~Rise and Fall~
10
A/N For anyone who is reading/has read "Spirit Caller" or any other of my GX stories...
This story is NOT CONNECTED.
This is a completely separate story from my other GX Stories.
It is its own story.
Enjoy^^
"I can't believe this Zane guy." said Jaden as he and Mia hung out in the reference room while he filled out a Duel Request form, "I mean...no wonder Syrus has zero confidence." he blinked, "If my big brother told me that I wasn't good enough to use some card, I'd be insecure too."
"Yeah..." Mia blinked, "Honestly...I had no idea that Zane would even say something like that." she blinked.
I mean...that guy has always been about "Respect For Your Opponent" blah blah...
He's always been... sort of...nice to me, I guess?
Maybe it's different because they're brothers...
She pondered.
"Hey...Mia?" Jaden blinked, "Do you spell Zane with two Ns?"
"...No, Jaden." she sighed, "No you don't."
"Man, these Duel Request forms are such a drag..."
"Duel Request form?"
"Dr. Crowler!" Mia gasped as she stood up right while the proctor stepped forward behind Jaden.
"Why Ms. Mia Hastings what might you be doing here?" he asked, "You know as an Obelisk Blue, you may want to be wary of the company you keep." he blinked, "Especially those who are at risk of expulsion." he said as he slid the from from Jaden's grasp.
"Hey!" refuted the male.
"Planning a duel, are we?" asked , "With whom?" he skimmed the paper and let out a startled gasp, "...You MUST be joking!" he stated.
"No, actually, I'm not." said Jaden, "I'm taking Zane on to help Syrus with his confidence problem." said Jaden, "So that he will be ready for our upcoming tag match."
"Oh right, of course~ The big tag match!" said Crowler, "The one where if you lose, you'll both be expelled from the Academy, right?" he blinked, "And you say that Dueling Zane will help you prepare? Hmmm." the proctor shrugged, "Well...that's a shame because...there will be no duel!" he cackled as he tore the form to shreds and rained it down on the two friends like confhetti.
XXXXX
"Lousy Dr. Crowler!" Jaden huffed, "Where does it say those Duel Request Forms need to be filled out in Triplicate!? And with a number 8 pencil...?"
"What even is triplicate?" asked Mia.
"Beats me." said Jaden.
"And aren't number 8 pencils means for drawing and sketching?"
"Huh?" Jaden blinked, "Woah...are you an artist, Mia?"
"Wha-" she blushed, "N-No! Of course not!" she huffed, "I mean-I dabble or whatever-I guess." she muttered, "But I'm not an artist!"
"No need to get so defensive~" Jaden laughed.
Suddenly Mia let out a scream as cards rained down onto her head from the sky.
"Huh!?" Jaden blinked and looked up to find his room mate sort of...hanging around.
"Hey..." he blinked, "It's either a giant tree sloth...or it's Chumley." he chuckled.
"Uh...hey?" said Chumley, "What up?"
Curious, Jaden gathered the cards from the ground.
"Hey..." he blinked, "There's like...a lot of koala's down here!" he laughed.
"Yeah, they so rule!" said Chumley,"Wanna have a pick up duel against them?"
"Huh...a pick up duel?" Jaden blinked and gasped, "Why didn't I think of that!" the brunette beamed and took off.
"Hey, Jaden!?" Mia called out, "Where are you going!?" she asked, running after him.
"To the Obelisk Blue Dorm!" he said to her.
"Why do you wanna go there!?" Chumley asked.
"A pick up Duel!" Jaden responded, "With Zane!"
"THE Zane!?"
XXXXX
Needless to say the Obelisk Blue students didn't take too kindly to Jaden's visit.
"Hey!" Mia said as she ran to Jaden's side after he had been shoved down roughly into the dirt.
"What's your problem!?" Jaden huffed.
"I ain't got no problem..." said the Blue student, "But you sure will if you don't beat it!"
