Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia
Now the story turns to young Jaden Yuki, adventurer and keeper of the Gentle Darkness, a power in total opposition to the Light of Destruction.
Jaden has suffered more than most of the combatants who have been brought here; he has had a part of himself ripped from him and made his enemy. Now the promise he made has broken, and his will to fight is crippled…
Destiny Draw! 21-I
Jaden whistled nonchalantly as he waited by the fire for Crow to get back.
Astral, who had been floating by Yuma, suddenly straightened up. "I am worried for Crow," he admitted.
Jaden nodded. "Yeah. I know he can take care of himself, but…"
"Do you think we should look for him?" asked Astral.
Jaden thought for a bit, and nodded. "Yeah. Actually, that's a good idea. Maybe I can find some food while we're at it, too."
"Then I shall travel in this direction," declared Astral, pointing in the direction that Crow had gone. "I shall be back shortly."
With that, the energy being drifted out of sight.
Yuma watched him go with concern. "I hope Crow's okay," he said.
"He'll be fine," muttered Chazz. "You saw how tough his ka was."
"Ka…" muttered Jaden. "Joey told us that word, and now…" he trailed off, and gestured to Joey's unconscious body. "Ahhh! That's it; I'm going to look for something to help us!" he yelled, leaping to his feet.
"Like what, Jaden?" asked Chazz. "You can't just run off into the darkness like Crow did!"
"Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it!" Jaden reassured his friend.
"Jaden, get back here!" yelled Chazz, but it was to no avail, Jaden had turned and run off.
Jaden ran several meters before slowing down. "Hmmm, I wonder if I've gotten far enough?" he thought out loud.
Like Crow had before him, Jaden soon found berry bushes, and he stripped them of berries, before looking at one with interest. Winged Kuriboh materialized beside him with a hoot.
"Hey, Winged Kuriboh," commented Jaden.
Winged Kuriboh hooted again.
"Me? I was just wondering if these berries might be poisonous," commented Jaden.
Winged Kuriboh responded with another hoot.
"Well, I could always taste them, then I'd know, but no-one else would," commented Jaden. "How 'bout you give them a try, buddy?" he chuckled, closing his eyes and grinning.
Winged Kuriboh gave an angry hoot, and moved away from Jaden.
"Hey, come back!" protested Jaden. "Winged Kuriboh!"
But the little spirit wasn't listening; instead he drifted away from Jaden to a gap in the trees. Jaden pursued him, trying to get him to stop.
"Hey, I'm sorry pal, you know I didn't mean that!" protested Jaden. "Would you just stop?"
Winged Kuriboh hooted again, and gestured towards the gap in the trees.
Jaden looked at it, hoping for some food, but all he saw was a crumbling temple.
"Wait a minute…" he muttered. "Maybe there's something useful in there! Well done, Winged Kuriboh!" he called.
He pushed through the bushes and ran into the ruins.
Below…
The Doctor looked at the screens. "He's not from our eras," he said. "I don't think you gentlemen want to bother with this one."
"Yes, I have better things to do than pay attention to a broken child," admitted Dartz.
The Director smiled. "What was the purpose of going after Mr Kastle, then?" he asked snidely.
"I'll tell you over dinner," said Dartz. "Sartorius has been talking with the tombkeeper, and I think he may have found something he wants."
The Doctor shut off one of the screens, showing Joey Wheeler, Yuma Tsukumo, and Chazz Princeton all resting around a fire. "Indeed," he said, entering a command. A door opened in the far side of the room. "If you want to leave, you may as well do so now."
"Thank you, Doctor," replied the Director. "Be sure not to lose to this Yuki kid, now, will you?"
Dartz laughed as he and walked out of the room, and the Director followed him with a smile on his face.
The Doctor turned back to the consoles, paying attention only to two screens, that showing Jaden stepping into the ruins, and another showing a black-clad blonde teen walking through the black sand.
At the entrance…
"Yikes!" yelled Jaden, leaping out of the way of the falling slab.
He'd made his way inside, and stepped on a glyph that was curiously shaped, but then he'd been forced to jump out of the way of a large slab of stone, which slammed into the ground where he'd been standing.
Winged Kuriboh sighed in relief as Jaden got to his feet.
"Man, that was close," he said. "I hope this temple doesn't have too many more of these traps, or I'll end up flat!"
