King of the Island

by BridgitKiido

Disclaimer: YuGiOh GX belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei. Note: they are both male, Japanese adults. I am a female, American teenager. How on earth could I possibly be one of them? I do, however, own a small farm of hyperactive plot bunnies. I swear, it's got to be the pineapple juice…

Spoiler Warning: Anyone who wishes to read this fic should be familiar with most of the Shaman King anime. Maybe some of the manga too, but I'm not sure. You should also be fairly familiar with through around episode 143 of GX. It's meant to be out of continuity though, so don't be surprised if some details are different...

Prelude

Duel Academia Island.

A place where young duelists gathered to hone their skills at playing a children's card game. Yes, yes, it was a silly concept, but hey, there was money to be made, so no one questioned its existence. The island's inhabitants, the students and teachers, played this game daily… possibly even several times a day, using special holographic technology developed solely for the purpose of enriching said card game. And all the while, most of them believed that they were just doing that – playing a game with creatures that weren't real. Spells and traps didn't really hurt the creatures; after all, if the creatures didn't really exist outside of holograms and pictures on a playing card, how could they be hurt?

There were a select few, however, who knew that each card was a material representation of a particular monster's very essence, and by summoning it in the card game, they were actually summoning that very monster to do battle. The spirits of the cards themselves appeared before these people, talked to them, and even allowed themselves to become friends or, in some bizarre cases, just like family.

But then, they are spirits. Those that control spirits are shamans. Whether they know it or not…

A boat was traveling to this island, and on this boat sat a young Japanese boy, probably around thirteen or so. He was strange in that he wore only a pair of red pants underneath his heavy grey cloak. He also wore a pair of gloves and boots that bore striking resemblance to legos, and a pair of circular earrings, each with a single star, hung from his ears.

Yes, he probably could have traveled the distance without a boat, but he wanted to make a good first impression on the residents of the island. Suddenly appearing in a burst of fire out of nowhere generally tended to terrify people before they even knew what was going on.

And Hao Asakura was not in the mood to terrify his future subordinates into anything other than joining him.

"Hao-sama, we're approaching Duel Academia Island now," one of his current allies, a young child named Opacho, mentioned suddenly.

"Good," was the reply. "Make sure Luchist docks the boat properly."

As Opacho went off to do just that, Hao sighed contently. Soon, he thought, I will have many more shamans by my side. And then my goal of a perfect world will be closer to completion.

"Hao and his followers are on the move."

The X-Laws, a zealous group of shamans dedicated to seeking revenge on Hao Asakura, were gathered on the deck of their ship, where Jeanne was finally explaining their mission. An outside observer would have questioned why eight people were dressed in white uniforms and listening to a girl in a medieval torture device, but if anyone asked, they would promptly receive a speech about how Jeanne was the most holy woman in the world or something… and then told to either join them or die.

There weren't many people who survived an encounter with the X-Laws…

Jeanne continued, "They are headed toward a remote island close to Japan, called Duel Academia Island. Meene's research has determined that it is home to a school, Duel Academia, where children go to learn how to play a popular card game, Duel Monsters."

A small snicker could be heard in the background if one listened close enough, but none of the X-Laws were laughing. It was probably the fairy sitting on the shoulder of a young boy with green hair. A single glance from said boy, however, got her to stop.

"Our mission is simple. We are going to go to Duel Academia Island and discover what Hao and his corrupted minions are up to. If there are other beings on that island with shamanic abilities, we are to attempt to convince as many of them as possible to join our cause. However, our main goal is to make sure Hao does not succeed."

After allowing this to sink in for a moment with the rest of the group, the male figurehead of the group, a bespectacled man named Marco, stood up and bowed. "We will do as pleases you, Jeanne-sama. Hao will not succeed."

"Hao will not succeed," the other X-Laws repeated, the green-haired boy in a tone that could be taken as snarling.

"Huh, well what do you know."

That was the only comment Anna Kyoyama made before physically grabbing her fiancé, Yoh Asakura, and his friend, Manta Oyamada, and pulling them away from the television set. She dropped Yoh in front of his bedroom and told him, "Start packing. We're going on a trip. Consider it to be for training."

"Uh, Anna-san…" Manta asked as the itako dropped him in front of a phone. "What exactly do you mean, a trip?"

Anna pointed toward said phone and ordered, "Call your connections and make sure we have a boat waiting for us. One that can comfortably carry ten humans across a somewhat large expanse of water. It should preferably have a nice caterer, but I understand that they can be difficult to get, especially on short notice. And make sure you have it ready by the time I get back with everyone."

"Y-Yes, Anna-san," Manta replied, grabbing the phone and beginning to dial his home phone number.

"If I may ask," came the voice of the samurai spirit Amidamaru, "where exactly are we going?"

Anna smirked. "I think the boys will find it interesting. It's a school for people who make their entire living by playing a children's card game professionally." After receiving a confused look from the samurai, she continued, "I honestly don't get the point of it either, but hey, if some guy was rich enough to want to build something like Duel Academia, then that's their choice."

"No, that is not what I was confused about," Amidamaru replied. "What exactly is a 'card game'?"

Pharaoh the cat twitched slightly in his sleep. And oddly enough to the average observer, it wasn't the cat's doing.

The truth is, Pharaoh was actually sleeping quite peacefully. It was the other spirit that slept within him that was agitated at the moment.

Amnael Daitoukuji had never claimed to be even remotely psychic (heck, all he ever wanted to be was an alchemist), but even he couldn't ignore the fact that he felt something bad coming.

He considered letting someone on the island know, so that they could do something about it or at least be forewarned. But even if he could get his lazy cat to actually go seek out one of the few people on the island that could actually see him (to date, that would be Judai-kun, Manjoume-kun, and that new Johan kid), he wasn't quite positive that danger was really coming, and he didn't want to frighten his former students for nothing.

After a few minutes of mental debate, he sighed and decided to wait it out and see what would end up happening.

I hope I'm wrong… Please be okay, Judai-kun and everyone, nya.

Author's Note: If you like Lyserg, then I'd like to apologize in advance for giving him the short end of the stick. The thing is – I don't like him. I also don't like the other X-Laws, but I really don't like Lyserg.

If you're wondering how Anna knew where Hao and them were going… well, something I read mentioned that she has the power to read minds. I dunno how far it reaches, but I should think she would probably be able to use that to find out. If I'm wrong… well, this fic is supposed to be out of continuity anyway.

I know, Amnael is probably just a pseudonym. But I like it being his first name. Amnael Daitoukuji has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

I need to stop feeding my plot bunnies pineapple juice… it may be good for their internal systems, but it appears to be what is making them so hyperactive. This particular one came about when I was thinking about the whole Haou Judai thing… Hao Asakura kind of just popped up out of nowhere. And lo and behold… you get this thing.

And my bunnies are making my inspiration for Frozen in Darkness run all dry… I want to actually get something done with that one, gosh darnit! And I will, as soon as I can pen them up somewhere… Note to self: get some chicken wire.

But yeah… this one's going to be multiple chapters…