Chapter 1
He wanted to escape. But after such a long time of being conditioned he realized that he was trapped. Aster Phoenix was the heir to Slifer's throne, not far away from his coronation. Although he didn't really want to be king at all. That held so much responsibility, pointless duties that he knew he would hate wholeheartedly. Slifer deserved a king who loved their kingdom with all of their being, who could do their job flawlessly through this love. He wouldn't be the right man for the job, he was sure of it. No, not him. He wanted to design cards, just like his father before him had. Sartorius insisted though that he must become king in his place, regardless of his lack of royalty. Seeing as Sartorius had never taken a queen, he had never conceived a child of his own; so he pushed his practically-adopted son into the position of prince. Although Aster lived in the lap of luxury, he could not seem to even tolerate it.
"Of course I deserve it," he pondered, "I just don't want it." Aster sighed with a frown. "Besides, why would Sartorius want me to be king? He knows of my ambitions and yet I've gotten myself stuck. There is no one to take my place." He thought. What if there was? Would things be different? He thought hard for hours a day wondering what he could do to help himself. It was nighttime when Sartorius interrupted his thoughts: he had just come up with a plan.
"Is something the matter, my prince?" Sartorius questioned, snapping Aster out of his trance.
"You know that I would not like to be king." Aster said bluntly.
"I know. But you must, Aster. It is your duty." Aster stared over Sartorius' right shoulder.
"I will not be the king you desire, Sartorius. I will hate every minute of the job. Anyone else would be a better king than me."
"You have been arguing for weeks and know I will not change my mind, and yet you still argue. I will teach you to be king, my prince."
"I'll run, then."
"That is treason, Aster. You would be exiled just like the Princeton clan."
"I'll find another place to live. Place Jaden as king, not me."
"Jaden? He is irresponsible, he would not be optimal for the position. He will not want to be king, either."
"He is part of a powerful family; it isn't like putting a commoner in charge." Aster spoke lowly of the civilians of his own kingdom.
"You may be right, but that will not change my opinion. Why would he take up such a large responsibility?"
"I'll duel him for it. The kingdom could profit off of his dueling skills. Leave the decisions to the elders."
Sartorius considered this option. He knew Aster was not wrong, but Jaden was merely a child trapped in a late teen's body.
"He won't refuse."
"I know he won't refuse, Aster. But I'm not letting you duel him when you could so easily lose intentionally. I will duel him."
Aster gulped. "Alright." He knew this was the best option, but feared that Jaden would not emerge victorious. "Please Jaden, I just hope you're good enough to win," Aster thought desperately, and prepared himself to sleep.
"The duel between King Sartorius and Jaden Yuki will start now. If Jaden wins, he will become prince. If Sartorius wins, Aster will become prince." The voice echoed through the stadium, greeted by thousands of cheers from the watching crowd. Jaden looked around at them, gaining a mildly amused look from Sartorius.
"Nervous, Jaden?" He asked flatly.
"What? Of course not! Just really psyched!" Jaden gave a big cheesy smile. "It's not often that you get to duel the king! And to become prince?!" Jaden was practically vibrating with excitement. "Calm down Jaden, you're making a fool of yourself!" He thought to himself. "Alright, I'm calm."
Sartorius finally spoke, addressing Jaden in a flat, unbiased tone. "You may choose who goes first, challenger."
"I'll go first." Jaden took a deep breath, and drew his hand. He looked over his cards, smiling at them. "Sweet," he breathed. "Alright, I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman to the field!" Bubbleman materialized in front of him, getting into a fighting stance. Jaden smiled at his monster. "Since he's out there alone, I get to draw two cards! He drew and looked over at Sartorius, trying to read his expression. He couldn't. His gaze drifted down to his cards, and his heart leapt. "Perfect!" He swallowed. "I play the spell card Bubble Blaster! You see, this card increases Bubbleman's attack by 800 points, to 1600." He smiled, and prepared to set a trap. "And I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn."
Sartorius almost smiled at the young boy's enthusiasm. He drew his hand next, scanning his cards. Aster was seated front row in the stadium, trying not to fidget nervously. He gripped at the bottom of his jacket sleeve. "I summon Arcana Force III: The Empress to the field. You see, this monster relies on the flip of a coin to function. When we flip this coin, there will be a different effect based on how it lands. However, I trust that luck will be on my side." The card flipped, landing on heads. "If this card lands on heads, which it did, each time you Normal Summon or Set a monster, I get to summon one Arcana Force monster from my hand. I'll also set one card facedown," Satorius paused to take a breath, "and end my turn."
Jaden drew his next card, but deep inside, he knew he had nothing to worry about.
-time skip-
"Alright! Elemental Hero Wildedge, attack!" The warrior lunged straight for Sartorius, slashing with his massive blade to deal the final blow. Sartorius flinched as his life points dropped to zero. There was a hint of irritation in his eyes. The crowd was on their feet, cheering and looked with shock as the king then bowed before him. Holding his hand up to the audience of townspeople, all eyes were on him, and he felt a feeling he had never felt before. "But, what is it?" Jaden wondered to himself. He figured he would never truly know, but that was alright. For now, he just smiled back at them.