I do not own the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh or Yu-Gi-Oh GX! However, the original characters and the world they live in are of my creation. Original cards made by me will be highlighted in bold.

Jasmine

A girl with reddish-brown hair made her way to a beach with snowy-white sand stretching from one side of her island domain to the other. She took off her sandals and buried her feet into the cool sand. She sat down and slid her fingers in the sand and wriggled her ring-covered fingers, creating two small holes. Propping herself up in her arms, she looked up at the sky and stared at the seagulls flying above her, crooning in the morning chorus. Even though she lived in a land where technology didn't exist, that didn't stop Jasmine from coming back home from school with accessories and clothes from the modern world. She wore a black and pink surfer shirt and black bikini bottom. Around her neck were white headphones with a cybernetic look glowing with pink RGB lights. She turned them on and started listening to bubble gum pop.

Junko Makurada was the name given to her at birth. She was the daughter of a ruthless pirate king, known as Makiyata the Crimson, so-called for he sailed the seas on a massive ship of iron with red sails, and he could summon a serpent called Roaring Ocean Snake, who could rip ships apart with its powerful scream.

But the girl had little to no memory of the man, for at the wee age of two, she was given as a ward to Lord Balthazar of House Vekelion, Baron of the Emerald Isles after her father was defeated in the legendary War of the Ten Island Kings. The war was going in Makiyata's favor until the Aquarian Royal Navy joined the Island Kingdoms, in exchange for taking the fabled treasure the Crimson Captain hoarded from pillaging the seas for so many years. But that was a secret Captain Makiyata took to his grave. He spat at their feet before he was beheaded, taking the secret of his buried treasure with him and the girl's mother, who also knew of the treasure's location, drowned when the iron ship plummeted to the bottom of the sea.

After being taken in by Lord Balthazar, the girl was renamed simply, Jasmine. Though the spawn of a great evil, Jasmine grew to be a very kind young lady who was well-loved by the people of the Emerald Isles for her generosity and for her dabble in politics, always favoring the citizens before anything else. Over time, she developed a talent for dueling, gaining the interest of King Kenrod, the Blue Opal King of the Tropical Kingdoms. Having beaten his son, Prince Farrus, in a Duel, Kenrod generously paid to send Jasmine to Duelist Academy — the School of Kings — to increase her knowledge of the game so she could one day become a Dueling Maiden of his royal court at the revered Blue Palace.

But he wanted her to be one of the best in the school, and would not settle for her staying anywhere less than the esteemed Obelisk Blue Dorm. So he sailed her away to an esteemed preparatory school in Lorin, the capital city of Aquarius. There she met two of her most beloved companions. A bubbly young lady named Mindy, who was also a ward to a noble house, and, much to everyone's surprise, she became friends with Princess Alexis Rhodes.

After four years, Jasmine graduated from the high school levels of the academy.

She came back with a golden pin over her breast and a rare promotional card called Kozunoha, the Onmyojin, which was given only to the top 100 students of the class. It was a Pendulum Monster, another commodity the islands did not have but hoped to get. The card was practically the seal for another four years at the school, this time at its most elite level. Her good grades allowed her a free pass into the most prestigious magic college in Termnnia, Broxiton University — The School of Kings. There she could attend classes where Xyz, Links, and Pendulum summoning were taught.

"Ah!" She said. That's right. It was time to practice her new skills. She got up from the sand and walked towards the surf. The water was ice cold, making her shiver and her feet almost went numb. Jasmine then closed her eyes, turned off the music, and concentrated to harness the Mana flowing through her body. She no longer felt the chill of the water. All she heard was the wind and the soothing roar of the surf.

She opened her eyes and continued to walk towards the water. Her destination was a big boulder. Normally she would have to swim to get there. But with her powers, that wasn't necessary. The water started to split apart, giving her a path of cold wet sand to walk on. Once she started to walk through the path, she turned her music back on. Instead of walking, she started dancing her way through. The watery walls on either side of her revealed the reefs teeming with colorful fishes. Jasmine noticed the coral and hopped from rock to rock to avoid stepping on them.

