started constructing a knot with it.

“I have a great-uncle I’ve never met,” Su She explained. “He owned a farm before he died where he worked hard, until there was a very bad drought and hard work wasn’t enough anymore. My grandfather often said that people called his brother evil because he did some bad things to feed his wife and children, and some of it really was pretty awful I guess. But nobody ever called evil the magistrate that wanted to force him to pay his taxes instead of buying food. My great-uncle was executed for his crimes and everyone said he’d always been evil and vicious even though they used to praise him as a good man before, but the magistrate got a promotion for making sure taxes were still paid and he got called virtuous. And that’s… I don’t know, I feel there’s something not right in that, you know?”

Nie Huaisang nodded, his eyes fixed on the grass knot that Su She wouldn't stop twisting between his fingers.

His older self had said that this Xue Yang he had to kill was an orphan, and a thief of some sort even though he was just ten.

It would be harder to be virtuous and noble for someone who didn’t have anyone to turn to. Nie Huaisang had his whole family behind him, all the education anyone could have, he knew about ethics and rules, and he still found it hard sometimes to make the right choices. He was too lazy and selfish to ever be really good, and apparently he wasn’t going to improve with age. So how could a child on his own, without books or wise elders, learn to be a good person, especially if like Nie Huaisang they’d been given a bad personality?

“Ok, I have another question.”

Su She sighed, and threw away his grass knot.

“Is it a weird one again?”

Nie Huaisang grimaced.

“Yeah, that one is pretty weird,” he admitted. “So, imagine there’s a very evil person. The most evil you can think of, but you don’t actually know them, it’s just that someone told you that person is very evil. And, for some reason, you’re given a chance to go back to when they were a little kid, and that person who told you this other guy is evil also tells you that you should take the chance and kill the evil person while he’s a kid to save other people. Would you do it, or would you try to… I don’t know, maybe try to make that kid grow up around better people so maybe he doesn’t turn out so bad?”

“Those questions are getting really specific.”

“Just answer. Do you think it’d be right to kill that kid?”

Su She fell silent for a moment.

“Do I trust the person who told me the kid will be evil later?”

Nie Huaisang considered that question.

“Yeah. I guess for the sake of the argument, you trust that person,” he said, even though he wasn’t quite sure how much he did trust his older self.

“And has the kid done anything evil yet?”

“No, but he’s done bad things. Maybe he stole some stuff. But also, he’s an orphan, you know?”

Su She sat up and gave his friend a sharp look.

“Really specific again. I guess… I guess it’d be wrong to kill him though. I mean, it’s like you said, why not try to put him in a better place instead? If he’s just a kid, and he hasn’t done anything bad yet… I don’t think it’s really fair to punish someone for something they haven’t even done yet.”

“Right? I think so too. People should get a chance before they’re punished. They’ve got to have a chance to learn!”

Su She nodded, but look more and more suspicious.

“So, is this all about someone in particular, or…”

“I’m just wondering stuff,” Nie Huaisang quickly said. The truth was too weird for anyone to ever believe, even if he tried to tell someone. Su She would just think he was crazy. Maybe he was, anyway. “I’ve got to think about something during boring lessons, right? I mean, don’t you start thinking about weird stuff too?”

“Sometimes I think about leaving the Cloud Recesses and creating my own sect when I’m bored,” Su She replied.

Nie Huaisang sat up, a grin on his face.

“Really? What would it be like?”

“Like Gusu Lan, but better,” Su She retorted with a smug smile. “And I’d get to sleep half a shichen later in the morning. You’re welcome to join us if you’d like, since you know how to play the guqin now. You can be my right hand man.”

Nie Huaisang’s grin only grew larger. It sounded like a delightful idea, and he eagerly dropped all his earlier thoughts about ethics and morality to instead make Su She talk about the sect of his dreams, until it was time for dinner.

That had to have been Lan Qiren’s most boring lecture to date. Quite the accomplishment, Nie Huaisang thought. Another accomplishment, and one far more impressive, was the fact that he’d managed to stay awake through all of it. It was really hard lately to pay attention, especially now that he didn’t need to. His grades during tests had been so consistently low that he couldn’t have passed even if he tried, so he really should have been allowed to skip those last few lessons and go have fun somewhere. He was going to hear all that stuff again in a year, wasn’t he?

If he hadn’t feared the Lans’ punishment methods, Nie Huaisang would have skipped all these stupid classes and ran off to Gusu for some fun.

