Hey, guys! Back from a short, mini vacation and now I'm a bit focused towards this fanfic along with Cherished Evolution, though my interests are more towards Kingdom Hearts! With that said, let's get on with this filler chapter

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!

Jaden laid across her bed, staring at nothing but the darkness in the room. Things...currently haven't been going well for Jaden. Actually, it wasn't going well for the anyone at all ever since the Genex Tournament began.

No, everything traced back to when the Society of Light first took over the entire island, or rather, the Blue Dorms.

Afterwards, it was the Ra Yellow dorms that ended up as their next brainwashed victims. That was when Jaden started to truly realize the seriousness of the entire situation at hand. Back when Hassleberry and Syrus were kidnapped back in Domino City, while she was quite concerned and serious about rescuing them, she hadn't taken the entire situation very seriously. It was only after Bastion had turned to the other side and Aster's harsh words towards her that Jaden knew that things weren't simply going to be the usual "Get Your Game On" style.

Even now, she was doing a lot of thinking. She thought that the Genex Tournament would be more exciting and help cheer her up, and while it was certainly exciting, she found that she didn't quite...enjoy it that much. The duels she had were fun and all, but they haven't really fixed the whole Society of Light issue. In fact, she hasn't even fought a single Society of Light member ever since the tournament began. In fact, she hasn't done a single thing to stop the Society of Light!

What kind of a horrible, stupid person was she?

As though sensing Jaden's distress, some of her Duel Monsters sprung out from their cards, entering the human world in their spiritual forms, knowing full well Jaden could see them.

"Jaden..." spoke up Flame Wingman. "We...We need to talk. About something important."

Jaden nodded, looking up at them with a sorrowful expression that was soul-wrenching to them. "I...I wanna talk, too. But, I'll hear what you guys have to say, first."

Jaden's Duel Monsters glanced at one another worriedly. Something was obviously wrong with Jaden, and while they wished to know the problem, they acknowledged her decision and decided to speak what was on their mind first.

"Right...Jaden, we...I feel like we haven't been responsible enough for you," Flame Wingman began to explain. "All this time, we've been letting you roam around freely, doing what you wanted without consequence whatsoever. But in doing so, we feel like...you've become more childish and naïve to the cruelty of this world."

"Jaden, there are lots of good people in the human world," spoke Burstinatrix, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But at the same time, it doesn't excuse the fact that there are also very BAD people in this world, too. Not just that, but there's also a lot of terrible things in this world that we didn't want, and never want to expose you too. But, at the same time, that's bad, because...well, you need to grow up someday."

"So, we need to tell you that we can't always be there for you," comforted Lady Heat. "From now on, if you do anything bad or if we believe that you did do anything bad, we'll be sure to inform you so we can have a chat."

"We'll try our best to be supportive towards you as possible, Jaden," assured Neos.

"...Guys?" spoke up Jaden, looking up at them with tears in her eyes. "Am I...am I a terrible person?"

Seeing Jaden's tearful expression shocked her Duel Monsters, but it was even more heartbreaking to hear her speak such horrible words about herself. "No! Never! You could never be a terrible person!" exclaimed Flame Wingman, rushing over and clasping his hands onto her shoulders. "Who told you such a thing? I-"

"Flame Wingman, you're doing it again!" scolded Burstinatrix, reminding Flame Wingman of his overprotective nature.

"I...My apologies."

"Jaden, what caused you to think such a thing?" wondered Glow Moss, tilting her head curiously.

"I...I feel like I haven't been a good friend," admitted Jaden. "I couldn't save Chazz and Alexis when they were brainwashed, and I couldn't save Bastion when it was his turn to be brainwashed, too! I feel like a failure!"

"But none of that was your fault, Jaden. If anything, it's all Sartorius' fault that that happened," replied Glow Moss.

