Being an Observer Part 3
Red Hat was walking through the forest yet again. It had now been a few days since his encounter with the Dark Ruler and the so called Dark World. Despite the curse that he was currently dealing with, he's been doing his best to remain calm and collective. While he continued his search for Jaden, he refused to return to the dorm, even if he had to put up with sleeping in the forest.
His duel spirit friend, Aussa, has been keeping an eye on him the entire time that she could. Despite telling her that he handle himself. She insisted on staying with him as much as possible, just in case he would do anything rash. Last thing she wanted was for his curse to grow stronger. While he appreciated it, she felt more like a babysitter then a friend the longer she stood by his side. Oh well, there's nothing he could do about it for the time being.
After walking around the forest for some time now. He found a clearing which lead him back to the Academy's main gate. He wondered what time was it, despite alwaysing carrying his PDA with him. Since no one was around here. He assumed everyone was in class at the moment. He decided to enter the building and rush to the card shop in order to get a meal, maybe even more food if he so happened to find Jaden.
He made his way to the card shop and found Sadie once again tending to the sandwich cart. "Hello again, Sadie."
Sadie turned around and looked at him with a questonable look. "Where have you been? Your small group has been looking for you."
"I'd assume they would just stop for now. I can't return back to them anyway. I haven't found Jaden Yuki yet." He flatly explained.
"You do know you can call for a search party, right?" Sadie questioned.
"With Crowler and Bonaparte in charge? I don't think so. If anything, they'll try their best to keep Jaden and I from coming back."
"You know dang well the staff isn't that cruel. Why would you assume that?" Sadie asked with a hint of annoyance.
"If I told you the story, you wouldn't believe me. I'm not going to tell you, as you'll mostly like pull a few strings I'd like to avoid."
Sadie sighed and shook her head. "You're quite stubborn and a troublemaker aren't you?"
"I've heard that before." He then took a few sandwiches from the cart. "I'll take five sandwiches today."
"That will be 2500 DP, thank you." Red Hat gave Sadie his PDA and registered the purchase before handing him back his PDA. "It's none of my buisness, but when are you coming back?"
"Soon I hope. I'm tired of leaving everyone in the dark on my whereabouts." He replied before he approached the counter. "Dorthy, you're here?"
"What brings you here this early? It's been a long while." Dorthy greeted him as she placed multiple boxes oh new packs on the shelves.
"Was busy with something... I'm hoping it doesn't take too long. I'm getting tired of hiding." He explained with a look of distain.
"Hope what ever problem you have, you solve it soon. Your friends have been looking for you. They even come here every now and then in hopes of finding you." Dorthy explained.
"Do tell..." He then took a look at the new boxes Dorthy just placed in the corner. "New packs?"
"Oh those? They just came in. It's a premium pack that come out every now and then. They contain newly released cards or easier reprints of older rare cards. They are quite expensive." Dorthy explained as she took one of the boxes from the shelves.
"I'll take two boxes of those premium packs." Red Hat ordered.
"My, feel like burning some DP are you? That will be 6000 DP, thank you." Red Hat hands Dorthy his PDA. As she takes it to register his purchase. He took the two boxes of premium packs. Once she finished regestering his purchase, she handed back his PDA. "Thanks for your purchase!"
"No problem. Thanks again, Dorthy!" Red Hat waved goodbye and exited the shop as fast as possible as he took all his things in a single bag.
Once he made his way to one of the many hallways. He spotted Syrus and Bastion sitting down on one of the many starways. He quickly hid behind one of the pillers to avoid there site. Was he really that careless? He would just slowly walk away and hope he won't get spotted. He took a small peak and tried to overhear their conversation.
"Why don't you get lunch with everyone once in a while?" asked Bastion.
"I don't need to..." answered Syrus with a down look.
"I see. You're worried about Jaden, huh?"
Syrus nodded. "I wonder where Jaden wet off to..."
Soon enough Hasslebery came by to the duo. Red Hat noticed something on the back of his uniform. It looked like some sort of picture of Jaden's face that appeared to be glued on the back of his blazar. 'What are you even doing?'
As if he heard him, even though it was Syrus who asked a similar question, Hassleberry responded. "Made it myself! It's an extra-large cutout of the Sarge!" He turns around to face the duo. "With this, the Sarge will always have my back. Where ever he goes I go. After all, he's my best friend."
"Jaden's only got one best friend and that's me!" Syrus snapped.
"Please, you're just jealous cause we're a two-man army and you've been demoted." Hassleberry smirked. "But if you want, you can carry our supplies little man."
"Like I'd do that, you ectrotherm?!"
Red Hat sighed and fought the urge to get up there and give them a piece of his mind. 'You two incompetent idiots are still going on about this? This is pathetic.'
Red Hat then thought up a wicked idea that could throw those two for a loop. Though his focus was Syrus since he annoyed him the most. 'I don't even consider you a friend Syrus. That's how little you mean to me.' He took off his hat and messed up his hair and placed his hat in the bag 'Can't stand being out in the open without my hat, but this the best way to throw them off.' He then took a look some cards and found five old vanillas with weak stats.
'Sorry about this...' He apologized to the cards. He then throw each card one by one at both Syrus and Hassleberry. With Syrus he hit four times. Once on his left cheek, his left hand, on his forhead, and at his left leg. He hit Hassleberry directly at his right arm. Syus stumbled in pain, while Hassleberry clutched his right arm.
"Who dares attack us? With cards no less!" Hassleberry yelled out.
'Bullseye. Serves you two right. Especially you, Syrus.' He thought as he immediately began to run away from the scene. He jumped down to the first floor and left the building immediately.
While looking back, he did noticed he was being chased by an angry Syrus and Hassleberry with Bastion following behind him. He quickly hid deep in the forest to give them a slip. He knew they wouldn't let up, despite their paper cuts slowing them down a little. He looked around and noticed he could hide inside one of the dense trees this forest had to offer.
'Good enough place to hide.' He climbed on one of the trees as fast as he could. Even going as far to hide in the dense leaves. He took a small peak and noticed the trio stopped just underneath where he was. He stood still and lowered his breathing so they wouldn't spot or hear him.
"Where did he go?! He couldn't run away that fast!" Syrus huffed.
"I swore he went this way!" Hassleberry persisted. "Just who was that rouge anyway? I don't think I ever seen him around the dorm before."
"Forget about it! If he's already deep in the forest, then catching him is a very low posibility. There's too much foliage he can hide anywhere. He'll have to return to the red dorm eventually. That guy was clearly from Slifer Red." Bastion explained as he caught up to the group. "Come on, we have a med kit at the dorm. You two been injured by those card, especially you Syrus. You have mutliple cuts around you."
"Yeah, let's go!" They turned around and began to leave the forest area. Syrus needing to be held by Bastion for a little as he began to stumble around.
Red Hat mentally chuckled as they left. 'That was enough to throw you guys off. Good, you two where starting to annoy me. Jaden's best friend is me. After all, I'm the one who looks after him, you two didn't even try.' He thought with a grin as he slowly climbed down from the tree he was in. He ruffled his hair and quickly placed his hat back on, before he continued to run deeper in the forest. That way, if they tried to bait him out. He would already be father away.
