Yugioh: To hell and back. Chapter Five
Authors note: sorry for late update my computer was infected with a virus so I had to reinstall everything and rewrite this chapter anyway read and review.
/New York/Yusei's POV/
"Where the hell does she live?" I thought as I searched the streets of New York for her apartment. Sadly I can never brag about having the best sense of direction most of the time I have to be guided to a place before i can find it again.
"Let's see big grey building, big grey building, big grey building THEY ARE ALL F#¤%ING GREY!" I thought and gave up then sat on the sidewalk. "What was I thinking? Why would she even care if i showed up? It's been ten years" I lamented privately. It was moronic to try and find her I kept away from her for a good reason if the demons ever found her... "no I can't think like that I have to move on she deserves it" I declared and rose from the sidewalk.
"Have faith let your heart show the way" I chanted as I brought my hands together in a praying stance. I reached out feeling the people around me trying to find her presence. The world around me shifted to many shades of gray as i cast away my mortal vision and felt my gaze ascend unto the heavens.
It's funny to observe mortal humans stroll around like little blue dots, ever oblivious to the dangers of what's hidden from their eyes. I searched for her presence through the masses. Despite the similarities between human souls every soul has a unique shade of its own something that you can see if you focus long enough "come on I've felt you before" I murmured as I looked closer than a stroke of luck a familiar shade someone I've seen before but it was far too clouded to be sure. I closed my vision and stared at the direction of the shade its trail was easy to feel in the air. Without a second thought I ran to my bike and drove halfway across thecity to the source.
/New York/Apartment complex/Yusei's POV/
I heard a voice as i searched through the building for her door. It would be easy to recognize if she still had that pink pony ornament I gave to her for her birthday. The voice was distinctly feminim no mistake and familiar too. My heart beat faster as I hurried to reach her up the stairs until I stopped dead in my tracks in front of her. Akiza so many years and she looked like she haven't aged a day. Her mouth fell open when she saw me and I swallowed hard not sure of what to say to her.
"Aki".
"N... no".
"Aki please listen..." I tried but she just turned ran back towards the, what I think is her apartment door. I ran after and quickly grabbed her arm turning her around to face me "Please listen!" I repeated.
"No not you... not now. I can't deal with you right now!" She shouted in my face as I struggled to keep her still.
"I know just give me a minute" I pleaded and let her go. I half expected her to make a run for it but she stayed and stared at me furiously.
"I know you're mad but i can expla..."
SLAP!
"Explain what? Why you left me and never said anything. Why you fu¤%&d me than ditched me. Why after all these years and I'm finally moving on and think I can meet someone new you come strolling back again." She screeched at me while I rubbed my cheek. I couldn't blame her i didn't do right by her for a second.
"I'm sorry" I said and completely forgot what i planned to say next. I really had no idea what to say to her and her growing laughter wasn't helping the situation either. It began as a small chuckle and blasted fourth as a full blown guffaw.
"YOU'RE Sorry!" She burst out and laughed hysterically "You come here after eight years and that's all you can say" her laughter died out and was replaced with tears "Yusei i loved you, you were the only one who gave a shit about me and then tore me apart" She sobbed.
"I'm been trying for so long to forget you but but..." I reached in and kissed her before she could say anything more. At first she fought me but later gave in to the kiss. Her soft lips pressed hard against mine as our tongues danced.
We broke the kiss and breathed then she grabbed hold of my jacket and tore me into the hallway of her apartment. We fell to the floor with her on top of me as she fiercely tore my clothes of not caring if she ripped them as long as they fell off.
"Aki wait shouldn't... "
"Shut up, don't ruin it"
"No never... but shouldn't we... close the door people can... see us?" I stuttered as we went from kissing and talking then kissing again. She simply smirked in response and dove in to my neck tracing kisses from there up my cheek"Let them" She whispered softly.
/Domino City/Yugi's shop /Normal POV/
"Domino medical campus... yeah I've heard of it" Jaden said and took another look around Atem's store.
"How much do you know?" Atem asked
"Enough to know where you're going with this" Jaden answered rather cockily.