He looked at a doorway. "Well, here goes something," he commented, walking through it. He found himself on a narrow stairway that spiralled down into the ground.
For a brief moment, he wondered whether he should turn back. After all, Crow probably wasn't here, so that meant he should head back to the camp. But his adventurous streak still remained, though he was smarter than before, and he wasn't going to disappear into nowhere.
He turned to Winged Kuriboh. "Hey, Winged Kuriboh, would you mind going back and telling Chazz where I am? Tell him not to worry, I'll be back shortly."
Winged Kuriboh hooted.
"Yes, I know that's what Crow said, but I mean it!" protested Jaden.
Winged Kuriboh gave one last hoot before flying back up the passageway.
"Be back soon!" Jaden called after him. He turned back to the passageway. "Now I get to wander down the dark, scary passage," he moaned. "What was I thinking?"
He plucked a handy torch from its bracket, and walked down the stairs, moving it from side to side to examine the carvings on the walls.
"Now that looks familiar…" he muttered, looking at a carving of a gateway, and two spheres of energy curving towards it. "Can't remember where from, though."
Shrugging, he continued down the stairs, keeping an eye and ear out for any signs of a trap like the slab at the entrance. He didn't hear anything…not yet, anyway.
Eventually, he yawned as he got to a gateway in the cramped passageway. "Hey, wonder where this leads?" he wondered. "And now I'm talking to myself. Oh dear, I think I need a psychiatrist!"
He ducked through the passageway, and immediately noticed the change. There were no walls…well; there were just no walls right beside him. Instead they extended into near total darkness, while the floor was but a thin walkway, leading upwards into the darkness.
Gripping his torch tightly, Jaden walked along the walkway, sweeping the torch from side to side to make sure he didn't miss any offshoots, or that the floor didn't end in front of him without him noticing.
He got to where the walkway arched up into a stairway, and began to climb.
When he reached the top, he found himself standing on top of a large pillar, rather similar to the area where he'd dueled Professor Viper.
Viper, however, wasn't the person who stood there, rather, a man with spikes of blonde hair wearing a dark jumpsuit stood in front of him, with grey shoulder arches, gloves and boots, and a grim look on his face.
Jaden peered at him. "Hey, uh, who are you, bro?" he asked. "I mean, I saw you at the start, but everything just happened so fast, you know?"
The man chuckled darkly, his laughs echoing in the massive room.
"Okay, did I miss the joke somewhere?" asked Jaden in confusion.
"Ahhh…so you don't know me, Jaden Yuki," replied the man. "Well, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Doctor Faker."
Jaden thought for a second. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."
Faker laughed. "Of course not, seeing as I am from your future."
"Okay," commented Jaden. "So, what are you doing down here?" he asked.
Faker was a little off guard after hearing that statement. "This place is out of the way; and with my resources, I can keep an eye on what goes on in this hostile world we find ourselves trapped in," he explained.
It was Jaden's turn to be surprised. "And you're with Zorc, right? So, why exactly did you tell me this?"
Faker smiled, though there was no mirth in his eyes. "Because you shan't be leaving this place, Jaden," he said.
He picked up a crescent shape, and tossed it into the air in front of him. It hovered there as he attached what appeared to be a bladeless duel disk to his left wrist.
"Come, Jaden Yuki. Face my duel of the soul!" declared Faker.
Jaden looked down, and then he raised his head, his eyes shining golden. "Yeah, this'll be fun!" he said with a smile. He raised his red-trimmed duel disk, and the arm blade slid out and extended the two hidden card zones.
"Let us duel!" declared Faker, as he and Jaden drew five cards each.
"I shall take the first turn!" declared Faker. "I draw."
He drew his card, and tossed it into a gap on the card zone hovering in front of him. "I send my Garbage Ogre from my hand to the Graveyard, and add Garbage Lord from my deck to my hand!" declared Faker. A card slid out of his deck, and he placed it in his hand. "Next I summon Junk Blader from my hand!" he said. A purple armoured warrior clutching a large triangular sword appeared. (1800/1000)
"I set a card face-down and end my turn!" declared Faker. Yellow squares formed the backed image.
"All right! It's my turn!" called Jaden, drawing. "Sweet!" he cheered. "I play Polymerization!" he cried. "And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HEROes Avian and Bubbleman from my hand to create, Elemental HERO Mariner!"
