(Jaden POV)

I scrunched up my nose, smelling dust, as I woke up, feeling uncomfortably hot. I yawned, sitting up and wondering how long I was lying out in the sun, and then felt the ground shift below me like tiny specks of sand. My eyes flew open and I stared at the sand under me, unable to comprehend what was going on.

Was this another weird part of—what did Atticus call it—puberty?

I stood up, trying to get a good look around, and saw in the distance the towering figure of what appeared to be a large dark door. I stared at it in the dark sky, confused, before casting my gaze elsewhere.

"Where am I Kuriboh, do you know?" I asked the air, waiting for my little furry friend to appear. After waiting for a few minutes with no response I grew nervous. Kuriboh never ignored me; he was always right by my side whenever I needed him. Where was he?

"Kuriboh?" I called out into the desert, squinting when I thought I saw some buildings in the distance. Deciding that going there was better than standing here; I pulled my jacket off and tied it around my waist, heading out towards it. After what felt like hours of walking, I stopped to catch my breath. The buildings weren't getting any closer. Maybe I was just hallucinating?

I looked up again and jumped back, seeing the figures of some people standing a while in front of me. Unfortunately the wind had picked up and was whipping sand around, so I couldn't see who they were.

"Hello?!" I shouted out, cupping my hands around my mouth. When they didn't hear me, I decided to head over to the silent figures. "Hey, can you guys help me? I'm a bit lost—" I stopped abruptly, staring at the figures in front of me carved in the sand and staring blankly at me like statues.

Chazz.

Hassleberry.

Syrus.

Alexis.

Crowler.

My hand moved out, reaching to touch the closest to me, Chazz, hoping that the image wasn't real. They couldn't be...

Just as my hand was about to touch his cheek, they all dissolved into dust and scattered away in the wind, their screams echoing around me. I clasped my hands over my ears in the noise, screaming out into the silent world. No! Stop it!

"Why won't you play with me my precious child? I already played with your friends..."

I gasped, shooting straight up and panting heavily. Just a dream. Just a dream.

Kuri? Winged Kuriboh asked, appearing next to me in concern. I shook myself off and smiled at him.

"Just a really strange dream buddy, I'm fine," I assured him, and I was. The details were starting to fade already, even though it all had just felt so vivid. But that voice just before I woke up, it sounded so familiar...

Kuriboh turned to the side suddenly, staring at something. "Hmm? Something wrong buddy?" I asked him, just as a little purple cat-like creature came into view. I blinked in surprise, staring at the thing, before I heard another voice with a slightly southern accent come into my hearing range.

"Ruby!" he called. I looked up as the little duel spirit scampered away, crawling up the boy's body until it rested firmly on his shoulders. He smiled, closing his emerald eyes, "So this is where you ran off to, huh gal?" He turned, noticing me sitting there, and approached me with a friendly smile. I stood up to greet him.

"So is her name really Ruby?" I asked, gesturing towards the little spirit on his shoulders. The mysterious boy laughed kindly, rubbing his teal spiky hair with his free hand.

"Nah, it's just her nickname. Her full name's Ruby Carbuncle after the legendary animal. Is that Winged Kuriboh your spirit?" he asked curiously, smiling kindly at the winged fuzz ball.

"Yeah," I nodded. "You can see him?"

"Yup, and that must mean you're the infamous Jaden Yuki, right?" he asked with another small smile. I smiled back, feeling utterly relaxed for the first time in too long, wondering why this boy had this kind of effect on me. "I've been able to see duel spirits since I was little, how about you?"

I thought about it, hitting a blank spot in my memory bank. Most would find that unusual, but I had one horrible memory, so I didn't worry about it very much. "I guess since I was born!" I grinned, holding out a hand to shake with him. "So are you new this year? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah," the guy agreed, holding out his hand too.

"Then let me be the first to welcome you to Duel Academy!" I announced, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. As soon as our skin touched, to felt something like an electric current run up my arm and I found I didn't want to let go. I felt suddenly like I had known him all of my life, and we were simply catching up with each other after a few days apart or something. "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" I had to ask, although I didn't even feel the need to voice it. I knew it was absolute, I did know this boy from somewhere.

