The group were all in class, Banner teaching them another lesson.
V-Mon was snoozing away while Dai stroked his head, allowing him to rest and Jaden was snoozing as well with eyes drawn on his eyelids to make it seem like he was awake, but the illusion was ruined by his snoring.
"So, as you can see, you can learn a great duel about dueling from alchemy. For just as you might combine two monsters to create another, you can combine two compounds to create something equally impressive." Banner said.
He then mixed two different liquids together and gently shook the beaker as they waited for the reaction.
The orange liquid glowed a dark, nice orange color before it exploded, a screen of smoke covering Banner.
Jaden and V-Mon slept through this, though.
"And equally devastating." Banner said as the smoke faded away showing how messed he looked and he fell to the ground.
The bell then sounded, signaling the end of class and this is what woke the Slifer King up.
"Morning, guys. Learn anything good today?" he asked smiling as Chumley and Syrus gave him looks while Dai chuckled as she picked up her dragon, cradling him in her arms.
"Um, sure did. To duck." Syrus said.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm, uh, planning a little field trip." Banner said as he stood up holding a packet of sheets.
"All right. To where? Circus? Carnival?" Jaden asked.
"Even better." Banner said.
"A soccer game?" Dai asked.
"We're taking a ten mile hike all the way to the excavated ruins where we'll be taking geologic core samples. Saturday at 7:00 am. Don't be late." The teacher said.
(The next day…)
"Only 7? Where is everyone else?" Banner asked disappointed when he saw that only Alexis, Syrus, Chumley and the duos of Darkness and Miracles had arrived with their bags packed.
"Maybe they're still sleeping, Professor." Syrus suggested.
"You know. In their nice warm beds with their nice comfy pillows." He continued as he and Chumley shared a look.
They really didn't want to be there and so did Dai as she seemed to be nearly asleep where she stood, her eyes drooping shut.
"Just like I would be doing if Banner didn't threaten us with detention if we didn't show. It's 7:00 am in the morning. I need my beauty sleep." Chumley said.
"I'll tell you what the secret to getting up early is. Staying up all night long." Jaden said smiling as he looked energized.
"To tell you the truth, I could hardly sleep either. These ruins we're going to use to host the Shadow Games." Alexis said making Dai snap her eyes open.
"Sweet. Maybe we'll find some clues then. about your brother." Jaden said.
"Yeah. That's kind of what I'm hoping for." Alexis said.
In the Abandoned Dorm, one of the missing students was Alexis' older brother named Atticus.
"Now, we must be careful as we approach the ruins." Banner said as he checked his electronic device to check out the ruins.
"Inside is an ancient tomb." He said making Syrus look worried for some reason.
"Uh, Jaden, I need to talk to you." He said making their teacher look at him curiously.
"But, I-"Jaden was cut off by the boy pulling him off to the side.
"OK everyone. Let's go." Banner said after the boys were done speaking.
They all started their hike up to the ruins to check out the tomb, Chumley huffing and panting from all of the walking.
"Are we there? My feet really hurt." He groaned.
"Can we take a bathroom break or something?" he asked a few minutes later.
"I hate climbing." He said as they climbed up a rocky path, V-Mon and Renamon helping him up.
"I hate crawling." Chumley said as they went across a log that was over a river.
"I hate hiking. Are we there yet? I'm hungry." He said.
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!" Dai shouted sounding very much like a banshee as she finally had enough of his complaining that had gone on for two hours.
"Oh, look, we're finally here." Banner said thankfully.
Now he wouldn't have to call Mr. Huffington and tell him that his son was murdered by a 15 year old girl.
"Isn't it just amazing?" the teacher asked his students as they gazed at it in amazement.
"They looked all ruined." Jaden said.
"That's because they're ruins." Alexis said.
"Beautiful! You can still make out the shattered remains of the oculist. Oh, and the fastigem. No doubt inspired by the amendment of Sakura." Banner said excitedly.
(I have no idea what he's saying. There are mistakes of there, sorry.)
"He sure seems excited to see rocks." Syrus said as he and Chumley sat down.
"Yeah, well I'm excited to sit down." The heavyset boy said.
"Yeah, and while we're at it, how about…" Jaden trailed off as he shared a look with V-Mon and Dai.
