#pulls photo. YUSEIS FACE

[hopkei]

the key to winning at sticker challenge is to lower expectations apparently

[writingpages]

crossing the threshold

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Summary: crossing the threshold signifies that the hero has finally committed to the journey. he is prepared to cross the gateway that separates the ordinary world from the special world. the crossing may require more than accepting one’s fears or a map.

Rating: T

Ships: Yuesi Fudo/Aki Izayoi

Warnings: canon typical violence, all the warnings that come with calamity ganon

It is possible for him to simply press the travel point on his map by Kakiriko Village to get back, but he elects to take Epona back. He needs time to think about everything he'd just learned from Anzu, and to consider what he is heading towards. On his way back to his horse, however, a woman stops him with a look of desperation on her face. "Are you capable with a sword, sir?"

He glances around to see if she might be speaking to anyone else, but there appears to be no one else she might be speaking to. "I consider myself to be somewhat capable, yes."

"There are monsters on Hateno Beach," she says, pointing towards the beach. This is a comment that he finds strangely unnecessary. He bites his tongue to avoid saying that there are monsters everywhere. "They stole my livestock, and they keep stealing it. No one in town has the bravery to stop them, and any mercenary I ask balks when they learn of the amount of monsters. There's Moblins, Lizalfos, and Bokoblins. I understand if it is too much, and... I admit I cannot offer much, but I don't know where else to ask."

The woman's pleas are desperate enough to spark the desire to help, and he nods. "I will take care of them. What's the best way to Hateno Beach from here?"

Her eyes widen. "You will? Oh, thank you! If you walk on that hill over there, there is a quick way to the beach through there. It's better to go on foot, and it should only take you an hour or two to make it. If you are quiet enough, you might even be able to hide amongst the grass from them to surprise them."

He nods, and makes his way to the beach. He knows that he is supposed to go to Lady Asuka, but surely she could understand this? It isn't like he is taking his time to go shopping, after all. He's providing help to the fallen kingdom. No one could fault him the desire to take care of the unfortunate. On top of the hills that descended to the beach, he could see the smoke from a campfire. Under scope, he could get a glimpse of the amount of monsters, finding that the woman had not exaggerated her claim about it being a large amount. He could spy a Moblin, at least three Bokoblins, and a Lizalfos. They were a different color from what he'd faced earlier - tougher, perhaps? A color coding system detonating their threat level, like a poisonous frog. Now why had that comparison come to mind?

He looked into his quiver to check the amount of arrows he had - seventeen arrows for what appeared to be five enemies. A decent amount as long as his arrow landed true into the skull of the monsters. He pulls his hood up as he made his way towards the camp, keeping low to the ground. He uses the camera rune on a nearby animal to see if the compendium worked the way he thought it might. When the squirrel shows up in the compendium, he knows he got it right. He has a chance now to figure out what the names of the monsters that lurk in front of him are through this technology. He snaps a photo of the tallest monsters in the distance, and discovers it is called a Blue Moblin. The beast is ugly, taller than him, and appears to be extremely strong. He manages to snap photos of the rest, figuring out a red colored monster was weaker than a blue colored monster. From there, he devised a plan to divide and conquer: isolate the weaker ones away, take them out, then take the stronger ones in a fair fight.

Yusei mounts his offense, separating the weakest monsters from the group and quietly taking them out with a clean arrow shot to the head before they could attract attention towards him. This enables him to take on the blue Bokoblin in short but quick spar, ending with the monster's dead body falling to the ground first. He surges forward, taking on the Blue Moblin just as quick with a strike to its back. The women's goats enclosed in the camp catches his eye and he checks the time: 3:50 P.M. He certain could have this camp taken out and the woman's goats back to her before the sun set. He sinks back into hiding as he spots a monster with a new, darker color. A quick snap of their photo reveals it is a black Bokoblin and the toughest of the bunch. It warns him that most people do not survive an encounter with the beast. With two others in camp, it would be smarter to finish the rest before facing this one head on.

He is worn down by his battle, and takes a moment to tend to his wounds before cleaning up the rest of the camp with two fire arrows shot directly to their head. The beasts seemed to subcome to their fate far quicker this way. He proceeds to raid their camp for supplies, finding a ruby, some arrows, and some food. A fairly good haul and a good deed done, Yusei proceeds to head back to the village to inform the woman of his victory and bringing her goats along with him.

The woman's eyes widened as he came back, rushing forward to take her goats from. "Thank you so much for your bravery," she said, leading him back to the house. "My name is Koyin. Please, let me repay for your kindness. Take some fresh milk from our ranch and please, stay the night with us. You're welcome to come by to chat whenever you'd like, too."

"Thank you, miss," he says quietly as she takes his hand, uncertain how to react. "You're too kind. It is getting late and I'm low on rupees, so it would be nice to sleep somewhere safe tonight."

"I imagine so," Koyin says with a soft blush. "It's not often we get such strong, brave travelers in Hateno. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't but... my name is Yusei."

"Yusei," she says with a smile that slowly grows larger on her face. "Well, Yusei, I have a spare bed in my house that you can stay in. I'll even warm the blankets for you so you don't have to worry about the cold. And please, let me mend your tunic. It's the least I can do... I can also dress your wound as well."

He hadn't even noticed one of the monsters had gotten a good lick on him. In no position to say no to her kindness, he allows her to take his tunic and bandage up the wound on his stomach. She insists on warming his blankets, and fluffing his pillow for him in addition to providing him a warm cup of stew. It is the first hearty meal he'd had in a long while that he could recall. It was the most comfortable stay he'd had in a while too. It almost felt embarrassing to be pampered so much, but she insists she didn't mind.

In the morning, she is awake at the same time as him cooking something that smells good - eggs. "You're welcome to stay whenever you like, Yusei," Koyin says softly. "Really, I cannot thank you enough for bringing my goats back home."

"Thank you for being so polite, Miss Koyin," he replies as he takes the spot at the table she gestures to. "I have no plans on overstaying my welcome, however."

"Oh it's no trouble at all," she says with pink blush tinged cheeks that confuses Yusei. "Please, consider staying with me whenever you need the comforts of a home, Yusei. And again... thank you for saving my flock."

She plates up some eggs, putting them down in front of him. Unwilling to refuse such a nice gesture, he hurriedly ate the eggs, before standing up. "I must be going," he says, suddenly uncomfortably aware that she has an interest in him that he does not return. He isn't even certain he's in a position to be returning her affection - he still does not know what Aki and him even had. His status as a single man was questionable at best. "Lady Asuka in Kakariko is awaiting my arrival and it would be rude to keep her waiting." The tower is visible from Koyrin's home, and he thought it might be a smart idea to get the map for this area before he leaves for Kakariko.

As he walks to the town proper, he is stopped by someone advertising the ability to dye his tunic for him. Yusei isn't sure how he was talked into it, but he winds up agreeing to get his tunic dyed. After going over the color options, he winds up choosing to dye it gray. It was an experience he has zero plans to do again. He gets stopped again, and this time the woman who stops him isn't asking for his combat. She directs him into the general store, suggesting that he might want to buy some supplies for his travels. "We so rarely get travelers around here, and I'd hate for you to go on your way without getting anything."

It was her sincerity that threw him off and he agrees to head into sell off his gemstones. The shop sold a stock of arrows, so he went ahead and bought those as well. It was, after all, going to be a precious resource as he moves forward. The shopkeeper makes polite small talk despite eyeing Yusei with suspicion - this is perhaps because as the person outside the general store said: there was not many travelers who came to Hateno. However, one question stops Yusei in his tracks. "So where'd you come from, traveler?"

Yusei wasn't sure how to answer that. He didn't know where he was born. He had no known family. If they were alive, surely Anzu or Lady Asuka would have told him who they were. Yusei shrugs in response. "I don't remember," he says, the closest thing to the truth he could say. "I've been traveling for as long as I can remember."

"That's no way to live," the shopkeeper says, softening in response. "My wife, Ivee, was an orphan too."

Yusei is taken aback by this statement. "How did you know that?"

"If you've been traveling alone this long without any memory of where you're from, you must not have family to go back to where you came from for," the shopkeeper replies, and he packs up two meals for Yusei. "Take these on the house. I hope you find a home, traveler."

