Yu-Gi-Oh GX 1. Hospitalized

**Shadgirl2: So...Midna says that updates will be slow for our other story, "A Second Chance."**

**Midna: Updates on "A Second Chance" will be slow because of duels, which we have to write now.**

**Shadgirl2: So we've got another collab (because I don't write stories on my own, I'm not that good). It takes place in a future Earth (like, millions of years in the future, when continental drift has made all 7 continents one again, like Pangaea). The world we know exists only in the history books—**

**Midna: No-so-vague references to American history appear at a later time.**

**Shadgirl2: Yes, thank you, Midna. Anyway, it's me and her writing.**

**Midna: So, without any further ado, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

**WARNING: OC**

* * *

The first thing I remember, I woke up with a major headache, and the lights in the room—along with the white walls and white...well, everything—didn't really help much. I'm not sure why, exactly, but seeing all that white had me freaked out for a bit. That is, until a woman came in wearing a pink nurse's outfit. She had auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail and gentle green eyes.

"So, you're finally awake, are you?" she asked me. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Uh... My head hurts," I told her.

"No surprise there. You were in a serious car accident. You're lucky you're still alive. Can I get you anything to ease the pain?"

"Uh...sure?"

She nodded. "Wait right here. I'll go get you something."

She walked out, leaving me to wonder about what she had just said. I didn't remember being in any sort of car accident. Then again...

_A car accident? Why don't I remember it? Come to think of it, I don't remember anything, _I realized suddenly._ I...can't even remember who I am..._

While I was trying to remember who I was—which only made my headache worse—a doctor walked in and asked, "So, son, how are you feeling today? The nurse said your head was bothering you?"

"Uh, yeah, a little," I told him.

He started checking me over, checking my blood pressure as he said, "I see. Does anything else hurt or feel funny, young man?"

"No."

He took the blood pressure cuff off me, then put on his stethoscope. "That's good to hear. Because you were a mess when we found you." He lifted my shirt and continued his examination.

The nurse came back in just as the doctor finished up. "So, how is he, doctor?" she asked.

"Well, he's doing a lot better than when he first came to us. Now, if we can only get his name, we can call his family to come pick him up." He turned to me and asked, "So, son, what is it? Who do you want us to contact?"

Great. Just great. I knew he was going to ask that, but I didn't have an answer. I mean, I hadn't thought about my family, per se, but I'd been wondering what my name was. Guess my family would know that...if I could just remember who the heck they were.

"I...I don't know. I can't remember."

"What was that, young man?" the doctor asked.

"Surely you can remember something about yourself," the nurse said. "Your family? Do you have a mom? Dad? Any siblings you know about?"

The more she asked, the more I wondered. "I don't know."

"Do you know where you were born?" the doctor tried. "Where you live? What kind of a life you used to lead?"

Oh, yeah, sure, I totally knew where I was born. No, I didn't even know where I was, for crying out loud! I mean, I'd figured out that I was in a hospital, but what part of the world that hospital was in was still a great mystery to me. For all I knew, I was born in a spaceship from the planet Mordar.

"No."

"Then perhaps you know your birthday," the nurse suggested. "How old you are? Anything?"

"Can you remember anything at all, son?"

I shook my head, now wondering what the date even was. Great. I was just getting more and more lost the more questions they asked. "No, nothing."

The doctor turned to the nurse and lowered his voice, apparently aiming to keep the conversation hushed—well, that worked about as well as interrogating me because I heard every word they said.

"This is bad. He has no memory of anything before he wound up here."

Yeah, that was true.

"Is it amnesia?" the nurse asked.

The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so. Which is made worse by the fact that he didn't have any ID on his person when we found him. Getting him the care he needs will be difficult without the people he knows in life there to help him."

Great. Well, wasn't I just a genius? Running around getting into car accidents and losing my memory without any ID. Whoever my parents were, they must not have raised me very well. I sounded pretty stupid to my own ears just then.

"Then maybe I can help," the nurse suggested. "Let him come home with me for now. I'll do whatever it takes to find his family and help him through this."

"Are you sure, Elise? This could be a tougher job than you think."

Nurse Elise said, "Well, we can't just drop the poor thing off at the shelter. He'd never fit in there, all things considered. Please. Let me take care of him. It'll be our little secret."

The doctor thought about it for a minute. For a bit, it looked like he was gonna say no, which would have left me...where, exactly?

Luckily I didn't have to find out. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt," the doctor said. "Alright, Elise, but be warned. This isn't how we usually operate, so keep it under wraps. We could _both_ get fired if you don't."

"Okay, thank you, sir! I promise I won't let you down."

They both turned back to me, and the doctor said, "Well, son, in light of the circumstances, our nurse Elise will be looking after you until we can find your caregivers." Careful choice of words, there, doc. "But if, after awhile, we discover that there aren't any, you'll be taken to our local children's shelter and looked after there until such a time as someone decides to take you in or you grow up and move out. Do you understand?"

Did I understand? Well, I guess it wasn't that hard of a concept to grasp. Stay with the nurse until my family was found (or lack of family was determined) and then live in orphanage until I grew up. In practice, though, it was a little more complicated. Like, how did he think they were gonna find out I didn't have a family? Were they just going to drop me at an orphanage if nobody showed up in a few months? And I didn't have a clue how old I was. How was I supposed to know when I "grew up?"

But I didn't say any of this. I just nodded. "Yeah."

"Very good," Elise said. "But, before we do anything, we should really figure out what to call you. After all, people will start to wonder what's going on if you don't have a name, right?"

Well, I don't know about you, but I thought it sounded pretty fair that they should wonder. After all, I was wondering what was going on, and nobody could clarify anything for me. Why should I have to be the only one who was totally lost and confused? Besides, the idea of being given a new name—even though I didn't remember my old one—was...uncomfortable to me, for some reason, and I shifted at the suggestion. But I knew she was right.

"So? Do you have a name in mind that you'd like to be called for now?" she asked. And then the uncomfortable suggestions from a stranger began. "How about I call you Henry? What do you think?"

What did I think? No. N. O. No. That felt so wrong in so many ways. "Uh..."

"That's a no, then? Then how about Gary? Is that name any better?"

You ever try talking to someone from another country and then realize that they're speaking another language? One that you don't understand? That's what this whole thing felt like to me, like all of the names she came up with were a different language. Like, I mean, literally, these names felt foreign to me. Like they weren't used in my homeland. I shifted again and started trying to remember what my name was, or at least my initial.

"Okay? How about...Sam?"

I shook my head, knowing I wasn't any closer to figuring out my real name but not wanting to be called by some foreign word. "I don't know..."

"Kevin?"

I shrugged.

"George?"

I shook my head, very sure I didn't want to be called that. But...the "G" sounded familiar...

"No? Then how about...John? Do you like that one any better?"

I blinked as something came back to me suddenly. "It starts with a J," I said.

Elise grinned and said, "Oh, I get it. You're trying to remember your real name right now, aren't you?"

I shifted again and admitted, "Well, everything feels wrong."

"Then perhaps some J names will feel better to you. How's Jesse?"

"Mmm..." I shook my head.

"Jonah?"

I shook my head again.

She put her hands on her hips and said, "Kid, you're making this harder than it needs to be. All you've got to do is pick a name."

I shifted guiltily. Sure, she could say that—she knew her name. "Sorry."

"Okay. Enough with the guessing games. The next name I throw at you is what I'm going to call you unless you remember your real name naturally. Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, figuring I'd annoyed her enough for one day. I mean, she was the only reason I wouldn't be going straight to an orphanage, so I should probably try to be nice.

"Good. Then your name is Jaden. It starts with a J and seems like it will fit you. Sound good?"

I nodded. It still didn't feel right, but it would do for now. Hopefully I'd remember who I was sooner or later—preferably sooner.

She sighed, apparently relieved that I hadn't said no to that name, too. "Good! Now, then, Jaden, I'm going to go talk to the doctor about what we need to do to set this up. I'll be back to discharge you shortly. In the meantime, why don't you take this medicine and take it easy for awhile, okay?" she said, handing me a couple of pills and a glass of water.

I was about to say that the doctor was here, but then I realized he wasn't. He must have left sometime while we were talking. "Okay," I said instead, taking the medicine and the water.

As I popped the pills in my mouth and chased them down with every last drop of that water—I hadn't even realized how thirsty I was until then—Elise nodded and headed out. This, of course, left me to my muddled and confused thoughts, which wasn't exactly helping the medicine get rid of that headache I still had.

_So I'm living with a nurse for now...but what if I don't have any family?_

That was when something she had said hit me hard—kid, in a car accident. With no ID. Meaning no driver's license. Meaning I couldn't have, legally, been driving. Meaning there had to have been someone else in the car...

_Wait a second, didn't they say I was in a car accident? Who was driving? Oh, _please_ tell me it wasn't my parents!_

Then things got weird. A faint voice said,_ "Kuri kuri..."_

"Huh?" I looked around, but didn't see anyone. "Who's there?"

Silence answered me. I waited another moment to see if I'd hear it again, but I didn't.

"Must be my imagination," I decided.

That was when Elise came back. "Okay, Jaden, we're all set! Just as soon as I unhook you, we can get going, okay?"

And that was when I realized that there were all sorts of wires on me and an IV in my arm. Man, I was real perceptive that day, wasn't I?

"Um, first, was there anyone else in the car?" I asked. Hopefully I was just breaking the law.

"Well, there were two men we found," she answered, unhooking everything that I hadn't even realized I was hooked up to. "Both dead, I'm afraid, so we're not sure what happened. But don't worry! You're okay now."

Okay. So either I was adopted by a gay couple and both my parents were officially dead, or that was my father and some other relative, or my father and a friend, or... You know what, there were a lot of possibilities. Personally, I was hoping for the "nobody I knew" possibility.

"Okay."

"So, Jaden, shall we go?"

I nodded and stood up. I guess I moved too fast, though, because I nearly fell on my face.

Elise caught me and helped me get my balance. "You alright, Jaden? Do you need a crutch or something?"

"N-no, I'll be okay."

"If you say so. Just...try not to fall on your face on the way to the car, okay?" she teased.

"Okay."

Nurses. Always thinking you need a crutch. I wasn't sure where that thought came from, but I guess it just meant I'd been in hospitals a lot. Either I was really clumsy or I suffered from some sort of condition that I couldn't remember.

Man, amnesia stinks.


	2. Temporary Home

**Shadgirl2: Okay, somebody pointed out that they don't think hospitals work the way the one in this story did. Thanks for pointing that out. Just to clarify, though, I'm not a doctor, Midna's not a doctor, and neither of us spend a lot of time in hospitals (thankfully).**

**Midna: Also, this story takes place in the future, so there have been a lot of advancements made in medicine.**

**Shadgirl2: So, with that cleared up, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX. Elise belongs to me (Shadgirl2).**

**WARNING: OC, AU (forgot to put that part in last chapter)**

* * *

I'll admit it. There was something about being in a car that had me wondering more about the accident. So I started asking all sorts of questions on the drive to Elise's place—all of them involving what happened. Looking back, I'm pretty sure she couldn't answer most of them. Like...who those other guys were, where the accident happened, what exactly caused it...the list goes on and on. Oh, and the last question was the weirdest one I'd asked that day: What kind of car was it?

Turns out, though, that was the most important question, and the one with the most confusing answer.

"Well, Jaden, to answer your questions, the car we found you in wasn't even a car at all. It was a truck."

For a second, I thought she meant a pickup truck. Her next words told me that, no, for whatever reason, I was in an 18-wheeler.

"And you were trapped in the back of the truck, for some reason. See, when the authorities got to the crash site, they saw the vehicle lying on its side about a mile off the highway, and it looked as though a storm had ripped through it. The whole thing was bent in and falling apart, and the back, where you were, had a long, thin crack in it, which is how they knew you were there. They saw you lying there, unconscious and badly injured, through the crack."

You know the funny thing about amnesia? You don't remember what caused it. So, since this was all news to me, I was completely absorbed—and trying to remember what the heck had gone down.

"Anyway, the squad had to pry the truck open, then they pulled you out of there, rushed you to the hospital, and you'd been unconscious ever since. Why, when we first got you, you had to have some emergency surgery done, and you'd been in ICU for the first five days you were with us. Good thing, too, because the pain from your injuries was apparently so bad, it even disturbed you in your sleep. You were writhing in pain, even though you were still out of it. Really, after all that, it is a miracle that you're still alive."

That all sounded weird to me. I mean, the storm, I figured that was probably a tornado or something, maybe one of those weird superstorms we sometimes got. And all that stuff after the accident I'd leave to a doctor to explain since I didn't get it. But the truck thing...

"What was I doing there?" I wondered.

"Hm? Say something, Jaden?" Elise asked.

I shook my head. "No. Nothing."

Elise pulled up to the curb then and parked the car. "Ah. We're here."

I got out of the car and looked around at the suburban neighborhood. I'm pretty sure everybody's lawn was spray-painted or fake because it can't be possible to get your grass that green, can it? Other than the abnormally green yards, everything else seemed normal. The houses were well-kept, there were kids playing in the very green grass, and a couple of people walking dogs.

Elise walked over and stood beside me. "So, Jaden, what do you think? It's a nice place, isn't it?" she asked.

It took me a second to realize she was referring to her own house, which is also when I realized that it was right in front of me. So I looked at the house, then looked again because I'd never seen a house with a pink roof that I could remember. The siding of the two-story building was yellow, with a pink awning over the front porch supported by white metal supports. A stone walkway led through the yard up to the porch.

"Yeah," I said.

"Good. Well, come on, then," she said, heading down the walkway. "Let's get you settled in, okay?"

I followed her down the path.

So, okay, there was a row of hedges on the left, separating Elise's yard from her neighbor's, and I had noticed a woman with long brown hair on the other side of that yard, trimming some hedges identical to the ones on this side. What I didn't notice was her daughter, who must have been crouching earlier. As I walked past the hedges, I heard a rustle from them and turned in time to see a girl stand up. Her blond hair fell down to her lower back, hazel eyes shining. She was wearing a short-sleeved green shirt, open in the front, with a pink hooded shirt underneath, along with the cutest smile I had ever seen (which wasn't saying much, considering it was about the only smile I could actually remember seeing, but still).

I stopped and stared as she wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"Almost done over here, Mom!" she called over her shoulder to the other woman. "How's your side coming!?"

"Oh, not bad!" she called, eying the white picket fence that walled-off their yard from the front. "The fence could use a little more work, but that's your dad's job to fix!"

The girl laughed. "Yeah, I'll say! When do you think he'll remember to do that!?"

"Probably when pigs fly, dear. You know how that man is, after all. He'd forget his head if it wasn't screwed onto his shoulders."

As I marveled over the fact that a saying that old was still useful (seriously, nobody had tried to make genetically modified flying pigs to spite their mother for saying they'd get a date when pigs fly or something?), the girl laughed again.

"Yeah. That's for sure!" she said.

"What are you looking at, Jaden?" Elise asked with a grin, drawing me back to the real world.

_When did she get there?_ I wondered. I mean, I was pretty sure she had kept walking when I stopped. Guess she noticed I wasn't following. "Uh...nothing?" I said, looking in the exact opposite direction of that girl.

Too late for a coverup, though. Elise looked over there and smiled. "Want to go introduce yourself? It's okay if you do."

I thought about it for a minute. Introduce myself? That would be a lot easier if I knew who I was. I mean, if I introduced myself as Jaden, then one day remembered my real name and told her, then I'd have to explain about the amnesia thing... Aw, I could worry about that later. Saying hi wasn't going to kill me!

"Yeah, okay," I said.

So I turned and headed over to the hedges, but the girl was turning to leave about the same time.

"Hey!" I called, hurrying over before she could take off.

She stopped and turned, looking confused. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Uh, I'm...Jaden. I just moved in next door, so I thought I'd say hi?"

Did I say this couldn't kill me? Sorry, my bad. The girl looked even more confused, raising an eyebrow and everything. What, was it that weird for somebody to move in?

"Jaden? And you just moved in?" she repeated, as if trying to make sure she'd heard me right. "So, what? Did Elise adopt a child or something? 'Cause I know that's still her house. She never said anything about moving, after all."

"I'm staying with her for now," I answered. I mean, honesty's supposed to be the best policy, right? "It's...kinda complicated."

And there went that eyebrow again! Guess I should've just said that Elise had adopted me. "Complicated?"

Well, by now, I was kinda starting to regret this. I mean, this wasn't going the way I'd planned at all. But I figured I might as well keep talking. "I guess you could say I'm lost?"

She stared at me for a long time, like she was trying to bore into my soul and find out what my true, evil intentions were. Was everyone in the neighborhood that suspicious of newcomers? If so, I didn't think it was any wonder nobody ever moved in.

Finally she said, "Okay? Well, then, welcome to the neighborhood I...guess."

"So what's your name?" I asked, trying to salvage this attempt at conversation.

She hesitated, which really made me think she thought I was up to something devious. "Asuka," she said at last. "Asuka Tenjoin."

"Nice to meet you."

"Right," she said, turning away slightly. "Well, good luck trying to find your family. See ya."

She headed back inside her house, and I was pretty sure that would be the last time Asuka Tenjoin and I would ever talk to each other. That is, unless I wanted to find myself in court. So I headed back over to where Elise was still standing on the walkway, waiting for me.

"Well? How'd it go?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not too sure I've got good people skills."

Apparently Elise thought that was funny because she laughed. "Don't worry, Jaden! You'll get the hang of it. Just give it some time, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Well, Jaden, shall we go inside now?" At my nod, she said, "Good. Come on, then." She turned and continued toward her house. "Let's get you settled in now."

We headed up to the porch, and Elise dug around in her purse for a minute for the key. As she went to unlock the door, I thought I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. But when I looked, it was gone.

_What was that?_

_"__Kuri kuri,"_ I heard again.

"Huh?" Like last time, I looked around for the source of that...strange, yet familiar language. And, like last time, I saw nothing.

"Hm?" Elise looked at me, opening the door. "Something wrong, dear?"

"Uh, no," I answered, turning to her.

She headed inside, and I followed behind, still wondering about that voice.

The entrance hall had a hardwood floor, which extended through a doorway in the back. There was a staircase running along the right wall, with a smooth wooden banister. I walked a little farther in and figured out that the door in back led to the dining room and kitchen, There was a door on the left of the entrance hall that led into a room with a teal carpet. In there was a blue couch and a matching armchair, along with a glass coffee table. A flat-screen TV was mounted on the far wall. The walls, from what I had seen so far, were all yellow, so I was pretty sure I knew what her favorite color was. Sad, considering I didn't know mine at the time.

"Nice," I said.

"Thank you, Jaden. Glad you like it. Because you're going to be staying here for awhile," Elise said. "Well, then. Why don't I show you to your room, and you can do whatever you need to to get settled in? That is, to make yourself comfortable, of course."

"Okay," I said, thinking that all I'd need to do to make myself comfortable would be to flop on that couch and watch TV.

Elise led me upstairs, where there were three rooms—one with the door shut, which I guessed was hers; a bathroom with (surprise) yellow walls and a white-tiled floor; and...a room with some old furniture, boxes, and a round, red rug. The walls were yellow, like every other wall in this place, and the floor was hardwood, like the hallway outside.

"Well, here we are," she said. "It's nothing fancy, but it's the best I can do on such short notice."

"It's fine," I told her. "Thanks for taking me in."

"You're welcome, dear. Now, I'm going to go do some shopping, so try to be good while I'm gone, okay? You're free to use anything in this house that interests you, but don't go making a huge mess, okay? A clean house is a happy house, I always say!"

"Okay."

"I'll be back shortly. Take care til then, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, she headed back downstairs. I took another look around the room, then headed down to the living room and sat down on the couch, which, it turned out, was insanely comfortable. Hey, there wasn't a bed along with the random furniture upstairs in my new room. Maybe I could just sleep on the couch.

Anyway, I was kind of hoping that watching TV might jog my memory somehow, like maybe I'd see something I'd watched before, or something that somehow related to my life.

Well. An old-timey Spanish soap opera didn't help, though it did make me wonder why I could actually understand what they were saying. Guess I spoke Spanish. With that exciting realization, I changed the channel.

New vacuum cleaner! Oh, boy! Ten times the suction, and—yeah, next channel.

Some kid with blue hair and gray eyes hidden behind glasses was on the screen. One of his eyes was blackened, and he was wiping blood off the corner of his mouth when I landed on this channel. There was a blond woman in a suit standing beside him, a microphone in hand.

"As you've already seen, bullying is a serious problem in the town of Tiller," the woman said. "Just listen to the statements from some of the victims."

"Actually, miss, I'm the only victim..." the kid said.

My eyes widened. "The _only_ victim?"

"Hmm. I see," the woman said. "And what makes you believe that you're the only one being bullied around here? Surely there are others, aren't there?"

The kid shrugged. "Don't know. If there are, they take it out on me also. I can't go one block around here without somebody picking on me. And that's only the little kids. The older ones do a lot worse to me than that. I'm constantly shoved in mailboxes, slammed in dumpsters, and beat to a pulp on a daily basis. There are some days, even, that I dare not leave the house for fear that my current injuries will get worse, and I'll have to go to the hospital or something!"

"That's just sick!" I said. I didn't understand how they could fit that kid in a mailbox, unless it was one of those big ones you sometimes saw on street corners. Then again, those still had small openings... Aw, man, if that part was true, then these guys defied the laws of the universe when they were picking on this kid!

"Well, that's a little more than we were expecting," the woman said. "Hopefully there's someone out there who—"

I didn't hear the rest of that—somebody started pounding on the front door right then.

"Huh?" I got up to go see who it was.

That's probably the only reason they didn't get what they were after.


	3. The First Emperors

**Shadgirl2: Sorry for the wait.**

**Midna: We've both been busy. I know this was up yesterday, but Shadgirl2 decided she wasn't satisfied with it, so she took it down and had me do more writing.**

**Shadgirl2: Well, you've gotta admit, I was right.**

**Midna: Yeah, yeah. Still annoying, though.**

**Shadgirl2: What can I say? I thought you could do better, and I was right.**

**Midna: Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX. Fire Samurai is ours.**

* * *

The door flew open before I got to it. The guys standing in the doorway didn't look too friendly, either. One was tall and skinny, with long red hair slicked back from his face. One strand of his hair spiked up into the air, then hung down in his face, where his eyes were covered by yellow-tinted glasses. He was wearing a dark trench coat. The other was a big guy with brown hair under a baseball cap that was sitting sideways on his head. He had a white collared shirt under a yellow hoodie. They both looked at me as though they'd just won the lottery. Both were wearing duel disks, marking them as duelists.

"Ha!" the red-head said. "Thought you could get away from us that easily, huh? Well, tough luck! We weren't about to let some crash keep us from finding you, kid."

I backed up. "H-huh?"

"Yeah. No kidding," the other guy said. "That was some storm those guys got into, huh?"

The red-head growled. "Can it, Iwamaru!" he said to his friend. "This isn't the time to make small talk! We need to get this kid back to headquarters before the boss gets angry."

"Right!" Iwamaru said. "Let's get him. But, uh? Can we take this outside first? I'd hate to mess up such a lovely house."

Wait, he'd hate to mess up the house? Was he serious?

"Huh," the red-head said, looking around. "Now that you mention it, we probably should settle this outside. Come here, kid! We can fight out there!"

Apparently they were both serious. I couldn't figure out why that mattered, considering they were willing to bust into the house in the first place, but I didn't have time to worry about that just then. The red-head lunged forward, grabbing at me. I dodged, jumping backward out of range, and he fell on his face.

"I don't know who you guys are, but there's no way I'm doing what you want!" I said.

"Aw, come on, kid," Iwamaru said. "We'll mess up the house in here."

Sitting up, the other guy said, "Yeah! Can't you at least go outside so we can chase ya?"

Okay, talk about a stupid request. Why would I go outside to be chased by some guys who were after me when being inside was keeping them from doing much? "What do you want with me, anyway?"

"Come on, boy. Don't you remember? We want you to join our group, the Light Brigade, and we aren't taking no for an answer, either."

"Yeah!" Iwamaru agreed. "We need a fifth member. One that controls the Monarch of the Wind. Besides, if we don't get you back to headquarters soon, the boss will chew us out for messing up again! So why don't we do this the easy way, and you come quietly?"

I hesitated, wondering what they were talking about. Light Brigade? Was that some sort of secret club? What did they mean they needed another member? The name made it sound like they were trying to fight against some sort of evil, but then why were they trying to grab me? Was I just too stubborn for them, or were they afraid of their boss? I figured I should ask. Maybe they could tell me what was going on.

"Why do you need me?" I asked.

The red-head growled. "Enough! Forget worrying about messing up the place! I'm gonna drag the guy back by force! Iwamaru," he said, activating his duel disk. "Help me out, will ya!? We're burning daylight playing 20 questions with him!"

"Right! I've got your back, pal!" Iwamaru said, activating his disk as well. "Let's do this together!"

Well, so much for being safe inside, and so much for getting answers. They both summoned a monster. Iwamaru summoned Mine Golem, a green-armored earth monster. His friend summoned a monster I'd never seen before—a samurai in fire-red armor.

"Now, go!" the red-head said. "Capture him at once!"

I turned and ran for the back door.

"Don't let him get away!" Iwamaru commanded. "After him, Mine Golem!"

"Fire Samurai! Get him!"

They chased me through the kitchen and out the back door. I ran for the neighbors' house, the same place that Asuka girl lived, and pounded on the door. The other guys were gaining on me fast.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" the red-head yelled.

Those two monsters were closing in fast. The door opened, and a teenage boy stood there, with brown hair and eyes.

"Hey, bro," he said to me. "What—"

"Help!" I cut him off, glancing back over my shoulder. "These guys are...I don't know!"

Mine Golem picked me up then. The boy's eyes widened.

"H-hey! What's going on here!?" he asked, stepping outside.

"Aw, too bad," the red-head said, walking over. "Looks like ya lost. Now come with us! The master's waiting!"

"Let me go!" I cried, struggling against the monster's grip.

"Hey!" the boy called. "_What's_ going on here!?"

"Nothing to be concerned about, sir!" the red-head said. "Just taking care of some business, that's all. See, this kid's an escaped convict from Misgarth, and we were just escorting him back to the prison. Isn't that right, partner?"

I may not have remembered who I was, but I was sure that couldn't be true, especially given what they had told me. Now I knew: they couldn't be trusted. And I made another realization about them, too.

"Somehow I don't think that's true!" I said. "You guys were working with the guys who had me in the back of that truck?"

The boy's eyes widened, and I knew he didn't believe them anymore. "_What_!?"

"Okay. I think we're done here," the red-head said. "Take care of him for me, will ya? I'll deal with _this_ guy."

"Right! Whatever you say, Honomaru!" Iwamaru said to his ally. Then he turned to me. "Okay, let's go, boy! Off to see the boss!"

He started walking off, and his monster followed. I kept struggling in vain, trying to get free.

"It's just you and me now, dude," Honomaru said to the other boy. "Should've minded your own business. And, now, you're gonna pay for it." He slapped another card down on his duel disk, saying, "I summon Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch! Show yourself!"

Bigger than his fire samurai but similar in appearance, Thestalos appeared, looming over the boy. It had 2400 attack points. The boy, however, didn't seem phased—he laughed.

"Oh, you do _not_ wanna pick a fight with me," he said. "So why don't you let that guy go and save yourselves some pain?"

It might have been easier to take him seriously if he hadn't sounded so cheery, like he was just talking to a friend and joking around. As it was, he seemed pretty non-threatening.

"What are you, nuts!?" Honomaru demanded. "We let this kid go, and that's _all_ we're gonna get! Now, are you gonna fight back or not? 'Cause I'm through playing around!"

The boy sighed. "Suit yourself." He pulled a duel disk, putting it on, and slapped down a monster. "I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick in attack mode!"

Iwamaru stopped and looked back as a red egg appeared. It hatched, revealing a black baby dragon. He and Honomaru stared, stunned, for a minute, then burst out laughing.

"Are you serious, dude!?" Honomaru laughed. "That thing can't even stand up to my Uncle David, let alone be a match for my monarch!"

"Yeah!" Iwamaru said, walking back over to Honomaru. "So why don't you give up now and save yourself the embarrassment!"

Man, this didn't look good for me. That guy was the only hope I had of getting away from these two. I just hoped he knew what he was doing.

He slapped himself in the head, smiling. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I somehow forget to point out that I'm not finished yet?"

Honomaru and Iwamaru stopped laughing. "Huh?" they asked.

"'Cause here comes the best part! When my Red-Eyes Chick is face-up on the field, I get to summon the original one from my hand!"

"What!?"

"H-he can't be serious!" Iwamaru said. "Th-that card is—"

"That's right!" the boy cut him off. "I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Chick to summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The baby dragon grew up, turning into a full-size black dragon with red eyes. Its attack, 2400, made it an equal match for the monarch. Honomaru and Iwamaru both gasped, hugging each other.

"But that's not all!" the boy said. "When he's summoned to the field, I get to summon my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon from my hand as well!"

"Impossible!" Honomaru protested. "There's no such card!"

"Oh, isn't there? Look closely."

The dragon dove into the ground, exploding in a burst of flames. Out of the fire came another dragon, also black, but with glowing red marks. It had 2400 attack points, just like the original Red-Eyes.

"I-it's true!" Honomaru stammered. "A new kind of Red-Eyes! B-but that's impossible! Where'd this guy get a card like that!?"

"Whoa!" I said. "Awesome!"

And I meant it, too. That dragon was amazing! The coolest thing I'd ever seen...that I could remember, anyway.

"Aw, that's nothing," the boy said. "If you liked that, wait til you see his effect!"

"_What_!?"

"Here goes! When there are dragon-type monsters in my graveyard, he gains an extra 300 attack points for each one!"

"So, wait," Iwamaru said. "He sent 2 dragons to the graveyard to summon that thing. Each is worth a total of 300 attack points, so..."

"That makes it stronger than that monarch!" I cheered.

"Idiot!" Honomaru said to Iwamaru. "Hurry and get the kid outta here before—"

"Too late!" the boy said. "I attack with my dragon! Go get 'em, boy!"

With its attack at 3000 points, the dragon blasted Thestalos, frying it to a crisp. Then it charged the Mine Golem, tearing through it with razor-sharp claws and grabbing me in its hand.

"Let's get outta here!" Honomaru said. Then he disappeared in a swirl of flames.

_What!?_ I wondered. _Did he just...?_

"You haven't seen the last of us, kid!" Iwamaru said to me. "We'll be back! And you will join our team!"

With that, the ground rose up around him, and, when they settled down, he was gone.

_These guys can teleport? Oh, that's just great..._

The dragon put me down and vanished as the boy walked over.

"Huh," he said. "Strange guys. Anyway, you alright, kiddo?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," I told him. "Thanks a lot!"

He laughed.

"Aw, don't mention it. But, you know, you might want to get a strong deck together, or, at least, some strong monsters if you've got guys like that chasing you. How do you expect to defend yourself if you don't have a strong deck?"

"I've got a deck, but it's in my room. I didn't know I had a bunch of weirdos after me."

"Well, that's okay, kiddo. 'Cause now, you know! And you'll be prepared next time, right?" he said, winking.

I stared at this super cheery guy for a moment before saying, "I think?"

He rubbed my head like I was a little kid. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be okay. Well, I better head inside before the cops show up thinking I'm up to no good again. Nice meeting you, kid! See ya!"

With that strange statement made, he headed back inside his house.

I stared after him for a moment, thinking about the comment about the police. "I'm not even sure I want to know..."

Well, with the fact that people were trying to kidnap me, I figured standing outside in a neighborhood I didn't know wasn't such a good idea. So I headed back to Elise's place to wait for her to get home. At least there was a door there that I could lock. Not that it would matter if those guys could teleport.


	4. Errands and More Trouble

**Shadgirl2: Sorry for the wait.**

**Midna: I can't keep track of what I/we have updated lately... Might help if we both hadn't gotten sick.**

**Shadgirl2: Yeah, when you're sick, you're braindead.**

**Midna: Tell me about it.**

**Shadgirl2: Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and there's a POV shift in this chapter, but most of it is still Judai's POV.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

About an hour later, I heard somebody messing around with the door, so I went and stood cautiously in the living room doorway, staring at the front door. When it opened, Elise was standing there with grocery bags.

She saw me standing there like a dog left home alone too long and teased, "What's up, Jaden? Did you miss me that much?"

I ran over and hugged her, relieved that it was her and not those weirdos again. "Th-these guys showed up. They busted in, and..."

She let the bags slide out of her hands and fall to the floor, then wrapped me in her arms. "It's okay. Try to calm down and tell me exactly what happened. Did they take anything?" She looked around slightly as she asked.

"N-no. They...they were here for me, they said."

Elise's eyes widened. "What!?" she exclaimed, looking at me.

"Yeah. They...I guess they were working with the other guys who were in the truck."

"Did you get a good look at who they were?"

"Yeah. There was a guy with red hair and eyes. The other was a big guy with brown hair, wearing a baseball cap. They called themselves Honomaru and Iwamaru."

"Honomaru and Iwamaru? So they gave you their names, even?" she asked, seemingly unable to believe anyone could be so stupid. I had to agree with her. Who busts into someone's house to kidnap a person, then goes and uses their names in front of their target? Then again, those might not have been their real names.

"Yeah. They also didn't want to mess up the house... They were weird."

Elise pulled back, looking thoughtful. "Huh. Those are Misgarthian names..." she said, confirming that those guys were actually named Honomaru and Iwamaru. "Okay, Jaden. You can stop worrying now. We'll get to the bottom of this," she said, heading for the phone.

At that moment, I heard that weird voice again. _"Don't...gonna...help..."_ was all I could make out.

"Huh?" Again, I looked around for whatever was talking, but I still didn't see anything.

"Hello, officer?" Elise said on the phone. "Yes, I'm calling to report that my son was just attacked. Can you send someone over right away?"

Son, huh? Well, when she said she was keeping this whole thing secret, she meant it. But, at the same time, it would be nice if I could stay with her if it turned out I didn't have a family. Not like that was gonna happen, though, considering she had already said that I'd be going to an orphanage if I turned out to be, well, an orphan.

Anyway, I looked around one last time for whoever was talking. _What _is_ that?_ I wondered, giving up. _Am I just crazy?_

"Uh-huh. Thank you, officer." Elise put the phone back on the hook and said to me, "I just informed the police, Jaden. They'll be here shortly."

"Okay," I said.

She walked over and pulled me into a hug again, stroking my hair. "It's okay, Jaden. Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

Soon after that, a police car showed up outside. A man with black hair, dressed in a black police uniform, got out and came up to the door, then started questioning me when Elise let him in. I told him exactly what had happened, giving him as many details as I could.

"Now, son, I want you to tell me exactly what the men who tried to abduct you looked like," the officer said. "Can you do that for me?"

"Well, one was a big guy with brown hair and eyes. He had a big nose and small eyes, and he was wearing a baseball cap sideways on his head. I'm guessing he was about 5-8, maybe 200 pounds?"

The officer wrote all of that down while I was talking, then said, "Alright. And the other one?"

"He was tall—I'm guessing around 6 foot—and thin with red hair and eyes. He had, like, yellow-tinted glasses and a black coat. His hair came down to his shoulders, and there was this one lock sticking up at the front. They kept calling each other Honomaru—he was the red-head—and Iwamaru."

The officer finished writing that down, then said, "Alright. We'll do our best to find these guys. But, in the meantime, I want you two to stay alert and report anything suspicious to us immediately.

Elise nodded. "Alright, sir. We'll do that."

"Don't worry, son. You've got a pretty good idea about who these two were, so we should be able to find them."

I nodded, saying, "Okay."

"Come to think of it, you look kinda familiar, kid," the officer said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Wonder were I've seen you before."

"He wouldn't know, sir," Elise said. "He's got amnesia."

"Well, whatever. It's not like it's anything _too_ important, right?" he said. I didn't tell him, but I disagreed completely. I mean, he might actually have known who I really was, but he couldn't remember either! "Well, if that's all, I best be on my way. Take care of yourselves," he added, turning for the door.

"Okay! Thank you, officer! We will!" Elise said as he walked out. After locking the door behind him, she turned to me and said, "So, Jaden, after an event like that, you _must _be hungry. Should I see about getting dinner ready?"

"Yeah! I'm starved!"

She laughed at my enthusiasm. "Okay! I'll get on it, then."

With that, she headed into the kitchen to make some dinner. I just sat down on the couch in the living room, trying to think of why that officer would have known me. Was I from around here somewhere? If so, those guys hadn't gotten very far when they kidnapped me. Was my _family_ somewhere nearby? Who _was_ my family? I mean, there had to be some reason that those guys would be trying to kidnap me. Was I rich? Was my dad a lawyer? Or my mom a doctor? Who was in charge of Kalmar, anyway? A king? Or a bunch of elected government officials? Maybe one of my parents was in a position of power around here.

Maybe I wasn't rich, though. I mean, that guy probably would have known who I was if that was the case, right? Maybe one of my parents was a cop, and those two guys were criminals who got busted by my folks once, so they were after me so that they could scare my parents for revenge! Then again, he still probably would have known me, being a cop himself, if that were the case.

Whatever the reason was, that one police officer recognizing me left me wondering, again, who I was and where I came from. But, no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't remember anything.

* * *

Later that night, I was still thinking about how that officer could have known me. Elise rolled out a sleeping mat for me in the storage/guest room. Apparently that was one of the things she had bought while out shopping earlier.

"Okay, Jaden. It's ready now," she said, stepping aside.

"Thanks, Elise."

"Well, is there anything else I can get you before bed? Perhaps a spare blanket in case you get cold."

"Nah, that's okay. I'll be fine," I told her.

I must have seemed pretty distracted because she looked at me for a moment, then asked, "Something on your mind?"

"Huh?" I asked, startled back to reality. "Uh, just thinking about stuff."

"You mean about what those guys did today?"

"Well, that, and what that officer said," I admitted.

"You mean the part about him knowing you? Did you remember something back then?"

I shook my head sadly. "No..."

Elise looked at me for a moment, then guessed, "You think he might know something about who you are, don't you?"

"Well, if he recognized me, then maybe."

"Would you like to talk to him more about it? We can see if he's in tomorrow, if you would."

"You think that would be okay?"

"I'm sure it would. Any leads we can find on the subject could go a long way in determining your true identity. Besides, it's the police's job to help people with stuff like that. At least, it is around here," she added, smiling.

I smiled back, glad that we had a possible lead and I could stop asking myself all these questions. "Okay!"

"Okay, then. We'll head over bright and early tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Elise!"

She smiled again. "Good night, Jaden. Sweet dreams," she said before heading out.

Wanting tomorrow to come as soon as possible so that I could talk to that officer about who I was, I crawled under the blanket, lying down on the mat to sleep.

* * *

The next day was actually pretty depressing. We went to the police station, and the guy we talked to yesterday was there, but he wasn't very helpful.

"I'm sorry, young man," he said after I asked if he could remember why he thought I looked familiar. "But I don't know where I recognized you from. Maybe it was something on TV. Have you ever been in a movie before?"

"I don't know," I told him, shaking my head. "I can't remember anything."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Hope something comes to you. Now, if that's all you two needed, we're a bit busy right now. So, do you mind?"

"Not at all," Elise said. "Sorry we troubled you, sir. Come on, Jaden. Let's let the man get back to work."

"Okay."

"Thanks anyway, sir! Take care!" she told him before we both headed out of the station. As she headed over to her car, she said, "Well, that wasn't very helpful, was it?"

I was following, dejected, when I heard somebody growl, followed by, "Shut up! I'm _way_ older than that!"

I also heard the laughter of...small children? Coming from the same direction? And it sounded mean?

"Huh?" I looked off to the left, toward the sounds, but I didn't see anyone.

"Huh?" Elise asked, turning to me. "Something wrong, Jaden?"

"My name's not 'Rumpelstiltskin,' either!" the same voice said. "Leave me alone already!"

It sounded like all this noise was coming from around the corner, just a few yards away. "Uh, hold on a sec, Elise," I said, heading down the street toward the voice—and the strange laughter that wasn't just kids having fun.

"Uh, okay. But be careful!"

"Will do!"

She watched me as I headed down the street and around the corner. What I saw then was a couple of little red-haired kids, a boy with a baseball cap on backwards and a girl in a lacy dress, laughing at an irritated-looking boy with blue hair—the same guy that was on the bully report the day before. He was wearing heavy clothes, gloves, and sunglasses, as if he were trying to cover the bruises from his daily beatings. And, speaking of beatings, he looked about ready to give a couple of 5-year-olds one.

"I SAID—" he started.

"Hey!" I called, walking over. "What's going on here?"

The kids stopped laughing, staring at me for a second, then ran over to me, crying.

"He's being mean to us, mister!" the little boy whined.

"Y-yeah," the girl sobbed. "He called us stupid for no reason."

"H-hey! I did not!" the other kid said, sounding offended and...used to this? Okay, yeah, I wasn't gonna let this stand.

"Really?" I asked the kids. "Because that's not what it sounded like earlier."

"B-but it's true, sir! He was going to hit us, too. You saw him!"

The blue-haired boy sweat. I couldn't blame him. After all, the girl wasn't lying there. "I should run now, right?" he said after a moment.

"Well, maybe you two should stop picking on people," I told the little kids. "Then they won't get that mad at you."

"But, sir! _He_ started it!"

"Uh-huh," I said, not believing that. "Either way, you shouldn't have kept it up."

They stared at me in silence for a moment, and I actually thought that they might apologize. Instead, after a moment, the boy humphed.

"Fine. Be that way! You're a loser, too, anyway," he said before storming off.

"You suck, jerk. Hmph!" the girl said. Then she kicked me in the knee and stormed off as well, leaving me thinking that I had just met two brats who made me pity their parents.

The other guy just stood there, stunned into silence, from the looks of him.

After a moment, I asked, "Are kids always that mean?"

He didn't answer—he just kept staring, which made me stare a bit.

"Uh, you okay?" I asked him.

He blinked, then, looking stunned, asked, "Why do you care? You don't know me."

I shrugged and said, "I don't know."

The kid just stared a me for a bit longer. Then he asked, "Isn't it a bit late to be this drunk? Maybe you should go lie down for awhile..."

"I'm not drunk!" I said, amazed that he would ask. "Why would you think that?"

He stared at me some more, like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve. "You on drugs, then?"

"Not that I know of."

"Smoke cocain?"

"I don't think so," I said, thinking that I'd be feeling the withdrawal by now.

He seemed to be running out of ideas because he paused for a second, then said, "Got a mental disorder? Surely there's _some_ reason you're not thinking very clearly at the moment! I mean, you just—" He cut himself off.

"Stood up for someone?" I suggested. "Not everyone in the world's a jerk."

He looked awed at that one, making me wonder what planet I was on. Oh, great, I was abducted by aliens and was dumped on the wrong planet! But then how would that officer have recognized me?

"Who _are_ you?" the kid asked.

"Jaden!?" Elise called. "You okay over there!?"

"Yeah, Elise! I'm okay!" I called back over my shoulder. Then I turned back to the kid and said, "I gotta go."

I turned to leave, but the kid said, "Wait!" and reached out to stop me.

I stopped, turning back to him, and waited.

"You...didn't answer my question... Why are you being so nice to me? Don't you know who I am?"

"I don't even know who _I_ am. Besides, you shouldn't be made fun of just because you're you."

He stood there for a moment, silent, then, with a smile, said, "I'm Sho Marufuji. Nice to meet you, No-Name."

Thinking that would have to be the worst possible suggestion anyone had come up with for what to call me—I mean, seriously, No-Name!? What kind of a name was that!?—I told him, "You can call me Jaden."

"But I thought you didn't know who you were! Sheesh. Make up your mind already." He pouted.

"I don't. But the lady I'm staying with won't call me 'kid' or something, so she's calling me Jaden."

And, now, I was grateful that Elise had insisted on coming up with a name to call me by. Otherwise, that kid could still call me "No-Name."

"Oh," Sho said after a minute. "Okay."

"Jaden!? What's taking so long!? Come on! We have to go! We have things we need to do!"

"Coming, Elise!" I called. I turned back to Sho and said, "It's been nice talking, but I have to go."

Sho just stood there, staring at me. It was kinda creepy, to be honest.

"Jaden! Come on! We're burning daylight here!"

"I'm coming!" I called, running back to the car.

* * *

As Jaden ran off, I just stood there, staring after him. I mean, was he seriously just being nice to me for the heck of it? Nobody did that!

"What was that all about?" that woman—Elise, he called her—asked from around the corner. "You remember something or something?"

"No. I just found someone being bullied, so I stood up for him," Jaden answered.

"Oh. How kind of you. Did they say thank you?"

Oops. I'd been so busy trying to figure out why he was being nice to me that I hadn't actually thanked him for being nice enough to help me.

For a second, I was worried that Jaden was going to come back and beat an apology out of me because he didn't answer right away. I was all set to run for it when I heard him say, "Uh, he's not used to people standing up for him, so he was pretty confused, actually."

Huh!? Had he just defended me again!? Without any chance of getting something from me!? Maybe he _was_ different. Or maybe he really was just nuts.

"Well, that's okay. The important thing is you helped him, regardless. Well, get in. Like I said, we've got a lot of work to do. For one, I promised Mr. and Mrs. Tenjoin that I would bring them over some of my ham and pineapple casserole, so I'll need to get some cheese at the store first, okay?"

I heard a car door shut, then Jaden said, "Okay."

Another car door shut, then the engine started, and I saw a car drive by. As they were driving off, I stood there thinking.

"Tenjoins, huh? Hmm..."

I figured that, if I could find that family, I could see Jaden again. I mean, they were going to be there eventually, so I might see him again if I went there and waited.

* * *

After that whole thing with Sho, Elise took me shopping for some clothes. We walked into a department store in the mall, and she took me back to the guys' section.

"Okay, Jaden," she said. "Go ahead and see what you can find that you like. But, remember, I can only spend $120 on your clothes, so choose wisely, okay?"

"Okay," I said before going looking for clothes.

As I checked the price tags, I learned something else about myself: I have no idea how much $120 is worth. I mean, for some reason, when she said that, I thought that I'd be able to buy, like, maybe a wristband from a vending machine. Then, looking at the tags, I saw that the clothes cost anywhere from $10 to $60. So, clearly, I wasn't from Kalmar because I didn't understand their money system. That, or I just never bought anything here.

While I was browsing the racks, a couple of men walked into sight. One was wearing a gray hat and red shirt, with a brown coat over it. He had icy-blue eyes and a brown beard. The other was a guy with long purple hair and yellow eyes. He was dressed in a white shirt, blue jacket, and black jeans.

I didn't pay a lot of attention to them when they first showed up, but the guy in the hat pointed at me while I was checking out some shirts, and then the two of them came over to me.

"'Scuse me, kid," the one in the blue jacket said. "You got a minute?"

"Huh?" I asked, turning.

"'Cause, if ya do, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions, alright?" the guy in the hat said, a nasty grin on his face.

I looked at the two of them, uneasy. Aside from the grin on Hat-Head, both of them had pretty mean-looking eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Relax, kid," Hat-Head said. "We're not gonna hurt ya. We just want to know a few things, that's all. So, for starters, is your name Yuki Judai?"

Something about that sounded familiar to me, and somehow I knew that the name was reverse of how everyone said it in Kalmar: last name first. Somehow, I also felt that was how I was used to hearing people's names. Yep, definitely not from Kalmar.

"Yuki Judai...?" I repeated, stunned. That _really _sounded familiar. "I...I don't know."

"Don't play dumb with us," Blue Jacket said. "We know you know. You're Yuki Judai. The guy who can save our world from certain destruction, right?"

"I don't know," I said again. "Really."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elise looking our way. After a moment, she started walking over.

"Quit playin' around, kid!" Hat-Head said. "We've come a long way lookin' for ya! You _have_ to know what we're talkin' about!"

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Elise said from behind the guys. "But is there something we can help you with?"

They turned, finding themselves face-to-face with Elise, her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Nah, we were just talkin', ma'am," Hat-Head said. "See, we're lookin' for an old friend of ours, and we thought he was him."

"That's right. We were sent to find him 'cause someone informed us that he's supposed to save the day or somethin'. But I don't think this guy's him, after all."

Elise raised an eyebrow.

Blue Jacket turned back to me and said, "So, anyway, since you're clearly not him, we'll be on our way now. Sorry we troubled you. Come on, Kourimaru." He walked off, adding, "He's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Right," Hat-Head—er, Kourimaru—said, following his friend out.

"_Maru" again, huh?_ I thought. _Wonder if he knows Honomaru and Iwamaru... Those guys said they needed a fifth member, so there's four of them. Wonder who that last guy is?_

"Well, that was strange," Elise said, jolting me from my thoughts. "Do you know what they were talking about?"

I shook my head and told her, "They called me Yuki Judai."

Elise looked startled. "Y-Yuki!? But that's—" She cut herself off.

"Huh? What?" I asked.

She stared at me for another moment before she answered, "Uh, no. It's nothing."

I looked down, thinking about that name again. "It sounds familiar..."

She started, turning to stare at me. "R-really?"

I nodded.

Elise just stared at me for another moment, then said, "Jaden, how would you feel about making an appointment at the castle to speak with the king?"

Well, that answered my question about who was in charge around here: they had a king.

"Huh? Why?" I asked. My eyes were probably the size of saucers or something.

"Oh, no reason. It's just that he might be able to help us figure out who you are, that's all. After all, when you've got a problem you just can't solve, you go to the king in this kingdom. He's like a father to us, you see."

I stared at her, still stunned. I mean, it was kind of extreme to go to the king over a little case of amnesia, wasn't it? Finally, though, I managed to dislodge my tongue from my throat and say, "Uh, okay. If that's really okay..."

"It's fine, Jaden. Trust me."

"Okay."

"Good. I'll send him a letter once we get home. In the meantime, you better get yourself some nice, clean clothes to wear. You don't want to be a mess when you go to see him."

"Right," I said, now very much conscious of my appearance.

The clothes I had on were the ones I'd been wearing in the accident, according to Elise. A white T-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. They were a bit torn up, but that was probably from the accident. So, pretty much, all I had right then was a torn-up and smelly T-shirt and some tattered jeans. Not the kind of clothes you want to wear when you wind up meeting royalty, so I went back to looking at clothes.

* * *

After we finished up there, we stopped by a bath store and picked up some other things for me. Then Elise took me to the grocery store for the ingredients for her casserole. While she was there, she decided to let me get something for myself.

"Now, go find something you like quickly," she told me. "I need to get home soon if I'm going to get this ready in time for their party, okay?"

"Okay," I said, hurrying off to find something. One thing was for sure: I didn't want cheese, which was all that was in that aisle, so I took off to explore the store.

I was walking through the frozen food section when I heard a voice say, "Son of a...! This is the _last_ time I go shopping with you, Daichi! Now look what you've done!"

I looked and saw a guy who looked way too rich to be doing his own grocery shopping standing there covered in ice cream. He was really pale, and the black hair and clothes didn't help any. Beside him, there was another guy, this one rich, but not too rich to be grocery shopping for himself. He wore a white outfit, kind of like a school uniform, and he was holding the container for the ice cream that the other guy was wearing, sideways and dripping.

"Sorry, Manjoume," the guy in white, apparently Daichi, said. "I didn't mean to."

"Yeah. Sure, ya didn't," Manjoume said. "You know this thing's dry clean only, right!? What am I supposed to do now!?"

Well, it wasn't my business what was going on there. Besides, that Daichi guy looked like he could take care of himself, so I just got back to looking for something. Elise wanted me to hurry, after all.

"Clean-up on aisle 6," a voice over the intercom said.

I grabbed some ice cream—moose tracks—and was heading back to Elise when the janitor showed up.

"Well, Jaden?" she said when I walked over. "What have you got?"

I held out the tub of moose tracks.

"Okay! So that's what you want?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Okay! Then let's go. I've got a lot to do today," she said, making her way to the register.

* * *

When we got back, Elise parked on the curb and opened the trunk to unload everything we'd just bought.

I was getting out of the car when she asked, "Jaden? Can you help me out here please?"

"Sure," I said, heading back to grab some bags.

While I was unloading the car, I saw something behind me, reflected off the bumper. It looked like a person, and it looked like they were looking at me. Since I'd already had two different groups of people come after me in the last couple of days, I glanced back. Whoever it was ducked behind the Tenjoins' trash can.

Elise hadn't noticed anything. She was taking some of the stuff inside. I quickly grabbed the rest, shut the trunk, and hurried to catch up with her, not wanting to be alone on the street if there was a chance somebody was going to try to kidnap me again.

I followed Elise through the front door and into the kitchen, where she set down the groceries and said. "Okay. While I'm unloading these groceries, why don't you take those clothes upstairs and put them in the closet in your room?"

"Okay," I said, taking the bags with my stuff and heading for the stairs.

When I came out of the kitchen, I saw somebody duck out of sight at the window. I looked real quick, then put the bags down and headed outside to check out who was spying on me.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw someone duck out of sight behind Elise's car.

"Who's there!?" I called. "Come out!"

Small, gloved hands popped up behind the hood slowly, followed by a familiar blue-haired head: Sho Marufuji, and he looked nervous.

"Hi?"

I looked at him, confused. What was he doing at Elise's place? That wasn't anywhere near the police station! "Sho? What are you doing sneaking around here?"

"Uh..."

I cocked my head.

"I, uh...wanted to see you again? Heh heh," he said, moving around the car.

"Okay... But how did you find me?"

"I, uh, overheard you guys talking about some Tenjoins you knew, so I..." He sweat.

I grinned and finished, "Tracked them down?"

"Yes?" He gave a couple of nervous laughs again, then added, "Please don't be mad at me! I-it's just that I've never had a friend before, so I thought, maybe... Th-that is, I wanted to say—but you'd probably say no, so—I-I mean—"

"Okay," I said.

"I know I shouldn't spy on you, but I figured you wouldn't—wait. What?"

Well, took him long enough to realize what I'd said. He had really been babbling.

"Sure, we can be friends."

"R-really!? B-but why? I was just—"

"It's not a big deal. You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, I could use a friend, too."

"So, you're serious!?" Sho asked, looking like I'd just told him he won the lottery. "You actually wanna—"

"If you want, sure."

"Well, in that case, th-then, yeah! I'd like that! Thanks, Jaden! You're the best!"

I smiled and asked, "You wanna come in? I was just gonna put away the stuff Elise got me."

"Really!? I can come inside! You sure that's allowed?"

Okay, so now I was a little worried that he might blow a gasket if I didn't stop being friendly, but I still said, "I don't see why not."

"Thanks, Jaden! You're the best!"

I laughed.

"So? We going in or not?" Sho asked. He ran for the door. "Come on! Let's go already! I can't wait to see where you live!"

"Okay, okay!" I said, stepping aside so he wouldn't bowl me over. "Come on in."

"Thanks. Don't mind if I do," he said, walking in with a smile.

As I closed the door, Elise called, "Jaden? Is that company I hear? Who is it?" She peeked out into the hallway.

"This is Sho," I told her. "I met him earlier today."

"H-hi..." he said nervously.

"Oh. Is he the kid you were helping out earlier?" she asked, walking over.

I nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sho. I'm Elise. Jaden's caregiver. Would you like something to drink?"

"Th-that's okay. I was just gonna help Jaden unpack a few things. Y-you know. Since he helped me out earlier..."

"Why, how nice of you. Okay. You can start by helping him clear out his room. It's so cluttered that it's unlivable right now."

"O-okay!"

"Good. Now, why don't you boys run along while I finish making dinner, okay?"

"Okay," I said. "Come on, Sho!" I grabbed my bags and hurried up the stairs.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Sho called, running after me.


	5. Yuki Judai

**Shadgirl2: Here's another chapter. There are a couple of POV shifts in this one, too.**

**Midna: So, with that in mind, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

"Whoa... Look at all those boxes..." Sho said, looking around my temporary room. "What are they all for, Jaden?"

"I don't know," I told him. "They were here before I was."

"S-so, wait. _When_ did you move in!?"

"Yesterday."

"Wha!? Really!? H-how come?"

"I was in an accident, I guess. I was in the hospital until yesterday. Since I can't remember anything and didn't have any ID, Elise is taking care of me until...until we can find out where I'm supposed to be."

I tried to keep my tone neutral there at the end. I really didn't want to end up in an orphanage somewhere, but that was probably where I was gonna be. I mean, if there was even the slightest chance that guy saw me on TV, then there was a chance that my family—if they were even still alive—wouldn't ever find out I was here.

Sho looked stunned, and I guess I couldn't blame him, considering my story wasn't exactly normal. Heck, it sounded like something out of a soap opera! "Oh..."

"Anyway, these boxes aren't gonna move themselves," I pointed out.

"R-right! Let's get on it, then."

Still looking a bit stunned, he walked over to a couple of stacked boxes and tried to pick one up off the other. Emphasis on "tried." It didn't go anywhere, but sweat started beading on his brow. I walked over, wondering what was in that box that could be so heavy, and picked it up without any trouble.

_What gives?_ I wondered. _Is he really that weak?_

"Hey..." he breathed. "I could've...g-gotten it if you'd just...given me a...bit more time..."

"Sorry?" I said, though I seriously doubted that he could have. I mean, he was panting just from trying. And it wasn't even that heavy of a box. Big, sure, but it wasn't too big for me to carry by myself.

"That's okay. I'll just let you get that one. I'll just get this little one that was underneath it," Sho said, looking smug.

The other box was maybe a square foot in size, but he still had trouble with that. I leaned over and looked in the hole in the top where the flaps weren't totally closed, and all I saw was some old clothes.

"So?" Sho asked. "Where do you want them?"

"Follow me," I said, heading out to figure out where Elise wanted the stuff. Honestly, I probably should have asked sooner.

* * *

It turned out Elise wanted all of that stuff moved to the basement, which meant I got to find that part of the house. The basement door was in the kitchen, and I'd thought it was a closet earlier. Anyway, we spent the better part of the afternoon moving boxes down to the basement. Then, once everything was out of my room, Sho helped me unpack all the stuff Elise had bought me.

"Okay," he said, standing in my closet door. "So the shirts go in here, and the pants and stuff go in there." He pointed to the an old dresser we'd found in the basement and brought up—the furniture she'd actually had in this room turned out to be a dismantled table and some chairs. "Is that right?"

"Yeah," I said. I mean, that sounded good to me. That dresser was bigger than the closet! Teeny, tiny closet, big dresser with, like, a bazillion drawers.

"Okay. Just checking." He grabbed a shirt out of a bag and hung it up on one of the few hangers in the tiny closet.

Man, why did that tiny closet bother me so much? How much room did I think it should have? Honestly, it kinda felt like it was supposed to be holding mops and brooms, not clothes. The fact that I was thinking the closet should be bigger...did that mean I was used to having more room? And, if so, what did _that_ mean? Ugh, amnesia really sucks!

* * *

"We...did a...good job... Right...Ja...den...?" Sho breathed some time later when everything was put away. He was sitting on the mat on the floor, though he looked about ready to lie down.

"Yeah," I agreed.

Sho looked at me for a minute before saying, "You know, I'm not so sure the name 'Jaden' fits you."

Great. Elise gave me a name that didn't fit?

"You strike me as a type of older brother."

Wait, what? What did that have to do with my name fitting?

"I mean, with how much you've helped me out today, and all..." He blushed, apparently feeling uneasy about saying this all of a sudden. I was still trying to figure out how my name not fitting was connected to me being a big brother.

"So, I was thinking that...maybe I could...call you Aniki instead?" Sho asked. He sounded nervous.

Oh. He just didn't want to call me by name. It was a nickname. Okay, that made sense, I guess. I shrugged. "That's fine with me."

"R-really!? You really don't mind?"

"No. Go ahead."

"Wow. You really _are_ cool, Aniki. Thanks."

I laughed, rubbing the back of my head.

"Boys!" Elise called. "Supper's ready! Come on down if you want some!"

"Wha!? Does she mean I can stay for supper, too!?" Sho asked.

"Sounds like," I said, standing up. "Come on! Let's eat!" I raced out of the room before Sho could even blink.

He didn't follow right away, but, after a second, I heard him say, "Okay!" and I could tell he was smiling. Then he came running after me.

* * *

That night, I lay awake, my mind racing as it tried to make sense of everything that had happened that day. Especially that stuff in the mall.

_Yuki Judai... Why does that name sound so familiar? Is that who I am? _Was_ I on TV or something? Elise knew that last name... _I was giving myself a migraine trying to figure anything out. I shook my head._ Man, I hope we get in to see the king soon. And that he can help. This is driving me crazy._

_"__Kuri kuri," _that weird voice said again. All I could make out was "Jo...club..." Which I guessed was "join the club." Whatever that thing was, it didn't like me having amnesia any more than I did.

"Again?" I asked. "Seriously, what is that?"

As usual, I didn't get an answer. I waited for a few minutes.

"There's no way it's just my imagination, is there?" I wondered quietly.

* * *

"Come on, boy!" Elise said in the morning. "Wake up! You can't sleep all day when there's chores to be done!"

I moaned. "Five more minutes...?"

Elise yanked the covers off me. "You've slept enough, boy. Get up. I've got to go to work, and that means you need to watch the house while I'm gone."

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I'm not sure when I fell asleep that night, but I couldn't have been sleeping for very long. "Okay, okay."

"Good. Now go get cleaned up while I make your lunch for the day," Elise said, walking out. She stopped in the doorway and looked back, adding, "And, Jaden? Try not to eat it before it's time to."

She left, and I dragged myself out of bed and down the hall to the bathroom.

* * *

By the time I was cleaned up, dressed, and downstairs, Elise was already gone. But she left some breakfast out, along with a sandwich in a bag that must have been my lunch. And a note with a list of things she...wanted me to do? Wow, I was being put to _work_?

I read over the note while I was eating my breakfast.

"I'm going to be gone for awhile, so it's your job to take care of this place. Stay indoors until I get back, and _don't_ let anyone in unless you know them. I closed the curtains so that no one can spy on you, and I told the neighbors to look out for anyone suspicious, so you can go to them if someone does break in. To buy some time, use your deck to attack their monsters and counter their attacks. Then call 999 when safe to do so. Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with your chores. If you're going to live with me, you're going to help out around the house. Make sure to do all the dishes you accumulate after every snack or meal. Vacuum the floors in the living room, upstairs hallway, and my bedroom. Do the laundry. Note: the instructions are on the dryer. And, finally, dust off the furniture. I'm expecting a good job from you, so take your time with each task and call me if you need help. Have a wonderful day, Jaden! See you at dinner time! :)"

Yes, indeed. There was a smiley face at the end of the note. 999...that sounded foreign, but it was three digits, so I figured it was an emergency number, a way I could call the police in a hurry. More proof that I was from a different country, I guess.

But..._chores_? I had _chores_? That really didn't feel familiar at all. I didn't know how to dust, or what a vacuum even was, or—you know, let's just save time. I didn't have a clue how to do any of that stuff. And what the heck was a "dryer?" What was it supposed to _do_?

I groaned, both annoyed at not knowing any of this and frustrated that I had to do it anyway. "Chores? Seriously?"

* * *

Apparently "vacuum" is code for "evil suction device whose cord gets yanked out of the wall if you drag it too far across the floor." It took me ten minutes to figure out that I was supposed to plug it into some hole in the wall that matched the prongs on the plug-thing, and another ten to find the "power" button. And then I was wishing I hadn't found it—the vacuum roared when it was turned on.

Well, eventually I figured out the vacuum and got it working. It sucked up all the dirt on the floor, which was kinda cool, really. I had to move it to other holes from time to time, which is how I found out that those things were everywhere. I was busy vacuuming the living room when someone started pounding on the door.

Thinking of the last time people were pounding on the door, I tensed, turning off the vacuum and putting my duel disk on and getting ready to run. Hey, what can I say? Elise was right.

"Aniki!" I heard from the door, along with more pounding. "Aniki! Come on, open up! Hurry, already!"

I ran to get the door, confused. "Sho?" I asked, opening the door.

Sure enough, it was Sho. And he ran in and slammed the door behind him, locking it. Then he stood there, leaning against the door as he caught his breath.

"Th...thanks, Aniki... I...knew I could...count on...you..."

"What's going on, Sho?"

"I'm...being chased..._again_ for m...my lunch money," he answered. "Sheesh. One of these days, I'm gonna remember to stay at home."

"This happens a lot?"

"You missed the interview, didn't you? It happens every _day_, and that's just for starters. Next I'm gonna get picked on by the teachers, locked in a locker until the janitor gets tired of listening to me screaming, then a guy named Gorisuke's gonna hang me from the flag pole by my underwear, and—"

"That's not cool! This seriously happens every _day_!?"

"Well, not _every _day," Sho said. "They dress me up on holidays. As a naked Cupid, a leprechaun they can chase to get his pot of gold, a reindeer to pull their sleigh—"

He probably would have kept going if he hadn't seen the look on my face. Guess I had a look to kill. And can you blame me!? I mean, seriously, why would they _do_ that stuff to him _every day_!? Was everyone in that town that sick!?

"Aniki? You okay?"

I didn't have a chance to answer before somebody else pounded on the door, and a guy's voice said, "Open up, Sho! I know you're in there! You owe us some money, stat! You better pay up before you get yourself even deeper in debt than you already are! You already owe us $47! Don't make me add _this_ day's payment to it and make it $56!"

I growled. I might not have known how much $47 was, but I did know that it was too much for this guy to be asking for, especially considering he probably had a stupid reason to be demanding it.

"Why do you owe them money?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"'Cause they said so," Sho said, confirming what I already thought. "And I don't always pay them back. They told me on my first day of school that I had to pay a $25 entrance fee. When I didn't have it, they beat me up instead. So the next day, I brought them their money, and they told me that the amount had doubled since I hadn't paid it the day before. They beat me up again so the _next_ day I gave them all $100 from my savings account, and they said that, thanks to interest, I still owed them $15. The cycle's continued that way ever since."

The more he talked, the angrier I was getting. They beat him up over an entrance fee he didn't even know about until he got there, then charged him double, along with _interest_!? Interest that had to be insanely high if he could pay them $300 and still owe money!

"Alright, Sho!" the creep outside called. "I'm gonna give you til the count of three, and then we're busting in there! One...two..."

I opened the door, glaring. A skinny boy in a dark gray suit, red tie, and sunglasses was standing there. He had short red hair, and a couple of cronies standing behind him. Both of them were also wearing suits and shades, and one had a briefcase. They must have been his hired muscle because they were way bigger and tougher-looking than him.

"Can I help you?"

"Who the heck are you?" the red-head asked. "Get lost. This isn't your business. We're here for the little guy. Now move aside so we can get what we came here for."

"Aniki!" Sho said from behind me, sounding worried.

"This isn't your house," I said. "Don't make me call the police."

"Oh, you don't want to pick a fight with us, kid. Or would you rather pay us the kid's debt, but doubled?"

The other two cracked their knuckles, and I knew for sure that these creeps were the low-down scum I'd been thinking they were.

"Aniki. Just pay them. You don't know what they'll do!"

Well, I wasn't about to give in to a bunch of thugs, especially when they were threatening my friend and me. "He doesn't owe you creeps anything!" I told them instead. "Just leave him alone!"

"Aniki!"

"Au contraire," the red-head said. "He never paid his entrance fee in full! He's been running up the bill ever since. So, unless you want to run up a debt of your own, I suggest you hand him over. There's a $30 payment required for refusing."

A $30 payment? I didn't even go to their stinking school! Like hell I was gonna pay them!

"Aniki! Just let me go!" Sho said. "It's not worth it for _you_ to wind up in debt, too! It's okay! I'm used to it!"

He was used to it? No. That wasn't gonna stand.

"'Entrance fee?' What's this 'entrance fee' about?"

"Well, _duh_. It's _our_ school, and any new freshman's gotta pay _us_ an entrance fee to be allowed to attend. That's the rules me and my buddies came up with, after all." He grinned, and the other two nodded. "So, unless you want to pay an interference fee, you'll give me Sho now."

"Alright, alright," Sho said, moving forward. "I'm—"

"Forget it! You're not getting him!" I snapped.

Sho stopped. "Aniki!"

"Then pay up!" He held out a hand and looked at me sternly. "That's $30 _plus_ tax, please?"

Well, Sho might have been afraid of that guy, but I wasn't. He was just some lousy bully, picking on anyone too weak to defend themselves and using his "buddies" to make sure that was almost everyone. Instead of paying, I glared at him. "I'm not paying. I don't give money to thieves."

"Then you leave me no choice! Go get him, boys!"

His two goons moved forward, fists raised to beat me to a pulp. Sho stepped forward, apparently wanting to take my place. I wasn't afraid of them, though. I activated my duel disk and threw down a card. A golden hero, Elemental Hero Bladedge.

The goons stepped back, startled.

"W-wait. You're a duelist!?" the red-head asked.

"Aniki!"

"Yeah, I'm a duelist. What's it to you?"

The three of them backed up some more.

"You know, I just remembered, there's something I needed to...to do... Come on, boys! Let's get out of here!"

The three of them turned and ran. I deactivated my duel disk, disgusted by those cowardly thieving bullies, and Bladedge disappeared.

"Those guys..."

"Aniki... You just..." Sho said, staring at me in awe.

"I wasn't gonna let them get away with that. What else was I supposed to do?"

Sho teared up, then lunged at me, throwing his arms around me. "Aniki! Thank you! Y-you're the best f-friend a g-guy could ever have!"

I laughed a bit at his reaction. "That's what friends are for, Sho."

He cried louder, holding on tighter. "Aniki! Y-you're—"

"Heh."

"Aw," came a familiar voice from the doorway. "How sweet."

I tensed, kicking myself for leaving the door open after those creeps had run off, then turned toward the speaker.

Kourimaru was standing in the doorway, along with his friend in the blue jacket.

"Hey, Judai," Blue Jacket said. "What's up?"

"H-huh?" Sho asked. "Aniki, d-did they just call you—"

"What do you want?"

"Relax, kid. We just want to talk. About your future, that is."

The two of them walked in, heading toward Sho and me. I backed up, pushing Sho behind me as I did.

"Now, come on," Kourimaru said. "Why so defensive? We just want you to come see our boss, is all. He would like to tell you about your true destiny. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

They were still coming, their hands in their pockets. I wasn't sure I wanted to know why, so I didn't wait to find out. I activated my duel disk, which still had Bladedge's card on it, and he reappeared.

"Aw, come on, kid. Don't make this difficult."

"Attack!" I commanded.

Bladedge attacked the two, and I grabbed Sho and ran for the back door.

"Aniki! What's going on!?" Sho asked.

I heard Kourimaru growl. "Lousy little—I activate my Reflector Bit to redirect your attack at my partner!"

A pod appeared and opened up, revealing four connected mirrors inside. Bladedge wound up attacking it, but his attack bounced off and headed for the other guy. Briefly I noted that meant Kourimaru wouldn't be hit by any of my attacks and could keep coming after me all he wanted.

"Now, hold on," he said. "I activate _my_ Reflector Bit to redirect your redirected attack at _your_ partner, Judai! So much for friendship. Huh, kiddo?"

Another of those mirrors appeared, and Bladedge hit it, causing him to come flying back at Sho.

Sho's eyes widened. "Aniki! Help!"

Thinking fast, I pulled another card, sticking it in one of the slots on my duel disk as I said, "Hero Barrier!"

A spinning shield appeared in front of Sho, negating Bladedge's attack.

"Come _on_, Judai!" Kourimaru taunted. "Is that the best you got? 'Cause, thanks to our Reflector Bits, any attacks you try to wage against us will just hurt your partner instead."

"So are you ready to cooperate and do as we say?"

My brain was working overtime, looking for a solution. Kourimaru was the first one to use that Reflector Bit, which meant he was willing to sacrifice his partner to get at me. If I destroyed the other guy's Reflector Bit, that wouldn't stop Kourimaru. But, yesterday, the guy in the blue jacket had been telling his partner to go with him when he left. Maybe that meant he wasn't so willing to leave his partner behind. So I needed to target Kourimaru's Reflector Bit.

I worked through all of this in about an eighth of a second.

"I activate R – Righteous Justice! This destroys spell and trap cards equal to the number of Elemental Heroes I have on the field!"

Kourimaru's card was destroyed, and he cried, "What!?"

Without my command, Bladedge went after him again.

"Not so fast! I summon Mobius! The Frost Monarch! And equip him with Steel Shell!"

The icy monster in the blue cape that appeared had 2800 attack points—200 more than Bladedge.

Now, I didn't think about this at the time, but I felt like I was in familiar territory for the first time since I'd woken up in that hospital. Dueling was familiar. I knew how to do it, and I knew what each move meant for me. I also knew how to counter their moves, how to get out of this. That is, assuming they didn't make things worse.

I pulled out another card, one I knew was a field spell, and stuck it in a special slot in my duel disk specially made for that kind of card.

"Skyscraper!" I cried as a city-scape appeared all around us. "This raises an Elemental Hero's attack in battle by 1000 if it's weaker than the opponent!"

"Say what!?"

Bladedge sliced through the monarch. Kourimaru fell to the ground, and I turned and kept running, with Sho following behind.

"Kourimaru!" the other guy said, staying behind to help his partner. "You alright!?"

That was the last thing I heard before I threw open the kitchen door and ran for it.

* * *

I got to my hands and knees, ticked off at that idiot partner of mine, Ikazuchimaru. "You idiot! Why didn't you back me up!? Your Thunder Monarch could have _easily_ defeated that thing!"

"Calm down. It wasn't the right strategy. If we'd kept attacking him that way, he'd have just used stronger and stronger monsters to defend himself. We wouldn't stand a chance if that would have occurred. We need another tactic."

I stood up and grudgingly admitted, "Yeah. You're right. But how are we supposed to nab him if he's hiding out with that lady?"

"Hmm..." Ikazuchimaru thought about it for a bit, then said, "I've got an idea. Just leave it to me."

* * *

I was expecting them to follow once Kourimaru recovered, but I guess they gave up. Which is why Sho and I stopped in an alley several blocks away to catch our breath.

"Geez...Ani...ki... That was...insane back there... Do you know those guys or something?"

"I don't know... I can't...remember..." I panted.

"Well, they sure seemed to know _you_. And why did they keep calling you 'Judai,' bu the way? Do they really think you're him?"

"I...I don't know. That name sounds...familiar. But..." I shook my head. "I don't know."

"Well, of _course_ that name sounds familiar. _Everyone_ knows who Judai is. Well, almost everyone."

I frowned. "I...I don't. I don't know who he is."

"Wha!?" Sho said, apparently forgetting I had amnesia. "B-but Aniki! He's only the most important person in the neighbor kingdom of Neospace! Well, the second most important, at least. You seriously don't know him!?"

"Sho, I don't even know who _I_ am. Of course I don't!" I reminded him. I was getting really tired of him forgetting that I couldn't remember anything. Honestly, who was the one who was supposed to be having trouble with their memories, him or me?

"Okay, Aniki. He's—"

"Ah-ha!" said a man's voice "There you are, Signor Marufuji!"

Sho tensed. "Uh-oh..." He turned slowly.

I looked, too, and saw...uh, well, whoever it was had a blond ponytail and squinty black eyes. This person had purple lips, too, and these crescent moon earrings. They were wearing a blue coat with a frilly pink collar and cuffs on the sleeves to match.

"How _dare_ you skip school like this!?" the person said, storming over. It sounded like a man, but it didn't look like one. Well, okay, he kinda did, but the frilly pink, and the earrings, and the lipstick I think he was wearing didn't make it _look_ like he was. The ponytail also didn't help any. "I should have you expelled for it!"

"No, please, Professor Cronos! You don't understand! I was—"

"Save your breath," Professor Cronos cut him off. "I'm not listening to any excuses from some drop-out boy! Now let's go! You've got some explaining to do!" He grabbed Sho's arm and dragged him off.

"Bye, Aniki!" Sho called back, looking nervous. "See you later!"

I just stood there staring until they were out of sight. I mean, I'm pretty sure that was a man's name, but he looked a lot like a woman from the way he was dressed. Then I realized that I should probably call the police, like Elise had suggested, about those two guys in the house.

Seeing as I couldn't be sure that they weren't still there waiting for me, I went to the neighbor's house instead to ask if I could use their phone.

* * *

Remember how I said that I thought the last time I talked to Asuka Tenjoin would be the only time? Yeah, turned out, I was wrong. She and her brother were getting home from school about the time I got to their house, and she looked surprised to see me on their doorstep about to knock. Her brother, on the other hand, seemed to understand and let me in.

Asuka watched, shaking her head, as I dialed the number. "I can't believe this. When Elise told us to keep an eye on you, I never knew this is what she meant. And you say this isn't the first time this has happened?"

"No. A couple of guys showed up the other day, too. They keep calling me Yuki Judai, whoever that is," I told her as I waited for an answer. I didn't call the emergency number since I wasn't even sure if it counted as an emergency when it was over.

She gasped. "D-did you just say Yuki Judai!? Are you serious!?"

"Hey, I need to report an attempted kidnapping," I told the lady who answered.

"I don't know about this, Jaden," Asuka said. "You said the two that attacked you weren't the same guys from before? Then, if that's true, there might not be much the police can do to help."

I covered the mouthpiece and asked her, "Well, then, what do I do?"

"I don't know. It sounds like you've got a whole gang on your tail, and you know how they are." I bit my tongue so I wouldn't tell her that no, I didn't, and she went on, "They protect their members with constant fake alibis and the word from other gangs. You may need a new plan here."

While she was telling me this, the lady on the phone asked for my name and address. I sweat, realizing I had a problem here.

"Uh, I don't know the address... I'm sorta new around here. And, uh, I'm Jaden."

"Jaden. You have to be more specific than that," Asuka said. "They can't do anything without a last name or a home address."

"I don't know my last name," I said, not sure if I was telling the operator or Asuka at that point. "I don't know my first name, either. See, I've got amnesia, so I don't know who I am. And, uh..."

Asuka sighed and told me the address, which I repeated for the operator.

"Honestly, Jaden, if you're gonna live here for awhile, the least you can do is learn your own contact info. What are you gonna do if this happens again and no one's around to help you?"

I put the phone down and ignored her question, saying, "They're sending someone over."

"Whatever. Then why don't you head back over there and wait on them? Though, I'm telling you, it's a waste of time."

"Yeah, well, I don't know what else to do."

"Sorry. I can't help you there. Why not try hiring a private investigator to go and check out this enemy gang of yours? Who knows? Maybe you'll find someone cheap in the black market."

Now, in the first place, she didn't sound sorry. And, in the second place, her tone was...kinda rude. Like, condescending and a bit sarcastic.

"Yeah, sure, like I can afford that."

She shrugged, showing just how much she didn't care. "Like I said. You're on your own."

I sighed, wondering why I had wanted to talk to her the other day.

"Aw, come on, sis," her brother said. "Cut the guy some slack. It's not his fault these guys are after him."

"Yeah, whatever," she said.

"She always think it's the victim's fault?" I asked. If she did, I really didn't see why I wanted to talk to her when I first moved in. "Or is she just one of those people with a black hole where their heart should be?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" she snapped.

"Nah," her brother said casually. "She just don't take too kindly to strangers who show up out of nowhere, move in with someone new out of the blue, and have vicious criminals on their trail."

She humphed, apparently insulted by his casual tone. His tone told me all I needed to know: stay away from that girl. She's not friendly.

"It's not my fault they think I'm this 'Yuki Judai' guy."

"Uh-huh. Jaden? Do you even know who that is? 'Cause he's a little more important than some 'guy,' as you so bluntly put it," Asuka said, her tone clearly saying she thought I was the stupidest person in the whole world.

Her brother sweat, but he kept his tone casual as he said, "And she thinks you're an idiot, too. That doesn't really help much, Jay."

I threw my arms up in the air and said, "I've got amnesia! I don't even know who _I_ am! How am I supposed to know who they _think_ I am!?"

"Simple. They think you're a prince," Asuka said.

I stared at her. "Prince..."

Suddenly I had a headache. I put a hand to my head, grasping for the memories that one word stirred.

"Yep. A prince. Yuki Judai is the prince of the kingdom called Neospace. Locals say he ran away from home a couple weeks ago. They've been looking for him ever since." She laughed shortly. "Wow, these guys must be getting desperate. There's no way a guy like you could be him."

She laughed a bit at the thought, but I wasn't paying much attention. I closed my eyes and kept fighting for those memories she was dragging to the surface.

"Yuki Judai... Prince... Neospace..."

It sounded familiar, and being from another kingdom would explain a lot of things. Like why I didn't understand Kalmar's money system, or why their emergency number was new to me, or why the Neospacian way of saying the family name first felt familiar.

Her brother was staring, his eyes wide. "Uh, sis? What's he doing? H-he _couldn't_ be..."

She stared at me, too. I could feel their stares as I tried to remember. I wasn't used to doing chores. I wasn't used to anything about Kalmar. I was used to the idea of family-name-first, a Neospacian custom. I was...

"Oh!" Asuka's brother said, dragging me back to the real world. "Uh, Jaden... You've got company out there..." He sounded nervous. Apparently the thought that I might be a prince was weird.

"Y-yeah..." I lowered my hand and opened my eyes. A police car had just pulled up outside of Elise's house. "Well, thanks for letting me use your phone," I told them, then I headed back to Elise's place to talk to the police.

"Y-you're welcome," he said. Then he laughed.

* * *

I watched Jaden go, curious now. The way he had been acting, it was like he was trying to remember something. But that would mean...

_No way. It couldn't be. Could it...?_

There was no way a guy like him could be prince of anything, except maybe stupidity. But he did seem like he was trying to remember something while I had been telling him about Yuki Judai. If he wasn't him, then who was he? I decided right then and there that I was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing I did.


	6. Interrogation

**Shadgirl2: Here's the next chapter!**

**Midna Azusa: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

**Edit: Judai doesn't know Ikazuchimaru's name at this point, so that was changed.**

* * *

The whole time I was talking to the police, I was still thinking about Yuki Judai. I mean, it sounded way too familiar to be just a coincidence. There had to be something to it, right?

I told them about Kourimaru and his partner, then headed back to Elise's place after they assured me that they would take care of it. After what Asuka had said, I wasn't so sure that they could, but there wasn't really anything else I could do about those guys. All I could do was leave it up to them and finish my chores before Elise got back.

After finishing those chores that I wasn't used to, I just sat on the couch, thinking, trying to remember anything. My hands were on my head as I tried to concentrate. Tried to pull those memories out of the haze.

Elise got back around 9. She came into the living room and saw me there.

"Well," she said, walking in and setting down her purse. "Looks like somebody's had a busy day. Care to talk about it?"

"Those guys we saw at the store yesterday showed up," I told her. "I called the police, like you said, and...I wound up talking with the Tenjoins about Yuki Judai... It all sounds so familiar..."

"Really? And what did you talk about?"

"That he's the prince of Neospace, and they think he ran away a couple of weeks ago."

Elise nodded. "It was on the news. Apparently a bunch of people saw him head out of town, and he never came back. Based on his past adventurous behavior, they all believe he ran off to live his own life and see the world. It wouldn't surprise me any, with the things they said about him."

_The things they said about him?_ I wondered. What were they saying about him? This guy sounded like a real dead-beat, and I really didn't want to be him now. But maybe everyone was wrong about what they thought he'd done. Maybe he had some other reason for leaving town. Who was I to say, considering I wasn't even sure if I _was_ him?

"Well, anyway, what's for supper?" Elise asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "Surely you've eaten by now, right? Is there any out there for me?"

"Huh? Uh, I don't know. I can't cook, so..."

Add that to the list of things I couldn't do. Then again, I'm not sure if it would really be uncommon for a teenage boy to not know how to cook.

"Oh, really? Well, that's okay. I'll just make some canned stew. Do you want anything to go with it?"

"No, that's okay," I told her.

She nodded and headed for the kitchen, leaving me to my thoughts again.

_Adventurous spirit...? If that _is_ me, what was I doing? I...don't think I'd run away from home... Maybe that's not me? But it sounds so familiar..._

_"__Kuri kuri..."_ came that voice again.

_And what's with that voice? And how come I understand...whatever it is? But only sometimes... What's going on?_

"Okay! Soup's on!" Elise called a lot sooner than I was expecting. "Come and get it!"

So I got up and headed to the dining room for dinner.

* * *

It turns out, there's this thing called a "microwave" that cooks food really fast. That was what Elise used to make dinner that night, and she wanted me to learn how to do it. How do I know? Because she left instructions on the top of the little white box, and my list of chores included "learn how to use the microwave." So, yeah. She wanted me to learn to work that weird box.

So, yeah. By this point, I was pretty sure I wasn't from Kalmar. Though I wasn't sure where I _was_ from, in that case.

In addition to the microwave, Elise wanted me to do the dishes and vacuum. Really? Didn't I do that just yesterday? Whatever. I could use the practice, so I decided to do it again.

Around 3, while I was vacuuming the living room, I heard a knock on the door. Very much aware that there were guys out there trying to kidnap me, I checked the peephole—one thing that I _did_ recognize—and saw Asuka Tenjoin standing on the porch, looking impatient.

Great. Just what I needed.

I opened the door and asked her, "What do you want?"

"Listen, I've got some questions for you, and I'm not leaving until they're answered," she said forcefully.

I blinked, caught off guard. "Okay."

"Good. First question. What were you doing yesterday after I told you who Yuki Judai was? You don't seriously believe you're him, do you?"

I sighed and stepped aside, saying, "Why don't you come in and have a seat?" After all, this was clearly going to take awhile.

She came in, and I locked the door behind her, then led her to the living room. She took a seat in the armchair, and I sat down on the couch.

"Well?" she asked, still waiting for me to answer her question.

"I...I don't know," I told her. "That name sounds really familiar, like I've heard it every day. And that bit about being prince... Well, I know this much. I've never had to do chores before."

"Really? And what's that got to do with this?"

I shrugged. "A prince wouldn't be doing housework, would he?"

"N-no," she stammered. "But, seriously. How can you be him? A prince wouldn't be this timid and helpless, either. You peeked before opening the door, didn't you?"

I shrugged again, thinking that "timid" was going a bit far. And I wasn't helpless, either. "It's called being cautious. There are at least four guys out there who are after me, so I probably shouldn't just fling the door open and try to take them on. I mean, they've got weird powers and Duel Monsters, so, since I'm still amazed I even remember how to use my deck at all, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Now Asuka shrugged. "If you say so. But, still, I—What do you mean they've got weird powers?" she asked. "They summon Duel Monsters to attack, like everyone else, right?"

"Yeah...and they can teleport," I told her. "In a burst of flames, piles of rocks, lightning strikes, snow storms..."

My head started throbbing, and my hands flew up to it about the time I realized I hadn't seen Kourimaru and Blue Jacket teleport the last two times I'd seen them. But a faint image formed in my head of the four of them, standing in a circle, the signs of their teleportation still fading around them. Honomaru was in front of me, Iwamaru in the back, the other two on either side.

"Jaden? You okay?" Asuka asked.

I didn't answer right away, trying to stop that memory from slipping away before I could figure out what was going on. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

"Yeah," I said. Asuka had sat forward slightly. "Just...trying to remember something."

"What?" she asked, looking at me curiously.

"There was...I saw all of those guys teleport. They...they showed up in a circle..."

"So you're saying you've seen these guys before? Where at?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I can't remember."

Asuka just stared at me in silence.

"So, anyway, you have any other questions?" I asked, trying to get her back on track.

She seemed to think about how she wanted to ask the next one, which told me it was going to be a doozy. That, or insulting. "Why do you think you're Yuki Judai? Th-there's no way, with your limited understanding of how things work in this world."

"I don't know how to call the police," I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. "How is that limited knowledge? Would I have ever had any need to have learned that if I were him?"

"No. But you should have known that all Duel Monsters become real when used out of battle. And that not everyone's a duelist. Duelists need skill, and anyone who's really a prince of another country should have that. And, judging from your limited knowledge, you probably don't, do you?"

"I don't know. I can't remember."

"See?" she said, sounding smug. "It's not memory that makes up a person's skills. It's stored in their brains and runs on instinct. Once it's taught, it comes natural, regardless. So you're clearly not Judai 'cause you can't use your deck right."

I thought about that instinct thing for a bit. It explained everything—how I had known to summon Bladedge, or how I'd known to get rid of one of those Reflector Bits, or how I'd known to stop my own attack before it hit Sho.

"Except I _was_ using it right," I told her. "Yesterday. When those guys attacked."

Asuka looked at me lamely. "What?"

"I kept them occupied, took out one guy's card, which slowed the other guy down because he was worried about helping his partner. And I knew that would happen," I said, and I'm sure I sounded amazed myself. "I knew that, if I went after one, the other would stop. But it had to be the ice guy that I targeted because he wouldn't react the same way. He'd just ditch his partner and focus on catching me."

"How do you know that?" Asuka asked, stunned. "You said you can't remember those guys!"

I shrugged again. "I don't know. Instinct?"

She just stared at me after that one. I shifted a bit, uncomfortable with that look she was giving me. I mean, it was kinda creepy.

"Anyway, next question," I said.

She just stared for another moment before saying, "How...?"

"Hello? Asuka?"

"You're that prince, aren't you? Why'd you run away from home? Don't you know how foolish that was? You're the only heir to the throne." Her eyes were huge, like saucers.

"I don't know. I can't remember if I even _did_ run away. I don't know what I was doing."

"S-so, then, that's a yes?" she asked, and she sounded worried all of a sudden. Guess she was wishing she hadn't been so rude to me earlier. "Oh, my—"

"Hey, I don't even know if that's really true," I pointed out. "I still can't remember anything. I mean, there could be other reasons that name sounds familiar, right?"

Maybe I was a noble from that kingdom. Or maybe I was a servant in the—no, then I would know how to do chores. Okay, so maybe I was a peasant who was used to, uh, plowing fields? Yeah, noble, that had to be it. There was no way I was a prince.

"R-right..." Asuka said, calming down some.

"So? Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"...No. No, I think I...yeah..." With that intelligent comment, she got up, saying, "Sorry for bothering you. I hope you find your memory soon. And figure out who those guys were..."

Then she headed out. I heard the front door close behind her. This left me free to think about things I'd never find the answer to, like I'd been doing for the last few days. Starting with that vague memory.

"What were those guys doing...? When they showed up..."

It's not easy figuring out anything when you can't even remember your own name, that's for sure.


	7. A Trip to the Arcade

**Shadgirl2: We have no excuses. We're just not writing much this summer.**

**Midna: Well, you have been really busy cleaning and all that jazz.**

**Shadgirl2: Yeah, well, anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

Later that day, somebody came knocking on the door. Sho's excited voice called, "Aniki!? You in?"

I opened the door—which Sho was still knocking on—and said, "Hey, Sho. What's up?"

"Oh, just wondering if you wanted to go to the arcade with me. Th-that is, if you're done being attacked for the day." He sweat, looking kinda awkward. Made sense, considering that he had just asked me about being attacked as if I had it in my schedule for every day.

I was tempted to look at my wrist as if I were looking at a watch and say, "Sorry, Sho, but you're about an hour early. I'm due for an attack around four." Instead, I just laughed and said, "Well, I haven't been attacked at all today, but I also haven't finished my chores yet."

He deflated. "Oh..."

"But, if you help me, we can be done soon and get over to the arcade!" I said. Granted, I wasn't sure what an arcade was, but it sounded like fun. Besides, Sho would be there, so what harm could it do to go there with him?

"Okay," Sho said, coming in. "What do you need done?"

So I managed to get Sho to do the dishes while I washed the windows. With both of us working together, we got them done a lot faster, and we headed downtown to the arcade.

* * *

Apparently the arcade is a place you go to play games on television screens using funny-looking machines. Okay, was I even from this _time_? I mean, come on! I had to know _something_!

I didn't spend much time worrying about that, though, because as soon as we walked into the dimly-lit building, everyone scowled or glared...at Sho.

"So!? Which games do you wanna play?" Sho asked, apparently oblivious to the hostility. Or maybe he was just used to it. "Ooh! There's a racing game over there where you design your own car!"

He ran over to the machine, which had a car seat and a steering wheel attached. I followed him over, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was still glaring.

"Look! There's a monster truck on their list! Did you know that—" And, with that, Sho launched into a tirade about monster trucks. I've gotta say, I learned a lot from listening to him. For instance, a monster truck isn't called that because it's alive and eats people. But they do have some pretty monstrous wheels, I guess. Then again, to me, all cars looked funny.

From monster trucks, Sho moved on to dump trucks, cement trucks, semi trucks...

"Wow, you sure know a lot about trucks," I said when he stopped for breath.

"Uh-huh! They're my favorite! I've got a bunch of magazines that feature trucks in them, too!"

"Oh, give me a break!" someone said behind us. "Don't you ever shut up? Nobody cares about your stupid trucks, so why don't you stop talking?"

Sho tensed. "Uh-oh..."

He turned around, and I did, too. There was a guy behind us, big-boned (if we're being nice about it) with spiky brown hair and a nasty smirk on his face.

"So?" the guy asked. "What's the deal, coming to _my_ arcade and polluting it with your nonsense? Haven't we been over this?"

"Hi, Gorisuke... Nice to see you, too..."

"So? You gonna leave on your own, or are we gonna have a little fun first?"

"N-no," Sho said, getting out of the game's chair. "That's okay, I'll just—"

Now, it was possible, I guess, that the guy in front of us was actually somebody who was, you know, in charge around here. But I was getting the feeling that the only reason he was calling it "his" arcade was that he "ran" everything by bullying people and deciding who was and wasn't allowed. And there was no way I was gonna let him bully Sho.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked, stopping Sho in his tracks.

"Who's asking? Sho's new babysitter? Heh. 'Bout time you found one dumb enough to stick around."

Sho looked down, and my resolve hardened. There was no way this guy was getting away with this!

"Gorisuke, was it? I've got a question... Are you a duelist?"

"So what if I am?" he answered.

"Then I'll make you a deal," I said. "We duel. If you win, Sho has to leave and never come back. If I win, _you_ go."

Gorisuke laughed, apparently thinking I'd be a total pushover. Somewhere in the back of my mind, though, I knew that I could take him. "Okay," he said, a smug smirk on his face. "Sure. If you think you'd stand a chance, that is."

I smirked slightly, too. "Oh, I think I can take you."

"Watch out, Aniki!" Sho said. "His deck's real strong! He uses—"

"Don't spoil it, Sho!" I said, excited. "I wanna see for myself!"

Sho sighed. "If you say so..."

"Heh. You'll regret not letting that wimp talk," Gorisuke said, activating his duel disk. "My deck's unstoppable."

I pulled my own out and put it on, saying "We'll see about that!"

"Duel!"

Gorisuke: 8000  
Jaden: 8000

So, right there, in the middle of the arcade, with everyone watching because they had never stopped glaring at Sho, I started a duel with a big bully.

"Since this whole thing was _my_ idea, I'll go easy on ya for good measure!" Gorisuke said. I just let that slide. "It's my turn! I draw!" He pulled a card from his deck and looked at it, then said, "I play two cards face down and summon Fusilier Dragon the Dual-Mode Beast in attack mode!" (2800)

A red and white metal dragon materialized on his field. It had treads like a tank, and two cannons down there, along with another two on its head.

"Hold up!" I protested. "That's a high level monster! You can't summon that without a sacrifice!"

"No, Aniki!" Sho said. "He can—"

"Can it, wimp!" Gorisuke cut him off. "It's my card, so I'm gonna explain it! Now, as I was saying, this card's got a cool power that's gonna mop the floor with ya! It can be summoned _without_ a sacrifice by cutting its attack points in half!"

So, okay. Its attack was only 1400. Well, I guess that made it more fair.

"I end my turn there. Good luck beating _this_ monster, wimp!" Then he gave what can only be called an evil laugh.

"Don't underestimate me just yet, Gorisuke! You don't even know anything about me! I draw!" I pulled a card from my deck.

"Not so fast!" Gorisuke said.

Sho covered his face with his hands. "Oh, no. Here it comes!" he said, trembling.

"I activate my trap card! Skill Drain!"

"Skill Drain?"

"I knew it," Sho said with a shudder.

"That's right, shrimp! Skill Drain lets me block all monster effects on the field! And it only costs me 1000 life points."

Gorisuke: 7000  
Jaden: 8000

Sure, Gorisuke might have been down 1000 life points, but his monster roared as its attack points rose to their original 2800.

"That's what I was trying to _tell_ you, Aniki! He uses a _power_ deck to crush his victims! You don't stand a chance!"

Gorisuke humphed. "Why, thank you, Shoey. I knew—"

"Power deck, huh?" I cut him off, smiling. I'll bet he thought I was crazy, but I was excited. Dueling was something I remembered, and I was starting to remember how much I loved it. "Interesting. This'll be fun!"

"What!?" Sho exclaimed. "Aniki, he's—"

"Heh. Sounds interesting. I can't wait to see what you think you can possibly do against it," Gorisuke said. "Your move, nutty."

Ignoring that attempted insult, I said, "Alirght! I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two more cards." I pulled those cards from my deck, and I got an idea that could easily wipe out his monster. "Then I activate Polymerization! And I'm gonna fuse my Elemental Hero Avian with my Elemental Hero Wildheart! So come out, Elemental Hero Wild Wingman!" (Atk 1900)

Two monsters appeared on my field briefly before fusing together in a swirling vortex. What emerged from that was a muscular man with tribal tattoos, white wings, and green-feathered hands and feet—Wild Wingman.

"Ooh, soo _scary_," Gorisuke taunted. "You think that wimp can stand up to my beast? Well, I hate to disappoint ya, but...it _can't_. _Especially_ after I play my other trap card, Final Attack Orders, and force all monsters on the field into attack mode permanently!"

While I was busy being grateful that he hadn't destroyed Wild Wingman, Sho gasped. "No! Now Aniki can't even defend himself! He's gonna—"

He cut himself off when he saw me grinning.

"Sounds fun. But, I gotta say, this isn't the best place for a hero to fight. So..." I pulled a card from my hand and finished, "I activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"

Tall buildings sprouted up all around us, giving the impression that we were standing in the middle of a city. Even without the dim lighting in the arcade, Skyscraper would have made it darker because it was a city at night. The full moon was visible overhead.

"Hmph. Big deal," Gorisuke said. "My monster's _still_ stronger than—"

I cut him off, deciding to tell him about Skyscraper's effect later—when it actually activated. "Now I activate R – Righteous Justice! This lets me destroy spell and trap cards on your field equal to the number of Elemental Hero monsters I control!"

"What!?"

"Aniki!"

What? Was it really so shocking that somebody could destroy trap cards? I mean, sure, I didn't have a lot of cards in my deck that did that, but I did have a few. There wasn't any reason for them _both_ to be shocked.

"And I'm aiming for Skill Drain!" I said.

A yellow R flew off Wild Wingman, blasting Skill Drain and wiping it off the field as Gorisuke growled. "Big deal! I've _still_ got the strongest monster out there! How's that wimp plan to topple that?" He pointed angrily at his own monster.

I felt a need to defend my monster, but Sho spoke up before I had the chance. "He's right, Aniki! You're no match for him! He's got a—"

"Aw, come on, Sho!" I cut him off. "You've never seen me duel. How do you know I can't win this? Have a little faith, why don't ya?"

"B-but the amnesia! Doesn't it—"

"Say what?" Gorisuke asked, raising an eyebrow. "You've got amnesia?"

"Yeah, well, that's not stopping me from dueling! I remember how to do that, at least. So, if you guys don't mind, Wild Wingman attacks!"

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding! Guy shows up with amnesia _claiming_ to be a duelist, then attacks with—" He cut himself off, then added, "You're worse than Sho is, you big _moron_! Dual-Mode Beast! Attack!"

The dragon roared as it launched a counter-attack. I just grinned, knowing what was going to happen next. Just before the two made contact, Wild Wingman's attack rose to 2900.

"What!?" Gorisuke cried. "W-why did it—"

"When Skyscraper's on the field, if an Elemental Hero battles an opponent with higher attack points, it gets a 1000-point boost!" I clarified.

"What!?"

"Aniki!"

Wild Wingman blew his Fusilier away easily after that.

Gorisuke: 6900  
Jaden: 8000

Gorisuke growled. "Lucky shot! You won't be so lucky next time! Ready to end your turn yet, brain-dead oaf?"

I figured the "brain-dead" comment was because I had amnesia. Well, as much as it annoyed me that he thought that meant I was "brain-dead," if it made him keep underestimating me, that was his problem. I'd show him how good a "brain-dead oaf" could be.

"Not quite yet! First, since your Skill Drain isn't stopping me anymore, I'm activating Wild Wingman's effect! By discarding one card in my hand, he can destroy one spell or trap card on your field!"

"What!?"

Just like that, I slipped a card into my graveyard—one that would surely come in handy later—and his other trap blew up.

He growled again. "You're a dead man now! You hear me!?"

_Well, guess I made him mad,_ I thought. "That does it for me. Turn end."

Gorisuke growled yet again. "Why, you... It's my turn now! I draw!"

Sho was looking pretty nervous. Can't say I blamed him, considering he and Gorisuke seemed like they had a history. "Aniki..."

"I activate the spell card Cost Down!" Gorisuke said. "Now, by sending a card to the graveyard, I get to summon Saber Beetle from my hand!" (Atk 2400)

He sent a card to the grave, then slapped a card down on his duel disk. A brown beetled showed up on the field, with a glowing horn.

"You're gonna get it now, punk! 'Cause I activate the spell card Megamorph to double my monster's attack points! Then, for good measure, I think I'll activate my Archfiend of Gilfer's effect from the graveyard where I just sent it and use it to weaken your monster even more! So there!"

While his beetle's attack points went up to 4800, Wild Wingman's attack points dropped to 1400.

Sho gasped. "Oh, no! Aniki!" He looked at me, worried.

"Get ready to feel the pain!" Gorisuke said, clenching his fist. "I attack with Saber Beetle! Destroy that annoying winged wuss!"

"Aniki! No!"

The beetle charged forward, skewering Wild Wingman on his horn. And, just like that, I lost almost half of my life points.

Gorisuke: 6900  
Jaden: 4600

"Ha! I _told _ya a wimp like you didn't stand a chance!" Gorisuke gloated. "Why don't you give up now before your wittle head starts hurting, huh?"

While I might have taken a serious blow, I knew I wasn't out yet. Especially once I saw Gorisuke's monster's attack points drop below their original value. He seemed too busy to notice this, though.

"Aniki, it's okay," Sho said. "We can always go somewhere else and hang out. It doesn't _have_ to be here! No need to embarrass yourself for—"

"Gorisuke," I said, though I was really talking to both of the doubters. "You do realize that there's a risk to Megamorph, right?"

He just blinked at me. "Huh?"

Well, I guess not.

"What?" Sho asked. "Aniki, you don't mean—"

"Aw, well. Guess you'll both see soon enough! I draw!" I said, pulling a card from my deck. "Now, thanks to the Necroshade in my graveyard, I can summon an Elemental Hero without a sacrifice one time! So I summon Elemental Hero Bladedge!" (Atk 2600)

Gorisuke suppressed a laugh as my golden hero appeared. "Really? Attack mode again? Guess it's true what they say! A mind_ is_ a terrible thing to lose! Why, that guy's nothing but a—"

"Bladedge, attack his Saber Beetle!"

"What!? Are you crazy!" he demanded as Bladedge charged. "That's—"

Bladedge sliced through his beetle, wiping it out, along with a chunk of his life points.

"No way! How come _my_ monster lost!? It was powered up by my Megamorph spell card!" he whined as his life points fell.

Sho looked stunned. It was kind of comical, especially when he blinked, then looked at me, wondering the same thing. Both of them needed to brush up on their spell cards, apparently. Then again, I wasn't even sure that Sho dueled, so it was really Gorisuke who needed to bother reading his cards again.

"Megamorph doubles your monster's attack, sure," I said. "But you've gotta be careful how you use it. It only doubles your attack when your life points are _lower_ than your opponents. If your opponent's life points are lower, it cuts your monster's attack in _half_."

Gorisuke: 5500  
Jaden: 4600

"Wow, Aniki! You _knew_ that!?"

Gorisuke growled, then muttered, "Rotten little..." He growled again, then said, "Fine, then! Get on with your turn so I can beat the stuffing outta you!"

"I play a card face down," I said, sliding a card into my duel disk. "Turn end."

"Then it's my turn again! Draw!" He looked at his card and growled, then muttered, "That no good card-wasting..." Louder, he said, "I play a card face down and end my turn!"

The look on his face gave away his plan, along with telling me that he'd be a lousy poker player. I mean, come on! If you have that bad of a poker face in a game of Duel Monsters, you don't stand a chance in poker. He was looking pretty smug, smirking like he just won the lottery. Over one face-down card!

Sho started wringing his hands. "Ooh. I hope he knows what he's doing..." he said quietly, apparently trying not to be heard. If it hadn't been dead silent in that building, he might have succeeded. "That's a nasty smirk on Gorisuke's face. Watch out, Aniki... He's up to something..."

_I know, Sho,_ I thought. "I draw!"

I pulled a card and glanced at it, then stood there thinking, trying to figure out what I should do. Gorisuke had clearly set a trap, but what kind? I was curious, but I didn't want to be reckless. It sounded like the guy was gonna beat me up if I lost, after all. Besides, then Sho would never be able to come back to the arcade, which just wasn't fair!

I guess I was taking too long because Gorisuke said, "What's the matter, kiddo? I'm _waiting_. Hit me with your best shot! If you _can_, that is." He snickered.

_He's up to something. That face-down must be some sort of trap._

"Come on, already, twerp! What's the hold-up? Don't _tell _me you have to go to the doctor to get your head checked for damages." He snickered some more. "Give me all you've got!"

"Aniki! Don't listen to him!" Sho called. "It's a—"

"Can it, pea-brain! This isn't your business! Now back off or I'll pummel ya real good!"

Sho backed up, whimpering.

_Well, might as well just get on with it. It's not like I've got anything that can get rid of his face-down right now. But I _do _have something his trap wouldn't work on,_ I thought. I pulled a card from my hand and said, "I activate The Warrior Returning Alive to bring Wildheart back from my graveyard! Then I summon him!" (Atk 1500)

A muscular hero with tribal tattoos, a long dark ponytail, and a two-handed sword appeared, ready for battle. Gorisuke didn't look phased. Not that I was expecting him to, though.

"Now, Wildheart, attack him directly!"

"Tch."

Wildheart sliced through him without him even trying to activate his trap. _Just as I thought. It's for Bladedge._

Gorisuke: 4000  
Jaden: 4600

"I see your trap, Gorisuke," I said, grinning. "It's something to stop Bladedge, isn't it?"

He growled and clenched his fist.

"Aniki!" Sho exclaimed, looking at me in awe.

"Well, I gotta admit, I'm curious about what it is," I said. "But I'm not gonna just rush in and attack you with him. I mean, I may have amnesia, but I'm not stupid."

He growled again. "Why...you..."

"So I'll just end my turn at that. It's back to you, Gorisuke!"

