Eddie Wilde had short brown hair combed back with gel. He was wearing a tight navy blue turtleneck sweater with dark pants. His sweater accentuated his very skinny frame. Aster`s hand was sweating as he shook Eddie`s. He walked behind him, almost stepping on his toes to catch up as the man showed him around the Industrial Illusions Arena, which looked very similar to the one back at Domino.

"Maximillion Pegasus told me a lot about you and your Destiny Hero deck" Eddie said as he turned on his duel disk.

Mr. D had briefly told him about his strategy in previous tournaments over breakfast.

"He is not afraid to lose life points just to frustrate his enemy's strategies. That's what made his matches so interesting: he would win with a 100 life points or even less: his record was winning with just 1 life point left."

With that in mind, Aster opened the duel. The boy began by activating his spell card, D-Spirit, which allowed him to summon Destiny Hero Diamond Dude in attack position (ATK 1400/DEF 1600). He then summoned Destiny Hero Doom Lord in attack position (ATK 600/DEF 800), and placed a card face down.

Eddie calmy placed Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in attack position (ATK 1100/DEF 1200), and placed a card face down.

In Aster`s turn, he choose to attack Warrior Lady of the Wasteland with Diamond Dude, making Eddie lose 300 life points; plus a direct attack with Doom Lord. Eddie`s life points were reduced to 2900 life points. Using Lady Warrior`s effect, he was able to summon another Earth type monster in attack position, choosing Dream Clown (ATK 1200/DEF 900). He activated his spell card, Pot of Greed, and drew to cards from his deck. Followed by this, he activated Dream Clown`s effect by changing it to Defense Position:

When this card is changed from Attack Position to Defense Position, destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field.

With this effect, Diamond Dude was destroyed. He placed another card face down, and summoned, UFO Turtle (ATK 1400/DEF 1200), and declared an attack on Doom. Eddie remained with 2900, while Aster had 3200 life points.

"Better watch your back" Eddie warned him as it was Aster`s turn. He had to be careful, his field was completely empty, while Eddie had two monsters, and two cards face down. On the other hand, he noticed his monsters were not very powerful, one single strike, and and he would win the duel. What was the cost of leaving Aster empty handed? Eddie had lost too many life points. He clenched his cards, he had to win.

He summoned Destiny Hero Celestial (ATK 1600/DEF 1400). As Aster was ready to attack, Eddie activated his trap card, Curse of Anubis and Celestial was changed to Defense Position (ATK 1600/DEF 0), as well as Eddie`s two monsters, which both had their defenses reduced to 0. Aster redunctly placed a card face down and ended his turn. That was just a lucky shot, he thought.

In Eddie's turn, he activated Black Pendant, he changed UFO Turtle to attack position and equipped it with the spell card (ATK 1900/DEF 0). He choose to leave Dream Clown in defense position. He attacked Aster's monster, but because Celestial was in defense, Aster suffered no damage. With Eddie's attack Aster`s trap card, Destiny Signal was activated. He summoned Drilldark from his deck (ATK 1600/DEF 1200). Aster drew Pot of Greed, which allowed him to draw to more cards.

"Well, looks like I got what I need!" he declared and activated Polymerization, which was stopped by Eddie´s Solemn Judgement. Eddie, reduced his life points in half, remaining with 1450 points. Even though he had managed to attack him twice, Eddie felt untouchable. He he felt trapped, as if no matter what he did, Eddie would drag the duel until Aster had no cards left. He placed, Vision Hero Vyon (ATK 1000/DEF 1200) in defense, and placed two cards face down.

First, Eddie activated his magic card, Soul Release, and he choose to banish five of Aster`s Destiny Heroes from his cemetery. The boy cursed internally, his trap card Destiny Mirage had become useless. He wondered if Eddie had mind reading powers…

"One should always watch their back, Aster. That is very good!" he congratulated him.

Aster already knew that. Was Pegasus paying a man thousands of dollars to tell him something so obvious?

Once again, Eddie choose to sacrifice 800 life points to activate Mind Control, and Vision Hero Vyon was in Eddie`s side of the field. Eddie had 450 life points left.