As she danced around, she started to think about her life at the fabled magical university. She was already masterful at her craft in Aquamancy, making water bend to her whim. What other wonders could she unlock when she went there. But her father didn't care for the arcane. Politics and Duel Monsters were what mattered most. Especially the new methods of summoning such as Xyz, Synchro, and the like.

Another horrible thought dawned on her. It was the eighteenth year of the Fourth Age of the Sun. That meant The Eradicator of Anubis, Prince Yuri, was due to return from years of hiding in another dimension. Once he was done training in the Aurelian Legion to sharpen his skills in combat, he would be sent to the university to learn the arts of Duel Monsters. As much as her education mattered, befriending the Crown Prince of Termnnia was now a matter of grave importance.

Her heart suddenly felt like it was drowning in anxiety, like a lost sailor trying to survive in the ocean on a stormy night. The jargon from the nobles in her father's court repeated in her ears.

But Jasmine! You're the most skilled Duelist on the Emerald Islands! You must continue your education. Go! Attend the university!

Jasmine! Think of the opportunities that could arise if you were to befriend him. Look at how much we have gained thanks to your friendship with Princess Rhodes! Imagine what we could achieve if you were friends with the High King.

And worst of all...

Jasmine! Dear, Jasmine! What if you were to marry Prince Yuri? You could be the first lady from the Tropical Kingdoms to ever be High Queen! The riches of the High King and the power of the God Cards will be ours!

Absolutely not! "Whoa!" She almost lost her concentration, causing the walls to tremble and begin flooding towards her. Once she calmed, they did as well and stood still.

As endearing as it was marrying the most powerful man in Termnnia, Jasmine knew that just trying to get him to notice her was going to be a lot of work and a lot of trouble. She didn't want that. She didn't want to spend another four years at Duelist Academy despite the fact Alexis and Mindy were going back. She just wanted to stay here in her little island paradise far away from the civil war plaguing the mainland. It was chaos up there. But here, far away across the Singing Sea, it was like those troubles didn't exist.

Jasmine wanted it to stay that way. She desired to stay out of Termnnian politics, for Alexis said involving yourself in those affairs was like stepping into the lion's den naked and covered in lamb's blood.

Jasmine finally made it to the boulder. She climbed all the way to the top and started dancing, shaking her hips and waving her arms in the air. As she moved, the water started to move along with her. She waved her arms around creating big long streams of seawater. She made them spiral all around her and created waves that splashed against the walls of the giant rock she danced on. She then created a water dragon with glowing eyes and it could even screech. The dragon flew in circles above her, splashing her with cold drops. She twirled and extended her arms toward the beach, commanding the dragon to fly there, not knowing her father had arrived. The dragon rocketed towards him so fast he didn't even know what hit him.

"Ah, I thought I'd find you here — BBBBLLLL-BRRRRBBRRR!" He was hit in the face with full force from Jasmine's water creature.

"DAD!" she cried out. She turned off her music and jumped down from the boulder. As she ran back to the beach, the water closed the path behind her until it was submerged once again. "Dad are you all right?"

The king got up and coughed. He started sauntering clumsily through the dune toward the girl he took in years ago. Some have said she was his 'prize' for defeating her ruthless father, but he loved her way too much to consider her as something so objective. To him, Jasmine was like his own flesh and blood.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," he said, coughing as though he had almost drowned. His best clothes were soaked, but Jasmine fixed them with a charm she learned in school, which dried them up with a snap of her fingers.

"Thank you, my dear," said the baron. "Oof, I do hope you learn how to aim when you shoot that thing next time."

"I'm sorry." She sat down on the sand. "Please, sit."

"I cannot," said the king. He was obese and bald but sported a red-haired powdered wig with curls that went all the way down to his shoulders. He walked about on a black iron cane topped with a giant red ruby. That ruby was the only piece of Captain Makiyata's legendary hidden treasure that was ever found.

"Are the stories they tell about him true?" Jasmine asked.

"What do you speak of?"

Jasmine motioned her head toward the ruby, barely contained under the grip of Lord Balthazar's hand. "Oh," he said. He took another step and almost tripped, then stood beside Jasmine. The air around her smelled sweet, and for that, Lord Balthazar was glad; for it meant Jasmine obeyed him and applied her sunscreen before coming to sit on the beach. He looked to the sky as well to gaze at the seagulls, building up the courage to speak of the infamous pirate king who made life hell for the island people.

