Authors notes: I think it's obvious what's going to happen in the next few chapters.

Here's a fun game: Write down your predictions for this chapter. And have bottle of Jack Daniels handy. For every guess you get right, take a drink.

I have a feeling more than half of you will be completely wasted by the end. The rest will have guessed everything perfectly and passed out.

I promise the predictability will end soon. I'll have to make up my own plot after that. The book I'm plagiarizing hasn't updated in years. You know the one.

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The Emissary of Extinction

Chapter 11

Xiaolang's Dilemma

Xiaolang took the mask off his face as he sat up. He looked around. "Hello?" "Did I hear that? Or was I dreaming?" After a minute of silence he came to the conclusion that no one was gonna pop up and yell "Surprise" whatever he'd heard had been in his dreams. "If it was a dream. Whoever it was knew my name. And I've never heard that voice before." He shook his head. "Maybe I banged my head when I landed." He shifted his body, moving to place his legs on the floor. "Well I ain't dead." He took a deep breath. "Judai...why did you save me? You could have taken out Ritan. But instead you saved me." He looked into his open palm, letting the reality of his survival sink in. "I'm of no worth right now. But if you choose me to survive, Judat, then I will get stronger." He clenched his fist. "I must get stronger!" He grabbed his duel disk.

And ran out the door.

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He reached the front of the ward. Running right past a confused Emi. "Wait! Xiaolang?"

"I'mallbetter, thankyoubye!"

She stopped and blinked a few times as Xiaolang was gone. "Congratulations...I guess." "Kids."

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Minutes Later.

"Draw! Blade Knight!" The warrior appeared in front of him. "Draw! Field Commander Rahz!" Another warrior appeared. Xiaolang nodded. "Draw!" He stopped. Looking at Heart of Clear Water. "Shit. Draw!" Warrior's Strike. He frowned. "Draw!" Reinforce Truth. He bared his teeth. "Dammit! Draw!" Reckless Charge. He signed. "This deck. It's not responding to me." He removed the cards from his monster card zone, shuffling them along with his hand back into his deck. He drew a new card.

"Oblivion." He sat down, removing his duel disk from his arm. He pulled out his deck, leaning against the tree he was training under. He looked through the cards that made up his deck. He'd had an unusual problem ever since he'd started duelling. He loved the game, but he never found a particular card set he liked. But he liked warrior monsters in general, so he used a deck of them. Though there were some non warrior cards he liked. He looked at The Creator, smiling. He put his deck back in his disk, turning to the sky as he leaned back against the tree. Sighing slightly. His mind turned back to his match with Ritan.

"He slaughtered me." His face darkened as he remembered the direct attack Draygor gave him. "I need to get stronger. But how?"

'clomp' Xiaolang blinked. "Eh?" 'clomp' He slowly turned to see something coming out of the trees. He turned to see a horse walking towards him. "Wow."

It was unlike any horse he had ever seen before. It was completely black from head to hoof. Black hair as well. But it was a magnificent steed. Xiaolang was no horse breeder but he could tell this horse was one hell of a runner.

The only thing that wasn't black on the horse were it's eyes. A shining dark yellow. Xiaolang could tell it was looking at him for the few seconds before it leaned down to eat some grass. Showing that it in fact had white teeth. Xiaolang took a closer look at the creature. "I didn't know the island had a farm." The horse grunted. It's head raised up chewing it's meal as it looked at Xiaolang.

The boy slowly stood up. By the time he'd gotten to his feet he noticed that the horse didn't feel threatened. Xiaolang very slowly walked forward, holding out a hand. He lightly placed it on it's mane, stroking it. "Hello there." Xiaolang continued to pet it as he moved his body closer, running a second hand thorough the horses mane. He looked at the horse, he had to say something, being completely black with yellow orbs for eyes was kinda intimidating. The horse lowered it's head again to eat, Xiaolang too leaned down to keep petting it. He spoke to it in a baby voice.

"Who's a cweepy wittle bastard? You are! Yes you are! Yes you-opph!" Xiaolang fell back as he felt the horses head collide with his chest. He looked the horse in the eye.