"I think I lost them..." He panted as he ran deeper into the forest to an unknown location. "Now, time to keep looking."
'You're a real piece of work. I get they annoy you, but resorting to attacking them with cards is going a bit too far.' Aussa scoled him.
"I hate Syrus so much. Can't even call him a friend. Not only does he annoy me to no end. He acts like a hot shot, but cries in a corner when things don't go his way and uses Jaden as a sheild. As for Hassleberry... He really needs to cool it, or just put Syrus in his place." He explained with distain.
Aussa sighed at this. 'You're so stuborn, hot headed, and very reckless. You remind me of Hiita.'
"I have yet to find her. Maybe I can find her card in a pack or out in the open." He answered, deflecting the previous statement.
Aussa sighed, knowing there was no use in arguing with him. 'Good luck with that. Even if you find her, you still have Eria to find.' reminded Aussa.
"I'll find them eventually. You can count on it." He assured him.
As the duo continued their walk around the forest. Red Hat took a sandwich out and began to eat, feeling hungry and all. While he wouldn't eat right now. He had no further choice. It was either find Jaden or bust. He wasn't going to head back to the dorm at this moment. After what he pulled earlier, he be surprised if the two forget what just happened to them. He wasn't going to apologize to them. Not in the slightest. Didn't look like Bastion or anyone else for that matter was putting up with their petty fight anyway.
As he reached a certain cliff point where the river was split off from the lake. He found someone he didn't think he'd find so soon... 'Is that, Jaden?' He ran closer to his location and found out, Jaden ooked incredibly tired and all beaten up. "Jaden, over here!" He called up as he ran up to him.
Jaden turned around at the sound of his voice. "Red Hat? Buddy, over here!"
"Jaden!" They both ran up to each other ad Red Hat pulled him to a hug as he patted his back. "You nearly given me and the others a heart attack. We've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been, and have you been doing?"
"It's a long story, bud." Jaden then noticed Red Hat had a bag of sandwiches and a couple of boxes with packs. "Hey bud mind giving me some sandwiches. I'm starving."
"Yeah, that's the whole point. Been getting many sandwiches in case I find you. Let's sit down and eat up. Maybe we can even open some of these packs I bought."
Jaden nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's eat and open some packs."
The duo sat down near a tree and began to unwrap some of the sandwiches Red Hat bought. As Jaden took a bite from one of his sandwiches he just unwrapped. He had a satisfied look on his face. He took a look at what he just bitten and gasped at what he got.
"No way! The golden eggwich! You actually pulled the golden eggwich!?" Jaden asked, shocked that he obtained a Golden Eggwich from Red Hat.
Red Hat chuckled nervously. "I didn't think I would actually pull the Eggwich. I always buy some sandwiches, never expecting to actually get a golden eggwich."
"Still, thanks for the eggwich!" Jaden continued to eat his sandwich with such delight. Even after finishing his first sandwich, Jaden gladly took a couple more sandwiches and began stuffing his mouth with them. Red Hat had to chuckle at his actions. He knew Jaden was famished, but he didn't think he'd be stuffing his face with sandwiches.
Jaden finsihed up the sandwiches and rubbed his stomach. "Man, that hit the spot. All of those were good sandwiches. The best one being the golden eggwich, of course!"
Red Hat smiled at him. "Least you're all fed now, Jaden. It's been a long time since you last ate if you were lost out here."
Jaden layed his back against the tree and looked up at the sky. "To tell you the truth... I was lost for a while now. After coming back from my trip from space. I suddenly woke up all washed up at the beach where the academy wave pool was." He then took out his deck. "I even got some brand new heros and new guys tagging along with me now! I met them in space after I took out some robot that what I was told works for what he called it, the Light of Destruction."
Red Hat narrowed his eyes slightly. 'So, that light I saw in space in the spirit realm... That was you, Jaden?' He thought, remembering what he was told the other night. "You said outer space. You don't mean Neo Space right?"
Jaden turned and tilted his head in confusion. "How did you know it was Neo Space?"
Red Hat looked up at the sky the moment he was asked, but answered. "I had a similar situation. I was transported to some sort of dark world. There I had an encounter with a fiend... I'm not sure what he wants, but in that encounter, I also fought an agent from the Light of Destruction. Only, he wasn't a robot, but an actual duel spirit."
"An actual duel spirit working for the Light of Destruction..." Jaden sighed and looked around. "I don't know what this means, but let's not let it get us down."
"I don't know what's going to happen, but we'll stop them... Together!" Red Hat then remembered something from before. "Say, can you now see your cards and comminicate with spirits again?"
Jaden gave him a weak smile. "Mostly... I still haven't found Winged Kuriboh's spirit yet... One of the Neo Spacian's Aquos here has told me to find the other Neo Spacians scatered around the island. I only found one, and I found him by complete accident." Jaden shows him Neo-Spacian Grand Mole.
"So that's one of your Neo Spacians huh? From the looks of it, he's the best so far." Red Hat said as he read the card. 'Can never tell, what their effects may be when we find them all.' He thought. "So how many do we have to find?"
"He said we have to find four more." replied Jaden.
"So that means, we'll have to roam the island to find them." Red Hat chuckled at their predicament. "Guess we can't return to the dorm just yet, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you out there alone. While we look around, follow me so we can get back to the Academy and get some from food from the sandwich cart. Even some water when ever possible."
"Sounds like a plan!" Jaden and Red Hat high fived. "I saw you bought some card packs. Should we open them?"
"Yeah, let's open up the packs. There should be some great things here."
Jaden and Red Hat began opening the two boxes filled card packs. Each one containing twenty packs in toal with five cards for each pack. As they were pulling many cards. In Red Hat's case, he was placing many of the cards in the same bag as he didn't find them useful or he didn't found them viable for a paticular stategy he wanted. Some cards he did found useful he places them in his main deck box, where he'll adjust it later or placed them in his secondary deck box which contained his new Dark World deck. Granted... he hasn't told Jaden about that new deck he abtained just yet.
He glanced at Jaden opening as many packs as he was. to say he was excited was an understantement. From what he could tell, some packs that Jaden opened had him ecstatic. He wondered what he actually pulled. While he puled some good cards. He couldn't find the cards he either wanted or the left over charmers he and Aussa were looking for. As put away the left over garbage in the bag as to not leave a mess here in the forest, along with the garbage from the sanwiches they ate.
"Brand new Elemental HERO monsters! This is the best!" Jaden exclaimed as he took several cards.
Red Hat's eyes widened. Brand new Elemental HERO monsters alredy? Did Industral Illusions make new HERO cards one day? Or did they really want to support Elemental HEROs because they couldn't compete with Aster's Destiny HERO's? Ignoring the fact, Red Hat didn't seem too impressed with Destiny HEROs themselves, since Aster play style had more of a control focus then anything.
"What kind of Elemental HEROs did you get? Mind if I see them?" He asked.
Jaden nodded with a smile and layed down several cards. "Take a look at all these HERO's! I got Elemental HERO Stratos, Ocean, Woodsman, Heat, Lady Heat, Captain Gold, Knopes, Poison Rose, Voltic and a new fusion monster in Elemental HERO Inferno!"
