We disembarked from a ferry into Domino Harbor. Bastion wasn't so much of a boat person, so we had to help him off. "Well, this is just great. Abandoned in an unknown city," Bastion complained.
Hassleberry almost glared at Bastion. "Who cares? We don't need those guys holding us back."
"Exactly!" Jaden agreed. "We're in the coolest place on Earth, so we all gotta make the most of it, right?"
Syrus held something up. "That's right! Luckily, I brought a Guidebook!" he exclaimed proudly. Hassleberry held up his own and the two began fighting, yet again.
"Guys, no one needs a freakin' Guidebook when you've got me! I basically grew up in this town!" I told them, taking both of their Guidebooks.
Jaden turned to me in astonishment. "Really? That is so cool!" I nodded slowly, thinking of how 'cool' things really were.
Flashback
Mom had always wanted me to be just like Alexis and Atticus. Well-mannered, proper, and well-behaved. I could never have been like them. I was always quick to get into fights at school and when I couldn't solve it with a duel, I solved it with insults or fists. I wasn't good in school and the only thing I cared about was dueling and building my deck.
She usually would just ground me, but one day, she lost it.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU UNGRATEFUL CHILD!" she screeched after slapping me across the face. In tears, I looked up at her. She had never slapped me before. "THAT'S RIGHT! NOW GO!"
I ran upstairs to my room. Alexis was out with some friends and Atticus was at guitar lessons. I threw some things into a small bag, clipped my deck box onto my belt and slid my Duel Disk into my bag. Pulling the drawstring bag over my shoulder, I crept downstairs. Mom was sitting at the table, her back turned away from me, yelling at Dad into the phone. When tears threatened to spill, I quietly slipped out the front door.
I was only eight and a half years old when I ran away.
End Flashback
Aster's P.o.V.
Things were actually going well for once. Aster had his old friend back, who was still the girl he had a huge crush on, and the rival for her was now one of the people who could actually tolerate him.
As soon as Aster got off the boat, Bastion asked him if he knew anything about Sartorius's plans, seeing as he was Aster's manager. Aster told him that Sartorius wasn't his manager anymore after what had happened the previous night.
Flashback
Sartorius was staring at the cards again. "The cards tell me you have a question."
"What are you doing at this school?" Aster quietly demanded. His arms were crossed and he looked very calm, but inside, Aster was worried sick.
"I should be asking you the same thing," Sartorius replied calmly, placing another card onto the table. "You despise Duel Academy, yet still you linger!" He smirked like a mad person. "Is it because you want to protect the young duelist Miss Rhodes?" he asked.
Aster quickly defended himself. "Because of you! You said it was good for my career!"
"You know better than that. This has nothing to do with me, Aster." Sartorius shuffled the cards on the table into a small pile.
Aster rolled his eyes. "What's that mean?" he spat.
"Have you forgotten everything I taught you? We're here because it was the will of Destiny." Aster almost laughed. He'd had enough with the destiny crap. "You and I had no choice. No one escapes fate. Well, almost no one." Sartorius replaced his deck onto the table. "For I found someone who defies destiny."
"You're talking about Jaden."
"That's right. It seems all the pieces revolve around him." Aster questioned that, so Sartorius continued, "To the great puzzle. Aster, it's time you knew the truth about me. Not long ago, thanks to a twist of fate, the direction of my life changed. I formed a secret society."
Aster uncrossed his arms in realization. "You mean the Society of Light," he shot accusingly. "Is that why you convinced me to enroll here? Is it? So you could use me to brainwash people?" Oh my God, Hoshi could've been next! "And to think I trusted you all these years."
Sartorius placed a card face-up on the table, tears running down his face. "Aster, you must understand it was for your own good, and for the good of the world. Mankind is destined to see the Light. You and I are merely pawns of Destiny."
"You know, I used to believe everything you said. But those days are gone. Later. I guess you 're not who I thought you were." Aster walked out the , leaving Sartorius staring at his cards. As soon as he was outside, Aster broke into a run. He knew that Sartorius would try and use her to get him back. And he would never let that happen.