"You did that on purpose. Didn't you?"

A grunt was his only answer, and suddenly Xiaolang suspected something.

"You can understand me." Xiaolang stood up. "Well I'm not gonna let myself get beaten up by a horse, so bye."

Xiaolang walked away, getting a dozen steps from where he started before he noticed...'clomp' He stopped, turning around. "Stay." He turned, walking slightly faster this time.

'clomp, clomp' Xiaolang turned around again. "Stay." He turned, taking a step before..."STAY!"

'clomp'

Xiaolang turned around one last time, walking right up to the steed, he raised the steed's face so they were eye to eye.

"I'm not a Horse breeder. I know nothing about taking care of horses. Now. Piss. Off."

The horse blinked slowly. Before blowing air in Xiaolang's face.

"UGH! Damn!" Xiaolang moved back in revulsion. "Gross!" He gave the horse a dark look. "You're not gonna go away are you?"

The horse blinked slowly.

Xiaolang sighed. "Fine. But I'm gonna ignore you." As he walked away, hearing the clomping of hooves behind him...

He knew he was gonna have a hard time keeping his word.

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A frantic Judai ran out from what was Xiaolangs room. "Where is he?"

A slightly confused Emi walked out of another room. "Xiaolang left an hour ago."

"Wait, what?"

"I don't know how he did it. But he was up and out the door when I came in. I don't know where he got to but he had his Duel Disk with him.

Judai blinked. Double checking to make sure he wasn't imagining this. "I'll go find him. I'll bring him back if there's a problem." He turned to walk away.

"By the way Judai, when did Xiaolang's father get on the island?"

Judai stopped. "What do you mean?"

"He visited. He came in and visited Xiaolang. The receptionist told me. He left not long before Xiaolang woke up. Could you let him know his son's awake?"

Judai hid his frown beneath a smile. "I will. Thanks for taking care of Xiaolang."

As Judai walked out of the door of the ward he thought to himself.

"So that was the reason. But were you the one who woke him up?"

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A while later Judai had found his way to the Osiris red dorm. He blinked.

"Since when does the island have a horse?"

The steed was lying down in front of the dorm, with a couple of the female students petting it. He walked up the staircase with curious eyes looking down at the steed.

Who was looking back. It hadn't moved it's head but Judai knew he was being watched. Judai only turned away when he opened the door to his room.

"Is that thing still out there?"

Judai smiled. "Xiaolang!"

The boy was sitting on the floor, his deck laid out before him. "Hey Judai. Is that thing still out there?"

Judai raised an eyebrow. "Thing?"

Xiaolang's eye twitched. "That fucking horse! I lead it through the woods, around the main building, and dammit I was stupid enough to try running from it but it wont leave me alone!"

Both boys heard neighing. Xiaolang's eye twitched again. "FUCK OFF WILL YA!" He shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with it."

"'It'? Doesn't the horse have a name?"

Xiaolang shook his head. "I'd name it but I think it'd kick me. And I just got out of hospital." He placed the cards he was holding on the floor. "But forget the pony." He looked up at Judai.

For the first time Judai saw anger aimed at him lodged in those eyes. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have taken out Ritan right there! Your powers were greater than his. And now the Emissary is free to cause chaos! You idiot!"

Judai's face darkened. "I was saving your life! And in case you haven't noticed we're all still here. Ritan failed."

The anger in the boy's face vanished. "Eh? But I thought duelling me would give him the power he needed."

Judai nodded. "He did too. But you were both wrong. The Emissary didn't escape. I didn't stay long enough to find out the details, but Ritan's still using Extinction Armors power. I guess he failed."

Xiaolang smiled. "Finally some good news." He frowned, suddenly looking ashamed. "Sorry for yelling like that...it's just that..." He was struggling to find the right words.

Judai smiled, shaking his head. "It's alright. No big deal. So how you feeling?"

