"Now boarding International Flight 218- London to Tokyo."
Candace sighed with relief, getting up from her seat. She had been unable to get any earlier flights, due in pat to it being busy, another because Bastion came 4 hours early for his flight. 'Just like that wanker to show up so bloody early.' She thought as she handed over her ticket and waited for the ticket agent to confirm her spot of the flight. Bastion had been milling around their gate for hours, driving Candace nutty as she heard calls for any more passengers. Finally, he had gotten on their flight, and Candace had waited another 3 hours for her regular flight to come in.
She had been lucky to get this seat. This was a layover flight, having come in from the United States to drop off some passengers before continuing on to Japan. Right now, all the young woman wanted was to get back to the academy and spend some time studying her books.
Making her way through the tunnel that lead her t the plane, Candace banished all thoughts of Britain from her mind. She could care less if she returned to this horrid little country ever again. There was nothing waiting for her there, as far as she was concerned. It was the academy that held promise of new adventures, new opportunities…a whole new life.
'And maybe a new love.' The inner romantic in her piped up, thinking about Hayden McGregor. While many might see a perverted little weirdo, Candace was intrigued by the Ra Yellow Duelist. It helped that he wasn't anything like her overbearing and cold cousin Bastion.
Stepping into the plane, Candace frowned. The cabin appeared empty, even though she knew there should have been passengers from the flight from America still on board. Walking a bit further, she saw that not only were their no passengers, but no stewardesses. Flipping open several overhead compartments found that they too were empty.
"What in the world?" She said quietly, making her way back to the door…only to find it locked up. Tugging on it, Candace found it wouldn't budge, and let out a yelp as the plane shuddered. "What is going on here!" She shouted, charging through the first class section to the cockpit door,slamming on it. "Sir! Sir! There is no one here sir! I believe there has been a mistake!"
"No mistake." The pilot said through the overhead speaker system. "We're just going on a little trip by ourselves, Miss Misawa."
"How do you know my name?" She asked in anger, pounding on the door. "Answer me!"
There was a click, and the door swung open to reveal the pilot…who was a light brown haired teen in a purple duster. She blinked, confused by the startling image, recognizing the pilot.
"You're…you're a student at the academy." She whispered.
"The name is Arliss, darlin'." He said, turning around to look at her. "And don't worry…we'll be goin' to the academy…just taking a different route." Candace slowly backed away from him, watching the duelist shake his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Candace turned, ready to bolt, only to meet a fist right to her face, sending her to the ground, out cold.
Nessa shook her hand, grimacing at the tingles that were now running up and down her fingers. "He warned you." She snarked, as Arliss hauled the british girl up and dragged her to the back of the plane, securing her in tight before returning to the cockpit. "Since when do you know how to fly a plane?"
"You'd be amazed at all I know, darlin'; what the shadows can teach you." Arliss said as he returned to the cockpit and picked up the speaker. "Tower, this is Flight 218." He said, his accent shifting to A New York/New Jersey accent, that made him sound a bit like Tony Soprano. "We're all ready to go, are we all clear?" He got the confirmation, and Arliss guided the plane towards the runway. Clicking another button on the speaker while he flipped a few switches, Arliss' voice filled the cabin where Nessa stood, grabbing some pop and peanuts from the beverage cart and making her way to the cockpit. "Ladies and duel spirits…" Nessa turned to look at Shadow Slayer and Strike Ninja, who sat beside Candace and made sure she stayed asleep. "This is your captain speaking. We are about ready to lift off, and we will be flying non stop to Tokyo Japan. Please fasten your seat belts, and if there is a young hot shadow mage in the cabin that would like to join the mile high club, I suggest she came meet the pilot right this instant. Thank you, and thanks for flying with us."
Nessa giggled and rushed towards the cockpit.
&&&January 2nd&&&
"Are you goin' to behave now?" Professor James Stilton asked for the millionth time, looking down at the youth he had captured. He was getting tired of this, and would prefer if the little brat would just agree to behave so they could get back to the academy in peace.