"Yes, your...father" — he said the word in disgust, for it was a title he disliked using when he spoke of Captain Makiyata — "was a very barbaric man. Far undeserving of one such as you, my little Jasmine. Now, I will speak no more on the matter, dearest, this is a happy day. A joyous day. Your enrollment into Broxiton University has been completed. You start class at the same time when Yuri attends the school. Isn't that exciting?"

"Not really," Jasmine said, kicking her feet even deeper into the sand. "I didn't want to go back to school. I thought I was going to be a Dueling Maiden at the Blue Palace when I got back."

"But dearest, look at all you have accomplished in your last four years at school. Imagine what another four more years will do for you? You'll be the crown jewel of the Tropical Kingdoms and the Thousand Island Estates!"

"I don't want fame, Father."

"Oh, don't be so modest," Lord Balthazar said with a chuckle. "Jasmine, you're already a gem in the eyes of our people. Your victory over the Prince of the Cerulean Isles has turned you into quite the star."

He knelt down as best he could, careful not to irritate his war wound. "Darling, do you have any idea how many people of very high stature from the mainland have asked me about you when they have stopped to rest at my castle? They wanted to meet you. The good friend of the Champion of Entulí - Alexis Rhodes! Those were very powerful people and they wanted to meet you! Think of the roads that you could open up for us."

Jasmine wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees as she pouted. "More trade, I suppose. It's all you care about."

"Of course!" He laughed cheerfully. "That's my little Jasmine. You can see through me like a window. Probably got that from your mother. Yes, I won't lie to you, Jasmine. I want to get richer. I want more power. But at the same time, I want my people to prosper. We could purchase those desalination machines from Eredas to convert ocean water into fresh, cool, drinkable water so our farmers won't have to dig through the jungles to find a spot to build wells. And think of what will happen if you catch the eye of the Crown Prince."

"Oh nooooo," Jasmine groaned.

"I didn't say marry him, my darling. You don't have to do that; I am not forcing you to. But if you could form a friendship with him, it could convert into an alliance. With the High King on our side, he could help us construct a stronger army. If we asked, he could hire engineers to build proper defenses around our main ports and settlements to keep pirates away. No more will we have to toss coin and chip to greedy and filthy mercenaries to watch over our goods and our lives. We could have garrisons of Black Luster Soldiers from Rassay patrol the seas and our towns. For many years, pirates have kept us all from growing into the superpower we could become. You, Jasmine, are the key to turning our lives around."

"It speaks volumes of King Kenrod's poor leadership if I'm the only beacon of hope I have for the Tropical Kingdoms and the Estates," said Jasmine. "All right. You've talked me into it. But I'm doing this to better the lives of our citizens. Not to fatten your coin purse."

"I completely understand, my darling." He struggled for a moment, but he managed to plant a loud, wet, kiss on her cheek. "That's my girl. Oh-ho, imagine what a blow it would be to the pirates if the spawn of their most powerful leader was the cause of their downfall."

"I'll bet that will hurt a lot," Jasmine said, rubbing away the wetness her father left behind on her cheek. She paused when she saw something massive and white splashing far off into the distance. "Hey! What was that?"

"Ah!" Lord Balthazar said, trying to stand up on his own two feet. He propped himself up with his cane and held his hand over his eyes so he could see the creature clearly. He then spotted it breaching out of the water and bellowing eerily before plunging back underneath the surface. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, that's a White Aura Whale."

"A monster?" Jasmine asked.

"A mount," her father corrected with a fruity giggle. "Go to your room and put on your best dress, Jasmine. He's here."

Thara, 1100 miles across the Singing Sea

The coastal city of Whiteblade Harbor was the crown jewel of Thara, the southernmost country in Termnnia. The sun was high, the sky was bright blue, and the ocean was bursting with a brilliant turquoise color.

Palm trees swayed over an outdoor tavern, shielding the patrons from the hot sun. The air was perfumed with the smell of steamed crabs and fried fish cooking in the small kitchen downstairs. As the patrons enjoyed their lunch, they listened to a long-nosed, skinny man dressed in dark blue clothes, now looking gray from all the dirt and soot that accumulated on it. Like most of the common folk, he never bathed and looked to drowning the foul odor of sweat and piss from his clothes by going to the tavern and drowning himself in alcohol.

