Anonymous Review: Technically speaking yes, but I don't consider Aster Jaden's "rival" per se. It's only in season 2 that he was technically a rival. I mean, if you wanna get technical, Alexis was Jaden's rival too and they both teamed up as well. When I say "rival" I mean the MAIN rival. I mean the one rival that pushes the main character to his limits throughout the entire series. Aster only pushed Jaden to his limits during season 2 and never really appeared before then. That doesn't count. It's like saying that Mai Valentine was Yugi's rival or that Team Ragnarok was Yusei's rival. The main characters are obviously going to have more than one rival, but when it comes down to who the main rival is, it's always the one person that the rival has close connections to from beginning to end that always pushes him to his limits. For Yugi it's Seto Kaiba, for Yusei it's Jack Atlas , for Yuma it's Shark (keep in mind that I'm in the middle of season 2 of Zexal, so I could be wrong about this), for Astral it's Kite, and for Jaden it's Chazz. The difficult part with my story is that Jaylin doesn't have an official rival. She more like has two main rivals and Chazz isn't that rival. With that said, I still will have Jaylin tag-team with Zane and soon Alexis. I'm just making baby steps as of now ;)
Here's the duel with Slade and Jagger. This duel will be done differently from the original duel with Jagger and Chazz, mostly because I'd rather make up my own duel than add onto a one on one duel and try to make sense of it. I will try to make the duel into one chapter, because I want to get this filler over and done with to continue on with the plot and subplot. Review please!
The two teams played Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would go first. Slade was first, Jagger was second, Chazz was third, and Jaylin was last. Jaylin smirked at the idea of being the last duelist, because not only would she be the first to attack, but this was a funny way of saving the best for last. Chazz was a little nervous about dueling with a low attack deck, but was confident to win the duel, despite this disadvantage. He trusted that Jaylin had the right monsters to summon.
Each player drew six cards, Slade drawing his first one. He smirked, "get ready to lose, little brother!"
"How do you know you're going to win, Mr. Cocky-Pants?" Chazz asked plainly.
"Fear my Luster Dragon! I summon it in attack mode!" Slade declared as a shiny blue dragon appeared in an attack position.
"Huh... nice dragon," Jaylin commented, looking up.
"I place two cards face-down and end my turn."
"Now, it's my turn!" Jagger smirked, drawing his next card. "I summon Axe Dragonute!" A black dragon on its two feet, carrying a battle ax, appeared ferociously in attack mode. "I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
Jaylin shrugged as Chazz drew his next card. He searched carefully through his hand, wondering which monster to summon out. He decided, "I bring out Royal Magical Library in defense mode, then place two cards face-down. That ends my turn!" A huge wall with bookshelves, as if from a library, appeared on the field in a defense position.
"HA! That's it!? You seriously think you can defeat us with that?" Jagger mocked.
"Excuse me, but can you tone down the volume, so I can decide my move?" Jaylin asked as Jagger shot her a glare. "Thank you. First off, I place two cards face-down," Jaylin started off, holographic cards showing in front of her. "Then, I special summon Solar Wind Jammer, since I control no other monsters!" Some sort of solar wind panel machine appeared on the field in attack mode.
"Wow, and you made fun of us for being amatu-"
"Hey, could you keep it down, please? I'm not finished yet, and I need to concentrate," Jaylin asked politely with an innocent smile as Jagger shot her a glare. "Now, where was I? Oh yes! Then, I tribute Solar Wind Jammer to activate my spell card Five Star Twilight to bring out the Kuriboh brothers!" Solar Wind Jammer disappeared from the field and was replaced by five different kuribohs in brown, pink, blue, white and purple. At the same time, a shelf from slot of the top bookshelf of Royal Magic Library slid out, which showed a huge glowing green circle in the middle. The crowd began screaming, mostly the girls, at the successful summoning of the five Kuribohs.
"What was that?" Jagger asked in a threatening voice, pointing to Royal Magic Library.
"It's effect activated. Everytime a magic card activates, it gains one spell counter. By the way, where in the depths of hell did you get those!?" Chazz asked with bulging eyes, turning his face toward Jaylin.
"My Dad bought them for me when I was 10?" Jaylin replied. "They're not one-of-a-kinds, Chazz."
"I know, but do you know how hard it is to get that set? It's as hard as collecting the pieces of Exodia!"
"Huh... I probably should've included Exodia too."
"YOU HAVE EXODIA TOO!?"
"Na, just messing with ya," Jaylin grinned as Chazz fell right on the floor.
"I give up!"