"You see Aster, the Golden Rule of Pro Dueling is..." The lights of the arena were turned dark, only the light of both duel discs slightly illuminated the arena with their blue light. Aster clenched his cards close to his face, he could barely figure out their attack and defense points. A pause, it probably lasted for ten seconds, but Aster couldn't help but hold his breath. From Eddie's duel disk emerged a white light, he saw it shoot up to the sky, and very slowly, transform itself into a monster...Angel 07 (ATK 2500/DEF 1500) was summoned to the field. The lights were turned on again, suddenly, he noticed that spectators were sitting on the Arena. The spectators were roaring, laughing and clapping, it was like nothing Aster had seen before; the Arena was packed, not a single corner was empty. Eddie spoke again:

"It's show biz, kiddo!" Because Eddie had sacrificed Black Pendant, Aster received 500, points of damage to his life points, plus the attack by Angel 07, Aster was only left with 200 life points.

Aster sat on his knees, in a single turn, Eddie had completely changed the outcome of the duel. If only he had Plasma, things would be much simpler…The sound of the crowd was too much for him. He covered his ears, they did not allowed him to think clearly, they sounded like hungry leeches wanting more; never satisfied. It hit him. The whole world would be watching him, watching his every single move, like a wacky animal trapped in a zoo...it made him feel hopeless. Why had he left Domino all the way to New York? He looked at Eddie who had crossed over the field and bent next to him. The holographic crowd was gone, the Arena turned back to normal, he noticed Angel 07 was still summoned on the field.

"Hey kid, what happened? You don't need to feel overwhelmed, the crowd was just a hologram!"

"I...I don't want to duel for other people."

Eddie laid on the floor and encouraged Aster to do the same. The arena had an open ceiling, and they could see the blue sky.

"Who says you have to?" Aster said nothing, and Eddie spoke again.

"You've already been to competitions, right?"

"It was silly, it was a game!"

"What's different than that time and this time?"

Aster tried to concentrate on the shape of the clouds. He couldn't exactly figure anything...they looked like, well, clouds. He was sure that if Jade was next to him he would see something. But he was also certain that his father would see something; yes he definitely would...

"I heard what happened to your father, you must be very strong to get through something like that."

Aster really wondered if Eddie was a mind reader, perhaps, it was just that he was very easy to read.

"I still have both of mine alive, I really cannot imagine such pain. I don't need to say how sorry I am, or tip toe around the subject, I think you already know its -pardon my language- shit. "

Aster knew it was. Nobody in these months had placed it so simply. Miles had been rather contained, always watching what he spoke about his father and his passings, D considered the best was to move forward and not think about it, and here Eddie, had found the world Aster had been looking for in months.

"I never trained someone so young, Pegasus really must have seen something in you. I'm really interested to see where life will take you."

Aster turned to face him, Eddie was looking at the clouds.

"You mean like my destiny?"

"You can call it that if you like"

The boy spoke suddenly:

"I want to continue"

From the corner of his eye he noticed Eddie smile, who rushed to his side of the Arena. If Eddie wanted a show, Aster would provide him with one.

Aster placed Destiny Hero Defender in defense (ATK 100/DEF 2700), placed a card face down, and activated Clock Tower Prison. Eddie smiled satisfied.

"Ah, I see, trying to buy some time…".

Aster finished his turn, and in the beginning of Eddie's standby phase, he grabbed another card while the arrow the Clock Tower moved. Aster activated his trap card: Destruction of Destiny. Eddie looked at him intrigued.

"With this card, I'll send the top three cards from my deck to the Graveyard, yet, if one of those is a spell or trap card, I'll lose the duel."

"Seems we have ourselves a gambler!"

"I'm quite confident on what destiny has in store for me"

Aster held his breath as he sent the three cards to the graveyard...and, nothing happened.

"Seems to be your lucky day, kiddo". Eddie simply placed a card facedown and ended his turn, he chose not to attack. Aster activated his magic card, Destiny Draw, discarding Destiny Hero -Dasher to his Graveyard, which Aster showed it to his opponent.

"I hope you remember this card, it will become quite handy next turn".

He summoned Destiny Hero, Dread Servant, the arrow of the clock was moved once again, 30 minutes till midnight. He placed one card face down and ended his turn.

The arrow of the clock moved once again.

"Well, I won't be that stupid to attack one of your monsters...I see you have quite a few cards facedown. Are you preparing for different scenarios?" In Eddie's turn, Aster activated his trap card D-Counter. The clock strike midnight.

