"Shirley, release!"
As Jaden watched Jesse run around in circles, trying to shake off the crocodile that was using the seat of his pants as a chew toy, debating whether to try and help his friend or burst into laughter, he turned around to see three familiar faces running their way and smiled. "Jim! Axel! Adrian!" he called out excitedly.
Jim gave Jaden a nod of acknowledgement but quickly ran to help Jesse, who was currently under assault by the former's alligator, Shirley. Adrian and Axel ran behind him. Jim dropped the Duel Disk he was carrying and placed his hands around Shirley's snout, patting to top of her snout while rubbing the bottom part. Adrian and Axel stood near Jaden, watching Jim do what he needed to. "Come on, girl, nice and easy," he said in a soothing tone.
Shirley let off a short growl, but obeyed her owner and unclamped her mouth from Jesse. "Thank the lord!" Jesse exclaimed, rubbing his rear end to sooth the still lingering pain while letting off a sigh of relief and standing up straight, while Jim started to stroke Shirley's snout.
"Sorry 'bout that, mate," Jim said, picking up Shirley and putting her back into the harness on his back. "I let her down to stretch her legs, but I forgot that Shirley here gets a little wild when she's in cold climates. She ran off just as we got off the boat and we couldn't keep up with her. Don't worry though, she just had her shots last week so you're not liable to get any infections or nothin'."
Jesse grinned nervously, making a mental note to get a checkup with the school nurse before he left to go back to North Academy. "Good to know..."
Jaden turned around to face the two other men behind him. "So what are you guys doing here anyway?" he asked. "Not that it's not great to see you all after so long, but it's kind of a surprise."
Axel was he first to speak. "Chancellor Sheppard invited all of us down to watch the School Duel between you guys and North Academy," he explained. "I'm not going on my survival excursion until Christmas day, so I agreed."
"Always the party animal, Brodie," Adrian said in a sarcastic tone, smirking. "Anyway, I came down as well because I felt like I owed you guys an apology after what happened between me and Yubel in the other dimensions."
Jaden waved a hand and smiled. "Water under the bridge," he said. Suddenly, he had another thought. "Though, I am kinda curious about how you got back to this dimension. Syrus told me that you didn't get transported with everyone else after I merged with Yubel... Oh, and what happened to Echo?"
Adrian winced, starting to scratch his cheek as it started to turn a soft shade of red. "Well, it's kind of a long story..."
"We got time," Jesse said, finally feeling the pain of Shirley's bite starting to fade.
Adrian sighed. "All right, it went a little something like this..."
(-x~X~x-)
Adrian stirred softly, barely regaining his consciousness. He had no idea where he was, but judging by the rugged and sifting surface that he was lying on, the cool breeze he could feel through his tattered clothes, and the sound of small, crashing waves behind him, he could only assume that he was on a beach of some sort. The only question he had was whether or not he was back home, or still in another dimension.
Despite some slight stiffness and pain in his joints, Adrian mulled through and brought himself to his knees. He glanced around, confirming that he had ended up on a beach. He looked out to the ocean, wondering how he got there and where exactly he was.
In all honesty, Adrian would have been fine with being anywhere, as he had nothing left for him in any world now. His family paid little attention to him back home ever since his adoptive brother, Shido was born, and in any other dimension he was utterly powerless. He could no longer feel Exodia's power within him anymore; he hypothesized that Yubel must have taken it when she beat him. He had nothing but his deck, his duel disk, and the clothes on his back. He didn't even have Echo by his side anymore...
Adrian gasped, the memories of what he had done to Echo suddenly rushing back. He remembered her willingly walking up to him, ready to surrender her duel energy for him to obtain Exodia's power. He remembered Exodia's hand reaching out of the gate and grabbing her, squeezing her until she screamed from agony. He remembered her body turning to stardust when Exodia had drained the last of her energy... And most importantly, he remembered that he asked her to do it, and that he stood there emotionless as Exodia literally squeezed the life out of her.