"With the effect of Kuriba, I can banish the Kuriboh brothers to bring out Kuribabylon!" Jaylin declared as all five Kuribohs disappeared and were replaced by a huge dark blue Kuriboh with a horn on its forehead and fangs for teeth. "Now, this one, I borrowed from Dad, because this baby is especially rare."
"It's official, you have a collection of Kuribohs."
"I thought Yugi was the only one with that card," Slade muttered.
"Not really, though he is one of the few. I wonder how this Jaylin character got a hold of one?" Jagger wondered.
"I throw down one more face-down and that ends my turn!" Jaylin responded. "Now, I'm done."
The crowd clapped for the end of Jaylin's and Chazz's turn. In a tag-team duel, the crowd only clapped after both members of the team finished their turn. Nobody clapped for Slade and Jagger, because they seemed amateurish and rude. Everyone wanted Chazz and Jaylin to win, being that they were part of the tournament and were expert duelists, mostly Jaylin.
Jagger and Slade narrowed their eyebrows, both looking toward Jaylin.
"We better keep an eye on this Jaylin character. Even an average duelist wouldn't think up a combo like that. On top of that, she has the Kuriboh brothers and Kuribabylon. She seems to know her stuff more than we thought," Slade whispered.
"It's okay, Slade. Even if she was an expert duelist, she still has to play cards that are below 1000 attack points," Jagger smirked.
"Yes, but still... we must stay cautious," Slade said, then looked closely at Jaylin. "She looks oddly familiar though."
"Yeah... she kinda looks like that girl Yugi Moto kidnapped a long time ago, only with huge breasts, a narrow-looking face, and seems to show more color."
"Hm... do you think that could be her? She did mention having a father that gave her Kuribabylon and Yugi Moto is the only duelist I know that has that card. Not to mention Dr. Crowler said Yugi's daughter goes to this school."
"I don't know. It's possible."
Slade drew his next card, then looked at his hand. He stared at his hand, then at his two opponents. He declared, "I summon Divine Dragon Ragnarok in defense mode!" A snake-like dragon that shined brightly appeared on the field filled with brilliance. "My Luster Dragon attacks Kuribabylon!" Luster Dragon took a gulp of breath and fired a blast of blue fire at Kuribabylon.
"You should watch your step. I activate my trap Mirror Wall!" Jaylin declared as thousands of mirrors appeared in front of her and Chazz. Luster Dragon's attack bounced from the mirror and hit itself, bursting from the field and leaving Slade and Jagger with 3450.
"Nice going, Jaylin!" Chazz smirked as Jaylin grinned in return. "Where'd you get that card? I've never seen it in your deck before!"
"A... special friend of the family gave it to me," Jaylin replied.
"I end my turn," Slade glared in pure annoyance.
Jagger drew his next card, then growled slightly. He declared, "I summon Luster Dragon in defense mode, then end my turn." The bright blue dragon reappeared in a defense position.
"Looks like it's my turn!" Chazz smirked, drawing his next card. He looked out on his brothers' field, knowing those face-down cards were probably traps. "I play my spell card Enchanting Fitting Room!" His and Jaylin's life points dropped down to 3200 before Chazz drew four cards, then summoned Castle Gate, Petit Dragon and Ojama Yellow. The other two cards returned back to his deck before reshuffling it. Castle Gate appeared as a huge stoned gate with arms, legs and a head. Petite Dragon appeared as a cute little green dragon with wings.
After the three monsters were summoned, a shelf from the slot of the second bookshelf of the Royal Magical Library appeared with a giant green glowing circle in the middle.
"Hey boss, how's it going?" Ojama Yellow greeted as Chazz shot him a glare.
"Now, I play Pot of Greed," Chazz declared, drawing two extra cards as the shelf from the slot of the bottom bookshelf of Royal Magical Library appeared with the same green glowing circle in the middle. "And, due to the effect of Magical Library, I can draw one more card!" All three shelves with the glowing green circle in the middle shoved itselves back into the slots and Chazz drew one more card. "Now, I can summon Serpent Marauder!" A one-eyed green snake with razor sharp fangs as its teeth appeared on the field. "Now, I use the effect of Castle Gate and tribute my dragon and serpent to take out a chunk of your life points!"
"Oh shit," Jagger muttered with widened eyes as Castle Gate's stone arms turned to guns. First, Petite Dragon disappeared and Castle Gate fired its first blast directly at Slade and Jagger, leaving them with 2850 life points remaining. Serpent Marauder disappeared, then Castle Gate fired a second time. Slade and Jagger now had 2150 life points remaining.