If he hadn’t feared his brother’s wrath, he would also have stopped bothering with homework. But Lan Xichen had hinted to him, not unwisely, that Nie Mingjue might be a little less angry if he could be shown proof that his brother had really tried to learn. And considering the stunt Nie Huaisang was thinking of pulling with Xue Yang…

So, Nie Huaisang had stayed awake in class, and he’d been handed back some previous homework with a grade so high he’d actually asked Lan Qiren if there hadn’t been a mistake. Lan Qiren had told him that if the grade didn’t please him, it was always possible to lower it, so Nie Huaisang had kept his mouth shut after that.

The rest of the lesson had passed surprisingly fast after that, and soon enough Nie Huaisang was free again, with a whole afternoon ahead of him. He had new homework to deal with, sure, and it was something that would be graded again, but that didn’t feel urgent. Sadly, Su She had already warned that he wouldn’t be free to hang out that day, due to being allowed to go on a Night Hunt with some other Lan juniors, something he’d been very excited about. That meant Nie Huaisang would have to stay on his own, or go bother Lan Xichen.

The second option felt surprisingly compelling, even though they’d already see each other in three days for his music lesson. Lan Xichen was sure to praise him for his good grade after all, and Nie Huaisang quite enjoyed being praised, as he’d discovered. If more people praised him, he might start feeling like doing something to deserve it.

Nie Huaisang had just decided he’d try to see if Lan Xichen had time for him when Jin Zixun grabbed him by the elbow and started pulling him away from everyone else.

"How come you had a good grade on that essay?" Jin Zixun asked with unwarranted suspicion.

Nie Huaisang, who had briefly wondered if he was going to get punched again and was getting ready to escape, relaxed and allowed the other boy to drag him away.

"I'm actually very smart, thanks."

"You're only smart on homework and never on quizzes," Jin Zixun retorted. "Is your merchant friend helping you?"

That earned him a light kick to the shin, which he didn’t appear to feel.

"Don’t call him that!” Nie Huaisang warned. “And, no, he's said he doesn't want to think about learning when we hang out."

"Then it's Lan gongzi who does your homework for you."

That hit a little too close. Stung in his pride, Nie Huaisang’s freed himself from Jin Zixun’s grip and stopped walking, arms crossed on his chest.

"He doesn't! He just corrects my drafts! And lately most of what's in my essays is all my own, actually! I only fail in quizzes because I panic and because I don't have enough time."

It was something he’d realised during his music lessons with Lan Xichen, actually. Nie Huaisang needed to do things at his own speed, or else he couldn’t do things at all. It wasn’t a problem with Lan Xichen who allowed him to take breaks and even have a snack if he struggled too much to focus, but Lan Qiren and the other teachers hadn’t taken it too well when he’d tried to eat candies during quizzes, or when he started doodling during an exam because it helped him focus. It also fell into deaf ears when he pleaded to be given a little more time when, by some random chance, he actually did know the answer to a question and had so much to say that the allotted time wasn’t enough.

By comparison, homework was easy. Especially when Lan Xichen allowed him to come into his room and work there while he dealt with his own work. The company of a studious person really helped.

"Fine,” Jin Zixun said, grabbing his arm again. “Then you're going to help me with my essays. I’m just barely passing and if I don't get a good grade on the last set of homework, old man Lan is going to make me come back next year."

Jin Zixun started pulling again, but Nie Huaisang resisted this time.

"Why should I help you?"

"Because your grades are so bad you're sure to be sent back next year, and then we'd be stuck together again."

"I need to think. I don't care that much about being stuck with you. You're not the worst person I know."

"I'm… not?" Jin Zixun asked, sounding so shocked that Nie Huaisang snorted.

"Not even close to it," Nie Huaisang assured him, thinking of his future self. With that point of comparison, a lot of people had become almost agreeable to him.

"Oh. I'm not sure I have another argument in my favour," Jin Zixun admitted. "Usually that one is enough."

Nie Huaisang snorted again. He could imagine that a lot of people would do whatever Jin Zixun asked of them, just so he’d stop talking to them for a little while. He was, after all, a complete prick, without skill or above average good looks to compensate. Still, Nie Huaisang felt a little sorry for him.

Besides, he was convinced that his future self would hate to see him waste time being nice to someone whom he didn’t deem useful, and that really sealed the deal.

"Okay I'll help,” he sighed, as if conceding to something that cost him a lot, when in truth he didn’t mind that much. “But only because I'm sorry for you."

"Hey!"

"And I'm just helping,” Nie Huaisang warned. “You're still doing the actual work.”

“You’re just lazy,” Jin Zixun complained, pulling again on Nie Huaisang’s arm who, this time, willingly started to follow him toward the cabin where the Jin disciples stayed.

