Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Judai's head throbs as he gets off the Tokyo subway, and he's pretty sure his eye is twitching. But he takes a left from the exit and confirms he has the right street before turning, pulling the baseball cap tighter over his head as he does.

Nobody gives him much thought. At this time of day Judai should just be another local elementary student on his way home, which was the point of skipping school to come all the way out here. All he has to do now is make it to the hotel, and he's almost there.

Two blocks north. Judai drags himself forward one step at a time. He can't let himself stop moving.

He has to keep going, or…or…

What is he doing again?

Right. After five years out in space, Yubel is back. He needs to see them, because he sent them away and then they got hurt.

He can't let himself stop moving until he's found them again and started to make things right.

One more block north, three blocks east. Judai's not much good at directions, but he's gone over the route a dozen times with Yubel in his dreams now.

His body aches for rest and his eyes threaten to glue themselves shut, but he keeps moving forward. If he stops he's going to fall asleep, and if he falls asleep in the middle of the street the chances of being found out and sent back home are too high. And if he's sent home, if his parents find out what he's trying to do…

"If I entered Judai as a subject now…"

"The memory treatment? It was a risky move last time, and it didn't work out."

"But look at him. You know he can't go on like this."

They really will erase his memory this time, and he'll never be able to find Yubel. He's sure of it.

Three blocks east, and then down a long road towards the riverside. A while longer east, until he finds a tiny motel exactly like Yubel described.

There's a large man with a pointed spike of hair waiting for Judai when he pushes through the door. Just like Yubel told him to, Judai grins wide and reaches out his arms as he runs towards the man. "Uncle Nagi!"

The man's eyes widen in shock for a moment, and although he grabs Judai and lifts him up into the air for a hug Judai sees tears on his face. He's…sad?

"Judai! There you are!" the man booms. "Come with me."

He leads Judai outside and up the stairs to a tiny room, the man's enormous hand dwarfing Judai's own as they walk. He unlocks the door and ushers Judai inside.

Judai hones in on the large metal briefcase sitting on the ground by the desk. That's it. That's Yubel. Even without seeing their card, he remembers the sense of their presence. It's been five years since he felt it outside of his dreams, but it's undeniably them.

…But Yubel's presence is still different from what it used to be. Fainter.

He runs over and kneels in front of the briefcase, staring at it as if his eyes alone can produce the one he's been looking for. "Yubel!"

The man pulls out a shiny silver key and unlocks it, revealing a single card kept safe in a pocket alongside a glass capsule containing a single rough-scaled arm. He hands the card to Judai.

Yubel's mysterious smile is the same as ever, but the feeling of the card is different now.

Judai cradles the card in his fingers, feeling the presence wobble like the characters in his textbooks. The Yubel of his memories had been as constant as the clothes on his back. This…is all wrong.

And inside of the briefcase, Yubel's arm twitches inside its glass capsule.

Judai…

Judai's presence is a soothing balm, yet unfamiliar in the way that land is alien to a man lost at sea. Yubel yearns for that presence.

It's been five years since Judai sent them away, since he cast them off into the vast emptiness of space and the searing fire of the Light. Five years alone, delivered by the one they loved into the embrace of their greatest enemy…

But Judai still loves them. Seeing him night after night has been the single thread holding their mind together through those five years that passed like five centuries. Without him, they would have…but of course he always stayed by their side. He'd promised.

And now he's here.

Yubel musters their strength to speak into their love's mind. If they had legs and knees, they would have knelt. Judai, I survived the Light of Destruction to come back to you. And you've come back to me.

Judai's hands tremble around the card, but Yubel doesn't mind. They can feel his heart more strongly than ever right now.

His hands had shaken long ago, too, when he'd first seen Yubel's new form. He'd been around this age, hadn't he? His hair is different now, but his face, his voice, his sobbing – they are all the same as they'd been back then.

"Yubel, I'm so sorry. Because of me, you..."

Delivered from torture into the hands of the child who had once knelt in front of them and made them an eternal promise, Yubel hears double.

"You did this…to protect me…"

"I'll make this up to you. From now on, I'm always going to keep you with me."

"Yubel, I promise you... My love will belong only to you."

It's too much. It's exactly what they need.

...Judai...do you still love me? After all this time?

"Of course I do! No matter what anyone says, I won't ever let anyone separate us ever again."

"No matter what anyone says, I'll keep loving you!"

And I will never allow someone to come between us, they say.

Cobra can hear Judai's words but not Yubel's, which is for the better. This is a moment for the two of them alone. But…he can still be useful.

Take the boy with you, Yubel says to Cobra in his mind. He will be necessary to our plans. We cannot do this without him.

The man does not reply verbally, but he is listening. His desperation to reunite with the person he cherishes most nearly parallels that of Yubel's.

Wouldn't Rick love a brother? Yubel whispers to him, and knows that they have him hooked.

Five Years Later

"How much longer is it now?" Cobalt Eagle grumbles, perched on top of the suite bed. "We've been on this ship all day."

Ruby Carbuncle trills an answer from their napping spot next to Johan's leg, chiding Cobalt's impatience.

"We land in four days," Amber Mammoth confirms from inside Johan's deck. "I'll be looking forward to stretching my legs again." Johan laughs; even a luxury suite on this cruise ship is a tight fit for him, despite their efforts.

Amethyst Cat paces around the floor, purring steadily. "Hey, what do you think the students are like there?"

"I'd hope they're ready to learn," Emerald Turtle says. "This exchange trip is something they don't see every day! And I'm sure Johan has a great deal to teach them."

"Ah, I've got a lot to learn too." Johan grins. He's heard a couple things about Central's students through the Duel Academia North campus duel spirit gossip network – especially the Genex champion, reuniter of the Ojama brothers. Johan had missed the entirety of his rise and abrupt departure from the North campus, so he's looking forward to the opportunity to see what he's missed.

And then there's the other champions…he'll get a good look at them when the ship makes land in a few days. Johan's looking forward to seeing the strength of the other schools soon.

"It's bound to be exciting." Cobalt Eagle's eyes glisten with intrigue. "Have you heard the stories of what goes on in Central?"

"Remember Tachibana, who went off to Genex? After stealing the Grim Reaper?"

"And he ran into that Ojama duelist!"

"I still remember the principal's face when he—"

There's a rapid knock at the door, and a sleep-slurred voice wanders through. "Geez, could you keep it down in there? It's late and I can hear you guys all the way from my room."

"Ah, sorry!" Johan calls out. He puts a finger to his lips to signal his family to quiet down.

"He's right," Emerald Turtle mutters from the foot of Johan's bed. "We are making quite a racket."

"It's never been a problem before," Amethyst Cat retorts, but quietly. "Barely anyone ever heard us back at North."

Topaz Tiger lets out a ponderous grumble. "But this person can."

All of them consider that for about three seconds, before Ruby jumps on his shoulder and Johan vaults himself off the bed, jumping for the door.

"This person" turns out to be a brown-haired boy in a crimson jacket rubbing sleep out of his eyes, before craning his head trying to get a look inside the room. A card locket on a leather cord swings about his chest as he does. The boy brightens up as he catches sight of the Gem Beasts.

"Whoa, it really is lively in he—" He cuts himself off and glances at Johan, changing course. "You're, uh, the North campus rep, right? I've already met the guys from South and East…" He counts on his fingers, before pounding his open fist in excitement. "So yeah! You've got to be from North."

Well, then, by process of elimination… "Then you must be the West representative." Johan holds out his hand, which the boy in red grips in a firm handshake.

"Judai Yuki, from the West campus." And Judai's eyes are definitely wandering from Johan to the Gem Beasts scattered around the room. Johan grins in anticipation.

"Johan Andersen, from the North campus. And this is my family, the Gem Beasts."

The Gem Beasts take that as their cue to move closer, all chattering at once.

"Can you hear us?"

"Another one!"

"West's finest for sure."

"Johan, I like this one!"

Judai lets go of Johan's hand and takes a step back, eyes wide in awe. "You can see them too?"

"I can." Ruby chirps from her perch on Johan's shoulder in agreement. "I've been able to see spirits since I was young. What about you?"

"Yeah!" Judai crouches down to get a look at Amethyst Cat, who prowls around him in a lazy circle. "When I…uh, I've heard spirits ever since I got my first deck. But I never met anyone else who could until now."

"Really?" Usually there's at least a couple anywhere Johan's gone before. Never many, but always someone.

"Yeah." Judai sighs, fingering the cord around his neck absentmindedly. "Even my best friend, Austin, can't see them like I can. But he's gotten pretty good at telling when the spirits at West are up to something. His Volcanic deck is really something, though, both in duels and out of them!"

"A Volcanic deck, huh?" Interesting; Johan's never faced one of those before. It's a pity Judai's friend isn't here, but – well, there is Judai himself. "And you? I'd love to see what kind of spirits you've got too, Judai."

And speaking of which, for all Judai came in because of Johan's own family there hasn't been any sign of his own spirit partner (or partners, multiple). Well, Judai had said he was trying to sleep…

But Judai laughs – nervously? – and pulls his deck from his jacket. "Well, do you want to duel?"

And Johan? Want to duel? Does he ever.

Half an hour later, Johan is laughing at Judai's face when he does not summon Rainbow Dragon. Elemental Hero Flame Wingman delivers a powerful blast to Amethyst Cat, and the duel is done.

Soon they're both sitting cross-legged on Johan's bed with their cards laid out. Judai yawns, then slaps himself lightly to keep awake as he pores over the Gem Beast deck.

Johan yawns himself, and checks the time. "You should go back to bed, Judai. Let's pick up again tomorrow."

"No…way." The yawn breaking into Judai's protest betrays him, and the other boy looks towards the door for a moment before running a finger over his pendant and sighing. "Okay, fine. Dad's going to kill me if he finds out how late I stayed up, already…"

"Your dad?" What a strange statement.

"Oh, did I not mention that?" Judai pulls himself off of the bed with a hup. "Professor Cobra is my dad. And man, is he going to be mad in the morning…okay, I've got everything. I'll see you tomorrow, Johan!"

Judai calls the last part over his shoulder as he runs for the door. Johan watches him go and sits on the bed a little while longer, contemplating the vanished duelist.

Huh. So the son of the severe Professor Cobra is as interesting a guy as Judai Yuki. This year is shaping up to be an exciting one.

"He calls them his family!" Judai chatters excitedly to Yubel in their capsule. Their eye watches him carefully, unblinking as always. They've been able to sense a few things through their card around his neck, but Judai's news of another boy capable of seeing spirits is interesting. What kind of interesting that is, Yubel will have to monitor closely.

(He wouldn't leave them, would he?)

(He wouldn't.)

You didn't mention me, did you dear? they ask Judai.

"Not yet." Judai toys with the pendant containing their card, and puts a comforting hand on their capsule. "Maybe someday…oh, but you have to promise to get along with him! Not like Austin."

Yes, hopefully this Johan Andersen will be less of a pest than that O'Brien boy. Though with someone else able to see spirits, Yubel will have to be careful at Central. No matter, though; they can adapt. They always have.

(And if everything goes well, the two of them will have the reunion they deserve soon enough.)

We'll see, they don't promise to Judai. Oh, if only they could. But they'll have to keep an eye on Andersen, to make sure he isn't going to be a source of trouble in the future.

"October eleventh," Amon Garam reports into his recording device. "Our voyage to Duel Academia seems to be ending safely. The ship prepared by the Kaiba Corporation for this voyage is one amenity I've had no objection to. That said, if I had to name a problem...it would be that only five guests are aboard this luxurious cruise liner.

"I am one of them – Amon Garam. The second and third are Jim Crocodile Cook and Judai Yuki, currently napping by the pool. The fourth is Professor Cobra, also the adoptive father of Judai Yuki. Judai is highly sociable, but his father has rarely left his room. And the fifth is a ghost..."

"Dad! Are you ready?" Judai raps at the door. "We're gonna make land in a few minutes!" Probably. Docking always seems to take forever.

It takes a minute but eventually Dad opens the door, fondness in his eyes softening the determined set of his mouth. "Judai. Come in."

Judai wastes no time in entering, and Dad shuts the door behind him. "Watch out for Amon Garam," he warns. "He seems to be something of a meddler. But more importantly, I trust you know your purpose once we arrive at the island."

"Yep!" Judai bounces on his feet. "We're representing the Disclosure Duel system, so it's our job to test the strength of those Duel Academia ranks at the top. Which means finding all the strongest opponents here and challenging them!"

Dad chuckles, low and deep. "I'm sure you intend to waste no time in that matter."

"No way! I've only been thinking about it every day since the test!" And it's really too bad the West campus can't have two champions, but he'll write Austin once he has the chance and update him on everything. Wait until he hears about that Johan guy.

Dad puts a hand on his shoulder, and gives him a rare smile. "Do your best, Judai. Show them the strength we have honed together."

"I'll make you proud, Dad. Yubel, too." Yubel, he knows, is listening from inside their capsule in one of his bags; he grips his pendant again and stands straighter. "We'll take on this school together!"

A light jolt shakes the boat, and Dad looks past the door. "We must have landed ashore. Come, Judai. Our future awaits us."

Judai can't help but let out an excited squeal. "Man, I can't wait! Duel Academia, here I cooooome!"

Chapter Text

"I'm surprised you're still attending Duel Academia."

Edo's never been one for the student uniform and his reputation allows him to get away with it, but Saiou's aware that the month has rolled into October and thus a new school year. Edo's continued presence here means that he's stayed on as a student, even though their attendance here was only ever an excuse for Saiou's plans.

Edo looks at him blankly. "Of course I did. You're here."

Saiou knows this is the reason Edo stayed. He also knows that his friend will not move the clock hands of his life here in this hospital room. "You should go be a student, Edo. It is the start of the new term." Calendars, at least, have not failed him. As much as the slow tick of days passing by in recovery has frustrated him, the passage of time is one constant he can trust even with his powers gone.

Edo checks his watch, and his eyes widen. "Shit! The exchange program."

"Oh?" Saiou looks out the window toward the rest of the island, though the secluded hospital has no view of the school buildings. "You seem to be anticipating something."

"Yeah. I heard rumors that they're bringing in a couple of students from Duel Academia's other schools this year. And Johan Andersen, the owner of the Gem Beasts, is among them."

Saiou vaguely recalls Edo mentioning an encounter with Pegasus of Industrial Illusions, and a rare deck going by such a name. Something unique enough to attract Edo's attention…very curious.

But not for Saiou to see right now. He smiles, and tilts his head at Edo. "Go on, then. I will await your return here."

Edo glances at him, then the exit. "I'll be back later. I should have some stories to tell you tonight."

Edo lingers for a moment, brushing Saiou's fingers with his, before he rushes off. Saiou watches him go and contemplates his friend with his life in front of him.

Judai's never been one for big official speeches, and he only has a little more patience when Dad is the one giving them. He already knows the gist anyway: new students, new experiences, challenging old habits and assumptions. Dad's already filled him in on a lot of the details in the months it took to get this program together.

The central campus operates on a system that mixes paper testing and practical dueling, but also gives favor to those wealthy or lucky enough to attend a preparatory middle school feeding into Duel Academia. Someone like Judai would have never been able to make it, if he'd stayed back in…

Anyway, it's an unequal system, and the principal is apparently looking to shake things up a bit after some kind of trouble last year. Dad's Disclosure Duel system is just the thing, and Judai is going to be here to show off exactly why it works.

"And for our exhibition duel, from Duel Academia…Tenjoin Asuka!" Dad declares. Judai perks up at that, because new names mean new duelists to see.

"Hey, what about me?!" demands a boy in the audience. Unlike the sea of primary colors, this one wears a black coat that Judai can tell has seen better days, even at this distance. "I'm the Genex champion!"

Oh, huh. The Genex winner, huh? Interesting guy, and—is the faint shimmer he's swatting at another duel spirit?

"Oh, so he's got a funny guy too," Johan confirms from next to him. "Is that Ojama Yellow?"

An Ojama seems like it would make for an odd kind of partner, but then again it's not like Judai's partner is as iconic as Black Magician Girl either. Not that he'd want Black Magician Girl over Yubel.

A blue-haired boy next to the one in black makes a dismissive gesture and says something Judai can't make out. Whatever it is, it's enough to make the Genex guy sit down in a huff.

"And from North Academy…Johan Andersen!"

Judai almost groans on principle, because he's asked Dad about a dozen times if he could duel in the exhibition match and been denied every time. Something about avoiding accusations of favoritism. It's stupid, but given how many times that word got repeated in his freshman year even Judai is willing to admit the likelihood that a few grumps might take issue with Dad calling on his son to show off a system for proving yourself via skill alone.

And anyway, he can't be too mad about it because now he gets to watch Johan duel someone else. The Gem Beasts! Against one of Central's top picks! Whoever Tenjoin Asuka is, she's sure to be a strong duelist if Dad picked her.

Tenjoin Asuka is a girl in the elite Obelisk Blue dorm, as it turns out – the same dorm Judai and the other transfer students are going to be living in for the next year. Whether she got in through the prep school or whether she tested up Judai has no idea, but based on what he can see from the crowd of students in the auditorium she's a model-perfect Obelisk student in appearance, uniform neat and pristine in a way that Judai knows he'd have never managed if he were a student at this school. Curiously enough, there's an old medallion with a red gem around her neck. It’s out of place with the rest of the uniform and definitely not academy standard, but she wears it confidently. Maybe it's a keepsake or something?

And more importantly, he likes the intense look on her face as she raises her hand to call out her acceptance of the duel. She's a serious duelist, all right, and Judai can't help but feel a little jealous of Johan again for getting to duel her right now.

"The duel will commence in one hour!" Dad announces, and turns to leave after dismissing the assembled students. He gives Judai a firm nod before he goes, and Judai flashes him a grin back before turning back to Johan.

"Hey, do you think we should find that guy with the Ojama?" It's a good kind of weird that Judai's found two other people all of a sudden who can see spirits, when it took him seventeen years to find the first one. That Obelisk girl looked interesting, too, and—

"That's Manjoume," a familiar voice snaps from behind him, and Judai nearly falls over on the stage. The Genex guy's come up behind him, apparently, as has Tenjoin Asuka. "Manjoume Thunder."

"So it is you!" Johan exclaims, and that's how Judai learns about two-year-old North campus gossip.

Manjoume, for his part, seems warily intrigued by Johan. "The Manjoume group once pooled its resources to try and acquire the Gem Beasts."

"Ah, is that so?" Johan laughs nervously. "Well, they're not really for sale…"

"It was years ago," Manjoume tosses out dismissively. "But it would have been an interesting opportunity to duel the wielder of that deck." He grits his teeth, before seeming to come to a realization that morphs irritation to determination. "Well, at least Tenjoin will get to duel if I can't!"

"There will be plenty of opportunities to test our skills against one another this year," Tenjoin says, and she reaches out to shake Johan's hand, then Judai's. "Judai Yuki, was it?" she asks him. "I'll looking forward to seeing how you duel as well."

Judai grins. "We've got an hour! We could always have a quick duel before you and Johan start."

"No." Manjoume Thunder folds his arms. "Don't distract Tenjoin. Let them prepare. But I will welcome your challenge after the exhibition."

Well, he'll take that too. Judai pumps his fist. Success!

Tenjoin and Manjoume head off, and Judai and Johan commandeer some of the low auditorium seats to start planning; a couple of the Gem Beasts appear as they talk, chiming in with their opinions on Johan's strategies.

For a military man, Cobra certainly is an effective inventor. Yubel watches as he sets up the abandoned laboratory's computer and pores over calibration readouts for the Disclosure Duel belts.

"Everything will be set for the demonstration," he confirms to himself before checking his watch. "It's due to begin soon. I'll give Judai your regards."

Make sure not to harm him, Yubel reminds him. The man nods and adjusts his uniform before exiting the room. Yubel watches him do that, too; it is all they have to do, until Judai comes to visit.

Yubel knows that they barely needed to remind the man; the man genuinely cares for Judai, both because Yubel has nudged him that way and because Judai truly is the easiest person in the world to love. Cobra would no sooner harm Judai than Yubel themself would.

Both of them have made the calculations: with the Dis Belts at full power, they could gather the required for Yubel to regain their body in a month or two. To do so, however, would be highly conspicuous as well as hazardous for the duelists – especially Judai, who will naturally be dueling his way through the entire island starting today. Neither Yubel nor Cobra are eager to drain him to exhaustion. Even at a much less obvious fraction of the energy drain, however, they should be on target to reach their goal within eight months.

And then it will just be the two of them. Three? At some point Yubel will need to deal with Cobra once he realizes Rick's revival was but an empty promise. Killing him would be the easiest solution if it wouldn't make Judai so terribly sad.

(Even if he doesn't truly need his father, when he has Yubel.)

No matter. They'll think of something, and then Yubel will have Judai all to themself.

And then…

He promised himself to them once upon a time, and he hasn't forgotten that promise. Someday soon, all will be as it was meant to.

Their eye is ever open, but Yubel allows themself to dream of times past.

Johan grins as he heads out to the marked-out arena. "I'll see you again in a bit!" he says cheerfully to Judai.

"Good luck, Johan!" Judai calls after him, and settles in to watch. His grin widens as Tenjoin starts to call out her first monsters, and as the duel begins he starts to remember a couple things about watching duels.

First, watching a duel always gives Judai the itch to duel himself. Sometimes he can act on that, and sometimes he doesn't get to. This time he won't get to, and it stinks.

Second, and more importantly…Judai loves rooting for his friends, but he also really loves seeing new people duel. And Tenjoin's Cyber Angels are so awesome, her plays bold and precise and the kind of in-your-face daring that Judai loves to throw himself against.

…He misses Austin. He knew he would, but not this soon.

"The West campus will be quiet without you. The principal may appreciate it, however."

"Heeeey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Be careful, Judai. I'll see you when you return for graduation."

Austin had approached him as a stranger and a family friend, back in their freshman year; apparently their dads knew each other. And in the three years since then they…well, Judai likes to think they've solved more problems than they caused back at the West campus. Overall.

For a moment Judai is so caught up in thoughts of his friend that he nearly misses a brilliant combo from Tenjoin, and he refocuses his attention on the duel. A few minutes later, Dad slips into an empty seat next to him. Judai smiles up at him. "Hey, you're late!"

"I was tending to something," Dad offers by way of explanation. "Yubel sends you their love."

And – oh, of course. Dad's always taken care of Yubel's setup, sensitive tech stuff that it is. Judai knows it hasn't been easy for them, coming to Duel Academia all the way back in Japan, but it seems like they're okay right now.

He shouldn't be lonely, Judai reminds himself. He has Yubel, and Dad, and now Johan. He's had a good time with Jim, too, and some of these Central campus guys look like they'll be pretty interesting to get to know better too.

Johan wins the duel a turn before Asuka can clinch victory, and an hour later Judai's facing down Thunder by the lake.

Chapter Text

Manjoume gripes about the Dis Belts cramping his style as they move to the lake by the castle, but Judai shrugs it off. Advantages of wearing his for three years now: the Dis Belt is as natural a presence as his duel disk.

"I'll take the first turn!" Judai announces once they're braced by the lakeside. "And I'll summon Elemental Hero Burst Lady in attack mode."

"Elemental Heroes?" Tenjoin asks from the sidelines. "I see. You use the same deck Edo Phoenix used before…"

"Huh?" Judai perks up. "Someone else uses Elemental Heroes?"

"A pro duelist who attends this school," Thunder explains. "If you stick by Tenjoin, you'll probably meet him."

"I can count on that!" Judai waves at Asuka, who smiles back.

"But never mind him." Thunder points a finger at him, and Judai sees confidence sparking in his eyes. "Right now, your opponent is none other than the great Manjoume Thunder!"

"Of course!" Judai files the information about Phoenix away and turns his attention back to the field. "First, I'm going to play…"

On the outskirts of the island, waves lap against rocks by a steep cliff.

Austin O'Brien brings his tiny boat to a stop and stands, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looks upward. At the top of the cliff is his best friend and rival, oblivious to his presence on the island.

At the top of the cliff is also the next part of his mission.

"Austin O'Brien, huh? Let…let's duel!" The boy in the red jacket stumbled awkwardly over the English, but he dropped his comic book to look up at Austin with hopeful eyes.

He'd scarcely believed Judai Yuki could be the son of someone as composed and authoritative as Professor Cobra. Almost as much as he scarcely believed the claims Industrial Illusions had asked his father, then him to investigate.

"Fine."

He'd treated them both seriously, anyway. And in both cases, he'd been surprised.

He removes some climbing tools from a large backpack before hoisting the pack onto his shoulders. It's going to be a long climb, but not one he fears. His father has trained him better than that.

"Thank you, Father," he murmurs as he sizes up the rough crag in front of him. Then he begins the arduous climb up Duel Academia Island.

"Man…for a bunch of little guys, the Ojamas sure pack a mean punch!"

Does it count as punching if they used their butts? Judai takes a fleeting second to be grateful he couldn't smell the Ojama Delta Hurricane that wiped his field out three turns ago.

Manjoume's also got some mean combos up his sleeve. With Ojama King out and one Ojama token left on Judai's field, he's only got one monster zone to work with. And with his Life Points at 400, he's got to end this soon before his opponent gets one more good hit with that Armed Dragon in.

"This is the power of the Genex champion!" Manjoume declares. "Next turn, I'll finish this!"

But

"We'll see about that!"

Judai draws…

And grins.

"All right!" he announces. "I'm going to fuse the Sparkman on my field with the Bubbleman in my hand, and summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero…"

Absolute Zero's first effect can't really benefit him right now, the hero alone on the field. His second effect though, that's what Judai's aiming for.

"...And with the power of Mask Change, he becomes Masked Hero Acid!"

Icicles burst out of the ground on Manjoume's side of the field, and Ojama King is tossed out of the game. The icicles melt into a wave of water that shimmers dangerously as it crests, taking out Manjoume's remaining cards as it crashes down.

Judai pumps a fist into the air. "How about that, Thunder? Absolute Zero freezes out your monsters when he leaves the field, and Acid washes away your spells and traps when he arrives. That's a Hero Delta Hurricane!"

"Why, you—!"

Austin dropped to one knee as his Life Points ticked down to zero, one last searing aftermath from Flame Wingman's effect.

"It was a good duel," he said. Duels with Judai usually were. He wasn't afraid to say that his mission had led him to the kind of fiery duels that his father would be proud of.

"Judai wins!" Professor Cobra declared. "He will be the one to accompany me to the central Duel Academia campus next year. I hope his example serves as a reminder of what all of you should strive for."

"Yes, Professor!"

"Nice work, Judai!"

"It was a close one!"

A shadow fell in front of Austin: Judai had run over to help him up. O'Brien took the offered hand, and Judai flashed him his signature gesture before reaching out his hand again, arm bent up in a familiar gesture. "Gotcha! I'm going to miss our duels next year, Austin."

They clasped arms, and Austin allowed himself to smile as he gave Judai a firm nod.

He'd known it was going to end that way, Austin reflects as he climbs. The battle had been real down to the final card played, but in the worst case Austin would have had to intentionally misplay and allow Judai the win for the sake of his mission. That doesn't mean the loss didn't ache, but it's led him where he needs to be.

"Gotcha! That was a fun duel, Thunder."

Judai stretches, and he's a little glad to see that Manjoume Thunder seems to be feeling the same light exhaustion that Judai feels after a duel. Judai had won the match by a hair, but both of them had given their all and that's the way he likes it. "I've never seen anyone play the way you do. It was real exciting!"

"The same goes for you." Manjoume crosses his arms coolly, reminding Judai again of his best friend back on the West campus. "Masked Heroes…"

Judai idly considers how much more natural the Japanese syllables feel even after five years in America. There's a lot of cool things about America – superheroes, burgers, really weird desert cryptid stories – but it's safe to say that the English language is not one of them.

"An unusual kind of deck," Manjoume says. "Edo Phoenix ought to be interested in you, too."

"It seems an unusual choice for you, Yuki," Asuka comments. "You don't seem like the type to hide yourself away much."

"Ugh, call me Judai." There's one more thing about American culture that he likes. "Anyway, that's not what masked heroes do!"

"It's versatile!" Jim announces in English, and stands up from where he's feeding Karen. "Every time I duel Judai he's got a new strategy."

"He does maneuver between the Elemental and Masked Heroes well," Johan agrees.

Manjoume squints at both of them. "How many of you has Judai dueled already?"

Johan and Jim both raise their hands.

"Well, what else are you supposed to do when you have all the schools' champions on the same boat," Judai pouts. "Anyway, Masked Heroes aren't about hiding yourself away! Featherman gets new abilities when he puts on a mask. It's like Power Ra—" Oh wait. He's not in America anymore. "It's a transformation!"

It's an explanation he's given half a dozen times at the West campus, debating the merits of Elemental and Masked Heroes. "The Masked Heroes don't stand by themselves. They're new faces for existing heroes."

…He'd stopped dueling a year after he sent Yubel into space. It wasn't fun anymore, when every night he'd see Yubel screaming in his sleep. Each card played was a reminder that Yubel wasn't with him anymore, because he sent them into space and space was hurting them.

Judai had never been able to let go of his deck with his favorite Heroes, but dueling had been a miasma of guilt and sleep-deprived misplays whenever he tried to bring them out. Even after he'd reunited with Yubel, he couldn't play their card; the link between it and their spirit was too tenuous after their ordeal in space, the demands of battle straining Yubel's already-weak spirit.

It had only been with Yubel's encouragement that he started dueling again. Even then, those first few months after picking it up had been aimless: dueling just for fun didn't feel entirely right anymore. But if not to have fun, what was he dueling for?

High school in America started a year earlier than in Japan, so in the case that Dad got his teaching position at the western branch of Duel Academia he'd planned to enter with Dad – reluctantly, at first. Still sorting out his feelings on dueling, Judai had wandered off while Dad was interviewing and bumped into a teacher who coincidentally spoke Japanese enough to talk dueling.

Professor Rabb had coaxed him into a duel when he found out Judai had ideas about attending, and although Judai had lost that duel the teacher had been impressed enough to show him the West campus's massive card archive – including the Masked Hero series introduced earlier that year. An American designer's take on a Japanese genre, apparently; it had been vaguely funny to Judai back then.

And then he'd laid eyes on Masked Hero Blast, and he knew what he wanted to aim for with his dueling.

"New ways to be a hero," he says. "That's what the Masked Heroes really are!"

It's nighttime by the time Austin finishes scaling the cliff and finds himself in the island wilderness, and the moon is high overhead by the time he identifies a spot free of surveillance. Austin sets up a tent for the night before taking out a sleek radio device, more state-of-the-art than the rest of his equipment. He checks the sky to estimate the time, then nods to himself and sets the dials on the radio before hitting another button and waiting.

A few minutes later, his employer's voice crackles in. "O'Brien-boy?"

"It's O'Brien," Austin confirms. "I've successfully infiltrated the island."

"Wonderful!" Pegasus cheers. "I trust you know what to do next."

"Yes." Austin's mission is the same as it's ever been for the past three years. "Expect a report within one week."

"I'll look forward to hearing it. And, O'Brien-boy…"

Austin knows what Pegasus is going to ask. "Judai is doing well. He was excited when he departed the West campus. If he had any thoughts about returning to Japan, he never told me."

"Would he have?" Pegasus' voice is soft with concern. Austin considers.

"Not directly," he states. He's reasonably certain about that. Judai never has been the type to tell anyone if he was worried about something serious, only expressing his true feelings when pushed. Austin himself can't claim to be the most emotionally intelligent of friends, but he's at least practiced with observing Judai in particular. "However, I would have seen it if he was afraid."

"All right, then." Austin respects Pegasus as an employer, despite his mannerisms. In the three years he's been on this operation, the man has never pushed the other half of this mission beyond the boundaries Austin laid out back when they'd first connected the dots about Judai's history. "I know you'll continue to keep an eye on Judai-boy. Make sure he's safe, hm?"

"Of course, sir. I'll report back with more information."

Austin turns off the radio and looks to the opulent blue castle, where his friend must be.

"Eh, so this is where we're staying?" Judai surveys the palace they call a dorm room. "This is all just for one person? It's way too big…"

Johan sets down his suitcase, and Judai has to admit that Obelisk Blue fits him a lot better than it fits Judai himself. Johan was made for blue. Judai, not so much.

"There's plenty of room for everyone, then," he points out. "Come on out, everyone!"

The Gem Beasts waste no time in showing up, Ruby sprinting around the room as Emerald Turtle takes a more leisurely tour.

Judai looks down at Yubel's card around his neck. He's been assigned a room between Johan and that Amon guy, but honestly…

He doesn't know where Dad set Yubel up yet, but he's pretty sure it isn't all that close to the blue dorm. He's…never stayed this far from Yubel before.

"Something wrong, Judai?" Johan asks.

He shakes his head. "Haha, it's just too fancy here! I wonder if I could get a dorm change…"

Chapter Text

"...And welcome to our school here on the original Duel Academia," Professor Satou finishes. "I see three of you here today. And where is…" He consults his notes. "Judai Yuki? Yuki Judai?"

"Ah, professor," Amon speaks up. "I saw Judai not long before your class started. He was called away on an urgent errand for Professor Cobra. He may not be able to make it today while helping his father."

Professor Satou frowns. "I see. Well, then…"

Amon sees Andersen's curious glance out of the corner of his eye, and resists the urge to smirk. It seems as if even Judai's best friend doesn't know what he's up to, then. And yet, Amon's work is already starting to pay off.

Not that Judai is necessarily on an errand for Professor Cobra, either. Amon did see him before class, but he'd last spotted Professor Cobra's son leaving the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm alone thirty-five minutes ago holding what looked like a rough sketch of a map of the island. Given that he'd been walking in the opposite direction of the main building where classes were held, chances are that Judai wasn't carrying out any sanctioned activity for the overseas representatives.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that he was acting entirely on his own. If it has something to do with the particular card that the professor possesses, it's certainly going to be interesting for Amon to find out what.

Amon makes a note to ask Echo about what she can track once they make contact tonight.

"And then I had to take the elevator down from the lab, go through the jungle, and get into this lab with Dad's key." Judai considers the logistics of the underground facility's construction from where he is sprawled on the (frankly uncomfortable) rolling chair and then shrugs. One of the things that hasn't changed across academies: KaibaCorp does what KaibaCorp wants, even if nobody understands why. It's working in their favor now though; with how remote this abandoned lab is, nobody's ever going to find Yubel here.

It will indeed be difficult for others to find us here, Yubel says. In the massive tube Dad's set up for them, their eye barely moves but Judai knows they're watching him. And watching out for him. But not impossible. Did anybody notice you leave?

Judai considers. "Well, the teacher whose class I skipped might know I'm gone. But I had to come find you, you know?"

Of course. He feels Yubel's affection resonate in their voice, warm and soothing. I am glad you came to see me, my dear Judai.

"Of course! No way a little hike is going to stop me." Dad's lab had been a lot closer back at West – half an hour's walk instead of the two hours it takes to navigate through the forest and down the lab – but Judai has no intention of letting that get in the way of the promise he made five years ago. He and Yubel have never been apart a day since he found them again, and he intends to keep things that way.

Professor Satou's class seems really skippable anyway. A guy's got to have priorities.

Yubel, for their part, seems pleased. I know it won't, they say. Truly, what could stop you?

It's hard for Dad to tell Yubel's moods sometimes, and sure a huge eye isn't exactly the most expressive to the average guy. But Judai always knows one way or another. Their presence in the card around his neck always feels a little stronger, more steadfast – like the Yubel of his earliest memories, rather than the phantom he made them into. Almost like things are how they used to be.

Almost like he's fixed the terrible wrong he put Yubel through, back then.

"Nothing," he affirms to Yubel. "The Disclosure Duels are going to help you and Dad with the research to regain your strength, right?" He's never understood the specifics, really. The part about grades and making sure schools measure the right parts of a duelist's performance is obvious. The part about studying duel energy and how it flows between duelists and card spirits…well, he's no scientist. He leaves all of that to Yubel's wisdom and Dad's engineering know-how, but the important part is getting Yubel back to normal.

Yes, Yubel confirms, though they both know it's true. Soon I'll be able to fight at your side the way I should.

"And I'll stay by yours until that time comes." He cups his locket and wills it to convey even a little bit of the gratitude he feels right now. "In the meantime, I'll keep dueling and doing everything I can to help you both."

I know you will, Judai.

Judai crosses his arms behind his head and leans back in his chair, far enough that Dad would chide him about tipping over, to gaze at the bubbles floating to the top of Yubel's tube. "Dad was right, you know. There really are some amazing duelists here!"

Are you having fun, my dear?

"I am!" Judai sits back up and spins in his chair, bursting with energy now. "There's so many new people to meet and duel. And people here speak Japanese, so it's easier to talk to people than it used to be at West. I didn't think I missed Japan that much, but…"

Even after five years, Judai has still picked up only enough of the English language to be able to duel in it and pass his classes. Mostly duel. It was really all he needed most of the time at West, but it had meant Judai had only really been able to hold more than basic conversations with Yubel, Dad, and Austin. (…And Professor Rabb, a little bit. Why was it all the military-type Americans at West who could speak Japanese?) Being able to talk with Johan and Jim, imperfect as their grasps of the language are, and people like Thunder and Asuka…

Yubel interrupts his thoughts, quietly. Judai. Even with all your new friends, you'll still come to visit me, won't you?

