Hey everyone! Glad you liked the last chapter. Here's a new one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh GX or Jess; she still belongs to ladydream-chan.
Claimer: YAY! This ENTIRE STORY IS MINE!!!! And the one or two or three OCs that show up that aren't Jess are also mine. :)
xXx
Jaden's POV
The sun was just rising into the sky when the boat pulled into port at the Ochi City Docks. Everyone looked like ghosts, Jesse, Julie, and I more than the others. We couldn't believe that Chris was actually dead. We slowly stumbled off the boat and looked up. My brother and Jim stood next to two large vans. When they saw us, Jim quickly rushed over to us. Tony simply stayed where he was, a cigarette a lit in his mouth.
"Glad to see you're all okay, mates," Jim said. I smiled at him, or I tried to at least.
"Same to you, Jim," I said. He smiled at me and then looked at Jesse and Julie.
"How's Emmy?" Jesse asked. Jim's face fell.
"She's devastated. I swear, Jess, I've never seen someone so hurt." We all looked away from each other.
"It's cruel, you know, that we keep losing people we care about because gangs can't leave us alone," I said. Alexis squeezed my hand. Last year, we lost Mark, Maria, and Danny. Not that Danny was really with us. He had been a traitor, but Mark and Maria were some of our best friends. They died to protect us. Chris died to protect Emmy. Who would be the next to die? And who would they be protecting?
"We shouldn't be standing out here, in the open," Tony said as he approached us. We all looked at him. He was dressed in all black. The cigarette that was in his mouth was now in his hand. He dropped it onto the dock and crushed it underneath his foot.
"Tony," I said. He looked at me.
"Jaden," he replied. The gang looked at me. They knew about my brother, I'd mentioned him a few times. They were excited to see I had a nice home to go home to now. In a way, I was glad, too. But I was much happier with the fact that Jess had a place to be where she could be safe.
"Let's go. You're friends are waiting for you at the house," Tony said. We all nodded and followed after him. Tony climbed into one van's driver seat and Jim in the other. Jesse and Julie climbed in with him. Alexis and I got into Tony's van. The gang simply spread out between the two. No one sat shot gun with Tony, not even myself.
xXx
The ride to Tony's large country home was long and silent. No one dared to say a word. I simply stared out the window keeping a firm hold on Alexis' hand. She was resting against my side, her free hand on my thigh. It was all the comfort I needed.
We pulled into driveway and parked the van. Jim pulled in and parked just behind us. I continued to gaze out the window, no one moving. The blinds in the door ruffled; someone was looking out.
"Come on," Tony said. I nodded and he opened his door. We all slowly got out of the van. Everyone was already out of Jim's van. They just stood there waiting for us. Alexis and I followed after Tony. He didn't pause for even a second, simply striding toward his door. He glanced back at us, then around, before opening the door and walking in. Out of habit, I also looked around to make sure we were alone. I noticed Jesse and Jim doing the same. Then we walked into the house. Jim took up the rear and closed the door, locking it and the deadbolt.
"Onii-chan!" Jess cried out. I turned around to see her throwing herself around my waist. She buried her face in my chest, clutching the back of my Slifer blazer for dear life. I let go of Alexis' hand and dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms around Jess, holding her tightly. Tony stood in the living room, lighting up another cigarette. I stood up and pulled Jess up with me. She clung to me, but not so much that I wasn't able to grab Alexis' hand again.
"Where is everyone?" Jesse asked as he walked around me. Julie was holding his hand just as Alexis was holding mine.
"I'm over here," Axel said. Everyone moved into the living room to see him sitting down on a couch. He looked at us. He had his arms folded across his chest.
"Where's Emmy?" Julie asked. Tony pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and blew smoke out his lips.
"She's been upstairs in the spare bedroom since she showed up yesterday," he said. He didn't sound like he cared though. I glared heatedly at him. Julie dropped Jesse's hand and made her way upstairs. I noticed that neither of them was holding Maria. Then Jim walked out with her in his arms.
