As mentioned in the description, this is a prequel to Dragon Pact (which isn't finished), the part of the story where Jaden faces his own war. There's no true dueling in this universe, not like duel monsters, but they do have duels. I was eventually convinced (by myself and others) that completing this universe would be a good idea, so I'm writing it from back to front. I'm not sure if I want to expand this universe into Arc V and Zexal/Zeal yet, or really at all, but that is also an option. For now I'm going to start working on the other two parts of this universe. I'm starting first with this one but will probably eventually also start the other with Yugi.

These stories will basically all be written at the same time, and I'll probably be editing them as I go along. However if you like my story Dragon Pact you'll probably like the other two as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I don't own Yugioh GX blah blah blah. You all know the drill. XD

I'm also changing the way the chapters are titled. While Yusei is far more serious, Jaden isn't. These chapter titles will be more on the comedic side because of that.

Chapter One: Spirits and Shadows and Demons, Oh My!

Some people pitied Jaden Yuki. He was just a fourteen year old kid living alone in that huge apartment. His parents paid for everything, and as long as he stayed away from them they didn't care what he did. He hadn't seen his parents since he was seven, when they'd been scared of something they'd called his "powers". What those were had never been specified. But ever since he'd apparently frightened them he'd been living alone and not spent much time around people.

His neighbors could certainly say the boy was a little odd. He was always running around and yelling like he had people over, but whenever they came to see what was going on he'd be alone and sitting quietly in a chair in the house, apparently having seen his guests off. No one ever saw anyone go in or out except Jaden himself, but he kept running around and yelling. They couldn't blame him though. He'd grown up all alone without his parents and he'd never really talked to anyone.

Now they all knew that Jaden was a nice enough boy, always willing to help out if asked and usually smiling. He was generally very lazy (or as he preferred to be called, laid back) about the things he was asked to do, but he got them done when they needed to be done. Other than his few peculiarities he'd never really seemed to be dangerous as his parents insisted. He sometimes practiced magic but it seemed utterly normal. In fact the boy seemed just average, or maybe he was lazy with his magic too. There was nothing at all to say that the boy wasn't just a normal teenage boy who lived without his parents and was a bored teenager.

Maybe he'd enter the workforce and be a perfectly average young man with a good life, and marry a pretty young thing and have his own perfectly average family. Surely the cure to his peculiarities would only be a little bit of company. However inside the apartment, during one of his strange rants at running around and yelling (which the neighbors now accepted as perfectly normal after so many years) it was clearly apparent that Jaden Yuki was not perfectly average or normal by any means. In fact, Jaden Yuki was also never truly alone.

It was four o' clock, and that meant that Jaden Yuki's Apartment was full of Duel Spirits, as usual. It wasn't unusual to see so many Duel Spirits, though having so many in one place was a little strange. People could also have Duel Spirits as Partners that lived their lives and fought their battles alongside their partners. However what was unusual was that though all these Spirits had come when Jaden had called them from the Spirit Realm, none of them were his Partner. In fact Jaden Yuki didn't even have a Partner, at least not yet. All of these Spirits were his Contractors, beings who had found they liked Jaden and agreed to come to him when called.

Usually Contractors were only called during a duel and used to help achieve victory, each with special stats and strengths that would help their Spell Caster in battle or use to fight themselves. However these creatures were all Jaden's great friends. Most of them were Elemental Heroes, though other strange creatures could be found wandering around, and some appeared to be fusions of other creatures found here. Those were ones that had to be summoned a very specific way, though his Spirit friends trusted him with it and let him do so then resummon them. There were dozens of them, and Jaden knew them all by name.

At the moment however he was chasing around a playful Wroughtweiler around. This creature appeared to be a mechanized dog with no eyes. It had a blue face bask and black body with blue markings covering him. It had fangs and odd joints that spoke of some machine he seemed to be made of, and he was very friendly. His effect was a very special and very useful one for Jaden. However the creature had once been used by another Spell Caster who had released him from the contract because they wanted to use more powerful monsters. Jaden on the other hand had picked up the creature as it had been mourning the loss of its previous master. Jaden didn't really duel anyway, so it didn't matter. The creature had warmed up to him considerably.