"It sure feels like it, doesn't it?" he responded, not breaking our handshake either. We just stared at each other for a while, trying to place the other's eyes in our memories, searching for something that could explain the connection that had already blossomed between us. I felt... something, but it was like it was behind a wall, and I just couldn't quite reach it. I decided it didn't matter how I knew him, just as long as I did know him now, which made me feel a bit weird.

Sure, I made friends easily, but nothing like this had ever happened before. At least not that I know of... maybe when I crashed into Driana, I felt something as well, or that could have just been adrenaline from my chase...

The thoughts faded away and we nodded at each other as if accepting our bond and solidifying it before something random happened. Winged Kuriboh had been close to Ruby, and the two had been greeting each other, but suddenly my little friend swatted the Carbuncle on the head with his wing! Soon the two were fighting playfully on the ground as the two of us watched, surprised, our hands still intertwined.

"Jay!"

I turned to the side, breaking the contact with the boy reluctantly to meet the voice. I was half expecting it to be Atticus pulling a very confused Driana in toe, but it was my two best friends instead—well, maybe my best, but not my closest anymore, I thought, glancing at the familiar boy again.

"What's up guys?" I called out. They ran up to the lip of the stairs, panting. I noticed Syrus was dressed in an Obelisk Blazer before remembering that he had been promoted when we started school this year, but he had been waiting for the ceremony to show it off I guess.

Wait! The ceremony, that's not today, is it?

"Come on Serge, we're going to be late!" Hassleberry called, gesturing at me to get my feet moving. "The ceremony's almost starting!"

"That's today?" I repeated out loud. I cast an apologetic glance at the boy and waved good-bye. "Coming guys! I'll see you around, okay?"

He nodded and smiled as I dashed away, his little duel-spirit climbing up onto his shoulders again. As we ran down the steps, Syrus managed to ask between wheezes and gasps, "Who was that Jay?"

It was then that I realized that I didn't know his name. "New student!" I answered easily just as we managed to get into the assembly room and slide into our seats. Chancellor Sheppard smiled at us as we came in—just barely on time—and then started the ceremony by calling Blair Flannigan from the side to recite our school motto.

I kind of tuned her out, my thoughts turning back to the boy, now that I was outside of his presence; I was confused by my thoughts. I had just met him and I already considered him to be closer to me than my best friends? I didn't even know his name!

I came back down to earth again when Blair finished her speech and a bit of scattered applause rose from the audience. As she walked away, she turned back and met my eye, shooting me a wink. I reeled back, surprised and caught off-guard once again. Sure, I had known that Blair had a crush on me—even I could see that much—but I didn't think she'd be that bold about it! Then I felt a heated glance directed at me and saw that Alexis was giving me a glare out of the corner of my eyes. Hassleberry laughed and said, "I feel sorry for you now!"

But I just nodded, looking for the other female face in the crowd to see her reaction.

She was nowhere to be found. I frowned, searching around for Atticus discretely, hoping that he wasn't going to do anything.

"This year, we wish for Duel Academy to improve, so we invited some new students. There are many other branches of Duel Academy around the world, so we decided to invite the best student from each academy to come here," Chancellor Sheppard announced to his prized students.

"Does that mean the champion of each one?" Hassleberry asked me rather loudly. He half-stood up in his seat, trying to get a good look at the crowd.

"Wow! A lot of new people are coming here!" I said to myself, surprised. Sure, Syrus had told me that we'd be getting new students, but I didn't know there would be more than one or two! And they were from other Duel Academies, so maybe they had weird things happen to them to! We could all swap catastrophe stories over a campfire or something.

A man I didn't recognize stared us all in the eye in response, and I noticed that his gaze lingered slightly on me before passing on. Shrugging it off as a curious probe about Blair's little show; I put it in the back of my mind and decided to listen to our teacher.