Xiaolang shrugged. "That's the weird thing. I feel fine. I was dragged out of that battle exhausted but now...yeah." He shrugged again. "Guess I heal fast." He bit his lower lip. Something else was bothering him. "Judai...this is gonna sound weird."

Judai too sat down. "What is?"

The boy struggled with himself for a moment. "Well I had...dreams. While I slept. I dreamed...of every duel I ever had."

Judai looked through the deck spread out in front of him. "Every one?"

Xiaolang nodded. "Yeah. That's what most of my dreams were. But the last one..."

"The last one?"

"After I saw Ritan beat me, I stood alone in darkness. But I felt something. Something inside of me." He suddenly grasped at his heart. "Something I feel burning even now." He raised his head, meeting the older duellists eyes. With a passion Judai knew all too well. "I must get stronger. Darkness covered me after that, but the desire burned. I don't know how long I was there for. But then I heard something...calling out to me."

"Do you know what it was?" "Ritan maybe?"

Xiaolang shook his head. "Not a clue. Can't name the voice. But they knew my name. They told me to...hear them. Judai...I don't know if something's reaching out to me or if I'm going mad."

Another neighing met his words, but neither boy paid attention. Neither quite knew what do say.

"Xiaolang." Both boys turned to face the sudden manifestation of Yubel. "Don't be frightened, I am another monster spirit that dwells in Judai." Xiaolang slowly nodded. If she was a friend of Judai's then Xiaolang would trust her. "When did that horse show up?" Xiaolang blinked. "Why's that important?" Her face darkened. "Just tell me." Xiaolang thought for a moment. "Not long after I woke up. I was taking a break from practising my deck and it showed up. It ain't normal, I swear that thing understands me." "Are you sure?" "As I am of my name." She nodded. "Do you know what it wants?" Xiaolang laughed. "Other than follow me? No idea." Yubel frowned, before fading.

Judai decided to drop the topic. "So what's all this about?" He looked at the cards in front of him. Xiaolang had quite a wide selection in his deck.

Xiaolang sighed. "No idea to be honest. I tried playing with the deck when I woke up, and I'm not sure it's responding to me anymore."

Judai frowned. "Let's see."

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In minutes both were standing outside, their duel disks activated. The horse was watching.

"Duel!"

Judai drew first. "I play Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Bladedge to summon Elemental Hero Plasma Vice!" The massive Elemental Hero appeared, it's body emitting it's raw energy. (Attack mode ATK/2800 DEF/2300) "I set two cards and end my turn."

"Draw." Xiaolang looked at his hand. "Shit." His hand contained The Creator, Reckless Charge, Armor Breaker, Oblivion, Vindictive Sword and the Megamorph he'd just drawn. "I set one monster. Turn end."

Judai drew a card. "He feels different. It's like he's...out of sync with his deck." "Reverse Card open! Soul Union! By removing an 'Elemental Hero' from my graveyard, one I control gains it's attack points. I remove Bladedge and add it's power to Plasma Vice!" (ATK/5400) "Battle! Plasma Pulsation!"

Plasma Vice gripped the monster who was revealed to be Armor Breaker. (DEF/800) It flooded the creature's body with it's own energy, causing the creature to scream.

Judai frowned. "Plasma Vice inflicts piercing damage." Armor Breaker was destroyed. (Xiaolang LP/0)

Xiaolang fell to a knee. "Damn. How am I supposed to get stronger?"

"I think I know what the problem is." Xiaolang looked up, Judai was coming over to him. The older boy smiled. "You're ready to grow a little."

"Grow?"

Judai nodded. "You want to get stronger. And your deck knows it. You can't lie to your deck, it's telling you to try out new cards, new moves. It's time you evolved past that deck."

Xiaolang pulled out his deck. Spreading it. "Evolve...past the deck?"

Judai nodded. "Yeah. You can't fight as you used to anymore. You want to be stronger, so you have to find a new way. You need to make a new deck which reflects that will. That one wont, because it cant. You changed Xiaolang. So if you want to continue duelling, you need to make a new deck that mirrors you."

Xiaolang frowned. "But...how?"

