Chapter 6

Sartorius grabbed Aster's deck with both hands.

"I see victory in your path." That was his farewell message. After the announcement, he was certain that Crowler and Bonaparte, the latter who kept calling for a full month non-stop, would be eagerly waiting for him. But he wanted no visitors: he threw himself from the plane as it was approaching Duel Academy. With the board attached to his feet he spinned in excitement, opening the parachute when it was almost time for landing. It was much faster than waiting for the plane to land, as he arrived in front of the main building of the arena. When he removed his gear he caught a glimpse of a man running while hugging a bag. A card thief.

Aster barely looked at his face, turning on his duel disk immediately. The duel ended as quickly as it had begun. And to his disappointment, Destiny Hero Plasma was not there. The card thief had made such a noise that he wouldn't be surprised if somebody came. And indeed they did.

First, Crowler and Bonaparte, who tried to talk to him but Aster dismissed them explaining that anything had to be arranged through his manager. But also Jaden, Bastion, Syrus and Jade.

"Hello, Jaden, everyone" he greeted him innocently. "Jaden, I hope you are ready for your duel tomorrow." But to the rest, that didn't sound so friendly. Aster had an unsettling characteristic where he could say the most innocent of things but his eyes said a different story. He glanced at Jade, nodding slightly in acknowledgement, but the teen was unable to read her expression. Jade's heart was beating so loud that she was certain everybody could hear it.

"Just in case: only you and your friends can see me tomorrow, no one else!" Aster ordered.

Jade raised her eyebrows, Jaden complained:

"What do you mean? People here want to see you! They look up to you."

"People pay to see me duel, I'm not doing a match for free." Aster corrected him, which in his mind, sounded quite reasonable. He had dueled for free, for charity for example, but the Academy was not a charity case. Based on his first visit in fact, he could tell the last thing the place needed was any financial help, maybe better management. He felt he had nothing else to add so turned around, slightly raising his hand.

"How selfish!" Aster managed to hear that. And the one who said those words was Jade.

In the morning, the group made their way to the main Arena where a large crowd of students were waiting. Even if they were not allowed to watch the match, it didn't mean they wouldn't either try to sneak in or listen. With his large stature, Hassleberry elbowed the other students allowing himself and his friends to pass through. Aster was already waiting when Jaden and his friends arrived.

The professional duelist made a quick scan through the arena. Empty. Except for Jaden's friends. He thought they looked colorful. A blonde Obelisk student with hazel eyes and a round face; a student with his hair combed to the side like a spider and both his hair and clothes were black (which, because of his clothing, Aster couldn't figure out from which dorm he was) ; three Ra students, one with dark hair and gray eyes looking at him judgingly, a large muscular student with tanned skin with cornrows and a small frail-looking kid with round glasses and turquoise hair. And finally…Jade Trembley, who was wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform. He found it amusing how small the world could be sometimes, considering Jade was friends with Jaden Yuki.

Bonaparte introduced the duel, reminding Aster that the man, together with Crawler, were present as well.

"Well, let's get our game on!" Jaden said, excited as always. In most duels, Aster noticed that the confident posture of his opponents was quickly diminished, but Jaden, just like Zane before him, had not become intimidated. Aster turned on his duel disk and opened the duel. He placed Elemental Hero Clayman (ATK 800/DEF 2000) in defense position and ended his turn. The clay-like monster kneeled in front of the Professional duelist.

Jaden activated Polymerization and summoned Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (ATK 2100/DEF 1200) in attack position. The monster launched an attack pointing its left arm, which looked like the head of a red dragon, throwing a ball of fire at the opposing monster. The claymonster melted as it was destroyed. Because of Flame Wingman's effect, Aster suffered piercing damage. His life points were reduced from 4000 to 3200.

"That was a good start for Jay!" Hassleberry clapped, Syrus shared the sentiment.

"That's not very original." Aster answered, brushing off any damage, as he activated his own Polymerization and summoned Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer (ATK 2100/DEF 1200). Now that both monsters were on the field, it was obvious they looked quite similar, however, while Flame Wingman had a green body and Avian's features were much more visible, Phoenix Enforcer's Burstinitrix influence was more prominent. They looked like opposites, or as if their designs were inverted: two sides of the same coin.

"Mine is much better than yours!" Aster declared as he launched an attack on Flame Wingman. Jaden's monster was destroyed, while Aster's, because of its effect, was not.