How could he have been so stupid, Adrian thought. Echo had been with him through everything; she was his first and best friend. She was the first person he met after his adoption, and they'd been together ever since. She helped him develop his boxing skills to impress his father. She became an elite operative for the Gecko Financial Group immediately after he did, dedicating her life to the company and his well-being. Echo was there for him through everything, and he repaid her by feeding her to a colossal beast, just so he could feel powerful for about a day and then get that power taken away before he could even use it. Never in his life had he regretted something so much and wanted to undo it.
Adrian sighed, knowing that life wasn't going to be so generous to him a second time. He received his only miracle when he was discovered by Gilbert Gecko; there was next to no chance that he'd get a second one. He had sacrificed Echo and there was no way to bring her back.
As he found the strength to get to his feet, Adrian took one last look at the ocean, watching the waves flow back and forth. Just as he was about to turn around and look for some indication of his location, he noticed something floating in the water. It looked like a piece of brown fabric. It looked familiar to him. While he took a moment to remember where he had seen it, a wave came up behind the cloth and pushed it further towards the shore. Adrian took a closer look at it, and he discovered something utterly shocking.
That piece of fabric was actually a large brown cloak, and that cloak was around the neck of a person. The cloak covered much of the person's body, but he could just make out a head of short brown hair. Even though the person was unconscious and water kept splashing over their face, Adrian could easily recognize who it was.
"Echo..."
Adrian had to rub his eyes and double check to be absolutely sure he wasn't seeing things; he wasn't. That was definitely Echo floating out there. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, and he couldn't care less; all that mattered was rescuing Echo.
"ECHO!" Adrian screamed, dropping his duel disk and cloak on the beach and running out into the ocean. He dove head-first into the ocean, swimming out to Echo as fast as he possibly could. His muscles hurt immensely with each stroke of his arms and kick of his legs, and he could already feel his skin going numb from the freezing temperatures of the ocean, but the only thing he could focus on was Echo's seemingly lifeless body and hoped that it was just that; seemingly.
Adrian prayed to whoever was watching over him that, if Echo was still alive, he'd be a better brother to Shido; he'd commit himself to his father's company, free of ill-intent; and he promised that he would tell Echo how much she meant to him.
Despite the distance and harsh waters, it didn't take long for Adrian to catch up to Echo. He took hold of her unconscious body, almost flinching at how cold she was to the touch. After pulling her into a position where he could simultaneously hold her and keep them both above water, he quickly pressed an ear over her chest, listening closely for breathing and a heartbeat. He smiled happily when he heard a weak, but indistinguishable sound of a beating heart and felt the expansion and compression of her lungs. She was alive, but just barely.
Just as Adrian was about to start swimming back to the shore to do what he could to help Echo, the waters started pushing against both of them. Adrian watched as one of the Gecko family's spy submarines surface before them. When the water settled down and Adrian managed to find an equilibrium, the submarine's hatch opened, revealing one of the Gecko Financial Group's elite operatives, one Adrian knew from the team that was sent on standby with Echo. He saluted to Adrian. "Mr. Adrian, thank goodness you're all right!" he said, stepping out of the submarine and standing on the ship's hull with a life preserver in his hand. "Hang on, we'll have you and Captain Echo out of there in no time."
Adrian nodded, thanking his lucky stars for the timely arrival of one of his father's submarine. "Thank you. Also, get a medic ready; she may have hypothermia," he called out, now realizing that he was back in his own dimension.
The elite nodded, calling into the submarine for a first aid squad.
Adrian swam up to the step ladder attached to the hull of the ship, lifting Echo out of the water as best he could and leaning her against his chest. As he looked down onto the woman shivering and soaking wet, he couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry, Echo, I'll never take you for granted again..." he said, pulling her tighter towards him.