He growled for the third time in as many minutes. "You're really starting to get on my nerves!" He pulled a card from his deck, looked at it, and said, "I...end my turn! Dang it!" He stomped his foot angrily.

Briefly I thought that his deck balance was really bad. Again, briefly, I thought that it was ironic I was doing that because I felt like I'd been told that before. Weird. Either way, he said he had never lost a duel, so he clearly hadn't challenged anyone who stood a chance. Maybe toddlers or total newcomers to the game.

"Wow! Way to go, Aniki! He's running out of cards!" Sho said, excited.

And, with that, I knew for a fact: this guy was a noob.

"Oh, shut up, you little—"

"Draw!" I glanced at my card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!" (Atk 1600)

My blue-and-gold clad hero with the wings and the visor joined Wildheart on the field in a burst of electricity.

"Okay, that does it!" Gorisuke said. "Those monsters aren't even real! You can't _possibly_ be playing fair with all those fake D-Heroes in your deck! Quit cheating and fight like a man!"

Sho thought about it. "D-Heroes?" Then he looked at me, apparently wondering about my deck.

Well, that wasn't anything I was prepared for. I mean, my deck wasn't fake! "D-Heroes? What are those?"

Gorisuke's eyes widened. "You're kidding! You seriously don't know!? But you're faking Diamond Dude right now!" he said, gesturing to Sparkman.

I cocked my head. "Diamond Dude?"

Gorisuke slapped himself in the head. "Right, amnesia. Whatever, man. Just get on with your turn so I can duel a guy who actually plays fair."

"Aniki...is a cheater?"

Now, there may have been a lot of things I didn't know. Like who I was or where I was from or who my family was. But there was one thing I knew, and that was how a duel disk reacted to fake cards. They might show up, but they'd be glitched up if they did. Like they'd be missing a limb or fizzle in and out. _If_ they even showed up, that is.

"My cards aren't fake!" I said, glaring at Gorisuke. "Just because _you've_ never seen them doesn't mean they aren't real! I've met some people here who've heard of them."

Not that I was about to tell him who those people were. It wasn't his business that they were four guys who were trying to capture me.

"Really, Aniki?" Sho asked. "Is that true?"

Gorisuke humphed. "Whatever, dude. You gonna finish your turn, or are we done here? 'Cause I've got better things to do." He cast an evil look at Sho and finished, "_Right, Shoey_?"

Sho cringed as if he were about to get hit. Or worse.

I growled. "Leave Sho alone!"

"Make me!"

"Alright, I will! Sparkman! Attack him directly!"

Sparkman zapped him with a jolt of electricity, dropping his life points. Gorisuke growled.

"Now, Wildheart!" I commanded, and Wildheart charged him, slicing through his life points again.

Gorisuke: 900  
Jaden: 4600

"Hmph! Yeah, whatever. Since I'm _sure_ you won't attack, I guess it's my turn now. I—"

"Now, Bladedge! I think it's about time we took the bait!"

Yeah, it was stupid. Yeah, I shouldn't have done it. But I was mad, and I wanted to end it that turn. Gorisuke had threatened Sho right there in front of me, and he was insulting my deck! I couldn't just let him get away with that!

"What!?"

"Aniki!? Why'd you—"

Gorisuke was stunned for a moment, then growled. "You brainless fool! How stupid can you be!? I thought you _said_ my trap didn't scare you!"

"Well, it's just gonna keep sitting there, so I might as well figure out what it is, right?"

"Idiot! You're _really_ gonna regret _that_ one! I activate my trap card, Shadow Spell!"

"Shadow Spell!? What gives!?" Sho asked. "I thought that was your Spell-Binding Circle!"

Gorisuke laughed. "It was! Until I traded it for something better! Little kids can be so generous when they're scared." And he laughed.

_Laughed._

About bullying little kids into handing over their cards.

I growled this time. "So you even bully people into giving you their cards."

Chains wrapped around Bladedge as Gorisuke just laughed. Besides being stopped in his tracks, Bladedge had his attack dropped to 1900.

"Oh, no!" Sho cried. "Aniki! W-what happened!?"

"It's simple," Gorisuke said. "Since I activated my Shadow Spell trap card, I got to end your precious 'aniki's' attack! And, thanks to its _upgraded_ effect, his monster loses 700 attack points to boot! _Told_ you it's a lot cooler than that old, useless Spell-Binding Circle trap!"

I smirked, not worried about his trap (though why I don't know). "If you think you can bully me the way you bully everyone else, you've got another thing coming, Gorisuke!"

"Says the guy with no memories," Gorisuke retorted. "Why, for all _you_ know, I'm your long-lost twin brother! Who _knows_ what I could say to you that you might believe!"

"Yeah, sure. Like I'll believe anything _you_ say."

"Yeah, yeah. You done now? 'Cause I'm taking my turn anyway since you're out of moves." He drew his next card and smirked. "I summon my Chainsaw Insect in attack mode!" (2400)

A bug that kind of looked like some kind of ant appeared, with chainsaws for pincers.

"Then I equip it with my Horn of the Unicorn for a quick power boost!"

A horn sprouted on its head as Sho said, "Not again! Now he's got 3100 attack points! Aniki doesn't stand a chance!"

"Go! Wipe out his gold version of Dread Master and a chunk of his life points!"

As his bug chopped Bladedge in half with its chainsaw appendages, I made a mental note to figure out what the heck D-Heroes were later.

Gorisuke: 900  
Jaden: 3400

Gorisuke gave another evil laugh, making me think he was trying out for a part as a super villain in a movie or something. "Too bad, cuz! Guess you're _still_ no match for me! Now, about that car you owe me—"

Oh, now he was trying to use my amnesia to get me to do what he wanted? _Give_ him what he wanted? That was the last straw! Clearly this guy was the worst, and there was no way I was gonna waste my time worrying about anything he said.

"Forget about it!" I cut him off. "I'm not listening to _anything_ you have to say! Besides, you think my cards are fake. You _clearly_ don't know me."

"Aniki!"

"Yeah, yeah. Due to Chainsaw Insect's effect, you get to draw a card. But that ends my turn anyway, so..." He shrugged, grinning.

"Aniki. Let's just go," Sho said as I drew my next card. "He's obviously too strong for—"

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" (Atk 1200)

A dark-haired woman in a red bodysuit appeared. Yeah, it looked like a stupid move, but I had drawn something that could totally turn this whole thing around! And there was no way I was going to just surrender. Gorisuke needed to learn a lesson. He needed knocked off his throne!

"Aniki!" Sho cried.

"Again with the wimps? Don't you ever get tired of—"

"Stop calling my monsters wimps, Gorisuke! You just don't understand their power!"

"Yeah, I don't! 'Cause they aren't—"

"I activate Miracle Fusion! By removing from play monsters on my field or in my graveyard, I can fuse them!"

"WHAT!?"

"Cool..." Sho said, watching in awe.

"I removed Burstinatrix from my field and Avian from my graveyard. Come forth, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" (Atk 2100)

As the two fused together, they called out my favorite monster. A green and black hero with a red and black tail. There was a dragon head on his right arm, the same colors as the tail. He also had one white wing.

Gorisuke's eyes widened. "You never cease to amaze me, kid. That fake Phoenix Dude's totally cool..."

Instead of wasting my breath correcting a liar and a creep, who was probably making these cards up, anyway, I said, "Flame Wingman attacks your monster, Gorisuke!"

He growled. "And, like in Dark City, _that_ thing gets a power boost for attacking," he said as Flame Wingman charged his monster. "But, still. That's only gonna get your monster killed in a suicide attack! No damage, dimwit! So, there!" he taunted.

Sure enough, Flame Wingman got destroyed by that lousy bug at the same time he set it on fire. With him in the graveyard, his effect didn't activate, either. But that wasn't a problem. How braindead was Gorisuke? Or was he just blind?

"Yeah. But you didn't forget about Sparkman, did you? Or Wildheart? You know, the two monsters I've _still _got?"

Gorisuke's eyes widened, and he stumbled backward. "Th-that's right! I've got no monsters left, and they've got—"

"The power of my Elemental Heroes is unity," I said. "Bet you've never had to worry about that, have you? You're too busy tearing people apart, making them feel like they can't stand up to you, even though you'd lose easily if they decided to work together. That's why you do whatever you can to make sure they don't figure that out. You weaken them any way you can, then you attack them with brute force! But you don't realize that you make some pretty stupid mistakes that way. Rather than relying on your skill, you try to psych your victims out! I mean, you tried to convince me that I was related to you, tried to take advantage of my amnesia! Well, I've got news for you! That strategy won't work forever. Someday, you're gonna bite off more than you can chew." I shrugged and finished, "Guess 'someday's' today, huh?"

He backed up, his eyes wide. "N-no way..."

"Let this be a lesson to you. Don't pick on those you think are weaker than you. You're gonna make a lot of enemies that way." I pointed at him, figuring I might as well show him what I meant by that, and said, "Sparkman! Wildheart! Attack him directly!"

"Oh, crud!" He covered his face as the two attacked together.

Gorisuke: 0  
Jaden: 3400

"Gotcha!" I said, flashing a finger gun at him on impulse.

"Noo! How could I lose to a guy like _that_?" he whined. He put his hands on his head and fell to his knees, muttering, "No, no, no," over and over again.

"Aniki! You won!" Sho cried, running over and pouncing me in a hug.

"No. This is a mistake. I never lose."

"Looks like you just did," I said. "And we had a deal, Gorisuke!"

He scowled, getting to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going. But this ain't over, shrimp," he said to Sho, pointing at him. "See you in class tomorrow." Then he stormed out.

Sho turned back to me and said, "Aniki, that was awesome! Who knew you were that good!"

As everyone around us started talking all at once, I thought about it for a minute, then said, "Me, I think." _For a minute there at the beginning, I thought my mouth was writing checks I couldn't cash. Go figure._

_"__Kuri kuri."_

I looked around for the speaker, but it was more out of habit than because I thought I'd see anything. I never did, so it was pretty obvious that I was just insane.

"So, Aniki?" Sho asked. "What's next?"

"Well, we were here to play some games, right? So, let's play!"

"Okay!"

It wasn't until later that I wondered about what I had said to Gorisuke there at the end. I mean, it wasn't like just anybody would say "unity's gonna bring you down," was it? Most people would just say that you've gotta stand up to a bully, or that he should have watched who he was messing with because some of us were stronger than he gave us credit for. But here I was, rattling off about unity and how he weakens people by convincing them that they can't do anything, no matter what. Maybe it was Sho on the sidelines, so convinced that every move I made was pointless. Maybe it was the fact that Gorisuke kept going on about that himself. Maybe it was how he tried to convince me we were related, tried to psych me out.

But that didn't explain where I got the idea that a united group of victims would destroy him.

Maybe it was from my monsters. I mean, my deck was heavily based around fusion. Without unity, I was a goner, so I understood the power of unity better than most.

Still, that speech came out of nowhere. I wasn't even sure what I was saying at the time. It was as if some other force had taken over my body, one that was more confident and sure of himself, one that knew all the right words, one that was used to taking command. Except _I _ was still in control.

It's complicated trying to explain it, but the point is, I didn't know where that speech had come from. But somewhere deep inside, I had known the right words to say, had known exactly what the situation was.

So, then, who _was_ I?


	8. The Emperors' Hideout

**Shadgirl2: We're back with another update!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

When we left the arcade, Sho and I split up to head home. I'd only gone a few blocks, however, before I started feeling like I was being followed. I kept walking, pretending everything was fine, but I didn't let my guard down. I was hoping that it was just my imagination, or that whoever it was would leave, but that feeling didn't go away. I started to get a real bad feeling about that.

Suddenly somebody jumped down from a building, landing right in front of me. I couldn't make out who it was in the dark, but I was positive it was one of those four guys who kept coming after me.

"Okay, Judai!" he said, and his voice sounded familiar—Kourimaru. "I'm going to give you one last chance to surrender. Then I'm gonna have to get rough with ya. Ya hear me?"

Oh, so him and his friends attacking me before _hadn't _been rough? Sheesh, if that was true, I didn't want to know what his definition of "rough" was.

I activated my duel disk and summoned Elemental Hero Tempest, a winged hero that was a combination of three of my weaker monsters.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did I _say,_ 'Summon some random monster?' I gave ya two options, kid. Now, will you cooperate, or are we gonna settle this like men?" he asked, activating his duel disk.

I blinked, figuring out what he meant. Apparently, for him, dueling was getting "rough" and attacking somebody with random monsters was just kidding around, or something. Either way, I took Tempest's card off my duel disk and slipped it back into my deck.

"I'm not gonna surrender!" I answered.

"Then I guess we're gonna do this the hard way." He drew five cards from his own deck, then added, "You ready?"

I followed his lead. "Ready!"

"Duel!"

* * *

That duel was so easy that it was almost like the guy wasn't even trying to win. His ice deck would have worked better against beast types or dinosaur types, and he didn't even seem like he was playing seriously. Even if I hadn't been under attack _again_, that duel would have been pretty dull.

"Arg! No!" Kourimaru cried when he lost.

"Alright, who are you!?" I demanded. "What do you guys want with me!?"

He snickered some. "You'll find out." Then he snickered again.

I scowled, irritated by this guy. I mean, come on! He and his friends kept attacking me, and I didn't even have a clue why!

If I'd been paying more attention, I would have seen that whole thing for what it was a lot sooner—a trap. While I was distracted, a pile of rocks rose up around me, and Iwamaru appeared, throwing his arms around me and holding on tight.

"Hey!" I protested, struggling to get out of his grip.

"Get him out of here!" Kourimaru commanded. "The boss is getting impatient!"

"Yes, sir! I'm on it!" Iwamaru answered.

Then, the same way he'd shown up, he vanished, taking me with him this time.

* * *

He teleported straight into a long, white hallway with cells on either side—a dungeon, I figured. Kourimaru showed up right after us. He opened one of the cell doors, and Iwamaru tossed me in. Then they slammed the door, leaving me with nothing to do but either stare at white walls or watch them through the bars. The other two came over about the time I turned to watch (because, really, what else was I gonna do?). After a brief congratulations, they all started arguing over who was going to stand guard and who was going to tell their boss they'd finally caught me.

Well, this was a fun day.

As I listened, I got the feeling that Iwamaru wasn't very well-respected in this group.

"How come I've gotta do it?" he asked when they said he should stand guard. "Why not one of you guys? I brought him here."

"Because it was _my_ plan to begin with, so _I'm_ telling the boss!" Kourimaru answered.

"Hey. Who's plan was it?" the guy in the blue jacked asked, glaring at Kourimaru. Apparently Kourimaru was eager to take credit for anything that worked.

"Okay, okay," Honomaru said, trying to calm them all down. "Why don't we do rock, paper, scissors? That way, we all get a fair chance at knowing who stays here and who gets to leave."

"Because we said so!" Kourimaru and his partner bellowed at the same time.

Well. I guess they _were_ able to work together. A shame that they could only do that when they were picking on their own teammates.

"Come on, Ikazuchimaru," Kourimaru said, turning to leave. "Let's go report to the boss."

Finally, a name to put to Blue Jacket's face! Though it was a ridiculously long one... I'd have to think up some sort of nickname for him.

"Right," Ikazuchimaru said, following Kourimaru.

"H-hey!" Honomaru called after them. "That's not—" He cut himself off with a sigh as the other two kept walking.

"So what do we do now, pal?" Iwamaru asked him. "They left us with grunt work again."

Again, huh? Maybe I could use that to my advantage. I mean, if they weren't gonna treat him like a member of their group, they were gonna have to deal with the consequences. Though that _did_ depend on what Honomaru did next.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm gonna go complain to the boss about this. 'Cause you're right, this _has_ to stop." He started walking off, catching Iwamaru off-guard.

"H-hey! Honomaru!"

"Good luck with the kid!"

"That's dirty, pal! You know that?" When he didn't get an answer, he sighed and sat down on the floor across from my cell.

_Oh, this is just too perfect,_ I thought. I mean, the guy had just been ditched by his whole team. And, if I was right, there was a really easy way to get out of this mess because of that. Seriously, they should have left at least two.

"Wow," I said to Iwamaru. "They always treat you like that?"

Instead of telling me to shut up, he answered, "Heh. Yeah, you could say that. I always get the short end of the stick. Even my best bud, Honomaru, does this to me sometimes. Especially when he really doesn't want to do more grunt work, like taking out the trash, washing the bathrooms, or doing the laundry. We're one big, happy family, if you count me out."

"That's not fair," I told him, and I really meant it. I mean, come on! With friends like that, who needs enemies? "You deserve more respect than that."

"Yeah. I know. I mean, I was chosen to be an Emperor like they were. So why don't I get treated like them? I'm just as good as they are."

"Yeah! Maybe even better. I mean, you're the one who actually caught me, right? Not that Itchy guy or Ice for Brains."

Itchy! That was it! _That_ was gonna be his nickname.

Iwamaru stood up, saying, "Yeah! You're right! I _do_ deserve more respect than them, don't I!? I should really go tell them."

He sounded so confident and determined that I almost felt sorry for what was going to happen when he took off. Honestly, my plan _had_ been to convert him, but him calling Honomaru his "best bud" and saying they were "one big, happy family" made me rethink that idea. It would have taken longer, and he _was_ really gullible. Hey, that wasn't _my_ fault, was it?

"Yeah, you should!" I agreed with him.

"Thanks, kid! I think I'll do that!" He started marching off, determined, saying, "Look out, guys! 'Cause things are gonna be different around here!"

"Yeah! You tell 'em, Iwamaru!" I called after him. "Let them know that they can't just push you around!"

He started whistling as he marched out of sight. When I couldn't hear him anymore, I grinned and looked at what he'd left on the floor—the keys.

_Now I just gotta get those keys..._

I lay down on my stomach, reaching my arm through the bars as far as I could, but the key ring was just out of reach.

"Come on... Come on..." I stretched, trying to get them.

_"__Kuri kuri,"_ I heard. I could make out a few syllables of whatever it was saying: "...can...h...yo..."

The keys slid a bit closer, and I figured that it had been saying it could help. I also figured I wasn't crazy, considering that those keys had actually moved after I heard that thing.

I grabbed them, saying, "Yes! Thanks, uh...whoever you are."

Quickly, I pulled the keys back in and, after about five tries, found the one that unlocked my cell.

_"__Kuri kuri kuri."_ That time, I heard what sounded like, "Carf...more...tha...those...ree...around...hea..."

"There's more around here, huh?" I said, filling in the blanks. "Right, I'll be careful."

I kept close to the wall as I started sneaking out of there, ready to run or duck out of sight if I had to.

* * *

**Iwamaru's POV**

That kid might have been the enemy, but he had a good point about how the rest of the Emperors treated me. Maybe he wasn't so bad, after all. When I left, he was even cheering me on.

I found the three of them heading for the boss's room, and I marched right up to them to give them a piece of my mind!

"Okay, you guys!" I told them. "This has gone on long enough! Now, I'm just as good as any one of you, so—"

"Hey!" Kourimaru cut me off, like he always does. "What do you think you're doing!? Weren't you supposed to be guarding the prince?"

"Well, I was until—"

"Then who's guarding him now!?" Ikazuchimaru demanded.

"Well, uh..."

"Idiot! How could you be so stupid!?"

The three of them ran back toward the dungeon. I stood there for a minute, thinking of how that prince had tricked me. And, to think, I actually fell for it!

"Whoops. H-hey, guys! Wait for me!" I called, running after them.

The cell was empty when we got back, the door hanging wide open with the key still sitting in the lock. Damn it, I'd even left the keys behind! What was I thinking!?

Ikazuchimaru growled. "This is why you're always getting the short end around here! You're always screwing things up!"

"Sorry," I told them. I was really feeling like an idiot then, too. I mean, we finally caught the prince, and I let him get away!

Kourimaru growled, then said, "Split up and search! He couldn't have gotten too far by now! Hurry before he gets away again!"

"Right!" we all said, then we ran off to look for that lousy, manipulative brat.

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

_What is this, some kind of asylum?_ I wondered, wandering through the halls.

The walls were all white, and everyone I saw was dressed in the same color. Some were playing video games in a sort of game lounge, or reading in a library, hanging out... It wouldn't have been so creepy if they weren't all dressed the same. And if there wasn't a dungeon in the basement.

_This place is weird..._

I kept sneaking around, making sure none of the inmates saw me as I tried to find the exit.

"He's just gotta be around here somewhere!" Honomaru's voice sounded really close. "Where could he be?"

_Uh-oh..._

I looked around and saw an open area behind me, where the lights were all off. That made for a good hiding place, so I backed into the shadows and waited for him to pass.

A door opened across the hall from where I was hiding, and Honomaru came out, calling, "Oh, yoo-hoo! Judai! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

I stayed still as he walked right by, not even daring to breathe. He headed down the hall into the game lounge I had just passed.

"Say, you guys wouldn't have seen Prince Judai hiding around here anywhere?" he asked the people inside, closing the door behind him.

I crept out of my hiding place and quickly snuck off. Clearly, they'd found out I wasn't in the dungeon anymore. I had to get out of there before they found me, or who knew what they'd do to me.

I hadn't gotten very far away from that spot when I saw a couple of shadows on the wall at the end of the hall. I looked around, but there wasn't anywhere I could hide this time. Well, unless I ducked into one of these closed doors that may or may not have had people behind them.

"I'm telling ya, he's the one," a girl's voice said. "I mean, have you _seen_ the way he hunts?"

"I know," the other said. "It's a bit scary, really."

_Dang it!_

I didn't have any other choice. If I stayed where I was, I was definitely gonna get caught, and the hallway was way too long for me to just run back down it and hope for the best. They'd see me, raise the alarm, and get me caught. So, since my best bet was that there would be a window in one of those rooms, I ducked through a door behind me.

The room I wound up in was huge, with a canopy bed, a long couch, and two sliding doors that, based on the rest of the room, I figured led to a walk-in closet. There was a lamp sitting on a nightstand beside the bed. In the back, I could see an open door leading out to a balcony—when did I get on the second floor?—with very classy white lace curtains covering it, blowing in the wind. I figured that, if I could just get to the balcony, I'd be home free. The only problem was the girl sleeping in the bed, who would have been hidden if the curtains weren't pulled back.

It was getting pretty late. I crept over to the balcony, trying not to make a sound. The floor had other ideas though, and I stepped on a creaky board halfway to the balcony door. I froze, waiting, hoping she'd stay asleep.

She moaned and rolled over. Since she hadn't woke up, I took another step, trying to be more careful. The girl moaned again, rolling over once more. I stopped right where I was, just standing there and waiting. After a minute, she didn't wake up, so I hurried over to the balcony as quietly as I could.

I was about to open it when someone knocked on the door. "Crystal!?" Iwamaru called. "You up!? I could use a hand here!"

The girl sat up, looking at the door. "Huh?" She reached for the lamp.

I knew the moment she turned on the light—or opened that door—that I'd be caught. As she reached under the lampshade for the switch, I darted through the balcony door.

The lights were on in the room behind me now, and those thin curtains wouldn't hide me in a million years. As soon as she opened that door, Iwamaru would see me standing there. I had to get off that balcony! Looking down, I saw that I was up more than just two stories. The drop looked more like a fourth-story window.

I heard the door open and the girl asked, "What did you do now, Iwamaru?"

"Well, uh..." He trailed off, and his next words told me I was spotted. "Hey! Hold it!"

I turned to see him running toward me, with that Crystal girl standing by the door, looking startled. Yeah, guess it would be pretty weird waking up and having a guy on your balcony.

I did the only thing I could. I activated my duel disk and summoned two monsters, Flame Wingman and Tempest. One was to give me a ride out of there. The other was to deal with Iwamaru. I threw down five face-down cards and Skyscraper, my field spell, as well, just in case he tried to destroy Tempest. If he went for Flame Wingman, my face-down cards could handle that.

"Oh, come on!" he complained.

"Say, isn't that..." Crystal said.

I didn't stick around long enough for her to get over the shock. While Tempest kept Iwamaru busy, Flame Wingman picked me up, and we took off for someplace a little safer—and less white.


	9. Tested by Rich Guys

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

As I flew back to Elise's place, I thought about what had happened back there. Those guys were seriously convinced that I was the prince they were looking for, and I got the feeling that they weren't the good guys, considering they locked me up.

I racked my brains, but I couldn't think of what that place could have been. A retirement home? No, the residents were mostly young—some were only about my age. A psychiatric hospital? Doubtful, considering the only guys who didn't seem to be patients were insane. A jail? Nah, the only one who was locked up there was me. So what _was_ that place?

While I was trying to sort through this whole thing, Flame Wingman flew me over mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers. I didn't know which way I wanted to go, but Flame Wingman must have because he eventually touched down in front of Elise's house. Well, with that in mind, I wondered if I should ask him to take me home. Then again, knowing my luck, he didn't know where that was, either. That, or I didn't _have_ a home.

The clock on the wall read 8:56. How I managed to beat Elise back, I'll never know, considering I had to fly halfway across the world. Maybe it wasn't as far as I thought it was, though. But I was too tired to think about that, so I just flopped on the couch and tried not to think too much.

Failed there.

_Where was that place? _What_ was that place? I mean, I get that it was their hideout, but those four emperors aren't alone in this gang of theirs, so who _are_ they, exactly? What do they want with me?_

I hadn't come up with any answers to any of my questions when Elise came through the door at 9:25. She walked into the living room, a bag of takeout in hand, to find me still lying on the couch.

When she asked, "I'm back, Jaden. How'd it go?" I figured I shouldn't tell her what had happened. She'd flip and call the police again, and I was starting to get the feeling that Asuka was right—the police couldn't do anything to help.

"Oh, fine," I told her. "How was work?"

"Oh, it was alright. We had to do a blood test today to determine..." Since I wasn't really interested, I tuned her out as she went on and on and _on_ about how work was. Seriously, did I _ask_ for the detailed version of her day? As she was talking, she moved to the dining room, so, in the interest of pretending I was interested—and to get some of the food she'd brought home—I followed. She kept talking while she put the bag down on the table and pulled a salad out of it. _Finally_, she sat down and said, "But enough about that. How was your day?"

"Oh, pretty uneventful," I answered, waving my hand. "Sho came over, so we hung out. That's about it."

Yep. That was it. Nothing else. No attempted kidnappings, no _successful _kidnappings. Nothing. Nada.

She must have believed me because she said, "I see. Sounds like fun. Although, you did remember to do your chores first, right? As I always say, a clean house is a happy house."

"Yeah, I did my chores."

"Good." She took a bite of her salad. Then, pointing at the bag on the table, she added, "Oh, I took the liberty of ordering you a club sandwich. I hope you don't mind."

Well, I sure didn't mind! I sat down and pulled the sandwich out, feeling half-starved. "Thanks."

"No problem."

We didn't talk anymore that night as we ate our very late dinners.

* * *

In my room that night, I found myself thinking about that place again, even though I knew full well that I wasn't getting any closer to figuring out what was going on.

_What _was_ that place? Why was everyone dressed in white? It seems...bad. And that voice I keep hearing... What is it? I guess it's friendly since it helped me out, but that doesn't tell me what it is._

I couldn't figure it out. The worst part was that I didn't think this place was bad because they kidnapped me. No, I was thinking that all the white was bad. What did I have against white? Was there some sort of gang that wore white? I mean, apparently there was _some_ kind of group that did, but what _was _it?

I spent a couple of hours thinking about it before I finally figured out that it wasn't doing me any good. Then I finally managed to get some sleep.

* * *

The note Elise left for me the next day said to clean the kitchen and bathroom, in addition to dishes and vacuuming. Ugh, I _hate_ vacuums!

I groaned. "Seriously?"

There were directions for cleaning the kitchen and bathroom on the back of the note, but I still didn't want to do it. Besides, why did she need the floor vacuumed every _day_!?

"I'm not sweeping the floors again," I said to myself. "I've done that two days in a row! It can't be _that_ bad again already!"

The note taunted me, though: "A clean house is a happy house! Never forget that, Jaden. ;)"

I gritted my teeth and said, "Talk about being a neat freak!"

Well, since I _hadn't _cleaned the bathroom or the kitchen yet, I _did_ do those, but I made sure that I didn't use any dishes—that way, there weren't any to wash—and I decided not to vacuum.

I was wiping down the counters in the kitchen when Elise's phone rang, so I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this the Tomasko residence?" a man asked on the other end.

Tomasko. Right. That was Elise's last name.

"Yes?" I said. "Who is this?"

"I'm calling about a request she put in to see the king. Is Ms. Elise available?"

"She's at work right now. She won't be home until late. Can I take a message?"

"Tell her that her request has been processed and, due to the circumstances, and appointment has been made for this Friday. Did you get all that?"

Well. That didn't take long. "Uh-huh. I'll tell her. Thanks."

"The king looks forward to your visit, sir. Have a nice day."

The guy hung up right after that, so I just put the phone back on the hook.

"Huh," I said. "That was quick. I'd think it would take longer to get in."

I didn't figure that amnesia was that important that the king would drop everything to deal with it. That is, unless they were thinking I might be someone important. Oh, were they thinking I might be that prince, too? There was no way that I could be a prince! At least, I was pretty sure there wasn't...

There was a knock at the door, dragging me from my thoughts. I headed for the door and checked the peephole before answering—hey, no reason to open the door for my enemies, right?

Uh, well, maybe there was.

That Asuka girl was standing on the porch. Sure she might not have been an _enemy_, per se, but she wasn't somebody I wanted to open the door for. I probably wouldn't have if she'd been alone, but she wasn't. She brought company. Those two black-haired guys from the grocery store were with her. I was pretty sure I'd heard their names before, but I couldn't remember what they were. One of them was wearing a pretty expensive white suit, but the other guy... Good grief, where did he get his clothes!?

He was wearing a black shirt that looked like silk, very expensive-looking leather pants that I figured were one of a kind, brown boots that must have cost enough money to make a small town go without food for a month, and a deep blue trench coat with—and here's the kicker—gold trim. Literally, he was wearing _gold_. I'm not talking gold _colored_ trim, I am talking genuine _gold_. Not on jewelry, _on his coat!_ There was a crest on the left side of his coat, over his heart: the kanji for 10,000 with a circle around it.

Besides their clothes, their looks were different. The not-so-crazily-rich guy looked confused. Captain Gold Coat looked annoyed. When I opened the door, my expression was more closely related to that of Normally Dressed Dude than Captain Gold Coat—confusion. For more reasons than one.

"You're back?" I asked Asuka. "And you brought... Who are these guys?"

"These guys are here to help you, Jaden," she answered, as if she actually _wanted_ to help. "They come from the upper parts of town and might be able to identify you, if you're lucky. If you're really a prince, we'll know soon enough."

I bit my lip before I could say that she probably only wanted to know so that she could scold me for running away.

Gold Coat humphed. "This is stupid. Why would a runaway prince hide out here, of all places?"

"You don't look like a prince to me," the other guy said. "Mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Go ahead, but don't be surprised if I don't know the answer," I said.

"Great. Mind if we come in, then? Or are we gonna play 20 Questions out here where everyone can hear us?" Gold Coat asked, annoyed.

I wanted to tell him to take his fancy gold coat and go for a long walk off a short pier, but I stepped aside and, flatly, said, "Come on in."

Yeah, I guess I'm just too nice sometimes.

The three of them walked in, and Gold Coat complained almost as soon as he was through the front door. "Arg, what a dump. When's the last time you cleaned?"

"What are you talking about?" the guy in the suit asked. "It's not too bad in here."

"Can you two please focus?" Asuka said before I could snap that I'd cleaned yesterday and the day before and _had_ been cleaning that day. "You're here to help identify this guy, not criticize his living space."

"Whatever."

They followed me into the living room, where the rich guys sat on the couch.

Needless to say, it wasn't up to Gold Coat's standards.

"Hmph. Even the seats are crappy. Glad I'm not this bad off," he muttered.

I just blinked at him, too stunned for words. What did he have in his home, clouds?

"Well, anyway, my name's Daichi Misawa," the less rich guy said, "and this here's Jun Manjoume. He comes from one of the richest families around here, so don't be surprised if he's a little uncomfortable. He's not used to these lumpy couches, that's all."

"Anyway, you two, you were saying?" Asuka said, trying to get them back on track before I asked about how that couch could ever qualify as "lumpy."

"Right," Misawa said. "Okay. First off, how good are you at combat? Do you know how to use a sword?"

Combat? Sword? I thought about it for a second, then said, "I think so."

He pulled a wooden stick out of nowhere and tossed it at me—a practice sword. "Here, catch!"

Well, I was good at playing catch, anyway. I got it by the handle, even. Misawa stood up and pulled out another, which is when I realized that he actually wanted to try some sword-fighting in the living room.

"Alright! Let's see your skills! Just so you know, I'm well-educated in all forms of swordplay, so you'd better be prepared."

"Uh, Elise isn't gonna be too happy with me if we make a mess," I said.

"Point made. Let's take this outside, then," he said, heading for the door.

Asuka followed, then Manjoume got up, looking smug, and headed outside, too, saying, "This I gotta see."

Well, since I really didn't have much of a choice, I followed the three of them outside. Hopefully I _did_ know how to use a sword because, otherwise, this would probably be embarrassing.

We stood across from each other, a few feet apart. Misawa adopted a stance I was pretty sure you used in fencing and said, "Alright! Prepare yourself! 'Cause I'm not holding anything back!"

"Let's go, Jaden!" Asuka called—cheered? "Show us what you've got!"

Misawa lunged at me, and I parried his strike, retaliating with my own. We wound up going back and forth like that, both of us trying to catch the other off guard with feints and surprise strikes. He nearly knocked my blade out of my hand, but I tossed it over to my left one before he could, switching back later. Surprisingly, we were pretty evenly matched. That is, until we got locked in an intense struggle and I finally managed to knock Misawa's blade out of his hand. Then I pointed mine at his chest like I was going to finish him off.

Uh, I meant his stick. It was wood. Not a blade, a piece of wood shaped kind of like a blade.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was surprised by my actually knowing how to use a sword. Manjoume and Asuka were staring in silence.

"Th...that was..." Misawa breathed.

Stunned, I hadn't lowered my blade yet. I hadn't even realized how I was standing until just then. My shoulders were back, my body turned slightly so that my sword arm was closer to Misawa. I relaxed my stance, still getting over the fact that I knew what I was doing with that.

After a moment of stunned silence, Asuka said, "Wow... Jaden? How'd you do that? Misawa never loses!"

"Who _is_ this guy?" Manjoume asked quietly.

I thought that was a good question—they both were, really—so I answered Asuka with, "I...I don't know."

"Okay, next question!" Manjoume said, storming over to me. "Have you ever been horse-back riding? Come on! Out with it!"

I thought about it, and my eyes widened slightly as an image of a muddy brown horse came to mind. "I...think so. I...I remember a horse..."

Manjoume whistled, and a horse as black as night ran over, saddled and bridled. The saddle matched his trench coat. Yep. In the middle of a not-rich suburb, Captain Gold Coat had brought a horse with gold on its saddle.

Asuka gasped, showing me that I wasn't the only one who thought it was weird. "You brought a horse to a small suburban area like this!? Whatever for!?"

"Then prove it!" Manjoume said, not answering Asuka's question. "Get on it and do a lap around the block! Make it quick, too, or I'll assume you lied and got horse-napped."

Horse-napped. Nice word, Manjoume. Still, I did what he said. Consciously, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but my body took over for me. I put one foot in the stirrup and pulled myself up. Gripping the reins, I sat up straight, feeling...strangely powerful and important. Then, leaving the other three staring after me, I urged the horse off for a run around the block—or whatever it's called.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

The three of us just stood there, staring after Jaden, as he called himself. The way he'd handled himself in that match against Misawa, it had been like watching a professional match. Jaden had started by testing his opponent, guarding himself very carefully while still pushing forward. He never let Misawa slip past his guard, and I'm not even sure that he was entirely aware of everything he was doing at the time.

Then, the way he handled that horse... First of all, I had the urge to bow or call him "sir" when he mounted it. He just had this aura of power about him, even though he was dressed in clothes that probably cost even less than what I was wearing at the time. Then, when he rode off, he didn't have any trouble controlling the animal.

"Wow..." Misawa said, surprised. "You may be onto something after all, Asuka. He really _could_ be Prince Judai..."

"Prince, schmince!" Manjoume said. "What kind of prince runs away from his own kingdom to become a nobody!? He's no prince, as far as I'm concerned."

I didn't say anything. I had to agree with Manjoume—if Jaden was Prince Judai, and he had run away, then he wasn't much of a prince.

Speaking of Jaden, he turned the corner and came back just about then, slowing the horse to a stop before dismounting like a pro.

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

"Jaden," Asuka said. "That was..."

"Right. Next question!" Misawa said, his hands behind his back. "Which do you like best. This?" He pulled out a picture of something kings might have worn in about the 1300s. It had poofy shoulders and fur lining the cape. "Or this?" The second picture was more modern, losing the fur and the poofy shoulders. The cape was held on by a gold chain up near the neck. "And what adjustments would you say would make your favorite even better?"

"And how's that gonna prove anything?" Asuka asked.

I grimaced at the ancient one—seriously, not even if you paid me, Misawa—and then pointed at the second, saying, "But ditch the cape. Those are for formal occasions and public appearances only. You don't need them for everyday wear." I blinked, realizing what I'd just said, then asked, "Where did that come from?"

The other three gasped.

"Impossible!" Misawa exclaimed. "Th-there's no way—"

"Alright, then, genius!" Manjoume yelled, getting up in my face and glaring at me. "Here's my next question, then! Can you duel or not?"

Can I duel? I didn't even hesitate with that one. "Yes."

No sooner had I said that then Manjoume activated his duel disk, saying, "Prove it! Let's see you beat me! But, just so you know, _nobody_ beats Manjoume Thunder at dueling, so you better prepare to lose!"

I activated my duel disk, excited about this challenge. "Okay! Bring it on, Thunder!"

"Here goes!"

"DUEL!"


	10. Worthless?

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

Manjoume: 8000  
Jaden: 8000

"I'll go first! I draw!" Manjoume said, pulling a card from his deck. He looked at it, then said, "I play the spell card Different Dimension Hangar! This lets me remove up to 3 level 4 or lower union monsters from my deck from play! And I'm removing Y-Dragon Head, X-Head Cannon, and V-Tiger Jet!"

"Huh? Why'd you remove your own monsters?"

Manjoume just smirked. On the sidelines, Misawa said, "Oh, boy. The deadly Fifth Dimension combo. He sure isn't taking it easy on this guy."

"Of course, he isn't!" Asuka said. "You think a phony prince could handle that? _No one _beats Manjoume _that _easily."

Well. I didn't know what this "Fifth Dimension combo" was—or what had happened to the second, third, and fourth dimensions—but I couldn't wait to find out! Especially since Asuka had just said that nobody beat Manjoume easily. He sounded like an interesting opponent, and I couldn't wait to see this combo of his!

I didn't have to wait for very long. "Next I summon Z-Metal Tank!" (Atk 1500) Manjoume went on.

A yellow machine that almost looked like a couple of legs with no body attached showed up on his field.

"And, since he's been summoned, I think I'll use my Hangar's other effect and special summon X-Head Cannon (Atk 1800) and Y-Dragon Head (Atk 1500) to the field as well!"

Oh, there was the body! A blue and yellow machine that looked like a floating torso with guns on its shoulders, along with a red dragon, joined the legs on the field.

"Then I'll combine them into the mighty XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" (Atk 2800)

The three machines combined, Z on the bottom, X on top, and Y in the middle connecting the two.

"Good luck beating that!" Before I could say anything, he added, "But, if you liked _that_, then you'll love this! Frontline Base!" He slid another card into his duel disk. "Letting me summon any union monsters I have in my hand! So here's one more! W-Wing Catapult!" (Atk 1300)

A blue jet appeared on the field. Actually, it looked more like two jets smashed together, but still...it was there.

"And _then_ I special summon my V-Tiger Jet so that they can combine!"

That Tiger Jet's name definitely fit. I mean, it was a jet that looked like a tiger! But Manjoume still wasn't done.

"Come on out! VW-Tiger Catapult!" (Atk 2000)

The tiger jet landed on the blue machine, making it sure look like that was literally a tiger catapult. You know, meant for, uh, catapulting tigers? I mean, if anyone would ever actually want to do that, anyway. So now he had two tough monsters, and it was only the first turn.

"Whoa...awesome..."

I couldn't help it. It was impressive. He'd managed to do all of that before I even had one turn! This duel was definitely going to be interesting!

"Well, I think I've wasted enough of your time for _this_ turn, so...I'll combine them all together and end my turn after!"

Wait, he was combining his monsters _again_? What else was there to combine!?

"Now, merge and become VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!" (Atk 3000)

Oh, there was that. Dang, that robot was huge! It had red dragon wings, cannons jutting out of its chest, a dragon head in the middle of its body...and I'm pretty sure what used to be the legs just turned into its arms.

"Turn end! Let's see if you stand a chance!" Manjoume finally finished, a smug grin on his face.

"As I'd expect from the next King of Games," Asuka said. "Jaden's in hot water now!"

"Oh, really?" Misawa asked. "Then why is he smiling?"

"Huh!?" She looked at me, surprised.

Well, I guess my excitement must have been showing. Since I couldn't remember anything, this was the most intense duel I'd ever had. I mean, Kourimaru had been a pushover, and Gorisuke wasn't all that tough, either. But Manjoume... Just from that one move, I could tell that this duel was going to be exciting!

"Impressive," I told Manjoume. "That's a really tough monster, and you called it out in only one turn. But you're not the only one who can do that! Draw!"

Consciously, I wasn't sure exactly what was in my deck. But the moment I drew that card, I knew there was a way that I could get rid of that monster of Manjoume's—and a huge chunk of his life points—in one blow. With the monsters in my hand, that spell was exactly what I needed.

"I activate Double Fusion!" I said, sliding the card I just drew into my duel disk.

"Double what?" Manjoume asked.

"Double Fusion! And it's just what it sounds like. By paying 500 life points, I can fuse monsters twice this turn! So I'll fuse my Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to summon my favorite hero, Flame Wingman!" (Atk 2100)

Manjoume: 8000  
Jaden: 7500

My favorite card, the green and black hero with a red dragon head for an arm, appeared on the field as Avian and Burstinatrix merged to become one. But he wouldn't be sticking around for long.

"Then I'll use Double Fusion's effect again to throw Sparkman in the mix!"

Vaguely, I recalled most people being confused by me fusing a fusion monster with something else, but that wasn't what Manjoume focused on. "Hold on!" he said. "Those are Neospacian cards!"

Asuka gasped, her hands both flying up to her mouth. "No way..."

"Could it really be true?" Misawa wondered.

"Neospacian, huh? Guess that explains why that other guy didn't know them," I said, thinking of Gorisuke's reaction to them.

"Well, _duh_! Only an idiot wouldn't know that! What did the guy think they were? Misgarthian D-Heroes?" Manjoume asked, then he snickered.

"No, he thought they were fake," I answered. "Copies of those 'D-Heroes.'" Though, now, I really wanted to know what D-Heroes were.

Manjoume just gaped. Apparently he couldn't believe that was true. Good to know I wasn't the only one who thought it was stupid that the guy thought they were fake just because he didn't know them. Or maybe he just thought the guy was stupid, anyway. Either way, at least I now had somebody else saying my deck wasn't made up of fake cards.

"Anyway, with Double Fusion, I've got one more fusion left this turn! So I'll fuse Flame Wingman with the Sparkman in my hand!"

Manjoume nodded, saying, "Yes. Exactly. Just like our version's Phoenix Enforcer. Wonder what _this_ one's capable of?"

I saw him glance off to the side, but I didn't see anything. I wondered for a second if he was hearing voices, too.

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

_"__Well, Aniki," _that annoying yellow nuisance said, trying to answer my question, _"if you ask me, I'd say it's—"_

"Shut up!" I snapped, turning slightly to face the ugly monster over my left shoulder. "Nobody asked you, 0-Attack! Now get lost!"

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

Huh? Was he yelling at nothing? I mean, not that I had a right to comment, but still...

Asuka put a hand to her head and said, "He's doing it again."

Again? So this was a common thing? Okay, at least I didn't yell at nothing all the time! And I knew I looked crazy when I did talk to nothing, so I wasn't doing that all the time, either. At least, not that I knew of, unless I did before I lost my memory...

"Just ignore him," Misawa said. "This is getting interesting."

I blinked, then shrugged. After all, it wasn't my business, and I really didn't have the right to ask, considering that I was always hearing voices that didn't even speak the same language as...well, any human being alive today. Either way, I figured I'd just get on with my move.

"Come forth, Shining Flare Wingman!" (Atk 2500)

Shining like the sun, Shining Flare Wingman appeared on the scene, ready to take on any and all enemies! Man, that was fun! I should get all dramatic more often.

Manjoume wasn't impressed, though. "Hmph. As expected. Another 'Shining' monster. This one any better?"

"Don't know," I said. "There's another?"

"Never mind that and get on with your move!" Asuka yelled. "We haven't got all day!

"Alright, alright. Sheesh. Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard, so his attack's 3700!"

"Tch. Great," he muttered. "It's _just_ like its counter part." Annoyed, he asked me, "Can't that thing at _least_ be destroyed in battle!? 'Cause, if it can't, then—"

Well, there was no better way to answer him than to attack, so I cut him off with, "Shining Flare Wingman, attack his VWXYZ!"

Shining Flare charged his robot.

"What!? Gah!" He covered his face as his monster was destroyed, blowing up right in front of him.

Manjoume: 7300  
Jaden: 7500

Manjoume growled, lowering his arm and gritting his teeth. I just grinned at him, knowing what was coming. And it was gonna hurt a heckuva lot more than not being able to destroy my monster or something like that.

"And now for his other effect... When Shining Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, that monster's attack points get deducted from your life points, Manjoume!"

His eyes widened. "What!? That's not—eh?"

He cut himself off when Shining Flare Wingman landed in front of him. My monster lifted an arm and pointed it at Manjoume, then fired. Manjoume screamed from the shock of the impact.

Manjoume: 4300  
Jaden: 7500

"Incredible!" Misawa said, giving me a round of applause. "Never have I seen a duelist give Manjoume _this_ much damage in one turn! Bravo!"

Asuka was just standing there, staring at me with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open.

After that blow, Manjoume was on his hands and knees. "Ugh." He growled, getting to his feet as he said, "Don't think you've won this! I'm just getting started!"

"Turn end," I said.

"Yeah, it's about _time_ you said that!" he said. Funny, considering his turn had been way longer and way more ridiculous than mine, but whatever. "I draw!" He looked at his card, then glanced over his left shoulder again, glared, and turned all the way around. "Absolutely not!" he yelled at nothing. "This match is _way_ too serious for a bunch of _useless_ Ojamas like you three, now get lost already!"

I cocked my head. _Ojamas? What Ojamas?_

"I activate the spell card, Soul Release! This removes cards from either of our graveyards from play, and I'm choosing your 5 cards and all 4 of your heroes! Tough break there, _pal_!" he said, smirking.

"Tch..."

Just like that, every card in my graveyard was out of the game, and Shining Flare Wingman's attack was back at 2500. Still, I doubted Manjoume could just call out a monster with more attack points easily.

"Good move," Misawa said. "Now his hero's no longer unstoppable. Manjoume's at the top of his game today."

"And, now that _that's_ out of the way, I activate the spell card Pot of Greed! This lets me draw 2 cards!" He drew, looked at his new cards, then smirked. "I summon a monster in defense mode and play a card face down. Turn end."

"Then it's back to me! Draw!" Never one to over-think things, I didn't even look at my card before declaring, "Shining Flare Wingman attacks your face-down monster!"

I figured it had to have some kind of effect—why else would he play it face down? The off-white dragon with the red underside that my attack revealed told me I was right—Masked Dragon.

"What!? That's all?" Manjoume asked. He crossed his arms, grinning. "Heh. And I was worried."

"You still take the effect damage, defense mode or not," I pointed out.

He growled, glaring at me in annoyance. Shining Flare blasted him again.

Manjoume: 2900  
Jaden: 7500

He let out another humph. "So what? You really _should've_ summoned another monster, 'cause what _I'm_ about to do's gonna _really_ screw you up! I activate my monster's effect! Come out, Armed Dragon!"

Misawa nodded. "Clever. With that effect, he can summon a dragon type monster with an attack of 1500 or less. And Armed Dragon's first form fits that category perfectly."

"Right," Asuka agreed, and I could tell without looking that she was grinning. "This guy's _true_ identity's gonna be revealed really soon."

Well, everyone was making such a big deal about this monster that I couldn't help it. I got excited again. "Armed Dragon?"

"Show yourself!" Manjoume said. "Armed Dragon LV3!" (Atk 1200)

It was tiny and orange, more of a baby than anything. There were little spikes on its body, but it wasn't very impressive. At least, not at the moment. I hadn't missed that he'd pointed out its level, and I knew what that meant.

"Level? Wait, this is one of those monsters that get stronger when you meet the conditions, right?"

Manjoume's smirk was answer enough. "Bet you could just _die_, couldn't ya? Well, maybe next time, you'll summon more than one monster, eh?" With that said, he laughed.

Oh, man! This was just getting better and better! "Man! This is awesome! I can't wait to see what it can do! I play one card face down. Turn end."

"Okay. Either you've got _no_ idea what the hell you're doing, or you're a complete idiot," Manjoume said. "Which is it? _Nobody_ gets this excited when they're in a pinch like this. What is _wrong_ with you?"

I could feel the grin on my face as I answered, "I don't know why, but I'm excited. This match really has my blood boiling!"

"Idiot," he muttered. "Well, good! Then _this_ move will totally overwhelm you! I draw! And activate my Armed Dragon's effect! Leveling it up to its next level! Armed Dragon LV5!" (Atk 2400)

Yep, that did it, alright. The little orange dragon grew, changing red and sprouting more spikes. It towered over me now.

"Awesome!"

"Oh, that's nothing! You haven't even seen the best part! Spell card! Level up my dragon one more time!"

Did I say that the level five dragon towered over me? Sorry, my bad. That was way more fitting for its next level. It was armored and spiky and, well... I don't wanna repeat myself, so I'll tell you what else it was when we get to that.

"Face the wrath of my trump monster!" Manjoume said. "Armed Dragon LV7!" (Atk 2800)

"Whoa...it's huge..."

There. That's what it was. Armored and spiky and _huge_.

"I activate LV7's effect! By sending my Infernal Incinerator to the graveyard, it destroys every monster on your field that's weaker than Infernal Incinerator!"

"What!?"

That monster he'd sent away... It had 2800 attack points. Shining Flare Wingman couldn't compete! Blades came flying off Armed Dragon, slicing through my hero and tearing him to ribbons.

"Attack!"

"Tch."

You know what I hate? I mean, not as much as having amnesia, but I do still hate it. Direct attacks. Seriously, whoever thought that having realistic attacks where you actually feel like you're being hit was a good idea was nuts. I cried out, the way anyone does when that happens.

Manjoume: 2900  
Jaden: 4700

"Turn end! Go on! _Try_ to come back from _that_ one!" Manjoume said, and his smirk actually looked pretty nasty. Man, when that guy thinks he's winning, he gets real full of himself.

I drew my next card, never one to give up. I heard a slight laugh from the sidelines.

"There's no way he can do that," Asuka said. "Manjoume's got this one in the bag." I glanced over and saw her shake her head, her eyes closed and a grin on her face, as if she knew for a fact that I didn't have any way of winning.

Well, I didn't tend to go along with what everyone thought, if I remembered right. And I was pretty sure that, when it came to dueling, I remembered right.

"I activate Pot of Greed!"

"Heh. Out of moves, after all, are we?" Manjoume asked. Funny, considering he'd used the exact same card earlier.

"You'd be surprised, Manjoume." The cards I pulled from my deck made me grin. I knew my deck wouldn't let me down! "I activate Polymerization! And I'm gonna use it to fuse Clayman and Bubbleman to summon Elemental Hero Mudballman!" (Atk 1900)

Manjoume wasn't impressed. "That's it? Surely there's more. You _are_ the missing prince, aren't you?" he asked, his voice just oozing sarcasm.

"You bet, there's more!" I told him. "I activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"

"What!?"

Well, from his reaction, I guess he knew that card, too. Or, considering that he'd known something about Shining Flare Wingman without actually knowing everything, he knew some variation of it.

"Mudballman, take out his Armed Dragon!"

Manjoume growled as Mudballman attacked his dragon. His power increased by 1000 points, which it does when an Elemental Hero battles a monster stronger than it while Skyscraper's on the field. Because of that, his dragon didn't stand a chance.

Manjoume: 2800  
Jaden: 4700

"Not bad," Misawa said. "He got rid of _another_ of Manjoume's powerful monsters easily. Maybe he _is_ Prince Judai, after all."

"Don't go getting ahead of yourself, Misawa," Asuka said. "Manjoume didn't take that much damage. That move was nothing but sheer luck. He'll run out soon."

"I guess you're right. But I don't think he's quite done yet."

"Huh?"

"See for yourself," Misawa said, pointing. Man, I was starting to like that guy.

Asuka looked back at the field. Really, she needed to stop underestimating me already.

"But I'm not done yet!" I said. "Next I activate De-Fusion! This'll bring Clayman and Bubbleman back to the field!"

Mudballman split, and an earthen hero appeared, along with a blue-clad hero.

"Oh, come on!" Manjoume exclaimed. "_That's_ what your face-down card was!? You were planning this all along!"

I grinned. Boy, wouldn't that have been something? Me thinking that far ahead and planning on having a fusion monster out just then? Nah, I'd actually had it on the field in case I could use it to save Shining Flare Wingman. But he'd used that dragon's effect, and I didn't plan on wasting my card when the monsters that would've shown up would have been destroyed just as easily. Not that he needed to know all of this.

"This? No. But I figured it might come in handy."

I'd made Asuka's jaw drop again. Maybe I should've been counting how many times that happened.

"Extraordinary!" Misawa exclaimed.

Manjoume was gaping, too. The look on his face said it all: "Who _is_ this guy!?"

"Clayman, Bubbleman, attack him directly!"

With both of them only having 800 attack points, I wasn't expecting to win this turn. But I figured I had enough life points to survive Manjoume's next turn. That is, unless he suddenly broke out the Five Headed Dragon or something. But I doubted that would be happening, considering there was only one card in his hand, so I was pretty sure I was safe there.

"Arg!" He threw his arm up in defense as Bubbleman blasted him and Clayman charged him.

Manjoume: 1200  
Jaden: 4700

"Turn end."

He fell back slightly, then shook his head as he recovered. He glared at me, gritting his teeth, and growled. "So, we think we're a big shot now, huh!? Only the _truly arrogant_ attacks directly with monsters like _that_!"

Well, he could say what he wanted to about me. I didn't care. I just kept grinning at him, and I figured he thought I was an idiot for it.

"Stupid, wimpy monsters," he muttered. Then he growled again. "I'll break them in half! I draw!" He looked at his card, then gaped, breaking out in a cold sweat. He was totally zoned out. But he'd hit a soft spot with me, apparently.

When he called my monsters "stupid" and "wimpy," it struck a nerve. I didn't like him making fun of my monsters...my friends. Wow, wasn't that a little much? They were just cards, weren't they? Then again, they did become real if they were summoned outside of a duel... Either way, it made me mad to hear him say that.

"My monsters aren't wimps, Manjoume!" I snapped.

Why did I feel like I'd done this a thousand times? Was everyone seriously always calling my monsters wimps? Useless. Weak. Pathetic... Man, I could think of about a million things people had called my monsters, even though I couldn't remember who the people were or which monster they were talking about! Something seemed seriously wrong about that.

But Manjoume didn't say anything, didn't even move. He was just staring at the card he'd drawn, as if it were a bomb or something.

"...Manjoume?"

Then he finally...made some kind of noise. Quiet, at first, but when he did it again louder, I knew it was a scream.

"AAAH! Noo! Not _you_! This isn't the time for this!"

Asuka put a hand to her head—another thing I was thinking I should start counting, how many times she did that. "Idiot," she muttered.

"Manjoume! You still _have_ those in there?" Misawa asked. "Why!?"

"There's no _way_ I'm using you at a time like this!" Manjoume yelled, talking to nothing again. Oh, yeah, he had it way worse than me. At least I only did that once a day or so. Here he'd done it three times in less than an hour. "You want me to lose!?"

Still, it seemed like he was yelling at his card. That just made me wonder even more... "...What is he talking to...?"

"Oh, for—Manjoume! How stupid can you possibly be!?" Asuka demanded. "Get those out of there, or you'll never be King!"

"Those," huh? What, exactly, were "those?"

"There's no choice! I'm not using this, and I'm out of moves!" Muttering, Manjoume added, "Besides, even if I _did_ use it, knowing _my_ luck, he'd draw another monster and finish me off. Darn it!" He put his hand over his deck—surrendering, I realized.

I blinked, looking at him in confusion. What he'd drawn couldn't have been that bad...unless... _Ojama..._ He'd said "Ojamas" earlier... Was it possible that he actually had those in his deck? That didn't seem right, given his dueling style. Why would he have those 3 monsters when he was so focused on attack strength?

"I surrender... You're..._too...good_...for me—Damn it!" He must have had worse hallucinations than me because he grabbed at nothing and squeezed it. Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame. Can't blame him—if I was attacking nothing, I'd be ashamed, too.

"Oh-kay... Uh, gotcha!" I flashed that pose at him—the one I'd flashed when I beat Gorisuke. "That was a really interesting duel!"

Everyone was quiet for a bit. Well, except for Manjoume, who was muttering about losing. Asuka and Misawa just stared at me again.

Finally, Misawa walked over, smiling, and said, "Good enough for me. How's it going, Prince Judai?"

"But, wait," Asuka said. "I don't understand. If you're the prince, then why'd you run away from home in the first place? Wouldn't it have made more sense to stay in the castle where you belonged?"

I thought about this, trying to figure out if I had run away and why. "I don't know. I can't remember," I said after a minute.

"Surely you weren't in trouble _before_ you ran off, were you? I mean, at the castle, the guards could've taken care of you."

I closed my eyes and really thought about it, desperately trying to remember what had happened.

After waiting for a few seconds, she said, "You're a lazy prince, aren't you?"

Well, that got my attention focused on her again. "What? Hey, I vacuumed her carpet two days in a row!" I told her, insulted.

"So!?" Manjoume bellowed. "That's got nothing to do with being a prince! _They_ work a lot harder than _that_! Ask anyone rich! They'd know! Right, Misawa?"

"Well, I'm not really that rich, but, yeah. They have training to do, lessons to learn, fancy occasions to attend..."

"In other words, yes. You're lazy 'cause you ran away like that!" Manjoume said. "Hmph. What a disgrace."

That stung. "...Ran away...? I..."

Asuka looked at me for a second before asking, "Jaden? You okay? You're not remembering something, are you?"

Unfortunately, I was. Just a voice, somebody saying, _**"Come back here, boy! We're not done yet! You've got a lot more work to do before you're finished!"**_

I put a hand to my head, trying to deal with the headache that memory caused. But there was no way I was saying it out loud. It was sounding like...like they were right. Like I ran away because I was too lazy to do the work.

"Jaden?" Asuka said. "Hey. What is it?"

I realized right then that they were all staring at me. I had to cover it up somehow. I couldn't tell them, not until I had figured it out for myself, at least. Besides, what business was it of theirs, really? It wasn't like we were friends or anything.

"N...nothing," I lied, keeping my eyes trained on the ground as I lowered my hand. "I thought I had something, but it's gone."

Manjoume humphed. "Figures."

"Don't worry," Asuka said. "I'm sure it'll come to you in time. Then you can tell us why you decided your own fun was so much more important to you than your kingdom."

"Sheesh. Asuka. That's harsh," Misawa said.

I was with him. That one stung, especially since I was wondering the same thing right then. I mean, seriously. Why did I run away when it was sounding like I was the _only_ heir to the throne of Neospace?

"Well, anyway, we should probably go report to King Reginald that we found the prince of Neospace," Manjoume said, turning and walking over to his horse. "Not that that'll matter since the guy's clearly a worthless excuse of a prince, anyway. The kingdom's still doomed if _this_ is their only heir."

Ouch. That one made Asuka's comment sound like high praise.

"Manjoume! Wait up!" Misawa called, following after.

That left me with nobody but Asuka. I looked away, my eyes trained on the grass under my feet. I was feeling like more than just a worthless excuse of a prince right about then—I was feeling like I was a worthless excuse of a human being, even. I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me right then. I mean, it was sounding like I was the most useless person on the planet. Who runs away when they're the sole heir to their kingdom's throne?

Asuka let me rot in self hatred for a bit before saying, "So you're really him, aren't you? The runaway prince who abandoned Neospace? Whatever for? Surely your life wasn't all _that_ bad."

Runaway prince...abandoned Neospace... I couldn't answer her—I couldn't remember myself. Instead I said, "I...I gotta go vacuum. Elise wants that done every day."

I headed for the door, but Asuka stopped me, saying, "Wait. You're doing what? But princes don't vacuum. They've got more important things to do."

I stopped walking, my back to her. "Well, if I _am_ a prince, I'm a lousy one."

"True," she said, making me feel like I should just go jump off a cliff and save the world from my worthless self. "At least, according to the news stories. They said you'd always had a carefree spirit, so a lot of hard work was tasking for you. Guess this memory-losing thing's teaching you a thing or two. Isn't it?"

Kick a guy when he's down, why don't you? I didn't say anything to her, mostly because I didn't trust myself to be nice right then. I was already kicking myself. Did she have to go dragging me through the dirt even more? That is, if I was Prince Ju—Oh, who was I kidding? Of _course_, I was!

"Well, I better get back inside before my idiot brother does something I'll regret," she said. "Later, Jaden. Hope you figure this thing out." Then, much to my relief, she left.

I stood there another moment, thinking about everything. "Thanks..." I said quietly, knowing she probably wouldn't hear me anyway.

I went back inside and shut the door behind me, then headed into the living room and sat down on the couch, my head in my hands.

Right on cue, I heard that kuriing sound. All I could make out was, "...not _all_ true... Ju...nee...bre...k..."

Well, there was no denying it then. So I said, "Great... So I take it I _am_ this deadbeat prince?"

Unlike all the other times when I asked it a question, it answered. I couldn't understand it very well, though, so all I heard was, "Not...deadb... Ust...overwor... Needed...brea...all..."

I didn't say anything, trying to translate that (I figured it was something like "not deadbeat, just overworked. Needed a break, is all."), so it added, "N...you...faul...they...kidn...you...while you were..."

"I can't hear what you're saying, whoever you are," I told it, since that last bit didn't make any sense.

Like usual when I talked to that voice, everything went silent. But, unlike usual, mist showed up on the living room window. I walked over to figure out what it was, and saw writing showing up in the mist. Whatever it was that I was talking to wanted to be heard pretty badly this time, because the message read, "Not fault for kidnapping while napping."

"Napping?" I asked. "So that's how they got me?"

No response, written or otherwise. Even worse, now the window was dirty.

I sighed. "Now I gotta wash the window..."

Since I still had to do that and vacuum, I figured I'd prove that I wasn't lazy. So I went looking for things to clean, even if they looked clean to me. I cleaned the oven, did the laundry, dusted, polished, mopped... There wasn't anything in that house that I hadn't cleaned by the end of the day. So, pretty much, I spent the day learning how to clean. I guessed, if I was that worthless of a prince, at least I could make somebody a good janitor.


	11. Worst Memory Jog Ever

**Shadgirl2: Hey, everyone! Midna Azusa finally got another chapter ready for me!**

**Midna: Yeah. Updates for this story should speed up again soon.**

**Shadgirl2: So, now that that's out of the way, enjoy the latest chapter!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Elise's POV**

When I walked through my front door that evening, I stopped and looked around, stunned, with a hand on my cheek. In addition to the vacuuming that I had asked Jaden to do, the furniture had been dusted, the curtains were cleaner than they had been, the walls and windows looked as though they had been washed...looking around, I couldn't find a single thing in the entrance hall or the living room that hadn't been cleaned!

When I took a look around the living room, that was where I found Jaden. He was lying on the couch as if he had just collapsed there in exhaustion. One of his arms was dangling over the side as he slept. I smiled, then put down my bag before heading into the kitchen, where the counters were shining, the cupboards organized, the floor mopped, and everything else virtually spotless. I made dinner for myself, then decided I should make something for Jaden on the off chance he woke up before morning. I doubted he'd had any dinner that night, considering how busy he seemed to have been all day.

As I sat at the dining room table eating my dinner, I couldn't have been any more proud of that boy if I were his own mother. _Looks like somebody's been busy. Great work today, Jaden. Now rest up. Tomorrow's another day._

Once I finished eating, I made a couple of cheeseburgers for Jaden, wrapped them up in aluminum foil, and placed them in the microwave. Then I headed upstairs to bed.

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

I was lying under a cherry tree on top of a hill just outside of town. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining bright overhead, a gentle breeze rustling the grass and brushing it up against me. It was so peaceful out there, not like it was at home, and I was just about to fall asleep and take a nap (until somebody found me, most likely _her_) when a burst of flames appeared above my head to my left. I caught rocks appearing around the same time from the right, a cold wind blew from down by my left foot, and lightning struck the ground at my right foot.

"Huh?"

I sat up, finding myself surrounded by four guys. One was a big guy with a sideways baseball cap. Another had purple hair. There was a guy wearing a winter hat. And the last had red hair and yellow shades. All four of them had these wicked grins on their faces and were snickering some.

"Who are you guys?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't like the answer. "What do you want?"

"Aw, come on now, kid," the guy in the snow hat said. "Isn't it obvious? What do you _think_ we want?"

"Tch..." Of course. Of all the days for me to leave town altogether. There wasn't anyone there who could help me deal with these guys! So I activated my duel disk, hoping I could take on all four of them.

Three of them grabbed me by the arms, though, before I could even try using it.

"Hey!" I protested, struggling in vain against their grip.

The three pulled me to my feet, and the guy with the snow hat—the only one who wasn't holding onto me—said, "You're coming with us! Then, in the name of the Light of Truth, you'll be joining our team as the Monarch of Wind! Bet you're excited, huh?" He smirked.

The four of them teleported away in the same manner they had appeared, taking me with them. Then I woke up with a gasp.

I pushed myself up slightly, saying, "Th-that was..."

I wasn't under a cherry tree, and those four guys weren't anywhere to be found. I was on Elise's couch in her living room. It was dark outside, and the lights were off. Since I was pretty sure I hadn't turned them off, I figured Elise must have been home by then. I glanced at the coffee table beside me and saw a note.

"Guess Elise is home. And asleep... How long have I been sleeping?"

Since there wasn't a clock in the living room, I headed into the kitchen. The digital clock on the microwave told me it was 2:06.

I stared for a second before saying, "Wow. Yeah, I...I should go back to bed..."

_"__Kuri kuri?"_ I heard.

Half-heartedly, I looked around, but I knew I wouldn't see anything. I sighed, then turned on the kitchen light and went back to read the note Elise had left. It said that there were a couple of cheeseburgers in the microwave for me, not that I was entirely sure what a cheeseburger was, but I was hungry enough to find out. I was picturing a couple of buns with, like, a slab of cheese in the middle.

Boy, was I ever wrong!

I opened the microwave, unwrapped one of the packages, and found a sandwich inside that had a beef patty, a slice of cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, ketchup, and mustard. Why was that called a cheeseburger? The cheese was just a thin slice! Well, whatever. It didn't really matter, anyway, because I was hungry enough to eat them both. So I took them both to the living room, turning out the kitchen light as I left, put the sandwiches on the coffee table, and sat down to eat.

Cheeseburgers turned out to be really good. Though I still didn't have a clue why they were called cheeseburgers.

While I was eating, I heard the whoosh of flames and the sound of crumbling rocks as the entrance hall lit up. The light was dim enough that I figured it had come from the kitchen. The sounds were familiar enough that I put on my duel disk and activated it.

_Crap._

Sure enough, I heard a familiar voice whisper, "Shh. Quiet, Honomaru. Do you want to wake everyone up?"

"Sorry. But a flaming entrance can only get so quiet," he whispered back.

"Well, whatever. Looks like the coast's clear, anyway. It's real late. They're bound to be sleeping by now."

_I can't even sleep with these guys after me!_ I realized, annoyed.

I saw their shadows coming my way. As they headed for the living room, Honomaru said, "Right. Then all we've gotta do is sneak in and—"

He cut himself off when he and Iwamaru walked into the living room and saw me sitting on the couch, my duel disk already set to go. They just stared at me for a moment.

"Uh..." Iwamaru said, sweating.

Real intelligent answer, dude. "Tempest!" I cried as I got to my feet, slapping down a card for one of my fusion monsters.

My blue-clad hero with green and white wings appeared, ready to duke it out with these two creeps!

"N-now, hold on, kid!" Iwamaru stammered, backing up with his hands raised in a gesture of harmlessness. Like I was gonna fall for that! "Can't we talk about this?"

"Y-yeah! All we wanna do's take you to our boss so that you can become one of us! Is that so bad?"

Well, considering I didn't want to become a kidnapper who could teleport and couldn't take no for an answer, I only had one thing to say to them. "You kidnapped me! Yes, it's that bad! Leave me alone already!"

Tempest was all set to attack, even if I didn't give the command. I loved how monsters came to life when summoned outside of a duel. It made it so much easier to deal with these guys. Sure, I had no allies to help, but I could fix that by just slapping a card down on my duel disk.

"Aw, come on. W-we don't have to fight. What about messing up this fine house?"

"Y-yeah," Honomaru agreed. "If we were to fight in here, it would be disastrous! And I don't think your caretaker would appreciate _that_, now, would she?"

The real reason they were doing this was written all over their pale, sweat-soaked faces. They didn't want me to attack again. And they weren't activating their own duel disks because they knew I'd attack them if they tried. But Honomaru's comment about my caretaker gave me an idea to get them out of there without attacking.

"I don't think she'd appreciate you guys busting in here and kidnapping me, either!" I yelled as loud as I could. "But that hasn't stopped you from trying!"

"Shh!" Honomaru hissed. "Quiet down! What are you—"

"Jaden!?" Elise called, and I smiled triumphantly. "Was that you!?" I heard footsteps upstairs as she ran down.

"Gwah! Curse you!" Honomaru spat as Iwamaru teleported away. "Don't think this is over. We'll be back, and you _will_ join our team!"

With that threat—which was totally not going to happen—he disappeared in a burst of flames. Just as the flames faded, Elise ran in, turning on the light.

"Jaden. You alright?" she asked anxiously. She was holding a can of pepper spray, too. "Was it those thugs again?"

"Yeah. But they're gone now."

She walked over and wrapped me in a hug. "Oh, Jaden. You okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, they didn't," I told her, wanting to ease her worries. "I'm fine."

"Should I call the police and tell them about this new attempt and break-in?" she asked, letting go of me and making a beeline for the phone.

"What good will that do?" I asked, thinking of what Asuka had said earlier. "It's like they're some sort of gang. Asuka said there's probably nothing the police can do, anyway."

Elise stopped and turned back to me. "Oh, Jaden. It's okay. We'll think of some way to stop them."

I didn't answer. I honestly wasn't sure how we were going to stop a bunch of guys who could teleport and were as determined as those four. Nothing short of murder came to mind.

"It would help if we knew why they were after you, though. Can you remember anything? Anything at all that might be useful to us?"

I hesitated, not really wanting to tell her—though, as usual, I couldn't remember why. At the time, I figured I just didn't want to admit to her that I was a useless, runaway prince. But, finally I told her, "I...think I might be the prince of Neospace..."

Her eyes widened, and she raised her hand to her cheek the way she always did when she was shocked. "What!? Y-you mean..."

"I remember getting ambushed while I was taking a nap under a tree outside of town," I told her, trying to salvage my reputation. "I...needed a break. I was planning on going back. But they showed up, and..."

She just stared at me, and this nagging feeling told me that this was the real reason I hadn't wanted to tell her. Still, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. Of course she'd be shocked to hear someone who's living with her say he thinks he's a prince! Why should that matter?

"Th-that reminds me. You've got a meeting with the king on Friday."

"...Let's hope he can get to the bottom of this one...because this is getting weird..."

I looked away.

She didn't say a word for another moment, still in shock. Finally, she said, "We should get to bed. Tomorrow's another day." Then she walked out, heading back upstairs.

"Yeah..." I said, and I followed, turning out the light as I left.

* * *

The note she left me the next day was kind of weird: "Have fun today! There's food in the fridge for you, and I'll be home at 9. But don't let your guard down! Those guys are still out there. Better safe than sorry, right? ;)"

No, it wasn't the winking face that was weird. I was getting used to her emoticons on the notes. What was weird was that was all the note said. There wasn't anything else—no list of chores, not even vacuuming or dishes.

I stared at the note for a minute. "Well, that's weird..."

Since I felt lazy enough as it was after my conversation with Misawa, Asuka, and Manjoume the day before, I did vacuum and do the dishes, at least.

* * *

Around noon, I heard an angry mob yelling Sho's name some distance away, and someone started pounding on the door.

"Aniki!" Sho cried. "Open up! Hurry before they—"

He cut off abruptly, his voice being replaced by loud noises and someone yelling, "Come here!"

Considering this sounded really bad, I ran to the door and threw it open, only to find a group of teenagers holding Sho down and beating the tar out of him. The funny thing was they were all wearing identical charred clothing—all the boys had the same pants and jackets, and the girls had the same skirts and tops. There was soot covering parts of them, and some had minor burns.

So, pretty much, a bunch of barbecued high school kids were beating up Sho. Kind of comical, in a way, but I still had to stop it.

"Hey! Get off him!" I yelled, pushing people aside as I made my way to Sho. "What the hell is wrong with you guys!?"

"What the hell's wrong with _him_!?" one boy retorted, pointing at Sho in accusation. "You know what he _did_ to me this morning?"

"What?" I asked, curious. Maybe this would tell me why they were all fried. Now that I could see him, Sho looked about the same as they did.

"He blew up my science experiment! And not just that, either! This bonehead blew up the whole science lab, too!"

He blew up the science lab!? I... How the hell was I supposed to defend that!?

"I didn't mean to, Aniki! Honest!" Sho said.

Okay. That made it easier to defend. But I still wanted to know one thing. "H-how did he do that?"

"'Cause he's stupid," said a girl who either had soot covering all of her hair or actually had dark hair. "He put alcohol in a mix of hydrogen peroxide and _chromic acid_."*

I might not have known what chromic acid was or which of those two things it wasn't supposed to mix with, but, apparently, that kind of mixture could cause explosions.

"How was I to know that was such a dangerous mix!?"

"Simple!" said a different boy. "You should've been paying attention in class!"

The others all gathered around again, yelling at Sho and ready to keep pounding on him. I had to get this under control, and quick.

"Okay, okay!" I said. "But he already said it was an accident, right? So why are you beating him up?"

"'Cause _he_ got _us_ 'beat up!' Right, guys!?" another girl said.

They all answered with nods or "right!"

"You see!? Now move aside! He needs some bruises!" a boy said, shoving right past me. The others followed, charging at Sho again.

"Aw, come on, guys. Can't we talk about this?" Sho asked in a small voice. He was curled into a ball with his hands over his head.

I pushed through and blocked them again. "Hold on! How does that make this right!? Who the heck raised you guys to act like this!?"

The same boy shoved me out of the way, sending me flying. "I said move it! We've got some payback to attend to!" He cracked his knuckles menacingly.

I started getting to my feet, but two of the other boys grabbed my arms, pulling me up and holding me back. The rest of the Charbroiled Mob went after Sho again like a swarm of hornets.

"Aniki! Help me!"

I growled, pulling away from my captors, then activated my duel disk. "Flame Wingman! (Atk 2100) Wildedge! (Atk 2600) Get out here! It's time for some crowd control!" I called, throwing down two cards. As they were fusion monsters, their material monsters were now considered to be in the graveyard.

Flame Wingman appeared, along with Wildedge, the dark-skinned hero with golden armor and a two-handed sword.

The mob stopped, turning to me. Most of them sweat, and I knew then that they weren't duelists. Sho was trembling, hiding behind his hands.

"Back. Off. Now," I growled.

The majority did, but about five of them stood their ground, including the boy who had shoved me.

"No way," he said. "I came to get some revenge, and that's _just_ what I'm gonna do!"

He pulled out a duel disk and slipped it on, along with the other four.

"I summon Horus, the Black Flame Dragon LV8!" (Atk 3000)

"Perfect Machine King!" (Atk 2700) another boy called.

"Simorgh, Bird of Divinity!" (Atk 2700) called a girl.

"Doom Dozer!" (Atk 2800) the last of the boys summoned.

"Guardian Angel Joan!" (Atk 2800) the other girl summoned, and I nearly laughed out loud at the fact that she was using a _guardian angel_ and beating up on someone for making a mistake.

"Attack!" the five commanded, and their monsters all attacked as one.

I just smirked, not even phased. So what if all of their monsters were stronger than my own? I just tossed Sparkman down and pulled a spell card.

"I activate Polymerization to fuse Sparkman and Flame Wingman! Come on out, Shining Flare Wingman!" (Atk 2500)

Sure, my glowing white hero didn't seem like much. But his attack power skyrocketed when his effect kicked in—he gained 300 points for all the Heroes in my grave: Burstinatrix, Avian, Flame Wingman, Sparkman, Baldedge, and Wildheart. That left him with a grand total of 4300 attack points.

The five with the Duel Monsters stopped their attacks, looking stunned and nervous. Seeing that I had them beat, I couldn't resist the urge to give them an angry lecture.

"You guys aren't duelists! You've got no right to attack Sho for making a mistake! What kind of monsters are you!? What, you never made mistakes before?"

"Uh, well, he kinda blew up our school, so..." the boy with Horus started. Funny how running into a stronger monster made him lose all his nerve.

"So!? Does beating him up make you any better!?" Without waiting for an answer, I finished, "I don't think so!"

"Yeah, well..." said the girl with Joan. Then she growled when she couldn't find a defense for her behavior. "Whatever! Keep him! It's obvious you're into losers anyway." She called back her monster and said, "Come on, guys! Let's get out of here!"

She stormed off, and the rest of the mob followed, some whispering threats to Sho as they left.

As they walked off, I counted, wondering if there were usually only about fifteen people in a class. Maybe the others were in the hospital. Oh, good grief! Yeah, I was just gonna stop thinking about the whole lab explosion thing.

Sho uncurled slightly, looked around, then sat up on the ground when he realized they were all gone. "Thanks, Aniki. I knew you'd stop those guys," he told me. In a mutter, he added, "Well, for now, at least." Then he sighed, looking down.

As if I hadn't already been mad. Those guys were gonna try that again!? Who the hell raised those maniacs!?

"If they try that again, I want names," I said. "And addresses. They're not getting away with acting like this!"

"Aniki, you don't get it, do you? Didn't you catch that news documentary about bullying in this town? I _was_ in it, you know."

The way he said it, it was like that was an excuse for those creeps to beat him up whenever they had a bad day. Science lab exploded? Beat up on Sho. Failed a test? Beat up on Sho. Going through puberty? Beat up on Sho.

"Yeah, I know," I told him. "But that _still_ doesn't mean they should be allowed to treat you this way!"

He looked down, and I was worried for a second that he was going to say it was a legal requirement. Like you could go to jail or get fined if you didn't pound Sho at least once a week. "Yeah. I know..." he said instead, which was somewhat of a relief.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" a female voice asked from behind me.

If I hadn't been so on-edge, I would have known that voice. As it was, I stepped in front of Sho defensively on impulse, turning as I did so. The girl behind me was a familiar blond.

"Oh. Asuka," I said. But I didn't relax. After all, she was wearing the same uniform, even if it wasn't burnt. And she didn't exactly have a history of compassion.

"Did you really just do that, Jaden?" she asked, walking over. "Did you really just stand up for Sho?"

"Well, somebody had to, and I wasn't about to let them beat him up right outside my door!"

She closed her eyes, grinning. "Well, that's an interesting twist. Nobody else around here cares." I relaxed slightly at that, figuring she wasn't going to pound on anyone. She opened her eyes and gave me a serious look, asking, "Why do you? He's not from your—"

I cut her off before she could finish that, as if by instinct. I knew what she was going to say: "kingdom." And, for some reason, I didn't want her to say it in front of Sho. Just like I hadn't wanted to tell Elise. "Yeah, well, that doesn't mean they should be doing that. Not all of us just stand around and watch, you know."

"Uh, Aniki..." Sho said, sweating. "They sell tickets sometimes..."

My eyes widened in horror, and I looked down to where he was still sitting. "W-what!?"

"Yeah. I was about to point that out," Asuka said. "See, like with any fighting entertainment, the masses eat it up like a box of chocolates. It's fun to watch the different methods some people use."

While she said that, it didn't sound like she was interested. This gave me a slight ray of hope that maybe she was nicer to other people and there was just something about me that grated on her.

When I managed to absorb that horror, I said, "Uh-huh, yeah, okay. So, basically, everyone in this town's a barbarian? Except, from the sound of things, you, at least."

She shrugged. "I prefer staying out of it. It's not my problem, after all. I don't know the kid all that well. Why bother getting involved?"

And that, right there, crushed all hopes that I had that she might be different. She was exactly how I suspected—an accomplice by apathy.

"By staying out of it, you're just as bad as they are," I told her.

"No, I'm not. I'm just—"

"Just standing by when someone's being bullied doesn't do anything to help them. It's like you're just leaving the victim at the mercy of his attackers. So you'd also just stand by if you were positive that your neighbor was abusing his wife or kid? Just because you don't know them?"

She balled her hands into fists and glared at me, apparently insulted. I knew right then that this was about to get really heated on both our parts.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

"I never said that!" I protested, furious that he would imply such a thing. "I said—"

"That you don't get involved with Sho's problem because you don't know him," Jaden cut me off. "But wouldn't that same thing apply to child abuse? You don't know the kid, so you stay out of it, right?"

That caught me off guard. It made sense, and I wasn't sure what to say for a minute. But he was making me look bad, so I started, "Th-this is different! The whole—"

"The whole town loves it?" he cut me off again, looking angry himself. "Well, what if the whole town liked beating _you_ up! _Then _what would you say about it!?"

I started, my eyes wide. There wasn't any way I could win this one. He was right, and there wasn't anything I could say against it.

"I-I—" I cut myself off. Because, really, what could I possibly say? That I would be okay with Sho acting like me if the tables were turned? If _I _were the one being tormented every day?

Jaden turned to Sho and said, "You need to move, Sho. You live in a town of monsters, and the few humans here don't have hearts."

"Huh!?" Sho started. "B-but I—"

Oh, that was it! I wasn't going to just stand there and let him talk about me like that! I got up in his face, glaring at him fiercely. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean!? That we should all face up to the angry _mobs_, the way you did!? We're not _all_ crazy!"

He glared right back at me, not even phased by my anger, which was uncommon. Most people were afraid of me when I got mad."We're not all _cowards_, either!" he countered. "_I_ couldn't live with myself if I just stood by and let that happen! One of these days, they're gonna kill him! And nobody but me seems to care!"

I thought about how rough they often got with Sho: the broken bones, blood, and everything they always did. Jaden was making sense. I hated him for it because he was making me feel terrible for standing by and letting that happen all the time.

I growled at him. "Oh, I can't _wait_ til you go back to your kingdom!" I told him, annoyed. "Clearly you're a—"

Sho cut me off this time. "Wait, what? What's she talking about, Aniki?"

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

Great. She'd said the "K" word in front of Sho. Really, why did that bug me so much, though?

"I'm from Neospace," I said, leaving out the bit she suspected—I still wasn't sure it was true. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I was in denial. I mean, there was a chance that wasn't the case, right? "And, when I find my way back there, I think you should go, too," I told him.

"Oh...okay... But I—"

"Oh, he's from Neosapce, alright," Asuka pouted, crossing her arms. Muttering, she added, "And he's gonna lead it into the ground someday. Hmph."

I wanted to strangle her for that.

Sho looked totally lost. "Lead it into the ground? Aniki, what's she—"

"We don't know that for a fact, Asuka. We still don't know who I really am."

"No. I'm pretty sure we do. You fight like a warrior, ride like nobility, duel like a champion, and defend every poor unfortunate soul you see. Clearly you're a—"

"Asuka!" I cut her off.

"A what? Aniki, what's going on?" Sho asked, looking between the two of us.

"It's nothing," I told him. "Just speculation."

"Yeah, whatever," Asuka said. "Point is, you can't save everyone, Jaden. There are just some battles you should learn to let go. And trust me. Saving Sho? It's one of them, so why don't you wise up and worry about your own problems. They're bigger than his, anyway, all things considered."

I glared at her again. Really, what did she take me for? "I'm not abandoning my friend, Asuka! I'll take on the whole town if I have to!" I told her, a fire burning in my eyes.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, grinning. "Heh. You're crazy, but be my guest. If you wanna die and lead your kingdom to ruin _that _way, that's fine by me. Do as you want. I'm done arguing with you. Clearly it's getting us nowhere, so I guess I'll just see you around." She started walking off, then stopped, turning back with a...caring and proud look on her face. "Nice job taking care of _those_ guys, though." Then she headed back to her house.

I stood there, just completely lost. First she was arguing with me about how she was smart and I was stupid (even though the truth was I was caring and she wasn't), then she was suddenly all caring and proud of me for doing something she thought was stupid and pointless? What was wrong with that girl?

"Aniki. What was that about?" Sho asked, finally getting to his feet. "First she's yelling at you, then she..."

I shrugged, just as lost as could be. "I don't know. She's always like that. First day I met her, she was friendly enough, but the next time we talked, she was a jerk. I think she's bipolar or something."

He was quiet a moment before starting, "And that other thing she said... Why would you lead—"

"It's nothing," I cut him off.

"B-but she sounded so—"

"She's just got a theory about who I am."

"Y-you mean that stuff about you being P-Prince Ju—"

"Maybe," I stressed.

"S-so, you mean, you're _really_ a—"

His wide-eyed expression, the excitement all over his face, was starting to give me an idea of why I wouldn't want him knowing—I mean, _thinking—_that I was a prince. Because I wasn't. I couldn't be!

"It's just her theory! I don't know if I am!"

"Oh... But wouldn't it be cool if you _were_!? I mean, we could hang out in the castle all day, ride in limos or private jets or even a horse-drawn carriage, eat fancy snacks and lunches, and—"

The more he talked, the more excited he got. His eyes were bright, he was leaning in...and he was tugging at my memories, showing me why I wouldn't want people to know. And making it harder to tell myself that it wasn't true.

"So, what, would you be treating me different if I was?" I asked.

He stopped in the middle of his rant. "I, uh..." He sweat.

I closed my eyes and said, "I hope I'm _not_ a prince. That would make it real hard to know who my real friends are since everyone would be in a hurry to get on my good side."

"Sorry," Sho said. When I looked, his head was down, and he seemed like he was feeling guilty. "Guess that _was_ pretty selfish of me, wasn't it?"

"It's fine, Sho," I told him. "Don't worry about it. Why don't you come inside?"

His head still low, he said, "I, uh, had somewhere to go after school today, Aniki. But we can hang out tomorrow, if you'd like!"

"Oh," I said. "Okay. See ya!"

"Yeah. See ya." He turned and walked off, his head still low.

I watched him go, wondering what that was about. Maybe he had detention for blowing up the science lab. Maybe he was grounded. Maybe he couldn't hang out with me with a clean conscience after finding out that I might be a prince and acting that way. Maybe he was uncomfortable about the thought of being around a prince. Maybe he liked the idea of me being a prince and hated to think that it might not be true.

...Ugh, how did this turn into me thinking he was freaking out over the prince thing!?

"...I hope that had nothing to do with me..." I said to myself. Then I headed back inside.

* * *

Nothing else happened all day. Elise came home around 9:45 (which made her almost an hour late, for the guy who had been starting to worry), dragging in so much stuff that it looked like she'd just broke the bank. She had bags of very expensive-looking clothes, plush pillows, a fancy bed set...and did I mention the clothes were my size?

"Elise? What's that stuff for?" I asked.

"Oh, hi, Jaden," she said, dragging the bed set across the floor.

I stared at her a moment, a bad feeling creeping into my gut as I remembered that her note hadn't had any chores on it. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh, I'm just trying to make things a bit more comfortable for you," she said, dragging her expensive acquisitions toward the stairs. "You know, just in case you're really—"

Really a prince, I finished in my head. "That's what I was afraid of," I said. The way I was feeling just then...it was familiar, and I hated it. Here she was treating me differently after I said I might be the prince of Neospace. And, worse, this feeling felt familiar! This feeling of distrust. Hurt.

"I'm just trying to help jog your memory some," she told me. "That's what nurses do. Help their patients recover. So? Red, lavender, or blue bedsheets? Which do you prefer?" She asked, holding up three silk bedspreads.

I blinked, feeling worse by the second. "Well, you've jogged my memory a bit, for sure," I told her. "I remember that I hate this treatment. It makes it hard to...well, yeah." I looked away, thinking I couldn't trust anyone. Which made me feel worse because that thought came with a couple of images of people I couldn't trust—a couple of girls with purple hair. Though I got the feeling that the reason wasn't the same with both of them.

Elise put the stupid stuff down, looking concerned. "Jaden? Is something wrong? I thought most princes were used to living like this? Why is it so wrong?"

"How much money did you spend on all this junk? I'm not moving in, you know."

"They're rentals, dear. I could _never_ afford to actually _keep_ any of this stuff! They'll be gone when you are, trust me. So?" She reached into another bag and pulled out two fancy bars of soap. "Honey or lilac?"

I just stared at her for a moment, feeling like I'd been kicked in the gut or slapped in the face. Yeah. A slap in the face by reality. I wasn't ever going to find someone who didn't care about my title, my status. With that in mind, I ran upstairs to the room she'd given me, not even caring that my thoughts were a sign that I was remembering something—if this was what my life was like, I didn't _want_ to remember!

* * *

**Elise's POV**

"Jaden!" I called after him. "Wait a minute!" I heard a door slam upstairs, and I knew he'd just locked himself in his room. "Darn. A bit too much of a jog, I guess. Now what?"

I thought about what to do for the rest of the night, simply because everything I tried to get him out of his room failed.

Over the next couple of hours, I kept making different things for him to eat, trying to get him to eat something. I started with some goose, as the wealthier people at work had always said that they rather liked it. However, that set him off like a bomb. He didn't open the door, but he yelled loud enough to wake the dead, telling me to leave him alone and get that "crap" away from him. So I tried some steak. That set him off nearly as badly. Next I tried a club sandwich, having realized that he hated the fact that I was offering him expensive foods, like what a prince would eat. The reaction wasn't nearly so explosive this time, but he still wouldn't eat it. I tried sushi next, with the same result.

As I knocked on his door for the final time that night before going to bed myself, I had just a bologna and cheese sandwich, and I hoped he would at least eat that. I hated that he was so upset, and I was hoping that I could make him feel better if I just offered him something simple.

"Go away!" he said again.

Well, so far, this was going about as well as the last four attempts.

"Come on, Jaden," I called. "Please eat _something_. I've got a simple cheese and meat sandwich out here for you this time! There's nothing fancy or special about it at all! Won't you please open up? Pretty please?"

"I'm not hungry!" he said, just as he had the last four times.

"But, Jaden! It's not—"

"I said I'm not hungry!"

I sighed, thinking I would make a terrible mother. I couldn't handle Jaden at all. I just didn't know what to do with him! Hopefully he would come around in the morning...

"Fine," I said through the door. "Have it your way. I'll just leave it in the refrigerator, like I did the others. If you change your mind, you know where to look!"

He didn't answer at all this time. I sighed, giving up. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Or, in this case, you can offer food to a moody teenager, but you can't make him eat. So, considering I was fighting a losing battle, I decided I'd just give him some space. Hopefully that would help. With any luck, I'd get this caregiver thing right...eventually.

"Well, I'm heading for bed! See you in the morning, okay?"

Again he didn't answer. Clearly I wasn't going to make him feel any better that night, so I would just have to hope that he heard me and move on. Knowing my luck, he was just ignoring me because he was upset with me. What a mistake I had made!

"Don't forget, we've got an appointment with King Reginald tomorrow, too! So you better be up and ready by at least 3, okay?"

He still didn't answer.

"Well, good night anyway," I told him, walking off.

Yes. I would make a terrible mother.

* * *

***Chromic acid and alcohol should never be mixed, as they are explosive together. Yay, chemistry!**


	12. Who I Am and Why That's Bad

**Shadgirl2: Well, another chapter's ready to upload.**

**Midna: Chapter 13's in the works already, so it shouldn't be too long (famous last words).**

**Shadgirl2: Yeah, no kidding. You say that a lot.**

**Midna: What can I say? Life's crazy.**

**Shadgirl2: Yeah, ain't it always?**

**Midna: Anyway, without further ado, enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Jaden's POV**

I didn't ever get to sleep that night. I didn't even bother trying. The way Elise was acting...that _always_ happened when people found out what I was! Yet another thought that said my memory was coming back, but I didn't even care. People always treated me different when they found out, and I hated it! It made it impossible to know who really cared about me and who was just trying to be friends with the guy who would one day be one of the most powerful people in the world.

By morning, though, I couldn't sit around and mope anymore—I was hungry after skipping dinner. So I got up and made my way downstairs, still not really wanting to see Elise. With any luck, she'd be at work by now.

I had forgotten, though, that we had an appointment with the king that day, so she had taken the day off. When I walked into the kitchen, she was pouring some cereal into a bowl. I stopped in the doorway, leaning on the door frame, and she stared at me, looking anxious.

We stood there like that for a moment before I said, "I'm hungry."

"I've got some old cereal for you," she said. "It's been here for a few weeks, so..."

I only half listened to that, so I didn't think about the fact that she was offering me stale cereal. About halfway through what she said, I glanced at the table, where a stack of pancakes were sitting, and I kept staring at them.

Elise followed my gaze, then said, "Or _you_ can eat my breakfast, and I'll eat the cereal. What do you wanna do?"

I shrugged and said, "Whatever."

She smiled slightly, sliding the pancakes over to the other side of the table. "Enjoy. They're raspberry, though, so I hope you don't mind."

"That's fine," I told her, walking over and sitting down.

She sighed in relief, and I thought about the way I'd reacted last night when she'd offered me food, figuring she'd been afraid I'd say I didn't want them after all. Later I'd think about the fact that maybe she was worried I'd think it was too fancy or something, considering I'd reacted really poorly to being offered goose and steak (I think some colorful language was involved...).

"Oh, good," she said, pouring some milk on that old cereal. "Well, let's dig in, then. Huge day and all, so we should keep up our strength. We don't want to look foolish in front of the king now, do we?" She sat down and started eating.

I just shrugged, poking at the pancakes with my fork. "Yeah, I guess."

"Come on, Jaden. I was just trying to help."

I sighed, putting down the fork. Really, I knew that was all she was doing. My brain just wouldn't accept that. "Yeah, well... I can't shake the feeling that people always treat me different when they find out who I am...so, I guess, maybe I am..."

When I trailed off, she asked, "Are what? A prince of a distant land far, far away?"

I looked down. "Maybe..."

"Aw, come on, Jaden. What's wrong with that? There's a lot to love about being royalty. I mean, sure, it's a lot of work, too, but—"

I stared at my hands folded in my lap as I interrupted with, "From what I can tell, it's a lot of work and a lot of trying to figure out if people are being honest with you..."

She blinked, looking totally confused. "If people are what, now?"

"If they aren't just being nice because of the title," I said, thinking of how Sho had reacted when he thought I might be a prince. "If they're not just your friend because of all the perks or something."

"Why, Jaden. That's not—"

"I feel like I've been there before..."

"Jaden..." She stopped eating and gave me a gentle look, apparently feeling sorry for me.

I picked up the fork and started eating.

"I'm sorry, Jaden," Elise said. "I didn't know. But don't worry. Soon you'll be back home, and you can forget that all this ever happened, okay?"

I stopped eating and thought about that for a minute. Forget all of this happened? But...wouldn't that mean...

"Jaden?" Elise asked, sounding worried. "Is something else wrong?"

"No," I said, realizing she was worried she'd upset me again. "No, it's nothing. But...wouldn't forgetting all of this mean that I'd be forgetting everything again? I mean, since this is pretty much all I remember."

She laughed, looking relieved. "There's the Jaden I know! So, does that mean you're going to want seconds? And thirds? And maybe even fourths for breakfast again?" she teased. "'Cause, just so you know, there's a whole feast waiting for you in the fridge after last night. All you gotta do is reheat everything." She winked at me, then went back to eating her breakfast.

"Okay!" I said, then I finished the pancakes and headed to the fridge.

The first thing I saw made me feel like I was going to lose my breakfast. "Yuck! You tried to feed me _that_?" I asked, eying the goose like it was poisonous.

Elise just laughed. "Well, it's something that a lot of wealthy people want! I figured you'd had it before, so..."

"Yeah, well, if I have, I don't think I liked it," I said, recoiling from it slightly. "Just thinking of it makes me wanna hurl."

She laughed again. "Well, don't eat it, then! But don't throw it out, either. I'd like to take a stab at it, at least! It sounds like it could be good for my figure, if you know what I mean?"

"Knock yourself out," I told her, grabbing the club sandwich.

She finished eating and then headed to the bathroom to get ready for her appointment with the king. I finished that sandwich and debated whether the steak should be more breakfast or lunch.

* * *

The phone rang while Elise was upstairs getting ready.

"Jaden!?" she called down. "Can you get that for me, please? I'm a little busy in here!"

"Sure!" I called up, then I picked up the phone. "Hello? Tomasko residence."

"Hello," said a man on the other end. "This is the castle staff here to tell you that your appointment's been moved from today to next Friday. His Royal Highness isn't feeling up to visitors right now, so I'm afraid he can't be seen today. I hope you understand."

Well. That was disappointing. But I wasn't surprised. After all, I hadn't thought that amnesia was something important enough to bother the king about. Unless, of course, she had told them that she thought I might be a prince...which, I guess, was a distinct possibility. After all, hadn't she suggested contacting the king after I said that the name Yuki Judai sounded familiar? Maybe she was thinking I might be Prince Judai all the way back then.

"Oh," I said to the man on the phone. "That's fine. Thanks for telling us."

"Have a nice day, sir," the man said before hanging up.

I put the phone down just as Elise came in wearing a long, yellow dress with a laced-up bodice. "Who was that, Jaden?" she asked me. "Anyone important?"

"Yeah, the castle staff. Our appointment got bumped back a week because the king's not feeling up to visitors."

Elise put her hand to her cheek in that way of hers, looking like she felt sorry for me. "Oh, my. Sorry about that, Jaden."

I shrugged, thinking that, if I was actually a prince, it would be better for my kingdom if they never found me. After all, Manjoume and Asuka had made it pretty clear that Neospace was doomed if I was the only heir they had.

"So, Jaden," Elise said, jolting me from my gloomy thoughts. "Guess you're stuck with me for another week. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

Well, since she was asking... "Just treat me like you would any other stray who came wandering into your life one day."

"Done. Although I _do_ still believe that using some of my fancier things could help you remember who you are. I mean, if you're a prince and you're used to it, it should feel natural to you. Right?"

I shrugged. It wasn't that I disagreed so much as it was that I was still thinking I might like my life better if I didn't remember who I was. I mean, aside from the guys who kept trying to kidnap me, I was pretty happy living with Elise. Then again, she wasn't going to let me stay there for long. If we didn't figure out who I was, she was going to dump me at an orphanage, and that might not be so great...but, maybe, it would be better than being a prince who was doomed to destroy his kingdom.

"Like, say, some of the food you said you didn't like without even trying it," she added, winking, and I knew what she was talking about there.

"I _know_ I don't like that goose!" I told her with certainty. "I...think I've had it before."

Elise laughed. "Okay! If you say so. So, what about the other things, like the clothes or the bedding?"

I didn't answer right away, but, when I did, the only answer I gave her was a shrug. From what I could tell, after all, everybody would probably be happier if I didn't remember who I was. Probably my parents, even, if I was such a useless guy. Bet they were thrilled that they had to find another heir.

"If you dress like a prince, Jaden, you may feel like a prince. Then _you'll_ be able to know if that's right or not. If it feels awkward, then you're not, and we need to come up with a new theory about who you are. But if it feels normal..."

"Or it might feel awkward because I'm living in a normal person's house and dressing like a prince," I told her.

She seemed to get a kick out of that because she laughed again. "Again, point made. But, then again, since you never leave the house for fear of being kidnapped, who'd know? It'd be no different than it would be if a prince was staying with me as a special guest, right?"

I decided not to tell her that I _did_ occasionally leave, usually with Sho. She'd probably flip. "I guess..." I told her, and I was definitely less than enthusiastic. That donkey on that Pooh Bear show would have been more enthused about this idea than me.

"Come on, Jaden," Elise prodded. "At least give it a try."

I sighed, giving in, and said, "Alright..."

"Good. Now, why don't you go try some stuff on and see what you think? There's a whole bag of fancy clothing over there that the richer folks around here _really_ didn't want," she said, pointing out into the entrance hall, where one of the bags she had brought in the night before was sitting by the door. "Something about them being 'last year's style?'"

I sighed. "Somehow that sounds familiar..." I said, walking over to grab the bag so I could try on clothes that had formerly belong to rich snobs.

* * *

At some point, Elise had gone into my room and set up the bed she'd bought—rented, whatever. Probably before getting ready to go. Either way, it was there, with a red bedspread that made trying on fancy clothes feel a little less awkward. Some of the stuff Elise had picked up I tossed aside right away, seeing why people wouldn't want it. But I eventually picked out some black leather pants with fancy embroidery—obviously a one-of-a-kind piece of clothing—and a red shirt that was made of some really expensive material that I knew but couldn't name. Geez, it was comfy, though!

I looked myself over in the mirror, feeling strangely comfortable wearing fancier clothes. Hell, if anything, I felt under-dressed now that I was dressing in fancier clothes.

_"__Kuri kuri,"_ I heard. From the sound of things, the voice inside my head liked the outfit because it sounded like "th...you look...ute," which would probably be something along the lines of "that makes you look cute."

I sighed, however, getting tired of hearing voices that I couldn't locate. "It can't just be my imagination," I said, thinking of the writing on the window. "Where's that voice coming from? And why do I get the feeling I should know the answer to that question?"

Okay, so I _did_ want to remember _that_ one, at least. Even if the rest of my life sucked, I wanted to remember what the little voice in my head that kept kuriing was. I mean, it seemed like it knew me and cared about me, and it didn't think I was a useless screw-up, so, maybe, there was hope for me.

"Jaden?" Elise said, knocking on my door. "You done trying stuff on yet? Can I see?"

"Yeah, you can come in," I called.

She opened the door, having changed out of her dress, and stopped in the doorway, staring, a hand on her cheek again. "Why, Jaden. You look—"

"Feels normal enough," I told her.

She smiled and put her hands on her hips, and I got the distinct feeling I was about to be teased by my mother figure. "And it suits you so nicely, too. Why, I can barely recognize you under those distinct-looking—"

I squirmed, feeling awkward at the compliment. "It's not that much of a difference."

She laughed, then said, "Well, anyhow, have you tried on any of the others yet?" She reached for something I hadn't cast aside yet, adding, "This one was made to replicate the royal attire of Neospace. Apparently our prince threw it out when he was tired of it."

I might have asked how she had gotten her hands on an outfit that had belonged to her prince, but the outfit itself threw me off. She was holding a pair of simple black pants, a black shirt, and a dark green shirt. The shirt had gold trim and a white collar, and the jacket had gold trim as well, with golden designs weaved into the material on the shoulders and the cuffs.

I stared at it for so long that I think Elise must have thought I'd frozen. After a moment, my eyes widened slightly.

"Jaden?" Elise asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I... That looks..."

Familiar. It looked familiar. I was picturing a similar outfit, almost exactly the same, only with a red jacket. And a crest, a family crest. A wildcat—panther—running, a cape spread out over its back.

Elise looked at me for a moment, then asked, "Would you like to try it on? You can, if you want."

Mechanically, I reached out and took the outfit, nodding.

As I looked at the outfit some more, Elise just watched. "Well, I'll be," she said at last, sounding awed. "You really _are_ a prince, aren't you?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't deny it. But I didn't want it to be true.

"Well, in that case," she said when I didn't respond, "we need to find a way to get you back to your kingdom, where you belong. Now, it's quite the distance from here, so first we should—"

"Hey, it's just one outfit, Elise," I said, though I'm pretty sure I was just trying to convince myself that it wasn't true at that point.

"Jaden. I think it's a bit more than just one outfit. Or, should I say, _Prince Judai_?" She emphasized the name, trying to make a point.

It worked—I blinked at the familiar title. The familiar name. What nearly everyone called me. Prince Judai. My prince. Your highness. ...Idiot prince? That one was weird.

"Sound familiar, my prince?"

The second time she did that, it hit me hard. "Oh, geez..." I said, putting a hand to my head. My eyes were wide, I'm sure. Probably about the size of saucers. "I'm..."

"Easy, boy," Elise said. "Deep breaths."

I sat down on the bed, still holding the outfit that had been designed in a Neospacian style.

Elise walked over and stood in front of me, talking slowly as she did. "That's it," she said. "Let it all come flowing back. Let your mind recall who you really are. You're Prince Judai of Neospace Kingdom. And you're needed over there, too."

A throne room flashed in my head. A ballroom. A crown, meant for a prince. "I'm a prince..."

"Yes. That's right. The prince of Neospace Kingdom," she repeated, still speaking slowly, trying to help me absorb and remember it.

"I'm the prince of Neospace. Yuki...Judai..."

"Uh-huh. And that means that Yuki Kenta and Yuki Hikari are your parents. The king and queen."

"Kenta...and Hikari..." I repeated, savoring those names.

Kenta—a strong man with dark brown hair and green eyes that always looked stern and commanding. He wore an elaborate golden crown and a deep red cape all the time. Hikari—a light and delicate woman with lighter hair and chocolate eyes, much like my own, who was almost always smiling. She always looked like a medieval woman in her fancy skirts, her hair often woven with delicate decorations of gold or silver.

"Yes, Judai," Elise said, still speaking slowly. "Kenta and Hikari. The king and queen."

"My parents," I said, looking at her, my eyes still wide.

"Yes," she said slowly, patiently. "Your parents. They're the king and queen of Neospace. And that makes you its prince. Is it sinking in now?"

Oh, it was sinking in! I was always goofing off, had a bunch of fake friends (including a purple-haired girl with brown eyes), had to watch my back so I wouldn't get killed or kidnapped and ransomed...yeah, my earlier thought that I didn't want to remember who I was was pretty accurate. From what I could remember, my life sucked something awful.

I nodded slowly, horrified by this revelation. "Uh-huh..."

She smiled, and she went back to her usual tone when she said, "Good. Then let's see about getting you home. First off, we need to—"

"No," I said.