"I'll go talk to her," Julie said. Everyone just nodded as she disappeared down the hall. Once she was gone, we all sat down around the room.
"You seem to have brought more home than I first thought you would, dear brother," Tony said looking at me. I just shrugged and looked away from him. Jess was clinging to my left arm and Alexis was holding my right. Even though Jess now had two older brothers, I was still her favorite one. She had made a point to say that to me every time she mentioned Tony.
"Shut it, Tony," she barked. Tears were streaming down her face. More proof that she loves me more than him: she calls me 'Onii-chan' and him 'Tony'. He just shrugged and ground his cigarette into the ash tray on the table in front of him.
"I'm just saying. How do you intend to protect all of your friends from Duel Academy when you couldn't even protect your friends here?" I flinched at his words. They were true enough, but I didn't like the way he said it. And neither did Jesse.
"What the hell would you know about that? You're a fucking lawyer of Pete's sake!" he growled. "You just stick to what you know and we'll stick to what we know." Again, Tony just shrugged. He sat down in a chair, crossing his legs.
"Very well, but what do you intend to do? You can't know much about these new Skulls, can you?" Jim, Jesse, Axel, and I looked at each other.
"Um, no, we don't," Jim admitted. Simultaneously, Jess and Alexis squeezed me. I squeezed them back but kept my gaze on Jesse. He shook his head, reading my thoughts.
"I don't know, Jay. I have no idea what these new Skulls are going to be like. From what I can tell, they're way better than the Skulls we disbanded years ago." I nodded.
"I gathered that, too."
"Then what will happen?" Syrus asked. I dropped my gaze to the floor.
"More casualties most likely," I said. There was a collective gasp around the room.
"Onii-chan, no!" Jess cried. Alexis squeezed my hand once. I pulled away from both of them and stood up. I began to pace. Everyone let me do so for a few moments. I stopped and looked at the former gang members before me.
"There has to be something we know. Something! Anything!" I was waiting for someone to throw me a bone, any bone. Jesse stood up.
"We know one thing, one thing none of us want to know." Jim looked at him.
"What's that mate?" Jesse walked over to me.
"They're smarter, stronger, and faster. They're better." I scowled at him.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that one out."
"They're better than us." Everyone froze. I blinked a few times before looking away from Jesse. My hands balled into fists and I started to pace again.
"They aren't better than us, they aren't better," I chanted that quietly. Jesse suddenly grabbed my shoulders and spun me around.
"Damn it, Jaden! Open your eyes! You saw it, too! They aren't the same hotheaded Skulls we fought years ago. They have one mission and one mission only, and that is all of our deaths. They already killed Craig and Chris. Any of us are next! They already tried to kill Julie, and she barely made it out of that alive." His voice was strained at the end. I looked at him. He was truly terrified over these Skulls, more so than I initially thought. He had so much to lose, so much he could lose. And he didn't want to feel that loss. He didn't want to feel what Emmy was feeling right now.
And neither did I.
I covered his hands on my shoulders with my own. "I know, Jesse. You're right. But, damn it, I wish you weren't." He nodded at me and pulled his hands back.
"Me, too, Jaden. Me, too."
"Then what are you going to do? If you don't know anything about these guys and they're better…" Hassleberry didn't finish his sentence.
"Maybe if you guys thought about your war with them years ago, you can figure out where you guys can get better!" Blair offered. I looked at everyone who remembered that war.
"That wouldn't do much good," Jim said.
"Why? It seems like it would," Bastion said. I shook my head.
"We had so many more fighters last time. The entire Blood and Crib gangs were working together. And we killed all of the Cribs last year! Then we disbanded the Bloods and remaining Cribs! Not to mention that our leaders killed each other! Mark and Adrian may have hated each other's guts, but they were brothers. Blood brothers, DNA brothers, real brothers and they could coordinate attacks like none I've ever seen. Not to mention that the last time I fought these bastards, they nearly killed me more times than I can count!" I was gasping for breath when I finished. All of my thoughts tumbled out of my mouth with that one. Everyone was staring at me.
