I wrote this back in March of 2017. This was the first Yugioh fic I wrote in a very long time, and I think I'd only ever written fic for the original Yugioh, so I think this was my first fic for any of the spinoffs, let alone two of them. Nowadays I'm constantly writing fic for a lot of the different Yugioh series, so I've come a long way! This is post-GX and very close to the end of Arc V, where Yuya and Yuri and Leo and Yusho are facing off. Yubel is in this fic, is nonbinary, and uses they/them pronouns in this fic. I'll include some of the original notes after this sentence.
Be the content you want to see in this world. I'm extremely upset every day that GX's Supreme King has no relation to Arc V's Supreme King Dragon Zarc. I mean, they're both Supreme Kings. They're both related to darkness and they both tried to kill everyone and stuff. It's perfect. It'd work really well. I've been thinking this and hoping back when Yuya first used the card Supreme's King's Wings in the Synchro Dimension, before any mention of dragons or Zarc. I don't know if this content is already out there, but I have a huge need.
Jaden and Yuya both really need therapy and I really want them to be friends because they could absolutely relate to each other and help each other through everything and someone please help these boys they deserve better.
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When he entered the head professor's room, Jaden was immediately struck by how much Duel Academy had changed.
The large screen TV, gone. Chancellor Shepherd's desk, gone. Secret passageways and plants and any hint of what it once was was gone. The whole area was much more spacious, merely had a chair and not a whole desk, and it was filled with tense, angry duelists.
Honestly, Jaden wasn't sure if this was once the Duel Academy he had attended or not. Keeping track was hard at this point. Far too much traveling, and far too little keeping up with current events. The term 'current events' itself was becoming hard to define.
Some duelists were happier than others. One older duelist in particular seemed to be having a good time, despite his opponents annoyances. But Jaden wasn't too drawn to any of that.
Instead, it was the boy emanating darkness itself that caught his eye.
What kind of darkness was it? A darkness like Jaden's own, gentle and striving to maintain balance? Or something like that of Nightshroud's, calling out to the darkness in duelists' hearts and offering up a new world? At a glance, it was hard to say. If the look in this boy's eyes was any evidence, though, it was probably the latter.
Currently, this boy was pinned to the top of a pillar, unable to move or act. Having a conversation from Jaden's current position would be hard. So he'd just get closer. If he was going to do anything here, he'd have to get a better idea of the situation first. His involvement, though was still undecided.
"Hey, you!" Jaden called out, running towards the pillar.
The boy looked down at him, his eyes burning with the same ferocity. He gave no response.
"What's your name?" Jaden asked.
He seemed to struggle with a response, physically and mentally. The boy fought to free himself from the pillar, and needed a few seconds to give a verbal response. "Yuya...Sakaki..."
Something definitely wasn't right here, as if Jaden didn't know that already.
"Yuya? Nice to meet you! I'm Jaden Yuki," Jaden said. "So, Yuya, how's the weather up there?"
It was obvious Yuya didn't appreciate that joke. He paused in his struggles long enough to give Jaden a silent glare, before resuming.
"Right...probably not the best time for that," Jaden noted. He frowned, tilted his head for a moment, and simply shrugged it off. "So, how'd you get up there, anyway? Do you need help? I mean, you're definitely not..."
"NO!"
The sudden scream caught Jaden off guard, and he quickly threw his hands up in self-defense and started apologizing. He then realized, a bit delayed, that Yuya wasn't addressing him. Instead, it was some boy with purple hair in a nearby duel.
Had this guy been talking before? Jaden wasn't sure. He really needed to start paying more attention.
"I won't join you...!" Yuya went on. "I won't...become a demon...!"
"What a shame," the other boy said. "A few minutes ago, you were crazy about me! But don't worry, you'll change your tune soon enough."
Jaden wanted to use his powers to get closer, get up in the air and level with Yuya. That'd be hard, though. Yubel was powerful, but they usually couldn't keep a monster physically present for long at all. He'd have to settle with staying where he was.
"Hey, Yuya, don't worry. I don't know what anyone else is saying, but I'm sure you're no demon," Jaden said. He looked around quickly, before focusing on Yuya's arm, and the duel disk on it. "Are you a duelist?"
If Yuya heard Jaden, he didn't respond. Yuya was still struggling to free himself from the pillar, and seemed to be channeling most of his attention to that. He wasn't even looking at Jaden.
"Well, I mean, you probably are." Noticing that Yuya either couldn't or wouldn't respond, Jaden kept talking. "But I don't think you're really in any condition to duel. Which stinks, because that'd be the best way to figure this out..."
"Jaden."
Jaden blinked and looked around. Yubel's spirit had materialized just behind him. They were looking up at Yuya with the smallest hint of a frown. The darkness Yuya was emitting was only growing, and their expression grew more grave with it.
"Something about this place seems off," they said. "I'm not sure what it is, but duel monsters have a stronger presence here. If you summon a monster, it should be able to stick around longer than our powers would usually allow. We need to get closer to him and figure this out."
"Right." Jaden glanced down at his duel disk. It was already activating, with his deck already in place, ready for his next move. Whatever monster Jaden summoned wasn't important. Most of the monsters in his deck at the moment would be able to do what he needed. He didn't really have any specific monster in mind, either, so he'd leave what monster he summoned to the cards. Whoever was ready and willing to help, that would be the card he drew.
He couldn't help but smile a little after seeing the card he drew, though. It made sense. Given the circumstance, they were about as worried as he was. Silently, he placed Yubel on his duel disk in attack mode. They appeared behind him, and without either of them needing to say a word, Yubel picked Jaden up bridal style and floated up towards Yuya.
"You didn't have to pick me up like that, you know," Jaden mumbled.
