Okay, here's the next chapter, and the explanation as to why Yubel's worried about Judai right now. Enjoy! I don't own Yugioh GX.

Edit: I added more details and fixed grammatical and spelling errors.

"There are a lot of horror stories about Dark World," Yubel began. "You all know that parents tell their kids that naughty children are sent here and left at the mercy of the fiends. Well, what you don't know is why Dark World has this horrible reputation." Yubel paused and looked around the group. "The reason the people fear Dark World so much is because the royal family fears Dark World."

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked.

"Dark World gives power to negative thoughts and feelings, as Johan may have told you already. So, for common people like yourselves, negativity is dangerous here. For some people, Dark World is more dangerous than you could ever imagine."

Yubel took a deep breath before continuing, "You all know about the Light of Destruction that threatens Neo Space, and the righteous power of the Darkness of Creation that's supposed to defeat this light, right? Well, there's only supposed to be one person with this power, a person who is reincarnated over and over so that he can fight the light when it attacks. That person is always a member of the royal family of Neo Space.

"I think now is a good time for a history lesson. Years ago, there was a prince who had this power. This was the first time that the Light of Destruction attacked. It was also before Dark World was so feared by the masses. There was the odd person who feared it simply because they had been here, but most of the population didn't care about its existence. One day, this prince with the darkness's power came to Dark World with his friends, all sons of the nobility. Nobody's entirely sure why. The story goes that he heard tell of a threat to his kingdom residing in the heart of Dark World, but nobody's been able to prove this. Regardless of why he came, he never returned. Months went by, and there was no word from the prince. Eventually, his father sent a search party to find his son. What they found was not what they expected. Dark World had a king, a ruler they called Haou."

"That's the title we use for our king," Fubuki said.

Yubel nodded. "Yes. Thanks for pointing that out. There is a connection between the titles. The search party was captured by the Dark Army and brought to the Dark World castle, where they were forced to duel Haou. Every one of them lost, except one. That one survived the duel and returned to tell their story. The sole survivor reported that Haou's deck seemed familiar, yet it wasn't quite right. Haou was using monsters that were similar to those the prince used. Haou was clad in armor, so they couldn't see what he looked like. The last duelist said that, as his last request, he would like to see the face of the man who was going to kill him. Haou complied, and his opponent was horrified to find that Haou was their prince."

There was a collective gasp from her audience.

"Wait, are you saying the prince turned evil or something!?" Asuka asked, horrified.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Yubel said with a nod. "Nobody knows what caused it. All we know is that the prince came here with his friends and turned into the ruler of Dark World."

"If he came with his friends, why didn't anybody ask them what had happened?" O'Brien asked.

Yubel shook her head, eyes closed, and answered, "None of them were ever found. Some say he killed them when he turned evil. Others think that their deaths are what caused the prince's transformation. The point is, Dark World has been viewed as dangerous ever since that day. If the one with the righteous power of darkness sets foot in Dark World, nobody knows what might happen to him. And the worst part is the only way to stop Haou is to kill him."

Jim nodded. "Right, then. So what does this have to do with Judai's nightmare?"

"It might not have anything to do with it. I can't say for sure. What I can say is that Judai has the power of the Darkness of Creation, like the prince who was corrupted here. I'm worried that these nightmares might be a sign of worse things to come."

"In short, we need to get Judai out of here as quickly as possible," Manjoume summarized.

"Exactly."


The next day, the group continued their trek through Dark World, slowly but surely making their way back to Neo Space. Fubuki pulled a ukulele out of seemingly nowhere and started playing it to pass the time.

"You know, that's a surefire way to draw the fiends, Fubuki," Yubel said, agitated.

"Relax, Yubel. What would they want with us anyway?"

Amon cast a sideways glance at Fubuki. "She's right. Stop that noise before you get us all killed."

"It's too late for that!" a voice called.

Everyone turned to see a black and silver creature with wings and horns.

"Who are you?" O'Brien asked, activating his duel disk.

The creature laughed. "Feisty, aren't we? I'd love to kill you myself, but my orders are to bring you back alive!"

Other creatures showed up all around the gang, catching them off guard and knocking them out. O'Brien tried to put up a fight, but in the end he was subdued as well.


When Judai woke up, he was lying on a cold stone floor. "Not again," he muttered.

He looked around, hoping to see his friends. However, he found himself alone in a small cell with a single wooden door. What happened to my friends?

He couldn't shake the feeling he didn't want to know.

"Ah, you're awake. Good, now we can begin." The door opened, revealing one of the fiends from earlier. "I am Zure, Knight of Dark World. And you are about to witness a spectacular show, compliments of my master, Brron, the Mad King. You should feel honored."

"What did you do with my friends!?" Judai demanded.

Zure just laughed. "Don't worry. You'll see them soon enough."

Zure dragged Judai out into the seating area of an arena, where he shackled his legs to the seat, effectively preventing him from leaving.

"Enjoy the show," the fiend said as he walked away.

Something about the way Zure said that made Judai uneasy.