"Really... maybe I just would have asked you too deliver a letter to a friend. How did you know what i was going to ask of you" Atem cocked an eyebrow examining Jaden for doubts. As he found none he concluded that the kid was either to inexperienced to appreciate the danger or simply had more balls than brain.
"I didn't until now. But the rumors surrounding the place gave me a hint" Jaden answered and looked idly around the store hoping to find something interesting. "Just so you know I've never done an exorcism on my own... well not successfully" Jaden added as he remembered his first encounter with a demon in that abandoned construction site. Since then the only time he had exorcized a demon was under the supervision of Yusei.
"Well it doesn't matter anyway. I won't need you to head out until two weeks from now when my shipment comes in and is prepared." Atem said plainly.
"Two weeks? Why the wait?" Jaden was confused usually whenever Yusei located a disturbance there were no questions asked and they just headed out. Why Atem wanted to stall was beyond him.
"Because i don't think you are experienced enough, you'll need something with a bigger punch, the minor stuff I keep around won't do at all" Atem said and paused for a moment thinking on what to say. "If my suspicion is correct the medical campus is already compromised to the extent that a minor exorcism will not help" he finished.
Jaden frowned, feeling slightly insulted by his statement. "All right, two weeks got it" he answered and turned to leave.
"Wait where do you think you're going?" Atem called.
"Home... I got an unwelcome guest in my house and my mom is probably alone with it." Jaden answered.
"If the demons haven't killed her already you can wait an hour or two!" Atem demanded.
"Sorry no can do" Jaden answered nonchalantly and walked away.
When Jaden left Atem and Yugi discussed their new asset. Atem doubted his worth but Yugi was more optimistic. Afterwards they headed back to the offices and Yugi quickly picked up the phone and dialed a number. He sighed as his contact picked up and after a long and tiring conversation sat down in his office chair and sighed yet again.
Business in domino city was safe for him. A micro nation with a barely functioning government had little power in pursuing him or his peers though they didn't stop trying. "All this trouble for a little weapon smuggling" he lamented and rubbed his templates. He had taken up shop here in order to hide from NATO and the UN, it was a good business but the illusion was so tiresome to maintain.
Besides helping rid the world of demons and spirits Yugi found he'd been sidetracked in the mortal worlds deep underground crime organizations. Well criminals if that's what you could call people with technical skills equal to that of a first grader and ideas as beneficial to humanity as ticks. Of course he was very selective of which he dealt with it would never dawn on him to supply weapons to organizations that could possible harm innocent civilians. And more than once he had given tips to the local government of the potential dangers but weapon smuggling was weapon smuggling and the international laws required his immediate arrest. Then there is the sheer thrill of a criminal offense that was admittedly the main drive force behind his business. He remembered his biggest heist in Germany when he was chased across Europe by the UN for six years without stop, "those were the times" he lamented and set about to make yet another phone call for the day.
/Domino city/City street/Normal POV/
Jaden picked up the pace as he walked home. He had wasted enough time of the day and now it was only two things he could think about, one was his mother the other was how hard the ground felt against his face. He turned around on the ground and saw a pair of blue converse attached to nice long legs.
"You really should look where you're going" Alexis's cheerful voice said. She smiled downed upon him and reached out a hand to help him up but as he took his hand she noticed that the wound was now nowhere to be seen. Jaden noticed her stare and after being pulled up quickly pulled his hand away.
"Yeah yeah… do you make it a habit to trip people over?" Jaden asked sarcastically.
"I didn't trip you over… you didn't look and missed the rock by the sidewalk" she answered with a smirk and tapped the rock with her foot. "Don't worry I got some big boy bandages if you scrubbed your knee" She teased him with her hand on her knees tilting forward like a babysitter talking to a child.
Jaden simply frowned in response and stared in her eyes but had to look away quickly. He scolded himself for his inability to function with others and tried to find something else to focus on, but being a guy his gaze quickly fell on the more than esthetically pleasing girl in front of him. As his eyes locked on her chest he was relieved to see that she was dressed as decently as the schoolgirl outfit allowed. No, fully buttoned up she was the very model of an innocent mommy's girl.
