I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx, Rosario + Vampire, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, or any other franchises used in this story related to the for-mentioned or not. The events and people in this story are completely fictional and any resemblance to real events or people in purely coincidental.
New Opponent and Old Allies
"And so the Newspaper Club returns," an upperclassman said as he read the newest addition of the Yokai Academy Times, before tossing it to the floor where it burst into flames, "It appears as though they need to be reminded of why I am in charge of this school"
x-x
"As you can see everything in the main offices, work-spaces, and restrooms have been completely renovated and refurbished," said the construction chief, a well set man with big hairy arms and a heavy six-o-clock shadow named Johnson or as Yubel had dubbed him Hotdog Breath since his breath smelled like hotdogs, as showed his employer around, the fact that his employer was about as old as his youngest kid was little weird to him but the checks didn't bounce.
Jaden looked at the man he had hired with a gaze that was a mixture several things, "I sense a "But" in there somewhere."
"There's been a small delay with those holding cells. A shipment is running late and won't be here for a couple of days," he said as they approached the room where the cells were.
"Dare I ask what was on that shipment?" Jaden sighed as he entered the room in question and saw what was missing.
"The bars."
Sure enough everything except for the bars for cell doors and windows were in place and was finished, which as Yubel pointed out was going to be a problem if they had to hold someone in said cells. Jaden thought for a moment and then borrowed a piece of chalk from the contractor and drew a line on the floor where each door and was going to be and fetched a can of red paint from where they had finished repainting IA seal by the entrance and dribbled a large spot just outside one of the cells.
"That should do it," Jaden said as he went to put the paint back and then go met up with his friends to hand out the papers they had worked so hard on for the past five days.
The contractor looked at the chalk line and paint spot and said to no-one in particular, "Do what?"
x-x
At the stand where the Newspaper Club was handing out the paper that covered the incident involving the art teacher and the kidnapped girls things were going swimmingly, especially since Tamao had put on her old swim suit and Kurumu had put a French maid outfit that she had taken along with some other things from Nagara's stash of such things before he and everything else owned was "escorted off of campus".
Half an hour after Jaden had shown up and had apologized for not showing up sooner, a blond-haired upperclassman that looked about a year older than Gin with flanked by a group of four other students. They all wore a black uniform that reminded Jaden a picture of an old style Japanese police uniform. But the thing that got Jaden's attention the most was how the students let them through without a word... and the fear in their eyes.
"Hello, I'm Kuyo head of the Public Safety Commission, may I have a copy?" The leader addressed the club as he approached Moka, giving Jaden a good look at him. He was taller than Jaden by little over a foot, wore his hair long and straight, and had two red marks above his eyes.
Gin tensed as he took the paper from Moka, which Jaden noticed along with the smirk that Kuyo had in response.
"I must say this is some pretty good work, but..." the blond's demeanor completely changed as his eyes showed anger and disgust.
"Who gave you permission to publish this content!?" he roared as was about to destroy the stand's table with an ax-kick, but he was stopped by Jaden catching his leg.
"Hey now, don't go destroying perfectly good tables for no reason," he said casually.
The head of the Student Police snarled at the boy's insouciance and flared his his aura to shut the boy up and let him know where he stood, and watched as everyone around started to become scarred and breathe hard.
Moka trembled under the spiritual pressure, 'No way... He can give off this much power in his human form?!' But Jaden just blinked once and then countered with the aura he had been developing on his own.
Fear seized Kuyo as an aura unlike any he had encountered before started to come from the boy who was previously not giving off anything. It wasn't as large as his that would blow away the aura of his enemies, but wouldn't be blown away, and it had teeth and claws, and it attacked.
Jaden's aura wasn't watered down like the other it times; he was throwing in his own intent with into the mix Yubel's now. If you were his enemy didn't just instill the feeling of fear, it made you afraid as it ripped through your mental Defenses and spiritual aura like a shadowy hell-hound without rest until it reached your core and devoured your heart and courage, drank the warmth in your blood and enjoyed your resolve for dessert and then asked if it could have seconds.
Kuyo was struggling to keep himself breathing while his subordinates were on the verge of passing out. But members the newspaper club didn't feel anything like what the Student Police was experiencing. They felt like there was a demonic beast, but that it was leaning up against their leg saying, "Don't worry I am your friend. I won't let anything bad happen... to you, until you do something to hurt me, and then we stop being friends... I am a demonic beast after all."
To the rest of the students reaction to that aura was that the beast had given them a quick onceover and said, "You do not interest me... Go away before I decide that you do." Most of them did.
Jaden let his aura run free until he was sure that Kuyo was ready to talk like a civilized person and then rained it back in. "Now that we've taken a moment cool off lets be civilized," Jaden said as the head of the SP quickly recovered, "What is the problem?"
Kuyo was quick to regain his superior attitude and smirked cockily, "Looks like your titles as Jaden "Nuraihyon" Yuki and the Lord of Fear aren't just for show."
Inside Jaden's inner world Yubel's eyes widened in surprise. If this meant what she thought it did then she would have to tell Jaden about what happened after the fall of his kingdom and their adventures together… But for now she'd keep quiet and see how things played out.
Jaden stared blankly and turned to his friends, "Unofficial assistant Ginei Morioka."
"Yes sir?" Gin responded completely seriously.
"The later of the tittles I understand, but as someone who was raised in the human world and barely passed human history I find myself in need of instruction, would you explain the first?"
"Nuraihyon was a one of a kind yokai that was believed to have been a monstrel, or mixed breed, that was renowned for his ability to seem completely human until someone provoked him and then unleashing his "Fear" techniques. There isn't any clear record of what those techniques were but they were powerful enough to earn him the title of Lord of Panamanian after Defeating a nine-tailed Inari. He also formed his own a band of Yokai that had exchanged loyalty cups of sake with him called the Night Parade of One-thousand Demons after winning their loyalty and was called by them as their supreme commander alongside his lieutenant a purple-skinned demoness with wings."
Jaden smirked as he mulled over the info he had just received, the bit about a purple-skinned demoness was ringing a bell but that aside, "Jaden "Nuraihyon" Yuki, the Lord of Fear... Has a nice ring to it."
"He also had a habit of sneaking into peoples' homes and helping himself to whatever food and drink struck his fancy." Gin added helpfully.
Jaden shrugged, "Well, no one is perfect I guess."
"Excuse me," Kuyo growled in frustration.
"Oh! I'm sorry," Jaden apologized, smiling good naturedly, "I kinda got off track there. What did you want again?"
"The content of this paper you've printed has not been approved by the necessary personal, namely the Public Safety Commission-"
"Which not authorized to take any action on this matter as the paper has been approved by all relevant parties and is outside of the P.S.C's jurisdiction," Jaden said with a hard look in his brown eyes.
Everyone except for the Newspaper Club's first year students was beyond shocked since Jaden had told the biggest dog on campus that he wasn't able to legally touch the Newspaper Club.
"You little worm," the chief of P.S.C. spat venomously, "I am the justice of this of this school! How you dear to talk back to me?"