"Don't worry, I know," Yubel assured him.
Jaden rolled his eyes. Whatever, he'd just deal with it. Up closer to Yuya, he was able to analyze the situation much better. First, the darkness. It was almost as if it was trying to push everyone away from itself, and it was easy to tell it was malicious, violent. Was this how the others had felt seeing him as the Supreme King? The other main concern here was how Yuya was pinned to the pillar. This was clearly from a trap card of some kind. Was there someone else here with powers like his? Or, Yubel had mentioned duel monsters having a stronger presence here, and now Jaden could feel it, too. Maybe it applied to traps and spells as well? Something here made cards as real as the water surrounding the island. He had no idea what, but he would find out soon enough. He was too curious not to, as both someone who was part duel monster and a duelist himself.
But, okay, back to the task at hand Jaden.
"Hey, Yuya, can you hear me?" he asked. Yuya looked at him, but gave no other indication either way. "I've been here before; I can tell you have a lot of darkness, and I do too. I was afraid and had a lot of guilt, and I used it to lash out at people. I hurt a lot of people, and then I was so afraid of it that I didn't think I would ever use it again. I didn't want to. So I get it. It's hard and it's painful, and I know how it feels."
Yuya was no longer looking at Jaden. But he didn't seem to be struggling as hard against the pillar anymore, either. It was hard to say what exactly was running through his mind.
"But I'm more than the darkness inside me, and so are you." Regardless, Jaden wasn't going to stop now. "Darkness doesn't define us. We don't have to be people that lash out and hurt anyone that gets near us. But that power helps make us strong, too. We can use it to help people, or even just to have a fun duel. Darkness doesn't have to be a bad thing- I know that better than anyone."
Yuya had gone still. He was still looking away, at the duel the kid with purple hair was taking part in.
"So whatever's going on, I know you're strong enough to overcome it," Jaden told him. "You have this darkness, you have this power, but it's your choice how you use it. I know you can use it for good. I believe in you."
And now, for the first time since Jaden had summoned Yubel, Yuya spoke, though it was only a whisper.
"When you feel like you're about to cry...laugh instead."
"What was that?" Jaden asked.
Yuya looked back over at Jaden, and smiled. His eyes were now clear, void of the malicious presence trying to make itself known through him before. It was all Yuya now, and he was much calmer. "When you feel like you're about to cry, laugh instead. It's something my dad taught me. He's an Entertainment Duelist, who duels to make everyone laugh and smile, from the audience to the duelists themselves. Its his way of dueling, and mine too. Every time I duel, I want to bring smiles to the world. That's how I dueled this whole time, up to this point. It really felt like I was making progress towards that goal, too.
"And then I came here, and I learned the truth." His expression dropped as he thought back to only moments before. "I'm not really who I thought I was after all. I'm just part of a reincarnation of a demon duelist who wants to reform and destroy everything. And no matter how much I fought against it, it seemed like that was going to happen. It was my destiny, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fight it. That's why I'm here: to try to stop the inevitable."
"Destiny's not set in stone," Jaden said. "You can make your own destiny."
Yuya nodded. "Yeah, you're right. And I think you're right about everything else, too. I can't be afraid of myself, or my monsters, or my abilities. I can't help who I am, but I'm not limited to just that. The world's full of endless possibilities. Even the dragons I used to hurt so many people...we can learn to help everyone smile instead. We don't have to keep making the same mistakes. Of course," he let out a bitter laugh, "that's all easier said than done. Zarc's not going to stop trying to take over just because of anything I say or do. Realizing all that doesn't magically make everything okay."
"Trust me, I know the feeling." A hollow smile flashed onto Jaden's face, gone as quick as it came. "It took me a long time to be okay with what I did, and what I'm capable of. Even now, I still can't say that I'm not afraid, or that my guilt over everything isn't still eating at me. None of it's ever...really okay. But it helps when you're not alone. Don't forget that you have friends, and don't isolate yourself. And I'm here, too. We should definitely have a long talk about it after this is all over. I think it'll help us both."
"Definitely."
"But for now, nothing's gonna happen if you're just stuck up there," Jaden declared. "I think you'll be okay. You're definitely a lot calmer now. And if that Zarc guy does take over, I'll do what I can to help fix things. It won't be a repeat of last time, I promise."
He looked up at Yubel, who nodded to him. Smiling, Jaden reached into his back pocket. After getting used to the powers he had with Yubel, he'd found that it was helpful to keep some cards on him that he didn't use in his deck, but still could aide the situation if needed. This was one of those moments. There weren't many cards in his deck that could negate a trap, but it was a legal move if he wasn't actually dueling, and he already knew traps and probably spells could be made real here, so... Out of his pocket, he played the spell Remove Trap. His eyes glowed as he targeted whatever trap was being used on Yuya, and there was some resistance, but the trap was negated. Quickly, Jaden drew the next card on top of his deck and played it; it turned out to be Elemental Hero Sparkman. Sparkman appeared as the trap disappeared, and caught Yuya before he could hit the ground. Yubel and Sparkman put both boys back on the ground, and Jaden waved at them both as they disappeared.
"Thanks Yubel, thanks Sparkman. I really appreciate it."
"That trap card was bugged," Yuya told Jaden. "I don't know how you destroyed it. The Solid Mass System shouldn't have been able to..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter right now. Like you said, we can talk more about all of this later. Right now we have work to do." He flashed Jaden a grin. "Thanks for offering the backup, even if we just met. I don't think I can hold Zarc off, but every person prepared to stop him gives us all a better chance. I'm sure my other friends will help, too."
"Hey, no problem!" Jaden gave him his signature pose. "I've got experience in the whole 'saving the world' business. We'll fix this."