"Jaden… my face is up here" She said while waving her hand across his face to direct him. But instead of looking up he only looked further down hide his blushing.
"Sorry... didn't mean to stare" He said shamefully but she simply put her hand on his shoulder "It's alright I know" she said and winked at him making him feel even more like a baby.
"Of course you know… you can see the future" he said rather stoically as he straightened himself to overcome his embarrassment. His attempt at lightening the mood seemed to work too well because she started laughing hysterically.
"Ha ha… even without my visions I have no problem spotting a virgin when I see one" she explained and wiped her eyes. It took some time before Jaden registered the comment's point about him and was stunned by the ease she not only exited him, embarrassed him and humiliated him in such short time and still he had no desire to leave. "Maybe I'm a masochist" he pondered but his growing concern about his mother cut his train of thought.
"Uh huh… sorry but i rarely got a chance for a girlfriend" Jaden moped in response remembering Yusei's words in that bar so many years ago. "And neither did I have the mood for one" he added.
"Oh don't be so grumpy" Alexis chided him. She took a few moments too look at him before she decided to break the silence "so what do you want to ask me?" she said and cocked her eyebrow.
Jaden still had a hard time getting used to her knowing what he wanted and simply responded with an "Uh".
"Look you been staring at me as if I'm an alien, not that I blame you but if anyone see you they might think you've been lobotomized" she stated and with a warm smile and a nod urged him to speak.
"Is Jesse a trustworthy guy?" Jaden asked bluntly.
"Yes of course he is" She answered with a worried expression "Why what's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing it's just" Jaden began and collected his thought's he didn't know why by his gut told him something was off with Jesse. "You told me of your gift because I was trustworthy and I assumed you didn't trust him" Jaden continued and realized just how stupid it sounded. The guy had been nothing but friendly with Jaden and he treated him like a suspect for murder.
"I trust you because you can handle it" She answered and took a deep breath, relieved of the fact that no conflict had occurred between her new and older friend " You know what it's like to be see the world as it really is, Jesse just wouldn't know how to handle it" she continued.
"Just how the world it really is?" Jaden asked but part of him already knew the answer.
"I can see what you see" She answered and took a deep breath "I know of what is there when I can't see it"
"And what about Chazz?" Jaden asked Alexis shook her head in response.
"Chazz is Chazz, He the most reliable person I know" She answered with a small smile. "He is the only one who I just can't predict so I guess that's why I let him in on the secret" Her smile widened as she remembered her many moments with the boy. "It's really stupid but you know… you want somebody who you can be normal with, somebody who makes you fit in" she continued.
Jaden pondered on her words and agreed. Most of his life he'd been alone and somewhat afraid of people because of his lack of social life. Social life he never got to have because he always felt different, always the same feeling of dread for the shadows and never be able to explain it to others. It all changed when Yusei found him and taught the faith. He now understood the world around him but it didn't help him to connect with people, Yusei told him it was quite normal for hunters to be outsiders and it would be easier with time and naturally he was right. Still because of this he's been terrified of breaking the bonds that he have, afraid to lose the few treads of life he still has "All of the time I'm a hunter, never a person" he mused as he thought about it. Jaden felt that Alexis knew what he was thinking and felt the same way.
"So how long have you seen them?" Jaden asked.
"For as long as I can remember" She answered heavily "they don't bother me I just feel so helpless when I see them lurk and can't do anything to stop them" she continued and turned away from Jaden pointing to an unknown location "and just so you know your house is over there" she informed him with a smirk.
Jaden realized that he'd been going the wrong way and smacked himself mentally. Apparently my sense of direction is on equal level to my social skills he thought. "Thanks" he responded.
"Maybe I should walk you home" she offered and Jaden gestured for her to follow in response.
"So tell me…" Jaden began and pondered upon what to say. He had so many things to ask at once that he quickly became disoriented just thinking about it. In the end he chose the question that popped up first "do you live like… near my house?" he blurted out.
