Yugioh GX Crowler Au

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)

"So what's going on here?" Jaden asked raising an eyebrow as he looked at the scene in front of him. He was heading to the card shop looking to buy a pack or two of cards to see if she got anything good, but instead of the small amount of hustle and bustle it usually was…the shop was almost overrun with people and there seemed to be a duel going on.

"There's your answer right there." Bastion said, appearing at her left hand side with just barely a sound, and directing her gaze to the poster on the wall that showcased a tour of a legendary deck.

"Ah that's right I forgot about them announcing that. I'm guessing the duel is for the last tickets." Jaden said looking a bit amused but mostly eager. She did like the idea of seeing the King of Games deck after all. If you see it and study it then you can come up with something to counter it. Honestly her Buster Blader and DNA Surgery deck would be a good choice for it, it was deemed as being too strong for all of the local tournaments she had been in after all. She had even beaten a few minor pro's with it and one major pro. Although against him it was mainly because she drew a great first hand and he didn't get a chance to pull out any of his big guns that wouldn't have made things worse for himself.

"Indeed. It's Syrus versus Demetri. He's a copy cat duelist that is currently using Doctor Crowler's deck." Bastion said before taking something out of his pocket and handing it to Jaden who raised an eyebrow. It was a ticket to see the deck, glancing at Bastion he waved his own ticket with a smirk.

"You can also reserve some tickets in advance if you know where to look and put up a good enough show in a duel as well as a few dollars in the right places." Bastion said making Jaden smirk back and raise an eyebrow. So Bastion had a cunning and sneaky side to him? Hm that just made him all the more amusing to the half-breed.

"Why Bastion are you asking me on a date?" Jaden asked teasingly since everyone was focused on the duel. The poor brit turned bright red but didn't refute it.

"Just don't call it that around your dad." Bastion said making Jaden blink and then blush a bit and glance away as she realized he didn't say no.

"He's not bad but he's missing a few things. Namely some cards that do happen to be in Dr. Crowler's deck." Jaden said looking at the duel again and seeing a few things that this Demetri guy was getting wrong about her dad's deck and dueling style. Sacrificing his Ancient Gear Engineer was one of them, and he didn't have Ancient Gear Factory or most of her dad's lesser known supporting spells for his particular type of deck.

"Yes he's quite good at mimicking decks of duelists but he never seems to have all of the cards that they have for their decks, especially some of the rarer ones or ones that they add in later. He doesn't seem to have Statue of the Wicked like Dr. Crowler did in the Entrance Exam duel, or if he does then he has yet to either draw them or play them." Bastion agreed as he watched the duel with a critical eye.

"Also I can see from here that he has an Ancient Gear Fist equip spell in his hand but he didn't equip it to the Engineer or the Knight, that would take out Syrus's face down without a problem and leave him wide open but instead he just wasted a turn that could have turned this duel around." Jaden said her sharp eyes catching a familiar picture on a card that she spotted in Demetri's hand.

"Hm that's quite the oversight. However since he merely copies other peoples decks he probably doesn't know most of the combo's or what some of the cards do fully. That would explain his losing streak at the moment." Bastion said with a hum of his own.

"He'd be a pretty good duel actor though since he's able to copy a person so thoroughly. Looks like he's about to add another tally to the losing side of his chart though. Syrus just got what he needed to win." Jaden said noting the look in her friend, and almost little brothers, eyes as he drew his card. Really Syrus was an open book, she should probably help him with that once she got his confidence up a bit more. That was slow going enough as it is.

"Hm yes I believe you're right. Duel Actor sounds like the perfect job for him once he graduates, as long as he learns how to preform combos' that the actual people would use and gets a bit better at getting the correct cards." Bastion said and as he was speaking Syrus had played his card and won the match.

"Did you see that Jaden? I won!" Syrus said bouncing over to Jaden happily and beaming proudly as he held out the tickets.

"I did. You were wonderful Sy. Why don't you invite Chumley to go with you to see the deck?" Jaden asked smiling at Syrus who blinked a bit and then drooped a little when he saw Jaden already holding a ticket to go and see the deck.

He should have known that Jaden would have one of the tickets already.

"Demetri right? Perhaps you should work more on using your combo's and sticking with someone you have all the cards for instead of just copying anyone who catches your fancy." Jaden said looking straight over Syrus's head, the boy really was rather short, and at Demetri who scowled at her and stormed off without a word.

"Doesn't look like he'll listen to your advice." Bastion said staring after Demetri and earning a hum from Jaden.

"I can not and will not force him to listen to it, he has to make that choice himself, all I can do is offer the avice." Jaden said shrugging slightly.

"If he is so deadset on his path or stubborn in his ways then who am I to judge him for it or force change upon him? He likely duels the way he does for a reason, just like everyone else. To judge him for it is to let yourself be open to judgement for the way you duel." Jaden said and her voice was pitched just right to carry to the others who were not so dicreetly mocking or sneering about Demetri being a copycat. They all shut up right then and there and looked penseive and unsure, those in Ra did at least. The ones in Obelisk only sneered at Jaden who didn't even so much as glance at them.

"Wow Jaden when'd you get so smart like that?" Syrus asked wide eyed in amazement and making Jaden give him one of the large joking grins that Bastion now realized were often fake. Jaden's real smiles were much softer and warmer and could never fail to make him blush a bit.

"What do you mean when did I get so smart? I've always been smart Sy!" Jaden said sounding as if he had taken offence to Syrus's words and was now giving the boy a noogie for it while Syrus whined and tried to swat Jaden off of him. Jaden released him after another moment or two of messing up the smaller boys' hair like a playful older sibling would, something Syrus didn't have any experience with from what they had gathered.

"I don't know Jaden. Some of your test scores sure don't say that." Syrus said after managing to get free from Jaden who scowled playfully at him and swatted lightly at the shorter boy while the other, non-arrogant, duelists wondered off to think about what Jaden had said.

A few of the more perceptive and observant ones wondered if perhaps Jaden was hiding his intelligence behind his mask of the fool. After all they had heard rumors of how he had scared two boys much larger than him with nothing more than a smile or some words, had beaten multiple Obelisk duelists, and he had been the one to catch the Duel Giant instead of the security force or a teacher. Those who were more perceptive and had noticed these things made mental notes to themselves to pay closer attention to the Slifer Red boy.

After all he was the one always at the center of whatever was happening.