capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

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WHO: Fudou Yuusei, Bruno and OPEN to anyone around?
WHERE: The park
WHEN: ... Backdated to, uh, last Sunday.
WARNINGS: Robot flailing.
SUMMARY: Yuusei goes to meet that awesome robot that lives in his garage and eats Jack's ramen and has absolutely nothing to do with a certain sunglasses guy who saved his ass back home.
FORMAT: Paragraph to start, then whatever you feel like.

Things were getting complicated.

It wasn't because he'd been kidnapped to some alternate world and not even because Ruka claimed to have spent over a year there while he was positive he'd seen her just a few hours before coming to the City. No, he could deal with those oddities. What made him really concerned was the fact Kiryuu was a Dark Signer. Again. He frowned a little, attempting to put that thought aside. Apparently, Kiryuu wasn't there at the moment (though he'd never made it clear where exactly he was), so the Signer had some time to meet with his friends and possibly explain some things that had happen back in their world to them.

Yuusei stopped walking and looked around the park. He had been trying to familiarize himself with the City for the past few days, so he had a fairly good idea of where was and where he wanted to go. So as for the moment, all that had been left for him was to wait for Bruno to arrive.

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Bruno had been spending some time lately getting a feel for the City himself. But as interesting as subway rides and bus trips were (he'd never done a lot of that in Neo Domino, at least as far as he remembered,) he was starting to miss his D-Wheel from back home. So a lot of his feel-getting had turned into window-shopping-at-motorcycle-dealerships pretty quickly. Consequently, he hadn't spent a lot of time in the park yet.

But with judicious use of a piece of map software he'd whipped up for his Network comm he did manage to wind his way to the spot where they'd agreed to meet. He looked up from the screen, glanced around a little, and quickly caught sight of Yuusei. Not that it was too hard, considering his hair.

He broke into an almost relieved smile and waved at him happily. "Yuusei! ... ah--" He quickly re-thought the waving bit and pulled his arms back close to him. After this morning, he really really didn't want to hit anything (or anyone) else on accident.

Of course, Yuusei wasn't really used to using public transport either, but he was fully aware he had no choice but to become reconciled to it for now. The idea of building a new D-Wheel with the parts here had crossed his mind, but there were more important matters to attend to first.

Hearing his name, he turned around and immediately recognized the waving figure that towered above most people around. "Bruno," Yuusei greeted him with a small smile, "It's good to see you."

Not quite as towering here in America he had been back in Japan, relatively speaking, but he was still a fairly tall guy. Not that his mannerisms ever made him look remotely intimidating, especially not right now; he'd picked his way across the sparse crowd strangely carefully and seemed to be giving everybody a wide and slightly nervous berth, even Yuusei. But he still gave him a bright smile in return.

"It's good to see you too! How've you been?"

He was still taller than Yuusei, although the same could be said about quite a large percentage of the population.

It was somewhat unusual to see Bruno walk that cautiously, which didn't escape Yuusei's attention. "I'm fine," he nodded in response and gave him a somewhat questioning look. "Are you alright...?"

"Er..." His smile faltered, then faded out. He had been hoping a little that this would just keep on being an upbeat friends-catching-up meeting for a little longer, but it looked like he'd been more obvious than he thought. "... I don't know. Something sort of... happened this morning. That's why I messaged you."

Bruno squatted down to pick up a small rock from off the path and rolled it around in his palm moodily as he went on. "You know the whole 'superpowers' thing?"

Truth to be told, Bruno was a poor actor. His current behavior raised Yuusei's suspicion that something bad could have happened to one of his friends. Therefore, he watched him for a moment with an anxious look on his face.

"Yes. People who are brought here are supposedly given those, correct?"

Supposedly. He hadn't heard much about those, to be honest.

~~Dammit Yuusei he's a mechanic not an actor.~~

"Well..."

Bruno balled the hand holding the rock into a fist and there were a few disconcerting crushing and cracking noises. Then he opened the hand and tipped it sideways. All that fell out was coarse dust and gravel.

Bruno looked at Yuusei sheepishly.

"I think I might have one."

Yuusei blinked at that sight, not quite sure what to think of it. Clearly, Bruno had been given an amazing ability, though he could easily imagine how much havoc it could cause if not used properly. It also explained why his friend had been so cautious before.