Jaden nodded, letting out little grunts through the sock that was stuffed him his mouth and held in place by a shoe lace.
"Are you goin' to beg for any more duels?" Jaden perked up at the word duel and Stilton sighed, dropping him back down onto the ground and grabbing Jaden's leg; once more dragging the slifer duelist towards the academy. "Should have figured you wouldn't be ready yet." Stilton sighed once more, and continued his lonely trek back to the academy. Once more, he wondered how he had gotten roped into pretending to be a teacher, just to act as a spy.
"What did you catch there, James?" A voice called out. James Stilton looked up to see Prof. Milo walking towards him, dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue shirt. Alexander looked down, and couldn't help but ask, "Jaden Yuki…interesting choice of game. You need a permit for that?"
Stilton shook his head, not even responding to the lame joke. "Little idiot was stalkin' half the people here…had most of them running through the woods when I stumbled upon them all. Managed to subdue him, then found out he had left two of them a mess. Dr. Crowler is being taken to the school councilor…we found his fat friend in a bear trap."
"Chunky?" Alexander asked.
"His name is Chumley."
"I know." Alexandersaid simply, before he grabbed Jaden's other leg and began to help grab the crazed slifer. "What made the boy snap?" he asked, nodding towards the grumbling slifer.
"No clue…think he wanted to duel people…was bugging me all week about it. Rather annoying."
"Yea." Alexander said. "Me too." The two continued in silence, the only sounds greeting them the birds that sat above their heads and the grunts from the slifer duelist whenever his head hit a rock. This continued on for 6 minutes until Alexander decided to strike up another conversation. "When did you say you found these guys?"
"Around 5am." James said.
Alexander nodded. "Early waker?"
"Yea…with the students coming and all…"
"Yea." Alexander said, the two fo them falling into an akward silence. "Why were you walking around here?"
Stilton glanced over at Prof. Milo. "Just walkin' around." He lied. He didn't want Alexander Milo to know that he had been out trying to find Banner. He had instructions to watch the Slifer Dorm Head and he wasn't about to let him go missing for a few days. "You?"
"Just enjoying nature." Alexander said, not letting Stilton know that he had been scouting the island to see if there were any places of interest he should know about and report back to 'the boss'.
James nodded. "I think I see the academy up ahead."
"Good. I say we ditch the kid and go get something to drink. I could use an eye opener."
&&&
"Hey there Zane…why are you wrapped in a blanket?"
Zane looked up at Alexis, his brow crinkling as he tugged the blanket tighter around his shoulders and held the cup of coffee a bit tighter. "Because I am freezing Alexis." He said simply.
"oh." She said. "Uh…why are you covered in mud?"
"Because I spent all night in the forest hiding from Jaden."
Alexis looked at him, utterly lost. "Huh?"
"Jaden Yuki went insane." Chancellor Shepard said, shivering himself. "He kept chasing people around, wanting to duel them. Most of us were trying to hide in the woods, but he still tracked us down."
"Where is he now?" Alexis asked.
"Professor Stilton is bringing him back." Syrus said. "Man, I don't know what got into Jaden."
"Sounds like Mr. Yuki went through withdrawl." Samantha Ciro said, joining the group. "Not to surprising, I always assumed that Mr. Yuki was a bit different from all of us." He turned and smiled at Alexis. "Oh, and good morning Miss Rhodes…Misters Trusdale, Chancellor Shepard."
"Hello Samantha." Shepard said, falling into the role of cheerful administrator easily, despite the ordeal he had just been through. "How was your holiday week? More enjoyable then ours, I hope?"
Smantha grinned, remembering just how she had spent the holidays. "Oh, very enjoyable. Spent it wth loved ones…wore my favorite suit."
"You have a favorite suit?" Alexis asked.
"Yes, my birthday one."