"I can't wait to see what your deck is made of!" Jaden answered to the attack. Never loosing his positive spirit, the Slifer student summoned Elemental Hero Bubbleman (ATK 800/DEF 1200) in attack position. Because he summoned the monster while he had no other cards on his side of the field the warrior monster's effect was activated: drawing two cards. Activating the spell card "Warrior Returning Alive" he returned one card from the graveyard to his hand. After this, he activated Polymerization and summoned Elemental Hero Tempest (ATK 2800/DEF 2800) using Avian, Bubbleman and Avian as materials. The brown-haired teen moved on to the battle phase, and attacked Phoenix Enforcer.

"Not bad for the slacker" Chazz chuckled. Syrus and Hassleberry cheered on.

Aster summoned Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer (ATK 2500/DEF 2100) in attack position. Because of its' effect, gaining 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero in his Graveyard, the monster ended with an total attack of 4000.

"Try to stop this!" he dared Jaden, moving to the battle phase. Tempest was destroyed, and Jaden suffered a loss of life points, remaining with 2800. He ended his turn by setting a card.

The brown haired boy activated Miracle Fusion and summoned Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (ATK 2500/DEF 2100). The monster materialized standing up on the field, signifying that it was in attack position. Just like Phoenix Enforcer, it gained 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero on the owner's Graveyard, resulting in an increase of 3700 points.

"Still not enough to beat my Phoenix Enforcer." Aster noted mockingly. But Jaden's turn wasn't done: he activated Light Laser and equipped it to his fusion monster.

"Now any monster that battles my Flare Wingman will be removed from play. And check this!" Jaden finished by summoning the field spell Skyscraper. The dueling arena changed and now both players were surrounded by tall buildings with tiny square windows.

Jade looked at Aster, thinking. Even if this was a school match he was still a Professional Duelist. His attitude was similar to that when he duel Zane, despite there being no cameras around. There should be no consequences for Aster if he lost or won. Cocky, confident, mocking…It made her wonder if he was playing a character while dueling or if this is what he had become, what years in the Professional scene had shaped. Aster used to love dueling, but right now, even if he was paid to duel as he kindly explained, did he even like dueling at all?

Jaden moved onto the battle phase and explained that he was allowed to attack Phoenix Enforcer because his monster received an increase of 1000 points when battling a monster with higher attack points. Aster already knew this and remained calm. His monster was removed from play because of Light Laser, and he had a decrease in his life points, with only 1800 remaining.

"I've been waiting for you to do that.'' Aster said calmly as he revealed his face down: D-Time. Jaden and his friends were quite confused. Syrus glanced at Alexis as if looking for an answer, but she shook her head. Surprisingly, even Bastion shrugged. Jade sat at the edge of her seat as if ready to jump to the dueling arena.

The young girl opened the door excitedly, before the two guests even rang, as she heard their footsteps. She had been peeking at the small circular door window constantly waiting for them to arrive.

"Hello!" she smiled, moving slightly to allow the guests to enter her house. A father and son. Soon enough, her own father joined in, going towards the other male and hugging while patting their backs. There was a clear familiarity between all of them.

"This time it's ready, look! Meet the Destiny Heroes!" He showed her a hand of cards, which were so new that Jade could still smell the ink from them. A scent which to her was quite familiar, as her own father was a card designer. Jade was unsure if it was Aster's enthusiasm or a faulty memory, but she was certain that the cards were glowing. He had talked about them non stop since his father had begun designing them. While she had not been part of the process of creating them the boy had kept her in the loop constantly. Describing the design of the cards, telling her when they were ready for inking, for coloring, that he picked the color purple for Dreadmaster (which at the time Jade wasn't sure what that meant) because it looked cool. Aster loved the Destiny Heroes and he loved sharing them too.

"Here, you can shuffle my deck!" He extended his hand towards her. Jade carefully grabbed the brand new deck, scared to leave any scratch on them. In return, the boy shuffled her deck as he spoke about mundane topics. As she was ready to return the deck back to Aster, one of the cards in her hand slipped: Destiny Hero Dreadmaster.

"It 's all right! You'll see what he does soon!" he teased with a grin.