Red Hat took the time to read every single one of those new HEROs monsters Jaden just obtained. The best one that he read was Stratos. Funny enough, his effect ca search both Elemental and Destiny HERO's monsters. He had to chuckled at that last piece of text. Wonder what Aster will think when he finds out an Elemental HERO can search any of his Destiny HEROs including any Elemental HERO.
"I go to say, Jaden. Stratos is your best of the new Elemental HEROs that you got. Ocean is nice for recycling HERO's from your graveyard. Woodsman can recycle polymerization from the graveyard and can add one from your deck. Not a replacement for King of the Swamp, but a nice addition. Heat is basically your beater. Captain Gold you now search Skyscraper and not needing to run Teraforming. Lady Heat, Poison Rose, Knopes, and Inferno...well they exist if you want veriety. Voltic looks very nicehe to say the least, but usable." He explained as he read and observed every possibility from each card.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Red Hat. I got many new HEROs thanks to you!" Jaden smiles and laughs a little. "This day has already gotten better." He then noticed many other cards in the bag. "Did you get anything good?"
Red Hat shook his head. "Did get some good cards, but not many that fits any strategy I want at the moment. The ones I did find useful, I placed them in my deck box. The others I'm just going to leave them back in my room when I get the chance."
"So what do we do now? It's not like we can return immediately." Jaden reinded him.
"I got an idea that may help, but we have to sneek in to the dorm and get something. Let's head back to the dorm, but we'll stay low." He suggested.
"Um not to break the mood, but..." Jaden looked away. "I kind of been lost for a while."
Red Hat chuckled. "Follow me, Jaden. If we walk around the cliffside. We can make it to the dorm."
Jaden stood up and and follows Red Hat along side the cliffside. After an awkward juming over the large river, with both of them nearly falling into the river. Once they regained their balanced after jumping over the river. They continued walking along the trail around the island. After a while walking around, whch happened to be a couple of hours, they made it to the Slifer Red dorm. There was no one around the dorm at least not at the moment. He assumed every one of the gag must be in Chazz's room.
"Keep down and hide in the tress." Red Hat whispers as he got down on one knee and hid behind a tree. Jaden hides behind another tree, still standing.
As they kept look out for a while now, they notice Syrus come out of the dorm and ran to the forest. They stay hidden behind the trees and stayed low. Even going as far to slowly hide in the bushes. Just as predicted, Syrus didn't notied them, but they weren't out of the woods just yet. Hassleberry, Bastion, and for some reason Atticus also came out of the red dorm. Red Hat had to raise an eye brow. Just where were they going? They would normally stay at the red dorm. They knew Alexis stayed, since Chazz gave her a spare room. What about the others? Syrus was still looking for Jaden, despite neither of them weren't ready to fully return just yet.
"Looks like we're in the clear." He whispered to Jaden. "Other then Alexis and Chazz, the dorm is empty for now. It's our chance to sneak in and get some things."
"Don't you think we'll get caught by them?" Jaden asked, slowly peeking out of the bushes.
"You won't as you'll stay here. I'll sneak by to my room to collect a few things and then I'll return to you." He answered, slowly peeking from the side of the tree.
Jaden nodded. "Just don't take to long. Can't stand being in the bushes."
Red Hat chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
After checking the area to see if it was still clear. Red Hat quickly made his was to the stairway and made his way to his room. Surprisingly, his room remained untouched. He quickly put away all the left over cards that weren't needed and threw away the garbage that was in bags. He took the three bed sheets from the bunk beds and organized them neatly and placed them into a different bag he had. He hoped this would be enough to last long out there, where they can stay away from the others. They knew, their search was not done yet.
He exited his room and took a look around and hoped no one was around to spot them. When the coast was clear, he quickly ran to the stairs and ran back to the forest. Hoping no one noticed the sudden foot steps from the dorm. Once he got back to forest, he went to the tree Jaden was located and whispered him to come out.
"You can come out now."
Jaden pops out from the bushes and stretches his arms and legs. "About time, was feeling a bit numb down here. So did you get what you needed?"
"You mean we." He clarified as he showed him the bag containing sheets. "Until we find the remaining Neo-Spacians and Winged Kuriboh, we'll be camping outside. It's a long shot, but I hope it doesn't take too long."
Jaden nodded. "If you say so. I've finally retured to the dorm and now we have our own quest again."
Red Hat smirk. "Least I'm here to back you up. In some ways, we aren't so different after all, huh Jaden."
"Not too sure what you mean, but I'll take your word for it." Jaden said as he began to run back to the woods.
Red Hat chuckled and began to run after Jaden. "Hey! Wait for me! You don't want to get lost again!"
Later that Night
Jaden and Red Hat have been wondering around the forest for quite some time now. After roaming the around the island, making sure to stay away from the main pathways that lead to the dorms or the main academy building. While they didn't like staying away from the group, they didn't really have a choice on this matter just yet. Jaden's goal for the moment was to reconect with Winged Kuriboh and find the remaining four Neo-Spacians. Red Hat stayed with Jaden, making sure he wouldn't get lost. While he wanted to find the other two charmers. That wasn't his main priority. Rather a favor for his spirit friend.
After walking for what felt like hours. They made their way to the lower areas of the volcano. While they wouldn't climb the entire volcano. They felt their current area was more then enough scaling. Red Hat took out the bed sheets from his back and set two of them to the ground. He gave the third bed sheet to Jaden.
"Why only three bed sheets? What about a forth one for yourself?" questioned Jaden. Wondering why he would only bring three blankets, even if they were from his room alone.
"Two balnkets will lay on the ground. That way we won't have to put up with the fairly rocky terrain of the Volcano. A third bed sheet is so you can tuck yourself in and sleep peacefully." Red Hat explained as he spread out both sheets. "I don't need one. Besides..." He looked at the sky. "Someone has to watch over you, right?"
Jaden smiled and layed down on the sheets that were set up. "Thanks a lot man. Just make sure you get some sleep yourself."
"Don't worry I will. Besides, I'm the one who has to get sandwiches from the shop again." He stated as he also layed down on the sheets. As they began star gazing wondering how long they would be staying around in the outside. Red Hat knew, they can't stay here for long. He was somewhat surprised that Corlwer and Bonaparte haven't made their move yet. What were they waiting for? Or were they making moves, but the others were taking care of them? Who actually knows, since he hasn't been keeping tabs on them as of late.
It was late into the night. While Jaden was snoring peacefully out in the open. Red Hat woke up, not by Jaden's snoring, but rather his own anxiety. He couldn't sleep at the moment. While he was glad that Jaden was finally back. Why did they had to stay out here some more? While he didn't mind staying out here with Jaden. Something was driving him mad, but he could't place his finger on it. He pulled his left sleeve upa dn revealed his mark. He didn't told Jaden that he was cursed by the Dark Ruler. While he wanted to find a way to break this encursed curse. He didn't want to worry Jaden or the others. Last thing he wanted was for them to stress themselves more, because of his reckless actions.
As he lowered his sleeve to cover his mark. He noticed a strange fire near the top of the volcano. He tilted his head in confusion. While the volcano was technically active. It never spits our fire like that. It would normally shoot out molten rocks or lava flow, not just regular fire. That's when he knew something is up. He quietly walked away from Jaden and scaled the volcano to figure out what was going on. The higher he scaled, the more he noticed the intense heat radiating from the volcano. Once he scaled long enough, being careful to not reach the top, he looked around the area to see what was going on. After looking around, he soon saw a small orange fox with a small flame on it's tail. The fox looked at him menacingly as his flame grew in size and was ready to pounce.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you." Red Hat said, not even feeling worried from it since he knew it was a duel spirit. The fox duel spirit growled and got ready to pounce on him while letting loose it's flames.