They're hurt now. He can feel it, a sort of fracturing in their spirit.

Judai stops spinning in his chair, so abruptly the impact nearly does throw him off the chair. "Of course I will! I meant what I promised, Yubel. I'll always be with you. Nobody's ever going to separate us, even if they tried."

The hurt smooths over, and he knows that Yubel is happy again.

Good.

"See, I'm sure those fossils'll be glad that you found them, too. Heck, even the heroes at the bottom of my deck want me to summon them!"

"Hahaha! I'm sure they hear your voice too, Judai."

They're obviously busy, Shou tells himself as he turns around to leave. No need for him to bother the champions of Duel Academia's sister campuses right now. Hard as it was to track them down on this part of the island, he'll find a better time. Yeah.

Then the crocodile lets out a croaking roar.

"Hey, who're you?"

Shou tries not to flinch as Judai Yuki hops down from the rock he's crouched on top of to stand in front of him. If everyone didn't know who the transfer students were, it would be easy to mistake Yuki for an Osiris Red student with his bright red jacket. It reminds Shou of simpler days – but this isn't the time for remembrance.

He pushes up his glasses and tries to feel worthy of the Obelisk coat he's wearing. "Um…I'm Marufuji Shou, of the blue dorm. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure. Just a minute, Jim!" Yuki yells up to the South champion, his last words in English.

"No problem!" Jim calls down in Japanese, and now Yuki's attention is fully on Shou.

"So what is it?" Yuki sits down on a rock lower to the ground and raps his knuckles on a spot next to him, and Shou moves to sit down next to him.

"You and Professor Cobra…" Shou pauses for a moment, thinking over his words. "You came up with the Disclosure Duel system, didn't you?"

"Eh…" Yuki wiggles his hand. "It was all Dad, really. But I'm always happy to show it off!"

Shou doesn't respond at first, tugging at his jacket before looking Judai over. "Then…why did your father create it?"

"Hmmm." Judai squints, then shrugs. "I guess he just thought some things could be done better. Like, West had a big problem where you'd have all these kids who did really well on exams! Graduated top of their class and everything. And then they'd go pro and…a year later, they'd quit."

"They quit?" Shou's eyes flick to the ocean beyond the island. "...What happened?"

Yuki shrugs again. "I dunno. I guess they found out they didn't love dueling enough, or something. Or they had a losing streak and decided to quit. The principal at West realized that test scores couldn't tell you if you could make it as a pro, you know? So he went looking for new ideas, and Dad came up with the Dis Duel system…"

"Do the Disclosure Duels test if you love dueling?" Shou looks at his wrist and the attached device. Professor Cobra hadn't really specified what kind of data he was collecting with them, but he'd assumed that win records were the easiest to track. "More than anything, it seems like it tests how much you can win."

"Well…" Yuki sighs and tilts his head in thought. "Yeah, if you lose a lot you might get demoted. But that shouldn't be a bad thing!"

"It shouldn't?"

"Yeah! It tells you you've got more to learn." Yuki lays back on the rock and smiles up at the sky. "I never won all the time, either. My rival at the West campus…he always keeps me on my toes."

"Your rival?" It makes sense that a guy like Yuki would have a rival. Shou has—

Shou just has people who leave.

"He's the coolest of guys on the outside," Yuki continues excitedly. "But he burns with passion on the inside. I knew it from the first time we dueled. And sometimes I win when we duel, and sometimes he wins. It never mattered so long as we fought with all we had."

Shou envisions his brother's face, the faintest flush of joy on his face coming back from his faraway training with Cyber End Dragon in hand.

"...My brother was like that, too." Shou kicks his feet, tracing a faint line in the dirt. "He was Duel Academia's greatest student. But he changed after he went pro."

He'd come to Yuki just intending to ask him about the Disclosure Duel system. But suddenly it all comes out: his elder brother, and his dark rebirth in the pro leagues. Shou's never-ending chase after his brother's example and his failure to live up, until he met his friends in Osiris Red. How Hayato left when he realized his calling as a designer in their first year, and how Rei was outed and expelled after the Genex tournament.

"What?" Yuki gasps. "That's a stupid rule!"

Shou nods almost automatically. He'd helped keep Rei's secret for nearly two years before she was discovered. "So now I wonder…how should I duel? What should I duel for? I still haven't decided, and now the Disclosure Duel system will…"

Yuki rocks forward to sit himself back up. "Ah. I get it now. Well, I'm not Dad, but I think…"

Far in the Duel Academia forest, Austin O'Brien listens to the boys' conversation through a bug he'd planted the previous week. The hint of a smile quirks his mouth as he remembers the conclusion to a duel long ago.

"Gotcha! Fun duel, O'Brien."

He'd been surprised at the time. Professor Cobra's whimsical son, the one who spent all his time reading comics and wandering the grounds, had just given him the toughest duel Austin had ever had outside of his own father.

"It was a good duel indeed, Judai Yuki."

O'Brien had offered him a hand to shake, and Judai took it.

He'd realized back then that his mission for Pegasus would be an interesting one, even if Professor Cobra turned out to be harmless after all. And now…even after three years, it's good to know Judai feels the same way about their rivalry as Austin does.

Burns with passion, he'd said. Austin is rarely one for flattery, but praise from a rival is enough to make him smile more broadly as he continues monitoring.

Chapter Text

Edo's on his way back to his yacht from the hospital when the unfamiliar voice calls out.

"Edo! Edo Phoenix!"

He looks to the source of the noise, naturally. He recognizes Tenjoin immediately in the distance thanks to their encounters the previous year, and it only takes a second to identify the mysterious Johan Andersen beside her. The speaker, however, is an excitable boy in red that the other two students are chasing.

The boy halts when he's roughly five paces from Edo and points a finger at Edo, like he's being accused of something. "You're Edo Phoenix, right? The pro duelist who uses heroes?"

Huh. It's not usual that anybody on this island fails to recognize him on sight lately. Between his career and the Genex tournament recently, Edo's reputation precedes him around these parts – although he finds that he almost can't complain about not being immediately known. "Are you a fan?"

"Sorry, Edo!" Tenjoin's caught up with the boy in red now, and she takes a second to lean over and catch her breath before straightening. "This is Judai Yuki, the transfer student from Duel Academia's West campus. He's a hero user like yourself, so once I pointed you out he got overly excited."

"Asuka, I'm a normal amount of excited!" Judai whines. "I never met anyone who used them back at the West campus, so plenty excited should be normal!"

"A hero user, huh?" Edo eyes the boy appraisingly. He would have disapproved of that, once upon a time. But he's not the person he used to be. And his father would have been disappointed if the breadth of heroes went to waste. "Well, you'll find I use a unique kind of hero."

Without thinking, he moves one hand to his deck holster. Judai's eyes follow it.

"Then show me!" Judai activates his duel disk in the space of a second, already readying his stance to draw.

Edo does the calculations in his head. He's got a match tomorrow, and he's stayed pretty late already to visit Saiou. He really ought to get going. He isn't really interested in Judai's skills, even the best of Duel Academia students rarely a match for a seasoned pro duelist; Andersen had been an exception thanks to Pegasus' praise and his ownership of the Gem Beasts.

But Judai Yuki, with his bright eyes and brimming enthusiasm…

He reminds Edo of a boy long ago, who gasped in awe every time his father presented him with a new design just for him.

Edo sighs and activates his own disk. "I suppose I still have time for a quick duel."

He isn't surprised when Judai calls out Sparkman, one of the standard Elemental Heroes. He does take pause when Judai brings forth his Masked Heroes.

"Interesting choice," Edo says as he surveys the situation. "I wasn't aware these were popular outside of Japan." Judai Yuki is a Japanese name, of course, but if he's a student at the West campus – and given the Western method of introducing his name – then he's more likely an American of Japanese descent. Are tokusatsu shows popular abroad, too?

Something Edo can't read passes over Judai's face, and for half a moment Edo wonders if he's committed a faux pas with his assumptions. But then Judai laughs and sets a card face-down, and the moment passes.

"Heroes are cool anywhere!"

And…yeah, they are. The transfer student has got a point there. It's only recently, when he started to use his Destiny Heroes, that Edo has begun to remember why they used to bring him and his father so much joy in the first place.

But enough nostalgia for now. Edo summons his first Destiny Hero, and promptly gets interrupted by Judai's excited gasp.

"Destiny Hero? I've never heard of that kind of hero before!"

"You wouldn't have," Edo says simply. He continues the duel.

And he wins, in the end. Edo has to hand it to Judai, the kid is better than he expected, but Edo is simply more experienced after everything he's done and been through. Bloo-D knocks Judai flat, and just a few seconds after his life points hit zero Judai springs back up with that same brightness in his eyes.

"Amazing! A new type of hero? And they're so cool! Where did you get them?"

In the distance Edo can see Tenjoin ushering Johan Andersen away and realizes he's missed his opportunity to duel the owner of the Gem Beasts yet again. It's…not as disappointing as he thought it would be, right now.

"Come with me," he says, and tries not to mind Judai's gawking as they board the yacht.

Edo tosses Judai one of his identical bottled teas as he leads the boy to the railing of the ship, overlooking the sea. Judai's still swiveling his neck every which way, clearly curious about the luxurious ship.

"Wow, so this is what it's like to be a pro." Edo's heard that before; Judai, unlike most others, says it without a hint of envy. "Hey, if you're a pro already then how come you're here anyway?"

Evidently Judai's awe hasn't slowed his questions much. Edo wonders if he might have hated Judai if they'd met a year earlier, when Edo had been so wrapped up in himself and his mission that he didn't realize what he really needed to do.

"I enrolled here with a friend," he answers. He doesn't want to get into the details right now. "And although it's not needed for my career, this place…has some pretty interesting people."

There's a lot to be said about the past year. Too much to say in a single conversation with a stranger, even a stranger who also likes heroes.

Judai doesn't seem to mind the vagueness, instead settling down to uncap his tea and gaze out at the glittering waves. "It does, doesn't it?" he says. "I'm really glad I got to come here. I've met so many new people! People who can see—" His head jerks, and he turns his attention back to Edo. "Uh, I even get to meet other hero users! Like you! I've never seen the Destiny Heroes before today."

"You wouldn't have." Edo takes a long drink of his tea, glancing back towards the island – and the forest where Saiou's hospital room sits in the distance. "The D-Heroes were only ever produced once. By my father, before he died."

"Your…dad?" Judai's eyes widen.

Edo smiles. It's a soft smile, the kind he couldn't have managed before everything that happened a few months ago. It doesn't hurt as much to talk about it anymore. "Yeah. My father worked at Industrial Illusions. I've always loved heroes since I was a child, and…"

"Your dad worked at Industrial Illusions?"

Edo pauses. That isn't really the part he expected Judai to ask about. "Yes. He was an artist and card designer, until his death."

"Oh! A card designer." Judai laughs, but it doesn't have his previous energy behind it. "I guess that makes sense. Anyway…so tell me more about the D-Heroes?"

Edo's got a feeling there's more to his question, but he'll figure it out in time. For now, this is a conversation between two hero fans. "Well, it started when I was small…"

"...And that concludes my report." Austin falls silent, allowing Pegasus a few minutes to consider and respond. There hasn't been much to report so far. Mostly he's been tracking Judai's and Professor Cobra's movements and located the facility where Yubel is being held. Judai is diving headfirst into life at the central campus and made fast friends with several people, but still makes daily visits to Yubel's facility despite the trek involved.

All in all, it isn't much different than life at West had been. Pegasus has suspicions about Cobra's intentions coming to the central campus, though, and Yubel is…suspicious as always, to say the least.

"I'll be telling Yuki Eisuke that Judai-boy seems to be doing well," Pegasus starts. "He's been worrying after his son more and more, you know, ever since your news about the exchange program."

"Yes, sir." Austin considers, and adds something of his own concerns. "But the Yukis will not be coming to Duel Academia."

"No, no!" Pegasus smiles widely. "Yuki may be worried, but we all understand the delicate situation at hand. I think we would all like Judai-boy to enjoy his year at Duel Academia."

Austin relaxes a fraction. One of the other things he appreciates about Pegasus as an employer: the man respects the judgment of those he trusts, and that includes weighing his spy's opinions against that of his longtime employee. He's aware it must not be easy to keep Judai's birth parents from interfering, but the situation is delicate.

Judai has already run away from home once, after all, and that was after years apart from the partner he valued so much. What would he be willing to do now, after all this time?

"...And he said his dad used to work at Industrial Illusions, too. Before he was murdered. It's…pretty messed up."

At this point, Dad's given up hope of convincing Judai not to lounge on the ground in front of Yubel's tank. Instead he's procured a tiny cot from somewhere, so Judai can lay down and watch bits of mystery substance bubble through the tank while he cradles Yubel's card in its locket.

Yubel watches him as always, a comforting presence like a thick blanket wrapped around his heart. Judai inches closer to the glass while rolling on his back to stare at the ceiling.

"...You should have seen him, Yubel. Edo seemed really happy talking about his dad. And he seemed like a good dad! It sucks that they didn't get the time they should have had together, all because of some jerk."

It's a horrible thing to happen, Yubel agrees.

"And, I dunno. It doesn't seem fair that Edo lost his dad, and here I…"

Do you want to find your own parents?

"No way." Judai flips open his locket, looking over the familiar curves and sharp edges of Yubel's illustration. "That'd be no good. But…"

There's a distant other world, he thinks, where things are different. A world where he never sent Yubel away to suffer in space, and a world where his parents accepted him and Yubel instead of resorting to terrifying medical procedures to try and make him forget his partner ever existed. A world where maybe one day his birth father took Judai with him to work one day at Industrial Illusions, and maybe he met a boy his age with silver hair and a shared love for heroes.

A world where he and Edo could have been friends, back then. And maybe it wouldn't have saved his dad, but…

Judai. Yubel's voice is gentle. You are not weak for mourning a relationship that could not be.

It figures they know what he's thinking. "I don't want it to feel like I'm betraying you or Dad. I'm happy here. Even if I like Duel Academia, I don't want to go back to…them."

Most of Judai's worst memories are the long nights of watching Yubel burn in his dreams, sobbing apologies to his partner for what he'd done and pleading with uncaring flames to let them go. But the night he overheard his parents talking about some kind of treatment they'd tried to get him as a child, to erase his memories of Yubel, and trying to do it again…that ranks high on his list of worst memories, too.

He doesn't know what kind of person he'd be if he forgot about Yubel. He doesn't ever want to be someone who could forget about Yubel. Judai runs a light finger over their card and takes a moment to imagine that other life he could have had. Then he closes the pendant and pulls out his deck.

Masked Hero Blast stares up at him, crimson scarf flapping in an unseen wind.

Remember, Judai. I will always be at your side, Yubel reminds him. Nobody will come between us. And I know you would never betray me, dear. You've proven that time and time again.

There's another distant world where his parents did make him forget, and who knows where Yubel would have ended up then? How would he have ended up? That world is too dark and terrifying to think about for long, and Judai discards the thought of other worlds entirely.

He adjusts the tiny pillow on the cot and rolls onto his side, placing a palm on the glass of Yubel's tube. "And I'll keep proving it. Thanks, Yubel."

Of course, Judai. Thank you for finding me.

There's enough time in the day for a nap before he has to get back to the Obelisk dorm, Judai thinks, and he dozes off with Yubel's eye watching over him.

Chapter Text

It's been forty-two hours since Amon was last in contact with Echo. Not unusual at all, Echo is more than competent enough that he isn't worried about her safety, but Amon still makes a mental note to radio in to her later tonight. By then she should have the analyzed results of the biometric measurements from the Disclosure Duel he'd taken part in last week. He has his suspicions, but Echo should be able to confirm them tonight.

Heavy footsteps alert him to the approach of one of his targets.

"Amon." Professor Cobra's voice behind him is deceptively friendly. "I see that you've only participated in one Dis Duel so far this semester. Do you take issue with my teaching policy?"

Amon falls into his pleasant philosopher's smile. "No, far from it. It's just that, because I've been studying dueling theory, I may have neglected putting it into practice."

The professor's hard stare tells Amon that he isn't going to take that excuse. Amon does his best bookworm impression and keeps up his smile.

The professor turns away soon enough. "Very well, then. In the next week I will be collecting interim Dis Duel reports. If you fail to show any results within the week…I may just be forced to send you back to the East campus. I would prefer to spare the heir to the Garam family such embarrassment. Are we clear?"

Would he prefer that, now. "Thank you for letting me know." Amon bows politely and makes his exit, already planning. There's a few things he wants to confirm, but he has a couple ideas of what Professor Cobra might be planning – and what Amon can do to counteract those plans.

"Cogito ergo sum."

The passphrase gives Amon access to the data Echo has uploaded to one of the Garams' secure servers. Echo herself still needs to be reached by radio, so Amon double checks that he has the right frequency before dialing in to call.

"Amon." Echo's voice crackles slightly over the radio, but it's still the familiar voice he's known for all his time with the Garams. "I've completed our analyses of the Dis Belt data you sent over. I assume you've seen it already."

"I'm looking at it now," Amon confirms as he browses through the schematics. "So my suspicions were correct. These Dis Belts serve as energy absorption devices."

"At maximum absorption the energy drain can be fatal," Echo reports. "One duel would kill you. Right now the drain is much lower – about fifteen percent of its full absorption potential."

"It's subtle." Amon thinks back to some of the conversations he's eavesdropped on over the past three months. "At the current levels, any fatigue students notice after a duel is usually chalked up to the strain of fighting." The more diligent of Duel Academia's students are taking to heart Professor Cobra's directive to prioritize focus and passion. The man's son has been nothing less than the poster child for it, making it his goal to duel every student on the island if the rumors are to be believed.

It's actually quite ingenious in a way, to trick students into believing the symptoms of energy drain are marks of success in the metrics Professor Cobra claims to be testing. Amon's been suspicious of the Disclosure Duels since the start, but now they're beginning to see the fuller picture. "What kind of energy is it collecting?"

"Duel energy, as you suspected. It's quite advanced technology, actually." Echo sounds almost impressed. "It builds on the last decade of research from Albert Zweinstein, translating and converting energy carried over a distance through electromagnetic waves. Whoever built it knew what they were doing."

"And Gabriel Cobra is good with technology, as his son tells it." Amon still hasn't figured out whether Judai Yuki is in on his father's schemes. He's leaning towards not, given how freely the boy talks about his father and a variety of other subjects, but he wouldn’t call it certain. He still hasn’t figured out where Judai seems to go every night, after all.

"Do you think this has to do with our objective?" Echo asks.

"I suspect so." Amon looks through the schematics again. "Professor Cobra must be collecting this duel energy for something. And although it isn't yet confirmed, it very well could be related to what we seek."

Even the American military hasn't been able to entirely suppress information about the mysterious card at the center of a top-secret disaster. Amon's sole purpose coming along for this yearlong field trip is to find that card for the Garam conglomerate. Although they still haven't been able to learn exactly what powers that card holds, they're no doubt potent – and something the Garams will want in their hands instead of others'.

The Garam conglomerate has had the resources to track the rumors to Cobra, and it's not impossible that others are seeking the same now that Cobra has left his home turf on the West campus. Amon is sure enough that the youngest brother of the Manjoume group isn't one of them despite everything, but he's keeping an eye on that situation all the same.

…Speaking of which, though, he's certainly noticed that the youngest Manjoume keeps some particular company. Whether or not it's a lead, it might warrant a second look yet.

"I'll see if I can get any information from Cobra's son," Amon says. "As far as I've been able to determine, he isn't involved with the creation of the Dis Belts. But he is involved in something that may lead us to our goal."

Judai Yuki loves everything Duel Monsters, after all. If his father is in possession of a powerful Duel Monsters card, then even his fool of a son who runs off to the forest every night may know something about it. Possibly more than the boy himself knows he does.

There are plenty of ways to lure fools.

That decides his agenda for the next few days, then. "Echo, I'll contact the Garams for additional resources. I have a plan for how to get the information from him."

"You're contacting them?" Echo's voice seems to waver for a second – though then again, it may just be distortion from her location underwater.

"Yes." Amon nods confidently to himself. He's proven himself well enough that the Garams won't hesitate to allow his use of their resources.

"...All right." There's a crackle of static on Echo's end. "I'll be waiting for your next contact."

Amon smiles, and this time it's genuine. "Until then, Echo."

"Was Judai busy?"

No plan survives contact with the enemy, Amon reminds himself as he plasters on a genial smile to consider the space next to Johan Andersen. It's his job as the Garams' operative to adapt.

And isn't it curious, that Tenjoin seems almost glad that the boy isn't here judging by her strained smile. "Oh, he got an urgent message from his father and had to leave. He must not be back yet."

"I see." Amon considers Echo's report on the Dis Belts, and his suspicions regarding Professor Cobra's intentions. "Did he say anything about his father? Should we be concerned?"

"He never mentioned what the message was," Johan says. He shrugs, unconcerned about his best friend's whereabouts. "Judai runs errands for his father all the time. I'm sure he'll be back soon enough."

"Hey, don't go in there!" Judai shouts at a monkey. Judging by how this one is wearing an unwieldy-looking helmet and leading a pack of fellow monkeys, he's guessing this one is the leader.

Man, at Duel Academia even the monkeys are something else.

The monkey types something into an equally massive gauntlet attached to its arm. "Stand aside," a mechanical voice drones. "We do not wish to hurt you."

Judai glances behind him at the elevator down to Dad's lab. "Well, you wouldn't be out to hurt people down there, would you?"

One of the monkeys screeches.

Judai groans internally. At least they aren't geese. The ones at West still attack him and Austin on sight.

"Judai's always bragging about how his father invented the Dis Belts," Manjoume gripes. "Something about his time in the military."

"Has Judai ever happened to mention how they work?" Amon raises his wrist nonchalantly, ever the curious academic. "It does seem to be quite a feat of engineering, if it can transfer data from our duels anywhere on the island."

"You think he knows?" Manjoume shrugs. "Professor Cobra may know technology, but Judai hates computers."

Well, that isn't much of a surprise given his observations of Judai so far.

"Hey, get off!" Judai shouts, flailing his arms upwards as he backs up toward the elevator. It's not easy given that there's two monkeys grabbing on to each limb. One falls off as he sweeps an arm out, but out of the corner of his eye he sees it scramble up and towards the elevator. "Hey, get away from there!"

"Judai's rather close with his father, isn't he?" Amon smiles gently as Jim laughs over recounting a mishap involving one of Judai's errands for the professor.

"They're family," Jim says agreeably. "Their bond is almost as strong as the one between me and Karen here."

The crocodile growls in agreement from its place on Jim's back.

"Has he ever mentioned anything about helping with his father's work? Surely he can't be just helping with the dueling."

"Every day." Jim is quite swift with that response, to the point of curtness. "He's a good son. Judai always smiles when he leaves to find his father."

"Has he mentioned what kind of work they're doing?"

"No." That response is curt, and Jim eyes him analytically. Amon switches the subject to the terrain of Duel Academia island, and the unique weather patterns that appear around the volcano.

"I'm sorry, I really am." Judai raises his arm to activate his duel disk, letting it fan out with a whir and a click. "But I can't let you guys down there."

The monkey activates his own duel disk, and draws.

"His father's deck?" Johan echoes. He looks thoughtful for a moment. "I know Judai's dueled him plenty of times. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't have. Judai's mentioned he has a rough time if he doesn't take care to prevent his father from setting up his cards properly…but I don't think he's ever mentioned exactly what kind of deck Professor Cobra uses."

Amon masks his frustration with polite blankness. "Curious." He pauses, and checks the time. "It's even more curious that he would be so late. I thought he would be interested in the tournament my family set up…"

"Ah, well." Johan finishes up shuffling his deck, slotting it into his duel disk and looking over to his opponent for the quarterfinal round. "I'm sure he has a good reason, or else he would definitely have come. I would have liked the chance to face him now, too."

Judai swipes one of the blank keycards Dad gave him across the scanning pad next to the door.

"This is…" It's not hard to make the connection between the angular equipment SAL's got on him and the equally brutal-looking equipment installed in this room. "You used to be here."

"Yes," SAL types into their keyboard.

Oh.

Judai sighs. "Well, I can't let you down that elevator. But I won't stop you guys if you want to do anything up here."

SAL regards him for a long moment. Then he types: "That is acceptable."

"Judai!" Dad calls from the other side of the topside facility.

Oh, yeah. Dad's been blockading the other entrance this whole time. He might want an update on the current status of the monkey invasion.

Judai starts sprinting. "I'm coming! Dad, hold on!"

Judai Yuki shows up at the party at exactly nine fifty-three in the evening, hastily adjusted jacket failing to hide signs of physical exertion. Half the students have retired to their rooms by now, including several of his friends, but he quickly finds Jim Crocodile Cook stargazing with Karen by the window and strikes up a conversation in the two's odd mish-mash of equally broken English and Japanese.

Amon isn't entirely sure why they bother with that, aside from gestures at immersion. But it isn't his business, and when Judai comes up to the food tables a few minutes later Amon takes his chance.

"It's good to see you made it, Judai."

Judai has the good grace to look vaguely sheepish about using a near-empty food platter to heap the various buffet offerings onto. "Hey, Amon! Have you seen Johan around?"

"He retired to his room about half an hour ago." Johan had still been looking around for his friend when he left, although he seemed to have accepted that Judai would be absent the whole night. "He did admirably in the tournament, you should know. Second place in a rematch against Tenjoin Asuka."

"Whoa, really?" Judai bounces on his feet, then grabs for one of the appetizers that tries to roll off his platter. "I have to congratulate both of them later! I'm sorry I missed it."

"Ah, yes. You were helping your father with something, weren't you?" Amon watches Judai's face carefully. There's…something that flits across his face for sure. Fear? Frustration? Is the relationship between the two more fractured than Judai's friends seem to believe?

"Yeah," Judai laughs hollowly. "It's all taken care of now. And hey, I made it in time to catch the end of the party!"

"Is there anything left that I could help with?" Amon puts on his pleasant philosopher's mask again, although he isn't sure how necessary it is when Judai seems more interested in gauging the food on his plate than in talking about his day. "Your friends say that your father seems to ask for your help quite often. It must be a strain on your schedule."

That gets Judai to look up at Amon. "Huh?" A few seconds tick by, and then his mouth forms an O of understanding. "Oh! Nah, it's something I have to do myself. And I'm always happy to do it."

"What exactly is it that you're helping with?" Amon asks.

He sees it then, the way Judai's posture stiffens for a moment before he grabs a spring roll and pops it into his mouth. "Oh, you know. Just taking care of things. It's always good to have some time together, you know?"

Judai Yuki's blitheness is as smooth as glass as Amon tries to prod him, but it clouds over with vagueness the longer they go on. By the time he exits with a heaping platter of buffet leftovers, Amon still hasn't decided whether he's an idiot or a mastermind.

"I'm still uncertain about Judai Yuki's involvement," Amon reports over the radio. Echo can envision the frown on his face from the tone of his voice. "He defies understanding, even to those who know him." He grunts, a sign that he's especially agitated. "I'm no closer to discovering the location of that card. The Garams won't be pleased with these results."

You don't need the Garams, Echo wants to shout. You have the intelligence and the skills to rule their empire better than any others among the Garam inner circle. Better than any other in the world. Why are you still chaining yourselves to them?

"I'll look into Yuki's history," she says out loud. "The background check we ran on him turned out to have certain oddities. Further investigation may lead us to what we're looking for."

Maybe, once they have the rumored card in Professor Cobra's position…maybe once they have that, then Amon will realize his own potential.

It's her job to protect him until he does.

"And it was a lot more relaxed than Obelisk," Judai chatters to Yubel in their tube. "The view of the sea is way better too, and the rooms are cozier. Did you know, in the red dorm they bunk up with each other? Three to a room! I thought only a few people lived over there and that was why Amon left them out of the party, but they came pouring out when I showed up with Amon's food last night. I could have had roommates this whole time!"

Dear. Yubel's fond exasperation would have been loud and clear even to a stranger. To Judai, it's like tucking himself in at night and twisting himself into funny positions to get comfortable. You've never wanted for roommates before.

"Yeah, because we never had any at West! Everyone had their own rooms! And I mean being near Dad was always good, but…" Judai flops over on the back of the rolling chair. "I dunno. It sounds like fun. Maybe if I'd been here from the start, in the red dorm…"

Judai stares dreamily at the ceiling as he propels himself in a lazy circle around the machine holding Yubel's tube. "It feels a lot better than my room in Obelisk, to be sure. It always seems too stuffy in there."

Would you like to stay in the red dorm?

"Huh…" Judai contemplates that for a moment. "It'd be nice, yeah. It'd be a lot more fun, I think. I could try fishing. But I don't think I could stay there forever, either."

Why is that?

He gives them a big grin. "Because Obelisk is closer to you! It takes long enough to get here as it is. If I stayed at the red dorm, it might be hard to see you every day and still make all my afternoon classes. And I could skip them, but if I skip too many then Dad's going to get mad and…"

Yubel is quiet as he theorizes exactly how Dad would make him regret skipping classes while they were here on the central campus. (He's got ways.) And then:

I am glad that you are happy to be close, Judai. Their presence is solid inside that tube, warm and content.

"Of course I am." Judai spins around in his chair, catching a glimpse of a clock as he does. "...Crap! I'm gonna be late for class." To Dad that's as bad as skipping, so he better get going.

"See you, Yubel!" he calls as he dashes out the door. Without looking, he knows that Yubel is following his path out.

Professor Samejima watches over the camera feeds in his office as Judai Yuki sprints into the lecture hall with three seconds to spare, throwing a cheery salute at his father before he climbs the stairs to sit next to Johan Andersen.

"He cut it close again," Austin O'Brien observes from behind him. He closes his eyes, a fond smile tugging at his lips.

"He does seem to always make it," Samejima observes, before he gets on to business. Digging around in his desk, he produces a map of the island and shows it to O'Brien. "If there's anywhere on the island Professor Cobra would set something up, of course it was at that laboratory." He points to the spot in the jungle where the former SAL lab is located. "Tenjoin Asuka alerted me to its existence two years ago. It would still have the infrastructure you speak of."

O'Brien raises an eyebrow as he looks over the map. "You don't have any details on the facility itself?"

"KaibaCorp handled the situation, and they assured us that it was taken care of." Perhaps not the most adequate explanation, but at the time there had been other matters to tend to. "And shortly after that was the incident with Chairman Kagemaru, so we didn't have time to investigate ourselves."

O'Brien nods, clearly not wholly satisfied with the explanation but willing to accept it. "And you don't have any plans to do anything with that lab in the future."

"Absolutely not." And if Professor Cobra has set up his operations there, then it's time to look into getting the place fully decommissioned once it's safe.

O'Brien studies the map once more and hands it back. "Thank you, Principal. Professor Cobra will likely have security set up around the area so it will take time to investigate, but I'll let you and Chairman Pegasus know once I've learned something."

"Of course, O'Brien."

As O'Brien disappears into the passage under his desk, Samejima contemplates Judai Yuki as he nudges his friends and whispers something in Jim's ear.

Chapter Text

"...He's an interesting guy, that Judai Yuki. If we'd met last year, I'm sure I would have hated him."

Edo lets out an amused hmph and leans back on his hands as they sit on the beach. He's got a light in his eyes that Saiou hasn't seen in a very long time.

No, he has seen it once before. Just not from within his own body.

"Right now, all we can do is brave the rain and walk through this storm!"

"It's been a long time since I saw you make another friend," he observes mildly. He wonders if he ought to feel some sort of jealousy about it, but – not now, or not yet. "If the two of you are agreeable to it, I wouldn't mind having a meeting with him as well sometime in the future."

That catches Edo's attention, and his old friend looks at him in concern. "Do you feel up to it?"

It's a matter of social cost as well as physical, as they both know. In all probability Takuma Saiou is still not a popular name on this island, even if the reign of the Society of Light has been painted over and forgotten with the excitement of the transfer program. Judai Yuki has been dueling his way through the entire academy, as Edo tells it, and he seems to be friendly enough. Still…

Has he been forgiven? (Has he forgiven himself? Edo has, but…) Even months later, Saiou longs for his foresight even knowing that it was its strongest at his worst times. Even a simple meeting is a gamble, and so often when it comes to social matters he and Mizuchi have always come out on the losing side. He does not appreciate feeling blind.

"I would prefer it to be just the three of us," he admits. "But I am curious to meet the boy who's inspired such interest from you. And, perhaps, I would like to thank him."

He'd never known Edo before his father's death, but in the two months since Edo met Judai Yuki there's been a sort of wonder in the way he talks Saiou imagines that a very young Edo might have had once too. That boy is to thank for that.

Edo's smile is kind and understanding. "All right. I'll talk to him."

"Electro…mag…netic waves?"

Jim had said the complicated word in English, and Judai sounds it out carefully. He knows that word, "electro" easy because that's Sparkman's kind of language. Magnetic is… "Oh! Like physics."

"Yes." Jim holds up a device of some kind: something with a needle, so some kind of measurement thing. "Every time someone completes a Disclosure Duel, their Dis Belt sends out a massive amount of electromagnetic energy."

Judai scratches his head. "Isn't that just sending the data Dad talked about? Stuff about our dueling performance and all."

"Not just that. Even accounting for that, the Dis Belts send out enough energy to transfer whole gigabytes of data."

"Giga…" Huh, that's a lot of data right? Not that he really knows what Dad's system needs.

"Are you sure it's the Dis Belts generating this energy?" Asuka asks.

"Very sure, Tomorrow Girl. Karen is sensitive to that kind of energy, and she reacts every time a duel nearby finishes. I've confirmed the results with another student on the island sensitive to electromagnetic wave activity – whoo, has he got a story! – and we're positive it's the Dis Belts."

"Huh." Judai's never heard of anything since Dad started testing out the system, but then would he have even understood if Dad told him?

"Are the Dis Belts unsafe?" Asuka is looking to Judai now, and he shakes his head vehemently.

"No way. He's been using them for four years, since I started at the West campus, and nobody's ever had problems with them before." And it's not like there weren't a whole bunch of other weird phenomena at West, but…

(He wonders how Austin is doing back there. He'd always been the brains of their adventures, analyzing situations with Judai as his eyes into the spirit world. Judai likes to think Austin misses him, but he's sure his best friend is getting along just fine without him too.)

"It could be something else on the island." Jim covers his mouth with one hand, clearly thinking. "What if something out there is sending out a signal that the Dis Belts are reacting to?"

"And the Dis Belts are in turn generating extra data to send," Asuka adds, catching on. "It may be worth investigating. If so, we should notify Professor Cobra once we determine what's going on."

"Leave that to me!" Judai points a finger at himself. "Can you track where this energy is going, Jim?"

"I can," Jim confirms. He consults the measuring device he's got in his hand, nods to himself, at points. "The signal gets stronger in that direction."

He points into the forest. A very familiar part of the forest.

Judai realizes all of a sudden that he might have made a mistake.

"Hey, Jim, do you think there are any fossils calling out for you right now…?"

Karen is, indeed, growling louder and louder the deeper they go into the forest.

"Should we feed her?" Judai wonders out loud. "Maybe it'll help her calm down."

"No." Jim looks behind him to check the bandana tied around Karen's eyes, but otherwise leaves her be. "In this state, even I couldn't feed her right now. Sorry, Karen."

Well, that distraction hadn't worked. Neither had questions about the guy Jim had mentioned, that Kenzan guy in the yellow dorm who runs a dinosaur deck apparently has a dino's leg in him, which is seriously cool.

Nor had Judai's questions about Kenzan's deck, or a whispered plea to his deck to find their own ways of creating distractions. Unfortunately neither Jim nor Asuka can see spirits, although Judai wonders about Jim a little given the way he touched his eye whenever one of Judai's deck spirits was around.

Judai eyes a familiar tree as they pass it. This is the way to Dad's lab, all right.

Judai Yuki does seem indeed to be a poor saboteur after all, Amon observes from his position in the trees. He's tried no less than four times to redirect the group's attention or path, but Jim is set on his investigation and Judai's attempts have all been to no avail.

This does seem to answer his question about whether Judai knows of his father's extra activities. How much he knows isn't certain, but he knows something at least.

Interesting data for future observation. He could turn back now, but if they happen to lead him to Cobra's lair then all the better.

Asuka gasps as the massive building comes into view. "This is…"

Judai tenses.

"SAL's lab!"

Judai stumbles.

"What?" He hopes that came out as more confused than incredulous. Asuka doesn't seem to pay it much mind, at least.

"In my first year, we came upon an illegal animal testing operation here on the island. According to what the principal told me, they'd originally been contracted by the KaibaCorporation to study duel spirits and trained a monkey to duel."

"A. A monkey?" Judai's brain scratches to a halt.

"Yes." Asuka frowns. "Manjoume would know more, but supposedly animals have increased sensitivity to spirits. A dueling monkey was the research operation's first step towards finding a way to study duel spirits more reliably."

"A dueling monkey…spirit research…here?" Judai tries to put the pieces together, but as Asuka talks her voice is drowned out by the memory of a dozen screeching monkeys.

