Disclaimer! All fictional entities featured or mentioned in this segment belong to Studio Gallop and writers Shin Yoshida, Jun Maekawa, Akemi Omode, Yasuyuki Suzuki.
MIRACLE ON THE ROOFTOP
The day began like any other...well, with as much normality as a day at Duel Academy can achieve at least. It was a pleasant Saturday morning, a perfect day for frolicking with your beloved Duel spirit.
That is, if you knew where they were.
This was the precise case for Jaden Yuki. Usually he was a laid-back and mellow fellow. But today he was uprooting pillows, clawing under desks, upsetting chairs, even eviscerating clothes from the closet. My, was he frantic!
"Kuriboh!" he cried out for the umpteenth time this morning. "Winged Kuriboh! Where are you, buddy? C'mon! Enough hide-and-seek!" Where on Earth could his cherished Winged Kuriboh had wandered off to? Which was most alarming indeed as Kuriboh had virtually never left his side. Spirits were present at all times whenever they were needed.
Except now, Jaden wanted his old furry friend's companionship now...and still he was nowhere to be found.
Jaden bit his knuckles until they almost bled, dreading what horrible luck had befallen poor little Kuriboh. Had he been kidnapped? Or devoured by a larger, more vicious Duel Spirit? Oh, how it pained him to be haunted by these unsettling possibilities! And already he had destroyed his entire room, leaving no rock unturned.
The next plan was to search outside. And that's exactly what our hero did, hands cupped over his mouth and screaming, "Kuriboh! Kuri-bohhhh! Pleeeeeaase come back!"
At the same time, Jesse Andersen was prancing about campus, calling out into the sky: "Ruuuuubbyy! Here, Ruby! Where'd you go, girl?" Jaden was not the only student at Duel Academy that had a Spirit companion. He was not the only one to be suddenly missing that Spirit, either.
It also happened that the two frightened boys were so preoccupied they didn't realize they were on a collision course with each other's path. Until it was too late:
BAM!
Jaden's noggin collided with Jesse's gut. Two grunts were squeezed out their throats as they crashed back into the earth. A cloud of dust arose over their heads.
"Ohhh maaan," groaned Jesse, who was the first to recover. A good shake of the head helped him regain his his head, he stared at the boy lying on top of him...his head lying just below his chest.
Suddenly it was as though his whole body turned into a furnace. Jesse gritted his teeth, and broke into a sweat. "Uhh...well...this is...pretty intimate...J-Jaden?"
And what do you know? Jaden was just stirring right then and there. He tossed open his eyes. "H-huh?" Jesse needn't had to say more as the Slifer already figured it out. He found that his little messy head was resting on something warm. Flesh.
"YYIIIAAAHH!" Jaden yelped, flinging himself backwards at least six feet. The two boys were now sitting with their rears planted in the dirt, each looking away from the other. Both of their faces were blotched with twenty different shades of red between them, with perhaps a few undiscovered hues as well.
At first the two had no idea what to say, still shaken from their brief and rather awkward encounter. Jesse spun his fingers around each other, while Jaden sheepishly scratched his head. They were both muttering under their breath.
Finally and most hesitantly, the boys locked eyes, Jaden's giant shining brown eyes with Jesse's twinkling emerald ones.
"Ahhh...h-hey, Jess..." Jaden gave a weak little wave of his fingers, while rubbing his thick, unkempt mane. "Listen, uhm...sorry 'bout the...er, thing, and...I-I hope that—"
"No, no, I'm...eh, just fine, Jay!" Jesse shook a hand in front of him. "N-nothing broken...I think. Hey, can we just...uh, you know...forget that happened? Huh?"
"Heh, heh, not a-a bad idea, Jess...oh, wait! Can you help me out? I can't find Kuriboh! I've looked up and down and all around!" Yes, I believe it was wise to change the subject to the original matter.
"You lost your Spirit, too? Bummer! I was hoping you could help me look for Ruby!"
Jaden's gasped. "No way! Your buddy's vamoosed, too?"
