Shifting Generations Saga

by Wolf General

Duel Academy has become ground zero for an event that spans the timeline, and its up to Yuki Judai and company to fight off the threat that has arrived. The real question though...which side is the right side to be on?

2. Clash of Space Part 2

Disclaimer: As per usual, I still don't own Yugioh GX. Perhaps one day that will change, but until then I'll just keep writing.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 2: Clash of Spaces (Part 2)

Ichigo- 2500

Judai- 650

Judai looked down at his deck, a worried expression on his face. ("Up to this point I've tried my hardest to gain some kind of advantage, but right now Ichigo has a 4000 attack point monster in play that can negate one card on my field once per turn.") Since it hadn't left the field at the end phase of the turn it meant that either Infinite Castle was doing something that kept it in play or unlike his Contact Fusions it didn't leave play at the end of the controller's turn.

"What's the matter?" Ichigo, since his hands were free, crossed his arms across his chest proudly. "Is Negation Chaser's power that much stronger compared to the power of Neos?"

That statement brought a slightly frustrated noise from Judai's throat. Then he looked off to the side at the giant dark blue crystal castle in the background. ("He's so confident because he has that field magic card in play. If I can't get rid of it then there's no way I can win.") His right hand inched forwards and touched the top card of his deck. "It's my turn, draw!"

One look at the card told him that this duel wasn't over yet. ("It's the card Hayato gave me!") Judai's field magic card slot slid open and he placed the card into it. "I activate Skyscraper II-Hero City!"

"Skyscraper II?" Ichigo's eyes widened in fear as Infinity Castle exploded, replaced by giant futuristic buildings that quickly came together and left the two of them standing in the middle of the plaza of a future city.

The Hero Duelist nodded, his grin having returned. "Skyscraper II can, once per turn, let me special summon an Elemental Hero that has been destroyed as a result of battle from my graveyard regardless of its summoning requirements!" A blast of rainbow light erupted from his graveyard slot and shot high into the sky. "Flare Neos is revived!" The insect-hero fusion formed out of the rainbow blast, its carapace wings spread. (2500/2000)

Ichigo leaned back just a little, teeth clenched and eyes wide. ("Uh-oh…")

Judai smiled and pointed at his returned monster. "For every magic and trap card in play Flare Neos gains 400 attack points!" (3300/2000) "Also because your Infinite Castle is gone Negation Chaser's attack power lowers to its original 2000!" (2000/1000) "Battle! Elemental Hero Flare Neos, Burst Rush!" Then his fusion hero lit up with an aura of fire and charged forward, crashing into the opposing fusion and destroying it.

Ichigo- 1200

Judai- 650

Ichigo braced himself against the flames that licked at his uniform. ("As to be expected of Yuki Judai…") He knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as he wished it would be.

"I summon Dandelion in defense mode." A creature that was a cartoony mix of sunflower and lion appeared on Judai's field, its little leafy arms in front of it protectively. "End turn." Flare Neos faded away, returned to his deck because of its effect. "What'll you do now, Ichigo? It seems the scores are even, Neos and Infinity have beaten each other one time."

"Draw." Ichigo had no cards except the one he was drawing, so it had to be good or else any chances of him recovering in this duel would disappear. Flipping it over, he grinned. "I summon Infinity Traveler Forward Runner in defense mode!" A humanoid made of smooth flowing liquid metal appeared on his field in a crouching position, a ticking noise coming from it. (500/400)

"Another Infinity Traveler?" Judai grinned. "Interesting, what's it do?"

"Forward Runner, when summoned, lets me declare a number from zero to five. I declare five." Ichigo grabbed five cards off of his deck. "I draw five cards. However the downside to this effect is that I have to skip my next five draw phases."

However the tone he used when telling the downside didn't match how one would normally feel about such a painful side-effect. "I activate the magic card Magic Purge." A blast of soft white light filled their surroundings momentarily. "This card clears all floating effects from the field. That means that the floating effect which prevents me from drawing for the next five draw phases disappears."

