Just When We Thought it was Over

Cat: Well, a few days ago, signerleo sent me a story request, so here it is!

Rena: The story line belongs to him and so do all of the OC's (apart from Robin, who belongs to me and my sister)

Cat: We hope you enjoy and review if you can!

One Year Ago

"Master! Please hang on!" a breathless voice shouted in the darkness. The heart monitor was getting slower and slower, the numbers sliding down the scale.

He pulled out several scraps of metal and tried desperately to fit them into the charred, burnt mechanism that kept the old man alive. However, it was useless, and deep down, he knew it.

"Leave it…" the dying man's voice croaked. "Save yourself… The trouble…"

"No, sir!" the person shouted back, pulling out more wires from boxes beneath him. "Please! I… Can't live without your guidance!"

"Don't… Be a fool…" the patient croaked. "I will die anyway… Even if I manage to… Be returned to my younger body…"

"Take… These…" he wheezed, grabbing the man's arm and handing him a wad of papers and blueprints. "They… might come in handy…"

The desperate man nodded, placing them down on the table, beside him.

The man gritted his teeth, furious that it had come to be this way. His heart thudded in his chest. Underneath, the floor rumbled, upsetting many things on the desk behind him.

"The Arc Cradle!" he gasped. "It's collapsing!"

Z-one lifted his head feebly. "Of course it is! I… I kept my bargain… With… Them…"

The faithful servant grabbed his hand. "Master… Please, tell me… Who are they?"

Z-one's eyes began closing; his grip was beginning to slack. However, the disciple gripped it tighter, causing his master's eyes to flicker open, slightly. He was desperately aware of the heart monitor's beeping getting longer and longer, the numbers diminishing to single digits.

"Team 5ds…" Z-one whispered, as he slipped into the realm of eternal sleep, leaving his faithful pupil standing there, helpless, listening to the shrill scream of the monitor.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, a strangled sob erupted from his mouth. He could feel his heart twisting and turning in hatred, rage and despair.

"Team… 5…ds…" he hissed in rage. "You will pay!"

Present Day- Japan, New Domino City

Yusei yawned sleepily as he opened the door to the garage. Dumping his briefcase on the sofa, he dashed to the bathroom, pulling out the first aid kit from under the sink. He pulled out the plasters and the bandages, looking desperately for one thing. However, it didn't seem to be there.

"Well, that's useless…" he muttered. "I'll talk to Aki…"

He hastily placed the removed contents back again and shoved the bag back under the sink. He marched up the stairs and switched on his old and battered laptop. He tapped his foot impatiently as the start up commenced, scratching his arm through his coat.

After what seemed like a decade, his desktop page appeared, revealing a photo from a year ago. The photo capturing one of the best moments of his life. The awards ceremony of the World Racing Grand Prix, or the WRGP for short.

He stopped for a second, taking a second to savour it, once again. He could remember it like it was only a few hours ago. The whole stadium erupting when he picked up the trophy, everybody laughing and having the best time with the champagne bottles.

Yusei chuckled as he remembered how he thought Leo, Jack and Crow would be the terrorists with the exploding alcohol; and they were, desperately trying to soak each other. He had counted himself lucky as he had come down from the podium because he had managed to avoid every stream of bubbling liquid. Or so he had thought.

He hadn't planned on a certain burgundy-haired-girl to grab a bottle and make it explode under his jacket.

"Hey, Dr. Fudo the Second, how's life?" a familiar voice shouted from a window on the computer.

"It's all right, Dr. Izinski. I'm just thinking." He replied, leaning back in his chair.

Akiza's eyebrows shot up. "About what?"

"When we won the WRGP and how you attacked me with an exploding champagne bottle." He laughed.

"Oh, yeah. That was one of the highlights of my life. You squawked like a retarded parrot!" she cackled with glee, clapping her hands together. "But, I'm guessing that's not why you called, am I correct?"

"Yes, you are, doctor," Yusei said, rolling the sleeve of his right arm up. Akiza exhaled through her teeth and leaned forward in her chair, to try and see it better.

"This has been bothering me for several days, doctor, and I was wondering what I should do about it." Yusei wailed, dangling his arm in front of the camera.

From the elbow down to his wrist, the tanned skin was red and flaking. Akiza stared at it, her brow furrowed in concentration. It was hard to diagnose what it was from the blurriness of the camera and the internet reception from Germany to Japan. The image kept on breaking up and cutting.

"How long has it been like this?" she asked. "When did it start bothering you?"

Yusei shrugged. "Not sure, a few days ago, I think. What's your verdict, doctor?"