“I sure am,” Nie Huaisang agreed with a bright smile. “And I’m also thirsty, so let’s have tea while you work!”

Jin Zixun complained and grumbled and called him spoiled, but still did serve him what had to be the best tea he had on hand as they worked together.

A loud, discordant rang through the otherwise silent room until Nie Huaisang put down his hands on the guqin’s strings to silence it. His eyes prickled with tears yet unspilled. It was a simple enough melody, and he’d worked on it all week, wanting to surprise Lan Xichen with his progress by playing for him something they hadn't worked on together. Even the other Nie disciples, who fluctuated between indifference and annoyance at his new obsession with music, had praised him for playing it so well the night before.

But now he was there, in Lan Xichen’s room, trying to actually play that damn melody, and his fingers just refused to obey him.

“Give me another chance,” he begged, quickly pressing the back of his hand to one eye, just to make sure he hadn’t actually started crying. “I swear I can play it! I worked so hard on it, I’ll show you!”

“If you say you can play it, I believe you,” Lan Xichen replied. “You’ve had a rough day, it’s normal to be affected. Let’s put away the guqin for now and have some tea instead. It’ll do you good.”

When Lan Xichen got up and turned around to go boil water, Nie Huaisang felt a few tears of frustration fall on his cheek which he quickly wiped away. It was stupid, and it wasn’t fair, and he hated that things could impact him life that.

“It’s not like I thought I had any chance of passing anyway,” he hissed, hands clenching into fists. “I knew I was going to fail, it’s stupid that I’m upset about this!”

“Knowing something and actually experiencing it aren’t the same,” Lan Xichen replied. “It’s normal to be upset, Huaisang.”

Nie Huaisang shrugged, and wiped another tear. What did Lan Xichen know about failing anyway? He was always stupidly perfect, always did everything well, a favourite of every teacher, admired by all their peers, far more handsome than a boy of eighteen had any right to be, with a cultivation level that only Nie Mingjue, a freak of nature, could surpass. It was easy for Lan Xichen to say being upset was normal, when he’d probably never failed anything in his entire life.

By the time Lan Xichen returned to the table with a teapot and two glasses, Nie Huaisang was sulking, though thankfully he was too angry at himself to cry anymore. Lan Xichen took one look at him and went to fetch something else. He carefully put a little wooden box in front of Nie Huaisang, then started pouring tea for both of them.

“Take one,” Lan Xichen encouraged, nodding toward the box. “Take as many as you like, in fact. Just don’t tell anyone about them. I’m not supposed to have those.”

Intrigued, Nie Huaisang opened the box and discovered an array of cheap candies, which made Nie Huaisang grin against his will.

“What happened to the rules about avoiding unhealthy foods?”

“Wangji would have a fit,” Lan Xichen sighed, eyes glancing toward the door, as if just by mentioning his name, Lan Wangji might appear out of thin air to scold them. “But I know I can trust you to keep the secret.”

“No choice, you’ve made me an accomplice,” Nie Huaisang replied, grabbing one piece of candy. It was disgustingly sweet, almost making his jaw ache.

So he reached for another, his fingers briefly brushing against Lan Xichen who’d done the same. Nie Huaisang quickly removed his hand, startled at the sensation of warm skin.

“Lan gongzi, what if you adopted me as your new little brother?” Nie Huaisang suggested to try and pretend he hadn't had such a strong reaction just from an accidental touch. “I promise to be a very good didi. I will never get upset at you for wanting to have a little fun sometimes, and I’ll never denounce you to Lan Qiren either. And you will be my nice Lan-gege… ah ! Better yet, you'll be Xichen-ge! Always kind and patient, and you won’t mind at all that I’m bad at everything because I’m very sweet and funny.”

“A tempting offer,” Lan Xichen replied with an odd smile. “Wangji certainly never calls me ‘ge’ because he finds it too informal, whereas I think I quite like it, so I might adopt you just for that. But alas, Mingjue-xiong would be heartbroken if I stole his beloved brother from him, and so I must decline.”

Nie Huaisang took a sip of tea and sighed deeply.

“I don’t think he’ll mind at all. As it is, he might just disown me himself anyway.”

"Your brother will understand," Lan Xichen replied while taking another candy. "He'll be angry at first, but it won't last. If it worries you so much, I can write to him and tell him how hard you've been working. It's a shame homework doesn't count more toward passing, or I do think you'd be graduating."

Nie Huaisang shrugged. It was always like that: if he was good at something, it was always something which didn't matter. Even being skilled at music… what good was that to anyone, in the end?

