Once again, guys, thanks for taking the time to read! Previous disclaimers all apply and whatnot. All mistakes are still mine, but I encourage you to point them out. This one isn't as long and there's more action...see my notes at the bottom (after you read!).
Chapter 2
Test Duels
And another step forward.
Jesse found himself, still holding Blake's hand, on the driveway of a house. A simple, plain, white, western house. There was grass everywhere, and he could make out sand not too far behind the backyard. The driveway was asphalt, black. The door was red with a golden knob. There were four windows on the front and what looked like a garage on the side.
In other words, it was a totally normal house.
Another house.
The first thing Jesse noticed that was off was that there were no other houses in the neighborhood. Nothing. It was just grass and one street, stretching out for miles. Eventually other streets would branch off this one, and these too would continue going, with no houses or sidewalks accompanying them in their spider-webbed tangle. Jesse wasn't sure if they were on an island or not.
The second thing he noticed the sand dunes. Or the lack of them. He could clearly see the ocean, although he wasn't on the beach.
The third thing he noticed was that it was totally silent. No white noise. No birds making noise. Even the crash of the ocean upon the beach was unable to be heard. The unnatural silence was eerie and very unsettling.
Blake motioned for him to come inside. "Enter," he said, "and let's go find your friend."
"Jaden," Jesse said. "His name is Jaden."
Blake nodded. "I'll remember it," he said.
Jesse believed him.
The door swung open, as if Blake used telekinesis or something. From what Jesse had seen of him so far, he either wasn't human or he had very powerful magical resources.
Which would mean he wasn't human. Gah.
The inside of the house was...generally huge. From the outside, it didn't look impressive, but inside, it was gigantic. More magic at work, Jesse thought.
"Everyone is downstairs," came Blake's level voice. Jesse spun his head to the nearest doorway. It was open, showing a staircase. "Come."
The stairs were stone and long, the kind that mostly go forwards instead of down. However, Jesse found that it took him all of three seconds to go down all those stairs, walking. How many had he counted? Twenty? He knew that it took about fifteen paces to cross each stair, so how had he…? More magic at work, he supposed. Jesse was already getting tired of this.
He was in a large room, with seven doors scattered around the perimeter, the one on the left of which was clear and led to the backyard. Blake was heading through the door directly ahead. Jesse followed.
Inside was a sight that totally shocked him and filled him with a sense of well-being.
The room was a mother lode of Duel Monsters cards. As in, vast collections. Some cards were packed away, while others were in display cases under headings. There were rows of these cases, and at the back of the room there was what looked to be an altar, etched from marble, with a steel blue box sitting on top of it, the lid tightly locked.
And then there was Jaden, frantically leaping from one display case to the other, looking at all the cards.
Some things never change.
Jesse looked at Blake. "You want me to assemble my own deck from all of these cards?"
Blake nodded. "We've assembled most every card there is, so feel free to take whichever ones you'd like. Unfortunately, your Crystal Beast cards are one-of-a-kind, so we don't have them."
Jesse shrugged. "That's fine," he said. "I won those cards in a regional championship, remember? I had a deck before them!"
Blake smiled. "That's what I was counting on. Now go ahead, pick what you want. Then, you'll have to duel us." He motioned to mean all of the Oracles. "If you lose to any one of us, your deck is insufficient and will need to be reworked." He winked. "So don't lose. We will leave you and Jaden in peace to help you assemble. Meet us out back when you're done."
They began walking out before the sable-haired girl turned around. "By the way, Jaden, feel free to take whatever you think you need. You're a part of this too, okay?"
More than you could possibly know, Jesse thought.
He closed his eyes. It was time to build a deck.
Two hours later, Jesse emerged from the card sanctuary, confident in his abilities. He was piloting a new deck, one with which he was very familiar with but never actually dared use. The cards called out to him, and he knew that they would be his companions on their way to rescue the Crystal Beasts. The cards did not focus on destroying an opponent's cards, but rather limited an opponent's options as they led their assault. Their friendly appearance made them overlooked by many duelists, but Jesse was confident in them.
Jaden, of course, picked up a bunch of new toys as well. But, that's exactly the kind of thing Jaden would do.
The two made their ways through the transparent door and into the backyard of the house. Or, you could call it a backyard, but there were no boundaries marking it as anything other than a field of grass. A field of grass that made a prime dueling arena.