"I'm not talking back to you," Jaden said his hard look replaced with one that was as if he was enjoying a privet joke, "I'm merely reminding you that school clubs are teacher sponsored. And as such they fall under the jurisdiction of Yokai Internal Affairs not the Public Safety Commission."
Kuyo merely smirked, "Yes, but since the untimely ends of the first and second two A.I.D. chiefs and the desertion of the third, the department has been abandoned and the P.S.C. has taken over the responsibilities of the Y.I.A"
"Until as of five days ago the department was reinstated and a new chef was appointed and the paper seen been seen and approved by the same chef. Any complaints must first be sent there," Jaden said his smirk turning into a Cheshire grin that nearly bisected his face, "Didn't you get the memo?"
Kuyo glared at the brunette, he was not going to let this boy win, and tiny orange flames flickered into life around him.
"And before you try anything," the duelist cautioned pulling out a badge with an ID card, "You have already made your stand known."
The chief of the Student Police starred at the badge in disbelief it had a flip open side that showed a golden badge with a red Y.I.A. in a decorative font and an ID card with the owner the owner's basic information which right next to the name listed his rank as "Captain".
One could see the gears turning Kuyo's mind as he tried to figure out how to counter this new information until he turned and his confused subordinates fallowed him until Jaden called out after him, "Wait! You haven't paid for your paper, its $1.5" pointing to the newspaper still clutched in the SP chief's hand.
x-x
Later after they had finished handing out the papers and their school work was done for the day the Newspaper Club sat in the clubroom as they recapped the day's events.
"Still, I'm glad that we won't have to deal with that blonde jerk anymore he would try to pull crap like that back when I was still captain of the swimming club," Tamao said as she stretched out giving everyone a great show as her chest moved in response to her actions making all the girls glare at her antics as she looked over to see Jaden too absorbed in thought to notice much to her disappointment.
"I wouldn't count on that," Gin said, surprising everyone with his seriousness tone and the fact that he wasn't leering at Tamao's body.
"Think about it," Jaden said, clarifying on the werewolf's statement, "I showed him that I could go head to head with him in fight with that little aura struggle, then told him that he had no legal way to go after the club, that I essentially outranked him and made him look foolish in front of the school and his subordinates. Do you really think that he is going to take that lying down?"
"Then why did you antagonize him in the first place?!" Tamao yelled as she thought to herself, 'He's always like this...'
"Because it was fun!"
'I can never figure out if he's a mad genius or mad,' Tamao finished her earlier thought.
x-x
Kuyo's temperament was in a fowl state and everyone was giving him a respectful amount of space since he had incinerated four people who had tried to speak to him. He had been undermined and embarrassed in front of everyone and by an underclassman no less! To hell with standards! He was going to burn them all but still he couldn't just declare war on the Internal Affairs department or have someone challenge him to a duel... or could he?
"Sam," he called out to a figure in a shadowy corner, "On the belt of that so-called 'Captain of Yokai Internal Affairs' there was a deck-holster that he didn't close all the way and showed the backs of the cards used in that game you're so fond of... I believe you call it "Duel Monsters"?"
You didn't have to see the person's face to know that they were looking forward to meeting this new player.
x-x
That night as Jaden tried finish up some paperwork in order to be ready for tomorrow, Saturday, he felt himself being pulled into his inner world where his heart met the Heart of the Cards. And since he felt obligated to listen no matter what the reason for calling him was, sat up into the lotus position that Yubel had taught and he let himself be pulled in.
Jaden looked around and found himself in the lobby of the "hotel" and Yubel was at the reception desk and had smugly knowing look in her eyes, "Jaden, you have seen the rooms of all the duel spirits allied with you from Filia, to Winged Kuriboh, don't know why I gave him one if he's just going to leave it empty. But there is a room that you need to go into that doesn't belong to your spirit partners."
And with that she lead Jaden to the stairs but instead of turning left on the stairwell her took a right and down a hall way with no doors except for two at the end.
On the door closest to Jaden, the carved picture that normally showed the monster-forms of the dweller were was a carved image of an Academy Duel Disk and on the other door was the Kanji letter "Fear."
"These are your rooms, "Yubel explained as she opened the door marked by "Fear" to show a room with Japanese motif like in a traditional inn, but there were some western influences like how the doors had doorknobs and the bed was a four poster style, "This one belonged to your past self, the Prince, Yuki Judai."
"... Or as the people of this land and the Yokai here would call him..." she said pointing to a wall-scroll that depicted a large group of hundreds of yokai of many different kinds, all moving toward the left being lead by a single figure. He was wearing a blue robe and a scarf that looked like he had been made from the hide of a white wolf with three eyes and three tails, and he was resting an unsheathed katana like sword with a straight edge on his shoulder but the most striking thing about him was his yellow eyes, "Nuraihyon."
Jaden stared at the scroll as Yubel told him more about first life, "You and I were the only survivors after the fall of your kingdom, and together we fled out across the ocean where voyagers had never gone before until we arrived in Japan and made new and rather fruitful lives..."
And so Yubel told Jaden about how he had permanently dyed his hair black and white, how he assumed the non-de-plume Nuraihyon, how she had forsaken names altogether, and how they had founded the Night Parade and the Naru yokai clan and the brown haired felt his memories of these events stir and rise up as she told the story.
"...And so at the Night Parade of the Naru clan roamed the untamed world of Japan with you at the helm and me by your side for decades," Yubel said with pride.
And then she frowned as she said, "Until you grew old, the Night Parade disbanded, the Yokai Territories separated of into their own lesser clans, and you died in your sleep of old age... Bit anticlimactic in my opinion, but not every story can end with an impressive Oscar worthy death scene."
Jaden decided that now was his chance to talk so he asked, "So I really am Nuraihyon? But what had happened to my sword?"
"It was a spirit-blade. They have been at rest here, waiting for you to call it back to you," Yubel said turning to face him, "Now, focus on the blade. Remember the way it felt in your hands, the weight it carried as you wielded it, and the feelings you had as you used it to fight alongside your comrades."
Jaden closed his eyes and remembered all he could and in less than a minute he felt the polished, wooden handle in his grip and the sheath at his left hip. It felt pleasant in his hands as if it was glad to be home after a long trip.
Jaden gave the sword several swings in duel sword stances and found that the moves flowed almost without thought before he sheathed it and smiled at Yubel and said, "It's almost creepy, how easy it is to use this thing."
x-x
After Yubel had told him more about how Nuraihyon had founded the night parade and other things about his ancient past, she led him into his room.
It looked like it was the only room unaffected by the tenant and matched the rest of the building, except for one wall that was covered in pictures of Jaden's friends from Duel Academy and a glass case in one corner of the room that held a very familiar set of black armor.
The temperature in the room dropped as Jaden's eyes narrowed at it. It was the armor of Dark Blade, the armor he wore as Haou. Yubel placed her hand on her partners shoulder kindly and said, "You have to except what you did in the Dark World, Jaden."
The duelist sighed, "I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Fair enough," Yubel said.
*Ding* *Ding*
"That sounds like the admission bell. I made it so I would here it no matter what part of the hotel I'm in, encase someone needs something. You stay here and think things over a bit, I'll go see what going on," Yubel said before she disappeared in an orange flash.