"So you got to draw four cards for free along with your summon?" Judai smiled. "Impressive…"

"Thanks," Ichigo slid two cards into his disk, their representations shimmering into existence on the field behind his Infinity Traveler. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's back to me, draw!" Judai flicked the drawn card into his other hand after pulling it off his deck, still smiling at how quickly Ichigo had recovered from having no cards to suddenly having five. "At this time I activate the effect of Skyscraper II, returning one Elemental Hero that has been destroyed as a result of battle to the field!" A blast of light erupted from his graveyard slot and Mudballman appeared in play in a crouching position. (1900/3000)

Then his two monsters were swallowed up within swirling blasts of wind as they faded away. "I sacrifice Mudballman and Dandelion to summon Elemental Hero Edgeman in attack mode!" A gold sharp-armored superhero appeared on his field roaring out a battle cry. (2600/1800)

As the two sacrifices slid into Judai's graveyard the slot started to glow. "When Dandelion is sent to the graveyard it special summons two Fluffy Tokens to my field in defense mode!" A pair of puffballs with faces appeared on his field. (0/0)x2

"Edgeman attacks Forward Runner, Power Edge Attack!" The superhero bellowed and charged at the defending alien angrily.

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's set card flipped open and a glowing barrier of prismatic light appeared between their fields. Edgeman slammed into it and bounced back to Judai's field, no longer willing to attack. "Negation Blockade is a trap that lets me stop your attack and end the battle phase. Plus it allows me to add one Infinity Traveler Null Entity from my deck to my hand." He held up the card that had been removed from his deck and added it to the other two cards in his hand.

("That's the monster he used with Infinity Chaser to create Negation Chaser…") Judai nodded to his opponent. "End turn."

Ichigo grabbed the top card of his deck and added it to his hand. "I activate the magic card Pot of Magic." A magic card with a picture of a mustached jar appeared on his field. "This card lets me select three magic cards from my graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck." The three cards he held up were Pot of Greed, Infinite Castle, and City of Shadows, all of which he shuffled back into his deck. "Afterwards I draw one card."

Another magic card appeared on his field, this one having a picture of a grinning jar with jewels for teeth. "I activate the magic card Pot of Avarice, selecting five monsters from my graveyard and shuffling them back into my deck. Afterwards I draw two cards." He did so swiftly, hoping that he could draw something that would either buy him time or stop Edgeman from finishing him next turn.

He nodded at the cards and held one of them up. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards." After adding two cards to his hand he held up another magic card. "Research on the Pot of Greed's effect is different depending on whether Pot of Greed has been activated in the same turn as it. If it has then I draw two cards instead of one." An extra two cards entered his hand, leaving him with seven.

"And now to bring down Edgeman!" Ichigo threw a card onto his disk and a humanoid made of fire appeared on his field in a blaze of energy. "I summon Infinity Traveler Inferno Brawler in attack mode!" (0/100)

"Its attack is zero…" Judai rubbed the back of his head. "How will that bring down Edgeman?"

"Because Inferno Brawler's original attack and defense is increased by 1000 for every monster you have in play." (3000/100)

"Well that would do it," Judai muttered worriedly as the powered-up flame alien charged at Edgeman. "However I'm not beaten either! Reverse card open, Hero Barrier!" A crackling wall of energy appeared between his superhero and the opposing monster, preventing them from clashing. "This card can only be activated when there is an Elemental Hero on my field. One attack is negated!"

("I didn't think it was going to be that easy. Plus I was certain that card was a trap, but I'm glad to see it wasn't a serious one.") A card shimmered face-down onto his field next to his older one. "I place one card face-down and end my turn. You're up, Judai."

The Hero duelist nodded and drew. After looking at the card he had drawn he added it to his hand and flipped over one of his other cards. "I activate the magic card Hope of Fifth." His graveyard slot whined and emptied out Mudballman, Bubbleman, Clayman, Necro Darkman, and a Featherman he discarded earlier. "I select five Elemental Heroes in my graveyard and shuffle them into my deck." He returned the fusion to the fusion deck and then shuffled the other four into their new home. "When that completes I draw three cards."

His two Fluffy tokens blurred out and faded away, a blast of rainbow light shooting into the sky. "I sacrifice my tokens to bring Elemental Hero Neos back to play!" The space-faring hero lowered itself into play from the sky, flexing its muscles as it landed alongside Edgeman. (2500/2000)

Ichigo already knew why Judai had done that, it was obvious just by looking at his Inferno Brawler. (2000/100)

"Elemental Hero Edgeman, attack Forward Runner! Power Edge Attack!" Judai punched in the direction of the crouching Infinity Traveler and his gold-armored superhero roared through it, cutting the monster to pieces with its elbow blades.

