A/N: Another chapter! And it's longer this time! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.


The next day, to help Sho and Hayato prepare for the practical part of their entrance exams, Judai was dueling them both in a battle royal. They had headed to the park after school for this. Unfortunately for the two examinees, Judai was kicking their butts.

Judai: 3000
Sho: 1500
Hayato: 2200

Judai's field had Wildheart with 1500 attack points and Flame Wingman with 2100.

Hayato's field had Des Koala with 1100 attack. He had forgotten about its flip effect, summoning it in attack mode instead of using it to its fullest potential.

Sho's field had nothing whatsoever. He, too, had forgotten to use a monster's effect earlier. One of his cards, Patroid, would have let him check Judai's set card. Instead, he had attacked. Major mistake, considering that card was Mirror Force. Sho's monsters had been wiped out, leaving him wide open.

And it was Judai's turn.

"You're doing fine, trust me!" he said. "You just need to remember your monsters' special effects, that's all." He grinned at Sho and added, "If you'd remembered Patroid's effect, you wouldn't be getting a direct attack right now, buddy."

"Oh, shoot!" Sho said, backing up nervously.

"Now, Wildheart! Attack Sho directly!"

The wild man charged Sho, drawing his weapon and slashing through the boy, who screamed and fell to his knees.

Judai: 3000
Sho: 0
Hayato: 2200

"Sho!" Hayato cried.

"Alright!" Judai said. "You're out, Sho!"

Sho got to his feet. "Arg..."

"Sho! Are you okay!?" Hayato asked.

Merciless, Judai said, "Now, Flame Wingman attacks Des Koala!"

Flame Wingman blasted the brown koala, hitting it with flames from his right hand, which was a dragon head. The monster was destroyed easily.

Judai: 3000
Hayato: 1200

"Aw, man!" Hayato whined.

"Now, for Flame Wingman's special effect!" Judai went on. "You take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!"

Hayato's eyes widened. "What!?"

Flame Wingman landed in front of Hayato, his right hand in front of the duelist. Fire shot out of the dragon's mouth, hitting Hayato dead-on.

Judai: 3000
Hayato: 100

Hayato dropped to the ground. "Okay, I give," he said. "I can't compete."

"Aw, come on, Hayato!" Judai said. "What kind of an attitude is that?"

As Judai tried to get Hayato to go on with the duel, Johan walked over. "Hey," he said. "Guys? What's up?"

Judai turned to his friend, smiling. "Hey, Johan!"

"Oh. Hi, pal," Sho said, not happy. I hate it when Aniki kicks my butt...

Johan took in the duel disks on his friends' arms and the cards still resting on Judai's and asked, "So, are you guys training for our upcoming field test?"

Hayato hesitated. "Well..."

"Yeah, and they're not doing half as bad as they seem to think," Judai answered, eying Hayato. He's had low confidence before. I hope he's not gonna start hibernating again...

"Are you kidding!?" Hayato protested. "You're kicking our butts easy!"

Sho sweat. "Yeah..."

"So? It's not like the exam duel's gonna have you up against me."

"Yeah, well..." Hayato and Sho rubbed the backs of their heads.

"Uh, anyway, pal?" Johan said to Judai, changing the subject. "Mind if I talk to you alone for a bit?"

"Sure," Judai answered.

He and Johan walked off, leaving Hayato and Sho to decide whether they were actually going to go through with this exam.


Johan walked Judai out of the park, stopping on the sidewalk just outside.

"So, what's up?" Judai asked as Johan turned to him.

"Okay, remember that man who keeps attacking you? Well, I saw him last night."

Judai's eyes widened. "What!?"

"Yeah. Said his name was Trueman, or Mr. T for short. Says he speaks the truth and was trying to eliminate me last night!"

Judai growled. "That lousy..."

Wasn't it bad enough that the guy was always after him? Couldn't he leave his friends alone?

"He said my Rainbow Dragon was a serious threat to him and his plans for humanity," Johan continued. "What's going on here, anyway?"

"You sure you want to know?" Judai asked.

"What? Do you know something?"

"Only what I suspect."

"And what's that, pal?"

"That guy...Mr. T...is working with the thing that turned Yubel into a duel spirit. Darkness. Turns out, it's not a human that did that to her, but something worse that wants to... Oh, why don't you tell him, Yubel?" Judai asked, closing his eyes and putting a hand on his head. "You know better than me."

Yubel appeared beside Judai, making herself visible to Johan. "He wants to send all of mankind to their eternal nightmares," she said. "A place where all that exists is pain, fear, and misery. He calls it the fate of all humanity and claims it's for the best. At least, that's the illusion he filled my head with."

"What!?" Johan demanded.

Yubel nodded. "And Judai here's the only one who can stop him."

"Really?" He looked at Judai. "How?"

"Apparently I've got some sort of power, and I've had said power since I was born."

"Wha!?"