Really. I didn't want to go home. I could see now why I might have run away. Not that I had, but I wasn't in any hurry to go back there. Especially considering that Asuka and Manjoume were probably right. Neospace was better off without me. If I wasn't there, my parents would try to have another kid. My mother was young enough that she could still have a child. The next one would be a better heir than me. I was a useless screw-up who never did his work. The only way they could get a worse heir would be if they had one that decided to take over the whole world!

Elise's eyes widened. "What? But, Judai, you have to—"

"I-I need to deal with these guys," I told her, giving her the first excuse that came to mind. "They aren't gonna stop just because I head back home. And they'll do everything they can to keep me from getting there."

Thoughtfully, she put a finger to her chin. "Hmm. You've got a point..."

Grateful that she was believing me, I added, "If they brought me here, then they're probably based around here somewhere." Granted, I'd been in their base, but she didn't need to know that—she'd flip. "So I should stick around and figure out a way to stop them."

"Here's a better idea. We go see King Reginald the moment he becomes available and see if _he_ can't get you home safely," she said, dashing my hopes. "Sound good?" She smiled, as if this was a great plan and I should be thrilled that I might be going home soon.

Home, where I was a worthless, overworked, sorry excuse of a prince.

"O-okay..." I stammered.

"Don't worry, Judai. It'll be okay," she said, giving me a reassuring smile.

"Yeah..."

"Then I guess, in the meantime, you'll be staying with me," she said with a wink. Then she pointed at me as if she were about to scold me as she added, "But don't expect any special treatment while you're here. The house _still_ needs somebody to keep it clean. As I always say, a—"

"Clean house is a happy house," I finished for her.

"Exactly." She pointed out the door, still smiling, and said, "So why don't you go grab a mop and scrub the kitchen floors for me? I'll take care of the carpeting today, okay?" She closed her eyes, still smiling.

"Okay," I said.

"Great. Hup to it, then. The house isn't gonna clean itself."

I got up, putting that outfit back down on the bed, and said, "Right." Then I ran out to get a mop.

* * *

Elise got the vacuum, and I didn't have to think about who I was for the rest of the day as I helped Elise clean house—even though everything had been cleaned by me the day before. Seriously, talk about a neat freak. But I was so busy working that, at least, it got my mind off my problems for a bit.

I had another sleepless night that night, thinking about my life and trying to remember something, _anything_ good about it. But that didn't exactly work out very well.

**_"_**_**Are you paying attention!? This isn't nap time, my prince!"**_ a guy with an Italian accent once yelled at me.

**_"_**_**Prince Judai! I'm over **_**here**_**, not out the window! Focus!"**_ a woman had said another time.

**_"_**_**Has anyone seen the prince!? I can't find him **_**anywhere**_**!"**_

That last time, I remembered, I was hiding on the rooftop, just above the window that guy was standing by. It was the Italian man again, frustrated at his student—student! That guy was one of my _teachers_!

**_"_**_**Judai, what am I going to do with you?"**_

My father. That was my father.

**_"_**_**Prince Judai! Repeat what I just said!"**_

That one came with a "nya" at the end—I remembered that teacher was always making cat sounds. But that made four different people, my father included, who spent all their time lecturing me.

"Aw, geez! All I ever do is get yelled at!" I cried in frustration. "Asuka's right, the kingdom would probably be better off if I didn't go back..."

_"__Kuri kuri..."_ the voice said: "n...true..."

Not true? It thought that wasn't true? Well, shoot, it couldn't have been more wrong if it tried!

"Yes, it's true!" I yelled, sitting up on the bed.

_"__...remember...right...that's..."_ it kuriid. The rest of what it was saying was lost to me.

"Whatever you are, you're wrong! I goof off all the time, and I'm always in trouble. I probably _did_ run away!" I told it. I was seriously starting to doubt the idea that I had ever planned on heading back to the castle. After all, why would I? Clearly my life was crap.

_"__...resting...when take..."_

"Yeah, but who's to say I was actually gonna go back... It's not like there was anything for me to go back to..." I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them, thinking about that.

What did I have? I was an only child, clearly, or I wouldn't be the only heir. My father didn't know what to do with me, so he was probably sick of dealing with me. I couldn't remember anything about my mother except what she looked like, so she was either very rare in my life or someone I didn't want to remember. And I didn't have any friends other than that girl whose name still escaped me. My other companion was another purple-haired girl, who I hated with an intense passion, yet I couldn't remember why.

The voice didn't respond, and the room fell silent.

"...Whoever you are, you're not much help..."

I lay back down, but I still never managed to stop thinking about my life long enough to actually go to sleep.

* * *

The sun rose the next day, and I heard Elise walk past my door. Seeing as I was awake anyway, I got up and dressed (in the clothes she had bought, not the fancy stuff), then headed down as well.

She looked startled when I walked into the kitchen. "Judai? You're up already? But it's only 8:00 am!"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why, honey. Something on your mind?" she asked, sitting down at the table and listening intently.

I walked over and sat down across from her. "Just...trying to remember more."

She looked at me strangely, then asked, "Is that all? 'Cause it doesn't sound like it. You're wondering about your life as a prince, aren't you? A bit overwhelmed by this fact?"

Overwhelmed...sounded like a good description. "...Yeah..."

"So? What are you the most worried about?"

I thought about what she had said earlier about me—how the media said that a lot of hard work was tasking for me, and she wouldn't be surprised if I had run away. Needless to say, the fact that I actually liked her made it hard for me to admit that I was thinking they might have been right.

"It's alright, dear," she said. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

I stared at the table. "...I don't think I'm a very good prince..."

"Oh, Judai. Why? Do you remember something about it?"

"Only that I goof off a lot..."

"Hmm."

"I never pay attention to my lessons, I've got hiding places I go to when I don't want to be found, and...and my father doesn't even know what he's gonna do about me..."

Suddenly she did something I hadn't expected—she started laughing.

"Huh?" I looked at her, confused and a bit hurt. "What's so funny?"

Really, here I was telling her that I thought I was a lousy prince, and she was laughing about it?

"I'm sorry, Judai!" she said, calming her laughter. "It's just that you remind me a lot of our _own_ prince here in Kalmar. He's always goofing off and lazing around, too. According to the media, that is."

That was a surprise. "R-really?"

"Oh, yes! Why, the only thing he _doesn't_ do is sneak out of the castle to go play somewhere else. He takes the guards with him during those times."

I blinked, stunned. There was really another royal out there who was just as irresponsible and stupid as me? I mean, yeah, Elise had said that he didn't leave without the guards, but I got the feeling me doing that was more related to something about Neospace...something about trusting the people to care for the prince or whatever. I had never been attacked in town—that I could remember, anyway. So, with that in mind, there wasn't that big of a difference between me and this prince.

Elise got up, smiling reassuringly as she said, "Well, anyway, Judai, I've got to go, so we'll discuss this some more later. But don't worry. Being a little lazy doesn't make you a bad prince. Just a carefree one."

"Okay," I said, feeling a little better. "If you say so."

She nodded, then said, "Well, I'm off. Your things are in the usual places for today, so...have a great day! And always remember, a clean house is a happy house."

She headed out the door, leaving me thinking that I'd start having dreams revolving around that annoying saying of hers if she said it to me one more time.


	13. The Man in the Trench Coat

**Shadgirl2: Well, what do you know? That was actually pretty quick, for once!**

**Midna: Yeah, I know! Weird, huh?**

**Shadgirl2: Also, in response to a review from ScarletLycrois, we know that Yubel was a boy in the 4Kids version of Yugioh GX, but she was a girl in the original Japanese version (we think).**

**Midna: Confusing, isn't it? I mean, I know Yubel's human incarnation was voiced by a woman in Japan, at least...and there's a jewel on Yubel's forehead, which is common for women in some cultures.**

**Shadgirl2: So, because it's just so darned confusing, we'll say, for the sake of this subbed-name-using story, that Yubel is a girl (so, spoiler alert, she's in it somewhere).**

**Midna: With that confusion out of the way, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX (which is why we can't confirm Yubel's gender XD).**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

The note that day said that the vacuum needed run, dusting needed done, and the walls needed washed in the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. I groaned when I read it. Seriously? Had she not _seen_ what I did the other day!?

"I dusted everything and washed _all_ the walls, like, two days ago! I'm not doing it again. And the vacuum doesn't need run every day! Talk about a neat freak..."

Briefly, I thought that somebody would call me a whiner for the way I was acting right then, but I couldn't remember who—though I was certain it was a girl and I didn't like her. Not Asuka, that was for sure. After all, I could remember her.

Anyway, since I didn't want to do the stuff I'd just done a couple of days ago (or run the evil vacuum cleaner again), I sat down to watch some TV instead. I did plan on doing my dishes at the end of the day, but the other chores had just been done, and there was no way I could possibly make enough of a mess to justify doing them all again already.

* * *

Around 3:30, Sho came knocking. How did I know it was Sho? Because he was pounding on the door and calling, "Aniki! Hey! Open up! This is an emergency!"

I went to the entrance hall and opened the door, half expecting to see him being bit by a vampire or something (knowing his luck, I didn't doubt that could happen). "Sho!?" I asked when I saw him standing there perfectly fine. "What's going on now!?"

He may have been alright at the moment, but he was pale as a ghost. He was also out of breath, so I figured he must have run there. "I-I'm...in a..." he said, trying to catch his breath.

"A what? Spit it out."

The last person in the world I expected walked over then, her arms crossed and a perfectly normal expression on her face—annoyance. "Oh, honestly, Sho," Asuka said. "It's not that bad."

Sho whirled on her, and I had never seen him glare so fiercely before. Then again, I'd only known him for a short time. "Not that bad?" he asked. "Not that bad!? My whole karate class is in a tournament, and you're telling me it's not that bad!?"

Whoa, wait! Did he just say what I think he said?

"Wait, you're in a karate class?" I asked.

He sweat. "Well, uh, I..." He gave an awkward laugh.

"Since when do you do karate?" I asked, trying to picture Sho doing...anything physical. I mean, it wasn't like he was the most athletic person around. I'd figured that jump rope and hopscotch were about as athletic as he'd get.

His eyes widened as he started freaking out completely. Wrong question, I guess. "That's my point! I don't! My mom signed me up a long time ago, and I've been _failing_ every lesson ever since! I just barely got to yellow belt this year, and they want me to fight in a tournament!? Against 12 other schools!? I'm—"

Okay, karate, I understood. Yellow belt was the second level, just above white belt. So, I guess, if he'd been at this for awhile, maybe he wasn't so good. But, still, Asuka's interruption was appreciated.

"Overreacting," she cut him off. "It's not like you're taking on the whole competition by yourself. Your other classmates can cover the slack."

Yeah, I figured. Besides, they'd probably have him in some amateur matches against others of his own rank, if he was in it at all.

"That's my problem!" Sho continued to panic. "If I lose all my matches, I'll mess up every chance we get at winning! Then _my_ team's gonna be mad! Then they're gonna beat me up! And _then_ I'm—"

"Sho!" I said, grabbing hold of his upper arms to try to calm him. "Just calm down, okay? It can't be as bad as you're making it out to be."

"That's what I keep telling him, but—" Asuka started.

Sho cut her off with a glare for both of us, and I let go. "Oh, yeah!? You two wanna see something!? This is me falling down after I completely botch up a flying uppercut to the chest! Hai—"

I wasn't even sure that was a real move, but the fact that he was about to demonstrate stopped me from saying so. He had a leg up in the air, and he looked about ready to jump as well—not that I thought it would work so well with one leg already off the ground. Though I was starting to see what his issue was with karate, that's for sure.

"No, no, no, no!" I said, grabbing his shoulders. "That's okay, Sho!"

Sho relaxed his stance—which was a huge relief—and crossed his arms, glaring at me again. "See!?"

"Ugh. You're impossible," Asuka said. "Why do you always think you're going to mess things up? That _causes_ you to mess up _more_, you know."

"No! I just mess up! That's—"

"She's right, Sho," I cut him off, surprised to be agreeing with Asuka Tenjoin.

"No, she's not! She's—"

"Right," I said again.

Asuka put her hands on her hips and leaned forward some as she added her own ending to Sho's sentence. "A lot smarter than you give me credit for? I'd know a bad case of low self esteem when I saw one, Sho. We're not _all_ a bunch of blind idiots."

"Well, _clearly_, you are! Watch me break a stick in two!" He walked over to a nearby tree, which, unfortunately, had recently lost a branch. Then he turned back to us, glaring. "Or, rather, my _hand_ again."

He raised a hand to give it a karate chop—which, again, I'm pretty sure his technique was off. "Hai..."

I sweat, thinking this was totally ridiculous. I mean, the more we told him the truth, the more he tried to prove us wrong by injuring himself. "Sho, she's got a point. You've got no self esteem. You just need to believe in yourself more!"

"YAH!" he finished, ignoring me as he brought his hand down to hit the branch...which was really not something that he could break that way. His hand slammed down hard enough for Asuka and me to hear a loud crack on impact. But it sure as hell wasn't the tree branch.

"OOOOOWWWW!" Sho cried, grabbing hold of his hand.

"Sho!" Asuka cried, sounding worried. I guess she wasn't worried about what people would think of her caring about Sho hurting himself. That was something, anyway.

Not that I was worried about that right then. I had bigger issues! I ran over to check the damage my idiotic friend had done. His hand was bleeding some, and it was a bit mangled, too. Obviously he'd broken it.

He was panting, still holding his hand. "Y...yo...you see...?" he asked, giving a pained look that just fell short of being a glare.

"Sho, you idiot!" Asuka exclaimed. "Now we've gotta call a doctor!"

I took hold of his upper arms and steered him toward Elise's house, saying, "Come on, let's get you inside."

"Uh, don't you think we should take him to the hospital?" Asuka asked. "That's one nasty-looking wound."

She was right. It was already starting to swell, and it was just hanging there as he moaned in pain. But, at the same time, I had something I thought needed addressed—first aid.

"I think we should do what we can here before he bleeds too much on the way there," I said.

She nodded, apparently deciding that I was right. Well, that was a first. "Right."

So I took him into the kitchen, with Asuka following, to get his hand cleaned up and try to treat it to at least slow the bleeding.

* * *

Okay, have you ever tried to wrestle a little kid into their pajamas when they're not ready for bed? Or caught a fish and had trouble keeping it because it was wiggling and slippery? If so, you know the sort of issue I was having with Sho when I tried to give him some first aid. He wouldn't hold still, flailing around and screaming whenever I touched him. Even though I was trying to be gentle.

"Hold still, Sho," I said, thinking that he'd be feeling a lot worse if he didn't. Because, then, I'd have to grab his hand and hold on tight.

"I _can't_!" he cried—no, really, tears were streaming down his cheeks. "It hurts!"

I resisted the urge to tell him it was his own fault—barely—and said something a little less mean instead. "Well, it's going to hurt!"

The next time I reached out and tried to clean his hand some, his leg flew up, and he kicked me in the face. I stumbled back, my hand flying to my mouth and nose—the victims of Sho's latest spasm.

This whole five years—at least, that's what it felt like; it was actually more like ten minutes—that I was trying to do this, Asuka had been standing by and watching the show. Her arms were crossed, and she was grinning. I must have been real amusing, nearly getting a broken nose to go with Sho's broken hand.

"Need a hand there?" she asked. "You're not doing a very good job at this."

"By all means," I said, gesturing to Sho with my free hand. My voice sounded kind of funny with my hand covering half my face.

"S-s-sorry, An-Ani-ki..." Sho stammered, still obviously in pain—which made two of us just then. "I-I d-didn't..."

Asuka walked over to him, glaring now, and put her hands on her hips. I had the sudden impression that she'd make a good mom, which was a weird thought to have of a girl I didn't think was even a very good neighbor. "Alright, Sho," she said. "Now, either hold still, or I'm calling Gorisuke _and_ Ryo to tell them how big of a wimp you're being."

Okay, I knew Gorisuke, and I knew that would lead to some severe bullying. But who was that Ryo person? Another creep at Sho's school?

Regardless, her threat had the desired result. Sho stop bawling and stuttered, "I-I'm not a-a wimp... I-it just—"

"Then stop moving around! Not-wimps don't do that, so, if you're not one, then let us take care of you and quit moving around."

"O-okay..."

She turned to me next and said, "There. He's all yours now. Should be easier, I hope." Then she walked back to where she had been watching before—a safe distance away.

Sho was trembling now and muttering "I'm not a wimp" over and over.

I wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth, then slowly reached for Sho's hand again. I was all set to jump back if any part of him moved up to hit me. He winced, and the muttering got more nervous and faster as he tensed up. I finished up as carefully as I could, trying not to make things any worse for my idiotic, self-harming friend. He flinched as I cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around it, and he started whimpering and fighting tears at some point.

"Alright," I said as I finished up and let go. "That'll do until we get you to a doctor."

A whimper was his only response.

"You two going to be okay from here?" Asuka asked. "You know where the hospital is, right?"

I thought about it. I mean, hadn't I woke up in the hospital? Then again, it wasn't like I'd been there since...and I hadn't been paying much attention to the road on the drive to Elise's place, being more focused on all the stuff I couldn't remember. I guessed I could figure it out, but...that didn't seem like such a good strategy. Maybe Sho would know, if he ever stopped whimpering.

"Uh...the last time I was there, I was leaving, and that's the only time I remember being in _any_ hospital, so...maybe?"

She just stared at me for a second, her arms crossed. Then she glanced at Sho, summing up the situation, before turning to leave, saying, "Let's go. Sho needs to see a doctor. Not go on a tour around his hometown."

I took hold of Sho, careful not to touch his injured hand—or, for that matter, the whole _arm_ it was attached to—and led him out after her.

* * *

As we were walking down the street, I thought that this day couldn't possibly get any worse. After all, I was a prince who was being targeted by kidnappers, my friend had just broken his hand and kicked me in the face, and now I was relying on a girl who hated me to help me and my friend—which seemed out of character for her, from what I knew.

Unfortunately, on the "things couldn't get any worse" thing, I was wrong.

Iwamaru and Honomaru greeted us along the way, waving a white flag that said "Peace" in blue letters. Seriously, would those two _ever_ stop driving me crazy!?

"Oh, crap," I said. I let go of Sho and stepped in front of him and Asuka, activating my duel disk as I said, "Get lost, you guys!"

"Just a minute, kid! Don't you see our flag here!?" Honomaru demanded in annoyance—Ha! Like _he_ was the one who should be annoyed!—as he pointed at the flag Iwamaru was holding up. "We're not gonna hurt ya!"

"Yeah!" Iwamaru added. "All we wanna do's talk! Now, is that too much to ask? Really?"

Asuka blinked, looking stunned. "Okay. How many enemies do you have again?" she asked me.

"Aniki! A-are they—"

"Yeah, right! After that ambush, there's no _way_ I'm gonna believe you guys!" I told them. After all, they had snuck into Elise's house to kidnap me in my sleep. Why would I be stupid enough to trust them again after that?

"It's true!" Honomaru said. "Really! What? You think we're carrying this thing around for nothing? It's a peace sign, Princy! _Peace_!"

"D-did they just call you—OW!" Sho got too excited and hurt himself. He started moaning again behind me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Asuka kneel down to comfort him.

"I just wanna get my friend here to the hospital," I told those two goons. "Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to kidnappers. I don't have _time_ to talk to kidnappers!"

"Aw, but, Judai—" Iwamaru started, but I cut him off.

"You have no right to call me that! Last time I checked, familiarity was reserved for family and friends, and you're neither."

Sho gasped at my answer. "W-wait, you're really—"

Asuka humphed. "Thought so."

I could feel Sho's awed stare on my back, and I got the nasty feeling he'd be jumping for joy if he wasn't in so much pain at the time.

"Look," Honomaru said to me. "We just want to talk to you about our offer to join us. Don't you know what amazing powers you'll get if you do? Why, you'd be able to—"

"I don't need your powers. _I'm_ not insecure about my place in the world and looking to get stronger!"

Apparently Iwamaru took offense to my comment—which was good, because I meant him to. These guys were easier to deal with when I had to fight them, for some stupid reason. Probably because I actually knew what to do then. Iwamaru snapped the flag pole in half and threw it down, glaring indignantly as he growled at me.

"That's it, kid! Now you're gonna get it! Let's go, Honomaru! It's showtime!" He activated his duel disk, and his dopey partner followed suit, also insulted.

"Yeah! Nobody talks to us that way and gets away with it! Thestalos!" (2400)

"Granmarg!" (2400)

Flaming Red-Armored Samurai Man appeared, along with his buddy Giant Rock Dude, and their masters commanded them to attack. They moved to do that, and I was about to summon something to defend myself when Asuka, who was suddenly standing beside me, put an arm out to block me.

"Hold on, Judai!" she said. "I've got this!" She stepped in front of me, activating her duel disk.

I blinked, totally confused. She was helping me? But she hated me! And, like she'd said earlier about Sho, this wasn't her business! Sure, she was here, but she could just take Sho and leave. Or, more in-tune with her character, _leave_. Really, nothing she was doing that day was making sense, given how she'd been acting since I'd met her.

"Huh?" I asked. Yep, I'm a real intelligent and literate prince, aren't I?

The two wannabe emperors stopped their monsters, staring at Asuka, then started laughing.

"You're kidding!" Honomaru laughed. "Hiding behind a girl!? What kind of a wimp are you?"

"Ooh, I'm soo scared," Iwamaru teased, and I got the feeling he was about to face serious anger from an insulted girl. "The big, scary girlie's gonna—"

"I activate Polymerization!"

The two stopped laughing and looked at her. "Huh?" they asked.

"I fuse my Etoile Cyber with my Blade Skater to form Cyber Blader!" (2100)

A monster with long, blue hair and red and purple skin forming a leotard appeared. She had ice skating blades on her feet—which explained the "blader" bit. The two morons stared at it for a minute, then busted up again.

"You're kidding! _That's_ your monster!?" Honomaru demanded. "But she's so..._pretty_!"

"Yeah! And so _graceful_, too. What's she gonna do? Figure eight us to death?"

They laughed some more. But, looking at Asuka, I got the feeling they were going to regret that with a passion in about five minutes.

"Hmph. I wouldn't be laughing, if I were you," she said. She was smirking, and she had a really nasty glare on her face. Oh, these guys were in for it. Never insult women! That's what I was learning that day. Especially not if their name is "Asuka Tenjoin."

The two dead-men-walking stopped laughing again. "Huh?"

"I activate Cyber Blader's special ability! She gets a different one depending on how many monsters you guys have! I count two, so that means her attack points get doubled!"

"What!?" the two exclaimed as her monster's attack went up to 4200.

I had to agree. That was cool!

"H-hey," Honomaru said, pointing at her nervously. He was trembling some, and his eyes were wide. "You're not r-related to that g-guy with the Red-Eyes deck, are you?"

"Whoa...!" I exclaimed.

I was starting to think that the Tenjoins were just good duelists all around. I mean, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and a monster like _that_? Now I wanted to duel her! Though that would, obviously, have to wait until another time.

"So?" Asuka asked, not answering Honomaru's question. "Still think it's funny to be beat by a _girl_?"

Oh, yeah. I was _never_ going to underestimate a girl. Ever. No way in hell, after that one.

Iwamaru stepped back, sweating buckets. Guess he was scared, though whether it was Asuka or her monster that was scaring him, I'll never know.

"Uh, duh, we were just kidding! W-we know girls are strong... R-right, pal?"

Desperate to save his skin, Honomaru agreed in a heartbeat. "Y-yeah, miss. Didn't mean to rattle ya. We're just having a little fun, is all."

"Oh, really? Then you'll find this next move to be a blast. Cyber Blader! Attack his Firestorm Monarch! If he wants to have fun with us, we'll show him the time of his life!"

He backed up nervously. "N-now, hold on—"

Cyber Blader didn't listen, and neither did Asuka. The monster twirled over and kicked Thestalos in the gut, destroying it...and lowering her attack back to 2100.

So, 2100 versus 2400...

"Uh, you're a little low on attack points..." I said, playing Captain Obvious. "So what's her effect when there's only one?"

Iwamaru gave a triumphant grin as cockiness took over again. "Ha! A lot of good _that_ attack did you! Now you're easy prey for my Rock Monarch!"

"Relax, boys," Asuka said to the both of us. "When there's only one, she can't be destroyed in battle. But that doesn't mean she's weak enough for _you_ to lay a finger on."

"What!?"

"Watch and learn! I activate the equip card Fusion Weapon! And I equip it to my Cyber Blader!"

"What!?" Iwamaru repeated.

"That's right! With this card, my Cyber Blader gets another 1500 attack points!"

A weird electrical weapon—a stun gun? Something like that—appeared on Cyber Blader, raising her attack to 3600. Now I _really_ wanted to duel this girl!

"Alright, Asuka!" I cheered, getting all excited.

"Now, go! Cyber Blader attacks your Rock Monarch next!"

Her monster darted over to Granmarg and zapped him with her new toy. He burst into a bazillion tiny pieces.

"Oh, geez!" Iwamaru stared at Asuka, totally helpless now.

She crossed her arms with a humph. "Is that the best you can do? And you're over there insulting me for being a girl." She closed her eyes and said, "Pathetic."

"S-so, what, Judai," Honomaru stammered, "this your girlfriend or something? She's awfully defensive of ya..."

Girlfriend? They called her my girlfriend? Really? We weren't even friends, let alone a couple! That would never happen! Still, it wasn't like I had to answer him.

"Oww..." Sho moaned.

"Who she is is none of your business," I told them. "I don't have any intention of taking you up on your 'offer' since you've been trying to force it on me this whole time! Take a hint and take a hike!"

I would have told them to get a life, too, but I was starting to think that wasn't possible.

"W-will do!" Iwamaru stammered. "Sorry we bothered you, miss!" And he vanished via his rock-storm teleportation.

"H-hey! Iwamaru! D-don't leave me hanging like this!"

"Well?" Asuka asked. "You heard him. Or do you wanna dance with my Cyber Blader next?"

I almost thought it would be fun to see the monster hit him directly. And, for a second, I thought it might happen. But, after a bit, he said, "Hey, Iwamaru! Wait for me, pal!" and burst into flames.

Once they were gone, I turned to Asuka, grateful for the help. I might not have understood why she helped me, but that didn't change anything. "Thanks," I told her.

She deactivated her duel disk, and her monster disappeared. "Hmph. Don't mention it. Those guys were asking for it with the way _they_ were talking to us. I just wanted to shut them up. No big deal."

I didn't think that made a lot of sense, considering they hadn't said anything about her until she volunteered to help. I mean, she got involved _before_ they said anything that should have bothered her! But I didn't want to start an argument with her about it, so I just said, "Still, thanks."

"Why are you wasting time thanking me when you _should_ be getting Sho to the hospital?" she asked. "He's bleeding with a broken hand, in case you forgot."

"Owww..." Sho moaned, and I looked to see that the bandage I put on it was turning red with blood. How badly had he split it open that it was still bleeding that badly?

"Right. Come on." I grabbed Sho's arm—the uninjured one—and turned to Asuka, saying, "Lead the way, Asuka."

"Right. Follow me!"

She ran for the hospital, and I followed quickly, pulling Sho along. He was losing more blood than I thought was okay. If anything happened to him because of those creeps, they'd regret the day they ever joined the Four Emperors!

As I followed her, though, I thought I saw a mysterious figure out of the corner of my eye. Whoever it was, they were unnerving. But I didn't have time to worry about that right then. Sho was hurt, and I had to get him to the hospital without any more delays. So I just forgot about the guy.

What was really bothering me about him, though, was that he was wearing an off-white trench coat, sunglasses, and a fedora. I thought I saw him slipping around in the shadows, following us. Again, though, I didn't have time to stop and worry about another potential enemy stalking me. I'd keep an eye out for trouble, but I wouldn't confront him unless he came to me first. Sho needed a doctor.

* * *

It's a good thing I didn't stop because Sho was getting a little pale by the time Asuka and I got him to the hospital. The doctors got to him quickly enough, though, but it was obvious those idiots had made things worse. As Asuka and I waited to find out what was going on, I kept pacing, my imagination running wild with possibilities of what might happen. He might need a blood transfusion, and what if his hand was worse than we had thought? It would explain how he'd lost so much blood. Maybe he'd need it amputated?

While I was waiting impatiently, Asuka sat calmly in a chair, just watching me for about ten minutes. In addition to being worried about Sho, I was ticked off with those dumb Emperors! They had held us up and made things worse!

"Will you relax?" Asuka said to me at last. "It's just a broken hand."

"And a lot of blood loss," I added, still pacing.

"Come on," she said, trying to calm me down. "The bleeding was controlled. So it _still_ shouldn't be as bad as you're thinking. The doctors can handle it from here. What are you so worried about?"

I stopped pacing finally. "I don't know."

"He's fine, Jaden. Trust me."

"Yeah, I guess," I finally agreed.

"Jaden?" an unfamiliar male voice said. "So is _that_ what you go by nowadays?"

"Huh?" I turned, and immediately felt like an idiot.

I had totally forgotten about the guy in the trench coat sneaking around. Apparently, he _had_ been following. Now he was walking up to me, and I could also see that he had red hair. If he was another one of the buddies the Emperors had, he was pretty bold, just marching right up to me in a public place. Then again, Kourimaru and Itchy had done that when I first met them.

"Hi," the stranger said. "How's it going?"

"Uh, who are you?" I asked. No need to jump the gun, after all. Maybe he _wasn't_ with those guys.

"Oh, you know. Just some guy out looking for the prince of Neospace Kingdom. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find the guy, would you?"

Well, there went that idea! Sure, he sounded casual, as if it were totally normal for guys in trench coats to go hunting for princes from foreign lands, and he was smiling and acting friendly. But, still, Kourimaru and Itchy had told Elise that they were looking for their friend, and this guy would know by now that I had amnesia, so he might try pretending that we were friends. After all, nothing was too underhanded for those guys.

All this ran through my head in about two seconds, then I said, "No. Can't help you there."

Seriously, trusting a stranger was totally idiotic. Especially if that stranger was, say, a guy in a nearly pure white trench coat who seemed to want to keep his identity a secret.

The man sweat, shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling a foot. "Right, uh... Can we talk in private?" Before I could answer, he grabbed my arm, grinning sheepishly. "Thanks. You're the best," he said, dragging me off.

"Hey!"

He ignored my protest and dragged me into the employees only restroom, then he locked the door.

And, just like that, I was alone, trapped with a guy in a white trench coat.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "What do you want?"

"Relax, pal. I'm not gonna hurt ya," he said, taking off his hat and...wig? Wait, his hair wasn't actually red? Under that wig, he had short, spiky, teal hair. "In fact, I've been looking all over for you ever since the attack on my kingdom. You've got it, don't you?"

He took off the sunglasses, and I saw that his eyes were an emerald green. I also realized, with a start, that this guy was about the same age as me. He was slightly taller, but about the same build, too.

"Who are you?" I asked again, less on edge now. "And what are you talking about?"

He put a hand over his chest, smiling, and said, "The name's Johan. Prince Johan of the kingdom of Kalmar."

Huh. Go figure. I'd just met the prince of Kalmar. And, apparently, we didn't know each other, because he wasn't surprised by me not recognizing him.

"Now, I know you probably don't like me since our kingdom's don't really get along that well, but—"

"They don't?" I cut him off. That was something I didn't remember. No surprise. But it would explain why we wouldn't know much about each other in the first place.

He stopped and stared, apparently wondering if he had the right guy after all. After a second, he said, "I'm sorry. You _are_ Prince Judai, the runaway from Neospace Kingdom, aren't you? 'Cause, the last time I checked..."

"You're half right," I told him, "but I didn't run away. I was kidnapped. And I just remembered who I am yesterday, so..."

Johan—er, _Prince_ Johan's—eyes widened (probably shouldn't be so informal if we were supposed to hate each other). "You're kidding! _Your_ kingdom was attacked, too!? And what do you mean you just remembered who you are!?"

"I've got amnesia. Woke up in a hospital one day."

_This_ one, actually.

Prince Johan blinked, looking totally lost. "Then how, exactly, did you know you were kidnapped? You just remember that, too?"

"That...came back in a dream, probably because it keeps almost happening again. I...left the castle for a break and was ambushed by these guys."

"And? What did they do to you? 'Cause, when my kingdom was attacked, it got taken over. I've been on the run ever since."

Well, that would explain why our audience had been canceled. If this kingdom had been taken by the enemy, it was probably better if I didn't meet with the king.

"I don't know what they did," I told Prince Johan. "I mean, besides bring me here. I can't remember the rest."

He stared at me for a minute. Then, desperation in his tone, said, "Tell me you at least remember your special power."

Uh... Well, that was an interesting development. I had a special power? Well, maybe, with a bit of luck, Prince Johan would know.

"Special power...?"

"Oh, that's just great!" he exclaimed, and he was either annoyed or frustrated. Yeah, I knew exactly how you felt, buddy. He pointed a finger at me and said, "Okay, listen. Every few hundred years, a great evil is said to arise and try to enslave everyone. This evil can only be stopped by an individual that gets reborn every time this evil force stirs. You will know who he is easily, too, because he's always the first-born son of the kingdom Neospace. And he bears a power called the Righteous Power of Darkness at birth. This legend is taught to everyone with noble blood flowing through them at a young age, regardless of kingdom, so they know what to watch out for. Ringing any bells?" He crossed his arms.

"Righteous Power of Darkness...great evil..." I shook my head—nothing was coming back. "Sorry, no."

"Aw, too bad," a familiar and loathsome voice said.

Prince Johan tensed, glaring suddenly. "Dang it." He turned to the speaker.

About the same time, I also tensed and turned to find Kourimaru leaning on the back wall. Well, this bathroom was getting pretty crowded, especially since it was only meant for one person at a time.

"Ugh, _you_ again!?" I asked. "Get lost already!"

Prince Johan stepped in front of me, glaring. Was he protecting me, or was it just my imagination? I mean, I guess it could have been because he needed me, but I was pretty darned useless right then, and our kingdom's were supposed to hate each other, apparently. So why?

"What do you want, Kourimaru? I thought we settled this last time," he said.

"Things are never settled with these guys, trust me," I told him.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I know."

And, suddenly, I felt like we had a lot in common. After all, I couldn't remember being a prince, but I could remember being attacked by these guys. That gave us some common ground.

Wait, hadn't Elise said that what I told her I do reminded her of their prince? That would be _this_ guy with the green eyes sharing a bathroom with me and Kourimaru, wouldn't it? Ugh, this wasn't the time to be worrying about that!

Either way, Prince Johan was totally ready to move, I could tell.

"Relax, your highnesses," Kourimaru said. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want you to come home with me, that's all. Especially _you_, Judai." He laughed.

"How many times do I have to tell you!? I'm not joining!"

"No, Judai," Prince Johan said. "That's _not_ what they're really after. That is, not from _you_, at least."

"Huh?"

Still grinning like a psychopath, Kourimaru clapped his hands. "Very perceptive, Johan. Yeah, you're right. That's _not_ all we wanted. We're after the power that dwells inside you. See, we're thinking that that power could be of use to us, and we want to harness it for ourselves. And, of course, what easier way than to have you join? _One_ of you should, at least. We're missing three elements from our empire, and you two are perfect candidates for the part."

"How many times have I gotta tell you!?" Johan demanded. "I'm _not_ becoming your Monarch of Light, so quit bugging me already!"

"Pushy salesmen..." I muttered.

"Hey. Suit yourselves," Kourimaru said. "But, remember, Johan, we've still got your father. We'll hold onto him for you until you're ready to cave."

Prince Johan growled, clenching his fists. "Why—why you—"

"And you, Judai. I think I know of a way to persuade you into joining also."

I glared at him, but, suddenly, I was worried. What was he going to do? Or, I guess, the real question was who was he going to kidnap, considering kidnapping and taking hostages was their specialty.

"Well. Guess I'll see you boys later, then," he said. "When you're ready to join, that is."

With a burst of cold wind, the arrogant creep vanished.

"Yeah, sure. I'm _not_ that stupid, ya creep," Prince Johan muttered. Then he turned back to me and said, "So, anyway, Judai. Do you see what I mean now?"

Okay, so he was just using my name. Whatever, then! I didn't need to be so formal if he wasn't going to. Actually, that was a relief—I didn't need to worry about offending him by not addressing him by his title. If he got mad, I could always counter by saying he was doing the same.

"Yeah..." I said. "So those guys took over here, huh?"

Johan nodded. "Yeah. It happened so fast, we didn't have time to react. They just barged in with some odd laser gun and blasted my father with it. Guess they figured the usual method of defeating him in a duel wouldn't work because, the next thing I knew, he was preaching about the Light of 'Truth' and the royal adviser was telling me to run."

"Light of..."

_That_ one rang a bell! My hand flew to my head as a faint image came back to me.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Johan asked.

I remembered a man in a cloak. He was right up in my face and holding out a hand with the palm facing me. I was squirming, trying to get away, but, for some reason, I couldn't. The man was saying something, but I couldn't make it out. As he talked, he brought his hand closer and closer to me. The closer that hand came, the worse my vision was getting—everything was going white. Then, suddenly, everything was gone—had I blacked out?

As the memory faded away again, I started, "I..." _What _was_ that?_ I wondered.

"Hey, are you okay?" Johan asked. "Did you have one of those memory flashes, like they show on TV?"

"Uh...sort of?"

There was a knock on the door, and I half expected an employee to ask whoever was in there to hurry it up. Instead, Asuka called, "Jaden? You okay in there? Who is that guy? Hello?"

"Well, looks like your girlfriend's getting impatient," Johan said, replacing his disguise.

Really? Did _everyone_ think that?

"She's not my girlfriend," I corrected. "She's not even a friend."

"Okay? So why are you with her?" Johan asked, looking confused.

"Jaden!? You're still in there, right? Right!?"

Okay, wow, way to prove me wrong, Asuka. She sounded worried. Maybe. Not that it would be normal for her, but that's what it sounded like.

"I don't know, bro," Johan said, confusing me. Weren't we supposed to _not_ like each other? Meaning he shouldn't have been calling me "bro." Or was he immune to the dislike of our kingdoms? "She sounds pretty worried, if you ask me. You _sure_ she's not a—"

"Yeah, don't worry! I'm fine!" I called to her. Then I turned to Johan and said, "She doesn't even like me. She says I'm gonna lead my kingdom to ruin. She probably only cares for the same reason anyone else does."

With that cleared up, I opened the door and stepped out. Johan followed behind. Asuka was standing there, her arms crossed.

"Sheesh, you two," she said. "What were you _doing_ in there? That better have been nothing but a private meeting. It's against the law for a—"

"Don't _even_ go there!" Johan cut her off. Good thing, too, because I'm pretty sure that I knew what she was going to say, and I already knew it was illegal for a prince to get involved in a same-sex relationship. Not that I was interested in hooking up with a guy who was supposed to be my enemy. "We were just talking. Right, sir?"

"Right," I agreed.

"Well, whatever," she allowed. "The doctor was just out here while you two were busy. He said Sho's fine. Just a broken hand and a little blood loss. He should be out here shortly. Happy now?"

Oh, that was a relief! Sho was okay. He wasn't even going to have to stay at the hospital for very long.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Johan gave me an interesting look, but I couldn't figure out what it meant. The sunglasses hiding his eyes made it all but impossible to figure it out.

"Good," Asuka said. Then she looked at Johan and asked, "So who is this guy, anyway? Clearly he's not one of the bad guys since you're still with him and neither one of us is harmed."

He cleared his throat with a cough, and I realized that he didn't have an alias. A disguise that would drive off everyone around—except for the people he wanted to avoid—but not an alias. Well, lucky for him, one of the names Elise had suggested for me popped into my head.

"This is Jesse," I told her.

He started, and I'm betting that his eyes were wide under those shades.

"Jesse?" Asuka asked.

"Uh-huh," I confirmed.

She looked at Johan. "You sure about that? 'Cause he don't look so sure."

"Oh, look at the time!" Johan said. "I've...gotta go! Nice talking to you, Jaden! Catch you around!" And he ran off.

Asuka just stared after him, speechless. I did, too, wondering how to cover that up, then shrugged.

"He's kinda weird," I told her.

She just stared a bit longer before saying, "So I gathered..." Then she blinked again.

Sho came walking over right then, his hand in a cast. "Hey, guys. What's up...?" he said, and I was pleased to see that he wasn't happy about the results of his dumb move. Hopefully he wouldn't do it again.

"Besides you breaking your hand trying to prove that you're not good at anything?" I asked, annoyed now that there wasn't anything to worry about. "Not much."

He sweat. "Uh, right... My bad?" Then he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand—you know, the one he _didn't_ break doing something stupid.

"Really, Sho, what were you thinking?" Asuka asked. "If you knew this was going to happen, why'd you do it?" She had her hands on her hips and was sounding like a mother again.

"'Cause I, uh..." He trailed off, sweating.

I finished that for him. "Thinking is something he _wasn't_ doing, Asuka. He was too busy panicking."

"That's what I thought."

"So, uh, Aniki, is it true that you're a—"

Well, should have known it would come up again. But, seriously, right there in public? "Sho! Not now!" I cut him off.

"Huh!? But why? If you're a—"

"Sho!"

"What!? What did I say!?"

"Uh, we should take this somewhere a bit more private before Sho blurts it out," Asuka said, heading for the exit.

"Right," I agreed. "Come on, Sho," I said, grabbing him and dragging him toward the door.

"Aniki!" he whined. "I'm not a kid, you know."

I didn't tell him this, but he could have fooled me, given how he acted half the time.


	14. To the Library!

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I was really dreading getting back to Elise's place and having Sho pop the question he'd been trying so hard to ask ever since those two goons had come after me again. The whole way back, I was trying to think of ways to avoid having to answer. Unfortunately, the walk back wasn't nearly long enough for me to think of a way to stop Sho's curiosity, especially considering I spent half the walk shutting him up when he tried to ask again.

Since Asuka had come as well (of course), the three of us got settled in the living room, with Sho taking the armchair and leaving Asuka and me on the couch together.

"Can I ask about it _now_?" Sho asked. "There's no one around to hear us now."

I felt myself preparing for an undesirable result—special treatment, requests for special favors—and crossed my arms defensively. "I don't see why it matters so much, but sure, go ahead," I told him.

"So you're a prince?" he asked at last.

"Yes," I said simply—I couldn't deny it any longer.

"And you abandoned Neospace to come hide out here?" Asuka asked. "No wonder those guys are after you. They're probably—"

"I didn't abandon Neospace!" I snapped, cutting her off. "I...left to take a break. I was gonna head back. Those guys showed up and captured me before I could!"

Sho's eyes widened. "What!?"

"They...work for some other guy...who serves the Light of..." I said this without certainty. It was a blurry memory, and I wasn't totally sure what I was saying.

Asuka's eyes widened, and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, no. Don't tell me..."

"What? Tell you what?" Sho asked.

Asuka relaxed her worried pose and switched to her scolding one as she turned to my short friend. "Sho. How do you expect to get ahead in life if you never pay attention in school? He's referring to the Light of Destruction. The one that threatens our world every few hundred years? Don't tell me you don't remember hearing about it?"

Sho sweat. "I, uh..."

Asuka sighed, giving up on Sho, then turned back to me. "Anyway, Judai. You were saying?"

"The Light of Destruction..." I said as it came back. "That's what's going on..."

She sighed again, then crossed her arms. "Let me guess. You don't know because you can't remember?"

I shook my head, wishing that I _could_ remember. I mean, it was sounding like the fate of the world was resting on my shoulders, and here I was, sitting around in some stranger's living room with amnesia. "Everything I do remember is useless."

"Oh, Aniki," Sho said. "It's okay. I'm sure you'll remember soon enough."

"Yeah," I said. "Sure."

"Here's a hint," Asuka said. "Take a history lesson. Go to the public library and see what you can find about the Light of Destruction. Maybe you'll learn something there."

Wow. For once, Asuka was offering some reasonable advice for one of my problems. That was way better than telling me to go hire a private investigator or something. But there was one problem...

"Yeah, except I'll get attacked and either wind up burning the library, freezing everyone in there, getting someone struck by lightning, or causing a landslide," I said with a wry smile, thinking of all the accidents those four elemental creeps could cause.

"What!?" Sho asked, and it sounded like he hadn't gotten the joke. Was he thinking I was cursed now? Well, maybe that would keep him from giving me special treatment, at least.

"It's a risk you'll have to take, Judai," Asuka said. "Unless, of course, you want Neospace to be enslaved by some evil force, that is."

Damn. Well, I didn't want that. Maybe I wasn't the best prince in the world, but I didn't want my kingdom being taken over by the enemy.

"Yeah, you're right," I admitted.

"Right. Should I take you there tomorrow, then? They close at six, and it's already seven."

"That's no fair!" Sho protested. "I want the honor of escorting a prince to—"

"Sure, Asuka," I cut Sho off. Wishful thinking on the curse—a cursed prince was still a prince, after all. If that was how he was going to be now, I didn't even want Sho going with us, let alone taking me there. It was happening again—a "friend" was treating me different because of the title. Would I _ever_ meet someone who _didn't_ do that?

"Wha!? B-but, Aniki! I thought you—"

"Great, then I'll see you tomorrow," Asuka said, rising from the couch. "Good night, guys. See you later."

"See ya," I answered.

She headed out, and we heard the door shut behind her a few seconds later.

"Aniki!" Sho whined. "What gives? I thought you hated her? Why are you letting—"

"I don't hate her," I cut him off. I mean, sure, she wasn't my best friend or anything, but I didn't _hate_ her! Especially since I was getting to know her a little better and finding out that she wasn't as bad as I thought she was.

"Well, you don't like her, either, so why—"

"Because she's not freaking out over the prince thing."

Sho stopped talking and just stared at me.

"That's one thing I do remember," I went on. "Any time that I meet someone, I always do whatever I can to keep them from finding out who I really am. Because, when they _do_ find out, they change their opinion about me pretty quick."

Sho sat there silently for a moment, then sweat. I looked away, gazing out the window as I thought about that young girl with the long purple hair. I couldn't remember her name, but I could remember playing with her when I was eleven. She had only been a toddler then—too young to care even if she did find out I was a prince. But I was already used to keeping it secret by that point, and I knew she'd care when she was older, so I still didn't tell her. She found out a few years later, and, suddenly, her whole attitude toward me changed.

"If they didn't like me, suddenly they're trying to be my best friend," I added. "If they _were_ my friend, suddenly they want to come over and hang out at the castle. Or want me to buy them something ridiculously expensive. Or both."

I hadn't thought about this at the time, but there was another thing people often wanted when they found out I was a prince: power. There was one kid who got banished, along with his whole family, when he found out he was friends with the prince, told his father, and the man tried to kidnap me the next time I came to play so he could get to my father.

There was silence from the armchair for a bit as I kept staring out the window, thinking of all the times that had happened. I'd befriended just about every kid in the town near the castle—which I couldn't remember the name of—and still I didn't have any friends. Well, besides Sho, a foreign kid who may or may not have been freaking out about the prince thing just like everyone else.

"Sorry..." I heard Sho say all of a sudden.

I looked, and he was slouching down, a look of intense guilt on his face. Seeing that, I couldn't believe that he was like the others—that he only cared about me because of my money or power by that point. Sho was sincere—he liked me before, and he wasn't going to treat me differently now.

I smiled, thinking of that. "It's fine, Sho. I know you didn't mean it," I said, and I actually meant it. This was the first time anyone had apologized for giving me special treatment after my secret was out. Most just asked me why it mattered if they were treating me different.

"Yeah, okay..." he said, still looking guilty. He got to his feet and headed for the door, adding, "Well, good night, Aniki. See you tomorrow."

"See you, Sho," I said. Then, to get his mind off the guilt, I teased, "Don't break anymore bones!"

He stopped in the doorway, looking annoyed. Then he stormed to the entrance hall, and I heard the front door open as he said, "Yeah, yeah! I know—" The door slammed, cutting off what he was saying.

I laughed a bit. It worked. His mind was off that and on the insult instead. Then, knowing Elise would have a fit if she came home and found the mess, I went to try and clean up the blood left by Sho's stupidity.

* * *

That night, when Elise got home, I thought I was in the clear. There were some stains in the entrance hall on the welcome mat, but I did what I could to get them out, and she didn't say anything about it when she came in.

Then she went into the living room, and I heard her call, "Oh, Judai. Come here a minute." And it sounded like I was in trouble.

I walked in from the kitchen, where I'd been getting myself something to eat. "Yeah?"

Sure enough, Elise wasn't happy. She had her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot, looking at me. "Remember this morning when I asked you to run the vacuum so this place stayed clean?" she asked.

Oh, for crying out loud! Was this seriously about the stupid vacuum? Was that more important and noticeable than the blood stains at her front door?

"Yes," I answered.

"Well, you missed a spot," she said, pointing at the corner.

At first, I didn't know what she was talking about, but then I saw it. A tiny little speck of dust that only the most obsessively clean person in the world would care about. Like, you ever read that really, really old book, _Horton Hears a Who_? Yeah, this thing was almost Who-sized. You could barely even see it.

I stared at the corner for a second, unable to believe that she was so...obsessed. Finally, I looked back at her and asked, "Seriously?"

"Yes. Seriously." She turned to me and asked, "What's wrong, Judai? You're usually so much more thorough. Having a long day?"

Well, I know it sounds really bad, but I was suddenly grateful that Sho had been by and done something stupid that day. Now I had an excuse for not vacuuming—which, really, didn't need done right then.

"Sho did something stupid, and I had to take him to the hospital," I said, latching onto that excuse—I didn't want to get in trouble. When I saw her looking so stern and disapproving, I had a sudden vision of a similar pose from a man with long blond hair—Why did I feel like I'd seen that guy recently? Anyway, I added, "He's okay, but it kinda distracted me."

Elise stood there, stunned. Great! My escape plan had worked, and I wasn't in trouble!

"Well," she said after a moment. "_That_ explains the stains at the front door... What in heaven's name did he do?"

I looked at her lamely and answered, "He was trying to prove that he'd break his hand doing karate, so he broke his hand doing karate."

"Oh, my." She put a hand to her cheek. "Why would he want to do a thing like that?"

"Because Asuka and I were saying that his problem is he has no confidence and that he'd be okay if he just believed in himself a little more."

She moved her hand to her chin, looking thoughtful. "Hmm. Well, from the sound of things, his problem there may be a little more than just a confidence issue. Has he tried talking to anyone about it?"

"I don't think so. But I kinda figured he's got more problems than that when I watched him break his hand..."

We just stood there in awkward silence for a bit, letting the reality of all of Sho's issues sink in. Finally, Elise said, "Well, regardless. This mess isn't going to clean up itself! Get that dust under control while I see about removing those blood stains."

I wasn't sure if she was trying to be stern or joking around. The way she was talking sounded like a combination of the two.

As she headed out to deal with the bloodstained floor, she wondered, "Now what was that old trick Dr. Louis used for cleaning blood stains off the rugs at work?"

When she was out of earshot, I muttered, "You're a bit of a neat freak. It's just a speck of dust." But, regardless, I headed off to get that evil suction device known as the vacuum.

* * *

The next day, I did the stupid vacuuming just so she wouldn't come home and find Horton's friends the Whos and bust my chops about it. But I still _hate_ that stupid thing!

Around 3, Sho and Asuka came knocking, and the three of us headed to the public library. It was about a twenty minute walk away from Elise's place. The library was a big brick building with a revolving door. When we walked in, there was a desk off to our right, and the librarian sitting there—a severe-looking woman with glasses and her hair in a tight bun—looked up at Sho, got out of her chair, walked over, got up in Sho's face, and shushed him for walking through the door.

"B-but I—" he stammered, but the strange librarian cut him off.

"Shh. This is a library. Be quiet or get out," she said, glaring at him.

Sho didn't respond at all, which was probably for the best.

"Huh?" I asked, keeping my voice down. "Do I even want to know?"

In answer, Sho shook his head and tiptoed to a nearby table, where he sat down. The librarian watched him like a hawk, her hands on her hips.

"Trust me, Judai," Asuka said quietly as I kept staring. "You're better of not knowing."

"Okay."

We walked around the library for a bit, finding the nonfiction section, then Asuka found a book about the Light of Destruction and handed it to me. Meanwhile, the librarian headed back to her desk and sat there, watching Sho out of the corner of her eye.

I took the book Asuka found to a table and sat down. She followed, sitting beside me as I opened the book and skimmed through until Asuka told me to stop. Then I read the part she pointed at.

It was talking about an old legend about a hero chosen by the Darkness of Creation to defeat the Light of Destruction whenever it showed up. That hero, the very first time the Light emerged, was an early king of Neospace—one of the people who had gotten the world together after the war that had nearly wiped out the entire human race (long story involving a bunch of nations and a short supply of natural resources, I think). This king was granted the power of the Darkness itself—the Righteous Power of Darkness, meant to purify those who were corrupted by the Light. There were some special heroes who fought with this king, too, and, together, the king and his allies were able to defeat the Light and put it to rest. Literally, as, after that battle, the king was seen as such a hero that he was deemed the protector of the Earth against the Light of Destruction, which would return.

Because the Light would come back again and again, the king's soul would be reincarnated over and over to fight against it. Each time the Light was about to reemerge, this king's soul would be reborn in a new body, and the king would fight the Light again, however many times it returned.

As I read this, it tugged at my memories. "This...sounds familiar..." I said to myself.

"It should," Asuka said, startling me a bit—I'd forgotten she was there. "It's the history of Neospace—and the world. A large part of it, anyway. Everyone on Earth has heard it at one point or another. But what no one knows is who the chosen prince is. Or how to find the Neo-Spacians, should the Light reappear. That's a secret only told to the royals of this world. Like you, for example."

"Neo-Spacians...?" I tested the word. Like the story, it sounded familiar. It brought that crest to mind again—the one with the wildcat.

"That's right. They're the well-kept secret of Neospace kingdom. Only the royal family knows for sure where they're kept."

I put my head and elbows on the table and my hands on my head, frustrated. "Well, this member of the royal family doesn't have a clue where they are."

"It's because of your amnesia, isn't it?"

I was about to tell her that yes, it was, no duh! I know it would have been rude, but I was seriously getting sick of being so useless when it was starting to sound like the fate of the world—which had already been nearly destroyed once—was resting on my shoulders! Sho and the librarian saved me from sounding like a real creep, though, when she shushed him for playing statue but daring to breathe.

"But I didn't—" he started.

"SHH!" she hissed loudly. "How many times do I have to say it? You're in a library! Be quiet!"

Sho sighed.

"I said be quiet!" the librarian shrieked, slamming a ruler on her desk.

Sheesh. Talk about breaking your own rules. Sho's eyes widened, and he nodded. I got the feeling he wasn't even bothering to breathe now.

"Uh, lady?" I called, somewhat nervous, keeping my voice down even though I was calling across the library. "He didn't say anything..."

She loudly shushed me for that.

"Just ignore her, Judai," Asuka whispered to me. "Those two have a history. Let's focus on you for now, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Muttering, I added, "Not that it'll help."

Focusing on me wasn't going to do any good. I still couldn't remember anything of any use. I was completely worthless!

"Okay," Asuka said. "So do you think you were taught anything about this that could help us? How to be sure you're it? Where the Neos deck is hidden? Anything?"

Neos? What the heck was that? I didn't know _that_, even! Still, I closed my eyes and kneaded my forehead, trying to think of a way to maybe figure out if I was really who Johan thought I was—the guy who could stop the Light. It didn't help much. All I could remember was white wings with some round, brown blur attached, with small hands—a child—reaching up for it and laughing.

"No, no, no," I groaned. "I can't remember!"

"Try harder! There must be something!"

A kid with a duel disk—I couldn't make out much about him—was surrounded by people—a party, maybe?—using a card to turn that winged thing into an armored beast, with huge wings and a dragon head. Cheers echoed from the crowd, for some reason.

Okay. That made no sense. At all.

"...Brown puffball turning into armored...dragon...?" I ventured, wondering if it would make any more sense to Asuka than it did to me.

She just stared at me, so I guess it was just as useless as everything else I remembered. And random, on top of that. I shook my head, trying again to think of something we could actually use.

"Psst!" I heard off to the side. "Hey! Over here!"

Asuka and I looked, and the librarian's shush told me that Sho had, too. I recognized the figure standing in the shadows, even with the trench coat—Prince Johan. He was waving a finger at me, calling me over. Without hesitation, I did.

"Judai, wait," Asuka said—she didn't sound like she trusted my trench coat-wearing ally.

"It's fine," I assured her. "Trust me."

I caught the concern on her face, but she didn't stop me as I walked over to Johan.

Before I even got to the guy, he started walking toward the back of the library, saying, "This way."

I followed him to the back wall, where there was a painting of some guy named Calvin, who had founded the library.

"Okay, what do you want?" I asked. Why had he led me there? What was he after?

"Shh!" was his only answer, and I was tempted to ask him if he was trying to replace the librarian. "Don't look, okay?"

As if that made any sense at all. "...Okay..."

I turned away, though I know some people would have been suspicious. After all, he was sneaking around, apparently following me, and had called me back to the back of the library, out of sight of my chaperones, where there was absolutely nobody else, then told me to not look. On top of that, our kingdom's were enemies. Still, for some reason, I couldn't help but trust Johan.

I heard a weird grinding sound, like something was sliding, then Johan said, "Okay. You can look now."

As I turned, I saw him slipping something back into his pocket. But that was pushed from my mind immediately when I saw what had happened.

Where the portrait had been was now a gaping hole—a doorway. Obviously, I gaped. I mean, come on! I turn my back for ten seconds, and he opens up a wall!? How!?

"H-how...?" I stammered.

Johan grabbed my arm and dragged me through the doorway. "Come on!"

We walked into the room, and the door slid down behind us. I found myself standing in a well-lit room filled with shelves and shelves of books—a secret part of the library.

"Whoa..."

"Yup. This here's the Royal Library, where all of our top secret books are stored."

The Royal Library? Hidden away in a public library? That didn't seem very convenient to me, but I couldn't even remember where my _own_ family's library was, so I really didn't have any right to talk right then. For all I knew, it was hidden under a barn on the edge of the kingdom.

"I think you'll find this one most helpful to you," Johan added, taking a book off the shelf and handing it to me.

It was another book on the Light of Destruction, different from the one Asuka had found for me. I opened it up and started reading, and I immediately wished I hadn't.

The Light was trying to destroy the gentle Darkness and essentially freeze time, keeping everything the same and preventing growth and change. Its victims could be granted immortality, and it could make them think as one, as if they all had one mind. It had the ability to predict the future, often possessing psychics as its first victims during an attack so that it could use that power to the fullest. It took advantage of its victim's powers, too, and only the chosen hero could defeat it.

_Only._

"...Okay, if I don't remember something useful soon, we're all doomed," I said.

"There's more. Turn to chapter 12."

I flipped through the book until I found the chapter he was talking about. And, right there, I found the answers to Asuka's questions.

The first paragraph read, "The chosen prince, born originally as King Fumiko of Neospace Kingdom, is the only one who can defeat this great evil. By combining his powers with that of the Neospacians, he gains a power so incredible, it turns the Light into dark and puts evil to slumber. Those touched by evil are purified and gain the ability to influence others with the power with which they were filled after purification. To find him or to know if the Light has surfaced, watch for either the White Knight monsters to reawaken or for the White Winged Ka (Winged Kuriboh, in modern terms) to appear and attach itself to the prince. Only the Light of Destruction uses White Knight monsters, and only the chosen prince uses Winged Kuriboh."

"Winged Kuriboh..." I said, staring at the book. Could that be the thing I kept hearing?

"Do you know that monster, Judai?" Johan asked. "'Cause, if you do, then—"

"I..."

Did I know that monster? I wasn't sure. I knew something that kept kuriing at me, but was that Winged Kuriboh? I'd never seen it, so I couldn't say. And the winged thing I remembered...the wings were white, like the book said—White Winged Ka.

While I was thinking, I heard that voice again: _"Kuri kuri..."_

Johan looked awed, suddenly staring at something to my left. I looked, but saw nothing.

"Huh? What are you looking at?" I asked.

He was too busy staring to answer me. "Whoa. So it _is_ true," he said at last. Then, "Hey, little guy. How are ya doing?"

"What?" I asked startled. "You see...whatever it is?"

The idea that anybody saw the thing that kept talking to me was weird—nobody had said a thing about it before now! I was starting to wonder if I wasn't just insane—though that didn't explain the weird stuff that happened, like the keys moving closer or the writing on the window. Still, Johan seemed to actually _see_ something, not just hear it.

"Uh-huh. What? Don't you?" he asked, turning back to me.

"No," I answered, still getting over the fact that _he_ did. "I keep hearing this voice, but I never see anything. And I can barely make out anything of what it's saying."

"Really?" He looked back at the spirit, although I didn't hear anything. "Huh," he said after a bit. "He says he's your partner, and you used to be able to see and hear him."

Okay, so, apparently, I didn't even hear it all of the time.

"My partner?"

"Yeah. And, just so you know, this is Winged Kuriboh," he said, hitching a thumb at the air by his head and grinning.

_"__Kuri. Kuri..."_

"Huh," I said, crossing my arms. "Guess I should have guessed, considering it keeps kuriing in my ear..."

"So what happened that cut you two off from each other?"

"I hope you're talking to him because I'm getting tired of saying that I don't remember," I answered while Winged Kuriboh kuried again.

"Well, _you_ guys are real helpful, then." He pointed at me as he said, "_You_ don't remember, and _he_," he pointed back at the spirit I couldn't see, "doesn't want to think about it. How can I help you if you can't help yourselves?"

"It's not my fault!" I yelled, frustrated. Seriously, I _knew_ he couldn't help me if I didn't know anything. But I really _couldn't _remember, no matter how hard I tried! It was frustrating enough without people pointing out that they couldn't help if I couldn't answer any of their questions! "I _try_ to remember things, but only useless, blurry images ever come back!"

Johan lifted his hands in a gesture that was meant to calm me. "Okay, okay! Just calm down! I'm sure it'll come to you! But, in the meantime, mind if I borrow your Winged Kuriboh? With any luck, I can get the answers out of him."

"I don't think I've got that card. It's not in my deck."

"Well, what cards _do_ you have? Can I see them?"

So I pulled my deck out and handed it to Johan. I didn't know what he was thinking that would accomplish, but I also didn't see any harm in it.

Johan looked through, then started talking to nothing—guess there were spirits in my other cards, too. "So, guys? Any idea where he put it?" He was quiet a moment, then asked, "At home? Seriously? Why would he do that?" Another moment of silence, then, "Can't see it? What do you mean he can't see it?"

As weird as it was to hear him talking and not be able to see or hear what it was he was talking to, I said, "Yeah, for some reason, I was carrying a blank card around."

That first night, after I had been attacked, I looked through my deck and tried to remember what I had in it. I'd found all kinds of Hero cards, along with a plain, white piece of paper the size and texture of a card. Since I didn't know what it was for, I'd taken it out. I had thought about throwing it away, but that kuriing sound had stopped me.

Johan gasped. Then, slowly, he turned to me, looking stunned and...horrified? What was that about?

"Judai?" he asked. "What is it that you remember about being kidnapped?"

"Huh? Uh, I was ambushed, and those four guys grabbed me."

Why was he asking? What was so shocking and horrifying about me having a blank card? Was that against the law here or something?

"And?"

He didn't look any less horrified than before. I wanted to be able to answer, to maybe calm him down, but there wasn't anything else I could remember about the kidnapping.

"And? Uh..." I thought about it for a minute. There really wasn't anything else. Well, unless... "Well...I don't know if it's connected, but...I remember...some guy in a cloak... He...he was saying something, but...I don't know what. I tried to get away, but I couldn't. He brought his hand closer...then everything went white."

Johan was quiet for a minute before asking, "Was it something along the lines of, 'Soon your destiny shall belong to me! Just as soon as you see the light, your powers, and all of Neospace shall be mine to command! Then all of Neospace shall bow before me!'"

As he said those words, I got a massive headache. Then, when he stopped, a voice in my head added, "Hail to the Light! The glorious Light of Truth!"

My eyes widened, and I backed away. Did he seriously know exactly what that guy had said to me, even though I couldn't even remember it? And here I'd trusted him! Was he actually working for the thugs who were trying to capture me?

"H-how'd you know that!?" I demanded, hoping I hadn't put my trust in the wrong person.

"Calm down, Judai! It's okay. I was just repeating what your friends were saying happened to you, that's all!" he assured me. "I'm on your side in this, okay?"

My friends? What friends? Nobody had said anything! Then again, he _was_ talking to nothing...and he got the part about me having a blank card right, so I guessed there had to be _someone_ there.

"If you say so," I said after a minute.

_"__Bii bii..." _a faint voice echoed.

"Huh?" I looked around. "What was that?"

Johan sweat, then looked at his shoulder. No, not _at_ his shoulder—_over_ his shoulder, as though there were something perched on it. "I...don't think he can hear you very well right now, pal. Better stay quiet so's not to scare him."

_"__Bii bii,"_ the voice said.

"What are you talking to?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," he said.

Uh-huh. Sure. And I was the king of Kalmar.

Before I could argue, he added, "So, anyway, according to your friends, you couldn't get away because you were chained up. Apparently, your attackers took you to their base in Neospace and tried to brainwash you using the powers of the Light. But it didn't work, and all that happened was you passed out, lost your memory, and stopped talking to them."

I stopped talking to them? Who? Who were these friends Johan was talking about. Did...did he mean these "spirits" I couldn't see?

"...Really?"

"That's what your Heroes said, at least."

My Heroes. He was talking to my Duel Monsters cards. Those things I had thought were just pieces of paper that took on solid forms if summoned. They were my friends? Was I really _that_ lonely that I'd made friends with a bunch of cards, just pieces of paper?

_"__Kuri kuri..."_ the familiar voice of Winged Kuriboh chimed in, upset.

Okay, so maybe they weren't _just_ cards. After all, Winged Kuriboh kept talking to me, and Johan could hear it, too, so maybe I wasn't crazy. But here I had been thinking I'd lost my memory in the crash. Now Johan was saying that, even if that crash hadn't happened, I still wouldn't remember anything. Which means...

What would have happened if those guys hadn't lost me and had found out about my amnesia? Would they have used it to their advantage, tried to convince me that I was on their side and they were the good guys? That wouldn't have been good for anyone, from the sound of things. It was starting to sound like I was lucky I'd been involved in a deadly car accident.

That was a strange thought.

"...Okay..." I said, though whether it was in response to Johan's words or my own thoughts, even I wasn't sure.

"So, anyway, _now_ what do we do?" Johan asked. "Your mind's a total mess, I'm on the run 'cause my castle's been taken over, the Light's on the move, and we don't know where the Neo-Spacians are. Any ideas about our next move?"

Any ideas? Did he mean besides telling Elise to call off her meeting with the king? I shook my head because I honestly couldn't think of anything that would help.

"Great. Okay, let's see..." He put a hand on his chin, looking serious, and thought about it for a bit.

I gave thinking a shot, too, but my brain kept turning back to everything I'd just learned, so I never really got very far.

After awhile, Johan said, "Okay. Then, I guess, what we need to do's get you back to Neospace Kingdom somehow. Surely your dad knows the answers, right?"

"He should, I guess," I answered. After all, he was the king of Neospace, and the royal family was supposed to know where the Neo-Spacians were. Besides that, maybe he could help me with my issue. At the very least, he could help me remember my own life.

"Great! How do we get ya there? Those guys are still after us, so it's not gonna be easy."

"Yeah, no joke," I said, then I tried to think of how to get back to Neospace without getting grabbed by those goons.

After a moment, Johan smiled and snapped his fingers. "Got it."

"Really?"

"Yup. But I'm gonna need some time to prepare. So why don't you go home and rest, and meet me down at the train station tomorrow afternoon?"

The train station, huh? Time to ask my tour guide where that was. "Uh, okay."

"Great! See ya, then! Stay safe, okay? We've only got one shot at this, and we don't wanna blow it." As he spoke, he entered a code into a panel on the wall beside the secret door.

"Right. I'll do my best not to get kidnapped in my sleep or something."

The door slid upward, opening up. "Good luck with that," he said. "That's a favorite of theirs."

He walked out of the secret door, and I followed suit. The wall slid back into place, and, as we were making our way back to where my guide was, she found us.

"Jaden, where were you? I've been worried sick! Who _is_ this guy, anyway?" Asuka asked, pointing an accusing finger at Johan.

"I'll explain later," I said. After all, this wasn't the place to talk about the on-the-run prince of Kalmar.

"Gotta run! See you tomorrow!" he said, and ran off as fast as he could. So, did that make him literally "on the run?"

"Tomorrow? What's he mean he'll see you tomorrow? What's going on?" Asuka asked me.

"Let's get back to Elise's place, then I'll explain."

"But—"

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times!" the librarian shrieked. "This is a _library_! Shut up!"

Asuka sweat. "Right. We better get out of here before Sho gets himself in trouble again." She started walking off, calling to Sho, "Okay, Sho! It's time to go!"

I followed, thinking that the crazy librarian was really dang good at breaking her own rules. Sho had been totally silent when she hollered at him, as usual. Whatever had happened with those two, I _really_ didn't want to know.


	15. Rich Guys in White

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

When we got back to Elise's place, I noticed a...slight problem. Maybe. Or maybe it was a serious problem. There were two guys—familiar dark-haired guys—standing on the porch with duel disks, dressed in white.

Yeah, that's right. I said _white_. Pure, snow white, like all those people in that hideout.

Asuka gasped. No surprise, considering she obviously knew the two of them. "Misawa!? Manjoume! So is _that_ why you two haven't been in school the past few days?"

"Forgive us, Asuka," Misawa said. "But we're a bit too busy for school work right now."

Yeah. Busy being drones.

Manjoume humphed and said, "Yeah. We're telling everyone about the greatness of the Light of Truth!" He threw his hands up in a grandiose gesture, smiling. "It's the most beautiful thing in the _universe_! You guys should really consider joining." He brought one of his arms down and pointed at me, adding, "Especially you, my prince! Why, with _you_ on our team, we could—"

Ugh, this again? They really _were_ pushy salesmen!

"I'm not joining," I cut him off. "Get lost."

"Ooh, that's too bad. 'Cause we weren't asking your opinion! Misawa?"

Manjoume activated his duel disk as he finished that up, and Misawa nodded, activating his as well.

"Right!"

Okay. So, apparently, they wanted to duel me. At the same time. Well, there wasn't really any way out of it, was there?

I sighed and activated my own duel disk. "Two against one, huh? You guys fight dirty."

I mean, as if trying to grab me in my sleep wasn't bad enough! Could I _ever_ relax with these guys on the loose? Even if I ever managed to get home? I was seriously starting to doubt it, especially given Johan's story about his castle being taken over. For all I knew, my home was one of the conquered territories praising the so-called "Light of Truth."

"Well, we did the proper calculations beforehand, and—"

"Look, point is, you're a lot more vulnerable this way! So? Ready to lose!?"

Calculations? More vulnerable? Oh, yeah, these guys fought dirty, alright! And, given what they had just said—and the fact that they'd both seen my deck and dueling style earlier—I figured they'd probably added some cards to counter my moves.

Man, was I in trouble.

"Tch... Who said I was gonna lose?" I said, never one to admit defeat.

After all, the duel hadn't even started yet! Maybe they'd have hand trouble! I mean, you never know.

"Hold up!" Asuka said, startling me slightly. "And who said he was dueling alone?" She activated her duel disk as well.

Wow. She was volunteering to help me, even though she might end up as a Light Drone if it didn't go well. That was...interesting.

"Huh!?" Sho asked.

"Tenjoin-kun!"

"H-hey! You can't do that!" Misawa protested. "This isn't your fight! Stay out of it!"

Asuka turned to me and asked, "You mind?"

Did I mind? Did I mind having help against a couple of brainwashed guys who worked for an organization that had a habit of using underhanded tactics to win its battles? Well, did a bear mind if a camper just left their food lying around?

I smiled. "Not at all."

"B-but that's—"

"Whoa," Sho said, awed, staring at Asuka and me. "The world must be ending. _You_ two are actually working together..."

Asuka glared over her shoulder at him. I just laughed slightly. At the same time, though, I had a nagging feeling that comment would be more true if Asuka were that purple-haired girl I vaguely remembered. Especially since I was actually starting to like Asuka...as a friend, of course.

"Well, whatever!" Manjoume said. "I _love_ a two-for-one sale! And, Tenjoin-kun? Once I win, you have to go on a date with me, okay?"

Ugh, was he seriously flirting with her!? That was just... I mean, those two... Not in a million years would _that_ work out!

Asuka closed her eyes, looking disgusted. "Ugh. Gag me. I'd rather jump in an active volcano, Manjoume."

Oh, that was a good one! He'd need some ice for that burn! I grinned, really liking that response of hers.

"Okay, okay," Misawa said, getting things back on track. "Are we ready now? We've got a lot of other things to do today, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. We're ready," Manjoume said, annoyed. "Sheesh. So? You ready?"

"Yeah!" I answered. Not much else I could say, after all. "We're ready!"

"Let's do this!" Asuka agreed.

"Duel!"

Misawa and Manjoume: 4000  
Judai and Asuka: 4000

"The first move's mine!" Misawa said. "I draw! I play a monster in defense mode and two cards face down. Turn end."

Three cards appeared in front of him, one turned sideways and in a different row.

"Then it's my turn. Draw!" I pulled a card from my deck, then said, "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode and play one card face down. Turn end."

Sparkman: 1600 Atk

My yellow and blue hero appeared, electricity flying off him as he took his place.

"Heh. Amateurs," Manjoume said, ever the smug one. "Draw!" He looked at his card, then slapped it down on his duel disk, saying, "I summon White Knight Lancer!" (Atk 1500)

A man in white armor and a white cape showed up on the field, bearing a double lance.

"Next I play two face-downs also!" The cards appeared on his field. "That ends my turn."

White Knight... That one book had mentioned White Knight cards being used by the Light of Destruction. Well, if _that_ didn't just give it away, I didn't know what did.

"W-White Knight? What kind of a card's that!?" I asked. He hadn't had those last time we dueled, and, yeah, I guess I was unnerved about seeing one of those things after what I just read.

"What's wrong, Judai?" Asuka asked, looking at me in concern.

Whoa. Concern. Asuka was concerned about me.

"N-no. It's nothing," I said. _I mean, it's kinda obvious these guys are Light Drones... Where did _that_ phrase come from?_

She stared at me for a second, then said, "Okay. Guess it's my turn, then! I draw!" She looked at her card and added, "I summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode!" (1200)

A green and red woman appeared, red hair flowing down her back. She had sort of a half tutu skirt and ribbons around her arms.

"I play one card face down," Asuka added, sliding a card into her duel disk.

"Hold it right there, Tenjoin-kun!" Manjoume said, holding a hand up to stop her.

"What!?"

Yeah, I was thinking that was a good question.

"I activate my trap! Dusk Tornado! I'll use it to sweep your trap away!"

Dang it. Oh, well. At least he hadn't destroyed both of our cards somehow. Still, Asuka's card got blown off the field by a powerful gust of wind.

She growled. "Turn end."

"Very good," Misawa said, then he drew his next card. "Now, for my turn, I'll summon my Batteryman C in attack mode." (0)

A battery-shaped...thing...with blue arms, legs, and head poking out of the battery body showed up on the field.

"Hold up!" Asuka protested. "That thing has 0 attack points!"

Well, she beat me to the punch. I was about to say that!

"True. Or so it seems. When Batteryman C is in attack mode, all machine-type monsters get 500 attack points. And it's not alone, either, so, without further ado, I'll add two more Batteryman C's to the field with Machine Duplication!"

Of course.

"What!?"

"This lets me choose one machine-type monster on the field with 500 attack or less and special summon two more of it from my deck! Which means I now have 3 Batteryman Cs out on the field! Raising all their points!"

Two more of those weird little battery guys joined the first one on the field, and all of their attack points rose to 1500.

"Three monsters all in one turn?" Asuka asked. She looked at me, looking a bit concerned.

"Still, they're a little short," I said.

"Maybe for your side of the field," Misawa agreed. "But you chose to have a partner in this battle, so..." He closed his eyes and grinned, and suddenly I knew what he was planning.

"Tch!"

"We're free to attack her also! Now, Batteryman C-1! Attack her monster!"

One of the batteries moved to attack Etoile Cyber, which really ticked me off. I mean, come on! He was going after _Asuka_!?

"I activate my trap!" I said, using his own logic about this being a tag duel against him—if he could attack my partner instead of me, I could use my cards to defend my partner instead of myself. "Negate Attack! This negates your attack and ends the battle phase."

Asuka glanced at me, and I saw a slight bit of surprise on her face. What? Did she think she was the only one who was helpful in this pair? Or did she just think I hated her enough to let that get in the way of this duel?

"Hmm... Very clever, Prince," Misawa said before I could analyze that look any further. "I certainly hope you're able to keep it up, though. This duel will be a snooze otherwise. I play one card face down and end my turn."

"Draw!" I said, pulling the next card from my deck. I had everything I needed to call out a more powerful monster. I pulled a card from my hand, saying, "I activate Polymerization! To fuse—"

Misawa cut me off with, "I don't think so! This is a fusion-_free_ duel!"

To my horror, he flipped a trap card: Non-Fusion Area.

"What!?" I cried.

"Non-Fusion Area! With this, no one can fusion summon! In other words, my prince, your secret weapons are barred off! You don't stand a chance!"

He was blocking my fusion!? The thing that, from what I could tell by looking at it, my deck relied on!? As in I couldn't fuse anything anymore!? For the whole duel!?

Uh, okay, something in the back of my mind was telling me not to panic. Something about the duel not being over until the last card is played, but...I couldn't _consciously_ remember what else was in my deck. As far as I could remember, the duel _was _over—for me, at least. Hopefully Asuka had more than I did.

Manjoume smirked and looked at his partner, his arms crossed. "Heh. Good work, Misawa! _Now_ he's ours!"

Misawa closed his eyes with a grin on his face and his arms crossed.

"Tch..."

I felt cornered. No fusion. That pretty much canceled any moves I had for that turn.

"What now, 'Princey?'" Manjoume taunted. "Care to throw in the towel?"

"Not on your life!" I said, thinking my mouth was writing checks I couldn't cash. "My monster's _still_ stronger than anything you guys have out, regardless!"

Okay. That was true. I could handle that. But I'd have to get my mouth under control before it got me in trouble. Unless, of course, it knew something that I didn't.

"So, Sparkman, attack Misawa's Batteryman C!"

"Not quite, my prince! You've activated my _other_ downed card now!"

Great. Another face-down. I was 0 for 2 this turn.

"Ugh..."

"Wall of Light! Now, by paying 2000 of our life points, _you_ can't attack!"

As the card activated and their life points dropped, I felt torn. After all, I only would have been able to destroy one monster and deal a small amount of damage. He'd just cut his team's life points in half in one move, but their monsters were all still there. I was annoyed that I couldn't attack, but they'd taken a lot more damage this way. So...was this a good tradeoff? It depended on what came next, I figured.

Misawa and Manjoume: 2000  
Judai and Asuka: 4000

"Heh," Manjoume laughed. "Well, not unless you can summon a monster _with_ 2000 attack points or more. Not that we're letting _that_ happen, though." Smirking, he laughed again.

Well, Bladedge came to mind. He was in my hand, after all. But I needed two sacrifices to summon him, and I doubted that Sparkman would last that long. The other monster I had in hand would be lucky if he did.

"Tch... I play a monster in defense mode. Turn end."

Asuka looked at me. "...Judai," she said, concern leaking into her voice this time.

Well, if all else failed, at least Asuka and I were bonding. That was something. Then, maybe, we could be friends when we joined the Society of Light!

"My turn! I draw!" Manjoume said. Then he laughed shortly and looked at Misawa. "Thanks, Misawa. Everything's going according to plan."

Oh, so this _was_ the dirty strategy they had come up with to ambush and beat me! Well, _that_ made me feel _so_ much better! Not.

Misawa echoed Manjoume's laugh, then said, "Naturally. We studied his deck extremely well before coming here, after all. Though, granted, the girl wasn't expected to interfere..."

Was that a bit of worry in his tone? I hoped so because I wanted to believe that one of us thought Asuka and I stood a chance in this duel. And, somehow, the nagging in the back of my mind saying we weren't out of this yet wasn't really convincing me all that well.

Another laugh from Manjoume. "Not to worry. _I_ know _her_ deck, and she can't stop us, either! Not after I play _this_!"

As his monster disappeared and he slammed down another card, I thought about how disappointing it was that he was thinking he still had this in the bag. What, were he and Asuka friends? Is _that_ why he was so sure he could win?

While I was thinking about that, a red and black dragon appeared, covered in spikes. Armed Dragon LV5, with 2400 attack points.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, but there wasn't anything I could do about that dumb dragon. Though, now, I knew there was absolutely no chance of either of my monsters surviving until my next turn.

"Armed Dragon's effect! I send my White Knight Swordsman to the graveyard to wipe out your Etoile Cyber, Tenjoin-kun!"

Asuka's eyes widened. "What!?"

As spinning blades flew off the dragon's chest and sliced her dancer to ribbons, I'm not too proud to say that I was just thinking that he hadn't had a strong enough monster to destroy Sparkman. Really, how selfish and stupid was _that_?

"Attack!" Manjoume ordered. "Take out his Sparkman!"

Oh, so _my_ monster was the one he was going to deal damage by destroying! Yeah, clearly, he hadn't had anything stronger. Otherwise he'd have reversed those and done more damage, I'm sure.

Misawa and Manjoume: 2000  
Judai and Asuka: 3200

"Ha! How's_ that _feel!?" Manjoume demanded. "Bet you're wishing you'd accepted our offer to join _now_, huh!? 'Cause, now that he's destroyed your monster, he evolves!" He smirked, pausing for effect before adding, "When I end my turn."

"Ugh... One of _those_, huh?"

He laughed at me again, then asked, "Remember our last duel?"

Okay, that explained why that monster seemed familiar. Here I'd been thinking it was something I'd seen before getting amnesia. Great, now I was forgetting what happened the last few days! Or I was just slow. One or the other.

"I end my turn! And _you_ now face a monster you'll _never_ destroy! Armed Dragon LV7!" (Atk 2800)

His red and black dragon disappeared in a flash of light, growing bigger and more dangerous.

"Tch..." I said. _This just keeps getting worse..._

And it did. First, they barred off most of my best monsters. Then they kept us from attacking with monsters with less than 2000 attack points. Now Manjoume had a monster out that could beat almost everything in my deck, including the only powerful monster I had that wasn't a fusion! Oh, I hoped Asuka had more up her sleeve than I did. Because I was at a total loss.

"Surrender, Judai! You don't have a prayer!" Manjoume said, an arrogant smirk on his face and a fist clenched in front of him.

"Not happening, Manjoume!" I answered.

"Yeah, you nerd," Asuka said, annoyed. "Did you forget about me?"

Manjoume held his arms out as if to hug her—ugh, seriously? Again with the flirting? "Of course not, my precious. But let's face facts. We've got Non-Fusion Area out and Wall of Light. Not to mention my strongest monster is on the field also. What hope do you have of winning if your best isn't—"

She cut him off with a smirk. "Manjoume, you ain't _seen_ my best. Not _yet_, at least."

"What!?"

Asuka didn't seem worried. Maybe that was a good thing.

I looked at her, thinking that she was about the only hope we had of winning this, and asked, "You've got a plan?"

"Just kick back and watch!" she answered. "_I'll_ show you what I mean! I draw!" She pulled a card and looked at it, then slipped one into her duel disk, saying, "I play Snatch Steal!"

Alright! That would break their wall _and_ deal with Manjoume's Armed Dragon!

Manjoume stepped back, his eyes wide. "What!? Hey, Tenjoin-kun! You can't—"

"You bet she can't!" Misawa said, sealing his fate as the Most Annoying Counterer of All Moves. Ever. Like, seriously, _all_ moves. "Reveal trap! Magic Jammer! Now, by discarding a card from my hand, your spell's negated!"

Asuka smirked again, even though her card had just been canceled. "That's exactly what I wanted you to do," she said.

Wait, so she'd just lured _Misawa_ into a trap?

"What!?" the two cried.

"Just what are you after!?" Misawa asked.

Instead of answering, she said, "Now I play the spell card Pot of Greed! And draw two cards!"

I almost fell flat on my face, thinking that she had just used Snatch Steal as a decoy to prevent the negation of Pot of Greed. I mean, seriously! Which one of those was really more helpful? But, when she drew her cards, she grinned and laughed shortly.

"I activate the spell card Cyber Angel Ritual!"

Ritual! That was it! She had been going for a ritual! Well, whatever she was calling out had to be something really impressive, considering she was so sure of herself right then.

Misawa's eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"R-rit—You're not seriously gonna—"

"I am! By sending monsters from my hand to the graveyard whose combined levels equal a Cyber Angel in my hand, I get to summon her! So come on out! Cyber Angel Dakini!" (Atk 2700)

She discarded a couple of cards, but what she got in exchange was pretty cool. It was a blue woman with an orange chest plate. She had a yellow headdress covering orange hair. Did I mention she had four arms? Yeah, and two of them bore swords while the other two held a staff.

"Alright!" I cheered.

Sure, she was a little weaker than Armed Dragon, but she had to have _something_ up her sleeve if Asuka was so sure of her. Funny how I was suddenly so trusting of Asuka Tenjoin, the girl who shunned me when we met, then tried to tell me off for running away.

"Now for the fun part!" she continued. "_You_ guys choose a monster to destroy whenever _she _gets summoned! Choose wisely, though. Her attack's high enough to attack!"

Misawa looked at Manjoume and asked, "My Batteryman?"

Manjoume nodded. "_I'll_ take care of Tenjoin-kun's monster."

Misawa nodded right back, then said, "Batteryman C-3!"

Dakini sliced him in half with one of her swords, dropping the attack points of the remaining two down to 1000 each.

Asuka crossed her arms and humphed. "Suit yourself. Go, Dakini! Attack his Batteryman C!"

She charged another one, slicing it up and reducing the last one's attack to a mere 500.

Misawa and Manjoume: 300  
Judai and Asuka: 3200

"I play one card face down and end my turn."

300 life points left!

"Alright!" I cheered, totally thrilled. "Way to go, Asuka!"

She just closed her eyes and humphed. Man, though, that was a good move! She'd almost won the duel! Too bad they'd managed to hang on.

Misawa looked both stunned and nervous when he pulled the next card from his deck. "Oh, my...I wasn't prepared for this... Now, let's see..." He looked over his cards, then, "Oh! I see! Yes, that'll work."

Crud. I hated the idea that he might have a move. It shouldn't have surprised me, though, considering he was the freaking Count Cancel.

Manjoume glared at the Count, obviously hoping for the exact opposite of what I was hoping—that Misawa had a plan.

"I play my Pot of Greed! And draw two cards also!"

Okay. That wasn't so bad. When he pulled the cards, he looked at them, and...crap, he was smiling.

"And_ that_ is _much_ better."

"What?" I asked, anxious. "What's much better?"

"This," he said. "I remove my two Batteryman Cs from my graveyard to summon my Batteryman Industrial Strength from my hand!" (Atk 2600)

Ugh. Yep, Count Cancel. That thing was just freaking huge! It was a giant metal box, basically, with...some kinds of cords in hand. One was blue, the other was red, and both ended in clamps. They connected to the back of the monster somehow. All I knew was that I'd never seen anything like it. Kind of like I'd never seen a vacuum or a washing machine, so we must not be big on technology in Neospace.

Anyway, it was there. And it was annoying.

And _this_ was the one that would do away with my defensive monster. Not that it really mattered, anyway, since Bladedge wouldn't be able to destroy any of their monsters without destroying himself. So, really, all I could do at that point was defend. Or use a suicide strike to get rid of a monster that Asuka could beat and deal them some damage.

"I attack! Go, Batteryman Industrial Strength! Wipe his monster off the field!"

His Batteryman attacked, revealing my earthen hero, Clayman, who, even with 2000 defense, wouldn't stand a chance. Here I'd been hoping they might be dumb enough to attack him with a monster that would deal _them_ some damage, but _nooo_! They had to summon stronger things first!

"And don't forget! Since I've still got _one_ Batteryman C in attack mode, my monster gains an additional 500 attack points!"

Damn. Why didn't he say that sooner? I'd been hit with a 3100-attack point monster that just made that Armed Dragon look like a kitten. Good thing I'd been defending.

"Tch..."

For obvious reasons, Clayman was destroyed.

"I switch my Batteryman C to defense mode," Misawa said. "And, when it's in defense mode, all my monsters get 500 defense points instead."

Well, at least his Industrial Strength was back to 2600 now. And C only had 500 defense points with that boost, so it wasn't too bad.

"I play one card face down. Turn end."

Turn end. That meant it was back to me. But my field was empty, and they had two tough monsters out. I couldn't fuse, even if I did draw another Polymerization, and I couldn't even summon Bladedge, who, admittedly, still wouldn't have been much help. It was time to put my faith in my deck...and my partner, who, hopefully, would have something up her sleeve that could turn this around.

"Then it's my turn," I said. "I draw!"

I drew my card, and Asuka held out a hand to stop me. Wait, what? My own partner was interrupting my move?

"Hold that thought, Judai," she said. "I'm clearing the way for you!"

"You're what!?" Misawa demanded.

"You can't!"

Clearing the way? Did that mean what I thought it meant?

"Oh, I can, with Mystical Space Typhoon, that is!"

"What!?" Misawa was starting to sound like a broken record.

"Now that it's Judai's turn, I'm making sure he can attack! So say goodbye to Non-Fusion Area, guys, 'cause it's going down!"

Just like that, a massive typhoon swept up, blowing Misawa's trap off the field. The two of them growled and glared at Asuka.

Sounding threatening, Manjoume growled, "Tenjoin-kun..."

Well, they might have been mad, but I was thrilled. I could fusion summon now!

"Thanks, Asuka!" I exclaimed, beaming at her. Man, she was a great partner to have!

"Go on, Judai!" she said. "Finish this!"

"Right! I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards!"

As I pulled two more cards from my deck, I looked at them and grinned. I'd drawn just what I needed. My deck really didn't let me down!

"I activate Polymerization! I'm gonna fuse Elemental Heroes Wildheart and Bladedge! Come out, Elemental Hero Wildedge!" (Atk 2600)

Tanned and buff, Wildedge appeared, with golden armor on his head, arm, and leg. He had some pretty lethal blades shooting out of the piece of armor on his arm, and a two-handed sword strapped to his back as well.

"Oh, no!" Misawa cried. "He used fusion summon! Now he can—"

"Heh. Relax," Manjoume cut him off. "_My_ monster's still stronger than his. He still can't stop us. They'll both be joining us very soon."

Oh, darn! Wildedge didn't have enough attack points for anything more than a suicide attack! Well, only one thing to do, then!

"Whoops!" I said, grinning like an idiot. "You're right! My monster can't beat either one of yours without destroying himself, can he?"

Misawa raised a wary eyebrow. As he should, considering that I was being sarcastic. "What are you so happy about?"

In lieu of an answer, I pulled another card from my hand, saying, "Guess I'll just have to use this!" I held the card up. "I activate H – Heated Heart! And I'm gonna use it on Wildedge! This gives him another 500 attack points this turn! In addition, if he battles a defending monster, he'll deal piercing damage!" I grinned again and added, "Not that it really matters, anyway."

Wildedge now had 500 more attack points than Batteryman Industrial Strength. He had exactly 300 points more than Armed Dragon. And they only had 300 life points left. No matter what I attacked, I'd beat them! Man, Asuka was awesome!

Misawa just stared.

Manjoume glared at him. "Misawa?"

"Wildedge! Attack Batteryman C!" I commanded, thinking that this would end it.

"Not so fast!" Misawa cut me off. "Reveal trap card, Waboku! This makes all battle damage this turn 0 and protects our monsters from being destroyed this turn, too!"

Well, my mood dropped dramatically. "Ugh..."

Three women in blue cloaks appeared and created a barrier, which Wildedge hit instead of any monsters. Did I say Misawa was Count Cancel? Sorry, I meant Emperor Counter. Well, I wasn't about to let him make my turn totally useless!

"Geez!" I cried. "You're annoying! Fine! Then I activate R – Righteous Justice! For every Elemental Hero I have on the field, this destroys one of your spell or trap cards! And I'm, obviously, going for that Wall of Light!"

Both of their eyes widened in horror, which told me that, for once, Emperor Counter didn't _have_ a counter. "What!?"

"Yes!" Asuka cheered, just as thrilled as I had been when she destroyed Non-Fusion Area. "_Perfect_!"

A giant capital R shot off my card, shattering their light wall and opening up their field to attack by weaker monsters. Probably wouldn't help much, considering they had monsters with over 2000 attack points, anyway, but it was something.

"That's all I've got," I said. "It's up to you, Asuka. Turn end."

"Okay, _now_ you're getting on _my_ nerves!" Manjoume said, drawing a card. He looked at it, stared at it, then smirked. "Oh, you're in for it _now_." Then he laughed.

"Tch." What did he draw? What did he draw!? I didn't like that look on his face.

"My _true_ trump card has arrived! I send my Armed Dragon LV7 to the graveyard to summon Armed Dragon LV10!" (Atk 3000)

Of course 7 wasn't the final one! Why would it be? That would be too easy! We _obviously_ needed to face off against a giant red and black dragon that was even more ferocious and with even more lethal attachments! We _totally_ needed to face a creature with blades for wings!

"Level 10!?"

"But that's—" Asuka started, giving me the small comfort that I wasn't the only one who hadn't seen it coming.

"Your _doom_, that's what! I send a card to my graveyard!"

Some strange, high-pitched voice echoed when he took a card from his hand: _"n-iki! D...do it!" _That was all I could make out of what it said.

"Huh?" I asked, startled._ What was _that_?_

Manjoume slipped that card into his graveyard, and the voice screamed wordlessly.

"And all your monsters are destroyed!"

Wait, _all_ of our monsters!? My eyes widened. "W-what!?"

"No!" Asuka cried.

Blades flew off that massive dragon, tearing our defenses to ribbons.

"Now, my monster, attack them directly! Tenjoin-kun owes me a date!"

And we've got more flirting! Geez, Manjoume, give it a rest!

Asuka looked indignant, which made me happy, for some reason. "Just a—" She was cut off by a scream when the monster attacked her.

Misawa and Manjoume: 300  
Judai and Asuka: 200

"I end my turn! So? About our date, should we go watch a Pro Dueling match in Misgarth or have dinner in Neospace?" he asked, flirting once again.

200 life points. That was all we had left now. If not for that stupid flirt, I might have cared a bit more. As it was, I was pretty steamed up about his flirting attitude.

"We're not _going_ on a date, you nutjob!" Asuka snapped, glaring at him. "You haven't won this yet, Manjoume!"

"No, but we might as well have. Look at the field. You've got _no_ monsters left to protect you," he said, and that arrogant smirk was fixed firmly on his stupid, arrogant, flirting face.

I wanted to punch him, which isn't a normal urge for me. I just wanted to punch his lights out. Beat him to a pulp and leave him lying there. And I don't know why. Looking back, it kinda scares me that I felt that way.

"So what?" Asuka countered. "We're _still_ not out yet. It's my move! I draw!" She looked at her card, then...frowned.

Great.

"I play a card face down... Turn end."

Perfect! A single face-down card. Our lives were riding on a single face-down card, and the King of Blocking, the Sultan of Interference, the one and only Emperor Counter was next.

_Great. Maybe I can do something...if Misawa doesn't kill us first..._

"Here goes nothing, then. I draw! And attack you directly with my Batteryman Industrial Strength!"

Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no! Man, this was it! I cringed when that monster lunged at us.

"Not so fast!" Asuka said at the last minute. "Trap card, reveal! Mirror Force! This destroys all attack-mode monsters on your side of the field when you declare an attack!"

Oh, geez, that was a relief! Not for them, though—their eyes widened, and, in unison, they said, "What!?"

"Darn it, Tenjoin-kun! Why would you—"

"Yes!" I cheered, cutting Manjoume off. "Great move, Asuka!"

We survived! And they lost their monsters! I couldn't have asked for a better tag partner!

"Don't get too excited, Judai," she cautioned. "They've still got the upper hand."

"I know. But at least we've still got a chance!"

They didn't have that overpowered dragon anymore, and I didn't think that they'd be able to summon another powerful monster in this turn. If we could just get to my turn, maybe I could actually pull out a win for us. At the least, I could try to set up a defense so that Asuka could end it when her turn rolled around again.

"Ugh," Misawa complained. "Remind me why we let _you_ in again?"

"Because I didn't give you a choice! You're not ganging up on Judai! He's got enough problems _without _you clowns coming after him all the time with your dirty tricks!"

Man, I must have had something in my eye because it started watering up some. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did she actually care about me? That explained why she was putting herself in danger to help me out. She really wasn't as bad as I'd thought—she was actually really nice.

"Asuka..." I said, happily surprised.

Misawa took a moment to finish with, "Turn end."

Invigorated, I pulled another card from my deck, saying, "Draw!" I looked at my card.

Perfect.

"I activate Miracle Fusion! By removing Elemental Heroes in my graveyard from play, I can fuse them! I'll remove Clayman and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" (Atk 2400)

The two merged, forming my gold and purple hero with electric powers.

Manjoume growled.

Misawa put a hand to his forehead, exasperated, I guess. "Urg... Not good. What's his effect again?"

"It's simple!" I answered. "When he's summoned, he destroys one monster on the field who's attack points are weaker than his! And, since there's only one to choose from, I'm choosing your Batteryman C, Misawa!"

Misawa's eyes widened. "What!? But you can't—"

Yeah, too bad! Thunder Giant charged up a blast of electricity between his hands and threw it at Batteryman C. Ironic that a battery would be destroyed by electricity, but there you have it!

"Now, Thunder Giant, attack that face-down monster!"

"Arg!" Misawa grunted.

Thunder Giant attacked, hitting Batteryman D, a 1900-defense point monster who didn't stand a chance. He was gone, easy.

"Turn end."

Manjoume growled, then glared at me fiercely. "So _that's_ how you wanna play, huh? Then I guess it's time for the final round! I draw!" Sweating, he glanced at his new card, then smirked.

Great. I hate it when he smirks.

"I play the spell card Card Destruction! Those of us with cards in hand must now discard them and draw the same number of cards as they discarded!"

"What!? _Hand destruction_!?" Asuka demanded. "Is that even your deck, Manjoume? You never use those!"

As she was talking, Misawa sent his cards to the grave and drew new ones. Having nothing in my hand, I didn't do anything.

_"__An—i... Sn—out of... isn't you!" _a gruff voice said, coming from around Manjoume.

_"__Ye—_he_ said! Y—our..."_ That voice, the last part of it, sounded like he was saying something like "you're our" something, but I really couldn't make out what it was saying.

Manjoume slipped his cards into the graveyard, and the voices went with them.

_What _are_ those?_ I wondered. _Does he have spirits following him around, too?_

It was the only thing that made sense, considering I couldn't see anything and could barely hear anything. It also would explain why he'd been talking to himself the last time we dueled. But...why did it seem like he couldn't hear them either this time? Or was he just ignoring them? And what—Ojamas! They'd been talking about Ojamas last time whenever he'd talk to nothing!

Wait, he had _Ojamas_ following him around? The guys whose names actually meant—with some distortion—"intrude?"

Either way, Manjoume replaced his hand without even looking like those voices phased him. He looked at his new hand and smirked again.

Really, it should be illegal for Manjoume to smirk. And, if I ever managed to get home and become king of Neospace, I'd be sure to ban it there, at least.

"I play a card face down. Turn end."

Wait, just a face-down card? Nothing else? With all the trouble we'd been having with face-down cards, I was thinking I'd almost rather if it was another overpowered monster.

"That's it?" I asked, eying that new card on his field. _That must be some awesome card for him to be so confident... What is it?_

Apparently Asuka was wary, too, because she just eyed the card for a minute before starting her next move. "My turn, then. I draw."

She pulled her card and looked, and Manjoume's smirk nearly blew the world to smithereens.

"This is it!" he said. "I reveal my face-down! _My_ Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'm destroying my _own_ card with it!"

Mystical Space Typhoon? _That_ was what he drew? And he was destroying that card he'd had down since his first turn!?

"You're what!?" Asuka demanded.

"Why!?"

Manjoume just smirked as another storm swept his card away. Then, weird as it was, the destroyed card appeared, and Manjoume gave an evil laugh.

"It's over now! When my Sealed Gate is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, it activates! Letting me remove my White Knights Swordsman, Lancer, and Gardna from play to summon my ultimate monster, White Knight Lord, from my deck!"

Okay, how many "ultimate monsters" did he have? First Armed Dragon LV7 was his best, then LV10 was his real "ace," now this thing? Seriously, dude, make up your mind!

Asuka had a more pressing concern than Manjoume's five hundred ace monsters, though. "Hey, hold up! You never sent a White Knight Gardna to the graveyard!"

"Au contraire, Tenjoin-kun! What do you think Card Destruction was for!?"

Well, that _did_ explain that.

"Tch."

A man with purple hair, clothed in white armor and a long white cape, arose from the ground and took his place on the field. He had a sword in one hand and a shield on his other arm. (Atk 2000)

My first impression? Honestly, I was more impressed by the two Armed Dragons. I just stared for a minute, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "Okay... It's got 2000 attack points..."

"You're finished, you two!" he yelled. "Misawa's deck is made up mostly of cards for _helping_ me out! On his _next_ turn, we can attack, and, even if we can't, _you_ can't destroy this guy by battling him, anyway. And, if you manage to destroy him, you'll take 1000 points of damage to your life points!

Misawa smiled, nodding, leaving me thinking that Emperor Counter had another plan in mind...again.

"What!?" I cried. Seriously, that effect was...I mean, come on! Talk about a no-win situation! And I was willing to bet that Misawa would keep us from dealing damage by attacking it, too!

Asuka, meanwhile, wasn't paying much attention. She just stared at the card she had drawn.

"You heard me!" Manjoume answered my horror. "It's only a matter of time before you become the Monarch of Wind and Tenjoin-kun becomes my girlfriend! There's nothing you can do now! It's over! Give up!"

And there was that smirk again. Did that card do something else that he wasn't telling us? What _else_ could there be!?

"Tch."

"Master Saiou will be so pleased," Misawa said.

That's when my partner went insane.

It sure _looked_ like Asuka had lost her mind—in that situation, she started laughing.

"H-huh?" I stammered, turning to look at my partner.

She laughed a bit more, making me think that the idea of losing to these guys had made her lose her mind.

When she calmed down, she said, "Oh, you fools. You're right that it's over, but you don't seem to get _how_ that's gonna happen!"

Uh...I didn't, either. But she already thought I was enough of an idiot without me pointing that out, so I didn't say anything.

"What!?" the white duo exclaimed.

"You're kidding!" Misawa added. "You didn't—"

"I summon my Cyber Tutu in attack mode!" (1000)

A pretty ballerina appeared, with short pink hair and a visor on her face. There was just one thing that bothered me: her attack.

1000 attack points. Half as much as White Knight Lord. I stared for a bit.

"Uh... What...?" I finally asked.

Maybe Asuka had lost her mind, after all.

If she had, though, it was contagious because Manjoume backed up, looking like he'd just run into some horror movie villain. "No, no, no! Not _that_!" he cried. "_Anything_ but that!"

Misawa turned wide eyes on him and asked, "M-Manjoume! W-what is it?"

From the look on Manjoume's face, you'd think Asuka and I had just won. The noises he was making would have been funny if I hadn't been so confused.

"The end of this duel, _that's _what it is!" Asuka said. "And I am _not _going to be your girlfriend, _nor_ will Judai be your Monarch of Wind! Cyber Tutu's effect! If all your monsters are stronger than _she_ is, she can attack you directly!"

Whoa, wait! _That_ was why Manjoume was freaking out? Asuka's monster could bypass their monster and attack them directly!?

Misawa must not have known this, either, because he started. "Say what!?"

Oh, man! We were seriously going to win! If Misawa was that freaked, then the Emperor of Cancellation must not have had anything to stop her!

"Alright!" I cheered. "That'll finish them off!"

"Go! Cyber Tutu! Attack them directly!"

Misawa stepped back as the ballerina—who was my new favorite in Asuka's deck—reared up for an attack.

"Oh, no... This can't be. My strategy was flawless. How could we lose?" he said.

Cyber Tutu twirled over and attacked him, kicking him in the chest and ending the match.

"NOOOO!" they both screamed.

Misawa and Manjoume: 0  
Judai and Asuka: 200

The Light Drones dropped to the ground, and I flashed my pose at them.

"Gotcha!" I turned to Asuka and added, "That was awesome! Thanks a lot!"

She crossed her arms and humphed, either not caring or pretending she didn't care. I was starting to get the feeling she _pretended_ not to care a lot.

"No, no, no," Manjoume whined. "How can this be? ...Hm?" He looked up at nothing—must have been those spirits of his.

"Hmph! You guys are pathetic. What, didn't you _know_ your strategy wouldn't work on me? I don't duel like Judai, after all," Asuka said.

"You weren't supposed to be involved in the first place..." Misawa said, still on the ground. Then he sighed.

Manjoume, also still on his hands and knees, raised an eyebrow and said (to nothing), "What are you idiots talking about? There's nothing wrong with me."

Faintly, I heard whatever he was talking to say, _"Aniki...were...by the...ght."_

_"__Yeah... ember...anything?"_

"Who's that?" I asked my curiosity finally getting the best of me. After all, there must have been _something_ there, right?

"I have no idea _what_ you zero attacks are talking about," Manjoume told the two (or three?) things he was talking to. "I'm—_huh_!?"

When he said "huh," he had been getting up and happened to look down at his outfit. Apparently he didn't like his pure white suit, either, because he looked horrified.

Meanwhile, I kept trying to figure out who he was talking to. _Zero attacks?_ Well, Ojamas made more sense now, considering they didn't have any attack points. _Why_ he would have those was still a good question, though.

They both jumped to their feet and looked themselves over. Then they stared.

"Wh-what in the world!?" Misawa wondered. "Why are we in white!? This doesn't make any sense! I don't even _own_ anything this white!" Muttering, he added, "Pale white, maybe, but not _snow_ white."

"You're telling _me_!" Manjoume said, sharing his sentiments. "I _hate_ white! It makes me look—"

"Hold up! What's going on here!?" Asuka demanded. "Aren't you guys in the Society of Light?"

"Society of what?" they asked in sync.

"What are you even talking about?" Manjoume added.

Well, that was an interesting development. How did _that_ happen?

"I...think we...snapped them out of it?"

"Snapped us out of what?" Misawa asked. "What's going on here?"

"Yeah! And why the hell am I wearing this!? I can't _stand_ white! Okay, that's it."

And _that's_ when things got disturbing. Manjoume started stripping, right there on the front lawn.

Asuka turned her head away, for obvious reasons. "Oh, geez! Manjoume! At least have the _decency _to go inside first. Ugh."

"You...uh, really _should_ put on some clothes..." I said, trying to compose myself. I mean, I really doubt that I'd ever seen anybody just strip right in front of me. I didn't need to have all my memories back to know that one.

