Okay, long chapter. I probably could have split it in two, but I figured I'd just give you guys a longer update. Hope you enjoy, it took me forever to figure out! Enjoy! I don't own Yugioh GX.
Edit: I added more detail and several lines of dialogue.
"Hold on!" Mrs. Marufuji said. "Ryo, you just got back! There's no way you, or Sho, for that matter, are going back out to fight some dangerous...thing! What if you never come back this time?"
Sho looked at his mother and said, "Mom, I can't speak for Nii-san. But you can't stop me. I'm going, like it or not. Aniki needs me."
Ryo looked at Sho, realizing for the first time who Sho was talking about. "Wait...'Aniki?'"
"Yeah, he started doing that after you died," Fubuki said casually. "You've been replaced by Judai."
"Hm." Ryo smirked. "Well, if Judai's your 'Aniki,' Sho, then that makes him my brother as well. In other words, you can count me in. Besides, I want to get back at the thing that used me!"
"But—"
"Let them go, honey," Mr. Marufuji said. "You can't stop them. If you try, they'll just sneak out when you aren't looking. You know that." He looked at his sons. "I wish you luck. And, when you see Prince Judai, tell him I'm sorry."
Sho and Ryo nodded. "Got it, Dad," Sho said.
Johan looked around at the group. "It's probably easier to ask if anyone's not in, right?"
"You know the answer's 'no,' Johan!" Fubuki said. "Of course we're all in!"
O'Brien nodded.
Jim said, "When a friend's in need, you can't stand by and let them suffer."
"Jim's right," Asuka said.
"We can't just let the prince get sucked away into another world!" Manjoume said. "Who's going to run things around here if we do?"
Yubel looked at them all, surprised. "When Judai first met all of you, I thought that he was getting ahead of himself by calling you his friends. After all, you all knew that he was the prince, so I thought you might just be after royal favor. I see now that I was wrong—you're all willing to risk your lives for him. Only true friends would do that. I'm sorry I've been so cold with all of you."
"Then it's settled!" Johan said. "We'll all head out to Dark World and see if we can't find Darkness."
"I'll come as well," Daitokuji said. "After all, I may be able to be of assistance."
"You already have been, Daitokuji," Yubel said. "But, if you insist..." She picked up Pharaoh the cat and put him in a black and red bag she had brought Sho's presents in, leaving the bag open slightly.
O'Brien looked at everyone. "Alright, let's gather our supplies and get ready. We'll meet back here in an hour."
An hour later, the gang was gathered outside of the Marufujis' home. Everyone was carrying a backpack, loaded with the essentials (or what they deemed essential).
"Is everyone ready?" Johan asked. At their collective nod, he said, "Then let's get going! Back to Dark World!"
Fubuki, trying to lighten the mood, said, "You know, this has to be some sort of record. Has there ever been a case when any sane person returned from Dark World then voluntarily went back?"
"Nope," Yubel said. "Then again, some of us aren't sane anyway, so I think it messes up your record a bit, Fubuki."
"Oh, very funny, Yubel."
Johan summoned his Rainbow Dragon. "Alright, everyone hop on! We're not wasting any time!"
"Who knows what Darkness could be doing to the prince while you two are making bad jokes," Daitokuji said to Yubel and Fubuki.
Yubel glared at the bag slung over her shoulder. "Can it or you're staying behind!"
As they flew toward Dark World, O'Brien asked, "So how are we going to find this Darkness creature? Do you have a plan, Johan?"
"Well, since Darkness rules Dark World, you would think he'd be in the castle there, right?" Johan said. "So I was thinking we'd check there first."
"And what if he's not there, mate?" Jim asked.
"We'll get to that later!"
Manjoume looked at Johan lamely. "You don't know?"
"If he's not there, we take his kingdom from him and light it up!" Asuka said. "That should make him appear since he hates light."
Ryo nodded. "Good idea, Asuka."
The gang didn't care about subtlety this time around—they were going after the ruler of this land, so there was little point in worrying about being noticed. Besides, even if he saw them coming, they had a plan to flush him out. When they landed at the Dark World castle, Sho and Asuka charged right in.