"I would say eczema, but…" she trailed off, tapping her chin with her finger.

"But?" Yusei asked. "Please don't say I have some kind of tropical disease and I'll have to pay for treatment!"

Akiza rolled her eyes, amused at Yusei's drama.

"No. It's just… Look!" she sighed, pulling the glove off her right arm, revealing the same scaly, red surface on her soft, ivory skin. Yusei peered at it and stared at his own.

"Ok. That's not normal…" Yusei muttered, scratching his arm.

"But, Yusei, this could be really bad news!" Akiza hissed, desperately. "If you concentrate, can you see-?"

"The outline of my birthmark? Yeah, right here." Yusei pushed his arm right up to the camera, pointing at a small, feint white line that connected with several others, to create the birthmark of the dragon's head.

Akiza nodded, pointing at her rash. The outline of the claw mark was even more visible than the head. To an ordinary person, who didn't know her had that birthmark; it would seem like more flakes on her irritated arm. However, if you knew Akiza well and you knew about her old birthmark, you could see it, almost as clear as daylight.

"Do you think it's a sign?" Akiza whispered, dipping her fingers in a pot of cream beside her and trailing the contents on her arm.

"That or we both coincidently got the same rash that shows our marks…" Yusei sighed, running his nails up his arm.

Akiza narrowed her eyes. "Look, if you scratch it, you'll only make it worse!"

Yusei muttered an apology. "But, Aki, do you think the Crimson Dragon is trying to warn us about something?"

Aki rolled her eyes. "Well, no, Captain Obvious, the Crimson Dragon gave them back for nostalgic reasons! Of course it's trying to warn us! Danger is coming, one that even she couldn't-"

"Who said it was a 'she'?" Yusei grinned.

"I did, because women are superior in every way." Aki said, folding her arms, daring him to argue. "Anyway, continuing with my sentence; this threat coming is one that even the Crimson Dragon couldn't comprehend!"

Yusei nodded slowly, trying to wrap his mind around her words. "Or… We're just totally overreacting. If the others don't have it, then it's safe to say that it's just coincidence!"

Aki leaned back in her chair, her eyes closed. Yusei could almost see the cogs of her mind spinning, figuratively speaking.

"Yeah, you're right. Going by the fact that nobody else has called in with rashes, we can safely say we love drama." She said, slowly. "Anyway, I have a lecture in five minutes, so I got to go…"

"What's it about?" he asked, curious.

Aki flipped her notebook open and flipped to her timetable.

"Hmmm… Male Anatomy." She said, shrugging.

Yusei tried desperately not to laugh. "I have no idea how you do what you do, Aki! That class must be so awkward for you!"

She stuck her tongue out and waggled it at him. "I know more about your body than you do, Yusei. Now, shut up and go to bed! You look like a zombie!"

Yusei nodded, waving goodbye and hanging up. Yawning, he slumped in his chair and sighed.

One year before

The Arc Cradle shook dangerously under his feet, sending him sprawling on the cold, cracked concrete that was the floor. He jumped up and continued sprinting down the corridor.

"Please be here…" he prayed. "Please be here!"

He threw open a heavy, black door to reveal three duel runners, standing side by side.

I wonder how he got these back… he thought as he gazed at them. The first one was huge, taking up most of the space in the room. About a week before, it had plunged into the sea and exploded.

The second one had an enormous wheel at the back. Now, how Z-one got that one back was a complete mystery because the runner, along with its owner, got sucked into a black hole.

Maybe it had something to do with these papers… he mused, looking at the documents that had been shoved into the back pocket of his jeans.

He slung his legs up onto the third runner, perching on it; his feet inches from the floor. Like the first one, it was big but not as big. He desperately punched commands into the screen and it roared to life, driving off before he could get a grasp of the controls.

They shot through the crumbling wall and down the corridor that he had just ran through at a hundred miles an hour. It got faster and faster until everything was a blur and then the last thing he noticed was a violent flash of white light.

And then, the runner and the rider vanished as the last of the Arc Cradle crumbled to dust.

Present day- England, London

The rain poured down the floor-to-ceiling windows. The dark clouds swirled in the heavens above making the gloomy British atmosphere seem even gloomier.

Luna sighed as she held her pencil to her chin, staring down at her homework assignments. Half of the paper was covered in her neat, blue handwriting but the other half was completely blank, apart form a little black blob in the margin from her brother's pen.

"Hey, writer's block?" a blonde girl asked, dumping her bag down beside her.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." The blue-haired-girl sighed. "Where's your boyfriend, Ashley?"