"Hmph! I am _not_ wearing that! So, unless you wanna donate some of _your _clothes, I'm—"

"Sure," I cut him off. That wasn't a problem—none of those things belonged to me, and he was thinking of walking around town in nothing but his boxers. Obvious answer.

"Great. Hand 'em over," he said, holding out his hand.

...Did he seriously expect me to strip, too? As if we _weren't _standing right outside of the house where I was currently living?

"Oh, geez, Judai," Asuka said, sounding disturbed. She looked it, too, with her hands over her face.

Uh, yeah, I wasn't that stupid, Asuka.

"...I meant some of the clothes I've got _inside_, Manjoume. Not the clothes off my back," I said, looking at him lamely.

He pointed at the house and said, "Well, then, what are you waiting for!? Go get me some! I'm not standing out here in the nude all day."

Wow. Really?

"Get your naked self inside, Manjoume," I said, opening the front door. Muttering, I added, "Really, it's like having no clothes on killed your brain..."

"Hmph! Whatever."

He walked in, which I thought was an improvement. Until he kicked off his shorts as soon as he was through the door.

"Oh, geez, Manjoume!" I cried. I mean, come on! He couldn't even wear white underpants!?

Sho, recovering slightly, said, "_That's_ real attractive..."

Poor Asuka must have uncovered her face at some point because she was staring at the door, her eyes wide.

Fortunately, Manjoume didn't just stand there. He headed into the living room while we were all staring and called back, "Well!? What are you waiting for!? Hurry it up!"

I hurried in to get that moron some clothes. After all, this wasn't my house, Elise didn't know him, _and_ I had a girl over as a guest! This was really awkward.

After a moment, I heard Asuka say, "We should head in, too."

I glanced back as I shoved Manjoume toward the stairs and saw Misawa and Sho nod before they came in—before Asuka, of course, so she wouldn't have to see the naked man again. With that one in mind, I pushed him up the stairs as if my life depended on getting him out of sight.


	16. The Cause of my Amnesia

**Shadgirl2: Here's another chapter!**

**Midna: E****njoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

Apparently Manjoume was just as big of a pain that day as he was on any given day at school. And Judai was learning that the hard way.

"Oh, come on!" We could hear Manjoume all the way down in the living room. "_That _old thing!? I threw that thing out for a reason!"

"Tough luck, Manjoume! You're not running around in the nude!" Judai countered. "Besides, if you threw it out because it was 'last year's fashion,' that's not a very _good _reason!"

"What did you say!?"

"Well. It sounds like _they're_ having fun," I said, looking at the ceiling. Then I giggled. I know, it's cruel that I was enjoying it, but listening to the two of them was funny, especially given Judai's belief that Manjoume was a whiner—which he was.

"Yeah," Sho said, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. "Sounds like a blast, don't it?"

"Glad it's not me this time," Misawa sighed.

The two upstairs continued on for a while before things quieted down, then we heard footsteps as they came back down. Given Manjoume's track record (he rejected about six different things from a boy who barely owned anything), I braced myself, thinking he might be coming down in nothing but a bathrobe or a towel.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

That day, I learned how annoying rich people are. Seriously. Manjoume shot down everything I handed to him, and I was seriously tempted to go to Elise's closet and grab a dress for him instead just to see if my clothes were any more appealing then. In the end, I got him into a pair of blue jeans that Elise had bought for me—because they _weren't _"out of date"—and a gray shirt that was plain enough that his only complaint was that it was _too_ plain.

"Sheesh," I muttered, heading down the stairs to the living room. "Clearly you don't get that beggars can't be choosers. Should've just made you walk home that way."

"Hmph. And you call yourself a prince. Shame on you," he countered.

I whirled on him, saying, "Hey, if you don't want anything I've got, that's not my problem, Manjoume. _I_ don't have to fight you over it if you don't want to accept my generosity."

We must have been really amusing because Asuka laughed when we walked in. "Having fun, guys?" she asked from the armchair. Then she giggled.

"Fun" wasn't really the word I would have used.

"Oh, yeah, a real blast," I said sarcastically, crossing my arms.

Through her laughter, she said, "Yeah. We could tell."

Manjoume took a seat on the couch, where Misawa was sitting, crossing his arms with another stuck-up rich guy humph. Sho was sitting on the floor.

"Really, Manjoume," Misawa said to him. "You could have been a bit more courteous back there."

Yes! Thank you, Misawa!

"Yeah, yeah," Manjoume said, just waving it off. "So? What the hell's going on? Why were we in white in the first place?"

He just waved it off! Did that guy have a single nice bone in his body!? Thinking about my past encounters with him, I figured the answer was no.

"Because you joined the Society of Light and were trying to help the Light of Destruction," I answered bluntly, still pretty ticked off at him.

Both their eyes widened, and the two of them sat forward, looking horrified. "What!?"

"It's true, guys," Asuka backed me up. "The Light's on the move again. And Judai's the only one who can stop it. Right, Judai?" She looked at me for confirmation, as though I could tell her for certain that, yes, I was the only hope the world had.

Yeah, like my amnesia would let me be that certain. Still, everything seemed to be pointing that way, so I nodded and said, "Apparently."

"What? And how do you know that?" Misawa asked. "You didn't even know who you were a little while ago!"

"Yeah. No kidding," Manjoume agreed. "Who's to say it's _not_ you and the chosen one's actually your father? I mean, there's no proo—"

"I... There's a winged furball following me around, though I can't see him," I cut him off, wondering if this would mean anything to the rich guys. After all, it meant nothing to Asuka, but it did mean something to Johan, so maybe they _would_ know it. If they did, it would prove that this wasn't just the prince of Kalmar's imagination. "I guess his name's Winged Kuriboh?"

"So!? What's that got to do with anything?" Manjoume asked.

Well, so much for them knowing what that meant.

"You're not making any sense, Judai," Asuka added. "What's a Winged Kuriboh got to do with this?"

"Yeah, Aniki. That's just—"

"Winged Kuriboh's supposed to be the sign of the chosen one. When it shows up, whoever it's with is the one who can stop the Light."

"Really? Is that true?" Misawa asked. "But how do you know that? It's not in anything I've ever read about the subject."

"You can find out about it in the royal library, though," I said. Then I dropped the bombshell with, "Which I got into when I met your prince."

Manjoume started, and his eyes widened. "You're kidding! _You've_ met Prince Johan!? But our kingdom doesn't like yours!"

"Johan?" Asuka asked. "Are you sure? You've never gone there with anyone but us! When was—" She cut herself off with a gasp as she realized what I was saying.

"Yeah," I said. "'Jesse' is Johan."

"Wait a minute! Who on Neospace is Jesse?" Sho asked. "I've never met this 'Jesse' guy. Where was I when he showed up?"

I started out really casual and friendly when I answered. "Well, the first time, you were GETTING YOUR HAND TREATED!" I snapped, whirling on him and getting in his face at the end.

"Uh, yeah, right..."

"And the second time was at the library an hour ago while you were trying not to anger Mrs. Clarence again," Asuka added. "Really. You two need to put _that_ one in the past already. It was an accident, anyway."

Sho sweat, thinking about the thing I'd been told I didn't want to know about. "Eh heh heh. I kinda _did_ that already. She just hasn't..."

One look at poor Misawa told me he didn't know Sho was in trouble with the librarian _or_ that he had issues where he'd break his own bones out of stupidity. Then again, I hadn't said _why_ Sho had been getting his hand treated, but my behavior probably gave him a big hint. Either way, he looked stunned.

After finally finding his voice, Misawa said, "Okay? So you've met the prince. And, not only did he not reject you, he showed you his family's secrets? Who else finds this a little unusual?"

Okay, I don't know what he was thinking, but there were two possibilities. One, he thought I was lying for some reason. Two, he thought something was wrong with his prince. Personally I was hoping it was the second one, but he was from Kalmar, where everyone thought I'd run away from home, so it was probably the first. Which meant he likely thought I was planning world domination or something.

Manjoume humphed. "_I_ would if our kingdom wasn't in dire need of some outside assistance, and this guy wasn't the only one who could help. That is, of course, if he can _remember_ what it is he needs to do to help out. Right, my Prince?" Muttering, he added, "My idiot prince."

Okay. He didn't like me. That I could handle because I didn't like him, either, honestly. And, somehow, being called an idiot didn't bother me. For some reason, I was used to it...right down to being called "my idiot prince," which, from what I was remembering, was the favored title of a certain girl I hated.

"I'm supposed to meet Johan at the train station tomorrow," I answered, pushing thoughts of that girl aside. "He's got a plan, which involves somehow getting me back to Neospace since my father's probably the only one who can help us both at this point."

"But, Aniki!" Sho protested, sounding worried. "Isn't that kinda dangerous!? What about those guys who are after you!?"

"He's right, Prince Judai," Misawa agreed. "If these guys are after you—and, judging from the way we all got here, I'd say they still are—then going outside unprepared could cost you everything. You'd need a disguise or something."

"Yeah, I know. Except I doubt that'll fool them, anyway..."

These guys had tracked me down when I came to Elise's place, and I hadn't seen any of them earlier that day. Then they conveniently found me in that store in the mall. It was like they were tracking my whereabouts, in which case I'd have to totally disappear before they'd fall for any disguise I tried.

"Oh? And why's that? You _that_ bad of an actor?" Manjoume asked.

"No," I said.

Then I thought about Iwamaru and Honomaru, specifically how easy they were to trick—or probably were since I'd never actually tricked Honomaru yet. I guessed that a disguise might trick those two, at least. And, if they were the ones keeping an eye on me—which might have been the case, considering that it sounded like grunt work, and they always got stuck with that stuff...

"Okay, never mind. I need a disguise."

"Great! Where can we get you one?" Sho asked. "Those aren't easy to come by."

...What was he thinking, that we had to buy a whole outfit called "disguise?" What we'd need would be something to cover my hair and hide my facial features as best we could. That couldn't be _that_ hard to figure out!

"I can help!" Asuka said. "My brother's got some pretty interesting wigs he likes dressing up in."

...What?

We all just stared at her. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was personally trying to figure out why that brother of hers would have wigs—and hoping that they looked normal, at least.

"_What!?_" Manjoume asked at last, saying what we had all been thinking.

Asuka sweat. "He, uh...long story, okay?"

"...Okay... Thanks?"

I wasn't sure if I should have been thanking her or running for my life, but I settled for the one that would probably work best, considering that running away might just get me nabbed by four goons who all had rhyming names (you know who I mean).

"And I can ask my Nii-san if I can borrow his boots!" Sho added. "They're a bit big for you, Aniki, but—"

"That's fine," I said, deciding that, with how persistent those creeps were, maybe I should change my shoes. Not that mine stood out or anything, but still, it would throw them off more.

"Well, I guess we're all set, then," Misawa said. "'Cause _I've_ got some colored contacts from my wild and crazy days. I used to love fooling people with them." He smiled, leaning back on the couch as he thought about it.

Uh... Wild and crazy. Yeah, sure.

"Crazy," Sho said, apparently humoring him.

I just stared at the weirdo for a bit. I mean, really, how is wearing colored contacts wild _or_ crazy? In _anyone's_ definition of those two words!?

"Okay," I said at last.

"Hmph. Good. Guess that's everything, then," Manjoume said. "There's three different fashion types up there in your room, so you can wear the one that's the _least_ like you and they'll never know."

"Yeah, okay."

The two rich guys stood up, and Misawa asked, "So, that's it, then? We all done here? 'Cause, if we are, Manjoume's not the _only_ one who'd like to change their clothes, if that's alright with you, your Highness." He put a hand over his heart and bowed slightly.

Well, if I hadn't already figured out that I was a prince, the fact that him bowing didn't weird me out at all would have proven that I was.

"Go ahead," I told him. "You don't have to ask my permission."

After all, it wasn't like I was _his_ prince. I wasn't even welcome in this kingdom, from what I kept hearing. Maybe it was a good thing that our appointment with the king had been canceled. For more than just the Light reason. Knowing my luck, he'd have used me as a hostage against my father or had me executed or something.

"Yeah, Misawa," Asuka added. "I think we're good. Although..." She turned to me. "What time are you meeting Prince Johan tomorrow, anyway, Judai? We'll need to know if we're helping you get ready for it."

Aw, crap! That was a good question!

"Afternoon. That's all he said."

The train station after noon. Did that mean, like, _right_ after noon? Or a few hours later? Was I just supposed to go hang out at the train station all day and wait for him?

Fortunately, Asuka nodded and said, "Alright. I know when that train leaves. We'll stop by immediately with our stuff, okay?"

Oh, that was a relief. Apparently there was only one train it could have been that we'd be taking. Guess Johan just figured I either knew when it left or would have to tell my tour guide—probably that one, considering I was a useless amnesic who had never even been to this town before to begin with.

"Sounds good to me," Misawa said. "Does that work for you guys also?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I'll have to run everywhere in order to make it in time. Nothing new, really."

Sho sounded _way_ too casual when he said that. I wanted to ask, but I had this feeling that I wouldn't like the answer. But I _really_ wanted to ask.

While I was wrestling with my curiosity, Manjoume said, "Great. Glad you guys got that settled. Now, if you'll excuse me." He headed for the door.

Since the opportunity to ask about Sho's statement had passed, I said, "Alright, that works. Thanks, guys."

"Great. See you tomorrow, then, my Prince. And don't worry. We won't tell a soul you're hiding here, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Muttering, I admitted, "Though the Light already knows."

"Later, Judai," Asuka said. "Don't get caught before we can help you, okay?" She smiled and winked. Apparently that was a tease. Hilarious, considering it might actually happen.

"Yeah, okay."

"Do I _have_ to go, Aniki?" Sho whined. "I'm more vulnerable to bullies this way." He held up his broken hand, still sitting on the floor.

"If you're planning on calling your brother and asking him to come over here, then I guess you can stay," I told him. "If it's okay with Elise."

He seemed to think about it for a second, then said, "Right. Better leave, then. See you tomorrow, Aniki. Don't leave without me, okay?" He got up and ran out the door.

I just watched him go, wondering if he'd decided to leave because he thought Elise would say he couldn't stay or because he didn't want to call this brother of his. Him running out reminded me of what he'd said—casually—about running everywhere, and that put only one thought in my mind—I wasn't leaving him here, where people beat him up for the fun of it.

"Wasn't planning on it," I said to myself.

* * *

I struggled against the shackles holding me to the chair, where those four creeps had left me after bringing me to this place. I didn't have a clue where I was—one of the downsides of being forcibly teleported somewhere—but I knew this wasn't going to end well for me if I didn't find a way out of here. The white walls, floor, and ceiling didn't do anything to reassure me.

After those guys had grabbed me, they stuck me in this chair and shackled my arms and legs to it, keeping me from doing anything. Then they just left me there while they went to get "the boss," as they called him.

While I was trying to get loose, a man walked into the room. He was wearing a white robe, making me really think that the Light my tutors and father had warned me about so often might be on the move. His purple eyes and pointed chin were the most distinctive features I could make out because he had a hood pulled up over his head.

"Hello, Prince Judai," he said. "We've been waiting for you."

A woman walked in, also wearing a robe. I could only tell she was female because of the shape of her body. She moved to the back of the room and just stood in a corner, silent.

"Who are you!?" I demanded of the man in front of me.

"Who I am is of no importance. For I am just a messenger. A messenger of fate."

When he said that, I knew I was in trouble. One of the major signs that the Light was back, I'd been told, was people wearing white. But people wearing white itself wasn't anything to worry about...unless they started preaching about destiny and fate.

"Fate?" I asked.

"Yes. I have been given the power to determine a person's fate based on the choices they have made. And you, my Prince, are about to make a terrible one. That's why I had you brought here. To prevent that from happening."

Oh, yeah, this guy was a Light Drone. Maybe even the head Light Drone, the one the Light of Destruction was controlling directly and using to fulfill its wicked desires.

"Is that so?"

"Why, yes, of course. You see, child, I have been given the power to look into the future and determine what a person's fate shall be. Recently, I was informed that a great and destructive battle would soon occur, and there's only one way to stop it..." He looked at me in concern, as if a drone could actually care about anything but its master's desires. "Prince Judai. You _must_ surrender your powers to me. They hold the key to Neospace's survival."

Yeah, no duh, they did! I narrowed my eyes and said, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

The man laughed, a nasty grin appearing on his face. "Why, my Prince, whoever said I was giving you a choice? Your destiny has already been decided. You cannot change it. You are destined to help me, and, one way or another, you will." He threw his hands up in the air as he continued, "Your Darkness shall be conquered, and an incredible Light will be allowed to shine through! Then I shall use that glorious Light to transform this world and purify the hearts of all men! Then everyone will follow me and worship the Light!" He lowered his hands and looked at me seriously. "The era of Darkness has ended, Judai. The time is now for all to see the Light."

Preaching about the Light _and_ spouting nonsense about destiny. Yeah, he was the head honcho of the Light Drones. And I was completely at his mercy.

"Tch..."

He moved toward me slowly, raising a hand that started to glow in an eerie purple color. He gave that grin again, and I could almost swear he had fangs, like a vampire.

"Soon your destiny shall belong to me! Just as soon as you see the Light, your powers and all of Neospace shall be mine to command! Then all of Neospace shall bow before me! Hail to the Light! The glorious Light of Truth!"

As he got closer, his hand glowed more and more. I felt something trying to take over, and I knew it was the Light of Destruction. I tried to fight it off, but my vision started going white, and my hearing was starting to go as I struggled. The last thing I heard was my partner's worried cries as I fought that damn Light with everything I had—and it didn't seem like it was going to be enough.

* * *

Everything was white. Was this normal? I didn't know, but it was too bright. It faded, though, and I found myself sitting in a chair in a white room, a man wearing a white robe standing before me. I was exhausted, and I felt like I might pass out any second. But...where was I? Why was I so tired? Who was that man?

A couple of other guys came in, also wearing white, and the man in the robe turned to them, saying, "We need to get him to the lab and try..."

I closed my eyes, blacking out, and heard no more.

* * *

I sat up with a gasp. I wasn't in that room—I was in my room at Elise's house. It was just a dream. A memory returning in a dream, like when I'd remembered that I'd been kidnapped. That was how that whole thing played out. From there, they'd stuck me in a truck and tried to move me, which was when they lost me because of a storm that tore their truck up and killed two of their guys.

"That...that's what happened...?" I asked no one in particular. "That's why I...can't remember anything?"

_"__Kuri kuri?"_ Winged Kuriboh asked, which was probably something like, "you okay partner," just based off what I could make out of that.

"Winged Kuriboh...?"

_"__Kuri kuri!"_ it cheered, but I couldn't make out what it said.

"I can barely hear you... Ugh, how do I fix this?"

My amnesia wasn't normal—it was Light-induced. The Light of Destruction was corrupting my mind, and that was what was causing my amnesia. I was about two steps away from being a Light Drone myself, and my powers were probably the only thing that saved me from it. With that in mind, it was no wonder I was having such a hard time remembering anything that would help—the Light wasn't something that you could just cast aside and pretend it never touched you. There had to be a way to fix it, though, since I'd saved Misawa and Manjoume from the Light!

_"__Neo...ight...help... Nee...find...im,"_ was what I got out of the next set of kuris.

I just shook my head—I couldn't make heads or tails of that gibberish. "I don't know what you're saying."

No answer. I'd lost him again.

I sighed. "Why do I even bother?"

I lay back down and went back to sleep, hoping that my father would be able to help when I got home—assuming that Johan's plan would work.


	17. Ready to Leave

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

The next day, Elise woke me up to make me breakfast and talk about Johan's crazy idea. I had told her about it the night before, but she hadn't seemed like she liked the idea at all. Now, when I wasn't saying I had to get to bed and she had a bit of time before work, she trapped me at the kitchen table and brought up all her worries.

"And you're sure about this, Judai?" she asked me as she put down a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon for me. She set a glass of orange juice beside it. "Wouldn't it be safer to try calling home instead? I mean, you boys are both pretty wanted, after all."

"Elise, it would take a lot longer to process something like that," I explained—I might not have remembered everything, but I knew that much about royalty. They weren't going to just believe that I was their lost prince, assuming that I even managed to get in touch with the castle. "Months, even. And I don't remember anything that could convince them to hurry it up. Besides, then they'd have to get a rescue party in here, even though this kingdom and Neospace already don't get along. That's more complicated, thanks to the fact that the Light's taken over."

She bit her lip. "Hmm. I see your point there, but—"

It was touching, really. She seemed to have grown attached to me, which almost made me want to laugh. Well, if my real parents didn't care about me because I was such an irresponsible and immature heir, at least I did have Elise, who was almost like a mother to me at that point. Too bad she lived a whole kingdom away.

"Elise, this is the only way," I told her, cutting her off as I picked up a strip of bacon and started eating.

She sighed. "If you say so. You got your things packed, then? Or would you like me to donate them to charity?"

I answered, "Probably better to travel light, so I'm not taking them with me." Well, for the most part. There was one outfit I was taking with me, but the rest of the stuff was staying behind. "You decide what to do with them."

"Okay... Have it your way, then." She walked over and pulled me into a hug. "Take care, Judai. I'll miss you. Don't forget to write."

Don't forget to write. Yeah, I could do that, considering I'd memorized her address in case I ever had to call the police again while I was with her.

I hugged her back and said, "Will do. Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Good luck." She pulled back and said, "Well, I've got to go. It's been fun having you, though. I hope we meet again."

"Bye, Elise," I said, certain this would be the last time I'd ever see her.

"Goodbye, Judai. Goodbye."

She walked out, and I was left alone. Somehow, thinking about the trip I'd be taking to get home, being alone felt like I was preparing myself for the life I'd left behind—no friends, busy parents who may or may not resent me, and no one but my tutors and that annoying girl to keep me company. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

* * *

That afternoon, Misawa, Asuka, and Sho all came over after school, Misawa holding a briefcase, Asuka holding a bag, and Sho holding a shoe box. We all gathered in my room—soon to be Elise's storage room again. But...

"Well, look on the bright side, Aniki," Sho said as I stared at the wigs before me in horror. "At least my Nii-san's black boots look good with everything." He held up a pair of knee-high, shiny boots that, after trying them on, I found were about two sizes too big. Add my shoes to my list of things I was packing.

But those wigs... There was a white powdered wig like you might have seen on that ancient president, George Washington; a green and spiky one; a rainbow-colored afro... Nothing even remotely discreet, as if everything was meant to stand out and draw attention. In my mind, I started thinking of Asuka's brother as desperate for attention.

I stared another moment before I said, "The goal was to disguise, which typically means trying _not_ to stand out. With wigs like these, I'd be better off just grabbing a hat. What does your brother _use_ these for?" I asked Asuka, still staring at the worst wigs for disguises—except costumes—that I would ever see.

"Don't ask. _Trust_ me. You _don't _wanna know," she answered. Her eyes were closed, and she looked really uncomfortable.

As if she had any right, considering I was the one who had to wear one of those things. Hell, my _normal_ hair stood out less!

"Well, let's look at the outfits you've got here, your Highness," Misawa said, heading to the closet to dig through. "Maybe one of them will look good with one of these wigs."

"Would you stop calling me 'your Highness?'" I asked as Sho joined his search.

"Ooh!" Sho said, pulling out a white shirt, dark coat, and dark pants. "This one might go nice with that Washington wig!"

Looking at those three pieces of clothing together, I suddenly realized that they looked really old. Like, ancient. At least, when put together. Alone, they could pass for modern. But, when combined, like Sho was planning... Oh, boy, was I in for it!

"Unless there's some sort of history convention going on somewhere that would warrant dressing like a dead guy, no," I said. The last thing I wanted was to stand out that much. After all, the goal was to _hide_, not draw more attention.

"That's not necessarily a problem, I'm afraid," Asuka said, sweating.

"Oh, no." I sweat, a feeling of dread coming on. "I'm not wearing that, no!"

There was no way I was dressing like a centuries-dead president of a country that no longer existed!

"Come on, Judai!" Asuka said, opening her eyes. "It's the only outfit we can build with the stuff we have, and we don't have time to run out and try to find anything else! Besides, with all those impersonators running around, looking like a dead guy's perfectly normal for some people."

Okay. Apparently George Washington was the new Elvis Presley, and everyone was trying to be him.

"No way! I'd rather take my chances!"

"Hey! Check it out! I've got his _exact_ eye color here in my contact case!" Misawa said, pulling a small case out of his briefcase. "Who'd have guessed?"

And that pretty much sealed my fate.

I sweat. "Hey, I just said I'm not doing it!"

"Great! Let's get started, then! One fake George Washington, coming right up!" Sho said, totally ignoring me.

"NO!" I snapped.

Like a deer cornered by a pack of wolves, I backed away as the three of them moved toward me. Except I wasn't imagining wolves—I was imagining demons, with glowing red eyes and sharp claws.

I sweat, backing away some more. "Aw, come on!"

* * *

I was going to kill them. That was all there was to it. I was going to kill them so that they could join me, "George Washington," in the afterlife.

"I swear, I'm gonna kill you guys..." I muttered as we headed to the train station.

Sho grinned up at me and said, "Aw, Aniki. Cheer up! It doesn't look _that_ bad on you." But he snickered.

"Yeah, sure. You're gonna be this guy for Halloween, right?" I asked, annoyed at them all.

Sho closed his eyes and shook his head, still grinning. "Nah. I was gonna be something a lot _cooler_. Like a vampire! Or a robot. Or—"

I glared at him and cut him off with, "Vampire. How about a zombie? Because I'm still gonna kill you."

Asuka, also grinning, said, "Relax, George. It's _only_ until you get back home to Neospace Kingdom. So, about a 4-day train ride." She giggled, a hand to her mouth and her eyes closed.

Four days dressed as a dead president and getting gawked at. Fun. And she called me "George!" Oh, she was asking for it!

I humphed and decided I wasn't talking to them for the rest of the stupid walk. Yeah, it was immature, but that seems to be what I do.

"Look, sir!" Misawa said, and I couldn't be sure if the grin and the title meant that he was teasing me about the costume as well or if he was just being respectful of my princely status, which seemed to be his thing. "Is that the guy we were coming to meet?"

He was pointing at a very stunned red-haired guy in a trench coat who was just gawking at us—like everyone else had been this whole time. The guy was standing by the doors outside of the station.

"Go jump off a cliff, Misawa," I said, just to be safe. "But, yes, that's him."

Johan just kept staring at us as we walked over. Considering what I was wearing, I figured the only reason he didn't defend himself from a crazy person was because he recognized two members of my entourage from the hospital and library.

"Hey, there, 'Jesse,'" Asuka greeted him. "How've you been?"

I really couldn't blame him for staring another few seconds. "I'm sorry, but who's—" he started, pointing at me.

"_He's_ the guy you've been waiting for. Right, Pouty?" She put a hand on my shoulder, grinning.

"Yeah, just the grouchiest George Washington ever. Probably because my _wife_," I cast an accusing look at Asuka, "didn't show."

"Hey! Jaden! Just what are you implying here?"

Johan, or "Jesse," was now disturbed and stared for a second before asking, "I don't wanna know, do I?"

"Their idea," I said, hitching a thumb at them. "That's all I'm gonna say."

"Okay... Well, at least no one's gonna recognize you in..._that_..." He tossed a bag in the trash, and I realized with annoyance that he'd already thought of getting me a disguise already. "Anyway, you ready to go now, Mr. President?" he asked making me twitch. "'Cause, if you are, then we should really get a move on. We've got a long trip ahead of us."

"Yeah, I'm ready," I said, gritting my teeth in irritation.

"S-so, I g-guess this is it th-then..." Sho stammered. "Oh, Aniki, I'm gonna miss you soooo much!" He hugged me, crying.

"I still say you should get out of this place..." I told him, letting my anger go for the time being.

"B-but, Aniki. Th-this is m-my—"

"Don't you dare say this place is your 'home!' Everyone in this town treats you like crap, and you deserve better than that!" I snapped, cutting him off.

"But—"

"You like getting beat up all the time? You like the fact that nobody stands up for you because they think it's useless? The fact that people sell tickets to watch you get pulverized?"

"But what about my family? They still live here."

Asuka glared at me. "Jaden? What are you doing? Sho can't go with you. His place is here with—"

I knew what she was going to say, and I cut her off the way I'd been doing to Sho. "With what? A family that clearly doesn't care that his life's hell? People who like watching him get beat up? I never said he had to come with me, just that he shouldn't stay _here_."

Asuka leaned toward me, still glaring at me as she added, "Hey. Don't forget, now, that his brother, his _older_ brother, loaned you his old snow boots. What's it gonna look like if you took Sho from him then? Have some courtesy and leave the kid alone."

"His brother cares? Because, if he did, I'd think he'd be more concerned about the fact that Sho's gonna get killed one of these days if he stays in this town."

Sho stood there silently, looking down.

"See, unlike him and a certain apathetic blond, I actually care what happens to Sho! He's my friend!"

"What'd you say!?" Asuka demanded, getting up in my face. "You're not the _only_ one who's concerned around here, you know! Sho's already said that—"

"Hello? Mom? I...wanted to talk to you about something... It's really important..."

We both stopped and turned suddenly. Sho was on a payphone (Those still existed?) talking to his mother.

Asuka looked shocked. "What!?"

"Well, you see, I met this prince, and he...kinda wants me to go live with him, so... What!? You serious!?"

Man, I almost felt sorry for Asuka. She was just staring, obviously too stunned for words.

"Well, well," I said, feeling smug. "What do you know?"

That snapped her out of it. She whirled on me, glaring, and snapped, "Oh, shut up! There's still no way she's gonna—"

"Okay, Mom! I'll remember that! Say goodbye to Ryo, okay?"

And, just like that, Asuka was proven wrong before she could even finish her sentence. She stopped and turned back to gape at Sho.

I grinned. "You were saying?"

She just started making noises, too shocked for words.

"Okay, Mom! Love you!" Sho said, then he hung up the phone and turned to us. "Mom says to 'get the hell out of here.' So, I guess, maybe I _should_ go with you, Aniki. When do we leave?"

Asuka twitched some as the weird noises kept coming.

"Told you anyone who cares about him would want him to leave!"

"Great! Get him a ticket and hurry up!" Johan said suddenly, reminding me that he was there and I had a train to catch—and that I was dressed like a dead president. Ugh. He shoved a roll of money at me—the Kalmar currency that I still didn't know—and added, "This freight's about to take off! We have to hurry if we're gonna make it!"

With that, he ran off to get on the train.

"Well, good luck, sir!" Misawa said. "We're all counting on you!"

Asuka was still too busy gaping to say goodbye, but she stopped muttering, at least.

"Thanks!" I told Misawa, letting the "sir" thing slide that time. "Come on, Sho!"

I ran off to get our tickets, with Sho following behind. Later, I'd think it was stupid that I had said goodbye to Asuka with a fight. We'd come such a long way from the days when she thought I was an immature weirdo and I thought she was uncaring and cold.

And I'd probably ruined it all in one instant.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

Growing up, I was taught that the royal family of Neospace couldn't be trusted. They were liars and thieves, only capable of caring about themselves, and their people were to be pitied because of this. I'd never had any reason to question this teaching. I never met any of the Yukis, and I learned, like my father before me, to hate them all.

When I sought Judai out, it was in desperation. I steeled myself for the experience of meeting the selfish prince of Neospace, the boy who, from what everyone knew, lived up to his family's awful reputation and more. It wasn't easy hiding my dislike of him, but somehow I managed. I don't think he ever realized that I hated him. Looking back, I'm glad for that. I'm glad I was able to be civil with him and keep my tongue in check those first two times we met.

After all, that day at the train station was the day that I saw the real Yuki Judai. And I doubt it would have happened if he'd known the way I really felt about him.

Before that day, my encounters with him had shown me that he _was_ irresponsible, and that thing with the disguise showed how immature he was. In addition, he was clearly a dense idiot to not know that the blond girl he was always with cared about him. I mean, I could understand why he didn't think she cared after he had explained it (I'd been there myself), but he still seemed dense.

Though he was also a quick thinker, if that alias he gave me was any indication. That would have worked better if I had actually been expecting it. As it was, I was startled that he was capable of thinking on his feet. On top of that, he was less suspicious than others and more willing to trust, taking me at my word and trusting me when I was still a stranger to him. And that time in the hospital gave me a hint at the truth—when the girl had said that Sho was okay and Judai had sounded relieved to hear it.

Watching his exchange with Sho and that girl, however, I'd seen the full-blown truth. He wasn't selfish—not entirely, at least. I had put the fact that he was willing to head back to Neospace down to the idea that he just wanted to get his memories back. But this wasn't so easy to dismiss. If he'd been telling Sho to come with him, it would have been him taking someone with him so he wouldn't be alone. But he wasn't saying that Sho even had to go with him, just that he should leave this place. Such selfless consideration for the well-being of his friend seemed out of place, given what I'd learned about him. Maybe it was because of the amnesia, but I doubted that. Somehow, I felt that I had actually just seen the real prince of Neospace.

Not that it made us friends or anything. But it was the day I stopped hating him and actually took a chance on getting to know him, so I guess that was a start.


	18. Homecoming

**Shadgirl2: Wow. Another chapter already?**

**Midna: I know, right? The last one was, like, yesterday!**

**Shadgirl2: Enjoy the speedy updates while they last. She'll be back to being busy soon.**

**Midna: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

The four-day train ride to Neospace Kingdom sucked, plain and simple. I must have been the most entertaining thing on board because everyone kept laughing at me. They avoided Johan because of _his_ disguise, but _mine_ made me a circus attraction!

Needless to say, I was glad when we finally got off in Neospace. But we were in the castle town of Kodaiko, so I really wanted to stay out of sight and change my clothes.

"Aw, come on, Aniki," Sho said to me, grinning, as I looked all around for somewhere to change. I was really glad I'd decided to pack a spare set of clothes. "It wasn't _that_ bad."

"_You_ try wearing this!"

"Whoa. Talk about old-fashioned," Johan said, looking around in awe. "Is this _really_ what Neospace Kingdom looks like?"

I gotta say, if I hadn't, apparently, grown up here, I might have been shocked, too. The place was built in an older European style, with some houses made of brick and timber—Tudor houses, I recalled the name—and others wattle and daub.* The roads were paved with cobblestones, though I suddenly knew that the ones leading out of town would be nothing more than dirt paths. In stark contrast to the ancient architecture, there were lampposts and manhole covers for the sewage network and bicycles (non-motorized; we didn't have motor vehicles in Neospace). It was a blend of the ancient world and the modern, and total culture shock for anyone who'd never been.

The way people dressed was more of the same. Some men wore jeans and T-shirts, but others were dressed in trousers or leggings, along with tunics or jerkins, all of which were reminiscent of the Middle Ages. For women, it was the same—some wore pants, but very few. Most wore dresses, and these were divided among more modern styles with short skirts and more Medieval styles.

Either way, there wasn't anybody wearing a freaking powdered wig.

"Yes," I answered him, then I started walking. "Come on."

I shouldered my bag, bound and determined to find a place to change before even trying to get to the castle. After all, I was home now. Close enough, at least. There wasn't any reason to fear as long as I was in town.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

I just stared at the building Judai had walked into. It was too small for more than one person. I hadn't even known that these things still existed after this long! Apparently, in Neospace, time not only stood still but moved backward even! Judai had gone into a wooden outhouse with a tiled roof.

"Uh, sir?" I asked. "_What_ are you doing in there? I thought you went before we got off the train?"

"You think I'm going home looking like _that_?" he snapped at me. "They won't even let us anywhere _near_ the castle, given how _you_ look!"

Indignant, I gestured at myself, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "It's a disguise! Do you _want_ the bad guys to catch us before you can get home?"

"I'm not gonna _get_ home if I'm dressed like that! So I'll take my chances!"

"Well, okay. If you say so..."

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I opened the door and stepped out of the outhouse, dressed much more appropriately for a Neospacian prince. The only things I hadn't ditched in there were Sho's brother's boots, which I was still wearing. My shoes didn't really go well with my new outfit.

Speaking of Sho, he was staring at me. "Aniki...you look—"

"Besides that, if they're gonna find us here, they probably followed us or something. Meaning they already know _who_ we are, so it's pointless," I added.

"Well, maybe, but, _seriously_!" Johan exclaimed, looking a bit horrified. "Is _that_ a good idea!? Dressing like _that_? You stick out like a sore thumb now! And how'd you get my old play uniform, anyway?"

Yeah, that's right. I was wearing the Neospacian-style outfit Elise had offered me that day. The black pants and shirt fit well and were comfortable, with the legs of the pants hugging my legs well enough that I had the boots on over them. The shirt had a v-neckline. The deep green jacket, casually worn over the shirt, was left unfastened, as it was meant to be worn, the golden designs on the shoulders marking it as something for the nobility—or, in this case, royalty—to wear.

I looked at Johan lamely and asked, "Play uniform?" Shaking my head, I drove that thought away. I'd worry about the fact that he apparently pretended to be a Neospacian later. "Elise got me a bunch of old clothes that the rich didn't want anymore, and this was one of those. Besides that, we in Neospace tend to rely on our people to protect us from enemies when we're out and about, especially the stupid among us who leave the castle without any guards. There are plenty of people in this town who'd take a knife for me, so word will get home a lot faster than me."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew them to be true. I could trust the gossips to spread the word until it reached the castle, and I could trust my people not to attack me along the way. Part of why I was always sneaking out was because I knew that I could trust the people of Neospace with my life—for the most part. I'd been taught as much. When surrounded by my people, I had little to fear. Any assassin who would dare attack me in front of them could be fought off by the swordplay and hand-to-hand combat skills that I had been taught as a kid.

Which was why I was so cocky and thought I would be safe outside of town on my own, too. Go figure.

"Okay?" Johan asked, either not getting it or surprised that Neospacian royals trusted their people so much.

"Oh, my gosh!" a female voice sounded out behind me, and a rush of memories told me who it was. "Judai-sama! Is that really you!?"

As the memories quickly ran through my mind, I knew that this was one of those two girls I had recalled earlier—the younger of the two, the one I called a fake.

I sweat, but I wasn't entirely sure why my body reacted that way to her voice. "And _that_ could happen..." I turned to meet her brown eyes. "Hey, Rei! How's it going?"

The girl, a good four or five years younger than me, pounced me in a hug, causing me to stumble backward slightly. "Judai-sama!" she cried, laughing. "I'm _so_ glad you've returned! I've been so worried about you, darling!"

"Say, Aniki? Who is this? She's not your—"

"This is Rei," I cut him off, glad to know that the question he was about to ask was one I actually knew the answer to—and it was a resounding no.

"I'm his fiancé! Right, sweetie?"

Well, how's that for underhanded? If she had known I'd had amnesia, it might have been. As it was, it was just the delusions of a young commoner who thought she was in love.

"Huh!? B-but, Aniki! She's—"

Johan was staring, stunned. "She's a kid. Sheesh..."

Rei looked up at me, smiling. She also hadn't let go yet. "So? Who are your friends? Aren't you gonna introduce me to them?" She giggled, as though she had every right to know who they were, even though we weren't even really friends.

"You are _not_ my fiancé, Rei!" I corrected. "You just _wish_ you were!"

"Aw, come on!"

"Uh, not to butt in, pal, but, if she's not your fiancé, then who _is_ she?"

"I've been wondering the same thing, Jesse," Sho said.

"A friend," I said.

I guess my tone wasn't quite convincing because Johan and Sho looked at each other in confusion. Rei didn't catch it, though.

Rei let go of me, pouting. "Well, that's what _he_ keeps saying we are. But, really, we're much—"

"We're nothing more than that, Rei," I cut her off, resisting the urge to tell her that we really weren't even that much—she was a fake, here because of my title. One of those people who treated me differently after finding out. "Zip it. Anyway, these are some new friends of mine, Sho and Jesse."

Sho looked like he was feeling awkward—which made sense, considering. "Hi?"

"H-hello... One sec." Johan grabbed me by the arm and pulled me closer. He cupped a hand to my ear and whispered, "Seriously, pal, who _is_ this? It doesn't sound like you two are anything at all."

I whispered back, "She's one of those people who's trying to get close to me because of the benefits of being friends with a prince."

Johan sweat and stepped back, his eyes wide and a stunned look on his face as he stared at Rei. "I, uh, kinda think she's a bit worse than that, pal..."

I turned and saw Sho talking to her.

"You have a lock of Aniki's hair!? Can I see it!?" Sho asked, his eyes bright with excitement and his hands cupped.

Rei was grinning and looking proud, her eyes closed and her hands on her hips.

Johan sweat again and put on a lame look. "See what I mean?"

I stared, absolutely startled to find this out. Well, that explained the instinctive nervousness I'd felt when I heard her voice. And when she'd hugged me. And the relief when she let go.

"Right, yeah, I forgot about that part. You know, because I have _amnesia_?" I made sure to emphasize the last word, with heavy sarcasm, for good measure. I also turned back and looked at him when I said it—a look that basically screamed "you idiot." Just to make sure _he_ hadn't forgotten that.

"Sure, Sho!" Rei answered. "You can see my whole Prince Judai collection! Come on!" She started off, and Sho followed.

Johan stared for a moment, then said, "Remind me where you met _him_ again? 'Cause, no offense, but he's a bit crazy, don't you think?"

I laughed, thinking that was an understatement. "Sadly, that's the closest I can get to a real friend." Then, since they were already some distance away, I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, "Sho! Come on! We gotta get back home!"

Sho stopped and turned his head, looking upset. "But, Aniki!" he whined.

Okay, yeah. It was sad that the closest I could get to a real friend was also a stalker. But, hey, that's life. My life, at least.

"I wanna go home. And I don't wanna take a detour to Rei's place."

He gestured to Rei, looking desperate. "But she's got a—"

"I know, and it's disturbing enough that _she_ has one. Don't go turning into Rei on me, Sho!"

His shoulders slumped, and he sighed. "Fine. I'm coming, Aniki." He walked over, still slouched over.

"H-hey!" Rei said. "Who made _you_ his mother, Judai-sama!? He can stop by if he wants to!"

I resisted the urge to say that his mother had basically left me in charge of him and instead settled for, "Yeah, except he's moving, so he's gotta find out where to first, right?"

"Oh! Right! Carry on, then!"

In typical Rei fashion, she didn't seem to care that I had said she was disturbing. Most girls would think that was an insult. Rei was too focused on the power and wealth she'd gain from being queen to care, even if I called her the Wicked Witch of the West.

"Let's go, guys. Before she decides to try something else," Johan said. Muttering, he added, "Like follow us without our permission." Louder, he said to Rei, "Nice meeting you, Rei! See you around!" He smiled and waved, being polite.

Knowing that she'd do as she pleased, I muttered, "She'll follow anyway, Johan."

To my surprise, she didn't. At least, not that I know of. Unless she was sneaking around in the shadows, which I doubt. Instead, she waved and called back, "Nice meeting you, too! See you later, sweetie! Stop by sometime, and we can go out! I know the cutest little restaurant we can—"

"Thanks, Rei! Maybe some other time," I cut her off as I walked away.

"She seems nice," Sho commented as we walked toward the castle—which was easy enough to find, considering it had huge stone towers. "Aniki, what do you think of her? She's—"

"A stalker."

"Huh? Really?"

Before I could answer, another familiar voice caught my ear. "Yuki Judai! Where the hell have you been!?"

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, sighing. I knew that voice. And it brought a name to mind, just as Rei's had. "I'm getting tired of this already..." I turned and asked, "Would you be less mad if I told you I was kidnapped?"

Standing behind me, her hands on her hips, was a dark-skinned girl about my age. She had short purple hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders and green eyes. A gemstone was embedded in her forehead. She wore a purple dress that reached to her mid-thighs. It had an off-the-shoulder neckline, and there was a black sash around her waist. She had a gold choker around her neck and black wristbands.

She stared at me, suddenly looking concerned. "What?" she asked.

Well, that felt like a whole new thing. Maybe I'd misjudged her. If I was nice, maybe she wouldn't be a jerk to me, either.

"Yeah, and these guys have been helping me out since then," I told her. "Sho, Jesse, this is Yubel."

Sho hid behind me, apparently afraid of Yubel. I couldn't really blame him, considering my memories of her didn't paint a nice picture. Then again, he might just have been worried that she'd hit him, like everyone else he knew.

"Hi..."

"Uh, how do you do, ma'am?" Johan asked.

She stared for a bit, then looked at me lamely and asked, "You're letting a little kid and a creepy-looking thug help you? What have you been drinking lately?"

Okay, so much for kindness earning kindness. But I'd keep trying.

"H-hey!" Sho protested. "I-I'm not—"

"Very funny, Yubel," I cut him off. "Jesse's not a thug, and Sho's our age."

"Uh-huh. And I'm Mrs. George Washington," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "There's no way that's—" She cut herself off when Johan and Sho burst into laughter, raising an eyebrow at them. "What are they laughing at?"

"Great choice, pal!" Johan laughed. He was doubled over in laughter, clutching his stomach.

"Yeah! I couldn't have picked a better wife if I tried!" Sho agreed, falling to the ground.

"Oh, cut it out, you guys! And don't _even_ tell her!"

Yubel blinked, just staring. Then that lame look came back and she asked, "You just came from a tavern, didn't you?"

"No! Look, it's a long story, and I don't wanna talk about it out here!" I told her.

She grinned, obviously not believing me. I was starting to understand why I didn't like her. "Right. Well, don't worry, boys. We should have some coffee back at the castle. Let's go."

Somehow she managed to grab all three of us by the arms. She got Sho's and Johan's in one hand and mine in the other.

"H-hey!" the other two protested as she dragged us off.

"Geez, Yubel... We're not drunk!"

* * *

She dragged us through town, ignoring all of our protests that we were totally sober. She stopped by a familiar ditch—no, not a ditch. A moat. On the other side was a huge stone wall and a drawbridge, with towers on either side of it, stationed by guards.

"Hey!" Yubel called to them. "Open up! It's me! And I found something you've been looking for! And he could use some coffee, stat! Tell the cooks to heat some up!"

In spite of everything, I still protested, "Yubel!"

The guards stared down at us for a bit, and I swear I saw their lips move as they talked to each other. Surprise seemed to be the main thing they were feeling as they recognized me. Gee, wonder why that would be? I mean, it wasn't like I had been gone for weeks. Or was wearing different clothes. Or was, as Yubel was implying, drunk. Yeah, obviously, they had every right to wonder what the heck was going on. For all I know, they thought I had been drugged, which would mean that I'd been kidnapped, which would mean that they'd be more accurate than Yubel.

Either way, after a bit of staring, they lowered the drawbridge.

Yubel turned to the three of us and, sounding as though she were talking to toddlers, faked a gentle smile and dragged us across the bridge as she said, "Alright. Best behaviors, everyone. We're entering a sophisticated area. Try not to say anything _too_ stupid before you're sober again, okay?"

Geez, she was a pain! Did she _ever_ listen?

Inside the outer wall, we could see the huge stone structure that was the castle—a huge stone building with turrets, tall windows, and a tiled roof. She kept dragging us across the courtyard to the castle doors.

"How many times we gotta tell ya!?" Johan said. "We're not drunk, okay? He was just dressed like George Washington about an hour ago! Right, Judai?"

Did he seriously expect me to admit that? She already thought I was drunk! Why would I agree to a statement like _that_!?

"I told you not to tell her that, dummy," I said, all but admitting it—hey, the damage had already been done, so there was no point denying it. "It's not gonna help our case."

Admittedly, it would probably help his case. But it was going to make things way worse for me.

Yubel just stared at us. By this point, she had gotten us all inside, so we were just standing in the hallway.

"Alright," she said. "Let's go, your highness. Better see what _you_ were on before your dad finds out." Then she let go of Johan and Sho and started dragging me off through the halls.

"Yubel, it was a disguise! I _told_ you I was kidnapped, didn't I?" I protested. "And...and it's a long story that won't make sense if I just give you the short version! The Light's on the move!"

That seemed to get her attention. She stopped and turned, apparently waiting for me to continue.

I groaned. I didn't want to explain it to her only to have to go over it all over again when I saw my father. Besides, I had the feeling he'd probably let her listen, anyway. "You know, the last time I checked, my father's the only one I need to explain things to, not you."

"Uh-huh. Yeah," she said, and her tone convinced me that trying to explain it to her would be pointless—she wouldn't believe me, anyway. "And are your two cronies in disguise, too? And, if so, why are theirs so much better than _yours_ would have been? I mean, look at this guy." She hitched a thumb at Johan. "_He_ looks dangerous and like someone to avoid. Dressing like a freak that stands out like a sore thumb's not a very—"

I knew it was pointless, so I don't know why I wasted my breath when I said, "That was a last-minute desperate thing that some other people thought was a good idea, but I was against it all along. Jesse's had his disguise for awhile, and Sho's not disguised."

She grinned, looking at me like she thought I was an idiot. Or drugged. I think that's the closest she had probably ever come to pitying me at that point. "Right." She turned back the way she'd been dragging me and called, "Oh, Nurse! Look what I found! A very sick prince who's trusting an army of crazy people!"

Well, I guess she kinda believed my story. The gaps in it were still an issue, though, and I wasn't telling her everything just because Johan had a big mouth.

"Yubel!"

She dragged me into one of the rooms, then poked her head back out and said to the others, "You two can wait outside, if you want."

Then she slammed the door.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

I gotta say, I was feeling pretty guilty about just throwing Judai under the bus like that. But, hey, it was true. He _had_ been dressed like George Washington, even if he'd been grumbling about it the whole time.

"Well. That was weird," Sho said, and I couldn't help but agree. "So now what do we do, Jesse?"

I shrugged. "Wait? What else are we supposed to do?"

As we stood there waiting for Judai and Yubel, a muscular man approached the two of us. A man I instantly knew wouldn't like having me around.

He was dressed in a rich blue tunic designed in a similar style to that outfit I'd once had—the one Judai was wearing now. His white pants were obviously of the highest quality. Each of these garments were trimmed with gold, and there was a family crest sewed into the material over the left side of his chest: a dark panther, basically just a shadow, with a cape spread out over its back—the crest of the royal family of Neospace.

As if the crown on his head didn't already tell me he was the king.

King Kenta glared at Sho and me sternly. "State the nature of your business. I don't recall inviting _you_ into my domain," he said.

Sho sweat, looking nervous. Then the little guy ran behind me.

"Uh, well, sire, you see—" I started, but Judai cut me off when he opened the door.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Apparently the infirmary was on the ground floor, right inside the castle doors. Well, wasn't that _convenient_? I pulled away from the red-haired nurse and her stupid questions about drugs and alcohol—none of which I had touched—and stormed out, complaining.

"I'm telling you, that's not even close!" I yelled back at her as she called after me and started to give chase. "Yubel's just being her usual self and not listening to a word I'm saying, that's all!"

Wow. Five minutes into being home, and I was already starting to remember a lot.

"Judai? Is that really you?" a familiar voice said from in front of me.

I turned to see...my father. Aw, crap. This wasn't how I'd been hoping to find him. Here I was, storming out of the infirmary and complaining about Yubel as if it were any ordinary day, even though I'd been missing for weeks (at least; I wasn't sure how long I'd been away). He was bound to be furious with me, and I hadn't had any chance to explain myself yet. The fact that Yubel had ditched me once she'd gotten me inside the infirmary didn't help any.

After some careful deliberating, I decided it was best to be more formal—not enough to be calling him "majesty" but enough that I couldn't be accused of disrespect.

"Father."

"Well, well," he said, and he definitely sounded mad. "And where have you been? I've searched all the country side for you! Do you know how worried we've been while you were gone?"

I didn't bother saying that I didn't think he _should_ have been, considering how lousy I was as an heir. That would have just gotten me in more trouble. Even if it was true.

"I know, and I'm sorry," I said instead. "But I can explain."

My father crossed his arms and said, "Well, go on, then. And it better be a good one. All things considered." He glanced at Sho and Johan and added, "Am I to assume these two are with you, then?"

"Yes. See, I...was taking a nap outside of town when these four guys showed up. They grabbed me and took me...somewhere. A guy in a cloak showed up, preaching about fate, and said that I was going to surrender my power to him. He...he tried to brainwash me... Everything went white..."

My dad raised an eyebrow in concern, and I started thinking that I wasn't going to be in trouble for being gone for weeks. Well, that was good, considering that it wasn't my intention to be gone so long.

"It...was the Light of Destruction," I added. "It tried to control me, but I fought back. I wouldn't let it take control. But, now, my memory..." I shook my head. "I've been fighting amnesia ever since."

"I see," my dad said. He looked at Sho and Johan and asked, "And you two know about this, as well?"

That was about the time I realized Sho was hiding behind Johan. And he had a real intelligent answer, too. "Uh, duh, well..."

Johan was more articulate when he said, "Uh, what he means to say, sire, is that, when we met him, he was going by the name of Jaden and was on the run from the guys who attacked him. They're still after him, sire."

Well, after the trouble he'd caused me with Yubel, it was good to know that Johan could still take my side and help me when it really mattered. Who cared what Yubel thought? It was my parents I had to worry about.

"Y-yeah," Sho said, finding his voice. "That, and he was living with a nurse who was trying to help him regain his memory..."

My dad just stared at the two of them. It was starting to look like I'd even be off the hook for sneaking out, if only because I had amnesia. If that were true, I was suddenly glad that I had lost my memory when I'd been taken.

Then Johan opened his mouth and said the stupidest thing he could have, given what he'd told me earlier. "I, uh, have a confession, sire. See, my name's Johan, and I sought your son out because—"

"Johan?" my dad said, venom filling his voice. "You mean Prince Johan of the Kingdom of Kalmar?" His expression hardened, and I suddenly knew this would be the last I'd see of Johan. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead where he stood. "How _dare_ you set foot in our premises without my permission! I order you to leave this place immediately!" he snapped, pointing at the door.

Wow. He could have been more courteous, considering the guy was with me. He hadn't even let me explain what Johan was doing there. Sho ran behind me, scared of my father, and I couldn't blame him.

"Whoa, Dad, don't be hasty!" I protested, getting between him and Johan. "He's been helping me."

"Nonsense! There's no way an Andersen would do anything unselfishly! I suppose you don't remember what I've taught you about them, do you?" He got up in my face as he scolded me for not knowing why I should hate a guy who'd done nothing but help me.

"Uh, Dad? Could you back off? I barely remember anything, so please don't bite my head off."

Man, defending Johan was feeling like a really dumb idea just then. But he was my friend, and I couldn't just let my dad kick him out for being him.

"Get out this instant!" My father straightened up, getting out of my face, and pointed back toward the exit as he ordered Johan to get lost. "We don't need your kind running amok around here! You hear me!?"

"B-but, your Majesty!" Johan protested. "You don't—"

"Out! Now! Don't make me call the guards!"

"Uh, I've gotta run, Judai! Good luck with those Neospacians of yours!"

"Dad!" I protested one last time.

"Later!" Johan said, running off.

I just stood there, dumbfounded. How could my father actually be like that to someone I'd just told him had helped me? Maybe my thought that he didn't like me wasn't too far off. If he hated me, having Johan help me find my way home would be reason to kick him out.

So, yeah, just like that, I was convinced my father hated me.

My father watched Johan leave, glaring after him, then turned to me. He didn't look as menacing now, which, my brain said, didn't make sense if he hated me. Unless he was trying to hide that. Maybe he didn't think I knew. Maybe I didn't know until now, when I couldn't remember him very well. Maybe I was jumping to the wrong conclusion and he didn't hate me.

Either way, the king who might or might not have hated me asked, "Now, Judai? You were saying?"

Sho peeked out from behind me, leaving me to wonder when he'd moved. "Sc-scary..."

Regardless of why he'd acted that way, I was appalled. Yeah, big word for me, huh? But I couldn't believe he'd act like that to anyone. Was he always like that?

"Dad...I don't even know anymore," I told him.

"You said that the Light of Destruction is on the move, and their men attacked you, causing you to lose your memory, and you then found yourself living with a stranger?" he recapped what we'd just said. "Then, if that's true, how did you find your way back here? With no memory of this place, you shouldn't have known to come here."

Yubel came out of the infirmary just then, and I wondered how long she'd been listening as she said, "That's true. So, what happened? Did your little friend here help you figure it out?" She eyed Sho as she asked.

"Actually, _Johan_ helped me figure it out," I said. "Along with some others, like the nurse and her neighbor's daughter and some of her classmates, but Johan's the one who helped me get back here."

My father's expression hardened into a disappointed glare, as if the very idea that Johan would help me was so absurd that even amnesia wasn't an excuse to trust him. "That's absurd! You must be making this up. Why, I bet you weren't even kidnapped! You just got tired of your life as prince, so you—"

"I'm not kidding! I was kidnapped, and those guys are still after me!"

"That's enough, young man! You're obviously lying to me to cover your own—"

Was he really doubting me on this? The Light of Destruction was enough of a threat that even a pathological liar who came out and said something even vaguely related to it had to at least have his story investigated! The fact that I was saying Johan had helped me didn't mean that I was lying! No matter what my father thought of the Andersens, even they knew the Light was enough of a threat to put our differences—which I still hadn't seen—aside, at least for awhile! Why did our families hate each other so much!?

"Fine!" I cut him off. "Quiz me on my own life, if you want! Hook me up to a lie detector! I'll prove it!"

To my surprise, he said, "That's a good idea. Yubel. See to it that he doesn't go anywhere while I get everything ready." He started walking off, leaving me to wonder if I _was_ a pathological liar.

"Yes, sir!" Yubel said, grabbing my arm and holding on tight. "I won't let him leave my side."

I groaned.

"A-Aniki..." Sho stammered. "Is y-your d-dad usually this scary...?"

Good question, Sho, and I'd been wondering something similar earlier. As it was, Sho asking brought back some memories.

It was only sounds and voices, no images. I heard a child crying, and I realized it was me. Then my father's concerned voice: _**"Judai, how many times have I got to tell you? Don't climb the trees in the garden. It's too dangerous, okay?"**_

_**"S-sorry, Dad..."**_

**_"Come_**_** on, son. Let's get you cleaned up. Your mother's not going to like this one, that's for sure."**_

I remembered that day. I'd been climbing trees, a favorite pastime of mine, and I'd fallen out. I scraped myself up pretty bad, and I'd hit my head, too. It hurt to move, and the world had spun. The nurse had said it was a wonder I hadn't broken anything. My father heard me cry out as he was passing by, and he came running to find me bleeding on the ground.

"I...don't think so," I said, coming back to the present. "From what I can remember..."

"What?" Yubel asked. "You talking about Kenta, Amnesia-Boy? Well, you're right. He has been out of sorts in recent days. Most of us around here just figured it was due to your absence, but..."

Out of sorts? Because I was missing? So he hadn't been glad that he could find a new heir without casting the old one aside. No, of course not. He cared about me. I remembered that now. I frustrated him, but he did care. I wasn't just his heir—I was his son.

He came back over then, grabbing my arm firmly as he said, "Okay, boy. It's all set. Let's go."

So, okay, this really was just me being frustrating again. Once he realized I was telling the truth, it'd be okay. He'd calm down; he'd probably scold me for sneaking out, but he'd pull me into his arms when he did, glad that I was okay. First and foremost, I was his son, and, once he was sure I wasn't lying, we'd figure out a way to stop the Light and restore my memories.

"Aniki!" Sho cried, wide-eyed and tense. The phrase "deer caught in headlights" came to mind, even though it wasn't commonly used in Neospace—I'd picked it up in Kalmar. It was like Sho didn't want to be seen.

"It's okay, Sho," I assured him. "Don't worry."

He didn't listen, which is normal for him. Was this payback for driving my parents crazy? Sho was like me, only scared instead of reckless. Sho looked around, saw a potted tree, pulled it out, hopped in the pot, and put the tree back on top. Yubel stared at this scene, awed. Watching it over my shoulder as my father dragged me away, I couldn't blame her.

I sweat. "Sho..."

"Come on! This way!" my dad said, and he gripped my arm tightly, nearly pulling it out of socket as he dragged me along.

"Ow!" I protested. I didn't remember him ever being so rough with me, but it went against what little of him I did remember. "Dad!"

* * *

He dragged me into a small room with a big machine that looked like a laser. Now, even in Neospace, I knew that did _not_ count as a lie detector. It looked more like an instrument of torture, which worried me. Was I wrong again? What did my father actually think of me? Or was trusting an Andersen something that would get me punished, whether I remembered why I shouldn't trust them or not?

My father let go of me and locked the door behind him, which didn't do anything to calm me down.

I finally had to ask. "What's that?"

"That, Judai, is a Laser Baptizer," he answered. "It gives anyone it hits the Baptism of the Light of Truth, but in much more concentrated amounts. No one can resist its powers, not even a god. And you, my son, are next in line for the treatment." He grabbed me again and started pushing me toward the back wall, where the laser was pointing.

"Wait, what!?"

Please tell me he hadn't said what I thought he had said! _Please_! He couldn't be a Light Drone! He was the only chance I had!

"Don't bother struggling, my boy! There's nothing you can do! Now be a good boy and hold still while I fire it up!"

That was when I saw four cuffs attached to the wall, and he was pushing me right toward them. It made me think of that chair I'd been strapped to, and I activated my duel disk while throwing down Bladedge.

Too slow. My father snatched the card off my duel disk and flung it away before the monster even appeared. Then he grabbed my arms and pinned them to my sides.

"Hey! Let go!" I protested, struggling against his grip.

"Nice try, son! But I taught you everything you know! You cannot win in a fight against me."

As he talked, he shackled my arms to the wall, killing any chance I had of getting away.

"Why are you doing this!?" I demanded.

This had to be some sort of sick joke. He couldn't be serious. Could he?

He didn't answer. Instead, he bent down and shackled my legs, then got up and walked over to the laser.

"Dad, please!"

"I'm sorry, son. It's for your own good."

My blood ran cold. This wasn't a joke. He was serious. My own father was about to try to turn me into a Light Drone. And, whether it worked or not, I'd be in worse shape than I already was.

He fired up the laser and took aim. "Ready?"

Suddenly the whole room started shaking.

My father looked around. "What's going on here!?"

On the other side of the room, the wall exploded, which I guessed was one way to get into a locked room. Out in the hallway, through the opening it had blasted in the wall, I could see a huge white dragon with gold designs and orange eyes.

My father backed up. "No... It cannot be..."

Suddenly Johan appeared, hopping up on the head of the dragon. He was crouching on one knee, a hand resting on the other and a smile on his face.

"J-Johan!?" I asked. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought he'd left. Granted, I was glad he hadn't, considering he was about the only person who could have saved me then. Sad, really, that I could actually trust a total stranger whose family hated mine more than my own father. Especially considering how ticked my dad was when I let him know I trust Johan.

"Hey, pal!" he answered, hopping down and landing inside the room with us. "Hope I'm not interrupting something!"

Joking about this situation? Well, it was easier than thinking about it, so I joined in. "Oh, just some father/son brainwashing! No big deal, really!"

Johan was running over to help me, his dragon keeping my father distracted just by being there.

"This cannot be!" my father cried. "How did you find out about this, Johan Andersen!?"

"It's simple!" Johan answered, fiddling with the cuffs as he spoke. "I ran into your wife on the way out, and, when she told me how _you'd_ been acting lately, I figured you'd been through the same thing as my dad and rushed back in. Though, I've gotta admit, you're a lot smarter than my dad, that's for sure. Wouldn't have found you guys, if not for my trusty friend Ruby Carbuncle."

"You met my mom?" I asked. My arms were free by now, and he was working on my legs.

My father growled. "Fine! You've found us! But don't think you're out of the woods just yet, you two! My laser's still ready to fire! All I need to do is—" He cut himself off, looking at the laser. I hadn't noticed, either, but it was sparking, like it was damaged. I guess the dragon hit it. "What!?"

Johan freed my legs and said, "Uh-huh. Well, you have fun with that. In the meanwhile, we're gonna get out of here and go save the world. Come on, pal!" he said to me, running for the dragon on the other side of the room. "Let's get Sho and Yubel and get going!"

I followed Johan over to his dragon. I didn't comment on the thought of taking Yubel. She might be a Light Drone, but, if she wasn't, it would be better to get her out of here before she could be made into one.

"Hey! You can't do that! Get back here!" my father called.

The dragon roared at him as Johan and I ran out of the room.

* * *

When we ran down the hallway toward them, I guessed that Sho was still in the pot, considering that Yubel was standing beside it with her arms crossed and a lame look on her face.

"Really, kid. What's your problem. It's not like the king's gonna—"

"Yubel! Sho! We gotta go! Now!" I called as we ran toward them.

Yubel turned to us, her eyes widening. "What!?"

Sho poked his head out of the pot. "Aniki! What's going on!?"

Johan grabbed Yubel's arm as he ran past her. "No time to explain! We've gotta get out of here before something bad happens!"

"Hey! Whoa!" she protested as he dragged her off.

"Aniki!?" Sho asked, wide-eyed.

I grabbed him out of the pot, not caring when the whole thing toppled over. "Come on!" I ordered, carrying him away from there as if he were a little kid.

"Quickly! Down this hallway! My beasts are waiting!" Johan said, pointing down the hallway.

"Hey! What's going on here!?" Sho asked. "Someone invading the castle!?"

"Worse!" I answered.

The only way I can describe my feelings right then is to say that I felt alone. My own father had just tried to induct me into the Society of Light. And just when I had finally realized that he actually cared. But, as a Light Drone, he couldn't care about me. I was the enemy of the Light, and he was under its control. What if others in the castle were under its control, too? He'd probably add my mother soon enough—it was a wonder he hadn't already, and I couldn't stand that I had to leave her behind. If the Light Drones were going to start acting like my allies, was there really any way I could trust anyone? My father hadn't even been wearing that much white!

We got to the end of the hall and rounded the corner as Yubel stammered, "Y-you don't mean—"

_"__Johan! Over here! Hurry!"_ someone called.

Not far away were three animals, clearly Duel Monsters brought to life. There was a white pegasus with a horn and sapphires in his wings, a white tiger with spikes on his legs and head and topaz stones in his neck, and a pink cat with golden decorations on her legs and chest, where there was an amethyst. The pegasus was the speaker.

"Got it, pal!" Johan answered him. "We're almost there!"

He tossed Yubel on the pegasus, then mounted himself. If I wasn't so upset, I might have found Yubel's reaction to being flung comical; as it was, I barely noticed her eyes widen and her hands shoot down to her skirt. As for me, I put Sho on the pink panther, thinking she looked less intimidating and was less likely to scare Sho into jumping off, then I climbed on the tiger's back.

_"__Hold on, kid!"_ the cat said to Sho as she crouched down as if she was ready to pounce something. _"I'm gonna speed!"_

"R-right!" Sho wrapped his arms around her neck, pressing himself to her back.

"Alright, everyone! Move!" Johan commanded. "We've got to get out of here, now!"

_"__Right!"_ the three of them agreed, and the cat and tiger ran for it while the pegasus took flight.

Just like that, my return home ended.

* * *

***These two styles of houses were from the later Medieval period in Europe. Tudor houses were where the wealthy lived, and were a way to have sturdy homes while compromising on the materials since brick was expensive. Wattle and daub houses were peasant homes, and they started with a wooden frame, which then had the spaces filled with woven twigs called waddle before the twigs were daubed with mud that dried and created a hard wall. Hey, better than living in straw houses, like they used to.**


	19. Camping in the Woods

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

We didn't stop until we were out of town, hiding out in the forest beyond the city limits. Since none of us had really planned on camping, we didn't really have any supplies, but that was the last thing on my mind right then.

Some of us, on the other hand, seemed to think that was a hugely important detail.

"So remind me again why we're way out here in the middle of nowhere?" Yubel asked once we were all gathered around a campfire—which Johan had started. "What happened back there, anyway?"

"What happened?" I shrieked. "WHAT HAPPENED!? My own father just tried to add me to the Society of Light, _that's_ what happened!"

Sure, I was emotional, but can you really blame me? I mean, my father, who I could barely remember, had just tried to induct me into the Society of Light. Not exactly a great memory to have as the first and most clear thing ever.

"Calm down, pal," Johan said. "That happened to me, too. That's how I knew yours would try the same thing. What your mother described sounded a lot like the way mine had been acting right before he challenged me to a duel, intending to do the same thing! Luckily I won and was able to escape. Though I stole the family Crystal Beast deck, just to be safe." He grinned sheepishly as he added that last part, rubbing the back of his head.

Ugh, really? Was I supposed to know what those were? This was getting seriously old.

I put a hand to my head, my annoyance showing clearly. "Crystal Beasts? Care to elaborate?"

"Oh, they're nothing special," Johan said. "Just a symbol of power in my kingdom only to be used by the king himself. In other words, I stole my father's deck. But, hey, it's not like he was using it responsibly right now, anyway. And, besides, they've grown attached to me. Right, guys?" The last part he said to his deck.

"So now what do we do?" Sho asked. "Without those Neo-Spacians, we can't—"

"Hold up," Yubel cut him off. "What do you know about the Neo-Spacians? You're neither royal _nor_ Neospace Kingdom nobility. How did _you_ find out about them?"

Sho sweat, laughing awkwardly.

Annoyed, I explained, "I might have mentioned them in passing. You know, because I can't remember anything, so I keep looking for help everywhere?"

Really, how many times did I need to point out for people that I had freaking _amnesia_!?

Yubel put a hand to her head as if I were the simple one. "Ugh. Judai, you idiot! You can't go telling a bunch of random strangers about—"

I was ready to retort with a complaint about how an amnesiac wouldn't know that there was anything about his life that should be kept secret, which probably would have led to a rather lengthy argument, but Johan cut her off.

"Anyway, guys. This is a serious problem. I mean, with Judai having amnesia and Kenta being under the control of the Light of Destruction, how are we ever going to find those Neo-Spacians now?"

"You've got to be kidding," Yubel said to me. Guess she really wanted to argue today. "So you can remember that you need them, but you can't even remember _that_? What kind of amnesia have you got?"

By some miracle, I kept my temper in check. "I don't even actually remember that I need them," I answered her, proud of how calm I was sounding. "I was told by Johan that I need them. I'm not even entirely sure what they are."

Yubel looked at me lamely, then started with the random creature names. "...Humming bird, mole, scarab beetle—"

"What are you doing?" Johan asked.

"Watch and learn. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. Panther, little green man, dolphin..."

I already had some idea what she was up to—while she was doing this, images flashed in my mind. A red hummingbird on two legs, a mole with a drill split in half around its neck, a scarab beetle standing on two feet as well. With these next words, I saw a black panther with a cape—like the Neospacian royal family crest, I realized—then a glowing, humanoid creature; and a blue and tan dolphin with arms and legs.

"...The Neo-Spacians..." I said, realizing what those images were.

"Yeah? What about them?" Yubel asked. "Oh, and don't forget: white spacesuit-wearing man with red stripes down his sides, yellow eyes, and—"

She didn't even need to finish that description—an old painting flashed through my mind, showing the creature she was describing in full detail, including blue gemstones.

"Neos."

"Hey, Yubel, how are you doing that?" Johan asked. "We tried everything we could to get him to remember anything useful. But he just—"

"Wanna see it again? Watch this. My mother was real mean and nasty to me. Bet yours wasn't much better with you. Was she, Judai?"

Again I heard voices. No images, just the voice. First it was a woman humming a lullaby, followed by the words, _**"Good night, sweet heart. I love you."**_

Then another: _**"Judai, stop playing with your food. It's not a toy, young man."**_

**_"_**_**And that's a butterfly. Isn't it pretty?"**_

Even without any images to go with these memories, I knew who that was. "...Mom..."

"Yeah. She's a real jerk, ain't she?" Yubel prodded.

"No. She...she's great." My voice hitched a bit as I spoke. Suddenly I was missing my mom—childish as it sounds. I really wanted to go home.

"Wow, Aniki!" Sho exclaimed. "Does that mean you actually remember her!? How'd you do that?"

"I...remember a few things. Just voices, though."

"But, still, that's—"

"Okay, Yubel," Johan said. "What's your secret? How are you getting him to remember that stuff? He couldn't do that on his own, trust me."

"Simple. The memories are still there, he just can't access them on his own. You can tell that it's different from any other form of amnesia because, when you say the right things or use the right words, you force his brain to remember something that either goes along with what you were saying or something that contradicts it. You just need the right keys, is all."

Something about that just seemed weird—I mean, keys? To my memories? It's a weird thought that somebody could say something and know for sure it would bring back something. It was also annoying to think that they could do that when I couldn't remember anything at all, no matter how hard I tried.

"So are you saying that his mind's like a safe, and we just have to crack the codes to get the information we need?"

"Well, based on my experiments just now, that's about right. Now all we've gotta do is think of some words or phrases that will help him remember the secret Neo-Spacian location. Hmm." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, thinking hard. "Let's see now..."

"A safe?" I asked. That analogy was weird.

"Pretty cool! Let me try one! Now, let's see..." Sho put a hand on his chin and started thinking hard about something that he could try to uncover—or, I guess, "unlock"—in my mind.

I sweat. Was he planning on playing around with me, like some sort of game? I hoped that none of them were thinking that this _was_ some sort of game. It was weird enough that my mind was being compared to a safe without having my friends playing games with my head—literally.

"Hey, I'm not a toy..."

Yubel's eyes snapped open as she said, "Got it! Listen closely, boy!" Then she used her "key". "Well, I guess we'll never find those dumb Neo-Spacians. It's not like there's anyone in the universe who knows their hidden location, right?"

Okay, so I guess the safe analogy was pretty fitting because her words brought something to mind yet again. A book flashed through my mind—a library book. I knew the title, the number in the system, and that there was a lock on it.

Not that that made any sense, but...

"...A book? 7745, _Neospace Secrets._"

Yubel gestured to me, looking kind of smug, if you ask me. "And there you go," she said, seemingly pleased to have "cracked the code."

"That's great, Yubel," Johan said. "But how are we supposed to get it? We can't exactly walk back in there and ask the royal librarian for it, now, can we?"

"It's got a lock on it, too," I pointed out.

"Great!" Sho cried. "Now we're never gonna get those cards! And the world's gonna be taken over, and—"

"Calm down, Sho!" Johan cut him off. "We'll think of something. Hmm..." He sat there, deep in thought, his chin resting on one hand.

Yubel stretched and yawned. "Well, while you boys think up a good battle plan, I'll see about getting some beauty sleep..." She yawned again, fluffing Johan's backpack, which she was obviously planning to use as a pillow.

I can't say what bothered me more—the fact that she was planning on using someone else's things without permission or the fact that she was planning on letting us do all the work.

I just stared at her for a moment before asking, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

After all, it seemed perfectly in-character for Yubel.

Sho yawned, too, rubbing his eyes. "So, what's the plan then..." He yawned again. "How are we gonna...get in there, and..." He finished with another yawn.

Totally opposite of Yubel. _He _wanted to help, even though he was tired.

"How about you get some sleep?" I told him. "We'll figure it out."

"But I'm not tired, An..." He blinked slowly, sleepily. "Aniki. Honest..." he yawned.

I grinned and teased, "Oh, so that's why you're not yawning, huh?"

"He's got the right idea, anyway, Judai," Johan decided. "We should try getting some rest, too. We can think up a plan tomorrow."

I guess he had a point. After all, it was pretty late, and it hadn't exactly been an easy day for any of us.

"Somebody should stand guard," I pointed out, thinking of the four emperors.

"Agreed. You wanna take the first watch? Or should I?"

Sho fell over, asleep.

I was grateful for Johan's offer, but it really didn't matter anyway. I'd be up all night, regardless. After a day like that, I didn't think I'd be able to shut my brain off long enough to actually fall asleep.

"I'll do it," I said because of that.

Johan nodded. "Okay! Wake me when you're ready to rest, and I'll take over for you. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

He stretched out, leaning on a tree. "Well, good night, pal. Have a good watch," he said, closing his eyes.

Yeah, have a good watch. I'd be up all night, thinking about my dad, my mom, and everything else. After all, my father was a Light Drone, and we'd left my mother at his mercy. Not like we'd had a choice, but still, it didn't make me feel any better. What kind of son was I, anyway? And I was a pretty lousy hero if it was my job to fight this Light. After all, I'd let it take over my own father!

With thoughts like that running through my head all night, I never needed to wake Johan. I just sat there, staring at the fire until it burned itself out.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

When I woke up, it was morning. That was weird. At least, given the circumstances. I sat up and looked at Judai quizzically. He was still awake, staring off into the distance.

"What happened?" I asked. "Couldn't sleep?"

He just shook his head, looking totally miserable.

I got up and went to sit beside him, then asked, "What's wrong, pal? Still thinking about yesterday?"

"Yeah..." he admitted reluctantly.

Wow. He sure was worried about his parents. I put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It'll be okay. Look, all we've gotta do's figure out how to get that book and find those Neo-Spacians, and we should be able to put a stop to this."

"Yeah, you're right." He looked at me and asked, "So how are we gonna do that?"

I didn't have a chance to answer before Yubel woke up with a yawn. "So?" she asked, stretching. "What's for breakfast?"

As if she were his alarm clock, Sho shot awake, his eyes wide. "Huh!? Wha!? I fell asleep!? W-when did I—Aniki!" Being right across from Judai, it wasn't too hard for him to get up on all fours and lean into the brunette's face. Man, when I said he had a weird friend, I didn't even know the half of it. "W-what happened last night!? Did I miss anything important!?"

I sweat. This was suddenly very awkward. "Right. Why don't you take him somewhere to calm him down, and find us something to eat while you're at it?" I suggested, thinking it could help Judai get his mind off things, too. "Meanwhile, I'll see if Yubel and I can't come up with some way of busting in there. Sound good?"

"Yeah, okay," he said, getting to his feet. "Come on, Sho. Let's see about finding some food."

Sho didn't move, which left me feeling more uncomfortable. He was creeping me out more the longer I knew him. "B-but what about the plan!? What are we—"

"We don't know yet. Come on," Judai cut him off.

"B-but—"

"Sho, we haven't talked about a plan yet! All you missed was me sitting up all night listening to Johan snore!"

Wait, snore? _Johan?_ I turned suddenly, looking up at him. "I snore?"

After a moment's hesitation, Sho said, "Okay." Then he got up and left with Judai, leaving me still wondering about the snoring.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Sho and I wound up going fishing with some makeshift fishing poles made with sticks, Sho's shoelaces, and some bread. Not very productive, but we did catch one fish. After a bit of failing, Sho decided to use his coat as a net and caught a couple more fish with it.

Three fish was enough, I figured, so we headed back to camp, where we found Johan and Yubel playing in the dirt.

"Okay," Johan was saying, staring at their diagram on the ground. "So what you're saying is these guard towers are full 24/7," he pointed at the locations with a stick, "and there's even guys walking the exterior wall day and night, so they'd see us for sure if we tried swimming the moat."

Suddenly I knew what they were doing. They'd drawn up a diagram of the castle, mapping out important details.

Yubel nodded. "That's right. So there's really no way _to_ sneak in. They'd see you in an instant, no matter what you did."

"Well, that's a problem," Johan said. He put a hand to his chin, thinking. "Hmm..."

I looked at their diagram, and the annoying safe door opened in my mind again. I saw the exterior wall of the castle, and a small hole at the bottom, just big enough to crawl through. I saw myself crawling through, pinning myself to the wall once I'd managed to get through the hole, and slinking along the wall until I came to a weeping willow tree growing on that side of the moat. There was a rope hidden away, camouflaged among the branches. I took hold of it and waited for the guards to pass up above before swinging across to safety, making sure I hadn't been spotted, and taking off.

"There's one way," I said.

Everyone turned to me.

"Really, pal? You remember something?"

"Yeah, how I always sneak out."

"What!?" Yubel cried, looking all too excited. "You're actually gonna tell me this!? You're serious!?"

Somehow, her eagerness just made me regret speaking up at all. She was on her hands and knees, leaning toward me with her face just bursting with her excitement.

I backed up a bit, suddenly remembering that it was a _secret_. "Well, not now..."

"Come on, pal," Johan said. "This is serious! We've gotta know so we can find those cards and stop the Light from taking over! Now, what's more important? Your secret pass to freedom, or the world?"

Dang it, Johan was right. Although I hated to admit it. I sighed. Maybe I could swing it so that Yubel wouldn't have to find out. After all, I doubted either Johan or Sho would be telling my father about my little secret exit.

"Does _she_ really have to know?" I asked. "I mean, all of us sneaking in isn't going to work so well."

"Hey, with the way _you_ are right now, you're gonna _need_ me in there!" Yubel countered. "_I_ still know what the place is like inside, being a member of the castle staff and all."

"She's right, pal. There's no other choice."

Well, so much for _that_ escape route...

"Alright... There's a hole in the wall. And a tree with a rope hidden in it. A weeping willow."

Yubel's eyes widened. Her expression was torn between angry and appalled. "You didn't! You attached a rope to that old thing _just_ to get away whenever you _felt_ like it!? What is _wrong_ with you!? That's the stupidest—"

The more time I spent with her, the more I was realizing why we didn't get along at all. Her little lecture there was the key to remind me _why_ I snuck out all the time. It wasn't because I was overworked—not entirely, at least. It wasn't because I hated my life. It wasn't because I had friends outside the castle walls. No, it was because of _her._ That lousy, insensitive, good-for-nothing witch!

"Hey, how else am I supposed to stay sane!?" I demanded. "I live with _you_!"

Yubel stood up indignantly. "Hey! That's _my_ line! Do you know just how—"

"Guys, guys!" Johan cut in. "Focus! We need a plan here! Remember!?"

Neither of us said anything, just staring each other down in tense silence for a few seconds. Vaugely, I remembered that this was a rather common discussion for Yubel and me. Though, typically, it started with her getting on me for sneaking out all the time and led on to the rest. Finally, Yubel sat down, saying, "Right."

I don't know what she was thinking during our brief staring contest, but I was remembering that it felt like her favorite pastime was driving me crazy. It wasn't uncommon for her to get on me just for the sake of getting on me. She teased me a lot, she lectured me even more, and she always seemed to think she was better than me.

But this wasn't the time to worry about that. Johan was right yet again.

"Okay. Are we good now?"

"Yeah, whatever," I said.

"Get on with it already, will ya?" Yubel demanded.

"Right. Now, let's see..."

The rest of the day was spent planning how to get inside the castle and find out where the Neo-Spacians were. With any luck, we'd be leaving with them. After all, if this didn't get me those cards, it wasn't worth telling Yubel anything that I'd just told her!


	20. The Neospacian Royal Library

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Johan's POV**

Late that night, under the cover of darkness, we headed out to initiate our plan. I could tell that Judai wasn't too thrilled about having Yubel along, but he'd just have to suck it up. After all, we _did_ need her for this.

With Sho watching the wall from a distance, Judai, Yubel, and I crept up to the willow in question, and Judai pointed the rope out. It was, unfortunately, out of range, most likely because it was meant for sneaking _out_, not _in. _The last time it had been used, Judai had probably been trying to get back inside before he was caught.

"I can't believe you," Yubel said to Judai. "How can you call yourself a noble prince if you're always doing stuff like this?"

I sent Ruby Carbuncle over to get the rope and just leaned on the tree, watching the show with my arms crossed while I waited. Those two were acting so childish right then. It was unbelievable! Amusing, but unbelievable.

"Who said I called myself one?" Judai retorted. "That's you, not me."

Ruby climbed down onto the rope and swung it over. I reached out and grabbed it, but then looked over my shoulder at the other two, concerned. They were still glaring at each other, as if they hadn't even noticed that I had the rope. Were they paying any attention, or was their fight more important right now than our mission to get the Neo-Spacians and save the world?

"Yeah, well, you should," Yubel said. "You're the prince, for crying out loud!" She jabbed a finger in Judai's face, glaring. "And need I remind you that you're an _only_ child? Which means that you're gonna have to—"

Well, that answered my question, at least. Their fight was more important to them. I had to get them back on track somehow.

"Uh, guys? If you're done arguing, I've got the rope and am ready to go whenever you are," I said, looking at them lamely. Really, were they _blind_ when they started going at it?

Judai glared at me. Wait—glared? _Judai?_ That wasn't normal. "We're never done arguing, but we can pause if our discussion is inconveniencing you," he said, his tone totally off from what it usually was. He was being sarcastic and uncooperative and...well, I think you get the point. For some reason, he seemed to be in a _really_ bad mood. How bad _was_ Yubel?

The girl crossed her arms with a humph. "Might as well get going, Andersen. That's as good of an answer as you're gonna get from an immature _child_ like him."

That was real funny, coming from her. After all, she wasn't acting any better right then. From what I'd heard, she had started it, even. This wasn't the time to be lecturing Judai about sneaking out of the castle. They were _both _being immature and childish. No mature person would act this way on a mission requiring stealth.

Judai glared at her, and I could see the fight wasn't over as long as either of them kept talking. "Remind me why you live here again?"

So they kept going, much to my annoyance. Seriously, what was _wrong _with those two? It was like they were genetically programmed to hate each other. I sighed and contacted Sho, using a set of walkie-talkies we had. Those two could keep going at each other for now. First and foremost, I had to focus on the mission, especially if neither of them was going to.

"Sho? Is the coast clear yet?"

"Y-yeah," he answered. "But hurry up 'cause there's one about to round the corner opposite you guys any minute now, okay?"

"Right, got it." I slipped the walkie-talkie away and turned my attention back to the Fighting Duo. "Guys, get a move-on! Sho says the coast's clear for the moment!"

Yubel nodded, which was a huge relief. At least one of them was cooperating! Maybe she _was_ slightly more mature. "Right. I'm on it." She grabbed the rope and swung across.

With one of them gone, I turned my full attention on Judai, concerned. After all, Yubel had cooperated when I asked, but Judai had given that snappy comment about their arguing, and he was still acting like he'd rather be anywhere else. I didn't know what had gotten into him. Was it Yubel's attitude? His blown secret? There was only one way to find out for sure, though, so I figured I might as well ask.

"You okay, pal?"

The way he acted with Yubel reminded me of how our families felt about each other, as if _Yubel_ were the heir to the Kalmar throne and _I _was a trusted friend from somewhere else. Usually Judai was so friendly with everyone, even after being told that he wasn't supposed to get along with them. I mean, I can't say what would have happened if he and I had met under different circumstances, but I'd like to think we still could have gotten past our families' differences and become friends. But, for some reason, this friendly attitude of his didn't extend to Yubel. And it was making him so snippy, as if he didn't actually _want_ to save his father—even though he'd been up all night the night before worrying about that. We had a plan that could help save him, so why was Judai acting like this? Something told me that this thing with Yubel was deeper than I knew.

"Yeah. Fine," he said, but he sure didn't sound it. "Remind me why the useless amnesiac child had to come? I gave you guys all the info you need."

Well, if his tone hadn't told me he was mad, his words did! He clearly wasn't thinking straight, considering that the chosen prince would probably be the only one who could actually get those cards. What did that girl _do,_ anyway? He'd said that he needed an escape route to stay sane because he lived with her, but what did that mean? Was she some sort of slave driver or something? And this secret of his...was it really so important? I sure hope he wasn't being literal when he said that he'd go insane if he didn't have a way out.

Regardless, I figured it would be better to worry about this stuff later and remind Judai what it was we were supposed to be doing. Hey, there would be plenty of time to work out his little problems later. I was sure they weren't as bad as he was making them out to be. After all, I'd been working with Yubel all day, and she didn't seem that bad.

So, with that in mind, I gave him a stern glare and pointed at him, saying, "'Cause it's _your_ family's secret. Not ours." I grabbed the rope as I added, "Now stop complaining and get over there. I'll be right behind ya."

I made sure to stay stern with him as I handed him the rope. Well, if nothing else, I was getting good practice for when I became a father someday. I mean, seriously, Judai was acting like he was about five years old! Maybe Yubel was right about his maturity level. Then again, he wasn't this bad when she wasn't around.

Finally, _finally_, Judai took the rope and swung across. Well, he was listening now. But this left him and Yubel alone together over there for the time being—our window of opportunity had passed while I'd been trying to talk sense into Judai. There hadn't been enough time for me to cross with them because of that, so I had to wait for the next opening.

Hopefully they wouldn't get themselves caught while they were waiting. Or kill each other. Really, those two brought out the very worst in each other.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Yubel and I had to wait for Johan, who needed to wait for the next opening. Neither Yubel nor I said a word while we waited. Probably the safest course to take—if we didn't talk to each other, we couldn't argue.

When Johan came over, he grinned and said, "Well, guys. I'm impressed. You're not arguing with each other."

Yubel humphed, turning her head away. I didn't say anything, though I was thinking he probably shouldn't jinx it. After all, we could start up again in a heartbeat.

The three of us slunk along the wall until we reached my escape hole—which would surely be filled in once this was all over. Yubel didn't seem too thrilled about the size, though, most likely because she'd have to get down on her pretty little belly and wriggle through.

"You've _got_ to be kidding," she said, staring at it.

Not being prissy, Johan was already halfway through. Unfortunately, this left me listening to the girl's complaints.

"There's no _way_ I'm going in there. I'll get grass stains all over my dress."

"Now who's the baby?" I asked.

"Hey. This is a genuine silk—"

My mind tuned out all the junk in her sentence as she told me how fancy schmancy her stinking dress was. I really didn't care. If I was being immature complaining about losing my escape route, then she was being immature complaining about ruining her dress.

"And it's dry-clean only!" I heard when I actually bothered listening again. "You can't possibly expect me to—"

"Rich whiners," I cut her off. "You know that's the one thing I can't stand."

She did—I was sure of it. After all, she'd been around enough times when I'd been forced to listen to somebody complain about messing up their fancy clothing with a tiny spot, or bemoan the fact that there was something _slightly_ off with their drink—I'm talking something like the wrong _kind_ of milk in their coffee: soy instead of dairy, 1% instead of skim...that sort of thing. And she knew that I didn't exactly sympathize with them ever. So why complain to me about this?

"Hey. You're rich, too, you know," she pointed out. "I bet you've got at least _one_ outfit you'd hate to—"

"Hey," Johan called back in a whisper. "You two coming, or am I gonna have to figure things out by myself?"

Yubel crossed her arms and looked away, sticking her snooty nose up in the air. "I can't do it. There _must _be some other way." She started looking around, as if it would be staring her in the face.

"Right, have fun finding a way in that the immature prince who's been sneaking in and out of here since he was five didn't find," I told her, crawling into the hole myself. "I knew there was no reason I should tell you. You're too afraid to follow anyway."

"You're a real idiot, you know that? But fine. I'll see you boys later. There's gotta be _some_ alternative route."

So, ever the rich snob, she started sneaking along the wall in search of another entrance. Looked like I'd blown my secret for no reason.

"What was that all about?" Johan asked me when I crawled through.

We were both hidden behind a bush that I myself had planted years back to hide the hole. And, yeah, there were grass stains on my outfit, but it didn't really matter to me, especially given the situation.

"1000 yen says she's just making sure there aren't any other weak spots she'll have to tell my dad about so I can't sneak out anymore," I said, annoyed with Yubel. Just so we're clear, 1000 yen is only worth about eight dollars in Kalmar's money, which should give you a pretty good idea of why I was so surprised when Elise took me shopping. "Though, supposedly, she doesn't wanna get her dress dirty." I rolled my eyes.

"Girls. What are you gonna do? So, anyway, where to now?"

That was a good question. One that I couldn't answer, either, considering nobody had unlocked the location of the library in my mind.

"Uh..."

Johan stared at me for a moment, then sweat. "Right. The amnesia. Okay! No biggie! I'll just send Ruby out to scout ahead!" I didn't see anything, so I figured it was one of those spirits that I couldn't see. After a moment, Johan said, "Now we just sit back and wait."

Apparently Johan thought we needed to talk because, while we were waiting for his weird-looking cat, he brought up Yubel.

"While we're waiting, let's talk about something important: Yubel and you. So what's the deal, pal? It's obvious you two don't get along, but how do you know that, and why is that anyway? She seems nice enough to me."

"She's pretty much my babysitter," I answered. That much was coming back easily enough. She was part of the castle staff because she was supposed to be keeping an eye on me. There might have been more to it, but, at the time, I didn't remember what else. "Even when we were kids, she was always running off and telling my parents every single little thing that I did wrong. And she's always trying to make me act like someone I'm not."

It's funny how just running into Yubel and spending one day with her had brought back so much. I remembered her telling my father I'd skipped class, coming over with him when I was climbing trees, lecturing me on how a prince should behave...the list just goes on and on.

Johan laughed, keeping it quiet considering where we were and what we were doing. "Yeah, I see where you're coming from. But do you think it's at _all_ possible for you guys to at least try to get along? Just this one time so we don't get caught, please?"

I could tell he was really worried about that, and I knew he had a point. If Yubel and I kept fighting with each other and going blind to our surroundings, we'd be in serious trouble.

So I shrugged. "If she can quit with the attitude for, like, an hour, maybe."

"Why don't you try being the bigger man? That way, you'll be better than _she_ is?" He sounded kinda desperate.

"Yeah, okay," I said, though I figured it'd be pretty difficult. After all, Yubel was like a flea: she was a nuisance that was impossible to get rid of and tough to ignore.

"What are you two idiots still doing back here?" Yubel suddenly said, standing in front of us. That one instance proved my point—annoying and _still_ there. She obviously hadn't come through the hole—_that_ was behind us.

"How—?" I started, staring at her in horror. Hey, you would, too, if your worst nightmare was suddenly standing right in front of you.

"Hey, how did you—" Johan asked, turning back to the hole she hadn't used.

"Simple. I snuck around to the servants' entrance and snuck in there. Bet you're wishing you'd have thought of that. Right, Prince?" She smirked.

Johan just stared, awestricken.

"Yeah, like anybody'd buy it if I tried that," I said. "_You_ can actually qualify as a servant."

She crossed her arms, looking annoyed, meaning my comment had done exactly what I'd been hoping it would. "I meant tonight, stupid. _I_ didn't simply walk in there, either. Or do the words 'I snuck in' mean the exact opposite in Judainese?"

"Well, if it's such a genius move, why didn't you..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "Never mind. I know why you didn't say anything sooner."

Did I mention I hate Yubel? She's a sadistic and spoiled rich girl who loves taunting people—at least me.

Sounding amused and cheery, Johan sweat, saying, "Uh, guys, as great as this argument is, can we go find the royal library now? Or would you rather continue this argument in the dungeon!" He let the last three words out in an urgent hiss, glaring at us nervously.

"Right. Let's go," Yubel said, running on ahead.

Johan called Ruby back and ran after Yubel. As much as it pained me to go _after_ Yubel, I got up and followed.

* * *

When we were inside, we slipped through the corridors, sneaking around until Yubel said that the library was right around the corner. The only problem was there were two guards stationed right outside, one on each side of the door.

"Okay, guys," Johan said. "This is it. Yubel? You and I are gonna distract the guards while Judai goes in and finds us the information we're after, okay?"

Regardless of how crappy my mood was, I knew that we had to get this over with, and I'd driven Johan crazy enough as it was. With all of that in mind, I decided to cooperate.

"Fine," I said.

"Sounds good to us, Andersen," Yubel agreed.

"Okay. Then let's do this."

He called out Ruby again and sent him down a different hallway to distract the guards. Yubel handed me a hair clip to pick the locks on the library door and on the book itself. When the little creature darted past, the guards gave chase, and I hurried over and busted into the library. In the process, I remembered that I knew how to pick locks—strange skill for a prince to know, but there you have it.

Once inside, I shut the door behind me before heading off in search of the book. Knowing its number in the system made it easy enough. I found it within a couple of minutes, picked the lock, and flipped through in search of anything useful.

Here's the only bit that I found that mentioned the location of the Neo-Spacians: "The location of the Neos deck is a well-kept secret of the Neospace royal family. It's so well hidden, in fact, that only the chosen prince knows where it is."

Yeah. That was the big reveal that this book offered. _I_ knew where it was. The secret was buried inside of my head somewhere.

I stared at the book in disbelief for a second. I mean, come on! I'd just given up my biggest secret ever to get in and find this thing, and that was all it had!?

"Is that it?" I finally asked, looking at the next page.

Well, considering it was talking about some inter-continental war that had gone on in all three kingdoms—Neospace, Kalmar, and Misgarth—I knew full well that I'd found the only bit of information that could even be remotely helpful.

And it was useless.

"Great. Yeah. This thing was _totally_ worth it!"

I threw the book at the wall, furious at my stupid memory. Why the hell did _that_ book come to mind when Yubel tried to get me to remember where those cards were!? It was even more useless than me!

The book, however, landed next to a statue standing on a pedestal right beside of it. It was a statue of a feathered, four-legged dragon that I recognized from my lessons—the Judgment Dragon, a symbol of power in Neospace. While I knew the dragon, it didn't make a lot of sense that I'd recognize the statue—I didn't exactly visit the library very often. The dragon had its head thrown back, its wings spread slightly, and one of its front legs was raised off the pedestal a bit.

"...Why does that statue look familiar...?"

Slowly, not even knowing exactly why I did it, I approached the statue with caution. The statue was tall enough that the raised leg was level with my chest. On impulse, I reached out and pushed that leg upward. The floor under my feet started shaking, and the statue slid back slightly, revealing a narrow staircase.

Well. It was looking like Johan wasn't the only one with hidden entrances.

For a long moment, I just stared at the opening. Then, finally, I headed down into the darkness.


	21. My Memories Finally Return in Full

**Shadgirl2: Hey, guys! We've got an update!**

**Midna: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

I walked down a wide spiral staircase into a spacious room with a high ceiling. In the center of the room, a crystal sat on top of a pedestal. As I approached the crystal, I noticed a deck of cards encased in it. I figured this must be the deck I needed, but the crystal looked too strong to break. Experimentally, I gave it a kick. My foot just bounced off it.

After my failed attempt at shattering the crystal, I wondered, "Okay, now what?"

I took a closer look and realized that there was a pair of white wings on the crystal, like angel wings but smaller. They were familiar for one reason and one reason only—I'd seen those wings in some recent memory flashes.

"...Winged Kuriboh..."

Curious, I pulled the blank card from my pocket, where I'd been keeping it separate from my deck since I couldn't use it at the time. According to Johan, it was important, so I'd kept it on me as a sort of identification. Hey, it marked me as the chosen prince, so those few people who knew that would know who I was if I showed it to them.

Instinctively, I held the card up to the crystal, and the crystal started glowing, changing colors constantly. First blue, then green, yellow... When it turned orange, it started dissolving. Red and purple passed, and there was a hole big enough to grab the deck. Soon after, the crystal was gone completely.

I reached out to take the deck.

The moment I touched it, it started lighting up, shooting off rainbow-colored lights like the crystal. The light beams were wide and circled around the deck like a pinwheel. A slight wind stirred up, and—

And my memories came back.

I remembered everything. My destiny to save the world from the Light of Destruction with the help of the Neo-Spacians. How Yubel got along with everyone but me. How Johan was supposedly from a family of no-good liars and thieves. My parents' kindness and strength. How they always tried to make time for me. Stupidly climbing up on the castle roof when there was snow on it and falling off. And everything else, good and bad. It all came back to me, just like that.

The only consequence was that I felt like I'd been hit in the head by a meteor and lived. Small price to pay, really, given how much of a pain it was to remember nothing.

"Oh, geez..." I put a hand to my throbbing head. "Do I have a headache..."

_"__You okay, partner?"_ I heard. This time, I could translate the kuriing of my spirit partner, Winged Kuriboh.

I looked at him, finally seeing him again. He was a little brown ball of fur with big eyes, four green feet, and two white feathered wings sprouting from his back. And, boy, was he a sight for sore eyes.

"Oh, hey," I said, still holding my head. "Long time, no see."

The little guy teared up. When that Kuriboh gets emotional, he goes the whole way. _"Kuri kuri kuri!"_ he cheered, taking on a solid form and charging right into my gut.

"Oof!" I said on impact, grabbing hold of the Kuriboh. "Hey, easy! I don't need a sore stomach to go with my sore head," I said, smiling.

Then a bunch of other spirits appeared. I didn't know them personally, but I'd seen paintings of them—the Neo-Spacians.

_"__Yuki Judai,"_ the red hummingbird said. _"We've been waiting for you."_

I looked around in awe. I mean, I'd known growing up that these guys were a big deal, but they were even better in person. There was the bird, the mole, the panther, the dolphin, the beetle, and...whatever that last guy was supposed to be. And, of course, their leader: Neos.

"Whoa..."

The mole gave a slight laugh. _"What's wrong? Are you really _that_ surprised to see us? You're the one who summoned us."_

_"__And it's about time, too," _the panther added. _"We feared you'd never be able to reach us. All things considered."_

The amnesia. "Yeah, I know."

_"__Well, all that matters is you were able to reach us, despite all that's happened to you," _Neos said. _"You're a very brave warrior, and a strong fighter, too. That's just what we need in order to take out the Light. So, Judai. Will you do it? Will you fight by our side?"_

A few minutes ago, I might have hesitated. I hadn't even remembered who I was, really, let alone what I needed to do. I might have asked a million questions to try to get some idea what was going on. But, now, I remembered what needed to be done. The Light had to be stopped before it could do any more damage. And I was the only one who could do it. With the help of these guys, of course. The fate of the world was in our hands!

I nodded. "You know I will!"

_"__Good. We're counting on you, Judai. Don't let us down."_

With that, Neos and the others disappeared back into their cards.

I picked up the deck and made my way back out of that secret chamber, then snuck out of the library after making sure the coast was clear. One signal from Johan, and I scurried over to where he and Yubel were hiding in a small alcove in the wall.

"Well, pal?" Johan asked. "Figure it out?"

"Yeah, I figured it out," I answered.

"Great," Yubel said. "Then let's get out of here before someone finds us."

Quickly, she started sneaking away. Johan called Ruby back, and he and I followed.

* * *

When we were safely out of the castle, we made our way over to where Sho was waiting. His fidgeting and the look on his face told me he'd been getting worried.

"Aniki!" he cried when he saw us. "Guys! You're okay!"

"Yeah, Sho, we're okay," I assured him.

"Maybe. But let's get away from here, anyway, before that changes," Yubel said before running off.

"Right!" Johan agreed, and we all ran after her.

* * *

**Unknown POV**

I glared after the four as they ran off. I'd come a long way to retrieve that boy, and I didn't care who I had to face to do it. Keeping my distance and staying out of their sights, I followed. After all, that kid was _mine_, not theirs, and I intended to get him back, no matter what.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Once we were back in the woods, the others asked me what I found out from the book. So I gave them the honest answer.

"What I found out from that book was how far it can fly. But I did find out where the cards are." I pulled the Neo-Spacian cards out as I finished.

"S-so, then, what's that supposed to mean?" Sho asked. "If the book was totally useless, then how'd you—"

"Ah ha! I _knew_ you were lying, Sho!" an angry, unknown voice shouted. "Just what are you doing out here?"

Sho started, then slowly turned toward the speaker. I looked, too, and saw a man wearing a black cloak. He had teal hair and matching eyes that were filled with fury at the moment.

Given that people who knew Sho were all from Tiller, where everyone wanted to beat him up, I didn't trust some random guy who showed up mad at Sho. I jumped in front of him, defensive, and demanded, "Who are you!?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?" he shot back. "And what are you even on? _No one's_ ever this nice to Sho."

Is it possible to look awed while still showing little emotion? Because this guy was doing that. If I had to describe him in one word, I'd say he was stoic.

"Yeah, I know, and it drives me nuts," I answered. "But I'm not on anything! I just—"

Sho poked his head out from behind me and cut me off, saying, "Don't worry, Nii-san. Aniki's on the level. Right, Aniki?" He looked up at me.

Nii-san... Big brother? The guy standing in front of me was...

"W—" I looked at Sho, then back to the guy in front of me. "You're his brother!?"

When he'd told me he had a brother, I'd kinda had a different image in my head. You know, one that _didn't_ wear black and look like a creep who wanted to beat up on the little guy. Since he'd let me take—not exactly borrow since he's probably never see them again—his boots, I'd figured he was a nice guy, but this guy didn't look too friendly.

This reminded me...I was still wearing his boots. Man, does my mind take some weird turns and sidetracks.

Sho's brother didn't answer. He just stared at me, looking a bit lost.

Behind me, I heard Johan whisper to Yubel, "Say, Yubel, do you follow what's happening here? 'Cause I'm totally lost."

"How should I know? I met the kid about the same time I met you. Though, from the looks of things, I'd say his brother's been looking for him for awhile now."

The man stared at me for a bit, then asked, "Sho, who is this guy? He seems a bit wacko, if you ask me."

Whoa, wait! Wacko!? Was this guy calling _me_ wacko!?

"He's a..." Sho started before I cut him off.

"Hey! Who are you calling wacko!?" I demanded.

"The weirdo who doesn't hate my little brother for no reason whatsoever," he answered. "Even our parents think he's worthless. Right?"

What did he just say? But hadn't Sho's mom... She'd told him to "get the hell out of here." She hadn't been thinking it would be good for her son to leave for his own sake—she'd been glad to be rid of him!

Sho looked down, confirming this.

Okay, now I was mad.

I growled, "What...?"

Sho's brother looked at my expression with...concern? Oh, great, it seemed he thought I was psycho. Yeah, that was a totally fair judgment to give a guy for _caring_!

"Okay, that's it," he said. "Let's go, Sho. You're coming to live with me so I can protect you better." He started forward, as though he planned to force Sho to go back with him.

Yeah, seemed like me caring was a red flag. Which was stupid! I mean, it's not like it's impossible to actually care about somebody!

"But, Nii-san. I don't—"

"Hey!" I snapped, not appreciating the guy's thoughts on me. "Not _everyone's_ a big creep! Some of us actually have hearts, and I find it insulting that you think that makes us crazy! Sheesh!"

The guy stopped between me and Sho and looked at me over his shoulder. "Trust me, kid. To be able to like Sho without growing up with him seems to be—"

"Yeah, well, maybe Neospacians are immune to that rule."

He raised an eyebrow, turning all the way around to face me. After a moment's silence, he asked, "You're the prince he claimed he was living with, aren't you?"

"Yes," I answered. "Prince Judai of Neospace."

"Whoa," Johan said. "That was some impressive observation you just made, sir. How'd you guess?"

Sho's brother crossed his arms. "Simple. Only an only child prince would be lonely enough to make friends with Sho right off the bat. Anyone else would have to be paid to hang out with him before they saw the good in him."

I wanted to retort about how that wasn't true. I mean, really, Sho wasn't that hard to like! People in Tiller were just jerks! But Yubel busted up before I could say anything and said, "Too true! I mean, _clearly_ he's a _very_ lonely prince, considering—" She gestured at me, a wide grin on her face.

"Shut up!" I snapped at her.

Johan stared for a bit, then sweat.

Sho's brother closed his eyes. "I rest my case."

"Yeah, well... Whatever!" I snapped. "The point is, I'm not crazy, and I asked Sho to come!"

Sho teared up. "Aniki..."

His brother just kept staring at me, his expression neutral.

Sho looked up at him. "Nii-san?"

He threw off his cloak, revealing that he was wearing a duel disk. "Very well. Then prove it. Duel me. Whether you're crazy or not will be revealed through your dueling," he said, activating his duel disk.

