Clear Guardian

[Epilogue]

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:32:59 GMT

When Yusuke returned home, he found that no time had passed there since he had found himself in Econtra. This was not unexpected, of course – he’d heard that that was usually the case, and he was actually rather glad for that fact.

When he reached Fubuki’s room and greeted him as he usually would, however, Fubuki was puzzled, unable to recognize him and, in fact, stricken with a sudden headache that hurt him so much that Asuka, who was in the room with him at the time, had to ask Yusuke to leave in order for it to go away. This was the first blow in a series of several that would follow – just as it had been when he had arrived in Econtra, Fubuki didn’t remember him.

It also wasn’t helping matters that every time he called home to try and contact his parents, he got the machine. The first couple of days, it was somewhat justifiable, but after the fifth or so, he began to wonder… Ryou, also, was unable to be contacted – heck, no one even knew where he was at this point.

If that weren’t bad enough, strange things started happening at the Academy. Suddenly, without any explanation as to why, many of the students’ duel disks stopped responding when they played their cards on it – or, perhaps it’s more accurate to say, the cards stopped registering on the disks. All the cards that their owners didn’t care about – especially those that the duelists blamed for their losses, or had other bad feelings centered about – had become tainted with shadows, somehow. Darkness’ shadows of nihility.

Yusuke had more important things to focus on than the other students’ cards suddenly not working, however, as he suddenly found himself under attack. Without explanation, the being known as Trueman – Yusuke easily remembered him, and his lookalikes, as Darkness’ trusted servants – appeared and tried to kill him. Certainly, Judai appeared at that time and decided to take it upon himself to duel Trueman in Yusuke’s place (despite the fact that Yusuke, in his own opinion, would probably have been able to handle it), but that didn’t change that it had happened, and this perplexed him. Trueman took orders directly from Darkness, after all, and why would Darkness want him to die before his time?

Not that he would have much time to figure this out, either, because the next evening, he was suddenly accused of having attacked Fubuki, despite the fact that he had been in his room in Osiris Red at the time of the incident – Judai wasn’t there to be a witness to this, having been busy facing Trueman by the volcano at the time, but he was certain of his innocence as well. (Though, Yusuke had been giving Pharaoh attention, so make of that what you will.) O’Brien, however, insisted that Yusuke had been Fubuki’s attacker, which just brought more confusion.

Add to this, of course, the small fact that Honest’s spirit had mysteriously gone quiet, while the Clear monsters hadn’t. The next night (around the same time that Fubuki asked Judai to duel him while he was wearing Darkness’ mask in order to see if that would help him uncover his memory), Yusuke decided that this was definitely worth worrying about, and decided to go look for him.

He found Honest… in the Abandoned Dormitory’s basement. Somehow, he had acquired a skill that he’d never revealed (even before having come to Econtra – perhaps this was why he didn’t come out of his card) – he had gained the ability to materialize in the human world and transform into Yusuke’s image, albeit for a somewhat limited time. (He also had developed minor telepathic and telekinetic abilities, as a side note.)

The mystery of Fubuki’s attacker now solved, Honest revealed himself, and tried to explain himself and his reasoning for what he had done – while he admittedly had gone overboard (and was using untested, mildly uncontrolled abilities), he had merely wanted to jog Fubuki’s memories himself – but Yusuke would hear none of it (especially given Honest’s once-more continued insistence of calling him ‘Master’).

This was what finally made him snap, and in his state of unbridled negative emotions, he plucked Honest’s card from his deck, discarded it (he didn’t throw so much as let go and let gravity do the work), and fled into the forest. (Incidentally, he managed to arrive just late enough that he didn’t learn that Fubuki’s memory had returned. Would that have changed things, if he had learned that? We may never know.)

Just this not being the same Fubuki he could have learned to deal with. Heck, add this world’s version of Ryou not being the one he loved (which was looking increasingly more likely to be the case), and he might have learned to deal with it, or at the very least he would have been able to gather enough concentration to figure out a way to discover a way to locate Ryou’s world and go there. (He didn’t have the specific ability to create portals, but that wouldn’t stop him from finding a way.) Even adding on the fact that his parents were unreachable, he would have been able to stay at least reasonably calm. And Trueman… well, there was probably a reason for that that he just didn’t know. Any combination of a couple of those, and he would have been okay.