"... I see." The duelist said at last, giving him a nod. He had no idea how he could be of any help to Bruno in that situation, not having experienced anything similar.

He knew Yuusei well enough not be be surprised by his... lack of much apparent surprise.

"I think I can more or less control it, but... I kind of broke a table in half this morning when I woke up. --By accident" he added quickly.

He walked over to a nearby park bench and sat down with a sigh, then looked back up at Yuusei.

"So you haven't noticed anything like that with you yet?"

Adding that wasn't necessary, as Yuusei would never even think of accusing Bruno of breaking something on purpose.

He followed him to the bench, but remained standing.

"No, I haven't." He answered honestly, shaking his head. "Do you think it happens to everyone?"

"That's what I've heard, but I think if you already had powers before you came then that counts..." He ponders to himself. "Maybe it's because of your Signer thing?"

Yuusei looked down at his right forearm in silence. It would be the most logical explanation, yes, especially if considered the Clear Mind ability he'd recently acquired...

"I suppose it could be that." He agreed, turning back to Bruno.

"Mm..." Bruno was quiet for a few moments. He was clearly a little troubled about the whole powers subject.

But he soon looked back up to Yuusei. "Oh! By the way, I don't think I ever asked you, when did you get ported in from? I came during the first match victory party, and Carley's from the end of Jack's duel a little earlier in the day, and Ruka's... Ruka's from a long time ago. But what about you?"

Seeing as Bruno didn't seem too comfortable about the subject, Yuusei chose not to bring it up for the time being.

"After our second victory in the tournament, Neo Domino was attacked by an army of Ghosts," he explained, his expression darkening a little. "They forced the D-Wheelers into dueling them on the rules of Battle Royal mode."

"Ghosts? You mean like that one that dueled you last summer that was making people crash?" he asked, sounding concerned. "There's even more of them?"

But as Bruno thought through more of the discussion he'd heard a couple weeks ago from Sherry and the others, his face turned even more worried. "Wait, if they cause real damage in duels, then... all the people in the tournament..."

He went on a little urgently, "Is everyone okay? What happened?"

"Unfortunately, there is." Yuusei confirmed, scowling. Even if they hadn't been as powerful as during his previous encounter with them, he had to admit their number had made it difficult to fight them.

"They caused several crashes, as well as severely damaged the highway and part of the city. That led the Security to suspend the WRGP for now." he carried on, "Everyone is fine, though."

He made a pause, looking away for a moment. "... The one who controlled them... was a member of Yliaster."

He sighed in relief a bit. "That's good." He was a little disappointed that the WRGP had to be put off, but as long as it wasn't canceled then their team would still have a chance to reach for their dreams.

Bruno saw Yuusei look away and nodded softly. "So Sherry was right about them being connected to Yliaster..." he said. "Did you meet the person behind it all?"

"Yes," Yuusei answered, turning his gaze back to Bruno. "The Three Emperors of Yliaster... Each of them is in possession of a 'Machine Emperor' monster. It seems their goal is to destroy Neo Domino City."

Thinking back to it, there were many things that had been left unexplained. He wished he knew Yliaster's motives better, what the 'Circuit' and the 'will of God' they claimed to follow were. How were they supposed to protect the City without even knowing who their enemy was?

"... I dueled one of them... Placido." he continued after a moment, wondering if he should share his suspicions with his friend and finally deciding to do so. "I don't think he was human."

"Destroy the city??" Bruno exclaimed. "Why would they want to do that?" From everything he'd heard before now it sounded like these people were focusing on Yuusei and his friends and a few other people like Sherry's family, and that was bad enough. But now... what could make them want to kill hundreds of thousands of people?

Bruno was quiet for a moment after Yuusei finished. "... Not human...?" he asked weakly. "What do you mean?"

"... Apparently, they're aiming to 'set the history back to the right course'." Yuusei explained, aware it might not been enough to calm Bruno. After all, it must have been the first time he'd ever faced a threat like that, so his reaction was only natural. Not that Yuusei wasn't worried, he just wasn't expressing it openly.