The four Oracles were out there to meet them. Blake smiled. "Like I said, you're going to be dueling all four of us. Jesse, are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be!" he called out.
The four Oracles grinned. "Good," Blake said. "Then Sari will be your first challenge."
The girl with the flaming hair stepped forward, brandishing the duel disk on her arm. It was an older model, probably one of the originals, with a cloudy gray case and dazzling glass-blue slots. Its edges pointed, and it looked razor-sharp. The girl, Sari, stood opposite of Jesse. "You sure you're up for this, Jesse? We're not going easy on you."
Jesse faltered – he didn't expect this friendly reaction from the girl whose hair looked to be ablaze, and whose face was normally set in a determined scowl. "Uh, yeah, sure I am! You're looking at one of the top-ranked duelists in the world!"
"Amateur duelists," Sari corrected. "A duelist who's using a deck he has no practice with."
"How do you know that?" he challenged. It seemed perfectly logical to him that everyone else would deduce that he would use whatever cards he used to win Pegasus's prize from that regional tournament.
She shrugged, almost bored. "I am Sari, Oracle of the Past. Although it pains me to admit it, as you have never used this deck, I am at the same disadvantage as you are in that I do not know what you are running. Be warned, though, from those after me will have the Future and the Past on their sides."
Jesse snuck a look towards the others, all of whom had Duel Disks on their arms. The blonde boy – Jesse supposed he was Alec – had his on the opposite side. A lefty, no doubt. He knew Blake was the Oracle of the Near Future, so that left Alec and – Geri? – to be either Present and Future, assuming those were even the correct fields. Or zones. Or tenses. Whatever.
"Draw your cards."
Hunh? Jesse looked over to Sari to see that she had already drawn. Her Duel Disk was in dueling mode, and her holographic projectors were already at the corners of the field. Realizing he was far behind, Jesse turned, stylishly releasing his holographic projectors and turning his Duel Disk into dueling mode as well. He drew five cards.
Sari smirked. "Well," she said, "challengers first!"
Jesse assumed that meant him. "If you say so!" he called out, drawing a card.
It was a monster card – Wattdragonfly. Jesse looked at the other five cards in his hand: Honest, Card of Sanctity, Wattgiraffe, Wattcannon, and Wattcine. Already, he had a plan, and Jesse knew he could count on this deck just as much as he could count on his old deck. The Test Duels were to prove that.
"I place one monster facedown!" he called out, slapping the Wattdragonfly card into face-down defense position, "And I'll throw down a face down as well!"
"Hey!" Jaden yelled. "That's my line!"
Jesse gave him a look as if to say, Sorry dude.
Sari stood as confident as ever. "Is that the best you can do?" she asked. "In that case, this match will be over before it begins. Now watch!" She draw her card and turned it around. "Destiny Draw" she announced. "I'm sure you're familiar with what this does after hanging around with your friend Aster for so long."
"How'd you get that card?" Jaden yelled.
"Not many things are as exclusive as you think," she answered, placing the card in her Duel Disk. "Now, by discarding one Destiny Hero monster from my hand—" she dropped Destiny Hero – Disc Commander in her graveyard, "—I can draw two cards! Not a bad first move, is it?"
Sari picked up two cards from the top of her deck, smiling as she saw them. "Here's one for you right now! Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy! Since I control no monsters, this is a Special Summon!"
The monster appeared on the field. Okay, Jesse thought, this monster is weak. He's not a threat to me.
Jaden was staring, dumbfounded. "How did you…?" he croaked out.
"Like I said!" Sari snapped at him. "You cards aren't as exclusive as you think. Now, say goodbye to Infernal Prodigy and say hello to Evil Hero Malicious Edge!"
"Uhh, Jaden?" Jesse asked. "That's bad, right?"
"You could say that," Jaden said. "Got anything?"
"Uhh, not really."
"Nice knowing. ya, pal."
"Jaden! That didn't help."
"Sorry!"
"Will you two stop blabbering!" Sari yelled. In the place of the smaller monster was a much large monster, standing almost six feet tall – taller than either of them – and with deadly, razor-sharp claws. "Now, Malicious Edge!" Sari shouted, "Crush his monster!"
The field dashed forward almost quicker than the eye could follow and obliterated Jesse's facedown monster – Wattdragonfly.
Jesse's Life Points dropped down from 4000 to 1400. "What!" he cried out. "How did that happen?"