"My soul has an admission bell at the front desk?" Jaden thought loud to himself.
After standing lost in thought for a second or two, Jaden opened the glass case and placed his hand on the armor, he had changed since then and so could this.
"I'll learn from the past and make my way through the night without stumbling where I did before," he said as he took a step back and viewed his new armor. It now consisted of a pair combat boot, a pair of navy-blue baggy pants with a set of gray crosses over the forelegs, a what seemed to be a navy-blue sleeveless turtle-neck and a red cape that looked more than a little battered, a black leather belt with sliver circular buckle that had blue-jade kanji figure for fear imbedded in the center, and a pair of tan gloves that looked like they had arm black warmers built in coming out of the back but the while left glove was fingerless while the other had three metal bands with small several cylindrical protrusions arranged around them a few inches above the glove and golden-metal finger covers that looked like demonic claws, was most unusual of his new outfit's features next to the gray metal shoulder-guard with three metal cylindrical protrusions which were arranged in a triangle and was attached to metal frame on his bicep was made up of three gray metal rings that where set over strips of the same material as the rest of Jaden's clothes, and keeping the shoulder guard in place was several brown belts that crossed over his chest to hip which doubled as a holster to hold Jaden's Duel Disk behind him when it wasn't fastened to his arm.
Back before duel academy he had watched one of his friends make a comment on the final boss fight on a video game, "'The girl who lost, the man who slept, and the boy who wasn't, fighting the Devil that shouldn't..." That's Yubel, Judai, and me all right."
Jaden's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a loud *KABOOM!*
x-x
(Minutes earlier)
Elemental Hero Neos and the rest of the Neo Spacians entered Jaden's mind and found themselves in a large hotel that looked like that one from that TV show that Alexis forced Jaden to sit through back at Duel Academy.
"Okay, so we got here without any problems. So now what do we do?" Air Hummingbird asked.
Aqua Dolphin gave Air a blank look and said, "Find Jaden, I would think," like it was the most oblivious thing in the world.
"Okay, let's split up and look around. But be careful," Neos said, "We don't know what kind of mental Defenses Jaden has in this place."
"Or we could try ringing the admission bell," Dark Panther said as walked over to the admission desk and hopped up so he put his front paws over the edge and look for the bell to ring.
Aqua blinked and said unsure of what to say, "Um, Dark Panther? I know that Jaden has a very excepting nature, but this is his soul. I don't that there'd be a-"
*Ding* *Ding*
He was cut off by the sound of the admission bell and Dark Panthers smug look.
"Okay, I stand corrected. But I doubt that anyone is going to come-" Aqua was prevented from finishing his sentence again by Yubel teleporting behind the desk in a flash of orange energy.
"Ya know, I tried the bell just because I wanted to I didn't except anyone to really come." Dark Panther admitted as Yubel glared at the Neo Spacians as a group before turning her attention toward Dark Panther in particular.
"A bell that never rings suddenly does? You would have to be some kind of moron to ignore it," She said before taking the black feline's front paws which were still on the desk and shoving them off, "No feet up on the furniture, if you don't mind."
"I don't have feet. I have paws," the dark cat said in response to the fiend's statement as he return to the group.
"Same thing," Yubel said before looking up to view the entire group, making it clear she wasn't in the mood to split hairs over nonsense "What are you people doing here? You jumped ship months ago."
All of them flinched under Yubel's eye with apprehension at getting on her bad side, and if she didn't know better she might have said guilt, until Neos took a step forward and said in his deep bronze voice, "We need to speak with Jaden. It's important."
"Jaden is busy right now," Yubel said, she had moved past the whole "they were Jaden's favorites" thing after the fusion but she still had beef with them for abandoning their place by his side, "You can talk to me."
"Yeah, and you can, not tell Jaden because you've fallen too sick by other worldly energy to think straight," Aqua said without thinking.
"LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! YOU RAN AWAY!" Yubel shouted as she released a red energy projectile that would have hit the Neo Spacians if a golden flame hadn't hit it making it explode harmlessly.
"YUBEL! CLAIM YOURSELF!" A magnificent voice rang out in royal tones from the balcony from the left side of the room.
On the balcony was Filia, with Ciel, Mana, Burstinatrix, and Inferno Wing, they must have been asleep since they were all in various types of sleep-wear.
Filia was in full Egyptian deity persona with her eyes narrowed and giving off a hard commanding air that was not lost on anyone, "Jaden wouldn't want anyone's blood to be split without them having a chance to explain them first. So we shall wait for him to arrive and then they shall have their chance to speak. Ciel, go being him here if you would?"
The fiery red-head nodded and went to the down the stairwell and up the steps opposite of the ones she climbed down.
Yubel knew that there was truth to what the god class spirit was saying and reluctantly nodded in agreement, "Since is already on the way to get him."
Neos bowed in respect toward the bright haired woman. He didn't know who she was, but felt as though he knew her from somewhere and that she was a person that was worthy of all respect, "I thank you."
"And if they try to harm my Jaden in any way, the only honor they shall know in their deaths is that will be done by me and by my own hands," Filia said in way that made it so no doubt that it wasn't a threat at all, it was a promise.
The Neo Spacsians fidgeted nervously as they all knew that what she meant by "the only honor they shall know in their deaths is that will be done by me and by my own hands" was more than just death, they would suffer in the worst ways that this woman could think until she and everyone else ran out of ideas to make them beg for death.
x-x
Jaden was on the way to main hall to find out what had happened when half way there he almost ran into Ciel. She sheepishly and said, "Uh, shit is kinda hitting the fan downstairs and I was sent to get you. Would now be a bad time to pledge my undying love and devotion?"
Jaden knew that something had to be wrong for Rose to come find him in what he guessed was her sleep wear and folded did his arms, "I'm going to guess that you've understated the situation with your first statement and that I'm going to get some battle experience with your powers in a real battle."
"No."
"Oh good, you had me worried there for a minute."
"It's worse."
Jaden sighed and started down the hall with Rose trailing faithfully behind.
"I am I going to need aspirin after this aren't I?" he asked.
"Most likely a vacation too," she answered with a sympathetic tone.
x-x
Jaden now sat in a chair as the Neo Spacians revealed someone had a tried to cast a curse on them and the Elemental Heroes to turn them against their duelist partner while they were returning home from the Dark World undiscovered. But the Neo Spacians had been made by Jaden and empowered by Neo Space making the first cruse ineffective xo the unknown person cast a second, more aggressive cruse to destroy them which almost worked and they had to leave so the natural energy of Neo Space could revive them. And while the E-Heroes had a strong bond with Jaden, his decision to fuse with Yubel had them doubt him for just a single moment and that opened them up to the first curse's power except for the non-E-Hero monsters, Burstinatrix who possessed a very strong bond to Jaden but was a low enough level that she was over looked with the other rest, and Renegade and Yubel whose ties to the dark had made them immune to the unknown curse-giver.
"I had guessed as much. I hadn't said anything because there wasn't any way to be sure," Yubel said with her eyes closed and her arms folded her arms.
