About this chapter: It was hard to write, but I think I managed. Thanks for the follows, reviews and favourites, it makes me happy!
Reality traveling with Rainbow Dragon was comfortable. Landing in the completely wrong spot was not. Juudai felt something in his chest sting, yet he couldn't find out what or why.
He rubbed his eyes. He had done that three times within the last sixty seconds.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dragon had disappeared already.
"We ended up in the wrong place, right?" Johan pointed out what Juudai had tried to avoid saying, yet there was a calm atmosphere around the teal-haired boy, almost as if he knew what to do.
"We did," Juudai said, nodding. Two problems: First, they needed to help Jesse and Jaden. Second, they needed to help their alternate selves in this reality, too. He decided it was the better choice to do the latter first.
They were standing on a huge white platform with a human sized bottle and some human sized cake on it. Juudai's face had confusion written all over it while Johan chuckled.
"What's so funny about that?" Juudai snapped at Johan, but he immediately regretted it. He knew he should take things easier, but with the current situation, that was incredibly hard to do.
"Have you ever read any European fairytales?" Johan asked, sitting down as he looked at the strange room they were in. He knew what Juudai's answer would be, but it was still fun to hear it.
"No, I've just heard of some," Juudai admitted as he sat down next to Johan. "What's that topic, all of a sudden?" He was looking around, but no matter how much he did, the colors, the size and literally everything in that room made no sense to him.
"We're in Wonderland, most likely," Johan explained, glancing at the bottle and the cake. "The tale 'Alice in Wonderland' tells the story of Alice who gets lost in Wonderland after she follows the White Rabbit down its rabbit hole."
Juudai started to take an interest in the cake that had a sign with the words "EAT ME" on it. "So, does she get back home in the end?" He broke off a part of the cake, but Johan took it from his hands immediately.
"Do not eat the cake, trust me, it's a bad idea," Johan simply said as he put the hand-sized piece of cake into his backpack. He smirked knowingly, but he knew he should carry on explaining. "She wakes up and realizes it's all a dream. Anyway. Never drink or eat anything in Wonderland. Your body's size changes depending on what you eat. The cake makes you grow. The liquid inside the bottle makes you shrink. Simple as that."
"So why don't we want to grow? We are way too small as we are now!" Juudai pointed out, pouting. Actually, he really just wanted to try shrinking and growing like that.
"Our size is just right," Johan replied as he pointed towards a small door below. "Let's get down from here and check if the door is locked this time. It will lead to a rather dangerous place, though." Taking out his duel disk, he looked at Juudai. "You can materialize them, right?"
Juudai nodded while taking out his own duel disk. It definitely was easier to get down that way. "Neos!" He placed the card in the monster zone, and thus Neos appeared.
"Gem Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Johan shouted as he 'played' the card, as much as this could still be considered playing, anyway. Immediately, it materialized next to Johan, ready to help.
Juudai wondered how Sapphire Pegasus had materialized without him using his darkness to help it, but he assumed that the darkness had done that on its own with no need for him to actually say or do anything.
The two of them were carried to the ground by their Duel Spirits as a rabbit-eared human passed by them, running. Juudai blinked twice before realizing who he'd just seen.
"Oh god, it's starting already," Juudai muttered as he looked at that strange version of himself. He knew that there were alternate versions of himself. He hadn't known they could have white rabbit ears and... wait a moment, white rabbit ears? Didn't Johan just tell him about a white rabbit?
Juudai and Johan were too far from Juudai's lookalike to actually see much of him, but while they were running there, they did notice that he was looking for something.
"Probably he has the key," Johan presumed. Then he looked like he'd remembered something, giving Juudai a mild smile. "You know, I think I know who the 'Alice' of this story is."
"Huh? Who?" Oblivious as he sometimes was, Juudai didn't realize what Johan meant.
"Never mind," Johan simply shook his head. They had reached the Juudai-lookalike who was still trying to find whatever he had been looking for. "Juudai?"
The rabbit-eared boy didn't react.
"Jaden?" Juudai simply tried the one other name that would make sense in this situation. Maybe those names were something universal?
"No time for talking, pal, can't find the damn key!" The reply was pretty sudden and with that, Juudai's theory had been proven right.