"From my hand," Ichigo held up the Null Entity card he had searched for earlier. "I discard Null Entity to the graveyard to make the battle damage to my life points from that attack zero!" A prismatic sheath of light appeared around him, protecting him from a blow that would have ended the game.

"Neos attacks Inferno Brawler, Lance of Neos!" Judai didn't slow down at all, not showing any disappointment at having been unable to end the duel right there. ("This guy's too strong to defeat through most usual methods. I'll just have to be extra careful against him.") While he thought this Neos punched through the flaming alien and blew it to cinders.

Ichigo- 700

Judai- 650

"Reverse card open." One of Ichigo's set cards flipped up. "Shadow Future activates at the end of a battle phase in which any number of my monsters were destroyed as a result of battle. I may shuffle any number of cards from my hand back into my deck. For every card I shuffle back in I may return one of those destroyed monsters back to my field." He shuffled two cards back into his deck and his two lost Infinity Travelers shimmered back into play in crouching positions.

"And that means…" Judai grimaced as he watched Forward Runner start to make that ticking noise again.

"That's right." Ichigo drew five cards from his deck. "Now I skip my next five draw phases. Is your turn done?"

"Not yet." Judai slid a card into his disk and it appeared face-down behind his two strongest non-fusion heroes. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Ichigo grasped a card from his hand and placed it face-up in a horizontal position on his disk. "I summon Star Shadow Penguin in defense mode." A penguin made of dark blue crystal appeared on his field alongside his Infinity Travelers. (600/600)

Judai sweat-dropped at the cute creature, surprised to see something like that in Ichigo's deck. "What does it do?"

"It allows me to discard a monster card from my hand to activate the effect of a normal magic card in my graveyard, after which that magic card is removed from the game." Ichigo held up a monster. "I discard Catnapped Kitty from my hand to the graveyard to activate the effect of Magic Purge!" Another blast of soft white light filled the area momentarily as the floating effect of Forward Runner was removed.

"So you got another four cards for free…" Judai couldn't hide the wonderment in his voice. "Why are you a member of Osiris Red if you're such a good duelist?"

"I could ask you the same question." Ichigo opened his field magic card slot. "Infinite Castle makes its return!" Skyscraper II faded away and was replaced by the towering dark blue crystal castle in the background. "As you remember the original attack of all Infinity named monsters on my field is doubled."

Inferno Brawler stood up, its body now a blazing white. (4000/100) "Battle! Inferno Brawler attacks Elemental Hero Edgeman!" The alien moved forwards, its body glowing brightly as it cocked back its fist to strike.

"Reverse card open!" Judai's set card opened and a swirling vortex of energy appeared in front of Edgeman, sucking the momentum out of Inferno Brawler's attack and bringing it to a stop. "Negate Attack allows me to stop one of my opponent's attacks and end the battle phase. Luckily, this means I evade losing to your Inferno Brawler."

Ichigo scoffed and slid a card into his disk. "Did you make that last statement for your own sake or just to rub it in? I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Judai held up a magic card, which released a glow around his body. "I activate the magic card Neos Charge. By sending one Neospacian from my deck to the graveyard I can gain that monster's attack in life." He held up Neospacian Black Panther, which had an attack of 1000.

Ichigo- 700

Judai- 1650

"I summon Neospacian Glow Moss!" (300/900) A being made of faint green light appeared on Judai's field alongside Neos. "Contact Fusion!" The two monsters launched up into the crystal sky and a version of Neos that had a body made of that same faint green light lowered into play. "Elemental Hero Glow Neos is special summoned!" (2500/2000)

"Another Contact Fusion…" Ichigo growled in a way that made him momentarily seem like an animal trapped in a corner.

"Glow Neos may, once per turn, destroy a face-up card in play. Depending on what that card is will decide its effect!" Judai pointed at Ichigo's duel disk. "My target is Infinite Castle! Signal Buster; Blue Lightning!" Glow Neos charged up a ball of lightning in its hands and hurled it at Ichigo, the blast exploding against him and forcing his disk to spit out Infinite Castle. "During this turn Glow Neos can attack directly! Lightning Strike!" The superhero charged up a lance of lightning in its grasp and hurled it across the field at Ichigo.