And now he had Jaden's tablet in his mouth, carrying it gently. Jaden fell to the floor laughing after lunging for it and missing, again. He had been trying to catch the creature for about ten minutes now, trying to grab his tablet away from the creature. He did need it eventually because he was supposed to contact his parents to let him know that he still wasn't dead. As much as they were afraid of him they still loved him, he guessed, and they kept tabs on him. However the Wroughtweiler just wagged his tail and let out a playful mechanical growl as he danced just out of reach of the boy's hands. He dropped into a play bow.

"Sparky I need that back," Jaden cried, though not in an angry way.

"You'd better be faster then," Sparky, the Wroughtweiler laughed in a machine like voice, making his face mask light up as he spoke. "You haven't told us whether or not you're going to go to that Duel Academy yet."

Defeated, Jaden flopped down onto his back, making a few of the other Duel Spirits laugh. Some were already leaving for the day and wishing him luck for later. Others were going to stay a little while longer, mostly quiet creatures. These stayed for a few minutes more before they realized Jaden wasn't going to respond any time soon. He remained breathing on the floor and staring up at the ceiling with conflicted eyes.

Soon the only Spirit left in the apartment was Sparky, who walked over and gently dropped the tablet on the boy's chest. This got little reaction. The dog robot then turned in a circle and laid down by the boy's side, laying his head down on his chest. Jaden didn't talk for a while, just staring up at the plaster above his head. Did he want to join Duel Academy? Well his parents had wanted him to go. It was about as famous a place as you could get, and being in Domino City meant he would be going to THE Duel Academy. But it didn't sit right with him.

He'd always wanted to go as well, at least when he was a child. But that was before his dueling had gotten out of hand. He'd been great at it, and he and his Contractors had won Duel after Duel. However one day when he'd gotten angry everything had changed. He couldn't even remember why he had gotten angry. The next thing he knew there were a lot of people hurt and it had suddenly seemed to get really dark.

His old Contractors had left him then, too scared to talk about what had happened. His parents had been too scared to talk about it. Jaden couldn't remember what had happened either, only that it had happened. He had been reluctant to make Contracts with Spirits again, though they had assured him that they wouldn't be scared away. He didn't want to go to Duel Academy for that reason though, one single reason: He was scared to duel.

He was scared to figure out what secret lie inside himself. He was terrified to end up hurting people again and becoming the monster that had changed his entire life in the first place. It was this that made him stare silently at the ceiling. His Contractors had urged him to go, to face his fear and no longer be controlled by it. However that didn't make it easy.

Sparky said nothing as he laid their beside the boy, just laying there. He let his head rest on the boy's chest as he felt him breathe, up and down. It had always somehow amazed the creature. He never breathed, and he was cold to the touch. He could sense hot and cold, but he was never really either. Jaden felt warm to him, full of life, and he could detect that he was strong as well. There was nothing physically wrong with the boy. But there was something wrong with him mentally.

Sparky had been programed to act like a dog, and to be playful. In a way he was Jaden's pet. He was attentive and kind to him, and he often showed up without being called to stay by Jaden's side, though he was by no means his Partner. Even Sparky could sense that something else was his Partner, something far more powerful. However certain Contractors could often become like pets, as he was. Many people had these Pets with them, and they were simply referred to as that. They came and went as they pleased but often kept their humans company.

Sparky knew that there was a shadow in the boy's mind, though even he had never really been told too much what that shadow was. The boy was agonizing over the choice however. He didn't want to let his friends down, and they just wanted him to stop being so lazy and be more like the person that they knew he could be. They wanted him to excel like they knew he could. But they also understood how utterly terrified the boy was of facing whatever it was that was inside of him.

For many years Jaden had kept it hidden. He hadn't spoke of it, and no one outside of his family and his friends who had been hurt knew. None of them were really his friends now, and he couldn't blame them. They stayed as far away from him as possible. His family did as well. He was never alone, but he suddenly felt alone. What did they know of how much a freak he was? He didn't want to have this power.