"Evil Hero Malicious Edge inflects piercing damage. Your monsters aren't safe in Defense Mode."
Oh.
"Well I'm not out yet!" Jesse replied. "Wattdragonfly's ability allows me to search my deck for any Watt monster and special summon it! And I choose Wattmole! But first, say hello to my facedown card, Wattcannon!"
Jesse flipped the facedown trap card. "Now every time a low-level Thunder-type monster is summoned, you get slammed with 600 points of damage! And I'm special summoning Wattmole!"
The monster appeared on the field. It was almost cartoonish, with broad, black shades across its eyes. The toy cannon began to glow and fired once at Sari, knocking her backwards. She managed to remain upright.
Sari's Life Points dropped from 4000 to 3400.
"Interesting choice," Sari said. "I'll place a card facedown and end my turn." A back row appeared behind her Malicious Edge.
"My draw!" Jesse announced, taking a card. "I activate Pot of Greed!" he announced. "Now I can draw two more cards!"
And so he did.
Book of Moon. Swords of Revealing Light.
Saved.
"For my first move, I summon Wattgiraffe! That means you lose another 600 Life Points!"
The cannon fired again as the adorable yellow giraffe took its place on the field. This time, Sari was prepared for it, and took the blast without breaking a sweat. Her Life Points dropped again, from 3400 to 2800.
"Yeah Jesse!" Jaden exclaimed.
He grinned. "There's more! Now I activate a spell card, Wattcine! Now every time a Thunder-type monster of mine inflects battle damage to you, I gain that amount of Life Points!"
"A recovery card," Sari noted. "Good choice."
"Now Wattgiraffe! Attack her Life Points directly!"
"What? Jaden exclaimed."
"Some Watt monsters have the ability to wager direct attacks on their opponents," Sari explained. "However, due to their powerful effects, their attack points are quite low. And speaking of attacks, I reveal my trap card! Go, Limit Reverse!"
"That's not changing my plan at all!" Jesse said. "Wattgiraffe will negate your trap card as soon as it inflects damage!"
"Which is why my trap card is resolving first," said Sari calmly. "Bring back Destiny Hero – Disc Commander!"
The monster reappeared on the field. "When Disc Commander is revived from the graveyard, I get to draw two cards!" She picked up two more, bringing her hand size to 5.
Wattgiraffe's attack connected, causing Sari to lose 1200 Life Points. Her score dropped from 2800 to 1600. Jesse's Life Points rose from 1400 to 2600.
"Who's leading now?" he asked.
"This is temporary!" she answered. "I still have Malicious Edge, and he'll wipe you out next turn!
Jesse waved a finger. "I don't think so!" so answered. "Book of Moon!"
Sari's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."
"Oh but I just did! Book of Moon will flip your Evil Hero Malicious Edge into face-down defense position, making him easy prey for my Mole."
Wattmole dashed forward to attack the facedown card, destroying it with a swipe of its claw.
The Life Point score remained the same.
"I think I'll finish my turn with a spell card – Swords of Revealing Light! Now you can't attack any of my monsters, so I'm safe!"
"We'll see about that," came Sari's reply.
Uh-oh, Jesse thought. He looked down at his hand. Honest. Card of Sanctity. Unless he came up with a plan, fast, he was done. He needed a good draw.
"Your move," he finished.
Sari picked up a card.
"I play Monster Reborn!"
She had to pick that card.
"Guess who's coming back? Malicious Edge!"
The hated monster rose from the grave. Sari smiled. "And now I'll sacrifice Destiny Hero – Disc Commander to summer Raiza the Storm Monarch!"
"A monarch? Jeez, you're full of surprises!"
For a second, he thought he saw her eyes gleam. "Not as many as you are, Jesse Anderson."
What the heck did that mean?
"Using Raiza's effect, I'll return Swords of Revealing Light to the top of your deck!" She smiled. "Any last words?"
"Yeah. I'm not going down just yet!"
"I'll be the judge of that," she said. "Now Evil Hero Malicious Edge, attack Wattmole and end this duel!"
This was bad. Malicious Edge had exactly 2600 attack points, and Wattmole had a grand total of nothing. One attack would bring Jesse down to zero. Unless…
"I activate the effect of Honest!" he announced. "By discarding this card from my hand, Wattmole gains attack points equal to Malicious Edge!"