Judai closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know Xiaolang. That's between you and your deck."

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Night came to the island. But come very early morning the next day someone was already very wide awake.

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Xiaolang sat at his desk, a few cards in his hand. "Evolve past the deck..." Xiaolang had tried, he really did. But he could not for one second think of what new cards would fit the new him. At least, what Judai had basically claimed was the new him. He had to admit though, he didn't understand his deck anymore. Sure, it had some powerful cards, and some heavy hitters. But it didn't feel like him anymore. Some of the cards he knew he'd go on using. But most of them were spare cards now. "I want to defeat Ritan. I want to get stronger. But what cards show that kind of will?" He heard the clomping of hooves again. "What is up up with that horse?" He stood up, placing what cards he knew he'd still play in the deck box on his belt. He felt like going for a walk.

He opened the door, and looked down to see the horse looking up at him. "You really should find yourself a mare or something." He walked down the staircase, walking away from his dorm.

Clomping following him the entire way.

Xiaolang wasn't sure how long he'd been walking for, but his mind was plagued with his dilemma. He had no idea how he was supposed to get stronger. He'd just assumed it was a matter of improving on his deck, but now he had to pretty much replace it. But with what? He had plenty of cards alright, being the son of a former champ left you no shortage of cards to work with. But there was nothing, nothing among them that spoke to him. He didn't need to go back to the home to check to collection to know that, he'd been there multiple times to check. Nothing interested him then, and until he had any idea what kind of deck he was going to even use, they were not going to interest him now.

He had stopped to overlook the sea. "But I just can't give up." His thoughts were interrupted by the weight that was rubbing itself against his hand. Xiaolang smiled as he stroked the horses mane. "I was speaking out loud wasn't I? You know, I really don't get you. What makes you so interested in me?"

After a few minutes of petting he started to notice something behind him.

"Fog? When the hell did that happen?" He turned to face the mist. "Well just my luck. Oh well." He turned out to face the sea. "I must get stronger...but how?"

He heard the horse grunt, before beginning to neigh. But it didn't stop right away. "What's wrong-what the?" He watched as armor suddenly began to appear on the horse, some on the back of it's neck, it's face, and it's legs. As Xiaolang watched this he didn't feel surprised for some reason.

The horse stopped gaining armor, it was now dressed for war. With strong armor, a saddle, and reigns, this was a horse meant to be ridden into battle. It looked Xiaolang in the eye once more.

"You know...how I can gain strength?" The horses head suddenly lowered and raised, it was nodding to him. "How?" It slowly turned to show it the armor on it's face, despite the mist, what little light there was made the marking on the armor visible.

That symbol was on it. "That mark. They sent you?" The horse nodded again. "Then I gotta tell Judai!" Xiaolang turned to make his way back to his dorm, but had gotten only a few step before he felt a pull on the back of his jacket. He turned to face the steed that was pulling on him. He wasn't sure how, but he had a guess at what the horse was trying to tell him. "I go...alone?" The horse let go, turning so the side of it's body was facing Xiaolang.

"You'll take me to them. The ones that sealed the Emissary. So it was them that called me!" Xiaolang jumped onto the steed. "Then lets go!"

It was then Xiaolang had second thoughts, not because he was scared of meeting these mystery warriors. Or even scared of facing the Emissary. Not even the thought that he might die in that battle.

He was scared of something more immediate.

"SLOW DOWN GOD DAMMIT!"

He knew the horse had heard him.

He also knew the horse wouldn't listen.

Xiaolang was smart enough to grasp the reigns tighter as they went into the mist.

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End of Chapter

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Today's Strongest Card

Reckless Charge

Spell (Quick-play)

Special summon 1 Warrior-type monster from your hand, destroy it during the end phase.

Commentary: Xiaolang

"Any Warrior I want for a turn, handy in a pinch!"

Author's notes: A Shortish chapter I know. This is just a transition chapter. Same with the next one. Should be up sometime in the coming week.

P.S.

Did I say "Plagiarizing"? I meant "getting inspiration from".