"We chow down!" the trio said.
"I don't see why not. And then we'll hit a few cenotaphs, a couple of sarcophagus or is it sarcophagi?" Banner asked as everyone groaned while they started unpacking.
"No matter. Time to eat. I just love pizza." The man said.
"Huh? You get pizza while we're stuck with whatever it is I'm holding?" Jaden asked as everyone had rice balls as they sat down on a white picnic cloth a few feet away from the teacher.
"I'm your teacher. I need a big meal to, uh, teach you all." He said making his students pout or glare at him as they all started eating their food.
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY AT HOME, NOT HITCH A RIDE AND EAT MY LUNCH!" Banner yelled suddenly making everyone turn to see Pharaoh was inside his bag with crumbs on his face.
The man was on his hands and knees, head bent as a wave of despair was coming from him.
"Maybe you could share you lunch with me?" Banner asked hopefully with tears streaming down his face.
"Sorry, we're your students. We need these to learn." Jaden said as everyone scrunched up their faces in a way to resemble their teacher.
"And we digimon need food so we can digivolve." V-Mon said.
"To protect you all from danger. We need this much more than you do." Renamon said.
"Yeah, like you weren't going to share." Chumley said as Pharaoh jumped out of the bag and was playing with something on the ground.
"Of course I was going to share." Banner said.
"Oh, please." Dai scoffed.
"Share what? Pepperoni breath all day?" Alexis asked.
"Look, I have mints. Would anyone like a mint? See, I'm sharing." Banner said.
The cat then yowled as a bright green light shot up from the ground where he was digging.
"What's going on?" Jaden asked.
"What is it?" Syrus asked.
The two Digidestinds and digimon stood up as more pillars of light shot from the ground, both gripping their D-3s in case.
"That's one powerful mint." Chumley said as the green lights blinded them all.
They looked up to the sky to see that the sun was splitting up.
"Is anyone else…seeing in triplicate?" Banner asked as he held Pharaoh.
"This is the most lichious field trip ever." Chumley said as the sky turned into a rainbow pattern and seemed to be moving.
"This reminds me way too much of the Digital World." Dai said.
"I'm afraid this isn't related to the Digital World." Renamon said.
"It doesn't feel like it." V-Mon said.
"Then what can this be?" Jaden asked.
"Quick, children. Head for cover." Banner said and everyone ran away as thunder sounded.
"We'll find safety over in that siroccos." He said.
"The what?" everyone asked.
"The thing with the hole in it." he said.
"Oh." Everyone said as Jaden and Dai stopped running, staring up at the sky with their digimon standing by them.
"Come on." Syrus called as he and the others were inside.
"You must hurry." Banner said as thunder boomed and lightning flashed.
"Jaden." Chumley said.
"Dai." Alexis called.
"You guys stay in there. We'll lead the storm away." Jaden said.
Blue and purple lights shone on the cousins them.
"V-Mon digivolve too…XV-MON!"
"Renamon digivolve too…KYUUBIMON!"
The two teenagers mounted their partners, the fox taking off in a run as the dragon flew close to the ground as to not get hit by lightning.
The rainbow lights chased after them, until they were hit and they soon saw black as they fell unconscious.
Sometime later, Jaden and Dai both woke up to find Chibomon and Relemon beside them.
"What happened to you guys?" Jaden asked.
"The light… it took our strength." Relemon said.
The two Digidestinds held their Fresh level partners, then gasped when they saw that the ruins looked clean and brand new.
They were in front of what looked like a pyramid, staring in awe.
"Whoa, think we took a wrong turn." Jaden said.
"Ya think?" Dai a d Chibomon asked as Winged Kuriboh appeared, cooing.
"Yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore, guys." Jaden said as they all stood up.
"Hey, what's that?" Chibomon asked.
"It's the entrance to the ruins." Dai said gazing at the beautiful circular pillar that had dragons curving around both sides of it and a pond in front of it.
"But it's not…ruined. We're in some wicked crazy dream, Kuriboh. Too bad you can't just pinch my cheeks so I can wake up, huh?" Jaden said to the winged puff ball.
"Ow! What, did you sharpen those? You need to cut them once in a while." Jaden said after the monster pinched him.
