Warnings: A peek into Jaden's head.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX
Year Two: Descending Light
Jaden wasn't quite sure how to feel. On the one hand, an amazing duel with an awesome duelist that was sure to keep him on his toes and give him a run for his money, and that was something Jaden absolutely lived for. On the other hand, Aster Phoenix. On the other other hand, the chance to duel against his own monsters, to see all the quirks and mannerisms another play could bring out in the creatures that resided in his deck. On yet another hand, Aster Phoenix.
Jaden wasn't normally the type to hold a grudge against anyone. From his cousin Fuyubi's crazy pranks on his birthdays, to Zane's cruel words to Syrus the year before, to Kagemaru's insane plans involving unleashing three of the deadliest monsters to ever exist, Jaden took it all in stride, searching for the silver lining he'd been taught always lurked on the outside of the dark cloud. He found a reason behind every action, a greater purpose to be served, and used that knowledge to give strength to his dueling and cheerfulness to his demeanour. He didn't like going into a duel, especially one that promised to be incredible, with a dark cloud hanging over his head. It was just bad karma, and if there was one thing Jaden hated, it was bad karma.
So he'd tried really hard not to meet Aster in the duel arena with a grudge in mind, but the pro-star was proving, time and again, to have a thing for making that difficult. It was as if he went out of his way to antagonize everyone, putting them on edge. If it was some kind of game strategy, Jaden had to admit that it was a good one, because just the sight of the younger boy had him grinding his teeth together. He was so smug, so arrogant, so completely sure of his victory. It was as if he'd taken the personality Zane had possessed the previous year, upped the arrogance dosage to near fatal levels, and then donned it like an obnoxiously loud-coloured shirt. It was beyond annoying and beyond irritating and almost beyond Jaden's ability to cope with.
But he was Jaden Yuki, and no amount of psyching out was going to get to him.
(It hadn't worked when Chazz had tried it during the School Duel, and it hadn't worked when Professor Banner had tried in that last, lethal match, and it certainly hadn't worked when the Beasts had laughed at all the pain and suffering they'd all had to go through in order to get their friend back. He'd held out his hand to Chazz and hauled him out of that dark place, because Chazz was his friend whether he liked it or not, and Jaden wasn't about to sit back and watch the older boy destroy himself; he'd called Banner out on his lies, because there was something inside him that whispered that there were certain things no mere mortal could control, and one other them was him and another was his dueling and that was the end of it; he'd forced the shadows the Beasts had sicced on him back with a power he hadn't known he possessed, every nerve ending in his body burning and screaming as something rose up inside him and closed a hand around Syrus and pulled; Jaden had learned long ago that there was very little he couldn't do if he put his mind to it,)
So he breathed in deep, squared his shoulders, and let his anger at Aster slowly seep out of him. The boy was a bastard, and a prick and a hundred other dirty things that he deserved to be called out on, but none of that meant a thing in the duel. The only thing that was going to matter in hand-full of minutes was how the pro used his cards, and whether or not he treated them with respect. Jaden had gotten the feeling that he didn't care about the ones he'd used to duel him last time, but those had just been a bunch of cards he'd thrown together into a deck maybe 15 or 20 minutes beforehand, so Jaden could somewhat understand his lack of attachment to them. But if he treated his real cards like that, there would be hell to pay.
Winged Kuriboh shimmered into existence by his shoulder, cooing worriedly.
" It'll be fine, I promise." Jaden reached up and stroked one of his partner's wings. The monster cooed happily at the attention, but still narrowed its huge eyes in anxiety.
" I'll be careful." Jaden assured. " I won't drop my guard for a moment." He gave his spirit one final pet before heading into the arena. The technicians were still setting up, screwing in a long, thick cable into one of the outlets at the base of the platform. Jaden carefully stepped over it, smiling when one of the two men, dressed in white, gave him a nod.
" Good luck, kid."
Jaden waved at him as he climbed the stairs.
" Will do. Thanks."