Jaden stood up and sighed, "So to recap; we have a bunch of brainwashed Elemental Heroes who we need to find and set straight, a powerful spirit or sorcerer who is trying to make me unable to fight or duel, and no solid leads to uncover his or her identity at all..." Jaden smirked his cocky grin and said, "Glad things are back to normal," as he walked out the front door.
After he was out of earshot Ciel glared at Neos and the others, "Okay boys, let's get something straight. I don't know any of you sort of our time here and I have even less reason to trust you. So for now we'll work together. But if you give me half a reason to, I'll make you die a million deaths."
"That may have been more threatening if you were dressed differently. I don't understand how Jaden lets you run around like that... but then again maybe I do," Aqua Dolphin said as he seemed to turn a little pink below the eyes and the others agreed that he had a point.
(Warning! Fan service!)
All of the females present were in various types of sleep-wear, some being completely respectable choices and others were more like something from a harem anime. Burst was the most modestly dressed wearing matching red pajama bottoms and top. Kisara was dressed in a white nightshirt. Renegade was at the border between the realistic and the anime, wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a light-blue tank top that showed her mid rift. Mana was one of the more eccentrically dressed with a pink night-tee with black lace that showed of her legs. Filia's nightwear was a golden night-robe that was tied by a red sash, the front was opened to show off a lot of her breast and her legs, but she still had an undeniably regal air. But the night-outfit that took the blue ribbon for most unfit for company was Ciel's, wearing a black spaghetti-string top that showed off too much of her breasts and belly to be appropriate and she had forgone any kind of bottom, revealing her red panties to all.
"You know, he isn't wrong. I am always getting headaches because of your troublesome nature," Filia said, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, as she walked back up stairs to her room, "What in heaven, hell, and earth could have made me send you to find Jaden? And why are you dressed like that in the first place?"
Rose grinned as she folded her hands behind her head as fallowed her sister spirit up the steps, "Well, the answers to your questions, in order, are;"'temporary insanity", and "I really don't like unnecessary clothing while I sleep"."
As the two rounded the corner into the halls for the spirits wing of the inner world, the Neo Spacians heard Filia saying, "And you went out to Jaden like that. It's a testament to his character that he hasn't become a pervert, despite you acting like a..."
Air Humming looked a little shaken by the fact that the spirit who had the exact same aura as the Winged Dragon of Ra started juvenile sounding conversion with a busty red-head, "Wait, what just happened?"
Yubel smirked, "Well, we just learned that the Winged Dragon of Ra is susceptible to headaches and disapproves of the Sky Dragon of Osiris habits, who likes to sleep half naked and prefers purple underwear," she said as she allowed herself to enjoy the priceless looks on the spirits who were away while they had sworn everlasting loyalty and love to Jaden.
x-x
The next day everyone at the newspaper club attended classes and did their business, but at the IA offices there was stranger that was pounding on the door demanding entrance rather heatedly... Five minutes of waiting does that to person.
x-x
Jaden, who was walking back to his office, had started to sing a song that he had remembered from his time as Nuraihyon.
"There's nothing more frightening
Than losing something you've obtained
I skim past day after day
While waiting for it, fight after fight
"To want anything and everything
That is the pledge of those led astray
When I tried building a world that I hadn't seen,
It crumbled into pieces
The thing that shields myself from those miserable dreams,
Is my own darkness
If you make your time stand still
"You'll know what it means
But why would you want to
"Makes me feel
I wonder when the scenery that flashes past became unchanged
I soundlessly released my power
And cut apart that fear away
I wonder when that loud throbbing of my heart stopped
And disappeared so easily away
"Do you wish
For someone to understand you?
You sought for it again, why did you give it up?
No matter what the future is, it'll Definitely change
By surviving the present,
I negate the spreading darkness within the turning gears of fate
With all my strength
That's my own dream
If you make your time stand still
You'll know that it's time
And I don't want to
"Makes me feel
I wonder when the scenery that flashes past became unchanged
I soundlessly released my power
And cut apart that fear
I wonder when that loud throbbing of my heart stopped
And disappeared so easily
I don't know where I'll go but I'll make it worth my time"*
Yubel appeared next to her partner in her spirit form, "I always loved that song..."
'Glad you approve. First ever theme song in the world and it still rocks,' Jaden responded telepathic, 'Although, I don't understand how you have that opinion when you said and I quote, "Something like that shouldn't exist in this age".'
"I when I said that, I meant it was ahead of its time; but, after you miss understood what I said, I saw a good way to keep your ego down," Yubel responded, smirking.
"Nice song. Heard you singing as you came here"
Jaden saw a girl with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes by the door. She was wearing blue jeans and a gray shirt, but the opened P.S.C jacket over her shoulders and the counter gray Duel Disk on her arm was what caught Jaden's attention.
"Name's Samantha Hillary, but I normally go be Sam. Kuyo saw the deck holster and figured that since you're a duelist, we can get what we want without things complicated, which usually results in...Paperwork," she said making the head of Y.I.A. shudder in response, "Now can we duel or what?"
*Grrruuu* a low rumble sounded from the senior duelist's stomach.
Jaden grinned sheepishly and asked, "Is it all right if I get something to eat first?"
Sam looked like she was about to say no and demand that they duel right then but *GRRUUU* her stomach decided to make its opinion known.
The junior duelist blushed beet red as she looked down at the ground in embarrassment, she hadn't realized that it was now around the time she normally had dinner.
Jaden shook his head and walked over to the door and unlocked it. Opening the door for Sam he motioned for her to enter, "Come on in. I'll see about getting the both of us some food."
x-x
"Not a bad place you have," the young woman said to her host as he fried their food in a deep cooking pan with oil.
Jaden took her approval in stride as he took what he was cooking from the pan and on to pair of plates after putting them in paper towels to remove excess grease, "Thanks. It was a crummy old building with a rat problem when I got my job as chief here. But the rats are gone and the repairs are only one small matter away from being done."
"Now, that's enough talking for now. Now we eat," Jaden said as he put the plates on the table where Sam was sitting after letting the food cool.
Sam looked at her food with approval. Generous helpings of fried shrimp and French-fries cooked to a near perfect golden-brown and smelling in a way that made the hungry girl almost drool. It wasn't super fancy, but she didn't think any of the guys back in her hometown home could do that much in the kitchen.
"Thanks for the food," she said as she started eating.
After they had finished their dinner Sam let out contented bleach and blushed as she remembered that she wasn't alone and cleared her throat and softly said, "Pardon me."
"It's all right," Jaden told her with a good natured chuckle putting the officer of the student police at home. "I can't stand anything where you can't be yourself," he said as he took their plates to the sink and rinsed them off and then turned back to his guest and smirked as he pointed to the Duel Disk on the chair next to her, "But still aren't you forgetting something, like why you came in the first place?"
Sam looked at her gear and then smiled eagerly as she bolted up right and fitted it on her arm and activated it, reminding the senor duelist of himself when he was at Duel always hungry for an adventure, "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! Let's rumble!"