End Flashback
As the two started to argue, Aster figured, Maybe he can't tolerate me without Hoshi having to stop him. And we all know that he'd do anything she says. Aster laughed after Bastion found all of his friends were missing and walked off.
Hoshi's P.o.V.
We were at the site of the infamous duel of the Best Friends. Joey against Yugi in a battle for their lives. Hassleberry and Syrus were arguing over facts that I had heard ever since Joey became my manager and mentor. I sighed and stood up.
I gotta get to Yugi's… Joey and them expect me to be ready. I walked off, with the two not even noticing I was leaving.
I reached the green-roofed house and knocked. "Who's 'dere?" a familiar accent asked.
"Joey, it's me, Hoshi." I sighed as he opened the door. "I'm ready, so can we just get this show on the road?" I asked impatiently.
"Yeah, jus' lemme get my jacket…" Joey pulled on his old jean jacket and gave me the thumbs up. "Okay, now I'm ready ta go!" I rolled my eyes, but followed him to his sports car.
When we reached the Kaiba Dome, I slid out onto the carpet. "Well, come on, Joey. We've got a Duel to win." No one but Syrus knew I was here. Only he knew I was facing Zane and he had promised not to tell. In return, I said that I would beat Zane and bring him back.
After what seemed like hours, the bell rang for the duel to begin. I walked to a platform that would rise above the stage.
"AND HERE SHE IS! SHE'S BEEN AWAY FOR A WHILE, BUT SHE'S BACK AND READY TO RUMBLE!" the announcer cried. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HOSHI HANAKO RHODES!"
I breathed in as I was raised up. I faced Zane Truesdale, in all his glory. I pulled out my deck. Heart of the Cards… don't fail me now, please! I slid my deck into the deck slot.
"Zane Truesdale… I've heard a lot about you. Not just from gossip, from your little brother!" I called across the stage. At the mention of Syrus, Zane didn't even move one tiny bit. He just inserted his deck and activated his Duel Disk.
"How about you shut up and duel?" he asked coldly.
I winced. "Fine!" We drew our five cards. I had Black Magic Ritual, Magician of Black Chaos, Monster Reborn, Dark Magician Girl, and Witch of the Black Forest. "I guess I'll start, right? I draw!" Mage's Interception. "Okay, first, I'll use Black Magic Ritual! I'll send these two to the Grave to summon Magician of Black Chaos!" My magician appeared, nodded at me once, and turned to my opponent. "Now, I'll use Monster Reborn and bring back my main girl! Dark Magician Girl, come to the field!" The cute blonde Spellcaster winked and floated next to the Magician of Black Chaos. "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn." I sighed and hoped that I was right in what he was about to do.
"I draw." Zane looked at his hand. "Now, I'll summon Cyber Dragon in Attack Mode. Then, I'll attack you Dark Magician Girl!" I inwardly smirked.
"Not happening! I activate Mage's Interception! Now, this little trick lets me choose another monster card from my field and you'll be attacking that card instead! Naturally, I'll be using my Magician of Black Chaos!" Cyber Dragon hissed and broke into tiny pieces. Zane didn't seem to care, even when his Life Points went down to 3300.
Zane scoffed. "I'll place a facedown and end."
"Which means I draw!" I drew the card Pot Of Greed. "I activate Pot Of Greed. Two more cards are added to my hand…" I drew Magician's Valkyria and Sage's Stone, but decided to keep it until something big happened. "Okay, I summon Magician's Valkyria!" She twirled around. "Go! Attack Zane directly!" Zane didn't even flinch as my Valkyria's green beam of magic hit him. I gritted my teeth. "Dark Magician Girl!" I called, pointing towards Zane. She smiled and shot a pink blast of light at Zane.
He smirked and raised his arm. "Too bad that my Negate Attack card will stop you. All that hard work is wasted." I flinched.