"...And after that incident the principal notified KaibaCorp about the lab, and they cleared out all the researchers and shut the research down. Have they come back?"

"That's what this place was for?!" Judai mutters to himself under his breath, voice strangled.

"What was that, Judai?" Jim asks.

"Nothing…"

All of a sudden, Karen starts growling.

Spirit research. Watching the group talk from his place in the vents, Amon doubts that Professor Cobra's operations have much to do with monkeys, but if he truly has the card he's rumored to possess…it's not out of line, that the fringe sciences of spirit research are involved here.

But just what card are they dealing with? Five months and Amon has gotten no closer to identifying what it is.

Judai Yuki is the key here, whether as Professor Cobra's weak point or as a knowledgeable conspirator in his own right.

Amon activates the recording function in his earpiece to better pick up the conversation below, but it's only a few seconds before Jim's crocodile starts growling, then thrashing about on the boy's back as she starts snapping at the air.

"Karen!"

Everyone on the ground scrambles, faced with an agitated crocodile.

"Jim, I thought you said the blindfold would calm her down!"

"It does! Something new must be disturbing her!"

"Uh…hey, Karen! Do you want a tasty snack?"

On a hunch Amon deactivates his earpiece. And it could be that Judai Yuki's offer of jerky – why is he even carrying that? – is what appeases the crocodile, but Amon decides not to take any chances tonight.

He knows where the lab is now, and he's certain this place holds the secrets he's been looking for. As long as Amon's careful, returning at an opportune moment won't be a problem.

"...And we found one of the machines SAL and his friends wrecked last month, Dad. Apparently it uses a lot of electromagnetic waves too, so Jim figured that was the source of whatever was going on."

Professor Cobra nods contemplatively.

Judai collapses into the other chair in Cobra's makeshift office. "That was a close call! And thankfully that was all upstairs, so nobody checked the elevator or anything. Man, I was really sweating when we walked in…"

"I believed in you, my son." Cobra smiles and pats Judai on the shoulder. "You are clever when the situation calls for it."

"Yeah, well, it was scary to me." Judai hangs his head over the back of the chair, catching sight of a photo on Cobra's desk in the process. "Hey, that's a new picture."

"It's one I haven't displayed recently." Cobra likes to rotate photos of Rick, just to remind himself of the vibrancy of his first son and the light of the boy he's working to bring back. This one is one of his most cherished, a trip they'd taken together to the beach one summer just before he'd been deployed again. Rick is building a sand castle in this photo, careful as an architect but with the joy of a child.

It makes his heart ache with longing, which is why he's put it out now. So close to achieving his goal, he cannot falter now.

"Hey, Dad." Judai's examining his Dis Belt now. "Is all that electromagnetic wave stuff really connected to the Dis Belts, or not? I didn't get all of what Jim was talking about, but it seemed like it might be."

It won't hurt to tell him, Cobra thinks. Then he remembers that pest, the Garam boy, who's been sniffing around lately.

"Your friends were almost correct," he says instead. "I did notice that machine when I first found this laboratory. It emits a frequency close to that the Dis Belts use to transfer data to the central server, which is why your friend must have identified them as the same."

"Oh. Okay, then." Judai clearly doesn't get it, but that's little surprise because it was a nonsense explanation anyway. Cobra doesn't want to lie, but to keep his son safe from those who might try to use him…

"Go on and see your partner, Judai." He dismisses the boy with a sharp salute. "I know you want to."

Judai brightens, and leaps to his feet. "All right, thanks Dad!"

Soon, Cobra thinks as he watches Judai dash off to the room where Yubel is kept. By the time we return to America, Judai, you'll be able to meet your brother for the first time.

Chapter Text

"And how is Judai-boy?"

Austin contemplates the radio as he considers his answer. "From what I've been able to observe, he's still getting along well with the other students. But he's still more protective than anything of Yubel, and by extension Professor Cobra's work."

He remembers the day Judai had introduced him to Yubel, back at the end of their first year at the West campus. Austin remembers the consternation of it: he'd spent the entire year trying to determine what the professor knew and what his son knew, getting dragged into Judai's orbit if mostly willingly, and Judai had just…led him into the professor's secret office, and the mysterious tube within.

"I've never told anyone about this before. But, Austin…I want you to meet my partner."

Yubel had never trusted Austin, and to be honest he respects that they shouldn't have. Between his mission for Industrial Illusions and his observations of Judai with the students of Duel Academia now, Austin realizes just how significant of a gesture it had been when Judai trusted him with the existence of that fragile piece of his partner.

And if Judai had been slow to trust him with Yubel's existence, the story of how he came to be Professor Cobra's son is one Judai never told him. Pegasus has informed him of the details since, and knowing the history between them has only solidified the delicacy of the situation.

"Go, Benten! Angelic Turn!"

Benten's piercing effect tears through the last of Judai's life points, and he drops to his knees from the impact for a second.

"Winner, Asuka!" Shou announces into his microphone, throwing a hand up in the air. "Congratulations to our victor for this year's cosplay duel tournament!"

Cheers go up around the crowd, mostly red dorm students with Judai and Asuka's friend groups crowded together at each end of the arena.

Judai walks up to meet Asuka in the middle of the arena for a handshake, Asuka returning his grip with a fiercely proud smile. Judai flashes her his signature Gotcha pose once they're done. "Thanks for the fun duel, Asuka!"

"It was good getting to face you as well, Judai." Asuka's smile, almost closer to a smirk, softens. "Thank you for inviting us here today. Shou invited us here in our first year, but last year with the Society…" She shakes her head. "It's good to be here one last time, before we graduate."

"That Black Magician Girl didn't show up again, though," Shou moans as he comes up to them, microphone now turned off. Their other collective friends are approaching as well. "I was hoping she'd come again now that the school is safe again. I wonder if she graduated? Maybe she was an upperclassman…"

Judai doesn't catch the tail end of Shou's thoughts, because he's busy tilting his head at the roof as he fiddles with his Masked Hero Blast scarf. "Black Magician Girl? Isn't she up there?"

He points at the Black Magician Girl sitting on the roof. From the "Ah!" in the distance, he knows Johan can see her too.

"Black Magician Girl?" Shou shouts, flailing as he cranes his head up to look at the roof. "Where is she? I don't see her!"

Black Magician Girl spots Judai and perks up. She waves, blows two consecutive kisses at him and Shou, then blurs into an orb of light before flying away.

"...Uh, there she goes, I guess." Judai waves after her, although he's pretty sure she isn't around to see at this point.

"Where?"

"She flew away?"

"What Judai is saying," Johan cuts in, "is that the Black Magician Girl he just saw was a spirit. You might have been visited by her during the cosplay tournament two years ago, too."

"Whaaaaat?" Shou starts flailing again. "I gotta tell Rei—"

He stops flailing. "Oh."

Judai's never met Saotome Rei, but he gathers she meant a lot to Shou before she was kicked out of the school. Maybe one day they'll get to meet for real.

"Just write her a letter," Manjoume snaps. "You've got her address."

"Black Magician Girl, huh?" Johan muses, looking out at the sky where her spirit had disappeared. "She must like it here if she keeps visiting."

"The spirits are having a fun time today," Judai agrees, surveying the area. Perhaps buoyed by the festival spirit and the students' collective love for Duel Monsters, the school festival today is full of spirits exploring out and about, playfully hovering around their duelists or having their own encounters with other spirits unknown to those same duelists.

He's made sure to duel every student at Duel Academia over the past six months – now including that long-lost upperclassman in the jungle with the Tarzan hair who'd had another encounter with SAL and his crew the other day. He knows every student in the school now by the snapshots of them he's captured through their duels, and through their hearts shining through in the decks they've chosen for themselves. He's finding he can match just about every spirit he's seen today to someone he's dueled…

Except that blue thing floating high above the dispersing crowd, watching as students chatter and filter away from the arena.

"Hey!" Judai calls out to it. "Who are you?"

"Judai?" Asuka looks at him curiously.

"There's a spirit." He points up at the little blue spirit, even if Asuka can't see it for herself. "It's blue and square, with a question mark for a halo…"

"That's Moke Moke," Manjoume says. "I have one of those from the well."

"More spirits, eh?" Jim adjusts his hat as he looks at the spot Judai's indicated. "You do seem to attract them, Judai."

"Me? No, they're always here." Judai shrugs. "I bet Johan and Manjoume could say the same thing."

"Not me," Manjoume grouses, batting away one of his Ojamas. "I've only started seeing them since our first year."

"I've been able to see them since I was young," Johan says. "Same as Judai."

Oh, Judai doesn't actually want to talk about his childhood right now. "Yeah. I was the only one who could see them at the West campus, but my friend Austin—hey, it's leaving!"

Moke Moke is indeed floating away, crowd mostly gone at this point. "Where's it going?"

The good news is that it's not floating off in the direction of Dad's lab, which Judai is a little paranoid about now after the adventure with Jim a few months ago. The…interesting news is that it's not headed in the direction of the school, either.

Without really thinking about it, Judai begins running after Moke Moke.

"Judai, wait!"

He ignores Johan and keeps following the spirit. Is there someone new to meet, at the end of its path?

"Judai?"

The space in front of the red dorm is curiously empty. Edo wonders if he's been overly cautious in waiting for the crowds to clear out, and Judai's already left for another part of the festival.

Saiou, for his part, seems curious himself. "I don't believe I've seen this dorm before," he remarks to Edo. It makes sense; the Society of Light had taken over the blue and yellow dorms, but left most of the red duelists as the school's rejects. "It's…quaint."

"That's the red dorm, all right," Edo mutters. He pulls out his PDA and types a message to Judai.

Underground, Judai does not hear the beep of a new message.

"What is this place?" Johan asks.

"Shoo! Shoo!" Manjoume screams, grabbing at the chickens on his head. Shou tries to make a grab for one and gets pecked for his troubles. Karen roars on Jim's back, and most of the chickens scatter.

"Whoa…" Judai stares at the giant yellow metal orb they've found suspended in a bunker underneath the chicken coop, mechanical railing slowly extending out towards the orb's entrance. "Is this where they keep the chicken that lays the golden egg?"

"No, that's in a special corner of this area," Manjoume says, shoving the last of the chickens off of himself. "This is—well, I don't know what it is."

"Are we sure we should be here?" Shou asks, voice wavering.

"The spirit did come down here," Johan points out. "Although, I have a feeling this isn't a typical spot for students…"

"Is this another of KaibaCorp's ventures gone wrong?" Asuka wonders. "Like the SAL lab…"

"I want to see what this is," Manjoume declares, and that's that.

The walk across the metal railing is strangely silent, the off-beat footsteps of five people echoing too-loud in the air. The entrance to the orb is protected by a keycard lock, and Judai groans once he sees it. "Aw man, how are we going to get in?"

"I've got it." Manjoume produces a keycard from somewhere in his jacket. "I should still have administrative privileges from our first year."

"What?" Shou's shocked yell bounces off the walls of the bunker. "Professor Chronos gave you that much access?"

Manjoume's face reddens. "It was only proper to repay him for back then! And the school was short-staffed after the Dark Scorpions left. There wasn't enough faculty on the island to cover all the necessary responsibilities, so I took it upon myself to lend Professor Chronos my many skills."

"Teacher's pet," Shou mutters. Manjoume ignores him and swipes the card.

The doors slide open, the group walks in, and…

Below them, water. Above them, a perfectly blue sky painted on the walls. A light breeze blowing through the insides.

"Oh, wow!" A soft voice exclaims from the center. There, atop a tiny island, a young boy sits up from his position laying on the ground. The Moke Moke is floating about in his vicinity, accompanied by the spirits of a few other low-level fairy monsters. "You're not the professor!"

"The professor?" Manjoume asks.

"Professor Chronos," the boy says with a smile. "He and the principal come by sometimes. Sometimes some other people, too…but you guys are students, aren't you? No, I'm not sure about you and you and you…"

He points at Judai, Johan, and Jim, who of course aren't wearing Academy uniforms.

"Oh!" Judai exclaims. He points to himself. "We're students from other schools. I'm Judai Yuki, from the West campus!"

Johan and Jim also introduce themselves, and then the Central students.

"Oh…well, it's a pleasure to meet you." The boy smiles brightly, and then gestures to the ground next to him. "I'm Mokeo Motegi. Do you want to come relax with me?"

"That sounds good," Shou chimes in before Johan steps in front of him.

"Hang on a second. Motegi…that Moke Moke over there is your partner, isn't it?"

"Huh? Yes, he is." Motegi looks up at the spirit, still floating on an unknown path in the breeze. "I met him one day, um…" He counts on his fingers. "Three, four, five…six years ago? I was a first-year at Duel Academia, and I wanted to change the way I dueled. So I was looking through cards in Ms. Tome's shop, and…"

"You were a first-year six years ago?" Asuka asks. Judai wrinkles his nose as he does the math. That means, uh…high schools in Japan go only three years, don't they?

"Yes! The school moved me to this dorm when I met Moke Moke. People started acting strangely after I dueled them, so…"

Judai's blood chills in his veins. "Acting strangely how?"

"Ah, well…" Motegi's evidently decided that the conversation they're having is enough effort, because he lays back down on the ground. "They lost all their worries."

"That doesn't seem so bad," Shou says hesitantly.

"I don't think so either!" Motegi beams. "But the school was really upset when people started leaving, and moved me to this dorm…"

Faces flash in his mind's eye. Osamu. Emiri. Honoka. Kazuto. Harumi. All the neighbors who dueled him. Yubel's presence as he visited them in the hospital, dark with rage and hurt.

The faces of the children who refused to duel him, and the teachers who whispered rumors about him. The emptiness of his childhood home, when everybody stopped coming to play.

He remembers KaibaCorp's contest, and Judai's naive decision to try and send Yubel away to help them.

Judai grips at his neck, Yubel's card still in his locket. Their presence feels stronger these days, much stronger than the whisper they'd been when he first found them again five years ago.

Dimly Judai is aware that Johan and Motegi have started a duel, but for once in his life he can't pay attention.

"You know, one of the patients in Risako's study dropped out last week."

"What are you saying?"

"If I entered Judai as a subject now…"

"The memory treatment? It was a risky move last time, and it didn't work out."

"But look at him. You know he can't go on like this."

"It's been five years. Even if the treatment worked, how much would Judai lose? What will that do to him?"

"It can't be worse than what he's going through now. You know how sick he's been. He's barely staying in school these days. It's not just the past five years we need to worry about, but the rest of his life."

"When you put it like that…"

"I'll talk to Risako. It might fall through again, but if we can get Judai that treatment…"

Saiou and Edo are making the trek back to the beach hospital when they come across a boy in a red jacket unlike those of Osiris shuffling his way past the Obelisk lake. Edo startles when he sees him.

"Judai! Where have you been?" Edo's question starts sharp and tapers off as he takes in the boy's condition. From the address Saiou gathers that this is Judai Yuki, the transfer student Edo spoke of who failed to show up for their scheduled meeting.

But the vivacious young man Edo spoke of is nowhere to be seen before them. Judai Yuki looks up at them with dull, unhappy eyes and then forces a smile that even Saiou, never so well-versed at reading humans as much as their futures, knows is false. "Oh, Edo! Hey! Sorry, we got caught up in something. But this is your friend, right? Saiou?"

Judai makes a show of waving, and a card pendant swings about on his neck. Saiou finds his attention suddenly drawn to that pendant.

Edo, for his part, seems wary of his friend's behavior as well. "Judai, are you all right? You're acting strangely."

"Me? No, I…" Judai reaches for his pendant. "Sorry, Edo. I forgot about our meeting. I've got to go find…my dad. To help him with something. How about we meet up another time?"

Edo frowns. "It wasn't easy to get out to the red dorm, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Judai says halfheartedly. "Sorry."

"Judai Yuki, isn't it?" Saiou asks. He sees the boy stiffen immediately. "You have…a strange energy about you."

"Saiou?" That's Edo, a slight note of alarm in his voice. It's true that Saiou hasn't had his old powers in some time now, but that pendant…this is the only explanation he has for this sensation. Is Judai afflicted by something?

Smooth, warm plastic. A sudden jolt, like static electricity. Saiou realizes that without consciously moving, he's approached Judai to take the pendant in his hand.

He stares at the pendant.

He doesn't resist when he's pushed away, just lets himself stumble backwards in shock. "My apologies, I didn't mean—"

Judai is already running away.

Underground in their laboratory, Yubel knows something is wrong with Judai before he approaches.

Their beloved arrives earlier than usual for his normal schedule, let alone a festival day Yubel knows he planned to spend with his friends. A fight? An enemy? They'd felt the sour impression of sharp panic through their recovering bond, the moment he enters the range of their sight – head down, shoulders hunched, flinching at every bird's call or crunch of vegetation underfoot – Yubel knows for certain that something has gone very wrong.

I am here, Judai, they call to him. The tension in Judai's shoulders eases slightly as he raises his head up, and his pace quickens.

Judai practically leaps towards their tube as soon as he enters the laboratory, wrapping both arms around the warm glass and letting his cheek smush against it.

My, they remark to break up the tension. I am happy as well to see you as well, Judai. Tell me, what has you in such distress?

The words spill out of Judai's mouth. A boy who can see spirits, imprisoned underneath Duel Academia for strange powers affecting those he dueled. The joy he'd had that day, the students' love for dueling and for their decks near-tangible in the spirits they attracted, sharply reversed when he saw what exactly Duel Academia was capable of when handling people like him. People like them.

(Yubel had done the right thing eleven years ago, after all, if this was how the world was going to treat them.)

"Why does it have to be like that?" he shouts, forehead pressed to the glass in front of their eye. "He's been there for six years. Since you and I…since Mom and Dad…"

Judai fears the memory procedure his birth parents would have put him through, for good reason. To forget their relationship, their history, all that they had together – without such a thing, Yubel has no idea what would be left of either of them. To force him to forget, to turn him into somebody else, to lock him away or justify such alterations of his very self…

Yubel will not allow it.

"I'll protect you, Yubel," Judai promises, and Yubel once again hears his old promises from a life forgotten overlaid onto his feelings. "No matter if it's Mom and Dad, or Duel Academia, or anyone else. I want to stay with you! I won't ever let anything hurt you, or take you away."

Inwardly, Yubel glows.

I know, Judai. And I will protect you from those who would try to harm you for who you are.

(Yubel and Judai both have their purposes in life, and they will fulfill those purposes.)

Chapter Text

Judai Yuki is surprisingly hard to find, all of a sudden.

Admittedly, Edo doesn't have many contacts at Duel Academia to call on. Really, he's only more than cordial with Tenjoin Asuka, thanks to everything that happened last year; and with Johan Andersen, out of professional interest. Johan looks frustrated when Edo asks, so he drops it. Tenjoin mentions that Judai has been moody since the festival, and gets a worried look on her face as she mentions it.

That things changed during that festival isn't something new to Edo, but it is interesting that Tenjoin is aware of it as well. "Did something happen?" he asks.

"We…" Asuka frowns. "We discovered something that disturbed him. I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Suspicious, but Edo's most concerned about his friend right now. (And isn't it strange, that now he has more than Saiou and Mizuchi to call that word.) He's mostly met Judai around the docks or by the beach, because usually Judai comes to find him first. But now…

He eventually finds Judai leaving class one day, or rather skipping class. It seems like he's left the last one of the day and is heading into the forest for some reason. If Edo were more curious he'd watch and see why, but right now he's on a mission.

"Judai!"

Judai startles and whips around. "Oh. Edo. It's just you."

"Just me." Saiou isn't here, mostly because it's something of a strain on his body to keep going out this far still but also in part because he isn't sure Judai will be comfortable in his presence. "I'm here to give you a message for Saiou. He wanted to apologize for the other day."

Saiou had, with consternation, admitted that he had little memory of reaching out to grab Judai's necklace. He'd been more than a little spooked about it, and they'd both held their breath for a few days vigilant for any sign that the Light of Destruction had returned. It seems the malevolent force is still gone, though, and now Saiou is more guilty about the encounter than anything. Nothing about that incident had gone the way either of them wanted.

Judai seems surprised by the apology, for some reason. He takes a step back, one hand going to his pendant. "It's…fine. Just tell him not to do it again."

"He won't," Edo promises. "He was worried about you, but he isn't usually like that."

"Huh?"

"Saiou is…a private person." Edo's got the feeling that they all are, for whatever reasons. "He wouldn't have normally done something like that if we hadn't…" He sighs. "There's a card I own with a dark history. He's recovering now because of a bad encounter with that card."

Judai's eyes widen. "You too."

"What?"

"Never mind. I've got to go. Dad needs me for something."

Judai turns and starts walking back to the main building, rather than the forest. Edo doesn't try to stop him.

"I'm going in today," Amon reports over the radio.

It's unnecessarily hasty, for him. Echo doesn't like the sound of this; they're still in the middle of investigating a lead on Judai Yuki, something about that KaibaCorp contest a decade ago. Her source won't get back to her for another three days. "Has something hastened the timeline?"

"Judai changed course from his usual route. He'll be delayed going to the lab. This is our opportunity, and I intend to take it."

A change in routine. Likely a disturbance of some kind, or some measure of precaution. That's a double-edged sword. Amon should know better than that. "Are you sure? We can afford to wait another week."

"No." That word hangs between them for several seconds. Eventually Amon fills in the gap she knows is there. "...Mother wants an update sooner than that."

Of course. Echo knows that Amon obeys the will of his family, no matter how heavy the chains he shackled himself with weigh him down.

"I'll be on standby at the edge of the island. Send a signal if anything goes wrong, and I'll be there to back you up."

"Thank you, Echo."

The gratitude in Amon's voice is real. Echo just wishes any other of his feelings were, too.

"Is something wrong, Judai?"

Judai rolls over from his spot laying on the roof, still shuffling through his deck. "Nothing."

Johan knows something is wrong. Judai has never been the most forthcoming person, but he's nearly shut down ever since that day at the festival.

He sighs. It's been a week, and he feels like it's time to force the issue. "I know you're bothered about that kid, Judai."

No answer for a long moment. Ruby hops off of Johan's shoulder and delicately steps towards Judai, curling up by his shoulder. Judai's back is turned to him now, but Johan can still see his posture relax slightly.

"Aren't you bothered, Johan?"

Johan is perhaps the least affected directly by the discovery of Motegi Mokeo of the three able to see spirits from that day, but that's only because the others seem to have more going on. Manjoume had been in shock over discovering his mentor's involvement in the matter, and two days later Asuka had spotted him having an argument with Professor Chronos. And whatever was going on in Judai's head that he'd just wordlessly left during that duel they had…well, nobody knows. Not even Johan.

And as for himself?

Topaz Tiger sits on the edge of the roof alongside Burst Lady, both watching students mill around on the ground below. Emerald Tortoise is taking a nap a few meters from Johan's leg. Ruby Carbuncle is still prowling around Judai's body as he lays there, uncharacteristically quiet.

Growing up able to see spirits, with just the Gem Beasts for family…it suits Johan just fine, but he's seen some of the same qualities he observes in himself in Judai despite the fact that Judai obviously has a loving father. It makes it easy to understand each other, but Johan occasionally wonders at the how even if he understands that what Judai isn't interested in sharing isn't his business.

Judai too lives in a world of spirits. So does Motegi Mokeo. The difference between them and Motegi is that something is uncontrolled in Motegi, something that bleeds out to those around him. Johan had seen it when they faced each other, everyone else falling asleep as he and Motegi dueled, even if he doesn't understand the hows or whys.

"Of course I'm bothered," he says to Judai. "I've been thinking about it a lot the past week. I'm sure you have been, too."

"Yeah." Judai, once again, does not elaborate.

"It's not fair that he's being kept down there." Johan thinks of his ambition – the encounter with Tom, the dream that he hasn't told even Judai about – and knows that this is his chance to begin acting on those ideas. "He deserves help, and Duel Academia doesn't know how to give it. But maybe we can."

Judai's head rolls to the right as he lays on the ground, interest piqued. "You want to go back down there?"

"I think we should talk to the principal. We—"

"No."

"—might be able to…Judai?"

Judai sits up, but doesn't meet Johan's eyes.

"I don't want to talk to the principal."

"Well, I suppose we could try and do it without his help. But we'd need to depend on Manjoume's help to get in, and the school might have added security to that place now that they know we were there in the first place. I know your father is in charge of the exchange program, but we're still guests at this school. It might go badly if they catch us sneaking in a second time."

"Whatever."

This is…moodier than he's ever seen Judai. He laughs a little, hoping it will help Judai. "Although, maybe it's better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission in this case…"

"Do what you want." Judai abruptly stands up and heads for the stairs. Ruby trills, racing after him before circling back to Johan. "Just leave me out of it, if you get involved with him."

Burst Lady throws a sympathetic but unhelpful glance at Johan before trailing her duelist out.

Judai knows he's not being fair to Johan. Knows that Johan deserves better. He can't give better right now.

He heads in the direction of the reject well Manjoume told him about a while back, his favorite place to circle around to if he's feeling paranoid about being followed. (He's been feeling paranoid a lot, lately.) It's in a different direction from the lab, which means getting there is going to take longer but won't lead people to Dad and Yubel. The encounter with Edo yesterday hadn't turned into any real problem, but in this school…yeah. It's better to be safe.

And to be honest, it's nice to go down and take any cards that have shown up at the bottom down to Manjoume's room. Every time he's been in there (which is all of twice, because most of the time Manjoume makes a ruckus when someone tries to enter) it's been filled with chattering spirits that Manjoume loudly insults before sliding Judai's retrieved cards into a carefully maintained collection.

It's good, to see spirits find a good home. Seeing Manjoume with the well spirits reminds Judai to be better with his heroes.

Burst Lady, for example, is leaning down to peer into the well right now. "Nobody's here," she observes. "But there are still a few cards down there."

That's strange. Usually card spirits in this well are eager to come out and investigate anyone who might adopt them into new decks.

He's getting a bad feeling about something right now. He glances around: looks like there's nobody around, so it's safe to go check on Yubel.

Johan knows something is wrong once Judai doesn't show up for dinner. Asuka checks in with him discreetly, and Johan fills her in on their sour parting that afternoon.

"It's probably fine," he reassures her. "I'll go look for Judai. But can you give me your notes for Professor Kabayama's class later?"

Johan knows Judai likes to go out to the wilderness to think sometimes. He's seen Judai head off dozens of times before, so he knows what direction to go as an educated guess for finding him. He's fifteen minutes' walk into the forest when he spots a vaguely familiar banana tree. It's…he's seen this before, but it takes a moment for him to place it.

"We were here before," he murmurs to himself. "That time we were looking for something with Jim."

On a hunch, he starts heading for that old monkey lab. Or…what he hopes is the direction of the monkey lab, anyway.

"Your father's real famous around some circles," the man is saying to Judai as Johan creeps up on them.

Johan evaluates the field. They're late in the duel; Johan's sense of direction has struck again. Right now Judai has the numerical advantage at the present moment, but judging by the two heroes caught in a net on the other man's side he's fallen into a trap at least once.

Judai's remaining three heroes are fanned out on the field in formation. They're not in a straight line like their cards on Judai's disk are. No, they're forming ranks to protect their duelist from the unknown man in front of them.

"‘Course, he's not the only one," the man continues. "But rumor has it he's got a powerful card with him, and I've been trying to investigate it for years."

"Huh? Dad's deck is public knowledge." There's audible confusion in Judai's voice, almost a measured amount.

The man just smiles slyly.

Judai's face twists, and Johan decides it's time to jump in.

He makes a show of rustling the bushes he's in. "Judai!"

"Johan?" Judai casts an alarmed glance in his direction. "Get out of here! This guy is an enemy."

The man's eyes widen briefly, and his smile widens as he looks Johan up and down. It's not a good kind of smile; he looks like a cat who's come upon a cage full of canaries. "Johan Andersen, eh? The owner of the Gem Beasts? I heard you'd been running around with Yuki here."

"He hurts spirits!" Judai's voice is panicked as he steps towards Johan, his spirits moving to stay in formation. "Johan, don't let them near your family."

The man laughs. "Oh, I've had my eyes on the Gem Beasts for some time now."

And the story he tells next is one that involves Johan as an unwitting actor, way back that time with Tom and Jerry Beans Man. It's an incident so important he's never told anyone about it, even Judai, and now…

"See, I've done whatever I could to look into that Rainbow Dragon," Giese taunts. "Don't believe me? Then, why don't I tell you where you'll find Rainbow Dragon's stone tablet? It's where the rainbow ends – at the Valley of the World."

Giese turns his eyes to Judai again. "And you. Judai Yuki. I think after all this time…everyone's been after the wrong person. Tell me, kid, how long have you been able to see spirits?"

"Why should I tell you?" Judai bites out.

"See, I've been researching you with the professor. Your records in America are locked up tight. But in Japan there's still a trail…"

"That's not important." Judai isn't moving now, except for his trembling hands. His eyes are dull.

Johan is keenly aware, all of a sudden, that he doesn't know Judai's history. Never asked, never wanted to know what Judai didn't want to venture.

"You won a contest when you were a kid, didn't you? Made up some new friends to send up to space."

"Shut up!"

"Tell me, Judai Yuki, why is it that you don't seem to have a spirit partner?"

Silence. Judai's hands are full-on shaking now, and he stares at the bare ground as he speaks next. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

And Johan knows he has to do something, to save Judai from everything that's hurting him right now. "I'm joining this duel." He activates his duel disk, sending a silent apology to his family. He's putting them in danger, but they wouldn't stand for this either. Johan isn't going to let Judai down just to protect his own, and he can't let his family down either.

Judai protests, but Giese just laughs. They hash out the terms: Giese gets Life Points added to his total. Johan can't attack on his first turn. It won't be easy, but he'll manage. Both him and Judai will.

Judai, for his part, is silent. He barely talks throughout his next turn, except to declare his plays. He takes a brutal chunk out of the Life Points Giese received with Johan's entry, but Giese doesn't seem threatened at all.

"Not so brave are you, now? Just like a cornered animal, knowing they're caught but too stubborn to accept their fate."

"My stubbornness is the one good thing about me. I end my turn."

The thing about a tag duel, to their benefit, is that Giese's strategy falters in the face of multiple enemies. His field simply can't keep up, and soon enough he's out of options.

"Finish him off, Judai!" Amber Mammoth bellows from Giese's side of the field.

"I'd think twice about that if I were you," Giese says, and pulls out a card from his jacket rather from his deck.

Jerry Beans Man.

Johan's blood boils as he lays out the threat. He trades glances with Judai, whose eyes are dark with thunderous rage.

They can't let any of this stand. Giese can't get away with this. But Johan doesn't see a choice. "I switch Sapphire Pegasus—"

Something flits through the air. Giese shouts, dropping Jerry Beans Man as he clutches his wrist, and Judai dives for the card.

(Up in the trees, Austin O'Brien closes his eyes as soon as he assesses the situation is safe. It's true that he had to act quickly to ensure Giese's threat was neutralized. But now he's left evidence behind, if somebody finds his Volcanic Shell.)

Within minutes, the duel is over.

"The truth is," Giese admits from the ground, "I also had a spirit I formed a bond with. But the card – my friend – was stolen from me. I lost my friend, and the pain to my heart was just too much to bear. So I closed off my heart."

Johan starts. "Even you did…"

"I mean, humans just don't deserve to form any bonds with spirits." Johan isn't sure Giese has even heard him. "There's just no one in this world who has the pure heart it would take…"

"No, you're wrong. That's—"

The Dis Belts on Judai's and Johan's wrists flash. Giese doesn't have one himself, but he groans anyway and is enveloped in light.

There is no body left behind.

"What…" Johan glances at Judai, who's been silent this whole time. His eyes are shut now, his hand clutched around the pendant on his neck. "Judai?"

"A pure heart, huh," Judai mutters.

Johan considers all the things Giese has said tonight, trying to shake Judai's resolve. There's a picture there, waiting to be pieced together if he wanted to try…

But he doesn't want to. Judai will tell him about his history if he wants Johan to know. It isn't as if Johan's told Judai everything about himself, either.

So instead of prodding, he walks up to the empty space where Giese's body used to be and picks up a stray card. Had it been one of Giese's poached spirits?

He tucks the Volcanic Shell into a pocket to look at later and carefully moves into Judai's space, telegraphing his every move as he supports the back of Judai's shoulders with his arm. "Let's go back to the dorm, Judai."

"I can't… I have to…" Judai is still trembling. His head jerks slightly before he shoves his head down, hair hanging over his eyes. "...Just let me message Dad, first."

Judai…where is Judai?

Judai's abandoned them. Judai hates them. Judai's going to leave them alone again, to be stolen away by mysterious intruders, and Yubel will exist forever as this awful fragment of a horrible thing unloved by the world. The cold void of space stretches before their eyes, and the fires of the Light of Destruction sear their skin—

(He's betrayed them, again.)

That man's voice slowly meanders into their hearing. "Yubel. Judai has sent us both an alert. He encountered a dangerous intruder on the island, and fears for your safety."

Another intruder?

They'd thought it was Judai approaching the lab, but it hadn't been him. It had been someone with a great darkness in his heart, one of the students from overseas. Yubel had weighed their options, and alerted Judai's father just in case the intruder meant harm to their beloved.

Judai still has not come. Judai has…Judai has warned them. Judai is trying to protect them.

"Yes," that man confirms. "I have not yet told him of our…other unwanted visitor tonight, but it seems tonight is a dangerous evening on this island."

Darkness gathers around the man's heart, protectiveness and anger and desperation not to lose his son for the second time. Yubel understands, although his love for Judai is but a shallow pool compared to their ocean's depths.

"He says there's no longer anything to fear from the second intruder, but he will be staying away from the lab tonight out of an excess of caution. Judai sends his love, in the meantime. He'll be back tomorrow, once he's sure that it's safe for him to come."

He sends his love. Judai does love them.

(What if someday he changes his mind?)

He wouldn't.

The world comes back into focus, Professor Cobra's brow furrowed in concern.

Send him my love as well. Thank you.

"I should have been better."

Echo can't stand seeing Amon like this. They're crouched deep in the forest, far from the laboratory Amon had fled from after Professor Cobra had gotten ahold of his presence.

"I'm going to have to report this failure." Amon grits his teeth, but his anger is directed only at himself. "Mother, Father, Sid…how can I face them with only this to show for our work?"

Forget them, Echo wants to say.

You can do better, she wants to say.

You're wasting your greatness like this, she wants to say.

You could rule the entire Garam business empire if you wanted, she wants to say.

She would tell him all of that in an instant if she thought Amon would listen. But she's known ever since watching Amon kneel in that medicine shop that Amon's chained himself to that family so deeply that he can't even conceive of what would be left if he were to try and forget them.

Forcing himself to forget his own worth, turning him into somebody lesser, locking his own ambitions away…

Echo would say that she hates the Garams. But more than anything, she knows that this Amon she can't stand to see is Amon's own creation.

In his hospital room, Saiou shuffles his tarot deck and spreads out his selections again.

The Devil, upright. The Lovers, reversed. The Hanged Man, upright.

It's the same selection as the past five times he's conducted this test.

He shuffles the three cards back into the deck and hides it before Edo returns.

Chapter Text

"Don't you have class?"

"I'm skipping right now."

Edo doesn't attend classes because he and Duel Academia have a mutual understanding about his priorities as a pro and as Saiou's friend. Judai, as far as he knows, occasionally runs errands for his father and has a slightly contentious relationship with a particular teacher over it. He also usually runs his errands in the afternoon, not first thing in the morning when Edo's yacht is pulling into the harbor.

Judai also hasn't come out to see Edo for over a week, ever since that time Edo tried to apologize on Saiou's behalf. It's been a bad week, judging from his face: the dark circles under his eyes give away his poor sleep, and Judai's downcast eyes and neutral expression are a far cry from his usual exuberance when greeting Edo.

He's here for a reason, Edo guesses. Maybe a reason related to the last conversation they had. "Come aboard. I'll get you some tea."

Food and drink don't seem to improve Judai's mood much, which is another point towards something unusual going on. Judai sips slowly at his cup of tea, staring at Edo over the rim as he does.

Edo waits for a moment once he sets it down. Then another moment. And then:

"You said you have a card with a dark history. What is it?"

And, huh. That…hadn't been what Edo expected him to bring up, but then again Judai had had a strange reaction to his mention of Bloo-D the other day:

"You too?"

Still. Edo's hand tightens on his own cup. He sighs. "...I'll tell you because you're you, Judai."

Judai, to his credit, doesn't falter at his tale of stolen souls and a malevolent corrupting force. Edo takes out Bloo-D, its dark power reined in now under Edo's ownership compared to the palpable malevolence he'd felt in that fight against the man who once claimed to be Edo's adoptive father. The straightening of Judai's posture and the disturbances in the air slowly taking on shape in the corner of Edo's eyes confirm his suspicions: Judai has dealt in the supernatural side of Duel Monsters before.

"You can feel it, can't you? Maybe you can even see it, the darkness contained in this card."

Judai looks up at Edo, taking his eyes off Bloo-D in Edo's hands for a moment. "You can see it too?"

Edo waves a hand in a shrug. "A little bit. It's not very strong, for me, unless I'm looking at my D-Heroes. But the D-Heroes are mine, and…Bloo-D is a powerful card."