Jaden shook her head. "No...it was too late for Chazz and Alexis, but Bastion? He had a chance! I...He needed me at his most time of need, and I didn't even pay attention to him that day! All I did was laze around and fish and I just ignored his problems! I'm not a good person! I'm a horrible friend who didn't even acknowledge him when he needed me the most! And because of that, he's now in the Society of Light, and it's all my fault!"

Her Duel Spirit friends glanced at one another, unsure how to rebuttal that sort of logic. Technically, she was correct, but even so, the decision was entirely up to Bastion when he went forward and challenged Sartorius to a duel. But if Jaden had intervened and had talked to Bastion in the first like a good friend would, then perhaps Bastion's fate would have been entirely different.

"*Sniff*...Aster was right...I am a horrible friend. I'm stupid, selfish, lazy, and I don't take anything serious..."

"What?! So, this all comes back to that-"

"Flame Wingman!" yelled Burstinatrix before she and a few other Duel Spirits dragged him away from Jaden as the others tried comforting Jaden. "What have we told you about your temper?! You're not making things better by saying stuff like that!"

"But-"

"Burstinatrix is right," replied Aquos. "We already had this discussion before. You and Neos and all the others can't keep babying Jaden forever. She needs to learn her mistakes. Yes, this incident wasn't entirely her fault, but even so, even she's willing to acknowledge the fact that some part of it is her own fault. Stop trying to shift the blame onto others just because she's your favorite and acknowledge that some part of this is her fault."

"I know! I know you're all right, but-"

"Flame Wingman," spoke Lady Heat kindly. "It's alright to have a favorite human or so, but going overboard to the point where one must be too overprotective and not have them face the consequences of their actions is never a good thing. Your job isn't to force your opinions onto her, but we must listen and give helpful advice to her."

Flame Wingman sighed. "You're right...you're right...But I'm not used to her being this...grown-up and all."

"And that's perfectly fine. We're all new to helping her in this new way, but we have to remind ourselves that we don't want her to grow up spoiled and not recognizing the bad side of reality. Eventually, she's going to have to realize that there are a lot of bad things in the human world that we can't help her with, so this may be a good start to help her grow."

"She can still retain that cute, childish innocence of hers, and that passionate philosophy of duels having fun," replied Rampart Blaster. "But when the time comes for her to face Sartorius, which even I wish she doesn't have to, then she'll need to be prepared and be serious instead of claiming to have fun in that duel. If she does have fun, she'll start fooling around, and...and that'll be her downfall."

"...I understand. I...I will try."

"Good, because I don't think we can handle tossing you aside to help Jaden face serious conversations like these," said Aquos.

When Flame Wingman and the others returned, Jaden seemed in a better mood, and she had a few of her Duel Spirits, such as Winged Kuriboh, White Magician Pikeru, and Ebon Magician Curran cuddling up to her. "Hehehehe!~ Thanks, guys! I feel so much better getting this off my chest! I don't think Sy and Hassleberry would be much helpful in these sort of talks!"

"No problem, Jaden," assured Flare Scarab, nodding. "And if you ever need to talk to us and can't rely on your human friends for something like this, we're all ears."

"What do you plan to do about the situation now?" wondered Aquos. "You know that if you don't do anything about the Society of Light situation soon, it'll just grow worse. You talked to us, and you acknowledged your faults, so what will you do next?"

"Well...I do have an idea...but you guys aren't going to like it. Um...I don't think Flame Wingman and some of the others won't like it, at least..."

The next day...

"You want me to what?"

Jaden was now talking with Aster outside of his personal cruise ship instead of dueling other duelists like Syrus and Hassleberry currently were. She didn't pay any heed to the Genex Tournament at hand, because she knew that due to the Society of Light, the cult organization was more important than the tournament.

"Train me! Teach me how to become an even better duelist!" pleaded Jaden. "You were right, Aster, I am a horrible person! Because of my own selfishness and ignorance, I failed a lot of people, like Bastion. But, if I become stronger and even better at dueling, I might be able to take on Sartorius!"