'Oy! There you are, Fox Fire!' A girl with short red hair called out. She wore a jacket similar to Aussa, only hers didn't cover her stomach, her black bra could be seen, wore a brown belt that was strapped around her, a black short skirt and brown boots. 'Come back here! I know you like a fight, but not against a human you can't even touch!"
The fox did as she commaned and went back to her side and hopped on her shoulder. Red Hat raised an eyebrow at this exchange. "Just who are you?"
The red head looked at him with a glare. 'Why are you even here? Fox Fire and I were training up here! How can you even see us? Buzz off! Don't need humans to be here interruptig us!'
"I asked you first. Who are you?" He repeated, already not to found of this spirit.
'Like I'm telling you!' She spat.
'Must you always be so hot headed, Hiita.' Aussa scolded, appearing next to Red Hat's side. 'That's Hiita the Fire Charmer. She's always been hot tempered to most people besides her close friends.'
"So that's Hiita? So another one of your friends that we've found." He noted.
Hiita noticed one of her spirit charmer friends was by thhat boy's side. 'Aussa? Why are you with this human? Didn't know you were into bad boys with red hat's.' Hiita teased.
Aussa scofted at her bad attempt at teasing. 'Don't make me lose my paitence, Hiita. This is Red Hat, he's my partner. We been together for quite a while now. As a favor from me, he's looking for he rest of us. Wynn joined us some time ago, but she sometimes appears. You know, she's busy sometimes.'
'So that's why he's here? He's looking for us?' Hiita questioned before bursting out laughing 'That's funny, a human like him would search for us of all people. For a minute I thought he's just another target to burn.'
'We'll, since we found you. Want to come along with us?' Aussa asked the fire brand.
'Not like I do much anyway, besides training with Fox Fire here. Maybe we can actually fight some monsters for once!' Hiita exclaimed while letting out flames.
Aussa adjusted her glasses before sighing. 'Don't push your luck, Hiita. You're prone to getting into trouble, that I have to bail you out every time.'
'Bah, you're a real killjoy sometimes. Fine fine, no skin off my back I suppose.' groaned Hiita.
"So does that mean you'll be joining us then?" questioned Red Hat.
'Just make sure you allow me into battle. After all, I always liked a good fight, even if out matched!' Hiita stated.
"No promises I'll be able to summon you frequently." He sighed. Did she really have such a temper? It sort of reminded him of himself in a weird way. "Least now, we're partners. So, that just leaves the water charmer."
Hiita and Fox Fire diappeared from sight. As Hiita reappeared to Red Hat's right side, he took a look at one of his decks and looked through it. Turns out, Hiita was already in his deck. He wanted to question how by just finding the spirit without the actual card would make it appears in his deck, but considering Aussa was in a similar boat when she just appeared in his deck last year. He wasn't going to question it any further. He just found it somewhat strange.
'That's three of them. Wynn's card is in my room. All that's left is the Water Charmer, Eria... Wonder where I'll find here?' He thought as he put away his deck and returned to the campsite. As he got back there, he found tht Jaden was still sound asleep. He had to chuckle at the site. He knew Jaden would be a heavy sleeper, but to sleep this peacefully even outside was another. He layed down on his sheet and slept the night away.
The two spirit charmers were out in the open and began to chat with each other. 'Why do you hang with him anyway, Aussa? Didn't think you'd be the type to hang with someone like him. He's pretty rough, brash, and has quite the temper.'
'Takes one to know one.' Aussa pointed out as she adjusted her glasses. 'I'm his partner for other purposes. One of those was to teach him a leason on spirts.'
'Was he one of those humans that only looks at power?' wondered Hiita. 'If so, isn't that very naive of him.'
'That's not really it. His standards are very high when it comes to mosnters. He owns the chaos monsters, while he gave away the Chaos Emperor Dragon.' Aussa explained.
Hiita's eyes widened at what she just heard. 'Hold on?! That boy in the red hat has the chaos monsters and the mighty Emperor Dragon! Just who is this human? Not many humans can even use the mighty Emperor Dragon's power. Who did he gave the card away to anyway?'
'He gave away the Chaos Emperor Dragon to a very close friend of his as a memento.' She turns around to glance at him before turning her attention back to Hiita. 'He won't admit it, but he misses her.'
'So he's a big softie inside huh?' Hiita snickers. 'Just like him, with that air head.'
'Alright, that's enough of out of you.' Aussa scolded. 'That's not the only reason I'm with him. Not only did he didn't mind having me as company, despite his loose connection to spirits. He's been cursed by the dark ruler.' She pointed to his left arm. Both spirits used their senses to detect the curse, only for both spirits to slightly retreat.
'A curse from the dark ruler? What did he do to get him on his bad side? Rarely does the dark ruler curse anyone, let alone keep them alive?' wondered Hiita.
'I was there, and he was still cryptic. From what I understand, the curse will slowly consume him when he gets angry and filled with hatred. I don't know what will happen when it fully consumes him, but I rather prevent that.' Aussa explained.
'Yikes, quite the mess he's gotten himself into, huh?' inquired Hiita. 'If the dark ruler took the time to curse him, then that guy must be very valuable asset.'
Aussa nodded. 'Indeed, it's why I'm keeping an eye on him. That way, he doesn't go berserk.' She then glanced at the sleeping Jaden. 'Since his best friend had returned, I think he'll stay sane for a little while.'
'Can't let you do it all alone, right?' pondered Hiita. 'If all of us are with him, that should levitate some stress from your shoulders.'
'That's surprising coming from you of all of us.' Aussa chuckled. 'I'll cotact Wynn in meantime. Don't try anything funny, alright?' She said as Aussa disappeared back into the spirit realm.
Hiita scofted and puffed her cheeks. 'Why must you always assume I'm a troublemaker?' She thought as she sat down next to the duo, playing with Fox Fire for the time being, until she retreated into the spirit realm.
Next Morning
Red Hat woke up from his slumber as soon as the sun began to rise from the horizon. As he stood up, rubbed his eye lids, and stretched. He gently shook Jaden, attempting to wake him up.
"Jaden, it's morning. Time to wake up." He called out.
Jaden yawned in response as he stretched while still laying down. "What time is it anyway?"
Red Hat took out his PDA only to sigh at what he saw. Since he hasn't been checking his PDA very often in the past few days. He's had quite the number of messages. He refused to open them, not wanting to alert the others of their whereabouts. He checked the details he was actually looking for. "It's six in the morning. It's also apparently a Sunday. So we have plenty of time get to the shop to get some sandwiches and leave. Can't have the others know we're out here just yet. We still have to find Winged Kuriboh and the other Neo-Spacians you been telling me about."
Jaden stood up with a somewhat down look on his face. "As much as I like that idea. I don't my friends to worry about me much longer. There has to be a way to at least let them know I'm okay."