"Whoa! Slow down a second," Jaden said as he held out his hands signaling for her to do just that, "I still need to get my deck and disk, so why don't you head outside while I get ready and we have our match out by the front."
x-x
As Jaden got ready Sam looked over her deck. It had lots of good cards, but for some reason it didn't seem to match her. But thanks to those "spirits" she had started seeing, and their coaching her winning streak had been unbeatable.
"Sam, I need to talk to you about your opponent," A green spirit with white wings appeared next to his duelist, "You didn't hear his name from your boss earlier because and in his usual fashion he didn't mention it ether so I'll tell now, you his name is Jaden Yuki. And he is one of the greatest duelists who ever lived... but you must beat no matter what! He has let himself fall to darkness and has merged himself with the most sinister creature of darkness we have ever fought. When you fight him be prepared for everything possible."
"How do know that?" Sam asked confused by how he could call someone as laid back as this Jaden guy evil.
"Because, we used to be partners back when I was the duelist that he fought alongside of," Jaden said as looked at his old friend sadly. Jaden had debated changing his outfit to the one he made last night in his dream-space but it was a bit much for a duel monsters match and just took off his left glove and replaced his coat with the red cape, which went with the black shirt he was wearing nicely, to free up his arm.
"I wish I could say the same," And nothing more was said as Avain faded out of sight, returning to Sam's deck.
Sam faced Jaden with a hard look in her eye, "Is what Avain said true?"
"Yes... and no," Jaden said as activated his Duel Disk, "Now don't we have a duel on the schedule today?"
x-x
Meanwhile at up the path Moka was walking toward the spot that the two duelists were having their showdown carrying a pink Bento box.
"And what do you think you're up to?!" Kurumu asked snappishly, making the pinkette jump and spin to look back at her around at the sound of her voice, "You're planning to go to his office and try to get ahead of us, aren't you?!"
Yukari sighed as stepped out of the tree line behind the succubus, making her mimic Moka's reaction. "It's not like you have any room to judge, with that picnic basket," she said drawing attention to the woven basket with a red and white checkered blanket covering the top.
"I'd think all three of you came out here with the same idea, but you didn't bring any food Yukari," Tamao said, making the young witch follow the examples of the other two and turn around to face the sea-serpent girl who had appeared right behind her.
Yukari quickly recovered and answered, "I saw cow-jugs running out with her basket and decided to run interference so-"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING COW-JUGS, YOU MIDGET?!" Kurumu shouted as she started pulling the offender's cheeks.
As Kurumu and Yukari settled their differences, Tamao and Moka debated whether they should get involved and decided to go on ahead and Moka asked Tamao why she was out. Tamao shrugged and said that she wanted to ask Jaden about the powers of darkness.
And when they realized that the other two were on already heading on to the Y.A.I. offices, leaving them behind, Kurumu and Yukari stopped fighting each and ran after them.
x-x
Back at the Internal Affairs building Jaden and Sam faced each other read to start the duel.
"Just so we're clear," Sam said, "If I win, you resign from the Internal Affairs department and tell me about your past with my cards."
Jaden nodded his agreement, "Of course, but I don't plan on losing either."
"Before we get started, I'd just like to say, that outfit is awesome," Sam said before she frowned and added, "Except for the cape. The red color makes it an eyesore."
"I can hear the Sky Dragon of Osiris screaming for you blood," Jaden said completely straight-faced said as Ciel did just that.
Unaware of Jaden's connection to the god-card spirit Sam laughed in good humored tones, "Never took the Egyptian Gods as being so sensitive.
And with those final words acting as the starting bell both duelists activated their Duel Disks and drew their starting hands.
"Game on! /Let's Duel!"
Round 1 stats
Sam: LP - 4000; Field - empty; S/T card zone - empty; Hand - 5
Jaden: LP - 4000; Field - empty; S/T card zone - empty; Hand - 5
"First turn is mine," Jaden said as he took his first card and placed it on his duel disk, "I'll play my Neo Spacian Air Hummingbird in Defense mode." And the red anthropomorphic bird appeared in his Defensive stance (DEF-600).
"And thanks to his special ability, once per a turn I can gain 1000 life points for each card in your hand," Jaden said, as the effect activated and a giant flower grew from each card which Jaden's feathered friend drank from like a normal hummingbird.
As his Duel-Disk showed his LP counted increased from 4000 to 9000, Jaden picked out three cards in his hand and set three cards two cards in his spell/trap card zone, "And now I set one card face down and end my turn," Jaden finished.
Sam drew her first card, "Not bad first move, but now it's my turn play pot of greed which lets me draw two more cards. Then I summon Elemental HERO Knospe to the field." (ATK-600 DEF-1000)
"Well, I don't remember this hero, looks like Pegasus has been keeping himself busy," Jaden said, as he watched the plant type monster take what it's fighting pose.
"Well get ready to met another one because I play the Spell Card Rose Bud. It lets me send Knopse to the Graveyard to summon Elemental HERO Poison Rose from my hand or, in this case, my deck" Sam said as the card did just that making Knopse "bloom" into a woman with pale skin, red eyes which had two black triangles painted under them, the right of her pointed ears were priced, and her hair was like white flower petals. dressed in red, stockings white boots with a string of gold beads around her ankles, her skirt along with the covers on her arms and the shoulders were made of leaves and had gold bead bands like her shoes across the wrist and collar, a dark gray corset covered her belly and hiding the important parts of her beasts, she had belt made of gold which had a blue gem set in side it, and her outfit was completed by a black helmet with gold ornamentation and a blue gem set in that like the belt.
"So, this is the great harbinger of the dark that Avain could never decide if he was praising or condemning him... doesn't look half bad," the plant heroine said to her partner, making Sam give her a murderous look, "What? I was just saying."
Making a mental note to have a take with Poison Rose later, Sam turned her attention back the duel, "Next I play Double Summon which lets me summon twice this turn. And I'll summon the Elemental HERO Spark-man (ATK-1600) and equip him with Spark Blaster."
"Well, it looks like this could be more than a little painful," Jaden said as he saw his old friend appear on the field and with his personal weapon appearing in his hand at the ready.
"And now I use Spark Blaster's affect to change your Neo Spacian into attack mode." Sam said, which singled Spark-man to shooting a bolt of blue electricity in to the winged extraterrestrial spirit making it rise from its kneeling Defense stance, "And now Poison Rose will attack your monster!"
Firing a ball of crackling electric energy at his former friend, Spark-man destroyed Air Hummingbird and infecting damage to Jaden.
"I activate a trap! Hero Signal!" Jaden said in response to Sam 's attack, "If one of the monsters I control is destroyed by battle I can summon a level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck or hand and I summon the Elemental HERO Burstinatrix" (ATK-1200)
"Normally I'd hate having to fight my old friends, but I think I'll manage to forgive myself this time," Burstinatrix told her duelist, while Sam had her own thoughts.
'He was planning on me destroying his Air Hummingbird so he planned on having anther to take its place,' she thought as she planned her next move, "Not bad, but Poison Rose's attack increases by 200 and her Defense decreases by the same amount when she inflects damage and I still have my Spark-man's attack," and with that Spark-man destroyed Burstinatrix, "And finally I'll use spark blaster to swap him into Defense mode and two cards facedown and I end my turn."
