Reunion
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read.
I do not own, or claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. This is a work of fan-fiction and a labor of love inspired by getting the flu during the summer and watching too many movies while sick with a high fever!
I would like to, as always, give thanks to my good friend (and muse) Tab.
Notes: This story is definitely alternate universe! (Sorta like a cross between the dub and the un-dubbed) I use MOSTLY the GX dub names, but for a few characters I will use the original names (I REFUSE to use the name "Jesse Anderson…he will be Johan Anderson in the story!!) This takes place after the end of the series after Jaden has set out on his own.
Reunion: A Yu-Gi-Oh GX fan-fiction. As always, reviews are appreciated. Rated T for language and violence.
Chapter 1
The old beaten-up scooter took a lurch forward, gave a cough in protest and died. "Not this again!" A slender youth rose from the seat, removing the battered helmet as he did. He ran a hand through his thick mane of brown hair and removed the large pack from his back.
"I told you to get it serviced as soon as it was unloaded. Remember what happened in India?"
The youth gave a sigh. "Yeah…yeah…" he muttered under his breath. "Save it! I know all I need to do to talk to you is just to think." He whispered as he shook his head as he took a look around. "At least I got it out of the way this time!" he mumbled.
Half an hour later, he was covered in sweat and grease. He wiped his hands on his jeans and gave an even bigger sigh. No patch job this time, he thought as he stood up, slightly annoyed that nobody had even bothered to ask if he needed help. The pace of the city kept flowing right on by him.
The city…he gazed up at the skyline. Not much had changed he noticed. Turning towards what used to be a familiar landmark, he was still shocked. The tower of Kaiba Corp. had stood in Domino City for what seemed like forever. The tower's destruction and disappearance of the company's owner was felt world wide, or at least in the circles he moved in.
"Jaden? Is that you?"
He spun around in the direction of the voice. Another young man was standing not more than ten feet from him. The youth looked somewhat similar to him, only his hair was deep blue in color.
"Johan? Oh wow, hey man nice to see yah!" Jaden closed the gap between the two and stuck out his hand, which Johan took without a second thought. When they finished, Johan looked down at his hand which was smudged with grease.
"Engine trouble?" he asked as he cleaned his hand with a napkin.
Jaden put one hand on the back of his head and gave his old friend a sheepish grin. "Heh…yeah you could say that."
Johan looked at the scooter. "Is that…is that the same scooter you had while you were still in school?"
"Hey, if it ain't broke…uh…well, you know what I mean. Frankenbike's been my faithful steed for a long time!" Jaden gave the back of the bike a hard thump.
The bike immediately retaliated by sending a belch of soot towards Jaden, covering him from head to toe. Johan tried to hold it in, but he gave out a laugh and Jaden joined in.
"So what've you been doing?" Jaden asked while cleaning off.
"Oh, I've been pretty active in the new pro league. I got a game next week actually. You gonna be in town that long?"
Jaden gave a shrug. "Dunno. I'd like to, but you know…"
Johan shook his head. "Still taking it all on your self, huh? You know you've got friends more than willing to help!"
"Yeah, I know. But…"
"But you feel like you've got to do it all on your own? Still have to hog the spotlight?" Sneered a voice from the door of one of the nearby shops.
Jaden turned and spotted a pale young man dressed all in black glaring at him. "Chazz? Oh wow, like this is really starting to get weird! What're the odds we'd all be in the same place at the same time?"
"When you are involved things always seem to go wrong!" Chazz spat.
Johan shook his head. "Don't mind him. He's still ticked because his duel got rescheduled."
With the mention of the word Duel Jaden paid more attention than he usually did. "Duel? Where? Who with?"
"The new league's arena on the other side of town." Johan supplied since Chazz had remained sullen. "They're updating the new systems." He gave a laugh. "He won't do a simple patch job! Total replacement!"
"And a total waste of my time!" Chazz snorted.