Jesse nodded pensively. "Afraid so. What I don't get is why she would disappear? Was she upset? She was acting kinda weird lately...oh, man! What if she was sick? Ooooh, how could I have not noticed that?"
Jaden, now feeling terrible to see a friend so miserable, eased over to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey now, it's okay, Jesse! I don't think Ruby went all that far...heck, she couldn't have left the island!"
He paused. "Hmm...you know, Winged Kuriboh probably didn't go too far, either. Maybe the problem is we're not looking in the right spot. If they're not down here, then maybe they are...where?"
"Good question: where?" A momentary silence ensued, as the two duelists bowed their heads thoughtfully.
Suddenly: "Wait! I think I know!" Jesse's face lit up like a bulb. "What about—"
Jaden was quickly catching on: "—our hang-out?"
In bewildered unison, they chorused: "The rooftop!"
…
The roof of Duel Academy's main building was in fact the special hang-out that was frequently occupied by Yuki and Andersen. It was also where Winged Kuriboh and Ruby Carbuncle would play as their human partners chatted the day away, exchanging dueling strategies and occasionally engage in duels simply for the fun of it. Take a break from the stresses of saving the world.
It seemed that the roof would be the most logical to search.
Jesse and Jaden's feet pounded against the warm concrete, sweat dripping from their brows. Both were panting.
"Kuriboh! Ruby!"
"Come out, come out! It's just us!" Not that anyone else could see them, anyhow.
Then Jaden came to a stop, plopping his rear on the ground. "Geez, I'm beat," he panted, wiping his sweaty brow with the sleeve of his red blazer. "Jess, can we take a breather? I'm sorry but running up those stairs is murder!"
Jesse bent down to the Slifer boy's level. "But Jay, what about our buddies? Something horrible could've happened to them or some—"
Wooooooo...wooooooo...
Kriiiii, kriiiii...
Andersen's ears twitched. Those voices. Could they be...?
"What in—Jay, tell me that you heard that, too!"
"Hear what?"
Wooooooo...wooooooo...
Kriii, kriii, kriiii...
"Hang on! Now I hear it! Wait a minute...!"
Strange. Jaden could hear the calls of what sounded exactly of his beloved fluffy friend and Jesse's.
But, was it just him...or was he hearing more voices?
Wrriiooo...wriiiiooo...
Wriiioo, wriiioo, wriiioo...
Wrriiiiiioooo!
"Holy—Jess! Are you hearin' what I'm hearin'?" Jaden's eyes widened. Alarmed, he began to give his acquaintance a rough shake. "Call me crazy but I'd say there could be more Spirits up here!"
Jesse swerved his head to the left, the right, and the left again. "You know? I don't think you're crazy at all! But what Spirits make that sound? And where the heck is it coming from?"
Just then, almost on cue, a tiny white wing was protruding from around the corner, waving to the two. As though it was beckoning for them.
Wrrrriiiioooo...
This caught Jaden's eye, and ears, instantaneously. "Ahhh! Kuriboh! Is that you, amigo?" Before you'd know it, he was arising to his feet, practically tripping on himself in the process. He grabbed Jesse's hand and was almost dragging him behind, like a doll.
"Hey! Jaden, where are we-"
"This way! I saw something over there! D'you think it's Kuriboh and Ruby?"
Ah, but the moment the two cut around that corner, it was then that they received more than they could possibly bargain for...
…
"Uhh, Jaden? You do realize...that you're, uhm...holding my hand, right?" Jesse pointed out, his face receiving the second outbreak of blush on this very day.
Yuki stared down at his own hand, fingers wrapped tightly around Andersen's. Oh dear...
"Whoa!" he released his grip immediately. What was wrong with him today? His cheeks felt as though they were being held up against a hot stove. "Yeessh...s-sorry about that, guy! I didn't mean to-hey, what's the matter?"
All the color in Jesse's face had dissipated, melted into a puddle at his feet. His jaw was entirely off its hinges, while his sharp gems for eyes dilated to the circumference of dinner plates. Like he had just seen a phantom.