But with all of them combined, all hitting at the same time, and adding in Honest’s ‘betrayal’, Yusuke fell into complete despair. Certainly, he still had the Clear deck as companions, and the Cubes tried to cheer him up, but it was as though the rest of the world had abandoned them, and this time he didn’t have the Entropi’s mind games to blame on it – it was actually happening this time.

It was while he was in this state that Darkness appeared before him – not quite the same as the last time they had met, if the newly added goat skull helmet was any indication, but undoubtedly Darkness. The Clear monsters tried to protect him, but Yusuke didn’t have any mental strength left in order to fight, and Darkness revealed what Trueman had really been looking to do – Darkness had become bored by Yusuke, and therefore the decision was that payment was due. Trueman, of course, had been trying to kill him and collect it so Darkness didn’t have to, but Darkness had no qualms with collecting it while Yusuke was still alive, either – in fact, for some reason, this way seemed to be what Darkness preferred.

And thus, Yusuke’s soul was stripped from his body and taken back to the world of Darkness, while his body was left behind, now an empty shell in a coma. The Clear monsters were distraught, especially the Cubes, and while they refused to leave Yusuke’s body’s side, they turned a cold shoulder to Honest, who they figured deserved punishment for what he had done. Judai picked up Honest’s card and decided that it would be best if he keep the angel’s card with him for the moment – Honest, ashamed, didn’t argue.

There was reason, however, why Darkness had wanted to collect Yusuke’s soul in this manner, and when the Truemen were ordered to begin casting the entire world’s population into nihility, this reason was realized. Yusuke’s body still belonged to his soul, but his soul belonged to Darkness; therefore, by association, so did his body. Had his body died, there would have been no use for it, but in this manner, his soulless body made a perfect vessel in which Darkness could walk the earth.

It was only after the Truemen had done their job that Darkness did so, but by that point, there were only a few duelists left standing worldwide – Judai, Johan, Fubuki, Ryou (who had washed up on the island around the same time Darkness had claimed Yusuke’s soul, incidentally), and approximately three specific legendary duelists who, seriously, would never be beaten by Trueman that easily (I mean come on) but have little-to-no actual importance to the plot in this instance. (Also Pharaoh, but he’s a cat.)

Fubuki and Ryou thus got into a Battle Royale duel with Darkness!Yusuke. It was a difficult fight, and it also invoked Fubuki’s mask of Darkness (which, incidentally, proved to be not quite the same entity as the Darkness they were fighting – long story short, the Darkness in the mask, called Shade from here on out for simplicity, was a piece of Darkness that broke off when Fubuki was first possessed), but eventually Fubuki and Shade decided to work together, and they managed to effect a three-way tie, sending all three of them to the world of Darkness together. (Why no, Clear Vice Dragon’s Deus ex Machina effect does not come into play here, so as to avoid another ending to episode 174, thank you very much.)

By the time Judai and Johan got to the scene, however, Darkness had brought Yusuke’s body back from the realm of Darkness, still possessing it. The punishment for losing, after all, was going to the realm of Darkness, and Darkness could come and go on a whim. And thus did a second Battle Royale occur, this time between Judai, Johan, and Darkness!Yusuke, which worked out at least in terms of game mechanics in the same way as in canon. Though, there was less discussion of bonds, no mention of dead parents (because they didn’t die), and when Darkness!Yusuke tried to summon the Cubes, each of them in turn struggled to avoid being summoned, eventually pleading with Judai to save Yusuke.

While this was going on, however, something else entirely was going on in the world of Darkness itself. Fubuki (with Shade’s help) and Ryou (“I told you before, Fubuki, I never fell to the darkness”) managed to stay conscious within the ocean of people, and deciding that they needed to locate the real Yusuke, they traveled together. Eventually, they did locate his soul – akin to how Manjoume’s inner darkness was connected with Ojama Yellow, or Asuka’s with Double Passé, or Sho’s with Power Bond, Yusuke was found by locating a single spell card: Beckoning Light, the anniversary gift from his beloved fiancé.