Johan seemed as unhappy as Juudai was about Jaden's slang. Were all alternate selves of Juudai going to talk like that? At least Jaden spoke Japanese.
"Maybe we can help you?" Johan proposed, knowing that the chances of Jaden getting his head cut off in this world were really, really high. At least if the Queen of Hearts was the same as in the fairy tale.
"How can you help me if you ain't even someone I know?!" Jaden said, apparently getting more and more impatient. He hadn't looked even once at Juudai and Johan.
"Well, he knows me and I'm technically you," Juudai had decided to shorten that conversation a little. Apparently, he didn't like the situation as it was because Johan was the only one who knew what was actually going on. "We can break the door in, you know."
That made Jaden listen and he looked away from his bag that he had been searching in. Looking at Juudai and Johan, his eyes widened. "Are you my twin or something, bro?"
"It wouldn't be all too surprising in a mad world like this, would it?" Johan answered instead, smiling. In fact, he had fun with this. He'd always taken a liking to fairy tales. Mainly because nobody used to believe the things he'd actually seen ever since he was a child: spirits.
Jaden shook his head, grinning. "You're right. Then I assume you are not Jesse, either. Are you from here? You sure seem to be." The movements his rabbit ears made while he spoke were distracting Johan a little, so it took him a moment to answer.
"Not exactly, I am just... familiar with the stories from this place, and no, I am not Jesse" Johan replied, rubbing his neck as he had problems with the wording of that sentence. He didn't want to say too much.
"Guys, I'd really love to spend some quality time with you two, but I really gotta go now! Can you break that door in, pal?" Jaden smirked and pointing towards the door.
Juudai gave his alternate self the same smirk, immediately summoning Neos again. "Neos!" Neos immediately reacted, using his signature attack to blast the door away. Basically, there was no door there anymore after the smoke had lifted.
"Alright! Thanks again, man! Gotta go before Queen Alexis and King Chazz decide to cut my head off!" With that, Jaden rushed through the hole that used to be a door.
"Alexis is Asuka and Chazz is Manjoume," Juudai said, knowing that he hadn't explained all of the names to Johan. Mentally, he made a note to ask Chazz about how he managed to get Alexis to agree to be his wife.
"Oh, well, seems they'll be our 'enemies' in here, the Queen of Hearts is known to be cruel in the book," Johan said with a chuckle. He actually assumed that the "cutting Jaden's head off" was metaphorical. Not like the alternate selves of their friends could be so different, right?
Juudai and Johan finally took a look through the giant hole to see... a forest. A huge forest.
"I hope you know about directions, Johan," Juudai joked as he was sure that he'd get lost if he was here alone. Right now, he was really happy that Johan was with him. He'd missed the company of a good friend for too long now. But something else was missing... but what was that, again? Probably not important.
"I actually don't," Johan admitted, sheepishly gazing at his feet. He looked back to the table that they had come from. "I don't have a map, you know... but we are close to the Duchess' place. Moreover... we did not see Alice yet."
"Oh yeah, you mentioned that, about knowing who 'Alice' is. So, who is it?" Juudai had a curious expression and Johan had no doubt that he was really as oblivious as expected.
"Think logically," Johan said, looking at the trees in front of him. "Apparently, these alternate realities have you and me in it. The only logical conclusion is that we arrived here after Alice did. After Jesse did, that is. I can imagine myself jumping into a rabbit hole while following you. " It only made sense. He knew himself pretty well and if he saw a rabbit-eared boy jump down a rabbit hole, he would be sure to follow him immediately. Especially if it was one as noticeable as Juudai.
Juudai blinked twice. "Thinking about it, it does sound like something you'd do, Johan..." Some memories entered Juudai's mind. How Johan and him had met. How Johan had stayed behind in the other dimension to save everyone. How he'd come to Dark World to save Johan. From that point on, the memories were just painful. But wasn't something wrong with this? "Wouldn't it be me who follows you to a dangerous place rather than the other way around? I mean... you know."
"You might be right about that...," Johan muttered. Sure, that was a matter of the past, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt him. He didn't want to remember, he'd just met his best friend after a half year again, after all.