Red Hat looked away for a moment. He really didn't think about how Jaden would react to staying away from the dorm and his friends. While he didn't care much for Syrus or Chazz. He knew Jaden didn't want to constantly keep them in the dark on his whereabouts. "There might be a way we can do that. But first, we have to return to the dorm."
Jaden smiled and ran past him. "Sounds like a plan! Lead the way!"
Red Hat chuckled. "Alright, hold up. I need to clean this up first." Red Hat cleans up their so-called campsite and folds the three sheets as he placed them back in his bag. Once he hid away the bags at a nearby clearing of rocks and the coast was clear, they both of them ran back into the forest. Making sure they stay away from open areas and far away from the dorms and main trails.
It only took a while of walking around the entire academy, but the duo was able to reach the Slifer Red dorm. As soon as the dorm was in sight, they noticed Hasslebery and Syrus dueling each other, with the gang and Atticus watching. Red Hat ignored the ridiculousness from Atticus' doing, but he observed the duel that was going on.
"Syrus and Hassleberry dueling? This I got to see!" Jaden said with an eager smile.
"Looks like they only just started. Let's see how they perform. Also don't make too much noise. We can't let them know we're here just yet."
They both began observing the duel. While Jaden was quieing cheering for both of his friends. Red Hat on the other hand, was hoping for Syrus to fail and lose the duel immediately. While he wasn't too fond of Hassleberry. He at least could back up his claims on occasion.
Various plays were being made, while both of them were insulting each other. As they contiued to talk abput Jaden and some of the things he said. Hassleberry dismissed them, until Syrus pointed out who actually said those lines. Red Hat sighed and shook his head. This was just a nonsensical petty fight from both parties.
"Man, Syrus is really heated huh?" Jaden observed.
"He's heated and he's still annoying." Red Hat added with a sour look on his face.
Both Syrus and Hassleberry contiued to duel. Both of them bickery and Syrus spouting nonsense on how Hassleberry get's in the way of his and Jaden's friendship. He fought the urge to scoff at that statement. 'What are you on about? I support Jaden in many ways. All you do is cling to him, cause you're nothing without Jaden.'
The duo continued to observe the duel. Red Hat found the duel somewhat unimpressive, until Syrus activated Cyber Summon Blaster. Red Hat now raised an eye brow at this. 'Planning to burn him? Cyber Summon Blaster, while isn't a once per turn. Causing an infinite loop with that is quite tedious. How do you plan on doing that with Vehicroids?' He though as he continued observing.
The duel kept going, with Hassleberry getting the advantage over Syrus. That is... until he summoned Ultimate Tyranno. Then, via a very contrive combo. Syrus was able to loop the effects of Ambulanceroid, Rescueroid, and Decoyroid, while using the effects of Cyber Summon Blaster to constantly burn Hassleberry.
"Awesome, Syrus managed to pull off a sweet move!" Jaden cheered.
Red Hat remained silent and narrowed his eyes. 'What a contrive combo. If Hassleberry didn't summon Ultimate Tyranno, then this combo would not have worked. That's how inconsistent, and incredibly unreliable that combo is.'
They watched on as the loop continued endlessly. Jaden noticed Syrus was acting a little weird. "Something is wrong with Syrus? Let's get closer and overhear what their saying."
Red Hat nodded. "Alright, but let's move quietly. Crawl if you have to, alright."
The duo quietly got closer and closer to the duel. Both of them making sure they aren't spoted by the gang. Jaden crawled into some of the bushes, slowly stood up, and hid behind one the trees, while peeking to see how Syrus was doing. Red Hat stayed close behind him and hid behind a tree close to Jaden. They listened in on the circumstance...
"Syrus, are you okay?" Alexis asked in concern.
"I-I'm fine. I haven't slept lately, that's all..." Syrus answered weekly with a slight smile.
Alexis looked at him, concerned. "So, you really have been looking for Jaden without sleeping?"
"You haven't eaten any meals at all, have you?" Bastion questioned with concern.
While Jaden felt concern for his friend's safety and health. Red Hat just shook his head at his overall stupidty. 'Why would you skip meals and sleep, unless you have some kind of job. That's asking for health prolems. That's coming from someone who's prone to eating Instant Ramen back at home. That, or constantly eating sandwiches.' He thought with comtempt.
Jaden and a down look. "Man, Syrus has been lookig for me. I can't stand to see him like this."
"Do you have a way to send a message to them, without giving away our pressense?" asked Red Hat.
Jaden nodded. "I'll toss him a card of mine and hope he get's the message."
"Hope you're ready to run once you toss the card to them." Red Hat reminded him.
As Syrus' Decoyroid returned to the field. Cyber Summo Blaster fired one last shockwave at Hassleberry, depleteing the remaining of his LP. Hassleberry stood there with a confused look on his face. Syrus soon collapsed from exhaustion as Bastion and Alexis ran up to him, checking to see if he was okay.
"Syrus beat Hassleberry... Way to go, Syrus." Jaden muttered. He took out one of his cards and got ready to aim. Alexis and Bastion were close to Syrus. With careful aim, as much as he could. He tossed his card with enough force and landed right next to Bastion and Alexis. "Let's split."
"Right on." The duo quickly and quietly left their position and retreated back into the forest. Noticing they weren't caught, contiued to run through the forest as fast as they could until they were far away from the Slifer Red dorm.
Alexis and Bastion were surprised when they saw a card fly past themand landed near them. Alexis picked up the card and gasped when she saw what the card was. Bastion took a look and realized it was none other then Hero Barrier. It was one of Jaden's cards. How did it get over here, and why now? Unless... Jaden was here. Did he tossed this card as a message to them? If so, then why wasn't he here? Was something wrong that he didn't return here? Red Hat would be with him as well. It's unlikely that Red Hat would be lost too. Something was up with those two, but they had no idea what they were up to.
"This card can only mean Jaden just got here." Alexis noted.
"But then, why didn't he come here? We're all worried about him." Bastion pointed out. "There has to be a reason why he hasn't returned. If I didn't know any better. I think Red Hat is with him. He wouldn't be lost out there."
Alexis nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. First let's help Syrus out here. We'll tell him the good news when he wakes up. We'll begin searching again when everything has blown over."
Bastion picked up Syrus as he and Alexis began to take him back to his room. Jaden was back, but they still have to find him. No way would Jaden just come back only to leave them a vague message that he was here. While unlikely, he must have encountered Red Hat and he convinced Jaden to not return to them. Bastion didn't want to make assumptions just yet. He decided to hold off on his questions until the both of them have returned. Then, all of them would question them on their actions. For now, they had other problems to deal with.
Later that Night
Red Hat and Jaden were laying down back at their old campsite at the volcano. While Red Hat fell alseep, after obtaining food and water for the both of them. Jaden on the other hand was unable to sleep. He looked up at the sky, wondering how much longer they would be forced to stay out here. So far, he's had no luck in finding the other Neo-Spacians.
Just as he was about to try and fall asleep. A bright light could be seen in the sky and bagen falling near their location. The ball of light stopped once it reached the ground, not too far from Jaden's current position. He got and walked over to where the ball of light was. Once he got near it, the ball of light reacted and began to morph. It soon formed to what looked like a glowing alien with a lean white body and big eyes.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jaden Yuki." The alien spoke as if it was using telepathy. "I am a Neo-Spacian known as Glow Moss."