"Really mature guys!" Mia huffed, "What do you have to gain from pushing him around, huh!?"
"What do YOU have to gain from hanging out with slime like him, Mia?" asked the student, "You're way too good to be wasting your time with the likes of this Slifer scum!"
"Yeah!" said the other, "Why don't you come on in and hang around with us for a while~?" the other smirked with a disgusting smile as he eyed her in her kneeling position, "We can show you a really good time~"
"Gross- no thanks!" Mia scoffed, "One thing I have to gain from him and not from you is far better company." She stated, "...And he's better looking, too!" she smirked making the other boys twitch while Jaden laughed.
"You hear that!?" said Jaden, "She thinks I'M hot and YOU'RE not! HaHa!"
"Hmph, whatever, bitch."
"Hey!" Jaden huffed, "There's no need for that kind of language directed toward a lady!"
"Whatever!" the other male scoffed, "Zane wouldn't waste any of his time with you two, "You're probably still wet behind the ears from Pre-Duel School!"
"We Are Not!" they stated together and suddenly were met with a wave from a bucket of cold water that made Mia squeal.
White and Water did not fare well for her.
This seemed to happen much more than it ought to...
"You are now!" they laughed and walked back toward their dorm.
"D-Don't you dare look Jaden!" Mia huffed, red faced as she struggled to cover the now transparent cloth with his jacket that he tossed to her while he dried his hair.
"I'm not, I'm not." he stated, "Still can't blame a guy for wanting too~" he laughed as that only made her blush even more.
By this point- she was redder than his blazer and that made him chuckle.
"Oh, we're gonna duel, Zane!"
XXXXX
"So what are you two gonna do now?" Chumley asked as the three walked around the deck of Jaden's home, the Slifer Dorm.
She wrapped herself up tightly in Jaden's Jacket which was much too big to fit securely on her petite frame while Jaden towel-dried his hair in his black t-shirt.
"Well one thing I'm NOT gonna do is give up..." Jaden stated, "I'll get Zane to duel me one way or another..."
Mia watched him with conflicted emotions.
Maybe I should try talking to Zane myself...
She thought to herself.
It pisses me off that Jaden is so dead set on dueling him before I get to...but...
She blinked.
He's so determined for a duel with him...
And for a good reason...
It'd be selfish of me If I didn't help when I could have...
"Hey...Jaden?" she spoke up with a soft voice but Jaden didn't seem to hear her as he shoved open his Dorm Room door and noticed a lump in Syrus's bed.
"Syrus?" Jaden blinked, "Are you still in bed?" he sighed, "Look man, I know you're down but that's no reason to act like some lazy slug, I mean...even Chumley got up today!"
Jaden crept over to the covers and swiped them back with a smirk, only to find the bed was actually empty.
"Hey, look at this." said Mia, "There's a note on the desk."
"Say what?" Jaden blinked.
"It's in Syrus's hand writing!" said Chumley.
"What's it say?" asked Jaden as he hurried over to the other two as they gathered around the desk to read it.
Dear Jaden,
I'm leaving Duel Academy. Don't try and stop me. It's for the best. I would only be holding you back if I stayed...
Jaden gasped and quickly swiped the note away. crumpling it up in his hand.
"Sy's not going anywhere!" he declared.
"Yeah, we should go stop him!" said Mia.
"...After Dinner." said Chumley
"No, NOW!" said Jaden while Mia gave the bigger Slifer an icy stare.
"But today's Grilled Cheese Day..."
"Yeah? Well if we don't hurry- It will be Sy's LAST Day!" said Jaden, dragging Chumley along by the sleeve.
XXXXX
"Syrus!" Jaden called out as the three searched for their blue haired friend.
"Where are you, Syrus!?" Mia called out, "We miss you!" she panted, "I...miss you..." It was hard for her to run while wearing Jaden's jacket on her frail shoulders.
It was heavier than it looked.