Juudai started walking. "Come on, let's go."
And thus, their adventures in Wonderland started.
"Never eat anything here," Johan harshly reminded Juudai just before the latter could bite into a giant mushroom.
Juudai pouted immediately. "Come on, I just want to know what giant mushrooms taste like!" In fact, Juudai didn't want to admit it, but he was excited about this place. It felt like going on an adventure with Johan - and that's what it was, indeed - but in reality, it was far more serious than "just an adventure".
"You should listen to Johan, Juudai-kun," a very familiar voice said. Juudai tried to find its source but he didn't see Daitokuji-sensei anywhere. He did see Pharaoh, though. Lying in the grass and grinning. Wait, grinning...?
"Oh, so you're this Wonderland's Cheshire Cat, huh," Johan commented in joy, looking at Pharaoh. His knowledge of fairy tales had never been this useful before. Still, there was one thing that bothered him: why was an alternate reality based on a fairy tale? It didn't sound logical at all. But then again, what meanining did logic have, after everything that had happened so far?
"I am," Pharaoh said with Daitokuji-sensei's voice. If that was even possible, the cat's grin widened. "And I am referred to as 'Amnael' here. The name should be familiar to you, Juudai-kun."
"Indeed, it is. So, what's the deal with the Cheshire Cat? Someone care to explain?" Juudai was slightly annoyed by now. It was good that Johan knew literally everything about this place. It was clearly not good that nobody ever explained the details to Juudai.
"Well, the Cheshire Cat knows pretty much everything and likes giving riddles to people and all that," Johan explained with a smile. "It's a popular character, just like the White Rabbit, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and... well, of course, Alice." He liked the tale a lot. The whole nature of the tale was amusing to him. Probably Juudai wouldn't share his opinion if he ever decided to read the book, though. After all, Juudai didn't like reading unless it was absolutely necessary.
"An accurate description," Amnael said. The fact that he was in a cat's body was confusing to Juudai, but he accepted it nonetheless. It wasn't much different from what he was used to.
"So, Amnael," Johan began speaking, smiling as he sat down in the grass in front of the cat. "Do you want to tell us where and who Alice is?" Of course he was aware that the answer would be a riddle, but a riddle was better than no knowledge at all. He had the feeling that Amnael knew about the alternate reality matter, after all, he knew their names.
"Asking for Alice's whereabouts and identity
Is a futile thing to do, for there are plenty;
There is more than one Alice in this gone mad Wonderland,
But unless you find the key-holding Alice, the dream will never end.
There's four Alices, yet there's only three -
Thinking out of the ordinary is the key," Amnael said, the cat's grin not even fading once while it talked.
"Oh, that's really a riddle," Juudai said, thinking about the riddle. Multiple Alices, but the number of them... Three or four? He sighed. A complicated riddle for a complicated world.
"You might want to meet Aster Phoenix, Zane Truesdale and Syrus Truesdale since you are here already," Amnael said. The cat disappeared and reappeared to their right. "If you go this way, you reach the March Hare's Manor. That's where they currently are." Without waiting, the cat - Amnael - disappeared, the grin being the last thing to fade.
"Well, that was exciting," Johan said, walking to the direction that Amnael had sat in. Juudai quickly followed him and he couldn't avoid wondering if the others had animal ears, too. The idea was interesting. "Aster Phoenix is Edo Phoenix, I assume? And since the other two have the same last name, they are probably Hell Kaiser and Shou."
Juudai nodded, smiling at the thought of meeting an alternate version of Shou. He wondered if Shou would be different and if he would be speaking like Jaden did. Juudai honestly hoped that Shou wouldn't.
And so they kept traveling as they had decided to just trust Amnael. What else was there left for them to do? They had no clue what the riddle meant, but if someone knew more about the place, it would probably be Hell Kaiser and Edo. They'd probably have at least something useful.
It oddly reminded Juudai of the stories that Edo and Hell Kaiser had told hm. During Juudai's reign as Haou, they had lived together and collected information. Perhaps Aster and Zane did the same?
After a while, they had finally reached the March Hare's Manor. It was about the size of the Ra Yellow dorm, which was fairly huge - or so Juudai thought.