"Yeah. I'm still not entirely sure what this power is, but, apparently, it'll help me defeat Darkness."

"Kid, remember that power show with all the shadows flying around? That's it. Just magnified," Yubel told him. Muttering, she added, "I mean, at least, I think that was it."

"Oh..." Judai thought about that for a moment. "So, that was me, not you," he said at last.

"Kid, I am you, remember?" she asked, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah," Judai said, waving that off. "Arg, that's weird..."

"Ooh. I'm a ghost! And you think you've got problems."

"Yeah, I do," he said, irritated. "I've got a female ghost in my head, dark powers I didn't even know I had, an enemy who wanted me dead before I was even born, and a girlfriend whose brother thinks I'm a dangerous monster! Quit trying to win, Yubel."

Johan sweat, glancing around. "Uh, Judai...?"

"Huh?" Judai blinked and looked at Johan.

"You two about done arguing...?"

Judai glanced around, sweating slightly. "Yeah, I think so."

"There are five people staring, and one's looking at me, so, yeah. Later," Yubel said, vanishing.

"Okay, people!" Johan said to the gathering crowd. "Nothing to see here! Just a couple of spirit-seers having fun! Now move along, please!"

The crowd dispersed, talking amongst themselves.

"Sheesh," Johan said. "Some people. So, what you're saying is Darkness was after you even before you were born?"

Judai nodded and said, "That's why he changed Yubel. He saw me coming and knew what would happen if he made Yubel into a duel spirit. Though he thought she'd kill me."

Yubel nodded—she had told Judai that awhile ago.

Johan stared for a moment, trying to figure something out. Finally, he said, "Wait, so he wanted Yubel to destroy you? But isn't she over 1000 years old? How's that work, exactly?"

"Why, thank you, Johan Andersen," she said in Judai's head, sounding annoyed. "I totally needed to hear how old I am. Guess that explains my white hair, too!"

"I guess he had someone who could see the future warn him I'd be coming," Judai said.

Yubel gasped, appearing beside Judai again. "The light!"

"What?" Judai asked.

"The light that 'illuminates' all! The Light of Destruction! It can see into the future! So, that's the friend he mentioned!"

"What!?" Johan asked.

"It's true. Darkness once told me he had a friend look into his future to see what would happen, and while I was under the power of the light, I could see this whole thing coming, so the light must have been the one who told him. But what wasn't predicted was that Neos would still manage to find you and stop me from keeping you from him." Yubel looked at Judai as she said, "You're something else, kid. Anyway, if I was able to see all of that, and the light was his ally, then there's no doubt it's the one who looked into you, kid. And the way to stop you, of course."

"Of course," Judai said.

"So, any idea where I come into all of this?" Johan asked.

"Don't look at me."

"Not a clue."

"Well, he said it was actually my dragon he was after, so maybe there's something special about it?"

Yubel opened her mouth to retort, looking annoyed, but she didn't have the chance to speak.

"There you are, you monster!" Fubuki exclaimed, angry, as he stormed over.

Judai groaned. Not this guy...

"I've got a bone to pick with you!"

"Uh, can we help you?" Johan asked, glaring at the older teen.

"Yeah, you can help me! You can tell me why that," he said, pointing at Judai, "is taking my sister on another date!"

Johan turned to him angrily. "Hey. That's my friend you're talking about!"

"Your 'friend' is a duel monster!" Fubuki accused. Turning to Judai, he demanded, "How many attack points do you have!?"

"Do you want me to shut him up for you?" Yubel's voice asked in his mind. She was glaring at the offending boy.

No, Judai answered silently. That'll just make things worse.

To Fubuki, he said, "None."

That was true whether he was a duel spirit or not. After all, humans didn't have any attack points, and Yubel was a zero-attack monster.

Judai had hoped such an answer would deter Fubuki, but he just pressed on with, "Then what's your effect!?"

"Hey!" Johan snapped. "That's quite enough! He's not a duel monster, he's just got a real strong bond with one, that's all! Why can't you just leave him alone already!?"

"Humans don't have those kinds of creepy powers! And darkness swirling around a guy is usually a bad thing!"

Yubel was shaking with rage. "I'm gonna..."

Don't.

"So!?" Fubuki demanded of Judai. "What's your effect!? If you've got no attack points, you must have one!"

Judai, knowing he would regret this later, decided on the truth. Or part of it, at least. "I can't be destroyed in battle."

"Is that all!?" Fubuki demanded, getting up in Judai's face.

Johan tried to push Fubuki back as he said, "Okay, you want to know who the real monster is here!? He's got dark brown hair, matching eyes, and is currently harassing someone he knows nothing about! Leave him alone already, you monster!"

"I'm just trying to make sure my sister's in good hands!" Fubuki told him. "I mean, she already hangs out with aliens!"

"Really!? You mean you!? 'Cause I don't know any other ones!"

"Akiko said she's from Neptune! Haruko said she's from Pluto! And you're dating an admitted Venusian who talks to crocodiles because crocodile is, apparently, the native language on Venus!" Fubuki argued.