Yusei nods, taking the food with a polite smile. He hadn't considered the ways that it would be obvious to those with roots that he is a man uprooted. The simple fact that he is alone and traveling with no memory is enough for people to read it on his face. If he ever did have a family, they were long dead in the ground. Yusei couldn't even recall his father's face, nevermind Princess Aki's. As he exits the shop, rain was pouring down again - second day in a row. He lifts his hood up, whistling for Epona. She comes running and he mounts her as she moves. The map was abandoned due to the rain, figuring he could always come back to Hateno later for the map.

His mind begun to wander as he spurs Epona on, wondering what his life would look like in a world where the Calamity had never happened. Surely if it had never happened, he would've been buried in a grave in Castle Town. Or maybe he is cursed in some way - he couldn't confirm if that was the case. Maybe he is always doomed to this end point. He wasn't sure where the blame was placed for the reality he found himself wandering. Maybe it is no one's fault that he was now a ghost haunting Hyrule - no one's except for the Calamity.

The devastation stretched out further than he could have ever imagined. Fort Hateno was up ahead, and he knows the horror would sink deep into his bones the second time just as much as it had the first time. The Guardians are everywhere - a reminder of what had happened. He'd already heard stories of people coming across them and only just escaping with their lives. The old woman's claim of having been born during the Age of Burning haunted him too - the world had gone on even as the Guardians attempted to destroy it. Even now, he marches ever closer to being able to face the source of all this devastation.

He is so deep in the thoughts of the past and what it means for his future that he nearly misses the woman waving him down. It was his nature to come to a stop to help, but he could help but feel something was off this time. He dismounts from Epona, frowning as he approached the woman. "Hello, miss," he says quietly. "Did you need something?"

"It's not what I need," she says, a wicked glint in her eyes that left Yusei twitching for his sword. However, she had shown no reason for him to assume the worst, so he holds still. He tenses, however, ready to strike. What has his hairs standing up? Something isn't right. Is she in danger? "It's what you need. Why don't you join the Yiga Clan?"

The name is familiar in his bones, and his grip on his sword tightens. His frown deepens, and instincts has him coiling to strike. "What's the Yiga Clan?"

Her grin grows, and her features twist into a malicious look - as if she was a fox about to eat a rabbit. "Oh, you've never heard of the Yiga Clan? They're a group of powerful, brave warriors..." She takes a break, her eyes narrowing. "Dedicated to defeating a hero long thought dead."

It sinks in that he'd been had, and before he could draw his sword, she draws hers first and slashed down, hard. He gasps, yanking his sword out and holding his arm over the wound with a glare. He launches himself into the fight, uncoiling all the tension that had been building in him. He loathed to attack a person, but since it was kill or be killed, he gave it all he had. Before he could go in for the kill, the Yiga clansman vanished, leaving behind a pile of rupees and mighty bananas for the collecting. Admittedly not a bad haul for victory he thinks as he collects his reward - about a hundred rupees he counted.

He mounts Epona again, spurring her on. He can deal with his wounds later.

[askygokindredshipping]

Never say “Yes” to Ghost Hunting... Unless....

Summary: Ghost Hunting AU anyone? Judai and Johan are sensitives and realize that Yusei is partially sensitive when he momentarily spots their familiar spirits Yubel and Ruby. However, Yusei doesn’t believe in them and thinks that the two of them are out of their minds. Can looking for non-existent beings lead to something else? (No Duel Monsters in this AU. Yubel and Ruby are both human spirits that died generations ago.)

Author’s Notes: Now that I am in a place where I don’t feel completely overwhelmed by everything and can remember to actually post here, here it is! This is the story I kept promising for that mini bang I was apart of! @hyperionnebulae​ did a fantastic job of setting it up. I’ll link the full collection at the end. Also, I had an amazing artist and I’ll edit this post with their information. The piece that they did is *chef’s kiss*.  I do know that you can visit their DeviantArt page and I highly encourage you to do so! 

Anyway, enjoy!

Yusei’s face was not looking down at the screen of his laptop, but instead, he was staring at the two men sitting across from him. It was a warm, sunny evening and he had decided that he was going to do some of his work at the local coffee shop so that he could focus. Focus. What a funny word it was. That was exactly what he was not doing.

Two young men were sitting at the table next to him, chatting amicably about something he didn't quite catch. While they were both very appealing to the eyes, they didn’t interest him nearly as much as the two people sitting next to both of them. These two figures were translucent and clearly injured. He was not a doctor, that was Aki’s area of expertise, but he’d seen enough in his day to recognize deadly injuries like those. The tallest one (Yusei couldn’t quite determine which gender either of the translucent people were and decided it was probably best not to assume anything) had a scar that went down its face, nearly dividing it in two and what looked like a jewel embedded into its forehead. Their hair was a soft, metallic blue color. The other one was shorter with wide, ruby-colored eyes and lavender colored hair, a clear bloodstain blooming from their chest and out against their lovely lavender blouse. The tall one said something to the man next to it. He responded casually. Like… like there was nothing wrong!

Yusei blinked.

They were gone.

He breathed in deep and quickly turned back to his computer screen, the words suddenly not making any kind of sense as something cold shot up his spine. No. There was no way. Those things did not exist. He refused to accept what he had just seen. There had to be a logical explanation.

Didn’t there?

“Excuse me,” a voice asked him, “Are you alright?” He looked up. The two men at the table were now looking at him. The one who spoke had teal-blue colored hair and equally blue eyes; he wore a light lavender colored blouse-style shirt with a darker blue vest over the top. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”

“Or you’ve seen a ghost,” the other added. He was dressed in a dark t-shirt with a red jacket over it. His hair was a light brown and stood out in nearly every direction (not that Yusei could judge with his own black mess) and his eyes were a warm brown. He took a breath as he registered the statement. A ghost? Those things did not exist.

But….

“I’m fine,” he finally answered. He couldn’t stop himself as he blurted out, “but what happened to your two friends?” The two of them shared a look.

“It’s only been us here,” the brown haired one said.

Yusei blinked, “You mean you don’t have two friends that are dressed up for Halloween somewhere around here?”

“Oh, they just left,” the blue haired one cut in just as the brown haired one went to say something. He shot the other a look and it seemed to take a second but, eventually, he got the meaning and quickly clamped his mouth shut again.

“They couldn’t have left that quickly,” he argued. “Are you pulling some kind of prank?” They shared a look again, and Yusei started to get mildly annoyed with it. They didn’t say anything to him for some time. Finally, he closed his laptop and stood to pack his things. Clearly, this was not where he was meant to be. Before he could walk away from the table, the brown-haired guy caught his wrist gently; electricity shot up Yusei’s arm and he flinched at the sensation even though it did not hurt. It felt a bit good.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, releasing him. “It’s just… Can we walk with you for a bit? Here’s not the place to talk.” Yusei blinked. A couple of alarms went off in his mind, but he ignored them, in favor of nodding his consent, and the three of them left together.

The brown-haired guy leaned forward as they walked, “I’m Judai Yuki and this is my partner, Johan Anderson.” Johan raised a hand in greeting when Yusei looked at him.

“Yusei Fudo.”

“Nice to meet you Yusei,” Johan greeted. Judai smiled and continued introducing the two of them.

“We’re paranormal investigators; basically, we work to help people in desperate situations involving anything they can’t explain or handle.” He straightened, walking forward a little bit. Yusei couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Ghost? You two deal with ghosts?”

“More or less,” Johan nodded.

“You do understand ghosts aren’t real?” They shared another look.

“Yeah, that’s what a lot of people say.”

“But we happen to know differently.”

Yusei stopped and leaned his head to the side a bit, “Alright, I’ll bite. What is your proof? A grainy photo? Horribly shot night-vision scenes? A scar you got from something being magically thrown at you?” Johan snickered and Judai had to cover his mouth with his hand. After a few seconds, the two of them could not help but laugh at his response. Yusei was taken a bit off guard. “What’s so funny?”

“You were so deadpanned when you were asking,” Judai breathed.

“It was hilarious,” Johan added. Yusei found himself blushing a bit, and he turned his head away, trying to not let them see how embarrassed he was. They recovered after a few moments. “And to answer your question, nothing like that.” He pointed off over his shoulder, “Do you see them?”

Yusei looked, then shook his head. “See who?”

“Our friends from the café,” Judai clarified. Yusei looked over their shoulders again, but still only saw the street in front of them. He shook his head.

“Nobody’s there.”