"More than you can count?" Aster quoted his eyes showing that he was having a hard time believing that.
"Yes. They tried to kill us all more than we can count. People were killed in that fight, more than we liked. With such a small group of targets, well." Jesse looked around. "We all very well might be killed."
The terrifying part is that I agree with him one hundred percent. And I don't like it!
xXx
Narrative POV
Julie knocked timidly on the door at the end of the hall. She could hear weeping coming from behind it. There was no response, only the weeping. She creaked the door open. Light flooded into the darkened room. Walking in, she left the door ajar and flipped on the light. Emmy sat in the far corner of the room, pulled into a tight ball. When the lights flipped on, she looked up at her guest. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy.
"Turn off the lights, Julie, and get out. I want to be left alone!" Emmy threw a pillow at her, hitting her on the leg. Julie flicked off the light but walked over to her friend. Emmy made a show of ignoring her, even as she sat down next to her. Then Julie wrapped her arms around her and began to pull her against herself. Emmy struggled in her embrace, but she wasn't letting her go. "Let me go, Julie! Let me go!"
"No."
That one word was all it took to make Emmy crumble and grip Julie like her life depended on it. She buried her face in the crook of her neck and began to sob. Julie ran her fingers through her hair in a soothing manner, whispering soothing words in her ear.
"God, Julie, they killed Chris! He's gone! My, God! I don't know what to do!"
"I want to say I understand, but I don't. And I don't even want to think about your pain," Julie answered honestly. Emmy nodded and pulled back.
"Good, because I'd kill you if you did," she said. Her voice was growing very hoarse. She rubbed her eyes. "Is everyone here?" Julie nodded.
"Yes." Emmy nodded in turn. Silence grew between the two. Emmy continued to cry quietly, just letting Julie try to sooth her. But she knew deep down nothing would. Her love had been taken from her and he was taken to protect her. It just wasn't fair! Especially after what she learned that day…what she wanted to tell him and never would be able to.
"Julie…I'm pregnant." Julie's hands removed themselves quickly from her hair and then held her at arm's length. Shock was all over her face.
"Oh my, God!" Emmy swallowed against the lump in her throat.
"He never knew. I was going to tell him that night, but he never showed up…" Tears began running down her face again, a sob building in her chest. Julie pulled her to her without hesitation. Emmy cried openly on her shoulder. They stayed like that until Emmy eventually fell asleep. Julie made no move to get up.
Suddenly, someone walked into the room. Julie looked up to see Alexis sitting down next to her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Alexis smiled at her, though it was a sad smile.
"I just wanted to come see what was going on. Plus…" She looked away from the mother before her. "I don't like what they're talking about downstairs."
"What are they talking about?" Julie inquired. Alexis looked at her.
"About how the Skulls nearly killed you guys last time." Her voice was quiet. Julie nodded.
"Yeah, they did." Silence fell again.
"I can't lose him, Julie. I just can't." Her voice was quiet with tears she refused to shed. Julie grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"Believe me, I understand. I can't imagine life without Jesse. What's sad is I'd throw myself in front of a bullet to save him." Alexis looked at her confused.
"Why is that sad?"
"Because it would cause him more pain than he deserves," she whispered. Alexis frowned.
"Why are you saying that?" Julie smiled at her. It was a knowing smile.
"Because I don't want you throwing yourself in front of a bullet for Jaden. I don't think that locket would protect this time." Alexis looked away from her.
"But I can't live without him," she whispered. Julie squeezed her hand.
"And he can't live without you." Alexis looked at her.
"I understand what you're saying, Julie. But I just don't want to go through what Emmy is." Julie smiled at her sadly and released her hand. She then reached up and stroked her hair softly.
"None of us do, Lex. But if we don't figure out a way to stop the Skulls sooner rather than later, we all will."
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Oh, very sad chapter! :(
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-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-
-o-Mel-o-