A green-coloured HERO with white feathered wings appeared beside a blue armoured HERO, and they swirled together, before coalescing into a green skinned man with anchors strapped to his wrists. (1400/1000)
"What hope is wasting that fusion monster on me?" asked Faker.
"Oh, there's plenty of hope!" replied Jaden. "First I'm gonna throw down a face-down!" he called, slotting a card into his disk. As the card image appeared, he added. "And now I get to attack you directly with Mariner since I've got a face-down card!"
"What?" asked Faker.
"Mariner, attack Faker directly!" called Jaden. Mariner raised his arm and threw an anchor at Faker.
"I activate the Scrap-Iron Scarecrow trap card!" declared Faker. The card flipped up, deploying…well, a scarecrow made from scrap-iron. "This card negates the attack of one monster, and is then reset!"
Mariner's attack slammed into the scarecrow, barely leaving a dent, and then the card flipped back over the scarecrow, concealing it.
"Aw, nuts!" protested Jaden. "I guess I have to end my turn there."
"Now, it's my turn!" declared Faker. "I draw!"
He drew, and smiled. "Since I control a Junk monster, I can special summon Junk Servant from my hand!" he called. A red and white robot with an ovular head appeared. (1500/1000)
"I release Junk Servant to advance summon a monster in defense mode," declared Faker. Junk Servant vanished, and yellow squares formed a sideways card. "Junk Blader! Attack Mariner now!" yelled Faker. Faker's monster raised its large blade and cut down the anchor wielding HERO, and reduced Jaden to 3600 life points.
Jaden cried out in pain as the backlash whipped past him.
"I set one card face-down, and I end my turn!" said Faker. "Come now, Jaden Yuki. You can't be falling over from such little damage already, can you?"
Jaden looked up, and grinned. "On the contrary, Doctor Faker, I'm just getting started!" He drew his next card. "I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman!" he called.
A HERO that appeared to be composed of tree trunks over green skin appeared. (1000/2000)
"Then I'll throw down a face-down, and end my turn!" finished Jaden.
Faker drew. "I set a monster in face-down defense mode," he declared. The backed image quickly formed. "Next, by banishing my Junk Servant, Junk Blader gains four-hundred attack points!" he declared. Junk Blader grew slightly, his attack points rising to 2200.
"Uh-oh," said Jaden nervously.
"Now, Junk Bader will attack Woodsman!" declared Faker. Junk Blader charged forwards again, but this time, Jaden was ready.
"I play the trap, Hero Barrier!" called Jaden. "Since I control an Elemental HERO, your attack is negated!" A fan of wind repelled Junk Blader, and Faker frowned. "I end my turn," he said. Junk Blader attack points returned to normal.
"Then it's my turn!" called Jaden, drawing. "And during my standby phase, Woodsman's effect adds Polymerization from my deck to my hand!" He searched through his deck, and added the card to his hand, before activating his second face-down card. "Then I play Fusion Recovery, and I add Polymerization and Elemental HERO Avian from my graveyard to my hand!" As he added the cards, he smiled. "And now, I play Pot of Greed, drawing two more cards!"
"How many cards are you going to add to your hand?" asked Faker.
"I think I'm finished with the gathering of resources for now," replied Jaden. "I play Polymerization!" he called. "And I'll fuse my Elemental HERO Necroshade in my hand, with the earth-attribute Woodsman on my field, to create Elemental HERO Gaia!"
A fiendish looking HERO appeared beside Woodsman, and they swirled together into a giant, grey HERO, with massive arms. (2200/2600)
"When Gaia is fusion summoned, I can halve the attack points of one of your monsters, and give the same number to Gaia until the end of my turn!" explained Jaden. Gaia drove his fist into the ground, knocking the Junk monster down, reducing it to 900 attack points. Then Gaia powered up, rising to 3100 attack points.
"Now I play my other Polymerization!" called Jaden. "I fuse Elemental HEROes Avian and Burstinatrix to create, Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" he called.
A white skinned female HERO clad in red appeared with Avian, and they swirled together into a draconic HERO, with a dragon head for his right arm, and a long reptilian tail. (2100/1200)
"Now, Flame Wingman, attack his Junk Blader!" called Jaden. "Sky Dive Scorcher!"