Before Alexis could ask what a birthday suit looked like, Bastion Misawa strolled up to them, looking over to see Dr. Crowler hugging a counselor and sobbing. "Seems a lot has happened since I left."
"Apparently, Mr. Misawa, we missed Mr. Yuki going insane and chasing everyone down."
"I always knew that he wasn't all there in the head." Bastion said, shaking his head. "Where is Jaden?"
"Prof. Stilton's bringing him in." Syrus said, shivering as he remembered what had happened that past week. "And just be glad you weren't here, Bastion… Jaden went completely crazy, with bear traps and stalking and acting like the Blair Witch and… stuff!"
"Was it really that bad Zane?" Alexis asked.
Zane shook his head. "I am not one for exaggeration, but I believe Syrus summed it up best." He looked up into the sky. "Atleast things will be settling down, now that school is back in session. Let Jaden duel some new student every week, and maybe the rest of us can have some peace."
"Quite right." Bastion said. "By the way, has anyone seen Candace?"
"Your cousin?" Alexis said. "No, I haven't seen her."
"That's odd. I thought for sure she would be here."
"You two didn't fly in together?" Syrus asked.
Bastion shook his head. "No, we didn't." He chewed on his lip. He had assumed that he would see Candace at the airport, ready to go back to the academy. Perhaps even a bit embarrassed by the way that she had acted at home. She had rushed out rather quickly, not even seeking to resolve the issue through words, and left his father in a fit. 'She is always so emotional. Had she simply agreed to the duel and not challenged my father over and over, everything woul have been peaceful.' Bastion ignored the fact that his father had smacked Candace around rather violently, and hadn't been in the mood to talk either; in his world, his father was always right, and everyone needed to learn where their place was.
His thoughts were interrupted by Chancellor Shepard. "I wouldn't worry to much Bastion… many students tend to spend today in Toyko, shopping and sightseeing before coming back to school in the evening. You sister is probably doing the same thing. I know for a fact that her friend Hayden McGregor planned to spend the day there, so perhaps she is with him."
"Chancellor Shepard!" Everyone turned to see Miss Dorothy running to them as fast as she could, panting hard. "You need…to go to the dueling arena….there…is something…weird….going on!"
"What kind of thing?" The chancellor asked.
Dorothy had her hands on her knees. "Some…voice…is demanding to talk to you…as well as Bastion!"
"Me?" Bastion asked. "Why for?"
"I don't know, but it wants you to head over there now."
Chancellor Shepard frowned. This was not shaping up to be a good week either. "Well,let's find out what is going on. Come on Bastion."
"I'm coming too!" Alexis said as the three headed to the arena, followed by Zane and Syrus. Samantha was about to follow when she saw Prof. Stilton, Prof. Milo and Jaden hurry towards her, or in Jaden's case, be dragged towards her.
"What is going on?" Alexander asked.
"Something big in the arena…mysterious voice asking for the Chancellor and Bastion. I'm heading over there, you guys going to come."
Alexander and James nodded. "Yea." James said, letting go of Jaden's leg. "Let's see what is goin' on over there." The three of the headed off, leaving Jaden in the dust.
"MM!" he cried out, getting to his feet and hopping after them.
&&&
The group stopped once they reached the middle of the arena, looking around for the source of the weird voice. However, no mattered where they looked, they could not find anyone else in the arena, and there was no voice talking at the moment to give them an idea of what to do next.
"Perhaps we should call out to this voice, to see if they will respond." Bastion said, wondering why on earth this mysterious person wished to see him as well as Chancellor Shepard.
"No need for that." A voice called out, the large overhead screens flickering to light to reveal the owner of the voice. "I just wanted to make sure everyone was a-counted for." Samantha, Alexander and James all quickly ran in and stopped behind the group. "Now that we are all here…"
"What is the meaning of this, Arliss?" Chancellor Shepard asked. "How did you get control of the arena?"