Jaden smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Glow Moss. You're another one of the Neo-Spacians. How do I find you guys anyway? I've been out here for a while now."
"You'll find them in do time, Jaden. Once you regain your fighting spirit. Your companion will return." Glow Moss assured him.
"In that case, thank you Glow Moss! I'll do my best to find the others!"
Glow Moss nodded and soon tured into energy and slowly vanished. Jaden's deck suddenly glowed, cauing him to take a good look at his deck. He noticed the top of his cards, Glow Moss card soon appeared on top of it. Jaden smiled and put away his deck. Happy knowing that he obatain another Neo-Spacian. Jaden ran back to the campsite and noticed Red Hat was still sleeping.
"And you say I'm the heavy sleeper." Jaden chuckled as he watched Red Hat sleep away. He layed back down on his sheet and covered himself with the second sheet and slept away.
The Next Morning
Jaden and Red Hat were walking around the forest, avoiding the main pathways. Their first priority was to obtain food and water again, considering their short mini quest was not over just yet. When they approached a out of place hole in the ground. They took a good at the hole and found a lot of dueling magazines that have been left there. Both of them wondered what these were doinng here, and who left them here? Let alone this many of them.
Both of them sat down and picked up one of the many magazines lying around, and saw that it was about Zane. "Zane Truesdale, a hopeful newcomer with a winning streak..." read Jaden. "This is from a long while ago..."
Red Hat took a look at the stockpile of magazines and looked through the pages. Many of these were indeed back when Zane had winning streak before his loss to Aster Phoenix. One of them even had a record for defeating one of the pros he and Blair watched during summer vacation. He knew these magazines were relatively dated, but to just throw all of these away was out here was just plain silly.
"Let's hope nothing bad happened after his lost to Aster Phoenix." Red Hat dropped the magazine and ran off. "Jaden, come on! If we hurry, we can get some sandwiches before the others show up to the Academy!"
Jaden smiled and dropped the Magazine and caught up to him. "Think I'll get the golden egg today? I'm starving!"
"Ha ha, we'll see who get's what!" Red Hat remarked as he ran faster, while Jaden tried to catch up to him.
Meanwhile at the Slifer Red dorm. Syrus was inside the Slifer Red cafeteria, sighed as he was currently reading one of the newest dueling magazines. Alexis was nearby, unable to stand that Syrus was acting like this from the recent news.
'Every since he lost to Aster Phoenix, my big brother was unable to win...' Syrus thought as he continued to read the magazine. "Zane Truesdale falls to the minor leauges. A ten-match losing streak since his match with Aster Phoenix. The disappointing newcomer has been kept out by the barrier of the pros..."
Hassleberry and Bastion stood at the entrance to the cafeteria and were looking at Syrus troubled. "Shouldn't we say something to him?" Hassleberry asked.
"To think that his loss to Aster Phoenix caused this much of an impact on him." said Bastion.
They all then heard an annoying laugh. All of them, except Syrus, turned around and saw Chazz coming towards them with a smirk. "This happened to that mediocre Zane Truesdale from dueling Master Sartorious' most-trusted Aster Phoenix!" While Hassleberry and Bastion wanted to knock him down, they stopped themselves as Chazz continued. "Well, if he enters the Society of Light, he will instantly return to the majors, going full-speed on a win-streak highway!" He then looked over his shoulder to glance at Hassleberry and Bastion. "How about it? Won't you all enter the Society of Light?"
Alexis walked up to him with an annoyed look. "Oh! Alexis you should join too!" She gave him a flick to the forhead, not having any of his nonsense. He lost his balance and fell down on his back.
Alexis then walked towards Syrus who was looking at the magazine, all depressed. Alexis took the magazine from him and rolled it together, and smiled at him. "He'll be fine! Zane's bound to get back on his feet! That big brother of yours is a proud man! He'll recover from this!"
Hassleberry and Bastion came over to them and Bastion smiled at Syrus. "That's right, Syrus. What good will it do, if we don't believe in Zane?"
Hassleberry nodded. "That's right, soldier. I believe in him too. He'll make a come back for sure. Your brother is tough tough opponent."
Meanwhile later in the evening. The gang, except for Chazz, watched the next duel play out that was broadcasted on TV. Zane was not doing well in the duel. To the others, it looked like Zane was holding back or was paralyzed for some reason. Why was he acting this way. Not only did he barely damaged his opponent. His opponent, even with the most mediocre of plays was taking full advantage of the situation.
Soon, Zane was unable to do anyting and lost to a low attack monster on the field.
"And another turnaround loss for Zane Truesdale! What could be wrong? Even in the minor leagues, he can not end his losing streak!" The commentator wondered.
The gang immediately turned off the TV the moment Zane lost his duel and the announcer completed his commentary. What they didn't know, the door was slightly opened ajar, just enough for Red Hat to view the entire broadcast without them knowing. He tippy toed back a little before running back to the forest. Last thing he wanted was to be spotted by the gang, before his mini quest was completed.
Red Hat has been walking around the island at night. While he wanted to get back to Jaden as fast as possible. He wanted to complete his so called mini quest as possible, but he had no idea where to look. It felt like spirits only appeared when they feel like, even if he didn't have the cards.
Wondering around the forest in the middle of the night. He somehow made his way to the beach side, feeling the cool breeze around him. Despite never acually coming here for anything of value. It was the only other place he could potentially find her...
He walked along side the beach, looking for any signs of spirits, while ignoring the cold wins and the constant smell of salt water of the sea. Where else would a so called user of water hang around? The ocean, a river, a lake, or somewhere more obscure like a waterfall? He absolutely refused to head to the lake and e spted by the girls dorm. The rivers all lead nowhere anyway, so that was out of the question. The waterfall had nothing last time he checked. With no further options, he continued to walk along the beach until he found himself near rocky terrain in the far side.
He decided to scale some of the rocks that layed there, all while avoiding some of the moss the rocks had from the sea. Last thing he needed was to fall into the cold ocean waters at this time of night. He sat down at the highest point at one of the many rocks on the far side of the beach. He stared off into the sea, letting the cold breeze blow against his skin.
He wondered about the duel Zane had earlier today. What happened to him? After his lost to Aster Phoenix, he was unable to win. Instead went on a downward spiral, losing every match in the pro leagues and was booted to the minor leagues. The minor leagues was meant for failing pros, pros that just getting started from scratch, or failures that are unable to keep up with competition. Why was Zane failing so hard? He lost to him once before, and didn't change. If anything, he dueled him again and beat him in one turn. Why was this such a drastic change now? Was it because now it was the pro league? That shouldn't factor to poor performance, even if he lost to Aster. Was it cause he lost to Aster and Aster was just playing around with him before? Did that cause him to doubt his ability?
He had no actual reason as to why Zane was losing so much. All he could do was speculate. He had no real answer to this problem. This begs the question. Would this happen to him one day? Considering his past performances, and the amount of overconfidence he's been acumilating for dueling subpar duelists for so long. He couldn't allow himself to slip up and end up on a downward spiral himself. If there was a time to stop acting so overconfident, it's right now. Even if who he was dueling was incredibly mediocre. Overconfidence will cause him to become reckless.