I activated mine as well, eager to prove this guy wrong. "Fine with me!"

"I am Ryo Marufuji!" he said. "Better known as the Kaiser!"

Being from Neospace, I'd never heard of him. But Johan had, apparently. His face lit up with excitement. "Oh, wow. The legendary Kaiser Ryo! This is awesome! I can't wait to see how this turns out!"

Okay, so this guy must have been good, given how Johan was acting. Suddenly I was getting excited myself. After all, insulted or not, there was nothing I liked more than a good duel!

"Duel!"


	22. Prince vs Emperor

**Shadgirl2: We've got another chapter ready!**

**Midna: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Judai: 4000  
Ryo: 4000

"Alright. I'll start this off," Sho's brother, Kaiser Ryo, said as he drew a card. He looked totally serious and emotionless, like before. "I play the spell card Different Dimension Capsule. This lets me take any one card from my deck and remove it from play. Then, after two turns have passed, it goes straight to my hand." He took a card out of his deck and slipped it into his pocket, then shuffled his deck. "Then I play my Proto-Cyber Dragon in attack mode." (1100)

Some funny metal dragon, serpentine in shape, appeared on his field and roared at me.

"I set two cards face down. Turn end," the Kaiser finished up.

Right on cue, Sho got worked up and started fiddling with his fingers. Man, did that guy ever _not_ get nervous?

"Uh-oh. He's set it up already."

"What are you talking about?" Yubel asked. "Set _what _up?

Sho didn't answer, more focused on playing with his fingers. Honestly, I was glad he didn't have an answer—it would totally spoil everything if I knew what was coming right off the bat!

"Don't worry! We'll see soon enough!" Johan said, grinning and looking all excited.

Yubel was totally lost. She just stared at him. Guess she felt like she was standing there next to me. Of course, that made me wonder how my parents would feel if they ever found out that the prince of Kalmar and I had a lot in common. They'd probably slap me if I ever told them.

Sho kept his head down while wringing his hands and generally playing around with his fingers.

"It's my turn. I draw!" I said, pulling a card from my new Neo-Spacian deck. "I summon Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab!" (Atk 500)

My new black and purple beetle friend appeared in front of me, ready for action!

"And he gains 400 attack points for each spell and trap card you've got out, so he's up to 1700!"

"Wow, Flare Scarab!" Johan exclaimed. "So you _did_ find them!"

"Thank heavens..." Yubel muttered. It seemed she had actually thought I'd grabbed the wrong deck. Yeah, like there would have been _another_ deck laying around in there that conveniently had some card in it that said "Neo-Spacian" on it. Sure, _obviously_ I could have grabbed the wrong one!

"I heard that, Yubel," I told her, somewhat annoyed by her stupid attitude. Man, this is why I hate Yubel! She's such a pain! Anyway, getting back to the duel... "Now, Flare Scarab, attack his Proto-Cyber Dragon!"

"Reverse card, open!" the Kaiser cut me off. "Trap card, Attack Reflector Unit! This card lets me send a Cyber Dragon on my field to the graveyard in exchange for summoning my Cyber Barrier Dragon from my deck."

The moment he said that, I knew there had to be something I was missing. That was a _Proto_-Cyber Dragon, not a Cyber Dragon. Hey, what can I say? This game is usually pretty darned picky about the names of the cards.

"Hold up!" I protested. "That's not a Cyber Dragon!"

"When Proto-Cyber Dragon is on the field, it's considered a Cyber Dragon," he clarified.

Oh. Dang it, tricked by a stupid monster effect! Why didn't we have any of these cards in Neospace!? I would have known that if they were in my kingdom! Well, okay, maybe. I mean, it wasn't like I knew _every_ card.

"Aniki, don't you _get_ it!?" Sho freaked, his hands flying to his head and his wide eyes worried. "My nii-san _never_ makes a mistake! He's a pro duelist! A pro!"

A pro, huh? That just got me more excited! Suddenly I was starting to understand why Johan was so thrilled to see this guy duel in person. It wasn't every day you got to watch a pro, even if you _were_ royalty.

* * *

**Ryo's POV**

I glanced over at my younger brother, curious about his reaction. It wasn't normal for him to panic that way over one of my opponents having trouble. Normally he tried not to draw attention to himself, yet, that day, he was doing exactly the opposite.

Judai, Sho's "aniki", grinned and gave a small laugh. "Didn't see that one coming!"

I brushed off my brother's odd behavior for the moment, deciding to focus on my opponent. After all, if he was even halfway honest about how he felt about Sho, it would come out during the duel, either through his actions in combat or his reaction to my brother's comments and worries.

"I summon my Cyber Barrier in attack mode!" (800)

A machine appeared, outfitting my Proto-Cyber Dragon with a new armor. This one was lighter in shade, with pink lines running through it, and four prongs around the dragon's neck.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I blinked, totally lost. That thing was weaker than his Proto-Cyber Dragon. Why would he play it in _attack_ mode when I was trying to attack? "Uh..."

Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed by now, I can be real intelligent when I'm confused.

"An 800-attack point monster in attack mode? Surely there's more to it than _that_," Yubel said, clearly unimpressed. I had to agree with her—that didn't look like a good move unless there was something I was missing.

"Oh, you bet there is!" Johan laughed. "Wait til you see it!"

Well, at least he wasn't one for blowing secrets, like Sho tried when I was dueling Gorisuke.

Yubel raised an eyebrow at Johan and asked, "You're acting like Judai does, you know?"

She was right. And the more similarities I saw between us, the more I was thinking I should never _ever_ tell my parents about them. Unless, of course, I wanted to be disowned and cast into exile.

_Anyway,_ I didn't think too much about that right then, considering I was kinda busy dueling a guy who wanted to take Sho back to Tiller, where he would be mauled by crazy people.

"Okay... I'm still attacking," I pointed out. Hey, whatever secret's that monster of his had, I wouldn't figure them out by just sitting by and waiting.

As Flare Scarab charged in for the kill, the Kaiser said, "I activate my monster's effect, then. It can negate one attack once per turn as long as I keep it in attack mode."

Whoa! Didn't see that coming! Guess I probably should have, though, considering it _was_ called _Barrier_ Dragon.

"What!?"

The weird collar around the dragon's neck activated, getting a bit wider and shooting electricity between each of the four prongs. Flare Scarab hit the barrier, and nothing happened.

"Well, that didn't go as planned. I play two cards face down and end my turn," I said, sliding the cards into my duel disk.

"My turn!" the Kaiser said. He drew his card and looked at it. "I sacrifice my Cyber Barrier Dragon to summon my Blowback Dragon in attack mode!" (2300)

As far as I could tell, that monster was a gun with legs, a tail, and a hinged jaw. The gun part was red, but its legs and tail were blue.

Sho got nervous again. Then again, I wasn't even sure he'd ever actually bothered to calm down to begin with. "Oh, no, not the Blowback Dragon. Aniki's so dead," he groaned, wringing his hands again.

Yubel looked at Johan, probably thinking the same thing I was—what the heck is _that_ thing? "What's a Blowback Dragon?" she asked. "We don't have that one in Neospace."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, interested to hear the answer to that. He had a wide grin on his face, a hand on his hip and his eyes glued to the match. "Heh! Blowback's one of the Kaiser's better cards! Its destructive powers know no bounds. It can destroy _anything_ it chooses once per turn!"

Okay, that didn't sound good for me.

Yubel's eyes widened. "What!?"

"Seriously!?" I cried. I mean, that _really_ didn't sound good for me.

"I activate my Dragon's effect! By flipping a coin three times and getting at least two heads, I can destroy any card I choose! And I'm choosing your Neo-Spacian!" the Kaiser said, pulling a coin from his back pocket.

Okay. So there was a condition to using that effect. That was good, I thought. Maybe I'd get lucky and he wouldn't get two heads. Then again, coins have this nasty habit of almost always coming up heads, in my experience. Especially in the first few flips.

"Aniki, watch out! He's gonna—" Sho freaked.

* * *

**Ryo's POV**

I looked at Sho again, noticing a pattern forming here. Sho clearly cared deeply for this Judai, which wasn't normal for him, given how much trouble he had making friends. Well, that was a good sign, I supposed. If he cared about Judai, then Judai must at least have acted like he cared for Sho. Now I just had to see if the feelings were returned.

"Hold up!" Judai interjected as I prepared to flip my coin. "I activate my trap card, Skill Shock! By sacrificing my Flare Scarab, I can stop your dragon from attacking this turn!"

"Heh. Not bad," I admitted, smiling slightly at my opponent. After all, he'd managed to stop my dragon's effect with that move, as well.

Flare Scarab disappeared, being sent to the graveyard as a sacrifice.

"But, Aniki!" Sho protested. "Blowback's effect! He can still—"

"No, he can't," the girl Yubel cut him off.

Sho looked at her, confused, as he always did when he didn't bother doing his homework. "Huh?"

"Skill Shock's effect prevents that from activating this turn. So Ryo can't use it until his next turn."

Prince Johan rubbed his head, sweating and grinning. "Well, there's that and the fact that he already declared Flare Scarab as his target, and it's not there anymore, so..."

"So, since its target's gone, that effect's already used up," Judai finished.

"Oh," Sho said.

I noticed Judai didn't call Sho out for his lack of knowledge, simply filling him in on what he didn't know. It seemed he was more intent on educating Sho than calling attention to his flaws. Still, Sho should have known that. It was like he just didn't pay any attention.

I closed my eyes with a humph. "How many times do I have to tell you, kid? You'll never get better at dueling if you don't pay attention. Learn how the game is played. Then you may start to catch up."

Sho looked down, seemingly ashamed. "R-right. Sorry..."

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Well, I wasn't too sure how I felt about _that_ comment. I figured he and Sho had gone over this time and time again, and I knew what the Kaiser was trying to do, but that didn't seem like the best way to handle Sho. From my experience, the best way to handle Sho is to encourage him that he _can_ do things, not tell him that he _can't_, even if you do give a good reason _why_ he can't. He tends to get discouraged when those sorts of comments are made.

The Kaiser opened his eyes and turned his stoic attention back on me. "So, Judai? Is that it?"

"Not quite," I said, deciding not to comment on how he talked to his brother—hey, who was I to judge that? "I activate my other face-down, Neo Signal! When one of my monsters is destroyed, this card lets me summon a Neo-Spacian from my hand or deck. So say hello to my new friend, Dark Panther!" (Def 500)

My family's crest, the black panther with the red cape, appeared on my field.

In typical stoic fashion, the Kaiser wasn't phased. In typical excited fashion, Johan _was._

"Whoa...Dark Panther... The symbol of Neospace..."

As the only dark attribute monster in the Neos deck, it made sense that Dark Panther would be my family's crest, given that we had the Righteous Power of Darkness in our family. With how much we revered the Darkness of Creation, the symbol of new life and of protection, using either of our star monsters—Neos or Judgment Dragon—didn't really make a lot of sense, given that they were both light attribute monsters. So, as the only dark ally Neos had, Dark Panther had been chosen years ago by my ancestors.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Yubel said. "Too bad someone doesn't remember it properly." She turned to me in annoyance.

"Uh, yeah, about that... I _do_ remember it," I finally told them. Guess it had slipped my mind to tell them I'd regained my memories. Whoops.

Yubel's eyes widened, and I had the momentary satisfaction of surprising her. "You what!?"

Sho's eyes widened, too. "No way! W-when did you—"

"I'll tell you later," I cut him off. "Right now, I'm kinda busy."

"I play one card face down and end my turn," the Kaiser finished. Then he looked at me and added, "I must say, though. For you to be so good with that deck already, since this appears to be your first time using it, you've got some talent there, kid." He actually smiled at me as he finished that.

"Heh. Thanks!" I said. "You're pretty good yourself." I pulled my next card from my deck and looked at it, then said, "I activate Fake Hero! This lets me summon an Elemental Hero from my hand, but it can't attack, and it goes back to my hand during my end phase. And I think I'll summon Elemental Hero Neos!" (Atk 2500)

It wasn't really like I had any other choice—this deck was the _Neo-Spacian_ deck, and I hadn't exactly had time to change it up and mix it in with my regular deck, so Neos was the only Elemental Hero in the whole deck. That spell card was in there for the sole purpose of summoning Neos, a high level monster who would otherwise require sacrifices. As it was, the white hero appeared on my field without me having to get rid of anyone else.

A sudden outburst from Johan made me wonder if I was really me or if we had switched bodies. He looked way too excited. "Oh, cool, Neos! That's the legendary—"

Yubel bopped him on the head, a lame look on her face. Funny, that was what she always did to me. "You forget, chowder head, that it can't do anything but sit there. So playing it now was totally pointless."

Johan sweat and rubbed his head, a grin on his face. He laughed nervously. "Right..."

"Aniki... What are you doing..." Sho worried, wringing his hands yet again.

As tempted as I was to tell Sho to stop doing that, there was one urge that won out over any other—the urge to tell Yubel she didn't know everything. "Oh, Yubel, I _love_ it when you're wrong!" I said, grinning. "See, Neos _can_ do something. Or did you forget what _all_ Elemental Heroes can do?"

"Huh? What's that?" Sho asked, scaring me.

Seriously, had he been paying _any_ attention the couple of times he'd seen me duel? I mean, granted, one time, he had an excuse to be spacey because of his broken hand, but the other time he'd been freaking out about how I was going to lose! You'd think he would have noticed what I always did when I dueled!

Johan and Yubel fainted, clearly just as stunned as me. Sho looked at the two of them, now more confused than before. The Kaiser closed his eyes, looking less than pleased.

Well, that was more than enough negative attention for Sho for one day!

"You'll see in a minute, Sho!" I told him. "But, first, I activate Dark Panther's effect! I choose a monster on my opponent's field, and Dark Panther gains that monster's effect until the end phase! And I choose Blowback Dragon!"

"Sho's eyes widened. "What!? Blowback Dragon!? But that would mean—"

"That's right!" I said. "Now I can use Blowback Dragon's effect to destroy one of _your_ cards, Kaiser! And I think I'll go after Blowback Dragon!"

As I spoke, Dark Panther morphed, changing shape until it was an exact duplicate of the Blowback Dragon on the Kaiser's field.

"You'll have to flip a coin three times first," the Kaiser answered, not even phased. "Do you have any?"

Grinning, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a coin. "Come on, like I'd try it without one."

I tossed it up in the air and flipped it for the first time. Guess I wasn't so lucky—it landed on tails.

"That's one," the Kaiser said, his arms crossed.

I flipped the coin again. Heads.

"Okay, one more!" I said as I flipped it for the third and final time. _Come on, heads!_

You know what I learned that day? I shouldn't gamble. My luck stinks. Yeah, you guessed it—the coin landed on tails that third time. I missed.

The Kaiser smiled slightly. "Hmph. Nice try. Too bad you missed it, though."

"Come on, Judai!" Yubel yelled, glaring at me and waving her fist in the air. "You can do better than that! Focus!"

"Dang it! Aw, well, guess it's time for plan B!"

"P-plan B?" Sho stammered. "What is it?"

Johan cast a curious look at Yubel. "You don't think?"

Her only answer was a smirk.

"Neos! Dark Panther! Contact Fuse!" I commanded.

"C-Contact—"

Johan excitedly said, "Here it comes!"

For those who didn't know—namely _both_ the Marufujis, more likely than not—I said, "Neos and the Neo-Spacians can fuse without a Polymerization card!"

Sho's eyes widened. "Th-they can!?"

"Instead of sending them to the graveyard, I shuffle Neos and Dark Panther back into my deck to summon a new monster. So come on out, Dark Neos!" (Atk 2500)

This new Neos form was mostly black, with Neos' white bodysuit remaining in only a few places. There was a blue stone in the center of his chest, and black wings sprouted from his back.

Johan jumped in the air, pumping a fist as he did so. "Yahoo! Dark Neos! A legendary card! I'm the luckiest man alive to bear witness to something like _that_!"

Sho stared, speechless. Yubel was too busy staring at Johan as though I had duplicated to even acknowledge his behavior, let alone my new monster.

"Dark Neos' effect!" I said. "When he's out, he can negate the effect of one face-up monster! So Blowback Dragon's effect is negated!"

Johan pumped a fist in the air again, although he managed to keep his feet on the ground this time. Man, when he got excited, he went the whole way, like me. "Yeah! Way to go, man! _Now_ you've got him!"

The Kaiser _still_ didn't seem phased. What was I dueling, a statue?

"Now, Dark Neos, attack Blowback Dragon!"

Judai: 4000  
Ryo: 3800

"Yes!" Johan cheered. "He beat the Blowback Dragon! Now he's in the lead!"

"Don't be so sure," Yubel countered.

"Huh? What do you mean, Yubel?" Sho asked. "My nii-san didn't do anything that—"

"Neos fusions have a fatal setback. They return to the deck at the end of the turn."

Once again, Sho's eyes widened. "Wha!? But _that_ means—"

"Oh, Yubel," I sighed playfully. "You really don't have any faith in me at all, do you?"

She grinned. "No. Not really. Should I?"

Ignoring that last bit, I said, "Aw, that's too bad. Because I'm _not_ a total idiot!" I slipped another card into my duel disk. "Quick play spell, Contact Out! This reverses the fusion and calls back Neos and Dark Panther!"

The Kaiser smiled. "Impressive."

"Wait, hold up, I'm lost," Sho said. "What—"

"It's simple," Johan cut him off. "When Judai summons a Neos fusion monster, it returns to the extra deck at the end of the turn. Yubel said that already."

"That's right," she continued. "But, since he used Contact Out, he was able to cancel out the fusion and get his first two monsters back. In layman's terms, he used De-Fusion. But for a Neos fusion monster instead."

Sho's eyes widened with understanding this time. "Oh."

"And that's not all!" I added. "Because that was a quick play card, like De-Fusion, it's still the battle phase! Meaning I can still attack!"

His eyes hadn't even managed to shrink down to their normal size when they widened again. Sheesh, that guy was good at going bug-eyed. "What!? You can!?"

"You bet! So, Neos! Dark Panther! Attack him directly!"

They both charged the Kaiser, hitting him dead on and dealing a massive amount of damage.

Judai 4000  
Ryo: 300

Johan must really have been enjoying himself because I could barely understand the first sentence of what he said next with how fast he said it. "Oh, wow, that was awesome! He just brought the Kaiser down to a mere 300 life points in one turn! The Kaiser! Man, now _I_ wanna duel him!"

The grin on his face...oh, geez, I felt like I was looking in a mirror when I glanced over! I was starting to think we were twins or something!

Yubel apparently agreed because she stared at him uncomfortably. "What are you? Judai 2?"

Sho was also staring at him.

"Your skills with that deck are impressive," the Kaiser said, smiling at me. "It's been awhile since I've had a duel like this."

I grinned and said, "I'll take that as a compliment!"

Sho looked as surprised as he might have if he'd just won 11,000 yen.* "Huh!? My nii-san complimented my aniki!? But that _never_ happens!"

I figured he meant his brother never complimented anyone, considering I was his aniki and I hadn't exactly met his brother before that day. Point being, if this was a rare thing for the Kaiser, it was probably a good sign for me.

"You're handling Sho's insanity quite well, as well," the Kaiser added. "Perhaps you aren't like all the rest."

Yeah, like I hadn't just tried to tell him that?

"Nii-san..."

"Heh. Well, like I said, we're not all like the people in Tiller. Maybe Neospacians _are_ different."

The Kaiser smiled at me again. "It would appear so."

"Okay, I'm lost," Yubel said. "What exactly are Kalmar people like? Are they _all_ like their king?"

Ooh, poor choice of words, given who she was standing next to. And she thought _I_ was careless.

Johan glared at her, as well he should have, given the insult to his family. "Excuse me?"

"Hey, I said their _king_," she pointed out.

Yeah, nice save, Yubel. Now you aren't insulting his whole family, you're just insulting his father. I honestly didn't think that was any better.

Well, before _that_ could escalate into another misunderstanding between our two kingdoms that might lead to my twin developing an intense hatred for me that he hadn't seemed to have felt before, I said, "Not all of them, but a lot _do_ suck."

"Really? They do?" Sho asked. And it didn't sound like sarcasm.

I sweat. Could he be serious? Had he really not realized that people treated him like crap? No, I knew he realized it, but did he think he deserved it for some reason!? What the hell!? If those people had him thinking he deserved the crap they gave him, there was no way I was letting him set foot in that stupid town ever again! Not even that lousy _kingdom_!

"Sho, they were beating the tar out of you for accidentally blowing up the school..."

Sho sweat, which was a relief to me—he'd just forgotten they were all jerks. "Right..."

"Wait a minute, what? _That's _what happened?" Apparently Sho could even stun the Kaiser because he looked shocked.

The little guy gave an awkward laugh.

"Anyway, I'll end my turn at that. Your move, Kaiser!"

"Alright, then, I draw. And, since it's been two turns since I played my Different Dimension Capsule, I can now destroy it and retrieve the card I removed from play." He took the card from his pocket and added it to his hand. "Then I play that card! Graceful Charity! This lets me draw three new cards, so long as I discard two." His eyes closed, he pulled three more cards from his deck. A moment's silence followed as he glanced at his cards. "This duel...is over."

Wait, what? How could he say that!? I had two monsters on the field! Granted, one was pretty weak, but still, he didn't have anything! I hadn't lost any life points yet, either, so it wasn't like he could just attack Dark Panther and win the duel that way. As he sent two cards to his graveyard, I couldn't help but wonder what he had up his sleeve.

"Huh? What does he mean by that?" Yubel asked, clearly just as lost as I was. "Judai hasn't lost any life points! _He's_ the one who dropped to 300! What's he up to?"

Johan was just grinning, waiting. Seemed he already had a guess.

"Ready?" the Kaiser asked. "First I use my Call of the Haunted to call back my Proto-Cyber Dragon onto the field!"

The wannabe Cyber Dragon reappeared in a bright light.

"What good does that do?" I asked.

"Aniki, watch out!" Sho said, panicking yet again. Seriously, that guy needed to take a chill pill. "That thing's _really_ bad news!"

I blinked. "Huh?"

The Kaiser humphed. "Good. You've done your homework for once. I play the spell card Polymerization! I send the two Cyber Dragons I've just drawn and the Proto-Cyber Dragon that's on my field to the graveyard to summon my ultimate monster! Cyber End Dragon!" (Atk 4000)

The Proto-Cyber Dragon merged together with two other metallic serpentine dragons, and a three-headed metal dragon was formed. It was huge! It didn't have any legs, only the three heads and a tail. But that wasn't all it had...

"4000 attack points!?" I exclaimed. And that was its _base_ attack stat! Uh, yeah, I could be in trouble.

Johan had gone starry-eyed and totally spaced out on me. "There it is. There it is! Kaiser Ryo's legendary Cyber End Dragon! This match is so over!"

Well. It's always nice to know your friends believe in you. Too bad mine never seem to have much faith in _me._

"This is it, Judai," the Kaiser said. "You've put up a good fight, but this duel ends now."

Honestly, I didn't see how the duel was over just then. Sure, he had 4000 attack points, but it wasn't like I was defenseless! No matter which monster he attacked, I'd still have at least 1000 life points left. But, if he was saying it was over, he had to have something else planned.

"Here goes! I reverse my spell card, Limiter Removal!"

Yep. He had something else planned.

Johan pumped his fist again. Really, who's side was he even on? "Yeah! One of Kaiser Ryo's signature moves!"

Sho covered his eyes. "I can't watch..." Even as he said that, though, he peeked between his fingers.

"This card doubles the attack power of all machine type monsters I control for one turn. But those monsters are destroyed at the end phase of that turn as well." The Kaiser smirked as he added, "If there _is_ an end, that is."

Well. That was bad. "Tch."

"With this, my Cyber End's power becomes 8000!"

As its attack points rose by 4000, I couldn't help thinking that I was absolutely and completely screwed. There was no way I was surviving this! I didn't have any way to stop that attack, after all.

Yubel backed up, her pupils contracted. "N-no way... I-it has—"

"8000 attack points!?"

Yeah, I was done seven ways to Sunday.

"Go! Attack his Neos!" the Kaiser commanded.

His supercharged dragon attacked, blasting Neos and destroying him.

Judai: 0  
Ryo: 300

"Aniki!" Sho cried. "Nooo!"

"He-he lost..." Yubel said, shocked.

"Awesome! Cyber End totally rules!" Johan said, doing a great impression of me. "I wanna go next!"

Yubel turned to him lamely, apparently adapting rather well to the idea that there were two of me. "Did you forget you're a prince who _stole_ his family's treasure deck? I highly doubt he'd want to face a guy like you, all things considered."

The Kaiser turned to him and asked, "You did what, now?"

"Hey! What can I say? It was for a good cause."

Not one to overreact, the Kaiser just stared at him as one of his eyebrows crept up.

"Long story," I said. "But that was a great duel, Kaiser!" I grinned at him. And I meant that, too. After all, it wasn't every day I got to go up against monsters like that Cyber End Dragon!

"So, Nii-san? What do you think?"

I held my breath, waiting, as the Kaiser sized me up. This was it. If he still didn't approve, he'd be taking Sho back with him, and my best friend would be heading back to a land that hated him. There was a whole lot riding on this moment.

Imagine my relief when the Kaiser smiled and said, "I think you're very lucky, Sho. To find a friend like him? They're one in a million. Meaning you had better appreciate having him around. You'll never find another Judai."

"So you approve?" I asked.

He nodded. "You make a fine 'aniki' for my brother."

So Sho could stay. He didn't have to go back to Tiller, and I hadn't failed as his friend by letting him be dragged back to a place where they hate him!

I didn't have a lot of time to enjoy that before Yubel snickered. "Wow. Hear that? A real man just said there's hope for you yet. Now, if we can just get you to—"

Whatever she was about to say, I didn't want to hear it. "Oh, shut up, Yubel!"

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm guessing you plan to take Sho home with you whenever you can get there yourself," the Kaiser said, drawing my attention back to him.

"Yeah," I answered. "That was the plan."

"A-and I wanted to go, too," Sho said. "Mom said it's okay..."

Oh, Mom said it's okay, alright! She told him to get the hell out of there because _she_ didn't like him, either! But I didn't say anything. Somehow, I kept my tongue in check, even though I wanted nothing more than to rip their mother apart—verbally _and_ literally.

The Kaiser nodded. "That's okay, then, I guess. Just take good care of him. Sho has a tendency to get on everyone's nerves."

Sho rubbed his head, laughing awkwardly. Somehow, I had already figured that one out.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him," I assured the Kaiser.

He nodded, then turned and started walking away. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder, adding one last thing before he left. "He's in your hands now. Take care, Sho." Then he turned and walked away.

"Thanks, Nii-san!" Sho called, waving goodbye. "Don't worry! I will!"

I moved to stand beside Sho and said, "That's some brother you've got, Sho."

"Right," Yubel said, annoyed with me, as usual. "Now that _that's_ settled, Mr. 'I don't have amnesia anymore', care to tell the class _why_?"

"Oh!" I said. Right, I _had_ told them I'd explain it later, hadn't I? "Uh, well, I'm not sure why, but, when I touched the Neo-Spacian deck, everything came flooding back."

"Really, Aniki? How'd you do that?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. But it wasn't fun."

Johan laughed a bit, as though the thought of me suffering was amusing. "I'll bet it wasn't! _Most_ cases of sudden memory returns aren't, either, being caused by head injuries a lot of the time!"

"I'd like to see how _you_ react to it," I told him.

"So, Aniki, does this mean you remember being a prince now? And all the cool perks and powers and—"

Well, it seemed Sho hadn't given up on the idea that being a prince was awesome. But why was he only bugging me about it? Weren't there two princes standing there?

"Uh, Sho? The other stuff I remembered before is still true. You know that, right? Why don't you ask Johan how great it is to be a prince?"

Johan started, his eyes wide. "Say wha?" he asked, looking at me and sweating a bit.

Yubel closed her eyes, grinning, and I knew she was going to do something horrible. "Right. And, speaking of, what do you do if you're in a peace meeting with two other rulers, and they're not listening to your concerns about how to best protect against invaders? Bet you can't remember how to handle a situation like _that_," she finished, opening her eyes.

I was fairly certain I hadn't covered that in any of my classes yet, but I wasn't about to say that—what if I had and I just didn't remember? She'd accuse me of not paying attention!

"Aw, come on, Yubel!" I whined instead—hey, when you can't answer, whining works, too. "Is this really the time to be quizzing me on that stuff?" Having bought myself enough time to think up some BS to get me through this, I added, "Besides, it kinda depends on who the other rulers are. For instance, my dad and Ojin are pretty reasonable and are easy enough to actually talk to. If we've got a more thickheaded and stubborn guy, that would be different."

"Answer the question, amnesiac boy!" Yubel demanded, looking annoyed. Like she had any right to be. "How would you handle Sanchi or Reginald if you three _had_ to work together?"

Sanchi was Ojin's father, the king of Misgarth. And he was really, _really_ stubborn. Like, my way or the highway, off with his head stubborn. Reginald, as you might have figured out by now, was the king of Kalmar, the place where I was hated. So, with stubborn Sanchi and a guy who hated me as people I'd have to talk to, I did the only reasonable thing. I sweat and started trying to think of an answer.

"Uh... Reginald would sooner kill me than hear a word I had to say... Hmm..."

Honestly, I was more worried about talking sense to King Reginald than Sanchi. Hey, at least he and I had a sort of history together since I'd spent a lot of time with his son when we were both kids.

"Need a hand there?" Johan asked. "My dad's hot-headed but mostly reasonable. If you can convince him you're on the level, that is."

And that would totally never happen with a hot-headed Kalmar royal who hated me! He'd be too busy being mad about the fact that I was there to calm down enough to give me a chance to convince him I was sincere.

"Uh...figure out some way to convince him I'm not trying anything devious and hope he doesn't have me executed before I can do that?" I asked.

Yubel closed her eyes, grinning again. "Yep. Your memories are back, alright! You haven't covered that subject in your training yet, so, if you knew the right answers, I'd know you were lying."

I wanted so badly to hit her. I _really_ wanted to hit her. But that was a bad idea, and I knew it—she was just as skilled in combat situations as I was, maybe even more so. It wasn't a fight I was likely to win.

I pouted. "I was about to say, that's not fair. And why would I know the answers _with_ amnesia if I don't know them without!?"

That annoying grin turned into a vicious smirk as she looked me square in the eye. I swear, I wanted to knock her smug face right out. "You'd ask Johan for help instead of trying to answer," she said.

I thought about it and had to admit she was right. I'd been asking for a lot more help than I normally would have, thanks to that stupid amnesia. Normally I tried to solve things for myself—which my dad said was sometimes a bit of a flaw, on my part, but whatever. It wasn't like I could rely on others forever, considering I would one day have a kingdom to rule.

Either way, I couldn't counter that, so I just pouted again.

"So, based off that, I guess being a prince isn't so fun after all..." Sho said, sounding like he felt ashamed.

"I kinda said that already," I pointed out gently.

"R-right. Sorry..." Sho said, still looking down.

Great. Now I'd made Sho feel guilty. Man, I couldn't do anything right, could I?

"So, now what?" Johan asked, changing the subject. "We've got the deck, the chosen prince, and—"

"And every reason in the world to hand them all over to us," said a familiar icy voice from behind me.

I groaned. Really? Did it have to be _that_ guy?

Apparently so because, when I turned around, there was Kourimaru, leaning on a tree with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Oh, come on, Kourimaru," Johan said. "Just go away! We're not interested in—"

"Oh, I'm not interested in any of _that_ anymore. We already know you won't just give up and come quietly. And we're tired of fighting you to get you to join also, so..." He let that sentence trail off and gave a wicked grin.

My eyes narrowed. Something about that look on his face had me worried. "So...?" I prodded.

"So we snatched up your girlfriend! You and your Neo-Spacians better come to our base in Misgarth PDQ, or else..." He laughed.

"W-wait, what!? Girlfriend!?"

I didn't have a girlfriend. Who were they talking about? What girl had they kidnapped to get to me!?

"See ya," Kourimaru said before disappearing in a gust of icy wind.

* * *

***About $90 US**


	23. My Girlfriend

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I couldn't figure it out—who was my "girlfriend"? What girl had they kidnapped? I ran through the list of girls that I knew in my head: my mother, but she sure as hell couldn't have been called my "girlfriend", so she was out; Yubel, but we kept trying to kill each other when left alone together _and_ she was standing _right there_, so that was a definite no; Rei, but I didn't think the Four Emperors even knew she existed; Elise, but that would be a stretch, considering she'd been like a second mother while I was with her; Asuka—

It hit me like a brick: Asuka. Hadn't Honomaru called her my girlfriend before?

My eyes widened as I realized that there was no other option—it _had_ to be her. "Oh, no..."

"What?" Yubel asked. "Who was that guy, Judai? And since when do _you_ have a girlfriend?"

Sho looked at me, worried. Apparently he'd reached the same conclusion I had. "Aniki. It's not—"

"It is," I cut him off, my tone showing my anxiety.

Yubel knocked on my forehead a couple of times, as if it were a door. "Hello? Neospace to his Royal Dumbness," she said, being her usual self. "I asked you a question, dimwit. Care to tell me what's going on here?"

I was too worried about Asuka to care about Yubel's attitude right then, so I just answered, "A girl in Kalmar helped me out, and those guys decided she was my girlfriend. Now they're using her against me."

Yubel crossed her arms and said, "And I'm guessing those guys are the ones who kidnapped you in the first place?"

"Yeah. But they lost me in a car wreck where two of their guys died. They've been trying to recapture me ever since."

Suddenly Sho spazzed out some, exactly like I wanted to. His eyes were wide. "Aniki! This is terrible! We've gotta get her back somehow!"

"I know!" I cried. Somehow, Sho freaking out about it made _me_ show how worried I was. It wasn't normal for me to panic, but Sho must have been contagious.

Johan managed to keep his cool, partly because he didn't even know Asuka, I'm sure. He held his hands up in a calming gesture, sweating a bit. "Calm down! She can't be in _that_ much danger! The Light hardly ever actually kills anyone. We just have to—"

"Wait, that means they _do_ kill?" I cut him off. He'd managed to get me even more worried—hey, I hadn't been worried that she'd _die_! I was more worried about her getting brainwashed or threatened or hurt because of me. Now here I found out she might _die_ because of me! "Oh, geez!"

"Not usually, Judai!" Johan emphasized, trying in vain to calm me down. "Why, they'd have to be pretty desperate to want to resort to that! We can still—"

"Desperate? Uh, hello, Johan? The chosen prince?" I held up my new deck and added, "With the Neo-Spacians?"

Hell, they'd have to be _really_ desperate by that point, considering I was getting closer to beating them just by having that deck!

Johan sweat. "Right..."

That did it. I had to go save her. She was in trouble because of me, and I couldn't let anything happen to her!

"I gotta get to Misgarth," I said.

"Hold up, stupid," Yubel said, ever the insensitive one. "This is obviously a trap. If you go rushing in—"

"I know it's a trap, but what choice do I have!?" I demanded, cutting her off. "I can't just leave her!"

"But, Aniki. Why do you care so much? I thought you hated her. So why are you losing your usual cool over—"

"I never said I hate her!" I cut him off. Not that I could say _why_ I was freaking out so much, but I didn't _hate_ her! "I owe her! She...she helped me out. I couldn't have beaten Manjoume and Misawa by myself."

Sho smirked, as if there was suddenly something very amusing about all this. "So you _do_ like her, then?"

The way he said it, I knew what he meant, which made me blush. "I-I never said that!"

"You're blushing, you idiot," Yubel pointed out.

"Am not!" I countered, but I felt my face growing hotter even as I said that.

Johan let out a whistle. "Oh, man. There has _got_ to be a law against _this_ one. In love with a foreign girl from your enemy kingdom."

Great. I was getting teased by everyone there while Asuka was in trouble.

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped. And that was when I realized I couldn't counter that.

When had that happened? It was true that I didn't like her after our second meeting. She'd been rude and pretty cold. I'd thought she was a jerk. But then I saw how she treated Sho—sure, she claimed she wouldn't get involved when he was under attack, but she _did_ get involved in his low self-esteem issue, as I saw when I found out he was in karate classes. I'd started liking her more then, and I'd started thinking of her as a friend sometime soon after. But when did it turn into something stronger? When she helped me get back to Neospace? When she was trying to help me with my memory? Or was it back when she stopped those two Emperors when they came after me on the way to the hospital? I wouldn't call it love—it was way too soon for that. But there was no doubt that I cared about her as more than just a friend.

The other three all laughed at my reaction, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Just wait til I tell Rei!" Yubel laughed. "She's gonna flip!"

"Can we focus here!? She's in trouble!"

Johan got a grip, composing his expression into a more serious one. Good, that was what this situation deserved. "Lover-boy's right. We need a plan to get her back. Any ideas?"

"We could try calling someone more qualified to go get her," Yubel suggested. "I highly doubt Judai's in any condition to go in there right now. All things considered."

I might have thought this was a good idea, if it wasn't for one crucial fact—until we beat the Light of Destruction, I was flat broke. In my experience, "qualified" people tended to want paid, and I figured my dad's man would either be a drone by then or totally loyal to my father. Usually, I thought that was one of his better traits, but it did have some drawbacks, I realized then. Anyway, the point remained that there was a crucial flaw in Yubel's plan.

"Yeah, okay, so do you think they might want _paid_?" I asked.

Sho waved his hand in the air like an excited schoolkid who really wanted to answer the teacher's question. "Ooh, ooh! I've got it! We all dress up as soldiers and offer them a metal horse we—"

Yubel got in his face and yelled at him, making him cringe. "Are you copying the Trojans!? What kind of dumb idea _is_ that!?"

"Uh, Yubel? That was the Greeks. Who invaded Troy with that plan," I pointed out.

Johan smiled. "Wait, guys. Sho might be onto something there!"

Yubel turned to him, a lame look on her face. "What?"

"A disguise! It's perfect! We can dress up as members of their group and sneak in right under their noses!"

"Great idea, Johan," I said. "Except you and I would be a bit obviously fake, which would blow the whole thing."

"True. But I've got a wig they've never seen," he said, pulling his wig out of his bag and holding it up.

Sho started snickering, and I knew he was thinking of the stupid George Washington thing again. "Come to think of it, you do, too, Aniki!" He fell to the ground, he was laughing so hard.

Johan started laughing, too, clutching his chest as he doubled over in laughter.

Yubel looked a little stunned. "I don't want to know, do I?" she asked after a moment.

"That's not gonna work for sneaking in!" I snapped, irritated with these guys—seriously, this was _not_ the time for this! "Besides, I ditched it."

Hey, I'd been in a perfectly good outhouse with a nice, deep hole. Where better to toss a stupid wig I didn't want?

"O-okay, Aniki!" Sho answered through his laughter as he sat up. "Whatever you say!"

Yubel looked at him lamely. She had clearly decided she really _didn't_ want to know. "Uh-hum. All joking aside, he's right, you two. We need another plan." She thought about it for a moment, then her eyes lit up as she was struck with an idea. "Why not say you two were caught by us, and then _we_ can get you in there? They may not know us, after all."

I didn't bother pointing out that one of them had just been here—hey, there were ways around that little issue, like saying they'd run into some real Light Drones. Instead, I focused on the bigger flaw in that plan. "Sho couldn't catch us if those four thugs can't. How are _you_ gonna do it alone?"

After all, our story had to be believable.

"We can call Rei," she suggested. "I'm sure she'd be able to—"

"No!" I said, my eyes widening some. "Not for this!"

Yubel smirked at my reaction. "Why not? Think she'll get jealous?" Then she laughed a bit.

I had to calm myself down—she'd just suggested bringing along my stalker to save a girl I, admittedly, had a bit of a crush on. That was a doubly bad idea.

"Just...no. No Rei. But I think I know some guys who can help," I said, suddenly thinking of the perfect candidates.

"Really? Who?" Sho asked. "And why not Rei? She seemed like she'd climb mountains for—"

There were a lot of things Rei would climb mountains for, but that was part of what made her so creepy. Besides, she was one of those fakes—she hadn't liked me that way until she found out I was a prince. I didn't tell Sho this, though, since he seemed to admire her creepiest aspects a bit...namely her "Prince Judai" collection...

"We're going to save a girl you guys think I'm in love with," I answered, not ready to admit that they might have been right. "We're not taking Rei, who would probably kill her instead if she decided the same thing."

"So, then, who'd you have in mind, pal?" Johan asked.

Who did I have in mind? Well, that was easy enough to answer. It would solve both problems with Yubel's plan. After all, these guys were former Light Drones, but the Light might not have known they were back to normal. They could be the ones who recruited Yubel and Sho, and they and Yubel would have an easier time catching Johan and me than just Yubel and Sho.

"Two guys back in your kingdom," I answered Johan.

"Wait. You know more people over there? How long were you living there?"

"Long enough to need help a lot and get attacked by guys who _weren't_ the Four Emperors."

"So who is it, then? It's not Gorisuke, is it?" Sho asked, backing up nervously.

Yeah. Like I'd call in a guy who bullied my best friend to help me save another friend.

"No," I answered. "Manjoume and Misawa."

Johan's eyes bugged out for some reason. "W-wait a minute! You know them? How?"

Okay, this just got more interesting. Apparently Johan also knew those two. And, of course, now _I _wanted to know how _he_ knew them.

"You mean you do, too?" I asked.

"Yeah! 'Course, I do! Misawa's grandpa works in the castle as a researcher, and Manjoume's family's the richest in the land! His dad's the Duke of Vetlanda, so I see him all the time! How did you meet them?"

Okay, so, based on my knowledge of Kalmar's geography—which I could now reference because I remembered it—Vetlanda was the duchy—or county, as they called it in Kalmar—next to the one where Tiller was located (Tiller was the name of that county, too, apparently). Meaning Manjoume went to school a county away from where he lived...and bought groceries a county away from where he lived...and those were some big counties... Yeah, I wasn't even going to ask why. Though, apparently, Asuka didn't know where Manjoume was from, either, since she'd said he was from "the upper parts of town."

"Asuka brought them over to determine if I was a prince," I told Johan instead.

He stared at me for a bit, and I started wondering if there was something weird about that. Then he started laughing. "That'll do it, alright! Why, if you're looking to identify a possible fake, there's no one better!"

As he kept laughing, I sweat. "Yeah, and they identified me, alright..."

Really, what was so amusing about calling them in to see if an amnesiac is a prince? Yet there Johan was, rolling on the ground laughing and holding his stomach, as though this were somehow the most amusing thing he'd ever heard.

"Johan! We need to focus here!" I scolded. "Girl in trouble? Remember?"

He sat up, saying, "Right." Then, of course, he snickered.

"So, Aniki," Sho said. "Any idea how we're gonna contact those guys? You don't even know where they live, do you?"

Oh... That was a good question.

I gave it a moment's thought, then sweat and said, "Nope."

Johan pulled out a strange, rectangular device the same color as his hair, with gold and silver designs painted on the back. The fact that I didn't recognize it meant we didn't have it in Neospace. "Well, I can get you Manjoume," Johan said. "Since his dad's a duke, I'm required to know his number in case there's a problem. My whole family is, actually. Should I call him and see if Jun's available?" He hesitated a moment, then asked, "Uh, it _is_ Jun you're talking about, right?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Okay. One sec."

Johan walked off a little ways, pushing buttons on his teal device, which I figured was some sort of a phone.

Yubel stared, somewhat stunned, for some reason. After a moment, she said, "Judai, be honest. Is everyone in Johan's kingdom crazy? I mean, Sho's from there, and those two guys you're calling sound nuts, and—"

Wow, she loved to judge people, didn't she? After all, she hadn't heard that much about those two yet!

"No," I cut her off, annoyed with her. Hey, what can I say, I didn't like her attitude. "Don't be rude, Yubel."

She crossed her arms and gave me one of her all too common lame looks. "Judai. The guy's brother snuck around in a hooded robe for days just so he could—"

Okay, _that_ wasn't something I could argue against.

I leaned over to whisper in her ear so Sho wouldn't hear when I said, "I'm not gonna try to explain those that _are_ crazy. I'm just saying they aren't _all_ crazy."

Yubel cupped a hand around her mouth as she whispered back, "Name one that's _not._"

"Asuka," I said immediately. "Elise. So, basically, the girls."

I sweat when I realized what I'd just said. Even better, she might have had a point about Manjoume being crazy, at least, given his preference for running around naked instead of wearing anything white.

Yubel pulled back from our quiet conversation, grinning. "So it's _just_ the _men_ who are nuts, huh?" she asked, clearly pleased and amused by that thought.

"The doctor who took care of me wasn't crazy!" I hissed at her, trying to make a point that there had to be sane guys there, even if I hadn't met any.

"You two look like an old married couple," I heard Sho say suddenly. When I looked, he was watching us lamely.

An old married couple? Me and Yubel? Hell, no! If we ever got married, I'd stab myself with my sword just to get out of it! If only because I'd never be able to run from her—she'd find me, no matter where I went.

Obviously Yubel agreed because we were both staring at him. I was too stunned to speak, and Yubel was gaping. After a bit, she started twitching some, too.

When I finally recovered from the horror of that idea, I said, "I'm going to do you a favor and forget you said that. But, if you ever say it again, you will regret it."

"No! _He's_ gonna regret that _now_!" Yubel countered, lunging at Sho. "When I get my hands on him, I'll—"

Sho cringed and put his arms over his head as a shield.

"Whoa, hey, Yubel!" I grabbed her and held her back. After all, while I understood the feeling, I wasn't about to let her beat him up for it. Incidentally, that behavior was part of why I'd sooner stab myself than live my life as her husband—she'd probably be a very abusive wife.

"Let me go! The kid's asking for it!" she shrieked, struggling against my grip.

"Not on your life! Touch him, and you'll be in trouble with your prince, Yubel!"

I didn't often play the prince card, but it came in handy sometimes for stopping people.

"Aw, come on!" she complained.

"Uh, yoo-hoo. You two done dancing over there?" Johan said. "'Cause, if you are, then I'd like to tell you what Jun Manjoume said." Muttering, he added, "Or, rather, screamed frantically."

Good, Johan was back. And, fortunately, Yubel stopped trying to kill Sho.

"I take it he's in?" I asked Johan as I let go of Yubel.

"Oh, he's in, alright! I've never heard him that anxious before! It was like I just told him the world had ended or something. He's even bringing some backup of his own! Wonder who they are?" He crossed his arms at the end, looking up toward the sky as he thought about it.

Oh. Manjoume liked Asuka, too. Well, then, this could be awkward. Oh, what did it even matter!? It wasn't like any relationship between me and Asuka would work out, considering she _was_ from Kalmar and probably not interested in spending much time with me anyway.

"Well, that's good, I guess," I said.

"So now what?" Yubel asked. "Are we supposed to wait for them here or—"

"We're supposed to meet them in Misgarth. Just outside of the old part of Rishner. Manjoume believes their base is somewhere near there and was gonna check with Misawa, just to be sure."

Rishner, huh? That just figured. That was the capital of Misgarth, where their castle was.

"Alright. Then what are we waiting for?" I asked. "Let's go!"

"But, Aniki! Do you even know how to _get_ to Rishner, Misgarth? It's not like you've ever—"

"Been there?" I cut him off. "Because I have."

"Hey, that's funny. Me, too!" Johan said.

Whoa. Didn't see that one coming! We both knew Manjoume and Misawa, we'd both been to Rishner...and that one showed that Misgarth got along with both Kalmar and Neospace. Johan and I stared at each other, a bit surprised that we'd both been to Rishner before. Personally, I was just trying to figure out if he'd ever met the prince of Misgarth, who was about the only real friend I had before this whole Light thing. I mean, I figured he probably had, given that he and his father would likely have been there for diplomatic reasons.

"Anyway, boys, isn't Misgarth a few hundred miles off in that direction?" Yubel asked, pointing south with her usual lame look.

"Oh!" I started. "Uh, right."

I ran off, not wanting to waste another moment or get distracted by another unimportant detail. After all, I had to get to Misgarth and save Asuka!

"Hey!" I heard Johan call out behind me. "Wait for us, pal!"

The sound of footsteps behind me told me that he was following, along with Yubel and Sho. Good. Now we just had to get to Misgarth, meet up with Manjoume and Misawa, and save Asuka. I hoped she'd still be okay when we got there. If they'd done anything to her, I'd make them pay!


	24. Preparating to Infiltrate the Light HQ!

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

When we got to the old part of Rishner, Sho ducked behind me, apparently pretty freaked. I couldn't blame him, really, considering this looked a bit run down. A lot of buildings were boarded up or covered in vines, some seemed to be falling apart, and there wasn't really anyone around. It made sense, given that last bit, that Manjoume would want to meet here.

"I-I don't know about th-this place, A-Aniki... It's g-giving me the c-creeps..."

"We don't have a choice, Sho," I told him. "I've gotta save Asuka."

Granted, that didn't mean _he_ had to be here, but it wasn't like there was anywhere else he could have gone at that point.

"It's okay," Johan assured him. "I'm sure it only looks like this because it's so old. Misgarth's main city started out right here, after all."

"Right. So suck it up and quit acting like such a baby." Muttering, Yubel added, "Sheesh. No _wonder_ no one in his hometown could stand him."

Well, that was rude, which was typical of Yubel. I glared at her for that comment, but I had the sense not to say anything right then. No need to start arguing with her—we didn't have the time for that.

* * *

**Sho's POV**

I really didn't like this place at all. It looked like it could be home to all kinds of horrible things! Suddenly someone put a hand on my shoulder.

I screamed, jumping into Aniki's arms, hoping that whatever villain or monster had touched me wouldn't be a match for him.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Something had scared Sho, obviously, considering I was suddenly holding him. So I looked to see who it was, as did Johan and Yubel.

Standing behind us was a snickering Manjoume, with Misawa standing beside him. As usual, Manjoume—or Gold Coat, as I once called him—was overdressed. His black coat was threaded with gold yet again, with his family crest embroidered on it in red. He was wearing black silk pants, black leather boots, and a dark blue silk shirt. Seriously, if he kept showing up wearing golden coats, I was gonna just go back to calling him Gold Coat! Why did he have gold worked into all his clothes, anyway? And why gold and silk clothing on a mission like _this_!?

I decided not to ask.

"Manjoume! Misawa!"

"M-Manjoume...?" Sho stammered.

"Hey," Misawa said. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, no kidding," Manjoume said. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, shrimp? Looking for the Boogie Man?" he teased, smirking at Sho.

Sho jumped out of my arms and got up in Manjoume's face, glaring at him. He growled. "If you think that scared me, you're sorely mistaken! I was just tired, that's all." He turned away, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "It's been a long walk over here. Hmph."

Manjoume kept smirking through that whole spiel.

"Enough teasing Sho," I said. "We've got more important things to worry about!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Manjoume agreed, suddenly growing really frantic. "So how are we gonna save her!? _Well!?_"

Whoa, talk about mood swings! He was just wasting time teasing Sho; now, all of a sudden, he's freaking out about saving Asuka? Yeah, I was starting to think Manjoume really _did_ have issues.

"Well, we were gonna dress up as Whites and go in that way, but someone said that us princes would get caught," Johan answered, casting a look my way as he did.

"So, instead, we're gonna dress as Whites and drag them in there as prisoners," Yubel finished. She pointed at herself and added, "By the way, I'm Yubel."

Manjoume nodded, his expression turning serious. It's amazing how quick his moods can change, isn't it? "Alright. Anything for Tenjoin-kun."

"Really, Manjoume?" Misawa asked. "But, the last time you were White, you—"

Manjoume clenched his fists and got up in Misawa's face, glaring, which made Misawa cringe. "Look. In case you forgot, Tenjoin-kun's _life_ is on the line here! This is no time to act spoiled or complain about the plan! So just go with it, alright!? We haven't got the time!"

Wow. Manjoume saying this wasn't the time to act spoiled. I figured I'd never hear that come out of his mouth ever again, so I decided to savor the moment. And hope that he wouldn't ditch his clothes and run around in the nude the moment we saved Asuka.

"Good to hear, Manjoume!" I said. "Glad you're on board. Now let's get this thing going!"

"That's all well and good, but how are you guys going in as prisoners?" Misawa asked. "And where are we getting the costumes? No offense, but this plan seems rushed."

Rushed? Ha! That was my middle name! I _never_ thought things through! Someday that would come back to bite me, but, for the time being, I didn't really feel like I had time to stop and think. After all, Asuka was in trouble, and the Light wanted a quick surrender from me. If they didn't get what they wanted—or, at least, a falsified version of what they wanted—soon, then Asuka could be in danger.

Manjoume pulled out what appeared to be one of those cell phones, like what Johan had used earlier. This one was dark blue with—duh—gold strips etched into it in a sort of wave pattern. His family crest was on the back.

Okay, it was official—Manjoume was obsessed with gold. He had real gold embroidered in his clothes _and_ stuck to his phone? Really!?

Anyway, King Midas dialed a number on his blue and gold phone, waited a second, then said, "Hey, listen, go find me some white clothes immediately and deliver them to Rishner, Misgarth. I need one outfit for a girl and three for boys. But one's for Sho, so watch what you pick."

Johan stared, apparently concerned. "Wait. You can't be serious. You're ordering clothes for everyone? Over the phone? And you're having them delivered to this exact spot? What are you thinking?"

I was quite tempted to say that he was thinking he was Manjoume, the guy who could trot around a stranger's home completely naked and demand a prince give him the clothes off his back, but that would have been rude. Especially given the fact that he was actually helping this time with his weird clothing stuff. Though why he couldn't have called someone to bring him some of his clothes _that_ time, I would have loved to have known.

Manjoume put away his phone and turned his stern gaze upon the other prince. "I'm thinking that Tenjoin-kun needs our help ASAP. My guys should be here in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, that's the best they can do."

I wasn't surprised by this, and neither was Misawa; but, apparently, Yubel, Johan, and Sho were. The three of them just stared at him in awe. Apparently I knew Manjoume better than Johan, even thought I'd only seen him two or three times.

After another moment, Yubel, still stunned, said, "Judai? Remind me again who that guy is?"

"Rich," I said, thinking that was the one word that could best describe Manjoume. "And I'm actually pretty thrilled by this fact right now. Especially with mine and Johan's dads being... Well, you know."

"Mm-hm," she said. "You know his reasons for rushing are the same as yours, right?" Then she smirked and laughed through her lips.

Well, that was embarrassing. And I'd have to put up with that behavior for the rest of my life, probably. I blushed. "I don't think so. Nope."

Whether I was saying _I_ didn't care about Asuka that way or _Manjoume _didn't, I'm not sure.

"Why, he may be _more_ concerned, even," Yubel kept teasing. "Maybe those two should—"

"Shut up! She doesn't like him!" I snapped. Then I blushed deeper as I realized what I'd just said.

Ugh, how come Yubel had to be so good at getting a reaction out of me!? This wasn't fair!

"Oh, really? How do you know? Maybe they're in some sort of secret—"

"Yubel!" I practically whined. I really wanted her to stop teasing me, and I wanted that smirk gone. She was such a pain!

Out of nowhere, Manjoume was in my face, glaring. "What are you two mumbling about!? This isn't the time for your love disputes! We should be focusing on saving Tenjoin-kun! Do I make myself clear!?"

Love disputes!? _Love disputes!?_ With _Yubel_!? The word "love" didn't belong anywhere in the same sentence as Yubel's name!

"I know that!" I yelled at him.

Manjoume turned and walked away, his attention turning back to the sky.

"Hey! Why does everyone think we're in love!?" Yubel demanded. "We don't even like each other, let alone—"

"But you sound like an old married couple all the time," Sho said, a lame look on his face.

Okay. I couldn't ignore that a second time. If he was gonna keep saying it, it had to be addressed. After all, Yubel wasn't capable of love!

Before I could, though, Johan snickered and said, "That's true. Or a young one, working out their differences."

And _that_ did it! All of a sudden, I wanted nothing more than to punch the prince of Kalmar for even _suggesting_ that! But I kept my calm enough not to hit him, instead settling for yelling at all three of them.

"I hate her! You got that!? And she hates me, too! We don't even tolerate each other, let alone _love_ each other! Stop saying that we do!"

"Well, _I_ for one think that...he's wrong." As Yubel started that statement, she'd sounded about as mad as me. Then, there at the end, she got a bit nervous with those last two words, which she hesitated before saying.

I started. "What?"

* * *

**Yubel's POV**

Crap, that was stupid! I'd been about to agree with him, letting those idiots know just how much _I_ hated _him—_that immature, idiotic, ignorant, sorry excuse for a prince! At the last second, I decided to disagree, but that just made things worse. Now it sounded like I actually _liked_ him! What had I been thinking!?

"Uh, you do realize that you just said you like him, right?" that Misawa guy asked.

Right, yeah, like I needed him pointing out what stupidity I'd just committed! Ugh, Judai must have been rubbing off on me!

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped.

Everyone but Manjoume and Judai, who was still too shocked by my little slip-up, laughed.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Just as I was realizing that Yubel had messed up and didn't really mean to imply that she cared about me in the least, Manjoume said, "Ooh! There they are!"

When I looked, he was waving his arms in excitement, signaling his plane. Johan looked up about the same time I did.

Okay, there was another addition to the Gold Collection the Manjoume family had going—planes. Unless, of course, they _all_ had gold on them, which I doubted—hey, I'd never seen one before that day, so how was I to know? The jet was big and black, with boosters on the sides and gold strips running down the sides, one above the window and one below. The family crest was in red on the sides.

"Huh!?" Johan exclaimed. "But they're ridiculously early!"

Huh. Go figure. Apparently planes weren't normally that fast.

"_That's_ 'cause they took our new express jet," Manjoume said. Then he laughed.

Well, regardless of any of that, I was _really_ glad that the subject had changed! Honestly, whenever Yubel and I were the topic of conversation, it got uncomfortable, weird, or infuriating real fast. Sometimes all three.

"Great," I said.

The jet came in for a landing—yep, right there in the middle of town, as if the street were a runway—and some guys in black suits came out, carrying plastic bags that, judging by the hangers sticking out of the tops, obviously held clothes.

"Okay, boss," one guy said. "Here's your order. Three white men's outfits, one extra short, and a white woman's outfit."

Manjoume nodded. "Good." Then, to all of those who'd be faking being Light Drones, he said, "Okay, people! Hurry up and get dressed! The sooner we're disguised, the sooner we can rescue Tenjoin-kun!"

And he ran onto the jet as he said that.

"But, guys," Misawa said, ever the logical one. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Yubel grinned and reached into her back pocket.

Ugh, really? She wasn't even in costume yet! Aw, well, it was unavoidable, anyway, so I'd just suck it up.

"No," she said casually, pulling the shackles out. "Come here, Judai. You're under arrest again."

Now, when I say "shackles", that's actually what I mean. Like, old fashioned shackles with a short chain attached. Not like the handcuffs I'd seen on the belts of those police officers in Kalmar—these shackles were about two inches thick, covering the entire wrist.

Misawa's eyes widened. "What!?"

I turned and held out my arms behind me—hey, I knew the drill by then—and Yubel put the shackles on. Misawa stared in awe, and I figured this must be pretty strange for him, given that I was supposed to be a prince and Yubel was just casually shackling me, as if we did this a lot.

"Hold up. Do you guys do this often?" he asked, confirming my suspicions. "But I thought he was a prince!"

While he was talking, Yubel had shackled my arms behind my back. Smirking, she turned us both to face Misawa. "He is," she said. "But he likes getting into trouble a lot, so..." She looked at me as she trailed off, giving me the chance to finish.

"So, since I'm good at getting _out_ of custody when I'm in trouble, I get arrested a lot."

"Really, Aniki? You're really that bad?"

Misawa just stared at me in awe.

Yubel, still holding me with one hand, reached back and pulled out her spare shackles with her other hand, saying, "Oh, he's that bad, alright. In fact, he usually figures a way out of my first set of cuffs halfway back, so I've got a spare hidden around here, too."

Fortunately she didn't add that I always _broke_ the first set, but that was kinda implied by the whole "carrying a spare" thing. She handed her spare to Johan, who blinked, stunned, before walking over mechanically.

Manjoume came out of his jet then, wearing a white trench coat that made me think of the one he'd thrown off in Elise's yard and, supposedly, left lying there. What, had he picked it up again when he left? If he was gonna do that, why throw it off in the first place!?

"You've gotta be kidding!" he said, telling me that he'd obviously heard our conversation. "You're seriously _that_ bad? And you call yourself a prince. You'd make a better double agent, with _that_ in mind."

"Gee, thanks for the career advice," I told him dryly.

"You're one naughty prince..." Misawa said, his eyes wide with shock. "Glad you're not mine..."

I didn't dignify that with a response—hey, I had my reasons for "getting into trouble", as Yubel called it. And _she_ was chief among them!

Yubel cuffed Johan's hands behind his back as well, then let go of him.

"Okay," she said. "The prisoners are all hooked up. Someone better keep an eye on _this _one, though," she added, teasing, as she pointed at me. "If he decides he don't want to play, he'll slip away without a moment's notice."

Oh, she was a pain! See, living with _that_ is exactly why I always sneak out of the castle! How _else_ am I supposed to keep my sanity in tact!?

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," I told her. "I've gotta save Asuka!"

She closed her eyes, grinning. "Uh-huh. Sure, you won't. Okay, Manjoume! Where's the dress!?"

She and Misawa headed up into the jet to change.

Sho, however, had taken her seriously and stayed behind. "Want me to keep an eye on you, Aniki?" he asked, me, and I felt him grab hold of the chain holding my wrists together.

What had I just said about saving Asuka!? Seriously!

"I'm not going anywhere!" I snapped, irritated. He and Yubel had to be the _worst_ combination ever!

"Relax, pal," Johan told Sho. "I'm a responsible prince. If I get in trouble, I take it like a man. I'll keep an eye on him, okay?" He winked, and I could tell that he was just teasing. So, obviously, it was just Sho who thought I was seriously a flight risk.

"Okay!" Sho said, then he ran off to get changed.

I pouted. Immature, yeah, but my best friend was that easily duped by Yubel and her annoying, not at all funny jokes.

"Don't mind him," Johan told me, grinning. "He just missed the joke, is all."

"Yeah, yeah."

Honestly, I just wanted to get this over with. Now that Yubel was involved, everything from here on out was going to be annoying and rage-inducing, I was sure. As if dealing with the Four Emperors and the Light of Destruction wasn't bad enough, we had to throw Yubel into the mix!

The three fake Light Drones came out, and Yubel grabbed me immediately, as if she'd seriously thought I'd leave. Or maybe she just wanted to make sure she was the one that took me to the Light's headquarters. Given that she was my babysitter—I'm sorry, "body guard"—that made sense, I supposed.

Either way, she kind of looked good in white. She was wearing a white minidress with a short slit up the side and white flats—which, I figured, she hated. Misawa, meanwhile, looked to be wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing when he'd been white and had attacked me, leaving me to think they had _both_ kept their Light Drone uniforms. I didn't really wanna think about how Manjoume had gotten his hands on Misawa's, given that Misawa _hadn't_ stripped and tried to run around in the nude—hey, Manjoume was a weirdo, so it was probably best not to ask too many questions. Sho, the last one, had a white shirt, white pants, and white sneakers. The legs and sleeves of his clothes were rolled up some. Apparently they were _still_ too big for him.

"I'm surprised," Yubel teased me. "You're still here."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, for the love of..."

Seriously, what did she take me for? I ran away from _punishment_, not _plans_. Especially when those plans involved _saving someone I cared about!_

Manjoume raised an arm above his head, looking commanding. "Alright, everyone! Let's move! We've got some prisoners to deliver!"

"Right!" the other three answered.

"And make it quick, too," Yubel added, holding on to me tightly. "This one tends to squirm loose easily."

As I rolled my eyes again, Misawa grabbed hold of Johan.

"Will do!" Manjoume answered her. "Forward, men! The boss is waiting!" He marched off, and the other three followed, taking Johan and me along for the ride.

As we were dragged along side by side, Johan whispered to me, "Hey. You don't think he's _really_ gonna do that, do ya? I mean, we're supposed to be sneaking in to save someone, right?"

He sounded nervous, and I couldn't really blame him. Manjoume _did_ sound serious, after all. But I figured it was probably just a really good act. After all, I'd fixed him long enough ago that he'd have lost patience if he'd been planning something else involving me. Besides, he'd been around when we talked about getting me home, and he hadn't tried to stop me.

Granted, Manjoume was kinda nuts and unpredictable...and he _had_ kept his and Misawa's Light Drone uniforms...

So I whispered back, "I don't think so. He's not a Light Drone anymore. He's supposed to be on our side."

"Well, he better be. Or I'm making a run for it the first chance I get."

On that ominous note, Johan and I were taken to the Light's headquarters, putting our fates in the hands of Sho, Yubel, and two former Light Drones who may or may not have been faking purification.


	25. Entering Their Lair

**Shadgirl2: Okay, so this chapter has a fun surprise in it.**

**Midna: Well, not so fun for Judai.**

**Shadgirl2: Hush! You'll spoil it!**

**Midna: So, on that note, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Manjoume was so in character that I was really starting to question the wisdom of this plan. Maybe asking him for help was a bad idea. Maybe, somehow, I _hadn't_ managed to purify him before, and this was all some sort of a trick. Hey, given that I hadn't had the Neo-Spacian deck at the time, it was possible that I'd missed. Especially since Asuka had been the one really fighting that duel.

Either way, it was too late to worry about that now (unless I was going to tell Yubel that I thought he was still a drone—which, oddly enough, I was considering). Manjoume led us out of town and into the woods, taking us deeper and deeper into them until we found ourselves in front of a huge white mansion.

It was three stories high, with balconies on the second and third floors. As I looked at those balconies, I couldn't help but wonder which one was the one I'd trapped myself on like an idiot the last time I'd been there. There was a spacious front porch, with an awning held up by twin pillars. If it hadn't been so white, I might actually have liked it.

Johan and Sho stared at the building in awe. Me, I was more concerned about saving Asuka—which is one reason why I didn't point out to Yubel that I thought Manjoume might still be a drone.

"Whoa," Johan said. "I had no idea the Light's main base would be so classy."

"Yeah, no kidding," Sho said. Apparently he hadn't yet gotten the point that he should be getting into character soon. "Now I wish I _was_ a member. I mean, I'd—"

Uh, what had he just said? Was he seriously just interested in fancy housing!? Maybe I needed to reevaluate my friendship with him—if he wanted to join the Light to have a nice house, there was clearly something wrong with his brain. I know I was staring at him funny, like he'd just said that he was a female leprechaun with a unicorn horn who could fly, but he deserved it.

"Can we focus here!?" Manjoume snapped. "We're here to rescue Tenjoin-kun, remember!?"

And _that's_ the _other_ reason I didn't tell Yubel I thought Manjoume was really a drone—he was still on about saving Asuka.

"Right..." Sho said, then he gave an awkward laugh—as well he should have!

"Pull yourselves together, everyone!" Yubel said. "If we're gonna make this work, you're gonna have to act like you belong! Well, most of you will, anyway."

"Right!" the other three fake Light Drones said.

"And _we_ need to act like we don't wanna be here!" Johan said to me. "Simple enough, since I really don't." He grinned.

Well, that made two of us.

"Yeah, not like I ever liked Yubel," I said. "And I like her less as a Light Drone."

With that in mind, acting like I didn't want to be here would be easier than blinking.

She tightened her grip on me, and I winced slightly. Man, I _hated_ it when she did that! "You forget, boy, that right now, I've got the upper hand around here," she said, her tone threatening, like always when we were in these sorts of situations—me being arrested by her, I mean. "Watch your tone or things _could_ get messy."

Yeah, like I hadn't heard that one before. As if she'd ever really hurt me. My dad would _kill_ her if she ever did—literally, if I was lucky.

"Wow. She's real good at this Light thing. Almost like she rehearsed for it," Johan observed.

"I'm not afraid of you, Yubel!" I told her, getting into character as well. Hey, we were right outside their base, so what better time to start acting?

"Yeah, yeah," she said lamely, pushing me forward with a tight grip on my shoulders. "I've heard that before. Let's go, you idiot. You've got a date with destiny."

Since there seemed to be people outside, I struggled some on the way to make the act more believable.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

I just stared after Yubel and Judai, stunned. They were really good actors. That, or they were always like this. Given how they were when we were trying to get into the castle and get that Neo-Spacian deck, I figured that was a possibility, too. But Yubel _did_ make a comment that sounded more like what the Light would say, so I was going to just assume they were good actors.

"You, too!" Misawa said, pushing me along and suddenly reminding me that I was also a "prisoner" for this little rescue mission. "Get a move-on! The master's waiting!"

* * *

**Judai's POV**

The false Light Drones took Johan and me straight up to the front door, where there were two guards stationed. Apparently these guys knew Misawa and Manjoume because they smiled.

"Ah. Manjoume and Misawa," one of them said. "So that's where you've been. Picking up some new recruits and rounding up some trouble-makers?"

Manjoume crossed his arms and humphed. "Well, of course. I _said_ I wouldn't return until I got them, didn't I?"

And all of a sudden, I was less sure about Manjoume. After all, he'd said he couldn't remember anything about being a Light Drone before, yet those two guys were buying everything he was saying, as if he actually _had_ said that! Most of the time, Light Drones didn't remember much of what happened when they were in the Society of Light once they're saved, which just made Manjoume all the more suspicious. Man, I really couldn't tell whose side he was on! Oh, well. It was _definitely_ too late to worry about that now.

Johan glared fiercely at the guards, gritting his teeth. He let out a growl. "For the last time, you creeps! I'm not joining you!" he told them, struggling to get out of Misawa's grip.

"Let us go right now!" I said, joining in as I continued struggling against Yubel. "You _know_ I'll get away eventually, Yubel!" I added, glaring over my shoulder at her.

"Oh, really? Then why haven't you done it yet?" she taunted. "We're at the base now, stupid. So, if you're gonna get away, you better do it while you still can."

I growled.

"Well, in that case," the same guard said, "then hurry up and get in here! Everything's ready for the prince's arrival. Right this way, please." Smiling, he led the way inside, while his partner stayed at the door.

Our group followed him, Johan and me still being dragged along.

Johan leaned over and whispered to me, "H-hey, what gives? I thought they were gonna take us to wait for the boss?"

I could tell he was worried, and I honestly couldn't blame him. I mean, after Manjoume's little revelation about his words before leaving—if that's what that was—I was worried, too. I had this nasty feeling we'd been tricked, and it was my fault for asking Manjoume for help. If anything happened to any of us, it would be my fault.

"I...I don't know," I whispered back. Not very reassuring, I know, but I really _didn't_ know what was going on.

"Then maybe we _should_ try to escape?"

I was about to agree when the guard stopped in front of a door to the right. "Put him right in there, miss," he told Yubel, making it clear that this was my stop. "The guard in there will handle the rest."

"Tch..."

Great. Just what I needed. To be separated from the others: the three that I knew I could trust and the two I wasn't so sure I wanted to leave the others alone with. And, from the sound of things, whoever was in that room was going to try to induct me into the Society of Light, probably with another one of those dumb lasers like my dad had, knowing my luck.

Even worse, Yubel had no choice but to obey or blow our entire operation.

* * *

**Yubel's POV**

Well, this was just great. I had to leave my charge locked in with a Light Drone. Wouldn't his father be just _thrilled_ to know that I'd let him get away with this insanity in the first place? Ah, well, there wasn't anything else I could do besides blow our cover, and that sure wouldn't help anyone, least of all him.

So I removed the shackles. "You heard the man!" I told him. "Get in there!" Then I shoved him through the door, figuring he could take care of himself for a bit. I'd come back and save him later. Hey, it wasn't like I'd be gone that long. I just had to wait for this Light Drone to stop leading us all over the place and leave us alone.

The guard slammed the door behind him and locked it, then led us off to wherever we were taking Prince Johan.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Inside that room, I noticed two things immediately that were wrong. Things that just didn't belong there. The first: a laser hanging from the ceiling, just as I'd feared. The second: my worst nightmare.

If you're thinking that my worst nightmare is Yubel or something, you're sorely mistaken. My worst nightmare is a certain blonde-haired duelist with hazel eyes wearing a very revealing white outfit. Yes, that's right. Asuka was standing in the back of the room, dressed all in white. She was wearing a white tube top, a very short white skirt with light blue trim at the bottom, and white high heeled boots.

She also had a smile that could freeze Hell.

"Welcome, Prince Judai," she told me. "I've been waiting for you." She snickered.

No way. No way, no way! This couldn't be happening. This had to be a joke, a bad dream, _something_ other than the truth! Maybe I was hallucinating, maybe I was dead, maybe _anything_ but what it looked like!

"A-Asuka?" I stammered.

"Why, of course," she said, moving forward slowly. "The one and only. What's wrong? Don't you recognize me?" She laughed. Her tone was just as cold as that sub-zero smile.

"I... You're one of them." I stepped back.

This was my fault. She was dragged into this because she knew me, because she _meant_ something to me! And the worst part was neither of us had known at the time that her getting to know me could cause this! If I'd known it had, I never would have said anything to her that first day!

Okay, I had to calm myself down. Blaming myself wasn't going to help anything. It wasn't like I could have predicted this would happen, and I could still fix this. I just had to duel her and win. That was all. I could get her back. There was no reason to be freaking out like this.

Asuka laughed coldly as she kept coming at me. "That's right. I've been shown the light, just as everyone else has. And as you soon will, once I'm through with you." She laughed through her lips.

She was almost in my face now, and there wasn't very far that I could go. My first option would have been back through that stupid door, but I'd heard it lock behind me—the Light knew better than to stick me in an unlocked room, after all.

But her words were...almost flirtatious. And, coupled with her icy tone, it was pretty unnerving.

When I found my voice, I backed up a bit more, asking, "Through with me...?"

She was relentless—she just kept coming closer, and I was starting to think that I really didn't want to know what she meant by that. I kept backing up, sort of afraid to let her get any closer to me.

"Yes, Judai," she said. "Through with you. Soon all your problems will just fade away, like they never even existed. Soon you'll see the light, have your eyes opened for the first time. Soon you'll be one of us, just as you always should have." She paused, and her smirk turned wicked. That's the only word that could possibly describe that look. "And soon you and I can be together forever," she flirted in that icy tone of hers. "Now doesn't that sound nice?"

It was about this moment that I started wondering if there was some way she could kiss me or something and poison me that way. Was that laser just for show, to get me worried more about that than about the predatory girl who suddenly seemed to have a romantic interest in me? I mean, in different circumstances, I might have appreciated that. But this wasn't at all what I wanted! There was no way that was Asuka!

She giggled, and I swear, I never knew a giggle could sound so cold. Then she stopped walking. She started laughing, and I felt something wrap around my left ankle, heard something click.

"Huh!?"

I looked down to see a short metal cuff, its chain going into a hole in the floor that hadn't been there before. The cuff was wrapped around my ankle, keeping me from going anywhere. I could only lift my foot a couple inches off the ground, that's how short the chain was. Then I glanced at the laser.

Crap. I'd backed myself right into its range, hadn't I?

Asuka just stood there, musing, apparently. That stupid cold laugh of hers was getting old, and so was the Hell-Freezes-Over smile that never left her face.

Man, how the hell do I get myself into these messes!? Now I had to try and talk her into playing fair, something Light Drones didn't typically do—my dad wasn't unusual in his desire to just get finished with me as soon as possible.

"Alright, Asuka!" I exclaimed, my attention snapping back to her. "I know you can't be as big of a coward as some of these idiot Lights! So duel me!"

Maybe if I insulted her teammates, she'd fight me. Yeah, that was a _great_ idea, Judai! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Well, maybe, if I was lucky—which I usually wasn't—she'd duel me just so that she wouldn't be lumped in with those "cowardly" teammates of hers.

She gave another cold laugh, closing her eyes for a second. "Silly boy," she said. "Did you think I was _just_ going to zap you, just like that?" She laughed through her lips again.

Hesitant to actually believe, I asked, "So...you saying...?"

"Of course," she answered my unfinished question. "That wouldn't be any fun."

Still smiling a smile so cold it made Pluto look like a ball of fire, she walked away, far enough for the two of us to actually duel. A pedestal rose out of the floor on the other side of the room as she was walking over there. On top of the pedestal, I could see what looked like Asuka's real duel disk—just based off the fact that it wasn't snow white.

When she got to the pedestal, she turned to face me. "Of _course_ I was going to give you a chance to save yourself. And of _course_ I was going to ask you to duel. What do you think? That this room's just for show?"

She picked her duel disk up off the pedestal, which started sinking back into the floor. She put her duel disk on and activated it. I activated mine as well, hugely relieved that she'd said she'd duel me. I mean, in theory, I could have summoned a monster to destroy the laser or the chain, but she could have stopped me before I'd even had a chance to activate my duel disk. So, really, this was my only way out. I had to win this duel—not just to save myself, but to save her, too!

"You ready?" she asked.

"Bring it on, Asuka!"

"Oh, I plan to."

Can't say I liked her tone there, but, hey, she _was_ an icy cold Light Drone. Honestly, this had to be one of the most dramatic personality changes I'd ever seen from a Light Drone, right up there with my father turning more violent and hot-tempered. I _had_ to get her back to normal!

"Duel!"


	26. Coldest Duel Ever!

**Shadgirl2: So this is a pretty long chapter.**

**Midna: With a lot of fianceshipping! Yay!**

**Shadgirl2: Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Judai: 4000  
Asuka: 4000

This wasn't good. I was chained to the floor in a locked room with a Light Drone and one of those dumb Laser Baptizers of theirs. To make matters worse, the Light Drone was someone I considered a friend, and my dumb guardian was occupied with delivering Johan to _his_ doom.

Yeah, so far, this rescue mission was going really, really badly.

"I'll start things off!" I said. "Draw!" I pulled a card from my deck, sparing it only a glance before continuing, "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!" (1000)

My green-feathered hero appeared, being the best thing I could call out at the moment. Since that wasn't good, I took Hero Signal from my hand and slipped it into my duel disk.

"Then I play a card face down. Turn end."

"I'll go next!" Asuka said, drawing her card. "I call forth my Snow Dragon in attack mode as well!" (1400)

When the little, chubby, blue dragon with wings way too small to actually lift it off the ground appeared, I couldn't help but start. Hey, what can I say? That didn't sound like something that would be in her deck. It didn't _look_ like something that would be in her deck, either!

"Snow Dragon!? That's not one of yours, is it? Didn't you have Cyber Girls before?"

Leave it to the Light to completely change a person's deck along with their personality. Man, I hate that stupid Light!

Asuka gave a cold laugh. "If you think _that's_ impressive, wait til you see what else I've got! Like this! Spell card, activate!" she said, slipping a card into her field spell slot. "Absolute Zero Barrier! Now any monster that's pegged with an Ice Counter loses 500 attack points and can't attack!"

Ice shot up all around, leaving us surrounded. I could tell this wasn't going to be a fun experience.

"Now, go, Snow Dragon! Freeze his pathetic hero solid!"

Her dragon attacked, firing an icy blast at Avian and destroying him. The cold wind from that attack hit me, catching me off guard.

"Agh!" I cried out.

Judai: 3600  
Asuka: 4000

Well, my monster may have been destroyed, but this was my chance to get something stronger than her dragon. "I activate my face-down, Hero Signal! When one of my monsters gets destroyed, this card lets me summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my hand or deck. And I choose Sparkman!" (Atk 1600)

Sparkman appeared, electricity flying off him as he landed on my field.

Asuka humphed. "Fine, then. I play one card face down. Go on and make your move. I'm done," she said, her eyes closed.

Sheesh, she could freeze the _sun_ with that attitude!

"Geez, when you joined the Light, you got a lot colder," I told her. _Reminds me of how she was when I met her..._

I drew my next card, thinking about her attitude back then. She'd been sarcastic and uncaring when I'd found out some creeps were trying to snatch me, and I'd thought _that_ was cold! Man, that wasn't even close, compared to how she was acting now!

I looked at my next card, and a wave of gratitude washed over me. Polymerization. If I kept drawing cards like that, I could end this duel real quick. And the sooner, the better—if I won, Asuka might return to normal. No, not might—she _would_ return to normal! I wouldn't let her stay a stinking Light Drone when I'd come all this way to save her!

"Alright! I activate Polymerization! And I'll use it to fuse the Clayman in my hand with the Sparkman on my field so that I can summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" (Atk 2400)

Unfortunately, the whole "rushing in without thinking" thing had come back to bite me _right then_! At least, judging from the icy grin on Asuka's face—which would probably better be described as a sneer. "Heh," she laughed. "Sorry, Judai, but that's _not_ happening! Trap card, activate! Cold Fusion!"

Yeah, I can really mess up, can't I?

"What!?" I exclaimed. Then, realizing I didn't actually know what that meant, I asked, "What's that do?"

The cold grin returned, with some smugness there, too.

"Just as it says, Judai. It _freezes _your fusion. Canceling it and returning the material monsters to the field with an Ice Counter each. And they can't change their battle positions now, either. Not a bad combo, huh?" She laughed through her lips.

Great. Yeah, I really _can_ mess up!

"W-what!?"

Thunder Giant didn't appear. Instead I wound up with a frozen Clayman and Sparkman. Even worse, Sparkman was frozen in attack mode.

Clayman: Def 2000

"That's right!" Asuka answered. "And, thanks to Absolute Zero Barrier, their attacks both drop by 500!"

Not that it mattered for Clayman, but _this_ was why I didn't want Sparkman frozen in attack mode. His attack dropped to 1100.

Asuka gave another cold smirk, and I started thinking of her as the Ice Queen in my head. "And they can't attack now, either." Another bout of laughter through closed lips.

Yeah, thanks for the reminder, Ice Queen.

"Tch..."

"So? Judai? What do you think? The Light sure is powerful, isn't it?" she asked, a cold smile on her icy face. Then she laughed again. Honestly, I never thought laughter could sound so frigid, but her _voice_ was making me shiver!

"Maybe, but it sure made _you_ into a jerk!" I told her—hey, it was true.

She just laughed, not caring what I thought of her personality. Well, that was somewhat different than earlier—I'm pretty sure she got mad at me for calling her heartless before. Great, so she wouldn't even get fired up when insulted? Ugh, this was going to be a long day...and I might not make it through, either.

"Fine, then, I'll sacrifice Sparkman and Clayman to summon a new monster, Elemental Hero Neos!" (Atk 2500)

If the two of them couldn't do anything except cost me life points, there wasn't much point in keeping them around. At least Neos might be able to help me out. As my two ice sculptures disappeared, they were replaced by the white hero I'd gotten just recently.

"Neos, huh?" Asuka said, unphased. Well, I guess being a Light Drone would explain why she wasn't surprised by Neos.

"Yeah, Neos. The hero who fights against your stupid Light! And he always wins!"

Asuka laughed again. "Oh, really? Well, go on, then. _Show_ me how great he _truly_ is." Then she laughed through her lips again, her eyes closed. She sounded pretty smug.

That probably wasn't a good sign for me. But, in typical fashion, I jumped right in!

"Now, Neos, attack her Snow Dragon!" I commanded my hero.

Neos charged the dragon, destroying the little menace easily enough. Asuka had her eyes closed during the whole thing, a smug smile on her face.

That was what told me I'd regret that move.

Judai: 3600  
Asuka: 2900

Although I had the lead on her as far as life points went, she laughed. "Thanks, Judai." She opened her eyes, looking serious. "_You_ just activated Snow Dragon's effect!" She shook her head, closing her eyes and putting a hand on her hip as she added, "And on Neos, too." Then she laughed again.

"What!?"

Great. What effect did that stupid dragon have that I didn't know about?

"Simple! When Snow Dragon is beaten, it puts an Ice Counter on every monster that's out on the field!" There was that cold smirk again. "And you know what _that_ means, don't you?" She laughed again.

Oh, I knew what that meant, alright! It meant I'd goofed up big time.

"Tch...Neos loses 500 attack points...and he can't attack."

"That's right. You just wasted that legendary monster. I'm sure he's really proud," she said, coldly sarcastic, before laughing again.

I hate smug Light Drones.

Neos' leg iced over, his attack dropped to 2000, and I started noticing a pattern here. She set it up so Ice Counters kept my monsters from doing anything _and_ made them weaker, as if she was afraid to see what I could do otherwise. She kept me from fusing, which was _exactly_ like Misawa. But at least _he'd_ still let me attack!

"So is that what your whole strategy relies on?" I asked. "Stopping me from doing anything? Talk about dull!"

What can I say? It was. I'd wanted to duel Asuka since I'd seen her attack those two goons when they came after me the day Sho broke his hand, but this wasn't what I'd had in mind. Her dueling, just based off what I'd seen her do against Manjoume and Misawa, was way more interesting than this crap!

Oddly enough, the Ice Queen reacted. She frowned, glared at me slightly, and crossed her arms. "Cut the crap and end your turn already, Prince. The master's waiting on you."

She sounded...slightly annoyed. Kind of like how a certain _other_ girl I knew sounded a lot of the time. Ugh, this sucked! As if I needed _two_ of _that woman_ in my life!

"Geez, you're as bad as that stupid Yubel! Why did I _ever_ like you!?" I shook my head, knowing that it was useless—she wouldn't care what I thought of her, not when she was a Light Drone. The only way to save her was to win, which I wouldn't be doing if I kept making stupid mistakes. "Whatever, I end my turn."

Her cold smile returned as she said something that bothered me. "Heh. Don't know who Yubel is, but it's nice to know you care. It'll make my victory over you all that much sweeter."

Now, it's not so much _what_ she said but _how_ she said it that bugged me. She was doing that whole flirting thing again, as if I were a toy she couldn't wait to play with. As if she couldn't wait to get me in bed. But why was she _flirting_ with _me_!? What, the Light takes her over, and she suddenly wants me all to herself? That's...absolutely crazy! How does that even work!?

"My draw!" she said, pulling a card from her deck and making me stop thinking about her flirtatious behavior. "And my turn to summon another ice monster in attack mode! Cold Enchanter should cool you off!" (1600)

Yeah, like I really needed cooled off. Her monster appeared anyway, a woman dressed all in white and pale blue. Her hair was white, and she was carrying a staff topped with a snowflake.

"I think you need to check your math," I told her. "Neos has more attack points than that thing, even with a stupid Ice Counter on him."

I must have missed the joke because Asuka laughed again. "I think _you_ need to check _your_ math, Prince. _My_ monster gains attack points for each Ice Counter on the field! And, by discarding one card from my hand, she also places an Ice Counter on a monster on the field on top of that!"

Oh, _that_ was the joke! Well, it was on me, wasn't it?

"Aw, come on!" I complained.

Asuka didn't care. She discarded a card, and Neos got a bit frostier, his attack dropping to 1500. With two Ice Counters on Neos, Cold Enchanter's attack went up to 2200.

"Now, Cold Enchanter! Attack Neos! Show that worthless has-been why this is the age of evolution!"

Her monster attacked, twirling her staff and shooting a blast of ice at Neos. And, just like that, I lost the hero that was supposed to fight against the Light of Destruction.

Judai: 2900  
Asuka: 2900

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. "Ah, geez, that's cold!"

Asuka laughed, apparently enjoying my suffering. Man, she was sadistic as a Light Drone. "How does it feel, Judai? To have used Neos so poorly as to lose him in one turn? Perhaps you were right, 'Jaden,'" she said, using that name Elise had called me by before I'd remembered who I was. "Perhaps you really _aren't_ the chosen prince of Neospace." She laughed again, a cold and taunting smile on her face.

If I hadn't found the Neo-Spacian deck and remembered who I was, that might have bothered me. It probably would have left me thinking that she was right and I _was_ some sort of imposter, some pretender to the throne. Or just totally misguided. As it was, I just smirked at her through my shivering.

"Heh. Yeah, sure, and you're _not_ boring enough to make Yubel look fun," I countered. "I remember who I am. Your stupid Light couldn't keep me down."

She frowned again. "Due to the lack of an Ice Counter, Cold Enchanter's attack returns to normal. So I'll just play this card face down and end my turn. Judge yourself before you judge me, fool."

I was starting to notice another pattern here. In addition to her focusing on nothing but stopping me from fighting back, she didn't like me calling her boring. Well, it was a weird thing to be bothered by; but, if it was what worked, I'd keep doing it. Sure, the ice encasing her heart didn't seem to have thawed any, but I was getting more of a reaction from that than from anything else I was doing. It was all I had to go on, so I was going to keep trying. If it turned out it wasn't really working, it wouldn't matter, anyway.

I decided to test my theory a little bit. "Yeah, yeah. Like that's gonna be the end of Neos. There are ways to get him back, but you'll always be a bore," I said, then I drew a card and glanced at Asuka over the top of it.

She was glaring at me again. But she was also just waiting for me to make a move. So...maybe I wasn't actually going to get a reaction out of her for this? Aw, come on! No! It had to work—I just had to give it more time and keep trying, dang it! I _was_ going to save her, even if I fell to the Light myself in the process!

"Okay, I'll summon Elemental Hero Wildheart!" (Atk 1500)

My tribal hero, the muscular wild man with the tattoos, appeared, a two-handed sword strapped to his back.

"Then, since I don't really like that field spell of yours, I think I'll change the setting of this duel! I activate the field spell Skyscraper!"

"You'll do what!?"

Yes, she wasn't happy! That meant she didn't have a way to counter it!

"Yep!" I answered, grinning, as the ice surrounding us vanished. Skyscrapers shot up out of the ground to replace them, and a full moon appeared overhead. "What can I say? I hate the cold!"

She let out a growl. "Hmph! Jerk!"

That was a bit hotter, more like how it usually was when she and I were arguing with each other. Or when she was mad at anyone, actually, because she isn't Yubel and we don't fight daily. Maybe I was getting through to her, somehow.

"Now, Wildheart! Attack her Cold Enchanter!" I commanded.

Unfortunately, she _did_ have a way to counter that. "Oh, no, you don't!" she said, pushing a button on her duel disk. "I activate my spell card, Twin Pillars of Ice! This gives me two Ice Pillars that will shield your attacks!"

Two pillars of ice shot out of the ground, and Wildheart hit and destroyed one of those instead of her monster. Well, annoying as that was, it did provide me with another chance to try to get her heated up.

"Ugh, again? Can't you do anything but block me?" I asked, trying real hard to sound bored—a bit of a challenge, given that I was a little worried about ending up a Light Drone. But, hey, her dueling style _was_ boring that day, so I just had to push that laser and the chain holding me in place out of my mind for a bit and pretend this was a normal duel. No biggie! I was an expert at that!

She scowled, giving even more of a reaction than before, and I realized that this _was_ working. "That's enough. _I'm_ doing this _for_ you. Show some appreciation already," she said narrowing her eyes at me.

I just shook my head. "Whatever. I play a card face down. That'll do it for me. You're up."

With any luck, that face-down would get me through another turn.

"Hmph. Foolish dark prince. You'll _never_ understand!" Asuka said, drawing a card from her deck. She looked at it, then, "I play the spell card, Pot of Greed! That allows me to draw two cards!"

She drew two more cards, glared at them—guess she was still annoyed with me—then...oh, crap, she was smirking.

She laughed through her lips again. "Oh, Judai. _Now_ you're in for it." Again, she laughed.

That didn't sound good for me.

"Huh?"

She held her card up above her head, her expression serious again. The only time she wasn't being icy cold was when she was being serious, I was starting to notice. And that wasn't right—at all.

"Watch! _See_ what the Light has brought to me! I activate the spell card White Night Fort!"

Great, a White Night card. A fort of ice grew up behind her, and her whole half of the room froze over. As if it hadn't been cold enough before!

"W-White Night!?"

"This card bars off all trap cards from being used on either side during the opponent's turn! Now _neither_ of us can use our trap cards! Happy now, Judai!?" She sounded annoyed again, so it seemed a third mood might be coming out for this duel. It was also starting to look like I'd have to make her angry to get through to her.

"Tch... No, not really," I answered. Now my face-down card was useless!

Asuka laughed coldly again, then her flirting started up again. "But why not? Now we're sharing the pain. Just like a couple should. And, once you're beaten, I'm sure you'll agree that's a lot better for the both of us since we can't truly be together if we can't relate, right?" She laughed again.

Whoa, wait! _Couple!?_ W-with a Light Drone? Who just happened to be Asuka? Aw, man, the fact that Asuka was saying it made it almost impossible for me not to blush. Yubel would never let this drop if she ever got wind of it—which was a great reason to never, _ever_ talk about it. If I got out of this, that is.

"C-couple...? Uh..." Yeah, I'm pretty darned sure I was blushing, whether I liked it or not.

"Now to show you how that will come to pass!" And she was back to being serious. "Spell card, activate! Soul Infusing Sculptor! This turns my last Ice Pillar into an exact copy of my Cold Enchanter, but with 0 attack points! Not that that will matter once I sacrifice them for something better! My White Night Queen!" (Atk 2100)

Great, just what I needed. Another White Night card on the field. This woman had pale blue skin and long, dark blue hair. Her outfit—if you could call it that—was made up of ice crystals that formed a skirt from her waist down and barely covered anything above that. The only fabric on her was a white cape wrapped around her neck and hanging down her back, held on by a blue gemstone.

"Oh, crap."

Asuka gave a cold laugh with a matching icy grin. "You look nervous, Judai. Is that because you know you'll lose?" Without waiting for an answer, she went on, "I activate my Queen's effect! She can destroy one face-down card on your field once per turn!"

Destroy my face-downs, huh? Well, not like it mattered, anyway, considering I couldn't use the card that was there. Her queen destroyed my trap.

"Well, I couldn't use it anyway, so...thanks for clearing up space, Asuka," I told her.

She gave another cold laugh before getting serious again. "With pleasure! And I'll do it again with this attack! White Night Queen! Attack!"

I braced myself as the queen got ready. She fired an icy blast at Wildheart, destroying him and giving me another blast of cold. Dang it, why was everything she did so freaking cold!?

Judai: 2300  
Asuka: 2900

Asuka, the real Ice Queen here, gave another icy laugh as I shivered. "You look cold, Judai. What's wrong?" Then she laughed again at my suffering.

And I thought Yubel was sadistic. At least she didn't like watching me freeze to death!

"G-geez... Suddenly I'm wishing Yubel was my opponent. She's not _that_ mean," I said to myself.

Asuka didn't say anything, just smiling coldly at me. I figured that meant her turn was over, so I pulled myself together and drew my next card.

It wasn't very helpful.

"Tch... I play a monster in defense mode. Turn end."

Asuka gave another frosty laugh, looking smug once more. "So you couldn't do a thing against my queen? Could it be because she represents the Light?" Drawing her card, she laughed again. "I summon Snow Fairy in attack mode!" (1100)

A humanoid blue creature appeared, with lifeless white eyes. It looked more like some sort of robot, in my opinion, than a living creature.

"I've got you now," Asuka said. "Thanks to my Snow Fairy, you can no longer play spell cards from your hand, nor can you use them the turn they're set face-down." She laughed through her lips. "This means you're completely barred off from everything. Just as the Light always predicted you'd be." She gave a smug laugh.

Oh, crap. That wasn't good. So I couldn't use traps, and I couldn't play any spell cards without setting them face-down first. But, if I did that, her queen would just destroy whatever I played. Now I was really in trouble.

I'm not too proud to say that I've never wished for a sudden intervention from Yubel more than I did right then. But, since that didn't seem likely any time soon, I'd have to do what I could to try and get through this without becoming a drone. Which meant I was back to trying to make Asuka mad.

"Rgh! Again with the barring off my moves?" I asked. "You like it when your opponents can't do anything, huh? I've said it once, and I'll say it again: _boring_!"

My crazy plan must have been working because Asuka glared at me. "Stop saying that!" she snapped at me. "I'm _way_ more interesting than that! The Light just wants you beat quickly, that's all! And there's no _way_ I'm standing in its way! White Night Queen! Attack!"

The queen obeyed, attacking and destroying one of my new cards, Chrysalis Pinny, a baby version of Glow Moss wrapped in a chrysalis (as the name kinda says). Being only a baby, it wasn't like he ever stood a chance, so he was wiped out by the wicked queen.

I didn't let the cold from that attack get to me, though, because Asuka had given me more ammo to use against her. It was way too perfect an opportunity to let it just slide by because of a little cold.

"You're letting the Light tell you how to play?" I asked. "So you don't have any pride as a duelist, either!"

And, officially, she was mad. "Go, Snow Fairy! Shut him up with your winter's breeze!"

The fairy rose up into the air and pointed a finger at me. An icy blast came out of that finger, hitting me dead-on as Asuka said, "_All_ will be sacrificed for the greater good! Remember that!"

As the blast hit me, I cried out, as much from the cold as from the pain. My legs gave way, and I fell to my knees. I was starting to understand what it felt like to be an ice cube.

Judai: 1200  
Asuka: 2900

"Besides, you're losing this thing, anyway," Asuka said. "Both the duel and your strength. Now freeze in the grasp of my winter's storm and let the Light take you in." She laughed through her lips again, that cold smile back in place. Guess she'd calmed down. It also sounded like she was done with her turn.

Shivering on the ground, hugging my arms to my chest in a vain attempt to warm myself up, I heard more than saw the laser moving, and I figured it was pointing at me, waiting to see if I'd give up.

"W-who said...I-I was gonna give up?" I said through my shivering, getting back on my feet. "Sure, it looks bad, but the duel's not over until the last card is played! I draw!"

Oh, it looked bad, alright. And it didn't look any better when I drew my card. I was really hoping for some way to turn this thing around, but, when I looked at my card, I wound up staring in disbelief. My deck had never let me down before, but...

_You've gotta be kidding me! _Now_!?_

It really couldn't have picked a worse time to spit that out if it tried.

Asuka laughed through her lips. "What's wrong? Has fate finally turned against you, chosen prince? Or was I right all along and you're just a phony?" She laughed again, smiling that smile that made Pluto look warm.

I read my card—hey, it wasn't one I'd seen in this lifetime, so what can I say? It was new to me. _Well...at least it'll give me more than just one chance to block her attacks..._ I thought. Then I decided to play it. "I play a monster in defense mode. That's all for me. Turn end."

Asuka's expression showed that she was ready to try tormenting me again. She laughed and said, "So _that's_ it. You're _not_ Prince Judai, after all. Don't know how the Light could make _that_ mistake, but—"

"Right, sure," I cut her off. If she'd meant to bug me, she'd picked the wrong method. "And the Neo-Spacians messed up, too. You _saw_ Neos, Asuka! You know I'm Prince Yuki Judai of Neospace. And I'm not out of this yet, so make your move, you boring Light puppet duelist!"

She gave me her "who do you think you are, you don't know anything" glare again—the one she always gave me when she was actually mad at me. "Hey. Who are you calling a puppet!? The Light doesn't work that way, Judai! Quit saying that it does!" Angry, she drew her card.

At this point, I started thinking that I might not get out of this alive if I kept going. I was heating her up and making her mad; and if, by some horribly unfortunate twist of fate, she remembered this duel afterward, she'd probably kill me. But that was a problem for the future, not for right then.

"You're dead, Judai!" she told me. Yep, I was in trouble if she remembered this. "I'm taking you out this turn! _And_, just to show you how _hopeless_ your situation is, I'm wiping your Skyscrapers away with the spell card Spell Shattering Arrow! _That _destroys all face-up cards _and_ deals you 500 points of damage for each one!" She narrowed her eyes. "_Too_ bad there's only _one_, though!"

"Gh! You can't blame me if you just do what you're told, Asuka!" I pointed out.

She might have thought it was unfortunate that there was only one, but, as her arrow struck, destroying my Skyscraper card and getting rid of the nighttime city surrounding us, I was thinking it was a dang good thing there was only one face-up card on my field. Otherwise I could have been wiped out that turn.

Judai: 700  
Asuka: 2900

My last comment had made her even angrier. In fact, the last time I'd seen her that mad was when we were arguing about Sho's bullying problem and how standing by and watching was just as bad as joining in.

"I _don't_, Judai! I'm doing this because I _want_ to! Like this _next_ attack, for example!" She took a card from her hand, saying, "It might seem like overkill, but I'm summoning _one _more monster to make it more interesting! Blizzard Falcon!" (Atk 1500)

Oh, great. Three monsters. Just what she'd need to wipe my field clean again. This thing was a crystallized blue falcon, basically a bird made out of ice.

"Join the others and attack!"

Her falcon attacked, wiping out Dandylion, a handy little guy who looked like a flower and a lion combined.

I grinned. "Hey, what do you know? This is just perfect! See, you just destroyed Dandylion, another of the cards from the Neo-Spacian deck. And, when he's destroyed, he leaves behind a little gift! Two Fluff Tokens!"

Suddenly I was really glad I'd drawn him. This left me with just enough monsters to get through her three attacks. Two little pieces of fluff appeared, with faces on them.

"He does what!? Why, I oughta—" And I was starting to annoy her, too! This was going great! My crazy plan was working!

"Looks like you _aren't_ beating me this turn!" I said.

She growled at me, giving me a fiery glare. "Y-y-you—"

Since this seemed to be working, I taunted, "So? Boring puppet gonna finish her attack? Or does the Light not have any orders for you right now?"

She was gonna kill me, I knew it.

"THAT'S IT_, _Judai! You're done for! White Night Queen! Attack!"

And, officially, she was even angrier than I'd ever seen her before. Maybe this was working a little too well. Well, aside from the fact that she was still a Light Drone, that is. Dang it, how mad did I have to make her to get through that ice!?

Her queen attacked, destroying one of my tokens.

"And again! Leave him with nothing so next turn I can finish him off! Snow Fairy, attack!"

The fairy did as it was told, destroying my other token and leaving me defenseless. And cold, but what else was new?

"Turn end! Hurry up and finish _yours_ so I can teach you a lesson, you creep!"

And now she was looking at me the same way she'd looked at Honomaru, Iwamaru, and Manjoume when they'd ticked her off. I wasn't going to live long if she remembered this duel, I was sure of that.

No cards in my hand, nothing on my field. I put a hand on my deck. _If ever I've needed a miracle, it's now, guys. Help me out here! _I drew my card, glancing at it nervously, then grinned. I knew my deck wouldn't let me down! "Alright! When this is the only card in my hand, I can special summon it! So come on out, Elemental Hero Bubbleman!" (Def 1200)

Clad in blue armor with a white cape, Bubbleman appeared, kneeling down with his cape wrapped around him.

"And, when he's the only card on my field, he hates being alone so much that he lets me draw two more cards!" I told Asuka, pulling the cards from my deck.

She closed her eyes. "Heh. So you replenished your hand, so—" she started, still annoyed.

"Alright!" I cut her off, thrilled. "Just what I needed! I summon Elemental Hero Stratos!" (Atk 1800)

Stratos, a blue-skinned hero in white and blue armor, appeared. He had wings on his back and a visor over his eyes.

Asuka started, her eyes widening. Apparently she knew that card already. "S-Stratos! You can't do—"

"Oh, yes, I can! And, since you clearly know him already, you obviously know that he's got two effects, and I get to pick which one I use! I'm gonna go with the first one, which lets me destroy spell and trap cards on the field up to the number of Elemental Heroes I control besides Stratos. I've got Bubbleman, so I can destroy one. Which works just fine, since I'm going after White Night Fort!"

"What!? You can't! That's a sacred—"

"I can and I am! So, Stratos, get rid of that dumb White Night Fort!"

"Juudaiii!" Asuka shrieked, her eyes slammed shut.

Stratos' effect wiped her fort off the field, clearing the ice from the ground. Not that it really made things any warmer, but the fort was gone, at least, so I could use traps again. Asuka was shaking with rage.

"Now, for his next trick, Stratos will need a volunteer from the audience! And I think your Snow Fairy just raised her hand!"

"What!?"

"Stratos, attack her Snow Fairy!"

"Argh!"

Stratos charged the fairy, wiping it off the field.

Judai: 700  
Asuka: 2200

Asuka was still shaking with rage, maybe even more now.

"Now, since she's gone, I activate the other card I drew earlier, Pot of Greed!" I said. Then I pulled two more cards from my deck.

"ENOUGH!" Asuka bellowed, clearly not approving of my move. As if I cared. "There is _no way_ you're going to—"

I grinned, which cut her off very effectively. "Alright, yeah! Just what I needed! Apparently I can do a lot of things you say I can't! Let's see just how many miracles I can pull out of my hat this turn." Then I wound up turning that into another bad pun when I said, "I activate Miracle Fusion!"

"Judai, you son of a—"

"By removing Elemental Heroes on my field and in my graveyard from play, I can summon a fusion monster!" I cut off that rude statement. "I remove Avian, Bubbleman, and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Tempest!" (Atk 2800)

Trembling with rage, Asuka hissed my name, venom filling her voice. "Ju...daiiii..."

"Unfortunately, he can't attack since the battle phase is over. So that's it for me this turn." I grinned, pretending to be oblivious to her anger and said, "Let's see what you've got!"

Her head was low, she was still trembling, and her hands were balled into fists at her sides. "No way..." She growled, then lifted her head, glaring more fiercely than ever at me. "There's no _way this_ was meant to happen! The Light of Truth said that—"

"Light of Truth!?" I cut her off again. "Ha! That's funny, Asuka, considering it's made you _exactly_ what you're _not_! Or has it turned you into your true self? Maybe you're really a boring sore loser who can't think for herself!"

There was that glare again. The rage was an improvement over the ice because at least that was more like what Asuka was really like. It was a sign that she was still in there somewhere. I just had to find her.

"Shut up! You don't know anything, so just shut up already! Sheesh!" She drew her card. "Tch." She glared at me and Tempest, then muttered, "I can't take that risk. Ugh!"

Looking at her, it was obvious she was worried about messing up and losing.

"What's the matter, Asuka?" I asked, grinning.

"Just have to wait it out!" she muttered. "I switch my monsters to defense mode. ...Turn end."

Blizzard Falcon: Def 1500  
White Night Queen: Def 800

Oh, this was much better than earlier! Now _she _was on the run! With any luck, I could turn this around and save us both! Now all I needed was a good draw.

"Looks like the tables have turned, huh? Maybe you shouldn't put so much faith in something that's always _wrong_."

I drew, hoping for a good card. What I got was Mirage of Nightmare. The only other card in my hand was Emergency Provisions. Okay, that was probably a good combination to have right then, given that it would give me a chance to replenish my hand _and_ my life points.

"Okay, I activate Mirage of Nightmare!" I said. "Now, on your standby phase, I draw four cards, but I have to discard four cards on _my_ next standby phase. Now, Tempest, Stratos! Destroy her monsters!"

"Tch!"

Stratos and Tempest both charged, clearing her field of the White Night Queen and the Blizzard Falcon. If I'd just been able to find some way to get a third monster out, I could have dealt her some more damage. As it was, she was still standing.

"I play a card face down," I said, sliding Emergency Provisions into my duel disk. "Turn end."

Asuka humphed. "You think you're so smart now, don't you? But what about how you lost Neos, huh? _He's_ yet to reappear, so this slight lead of yours is nothing more than a stroke of luck!" she snapped, angry.