Round 2 stats
Sam: LP - 4000; Field - Spark-man (ATK-1600 DEF-1400) - Poison Rose (ATK-2100 DEF-1800); S/T card zone - one face-down; Hand - empty
Jaden: LP - 7500; Field - empty; S/T card zone - empty; Hand - 4
Jaden looked his hand over as he drew his card. It was perfect for his turn.
"I play the spell O; Over Soul, It lets me call back Burstinatrix from the graveyard," Jaden said. The flame manipulator appeared by the card's effect.
"And, now I play A Renegade Fire!" Jaden declared, "It lets me pay life points to summon Evil HERO Inferno Wing." (ATK-2100)
"And now I'll have her take down Spark-man! Go, Incinerating Flames." Jaden commanded the fire type fiend, who obeyed and prepared a hellish blue fireball the size of a basketball, her intent to obliterate her opponent clear in her flames.
'Now why would he attack a Defense position monster? It makes no sense… unless-' Sam wasted no time in using her Defensive measures, "I activate my trap card Mirror Gate! It swaps control of our monsters for the rest of the turn, but battle damage is carried out normally! Or at least it would if I hadn't activated my quick-play spell-card Twice Critical. Its effect lets me pay 2000 life points to double damage inflected to my opponent during damage calculation." Sam smirked at Jaden's surprise and understanding.
Jaden instantly knew what would happen and braced himself for the inevitable damage as the two combatants' swapped places and Inferno Wing sent her whitish blue fire through Sparkman and hit Jaden dead-on.
Jaden kept himself from reacting as his life points dropped by 4600 points, much to the disappointment of Sam. "Come on, I just hit you with forty-sixty hundred points of damage on your turn. Can't you give me some kind of reaction, how about a flinch?"
'Real déjà-vu going on here with that statement, but still that was one hell of a counter.' Jaden thought to himself as he let his serous mask drop a little and smile faintly. "I wouldn't count on it. You've got talent but you still have a long way to go before you master Duel Monsters. I set a card and end my turn, which means that Inferno Wing returns to me now."
Jaden what are you doing?" Moka cried out when she saw her friend facing a P.S.C. in a Duel Monsters game.
x-x
At the P.S.C. Headquarters two young members of the commission sat at their desks as they worked and discussed what was happening.
"I cannot believe that our subordinate lt. Samantha was chosen to face the fool before us ether one of us, big sister" the younger of the two said. She was a girl with a light blue spiky ponytail which her nails were panted to match and she wore square half-rimmed glass in front of her green eyes.
"It does seem inefficient, Miss Hiza, too send someone weaker than us commanders first to fight in such an odd manner but even if she falls to deal with him in that manner we can still correct the problem. But for now we won't do anything after all we can't interfere with someone else's mission. That is one of our ruluz" the elder of the two said, rolling the R's in the world "rules" in her instead of saying it like the people would. Unlike her sister she didn't wear glasses and her eyes were the same color as her sister's but her nails and hair were a lighter green color, and hair followed down her back freely where the spiky style of her hair gave it the look of green flames.
"Yeah that sounds like a really fun time you've got planned out, now back to work!" one of their coworkers snapped.
x-x
"-So, I wound up dueling in this high stakes game against Samantha Hilleary here." Jaden finished explaining his current situation to his friends.
'Yeah, I have to put up with this silently watching bullshit AGAIN.' the unseen figure thought to its self, as it continued to mask its presence.
Unawares of the unseen member of the audience Sam continued the duel. "Speaking of which, it's still my move." The young duelist said as she drew her next card.
Current round 2 stats
Jaden: LP - 2900; Field – Inferno Wing; S/T card zone – One facedown; Hand – 0
Sam: LP - 1500; Field - Spark-man (ATK-1600 DEF-1400) - Poison Rose (ATK-2300 DEF-1800); S/T card zone - empty; Hand - 1
Second turn - Sam's turn
"I play Card of Sanctity it lets us both draw until we have six cards in our hand."
As the two drew their cards, Samantha let a cocky grin spread over her face she had this in the bag. "Now I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat in attack mode." (Atk-1300)
'I see he isn't writing a description for her this time ether.' The figure thought, carelessly breaking the fourth wall, as he observed the duel uninterestedly.
"And her card effect inflects 200 points of damage for each face up Elemental Hero monster I control and I see three." Sam said triggering her card's effect and orange flames sprang into existing at the new flame wielders silent command intent on burning away six hundred of Jaden's life points until his face down sprang up at his command. "I activate my trap Barrel Behind the Door. It takes the damage that I would have taken and throws it back at you!"
The orange flames were absorbed into the card's picture of an ornamented golden pistol pointed at a person who had just opened a bobby-trapped temple door and threw them back at Sam inflicting 600 points of damage. Sam growled in an unladylike way. "I play the spell H-Heated Heart and equip it to my Poison Rose increasing her attack points by five hundred which is more than what your Inferno Wing has. And she will use them! Attack now with Poison Cyclone!" The plant-type spirit sent a cloud of razor sharp rose petals riding on a roaring cyclone at the former Evil HERO, destroying her and inflecting five hundred points of damage,
"And because she infected damage she gets that extra 200 ATK points." Sam smirked. All she had to do was attack with the other two monsters and she'd win. "And now Sparkman will attack going for 1600 points."
Jaden groaned in spite of himself as his life points dropped to four hundred. "I activate a monster effect an effect from my hand to special summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness (Atk- 2700). If I take damage while I don't have any cards on my side of the field I can special summon it. But that is not all depending on what type of damage I took I can activate one of two other effects. And since I took battle damage I can especial summon a Gorz the Emissary of Darkness Token, whose attack and Defense equal the damage I just took." (Atk-1600)
Two figures appeared in a flare of shadow and the other in a bust of light, Gorz a red-headed man dressed in black with a large sword and what appeared to be his twin sister in dressed in white, the token. 'Yubel have I said thank you for this card?' Jaden asked his spirit partner
"No you didn't. But if you want you could always grovel in appreciation a little after the duel is over." Yubel responded as her partner's opponent fumed at having missed her shot at finishing him off.
"Fine, I'll set three cards face down and end my turn," Sam took a minute cool down and properly assess the situation. 'Okay, Jaden just summoned two powerful monsters and has a full hand thanks to the effect of Card of Sanctity but I still have more life points than him and my facedown's; Mirror Force, and the quick-plays Shrink and Rush Recklessly… it'll take something like an Egyptian God Card to get him out of this.'
Current round 3 stats
Jaden: LP - 400; Field – Gorz the Emissary of Darkness (Atk-2700 Def-2000) - Gorz the Emissary of Darkness Token (Atk-1600 Def-1600); S/T card zone – empty; Hand – 6
Sam: LP - 900; Field – Lady Heat (Atk-1300 Def-1000) - Spark-man (ATK-1600 DEF-1400) - Poison Rose (ATK-2500 DEF-1800); S/T card zone – 3 facedown's; Hand – 1
Jaden's hand had several good cards. He had Negate Attack, Mirror Force, Emergency Provisions, Soul exchange, and even Kisara's card but he knew Sam's face-downs were probably nasty and that things were looking bleak but still… "Hey, Sam something about this game that makes it one of the most frustrating and rewarding games in the world is how a single turn to change everything." And with that he drew his card and grinned, "Case and point right here. I use the card Soul Exchange to use your Sparkman and Lady Heat to tribute summon the legendary, Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
Samantha could only stare at the majestic dragon in awe as she fought against her disbelief, 'How is this possible? There are only four of those cards in the world! But still no needs to panic between my face-downs and Poison Rose I still have this in the bag.'
