Chapter 2

Homecoming

Jaden awoke the next morning to a thin stream of sunlight poking through the trees. He was leaning against a very large oak with the girl he'd rescued resting against his shoulder. It had been a long time running away from the facility and Pearl was already tired. So, they finally found a safe place to rest, far enough away from the military base and she'd fallen asleep almost right away. Jaden smiled at her. She had done a good job back at the base, but there were still several things that needed to be done to help this girl.

Carefully, Jaden took off his jacket and folded it into a pillow before laying the girl down on it so he could do a perimeter check.

"You can sense it, can't you?" Yubel asked, as Jaden made sure that they were still safe.

"Sense what?" Jaden asked.

"This girl's power, combined with her strong connection to her deck is very much the same as yours," Yubel said. Jaden sighed.

"Ya but, hers is natural, mine is…other-worldly. And that's not the only difference," he said.

"Whatever the difference is, I have a feeling that this girl isn't out of the woods yet," Yubel said. Jaden didn't doubt her. When it came to things like this, Yubel was normally right.

"I know I have to help her, but how?" Jaden asked out loud.

"By doing the same thing you did with me," Yubel said. "By being there for her." Jaden smiled. He had been right. This girl would need a mentor to help her, the question was, how long could they stay here before they were discovered and Pearl taken away again? There really was no answer to that, but Jaden felt guilty thinking that she might have to be on the run for a while. She was free, she could go home, see her mom and dad and friends, but the way Jaden saw it, she couldn't stay long. Suddenly the girl groaned behind them. Pushing the thoughts to the back of his head, Jaden turned around to see Pearl slowly sit up, yawn and rub her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You're out," Jaden said, kneeling beside her to pick up his jacket. "You're free." Pearl looked around and smiled the biggest smile Jaden had ever seen. She leaped up and gave Jaden a large hug.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much um…What was your name again?" They looked at each other and Jaden smiled.

"My name is Jaden Yuki," Jaden said.

"Jaden, my name is Pearl Lite," the girl said. Jaden grinned cheekily.

"I already know who you are," he said. "I also know that your mom is really worried about you. Let's get you home." Jaden helped Pearl stand up and then looked at her. "On second thought, we'd better find something else for you to wear. Walking around in hospital garb isn't exactly a way to avoid detection."

"Where would we find some more clothes?" Pearl asked. Jaden thought for a moment. Finding new clothes in a forest just didn't seem possible. He didn't exactly want to go for a George of the Jungle look. Jaden realized that he was still dressed in black from his late night raid and that his bag with his Slifer jacket and Pharaoh was still hidden in a bush somewhere.

"I've got an idea, come on," Jaden said. The two of them hurried towards the bushes where Jaden had left his bag. Of course, finding the exact same set of bushes was more difficult than Jaden had first thought. Eventually, Jaden just started calling for Pharaoh, to Pearl's confusion. Finally, the orange tabby poked his head above the bushes and let out a sleepy meow.

"There you are," Jaden said, patting the overweight cat. "Pearl, this is Pharaoh." Pearl smiled and picked him up.

"Aren't you a big one," she said. Jaden grinned as he fished his jacket out of his bag.

"Here, you can wear this over your dress," he said. Pearl gently placed Pharaoh on the ground and accepted the red Slifer jacket. She quickly put it on and did it up so it no longer looked like she was an escapee from a hospital.

"That looks better," Jaden said. "At least we shouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves now. So, let's get you home."

"Sounds good to me," Pearl said. "I'm so ready to just relax at home." Jaden smiled, but inside, he seriously doubted that that would happen for Pearl for a long time.

From the base to Pearl's home was a two hour walk through town. Back through the town, back into her neighborhood and back up the incredibly large hill where her house was sitting. Pharaoh was still unhappy about having to walk up the hill, but also had been prepared for it after the first time. At the top, Jaden glanced around and decided that the back door was safer than the front. Picking up the overweight cat, the two of them headed into the back and knocked on the door. To Jaden's surprise and pleasure, it wasn't Pearl's mother that answered the door, but Justin!

"Pearl, Jaden!" he said.

"Justin!" Pearl said. Then she slightly shied away, remembering what had happened. Justin however was overjoyed to see her and gave her a large hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he said.