He was known as Hubert the Liar, for he always came to the tavern boasting about great adventures that were just too good to be true.

He told tales of how he slew Blue-Eyes White Dragons with a dagger, beat Jaime the Envoy of the Evening Twilight in a swordfight, or that he was in the Battle of Rassay, saving Yugi Muto's life. One of his most outrageous tales was of how he made love to Avi, the legendary Summoner of Dragons when he was in Gardenrealm because she thought of him as 'devilishly' handsome.

And now, he had another story to tell. One of three strange companions who had just arrived in the city. Earlier that morning, Aster Phoenix came into town with a bulky young man named Hassleberry Kenzan, and a young lady dressed in a red hood and skirt, easily identified as Princess Alexandra von Klause of Dragon's Nest, and niece of the powerful King Antilles Dragonheart. What their business was in Whiteblade Harbor, no one knew. But that didn't stop old Hubert the Liar from telling his wild tales.

"So there she was, the lovely, the legendary, Princess Alexandra von Klaus. Walking through the gate; her big ass bouncing out in the breeze, barely covered in that skirt of hers," he shook his hips, mocking a woman's strut, and the patrons laughed at him. "I mean there it was. Peeking out from underneath that skirt. I saw it and give a whistle, you know since I compliment beauty when I see it. I kid you not, my friends, she looks my way" —he bobbed his head up and down, grinning like a lord— "she notices me and gives me a beautiful smile, she does. Then she puts a little finger to her lips like this."

"Oooo!" howled the few who believed him.

"Right, right. So she stands there, eyes peering down. She bashfully hunches her shoulders and blushes, finger still to those lips. Now, being the smart fellow that I am, I know damn well what she wants."

"Aaaaaaay!" laughed the patrons, many of them groaned, not believing they were sitting with fools who believed this moron.

"Yeah, yeah, that's right. And you all know me. I'm not the bashful sort and the Goddesses have blessed me down below," he grabbed his crotch. "So I do the little princess a favor and whip it right out!"

Everyone laughed at him. The waitresses looked at each other in disgust. How could he talk that way about a Termnnian Princess? The man clearly had no shame in his lies.

"You should have seen the look she gives me lads. Her mouth comes wide open in surprise. She's never seen anything like it. She said if she had the power, she would deem it one of the wonders of the world."

"Aw, shut up!"

"Bollocks!"

"Hey, hey, no need to be jealous, boys. One day you'll woo a princess the way I have. Now, personally, I can't say I blame beautiful Alexandra for taking a liking to me. She has that silver-haired bastard Aster Phoenix as company. He doesn't have my gift, he doesn't — No! No!, it's true. You all know he's never had any luck with women. I heard from some kids who go to Duelist Academy that he once dated the princess of Aquarius, Alexis Rhodes." He snapped his fingers. "She dumped him within a month because of Aster Phoenix's….short comings."

Again, the tavern was filled with laughter and calls for him to sit down and be quiet.

"It's true. Word around Termnnia is that Aster Phoenix is only two inches...shy of an inch!" he rudely added, waving his pinky around. "Can you imagine that? All that skill in the dueling arena, but nothing to show in the lover's arena. I think we all know why he carries that sword around. He's compensating, that's what it is." He finished the last of his ale.

"Hang on," he said. "The ocean thirsts and I must answer her call!"

He wobbled up the steps to the ramparts of the inn. He was concealed behind dirty table mats hanging on lines to dry. He lowered his trousers and started to piss over the wall at the rocks below. So drunk was he that he failed to notice the big monster slowly rising over the ramparts. He appeared to be a giant wearing armor made to look like a dragon. In fact, his entire right arm was the head of a giant dragon. His wings were open as he hovered in front of the man. Destiny HERO Plasma stared at the man with a deadly gaze. The drunken patrons below weren't the only ones who were listening to his story.

"What the..."