-x~X~x-
Adrian sighed comfortably as he stepped out of the submarine's barracks, dressed in typical Gecko spy attire; a black long sleeve shirt and matching pants and black boots, minus the spy gear. It had been the first time since he'd traveled dimensions that he was able to change clothes and shower, so he was extremely grateful that he ran into a Gecko submarine.
After getting rescued and pulled aboard, Echo was rushed to the on-board infirmary to be examined. Along the way, the doctor explained calmly that, from her appearance alone, she could tell that her life was not in danger, and that she was most likely experiencing only a mild case of hypothermia. However, they would need to keep her under close eye and try to maintain the little body heat she had left. Afterwards, she would be transferred to the Gecko Family's Medical Center. Adrian agreed and let her do what she had to before they carried her off to the infirmary. Afterwards, the crew insisted that Adrian get cleaned up and change clothes, which he gratefully agreed too.
As he walked back to the ship's control room, where the crew was waiting patiently for him, Adrian's thoughts fell back onto Echo. Even if the doctor said she would be just fine, he couldn't help but be nervous for her well-being. Her skin was freezing when he held her, and was shivering like crazy. He knew enough about first aid to know that someone with hypothermia, mild or severe, needed immediate medical attention. He had some faith in the Gecko medical staff and supplies, but there was only so much they could do until they reached land, and he worried that Echo may need more than what was available.
Even without knowing how they got home, Adrian felt it was his fault that Echo ended up in the other dimension in the first place. If he had only shut off Professor Viper's Bio Band absorption machine, like he was supposed to, then Yubel wouldn't have sent him to two different dimensions and Echo wouldn't have followed him into one of them; she wouldn't have sacrificed her duel energy and life for him so he could unleash Exodia; she wouldn't have ended up in a freezing ocean and developed hypothermia. Despite all the fun that they had in their childhood, he couldn't help but wonder if she would have been better off not even knowing him.
"Mr. Adrian!" Adrian looked up from his train of thought, watching a crew member walk up to him and salute him. "I trust you're ready to speak with the rest of the crew?" he asked.
Adrian nodded. "Yes," he replied. "Thanks again for the change of clothes."
"Not a problem at all, sir. Now, if you'll please follow me, I'll bring you to the control room." The crew member gestured a hand down the ship's hallway. Adrian followed him as he lead the way down the hall.
It didn't take long for them to arrive in the ship's control room. It would amaze an ordinary person if they saw all of the state-of-the-art equipment that was set up - half a dozen radar screens, a GPS layout that was projected on a fifty-eight-inch flat screen, even a jettison tube running along the side of submarine's hull - but since he was already acquainted with the interior of his father's machinery, Adrian didn't look twice at any of it.
Adrian was then lead to submarine's captain's seat, where he was introduced to the executive officer. The man wore an outfit that was similar in design to the one Echo wore during her time as captain - same green jacket, hat and boots, but instead of a skirt wore black pants. He had a short, brown beard. The man stood up from his chair and extended his hand to Adrian. "Mr. Adrian, it's a pleasure to see you again!" he said excitedly.
Adrian shook his hand and nodded to him. Adrian recognized the executive captain as Mr. Dealey, a close associate of Echo's while she worked for the Gecko Financial Group. "Indeed, Mr. Dealey," he replied. "I have to ask, though: where are we? And how were you able to find me?"
"We're just off the coast of America, very close to East Academy to be exact," the captain explained. He gestured to one of the crew members standing against the wall. The crew member walked up to them, bringing with him the duel disk that Adrian left behind on the beach. He handed it to Adrian, who simply stared down at it with a look of disgust. "As for your location, we picked up on the GPS tracker that the Gecko Family had installed in your duel disk. We've been searching for you ever since Duel Academy arrived back from the other dimension - little over a month. It was only recently that we picked up on its signal, so we were sent to check out the scene and see if you had arrived back. Thank goodness that we were correct, I'm sure Mr. Gecko would have our jobs otherwise."
Adrian looked up at Mr. Dealey with a look of surprise. "My... father sent you to find me?" he asked curiously.