"So what, if you took a chunk of our life points!?" Slade glared in pure annoyance.
"You don't understand," Chazz said, showing a deep smirk. "I'm far from over." He showed his spell card Thunder Crash, activating it. A lightning bolt hit Chazz's field, destroying his monsters Castle Gate and Ojama Yellow.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ojama Yellow screamed, putting his hands in front of him like a shield before blasting from the field. Slade and Jagger were now left with 1500 life points remaining.
"I will end by placing one more card face-down and letting my partner take over from there!" Chazz finished.
"Th-Th- no, we can't be losing this early!" Slade said in a whispering panic.
Jaylin drew her next card, then peered at her hand, trying to decide what move to make.
"My Kuribabylon attacks Axe Dragonute!" Jaylin declared as Kuribabylon began charging at Axe Dragonute and Jagger smirked, revealing his trap card.
"You triggered Mirror Force!" Jagger declared as a huge mirror arched around Axe Dragonute.
"And you triggered my trap Dark Illusion!" Jaylin smirked as some sort of dark creature in a black cloak with deep glaring red eyes appeared and mist seeped right under Jagger's trap card, making it burst from the field.
"Th- I also activate a trap card of mine, Negate Attack!" Slade said in panic, sweat dripping from the sides of his face as a swirling vortex appeared and bounced Kuribabylon back on the field.
"Then, I activate Kuribabylon's effect!" Jaylin declared, removing Kuribabylon from play to summon back the Kuriboh brothers. "I also play Pot of Greed!" She drew two exta cards. "YES! I was wondering when I'd draw out this baby! I'm going to use the Kuriboh brothers to activate this..." She showed Black Illusion Ritual.
"Oh..." Jagger said with widened eyes.
"... crap," Slade finished, also with widened eyes.
"You have RELINQUISHED!" Chazz asked with shockfilled eyes.
"Yeah," Jaylin shrugged as a golden pot appeared in the middle of the field with two silver cups in front of it. Kuriba appeared inside one silver cup and Kuribe appeared inside the other. Purple mist traveled from the golden pot to Kuriba and Kuribe, both slowly disappearing. Out, from the golden pot, was some sort of dark teal monster with silver lines, claws and a weird circular structure around the bottom. There was an eye sticking out from the top middle of the head, if it was one, and a tail at the back of it, standing on a pointy upside down cone. The audience applauded, mostly those that were huge fans of Relinquished. "I saved this one for a rainy day. It's funny. Pegasus always has a thing for spoiling children. He just gave this to me free of charge."
"Wait, let me get this straight, you're telling me you met Pegasus... and he gave that to you willingly?"
"Pretty much. My dad is a pro duelist and sees many famous duelists, including Pegasus. He gave me a few cards, because I was young and cute, and he knew the cards would annoy the hell out of my dad."
"Why would that annoy your dad?"
"It's... a LONG story. Let's just say Daddy nearly got killed by that thing."
"... right."
"Now, let's see..." Jaylin said, then began pointing at each of her opponents' monsters. "One... two... three... I'll choose..." She then pointed to Axe Dragonute. "THAT ONE!" The brown hole at the middle bottom of Relinquished opened up and took Axe Dragonute, practically eating it whole. "I throw down a face-down and that ends my turn!" The audience applauded, since it was the end of Jaylin's and Chazz's turn.
Slade drew his next card, very nervous and knew him and his brother were in deep trouble. There was no doubt that Jaylin was the one they had to worry about the most. What surprised him was that Chazz seemed to be catching up as well. He was able to bring down his brother's life points down to 1500 and, if they weren't careful, they could lose this duel in no time. There had to be a way to get out of this mess, but how?
"I use Polymerization to fuse Divine Dragon Ragnarok and Lord of Dragon, from my hand, to bring out King Dragun!" Slade declared as Divine Dragon Ragnarok and Lord of Dragon, which appeared from Slade's hand, fused together in the light and appeared as a snake-like brown dragon with light glowing purple flames around its mane. "Then, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to get rid of that Mirror Wall!" Slade revealed his face-down card and Jaylin's Mirror Wall burst from the field, Jaylin placing it in her graveyard. "Now, your monsters are useless! I'll attack that white Kuriboh, but not before I special summon a Hyozanryu, due to my Dragun's effect!" A long, bright white dragon with an orange underbelly appeared brilliantly on the field before King Dragun flew out toward Kuribu, who covered itself in fear.