"But that is just the beginning I pay my own copy of Double Summon and now I'll tribute all three of my monsters to summon one of three creatures whose power is beyond any others." Jaden said as his monsters disappeared and in the center of his field was a giant golden sphere that was shinning like a small sun.
Jaden reached out to it and called to it, chanting in a clear voice, "Almighty protector of the sun and sky, I beg of you, please heed my cry. Transform yourself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. I beseech thee, grace our humble game. But first I shall call out thy name holy name…Winged Dragon of Ra!"
As soon as it was said the golden orb opened its self up with blazing golden flames surrounding it as it assumed its true form the majestic divine spirit, Winged Dragon of Ra.
"So what if you have some kind of faked Ra? Some knock off won't win this duel!" Sam yelled with fake bravado as she did her best not to shake under the pressure of the golden dragon's very real spiritual aura.
"Unfortunately, this copy is as real as Yugi's was, which means that its attack and Defense points are equal to the combined attack and Defense as its tribute monsters." Jaden said as the point's changed from being unknown, to 6100 Defense points and 7300 attack points!
Jaden pointed to the other player and give the Egyptian god card her orders, "This is the end! Winged Dragon of Ra attack with your Blaze Cannon now and finish this game!"
"No! I activate my trap!" Sam tried to counter with her Mirror Force card but it didn't work. "Sorry, but while it's face up on the field the Winged Dragon of Ra can't be destroyed by card effects." Jaden explained as the divine spirit prepared to attack, a ball of golden flames forming in front of it.
'And since its attack and Defense were originally (?) my shrink won't work!' Sam knew that she couldn't do anything to stop the attack and her life points wouldn't survive it.
"I…lost?" Sam couldn't believe it as the blazing column of flames rushed toward her. She hadn't lost ever since she found the E-heroes. She wouldn't accept a loss now.
"This is not happening!" She yelled as she changed into her true-form. A pair of ethereal blue wings with black lines making up a set of bones appeared from her back and sent several feathers flying toward Jaden as his eyes widened in remembrance.
He knew what she was from his time as Nuraihyon, a Yakushi. A bird yokai that is born with beautiful wings that turned poisonous when they come of age. Making their bodies physically weak but granting them an instinctual grasp of poison and healing.
Sam's feathers shot straight at her opponent like arrows only his body seemed to disappear in a black flicker and then reappear right in front of her, eyes blazing aqua-green and bright orange which was made all the more fighting and imposing by the golden flames from the god spirit's attack. In his right hand was a straight-edge katana that had a polished white lacquer handle and didn't have a handle guard, while in the left was its scabbard which like the handle was also made of polished white lacquer wood. The simple beauty of white scabbard and handle didn't hold a candle to the blade its self. The blade seemed unmarred by any impurity in the metal or nick in the blade which shone in brightly almost glowing with a pure light. But beneath that, there was an undeniable darkness that made it unmistakable that it had been used to kill and was now a scared blade that was cursed by the evil of men to be a blade dark salvation.
"Nenekirimaru…" she breathed out as the blade was pointed just under her chin.
"Samantha Hillary," Jaden said in clear voice as the fires from Ra's attack and disappeared, "you are under arrest for attacking a member of the Internal Affairs Department and reckless endangerment of students." He pointed at the figures of the newspaper club hiding behind several trees that were impaled by Sam's feathers.
"SO I MAKE MY APPEARANCE NOW RIGHT?!" A voice, that sounded like it was distorted by something that wasn't entirely there, yelled from behind a tree which made everyone turn toward it, "…Crap that was supposed be in thought marks… this one too."
"Come out." Jaden said as pointed his blade out where his spirit seeing eyes pin-pointed the stranger. "Alright, no need to make this a bad experience." Was the fear inspired response.
"I'm not afraid. I but I still don't want to be a Shish-Kobe ala Nenekirimaru.' He said as slow faded into sight starting with a wide grin that and then rest of him. He was in his late teens, probably in his junior year, and was dressed in black jeans with three silver chains dangling across his left hip, a dark-purple black striped tank-top which showed his slim yet athletic body, and on his neck was what looked like a black studded cat collar with a sliver chain hanging from its led-ring. He looked he had a very feline like face which was fixed with grin that showed off all off his teeth including the particularly and had shoulder length black hair. But the thing that really stood out was his eyes; they were a deep shade of purple and silted like a cat's. There was something in them that made you sure wasn't normal, but could never sure be if he was insane or if that or just let the other people be normal while he didn't bother.
"Oh great, a Cheshire Cat," Jaden deadpanned.
"That is right!" he said with an exuberant cheer, "I'm a Cheshire and my name Gabriel Wilson."
x-x
As he lead Sam to the holding cells the rest of the group kept silent as Jaden tried to figure the day's events out.
"Come on! I want to get some background out here!" everyone except Gabriel kept quiet, but honestly he was grateful that he had a distraction to keep him from thinking too hard.
"Alright this is your stop." Jaden said as he ignored the Cheshire and motioned for the poison bird to inter the cell.
"Where are the bars?" Sam asked as she noticed the lack of a cell door or window, which the IA chief shrugged off. "There was a delay with those, but as long as you stay on that side of that white line on the floor and there won't be any mistakes," he said as he pointed out the chock line he made earlier.
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THE ONLY THING STOPPING ME FROM LEAVING IS A LITTLE… Wait, what's that red stuff?" Sam cut her rant short as she spotted what looked like a blood splatter on the floor across the chock line.
"A mistake," Jaden said casually.
Nothing further was said as Sam sat down quietly on her cell cot.
x-x
Gabriel had fallen asleep on the coach in a chair in Jaden's office after he had told everyone that he was going to let "his majesty explain" since he had traveled all the way from London to get to "this not at all isolated little school." The sarcastic tones weren't lost one anyone.
"So what is a Cheshire Cat? Is it anything like a Bakeneko?" Yukari asked.
Jaden sighed this was going to take a while, "Something like that. After the confrontation with Kuyo I knuckled under and read some of the old text my ancestors left me. I don't know all the details about it but as far as I understand it, a group of militant warlocks created a Bakeneko like yokai by taking advantage of a human's natural adaptability and made a completely new type of yokai. But the experiment was deemed a failure and the test subjects were going to be destroyed until Nuraihyon attacked the warlocks and rescued the sole remaining survivor of the tests."
"Why was it considered a failure? They made a new species of yokai like they wanted right? And that invisibility thing he did back during your duel with Sam was pretty impressive" Tamao asked as she looked that the sleeping Cheshire Cat and failed to find anything wrong as far as she could see.