Across from him, Aster was slowly walking in, waving to the stands. Over on his side, Mindy and Jasmine were fawning, their eyes starry and glazed. Jaden sweatdropped, feeling a little abandoned, until Mindy caught sight of him and began to wave enthusiastically, a big grin stretching across her pretty face.
" Hi Jaden!"
The Slifer waved back.
" Hey Min. Can you see okay?"
The dark-haired girl giggled.
" Just fine. You're such a sweetheart." She paused for a moment. " Good luck! Sorry about this." She indicated to her choice of seats. Jaden shook his head, waving it off.
" Hey, you do what you gotta do."
" That's so cute." Aster took his position across from him. " Girlfriend?"
Jaden wrinkled his nose.
" No way. Can't a guy be friends with a girl without liking her?"
" Dunno." Aster shrugged. " I'm not really interested in relationships. Gotta think about my career."
" I can admire that." Jaden slipped his cards into their slot. Aster did the same. A strange feeling passed through Jaden as he looked at the cards. Something shifted restlessly in the back of his head, and he pressed a hand to his temple, trying to settle his thoughts down. It passed in second, and he was left wondering what had just happened. Aster had finished setting up, and was glancing over into the stands behind Jaden. His face was impassive as looked over each of Jaden's supporters, until he seemed to reach the last seat of that section. His eyes lit up devilishly, and, without any warning, he winked and blew a kiss to someone over Jaden's left shoulder.
The air immediately dropped and a familiar, crackling energy filled the room. Turning around, his eyes fearful and very wide, Jaden was met with the rare, but no less terrifying sight of an utterly enraged Lia Shanner. Her eyes were sparking and shooting dagger, her fists were clenched at her sides, and behind her, Jaden swore he saw the Fires of Hell begin to rise up. The last time she'd gotten so angry, Tanya, the Amazonian Shadow Rider, had been trying to convince Bastian to marry her.
But despite her obvious fury, Lia's cheeks were rosy red, and Alexis was looking between the girl and Aster with a knowing look. Lia, catching the way Alexis was regarding her, pulled back her lips in a snarl, and jumped to her feet. Before either Hassleberry or Syrus could pull her back down, she bent her right arm at the elbow, as though to shake her fist, but then grabbed the inner side of her bent elbow, and shoved her fist towards Aster. Then she sat down with a huff, crossed her arms, and looked away, cheeks still painted pink. Beside her, Alexis blinked.
" Mademoiselle!" Bonaparte shrieked in shock, and the gathered company, the two duelists included, turned to look at him. His face was pale, from the look of horror on it, Lia had apparently crossed the line.
" Le bras d'honneur ce n'est pas approprié pour une salle de clase!" He shouted.
" Ce n'est pas une salle de clase, c'est un arène de duel!" She snapped back at him.
" C'est une salle pour les étudiants duellistes!"
" Je suis une théorique! Alors, je ne me soucie pas ce qui est approprié dans cet endroit!"
" Tu devrais te soucier! Si tu est une duelliste ou une théorique, tu est une étudiante en cette école, et tu doit suivre les règles!"
" Est-ce que vous avez vu qu'il a fait?"
" Ce n'est pas le question maintenant. Le bras d'honneur est un geste impolie, et tu ne l'utiliseras jamais dans ma présence. Est-ce que c'est clair?"
" Oui, monsieur." Lia muttered sulkily. Aster, who'd been watching the verbal sparring match with mild interest, turned to Jaden.
" So, what exactly were they saying?"
Jaden shrugged.
" Hell if I know."
" Ah." Aster seemed content with the answer. He gestured to his duel disk. " Shall we?"