"I guess you don't know Kuribi's special ability," Jaylin smirked as Kuribi began glowing and Kuribu glowed pink before King Dragun shot a blast of fire from its mouth, which fazed right through Kuribu. "Kuribi can negate an attack from any monster, targeting an attack on a 'kuri' monster." Jaylin pressed a button on her duel disk and it showed a holographic image of the Kuribi card. "See? If you need to see the effect of my monsters, all you needed to do was ask. It would probably help, if you have any chance on winning the duel."
"W-Whatever!" Slade replied, feeling embarrassed he didn't know Kuribi's special ability. "What's Kuribu's ability?" Jaylin showed the effect card of Kuribu. "Okay then... my King Dragun attacks your Relinquished!"
"Are you sure you don't wanna see the effect of Relinquished first?" Jaylin asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"I know the effect of Relinquished! It just destroys my Luster Dragon instead," Slade replied harshly as Jaylin rose two of her eyebrows.
"Okay, just checking," Jaylin replied as King Dragun flew right toward Relinquished, who closed its shield-like wings and, under it, was Luster Dragon fused into the right wing-like shield. King Dragun took a huge gulp of breath, fired at Relinquished, then destroyed Luster Dragon instead. Slade gasped when he watched his and Jagger's life points drop down to 1100.
"Are you trying to kill us!?" Jagger snapped.
"But I thought that Relinquished just only destroys the monster it equips itself to!"
"You also take damage for it," Jaylin mentioned.
"W-Whatever! Now, Relinquished has nothing to protect it from being destroyed!" Slade smirked. "Hyozanryu attacks Relinquished!" Hyozanryu took flight into the air and zoomed itself on its way to Relinquished.
"I reveal my face-down Enemy Controller!" Chazz declared, revealing his face-down card as a game controller appeared in front of him. The buttons on the controller pressed up, left, down, right, A and Hyozanryu was forced into defense mode.
"FINE! I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"
"You're messing everything up! What's wrong with you!?" Jagger shouted.
"It was just a little mistake I made! We still have some life points left!"
"Yeah, compared to theirs, which is 3200!" Jagger snapped, then drew his next card. "I can't rely on anyone anymore!" He peered at his cards, then decided on his next move. "I activate Swords of Concealing Light!" Swords fell from the sky around Jaylin's and Chazz's field, turning all their monsters into their face-down defense positions. "Then, I'll summon a Luster Dragon in defense mode and end my turn!" He turned to his brother, smirking. "See? That's how you do it!"
Chazz drew his next card, glancing at what he had in his hand. He declared, "I place a monster face-down, then end my turn!"
Jaylin drew her next card, then declared, "I set a monster, then end my turn!" She set a monster face-down and the audience clapped for the end of hers and Chazz's turn. "As soon as your Swords of Concealing Light disappear, you're finished!"
"What makes you say that?" Jagger asked, shooting a glare.
"Because the monsters I need to defeat you are all set!"
"Oh really?"
"Yes... I end my turn."
Slade drew his next card, trying to figure out what combo Jaylin was planning to use to win this. There had to be a way to prevent a future loss from taking place. It couldn't be the face-down cards, since King Dragun prevented the effects of spells, traps and effects from targeting dragon-type monsters, which were all him and Jagger had on the field. What made Jaylin so sure that her and Chazz were going to gain victory?
"Just to remind you, King Dragun's effect prevents any effect of spells, traps or monster effects from targeting my dragons," Slade smirked as Jaylin nodded.
"I am aware of that," Jaylin replied.
"And you still think you can defeat me?"
"Yes."
Slade glared, then said, "my King Dragun's effect activates!" A mighty blue dragon appeared, which was Luster Dragon #2. "I change Hyozanryu to attack mode, then King Dragun also destroys your face-down monster over there!" He pointed to the first monster Jaylin placed face-down. King Dragun took a deep breath, and then shot a huge blast at the face-down card, bursting it from the field and revealing itself as a young magician in blue robs and a wand.
"Due to the effect of Magician of Faith, I can add a spell card from my graveyard to my hand," Jaylin declared, searching through her graveyard and bringing back Pot of Greed.
"Then, Luster Dragon 2 destroys your other face-down card!" Slade said as Luster Dragon #2 took a big gulp of breath and shot a blast of fire at the second face-down card, which was Kuribu, blasting it from the field. "Then, Hyozanryu attacks your Relinquished!" Hyozanryu also took huge gulp of breath and shot a blast from its mouth at the face-down Relinquished, which was destroyed. "There goes your winning monster! Still think you can win this!?"
"Yes. Relinquished did what he was meant to do! He wasn't my winning monster, Slade."
