What Rides in the Dark: 5Ds revisited

Seth chuckled at the response. Perhaps it was the first time someone had picked him out of a room and didn't know who he was. He rested his arm on the bent knee of his right leg, looking up to the newest member of the conversation.

"I'm.....a friend."

He held out his hand just slightly.

"Seth Dr-"

He stopped. Something told him giving his full name wasn't a smart idea, not anymore at least. He had hidden his power for so long, and now that everyone new of it, he was going to be hunted. He hesistated.

"Seth...?" Zeiya repeated, putting her finger on her chin. Her eyes widen as something clicked in her head. "Ah! That reminds me! Seiki, what did you do?!"

"........................Hah?" Seiki glanced at her friend, raising an eyebrow.

"All over town, people were talking about some guy name Seth and a girl with a red hoodie! They weren't happy, either." the blue haired girl pout. "Did you duel?"

"Oh look, mail." Seiki said nonchalantly, turning to the monitor and pretending to dodge the question.

"Ah! So you did!" Zeiya exclaimed. "Jeez, stop getting into werid situations you can't get yourself out of, Seiki."

"Look who's talking..."

"Eh?"

"Nothing."

Seth's eyes darted between the two, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. He shrugged, deciding it was none of his business, and instead returned his attention back to the ring. It settled on a soft glow. Something wasn't right, and he would have to be the one to see to it. He would have to use the ring again, something he never wanted to do, not in this situation.

----------


Smoke rose from the ground, swirling in a vortex before dispersing, inside it five figures. The one in the center stepped into the street lights. He turned, revealing his face as Shane, still wearing the sunglasses even in these late hours.

"Boss, why didn't we just strike there?"

One of the four remaining spoke out, a larger man in a leather vest, his eyes blackened like the others.

"The chaos, it was perfect!"

"Because.....we're not complete yet. It would be rude of me to begin this party without my final guest."

"But Boooooss, why do we need to wait for this person, whoever they are?"

Shane looked to the source of the voice, a young woman with blonde hair in a slim fitting biker outfit.

"Because, dear.......it's just my way."

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

"What the hell?!" Seiki said, rushing over to the front door and looking out the window. She could see a group of people outside. Suddenly, one of the people threw Yuki towards the door. Seiki dodges out of the just before Yuki comes in the apartment crashing.

"F-Fuck you guys..." she hissed as she stood back up.

Seiki froze. Luckily for her, she changed her clothes just incase the maniacs would bust into other's homes, but Seth...

She turned to the male and pretended to put up a hoodie over her head, indicating he should do that to make sure the gang didn't notice him.

Seth nodded, gripping his hood and pulling it up over his head. he jumped to his feet, leaping to the side of Yuki in a stance ready for defense. Dueling was one thing, but there was something Seth could always handle.

A good fight.

He looked down to his ring, shaking his head before looking back to the door.

"Bitch! Stop sympathizing with those freaks of nature!!!" one of them grunted as the gang came inside. "You better cut it out now or thing will get really ugly here." He cracked his knuckles as a way to make sure his point was getting through.

"Like I said...Fuck you." Yuki spat, glaring at the gang.

"Why you..."

"Hey!"

The gang turned to Seiki, and boy, did she looked pissed off.

"Who the hell do you think you are, barging into someone's house like this?!" She shouted, grabbing a crowbar she had nearby her. They all instinctively backed away a little. "You better get the hell out of here before I use this thing on you!"

"A-All right, kid, calm down." one of the other men said, holding up his hands.

"Hmph..." The 'leader' turned to Yuki and pointed. "If we see you trying to stop us from looking for those freakshows, you're fucked!" With that said, the gang left the house. Seiki grabs the detached door and props it back up to the best of her ability (with duct tape).

".....Tch....." Yuki fel lbackwards into a sitting position, leaning against hte wall. "Bastards."

Seth let out his breath. A crowbar and it all fell apart. He did the same, slumping back, not even bothering to remove the hood from his head. He looked at the broken door, his day flashing before his eyes. He went from an international superstar to an outcast in the course of a duel, but in that same moment he felt something.

He felt.....ok with it.

He just couldn't help thinking this was his fault. Over and over he told himself he should've been stronger. He should've taken the attack of the Wurm without showing the pain, then all would be better.

He said nothing.

Yuki just stared at the ground with empty eyes.