"So they'll destroy each other!" Sari cried out.
"Exactly."
As Malicious Edge approached, Wattmole grow in size. The two monsters attacked each other, their sharp claws meeting. An explosion occurred, destroying both monsters, leaving both player's Life Points untouched. Jesse wiped his forehead. "Whew," he said. "That was close!"
"Raiza, attack Wattgiraffe!"
Ah, yikes.
The green Monarch pressed its hands forward, unleashing a vortex of green wind. Wattgiraffe was destroyed immediately, and Jesse's Life Points dropped from 2600 back to 1400.
"That will end my turn, Jesse."
Jesse drew, although he knew exactly what card he was going to get. Swords of Revealing Light. He activated it, and the piercing yellow blades surrounded Sari's field.
Three turns to do nothing, he thought.
Unless.
"I activate a spell card! Card of Sanctity! Now we each draw cards from our decks until we're holding six!"
"So I pick up two," Sari said triumphantly.
"And I picked up six!" Jesse announced.
And so he drew. Monster Reborn. Wattpheasant. Beckoning Light. Shift. Thunder King Rai-oh. Watt King Cobra.
He could win.
"I summon Wattpheasant!" he announced. "Because of this, my Wattcannon takes out another 600 of your Life Points!"
The cannon fired, and Sari's Life Points dropped from 1600 to 1000.
The exact number of attack points of Wattpheasant.
"Now Wattpheasant, attack her Life Points directly!"
The bird dove, striking Sari directly on the chest. Her Life Points dropped from 1000 to 0. As a result of Wattcine, Jesse's rose from 1400 to 2400.
The images faded.
Sari smiled. "Good job, Jesse," she said. "You proved you can withstand brute force. The other challenges will involve more strategy."
"Then I suppose I'd better be up to them!" he said.
Sari nodded. "That's one way of putting it."
Jaden ran up to Jesse. "Man, that was awesome! That new deck of yours sure rocks!"
Jesse smiled. "I suppose it does, Jaden," he said, ruffling his boyfriend's hair affectionately. Jesse wasn't still entirely sure about having Jaden around – Yubel's warning words still echoed in his mind – but he knew that if anyone could push him to get through this, it would be Jaden. If he was in trouble, Jesse had no doubt that, through his and Yubel's combined powers, he would be safe.
"They are an old magic."she had said. "A highly sought-after magic. As old as I am, although both our existences are shrouded in mystery. At one point, they wanted to stop the Supreme King. They predicted that his power was too great and would eventually fall into the wrong hands. They feared the destruction of the twelve dimensions.
"Do these people know who Jaden really is?" Jesse thought. "If so, what are they going to do about it? Why do they fear the power of the Supreme King?"
"You know," came Geri's voice. "I never actually thought that I would take somebody with blue hair this seriously."
Jesse was suddenly embarrassed by his hair color. "It's natural!" he shouted at her.
Geri's look told him that she doubted it.
Jesse said, "So, which one of you guys am I dueling next?"
The three remaining Oracles looked among themselves. "Me," said the blonde-haired Alec, stepping forward. I hope you're ready for it."
"I hope I am too," Jesse thought.
Alec handed Jesse his deck to shuffle, and Jesse did the same. Alec spoke as he shuffled Jesse's cards. "Watt monsters can be very annoying to face, but as you saw, they run out of options quickly and are hard to maintain on the field. I suggest you combine them with something else. Otherwise, you'll be done quickly."
It was Jesse's time to give a knowing smirk. "Well then," he said, "I guess you'll be in for another surprise!"
"Let's hope so," Alec said. "I am the Oracle of the Present. I can tell what is happening, when it is happening."
"That gives you an unfair advantage!" Jesse cried.
"Exactly," Alec said. "For that reason, I will use my abilities. Do you really expect that whoever stole your Crystal Beast cards will play by the rules?"
Jesse exhaled. "I suppose not," he said.
"Exactly. Now draw your five cards and make your move."
"First again," Jesse thought. "I suppose I'd better make the best of it!"
Gravity Bind. Beckoning Light. Heart of Clear Water. Wattsquirrel. Wattdragonfly.
One more card.
"I'll begin my turn by placing a monster in face-down defense mode!" he said, placing Wattdragonfly in face-down defense. "Then I'll throw down a facedown and it'll be your move!"
Alec smirked. "You made that exact same move last time!" He drew a card. "Now watch mine! I play a spell card – Painful Choice!"