It seemed she was finally coming back to herself! She drew her next card.

"And, because of Mirage of Nightmare, I draw four cards," I said, drawing my cards.

Asuka didn't care. Instead, she started laughing. At first, it was so quiet, I couldn't tell what she was doing. Then it grew louder, turning into a much more menacing evil laugh. "Ha! So _what_ if you've got a new hand! I don't need one now that I've got _this_! I play the spell card Icicle Sacrifice! This card makes one of my monster card zones unusable so I can get one Icicle Token onto my side of the field!"

A chunk of ice sprouted on her field, and an ice totem appeared in another spot. It didn't have any attack points, took up two of her monster card zones—one permanently—and seemed pretty pointless. But I knew there had to be some reason she'd done it.

Worried, I waited for a second, as though I expected that token to suddenly start pouring blood out of its mouth. "Okay? And that helps you...how?" I finally asked.

Asuka got back to being the Ice Queen, as though she'd never been so heated up at me for insulting her. She smiled that cold smile of hers again, laughing through her lips once more. "You'll see. My token counts as _two_ sacrifices."

Oh, crap. _That_ was how it helped.

She held up the last card in her hand, smiling. "And you know what that means, don't you?" Again, she laughed.

Yeah, I'd figured that out. I wasn't totally stupid.

"Tch..."

Of _course_ she'd just happen to have a high level monster in her hand when she drew that! Why wouldn't she?

She raised her card up high, saying, "That's right! I sacrifice my Icicle Token and summon my ultimate monster! White Night Dragon!" (Atk 3000)

Just when I'd gotten rid of her last White Night monster, too. A dragon made entirely of ice appeared, roaring at me.

"Dang it. I hate White Night cards..."

The cold smile came back again as she laughed once more. "And you'll hate _this_ one even more." She glared, getting heated up again. "Because it's getting revenge on everything you've said this entire duel! And don't bother trying to destroy him because, if he's targeted by a spell or trap card, it's negated and destroyed! Now, Dragon, attack! Destroy his Stratos and win me this duel!"

Crap, that thing couldn't be destroyed by spells and traps!? Well, good thing that wasn't what my face-down was for!

"Not so fast! I activate my face-down, Emergency Provisions! This doesn't target your monster, so I can activate it! I'm destroying Mirage of Nightmare to gain 1000 life points!"

"You what!?"

My life points rose by 1000 as the card I'd chosen disappeared.

Judai: 1700  
Asuka: 2200

Just in time, too, because that dragon's blast hit Stratos right after.

Judai: 500  
Asuka: 2200

"AARRGG!" Asuka shrieked, holding her head. She looked ready to start ripping her hair out. "Judai! How could you be so—UGH!"

That was cold. That was _really_ cold. That dragon's breath made Antarctica seem like a warm place to visit. I was starting to worry that my body would freeze up and stop working before this duel was over. With how cold I was, I couldn't say anything in response. If I didn't end this duel soon, I'd freeze to death or something.

Asuka growled again. "Fine, then! I'll just finish you off _next_ turn! Make your move already! Geez!"

And the fire was back in her attitude.

"Geez, temper, temper, Asuka. It's just a duel," I said, recovering enough to draw a card.

"Yeah!? And you've been running at the mouth this entire—"

"Can't take the truth, then don't duel me with such a boring style that isn't even yours!" I cut her off.

"B-boring—Why, you—" Her fists were clenched, and she was shaking with rage again. If that hadn't been bugging her before, it sure as heck was now.

"I play a monster in defense mode and a card face down. Then I switch Tempest to defense mode. Turn end. Your move, so try not to put me to sleep with it, will you?"

Asuka was still shaking with rage, looking ready to kill me. "Put you to sleep—" She glared at me and snapped, "How 'bout I do it _permanently_, then!? I draw!" She glared at her card, then said, "And I activate the spell card, White Veil!"

A white veil covered her dragon, turning it pure white.

"That thing again, huh?" I said, pretending to stifle a yawn. "Do all Light Drones us it? How boring."

Something was wrong. She didn't react that time, just giving a creepy, icy smile. She laughed again. "You don't get it, do you? That's the sacred veil of the Light! With it by my side, I can't possibly lose! And, by equipping it to my dragon, I've all but stopped its destruction! Now, go! Attack his monster!"

As her dragon moved to attack, I started to say, "I activate my face-down, Tran—"

I was going to say "Transcendent Wings," which would have been used on my little partner, hiding face-down on the field. I would have sent two cards from my hand to the grave to evolve him to level 10. But Asuka cut me off with a brutal reminder.

"You forget, Judai! White Veil prevents you from using spells or traps during the battle phase!"

Crap.

"Tch. Right, I forgot that's all you _ever_ do!"

Asuka still wasn't phased. If anything, she was colder than before. Her dragon's icy blast came in, revealing and destroying my partner, Winged Kuriboh.

"So. Winged Kuriboh. You were planning on evolving him into his super-powered form, huh? Too bad you missed your timing, though." She laughed, taunting me again.

That White Veil card was a bigger problem than anything she'd played all duel. She'd gotten impenetrably icy again and gone after an unseen low-level defender, as if she knew what it was. It was almost as if the Light itself was hiding within that card, showing her what all my moves were and keeping me from getting through to her. I knew she wasn't its host; but, if White Veil had more of the Light tainting it than any other card in her deck, I had to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"So, what? You know exactly what cards I've played now?" I asked, trying one last time to get some sort of reaction.

She just laughed coldly, proving that White Veil was going to give me grief if I didn't do something about it. "It's your turn, Judai. Make a move." Her icy smile was colder than ever.

I had to get rid of that veil. It was stopping me from getting through to her! Looking at my hand, I saw a real easy way to do that—since I hadn't been able to activate Transcendent Wings, that is.

"Draw!" I glanced at my card. "I summon Spell Striker in attack mode!" (600)

A little guy who looked almost like a toy appeared, wearing a cape and a Viking helmet and bearing a staff.

Stupid? Nah, it just looked like it.

Asuka didn't seem to know that, though, because she laughed. "So, a last-ditch effort to resist, is it? Or have you gone so numb you're losing your mind? Either way, it's just as the Light foretold. You're losing this duel completely." She closed her eyes and laughed through her lips again.

Yeah, it might have been cold, and, sure, my fingers might have been going numb. But I wasn't losing my mind any more than I was losing that duel! "Don't be so sure. This guy can attack you directly. Besides, I activate R – Righteous Justice! Looks like you should've attacked my E-Hero last turn instead of my partner, huh!?"

Seriously, the Light could be really dumb sometimes. There wasn't any way it could have won that one.

Asuka's eyes widened as she realized what I was aiming for. "What!?"

"This card lets me destroy spell and trap cards equal to the number of Elemental Heroes on my field!"

"You can't! Not my—"

A big yellow R shot out of my card and went straight for her dragon. The veil was destroyed, and her dragon regained its icy blue tint.

Asuka had her head down and was shaking with rage again. Good, I could get through to her again. "My...sacred...White Veil..." She growled, furious, and I had this nasty feeling I'd regret getting her so worked up soon enough. Her head snapped up and she glared at me so fiercely that I had this sneaking feeling she'd kill me right then and there. "NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!"

Scary as that was, fighting with her seemed to be what our relationship was based on. So I kept going.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Spell Striker's gonna hit you directly!"

She screamed my name again in fury as Spell Striker charged forward and whacked her with his staff.

Judai: 500  
Asuka: 1600

She glared at me fiercely. "Ju...DAIIII!" That started as a whisper, but it turned into a yell of fury that could probably be heard by my dad back in Neospace.

I could tell I was gonna die if I didn't watch myself. But I had to get through to her, so I couldn't really _afford_ to watch what I said. If I died to save her from the Light, at least that would be better than letting her stay under the Light's power to save myself.

"What? Can't stand having your _own_ plans foiled!? If you can't handle it when the tables are turned, maybe you shouldn't be dueling! I end my turn."

With any luck, I'd be able to turn this around on my next turn.

"That does it!" Asuka fumed, drawing her next card. "You've called me boring, _slandered_ my status as a proud member of the Light, _insulted_ my dueling _pride endlessly, and_ you've destroyed my sacred White Veil! You're not getting away with it! _Any_ of it!" She slammed down a monster card.

A capsule appeared, with icicles hanging off of it. The thing had 1100 attack points.

"Cold Sleeper! FINISH THIS! Attack his stupid weakling monster!"

Yeah, she was gonna kill me. She was glaring at me like nobody's business, and she was trembling with anger the whole time.

Her capsule charged forward, walking on its metal legs, and slashed at Spell Striker with one of those legs. He was destroyed, but I didn't lose any life points, which seemed to bug Asuka even more.

She growled, crossing her arms. "_Now_ what?"

"Sorry to break it to you, Asuka, but Spell Striker's effect keeps me from taking any battle damage."

I didn't think I'd said anything that should have been too bothersome that time, but I must have crossed the line a long time ago because her next actions definitely weren't what I was expecting.

"Okay, that's it! Fire that laser!" she snapped, pointing at it. "I'm tired of his—"

Crap, crap, crap, crap! I'd gone too far! I couldn't save her if I fell now! She could kill me afterward, but she had to at least _wait_ until I saved her first!

"If you do that, you really _don't_ have any pride as a duelist!" I cut her off. "What, are you admitting that you'll lose!?"

"What!?"

The laser was taking aim. This wasn't good. She was going to zap me right now. I had no doubt that laser was going to hit me whether I won or lost, but I had to at _least_ win this duel and save Asuka before it did that!

"That's dirty, just deciding you're gonna win! Or _are_ you afraid of losing?"

"I'm not afraid of anything! I'm just sick of—"

"Then finish the duel. If you really have any pride as a duelist, that is!"

The laser was powering up now. Asuka seemed like she was thinking about what I'd said, but, if she took much more time thinking, it'd be too late by the time she made up her mind! I looked at the laser, then back at her as I said, "Otherwise you'll be proving me right!"

She hesitated another moment, and I honestly thought she was just going to let that laser hit me. But, finally, she said, "Alright! Stop!"

The laser stopped powering up, shutting down temporarily. Thank every divine force in the universe for that!

She got serious again, like a true duelist. "I'm attacking! White Night Dragon! Prove him wrong and destroy his hero once and for all!"

Her dragon blasted Tempest, destroying him and sending an icy wave over me again, like usual. But I wasn't a Light Drone, and that was what mattered.

"Turn end! But, just to warn you, my dragon draws in all enemy attacks, so you'll lose if you try destroying my Cold Sleeper!"

Uncharacteristically helpful, for a Light Drone.

"Tch... Thanks for the warning," I said. I drew my card and grinned. Oh, I had this in the bag now. "Hey, Asuka, remember when I said there were ways to get Neos back on the field?"

Asuka raised an eyebrow, looking a bit worried. "Oh, no."

Ever the glutton for punishment, I added, "You know, I said there were ways to get him back, but you'd always be boring?"

She glared at me again. "Shut your—"

"Well, I just drew one of those ways to get him back! O – Oversoul! This lets me revive an Elemental Hero in my graveyard. And the obvious choice is Neos!"

Neos rose out of the ground, returning to the field all set for battle!

"Tch. So what!? _He's_ no match for—"

"And I equip him with Neos Force! This gives him an extra 800 attack points!"

"What!?"

"Yep! So his attack points are 3300! _More_ than your stupid dragon!"

"Tch!" Asuka glared at me, gritting her teeth.

"So, Neos, attack that stupid dragon!"

Neos charged at the dragon.

"Ugh!" Asuka exclaimed as her dragon was destroyed.

Judai: 500  
Asuka: 1300

She glared at me again. "So what? My Cold Sleeper will just revive him at the end of the battle phase, so—"

Oh, how little she knew about the Neo-Spacian deck!

I grinned, cutting her off as I said, "Yeah, except that's not gonna happen."

Her eyes widened. "What!?"

"See, Neos Force has another effect. After damage calculation, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!"

"What did you say!?" Neos got up in her face. "Ahh!"

He punched her, which wasn't really the nicest thing to do to the girl I liked, but she needed some sense knocked into her. She screamed as her life points fell to zero.

Judai: 500  
Asuka: 0

Asuka fell to the ground, knocked out cold. I deactivated my duel disk and darted forward to help her, but my leg caught.

"Ow!" I glared at the stupid shackle. Of course, how could I have forgotten that I was stuck where I was, totally at the mercy of the Light of Destruction?

Then things got worse. The laser took aim at me again, just as I'd known it would.

"Uh-oh..." I activated my duel disk again, thinking I could summon something to break the shackle or the laser before it hit me.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

I moaned, opening my eyes slightly. My head was throbbing, and I couldn't figure out why. Where was I, even? The last thing I remembered...

"W-what's...?"

I heard what sounded like a laser firing, followed by a familiar voice screaming—Judai!

My eyes widened, and I got to my feet as quickly as I could. I was in a decent-sized room, with a laser shooting at Judai. He was writhing in agony, but I didn't know what that laser was doing to him.

"Judai! Hold on!" I cried.

Quickly I summoned Etoile Cyber, commanding her to attack that laser. Whatever it was doing to him, I wasn't going to let it happen! Etoile Cyber twirled into it, slicing it in half and causing it to explode.

Judai fell to his knees, his eyes glazed over. As I watched, a shackle unhooked itself from his leg and retreated into the floor. So he'd been held prisoner here?

I'd worry about that later. Right now, I had to make sure he was okay!

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Too slow. I was too slow. The laser hit me, and it took everything I had to resist the Light as it invaded my mind. My vision went white—like it had when I'd lost my memories.

I felt someone grab my shoulders and shake me. "Judai, Judai!" Asuka's voice said, but she sounded so far away. "Are you okay!? Come on, answer me! Judai!"

She sounded worried, but I couldn't tell. I didn't have time to get distracted by her. It was taking every ounce of my will to resist the Light, and it wasn't going well.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

"Judai, Judai!" I cried, falling to my knees, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Are you okay!? Come on, answer me! Judai!"

I gritted my teeth, getting more worried by the second. He was totally unresponsive, and I couldn't be sure what had just happened.

Suddenly he said, "Light...just...a little...more..."

My eyes widened even more, if possible. Was _that_ what that laser had done to him!? Why hadn't I stopped it sooner!? Desperate to snap him out of it, I shook him again firmly, saying, "No, Judai Don't say it! Don't give in to its power! You're stronger than it is! Remember!?"

"Don't..." he repeated, struggling to say anything, "stronger..."

"That's it, Judai!" I told him, gripping his shoulders firmly. "You can do it! Fight it! You're stronger than them. Prove to me that you're stronger than them! Do it now!"

"I...can't... I..."

This was bad. He was losing this! I was losing him! If I didn't think of something, he was going to fall to the Light, and we'd _never_ be able to get him back! He was the only one who could stop this thing!

Suddenly something kicked him in the chest from the side, sending him flying across the room, where he slammed into a wall.

I hadn't called back Etoile Cyber. She was still out. And she'd just attacked Judai.

I stood up, my hands on my face. "Oh, my gosh! Judai!"

Idiot! How could I have let that happen!? As if he needed _that_ right now! I ran over, now worried for more than just the obvious reason.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Asuka's voice broke through the haze, encouraging me to fight. I tried to do as she said, but the Light was stronger than me. It was forcing me down deeper and deeper. Any second, I knew, I'd fall.

Something hit me hard, sending me flying. At the same time, I felt strength flow into me—the Darkness of Creation. Had one of Asuka's monsters attacked me? Either way, it helped. I was able to resist the Light's pull, but only just. It seemed like her monster had just evened the playing field a bit. But the Light still had one serious advantage over me: it wouldn't tire out, like I would. Once I was exhausted, I'd fall to it.

Still, there was some good news hidden in that painful kick to the chest—there was a way to beat this. But I'd need Asuka's help. And getting that would mean I'd need to find some way to get my request out in some way that it would make sense. That would take some of my attention away from the fight for a bit, but I had to risk it, or I wasn't going to get out of this. And I had to do it quickly—I could feel my strength fading already, after that duel.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

I stopped beside Judai, kneeling down. "A-are you okay!?"

Well, that was a stupid question, Asuka! Of _course_ he wasn't okay! He was fighting against the Light of Destruction as it tried to take him over, and he'd just been kicked in the chest!

Judai struggled to his feet, clutching his chest where my monster had kicked him. "A-Asuka..." he stammered, clearly straining to speak, "help... Hi-hit...me...a-again..."

I started, horrified. Did he seriously just tell me to do what I think he did!?

"W-what!? But, Judai! That's—"

"Hurry...can't...fight..."

I stared at him for a second, hesitant to attack him again. How would that help him, anyway? Well, if that was what he thought he needed, I'd give it a shot. There wasn't really anything else I could think to do, after all.

I nodded, then pointed at him and commanded, "Okay, you heard him, girl! Give him another whack! And make it a good one this time! Go!"

Etoile Cyber kicked him again, slamming him against the wall again before he fell back to the floor.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I felt Asuka's monster hit me, and I welcomed the additional power from the Darkness along with the pain that brought it to me. The Light was still inside of me, but I now felt that I had the strength to force it out.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

I watched him struggle, writhing in pain on the floor, now more worried than ever before. What had I done? Had it helped any?

"Judai..."

Suddenly he went still, gasping as he crouched on his hands and knees. He started breathing heavily.

"Judai!? Hey, you okay?" I asked. My worry was tinted with some guilt. After all, I _had_ attacked him.

"Y-yeah...I'm...okay..." he answered between breaths. That was a huge relief! "Thanks..."

And that surprised me. "You're thanking me? For what? I didn't do—"

I cut myself off as he tried to stand up. "You're monster's infused with the Darkness of Creation's power, so those attacks helped me fight off the Light," he said.

I just stared at him, startled by that fact. Now that things had calmed down, though, I had a chance to think about what was going on here.

Obviously we were in the Light's main base or something. And, if my monster had the Darkness of Creation's power in it now, then that also meant he and I had just dueled. Which meant that he'd just saved _me_ from the Light of Destruction. So, more likely than not, I was the reason he'd nearly fallen just now.

It would probably be better not to think about that anymore.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Geez, that monster of hers could kick hard! Not that I was complaining, but I _was_ hoping I hadn't broken anything from either of those attacks. It didn't feel like I had.

Asuka stared at me for a moment after I explained what had happened—at least, as much of it as I felt like explaining. Then she stood up and turned her back on me, her arms crossed.

"Well, I owed you for saving me from it, so... I mean, you obviously _did_, all things considered."

She was acting defensive suddenly, getting meaner and acting like she was in a bad mood. But I remembered she'd been worried about me just a few minutes ago.

"Why so defensive?" I asked, wincing.

I was kneeling, trying to go from that to standing. Slowly I started to my feet, but I stumbled a bit and nearly fell down again. Once I stabilized myself, I stood up, figuring I'd stay right there until my legs stopped feeling like noodles. At least I wasn't so cold now.

While I was doing that, Asuka started at my words. She turned her head slowly, sweating slightly. "I-I'm not! It's just that—"

Are girls always so cute when they're nervous, or is it just Asuka?

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

I cut myself off, noticing he wasn't falling for my act the way he usually did. For once, acting like I hated him wasn't cutting it. He just cocked his head at me, giving me a rather cute confused expression.

"I, uh..."

I sweat. This wasn't working at all. I could feel myself blushing, even.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

For some reason, Asuka was blushing slightly. Then, suddenly, she pouted and slouched over, looking either annoyed or mad. Crap, I hoped she wasn't mad! Had she remembered what I'd been saying during that duel!?

"Oh! Just forget about it!" she said. "We've got bigger problems to worry about! For one, we're still prisoners here, and the Light's taking over! We have to do something fast!"

Oh, good, she didn't seem to remember that duel. Then we would just never talk about it again and forget everything that had happened during it!

"Yeah, you're right," I admitted, glad to not be dying right then and there.

Asuka straightened up, calming down faster than I ever thought possible. "Good. So, how do we get out of here? I doubt any of our duel monsters can help us. They probably put up a shield against their attacks." She looked around, concerned.

Dang. I hadn't thought about it, but she was probably right. "Good question."

_"__Kuri kuri!"_ my partner said, appearing in spirit form.

Perfect. That was just what I needed!

I activated my duel disk, pulling his card from my deck. "Winged Kuriboh!" I called, smacking the card down.

Asuka turned slightly toward me, her eyes wide. Apparently she'd thought I'd do something other than summon a monster with 300 attack points and white wings. Ha! Clearly she didn't know me very well. Winged Kuriboh was my answer to virtually every problem, especially those that involved locked doors.

"Huh!? What's that thing gonna do?" she asked. She crossed her arms. "No offense, but I don't think that little puffball of yours will do us any good here."

Well, that was where she was wrong. Winged Kuriboh appeared in front of me, and I plucked off a single fur.

Asuka stared at me, then blinked twice. Her expression was priceless. "That doesn't exactly answer my question. What are you _up_ to, anyway?"

"Watch," I told her. Then I ran the piece of fur through my fingers, grateful that Kuriboh fur could easily go stiff and turn into a pointy needle. I walked over to the door and stuck the fur—now a very useful lock-pick—into the lock and got to work.

I could feel Asuka staring at me, but she didn't ask anymore questions.

I just messed with the lock until I heard it click. "Got it!" I said, opening the door. I looked back at Asuka to find her staring at me in amazement. Well, better than half the reactions I could get for showing off that particular skill. "You coming?"

She stared for another moment, then started walking over, saying, "You're going to have to tell me how you did that later."

I laughed. "No big deal. We need to find the others and get out of here."

Now that I wasn't worried about Asuka, I suddenly remembered that I'd come here with a group, including Johan. For all I knew, he'd been inducted into the Society of Light by now.

Asuka nodded. "Right."

So the two of us headed out to go find—and, possibly, rescue—the rest of my rescue party.


	27. Everything's Going Wrong

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Yubel's POV**

After shoving my prince into a locked room with a Light Drone, an act for which I was bound to be banished, I went with the others as we followed our guiding Light Drone to the other side of the mansion. I was just starting to think we couldn't possibly get farther away from my charge when the guy stopped and opened another door.

"Well, here we are," he said. "Throw him in there, Misawa-kun, and we're all set."

Well, it was about time!

Misawa unlocked the shackles on Prince Johan, saying, "Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

He went to shove Prince Johan in, but the guy sweat, trying to grab the door frame. Clearly he didn't want to go in there. "Can't we talk about this, guys? I'm sure there's some other—"

Manjoume reached over and shoved him in, glaring. "Just get in there already!"

Sheesh. And Judai thought I was mean.

Prince Johan yelped, his eyes widening as he was shoved through the door. "Whoa!"

Once he'd shoved his own prince into certain doom, Manjoume slammed the door. At least I wasn't the only one who seemed to be betraying my kingdom today.

"Right," Manjoume said. "Now that that's settled, where's Tenjoin-kun? I heard you guys captured her to use as bait to lure Prince Judai here. Since that's no longer necessary, I assume you've inducted her into the Society of Light?"

The Light Drone smiled. "Yes, sir! She's off in another room right now, taking care of business. I'll send for her when she's done, though, if you want."

Taking care of business... Why didn't I like the sound of that?

My eyes narrowed as I realized that I may have helped Judai find that girl faster than we'd thought. "Taking care of business? What kind of business?"

"Sorry, miss. That's for only the boss and the top Whites to know. But don't worry. It's all for the cause."

Oh, that wasn't good. I had a bad feeling we'd left Judai locked up with the girl he was crushing on. And she was a Light Drone. One wrong word from her, and he'd give in faster than you could say "stupid." Or maybe she'd just flirt with him until he decided he _wanted _to join! The Light had exactly what it needed to force his hand, and I'd probably locked him in with it!

I couldn't keep pushing this, though, or I was going to blow our cover. "If you say so," I told the Drone.

"Well, then," he said. "Should I show you to your rooms now?"

Now, I don't know about Sho, but _I_ wasn't planning on moving in! I had to get back to the other side of this mansion and find my idiot prince before something irreversible happened!

"Uh, actually, I kinda wanted to do that, if it's alright with you," Misawa said, saving Sho and me from a forced tour of the Light Manor.

"Sure, go ahead, Misawa-kun. I don't see why not."

"And I wanted to go tell the boss about my success while out hunting those princes," Manjoume said, smirking with a false pride. "I'm sure he'll be so proud."

"That's fine with me, too. I guess I'll go back to my watch post, then. Take care, everyone. And remember, the Light of Truth thwarts all Darkness! Let's all do our best to show it to the world!"

As if.

We all stood at attention and said, "Yes, sir! Hail to the Light of Truth!"

Ugh, gag me! If I had to say that again, I'd hurl.

The Light Drone raised a fist in the air, saying, "Hail to the Light! See ya around!" He walked off, smiling and waving. Friendly, for a parasite.

Once he was gone, Sho turned to us, looking worried. Why did I get the feeling I'd come to hate that look on his face? "Taking care of business? Asuka-san's taking care of business? Am I the only one who's at all worried about what all that means?"

No. No, he wasn't.

"We better go get Judai ASAP," I said. "I can't shake the feeling her business is all about him."

"But what about Prince Johan?" Misawa asked. "We can't just leave him here all alone."

"Our prince is brave and strong," Manjoume told him. "He can handle himself, no problem. Besides, he takes a back seat to the idiot right now. Judai's way more important, being the only one who can stop these guys."

Well, apparently, I wasn't the only one who realized how stupid Judai was.

"He's right on both counts," I said. Then I pointed a finger at Manjoume, being as stern as I could, as I added, "Though _I'm_ the only one authorized to call him that, Manjoume. He could have you arrested for it."

Not that I thought he would, but still.

"Yeah, yeah. So, what do we do? We've still gotta rescue Tenjoin-kun and all. I mean, assuming she's not with Prince Judai, of course."

That's when Sho came up with the plan that would make me want to throttle him later. "Why don't we split up? Two of us can go retrieve Aniki, and two of us can go look for Asuka-san!"

"Kid, that's the first smart thing you've ever said," I told him. I didn't realize just then what his suggestion would mean for me. "I'll go get Judai. Why don't you guys go look for Asuka?"

For what I figured was the first—and last—time in his life, Sho sounded determined and confident when he said, "I'm going, too. Aniki's my aniki, after all."

That statement sounded awfully redundant, but I didn't bother commenting. It wasn't important, and I didn't have the time right then, anyway.

"Well, I guess that just leaves you and me to go searching together. Right, Jun?" Misawa said.

Manjoume whirled on him, jabbing a finger in his face. "Call me Jun one more time, and I'm gonna—"

Fun fact: Manjoume apparently didn't like being called by his first name.

"Great," I cut him off. "You two have fun. Come on, Sho. Let's go find Judai."

I ran off, hoping that idiot hadn't gotten himself inducted into the Society of Light yet.

"Right! See ya, guys! Try not to get caught!" I heard Sho say, then he came running after me.

And that was when my worst nightmare began.

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

I crossed my arms, annoyed at this whole situation. I was stuck wandering around a white mansion, dressed all in white, looking for Tenjoin-kun while some other people tried to save the idiot. And I didn't care what that Yubel girl said about calling him that. If he was going to act like an idiot, I was going to call him out on it!

"Great. So now what'll we do? Tenjoin-kun's gotta be around here somewhere, right?"

"Hmm." Misawa looked thoughtful, as if that was anything new. "I think I've got an idea. Follow me!"

So the two of us headed off in search of Tenjoin-kun.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

Well, this wasn't good. This _really_ wasn't good. I was locked in a room with what I could only assume was one of the Light's minions. To make matters worse, I knew the man.

I stared in horror, my eyes wide.

"Ojin... W-what happened to you?"

Yes, that's right. Standing in front of me as one of the Light's minions was Prince Ojin of Misgarth, an old friend of mine. He was a few years older than me, probably closer to 19 or 20, with purple hair and green eyes. He wore the symbol of the crown prince of Misgarth around his head, a blue jewel on a thin band of metal. In spite of clearly being a minion of the Light, he was wearing his usual attire: a white suit with gold trim and red shoulder pads, red cuffs on his sleeves, and a red scarf. Granted, he usually wore white anyway, so this wasn't much of a surprise. Still, the only members of the Society of Light that didn't wear a uniform of some sort were the Four Emperors. Did that mean there were five now, and was Ojin one of them?

Even worse, Misgarth had one thing—one very _deadly_ thing—that Prince Ojin was responsible for taking care of. If he was in the Society, what had happened to that thing?

Ojin smiled cruelly, a face that wasn't normal for the kind and generous prince. "What happened to me, my dear friend, is I have seen the Light! And, in mere moments, you, too, shall join me as the sixth member of the leaders of the Light! The Light Brigade!"

Well, I guess that answered my question. It also seemed they'd changed their name since they'd gotten a new member. Made sense, especially since they'd been going on about getting Judai and me to join, too. But I'd never stopped to think they might want to make Ojin a member—they'd been telling me as recently as four days ago that I'd be number five. When had they recruited Ojin!?

"S-sixth!? But I thought they wanted me as their fifth! Don't tell me you're a—"

"That's right," Ojin cut me off. "_I'm_ the fifth member to join them! The Monarch of Light!" He threw his arms up in the air when he said his title, then laughed wickedly—another very un-Ojin-like thing.

"Hold on! Wasn't _I_ supposed to be that Monarch?"

That was what they'd told me countless times. They'd said that, with my father's stolen dragon and my pure heart, I'd be a great Light Monarch. The fact that my kingdom put more emphasis on light as being good also meant that I was the heir of a kingdom that symbolized light—just not _that_ Light! But now Ojin was the Monarch of Light...so what did they plan on doing to me?

"I'm sorry, Johan, but that slot's already taken. But the Monarh of Darkness is still open for hire!"

Whoa, wait! _Darkness!?_ Wouldn't that make more sense for _Judai_!? So what was their plan for _him_ now!?

Ojin's cruel laugh came out again, making me wonder yet again what the Light had done to my friend. If I'd needed proof that this Light was evil, I'd gotten plenty of it just from the difference in Ojin's behavior.

I stepped back, nervous. This version of Ojin had me in a cold sweat. "T-the Monarch of Darkness!? B-but that's—"

"Get ready, my friend. You'll be joining us soon," he said, activating his duel disk.

With no other choice, I followed his lead.

Darkness might have been a good thing for Judai; but, in Kalmar, it stood for everything evil. That might have partly been because of our hatred of the Neospacian royal family, honestly, but I couldn't say. It had been that way for a long time, with the Darkness of Creation being the only darkness we accepted at all, and even that being good was hard to wrap my mind around. But the darkness Ojin was talking about wasn't anything close to Judai's darkness, so there was no way I was going to become a Dark Monarch!

"Duel!"

* * *

**Judai's POV**

How was it that every time I was running around the Light's main base, there wasn't anybody around? I mean, last time, I'd escaped at night, so it made sense I didn't see a lot of people. But it was the middle of the day, for crying out loud! Where _was_ everyone!?

Not that I should have been complaining. But it was leaving me uneasy.

Asuka and I ran through the halls, my mission to save her having turned into a mission to find the others. This really couldn't have been going worse, given that they were probably adding Johan to the Four Emperors and making them the Five Emperors even as we looked for him.

We stopped at a four-way intersection.

"Great," Asuka said. "Now which way do we go? And where is everyone, anyway? You'd think this place would be packed with enemies. But we're all alone. Why is that?"

Well, at least I wasn't the only one thinking this was weird.

"Simple," a familiar and hated voice answered before I could. "They're all out preparing for phase two. Only our newest members are still here. They were shown to their rooms to unpack, then taken to the meeting room to get debriefed. As you two will be soon enough."

We turned our heads, looking down the hallway to the left of where we'd come from. Itchy—Ikazuchimaru—was standing there, a nasty grin on his face.

"You again," I said.

Well, at least it wasn't Ice for Brains.

"Yeah, us again," said a voice from in front of us.

Ugh, speak of the devil. When we looked, there was Kourimaru.

"What? Aren't you happy to see us? That's not cool, dude. I thought we were getting along great."

The creep was coming at us, that wicked grin of his plastered to his face, like always. Instinctively I raised an arm a bit to block Asuka.

Off to our right, Honomaru drew our attention when he said, "Yeah. You sure like spending time with us, at least. What is this? Our twelfth encounter to date?" Like Kourimaru, he was closing in on us.

That was when I realized that the last guy was probably behind us.

"I don't know, but I'm getting tired of playing around with these kids all day. Can we please finish them off now?"

Yep. That was Iwamaru, and his voice was coming from the hallway we'd just come down. We were surrounded. When I looked, he was pounding his fist into his hand, looking annoyed. Can't say I blamed him, considering I'd made him look like a fool _and_ insulted him. Oh, he wanted to beat the life out of me, didn't he?

"Tch..."

This wasn't good. I looked around, daring to hope I'd missed something and there was another way through. Some other way to go. Another hallway, a door, an air vent—_something_!

"Oh, great," Asuka said. She was trying to sound tough and unafraid, but she looked a bit nervous. "Now what'll we do?"

"Say your prayers, princess," Kourimaru teased. "You guys are goin' down!" He activated his duel disk, and his teammates followed suit.

Well, there was no other choice. We had to fight. We moved to cover each other, standing back to back so they couldn't sneak up on us.

Just then a torrent of water came shooting at Itchy from behind. "Water Dragon! Attack!" Misawa's voice said.

That was when I realized the water I'd seen was a duel monster—and a friendly one, at that! The dragon shot a burst of water, knocking Itchy off his feet. Manjoume and Misawa came running up behind him, their duel disks active. Misawa's had a monster card on it—Water Dragon, I'm guessing.

Kourimaru's eyes widened in shock. "What!? But you guys were—"

"Tenjoin-kun!" Manjoume cut him off, running over and deactivating his duel disk. "Judai! You guys alright?"

Misawa took his card off his duel disk and slipped it back into his deck, coming over to us as well.

Let me tell you, I have never been so glad to see Gold Coat and his ice cream-spilling shopping buddy!

"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" I told them.

Asuka looked pretty surprised, too, which was when I realized I hadn't told her _who_ the others were that we needed to find. Whoops.

"B-but what are they doing here!? I thought they were—"

"No time to explain!" Misawa said, reactivating his duel disk and turning to Honomaru. Fitting match, given that dragon of his. "We've got some enemies to defeat!"

"Right," Manjoume agreed, turning to deal with Iwamaru.

Now, there were only two guys left to choose from, so Asuka would end up dueling one, and I'd take the other. However, I knew from their personalities who I _didn't_ want Asuka dueling. So I hitched a thumb at the Thunder Monarch's owner and asked her, "You wanna take Itchy?"

She shrugged and said, "Sure, why not? He don't look that though, anyway." Activating her duel disk, she turned to face him.

"What is this? A mutiny!?" Kourimaru demanded. "They're supposed to be on our side!"

I laughed. Yeah, because sending people after me that were brainwashed didn't run the risk of losing them. I love it when the Light doesn't know what's going on!

"Yeah, well, the joke's on you!"

"Ready, Misawa? Tenjoin-kun?"

"Ready," Misawa answered.

"Whatever," Asuka said.

"Then let's get this show on the road!"

I activated my duel disk, ready to take on Kourimaru again.

We all cried, "Duel!"


	28. Four Imperial Duels (That Suck)

**Shadgirl2: This chapter's extra long because there's four duels going on at once.**

**Midna: And we're watching them all! So there's a lot of POV shifts in this chapter, which might be a little confusing, but I couldn't think of any other way to do that.**

**Shadgirl2: Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Judai: 4000  
Kourimaru: 4000

"You ready, kid? 'Cause _this_ time will be different! Trust me!" Kourimaru said, as though he thought he stood a better chance against me when I had the Neo-Spacians than when I didn't. He drew his card, then said, "I summon my Ice Knight in attack mode! And, when it's out—"

"Yeah, yeah, it gains 400 attack points for each face-up aqua monster on the field," I cut him off. Seriously, he'd used the exact same monster the last time I dueled him, so it wasn't surprising.

Ice Knight was a blue monster with a green staff and a cape. Big deal.

Ice Knight: Atk 1700

"Heh. Not bad. Looks like you did your homework this time. But so did I! I play the spell card Mist Body! With this, my monster can't be destroyed in battle! Good luck beating him _now_!" And he gave a smug grin, as though that move was actually worthy of such a look.

"Don't get cocky," I told him. "You may know more about my dueling after facing me once, but the same goes for me."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "I end my turn. Show me what you've got!"

Oh, this guy was annoying! So full of himself.

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

Misawa: 4000  
Honomaru: 4000

From the name alone, I could guess that my opponent used a fire-type deck, so I had chosen to use my water deck. I had six different decks, one for each element, and the first step to winning a duel was to find your opponent's weakness. If I was right, his would be water.

"I'll go first!" Honomaru said. "I play The Thing in the Crater in attack mode!" (1000)

Just as I'd thought: a fire attribute monster. In addition, its defense was higher than its attack, yet he had played it in attack mode. Normally, it would be a monster you would _want_ your opponent to attack, based on its effect. However, playing it in attack mode gave me the chance to avoid that. It didn't seem as though this man was too familiar with his own cards. Perhaps he was new to dueling. After all, that seemed an amateur mistake.

A crater appeared, but I couldn't quite see the "thing" inside. I suppose that was the point of the name. All I saw was the eye.

"And two cards face down! You're gonna get it when my next turn comes around! Hee hee! Turn end."

My, but he was confident. Or should I say big-headed. Regardless, I gave him a lame look. After all, he shouldn't have just assumed he would win when he knew nothing about my strategy. Especially since he seemed more focused on what he had out and didn't care about what I might have. He must have thought his face-downs were unstoppable, even though the right cards could easily destroy them. So far, he wasn't much of an opponent—no dueling intellect whatsoever.

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

Manjoume: 4000  
Iwamaru: 4000

"My turn! Draw!" I took the top card from my deck, looking at it briefly before saying, "I play a monster in defense mode. That should be enough for someone like _you._ Turn end."

I crossed my arms, annoyed. This was going to be dull. _Really_ dull. Glancing around, I could see that two of the others had started off _exactly_ the same way—one weak monster and something to protect it. If they all dueled that way, this match wouldn't even be worth my time.

"H-hey! I'm not _that_ big of a wimp!" my idiotic opponent complained.

Oh, he just set him up for this one. "Oh? So you're saying you _are_ one, then?" I taunted, grinning.

"Th-that's not what I meant! I-I mean I—Oh, never mind! I'm just gonna move now!" He drew his card, glaring.

Man. Maybe the duel would be boring, but messing with this guy was fun. I smirked, watching him squirm.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

Judai had called this guy "Itchy," which, knowing him, meant it was short for something. Given that these were the Four Emperors, I figured his name was Ikazuchimaru. Where Judai got Itchy out of that, I didn't really want to know.

Ikazuchimaru laughed. "Oh, did _I_ luck out! This is going to be a piece of cake, for sure!"

Okay, _that_ was rude. Not that it was anything new—his two allies had acted exactly the same way when I met them earlier...and every other guy I'd ever faced was similar, thinking I was weak because I was a girl. As if being female meant you weren't capable of dueling. They all learned better when I showed them up, though. Then again, there might have been some other reason he thought this would be easy for him, so I decided not to jump the gun, even though I doubted he had any other reason.

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, what can I say? You never stood a chance. I mean, come on! You're a girl, for crying out loud!" He closed his eyes and turned away slightly, grinning.

Had he seriously just said that I can't duel because I'm a girl!? Why, that lousy...! What _is_ it with men and thinking girls can't duel!? I was seriously getting sick of this attitude. Would I _ever_ duel a man who wasn't so arrogant!?

"What!?" I demanded.

"You heard me. Girls can't duel! We only put you against Prince Judai over there because of how much you loved him!"

W-what did he say!? I backed up a bit, feeling nervous. I never said that! Besides, it wasn't true anyway! He was...annoying! _Really_ annoying! Like when we dueled and he kept—wait, when was that? Oh, no, that was during—well, regardless, this guy was nuts if he thought I loved Judai! I didn't!

"I never said I—"

"Oh, yes, you did! You couldn't _wait_ to get him on our side so you could have him all to yourself! The Light reveals all!" He smirked.

Oh, I hoped Judai was too distracted by his own duel to hear the things this creep was saying! I mean, it was true I thought Judai was cute and sweet, but I didn't _love_ him! And, if I did, I certainly wouldn't want him to know! He was the prince of Neospace, and I was just a commoner from his enemy kingdom! It would never work out, anyway! Besides, why would I _act_ like I was in love with him when under the power of the Light!?

Suddenly I was eternally grateful my brother wasn't around to hear any of this. If he ever caught wind that I was willingly pursuing _any_ guy, he'd never drop it! I shouldn't even have been doing that in the first place! But...Manjoume had been even more persistent in his affections while under the Light's power... Was it possible the Light made a person's deepest desires show, "revealed all", like it claimed? But that would mean I actually _liked_ Judai, and that couldn't be true!

...Could it?

Manjoume gasped, which crushed all hopes I had that Judai hadn't heard. "Tenjoin-kun! Is that true!?" he asked, turning to stare at me in horror. Not because I wouldn't be worthy of a prince, but because he wanted me for himself.

Of course, that's when _Judai_ glanced my way, as well. Great, he _had_ heard that. I started blushing—this wasn't good.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

If even half of what Ikazuchimaru had just said was true, then I would have been thrilled. However, given this was coming from the Light of Destruction and its minions, I wasn't about to accept it without Asuka's input. On a more pressing note, Ikazuchimaru had a death wish.

I sweat, not really wanting to see Asuka mad again, and only partly because I was worried it would bring back memories. "Uh... Itchy, I'd watch it, if I were you..."

"Knock it off!" Asuka yelled at him, her face red. Whether that was from embarrassment or anger, I wasn't sure, but I like to think it was embarrassment. "That's not even _close_ to true, so just shut up and make a move already!"

Even though she wasn't talking to me, I decided to get back to my duel on the off chance we all had to run for our lives because Itchy was an idiot. I turned back to Kourimaru, sweating, and said, "Okay!" before I drew my card. "Uh, I summon Elemental Hero Prisma!" (Atk 1700)

Prisma, a hero made entirely of crystal, appeared on the field.

"Heh," Kourimaru laughed. "Nice try, prince. But a suicide strike's not gonna—"

"With his effect, I can reveal a fusion monster in my extra deck," I cut him off. Seriously, did he think I was _that_ stupid? I hadn't forgotten about Mist Body! "Then I send one of the material monsters used for summoning that card to the grave, and Prisma's name becomes that card's name until the end phase." I pulled out one of my new fusion monsters, saying, "I reveal Elemental Hero Flare Neos! And I'm sending Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab to the graveyard."

New as this was for me, I was actually strategizing for once. I mean, I knew how Kourimaru dueled, so I had a feeling that this plan would work wonders. It was out of the ordinary for me, but this guy was no duelist, and I had people to find...two of whom were actually friends.

"So what? That move was pointless," Kourimaru said with a taunting grin. "Did you getting that deck rot your brain even more?"

Oh, he was clueless! It wasn't like the point of my plan was to change Prisma into Flare Scarab for a turn.

"Laugh while you can, Kourimaru," I told him. "Now that there's a Neo-Spacian in my graveyard, I can activate the spell card Cocoon Party! This lets me summon a Chrysalis for each Neo-Spacian in my graveyard! So say hello to Chrysalis Mole!" (Atk 700)

That might have looked like a dumb move, but it wasn't. Not with the cards I had in my hand.

Too bad Kourimaru didn't know that. "Ooh, scary. A big, bad baby mole's gonna—"

"WHAT!?" Asuka yelled, cutting him off.

I didn't even want to know what Itchy had just said.

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

"I summon Mine Golem in attack mode!" (Atk 1000)

It was just an ugly brown golem that showed up. Not really anything to write home about. Like all the other Emperors' first moves. Even worse, that thing's defense was _way_ higher than its attack! What kind of an idiot would play it in attack mode?

"Attack! Teach that guy I'm _not_ a pathetic wimp!"

Yeah, that wasn't possible. After all, he was attacking with a monster with only 1000 attack points! Who did he think he was, Judai!?

"Really?" I asked, looking at him lamely.

His golem's attack flipped over my Masked Dragon, which beat his monster by only 100 defense points.

Okay, yeah, this guy sucked. By this point, I was convinced I'd get more of a challenge dueling Sho! And Sho didn't duel! He just carried his stupid deck around and never actually used it, even to ward off attackers! I seriously doubted that kid even knew _how_ to use his deck, and I _still_ thought he'd be better than this guy! This was a waste of time.

For _some_ reason, he actually looked shocked. What, did that move usually work? Why would everyone he ever dueled hold back on him? I mean, that's the _only_ way a guy this pathetic could ever win. "Th-that's—"

Manjoume: 4000  
Iwamaru: 3900

I let out a humph. Seriously, that was just pathetic! "I knew you were bad, but not _that_ bad! You couldn't even beat my teeny, tiny dragon? Really?"

"Oh, shut up!" the idiot said. "I'm not through yet! I play Guidance of Ore! This spell will let me call an identical rock monster to the field whenever one is destroyed! Go on and make your move! I'm done!"

Well, there you go. These duels were basically identical. Just by watching the others, I'd know exactly how to fight back against this guy. Dirty trick, maybe, but he wasn't a duelist, so who cared? Besides, he and his pals had used a dirty trick against Tenjoin-kun and the idiot by surrounding them, four against two, and all's fair!

Good thing he was done. I couldn't handle anymore stupid.

"Okay!" I started. "Then it's—"

Tenjoin-kun's shout cut me off. "WHAT!?"

She didn't sound happy. At all. I turned to see what the insensitive moron was doing this time.

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

"My move!" I said, drawing a card.

"And, now that you've done that, I get to play my trap card, Backfire!" Honomaru said, pushing a button on his duel disk to reveal said trap. "With it, any time a fire monster is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!"

Well, that wasn't too bothersome. Besides, it was one of the possibilities I had determined for his face-down card, so it didn't really surprise me at all.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode!" (1600)

Made out of hydrogen gas, Hydrogeddon appeared, a brown creature in the shape of a four-legged herbivorous dinosaur.

"Go! Hydrogeddon! Attack his monster!"

My gaseous dinosaur charged at his creature, wiping it out easily enough.

Why hadn't I paid heed to his face-down? Because I knew what my monster could do, and I wanted it gone before my trump card could appear. I could afford to lose one Hydrogeddon—it was my trump card that I couldn't risk on his face down cards. Dueling is a lot like chess—if you intend to win, sacrifices need to be made sometimes.

Misawa: 3500  
Honomaru: 3400

"And _now_ you've activated my _other_ trap!" He pushed another button, just as I'd predicted he would. "Not very bright, are ya?"

The trap he revealed was Chthonian Blast. Well, that was a minor nuisance. But not one I hadn't seen coming. After all, playing a monster like that one in attack mode often led to such tricks. A clever move, if it hadn't been so predictable.

"Tch. That card destroys my monster and deals us both damage equal to half its attack points."

Misawa: 2700  
Honomaru: 2600

"You knew?" he asked. "But—"

"WHAT!?" Asuka's scream cut him off.

I caught Honomaru's cringe of fear as we both turned to see what that was about. Apparently the poor man was familiar with Asuka's wrath.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

Asuka: 4000  
Ikazuchimaru: 4000

Everybody else was dueling, but, thanks to that sexist creep, _we_ hadn't even started yet!

"Good choice, girlie!" he said in response to my telling him to take his turn. "_True_ duelists first!" he drew a card, the arrogant son of a...

"What'd you—"

"Don't interrupt!" he cut me off, as if he were someone important. "I summon my Thunder Knight in attack mode!" (1300)

A stupid white and gold creature appeared, wearing a black cape lined with yellow on the inside.

"And, since I'm _sure_ you don't know him, I'll let you know his effect! He gets a 400-point power boost for every thunder monster on the field!"

Its attack rose to 1700, as I had actually known it would. That arrogant, sexist, Light-loving...

I glared at him. "And what makes you think I wouldn't know that? Is it because I'm a _girl_?"

"Well, _duh_," he said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Girls can't duel all that well, so, naturally, they wouldn't understand the simplest of monster effects...or the use of set cards." He slipped a card into his duel disk then. "Face the facts. We only chose you to face Judai because of your love. We'd hoped you'd distract him with it so much, he'd slip up and lose. Too bad he was too _smart_ for you, too." He looked bored and disappointed, shaking his head.

"WHAT!?" I bellowed.

Oh, that was it! He'd insulted my capability, he'd said in _front_ of Judai that I love him (which wasn't true, regardless of what my Light-corrupt mind might have thought!), and _now_ he was insulting my _intelligence_! He wasn't getting away with _that_!

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Clearly I wasn't the only one concerned about Asuka's outburst. Manjoume and Misawa looked at the same time I did.

"Tenjoin-kun!"

"What's going on?"

The two of them looked worried, and (for obvious reasons) Honomaru and Iwamaru looked scared.

That might have been a good question, Misawa, if I hadn't already had some very clear idea. I sweat. "Guy's got a death wish..." I muttered.

"Hey, come on now," Itchy said, digging his own grave with each word. "It's not your fault. You _are_ a girl, after all. Can't help what you were born as."

Misawa winced. "Ooh...bad call..."

"Yeah, no kidding," Honomaru agreed, showing he _had_ learned something last time. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" He called, cupping a hand to the side of his mouth.

"Yeah, he's right, pal!" Iwamaru said. "She's stronger than she looks!"

Great, so nobody wanted to get Asuka mad. At least, nobody who'd seen it before. Well, at least we all agreed on that.

"Oh, come on! She's just a girl with a temper! It's nothing us guys can't handle!" Kourimaru said, reinforcing my rather firm belief that he had ice for brains.

Of course, Asuka's attention snapped to him next, which meant the angry girl was facing my general direction again. "What?" she said, venom in her voice.

I swear, even though she wasn't mad at me, I _still_ got chills when she said that!

"Uh, Ice for Brains?" I said, more fear showing in my tone now than any time those guys had come after me. "Don't make her angry. You really, really, _really_ won't like her when she's angry..."

The two clueless Emperors stared, apparently stunned. Both blinked twice. Oh, those poor doomed fools.

"Uh, anyway, thanks to my The Thing in the Crater, I can summon a pyro type monster from my hand!" Honomaru said quickly, reminding all of us that we were dueling. "And, since there's only one, I'll summon my Tenkabito Shien in attack mode!" (1500)

A man appeared, riding atop a horse. The man himself was some sort of warrior, dressed in purple and orange. His horse's eyes were red.

Misawa started, then said, "Right—and since my Hydrogeddon destroyed your monster, I, too, get to summon a monster! Another Hydrogeddon in attack mode!" (1600)

Honomaru's eyes widened. "What!?"

"Uh, right, I should move this along, too," Manjoume said, apparently cued by Honomaru. "I switch my dragon to attack mode. (1400) And summon X-Head Cannon in attack mode, as well!" (1800)

"Right!" I said, following suit. "Yeah, back to my duel, not Itchy's attempted suicide. I activate the field spell, Neo Space!"

All around us, the environment changed. The white walls of the Light's base vanished, replaced by the rainbow colors of Neo Space—not my kingdom Neospace, but the _space_ place Neo Space. Confusing, huh?

"With this card active, I can use Chrysalis Mole's effect!"

"H-huh?" Apparently he was still in shock. He glanced my way, his eyes wide in surprise.

"When Chrysalis Mole is on my field—or any Chrysalis, for that matter—and Neo Space is active, I can sacrifice the Chrysalis—the baby—to summon its adult form! So meet Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!" (Atk 900)

The chrysalis started glowing, the creature inside growing and changing. What emerged was a brown mole with two parts of a drill split around his neck.

...Was that guy even paying attention?

"Oh! Right," Kourimaru said with a start, turning his attention to my monster. "A Neo-Spacian..."

Apparently he wasn't impressive enough to hold the guy's attention because his eyes drifted back over to Asuka. Guess he wasn't sure how an angry girl translated to a death wish. Well, he'd see soon enough.

"Uh, hey, ignore her right now and pay attention to me!"

"Huh?" Finally he looked at me, though his eyes were still wide.

"Grand Mole's attacking your Knight!" I said, thinking that should get his attention.

I was right. "You've got to be kidding me!" he cried. "That's way weaker than my—"

"Doesn't matter!" I cut him off. "When he attacks, he and his target get sent back to our hands! And no damage calculation is applied!"

"What!?"

The drill parts on Grand Mole combined, forming a working drill. He crawled forward on all fours—which, I guess, for a mole, is walking—and hit the knight. Both monsters vanished, returning to our hands, and Mist Body went to the graveyard.

"Wow. That was so tough to figure out," I said, heavy on the sarcasm. Seriously, as if Mist Body _really_ made his monster invincible!

"But that's impossible! _You_ didn't have that kind of power before!"

Yeah. _Before_. But my deck wasn't static—it changed from time to time.

I grinned and said, "Yeah, but I didn't have the Neo-Spacians before."

He just growled.

"So, now that he's out of the way, Prisma attacks you directly!"

Prisma lunged at him, hitting the guy directly with his sharp crystal arms.

"Urgh!" Kourimaru said on impact.

Judai: 4000  
Kourimaru: 2300

"Turn end."

So far, this was going about the same as my last duel with him, with me in the lead and him being overly confident.

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

"Now, go, my beasts!" I commanded my monsters. "Attack that wimp! Masked Dragon, you first!"

My Masked Dragon fired a blast from its mouth at that weakling Golem, destroying it.

Manjoume: 4000  
Iwamaru: 3500

"Arg! When my Mine Golem is destroyed in battle like that, you take 500 points of damage!"

Well, that was annoying. But it wasn't like I didn't already know that would happen. Mine Golem isn't exactly rare. _None_ of these guys' monsters were so far! I knew every one of them!

Manjoume: 3500  
Iwamaru: 3500

"And then, of course, thanks to Guidance of Ore, I get another one! Bet you aren't dumb enough to attack it a—"

"Go, X-Head Cannon! Attack him again!"

Seriously, what would be "dumb" would be letting the threat of another enemy stop me from fighting! Who taught this guy to duel, a preschooler? No, that wasn't right—even _they_ were smarter than that!

"What!?"

Manjoume: 3000  
Iwamaru: 2700

"That's stupid!" Iwamaru said, as if _I_ were the idiot. "Why would you go and do that to yourself again!? The situation hasn't changed, you know! I've _still_ got a monster out!"

Of _course_ the situation had changed! He'd lost more life points than me! He was an idiot, alright.

"Yeah, yeah. Didn't expect your puny brain to figure that one out," I said. "Oh, well. I play a card face down and end my turn. Try not to _bore_ me _too_ much with your next move." I crossed my arms, thinking that dueling a monkey would be more of a challenge.

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

As you can see, despite Asuka's anger, my monster gave me another one, as well. That was why I chose it, after all. I had seen his plan coming a mile away. Now, thanks to that, I could really deal him some damage this turn!

"Go, Hydrogeddon! Destroy his second monster!"

Hydrogeddon charged, destroying Tenkabito Shien.

"Argh! That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair," I pointed out.

Misawa: 2700  
Honomaru: 2500

"That move activated Backfire's effect again! You get 500 more points of damage!"

Misawa: 2200  
Honomaru: 2500

"So what?" I asked. "I also get another Hydrogeddon for a direct attack!" (Atk 1600)

My final Hydrogeddon appeared, right in the middle of the battle phase.

"What!?" he cried.

Hydrogeddon charged, ramming into him.

Misawa: 2200  
Honomaru: 900

"I play the fairly new spell card Aquarium Stage to end my turn on," I finished up. "And, since it's so new, I doubt you know that it protects all my water monsters from being destroyed by non-water monsters in battle. And, since you're the fire monarch, I don't see that happening."

Aquarium Stage... It was so new, it had just been released the day before Manjoume and I had set out to help Prince Judai. From the look of things, I couldn't have gotten it at a better time. It was as if it were meant to be used in this duel.

Honomaru growled, then said, "We'll see about that! It's my turn! I draw!"

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

"Okay, now you're in for it!" I snapped. "I summon Blade Skater in attack mode!" (1500)

Blade Skater appeared, an entirely purple monster with a tutu around her waist and blades for skating on her feet. She had two larger blades attached to her arms.

Of course, that wasn't good enough for Ikazuchimaru. "Oh, how cute," he said, patronizing as always. "The little girlie has a little dolly. What's next, a doll house for her?"

I was gonna make him eat those words!

"Don't underestimate my Blader! She's tougher than she looks! Especially after I do _this_!" I took a card from my hand and slid it into my duel disk, saying, "Spell card, activate! Divine Sword Phoenix Blade! With this, she gets a 300-point boost! Now, attack! Show that guy what you're made of!"

With 1800 attack, she went after his monster.

I'm not too proud to say that I wasn't paying a lot of attention during that duel. I was too angry to really stop and think about my moves. I should have taken his face-down cards into account, but I wasn't thinking straight. After all, he'd insulted everything about me!

"Not so fast!" he said, pushing a button on his duel disk to activate a card. "Trap card, activate! Sakuretsu Armor! Now _your_ monster is destroyed!"

"What!?"

Shoot! I should have seen something like that coming! I needed to pay more attention next time. I was as distracted by his words as they wanted Judai to be!

Come to think of it, I had lost to Judai when he started... Oh, wow, what was going _on_ during that duel? It was as if Judai knew everything about me! Or, at least, all the ways to get me rattled. Then again, given how often we'd fought with each other in the short time we'd known each other, he probably did. But he'd used that to save me? That was...a lesson I needed to remember! Ikazuchimaru was doing the same thing, trying to distract me so I'd lose. And, just like that duel with Judai, it was working!

Honestly, I thought that him using what he knew about me to try to save me was sweet. But I wasn't about to admit, even to myself, that I thought he was anything but annoying—not right then, anyway. Instead, I focused back in on the matter at hand, remembering that I would be in serious trouble if I didn't calm down and focus.

My monster was destroyed, much to my annoyance.

I growled. "Fine then! I play a face-down and end my turn! But _next_ time, you're gonna get it! Count on it!"

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I heard every word of that exchange. I was sort of half tuned in to her duel—and it was kinda hard not to overhear everybody's duels, really, given we were standing two feet from each other.

Kourimaru stared at Asuka again before saying, "She sure is scary. Maybe he should quit while he's ahead... Then again, she _is_ a horrible duelist."

Oh, crap. Crap, crap, crap! There were two reasons I didn't want him saying that: 1) I'd seen her duel, even if it _was_ with a different deck, and 2) he'd attract her wrath again!

"Don't say that, don't say that, don't _say_ that!" I said, really wishing he would just shut up and pay attention to _our_ duel instead.

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

"I'll take my turn quickly, before this _really_ gets ugly!" Iwamaru said. "I draw! And sacrifice my monster to summon Granmarg the Rock Monarch in attack mode!" (2400)

It was big and yellow, with a purple cloth around its stupid waist. That was about all I got out of it.

"And, when _he's_ summoned, I can destroy one face-down card anywhere on the field!"

Oh, come _on_! What was _that_!?

"What?" I asked, not impressed. Sure, that was an okay effect, but it wasn't anything to write home about if it was this guy's trump card. Given that they'd taken their names from their _Monarchs_, I figured this was the best he had—a 2400-attack point monster with a decent effect.

"Hey, come on! That was a wicked move! You could at least _pretend _to be impressed!" he said, looking upset.

Well, no, I couldn't. Because I _wasn't_ impressed. Not even a little. I just looked at him lamely, wondering what kind of an idiot he was.

"Oh, whatever!" he exclaimed, looking annoyed again. As if he was the one who should be annoyed! He was wasting my time! "I can _still_ take out _both_ your monsters, so who cares if you do or not! I attack your Masked Dragon with my Monarch!"

The big hunk of rock pulled back an arm, then brought his fist down on my dragon. Not that I minded.

Manjoume: 2000  
Iwamaru: 2700

"Heh. And, once again, you jumped the gun without any clue what you were doing. Don't you know Masked Dragon has a monster effect!? _Now_ I get to summon a dragon of 1500 attack or less from my deck! And, to further prove your idiocy, I play Armed Dragon LV3!" (Atk 1200)

Although the little orange and gray dragon looked less impressive than his Monarch, the fact that it was a LV monster made it infinitely better.

"Oh, whatever! That _still_ doesn't help you. I play one card face down and end my turn."

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

"I'm with you, Iwamaru! I'm going on, too!" Honomaru said, drawing his card. "When I remove a monster from play that belonged to the fire attribute, I get to summon Inferno from my hand!" (Atk 1100)

A mass of fire with a face appeared. When it opened its mouth, countless skulls could be seen inside. But, again, he'd played it in attack mode. In addition, it was a special summon, so I assumed I knew what he meant to do.

"But it won't be there for long! 'Cause I'm sacrificing it to summon my Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch!" (Atk 2400)

Just as I thought.

Thestalos appeared, a samurai clad in red armor. A blue cape hung from his back, red on the inside, and there were small spikes on his arms.

"And, when he's summoned, you randomly discard a card from your hand. And, if it's a monster, you take 100 points of damage for each level it had!"

"A gamble card, huh?" I asked. I turned my hand upside down, shuffled it, and pulled one card: Oxygeddon.

"Ha! A level 4 monster! That's 400 points of damage for you!"

Misawa: 1800  
Honomaru: 900

Well, that was mildly troublesome. But, again, I was prepared for it. After all, I'd heard tell of the Monarch cards, and I'd known Thestalos had an effect like that before this duel had even begun.

"Now I can attack! Can't be destroyed or not, your life points _still_ take the hit!"

A fire ball formed in Thestalos' hand, and he threw it at my monster, hitting it dead-on.

Misawa: 1000  
Honomaru: 900

"Think I'll end my turn with a face-down so you don't think I'm being smart. That's all for now. Turn end."

Honestly, that last comment didn't make much sense. My only guess was that he meant he wasn't going to be arrogant and leave his trump card unguarded. But that comment still didn't make much sense.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Was this guy _ever_ going to take his turn?

"Heh," I heard Itchy laugh again. "And here I thought girls couldn't get any dumber. You're something else, _flame_."

Was that word supposed to mean something? I didn't get it. Maybe it was a Kalmar thing? But...Itchy was from Misgarth... Oh, whatever! Point is, Asuka was getting angrier.

"What did you say!?" she demanded.

Kourimaru kept staring. "Whoa..."

Okay, that was enough! Seriously, we were supposed to be dueling! And she was _not_ friendly when she was mad, so I didn't want to be around when Itchy made her blow!

"Hey, uh, Ice Head? It's your turn," I said. "Stop staring at your soon-to-be former ally and focus on the duel. With the prince of darkness. Who happens to have the Neo-Spacian deck needed to beat your boss. And might just leave right now while you're all distracted if you don't _pay attention_!"

"He's right, bro!" Iwamaru called, sounding worried. "Focus!"

"You're the only one standing between him and our plans right now!" Honomaru added anxiously. "Snap out of it! She's not after you!"

"...That's my kinda woman..."

...Did he just say what I thought he said? Oh, he had some nerve! I twitched but managed to hold my tongue.

"Focus, you fool!" Itchy hollered. "_I'm_ the one who's dueling her!"

_Finally_ he came to his senses! He started. "Uh, r-right! I draw!" He pulled a card and looked at it, then, "Well, since _you_ took my monster away from me, I have no choice but to steal yours! I play the spell card Soul Exchange!"

Crap. Should have known.

"Tch... Of course. You _are_ the one who likes playing dirty, so it shouldn't surprise me."

"Hey. What do you think _you_ just did with your mole?" he countered. "I call this payback, Prince! With Soul Exchange, I can sacrifice your monster to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch in attack mode!" (2400)

His big icy golem appeared, a blue cape hanging from his shoulders.

"And don't forget! When he's summoned, up to two spell or trap cards get wiped out! So say goodbye to Neo Space, kid, 'cause it's not my kinda place!"

Yeah, yeah, I knew that guy was coming. That was why I hadn't wasted any of my cards by playing them face down. Still, losing Neo Space was gonna suck.

"Tch."

The guy was giving me that arrogant grin again. "Hey, cheer up. Mobius can't attack this turn due to Soul Exchange's effect. But I'm sure that's not a problem. Next turn, he'll obliterate you! I play two cards face down and end my turn."

Well, that guy wasn't exactly my favorite to have around. But it wasn't like I hadn't beat him once before. I drew my next card and looked at it, hoping for something good. Well, it was a start, at least.

"I activate Pot of Greed!" I said, drawing two more cards.

Oh, that could work out real well, if I was lucky. It would help me with my original plan, that was for sure!

"I play a monster in defense mode. That's it for me," I finished.

"That's it?" he taunted. "What, the great Prince of Neospace out of moves already? You really _did_ get worse!"

Yeah, right!

"Just make your move instead of spending another hour staring at Asuka!"

"Yeah! What _he_ said!" Asuka yelled. "Make a move already! It wasn't _that_ entertaining, you creep!"

That girl...was on fire. I could practically see the flames coming off her body. Wait, flame... Oh, geez, was _that_ what that taunt meant?

"Yeah, it was, but whatever!" Itchy said, showing he still sought a slow and painful demise. "I sacrifice my monster to summon my Zaborg the Thunder Monarch in attack mode!" (Atk 2400)

As a big gray monster appeared, with yellow clothing, I suddenly realized that they were all doing the same basic thing. All of their strategies focused on calling out their monarchs! If you took that down, you basically beat them. Though it was probably safe to guess they all had more than one in their decks, in that case.

"But he won't be there for long because I'm sacrificing him with the help of Double Summon!"

Well, so much for my theory.

"You're what!?" Asuka asked. "But aren't those Monarchs your best cards!?"

That was what _I_ thought.

"Not anymore, they aren't!" he answered.

From the wicked grins that appeared on the faces of the other three, I knew they all had new monsters that were tougher. So they'd probably all try to summon them instead. Well, that still made them easier to predict, I guess.

Misawa raised an eyebrow. Manjoume looked, holding a card—apparently he'd been about to make his move. I glanced over, too, curious to see what this new monster would do.

"With Double Summon, I can normal summon one more time this turn! And, by treating this tributed Monarch as two sacrifices, I can evolve him into his mega form! Zaborg the Mega Monarch!" (Atk 2800)

A bright light enveloped Zaborg. When it died down, he looked more powerful. He was still entirely made of metal, but he'd gotten bigger.

"Say wha!?" Manjoume cried, his eyes wide.

"_Mega_ Monarch!?" I exclaimed. That was the last thing we really needed.

"Yeah! Mega Monarchs! They're a gift from our boss! And they're _just_ like our last ones but better! Mine, for example, would let me destroy a monster your girlfriend had out! And, if it happened to be a light monster and either of us had a fusion deck, they would be totally devastated. Too bad I didn't duel you."

Well, I was actually very glad I wasn't dueling Itchy right then! I narrowed my eyes.

"Hey, let's get one thing straight here!" Asuka said. "I'm not his girlfriend, he's too immature for me!" She sounded a bit defensive, I thought, but it could have just been wishful thinking.

"Yeah, what _she _said!" Manjoume agreed. "She's—"

"Don't even finish that, Manjoume! You _know_ it's not true!"

At least she still didn't like Manjoume.

"Whatever," Itchy said, closing his eyes and turning away slightly. "My Monarch _still_ has one more effect since I summoned him with a light monster. But, again, without an extra deck, that doesn't matter anyway, so I guess I'll just attack."

Man, now I really wanted to know what that effect was. The Monarch charged up a ball of electrical energy, then threw it at Asuka.

Asuka: 1200  
Ikazuchimaru: 4000

"Argh." Asuka fell to her knees, her head bowed.

Honomaru started snickering. "Hee hee. Too bad _you're_ not that lucky, pal!" he told Misawa, a big grin on his face. "_Mine_ will win the match for me with _its _effect!"

Oh, the cockiness! These guys must take ego supplements to get so big-headed! Misawa didn't acknowledge this comment in any way other than a lame look.

"See that!?" Itchy yelled, and I knew he was going for another shovelful of dirt as he kept digging that grave. After all, he sounded frustrated, annoyed, and he was gesturing at Asuka. "_This_ is why you should never duel a girl! They don't even defend themselves!"

For a moment, it looked like Asuka was too mad for words. However, finally, with venom I had never heard before—and never want to hear again—she slowly lifted her head, a dark expression on her face, and said, "_What...?_"

Even _Manjoume_ cringed. I mean, I did, too, but, seriously, _Manjoume_!

"Oh, shoot," he said.

"Wrong words," I said.

Itchy obviously wasn't phased because he turned away, his arms crossed in disgust. "I don't see why I should even continue this duel. There's no way a girl can win against _my_ superior skill!"

Asuka was glaring fiercely at him, and I could tell that he was getting her _way_ more heated up than _I_ had earlier. "...End your turn."

That venom... Oh, yeah, he was dead! He was a dead as Dracula after eating a garlic pizza and drinking holy water while wearing silver braces on his teeth and a stake through his heart on a sunny day!

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

Okay, I didn't want to see this! "Uh, anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, summoning my next Armed Dragon since I just drew a card...Armed Dragon LV5!" (Atk 2400)

My little orange dragon grew, changing into a bigger red and black dragon with spikes covering its body. Its wings were way too small for it to actually fly.

"And I'd better finish this fast before Tenjoin-kun blows a gasket! I play Pot of Greed! And draw two cards! Then I'm activating the spell card Level Up! This lets me turn my LV5 into a LV7!" (Atk 2800)

Once again, my dragon evolved, getting bigger and badder. The black scales on him turned to metal armor, and his wings were also metal-plaited now.

"And _then_ I play my LV10 from my hand by sending my LV7 to the graveyard as well!" (Atk 3000)

Finally my dragon reached its most powerful form! It stood on two feet, covered in more armor than before. Its entire head was metal-plaited, and its wings finally looked like they might be able to hold its weight.

"All that in _one_ turn!?" Iwamaru cried, backing up with wide eyes as he saw what a _real _trump card should look like.

"Oh, I'm nowhere _near_ done! I can activate my monster's effect now! By sending one card to the graveyard, _any_ card, everything you control goes to the graveyard!"

"What!?"

I sent a card to the graveyard, and razor sharp blades shot off of my dragon, destroying Iwamaru's Monarch.

"So what!? Guidance of Ore can _still _give me another one!"

I should have known. Another one of those Monarchs appeared.

"Tch. You've got more?" I asked, looking at him lamely. Seriously, this guy was too damn persistent, even though he didn't stand a chance against me!

"Sure do! We all do, right, guys!?" Smiling, he looked to his allies.

Honomaru grinned, and the other two nodded, with Kourimaru smirking. Man, they were all just so forthcoming about their deck contents, it wasn't even funny! At least in _Sho's_ case I didn't have a clue what was in that deck! Dueling Sho really _would_ be better!

"So, with that in mind, you can't beat him this turn!"

Damn.

"Tch. Oh, well. I attack your second Monarch with my Armed Dragon!"

My dragon raised a clawed hand and swung, slicing through the stupid rock monarch.

Manjoume: 2000  
Iwamaru: 2100

"Ugh... When my Monarch is destroyed, I get another one due to Guidance of Ore!"

Maybe, but that was his last one, at least.

"Hmph. Whatever. I play two cards face down. Turn end."

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

"I'll go now, as well!" I said, drawing my card. "I play the spell card Monster Reborn! To bring my Oxygeddon back from the graveyard!" (Atk 1800)

Bearing great resemblance to a pterodactyl or some other flying dinosaur, Oxygeddon was made out of oxygen gas, which gave him a greenish tint.

Everything was set. Just as I'd planned it.

"Then I play Bonding – H2O! This spell lets me sacrifice my two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon to summon my Water Dragon in attack mode!" (2800)

The very creature I had used to get through earlier, Water Dragon was exactly what its name implied. It was a Chinese-style dragon made entirely of water.

"That's a tough-looking monster. What are you waiting for?" Honomaru asked. Then he laughed.

As though this wasn't the most obvious trap in the world. Clearly this guy needed some schooling in the ways of a duelist.

"...You know, you're a terrible bluff."

"Huh?"

"That card's meant to destroy my Water Dragon, isn't it? Well, I'm not going to fall for that." I took a card from my hand and slipped it into my duel disk, saying, "I play Rain of Mercy to increase our life points by 1000 each. Then I end my turn for now."

No need to rush. With my Water Dragon protected by Aquarium Stage and the strategy this guy used, I could afford to wait for the card I needed. I had plenty of ways to destroy traps hidden in my deck, after all.

* * *

**Kourimaru's POV**

Oh, man, that girl was mad! If I'd been staring earlier, now the prince I was dueling was the one who couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Oh, geez, Ikazuchimaru," I said. "You really _do_ have a death wish! Well, here goes nothing. I draw! And sacrifice _my_ Monarch to summon my Mega one, as well! Though, granted, you've pretty much eliminated all its effects. Why won't you do more to defend yourself?"

He didn't say anything, apparently more focused on the girl. Now I saw why he'd been getting on me earlier. This was annoying!

"..._Now_ who's too distracted?"

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

"Okay, now it's _my_ turn to summon a Mega!" Iwamaru said.

"Hmph. How? Those other guys had to sacrifice their sacrificed monsters to get theirs. Don't think I didn't notice!"

"Well, that's where _this_ card comes in! Trap card, activate! Call of the Haunted! Now I'll have two Monarchs instead of one!"

One of his Monarchs returned from beyond the grave.

"Then I sacrifice them to summon my Mega! And it can destroy two traps instead of one! Then I draw a card because I summoned him with rocks!"

"Hold that thought! I'm playing one of those before it gets destroyed! Trap card, activate! Roll Out!"

"Hey! You can't do that! That card was destroyed!"

Seriously, was this guy new to dueling?

"How stupid are you? I can activate my trap any time after your turn starts. And, if I want to use it before your monster effect activates, I'm gonna use it. So I can summon my Z-Metal Tank as an equip card for my X-Head Cannon!" (Atk 2400)

"What!? But that's no fair! Now, if I attack it, I'll only do 400 points of damage!"

Well, wasn't that supposed to be the idea?

I grinned, saying, "They don't call me Thunder for nothing!"

"Arg!" Iwamaru cried, his hands flying to his head in annoyance.

Oh, yeah, this guy was _way_ too fun to mess with.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Oh, man, she was mad!

"Yo! Princey! Mind if I attack you? Or do you want to forfeit so you get to go to your girlfriend's aid over there? If we let ya, that is." Kourimaru laughed.

That got my attention. I turned back to him, quickly saying, "Huh? Oh! Uh, no, go ahead, I just wanna get out of here before she blows and Itchy gets ripped to shreds."

He stared at me for a moment before saying, "Oh, whatever. Mobius, attack!"

Well, he attacked, alright! And hit Dandylion, a little yellow and orange flower.

"_What_ is _that_?" Kourimaru said, as expected. "Another useless wimpy card?"

He just insulted my card. But I decided to let it go this one time and just tell him about Dandylion's effect.

"_That_ was Dandylion, and I just wanna say thanks for attacking him! Because, when he's destroyed, he leaves behind two Fluff Tokens in defense mode!" (0)

Two little pieces of dandelion fluff appeared, each with faces.

"Tch. So, what? You traded one wimp for two weaker ones? That's the stupidest—"

Okay, _that_ was it! He wasn't getting away with calling my monsters wimps! There wasn't a single card in my deck that didn't have some use!

"_Never_ insult my monsters, Kourimaru!" I snapped. "They may not look like much, but these little guys are all I need to turn this around!"

"Hmph. If you say so. I end my turn."

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

"Oh, whatever! I _still _get to draw a card!" Iwamaru said, as if I actually cared. He took another card from his deck, and I just waited.

"Arg, you're so annoying!" he told me. Yeah, as if a guy wasting _my_ time wasn't annoying! "Whatever! I'm _still _stronger than your stupid monster! And here's where I'll prove it! Granmarg! Attack his X-Head Cannon!"

His Granmarg raised a fist, bringing it down hard on my monster.

Manjoume: 1600  
Iwamaru: 2100

"I'll get you next turn! Your move!"

Yeah, as if he'd _ever_ beat me. All I needed to do was draw another card, and my dragon would get a better shot at beating _him_. Had he forgotten about that? Seriously?

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

"What are you _waiting_ for?" I demanded, my tone icy cold. "Are you afraid I'll turn this around? Afraid of losing to a _girl_?"

Ikazuchimaru brushed it off. "Oh, I'm not afraid of you. You're weaker than Iwamaru and Honomaru together!"

"Hey!" his two comrades said, insulted.

"Then prove it," I challenged him. "End your turn and we'll _see_ who's so weak."

He thought about it for a moment, then said, "Fine. I end my turn." I heard him mutter, "Next turn, I'm finishing her off, though. Talk about a waste."

Oh, if he wanted to see a waste, I'd _show_ him a "waste"!

"Good. I draw." I took a card from my deck, then said, "I play Pot of Greed and draw two more cards!"

When I drew these cards, I knew I had this one won. I smirked. "And now, you die."

"What?"

"Oh, crap," I heard Manjoume say.

"Aw, geez," Judai echoed.

"First off, I activate Call of the Haunted! The card I wouldn't _waste_ on my monster last turn!" I yelled, being sure to point out my use of strategy—something _these _four sexist idiots clearly lacked! I was still mad, but I was focused now, at least.

My Blade Skater returned from the grave in attack mode. (1500)

"You had _that_?" he asked in disbelief. "But you could have shielded yourself!"

I rest my case on the whole "no strategy" thing.

I smirked again. "Why do that when I planned to _end_ you _this_ turn?"

"...Anyway, you were saying, Honomaru?" Misawa said, seemingly stunned. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn to his opponent.

"One sec..." his opponent responded, staring and uncomfortable.

"I play the spell card Machine Angel Ritual! By sending my Idaten to the graveyard, I can summon my Benten in attack mode!" (1800)

A woman—yes, _woman—_appeared on the field, wearing a teal and black skin suit. She had long black hair decorated with a golden headdress. Being a warrior, she carried nunchucks in her hands, although hers were a couple of folding fans connected by a chain.

"Then I equip her with Ritual Weapon, giving her another 1500 attack points!"

A crossbow appeared on Benten's arm, raising her attack power to 3300.

"And that's not all!" I continued. "I summon Etoile Cyber, as well!" (Atk 1200)

A woman in green and red appeared, long red hair running down her back. She had ribbons wrapped around her arms and a tutu about her waist.

"You're kidding! You had _that_ planned out all along!?" Ikazuchimaru cried, obviously surprised due to his sexist nature. "But you're only a girl! Girls can't—"

"Can't what!?" I cut him off, furious as I remembered exactly what Judai had been saying. "Kick the butts of arrogant men like you and a certain brunette whose name will remain unmentioned for _obvious_ reasons!?" I glanced at Judai, suddenly having remembered his insulting remarks during our recent duel. Boy, he must have been really desperate to rescue me from the Light, or he'd never have gone that far! Why did he care so much, anyway? I thought he hated me!

He cringed, clearly scared. "Iwasjusttryingtogetyoubacktonormalididn'tmeananyofit!" he said quickly. I'm fairly certain what he said was "I was just trying to get you back to normal. I didn't mean any of it," but it came out as just one word.

Well, that was cute. Grinning, I gave a humph, then turned back to Ikazuchimaru, glaring. "You can _beg_ now, if you want."

He looked suitably scared, which was a pleasant change from his arrogant patronizing. "...Oh, man..."

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

Well, that was not going to end well for Ikazuchimaru.

"I'd better finish this quick!" Honomaru said, obviously quite scared himself. "I sacrifice my Monarch for my Mega! Discard a card, Misawa!"

He was still talking as his Monarch changed. He grew larger, and a blue cape still hung from his back. The spikes on his arms were now rather menacing.

I did as Honomaru said, having only one card in my hand at the time, Torrential Tribute.

"I missed! Oh, well, you still take 1000 damage due to my Monarch's last effect!"

Misawa: 1000  
Honomaru: 1900

Well, it seemed my precautionary move last turn had been the right decision. I knew his Monarch would have me discard a card this turn, but I couldn't be sure what it would have done. Fortunately the card in my hand wasn't a monster, but, if that Monarch had a different effect that targeted spells and traps in the same way, I had figured it would be better to be safe than sorry.

"And, to be sure I win, spell card, activate! Pot of Greed! I draw two cards! And play Salamandra on my Monarch, making it stronger than your monster!"

His monster gained a 700-point boost, but he didn't seem to realize how pointless this endeavor was.

"Now I'll summon one more so I can win. By removing one more fire monster from play!"

He called out a monster with 1700 attack points known as Spirit of Flames. Apparently he was too scared of Asuka to even explain his moves clearly. Regardless, Spirit of Flames was a humanoid creature with large muscles. He was entirely red and appeared in a burst of fire.

"Attack!" he commanded his monsters.

Oh, would they _never_ learn?

The attack points of his monsters dropped to 0, catching him by surprise.

"W-what's going on!? Why are my monsters attack powers so low!?"

"You need to pay a lot more attention," I told him. "My Water Dragon makes the attack of all fire monsters drop to 0. You just destroyed yourself."

His eyes widened as he cried, "I did what!?"

"Idiot!" Ikazuchimaru called.

Honomaru turned to him, a glare on his face, retorting with, "Look who's talking!? _You_ angered that devil girl!"

"I'm a _what_!?" Asuka yelled at him.

Oh, _that_ was a bad call.

Honomaru cringed. I decided it would be best to say nothing.

As his monsters attacked, Water Dragon flooded the field, wiping them out, along with Honomaru's life points.

Misawa: 1000  
Honomaru: 0

"You know, your dueling strategy's way too predictable," I told him. "Perhaps, if you concentrate more and do your research, you'll do better next time."

"You sound like my old test partner," he muttered. "Sheesh."

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

Well, after listening to that idiot fire emperor make Tenjoin-kun angry at _him—_and watching him lose to Misawa in the most pathetic of ways—I figured it was time to stop playing around with my loser of an opponent. Tenjoin-kun needed my support, after all! I needed to hurry this up and get to her!

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll end it, too. I draw!" I pulled a card from my deck, only to start gaping at it. Really? _Now!?_

"H-hey!" Iwamaru protested. "What do you mean you'll end it, too!? I've still got my—"

_"__What's wrong, Aniki?"_ that stupid yellow nuisance asked, coming out of its card. _"You don't look happy to see me. Is this a bad time?"_

Well, _duh_! I was _dueling_!

I growled and answered, "It's _always _a bad time! Go to the grave already!"

_"__Oh, Aniki. That's not—"_

"I send my card to the graveyard to activate my dragon's effect!" I said, slipping that pain in the neck into my graveyard. "Get that first Monarch out of my way!"

"F-first!?" Iwamaru stammered. "That's my _only_ Mega Monarch!"

Well, that was good to know. It meant I wouldn't have to deal with this guy anymore. His Mega Monarch was destroyed by the blades that flew from my dragon.

"Well, then. I guess this next attack will finish you off! Armed Dragon LV10, attack!"

My Armed Dragon slashed him with its claws, finally ending this pointless waste of time.

Manjoume: 1600  
Iwamaru: 0

"Ha! Not even a challenge! You duel worse than my grandma! And she thinks Duel Monsters is a movie title! But you're welcome to try again, if you'd like," I said, smirking at him with my arms crossed.

Iwamaru sat up, his head bowed in shame. "Ugh! How could I have been so stupid!?" he asked, pounding the floor.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Well, that was a revelation—Manjoume "Gold Coat" Power Maniac had an Ojama in his deck. What was _that_ doing there?

"Oh, great," Kourimaru said after watching two of his allies go down. "And now it's Ikazuchimaru's turn."

Well, yeah. I mean, he was dueling Asuka and he'd made her angry. I'd _tried_ to warn him...which was a brutal reminder that she remembered that duel I'd had with her, too.

"L-look, madam, I never meant to disrespect you," Itchy said, trying his best to calm her down—too little, too late, buddy. He was also slinking away little by little as he tried to escape her wrath. "_I_ know how strong girl duelists are! My boss is one, too!"

If that was true, I wanted to know what his boss would think of all the stuff he'd been saying earlier.

"Hmph. Yeah, right," Asuka said. "I know your game, and I don't want to play. So, without further ado, Benten, attack his Monarch! And, when she destroys a monster, you take its defense points as damage!"

"What!?"

Dang. Now I _really_ wanted to duel her when she was using her real deck.

Benten used the weapon on her arm, firing an arrow from her crossbow at Zaborg and wiping him out.

Asuka: 1200  
Ikazuchimaru: 3500

Then the monster's effect kicked in. You know, that kinda reminded me of Flame Wingman's effect. It was the exact same thing, except with defense points instead of attack points.

Asuka: 1200  
Ikazuchimaru: 2500

Kourimaru winced. "Ooh. That's gotta hurt," he said as we both watched Asuka. "And you actually _like_ this girl, Prince? Then you should be best friends with _me_ because trashy is _my_ type!"

WHAT!? Asuka was _not_ "trashy", and she wasn't his type, either!

I glared at Ice Brains, wondering where the nearest bottomless pit was. "Sorry, _what_ was that?"

"Forget it!" Asuka said, apparently talking to me. "_He's_ not my problem! _This_ guy is! And that's why he gets two direct attacks from my dolls! And, when _one_ of them attacks directly, she gains 500 more points!"

Itchy seemed to realize he was doomed, based on his expression. "In other words, if this attack hits—"

"You lose, Needle _Face_! Etoile Cyber! Blade Skater! Attack him directly!"

Asuka's two monsters charged, Etoile Cyber dealing Itchy a kick to the gut—and gaining 500 points as she did—and Blade Skater slicing him with one of the blades on her arms.

"AAARRRGGG!" he cried out.

Asuka: 1200  
Ikazuchimaru: 0

Asuka crossed her arms, glaring in disgust. "Hmph! You call that a duel? Your big, strong, _manly_ monsters didn't stand a chance against _my_ girls." She closed her eyes and turned away, adding, "Once I got serious, that is. And you call yourself a duelist. Hmph!"

"Darn. Lost to a girl," Itchy said, kneeling on the floor with his head bowed in shame. "Last time I'm underestimating _them._"

"Oh, it better be."

Ooh, _man_. If that was what she did to guys who insulted her, then I was _seriously _dead...

"...Oh, man, I'm gonna die."

It's always good to come to terms with one's imminent demise, I'm told.

"No! This can't be happening!" Kourimaru exclaimed, suddenly reminding me that I had bigger problems right then. "Now I _have_ to win! And use my Monarch to purify the Darkness once and for all!"

Whoa! Had he just said...what I thought he did? How exactly was his Monarch gonna do _that_!? I had this nasty feeling I didn't want to know.

"Wait, do what?"

"Well, hurry it up!" he told me, seeming worried all of a sudden. "I've got a duel to win, for everyone's sake!"

I didn't know where this sudden fear was coming from, and I didn't know exactly what he meant by "purify the darkness", but I knew one thing. "You aren't winning this! I may be dead when Asuka gets her hands on me after this, but I'm taking you out first!" I drew my next card, hoping this duel would end soon.

"Just win, Judai," Asuka said, her eyes closed still. "Forget you heard any of that."

Okay, she didn't _sound_ mad (she sounded disgusted, which I figured was aimed at Itchy), so I was just gonna pretend it never happened, like I'd been doing in the first place.

"I'm gonna make use of my supposedly useless little friends here, Kourimaru!" I said. "I sacrifice my two Fluff Tokens to summon Elemental Hero Neos!" (Atk 2500)

Everyone was staring now.

"Whoa," I heard Asuka say.

"Cool," Honomaru said.

Itchy snapped his head in his direction, glaring. "Honomaru!"

"The legendary card..." Manjoume said in awe.

"We're so lucky," Misawa said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Well, aside from Itchy and my unfortunate opponent, of course.

Kourimaru stepped back, looking worried and awed at the same time. "N-Neos. No! With that, you could—"

"That's not even the worst of it! I activate Common Soul, which lets me summon a Neo-Spacian! And, given what you _know_ is in my hand, it shouldn't be hard to guess who's coming, right?"

"Tch. That mole again." He eyed his face-down cards, for some reason.

"Yep! So come on out, Grand Mole!" (Atk 900)

Making his triumphant return to the field was the mole with the drill around his neck! I didn't bother mentioning Common Soul's other effect, which added Grand Mole's attack power to Neos, because that wouldn't really matter in a second.

"Not that he's hanging around for long, though, because I activate Miracle Contact!"

"Oh, no, you didn't!" Kourimaru cried. "A _Contact_ Fusion!?" He stopped, looking confused, then said, "Wait. Legend says you _don't_ need spell cards to perform those! So why—"

I just grinned at him. Apparently he really _had_ done his homework if he knew about Contact Fusion already. "Well, it's a little hard for Neos to fuse with an ally in the graveyard. So he needs a little extra help!"

"What!?"

"This card works kind of like Miracle Fusion, except only for Neos fusions! Also, the cards I use can be in my hand, on my field, or in my graveyard, and I shuffle them back into the deck instead of removing them from the game. I'll send Neos, Grand Mole, and the Flare Scarab in my grave back to my deck! Come forth, Elemental Hero Magma Neos!" (Atk 3000)

The three fused together, forming a hero like no other! Magma Neos had a partially white torso, with his upper arms, legs, and chest being green. His forearms were mismatched, with one being a mole's arm and the other being made of magma. Two blade-like wings hung down from his back.

"Magnificent!" Misawa said. "A three-way fusion of Neos! The prince is truly amazing!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Manjoume gaping at me. If he thought that was impressive, he should wait until he heard the guy's effect.

"Magma Neos' effect! He gains 400 attack points for each card on the field!"

"Say what!?" Kourimaru cried. He looked at his cards in apparent fear now.

"Let's see..." I said, having fun with this. "There's two face-downs, your Monarch, and, of course, Neos himself. That's 4. Do the math!"

"4600 attack points! Why, I oughta—"

"Yeah? Well, that'll have to wait! Neos, attack his stupid Monarch!"

"Why, you—"

Magma Neos was the perfect guy to fight an icy ruler. He created a ball of magma over his head, then flung it at the Frost Monarch.

Judai: 4000  
Kourimaru: 500

"Argh! You'll _pay_ for that! Trap card, activate! Michizure! This will destroy your monster because it destroyed mine!"

Darn it, I should really pay more attention to face-down cards.

"What!?"

A hole opened up in the ground, and a hand reached out and pulled Magma Neos down. I just growled, thinking of how stupid I always am with face-down cards. And I'd worked so hard to summon that thing since the first turn, too.

"Well, if you liked _that_, you're gonna _love_ this!" Kourimaru said. "My other downed card was activated, too! Time Machine!"

I let out a groan. I had _just_ gotten rid of that thing! "You're kidding, right? That thing's coming back?"

"Guess you can't win 'em all, can you, Prince?" he said, taunting me with a grin.

Well, that was a poorly timed taunt.

"Yeah. _You_ can't!" I said, taking a card from my hand. "Quick-play spell, Reverse of Neos! This brings Neos back with 1000 extra attack points!"

Kourimaru's eyes widened. "What!?"

Neos reappeared in all his glory, this time with 3500 attack points.

"And, since that was a quick-play card, it's still my battle phase, so he can attack again!"

Kourimaru backed up. "No. No, no, no, no! This can't be!"

"It can and it is! Neos! Attack!"

"Kourimaru!" the other three Emperors cried. "Nooo!"

As Neos attacked him, Kourimaru yelled, "JUUUDAIII!"

Judai: 4000  
Kourimaru: 0

Kourimaru fell to the ground, his face getting better acquainted with the floor. He propped himself up on his arms. "Th-this can't me," he said, staring at the floor.

He might have thought that, but I knew better. I'd beaten him before, after all. I flashed my pose at him (yeah, yeah, this wasn't the time for that, I know). "Gotcha! Again!" I dropped my pose, my stance changing to more of a guarded one as I braced myself for more foul play from him. After all, he was starting to get up. "Seriously, bro, didn't you join the Society to get stronger? Doesn't look like it's helped much."

Kourimaru stopped, still kneeling. He clenched a fist and glared at me, growling. "Shut up! I haven't lost just yet! I'm _still_ gonna make you a member! Now come here!"

As if I didn't see _that_ coming. He lunged at me, still kneeling on the floor. I dodged him by turning to the side, raising an arm as I did so, then I whacked him on the head with my elbow.

"Ugh!" he cried out, falling to the floor again, where he moaned in pain.

I looked down at him and said, "Yeah, I think you _have_ lost."

"Well," Misawa said. "It seems we've all won our duels, then."

Manjoume crossed his arms, looking away. "Hmph. 'Course we did! These guys can't duel!"

"Yeah, no, duh," Asuka agreed, mirroring Manjoume. "They don't have _any_ duelist pride! Hmph!"

I had to say, she was right. Kourimaru was still after me, even though he'd lost.

"Yeah, obviously! Mine won't quit!" I said, pointing at Kourimaru.

Of course, just as I was doing that, Kourimaru reached up and grabbed at my leg, glaring at me when I pointed at him. It seemed he was determined to catch me if it killed him.

I scowled. I was getting really sick of this guy. "Really?"

I tried to swat his hand away, but he changed his target—he grabbed my hand!

"Oh, for the love of..." I pulled away, saying, "Let go!"

Seriously, what was this guy's deal today!? It was like he was on his last second chance. He reached out with his other hand, looking desperate. Maybe this _was_ his last chance. The way he was acting, I really didn't want to know what would happen if he didn't manage to get his hands on me this time. Still lying on the ground, he crawled forward, his arms out, looking like he was ready to wrap his arms around my legs and hold me in place.

"N-not until I...h-have..." he said, propping himself up on his elbow as he reached out.

He threw himself forward, trying to wrap his arms around my legs, but I stepped back, and he fell on his face _again_. He was just so pathetic right then. And _really_ annoying!

"Hey, you idiot!" Manjoume called, standing with the other two at the entrance to one of the branching hallways. "Quit playing around with that weakling and get over here! We've still gotta save Johan!"

That was about when I realized that my group had been cut in half—Johan, Yubel, and Sho were all missing. Yubel and Sho should be okay since they were pretending to be Light Drones. But, if Johan wasn't with them...

"Wait, you left him alone? In trouble?" I demanded.

Seriously, wasn't he supposed to be their prince!? What were they thinking!?

"Yes! So we could go after _you_!" Manjoume answered. "You're a bit more important right now, all things considered."

Oh. Right. The Darkness of Creation. That was my power. Johan couldn't do anything against the Light of Destruction. His kingdom was way too big on light to be of any use against an evil one.

Kourimaru was grabbing at me again, growling, but I didn't pay much attention to him. I just stepped on his hands, even though only one had been creeping. Hey, what can I say? I knew he'd try using his other hand if I stopped one.

He let out a pained cry, which was drowned out by me saying, "Yeah, but I'm fine!"

Misawa bowed, a hand to his chest in an apologetic manner. Guess I sounded kinda mad. "Better safe than sorry, your Highness," he said. "Our prince can take care of himself. But your friend Yubel wasn't too sure about you."

Friend? _Friend?_ Had he seriously just called Yubel my _friend_!? Was he insane!? Man, did he have a lot to learn!

I felt Kourimaru's hands get pulled out from under my feet, which made me glance down. He was wincing in pain for a second, then started crawling toward me again. Apparently he wasn't giving up as long as I was within about a foot of him. The others weren't trying so desperately to catch anybody, so what was _his_ deal?

I didn't give that too much thought. After all, it wasn't my problem, but I planned on clearing it up for him soon enough—by beating his boss, of course.

I gave Misawa a lame look for the comment about Yubel. "Really? You called her my friend?" I shook my head, suddenly remembering that wasn't important right then. "Never mind, let's go find Johan!"

I ran off down the hallway where the three of them were standing, and they followed, leaving Kourimaru and the other Monarchs behind.


	29. Another Small (or Big) Problem

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

At some point, Manjoume started leading the way—a great idea, given that I had no idea where I was going. The four of us ran all the way to the other side of the stinking mansion, where we found ourselves confronted by what would likely be a common enemy in this place: a locked door.

"So, any ideas on how we're getting in there?" Misawa asked.

I had one! I still had that needle-like piece of fur I'd used to get out of my _own_ locked prison. I reached into my pocket.

"Hm..." Manjoume crossed his arms, thinking about what to do.

I didn't bother thinking about it—I just walked over and stuck my Kuriboh-fur lock-pick into the lock as Asuka watched.

Apparently Misawa didn't expect a prince to know how to pick locks because I caught his startled reaction out of the corner of my eye. "H-hey. What are you doing?"

I felt another set of eyes on me, and I knew that Manjoume was watching, too.

I didn't need to explain myself to either of them, so I just worked the lock. It wasn't any different from the last lock, so it wasn't hard. In a matter of seconds, I got that door open.

Throwing the door open in an act of inexcusable idiocy for which Yubel would certainly slap me upside the head every day for the rest of my life, I cried, "Johan!"

I didn't see Johan, but I _did_ see somebody. I couldn't make out who it was before somebody grabbed me and pulled me into the room.

"Hey!" I protested.

There were two guys wearing uniforms that did _not_ belong in the Society of Light's headquarters, both holding onto me. They were dressed like Misgarth's royal guard (if the royal guard wore all-white uniforms), which left me with the unsettling realization that I'd probably be facing one of the two male royals.

"Judai!" I heard Asuka cry at the same time as Misawa's voice said, "My prince!"

The guards slammed the door, locking it behind me.

Crap, I was an idiot! Of course they'd use this as a trap! Why wouldn't they? After all, I'd come with Johan, so we must have at _least_ been on halfway decent terms with each other! The Light could figure _that_ much out! He might have been a drone the moment they locked that door behind him, for all I knew!

The Misgarthian guards held me tight as... Oh, no. Not _him_! Why did this keep happening!? How come it always had to be my friends I faced in this lousy place!? I had, like, four real friends in the whole world, and I kept facing _them_!? The odds were ridiculously low!

Like the room I'd been in earlier, this one was big enough to duel in, but there wasn't a laser in here. The other difference: Prince Ojin, the crown prince and only heir to the throne of Misgarth, was the Light Drone I was facing.

"Well, well," Ojin said, his hands on his hips. "A two-for-one sale. This is my lucky day." He gave a laugh that wasn't anything like him.

"Ojin!?"

"That's right, old friend," he said, smiling wickedly. "It's been quite a long while now, hasn't it?"

Ojin and I had a lengthy history. Our father's were political allies, and I'd been dragged to his castle more than once as a kid to try and keep the alliance going. We'd hit it off really well, which was great for our dads and our kingdoms. This, of course, made him my only real friend growing up, so I was pretty bugged by the Light using him.

"So you're in the Society, huh? Where's Johan!?"

Ojin closed his eyes, that smile still fixed in place. "Relax. He's alright. He's just decided to change sides so we could stay friends, that's all. And you're welcome to join us, should you so choose to do so." He opened his eyes, laughing like another frozen-over person.

Great. I was too late to save Johan—he'd already been inducted! Which meant I'd probably end up facing _another_ of my small number of friends. Now all I needed was Sho to become a real Light Drone and duel me, and I'd be facing _all_ of my real friends!

I growled. Seriously, when I'd said this rescue mission was going horribly wrong, I hadn't had any idea. I had come with a group of friends and allies to save one friend, and, in the process, I lost another one. Now I had to save _Johan_! But, first, I had to get Ojin back to his senses.

"Forget it, Ojin!" I said. "I'm not interested.

"Oh, but you will be," he told me. "Just as soon as you lose your duel to me. Then you can join our group as the Monarch of the Wind. That's just perfect for you, seeing as you're a free spirit." He laughed.

Fitting as that might have been, I didn't want to join the Four—er, _Five_ Emperors. "Tch..."

"So? How 'bout it? Or should I tell my men there to just zap you now? I'm sure they won't mind," Ojin said, gesturing at his guards with a wicked smile. Then he laughed coldly.

Oh, yeah. The Light had a definite thing for turning people into exact opposites of themselves.

On either side of me, the guards holding me raised what I could only figure were laser guns, given that they looked like guns. I mean, the Light didn't want me dead, after all, so they weren't _real_ guns. The guys were ready to fire at their prince's command. I, on the other hand, wasn't too eager to trust his word on this one, given past experience.

"Before I answer, you swear on your honor that these guys _won't_ zap me if I win?" I asked. As prince of Misgarth, Ojin was pretty big on defending his honor, so I knew even Light drone guards wouldn't zap me if he swore on his honor—they'd be disgracing their prince, after all.

Ojin just stared for a second, blinking. Then he grinned. "Heh. Oh, I get it. Lord Saiou's getting desperate. Then I guess I'd better hurry this up." He activated his duel disk, saying, "Let's go, Judai! You and me! The sooner we get this over with, the sooner Lord Saiou will be pleased." He looked a lot like Kourimaru just then.

"You didn't answer my question!" I pointed out. I was getting a nasty feeling he _wasn't_ going to, either, which told me that I could expect to get zapped either way...again.

"Silence!" he commanded. "You're in _my_ domain now! Do as i say, or I _will_ zap you without fighting!"

Well, that wasn't something I could let happen. His guards readied their weapons, and I accepted that I'd just have to be quicker than them if I wanted out of this mess.

"Tch... Alright, alright."

The guards loosened their grip on me enough for me to actually activate my duel disk. Once I had, they let go completely and moved to guard the door, probably to prevent my allies from coming to save me.

"But you're a dishonorable liar if I still get zapped..." I added without conviction, knowing it wouldn't make any difference to this version of Ojin either way.

"Are you ready, Judai?" Ojin asked, looking serious.

"Yeah, I'm ready, Ojin!"

"Then here it comes! My one-turn kill!"

Yeah, did I mention Ojin had a one-turn kill strategy that tended to be a nuisance? In this case, it was downright deadly.

"Duel!"


	30. Stopping the One-Turn Kill

**Shadgirl2: Hi, there, everybody! Here's the next chapter!**

**Midna: Yep! A duel between Judai and Ojin. We own nothing except the plot and that one card that doesn't really exist.**

**Shadgirl2: And, by that, she means the Mega Monarch in this chapter. Seriously, though. Why's this guy the only one we found that doesn't have a Mega? Even dark has one! Lol!**

**Midna: I dunno. To make you ask questions?**

**Shadgirl2: Oh, shut up!**

**Midna: Anyhoozenhow, enjoy!**

**Shadgirl2: Anyhoozenhow? Is that even a word?**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

Judai: 4000  
Ojin: 4000

**Judai's POV**

Ojin was still smiling wickedly, which wasn't a very good change, given how he usually was. His people praised his kindness and his generosity. His court manners were a lot better than mine, and he was always respectful of everyone. But, just then, he was reminding me of Kourimaru.

I'd dueled Ojin before, and I'd lost every time. If this duel went the same way as those times, I'd be in trouble.

"Well, then," Ojin said, reaching for his deck. "Let's make this quick. I—"

No _way_ I could let that happen!

"Oh, no, you don't! _I'm _going first!" I cut him off, pulling a card from my deck quickly as I added, "Draw!"

Seriously, that would be a sure-fire way to lose in one turn.

Ojin crossed his arms, looking cool, calm, and disapproving. What was he, my dad? "Hmph. As anxious as ever. What? Afraid I'll end this right now?"

That taunt _really_ reminded me of Kourimaru, and I had to resist the urge to call him that.

"I summon Neo-Spacian Glow Moss!" I said instead. A humanoid monster appeared, glowing. "Then I play two cards face down. _Now_ you can take your turn."

I knew Ojin's dueling way too well to leave my field empty when he was about to move, even if he _was_ just going to take his first turn. No matter what turn it was, leaving the field empty with Ojin as my opponent was just asking for trouble.

"Heh. As if _that_ will save you," he said. "I draw!" He pulled a card from his deck and looked at it, then said, "And, just like that, the three kingdoms will _finally_ unite. I play the spell card Fiend's Sanctuary! And with it, I get a Metal Fiend Token. But it won't be there for long. Because I'm sacrificing it to summon my Satellite Cannon in attack mode!" (0)

Yeah. _That_ was the thing I was so worried about.

Above me, a satellite appeared.

"Tch."

"So you know, then. That this duel's come to its end," he taunted. "I play two Charge cards to power up my cannon!"

As predictable as always. Granted, being able to predict him had never actually helped me _beat _him, but still.

"That trick again..." I said. "Geez, it's getting old."

He laughed at me through his lips. "Why? Because, every time I play one, they give my Cannon 2000 attack points?" He laughed again, looking as smug as ever in his continuing attempts to be Kourimaru's twin.

His Satellite Cannon's attack power rose to 4000, enough for his one-hit KO to work out easily if he could just clear my field somehow. And it wasn't like he ever had any trouble with that, either.

I decided to mouth off to him. Hey, if he was going to be someone else, I was very much entitled to act like a different person, too, wasn't I?

"No, because you use the same exact move _every_ time we duel!" I corrected. _Fortunately, I might make it through this time._

Emphasis on "might."

"Oh, really? Then I'm sure you saw _this_ coming, too!" Ojin slipped another card into his duel disk, saying, "Spell card, Raigeki! This destroys all your monsters, Judai! Leaving you _wide_ open for a direct attack!"

And _that_ was why I never managed to win, no matter what I did!

Lightning struck the field, destroying Glow Moss. The satellite started charging up for an attack.

"Now, Judai! Accept the baptism of the Light!" Ojin said, a wicked smile on his face.

Like hell.

"As if!" I answered. "You're timing sucks, Ojin!" I pushed a button on my duel disk, saying, "Face-down, reveal! Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This lets me summon Winged Kuriboh to the field to take that hit instead!"

"You're doing what?" Ojin asked, clearly shocked that I wasn't losing in the first turn for once. "You've never countered that move before!"

Yeah, I knew that. Every time I'd dueled Ojin in the past, it lasted about two minutes, max. Then he'd take me out in one turn, even if he let me have the first turn! Those satellites of his always beat me, though not always the same way. Sometimes it was all three with their attack raised, sometimes it was a fusion, sometimes it was just _this_. Either way, I'd never managed to stop it. For that matter, nobody _else_ had, either—Ojin was undefeated. They must have laser baptized him to get him on their side in the first place.

Point is, me surviving was a new one on him.

I had never been so happy to have a small winged furball in my deck as I was when Winged Kuriboh appeared, ready to defend me from a one-turn kill. He let out a happy kuri, glad to be back in my deck and in use. Probably he was also glad to be able to save me from Ojin, considering he'd be the first card ever to stop the one-hit KO.

"Yeah, well, things change," I told Ojin. "Especially when you're a Light Drone!"

Winged Kuriboh danced around excitedly, kuriing his agreement.

Ojin just stared, stunned. After a moment, he blinked twice. Bet he was thinking something along the lines of "how could my Satellite Cannon be stopped by a little brown hairball?"

Thinking of that reaction, I grinned. "So? My field's not open now. Your one-hit KO move isn't gonna work this time!"

It was the first time anyone had ever said that to him. And because of a Kuriboh, no less! See, there's no such thing as a useless card.

_"__Kuri!"_

Ojin growled. "If I attack that thing, all that will happen is my Cannon will lose power." He looked at my other face-down warily, as though he was worried about it. He was probably thinking it was Transcendent Wings—yeah, wouldn't that have been nice for me? "I end my turn with a face-down. And my Cannon not only keeps its 4000 attack points, but, because my turn's over, it gains another 1000! Good luck beating _that_!" And he gave me a grin worthy of Kourimaru.