"From the Western Duel Academy Campus, we have Axel Brodie." A hardened African-American teen stepped up, unsmiling. He folded his arms behind his back like a soldier and stared us all down. "From South Duel Academy we have Jim Cook."

"Yay!" the tall teen called, raising his crocodile strapped to his back and stepping forward smiling. I was about to look away when I noticed that the croc moved! I'm pretty sure everyone else saw it too, because whispers engulfed the room.

Crowler made frantic quiet motion with Bonaparte in the corner, but everyone ignored them as usual.

"From East Duel Academy we have Adrian Gecko."

The third teen stepped up, his red hair spiked directly up as if he had been struck by lightning. He gave us all an acknowledging smile, his glasses shining slightly. I heard Syrus whisper to Alexis form the Obelisk row that:

"Humph, my new glasses could do that too, show off." I watched as he proceeded to try to pull it off, and only succeeded in dropping them off his nose and onto the floor. Blushing, he put them back on and folded his arms over his chest, avoiding Lexi's amused eyes.

"And from Northern Duel Academy, we have Jesse Anderson."

We all watched the door; waiting to see the next transfer student, but a girl came out instead, dressed in a completely black uniform. She waved at the people staring at her—although I couldn't fathom why Chazz was drooling—and walked, her hips swaying, over to the Chancellor. She said a few words to him and he responded, earning a shrug from the tall-green haired person. She turned, her black skirt fanning out and showing a bit of what I think was underwear, but it was hard to tell, it was really stringy and lacy.

Chazz started panting along with most males in the academy. The girl grabbed the microphone with her gloved hand and waved to the crowd. "Hey, I'm not Jesse Anderson, name's Artemis Ryoku. I just came out here to tell our Chancellor that there's no one back in that little room by the name of Jesse Anderson."

Grumbles came from the students who still had their wits about them, mainly the girls I noticed in confusion. The girl shrugged again, flicking her hair back over her shoulder in a fluid motion and then swaying over to her place next to the transfer students. Jim Cook smiled at her politely and whispered something into her ear discretely, causing her to smirk and respond back. He looked surprised and rubbed the back of his neck, pointedly looking in the opposite direction. Axel just eyed the girl warily, and Adrian didn't even glance in her direction.

"What's going on?" Crowler asked his little counterpart guy, the little guy who kept trying to tear down the Slifer Dorm last year... umm... Bonaparte or something like that. Is that French?

"No one's coming," he responded, looking affronted that the girl would just flounce up unannounced and tell them all that Jesse Anderson had flaked off. I suppressed a grin with difficultly, and then just let it out, remembering Atticus' words. Apparently this was normal, so I could let myself relax, right? That would explain Atticus/Nightshroud and Zane/Hell Zane, and it seems that I already went through my little Haou phase, so I guess I'm good now.

Feeling completely and utterly relieved, I even let my mind relax around my thoughts about Dri and Lex... and now Blair apparently.

" Jesse? Jesse Anderson? The same Jesse that uses the Crystal Beasts Deck?" Chazz suddenly piped up, his ebony eyes narrowing slightly. At least I think they did, it's kinda hard to tell when his eyes are always like that.

"Crystal Beasts?" I asked curiously. Even the name sounded cool. Maybe a good duel could help me figure out my problems.

"What do you know soldier?" Hassleberry asked oddly as the Chancellor and his assistants exchanged uneasy glances and low conversations about what to do.

"A while ago the Princeton Group tried to take the Crystal Beast cards from Industrial Illusions using their cash." He turned his head in the other direction as if gazing deeply into the past. I had a feeling he just did it for effect; he'd probably be a good actor or something. He was really dramatic sometimes.

"You're still into that soldier?"

"It was a long time ago!!" Chazz shouted, practically foaming at the mouth, his palms biting into the desk in front of him. Then he took a calming breath and resumed his cool indifference act. "According to Industrial Illusions, once upon a time the ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, collected seven powerful gems from across the world to prove Rome was powerful. But during the trip a storm hit the ship and the gems went into the ocean. Discovering this, President Pegasus used the seven components of the gems to make seven cards."