"Painful Choice?" Jesse asked. "That's one of the most powerful cards in the game."
"Exactly, and I know how to use it. I select five cards from my deck and you choose one of them to add to my hand. The other four go to my graveyard. So take your pick!"
Wulf, the Lightsworn Beast. Fabled Soulkius. Mezuki. Plaguespreader Zombie. Ehren, Lightsworn Monk.
"Not much of a choice," Jesse remarked.
"That's the point."
Jesse considered. "Well, no matter what I choose, he'll be able to take that Fabled Soulkius card and send it right back to the graveyard, as well as summon it! So the best way to slow him down is to choose that Fabled monster."
"I select Fabled Soulkius!"
Alec sent the other four cards to his graveyard. "As I predicted you would. Now, due to the effect of Wulf, he is immediately Special Summoned to the field."
As if on cue, the large, fearsome monster appeared in Attack Position.
"Now I summon Lumina, the Lightsworn Summoner!" Alec said, and a female monster appeared on the field.
"What do these Lightsworn cards do?" Jesse asked.
"You'll find that out soon," Alec replied. "Now, I activate her ability. By discarding one care from my hand—" Fabled Soulkius "—I can summon one low-level Lightsworn Monster from my graveyard! So come back Ehren!"
Another female monster appeared, but Alec wasn't done. "Next, I'll discard two cards from my hand—" Glow-up Bulb and Magician of Black Chaos "—in order to summon Fabled Soulkius from the graveyard!"
The fallen angel appeared, giving Alec four monsters.
Jesse took a step back. "Woah," he said. "Four monsters in one turn?"
Alec grinned. "And all of them aimed at you! One last thing," he said. "Mystical Space Typhoon! Say good-bye to your Gravity Bind."
"How did you know?" Jesse nearly cried out.
"I told you I wasn't going easy on you, Jesse," he said. "Now Ehren, attack his facedown monster! Send it back to his deck!"
The female monster leapt and dove with her heel extended. She went right through the card, and it disappeared from Jesse's Duel Disk and appeared at the top of his deck. The machine shuffled.
Now he had a clear field!
"Lumina, attack Jesse directly!" Alec called out.
The Spellcaster Monster unleashed a flurry of light in Jesse's direction, causing his Life Points to drop from 4000 to 3000.
"Now Wulf! Your turn!"
The beast monster rushed at Jesse and swung its axe, cutting Jesse's Life Points from 3000 to 900.
Alec grinned. "I guess it's time for you to start rebuilding," he said. "Fabled Soulkius, finish him off!"
The monster opened its mouth, but nothing happened.
Now it was Jesse's turn to grin. "Not so fast!" he said. "I summoned my Gorz the Emissary of Darkness card as a result of your Wulf's attack! And now you take 2100 points of Effect Damage!"
Alec's Life Points dropped from 4000 to 1900. He smiled. "Very good, but you're just holding on. You don't have to cards to whittle down my Life Points and restore your own this time, and even if you attack Lumina, I'll still have 200 Life Points to spare."
This was true.
"I'll place one card facedown and end my turn," Alec said before taking the top six cards of his deck and sending them to the graveyard.
"Why'd you do that?" Jesse asked.
"Some Lightsworn Monsters have requirements for staying on the field. Both Ehren and Lumina require me to discard the top 3 cards of my deck."
By Jesse's count, that left him with only 24 cards. What a reckless strategy!
"My turn!" he said, drawing. Graceful Charity. Perfect.
"I activate Graceful Charity! Now I can draw three cards and discard two!"
Wattcube. Giant Trunade. Archfiend of Gilfer
"I'll discard these two!" he said, placing those two cards in his graveyard. "Now I'll activate a Spell Card known as Giant Trunade! This sends all Spell and Trap cards on the field back to their owner's hands!"
And thus, Alec's facedown went sent back.
"Now I'll summon my Wattsquirrel!"
Alec's face dropped. He knew what was coming.
Jesse grinned. "You said that Watt monsters didn't maintain much field presence, and you're right. So it's a good thing I mixed in my Gorz to help cover my back!"
Jaden was in awe. Gorz the Emissary of Darkness was a near-legendary card that few people possessed. How did these Oracles obtain it? Of course, now that Jesse was officially kicking butt, it didn't matter.