Mr. Dealey nodded his head. "The minute your signal went off the scanners, he said 'I want my son found as soon as possible' in a tone that made if clear that you didn't want to defy him," he explained. "Even young Mr. Shido wanted to help find you. He's been helping monitoring the Gecko Family's locator satellite for any signs of your duel disk since the order was made official, and he hasn't stopped since." Mr. Dealey smiled softly as he look into Adrian's eyes, which had now become widened with shock. "I tell you, Mr. Adrian, you have one heck of a family. This mission has probably set the company back a couple million, at least, and if we hadn't radioed them while you were showering, they didn't plan to stop."
Those words gave Adrian a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ever since Shido was born and his father started focusing all of his attention on Shido, Adrian had assumed his father would no longer want anything to do with him and had given up on giving him a chance at making any major contributions to the Gecko Financial Group, even referring to Shido as his "one true heir;" Being an elite operative was about the best he could accomplish with Shido in his way. He had even thought that Gilbert had all but pushed him aside in terms of family matters, rarely talking to him outside of business. With Shido, in all honesty, he could see him doing everything he could to help. Shido was always a good kid, helping anyone he saw needed it, and he could tell that Shido really liked having a big brother figure, so it was no surprise that he was pitching in. Either way, even though they weren't family by blood, Adrian was still happy that his brother and father cared so deeply for him.
Adrian pulled his focus away from the touching family sentiments he was feeling inside and stared down at his duel disk - more specifically, the deck that held it. In the deck slot was the Exodia deck that he sacrificed everything to get his hands on, including Echo. The feelings in his stomach quickly changed from warm and gentle to a burning rage. There was no way he wanted anything to do with it anymore, not after everything he put everyone through to get it.
Without warning, Adrian took the deck out of his Duel Disk, walked across the control room and over to the jettison tube. He placed the deck inside and shut the valve.
Mr. Dealey watched curiously as Adrian did what he did. "Um... Mr. Adrian, might I ask what you're doing?" he asked.
Adrian activated the jettison tube as he talked. "Getting rid of something I don't need." He pressed a large red button, and in seconds the deck was shot with a blast of air, out of the submarine. Adrian turned around without batting an eye at the loss of his deck, placing his duel disk back on his left wrist. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something else I need to do."
-x~X~x-
Adrian walked into the submarine's infirmary without so much as knocking. He saw Echo lying down in a small barrack, and the doctor from before was standing beside her. She had on the same outfit that Echo normally wore, save for the hat, letting a ponytail of long brown hair flow. She held in her hand hot water bottle that was wrapped in a towel. Given the fullness of the bag, as well as the portable boiling pot on top of a wooden work desk parallel to the barrack, Adrian could easily tell that it was filled with hot water.
The doctor looked over her shoulder, spotting Adrian. "Oh, Mr. Gecko," she said. "I just finished getting Captain Echo changed and dried off. I was just about to place this hot water bottle under her blanket to help restore her body heat."
Adrian nodded, agreeing that the procedure was the correct one. "Very good," he said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to just stay here for a while. I'd like to keep an eye on Echo."
The doctor smiled. "Not at all, Mr. Gecko," she said. She lifted up the blankets that Echo was resting under, revealing to Adrian that she was now wearing the same spy clothes that he was, and gently placing the hot water bottle over her stomach and quickly tucking the blankets back under her. Adrian gasped nervously as Echo's face cringed, feeling the hot bottle come in contact with her skin even while unconscious, but then calmed down when her face relaxed. The doctor pulled out a disposable thermometer and carefully placed it in Echo's mouth. She watched the dial on he thermometer for about two minutes and then pulled it out. She looked over at Adrian. "Very good. Her temperature is rising slowly, but very steadily. As long as we don't disturb her or take away the bottle, she should be able to maintain an optimum body temperature within a few hours, give or take."
Adrian smiled widely. He gratefully bowed to the doctor. "Thank you very much!" he exclaimed.