It didn't take them long to find Aster, Zane and Syrus because they were actually having a tea party under a tree in front of the house. Apparently, it was a surprisingly serious tea party. Aster and Zane were arguing and Syrus was... sleeping?
Oh, and not to forget. The March Hare was Aster, apparently. His brown ears made it fairy obvious.
"This scene is so familiar," Johan said as this reminded him of the book. He was excitedly looking at the three participants of the tea party. "Juudai, let's go to them."
"Wait, Johan, isn't this a bit weird? An alternate reality that is like a fairy tale?" By now, Juudai had his doubts about how good the idea of coming here had been. He felt his deck pulse in his deck holder, but he ignored it.
"I agree it's weird, but we are trying to save ourselves, our friends and... oh, yeah, Yubel," Johan said, struggling to remember Yubel. That fact bothered him a lot. Why would Juudai's strange selective memory loss affect him aswell?
"Yu.. oh, Yubel, yeah, you're right, we still need to find her card," Juudai muttered, feeling bad for having forgotten once more. Something felt wrong. He was pretty sure that without Johan's presence, he would've forgotten completely. "Let's just go talk to Zane, Aster and Syrus..."
And so they walked to the table where the three were sitting. Immediately, Aster and Zane stopped arguing and looked at them.
"Can we join you?" Johan asked, smiling as he noticed Zane's hat. It looked odd, but Syrus' mouse ears were even weirder. "The March Hare, the Dormouse and the Mad Hatter."
"That's who we are," Zane confirmed, pointing at the two chairs right in front of Johan and Juudai. "Sit down and have some tea. Anyway, where did I stop-"
"Who cares?" Aster replied, being way more impolite than the Edo that Johan and Juudai knew. He seemed to be really annoyed. For a second, Juudai felt like Aster gave him an angry gaze, but he hoped that it'd been his imagination. "If the Supreme King takes over Wonderland, literally everyone will die."
Juudai had just sat down and he'd taken a sip of the already prepared tea (which didn't have growing or shrinking powers, apparently, as Aster and Zane were drinking it with no changes happening to them) when he almost spit it out again. "Haou!? I mean... the Supreme King?! He's in Wonderland?" His knowledge of the English language was enough for him to know that Haou meant 'Supreme King'. But wait... Juudai'd just seen Jaden. He couldn't enter realities where he existed twice. What was going on?
Both Zane and Aster avoided Juudai's gaze for a moment, then Aster opened his mouth again. "Jaden, didn't I tell you about the Supreme King some days ago?" Suddenly, his eyes widened. "You ears...? Where are they?"
Sheepishly, Juudai rubbed his neck. "What if I told you that I am not Jaden?" And that was the complicated part about the alternate reality matter: Explaining why he's here. On the other hand, Juudai doubted that anyone in Wonderland actually cared.
"His name is Juudai," Johan said, drinking some of the tea. He was enjoying it far more than Juudai was, but he knew that was because he knew the book. "My name is Johan."
"So you are lookalikes of Jaden and Jesse?" Zane asked for confirmation, to which Johan and Juudai nodded simultaneously. Zane raised one eyebrow.
Juudai simply raised one arm, revealing his duel disk. If this place was really based off a book, then it probably didn't have Duel Monsters. So a duel disk was the best proof to show he's not an inhabitant of Wonderland. "Look at this. Does that prove it?"
"It does," Aster said with a really interested expression. Biting his lip, he seemed to be thinking about something.
"Good morning... Oh, it's you, Jaden!" Syrus had woken up and was yawning now. Juudai had tried to open his mouth, but he immediately shut it again when he realized that Syrus was asleep again.
"Is he always like that?" Juudai asked, not having expected that personality change.
Zane nodded. "Everyone who lives here has gained animal features and some defining traits for their role in Wonderland. Syrus is the Dormouse, that's why he sleeps all the time." To Juudai, that made sense, somehow. He wondered if there were more of his friends with those animal features, he found it amusing.
"About the Supreme King, anyway... you sure about that?" Juudai carefully asked, trying to give away his panic about it.