"You're not mad?" Pearl asked. "Even after I put you in the hospital?" Justin shook his head.

"Of course not. You didn't mean it," he said. "Come on inside." Pearl headed in and Jaden followed. Justin nodded to him.

"Thanks for getting her out," he said.

"No problem," Jaden said. "Speaking of getting out, when did they release you from the hospital?"

"This morning," Justin said. "My parents are working, so Mrs. Lite offered to put me up until they got back. Mrs. Lite, there are some people here I think you want to meet." Mrs. Lite hurried down the stairs but stopped dead at the sight of Pearl and Jaden standing in her living room. It was only for a moment before she continued down the stairs and embraced her daughter.

"Pearl, I'm so glad you're safe," she said.

"Mom, I can't breathe," Pearl squawked. Mrs. Lite let her go and smiled.

"Go on upstairs and change," she said. Pearl nodded and passed Jaden back his Slifer jacket before hurrying upstairs. Jaden placed Pharaoh on the ground and put it back on, preferring the red over the black jacket he had worn. Mrs. Lite came up to him after he was done and gave him a hug.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Jaden said. "Helping people is my specialty."

"What about helping yourself?" Justin asked. Jaden and Mrs. Lite hurried to the TV where Justin was standing watching the news.

"Authorities still have no leads on the run away psychic duellist who escaped late last night," the reporter said. "This video feed released to the news shows two of them as they make their escape." Jaden groaned at the sight of the security camera footage.

"Great, now I'm on TV," he said.

"I thought you always wanted to be in the spotlight," Yubel said, cheekily.

"Ya, but not like that," Jaden said.

"The boy is recognized as Jaden Yuki, a young duellist from Japan who has been travelling to compete in tournaments, though often leaving a trail of destruction in his path as seen at a military base in Alaska," the reporter continued.

"Hey, that's totally not my fault," Jaden argued.

"What happened in Alaska?" Mrs. Lite asked, curiously.

"Long story short, I had to stop a mad man from sending missiles to destroy Duel Academy and the only way to do that was to blow up the base," Jaden said.

"Ouch," Justin said.

"You should've seen the other guy," Jaden said. "Took me forever to dig him out."

"That aside, you two can't stay here," Justin said.

"Ya, I got that," Jaden said. Suddenly, Jaden's cell phone rang. Immediately he knew who it was and answered happily.

"Talk to me," he said.

"It's me," said Axel's familiar voice. "Just saw your escape on the news."

"Ya, I'm watching it right now," Jaden said.

"It won't take long for them to find you," Axel said. "You need to learn to be stealthier."

"It's not my fault. You should teach me how to disable alarms so next time I can," Jaden said.

"Next time you're my way, stop by and I'll give you a crash course in disabling electronics, but not now," Axel said. "Right now you both need to get out of there and explain to me why you chose to risk your life for this girl."

"Stories later, right now we need to…" Jaden trailed off as the news report continued. "Hold on a moment."

"What's going on?" Pearl asked, coming back downstairs. She was now dressed in jeans, sneakers and a low-cut blue t-shirt over a pink long-sleeved shirt. Everyone hushed her as Mrs. Lite brought her into the living room and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"…what was surprising was that later that night, there was another break in at the lab, this one much less discreet. Oberon Lancaster was caught trying to break the girl out as well. It is unclear as to why this former duellist champ would want with this girl, and it's unlikely that we'll find out any time soon. Oberon was able to escape and no one knows where he went."

"That can't be good," Jaden said.

"Why would Oberon want Pearl?" Justin asked. "It makes no sense."

"Maybe not to you, but I've met a lot of people who think they can somehow harness psychic powers and use them for their own will. If Oberon is desperate enough, he may think that Pearl's abilities are the only way for him to get back on top," Jaden explained.

"How would he do that?" Pearl asked. She sounded brave, but Jaden could sense her fear.

"Not in a fun way," he thought. Remembering Axel on the phone, he placed it back to his ear.

"You still watching?" he asked.

"I saw that and heard what you said," Axel said. "If that is true, you both need to get out of there and soon."

"What can you get on short notice?" Jaden asked.

"Give me two hours," Axel said.

"You got it, but the authorities will probably be over here to search the house anytime now, you need to hurry," Jaden said.