The doctor smiled back. "No trouble at all, it is my job after all," she said. She threw the thermometer in a trash can in front of the bed and went to wash her hands. "I heard that you and Captain Echo were sent to another dimension."
Adrian lifted his head and nodded. "Yeah, we were..." he said, slightly distraught as his mind replayed images of his actions; Echo getting grabbed by Exodia, her crying in agonizing pain, the life getting squeezed out of her... He quickly shook them away, trying to keep them out of his mind. "Never mind that, it's all ancient history to me. So, Echo should be fine within a few hours?"
The doctor nodded. "I'm certain of it. We don't have much in terms of dealing with hypothermia, but the hot water bottle should be adequate enough, at least until we reach land. After that, we can transfer her to a hospital and they can take proper care of her. We should just let her sleep now."
Adrian gave off a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness..."
The doctor took a brief look at Adrian as she finished clearing up. "You seem pretty tired yourself, Mr. Gecko," she stated. "I think it might be in your best interest to go lie down for a bit. I can keep watch over Echo."
Adrian paused for a moment, suddenly dropping to his knees and feeling exhausted. He hadn't noticed at all just how tired he was. His hands were shaking and If the doctor hadn't pointed it out, he may have just kept going until he unknowingly passed out somewhere on the submarine. "I... I didn't even notice..." he said, suddenly feeling weak. "
"Then let's get you in bed," she said, running to his side. She picked him up off the ground and helped him climb into Echo's barrack; the latter was just in far enough for Adrian to squeeze in beside her without any discomfort to either. "Sorry if this is uncomfortable, but we only have one bed in here and I can't leave the infirmary to take you back to the barracks."
Adrian slowly turned on his side, looking at Echo while she slept. Strands of her hair were astray, her lips were chapped, and her face was still pale from hypothermia. Even so, her appearance was enough to make Adrian's cheeks flush. "No, it's fine," he said smoothly. "I'm not uncomfortable at all. If anything, I'll be helping Echo by sharing my body heat with her. In fact..." With the little strength he had, Adrian threw his arm over Echo's body and moved closer to her. He could still feel her shivering, but it wasn't as bad as before. Adrian was happy about that fact. "There, much better..."
The doctor giggled softly. "All right then, sweet dreams Mr. Gecko. I'll just be at my desk, filling out reports."
Adrian smiled. "Thank you, doctor... um..."
"Lucy. Dr. Maria Lucy," she said, smiling.
Adrian chuckled. "Right. Sorry, Dr. Lucy," he said.
As Dr. Lucy took her seat at her desk, Adrian took one final look at Echo. He caressed her cheek with his hand. Even in the state she was in, Echo still looked as beautiful as the day they met. He hoped that, by the time he woke up, Echo would be awake to greet him, healthy as ever.
Adrian barely finished his thought before his eyes became blurry and he couldn't keep them open any longer. He quickly fell into a deep slumber, softly whispering Echo's name as he did so.
-x~X~x-
"Adrian... Adrian, wake up..."
Adrian stirred, hearing a familiar voice calling out to him. The voice was dripping with concern, and by the volume Adrian knew that whoever was projecting had to be close. He felt a hand pressing over his chest, shaking him in a gentle motion.
"Come on, Adrian, get up..."
Adrian's eyes barely cracked open. His vision was blurry, but he could vaguely make out the image of someone leaning over him. He removed his glasses and brought the back of his hand to each of his eyes, trying to rub away the sleepiness that still lingered. After he placed his glasses back on, his vision began to focus, clearing up the blurred image in front of him. It became clearer and clearer, until finally his vision was clear. What he saw brought tears to his eye ducts.
"Echo..." he mumbled, feeling tears suddenly roll down his face. He had to sit upright to make sure he was seeing things right, but he was. She was awake, she had a healthy complexion, and her lips were as red and luscious as ever. "You're all right." He took a quick look around, noticing that he was no longer on the submarine. They were, instead, in a hospital room. He was lying in bed, and Echo was standing next to him.