"Well, we assume that..." Aster leaned closer, whispering, "...Jaden is the Supreme King and he does not know it yet. The King only acts whenever Jaden is somewhere else." Juudai's eyes widened. If that was true, they were too late already. But why would the Supreme King be here without... without her influence? The name was hard to think about, but it was obvious who she was, anyway.
"That sounds very possible, I think," Johan said, nodding. Of course it did. He knew that the best. Juudai sighed at the memories. They were horrible.
"We think Jesse Anderson is responsible for Jaden turning into the Supreme King," Zane admitted and looked at Johan with a serious expression. Johan didn't flinch, he knew that Zane's words were likely to be true. "Ever since he came to Wonderland, Jaden had been different. So we assume that Jesse has bad influence on Jaden... at least whenever his eyes turn orange."
"Uhm... Does a being called... called Yubel live in Wonderland?" Juudai carefully interrupted, his body slightly shaking. His mind was trying to push any thoughts of Yubel away, yet somehow he'd managed to ask that question. He knew that Yubel wasn't supposed to exist in any of the alternate realities, but the matter about Jesse's eyes turning orange sounded a lot like Yubel.
"Yes, she is who had led Jaden here in the first place. Lately, she is rarely seen anywhere, and if she is, Jesse Anderson accompanies her," Aster explained as he tried to look at Juudai's duel disk that the brunet had put down already.
"I suppose you know something we don't?" Zane asked, giving Juudai a sharp look.
"We've come here from another reality to save Jaden und Jesse," Johan interrupted as he didn't want Juudai to feel even more uncomfortable. "If Jaden and Jesse are evil, then the chance is high that it's Yubel's fault. In fact, if the Supreme King exists in this world, it has to be Jaden. He's the only one who can be the Supreme King."
"Then we have to do something!" Aster shouted, looking at Zane with an angry expression. By now it became obvious why they had been arguing: It was about whether they should interfere with the threat that the Supreme King was.
"We can wait a little longer," Zane said, sighing as he quickly looked at the sleeping Syrus for a moment. Then he smirked. "The Supreme King might be just the perfect opponent for me."
Johan and Juudai gave each other a glance as they knew that Wonderland didn't have Duel Monsters. That left the question of what Zane would fight with.
"What are you guys fighting with around here?" Juudai carefully asked, worried about the answer.
"Guns and swords, obviously," Zane replied with a shrug before he gave Aster a condescending look.
Aster growled a little because he knew that he wouldn't be able to convince Zane to assist him in trying to bring Jaden back in one piece.
"By the way, Johan," Zane suddenly said as he looked at Johan intently. "What makes you be so sure that Jaden is the Supreme King and that Yubel is responsible for this?"
Johan wanted to reply, but in that moment, Juudai's eyes turned golden and a dark aura engulfed them. "Is your question answered with this?" Juudai simply asked. He knew that his aura had caused Aster to feel intimidated, but Zane showed no signs of this and Johan was somewhat... immune to it? Almost shining in the darkness? Juudai blinked twice as his aura faded and his eyes turned back to brown. When he looked at Johan again, the shining was gone.
"So in your reality, this has already happened, huh?" Zane asked, raising one eyebrow while still looking at Johan despite what Juudai had just done. "I'm taking it that you defeated Yubel there?"
"It's a bit complicated," Juudai simply answered as he stood up, sighing. "Where can we find Jesse?"
In response to that, Aster shook Syrus a little, to which the latter woke up. "Huh?"
"Syrus, where did you last see Jesse Anderson?" Zane asked, not bothering to be nice to his little brother. Juudai and Johan were used to it.
"Oh, I think I saw him at the courthouse, he was brought in by the guard," Syrus said, yawning as he was about to fall asleep again. "Serves him right for hanging out with my bro Jaden too much." And with that, he was asleep again.
Johan realized what this meant. "We have to hurry or they'll cut Jesse's head off." Of course, it was quite obvious that, although she was evil in this reality, Yubel would not let Jesse die that easily if she could use him to turn Jaden into the Supreme King.
"One last warning before you go," Aster said, giving Juudai and Johan a slightly sad smile. "Queen Alexis and King Chazz are being controlled by Sartorius, my best friend. Probably, since you're from another reality, you know what I mean, right?"