As Flame Wingman leapt into the air, Faker reacted quickly. "I play Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" he declared. "Your attack is negated and this card reset!"
The scarecrow blocked the stream of fire that Flame Wingman had released, and then flipped back under the card.
"You don't have anything left to protect you from this attack!" replied Jaden. "Elemental HERO Gaia, attack Junk Blader! Continental Hammer!"
Gaia raised both fists and slammed them into the ground, creating a shockwave that threw Junk Blader into the air and dissolved it into dust.
Faker shielded himself as the backlash dropped his life points to 1800.
"All right, that's the end of my turn, and the attack points of Gaia return to normal now," said Jaden in satisfaction. "So, tell me, cause I'm curious, why exactly are you working with Zorc? Destroy the world? Brainwash it? Destroy humanity, anything?" he asked.
"That is my own business," replied Faker. "Not yours." He drew his next card, and slotted it into his disk. "I set a card face-down, ending my turn," he said.
Jaden was a little surprised. "Is that all?" he asked. Man! I hope this doesn't turn into what happened with Vector and Chazz, he thought. He drew his next card, and frowned, before adding it to his hand. "Elemental HERO Gaia, attack the second monster that Faker placed on the field!" he called.
Gaia drove his fists into the ground, and the shockwave shattered Faker's Junk Armour monster.
"Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, attack the other monster!" called Jaden.
Flame Wingman fired its stream of flame from it dragon headed arm at Faker's monster.
"I activate the Draining Shield trap card!" declared Faker, flipping his face-down card up. "Your attack is negated, and the attack points of your monster are added to my life points!"
Flame Wingman's fire stream struck a glowing barrier that had appeared around Faker, and his life points increased to 3900.
"Ah, no!" protested Jaden as Flame Wingman returned to hovering in front of him. "Arggh…" he muttered. "I guess I'll have to end my turn."
"My turn! I draw!" declared Faker, drawing a card and placing it on his card zone. "I summon the tuner monster, Junk Synchron to the field!" he called.
A bulky orange robotic figure with an engine attached to his back appeared. (1300/500)
Jaden realized something. "Hey!" he protested. "That's one of the monsters that Yusei uses! You haven't kidnapped him already, have you?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Faker. "I activate Junk Synchron's monster effect!" he declared. "When this monster is summoned, I can special summon a level two or lower monster from my graveyard with its effects negated, and I choose Junk Armour!" he explained.
A battered suit of armour appeared in a crouching position. (600/1200)
Jaden gritted his teeth. He's going to perform that synchro summon that Yusei used!, he thought.
"Now, level two Junk Armour will tune with level three Junk Synchron!" declared Faker. Junk Synchron pulled the cord on the motor on its back, and its engines revved, before the monster dissolved into three green rings, which encircled Junk Armour, and turned it transparent, revealing two glowing motes of light. A spear of energy shot though the middle of the rings.
"I synchro summon Junk Warrior!" declared Doctor Faker.
A purple armoured warrior with bronze glider wings appeared, red eyes glowing. (2300/1300)
"Junk Warrior, attack Flame Wingman! Scrap Fist!" declared Faker.
Junk Warrior blasted towards the HERO, and flattened him with a single swing of his knuckleduster.
Jaden yelped as his life points decreased to 3400.
"Surrender now, Jaden Yuki," said Faker. "If you do, I might just let you go."
Jaden looked up. "Might just let me go? What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"Are you going to accept my proposal?" asked Faker.
Jaden snorted. "No thanks, bro," he replied. "I'd be a pretty sorry duelist if I did that after Horahkty called me here." He grinned. "Besides, this is really cool, dueling with you! I mean, you haven't cheated, and you're not being a jerk either!"
Faker closed his eyes, and smiled. "I'll have to start unleashing my proper strategy," he said.
"Say what?" asked Jaden.
Faker held up a card. "By paying two-thousand life points, I'm allowed to special summon Garbage Lord from my hand!" His life points decreased to 1900 as he placed the card onto his card zone.
A mage in magenta and grey appeared, holding a gold staff. (0/2400)
"Then I flip summon my second Garbage Lord!" declared Faker.
Another of the mages appeared from the backed image, which had flipped face up.
"Now, I overlay my three level five monsters!" declared Faker. They transformed into purple orbs of energy, and spiralled into the air.