And Jaden grinned at him the tension that had been building in the back of his neck slowly loosening and falling away like a discarded shroud. He was back in his natural environment, right where he belonged. There was a duel disk strapped to his arm, a deck of cards at his beck and call, and an opponent, fearsome and strong and unbeaten, at his front, goading him into an attack. The world, tipping dangerously on the edge of blind rage and hatred, righted itself with stunning force, and everything Jaden knew and loved fell back into their appropriate spots as the duel disk lit up and beeped once. (Syrus was smiling worriedly at his back, and Chazz was complaining about being forced to watch the Slacker duel, Alexis had her hands clasped together, and Bastian was rattling off stats in order to keep himself calm, and Lia was staring at the two duelists, utterly lost and not understanding what was going on. But Syrus would be cheering himself hoarse soon – Hassleberry might join him – ,and Chazz would be trying to hide his delight at watching Jaden pulling through just when everyone thought he was a goner, and soon Bastian's stats wouldn't mean a thing because Jaden always defied them, and Alexis would jump up and down and hurl insults at his opponent because she had a temper and she always lost it mid-fight, and Lia would be snapping pictures at exactly the right moment without realizing it, capturing the beauty and majesty of the duel she couldn't follow technically but loved visually forever on film, and he would hear them all, cheering and shouting and laughing and his world would be perfect, if only for a moment.)
Jaden shifted into position, bracing his legs in case an explosion shook the arena, and let his fingers slide over the familiar backs of his cards as he drew them. Across from him, Aster did the same, and Jaden slipped back into that easy, comfortable place he went to when he dueled.
" Get your game on!" He shouted joyously, and beside him, Winged Kuriboh gave an encouraging coo, fluttering its wings and glaring, as much as something so cute could, at Aster Phoenix. The effect was somewhat lost on the boy who couldn't see spirits, but the feeling was what counted.
Jaden gave a grateful grin to his duel spirit, and regarded Aster as the boy made the first move. Seeing Clayman appear before him sent a nasty jolt through his system, but he held back the wince that threatened to twist up his features.
' So that's what it looks like when I play him.' Jaden thought, taking in the large, brown Hero. ' This is way Clayman looks like to an enemy. Aster's going to show me what it's like to be my own enemy.' A slow smile made its way onto his face. Aster seemed a bit put off by it, because he frowned as soon as he got a good look at Jaden's face, but the Slifer couldn't care less.
" This," he whispered to no one in particular, " is gonna be interesting."
Alexis felt her heart jump into her throat as soon as Clayman appeared on the field. There was such a wrongness to it, watching Jaden being forced to fend off his own monsters, that it almost made her physically sick.
This wasn't how this year was supposed to go. After the turbulence of the last year, after Shadow Riders and Sacred Beasts and getting back the brother she'd loved and lost, after losing Syrus to the darkness and risking everything to bring him back, after Titan's brutal assault on her deck and the choking mist rising around her again, after Lia's blood-curdling screams and terrifying coma, after all that pain and suffering, this year was supposed to be gentle and soft. There weren't supposed to be any complications. Jaden would show up, smiling and happy, and breeze through the duels snobby, uneducated Blues challenged him to, unable to stand that a Slifer could go so far. Syrus would come along, happier and freer than ever, standing by Jaden's side or loafing around with her, talking about cards and smiling down at Power Bond, no trace of fear in his eyes. Maybe he would be a little shook up from the Beasts, and Alexis would never hold that against him, but he'd be safe and sound with his friends, who could and would protect him from anything. Bastian would be brainy and insufferably all-knowing, talking about stats and plans and strategies, refusing to believe in the Heart, even though it had shown itself time and again whenever Jaden needed it. Maybe he'd finally pull his head out of the sand and realize that there was a cute girl giving him hopeful looks. Lia herself would be less prickly. She'd insult the freshmen and she'd put that wicked tongue to use if anyone dared to mess with her friends, but when she was alone with them, her jibes would become playful and her barbs would become harmless and she'd just be a teenaged girl again, laughing with Alexis and telling Jaden to study and picking fights with Chazz because that was the only way those two could talk. Chazz would be sitting with them, far enough away to not be pulled into their warmth, but close enough to be one of them, still uncomfortable anywhere but on the fringes of their friendship, unsure of how to handle people who didn't give a shit about his money or his brothers' power.
