Yu-gi-oh! GX
Lost Blue-Eyed Child
Chapter 5: When His Eyes Change
"Go on ahead, Neos!" Judai called out as he ran towards home. His eyes changed to Yubel's mismatched amber and jade colors as the Elemental Hero Neos card connected to the duel disk. The mighty hero appeared and flew on ahead as directed.
"Judai, we don't have enough energy to sustain Neos's physical form for long," Yubel warned.
"I know, it'll be fine," he responded shortly. He knew he had enough to keep Neos out for more than a few minutes. Neos took about the same amount of energy to summon as Yubel. It was quite a bit, but Judai was in top condition, so he had enough energy to spend.
Doctor Kouga was willing to be left behind since he was mostly unharmed and in no immediate danger. A bump on the head and a couple bruises were not life threatening, so the man was able to stand on his own before he requested for Judai to go on ahead in case something bad happened. Judai felt a little bad for leaving him behind, but didn't have much choice. At this moment, he cursed at himself for not only leaving behind his cell phone, but for not using his motorcycle and opting to go leave on foot. He would have been home in a flash otherwise.
The streets were nearly empty too. At least he didn't look suspicious running home with no one around. He was running at top speed and he would get home shortly.
Back at their apartment, Asuka was wondering how much longer Judai would take when she heard a few knocks at the door. She sighed, knowing Judai probably left his keys behind in his rush out the door earlier. It was no problem since she was still home and could simply open the door for him.
When she opened the door, she was surprised to find it was not her husband on the other side, but instead a woman about her age and two men were standing behind her. Asuka immediately noted how the woman looked nervous and tired. This was definitely something to be cautious and suspicious about. Asuka did not have a good feeling about this.
"Can I help you?" she asked while she reached for the long metal floor duster behind the door.
"H-hello, I'm sorry for disturbing you this evening," the woman started. One of the men nudged her. "I-I am looking for someone–a child, and I heard she was here…"
"I'm sorry," Asuka began stoically, "but unfortunately I cannot help you. You should probably speak to the police and they can assist you," she used her teaching tone.
The woman was nudged again as Asuka started closing the door. "Young Miss, are you here?" the woman called out.
Behind Asuka, the girl appeared from the hallway wearing her new pajamas. "It's her!" one of the men shouted and they started for the door, but Asuka was ahead of them and shut it in time and locked it up in a flash, including the chain and bolt.
When Asuka turned back to look at the girl, she recognized the fear on her face. Asuka quickly put on her shoes and grabbed her coat before picking up the girl's sandals from the entry way. The men on the other side were shouting at her, but she ignored them. She knew what she should do.
Asuka ran through the apartment and scooped up the girl to take with her. She took her to the main bedroom and set her on the bed. "Here, put on your shoes, we're going outside," she said while putting on her coat. "Judai will be back any minute, but until then we have to keep you safe."
While the girl was getting her shoes on, Asuka reached into the top dresser drawer and retrieved a plain cross body bag. She saw Judai's phone on top of the dresser and put in her coat pocket. With the bag secure on her shoulder and across her body, she unlocked the window and opened it.
She kneeled down in front of the girl. "Okay, get on my back and hold on tight," she instructed. "There's a fire escape ladder next to the window."
The girl did as she was told, and took hold of Asuka's shoulders and wrapped her legs around Asuka's waist. Once they were out the window, Asuka could hear the front door being broke down. She could sense the supernatural presence in that moment. It was a familiar sensation, but eerily different than what she was used to around Judai. She wondered if this was the presence of a spirit trapper. Over the years, she had encountered only two trappers herself, but they did not wield spirits themselves. They were merely draining spiritual power for the pleasure of killing, for murder that they couldn't be convicted for by the law.
If it was a spirit trapper, then why were they after the girl? What would be the connection? Could they be going after people with the ability to see the spirits, like Judai and this girl? Maybe it was only children, because they would make easier targets? If so, Johan would have to be warned as soon as possible. Asuka didn't know if his children had any abilities yet, but it was very possible and an enemy might make that connection as well and decide they are a worthy target despite the uncertainty.
It was difficult to release the last part of the ladder to the ground and it fell loudly, likely alerting everyone to her escape. Once Asuka got to the ground, she continued to carry the girl to her car as she dug around in the cross body bag for the spare key chain. It was easy to find and she unlocked the car doors as she approached it. She wished she had time to grab her duel disk as well, but she knew Judai had his, so as long as he returned soon they would have at least one deck.