"Those were the Crystal Beasts?" the dino lover asked. I listened closely to the story, somehow feeling as if this was incredibly important. I couldn't figure out why though.

"Pegasus didn't sell the cards. Instead, he gave them to a boy who became champion at a tournament." The comment was a bit snobbish, like the Princeton thought it was a waste to get rid of such valuable cards like that.

"So it's that Jesse guy who has those awesome cards?" I asked. Then my words caught up with me and I realized that he would be the perfect opponent to go up against to clear my head! "Wow! I hope I can duel him soon!"

"But he's not here Serge," Hassleberry pointed out to me blankly. I pouted slightly, disappointed. Well I could always challenge Alexis again so we could finish our duel or Chazz, cuz I know he'll give it his all...

Just as Chancellor Sheppard was about to continue on with the list, the main doors opened. We all turned and stared up at the late student, and I saw that it was the boy I had met on the roof. He was panting heavily, his shoulders heaving and everything. But when he looked up he was all smiles. "Oh man I'm so late! I've got no sense of direction!"

Everyone continued to stare at the late student, like it was our custom at Duel Academy to do (I would know.) He started down the stairs and I was overcome with that weird trusting bond feeling again, but just like before, I just shoved down the confused thoughts. "Huh? Yo! New guy!"

He stopped in front of my row, ignoring all of the stares easily, and asked, "Is this the opening ceremony?"

"Yeah. Oh! By the way, did you happen to see a guy named Jesse?" I asked him eagerly, my excitement returning, bubbling hope into my eyes. I felt the stares of the class on me and the easy way I reacted with this kid, but I didn't care.

"Huh? Jesse?" he said, looking surprised, then sheepish.

"Uh, Jaden, he's..." Chancellor Sheppard started slowly.

"That 'Jesse' guy... that's me. Sorry, I didn't mean to hide it from you! It's just that you thought I was a freshman, so..." he laughed, one hand tangling itself in his teal hair sheepishly. I just smiled kindly, feeling as if I had already known that somehow.

"Really?" was all I said. He blinked and then smiled, heading for the stage. He yanked himself up easily, waving at the students. He walked about, greeting the others. He looked around at them and his expression froze when he saw Artemis. He didn't look like Chazz had when he saw the girl, he looked completely stunned, then his eyes narrowed slightly and he looked away, nodding at the others.

Absently, I wondered if he recognized the girl like I did, but pushed it away, feeling silly. Of course he didn't, I was just being paranoid.

If the teachers noticed, they didn't say anything. As a matter of fact they just seemed relieved that the teen had showed up. "Now then, let me properly introduce him. The representative of Duel Academy's North Campus: Jesse Anderson."

"Yes, now onto our other transfer students," Chancellor Sheppard continued. "Next we have Fabian Akogi, also from Domino High School."

"Actually," the muscular teen said as he walked out of the small room and onto the stage, projecting his voice with no difficultly, "all of us are from Domino. It's not just Artemis and I. And for the record, I liked to be called Ian. Just because my parents are Shakespeare fanatics doesn't mean I am."

Once again, I was hit with that familiarity, and I just didn't get why. The way he said it seemed to remind me of something, but with all I know about Shakespeare (which is pretty much nothing unless he is a duelist) I could just be picking up on the so-called "sarcasm" that Chazz uses.

But my gut told me that this wasn't the end of it, and I had a funny feeling that whoever was left to be introduced would make me feel this way too. So, when the muscular guy in the black hoodie took his stance and the next student, Drake Kyouko, sauntered into the room I wasn't as surprised when I dimly recognized him as well.

"And I have one more person to introduce to you all. Hailing from the West Campus, he's here to provide a special course this year: Professor Viper."