“But you did see them in the café?”

“I saw something ,” Yusei pointed out. “I don’t know what it is I saw.”

“Deny it all you want Yusei,” Judai returned, “but you did ask us about it, which meant that you did see them.” He pointed between the two of them. “Johan and I are mediums. We can communicate with spirits and we’re pretty certain that you’re at least a little bit sensitive since you could see our familiars briefly. You can’t see them right now even though they are standing next to us without utilizing too much of theirs or our energy.” Judai nodded, as if his point made a whole ton of sense. “I wonder what it would take to help you see them again? What made it possible at the café?”

“Do you think the setting had something to do with it,” Johan added. “I remember reading a report that that café has natural running water under it.”

“That might have something to do with it.”

“You two are crazy,” Yusei returned. Nothing they said made any sense! Ghosts didn’t exist, but now they were claiming… all of this ? Johan smiled at him apologetically.

“It’s a lot the first time. You probably don’t believe us, but I have a suggestion.” He clapped his hands together. “Why don’t you come with us tonight? We have a job at a local place this evening. It’ll give us a chance to show you what you’re talking about and to confirm if you are sensitive or not.”

“Full offense, but I just met you.”

“I know.”

“How can I trust you?”

“You can’t.” That took him by surprise and Yusei felt staggered a bit. “But you might find it more interesting than you think. I promise.” Yusei looked between the two of them. Logically, he had no reason to trust either one of them. Something in his gut, though, told him something completely different; it was whispering that he should take the chance and see where this was going to lead. After a few seconds of the two of them staring him down, he finally sighed. He raised his hands in defeat.

“Alright. I’ll join you.”

Johan and Judai smiled at each other.

My, my, my- how the night had suddenly turned around.

*****

The house they were investigating turned out to be an older mansion on the outskirts of the city. Yusei made sure to let a couple of people know where he was going. Martha was worried, of course, but Jack and Crow got a huge trip out of the fact that he, Yusei Fudo, was going ghost hunting. Of all things in the world.

What a weird first date , they had teased.

He had left the house with red across his nose and both cheeks, but he had not given them the satisfaction of seeing it. Yusei slammed the door on his way out.

He now sat leaned up against his red motorcycle. Neither of them had arrived yet. This left him time to do a little extra research on the address on his transparent tablet. The mansion was built in the year XXXX by a rich mogul who wanted a place for his new bride to be the mistress of; however, he built over sacred ground, despite multiple warnings, and thus, “cursed” the home and his family for all eternity. They lost several children in birth and early into childhood. Eventually, the wife passed of an illness, but information on which one was scarce. Her death was the final straw for him. The mogul retired from the home and disappeared into obscurity. It was left to rot. Reports of families moving in and immediately moving out were plentiful in the first few decades after the original owner’s leaving, but quickly teetered off as rumors of a haunting became more prevalent.

He scrolled up on his tablet, murmuring. “Reports of a white lady…. Children laughing… shadow figures…. Objects being thrown. So just your run of the mill hoax?”

“Well, even if it is a hoax, it’s still our job to ease the worries of our customer.” He looked up, not necessarily startled by the sound of Johan’s voice, but a bit surprised that he hadn’t heard them approaching, especially in the large, older van they were driving. Judai was behind him, starting to mess with some equipment. Yusei closed the tablet and placed it in his pocket. “We’re glad you decided to come. What’d you find in your research?”

“Nothing out of this world,” he confirmed, arms still crossed. “Pretty standard reports. White lady, children, objects being thrown.”

Johan nodded. He turned his head a bit, as if listening to someone, and he smiled after a few seconds before saying, “That was pretty much everything we were able to find or was given to us as in our initial customer request.” He paused for a second, “I better help Judai with the equipment. As brave as he is as a ghost hunter, he’s a complete ditz when it comes to setting it up.”

“Would you like me to help? I’m fairly good with technology.”

Johan shot him a grateful smile. “You don’t have to. We’re the ones that invited you out here.”

Yusei rolled up the sleeve of his jacket. “Don’t worry about it. I might as well do something useful now since I’m probably going to mess up your results anyway.” Johan shook his head but led him over to the wired mess that had become Judai. It took them about an hour, once they had untangled him, to set up all the equipment they planned to use and since they were getting paid a hefty price, they were using everything . EVP, static night vision, Mel meters, motion detectors. You name it, they had it. The sun was starting to set when they finally started to sync up all their equipment, recording audio introductions on their three different recording devices. Johan helped Yusei into a specially made vest with several different pieces of equipment attached to it such as a night vision camera, perspective camera, and a few other useful tools like glow sticks, back-up batteries, and flashlights. Yusei felt the electricity again as his hand brushed his arm. A soft blush touched his cheeks. He did not miss the fact that Johan had one as well. Was it possible that he was feeling it too? What was even more astounding to him was that this was the second time he had felt it… with both of them.

Judai smiled brightly when they came back from the back of the van, “That vest looks good on you Yusei.”

Oof, that blush was not going away any time soon.

“Thank you,” he managed to get out without sounding like a stammering idiot.

Yusei had had feelings for people before in his life. Aki, the young lady who had become one of his greatest friends of all time, was one such example. His friend Kiryu was another. However, he had never been in this kind of situation before; his feelings for the previous two had come at different times. This was new. And a bit confusing, especially with how fast everything was moving.

“Are you feeling alright,” Judai asked. Yusei turned to face him. He was looking up at him, his brow furrowed a bit. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

“You make it sound like I’m regretting my wedding or something.”

“Hmmm, I’m pretty sure this isn’t as stressful as a wedding.” He smirked. “But if you’re feeling scared, I recommend hanging back behind us.”

“I can’t be scared of something that doesn’t exist.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Me being scared or ghosts being real?”

“Yes.”

Yusei shook his head as he walked away, and he followed. Johan bowed mockingly as he opened the front door. Judai gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before blowing a kiss back at Yusei and disappearing into the darkness, only the light of his flashlight illuminating a soft outline of his head and left shoulder. The two of them followed.

The entryway was as bad as you could imagine. Dust clung to everything. Spider webs decorated every corner, and the stairs, and the molding, and the walls, and basically every available square inch. Old paint and wallpaper were missing in great chunks. The building material was old and decayed. An odd sensation of dread shot through Yusei the longer he looked down the hallway. There was no discernible reason for the feeling. He grabbed both Judai’s and Johan’s shoulders, preventing them from stepping any further inside.

When they turned to look at him, he raised his hands apologetically, but dropped them and breathed, “Something isn’t right.”

Judai blinked, quickly looked to his right, and briefly nodded. “What are you feeling?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that if we go any further, something bad is going to happen.”

“But we’ve already been in here multiple times,” Johan assured him. “We had to set up all the static cameras, remember?”

Yusei hesitated. That was true. They’d already been in and out, and up and down all sets of stairs, as they’d been busy setting up static night vision cameras in a couple of the hotspots, specifically where the white lady and the children were often seen and heard moving about. Nothing seemed to happen during that time, and he rationalized that they would be fine in this moment.

The feeling, on the other hand, would not leave him alone.

He started to say something again, but Judai started moving inward and Johan followed. The feeling grew worse as he raised a hand to stop them.

A white figure suddenly appeared at the end of the narrow hallway. The three of them froze, but Judai, after a few seconds, threw a hand back. What Yusei could not see was how his eyes shifted from brown to green and orange, ready for whatever was about to occur. Johan took a step back. Something creaked. The white figure raised its head and with an unearthly scream, it shot forward at them. Judai jumped back. Johan moved in front of Yusei which put the three of them into roughly the same spot on the floor. Yusei looked down immediately as the sound of breaking wood caught his attention; just before the figure could reach them, he grabbed both of them close to him.

The floor gave way, and they fell into darkness.

*****

“Yusei, Yusei, Yusei!” He blinked. Everything felt sore and painful. It took him a few moments to remember that they had fallen through the floor. He groaned. Thankfully, nothing seemed broken, but he was going to be feeling this for the next few days; Martha was probably going to order him to go to a doctor, and for once, he probably wouldn’t protest it. A soft smile crossed Johan’s face. He was momentarily confused.

“I’m dead,” he breathed, “I swear I’m seeing an angel.”

“You wish,” Johan laughed. “But Judai and I owe you quite a bit for saving our lives.”

“What happened?”