As a galaxy spiral portal opened beneath Faker, he declared, "I build the overlay network with these three monsters!" The orbs spiralled into the portal, which twisted shut, and he cried, "Shock the world, Number 53: Heart-eartH!"
A blue number '53' flashed in the air, and a giant fiend appeared. Interlocking bands and orbs made up its main torso, it had two large maroon armoured arms, below tow giant maroon spurred shoulders, and its mask-like head was perched on top of a large orb connected to its body. (100/100)
"A Number card!" said Jaden angrily. "That's just perfect!"
Faker smiled. "I set a card facedown and end my turn!" he declared, slotting the card into his card zone.
"All right," muttered Jaden. "I've gotta figure out a way to take out that Number card. If I can't destroy it in battle, then I'll have to figure something else out." He drew his card. "Here goes something!" he called. He looked at the card, and a voice echoed in his head. "Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle, boss!" commented the voice.
Jaden smiled. "Well, I was, but not anymore!" he admitted. He looked up at Faker. "Too bad you wasted so much time summoning that Number card, because he's history!" he declared. "I summon Neo Spacian Grand Mole!" he called.
A brown furred mole with half a drill as shoulder armour appeared in front of Jaden. (900/300)
"Get him Grand Mole!" called Jaden. "Cause when he attacks a monster, both Grand Mole and that monster return to our hands!" Grand Mole's drill halves closed around his head, and he began to dive into the ground.
"I don't think so!" replied Faker. "I activate Sakuretsu Armour!" he declared. "This card destroys an attacking monster!"
Buried halfway in the ground, Grand Mole squeaked and shattered. "Sorry boss!" he yelled.
Jaden gritted his teeth. Great. He's still got Scrap-Iron Scarecrow too, so I won't be able to land the hit! Might as well try, though. He raised his hand. "Elemental HERO Gaia! Attack Heart-eartH!"
Gaia raised his fists, and Faker laughed. "You fool!" he yelled. "When Heart-eartH is targeted for an attack, I can have it gain attack points equal to that of the attacking monster's original attack points!" Heart-eartH glowed as it powered up to 2300 attack points. "Infernal Blaze!" declared Faker, and Heart-eartH blasted a beam of power at Gaia, shattering it.
Jaden ducked as his life points decreased to 3300. "I'll throw out a face-down and call it a turn," he said dejectedly.
Faker drew a card. "I'll set this card face-down on the field," he said. "Then I attack you directly with Heart-eartH!"
The Number fired a beam of power at Jaden, striking him in the chest and knocking him back a pace. He quickly righted himself as his life points dropped to 3200, and walked forwards, mindful of the fact that they were standing on a pillar.
"I end my turn," declared Faker.
Jaden panted as he drew his next card. Man. This duel is really gonna take it out of me, he thought. And I've only lost a fifth of my life points! He drew his next card. What am I gonna do?, he wondered. He looked at the card. "I play Fifth Hope!" he called. "This card allows me to shuffle five Elemental HEROes from my graveyard into my deck, and then draw two cards!"
He took Bubbleman, Avian, Woodsman, Burstinatrix, and Gaia from the graveyard, sliding Gaia into the extra deck case on his belt and the other four cards into his deck. He shuffled, returned it to the disk, and drew his two cards.
"I play Monster Reborn, to bring back Neo Spacian Grand Mole!" declared Jaden. Grand Mole appeared with a smile.
Faker watched the monster. Wait for the right moment, he cautioned himself.
"Now, since I have Elemental HERO Necroshade in my graveyard, I'm allowed to summon an Elemental HERO without a sacrifice!" called Jaden. Necroshade appeared behind Jaden as he placed the card into his disk.
"I summon Elemental HERO Neos!" called Jaden.
A muscular alien HERO appeared, with predominantly white skin, black skinned fists, and red lines lining its body. (2500/2000)
"And now, with Elemental HERO Neos and a Neo Spacian on my field, my HEROes can perform Contact Fusion!" explained Jaden.
"Contact Fusion?" asked Faker. The method of fusion that doesn't use a spell fusion agent, he thought.
Neos and Grand Mole leapt into the air opposite a galaxy image, and swirled together, forming a HERO with brown and grey armour, a flattened helmet, and a large drill encasing his right arm. (2500/2000)
"By returning the fusion materials to the deck, I fusion summon Elemental HERO Grand Neos!" declared Jaden. "Now, I'll activate the effect of Grand Neos! Once per turn, I can return one monster on your field to your hand!"