"Uh, no, see, Kathy's not an alien, she's a psychic. She talks to animals, and..."

Judai sweat. "Johan..."

Fubuki gaped at him. After a moment, he said, "So, she's friends with aliens, duel monsters, and a psychic!?"

That did it—Johan crashed to the ground, stunned by Fubuki's stupidity.

Fubuki was quiet another moment before saying to Judai, "Right, well, is that your only ability?"

Judai sighed, knowing that telling him any more about Yubel would freak him out worse. "If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"

"Absolutely not! Then I just won't trust you because you're a liar!"

"You already don't trust me, so what would that matter?"

"Just answer the question!"

Johan shot up. "Fubuki!" he cried. "You're a real idiot, you know that!?"

Fubuki looked at Johan and asked, "Beg your pardon?"

"Ah-ha," said another familiar voice. "So this is where you were."

Judai turned, slightly relieved to see the teal-haired teen standing there—Sho's older brother and Fubuki's best friend, Ryo Marufuji.

Fubuki looked at him, startled. "Ryo!"

Ryo looked at Judai and asked, "Is he causing you a hard time, Judai? Sorry about that. He was supposed to stay with me."

"It's fine," Judai told him.

"Ryo!" Fubuki said. "You've got to believe me! He's not human! He can't be destroyed in battle, and he has no attack points!"

Ryo sweat. "Really," he said flatly.

"Yes! He just said so!" He turned back to Judai and demanded, "Right!?"

Judai sweat, thinking that Fubuki would still think he were a duel spirit even if scientists studied him extensively and said he wasn't—not that it was likely that would happen.

"Kaiser, please help," Johan said to Ryo. "I think he's losing it."

"I see. Now that makes sense," Ryo said with a nod.

Fubuki stamped his foot. "I'm telling you! He's a duel monster with no attack points that can't be destroyed in battle!"

"So? What's so bad about that?" Ryo asked, humoring his crazy friend.

"I don't know what other abilities he might have!" Turning back to Judai, he demanded, "What level are you!?"

Ryo sweat again. "Fubuki. I think you need some help."

Judai just stared, definitely not wanting to answer that one.

"Answer me, darn it!" Fubuki demanded, grabbing Judai by the front of his shirt and shaking him.

"Hey!" Johan said, charging the older boy. "Let him go!"

"Alright! That's it! Nigh—"

Judai couldn't let Yubel finish that—then Fubuki would know what that other effect was.

"T-ten!" he stammered, hoping Fubuki would stop if he answered. "Level ten!"

Johan pounced Fubuki, knocking him off of Judai as he said, "I said let go! How dare you attack my friend like that! Get out of here already!"

Ryo put a hand to his face, sweating.

From the ground beneath Johan, Fubuki cried, "Level ten!?"

Johan raised a fist to punch him. "I said—"

"Johan!" Judai interrupted.

Johan stopped an inch away from hitting Fubuki in the face. "What?"

Still sweating, Ryo said, "Fubuki, maybe you should stop before you get yourself hurt."

Judai said, "You...you can get off him, Johan..."

"But, Judai," Johan protested.

"Hitting him isn't going to change his mind about me."

Johan got off the older brunette. "Judai."

"So, are you happy now, pal?" Ryo asked Fubuki. "I think you hurt his feelings."

Fubuki didn't answer, staring at Judai with slight confusion.

"Come on, Johan," Judai said, turning back toward the park. "Let's go."

"Okay. I'm coming."

The two headed into the park, leaving Ryo to deal with Fubuki.

He looked down at his friend on the ground and said, "You know, Fubuki, sometimes I just can't believe you."

Fubuki looked down, feeling a bit guilty.


As they made their way back to the others, Johan asked, "You okay, pal?"

"Yeah," Judai answered. "I'm fine."

"Aniki!" Sho called, running over with Hayato. "There you are!"

Judai put on a big smile, pushing away the encounter with Fubuki. "Hey, guys!"

"So, are you two done now?" Hayato asked. "'Cause the field test's on Saturday, and we're clearly not ready."

"Yeah, okay," Judai said. "You ready to practice some more?"

"Can I help?" Johan asked. "I could use a good warm-up before my test, too!"

Sho hesitated. "Uh, well..."

"Sure, why not?" Judai said.

Muttering, Hayato added, "Yeah, then we can get our butts kicked twice as hard."

"Alright! Now where were we?" Johan asked.

The four went back to practicing, deciding to break into tag teams. Judai teamed up with Sho while Johan paired with Hayato. This had the desired effect—when they weren't dueling by themselves against someone stronger, the two did better. With Judai and Johan as their tag partners, the two boosted their self-confidence a bit and improved their skills. By the end of the day, Judai was sure the two were ready for their test on Saturday.

Now if only he could get Fubuki to leave him alone. Preferably before his date on Friday.