"What if he doesn't forgive me though?"

"He will," Lan Xichen replied with confidence. "You are his precious little brother, I don't think he could ever stay mad at you very long."

Nie Huaisang thought of his older self, so convinced that Nie Mingjue despised him, and sighed.

"Maybe someday he'll get tired of forgiving me. Maybe someday I'll… maybe someday I'll do something that's too much," he muttered, thinking of his plan regarding Xue Yang. "I'll go too far, and then he'll hate me. And if he hates me, I'll…"

"Your brother loves you," Lan Xichen said. "He loves you as much as you love him. I don't think there's anything in the world that could change that."

That sounded like a challenge. As it happened, Nie Huaisang had given that topic a lot of thought lately, and he'd reached a conclusion.

"I can think of at least two things I could do that would make him hate me," he announced.

"Is that so?" Lan Xichen asked with a smile, as if he really believed such a thing to be impossible.

That gave Nie Huaisang some comfort. Lan Xichen was Nie Mingjue's best friend in the world, as close to him as he was to Su She. Lan Xichen had to know Nie Mingjue better than anyone else did, even if things were fated to start going bad between them someday.

"I could betray him to Wen Ruohan," Nie Huaisang said. "He'd never forgive that."

Lan Xichen took a sip of tea and nodded.

"Not if you did it on purpose, no. But I also think it isn't in your nature to willingly side with his enemies, and he would forgive you if you were tricked into it."

"Xichen-ge has a very high opinion of me, I feel undeserving."

"I'm only stating the truth. Now, what's the other thing you think Mingjue-xiong wouldn't forgive?"

"Marrying into Lanling Jin."

Lan Xichen chortled.

A real, honest to god, ugly laugh. He tried to hide it under a cough, but it was too late, Nie Huaisang had heard it and it delighted him. So even the ever perfect first jade of Gusu Lan could laugh like that!

"Well? What do you think of that one?"

"I think you're right this time," Lan Xichen agreed, still coughing. "It might be too much for him. In fact, I'll even say you'd deserve it."

"What? Xichen-ge, how cruel!" Nie Huaisang lamented, one hand over his heart. "Maybe I’ve found my one true love, and…”

“So all Jin Zixun had to do was break your nose and now you want to marry him?”

“Oh that’s pushing the joke too far,” Nie Huaisang said with a grimace, quickly bringing one hand to his nose, following the bone with one finger to try and feel the break. “He’s not my type at all, and anyway we’re both brats, it wouldn’t work out at all. Still, in theory, if I were to marry into Lanling Jin…”

Lan Xichen only smiled more widely.

“Would you, though?”

“Why not? There’s got to be a few that are decent. I mean, Zixun is occasionally almost tolerable, he can’t be the only one.”

“Oh, certainly there are some very fine people in that sect. I was talking more about the fact that you’d have to wear yellow for the rest of your life. Is that really something you could put up with?”

Thinking of the way those Jin disciples dressed, Nie Huaisang gasped and pressed both hands to his mouth to silence a cry of horror.

“That’s a good point! It’s not even a nice shade of yellow, either!" he cried out, trying to picture himself wearing it. It would be awful, he quickly decided. "I think it would wash out my complexion and make me look sickly. Maybe if it were a touch closer to brown, or even better a bit greenish, maybe I could consider it, but I really can’t marry into a sect that favours such a dreadful colour. I guess I’ll… why are you smiling?”

Lan Xichen, once more hiding his face behind his sleeve, turned away as if it might help dissimulate his grin.

“Because you are quite funny," he chuckled. "I don’t think anyone else would consider it a deal-breaker for marriage that they don’t like another sect’s colour.”

“Easy for you to say, Xichen-ge, you’d look good in any hue! Some of us have to be careful!”

Lan Xichen lowered his hand, his face suddenly serious once more except for a certain glint in his eyes.

“Huaisang, you really sell yourself short sometimes. I think you’d look quite good in any colour,” he eagerly said, before breaking into a fit of giggles as he added: “Any colour except Jin yellow, that is.”

It wasn’t even that funny, Nie Huaisang thought as he started laughing too. But Lan Xichen’s unexpected hilarity was too contagious to be resisted, and he’d been feeling down all day, so he just went for it and enjoyed the moment. It took them ages to ever calm down.

When they did though, Lan Xichen suggested that perhaps Nie Huaisang might try again to play that song he’d practiced.

This time, he played it perfectly, better even than he’d ever done before.

#nie huaisang #lan xichen #su she #jin zixun #xisang #some very light flirting is starting to happen at long last!#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #double time travel

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