Slade glared, then muttered, "I end my turn."
Jagger drew his next card, glancing at his hand, then looked directly at the field where Jaylin was standing. She seemed very confident in winning this duel, but how? She now had one monster, which he could take down easily! It had to be that face-down card, but what could it be? A trap? Na, it couldn't be. King Dragun's effect prevented any traps or spells from targeting dragon-type monsters. It had to be a spell that'd power up Chazz's face-down monster or something.
"I'll place one card face-down, then use Polymerization to fuse my brother's dragons, except King Dragun, my Luster Dragon, and two extra dragons from my hand!" Axe Dragonute and Meteor Dragon, which looked like a half turtle half dragon, from Jagger's hand, Luster Dragon, Luster Dragon #2 and Hyozanryu fused together in the light and appeared as a huge dragon with five heads, each of different elements. The audience, who were fans of Five-Headed Dragon, clapped for its summoning, though still didn't cheer for Slade and Jagger. This was normal in a live tournament. "Now, you don't stand a chance against us! I'll have Five-Headed Dragon attack Chazz's face-down monster!" Five-Headed Dragon together blasted five blasts, one from each head, toward Chazz's face-down card, which revealed to be a young girl with carrot red hair in rags.
"Due to the effect of Unhappy Maiden, the battle phase ends immediately!" Chazz said. "Of course, you wouldn't know this, since you and Slade didn't know the effects of Relinquished. Even though Slade was the one that attacked Relinquished recklessly, if you would've known the effects, you would've stopped him. I know you!"
"You shush it, Chazz! You're just going to have to admit defeat!"
"Tell that to Jaylin, because she's the one setting the trap," Chazz smirked as his brothers shot him a glare.
"We'll see. I end my turn."
Chazz drew his next card, then smirked, "you know what? This is getting boring. I play Turn Jump, meaning your Swords of Concealing Light is gone!" The black swords disappeared and the spell card burst from the field.
"So what? You think your little girlfriend is going to save you?" Slade mocked.
"No, I think she's going to kick your ass," Chazz smirked. "I'd do it, but Jaylin is giving me the let me blow up shit look and I know she's going to kill me, if I don't let her perform it, so I'm just going to sit back and watch the fireworks. I end my turn."
"Alright, it's your turn. Show us this combo you think is going to be the winning keys to your victory!" Jagger smirked.
"Okay. First, I'll place Kuribi back to face-up attack mode," Jaylin started as Kuribi appeared back in attack mode. "Then, I'll summon Time Wizard." A wizard in the shape of a clock with a staff in its hands appeared in attack mode.
"Don't you remember about King Dragun's e-" Slade glared.
"Let me finish! Geez, you're ruining my moment!" Jaylin complained, taking a deep breath. "Anyways, I then play Double Summon to summon out Toon Alligator!" A cartoon alligator appeared comical in attack mode.
"Wait, Pegasus gave you a TOON monster!?" Chazz asked with widened eyes before facepalming. "You know what? Forget it! Pull cards out of your ass for all I care. I'm no longer questioning this!"
Just then, Jaylin then squealed excitedly, tapping her feet. "This is so exciting! I'm about to perform the best combo in the history of history!"
"HOW!?" Slade and Jagger asked in annoyance.
"Okay! Okay! Just a second!" Jaylin said, putting her hands forward, then turned with her hands cupping around her mouth. "HEY KAIBA, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THIS, BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS!" She then turned around. "I ACTIVATE MY TRAP CARD CRUSH CARD BY TRIBUTING KRUBI!" After about five seconds, the entire audience burst into laughter.
"IT SHOULDN'T WORK ON MY DRAGONS, KING DRAGUN'S EFFECT-" Slade shouted with a glare shown before being cut off.
"King Dragun's effect is that I cannot SELECT a dragon-type monster on your field as targets of spells, traps or monster effects. I didn't select your monsters. The effect of Crush Card effects all your monsters, there's no selection, so the effect still counts," Jaylin pointed out as Slade and Jagger read over the effect of King Dragun.
"You... dirty, stuck-up, snot-nose, sadistic, slutty, c***-sucking, ball-licking, pig-eating, blood-hungry, demon-loving, sex-changing, heartless, mindless, d***less, ass-kissing, self centered, kuriboh-haired, brown-nosing, c***-screwing, midget-worshipping, eye-candied, hamful, unforgiving, annoying, back-stabbing, tasteless, lying BITCH!" Slade shouted at the top of his lungs as the audience grew silent.