"By the way, Kuriboh, since when can I feel you?" Jaden asked as he used to arm that wasn't holding Relemon to pet Kuriboh, who cooed.
"Well, this is weird." Dai said, then they heard someone clear their throat.
They turned to see who it was.
"This is sacred ground. You must leave here immediately. You are in very grave danger." Said the woman with tanned skin, dark eyes and dark hair.
"Wow, what dorm are those clothes from? I wanna join." Jaden said.
Kuriboh then cooed, the woman looked startled as she looked over her should, grabbed the bag Jaden had and then took the cousins, pulling them into the shadows of the pyramid.
"Hey!" they yelped.
"Quiet or do you wish to share the others' fate?" the woman asked.
"What others?" Jaden asked only to get shushed.
Jaden blushed as the woman was brushed up against him as they heard footsteps and a team of men walking two lines went up into the pyramid or temple.
Dai bit her lip and slapped her hand over Chibomon's mouth to keep him from making a noise as they all anxiously awaited the men to go away.
Once they were inside, the woman relaxed and stepped away from the child of Darkness.
"They dress weirder than Doctor Crowler. What's going on here?" he asked.
"I speak of the strangers who share your dress. They have been taken by the grave taker chief. They will be punished for entering his most sacred tomb." The woman said.
"Punished?" Jaden asked.
"For what exactly?" Dai asked.
"No way. Not on my watch, lady. Take me to him right now." Jaden said.
The woman stared into the determined eyes of the two teenagers, seeing how serious they were about going and she nodded.
"So be it. You were warned." She said handing the bag to Jaden and then turned to walk off.
The group followed and Dai was shocked to see something that looked like a control spire, only it was a sand color.
"Tell me strangers, by which means did you arrive here?" the woman asked.
"Uh, the name's Jaden. This is Relemon, Dai and Chibomon and I don't even know where here is." The Slifer King said.
"We were just with our friends and teacher when this light show happened and we were here." The SLifer Queen said as they walked into a temple.
"You will wait here." The woman said as they looked into the room.
"No we won't. I want to see my friends." Jaden said.
"I will find them. Believe me. If you're found walking about, you'll be of no use to them." The woman said confusing them.
"I'll be back." She said.
"Fine." Jaden frowned as the woman walked out.
The cousins sat down and then started waiting for the nameless woman to return with their friends.
What seemed like a few hours had passed as that sat down waiting.
"What's taking so long? Isn't she ever gonna come back? Wait a sec. what if she's working with this grave keeper? That would mean we're all in big trouble." Jaden said.
"Somebody help us!" a girl yelled from outside.
"That sounded like Alexis!" Dai gasped as the cousins stood up.
"Alexis! Is that you?" Jaden asked as he handed Relemon to Dai to hold as he got up to one of the windows and looked out.
"What's going on?" Chibomon asked.
"It's Alexis and the others. They're all tied up in coffins." The child of Darkness called down.
"What?!" Relemon gasped as the two digimon used their teeth to hang onto Dai's jacket as she climbed up to see that it was true.
"Get down." A man voice said and Dai turned to see a man poking Jaden in the rear with a sharp spear.
"Move towards the sharp object?!" Jaden asked.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Dai said.
"Now." The man ordered as another man was with him, so the cousins slid down to the gorund.
"All right, all right. You ever hear of a handshake?" Jaden asked annoyed, but then the two teenagers jumped back as two spears were shoved in their faces.
"I guess. Not." He said as they saw the five guards and one who may be the tomb keeper person.
"Oh, where's my manners? Introductions first. I'm Jaden Yuki and this is my cousin Daisuke Motomiya. And your name would be?" the Slifer King asked.
"I am the Grave Keeper Chief and you have traversed upon the sacred tomb that I protect." The man at the back of the group said.
"We didn't know." Dai said.
"So about we just grab our friends downstairs, we'll say our goodbyes to you and then zip back to the dimension we came from." Jaden said.
"That is not possible." The Chief said.
"Why not?" Dai asked.
"Because, fools, you have tread upon my domain and you will be punished along with your friends." The Chief said.
"Come on! Can't we just pay a fine or something?" Jaden asked.
"You cannot." The Chief said.