He didn't have much time to wonder about that before a voice reverberated through the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Dark World Gladiator Games! As your host, I intend to provide you with the most entertaining show ever! Now, let's have a warm welcome for our first victim."

Judai looked toward the entrance of the arena, and his eyes widened in horror. "Sho!"

Sho was in chains, trembling, and brought before a blue fiend that looked like it was wearing a skeleton as armor.

"This pitiful human will face off against our champion, Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World! And now, without further ado, I, Brron, the Mad King of Dark World, give the participants permission to fight to the death! In other words, Beiige, kill this human quickly. He looks like easy prey."

Brron was a humanoid fiend with gray skin and what looked almost like finger bones sticking out of the top of his head like hair. He wore a blue and gold cape, and the chains wrapped around his body most likely had once been restraining him.

Judai's eyes widened in horror. Sho's going to fight a fiend!? To the death!? "No! Stop this!" he cried. "Sho!"

Sho looked up at him, terror showing clearly in his eyes. "You're actually watching this?" he asked in disbelief. Judai's eyes widened as Sho continued, "Do you even care what happens to me?"

"Of course I do, Sho! What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking you're just sitting up there when these guys are about to kill me! If you really care about me, get down here and help me, Judai!"

"I can't!" Judai cried.

Sho glared at him. "You mean you won't!"

Judai couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why would Sho ever think I don't care? This doesn't make any sense! I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I haven't done anything to make him think I don't care! Have I?

Beiige, apparently wasn't planning to duel Sho, either. He came at him with a spear instead, while Sho remained unarmed.

"Hey, what's with the physical combat!?" Judai called angrily to Brron. "Why not duel him!? Sho can't even fight back! He doesn't have a weapon!"

"That's the best way to fight a human: Defenseless! Nobody wants to see a human win!"

Judai growled. He pulled against the shackles, trying to get up and save Sho, but he couldn't. He had no choice but to sit by and watch as Sho ran around the arena, trying not to get killed and looking for something with which he could kill Beiige. However, his suffering wasn't prolonged. Beiige apparently grew bored with chasing him around and threw his spear at him. It hit him dead-on, straight through the chest.

"No! Sho!" Judai cried, tears burning in his eyes.

Sho looked down at the shaft of the spear, sticking out of his chest, then looked up at Judai. "I thought you were my friend, but I guess not. You don't care."

That was when Sho turned to stardust.

"No... That's not true, Sho..."

"Who should go next? Ah, I know!" Johan was brought into the arena. "He'll have a chariot race! With Goldd, The Wu-Lord of Dark World!"

"No!"

Johan looked at Judai and said, "So, this is what our friendship means to you?"

"No! Johan, you've got it all wrong!"

"Then why did you betray me like this!?"

Judai was too stunned and horrified to answer. Johan's chariot race went about as well as Sho's fight; it resulted in Johan's death when Goldd rammed into the side of Johan's chariot, smashing it against the wall and killing Johan on impact.

The other matches his friends were put in were equally horrible: Manjoume was forced to fight another prisoner, someone Judai didn't know, to the death; Jim had to fight Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast, with his bare hands; Fubuki and Asuka had a tag duel against two of the fiends, whose decks seemed to be poison for Judai's friend's decks. But it was their words that really stuck with Judai, just like in his nightmare the night before.

Manjoume yelled at Judai in anger: "You got us into this mess, Judai! Now you're just sitting around watching!? What's wrong with you!?"

Jim seemed to be in denial: "They're not telling the truth, are they, mate? They say you don't care. What are you doing just watching this!?"

Fubuki was anguished: "I know we aren't exactly friends, but that doesn't mean you should sit there and watch me die! Why, Judai!? Why!?"

And Asuka...what she said was the worst: "I thought we were friends, but I guess I was wrong. I don't matter, and it's so sad to know that."

That one was the last straw. "I didn't do anything to any of you! You're the ones who chose to come here after me! It's not my fault!"

Judai was trying to convince himself of that. But, in a way, it was his fault. He had let himself be captured by Mr. T. He hadn't been able to fight the kidnapper off, or get away from the Dark Army on his own and make his way back to Neo Space. He hadn't been able to stop them from capturing him and his friends.

Is this my fault? Judai wondered. No! It's not my fault. I didn't kill them. But I know who did! And he's gonna pay for it!

Judai glared at Brron. "Hey! If you have any guts at all, stop these 'games' and duel me!" he demanded, rage clouding his judgment.

Brron looked at him and smiled. "That's what I wanted to see. Here, this is a gift for you."

Brron held out a Duel Monsters card, the back side facing Judai.

"Is this a joke!? I don't want anything of yours!" Judai growled.

"But, Judai, it's what your friends died for."

Judai's eyes widened and he grabbed the card from Brron. It was nothing more than a white piece of paper.

"A blank card? My friends died for a blank card!?"

His rage grew, and he felt as if something inside him had broken. Suddenly, Judai felt himself being pulled into darkness. What's going on?

Brron grinned. "No," he said quietly. "They died for the rebirth of Haou, Dark World's great ruler."