Hey guys! Its been a while, huh? Hopefully, this new chapter will make it better. The mystery duelist is revealed! The pairings are up! And the tension between Jesse and Jaden seems to be thickening! What will become of the duelists by the end of the event?
-x~X~x-
A beam of sunlight shot through the window of Jesse and Arron's room, shining directly down on the former's face. The light was so intense that, even with his eyes closed shut, Jesse was forced awake. His eyes fluttered for a moment, but he soon found himself grunting in an annoyed manor and sat up in his bed. He briefly yawned, soon after rubbing the dust from his eyes.
Jesse looked down at his bare chest, and then over at Arron - who was still in bed with him - and the events of last night came rushing back. He couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself; he had become a complete wreck after discovering Jaden's relationship with Alexis, and it caused him to do things he had never even thought of before, not to mention put his friend in a very awkward position.
As much as he wanted to stay mad at Jaden, he just could not bring himself to hate the person he loved so much. If anything, he was even more mad at himself, for letting his emotions get the better of him and doing somethings he now regreted. Even so, he was not ready to forgive Jaden, at least not yet.
Jesse could honestly deal with the fact that Jaden wanted to be with Alexis, and he was willing to be Jaden's friend again, but Jaden had to prove that he was willing to do his part to maintain their friendship; Jesse had decided that he was no longer going to do it all himself. He had to know that he could trust Jaden, not just think he could.
Jesse was about to get up and have a shower before heading off to breakfast, but the sudden stirring of Arron stopped him before he even got out of the bed. The latter lazily turned to one side, looking up at Jesse with his eyes half open. "Morning, Jess..." he mumbled tiredly.
Jesse smiled warmly. "Good mornin', Arron," he said, feeling somewhat awkward talking to his friend. He coughed lightly, clearing his throat. "Listen, about last night... I just wanted to thank y'all for... well, everything. It was nice to have a shoulder to cry on."
Arron's eyes opened fully, and his body immediately flung itself up into a sitting position. He smiled back at Jesse, blushing slightly. "Don't sweat it," he said. "I'm just glad you're not upset anymore."
Jesse's smile quickly descended into a frown. "Oh, I'm still upset," he declared. "If Jaden wants to be with Lexi, fine. I just want to be a big enough part of his life that he'd tell me about it... Ugh, for a guy who's saved the world enough times, you'd think he'd be less of a pain in my rear end."
Arron grimaced glanced off to the side, praying that Jesse didn't notice. Now that he knew Jaden's side of the story, he knew that what Jesse saw on the roof was only a portion of what really happened in the exchange. While he didn't think that Jesse was in the wrong, he also knew that Jaden deserved a bit more credit than Jesse was willing to give him.
Ordinarily, Arron would tell Jesse about what really happened between Jaden and Alexis, but he was unable. When they were talking last night, Atticus had come up with a plan to get Jaden and Jesse together, but it required that Jesse be completely oblivious to how things really went down. His duty in this scheme was to make sure that Jesse did not come to know about last night, but also ensure that the situation did not get any worse. He wanted Jesse to be with Jaden, knowing that it would make him happiest, so he intended to hold up his end of the plan to the best of his abilities.
Arron needed to get Jesse's mind off of Jaden entirely until later on, when Atticus' plan could be put into motion. "You know what? Lets just get ready and go get something to eat!" Arron suggested, glancing to the digital clock that rested on the small, wooden table that rested in between the two beds. The clock read exactly 8:04 AM. "The School Duel is in two hours, so we have plenty of time to eat our fill, and maybe get some practice in, too!" He quickly jumped out bed, revealing himself to be wearing the same wifebeater and pants he was wearing the night before. He picked up a small duffle bag that had been resting beside his bed since their departure from North Academy, filled with his extra clothes and other utilities. "I'm gonna take a shower. You need to use the bathroom before I do?"
Jesse shook his head. "Nope, I'm good."
Arron nodded, making his way into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
Once his friend was out of sight, Jesse sighed for the umpteenth time in the last twenty-four hours. This last day had been like one giant roller-coaster; he'd experienced his own homosexuality, the joy of falling in love, and the pain of heartbreak. He wasn't feeling as emotionally broken or damaged as he was when he walked through the door last night, but that still didn't mean he was much better off now.
The only thing he could think about, now, was how he was supposed to look Jaden in the eye after this whole ordeal. It would be rude to admit that he was spying on Jaden on the roof when whilst talking to Alexis, so he couldn't explain his frustration to the Slifer or the latter would be upset, too. He couldn't be around Jaden without getting flustered, he just knew it. He couldn't look into his big brown, innocent eyes and not forgive him for causing all of this...
