"A duel arena? An entire duel arena! I leave you two alone for the equivalent of an afternoon stroll, and you took down an entire duel arena!"

"Professor Banner, prioritieeeees!" Jaden dug through his bag, pulling out a spare shirt.

Tip #1 for disrupting the rule of law: Always have a different look.

Hair. Gotta hide the hair. The living Kuriboh look gave him away, so he needed to cover it. Jaden spotted a guy leaned against the stairwell opposite from him. Perfect.

Tip #2: Improvise with your surroundings.

"Hey, buddy," Jaden called, keeping his voice as low as it could carry in the loud subway. "Five bucks and half a sandwich for your hat. Five seconds. Take it or leave it."

"Deal."

A few minutes and a trade later, Jaden was wrapping his duel disk up with his clothes and stuffing them into his backpack, apologizing as he woke up Pharaoh the cat. Best he was gonna manage right now.

"Are you even listening to me!"

Jaden peered around the corner of the stairwell, checking the perimeter for any officers between him and the subway car he was aiming for. A sigh exited his lips. As much as he wanted Professor Banner's verbal rending to end, he did deserve it.

"Listen, just let me get on that train and out of the city before the cops catch me, and I'll let you lecture me for a week straight," he pleaded, pulling away and pressing his back against the wall. "I can't go to jail, man. You know what they'd do to a kid like me?"

"Jaden, you're in your twenties," Yubel pointed out, not seeing what all the fuss was about. She had blown up plenty of buildings before, what was one more?

"That's young to them, man!" Jaden shot back. Spotting a cop, Jaden went white as a ghost as he retreated back up the stairs. "Okay, Yuki you can do this. Classic Jaden cool, on."

Tip #3: Act like you belong.

The subway station was packed, full of bustling feet, idle murmurs, and rushed chit chat. Someone down the way was playing a horn. Just another passenger catching a train, just like him. Putting on a smile, Jaden turned and took a huge step forward, skipping the steps and landing on the floor in one quick motion. A few passersby gave him a snide look for that.

But Jaden quickly moved on. Pretend like nothing was wrong and no one would stop you, he thought. Just like sneaking out of lectures.

A cop gave Jaden a look for a moment before absentmindedly turning away.

Just like that.

Reaching his train car, Jaden found himself in the back of a small crowd. The trains were stopped and any second now, they'd open up, and Jaden would squeeze his way to freedom. Any second now… Any second now…

And because nothing ever goes to plan, that second didn't come. Instead, a large whirring sounded through the station, red poles popping out from the ground and blocking the entry and exit to the subway carts. A round of groans filled the subway station.

"Wait, what, huh?" Jaden's head spun around, panic returning. "What's going on?"

"This happens every week man, I swear," a voice in the crowd complained, loudly. "One guy doesn't pay his toll and they shut the whole subway down! Can ya believe my taxes go to this?"

"Except in this case it's a bit more than a toll skipper they're looking for," Yubel noted, as she spotted police officers moving in from the distance. "I'd tell you to run now, Jaden. But I doubt you'd make it very far before they caught you."

"And now we're evading the police!?"

"Newsflash, Banner. We've been doing that this whole time," Jaden said, gritted through his teeth. "This subway doesn't exactly lead to the police station!"

While Jaden got to work, thinking of some hair-brained scheme to get out of there, a girl, no higher than Jaden's waist, looked up at him with wide-eyed curiosity. She popped a lollipop out of her mouth.

"Hey mister, I like your cat. He's cute," she said, pulling Jaden out of his anxious state as he looked down at the curly redheaded girl.

Peering over his shoulder, Jaden realized that Pharaoh had managed to dig his way up his bag until his head popped out of the top.

"Mieru, shh!" The girl's mother pulled her in close. "What have I said about talking to strangers?"

At that, Jaden got an idea.

"Alright then. Let's hear your master plan for avoiding the law enforcement," Banner shot out.

"No need to avoid them," Jaden whispered. "They'll avoid me, a random law-abiding citizen."

Jaden crouched down to be level with the girl.

"Oh ma'am, it's not a problem at all! I get this all the time," Jaden said with a laugh. From the blurry reflection in the train window, he caught the sight of officers shifting through the crowd. Not needing another cue, he pulled his bag around and brought Pharoah forward. "This is Pharaoh, one of the best little kitties you'll ever meet. I'd offer to let you hold him, but he's a little grumpy from his nap."

The girl's eyes lit up with stars as Jaden offered the cat forward for her to pet. Best day ever! Her mother, meanwhile, rolled her eyes as she accepted the small blessing in their wait.