They'd come together like a well-oiled machine, laughing and joking and slowly relieving each other of the scars that were bound to have shown themselves over the summer, when each of the group was away from the relative safety and comfort of their friends. Family was wonderful and their old friends who didn't come to Duel Academy were nice to catch up with, but there were some things that couldn't be talked about unless they were with the people with whom they had shared it.
As such, Alexis couldn't talk about how Atticus had come back, or how the Sacred Beasts had nearly drained the world dry, or how Titan had challenged her to one last duel and then made the mistake of purposely messing with her monsters.
Because amid shadows and twisting, angry mist that threatened to curl up around her and choke off her air again, Alexis had felt the hologram of her Cyber Tutu pulse with life under her hands, and everything, in that instant, had changed beyond repair.
Her Cyber Tutu was real.
It began at the edges of her vision, after that duel. Just a dancing figure, twirling around in the corners of her eyes, dogging her every step like a strange stalker. At first, she'd been horrified, too nervous to talk to anyone. She'd been emotionally drained by that point, what with her brother's waking and Syrus' return and Lia's awful coma. She'd been so scared and so freaked out that when Atticus had vanished yet again, just after she'd finally gotten him back, she'd taken it all out on Chazz and had stormed recklessly into the woods, anger blinding her and her own, thundering heart making her deaf. She'd been easy prey for any duelist that night, and she could only thank her lucky stars that it had been Banner, who was only pretending to be the bad guy, who'd found her.
She'd come to in that murky bubble, a soft voice in her air and a warm hand on her shoulder. She'd shaken herself awake, confused and disoriented, and turned over to see who was rubbing her back soothingly.
Cyber Tutu had smiled perkily back at her, almost bouncing in delight when she saw her mistress was awake.
Tutu spoke in breathless little whirring sounds. Her speech manner wasn't really so different from Winged Kuriboh's (nothing had shocked the Queen of Obelisk Blue more than the day after she'd been set free of the bubble, had looked over at Jaden, and seen the fluttering furball flying in frantic circles around the Slifer's head, cooing happily. She was pretty sure her jaw had hung open, and she'd had to rub her eyes several times before she'd believed what she was seeing), the main difference being that Alexis could understand her monster. While Winged Kuriboh's cooing noises flew right over her head, Tutu's wordless whispers instead changed into sentences and thoughts in her mind, automatically translated by some power Alexis didn't understand.
She supposed it was just one more thing attached to being able to see duel spirits.
So when his own spirit appeared at Jaden's shoulder, pointing a clawed leg at Aster with a worried expression, Alexis paid attention. If she looked behind her, she was willing to bet that Chazz was probably doing the same. In fact, if she focused, she could just barely make out the hushed whispers of the Ojama Brothers as the leaned into Chazz's ear, murmuring fearfully about the aura coming off of Aster's deck.
" It's not good." Cyber Tutu said softly into Alexis' ear as Phoenix Enforcer arrived in a shower of light.
" What isn't?" She whispered back, not taking her eyes off the duel. Jaden had made a good play for his first move, knocking down Aster's points like that, but there was something about the cockiness in the pro-star's eyes that made Alexis nervous.
" His deck. His cards." Tutu pointed at Aster. " There's something wrong in those cards. They feel all cold and burning."
" How can something be cold and burning at the same time?"
" No, not...wrong words." The spirit paused to think. " Cold like...not like, cold weather, cold like...cold on the inside."
" Unfriendly, cruel?" Alexis tried to understand. Cyber Tutu nodded.
" Ugly and misshapen, on the inside. Twisted around." She shuddered. " I don't like it. I never want it. Tell me you won't burn."
" Burn?"
" Like those cards. They're burning. All cold on the inside and blazing on the outside. It's not a good heat. It's searing, like a fire is eating away at them. Promise me you'll never do that. Promise me you'll never burn."
" I promise." Alexis murmured, and reached out a hand. Underneath her splayed fingers, Cyber Tutu shimmered in, transparent but still warm, smiling up at her gratefully.