The unmentioned intense-looking man walked slowly up to our school head and nodded, taking the stage efficiently. I looked him up and down curiously and noticed that Artemis, Ian, and Drake had all glared at the man as he walked past. They seemed to feel my stare because their gazes shifted to me. I flicked my gaze to the professor and back, asking them the question. Artemis winked in response and held up a finger to her lips. A few males around me went a bit crazy, thinking that the sign had been sent to them. I didn't get why they'd be drooling though.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Usually you would hear an endless stream of speeches and greeting here. But you all don't need that this year. Instead of dull talk, let's have some real combat. That is my policy," Professor Viper said in one powerful, toneless statement.

"Hmm? I guess this guy's pretty straight-forward then," I commented off-handedly to anyone who was listening.

"And through that policy, let us, without delay, begin our exhibition match!" he announced suddenly, radiating authority. Confused murmurs rang throughout the crowd and the teachers.

"Exhibition match?" I heard the French (I hoped) guy ask.

"I didn't hear anything about that," Crowler said back, affronted.

Viper continued on with a small glance back at the teachers. "The participants will be ones that I have selected. Jesse Anderson! And then, his opponent..."

"Naturally," Chazz smirked, standing up as if accepting a prize.

"Jaden Yuki!"

Sweet I can duel him right now! And I didn't even have to do anything! Amazing! Maybe things are finally turning in my favor! "Alright! The new term's just starting and I get to duel a guy who uses legendary cards?! Sweet!"

Chazz was recovering from a face-vault rather gracelessly. "Why didn't he pick 'The Chazz'?"

Now, now boss, calm down! Ojama Yellow cooed as he appeared.

"I'M THE GENEX CHAMPION!!" Chazz hollered loudly at the stage. Hassleberry and I stood up, trying to restrain the rich teen.

"Calm down Chazz!" we said.

I just barely heard Jesse exclaim to himself, "Wow! He has some strange friends too!"

After just barely managing to push Chazz back down into his seat, I joined Jesse on the stage. He was waiting with a smile, but I noticed that he never put his back to the transfers from Domino High. Weird, I'd have to ask him about that later.

"Both of you, place your right hands in front of you," Professor Viper demanded, startling me into obeying. He snapped a faceless and handless watch onto our wrists and we watched as they tightened to fit us.

"What is this thing?" I asked, resisting the urge to poke it.

"Just consider it a present from me," Viper answered shortly. "Now! The duel will start in an hour!"

He has a weird sense of giving gifts. How the heck are we supposed to tell time if the watch doesn't have any numbers on it?


(With Driana)

I moved the last of the crates over the entrance to our hideout inside the animal study place, dusting my hands in a job well done. A few grunts collapsed part of the wall over it and killed the electricity in this part, dissuading any visitors from coming in, like Viper. I still didn't understand why he was the liability when it was Jesse who knew about us—well at least Artemis and Drake anyway. Sure, we didn't want the guy stumbling onto us hiding in here, but he was obviously up to no good either.

I had spotted him coming on the cameras after staring at Jesse Anderson for any signs of what I had done to him, to see if he would freak out if he saw me. But of course he didn't know it was my fault, so I was just being a little bit of a coward. But it was justified; I didn't even know who I was anymore with all of the parts I had played over the years.

Focus.

"Alright boys," I commanded lightly, "back into the smelly secret passage."

They grumbled a bit at being bossed around by someone half their age but didn't dare to disobey me, squeezing their gorilla arms into the small little trap door below us. I followed them quietly, shutting the door firmly above me and waving my hand around a bit to try and clear the smell. That floor's design had just been a bunch of tiles anyway, and no one would notice this against them, it blended in with perfection.

I sent the two away after they started complaining and sat alone in the tunnel, listening hard for the footsteps of Professor Viper. Sure enough, I heard the first door open up and his heavy boots stomp across the floor, but farther away. I frowned, etching wrinkles into my forehead. He wasn't going to check if anyone was here?

Another door farther away opened up and then what sounded like an elevator. Then I didn't hear anything at all. Confused, I trudged back into our wing and snuck into the camera room, taking the seat next to our unofficial leader cautiously. He glanced at me for a brief second and then pointed to the camera that was trained on the wild parts of the research facility. We watched, camera to camera, as Viper made his trek without running into any issues at all, which is a miracle in itself. There were more than enough wild animals in there to hunt him down and tear him apart, which is why we didn't bother to hide in there.

