hey there heartbreakerninja here,

I AM SOOOOOO SORRY IT TOOK ALMOST HALF A MONTH TO SUBMIT THIS!

ok so here's what happened i work at a sandwich shop called Subway. and every February we have a special sale where every sub on our menu becomes only $5 bucks. now this is a big deal because some of our foot long subs are expensive in my opinion. $7.75 all the way down to $5 bucks is a big deal in ohio believe me. well anyway this year for some odd reason we got super busy a week and a half BEFORE February even got started! no idea why but we did. so to compensate for A LOT of customers, everyone was working longer shifts and had less days off. [i was working close to 45 hours a week instead of my usual 30] so as you can imagine, i was dead tired by the time i got home [doesnt help that im a closer which means i close the store which means i dont get home till close to 12am every night] and was in no mood to even lift the lid of my lap top to even read a manga let alone write a chapter to one of my 2 stories. well anyway i finally had a couple of days before February started to finish a chapter for my huntik story but didnt have time to start this chapter your about to read. well on Saturday we finally had a slow day so when i got home i wasnt as tired so i was able to start this chapter. well i got to finish it tonight because i [thankfully] have Monday off [yayaya] so i could stay up late and finish this chapter. and now im going to stop typeing before i start rambling and so you can read the chapter lol

anyway hope you enjoy this chapter :)

*back with Yubel*

Yubel woke with a start. She hadn't known she had fallen asleep. She then got ticked at herself for sleeping. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on Jaden. How was she supposed to do that if she was asleep? Yubel looked around her then looked to the spot she left Jaden in only to find Jaden not there. Panic began to lace itself through her veins and up her spine.

"Jaden? Jaden where are you?" Yubel yelled as she franticly started to search the area for her charge only to come up empty handed. That's when she noticed she couldn't even sense Jaden's consciousness. It was as if he was under a veil of nothingness that blanked out his existence from her.

And so, as you probably already guessed, she started to panic even farther.

*back with Jaden*

Jaden was running just to keep up with the long strides of the E. hero Stratos but he still seemed to be pulling away from Jaden with each step.

"Stratos please slow down; I can't keep up!" Jaden huffed out as he ran faster, trying to catch up.

"Can't….slow…down….Winged Kuriboh is….just a little….further….this way." Stratos said still sounding like he was choking on his words. Jaden was starting to find that strange but he kept his thoughts to himself thinking that maybe this was just the way Stratos talked since he had never heard the E. hero speak before.

Jaden tried to put on more speed hoping to catch up to Stratos only to stumble from dizziness from breathing so hard. Jaden caught himself from falling completely by landing on his knees. When he got back up Stratos was already starting to disappear into the darkness that was around them like a thick overpowering dark cloak.

"Wait Stratos I can't catch up; your getting to far ahead of me!" Jaden shouted up to Stratos. But it was to no avail as Stratos disappeared into the darkness leaving Jaden alone.

"STRATOS!" WAIT PLEASE DON'T GO PLEASE WAIT!" Jaden shouted desperately up to Stratos; but he must not have heard because he did not return. Jaden stood there speechless. Shock was all he could feel at that moment.

Jaden didn't know where he was or how long he had been following Stratos. He looked behind him but couldn't see where he had come from. So he did the only logical thing. He walked forward hoping he would run into Stratos or find Winged Kuriboh on his own. He just hoped he wouldn't run into his darker half, Haou. Jaden shivered at the thought. He wished Jim was here. It had scared him when Jim wasn't there when he finally came to but he sort of figured out on his own that Jim couldn't stay in his mind all the time. He would have to return to his own eventually.

Jaden looked around as he walked. There was so much darkness around him. It was to the point that he could hardly remember what his mind had been like before Haou had been awaken the first time. Not that he spent much time within himself. It was just that he didn't know his own mind anymore. Winged Kuriboh had told him it wasn't as quiet and had little to no dark corners. It was the mirror image of the happiness he portrayed outwardly back in his first year at Duel Academy.

Jaden almost smiled at that. He remembered his first year. He almost didn't make it for the entrance exam. He had met so many people that year most friends but a few enemies as well. What he found funny now was how naïve he had been. Back then he thought if everyone would love the game and have a strong bond with their cards everything would be ok. No one would hurt anyone. Now he knew better. Not every problem could be solved with a well played strategy and a good pep talk. If that were true what happened at the beginning of 3rd year and all through the middle of it, would never have happened. Haou would never have been awakened. He would have never caused Jaden's friends so much pain. Jaden would never have caused his friends so much pain.

Jaden was surprised at himself when he felt tears running down his cheeks. He knew he shouldn't be crying. It was bad to show raw emotion anymore especially with Haou lying in wait to pounce at any doubt or fear he showed. But he couldn't help it anymore. He felt so alone, tired, and scared. Jaden made himself stop right there. These thoughts were going to get him no where except closer to the darkness that incased his mind. So he wiped away his tears and shook his head like a wet dog before trying to find the old determination that used to be a part of everything he did and set out to find Winged Kuriboh before something else happened. That's when he heard it.

It was a soft wine; almost to quiet to hear but Jaden recognized it right away. It was Winged Kuriboh. Jaden felt relief flood through him. His friend was still alive and hadn't disappeared. Jaden looked all around him trying to pin point the direction of the sound. He spun around so many times and so fast that he almost caused himself to fall down from dizziness. Then he heard Winged Kuriboh wine again; it was coming from the right of him. That's all he needed to know to get himself up and running blindly in that direction.

"WINGED KURIBOH WHERE ARE YOU! CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT'S ME JADEN; PLAESE TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!" Jaden shouted as loudly as he could manage as he continued to run blindly through the dark corridors of his mind. That's when he finally saw him. Up ahead of him he saw his friend. Winged Kuriboh didn't look hurt but he was in some kind of cage. This should have sent warning bells off for Jaden but that didn't matter to him; Jaden was just so glad he was all right.

That's when everything went totally wrong.

Before Jaden could reach the cage that held Winged Kuriboh a dark shadow came out of the darkness and slowly walked in front of the cage that held Winged Kuriboh blocking Jaden's view. Jaden came to a stumbling halt a few feet away from the last person on Earth he wanted to see.

"Hello Jaden; it's so good to see you again." Haou said with an evil grin.

i love how i ended this chapter. lol

anyway its funny but this originally started out as 2 chapters. a short yubel one and then the long jaden one. well i ended up puting them togeather cause the first part ended up being to short to even be a chapter so i tacked them together and made it one chapter instead.

anyway

see ya in the next chapter

heartbreakerninja :)

p.s. i already know how i want the next chapter to go down so it shouldnt take to long getting it up. i might just skip out on doing my huntik chapter first and do the next chapter to this first then do the huntik chapter but i havnt decided yet if i will.

anyway

see ya ;)