"Leo? I thought he was with you…" her brother's girlfriend replied, worried. Luna lay back in her chair, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips.

"Well, wherever he is, he better be doing his homework, or I will kill him!" Luna hissed.

At that second, the door to the library opened, to reveal a soaking wet teenager. His long blue hair was dripping and his clothes stuck to his body. He grinned sheepishly at his sister and girlfriend, who were glaring at him.

He perched himself on a chair, opposite his sister and scratched his head. "Sorry! I saw a booster pack of Duel Monster cards and I just had to buy them!"

Luna scowled. "Idiot. Those are English cards. They won't function on your disk and besides, those aren't even real!"

Leo groaned, pulling a card out and staring at the bottom-right-hand corner, only to discover that the shiny golden square wasn't there.

"What?" he squawked. "I paid six pounds for fake cards! You have got to be joking!"

"You must be joking!" Ashley cried. "You paid six pounds for one packet!? Idiot!"

Leo pouted, shoving the cards into his pocket. "Well, I have four pounds change, so I'm going to use a computer!"

He strolled over to the pay-as-you-go computers and slotted two pounds in, for half an hour use. He immediately opened the Skype and scrolled down his contact list.

"Luna! Luna! Yusei's online!" Leo cried, waving at his sister. Luna dumped the book she was reading and ran behind her brother, who was calling him. Ashley sidled up beside them, curious.

About a minute later, a picture of Yusei appeared. He yawned sleepily but grinned, genuinely happy to see them.

"Well, well, well, look who it is! Hey, guys!" he smiled.

"Hey Yusei!" the twins cheered.

"How're you?" Leo asked.

"We've missed you so much!" Luna wailed.

"One at a time guys," he muttered. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired, that's all. How are you guys doing?"

"Fine. But it's cold here!" Leo complained.

"And wet," Luna added.

"And boring!" Leo whined. Yusei laughed at the two teenagers, who obviously hadn't changed much since he had last seen them.

"How's school?" Yusei asked.

"Boring!" Leo shouted, before his sister could say anything.

"That reminds me; when're your holidays, guys?" Yusei asked, pulling out an old and battered planner.

"Hmmm… The last week of June 'till the end of August." Luna stated. Yusei's eyes widened slightly at her words.

"What? That's ages!" Yusei exclaimed, scribbling it down in his book. "Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent! Trust me, Yusei, in school; all we do is think about the holidays!" Leo yelled, happily.

"Oh, really?" Yusei asked, surprised. Leo nodded, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Well, if you guys ever want to come by and visit, you can always crash here." Yusei said kindly, snapping his book shut. "I was talking with Aki before you guys called and she's going to talk with her school and see when she can get some time off."

"What about Jack and Crow?" Luna asked.

Yusei shrugged. "There's no tournaments in July and August, there classified as 'training months', so those guys are free."

"What about the 'training' part?" Luna pointed out.

"Seriously? Those guys? Think about it, they won't be training, that I know as a fact."

"But you guys used to train all the time!" Leo pointed out, remembering the year before they left.

"No, that technically wasn't training. We had to test the engine under certain conditions, to make sure it wouldn't explode…"

"And now they have professional mechanics, who know what they're doing!" Leo grinned.

Yusei scowled. "Bruno and I knew what we were doing."

Leo noticed the flaw in his logic. "Oops… Sorry, Yusei"

Yusei chuckled. "Well, guys, I better get going, I need some sleep- hey, who's that?" he asked, pointing at the red material behind Leo's head, which was Ashley's shorts.

"Oh, ummm, hi. I'm Ashley." She waved awkwardly. "I'm one of Luna's friends."

"And Leo's girlfriend." Luna added, smiling.

Yusei's eyebrow's shot up. "Seriously?"

Leo scratched his head embarrassed. "Y-Yeah…"

They were all surprised when Yusei leant back in his chair and groaned. "That's fine, but do me a favour, don't tell Jack or Crow!"

"Oh… Sorry… We did a video chat with them a few weeks ago and they met Ashley then, 'cause she was having a sleepover with Luna." Leo said sheepishly.

"But, why?" Luna asked, her golden eyes full of concern.

Yusei pulled himself up, grinning at the camera. "Because those guys really want me to get a girlfriend… And they won't stop nagging!"

"That's kinda rich, coming from them!" Leo muttered.

"Jack and Carly have been in a relationship for almost six months and Crow has been with Robin for almost two years now!" Luna pointed out.

Yusei chuckled. "Thanks for making my situation worse, Luna."

"Sorry." Luna stared at the camera. "But it's true."