"Well, well, well! I didn't think this day would come," mocked Aster, impressed. "You really want me to teach you how to be just as strong as a Pro Duelist?"

"Yes!"

"Hmm...Well, I do need all the help I need if I want to take down Sartorius, although it's already been established that we're allies...And I am getting a bit bored with all these other duelists...Alright. Why not? I've got time to spare."

"Yay!"

"Ah! Wait, there are conditions. First, you have to do what I say and obey every single order I give you. Second, you have to stop fooling around. No, 'Get Your Game On,' or any of that ridiculous shit. If you want to face Sartorius and the other Society of Light members, you have to be serious and merciless."

"You...kinda sound like we have to kill them."

Aster shook his head. "No, no. Nothing like that. Just know that if you lose even one duel, you'll practically be a puppet under their command, just like the other members."

Jaden nodded. "I know that. I've seen that too many times. There's really no way to counter that sort of brainwashing power Sartorius has."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Remember Hassleberry? He dueled Sartorius, and because of some dinosaur bone in his leg, he was able to escape the brainwashing effect. Still, while Hassleberry's safe and would serve as a useful ally, he definitely isn't strong enough to take on Sartorius."

"So...what? Should I get him to train under you too?"

"Ha! Him? Both him and your other blue-haired friend hate my guts! Yeah, I'm not even remotely interested in training him. We might be allies, but that's it. Besides, even if I did train him, I highly doubt he can beat Sartorius," scoffed Aster.

"Still, it doesn't hurt to try!" said Jaden.

"Whatever, my answer still stands. I'm not helping them. I'm only training you. End of discussion."

"But-!"

"End. Of. Discussion. Which brings me to the third condition. I will train you and only you. You bring any of your friends into this, the deal's off. You can tell them that I'm training you, and that's fine. But, hide them somewhere where they can watch and learn for themselves, and the deal's off. Those are my three conditions. Got it?"

"So...I have to obey your every command, no fooling around, and I can't bring anyone else to train with me. Is that right?" wondered Jaden, counting down the conditions with her fingers.

"Yes."

"...Alright, alright. I did ask for this. So, what's first on the list, teach?"

"Get your duel disk out. We're going to duel," said Aster, activating his own duel disk. "And trust me...I don't show mercy."

Jaden gulped, feeling the tension in the air sharpen tenfold from Aster's words. "R-Right-"

"Faster! Hurry up! Quit wasting time!"

"Eep!" Hurriedly, Jaden attached the duel disk to her wrist and activated her duel disk. "R-Ready!"

"Too slow! Your opponent can tell how weak you are if you show even the slightest hesitation! You made two mistakes there, Jaden!"

"And that is?"

"One, you were too slow! The enemy could have done something to harm you during that time! And two, you should have already had your duel disk on even before a duel! You'll never know when you're forced into a duel!"

"O-Okay!"

"This is basic Pro Duelist standards, so you'll do well to remember them! Now, let's duel!"

"Right! Get Your-"

"..."

"...G-Get your duel disk ready!"

"So close, Jaden. So close. You were lucky. Now, Get Your Game On!" taunted Aster.

Jaden stomped her foot. "Hey, no fair! I can't say it, but you can?"

"Of course. I'm the teacher, after all, and what I say goes! Respect my authority!"

"Alright, alright! Let's just do this already!"

- DUEL -

Aster - 4000 LP

VS

Jaden - 4000 LP

"I'll go first! My draw!" shouted Aster. "I summon Destiny Hero - Decider in Attack Mode!"

Destiny Hero - Decider - (DARK/Warrior) LV4 - (1600/1000)

"Whoa! I've never seen that Monster before!" exclaimed Jaden.

"Jaden, focus!" snapped Aster.

"Sorry!"

"Hmph! Well, I can't blame you for being amazed. There's a lot of Destiny Heroes you haven't seen yet! Now, I end my turn!"

"My turn, then!" Jaden said. "I draw! I activate Polymerization and fuse together Burstinatrix and Clayman in order to form Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster, in Defense Mode!"

Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster - (EARTH/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (2000/2500)

"Next, I summon Elemental Hero Heat in Attack Mode!"

Elemental Hero Heat - (FIRE/Pyro) - LV4 - (1600/1200)

"And now his special ability activates! He gains 200 extra Attack Points for every Elemental Hero I control, including him! So, he gains 400 Attack Points!"

Elemental Hero Heat - (FIRE/Pyro) - LV4 - (2000/1200)

"Now, attack Decider, Heat!"

Heat palms stirred up a large amount of fire magic before he threw it towards Decider, obliterating in a literal blaze of glory.

Aster - 3600 LP

Jaden - 4000 LP

"And now, thanks to Rampart Blaster's effect, she can attack your Life Points directly, but only after halving her Attack Points during damage calculation only!"

"Not so fast, Jaden!" shouted Aster. "I activate Destiny Hero - Dynatag's effect from my hand and send it to my Graveyard! During either of our Damage Step, when a Monster you control attacks and my Life Points are lower than yours, all I have to do is send Dynatag to the Graveyard, I take no Battle Damage, and when that happens, each of us takes 1000 Points of Damage!"

"...But that means you still take 1000 Points of Damage," Jaden pointed out.

"Yeah, but so do you! Then, again, maybe not! At this time, I now activate Decider's effect from my Graveyard! If a card or effect is activated that would deal effect damage to me the turn he was sent to the Graveyard, I can make that effect damage 0, and then add Decider to my Graveyard!"

"But...that means that only I'll be the one getting hit-! OH NO!"

Aster - 3600 LP

Jaden - 3000 LP

"Whoa...that was pretty impressive, Aster!" complimented Jaden. "A sweet combo like that-"

"If you have time to be praising your opponent, then you have time to duel!" said Aster. "Praise doesn't exist anywhere in the face of your enemy! Now, end your turn, already!"

"Alright, alright! I end my turn!"

"My turn, then!" Aster said. "I activate my own Polymerization and fuse Decider with my Celestial in order to Fusion Summon Destiny Hero - Dystopia!"

Destiny Hero - Dystopia - (DARK/Warrior/Fusion) - LV8 - (2800/2400)

"...You know, I'm not...really that surprised," admitted Jaden. "Excited and impressed, yeah, but not surprised."

That caught Aster off guard. "Huh? I thought this would be the part where you'd start squealing like an annoying fangirl."

"Nah, not really. I mean, it's pretty obvious you would Fusion Summon."

"What led you to that conclusion?"

"Well...I mean, I have my Elemental Heroes, and their main ability is to Fusion Summon into different, powerful Monsters. You have your Destiny Heroes. Put two and two together, and it's pretty clear that even your Destiny Heroes can Fusion Summon."

"Huh...now that you say that...I guess it really isn't surprising," said Aster, acknowledging her response. "But I'm still going to destroy you."

"Eep!"

"I activate Dystopia's effect! If he's Fusion Summoned, I can target one of the Fusion Materials used for his Fusion Summon and then inflict damage to you equal to its Attack Points! I choose Decider! Now, you get hit 1600 Points of Damage!"

Aster - 3600 LP

Jaden - 1400 LP

"Now, I activate the Spell, D - Dragging Hammer! I equip a Destiny Hero, Defender, onto Dystopia, and now he loses Attack Points equal to the Attack Points of Defender! Defender had 100 Attack Points, so Dystopia loses 100 Attack Points!"

Destiny Hero - Dystopia - (DARK/Warrior/Fusion) - LV8 - (2700/2400)

"I don't get it," said Jaden. "Would you intentionally weaken your own Monster? Your strongest one on the field, at that?"

Aster smirked. "To activate Dystopia's very interesting and useful effect! Once per turn, during either of our turns, if his Attack or Defense Points are changed, I can target a card on the field and destroy it!"

"Oh, no!"