"This world, it's a cruel place. People just....well, they fuckin' suck."

Shane's words just repeating over and over in her mind, and she was getting really tired of it, regardless how true it was.

"...Sorry for the mess." She mumbled to the two girls as she got up. "I...better get going..."

She summoned up her strength to get up and walk out the door, making sure it wouldn't fall down again. As she walked past the angry people, she sighed.

~I realy don't want to be involved in this shit again...~ she thought as flashbacks back from the academy played back in her mind. ~No matter how fucked up these people are....God, why does everything have to be so complicated with us?~

"Because we're special, darlin'."

A second set of footsteps joined hers, as Shane appeared out of literally nowhere, walking at her side.

"Life's complicated because people like us, we're special."

Shane could see everything she could, her memories, the moments just before. He could feel every emotion.

"It's no use denying it anymore. People like them, they call us freaks, outcasts. They act like we're the inferior in this equation."

He looked up form under his shades.

"They should be worshipping us for the amount of times we saved their asses."

-----

Seth simply watched Yuki leave, completely ignoring his better sense against it. There was something keeping him from leaving. Was it, guilt? Emotions were something he wasn't used to.

"Huh. Funny." Yuki hissed, trying to look away from him and ignore his very presence. "Didn't think you were the type to be in that stuff. That's Seth." She closed her eyes. "To be frank, I don't give a dam whether I'm an outcast or not. The girl's situation I understand why people would hate her, but what Seth did wouldn't be enough for people to do a freaing 360 on him."

She stopped walking, thinking a bit. ~....Shit....don't tell me....~

"Like I said, I'm not interested in this stupid ideal of yours, making others do whatever you want." she spat, glaring at Shane. "I don't care if you're going through with this, but keep me out of it!"

"You don't believe that......."

Shane spoke sharply, his face blank yet there was a strong seriousness to his statement.

"I know you don't. Do you really just want to be left alone? Look around....."

He held out his arm, displaying their surroundings.

"You are alone! Where's everyone you called your friends? Where's your sister> Where's Zack?"

He took a breath.

"Where's Darren? Gone. They're gone and they've been gone. Now I come to you to give you purpose, but more importantly, to give you a friend and you shun me?"

He shook his head.

"I have no idea why, but I don't understand you."

"You bastard!" Yuki shouted, grabbing Shane's jacket and pushing him against the building. She glared at him with such angry eyes that could kill anyone in an instant.

"Don't you DARE tell me I'm alone...and don't you DARE bring up my sister in this sort of situation!" she hissed, pushing him up against the building even more. "I have no purpose?! Please! I don't give a damn about this crap. Haven't I said it enough?! Just because I think the same way as you doesn't mean I'll take the same action!" Her grip tighten with every word that came out of her mouth.

"I know Zack is gone. I KNOW Darren is gone. So what?!"

.......

Soon, Yuki had enough. She loosened her grip and turned her back to Shane.

"Just get out of my life. Leave me alone."

Shane let out a sigh.

"I didn't want to do this."

He held up a hand, the eyes of his pendant glowing.

"I gave your life meaning once, brought out something you enjoyed. I won't let you let that go."

His eyes flashed violet.

"Reawaken.......come back to us."

Yuki's eyes flew open before she gripped her head in pain, screaming bloody fucking murder.

"S-Shane!" she struggled to keep control of her mind. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Normally, this wouldn't bother her so much. However, she was mentally in rabbles, and the fact that being thrown around like a god dam rag doll by those guys didn't help much either.

"S-Shane...you...." Yuki turned to him, reaching out to do SOMETHING bad to him...

...only to completely pass out.

"That's right, just go to sleep babe, you'll be back with us....once you wake up."

---

Seth had sat there in silence for nearly twenty minutes, unsure of what to say. He looked over his body, the wounds from his duel still fresh but mostly covered by his new clothing. He looked at the ring on his hand, removing it in disgust and putting it in his pocket. He then leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Hey." Seiki said as she walked over to the two Runners. Somehow, Zeiya managed to sneak away during the weird confusion. She sat down and started to work on Shuho's Runner.

"I've been wondering...what exactly was that power you used?"

Seth finally pulled the hood over his head back again, sweat covering his face from the intensity of the moment. He didn't respond for a few passing moment, trying to figure out what to say.

"It's nothing, really."