I noticed the suitcase then, and I knew something just wasn't right about this. He couldn't be just taking a stroll, but what could he possibly have in that suitcase that he would go through all of these lengths to hide.

"Sir?" I asked, my hand twitching on the desktop. He nodded.

"Go, trace him. You need to know why he is a threat, and why it is more important than ever to get him on our side. Go, Driana."

I bowed slightly, still not knowing what else to do, and dashed down the hall and into the other trapdoor, through the smelly tunnel, down the hallway. I forsook the elevator and simply jumped the distance, landing like a cat to reduce any injury. I dusted myself off again, proud that I was still in good condition even though I had been hanging around here for so long. If this guy held the answers to why I had to get to Jaden, I was going to get them.

If they were good enough, well... they'd have to be pretty dire for me to actually want to hurt him like that again and see if Haou comes out to kill us all in his anger.

I slowed down in the forest, feeling the pulse of the animals. They stayed away from me just as they did Viper and I wondered if they had grown afraid of the human presence. I shrugged it off and searched for the wayward Professor, sprinting surely through the area without so much as a sound. I stopped at the fringes of the forest and watched as he walked over a small bridge and into the next room. He examined the wall briefly as if seeing if he could set traps for it and walked in. I followed him at a distance, waiting until his heavy footfalls were farther away to start up the chase.

I stayed at least fifty feet away from him at all times, waiting until he turned corners to continue. When he finally did stop, I heard another door closing, so I knew it'd be safe to get closer and eavesdrop. I hovered right outside the door, hiding on the side that would hit me if it were whipped open. He didn't say anything, just chuckled to himself as he opened up the briefcase with a snap. I felt something strange fill the air as he busied himself, then I almost jumped out of my skin when the presence multiplied and exploded into existence as if reviving from the ashes of death. My hand found my mouth and I fell onto my butt in sheer surprise.

No way, he couldn't be here. It just couldn't be!

I shook my head fiercely, reprimanding myself. No, of course he would be here too. With all of us gathered in the same place of course he'd be able to find us, but why does he feel so...

My eyes widened, and I understood completely why I needed to take Jaden's heart and rip it out. I knew why we couldn't try and gradually pull him towards us; we had competition, we didn't have time. I just knew.

And I ran out of that hell-hole as fast as I could, still not daring to make a sound less he hear me. What had he done to Viper to convince him to do such a thing? What level of desperation would the man have to be at to listen...?

That's it. I have a job to do, and I'm going to do. He can take all that I push on him without breaking, so I'll give it my all. He can't be taken by him, he belongs to us.

And I'll make sure that we get him before the game even starts. Jaden Yuki, you are mine, even if you will hate me for it, even if it just nearly kills you. You have to give us the power, and we'll give you treasures beyond your wildness imaginations...

I smirked, allowing myself to go into full-on seduction mode, planning out my every step. Artemis will already be messing with Atticus by now, which means that I can pretend that it was her idea, not mine.

Tonight at the party, Jaden will be mine. That's it, point-blank.

I will not let Yubel have him.


IMPORTANT!!

I HAVE SET UP A POLL.

WHY?

BECAUSE I DECIDED THAT IT WAS REALLY HARD TO UPDATE A BUNCH OF TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORIES IN A ROW!

I'M LETTING YOU GUYS DECIDE WHICH STORY I WILL UPDATE ALONG WITH THE DESCENT.

THE CHOSEN STORY WILL BE UPDATED UNTIL IT IS DONE, AND THEN A NEW POLL WILL BE HELD AND SO ON.

PLEASE VOTE ON MY PROFILE, NOT REVIEWS.

FOR READERS WITHOUT ACCOUNTS:

GO AHEAD AND LEAVE YOUR VOTES IN REVIEWS AND I WILL COUNT THEM IN.

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AxJfan