He grabbed a small rock and tossed at the water. Wondering how things will go on from now one. After tossing a few more rocks into the ocean. He heard the sound of something. Looking to his left, he slowly walked over to where the sound came from. Without slipping, he took a quick peek over a large boulder and notice someone sitting down another boulder. A blue haired girl, who wore very familiar clothing, just sitting there.
'Is that her?' Red Hat thought as he tried to get closer.
'I now you're there... There's no point in hiding...' said the girl, not even bothering to look at him. 'I knew you were there.'
Red Hat pop out from his position and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Didn't think anyone would be here. Let alone a duel spirit."
'What brings a cursed human like you around here?' She asked.
"How... did you know I'm cursed?" Red Hat asked, surprised tha she even knew about his curse.
'Takes one to know one... Well, not me of course.' She simply said.
"Um... are you... the water charmer, Eria?" He questioned.
'Who wants to know...' She simply replied.
'No need to act so cold, Eria.' Aussa appeared with a scowl on her face.
'Aussa?' Eria eyes winded at the sight of her friend hangng out with the human. 'Mind telling me, why you're hanging around with that cursed human?'
'I'll exlain soon enough, but first...' She adjusted her glasses. 'Introduce yourself to my partner here.'
Eria sighed, clearly not wanting to explain herslef, but she knew how stubborn Aussa can be on these matters. 'My name is Eria. I'm known as the water charmer.'
"Nice to meet you..." He said. "What brings you out here anyway?"
Eria sighed, knowing she would have to explain herself. 'I been traveling alone for some time now. I sometimes return to my group, but I can't bring myself to come back yet.'
"What makes you say?" He asked, not really understanding her predicament.
'Lost my famliar...' She admited. 'Even worse... I don't know what happened to him. Last I heard of him, he was witha group of soldiers and haven't heard from him since.'
"Familiar? If I'm so inclind to ask. What's a familiar?"
Eria sowled and was about to speak up, until Aussa intervined. 'A familiar is a spirit that we have a strong connection.' A familiar soon appeared on her shoulder. 'This is my familiar here.'
"Archfiend Marmot of Nefariousness? He's your familiar?" Red Hat asked.
Aussa held back the urge to laugh. 'Is that what you humans call him? He's just a demon beaver. Why add in nefariousness to his name if there's nothing nefarious about him?'
Red Hat shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't have the slightest idea."
Aussa coughed and got back on track. 'Back on point, Eria's familar was Gigobyte. A small reptile creature she saved and took care of.'
Eria sighed with a downed look. 'I never thought my familiar would have a dark fate awaiting him.'
"What happened to your familiar, Eria?" Red Hat asked.
Eria took a deep breath and sighed. 'After he grew up and became Gagagigo. He left my side and traveled with a soldier known as Maruding Captain. However, I was never able to find him again.' Eria glanced at took hold of her staff. 'Last I heard of him, he was sent to the Dark World, where General Freed and his men were fighting. I hope he's doing okay. The dark world is a horrible place.'
Red Hat remained silent at her explaination. So there was wars in the spirit world too? There was a so called battle or war in the Dark World? While he didn't have much of an understanding of the spirit world. The Dark World was a lot more dangerous then he thought. He wouldn't know when he'd go back there, but he hoped that wouldn't be the case. If for some reason he would go back there at any time. He would help Eria reconnect with her familiar again.
"I don't know what to say..." He look at the night sky, feeling the cold winds blowing against his face. "Eria... if you don't mind..." He looked at Aussa, only for her to nod in approval. "Would you like to join my side? I'll try to find your familiar. Least when we get to the dark world."
'Why should I trust you?' Eria asked with a hint of annoyance. 'You possess the curse mark of the dark ruler.'
"This curse isn't something I had much of a choice. It was forced upon me. I don't work with the dark ruler." explained Red Hat. "I want to find away to get rid of it, but I don't know how at the moment."
Aussa chimed in as she got close to Eria. 'I tried my best to prevent the curse, but I was overpowered. You can trust him. He wants to help others, just as much as he wants to help himself.' She placed her hand on Eria's shoulder. 'We'll get Gagagigo back. You can count on my partner. It may take a while, since we have another problem at hand.'
'You're willing to help me find him?' Eria looked at Red Hat. 'Then, I'll join you if it means I get him back.'
"I'll do it." Red Hat assured her. "You mentioned the Dark World. I may not know much about that place, but when the time comes. We'll search and rescue him."
'Thank you...' Eria soon disappeared, then Red Hat's deck glowed. He took out one of his deck boxes and looked through it. He found Eria's card form in his deck. Knowing that he, or rather, Aussa managed to convince her to join them. He now has a promise that he has to deliver.
He sighedad put away his deck. While he found all four charmers, one of them came to him at will a few days ago. He didn't think he'd have their card forms and spirits following him. While he had no intention of using the charmers in a duel, besides Aussa, cause she was his partner. He'll have to use them sometime in the future. It wouldn't be fair for them if their card form just stayed in his room. Never to be used because they are bricks in most of the decks he constructed. That just means we'll have to build an attribute specific deck for them, which he didn't want to do. Oh well, a price to pay he guessed.
As he walked along to return to the campsite where Jaden was. Aussa and Eria stayed behind to chat for a little.
'You mentioned you two had other problems. What are those problems if it's too much to ask?' said Eria.
Aussa adjusted her glasses and gave her a serious look. 'The infamous Light of Destruction has returned. That boy in the red hat. He has a friend that wields the power of the gentle darkness, which he isn't even aware that he has. My partner was cursed by the Dark Ruler as he intends to use him to spread darkness. He has no intention of going through with it. If anything, he wants to break free from the curse.'
Eria was surprised and shocked at the revelation. 'He was not only summoned by the dark ruler, but he cursed so he would comply with his demands?'
Aussa nodded. 'Indeed. He also gave him the Dark World monsters to use in battle against the light. But, that's the least of our problems.'
'What do you mean that's the least of our problems?' Eria asked, now confused at what Aussa was getting at.
'Some duel spirits have sided with the light, and they'll try and hunt him down. We have to keep an eye of that boy. The curse will get stronger if get's enraged or having sadistic thoughts. It's my duty as his partner to show him the correct path and to make sure nothing bad happens to him.' She explained.
Eria giggled for a moment. 'I think he's grown on you if you're willing to go so far and protect him.'
'If Hiita can't tease me, what makes you thin you will?' Aussa said with a smile.
'Oh alright, I'll stop for now. You know, it's been so long since we're able to just chat and hang out.'
'Indeed, but we have other matters to attend to. So, we'll save this for later.' Aussa and Eria disappeared and returned t the spirit realm.
A Few Days Later
The gang was sitting and watching the minor leagues on TV, while Jasmine and Mindy were invited to watch the duel for some reason. Zane, somehow had made a miraculous comeback, and was now defeating one opponent after another. However, what concerned Syrus was how he was doing it. He was now dueling so ruthlessly that his opponent was often left in such a bad state that they had to be carried out of the arena for medical treatment, and the opponent today was one of them.
The announcer then spoke up. "Amazing! Such overwhelming strength! Such unseen power! He has truly crushed him to death! He's strong! He's truly strong! Having returned from hell, Zane Truesdale has made a comeback right here! Zane Truesdale... this strength is the real deal!"