Eddie summoned, Spell Caster (ATK 600/DEF 200) by banishing his spell card, Soul Release from his graveyard. As Spell Caster was ready to attack, Aster activated D-Fortune, banishing Drilldark from his Graveyard and ending the battle phase.

"A lucky shot" Eddie said.

The bells of the towel kept ringing and the mist from the field spell barely allowed Aster to see his opponent.

"I see you are not risking Angel 07" Aster commented.

"Well, I would like to meet Dreadmaster". Aster drew a card, Destiny Hero Decider.

"If you remember, Dasher is resting in my Graveyard" Aster explained "It has quite a neat effect...If I draw a monster card and reveal it, I can special summon it" He showed the card to Eddie. "But that's not all, I can still summon one more monster, and I summon D-Cubed!".

"I see you are bringing in the big guys..." Eddie said as Aster sacrificed his three monsters and summoned Destiny Hero Dogma (ATK 3400/DEF 2400).

"Dreadmaster doesn't want to do things alone, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring a friend" Aster declared.

"And now who are you summoning Aster?" Eddie asked.

Aster banished Tower Prison and changed his field spell for Dark City. A large roar was heard emerging from the towel, as it broke, freeing Destiny Hero Dreadmaster. The ground shook as the monster placed himself in front of Aster and next to Dogma.

"Two very powerful monsters in one turn…That would definitely increase ratings."

"You cannot attack with both monsters Aster...you pulled a very good show"

Aster special summoned from his graveyard Drilldark (ATK 1600/ DEF 1200) and Fearmonger (ATK 1000/DEF 1000). Dreadmaster had an increase of 6000 points. He attacked Angel 07 with Dreadmaster, and Eddie's life points were reduced to 0.

A large plate of fries was placed in front of Eddie. Aster considered that it was a plate big enough for two people, yet he was surprised to see it was only for one person. Followed by this, a waiter placed a cheeseburger in front of the man who began eating. Aster simply choose a caprese sandwich.

"So, this deck was designed by your father, is that correct?"

Aster took a bite of the enormous sandwich and nodded. Eddie laid back thoughtful and mouthed "wow".

"And how long have you been using it?"

"Almost a year."

"It really seems to be a deck made just for you...A costume-made deck is probably the best gift a duelist can receive."

Eddie was very talkative, constantly changing the subject, which made Aster lost at times during their conversation. He asked about his school, then changed to Pegasus, then back to his hobbies, then about his father, then about his new home, to finally recommend him places around New York City.

"Well, you know, a duelist has to be very...cultured." Aster said nothing, he had eaten half of the sandwich, he nodded, paying attention to the cheese that was falling on the plate.

"We cannot forget your education...So, you'll be homeschooled."

Aster almost choked. Eddie handed him a piece of paper, it was a time table with all his schedules. He began his dueling training at 7.00 am up until lunch where he had one hour break. Then, until five, his dueling training was divided in half: practice, and theory of dueling. Finally, from 5pm till 8.30pm he had classes. He groaned looking at the subjects: math, history, grammar, art, physics, PE and...french?

"Why should I learn french?" Aster looked puzzled.

"Well, it's more to learn more about different cultures. You see, a Pro Duelist is a man of the world. He has to know about other countries, and the best way to do so is by learning another language."

"I don't see the point." Aster protested.

"Well, Pegasus looked over your grades, he noticed you are quite advanced, he doesn't want your education to go to waste…"

He felt creeped out by Pegasus looking at his grades, how did he find them? Did he looked at something else? Did Aster perhaps had an illness Pegasus knew but he didn't? The boy left the paper on the table.

"I always found school boring" he whispered.

"I imagine, that's why this are high school level classes...a bit more challenging, and a bit more fun I assume." he smiled.

Aster studied Eddie's face. He looked young, not more than thirty years old. His clean shaved face show no wrinkles. Sometimes he would look at D, and notice a certain melancholy and tiredness. D would usually arrive home rather late and fall asleep on the couch. Even at dinner, he noticed D tried his maximum effort to be talkative and interact with Aster, yet sometimes he would repeat himself or forget things Aster had told him.

"Perhaps, if you study hard enough you may be able to graduate from High School in a year...if you are as smart as Pegasus told me you are" Eddie said innocently.

Aster knew Eddie was placing him a challenge. If Pegasus expected him to graduate high school in a year, he would do it in less.

"Fine" Aster agreed.