He's been holding Bloo-D out for Judai to inspect, and Judai has had the good sense to keep his distance and look without touching. Edo retracts his hand now to study the card once last time before slipping it back into his deck, and he practically feels the roiling power of his father's last legacy.

Judai has withdrawn as well, now leaning back to grip his necklace and the card pendant on its cord – a locket, open now for the first time Edo's ever seen. Judai studies whatever is within, looking at Edo warily and returning his eyes to those precious contents multiple times.

Edo waits for his decision. Eventually Judai turns around the locket and shows its contents to Edo, clutching the locket close even as he reveals what's inside.

It's a Duel Monsters card. Yubel, a rare card discontinued around a decade ago. Still legal to play, but very few were ever produced. And this one…

Edo frowns. Something feels off about the Yubel card, compared to a normal Duel Monsters card. There's a sense of presence not entirely unlike Bloo-D's there, but…different. Uneven, or fractured.

"Yubel's powerful, too." Judai's voice is flat. "When I was a kid…strange things happened when I dueled. My opponents fell sick. They went to sleep and never woke up. And I realized it was Yubel doing all of that. They thought they were protecting me, by hurting the people I played against."

So he's one of those people who've got deeper connections with spirits, and Yubel had been a powerful kind of partner.

"You too?"

"And now?" Edo asks. Nobody's been the victim of mysterious illnesses in the past seven months, so it's unlikely that Yubel is still actively causing problems right now. That doesn't mean that they're entirely safe, but there isn't an active emergency at least.

"They know it was wrong. But…I tried to help them be better, and I just ended up doing something terrible to them." Judai hugs the card to his chest. "Right now, if I try with all my might, I can still summon Yubel from this card. But they're still regaining their strength even after six years. I hurt them bad."

Edo thinks of Saiou, who still can't walk more than twenty minutes at a time without needing rest. "But you're still together."

"Yeah." Judai clenches a fist and stares at it. "I promised them we'd be together always, when I found them again. But…there's a lot of people who would want to separate us. Lately all I can think about is how I can keep Yubel safe. How I can keep them from getting hurt again. And I thought, you and your friend Saiou…you guys might understand."

Edo nods solemnly. "I do." Saiou's still shy of other people, and he's not a popular person on this island. The hospital staff are kind enough – Edo would have bitten the bullet and tried to arrange for Saiou's transport to the mainland if they weren't – but Edo still knows the omnipresent anxiety of a friend rendered fragile by one's own hand.

Judai looks up at Edo. "Actually…I haven't even told Johan about this. Johan's really good with spirits. I think he and Yubel could maybe get along, if I introduced them right this time. But Yubel's still picky about my friends, and I don't know if Johan understands what it's like to have that dark kind of history. Him and his family…they don't seem like the kind of people who'd have those kinds of problems. They're not the same as me and Yubel. And besides, we…I don't really want to talk about this with him, right now."

Edo thinks that Judai might be playing it cautious with his assessment with Johan. Edo also knows that he would play cautious himself, if it were Saiou's safety at stake. He wouldn't have told Judai about their history either, if he hadn't had a hunch about Judai's intentions coming to him.

Although, he's not sure of what Judai intends to do next. Edo folds his arms. "So why are you telling me this?"

"I just…needed to tell someone. Who wasn't Yubel, or Dad." Judai hooks the cord of his necklace on a finger and dangles the locket off of it, watching the arc as it swings back and forth. "Back at West, my best friend knew. I introduced him to Yubel at the end of our first year, because I knew I could rely on him for anything, even if he and Yubel didn't end up getting along. Now it's just me and Dad, and Yubel. Dad's great, don't get me wrong. But Austin had a solution for everything, and…now I'm finding out that there are people out there who still might go after Yubel."

"Thieves?" It…makes sense. Yubel is a legal but rare card, and out of print. It would go for hundreds of thousands, even millions of yen on the market for collectors.

"Yeah." Judai drops the locket underneath his shoulder, adjusting his jacket. "Johan and I ran into a spirit poacher last week. He…knew about Yubel."

A spirit poacher. That's a term that implies a lot of things about the world of Duel Monsters that Edo has never heard of but is probably just adjacent to, if he cares to investigate. (It might be worth making a few calls later.)

"He…disappeared," Judai says, as if he isn't quite sure that's the right word for it. "I don't think he himself is going to go after Yubel, because he's not here anymore. But he said he was investigating me and Dad. And if he could figure it out, then others could do the same."

"I'll see if I can find anyone who knows more," Edo says. He's gotten involved with the underworld before, so it isn't that hard to imagine what's going on around a business like spirit poaching.

Judai's eyes widen. "No, don't! I just…I'm the one responsible for Yubel. It's my job to do this. I just…huh."

He looks out into the distance. Edo follows his gaze to a shooting star in the daylight, its trajectory landing it somewhere on Duel Academia's island.

Judai stands up abruptly. "I think…I've got to find that thing."

Edo should have known he was going to get pulled into another wild escapade the moment Judai knelt down looking at the drawings inside the fragments of the KaibaCorp capsule and announced "Hey, I think I recognize these."

He hadn't expected multiple wild escapades, and he would definitely call the retrieval of the Neo Spacian cards multiple escapades when it involved entering active volcanoes as well as climbing mountains and diving into the ocean to meet a suspiciously friendly pod of dolphins. (Not that he hasn't climbed mountains. The volcanoes are new, however, and Edo's usual suit is not comfortable in that kind of heat.) It's nearing sunset by the time they've assembled all the Neo Spacians, and they're on the other end of the island near the hospital building after retrieving Glow Moss.

That said, it's…an adventure he's minded less than he thought he would. Edo knows that his Bloo-D had been in contact with energy from space via his father's work, the Light of Destruction's infectious evil. To see a new Elemental Hero arise from the same energy, brought to life by a different kind of cosmic energy and the imagination of a child…

His father would have loved to see something like this. Edo watched the space around Judai blur into hazy shapes, and slowly the shapes sharpen into the monsters they'd seen on the cards.

"New friends," Judai murmurs to himself, eyes wide as he turns his head this way and that. "All this time I've been so focused on Yubel, I didn't think…"

Neos, the first hero they'd met from inside the capsule. The Neo Spacians, scattered in the capsule's descent. Young Judai had quite the child's imagination, and Edo can't help but admire it a bit.

(His father would have loved to see this team, too.)

"The universe was a world of gentle darkness – one which nurtured life," Aqua Dolphin is explaining to Judai. "However, this universe is on the verge of ruin by the Light of Destruction."

Hang on. Edo's very, very familiar with that name. "The Light of Destruction?" he interrupts. "The evil force of destruction born from a white hole?"

Aqua Dolphin frowns. "Yes."

"That's the malevolent entity that took over my friend." Edo stares at Aqua Dolphin intently. "That's the thing I defeated last year to free Saiou."

Aqua Dolphin's eyes widen. "We've been searching for someone able to fight that light with the power of righteous darkness," he says. "Judai, whose pure heart made contact with the gentle darkness when he was a child ten years ago, is the one we chose."

Edo doesn't miss the way Judai, previously energetic at the way he'd encountered his very own designs, falls eerily silent at the mention of the Light of Destruction. Edo had skirted around the name before, not wanting to saddle Judai with the details of a fight that wasn't his own, but it seems he knows something of it after all.

Edo also doesn't miss the way Judai flinches when Aqua Dolphin mentions his pure heart, or the way he clutches his pendant with Yubel's card.

"But if you say you've encountered the Light of Destruction before," Aqua Dolphin continues, "What is the status of our greatest enemy?"

"Gone for now," Edo reports. "It occupied a card, my Destiny Hero Bloo-D, when I was a child. Then it passed from Bloo-D, to the man who killed my father, to Saiou…and I vanquished the Light of Destruction from Saiou's body last summer. I saw its white flames leave his body myself."

Aqua Dolphin relaxes in relief, and wipes sweat Edo's pretty sure it doesn't actually have off its brow. "Good. But the Light of Destruction will always—"

"What does it do to cards?"

The conversation grinds to a halt as everyone stops to look at Judai. He's got a fist curled around his locket now, his other arm braced as if he's expecting a fight to break out. He stares at the ground, rather than meet anyone's eyes.

"It came in contact with Bloo-D, didn't it? And then your friend? Did…did it hurt them?"

"I, uh…" Edo can feel the spirit of Bloo-D sometimes. Understands, just barely, the difference between Bloo-D in that awful fight against DD and Bloo-D as it lives in his deck now. But it's a difference he barely knows how to explain, and one where he doesn't know how to evaluate whether the ultimate D-Hero was hurt by its infection by the light.

"Yes," he decides. Edo may not be an expert on spirits, but he's seen what the Light of Destruction did to Saiou. He's sure it counts as having been hurt.

"Yubel…Yubel said a long time ago they met the Light of Destruction." Judai's voice isn't loud or soft, but it lacks the energy Edo's always seen in him before today. There's an edge to it, tense and careful, that he hadn't observed in the boy even this morning talking about bloodstained cards over tea. "No, not that they met it. They survived it. To find me. Because I sent them there. When I was a kid…the reason they suffered for those five years in space, while the Neo Spacians were growing in the gentle darkness…"

He opens his fist and flicks open the locket. Edo can't see inside from his position, but he knows very well that Yubel's face must be giving their mysterious smile from their illustration on that card.

"It was a white fire that burned them, in my dreams."

The dots connect in Edo's head, terrible bright lines shining in the void. The battle between light and dark, cosmic battles encapsulated in the battlefield known as Duel Monsters. Yubel and the Light of Destruction. Saiou's reaction to seeing Judai's locket. The Neo Spacians, and the boy who created them.

Edo's quite sure he knows well what Judai is thinking right now. He knows because Edo had been in Judai's exact position last year, learning from the horrible trapped specter of his father's soul that his best friend had met his awful fate right under his nose.

"How do you tell?" Judai's voice is still flat, save for the threat of a tremble. "How do you tell if something has been taken by the Light of Destruction?"

Edo hesitates. Mizuchi would know, wouldn't she? She'd known about the man who visited Saiou, and the terrible transfer that had occurred then. But getting her here would take time. Edo hadn't recognized what happened to Saiou until far too late, but if he looks back… "It changes someone. It's not always in an obvious way. For Saiou, it preyed upon his feelings of despair. Before I knew it, there was a gap between us that I kept trying to chase."

"The Light of Destruction takes many forms," Aqua Dolphin says. "Sometimes its influence is subtle. But it always seeks to destroy, because that is its nature."

Judai lets out a long exhale. "That's…that's good. Yubel was different when they came back, but…they were different because of what I did to them. Not because the Light was corrupting them."

Five years, Judai had said. Five years of contact with the Light of Destruction. Saiou had had contact with Bloo-D for just a few moments at best, but he had been its host for years after. "Are you sure about that, Judai?"

"Yubel's never tried to destroy anything." There's an underside of heat to Judai's voice now, the first growls of a guard dog showing its teeth. "They're just…they need me. Because they're hurt. Because I hurt them."

Edo knows what the denial looks like, too, because he's also been in that position. He'd ignored the signs about the Society of Light too long, reasoning that he would recognize a real threat to his friend until it was almost too late to fix his own mistakes.

He's…not going to get through to Judai like this. Edo wouldn't have been able to get through to himself in this state, even knowing the truth now.

Still, he's going to have to do something about the situation. He'll…he'll talk to the principal. He'll warn Saiou. Maybe it's time to take the jump and transfer him off the island, to a larger hospital in Domino City. It'll work better with Edo's schedule in the pro leagues, probably.

"Just be careful, Judai," he warns. Yubel hasn't done anything like start a cult or claim the keys to a world-destroying satellite, to their credit. And before that, DD and Saiou had gone years before the Light in them made a move. They should have time to fix this. Edo will have to tread carefully with Judai, but at least he has the capability to help. Nobody had been there to help Edo last year, not from a position of experience, and he'd still managed.

Aqua Dolphin folds his arms in disapproval. "Remember, Judai. The Light of Destruction will destroy the entire world, if it's given the chance."

"If something happens, I'll take care of it." Judai looks Edo in the eye. "Yubel is my responsibility. I'm the one who sent them away. I'm the one who made them like this. They've suffered enough because of me, and I won't let them hurt any more."

Judai shuffles the deck containing the Neo Spacians. Then he straightens up and offers it to Edo.

"What?" Aqua Dolphin waves his arms.

Edo takes a step back. "Judai, this is your deck."

"I…I know." Judai pushes the deck at him anyway. "The Neo Spacians…they're my friends. But if I just bring them back all of a sudden, Yubel's going to get scared. So I just need a day to tell them in advance. I'll come retrieve them tomorrow, and then I'll figure out what to do. Aqua Dolphin, you and the others don't mind staying with Edo for a night, do you?"

"I suppose we'll be safe with someone else who's fought the Light of Destruction," Aqua Dolphin says, but his voice is doubtful. "But Judai, you are the one we have chosen. The Neo Spacians are yours to command."

Judai smiles for the first time since Aqua Dolphin mentioned the Light of Destruction, and Edo can see there's genuine fondness in it. "Yeah. I haven't forgotten you all. I'm looking forward to getting to know you guys more. I need one day to go to the lab and talk to Yubel, that's all."

"All right." Aqua Dolphin unfolds his arms to give Edo a friendly salute. The other Neo Spacians nod and disappear.

Edo accepts the Neo Spacian deck and tucks it into a pocket, thankful that the volcano hasn't totally fried his suit's pants. "Come find me first thing tomorrow, Judai. And…I wouldn't mind meeting your partner sometime, if they'll have me."

Judai gives him another smile, this one more relieved. "I think they might like you, Edo. I'll be sure to tell them." He looks in the direction of the jungle, the one Edo had found him around before. "Well, I've got to go see them first. See ya."

He gives Edo a casual wave – perhaps too casual – and heads off. This close to the hospital building, Edo decides that it's a very good time to check on Saiou.

Judai…where are you, Judai?

They're so close. A month away from amassing the energy Yubel needs to restore their body, at most. But has Judai finally abandoned them?

(He's made so many friends here at Duel Academia. Of course he's left them behind. If only it were just the two of them again.)

He'd promised. No matter what anyone said, he would never let anyone separate them. He would always love them.

They have to believe in Judai.

"Yubel."

For the first time in five years, they feel Judai call to them through their card. They answer, stretching their soul and spirit through the still-weak connection binding their spirit to the piece of cardboard hanging by Judai's heart.

Ever made for sight, Yubel scopes out the area. The moon is out now, hanging large and full over Duel Academia's skies.

On the road a mile off a man walks for fresh air, slightly guilty about ignoring his closest friend's request and more guilty about the secret he is keeping from his friend. He fears he will lose his sense of self (again) if he were to confess the truth.

Below, in the sea, a woman in a submarine prowls the waters. She is frustrated by the world she lives in, a world in which the man she watches is chained to unloving people by his own hand. She chains herself to him all the same, and serves those she has no love for.

"Yubel, I'm sorry to make you come out here."

All their attention refocuses on Judai in the blink of an eye. (Or three eyes. Or five.)

"You would not have called me if it were unimportant, Judai," they respond gently. They trust him. Of course they trust him.

(He's gotten so tall. He's still so small, compared to them. Their first form is taller than any human, but it's been five years since they were in this form even as a spirit.)

"Yubel…" Judai's voice trembles. "When I found you again, you said you survived the Light of Destruction to find me. Was that the fire I saw back then?"

Ah…the Light of Destruction.

Where had Judai heard of that?

He'd heard it from them.

Why did he remember now? Why was he asking now?

Well. Technically it had been a mixture of the atmospheric damage to their capsule and the burn of the Light of Destruction's radiation.

But they remember their words to Judai back then, now that he brings it up. His love had been the one constant, the one thing they held onto during those awful years, to keep them from losing their mind out in the burning void.

For all intents and purposes:

"Yes. It was. But you don't have to mind that right now."

When they have their body back, they'll tell him the truth. They'll tell him about who the two of them once were, and the purpose for which Judai was reborn. The purpose for which Yubel has always come back for him.

"Yubel, I…" Judai hesitates. They give him time. "I think you got really, really hurt back there."

They can still feel the flames searing their skin, if they think about it too long. "I know. I forgive you."

Judai hangs his head. "I think…you need help. I think you might have been hurt by the Light for so long, part of it stayed with you."

No. No, that's not true. That would make Yubel…

"I assure you, Judai, I am fine. Did somebody give you this idea?"

It must be one of his new friends. They're planting foolish things in his mind, trying to drive the two of them apart.

Judai promised that he would never allow anyone to separate them again.

He promised.

He promised.

(They need to get rid of his friends. Get rid of everybody else.)

"Nobody." Judai shakes his head. "I just…realized something, that's all."

He's lying.

"You're lying."

Judai flinches.

"Yubel…"

He's turned against them. He's going to abandon them.

It's the fault of his new friends.

They need to get rid of his friends. Get rid of everybody else.

"Judai, remember the promises we made to each other long ago. Don't listen to those who would tear us apart."

"I'm not!" Judai shuts his eyes, now wet with tears. (They've made him cry. Oh, Judai—) "I'll always keep my promise, Yubel. I just…I want to know you're safe…"

Yubel doesn't yet have the power to get rid of Judai's friends. That requires their full strength, and they're still a month away from that.

What they can do is get rid of the two of them.

Yubel reaches for the energy Professor Cobra has collected over the past seven months, tied up in the bubbling plasma of their tank in the lab—

Expands their reach to the area around them, everything within the simplest radius of their sight, this chunk of the island that the two of them inhabit—

And pushes.

Chapter Text

In the Obelisk dorms, Johan Andersen knocks on a door and receives no answer. He shrugs and turns away; in the morning, he will do the same and start worrying once he receives the same result. Ruby Carbuncle appears on his shoulder to trill their worry as he checks with Judai's many other friends and finds no word of his whereabouts.

Late at night while most of the island is sleeping, Amon Garam radios his old friend and finds silence where there has always, always been a response. He frowns and checks his earpiece, which appears to have no fault. For a moment, he considers checking with his superiors – but it would not do to concern them unnecessarily. He'll investigate the situation himself, and prove his worth as an agent or die trying.

Austin O'Brien notices that one of his spy cameras has lost signal. He makes his way to the location of the haywire bug and discovers not a chewed wire or a drained battery, but a massive gaping sphere of void taken out the edge of Duel Academia.

Edo Phoenix walks a circle around Duel Academia's hospital building, searching for a man who is nowhere in sight. He aches for the foresight his friend once had, and stops dead in his tracks when he finds the unnatural curve of a perfectly spherical hole in the nearby cliff.

In the underground facility, Professor Cobra finds an empty tube. He fumbles for his PDA and calls a number he's dialed dozens of times before. There is no answer. Six years of dreams begin to crumble before his eyes.

At 8:03 AM the next morning, Principal Samejima hears frantic voices in the corridor outside his office. As the door slides open, Edo Phoenix shoves past Professor Chronos to storm in, his vivid blue eyes narrowed. He's followed in by Johan Andersen and Tenjoin Asuka, the former caught between sheepish and concerned.

"Something has gone very wrong," Edo announced. "Who are you?"

That last part is directed to Austin O'Brien, who's already standing in the principal's office.

Austin doesn't answer right away, knowing that his name will mean little to most present. "I'm a friend of Judai's."

"You're not a student here," Asuka points out.

"I'm not. I'm here from the West campus."

"Bombolone," Professor Chronos exclaims. "A messenger?"

"This is Austin O'Brien," Professor Samejima explains. "He's here for certain business." He looks to Johan. "Johan, Tenjoin…Judai has disappeared, hasn't he?"

"You knew?" Asuka looks troubled.

"Saiou is gone too," Edo adds.

The principal looks alarmed. "Saiou." He looks to Austin. "O'Brien, do you know anything about this?"

"Saiou Takuma." Austin folds his arms and leans back against the principal's desk as he recalls his information. He knows of everyone in the room well enough to know that he doesn't need to recap who Saiou is to anyone here. "My surveillance placed him as taking a walk on the beach at 9:19 in the evening, before something caused the entire area to disappear."

"The entire area disappeared?!" Johan steps towards him jerkily, eyes wide in panic.

"Like somebody carved a piece out of the island and took it," Edo confirms. He glares at the principal. "What do you know about this?"

"I have a question for you first, Edo Phoenix," Austin says. "What were you doing yesterday with Judai when you two were moving around the island?"

"How do you—" Edo growls as his glare intensifies, but he breaks it off after a moment and grits his teeth as he eyes Austin calculatingly. "Wait a minute. Judai mentioned you. You're the one he told about Yubel."

"Yubel?" Johan echoes.

Austin's eyebrow raises. That Judai had told Edo about his partner speaks a great deal to the trust Judai has in the younger boy. "Yes, that would be me."

"Austin…" Asuka muses, and then she jolts. "That's right! Judai said that you were his best friend at the West campus."

O'Brien doesn't bother to hide the pleased smile that description brings to his face. "That I am. I know better than anyone that Judai doesn't trust easily, when it comes to matters of his past."

"He never talks about it," Johan agrees. "The other day, when…" He pauses, some sort of realization crossing his face. "O'Brien. This is your card, isn't it?"

He digs into his vest and pulls out Austin's missing Volcanic Shell. Austin takes it with a nod and slots it back into his deck, taking care not to show how relieved he is to have it back. He'd seen Andersen take it back in the aftermath of the battle with Giese, but he feels unprepared without a full loadout of ammo – especially when the ammo knows.

(Judai had said his deck trusted him, soldiers under an efficient commander. Although Austin's never been the type for leadership, times like this he wonders how the spirits of his deck respond to being left behind even temporarily.)

"So you're the one who interfered during that fight," Johan says.

Austin nods to confirm. "I've been on a mission to observe Judai for the past year, among other things. That was a difficult situation for you both."

"Well, thank you." Johan sticks out his hand, and Austin accepts the handshake. "Any friend of Judai's is a friend of mine. And I suppose Yubel is one of them?"

"It's a card spirit," Edo interrupts. "Judai's partner."

Johan, for his part, doesn't look surprised. He just tilts his head thoughtfully. "Ah. That explains a lot, actually."

Edo turns back to Austin, eyes sharp with suspicion. "You said you were on a mission to observe him. Are you his friend, or are you his spy?"

Austin huffs with amusement. He deserves this interrogation, he isn't afraid to admit. "I was a spy before his friend. But he is my friend and rival, nevertheless. Judai has a fire in him that I'm sure you're all aware of. That fire, his passion as a warrior, is something I was drawn to when we first met."

Edo doesn't seem appeased by any of that, which Austin knows is justified. "And part of my mission is to keep him safe. There are many people interested in the well-being of Judai Yuki. However, Judai would flee again if he realized how much attention was upon him."

"Flee…again." Johan glances to the side at the air, and Austin can guess that he's communicating with one of the Gem Beasts. "So he is trying to hide from somebody."

"Judai is…" Austin doesn't need to be as delicate with his language when Judai isn't here to be spooked. He still tries to find a little bit of tact in him, though, because he understands why Judai's done what he has. "Eleven years ago, Judai ran away from his parents because he believed that to stay would cost him his partner. He loves Yubel more than anybody else. He would do anything for them, including leaving Japan to start a new life in America."

"He…" Asuka cups her chin in thought. "I knew he'd been raised in Japan. His accent made that clear enough. But how did he get all the way to America?"

"With my help," booms a voice from the entrance. Professor Cobra steps in, posture sagging from exhaustion and eyes dark with regret. "O'Brien." He nods minutely to Austin, acknowledging the presence of somebody who by all rights shouldn't be in this office but whom he seems unsurprised to see in the moment.

"I helped Judai and Yubel find each other again," Cobra admits. "I forged the documents necessary to take Judai to America. I…" He hangs his head. "I believe I was played for a fool."

Some of the information Professor Cobra lays out next is new to Austin: his plans with the Disclosure Duel system, gathering duel energy for Yubel. The reason he worked with Yubel, the promise of reviving the son he'd lost. (Austin had known about Rick through Judai, but the idea that he could be brought back…)

Some of it is information he's gathered or put together over the past three years: the black-ops mission that had led Cobra to discovering Yubel. His intentions to propose Duel Academia's transfer program as a method of harnessing duel energy. The fact that he genuinely loved Judai as his son, and has lost all sense in the world now that Judai is gone.

"Judai had nightmares most nights when we first met," he explains, staring at a photo of his smiling son stashed inside one of his pockets. "It had to do with Yubel, at first, out of habit. But after a month, it became more about his birth parents."

Austin shifts to attention at that, which doesn't escape Professor Cobra. He chuckles in a way that, a year ago, would have meant one of O'Brien's attempts to gather intel had just been foiled. "So he didn't even tell you, O'Brien."

"I know something happened between them that caused him to run away. And that it had to do with Yubel. Judai is very, very careful about who he trusts when it comes to Yubel because of it." Pegasus hadn't told him more than the first fact. The rest he'd surmised in his time with Judai at West.

"Hmph." Professor Cobra almost looks satisfied, but the wetness in his eyes betrays the emptiness of it. "They would have made him a shadow of himself, just tearing him away from…" He heaves a long sigh, then glares out the window. "Then again, Yubel has torn him from me."

"You're saying Yubel did this?" Johan breaks in. His eyes scan the air, and Austin guesses that the Gem Beasts have something to say about this. "I've never seen a duel spirit with that kind of power. Not one that exists yet, anyway. That would put their power on par with…"

And isn't that a particular qualifier, "one that exists yet." Austin makes a note of that.

"Whatever they did, all the duel energy we've collected over the past year – it's gone," Professor Cobra says.

"And so is part of the island," Edo adds. He shows them a photo on his PDA, one that Austin matches with a video he'd taken early that morning.

"But how did they do that?"

Austin's phone rings. He pulls out his phone, and is greeted with a jovial voice.

"O'Brien-boy! I must say I'm sorry we took so long, but the Professor and I are on our way."

"We'll find out soon," Austin announces to the rest of the room.

Chapter Text

Today is one of those days where the world reminds Johan that the world is much bigger than him, and yet so much smaller than he would expect.

Sometimes your best friend's best friend happens to be the one who bails you out of a difficult situation when you didn't even know he was on the island. Sometimes the dots you were respectfully trying not to connect snap together anyway, and you learn a lot more about your best friend than he was willing to tell you.

Sometimes you realize that the friend who you thought understood was just on a parallel level slightly off from your own all this time, and that's the difference between running to help someone and running away screaming.

Sometimes you realize that maybe your friend needed your help all this time, even if neither of you knew it.

And sometimes it turns out that the chairman of Industrial Illusions, who's been on a hunt for the Valley of the World and where the rainbow ends there – thanks, Giese – has also been employing your best friend's best friend to investigate your best friend's spirit partner that Giese figured out existed before you did, now that you think about it.

Men in dark suits and headsets are swarming the now-cordoned-off section of the island where a gaping hole yawns. As the site comes into view Johan spots Pegasus there talking to an elderly man in a lab coat near the very edge, accompanied by a few stern-looking bodyguards and a gray-haired boy their age holding a device of unknown function.

"Oh! There's Misawa," Asuka remarks. "So he stayed with Professor Zweinstein, after all." Johan doesn't know who that is, but it's easy enough to guess that he's – or he was – a student here. The name Zweinstein is more familiar, a genius in the field of duel physics.

"O'Brien-boy!" Pegasus greets the strange boy from West cheerfully as they approach. "I'm glad to see you well. And I see we've got Andersen-boy as well, and some other students!"

"These are all Judai's friends," O'Brien explains, and Pegasus nods knowingly. "His father is back at the main building, in talks with the principal here. Everybody here is worried about Judai's safety and whereabouts."

"Professor," Misawa announces. "I've analyzed the energy readings at the affected location. Confirmed readings of dimensional energy. It's been long enough that the residual energy wavelengths are hard to identify for certain, but if my calculations are correct…"

"Go on," Professor Zweinstein encourages him.

"We're looking at the dimension closest to ours. I'm…" Misawa's brow furrows. "The energy readings for the destination dimension are, for certain, much greater than any energy for the other ten. Whatever did this, it had a direct connection to its destination."

Johan tries to make sense of that explanation. He's no scientist, but… "A direct connection to another dimension…a spirit?"

Misawa nods. "A powerful spirit. One of the most powerful anyone's ever encountered, I'm sure."

"Yubel," O'Brien says.

"If my understanding of the situation is correct…yes, that's likely." Misawa looks down at his unknown device in concentration. "It's also possible that a third party came to the island and took both of them. However, I understand that the spirit of Yuki Judai's Yubel card possesses extraordinary power and would be difficult to contend with. Is that right, Asuka?"

Asuka looks taken aback for a moment from the sudden address, before her lips purse in thought. "I don't know. I didn't…most of us were unaware of Yubel's existence before this morning. The best person to know would be—O'Brien?"

O'Brien nods. "Yubel is a very powerful spirit indeed. I've had many encounters with spirits over the past three years in my time knowing Judai, and they had the ability to observe and influence the world in ways no other spirit can. They're the only spirit I've met personally that has a physical form within our world, as well."

Asuka opens her mouth, but thinks better of it. A story for another time, Johan guesses.

O'Brien continues. "Given the amount of duel energy they consumed, this must have been part of their plan. Why they chose to take Judai to another dimension…I can't say for sure."

"I may have an answer to that," Professor Zweinstein announces. He pulls up a diagram on a PDA-like device, twelve circles all connected in a larger circle. "Of the twelve dimensions, all of them beyond ours are inhabited by the spirits of Duel Monsters. Each spirit in this world is connected to one of the other dimensions. It may be that the second dimension is Yubel's original dimension, and Yubel has attempted to take that young man back with them."

"So that's been their plan all along?" Johan asks.

"Not necessarily," O'Brien says. "But it is possible. Yubel is as devoted to Judai as he is to them. To take him away that far…it's not unlike them, but it would make Judai unhappy to be taken away from his father as well."

"Hey, I've got to go. Dad needs my help with something."

"Sorry I'm late! I was taking care of something for Dad. Uh, do you think they still have breakfast this time of day?"

Johan wonders how much of Judai's excuses really were for Professor Cobra, and how much was about the other secrets he'd been keeping. But it seems like O'Brien knows Judai better than any of the rest of them do, and he seems to believe Judai genuinely loves his father. Having seen Professor Cobra's misery in the principal's office…it's hard to believe father and son don't have real affection for each other.

Johan might have been envious of that, if he were a different person. But the Gem Beasts are his family, and he'd never give them up for anything.

"I don't believe this was Yubel's first plan," O'Brien concludes. "But it was a plan. They've been working towards their goal for several years, gathering duel energy through Professor Cobra. What their original goal was…I still don't know. But Yubel would not take Judai away from his father unless they felt he was safer that way. Or…" He folds his arms, eyes closed in thought. "Unless they feared separation."

Edo speaks up then. "Or confrontation." He takes a deck out from his pocket, showing it to the gathered crowd. It's not the Destiny Hero deck he debuted at the end of last year, and at first Johan thinks it's an older deck given the Elemental Hero visible at the bottom – but it's not. "Judai came to see me yesterday. At first, he wanted to talk about Yubel. It was the first time he'd said anything about them to me. But then we saw a shooting star, and…"

He outlines a strange tale, starting with old memories. Johan had heard about that KaibaCorp initiative when he was a kid too, come to think of it, but had never come up with ideas that felt right in the same way all his decks before meeting the Gem Beasts felt like they were missing something. Hadn't thought about it until Giese mentioned it in that duel, and never understood why Giese brought it up in conjunction with Judai.

Judai, though, had apparently taken to it much more. Pegasus adds another missing piece to the equation: Yubel's inclusion in KaibaCorp's satellite program at the request of their well-meaning partner, the original cause of Judai's nightmares eventually leading to his decision to run away from home.

…It doesn't feel entirely right, putting this all together in Judai's absence. But what else is there to do if they want to find him?

"The Neo Spacians oppose the Light of Destruction. Yes, the same Light of Destruction that took over Saiou and created the Society of Light." Edo nods to Asuka. "Judai…he was in denial about it, but he seemed to think Yubel encountered the Light of Destruction in the past."

Johan gasps. "You don't think Judai…" He'd known Judai had been acting erratic the past few weeks. Ever since the incident with Giese…no, before that, the discovery of Motegi Mokeo. With all they've learned today, his behavior makes more sense. All that time – Giese's threats, the boy with haywire spirits – must have made him afraid for his partner. And if he had reason to suspect that his partner was in danger…

Johan can't fault him. He knows himself well enough to understand that he, too, would do something rash to protect any members of his family.

"I think he did," Edo confirms. He grits his teeth. "That idiot…I knew letting him go was risky, but I didn't think he would abandon the cards he created with his own hand. And now…"

"How do we find them?" Johan asks Professor Zweinstein. "No…how do we get to them?" Misawa has already indicated which dimension they're in; it's getting there that's the big question now.

"That's a wonderful question, Andersen-boy!" Pegasus exclaims.

And then Johan gets his second reminder of the day that the world is vast and yet connected. His Rainbow Dragon, capable of bridging dimensions? Just like his dream, that mythical final Gem Beast he's been looking for… Well, he wants to make Rainbow Dragon his. Although he can't count his chickens just yet—

"We've narrowed down the potential locations for the Valley of the World to ten sites around the world," Professor Zweinstein explains. "Checking them all will take time, but as of now—" He looks to Pegasus, who nods.

"In the name of saving Judai-boy, finding Rainbow Dragon's tablet is of the utmost importance! I will spare no effort in finding it as quickly as possible. And once we do…" There's a sparkle in Pegasus's eye. "I'll create the design, and Professor Zweinstein will ensure the card is created with its full potential. Just you wait, Andersen-boy."

And wait he does. Sixteen days of waiting.

Rumors abound at Duel Academia once news of the missing chunk of island circulates. Judai's absence does not go unnoticed, nor does Professor Cobra's. Word from Asuka is that Cobra in good health, but suspended from teaching and focused on helping Dr. Zweinstein with setting up the technology needed for Rainbow Dragon's crossing.

Johan and the other transfer students field and deflect dozens of questions. Asuka sees even more.

Johan is lucky he has his family still, watching out for him. They catch up on everything he missed in class because he was too distracted with the itch of a friend in danger, Rainbow Dragon almost within reach and soon to be put to use for the monumental task of saving a friend, and nothing to do but play the waiting game.

He talks to the principal about Motegi again, and deals with some startlingly thorough KaibaCorp waivers that will allow him to meet the boy again. He's tempted to just sneak back in there with Manjoume's help, but Principal Ichinose would be so very disappointed if he got kicked out of Duel Academia for his impatience.

Motegi isn't going anywhere. His case isn't improving, but he's safe.

Johan doesn't know whether Judai is safe, wherever he and Yubel are. O'Brien had said Yubel was unlikely to harm him. Johan still would have liked to know for himself – would have liked to get to know the kind of person Yubel was.

He has an awful lot of time to reflect on the things he's missed. It's not as if Judai was interested in trusting him with the truth about his absent partner, but…Johan could have helped him, maybe, if he'd known.

He's summoned to the principal's office on the fifteenth day, along with the same group that had assembled in that office the day of Judai's disappearance. Pegasus has found Rainbow Dragon, and preparations for the tablet's excavation have already been started. Rainbow Dragon will be in his hands by tomorrow, and then…

"I realize that I'm asking you a great deal," Principal Samejima admits. "To ask you all to go and retrieve Judai Yuki from another dimension, which we know nothing about. Johan, we'll need you and your Rainbow Dragon to go. O'Brien has already volunteered for this task as well. The rest of you—"

"I'm going," Asuka announces.

Principal Samejima frowns. “Tenjoin, you should think about your brother—"

"He would agree. Judai is my friend, and I'm going to go find him."

"Me too," Jim adds. "Karen will be coming with me."

"Saiou is there too," Edo says. "You couldn't make me stay away."

"Pardon me," announces another voice.

Amon Garam is standing in the doorway to the office, face carefully neutral despite his calm smile.

"Amon!" the principal exclaims. "Excuse me, this is…"

"You're looking to go after Judai Yuki, aren't you?" Amon asks.

"Yes," Asuka confirms. "But why are you…"

"I've heard enough about the circumstances of his disappearance," Amon says. "I'm not as close to Judai as the rest of you, but I'm still concerned about his safety. If all of you don't mind, I'd like to come along and lend what strength I can to your group."

"Well…" The principal hesitates, but looks at Amon in consideration. "Amon, you do understand the risk you're taking if you go."

"I understand it as well as anybody else here." Amon smiles pleasantly, but there's a layer of iron behind it. "Rest assured, I know the potential dangers of traveling to another world. But I would rather take those risks than wait here when I have the capability to help."

"Is that agreeable to everyone else?"

Johan chimes in with his agreement, as does everyone else. The principal briefs them on the rest: Professor Cobra will be staying behind to help Dr. Zweinstein monitor the situation from this dimension, and with the short-staffing Duel Academia can't afford to send any teachers with them. It really will be just the six of them, the four school representatives plus Edo and O'Brien. Not quite a motley group, but not the kind Johan would have expected to assemble a few weeks ago.

"All of you are dismissed from classes for the day," the principal concludes. "Take the rest of the day to make your preparations. O'Brien, Chairman Pegasus has sent something ahead for you. Our school and Industrial Illusions will provide you all the resources we can before we commence tomorrow morning."