Syrus looked at Zane sadly. He was now dressed in black with a black overcoat with white trimmings and sharp edges. He didn't like the cold sinister smirk Zane had on his face. It's like he enjoyed hurting the opponent. 'This was when I felt that I would have to battle my big brother someday...' He thought.
While the group was focused on the the events that transpired. Red Hat had been keeping track of the duel, play by play, by peaking through the front door. When the matched ended and the announcer was finished his observations. Red Hat slowly took a couple steps back and ran off. Not wanting to let the others that he was keeping tabs on them, and Zane's duels.
As Red Hat began walking back to the campsite. He began to start questioning some of his previous thoughts. Zane back there ruthlessly dueled his opponents, he had no problem thrashing them around, all the while not caring about anything else. To some extent... that reminded him of himself. He used to duel without mercy or care for anyone. Way back, all he cared about was proving he was the top dog, took dueling very seriously, and tried to prove the rest were beneath him, especially the rich kids who pretended they were at the top.
This was before hemet Jaden and the others, where he had learned to calm down and not act so cruel. Yet, now Zane was behaving to a similar matter to how he used to act, only he himself wasn't that aggressive. What happened to Zane that caused him to drastically change? The same man that would do his best to respect his opponent and plays as competetive as possible. While his mentality was somewhat flawed, he wouldn't just throw all that away on a dime like that. For what it was worth, to him, there wasn't a need to look too deep into it. People change all the time, for better or for worse.
'Now questioning your previous actions? What ever happen to your old way of not caring about others say, and not changing your habits? Almost like you're becoming more self concious.' Aussa teased.
"Don't say such silly things... I'm just concerned for what Zane has becomed..." He replied.
'I'd say, he's kicking some major butt! That look of horror on his opponents face was hilarious!' Hiita chimed in.
'Must you always act like so hot headed like this? You're not even the one fighting.' Wynn sighed.
'He's as stubborn as you, Hiita. At least he has the decency to feel bad when something isn't right.' Eria pointed out.
Hiita glared at the both of them. 'Just what's that supposed to mean?!'
"Enough. You're only annoying me further. I don't wish to dicuss this further. we have other matters to attend to." He replied irritably. Despite being somewhat annoyed by their sayings. He couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. Aussa was right though, he was genually having second thoughts on his previous actions. Was it worth making everyone his enemy just to prove he was unbeatable and the most competetive? While he doesn't know how things will go on in the future. He'll be taking notes along the way.
As he made it back to the campsite near the volcano. He noticed Jaden was talking to someone. As he got closer a look, Jaden was talking to a duel spirit. Itwas a black panther with a cape attached around his neck. Red Hat hid behind one of the trees and tried to over hear what they were saying.
Dark Panther lightly hissed and Jaden took notice. "Something the matter? What's going on."
'Is there someone you know that holds so much darkness?' Dark Panther asked.
"What do you mean? I don't get what you mean." Jaden said in confusion.
'Someone is cursed, and he's trying to hide that from you.' Dark Panter said.
"Cursed? What do you mean someone is cursed?" Jaden replied, now cmpletely lost at what he was implying.
'Someone you may know is working for a dark being. A devil if you will. He can potentially be quite dangerous. Keep an eye out for that devil.' Dark Panther suggested.
"I may not know what you're talking about, but I'm glad to have you by your side!" Jaden chuckled. Dark Panter nodded as he soon faded as black mist ebtered his deck. Jaden took out his deck and noticed Dark Panther's card was there. He smiled and put away his deck. "That's four Neo-Spacians. I still need wo more... and Winged Kuriboh."
Red Hat came out of his hiding spot ran up to Jaden. "Jaden, I'm back!"
"Hey, Red Hat! Discovered anything new?" Jaden called out.
Red Hat walked up to him. "Found out Zane is winning his duels again. Took a while, but he's back on top." He purposely left out the detail that Zane has gone off the deep end. He didn't want to upset Jaden at the moment.
Jaden smiled and laughed. "Ha ha, I knew Zane would get his game back! Now he's winning again! From whatyou told me before, he was losing for a while, but is making a comeback! No need to worry so much about him anymore!"
"Guess you can say that. Anything happened to you while I was gone, Jaden?" He asked. Curious to what he just saw.
"Oh, about that..." Jaden took out his deck and searched though it, until he found what he was looking for. "I got my forth Neo Spacian monster. Dark Panther!"
"That's the forth Neo-Spacian monster now. Your quest is almost complete. Just two more to go." Red Hat noted. He tried his best to ignore the conversation he overheard. 'The spirits know about my curse. While nothing is happening at the moment. I hope I can get rid of this before drastic measures have to be taken.' He thought.
"Just two more to go! If we hurry up and find the other two, we ca return back to the dorm!" Jaden exclaimed. "Let's go, I can't wait to return to the others!"
Red Hat chuckled and followed close behind him. 'So far, the dorm is being left alone. I know a bad omen is coming, but the question is when? Just what are Bonaparte and Crowler planning? No moves have been taken so far. Any other attempts have failed. What ever it may be, Jaden and I will return soon. You can count on it. No one messes with Slifer Red!'
A/N: The Zane Duel was not shown. Only references were noted when Zane became Dark Zane. The duel has been done to death, and someone else already did a remix of that duel with real cards. So, there's nothing new I can add. Many of you may be disappointed by this decision, but this was the best compromise, cause I refuse to use anime decks and anime cards that don't exist in Tag Force.
For those that think Red Hat is being out of line when he berates and attacks Syrus, non-violently. In a specific rute in Tag Force, Bastion mentions that he had a scowl on his face after a paticular duel in Ra (and Slifer Red Syrus for that matter) Syrus route in Tag Force 3. Shows, yes, Red Hat doesn't like or support Syrus in anyway. He puts up with him, cause he doesn't want to appear bad in front of everyone.
in Tag Force 2, Jaden mentions he was found by Red Hat in the forest and implies he rescued him. To cut down on filler, this chapter focus more on what they've been doing as well as manually finding all the Neo-Spacians and othe spirits. As for Red Hat finding Charmers. That's more of a bonus. Don't expect much from them. That won't come into play until much later. You can think of the Charmers are just there for some interactions with him, since Red Hat's style is Monarch and Chaos.
I wanted to include references to some card lore and stroies. While I plan to do very loose adaptations of those card lore stories. It won't come into play until very specific intervals.
As for the manga HEROs that appeared. Don't expect manag fusions or masked HEROs. The Manga main deck monsters already existed in GX era. The only fusion that existed was Inferno. Don't expect Tera Firma, since I'm not mixing manga elements. Later manga main deck HEROs were not printed until the 2009. Legacy HEROs that never appeared in either medium like Captain Gold, will be shown.
That combo Syrus pulled with Hassleberry is not actually possible. Ambulanceroid effect doesn't activate during the damage step. Cyber Summon Blaster doesn't activate during the damage step. Both of these cards rulings prevent that combo from working. The final nail in the coffin. They errated Ultimate Tyranno where you're aren't forced to attack and can just end your turn. So even if the combo was possible from the previous two points. The errata doesn't make that combo work aymore. Just thought I point that out, cause many don't seem to realize this.
Anyway, see you all next time.