"I'm glad you are exited...you'll begin tomorrow!"

Aster noticed Mr.D suddenly waking up and changing the channel as Aster closed the door behind him. The man quickly turned on the lamp and Aster sat next to him staring at the TV. From what the boy gathered D was watching a comedy film about a cop.

"How was your day Aster?"

"Great! I beat Eddie and his Angel 07!"

D turned to face him intrigued.

"Oh that's interesting. His ace monster usually Cyber Orge 2...What else did he had?"

Aster began explained the duel, while D looked puzzled, who laid back in the sofa.

"Maybe he changed his deck, but it really doesn't ring a bell...Maybe he did it just to challenge you?"

Aster become angry. All the effort it took to beat him, and Eddie did not even bother to use his real deck? He would definitely demand answers the following day. D signaled Aster's room:

"I bought some stuff to your room...also, you got a letter".

The boy rushed to his room. The luggage laid full of clothes and open, Aster knew this was a permanent situation, Eddie had already talked about at least a year. His life in New York was starting whether he liked it or not. As soon as he would finish cleaning his room he would look at the letter; first, he had to make it feel like home...because it was. There was no turning back. As he went through his clothes he wondered who could have written him. Pegasus? He doubt it would be fanmail…

Curiosity got the best of him, and after placing in his closet half of the contents of his luggage, he had to look over the desk. A simple white envelope with a stamp from Domino City and addressed to him by…

Jade!

Aster ripped open the envelope exited. The enveloped had a written letter folded in four and a postcard from Kaiba Dome.

Aster:

I heard D telling dad about where you are staying and I wrote it down (no I wasn't spying!). I'm not sure when this will get you, hopefully it arrives before you do! How is New York? What is your favourite-

Aster was interrupted by Sartorius who was standing by his door. He gestured him to come in and left the letter aside. The boy had a grim expression on his face. They both sat on the floor, Sartorius placed his tarot cards between them.

"Hey, what's the matter? You don't like New York?"

The card reader shook his head, he did not seem in the mood for any type of joke. Sartorius began mixing his cards and flipped over one of them: The Tower, which was in reverse for Sartorius.

"Have you had trouble sleeping, Aster?"

Aster bit the inner side of his cheek. He had never told Sartorius about the white light he kept seeing, all over Domino. Yet...in New York he felt at peace. Whatever was trying to follow him had suddenly stopped. Sartorius continued:

"I…" Sartorius looked around the room, Aster noticed he kept opening and closing his mouth.

"For the past few weeks, I've began to sense that there might be something…"

Aster stared at him intensely, while he held his breath.

"Bad with me".

"What? Are you sick?"

Sartorius revealed flipped over another card: The Moon, in reverse facing Sartorius.

"Something dark is going to happen soon, Aster. And I fear I will be the one to cause it."

Sartorius eyes filled with tears.

"I will bring ruin, I've seen it...It is in my destiny." He looked at Aster, helpless.

"While we were in Domino, I once had a man approach me with a card...He wanted me to read his future. I could not see the card, I do not know which card it was...You see, the card was completely white, but I knew it was a Duel Monster Card…"

Aster remained silent.

"When I took the card in my hands…" Sartorius grabbed his head.

"I don't remember much, I can't even remember...I just...I saw the light...I saw it."

"And I thought it was nothing...I've had some intense card readings which leave me tired for days, you see...But I knew, this was something different. I guess...I thought I could avoid my destiny by meeting you…"

"But now, accepted it."

"Aster" he grabbed Aster by his shoulders.

"When the time comes, I want you to promise me, no matter how much I beg, no matter what I do...You'll stop me from becoming the Destroyer of Worlds."

Tears began running though Sartorius cheeks as well as Aster's.

"I promise you I will" Aster answered determined. His father had created the Destiny Heroes to protect him, but if he could be the hero to someone else he would.

"Dad did not had a hero to protect him when he died…I promise you Sartorius, I will train day and night, to protect you, to protect our world…"

Sartorius began calming down, he noticed a hint of hope in his violet eyes, and the boy returned to his quiet demeanor, and they walked towards the hallway. The smell of roasted vegetables coming through the kitchen...

Yes, he would answer Jade later.


Happy reading :)

Longer chapter for a change.

It took me a while to write off the duel...it has been a while, I really tried to challenge Aster.

Hope you enjoy my attempt!