"Thank you so much, mister!" the girl cheered, a bit too loud as she petted Pharoah a bit too roughly. Jaden wasn't one for animal cruelty, but the more he could make himself look like a kind-hearted stranger, the better. After a moment, the girl gave Jaden another look as a thought processed in her head. "Hey mister, are you one of the builders on the big new towers?"

"What makes you say that?" Jaden asked with a laugh. The kid pointed with her lollipop.

"All the dirt on your pants," she said, her eyes turning back to Pharoah. "My daddy works on building all those towers, and his pants look like that every day."

Jaden looked down. Up to his knees in sawdust and splinters— The remains of the duel arena he nearly toppled on himself. An idea was processing in his mind, but Jaden just couldn't quite finish it.

Because in the next moment, he was suddenly pulled to his feet.

"Hey, you there!" an officer called, sending ice water into Jaden's veins as he stood straight.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jaden turned around, trying to keep his cool. "Is there a problem, officer?"

"Uh…" The cop blinked as Jaden brought Pharoah up to his chest, putting the officer off his groove from the start. That moment of pause let the idea in Jaden's head finally ferment, as it clicked.

Tip #4: Be practical. Your best weapon is Occam's Razor.

"I don't know why you're stopping me, man," Jaden started, taking on a gruffer voice. "I've had a long day building half the towers in this city, I don't deserve this. Look at these pants for crying out loud!"

The officer glanced down and right as rain he found Jaden's pants plastered with half the scrap of a construction site. Alibi checked out. But this guy was definitely a match for the suspect.

"This'll just be a minute—" The officer reached to their side and pulled up a tiny tablet, a bit bigger than a cellphone. With a click, they booted it up and began to look over something.

Jaden resisted freezing up, realizing then that the cop was checking to see if he matched the description. What could he do, what could he do! He was surrounded by people, so he couldn't make a break for it. And as much as he was sure he could take this guy in a straight fight, he wasn't cruising to add assault and battery to his charges.

All Jaden could do was wait.

"Hey, Trudge! What's holding you up?" another cop called as they approached the scene, only adding to Jaden's anxiety. "This our guy?"

The cop named Trudge gave Jaden another look before turning to his partner.

"He matches the description pretty good," he began, spiking Jaden's heart rate. "But it says our guy has brown eyes. This guy is green and orange."

Jaden breathed a massive sigh of relief as the two cops walked away from the crowd, the realization of what just happened hitting him all at once. His eyes, he'd changed eye colours with his powers!

"That was a close call," Yubel remarked, smiling as she saw her eyes on Jaden's face. "Rather unconventional use of our abilities, I will say."

"The power of the Supreme King, used to evade the police for petty crimes," Banner huffed. "Oh how the mighty have fallen."

Jaden squatted down to rebalance himself, bringing him face to face with the girl he was talking to moments ago: Mieru.

"You tell me what universe you're living in where taking down a building is a petty crime," Jaden muttered under his breath. "Cause I wanna live in it right about now."

"Hey…" Mieru pointed at Jaden, just as the security poles finally rescinded and the subway car opened up. "How did you do that? Your eyes are a different colour."

Standing straight, Jaden gave the girl a wily grin.

"Magic," he answered, pushing Pharaoh back into his bag and pulling the whole thing over his shoulder. "World's full of it if you know where to look."

The girl gave Jaden a wide-eyed stare as her mother pulled her away. Without time for another word, Mieru waved at Jaden one last time before she disappeared from sight.

Jaden snorted, the exchange leaving him with a moment of thought before he strode forward.

"Well, Yuki, you've outdone yourself this time," he said to himself. "Freedom, here I come—!"

"Excuse me, coming through!" a familiar voice called out suddenly, pulling Jaden's attention as he paused right on the edge of the platform and the cart. He turned to see the crowd in the subway cart jostle and shift, as someone was obviously burrowing their way through them. Then, in a sudden flash of deep blue, a person popped out and rushed towards the exit.

And straight into Jaden.

"Oh, jeeze—" With a crash, Jaden was sent flying out of the subway cart, thrown flat on his butt as the source of the voice sputtered out apologies. Jaden rubbed his head as he groaned. "I'd tell you to watch where you were going, but—"

The sound of the closing subway doors shut Jaden up quite quickly.

"Oh no— Oh no, no, no!" Jaden leapt to his feet, rushing back up to the train as quick as he could, leaving the person who crashed into him behind. "Ya left one! Open up, come on!"

But it was too late, as the train began chugging along without a care for Jaden's woes.

"Oh come on!" In a fit of frustration, Jaden ripped the cap from his head and tossed it onto the ground, breaking his cool for a solid minute. As he did so, the person who crashed into him earlier hummed in thought.

"...Jay?" the voice questioned, making Jaden pause before he turned.

"Syrus?" Jaden couldn't believe it. Right there, clear as day, still rocking his Obelisk Blue jacket was the one and only— "Syrus friggin Truesdale!"