He knew that answer wasn't satisfying enough for her, and it definitely wasn't close to the truth. He reached into the pocket on his coat, removing from it the ring he had been wearing on his finger.

"Mental power isn't the only form of power in this world. Emotions have great strength. This Ring I have here.....it's a powerful artifact. My actual control over my....'power' is slim, but with the ring I can concentrate it and release it."

He placed it back in his pocket, a frown on his face.

"It's a wicked item, though. This ring has a way of...........getting into my head if I use it too much."

He looked to her.

"What's your story? I told you mine, only fair."

Seiki blinked as she listened to Seth's explaination. "I have to admit...taht's a bit strange even for me." she said after he was done explaining. She walked over to him and sat down next to him, curling her arms around her knees.

"Mine's just simple. I was born with these Psychic powers." She simply stated. "It wasn't until a few months after Sattelite and Neo Domino were seperated that it just spiked up in power. Can't really explain anything more than that." She paused, letting out a sigh. "To be frank, I was like you...just not as popular, but well known."

Seth laughed at the word popular. "Popular, huh?" He rested a bit from the tension he had built up. He was in decent company now, so he could afford to let his gaurd down, just for a little bit. "You think I was popular?"

He sighed, just like he had always done during situations like this.

"A couple years ago I was the top student at Kaiba's Duel Academy. Just barely, but it was enough to give me bragging rights. I was a prodigy. Thing is, it never was enough. People just......didn't get me. I wasn't like the other guys there, but in retrospect.....I'm glad."

He looked to the floor.

"Then I graduated and went onto the main circuit, they all flocked to me because I was billed as "Hell Kaiser II", since we both used similar decks. The whole "Former King of Games" thing helped too. They don't care about me. I'm a show pony......well, I was. Popularity's overrated."

He looked over to her.

"Your powers are quite interesting, though."

She grunted, blowing a piece of her hair out of her face. "My powers? interesting? Bull Shit." she stated, staring off at nothing in particular. "I dont' know about you, but I can't stand dueling because of my power. It comes out on its own and results in hurting a bunch of people: Something I'm not too keen to do when it's just a freaking card game.

"They're in their early stages. There's no power that can't be controlled."

He kept his look on her, making sure he could understand how she was feeling.

"It's not like you choose to hurt them. Yes, it sucks, people get hurt, but with time you may just learn how to fix it."

He took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

"I've hurt people too, but it doesn't make you who you are."

------

"Wakey, wakey!"

A voice called out from the darkness to another. It was a bit squeeky, and soon boney hands nudged the girl it spoke too, hoping to wake her from the slumber his boss had induced.

"Hmph...early stages, my ass." Seiki grunted as she got up. "I'm going back to town to get a efw supplies. Try not to screw yoruself over." With that said and done, she grabbed her messenger bag and headed out the door.

----------------------------------------------------

"Ngh....." Yuki muttered as she stared to stir. Slowly but surely, she opened her eyes. She lied there, blinking a few times as she tried to register what happened and where the hell she is.

"Where am I?" she mumbled.

Seth shook his head as he watched her leave. Lacking in confidence, always a way to kill one's spirit. He felt sorrow for her, but above all, he felt tired. He closed his eyes, what he needed right now was sleep.

--------

"Hey there, welcome back!"

A lanky young man looked directly into the face of Yuki, his eyes wild and blackend around the edges.

"The boss was worried bout cha! Thought you weren't goin' to wake up for a long time!"

He looked around the room. it was nothing special, and of course dark, but to him it was comforting.

"You're home!"

Yuki's black edged eyes twitched. Whoever this guy was, he was annoying her, and it wasn't just his way of talking, either.

"How long was I out?" she asked him. She rather jsut get straight tot he point until she figures things out before he annoys her anymore.

"Harrison, piss off."

A voice broke from the doorway that struck fear in the heart of the skinny freak talking to Yuki, causing him to nod like a trained pet to his master's call.

"Y-yes boss, right away! I'll go, uuuuuh, tune your bike or somethin'!"

The guy now known as Harrison jolted from the room, past the shadowy figure he called Boss, disappearing down the hallway. The boss watched him run before turning his atention to Yuki.

"You were out for about five hours. I've never had anyone go out for that long.....I was worried about you."

The boss pulled up a chair, turning it and sitting so his arms were resting on the backrest, now displaying the face of Shane, his eyes still lost behind the lenses of his shades.

"Glad to see you woke up."