"Yes goofy… I told you that when we walked to school together" She answered and almost giggled like she was expecting something really exiting "But then you don't listen too well" she added.
"Oh… right" Jaden answered and mentally smacked his forehead for not paying more attention. He noticed her rather cheerful expression and became curious "why are you smiling?"
"Oh… I don't know" She playfully responded and rolled her eyes as she played with the idea in her head "How about we team up?" She blurted out eyes twinkling.
"Team… up?" Jaden had a hard time registering just what she'd just said.
"You know like a team, partners, crime fighting duo or demon fighting duo more precisely" She answered. Jaden didn't like the idea of shooting her down especially when she was using her biggest puppy eyes on him, clearly on purpose.
"Oh no… no no no" Jaden answered making various hand gestures to clarify the message.
"Oh come on why not" She moped.
"Because it's dangerous, shit I nearly got killed when I tried it on my own and I had been training with Yusei for five years" Jaden explained and took a deep breath. "Look it's just something you can't take lightly I mean it" he continued.
/Flashback/Years ago/an old building up for renovation/
Jaden and Yusei carefully pushed the door open and headed inside. The demon had finally become stupid and left a trail allowing Yusei to track it to this location. Jaden could see why the demon would take up hold here it was a fortress. In an urban landscape this old house was the equivalent of a castle on a cliff. It practically radiated with demon influence creating a thick atmosphere of cold and moist. They walked silently through the hallway being careful to notice every detail in case anything made a sudden move. Too many demon hunters meet their end because of simple lack of observation.
Breathing was hard as dust and moist filled the air. Jaden breathed heavily as he observed the trashed rooms wrapped in plastic and spider web. The house was very mid nineties on the inside greatly contrasting its appearance on the outside whose stone walls was clearly reminiscing of the ninetieth century.
A crackling sound could be heard from the floor above and Jaden quickly looked to Yusei for confirmation. He nodded in response and they went to look for a stairway. Walking through a kitchen, living room and a library Yusei finally lost patience and whispered "Why is there no stairs?".
"I don't know" Jaden answered "maybe we should check the hallway again?" He suggested and Yusei nodded. When they reached the hallway they quickly noticed why there were no stairs. This house was designed with only one large stair upstairs and it had been shattered during the renovation process.
Sighing Yusei turned to Jaden. "We're going to need to build a ladder" He said plainly and began to gather anything he could use.
When they finished their makeshift ladder they placed it against the upper floor. "Yusei you want to head upstairs first?" Jaden asked and Yusei responded by climbing the stairs. When he had reached the upper floor Jaden began to climb. Jaden had a bad feeling when he started to climb the ladder and halfway up his fears where confirmed as the ladder cracked in half causing him to fall to the floor beneath.
"KID ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!" Yusei in his worry forgot his composure but noticed it quickly and after checking that nothing was approaching him returned his gaze to Jaden.
Jaden coughed fiercely as dust shoot up all around him blocking his vision "yeah I'm all right". He was kneeling on the spot with his hands bracing against the floor. He was planning to get up but he felt something vibrate in the floor beneath him and suddenly cracks appeared all round him. His panicked gaze barely made it to meet Yusei as he crashed through the floor and headed deep in to the basement of the house.
"FUCK" Yusei thought as he saw Jaden disappear in to the dark. Without thinking he leapt down and landed next to the hole where Jaden fell "JADEN!" he screamed trying to make contact but all that was heard was the crackling chuckle of the fiend as it celebrated its cunning plan fruitfulness.
This was the worst thing that could happen. The demon had successfully separated them and could easily take them one on one or it could at least take Jaden. No time to waste Yusei rushed around the house trying to find a stairway down. Jaden was probably knocked unconscious by the fall and may have something broken. Either way he was in no condition to face the beast alone.
/With Jaden/
Jaden woke up in dark room with a throbbing headache. He wobbled up to his feet and looked around him. It was an old earth cellar with pipes going around the walls probably an old boiler room. He limped around in the dark unable to find any way out of the room and sat down out of fatigue on the cement floor.