"Oh yeah? Then you can't point your spears at us." Jaden said as he waved his hand and the men lowered their weapons, allowing the cousins to step back from the wall.
"You show some spirit, strangers. I shall pardon your trespasses, given, you can survive my challenge. What is your answer?" the Chief asked.
"Well, what's the challenge?" Jaden asked.
The Chief smirked as he pulled out a deck of Duel Monster cards, making the duos of Darkness and Miracles stare in surprise.
"A duel?" Jaden asked.
"That figures." Dai said as the spears and men backed off.
"Now you're speaking my language. You're on, but only if you pardon all of my friends along with me, deal?" Jaden asked.
"So be it, if you win." The Chief said as Jaden reached into his bag for his duel disk.
"For my friends, there's no 'if' about it, pal. I'll win." Jaden said.
"But if you don't, you will be punished. You will be buried alive." The man smirked making the child of Darkness and Chibomon cry out in worry and disbelief.
"Buried alive?! But then who will save my friend?" Jaden asked.
"Hello, am I invisible?" the Slifer Queen asked.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Dai." He said to his frowning cousin.
"They will be buried along with you." The Chief laughed.
They all went outside, the guards holding Dai as she held the digimon in her arms, staring at her cousin worriedly, praying for him to win.
The duel was long, hard and filled with danger.
The attacks were more real and the battle field gave the Chief more of an advantage.
The child of Miracles yelled her support, but was back handed by one of the men, making Relemon and Chibomon glare at him as the girl hit the ground.
Jaden looked angered by his cousin's body hitting the ground, his eyes flashing gold as he gritted his teeth.
As it turns out, the Chief's monsters were real people and the female looked so familiar to Jaden, and wasn't too thrilled on how the Chief was talking to them.
Finally, after summoning Blade Edge, Jaden won the duel making Dai and the digimon cheer for joy.
"That's game!" the SLifer King said doing his signature pose.
"Chief!" the woman cried out as she and the guards ran over to their master to help him up while Dai ran over to her cousin.
"Hey, is he OK?" Jaden asked as he met his cousin half way, and they went to go see if the man was badly hurt was the attack.
They were stopped by the guards holding up their weapons, blocking them off.
"No, they live. He was an impressive opponent." The Chief said as he was helped up.
"Hey, thanks. Some of your moves were pretty tight too, there. It was a sweet match, let's duel again sometime." Jaden said stunning the people.
"What? You mean to say you enjoyed the Shadow Game?" the Chief asked.
"Oh, totally. I mean, I could have done without the whole friends in the coffin thing, but it was fun. And you three guys, very scary, very tough. And you too. You all fought great." Jaden said complimenting everyone on their work.
"I wasn't too happy about getting back handed, but worse things have happened to me, so you're forgiven." Dai said.
"Only one other person has ever passed this challenge, that is, until now. For having overcome your triumph, I bequeath to you this mystic medallion. It is yours." The Chief said pulling out a gold circular amulet that had a red gem in the center of what looked like an eye and part of it was broken off.
"Really, for me?" Jaden smiled as he accepted the amulet in awe.
"Hmm. Ah, some gift. There's only half." He said.
"But of course. You see, the only other to have passed this challenge holds this other half. Hopefully, when the time comes for you to battle in another Shadow Game, this medallion will serve you well." The Chief said as the medallion glimmered.
"Sweetness. I'll be sure to remember that." Jaden said as he put the medallion on, Relemon sitting on his head as Dai came up beside him.
The Chief and woman then turned their backs to the, looking down at the coffins below that were closed with their friends inside and they then opened.
"We're free!" Syrus cheered when the sunlight from the three sins warmed them.
"Whoa, turn down the lights. Man." Chumley said.
"Oh, I love the light. Light is my friend." Banner said.
"Wow, Jaden. You saved us." Alexis smiled as they were released.
(Later…)
"Way to play, Jay." Syrus complimented as they all stood at the temple.
"I knew you would pass this test, Jaden. I just knew it." Banner said making Jaden laugh, but then a thoughtful expression dawned on his face.
"Wait, what do you mean 'test'? Don't you mean 'challenge'?" Jaden asked as the students all looked at their teacher, Dai glaring harshly.