"Remember our discussion on Ghosts and Jack's impostor back during the victory party?" he asked, thinking about the best way to put it. "I believe he was a kind of robot as well. During our duel, he merged with his D-Wheel."

"Set history on the right course...? What's that supposed to mean?" He was more wondering aloud to himself than asking Yuusei. It seemed like they were both still in the dark about a lot of this.

He turned an unsettled look back at Yuusei at that explanation. "A... a robot? He merged with his D-Wheel?" He swallowed. "So the ones controlling all those machines are more machines?"

This thread of conversation seemed to be making him nearly as uncomfortable as the powers talk, but in a different kind of way. He looked almost like he was preoccupied with his own thoughts, trying to sort something out about all this in his head and not having much luck.

It was going to be a good day, Bakura decided as he headed across the park. Alastair was going to be home soon, Na-- Trowa was his friend again, no one had died or gotten hurt in a way he couldn't heal during the evacuation, the prom had actually been enjoyable and things were getting back to normal! And in another few weeks, Kiryuu and Saitou would be back and he'd get to start his first university class, even if it was just an introductory one...

His step slowed as he spotted a figure up ahead with rather distinct hair. Yuugi? No, too tall. And it was the wrong shape, he realized as he got closer. But with hair like that...

Had to be someone from Domino.

He smiled, waving a little as ha approached. "Good morning!" he greeted.

Ironically, Yuusei had just been thinking about how people from the old Domino City could also be brought to that place. It was certainly an odd experience, being able to speak with people from the time before the Zero Reverse incident. Ones that didn't even know of Satellite or even Momentum...

His train of thought was disrupted by a greeting that was apparently directed at him. He nodded in a silent response, wondering why the voice of the boy in front of him seemed vaguely familiar. He figured he must have talked with him over the Network, which didn't leave him a lot of choices.

"... You're Bakura, aren't you." It was more of a statement than a question, really.

The boy paused a moment, eyes widening.

"Aah-- u--un..." he nodded. "You're Yuusei... right?"

Stupid stupid, someone new from Domino, who else would it have been? He hadn't meant to get involved now that he knew, but now that he had started...

Aaaaa, he was always getting him self into these situations!

"That's me." Yuusei confirmed with another nod. He noticed Bakura's uneasiness, though he had no clue what might have caused it. Come to think of it, the similar thing happened when he introduced himself over the Network. Perhaps it had something to do with his apparent stay in the City from a year ago, but he wouldn't remember that. So the Signer left it for the boy to elaborate if he wished to do so.

The awkward silence that fell for a moment didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

Awkward was nothing new for Bakura, but it was by no means something he was comfortable with. He hadn't had any trouble talking with Yuusei last time he had been in the City, but he had just been getting to know Kiryuu then, and had had no idea... How do you go about casually talking to someone who had done such horrible things to someone who was now your family?

He stopped his thinking before it could get out of hand, taking a slow, deep breath and focusing. It probably looked a little strange, but really, it was the least obvious of the techniques Ben had taught him and the easiest one to remember. He could do this, it was nothing worth panicking over. After all, if he could deal with Keith...

He gave a small smile. "Been settling in all right?"

Nice generic question. Simple enough, right?

If Bakura had chosen not to explain his reaction, then Yuusei wouldn't press the matter. It probably wasn't anything important anyway.

"Yeah," Came a short reply. In fact, he didn't have much more to say on that subject. There was, however, something he wanted to ask the boy or anyone else who could know something about Kiryuu. And he decided it was worth trying, now that they'd met face to face.

"You said you knew people from my time."

Bakura gave a small nod, trying to hide the growing feeling of impending trouble. "Un! A few of them! When I hadn't been here long, I made a post asking if Duel Monsters was around and everyone came out of the woodwork!" he said with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

It figured. The mention of either Domino City or Duel Monsters would certainly attract every duelist's attention. Especially while being trapped in a completely different world.

After a moment of silence, Yuusei asked the question he'd been meaning to. "Do you know how Kiryuu's been doing?"

One thing he knew for sure was that his arrival had spoiled the Dark Signer's mood.

Bakura blinked. That... wasn't what he would have expected. Unless...

.. but Kiryuu had said that Yuusei was family...

He was quiet a moment, debating with himself a moment before giving a small nod.