"You'd be amazed what you can do with a sattilite feed. Granted, I had to pay some hackers good money to do this…but don't worry about lil' ol' me…I'll have my own privat hacker soon enough." He sighed, his entire face filling the screen. "But enough about me."
Bastion nodded in agreement. "We'd all like to know what is going on here, Arliss. So, start talking."
The southern duelist chuckled. "Oh Bastion…always actin' like you're in control." He sneered. "Well guess what…it's my time, my boy. I'm the one in control, and you will do what I say. I only have 3 topics to deal with, and I want no more interruptions." His eyes glanced at Shepard. "There is a box 10 feet from where you are standing. Go get it."
Chancellor Shepard slowly walked up to the box, picking it up and returning to where the rest of the group was, before Arliss asked him to open it. Inside, the chancellor found a simple legal document, which he quick;ly began to read, growing more angry with each sentence.
"You're insane if you think I'll sign this!"
"What is it?"Alexis asked.
"It's a binding agreement that allows a group calling themselves The Rare Hunters to duel here without any legal action being taken upon them." He glared at Arliss's face. "Is this a joke?"
"No joke, and it does lead to my next point of discussion." Arliss said with a smile, looking down at the group. "You see, I haven't been very truthful with you all, and I think it's time you all learned some very important truths. You see, we haven't been properly introduced."
"What do you mean by that?" Zane asked.
Arliss chuckled. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Arliss Lockehart…the Ninja King of the Rare Hunters." The camera panned back to give a full body shot as Arliss bowed to them.
"King?" Syrus asked.
"Of the rare hunters?" Alexander echoed.
"What in the world?" James said, startled by the turn of events.
"But the rare hunters were disbanded!" Samantha exclaimed.
"Oh, they were, Miss Ciro." Arliss said. "But, I took the liberty to reform them."
"You couldn't have done that." Zane said simply. "Only Marik Ishtar could truly reform the rare hunters. Any other group is merely a bad copy."
"That is true Zane, very true…but what if someone were to beat Mr. Ishtar in a duel?" Arliss asked.
"You…you beat Marik Ishtar?" Chancellor Shepard stammered.
Arliss grinned. "In a word…yes."
"What does that mean Professor Milo?" Samantha asked.
"It means that by beating Marik Ishtar, Arliss has taken control of all the Rare Hunter's assets. It was rumored that the rare hunters had several swiss bank accounts full of cash, as well as secret knowledge that would grant them the power to do whatever they want. Apparently, that is how Arliss got into the academy." James nodded in agreement, never taking his eyes off Arliss' image.
"What do you want Arliss?" Chancellor Shepard asked. "What do you hope to gain through all this. You have to realize that we will never bow to your demands. And now, by admitting you are the head of the rare hunters, you will bring the attention of the whole world upon you."
"Who said I was a rare hunter?" Arliss said in mock confusion. "I never said that. Just a group of bigot students and teachers that wish to kick me out because of my southern heiritage!" He placed his hand up in the air, palm out. "Your Honor, I swear that I am not connected to the rare hunters. The Duelist Academy is merely trying to kick me out because I am a southerner from America. Where is their evidence? The trth is, there is none, just their evil lying words! They are bigots, and I personally will not stand by it." He smiled wickedly. "You say a word to anyone outside this school, and my lawyers will have your balls for breakfast Shepard." He shook his head sadly. "Besides, say they do believe you…how will that look for the school that I was able to get in? Where were the background checks? The examination of my past. Simply put…there wasn't one. Any Johnny Evilton can walk onto this island and you all shake his hand. There will be such investigations…they will shut down the school…all of you will loss your jobs and none of these students will graduate until duel monsters is a mere memory."
"Don't threaten us!" Alexander Milo shouted, annoyed by all this talk. He activated his duel disk as he stormed forward "I'll duel you myself!"
"As tempting as that is, our little grudge will have to wait. No, the person I want to duel is Bastion, which leads to my final point."
