Yugioh GX: The Ancient City Tournament

It was a beautiful day in Domino City. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the weather was amazing. It was for that particular reason that a certain two-toned brunette was laying out underneath a row of trees in Domino Park, just enjoying the day. He was wearing a black sleeveless muscle shirt with a pair of blue jeans and white sneakers. Just on the grass next to him was a red leather jacket, covering a black backpack and a red outlined duel disk. He was watching the beautiful cloudless sky as he waited for time to pass.

"Jaden Yuki!"

Jaden sat up from underneath the tree and blinked, looking for whoever had just called his name. He could've sworn he knew the voice. Looking over by a swing set a few yards away, Jaden's eyes widened as he spotted the familiar face of someone he hadn't expected to see. He had traded up his white shirt, black jeans, and blue jacket for a pair of light blue jeans, a dark blue sleeveless muscle shirt, black sneakers and a black leather jacket, but even with the changes, Jaden would know him anywhere. The teal hair and bluish green eyes would stick out anywhere, and the southern accent was a dead giveaway.

"Jesse Anderson!" Jaden exclaimed as he jumped to his feet, running over to his blunette friend and pulling him into a hug. The two laughed before Jaden pulled away shaking his friends' shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you here! How've you been since graduation with the whole… well, ya know."

"Shouldn' I be askin' you that?" Jesse asked with a laugh, as he adjusted the black backpack on his shoulders. "I've been good. Getting possessed by a duel spirit and duelin' to save the world is kinda stressful, so I took a few months to rest up and visit home, and now I'm better than ever! I'm back on the duelin' circuit, takin' on the pros. How about you? How've ya been?"

"I've been good," Jaden said with a smile on his face, purposely leaving out the part that he and Yubel had become sort of friends. He didn't think Jesse would want to hear about the duel monster that possessed him. "I've been on and off the pro circuit a couple times, but mostly it's been travelling. I just got back from Italy two weeks ago, but now I'm done with travelling and I'm ready to make my permanent entrance into the pro-dueling circuit."

"No kiddin'?" Jesse asked with a large smile on his face. "Ya gonna compete in that new tournament Pegasus just created?"

Jaden nodded with a childlike smile on his face like the ones he wore in his earlier years of Duel Academy, before the whole Supreme King debacle. "Yeah, the Ancient City tournament! I'm so pumped for it; it sounds like it's going to be awesome! I just hope it lives up to all the hype."

"Well looks like we're gonna find out together! That's the same tournament I'm competin' in!" Jesse exclaimed excitedly.

"No way!"

"Way! I heard that some of the others from Duel Academy are competin' too."

Jaden's heart skipped a beat as he thought about one particular person he wanted to see from Duel Academy. As quickly as the thought came he pushed it out of his mind. He'd been trying to keep up with what all his friends had done after graduating. He knew Syrus had followed in his brother's steps by heading into the pro-dueling circuit while Zane had been working on recovery. He had heard two months ago that Zane's heart was nearly recovered and that he was starting to compete in duels again, hoping to get back into the pro circuit with his brother. Jim had headed back to Australia to compete in the pro circuit there while Axel had decided to go to the US to compete. Hassleberry and Atticus went to the pro circuit too while Chazz had taken up an internship at Kaiba Corp directly under Seto Kaiba. Alexis on the other hand, had started to study abroad, moving from place to place before Jaden could really get a read on where she was. He doubted she'd take time out of her schooling for the tournament, no matter how much he wanted to see her.

"Aw, Jaden misses the little queen of Obelisk Blue," Yubel said in his head. Jaden mentally glared at the duel spirit, but he was thankful she didn't decide to make an appearance. That may have ended badly with Jesse no more than two feet away.

"That's awesome; I've been dying to see everyone again!" Jaden said happily after he had regained control of his thoughts and emotions—making a mental note to yell at Yubel later.

"Well we better get movin'! Registration ends pretty soon!" Jesse reminded the two-toned brunette. Jaden blinked before looking down at his watch, wincing when he realized that Jesse was right. "Ya're never on time for anythin' are ya, Jay?" Jesse asked with an amused glance.

"Hey, I was on time for something once! It was a Tuesday!" Jaden replied back with a smile on his face as he raced back over to the tree he was just underneath to grab his jacket, bag and duel disk. He was in the middle of putting his duel disk in his bag and slipping his jacket over his shoulders when he ran back to Jesse giving him a thumbs up. "Alright, let's make tracks!"

"Right behind ya Jay!" Jesse responded as they both started taking off, heading towards Kaiba Land where the registration and opening ceremonies were to be held. The two sprinted past crowds of people all heading towards the same place when something buzzed in Jesse's pocket.