Aster's hand shook slightly, but Jaden didn't notice. The teen still remembered the last time he used the Destiny Heroes competitively. It was the year 1997 and his father had agreed to sign him up to a local tournament, it was the first time he would show them off to the world. However, while he won the tournament, his father was killed a couple of months after the event. The teen had no proof, but he was certain that there was a cause and effect relation between both events. He had used Destiny Hero Plasma and because of his foolishness he ended with a stolen card and a dead father. Soon after, someone, Aster deduced it was the killer, had removed all traces of the Destiny Hero cards from the Dueling Monsters database.

And suddenly, it felt as if the cards never existed. What is more, his closest circle, D and Sartorius never brought them up again. Maybe it was to spare him any painful memories and respect his wishes of moving on from what happened. But the cards were real, and they were always with him, carefully placed in the breast pocket of his suit and at night, inside a safety box that only he knew of.

But now, for the first time in years the cards were going to show themselves once again. Because his father deserved it, because he was in front of a Hero duelist just like himself who didn't seem to grasp what dueling and life was all about.

Jaden just dueled for fun, nothing more and nothing less. He liked dueling, and he liked Hero monsters. That was it. It was so simple, and that made Aster furious. Jaden was sheltered in his Academy life and his group of friends. Everybody is good, everyone can become friends, that's not real life.

"D Time allows me to bring a different brand of heroes, the Destiny Heroes!" he declared. Jade gasped loudly, while the rest of her friends looked confused. Aster glanced at Jade quickly, but then turned back to Jaden.

"This deck was created many years ago, although of course, only I have this deck." he said proudly.

Aster activated Clock Tower Prison, the field had changed from a booming metropolis to a desolated park surrounded by fog and an imposing clock tower standing behind the boy. Jade opened her eyes wide as she watched Aster's hands. He summoned Destiny Hero Doom Lord (ATK 600/DEF 800).

As Jaden began his turn, the spectators watched as the clock's hand moved a quarter. The Slifer student summoned Wroughtweiler (ATK 800/DEF 1200) in attack position, and moved to the battle phase, targeting Aster's monster.

"This match result has been decided by fate, destroying my monster won't be enough." he said as his life points were once again reduced to 1800 to 1600. Aster in response to the attack activated Destiny Signal and summoned Capitan Tenacious (ATK 800/DEF 800) to the field.

"You need to think fast, Jade! It's gonna get very difficult for you soon!" Aster hurried his friend.

"I can't think if you do that!" she yelled. On his side of the field Aster had activated Clock Tower Prison, two face downs and one Destiny Hero Diamond Dude in Attack position. On her field she had two spell cards face down, and the monster card Shining Angel. Her field spell, Sanctuary of the Sky, had just been sent to the graveyard on the previous turn. Aster tapped the table with his fingers excitedly as he watched Jade scan her hand.

With Capitan Tenacious effect, Aster brought back his previous monster. Then he summoned Diamond Dude (ATK 1400/DEF 1600).

"Destiny Hero Diamond Dude allows me to look at the top card of my deck: if its a spell card I can activate it later, and wouldn't you know? I see Misfortune in your future." Aster revealed the card: Misfortune, which was sent to his graveyard. Back in the field, with Diamond Dude, Aster moved to the battle phase destroying Wroughtweiler, and making the Slifer student take damage. Using Wroughtweiler's effect, Jaden added Polymerization and Bubbleman to his hand.

"I'm not done yet" Aster warned. Captain Tenacious launched a direct attack on Jaden, leaving him with 1400 life points. The teen set a card, turn over.

"Don't forget, time is ticking!" Aster reminded Jaden, as Clock Tower prison moved again. Jaden summoned Bubbleman (ATK 800/DEF 1200), and using its effect, drew two cards. Bubbleman was equipped with Bubble Blaster and had an increase in attack points to 1600. Jaden moved to the battle phase attacking Capitan Tenacious but Aster stopped him by activating D-Shield. The monster attacked was changed to defense position, and due to the card activated, wasn't destroyed. Reluctantly, Jaden ended his turn.

Shining Flare Wingman was brought again to the field at the beginning of Aster's turn. But Aster's spell card Misfortune, also returned. Activating it, Jaden suffered a loss of his life points equal to half of Flare Wingman's attack points, leaving him with only 150. In his turn the Professional Duelist activated once again Doom's effect banishing Shining Flare Wingman.