Johan crossed his arms, contemplating on how much to share. “Well, you see….” He paused and changed his question, “Did you happen to see a white figure come at us?” Yusei shook his head.

He struggled to remember. Nothing came to mind however and he shook his head. “All I saw was you and Judai get defensive.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” he mused. Louder, he said, “Anyway, we all were standing on the same space and the floor gave way. You just barely managed to brace us against you before it happened. You took the brunt of the injury.” He pointed to some old bags of flour that were clearly busted in the fall. “You really do have to have a guardian angel at least since this is what we landed on. Judai went back upstairs to double check everything. We should really get out of here.” He stood. Johan offered out a hand, which Yusei took gratefully. Together, they made their way back up the stairs and, to his surprise, the sun was starting to rise.

How long had he been out?

Judai was at the back of the van, putting away most of their equipment. He looked up when they exited. Without hesitation, or warning, he ran for Yusei, catching him in a tight hug; Yusei flinched a bit but accepted it.

“Thank you,” Judai breathed. “We wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for you.” After a few seconds, he released Yusei’s waist, backed away from him, and bowed. “I’m also so sorry. I should have listened to your warning. I know better than to ignore things like that.”

Yusei waved a hand. “No harm, no foul.”

“Well, a little harm,” Johan reminded him, elbowing his side. He flinched again. Johan walked over and wrapped an arm lovingly around Judai’s shoulders. “As such, breakfast is on us.”

“If you’d like,” Judai quickly added. Yusei did not miss how brightly red his expression had become and he smiled.

“Sure,” he agreed. “As long as the ghosts aren’t invited.”

“No promises,” they said together.

The three of them managed to hook their transportations together and rode back to town in the van. Yusei looked out the window. He was surprised when a weight hit his shoulder; Judai had slumped over, soundly asleep. Johan smiled apologetically.

Something swelled in his heart. He turned to look out the window once more and mused that he would not mind trying it again. Ghost hunting that is. Falling into decrepit basements he could definitely do without.

Judai shifted a bit on his shoulder and Yusei looked down at him softly.

Yeah, maybe just one more time.

*****

Thank you so much for reading!

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[aurasoulhikari]

Day 1 (July 7th): Stardust Acceleration

Happy birthday Yusei Fudo ^^

“Yusei, Aura, wake up!” Yusei jumped awake by the sudden shout and felt his breath leave him by the sudden weight on his lap hearing a familiar yelp. 

“Too early…!” Aura groaned.

“I told you, you shouldn’t shout Rua.” Ruka sighed.

“Hehehe sorry. Got excited.” Rua smiled sheepishly, as Aura got off Yusei’s lap.

“Sorry Yusei.” Aura apologized.

“It’s alright Aura.” Yusei replied.

“Did you guys crash on the couch last night?” Jack questioned, amused.

“It was Yusei’s turn to ask questions, and we didn't realize the time.” Aura shrugged with a yawn. “So why the wake up call?”

“Because today is a special day.” Crow grinned, handing the 2 cups of coffee.

“Special?” Aura said confused, looking at Yusei.

“I know what they’re talking about.” Yusei remarked.

“Clue me in? I’m lost.” Aura sighed, sipping her coffee.

“It's your birthday!” Rua cheered. Aura choked on her coffee in surprise, quickly swallowing to clear her throat.

“Whose?” She squeaked.

“You and Yusei’s, idiot.” Jack remarked with a scoff, but a grin on his face nonetheless.

“Right. We share the same birthday…” Aura muttered thoughtfully.

“The thought never crossed your mind, did it.” Yusei remarked, amused at his sister.

“Still processing the fact I have a brother. Birthdays were the last thing on my mind.” Aura pouted at her brother.

“Then you process things far too slowly.” Jack smirked. Aura threw her pillow at Jack’s face with a scowl while Yusei chuckled at Aura’s action.

“You know it’s true!” Jack retorted as he hit the pillow away.

“Leave her alone Jack. You enjoy teasing her too much.” Yusei said with a light smile.

“Hmph. Since it's your birthday I’ll listen. This one time.” Jack smirked. Aura sighed while Rua jumped in front of Yusei and Aura. 

“So what do you guys wanna do for your birthday?” He asked excitedly. The 2 blinked looking at one another. 

“How do you usually celebrate it?” She asked Yusei.

“Well when I was growing up at Martha’s place with Jack and Crow, I got a free pass from chores around the place.” Yusei recalled. “Jack and Crow got the same free pass when it was their birthdays.”

“I see.” She hummed thoughtfully.

“Now hold on Yusei,” Jack interrupted. “While it is true that we got that free pass, we didn’t always get it. Especially once we hit teenage years.”

“I was giving an example.” Yusei chuckled. “What about you Aura?” Aura stared at her coffee for a moment. 

“Varied really. Once I was around 7, I tended to forget my birthday every year. Even if I didn't want to bother celebrating it.” She shrugged. “Grandpa would give me a card and Thorn would bake a small cake.”

“What?!” Rua gaped, shocked.

“It's not really a big deal.” Aura waved her hand.

“Even so…” Ruka frowned.

“Then why not we try something new.” Yusei suggests with a smile.

“Oh?” Aura asked curiously.

“Since we’ll be celebrating our birthday together, we’ll celebrate it with our friends. As well as a celebration of us reuniting again.” Yusei smiled. Aura grew wide eyed in surprise, lightly scratching her cheek sheepishly.

“Well… I don't see why not.” She admitted sheepishly.

“Great to hear!” Toru opened the door grinning. Aki, Misaki, and Sect there as well, smiling.

“How long have you guys been there?!” Aura gaped.

“Long enough.” Aki smiled. “So shall we all head out?”

“Let's go!” Rua grinned. Yusei smiled as he stood up, his hand out to Aura. 

“Need a hand?” He asked with a smile. Aura only chuckled, taking her brother’s hand as they followed their friends out.

“Happy birthday Yusei and Aura!”

“Blow out the candles!” Both Yusei and Aura blew out the candles on the small cake they had brought as their friends clapped and smiled after spending the whole day out in the City. They all gathered at Aura’s apartment for a small party with even a cake. They cut the cake and shared the pieces together. 

“Mmm delicious.” Aura hummed, taking a bite.

“Your sweet tooth seems to enjoy it.” Yusei chuckled amused, sitting next to her.

“Can’t help it, these are rare treats.” She grinned. “But I gotta say… This is nice celebrating a birthday with friends. I almost forgot what that was like.”

“Originally for me it was Jack, Crow, Martha, and the fellow orphans. Now I’m celebrating it with friends.” Yusei smiled, looking at Aura. “And my sister.” Aura gave a small smile before she set her plate down on the coffee table and reached behind her seat to hold out a bag to Yusei.

“Here.” She said. He looked surprised, taking the bag as he set his own plate down. “This is...” He began.

“Your present.” She smiled. “I asked Aki to help me get it when she dragged me off with Ruka for doing some girls shopping.” Yusei opened the bag to pull out what looked to be a leather antique photo album, the leather engraved with a star-like border. 

“We continue on to our future. Yet that doesn't mean we can't look back at fond memories.” She hummed softly. “Cheesy I know but-” Yusei pulled Aura for an one arm hug, making her squeak flushed in embarrassment. 

“O-Oi Yusei.” She began.

“Thank you sister.” He voiced with a fond smile. “I’ll treasure this. Always.” She couldn't help but feel embarrassed hoping to hide her blush as she hugged him back. 

“Geez brother.”

[lazella]

I like your Avengers AU so much! I read them repeteadly.. Can I request something? About how each Yu-boys use their respective stone. I want to know how far they can use the power. I hope you don't mind.. Thank you..

Oh you want powers? YOU GOT THE POWER!!!! Oh man this was fun to write and I really tried to think of creative ways the boys would use the Stones. And there were some fun things I was able to work in. Plus I’m starting to work in the Avenger’s rouges gallery so watch out!!!!

Using Powers Responsibly…..Maybe

Out of all the boys, Yugi was the one having the toughesttime figuring out the Soul Stone’s powers. The other Avengers admittedthemselves that they didn’t know a lot about that stone or what it could do. Itwas just sort of there and not there as the same time, evident how it seemed tobe in Yugi’s Soul Room and in his physical hand at the same time. When askinghow they first found the stone, all the Avengers quickly became mum on thetopic. Thor did admit that he knew that the Soul Stone could control others butmuch to the god’s relief, Yugi had no interest in testing that power out. Theimplications were bad enough to trigger flashbacks of seeing Jounochi beingcontrolled by the Millennium Rod.