" Good. I never want you to burn."
" I don't want you to burn either." Her attention was stolen away as Flame Wingman exploded into a thousand little shards of rainbow coloured light, and vanished off the field. The resulting wind left Jaden to brace his legs back against the platform, his arms up in an attempt to shield his face. Alexis felt her heart leap into her throat again, and had the distant thought that, if this was how she was going to react every time Jaden took a hit in the duel, she was in for a very jumping morning.
" Way to one-up me, bro." Jaden said with a grin, but it was just a little faker than his normal one, and Alexis grimaced.
" Really, you were expecting something different?" Aster laughed, and it was just as fake as Jaden's smile. " Our decks are similar, not the same, and not even close to being equal."
" Here we go." Chazz muttered darkly as Aster launched into a speech he'd clearly written beforehand about their decks reflecting who they were and what made them duel, and how his was the superior deck. It might've caused more than few complaints from the crowd (several of which would probably have gotten physical- Hassleberry seemed ready to jump right out of the stands and take a swing as Aster), had Lia not, without meaning to of course, broken up the tension.
" How come Jaden's monster is dead, but Aster's is still standing?"
" Because Phoenix Enforcer can't be destroyed in battle." Bastian explained. Lai blinked.
" Why?"
" That's it special ability."
" Isn't that kinda unfair?"
" No, it just means you have to be smart in order to destroy it."
Lia furrowed her brows, looking upset.
" You know what I miss? Go Fish. It was a simple, fun, and harmless card game. No one was ever forced to save the world by playing a game of Go Fish."
" Jee, I wonder why." Chazz said snidely. Lia turned to say a biting comment back, but was distracted as Jaden played a card.
" Hey guys, the blue guy is there now."
" Bubbleman." Syrus filled in. Lia scowled.
" Look, you guys can drill me until you're all blue in the face, it won't help. Those names just don't stick in my head. And now the green guy is back." She paused to think. " Does that mean he's gonna pull the darker blue guy out and make all three of them merge to make ThatOneGuy?"
" So please give a big Duel Academy welcome to the Elemental Hero Tempest!"
" That's it." Lia nodded as Jaden shouted. All around her , her friends froze, and, as one body, turned to look at her.
" How did...you..." For once, Chazz seemed to be rendered speechless.
Lia leaned back in her seat.
" I can't remember their names, I'm not stupid. I can pick on what Jaden's doing, just not how or why."
" That's..." Alexis searched for an appropriate word. " That's...something." With a shake of her head at how Lia still managed to surprise them all, Alexis turned her attention back to the duel, just in time to see Tempest score a blazing hit on Phoenix Enforcer. And while the monster was still standing after the assault, the counter indicated that Aster's lifepoints were nowhere near as invincible as his monster.
" Alright Jaden!" She shouted, pumping her fist in the air. " You show that arrogant bastard who's boss!"
" Good show!" Bastian echoed her encouraging sentiments. Hassleberry and Syrus got into a bit of shouting contest, each trying to outdo the other in terms of volume and attention, and Lia just started clapping, smiling blankly.
" Good job on...whatever you just did."
Alexis laughed, and looped an arm around the younger girl.
" You'll get it someday, I promise."
Aster had just pulled his card, the smile on his face instantly dampening their spirits.
" Well, would you look at that." He held up the card he'd just drawn. " Here's a card we haven't seen in a while! Polymerization!"
" Omigod, look at that. There's something I haven't seen in while! A complete douche!" Lia mocked his tone, her eyes glaring at him. Alexis held up her hand for a high five, which the younger girl gave. Aster looked over at them, and gave a mocking salute. Alexis had to hold down Lia's arm before she made the obscene gesture again.
" Really, Lia, the French equivalent of the Finger isn't going to help us here."
" It'd make me feel better." She almost sounded like she was whining. Alexis just shook her head.
" Watch the duel and laugh when he loses lifepoints. You'd be surprised at how cathartic it is."