"Hold on!" O'Brien called.
"Forget it," Ryo said. "Sho's not going to listen to reason any more than he did last time. He'd charge right into a pit of lava right now. If you want to keep them alive, just follow." With that, he and Fubuki entered, following their siblings.
Johan, Manjoume, and Yubel went with Ryo and Fubuki. Jim and O'Brien looked at each other before following the rest of their party inside.
"Well, all clear so far," Fubuki said as they searched the castle. "Someone remind me how we got in here so easily?"
"When there's no Haou, there's supposedly nobody here," Yubel said. "But, then again, nobody's ever really looked into that. Everything we know about Dark World comes from that sole survivor's story. He said that everyone vacated the castle when Haou was defeated." She looked around. "I'm surprised, honestly, that this is the case. Why doesn't anyone else step up as ruler?" she mused.
"Who knows? Since when do fiends make any sense?" Manjoume answered.
"Can you worry about that later?" Johan asked. "Let's focus on the matter at hand for now, okay?"
They entered the king's chambers, the last room in their search. There wasn't anyone in there, either.
"Okay, that's it," said Yubel. She walked over to the window, pulling out a card. "I summon Judgment Dragon!"
A huge, white, winged dragon appeared, standing on four legs. It had red claws and eyes, and its front half was coated in feathers.
"What is that!?" Manjoume exclaimed.
"Meet the Judgment Dragon, the most powerful card in my deck," Yubel said. "And a light-attribute monster to be reckoned with."
"Wait a minute, I thought your ace was that Ultimate Nightmare thing," Johan said.
"I have two decks." She shrugged. "Sue me."
Calling forth this powerful light creature had the desired effect—shadows started swirling around before them. A figure formed out of the shadows. When the shadows faded, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was Darkness.
The thing before them was robed in black. Its clothes were tattered. The cape it wore was red on the underside, and its eyes were glowing blue. The creepiest thing about this thing, though, was that it was a skeleton. They could see its ribs through an opening in its outfit, and its skull was visible under a hood. It wasn't a human skull, either—it had a long snout and horns, like some sort of deer.
"Who dares bring light to my domain?" it asked.
"I dare!" said Yubel, stepping forward. "My name is Yubel, and I represent the kingdom of Neo Space. Return our prince to us!"
Johan was impressed; she sounded so sure of herself, as if Darkness had no choice but to bow to her whims. Blushing, Johan decided that, if he were Darkness, he would do as she said. He shook his head, wondering where this idea had come from.
This isn't the time for that, Johan! he scolded himself. Your friend's freedom is at stake! Focus!
"Why would I do that?" Darkness asked. "You have nothing else that I want, and giving you back your prince doesn't benefit me at all."
"Alright," Yubel said, her duel disk appearing on her arm. "I'll make you a deal: duel me! If I win, you return the prince to us. If you win, you can keep him and all of us."
Everyone stared at Yubel. "Are you sure about that!?" Johan hissed.
He regretted it a second later when Yubel added, "If you're still unsure, this boy here is the prince's best friend. He's practically royalty himself, and, should anything happen to Judai, the most likely candidate to take the throne if the king and queen can't have another child."
Johan wanted to strangle her.
Darkness pondered the offer for a moment. "Hmm... Very well. I accept your challenge." Five wings appeared on Darkness's back. "Now, are you ready?"
Yubel activated her duel disk. "You better believe it, Darkness!"
"Oh, boy..." This isn't good. We didn't plan on dueling Darkness! "Yubel, what are you doing...?" Johan wondered.
Yubel and Darkness drew their five cards. The others stood on the sidelines, some wondering if Yubel could win this and others fuming over her betting them.
"Duel!"
Yubel: 4000
Darkness: 4000
"I'll go first," Darkness said, drawing a card. "I activate the field spell, Darkness."
The world around them changed, just as it does any time a field spell is activated. It grew darker and creepier, which was saying something since they were in Dark World to begin with.