The girl was put in the backseat behind the driver's seat. "Buckle up," Asuka instructed. This time she didn't wait to make sure the girl was going to do it before closing the door and jumping into the driver's seat. She immediately locked the doors as she inserted the key to start the engine.
The least she could do was take the girl back to the police station at this point. As the car started to roll backwards in reverse, Asuka latched her seatbelt and then took hold of the wheel and started to move the vehicle quickly and out of the parking lot. When she looked in the rearview mirror, she saw the two men reach the bottom of the stairs of her building. She wasn't sure he they saw her, but hers was the only car moving, so they would surely spot her quickly.
Turning onto the street, she headed for the police station as planned. Not even a minute of driving, and she saw Elemental Hero Neos fly by. Asuka knew that meant Judai was nearby, so she continued to drive in the direction Neos came from.
Just as she thought, Judai was running her way seconds later, so she pulled over and rolled down the window. "Judai!" she called out to him.
Judai slowed and approached her car. He could see the girl in the back seat. "What are you doing? What happened?"
Asuka noted the colors of his eyes. She knew what those colors meant. Her eyes darted to his duel disk where the Elemental Hero Neos card laid activated. "I'm taking us back to the police because someone just broke down our front door. What are you doing?"
"They what? Oh man, we're already on thin ice with the landlord over the broken window and the busted half wall incidents, we are going have to move after this one, I know it…" he sighed. "But good idea, get the kid out of here, and the Doc is at the warehouses just off of 54th, he could use a lift."
"Is he okay?"
"I think so, he's shaken up with some bumps and bruises, but he shouldn't be left alone too long in case he has a concussion," he said.
"I'll see what I can do," she nodded. "I'll send you a message later."
Judai nodded as he was about to step away from the car. "Oh wait," he paused. "I left my–" He stopped when Asuka held up his cell phone for him. "Heh, thanks," he said as he took it. "I'll go on ahead and meet our visitors."
"Be safe," she told him as he backed away from the car.
"You too," he responded and watched the window close and the car start to drive away. After taking a breath, he started running again.
He didn't get very far before he noticed a light coming towards him. It was much too small to be the headlights of a vehicle. Perhaps it was a flashlight or a bicycle. Judai moved to the side, mostly hidden by a streetlamp post.
The light went by. It was bicycle after all. Judai took his moment to look at his phone and he noticed the missed call from O'brian.
"He was probably trying to warn us since that tracker was still active."
"Judai, look," Yubel appeared.
A glowing white object was coming towards him quickly. "It's Neos!"
"There's another creature behind him," Yubel observed.
Neos stopped in front of Judai and took on a battle stance for a duel. "Are you ready to duel, Neos?" Judai asked confidently and Neos responded with a quick and stern nod.
The man from earlier today ran towards them and stopped upon seeing Neos. He looked confused at first and then his eyes settled on Judai. "Wait, you're that guy from earlier."
"Oh? Have we met?" Judai taunted.
The man glared and straightened his jacket before lifting his duel disk. "You better not be challenging me, someone just ran off with something very valuable that belongs to me, so I'm kind of in a hurry."
"If you lost something that important, you should really speak to the police," Judai smirked.
"Are you trying to funny? That's what you said earlier!"
"I see you have a duel disk, so maybe we should settle this with a duel. If you win, you may pass, but if you lose…"
"You're going to regret challenging me," he said. "I'm going to crush you!"
"Is that so?" Judai said.
"Yes, because when people challenge me, the duel is over before it even starts!" The man drew a single card from the deck and activated it. "I summon Lesser Fiend! Go for a direct attack!"
"What?" Judai stepped back. The fiend was already coming straight towards him. Neos intercepted the attack and protected him. Lesser Fiend jumped back. "This isn't a duel!" Judai shouted back at the man.
"Get out of my way, or you're going to get hurt," he started. "You see, my monster isn't just a hologram, when he's summoned, he's real!"
Judai looked at the duel monster closely. He was right. It was a real monster, in a similar state as Neos. "Just who are you? How are you using this power?"
"I've collected more spiritual energy than you can imagine, so Lesser Fiend is as real as you or me and he obeys everything I say."
"Collected? Are you a trapper?" Judai accused.