Upon locating it, Fubuki and Ryou found Yusuke trapped within his own memories – most specifically, memories (mostly ones that were sad and negative) pertaining to the two of them, and yet not the two of them, because they would have remembered stuff like what they were seeing. One of the most prevalent, in fact, was something that seemed impossible, because how on earth could Ryou, of all people, ever be brainwashed?

(Not that either Fubuki or Ryou wanted to learn the answer to this, in particular, of course. Especially since they had enough to deal with right now.)

It took a bit of time, a lot of convincing, and a heck of a lot of effort, but eventually, Fubuki and Ryou managed to convince Yusuke that, no matter what had happened or would happen, the three of them were still friends, nothing would ever change that, wallowing in despair wasn’t a very good thing to do, and possibly most importantly, he wasn’t alone. Eventually, Yusuke managed to gain enough control of his emotions and calm down enough so that he became conscious of what was going on.

Now. Darkness’ goal, at this point, was to defeat Judai – he was the herald of Gentle Darkness, after all, and with Gentle Darkness defeated, Nihility would be the only Darkness in the world. Using Yusuke’s body was a viable strategy because it could be pulled time and again from toe world of Darkness after being defeated, limitlessly. However, this only worked as long as Darkness held a claim on Yusuke’s soul, and that only happened as long as the contract between them was valid.

Therefore, with Fubuki, Ryou, and admittedly Shade’s help (as well as that of one of the Truemen, specifically the one who had tried to kill him – he had been trying to avert the very thing Darkness was doing right now, believing that it really wasn’t in Darkness’ best interests to let it happen), Yusuke shattered the original contract and destroyed the powers he had been given. Because of this, when Judai defeated Darkness!Yusuke (unfortunately Johan also lost), Yusuke took back his body, forcing Darkness out of it with the help of the Clear monsters’ and Honest’s spirits. Sure, he wound up stuck in the world of Darkness again, but now Darkness held no hold over his body or soul, meaning that in order to duel Judai again, Darkness would need to appear solidly in the human world, and wouldn’t be able to come back that easily after a defeat.

Lots of further things happened while Yusuke was stuck in the world of Darkness (along with most of the rest of the world – only a few people (essentially, Asuka, Manjoume, Sho, Kenzan, Johan, Fubuki, Ryou, and maybe a couple of others) returned at first). Most of what happened between when Judai defeated Darkness’ true form and when Darkness was restored to normal (because Darkness had been corrupted by the goat skull helmet. Parts of it were formed from a large amount of a stone called Labradorite. If you look here and here, you can probably guess what happened) he doesn’t know all the details of. The Cubes know some of it, but not all of it, and they haven’t decided that they want to talk about it yet, so. (Also, I have yet to figure out most of this part, so.)

When Darkness was restored to normal, however, everyone, including Yusuke, was returned to the human world, and Darkness apologized for everything that had happened and offered to restore one branch of power to him, free of charge. Yusuke, while not really holding all that much against Darkness, declined to accept this offer, deciding that he would find out what he could do with his own strength from now on, not rely on others.

As for Yusuke’s parents, finally the school managed to get into contact with them – they had been on an unannounced business trip, and therefore hadn’t been able to access their home phone. They immediately came to the Academy when they heard the news that their son had returned, and Yusuke was so very glad to see them.

In the months ahead, Yusuke decided to do research on traveling to other worlds through alchemic means – that was how he had stumbled across how to reach the world of Darkness in the first place, after all. Eventually, his endeavors were successful, and after checking his notes on the matter several times in order to make sure that it definitely would work the way he wanted it to, he had created a technique that would allow him to travel to his fiancé’s world, and to return from there to his own and go back and forth whenever he wanted to.

Without hesitation, he went through.

.+59+.

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:41:21 GMT

We're all going home.