"Say goodbye to your Rampart Blaster!"

Jaden shielded her face just as Dystopia released a blast that destroyed Rampart Blaster, leaving only Heat as her only Monster left. Unfortunately, because Rampart Blaster was destroyed, that also meant that Heat's effect would activate, and he would lose 200 Attack Points.

Elemental Hero Heat - (FIRE/Pyro) - LV4 - (1800/1200)

"Now, I attack with Dystopia! Destroy her Heat!"

Dystopia leapt up in the air and came back down, punching straight through the weakened Heat and easily destroying him.

Aster - 3600 LP

Jaden - 500 LP

"I...I made it..." panted Jaden.

"Oh, Jaden...Your naivety will be your downfall!" yelled Aster. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, D - Acceleration! It can only be activated during my Battle Phase! I select a Destiny Hero who's equipped with 1 or more Equip cards and destroy all Equip cards attached to that Destiny Hero! Defender is destroyed, and Dystopia regains his Attack Points!"

Destiny Hero - Dystopia - (DARK/Warrior/Fusion) - LV8 - (2800/2400)

"But I'm not done! Now, his Attack Points are halved!"

Destiny Hero - Dystopia - (DARK/Warrior/Fusion) - LV8 - (1400/2400)

"An additional effect is that now, he can attack twice this Battle Phase! He already attacked once already, and now he'll use his second chance to attack you directly!"

Dystopia rushed up to Jaden and punched her straight in the gut, sending her flying and crashing to the ground, defeated.

Aster - 3600 LP

Jaden - 0 LP

Winner: Aster

Aster walked up to the groaning Jaden and offered no hand of assistance. "If this is all you've got, then there's absolutely no way you'll be prepared to take on Sartorius."

"...I know..." sighed Jaden dejectedly, sitting up.

"...But...you didn't do half-bad," said Aster.

"Huh? Isn't this the part where you discourage me more, insult me, and so on?"

"Normally, yeah. Don't get me wrong. That's still going to happen during your training, but you did pretty average for your first training session. And coming to me for training was definitely a good decision. Nobody can train you to better yourself than I, after all."

"You know, the way you sound like that, it makes you sound like a narcissistic asshole," pointed out Jaden.

Ticked off, Aster bent down and started pulling on her cheeks. "Say that again."

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! I GIVE, I GIVE, I GIVE!"

"Good, because I was willing to do a lot worse. Now, get up! We're not finished training!"

"Huh? We're not gonna take a break or something?" questioned Jaden, rubbing her cheeks.

"You really think the enemy's going to allow us a break for every duel we win? No. What if you're surrounded by lots of Society of Light members and you have to face them all at once? Or they're just lining up one-by-one, waiting for you to weaken and then strike like a snake? No, we're continuing, now!"

"Alright, alright! I bet Sy and Hassleberry don't have to put up with stuff like this..."

Meanwhile...

"Is...Is that ALL of them?" panted Hassleberry as he was standing back-to-back with Syrus. Both of them had just finished quite a number of Society of Light members by teaming up together and were exhausted.

"Yeah...Whew...They just came out of nowhere and started attacking us!" cried out Syrus. "Why? Why target us?"

"Uh...Because in military terms, it'd be easier to take us hostage of the one target they truly desire? Jaden? Or maybe it's because they think we're the smaller fish in the pond!"

"Or, maybe it's just because we're friends with Jaden, but those are good reasons, too. Man, I bet Jaden doesn't have to put up with stuff like this..."

Skit: Master Aster

"You know, I just realized something," spoke up Jaden as they were taking a break.

"Yeah? What is it?" wondered Aster.

"Your name is...Aster, right?"

"...Jaden, I knew you weren't bright, but I didn't think you'd be this stupid."

"No, no! I'm getting somewhere with this! Just lemme finish!"

"Fine. What knowledge could your stupidity serve me today?"

Jaden pouted. "Rude! Anyways, I was just thinking of random words when one word popped into my mind! That word was really similar to your name, Aster!"