He felt a mechanical tongue pass over his face. It wasn't wet, seeing how Sparky wasn't actually a dog or really a living thing for that matter. But he gave the creature a smile none the less. No he couldn't really say he was lonely. He had his friends, who had known him for years and never betrayed him. He reached up and ran his hand over the strange creature's head, who wagged his tail at him. He let out a sigh and sat up, and then Jaden smiled.

"I suppose I should tell my parents I'm alright then," he said. "Since you gave my tablet back. Then how about we go for a walk okay? You haven't gone out with me much before."

Sparky let his metal tongue hang out and wagged his tail as he sat up, silently watching the boy. He was glad that he was in a much better mood now, or at least distracted from those dark thoughts. The boy was usual in a pretty good mood, so it was no surprise there really. He could be in a bad mood and quickly cheered up. He was laid back yes, but he was the kind of person that could bring someone else out of their bad mood quickly just by being as goofy as he usually was.

The boy quickly pulled up the email page and typed out a note to his parents telling them that he was alright as usual. He then also paused and gave a quick inquiry about their health and how his little sister was doing. His parents had left him alone and had another child. He'd never met her, but she'd be around five now. He supposed it was better for Julia to grow up away from her strange older brother, but he still couldn't help but be curious. Even if he never met the child, he wanted to know about her. He couldn't help but be curious. Before he could change his mind he made himself hit the send button. They'd told him about her before but they'd never really breached the subject.

With that done he tossed his tablet carelessly onto the couch. He supposed that was enough damage for one day. He quickly stood and ran to the mirror to make sure he was presentable. He had brown hair that was cut short and two shades. It was darker on bottom and lighter on top. He also had brown eyes. He was about average height for his age, nothing too fancy to look at. Though he could smile act happy enough, he just looked average. He was anything but average though. He was wearing a simple gray jacket and jeans, nothing fancy. He supposed he was presentable enough. He never really worried much about his appearance.

"You coming Sparky?" He called as he grabbed his keys and shoved them into his jeans pocket, heading right for the door. His answer was nearly being knocked over by an excited Wroughtweiler running past him to the door.

Jaden smiled and shook his head after him and followed him to the door. Sparky dashed out quickly and waited kind of impatiently as the boy followed him out and locked the door. Across the hall one of Jaden's neighbors, an old lady who was also coming out of her house to go shopping paused as she saw the boy and the strange Duel Spirit.

"Hello Mrs. Jenkins," Jaden called cheerfully.

"Hello Jaden," she replied as Sparky bounded up to her and wagged his tail as she patted him. "Is this your Partner?"

"No he's my Pet," Jaden replied with a laugh. "This is Sparky. He keeps me company some times, so I thought I'd let him come with me for a walk."

"Good to see you getting along so well," Mrs. Jenkins said with a smile. "It's not good to keep yourself alone like that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jaden replied.

The boy finished locking the door and shoved his keys back into his pocket, walking down the hall to the elevator that would let him go down to the ground level. Sparky bounded off to keep beside the boy in front of him and walked calmly by his side, though his tail kept wagging a little and his tongue hung out of his mouth. The creature was quite happy to accompany the boy somewhere, and he knew that this wasn't something Jaden did often.

Jaden could hear the voices of all Duel Spirits, even if they weren't connected to him in any way. They had a tendency to talk a lot, and that made anywhere Jaden went even noisier than before. It made it difficult for the boy to concentrate and gave him headaches, yet another reason why he preferred to stay inside and away from others. That power also however let him travel at times to the Spirit Realm, where he had met all his Contractors. It usually had to be taught and wasn't exactly a normal ability to just naturally pick up. However the boy now wanted to leave and get some fresh air, and probably to find somewhere to think.

They reached the elevator and quickly went inside. Luckily they were the only ones on the elevator, so the dog like creature sat beside the boy's feet like an obedient pet should and waited as the smooth ride took them down to the first floor. As the elevator doors dinged open to let people on to go up, Jaden already felt his headache threatening to rise.