"Jay!" The two old friends rushed into each other for a hearty hug, laughing at the sheer chances they'd actually managed to run into each other like this— Literally! "I can't believe you're here! We've been hearing so little from you, some of us were worried you'd kicked the bucket."

Syrus paused as the two separated, looking over Jaden as he scooped his hat off the ground.

"What the heck are you wearing?" he asked then, earning a look of chagrin from Jaden.

"Uhhh." Peeking over his shoulder, Jaden spotted one of the cops from earlier giving him an odd look. "Listen, why don't we get out of here and I can tell ya everything, what do you say?"

Syrus smiled as Jaden put his arm around his shoulder, before pulling him a bit roughly towards the subway station exit.

"Sounds awesome!"

"Your number 8, please!" Jaden called with a cheery smile, as the same waitress from days earlier rolled her eyes. After jotting down Jaden's order, she turned to Syrus and smiled.

"And what will it be for you, sir?" she asked, obviously more pleased to serve him than Jaden.

"Oh, just water please," Syrus explained, giving her a smile as she stepped away from their table.

"Why can't I get service like that?" Jaden muttered, pulling the hat off his head and stuffing it into his bag. "I'm a paying customer too."

"You didn't even pay the last time you were here," Banner muttered, to which Jaden ignored.

"Maybe it's just my rugged good looks," Syrus said with a laugh, scratching the side of his face as Jaden cracked a smile.

"Speaking of looking good, look at you!" Jaden shot back, reaching over the table and pulling at Syrus's jacket. He noticed a few stitched patches on its sleeves. "Are those sponsorships? You've got sponsors!"

Syrus's laughter didn't stop as Jaden pulled away.

"Just a few, heh. Pays for all the travel I've got to do between cities," he explained, finally settling down.

"Sounds like I need one of those," Jaden mentioned under his breath, remembering the many miles of hitchhiking he'd been doing the last few years. "Oh hey, speaking of traveling— What're you doing in Domino!"

Syrus's wide smile dropped as he looked at Jaden in confusion, almost cocking his head.

"What do you mean, Jay?" he began, as the waitress returned and dropped off their drinks. "Every Pro-League Duelist got the message about the major tournament being announced here soon! Didn't you?"

Jaden's assured smile nearly broke then, as he realized he was now stuck in a very awkward conversation, one he never really thought about before. Because while Syrus was a professional duelist, rising the ranks of the Pro-League Circuit, getting sponsorships for god's sake, Jaden…

Wasn't.

That wasn't going to stop Jaden from lying through his teeth about it, though.

"Of course!" he said, giving Syrus one of his patented Jaden Yuki 'please-don't-see-through-my-obvious-web-of-lies' smiles. "But I, uh, lost the pamphlet. Wanna give me the rundown?"

"Jaden Yuki, master class actor," Yubel whispered.

Syrus gave Jaden a smile as he reached into his pocket.

"Sure!" he said, pulling out his phone and opening it up. "They haven't told us much, but Kaiba Corp said there's gonna be a big announcement live in the city— Every big name there is has been invited!"

Syrus stuffed his phone back into his pocket as he continued.

"A bunch of Duel Academy alumni got invites, so we decided to meet up to watch the announcement," he explained, looking out the window. "Hey, if you've got the time, why don't you come along!"

Having long forgotten the fact he was still a wanted criminal, Jaden gave Syrus a wide grin.

"Heck yeah, let's do it!" he said. "It'd be great to see everyone again. Maybe I can give 'em some pointers, like old times."

"Yeah, sure, Jay," Syrus replied with a giggle. The two shared a moment of laughter as Jaden thought over the whole thing.

Seeing the old gang would be sick! He hadn't had a chance to see them ever since graduation— There were all pros and stuff now! How crazy was that?

Sure, he wasn't actually invited until now. But it was Jaden! Who wouldn't want to see him, right?

...Right?

Jaden glanced right and left of the door Syrus had brought him to, finding a sign in the low lighting of the hallway.

Private Room GX-21

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, wondering if it was an intentional choice. If it was, Alexis probably picked it out. She was smart enough to come up with something like that. If they'd left it up to Jaden, he'd have probably picked Room SEX-69, because, as was obvious, he was very mature.

Eventually, Syrus managed to remember the key code he'd been given and got the door open, spilling light out into the hallway and bringing the room inside into view.

"Hey everybody, look who decided to join us!" Syrus's voice rang through the room as a half dozen heads turned. Before Jaden could even walk through the door and get out a hello, a resounding cry filled the air.

"Jaden!"