Grand Neos drew back his dill, and drove it into the ground below Heart-eartH.
"I activate a trap!" called Faker. "Breakthrough Skill!"
The trap flipped up, showing the image of a white skinned dragon with large arms punching through the ground.
"This trap negates the effect of your monster!" explained Faker.
Jaden frowned as Grand Neos greyed somewhat. "Okay, I'll just attack!" he said. "Elemental HERO Grand Neos, attack Number 53: Heart-eartH!"
Grand Neos raised its drill and charged.
"What are you doing, you fool?" asked Faker. "Heart-eartH's effect activates! It gains attack points equal to the original attack points of Grand Neos!"
Heart-eartH glowed, powering up to 2600 attack points, and blasting a beam of power at the HERO, shattering it.
Jaden grinned as his life points fell to 3100.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Faker suspiciously.
Jaden slid a card into his disk. "I play Reverse of Neos!" he called. "When a Neos fusion monster is destroyed, I can summon Elemental HERO Neos from my deck, and increase is attack points by one-thousand!"
"What?" asked Faker in shock as Jaden's ace HERO appeared, attack points increasing to 3500.
"Neos!" called Jaden. "Attack Heart-eartH, with Cosmic Crush!"
Neos leapt into the air, and brought its hand down in a chop. Heart-eartH withstood the attack, but Faker's life points took a hit, decreasing to 1000.
"Yeah!" cried Jaden. "That's the end of my turn! And Reverse of Neos destroys Neos during the end phase," he admitted. Neos shattered.
Faker drew. "Heart-eartH attacks you directly!" he yelled. The Number blasted a power beam at Jaden again, and he cried out as his life points decreased to 3000.
"My turn is over," declared Faker. He looked at the card in his hand. He's figured out the weakness of Heart-eartH, he thought. Can he come back this turn?
"All right, it's my turn!" called Jaden, drawing a card. "Sweetness!" he cheered, leaping into the air. "I special summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman!" he called.
Bubbleman appeared on the field. (800/1200)
"I can special summon Bubbleman if he's the only card in my hand," explained Jaden. "Then I'll activate his effect, which allows me to draw two more cards if he's the only card on the field and I have none in my hand!"
He drew two more cards, and smiled. "I summon Card Trooper!" he called.
A brightly coloured robot appeared. (400/400)
"Then I activate his effect," continued Jaden. "I send up to three cards from my deck to my graveyard and for each one I sent, he gains five-hundred attack points!"
Card Trooper's head shone as it increased to 1900 attack points.
"Bubbleman, attack Heart-eartH" called Jaden.
Bubbleman fired a stream of bubbles at Heart-eartH, but the Number powered up to 900 attack points, and retaliated with another power beam, destroying Bubbleman.
"Bubbleman may have been destroyed…" admitted Jaden as his life points decreased to 2900. "…but now my Card Trooper attacks your Number!"
Card Trooper fired a blast. Heart-eartH's effect protected it, but Faker didn't have enough life points to tank the damage, and they decreased to zero.
Faker shielded himself from the backlash, and smiled. Then he fizzled, and disappeared, the camera-like device that had been projecting his image dropping to the ground. The images of the monsters disappeared as well, and then the temple began to shake.
"Uh-oh, we are out of here!" yelped Jaden.
As carefully as he could, he turned and ran down the stairs, across the bridge, and back to the passageway. Once inside it, he could run faster, but he was still impeded by the narrow length of the passage, and he could hear crumbling sounds behind him.
Jaden reached the top of the stairs, ran around the slab, and dashed out the doorway just before it collapsed.
He collapsed on the ground, panting, before being yanked to his feet.
Crow Hogan stood over him, shaking his head. "I go off to find some food, and look what happens," he commented, shaking his head.
Winged Kuriboh and Astral hovered beside Crow.
"You were taking a while," replied Jaden. "So I found a temple, and that mad scientist dude, and beat him in a duel."
Crow raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought taking on the Dragon Rulers was bad," he admitted. "C'mon, let's get back to camp. I found a fair few berries, and they're pretty good fare."
Jaden laughed as they began walking. "Not if they're anything like what I found," he replied.