Johan and Juudai sighed simultaneously. "We do," Juudai said, remembering the trouble he'd had with Saiou again. "So that means we've got Yubel and the Society of Light against us. Greaaaat."
"We'll manage," Johan said in a reassuring voice. In reality, Johan wasn't so sure about that, though. He didn't like the idea of meeting his Yubel-controlled self at all. He'd only heard stories of it and he'd seen his outfit and... that had been more than enough for him. But right now, Juudai's mood was more important. "By the way, Juudai, you can teleport, so..."
"I don't know where the courthouse is, so unless someone who knows the location accompanies us, it won't work," Juudai quickly explained. Last time, the teleport had only worked thanks to Neos. "A map would work, too, although we might crash into a building if we are unlucky."
"We have the Gem Beasts and Neos, it will be fine," Johan said with a smile.
Aster pulled out a map and handed it over to Juudai. "While you're at it already, save Sartorius."
"Sure thing," Juudai said, nodding. He actually didn't worry about the Society of Light as much as he worried about Jesse. He didn't want to face that nightmare of his again.
Grabbing Johan's wrist, Juudai looked at the badly drawn courthouse on the map. As his eyes flashed golden once more, the darkness started to surround him and Johan.
"Thanks for the help, Zane, Aster," Johan said, knowing he might not see them again if things went fine.
"See you," Juudai said as he tightened his grip on Johan's wrist and they disappeared from the place.
Arriving at the courthouse, dizziness struck Juudai as he had expected. The frequent teleporting was clearly something he didn't enjoy, but what he enjoyed even less was the incredible darkness that was all over the place. This was not his doing... or maybe it was? Maybe it was Jaden's doing.
When Juudai struggled to stand upright, he felt Johan's hands stabilizing him. "Thanks, Johan," he simply said, waiting a moment until he recovered enough to keep walking.
The sky was dark and cloudy, reminding Juudai of Dark World a lot... and of pretty much any bad situation he'd ever been in. "Let's hurry."
Johan and Juudai quickly walked into the courthouse, just to hear a bunch of very familiar voices.
"White Rabbit Jaden Yuki, read the accusation!" Alexis, the Queen of Hearts, shouted. She was sitting on her throne next to Chazz, looking down at Jesse, who had been handcuffed and was sitting on a chair, guarded by some guards that looked like weak Duel Monsters.
"Jesse Anderson, you... god damn it, Alexis, Jesse is NOT GUILTY!" Jaden was angrily shouting at Alexis. He was sitting on a chair near Alexis and Chazz.
"He definitely is guilty. Ever since he came to Wonderland, the Supreme King has been here, too." Chazz was visibly annoyed by the whole matter.
"Y'all are gettin' this wrong, really!" Jesse shouted, but Chazz' patience had run out.
"Guilty as charged!" Chazz shouted, and with that, the spirit of the monster Hell Solder appeared right next to Johan, its sword reflecting whatever sunlight was left.
"Off with his head," Alexis commanded. It was then that Johan and Juudai noticed that both of them were wearing completely white clothes. It was indeed the society of light.
"No!" Juudai was about to run to Jesse's rescue when a strong surge of energy threw him back, causing him to fall.
There stood a black-eared rabbit with golden eyes. The Supreme King. Jaden Yuki.
Juudai's eyes widened as he witnessed his very own nightmare happening right in front of his eyes. Watching the Supreme King from the inside was different from actually witnessing the terror that this figure held within it.
"I told you that you better stop that. I will say it only once more. Jesse is not guilty," the Supreme King said. All of the monsters that had surrounded Jesse were gone, but the teal-haired boy had not moved yet.
"So it was Jaden Yuki!" Alexis shouted. She didn't seem to understand the threat that the Supreme King was to her, because she immediately added, "Off with his head!"
The response to that was a surge of dark energy that sent her flying and crashing into the next building, where she turned into light and faded away. It had happened within seconds.
Just like back then.
"ASUKA!" Juudai screamed, not caring if her name was Alexis in this world or not. Right now, all that he knew was that again, his friends were dying and it was all his fault. The thought made him feel numb. He had faintly noticed the lookalikes of Kenzan, Fubuki and Saiou in the audience. Would they die, too?