"J-Jesse? You're not ticked off 'cause I held your—"
He never got to finish. Because as Jaden turned to face forward, in the direction of Jesse's, his face became the perfect stunned replica of his.
What did the two see?
The great news was, Winged Kuriboh and Ruby Carbuncle were right in front of them, alive and unharmed.
They were not alone.
On the cement lay an exhausted and mangy but content little Ruby, her four wide ears drooped, her half-open ruby eyes glowing. Winged Kuriboh hovered just above her, his giant yellow eyes shimmering with pride.
And out from behind Ruby...fluttered eight tiny creatures. All each with their own pair of light purple wings, two sets of broad, fuzzy ears, and long, swishing tails with glistening rubies on the end. Their fur was a tender brown, shaggy and untamed, and their petite noses were like black buttons sewn onto their faces. There were four green, clawed feet for each one, like their father's; and their small, red eyes shined like their mother's.
The infant monsters seemed joyful to see these two charming humans before them. Daintily, they fluttered in a circle around the boys, squeaking a soft chorus of wrrrriiiioooo's.
"No...way," breathed Jaden. To say that he was astonished, bewildered, and baffled all at once, beyond scientific logic, would be a mere understatement. No doubt that Jesse had felt the same way. "Kuriboh...you're a...a...a DAD?"
"And—and Ruby's a MOMMA?"
The Carbuncle nodded once, then lay her head on her front paws. Her lover flew to her side, rubbing his bristly cheeks against hers.
Jesse sounded as though he was choking. How on Earth could he and the Crystal Beasts not know of any of this?
"J-Jesse…d-do you know...wh-what this means?" Jaden whispered.
"That we've discovered a brand-new, never-before-heard-of breed of Duel monster...?"
"Well, yeah, that...but you know what else?"
Abruptly, Jaden scooped the little of creatures into his arms and shrieked with glee, "You and I are now uncles, AND in-laws! Awww, just look at these guys! Aren't they sweet?"
Jesse shot a funny look. Well, Yuki's taking this pretty well...okay, I'll have to admit that they're cute...but geez, we should've known this would happen. Wait till the rest of the gang find out about this...wonder why Ruby didn't say anything...?
One miniature Fusion of the two Spirits floated up to Jesse's cheek and gave him a butterfly kiss. "Aww, he likes you, Jess!" teased Jaden. "Say, Kuriboh, Ruby: what do you plan to name these guys? How 'bout...um...the Winged Ruby, um, Kuri-buncles? Yeah! And maybe, they can have nicknames, too!"
He held each squeaking baby up to his face and squinted, as if straining to come up with the perfect names. "This one...hmmm...ooh, ooh! Mario! He looks like a Mario! And this one: how 'bout Eddie? Yeah, and-and this little guy can be named, ehhh...Kuriboh, Junior! After you! This pretty girl can be Ruby, Junior! Man, am I a genius or what? You can be Jenny, and you can be Curly..."
Meanwhile, Jesse held two of the infants wrestling in his lap, staring at them. Neither of them were necessarily angered by this most unexpected surprise. A tad shaken, maybe. But far from angry.
Yuki pointed at one of them. "You know, Jess, this one's got your eyes...maybe, if it's okay, we can name him...Jesse?"
The second turned his gaze to Jaden. "Jesse, huh?" He directed to the final Kuri-buncle. "This one's got your eyes. Why not name him...Jaden?"
The two locked eyes for a moment or two, as the proud and elated parents came forward to greet their partners. Taking their positions in their laps, they nestled in with their new offspring, batting ears and swishing tails.
"You know, Jesse's not such a shabby name for this little guy," Andersen trailed off, barely noticing that he was slinging his arm over Jaden's shoulder absent-mindedly.
"Jaden's not too bad, either...our family's just got bigger, huh?" Yuki was hardly aware that he was doing the same thing.
In that moment, they entirely forgot that they were touching again.