Most of Yugi’s training sessions were just trying to figureout just HOW Yugi could use the stone in combat that did not involvecontrolling someone or taking their soul. It wasn’t going very well in allhonesty. But that all changed when he accidently bumped into Judai in thehallway and the stone flared up.

An odd but familiar sensation washed over Yugi as he foundhimself in a room covered in posters of superhero characters and duelingchampionships with two doors in the back wall. One was pitch black with a goldinsignia on it with the other look old and rusted but appeared to have somerepair work on it. Yugi wanted to get a closer look but something flung himbackwards and he found himself back in the hallway looking a dazed Judai andYami yelling in panic in his head.

I’m fine other me!

You just…disappeared. It was just for a second but youwere just…gone.

I think…Yugi looked over at the still dazed Judai…Iwas in his Soul Room.

His Soul Room? How?

Yugi looked down at the Soul Stone, I think I have anidea.

Yugi first had to explain what Soul Rooms were to Tonybefore they started testing the theory out. Once Dr. Strange was called toobserve this they got started. First Dr. Strange had Yugi enter his own SoulRoom curious about the concept. Yugi had witness lots of medical charts, books,and maps inside. Then they tried it on Tony. Inside were many Iron Man suits,schematics, and old family photos.

“That felt weird…” Tony muttered as Yugi returned toreality.

“And you’ve said you’ve had experiences like this before?”Dr. Strange asked.

“Well more on the receiving end,” Yugi explained, “There’sanother Millennium Item like my Puzzle that has the ability to enter SoulRooms.”

“Could it do anything else?

“Well…” Yugi scratch his cheek feeling unsure about the nextpart, “You could use it to rearrange a Soul Room so that the person is now apuppet.”

Silence hung over the room.

“Can we not do that? Ever?” Tony asked.

“I wasn’t planning too.” Yugi reassured the two men, “Perhapswe can use this as a therapy tool? You have been complaining a lot that we needbetter therapy Tony-san.”

“So diving into heads and figuring out what our inner demonsare…” Tony muttered, “I can live with that.”

……………………………….

It was times like these that made question Judai questionwhy Shou loved robots so much. They were really annoying to fight. They came inhordes, did not tire, and were really hard to break. He was runninginterference with Clint to clear out security robots at some sort of secretfacility, not sure what kind because Judai may have napped during the briefing.But the fight was getting annoying.

“Hey Judai?! How about just punching them?!” Clint calledout.

“They are too strong to punch through!” Judai yelled back.

Clint looked like he wanted to face palm, “You have thePower Stone! Use it!”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…….”

“You forgot didn’t you…”

“Did not!”

Judai you totally forgot.

“Don’t you start Yubel!!!!”

Just use the stone already…

“Fine…” Judai tossed the stone in his hand a few timesbefore clenching it tightly activating its power. A purple aura surrounded hisbody as Judai felt his muscles tighten with power.

“Take this!!!” Judai threw a punch, ripping a robot’s headclean off. It felt weirdly satisfying for some reason. Now he just had to do ita few hundred more times.

Or you can get a little creative and deal with all ofthem at once. Yubel pointed out.

Or he could do that. Could be make a fireball with thisthing? Or summon one of his Elemental Heroes who could make a fireball andreally soup it up. Probably the later. One quick summon of Flame Wingman laterand Judai has having fun turning robots into melted piles of goo.

“Judai…while I like the idea melting the robots we now havethe problem of molten steel all over the floor….” Clint looked to the floorrather unamused.

“We can just walk over it.”

“No we cannot…”

“I’ve done it before.” Judai said with a shrug.

“And I am just becoming more and more convinced that you arenot a normal human…” Clint massaged his temples. “Can you just punch the walland give us a shortcut already?”

“Okie dokie!” With too much enthusiasm for Clint’s taste,Judai kicked the nearby wall down then continued in a leisurely stroll kicking moreand more walls down. Eventually Judai’s voice echoed down the broken hallways.

“Oh hey there! Whatcha doing?”

Then there was screaming.

Clint sighed, next time he was requesting to take Yusei withhim.

…………………………………………….

Yusei was fiddling with some wiring when he heard Tony letout a very colorful string of swears and curses. Removing the screwdriver fromhis mouth, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Some former disgruntled employees of mine have set up anunground weapon smuggling and production ring.” Tony looked torn betweenbreaking something now or later, “I need to go deal with it.”

“Would you like help?”

Tony turned in surprise at Yusei.

“You might need someone else who understands circuitry androbotics. And I’ve memorized all your schematics.”

Tony thought for a moment, clearly debating something,before hitting a button on a remote reveal several Ironman style suits indifferent colors, “What color scheme do you want?”

“Pardon?”

“I am not letting you tag along with no protection so whichcolor do you want? They’re older suits but they’ll still work.”

“Oh um….” Yusei took a look over the choices, “The blue andblack one?”

“Thought you would go for red and white like your bike butoh well…” Tony shrugged, “Let me give you a rundown and we’ll fly over there.”

It turned out that when Tony said fly there, he didn’t meanfly in the Quin Jet, he meant fly in the suits. The experience wasexhilarating! Yusei felt lighter than air as they soared through the sky. Thiswas nothing like when he dueled Z-One, this felt like complete freedom.

Enjoying yourself? Tony asked over the com-link.

I can’t describe this Mr. Stark…Yusei responded.

Looks like I’ll put the flight system in your officialsuit.

Excuse me?

I’m designing suits for all of you kids. Customized of coursebased on your skills and can handle the power of the Infinity Stones. Tonyexplained, Yours is not ready yet so that’s why I had to pull out some of myolder suits.

Yusei felt overwhelmed with gratitude, Thank you.

Anytime kid, ready to get this party started? Tonyasked, We’re going to stick to non-lethal weapons since I want to turn theseguys over to the authorities. JARVIS should be able to help you with the weaponand aiming systems.

Roger…Yusei nodded as they aimed to land. He couldsee the shabby warehouses and men going in an out with large crates. He wouldbe lying if he said he wasn’t afraid, but he took comfort that Tony had hisback.

They landed in the middle of the operation rather dramaticallythough Tony was a bit more graceful than Yusei but still looked ratherintimidating. The men began yelling in panic and started firing rifles at them.Yusei felt his heart leap to his throat but then relaxed when he rememberedthat the suit was protecting him from bullets. Both Tony and Yusei raised theirarms and shout out concussive blasts knocking most of the arms dealers down. Theones that avoided the blast ran back into the warehouse assumingly to grab betterweapons.

Take care of the ones out here! Tony yelled over thelink, I’ll take care of the ones that ran in.

Roger! Yusei had the suit make a shield to betterprotect himself from the next round of bullets then used it to knock away a dealerthat got too close. Then he had to use the suit’s flight system to get awayfrom the guy who had a bright idea to through a grenade at him.

Yusei tried to calm his breathing. Things were happening reallyfast and lucky for him, he had something that could help in that department.

The Time Stone flashed green as Yusei willed it to slow downtime. Now that Yusei had more time to react he could better handle thesituation. Scanning the battlefield he spotted two men hiding behind crates preparingto take aim at him. Another three were running to a truck, most likely to grabmore guns. He fired a quick shot at the creates knocking the men back and destroyingtheir cover then another one at the truck to destroy the weapon supply inside.When things settled, Yusei had time resume at its normal pace. The arms dealerswere groaning on the ground but going nowhere anytime soon. But he hadn’t heardfrom Tony since he entered the warehouse. Having a gut feeling, Yusei shot intothe building.

The place was a mess. Remnants of explosions and torn metaltwisted every which way. Tony was hovering mid air fired down on the men whowere firing weapons that Yusei did not recognize. Tony looked like he had ahandle on the situation, until Yusei noticed some men were trying to aim arocket launcher at Tony’s back.

Yusei was having none of that. He froze time to astandstill. Calming walking over to the rocket launcher, he disarmed the ammothen dismantled the launcher piece by piece laying them out around the men.Then he stood in front of them as menacingly as he could before he resumedtime.

The two men needed a new pair of pants.

Tony was laughing over the commlink, That was brilliant! Youshould of taken their clothes while you were at it.

That would be excessive. Yusei replied back.