Echo nodded. "I woke up a few hours ago," she said. "They explained the whole story about me coming down with hypothermia. But don't worry; the doctors told me I'm one hundred percent better. I just have to take it easy for about a week or so and then I'm allowed to go back to work."
Adrian sighed in relief. "That's good..." he said, leaning against the head of the bed.
"Listen, Adrian," Echo said, looking down at her feet with her arms crossed uncomfortably. "I think we need to talk about what happened back in the other dimension."
Adrian sighed once more, but this time it was more out of worry. "I figured as much..." he said. "What I did to you-"
"I'm sorry!" Echo stated abruptly, cutting off Adrian and giving him a look of shock.
Adrian blinked several times, staring at Echo with widened eyes. "Um... excuse me?"
Echo placed a hand over her chest, looking into Adrian's eyes with a look of sorrow. "The darkness in my heart, the anger that I felt towards Yubel... I was the reason that she beat you in that duel. She fed on the darkness that my spirit carried, and she beat you because of that." It was now Echo's turn to tear up. Adrian watched painfully as tears rolled down her face, dripping from her chin and splashing on the floor. She brought her sleeve to her eyes, trying to block the flood of tears. "I'm so sorry, Adrian. You lost the duel. You lost Exodia's power. You lost the opportunity to be king. You lost everything because of me, everything that you deserved your whole life."
Adrian just sat there, watching Echo cry her eyes out and trying to think of a response. He essentially tortured and killed Echo, throwing her aside like a rag doll, and she was crying to him and begging for forgiveness. A large, guilty part of him wanted to throw himself out of the nearby window if he had to continue to watch this.
Adrian got out of bed, stood up and grabbed Echo's wrist, looking her in the eye. "Echo, listen to me," he said firmly. "You didn't cost me the duel. Yubel would have beaten me, with or without your spirit infused in my deck. The only thing you did was restore her power afterwards. It isn't your fault. If anything, it's my fault for letting it progress as far as it did. I could have shut down the bio-band absorption machine and then Yubel would never have been resurrected, but I didn't. Why? Because I gave into a moment of selfishness, that's why."
"But, Adrian, you deserve to be selfish!" Echo exclaimed loudly. "You've been selfless you're entire life, putting everyone else ahead of yourself. You could be head of the company by now if you just learned to put yourself first! Don't you see everything you can be, Adrian?"
"But, Echo, I don't want to be selfish!" Adrian shouted. When he saw the look of surprise and slight fear in Echo's eyes, Adrian calmed down and took a deep breath. "Whenever I act selfishly, bad things happen to myself and everyone else around me. When I teamed up with Yubel, everyone was sent to another dimension. When I tried to obtain Exodia's power, I sacrificed you. When I duelled Yubel to become king, she sent me to the stars and nearly destroyed the universe. Don't you see? Whenever I put myself first, it always causes someone pain and I don't want that.
Echo's eyes continued to produce tears as they looked into the grief-stricken ones in front of her. "Adrian..."
"That's just one of the two realizations I had just after Yubel defeated me," Adrian said, looking away. "The other is that... I can't spend my life without you, Echo. You've always been there for me, and without you by my side I can't hope to do anything. All of my successes in life were because you helped me achieve them... and I don't want to spend my life without you."
Echo gasped when Adrian dropped to one knee and took her hand, gazing lovingly into her eyes. Her cheeks grew red, as did Adrian's. "Adrian, are you...?"
"I am..."
(-x~X~x-)
"Long story short, we're engaged," Adrian explained to the boys, holding up his hand and showing a wedding ring. His cheeks were still stained red with embarrassment and giddiness. "My life now belongs in her hands."
Jim smiled. "Crikey!" he said cheerfully. "So, when's the wedding?"