To my friends I met here, I guess this is goodbye then. Maybe we'll see each other again someday.

Fubuki, Ryou... I'll see you back home.

[Because no, he hasn't realized yet that he's from an alternate universe to Fubuki and Ryou. Or if he has, he's in denial.]

I just want to tell you, by the way, before we all go home... I still haven't completely gotten over... what happened, at that time. It could very well be that I never will, completely - I'm weak, in that regard. But I think enough time has passed, and enough has healed, that I can say this and mean it:

I forgive you, Judai, and I trust you.

.+58+.

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:19:47 GMT

It's strange.

I can't seem to access that power... though for some reason, I think I've somehow managed to learn how to fight physically...

Normally, I wouldn't be as calm as I am, especially with... well, everything else. And yet... I am calm. It's like... somehow, I'm feeling like everything's going to be okay, and that there's no reason to get upset. Even though I know that I should be, and usually would be.

[A single small, nervous, slightly-on-the-ironic-side laugh.] I'm scaring myself a little...

.+57+.

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:23:22 GMT

[Incidentally, this (accidental) post begins just as Yusuke is getting out of bed to go get a glass of water. He's breathing rather heavily, as though trying to calm down after a bit of a shock. And, in fact, he sort of is - poor thing, he just had a nightmare. The topic? ...Well, one year ago next week, what started?

He gets up from the bed in a way as to minimize how much he disturbs things, and walks over towards the kitchen.]

Are you all right, Ma-

I asked you not to call me that, Honest...

- Yusuke? You didn't look like you were sleeping well.

I'm fine. It was just a nightmare - it wasn't real...

[Sound of a glass being pulled out, then water being poured into it from somewhere.]

If it bothers you, you should talk about it.

I don't want to worry anyone. It was just a nightmare...

[The sound of water flow stops.]

I'm sure they would be more worried if they found out that you were hiding it from them, Ma-

[The glass comes down on a surface nearby, and when Yusuke next speaks, he's more upset.]

Honest... When I was little, I didn't mind that you called me that - it was what you wanted to call me... But you know why I've asked you, time and again, not to call me that anymore... So why... Why do I always have to remind you...?

I'm sorry, Yusuke.

[It's here that the recording times out.]

.+56+.

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:16:42 GMT

By the way, Ryou... I have something for you.

.+55+.

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:20:06 GMT

It'll be ready, in time, if I keep up this pace, I think. It seems like it's working the way I want it to so far, too.

That's good.

.+54+.

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:40:43 GMT

[Screened to Ryou]

A friend of mine who was sent home several months ago just returned to the compound. I'm going to go get him and bring him to safety - I'll be back in a little while.

Do you mind if he stays in the other bedroom, until he finds a place to stay? I'm not sure if he has anywhere else, or where else is safe...

Please be careful while I'm gone. I promise that I'll be as careful as I can while I'm out. I left Honest in the apartment, and I have my Clear deck with me - if anything happens, they'll pass the message around.

.+53+. [Typewritten]

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:14:51 GMT

[Some fragmented code can be viewed here, indicating that perhaps this was supposed to be private, or screened to his group of people he trusts, or otherwise not viewable to just anyone, but it failed miserably. Whether it was really a mistake like that or whether it was purposeful is not a question that Yusuke's going to answer even if you ask (unless, perhaps, the inquirer is a part of the aforementioned group of people he trusts). But the point is, the following is quite public.]

He shouldn't have to suffer like that, and whether or not he's aware of anything right now...

...especially if he is...

I don't know how to do it myself, but there has to be some way to free the Warden from whatever the Keepers have done - and it's obvious that they've done something, or else he wouldn't be attacking.

We as a compound owe it to him - he could, in theory, have left everyone to die in the radiation, that time, but he didn't. He looked out for us, made sure as many of us as possible survived, brought us here.

But they're probably going to kill him instead, aren't they. That's how things have seemed to be working, lately, anyway.

.+52+.

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:03:05 GMT

Happy Birthday, Fubuki.