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo disappeared behind a series of floating rocks that formed in the way of the attack, easily blocking the attack. "Asteroid Belt activates when you attack me directly! I can negate that attack and for every monster on your field you take 500 points of damage!" Two huge rocks flew across the field and crashed into the ground around Judai, rattling him a bit.

Ichigo- 700

Judai- 650

"Elemental Hero Edgeman!" Judai pointed at the Star Shadow Penguin. "Attack now!" His other superhero launched across the field and reared back its right arm to cut the cute little crystal creature in half.

"Trap card open!" Ichigo's other set card flipped up and a barrier of green light appeared between the two monsters, blocking Edgeman's attack and then releasing a healthy glow around the boy's body. "The power of Draining Shield negates your attack and gives me life point gain equal to the attack of your monster!"

Ichigo- 3300

Judai- 650

"So I couldn't beat you this turn?" Judai looked over at Glow Neos sadly, and then he inserted a card into his disk. "Sorry about this Glow Neos. I activate the quickplay magic card Mystic Wok!" Glow Neos dissolved, the particles it turned into hovering around Judai's body gently. "I sacrifice a monster on my field and gain either its attack or defense in life."

Ichigo- 3300

Judai- 3150

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." Now that there finally wasn't a field magic card in place Judai saw that it was getting darker outside. "At this rate we're going to miss dinner too…" He smiled happily. "But this duel is just too good for me to care. Dueling at my full strength against an opponent that doesn't back down or lose heart…it's something I've missed. Ichigo Pilkington, you're an amazing guy. I'm surprised I haven't noticed you up until now."

"Yeah, I'm underestimated a lot…" Ichigo knew that was a cryptic answer, but the truth would probably make even less sense. "Are you ready, because now it's my turn! Draw!" His eyes widened at the drawn card and then he couldn't help but smile. "Yuki Judai, I hope you're ready."

"Of course!" Judai was grinning from ear to ear; far happier than he thought would be possible today. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Yes sir." Ichigo slid a card into his disk. "I activate the magic card Silent Prayers, special summoning one effect monster from my graveyard to my field in defense mode!" A card slid out of his graveyard and he threw it onto his disk. "Come out now, Infinity Traveler Micro Mistress!" A female humanoid made of pink light appeared on his field in a crouching position. (300/300)

("And now…") Ichigo started to reach for the card he had drawn. ("We'll win…") His eyes widened as he remembered one of Edgeman's support cards. ("Edge Hammer, a trap that lets him sacrifice Edgeman to destroy the attacking monster and deal its attack in damage to the controller's life points.") If that was what Judai's set card was then there was a better thing he could do.

His Star Shadow Penguin squeaked and turned to face him, spitting a card out of his beak. "I send one monster from my hand to the graveyard to activate Silent Prayers! Its target will be the card I just discarded, Final Shadow God Midnight Romancer!" A sharp wind blew by and suddenly the area around Ichigo's field was bathed in moonlight.

"What's going on?" Judai wondered if maybe Ichigo had activated another field magic card or something.

"A strange place you bring me into, Ichigo." A spotlight appeared around a man wearing a tuxedo, the black cape around his shoulders blowing in the wind as he adjusted his top hat. "However, you can count on my strength." (1400/1200) Then he dropped to his knees and put his arms up in front of him.

"Erm…" Judai stared at the new monster, obviously confused. "What was with that dramatic entrance?"

"He does that sometimes." Ichigo snapped his hand up, aiming it at Moonlight Romancer's back. "Gentleman's Aura!" The summoned Final Shadow God released a green glow that wrapped around its owner. "The effect of Moonlight Romancer is that once per turn, at the cost of letting you draw a card, I can gain 3000 life points."

Ichigo- 6300

Judai- 3150

Judai drew, but the look on his face said he didn't like the trade-off. ("At this rate I'm not going to be able to win just because his life points are higher.")

Ichigo removed a card from his graveyard. "I activate the effect of Final Shadow Curse Voodoo, removing it from my graveyard. During this turn all Final Shadow monsters cost one less sacrifice to summon." Micro Mistress started to glow, and Edgeman suddenly shrank to half its normal size. "The effect of Micro Mistress lets me cut the attack of a monster on your field in half once per turn until the end of turn." (1300/1800)

That same Infinity Traveler faded away rapidly, a familiar crouching robot appearing on Ichigo's field. "I sacrifice Micro Mistress to summon Final Shadow Infinity Chaser!" The mighty robot appeared in play with a hulking screech of steel on steel as it stood up. (2000/1000) Forward Runner and Star Shadow Penguin both slid out of their defending positions.