"Yes, of course. I mean…test, challenge, it is all the same. Am I right? All that matters is you won. Isn't that right, guys?" Banner asked nervously.
"Yeah." The cousins deadpanned as the man laughed.
"Well then, it's time for you and your friends to return to your own world." The Chief said.
"Sounds good to me." Jaden and Dai said then smiled at each other.
"So how do we get back?" Relemon and Chibomon asked.
"Go to the gate of the tomb just as the three lights combine into one, so that the veil of the radiance appears before you." The Chief said.
"O-K." Jaden said just as a group of the guards ran in, pointing their spears at them.
"You fools. What are you doing?" Chief asked.
"They must be punished either by you or by us." One of the men said.
The men all started chanting 'punished' as they advanced.
"What the-?" Jaden asked.
"Stop! They have been punished for their misdeeds. He has passed his challenge. His freedom has been earned." Chief stepping in front of the group protectively.
"Jaden!" Alexis cried out as the men went to attack him, but the woman blocked their attacks, protecting the boy.
"It's you!" Jaden gasped when her mask fell away to reveal the woman they had met before and hid them.
"Yes, I'm Grave Keeper's Assailant. I'm sorry I fought you, but I had to obey my Chief." She said.
"Hey, it's cool." Jaden said.
"Already over it." Dai shrugged.
"Uh, Jaden? Don't you think it's rude to not introduce me-I mean, us, to your friend?'" Syrus said making his friends sigh.
"Go find your own friends." Jaden said.
"When you finally return to your world, please give a message to the owner of the other half. Tell him Yasmin's still in the other world, but I haven't forgotten him and that I believe one day we will meet again." The woman, now known as Yasmin, said.
"Oh, boyfriend." Jaden said scratching his nose as everyone sighed and Syrus pouted.
"I knew it." he said.
The men then started advancing again.
"Stand back! He has won the challenge and we must honor our word. We are the Keepers of the Graves, not the makers. If you want to harm any of them, you'll have to get through me." Yasmin said as she held up her daggers and took a defensive stance.
The men groaned as they parted, allowing them access out.
"I would hurry." The woman said.
"For sure, but, uh, how do we leave again?" Jaden asked.
"Oh, I think a friend will help show you the way." Yasmin smiled.
"Winged Kuriboh." Jaden said as the monster appeared.
"He wants us to follow." He said as Syrus rubbed his eyes, not sure if he was seeing things as the others started following the winged puffball.
"Thanks, Yasmin!" Dai called.
"Hurry!" the woman called.
"The lights! They're combining." Jaden said as they saw the three suns eclipsing each other.
"We've gotta hurry!" Relemon said.
"Come on you guys!" Chibomon called, but then heard someone grunt.
They all sopped to see the eldest Slifer tripped and fell down.
"Chumley, are you OK?" Jaden asked as the male got up and held his knee, face scrunched in pain.
"Old tricycle injury." Chumley grunted.
The sky then turned multi colored again like last time.
"Just go on without me. You don't have time to wait. Seriously, go. You can still make it." the black haired boy said.
"What're ya, crazy?" Dai scolded.
"No way, Chumley." Jaden said.
"We're not leaving you behind." Chibomon said as the cousins both went on either side of the male.
"You must." He said when suddenly his backpack glowed and Dez Koala appeared.
He picked up his Master and then everyone started running to the gate before the light show was over.
"I love running!" Chumley cheered now that he wasn't the one doing the work.
"It's now or never guys. Let's make tracks!" Jaden yelled.
Green pillars of lights shot up from the ground.
They all cried out as the lights engulfed them and soon they were transported home, all of them blacked out.
A short while later, Dai opened her eyes and saw Jaden was holding his Winged Kuriboh card with Renamon standing next to him as the others were all sleeping.
She looked down at her lap to see V-Mon was there, snoring away.
"Hmm. Must have all been a hallucination from those moldy sandwiches." Jaden said.
"I doubt that highly." Dai said pointing to the medallion around his neck.
"Oh well. At least we're back to one sun, but still. Something just tells me…the shadows will be back." Jaden said.
"Great. Our parents are gonna have epic freak outs when they hear about this." Dai groaned pitifully as she banged her head against the ruin behind her.
To be continued…