"This card has me set Infinity, Darkness 1, Darkness 2, Darkness 3, and Zero from my hand or deck." As Darkness spoke, five cards appeared face down on his field. "Next, I summon Darkness Eye in attack mode." (Atk 0)
A creepy eyeball appeared on Darkness's field. Yubel was thinking that the sooner she got this duel over with, the sooner she wouldn't have to see that thing anymore. Then again, given my ace card, I'm one to talk, she thought wryly as the image of Yubel the Ultimate Nightmare flashed in her mind.
"Turn end."
"My turn, then!" Yubel drew her card. "I don't know why you played a monster with no attack points in attack mode, Darkness, but you're going to regret it!" Although I have to watch out for those face-downs. And it's possible that his monster has some sort of special ability.
Yubel looked over her hand, smiling. "I summon Ehren, Lightsworn Monk!" (Atk 1600)
A woman with dark hair divided between two braids appeared on Yubel's field. She wore a white, sleeveless top and a red skirt, with gold trim on both, and gold bands on her arms. In her hand, she held a staff tipped at both ends with gold that seemed to be glowing.
"Lightsworn, huh?" Johan said. "This could be interesting. Light versus darkness. I didn't even know Yubel had those cards!"
Fubuki shrugged. "I guess you learn something new every day."
"Ehren attacks your Darkness Eye!"
The monk moved to attack the eyeball, but Darkness wouldn't allow it. "I activate my trap cards, Zero and Infinity. When these cards are activated, I can activate every card between them."
Yubel looked at the positions of the cards on the field; she was lucky—there was only one card between them.
"I activate Darkness 1," Darkness continued. "This lets me destroy one card you control for each face up Darkness card I control. So say farewell to your Lightsworn Monk."
Yubel scowled as her monster was destroyed, leaving her field barren. "Now, at the end phase, I'll reset my cards and shuffle them, due to my field spell's effect."
Dang! Yubel thought. I didn't know his cards could do that. Well, at least I know what I need to stop this...
"I end my turn."
The three cards Darkness had activated flipped face down, and all five of them switched places.
"My turn. Draw. I activate the effect of Darkness Eye. As long as it's in attack mode, I can summon a monster without a tribute during my standby phase. I summon Darkness Destroyer." (Atk 2300)
The skeletal monster that appeared had razor-sharp claws, glowing red eyes, and huge spikes on its wings.
"Well, that's quite the monster you have there," Yubel said calmly.
"Darkness Destroyer has a special effect: it can attack twice during the battle phase. I believe this duel is over before it even began. Now, Darkness Destroyer, attack her directly!"
The creature attacked Yubel. She sucked it up; this was all part of her plan, and losing over half her life points wasn't too big of a setback.
Yubel: 1700
Darkness: 4000
"What are you doing, Yubel...?" Johan asked nervously.
"You're supposed to win!" Manjoume yelled.
In response, Yubel said, "Before you all freak out too much, I activate the effect of Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness!" (Atk 2700)
Everyone stared as the creature appeared. It was a man dressed all in black with sharp blades attached to his arms. Hanging from his waist down to the floor was a red strip of fabric very much like a cape. His eyes were hidden behind a dark mask, and red hair spiked upwards on top of his head.
"If I control no cards, then, when I take damage, I can special summon this card. When I summon Gorz this way, I also get to summon one Emissary of Darkness token, which has attack and defense equal to the amount of battle damage I just took."
Another creature appeared alongside Gorz, also dressed all in black.
"Good move. Since it's a token and not a card, Darkness can't activate Infinity and Zero to destroy it," Asuka said.
"I activate Zero and Infinity," Darkness said. Due to some stroke of luck, there was, again, only one card between them. "I activate Darkness 2. This card gives my monster 1000 more attack points for every face up Darkness trap card I control until the end phase of this turn."
"Oh, that's not even fair," Yubel muttered. Well, I'll survive. No big deal.
"Darkness Destroyer attacks Gorz!"
Just as quickly as the monster had appeared, it was destroyed.
"Well, that didn't go so well," Yubel muttered, an arm raised to shield her eyes.
Yubel: 1200
Darkness: 4000
"Due to Darkness's effect, my cards are shuffled and reset at random."
Manjoume looked at Johan. "Johan, tell me... Is Yubel usually this bad a duelist?"