Geez, that smug attitude _right after_ dueling with a guy who acted _exactly the same_ was annoying, especially since I _knew_ this guy's real attitude was way different!

"Ugh, another duel with a fake," I muttered.

Ojin just grinned. Apparently I wouldn't be making him mad, like I did Asuka.

Figuring the only way to save either of us was to win this duel, I shook my head. "Whatever, I draw." I took the top card off my deck, glanced at it, and grinned.

Oh, he was asking for _this_ one!

"Hey, what do you know? My draws beat your one-turn kill! I activate Polymerization to fuse Clayman and Sparkman! You know what that means, Ojin!"

"I do," he said, sounding way too calm. "It means _you _messed up on _your_ timing this time!" He pushed a button on his duel disk, saying, "Trap card, activate! Imperial Order!"

Crap! That was a card that only existed in Misgarth. They'd made it as a secret weapon against their enemies, and only their best duelists had it. As their undefeated crown prince, Ojin definitely qualified. He'd shown it to me the last time we'd seen each other, so I already knew—that card was a nightmare for me and my deck.

"What!?" I cried, my eyes practically bugging out of my head.

"This trap card prevents us both from using spell cards! But it costs me 700 points per turn."

Just like that, Polymerization was gone. Once again, the Light was stopping me from fusing. Then again, Ojin did that a lot...another reason it never mattered if I went first or second before.

"Tch... Well, guess that's what I get for being stupid against you... I play a card face down. That's it for me this turn."

Ojin frowned, apparently displeased. Now _that_ look was familiar! Remember how I said his court manners were better than mine? Yeah, that was the look I got whenever I acted in any way he deemed "unbecoming" for a prince. He'd often called me a "disappointment" to my entire family. Like when I'd sneak out of the castle, which only happened every once in awhile when he was around. He was a lot like Yubel in that regard, except friendlier and more forgiving. Even though I always acted "shamefully," he was friends with me anyway.

He also gave that look whenever he beat me in under ten seconds. So, yeah, I got that look a lot.

"Then it's back to me," he said. "Too bad." He drew his next card, then stood there silently for a moment. "I see having the Neo-Spacians hasn't helped you any," he finally said, sounding disappointed. "You haven't changed at all."

"Don't bet on it, Ojin," I said. "One thing's already different—I didn't lose _last _turn, like I always used to."

He smiled slightly, which wasn't something I'd ever seen him do while dueling. Ojin was one of those guys who had won without a challenge so often that he'd decided dueling wasn't worth his time. In fact, the only reason he ever bothered dueling me was because I asked him to. But that smile was genuine, so maybe it was a sign I was getting through the Light that was controlling him.

"True. But you won't last much longer," Ojin said. "I pay 700 life points to keep Imperial Order on the field."

Judai: 4000  
Ojin: 3300

"Now that your spells are barred off, I'm getting rid of _that _threat before it can destroy me! Satellite Cannon! Attack Winged Kuriboh!"

Yeah, he just called a Kuriboh a threat. So? That seem weird? Well, it shouldn't because he could beat somebody easily if I had the right cards. The point is, I didn't, and I couldn't have used them anyway, what with his stupid Imperial Order in effect. So, when his Satellite Cannon charged up and shot a 5000-point blast at my partner, it made sense. After all, last turn, he was probably worried that I'd evolve it and beat him.

Man, did Ojin _ever_ mess up? Oh, wait... I already knew the answer to that.

"I activate my trap!" I said once my partner was gone. "Hero Signal! This lets me summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my hand or deck. So meet Wildheart!" (Atk 1500)

Wildheart appeared, swinging his double-handed sword just to show off.

I grinned and said, "And let's remember your Satellite's effect... Its attack power drops back to 0 after it attacks."

And he was back to being a statue. Well, at least that was normal. "Yes," he said. "But it also can't be destroyed in battle by anything weaker than a level 8 monster. And, since you don't have any, I've got nothing to fear." He took a card from his hand, sliding it into his duel disk as he said, "I play one card face down and end my turn."

With that, Satellite Cannon's attack rose to 1000.

"I draw! And summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!" (Atk 1600)

My blue hero appeared, a visor covering his face.

"Your satellite may be immune to destruction by these guys, but it doesn't mean your life points are safe! I attack your satellite with both my heroes!"

You know what always bugs me? Dueling a statue. And that's basically what I was doing here. Wildheart and Sparkman attacked, dealing Ojin over 1000 points of damage, but he didn't even flinch.

Judai: 4000  
Ojin: 2200

"I play a face-down. Turn end," I said, sliding a card into my duel disk.

"That's it, huh?" Ojin asked. "Then, before your turn ends, I play my trap card, Jar of Greed! Then I can draw one card now and another at my turn's beginning!" He drew a card.

Great, he was replenishing his hand. Well, no big deal. What was the worst he could do, power up his Satellite Cannon again? I doubted he could clear my field in an instant.

"And, now that I've replenished my hand some, I draw!" He took his second card, looked at it, then, sounding ominous, said, "And it begins... I pay the 700 points for my trap card."

Judai: 4000  
Ojin: 1500

Man, his tone didn't sound good! Was he about to do what I thought he was? I narrowed my eyes slightly, wondering if I was about to meet another of the Monarch cards.

"Here goes, Judai! My new partner! Kuraz, the Light Monarch! And I'm sacrificing my Cannon to summon him!"

Yeah, that was what I was thinking he'd do. Kuraz was entirely golden, aside from his blue hands. He wore a golden cape, and a half circle arched up from his back.

"Tch... Another of those stupid Monarch cards, huh?"

"Those 'stupid' Monarchs are the symbol of leadership in the Society," Ojin said, giving me another of his infamous parental lectures. "Don't mock what you don't understand."

To make it clear what I mean by "another," any time he'd lecture me, he sounded like my dad. Yubel's lectures were more like the criticisms of a cocky peer, but Ojin actually gave advice that I sometimes followed. Heck, right then, he was making me think I should respect the freaking Light of Destruction! See, Yubel could learn a thing or two from him if she ever wanted me to listen to her.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with your turn, Ojin."

The smug and cocky smile reappeared again, making my friend vanish once more. "Alright. Let's start with his effect. When he's summoned, I can destroy two cards on the field. And, depending on who's they were, that player can draw cards to replace the ones they lost. And I choose your heroes, Judai!"

Dang. So much for him not being able to clear my field in an instant.

"Yeah, kinda figured you'd target me," I said as his Monarch blasted my heroes. I took the top 2 cards from my deck.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, old friend," Ojin taunted. "My monster can't attack on the turn it's summoned, anyway. You're safe for one last turn. Go on and show me how much you've grown."

Well, that was really getting annoying. I drew my next card and took a look at it.

...Well, _this_ move was sure to get me some raised eyebrows.

"I summon Clayman in attack mode." (800)

With a high defense score, my earthen hero was usually kneeling in defense position. However, this time, he stood on the field, ready to do battle with a way more powerful monster.

"Then I play two cards face down. It's back to you, Ojin."

Ojin started, his eyes wide. "Did you just summon your weakest hero in attack mode with my Monarch on the field?" he asked, apparently stunned.

The guards were whispering about it, too. Yeah, I was getting a definite confused reaction out of everybody around right now.

"Yeah," I answered, cool as can be. "What's it to you?"

For the longest moment, Ojin just stared at me in disbelief. Finally he said, "Judai. If you wanted to lose that badly, you could have just surrendered. You didn't have to embarrass yourself by playing so poorly."

"Who said anything about losing?" I asked.

Ojin stared at me some more, then his expression switched to a more serious—and somewhat worried—look. Guess he thought I was losing my mind. "Guess it's true," he said. "The darkness really _does_ consume all. Then I'll make this quick! I draw!" He took his next card. "Since you clearly need help, I'll stop playing around and cancel my trap card so I can play _this_!" As his trap vanished, he smacked down another card, saying, "Monster Reborn! I'll use it to bring back my Satellite Cannon!"

Great. Just what I needed.

"Rgh! Again?"

"Relax. I'm about to free your heart. Next I play my—"

Nope. Nuh-uh. I wasn't going up against that stupid satellite again!

"Not so fast!" I cut him off. "I activate Hero Blast!"

Ojin's eyes widened. "You did what!?"

"You heard me! This card lets me take back a normal Elemental Hero monster in my graveyard, adding it back to my hand. In exchange, one of your monsters with attack less than or equal to that Hero gets destroyed! I'm taking Sparkman back from my grave to destroy your Satellite Cannon!"

"What!?"

When I removed Sparkman from my graveyard, the Satellite Cannon was destroyed again. Ojin growled.

"So what?" he demanded. "You still left that weakling hero in attack mode before my mighty beast! Kuraz, attack!"

"My other face down!" I said as Kuraz attacked. "Hero's Guard! With this, Clayman won't be destroyed, and the damage gets cut in half. Though I _do_ have to remove a monster from the game to do that last bit. I remove Wildheart to cut the damage in half."

Judai: 3200  
Ojin: 1500

Ojin stared, stunned again. "So you planned that whole thing."

"Yep!" I said. Then I grinned and added, "What? Did you really think I was that stupid?"

"...It's in your hand again. Isn't it."

By "it," I figured he meant Polymerization. Truth was, it wasn't. But he didn't need to know that! "End your turn and find out."

Ojin stared a bit longer, looking a bit anxious. "Fine," he said at last. "Your turn, Judai. Show me what you've got."

"I draw! And, since I can finally use spell cards again, I activate Pot of Greed!" With that card activated, I drew two more cards. "I summon a monster in defense mode. Then I switch Clayman to defense and end my turn."

Ojin crossed his arms, putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "So you took back your Sparkman...just to get through that last turn?" Once again, he was a bit stunned. Really, did he expect anything different from me?

"Don't worry about what I'm doing, Ojin," I told him. "You know I make it up as I go along."

Ojin gave me a lame look, which was also a common expression from him. At least, when he was around me. "...Yes, I do." He drew, looking annoyed again, and said, "And that is why you keep losing to me without a fight! I sacrifice my monster to summon its evolved form! Kuraz the Mega Monarch!" (Atk 2800)

Like with all Mega Monarchs, Kuraz was just a bigger and more impressive version of his original self.

Looking like some sort of Light Preacher, Ojin said, "Bathed in light comes this symbol of my bonds with Master Saiou! This Monarch represents the Light itself and will be the last monster your darkness ever fights! I activate its effect! First I destroy two cards, like before! And, this time, we both get to draw cards! Because I summoned him with a light monster!"

"Great. What are you destroying this time?" I asked, exasperated. Not that I didn't already have some idea.

Ojin gave another wicked grin. "You had to ask? Your two monsters, of course!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

My monsters were wiped off the field, and the both of us drew cards this time.

Ojin looked at his cards, fingering them and smiling. Oh, great, he always did that when he was about to win. I might have been in trouble here. "Well, then. Let's see. You have no monsters, two apparently useless face-down cards, and I've got my Light-bathed Monarch out... There's only one thing missing..." He closed his eyes and took a card from his hand, saying, "One last card to finish the job." He opened his eyes, looking serious once more. "I summon Gradius in attack mode!" (1200)

Another monster, huh? Gradius was...uh, some sort of flying thing we didn't have in Neospace. I guess it probably had to do with space, given the theme of Ojin's deck and the fact that his kingdom had a satellite in space.

"For years, my family has prayed for peace between our three kingdoms...and it never happened... Until this day. Judai, as the heir to the throne of Neospace, you will one day take it from the king. On that day, things will finally change, as, right here and now, I shall unite our three kingdoms under the guidance of the Light." He looked determined and serious.

I knew Ojin had always wanted world peace, and I'd been all for not going to war. Now that I had my memories back, though, I remembered all the crappy things I'd always heard about Johan—that he and his family were thieves and liars and couldn't be trusted unless you wanted to find a knife in your back one day. My family had always had this policy, though: unless Kalmar struck first, we'd keep the peace. That had never been good enough for Ojin, who had wanted us all to get along. Knowing now that he was friends with both Johan and me, I could see why he'd always been trying so hard to convince me that we should try to work things out. But I'd never listened. Guess this was a lesson for me, given that Johan wasn't at all what I'd been taught.

"This last attack shall be the end! Gradius, Monarch! Attack him together! Monarch! Shower him in the Light you were given by Master Saiou himself!"

Well, shoot! That wasn't good. As those monsters attacked, the Monarch gave off a familiar and creepy aura, and I knew it was filled with the power of the Light of Destruction. If I lost this, I'd be hit with its dumb power again. And, if those attacks hit, I'd lose.

Which is why I wasn't going to lose.

When both monsters finished their attacks, Ojin stood there with his eyes closed. One hand was on his hip, and a smile was fixed on his face. "And that is that. Welcome to our family." He opened his eyes and stared, then cried, "What!?"

I'd clung to life by a thread. I definitely felt the Light's power when that thing attacked, but I hadn't fallen since I hadn't lost.

Judai: 200  
Ojin: 1500

"Sorry, Ojin," I said. "I activated one of my face-down cards, Emergency Provisions. By sending the other one to the grave, I gained 1000 life points just in the nick of time."

Ojin just looked at me for a second, then, smiling, he said, "Impressive." Man, that was almost like him—almost. "But you will not stop me! Our three kingdoms _will_ be united! Master Saiou promised me!"

He sounded like a man on a mission now, and I could tell it was a desperate one. He and I had always gotten along really well...except when it came to Kalmar. We had a _lot_ of arguments over how I should try to form some sort of relationship with Kalmar instead of just avoiding them as much as possible, and they'd gotten really heated. Any time it looked like I was about to either storm out or kick him out of my home, he'd back down, letting me win. He must have thought it was a lost cause, although he never gave up. Boy, wouldn't he be glad to know Johan and I were friends now.

"Heh. Hate to break it to you, but, if you weren't a lousy Light Drone, that would already be happening someday. Johan and I got along just fine before he joined the Society."

Ojin blinked, looking surprised. There was a hint of denial there, too. From the look of things, he wasn't going to believe that I was friends with Johan unless he saw it for himself. Understandable, given how much I'd hated the guy before. "He did? But—"

"Fighting against the Light gave us something in common and a reason to work together. So, hate to break it to you, but I'm not losing here. I can't. I've got a _friend_ to get back when I'm through with you!"

Ojin blinked again, still stunned. He seemed to think I was either insane...or just being stupid. "A temporary union does not a friendship make," he said. "I play one card face down and end my turn. I'll make your union permanent after that."

Well, I was already planning on that, but I couldn't just expect Ojin to accept it. After all, it was pretty hard to believe. This wasn't just a "temporary union." Johan and I had been getting to know each other over these last few days, and I honestly felt like I could trust him. Maybe it was just because I'd had amnesia when I met him, but that intense distrust I'd had of him and his family was gone. And I didn't think that Johan hated me as much as I used to hate him.

"Yeah, whatever, Ojin," I said, drawing my next card. "I activate Fake Hero! This lets me summon a monster from my hand, but it can't attack, and it goes back to my hand at the end of my turn. And I'm summoning Elemental Hero Neos!" (Atk 2500)

Neos appeared in all his glory, ready to fight that lousy Light.

"So the Neos deck _did_ choose you," Ojin said. "And here I thought you'd stolen it." He laughed a bit.

Well, that was getting real old. And insulting.

"Geez, why does everybody think that?" I asked. I took a card from my hand and said, "Next, for the first time in my life, I'm actually gonna pay attention to face-down cards! I activate R – Righteous Justice! This lets me destroy a spell or trap card for each Elemental Hero I have out. So say goodbye to your face-down!"

"What!? But you never—"

Yeah, I knew that. That was kinda why I said it was the first time in my life. His card was destroyed, and all he could do was stare at me. Okay, I know it was surprising, but it wasn't _that_ surprising!

"Now that the coast is clear, I summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!" (Atk 800)

Grand Mole joined Neos on the field.

"Now, Neos, Grand Mole! Contact Fuse!"

"Hold up! Since when do _you_ pay attention to anyone's cards!?" Ojin demanded as my monsters fused. Apparently he was gonna be stuck on that for awhile. "All you ever do is—"

"I can't lose here!" I cut him off. "No matter what you think, Johan and I are friends, and I've gotta save _him_ from this Light! Just as soon as I save _you_, that is! Now, meet Grand Neos!" (Atk 2500)

"...That doesn't quite answer my—"

"Oh, will you pay attention!? You're about to lose here!"

That got his brain working again. "I'm what!? How!? All you've got is—"

"Grand Neos' effect! Once per turn, he can send a monster back to your hand! So say goodbye to your Monarch!"

"What!? But, Judai! He's sacred!" he said, his tone showing his disapproval. That was the closest Ojin ever got to whining.

"So? It's not like I'm destroying him. I'm just sending him back to where he'll be safe, is all," I teased. "That way, Neos can finish you off!"

"He can not! He doesn't have enough attack points!"

Like I hadn't noticed that?

I grinned, being as goofy as ever when I said, "Oh, shoot, that's right! What was I thinking?" I took another card from my hand, saying, "Guess I'll just have to use _this_! Field spell, Neo Space! With this, Neos gains 500 attack points!"

"What!?" Ojin demanded as the world around us turned into a rainbow void.

"Now, Neos, attack his monster and finish this duel!"

"Noooo!" Ojin cried as his life points fell.

Judai: 200  
Ojin: 0

As the Light was extracted from his body, Ojin cried out in pain. Then he fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily.

The guards looked horrified, for obvious reasons. "Prince Ojin!" They pointed their weapons at me, ready to get the guy who, from what they could tell, was attacking their prince.

"S...stop..." Ojin breathed. "He...he won...fair and square..."

To my relief, the guards lowered their weapons. "Prince Ojin..." one said.

Well, with that out of the way, I walked over to check on my friend. "You okay?"

"Yes...I-I'm okay... Thanks..."

"Don't mention it," I said.

Too late, I realized that he really _shouldn't_ have mentioned it. At least, not right there and then. The guards started, looking horrified, and I knew that they weren't just wearing white because their charge had told them to. "B-but, Prince Ojin! He's the enemy! Isn't he?"

Ojin slowly started getting to his feet, and it seemed obvious he didn't know that his guards were disloyal drones when he said, "N-no... Judai's the one who can—who can stop all this and save us—save us all from the wicked Light. We mus-mustn't interfere with him, so leave him b-be."

Man, he was _not_ okay! All that stammering, not to mention the effort it was taking him to stand up.

"B-but, sir! He's the enemy!" one of the guards protested. "He holds the Dark—"

Clenching his chest, Ojin looked at me and said, "Judai. It's obvious these two are members of the Society already. B-better find some way around them before we're caught." He fell back down to his knees, too unsteady to actually stay standing.

Yeah, that was going to make this even more difficult. I wasn't about to leave him here, after all.

Just like that, the guards turned on their charge, glaring at him. "Ojin, you traitor! Why not tell the whole world while you're at it?"

Still kneeling on the ground, Ojin looked up at me, his expression serious and slightly pained. Way to make me feel guilty, pal. "J-Judai...it's up to you. You and your Darkness of Righteousness."

Oh, you Misgarthians and your weird way of speaking! You just combined both things we use in Neospace to refer to my power and the source of it! Well, guess it worked, so I wasn't going to argue over a difference in language.

I nodded, "Got it."

I activated my duel disk again and summoned Neos to get us through the guards. And, yeah, I said "us." I'd already lost Johan, and I'd come here after Asuka. I wasn't about to leave Ojin behind, now that I knew he was here, too.

The guards held up their laser guns, aiming them at Ojin and me. "Freeze!"

Hah! That was a good one!

"Yeah, right," I said. "Neos!"

At my command, Neos attacked them both. The two fired at the same time, which I'd figured would happen. Neos punched them both in the face, knocking them out. Meanwhile, I shoved Ojin down, and we both lay flat on our stomachs on the floor to dodge the blasts from those stupid laser baptizers. The lasers went over our heads, leaving burn marks on the back wall.

Okay, so were those actually laser baptizers, or were they real lasers? Not sure I really wanted to know, given that Ojin's Monarch could have brainwashed me on its own.

Ojin propped himself up on his elbows, looking surprised. "J-Judai! You just—"

Whatever he was so surprised about, I figured it could wait. "Forget that, let's get out of here!" I said, grabbing him and pulling him to his feet as I headed for the door.

I tried the door and found it was locked. With a groan I pulled out my lock-picking Kuriboh fur. "Gotta remember to thank my teacher later..." I muttered. Really, I never thought being able to pick locks would come in so handy for me.


	31. Reunited, Mostly

**Shadgirl2: Two updates in two days! Wow!**

**Midna: Yeah, we're on a roll! Even if this one is short.**

**Shadgirl2: Well, it was either that or cut it off at an awkward time.**

**Midna: Yeah. So, anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

When I opened the door, Misawa, Manjoume, and Asuka were standing there with...a pillar in their arms? Okay, what did they do, go steal a support beam from somewhere? What part of this building was going to collapse on us?

As if I was the surprising thing, they stared at me, stunned.

I raised a hand in hello and said, "Hey, guys. Where'd you get that?"

It was a good question, don't you think?

Asuka put down the end she'd been holding, leaving Manjoume and Misawa struggling to keep it from falling on their toes. She ran over to me, smiling, and I swear my heart nearly exploded out of my chest. "Judai! You're okay! I was so worried!"

Man, that was good to hear! I mean, not that I wanted to worry her, but the fact that she cared enough to _be_ worried about me felt good. It felt great, actually.

"You were worried about me?" I asked.

Shouldn't have said anything. She blushed, stopping in her tracks. "Uh, that's to say that we can't win without you, so yes. I was worried. We all were! Right, guys!" Sweating, she turned to Misawa and Manjoume, who were still putting down their wannabe battering ram.

"R-right..." Misawa answered.

Asuka turned back to me as the pillar hit the ground with a thud. She seemed a bit more in control of herself now as she said, "See?"

Uh, yeah. I could see real well, Asuka. You were really worked up, trying to cover your little slip-up that might make me realize you care about me at all. But I wasn't going to call her out on it. After all, it didn't really matter if she was covering it up. I could see the truth. Instead I just smiled at her.

Then, suddenly, I remembered that I had somebody else with me. Man, I needed to get Asuka off the brain.

"Oh, uh, this is Prince Ojin," I said. "Ojin, my entourage. Well, some of them..."

"Wait," Asuka said, looking worried. "What do you mean some of them? Don't tell me there's more!"

Oops. Uh, well, now was as good a time as ever to tell her, I guessed. After all, with Misawa and Manjoume catching their breath against that pillar of theirs, they weren't going to say anything.

"Yeah," I answered Asuka. "Sho and a girl from my staff." Then came the one I didn't want to say to a girl from Kalmar. "And Johan..."

Her eyes widened in horror, but not for the reason I expected. "What!? You brought Sho to a place like this!? He can't even _duel_, let alone defend himself if someone tried attacking! What in Neospace were you thinking!?"

I just told her I brought her prince here, and she was worried about Sho? But doesn't the fact that every single heir to every single kingdom was in a dangerous place kind of warrant more concern than Sho being here?

"You brought a non-duelist to a place full of elites?" Ojin asked in disbelief, showing me that Sho _was_ the more pressing concern—even though Johan was a Light Drone now.

I answered Asuka instead, saying, "That you were in trouble, and I wasn't going to leave him alone to become bait next?"

As much as that was true, I knew when I saw Manjoume and Misawa alone that I didn't want Sho running around by himself. If he was with Yubel, he'd be safe. I might have hated her, but I _did_ trust her to take care of me and those I cared about. Though, suddenly, I realized that I didn't actually know for a fact that they were together.

I looked at Misawa and Manjoume and asked, "He's with Yubel, isn't he? He'd _better_ not be alone in here!"

"Well, the last time we checked, the two of them went searching for you," Misawa answered.

Manjoume crossed his arms, still leaning against the pillar. "'Course, knowing him, since he didn't find you, he may have took off on his own. He's crazy like that sometimes."

Suddenly I wished we'd been smart enough to bring some way to communicate while in here.

"You brought a crazy, non-duelist to the base of the Light?" Ojin asked, staring at me in disbelief again. "Honestly, Judai. I just can't believe you sometimes."

"Dang it, why didn't anyone _tell_ me this!?" I demanded. If I'd known _that_ was a risk of bringing Sho, I would have ordered Yubel to handcuff him to her at the first possible moment!

"You mean you didn't know!?" Asuka asked. "When Sho gets anxious, he runs off without thinking! _Usually_ to get away from something that isn't even after him. But, in _this_ case, he'd run off to—"

"Damn!" I swore, running off to find _him_ now.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

And, just like that, Judai ran off.

"Hey!" Manjoume called. "Get back here, you idiot! We're _not_ splitting up again!" He ran after Judai, and Misawa and Prince Ojin followed.

I stood there for a moment, blinking. Judai was almost as bad as Sho. Actually, he was probably worse because he was much more unpredictable.

"Geez," I said under my breath before running after the boys.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I had to find him, I had to find him, I had to find him. I hadn't found Johan in time, and he was now a Light Drone. I wasn't about to let the same thing happen to Sho!

As I was running around looking for him, I heard Yubel's voice, yelling at someone I hoped was Sho. "Now you're going to calm down right now or I'm gonna throttle ya!"

Please tell me that was meant for Sho!

"B-but, Aniki! He's—"

Yes! That was Sho!

"I said—!"

I could see them now, and Yubel was sitting on top of Sho, a fist raised above her head. I had never seen her look that mad, and I was usually the target of her anger! She looked demonic, and, much as I call her a demon, that wasn't normal for her.

With that in mind, I had to say something and stop this.

"Yubel! Sho!" I called.

Yubel stopped just before hitting Sho, and the two of them turned.

"Oh, thank God," Yubel said, relieved to see me for what was likely the first time in her life.

"Aniki! You're okay!" he said, still lying on his stomach under Yubel.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, walking over. "Don't worry about me."

Yubel got off Sho and walked over to me, getting up in my face and glaring. With Yubel off his back, Sho got up. "The _next_ time you decide to save yourself, you'd better let me know!" Yubel demanded. "'Cause, if I _ever_ get stuck _looking _for you with Sho again, I'm gonna strangle you! Understand?"

Oh, geez, yeah, I understood, Queen Cobra! Seriously, she was practically shrieking at me, and the venom in her voice was worse than ever!

I stayed calm on the outside, suddenly real grateful that members of the royal family were trained in composure. "Uh, okay. But...I'm always planning on saving myself, whether it actually works out that way or not."

Yubel slapped me across the face, knocking me off balance. "Idiot." She walked past me to join the others.

Well, that hurt. Guess that was a reason I needed to work on controlling my tongue.

Sho ran up to me as I recovered. "Aniki! You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, rubbing my cheek and turning to glare at my abusive guardian. "Yubel hits me all the time, so you could say I'm developing a resistance."

She just turned away with a humph, her arms crossed.

"Anyway, guys, we should get going," Asuka said. "We're still missing a member of our group, and he's _our_ prince, in case you forgot. I can't believe you left him all alone!" She glared at the others.

"Hey, don't blame us. It was her idea," Manjoume said, pointing at Yubel.

Finally Asuka might gain some understanding of why I always run off! She was meeting Yubel, and that girl was making a lousy first impression.

"What?" Asuka asked, looking at Yubel.

As satisfying as this was, she had a point—we had to find Johan. "Never mind that! We've gotta save him!" I said.

"Right!" Misawa, Asuka, and Sho all said.

So we all took off to find Johan, the last guy in our group we were missing.


	32. Angry as a Bull and Then Some

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

**WARNING: language**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Well, at least Sho was safe. On another note, the place _was_ basically empty. Finding Johan in this place—or anyone, for that matter—seemed to be a lot like finding a needle in a haystack. Or, to be less cliché, finding Yubel in a good mood.

We stopped in an upstairs hallway lined with doors. I recognized the layout of this part, and I figured we'd somehow wound up in the residential wing of this place again. Since the whole place was empty, we started opening every door we saw, checking for any signs of life, particularly those with green eyes and hair. But nobody was here, either.

Sho slammed a door, looking at me somewhat frantically. "What's going on around here!? It's like the place is totally empty! We haven't seen a single person in here since the front door guards! Where _is_ everybody?"

"Good question," I said as I opened another door. I really wished I knew where they were. If nobody else, at least Johan.

Asuka closed a door down the hall and said, "Well, it's not totally abandoned. There's still those four goons and Johan."

Yubel poked her head out of another doorway, looking surprised. "Four goons? You actually saw someone? Sho and I've been running around here for hours, and _we_ hadn't seen anyone. Where did you guys see them?"

I slammed the door, having long since given up on being discreet. Nobody was here, and the only people who _were_ happened to be people I actually wanted to find. "A four-way intersection where they ambushed us," I answered. "Because that's how the stupid 'Emperors' fight." I headed for the next door.

As I opened the door, I saw Sho looking down the hall. "...You mean the guys who keep showing up to attack you, Aniki?"

I turned to him and said, "Yeah. The guys I can't fix because they aren't brainwashed. They're just trying to improve their lot in life."

"...Well, uh, don't look now, but they're right in front of us," Sho said, pointing down the hallway.

That was about when I realized that everybody else was glaring at them. Clearly only _I_ hadn't seen them. Man, was I that oblivious?

"Huh?" I asked, turning to look.

Sure enough, the Four Emperors were standing a little ways down the hallway. Kourimaru and Honomaru were grinning, and the other two were glaring. Iwamaru was glaring fiercely.

"Oh, for the love of... When are you guys gonna quit!?" I demanded. I was seriously sick of seeing these guys. Much as I wanted to see one of the "Emperors," I was _hoping_ for their newest member, not these four creeps again.

"Calm down, Prince!" Honomaru said. "That's _not_ why we're here!"

Behind me, I heard duel disks activate. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that everybody but Sho was ready to fight. Sho crept up behind me, hiding, which told me he really _wasn't _a duelist.

"Yeah?" I challenged, activating my duel disk as well. "Then why _are_ you here? Got another plan to force my hand? Maybe you're holding someone else I care about hostage? Or maybe this is just a trick to distract me while something _else_ goes wrong!"

"Not quite," Itchy said. "There's something else we're here for."

"Aw, such a cute little group you've got here. But one of you's missing, isn't he?" Kourimaru said. Then he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, laughing.

Misawa gasped, his eyes widening. "You don't mean—"

I growled, knowing full well what they meant.

"What have you done to our prince!?" Asuka demanded.

"He'd better be okay," Manjoume added, glaring. "Or else I'm gonna—"

"Relax, guys," Honomaru said. "He just sent us to get you. What's the harm in that?"

"Yeah. You _wanna_ see your friend, don't you?"

Could this be a blessing in disguise? Not likely, considering who was bringing it.

"Not if _you_ guys are the escort," I said.

"Come, now. What's that supposed to mean?" Kourimaru asked. "Don't you trust us? We're not always up to something."

Yeah, sure, and I'm the inventor of the printing press.

"Right," Itchy agreed. "We just want to take you to your friend. That is, of course, unless you'd rather leave without him."

"Judai. Let's just go," Yubel said. "This sounds like another trap, and I think Johan's already on their side!"

"Agreed," Ojin said. "He's become the new fifth Emperor, thanks to me. The Emperor of Darkness. It's probably best if we leave now."

_Darkness!?_ For a prince of _Kalmar_!? Their element was _light_! That was like telling all the Neospacian people that the Darkness of Creation was evil and the prince with its power should be drowned at birth!

Fun fact: the Light said that one a few centuries back, according to my history classes.

I growled, angry enough to kill now. "You guys..."

"So? What's it gonna be? We go see Johan?" Kourimaru asked.

"Or we fight you guys again and make you members as well?" Itchy added, holding up his arm to show his duel disk.

"A-Aniki...c-can we go with the first option, please? I'm no good at dueling..." Sho was still hiding behind me, his hands clinging tightly to my sides.

Manjoume pumped a fist in the air, stepping forward with a fierce glare on his face. "No! I say we stay and fight! We can take these guys! Right!?"

Misawa looked at me and said, "It's your call, your highness. What do you wanna do?"

My call...that probably wasn't a good move, Misawa. When I get mad, I don't mess around. And I was furious.

"...I swear to every divine force in the universe, I will make you four pay dearly for what you've done," I said, my voice dangerously calm, as I raised my duel disk. "I'm not cooperating with cowards who hide behind the power of another!"

"You tell them, Judai!" Asuka cheered. "Show them that they can't push us around!"

"So it's the hard way, then? Very well. I pick the cute, spunky blond as my first opponent," Kourimaru said, turning a flirtatious grin on Asuka.

Wrong move. That was strike one.

Asuka started, backing up. "W-what!?"

"Yeah! And I want the kid!" Honomaru said, smirking at Sho. "He seems easy enough!"

Again, wrong move. Strike two.

"Wha!? M-me!?" Sho asked, pointing to himself in horror.

"Right," Itchy said. "Then I'll take—"

Strike three.

"Oh, no, you don't!" I cut him off, my anger flaring up to dangerous levels. "_I'm_ deciding the opponents!"

The Four Emperors' eyes all widened. "What!?"

Glaring at them, I said, "If you've got a problem with that, I could just end your miserable lives now!" I turned my head slightly, keeping those guys in my peripheral vision. "Misawa, you're dueling Honomaru! Yubel, you take Iwamaru! Manjoume, Ikazuchimaru!" Turning back, I finished, "And _I'll_ be facing _you_, Kourimaru!"

"Just a moment!" Manjoume said. "_He_ uses thunder cards! My best beasts are _wind_ types! I want _your_ guy! Besides, he just threatened Tenjoin-kun!" He glared at Kourimaru. "I'm gonna—"

"Switch with Asuka, then!" I cut him off. "_I'm_ dealing with this son of a bitch!"

* * *

**Yubel's POV**

When I heard such colorful language from Judai's mouth, I couldn't help but stare at him. He'd never been this angry before in his life, not even with me.

"Uh, Judai? You okay?" that blond that must have been Asuka asked, sounding slightly nervous and very confused.

Manjoume growled, but he had to give in. After all, it was a direct order from a prince. "Fine! But you _better _not lose!" He walked off.

Asuka just stared in disbelief. Couldn't say I blamed her—even _I_ couldn't believe how Judai was acting right then.

"Anyone _else_ wanna switch opponents?" he asked, and his tone made it clear that anyone who did would get their head bitten off—or worse, their life taken from them.

"Uh, that's okay, sir!" Misawa said, sweating nervously. "This is good."

Well, whatever. He had his moments, after all. Those moments _did_ tend to come at times like this, when people threatened those he cared about. This extreme anger was just a sign of how much he cared about that blond, which was good for me—if he liked her that much, it meant I might not have to marry the kid.

I shrugged, looking at the fat guy who was apparently my opponent, and said, "Nah. He looks weak enough. I can take him."

"Hey! Why does everyone have to say that?" he asked, looking offended.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

That girl, Yubel, might not have been worried about Judai's behavior, but I sure was. He was usually happy-go-lucky, from what I'd seen. Or was it just my imagination? Since he'd obviously gotten his memories back, had his personality changed, too? Was this more normal for him than I knew? Obviously he was mad at these guys, but he was so fired up about it, it was unnerving. I glanced at him, hoping my concern showed on my face.

He didn't seem to see me.

"Good," he said firmly. "Then let's get this over with! These four have wasted enough of my time already!"

"Right!" Yubel said when Misawa stammered, "Uh, y-yes, sir!"

The two of them prepared to fight. I just looked at Judai for a moment longer before sighing and preparing to duel Ikazuchimaru again.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

"Hey. Hold up! This isn't fair!" Kourimaru protested. "Your teams have the advantage again!"

"Tough luck!" I countered. "_You_ guys were trying to set it up so _you'd _have the advantage! Besides, maybe you shouldn't make it so obvious what kind of deck you use if you don't want this happening!"

Kourimaru growled.

As the other three started their duels, to which I was completely oblivious, Ojin said, "Uh, Judai. Maybe you shouldn't be doing this. You don't seem to be yourself right now. Maybe you should let me—" He stepped forward, with a hand over his chest.

Looking back, I bet he probably thought he had to do something before I killed someone. At the time, his interruption wasn't appreciated.

"Ojin, STAY OUT OF THIS!" I bellowed.

Sho jumped, his eyes widening. "Aniki! Y-you okay?"

Ojin backed up, startled.

"Yeah, that's what happens when an idiot falls for a—Hey," Manjoume cut himself off as he realized what he was saying. "Wait a minute!" He growled. "Move over, _Prince_ Judai! That's _my_ battle you're taking!" Teeth gritted, he stormed over to forcibly take this duel.

I glared at him over my shoulder, thinking that I'd kill anyone who got between me and crushing Kourimaru. Don't ask what came over me—I was totally out of character just then.

"Don't you _dare_," Manjoume warned. "If _you_ try anything, it's gonna be _you_ who's _dead_."

"Manjoume!" Asuka protested, interrupting her duel to chastise the guy threatening a prince.

Ojin glared at Manjoume. "Hey, you can't just—"

"_You're_ not the one these guys kidnapped," I told Manjoume. "The one they tried to brainwash and wound up giving amnesia. The one they've been hunting non-stop! Stand down, Manjoume!"

Manjoume didn't listen. He got right up in my face, glaring fiercely, and said, "Oh, yeah!? Then why not duel some other creep!?" Pointing fiercely at Kourimaru, he added, "_That_ one actually—"

* * *

**Kourimaru's POV**

Geez, the way they were fighting over this, I figured that chick had to be something else. I mean, why else would me flirting with her get them both so riled up they were at each other's throats over it?

"Oh, just..." Prince Judai cut his ally off before giving him a good whack to the head, dazing him. Then he turned back to me and demanded, "So!? Are we gonna duel!? Or are you too big of a coward!?"

I stared, too stunned for words. I mean, the guy had just hit his ally! "You just... Aw, man. Seriously, dude? That guy's your teammate! What'd you hit him for?"

"Are we dueling!?" he demanded. "Or are you surrendering!?"

Man, that wasn't normal for this guy. That girl _really_ must have been something! I activated my duel disk.

* * *

**Ojin's POV**

"Wow... I've never _seen_ him like this," I observed, watching my old friend. "There's no way he can win."

Kourimaru went first, summoning Ice Knight and playing a card face down. Then it was Judai's turn.

"I summon Flare Scarab!" (Atk 500)

A black beetle appeared, standing on two feet. Although Judai hadn't said it, I knew that it was one of his Neo-Spacians. Not that he could use it right in his current state of rage.

"Then I activate Fake Hero!" he added. "This lets me summon another monster, but he can't attack and returns to my hand at the end phase. Not that he's gonna be on the field then! Come out, Neos!" (Atk 2500)

When the white-clad hero of Neospace appeared, I was certain that Judai was about to make some sort of mistake that would cost him dearly.

"Now, Neos, Flare Scarab! Contact Fuse! And give rise to Flare Neos!" (Atk 2500)

His two monsters merged together in a flash of light, calling forth a humanoid creature in black and orange that somewhat resembled a beetle.

"Then I equip him with Instant Neo Space!" A rainbow-colored circle appeared on the ground beneath the monster as Judai continued, "Flare Neos' effect! He gains 400 attack points for each spell and trap card on the field!"

Flare Neos' attack rose to 3300 because of the two cards out. I just hoped that Judai wasn't going to ignore Kourimaru's face-down card out of rage.

"Then I activate R – Righteous Justice!" he said, easing my fears that he would rush into battle. "For every Elemental Hero I control, one of your spell or trap cards gets destroyed!"

"What!?" Kourimaru demanded.

Personally, I thought that was an excellent question. I couldn't believe that Judai's brutal strategy, imposed by his anger, was actually working. "...Then again..."

"Aniki..." Sho said, staring at our mutual friend in awe.

* * *

**Misawa's POV**

I finished my duel with Honomaru quickly enough, turning to find the most bizarre thing ever: Prince Judai brutally assaulting an opponent in a duel.

"Now, Flare Neos! Attack his Ice Knight!" Prince Judai commanded.

His monster, currently at 2900 attack points, did as he was commanding, destroying the 1300-attack point monster on the other side of the field. Kourimaru let out a scream as his life points took a serious hit, dropping to 2400.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

Ikazuchimaru turned away from our duel, looking at Kourimaru with worry. I couldn't blame him, honestly—Judai _did_ look ready to kill the guy. "Kourimaru!"

"Judai!" I cried, concerned about Judai's aggressive behavior. After all, he was way out of control. What in the world had gotten into him?

"Next I activate the quick-play spell, Contact Out!" Judai said, continuing his turn. "This undoes Neos' fusion, allowing me to summon Neos and Flare Scarab back to the field!"

His two original monsters appeared, both in attack mode. Neos had his usual 2500 attack, while Flare Scarab had only 500. Not that it mattered. One attack from Neos would finish Kourimaru off.

Kourimaru was still recovering from the first blow. "W-what!?"

"Kourimaru!" Iwamaru cried.

"Now, Neos! Flare Scarab! Attack him directly!"

"Judai!" I cried, thinking that was definite overkill. "Wait!"

As the attacks connected, Kourimaru screamed again, falling over backwards. He lay on the ground afterward, moaning in pain.

"Kourimaru!" the other Emperors cried.

"Judai!" Prince Ojin and I cried at the same time that Sho said, "Aniki!" and Misawa said, "My prince!"

Unbelievable. Was that _really_ Judai?

* * *

**Manjoume's POV**

Suddenly I was glad I hadn't forcibly taken that duel from the idiotic prince. After all, he was insane when he was angry! There was no way that could be the same idiot I'd met back in Tiller! No _way_!

* * *

**Judai's POV**

It was over before it even began. Kourimaru's life points hit zero on my first turn.

Breathing heavily, he got to his hands and knees. "Ugh..."

I took some deep breaths, trying to calm down even a little. I'd never been so angry in my entire life, and I never want to get that mad ever again. I glared at Kourimaru. "That's, what? A hundred to zero?" I asked. "Remind me why you've betrayed the entire world for this damn Light? It hasn't helped you much, from what I can tell."

He didn't answer, just focusing on breathing, which was probably a good thing right then. I was still not totally in control of my emotions.

Ikazuchimaru glared at me, stepping forward. "That's enough! That was way too brutal! You should be ashamed of yourself! Just who do you think you are!?" he demanded.

I glared at him, my anger flaring up again. "I'm sick of you guys. You're always in the way, and, unlike the Light Drones, you can't be saved because you're just too stupid to give up! If you're gonna keep attacking me, I'm gonna give it my all in dealing with you!"

"B-but isn't that just a little _too_ extreme?" Iwamaru asked, his eyes wide with fear. "I-I mean, look at him! He's—"

Just then, Kourimaru collapsed, unconscious. Not that I was really paying attention to him.

"You kidnapped me, brainwashed me, nearly got me killed in a car accident, came after me _constantly_ when I couldn't even remember who I was, kidnapped Asuka to get to me, made Ojin _and_ Johan members of your group, and then you had the gall to threaten Sho _and_ Asuka!? And you think _I'm_ extreme!?"

"That's enough, Judai!" Asuka yelled suddenly. "Leave them alone!" She deactivated her duel disk, ending her duel with Ikazuchimaru, and ran over to stand between Kourimaru and me, her arms spread to protect the guy. She was glaring at me, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Thank every divine force in the universe she did that.

"Asuka?" I asked, my emotions finally starting to settle now that somebody I trusted was involved.

"That's enough. These guys may be bad news, but you're not acting any better! Look at him! You knocked him out! Don't you feel _anything_ because of that? Well?" she demanded, still glaring at me.

Finally I took a look at the unconscious man behind her, realizing that was my fault. Granted, if he was still conscious, he'd probably be trying to grab me again, but still.

"She's right, Judai," Yubel said, stepping forward, and I could see that even she was stunned by my behavior. "You need to calm down. It's not _their_ faults the Light's after you. Why, they wouldn't even _be_ here if not for that."

"They're right, my prince," Misawa agreed. "These guys are just pawns. It's their boss who tells them what to do."

"R-right! W-we're just pawns..." Honomaru laughed awkwardly, sweating and fiddling with his fingers.

* * *

**Iwamaru's POV**

"What are you doing?" I asked Honomaru.

He came up beside me and cupped a hand over his mouth, whispering, "Saving our skins. He's ready to kill us, pal!"

He looked totally freaked out there, so my eyes widened as I realized that we really _were_ in trouble!

We straightened up, our attention snapping back to the angry prince as we grinned, sweating. "R-right!" I said. "We're just pawns!" I laughed and rubbed the back of my head.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I didn't have any idea what those two were whispering about, but I was willing to bet I wouldn't like it. Knowing them, it was probably some plot to capture me once my guard was down.

Ikazuchimaru closed his eyes, looking disgusted, and muttered, "Idiots."

As if I needed any more proof they were plotting.

"What are you two whispering about!?" I demanded.

The two in question waved their hands frantically, their eyes wide.

"No, no, no!" Iwamaru protested. "W-we're not whispering about anything! W-we're just pawns! Remember?"

"R-right! We get all our orders from our boss! Takuma Saiou! Why don't you go confront him?"

"Y-yeah! That's a g-great idea! What do you say?"

They were so nervous, I suddenly realized that they were only scheming one thing: surviving this encounter. Apparently I was terrifying. Well, _that_ was a sobering thought.

I took a moment to absorb that, then calmly asked, "Where is your boss?"

Manjoume looked at me lamely and said, "Uh, Judai? You forgetting something?"

"Yeah! Like we came here as a group of six to rescue someone, and now we're a group of seven, but we've got a new guy where the old one was! Shouldn't we go after our missing member first?" Sho asked.

Oh, yeah. Prince of Kalmar. Dang, how could I forget Johan?

"Right," I said. "Johan. Where is he?"

Nervously, Iwamaru pointed behind him and his gang. "D-down that hallway! T-turn left when you get to an intersection, and he should be in the room on the l-left!"

"Right!"

I started off down the hallway, but Manjoume grabbed my arm, a serious expression on his face. "Hold up. Maybe _I_ should lead? He's _my_ prince, and, all things considered, you—"

"I'm fine," I cut him off before pulling away. "Why are we arguing about this? We're all going to the same place anyway."

Asuka stepped forward, a hand out as if to stop me. "That may be true, but, in your current condition, I don't think we should—"

Yubel shoved through her, crossing her arms and looking at me in a way that somehow managed to be stern and lame at the same time. "What she means to say is you're in no condition to be leading. Let one of us do it. Got it?"

Did they all seriously think that I was dangerous or something? That was how they were acting. Granted, given how angry I'd been just a few minutes ago, I couldn't blame them. I _was_ acting pretty weird, after all. Looking back, even _I'm_ scared of myself back then.

So I just shrugged and said, "Okay."

"Right," Manjoume said. "Okay, everyone! Follow me! We've got a prince to save!" he said, raising a fist above his head as if to rally his troops.

"Right!" everyone else agreed.

So, with Manjoume in the lead and nobody trusting me, we ran off to find the last guy we needed to find before we—or, rather, _I—_finished this off.


	33. The Emperor of Darkness

**Shadgirl2: Here's the next chapter!**

**Midna: There's a duel! Well, part of one.**

**Shadgirl2: Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

As we ran off down the hallway to find Johan, Sho asked, "So, Aniki? What _was _that all about? You were scarier than Gorisuke and Professor Cronos all combined!"

"Well, I'm sick of those guys."

Sho's eyes narrowed, and he gave me a taunting grin. "Was it because they threatened Asuka-san?"

Crap!

I blushed but didn't answer.

"You know, from what I knew of you two, you _were_ enemies," Misawa said, smiling. "What happened to change that?"

Well, this was embarrassing. Especially since they were doing this right in front of Asuka. Hopefully she wasn't listening. I muttered something incoherently.

Yubel mirrored Sho's teasing grin. "Heh. And here I thought that you and _I_ were gonna get together. That is, seeing as I'm the only girl you knew until—"

"Oh, shut up," I cut her off, my head lowered slightly.

* * *

**Asuka's POV**

This conversation going on behind me was awkward. Were they seriously trying to say that Judai liked me? Blushing, I eyed him over my shoulder.

Manjoume glared back at them, apparently not too pleased with this conversation. Obviously. "Hey! Idiots! Quit fooling around! We've got a prince to rescue, remember!?"

"Right!" Misawa and Sho answered.

"Whatever," Yubel said.

"Right," Judai muttered.

Apparently I wasn't the only one uncomfortable with that conversation.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

On the left side of the hallway, we saw a big, fancy door that obviously had to be the one we were looking for. It had a swirly pattern carved into it. Clearly this wasn't just some regular Light Drone's room—this had to be someplace special. We all stopped and stared.

"This is it," Manjoume said.

Sho inched behind me again, hiding like before. "C-can I wait out here? It looks kinda scary..."

"Don't be such a baby," Yubel said. "It's just a door."

"Y-yeah. And Johan's inside...waiting for us...as the Emperor of Darkness. M-maybe we shouldn't. He stole his family's deck, after all."

Ojin's eyes widened as his pupils contracted. "What!? He has the Rainbow deck of Kalmar!? B-but that means he's—"

"What are you so worried about?" I asked. I mean, it wasn't like it was that big of a deal, was it?

"My prince," Misawa said. "With all due respect, that deck contains the legendary Rainbow Dragon. A one-of-a-kind card that rivals the power of the God Monsters from so long ago, having been made by the gods of this world to represent the power of that kingdom and protect it. You know, like how Misgarth's Exodia or the Judgment Dragon of your kingdom were made. And that would mean that, to beat it, you'd have to have—"

Okay, I was getting the point of why he was worried. If it rivaled the Egyptian god cards from ancient times, it was trouble. But, if it was more like the Judgment Dragon than the Egyptian gods or Exodia, then I figured I stood a better chance. After all, Judgment Dragon was tough, but not unbeatable.

"What, you think it's not possible for Johan to lose?" I said. "Clearly it's already happened once if he's in the Society of Light."

"I know!" Ojin said, still very worried. "But that's because I went first! Not to mention I was in the Light Brigade! To beat him now, we'd most definitely need Exodia or the Judgment Dragon our fathers have! Don't you know that the Light makes—"

Wow. What faith my friend had in me and my righteous darkness.

"Yeah, well, not everyone can beat a Light, anyway," I reminded him. "Let me give it a shot."

"Are you kidding?" Manjoume asked. "With how you handled that last duel, I think you should—"

"Hey, Johan's not one of the voluntary Light pawns! I'm not gonna go bonkers on him."

Asuka looked worried. Apparently she agreed with Manjoume. "Are you sure, Judai? What if he says something like—"

"Oh, come on!"

I know, I was whining. But, still, they were acting like I was going to go crazy and kill Johan! That wasn't gonna happen! We were _friends_!

"I-I'm with th-them, Aniki," Sho stammered. "You were way scary back there..."

"I'm not going to attack him that way!"

"Then it's settled," Yubel said. She walked over and wrapped her arm around mine, pulling me closer and grinning. Either she was teasing or she really didn't think I could control myself either. "We'll wait here. Good luck getting Johan to come to his senses. I'm sure _one_ of you can do it."

"Oh, come on!" I complained. Seriously, they weren't going to save him by keeping me away from him.

"Right," Sho said with a smile, standing on Yubel's other side. "Good luck with that! We'll be rooting for ya!"

Okay, _that_ was it!

I pulled away from Yubel, saying, "This is ridiculous! You guys are blowing this way out of proportion! There's a _reason_ I snapped back there! Kourimaru is a creep, even to his teammates! Johan's not, and I know he's brainwashed! I'm not going to do anything stupid."

The others all looked at each other, their expressions showing their uncertainty. Man, they were annoying! Sick of these guys, I twitched involuntarily, then shoved through them and opened the door before they could stop me.

"H-hey! Prince Judai!" Misawa protested, reaching out to stop me. Not that it mattered.

The room I'd just walked into was huge, with a high glass ceiling. On either side of the room, there were two long tables with a whole bunch of chairs turned upside down on top of them. This must have been some sort of dining hall, given the size and scope. Only one chair wasn't upturned. It was seated on the floor, with its occupant looking barely like a Light Drone because of how dark his clothes were.

Johan was dressed in a light gray—not dark by anyone's standards except the Light's. He was wearing a vest over a gray tank top, showing off muscles I didn't even know he had. It had two straps fastening it shut in the front. There were straps around his upper arms and bands covering his forearms. Gray pants and boots completed the outfit that totally didn't look like something Johan would ever wear.

"Well, well. It's about time," he said, a wicked grin on his face. Then he laughed.

"Hey, Johan," I said.

"Hey. So?" He stood up, moving closer to the center of the room while staying in the back. Clearly he planned on dueling me, given how much space he was keeping between us. "What took you so long? I was starting to think you weren't gonna come. Which would have been a real shame, considering..." He cut himself off, stopping where he was, and laughed again.

My untrusting entourage entered the room behind me. Asuka gasped, covering her mouth.

"Whoa..." Manjoume said. "Our prince looks..."

"Downright nasty," Misawa finished. "You think you can take him, Prince Judai?"

Oh, _now_ they were willing to let me handle this? As they all stared in horror at Johan, I couldn't help but think they were obviously new to this. Then again, I'd seen two of my friends like this today and two other allies in a similar state before.

"Well, if you guys don't think I'll try to kill him or something," I answered, still mad at them.

Johan's eyes narrowed and he glared at the others. "Who invited you guys!? This is a private matter between him and me!"

Manjoume crossed his arms, looking annoyed, and said, "Yeah, well, _he's_ in no condition to be wandering around alone, so—"

"Really?" I cut him off. "Manjoume, I brought my babysitter, so you can leave now." I looked around at them all, realizing that Yubel and Sho weren't in here, and added, "Actually, come to think of it, you _all_ can! I don't need babysat!"

Johan shrugged, grinning and closing his eyes. "Well, whatever. Since you're all here now, you might as well stay for the show!"

He let out a whistle, and ten or so Light Drones came out of doors hidden in the wall behind him. They moved toward us menacingly, as the door slammed shut behind us. Johan stood there, his arms crossed and a wicked grin on his face the whole time.

"Crap. There's nowhere to run," Manjoume said, reaching for his duel disk. "Well, only one—"

His expression turning serious, Johan held up a hand to stop him. "Hold it! Don't even think of activating that thing! 'Cause, if anyone but Judai or me tries, this whole room will blow!"

Asuka started, her eyes widening. "W-what!?"

Manjoume glared at Johan and growled. "That's dirty, Andersen!"

Johan shrugged, grinning again. "What can I say?" He glared then, commanding, "Guards! Get them!"

The guards grabbed us all, dragging my friends off to the sidelines and pulling me into the middle of the room. They let go and stepped back, and I figured this would just be another duel I'd be forced into.

That thought lasted maybe a millisecond. Almost as soon as the guards were clear, bars rose up out of the floor all around me, trapping me.

"Hey!"

I couldn't just climb out, partly because these guys were watching and partly because it was too high to scale without horizontal bars crossing over the vertical ones. The only horizontal bar this cage had was at the top. Guess I was lucky it wasn't so high that it touched the ceiling.

Off to the side, the others looked in horror. Each of them blurted out something in worry.

"Judai!" Asuka and Manjoume cried.

"Prince Judai!"

"Judai, no!"

The guards were still holding them, so they couldn't do anything to help even if they wanted to. They were just about as helpless as me.

Johan walked over to stand in front of me, his arms crossed and a wicked grin on his face. "So, pal? What do you say we get started? If I win, you have to hand over your duel disk and stay there until the invasion is over. But, if I lose, I'll let you go. Oh, and, as an added bonus, I'll be inducting all the friends you brought with you into the Society." He gestured at the others. "Sound good?"

Well, not like I believed him. Any time they said they'd let me go if I won, they still tried to force me into the Society. But, this time, he was just planning on keeping me trapped here? So they'd given up on making me a member? That...probably wasn't good. Especially since he was threatening everyone else.

Ojin's eyes widened. "What!? You can't do that! I've _already_ been in the Society!"

A fierce glare appeared on Manjoume's face as he tried in vain to break free. "Yeah! And I hate white! With a passion!"

I was thinking that was an understatement as Misawa's eyes widened and he quickly said, "It's true, he does!"

Asuka didn't comment on this, just looking worried. "Judai!"

Okay, so I had a lot of information thrown at me there. I had to take it bit by bit. They were obviously going to add my friends to the Society of Light if I lost—that was a given. They wanted me out of the way—I knew that. That left one thing to ask about.

"Invasion?"

"Oh, didn't anyone tell you? See, due to the Light's past experiences with fighting you, we've decided to try a more...full-scale approach this time. So, rather than running around all willy nilly, we've spent the past several weeks keeping you busy while we amassed an army big enough to go out to all three kingdoms and start taking them over. We've even perfected a device that makes the plan move along so much faster. You've seen it by now, haven't you?"

The whole time he was talking, he was pacing back and forth in front of me, his arms crossed and a wicked grin on his face.

"Tch..." That wasn't good. Usually the Light took its time, moving slowly, but it had changed tactics this time around, including using that lousy laser. Hopefully it wouldn't do that again the _next_ time...that is, of course, assuming I beat it _this_ time around.

Johan stopped pacing and said, "That's right. The Light Laser. It combines modern technology with the immense powers of the Light itself! With our lasers doing all the work, taking over this planet's as easy as pie! And, soon, we'll unveil our greatest project yet! I can't wait til you see what it is!" He must have been excited because he threw his arms up in that way Light Drones have.

Was I the only one who had a bad feeling what that meant?

"Hmm... A great laser..." Ojin gasped, his eyes widening as he reached the same conclusion as me. "Y-you don't mean—"

"SORA?" I asked.

SORA was a laser satellite that Misgarth controlled. They'd sent it up as a way to deter any enemy attacks (which is why they didn't _have_ any enemies. After all, who wanted to be enemies with the country that could destroy them without a single soldier?). The satellite was capable of wiping out the entire world if anyone in Misgarth ever felt the need to.

Johan laughed. "That's right. SORA's a laser cannon that was placed up in space a long time ago. It's meant as a way for Misgarth to protect itself, but, with a few modifications..."

Like I needed a history lesson on SORA, Johan—all kingdoms paid attention to that thing. Johan put a hand on his hip and laughed through his lips, looking over his shoulder at my friends.

Misawa's eyes widened. "It could be turned into the largest Light Laser the world has ever known!"

Asuka started, her eyes wide as well, and said, "B-but that can't be! With a weapon like _that_ at their disposal—"

"They could brainwash the entire human race within a day..." Manjoume said, looking as horrified as I felt.

"Alright!" I said to my brainwashed friend. "I'll take your challenge, Johan!"

I knew he'd be keeping me locked up even if I won, but I also knew that I could only save him if I dueled him and won. Hopefully, once he was back to normal, we'd be able to figure some way out of this.

"Great!" he answered. "Get ready to lose! 'Cause you're going down!" He activated his duel disk, a nasty kind of excitement on his face.

I followed suit and the two of us cried, "Duel!"

Johan: 4000  
Judai: 4000

"Just so you know, once this duel's over, our duel disks will be affected by the rules about blowing up, too," Johan told me. "Should we use them again or refuse to turn them off, the room will explode. And, since the only exit's locked and you're trapped in there anyway..." He let that trail off, finishing with a laugh.

I got the message: If I tried to save myself after this duel, I'd just be killing us all. "Tch..."

"Ready? I draw!" Johan took the top card from his deck, looked at it, then said, "And I play one monster face down! Turn end!"

Good, short and simple. Now I just had to hope that he didn't have some sort of trick up his sleeve.

"Then it's my turn. Draw!" I looked at my card. "I summon Sparkman!" (Atk 1600)

Sparkman appeared, electricity flying off him as he did.

"Sparkman, attack his defensive monster!"

He shot a bolt of electricity at the card on Johan's field, revealing a tomato with a face. With only 1100 defense, it was destroyed.

"When you destroy my Mystic Tomato, I get to summon one dark monster with an attack of 1500 or less from my deck!" Johan said. "I summon Newdoria in attack mode!" (1200)

The creature that showed up should never have been in the deck of any self-respecting prince of Kalmar. It was clearly a fiend, with its eyes covered by a spiked metal band. After summoning it, Johan shuffled his deck.

"I play a card face down," I said. "Turn end."

"Then it's my turn now! Draw!" He looked at his card, then said, "I attack your Sparkman with my Newdoria!"

Wait, _what_ was he doing!? That didn't make any sense!

"Hold on! Sparkman's got the higher attack!" I pointed out.

Johan grinned. "I know!"

Newdoria charged at Sparkman, who counterattacked and easily destroyed it.

Johan: 3600  
Judai: 4000

No way that suicide strike was pointless. There had to be something to it!

"When my Newdoria gets destroyed, I can destroy one monster with it!"

"What!?"

Crap. That was what he was doing.

"And, since you've only got one monster to choose from, I'll destroy your Sparkman now!"

Just like that, Sparkman was gone. Well, at least he hadn't summoned anything else.

"Tch..."

"I play a monster in defense mode and one card face down. Turn end."

It was starting to look like Light Johan's strategy revolved around defending himself. Well, that was almost more dull than Light Asuka's strategy.

Manjoume growled. "What kind of an idiot are you!? Everybody knows that Newdoria can do that! Why'd you let him hit ya!?"

Well, good to know you were such a know-it-all, Manjoume. But not everyone had nothing better to do than learn the exact effects of each one of thousands of Duel Monsters cards. Even the prince with the Darkness of Creation's power had to do something other than memorize card effects all day long. You know, like learn how to actually run the kingdom?

I didn't say anything to Manjoume, just drawing my next card instead. Well, good thing I hadn't drawn this before!

"I activate Polymerization! I'll fuse the Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" (Atk 2100)

The two fused, forming a black and green hero with a dragon's head for an arm. Johan wasn't phased, which was probably a good sign I shouldn't attack. But I did anyway because I'm an idiot.

"Flame Wingman attacks your monster!"

He attacked, shooting a burst of flame out of his dragon-head arm, and revealed...Cyber Jar. Great.

Johan grinned. "Cyber Jar's effect! All monsters on the field are destroyed! Then we each draw five new cards from our deck! Summoning any level 4 or lower monsters we happen to draw!"

"Dang it!"

Boy, I was on a Stupid Role today, wasn't I?

Flame Wingman was destroyed, and we both drew our cards, showing them to each other as we did. Mine were Bubbleman, HERO Flash, Spacial Gift, Chrysalis Pinny, and Hero Barrier. Out of those, two were monsters who met the requirements, so I played them in face-down defense mode. With 1200 and 700 defense, respectively, I knew one of them definitely wouldn't last long, and the other probably wouldn't, either.

Johan drew something called Advanced Dark, Weathered Ruins, Dark Jeroid, Dark Mirror Force, and Night Assailant. He summoned the two monsters, Night Assailant in face-down defense and Dark Jeroid in attack. Dark Jeroid was a creepy blue thing with six arms, a bulging orange growth, and its head...well, let's just say, I'd rather _not_ have my head down there. The thing had 1200 attack points. At least, it did when it showed up.

"When my Dark Jeroid is summoned, a monster on the field loses 800 attack points until it's taken out," Johan said. His Jeroid's attack dropped to 400.

"I play a card face down," I finished up. "That does it for me. Turn end."

"Yes!" Misawa cheered. "His own trap backfired on him! Judai's got the upper hand now!"

Whoa. Did he just call me Judai? Not "Prince Judai" or "his highness" or something like that? Either he'd slipped up or we were actually becoming friends!

"Don't be too sure," Ojin said. "Johan's good. Too good to make a mistake like that. He's plotting something. Something big."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ojin.

"It's my turn! Draw!" Johan pulled a card and glanced at it, then started laughing. Why do they always have to laugh when they draw? It's never good for me. "Judai. I hope that card of yours wasn't too important to you. Because I'm about to blast it away! I play the spell card Nobleman of Extermination! With this card, I can destroy one face-down spell or trap card! And I choose your face-down, Judai!" he said, pointing at the one I'd just played.

Again, crap. "Tch..."

My card was blown away.

"And, now, you'll get to see why they call me the Emperor of Darkness!" he said, holding up a card.

Okay, this went beyond crap to damn! Another of those lousy Monarchs!?

"Oh, no!" Ojin cried. "My Light Monarch Kuraz's opposite number! He's in real trouble now!"

"Judai!" Asuka cried.

"Ready?" Johan asked, and I would have said no if he hadn't continued, "I sacrifice my Dark Jeroid to summon Delg! The Dark Monarch!" (Atk 2400)

Like all of the Monarchs, Delg was clad in some sort of armor. In this case, it was black, with a gray cape.

"And, whenever he's summoned or special summoned, I get to remove up to two cards from your graveyard from play! And I choose...your Sparkman and Flame Wingman! Take 'em out!"

Well, that sucked. I scowled, removing those cards from the game.

"And that's not all! Now you have to send the same number of cards from your deck to the graveyard as the monsters that were removed!"

Dang it, Johan! As if I really needed that! I drew two cards to send to my grave, finding Neos among them. Shoot, that wasn't good.

"Ha! And, with that, your best monsters are gone!" Johan said. "Fortunately for you, though, I can't attack on the turn I summon him, so I'll play one card face down and end my turn."

Yeah, that was fortunate, alright! This wasn't going well at all.

"Tch... Draw." I took the top card from my deck and looked at it.

Oh, thanks a lot, Johan!

"Now what are you gonna do?" he taunted. "I've eliminated some of your best cards, and you've only got those two weaklings left to defend you! Not to mention my Monarch's stronger than either of them, so..."

Man, the Light likes to brag. I smirked and said, "Getting a little ahead of yourself, don't you think? I've still got some tricks up my sleeve!" I took the card I'd just drawn and slid it into my duel disk. "I activate O – Oversoul! This lets me summon one normal Elemental Hero monster in my graveyard! So thanks, Johan! You just helped me get Neos on the field!"

Boy, he didn't see that coming! "What!?" he cried.

"Yes!" Asuka cheered. "Now he can take out his Monarch!"

With 2500 attack points, Neos beat that Monarch—and all the others, for that matter—by only 100 points. Still, when my white hero appeared, I rushed right in, like always.

"Neos, attack his Monarch!"

As Neos charged, Johan said, "You may defeat him! But, when I'm done with you, he's gonna be your only monster still standing! I activate the trap card Dark Mirror Force! This removes all your defense-position monsters from play, leaving only your Neos card on the field!"

Bubbleman and Pinny were destroyed, but Neos still managed to wipe out that Monarch. Hopefully this meant I wouldn't be seeing his Mega form.

Johan: 3500  
Judai: 4000

Johan laughed. "Nice attack. But what are you gonna do now? Don't forget that I've still got my Night Assailant on the field. And, if you attack him, I get to destroy Neos, too, leaving you defenseless. What are you gonna do now?" He laughed again.

Yeah, thanks for the reminder, Johan.

"I play one card face down," I said, sliding one into my duel disk. "Turn end."

"Then it's back to me! Draw!" He took his next card, then was quiet a moment before, "I flip my Night Assailant over to activate its effect! Destroy his Neos!"

Neos was destroyed, but I was ready for this. After all, he'd messed up his timing. "I activate my face-down, Elemental Mirage! When one of my monster's is destroyed by your card's effect, this card returns that monster to the field in the same position!"

"What!?"

Neos returned, and the only differences to the field were that my face-down was gone and Johan's monster was in attack mode.

"Yeah! Way to go!" Asuka cheered. "Now Johan can't destroy Neos!"

"Hmph. Not bad, I guess," Manjoume admitted.

Johan growled. Apparently the idea that Neos wasn't gone made him mad. "How dare you play such a dirty trick like that!" he said, spouting one of the lies that I'd bet both our kingdoms said about each other. "You're gonna pay _dearly_ for that one! I sacrifice my Dark Assailant to summon a monster in defense mode. Turn end."

I raised an eyebrow. I didn't give much thought to his high-level defender just because I was too busy thinking that the one using dirty tricks was the guy who locked me in a cage, trapped my friends, and booby trapped the room. Now, let's see, who was that? Oh, yeah, Light Johan.

"I draw!" I pulled my card and looked at it, then said, "I summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!" (Atk 300)

My mole friend appeared.

"Then I activate Space Gift, which lets me draw one card for each Neo-Spacian I control." I looked at my new card and felt a grin spread across my face. "Neos! Grand Mole! Contact Fuse! I summon Elemental Hero Grand Neos!" (Atk 2500)

They fused into a humanoid creature with brown skin, wearing green armor. His right hand was a drill.

Johan stepped back, his eyes wide. "G-Grand Neos?"

"Yes! It's in the bag now!" Misawa said. "Those Neos fusions are unstoppable!"

Manjoume nodded in agreement.

I was just thinking that there might have been a thing or two they didn't know about Contact Fusion when Ojin said, "Don't get ahead of yourselves. It has a huge setback if used incorrectly."

"A setback?" Asuka asked. "What kind of setback?"

"Hopefully you won't have to find out."

"I activate his effect!" I said, moving on. "Once per turn, he can return one of your monsters to your hand!"

"What!?"

Johan's face-down monster, apparently Nobleman-Eater Bug, returned to his hand.

"Now I activate the field spell, Neo Space! This raises my monster's attack by 500!"

As the world around us turned into a rainbow-colored void, Grand Neos' attack power rose to 3000.

"What!? Hey! You can't do that!" Johan protested. "_I'm_ supposed to win!"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Grand Neos, attack him directly!"

Johan: 500  
Judai: 4000

Was it my imagination, or was this duel too easy? For one of the Light's Emperors, Johan was even worse at this game than the other four.

Obviously not happy with me, he growled. "I activate my trap card! DES Counterblow! It's a permanent trap that destroys all monsters that attack me directly! So say goodbye to your monster, Judai! Your attack just wiped him out!"

Ugh, I countered the effect that would clear my field only to have it cleared anyway? Unfair.

Grand Neos was destroyed.

"Tch... Turn end."

"Aw, way to go, block head!" Manjoume yelled. "Now you've lost Neos!"

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Are we sure he's the chosen prince?" Misawa asked. "He does tend to use that card rather poorly."

One look at him, and I could tell from his nervous look that he was thinking about that dumb duel I'd just had with Kourimaru. Or, rather, that attack on Kourimaru, given that I _had_ attacked him mercilessly.

"Relax, guys," Asuka said. "He's not doing _that_ bad! He's just not paying enough attention to face-downs of any kind, that's all."

"As usual," Ojin muttered.

Yeah, okay, so I was an idiot! I think we had already established that, especially Ojin and me. Sheesh, guys, it wasn't like I did it on purpose! Besides, I hadn't lost to the Light yet, even against Ojin! Why would I lose to _Johan_? Especially since I hadn't lost any life points yet! Seriously, they needed to take a chill pill already!

"Well," Johan said. "Guess it's my turn again. Ready, Mr. Screw-up?" he taunted, grinning. He drew his next card and, apparently, decided it was time to change his strategy. "I activate the field spell Advanced Dark!"

And, to add insult to injury, Neo Space was gone that fast, replaced by this malicious glowing circle, something that looked like a part of some dark ritual. I'll tell you right now, it didn't look like any place a prince of Kalmar should be familiar with. This looked more like an evil kind of darkness that even my kingdom, with our love for the Darkness of Creation, would shun.

"Advanced Dark?"

"Yeah. It's a new card that turns my Crystal Beasts into Advanced Crystal Beasts! Which means I can summon this! My Advanced Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger!"

As if the field spell wasn't enough, Topaz Tiger looked wicked. I may not have known exactly what it would have looked like before, but I knew that the Crystal Beasts were supposed to be good. This thing looked like it was possessed, with its blood red eyes.

"Oh, and you said your dad didn't use these guys right?" I asked.

"Mock me all you want. I'll show you the right way to use a Crystal Beast deck! I play the spell card Crystal Release! This gives my tiger an extra 800 attack points!"

That tiger's attack power shot up to 2400.

"Tch."

"This is all my fault," Ojin said, sounding ashamed. "The Crystal Beasts were _never _supposed to be used this way! How could I let this happen?" He bowed his head.

"It's not your fault, Prince Ojin," Asuka said, voicing my thoughts before I even had the chance. "You couldn't have done anything. You were under the Light's power at the time."

"Besides, they'll go back to normal at the end of the duel, anyway," Manjoume assured him. "No one who loses to Judai will remain loyal to the Light." I was just marveling at how quickly Manjoume's faith in me had returned when he muttered, "That is, _if_ he wins, the idiot. Hmph."

Well, so much for faith. Did _any_ of my friends think I stood a chance?

"Here goes, Judai!" Johan said, dragging me from my irritated thoughts. "I attack you directly with my monster!

See, that's what happens when I don't pay attention and let my monsters get destroyed. Dang it, would I _ever_ learn!?

Looking pained, the tiger attacked.

I narrowed my eyes. "Shameful."

Just like that, I lost over half my life points. So much for my overwhelming advantage.

Johan: 500  
Judai: 1600

"Heh. Now for DES Counterblow's effect!" Johan said. "Topaz Tiger gets destroyed, but I get to send it to the spell and trap card zone now, thanks to that! _And_, because Crystal Release is destroyed, I get to add Sapphire Pegasus to my spell and trap card zone from my deck as well! So I get _two_ crystals for the price of one!" He gave a smug, arrogant grin as his tiger looked agonized at its destruction.

A topaz appeared on the field, along with a sapphire. I knew that the Crystal Beasts could do that, and I knew that there was a serious penalty for letting them all emerge from that deck—if all of the colors of the rainbow appeared, a new monster might make itself known.

"Brilliant!" Misawa said. "He got two crystals in only one turn!"

"I know," Ojin said, guilty again. "Johan's a very good duelist... Why'd I let this happen?"

"Relax, Ojin," I said. "I can handle one smug Light Drone. I've already done it twice today."

"Yeah. _Sure_, you can!" Johan said, a bit heavier on the sarcasm than I thought necessary. "So I take it you can even handle _this_? I play Crystal Promise to _summon _my pegasus from the spell and trap card zone and use _his_ effect to add Emerald Tortoise from my deck to my spell and trap zone as well! How's _that_ for a good move, huh? Three crystals and a face-down to end it!" He slipped a card into his duel disk as he finished.

The pegasus had black armor strapped to its legs and around its neck, looking just as pitifully corrupt as the tiger. Damn, those Crystal Beasts were showing up way too fast for my liking. At this rate, they'd all be out soon, and it would just be a matter of waiting for Johan to draw his trump card. Given the circumstances, I wasn't so sure if I should be eager to see it or to prevent it. If this kept going, I might be in serious trouble.


	34. Johan's Defeat

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

"Bet you're sorry you pushed me so far _now_!" Johan taunted.

Yeah, not really. This was a golden opportunity to mess with his head, which was my favorite tactic against Light Drones I knew at all. After all, his pegasus, looking just as corrupt as the tiger, seemed to be crying.

I gave him a lame look, then looked sadly at his pegasus before turning back to him and saying, "Your monsters are suffering, and you're more arrogant than Manjoume and Yubel combined. Don't you Light Drones realize that arrogance doesn't win duels?"

As if to prove my point, Manjoume raised a fist, glaring at me, and yelled, "Hey! I resent that! I'm the best duelist in town!"

"Yeah, yeah," Johan told me, covering a yawn. "Just take your turn already. You're starting to bore me."

"Draw." I pulled my card, glanced at it, then, "I activate Pot of Greed!" I drew two more cards, none too happy with what I got. It wouldn't really help me much. Sure, it would buy me time, but that would mean drawing out this duel. To keep Johan's trump from showing up, I had to end it quickly. But there wasn't anything else I could do, so... "I play a monster in defense mode. Turn end."

Johan leaned his head on his hand, pretending to be sleeping standing up. After a second, he opened his eyes, looking sleepy and confused. Man, he was as childish as me! Except he was cocky, too!

"Huh? What was that?" he asked. I got the feeling he wasn't just unimpressed but maybe disappointed, too. "Your move was so _boring,_ I couldn't stay awake to hear it!"

Must not punch the prince of Kalmar, must not punch the prince of Kalmar...

Ojin slapped himself in the face. "Ugh. Even under mind control, Johan's _still _too childish when he's ahead!"

Wait, _still_!?

"What?" My attention snapped to Ojin as I asked, "You mean he's _always_ like this!?"

Oh, I hoped he was joking!

"So I'm guessing it's my turn since you don't seem to be doing anything else," Johan said. He drew a card with a grin on his face. "Oh, this is one of my favorites," he said to himself before laughing.

I couldn't help but notice that he was acting a little different with these beasts. Not like Asuka with the White Veil—he was acting like a kid, excitement mixing with his evil look. Were these beasts affecting him in the opposite way the White Veil did? If so, I could definitely use their suffering to my advantage.

"I summon Advanced Amethyst Cat in attack mode!" (Atk 1200)

The pink panther that appeared looked as though she was in mourning. Much like the other Crystal Beasts, she didn't like this at all. I had a feeling this whole deck communicated with Johan, not just the Ruby Carbuncle I knew he'd sent to scout ahead when we thought Yubel wasn't following us. I'd also realized that Ruby was the spirit he was talking to in the library—what else in his deck would fit on his shoulder and say "bii?" Anyway, if his bond with his deck was anything like mine, I knew that these cards cared about him, and their feelings were returned.

Yeah, I could use this.

"Isn't she wonderful!?" Johan asked. "And the best is yet to come! Advanced Sapphire, attack his monster!"

His excitement nearly overshadowed the smug attitude all Light Drones had. Nearly.

Sapphire Pegasus attacked my face-down monster, but he didn't look happy about it. What he hit was my Wroughtweiler, which was okay by me. After all, destruction by battle made my mechanical dog real helpful.

"You just destroyed my Wroughtweiler!" I told Johan. "And, when he's destroyed, he lets me take an Elemental Hero and Polymerization card from my graveyard and add them back to my hand." I took Avian and Polymerization back. After all, there could still be uses for Avian.

Johan smiled. "Heh. Replenishing your forces, huh? But is that really gonna work? Now you're wide open for a direct attack!"

Reluctantly, the cat got ready to pounce.

Direct attack? Yeah, right!

I smirked. "Am I?" Pushing a button on my duel disk, I said, "Trap, activate! Hero Signal! When my monster's destroyed in battle, this card lets me summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my deck! And I choose Stratos!" (Atk 1800)

Clad in blue and white armor, Stratos had wings with fans on them.

"With Stratos' effect, I get to add a card from my deck to my hand."

Misawa must have been confused because he asked, "Wait, Stratos? But that's a Kalmar-made card!"

"So what?" Asuka asked. "Kalmar and Neospace might not get along, but that doesn't mean their cards are barred off from each other. There are other ways to get them."

Yeah, she was right. Even though Kalmar and Neospace didn't trade with each other at all, we _did_ both trade with Misgarth. This meant that Misgarth had things we didn't _and_ things Kalmar didn't. While my family made a point of not buying anything off Misgarth that came from Kalmar (because my dad was too proud for that), that didn't mean Ojin couldn't _give_ me Kalmar-made goods. Stratos was a birthday gift one year.

"Thanks for the help, Johan!" I said. "Stratos can call a hero card from my deck to my hand, and I choose Elemental Hero Neos!"

Johan looked bored again, his head leaning on his arm again to prove it. "Neos again? Don't you ever get tired of him? Prince of _Neos_pace?"

Way to use emphasis to answer your own question, Johan! Sheesh, it's almost as if my kingdom was named for Neos and his allies! Oh, wait, it _was_.

"Nah, not really," I answered. "I mean, considering there's, like, a thousand ways to use him, 'Prince of Kalmar.'"

Johan stared at me, looking slightly offended at my sarcasm. After a moment, he said, "Okay. That's rude. But it doesn't matter 'cause, now, I get to use my cat's effect, too!" The excitement was back as he said, "By cutting her attack points in half, you get _another_ direct attack from my feline friends! Go teach him some manners, girl!"

Looking downright confused, the wicked cat lunged at me. I'm guessing Johan's evil excitement was perplexing for her. I'll tell you, she wasn't the only one lost. Even if he had a bond with these monsters, he was _still_ acting really weird.

"Seriously, are you bipolar or something!?" I demanded.

The cat leaped over the bars of my cage, landing on top of me, and scratched me across the face. I can describe that attack in two words: Not fun.

Johan: 500  
Judai: 1000

"Agh, geez, that hurt!" I complained, a hand over my face, as I got up after she'd finished.

"Ha! You're just jealous 'cause you're not a member of the Monarchs! There's no _way_ a guy whose heart's wicked and corrupt can have a good time doing anything!"

As if _anyone_ would have a good time being mauled by a pink panther? _Ever?_

"Is it just me, or did he completely change when he started playing those beast cards?" Asuka asked.

"You weren't mistaken," Misawa assured her. "The Crystal Beasts are powerful monsters. Being made by the gods, they have incredible magic in them that can do all kinds of things to a person."

"Jealous?" I asked Johan. "Of a brainwashed prince who doesn't even know his own element anymore? Not likely."

Johan grinned, crossing his arms. For a moment, he almost looked like himself. "Heh. My element's light. The Light of Truth. If anyone, it's my _deck_ who don't know _their_ own element! Which is why it's gonna destroy them! DES Counterblow blows up my foolish cat for attacking directly!"

Agonized, the cat was destroyed. With no room in the spell and trap zone, she was sent to the graveyard. Way to waste a monster, Johan.

"Your move, dark guy whose deck's even more bipolar than he thinks I am!" Johan said with a stupid grin that was difficult to read. It looked like a combination of a look I might give and a look you'd get from Yami Mutou, a famous duelist in history who was known for his taunting smiles. In short, even his expression was bipolar.

"I don't get it!" Ojin said. "Johan never jokes around with his enemies! What's going on here?"

Well, obviously he was surprised. After all, with how much our kingdoms hated each other, Johan and I should be at each other's throats. Instead, Johan was kidding around with me as though we were once friends. Which, I may remind you, we _were._

I stared at Johan a second, trying to figure out that grin. "First off, you're way more bipolar than a deck that says 'elemental' in its name," I told him at last. Seriously, my deck _said _that it was mixed! "Second off, you're destroying your own monsters because _you_ made them dark? How's that fair?"

"Forget that crap and focus on the duel!" Manjoume called. "Do you _want_ everyone here to turn into Light Drones again!?"

Clearly he didn't understand how I handled Light Drones. This _was_ focusing!

Misawa's eyes widened in panic and horror. "Oh, please, no! Manjoume _hates_ white! With a passion, did you forget that!?"

As if I could?

Manjoume glared at Misawa, Asuka closed her eyes in disgust, and Ojin gave all three of them a funny look.

"I'd listen to your friends, if I were you," Johan said, a teasing grin on his face again. "They happen to be right, Zoo Freak."

Ojin slapped himself in the face again. "Johan..." he muttered.

Zoo Freak? _Zoo Freak!?_ I twitched a bit, irritated. "Okay, when I get out of here, I'm putting _you _in the zoo with your wild animals, Andersen!" I drew my next card. "I play a monster in defense mode. Then I activate H – Heated Heart! This gives Stratos 500 more attack points! Now, Stratos, attack!"

I thought I had this won. But, as Stratos charged, Johan said, "Nice Try, Judai! I activate my spell card, Emergency Provisions! By sending _both_ DES Counterblow and my face-down card to the graveyard, I not only get more room for crystals, I get a thousand point boost to my life points for each card destroyed! You're not getting out of there that easily, monkey boy!"

His cards both disappeared, and his life points shot up by 2000.

Johan: 2500  
Judai: 1000

He closed his eyes, grinning, and I felt like I was looking in a mirror. Man, when Elise had said I reminded her of her prince, she had _no_ idea how true that was! He laughed. "Get it? Monkey? 'Cause all ya do is fool around?" He laughed again, then said, "I crack myself up."

I was just thinking that he didn't have any right to talk right now when Misawa said, "You know, he's got a point. The prince does mess around needlessly a lot."

Everyone on the sidelines nodded in agreement, their eyes closed. Well, aside from the Light Drones holding them. Asuka and Ojin looked embarrassed, and Manjoume looked annoyed.

"Oh, shut up! He's acting even stupider than me!"

"So? You done over there, or have you decided to forfeit and eat a banana instead?"

Oh, that _stupid_ grin!

I growled. "Who cares if your life points are higher!? They won't stay that way! Stratos! Attack his flying horse!"

Stratos attacked, destroying the pegasus.

Johan: 2000  
Judai: 1000

I didn't win, but I _did_ manage to get rid of one of his monsters, at least.

"Since you destroyed my pegasus yourself, I'll be sending him to the spell and trap card zone for a second chance at you!" Johan said, sounding mad, as a sapphire appeared on his field.

"What, you the only one allowed to destroy your beasts?" I asked him, defaulting to my usual strategy with Light Drones: taunt them and point out what's wrong. "I think they'd rather if a stranger did it instead of their controller. Either way, I play a card face down and end my turn."

"Hey, when I destroy a beast because of its own darkness, that's them _paying_ for their crimes! But when _you_ destroy them, it's no different than murder! No surprise that a being of _darkness_ would do that! You're as corrupt as your power!" he said, glaring fiercely at me. Now _that_ was more like what Ojin expected, I bet!

Ojin put a hand to his chin, thoughtful. "Hmm. Very curious. First, when he summoned those Crystal Beasts, he started acting like a meaner version of himself." His eyes widened a bit as he added, "Except the part about joking around with his mortal enemy, that is!"

One of these days, maybe Ojin would figure out that we _weren't _mortal enemies anymore.

He went back to being calm and thoughtful, saying, "But, regardless, now he's complaining about his creatures being destroyed unfairly just because they were attacked...which he wasn't too concerned about a second ago, so..."

Apparently, like me, he was trying to make sense of the madness.

"Geez, you make no sense as a Light Drone," I said. "Just make your move, weirdo."

"Hmm..." Misawa said. "Perhaps not, your highness. Maybe this makes more sense than anyone thinks."

On the sidelines, my friends all looked at him curiously. Johan raised an eyebrow, apparently not happy about somebody's comment. I glanced at Misawa, waiting for him to explain what he meant.

"Think about it. He first showed signs of changing when exposed to the Crystal Beasts. He started acting a bit more like himself. The Crystal Beasts can't be controlled by just anyone due to their cosmic powers, so, in the hands of a corrupt master, they might trigger something in themselves that opens his or her eyes slightly when exposed to his or her presence.

"So that would mean that, by playing them in a duel, Johan's awakened their hidden powers, and they're working to purify him even as we speak?" Asuka asked.

"Precisely," Misawa said. "That's why he first started changing when he summoned Topaz Tiger. Its powers didn't mix too well with the wicked Light, so it burst out of him and forced itself into Johan."

Okay, that was a new one. But it made sense. It made a _lot_ more sense than the idea that having a bond with the monsters was what was causing the change. After all, my bond with my Elemental Heroes and Winged Kuriboh hadn't done anything against the Light's power.

"And that allowed Johan to revert somewhat back to his usual goofy self," Manjoume finished.

"Exactly. And, on the opposite end of this battle, we have Prince Judai. As the first-born heir of Neospace born during the war of the Light of Destruction, he bears another cosmic power. The Righteous Power of Darkness. We all know what that power does solo, but suppose that you combine those powers, the Darkness and the Crystal light, into one blast of energy aimed at the corrupt person. Then the two energies would form a power so great, it could reverse the curse and return that person to normal long before the Darkness itself could take effect."

Man, that really _did_ make sense! So I could save Johan without even winning, from what Misawa was saying.

"So what you're saying is, since both powers are holy, having them on the field doubles our chances of getting Johan back to normal?" Ojin asked. "That, if we defeat the evil that affects the Beasts, the Light that's in Johan will be defeated, too?"

"It would appear so," Misawa answered. "To save Johan, you must defeat or free the corrupt Beasts. Then their powers will be unleashed fully, allowing them to protect Johan once again. Who knows? This duel might not need a winner, if that were to occur."

So I had to beat the Crystal Beasts or do something about that Advanced Dark field spell of his. Well, technically, that was the plan to begin with. But that gave me even more reason to get rid of Advanced Dark. After all, if the Crystal Beasts might be able to help save him, what were the odds that they'd _prevent_ me from saving him if I didn't save them?

"Heh. Or so you think," Johan said, looking like Yubel on a bad day. "You done with the boring lecture? Or do you want to tell us your life story while you're at it?"

Misawa didn't say anything else. Apparently he _was_ done.

"Good. Then let me prove _that_ statement wrong by freeing _Judai_ from the _darkness_ that binds him instead! I draw!" He took the next card from his deck, then said, "I play the spell card Rare Value! Since I have at least two crystals in my spell and trap card zone, you get to choose one, and I'll send it to the graveyard to draw two cards from my deck!"

"In that case, let's go with the sapphire," I said.

"Oh, you'll pay for that," Johan told me, angry again as his sapphire disappeared from the field. "I draw!" He looked at his card and gave an evil laugh. "Terrific! I can pay you back right now! I summon Advanced Cobalt Eagle in attack mode!" (1400)

The eagle, like all the others, was slightly darker than it probably should have been. There were blue gemstones on its wings and chest, and an orange plume on its head.

"Then I play the spell card Crystal Beacon since I still have two Crystal Beasts in my spell and trap card zone! I get to summon Advanced Ruby Carbuncle from my deck!"

Little ruby, normally a light-attribute monster, appeared, looking just as corrupt and upset as all the others. That one had the biggest effect of all on Johan. He froze, a look of pain and horror on his face. A golden opportunity for me.

I narrowed my eyes and asked, "Something wrong, Johan?"

He cast an uncertain look at the little four-eared cat. It looked back at him sadly.

_"Bii bii..."_

After a moment, he stammered, "N-no! Nothing's wrong! I just activated my Ruby's effect, that's all! So I get to summon every Crystal Beast from my spell and trap zone onto the field!"

As the gemstones shattered, calling out those who remained, I couldn't help noticing that Johan looked to be doing this unwillingly, as if he didn't want to but felt that he _had_ to. Ruby's appearance had done more than anything else so far.

"You don't look so good, Emperor of Darkness," I said.

That pained stare was his only answer. Quickly, though, he reverted back to his unwilling expression and said, "Th-that's because t-this duel's been fun, and it's _too_ soon to end it, but...Topaz Tiger! Attack his Stratos! And, when he attacks a monster, he gains 400 more points, leaving you wide open after he destroys your monster!"

Despite Johan's appearance, the tiger did attack.

"No!" Asuka cried. "If that attack hits, Judai will be—" She cut herself off.

"Well, then, this should perk you right up!" I told Johan. "Trap, activate! Negate Attack! This puts an end to the battle phase, so the fun doesn't have to stop yet."

The tiger stopped attacking, moving back to Johan's field.

Johan stared at me for a bit, looking pained and stunned. "You're good at holding on..."

I just smirked. Hey, he was right. "Yeah, that's one of my strong points."

"...Either way, there's an army against you now. I end my turn so you can try and plow 'em down."

Misawa looked at Ojin and said, "I take it he shares a special bond with that monster he just summoned?"

Ojin shrugged, eyes closed. Oh, so I knew something about Johan that he didn't, huh? I mean, even if it _was_ just a lucky guess.

I drew my card, my eyes on the carbuncle the whole time. For a moment, I just stared at it. "Oh, Ruby," I said at last. I shook my head sadly and asked, "What happened to you?"

Johan suddenly looked horrified and defensive at the same time. I could see my words were putting him in a cold sweat. "Th-that's _none_ of your business! Make a move already! You never saw him anyway, Amnesiac Prince!"

"Maybe not, but I know he's supposed to be a light-attribute monster, not whatever you've turned him into."

Besides, I'd seen the card, if nothing else.

"...Make a move or I'm calling it a surrender."

My plan was working. He looked pained and guilty, yet he also had that desperate to win look in his eyes again.

Since you should never push a Light Drone _that_ far, I shrugged. "If you insist! I sacrifice both my monsters to summon Elemental Hero Neos!" (Atk 2500)

And, once again, Neos was back!

"Neos, attack his Ruby Carbuncle! Put the poor thing out of his misery!"

"You may defeat him, but you _won't_ defeat me! I use my Advanced Dark's effect to send my Amber Mammoth to the graveyard and negate the damage that attack would have on my life points!"

It could do _that_!?

"What!?"

Neos attacked, destroying the carbuncle. Johan stared as if he couldn't believe what was happening.

"...Ruby..."

A gemstone appeared, replacing the carbuncle.

"He's better off this way, anyway," I assured him.

Johan blinked, letting that sink in. Then he growled and glared at me. "Y-you!"

"Anyway, I end my turn," I finished.

He growled again. "You're even wickeder than I thought! You think you treated Ruby any better!? That was a 2500 monster attack, Judai! That's _overkill_, if I ever did see it!"

Oh, _man_, I'd made him angry!

"As usual, Johan shows he values his monsters well-being," Ojin said. "He always gets on me when he goes first and I _don't_ attack him directly!"

"Just take your turn, Dark Emperor," I said, reminding him once again of his new element.

"Oh, you asked for it!" He drew, still furious. After looking at his card, he muttered, "Ugh. You'd think a deck full of power would—Aw, well. I switch everyone to defense mode and end my turn. But you're _still_ gonna pay for that, Prince of Darkness."

Ojin fidgeted and said, "Oh, I can't stand to see those two at each other's throats." He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, "Hey! Guys! Don't go thinking you're both wicked now just because—"

I would have gladly cut him off, but Johan beat me to the punch with the usual Kalmar vs. Neospace kind of response. It was the same sort of look I always used to give Ojin when he tried telling me that Kalmar royalty wasn't so bad. Johan's attention snapped to Ojin as he glared at him fiercely.

"Ojin, shut up! It's not _my_ fault he's the Dark Prince!"

Well, I decided to give Ojin a different response from my usual while messing with Johan some more.

"Are we related?" I asked Johan. "Because you're the Emperor of Darkness, and I'm the Prince of Darkness, so shouldn't we be on the same side?"

Johan started, his eyes wide. "I-I-I..."

"Judai! What are you doing!?" Asuka yelled. "Quit fooling around and beat this guy already!"

Man, I wished these guys would stop telling me how to save a Light Drone. Which one of us had done this countless times in _hundreds_ of lifetimes?

Misawa blinked, and I could feel him staring. "I'm seeing double."

"Agreed. They're _both_ idiots!"

Ojin glared at Manjoume for his double insult of royalty. Me, I was just wishing they'd stop telling me how to do my job.

"Draw!" I glanced at my card. Not very helpful. "Tch. I summon Neo-Spacian Glow Moss!" (Atk 300)

The sound of flesh on flesh alerted me to Manjoume slapping his hand to his forehead. "Ugh! How stu—" he muttered. Snapping his attention to me, he yelled, "Judai! _That _thing's weaker than the carbuncle! What are you thinking playing that!?"

"Wait and see, Manjoume," I said. "Neos, attack his Topaz Tiger!"

Neos charged, destroying his tiger. "Ugh!"

"Next up is Glow Moss! When he does battle, you draw a card. The type of card it is determines what happens."

Johan stared at me for a moment, making me wonder what the problem was _now_. "So now you're gambling, huh?" he finally said. "You _do_ know I have a deadly god monster in my deck, right? The guardian of Kalmar? What happens if I draw it, huh?"

"Well, then, I get to see that card," I said, excitement coloring my tone. Hey, if they thought I was childish, I'd keep acting that way. After all, it would keep anyone from suspecting that I actually had half a _brain_. Besides, I _did_ want to face off against that card. "Everybody's been talking about it like it's almost impossible to beat! I'd love a chance to see it in action...assuming it's really itself and not some corrupted version," I finished up, less enthusiastic as I realized it probably would be like the Crystal Beasts.

"Oh, really? Then you've _really_ got a death wish!" He drew a card and looked at it. "Ugh." He turned it to face me, saying, "That's a _bad_ thing, isn't it?"

Crystal Tree. A spell card.

I grinned. "Depends on who you're asking! 'Cause, for me, it's the best there is! When it's a spell card, Glow Moss gets to attack you directly!"

"He does what!? But that's _my_ trick!"

"Not anymore! So, Glow Moss! Give him all you've got!"

Glow Moss attacked, dealing a tiny amount of damage. But, against a Light Drone, every little bit helps.

Johan: 1700  
Judai: 1000

"I play a card face down and end my turn."

Johan looked annoyed, which made sense, given that I was becoming a real pain for him. "Okay, you're getting annoying..." His expression lit up in a very un-Johan-like way as he added, "Which makes you exciting, too! I can't _wait _to beat you with my best move of all! I draw!" He looked at his card...and laughed. "Okay. _Now_ we're talking!" He turned his excited and evil grin on me.

It seemed he'd just drawn what he wanted.

"You got it, didn't you?" I asked. I was torn between excitement at the idea that I would get to see a card that otherwise I'd never see and anxiety about facing it in _this_ situation. Why couldn't my first duel with Johan have been a friendly game? Why did it have to be _this_?

"Oh, you bet I did! And I've got all my crystals on the field or in the graveyard, too! So I get to summon him straight out! So here goes! Rainbow Dark Dragon! Arise!" he said, holding his arm above his head.

Well, there went all the excitement—Rainbow _Dark_ Dragon was obviously the corrupt version. So now I could focus on the anxiety. Great.

Rainbow Dragon was a serpentine dragon, gray in its corrupted form, with rainbow stones running down its sides. And its attack power...

"W-whoa... 4000 attack points..."

Crap, I was in serious trouble.

Johan laughed. "That's right, Judai. The end is near. This dragon god of Kalmar is going to be the death of your Darkness once and for all! Starting with his effect! I remove all my crystals on the field or in my graveyard from play!"

Well, apparently he didn't think he needed any other monsters! Oh, _man_, I was screwed in _so_ many ways!

Johan held an arm high above his head again as his Crystal Beasts all screamed in agony at being tossed aside.

"Seriously!? Why?" I demanded. It couldn't be good for me, after all.

"'Cause! With them gone, my dragon gains 500 more points for each one! Now you _really_ can't beat it! Ha!"

"W-w-what!?"

Oh, _crap_! Its attack power rose to 7500, even though there was no _way_ he needed that much attack power to finish me off. If he attacked Neos, I'd lose. If he attacked Glow Moss and got through, I'd lose.

...My only hope was that he attacked Glow Moss and drew something other than a spell card.

"No! That thing's way too strong now! Judai!" Asuka cried.

Manjoume turned to Misawa. "Be honest. How do I look in this thing?"

Misawa looked horrified at that comment. "That's not even funny! Knock that off already!" he said, cringing in fear at the thought.

"Now for some fun!" Johan said. "Rainbow Dark, attack his Glow Moss!"

"Oh, come on! And you thought _my_ attack on Ruby was overkill?"

Johan smirked and said, "You think _that's_ bad, when Dark Rainbow's on the field, Advanced Dark cancels your monster effects, too!"

And, just like that, things got a thousand times worse. This meant Glow Moss' effect wouldn't work!

Rainbow Dark Dragon opened its mouth and started charging a blast.

"Judai!" Asuka cried. "No!"

Cries of "Judai!" and "My prince!" came from the others.

There was nothing else for it. I had nothing to lose, and it would at _least_ save the Crystal Beasts. If nothing else, maybe I could save Johan by freeing them. After all, there was no way I was going to win this duel.

"Tch. I activate my trap, Dust Tornado!" I said, desperately hoping that this would work. Given that the Crystal Beasts were all removed, I didn't have much hope, though. "This'll destroy your Advanced Dark!"

"Idiot! How's _that_ gonna help!?" Manjoume yelled.

Like it mattered? If I did nothing, I'd lose anyway.

Since he had the chance to change his target, I figured Johan would go for Neos now. He surprised me when he said, "Rainbow Dark! Attack his Glow Moss anyway!"

"What?"

I couldn't believe my ears—he was still going after Glow Moss? Did he not understand its effect?

"A monster _this_ great should share its _full_ power with someone like you in one incredible blow!" Johan answered.

Translation: he wanted to deal me as much damage as humanly possible. Well, guess that made me the luckiest guy in the history of the universe.

"Yeah? Well, you'll have to get through Glow Moss' effect first!" I told him. "Draw a card, Johan!"

"What!? But it's _my_ turn!"

Just as I thought—he _didn't_ understand its effect. Yeah, I was definitely the luckiest person to ever live.

"Glow Moss' effect activates whether he's attacking or being attacked. You draw, and the type of card decides what happens."

Now a spell card would be bad. When Glow Moss was attacking, drawing a spell card made it a direct attack. When Glow Moss was attacked, drawing a spell card would mean that his attack gets through with no changes. I needed to hope he drew something else. _Anything_ else.

"Okay, that's just not fair," he said. He drew his card and looked at it.

I was holding my breath.

"Oh, _now_ you show up," he muttered. He turned the card to me, looking annoyed, revealing his Mega Monarch. "What did _he_ do?" he asked, pointing at the card.

A monster. It wasn't a spell card.

The relief I felt was almost painful. "A monster card ends the battle phase," I said.

"He what!?" Johan demanded. He glared at his card.

He might not have been happy about it, but I could breathe easy again. At least, for a moment. I still had one more chance to turn this around.

"Phew," Asuka said. "Close one. Good thing he was able to hang on."

"Good for him, bad for Johan, though," Ojin said. "He never acts this aggressively! I think that corrupt dragon's turning him power-mad..."

I could tell he was worried about Johan, and I would have been, too—if I didn't have more pressing things to worry about, like the fate of the entire world. If I could just pull out a win here, Johan would be fine. But I had to actually _win_ for that to happen. If I didn't, Johan wouldn't be the only one in trouble.

"Oh, whatever," Johan said, turning smug again. "You can't win now, anyway, so I end my turn. So? What kind of banana would you prefer, monkey boy? Almost ripe? Or starting to brown?"

"There's that monkey joke again," Ojin said. "I sure hope Judai has a plan."

"Oh, he better," Manjoume said. "Otherwise I'm beating the pulp out of him."

"Agreed...if only because _you'll _be in white again... Ugh..." Misawa said.

For a brief moment, I thought about how those two were getting way too comfortable with threatening me. That either meant they were my friends or my enemies, given that nobody in between had the guts to threaten me.

Manjoume glared at Misawa.

"Here goes... Draw!"

Misawa and Manjoume were obviously worried I'd lose, and they weren't the only ones. Even I was pretty worried about that right about then. You know, given that it had almost happened and all.

_Please give me something that can beat that thing!_ I thought as I drew what would surely be my final card this duel. My eyes were closed, and I was almost afraid to look for fear that it would be something like one of the Chrysalis guys. What I needed right now was something that could beat that dragon!

I worked up the courage to peek at my card, and the tension all went out of me. "Alright! Just what I needed!"

Johan closed his eyes, that arrogant grin still fixed firmly on his face and his arms crossed. Really, he looked a lot like Manjoume. "Heh. Oh, please. Like you could turn _this_ around. There's no way—"

I looked at him, cutting him off with, "See what I mean about being arrogant?"

"So what!? You _still_ can't beat me! My monster's unstoppable, see!?" he demanded, pointing at it in rage. Probably mad because I was insulting him. Well, if he didn't like it, he should stop acting like that.

"Think again, Johan! I activate Miracle Contact! This lets me fuse Neos and the Neo-Spacians that are on my field, in my hand, or in my graveyard."

"Yeah! 'Cause the trash _you_ lost is good enough to beat that thing!" Manjoume yelled, obviously thinking I'd lost already. "Just admit you blew it and—"

"I'll send Neos and Glow Moss from my field back to my deck, along with Dark Panther!"

I'd sent Dark Panther to the grave earlier, and I figured that somebody would mention the monster that supposedly was in the grave, but they didn't.

"That better be able to beat that thing, Judai!" Asuka called, sounding worried. "We're counting on you!"

"The world is, actually, so don't screw up, please! Remember also what Manjoume does when he's White! Don't let him wind up in it again, okay!?"

His anxiety managed to earn him an unnerved glance from a sweating Ojin.

"Oh, give it a rest, Daichi!" Manjoume snapped. "He's already blown it, letting that thing out in the—"

Okay, everybody had had ample opportunity to mention my Dark Panther, so it obviously wasn't an issue. I gave Manjoume a lame look and asked, "Can I summon my monster before you go saying I lost?"

Granted, they'd already _started_ fusing, so my monster was out by the time I said that. Manjoume looked at my 3000-attack point monster, not impressed.

"No. Because that thing _pales_ in comparison to Rainbow Dark Dragon!"

Gee, thanks for ignoring the possibility of an effect, Manjoume! Really, how dumb did he think I was? Granted, if this failed, he'd be right and I'd be doomed.

"It has a good effect, right?" Ojin asked, seemingly disturbed. "I'm not sure I _want _to know why this guy doesn't want the other one in white!"

Well, no, you didn't, Ojin. But could you guys just _stop_?

"Oh, for the love of—" Ignoring my audience, which was growing progressively more annoying, I turned back to Johan and said, "Chaos Neos! Fitting for a guy who doesn't know whether he's good or evil. A dark emperor fighting for a wicked light."

"Hey. Don't say stuff like that when you don't—"

I didn't want to hear it, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out a coin. Here was the part where this plan could totally fail. "His effect: Once per turn, I can flip a coin three times. If it lands on heads once, all monsters I control return to the hand. Two heads, all your face-up monsters have their effects negated for this turn. Three heads, I destroy all your monsters."

While the first one always sucked, the second was usually good. In this case, however, it wouldn't help me at all. I needed three heads in a row.

Johan narrowed his eyes. "You know _gambling's _an act of evil in most countries on Earth, right? You risk everything you own and often end up broken."

Well, there he went again, trying to say I was evil. But I had a counter for him.

"Call it what you want, but everything in life is a gamble," I said. "When you take a chance on something or make a choice, you always run the risk of something going wrong. If you don't gamble, you don't live."

As princes, that was especially true for us. We gambled not only with our own lives and money but with those of our people. There wasn't a single thing we could do without risking their safety—including dying. The kingdoms of Kalmar and Neospace were especially guilty of that, given that our kingdoms hated each other and were at risk of going to war with each other any day.

Johan took a moment to respond, and I knew I'd beat him in that regard. After a moment, he waved me off, looking annoyed. "Just make your move. You're _boring_ me to _death_ again!"

Geez, if _that_ was typical behavior for him, then he was even worse than me.

Either way, I didn't have time to worry about that right then. I flipped my coin the first time. Heads.

Johan raised an eyebrow. "...Oh, no..."

"That's one..." Misawa said.

I flipped the coin again. Heads.

"Two..." Ojin said.

I know _I _was holding my breath, and I doubt I was the only one. Probably everyone there was. After all, this last coin toss would determine the outcome of this duel. If it came up tails, I wouldn't be able to do anything to get rid of Rainbow Dark Dragon, Chaos Neos would return to my extra deck at the end of my turn and leave my field empty, and all I'd be able to do to defend myself would be to summon Avian in defense mode before that. On Johan's turn, if he summoned another monster, he could take out Avian _and_ my life points, and I'd lose. If it came up heads, Rainbow Dark Dragon would be destroyed, and Chaos Neos would be able to attack Johan directly. I'd win.

