Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Deck Construction
Characters: Elemental Heroes, Evil Heroes, Neo-Spacians
Word Count: 999||Status: One-shot
Genre: Drama||Rated: G
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section D99, fic that starts & ends with the same word; Written for the Halloween Trick or Treat Bag (Advent), day #8, find a random generator and pick ten prompts. Write a fic under 1,000 words using every prompt.
Summary: It was strange enough working the Neo-Spacians into the deck and they were created to be partners to the Elemental Heroes. But now there's a new bunch of faces that no one is sure about.
Chaos. Being part of Yuuki Juudai's deck involved chaos on a regular basis. There were few monsters who'd stuck around since the old days when he'd first built it, and most of those didn't have a spirit attached to them now, for any number of reasons. Everyone knew that sooner or later Juudai would phase them out, and it was an accepted, common thing. His deck featured Elemental Heroes and Neo-Spacians these days and there couldn't be any dead draws, even with the strong bond between the deck and the duelist.
Chaos, however, was far beyond the order of the day at the moment. Neos could not help but feel a little responsible, as he'd encouraged Juudai to attack Brron, no matter what. It had been necessary; they all agreed on it even in the aftermath, but it was the power that flowed through Juudai that made them all wonder if perhaps another route to victory could've been found.
Maybe I should've told him more about what his power means. Neos wondered as he stared across the gap to where these new arrivals stood. If he knew what he was in truth, then perhaps...
It was too hard to guess and the damage had already been done. They would just have to work with what they had until somehow Juudai worked through all of this.
Flame Wingman stood not too far away from where Evil Hero Inferno Wing and the rest of her companions stood, looking out over the area of the deck as if they planned to set up housekeeping. From the possessive gleam in her eyes, that was exactly what they planned on doing. The first star of Juudai's deck, however, wasn't going to stand for this.
"What are you doing here?" Flame Wingman wanted to know, the tip of his tail twitching ever so slightly. That wasn't something humans tended to see when he fought in a duel, but in this realm, other rules governed.
Inferno Wing barely gave her fusion-kin a look. "We live here now. Haou-sama has called us here." She waved one hand, indicating the Neo-Spacians. "You had best all make room. You're not needed here anymore."
The corners of her lips turned up into a dazzling smile as she caught sight of Neos. "Of course, some of you can stay."
Aqua Dolphin stood beside his Neo-Spacian companions. "I think we're all going to. Juudai's going to need our help in this world."
"The help that he needs will come from us." Evil Hero Hell Gainer spoke, his voice a deep, raspy rumble. "Haou-sama wills it so."
"You can see he no longer needs your help, nor does he wish for it," Inferno Wing told the Neo-Spacians. "Try to speak to him. Try to go to him. You'll find out we're right."
Air Hummingbird took off a heartbeat later, aiming for the point above where they all exited when called to a duel, or when Juudai just wanted to talk to them. Three breaths and one crash to the ground later, he lay trembling, shaking his head.
"A barrier that I can't get through," he whispered, voice shaking. "A darkness deeper than his, even."
How that could be when the young man in question was the embodiment of darkness itself, Neos did not know. He wasn't certain if he wanted to know. He stared up into the somber expanse before them, though he didn't seek to repeat Air Hummingbird's attempt. He didn't need to get up that high to feel the power.
Movement caught his attention and he saw the Elemental Heroes moving toward the Evil Heroes. Featherman and Burst Lady stared at Inferno Wing, who reached out to touch her fingers to Burst Lady's cheek. The warrior of flame bent her head in the most obsequious, submissive fashion that Neos had ever seen. It didn't look right on her at all, no more than the same look did on Featherman.
"What are you doing?" Neos demanded to know, taking long strides towards them. He reached out in an attempt to pull the other two Heroes away, only for Burst Lady and Featherman both to slap him with a powerful blast of flame and wind mixed together.
It wasn't enough to really hurt him, but it did stop him for a moment or two. Inferno Wing draped her arms around the two of them, pride in her voice. "Well done, my material components. I am very proud of you." Her fingers brushed through Burst Lady's glistening dark hair and petted against Featherman's bright feathers.
Where her fingers touched, Neos could see a kind of darkening following. Neither Burst Lady nor Featherman seemed to notice at all. All of the other Elemental Heroes moved in closer, paying no more attention to the Neo-Spacians than if they hadn't been there at all. Only these new arrivals mattered.
Neos and the Neo-Spacians moved closer together. No one dared to say anything, but inch by inch, they moved away from where the rest of the deck gathered.
"This won't last forever," Flare Scarab said at last. "Juudai won't let it."
"We can hope," Glow Moss agreed. "But how long will it take?"
No one could answer that question. Neos refused to go very far from where they'd left the others, watching as the darker Elemental Heroes and the new Evil Heroes answered Juudai's call to battle, and returned far too soon singing songs of their victory. Time between the deck and the outside realm could be difficult to judge, but Neos didn't like it. It wasn't Juudai's usual dueling.
Yet he could not find his way out to ask what it was. All any of them could do in their reconstructed deck was wait for Juudai's call to them.
Hane Kuriboh came to join them, bringing them tales of how Juudai rampaged across this strange land, bringing it firmly under his control.
This foul darkness thickened with each day's passing, and the Neo-Spacians waited out the chaos.
The End
Note: Thank you for reading and a hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.
Extra Note: The chosen words for this were guess, somber, crash, common, slap, glistening, man, obsequious, songs, and dazzling.