"Creating a new yokai wasn't the point." Jaden elaborated, "The average cat in feudal Japan was invisible. Imagine if you could use them as spies… messengers… saboteurs… hell, assassins even if you coat their claws in poison…" Jaden listed off the possible uses for such cats, the part about poisoned claws made the others notice the fact that the sleeping teen had his nails painted black.
"And the Cheshire Cats would give the orders." Jaden finished explaining.
After letting that set in Kurumu turned back to Jaden, "So the normal cats wouldn't fallow the Cheshires or something?"
"No, the Cheshire Cats are the highest ranking cat there is." was Jaden swift rebuttal. "So what was the-" Moka began, but Jaden interrupted her, "Because the Cheshire Cats were insane! The warlocks hadn't killed the one that Nuraihyon saved because they wanted to find out why she was the only one that wasn't a raving lunatic! And it was obvious that she wasn't completely all there either from the way she kept calling Nuraihyon, "mommy"!"
"Quiet, Mommy my alarm hasn't even gone off yet…" The Cheshire Cat murmured in his sleep. Making every one wonder if he real did just call Jaden, mommy or if their ears were playing tricks on them.
x-x
Late at night, after the others had gone back to the dorms, Jaden examined the poisonous feather in his gloved hand.
Samantha Hilleary had defiantly become a fully matured Yakushi with wings of poison, yet her body was still as strong as a juvenile's. That was odd by all standards. Jaden ran over the possible reasons for it in his mind and crossed them off as impossible, until a loud snore from the teen on his couch wrecked his train of thought. Gabriel hadn't woken up since he had fallen asleep early that afternoon. After trying to wake the Cheshire cat, Jaden had gotten some the old trauma blankets out of storage. Jaden smirked as he listened to the muttered sounds of Gabriel fighting imaginary enemies in his dreams, and thought about how two of the yokai types that were major members of the original Night Parade of One Hundred Demons had sought him out and one of them had the other half to his deck with her.
There were too many coincidences at this school for his tastes.
x-x
It had been fifteen minutes since Jaden had called him with news of Samantha, and Kuyo was not happy about her defeat in the slightest.
Not only was he forced write an apology for the actions of his subordinate to the headmaster, he now had to figure out some new plot to rid himself of those pests in the newspaper club and their thrice-damned patron in the internal affairs office, Jaden Yuki. And to top it all off he had to send someone to collect that failure Samantha.
The head of the Public Safety Commission tried plan his next move but failed to the find anything that he could do to put that blasted club in their place… He had tried to intimidating the club members but that blasted Yuki interfered. He tried to take advantage of that so called "duelist's honor" that all who played that moronic game seemed to have, but that had failed since he was better at the game than the opponent he had picked. And the newspaper club still printed its articles and gained more influence over the students as they read them.
Kuyo felt the epiphany rush over him like a refreshing shower. The solution was so simple… he would start right after spring break.
x-x
After waking to smell of bacon, Sam saw a tray with plates of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs inside of her cell and Jaden on the other side of the chalk line on the floor.
"You really are something else, you know that?" he asked poured out a cup of coffee releasing the heavenly sent into the air, "I was up almost all of last night trying to figure out why you appear to be an exception to the common rule that makes the age of high school crushes and legal booze an unfortunate time for your kind, but I came up empty."
"So let's talk about something else. Those feathers you made in our fight stayed manifested for several hours, were as sharp as razors, and one of them was enough to poison an entire tree. So what I want to ask you now is…" Jaden paused, giving Sam the time roll her eyes as she awaited the same question Kuyo had asked her before "inviting" her to join the Student Police, do you want to become a real warrior?
"Do your skills as a medic match your fighting level?"
Sam eyes widened at the unexpected question. "What?" she asked as the chief of the internal affairs department shrugged his shoulders as he explained, "I think that it might be a good idea to have a medic around. And since you're strong, that means I won't have to worry about you getting hurt as long as you watch your back. How about it? Want to be the official medical expert for the Yokai Internal Affairs department?"
Sam said nothing since she couldn't think of anything to say, so Jaden broke the silence first, "If you can't make up your mind right now that's alright. You're going to be released in two days. If you decide to join my team, then just say so at any time during your stay and I'll arrange things with the headmaster."
After Jaden had left with the assurance that he would have some lunch sent over from the cafeteria for her, Sam thought about his offer to join his office as she felt a pair auras that she had only felt just after she had come of age, "I know you're there… Black Jack… Ray."
"No bars on the windows. No bars on the doors. What is keeping you from walking out of that cell?" a woman with long hair and red eyes asked as stood in front of the wall.
"Honor, Ray. Honor…" Sam was monotone response.
"You do know that the blood splatter on the floor is painted right?" Ray asked.
"Yeah, but I don't want there to be a real one there if you get my drift."
"We over heard your conversation earlier, I shouldn't have to remind you feather limit but I will since taking on it may become portent." The man next to Ray spoke with a voice that was clear, claim and somber. He was dressed in a coat that boarder-lined on being a cape and formal attire. His face was set in a somber expression, but that was insignificant to his face it's self. It had two skin tones that were separated by scars from some type of surgery; his eyes were a brownish-red and hair was both black and white.
"The treatment I gave you, granted your body artificial antibodies for the poison that it subjects itself to whenever you assume your true form or use your powers. Thus letting you live with a healthy body instead of a weak one." the unlicensed, and the world's greatest, doctor explained, "Since the antibodies aren't self replicating, I accommodated your natural growth rate as child by injecting more as you grew and giving them an ability to take large amounts of toxin and return to semi-dormancy in their absence case you were in a fight. But if you ever exceed the limit of what they can handle, the toxins will run rampant inside your body until they are dealt with by the antibodies when the increased toxin production decreases again…"
"-Which leaves my already weakened natural defense against the poison as my only defense, which is not capable of handling it anymore." Sam said as she glared over her shoulder at the wall behind her, "Fight with the full strength that your treatment gave me, I'll burn my own body out and in the worst case scenario I'll ether die a painful death or become a comatose vegetable."
"We originally came here to deliver your next injection of antibodies, but we heard about your "arrest" at the Headmaster's office." Black Jack continued.
Sam asked. Ray said that they had and Sam asked the question that had been be plaguing her mind since the duelist had asked her to join the internal affairs department, "Should I? Team up with Jaden I mean."
"When I first operated on Ray, I told her something that I should have said to you when she led you and your mother to me," Black Jack said, "How you choose to live after treatment is what you must decide for yourself."
"So basically, "It's my life. Make it or brake it is up to me now," right?" Sam said, letting her frustration be heard in her voice, "That is the most profound way of saying that you don't want to be involved anymore I have ever heard."
Ray tried not chuckle as she empathized with the yokai completely while Black Jack simply said, "I hope that you can find the life that works well for you here."
*Fast Forward was written by MONKEY MAJIK and is the first opening song used in Nurarihyon; Rise of the Yokai Clan.
So now you have seen two characters that I planned on introducing the last time but never got around to time in my first draft, guess who there a rip off of and be win a shout out.
As usual you are welcome to review but flame will be ignored and just add to the number of reviews in the review box and brings me more readers.