"Hey, my hair looks nothing like a Kuriboh!" Jaylin defended with furrowed eyebrows. She sighed, then decided to finish her move. "Anyways, all of your monsters are DESTROYED!" King Dragun and Five-Headed Dragon both burst from the field, leaving the brothers wide open. "Toon Alligator and Time Wizard attack you directly, ending the game!" Time Wizard was the one to make its first attack, banging Slade and Jagger over the head with its wand, and leaving them with 600 life points remaining. Then, Toon Alligator hopped into the air and bit the Princeton brothers, leaving them with 0 life points remaining. Jaylin placed two of her fingers on her forehead, then shot them out at the brothers. "GOTCHA!" The entire crowd applauded loudly, cheering and screaming like crazy. Jaylin didn't hold back waving to the cameras.
At the top office, where Seto was watching though the window, at the duel, with a smirk across his face. Roland turned to his boss, saying, "it seems that Miss Yuki and Mr. Princeton won the duel."
"Of course they won! Did you really believe I would sell my company to a couple of mindless idiots like those two!? I would sell it to Wheeler before I'd EVER sell it to the likes of them!" Seto stated. He looked back out the window, smiling again, only it was a small one.
"Seto, I know for a fact that you only made 3 existing Crush Cards and kept them. The only way for Jaylin to have had that card is if you gave her one of the copies," Mokuba stated, folding his arms. "It's not like you to willingly give any card you own to someone. The only person you've ever stoop to that level was Yugi, and Fiend's Sancuary wasn't a rare card."
"I have my reasons, Mokuba," Seto replied, looking out the window.
"Whatever you say. Still surprises me that you actually stooped to that level."
"Humph," Seto responded, memories flooding into his mind.
Seto was on his laptop looking over different projects for Kaiba Corporation. His butler Hobson happen to walk by.
"Um... Mr. Moto is waiting for you-" Hobson announced before Yugi casually walked in.
"Actually, I'm already here. Kaiba, I know you're busy, but do you think you can watch Jaylin, while I'm at school? Mokuba's sick," Yugi asked, the young Jaylin holding onto his hand.
"What am I, your babysitter? Why can't you get one of your friends to do it!?" Seto snapped.
"What friends?" Yugi asked rhetorically as Seto looked up at Yugi. "Ever since I adopted Jaylin, every friend I've ever come close to are rather against me or moved away. You, Mokuba, and my family are the only friends I've got as of now!"
"Can't I go with you?" Jaylin asked, looking up at her father.
"No Princess. It'd be hard to look after you and I don't want you to get hurt or taken from me," Yugi tried to explain as Jaylin's bottom lip quivered.
"How do you expect me to take care of a five-year-old girl, who can't even stay one minute away from you without bawling her head off!?" Seto snapped. "Do I look like I'm good with kids?"
"Being that you created Kaiba Land and raised Mokuba, I would hope so. Please Seto, I'm begging you! Jaylin needs to be looked after and, of all people, I would think you'd be perfect for the job. You and Mokuba can relate to Jaylin more than anyone else!"
Jaylin hid her face at Yugi's side as Seto sighed, replying, "fine, but I'm requiring payment for this!"
"Thank you! I'll pay you back, I promise!" Yugi replied, kneeling down to Jaylin's side. "I'll be back, Princess. Hugs and kisses."
"Daddy..." Jaylin sobbed as Yugi kissed her on the cheek, then hurried back outside onto his bike to leave for college. "DADDY!" She tried running after Yugi, but Hobson closed the door, making her drop on her knees and cry bitter tears. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYY!" Jaylin cried and kept crying, making Seto sigh.
"Look, Daddy's going to be back. How about I get you some cartoons to watch or something?" Seto offered, turning on the TV and changing the channel to a children's show, but Jaylin kept crying louder and louder. He couldn't help, but feel frustrated. How did Yugi expect him to know ANYTHING about taking care of children!? Sure, he raised Mokuba, but he wasn't five! Seto rubbed his temples, trying to remember Mokuba when he was that age, but there was barely anything, being that Seto was nine and didn't have the responsibility of raising Mokuba during the time. He remembered them playing chess and a few other games at the orphanage, but he didn't have time to play games, he had work that needed to be done. There had to be another way! "This is impossible." Seto shut his laptop, getting out his deck and looking over them. Somehow, this made Jaylin stop crying as she looked over at the deck.
"A-Are you a duelist?" Jaylin asked, wiping her tears and walking over to see the cards.
"Yes, and this is my deck."
"Can I see it?"