The six of them file out, and Johan is left to pack and dream of finally meeting Rainbow Dragon.

"Judai hiked out here?" Edo asks incredulously as they stare up at the not-so-abandoned laboratory out in the jungle. "Every day?"

"It does explain why he was always skipping the last classes of the afternoon," Asuka murmurs. "I thought he was either helping his father or being irresponsible, but if he was always coming out here to visit Yubel…"

"It's a different kind of responsibility," Johan agrees. Judai is the athletic sort, of course, but just getting a ride here from some Industrial Illusion suits had taken long enough. To make this kind of trek every day by foot…it speaks of Judai's dedication to his partner. Yubel is a lucky spirit.

Jim whistles as Professor Cobra beckons them to what's clearly a hastily built machine made from repurposed parts, still bearing marks of the monkey assault they'd seen evidence of months ago. "What a setup!"

Dr. Zweinstein doesn't greet them, instead staring intently at the machine console. "I'm receiving Rainbow Dragon's data now," he announces. "Johan, you'll need a duel to generate the energy Rainbow Dragon requires to cross dimensions." Without looking, he gestures to a marked-off area deeper into the jungle. "Everything you need has been set up."

"A duel with Rainbow Dragon…" Despite the situation and the gravity of the task ahead of them, Johan finds himself trembling with excitement. "All right. Who's going to be my opponent?"

"You'll need an opponent with a fierce fighting spirit," Professor Cobra says. And then he sighs. "...And I can think of nobody present who fits that description better than O'Brien."

(Judai's absence hangs heavy for them all, it seems.)

O'Brien's eyes widen: clearly he hadn't been expecting that recognition, but he recovers quickly enough. He unholsters his duel disk and steps forward towards Johan. "I'm honored by your recommendation, sir. Johan Andersen, will you take me as your opponent?"

Johan nods, not bothering to contain his excitement for this occasion. "I will. I'm looking forward to dueling with the guy that Judai calls his best friend."

O'Brien actually looks briefly touched by that, if his quirked smile is any indication. "And I look forward to clashing with the warrior chosen by the Gem Beasts."

"I have the card," Dr. Zweinstein announces, drawing everyone's attention. Johan can't help dashing over immediately: it's finally here.

The Gem Beasts appear around Johan as he takes the card, crowding around him as he beholds the final member of their family. Pegasus had done exactly as well as he'd promised. Rainbow Dragon is resplendent on his card, shimmering white with gleaming gems and poised to soar into the air.

"Welcome home," Johan whispers. Rainbow Dragon doesn't appear, but he can hear a wailing roar that indicates Rainbow Dragon has accepted him.

Reverently Johan slots the card into his deck. "I'm ready."

"So am I."

"As are we," Dr. Zweinstein calls.

"All right, then." Johan activates his duel disk, heading to one end of the marked arena, and stands to face O'Brien.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

There's no real stake in victory or defeat, Johan thinks as O'Brien takes the first turn. Their objective here is to have one hell of a duel so they can help Rainbow Dragon open a portal into another dimension. But of course he's a duelist, so he wants to win anyway. Wants to show everyone the true power of the complete Gem Beast family.

And in the end he does. O'Brien's burn strategy is quick and devastating, but Johan manages to survive and summon today's main actor. O'Brien's strategy isn't enough in the face of a god's power, and now Johan is poised for victory.

"This is the energy we need!" Dr. Zweinstein shouts over the speakers at the edge of the arena. "Johan, you're clear to bring everybody over!"

And that's all Johan needs. "Rainbow Dragon, attack! Over the Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dragon opens its mouth, and for a moment everything is enveloped in blinding white light…

And when the light fades, the six of them are standing in the middle of a field of potato plants.

"Um…" Asuka looks around at their surroundings: farmland, mostly, in a valley of some sort. There's a mountain in the distance, and at the top of it sits a castle that's still in one piece but has clearly seen better days. A comet streaks overhead, its tail a bright blazing blue. Somewhere to his left, Jim puts a hand to his bad eye.

"Hey!"

A woman is striding through the field, brandishing an ornate staff. She looks angry; Johan figures she has the right to be, since they're probably trampling all over her crops. "Who are you all? What are you doing here?"

O'Brien holds up his hands in a gesture of nonviolence. "We're travelers. We come seeking a friend of ours who came to this world."

It's not the most detailed explanation, but it seems to give the woman pause. She doesn't let go of the staff, nor does her stance relax, but she eyes them searchingly. She isn't quite suspicious, Johan thinks, but she isn't ready to accept that explanation as it is.

"...You wouldn't be the first to come to this world, but…"

"I'm going to take out some pictures to show you," O'Brien announced, and slowly moves his hand to his vest to do just that. "Have you seen either of these people?" O'Brien has come prepared, evidently, as he takes out two pictures: one a photo of Judai, one a printout of Yubel's card artwork.

The woman glances at them for a moment, eyes creased in confusion, before she jumps backward and gasps.

"That!" She points at Yubel's artwork. "Why are you looking for them?"

O'Brien eyes her with critical alertness. "You know them?"

"Of course I do," she snaps, clutching onto her staff. "Everybody in this land knows who that is. That's the Supreme King's guardian."

Chapter Text

At first Judai doesn't notice anything different; the sound of the ocean's waves still surrounds the two of them. He's still clutching his locket, with Yubel's card inside.

Then he realizes there are arms around him. Solid and warm, almost too warm, and rough with scales. A familiar purple-and-black body in front of him, equally solid.

Shaggy hair tickles his shoulders.

"Yubel…?"

Those strong arms shift, and Yubel pulls back until the two of them are looking straight at each other. Yubel's hands still rest on his shoulder, claws and talons poking at his jacket slightly – but not in a way that hurts.

Before today it had been a long, long time since he'd last seen them outside of a tank or a tube or any other kind of container. It's been just as long since he'd last seen them with their full form, rather than the piece of their arm that had survived the long years in space.

If he wanted, he could reach up and touch their face.

"Yubel, you're…you're here," he says.

"Judai." Yubel speaks his name with downright reverence.

He's heard Yubel's voice many times, every day for the past five years. But to hear it spoken out loud outside of his mind, the sound of Yubel's voice vibrating in the air…

"Yubel, how…"

How is this possible? But never mind, actually. Yubel has somehow regained their true form and become solid, and he doesn't care about the details so much as the fact that he can see them for real now. He can touch them, where he was never able to before.

Beyond them stretches an ocean, as vast and blue as Duel Academia's. But below them is a singular rock, and not the kind at the edge of the island. This is an isolated place, the stone beneath them barely enough to fit the two of them.

But he knows this rock, somehow. How does he know this place?

Judai glances behind and sees land there, but instead of vibrant forest and the iconic triple-roof central campus building there's an expanse of land, towns and mountains visible in the distance.

"Where are we?" he asks. "This isn't Duel Academia anymore."

"No." Yubel's voice deepens. "This is…the world that we came from. We're home now. Welcome home, Judai."

"Home…?"

Yubel smiles at him, and Judai is shocked to see tears in their two main eyes. They slip their hand into his, and with their other hand they point into the distance – toward a mountain, and the rundown remains of what used to be a castle.

"Let me show you," they say, and offer him their arms, wings flaring outward. Instinctually Judai understands: they're going to fly.

Yubel is going to take him flying. And how can he say no?

Something feels…familiar, he thinks as Yubel picks him up and takes off into the air. Being carried like this – the two of them have never done this. Of course they haven't; Yubel's never been part of the corporeal world before. Judai still doesn't even know how any of this is possible.

And yet something feels right about all of this. Judai knows how to shift his weight to make the flight easier on Yubel, how to feel the slight twitches in their muscular body as signals for the turns they're about to make, how Yubel is going at a comparatively leisurely speed in their flight – that they could be faster, and are choosing not to.

This is his first time flying with Yubel, but at the same time he knows he's done it a thousand times before.

He knows Yubel's central eye is on him for the whole flight, but both of them are silent until they reach land. Then, Yubel chuckles as they look downward at the shore.

"Oh dear. It looks like I picked up a straggler."

There's indeed a familiar white-and-blue coat on the beach, accompanied by a sweep of blue hair that it takes Judai a moment to place. "Hey, that's Edo's friend! Saiou! What's he doing here?"

He knows Saiou was in the hospital on the central campus. He also knows that wherever they are, they certainly aren't on the central campus anymore. What's Saiou doing around here?

Well…they should probably find him. For Edo, if nothing else. "Is he lost? Maybe we should go see him."

(Even if he'd rather be alone with Yubel right now. Even if he doesn't want to think about Edo, and the…he just wants to focus on seeing Yubel whole and happy right now.)

Yubel's sigh is exaggerated, more fond than anything. "I knew you would want to. It will be more difficult for me to carry two people than to carry just you, you know, Judai."

Ah…that makes sense, huh. "Uh…"

"But not impossible." They've switched back to their female voice just to tease him. Yubel's so mean sometimes.

Judai calls out to get Saiou's attention as they descend towards his position on the shore. Yubel sets him down gently once they touch down on land, and he waves. "Saiou! How'd you get over here?"

Saiou eyes him with visible relief, probably glad to see a familiar face. "Judai. It's good to see you. I was out on a walk when there was a bright light, and I…" He glances around, and then looks up to the sun in the sky. "Do you know what this place is?" he asks, with the same genially confused yet panicked air Judai gets when someone calls on him in class (or, so Judai imagines; he might be projecting). "And…who is your friend?"

Well, Judai knows the answer to one of those questions. "This is Yubel! They're a card spirit, and my partner since I was a kid. Usually you wouldn't be able to see them like this, but somehow they're not just a spirit here."

"Oh." Saiou seems to consider that quietly. "And 'here' is…"

"Home?" Judai asks, more directed to Yubel than anyone else.

"One of the twelve dimensions," Yubel explains – and hey, that's new to Judai too. "Judai and I hailed from here, once upon a time. And now we have returned. My apologies, Saiou Takuma," Yubel says. "I brought myself and Judai here for our safety. It seems you were caught within the sphere of my power as well."

Saiou doesn't look as surprised as Judai feels, but maybe that's just his face. Dad's like that too, after all. "Ah. And the way back would be to…?"

"There is no way back," Yubel states flatly. That's also news to Judai.

"What? Wait, but didn't you get us here to start with?"

"I did." Yubel doesn't seem very apologetic about having stranded them all, whatever they did. "It took most of the duel energy we had stocked to get us here. And in this world I have no access to it."

"Duel energy?" Judai knows that's something related to Dad's research to help Yubel, but as for the details he only understands that Yubel doesn't have enough juice to get them back home. Or…back to Duel Academia, if they say this is home somehow.

(He's never been to this place. But he knows that rock out in the ocean, and he knows as certain as the contents of his deck that he's flown over this water with Yubel before. How…?)

Judai has a lot of questions, most of which he's been waiting until Yubel shows him whatever they're so intent on showing him. But the sudden knowledge that they're in another dimension with no immediate way back seems pretty important, so— "Well, how do we get enough energy?"

"That will depend on you, Judai." Yubel smiles at him knowingly, a joke he doesn't understand. "I didn't think I'd be telling you the truth quite so soon, but…ah. It would be easier to reach our destination and show you. Saiou, you are welcome to come as well should you wish. You are one of Judai's friends, are you not?"

Saiou hesitates for just a second before nodding. "I would hope that he calls me a friend."

Which is a sharp reminder that last time they'd met, Saiou had almost tried to take his locket and Judai had run away pretty much immediately. But he's Edo's friend for sure, and any friend of Edo's is a friend of Judai's especially when not being a friend means it's more likely Yubel is going to leave him out here. So Judai gives him a Gotcha and a grin. "Yep! We met at the festival a few months ago. He's really good friends with Edo. I've told you about him."

And indeed that seems to mollify Yubel, although they give Saiou an amused look that Judai doesn't quite understand. "Very well, then. Both of you, hang on to me."

And up they go. Flying with Yubel feels a lot less intimate with a second, very confused passenger holding on to Yubel's other arm but Judai tries not to feel too bad about that. Instead there's…well, there's a lot of other things more important right now.

Yubel takes them higher, higher until Judai realizes they're headed for the ruins on the mountain he'd first seen in the distance. They land on a—well, Judai doesn't really know what to call the boxy sort of outdoor floor that they land on. But it's got a good view of the land below, and of the sea in the distance.

"We're here," Yubel announces. They let go of Saiou, although they keep their other arm around Judai, who sees no reason to stray from their side.

"What is this place?" he asks, craning his head from underneath them to get a good look at the rest of the castle. It's…old. He knows that much. It's also…has he seen this place before? It's not the same kind of familiar as how he felt out at sea with Yubel. But something about this place nudges at something in his brain, like a word on the tip of his tongue or the missing card for a key combo.

In the background Judai can see Saiou starting to examine his surroundings, keeping a healthy distance from the two of them. That suits Judai fine, honestly. But Yubel…

Yubel just watches him for several minutes instead of answering. Judai starts to fidget. He's almost about to ask again when Yubel finally speaks.

"Judai. Does this place seem familiar to you?"

And at first he wonders how they know – but of course they do. Yubel knows something he doesn't, mentioned telling him "the truth" earlier, so they know what's going on much more than he does. Somehow knows about this place they call home, this world that they say he used to live in even though he's never been here in his life. It's…scaring him, just a little.

(Maybe more than a little. But this is Yubel. Everything scary about them…that's in the past. And everything that's not, is his fault to begin with.)

"Kind of," he says out loud. "Something feels…off, about this place. But something about it really is familiar, too. Yubel—"

The questions spill out.

"Yubel, why did you take us here? What is this place? Why did you say we came from here? Is it why I know something about this place? I—"

He falters, and suddenly he's aware of a throbbing headache despite the anxiety swirling about his head. Or because of it. He brings one hand to his head on instinct, and his balance sways as he does.

"Judai!" Yubel's other arm grips his shoulder to steady him, and he sags against their chest.

"Sorry, Yubel," he mumbles. "I…I think I need to sit down."

He's tired; it had been late when he took Yubel out to the edge of the island, and although it seems to be the middle of the day here he's still exhausted after a day spent traversing the entire island with Edo.

Yubel scoops him up again, back to the bridal carry they'd had him in on their first flight. "You're tired, Judai. You should get some rest. When you wake up…I'll tell you everything."

He wants to keep talking. There's so much he wants to ask, about this place and about Yubel. He wants to know why they didn't tell him everything they apparently haven't told him. But…

In the end, he doesn't resist when Yubel carries him into the castle and down a path through old corridors and crumbling doors, eventually reaching a large room that's…well, empty.

They heave a sigh. "I should have expected everything would be gone. Here, Judai."

They sit on the floor with their back to the wall and set him up on the hard floor, nudging him so that his head rests in their lap. Then they start singing, something haunting and melodic in their deep bass, and Judai drifts off to sleep.

There's two moons out in the sky when Judai wakes up. Yubel's head is turned towards the sky, doorway to a balcony wide open when the door has either turned to dust or been destroyed. Judai follows the long line of their neck to their chin, their nose, their eyes.

Yubel stares out at the evening sky, looking at something far in the distance – or maybe at nothing at all. Maybe they're remembering, or something like that.

Judai leaves them to it for a long several minutes, but Yubel doesn't seem at all surprised when he finally speaks up. "Yubel?"

"Judai." They're speaking with their female voice now. "Are you well?"

"I'm okay." He'd been confused for just a second when he woke up, but waking up in Yubel's (solid! Not even a hologram!) lap had quickly reminded him of the situation.

"Good." A taloned hand cards delicately through his hair. "I told you I would tell you the truth. But I don't want to overwhelm you when you are not ready, Judai."

"I'm ready. I am." Judai rolls over enough to look out at the two moons. "I've…seen this place before, haven't I? Even though I've never been here before. Is it—" He cringes, but keeps going. "When you were in space, did you come here? Is that when I saw this place?"

It doesn't really remind him of his old nightmares, he thinks. But…it's been a long time, and those five years of nightmares were a haze of sleep-deprived headaches and soul-crushing guilt. Does he remember anything except Yubel's screams? The fire surrounding them? Yubel could have been on fire anywhere; he hadn't seen stars in the background or anything. Maybe they could have been here.

And if they'd been here, maybe they wouldn't have encountered the—

"No," Yubel says, and that half-formed hope is dashed. They sigh. "Ah, if it had been so pleasant…but this is another world entirely. You and I once lived here, Judai. In another life, long ago."

Silence falls as he tries to process that statement. "Another…life?"

Yubel looks at them with an expression he can't read. It's not a happy expression, he's pretty sure. Judai scrambles to fix that. "I mean, uh, tell me more?"

Yubel starts to get up, tugging him up with them so that they're both standing. They chuckle, but there isn't much energy to it. "I wondered if you might recognize this room. We spent so much time here, back then. And you recognized the castle. But nothing remains of that time, it seems. A barren room is just…a space. That's all."

They start walking out towards the balcony, tips of their hair brushing under the top of the doorway. "Come, Judai."

And Judai follows.

The tale Yubel lays out is a strange one, of light and darkness as primal forces of the universe. Then they speak of a lowly servant who forged a deep friendship with their prince, no matter the unlikelihood of their meeting. It's a tale of sacrifice and struggle: the servant turned into a knight that the rest of the world called a monster, two people against a world that didn't understand that the monster was here to protect them and the malevolent Light of Destruction egging their enemies on.

"You once ruled from this very castle, commanding vast armies against the Light," Yubel says, looking up at the castle's towers. "You named yourself the Supreme King, he who bears the power of the gentle darkness. We were meant to defeat the Light of Destruction together. But I…"

He hadn't known Yubel could cry. But then, they're…they're real, now.

And he hasn't forgotten that name, the Light of Destruction. Edo had said it took over his friend Saiou for a while, the same Saiou that's…somewhere in this castle, probably. Edo had thought it might have done something to Yubel. And now it's something that's – as strange as it is to think – the duty of Judai's own past life to fight against, and maybe his own.

Can someone who was made to fight against the Light of Destruction really be possessed by it, the way Saiou was?

Well. It probably hurt Yubel for a long time, if they really did encounter it during their time in space.

"When we met in this life, Judai…" Yubel kneels down and looks him in the eye, one wing positioning to shield both of them from the rest of the world. "I swore to protect you again. I would not repeat the mistakes of our past."

Judai, somehow, connects the dots. Osamu and all his neighbors…

"And I sent you away because of it. Yubel, I'm—"

"Judai." They reach out a hand to take his, and he lets them. "Yes. You made a mistake, and I know you regret it. But you have proven every day since we met that your love is true. It still is, is it not?"

"Yes! It is!" he shouts, squeezing their hand. He can't let them doubt that, not for a second. "And I'll keep proving it! Yubel, I promise you. Everything that happened in the past…everything you've done for me now…"

He knows everyone back home is probably worrying about him. But this is more important. "I'll make it all up to you. Let's find a way back home, Yubel. And then…"

He doesn't actually know what he's going to do about the Light of Destruction. Especially if it has done something to Yubel. But he's going to figure it out even if it kills him. "I'll defeat the Light of Destruction. You don't have to worry, Yubel."

And there's more to it than that. The way Yubel talked about his past self—

They miss him. They miss him a lot.

That's the expression he saw on them earlier: sadness. Longing. Yubel is sad, because of him.

He'll figure it out. Yubel shouldn't be sad anymore. They won't be sad, if he has anything to say about it.

"We're always going to be together, Yubel. You don't have to worry ever again."

A soldier approaches the edge of the castle. She isn't shivering, because the climate in this strange place is pleasant enough – whether or not that's typical for this place – and the slight chill in the evening air is nothing compared to weeks spent in a submarine.

She doesn't know if this is really the right place. She doesn't know what this place even is, because it certainly isn't anywhere near Duel Academia. But she'd seen a red jacket overhead, worn by a boy she's spent weeks trying to dig up information on, flown into this castle by an unknown creature.

It isn't a good lead or even a safe one, but it's all she got.

Echo heads into the castle.

Chapter Text

"This was once a fine chamber," Saiou says in awe as he looks around the throne room. "Even over a thousand years later…this was a valued place."

"This was the throne room," Yubel confirms to him and Judai. "You ruled from here, commanding vast armies of both mortals and spirits. We fought together many times. I also served as your advisor here, your eyes and ears in the kingdom."

It should be flattering that Judai has confessed that his most vivid flashes of memory were of Yubel themself. And it is, but Yubel also finds themself…

(Angry. Abandoned. He's just lying, he doesn't love them at all—)

Waiting. They're still waiting, for Judai to remember in his heart.

It's there, isn't it? Judai had admitted to them the second time he fell asleep the previous day: he remembers being with them here in his past life. More than anything, he remembered them.

(He promised he'd love them forever. He owes them that, and he knows it. He promised they'd never be taken from each other again.)

But there's no light of recognition in his eyes as they explore the remnants of the castle that used to be their home, and barely any reaction to the anecdotes that Yubel throws out to try and jog his memory. Indeed, Judai seems a little more withdrawn with each story; Yubel's tried to be more strategic since. They don't want to lose him. They'd taken on this body to make sure they never lost him.

(He promised.)

"Armies, huh?" Judai runs a hand along a wall, dusty and discolored from the centuries. "Yeah. I bet you were a good advisor, Yubel."

(He trusted nobody more.)

He still trusts them most now. Isn't that why he's listening to them now? They've kept him safe by bringing him here, but they know he misses his father.

(His eyes were always only on them, back then. Now Judai shares his heart with other people.)

He's happier that way. Yubel likes seeing Judai happy.

Yubel just smiles, channeling all the warmth and affection they have for their dearest person into the curve of their lips.

"I served a worthy king," they say.

(He declared his love for them against the rest of the world. The two of them had never needed anyone else.)

Judai doesn't respond to that, just walks around the room and casts occasional glances at Yubel. Yubel lets him think.

He'd hadn't recognized their old room, the one they'd lived in together since his ascent to the throne. It's changed since those times, all decor stripped away by scavengers or by the inevitability of time. The throne room is similarly changed, and in a way Yubel isn't too surprised that he doesn't seem to recognize this portion of the castle either.

(What if they become alien to him too?)

(No. Judai wouldn't do that.)

"You said I had an army of spirits, right?" Judai asks. "What kind? Did I still have my heroes?"

Yubel shakes their head and hums a negative. "You met neither the Elemental nor the Masked Heroes until this life."

(He's too different. He's the same.)

"Oh." He sounds disappointed.

"As the one bearing the power of gentle darkness, once you had mastered the power all spirits came to your call," Yubel explains. "You were an unparalleled duelist, and conquered many lands in the battle against the Light of Destruction. You were quite versatile, although I must say that the Heroes suit you, Judai."

Though of course, they would always be the ace up his sleeve.

(How many years has it been, since he relied on them in a duel?)

Now that they've recovered at least some of their strength, and now that they're back in this world…

"Let's keep going," Judai suddenly announces, and Yubel continues the tour.

Half an hour later, they stop in their tracks as they lead the way into the castle's library. They put up a hand to halt Judai and Saiou behind them, keeping an eye focused on the two of them while they cautiously approach a bookshelf.

It's almost comical, in a sense. Most of this castle has not stood the ravages of time. The bookshelves, once majestic and masterfully crafted pieces, are nothing but crumbled dust. Their contents are likewise in ruins—

Except for a single book on an otherwise unassuming window ledge, pristine as new glass.

Yubel is still weak in power, only able to achieve a fraction of the abilities they had at their prime in the past. They still have enough in them to point a claw at the book, sending a jolt of dark energy through it.

The book jumps up and around on the window ledge before falling to the ground with a soft thump, pages fanning out as it lands awkwardly on one edge. "Ouch! Ow!"

"...Huh?" they hear Judai in the background. "The book talked."

"You didn't have to do that," whines an unfamiliar voice. The book jumps again to land on its spine, flipping through pages in the air before a spirit materializes out of it: a human-sized hawk creature, clad in a reflective green robe and clutching onto a number of books held in its claws.

Yubel recognizes this creature: a Spirit of the Books, dwelling in tomes to absorb their wisdom. Though what they're doing here is…a good question.

"Any books in this place must have decomposed centuries ago," they drawl. "Spirit of the Books, what might your business here be?"

"Ah…" The Spirit takes a step back, adjusting some of the books in its arms as they do. "Well, excuse me sir, but back in the days after the Supreme King's fall—"

(Yubel still remembers holding his corpse.)

He freezes. Takes a step forward contrary to his earlier movement, shifting books in his arms as he squints at Yubel.

"You're…you can't be Yubel?"

Yubel tenses. They're not sure where this conversation is going, and they don't like it.

(They need to make the first move, ensure that this spirit can't be a threat. Not now, especially not now when they're so close to—)

"You knew each other?" Judai asks, carefully stepping towards the two of them. "Back in the past?"

"Personally?" the Spirit exclaims. "Oh, heavens no. I know of them, from legends and records. After the Supreme King fell, the state of this kingdom was in great chaos and I became trapped in this world by a fluke. As soon as I understood what was going on, I knew I had to preserve the knowledge that would surely be soon lost. So I'm quite familiar with the tales…" He looks Yubel up and down, nodding to himself. "And your friend there seems to be the Supreme King's knight, Yubel."

"That I am," Yubel confirms.

"So then!" The Spirit's eyes glint with intrigue. "Has the Supreme King returned as well? Are we soon to witness a second war against the Light of Destruction?"

"No," says Yubel.

"Kind of," says Judai.

"Oh." The Spirit turns an appraising emerald eye towards Judai. "Quite an interesting response from the two of you."

"Judai," Yubel warns.

"He could help us, Yubel," Judai pleads. "He knows stuff!"

"It is better not to involve someone we don't know we can trust," Yubel points out.

(They shouldn't have trusted anyone at the end, back then. They hadn't trusted anyone, and still it all—)

"I need…we need the help," Judai insists. "Hey, book spirit! It's me. I'm the Supreme King…or I'm supposed to be. I'm, uh, still figuring that part out. But I used to be him, and I'm trying to become him again."

Silence. Then the sound of shuffling, as the Spirit nearly drops one of its books craning its head to get a better look at Judai.

The majority of Yubel's attention is on the Spirit, probing for the darkness in its heart for a clue as to its intentions. It's—

It's curious. It's genuine. It's purehearted, completely void of darkness. It's exactly what it claims to be, a spirit existing for the love of knowledge.

(It's almost enviable, really. Such purity, such purpose, such clarity…isn't that beautiful?)

(Even a pure heart can be twisted. Good intentions can be used towards other agendas; Yubel certainly knows that well enough.)

But of course, there is always a part of them that is keeping an eye on Judai. And he has all his attention on them. Does he want this that badly?

(Does he think they're insufficient?)

Yubel weighs their options, and decides that the most important thing is restoring Judai's abilities with the gentle darkness. The sooner he's back to full strength, the safer they'll be.

"Fine," they relent. "Yes, Judai is the Supreme King reborn. He remembers…little of those old times. I remember everything, however."

Judai's head turns toward them just slightly upon that statement.

"Fascinating." The Spirit turns its attention back to them. "You must have firsthand knowledge, then, of the kingdom that used to be here at its prime. The time of the Supreme King's reign, and the years before it."

"I do," Yubel confirms.

"May I offer you both my help, then?" the Spirit asks. "And…your friend?"

It nods in Saiou's direction, the man having stayed silent for the entire conversation. He looks away, clearly uncomfortable.

"I have no such connection to this world's past. I am merely a visitor, washed in here by the whims of fate."

"Hm. I see." The spirit considers that for a moment, then lifts its arms to spread them out. The books it was holding fly into the air, hovering in a neat circle around him. "Well, that's a pity then. I don't suppose you would offer me some of your own knowledge in exchange for what I've learned in the centuries since the first Supreme King reigned?"

It's a surprising bit of slyness, from such a pure heart. This spirit is devoted to knowledge, so it would share its information regardless. It makes this offer in an effort to gain more knowledge.

Yubel could deny that offer and the Spirit would still offer them information due to its nature. But they go along with it anyway, not wanting to bother with contrariness at the moment. "Fine."

(And maybe – just a little bit – they don't want to be the only one who remembers these things, either.)

"Hey, Yubel, while we're talking about back then!" Judai says cheerfully. "What did the old me do, when he was my age? To grow into the powers he had."

Yubel almost loses sight of Judai in the flood of memories that question unleashes for them.

At that age, he'd…

At that age, they'd…

Days spent overlooking his training, fussing over injuries when it was physical and his energy when it was magical. Nights spent talking quietly about the present and the future, cuddled together on the now-crumbling balcony. Furtive moments where they'd kissed and touched, swearing to cast away all who would threaten the world they built together.

(They've waited so long. Where is he?)

"He trained," they say finally. "In our time, dueling was a rare talent. And you were an unparalleled duelist. With or without me at your side…but, ah, I was always your favorite." It isn't gloating if it was true.

"So…I've got to duel. Could I…could I duel you here, Yubel? No." Judai dismisses that thought practically before he finishes his sentence. "If you're still weak, then I don't want to make things harder on you. Uh, Saiou?"

Saiou takes out his deck, but the discomfort is clear on his face. "I am…not much of a duelist, ever since the events of last year."

"Oh." Disappointed, Judai eyes the Spirit of the Books, who also shakes his head. "Man, then who can I duel?"

"I can be your opponent," an unfamiliar voice announces, and—

Ah. Yubel's negligence in monitoring their surroundings suddenly becomes starkly clear as a sharply dressed woman strides into the library. They'd picked up more than one straggler back at Duel Academia, evidently.

"My name is Echo Nersisyan," the woman says. "I've been lost in this world, and found this place. I heard your story, and…I wish to support the future Supreme King. I would be honored to be his training partner."

Oh. Oh.

Yubel senses the darkness in this woman's heart plain as day, an overflowing stream compared to the Spirit's parched riverbed. Her half-truths are transparent, clanking with the chains placed upon her heart that strangle her true feelings.

Echo Nersisyan recognizes only one king, and it is not the rightful Supreme King. What exactly her intentions are when Amon Garam isn't even in this dimension is unclear, but Yubel feels confident that they can make use of her before her false king ever appears in this dimension.

"Oh?" they ask. "Are you a duelist, Echo?"

And of course, in the worst case this woman's darkness wouldn't be terrible for an emergency reserve should something unforeseen occur…

He has to get stronger.

He has to get stronger.

If Judai has questions about the human woman who'd suddenly walked in and offered to train with him, he has to ignore them for now. He's got to find some way to regain the power of the Supreme King, and quickly.

Judai's starting to have an idea that Yubel hadn't told him everything. But it's kind of like the plot to a comic: how do you tell someone that they used to love you?

He…he used to feel that way, in his past life. Yubel loved him and he loved Yubel, the way people love each other in the movies. That must be why he had such strong feelings about flying with them, and why they're so sad now. It's because he doesn't love them the way he should be doing.

He doesn't know how to get back that part of the old him. But he has to figure that out, because he owes it to Yubel to make them happy.

He's only half listening as he watched Yubel talk dueling background with Echo, so absorbed in trying to figure that out, that he completely fails to notice Saiou and the book spirit approaching until they're right next to him.

"Judai," Saiou says, and Judai nearly jumps. "I too would like to help you, in what ways I'm able to. I believe it's in all our best interest, if we'd like to return home."

"Ah, yeah…" Judai laughs nervously. "Sorry about dragging you into all this, Saiou."

"No matter." Saiou gestures to the book spirit. "I've been talking with the Spirit of the Books, and they believe they may know of a method or two that may hasten your development. It's of a nature that your guardian may not approve of right away, but…"

Huh. "Well, we can see about it anyway. What is it?"

The book spirit pulls out one of his books from its spot floating in the air, and begins to talk…

Chapter Text

"Power comes from purpose. We are united. And against the two of us, they won't stand a chance."

"My strength is yours as always, my love."

"I know. Thank you, Yubel. In this world, the law of the jungle reigns supreme. But with you at my side…no creature can overcome our power."

"I would never allow them."

A chuckle, restrained but affectionate. "In this jungle, we stand at the top. And no matter the forms our enemy chooses to take, I will rule over them all."

Sometimes Yubel looks at Judai's face and imagines wavy hair, where it falls straight and shaggy on the boy before them. It's grown out differently in this life, although Judai looks no less handsome for it of course.

(When will he look at them that way again? Don't they deserve to see it again, after all they've done?)

Sometimes he smiles at them the way he did in their childhood, when Yubel was nothing more than a mere servant who happened to be pulled into the prince's inescapable orbit. Rarely does he smile the way he did in adulthood, which Yubel has to admit to themself is for the better. They'd taken on this form to protect him on his journey from child to adult, after all. Once upon a time, they'd given up their childhood so their prince could have his.

(And they'd do it all again. It's worth it. It will all be worth it.)

"Yubel?"

Judai's sleep-muddled voice in the present pulls them back to the same. Yubel smiles, and leans down to brush some of the hair out of his eyes as he blinks at them half-awake, stirring in the morning sun.

It had been quite the hassle, making this castle some semblance of liveable again after an amount of time even Yubel can't put an exact number to. But it had been worth finding the materials to make Judai a proper bed (more crude and less elegant than he deserves, because Yubel's body is muscular but lacks the delicacy needed for fine craftsmanship), even if he'd protested until all the other humans had beds of their own as well. Judai sleeps better now than he had in those first days in this world, and Yubel feels more settled watching over him as he does.

(Once upon a time, they would have kissed at a moment like this: a simple, sweet gesture to acknowledge that they were together to enjoy this peace. It's not that Yubel isn't happy with this, but—)

Judai wakes easier too, now. Judai sits up and stretches before climbing out of bed, shrugging his favorite jacket onto his shoulders and letting it hang off them as if wearing a cape. It's a style he's adopted since the Spirit reproduced an old sketch of him as a child in this world, attending the signing of a treaty Yubel remembers had made waves during his father's reign. Judai smiles brightly up at Yubel once he finishes. "Okay! The usual, right? Breakfast, then training with Echo."

Yubel nods, falling into place at Judai's side. "You've taken well to this routine," they observe in amusement.

(They know Judai. He's been with them every day since they found each other again. It's an easy feeling between them, but now that they're here Yubel can't help but remember the days when they were not only together but one in spirit—)

"Echo reminds me a little of Dad, you know? Or Austin." Judai looks out to the balcony of their room, sun hanging in the morning sky. "Kinda scary, but not in a mean way. They're just super serious. And I know Dad and Austin better, but…it's still kinda like training with one of them."

He falls silent, and Yubel knows that he misses them keenly. Yubel knows that Judai feels the pain of separation from his friends and family, although he's been kind enough not to bring it up.

"Does time work the same here as it did back home?" he asks, the tightness in his face betraying the lightness in his words. "I hope it doesn't. Dad must be pretty scared. Rick was gone before I got to meet him, but I know Dad was…" He trails off.

"I know," Yubel says, because they do know how Professor Cobra loved his first son. But also: "I've never moved between dimensions before that time. But it's likely that time works differently between our worlds."

Should they apologize? Does Yubel truly feel they're sorry for taking him away from the others? They both knew the threats, back at that school.

…They regret that he feels lonely without his father. Perhaps less so, without the meddler known as Austin O'Brien.

So they say, "I'm sorry, Judai." and bend down to embrace him. He clings on to them, a desperate child seeking solace.

(Once upon a time they had been all he needed. Yubel only needs a thought to recall his armored hands resting on the thorns at their waist, the softening of eyes that were cold as a tomb to the rest of the world.)

"I don't blame you, Yubel." Judai pushes the words out of his mouth too-fast, each syllable tumbling from his mouth like loose seeds. "You did what you thought was right. You always have. It's my job to get stronger. I'm just…"

"These things take time, Judai." And they'd known that. It's unfair, Yubel knows, to expect him to grow into the same power he had as an adult given just a month. In the past, he'd had years to do it. And he'd known about the gentle darkness sooner, something Yubel had chosen not to tell him about before they arrived here. "Give yourself time, my dear. You're doing well."

(And really, would it be so bad if they had all the time in the world? Just the two of them?)

"I know, Yubel." Yubel feels him tighten his hug before he separates himself from them, adjusting his jacket on his shoulders. "Come on, let's go. I'm hungry."

…He just isn't enough.

That's the truth that Judai carries around his shoulders these days.

For all Judai loves running around and getting some good healthy exercise, he never really got into the hardcore kind of physical training that Dad and Austin love. He'd tried, he really had. But no matter how much Austin told him his wire-hanging exercise required the discipline to be still and not struggle…well, wiggling around wasn't as frantic as struggling but it always ended up landing him with the same kind of problems. And he'd tried with Dad, too, but there was a difference between the kind of stuff he loved to do and the kind of stuff Dad did and—yeah, it'd never really worked.

And Dad had been really nice about it, talking about how he did what he did so Rick and now Judai could lead happy and peaceful lives without the kinds of conflict that Dad's military pension was built on. Austin had just dismissed it with an observation that Judai's fire burned in a different way. And Judai had been happy with that, because it seemed to make Dad happy that his sons didn't have to live the hard times he did and it seemed to make Austin happy to find a worthy rival at all.

But now is different. Training with Echo is different, as much as she really does remind him of them.