As he threw the covers off of himself and jumped out of bed, placing his hand gently over the deck box still around his waist, as if to know that his Crystal Beasts supported his decision, Jesse promised himself that, unless some sort of miracle happened, he would sever all connections he had with Jaden after the School Duel.
-x~X~x-
Jaden was up well before dawn; showered, dressed and fed. He had barely gotten any sleep, too anxious to even think of receiving such a luxury. He was filled with adrenaline, nervousness, fear, and worry all at the same time, wondering if Atticus' plan would work out and make Jesse forgive him.
After hearing that Jesse had stumbled upon his relationship with Alexis, and thought that Jaden had betrayed him so badly by keeping that fact and the other details of his life a secret from him, Jaden was ready to throw himself off the largest cliff on Duel Academy Island, feeling so terrible about himself hurting the one he loved so badly. Instead, however, when Atticus suggested to Arron during their video chat that he had a plan that would not only make Jesse forgive him, but also be his lover, Jaden agreed whole-heartedly; he didn't even wait to hear the plan before jumping in, fully wanting to take even the slightest chance that he could be with Jesse... His feet began to shake at the mere memory of Atticus explaining his plan, however, but he would not let that stop him.
Jaden walked across his dorm room to look out his window. The sun had just begun to rise into the sky, leaving a beautiful merging of orange and blue across the horizon, matched equally in elegance and wonder by the reflection it was leaving atop the water. However, he wasn't concerned with that at all. He had zeroed-in on the luxury liner that had been docked in the Duel Academy shores since the day before, only because the love of his life was probably still sleeping there.
His fists clenched excitedly, staring confidently at the boat that housed the man he loved. He was determined to make his fantasy of being together with Jesse a reality, or else he'd die trying.
"I've let Jesse go way too many times now... I'm not gonna lose him again!" Jaden declared to himself, feeling more determined to achieve his goal now than any other time before.
Suddenly, three of Jaden's spirits appeared before him - the spirits with which he'd formed the strongest connects; Neos to his left, Yubel to his right, and in the centre of the triad was Winged Kuriboh. Each one looked down at the young duelist with a look of encouragement.
Neos was the first to speak. "I wish you luck in the School Duel, Jaden," he said with confidence.
"And for your future relationship with Jesse," Yubel added.
Kuriboh cooed and waved its arms around, apparently agreeing with both of Jaden's other spirits.
Jaden noticed his deck box glowing. He heard the voices of each and every one of the duel spirits in his collection, from the Elemental Heroes to the Neo Spacians and everything in between. All of them were giving Jaden the same level of support that the three in front of him were. The knowledge of every spirit in his deck having his back, in two of the most of important upcoming events of his life, gave Jaden a well-needed boost in his confidence.
He was about to slip on his shoes and leave, but he noticed something on his desk on his way out; it was the HERO's Force structure deck that Alexis had given to him some weeks ago...
-x~X~x-
It was exactly 10 o'clock in the morning. The students from both academies had gathered in the Obelisk Arena, North Academy students on the northern end of the arena, and Duel Academy in the southern end. There was typical murmuring, trash talk and cheering throughout the stands that one might expect at such an event. Needless to say, the students were excited.
Syrus, Alexis and the others of their group - not including Chazz and Jaden, who were getting ready for their matches - had found the best spot to support their school, sitting in the corner of the bottom row in the southern corner. Axel, Jim and Adrian were sitting in the row just behind them.
Sitting at the top row of the bleachers, parallel to the duelling field, were Chancellors Sheppard and Foster. They appeared to be just as riled up as the students.
Foster turned to Sheppard with a knowing glance. "You know the ante for this year's School Duel, correct?" he asked. "No take-backs, Sheppard, and I mean it."
Sheppard nodded back at him, returning the same glance. "I know quite well, which is why I don't plan on my school losing," he declared. "Don't forget, my school is the reigning champion of this event for a long while."
Foster smirked, turning back to the field. Dr. Crowler had just walked onto the field, holding a wireless microphone in his right palm. "Look back at the past, and you'll miss what awaits you in the present. I'm confident my team is well equipped to deal with yours."
Sheppard's eyes narrowed, sending an untrusting glare in Foster's direction, but turned back to the stage afterwards.
Crowler waved his free hand dramatically to the audience, something one might consider a smile spread his face. "Welcome, students and faculty from both North and Duel Academies, to this year's School Duel!" he announced, his voice echoing throughout the arena. The students let loose a roar of cheers, but quickly simmered down once Crowler had gestured them to do so by gently swaying his hand downwards.
Alexis sighed, followed not long after by the rest of her friends. "Crowler sure gets a kick out of this sort of thing, doesn't he?" she asked, somewhat sarcastically. A round of nods went around the group, giving an unneeded answer to Alexis' question.