He felt around his head and noticed wet spots in his hair. Realizing that he was bleeding his breath quickened knowing that is he remained here he would lose consciousness. Rising again he stood up and looked to the ceiling for the whole that he fell through but was shocked to see that is was nothing there as if he hadn't fallen at all.
Now Jaden was officially scared, no panicked was the more accurate description. He was trapped in a room with no apparent exit and the house was haunted. He felt weak and vulnerable as he desperately began to search the walls with his hands in order to find anything useful.
Luck finally struck and he found a light switch. He quickly flipped it on an act that would prove to be one of the worst mistakes he'd ever made. As the light went on the air became noticeably colder and dryer as if all the moist had frozen and it was getting hard to breathe. Worst was the feeling of something hanging on to his shoulder leaning on him weighing him down.
/With Yusei/
Yusei on the other hand was busy running trough stair after stair in this labyrinth of a house. In every corner he saw the shadow of the fiend taunting him, laughing at him. It was too afraid to face him openly and its tactics were obviously designed to frighten rather than to confront. He paused and turned towards the shadow in anger and just yelled at him "You leave him alone you hear me!" and the demon was visibly taken aback by his forcefulness but returned to its irritating jesting fashion and dissipated with a small laugher.
/With Jaden/
As Jaden turned around he froze. Staring at him just a few inches away from his face was a man or something with the shape of a man but not the face it was no face just a void with a mist in it. The mist took on many shapes as it twirled around in its confines and the body was just a shade but its presence radiated hostility. For a long moment Jaden just stared at it to afraid to move. It wasn't his first demon ever witnessed but it was the first time he was alone with it, no Yusei to rely on this time only his training and wit. Without thinking he drew one of the seals he had stored in his back pocket not knowing which he gambled and turned the seal on his foe, so much for wit.
The Seal He'd chosen was fireball token and he unleashed all its power straight in the face of the beast sending it flying and screaming.
It was practically the dumbest thing he could have done in his situation especially as he would soon see that the sign lit up by the fire read "Gas heating" in French. It was a small explosion by modern standards but it was enough to send Jaden flying back and in to the wall and unto the floor. It bursted fourth from the small holes caused by Jaden's seal and struck the wooden ceiling. Smoke filled the room as the fire spread all around him and despite the fact that the flames lit up better than the room better than the light bulb the smoke nullified his vision and stung his eyes. In fact he preferred the darkness to this.
/With Yusei/
Yusei felt the explosion as it shook the building and smoke began to rise around him "Jaden you idiot" Was all he had time to think before he had to dive to the side in order to dodge fallen debris. Throwing caution to the wind called upon his most trusted power to aid him.
/With Jaden/
Struggling to breathe he crawled around on the floor trying to find the way out. His gaze blurred and he could feel himself losing consciousness as he went on.
"Fuck not like this, not like this" He thought as he looked around again to see if there was a last hope somewhere. "A stair!" he noticed just across the room and quickly began to crawl to it but his speed was hampered by severe dizziness and fatigue. "Just a little closer" He kept repeating a s he came closer the stair if he just reached it he could crawl up before the roof collapsed on top of him. But just moments before he reached the stairs a mass of burning debris crashed down on top of it blocking his way and trapping him in the room again.
"No no no" Jaden whispered as the air became harder to breathe and his eyesight dwindled. He could feel the soft numbing touch of dreams as his eyes closed, accepting his inevitable fate.
/With Yusei/
He rushed fourth down the path that he had blown open and to his joy heard Jaden voice on the other side of a door he crossed. "Thank god he's still alive" Yusei said to himself and ripped open the door. The smoke was thicker here than everywhere else and it hit him like a gust but as it cleared he could see Jaden lying in the floor behind burning debris. He kicked the debris away from him so it flew over Jaden and crashed in to the wall. Then he quickly rushed to Jaden picking him up as he was unconscious and ran with him on his back as fast as he could to the exit.