"Understood," Axel said. Jaden hung up knowing that he could count on Axel, but hoping that he'd be able to work fast for their sake.

"How fast can you be ready to leave?" Jaden asked Pearl. Pearl seemed rather shocked at the question.

"Do we have to?" Pearl asked. Jaden nodded.

"I'm sorry, but unless you want to go back to the research facility or someplace likely worse, we need to leave soon," he said.

"Jaden's right honey," Mrs. Lite said. "I know he'll take good care of you, but you can't stay here and be safe." Pearl nodded.

"Alright," she said.

"I'll help you pack," Mrs. Lite said, leading the way upstairs. The two of them headed up, leaving Jaden and Justin in the living room. Justin kept an eye on the news with Pharaoh on his lap while Jaden took a quick look around. His eyes followed the trail of pictures that went around the room and back. Most of them were paintings of various things in nature; flowers, lake, birds, etc. But some of them were family photos. Jaden found pictures of Pearl, Mrs. Lite and a younger boy with blonde hair.

"Who's this?" Jaden asked Justin. Justin looked at the photo.

"That's Benjamin, Pearl's little brother," he said.

"Really?" Jaden asked. "Where is he?"

"In hospital," Justin said. "Pearl was teaching him how to duel and she lost control for only a split second. It wasn't as bad as the time with me, but being just small the injuries were more severe. He broke both of his legs, a few ribs and went into a coma. He's slowly coming out of it now and is actually supposed to be released in about three months if everything continues the way it's going. I sometimes go and visit him with Pearl. To be honest, I feel like a big brother with him." Jaden looked at the picture again. Something wasn't right. Once again his eyes moved along the line of family photos until he landed on a full family photo.

There was Mrs. Lite, Pearl, Benjamin and who Jaden assumed to be Mr. Lite. Something was definitely wrong. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lite had blonde hair, just like Benny, but Pearl's hair was a beautiful chestnut brown with the two pink streaks on either side of her face. She stood out completely. Quickly, Jaden glanced behind to make sure that Justin wasn't watching and snapped a picture with his phone. He'd have to look at it better later on.

Mrs. Lite had come downstairs without Pearl to begin packing a few items of food in the kitchen. Jaden noticed that she also put a little bit of money in a small violet coin purse as well. Jaden watched the news with Justin and Pharaoh while this happened, but it wasn't long before he something else happened.

Jaden sensed it before he heard it; desperate malice, eager, hungry, terrible. He knew who it was without even looking. The next thing he heard was banging on the back door. Mrs. Lite looked up and went to answer it, but Jaden grabbed her arm and shook his head. Justin stood up with Pharaoh and watched. Carefully, Jaden unlocked the door, turned the handle and kicked the door out, knocking Oberon back into the backyard.

"From champ to chump and backyard burglar. This is what your life has come to, Oberon and over one loss?" Jaden asked. Oberon got up. He was tall, taller than Jaden had expected from seeing his duels. His outfit was more like a pirate's, black, gold and red on a long jacket over a vest and long-sleeved shirt, with baggy pants and good boots. The only thing that wasn't pirate like was his head, black hair was cropped short in a military style and his eyes were green, speckled with desperation, something that was just as dangerous, if not more so than greed.

"You're strong, boy, but I don't remember asking you for my life story," he said. "Now stand aside. I've come for the psychic." That was when Pearl came back down.

"Jaden, what's going on?" she asked, stepping outside. Oberon grinned and made a charge for the girl. Justin stepped in front of her even as Jaden's eyes changed color briefly as he kicked Oberon back once again.

"You want her, you've got to get through me first," Jaden said.

"Oh please, you're not a challenge," Oberon said. Jaden grinned.

"How do you know that?" Jaden asked. "Duel me, if I win Pearl and I leave."

"Fine, but if I win, I get the girl," Oberon said. Both of them activated their duel disks. Jaden tossed Pearl his bag.

"Hold onto that, would you?" he asked.

"But Jaden, this duel is too risky," Pearl said, taking the bag. "What if you lose?"

"I don't lose," Jaden said, so confidently that Pearl couldn't help but believe him. "Alright ex-champ," Jaden said. "Get your game on!" The duel had begun.