"You lack conviction," Echo says to him during their duel that day, and he gets it.

The book spirit says the Supreme King was an oppressive ruler, never cruel but always clear about the order he required in his domain. Yubel had said he commanded respect, that he struck fear into the enemy through sheer presence.

The Supreme King is the kind of guy who would dangle from a wire for a full day without flinching. Judai barely lasted five minutes, those times he'd tried to keep Austin company on his training exercises.

"You have a long way to go before you'll make a proper king," she says as they finish up the game. "You're in good shape for a civilian, and you're a good duelist. But you aren't a king yet."

"But he will be," Yubel adds from their position on the sidelines. Then they smile. "I believe you two can take care of yourselves for a while. Echo, you know what to do for tonight."

"Of course." Echo gives them both a salute. "Judai, I believe Saiou was looking for you earlier. A question about dinner tonight."

The nightly fish catches are easy enough to source, but Judai has a feeling it's better not to ask where Yubel's gotten the rest of the food and water needed for the humans. Yubel's a terrible cook, though, so the three of them – Judai, Echo, and Saiou – try to handle the rest.

Saiou's the best of them at cooking, as it turns out; something about having had to do a lot of it as a kid. Echo's the best at handling the fish before handing them off to Saiou. Judai…helps where he can, chopping firewood from a felled tree outside the castle or running things back and forth. (Running in and out of the castle really is nothing compared to the trek up to visit Yubel's tank, back at Duel Academia.)

Anyway, the three of them have their roles. Mostly. They're pretty set, and Judai has a suspicion that Saiou's question isn't really about dinner after all.

"Exchange of the Spirit?"

The Spirit of the Books had nodded and flipped open one of his books to a certain page. An eerie illustration showed two skeleton warriors positioned parallel to each other, bodies oriented opposite the other.

"That's just a normal card, isn't it?" Judai asked. He recognized the card as an old one, from the Battle City days in his world. Not an easy one to use either, although it had its uses. Still…

"Dueling in this world has power it did not in our own," Saiou pointed out, and Judai had to admit he was right. Even a few days into special Supreme King training, he'd known that dueling took a lot more out of him in this world than it did at home. He and Echo could only get through one or two a day if they went all-out, and they'd been pushing each other lately. "The Spirit of the Books has found that here, it serves as a potent ritual when used as a duel."

"Ritual?" Judai glanced at Echo; rituals were more her thing, or Asuka's if she were here.

"A magic ritual, rather than a spell for a ritual summon," the book spirit corrected him. Huh. Confusing terminology, but all right. "What records I've found are very clear. This ritual helps one unlock buried potential to achieve a wish, the kind of power one possesses but cannot draw out on their own."

Judai felt Echo snap to attention at the same time to him. That's exactly what they're looking for, isn't it? He's got the power of the gentle darkness within him – the power of the Supreme King – but no idea how to bring it out of him.

"Well?" Echo demanded. "Then how do we find it? How do we use it?"

The book spirit hesitated. "I do have some idea of where we may be able to find a copy of the card to use, based on the period I acquired this particular—never mind. But…there is a cost to using it."

And that makes sense, actually. The card text itself required a payment of Life Points, to say nothing of the effects in a duel. Judai let himself shudder briefly; he really felt it when he paid Life Points for effects in this world, although sometimes it was necessary. Like now. "Well, what's the cost?"

"If this record is to believed, you pay the cost in your own memories," the book spirit said. "To reach beyond the boundaries of the present, to achieve a wish deep in your soul…it requires part of that which makes up your soul in the first place. It requires that part of your very being to realize your wish."

Silence.

"It's an acceptable cost to me," Echo declared, and turned a hard look to Judai. He faltered under that gaze.

"I…"

"We haven't found the card yet," Saiou pointed out. "We don't need an answer immediately. Judai, it would do well for you to think on this."

Judai opened his mouth, but words failed to come to him. Did he want to do this? Did he not want to?

"...Yeah," he said finally. "Hey, book spirit, go ahead and look for that card. It might be good as a backup, even if we don't need it right away."

"It would be my pleasure," the spirit agreed cheerily, and disappeared back into one of his books. Saiou fumbled to catch it in the air.

Judai felt Echo's eyes on his back as he headed out, throwing up a hand to wave a halfhearted goodbye.

"So it all comes back to memories, huh," he murmured to himself, old dreams and fears surging back up in his thoughts. He'd left his old home for fear of losing his memories, hadn't he? Funny.

But then really, he'd left for Yubel.

(And really, would it be so bad if the Judai that he was now were to disappear?)

His suspicions are confirmed when everyone parts ways and he finds Saiou in the kitchen. Saiou calls a greeting to him as he checks over the woodstove they've managed to get functional again, then grabs the book spirit's book from the table they also can't ask the source of.

The Spirit of the Book folds out of the pages and shakes wrinkles out of its robe with a quick little dance. It wastes no time in calling up one of its books and opening it up. There, nestled in the crease between pages, is a single trap card.

Exchange of the Spirit.

Judai stares at it numbly. He'd figured this moment would come sooner or later; it just kind of made sense, in some karmic way.

"The duel ritual is a possibility forward, if you wish it," the spirit says, even though Judai knows that very well by now. "Have you come to a decision?"

"I…"

Truthfully, Judai feels like he's standing on a cliff. Is someone trying to push him? Or is he deciding whether to jump?

Judai looks to Saiou, trying not to let desperation show on his face. He thinks of home, and how he and Yubel aren't the only ones out here.

"Saiou…you want to see Edo again, don't you? Why aren't you telling me to do this?"

"I do want to see him. Very much." Saiou smiles, and it's not the polite smile Judai's used to; this one is warmer, probably the kind of smile Edo sees more often. "I also know that Edo would be disappointed in me if I were to return to him at the cost of his other friend. And while I wish to see him again, I do not wish to disappoint him."

Yeah. Judai knows what disappointing someone feels like.

He walks over and takes the card from the book spirit, but doesn't slide it into his deck just yet.

If both players have 15 or more cards in their graveyards: Pay 1000 LP; each player swaps the cards in their graveyard with the cards in their Deck, then shuffles their Deck. You can only activate 1 "Exchange of the Spirit" per Duel.

It's nothing he doesn't know already, based on card text alone. But something occurs to him.

"Hey, book spirit." He holds the card up to it, although he's pretty sure the spirit knows what's on it already. "If I use this in a duel with someone, are they going to lose their memory too? This effect works on both players, and you can't have a duel with just one person."

The spirit nods. "Based on my understanding of rituals, your opponent will receive the same boon as you will. They will also pay the same cost."

"I've already informed Echo of the discovery," Saiou says. "She said…that she knew the risks, and would be willing to serve as your opponent as usual."

Judai doesn't know Echo's story. He's dueled her a dozen times now, and he's got some ideas from her deck and her playing style. But Echo is tightlipped about revealing any details about herself otherwise, and Judai doesn't feel like she'd like him asking. He understands, because it's not as if he hadn't been the same about Yubel until they came here.

"I'll make a decision soon," he says, and returns the card to the Spirit. He's pretty sure Yubel will be able to tell if he brings it back, and he doesn't want them to know about this just yet. "Hey Saiou, do you need more firewood for the stove?"

That evening, he feels Echo's eyes burn into the back of his head.

That night, Yubel sings him to sleep as they have every night since they landed here. Tonight it's a song he recognizes from a week ago; it was their mother's favorite when they'd been human, they'd told him.

It's a sweet song. Judai doesn't recognize it in the least.

Echo doesn't talk to him during training the next day, except to correct his posture when doing physical drills and to announce her plays when dueling. It'd feel bad if he didn't want to talk to her either.

Judai goes to bed early and wakes up in the middle of the night. He sees Yubel sitting on the balcony outside, tracing a crumbled stone rail with naked sorrow on their face.

He closes his eyes, the comfort of conviction easing him back asleep before Yubel comes over to check on him.

Chapter Text

The weary walls of the castle's throne room bear down on Judai as he positions himself for the ritual duel. He feels his every ungainly step as he checks over his duel disk one last time; Echo just watches him with her pointed gaze, reminding him of his shortcomings that have led them both to this moment.

Judai doesn't bother checking his deck, because he already knows that Exchange of the Spirit is weighing down its spot. He'd slid it in not twenty minutes ago, when he'd confirmed that Yubel was off catching tonight's dinner and the book spirit had safely handed the card to him.

This duel is a formality. As long as he uses that card…

Yubel will be happy. Yubel won't have to worry about him anymore. Once this duel is over, he'll have made everything worth it.

Satisfied, he looks up and nods to Echo. They both activate their disks.

"Duel."

The card's activation requirement means that the duel needs to be drawn out. Getting fifteen cards in the graveyard isn't difficult all told, but even going all-out it takes time to accomplish. Echo's Voiceless Voice rituals help her cycle through cards; Judai has his own methods.

"I fuse my Elemental Hero Burst Lady on the field with my Elemental Hero Featherman in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

And he remembers.

"There you are…Judai! Aaaaaaaagh—"

That first night in his dreams, a few weeks after Judai had watched the KaibaCorp rocket launch and Yubel with it. He'd been hopeful when he first saw them, until the screaming started.

That had been the mistake that started everything. Judai knows that he hadn't known what sending Yubel out there would do to them. The Neo Spacians had shown him what should have happened. But the ordeal left Yubel not strengthened but scarred, barely clinging to life if not for Dad's help.

"Come back, Featherman! Mask Change into Masked Hero Blast!"

And he remembers.

"I'll make this up to you. From now on, I'm going to keep you with me always."

That conversation he'd heard between his parents, whether or not to put him through a research experiment that would erase his memories of Yubel. The decision to run away, and then to spend the rest of his life making sure he and Yubel would always stay together.

That had been his own mask change, his promise back then giving him the power he needed to press forward and start a new life.

"Sauravis, attack Flame Wingman!"

"This is…the end…"

And he remembers.

He'd died badly, and alone. He and Yubel had been outplayed. An agent of the Light had cornered him while Yubel was out on…why had they been gone?

This isn't a memory from his lifetime.

"I activate my trap, Hero Counterattack!"

"You have a fire in you, Judai Yuki. The kind I've never seen in anyone before, except for my father."

And he remembers.

He misses Austin. His best friend had never let his own inability to see spirits cast doubt on Judai's own claims.

He wonders if the geese at the West campus still remember the two of them.

"I activate the spell card, Mask Change Second!"

"In this jungle, we stand at the top. And no matter the forms our enemy chooses to take, I will rule over them all."

And he remembers.

Yubel had promised to guard him as he grew from child to adult, together all the way.

The Light's agents were numerous.

Control. Complete and absolute control. That had been what he needed to fulfill his mission as the Supreme King. And he'd made that control, where there was none in the world.

"Skull Guardian, attack Masked Hero Goka!"

"All hail the new king!"

And he remembers.

His father the king had been assassinated. The Light had reared its head as he was on the cusp of adulthood, and one of its fragments had demonstrated the weakness in their country's security. His father had tasked Yubel with protecting the future Supreme King, giving him an indestructible guardian to shield him from harm, but had never afforded himself the same protection.

He had mourned his father, and resolved not to allow the Light to take the one other person he cared about.

"I activate A Hero Emerges! You have to pick a card from my hand, and if it's a monster then I can summon it! And I only have one card in my hand."

And he remembers.

"That thing isn't a knight! It's an abomination!"

The first assassination against the new king had been easily foiled by his loyal knight. The world did not thank them for it, because they were fools who let their eyes trick them into believing the strange was to be feared.

"I activate the spell, Form Change!"

"Yubel, I promise you... My love will belong only to you."

And he remembers.

His world had shattered when he found Yubel on that operating table, like someone scrambling the pieces of a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle and throwing them all on the ground. The only way to start assembling them started the way everything else did: with Yubel.

He had only been a child when he made that promise. The world told him that it meant nothing, that he didn't know what the reality of being a king was. That he didn't know what love was.

He proved them all wrong.

"Mask Charge lets me return a HERO monster and a Change quick-play spell to my hand! Come back, Elemental Hero Bubbleman! Change into Masked Hero Dian!"

"You're pretty annoying, for a prince."

And he remembers.

Yubel has always been with him, from the very beginning. Their family was poor, and at the castle they could earn money for the family while reducing the number of mouths to feed. Yubel had been brought to the palace scared but determined, and had immediately made a bad impression when the young prince trampled all over the garden they'd been tending their first days in service.

So that's what Yubel looked like as a human, huh? He kind of likes how they look now.

…His graveyard has fifteen cards, now.

He looks up and meets Echo's eyes before setting that card face-down and ending his turn. She understands immediately, nodding to confirm that her graveyard fulfills the necessary conditions as well. She passes her turn, then stands up straight as if receiving a medal.

His turn again. Judai knows what has to be done.

"I activate the trap card, Exchange of the Spirit. I pay one thousand Life Points so that each of us swaps our graveyard and our decks, and now we both shuffle our decks…"

His duel disk whirs as the cards shift back and forth.

"You have a fire in you, Judai Yuki. The kind I've never seen in anyone before, except for my father."

"Yubel, I promise you... My love will belong only to you."

"That thing isn't a knight! It's an abomination!"

"You're pretty annoying, for a prince."

"This is…the end…"

"All hail the new king!"

"There you are…Judai! Aaaaaaaagh—"

"In this jungle, we stand at the top. And no matter the forms our enemy chooses to take, I will rule over them all."

"I'll make this up to you. From now on, I'm going to keep you with me always."

Echo smiles as she loses herself in her own memories. This is the end of her, she knows, but it will have been worth it once Amon finds her.

Really, would it be so bad to give up her memories of the past when the version of her left will be able to see him become all that he was meant to be?

Nobody in the kitchen.

Nobody in their rooms.

Nobody in the library.

Yubel grits their teeth and widens the range of their sight to scan the entire castle for any signs of the four other souls that should be here.

There.

The four souls are all clustered together in the throne room.

Nobody but Yubel has been in the throne room since that single day, after their arrival in this world.

Yubel's wings fan out as they fly for the throne room at maximum speed. They don't know the reason for any of this, but if any of them have tried something against Judai—

If after everything they've failed again—

Yubel ignores the crumbling of the doorway's arch as their wings knock into it in the haste of their landing. "Judai!"

Judai and Echo are standing a duel's width apart, but the scene is wrong. Echo is slumped over on the ground. Saiou and the Spirit of the Books look on from the sidelines in astonishment. And Judai…

Judai looks at them with burnt gold in his eyes and a particular warmth that they haven't seen on his face in a very, very long time.

"Yubel," he says. "I'm alive again."

Chapter Text

"Evil Hero Sinister Necrom. Reveal your new face and Mask Change into Masked Hero Dark Law."

The town's lone duelist flinches as Dark Law emerges, flexing its sharp claws as it stares ahead with its black-and-yellow helm. Dark Law alone is a fearsome image, but Haou isn't done yet.

"With Sinister Necrom in my graveyard, I banish him to special summon Evil Hero Death Prison from my deck. Then, I send a Hero from my deck to the graveyard and use the spell Dark Fusion to fuse Death Prison with Elemental Hero Wildman in my hand. Come, Evil Hero Wild Cyclone."

Wild Cyclone appears in a razor-sharp gust of wind, enough to slice a small cut on his opponent's cheek. Haou gives the order to attack, and his monster leaps to the offensive.

"I activate—" the duelist chokes out. Haou has already beaten her, however.

"Useless! When Wild Cyclone attacks, my opponent cannot activate spells or traps until the end of the damage step."

Wild Cyclone's blade cuts effortlessly through Hero of the East, destroying it. The duelist staggers back; two children, presumably her younger siblings, rush forward to help support her. No matter.

"If Wild Cyclone inflicts damage, then he also destroys all your set spells and traps. Furthermore, with Masked Hero Dark Law on the field any card sent to your graveyard is instead banished. That includes your pathetic hero."

The duelist can do little but watch as her entire field is shattered in the face of the Supreme King's absolute power. The rest of the duel is practically an afterthought, barely worth his time. The duelist collapses, her strength barely enough to last her a few turns.

"Ida!" one of the children screams. As the two of them drag the girl's unconscious body away, Haou raises his voice to address the rest of the gathered town.

"Does anyone else here dare challenge the might of the Supreme King?"

Silence. His monsters, not yet dismissed back to their cards, stand intimidatingly over the crowd. Based on his commanders' reports, there are no others here with the power to summon forth spirits from another dimension other than the singular duelist. And while with a few more years she could have almost been a challenge, she is far from such now.

One man bows. Then a woman after him. More follow, until the entire square has shown deference to their ruler.

The hills and valleys in this world have changed, but the people have not. His legacy of power has preceded itself, and the people of this realm still remember the Supreme King of legend – and his protector. Their rule may have been cut short in the past, but the fact that tales of their strength have survived to this day speaks to the infamy of their power.

Haou barely registers the sound in the air before Yubel is at his side, wicked thorns knocking aside a thrown dagger. Their three eyes glow, and the dagger readjusts its trajectory to bury itself into the side of a young man.

"You," Yubel hisses.

A man screams, rushing to his side. Haou lets him; he can clean up the boy's folly, if he'd like. He and Yubel have made their point clearly enough. Nobody here is a threat to the Supreme King, and all here understand that utter, complete truth.

At least, for now. One does not maintain power without keeping a firm hold on the strength that helped them grasp it in the first place.

"An appointed governor will be here within one week," he says, ignoring the man's babbling. "All of you will do well to remember what happened here should you test my power again."

Murmurs of acknowledgement. An old woman, clearly the town's leader, approaches him to offer him lodgings should he need.

"No," Haou says, and draws another card to summon Infernal Rider's mount. He gives a few last orders to the old woman as people walk wide berths around his gathered soldiers, and once he's satisfied the town has been brought to bear he mounts the skeletal steed and rides off.

Yubel catches up with him easily, and he gestures for them to sit with him.

"Thank you, Yubel," he says once they're an adequate distance from any settlement. "You are reliable as always."

"Of course, my king." Although Haou speaks to them now as a king to his subordinate, Yubel preens with the praise.

They continue on to the castle that Haou calls home for the second time.

"A comet. Auspicious."

Yubel stands over him as he leans over the parapet to their room's balcony, wings out and unfolded so that they block him from everything above. They don't say anything in response, other than moving their head to watch the arc of the comet with him. There is no need to respond.

The stars of this time have changed. Back in their first lives, he wouldn't have thought it possible. Yubel hasn't changed, though. Every curve, every sharp edge on their body…they're exactly as he remembers them.

They're beautiful.

Haou hadn't expected to see them ever again. He remembers his death, bleeding out on the battlefield after taking out the Light's figurehead. Yubel had been ripped away through him by a clever trap. He'd perished wishing he could apologize for failing them.

…A failure which the Judai of this time had repeated. Yubel refuses to tell him what exactly the boy known as Judai Yuki had done to them: "He made a mistake, dear. But he loved me just as you did."

But the damage is clear enough. Now with his full power, Haou can see the bloody scars of the Light of Destruction marking every part of Yubel's body. He knows fragments of it linger with them, and the love of both his lives must suffer every day for Judai Yuki's failings. He would despise his other self, if that person hadn't recognized his weakness and took the steps necessary to eliminate that part of himself.

"Eyes on the sky, Judai." Yubel's voice rumbles with fond amusement. He'd barely even realized he'd started staring at them.

He allows himself a smile, because Yubel is here with him. "I have someone more magnificent than the stars before me."

It's shameless flirting. He would rarely be this daring in the past, even in private, but dying an early death changes a man's perspective. And the way Yubel flushes, tints of blue creeping onto their cheeks, makes the boldness worth it. "Oh, you."

They comb careful claws through his hair, and it feels strange. Judai Yuki had been eighteen years old when he awakened Haou, a full five years younger than Haou had been when he was slain. This body is younger than it should be; his hair falls straighter than it should, and his hands are softer than they should be.

He wonders if this body throws off Yubel, too, because when he picks up one of Yubel's hands to kiss its back he feels them stiffen for just a second, before they bend down to peck at his lips. It's a momentary flash of discomfort on their part, but it's happened more than once and Haou regrets that the passage of time is one of those things he cannot command. Judai Yuki has relinquished himself to Haou's control, but his body remains and it makes him feel like a stranger inside a child's form.

Haou looks up at Yubel and soaks in their gaze on him.

He is not a fool. He knows that the Light of Destruction is baked into Yubel's being, so deeply they may not even realize it's there. He knows that Yubel is technically his enemy in this way, and that if he is not careful they may destroy each other…which is, no doubt, what the Light would have them do. Perhaps that is its plan, in one way or another.

But he tugs Yubel away from the balcony and further into their room anyway, where only the eyes capable of prying into their affairs belong to the very person looking solely at him.

In a world with the law of the jungle at work, ruling with power is the only way to accomplish his goals. And conversely, because he has power he will find a way to save the one person capable of sharing his heart.

He is not weak, and he is not a fool. He knows what he must do, and he will make it so.

It's the next day that rumors of a massive dragon's arrival upon a multicolored beam begin circulating in the land, and a few days later that the intruders come.

Haou hears the commotion before it comes to him. He elects not to pursue it, remaining on his throne instead: anyone powerful enough to get through his guards will no doubt be coming for him, and he has no intention of hiding.

"Oh?" Yubel murmurs at his side, their third eye glowing as they monitor the situation. "It seems that we have some company. It seems that some of your—the old Judai's classmates at his school…they've managed to cross dimensions themselves, and have come to find him."

And then suddenly they growl, stalking forward as they bare their teeth. "What is he doing here?"

It's quite a reaction from Yubel, and Haou readies himself for the fight ahead.

He is not disappointed. It's a strange group of teenagers that comes in, a half-dozen strangers that fail to stir his memory. Just from a look he understands that they're capable duelists, given the power emanating from their decks. This should be interesting.

"Judai?"

The speaker is a boy in blue and violet, staring up at his throne in bewilderment. "We'd heard the tales, but…what happened to you?"

They'd come to find their schoolmate, Yubel had said. Too bad. "The fool known as Judai Yuki recognized his own weakness. He is no longer of this world."

Another boy puts a hand to his forehead – no, to his bandaged eye. "Not true! That's Judai, but..."

"But he really is the Supreme King," finishes a fourth boy dressed in strange silver clothes. "Heh, it seems quite a lot has happened in the past few weeks."

"Judai!" This speaker is a young woman, staring up at his throne with a fierce expression on her face. "Judai, this isn't like you!"

"You do not know me." Haou stands up and summons the darkness to let it flow from him, and he sees a couple of the intruders take a step back. One of them, a dark-skinned boy with a soldier's posture, stares at him with wide eyes. "Your mission to retrieve your so-called friend was futile. Return home, if you can."

"We will not," the girl snaps. "Judai, I'll remind you who you really are!"

Haou decides that the situation has become boring. "Yubel. Take care of this."

"Gladly, my king." Yubel steps forward, talons clicking against the stone floor as they approach the girl.

"My fight isn't with you, Yubel," she says. "My fight is with Judai, to snap him out of this!"

Yubel chuckles, cold and echoing, as they draw themself up to their full height. "You wish to challenge the Supreme King?"

"I do and I will," the girl answers.

Yubel smiles, making sure to let their fangs show. "You misunderstand, Tenjoin Asuka. Nobody approaches the Supreme King as long as I am here."

A duel begins. Yubel performs their job faithfully. Their eyes glow as Tenjoin Asuka's Life Points fall to zero, and a golden medallion around her neck glows brightly before shattering into dust as the girl collapses to the ground.

Yubel shakes their head. "An interesting trinket," they call out to the children gathered around Tenjoin Asuka. "It saved your friend, but it won't save you again. Go now, if you don't wish to suffer a worse fate."

"Retreat!" calls the soldier, motioning for the others to run. The bandage-eyed boy picks up Tenjoin Asuka's unconscious body and obeys.

Still standing at the front of his throne, Haou watches the ragtag group flee.

Chapter Text

Austin runs. The others follow, secondary to his own escape.

Those golden eyes and the pressure of that immense darkness chase him all the way.

"Your mission to retrieve your so-called friend was futile."

He hadn't wanted to believe them, the talk of the revived Supreme King and his abomination of a knight Yubel. They'd followed the rumors and – well, they'd all debated whether it could really be Judai conquering his way through this world.

Edo had been the most suspicious, pointing out that Judai had been taken here by someone suspected to be under the influence of the Light of Destruction. It should have been Austin's job to consider all the possibilities, but…

"Gotcha! Fun duel, O'Brien."

Austin has learned from experience that despite his easygoing demeanor Judai Yuki is a strong duelist, more than worthy of being sent to the central campus as West's champion. He's spent most of their first three years at the West campus with Judai, by choice as well as for his mission, and he's proud of how he's managed to balance those two forces without compromising either. Judai is rarely completely open to anybody, save for his father and Yubel. But Austin had earned his trust over those three years, and he knows he's gotten a good measure of Judai himself over that time.

That cruel tyrant in the black armor, with the chilling aura of darkness that froze the soul…that person had been nothing like the Judai Yuki that Austin knows.

"The fool known as Judai Yuki recognized his own weakness. He is no longer of this world."

He still has his mission, both as a mercenary and as Judai's friend. Can he still fulfill it?

"Wait, up ahead!"

Austin has been on many a battlefield, apprenticing with his father in his youth. Few things on Earth scare him now – but this is not Earth, and the Supreme King is beyond anything he's seen in even the direst of war zones.

"Saiou!"

If it comes to it, can he fight the Supreme King? Will he even be able to stand in the face of that dark power?

"O'Brien!"

Jim's voice finally penetrates through the haze of panic, and a strong arm pulls him back – that's Amon Garam, the East campus champion. Back in the present, Austin scans the situation.

Edo Phoenix and Johan Andersen are out in the distance, talking to a man. Austin knows this is Takuma Saiou, Edo's friend and former figurehead of the Society of Light who'd disappeared with Judai. Saiou here, pointing in a particular direction and gesturing.

Johan nods and jogs over to the rest of them. "We've found Edo's friend," he reports. "He knows a place where we can catch our breath."

Saiou leads them to a small cottage in a quiet village full of people who shy away from the newcomers. Inside there's a woman dully sweeping the floor, who looks at Saiou in confusion.

Behind him, Austin can feel Amon Garam shift his posture slightly. Whether that's because Jim is moving about to find a place to lay the still-unconscious Asuka or because something else has caught his attention is unclear.

Saiou bows to the group of them apologetically. "This is all we have, I'm afraid. But it is good to see you, Edo, and…the rest of you are here for Judai, I presume."

"It seems like he's made a lot of friends," Edo comments with a hint of sardonicism. "Saiou, I'm glad to see you safe." He jerks his chin towards the woman. "And your friend is…?"

Saiou frowns. "Her name is Echo, and she also became stranded in this world. She never told us anything more than that, and now I'm afraid her past is lost."

"Lost?" Johan asks.

Something flits across Saiou's face, then disappears before Austin can identify it. "That is a longer tale. The direction all of you came from…you've encountered the Supreme King, then?"

"It really is Judai, isn't it?" Edo folds his arms. "I don't suppose you know how that happened."

Saiou nods, then walks over to a stack of books on a ramshackle table and pulls one out to open. The book glows and lifts into the air, turning into light before reshaping itself into a bird spirit.

"My word!" the spirit exclaims once it sees them, taking a step back. "Are we being raided?"

"These are friends," Saiou explains quickly. "Edo, this is the Spirit of the Books. He's been… an ally, so to speak. He and I were responsible for the Supreme King's return."

"What?!" Jim exclaims, and that leads into a very long conversation.

That time works differently between dimensions is, looking back, not the most surprising. Austin is no scientist, but he understands that the physics of time and space are complicated enough in one world without involving more. Over three months in this world have passed during the sixteen days they'd waited for Rainbow Dragon's arrival on Earth. Judai and Yubel had also tried to return to Earth, despite Austin's more unrealistic fears about Yubel's intentions. That involved awakening Judai's latent powers from a past life…which happen to be that of a legendary tyrant in this world.

"You didn't think that was a bad idea sooner?" Edo asks skeptically.

"Now see here," the Spirit of the Books jumps in. "The Supreme King's reign was actually well remembered for—"

"Saiou?"

Saiou shakes his head. "At the time, it seemed like the best way to return home. We were not aware that anybody on Earth had the means to travel to this dimension again. And Judai and Echo did agree to conduct the ritual of their own free will. I believed that however things would turn out, it would simply be…the will of destiny."

There's a strange note, and although Austin can't read Saiou well he does notice how Edo's forehead creases as his friend talks. Something to remember for later.

"Well," Johan says, drawing out the word. "How do we undo the ritual? Do you still have that card?"

The Spirit calls up a book and procures the card from inside its pages. Johan studies it before sighing. "We could use this…but whoever used this in a duel would have to sacrifice their own memory to do it. That's no good."

Amon speaks up for the first time in a while. "Would Judai want us to undo the ritual? If he's satisfied here, then while it's a worrisome situation for the people of this world…we have our way back, via Johan's Rainbow Dragon. We could simply leave this house and go home."

"Judai…" Johan shakes his head. "No. I think Judai was desperate, but he's not the kind of person who would want to become the Supreme King we saw. O'Brien, you knew him best. What do you think?"

All eyes turn to him. Austin opens his mouth and, to his shame, falters. "I…"

The memory of those golden eyes, Judai's face barely recognizable within the confines of his helmet, still chills his blood.

"O'Brien." Jim speaks to him matter-of-factly. "Just breathe."

Austin breathes. Thinks about everything they've just witnessed, and everything that's led them here. Jim's eye on him starts to chase back the lingering chill of terror from their earlier encounter, and he closes his eyes to think through things objectively. His father's training runs deep; despite the paralyzing fear he'd experienced back in that throne room, he'd kept his wits enough to observe those around him.

"Yubel…they knew us. That isn't surprising. My presence angered them, because they have never trusted me." Something Austin can't fault them for. "Yubel has always been strongly protective of Judai, and in that they were no different. However…"

He hesitates, because he has only ever had tense and searching interactions with Yubel before – to Judai's chagrin. But… "They told us to leave, when they've had no such hesitation against others who have challenged them and Judai. And at the very beginning, when Asuka told the Supreme King he wasn't acting like himself…"

Yes, he remembers it now.

"Their eyes were unfocused, for just a moment. I believe that Yubel has doubts about the situation, although they would never leave Judai."

And then comes the hard part. O'Brien takes another deep breath and remembers his father's teachings, to maintain awareness and think clearly. "Judai…was unlike how I've ever seen him. There was no recognition in his eyes at all when he saw us." Austin does not allow himself to shudder. "This truly is a version of Judai who has never known us. The Judai we know has been locked away by that card's ritual, by his own hand if these people are to believed."

"Of course you can believe them," Edo says, a bit of heat underlying his words. "And, well…" He taps his foot. "Can we unlock our Judai again?"

"Not with that ritual," Johan points out. "Not without sacrificing someone else."

"No."

Jim's single word is firm as stone.

All eyes turn towards him.

"I have my own way."

And then he tells them another fantastical story, of the incident that took his eye and the strange man who appeared to tell him of his destiny to save a friend.

The Spirit of the Books gasps and flips through one of his tomes, peering at Jim. "The Eye of Orichalchum? That hasn't been seen since before the Supreme King's time!"

Jim unwraps his bandages to reveal a stone eye underneath, the faintest red glow visible as he looks out the window where the same blue comet they'd seen the evening they arrived is passing through the sky.

"The old man told me that someday this eye would create a miracle to help me save an irreplaceable friend. I know for sure that now is the time." Jim levels a gaze in Austin's direction, stone eye and all. "O'Brien. Let me take the Supreme King on."

That's…

Austin hasn't known Jim long, and he knows little about magic and destiny that he hasn't observed through Judai. But he has a feeling about this, and so he nods. "All right. But we'll need a plan."

Yubel is the Supreme King's guardian, knight, and enforcer. They'd taken out Asuka, a strong duelist in her own right. If any of them want to take the Supreme King head-on, someone else will need to take care of them first. Austin steps up to take the lead on that, and Johan volunteers to provide backup. Amon volunteers to stay behind and watch over Asuka, who's only just woken up during the tail end of their discussion.

They talk. They plan. Saiou cobbles together a weak meal of scant vegetables, and the woman Echo eats with them blankly while the Spirit of the Books returns to one of his myriad volumes.

Asuka calls Jim over to talk. Austin heads out to find somewhere uninhabited, so he can train and gather his focus for tomorrow.

"Saiou! Can you wait a moment?"

Saiou looks healthier now than he did a year ago, cheeks less sunken and eyes less shadowed. He smiles pleasantly at Edo as Edo comes to his side after dinner, and Edo wonders for a second if he's gotten this all wrong.

"I believed that however things would turn out, it would simply be…the will of destiny."

Cautiously, he tests the waters. "Saiou, why were you standing out in the middle of that field when we arrived?"

And he sees Saiou hesitate. He frowns, and his eyes flicker away as his fingers twitch toward where he used to keep his tarot cards. Edo’s suspicions creep closer.

"We'd heard rumors of disturbances near the castle," Saiou says finally. "I had hoped that somehow...it was you, Edo. It was in hopes of finding a way home that we helped Judai awaken that power of his, after all." He sighs heavily. "But Yubel had their own plans, and turned the Supreme King against us. I fear that being in this world has not been good for them."

There's something hidden in his words. Edo's eyes narrow as he searches for that underlying meaning. "You think something is wrong with them."

Saiou nods. "Yubel originally claimed that they were interested in finding a way back, as the rest of us were. But it is strange that once they had what they wanted, they suddenly…changed their mind. And the Spirit of the Books tells me that the Light and Darkness once waged a great war here, in the times of the original Supreme King…"

Edo sees where Saiou is trying to go: he's drawing a line between Yubel and the Light, suggesting that Yubel is under the influence as he himself once was. But something feels wrong about the situation.

"We learned a lot about Judai and Yubel, after you disappeared. It's true that Yubel is probably under the influence of the Light of Destruction."

"Then…" Saiou looks at him grimly. "It may be that we have to destroy Yubel, to save your friend Judai."

That suggestion lodges itself in Edo's heart like a shard of ice.

No.

No, he can't do that.

Edo doesn't know Yubel. But he knows Judai, and he thinks he understands how Judai feels about Yubel. It's not that different from himself and Saiou, after all.

"I'll think about what we have to do," he says. It's…true enough.

Saiou smiles. "I trust you will do the right thing, Edo. You should rest early if you intend to rescue Judai tomorrow."

Amon excuses himself exactly eighteen seconds after Echo wanders out to empty out scraps from dinner, airily tossing out a lie about needing some fresh air. It works well enough for the persona he's developed; nobody gives him a second thought.

He catches Echo when she's crouched over the tiny garden, mechanically sorting through compost.

"Echo," he says, and the woman he used to know as Echo at least responds to that name. She looks up at him with dull eyes that see through and past him, and the wrongness of her expression twists his stomach.

Echo doesn't look like this. Echo has never looked like this. She has always seen the world with a sharpness, a clarity that pushed him to develop his own analytical skills as a child, and compelled him to perform his duties efficiently in the present. She'd seen him with clarity, from the first days they spent together.

This isn't Echo. This is a hollow shell bearing her face and name.

She'd volunteered to give up her memory, that man had said. For the sake of returning to Earth? Had Judai betrayed her hopes, too? What had been her plan? What future had she seen for herself, returning home with no memories? Had she trusted him to find her and bring her back to the service of the Garam conglomerate?

Amon thinks little of the future, aside from the well-being of the Garam family. But Echo had been a constant in what vague image he had of the future, his trusted friend and comrade in ensuring their business thrived despite all that happened. She'd followed him on this mission to uncover Professor Cobra's secret – Yubel, that card in Judai Yuki's possession all along – without him even asking, and he'd assumed then that she saw the same future together that he did.

Had he been wrong?

He's staring. The woman who was once Echo stands up and turns a vague, quizzical eye on him. "Is something wrong?" she asks.

He tries to smile. "You don't remember me at all, do you?"

The woman blinks. "Remember? I…"

She takes a step towards him, and stumbles. "You're…"

Could something have remained? The Supreme King had nothing of the Judai Yuki they knew, but Echo isn't…she wasn't the reincarnation of some ancient king. She was the best soldier Amon knew, but she had nothing in the past to dredge up like that. Maybe the Echo he knew was closer to the surface of the woman before him now, in comparison?

"I'm Amon," he says, trying to temper the hopes swelling in his chest – and failing, when the woman's eyes widen with what he hopes is recognition. "Echo, do you remember me?"

"Amon," the woman breathes.

Amon feels his own breath catch.

"Amon," the woman repeats, and her voice pitches up with something like desperation. "I…I need to…"

She staggers, and Amon runs forward to catch her.

"Amon, I…" The woman leans against him and cups a hand to her chest, right over her heart. Amon stands stiff where he is, holding her weight up, as a ball of light forms in her hand.

"Echo?" He tries to keep his voice calm and soothing. Pleasant, like the studious philosopher. He doesn't know what's going on, but he dares not startle Echo right now. "What are you doing?"

"Take this." Echo uses her free hand to push herself off him into a standing position, and then cups her hands together to hold the light out to him.

"What—" Instinctively Amon reaches out a hand, and the light collected in her hands flies alongside his arm and into his own heart.