"And now," Ichigo pointed up at the sky. "Contact Fusion!" Infinity Chaser and Inferno Brawler both launched into the air in unison, disappearing into the setting sunset. "Final Shadow Inferno Chaser is special summoned!" An orange and red battle-ready robot appeared on Ichigo's field, steam spraying out of its back. (2000/1000)

"Awesome!" Judai pointed at Inferno Chaser's flame stripes. "It's like some kind of race car!"

Ichigo nodded. "That's right! Inferno Chaser attacks Edgeman!" His fusion launched into the air and then dove diagonally down so that it slammed into the gold-armored hero and blew it apart. "When Inferno Chaser destroys a monster as a result of battle you take that monster's attack in damage!"

Judai's glee disappeared as Inferno Chaser stopped in front of him and crashed one flaming fist into his stomach roughly, blowing the wind out of his lungs.

Ichigo- 6300

Judai- 1150

"Star Shadow Penguin and Forward Runner, direct attack!" Ichigo's other two monsters launched forward together and crashed into the already-wheezing Judai.

Ichigo- 6300

Judai- 50

"End turn!" Ichigo grinned triumphantly. "Unlike your Contact Fusions, mine don't return my fusion monsters to the fusion deck at the end of the turn."

Judai didn't respond, his face pressed into the grass.

"Judai?" Ichigo tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "What are you doing?"

The brown-haired Hero Duelist pushed his hands under him and tried to get up, only to fail as the burning pain from Inferno Chaser's strike crippled him again. ("I can't move…") That blow had felt completely real. It had been real fire that had injured him, and now he was unable to move because of it.

Ichigo's happiness at the fact that he was winning disappeared as the truth of the matter sunk in. In his wish to defeat the one who, depending on the circumstances, might just have been his mentor, he did something that shouldn't have been done. ("I've never summoned any of the Chasers except for Negation and Inferno, and Negation has always been the primary.")

Chaser was the representation of himself, or at least that was his theory. And each of the Infinity Traveler cards were a copy of one of the real Infinity Travelers he knew in real life. ("Null Entity is Erian…who is normally pretty meek and relaxed, if a bit weird.") But Inferno Brawler was the most aggressive of all the Infinity Travelers, Resshin. ("If Resshin was driving Inferno Chaser's fist…") He paled. "Judai!"

--------------------------------

"Judai…" A strong voice called out from somewhere nearby.

The Hero Duelist knew the owner of that voice. "Neos?" His eyes opened and he found himself floating amongst the stars, the form of the space-faring hero in front of him. "What am I doing here?"

"You were knocked unconscious because of the damage you suffered." The superhero bowed his head slightly. "The power of that Inferno Chaser was completely different than the power of the Negation Chaser. It was so angry, so hateful of humans. When it struck you I could feel its pleasure at having harmed you."

"Is that so?" Judai looked kind of worried. "Does that mean Ichigo is a bad guy?"

"No, I do not believe so." Neos glanced backwards. "Inferno Chaser did the damage, not Ichigo. It had its own will."

"That's a relief." Judai's smile returned as the space surrounding him faded away. "Thanks for the warning though, Neos. Now though, it's time to get back to the duel!"

------------------------------

"Judai!" Ichigo shouted again for the twentieth time, tears starting to appear along the edges of his eyes. ("That's it, I'm ending the duel!") He reached for the button that if pressed would indicate his surrender.

"Hang on there," Judai muttered weakly, slowly standing up. "Are you really going to end this duel like that?" His smile returned, even though he looked weary and had dirt on his face.

"B...But…" Ichigo's hands were trembling and he suddenly dropped to his knees, slamming his forehead into the ground with incredible force. "I'm very sorry!"

"Apology accepted." Judai didn't sound angry at all. "Now stand up, Ichigo Pilkington. This duel is pushing me to my limits. Don't apologize just because you overwhelmed me. Now let's have fun."

Ichigo stood up and nodded with a shaky smile on his face. ("Even now, you're comforting me when I make mistakes…Judai-sensei.") Adjusting his sunglasses, the shakiness in his smile completely vanished. "Can you win?"

"I can because I'm not leaving it to chance, not against an opponent like you! Reverse card open!" Judai's set card flipped up. "Hero Call lets me select one card from my deck and make it the top card." He already had the card in mind, putting it atop his deck and drawing.