Blair turned her attention away from the stage and toward the blonde. "You're actually speaking to us again, Alexis?" she asked, surprised to hear her offer a subject of conversation voluntarily after so long.
Alexis nodded back, a soft smile spread across her lips. "Yeah," she said briefly. "And, I'm sorry about that by the way. I was sort of dealing with some personal stuff and needed a bit of space. I'm over it now, though." She threw a grateful glance towards her brother, who replied only with a wink and a grin. The group turned back to the stage.
"For the inattentive mongrels that are unaware of the changes in this year's event, listen up!" Crowler spat sarcastically into the microphone. "Each Academy will bring forth three representatives to duel for them, resulting in, at most, three matches. Each duelist will be paired up randomly with another from the opposing school, and then each win from the representative will tally a single point for their school. The first school to acquire two points will be declared the winner!"
Hasselberry smirked, feeling the excitement in the air rousing through his blood. "That victory will be ours, North!" he declared, more so to himself than anyone at North Academy given that he was too far away for any of them to hear him. He was sitting anxiously in his seat. "Watch as DA takes this duel, two-to-nothin'!"
Syrus felt the need to interject. "We might need two straight victories, Dino-breath," he stated. "We still don't know who the final duelist is for Duel Academy, or even if there is one. For all we know, Jaden and Chazz are the only ones duelling."
Atticus pointed to one of the several, very large monitors that were hanging at the same height all around the arena, as it and the others had been turned on remotely. The screen displayed the insignia for Duel Academy, and had six black rectangles surrounding it, each box containing a question mark in the centre and bordered by a golden rim. "I think we're about to find out," he said surely.
"I will now introduce the six duelists that will be participating in this prestigious event," Crowler declared, waving his hand towards the side of the arena where the North Academy students had taken their seats. "First, our visitors from the north. Introducing, Arron Pearce!"
From the corridor that was below the stands, Arron walked in, waving both of his arms to the massive amount of cheers that greeted him upon his entrance. He walked up the steps and stood to the furthest right area of the North Academy side of the field.
"Next, Kenna Powers!"
Kenna walked in, arms crossed as her school cheered her name, and took the opposite side of the stage from Arron.
"And finally, someone you all are familiar with, Jesse Anderson!"
The bluenette received the most cheers of the three - even some of the Duel Academy students were rooting for him - as he walked in and onto the stage. He had a fierce look of determination spread across his face, letting many of the students in the stands know that he was focused solely on the match. He stood between Arron and Kenna, feet planted firmly in the floor.
Atticus grimmaced, not unnoticed by his sister. "Doesn't look like Jesse's too cheery today, is he?" he whispered to Alexis.
Alexis nodded. "Yeah, not that I can blame him though," she whispered back, feeling a touch of guilt. "I hope that whatever you have planned for Jaden works out."
"I hope so, too."
Crowler waved his hand towards the other side of the stadium. "And, representing Duel Academy, we have Chazz Princeton!"
Chazz walked in through the opposite corridor, his arms crossed and a smirk spread out across his face. He took in the cheers of the crowd, but remained calm as he took his place parallel to Kenna. She smirked back at him, sending him a confident stare.
"Next up, the Slack- I mean, Jaden Yuki!"
The students from Duel Academy went wild as they watched Jaden, their school's best duelist, walk up to the arena.
While the rest of the students could see no difference in Jaden, his friends could easily interpret that something was wrong when he did nothing more than walk onto the stage without waving to the audience or thanking them - much like Arron had done moments ago - and even more so when he stood parallel to Arron, and not Jesse. Even so, no one voiced their concerns, for the curiosity of finding out the final duelist for Duel Academy was at the peak of their interest at the moment.
"Finally, our mystery duelist!" Crowler exclaimed, pointing to the ceiling.
The students looked up, watching as the hatch at the top of the dome began to open, allowing them all to see the crystal blue that had become of the sky since dawn. They watched curiously as an unidentifiable plane flew overhead of the Academy, apparently dropping something as it did. The object fell from the sky, dropping faster than a rock off a cliff, but the students were stunned to see a multi-coloured parachute popping open, with a person piloting the device; the person was too far away to tell just who they were, but they got closer and closer with every passing second, and some students could make out a spec of grey.
Moments later, the figure had landed skillfully through the hatch, and had landed in the centre of the arena, not only surprising and confusing the audience - save for a grinning Chancellor Sheppard - but also the participants as well. As the parachute was removed and kicked aside, quickly to be taken up and away by the campus staff, the figure was left standing in the centre of the arena, tugging at and straightening out his grey suit with a confident smirk spread across his face.