Before he could say another word, Hubert was stuck through the chest by Plasma's tail. He grunted, the wind was completely knocked out of him by the pain. Not to mention the fact that one of the spikes on Plasma's tail ruptured his left lung, filling his mouth with blood. Using his tail, Plasma tossed the man over his shoulder out to sea. Before he touched the water, a Des Volstgalph flew from the crowds, grabbed him, and put him out of his misery with a loud chomp. When Hubert's soul left the world, the Des Volstgalph reared up its head and swallowed him whole. It roared before soaring back into the clouds.

"Y'all think that was a little too much?" asked Hassleberry. He watched the ordeal from a bridge leading to a castle owned by House Misawa. "The guy was just a drunk telling tall tales."

Alexandra, leaning against the wall while sharpening one of her crimson blades laughed. "Not at all. I would never look at peasant like that. Not in all my life. The fool was dumb to even think I'd even look his way. And my skirt isn't that small."

"Sure, sure, until you start skipping around."

"We've been standing out here since midday!" Aster grumbled.

He was standing under a palm tree in the garden to shield him from the sun. Thankfully he chose to change gear for his expedition to the tropical kingdoms.

He was given a leather jacket by Alexandra as a gift. It was made with an enchanted fabric to keep him cool during hot days. The left shoulder was plated with a wide targe and the left sleeve was protected on the upper layer by layers of shiny steel plate forming a gauntlet. Alexandra told him the jacket was worn by her uncle, Antilles, when he fought as a mercenary in his youth. Aster's sword was strapped to his back with a baldric. He wore denim jeans as well, torn at the knees already from the constant fights with bandits along the way.

"Where the hell could he be? He said he'd open for us as soon as he took care of business."

"Now, now, dear, be patient," Alexandra said. She walked to the fountain at the center of the bridge. She took off her leg-length boots and dipped her toes in the water. "I'm sure your friend is a very busy man. His family runs the ports here after all. That's a lot of manifests to look at." She had that twinkle in her eye. "And lots of coin to count as well."

"He promised he would open for us!" Aster grumbled again. "Asshole."

"No, I don't fancy myself as one," Bastion Misawa said from the other side of the gate.

Aster jumped off the palm from shock. He turned to see the man behind the gates. Gone was the bright yellow Ra uniform he wore at school. He was no clad in a leather tricorn hat and a brown leather trenchcoat plated with armor over his sensitive spots such as the heart. He had two swords sheathed on both his sides, one of them doubled as a flintlock pistol. A bandolier that went vertically down his chest was strapped with three beautiful flintlock pistols on them. "Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in?"

"Bastion?" Hassleberry said. "Is that you? Sam hell! It's been a while."

"Indeed. Weren't you supposed to be dead or something?"

"Captured, but I'll explain later. Got any food? I'm starving."

Alexandra laced her boots back up as quickly as she could. "Yes, please. Some food would be nice. We've had a long journey."

Bastion frowned at her. "So it's true. You're an Inquisitor for Antilles Dragonheart. And you've got the likes of the Crimson Hood by your side. I figured you were many things, Aster Phoenix, but a follower of the Dragonheart Party? I don't know what to say."

"We're not as bad as you think," Alexandra implored him.

"No? I don't believe your uncle delaying High King Yuri's return is a very good deed. It seems every time the boy achieves something great, your uncle is there to throw something else his way. Honestly, princess, if Yuri becomes the world champion of the other dimension, ousts the corruption in his home and is still delayed from coming back home, believe me, there is going to be war. Your uncle may have power in the senate but the people are the ones with the real power here. Displease them and they will turn against you. I guarantee you that."

"He will do no such thing. If Yuri completes those challenges, my uncle will do nothing to prevent his return. Believe me."

"Excuse me if I find your words hard to believe. My family always told me to never trust a Dragonheart. If you wish food and lodging, they're available to you, but just for tonight. Tomorrow morning, you are to find a ship and leave. Am I understood."

"Geeze," said Hassleberry. "Sorry, bro. We didn't want to be a bother."

"Dragonhearts have never been welcome in these parts," said Bastion. "This is a city of the High King. And we want him back on the throne. Orcs are rallying each other across the ocean, Kaijus are laying waste to Kyoto, and now the Covenant of Yeyu are equipped with mechs to slay Lady Avi's True Dragons. It's chaos out here. We need a High King and the God Cards at once. Your uncle seems keen on keeping our homeland locked in an endless civil war."