"Sort of, but I'm not like them, they just get in the way, just like you're getting in my way right now with your weird alien and creepy demon there."
Neos and Yubel looked offended. "What are you after?"
"Just one of the most iconic spirits in the city, no, the world, and no one can stop me," he said. "Go Lesser Fiend!"
The duel monster attacked again and Neos fought back. Neos quickly overpowered the fiend. "Looks like you forgot my Neos has higher attack points, he's not so weird now, is he?" Judai retorted. "Neos, it's your turn to take the offensive, go for it!"
Neos sliced through Lesser Fiend with a karate crop and the monster disintegrated. "No way! Holograms can't defeat my Lesser Fiend!"
"Didn't you notice?" Judai started. "Neos and I share a connection, one that allows him to be summoned to our world too." Judai's eyes glowed in a deliberate display of his power.
The man stepped back. "Wait, you're…"
"Get him, Neos," Judai commanded.
"Not so fast!" Someone shouted. Judai held up his hand to halt Neos and they watched the second man from earlier approach with a woman trapped under his arm which was around her neck. His other hand was covering her mouth. "One more inch and the lady gets it," he threatened.
Judai glared. His eyes turned brown and Neos faded away. He was not sure what was going on, but he knew this woman's life was in danger, whoever she was. She had long black hair and brown eyes, which were red and swollen from obvious tears. There was also a bruise on the side of her face.
"I see you brought a date to the party," Judai said dryly, looking toward the woman. "Sorry, I would have invited my wife, but she's never been one for big parties."
"Give us the kid and this one won't get hurt," the second man started.
"What kid?" Judai asked.
"Don't play dumb, the one with the blue-eyes," he said.
"What are you trying to accomplish, anyway?" Judai pressed. "Don't you know that messing with spirits, and making them do your dirty work is dangerous?"
"Yeah, and what about you, huh? What does that make you?" the duelist retorted.
Judai didn't saying anything at first and simply looked at the man. Then he deliberately turned off his duel disk and placed Neos on the deck. "That… is a very long story, but to keep it simple, it makes me even more dangerous."
"Yeah, sure," the man nearly rolled his eyes. He then placed his Lesser Fiend on his duel disk again, and the monster materialized before them without the help of the hologram technology.
Judai had enough of this. This guy should be able to sense his power. A display of darkness should not be necessary. Many other spirit trappers seem to sense it at this point, however some, like this guy, did not. It just meant it was time for this next move. Unfortunately, it meant someone was going to get hurt.
"Hey, I think we should forget this guy," the second man began to back away with the woman still trapped under his arms. This guy seemed to get it. However, he was going to try to escape with his hostage before their plan was ruined, whatever the plan really was.
Yubel's laugh was heard by all of them. "Judai, these pathetic fools think they can escape after terrorizing our home? Unforgivable."
Even Lesser Fiend began to back away. "Who… what was that?" The man looked around.
Judai smirked. "Oh Yubel, I didn't realize you wanted to deal with these ones, please, be my guest." Judai turned around as Yubel's form appeared before Lesser Fiend.
"You there," Yubel directed towards Lesser Fiend. "Your master has lost his way, but you cannot standby and contribute to his crimes against your kind and the beings of this world." Yubel's third eye glowed. The Lesser Fiend's eyes glazed over before they too glowed and he turned on his master.
"What?" The man stepped back as both fiends looked down on him menacingly. "What are you doing? Don't turn on me, attack them!" He looked at Judai duel disk, but could see there were no cards activated. "Just what are you? How are you doing this?"
"Release your hostage," Judai ordered while ignoring the question. "And drop your duel disk." Lesser Fiend was trying to break away from Yubel's control, but it was futile. "Consider it a trade, release her and I'll release him."
The two men looked at each other. The one's grip loosened on the woman, but the duelist shook his head. "Don't let her go, we need her for our plan."
"So there is a plan?" Judai and Yubel looked at each other. "Just what are you up to?" He saw the men look past him, so he looked behind him and saw police lights coming their way before the sound the sirens.
When he turned back, both men were already on the run, but they left the woman since they could run away while dragging her along and decided she wasn't worth keeping as a hostage while under pursuit like this. Lesser Fiend disappeared as his energy source got too far away.
Judai watched the men run away "Darn!" He let them go as he went to the woman, who was on her hands and knees.