"Jaden is losing control of his monsters, what is going on?" Bastion asked out loud.

Jaden still looked hopeful, not ready to give up. The clock's hand moved once again, one more turn until it struck midnight. Jaden placed Elemental Hero Clayman in defense position (ATK 800/DEF 2000) and during the battle phase Bubbleman attacked Doom Lord. Aster remained with 600 life points. Activating Capitan Tenacious effect, Aster brought back from the Graveyard Doom Lord in attack position. Followed by this, he activated Diamond's Dude effect, revealing Magical Stone Excavation sending it to the graveyard, for now. Then he equipided the spell card, Ring of Magnetism, to Captain Tenacious. While the monster attack and defense were reduced (ATK 300/DEF 300), all of Jaden's monsters could only attack that monster.

The beginning of Jaden's turn was interrupted by a large "bong" which echoed across the arena. The clock had finally struck midnight. A feeling of dread cloaked all spectators. But Jaden, ignorant of that fact, made his move. He activated Polymerization, fusioning Elemental Hero Wildheard and Elemental Hero Necroshade, resulting in Elemental Hero Necroid Shaman (ATK 1900/DEF 1800), which was brought to the field in attack position. The summoned monster's effect activates, and he could finally send Capitan Tenacious to the graveyard and summon Elemental Hero Avian (ATK 1000/DEF 1000) from his opponent graveyard. The new monster was standing in front of Aster. During the battle phase, Jaden declared an attack on Doom Lord. Aster let out a chuckle, but the Duel Academy student did not catch that. Doom was destroyed, but Aster took no battle damage. The spectators gasped, as Jaden set two cards face down.

"That's one of the effects of my Clock Tower Prison." he said, mockingly of himself.

"What?" Jade asked in disbelief. Little Aster crossed his arms with a grin.

"I told you, time was ticking!" Aster wiggled his index finger in front of her face. A man approached the table and placed glasses of water. Through his glasses he scanned the scene with his blue eyes.

"You are in a bit of trouble, I see" the man turned towards Jade.

"Thanks, Elias" she answered with a pout.

"But a match is over only when life points go to zero!" he reminded her with a smile rising his fist.

"Dad! You should cheer for me!" Aster protested.

The man ruffled his son's grey hair.

"Of course, I'm your number one fan!" he said, leaving the kids, who returned to their dueling.

Shining Flarewingman returned from the field, but Aster was allowed to use Magical Stone Excavation: he discarded Fusion Sage and Terraforming to add Misfortune to his hand. Activating Misfortune, he targeted Shining Flare Wingman, but his opponent quickly activated De-fusion and Burial From a Different Dimension. Shining Flare Wingman disappeared from the field, and instead, its original fusion materials emerged: Flare Wingman and Sparkman. Misfortune had no monster to target, Aster's turn ended without much change.

"Sometimes you need a single card to change the outcome of the duel!" Jaden declared, activating Fusion Gate and destroying Clock Tower Prison.

Aster smiled confidently as a loud roar pierced through the Arena as the clock tower crumbled behind the teen.

"That's exactly what I have been waiting for. You think you had any choice in this duel? When destiny is in motion, nobody, nobody can do anything but watch." From the rubble a large and muscular monster with an iron mask covering its face stood behind Aster. "I told you from the beginning, your destiny is in my hands now. Meet the prisoner of this lonely tower: Destiny Hero Dreadmaster." First, Aster's non Destiny Hero Monster, Avian, was removed from the field, while his monsters that were in the Graveyard: Doom Lord and Captain Tenacious were special summoned.

"Dreadmaster attack points are equal to the sum of all of my other Destiny Heroes attack points on the field." With Doom, Tenacious and Diamond Dude, the newly summoned monster's attack and defense rose to 2800.

"What is this deck?" Bastion asked puzzled.

"The cards were made by his father" Jade finally broke her silence bitting her lip slightly.

"Why do you know that?" Chazz pressed on.

"Because my dad is also a card designer. My dad and his dad were friends." And us too, but Jade didn't say that part.

"You know him." Bastion concluded in a whisper. "But why didn't you say anything? It could have helped Jaden!"

"I…"

Aster interrupted.