Down at the bottom of the cliff side stood a small blue haired male with a raft. It didn't take much longer for Jaden to find him.
A short distance away at the pier, Zane stood with Alexis in a conversation about brothers...
XXXXX
"Yeah...he lost in a practice duel against Jaden Yuki..." said Alexis, "And your name came up too." she blinked, "And not in a good way."
"The big bad brother, huh?" Zane blinked, "What...does Jaden want to scold me now?"
"Actually...I think he wants to duel you." said Alexis, "In fact I'm pretty sure he and Mia are working together to try and make that duel happen."
"Mia?" Zane blinked.
XXXXX
"Stay back, Jaden!" Syrus's voice could be heard in the distance, grabbing the attention of the two obelisks, "M-Mia!? What are you doing!? Don't get in the water!"
"Sounds like they found him." said Alexis.
But Zane didn't say anything in response.
He just took off toward the general area where it was coming from and Alexis followed.
"Syrus!?" Mia huffed as she tossed off Jaden's Jacket and jumped right into the frigid sea, "OH MY GOD THAT'S FREEZING!" She huffed but stubbornly pushed forward Syrus hopped the raft and tried to push off only for a wild Jaden Yuki to leap from the rocks and land squarely on the poorly made transport, causing it to fall apart and all three of them to get water logged.
"Help me!" Syrus cried, "I can't swim!"
"And yet you were about to raft out into the ocean!?" said Jaden.
Mia let out a squeal as Syrus grabbed for both of them and pulled them both under.
"I'm coming!" called out Chumley.
Though his daring rescue was for naught, as the water was shallow.
Two Slifers and an Obelisk re-surfaced once again, all now sopping wet with salt water.
"Why are you trying to stop me?" Syrus asked, "I stink." he sighed, "Just let me go..." he blinked, "They can assign you a new tag partner, and grant you a much better shot at winning the match."
"Sy, that's your brother talking!" said Jaden, "Come on, man, you've gotta believe in yourself!"
"You've gotta believe me..." said Syrus, "...I'm a lost cause."
"...He is right, you know." a series of gasps sounded from the now four dripping students as they shot a glance up toward Zane, who now stood at the cliff's edge over head.
"Zane..." Syrus gasped softly.
"So, that's the school's top duelist?" Jaden blinked as he took in the tall stoic figure.
Arms folded over chest and a stern look in his eyes.
"How can you say that!?" Mia shouted up at him, "He's your little brother! Is it because he's a first year and he's landed in Slifer?" she blinked, "Because the way I see it- the rank? DOESN'T Make the Duelist!" she huffed, "And quite frankly? I find that whole status quo BS to be exactly that! Full of crap!"
"You can hardly compare yourself to Syrus, Mia." Zane stated, "You have more experience!"
She gasped softly and silenced herself for a moment as she averted his gaze.
"You've actually dueled in a tournament setting multiple times before." he blinked, "Syrus has not. He doesn't have that experience, let alone much other experience as a duelist at all." he shifted his gaze back toward the smaller male, "...So, Syrus...you dropping out?"
"Uhh..." the bluenette blinked and looked down, "Well, yeah, kinda.
"...Well it's about time." Zane scoffed.
Mia twitched a bit and clenched her fist.
"You're his big brother!" Jaden shouted next, "How can you say that!?"
"Because I know him." said Zane.
"Yeah, I bet you think you know it all!" said Jaden, "But guess what, you don't! And I'm gonna prove it! Right now!" he said, "Let's duel!"
"Jaden, No!" said Syrus.
Mia gasped and looked over toward the determined brunette and blinked.
He's really serious about dueling him...isn't he?
Zane seemed rather shocked by this.
To think any Slifer would have the guts to challenge him to a duel...
"Duel, a Slifer?" Zane blinked and cracked an amused smile, "Sure, why not?" he stated, "After all...it's been a while since I went slumming."
"Then Get Your Game On!" said Jaden, ready and willing.
To Be Continued