Adrian scratched his cheek once more. "We haven't really decided on a date yet, we're just kind of enjoying the fact that we're together above all else," he said. "She'd be here at Duel Academy, but she got called on an emergency reconnaissance mission."
"Fair enough," said Jesse. "Well, we're all happy for you. Hope you and your fiancé have a happy life together."
Adrian bowed. "Thank you, that means a lot."
Jesse glanced over at Jaden, but was surprised to see that he had flinched and begun to sweat. He had a look of fear across his face. Jaden turned to face Jesse. "U-Uh... did you say 'fiancé?'" he asked, his voice stuttering crazily.
Jesse gave Jaden a curious look. "Yes..." he said. "That is what you call someone you're going to marry, isn't it?"
Jaden started to turn slightly pale, giving him the appearance of someone that was about to be hit by a truck. He tried to fake a laugh, but Jesse could tell he was forcing it. "R-Right..." he said nervously, making Jesse even more suspicious. "I forgot that I have something I need to take care of, can I meet you later?"
Jesse raised an eyebrow at his friend, but nodded. "Sure, I think I have something I need to take care of as well..."
Jaden quickly shook Jesse's hand and then took off. He looked over his shoulder and waved. "Thanks a lot. I'll come get you when I'm ready. Later, Jesse!"
Jesse waved back, watching as Jaden ran further and further out of sight. He sighed. "Well, that hurts a little bit..." he mumbled to himself.
A firm hand was pressed over Jesse's shoulder. He look up to see Jim smiling down at him. "Nice to see you again, mate," he said, tipping his hat to Jesse.
"You, too, Jim," he replied. "I haven't seen y'all since we all got back."
"Hey, Adrian," Axel said, saying something for the first time since Adrian finished his story. "Can I ask you something?"
Adrian nodded. "Sure, Brodie."
Axel leaned into Adrian's ear and briefly whispered something. Adrian's face lit up a bright red. He backed away a few feet, giving Adrian a look of anger and pointing accusingly at him. "Why would you ask me about that!?" he exclaimed.
Axel smirked. "To see the look on your face," he said in a condescending tone. "You know me, the 'party animal.' And judging by sudden panicked expression, I'd say it's true."
Adrian's jaw dropped. "I-IT IS NOT!" he screamed.
"Uh huh, keep tell yourself that..."
"IT'S TRUE!"
"I bet it is."
"GAH!"
As Jesse continued to watch Axel poke fun at Adrian, Jim having a good laugh beside him, he couldn't help but be concerned with why Jaden suddenly had to take off. It wasn't unlike he Jaden to be forgetful, but the way he got all nervous when he said the word 'fiancé' had him curious. And what was with that hug? The way they were hugging, it was like they were a couple, and he liked it. He really liked it. He still wanted it to be happening...
"For the last time, Echo and I haven't done THAT in any way, shape or form!" Adrian shouted frustratedly.
"You know, mate," Jim said to Adrian. "The harder you try to convince us, the less believable you become. Right now, you're not foolin' anyone."
Adrian screamed loudly in frustration. "Fine! Believe what you want!"
The other three boys chuckled, even Axel. "Teach you to call me a party animal," he said.
Jesse sighed. "Sorry, guys," he said. "I should probably get back to the ship. I have to talk to someone about something important."
"All right then, see you later," said Jim. He reached into the deck box around his waist and pulled out a card. "Before you go, I have a card I think could go really well in your deck. Not that I'm playing favourites, but I'd like to give the Duel Academy blokes a challenge and remind them that the other four academies are just as good as they are. Go on, take it."
Jesse took the card from Jim's hand and looked at it. He hummed softly, thinking over various strategies that he could use with Jim's card. He smiled. "Yeah, I think this card could go really well with my beasts. Thanks, Jim."
Jim tipped his hat once more. "Not a problem at all, Jess. Best of luck tomorrow."
And with that Jesse took his leave. He had only one person that he could talk to about the feelings he had been having about Jaden, and with any luck he was still on the ship.