Chazz was angry now. Of course he was. No matter what influence he was under, he loved Alexis. "Atticus, Hassleberry! Get Anderson! Kill him!"
The two immediately reacted as they - armed with spears - aimed for Jesse. And to Juudai's and Johan's surprise... the Supreme King was too slow to react because he had just fought off some guards.
"JESSE!" That was the Supreme King's shout. Or was it Jaden's? It was all the same, Juudai and Johan knew that all too well.
But Jesse was unharmed. And at the same time, Atticus and Hassleberry were gone. Along with Jesse's handcuffs and... Chazz.
Suddenly, everything became silent. No screams, no shouts. Nothing.
Juudai suppressed some tears. They were all gone once more. It felt ironic to him. It was the same four persons as back then, but this time it was for a different reason. The reason was the Supreme King. But he was an alternate self of Juudai, anyway. It was his fault.
After what felt like an eternity, Juudai heard voices again. He was facing the ground, too ashamed to look up. He hadn't done anything wrong, yet he felt responsible.
"Give Jesse back," the Supreme King demanded. "Yubel."
"He stole your love from me, I have no reason to give him back, do I?" 'Jesse' laughed. Juudai'd heard that laugh once already. He knew this conversation. It was so oddly familiar.
"I can take him back by force, too," the Supreme King said, the tone of his voice carrying an underlying, deep, endless anger that only Juudai could truly comprehend. The anger that corrupted the heart of a person who was almost about to lose his best friend.
"He would die in the process," 'Jesse' replied, smirking. "Do you want that? After all, I am the one who has led you here and awakened your powers. But I know that the pain you inflict to me is just a sign of your love, Jaden... So I am going to return it by killing this boy." From the ground, 'Jesse' picked up one of the spears that Hassleberry and Atticus had carried before.
"No! Don't do that." The Supreme King tried to maintain his composure, but he did not succeed. He bit his lip and slowly said, "What are your demands?"
"Destroy this entire world," 'Jesse' said with a smile, dropping the spear. "Then there will only be you, me and Jesse left. Isn't that just fine?"
It was not like the Supreme King had another choice anyway. And it was not like he actually cared, anyway. "How do I do it?"
"Oh, you really just need to released all of the power that you hold," 'Jesse' said, walking to the Supreme King's side and grabbing his wrist. "Soon you'll be all mine, Jaden."
The Supreme King's golden eyes seemed to shine when his dark aura suddenly amplified countless times. The sky seemed to curse the world as the thunder clouds unleashed their rage onto the earth and something that looked like dark meteors rained from above.
People died. They had no time to run.
One by one, they turned into light that was too beautiful to for the horrible destruction it represented. And then, close to the throne, Sartorius collapsed as the Light of Destruction left his body... and entered Jesse's. The Supreme King didn't seem to notice, the destruction had already begun.
It was too late.
Less than a meter away from Johan and Juudai, a black meteor crashed in. Johan realized that they had to get out of there, for there was no chance for them to do anything at this point.
This reality was lost. They would either escape or die here. And there was no time.
"Juudai, materialize our monsters," Johan said, shaking Juudai a little to get him back to his senses. However, Juudai gave no response. It had been too shocking for him. Of course, Johan could comprehend it, but this was a situation where they could possibly die. "Juudai, snap out of it!"
No response.
With no other choice left but to act on his own, Johan took out his duel disk and placed Rainbow Dragon in the monster zone. To his surprise, he felt a strange energy inside himself as Rainbow Dragon physically appeared around them, shielding them from falling debris and meteors.
"Rainbow Dragon! I don't care where you take us, but please, get us out of here!"
Johan held Juudai's wrists tightly as he felt Rainbow Dragon open the gate to another reality once more. Without Juudai's help, there was no telling where they would end up next.
But at least they were still alive.
And while they were engulfed in Rainbow Dragon's power, the last thing Johan heard before they left Wonderland was the Cheshire Cat's voice. Amnael's voice.
"The first Alice was Jaden, the second was Jesse, and the third Alice was both you and Juudai. But it's not like it matters, for the tale has ended already."
Then Johan lost consciousness.
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