A/N: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX or Yugioh 5D's.
When they stepped off the shuttle, they were met by a man in a white lab coat. He had short red hair and green eyes. "Greetings, young travelers," he said. "We've been expecting you. My name is Professor Lee. And I'm in charge around here. Won't you all please follow me?"
He led them through the ark to what he told them was the main research lab. There were so many different turns and hallways that most of them were thoroughly lost before they even reached the lab.
"So, Mr. Kaiba has informed us that you're looking for a card we shot up years ago?" Lee said. "One that, if not found, could potentially end the world as we know it?"
"Not potentially," Judai said, aiming to make this more urgent for all involved after that last flashback of his. "It will."
"Don't worry, young man," Lee told him. "We've already located the card's capsule and are tracking it as we speak." He pointed to a huge green radar grid, which had a small yellow dot moving across it slowly. "Unfortunately, it's out of range for now. But its rotation patterns suggest it will circle back around by Saturday. We can retrieve it then."
"And what happens if, instead of circling around, it gets pulled in by the Earth's gravity and crashes?" Yusei asked.
"Well, we'll just have to send out a search party. Hopefully we'll find it then."
Judai thought about the reentry that Yubel had said was so painful and the fact that she claimed, if not for that, she might have been okay. "We can't afford to lose this thing," he said.
"I understand your concerns, but we can't do anything from here. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that and wait."
Judai felt down again—it wouldn't be long before Yubel's capsule crash-landed. If that happened, then this whole mission would have been for nothing.
"Judai," Yubel spoke in his mind. "It's okay. I think it's still a little early for me to crash." However, she sounded a bit unsure.
Are you sure about that? Because you don't sound sure.
She was quiet a moment before shrugging and saying, "Beats me. Can't exactly tell time in space."
That wasn't very reassuring.
"Judai? You okay?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah. Fine," he said unconvincingly.
"You don't sound fine," Sho observed.
"I'm fine," he answered quickly.
"Quit lying," Manjoume said. "You're obviously not. So what's wrong now, you idiot?"
Judai stared at the radar apprehensively. "If we don't get that card..."
"We will!" Asuka said, determination on her face.
Judai looked at her. "You're sure about this?" he asked.
"Positive! We've come too far to fail now! We'll get her. No matter what!"
Judai just stared at her, wondering how she could be so sure that they wouldn't fail. Really, anything could go wrong, right?
"T-that's right!" Sho said. "If not now, we can always chase her around the planet until we do get her! Right, guys?"
"If we have to, I guess," Jack said without interest.
"See!?" Sho said. "She's as good as ours now!"
Thinking that Yubel may still be too angry to reason with, Judai said, "I'm not sure it will work if we get her later..."
Asuka looked at him sympathetically. "Judai..." Determined again, she said, "Don't worry. We'll get her before that happens. Trust me."
"I hope..."
Asuka walked over to him, knowing full well what this could do to him, and hugged him. "It's okay, Judai," she said. "It's okay."
He held onto her tight.
Above, the tag-along spirits watched. "Hmm. What do you think, pal?" the green-eyed one asked his companion. "Should we go looking for her?"
The other shook its head, saying that was a crazy idea. Space was huge, and they might very well get lost forever looking for her. Him especially.
"Yeah, yeah," the spirit said, brushing off the insult. "Then I guess we'll have to do like Sho if they fail. Nothing else we can do, right?"
His friend nodded, thinking that visiting every so often as spirits was all they would be able to do.
"Still, I hope it doesn't come to that. Poor guy." He looked back down at his old friend.
Later, Sho and Judai were exploring the space ark. Honestly, Sho couldn't be more lost if he tried.
"Wow... And I thought the shuttle was huge," he said. "This place almost looks like a small town!" He did a double-take, then said, "Did I just see a kid run by?"
Judai shrugged—it wouldn't be the biggest surprise he'd ever had. "Maybe."
They turned a corner and found the rooms of all those aboard the ark. Sure enough, Sho had been right—he had seen a kid run by. There were more kids than just the one, however. Heck, there seemed to be entire families up here!
"This is crazy! I thought only astronauts lived in space! And only on their spaceships! So what's this place doing up here!?"
"Why are you asking me?" Judai said. "I don't even know when a town real darned close to me's about to explode until it does!"
"You did what now?" Sho asked in disbelief.
"I was...otherwise occupied," Judai answered, not wanting to go into detail.
Sho looked at him questioningly. "Aniki... Are you seriously saying you missed a nearby town blowing up? And why was a town blowing up, anyway? Nuclear bomb attack?"
"Not entirely sure why..." He sweat. "I've been kinda out of it recently..."
There was a moment of silence before Sho asked, "Is it 'cause you're so old?" Silently, he added, Maybe his mind's been aging. How does immortality work, exactly?
"No."
Another silence followed, then Sho raised an eyebrow and said, "Why do I think sleeping may be it? I know you're a heavy sleeper, but still..."
Judai raised an eyebrow at him in return. "You think I slept through it?"
Sho shrugged. "I don't know why I do."
Judai stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "Well, I didn't."
"Then what on Earth were you doing that made you miss such a huge event?"
"...Visiting some old friends..."
Sho looked at him, uncomprehending. Judai just looked down sadly.
"...Oh...," Sho said as understanding dawned on him.
"...Yeah..." Judai shook his head, trying to drive away the memories.
An awkward silence followed before Sho decided to change the subject. "So, anyway, about that kid I saw..."
"Judai? Sho?" Asuka asked, running over and looking extremely relieved to see them. "Oh, thank goodness I found you! I've been trying to find something familiar all day!"
"Asuka!" Sho exclaimed.
"So, what's up?" she asked. "You're not lost, too, are you?"