Praying for success, I flipped the coin one last time. I caught it on my left hand, covering it with my right.

"...Is it?" Johan asked.

"Come on..." Asuka said.

This was it. The moment of truth.

I looked at the coin in my hand...and a grin spread across my face. "Alright!"

"No!" Johan cried.

"He did it!" Asuka cheered.

"Yes!"

"Nicely done, Judai!" Ojin called. "Go get him!"

Manjoume didn't say a word, apparently stunned by how lucky I was.

"Three heads, Johan!" I said. "That means your dragon's destroyed!"

His supposedly unbeatable dragon shattered as Chaos Neos' third effect activated. Before it was destroyed, it turned pure white. Was that its real form? Did Neos' power fix it?

"AAAARRRGGG!" Johan cried, holding his head in what seemed to be pain.

Ojin's eyes widened and he gasped. "That light. Johan!"

"Now, with your field empty, Chaos Neos can attack you directly!"

His head lowered, Johan was shaking from just the energy that effect had. I could tell I was close to freeing him from the Light of Destruction. "J-J-Judai..." He looked up slightly, obviously struggling against the Light.

Neos attacked, filling him with more of the Darkness of Creation's power. He cried out in pain, not only from the force of the Light being expelled but also from the attack.

Johan: 0  
Judai: 1000

By some miracle, I'd pulled out a win. Thank the gods.

As Johan's life points hit zero, his guards got worried. "Prince Johan!"

He fell to the floor, kneeling, and started catching his breath. As for me, the cage was still up, so I couldn't do anything. Not that this was a surprise—the Light always played dirty, especially when it came to me.

"Johan?" I asked. "You okay?"

"Ugh..." He blinked a couple of times. "Huh? Wha?" He looked at himself.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

Man, was I lost. One minute, I was dueling Ojin, the next, I was wearing a light gray outfit that wasn't even close to my style! What was going on?

"My prince! Are you okay?" some guy called off to my left.

"Huh?"

I looked and saw a bunch of teenagers dressed in white. They were holding Manjoume, Misawa, Ojin, and that blond girl I'd seen Judai with a couple of times—Asuka, I figured. Everyone looked worried, even the Light members. What had I missed?

"Prince Johan!" Misawa called. "It's us! Don't you recognize us!?"

"We're your friends, my prince!" Asuka cried, which seemed weird, since I didn't know her. "You've gotta remember!"

"Don't tell me _you've_ got amnesia now!" Judai called.

I turned forward to see...Judai locked in a cage. Okay, that wasn't good _and_ didn't make any sense! But, obviously, asking them what was going on was a bad idea. So it was a good thing Ruby Carbuncle could read minds.

_Say, Ruby?_ I asked silently. _Care to fill me in on what's going on here?_

He appeared on my shoulder and whispered it, making my eyes widen. I'd been one of the Light's Emperors, and I was in charge of what was going on in here. I'd just lost a duel to Judai, and duel disks weren't safe to use because they'd blow up the room. One wrong move, and we were all done for. Good thing I hadn't asked them what was going on. Getting out of this mess was going to take some quick thinking.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

I saw Ruby Carbuncle—the _real_ Ruby Carbuncle—for the first time as it appeared on Johan's shoulder. It sat on his shoulder, either licking his ear or whispering in it, but I wasn't sure which at all. I glanced at Manjoume, seeing that he was just as lost as me in that area.

"Wait," Johan said as the carbuncle disappeared. "Are you guys saying I lost?"

Had the carbuncle been trying to get through to its controller? It wouldn't be the first time a duel spirit had tried and failed. But, wait, that would mean...that _I_ failed! But that couldn't be! I'd _seen_ him struggling! I _knew_ he'd been filled with the Darkness' power! What had happened!?

The Light Drones stared, concerned. They weren't the only ones worried now—if I'd failed this time, I'd never get out of here, and all my friends would be rejoining the Society of Light!

"Johan?" Asuka asked.

"Who are you talking to?" Manjoume asked.

I held my breath, waiting to see what Johan would do or say next. After a moment, he growled. "Dang it! How could I lose to someone like him!?" He closed his eyes and threw his head back, gritting his teeth in frustration.

No! It couldn't be! He couldn't still be a Light Drone! Not after all that!

"Johan?" I asked, hoping and _praying_ I was wrong.

He growled again, then snapped at the guards, "Well, what are you clowns staring at!? Get out of my way! I've got some fools to convert!" Then he glared straight at Asuka.

Apparently I _wasn't_ wrong.

She started, her eyes wide. "W-what!?"

"Hey! Hold up!" I protested, knowing it was pointless. "You lost! We had a deal!"

Johan glared, pointing at the door as he ignored me. "Well, get going! _I_ can handle this alone!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" most of them said, heading out. Only one remained.

"Sir!" that one said. "What'll we do with the prince of Neospace?"

That was a good question.

Johan glared fiercely at him, an expression that wasn't right on him. "I'll deal with that later! Just get going already! My patience is wearing thin!"

The Drone stood at attention and said, "Sir, yes, sir! Good luck, sir!" Then he ran out, like all the others.

Johan laughed once. "I don't need luck."

As the door slammed behind the last of the Light Drone guards, Johan started toward my friends, looking every bit the evil Light minion that he was.

Manjoume ran to block Asuka, glaring. "Hey, hold up! What gives!? You just dueled Judai, so you _can't_ be a Light anymore!"

Unfortunately, he could. It sometimes happened that way—not all Light Drones were easily saved by the Darkness. Usually it was people I didn't know very well who stayed Drones after I beat them. Looking back, it was sort of a miracle I'd been able to save Manjoume and Misawa, especially since I'd been basically useless during that duel. But why was Johan still a Drone!? I knew him better than I'd known those two, _and_ I had the Neo-Spacian deck this time! What had gone wrong?

"Oh, can't I?" Johan asked before laughing. He put a hand on his hip, his eyes closed.

For a fleeting moment, I thought that maybe my dad had been right about Kalmar royalty. Maybe this had all been a trap to lure me here and Johan was a willing Light member. But that wasn't right! I'd have become a member a long time ago if not for his help! So what had happened to stop me from saving him!?

Still trapped, I growled, grabbing the bars of my cage. "Get away from them!" I demanded, even though I couldn't do anything to stop him—at least, not anything short of blowing us all up. That would be a better fate for my friends than joining the Light again, though.

As that thought ran through my mind, I decided that, if the Light's leader ever came in, that was what I'd do...if Johan miraculously forgot to take my duel disk away. If he remembered, I'd have to find some other way. As long as the leader was defeated somehow, the world would be saved, and all those who were under its power would be released. My life would be a small price to pay, especially since stopping the Light of Destruction was the main purpose of my existence. My mother was young enough yet to have another child.

"Relax, pal," Johan said suddenly, turning to me with a grin as he opened his eyes. "I was only kidding."

W-what? Kidding? _Kidding!?_ At a time like _this_!? I didn't know whether to be relieved or angry.

Asuka blinked. "Huh?"

"Wha?" Misawa asked.

Manjoume stammered, "B-but I—"

Understandably, they were all pretty stunned. Personally, I thought they should be pretty mad.

Johan laughed in his more usual way, sounding cheerful instead of evil. "You think I'm dumb enough to let those guys see me turn on them? And, besides, we can't duel again. This room's rigged to explode at the slightest attempt at activating a duel disk. We'd have had to go old school if I'd done that."

So he kept up the act when they were _gone_?

Ojin slumped over, sweating. I figured he felt pretty stupid right then, given that that was exactly what he had done. "He just made me feel pathetic..."

I crossed my arms, absolutely not amused. "Okay, you're smart, but you aren't funny," I told him.

"Aw, come on. Can't ya take a joke?" he asked, grinning at me as he came over.

"Sure, I can. That just wasn't a good one. At all."

"Yeah, yeah. So?" he put a hand on the corner of the cage. "About this cage. Exactly where'd it come from? And just when did you decide to become a zoo animal?"

Still. Not. Funny.

* * *

**Johan's POV**

Okay, admittedly, that wasn't a very nice trick. But it was too good an opportunity to pass up! Besides, I needed to be sure those guys weren't coming back before I revealed myself. Still, Judai was, understandably, not happy. I'd say he was downright tense. Again, given the circumstances, that made sense. After all, he was locked in a cage in a room that would explode if anyone activated a duel disk. And I had just been pretending to still be a member of the Society of Light.

My zoo comment was meant as a joke to try and lighten the mood a bit and get him to relax some so he could think clearly. From the look on his face, I figured this wasn't the first time I'd made that joke today.

"It came out of the floor, and Light Drones think I make a great exhibit," he answered. Even though he still looked annoyed, he seemed a little more relaxed, so I figured my work was done.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Johan laughed at my response and said, "Well, you've gotta admit, they're right about that! What better display item than the resurrected Prince of Darkness, right? Now, let's see... Has anyone got any rope?" He turned to the others, as if any sane individual actually carried rope around on a daily basis.

"Uh, no," Misawa answered. "Sorry, my prince."

"Ojin?"

He shook his head.

"Manjoume?"

"Don't look at me."

"Hmm... Well, that makes it hard. Now, let's see..." He put a hand to his chin, thinking.

I figured I'd save him the time. After all, I said no _sane_ person would carry rope. That didn't mean nobody had any rope on them.

"Yubel's around here somewhere," I said. "She might have something."

Apparently Manjoume didn't expect that. His stunned attention snapped to me. "You're kidding! How bad _are_ you?"

"What?" Asuka asked, staring.

"Manjoume, you don't want to know what the two of us do in my spare time," I answered. "Trust me."

Ojin was well aware of how bad I was and what Yubel needed a rope for, but the other three just stared at me.

After a moment of awkward silence during which everybody seemed to be debating whether they should say anything, Johan said, "Right... Where they at again?"

I loved how he just assumed Yubel was with Sho. It meant I wasn't the only one who did that. Seeing as I really didn't know where the other two were, I looked at the others.

"Try the room across the hall," Manjoume said. "Sho didn't want to come in."

"Figured as much," Johan muttered. "Okay! Be right back!" And, with that, he ran out to get Yubel so they could get me out of that cage.


	35. Challenged Again

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX**

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Manjoume humphed. "Sure, he's _smarter_, but our prince is _still_ an idiot. Who jokes around at a time like this?"

"He was just trying to lighten the mood," Ojin said. "Besides, he's nothing when compared to Judai! Did you know he once—"

And I'm just gonna cut his story off there because you guys don't need to hear it. Basically he was telling an embarrassing story from when we were kids, and his audience's eyes widened. Come to think of it, that was probably the most embarrassing story he could ever have told.

I sweat. "Really? That story?"

Too bad I was locked up or I'd have covered his mouth before he even had the chance to tell it.

"And so he used dog chow instead!" Ojin finished up.

Yeah, I'm just gonna leave it to your imaginations to figure out what he was talking about. You _really_ don't need to hear it.

Everyone was laughing their heads off by the time he finished.

"I can't believe it!" Asuka laughed. "I knew he was dumb, but I never knew he was—"

Great. Way to make me sound like the world's biggest idiot to the girl I liked, Ojin.

Manjoume stomped his foot and slapped his knee. Yeah, apparently that story was knee-slapping funny.

"I-it's incredible!" Misawa said through his laughter, clutching his stomach. "I-I'm gonna d-die laughing!"

"I-I rest my case! He's an idiot!" Manjoume laughed.

They were all doubled over with laughter, and Asuka fell to her knees.

I blushed furiously. Man, this was embarrassing... "Alright, alright, that's enough!"

Johan came running back in with Yubel and Sho just then. Yubel, a rope over her shoulder, stopped and smirked, noticing the situation.

"Oh, they're telling _that _story again, aren't they?" She snickered.

Man, could this get any worse? My face felt like it was on fire. "Just get me out of here."

She snickered some more. "Right, right. I'm on it." With one more snicker, she walked over to help.

Sho, meanwhile, was already standing in front of the cage. "Don't worry, Aniki," he said. "We'll get you out soon enough."

Johan crossed his arms and looked at the guys that were still laughing like maniacs, an eyebrow raised. "But, uh, what are they all laughing about?"

Yubel tied one end of the rope around a rock and tossed it over the bars.

Asuka was lying on her stomach now, still laughing. In fact, she was laughing so hard that her eyes were slammed shut. "Didn't you know? When Judai was little, he—"

"It's nothing!" I cut her off as Yubel tied the rope onto the bars.

"Ready," Yubel said, moving back.

Johan cocked his head, even more lost.

"Oh, trust me, my prince!" Manjoume said, clutching his stomach. "It's not nothing! He just—"

"Manjoume! Zip it!" I snapped.

Yubel snapped, "Focus on what you're doing, you idiot! Do you _want_ your enemies finding you like this? Helpless and defenseless in their trap?" She crossed her arms, annoyed with me again.

Yeah, okay, I was distracted. She had a point. But still.

"Then _you_ shut them up!" I told her before grabbing the rope and climbing.

She shrugged and said, "Whatever." Then she turned to the laughing people, her hands on her hips and a glare on her face. "Okay, people! That's enough! The idiot's tired of hearing it."

Slowly the four of them regained control of themselves. Seriously, it wasn't that funny, and we had bigger issues right now than things I did when I was nine!

"R-right. Okay," Misawa and Asuka said, both stifling their laughter. Asuka got to her feet.

Well, that was an embarrassing moment I didn't think I'd ever live down. Guess this would be where those dumb lessons on composure might come in handy. I jumped down from the top of the cage, landing on the floor below.

"So, Aniki," Sho said, standing right beside me. "What happened anyway? It looks like you saved Johan, but how come you were in there when we found you? It doesn't make any sense."

"Part of the deal was if I lost, I had to stay in there til the Light takeover was over," I said.

"Light takeover? What Light takeover?" Yubel asked.

"Can we get out of here first? That is, if we're all done becoming Light Drones."

Seriously, all but three people in the room right then had been Light Drones at some point! And every friend I had in the world was in this room, too, so I was only one step away from facing all of my friends as Light Drones.

Johan sweat, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Right. Sorry about that. I-it's just that he went first, and then he—"

I held up my hand to silence him. "I didn't ask for excuses, It's just that everyone here but Sho and Yubel has either joined or come close. So can we leave before that changes?"

If I included people who had _almost_ joined the Light in my list, I had to count myself, considering that I'd been hit with that laser baptizer and nearly fallen to the Light's power myself.

"I'm afraid that's no longer possible," a woman's voice said from the doorway.

Oh, _perfect_. Just what I needed, another person getting in my way! I groaned, turning to see who it was _this_ time. It was a woman with long black hair, wearing red and white priestess robes.

It was a woman I recognized, too. She'd been there when the guy in charge first tried to brainwash me and cost me my memory.

"You..."

The woman nodded. "That's right, my prince. I am second in command around here." She raised her head a bit and said, "I am Mizuchi Saiou."

Sho turned to me and said, "Aniki. You know her?"

"She...she was there when my memories were..."

"Fear not, my prince," she said, as if her words would mean anything to me. "I mean you no harm. I'm only here to test you." Her voice and her tone were both neutral, so I couldn't even use that to say if she was being honest. Granted, she was a member of the Light, so that obviously meant she was lying.

"Test me?" I asked.

She nodded slightly. "That's right, Judai. To test you to see if you are truly worthy of being the chosen one. Because, from what I've been told, you're not."

Well, that was encouraging.

"Really," I said flatly. "And who's telling you that?"

"_Me_, for one thing," said a male voice from behind her.

She stepped aside, and a boy about my age stepped into the room, a serious look on his face. He had shoulder length gray hair and eyes that were a startling shade of blue. He was wearing a light gray suit and a purple tie—just enough color to convince me he wasn't a Light Drone.

Apparently everyone else knew him because they all gasped.

"Why, y-you're—" Manjoume stammered.

"Incredible!" Misawa cried. "First three princes and now—"

Yubel sweat, staring in awe. "Okay. This is getting weird. What's _he_ doing here?"

Dang. If she recognized him, then I had no excuse not to know him. Man, I was actually wishing I had amnesia to fall back on as an excuse. Ah, well, saving face wasn't something I ever bothered with, so why not just admit my ignorance?

"Uh... Who is he?" I asked.

Around me, everyone fainted with a collective thud.

Sho sprang up, glaring at me. "Aniki! Baka! That's the famous pro duelist Ed Phoenix! They say he won his first ever tournament when he was six!"

Oh. That explained why I didn't know him. I didn't keep up with pro dueling—didn't have a lot of time to, really.

The others all got back to their feet.

"Right," Manjoume said. "Since then, he's dueled in countless tournaments around the world and has earned the title World's Youngest Pro. Seeing as how he's only 15 and all." He crossed his arms, clearly annoyed at my continuing lack of dueling knowledge. Well, excuse me if princes have better things to do than learn the names and life stories of every pro duelist in the world _and_ all the cards in the game and their effects.

"Not to mention he holds the legendary D series cards," Misawa added. "They're one of a kind monsters that were made just for him, so that adds to his fame also."

Oh. Well, that might be something that would have been covered in one of my classes at some point, given that legendary cards could prove dangerous in the wrong hands.

"He's even better looking in person, too," Asuka said, blushing.

And _now_ I'd never forget the creep! He just grinned, closing his eyes and waving at her flirtatiously, like a guy used to being told he's awesome. Man, I _hated_ that attitude!

"Well, anyway, as I was saying, _I'm_ saying you're not worthy!" Ed told me. "I mean, how _could_ you be when you're clearly an idiot? Who just waltzes into an enemy's base and runs around getting attacked all day? Only a true hero would think things through a bit first." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, giving me a disapproving frown.

"Yeah, okay, can I ask why the sister of the guy in charge is testing a guy who's supposedly a hero instead of stopping him on the off chance that he is?" I asked.

With the leader's family name being Saiou, Mizuchi was obviously related. And it didn't make any sense for her to test me instead of just capturing me or inducting me or—and I hoped they never tried this one—killing me. I figured this was a good question that Ed, assuming he wasn't one of them, should be asking himself.

"I have my reasons, young man," she said. "But I'll only tell you if you can defeat Ed in a duel."

Manjoume raised an eyebrow and said, "A duel to determine the true chosen one?"

"Sounds like fun," Johan said with a grin.

I didn't know about "fun," but it sounded like another trap. And, maybe, a good opportunity to get the others out of here. After all, the mission was over. There was no more need for them to be here. I needed to beat their leader, but they had no role in that. There was also a chance that there wouldn't be anyone else wandering the halls, which would give the others an easy time getting out.

In short, trap or not, I had to accept.

I shrugged and said, "Okay."

"So that's a yes, then?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, I mean, you guys probably aren't gonna give me a choice, anyway."

Mizuchi nodded, whether because she liked my answer or because I was right, I'll never know. "Good. Then come with me. This is no place for such a duel." She headed out, with Ed following.

So, yeah, either Ed _was_ a Drone, or he was just stupid.

My friends gathered around me, most of them looking unsure or nervous.

"I don't like this, Judai," Ojin told me. "That's Saiou's little sister! And, since he's in charge around here, I don't see why she's doing this. It could very well just be another trap."

"Prince Ojin's right, Judai," Asuka agreed. "Maybe we should try sneaking out instead."

Sho looked up at me and asked, "Aniki? What do you think?"

"Of course it's a trap," I said. "This whole thing was a trap. Now you guys get out of here so they can't go using anyone else as bait."

I knew my order would draw a fierce reaction—none of them wanted to leave me, as shown by worried looks from some and glares from Manjoume and Yubel.

"But, Judai!" Asuka protested.

"Aniki!"

"Are you stupid!?" Yubel demanded. "You're gonna get—"

"Judai," Ojin said, "you can't just—"

"But, my prince! That's—"

"You idiot!" Manjoume said. "That's the stu—"

"Judai! You can't!" Johan agreed. "You're—"

They all said this at the same time, so it was a real cacophony of protests. But they weren't going to change my mind.

"I'll be fine," I cut them off. "With any luck, the Four Emperors will be expecting all of us to show up there, so, this way, they can't threaten you guys or something. The Light's getting desperate, so it's starting to play dirty. I mean, if the room rigged to explode is any indication." I gestured around us. "I'll distract them, giving you guys a chance to get out of here. I'll catch up with you later," I finished with what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

"But, Judai!" Asuka protested again. "You're the only one who can stop them!"

Exactly why I needed to stay and the others should leave.

"Yeah! If they get you, we're all done for!" Sho added.

"Listen to reason!" Ojin said. "You must—"

"Get rid of the one thing they can use against me?" I cut him off. "Agreed. So get out of here before something happens."

Their protests this time were restricted to my name or whatever title they used for me. "But, Judai!" and "Prince Judai!" and "Aniki!" were their only responses, which, as far as I was concerned, meant I was winning.

"Guys, we're only here because they kidnapped Asuka and used her to lure me in. If there's one thing they know, it's that kidnapping someone I care about is a surefire way to get me to do what they want. If this is a new trap, they've got to be desperate enough to try something like that. I'm not taking you guys with me this time. I'm not taking that chance."

Yubel closed her eyes and crossed her arms, grinning. "Hey. Did you seriously just imply that we can't take care of ourselves? Uh-huh. Yeah, so, then who's _been_ taking care of you these past several years? I helped you get out of that cage a minute ago! Remember?" She looked at me lamely.

"Yeah! And you asked _me_ to save you from the Light when that laser was fired at you!" Asuka added.

"Not to mention I helped you get away from your dad when he also tried to brainwash you," Johan tossed in his two cents. "We're a team, pal. We're sticking together!" He grinned, pounding his fist into his chest.

"Yeah! I could never _live_ with myself if I let something happen to you!" Sho said, sounding brave. "You're the best friend I've ever had!"

Well, I didn't see that coming. Not that I didn't like it—it was great to hear that they all cared so much.

"Guys..."

"Right," Manjoume agreed. "As long as we stick together and don't split up, we should be fine. Remember, it was 'cause of us that you got away from those Emperors that first time, too."

"They're right, my prince," Misawa said. He threw a fist into the air, saying, "All for one..."

Johan joined him, looking serious as he finished, "And one for all!" He lowered his fist, grinning at me again as he said, "So? What do you say? We gonna do this together or what?"

Man, they had a point. Going it alone would probably just get me in trouble. We _did_ do better when we stuck together. If I was going to do this, I needed my friends—all of them.

That was when I realized that Misawa and Manjoume had recently joined the small group of people I considered "friends." Man, that group was growing by the day. Maybe I was lucky the Light of Destruction had used a new plan on me this time around.

I smiled. "Only if Misawa can stop calling me 'my prince.'"

"But, your highness!" Misawa protested. "It's an honorary title."

I knew that, but it didn't mean I wanted to hear it from my friends.

Johan and Ojin grinned, and Johan shook his head, too. Apparently they thought I was childish, but I had my reasons for going without that stupid title whenever possible.

"Are you sure you're a prince?" Ojin asked, teasing me.

"Yeah. 'Cause, the last time I checked..."

I just laughed. Hey, they had a point. After all, it wasn't like my ideas were common, and the relationship between me and just about everybody in my kingdom was very informal. "Hey, even the lowest servants in the castle don't call me 'prince,'" I told Misawa. "At least, not to my face." I shrugged and admitted, "I prefer to use my name. Makes people more comfortable talking to me if they've got a complaint or something."

As much as people may criticize my unconventional methods, they worked. My father hadn't heard nearly as many complaints and grievances as I had because of that, even though he was older and was the actual ruler. Often it was me who brought problems to his attention because people seemed to let things slip more when they weren't using the title, as if they forgot it applied. See? There's a method to my madness.

Misawa shrugged, obviously not caring. Hey, I already knew he was perfectly comfortable laughing at me, so it wasn't like comfort was an issue for him. I just figured I should explain why I did it since he was so lost. "I'm fine with that," he said. "So, can we go now? They're probably waiting for us."

Satisfied that he was done being the most formal friend I had, I said, "Alright. Let's go!"

So we all headed out to follow Mizuchi Saiou and Ed Phoenix into what was surely a horrible trap that we'd all regret walking into.


	36. It's Not My Fault, For Once!

**Shadgirl2: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait!**

**Midna: I just graduated from college, and Shadgirl2's been having medical issues. Not that this is an excuse, but there you have it.**

**Shadgirl2: Still, hope you enjoy this long overdue chapter!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

Apparently we were ticking people off by making them wait. Or, at least, we were ticking off Ed Phoenix. Out in the hallway, he was waiting with Mizuchi. He leaned on the wall next to the door, his arms crossed and clearly annoyed.

Sorry, Ed, but you just don't rush a prince, especially when he's trying to get his friends to leave.

"You ready yet?" Ed asked. "I haven't got all day."

Oh, so sorry, your highness. Here I thought _I _was supposed to be the prince in a time crunch.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I said.

Mizuchi turned down the hallway, heading off the way that we'd come. "Then follow me. I've prepared a special arena for the two of you upstairs. Right this way."

Why did I not like the sound of that?

Mizuchi and Ed started off. One look at Ed's face was enough to tell me he thought I was a joke. Well, he was in for a major surprise.

I followed them, determined to prove them both wrong. My friends followed along, too.

Mizuchi led us up to the third floor of the place, into a room with a pair of sliding steel doors. At the time, I had no comparison. Now, I'd say they looked like the doors on an elevator.

Sho ducked behind me again, hiding the way he'd been doing most of the time we'd been here. "Bad feeling…"

You and me both, pal.

Misawa approached Mizuchi, who turned slightly. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said. "But what's behind that thing? It doesn't look like a good place to duel."

Honestly, I was with him. In fact, I didn't doubt that this was some sort of trap, especially given that Mizuchi was related to the Light's primary pawn.

Mizuchi turned to face the door, answering, "Step inside, and you'll find out."

Uh-huh. Yeah, if that didn't sound like a trap to anyone else, then I must have been the smartest person standing there. And there was no way that was true. Clearly something was up.

As Mizuchi had spoken, the doors slid open, revealing nothing more than a white light.

As if I needed more proof that this was a trap.

"Why do I get the feeling stepping inside is the last thing I want to do?" I asked.

Forfeiting all rights to call me an idiot, Ed humphed. "Coward," he said, walking through those doors without hesitation.

Yeah, like _that _convinced me to be reckless? Insulting my courage? I wasn't that stupid!

Manjoume, apparently, was. He glared at Ed's retreating back, growling. "Why, I oughta—Hey! Wait for me, you big-mouthed—" As he said that, he ran through the doors like an idiot.

A moment later, I heard him scream. Ed hadn't, I realized—so he was in on this little trick?

I stared for a second, realizing that I officially had no choice but to go in there. "Blind trust in a woman related to the Light," I muttered. "And Manjoume's stupidity. And they think _I'm_ an idiot?" With a sigh, I spoke up, saying, "Well, looks like we're going in."

"Manjoume! Hang on! We're coming!" Asuka cried, running in as though she hadn't heard me.

Geez, _did _she love Manjoume? If so, she needed to stop playing hard to get. And I'd be doing myself a major favor and forgetting I'd ever met her.

Misawa started, wide-eyed and not really any smarter. "W-wait! Asuka! You can't just rush in like that!" he called, doing exactly the same thing. "Come back here!"

You know, you really shouldn't talk if you're doing the _exact _same thing. I mean, you didn't see any of the three princes just rushing in blindly!

"Guys!" Johan called, proving me wrong as he followed suit. "Are you nuts!? You'll get baptized for sure!"

…Well, shoot. Maybe I really _was _the smartest person here.

All three of them screamed, like Manjoume, and I _knew _something had to be wrong with this. Hopefully the others weren't dumb enough to make the same mistake. I mean, it was bad enough four of us had done it!

"Oh, dear, this is terrible!" Ojin cried. "We've got to get them out of there!"

"Right!" Yubel agreed.

And, showing me that I really _was _the only person intelligent enough to know better, _Prince _Ojin risked his life to do something for which only _I _was needed. He and Yubel both ran in as well, as if she was supposed to protect him and not _me_. Just as before, their screams were heard after they entered.

This just left Sho and me, along with Mizuchi. Man, I really _was _the smartest one standing there, wasn't I?

Sho clung to my waist tighter, trembling. "Aniki. I'm scared. What's happening to them?"

That was a good question. And I had a feeling I wouldn't like the answer.

"What _is _this thing!?" I demanded, glaring at Mizuchi. "What's it doing to my friends!?"

She smiled coldly at me, at last looking like a Light Drone. "If you follow, you will find out." She laughed through her lips, then headed through the steel doors herself.

"Aniki. We _can't _go in there!" said the voice of reason in Sho's body—a little late, though. "What if the same thing happens to us that happened to all of them?"

I had little doubt that the same thing would happen, but what choice did I have? All of my friends had just gone in there, including the only heirs to the thrones of Kalmar and Misgarth. If anything happened to them during my battle with the Light, Kalmar's king would make me wish_ I'd _never survived! Misgarth's might follow suit, with grief blinding him and accusations abounding. Johan's dad would probably say I'd planned it all along so that I could rule the entire world!

But, mostly, I just didn't want to abandon my friends when they needed me.

I growled. "This is exactly why I thought you guys should just leave…" I said, thinking of what good bait they were making for luring me into a trap. "But Manjoume can't take his own advice and not split up." I sighed. "We don't have a choice. We've got to go after them."

Sho's eyes widened. "B-but, Aniki!" he protested.

"I can't just leave them. And you can't stay here alone, and there's no _way _I'm gonna let you try to get out alone."

After all, he'd probably join the Society of Light if he even considered leaving my side.

"But—"

"Come on," I said, heading for the door like the idiots before me.

Sho let me go, just watching. I didn't worry, though, because I knew he'd follow. "B-bu-but—" He sighed, giving in. "Aniki, wait up!" he called, following me.

When I stepped through those doors, it was like being contaminated by the Light all over again. All I could see was white. Granted, it didn't seem dangerous. That is, until Sho entered.

The moment he did, I heard sounds that made me turn. Behind me, Sho was standing in place, his body fizzling the way a hologram might. His eyes widened in panic. If I hadn't been taught composure since I was a kid, mine probably would have, too.

"WHAAA!?" Sho cried. "Anikiii! Help me!" He was fizzling in and out, like he was about to disappear. He reached a hand out for me, terrified.

Keep it together for your friend, Judai!

"Sho!" I cried, reaching out for him.

He faded slowly as my hand just went straight through him.

No!

"A-Ani-k-ki…"

Just like that, he was gone. Gone! My first real friend, aside from Ojin. And, based on his fate, I could guess what had happened to the others.

"SHO!"

My composure nearly shattered there and then. All of my friends, gone, just like that! Sho, Ojin, Johan, Manjoume, Misawa…and Asuka. I was even thinking I'd miss Yubel!

A blue path appeared under my feet as the door closed behind me. "Right this way, Yuki Judai," Mizuchi's voice said. "Your opponent is waiting."

My opponent? What did it matter? I'd just lost everything! All I wanted was to find Ed and Mizuchi and kill them both!

But I had to control myself. I had to remember that these two, if they were both in on it, were probably Light Drones, which meant that they weren't to blame for their actions. I had to finish off the Light of Destruction. I had to save the world.

Even if it was too late for my friends.

I steeled myself. Mourning would have to wait. Right now, I had a job to do.

Without even so much as a backward glance, I turned and headed down the path.

As I walked, the path started turning into a tunnel, ending in darkness. As I approached, I started seeing straight, rainbow-colored lines attached to one another, going in all directions. White flashes traveled down them. They looked like what I imagined computer circuits would.

As I stepped out into this bizarre place, I saw Ed and Mizuchi waiting for me. Ed's arms were crossed, and he was turned so that his side was facing me.

"Where are my friends, Mizuchi?" I asked, bracing myself for an answer I wouldn't like. "What did you do to them?"

"Relax, my prince. You'll see them soon enough," she said.

Not even close to reassuring, given all the different things that could mean.

Ed was clearly involved in this, based on his expression. He wasn't phased in the least. If he wasn't a Light Drone, I'd kill him.

Suddenly bright beams of light started appearing, in varying sizes.

I turned. "What the—"

From the lights, a bunch of random stuff showed up. One was a yellow car with eyes and a mouth. Another was Ojama Black. There was an old man in a lab coat—he greatly resembled the Duel Monster known as Mathematician, aside from his lab coat. Then there was Ruby Carbuncle, the purple, four-eared cat with the rubies on its tail and forehead, though it was there twice; a laser satellite with no face; a female creature with two different colored eyes, long hair that was half white and half purple, purple and black skin, and wings; and, finally, a beautiful golden-haired angel with light blue wings and dress. All those with faces had wide eyes, as if they were shocked.

All the creatures looked at themselves. Well, except for the carbuncles—they were looking at each other.

Ojama Black clenched his fists, gritting his teeth and glaring in a rather Manjoume-like fashion. He growled. "You think this is funny!? Change me back _now_!" he yelled, his voice Manjoume's.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! _What!?_ Was that Manjoume!? Then…the rest were…

"What in the world…?" the female fiend asked, staring at her hands in awe. And, much to my amusement, she sounded like Yubel. How fitting!

"W-why am I so stiff? Judai? What's happened to me?" The voice came from the satellite, sounding like Ojin's.

The Mathematician waved his cane in apparent anger. "That's a cruel stereotype, you know!?" Misawa's voice came from that mouth, though he _did _sound older. "You don't have to be _old _to be a mathematical genius! Hmph!"

"Oh…my…" the angel said, staring at herself.

Oh, my was right! That voice was Asuka's!

"Aniki! Help us!" Sho the car cried frantically.

The carbuncles were playing mirror, mimicking each other perfectly as they sniffed each other, crouched down, then sat up with their tails waving.

"G-guys!?" I called. Hey, can you blame me? Those guys were looking pretty weird. Well, except for Asuka: she was looking great. And Yubel finally looked like what she actually was. I glared at Mizuchi, demanding, "What's going on here!?"

Both carbuncles were sitting up now, and the left one turned to me, saying in Johan's voice, "That's a good question. Why do I look like Ruby Carbuncle? I mean, not that I'm complaining, but…" He lifted his front paws and looked at them.

Mizuchi gave another cold smile, like all girls under the Light's power. She laughed through her lips. "Why, isn't it obvious? I've turned your friends into permanent fixtures in my virtual world. I find that a duelist fights better when the stakes are raised. So, if you want your friends back, you'll have to beat Ed in a duel."

Ed still didn't look phased. Yeah, he was clearly in on this whole thing.

Asuka started, her eyes wide. "W-what? So that means that if Judai doesn't win, we're gonna—"

Manjoume shook with rage, letting out a growl. "Hey! That's sick! You could at _least _change me into something a little more _decent_! Ojama Black! Seriously?"

The three _real _Ojama brothers gathered around him, two looking upset.

_"__But, Aniki," _Ojama Black said. _"What's _wrong _with me?"_

_"__Yeah. I thought you liked us," _Yellow agreed.

_"__You use us in a lot of duels, after all," _Green said, crossing his arms and closing his eye, nodding.

Manjoume glared around at the three, growling again. "Shut up! Just 'cause I use you doesn't mean I want to _be _you! Sheesh." He crossed his arms.

"Of course. A trap," I said. "I should have seen this coming. Actually, I _did _see this coming. But _some _people are too vulnerable to having their bravery challenged!" I cast a pointed look at Manjoume.

Ojin turned to him, saying, "That's right, Manjoume. You are responsible for this."

"Yeah," Sho said, crossing his…uh, wheels…as he glared at Manjoume. "Way to go."

Everybody gathered around him, glaring.

"Oh, shut up!" he snapped.

Yeah, as if that would erase his mistake.

Yubel turned to me, looking furious and maybe even horrified. "Judai! You better win this one! 'Cause _this _just isn't funny! _Look _at me! I'm hideous! Why couldn't I have gotten a more beautiful look, like her?" she demanded, pointing at Asuka with obvious envy.

Asuka jumped back slightly, putting a hand to her heart. Her eyes were wide again.

"I wasn't planning on losing," I answered. Though I cast a look at Asuka out of the corner of my eye, thinking that Yubel was right to be jealous. It was hard not to stare at Asuka just then.

She started, pulling back slightly as all of us guys—well, except Ed, who didn't really _seem _like a guy to me—stared at her. My friends all turned into weirdos when their eyes turned to hearts. Yubel turned her back to them all, glaring over her shoulder at them.

"S-stop that," Asuka said. "It's embarrassing, guys."

"You can do it, pal!" Johan called to me, raising his paws and looking serious. "Kick some butt!"

I nodded, "Right!" I turned to Ed, saying, "Alright, Phoenix, you ready to duel!?"

Ed's eyes were closed, his arms crossed, and he still looked annoyed. "I've been waiting on you this whole time, dimwit. Seriously. Who taught you manners? They failed miserably."

Oh, boy. _That _was going to set her off.

Sure enough, Yubel raised a fist in the air, glaring at him. "Hey, it's not _my _fault he's mission impossible! Why don't _you _try teaching him to—"

Figuring we'd all heard enough of that, I cut her off with, "Well, alright, then! Let's get started!" I activated my duel disk.

Ed looked a bit stunned. "Right…" he answered, following my lead.

"Now, remember," Mizuchi said. "The winner of this match shall determine who the chosen one really is! And the loser will remain here. Trapped forever. Do I make myself clear?"

Well, her conditions were clear. But, if she was telling the truth, she was the weirdest Light Drone I'd ever met. Unless she _wasn't _a Light Drone, which wouldn't really explain why she was there.

"Understood!" Ed answered. "Don't worry, though. _I _won't lose."

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing!" I told him.

Johan stood up on his hind legs, raising a paw into the air. "Go, Judai!"

Misawa waved his cane, calling, "Yeah! You can do it! Ow!" He crouched over, rubbing his back. "My back…"

Manjoume's fist shot up as he glared. "Kick his butt!"

"What _he _said!" Yubel called, glaring.

Mizuchi took on the role of referee, saying, "Duelists ready!? And begin!"

"Duel!" Ed and I both said.

I couldn't afford to lose this one, I knew full well. After all, if I lost, I'd be trapped here forever, and the Light would win.


	37. Insult-Slinging Duelist

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

Ed: 4000  
Judai: 4000

"Well, since you're clearly distracted, I'll go first!" Ed said, drawing his card. "I'll start this off with Double Fusion! This lets me call out my Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer by paying 500 life points and sending Avian and Burstinatrix to the graveyard, followed immediately after by my Sparkman, in order to form my Shining Phoenix Enforcer!" (Atk 2500)

Ed: 3500  
Judai: 4000

"Wait, Shining Phoenix Enforcer?" I asked.

I'd always heard that other kingdoms had different cards, and I'd already seen a few examples. But, now, I was seeing the different Elemental Heroes they had. When I fused those monsters, I always summoned Shining Flare Wingman. But Ed had called out a different monster, one with green skin and shining metal wings.

"Judai! Are you saying you didn't know!?" Asuka exclaimed. "It's the Kalmar form of Shining Flare Wingman!"

"But, Aniki! Gorisuke mentioned that card! 'That fake _Phoenix Enforcer's _cool!' Remember!?" Sho asked.

I sweat. "Oh, uh…right."

All those on the sidelines fainted in one collective thud. Yeah, yeah, so I was kind of slow.

Manjoume shot up, followed immediately by Yubel. Both were glaring at me.

"You idiot!" Manjoume snapped. "How can you not know that!? You've _been _in Kalmar this whole time! And I've already mentioned that thing to you, too! I asked if _yours _had an effect that was _better_! Ring any bells!?"

Okay, okay! Sheesh!

"Not to mention you should _study _your _enemies _so you can think like _they _do!" Yubel added, trying to drag political intrigue into this. "Are you really that stupid!?"

Ed's reaction was a lot tamer. He just stood there, looking disgusted, with his eyes closed.

Yeah, yeah. So I didn't pay a lot of attention. Sue me. I just laughed, not one to let that sort of thing get me down.

"Great," Ed said, annoyed. "May I complete my turn now? Or do you want to wait until SORA's finished with its brainwashing mission?"

Well, way to put me in my place.

"Uh, r-right! Go ahead."

Ed stared for a second, then said, "Right. I play two cards face down and end my turn. Try to stay focused during yours, please. We don't have all year."

"Okay! Draw!" I pulled my card and glanced at it, then said, "I activate Polymerization! And I'll use it to fuse Elemental Hero Wildheart with Necroshade! Come on out, Necroid Shaman!" (Atk 1900)

My two heroes fused, creating a muscular hero with long red hair and tribal tattoos.

"Now for his effect! When he's summoned, I can destroy one of your monsters, but you get a replacement from your graveyard."

"Yes! He got rid of Ed's Shining Phoenix Enforcer before Ed could use it!" Asuka cheered.

Johan threw a paw up into the air. "Go, Judai! You can do it!"

"So say goodbye to Shining Phoenix Enforcer! Summon Avian from your graveyard."

Necroid Shaman destroyed Shining Phoenix Enforcer, and Ed replaced him with the green-feathered hero Avian.

"But, by removing my Shining Phoenix Enforcer from the field, you've activated my D-Time trap!" Ed said, flipping a card with a teacup on it. "I get to add a Destiny Hero from my deck to my hand whose level is lower than the Elemental Hero you just took out!"

Okay, that got my attention!

"D-Hero, huh?"

Everyone kept mentioning those cards, and I was finally getting a chance to see them! This was awesome!

"I take the level 6 D-Hero Double Dude from my deck and add him to my hand! Hurry up and finish your move so I can show you what true heroism is about!" Ed said, giving me an annoyed glare.

Wow. Really? Ah, well. No reason to get worked up about something so small.

"Necroid Shaman, attack his Avian!" I commanded.

"Not so fast! Since you brought back my Elemental Hero, I'm allowed to activate my Hero Shield!"

Oh. Well, I walked right into that one.

"Not bad," Misawa said. "First Ed played D-Time in anticipation that his hero would be destroyed, then he was prepared to defend his field, should an E-Hero still exist this turn!"

"That's a pro for ya! Always one step ahead," Johan said.

"And you're smiling, why?" Yubel asked him with a glare.

Heh. Yeah, he and I were really alike. Johan sweat and rubbed his head, laughing awkwardly. Yubel shook her head in disgust, the same way she always did with me.

"A pro prepares for all possibilities, Prince Johan! Anything could happen in a duel," Ed said.

Well said, Ed.

"Not bad," I admitted. "Guess I end my turn."

"Heh. That's it? And you call yourself a duelist," Ed taunted.

As if I hadn't heard that one before.

Ed drew his card, getting serious again. "My turn, then! I sacrifice my Elemental Hero Avian and summon Double Dude in attack mode!" (Atk 1000)

Double Dude appeared, a guy in a black suit and hat. He was carrying a cane, and there was a scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face. Double Dude…as in D-Hero Double Dude, the monster he'd just added to his hand!

"So that's a D-Hero, huh?" I asked, excitement taking over.

"Quit acting so pathetic!" Ed snapped at me. "This isn't kid stuff! It's a serious matter!"

"Geez, no need to bite my head off," I said. I mean, I was just having fun. What was the harm in that?

"Then get serious! The fate of the world is at stake here! Look at my hero!" He pointed at Double Dude, demanding, "Does he look amused!? My heroes know what a burden it is having to take responsibility for others!"

That so? And the crown prince of Neospace _didn't_?

I blinked, not sure what he or his monsters would know about that sort of burden. "Uh…okay…"

"A true hero understands the weight they have to bear! That's why you can't be the hero! You don't know how difficult a hero's life is! And I'll prove it with this spell card! Dark City! A fitting battle field for a scarred hero!"

"Dark City?" I asked.

"Yes. Dark City. A city filled with crime and violence. A place where heroes are constantly on call, 24/7. They never get a break or have time to rest. Day in, day out, they fight until their bodies are scarred and sore. And, yet, they continue to do so because the people need them. They don't have time to sit around and admire some useless trophies or watch TV. Their lives are for the people, and that's all they live for! A true hero carries this burden their entire life! And they use it to motivate themselves to keep going, no matter what. So if an enemy is stronger than them, all they have to do is use their burdens to give them additional strength! That's the D-Hero's Dark City! They get 1000 points of power when attacking a tougher opponent!"

Whoa… Was he serious? And why did he sound a bit like one of my tutors? I mean, not that I'd been told this about a "true hero" before, but I'd always been told by my tutors and parents that a good king needed to put their people's needs above his own and always consider the well-being of others when making decisions. But the way he was talking about it, like it was a never-ending struggle against evil…

"You've got a pretty grim outlook on life, don't you?" I said.

It's true. He did have a grim outlook on life.

"What?" he asked.

"Never mind," I said. "Just take your turn."

Ed stared at me for a second, then brushed me off. "I attack with my Double Dude! And, since Dark City's out and he's weaker than your monster, he gains another 1000 attack points!"

"Just like Skyscraper…" I said.

The D-Heroes and E-Heroes seemed to have a few things in common.

Double Dude hit my monster, his attack rising just enough to win.

Ed: 3500  
Judai: 3900

"Now, due to Double Dude's effect, he can attack twice!"

"What!?"

Okay, I guess I should have seen that coming with a name like Double Dude. But still. His second attack was unexpected, and he hit me directly.

Ed: 3500  
Judai: 2900

"That ends my turn."

"Judai! You moron!" Yubel snapped. "What was that!? Ever heard of _defending yourself_!? Focus!"

Well, Yubel was being critical, but what else was new? She _always _was!

"Yes! Please do!" Ojin agreed. "I don't want to be a satellite forever!"

"Or an old man forever! Ow! Oh, that's just wrong…"

For the guy holding his back, I would gladly have pointed out that he would, someday, _be _an old man. That is, if I didn't have more important things to worry about, like the fact that I needed to win, or the fact that everyone was trying to tell me how to duel _again_.

I sighed and muttered, "Again with the backseat dueling…"

"Well, duel better, and we won't care!" Yubel answered.

Yeah, like I'd ever duel well enough for _her _to keep her mouth shut.

"Draw," I said, pulling a card from my deck. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!" (Atk 1600)

Sparkman appeared, ready for battle.

"Sparkman, attack his Double Dude!"

Like Skyscraper, Dark City only raised the monster's attack power when it was attacking, not when it was attacked. Double Dude's attack stayed at 1000, and Sparkman easily wiped him out with a burst of electricity. And, with that, we were tied.

Ed: 2900  
Judai: 2900

Seeing as Yubel would never let me live it down if I _didn't _defend myself somehow (and I actually _could_ this turn), I slid a card into my duel disk and said, "I play one card face down. Turn end."

"My move!" Ed said, drawing his card. "First off, Judai, because you destroyed my Double Dude last turn, I now get two Double Dude Tokens!"

Two tokens that looked exactly like Double Dude appeared, with 1000 attack points each.

"Now I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards! Then I summon my D-Hero Doom Lord!" (Atk 600)

Okay, so, with Dark City, his monster's attack would rise to 1600, making it equal to Sparkman's power. So…

I blinked. "Okay? So are you aiming for a suicide strike? Or does he have some sort of effect you plan to use?"

"Hmph. Who do you think I am?" Ed asked. "Of course there's an effect! Like this. I activate my Doom Lord's effect to remove your Sparkman from play!"

Whoa! Uh, okay, that certainly changed things.

"What!?"

"Relax. You'll get it back later. But, for now, I play my last card face down and end my turn."

"Huh? Why didn't he attack Aniki this turn?" Sho asked. "He was wide open, thanks to that effect!"

"Because, Sho," Asuka said. "When Doom Lord uses his effect, the player can't attack until next turn."

"Oh."

"Hmph. Are you stupid? Everyone knows that!" Manjoume said.

Sho turned to him, glaring fiercely. "Shut up! _I'm _not the one who ran in here without thinking!"

He had a point. Everyone glared at Manjoume. Well, except Ojin. I mean, you need a face to glare, but he did turn to Manjoume.

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up, you idiot, and get us out of here!" Manjoume yelled at me. "They're getting on my nerves!"

Well, in all fairness, it was _his _fault we were all there to begin with. But whatever.

"I draw! And summon Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird in attack mode!" (Atk 800)

A humanoid, red hummingbird appeared.

"Heh. I've heard of that," Ed said. "That card can supposedly give you life points, depending on what I've got in my hand. Too bad that's nothing right now." Ed closed his eyes, giving a smug smile at what he perceived as my stupidity.

Yubel turned her back to me, saying, "I don't know him."

What else was new?

"Well, at least it beats that Doom Lord, I…guess," Johan said, sweating.

Wow. Really, Johan?

"I'm going to be an old man forever," Misawa said, running his hands down the side of his head.

Okay, this was getting a little old. Uh, pun not intended.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm an idiot and you all wish I'd just get a brain already," I said. "Sheesh. Air Hummingbird attacks Doom Lord!"

"Heh."

As Air Hummingbird attacked, Ed was smiling. That couldn't be good.

Ed: 2700  
Judai: 2900

"Naturally a true hero will realize when they're not needed and pass the torch on to another!" Ed said, pushing a button on his duel disk. "D-Signal, activate! With it, I can summon another D-Hero to the field! And I choose Diamond Dude!" (Atk 1400)

Diamond Dude was a guy with a green cape and diamonds jutting out all over his body.

Sho put his wheels to his face—yeah, this was weird to describe—worried. "Oh, no! If Ed gets one more monster like that, he'll wipe Aniki out next turn!"

"Now, calm down, Sho," Asuka said. "Judai's turn isn't over yet. Hopefully he's got a plan to turn this around."

…Okay, she didn't think I stood a chance, either. Granted, my dueling wasn't exactly great that match, but still, did _anyone _think I could win?

Yubel crossed her arms and laughed, like I knew she would. "Ha! _Judai _have a plan? Not likely. Although he better at _least _have remembered what 'defending' is all about. Otherwise _I'm _gonna kill him if he loses this thing! I'm _far _more attractive to look at than _this._" She looked herself over in disgust.

Personally, I thought that she should stay like that. After all, that way, her inner self and outer self were finally matched. But I didn't say that, of course.

I growled, knowing full well what sorts of comments would be coming my way next. "At the risk of having everybody yell at me for being an idiot again, I end my turn."

As expected, there were cries of "Judai!" and "Aniki!" and "Prince!"

"Way to misuse a Neo-Spacian!" Yubel yelled. "_Again_!"

Sho turned to Johan and asked, "Do I look okay as a car?"

Don't answer that, Johan. _Please._

"You're nothing compared to some of these guys, Sho," he said. "Don't worry. Do _I_ look okay as a Ruby Carbuncle?"

…Calm, casual conversation about what they had been turned into. As if they'd be staying that way for a long time. They had absolutely no faith in me!

I closed my eyes and muttered, "Seriously. I need new friends…"

"My turn!" Ed said. He drew a card. "I activate my Diamond Dude's effect! I draw one card from my deck. If it's a normal spell card, I get to activate it next turn by sending it to the graveyard. But, if it's not a normal spell, I shuffle it back into my deck."

Well, that sounded like fun.

Ed closed his eyes, getting all dramatic on me. "Watch and learn. The power of destiny!" He pulled a card from his deck, then said, "I drew Monster Reborn!"

Well, _that _sucked for me.

Johan's eyes widened. "Oh, wow. Now _that's _a lucky draw!"

Yubel crossed her arms, glaring at him again. "Andersen!"

Johan shrugged at her, looking confused. "What? I never said it was cool."

Ed slipped the card into his graveyard, saying, "Well, I'd say that means this duel _isn't _over just yet. Although it might as well be. I summon my Disk Commander in attack mode!" (Atk 300)

"And _that's _enough monsters to take out Judai's life points," Ojin said, gloomy. "Why didn't he duel better? I know he's not _this _bad."

Geez, I just _loved_ how sure they were that I was going to lose. Seriously, I _did_ still have a face-down card, too. You know, those things I never pay enough attention to?

Misawa was holding his midsection, saying, "I think I broke my spleen…" as he lay down in a fetal position.

Sho turned back to Johan, and the two continued their casual conversation about their new appearances. "Your rubies go great with your fur color, Johan. Don't worry."

Johan looked relieved. "Oh, thank goodness! I'd hate not to match for the rest of my—"

"First of all, Misawa, a spleen isn't something you 'break,'" I said, tackling one problem at a time. "And, second, for crying out loud, guys, I haven't lost yet!"

"No, but you will! _You're _not a true hero!" Ed said, glaring. "You don't carry the burdens that _we _do!

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"All you think about is yourself! I'm surprised, honestly, that you _do _care for those friends of yours, really." He crossed his arms. "What? Get so lonely that you can't stand leaving your allies behind? Talk about a poor excuse to watch out for them. _I_ actually care about my friends!" He leaned forward as he finished, "That's why I'm doing this! Because I care about Saiou!"

What did he say!? Was he seriously implying that I didn't care about my friends!? That wasn't true! Not even close!

"I-is that really true?" Sho asked, sounding upset. "_Is _Aniki just using us to keep himself company? My nii-san said something like that, too…" He looked down.

No! It wasn't true!

Not helping (as usual), Yubel crossed her arms and said, "Well, he _is _a desperately lonely prince, so—"

Why, that no-good… Having a total stranger say that I didn't care about my friends was one thing. Having _Yubel _telling one of my _friends_ that I didn't care about him was unacceptable! I'd set them _all _straight right now!

"Don't be so quick to judge, Ed," I said. "That's not the case at all. I really do care about the others—not just my friends, but the well-being of my kingdom! It may not seem like it to you, but I do more for my people than you would know!"

"Wait, hold up," Ojin said, sounding surprised. "He _does_?"

…

"That's a first," Yubel muttered. Then she humphed.

Oh, for the love of all that's holy!

Johan looked stunned. "Sheesh. And people think _I'm_ bad…"

"You see? Even your allies think you're selfish. I'm doing this for the world _and _my friends!"

"Johan, Ojin, remind me to get better friends after this," I said, somewhat offended that neither of them realized that I cared about them at all. I mean, Johan I could understand. But I'd known Ojin for years! He should have _known_ better! Unless _he _wasn't really my friend!

Ojin freaked out, apparently thinking that my irritated comment was a declaration of war. "Oh, please, Judai. Don't become Johan's enemy again! The war hasn't even—"

"As for you, Ed, what they know is nothing!" I said, ignoring Ojin. I mean, I was now thoroughly convinced that my friends didn't know me at all. Most of them had the excuse of inexperience since they hadn't known me that long, but Ojin couldn't claim ignorance on those grounds. "I _do _care about others, and I always have! Sure, _some_ people may not think so, but what do they know!? I know how to care for my people, and I pay attention to their needs! And I've been doing it for way longer than _any _of you guys would think!"

Yeah, they'd really insulted me that time. I mean, being called irresponsible and stupid was one thing, but nobody could ever tell me I didn't care about anyone but myself! If that was the case, I wouldn't have gone back to Neospace! I mean, from what I'd remembered of my life at the time, it sucked! So why would I have wanted to go back to a place I hated if I was completely selfish!? And I wouldn't have stood up for Sho, seeing as I had no way of knowing we'd become friends! I wouldn't have told him to get out of his town and go _anywhere_ else because I'd have said he should come with me! I wouldn't even have _been _there because I wouldn't have gone to save Asuka! Yes, I could be lazy. Yes, I could be an idiot. Yes, I was ridiculously irresponsible. But I wasn't selfish, and _that _was certain!

"Really," Ed said. "Then why don't you start showing it more! All you do is—"

I didn't need to justify myself to him! I cut him off, "Enough! Let's get on with this so I can _show _you what I mean!"

"So _does _he care or doesn't he?" Sho asked. "I'm confused…"

Oh, for the love of…

"He cares about you, Sho," Asuka said. "He just won't do much for everyone else."

Aw, come on!

"Oh. Okay," Sho said, relieved.

I cast them both a lame look. "Really?"

"Oh, whatever! It's obvious you're lying to cover your back, but that won't work on me! It's time a _true _hero stood up to you! You're not worthy of the powers you possess, so I'm taking your right to them! I attack with my Diamond Dude! Show Judai why it's his destiny to lose to me right now!"

Diamond Dude attacked, destroying Air Hummingbird.

Ed: 2700  
Judai: 2300

Everyone cried out their respective titles for me, all those with faces having looks of horror fixed on them.

Yubel turned away again, saying, "That's it. He's so—"

I narrowed my eyes and said, "And people think _I _don't pay attention to face-downs." I pushed a button on my duel disk, activating my card that everyone seemed to have forgotten. "I activate Hero Signal!"

Ed started, his eyes widening. Guess even _he _was caught off-guard. Well, stop underestimating me so much! "No way! _You_ set a trap!? But you're—"

"Smarter than anybody here thinks!" Muttering, I added, "Seriously, that act works _way _too well sometimes…"

The truth of the matter, sometimes I was an idiot. Other times, I acted like I was an idiot because it was easier to deal with an enemy who underestimated me than with one who knew my true capabilities. It was an idea I'd come up with when I was a toddler, and it was endorsed by one of my tutors, so I was more than happy to keep doing it. But, sometimes, I wished I hadn't started doing it. That duel was one of those times.

Ed just stared at me in awe.

"Anyway, since you destroyed my monster, this card lets me call out another one!" I went on. "And I'm using it to get Clayman out here in defense mode!" (2000)

"Yes! Finally, a wise move!" Johan cheered.

Manjoume's arms were crossed in annoyance. He muttered, "Took him long enough. Hmph!"

"Way to go, Judai! Your powers to hang in there have prevailed once again!" Ojin added.

"That's _one _thing he does right," Yubel muttered. "Not that that helps us any."

Ed stared a bit longer before, amazed, he said, "Good move. But destiny's on my side, so—"

"Destiny?" I cut him off, thinking he was sounding an awful lot like a Light Drone. "You _sure _you aren't with the Light? Because _it _swears by destiny. Who _told _you I'd lose? What is your _deal_?"

"_Who_ said you'd lose? Why, Saiou did, of course. He told me a long time ago that I was destined to save him, and that's just what I'm going to do!"

Whoa, wait. Saiou? As in the same Saiou that was under the control of the Light of Destruction? The one who we were currently fighting over the right to challenge?

Suddenly this was sounding a lot more suspicious. Maybe Ed wasn't a Light Drone, but it didn't change the fact that he was too gullible to be allowed near the Light's leader. After all, he'd believe the guy when he said it was his "destiny" to lose!

No doubt about it—I had to win this duel!


	38. Ed's Story

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

"Isn't Saiou the one possessed by the Light?" I asked. "When, exactly, did he tell you this?"

Ed hesitated a moment before he answered, "Before the Light emerged."

Well, that was surprising. And likely to raise some questions, even among the most reasonable of people, if they weren't from my kingdom. And, unfortunately, only one of these people _was_ from my kingdom, so I was definitely expecting some sort of explosive reaction.

Sure enough, my audience—those with eyes—had theirs turn to the size of pinheads. "Eh!?" some cried. Others opted for, "Wha!?"

"S-so, does _that_ mean that Ed really _is_ the true hero!?" Sho asked.

"He really _did_ steal that deck…" Manjoume said.

Johan was staring in awe.

I couldn't blame them for their shock and doubt this time. I mean, Neospacians were the ones who had it pounded into them from an early age that the chosen hero would be the first-born prince of Neospace. Kalmar learned that my family was full of loathsome deadbeats, as I'd learned recently, and most of these guys were from there.

I decided to wait and see if Ed was going to elaborate on that, so I didn't say anything.

Ed looked away, seeming upset. "Saiou… I've known him since we were little. We used to hang out all the time. He was a fortune teller, and he always read me mine. One day, he told me his future was in grave danger. That a devil would come after him."

"A devil?"

"Could that have been the Light of Destruction?" Johan asked.

"Correct, my prince," Ed said. "The devil he was referring to is, in fact, the Light of Destruction. But we didn't know this at the time."

* * *

**Ed's POV**

It was time to prove that Judai really _couldn't _be the chosen hero. After all, not only was he too irresponsible and selfish, but I had been told that it was my destiny to save Saiou. Since the Light of Destruction was what he needed saving from, that must have meant that _I _was the true hero!

So I told them my story.

**I was ten years old when I knocked on Saiou's foster family's door after school. He answered, looking completely depressed.**

"**Hi, Saiou!" I said, excited about what my father had just given me. "Thought I'd drop by to say hi! And to see if you wanted to play cards with me! My dad just made a deck for me that'll blow you away!"**

**My father was a card designer, so when I said he had made me a deck, I meant each card had been specially designed for me.**

**Saiou looked away, saying, "I'm sorry, my friend. But now isn't the time…"**

**I looked at my friend, concerned. After all, it had been a long time since I'd seen him this upset. "Huh? What's wrong? You haven't looked this down since the day your mom died. Are you and your sister being relocated?"**

**Saiou closed his eyes and shook his head. "I wish it were that simple, Ed… As it is, however, I just received a message from the gods… Something…terrible is about to happen…"**

**A message from the gods? That could only mean his powers had shown him something. But what, I wondered?**

**I stood there on the front porch, looking at him in concern. "What do you mean?"**

"**Come inside, Ed," Saiou said, stepping aside. "I want to show you something."**

**I headed inside, wondering what fate had in store for me this time. I had long ago become a believer in Saiou's powers when everything he had predicted about my future had come true. Most recently, he'd told me that my father would make me a special deck for my birthday. That had happened the day before, on my tenth birthday. Needless to say, I never doubted his predictions.**

**Saiou and I sat down at a small table with a deck of tarot cards sitting in the center. I waited anxiously for him to pull a card from it. When he did, his eyes closed, it was the Devil. I'd learned by then what that card meant.**

**My eyes widened, and I leaned forward in horror. "Th-that card is—!" I cut myself off, looking at Saiou with increasing worry.**

"**That, Ed, is my future… A devil will emerge from its long slumber and overtake me… A great battle will ensue…" He closed his eyes again sadly as he finished.**

"**A battle?" I asked.**

**Saiou looked me square in the eye, his expression one of total seriousness. "Yes. One that hasn't been seen in 500 years… The time for a hero is fast approaching…" He drew another card, getting the Emperor card upright. "One with a heart that's pure and true. A hero who bears the weight of the whole world on their shoulders…though the cards won't show me the hero in question, this card keeps coming up when I think about you…"**

**Was Saiou trying to say what I thought he was?**

**I gasped, my eyes widening with realization. "S-so does that mean what I think it does?"**

"**I can't be sure yet, Ed. But, if the cards are right, it seems you're destined to save me from this evil somehow…though your purpose may be different than what we're thinking it is…" He closed his eyes again and drew one more card: The Chariot, upside down. "The true nature of our destinies is uncertain…because this sign means to defy destiny… I've…never been so confused about the future as I am now…" He shook his head, then lowered it, looking upset.**

**He seemed so depressed, and I knew the teen must have been really distraught. After all, it wasn't possible to defy destiny, so such a message didn't make sense.**

**But one thing was clear: I had to save Saiou from whatever was coming. Not just him, but the entire world!**

**I stood up, looking determined. My sudden movement drew Saiou's attention. "Saiou! I understand what I have to do! If your fate and the fate of the world rests with me, then I promise you! **_**I'll **_**become a true hero and fight that great battle! I'll save you **_**and **_**the world we love so much!"**

**Saiou looked at me, seemingly touched. "Ed…"**

"**I swear to you! With this chosen deck my dad gave me, I'll do it! I'll save this world and restore peace to the land! I won't give up until this world is safe again! Then we can **_**both**_** live in peace forever more!"**

**The passion burning in my eyes caused Saiou to smile as he stood up as well. "So be it," he said. "I wish you the best of luck, my friend. The matter rests with you now." He held out a hand, which I took in a firm handshake, smiling.**

**After that, my training to become a hero had begun.**

So, as you can clearly see, _I_ was meant to save the world, not some spoiled and selfish prince.

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Well, that was quite a story. Though I saw something in there that Ed obviously didn't—something that threw a serious monkey wrench into his delusion that he was the chosen hero.

The others, apparently, didn't quite catch it. They seemed to be in awe.

"Whoa…" Johan said.

"That's…" said Ojin.

See what I mean? Awe.

"See?" Ed asked. "That's why you won't win, Judai! You're a fake hero, and _this _mess requires a real one!"

Okay, did I say there was one thing that threw a monkey wrench in? Sorry, there were actually _two_. See, the fact that he believed in predetermined fate to begin with was already making it glaringly obvious that he _couldn't_ be the chosen hero because the chosen hero _defies _this so-called fate.

Johan sweat, seemingly nervous. Well, after that story, who but a native Neospacian could blame him? I mean, it was only obvious to _me_ what that story showed. "D-don't listen to him, Judai!" he said. "He wasn't born royal, and the prophesy states that only a _prince _receives the power!" Muttering, he seemed stunned when he said, "Why Saiou said Ed should's a mystery…"

Well, at least he didn't seem to totally believe Ed's story. He just didn't get what it was all about.

"He's right, Judai!" Asuka agreed. "Ignore him! You've been purifying us this whole time, and only the chosen hero can do that!"

"Yeah, what they said!" Yubel added, "It's not _your _fault you were born stupid, after all! The Neo-Spacians couldn't tell that when they chose you! Don't beat yourself up for being _you_."

Ignoring that last one, I took a moment to gather my thoughts, then told Ed, "Regardless of what he told you, I'm no fake. I never thought I was a fake, so you guys can all rest easy. Besides, that whole 'defying destiny' thing could throw all of this out the window. Nobody can totally accurately tell the future, especially when it involves a guy who _defies_ destiny. That last card he drew destroys your whole story."

If he didn't accept the truth of those words, he was a fool.

"Think that if you want," Ed said, showing me that I'd need to prove it to him. "I end my turn. Let's let destiny decide who the chosen one really is." For good measure (you know, to show how stubborn he was), he crossed his arms.

Okay, clearly, I _did_ need to prove him wrong. But I wasn't letting this imaginary destiny decide anything.

"While the point is clearly true, I'd like to know why a prince like _that_ was chosen. He's lazier than you are," Ojin said, turning to Johan accusingly.

Really? Come on, I know I'm lazy, but that doesn't mean you have to keep pointing it out!

Johan narrowed his eyes at him in annoyance. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

Well, if we were both lazy, that was another thing we had in common, I supposed.

"Ojin, you can rest assured that I'm not planning on fighting Kalmar ever," I said. "One of these days, maybe you'll believe me when I say Johan and I are _friends._" I drew my card, then said, "I activate the field spell Skyscraper! And you know what that means!"

"Tch. You take away the D-Hero's advantage," Ed said.

"Bingo! And give one to the E-Heroes! Next I summon Elemental Hero Avian!" (Atk 1000)

Yubel cupped her hands around her mouth, calling, "That thing better be attacking that Diamond Dude of his! You attack the wrong thing with that wimp, and I'll never forgive you!"

Okay, so she was insulting my monsters _and _me all at the same time. Well, what else was new with her?

"What _she _said!" Manjoume agreed, making me think the two of _them_ should get married. "Use your wimps wisely, or don't use 'em at all!"

I twitched slightly. Again with the backseat dueling? "Uh, you guys _do _know I can do simple math, right? _And _I understand effects?"

"Ignore them, Judai, and get on with your move!" Asuka commanded. "We're counting on you, remember!?"

"Yeah, well, _some _of you have got a funny way of showing it," I muttered. "I switch Clayman to attack mode, which will cue another chorus of 'you idiots' from my cheerleaders!"

Misawa lay down, yawning as he said, "Just hurry up and end this duel… It's way past my nap time…" And he started snoring.

_Snoring. _I mean, I know he was an old man in this world, but seriously? He was _sleeping_!?

"I'll worry when it's time to worry!" Ojin snapped. "Just finish your move already!"

"'When,' huh?" I asked.

Ojin sweat. "Well, you're not dueling as good as you usually do, so…" he said, sounding awkward.

Well, I supposed I could accept that. It wasn't like it was a lie.

I sighed, then turned my attention back to the duel. "Clayman attacks your Disk Commander!"

"Argh," Ed muttered as Clayman charged his monster.

The attack hit dead-on, destroying Disk Commander.

Ed: 2200  
Judai: 2300

"Next Avian's gonna take out your Diamond Dude!"

With Skyscraper's effect, Avian's attack power rose to 2000. Avian launched a shower of white feathers at Diamond Dude, destroying him, too. Ed didn't look too thrilled with me. Well, gee, I wonder why?

Ed: 1600  
Judai: 2300

"Huh?" Sho asked. "Why didn't Avian get destroyed? Diamond Dude had higher attack points!"

…Really, Sho? I could have sworn I'd used Skyscraper around him before.

Manjoume glared, making the car jump a bit. "Idiot!"

At the same time, Yubel smacked herself in the forehead.

"What?" Sho asked, ever the naïve one.

And people thought I was bad.

Asuka covered her face with a hand, sighing. Aside from Manjoume, Misawa, and Yubel, everyone else did the same (well, in Johan's case, it was a paw) and sweat.

Okay, it was time to take pity on my forgetful friend.

"Because Skyscraper raises an Elemental Hero's attack power by 1000 when they fight against a monster more powerful than them," I answered.

"How many times you seen that effect used?" Yubel asked, annoyed. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at him. "Or were your eyes closed every time he used it?"

"He's an idiot. A complete and total _idiot_," Manjoume muttered, still covering his face.

"Wow… No wonder he doesn't duel…" said Johan, stunned.

Yeah, I was totally starting to get that, too. He needed some serious help if he was ever going to be a duelist.

Sho slouched down in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Ed blinked at Sho, looking just as stunned as everyone else. Hey, he had a right. Sho _was _pretty startling when you first met him.

Turning back to me, Ed asked with genuine curiosity, "You always make friends with the most needy of people, Judai? At least Saiou could handle himself up until now."

Okay, that was rude.

"So your reason for wanting this burden of mine is so that you can save your friend?" I asked, ignoring the rude comment about _my_ friend.

Once again, Ed glared at me. It seemed I was real good at getting that reaction out of him. "Well, somebody's got to! _You're _no hero, and I've been preparing for this my entire life! Get out of my way so I can save him! It's my destiny to do so!" He sounded a bit anxious with what I could only guess was worry.

Okay, so I was in his way. Not him in _my_ way while I was _trying_ to save his friend. No. _I_ was the one getting in the way. I was starting to think this guy was a serious loner, at least when it came to dealing with any issues he had.

Well, better to ask than to just assume. After all, there's a saying about assuming.

"Do you always try to tackle all of your problems on your own? Is your trust in others really that low?" I asked.

"That's not it! It's just that—"

"That it's your 'destiny?'" I cut him off. "That Saiou's your friend? Well, let me tell you something, the Light's gonna tell you that it's your 'destiny' to lose to it, so, unless you believe that people can create their own destinies, you aren't going to have any luck there, either. And, if you care about your friend so much, you need to be willing to let others help you sometimes. You can't always save someone on your own."

I should have known all about that, given that my entourage was only here because of my inability to save Asuka by myself.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about a person's destiny! Saiou can see the future, and he told me a hero with a heart of gold would save him," Ed said.

Yeah, as if the Light didn't "see the future," too.

Ed pointed an accusing finger at me, going on, "_You_ run from your duties all the time, so you don't have one!"

Yeah, as if being irresponsible meant I didn't have a heart of gold? Having a heart of gold meant you cared about people, sometimes more than yourself, at least where _I_ came from. So, seeing as I _did_ care about people, I qualified for Saiou's dumb prediction. It wasn't like I ever flaked out on any _important_ responsibilities. Just, you know, an occasional lesson. No harm, right? I always made it up later.

Ed put a hand to his heart. "_I _never do, so let's get on with this thing before your selfish actions cause SORA to strike the earth!"

Yeah, uh, that would be _your _fault. I mean, I was _going_ to go stop Saiou, but _you_ dragged me off for a duel so you could prove you were better than me. Seriously, did he _really_ think that was the selfless thing to do?

"Didn't you just say that Saiou also drew a card that implied destiny would be defied?" I pushed on, not willing to give up. I mean, I could save us both a whole lot of time if I could just convince the stubborn guy he was wrong. "I know all about defying 'destiny' because that's just what I do! I don't even believe in it because every prediction someone makes about me turns out to be wrong!"

"Did you forget about SORA, you _selfish excuse _for a prince!? Your nonsense about 'defying' destiny is costing the world _its _future! Shut up and duel so I can finish this already!"

Okay, not go be totally cliché, but the pot was seriously calling the kettle black. I admit, I can be selfish at times. I admit I'm often irresponsible. But Ed wasn't being much better, distracting me from my mission because of his delusions! At least I was ready to admit I wasn't perfect.

"Hmm… Good point," Yubel said in typical fashion.

Ugh… She was such a pain.

"It _is _a prince's job to help protect their people, after all," Johan said.

"And to learn how to care for them better," Ojin added. "So letting SORA hit the earth _really_ isn't taking care of them, is it?"

Okay, yeah, I got the point, guys. I needed to stop trying to reason with the unreasonable and just beat him already. Geez, did I really need more pressure?

"Wasn't planning on it," I said, taking a card from my hand. "I play a card face down. Turn end."

"Hmph. Fool. Even the other princes know I'm right!" Ed said. Muttering, he added, "Defy destiny! Not a guy like _that_!"

Well. _He _certainly wasn't going to do any better than he thought I would in that area.

He drew his next card, then said, "Since I'm pretty sure you forgot this, let me remind you that you get your Sparkman back this turn."

As soon as he said that, Sparkman reappeared, returning from his trip through time.

"Not that it will help you much. Especially after I activate that Monster Reborn card my Diamond Dude got me last turn to summon my Disk Commander back to the field!"

Disk Commander returned, with 300 attack points.

"Hmm. Not a bad call," Johan said. "When Disk Commander is summoned to the field from the graveyard, Ed gets to add two more cards to his hand from the deck."

"He wha?" Sho asked, casting a worried look at our calm and collected furball of a friend. "But, if he does _that_, he could—"

While Sho was talking, Ed drew his cards. "Destiny's on _my _side!"

Like that mattered? I had already told him the one with the power to stop the Light of Destruction could _defy_ destiny! What part of that was so hard to understand?

"Because of that, you get to see one of my best monsters now, Judai!"

One of his best monsters? Part of me wanted to get excited, but another part of me was too pressured by the situation to even let that excited part of me _try_ to come out.

Asuka gasped, covering her mouth. Her eyes widened in horror. "No. It couldn't be!"

"Knowing _our_ luck, it is," Manjoume said.

Yubel muttered, "Just what we needed. Sheesh."

Annoyed as always, you two? Seriously, hook up, get married, and _don't_ have annoying little babies. You'd be horrible parents, anyway.

Misawa was still snoozing away, so he didn't comment.

"Here goes!" Ed went on. "I sacrifice my three monsters to summon my main trump card, Destiny Hero Plasma!" (Atk 1900)

Johan's eyes widened as he perked up the way I would have if not for my conflicting feelings about this duel. "Oh, wow. Plasma! It's—"

Yubel glared fiercely, yelling in his face, "Can it! This is _not_ the time, _mister_!"

He cringed away from her, grinning and sweating.

Asuka turned to all those stunned by her enhanced beauty and said, "Okay, guys. I'm setting some ground rules here and now. Under _no_ circumstances, and I mean _no_ circumstances, can _any _of you touch me! And another thing—"

Ugh… Again? Clearly this was a good monster if it was inspiring another round of doubt.

"Oh, will you guys knock it off already!?" I snapped.

"But, Judai!" Ojin started, worried. "That monster is—"

"I activate my monster's effect!" Ed cut him off. "Once per turn, he can absorb one monster! And I choose your Sparkman, Judai!"

"What!?"

Okay, I was starting to get why they were worried.

"That's not all!" Ojin said. "Now half of Sparkman's attack gets added to Plasma's!"

Sho gasped, his eyes widening. "Y-you mean it's got—"

"2700 attack points…" I said.

Now I _really_ saw why they were worried, given that my other two monsters couldn't stand up to that even _with _Skyscraper.

Yubel put a hand to her head and finally got on me for switching Clayman's battle position. "And Clayman's in attack mode, too… Ugh."

"Get ready, Judai, 'cause the end is near!" Ed said. "Plasma! Attack his Clayman! Bloody Spears!"

I couldn't afford to let him hit me, so it was a good thing I had a face-down card.

"Trap, activate!" I said, pushing a button to flip my card. "Negate Attack! So the battle phase ends!"

"Seriously?" Ed asked, sounding annoyed again.

One of these days, I'd have to figure out if this guy had any different moods besides annoyed and angry.

"I'm told I'm good at hanging on by a thread," I told him.

"That was close." Johan's eyes were wide with relief.

"Yeah, you idiot!" Manjoume agreed, glaring at me. "Watch it _next_ time! This guy's been a pro _way _longer than most of us here! He's _your _superior when it comes to dueling!"

Yeah, thanks for the update. Was that maybe why these guys were so sure I would lose? Because Ed, unlike any of the others I'd faced that day, was a duelist for a living? Well, I guess it made sense. It wasn't like I spent all day playing cards, after all. And I _was _pretty new with that deck.

"And brains," Yubel muttered.

Ignoring that.

Misawa rolled over and scratched his side, snoring loudly.

Okay, old man or not, that was annoying. I glared at them, not sure if it was because of Misawa's snore or because I'd decided _not _to ignore Yubel's comment.

"Okay, that's enough nonsense from you," Ed said. "I play two cards face down and end my turn."

Nonsense from me? He was the one with the nonsense! He was holding me up with this crap about how it was his "destiny" to defeat the Light of Destruction! Heck, I was tempted to let him challenge the guy before me just to see him cave instantly when the Light used Saiou to tell him it was his "destiny" to lose. A guy who put that much stock in predetermined fate would _never _be chosen by the Neo-Spacians.

And I was going to prove it if it killed me.


	39. The Duel's End

**Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.**

* * *

It was my turn, and it was high time I showed Ed what I was really made of.

I pulled a card from my deck. "Draw." One glance at my card, and I was grinning.

It didn't last long. Ed pushed a button on his duel disk, revealing his trap card. "Now! Trap card, activate! Plasma Roar!"

I groaned. "And what's that do?"

"Watch! During your standby phase from now on, Plasma Roar will collect a Plasma Counter. But more on that later. You were saying?"

He was smiling so smugly that this _must _have been a bad card for me.

As if I needed more proof, the audience freaked when they saw that card, too.

Asuka gasped, her eyes widening in worry. "Oh, no! Is that maybe—"

Manjoume put a hand to his Ojama head and slammed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth. Well, that was a first. So this card must really have been bad news. "Damn it!"

"And now we're doomed." Yubel muttered, "Weak monsters and few trap-destroyers in one pathetic—"

She got so quiet after that it was impossible to make out the rest. She only got that annoyed when we were in real trouble, like that one time I'd managed to get us both surrounded by a bunch of thugs from Misgarth on the opposite side of the city. For the record, I was only 11 at the time, and I _did _manage to get us out of there with Shining Flare Wingman, so she really should have dropped it already. But, still, she kept holding it against me.

Anyway, the point is, I must really have been in trouble this time. That is, if I let that card stick around. Now, I'll admit, I really don't have a lot of cards in my deck that can destroy other spells or traps. Still, I didn't see why they were freaking out so bad. What was this card's effect? What wasn't Ed telling me?

"Oh, come _on_!" I cried, irritated with Yubel for insulting my deck. "First off, Yubel, my deck is _not _that bad, and don't call my monsters weak! Second, I still haven't lost yet! So he played a trap card. So what?"

"But, Judai!" Ojin added, also worried. "That card can—"

Okay, yeah. So this card was something to keep an eye on. See, that's the one good thing about having friends who are total spazzes: You can find out real easy what card's you _really_ need to worry about.

"I know it's bad, but that still doesn't mean I've lost yet," I said. "You could at least _pretend_ to have a little faith in me."

As if trying to make a point, Misawa suddenly sat up. Looking around, he said, "Huh? Wha? We lose yet?"

Really? I just looked over at them all lamely.

"So, about your turn, fake hero," Ed said, drawing my attention back to him. "You were saying?"

"Fake hero"? The only fake I saw here was _him_!

"…Ignoring that," I said. "I'm summoning a monster! Normally I'd need a sacrifice for this guy, but, since Elemental Hero Necroshade's in the graveyard, I'll use his effect to summon an Elemental Hero without a sacrifice. Meet the ally of the chosen _prince_! Elemental Hero Neos!" (Atk 2500)

Neos appeared in all his glory, but Ed wasn't impressed. He just humphed, smiling. What was he up to?

Johan, his eyes wide, seemed to know. "Judai!" he called, sweating. "Careful with that guy! His trap card could do you in if you're not!"

As if I didn't already know that? It wasn't like this guy was going to play a trap without some reason! Besides, I could see from looking at him that he wasn't worried. I'd figured out already that his card was trouble.

I glanced at Johan, saying, "You guys do realize I know how to duel and don't _need_ backseat dueling partners, right?"

"Judai, please!" Ojin panicked. "Watch what you say here! Johan isn't your—"

Oh, boy. He was starting to sound as bad as Sho, and Ojin was usually a _lot_ calmer than that guy. In fact, my dad was always asking me why I couldn't be more like Ojin. Would he _ever_ stop thinking Johan and I were enemies?

"Ojin, knock it off, already!" I said. "I'm not going to war with him over something as stupid as this, okay?"

I mean, seriously! Going to war over words?

Ojin the satellite bent over and lowered a bit. Sounding upset, he muttered, "Your ancestors did."

Okay, admittedly, that was somewhat true. We hadn't gone to war, and it hadn't been something simple and stupid that had caused it for Neospace. But now wasn't the time to think about history! I had a duel to win in the here and now!

"Anyway, unless there are any objections from the people who want to hold my hand while I duel, I'd like to get on with my turn now," I said, specifically thinking of Yubel.

Just as I thought, she grinned, jumping all over that supposed chance. "I'm glad you asked!" She put a hand to her chin, taunting me, and said, "Now, let's see…"

Ignoring that rude tease, I said, "Now, Neos, attack his Plasma!"

Neos charged, but Ed was ready.

"As foolish as ever!" he said, pushing a button on his duel disk. "Trap card, activate! D-Shield! By equipping it to Plasma, it switches to defense mode and can't be destroyed in battle!"

Well, that was annoying. But it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Tch. I switch Avian and Clayman to defense mode. Turn end."

"Way to go, _genius_!" Yubel snapped. "You summoned Neos wrong again!"

"Oh, shut up."

"See that, Judai?" Ed asked. "_That_ is why I'm more qualified for this job! I know what it means to be a _true_ hero! To have someone to protect…" At the end, he got a bit spacy.

As if that made him more qualified. I had people I needed to protect right then and there, both in that place _and_ out of it. People I needed to save at home, like my father. So we both had that part. Next criteria for the chosen hero: Being _chosen_. That was me, not him. When would he get that through his head!?

"Yeah, like you're the only one who has that," I said.

"Your friends will be fine!" Ed said as if they were the only ones I was thinking of. "Their lives are protected in here! It's _my_ friend who has to suffer!"

Anything else I would have said was thrown out the window right then and there. Really? So they wouldn't be suffering if they were forced to live for all eternity in these forms? Besides, he claimed he was a hero, but he was threatening innocents to get to me! Why did they need to be involved in this? I mean, using them to lure me in was one thing, but keeping them here after the fact was too much!

"Yeah, because people who are a part of the world you're trying to save being forced to live in a virtual world as a car, an old man, a demon, or one of their Duel Monsters forever just because they made the mistake of being in the same place as me is _totally_ fine."

"Hey, better to be here as your inner self, _free willed_, than to be out there _brainwashed_! Speaking of, I can't _wait_ to see what _you_ turn into when you join them, so let's get on with this duel already so I can beat you and see! I draw!"

Inner selves? So Asuka was secretly an angel? Well, you wouldn't guess that from her first impressions, but I could believe it.

"Inner selves, huh?" Johan said, looking at himself. He looked pleased. Okay, so he wanted to be a carbuncle? Weirdo.

Asuka's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with both hands. She really needed to stop doing that. She was just too cute like that! "Oh, my gosh," she said.

Yubel glared at herself, trembling. Then she blew up, turning her glare on Ed as she shrieked, "INNER SELVES? Why, that's—"

Manjoume, also infuriated, cut her off. "Sick, I tell you! Totally sick! I am _not _a disgusting _Ojama_ deep within!"

Ojama Yellow appeared beside him, saying, _"Gee, Aniki. It's not _that _bad being—"_

"Oh, yes, it is, _Zero Attack_!" Manjoume snapped at him, making the spirit cringe and yelp. "Worthless, disgusting, _in_ the way Zero Attack! Your _name_ even says it!* Shut up and get lost already!"

The little guy took his advice and vanished.

Misawa waved his staff in the air, also glaring. "Yeah! What _he_ said! I'm not that old and _math geniuses aren't_—"

Sho the freaked-out car bumped into him, headlight eyes wide. "But, Aniki. I don't _want _to be a car on the inside! _Do_ something!"

…What was I supposed to do about what he was inside? It wasn't like I could change that.

"My family…has issues…" Ojin muttered, sweating a bit.

Obviously. After all, he was a _satellite_ on the inside!

But I couldn't let this beautiful opportunity to tease Yubel slide by without seizing it. I smiled at her and said, "I always said you were a fiend, didn't I?"

"Shut the ** up before I—"

"Plasma!" Ed cut her off, apparently impatient. "Attack Neos now! Bloody Spheres!"

"Tch."

Ed: 1600  
Judai: 2100

"You idiot! Ever dueled a day in your life!?" Manjoume demanded. "Or was you beating _me_ just a fluke?"

Well, I _was _using a different deck then. One I'd built myself. This one, I hadn't even had a chance to look through before I had to start using it. Cut me some slack, guys.

Yubel's calm yet annoyed attitude returned as she said, "It was probably just a fluke. _He's_ so incompetent, only a—"

Okay, _that_ was it! That was the last straw! I didn't have to take this from someone who worked for my father, and I sure as hell wasn't going to listen to any more of it! She was seriously overstepping her bounds here!

"Yubel, shut your mouth and show some respect!" I snapped.

Sho jumped, his eyes wide. "Aniki! Y-you're—"

Johan was staring at me with wide eyes, too. "Wow. That's a first. _Judai's _mad as hell! He never gets this bad!" From the look on his face, I could basically add the words, _What on earth does this girl do?_

The answer: Anything and everything she can to get on my nerves. And I was sick of it. It was one thing to disrespect me and be rude and annoying in front of my allies. It was _another _thing entirely to do that in front of my enemies, and _that _one was unacceptable.

She wasn't phased by my anger, for once. Usually she knew when to listen to me and stop being a pain, but this time, she just glared right back at me. So did she seriously think I was going to lose?

"Oh, who cares!?" she snapped. "You're about to lose everything, anyway! You _idiot_! How could you be so—"

Sho turned to her, looking nervous. "Uh, miss? Please stop egging him on… I know we're all doomed now, but—"

For the love of—

"For crying out loud! Just because he's got a tough monster out doesn't mean this duel's over yet! A duel's not over until the last card is played! What I draw on my next turn _might _turn this around! And, _when _I win this, Yubel, you'll be washing dishes for a month!"

After all, if I could get in serious trouble for acting up around enemies _or _allies, she should be able to get in just as much trouble for the same thing, right?

Johan smiled, raising a paw in pride. For a bit, I thought he was on my side. Then he said, "Good call, Judai! It only _looks _hopeless! By the way, do these rubies look good with my—" He was pointing at his eyes, worried about color coordination. Clearly he thought he'd be like this for awhile. But what this really the time to be acting like that? And should he have been doing it in the first place? I mean, he was a _prince, _for crying out loud!

"Prince Johan," I said, adding his title to make a point, "knock it off or stop saying _I_ need to act in a way more befitting my title!"

Ojin misinterpreted my words. "Oh, no, Judai. _Please_ don't turn on—"

"ENOUGH!" Ed snapped. "Honestly, you guys are driving me crazy! You're safe from the evil invasion in here, so take your turn and surrender with it so I can go save Saiou!" He glared fiercely at me.

As tempting as it was to surrender and let Ed go get himself brainwashed, I wasn't about to do that. As the _true_ hero, it was my responsibility to protect _all _of the people on this planet, even the ones that got on my nerves like him and Yubel. I'd save him from his own idiocy if it was the last thing I did.

"Forget it, Ed! I'm _not _surrendering! The one with the Righteous Power of Darkness is _me_, and, even if you win this duel, that _won't _change!" I drew my next card and sweat. "Tch. I activate Pot of Greed."

What was it with me and this deck?

There was a collective thud from my audience.

"That bad, huh?" Johan asked.

"No! Aniki! He's gonna lose!" Sho cried, putting his tires to his face.

Manjoume's three Ojama brothers reappeared and looked at him in concern.

_"__What's wrong, Aniki? Being an Ojama isn't _that_ bad!"_ Yellow said.

Manjoume was currently pounding his head against the virtual floor. "Idiot!" he muttered.

"Well. Seems you're at a serious disadvantage now, doesn't it?" Ed taunted with a smug grin.

Misawa calmly put a hand to his chin, thinking. "Hmm… I wonder what carpal tunnel will—"

"You know what? I'm really not as stupid as everyone thinks," I cut him off with a smile after drawing my next two cards. After all, this time, my draw had been a bit better.

Everyone stopped and stared, waiting anxiously. All but Mizuchi, that is. She'd been standing by and ignoring everything this whole duel.

Still smiling, I took a card from my hand and said, "Let me prove it! I activate a card that's real fitting, given what you're trying to do here! R – Righteous Justice!"

Ed's eyes widened in horror. About time I got him. "You what!?"

"This lets me destroy spell and trap cards on the field equal to the number of Elemental Heroes I control. Since Plasma Roar's obviously a big deal, I'm getting rid of that, along with that annoying D-Shield!"

Ed growled. "Why, you—"

"Yes!" Johan cheered.

"Alright, Judai! It's about time!" Asuka said.

Manjoume crossed his arms and said, "About time's right. About time he made a _smart_ move." Muttering, he added, "Sheesh."

"Go, Aniki! I'm sure you can turn this around! I think."

Aw, what was new, Sho? You were _always _unsure.

"Turn end," I said.

There was a collective gasp. "What!?"

"Judai, you can't be serious!" Asuka cried.

"You need to practice with that deck a lot more!" Ojin said. "But don't go expecting me to help you since I'm a—"

I knew I needed practice with that deck. I still didn't know all the cards that were in it. This is what happens when you stupidly keep yourself from being able to get the thing you need until the very moment you need it. Man, if I ever got out of this, I was never getting kidnapped again.

"Make your move, Ed," I cut Ojin off, not wanting to hear it anymore.

Ed stared, stunned. Then he blinked. "…You should have just surrendered. You're destined to lose, anyway."

Johan looked happy when he said, "Don't worry, pal! I'll help you train! I may be small, but—"

So he was volunteering to help me learn how to use that deck better _when_ I lost. We were back to the certainty of my defeat. Ugh, they were getting annoying.

"Johan?" I said. "Seeing as I was _born_ to _defy_ destiny, I'll take my chances. This duel _still_ isn't over."

Johan pulled back, calming his excitement. "Well. That's rude. Guess he's getting tired of us."

No, duh, I was getting tired of you! A _saint_ would have been getting tired of you! I was this close to deeming them all Knights of the _Doubt_ Table or something!

Ojin turned to face Johan, who looked back at him curiously. "I—uh, hope that didn't upset you, Johan. Seeing's as you're from—"

Johan cut him off with a shake of the head. "No, I'm not upset. But Judai might be." He looked my way again, unsure.

Of _course_ I was upset, but you didn't need to tell Ojin that! I wasn't upset enough to wage _war_!

As expected, Ojin gasped. "Judai! Don't follow in your ancestor's footsteps! It's not Johan's fault you're los—"

Given the pure terror in his tone, I knew I had to address that.

"Ojin, will you just knock it off, already!? I'm not going to fight with Johan! We're _friends_! F – R – I – E – N – D – S! Say it with me: _friends_."

Ed must have been even more out of patience than I was because he drew his card, saying, "My move!" before anyone else could say anything. "…As expected. Saiou's truths will come to pass…" he said, staring at his card.

Not good.

"I take it your draw was better than mine," I said.

Ed held his card high above his head, looking extremely serious. "Destiny _is _on my side! I play the spell card Polymerization!"

Manjoume covered his face again. "Terrific. _Now _we're doomed!"

Yeah, yeah, what else is new? You've been thinking that all duel, Manjoume.

"How are we ever going to get out of here if that happens?" Asuka asked with a sigh.

Okay, so Ed had a better card than that trap they'd all been freaking out about. Geez, in the future, I was adding pro duelists to the list of potential enemies that princes needed to study. After all, this was just ridiculous! Everybody else knew more about my opponent than I did! And he _was _an enemy!

"Well, that's it, then," Misawa said. "Might as well accept defeat and find me a doctor. My ulcer's acting up…"

Okay, if he was this unhealthy in old age, maybe he should start taking better care of his body after this.

"You're in for it now! You should have surrendered! Now you're gonna regret it! My trump monster! Destiny End Dragoon! A fusion of my Plasma and my Dogma! Your fate is now sealed!"

As Ed spoke, the two monsters he used as material fused, forming a very impressive creature. It was dark in color, mostly black and deep red. It was humanoid, with a dragon head on its chest, wings on its back, and two very mismatched arms—the left was a dragon while the right was a sword. What was worse was it had 3000 attack points.

Nervous as this monster made me, a trace of my usual excitement managed to creep in for the first time this duel. "3000 attack points, huh?"

"Ignore those! They're the least of your worries! My monster's effect is far superior!"

And that just made my excitement stronger. "Yeah? What's his effect?"

"He's not destroyed by card effects and can destroy one monster you control, giving you that monster's attack as damage!"

"Whoa… That's awesome…"

If my audience hadn't brought me back down to reality, I might have started acting like myself again then.

"Judai, you idiot!" Yubel snapped. "Focus! You're about to _lose_ here!"

"She's right! Take this seriously!" Ojin added. "Your inner self _can't _be a good one, all things considered!"

What? What was he trying to say? Did I _really_ want to know?

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I activate my End Dragoon's effect!" Ed said before Ojin could answer. "Destroy his Avian and deal him 1000 points of damage!"

"Tch."

Just like that, my excitement was gone.

Ed: 1600  
Judai: 1100

"Turn end! Since I can't attack when I use that effect, you get another chance to change the destiny. Not that you _will_, of course, being a fake and all."

"Rgh…" My turn ended up being basically pointless. My draw didn't help me at all. Seriously, what was _with _me today? "I play a monster in defense mode. Turn end."

Ed grinned, looking pleased. "Heh. Like _that_ will help you. I _told _you, fate stands with me. I draw!" He pulled his next card and looked at it.

"Oh, geez. Maybe he _isn't_ the prince after all," Asuka said.

Yubel seemed strangely calm and concerned, as though she really believed that I was impersonating her prince. "You're right. _My_ prince was never _this _stupid. Guess he really _did_ run off."

"But he claims to remember _being _your prince, Yubel," Johan said. "How could that be true if he wasn't?"

And now they were thinking I was an impostor. Great.

The card I'd played face down, Winged Kuriboh, suddenly spoke. _"Kuri kuri!"_

"Hm?"

He appeared in spirit form, showing only to me. _"Don't pay any attention to them, partner! You know who you are! There's no need to lose your cool because those guys don't believe! As for Ed, look at his expression!" _He turned to Ed, and I followed his gaze. _"He's so serious and angry, and it's blinded him to the truth. I don't know all the details behind it, but I _do _know anger doesn't win duels."_ He turned back to me and said, _"That's why you were chosen! Because you could keep calm under pressure! Dueling has always been fun to you, and that's a weapon in its own way! 'Cause, when you're having fun, you're filled with positive energy and confidence that makes all those around you want to join in and help!"_

My eyes widened slightly with realization. Was that really why I was chosen? Well, I was doing a really lousy job, then, given that I was caving to pressure right now.

_"__It build _bonds_ with your friends and monsters instead of pressuring them with your burdens!" _Winged Kuriboh continued. _"Ed's been doing that this whole duel, so, naturally, he's bound to lose! Your energy is your strength, so use it to _show_ these guys that they're wrong! Who knows? Ed might learn a thing or two from it, too!"_

As always, the little guy was right. Ed _was _missing something. The way he was dueling, it was clear that he trusted his cards, but it was also clear that he was burdening them _and_ himself more than he should have been. Sure, this duel was a serious matter, but Ed was giving me the impression that he never dueled for fun, even when everything was okay. His idea that Dark City represented an endless and painful struggle with evil and the burdens he kept talking about told me that, too.

I looked at Winged Kuriboh, and he looked back at me with a serious expression. Well, as serious as any expression can be on a brown furball with wings. _"Be yourself, Judai! I _know _you can do it!"_

I nodded. "Right! Thanks, Aibou! You've always got my back!" I smiled, psyching myself up again as I said, "I mean, when am I ever gonna get another chance to duel Ed Phoenix?"

Ed looked disgusted again, but what else was new? And what did I care, for that matter? "You're a weirdo, y'know that? But whatever. You're _still_ going to lose!" He drew his card and stared at it for a moment before turning a disappointed look on me. "So you _finally_ decide to get serious, and then you go back to goofing around," he said. "You don't have any resolve at all." He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Heh. Shows what you know. So I have fun when I duel. So what? At least my monsters aren't being crushed under my burden."

"What?"

"Think about it. If I'm 'goofing around,' as you put it, there's less pressure on my monsters. You, on the other hand, have been pushing your burden onto your monsters this entire time! There's only so long someone can go on when their burden is too heavy—and that goes for humans _and _Duel Monsters! Sooner or later, they'll both break down under the weight of it all."

Ed glared at me again, getting defensive. "Enough! You're just saying that to rattle me so you can change my destiny! I activate my monster's effect again, destroying Clayman in the process! _You're _the one who's gonna lose, Judai! Destiny never sides with guys like _you_!"

Well, of course not. If it did, I wouldn't always be _defying _destiny, would I?

End Dragoon's effect activated, wiping out Clayman and a chunk of my few remaining life points.

Ed: 1600  
Judai: 300

"Turn end! You've got _one turn_ left, fake! Make it quick!" Ed said, clearly ticked off. Well, I guess I must have hit a nerve.

"Aw, well. Guess I'll just show you what I mean! After all, the duel's not over until the last card is played!"

Winged Kuriboh appeared again, looking worried. _"Watch out, partner!" _he said. _"You don't end it this turn, _Ed _will win _next _turn! It's now or never, partner!"_

Earlier that duel, before his little pep talk, that might have put a lot of pressure on me. Now, though, I could handle it. "Got it!" I said. I drew my final card and grinned. "Aw, yes! Hey, Yubel, guess what? You're really gonna regret those things you said because making you eat your words is _way _more fun than anything else! Especially when I get to do it in a duel!"

"Yeah, right!" she said. "As _if_ you can—"

"Watch! And, for all those in the peanut gallery, I'm gonna make you eat every single word you've said today." I took a card from my hand, continuing, "My deck never lets me down, and _somebody _over there should know that by now! I activate Miracle Contact! This is a lot like Miracle Fusion, except for Neos fusions! I send cards in my hand, on my field, or in my graveyard back to my deck to summon the Neos fusion monster that they create."

Ed started, his eyes widening. "No… Y-you can't do that! You're supposed to—"

Johan perked up, looking triumphant. "Ha! Knew this guy was the real deal! He beat all those others, after all!"

"I'll send Air Hummingbird and Neos back to my deck to summon Elemental Hero Air Neos!" (Atk 2500)

When I returned Neos and Air Hummingbird to my deck, they appeared on the field and fused to form a new hero. His skin was red, with Neos's signature blue stone on his chest, and he had white and pink wings sprouting from his back.

"Alright!" Johan cheered. "A Neos fusion! _Now _he'll win!"

"You forget, Johan," Ojin said. "Those monsters' effects. _Both _sides."

Johan slumped over, his ears drooping. "Oh. Right…" He sighed.

"Okay. _What's _the downside to a Neos fusion, anyway?" Asuka asked.

"Simple," Ed said. "They all return to the owner's deck at the end of the turn."

Asuka's eyes widened in horror. "What!?"

Johan and Ojin both nodded.

"So, yeah," Yubel said. "We're still doomed if he doesn't—"

I just laughed. Oh, did they have a lot to learn.

"Oh, for the love of—" Ed muttered. "What's so funny now!? Your childish antics are costing you the match!" He glared at me, just as sick of me as he was of my friends.

"Oh, really?" I asked, grinning. "Bet you I can win this duel this turn."

"Get serious for once! Fate won't side with you when you're always—"

"Chill out! You're way too serious about everything. Do you _ever _have fun?"

Ed looked at me like I was the stupidest person in the world. "Have fun? In a duel? Are you crazy!? Dueling's an act of—"

"It's a card game," I cut him off. "Emphasis on _game_. It was meant to be fun! Sure, some duels are more high-stakes, but you still shouldn't let that stop you. I mean, I don't know about you, but I _love _a good challenge! When my opponent makes a good move, one that puts me in a tight spot, it's exciting! I was too busy paying attention to the comments from our audience to enjoy it earlier, and that's part of my problem. Duels were meant to be fun!"

"You know, I never thought about it before," Johan said. "But that makes a lot of sense."

Ojama Yellow appeared yet again, saying, _"See, Aniki? If you had more fun dueling, maybe you wouldn't lose to that guy all the time!"_

Manjoume grabbed the Ojama as if he were grabbing someone by the shirt, glaring fiercely at him. "Who asked you, you yellow pain in the neck!? Shut up already!"

Ojama Yellow wailed a bit before disappearing again. Wow, Manjoume was a real jerk to those three. Why did they like him?

Ed stared for a minute, looking like he was in denial. Then he glared fiercely at me again. "Duels…were meant to be fun? But they're always used for war!"

This was true. After all, fighting the Light of Destruction always required the use of Duel Monsters cards. And there had been other times throughout history when the three kingdoms had used duels to settle disputes, especially in the years immediately after the war that had wiped out half the earth's population in a single year. Hey, if you'd survived that one, you wouldn't want to see any more weapons, either, would you?

With that in mind, I shrugged and said, "Better cards than guns, right?"

Ed started, nervously backing down. "Uh—T-tr-true…"

It looked like he was finally starting to get it.

"See? So, if you don't mind, I'm gonna get on with my move now!" I said, grinning like an idiot. That _was _my specialty, after all. Or so I'm told.

"…Duels…were made to be fun?"

Wow. Somebody's childhood was a lie.

"I _don't _believe it," Ojin said, stunned. "_Judai_ said something really wise."

"First time for everything, I guess," Yubel said in her usual way.

"Air Neos's effect! When my life points are lower than my opponent's, his attack power gets boosted by the difference!"

* * *

**Ed's POV**

This couldn't be! Judai, the irresponsible and selfish prince, was making sense! While he was taking his turn, I was lost in thought, barely hearing anything he said.

_Am I really burdening my heroes with my problems?_

* * *

**Judai's POV**

Seriously? Ed wasn't paying any attention at all, and the audience was silent for a change. Why were they always jumping at the chance to talk about Ed's cards but silent about mine?

"Since nobody else seems to care, I guess I'll help you with the math," I said after a moment. "He's got 3800 attack points now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's more than Destiny End Dragoon."

"Yeah, alright!" Johan cheered. "Way to go, Judai! Let's _not _go to war over this, or Ojin's sake, okay!?" He sounded a bit awkward there at the end, obviously.

"What's the matter with Ed?" Asuka asked. "He's just standing there."

Well, that was a good question. What _was _wrong with him?

* * *

**Ed's POV**

_He's going to win… The destiny's changed…_ I thought. But that couldn't be true! It wasn't possible!

"But Saiou… I promised him I'd help him! I have to _keep _that promise! I have to!"

Even to my own ears, I sounded desperate. I didn't trust anyone else with my responsibilities because it wasn't even their business. The job of saving someone should go to a person who actually cared about the one they were saving!

"Trust me," Judai said. "I'll help him. That's the whole reason I was born, after all."

"But this isn't right! _You_ don't even _know _Saiou! _I'm_ the only one who can—"

"Were you even listening to a word I said earlier? You can't try and do everything yourself. You've gotta let people help you sometimes, Ed."

Let people help me? But he was a selfish and irresponsible prince! How could _he _help anybody!?

* * *

**Judai's POV**

From the anxious way Ed was staring at me, I figured he wouldn't go for it. Still, it was sad when he said, "But—" I mean, did this guy trust _anyone_?

"Wow. And everyone thinks _I'm_ lonely," I said, feeling sorry for the guy. I mean, if he didn't know how to trust anyone else, he didn't really understand friendship all that well. When you care about someone, you do whatever it takes to help them, even if it means trusting someone else to do it for you. "At least I know how to trust others. You should really give trust a try one of these days, Ed."

Ed just stared at me, still unsure.

"There are some things you just can't do on your own. Sometimes you need to rely on others."

"…Rely on others…" he said, apparently trying to absorb this new concept.

"There's strength in numbers. Tackling all your problems alone isn't going to work. Sooner or later, you'll run into one you can't handle, and you'll need somebody there to help you through it."

Ed gave me a weird look that I couldn't translate even if I wanted to.

"Anyway, it's still my turn, so—"

"Judai, listen!" Asuka cut me off. "That monster, if destroyed this turn, will resurrect during Ed's next turn if you don't beat him now! All he has to do is remove a Destiny Hero in the graveyard from play! And there are plenty of those to choose from!"

Well, that was an interesting effect. Too bad it wasn't happening.

Ed's response was calm and neutral, as if he'd suddenly realized he could still win. "She's right, you know. And, without the proper help, your monster won't last through this turn, either. What hope do you have of winning this duel?"

Even in the face of this supposedly bad news, I was still grinning. "I said I was gonna finish it this turn, right? Now, Air Neos, attack his End Dragoon!"

Air Neos charged, hitting Destiny End Dragoon dead on and destroying it.

Ed: 800  
Judai: 300

"Now, seeing as you still have life points left, I'm gonna have to use this last card of mine," I said. "Contact Out! It's basically De-Fusion for a contact fused monster.

Johan jumped about three feet in the air, a huge grin on his face. "YESS! Way to go!"

Sho raised a tire above his hood, saying, "Go, Aniki! You can do it!"

Everyone else seemed pretty thrilled, too. Even Manjoume and Yubel smiled. Finally, they'd shut up.

Ed just stood there, staring at me. "No way. You've changed the destiny. But that's—"

"Exactly what the chosen hero with the power of the Darkness of Creation is supposed to do! Defy this so-called destiny! Thanks to Contact Out, I get Neos and Air Hummingbird back! This duel's over, Ed! Neos! Direct attack! Wrath of Neos!"

Asuka pumped a fist in the air, smiling. "Yes! He's got no defenses out!"

"Judai wins!" Johan cheered, his front paws high above his head.

Misawa started, looking around. "Huh? Who's got fins?"

As Neos charged him, Ed stared for a bit before closing his eyes, smiling. "Indeed he has…"

Neos's fist connected, wiping out what was left of Ed's life points.

Ed: 0  
Judai: 300

* * *

***The Ojama Brothers take their name from a Japanese phrase meaning "sorry for intruding."**


End file.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Adventure, Mystery