" If you say so." Lia leaned back against the seat, and relaxed against the arm around her, only stiffening when Aster had his Shining Phoenix Enforcer (it was a stupid name, Alexis decided, scowling) attack and destroy Tempest. Jaden, to his credit, was actually snickering as the explosion faded.
" Heh heh...Shimmer Kick...heh, Shining Finger...Domon." He shook his head, smile still on his face. " Never mind."
Alexis blinked in confusion, not quite sure she understood the joke, but decided that it didn't matter as long as Jaden kept making moves like summoning Shining Flare Wingman to the field, giving it the Light Laser, and playing Sky Scraper just in the nick of time to finally get rid of Aster's monster.
So it was rather unfortunate that, coupled with with Jaden's offhanded comments about the fact that he was having a great time, it was enough to set Aster off.
Hello everybody! Here you are, chapter 6! Technically 7! But who cares? It's something for you to read.
The long awaited first duel between Aster and Jaden has finally arrived. This chapter is mainly for Jaden and his reasoning. Next Friday, we'll get a little more on an introspective on Aster. Personaly, my favourite line in this chapter is: On yet another hand, Aster Phoenix. Because really, that just about sums up everything Jaden is feeling at this point. Sweet, an awesome duel with a pro that will test my limits and make me work for any victory I happen to get! But I still have to deal with that prick...
I like my somewhat angrier, somewhat less innocent Jaden. It makes interactions with other characters more fun, because not only does he now understand that he's being insulted, he will not take that from them. So yeah. Aster's little speech about his cards and monsters being better, and Jaden's just being cheap imitations? That's not gonna go over too great.
Now, how about some translations?
Le bras d'honneur ce n'est pas approprié pour une salle de clase!" - The 'Arm of Honour' is not appropriate for a classroom!
" Ce n'est pas une salle de clase, c'est un arène de duel!" - This isn't a classroom, it's a duel arena!
" C'est une salle pour les étudiants duellistes!"- It's a room for the dueling students!
" Je suis une théorique! Alors, je ne me soucie pas ce qui est approprié dans cet endroit!" - I'm an Academic! So, I don't care what is appropriate in this place!
" Tu devrais te soucier! Si tu est une duelliste ou une théorique, tu est une étudiante en cette école, et tu doit suivre les règles!" - You should care! If you are a Duelist or an Academic, you are a student in this school, and you have to follow the rules!
" Est-ce que vous avez vu qu'il a fait?" - Did you see what he did?
" Ce n'est pas le question maintenant. Le bras d'honneur est un geste impolie, et tu ne l'utiliseras jamais dans ma présence. Est-ce que c'est clair?" - That's not the question right now. The 'Arm of Honour' is an obscene gesture, and you will never use it in my presence. Is that clear?
'La bras d'honneur' is basically the French equivalent of giving someone the finger. You can even give someone the finger while doing it. Either way, it's considered extremely impolite, and Lia is lucky she got off so easy.
Also, Bonaparte addresses Lia with 'tu' and 'tu forms' of the verbs because she is a student, and younger than him. Lia tends to use the politer 'vous form' even when speaking in her own age group. If she doesn't know a person, she will usually use 'vous', unless she is deliberately trying to be rude. She feels comfortable enough with her friends to use the 'tu' form, but Bonaparte is her teacher, and she's required to use the 'vous' form. When I was in grade 9, I had to drill myself to use the 'vous' form with my teacher, because in grade school. we had all gotten away with addressing our teachers with 'tu'. Now, I find the 'vous' form easier to use than the 'tu' form.
Heh heh...Shimmer Kick...heh, Shining Finger...Domon - G Gundam. The main character's attack is basically translated into 'Shining Finger.' When I found that out, I couldn't stop laughing. And as you will remember, Jaden watched a mecha marathon before going back to school. And he hasn't had time to see any shoujo to drown it out. He's still got gundam on the brain.
I think that's it for this week. Come around next Friday to find out about Aster's motivations, and a twist ending to the duel that I don't think you'll see coming!
MoS