I made some candy for you. I'm not the greatest at making it, but I hope you like it.

.+51+.

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:23:41 GMT

That was...

...I liked it. I'm not sure if we should do it every day or anything like that - I mean, it felt... special, in a way, and doing it too often might make it lose that - but...

.+50+.

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:45:51 GMT

Everyone was complaining about it, but...

I wasn't bothered by the mistletoe when it wound up over the bed. It was kind of nostalgic, actually.

.+49+.

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:11:37 GMT

That probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but...

Well, it wasn't that bad, actually... just really spicy. I've had worse. And at least it wasn't poisoned or anything, so...

Though, I haven't drunk that much water at once in a while...

Christmas is coming soon, isn't it... It doesn't seem like it could have been that long - I guess I lost track of time, a little.

.+48+. [Voice Post]

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:30:58 GMT

[There is the sound of footsteps - somewhat nervous footsteps - as Yusuke wanders through the Bank, looking for exactly where it is that Jing left his deck. He's never exactly explored the Bank before, really - never had much desire.

Approximately here, those with the ability to hear spirits will notice, on the recording, that there is a great commotion that begins from nearby as one of the Clear monsters (probably a Cube, since they're kind of the spokes-monsters of the Clear monsters) notices that Yusuke's in the room, and everyone starts making as much noise as they can to alert Yusuke to their location.

Either way, the footsteps grow ever-quicker approximately here, until the footsteps stop. This is where Yusuke spots the deck and picks it up, as well as where he starts talking. His tone is... well, kind of weak, but insanely relieved, as well as a touch... sorrowful?]

...You're all right... Y-You're all right!

[Various monsters in the deck all respond at once, all with the sentiment of "Of course we're all right - you didn't need to worry about us."

Here is the sound of knees giving way and Yusuke collapsing to the ground in relief. Also he starts crying.]

I... I'm so sorry I didn't take better care of you...

[The deck's sentiment here is that it's not Yusuke's fault. They also mention that they would have cried out for help, but they weren't sure if the person who took them could hear them or not, and so one of the Cubes (who is not denying that she had this idea) decided that it would likely be a good idea to not say anything - better to make him think that they're just your average cards.]

...At least... you weren't hurt. That's what's important.

[Of course, something's been bothering Yusuke ever since he ran into Jing, so he comes out and says it.]

...You know... if I'm ever doing anything that you disagree with... Please, if you don't want to stay with me... I don't want to force you to.

[This, of course, incites a large outcry from the deck. Why would they ever want to leave him? He saved their lives!

...Except for one Clear Cube and the Clear Vice Dragon, who manage to understand what exactly is bothering Yusuke and respond to him that if he ever does anything that they strongly disagree with, they will tell him, but to this day, it hasn't happened.]

...Thank you.

[Yusuke stands up.]

Now, how about we go back to the apartment?

[An overwhelmingly agreeing sentiment from the deck. The Cubes, in particular, look forward to seeing Honest again.

And with that, the transmission ends. A happy ending. :)]

((ooc: occurs shortly before this thread. Also, if you want your character to have been in the bank at the same time as Yusuke and to have heard this in person, please let me know. ^^))

.+47+. [Text-Written note to Ryou, visible to all because he didn't bother to screen it]

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:49:56 GMT

I'm going out for a walk by myself. I'll be back soon.

.+46+.

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:05:46 GMT

It's getting colder, outside.

I guess it's that time of year, isn't it...

~~It's almost been that long...~~

.+45+.

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:12:13 GMT

Despite everything bad that's happening, despite all the danger everyone is in, despite having felt death itself, even if it wasn't real ~~and I'm so grateful it wasn't real~~...

This is the happiest I can say I've ever been in my entire life.

It's... probably selfish, I know, especially when everyone else is focused only on everything else going on... But how can I not be? Ryou and I are engaged, we'll spend the rest of our lives together... how would it be possible for me to not be so very happy?

But I want it to last. I want things to be able to stay like this. Which is why I will help and protect everyone I care about to the best of my ability - not only Ryou, but Fubuki, his sisters, Otogi, the other me if he needs it...