"I never let anyone-" Seto said, but before he could finish, he was reminded, by the quivering of Jaylin's bottom lip, that this was a five-year-old he was talking to. "Though, if you like looking at cards, I have a bunch of them I can let you look over, but you need to be gentle to them. I don't want you bending them or tearing them up, you understand?"
"Yes... sir," Jaylin replied as Seto looked at Hobson, who nodded, then brought out Seto's suitcase from the basement, which was full of cards. "WOW!" Jaylin's eyes sparkled, looking over every card. "They're so pretty! Can I keep some?"
"If you stop crying, I'll let you choose whatever card in that suitcase. I have to concentrate and finish this for my job or I won't have a roof over my head."
"Okay!" Jaylin replied, looking over the cards, then picked up a Crush Card trap card. "I want this!" She showed Seto the card, who sighed, rubbing his temples. He did give his word.
"Sure."
Yugi was giving Jaylin a piggy-back ride on his back, who was laughing at seven years old. The older man kept bouncing Jaylin up and down on his back, who was having the best time of the young girl's life. Suddenly, Yugi slipped and fell on his mattress as they both rolled and laughed at the same time.
"You okay?" Yugi asked.
"Never better! Let's do that again!" Jaylin cried, clapping before her and Yugi heard a knock.
"Playtime's over, Princess," Yugi said, getting up as Jaylin scrambled onto her feet. She wore a pair of jeans and a pink hoody over a white shirt that was advertising a famous restaurant. Yugi answered the door, which revealed to be an older blond male with a mustache in a pair of jeans and a green shirt.
"May I come in?" Joey asked.
"Sure," Yugi replied quietly as Joey stepped in, seeing Jaylin all grown up after two years.
"Why's he here?" Jaylin asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"He's a guest," Yugi replied as Jaylin nodded. She didn't like Joey after the events that happened two years ago and the blond male could feel it. "Greet him."
"Hello," Jaylin said, making a slight bow.
"Good girl."
"Yugi, I came here to talk. Can we go somewhere in private?" Joey asked as Yugi nodded, looking at Jaylin, who walked quickly to Yugi's room. "So... bedding arrangement?"
"I sleep in the bedroom and she sleeps on the couch to prevent... you know."
"I see..." Joey replied as him and Yugi stood in silence. "Yuge, I still question your moralities in this, but... Mai... told me something... I told her about what happened with you and Jaylin with adopting her and... she thinks you did the right thing."
"That's good to know," Yugi responded sarcastically, his eyes rolling to the corner of his eye.
"Though... it's because of her parents," Joey explained as Yugi rose two eyebrows. "Did you know Mai ran away from home?" Yugi shook his head. "It was because her parents would continually invite some drunk friends over and they continually gang-raped her. This happened every time they came over, which varied. They were eventually caught and she was dropped to an orphanage, so her parents would still keep custody over her, much like Jaylin's situation. Anyways, Mai soon met a man she looked to as a father figure and begged him to take her away from her parents. He knew what went down and was willing to fight, but gave up, due to his friends telling him that he was kidnapping her. Her parents eventually took her from the orphanage and she was tortured by their drunkard friends for years, until she couldn't take it anymore, finally decided to fight back, and ran away. She had been living on the streets sense. She dropped out of middle school, explaining why she's having a hard time getting a GED now. When she saw the man, who was to adopt her, she told him everything that's happened to her, and that she never wanted to see his face again. He committed suicide the next day." Yugi stood in silence, knowing how that man felt. If that would've been Jaylin and knowing he could've saved her, like he did two years ago but didn't, he would've wished to die too. "I don't know, if what you're doing is right or wrong... I still think you're kidnapping Jaylin, but... maybe it is better this way... better for her to be kidnapped by someone that can give her food, shelter and security than for her to live the rest of her life torn and broken with no family. Maybe... I thought I could relate to Jaylin's situation with mine and having a terrible parental figure, but... I guess I really can't... I still had my mother protecting me and, despite what my dad is, at least he didn't try to kill me or torture me."
"I'm sorry for acting like a jerk," Yugi muttered quietly.
"Same... I shouldn't judge what you do. You've always been a good person. You're the reason I'm not a big loser like my father! If anything, I should at least respect you for that."
Yugi patted Joey's shoulder, showing a smile. He said, "I missed you."
"Missed you too, bud."
"Though, it might take Jaylin a while to trust you. In her mind, you were supporting bringing her back to the bad people."
"I know. She loves you alot, Yuge. I can't argue with that."
"She's in the other room, if you wanna talk to her."