"Not this again." Johan mumbled under his breath. "Look, you were given the option to switch over to the other league. You know what happens when update time comes, and you know it will. He's never satisfied with his work!"
"More like obsessed!" Chazz snarled.
Jaden got between his old friends. "Uh, guys! Hellloooo?? Remember I've been out of the country for a while, so I'm kinda out of touch with things. The new league?" Jaden thought a moment. "OH! The one that Sy was going to start up with Zane, that the new league, right?"
Chazz snorted. "Sharp as ever, Slacker!"
Johan nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. It really took off. The start was rocky, but they pulled it together, and when the new dueling graphics system was created, it zoomed right past the old league!"
"New dueling graphics system?" Jaden asked. "Sounds really cool!"
"Cool doesn't even touch it Jaden." Johan said with a grin. "You'd have to see it to believe it. After the disaster at Kaiba Corp. the playing field was wide open. I2 had to step in and take over at first until a 'worth successor' came out on top, and it just happened to be Truesdale Innovations that came out on top."
"Truesdale Innovations? Sy and Zane have a company now?"
Johan started to answer but was cut short by the sound of sirens approaching. All three looked in the direction of the noise. Jaden had to blink his eyes and took a step back. Flying down the city streets and zipping in an out of traffic like it was nothing were…Vehicroids. The same duel monsters his one time best friend used in his deck were there in the flesh, or rather in the metal.
The first one, Patroid, made way for an ambulance shaped one and a fire truck shaped one. Their names escaped him at the time. He looked over at Johan, who stood there with a grin on his face.
"Speak of the devil!" Johan laughed. "No. They aren't Duel Spirits, Jaden. They're the actual thing!"
"Oh, just tell him will you!" Chazz checked his watch. "I've got an appointment with my agent." Chazz turned away and headed down the sidewalk and around a corner out of sight.
"Tell me what?" Jaden asked.
Johan thought a moment. "Um, I think it'd be better if I actually showed you. Besides, you'll get a chance to see some more of your old friends."
Jaden perked up. "Really? Sy and Zane?"
Johan just smiled and helped Jaden move the scooter out of the way and into a legal parking space. Jaden reached into his pocket for money for the meter and pulled out a wad of lint instead. Without a word, Johan reached over and filled up the meter. Jaden was embarrassed and it showed. "'s okay Jaden. You can pay me back by sticking around for the reunion."
"Reunion?" he asked.
"Yup. This weekend as a matter of fact." He thought a moment. "You never received you invitation, did you?"
Jaden shook his head. "I travel around a lot, and I don't really have a set address. I didn't realize it was time for one."
"Oh don't worry," Johan said. "You haven't been gone that long. This is just a little get together of all of us who went through…well…you know."
"Oh…yeah…that…sorry about that, would it make you feel better to know that she never gives me a moment's rest?" Jaden tried to make a joke to ease the tension.
"I heard that!"
Jaden ignored Yubel. "So if it isn't school related, then what's the occasion?"
Johan gave a sigh. "It's for Syrus. We're trying to get him out of the office and back to the real world." Johan flagged down a cab and the two of them go in.
"What wrong with Sy?" Jaden asked, with concern in his voice.
"It's best if you see for yourself. Actually, with you here, we might have a chance. He won't listen to us at all. Last week, Sarge found him asleep after working three days straight."
"What about Zane? Won't Sy listen to his brother?"
Johan shook his head. "Things have…changed, Jaden. You'll have to see it with your own eyes."
The cab made its way through the busy street towards a fairly new industrial park. Among the factory buildings stood a sleek, shiny tower and the cab came to a stop at the curb outside it.
Johan and Jaden got out and as the cab drove away, Jaden turned to Johan. "You didn't pay the cab."
Johan gave a grin. "We've got an account with the city. So what do you think of the Truesdale tower?"
Jaden whistled as he looked up at the structure. "Uh, wow! This is all Sy's?"