"Jess, your pocket's ringing!" Jaden announced, when he noticed that Jesse hadn't bothered to check what it was.

"I know," Jesse said as he and Jaden stopped running at the end of a sidewalk, waiting for the cars to go by. "I know who it is already. That girl's so stubborn she's been textin' me ever since I woke up this mornin'."

"Who?" Jaden asked curiously, wondering just who that girl could be. A small part of his mind piped up that it could potentially be Alexis, but he quickly squashed the idea. It was just hopeful optimism on his part.

Jesse smiled and shook his head almost as if he was thinking of something funny. "My best friend. Well, my best friend that's a girl anyway," Jesse amended as the light changed and he and Jaden shot off again. "She's competin' in the Ancient City tournament too and she's been buggin' me to find out if I was gonna go."

"Oh, so she knows your competing?" Jaden asked as they turned a sharp corner, Kaiba Land appearing just ahead.

"Nope! I told her I was already in the States tryin' to compete on the pro circuit there. She's been blowin' up my phone tryin' to convince me to fly back here and participate," Jesse said with a mischievous grin on his face.

Jaden couldn't help but laugh. The two ran up to the entrance to Kaiba Land where some of the registration tables were. "Alright boys we'll need your names, ages and the type of deck you duel with. You'll want to make sure that you have your passports and ID's on you and you'll need to wear these armbands," the man behind the desk stated as he pushed two white armbands forward with a red circle on the center. "When they make the announcement for all contestants to prepare for the opening ceremonies then you'll show the guards your badges so they'll let you backstage."

"Thanks," Jesse thanked as he finished signing his name and grabbed both their badges. He handed one to Jaden, strapping his own to his arm.

Jaden grabbed the pen and started writing his own name down on the space just under Jesse's. He had finished writing what deck he dueled with and signing his name when something on the paper caught his eye. Frowning, he looked up a couple spaces to see a few names he recognized.

Chazz Princeton 18 Armed Dragon

Zane Truesdale 20 Cyber Dragon

Syrus Truesdale 18 Vehicroid

Atticus Rhodes 20 Red-Eyes

Aster Phoenix 19 Destiny Hero

Jaden smiled as he saw the familiar names of his friends that were getting ready to compete in the same tournament. He was excited to see them and ask how they've been doing. He was about to walk away when something on the paper jumped out at him. He immediately grabbed the paper back and stared intently at the paper, ignoring the man's voice telling him that he was holding up the line and Jesse asking if he was okay. His gaze was fixated on one name in the middle of the paper, nearly hidden from him. He couldn't believe it. He blinked his eyes and shook his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing the name before his heart stopped.

Alexis Rhodes 18 Cyber Girl

"Jay? Ya in there buddy?" Jesse asked in concern as he saw the expression on Jaden's face.

Without warning Jaden dropped the paper and looked up at the man seriously. The man looked confused and backed up in his chair a bit. "There was a girl that was just here to register. A couple inches shorter than me with long gold hair and eyes, probably wearing something blue, right?" Jaden guessed. The man looked confused for a second before nodding. "Where'd she go?"

"Uh… she asked where she should go to wait and I suggested the exhibition duels going on in Dueling Arena A. Why?"

Jaden took off like a rocket, not bothering to answer his question. He was vaguely aware of Jesse falling into step behind him and asking where it was that he was going, but he couldn't stop. He just kept running, turning to head in the direction of Dueling Arena A. He saw it ahead and sprinted faster, bursting through the doors and startling some of the kids and duelists closest to the doors. He didn't dwell on that however as he started to scan the crowd. He vaguely noticed a duel going on and some faces but not the one he was looking for.

Just as he was about to give up he spotted her. She was surrounded by Chazz—who had given up his black cloak look for a black business suit—Atticus—who still rocked the Hawaiian shirt and shorts—Zane—who was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans—Syrus—who was wearing a green shirt and white shorts—and Aster—who was still wearing his same grey suit. He didn't dwell on them however. They slowly faded to the background as he looked at her. She was wearing a blue tank top with a white tennis skirt and white sneakers with her hair down and long as always. She was laughing at something that Atticus had said, her light laughter bringing a smile to Jaden's face when he realized she truly was there.

"Alexis!" Jaden called out enthusiastically, unable to remove the large smile from his face. Alexis—and the other boys—all turned to see who it was that had called her. Her face had gone from one of mild confusion to one of shock as she looked at Jaden, their eyes locking. The shock soon melted away into a beautiful smile as she took a deep breath.

"Jaden."