"Why me?" bastion asked, curious that this supposed 'King of the Rare Hunters' wished to face him.
"Because you are right now my only competition. You are the only one that can go toe to toe with me…my only true enemy. I wish to meet you in grand battle Bastion, and see who is the best."
"Is that so?" Bastion asked, expecting more.
"Quite." Arliss said. "At 11:30 pm, you will receive the location for our duel on your PDA. I expect you there at Midnight, at which point we will duel. You may bring anyone you wish that is a student or a duelist. The more the merrier, as I always say. I love an audience….especially for my first duel where everyone knows my true identity." Arliss paused, waiting for the outburst he knew would come.
James Stilton shook his head, not believing his ears at this turn of events. He had never seen this coming. "What's to stop them Arliss…stop all of us…from calling the academy police and arresting you?"
"Thank you for mentioning that Prof. Stilton. Yes, what is to stop you all? Well…" He looked to his right. "Allow my queen to answer that." Arliss walked off camera, only to be replaced by a raven haired beauty.
"NESSA!" Everyone shouted.
"In the flesh…metaphorically, of course." She said with a chuckle. "Yes, you all never guessed that little meek Vanessa could be the wicked Nightmare Queen of the Rare Hunters, did you?" She shook her head in disgust. "So blind…never noticed me when I was all nice and sweet, and only now see me as my true evil self when I am blantently letting you know. So sad."
"Nessa…" Arliss called out. "Get to the point"
"Oh, you can monologue, but I can't?" She challenged with good humor. "Sigh…if that man wasn't a demon in the sack…" Shaking her head, she got back to the point at hand. "You see, we have a bit of insurance to insure not only that Bastion duels, but that the Chancellor signs those papers." Moving aside, the group gapped at Arliss, who stood next to a bound woman in a chair.
"Candace!" Bastion shouted, rage filling his voice. "Let her go at once! She is an innocent!"
"I'll let her go." Nessa said. "At midnight, when we see the legal document signed and you ready to duel us. Then, and only then, will Candace be freed and returned to you. If we smell a set up of any kind, you will never see Candace again. And since this is the only tie to us and her…you will never be able to prove what happened to her." She chuckled. "Infact…the police might begin looking at you all as the culprits first and foremost." Nessa's Shadow Choker flashed in the light. "Mmmm…and you are right Bastion…what will your father say when he finds out you lost her? What will be his reaction?" Bastion paled at that comment, and Nessa nodded. "11:30…you will receive further instructions."
The screen flickered before it went to static.
"We need to get some trackers on that feed, find out where they are! Then send in the cops!" Alexander said.
"No!" James shouted. "We can't involve the police."
"Why not?" Alexander asked suspiciously.
"B-Because…if they sense that we are going to do anything…Candace will be lost to us forever."
Shepard shook his head. "James is right. We can't do anything…we have to submit to their demands."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Zane asked.
"I for one am ready to take on those fiends." Bastion said. "I will show them why you do not attack my family."
Alexis frowned. 'Don't get cocky Bastion. Those two aren't what they seem.' She lowered her eyes, her mind still haunted by the images she saw during her duel with Nessa.
Chancellor Shepard sighed. "Then it is agreed…tonight, we face the rare hunters."
All of them nodded in agreement, only to be interrupted by a muffled call. They turned to see Jaden hop into the arena. He shook his head, managing to remove the gag.
"Hey guys…what I miss?"
Next Time: With the kidnapping of Candace, Arliss has revealed part of his hand, announcing to the academy that the Rare Hunters exist and are ready to take over. Bastion is seeing red, while the mysterious MIB agent waits for Arliss to slip up. But none of this matters, for the duel is about to begin, and Arlen Lockehart has cast his own spell to fit the mood. It is a duel that will shape what is to come, with high stakes and mental games. This isn't your daddy's Rare Hunter duel. The first battle is about to begin…
"Lightning at Midnight Part 2"
The Storm Has Arrived.