Jesse explained, "Wattsquirrel has the ability to attack twice during one battle phase. However, it's a rather weak monster. But, with a bit of a power boost, that's no longer an issue! So I play the Equip Spell card Wattcube!
"Normally, this card only increases Wattsquirrel's attack points by 100 for every Thunder-type Monster in my graveyard. However, by sending this card from my field to the grave, my monster gains 1000 Attack points, raising its strength to 1700! That's plenty enough to take out two of your Lightsworn Monsters and let Gorz pick up the pieces."
Alec's face hardened. He didn't like where this was going.
"Now Wattsquirrel," Jesse called, "Attack Ehren!"
The tiny rodent dashed forward and clawed Ehren, destroying her. Alec's Life Points dropped from 1900 to 1800.
"Now attack Lumina!" he called. Once again, Wattsquirrel dashed forward to destroy the Lightsworn Monster. Alec's Life Points dropped from 1800 to 1100. He smirked.
"Well, it seems that I'll live through this next turn after all!"
Jesse smirked in return. "I don't think so," he said. "Gorz, attack Wulf and finish him off!" A dark orb of energy appeared in Gorz's hand, and he pushed it towards Wulf. The Lightsworn Beast shattered into pieces, and Alec's Life Points dropped from 1100 to 0.
He blinked.
The field cleared. Jaden came running up. "How'd you do it?" he asked.
Jesse's response was to take a card from his graveyard and show it to him. "Archfiend of Gilfer," he said. "When it's sent to the graveyard, by an effect such as Graceful Charity, it equips to an opponent's monster and lowers that monster's attack by 500 points. So I chose to lower Wulf's strength to 1600. That made a 1100 points different between its attack strength and Gorz's. Alec couldn't predict that because—" he spun around to meet Alec, a triumphant grin plastered on his face, "—because it was a snap decision! Alec had no way of knowing I would discard Archfiend of Gilfer with Graceful Charity or blow away his facedown card with Giant Trunade, and therefore he couldn't prepare. Right?"
Alec smiled and held up a card. "Exactly. My facedown Lightsworn Barrier was my only protection – I figured you'd go for Lumina and Ehren due to their effects – so I had to save them. Your Spell Card blew my Trap off the field, so it was useless. Good job, Jesse!" He gave the blue-haired boy an affectionate punch on the shoulder and was gone.
Jesse looked around. "So, I'm beat. Can we hold off a little bit on the next two?"
Blake nodded. "Yeah. Those were short duels, but they were intense. You didn't even let Alec get out any of his trump monsters!"
Jesse rubbed his back in embarrassment at the compliment. "Yeah, well, that was kind of the goal. If he can summon 4 monsters in one turn, I didn't want to stick around to see what else he could do!"
"Not a bad decision," Blake said, laughing.
Jaden looked around. "Well guys," he said, "I dunno about you, but since we're not dueling, can we get some chow?"
Geri exploded with laughter. "Ahahaha! I like this one, Blake! Hey, wait," she stopped laughing. "Why are you here? I mean, why were those kidnappers interested in you anyway?"
Jaden blinked. "That's a good question," he said. "Maybe because they wanted Jesse and I'm his boyfriend?"
Blake and Geri blinked. Twice. "No," Blake said carefully, his tone measured. "That doesn't make any sense. People draw strength from the ones they love, so it would only make sense to have you out of the picture entirely." He shrugged. "I'm surprised they didn't kill you."
Oh.
That's a cheery thought.
Jaden took it in stride. "Then maybe they wanted to use me for something?"
Geri sidled up to Jesse. "Does he also say obvious things like he'd proud of them?"
"What, Jaden?" Jesse replied. "Umm, yeah, I suppose he does."
Geri blinked again, clearly nonplussed. "What did they want with him? That's really strange." She turned to him. "Hey, you, Jaden. You don't have any secret powers or something, do you?"
He grinned stupidly. "I have the power of the Supreme King!"
Well then. It didn't take very long to get that cat out of the bag.
Blake grimaced. "So you're the one responsible for almost destroying everything that ever was or ever will be?"
Jaden considered. "Yeah, that's pretty much it," he said. "Hey, where'd the ginger girl go?"
"Jaden!" Jesse said. "This is serious! Didn't Yubel talk to you about this?"
"Yubel?" Geri piped up. "She's the guardian of the Supreme King." It was a statement, not a question. "Where is she?"