"Enough!" said Aster. "We get it. I understand your frustration, Bastion. We just need a place to stay for the night. I'll pay you for your trouble. At dinner, I can explain everything, I promise."

"Very well. Come on."

Bastion unlocked the gate with a big golden key and opened the door. As Alexandra passed by he said: "I warn you, Princess. We've got our eye on you. No funny business."

"None at all, Mr. Misawa. I have come here with the best intentions."

"Your family started meaningless wars with their best intentions." He slammed the door and shoved past her to lead his friends into his castle.

The settlement of Green Palm was once a bustling town of trade where weary sailors would make port in their warm harbor town and help themselves to sweet mead and rum. But now, it was a flaming ruin. The buildings were blazed with orange light, snapping up into the starry heavens like a ravenous fiend hungry for more. The coconut trees were stripped of their fruits and then chopped up to be used as wood for the invaders, who were done pillaging the settlement.

A squad of mercenaries, hired to guard the town, were hanging from their necks on the ashy plaza. Its landmark stone clock tower was lassoed by a group of strong thugs and the dreaded lizardmen who were now using the Tropical Kingdoms to commit piracy. In unison, they tugged and they tugged until the clock tower collapsed and fell to the ground with a great crash. The pirates held up their arms and cheered as a cloud of dust rose up into the air and disturbed the embers, causing them to dance around in dismay.

Two blue and yellow-scaled lizardmen hopped onto the rubble and used their claws to dig through the stones until they found the Golden Bell of Green Palm, an artifact with a rich history spanning over a hundred years, soon to be melted down and turned into gold bars. Another prize for the young and ruthless Captain Charles Lawson, perhaps one of the most wanted men in the Singing Sea. He stood on the base where the statue of the settlement's founder once stood, his leg up on the statue's amputated ankle like a conquering hero as the flag bearing his colors waved behind him.

He watched as the women were marched one by one below deck. Young boys followed suit. They were going to be sold and be used as labor in the salt mines of Erexas, an island still uncharted by the map makers of the world. Charles watched them with a terrible sneer. They were not people to him, merely a means to make him more money and increase his infamy so that he would become as feared as the Crimson Captain.

"Cap'n!" called Slith, his lizardman first mate. He was a bulky creature, but very strong and very fast, wearing armor he made from the hide of a wyvern he killed when he was young. He had a long and saggy dewlap under his chin and his scales were pale green. His eyes burned bright red in the light of the flames and his head was crowned with three lengthy horns, each of them pierced with gold rings. He found Charles standing on the statue's ruin and hobbled towards him.

"Cap'n! There you are! I thinksss I've found what yer lookin' for." He handed the twenty-two-year-old barbarian a scroll found in the archives of the town mayor, who perished after he walked the plank and was eaten alive by the predators that stalked the waters around the island.

"What's this?" Charles asked, swiping the scroll. He read the page up and down and smiled. "Well done, Slith. Your pay is rising, my scaly friend." He tossed the lizard a large pink pearl. "I just knew this town had to have some clue."

"You're too gracioussss, Cap'n!" Slith said with a disordered bow. "Are we clossssse to the Crimsssson Captain'ssss treasure?"

"I wouldn't say close," Charles replied, his voice was deep and salty like the sea. "But it is one pace more than we had yesterday."

"And what'sss the next clue? I do hope we're not going to be led into another wild goosssse chassse. "

"My fortune is no good to me now that I'm dead," Charles said, quoting Captain Makiyata's last words. "So go ahead. Claim it! It's all yours for the taking. But you'll never find it, for only the Heart of the Ocean knows the way."

Slith rubbed his dewlap. "Hmm, what could the bastard have meant by that?"

"I have an idea as to what he meant. And our next destination is about a hundred miles that way!" He pointed at the horizon. "Port Peace. One of the wealthiest islands in the Thousand Island Estates and a highly revered ally to the Tropical Kingdoms."

"And one of the most heavily guarded," said Slith. "We're going to risk a lot of our men trying to take that place."

"It'll be worth it, Slith. The last clue to finding the great fortune of the Crimson Captain is right there on that island." His eyes twinkled. "This time I'm sure."