"And Zane's." Johan said. "He smiled. Just don't let him hear you call it the 'Truesdale Tower'!" He gave a little snicker. "Oh, or Kaiser Corp. either! He absolutely hates that nickname. Someone in the press gave it that name. Zane did his best to squish that, but it's stuck!"
The two went inside. A young woman at the desk gave them a polite smile as she went about her work. Johan walked to the back of the lobby, passing a glass display case as he did. Jaden stopped a moment and peered into the case. "Cyber Dragon? Hey, Johan, is this Zane, I mean, Sy's deck?"
Johan walked back over to Jaden. "Yeah. It wasn't too long into the new league that the head committee at the time decided that the whole 'Cyber Style' was too powerful so they retired it."
"Man." Jaden said as he shook his head. "That is messed up! How did Sy take it?"
"He was upset at first but tried not to show it. He filed an appeal but it was denied. Zane was too busy managing the day to day business of the new league so he didn't have the time to deal with it. Honestly, it was all political. They thought that if they banned the style of the main duelist of the new league that the league itself would just go away. They were wrong. In fact, a lot of the players in the new league, including Chazz and myself, joined because of the ban. We wanted to support our friends."
A chill of guilt ran down Jaden's spine. "Well, uh, you know I would have if I'd been here."
Johan nodded. "We all know that burden that you took upon yourself, Jaden. C'mon, let's go see Zane."
"What about Sy?" Jaden asked.
"Just follow me." Johan said and walked over to and inside an elevator. Jaden rushed to join his friend.
The elevator stopped at the top floor. The door opened with a pleasant ding and the two of the exited. Jaden looked around. It was another reception area, pleasantly comfortable looking chairs and a long couch stretched around the room. Several small tables were spaced around the room, covered with all sorts of dueling magazines. One in particular caught his attention. A young man with spectacles and a mop of light blue hair was pictured on the cover. The caption read "Young Genius". Jaden stopped and picked it up.
"We'll have to wait a few minutes." Johan said as he walked over to Jaden. He looked at the magazine and snickered. "So you've learned the little secret?"
"Huh?" Jaden looked up from the magazine. "The article about Sy is missing."
"Figures. He hates publicity."
"So what was the article about anyway?" Jaden asked.
"You might want to sit down for this."
Jaden gave Johan a funny look. "Why?"
"Well you remember me mentioning to you there was a new dueling holographic system? Well, Syrus was the one who designed it."
"What? Sy? No way! I mean, Sy isn't a dummy, but I never thought of him as technically inclined. Now, Bastian, that I would believe."
Johan laughed. "No joke, Jaden. It seems that Syrus is a wiz-kid when it comes to…well, anything to do with computers, electronics, or mechanics. Who was it that always did maintenance on you duel disk?"
Jaden looked sheepish. "Well I did it sometimes. But what you're telling me about Syrus is just such a shock. Wait a sec. those Vehicroids…Syrus made them didn't he?"
A wide grin spread across Johan's face. "Yep! At first they were just part of an amusement park, Wonder Garage, but he decided that they could actually be helpful around the city."
Jaden shook his head. "This is all too much!"
The elevator door opened and Jaden looked up from the magazine. Coming out of the elevator was another old friend. They noticed each other at the same time.
"Jaden?"
"Hassleberry?"
Jaden rose and the two gave each other a quick hug. Hassleberry was always a large youth, and time had only added on more muscle and height. Instead of his usual fatigues, he wore a smartly tailored suit, but the dinosaur skull necklace he always wore was still present, lying over what looked to be a silk tie.
"What brings you around? Did Alexis get in touch with you?" Hassleberry asked.
Jaden shook his head. "Nope, I had no idea there was a reunion planned. I've been kinda out of touch with things."
"Are you still on the move taking on all the bad guys of the dueling world?
Jaden nodded. "Yeah and it keeps me on the move makes it hard to keep in touch. What are you doing here? You part of this new league Sy and Zane started?"