...even Yuuki Judai, if we're in the same place.

.+44+.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:37:32 GMT

I'm... not sure if I want to know what this is...

.+43+.

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:02:48 GMT

Everyone was singing, a few days ago. I wasn't affected this time, but...

It made me remember the last time something like that happened, back a few months ago, before... before we realized that.

The songs back then... I would say that I wonder how we didn't realize it sooner ~~even if it was obvious to Fubuki~~, but...

...I'm rather naive to a lot of things, aren't I.

.+42+. [Voice Post]

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:45:41 GMT

[The communicator turns on to the sound of... well, there's very little sound. One might be able to hear the shuffling of some sheets, possibly ever-so-slight grinding of teeth. There's also the ever-so-slightest of squeaks near the beginning, though it's only once, and it's hard to hear unless you're listening for it.

Those who can hear duel spirits will be able to hear the spirits residing in a deck nearby. Specifically, most of their sentiments are 'Aww, how cute!'. Honest's voice comes out most prominently, though.]

Well, it could be worse, Ma-

[It's apparent that the source of the grinding is giving Honest a glare right about here.]

...Yusuke. At least you're still sound in mind, even if you're in the body of a rabbit.

[For that's what happened, good friends - due to Morgana's magic, Yusuke is now a little black Netherland Dwarf rabbit. Who can't speak. And who is going to have a veeeeeery difficult time typing.]

.+41+.

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:36:17 GMT

There was yelling across the hall, and then I could have sworn I heard a crash of thunder.

I wonder what that was.

Also, the sparkling text is interesting and all, but it does kind of hurt the eyes when there's too much of it...

.+40+. [Accidental Voice Post]

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:58:42 GMT

[There is the sound of shuffling through various drawers and looking underneath various objects, as though searching for something.]

...I know it was here... where could it have gone...

.+39+.

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:29:19 GMT

[Screened to Tenjoin Fubuki and Marufuji Ryou]

...So, there are a few people around who seem to be organizing a Legion of Super Heroes, or at least that's what they're calling it.

...I was thinking that I might consider joining. I mean, I... I want to be able to make a difference in the world, with my power. That's... why I sought it. And joining this group would probably be a good way to do that. At the very least, I'd be helping them to help others collectively.

But... I don't know if it's a good idea or not... I mean, I'm not sure if I would work well in a group like that... And though one of the people arranging it said that they don't force people to do things, I don't know if that's actually true...

...what do you think? Do you think it's a good idea, or would it just be trouble?

.+38+. [Accidental Voice Post]

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:23:20 GMT

[The communicator turns on accidentally as Yusuke - it sounds like he's sitting on a bed - shifts around a bit. It turns on in the middle of the conversation - italics are the card spirit Honest, and therefore can only be heard by those with sufficient sixth sense to hear him.]

...thought I asked you to stop that...

I'm sorry - I still need to work on that... but you know, Yusuke, you won't know until you do see them again.

I know... It's just hard, not knowing. I mean, what if...

They won't have forgotten you. Your parents love you. They always have, and they most certainly always will. I patiently awaited your return even through years of separation, and we had known each other for what, one year? Two? They knew you for nearly your entire life. They gave birth to you. I am certain that they have never forgotten you, and that they still love you. They have probably awaited your return as hopefully as I have.

...Thanks, Honest, for your confidence...

[And this is approximately where it clicks off accidentally again.]

((ooc: To explain, yes, Yusuke got hit with truth!plot. So his deeper fears of abandonment that he tries to hide are coming to the surface - specifically, this one is that his parents will have forgotten him, since he's been gone so long. Because in his world, they're not dead. He's trying to get these jitters out of his system by talking to Honest about them, but do feel free to poke. ^^))

.+37+.

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:46:09 GMT

Did something happen, just down the hall?

.+36+.

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:20:27 GMT

...This one's rather soon after the last one. I mean, I think I escaped this time unaffected, but usually there's more than a one-week break between them...

How are you doing, Ryou, Fubuki?