And now it's Amon's turn to stagger back, as a flood of memories assaults him. He thinks they're his memories at first, seen in third person…but no, these are Echo's memories and they're all of him.

Amon sees himself studying as a child. Exercising, training in the ring. Sees himself turn away as Sid is born and he loses his sense of self, and then sees him redouble all his efforts for parents who'd tossed him to the side.

No. He is grateful for the Garams. He knows that he would have starved out there in the desert if they hadn't found him.

They didn't appreciate him. They were too blind to their own blood to understand that Amon and Amon had the qualities—

Are those Echo's thoughts, or his own?

They can't be his thoughts.

(He's known all along.)

He sees Judai on the cruise ship in those first days on the voyage to Duel Academia, chattering with Jim in their strange mishmash of broken language skills and pestering everyone for duels when he wasn't disappearing mysteriously.

He knows, for certain, that Judai is a poor king who cares more for raffle sandwiches than for building a better world.

He knows that he can do better.

His palms sting suddenly, and Amon realizes that he's fallen to his hands in the flood of new thoughts.

(Not new thoughts. Old thoughts, that he'd locked away because he couldn't—)

Amon stands back up, brushing dirt and gravel off his palms, and rushes forward because Echo has collapsed to the ground while he was dealing with whatever's just happened.

Back inside the cottage, everyone is too busy fussing when he brings in Echo's unconscious body to notice Amon's scraped hands. It's just as planned, and he forces himself not to sit next to her as Austin O'Brien looks her over.

A king…knows when to be discreet.

Chapter Text

"You."

Yubel should have dealt with Austin O'Brien long ago. Should have known he'd be back to meddle. He always has been.

(It's not too late now. They can kill him now. Ensure he never gets close again.)

O'Brien looks entirely unsurprised to see Yubel, which is exactly as expected for the model mercenary.

"Yubel," O'Brien says neutrally. "You should have known we would be back."

Yubel sneers. "Would I? I saw the terror in your heart when you fled from here, Austin O'Brien. You should have returned back to your world when you had the chance." And hadn't that been a satisfying sight, darkness roiling in his heart as he grappled with the realization that he had never known Judai as well as he thought he did. He's afraid of the boy he still dares to call his best friend.

(Of course he doesn't know Judai so well. How could anyone truly know him, besides the one who's been by his side for all of two lifetimes?)

(Nobody else deserves him.)

The boy with him, Johan Andersen – he's an interesting one, his heart an intriguingly bright one with shadows only at its edges. But O'Brien…Yubel still sees that darkness bubbling in O'Brien's heart. He's trying desperately to keep it contained as he activates his duel disk, sliding his deck into its slot with practiced precision.

They can capitalize on that darkness: more for Yubel to feed off of. Being by the awakened Supreme King's side for the past two months has helped them regain their strength, certainly – but a good snack never hurts, now does it?

O'Brien holds his head up high. "I have known Judai for four years, ever since our first days at West. I've had countless encounters with the world of spirits through him."

That darkness is receding. The pep talk he's giving himself is working. Yubel growls.

"I've always understood that Judai had abilities and experiences beyond my own, and my ability to handle alone," O'Brien continues. "You used to be one of those experiences, Yubel."

(He should fear them.)

Yubel laughs, deep and mocking. Quite a way to describe the careful circling around each other that had characterized Judai's second two years at West. "You're a fool if you believe anything has changed, then. Or do you intend to take me two on one?" They cast an amused eye at Johan Andersen, who shakes his head.

"Yubel, both O'Brien and I are here as Judai's friends. Aren't you?"

Yubel sneers again as they form their arm into a disk. "I am Yubel, and I have protected the Supreme King since before your ancestors walked the earth. You'll soon see how meaningless your friendship is in comparison to the ultimate guardian!"

(And then Yubel will destroy these pretenders who call themselves Judai's friends, and after that—)

Haou's suspicions about the nature of the commotion outside are proven correct when the bandage-eyed boy strides into the throne room just a handful of minutes after Yubel leaves to take care of the intruders. Trying to separate the two of them had been a popular tactic as far back as their first lives. The only time it had worked had been…effective, but both of them remember the pain of the incident that led to his death. Neither of them intend to let it happen again.

"Judai," the boy calls up to him. His voice is just loud enough to carry over the distance between them, and no louder. "Supreme King Judai."

Haou stands. "I am the Supreme King. I have no other name of importance." Even Yubel rarely calls him by that name, shared with the weaker version of himself. This stranger who knows a shadow of the Supreme King has no right to use it.

"No. You are Judai." The boy's voice is firm. He takes off his hat to unwrap the bandages around his eye, revealing a shining red crystal in place of the actual thing.

Haou glances up at the window, and Haou follows his gaze despite himself to see a comet blazing across the sky: the same comet he'd seen a few nights ago, stargazing with Yubel.

He doesn't know what it means. But it had been an omen indeed.

"The Spirit of the Books told us what happened," the boy continues, and Haou needs a second to place the name: a spirit that had, supposedly, helped Judai Yuki with the ritual to unlock his true power. He'd banished them from the castle on Yubel's request. (He supposes it isn't traitorous to give information after being banished.) "You are Judai Yuki. Past lives, the powers of darkness…none of that changes who you are. My spiritual friend. You may call yourself the Supreme King, but Judai is still in there deep within you. Your friends are waiting, Judai!"

The light in his artificial eye flares, and it cuts straight into something deep in Haou's heart. Something that should be buried, and something he intends to keep buried.

He knows what he must do.

"Judai Yuki is dead," he declares. "He was weak, and lacked the power to achieve anything. That is why he erased himself, by his own choice. You call to a person who no longer exists."

He activates his duel disk, and the boy activates his.

"Judai exists," the boy insists. "I'll prove it to you, Supreme King Judai!"

"Duel!"

Yubel feels it when Judai's duel begins, and realizes that they've fallen for the distraction.

(Just like back then in his first life, and then—)

(Yubel can't lose him again.)

(Yubel will bring the rest of the twelve dimensions to dust before they lose him again.)

They let out a deep rumbling dragon's roar, two voices overlaid over it screaming with rage, and glare at O'Brien, who staggers from the force of their power. "What are you doing to him?"

O'Brien straightens back up and smiles, self-satisfied. "Many of Judai's friends came to save him. We intend to carry out our mission."

"The Judai you knew is gone," they hiss. "I could not bring him back if I tried. What makes you believe that any of you could?"

"Couldn't you?" O'Brien challenges them.

(It's…it's not as if they haven't thought about it.)

(They already gave up their body for him, long ago. Their humanity. Would their memory truly be that much more of a cost, if they were to steal that card and start that ritual again?)

(...But they never did. They never could.)

"Haven't you thought about it?" O'Brien continues. "You miss him too, don't you, Yubel?"

"You don't get to say that!"

Yubel should have killed him long ago. Unfortunately, now an unpleasant choice faces them: they can forfeit the duel and run to Judai's side, at the cost of a significant portion of the strength they've spent the past few months building back up. Or they can lose time with this waste of a duel, but when they win it will be O'Brien who suffers.

(They can't lose him again.)

(Shouldn't they have faith in their king and his strength, and endeavor to maintain their own strength for him?)

(Yubel should have killed O'Brien long ago.)

"I will drink up all the darkness in your heart until there is nothing left," they vow as they draw for their next turn.

"Saiou."

Edo had been suspicious when his friend asked to come along. Something still feels off about Saiou despite everything, and Saiou has never been much of one to dive into the kind of action that storming a castle entails.

And now that's why they're here in the forest, on a detour in the tail end of Edo's efforts to take care of the Supreme King's guards. Edo's already dispatched of them: the rarity of dueling in this world has made those of them from Earth well-suited to battle here, and of course few people can stand against his D-Heroes. Those guards won't be getting up anytime soon.

And now that they're about to head inside and rendezvous with Jim…well, he has to be sure.

"Yes, Edo?"

Edo looks at the man at his side and sees the troubled boy he'd met all those years ago, anxiously showing him the Devil card. Then the sweep of hair Edo had seen so often last year, chasing after Saiou's back and trying to get him to explain what his plans were for the Society of Light.

This isn't the first time Edo has chased after Saiou, but it's the first time he's had to do it since…well, since the Light. Edo isn't sure what to do with that fact sitting in his gut.

No. He's not going to do this again. He'll admit it to himself this time: he's worried about Saiou and he's suspicious of something, and he has to act on it. He nearly lost the person most important to him last year because he waited too long to act.

"Saiou," he says again. "When you found us yesterday…you knew we were coming ahead of time, didn't you? You didn't guess, or hope. You were expecting us."

Silence.

"Saiou, you have to know what that means."

Saiou smiles sadly, and Edo's heart sinks even as he activates his duel disk.

He refuses to wait this time.

Evil Heroes. So this is part of Judai, too.

Jim supposes that Edo – the pro Hero user – would have a lot to say about this concept if he were here, but Edo had gotten held up with his friend Saiou on the way here.

The Supreme King is a force to be reckoned with. The Elemental Heroes are still here, as bases for the Masked and Evil Heroes, and in the heat of the duel Jim feels his friend inside every card played more than ever. The Supreme King and Judai are truly the same. The earth has been churned inside him, different arrangements of the same bones to form a bird or a dragon…but they are the same bones.

And what bones they are. Jim grunts as Malicious Edge pierces through Shell Knight's defenses, giving the Supreme King the edge on Life Points even after Shell Knight's burn effect. He'll have to keep up his own assault on the next turn, because in this duel he's sure that's the key.

Supreme King Judai is efficient and merciless, the hardest of bedrock to penetrate. But Jim knows patience, and the value of chipping away bit by bit to reveal the layers underneath.

He draws.

A fossil.

The Supreme King in front of Jim is a fossil in himself: a soul from the ancient past, brought into the present. Judai had buried his own memories to revive that soul, splitting up himself to be lost until pieced back together.

But Jim knows Judai. Had listened to Professor Cobra and Austin O'Brien of the West campus talk about Judai's past, and known that none of it changed the Judai who befriended Karen within their first few days on the ship to Duel Academia and traded tips on their respective languages together with Jim. The Judai who found him looking through the geological structures in Duel Academia's wilderness and understood Jim's soul, the call of history he heard embedded in ancient stone.

"See, I'm sure those fossils'll be glad that you found them, too. Heck, even the heroes at the bottom of my deck want me to summon them!"

No, he hadn't known about Yubel. Or Judai's parents. Or any of that. But Judai doesn't know about how he met Karen either, or how Jim acquired the Eye he wears plain on his face now. What really matters is that they had resonated with each other.

Judai is his spiritual friend. And although Judai's buried himself in the dark cloak of his past…Jim knows that deep inside his soul, Judai is calling out to him the same as any fossil.

He draws, and smiles. Tomorrow Girl had entrusted this particular card to him, mentioning that it had helped her save her brother once. This sounds like the perfect tool for unearthing Judai from inside the Supreme King.

"I activate a spell!" the boy shouts, and…a familiar card appears on the field. "O, Swing of Memories! Lend me your strength!"

Jim. His opponent's name is Jim Crocodile Cook.

How does he know this?

And, furthermore…

That card does not belong to Jim.

He also should not know this.

Stone Dragon revives on the field. Haou grits his teeth and begins his counterattack.

"What do you think of Yubel?" Johan asks Emerald Turtle, who's appeared to watch the duel between Yubel and O'Brien with him. He has his thoughts about the spirit, but as the Gem Beasts filter out to observe he thinks that he could use a second opinion. And a third and a fourth, because he always likes to know what his family is thinking.

Emerald Turtle hums as they watch Yubel activate a trap to guard against one of O'Brien's spells. "Yubel is an old soul," he decides as Yubel sacrifices another low-level monster to fuel their own presence. "Every time your friend brings up Judai, their eyes become sadder."

Johan nods in agreement. "You noticed it too, huh?"

"But then they become more dangerous," Topaz Tiger adds. "You shouldn't let your guard down, Johan."

"I won't." But Johan keeps an eye on Judai's partner as they strike out against O'Brien, lashing out with poisonous words about his intentions and theirs. O'Brien's doing well, his effect damage bypassing Yubel's reflection of battle damage in a curious sort of matchup, but both duelists play a careful game.

"Yubel is desperate," Cobalt Eagle chimes in. "They're impatient."

"That might be their downfall," Emerald Turtle agrees.

"Will you truly be happy if the Judai of this life never returns?" O'Brien calls out on the duel field. "Isn't he Judai, same as the Supreme King? Aren't they one and the same? Even I've come to understand that, after all I've known of Judai from our time together."

"No he isn't!" Yubel screams. "They're not the sa—"

And then they take a step back, eyes wide with fear and realization.

Jim has one monster to the Supreme King's two, one set card, and two cards in hand. He's behind by seven hundred Life Points despite his best efforts, but Jim knows that their plans are working. He could tell from the hesitation in the impassive opponent before him that Swing of Memories has broken through the layers of magic and memory hiding Judai from them, and he intends to keep digging.

The comet blazes overhead. He looks up and prays for a miracle.

"O, Eye of Orichalcum! Lead me to the card that will let my feelings get through to my friend!"

He draws.

More memories leak in where they are unwanted. Jim had waved off the question of what happened to his eye the one time he – Judai Yuki, not Haou himself – had asked. He'd shrugged and asked Karen as a joke, and she'd given him a sharp-tongued response for a crocodile.

He'd realized then that Karen was to Jim what Yubel was to him, a partner. He'd wished that he could carry Yubel around in a little backpack, although Yubel might not enjoy being jostled around on his back. He'd liked the idea anyway, because it still meant the two of them could be together more often.

He hadn't really been the greatest friend to Jim and the others, that day they'd tracked Jim's thingamajig through the forest. He wonders what stories Asuka has about those monkeys now, but he hadn't had space to think about that because he'd been too worried about everyone finding Yubel underground.

He'd considered telling someone, after that. One person, so that he had an ally in trying to protect the person most important to him. Probably Johan. Definitely not Jim, after that adventure. But he hadn't in the end, because it was safer to keep protecting Yubel alone.

Even in his other life, Yubel had always been in his thoughts.

Haou grimaces as Skull King attacks Hell Gainer, and for the first time in the duel his Life Points drop lower than Jim's.

The comet is impossibly bright. Or is it Jim's eye? Both?

"The Eye of Orichalcum...it's a power bestowed upon me in order to save my friend! Judai, I'm on my way to you!"

Mirrors. They're in a space full of mirrors, all full of scenes from what must be two different lives, all reflecting upon a massive throne atop a steep staircase. Judai is curled up asleep on the seat of that throne, his signature red jacket draped loosely on his back like a cape – or a blanket.

Jim takes one step forward, and then another, until he reaches the foot of the staircase. Then he climbs, step by step, until he's looking at Judai's legs dangling off the throne's edge.

The mirrors play back a cacophony of memories.

"You're pretty annoying, for a prince."

"You have a fire in you, Judai Yuki.."

"That thing isn't a knight! It's an abomination!"

"There you are…Judai! Aaaaaaaagh—"

Jim ignores the noise and reaches up to shrug the jacket off of Judai's shoulders.

"Wake up, Judai," he says simply. "Everyone's waiting."

Judai opens his eyes blearily. "Jim?"

Jim picks up his friend in his arms, cradling him as they descend down the stairs.

Skull King has one more attack, and Haou doesn't have enough Life Points to withstand it.

Even if he were to pull a card he doesn't have out of his arsenal, even if he were to win…

The memories keep streaming in now. Dueling Asuka at the school festival. Napping with Johan on the roof. Talking about bloodstained cards on Edo's yacht. Time spent laying on a boulder and ignoring the terrible things it did to his back as he watched Jim carefully pick away at the stone.

The graveyard, once swapped, is shuffled back into the deck. The deck becomes whole.

"Jim," he says, and feels the weight of his friend's eyes. "You truly are the South campus's best."

Jim gives him a small smile, confident but warm. "That truly is a compliment from you, Supreme King Judai."

"When I'm gone, pass on two messages for me." He closes his eyes. "Tell Judai: you had better not fail them again. And for Yubel…"

He thinks of straight hair and too-soft hands, and of the way Yubel breathed when he kissed them. Of the too-small body he carries now, and of the moment he'd opened his eyes and realized he'd returned from the despair of a bloody, lonesome end.

"Tell them I'm glad I was able to see them one last time. And tell them…goodbye."

Yubel will understand, sooner than later. He would not have given his heart to a fool.

Jim nods. "I will."

Skull King attacks, and Haou drops to his knees as his Life Points fall to zero.

A king.

Become a king.

The qualities of a king.

Amon sits in the corner of the cottage, watching over Asuka and Echo's sleeping forms, and imagines himself as a king.

He understands now. Echo had trusted him to find her. And she'd used that ritual, the one that used a duelist's memories to fuel a wish, to break the chains on him that he'd willed himself not to see.

Not until his blindness cost him.

"You did this…to free me…"

It all seems so meaningless now. He hadn't considered a life without Echo before, but…even if he were to bring the woman curled up on the floor beneath him back home, Echo would be gone all the same.

She'd given up everything for him.

He has to make that worth it. Somehow.

"Echo, I promise you…"

He stands up.

"I will become the king of this world. No matter what anyone says, I will become your king!"

Chapter Text

Yubel feels it too, the moment where they've lost. Judai's unique signature of darkness, a coal of summer warmth, suddenly folds in on itself. That coal still burns, Judai is still alive…but the flame no longer blazes.

Yubel screams, flapping their wings to rise in the air – but they're chained down by this duel, which no longer matters. Not anymore. Just like last time, they were too late coming to the side of the one they were meant to protect.

(Why hadn't they learned from the first time? They should have gone to him immediately.)

(His body had been cold on the battlefield when they reached him, pale face stark behind his helmet. His crimson cape had been dark with the intermingled blood of himself and the Light-infested princess who he had taken down with him.)

(In the middle of that battlefield, Yubel had truly learned the meaning of sorrow.)

(They can't do this again.)

(They've failed him again.)

"I surrender." O'Brien's hand is on his deck as he kneels, grimacing with the energy loss from the forfeit. "You know as well as I do that continuing this duel is pointless."

He's in better shape than if Yubel had simply won against them and in much better shape than he would be if they had their way with him, but—

It no longer matters.

Yubel feels their chest heave as they glare at him, summoning the dark power still available to them – a reminder that Judai still yet lives, in some form. They'll protect him this time. O'Brien can meet the same fate as Judai's neighbors, all those years ago.

But before they can focus that power at O'Brien, the other boy – Johan Andersen – speaks out to them for the first time since he and O'Brien lured them here. "Judai's still there, isn't he Yubel?"

Yubel growls, sweeping out a hand out at him. "Don't you dare talk as if you know either of us, Johan Andersen."

"I don't," Johan admits, as his tiger companion prowls up behind him. He smiles, and reaches a hand out. It's a symbolic invitation more than anything, given the dozen meters between them, but it's disgustingly genuine. "I've never met you before today, Yubel. But I know you're Judai's partner. And I know you haven't said one bad thing about him this entire time."

He…

They…

The rage starts to bleed out of Yubel's mind, and as they land back on their ground their arm reforms into its normal form, their deck stowed away in a pocket of their soul.

(They should kill him anyway.)

(They should kill O'Brien too.)

(They should just take Judai away and destroy everything else.)

"Johan is right," O'Brien says, packing away his own deck. "Yubel…you love Judai as he was on Earth, and you love him as the Supreme King. Just because Jim has returned his memory, that should not change your feelings."

Yubel hates him. "I—"

They don't know how to finish that sentence.

"The Supreme King is a figure of the past," O'Brien continues when Yubel fails to find more words. "Deep down you know that, don't you?"

"Give them some time, O'Brien," Johan says gently. "They should all still be in the throne room when you're ready, Yubel. I'm sure Judai will be happy if you're there to welcome him back soon."

He and O'Brien run back into the castle, leaving Yubel to sink to their knees on the walkway.

Johan Andersen is right. They should go and be with Judai.

They don't deserve to be with Judai.

The world told them they never deserved him, not a monster like them. Judai had looked at their hideous body and vowed his love anyway.

(They would have razed the land if that's what it took to carve out a world together.)

Yubel has just let him die again.

(What's the point of this world without him?)

But Judai is still there. Something of him remains. Shouldn't they go to him?

He's not the same.

He still loves them.

(He sent them to suffer for years.)

He's spent years more making up for that time.

(Maybe if he suffers—)

No. They can't allow that.

(Why not?)

Yubel still loves him.

Despite everything, they still love him.

(He won't love them back.)

He won't love them the way he has for the past two months.

When had that changed? When had there ever been a difference?

(He promised, all that time ago. Did he break that promise?)

Don't they want to be with Judai?

What does it mean to be with him?

They love him. Despite everything, they love him.

Is it right to love Judai?

Is it wrong?

(Save for Judai, the world has always believed their existence is wrong.)

Is it betraying him?

What would they even do, without him?

(What if they just tore it all down?)

They can do this.

They can do this. They just have to…

What are they doing?

Judai wakes to a headache like someone's stuffed his brain with cotton, and too much light. He shuts his eyes and rolls over in a vain attempt to block it out. His head hits what feels like a lap.

"Yubel?"

No, that's rough denim beneath his cheek. That's not Yubel.

There's a soft laugh above him. "Not yet, Judai. It's just me, Jim."

"Jim," he murmurs. Huh. When had Jim—

Judai bolts up and rolls over, leaning back on his hands – gloves, armored gloves because he's in armor – to stare up at Jim with wide eyes. "Jim?!"

Jim smiles at him, and Judai's gaze slides to the bandage over his eye.

That…hadn't been there…when…

Oh.

Shit.

Judai laughs nervously. Hollowly. "I guess…I've caused everyone a lot of trouble, huh?" It comes out more airily than he intended.

He feels…strange. Like his body isn't his own, and it's more his own than ever. Like his own mind is a deck still mid-shuffle, splitting apart and coming back together in little pieces.

His helmet is off, discarded near the throne. The rest of his armor still weighs his body down.

"Your friends are waiting, Judai!"

Judai lets himself fall on his back again, staring up at the throne room ceiling as thoughts and memories continue swirling about his brain.

"Jim…you brought me back."

They'd saved him.

Jim smiles brightly. "Of course. You are our friend, Judai." Karen roars her approval from his back.

Did he want to be saved? Maybe they should have left him.

…He remembers Asuka's face when she'd realized it was him in this armor, and how he hadn't even thought twice when Yubel struck her down.

No. He…he doesn't want to be like that, either. That was supposed to be the best version of himself, but – it doesn't really feel like that was his best.

He doesn't know what is.

It's not bad that his friends saved him, he decides. He can decide exactly how he feels about it later, but—hang on a second.

The realization is sharp, but his head is fuzzy enough that his response is sluggish. He looks up at Jim from his position on the ground, armor still heavy on his body. "How did you all get here?"

"Judai!" calls another familiar voice. Johan runs into the throne room, followed closely by—

"Austin?"

Oh. Oh yeah. He'd seen Austin the other day, hadn't he, even if he hadn't recognized his best friend at the time. But Austin is supposed to be back in America.

Austin smiles, and despite his confusion something inside Judai warms to see his old friend again. He starts to get back up, and the pieces of his armor clank as he moves.

"Judai, do you need help getting out of that?" Johan asks.

"Uh…yeah."

It's actually not that hard to get out of the armor once he summons the willpower to try. He's done it hundreds of times before, after all. Judai leaves the pieces on the floor and – oh, even though the armor's off he's still the Supreme King who conquered this world. Again. He'll…figure out what to do about that later. Right now he has a lot of questions for his friends, new and old.

"How did you all even get here?" He wracks his brain. "Before…Yubel took us here, and it took all the power they had at the time. And then you guys…"

Johan lights up then. "Rainbow Dragon helped us."

And despite everything, a jolt of giddiness cuts through Judai's haze of too-many-thoughts to hear that. "Rainbow Dragon? You found him?"

Johan takes out his deck to show him, and Judai laughs with glee to see the majestic dragon glittering on its card. "Wow! Congratulations, Johan!"

"It was at a good time." Johan's still clearly elated himself, but he calms down to continue with his explanation. "Rainbow Dragon has the power to cross dimensions, and Pegasus knows some scientists who were able to track you two to this world. Once Pegasus found him and created the card, we were able to come find you."

Judai counts off the people he'd seen that first day, when his friends had stormed the castle. Jim, Johan, and Austin: all here. Asuka too, because he must have worried her. Edo too, although he'd be looking for Saiou more than Judai and Judai can't blame him for that. And…Amon Garam, too, so maybe all the academy reps had come for this.

But something's bugging him. "How did you guys get Austin here? Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you…"

(Actually it's kind of embarrassing, when your best friend comes to rescue you and you've become a conquering tyrant after giving up your own memory. But he's not going to say that.)

Jim and Johan look to Austin. Austin clasps his hands behind his back, smile fading to something more serious as he assumes a soldier's stance. That's pretty normal for him so Judai doesn't think much of it until—

"...Judai. I have a great deal I must confess to you."

And as Austin outlines half a dozen ways his past few years have been a lie, Judai feels his stomach start to sink.

The mention of Pegasus hadn't tipped him off, because he knew from early on in the year that Johan knew Pegasus personally as the holder of the Gem Beasts. But—

A secret mission to investigate Judai's father. The involvement of Judai's birth parents, because even Pegasus knew about his and Yubel's past. The secret behind the Dis Belts and the Disclosure Duel system, which Judai has spent four years of his life supporting Dad in.

…And even Yubel had been part of it.

Yubel hadn't told him that, either.

"...You have the right to be angry at me," Austin concludes, still in his soldier's stance. "But even if you are, I hope that you understand that the three years we spent together were not deception on my part. You are my greatest friend and rival, and..."

He meets Judai's eyes. "I am glad to see you returned to us, alive and well."

Judai looks into Austin's eyes.

Then he looks at everyone else.

And then he runs.

There isn't anywhere for miles that Judai can escape his memories. Every part of the castle is somewhere he's been with Yubel, in this life or their previous one. The castle is situated on a steep hill, the surrounding forest full of places he used to be with Yubel.

The trees are different and the paths have all faded, the restoration lower priority than the castle itself, but his memories remain. Judai had left the castle via a secret exit only he and Yubel should know about in this time; once upon a time Judai had snuck Yubel out of their work through that passage so they could play together, and he'd gotten himself in trouble with the kitchen staff so they wouldn't have to get in trouble for skipping their duties instead. He'd given Yubel equally unauthorized lessons in swordplay deeper into the forest, when they were older.

And he knows that if he were to look further into the shadows of the castle walls, in parts shaded by trees that have lived and died in generations since, they'd stolen each other away in the tensest nights of his first reign to…

Man, they had really been bold back then.

He doesn't know what to do. What to think. Everywhere he goes, Yubel is there. He's sure Yubel thinks the same about him. Has always thought the same about him, even when they first met in this life.

They'd never said anything about it. Or anything about a lot of other things. Judai knows Yubel like the other half of his soul, but then again has he never known them at all?

Has he ever known anyone? Dad and Austin have been lying to him this whole time, too.

Judai sits hunched down underneath the shadow of another tree, chin on his knees, staring unfocused at the duel disk on his arm.

There's a hundred different strings between him and Yubel, connecting them inseparably. Those strings are starting to feel more like chains binding them ever further together.

He's just buried his face in his legs when he hears a distant shout.

"This is it, Saiou!"

That's…Edo?

"Blood-D, attack The Devil! Bloody Fears!"

There's a scream: Saiou, he thinks. Judai debates for a long moment if he should get up and go investigate it.

In the end, he gets up. Not because Judai thinks Edo needs him, really, but because moving forward physically makes him feel less like he's being strangled by his own emotions.

He arrives on the scene to see Edo kneeling on the ground, cradling Saiou in his arms. Judai wonders briefly if Saiou doesn't want to see him – last time they'd seen each other Judai had exiled him from the castle on Yubel's request – but quickly realizes from their expressions that he's the least of either's worries right now.

Edo does realize he's there, though, and Judai's friend gives him a sharp glance as Judai steps into view before relaxing and turning his attention back to Saiou. "Judai. The plan worked, then."

By the plan he means the duel with Jim, probably. Judai nods and, because asking about the current situation is easier than trying to untangle his feelings about any of that, looks to Saiou. "What happened? Are you guys all right?"

Edo doesn't spare him a glance now, which Judai is honestly thankful for. His eyes are only on Saiou, who's starting to open his eyes again after the duel knocked the wind out of him. "Edo…"

And Judai knows how much Edo cares about Saiou, and that Saiou hasn't been doing great health-wise after last year due to his own ordeal with the Light of Destruction. Edo must know about the severity of duels in this dimension, where the spirits summoned are real. That they'd had a full duel speaks to something serious.

Edo helps Saiou sit up on the ground, bracing his shoulders to help his friend stay upright. "It's all right, Saiou." He fusses over his friend for a bit, and only when he's satisfied does he look behind him to where Judai is standing. "Saiou…he had some of the Light of Destruction with him, again. Not like last time, but…it was there."

And Judai's hackles raise, instinctively summoning the dark power still at his fingertips to chase away the ruinous Light. But as his attention focuses on Saiou—

There's no Light in him anymore. He sees the scars inside him just as he saw them on Yubel, but there are no fragmented sparks of the Light within him as they are within Yubel. "It's gone," he reports, though he has a feeling Edo already knows. "Whatever was in there, you cast it out."

How long had the Light been with Saiou? Had he missed it?

Judai had been with him a lot in this world, that first month they were here. And he remembers the last time he'd seen Saiou before that, at the school festival when…

When Saiou had tried to take Judai's pendant, with Yubel's card inside.

Oh.

"It was Yubel, wasn't it?" he asks Saiou. "When you came in contact with Yubel's card, it spread from them to you."

Saiou nods, shame clear on his own face. "I suspected so, when my ability to foretell the future returned to me soon after."

So this is all his fault, too. Judai grimaces and looks to Edo next, ready to apologize for getting him and his friend involved.

But Edo isn't looking at him; he's looking at Saiou. It looks like he's already forgotten about Judai; Edo's eyes are only for Saiou right now.

…Yeah. Judai understands the feeling.

He sweeps away the words in his mouth and waits, because this is a moment for those two right now.

"Saiou." Edo shifts his weight so that he's got one knee fully on the ground as he touches his friend's arm. "So you've known about your powers returning for a while."

"Yes."

"You knew it was a possibility for a while, that the Light had returned."

Saiou closes his eyes, leaning a little more of his weight against Edo. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I wanted to believe in something else." And Judai isn't nearly as familiar with Saiou as Edo is, but he can still understand what it means when Saiou stares straight ahead as he talks. "Mizuchi and I had our abilities long before I first held Bloo-D and was touched by the Light of Destruction. I thought…no, I wanted to believe…that I'd regained them just as naturally. That I had power still, instead of being subject to the unknown whims of fate."

"Saiou, you…" Edo inhales sharply. "I didn't realize you felt that way."

Saiou shakes his head. "I did not want you to know, Edo. I felt as if I should be relieved, to be freed from the shackles of fate. But the longer time went on…I began to fear the world outside, not knowing what the future would bring. Losing my power, I feared that I was only losing more – until even leaving the island became frightening, until being taken by accident forced my hand."

(Yeah. That had been Yubel's mistake, but still. Oops.)

"I should have known better," Edo admits. "Even while I was worried about you…I didn't realize." The hand not on Saiou's arm balls into a fist at his side. "It's so obvious now that you say it. But I didn't think about things the way you must have. I only thought about how relieved I was that things were over, without thinking about…I should have realized what you wanted."

"I myself did not know." Saiou smiles weakly.

"I should have asked you, in any case." Edo moves from his kneeling position to stand up, offering Saiou his hand to help him stand as well. "We could have figured it out together. I don't care whether you have your powers or not, Saiou. I just…want to stand together with you, and move forward in the storm together."

And that…

Huh.

Edo and Saiou keep talking, but Judai starts losing focus as he thinks about two lifetimes spent together with the person most important to him.

He almost doesn't notice the combined footsteps of several Gem Beasts.

"Judai, there you are." Johan smiles as he approaches, and reaches out a hand once he starts to get close. He glances to Edo and Saiou. "...I can see something happened, but I think we should leave those two to it. Do you mind if we talk for a while?"

Chapter Text

Johan leads him to a clearing a short distance away, far enough that they won't disturb Edo and Saiou but close enough that the other two won't need to come looking for them if they need to. The Gem Beasts form a protective circle around the two humans as they settle down, save for Ruby who remains on Johan's shoulder. Johan sits down on a rock; Judai just sits down cross-legged on the ground, eyeing Johan expectantly.

A smile tugs at Johan's lips once he does that. "You're Judai, all right."

Judai scratches his chin. Is he? "Do you think so? I dunno what it means to be me, anymore." He shrugs. "I don't know if anyone does."

Who is he? He's Judai Yuki, who ran away from a family that would have made him forget what was important to start a new life with a family that lied to him about what was important. He's the Supreme King, who conquered this land and saved it from the Light. He doesn't want to be a conqueror. He used to be Yubel's lover. He doesn't love them like that anymore. He's Johan's friend. He's never told Johan the truth, so now Johan's found out everything about him in the worst way possible.

Well. He can start with that. "...I never told you about Yubel. Sorry."

Johan just tilts his head, and the kindness in his eyes almost hurts. "You never needed to."

And that just doesn't feel right. "I was so happy to meet you back on the ship to Duel Academia, you know. I really hadn't met anyone else who could see spirits like me before. But I still kept the truth from you, ever since you asked me about what kind of spirits I had."

Yeah. He's not innocent of that either. A couple afternoons here and there didn't mean all those evenings "helping Dad" were real.

But Johan shrugs it off. "It was a personal matter. You know, Judai, there's things about me that I haven't told you either."

Really? No…yeah, he and Johan never really talked all that much about either of their histories. And Judai can't throw stones about that for sure. "Are you telling me now?"

Johan laughs. "Yeah I guess so. But I guess, first…" He scratches Ruby under the chin, and Ruby lets out a vibrant chirp. "I should admit, Judai. I don't know a lot about past lives, the power of darkness, or any of that."

"Sure…" Judai kind of wishes he didn't, either.

"But I do know a lot about family. And bonds." Ruby hops from shoulder to lap at that, cuddling into Johan's hands.

Judai isn't quite sure where he's going with that. "I know. Your bond with your family is really strong."

"Yeah." Johan nods, confidently. "I've only had my family for a few years, but I've learned a lot from being with them. So, Judai – take it from me when I say that the bonds you have with the people you love are strong, too. And they're real."

Real.

Judai isn't wearing the pendant with Yubel's card right now. He'd taken it off when he erased his memory, figuring it the forgotten memento of a dead boy. He wants it back, despite everything.

But Yubel isn't the only one he loves. "What are you talking about? Who are you talking about?"

"Everyone." Johan turns his head back to a castle for a second. "All of us who came here, we saw what happened when you and Yubel disappeared. Your father came to the principal to confess everything he'd done, just so someone could find you. Him and O'Brien worked together to make sure you were safe…even though I get the feeling they don't like each other very much."

Judai watches Ruby, curled up in Johan’s lap. "But they all lied to me. "

“And you have the right to be angry at them for that. You should talk to them about that when we get back. But they really do love you."

…He remembers Dad's eyes when they'd first met. Remembers how sad his father had been, even to a stranger. Dad had taken Judai in and let him wear his favorite red jacket clashing with Dad's disciplined everything, told him stories about Rick with tears in his eyes and hugged his second son tight.

Austin had approached him in the first few days in their freshman year, and stuck with him for the three years after. Judai had pulled him into so many spirit-related shenanigans that by their second year Austin was identifying errant duel spirits before Judai was every other occasion. They'd been a team, the two of them, the soldier and the wildcard taking care of any situation.

"And Yubel…"

Judai lets out a rattling breath. Yubel.

"I know you and Yubel have a long history together that I only know a little bit about. You don't need to tell me all of it. Or any of it, if you don't want to."

(How could Judai even begin to tell anyone?)

"But O'Brien and I were with them while you were dueling Jim. And I can say for sure, Judai, that everything the two of you have together is real. And although I know things are complicated, I believe in your ability to work through it together."

Judai leans forward on his criss-crossed legs, eyes downcast as he considers that.

For Yubel…

"It's not that I doubt what we have is real." He looks up at Johan through the upper edges of his sight. "It's that maybe it's too real. I know who Yubel is, or I thought I did. But now I've realized that maybe I never knew them at all, if I couldn't see they needed help this entire time. And as for me…"

He presses a hand to his head. Bonds like chains. "I don't know if I know who I am, at all. I definitely don't know who I am without Yubel. I ran away from my first family because I was afraid to find out. And Yubel, without me…"

He still remembers the way his world had changed long ago, that day he went looking for Yubel in this castle only to find that Yubel was gone. He remembers the moment he saw them again, the multi-eyed monstrous form that his best friend had taken on themself for his sake to guard him through eternity.

He remembers the vow he made when he finally found them again, that desperate response to realizing Yubel had chosen to exist for him and only for him.

"Yubel, I promise you... My love will belong only to you. No matter what anyone says, I'll keep loving you!"

He'd meant it all, back then. Yubel couldn't exist without him, and he'd chosen not to exist without Yubel.