"What do I do?" Yusei yawned. "The fact that Leo has a girlfriend seriously does not go in my favour."

"Date Akiza!" Leo burst out, before he could stop himself. Yusei and Luna stared at him.

"Leo!" his twin sister hissed, kicking him.

"Leo, that…" Yusei sighed, scratching his arm. "Look; that would never work!"

"Says who?" Leo challenged. "That's what everybody said about me and Ashley but it worked out fine!"

Yusei bit down a gulp of laughter. "Oh, the logic of teenagers. I know, Leo but you guys are high school students and you see each other everyday. You don't have a job to worry about and bills to pay. And besides, I like Aki as a friend, nothing more…"

"Liar!" Leo yelled, pointing his finger accusingly at the camera.

Luna gasped and shoved her brother out of his seat and onto the hard floor. She took his space and smiled awkwardly.

"Please, excuse Leo, Yusei, he is being a retard!" she glared at her brother angrily. "Our time is almost up on the computer, so we'll have to go."

"Ask your parents about plane tickets and message me if you can." Yusei smiled, sleepily. "I really want to see you guys again. Ashley can come too, if she wishes."

"Yes, please!" Ashley cheered, punching the air.

"Have a good sleep, Yusei." Luna waved goodbye. "We'll keep in touch."

"Bye guys, see ya." Yusei waved, as he logged off. The second Luna was sure he was gone, she pounced on her brother.

"You utter idiot!" she hissed, pulling his ear. "Do you have any idea how rude you were?"

"Ow, Luna! Ow!" Leo wailed, trying to loosen his sister's vice grip.

"I was dying of embarrassment! And now he'll probably be really awkward around Aki, now! Oh, you douche bag!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Leo sighed, as his sister let go. "Looking back, that was pretty stupid…"

"Yes. It was." Ashley sighed at her boyfriend, packing her schoolbag. "Come on guys, we have Duel Theory now!"

"Aw, crap! We're late!" Luna cried, grabbing her bag and running down out the door, dragging her best friend and her brother behind her.

Two days later- Germany, Munich

"Dr. Izinski, could you pass me the anaesthetic?" the head doctor asked, holding is hand out.

"Yes, sir." She muttered, picking it up with her left hand and handing it to him.

"Excuse me, Dr. Izinski, if I could just get past you…" another doctor asked, sliding past, brushing against her right arm. She stiffened in pain and griped it tightly with her left hand.

"Dr. Izinski? Is there something wrong?" the nurse asked, noticing her grimacing.

"No. Nothing is wrong, nurse." Akiza stated simply, pulling on some plastic gloves and making them snap against her wrists. She bit a cry as it hit the inflated, swollen skin of her arm.

A few days had passed since Yusei's call and her arm had gotten even worse. The morning after their conversation, Aki woke up with her arm aching and it had developed to agony, swelling up several times than it should.

She bit her teeth down on her bottom lip as a wave of pain washed over her. She was lightheaded and her legs were like jelly. She grabbed the side of the operating table, trying to blink away the stars that were appearing in her vision.

"Doctor?" the nurse asked, almost in hysterics. "Miss. Izinski, are you alright?"

"I… I'm gonna faint…" Akiza whispered hoarsely, as she fell into the darkness of her mind.

"Well, Dr. Izinski, I would blame your collapse due to being sleep deprived and over worked." The head doctor sighed.

"I am so sorry, that must have been a big inconvenience for you," Akiza sighed. "How did the surgery go?"

"We had Dr. Igarashi replace you today. And it wasn't too difficult. Thank goodness, it wasn't the open heart surgery that we rescheduled! We would have been in a right pickle if you had passed out then!" he chuckled.

"But, seriously, you should take a holiday and go home, for a while. Rest for a bit and you can come back, refreshed and reenergised!" the doctor said.

"Yes, sir. If I may, can I have the whole month of July off, sir?" she asked.

"You can have August too, if you'd like!" he smiled.

"Well, I'm back to school then, so I'll just take July. Thank you very much, sir." She smiled.

After the head doctor had left, Aki ran home, picked up her phone and called Yusei, who was hopefully having dinner. While she waited for him to pick up, she sat on her bed, opened her laptop and looked at the cheapest flight to NewDominoAirport.

"Hey, Akiza, what's up?" a voice asked.

"Yusei, I'm coming home." She cried, scrolling down on the website.

"Oh, cool. When? Next week?"

She hit the 'book now!' button and jumped off her bed, grabbing clothes and shoving them randomly into her suitcase.

"No. Tomorrow morning." She stated, hanging up.

Cat: Enjoying so far?

Rena: Please review!