Yuusei wished he could ask Kiryuu that question in person, but he knew doing so wouldn't work out very well. Thus, he was forced to relay on information from other people.

"... Is he alright?"

Bakura was quiet a moment. "Why are you asking?" he finally answered, looking at Yuusei directly. He knew he was no good at reading people, but...

This was the person who had betrayed his brother, someone his brother considered family, that had sold him out and who's reference caused Kiryuu to become so angry...

But he didn't seem devious. It made Bakura wonder.

It didn't come as a surprise to Yuusei that Bakura appeared to be a little wary. After all, they'd just met in person for the first time.

He didn't reply instantly, taking a moment to consider the situation. True, as far as he was concerned, Kiryuu hated him - enough to want to make him suffer, maybe even kill him. Despite that, in Yuusei's opinion one thing was still the same.

"He's my friend." He stated firmly, no trace of doubt in his voice.

"Even now? After..."

Bakura hesitated a moment. Part of him was hopeful. Misunderstandings happened, people did things for reasons that didn't seem to make sense, actions had unintended consequences...

He wanted that to have been the case. For Kiryuu's sake...

Yuusei frowned, wondering how much Bakura actually knew about what had happened between him and Kiryuu. He didn't want to drag other people into that conflict, but when asked directly, he had no intention or reason to lie.

"He's been my friend for years," he answered with confidence, "and will always be one."

Bakura nodded, giving a very small smile. "That's good to hear." If Yuusei still considered him a friend... there was hope that things would work out.

"He's doing well," he answered finally, keeping the details minimal. If Yuusei asked more, he'd probably answer, buy he wasn't going to offer more than was asked.

It was a relief to hear that, but he was far from feeling content. He knew he'd have to do everything in his power to save Kiryuu.

"... Do you know him well?" Yuusei asked, curious if Kiryuu had made friends in the City. In fact, he hoped that was the case, as it would prove a part of the Kiryuu Yuusei knew was still inside the Dark Signer.

Bakura couldn't help but smile at that question, nodding. Despite knowing rather little about Kiryuu's past, he liked to think he knew his brother well. From his actions, if nothing else.

Things were always complicated. At least, that's how it seemed to Ruka. If it wasn't one thing falling to pieces, it was another, and peace for even one day in the City was not the easiest thing to find. That was what meditation was supposed to help acquire, though not even that always worked.

It was Sunday, and Sundays were usually spent meditating with Raven in the morning, then talking thoughtful strolls through the afternoon when the weather was better. She wasn't consciously thinking of Yuusei at that moment, though she had wondered how this version of him was faring, so Ruka was quite surprised to see him in a place like this.

She didn't have to manually adjust her expression or her mood; seeing her friend again, for the first time in what felt like years, Ruka grinned brightly and instantly detoured. "Oi! Yuusei!"

Yuusei shifted at the familiar voice calling his name and greeted his friend with a smile. He had been worried about the twins, especially after learning how dangerous the City may be. But seeing her safe and sound (or so she seemed) allowed him to stop thinking about both the HIVE and Kiryuu for a moment.

"Ruka," he called her back, coming up to the girl, "How are you and Rua doing?"

On closer inspection once they were face to face, she noticed how much older he seemed than the Yuusei she remembered. She had last seen Yuusei around a year ago, when another him had been in the City, and longer still it had been since Ruka had been in Neo Domino, but she had gotten used to the notion that things at home didn't change while people were in this world. She wasn't sure what it was exactly that wasn't quite what she remembered (was he taller? more muscular? was there something different about his face, or his hair?), but there was time between them.

She wondered how different she might be, from the Ruka he remembered.

At any rate, it was hard not to smile around Yuusei. "We're both alright," she answered with a nod. Things could be hectic sometimes, but nothing truly awful had really happened to either of them. "Nothing much happens to us, specifically. But, how are you doing? The City can be a lot to adjust to."

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OTL for shorttag i am going out the door in like 10 seconds

LATE sorry the paperwork killed me ;;

/prosecutes it for manslaughter

not even von Karma can get it a guilty verdict :<

don't let Franzie hear you say that

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/the latest of the late

what is this late you speak of

rising from the grave and stuff