Tony landed and retracted his helm as did Yusei, “We justneed to round up the unconscious ones and we should be good to go. How’d you likedthe suit?”

“The flying part was amazing though I would admit the suit doesfeel a bit bulky.”

“A lot of my older suits were like that. I’m working onmaking them slimmer so that they feel more comfortable and easier to movearound in.” Tony said.

“And still have room for a weapon and a flight system?”Yusei asked

Tony grinned, “It’s about time I introduced you to nanite technology.”

……………………………..

Yuma huddled under his cover. He had heard Tony and theothers talk how dangerous Ultron was in the past but now actually dealing with thecrazy robot, Yuma believed every word. The killer robot had chosen to attackthe tower catching everyone of guard meaning Yuma had no idea where anyone was.He thought he heard Natasha’s voice nearby but then there were sounds of lasers,so he guessed she wasn’t there anymore.

“Calm down Yuma…we can get out of this.” Astral reassured him.

“I’m scared….” Yuma admitted, “This is nothing like dueling.”

“In some ways it is…” Astral gripped his shoulder, “Rememberthe three steps I taught you?”

“Find out what your opponent is doing, stop him from doingit…then win?” Yuma recited from memory.

“Exactly…now what is Ultron doing?”

“He’s trying to get the Avengers.”

“So how do we stop him?”

“Well…” Yuma bit his lip, “Getting him out of the tower forone thing.”

“It’s a good thing we have something to help.” Astralpointed to the Space Stone.

Yuma swallowed the lump in his throat, “So where do we sendhim?”

“Do you remember that video game you were playing with Yuyathe other day?” Astral asked.

“The one with the portals? Yuma clarified.

“And that thing you two were doing that entertained you fora good half hour?”

A realization hit Yuma, “Oh yeah…That could work.”

“Now we just need to enact our plan.” Yuma could of swornthat Astral had a smirk on his face, “Think you can use the stone to warparound the tower to avoid the firefight?”

Yuma peered over the couch he was hiding behind, “I think so…Ithink the fight was towards the labs.”

“Warp to the closest training room first. We need to surveythe situation before going in.” Astral said.

Yuma nodded and warped the two of them to the training room.It looked trashed, most likely the fight already went through here. There wasshouting coming from down the hall and explosions, so it didn’t take much detectivework for Yuma to figure out where the action was happening. Looking around thecorner, he saw Hulk get thrown into the wall. Then Ultron himself stepped outaiming his arm ready with a missile at the fallen green titan.

Acting fast, Yuma made two portals. One in front of Ultronand one behind him causing him to be hit by his own attack. Ultron growled inpain and spotted Yuma. Whether or not if he realized that Yuma caused theportals, Ultron started charging full speed at Yuma. Thankfully with the plan alreadyin mind, Yuma made his portals.

When Tony stumbled out of the remains of the lab, he was metwith the rather amusing sight of Ultron freefalling between two portals, one inthe ceiling and on in the floor. Yuma stood nearby thankfully with no injuriesgiving the man a thumbs up.

Tony returned it.

……………………………………………..

Yuya wondered if this was considered normal for Clint andNatasha. He tagged along with them for a scouting mission about a mafia family stirringup trouble. Well one thing led to another because it turned out this mafiafamily was lead by this crazy guy calling himself Count Neferia (a reallystupid name according to Yuri) who quickly noticed them a fight broke out. AndCount Neferia had a really broken set of powers. It’s like he was pulling themout of hat whenever he wanted too. If they had Thor with them this wouldn’t be aproblem but Clint and Natasha had no powers to speak off and Yuya was just a fourteenyear old kid with a super powered rock in his pocket.

“What’s wrong little maggots? Afraid of me?” Count Neferialaughed as he ran circles around the trio.

“I am really hating this guy…” Clint muttered.

“And we can’t put a scratch on him….” Natasha glanced toYuya, “And we need to get Yuya out of here.”

“Oh is mommy and daddy worried about the kid? I can fixthat!” Count Neferia rushed by grabbing Yuya by the throat pinning him against thewall. “Kids are so easy to kill…”

Clint and Natasha shot nearly all of their ammo into CountNeferia’s back, but the crazy man just tanked it. Whether or not it was due tothe crazy costume Yuya didn’t care, he just needed to get him off.

Make the walls turn into spikes and stab him! Yuriproposed

Bullets and arrows aren’t doing anything so why do youthink spikes will do the trick? Yuto countered.

You know that we can’t do anything if Yuya passes outright? Yugo tried to bring the immediate danger back to attention.

And none of you are helping…Yuya grunted trying toget the hands off of his throat. “H-Hey….y-you want a show?”

“A show?” Neferia’s grip slacked a bit, “What do you mean ashow?”

“A show you won’t forget…” Yuya smirked. Then a trumpetemerged from the wall and blared in Neferia’s face. The crime boss dropped Yuyain shock at the sheer absurdity.

“How did you do that boy?!” Neferia recomposed himself andswiped at Yuya again.

“Magician’s secret!” Yuya teased while making sure that thered glow of the Reality Stone was hidden, “And for my next trick…” He snappedhis fingers and Neferia’s suit turned pink. Clint and Natasha nearly doubledover laughing.

Neferia was having none of this nonsense and pulled out hisown gun but it started shooting flowers instead of bullets. Switching to daggerresulting in the blade turning into a balloon sword. Each change angered thecrime lord more and more.

“You are a dead man!” Neferia raised his fists ready tosmash Yuya’s head in.

Yuya just snapped his fingers and Neferia’s hot pink suitturned into a hot pink straight jacket. The originally intimidating crime lordwas now humiliated and restrained.

Clint wiped the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard, “Youhad us worried for a moment…glad you’re okay.”

“Can’t take the showman out of you, can we?” Natasha joked, “Thatwas rather entertaining.”

“It’s my job to make the audience laugh.” Yuya smiled.

I still think we should of gone for spikes. Yurimuttered

Shut up about the spikes!

………………………………………….

Yusaku stared at the screen as lines of code scrolled pastfrowning as he did so.

“So whatcha looking for?” Ai asked.

“Mr. Stark said that he’s been finding evidence that someonehas been trying to hack the Avenger’s database. He was hoping that I could identifyand block whoever was doing it.”

“Why would he care so much about some hacker. You hack thedatabase every day.”

“Three reasons…” Yusaku said, “One…Mr. Stark knows that Iwouldn’t cause damage to the database. Two…he wants to know how to improve thesecurity. And three…we need to know if this hacker is one of his enemies.”

“And why isn’t he doing this?” Ai grumbled, “We could be doingsomething more fun.”

“I believe his words were ‘to do something useful so that youdon’t start messing with the dark web’ or something along those lines.” Yusakusaid, “Like I would willingly traverse the dark web anyway.”

“You’re telling me…that place is way to creepy.” Aishuddered.

Yusaku just turned his attention back to the screen scanningfor signs of the hacker. Eventually his patience paid off as he noticed smallblips, clearly signs of someone testing the defenses.

“Found you…” Yusaku’s fingers were making quick work tohijack the signal and began tracking it back. Once there he would reverse hackthe hacker’s computer to get as much information as he could to determine theidentity of the individual.

Though it seemed like the hacker was on to him quickly. Afirewall was quickly thrown up but Yusaku tore it apart quickly. Another wallwas quickly created which Yusaku originally found some difficulty cracking untilhe noticed a virus inside the firewall. He had to make a quick anti-virus sothat his own computer wouldn’t get attacked. It seemed like his opponent wasanticipating his moves was deliberately being unpredictable to throw Yusakuoff.

“If I only knew what they were thinking…” Yusaku muttered tohimself. Then his eyes trailed down to the Mind Stone. Would it work withouteye contact?

“What ever you’re thinking…just putting it out there that Ithink it’s a bad idea.” Ai said.

“You think everything is a bad idea.” Yusaku said as hepicked up the stone and focused on trying to connect with the mind of the personon the other side of the screen. Instantly his mind was sailing through seas ofnumbers and code. He could see his opponent working on his next move and Yusakumet him line by line.

Soon Yusaku was in his mind and computer. He started rippingas much as he could, copies of programs, data files, contacts, and finally…hegot a name.

Helmut Zemo

Yusaku snapped back to reality, head spinning with all theinformation he just got. After quickly reinforcing the tower’s defense code, heran to tell Tony what he found.