"No, she's not. Then again, I've never seen her use this deck before, so maybe she doesn't know how to use it?"
"You know, I can hear you, boys!" Yubel called. "I'll just pretend you didn't say that."
"Turn end."
"Well, it's about time!" Yubel said, drawing her next card. Time to show those idiots what I've got up my sleeve! "I activate Charge of the Light Brigade! I send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard to add a level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster to my hand." Yubel took the top three cards and sent them to the grave, but one came back. "And guess what? One of the cards I just discarded was Wulf, Lightsworn Beast. (Atk 2100) When he's sent from my deck to my graveyard, I can special summon him!"
A white, humanoid creature with a wolf's head appeared on the field. Like the monk, it was wearing white and gold and carrying a staff. It had glowing claws on its hands.
"Now, I'll sacrifice him to summon Celestia, Lightsworn Angel!" (Atk 2300)
A blue-haired woman in white and gold armor materialized onto Yubel's field. She had white feathers in her hair and angel wings.
"Celestia's special effect: When I summon her by tributing a Lightsworn monster, I can send the top 4 cards of my deck to the graveyard to destroy two cards you control! So we'll go with your Darkness Destroyer and your field spell!"
"I activate Zero and Infinity," Darkness said. This time, there were two cards between them. "I activate Darkness 1 and Darkness 2. With Darkness 1, I destroy your Lightsworn Angel. With Darkness 2, my Darkness Eye gains 2000 attack until the end phase of this turn."
Yubel smirked. "Thanks for that. Now there are four Lightsworn monsters with different names in my graveyard: Ehren, Wulf, Lyla, and Celestia. This allows me to special summon my most powerful monster! Come forth, Judgment Dragon!" (Atk 3000)
The dragon that Yubel had summoned earlier to get Darkness's attention appeared as Yubel called for it. It loomed over Darkness, looking rather menacing.
"Darkness, you can't activate Zero and Infinity again this turn. I activate Judgment Dragon's effect: by sacrificing 1000 of my life points, I can destroy all other cards on the field!"
"What!?"
Darkness's field spell, his five traps, his monster...they were all wiped out by the Judgment Dragon's effect.
Yubel: 200
Darkness: 4000
Ryo looked impressed. "She stopped his combo. But can she turn this around and win?"
"Now, Darkness, you're wide open! But, before I attack, I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Celestia!" (Atk 2300)
Celestia reappeared in a flash of light. Everyone was watching, holding their breath. Some of them half expected Darkness to have some other trick up his sleeve.
"Are you ready for this!? Celestia and Judgment Dragon attack you directly!"
Yubel: 200
Darkness: 0
"NOOOOO! Mark my words, I'll be back..." Darkness said as it faded away.
"I don't doubt that," Yubel muttered. "But, hopefully, that won't happen in this lifetime."
Once Darkness was gone, a brunette appeared, lying on the floor. He looked a bit scorched, which was to be expected after his duel with Ryo. But he wasn't the only one who appeared—there was another boy, dressed all in black, with olive hair.
"Fujiwara!?" Ryo and Fubuki exclaimed.
"Judai!"
Most of the group ran over to their friend, while Ryo and Fubuki took care of Fujiwara.
Asuka checked for a pulse. She sighed in relief. "He's okay," she said.
"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Yubel said. "After all, we don't know what he's been through since Darkness took him. He could be worse off than we know."
"Ever the pessimist, aren't you, Yubel?" Johan asked teasingly.
"What about you? 'Maybe she doesn't know how to use that deck?'"
"Ehehe..." Johan rubbed the back of his head.
"Anyway, we should get Judai home," Jim said. "No point hanging around here."
"Yes, agreed. And, Yubel, in the future, please be so kind as to clue us in to your plan. I'm sure many of us thought you were going to lose this one!"
"Yeah, not gonna happen, Daitokuji," she answered. "Just settle for not being sacrificed to Darkness, okay?"
The deck Yubel used in this chapter was built by Shadgirl2, my sister. If I messed up any card rulings, let me know. I've never actually seen these cards in action (except for Darkness's in the anime), so it's likely that I messed up somewhere. Let me know what you think! Review please!