She seemed unharmed so he quickly summoned Neos again and sent him after the men. Yubel faded away as Judai stood and pointed in the direction of his home invaders and would be kidnappers went. Asuka must have made it to the police and they responded quickly. Certainly a first since the law enforcement wasn't equipped or trained to handle duelists or spirits. Judai heard of a training program in the academies to include law enforcement so soon police, detectives, and investigators will be coming out of the dueling academies until all schools included a dueling focus.
"Are you alright?" Judai asked the woman when he kneeled back down. One last police car stopped and one of the investigators from the police station stepped out, the one that handled most of their paperwork from the day before.
The woman shook her head.
"We're going to help you," Judai continued. "Can you tell me your name?"
Again she shook her head. Could she be another mute? She couldn't be hearing impaired since he was speaking softly and she was not looking at him.
"Why not?" he asked.
"I've been sworn to secrecy, you can't know anything without…" she trailed off.
Judai was confused. "Okay, I understand," he said. "Just come with me, we have to make sure you're okay and if you can tell us anything about what's going on, that would help us a lot." This time she nodded, and Judai sighed in relief.
"Are you…?"
"I'm not chasing them down, I've got you, the kid they're after, and my wife to protect first," he said. "I will get my chance to deal with them, I always do, so don't worry, you're safe now."
The investigator took over from there and got the woman into the vehicle to take to a medical examiner and also some questioning. Judai waited at the police station until they were told it was safe to return home.
Judai knew they were in for a scolding by their landlord for the damages. He thought it was time to move and maybe buy a house anyway. Something with enough space to duel all he wants with his friends and family. It would certainly make for a better location to deal with intruders of various kinds. He could duel them right on his lawn, instead of on the street or in a parking lot where they could be in the way.
"Judai, did you figure out what those two people were up to?" Asuka asked her husband privately.
He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "They want the kid for some reason, that one lady is connected somehow, but they really wanted the kid… I'm certain it has to do with spirits."
Asuka nodded. "We will continue to protect her, you're the one person around that can be trusted to do that in this situation."
This time he nodded. It was going to be just him tomorrow with the kid. He wasn't sure how exactly he was going to go about it, but had already decided he would figure out as he went. There was a chance he would run into those two men again and possibly any other friends or teammates they might have.
"Judai Yuki?" The investigator approached him.
"Yes?" Judai turned, as did Asuka.
"A guardian as stepped forward to claim the child, however, they are away and will be arriving back in the city sometime tomorrow. After we confirm they are who they say they are and that this wasn't a case of neglect, we'll come pick her up and get her home." They were told.
"Really? Who stepped forward?"
The investigator was about to answer and then snapped their mouth shut before laughing nervously. "I was sworn to secrecy on that, I'm sorry."
Judai and Asuka looked at each other. "Weird," Judai said bluntly.
"I really wish I could tell you right now, but you understand," they said. "If everything goes smoothly, it looks like you will only need to look after the child for another day, is that going to work out?"
"It's fine," Asuka answered. "It's getting late, so we would like to get her to bed and I have to get up early tomorrow morning, so are we ready to go?"
"Just one more thing," they began. "Doctor Kouga was cleared to return home as well. His injuries were minor."
"That's a relief," Judai sighed. "I was wondering how he was doing."
"Also, the woman you brought in isn't related to the child, but in light of recent information I just received over the phone, the child was in her care up until yesterday when she was attacked and the girl ran away from the attackers, so we are letting her spend the night in the hospital until morning since the doctors should clear her to return home soon."
Judai nodded in understanding. "I thought it was something like that, they don't look enough alike to be related, but I didn't want to assume anything." He was more concerned with why they were targeted.
Asuka got the car ready when it was time to leave and when they returned home, they found the front door was actually still intact. Part of the latch was broken and the chain had snapped. Overall the door was still usable and could be fixed in the morning. Until then, they used a chair to wedge against the door to prevent additional intruders.
Judai knew those men would not be back tonight. Not so soon. Yubel would be on high alert just in case, so he could rest easy. He informed both Asuka and the still-silent child of this so they could sleep with lower levels of anxiety since they knew he was looking out for them.
Author's Note:
They are getting closer to solving this mystery. Is the child really going to get to go home soon?
*Lesser Fiend [2100/1000] is an actual monster card in the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game. I tried to find one that was created before 5Ds, but sometimes it is difficult to confirm when cards were released, so forgive any errors with that.