A magic card appeared on his field. "I activate Monster Reincarnation, discarding the card I searched for to add one monster from my graveyard to my hand! And that card is Neospacian Air Hummingbird!" The red-feathered bird-human appeared on his field, flapping its wings. (800/600)

"So you want to gain 500 life points?" Ichigo nodded. "Alright, that's…"

"Hang on there." Judai held up a hand jerkily, before his opponent got the wrong idea. "I don't want any life points."

"…you don't?" Ichigo blinked at Air Hummingbird. "Then why?"

"From my graveyard," Judai held up four cards. "I remove Heat Heart, Emergency Call, the Right Justice I just discarded, and Oversoul from the game!" The four cards disappeared and the card in his hand appeared in play. "HERO Flash activates now, special summoning one normal Elemental Hero from my deck to the field!"

"One normal Elemental Hero…" Ichigo gasped as Neos appeared in play again. "You mean…you're going to…"

"Contact Fusion!" Judai pointed up at the sky and his two monsters shot up into the deepening darkness. A few moments later a pair of white-feathered wings spread out across the wine-colored sky. "Elemental Hero Air Neos is summoned!" The bird-like fusion of the two monsters lowered into play silently, arms at its sides. (2500/2000)

"But what can it do?" Ichigo held up his life point counter. "I've got 6300 life points, so no matter what kind of ability…"

Judai was still grinning. "All those life points are about to be the end of you. Air Neos' effect activates now!" The superhero started to glow. "When your life points are higher than my own the difference is added to this card's attack power!" (8750/2000)

Ichigo wanted to feel upset, but he couldn't. It wasn't because he felt guilty about Inferno Chaser's attack either, but because of the fact that what he had suspected was true. This opponent, without a doubt, was his mentor Yuki Judai. ("He's so young though…so I'm in the past huh?") Time travel was a new thing for him, so he knew that this would be an interesting experience. "Bring it on, Neos."

"Lance of Air Neos!" Judai's fusion dove through Inferno Chaser, shattering it and slashing Ichigo with enough residual force to hurl him out of the clearing.

Ichigo- 0

Judai- 50

Ichigo's head emerged from a bush, leaves sticking out of his unkempt mass of chestnut-brown fluff. "That was great!" The grin on his face said that he held absolutely no hard feelings about the duel at all.

Judai struck his customary victory pose and saluted with the two primary fingers of his right hand. "Gotcha! It was…"

"A fun duel!" Ichigo finished for him, mimicking his action. He had seen it hundreds of times before.

The two of them started laughing cheerily at the same time just as the sound of approaching feet could be heard.

----------------------

The beating of a heart could be heard somewhere within the abyss. "What of the one we seek? Your attempt to capture him failed completely. How will you make up for that mistake, Sparrow?"

"My deepest apologies, Lord Beast!" A less deep voice yelled throughout the darkness, a man wearing a black suit and black metal mask appearing within view, a yellow ribbon blowing from his neck. "I will rectify the problem!" Then he disappeared just as silently as he arrived, not leaving a trace of his passing on the black marble floor.

-------------------------

Kenzan, Sho, Judai and Ichigo were all walking on the road towards the Osiris Red dorm, the first two listening to the last two recounting their duel play for play.

"Wow, so you have monsters just like Aniki's?" Sho looked away and muttered something about copycats.

Ichigo growled under his breath, having heard that thanks to his sensitive hearing but deciding that making it known he heard it would be bad. ("Best to try and not make them that suspicious of me.")

"So you just transferred here, huh?" Kenzan thought about asking Ichigo why he was wearing sunglasses when it was pitch dark outside, but decided against it. "What room are you staying in?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head nervously, laughing. "Well I really wasn't assigned a room just yet."

"That's cool; you can use the extra bunks in my room." Judai patted Ichigo on the back. "It'll be alright, I promise!"

("You say that now…") Ichigo had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to be heading to his own time for a while now. ("Oh well, I'll just have to find my own way. After all, if I can't even do that much then what kind of guy would I be?")

To be continued…

In the next chapter the mysterious Sparrow arrives at Duel Academy, while Ichigo attempts to adjust to the fact that if he messes up the past he'll wind up changing the future…that and keeping the fact he isn't entirely human a secret too.

Next chapter: Living in the Literal Past