Sighing, I placed Sage's Stone facedown. "I'll place this card facedown… and end." Zane's face was still stone cold.
"I draw." He took one look at the card and smirked. "I play Pot Of Greed and draw two cards." His smirk grew wider. "I'll use Monster Reborn to bring back an old friend, Cyber Dragon!" The metallic dragon roared.
"Oh no!" I gasped, realizing that he was about to summon his ultimate monster.
Zane's smirk twitched a bit. "I use Power Bond! I'll fuse my three Cyber Dragons to form Cyber End Dragon!" A three-headed dragon lifted its three heads and roared a terrifying roar that shook the stage. I stepped back a bit and then remembered my facedown card.
"I activate Sage's Stone! Now, since Dark Magician Girl is here, she can bring Dark Magician out, too!" Dark Magician took his stance next to Dark Magician Girl.
Zane grunted. "I'll end my turn."
"Okay! I draw!" Waboku. Which means I may actually be able to win. "I'll place one facedown and end."
"Now, I can attack! And don't forget, Power Bond doubles Cyber End Dragon's power!" The metallic, three-headed dragon's Attack Points rose to 8000. I grimaced and took another step back. "And just incase, I'll be getting rid of your facedown card with Mystical Space Typhoon!" I stepped back again.
I closed my eyes as Waboku disappeared and my only hope of winning was gone along with it. I guess… this is the end… I breathed in and out and prepared to be hit with an enormous amount of power.
"Cyber End Dragon! Finish this duel! Attack Hoshi's Valkyria!" I watched helplessly as Valkyria burst into several shards with a dreadful screech. With only 1600 Attack Points, Cyber End Dragon was still able to give me 6400 points of damage. The beam of light hit me dead in the chest and I was blasted back into the wall.
I stumbled forward, Zane's smirking face beaming in and out of focus. "You… you really aren't the brother that Syrus looked up to… You're just… just… A MONSTER! You have no respect and no morals!" I glared heatedly at him and my eyes slowly closed.
Zane's P.o.V.
"You… you really aren't the brother that Syrus looked up to… You're just… just… A MONSTER! You have no respect and no morals!" Hoshi yelled at him. Zane didn't react outside, but inside, he was flinching.
What? What's wrong with my head? She mentioned… Syrus? Syrus… my little brother!
Zane closed his eyes and turned to walk away, but stopped when he heard a thump. He turned around and realized that Hoshi had been knocked unconscious. A red liquid was running from her head and Zane realized that she had slammed her head too hard on the wall. Despite himself, Zane walked over and picked the girl up.
He placed her in his car and drove to the nearest hospital. He sat down and waited for Hoshi to wake up. It seemed that she wasn't hit that hard, seeing as it only took her two hours to wake up. He was about to leave when a nurse walked in and told him, "She'd like to see you, Mr. Truesdale."
Shit. Was Zane's only thought.
Alright, do I fail or what? XD
Um...
Okay, I didn't wanna bore you at the start of this chapter, so I'll say this; I'm sooo sorry! D: I've been dropped off the face of the earth! DX
-School started. 'Nuff said.
-My computer died and I lost a few of my files, so Tek-Tek, I finished your request, but now I have to re-do it! ;~; Truthfully, I lost this one, too, and spent almost two months re-typing all of my other crap.
-Soccer is taking up a lot of my time, too. I have a few practices a week and a game on Saturdays.
-I'm writing a book now, and I'm not gonna spend too much time on FanFiction anymore. Plus, YouTube is my newest addiction. 83 I've got a new program to vid my fave fandoms, and I'm not all that into writing FanFiction anymore...
I'm really sorry guys, but I may or may not continue this story, along with my other ones. Again, I'm so sorry! D:
But that doesn't mean I'm gone forever. XD I'll definitely be writing, but I'm gonna finish all my stories before I post 'em. That way, you won't have to wait as long. But for now, enjoy the cliffie~