The lobby was full of people trying to go up to their apartments or saying hello to family members. It was nearly Thanksgiving, and so there were a lot of holiday greetings going around. People were talking and their Duel Spirits were doing so as well. He just smiled as he and Sparky left the elevator to let others on so they could go up, nearly bumping into a little girl. She smiled and called for them to have a happy holiday as she ran to catch up to her parents and he nodded. Jaden had become quite good at this point at pretending that everything was fine and all the talking between people and their Partners really didn't give him a huge headache. He kind of hated living in the biggest and most rich apartments in the city, meaning his parents felt bad about abandoning him and had spent lots of money to get him lots of expensive things. He kind of hated it. He knew they had the money to spend, but he didn't want it spent on him.

Stepping outside into the streets was worse than the lobby. They were right in the middle of Domino City, which was a capital of the world, meaning it was huge. He hurried down the streets as quickly as he could while still looking like he was traveling a somewhat normal pace. Sparky dogged his steps the whole way, careful to remain just behind the boy and within sight of him the entire time. Jaden struck a path towards a nearby park, hoping to find a somewhat quiet place there, but pushing past Duel Spirits and their human Spell Casters on the busy sidewalks was no easy task.

After what seemed like an eternity they finally made it. Of course, this park was full of people and Duel Spirits as well, having picnics or enjoying some time off, but Jaden wasn't discouraged by what he was seeing. He kept pressing on, going farther and farther back through the walking trails until he came across a place that was relatively deserted. He leaped up on a rock that sat in the middle of some grass with a few tall bushes nearby, and Sparky leaped up to join him.

However the robot soon saw that the boy's face had darkened again. He was frowning now and didn't look happy in the slightest. The dog watched the boy's face a moment, wondering what he'd brought him all the way out here for just to resume his dark thoughts again.

"Jaden?" Sparky asked. "What's wrong?"

"Well I," Jaden said, pausing and looking down, ashamed. "I haven't been straightforward with you guys. I told you there were still weeks to apply to join Duel Academy right? Well I lied. Yesterday at noon was the last day. I know it wasn't right to lie to you guys, but I was just, well I was scared. I don't want to hurt anyone again like before, and I don't understand what it is about myself that would even make that possible. I know you'll all probably hate me for that."

"Jaden we wouldn't hate you," Sparky replied instantly, sighing in a disappointed manner but laying his chin down on the boy's knee. "We'd just be disappointed. We know you're scared, but you can't keep running from the past. For all we know you've outgrown it, but we'll never know unless you try, now will we? There's always next year."

"It doesn't make me feel any better for lying to my friends," Jaden mumbled. Sparky licked the boy's hand.

"Then don't lie next time," he replied. "We're your friends Jaden. We understand why."

Jaden just frowned and didn't say anything else, preferring to stare down at his knee as if it was going to chastize him. He hated lying, it felt like he had betrayed his friends somehow. He couldn't stand to lose anymore friends, since he had driven them all away. It was why he was only friends with Duel Spirits. They weren't really that scared of him because of his powers, seeing as they all had powers too. And with so many of them with such a close bond they could keep him from going out of control probably. But driving yet more friends away was something that he didn't want to do. Never again. So he didn't make many friends.

The dog like creature laid his head back down on the boy's knee, knowing that words couldn't really help the boy now. He was lonely and in pain, as he had been for such a long time. Maybe Sparky didn't really know that well what was going on, but at least he was going to be there for the boy when he needed his company.

For a while they were quiet like that, but then Jaden started as there was a crash in the bushes to his right. He leaped up and looked towards the bushes as someone hissed a curse of some kind under their breath. Or maybe two someones? He was sure he heard a male and a female voice. Sparky turned in the direction of the sound as well, looking quite confused. Jaden couldn't blame him. He hadn't even been aware that there had been anyone there, but it sounded like they had crashed. From where? He couldn't see how they had.

"Hey," Jaden called. "Are you alright? Sounds like you had a bit of a fall."

Silence. That was the reward for his concern, just an odd and unnerving silence. Neither voice spoke. Neither said a single word or made a sound. Whoever was in the bushes had just fallen silent at the sound of him addressing them. Jaden just continued to watch the bushes. There was nothing. Trying his luck, he spoke again.

"Why don't you come out?" he asked. "I know you're there."