[queenmina37]

#103: Parade

It was the Grand Reopening of Link VRAINS (again) and the streets of the virtual world were filled with avatars. People looked around, ran around the place, laughed and chatted, making new friends.

 Playmaker was standing away from everyone else, hidden by the shadows. He watched as people chatted with Soulburner and the rest of his comrades, and their Ignis. Even Ai was there, having run there after complaining about him being a wallflower. The Ignis was currently chatting with Ghost Girl, who was smiling down at it.

 “So?” Ghost Girl asked. “Where’s Playmaker?”

 “Right there…” Ai pointed to where he had left him, but as he turned to look… he wasn’t there.

 While Ai was internally screaming, Ghost Girl smirked. “Oh? Did he abandon you?”

 While Ai started screaming at her while being completely ignored, Soulburner hummed, worried. “Where is he? The parade is about to start.”

 “Are you guys a part of it?” Ghost Girl asked, smiling.

 “No.” Soulburner laughed. “They tried to have us there, but we refused. But Blue Angel and Go Onizuka are there, right?”

 They chatted for a while longer, before the sky suddenly turned dark, like the lights had been turned off. Everyone turned to the end of the long street they were standing by as two commentators let their voices reach out throughout Link VRAINS. “Ladies and Gentlemen!”

 “We have the privilege to welcome you all to the new and improved Link VRAINS!”

 “To celebrate this unforgettable night, a parade of the greatest duelists shall walk right before your eyes! Let us all welcome them!”

 “First, we have the undeniable Queen of Link VRAINS, who fought alongside the toughest and bravest heroes against the evil! Blue Angel!!”

 Blue Angel was standing on top of a moving platform, smiling and waving to her fans who cheered loudly for her. Some of her monsters were also on the platform, dancing and giggling.

 As the platform moved to make room for the next one, the same voice called out. “And here we have the King of Link VRAINS, Go Onizuka!”

 The cheers continued as more and more famous duelists made appearances. Charisma Duelists put on a show, as did the others, though not as much as the Charisma Duelists. The crowd watched, cheering and waving back to them, taking photos, videotaping it. Music filled the air as people danced, laughed and chatted excitedly with others.

 When the parade was nearing its end, Blue Girl ran to them, looking around. “Did I miss the end?”

 “No.” Ghost Girl looked at her. “Why? Is something interesting happening?”

 “Yeah.” Blue Girl shrugged her shoulders. “Or, well, I don’t know. The commentator from Neo Domino City was really excited about the last group. I talked with others before the parade, and one of them, Harald from Team Ragnarok, said that they weren’t there yet and someone else said that they’d make a dramatic entrance or something.”

 “Team Ragnarok?” Unnamed turned to look at the, currently, last platform. “Those three?”

 “Yeah.” Blue Girl nodded. “They’re supposed to be the last ones, before Team 5D’s, I think was the name.”

 “Ladies and Gentlemen! It is time for the last duelists to take the stage! And though they’re the last, they’re most definitely not the least!”

 The group watched, surprised, as all the 3-man teams vacated to the sides of their platforms, turning their eyes to the last platform that appeared behind the long line. There was no one on the platform. It was completely empty of people, of monsters, of everything.

 “What?” Soulburner blinked. “Isn’t there supposed to be…?”

 Suddenly, the platform lighted up in an eerie red glow. On the top of the platform, red lines appeared, making up some kind of mark. And, then, just as the mark was done, something dark, something akin a tornado, burst up in the middle of it. Black feathers floated down from the sky, making people let out noises of awe. Then, two red slits appeared in the tornado, before it disappeared with a loud flap of wings, almost as if they were the reason it disappeared. Now, standing on the platform was a black dragon with red eyes, a young man with orange hair in front of it. The man was grinning, waving to the crowd where fans were suddenly squealing and cheering.

 “Let us welcome, Crow ‘The Bullet’ Hogan, the Tail of the Crimson Dragon!”

 “The Crimson Dragon?” Ghost Girl glanced upwards, to where the two commentators were. “What’s that?”

 They had no time to ponder, though. Crow and his dragon quickly jumped to the side of the platform, balancing on the edge. The platform lighted up in that eerie red glow once more, but this time, the mark was different, looking almost like a claw. When the lines had become a mark, it was like lightning shot from the heavens. Red rose petals flew in the air as a strong gust of wind blew, whirling around. It disappeared as soon as it appeared, though, and the rose petals hovered to the ground, like the black feathers earlier. On the platform, there was a black dragon with wings made of red rose petals. In front of it stood a young woman with dark burgundy hair, a smile on her face as she looked around.

 “The Foot of the Crimson Dragon, the Black Rose Witch, Izayoi Aki!!”

 Aki winked to the crowds, making the people gasp. She then jumped to the other side of the platform, nearly facing Crow as she turned her back to the crowds. The platform lighted up, again, lines appearing to make a mark. The moment it was done, flames shot up from out of nowhere, burning brightly and hotly. A loud roar was heard long before the silhouette of a dragon was seen through the flames that condensed around the dragon’s fists, revealing a black-and-red dragon with an almost demonic look. In front of it stood a blond man, dressed in a white coat.

 “The Wings of the Crimson Dragon, Former King of Riding Duels, Jack Atlas!!!”

 Obviously, there was something fun with what the commentator said, because a lot of the famous duelists started laughing, some trying to hide it, some not. Crow was one of the ones who didn’t try to, and Aki tried to. Jack himself shot the man a glare.

 “Oh?” Unnamed chuckled. “I wonder what that’s about?”

 “Who knows?” Soulburner laughed.

 Before they could say anything else, though, there was another light. Jack jumped to the side, to stand a little further away from Crow. The lines made up a mark, almost like a claw that held something. Then, there was a large cracking sound and a burst of light. The sound of jingling bells was heard, as well as the sound of large machinery parts falling to the ground. When the light disappeared, there were two dragons there, one blue and almost like a fairy, one brown with a spear or something attached to its other arm. In front of the dragons were two youngsters, maybe 14 years old at most, with green hair and otherwise identical looks.

 “The Hand and Heart of the Crimson Dragon, the Wonder Twins, Ruka and Rua!”

 The duo laughed, waving to the crowd. Then, they jumped to the opposite sides of the platform, Rua to stand on the same side with Crow and Jack, Ruka to stand with Aki. They smiled and stood there, laughing, and then they waited.

 They didn’t have to wait for long. The platform lighted up once more, the eerie red glow becoming stronger than before. The lines quickly moved, making a mark. But unlike before, the mark wasn’t obscured as a dragon made an appearance. No, the spectators were instead left to gasp as something glittery rained down on them. As they turned to look up to the sky, they saw a white and blue dragon that was softly roaring as it flew over the street, over the people, its wings softly flapping. Whatever the glittery substance was, it was like it fell from the dragon’s wings.

 When the dragon flew over the platform, though, something dropped from on top of it. Or, rather, someone.

 People gasped, horrified and worried, as they saw someone freefall from that height, head first, straight towards the ground. They flipped over in the air, though, just before they hit the platform, landing on their feet in a crouch. The dragon landed behind them, letting out a soft roar.

 “The Head of the Crimson Dragon, Satellite’s Shooting Star, The King of Riding Duels, Fudo Yusei!!!”

 “Oh my, and who is that in his arms?!”

 It was then that people realized that it was indeed two people, rather than one, that had dropped from the dragon. Yusei was holding the other in a tight grip, holding them bridal style. And that other person…

 Ai gasped, shouting. “PLAYMAKER???!!!”

 “I’m going to kill you, one of these days.” Playmaker ignored the loud shout of his name, no doubt coming from the Ignis. Instead, he gave Yusei a glare as he was let down.

 “You would have already killed me if you had any plans to do so.” Yusei chuckled softly, ignoring the crimson red tendrils that began appearing in the air around their platform. “Now, come over here.”

 “Why?” Playmaker gave him a suspicious look but stepped closer. “If this is another one of your…”

 Yusei pressed his lips against Playmaker’s.

 At first, it was deadly silent. Then, people were screaming, because did some bigshot from Neo Domino City just kiss Playmaker???!!!

 The red tendrils began fusing. People noticed them, making confused noises as the tendrils began to take another shape, curling around the platform that was, once again, glowing an eerie red color. The tendrils began to make a snake-like body, like the lines on the platform… making a tail… feet… wings… hands… a head…

 Yusei pulled away, smiling as Playmaker glanced upwards at the replica of the Crimson Dragon that had curled around the platform. “… Isn’t it bad to make fun of a god like this?”