"I was, but I haven't dueled in about a year now. Nowadays I'm 'Short Stack's' bodyguard." Hassleberry said as he and Jaden sat back on the couch. Johan gave Hassleberry a nod of acknowledgement.
"Why in the world would Sy need a bodyguard?" Jaden asked. The old familiar worry about his old best friend started to creep back.
"You step on some toes, you make some enemies. You outta know that." Hassleberry said. "Not that the lil' fella means to do so, but you know Syrus. He was never one to really think things through." He looked over at Johan, who nodded. Hassleberry continued. "After Cyber style got banned, he was depressed for about a week. He didn't do anything except fiddle around with his duel disk and tinker around with the holo system in the arena. Something clicked and his gift came out. You should have seen him when he showed us the new system. I'd never seen him that proud."
"From what I heard," Jaden said, "he should be proud. I take it his new system is what the new league uses?"
Hassleberry nodded. "All of the leagues use it. That's when he handed off most of the dueling to either me, Chazz or Johan. He took the old storage basement of this building and…well I guess you could say he made himself a lab-workship thingie."
Jaden laughed. "Sy's a mad scientist, huh?" he joked.
"That's not far from the truth." Johan muttered.
Hassleberry continued. "He worked on all sorts of things. When Prinstoncorp came out with a new engine, Sy not only found a major safety flaw in it, he increased fuel efficiency by 75 percent!"
"Oh wow!" Jaden exclaimed. "I bet that pissed off Chazz's brothers."
"You could say that." Johan interrupted. "He didn't do it on purpose. Hell, he gave the new schematics over to them for free! They played all nice and thanked him, but…"
"But what?" Jaden asked with concern.
"But you know what total assholes his brothers are. We can't prove anything, but a couple of days after that someone ran Sy off the road. He got messed up pretty bad!" Hassleberry shook his head. "After he got out of the hospital was when he changed. You know Sy's never been that outgoing, but he's been a recluse lately. He just spends all his time down in his workshop. I can't remember how many times I've had to take his tools and whatnot away from him to force him to eat or go to bed."
"Damn!" Jaden shook his head. He was really feeling guilty for not being around now. Anger welled up inside him and for a moment, his eyes changed from their usual brown to one of blue and the other of gold.
"It isn't your fault!" Yubel said. "He had his own path to follow as did you. You had no way of knowing this so there is no need of beating yourself up over it."
Jaden closed his eyes, took a deep breath and slowly counted to ten. When he opened his eyes they were back to normal. "The hurt him!" Jaden growled.
Johan shook his head. "We can't prove anything. Believe me, we've tried, but they covered their tracks too well. If it's any consolation, a week after the 'accident' someone sent an anonymous tape to the press detailing how Princestoncorp used substandard safety procedures in their manufacturing plants worldwide. Their stock dropped like a rock!"
"Wow! How did something like that get out?" Jaden asked.
Hassleberry snickered. "Who knows? I mean it isn't like we know anyone who is as much a mercenary as a duelist."
"O'brien?" Jaden asked.
Hassleberry grinned from ear to ear. "I can neither confirm nor deny any employment of a shady character who would do something like that to make amends for hanging a certain blue-haired boy from a branch overlooking the ocean."
"Oi!" Jaden slapped his hand against his forehead. "You know they'll be out for blood, right?"
"Between me and O'brien, nothing's getting to Sy or any of the Truesdale holdings for that matter. Just another reason why he made those little toys of his into reality!"
The receptionist looked up from her desk. "Mr. Anderson? Mr. Truesdale is available now."
Johan stood as did Jaden and Hassleberry. "Thank you Lisa. Jaden, shall we?" he asked as he started towards the door to Zane's office.
Jaden felt a nervous little chill. "Yeah. I can't wait to see Zane again." He said as he followed Johan. He noticed Hassleberry behind him. "You coming too Sarge?"
"Yup, I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
Johan walked up to the door and knocked. On the other side, a barely audible "Come in." could be heard. Johan opened the door and walked in.