"How's it going, Duel Academy? It's been a while."
The audience remained speechless for a brief moment, but once the shock of the event had passed, everyone in the stadium recognized immediately who had caused such a dramatic scene, and seemed to shout out his name in perfect unison;
"ASTER PHOENIX!?"
Even the other Duel Academy representatives were left in awe as Aster's picture joined those of Jaden and the other representatives on the monitors, replacing the blank rectangles. The hinges of Chazz's jaw had practically broken off, leaving his mouth agape, as was the case with Arron. Jaden and Jesse just stood in place, absolutely motionless. Kenna, the only representative between the two schools that was capable of talking, was the first to speak up.
"Are you telling me... that YOU are the mystery rep from Duel Academy?" she asked questioningly, her eyes narrow with suspicion.
Aster smirked. "You know it," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Sheppard called me up a few weeks ago and asked me for a favour. I had to cancel an event or two, but I figured 'What the heck?' So, I hopped on a plane last night, strapped on a parachute this morning and... well, you can probably figure out the rest."
Kenna scoffed. "Your theatrics aside... You have to be a registered student of Duel Academy to be a representative. It's written in both schools' bylaws." The arena was sudden flooded with incoherent murmuring amongst the crowd, debating with themselves on whether or not Aster was allowed to duel for Duel Academy.
"Oh..." Sheppard's voice echoed throughout the arena, silencing the students instantly. The students turned there heads to face the chancellor, to see that he now held a wireless microphone. Foster glared up at him. "But he is a student of Duel Academy. Oh, Crowler?"
Crowler pointed at one of the monitors, which now displayed a document with Aster's picture on it and a Duel Academy logo at the top. It appeared to be a student registration form. Written at the top were the words "Studies Given On-Job" in bold red ink, and Sheppard's signature was written in black pen at the bottom.
Sheppard cleared his throat before he continued. "As you can see, Aster is officially registered as a Duel Academy student, second year. However, instead of spending his time classes where he already knows most of the material, he gets his education in the form of training in the pro circuit." He glanced down towards Kenna, who was still looking as sceptical as ever. "You can double check the bylaws if you would like, but in the interest of time and the holiday spirit, lets just get started. Shall we?"
Kenna flipped her hair back dramatically, but then smirked. "Fine by me. The fact that you feel the need to bring in a professional duelist only tells me you have no faith in your students. So, bring it on."
Sheppard chuckled softly as he sat back down in his seat. "You heard the lady, Crowler. Lets get the show on the road!"
"Right-eo then!" Crowler exclaimed. He gestured back once again to the monitor, where pictures of the six representatives appeared once again. "The pairings for this year's School Duel will now get underway!"
The pictures of the representatives flipped face down on the screen, showing the back of the pictures to have been made to look like Duel Monster cards. The six cards combined together into one pile in the centre of the screen, and began shuffling themselves. While the cards were shuffling, the letters 'DA' and 'NA' appeared in bold and underlined letters, each appearing on separate sides of the screen.
The cards began to separate from the pile and divided themselves under the two sets of acronyms, three to a side and descending vertically, and flipped over. On the left side, under 'NA', Kenna's, Arron's and Jesse's pictures were revealed, in that order. In the same order, under 'DA', Chazz's, Aster's and finally Jaden's pictures were revealed. Three bold red lines appeared, connecting the student's pictures to the one parallel to them.
Crowler raised a hand in the air. "And there you have it! The first match will feature Chazz and Kenna. Following them will be Arron and Aster. Wrapping it up, Jaden and Jesse will face off in the finale!"
The audience cheered crazily for the match that was about to start, but Jesse's expression remained stoic. He had had a good feeling that Jaden would be his opponent today, and quite frankly he was prepared. He wanted to duel Jaden, to win against him. He wanted to have something over Jaden that might possibly make him feel better, and make Jaden feel terrible.
Jesse jumped slightly when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see Arron smiling warmly at him. "I know you'll do great, Jesse," he said soothingly. "Your the strongest person I know, in general or in Duel Monsters. Lets make sure to kick butt and show DA just how much stronger we are!"
Jesse remained silent for a moment, but smiled at the warmth he felt from Arron's pep-talk. Admittedly, some encouragement was what he really needed to hear. He nodded, a cheery countenance mixed with confidence plastered to his face. "Let's show'em!" he stated firmly.
Jaden smiled discretely as he watched Arron raise Jesse's spirits; he was following the plan exactly. As the brunette glanced into the stands to check with Atticus, who was giving him a thumbs-up, he could only pray that the plan ended as smoothly as Atticus had laid it out.
'Please, Atticus… Please let this work.'