At this the bushes shook a little at the sound of something standing. Then the leaves parted and a creature stepped out of the bushes. Sparky just looked even more confused, but Jaden couldn't help but let his jaw drop. If there were demons in this world then this thing had to be one of them. He'd never seen a creature like it.

The right half of the creature was female, while the left seemed to be male. The creature's left half had a muscular arm and leg, though they still appeared to be thin, and even the face seemed rather more like a male with a green eye. The right half on the other hand was female, with a breast, rounded hip and curving waist, sporting and orange eye. It had magenta skin with black markings though the lips appeared to be bluish. The right half of her hair was dark blue while the left was silver. It also had wings and talons on its hands. Its clothes were mismatching and though it covered it, he wasn't sure where to look at it without being rude, or what to say.

"What are you?" he managed in surprise.

The creature's mouth opened, revealing fangs, but to his surprise, the creature's jaw just fell slack as it looked at him. He could only stare back at it, unsure what to do or what to say. What could he say? This thing had shown up out of no where, and he didn't know of any creature that looked like it at all. What was it, and why was it here? Why did it seem so surprised? He couldn't voice any of these questions as they stared at each other like they were foreign to each other.

"You can see me?" the creature asked in a voice that was both male and female, though the female voice came out more than the male's.

"Y-Yes?" Jaden replied, unsure what else to say.

The creature's brows furrowed together as it took a step forward, looking at the boy closely. He just blinked and nervously stood under its gaze, unsure what it wanted with him. Then however to his astonishment, the creature's face changed. It smiled just a little, and it seemed to relax a little. He could only blink at it.

"Finally," it said. "I found you."

"You were looking for me?" Jaden asked. The creature ruffled its wings and gave him a sideways glance.

"I was," it replied. "Because I have a mission. I knew it was only a matter of time before...well it doesn't matter now. I'm here now, and it's my duty to protect you."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Jaden cried, more confused than he'd been in a long time. "What is this about protecting me? Why would I need protecting? How do you know of me when I don't know of you? And before what?"

"I can't answer any of those questions here," the creature replied, giving him another hard glance. "It's not safe, and I'm being followed. We can discus this elsewhere, but I can't tell you everything, not yet. That's not wise. We should go."

"Followed by who?" Jaden growled, his eyes narrowing a little in frustration. Who was this thing to boss him around? "And why should I do what you tell me to when I don't know anything about you?" The creature snarled at him.

"This isn't the time or the place," it replied.

Both of them glared at the other. The creature crossed its arms and raised its wings in a way that told Jaden that it wasn't going to back down, and it thought he should do as it said. Jaden on the other hand clinched his fists at his sides. He wasn't going to take orders from this thing. It was rather rude and apparently it knew a lot it wasn't telling. He wanted to know what was going on and why, and it wasn't exactly making itself very approachable. Why would he need protection? He was just some monster to everyone who'd ever met him. What did this thing know? Nothing.

Jaden felt Sparky nudge his hand with his nose, and he turned his glare down to look at him. It soon disappeared though with surprise at the utter confusion that he saw on the creature's face. The dog creature looked around once more, never once looking directly at the creature standing in front of them, blatantly in the open. Slowly the dog turned back to the boy, and Jaden looked up at the creature again, who was also watching the dog. There seemed to be something knowing in the creature's gaze as it looked at the mechanical dog.

"Jaden," Sparky said with concern. "Who are you talking to?"

Like in Dragon Pact, no one can see Yubel but Jaden (and eventually Yami).

Also note for people who just found this story. This is a prequel to a not finished story of mine known as Dragon Pact. There will also be a prequel to this coming out soon after I get a ways into this story. These will be written at the same time in the same universe.

If you enjoyed feel free to leave a comment. Also several years have passed on the way to Dragon Pact so Jaden isn't the same as he was, and things have changed through this story leading to that one. I have it planned out, so if you're confused I'm sorry. It'll all link up and make sense eventually.

If you're too confused you can read Dragon Pact by itself (which has 14 chapters to date) or you can wait until I start the other one and read them through as they're completed. However please enjoy them either way.