 “We’re showing our gratitude in our own way.” Yusei chuckled. “The Crimson Dragon would understand.”

 “… Yeah, you guys are unique like that.” Playmaker laughed, which made the crowds pause. “The Crimson Dragon would totally understand.”

 Yusei smiled and gave him another kiss before turning to the crowd and waving. His teammates and Playmaker did the same. The dragons roared in tune with the replica of the Crimson Dragon. It was truly a spectacle to see.

[xamaxenta]

Its also my indulgence in which all these characters come together in random outfits or like they rushed onto the scene directly from work

Like the signers grouping and its Yusei in his suit and his lanyard is still around his neck with a dorky photo of his face and Dr. Y. FUDO

Jack pulling up on his bike still in his racing gear, Crow in full camo, Aki in her lab coat and the kids in their school uniform

Judai in half his gym clothes and half his hero gear, manjoume straight up pajamas and his coat

My new modern fantasy au is just an excuse to draw Johan in outrageous cowboy boots

And give Judai a giant sword twice his height and five times his weight

[riyuyami]

I honestly wasn't expecting so much love and interest for this au! :o But thank you everyone!

Here's chapter two!

–

Sweet Home Domino

Chapter Two

–

After Atemu was finally able to snap out of his moment of blank, he and Yugi grabbed his luggage from the car and headed into the house.

The inside was rather large, but cluttered with bookshelves and decorations everywhere. Lots of historical and science scattered about the place, and it smelled like pasta sauce inside. Hm, must be a pasta dish for lunch.

“Come on, I'll show you my room! That's where you'll be staying.” Yugi smiled at him, heading for the staircase. Atemu gulped, nodding as he felt his cheek heat up again, wonder how long it would take before he was forever blushing cause of this guy he just met five minutes ago.

Quietly, Atemu followed Yugi up the stairs, passing by some doors until they came to a room at the end of the hall. “Here's my room.” Yugi opened the door, letting his guest in first.

It was a big room, but with little space due to all the stuff inside. The bed was large, a queen, there were two bookshelves, one filled with games and objects, the other had books, DVDs, and video games. There was a TV in a corner, with several game consuls, well... he continues to capture Atemu's heart with every little thing.

The walls had framed photos, and lots of posters for movies and Duel Monsters.

Atemu turned, looking at Yugi, blushing deeply. “You... like Duel Monsters?”

Yugi's cheeks turned pink and he laughed. “Uhh... yeah, I'm a big fan of games. I mean, my name is associated to games in Japanese, haha... but Duel Monsters is my favorite. I guess you like it?”

“Yeah! I enter local and state tournaments back in Washington!” Atemu grinned. “We should play some time, I brought some of my decks with me.”

“That's awesome.” Yugi looked so excited, oooh... he has such a cute smile when he's excited.

Fuck, shit, damnit, this crush just started and already it's getting out of control!

He's gonna have to talk to someone about this...

“Boys! Lunch is on!” Arthur yelled up the stairs and the two made their way down.

In the kitchen, Atemu found the last of the house members. At the stove, setting a hot pan down on top of it after pulling it from a stove, was a young girl. Her long, blond hair was pulled back in a tight set of pigtails, and she turned to look at him with calculating green eyes behind a set of glasses.

The girl, Rebecca, looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Ah, this must be Atemu Muran.” She said, in a way that made Atemu feel like she was insulting him.

“Yes, and you must be Rebecca Hawkins.”

“The one and only.” She looked smug. “I hope you like baked chicken Alfredo, since that's what I made for lunch!”

“You'll like it.” Yugi leaned over, whispering to the smaller of the two boys. “Rebecca is a really good cook.” He winked, before walking to the table.

Atemu blinked a few times, before inhaling deeply, tensing up. This boy was gonna fucking kill him before the day was done, he swore to God.

Quietly, Atemu took a seat, deciding not to sit next to Yugi, but next to Sugoroku, who smiled at him as Rebecca started serving the pasta. “So, Atemu, your uncle was just telling us that you just graduated high school.”

“Yeah, finally done with high school, and I'm happy for that. I'm already set up to attend college in Washington in August.”

“What are you going to major in?” Rebecca asked as she sat down.

Atemu gave a shrug. “I was looking into a history major or something, maybe see what I can do with that. Or pick up an archaeology degree.”

“Those sound like good majors.” Yugi turned, smiling at him. “I'm thinking about doing a business and design degree, I want to make games!”

“I-I bet you could make some really cool games, Yugi.” Atemu blushed, looking down at his plate, hearing a happy thank you from Yugi, but he didn't see the sharp look he got from Rebecca. “So, uh, did you just graduate as well? You look about my age.”

Yugi gave a nod, before taking a bite of his food. “Yeah, just this past Friday. I graduated as valedictorian, which was shocking cause I did so bad when I started high school. But I improved myself and rose to the top!”

“With my help.” Rebecca huffed. “I had to set you straight, Yugi! All those terrible grade, uhg, how embarrassing! You needed to get your head out of the clouds and back into your books. And not study with your friends.”

The orchid-eyed boy rolled his eyes. “I know, I know, but Joey was the one who always found some way to distract us, so don't blame me.”

“He's your best friend.”

“He's a great friend.” Yugi chuckled. “Oh, Atemu! When we get the chance, I'll have to introduce you to my friends, they'll love to meet you!”

The addressed boy looked up, blinking. “Y-your friends?” Oh, he didn't do well meeting new people, hell, he almost fainted when he spotted Yugi, how would he be around his friends? He'd probably end up making a total ass out of himself somehow. “I'd... love to meet them...!”

Well, might as well be nice and go along with this, don't want to come off as jerk, yeah?

Yugi grinned. “Awesome, I'll have to find a good day for us all to meet up! Oooh, maybe we can go swimming, it's gonna start warming up this week.”

“Which is good, since there are still clumps of icy snow off the sides of the roads here.” Siamun spoke up. “Saw some on the way to and from Billings today.”

The conversation went into the weather in the state, and Atemu took this as a chance to text his friends.

To Sage's Stone

Mana! Help! I'm having

a problem!

From Sage's Stone

Whats the problem bby

To Sage's Stone

Boys are hot and I'm

gayer than I originally

thought!

From Sage's Stone

Well no shit

To Sage's Stone

Mana, I need help,

I'm gonna be spending

all summer with a really

cute boy!

From Sage's Stone

How is this a problem

To Sage's Stone

Well, first off, he's

hot as hell. Second, he's, like,

my dream guy and everything

I'd ever wanna be

From Sage's Stone

Pic or ur lying

To Sage's Stone

I can't just take a picture!

We're eating lunch with the

other people here!

“Who are you texting, Atemu?”

Atemu jumped and shoved his phone into his pocket, looking over at Sugoroku. “O-oh! Just m-my friend, Mana. I was giving her updates about my trip. S-she wanted to now how things were going, yeah, you know, that stuff.”

“Ah, I get it.” He chuckled, returning to his food. Atemu let out a small sigh, looking at his phone to see a new message from Mana.

From Sage's Stone

Send 1 l8r <|;3

He rolled his eyes, putting his phone away, he'd deal with her later. He might have to talk to some of his other friends later, hopefully when he can get on his computer. Maybe they could be of more help, hopefully.

Well... maybe not Marik or Bakura, those guys are dicks. And Mahado is a stick in the mud, same with Rishid. Ishizu and Mai might be helpful, same with Jaden, Yusei is too much like Mahado though. Seto... okay, he's probably the worse one to talk to.

So it's down to Ishizu, Mai, and Jaden.

He'll bother them later, right now he needed to just... figure out what the hell he was gonna be doing to survive this summer.

“Hey, Atemu, want to help me do the dishes?” Yugi asked as he stood up with his dirty dishes.

Atemu just nodded, his face turning a bright red once more. Okay, more like he needed to survive today, he expected his death would be from blushing.

Uhg, this is like something out of a bad anime...

TBC

–

Sorry it's short, I'm still trying to figure everything out for this story.

I am open to suggestions and ideas! Just send me a message!

Mana's little <|;3 is a witch face she made, I figured she'd be the kinda person to do that.

Next chapter: Atemu attempts to survive the first night