"No, we're not lost," Judai answered.
"Oh, thank goodness. Then perhaps you can tell me where the cafeteria is? I was told it was around Lab 37, but I can't find Lab 37. I've seen restrooms, homes, labs 12 and 9, and a bunch of endless hallways, but no Lab 37! I'm so lost my head's spinning!"
"Hey, didn't we just see a door with the number 37 on it a minute ago?" Sho asked Judai.
The brunette nodded. "Yeah, it's back that way."
"Don't tell me that!" Asuka said. "I need to know how far that way it is and how many turns I need to take in order to get there! Just saying 'it's back that way' keeps getting me lost again! And I really don't want to spend another 20 or more minutes wandering through almost-deserted parts of this place!"
Judai stared at her a moment, thinking of an old friend who always got lost. "I'll show you, Johan," he teased, knowing she wouldn't get it but unable to resist.
"Who!?" she asked.
"Aniki?"
Judai shook his head. "You'll know soon enough."
The two stared at him in confusion.
Keeping out of their sight, the spirit humphed. "'I'll show you, Johan.' Yeah, that's really funny, Judai. I just can't stop laughing!" he said, heavy on the sarcasm. He humphed again.
His friend thought it was funny. After all, Johan did get lost a lot.
"Yeah, yeah, shut it."
His friend grinned.
Judai started off for the cafeteria with Asuka, but Sho didn't move. Instead, he said, "I think I'll check out the rest of this place first. I'm not really hungry."
"You sure?" Judai asked, certain Sho had to be kidding.
"Yup! I think I'll give you some space instead. Later, Aniki!" With that, he ran off, leaving Judai alone with Asuka.
Judai watched him go. "Huh. That's...new."
Suddenly Asuka was rethinking this. "Uh, you okay with this? I mean..."
"Yeah. Come on, let's go," he said, starting off down the hall toward the cafeteria.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "'Cause I could always try to find someone else to take me there."
"I'm sure. Besides, you'll probably get lost looking for someone else." He grinned and winked.
Asuka hesitated. "Okay," she said at last.
They started off down the hall in silence. Asuka was worried she'd upset him if she spoke—their conversations often led to unpleasant memories.
"...What's up, Asuka?" Judai asked. "Cat got your tongue?"
He shouldn't have teased her about being Johan. With what he'd remembered about these three recently, remembering Johan hurt worse all of a sudden. After Sho and he had that fight, Johan had been his closest friend. His other closest—Sho, Asuka, and Manjoume—had betrayed him in some way or other. Turning their backs on him when he needed them, marrying the girl he loved, or deeming him an ingrate for having something he didn't want. Now he had to find some way to get his mind off of these thoughts of his before he broke down again.
"I'm just a little nervous, that's all," Asuka lied. "I-I mean, this place is huge, so I'm worried we'll get lost again! Yeah! That's it! I don't want to get lost..."
Judai glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, studying her expression. "No, that's not it," he said at last. "You're worried about upsetting me, aren't you?"
"Uh..." She sweat. "No?"
"Uh-huh. Yeah, I'm buying that about as much as you guys buy it when I say I'm fine. You know, those times when you can just tell that I'm not."
Asuka was silent.
"Don't worry about that," Judai told her. "If it happens, it happens. Heck, I upset myself a lot of the time just being left to my thoughts, so..."
"I'm sorry..."
Judai shook his head, saying, "Don't worry about it. Like I told Sho earlier, the past is better left in the past."
From an intersecting hallway, a voice said, "Okay. So, if I take a right at that corner, then go straight until I see a chemistry lab, it should be located on the right... Wait a minute! Wh-!?"
Manjoume, a map in his face, crashed into Judai.
"Ow!" the brunette said on impact. "Hey, Manjoume. You lost, too?" he asked, sweating.
"You two! Good. You got any idea where I am? 'Cause this map's made for Albert Einstein only," Manjoume said, annoyed.
"That depends. Where are you trying to get to?"
"I'm looking for my room in the housing area," he said. "Someone marked it on this map, but it's still impossible to find! What gives!? It's like I've got the thing upside down or something!"
"Wait, you've got a map!? Who gave you that!?" Asuka demanded.
"Some idiot who thinks everyone speaks Gibberish," Manjoume answered. "I mean, really, what does 'go find the Spacial Compounder Unit and go right til you reach Alien Study' mean?"
Judai looked at the map. "You wanna go down this hallway," he said, pointing back the way he and Asuka had come. "Take the first left you can, then just head straight until you get to that room."
"And how the heck do you know that, you idiot!? This place is a giant maze! I swear, the dude that built it loves labyrinths! So why aren't you lost!?"
"Good question," Asuka agreed, stunned.
Judai shrugged. "When you don't spend a lot of time in one place and could have enemies crop up anywhere, anytime, you learn to figure out you surroundings quickly."
Manjoume and Asuka stared at him, stunned.
The spirit stared a moment before saying, "No fair, pal."
"What were you doing with your spare time?" Asuka asked.
"Helping people," he answered simply—he didn't want to get too into it with all the painful deaths it had caused over the centuries.
"And that got you enemies...how?" Manjoume asked.
Judai sweat. "Let's just say this planet's got waaay too many weirdos bent on world domination..."
They just stared, not sure they wanted to know what he meant by that.
"Anyway, that should get you to your room, Manjoume," Judai said.
"...Okay... Remind me to call you if I ever need saving." Muttering, he added, "Not that that will ever happen to me, but still..." As he walked off, he said, "Thanks."
Asuka was still staring at Judai in disbelief.
"Anyway, the cafeteria," he said, walking off.
"...Right..."
The stunned girl followed him, still wondering what exactly he did with his life.