After reaching the camp, they put a sizable portion of berries aside for Joey, and divided the rest up between the four of them. The Ojamas had asked if they could have any, but Chazz had snapped at them, and they'd disappeared.
"So, what's your story?" Jaden asked Yuma.
Yuma gulped down a few berries before replying. "My dad was an explorer, but Kite's dad trapped him in the Astral World that Astral comes from," he explained. "He sent Astral to me so I could help him out with his mission, but Astral's memories kinda got scattered on arrival."
"Scattered?" asked Chazz thoughtfully.
"That's what the Number cards are," explained Yuma.
Jaden was shocked. "Those things are Astral's memories?" he asked. "Wow."
"And you?" Yuma asked Crow.
"Nothing special," replied Crow. "Orphaned at a young age, looked after orphans after growing up, then helped to save the world from the King of the Netherworld."
Everyone looked at Crow in total shock. He'd had a nastier past than any of them, and Jaden was starting to feel that his current depression was misguided.
"Hey, I'm sorry, man," he said to Crow.
Crow shrugged. "I didn't know my parents well, I was pretty young," he said. "And besides, I've already had to tell Yusei this, but in a way, I'm glad it happened," he admitted. "I might never have met Yusei or Jack, and then maybe never even met all of you guys." He swallowed a few berries, and grinned. "And make no mistake; I'm fortunate to have met all of you, even you, thunder boy," he commented to Chazz.
"Enough with the thunder boy," muttered Chazz, but one could tell he was impressed.
"So yeah, that's me," finished Crow. "And how about you, Jaden?" he asked. "It's just me, but you kinda seem…off. Like you're not all there, y'know?"
Jaden sighed. "Yeah, sorta," he admitted. "One of the foes we're facing, Yubel, she was…she was fused with me before Zorc de-fused her."
Chazz's eyes narrowed. "This better not turn into the same catastrophe it did last time," he muttered.
Jaden shook his head. "It won't. I won't let it, and everyone here can take care of themselves."
"Not everyone, it seems," commented Chazz drearily, gesturing towards Joey.
"Joey took on the spirit of the Millennium Ring," pointed out Astral, who had been keeping quiet. "He is likely one of the most dangerous foes here."
Jaden nodded. "I'm with you there, Astral," he said. "That comma-shaped dude seems pretty powerful too."
"Z-one," said Crow. "I don't believe that he's working with Zorc."
"Same goes for Doctor Faker," agreed Jaden. "I took him on today, but aside from dueling me and all, he was pretty cool."
Yuma nodded. "Yeah. He's Kite's dad."
Jaden turned towards Yuma in surprise. "Wait, so that guy sent your father to another dimension?" he asked.
Yuma nodded. "He did it to find a way to cure his son, Kite's brother, Hart," he explained.
"Faker played his part well," added Astral. "Until he revealed the truth to us, we were completely sold by his maniacal persona."
Jaden nodded. "Sounds about right," he commented. "Guess Kite had better watch out for his father," he added, munching down a few berries. "Anyway," he yawned. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye."
Yuma followed suit. "Aw, why'd you had to set me off?" he protested.
Crow laughed. "I can see where this is going. All right, get some sleep," he said. "Hey, Astral, do you mind keeping an eye out with me?"
Astral nodded. "I shall watch for danger," he said.
Jaden smiled, but then his vision blurred, and he barely had time to arrange his blazer under his head before falling asleep.
sonofthetrigod: Thanks. Don't worry; duel chapters won't disappear from this fic.
Peter Kim: I feel the need to apologize to you, because I've definitely made a few assumptions. I initially thought you were saying that I'd do what you would say, and being that I was in a bad mood with the whole Shark/Nasch thing…which has passed, I wasn't too polite.
I am most sorry.
It didn't help that I wrote my comments a while before I posted, and misinterpreted what you said. Yech, I'm making excuses. And really, I do appreciate suggestions, because I have had to change things, and hell, I'll likely need to merge Dark Mist with Vector, as Vector has been using Dark Mist's cards, so your suggestion is quite valid, and I am currently eating my words. We'll see, though. This'll leave a spot that is easily filled, but will make me chop and change the rest of this fic A LOT.
Oh, and tell me what you think of Jaden using the manga HEROes, is it good, or should he stick to a mainly anime build? Cause I'll give characters cards from both the anime and the manga, assuming everyone doesn't mind that.