"Well, she's angry at the moment," Jesse muttered under his breath. These people looked as if they meant no harm, but he wasn't entirely sure what their reaction would be once they knew Jaden ad the Supreme King's Spirit inhabited a body shared by Yubel's spirit. That could go both ways.
Blake looked thoughtful as he rested in elbow in his palm and cupped his chin. "Well, we did sense a strong spirit interfering with our attempts to rescue you two. We thought it was the kidnappers, but it could have been Yubel." He shrugged. "I think she has a quarrel with us. Our ancestors believed that the power of the Supreme King would be misused, as it was, and would destroy the 12 dimensions, as it almost did. But then we learned the outcome of that struggle, and we have no further worries, as long as neither spirit is corrupted again."
So they pretty much knew the whole story. Okay.
"So," Blake said, turning to Jaden, "that makes you a pretty duelist, right? Having the power of the Supreme King and all that."
Jaden nodded.
"Then perhaps, as Jesse's final test, you won't mind doing a Tag Duel with us to see if Jesse's new deck has what it takes?"
"No, not at all!" Jaden said. "Man, this is sweet! Jesse, we're gonna Tag!"
Jesse smiled. "And we're gonna kick some butt too! I know we will, Jaden! We can't lose, because then we'll have to do the whole thing all over!"
Jaden gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "We won't leave because we have each other, Jesse! Remember that duel against Marcel?"
"Only too well! We had that Chaos Phantom right where we wanted him!"
Jaden gave Jesse a small kiss on the cheek, and Jesse was acutely aware of the blood rushing to his face. It was the first time they'd shown affection like this in front of other people.
"Okay," Jaden said, "Off to the food! Whoo!" He started running towards the house, fist in the air, leading the way.
"Your boyfriend is…interesting," Blake said, his tone of voice suggesting that "interesting" could mean any number of things. "Well," he said, slapping his hands together, "whatever, I suppose. Let's go eat, okay?"
Jesse nodded. "Who prepared the food?"
Blake's eyes gleamed. "What's the point of having magic if you have to prepare your own food?"
Jesse's eyed widened. "You mean you made a magical meal?"
"Something like that."
Jesse took off, racing behind Jaden. "Jaden! Save some for me!"
Geri exploded into another burst of laughter. "They're adorable, Blake," she said. "I wish they weren't in this position."
He nodded gravely. "I don't think either of them realizes the gravity of their situation, or why we even care."
"Besides the whole destruction of the world thing," she added helpfully.
He chuckled at that. "Yeah, besides that. I suppose we don't need another reason after that."
"I suppose not," she agreed.
Chasing Jaden. It seemed to be all that Jesse ever did. Running after Jaden. Man, the kid was fast! Jaden would start running and Jesse would be unable to catch up, although he tried. Sometimes he guessed that Jaden was just messing with him, toying with him, but then he remembered how out of character that was for Jaden. Jaden was playful. Sometimes, he'd slow down just enough for Jesse to catch him, and Jesse would leap, catch Jaden, and the two would tumble together in the grass. This time, however, Jaden was set on getting to the food, and with his faster running and his head-start, Jesse was left in the dust. He noticed that Alec and Sari had left immediately after their duels. Blake and Geri were ambling towards the house.
He suddenly felt like a little kid for running.
And like a little kid, he felt powerless for running. Always running after Jaden. Always running after something. Always being chased.
But now, he wanted nothing more than to talk to Jaden.
And so, Jesse Anderson ran. He ran towards the house. Towards the food. Towards Jaden.
Jaden called them boyfriends.
Jesse wasn't sure how happy he felt.
He didn't feel like a kid anymore, that much was certain.
Yes, Watt cards. I felt like they matched well with Jesse and I saw several parallels with the Crystal Beasts. His cards are symbolic - part of my reason for writing this is to practice my foreshadowing abilities, trying to keep you guys on the edge and "why did he write that?" without having anything losing its believably, and if you guys have some good ideas of what's to come, but you haven't quite hit the nail on the head, then I'm doing my job. Feel free to share your thoughts in the review sections, and I thank you all for taking an interest in my writing.
Also, I'd like a Beta for Chapter 3 to know if it steps over the boundaries of the "T" rating. There's a scene that very, well, you'll see. Nothing that wouldn't be in a YA book, but some YA books are geared more towards older teens than younger ones. I just want to be safe.