"It's okay. She is right, my dad was a card designer, too." He made a pause, looking at Jade when he said that, but continued:

"My father made the Destiny Heroes for me, but he was killed." While it had been years, it was hard to say those words out loud. He had spent many years thinking about it and interpreting it in different ways. Had his father died of sickness he would have wondered: why him? Why me? But nevertheless, there would be a more natural quality about his death. But with what happened his life was cut short, by someone else, another person. There was nothing natural about that.

"He was killed?" Jaden repeated. Aster could notice that for a brief moment, Jaden looked uncomfortable. The air of the Dueling Arena could be cut with a knife.

"Someone broke in and…"

Jade's heart sunk remembering that night. She was in a deep sleep when she began hearing the footsteps of someone walking back and forth on the hallway. The light being turned on is what finally made her open the door of her room. She walked towards the beginning of the stairs and watched her parents speak in hushed voices. Then her dad closed the door. She heard the engine of the car being turned on.

"Mom…What is going on?"

"Oh, Jade!" Her mother hugged her once she was near her. "Elias passed away."

She pushed her mom.

"What?" Based on the scene, her first thought was that her parents had broken up, but never in a million years would she have expected something like that.

"Was he sick?"

"They broke into their house and..."

"But they lived on the top floor, how can someone do that?" the girl pressed on.

"Jade" her mom kneeled in front of her grabbing her by the arms. "Aster is coming here right now, your dad is picking him up."

Her dad finally opened the door, Jade did everything she could to turn around. Despite being in that place hundreds of times, Jade noticed that the boy was looking around as if he had never been there before. He looked at the shelfs and the little trinkets from the many travels done by the Trembley family. The only sound made was when her mom placed a glass of water in front of him. The moment the glass cup touched the wooden table was the loudest sound Jade had ever heard in her life. She looked at her hands in uncomfortable silence, nobody said a word for what felt like an eternity. She heard his dad clap his knees with the palms of his hands standing up.

"Well, you can sleep in Jade's room, if you wish of cour-"

"In my bed, I'll take the mattress!" Jade interrupted him.

"Right" he turned towards his wife, who instantly stood up. Both adults rushed upstairs to prepare the room.

Neither kids had said anything. Aster laid down resting his head on Jade's thighs, exhausted staring at nothing in particular.

"I've been looking for them ever since. And I will know, because that night they also stole a card from this deck, an extremely rare and powerful card." Aster finished.

"That's the reason I duel, that's why I become a Professional Duelist…to bring my father's killer to justice using these cards."

Jade barely remembered the man's features. She remembered he was tall, much taller than her dad, but his face had almost become a blur. She went to his funeral, but that also had become a foggy memory over the years. Was the day sunny? Was it early morning? Were her parents crying? Was Aster crying, too? She did remember that afterwards Aster stayed at her house. He always had a strong personality and surprisingly, he kept that characteristic, despite everything. But sometimes he would go quiet, they would duel, play, talk, and on occasions he would say certain things and then look down. Jade knew that in those moments he was probably remembering something about his dad, and she preferred not to expose him. Other times he would speak of his dad in present tense, and then quickly correct himself. But sometimes he did not.

On rare occasions he would say that he missed his dad. Although in that sadness what Jade could feel, was that there was a burning anger for what happened.

Jaden proceeded to fusion Clayman and Sparkman with Fusion Gate, this, bringing in Elemental Hero Thunder Giant (ATK 2400/DEF 1500), using its effect it targeted Diamond Dude, but…the monster was not destroyed.

"I told you: I am the one in control of your fate, Jaden. While Dreadmaster is on the field none of my Destiny Heroes can be destroyed, and I take no battle damage."

It was difficult to read Jaden's expression at the moment, he ended his turn prematurely, with no face downs or any other trick up his sleeve. No gotcha moment, no surprise comeback, nothing. Aster didn't even bother to look at the card he had drawn. Dreadmaster destroyed Thunder Giant, and Jaden lost.

Jade neatly placed the cards on the table accepting defeat.

"So what do you think of my Destiny Heroes? Pretty cool, huh?" he asked. He was almost shaking from excitement, waiting for her reply. Afterall, her approval was also very important for him. Jade let out a chuckle, agreeing to his statement.

Aster gave her a grin from ear to ear, his eyes shining slightly. He stood up, and both kids raced towards the garden.


Took a while, sorry for the delay. I kept writing and re writing this chapter and i thought "If i keep going, i'll never publish it!"

One of the best duels in the whole series tbh.