"Hey guys!" he said with a laugh, stepping into the room after Syrus as the small party left their chairs and tables to congregate around him.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't our favourite Slifer Slacker, finally reportin' for duty!" Hassleberry shot out first, reaching out to Jaden for a handshake. His iconic yellow jacket was missing, replaced with an appropriate brown leather version. "Now why don't you come bring 'er here, sarge!"

"Hah, you been slimming out, Hassleberry?" Jaden joked as he took Hassleberry's hand and came in for a back pat. In reality, his dinosaur-obsessed friend was somehow even more buff than when Jaden had last seen him. Hassleberry made a point of this when he patted Jaden's back and nearly knocked his spine out.

"A soldier's gotta keep on the top of his game!" he shot back as the two separated. "I better hear you've been too, Jaden."

"You know it!" Jaden said with a laugh as he turned to the next in the lineup: Alexis and her brother Atticus. "And they top the list again— There's my top two Rhodes siblings!"

Atticus cracked out with a laugh at that, while Alexis rolled her eyes, though even she still had a smile clear as day underneath.

"It's so good seeing you again, Jaden," she said, looking away for a moment to something behind her. "It's been— Whoa!"

Before she could complete that sentence, Jaden pulled her and her brother in for a big hug, laughing as he wrapped his arms around their shoulders.

"Great to see you too, Lexi!" Jaden said with a laugh as they separated. "And you too, Atticus. How's it hanging? You two ever get that partnership thing running?"

Jaden was joking when he asked, but Alexis's sigh and Atticus's dirty grin that followed proved it was more than just a joke.

"I'm glad you asked, Jaden my friend!" Atticus called, reaching into the pocket of his coat and pulling out a business card. He flashed it a few times before holding it steady in front of Jaden's face. "You're looking at the proud agent and promoter of one Alexis Rhodes, Pro-League Duelist extraordinaire!"

"Really? I thought I was looking at a business card," Jaden said with a laugh as he ducked past Atticus's outstretched arm to face Alexis again. "Agent huh? I'm kinda surprised you let him convince you. I would've been sure he'd try to get you singing again, hah."

"Oh trust me, I try to all the— Oof!" Atticus was cut off with a swift elbow to the gut from Alexis.

"Ahem," she began, answering Jaden's question herself. "You know, I wasn't so sure about it at first, but he really helps get my foot through the door. I've got a match scheduled for a regional title in a few months thanks to him."

"No kidding!" Jaden called out, putting a hand on Atticus's shoulder. "Look at you two, moving up in the world."

"Aw, thanks, Jay!" Atticus answered, perhaps taking a bit more credit than he deserved. He straightened up that smarmy look, however, when Alexis threatened another jab to his gut. "But hey, speaking about moving up— Now that you've shown your face again, what do you say about getting your people and me some connections? I'd love to get you and my sis for a feature match!"

"Uhhhh." Jaden blanked at the question, remembering that the gang thought Jaden was playing in the Pro-League. Thankfully, before Atticus could press for an answer, a distraction came to save Jaden's butt: a girl driving herself between Alexis and Atticus and straight into Jaden's side.

"Jaden!"

"Blair?!" Jaden was nearly knocked over as the girl hugged his waist, mercifully ending the awkward conversation. He laughed as his wits caught up to him. "Ah man, it really is a party in here, ahaha!"

"I've missed you sooo much!" Blair said then, pulling away finally but keeping a hand on Jaden's side. She pouted. "How come you never call, you never email, you don't even snail mail!"

"Ah well, it's snail mail. Maybe I have and it just hasn't arrived yet!" Jaden said with an awkward laugh as Blair took a step back, standing between Alexis and Hassleberry. Syrus joined the lineup then, as a peaceful quiet took the room for a moment.

Between all the jabs and jokes, there was a calm nostalgic warmth underneath it all. It was like Duel Academy all over again.

Speaking of which—

"Pardon, I can't exactly sneak past any of you without running you over." A joking voice broke through the quiet then, one that Jaden immediately recognized.

"Zane?" Jaden said with wide-eyed astonishment as Syrus and Blair parted, making way for Zane to drive in between them, literally. The electric wheelchair he was sat in was an unexpected sight for sure. Not one to be caught off guard, however, Jaden quickly bounced back with his usual grin. "Good to see ya, buddy! How's Duel Academy's best student holding up?

Zane took Jaden's handshake with a grin.

"I don't know, how are you holding up?" he shot back.

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush, man," Jaden laughed, shaking Zane's hand. Jaden took a moment, looking across the line of people before him, his friends, and smiled. As nice as Yubel and Banner and Pharaoh were as travel buddies, it was nice having the gang back togeth—

Wait.

Jaden turned, looking around the room, in case he missed anyone. Nope, that was everyone.

So where was—?

"Where's Chazz?"

End of Chapter 8