Jaden eyes flickered with life as he felt himself floating in the air. He watched the walls around him burn as he was carried out by Yusei. Once outside the burning building he heard sirens ringing in the distance. Yusei ran away from the sirens in to a nearby forest and put him down next to a tree.
"Hold still kid" Yusei instructed him as he examined his injuries. Yusei put the palm of his hand against the bleeding and whispered something that Jaden couldn't quite make out. "There you're fine" he said and smirked at Jaden's stunned expression. Jaden reached around his head and felt the place where the bleeding was had healed completely without a trace of injury. "How did you do that?" He asked baffled.
"I didn't, you did" He answered casually and lifted them both up to their feet. Jaden was still rubbing his head trying to get a grip on how he could have done that.
"The faith restored you" Yusei explained and took a deep breath "your belief in yourself and trust in me was enough to shake away mortal wounds" he continued.
"Huh?" Was all Jaden could answer.
"I'm making it a lot simpler than it is" Yusei clarified "Just trust me it was your own abilities that restored you, I simply gave them a gentle push" he said and stood up brushing some dust off his jacket. He then looked around as he heard sirens coming close "Let's get back to the den" he told Jaden and started walking. Jaden just followed.
After walking a bit they stopped "Yusei what's up?" Jaden asked. Yusei turned and smiled.
"You know this is the end of your training" He said and stepped forward putting his hand on Jaden's shoulder he gave a small chuckle "You're ready". Jaden snorted in response "All I did was to nearly die on that floor".
Yusei laughed loudly and Jaden had to turn around to see if anyone was listening "hush not so loud" he told him. "Kid you didn't nearly die, you survived a great danger and you did it by yourself" Yusei answered "In our line of work that's due for promotion" he added.
Jaden wondered what he meant by himself "Dude you saved me and the demon got away" he said with the obvious question following "how is that by myself?" Yusei's look turned stern as he looked in to Jaden's eyes "Kid you singlehandedly repelled a demon of monstrous proportion and you had the ability to survive for long enough for me to get to you with one of those things, most hunters never get that far but those who do become great" He paused and took a breath "I didn't mean to cut you lose just yet but you have proven yourself ready and that's it. He continued and lit a cigarette.
"And as for the demon don't worry about it, When the house burned down his gateway to our world collapsed alongside it" He reassured Jaden and began to walk towards the den with Jaden. "It's a common last resort tactic but not one we prefer to use, it attracts attention and potentially hurts innocent people." His words reminded him of the story Jack told him earlier that year and he regretted not listening more carefully.
The continued to walk down to the den and the same night they decided to get drunk and forget all potential troubles with the cops they may have the next day.
/Flashback End/
"So now you get why I don't want you to come along". Jaden was done explaining but Alexis seemed unconvinced.
"Who says I was going to tag along and help you fight" She said flatly "look I can help in more ways than just visions and you'll need me I promise" She insisted and Jaden to tired to argue simply shook his head in response "Please forget it" he said and began to walk away from her.
"Hey Jaden!" She shouted sounding rather amused. "No Alexis I can't do it ok!" He yelled back somewhat irritated but also genuinely concerned. He was really hoping that damned woman would leave it be and not get hurt.
"You're walking the wrong way again" She said and laughed as he looked down the street to realize that he was indeed walking the wrong way. "Crap" Jaden grunted and turned around following Alexis home. They didn't talk much as they walked and when he got home the first thing he noticed was that his mother wasn't home but had left a note saying that she was at her new job so what he did was to head upstairs and lay in his bed exhausted.
As he laid there he felt his eyes get heavier and placed his hands on the back of his head to sleep a little before dinner. He blinked once and noticed as his vision blurred and sleep began to overtake him. He blinked again to notice that something blurry was moving in the background.
He blinked a third time and shoot up his eyes in terror. Something was looking him in the eyes.
/End of chapter/ Authors Note/
I'm sorry for not updating when I should have but I'm not going to be able to write a lot faster so the chapters will come out when they do. Again I'm sorry. I'm also making drastic changes to the story's script so a lot that I originally planned is not going to happen. They will happen but not yet.
Read and review.