"Oh, really? What was the word?"

"Master!"

Aster couldn't help but smirk. "Well, if you really think of me as a 'master-'"

"Because if you replace the m, then all that's left is Aster!"

"Oh. Yeah, y-you're right. So...what about it?"

"Technically, another word for teacher is 'master,' right?" continued Jaden.

"Yeah, and...?"

"And whenever we summon monsters, it's kinda like magic, correct?"

"Don't know where the whole magic thing came from, but okay..."

"So!" began Jaden, pointing to Aster. "Would that make you...the Master Aster Caster?"

"Uh...what?"

"Yeah! That totally sounds cool, doesn't it? Master Aster Caster! Although, since you always beat your opponents in a disastrous way, I guess that makes you the...Master Aster Caster Disaster!"

"Oh, god, don't tell me this is gonna be a thing," sighed Aster, shaking his head.

"It is!" giggled Jaden. "What, don't you want me to go...Master Aster Caster Disaster Faster?"

"Stop...Just...Stop."

"Ooh! I got a really, really, REALLY good one! Master Aster Caster Disaster Faster Puppetmaster!"

"Okay, that does it! Break time's over! Let's continue training!"

"Awww! But I didn't get to finish! I wanted to go further! Like, Master Aster-"

"Finish another word of that, and I'll have you do 100 push-ups."

"I'll shut up now."

Skit: Blade Works Online

Some Society of Light members were sneaking quietly on the docks where Aster's cruise ship was, planning on ambushing Aster and hopefully winning against him so he could be a valuable asset to the Society of Light. As they snuck onboard, however, they did not expect the sound of noises, or rather...moans coming from inside.

"Aaah! Ah! Hyah! Ah! Fuck! Aah!"

"Hyah! Hoo! Ha! Aaack! Gah! Bitch! Gaaah!"

The Society of Light members glanced at each other; eyes widened and faces turning bright red. Was Aster doing to what they think he was doing...?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Damnit, Aster! That's not fair! Your sword's too long and powerful! It really roughed me up!"

Upon hearing that, the Society of Light members decided to duel Aster another time, abandoning their mission and leaving with pride, embarrassment and somewhat envy.

In reality, Aster and Jaden were planning a fighting game called Blade Works Online, where they already selected their own characters from a character selection screen and had already fought. Jaden's character happened to be a female martial artist, while Aster's character was a heroic swordsman.

"Well, maybe next time, pick a character that relies more on long-ranged attacks," advised Aster. "The whole point of playing this game isn't for fun. It's to find strategies and to know your own strengths and weaknesses and convert that into dueling. Every deck has a weakness and hidden strength within. My character relies a lot on mid and close combat, while yours just focuses on close-range. I took advantage of that knowledge and won."

"Awww...Fine, then! Round 2! Different character!"

"Fine, fine. Would be great having to kick your ass again."

"Ohhhh! It is SO ON!"

Skit: Torturous Training

"I see you slacking off there, Jaden! Hurry up and finish those sit-ups!"

"Y-Yes!"

"Draw your cards more faster! Like this!"

"I don't see how drawing cards faster will even improve my duel-"

"HEY! Am I the teacher here?!"

"Y-Yes-"

"Then shut up and obey me! Those were part of the conditions you agreed upon, remember?"

"Yes..."

"Run faster! Burn those calories! I know you eat a lot of fried shrimp! Hurry up!"

"Don't say stuff like that! It's sensitive!"

"Jump higher! Higher!"

"Exercise doesn't even come to dueling! I don't get why we're doing these drills!"

"I don't care! I want to see you DIE!"

"Whoa, what the hell?!"

"Sorry, I was caught up in the moment. I don't want to see you die, seriously."

"I'm GONNA DIE if I continue these exercises!"

"Then finish them before you do! Hurry up!"

Sorry, it's been a while, but this is just a filler chapter, with a bit of Aster x Jaden. Now, read and review!