Joey nodded, then walked to the bedroom, tapping on the door. Jaylin was playing with a couple of barbie dolls, dressing them up. Joey took a deep breath, biting his bottom lip. He slowly slid the door open quietly.
"Hey... um..." Joey began, noticing Jaylin was still playing with her dolls. "Can I talk to you? If you got the time?"
"Yes sir," Jaylin replied, turning and looking up at Joey with her legs crossed.
Joey sat across from Jaylin with his legs crossed as well, wondering how he was going to explain to a seven-year-old about what happened two years ago, and why him and Yugi have been distant from each other for two years. He decided to try to come up with the best solution possible.
"Listen, I don't know what happened between you and... your real parents. I've never seen them before, never met with them personally, non of that. I... did react... meanly to your father two years ago and I shouldn't have done that. You see... what I saw, during the time, was that your father was looking for a new child and happened to find one, who was still in custody of... you know what custody means, right?"
"Yes."
"Right. Anyways, your father met a child and grew close to her, who was already in custody by two other parents. Now, if two parents still want their kid, they have the right to have that kid. Those parents made that child together. You might not understand it now, but your real parents made you. They're the reason you exist and breathe air... even if you may not like the choice. How I was raised was to except your parents, if they are willing to raise you. I lived with a drunk father my whole life, so I had to live with this. So... your father tells me that he wants this child, because her parents are... not the best parents. I didn't know the details, except they had a mean dog. I don't know how big the dog is or how bad he hurt you. All I know was that this dog was so monsterous that the parents couldn't keep the child in their house, but still wanted to raise the child. The point is... they came across to me as parents that still cared enough to do their part in trying to raise you, despite their poor efforts. So, when your father said he was willing to fight for rights to parent you, let alone prevent you from seeing your parents ever again, to me, it seemed like he was trying to kidnap you away from parents that love and want to raise you. You understand?"
"I understand."
"So... I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have judged so rashly and trusted your father's judgments. If your real parents are so bad that they're out to... get you... then it would be better for you to stay as far away from them as possible. Forgive me?"
"I forgive you," Jaylin replied, fiddling with her dolls. "Daddy says I should forgive people, even if I don't want to."
"He's... a good father... and a good man," Joey nodded, smiling at the young girl. Then, he dug into his deck pocket and pulled out his Time Wizard. "Your father gave me this a long time ago."
"Cool!"
"It reminds me that friendship can last through time. There might be a temporary pause, but friends always come back in the end. I have a copy, if you want one," Joey offered, pulling out another Time Wizard.
"Thank you!" Jaylin said, taking the copy of Time Wizard and smiling, showing her teeth.
"Yugi, you honestly expect to raise a child and not give her at least one outside activity, besides dueling?" Tea complained, who was an older woman with short, straight brown hair wearing a short frilly pink skirt, a red and orange plaid blouse, and high heel shoes.
"Jaylin hasn't really decided on what she's wanting to do yet," Yugi shrugged.
"Honestly Yugi, Jaylin needs someone to do girl stuff with her. You must be making her miserable with having her hang out with a bunch of smelly ol' guys everyday," Tea smirked.
"Oh co'mon, I don't smell that bad," Yugi smirked, then folded his arms. "Say, how about you put your money where your mouth is?"
"Gladly!" Tea replied, putting her chin up. "Hey Jaylie!"
"Yes, future Mommy!" Six-year-old Jaylin replied as Yugi quietly facepalmed with pink appearing on his cheeks. Tea knelt down, putting her hands on her knees.
"How would you like to have a girl's day with me like shopping, getting our hair done, getting our nails done, and other stuff?"
"Sure! Can you buy me some duel monsters cards on the way? I'm trying to build a really powerful deck!"
"Here, how about you add this to your deck?" Tea offered, showing the card Magician of Faith. "I'm sure she'll help make your deck very powerful."
"Thank you, future Mommy!" Jaylin replied loudly as Yugi covered his reddened face.
"Oh, stop it, Yugi! She's only six!" Tea smirked as Yugi sighed and moaned, showing a sleepish smile. Tea chuckled, then planted a kiss on Yugi's lips before taking Jaylin by the hand and heading out the door.
"I can't wait until Jaylin's hormones start activating," Yugi muttered.
A/N: Someone just mentioned to me that I kinda messed up the effect of Castle Gate, since you can only tribute one monster per turn. Sorry about that. Though, I can't think of anything to prevent myself from screwing the rules and I don't think this is really a big deal, so... yeah. Sorry... again. Screwing th rules, because I'm the author XD