…He still means it.

Despite everything, the part of him whose love only belonged to Yubel is gone. He died bleeding out on the battlefield a long time ago, and even when he was revived in this time he was aware on some level that he was a piece that no longer fit into this world. That part of him only existed in the first place because Judai had sealed away his memories of everyone else – his love of all others.

But loving Yubel is a part of him. He'd engraved that imperative upon his soul a long time ago, let it define him…and it does. It still does.

Who is he? Who is he without Yubel?

Maybe that's like asking what his deck is like without his Heroes.

"Judai." Johan's voice is soft, the gentlest of prods. Judai raises his head to meet his bright, bright eyes. "I told you there was something about me I never told you about, too."

Huh. "Yeah, you did. What is it?"

"Ah…" Johan laughs, this time with a tinge of nervousness to it. "Don't tell anyone else, all right? You're the first person besides my family to know."

And yeah, Judai understands the gravity of that. "I won't."

"You heard about that time I met Tom, the partner of the Jerry Beans Man that Giese stole." Johan's expression shifts to something intense, focused. "It was back then that I realized. All duelists have deep bonds with the cards they choose, whether they can see those spirits or not. So someday…I want to help connect them. I want to be a bridge between humans and spirits. Like you and Yubel."

A bridge. That's an interesting kind of idea. "Me and Yubel?"

"Yeah." Johan nods. "I have…some land, back in Alta, that I inherited." A pause, in which Johan does not elaborate. "I can take us all home with Rainbow Dragon. And once we're home, once the transfer program is over…come to Alta with me, Judai. Just you and Yubel, and me and the Gem Beasts. It sounds to me like the two of you need time to figure yourselves out. I want to help you both do that."

Just the two of them and their spirits, for all the bonds that those encompass. The proposal sounds appealing, for a lot of reasons. Almost too good be true.

Then again, it's Johan.

"Do you really mean it?" he asks.

"I do," Johan says. Judai knew he would, but for some reason he had to ask anyway. "In the end, what I want most is to help people realize the bonds they already have even if they can't see them. And you and Yubel have a strong bond, whatever kind it is. I want to make sure the two of you have time and space to figure it out together, because I'm sure that the both of you want to keep being together."

That's…that's an interesting way to talk about it too, huh. They want to keep being together. Like it's a choice.

The ties between him and Yubel are undeniable. But maybe they don't have to be chains, after all.

"...I'd like that," he says finally. "Yubel and I, we've got a lot to talk about once we find them again. And…once I find a way to help free them from the Light, too. I think that has to happen before anything else."

A familiar voice breaks through the circle of Gem Beasts at that moment. "I know a few more guys who'd like to help."

Judai startles, and his attention is drawn out in the distance where Edo and Saiou are strolling forward into their clearing. They're linked arm in arm, Saiou leaning his weight on Edo as they walk.

Edo holds out a deck to him, but it's not the Destiny Heroes. It's—

Judai gasps. "The Neo Spacians!"

He'd almost forgotten about them, these past three months. He rocks his weight forward to stand up and sprints towards Edo, grabbing the offered deck the moment it's in range.

His new-old friends immediately materialize around him, half a dozen different space warriors welcoming him back.

"It's good to see you again, Judai."

"That Edo boy just wasn't the same."

"It seems much has happened since we last talked."

Seeing these guys brings Judai back again to a simpler time. He'd imagined all his friends together back then, his Neo Spacian heroes and that card he called his favorite. A lot's happened since then, but maybe – somehow – he can still make that vision happen.

There's wetness in his eyes as he looks around at everyone. "Hey again, everybody. You too, Edo. Saiou. I think…I need your help."

When they return to the throne room, Austin is standing guard at the entrance more faithfully than any of the people the Supreme King had ever employed.

Judai knows him well enough to see the slight relaxation in his posture when he sees Judai approaching with everyone. Austin rarely relaxes completely – it's his training – but Judai knows, at least, that they both understand this isn't about to come to a fight.

Judai comes to a stop in front of his best friend. "Austin."

"Judai," Austin acknowledges.

Judai holds out his arm, forearm up at a right angle and fingers half-curled. Austin holds out his own arm and clasps his hand for a greeting, and they grin at each other.

"I'm still mad at you," Judai admits, their hands still entwined.

Austin doesn't even blink. "I know. You have the right to be."

"But…" Judai releases Austin's hand and drops his arm to his side with a sigh. "...You were right not to tell me. If I'd ever thought anyone at Industrial Illusions wanted to even think about Yubel, I would have taken them and run again. I don't know what exactly I would have done, but I would have done it."

Austin nods. "I know that, too."

Judai takes a deep breath, preparing himself for what he's about to ask next. "...Austin. I need your help, and everyone else's. To save Yubel."

Austin gives him a solemn salute. "You have my strength."

"Edo was right," Judai says. "The Light of Destruction…it's been with Yubel this entire time. This whole time, when I was the Supreme King—"

No. He still is the Supreme King. He's always been the Supreme King, and he's always been Judai. He's just…Judai Yuki, on top of that. Whatever that means.

"...I could see it. When I sent Yubel off to space, that's when the Light snuck into their mind."

It's been eleven years since then. Six years since they reunited, Yubel broken in body and mind from what he'd done.

"This whole time, I've been searching for a way to save them. But I still haven't found it."

He'd had plenty of experience dealing with the Light of Destruction, in his first life. But it never ended well for the people he struck down, with either spirits or steel.

Austin closes his eyes, the way he does sometimes when he's thinking…and chuckles.

"Judai." Austin reaches into his vest and pulls out a single card. "When Pegasus came to Duel Academia, he also delivered one more card to me…to give to you."

He offers Judai the card, and Judai takes it before the contents really register and he lets out a short gasp.

That's Yubel on the card. If he squints he can just make out what might be the top of his own head, but—

If that's him in there, he's barely to be found because Yubel's wings are there wrapped around him. Protecting him.

Eternal Favorite, he reads from the katakana at the top. A continuous trap, and a real card playable in a deck that includes Yubel in it.

Yubel's card hasn't been printed since the incidents eleven years ago. This card has to be brand new. This is…

This is a card just for him.

"This card was created by Pegasus himself, on request from Yuki Eisuke and Yuki Satomi," Austin explains. He folds his arms, meeting Judai's eyes. "It's a card that represents their feelings towards you, Judai."

His parents' feelings. Judai stares down at the card for a long minute.

"They were going to…I didn't want to forget." Austin, he thinks, is the person he's come closest to telling what happened, aside from Yubel and Dad. "I never told you why I left."

"I know it had to do with Yubel. I know you were afraid for both your future and theirs if your parents were to find you. I know you were safe with Professor Cobra, who truly loves you as his son." Austin closes his eyes. "For the sake of my mission and your safety, that was all I needed. And as your friend, I wanted to hear from you only if you were willing to tell me."

Heh. That's Austin, always so professional. "It was because…" He's never had to tell anyone in a long time, not since he told Dad after a nightmare five years ago. It sounds crazy, now that he's about to say it out loud. "Mom knew someone who had some kind of advanced memory treatment. They were going to make me forget about Yubel. I realized that if I ever wanted to make things right with Yubel, I had to leave home before they did. And I couldn't ever go back, not until…"

Not until ever, really. For nearly six years, the thought of his parents has been intertwined with the fear of losing Yubel in a way he couldn't possibly reverse. He couldn't go back to his parents and stay with Yubel, so he picked his partner. It had been that simple.

But this card…

"You've changed in the years since you left Japan," Austin says. "So have your parents. I don't know if enough has changed. Maybe you have both changed in the wrong ways. This is their message to you. What you do with it is your choice, but you deserve to know what it means. And…I believe that somehow, it may be a key to saving Yubel now."

Judai looks down at the card again.

Eternal Favorite.

Yubel has always been Judai's favorite card, ever since his birth father gave it to him one birthday. Even before he understood what spirits were, even before he understood what Yubel was beyond their feelings contained within their card in his hand…

After everything that's happened in this world, he understands now.

"No matter what," he murmurs, "Yubel has always been by my side. And I want to be by their side. I'm going to save Yubel, and then…"

His old self was right about one thing. If he wants to be with Yubel, he has to make sure there's a world they can be together in. But that world can still include other people, after all. Maybe even people like his parents.

Carefully he slips the card into his deck. He doesn't know how to use it just yet, but he'll figure it out.

"I need to find Yubel first," he says. "Austin, Johan said he and you saw them last. Where are they?"

"On the edges of the castle, on the west side." Austin looks out in the indicated direction thoughtfully. "They were…conflicted, when they realized you'd come back to yourself. I left them to process that themself, but it's taken longer than I anticipated for them to return."

"Huh?" That's not immediately bad, but it's still probably more reason to go find them. "Well, show me the way!"

"Not so fast!" a voice echoes out.

And striding up to the throne room is a stormy-eyed Amon Garam, brimming with magical power.

Chapter Text

Yubel loves him.

(He owes it to Yubel to love them.)

He's gone.

(And life without him is as wretched as their body. Why allow it to continue?)

He's still here.

(Does he still love them?)

(He owes it to Yubel to love them.)

The first of the two moons are starting to appear on the horizon. How much time has passed while Yubel has been wasting away here on the western walkways?

(They gave up their body and soul to become an abomination. They have to make it worth it.)

(He's what makes it worth it.)

(He's what made it worth it.)

This isn't right. Yubel took a vow long ago, shaped with their very flesh, to stay at his side and protect him for eternity. So why aren't they with him now?

(Why hasn't he come to find them?)

(They have their body back, but if they close their eyes they can still recall those five years of torture out in that searing brightness.)

(Has he truly left them this time?)

But – no. Yubel feels the unmistakable energy of a duel locking into place, between two powerful opponents deeper inside the palace. One is Judai, of course. The other is…

Yubel knows that energy. It's an acorn burst into a massive oak tree, one Yubel had thought dead in the ground when that woman sealed her memory away along with Judai.

Perhaps they should have expected this, when they noticed that deluded whimper of a boy among the crowd assembled from Earth to find Judai. It seems Echo's false king has gained his crown of fool's gold.

That fool of a woman, giving up all that she was for the sake of that boy.

(Once upon a time, Yubel had…)

No. This woman is so much more the fool. What world did she see for herself? Even if Amon Garam were to somehow become the king she imagined him as, what would be the point when she couldn't even exist in the world she created? Would that have made her happy? Did she believe it would make him happy, when she erased herself from any future they had together? It's an empty world, to have claimed victory and to have nobody to share it with. Is that the world she wanted for himself? For her false king?

(They'd realized the truth of that horrible emptiness once, seeing their love's cold body on the battlefield.)

(They have to find him.)

(If that boy has harmed him in any way…this world, this universe really will be worthless.)

And so Yubel spreads their wings and flies to Judai's side, because in the end they know what they must do.

The duel is already in progress by the time Yubel arrives in the throne room, shadow-swift. Judai's eyes widen when he sees them, and he takes a step back and toward Yubel as if to run to them. "Yubel!"

And in an instant, they're at his side. "Judai! You're all right."

(He's still happy to see them.)

(Of course he is. He ought to be.)

(Yubel…is happy to see him, too.)

(Whether or not they should be.)

Judai opens his mouth as if to say something and…does not. He repeats the gesture, and then repeats it again. "Yubel," he finally says, and Yubel knows that there are a great deal of unspoken feelings behind the way he says their name.

(It's still not the way he used to speak to them a day ago.)

"Yubel, we need to talk later," Judai finishes. "But right now…Amon wants to be the Supreme King. I don't know if there should be a Supreme King. Not in this land."

And that hurts too, in a way. Yubel had become what they are for the Supreme King, after all.

(Is he going to throw them away?)

(He can't throw them away. Yubel won't let him.)

"You don't have to do this, Amon," Judai pleads. His armor has been abandoned and his black duel disk with it, but somebody has loaned him a standard Academia-issue disk for this battle instead. "Everyone helped me remember who I was. I'm sure we can do the same for Echo."

He looks to Jim Crocodile Cook desperately, but all he gets is a sad shake of the head.

"No can do," Jim calls out to Judai. He covers the bandage over his eye briefly before tipping his hat downward. "After I created that miracle, the Eye of Orichalcum…is gone."

"Well…" Judai scrambles. "Her memories are still in there somewhere. I know, because that was true for me. We can still find a way to save her!"

Amon Garam laughs, but there's no humor in it. "No. I understand. There's only one way to save Echo now."

Yubel had felt Amon Garam's heart on that cruise to Duel Academia, oozing with denial and the crushing weight of sacrifice. Now that weight remains, but the force bearing down upon his spirit has changed.

Echo. There is nothing in his heart but Echo, the woman lost to him by her own actions and his own ignorance. Her desires and his – they've all twisted together, Amon receiving her wishes but not able to withstand the weight of them. Where does one soul’s desires begin and the other’s end?

(Isn't it delicious. If they could take that darkness for themself…)

Yubel could leave him to self-destruct against Judai, because that is surely what lies at the end of the road this boy has chosen. But—

Yubel will grind Amon Garam into dust in the breeze, and that cursed woman with him. Not just to protect Judai, but also because it will satisfy them personally.

(And then they can put those two fools out of their mind.)

"Judai," they say. "Let me fight by your side."

Judai looks at them and there's…something in his eyes, that strikes Yubel deep and profound. Fondness? Happiness? Almost but not quite.

"Of course, Yubel," he says.

And Yubel is, in the end, the spirit of a card for Judai to call on. They draw their power inward and take the form of that card, the physical piece binding them to this world. The card flutters in the air and slips itself into Judai's deck—

Judai feels it as much as sees it when Yubel inserts themself into his deck, an inky shadow jumping neatly into his duel disk. For a moment something settles into place, like puzzle pieces clicking together. Yubel hasn't been a part of his deck since before he sent them into space. Now it feels like welcoming them home.

And then pain lances through his body like a brand, and Judai drops to his hands and knees with a scream.

"Judai!" someone calls out. He thinks it's Austin? It's hard to focus when he feels like his own insides are being squeezed and torn apart.

He knows this feeling, he realizes. Long ago, in his first life. It had been a plot by one of the Light's agents to have a country gift the young prince a contract-card for a powerful spirit, brimming with the Light.

Yubel had shielded him from that spirit's ruinous energy the moment they realized what was happening. Even then, he'd been bedridden for two weeks after. Yubel had been affected so strongly they'd transformed into their second form for the first time ever. And now…

It's them, he realizes. Yubel is the spirit infected with the Light now, and their place in his deck is breaking them both apart.

But he won't let Yubel go. Even with the Light threatening to rend them both, he won't. Not because of guilt over the past, but because regardless of everything he wants Yubel to stay by his side.

Judai's entire body shakes as he stands back up to continue the duel. Searing needles trace horrible patterns along his body as he draws his opening hand – or so it feels. Nothing is visible if he looks down at himself with his eyes.

"Judai!" someone shouts. Johan?

It hurts.

He ignores them.

The duel proceeds.

It hurts.

He calls out his heroes.

It hurts.

Amon's Cloudian deck is gone. Ruin, Queen of Oblivion stands on his field.

Amon talks. "This is all that remains of Echo."

Echo? That woman…the one who'd appeared in this world…

It hurts.

"If I'd taken action sooner, if I knew you had that card…"

It hurts.

"Why? Why do you get to return?"

It hurts.

What a worthless fight this is.

He should just destroy everything.

It hurts.

"Hang in there, Judai!" Edo?

It hurts.

His heroes fuse. Change masks.

In the reflection of Dian's armor in front of him, his eyes are burnt gold.

It hurts.

Didn't he put the Neo Spacians back into his deck? Where are they?

It hurts.

Demise, King of Armageddon clears the field. Amon grits his teeth through the Life Point cut, but Judai's back at square one.

He draws and Yubel is there.

It hurts.

Yubel hits the field. Judai staggers, and warm arms help him up. He glances behind him and meets Austin's eyes suddenly, and his best friend is trembling.

Austin still braces him into a standing position anyway, and Judai lets him. He wipes away tears from his eyes and nods to the final Hero Kid tributed away to keep Yubel alive.

It hurts.

Amon tributes Demise, King of Armageddon and Ruin, Angel of Oblivion to ritual summon Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon.

"Echo! This is my vow to you! Everything you've done will not have been in vain!"

It hurts.

Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon clears the field, but Judai only chuckles, cold and dark, as Yubel on the field is wiped away. Yubel - Das Abscheulich Ritter takes their place.

They're beautiful. Despite everything, because of everything, they're beautiful.

"An absolute power that can never be harmed," he announces. "Your false king is powerless in the face of my most terrible knight!"

It hurts.

"Come back to us, Judai!" Jim's voice this time.

His friends are with him.

It hurts.

Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon cannot be destroyed by battle, just like Yubel. But it is equally vulnerable to destruction by effect, and therefore no match for Yubel in this form.

It hurts.

He has everything he needs.

"Masked Hero Dark Law, direct attack!"

It hurts.

It hurts.

His knees give out just a few seconds after Amon's thrown into the wall with the impact of the final blow. It's only because of Austin that he doesn't fall.

"Judai! You're back!"

He feels it when Yubel exits his deck. They appear on the ground a few meters away, back to their base form with limbs tangled in a heap. For a moment he figures that Yubel is as weak as him, drained by the battle and the contact with the Light.

Then Yubel lifts themself off the ground and smiles at him, but their eyes are wild and their smile is hollow.

"Thank you, Judai," they say. "Even now, you truly are the Supreme King."

"Careful, Judai," Johan warns him. "Something isn't right about Yubel."

He knows.

The thing before him tilts its head, smirking in a way that would be familiar if it weren't all wrong. It's still Yubel talking, but…

Judai realizes with a twist in his stomach that the ordeal must have weakened them so much that the Light within them is rising to the surface. Yubel is talking now, but for how much longer will it be Yubel?

Yubel extends their arm to him, claws tantalizingly extended. "Come, Judai. You don't need those humans who called themselves your friends any longer. I am here. I have always been all that you needed, have I not?"

Ignoring everyone's protests, Judai separates himself from Austin and Johan and takes a slow step toward Yubel, wincing as he does. Then another step and another, until he's closed the short distance between them.

He stops in front of Yubel and smiles up at them. He doesn't take their hand.

"Yubel," he says quietly. "You need help."

Their eyes widen, then narrow. Yubel presses forward into his space, leaning down until their noses are nearly touching. "I need you, Judai. Don't you need me? Didn't you promise you would always love me?"

"I did," he agrees.

"So you don't need anyone else." Yubel smiles again, sickly sweet. "We could make this world so simple, Judai. Just you and me, as we were always meant to be. You once vowed you would do anything to carve out a world where we could be together."

He remembers that vow, standing in the tallest tower of this very castle. The highest priest in the land had refused to marry the two of them, and he'd been ready to declare war against the world if it continued to deny them. He hadn't cared what enemies they made, or who they had to kill. "I remember."

"Won't you make that world for us, Judai?" Yubel lifts their face to kiss his forehead, and Judai lets out a grunt as he feels the heat of their lips. "We don't need this world, or the people who would only tear us apart. Destroy everything else, and create a world for just the two of us."

He doesn't want to do what he's about to do. Judai blinks back two lives' worth of devotion as he takes a step backward, then turns on his heel to walk several paces in the opposite direction.

Yubel watches him in astonishment, too confused to be angry. That won't last for long.

Everything suddenly feels very quiet.

"Yubel." He doesn't speak his partner's name loudly, but it echoes in the throne room nevertheless. "Duel me."

He activates his duel disk again and prays that he has enough strength to carry out this mission.

And they growl, cheeks flushing blue as they glare at him. Their third eye bears down on him, their rage practically palpable. "Are you finally throwing me away, Judai? Will you finish the job you started eleven years ago?" Their eyes are unnaturally wide, even for Yubel. "Has all the love you've given me been nothing but a lie?"

"I do love you," Judai declares. "And it's because of that love that we need to duel now."

Yubel's growl is deeper now, that of an ancient dragon. "What do you mean?"

Judai just shakes his head. "You must have realized it by now, Yubel. That back when I made the greatest mistake of my life and sent you out into space…you ran into the Light of Destruction. And it's stayed with you ever since."

"That doesn't matter!" Yubel's hair has gotten even wilder somehow, clumps of gray and blue frizzing out as they shriek. ""All that matters is our promise. Nothing else matters so long as our love remains. What does the Light matter in comparison?"

Judai smiles, but this time it hurts. "You're right, Yubel. The Light is nothing compared to the two of us. And I'll show it to you with this duel."

Yubel throws out an arm to form their duel disk, deck already in place. "Very well, Judai. I will demonstrate the strength of my love for you. And when I've won…I'll make that world for the two of us myself!"

They draw, and Judai finds Sacrifice Lotus in his opening hand.

Sacrifice Lotus is not his card.

Yubel takes the first turn, chuckling darkly as they pluck a card out of their hand and play Elemental Hero Sparkman with a flourish. "I have always been the one closest to you and the one most under your command, and the deck you command is your very soul," they announce. "There is no point where you begin and I end."

Which is a dramatic way of saying that their decks have gotten mixed up after that duel with Amon, but Judai isn't shy for drama himself. And…Yubel does have a point, with how they've been up until now.

He goes on with the duel. He'd be at a disadvantage in this duel, his deck not made for the plants and demons that fill Yubel's, but Yubel is equally inconvenienced by the shuffling of their two decks.

Judai hasn't really gotten to fine-tune his deck since Edo returned the Neo Spacians to him, and it's all a lot to juggle. He's got some of his Elemental Heroes and their fusions, and all of his Masked Heroes with his Extra Deck untouched by their decks' intermingling. He's still missing some of his Heroes, including some key guys that Yubel has under their control. But he's got the Neo Spacians too, who seem to be showing up now that Yubel's no longer in the deck, and they have their own ways of mobilizing.

Seriously, Contact Fusion? Judai would be freaking out so hard if this weren't the most important duel in both his lives.

…And then Flare Neos disappears back into his Extra Deck, and suddenly he's freaking out for a very different reason.

"See how unreliable they are?" Yubel laughs. "No matter who you replace me with, Judai, none can compare to me in the end. Even these Neo Spacians, your very creations who thrived in space while you sent me to suffer."

Judai grits his teeth. "I love the Neo Spacians too, Yubel." Because he does. Battling with them now is like a dream, a joyous dream he'd once seen himself sharing with his favorite card.

"And yet where are the Neo Spacians now?" Yubel mocks. "They will not protect you. Even if they hadn't vanished now when you need them most, they would not survive my power. You've thrown me away for their sake?"

Looking into their eyes with his power, Judai sees it: the Light shining from within Yubel, so catastrophically bright that it drowns out the spirit it feeds on. The body before him is more Light than Yubel now.

But there's still a little bit of them left.

"I haven't thrown you away," Judai reminds them. "You're both important to me."

"Then why do you fight me now?" they shout. "Why can't you just do this for me?"

Yubel gains momentum. Summons themself to the field, staring forward with that empty haunting smile on their face. Judai knows better than anyone else that Yubel has to be dealt with carefully once on the field, simple destruction only enabling their next form.

It's a race to neutralize them before they can trigger their evolution. Judai loses that race, and Das Abscheulich Ritter hits the field to obliterate his defense line. Three Heroes gone in an instant. The throne room ceiling too, while they're at it.

Yubel almost hurts to look at directly now, the Light is so strong within them.

"You never needed your Heroes before!" Yubel wails. "All you needed was me. But now…in this life…what place is there for me? As I am, I cannot fight alongside your beloved heroes. Even when you sealed your own memory… I have only ever belonged at your side, and now I cannot even belong there. Not while they exist. I am…" Both their heads let out great bellowing roars, their two voices melding in anguish. "If you can't accept me like this, then I don't need you! I don't need this world!"

And he knows this isn't all their words; this is the Light whispering in their ear too, ushering Yubel to fulfill its own agenda. But…this isn't all not Yubel, either.

"We could have figured it out together. I don't care whether you have your powers or not, Saiou. I just…want to stand together with you, and move forward in the storm together."

He thinks of that conversation between Edo and Saiou, and wonders just how long Yubel has had these doubts within them.

"You've always been enough, Yubel," he says. "From the moment we met as children to my death, and every moment we've spent together in my new life."

Something flickers in Yubel's eyes. It's faint, but there's definitely something there. Whatever is left of Yubel in this body, his words are reaching them.

But that ember inside them fades out over the next few turns as Yubel triggers their transformation into their third and final form, Yubel - Das Extremer Traurig Drachen. Yubel is massive like this, Judai's head not even taller than the talons on their feet. Their body breaks the castle itself apart, recent restorations brought to rubble again as their gargantuan heads and limbs knock over walls like stacks of paper.

"You've never seen me like this before, have you?" they cackle. "In your last life, you died before you could see this form. Do you understand now, Judai? The pain of this existence, of living in a world that would not allow us to be together? Do you see why we need to build a new world, just for us?"

"Echo! This is my vow to you! Everything you've done will not have been in vain!"

His memory of that duel with Amon is hazy, but…

Judai thinks he finally understands why Amon did what he did, all of a sudden.

He hadn't meant to die and leave Yubel behind. He'd come to realize how much it impacted them eventually, but he hadn't understood what it meant to them to be left alone.

He can't help but love heroes in this life. He won't apologize for that, but he'd only ever believed Yubel would be happy to have new friends.

He'd assumed Yubel would be happy to see him returned to his old self, his full power. But that hadn't made them happy either.

He's going to make that world Yubel wants, the one where they can be happy together. He's just going to make it a world that includes other people.

"Yubel," he calls out.

He feels the laser-focused gaze of all fifteen of Yubel's eyes on him.

"I've kept my promise, you know," he says, words light even as he scrambles to try and acknowledge the gravity of their feelings. "I love you, and I always will. I will never love anybody else the way I love you. And I'll keep loving you, in this life and in our next lives too."

"And the others?" Yubel demands. "What about your so-called friends on Earth? What about the Heroes? The Neo Spacians?"

"Yubel, I can love them and love you too. Love is…"

Love is what? Judai struggles to find the words, and glances behind him as he grasps to understand his own meaning.

Johan is there, surrounded by his family. Jim is there, Karen still strapped to his back. Austin is there, eyes hard with determination. Somewhere out there, Asuka came to find him too – and he has to apologize to her for everything, when he sees her again.

Back home…Dad's waiting for him, back on Duel Academia Island. The other friends he's made at Central are there too: Manjoume, and Shou, and lots of other students. Across the ocean, he's got peers at the West campus he knows purely through their dueling. He knows them all the same.

He turns back to Yubel. "Real love is wide enough, large enough, and deep enough to fill the universe. I love you, and I love everyone else too. I can do all of those things. And I promise, Yubel, I will get you back from the Light of Destruction!"

"You teeter on the edge of defeat," Yubel sneers, and they're right. With Das Extremer Traurig Drachen's last attack he's down to six hundred Life Points, less than a quarter of Yubel's twenty-five hundred. Even he has to admit that the odds aren't good.

But they're not zero.

He draws, and…

It's that card.

Judai looks through his hand, and realizes that in conjunction with one of his earlier set cards it's exactly what he needs. He needs to buy a little more time and pray he can make it, but Yubel's used everything they have to bring out their third form. If he pulls this off—

No, he will pull it off. He won't allow it any other way.

Yubel laughs when he summons Torch Golem to their field, adding two zero-attack tokens to his field in the process, and Bubbleman with his normal summon. "Is that all you can do, Judai? What do you hope to achieve, using my own card like this? Have you finally given up? Have you finally accepted what is right?"

They smile at him as they draw, baring their fangs as they do. "Very well. I'll finish it for us both here! Your pitiful hero matters not to Yubel - Das Extremer Traurig Drachen."

Yubel could have chosen to use Torch Golem to attack one of his tokens, but they don't. This strategy would have worked either way, but…

He smiles, because he'd known they would choose to attack with Yubel's third form first. Maybe even if he hadn't set out Bubbleman as bait. That would be Yubel for you.

He speaks up just before Yubel declares their attack on Bubbleman. "Hey, you know, Yubel."

Yubel cuts off mid-cackle. "Huh…?"

Judai cranes his head upward to look at them with hopeless fondness. "I played your card on purpose. I know it doesn't really fit with everyone else, but it's valuable to me anyway. Because it's your card."

Yubel scowls. "You don't mean that."

"I do." Judai shrugs at their field. "Didn't you feel the same when you used my heroes? Even if it's hard, even if it hurts…we're always going to be a part of each other, aren't we?"

"Oh, Judai." Yubel's voices weave together. "So you finally understand."

"I understand more than you think," he says. "And, Yubel – you were right, before. Using the Neo Spacians isn't always easy, alongside my Elemental and Masked Heroes. It's all a lot, and when I add you…" He laughs. "My deck is pretty messy, huh?"

"You agree, then." Yubel is back down to just their female voice, quivering like a taut string plucked. "The only way for us to remain together…is to start over."

"No." Judai shakes his head, still looking all the way up to Yubel's heads. "I accept the mess. I accept us. You've been my favorite card since before I even began to understand the depth of our bond, Yubel, and now I do understand. We're always going to be together, and we're always going to be a part of each other, even if it's hard. Even if it hurts. We're going to figure it out together."

Yubel is quiet. And then they let out a great dragon's roar, primal and laced with poisonous ruin, as Judai watches the last of Yubel's true spirit bleed out of them.

"Das Extremer Traurig Drachen attacks Bubbleman! This is it, Judai!"

But Judai has them. He's always going to have Yubel's back, just as they have his. "I activate a quick-play spell, Stand In! This lets me tribute a monster to special summon one of the same type and attribute from your graveyard."

The Light piloting Yubel's body laughs. "What will you do with yet another worthless Hero?"

And Judai grins. "It's not Bubbleman I'm tributing. It's one of the Torch Tokens I summoned to my field last turn, with Yubel's card! And of course you would know…the Torch Tokens are dark fiends."

The Light widens Yubel's eyes. "No! You don't mean…"

"That's right!" Judai raises an arm high in the air. "I'm going to be taking Yubel back from you, Light of Destruction!"

The Light has no set cards, no defenses against his rescue of his spirit partner. Yubel rises from a pool of shadow onto his field in place of one of the tokens, facing the field before they turn around to look at him.

He smiles at them: I'm going to save you.

Yubel nods back to him: Then come save me.

Judai turns his attention back to the false version of Yubel standing before them. "And now that I have Yubel at my side…I activate the trap card, Eternal Favorite!"

He glances behind him just long enough to grin at Austin, observing the duel with fierce attention. Austin alone understands exactly what this card means to him: acceptance of the relationship between him and Yubel and all that entails, and hope for their future.

"By sending this card to the graveyard and discarding one card from my hand, I can fusion summon using monsters on both our fields as materials! That includes both Yubel and Yubel - Das Extremer Traurig Drachen!"

A vortex of warm golden light appears on the field. Yubel closes their eyes as they're pulled into it. The Light controlling their body shrieks as it's sucked in. Bubbleman goes with them, too – he counts, too, for what Judai's about to do.

Yubel, the false Yubel, and Bubbleman are all combined into one. The false Yubel, the one holding the cards, is spit back out in their base form. And what comes out of the rest is…

Judai feels the faintest chill on his hand as he raises his arm, and he looks to his side to see the ghost of Yubel's spirit grasping his wrist as they raise their arm alongside him. "Two souls united through promise, the past and present intertwined! Our bond will overcome anything in our way! Come forth, my favorite card! Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter!"

A new form of Yubel, the culmination of all their feelings and all the things they haven't and will say to each other soon, appears on their field. They're back to looking like their base form, with curved horns on their head and—

Is that Flame Wingman's arm, but with a dragon's head?

Judai laughs, despite himself. "Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter deals five hundred points of damage for every monster that was used to make it."

And with that the Light of Destruction is down to a thousand Life Points and a single monster left on its field. It growls. "This isn't over yet! You were fool enough to leave Torch—"

And then it screams, obviously having realized just why Torch Golem was spared. Any of Yubel's forms work best pitted against powerful enemies, after all. If the Light attacks with Torch Golem now, it will be game over.

"This isn't over," it swears as it sets the sole card in its hand face-down. And then it's Judai's turn. He draws…

And he smiles.

"I play Elemental Hero Featherman in attack mode," he announces. "And Featherman Mask Changes into Masked Hero Blast!"

Blast appears next to Yubel, scarf flapping in an unseen wind. And the sight…

It's what he imagined all that time ago, when he first laid eyes upon the Masked Heroes.

Judai wipes a few tears out of his eyes as he points towards the Light's set card. "I activate Masked Hero Blast's effect! I pay five hundred Life Points to return one of my opponent's spell or trap card to their hand. Blast Break!" He winces as his Life Points drop to a bare hundred, but smiles through the pain. It's worth it, to be able to stand at Yubel's side and protect them.

And now there's nothing standing between the two of them and victory.

"And now that the path is clear, the finishing blow!" he announces over the Light's screams. "Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter! Attack Torch Golem! Eternal Harmony Shoot!"

The Light's screams distort into horrible noise as its Life Points fall to zero. A twist of white flame roars its way out of Yubel's body and dissipates into the sky. At the end of it all, Yubel – the real Yubel – is laid out in the middle of a fresh crater where the throne room floor once stood.

Judai stumbles forward and practically falls into the crater to land (okay, collapse) next to them.

Yubel opens their eyes and lifts their head off the ground, turning their neck to look at him.

Judai meets Yubel's gaze with his own, and it feels like they're seeing each other for the first time in this life.

"Welcome back, Yubel," he says. "It's good to see you again."

Chapter Text

The fall of the Supreme King is much less ceremonious than his rise. Yubel's body had leveled a decent portion of the castle during that final battle, and the Light of Destruction's final release of energy had done the rest. The result is a bunch of wreckage where there used to be only crumbling walls, and pretty soon the surrounding land gets the message about the Supreme King's sudden end.

Judai kind of feels sorry for all the stonemasons he hired (pressured) to get the palace back in some semblance of shape only to have it all torn down within a few months, but not nearly enough that it's worth it to make a return. Even if the Supreme King, wielder of the gentle darkness, still exists…he thinks the tyrant has had his time. More history for the Spirit of the Books to document here in this dimension.

And even if he wanted, he's missed like four days of critical time he would have needed to get a handle on his territory just recovering from the strain of those last battles. His friends had carried him and Yubel back to the cottage where Saiou and Echo and the book spirit had been hanging out, where Judai had soon passed out with Yubel watching over him as always. Not that Yubel is really up to another battle, either, but it brings them peace to stay at his side. And after everything, Judai doesn't want to deny them that.

There isn't a lot of room in the cottage, and even less privacy. The two of them agree quickly that although they have a lot to talk about, they don't want to do it all when they're practically sleeping on top of everyone else.

They still talk, though. Judai talks to a lot of people: to Asuka, apologizing for striking her down during that first encounter. To Austin, about what their friendship meant to each other and what Austin intended to do once his current mission was finally over. To Jim, thanking him for his miracle and musing about the Supreme King's final message. To Edo, admitting that his friend had been right all along and wishing him luck with his decision to move Saiou off of Duel Academia Island. To Johan, about bridges and an offer that Judai hasn't forgotten.

He doesn't talk to Amon after the one time. Amon doesn't talk with anyone, really; he just sits in his own corner and watches Echo with bleak and tired eyes.

Yubel fusses over Judai as he recovers, confined inside for both their own recovery and to avoid stirring up a panic should they get recognized. He lets them fuss, and sometimes the two of them start quiet conversations when they have a few moments to themselves.

On the fourth day, Johan approaches him and Yubel with a question: are they ready to go back?

One more day, Judai says. Tomorrow we go home.

That afternoon Yubel flies the two of them out to their rock out on the sea, where they had once knelt together and exchanged promises of love together.

Judai doesn't kneel this time. Instead he takes off his shoes and socks and inches down on the rock until he can dip his toes into the water. Yubel settles beside him, watching in bemusement.

Together they watch the two moons rise as evening sets in.

"Are you going to miss it here?" Judai asks them, leaning against their side. "I don't know if we're going to be able to come back or not. Not without Johan's help."

Yubel's a little miffed that their love's first thought was that boy's Rainbow Dragon, when he or Yubel have the ability to cross dimensions themselves with a little effort. But they decide to drop it, because in the end Rainbow Dragon isn't Judai's. Yubel is.

(Yubel will always be his.)

Yubel hums instead, watching the waves shift over the sea. "The full power of the gentle darkness is at your command, dear. You have the power to return, if you so choose."

"Huh." Judai wrinkles his nose, like he's just realized that. Yubel supposes that he may have. Judai's released the barriers between his past and present lives, but they've gathered that the experience has been just as disconcerting for him as it has been for them – just in a different way. "Well, would you want to come back?"

"Ah…" They close their two main eyes, and their third turns back toward the wreckage of the castle atop that mountain. "I believe I've had my fill of this world for some time."

This world had hurt at first, because it was full of memories and then because it was full of the present. Now it's just…exhausting. They'll be glad to return to Earth, in the end.

"Glad we agree." Judai leans more of his weight on them as he looks up at the night sky. "I am gonna miss this view, though. And I'm going to miss flying with you."

Yubel chuckles, brushing talons through his hair. "That too can be arranged, with time."

Judai perks up. "You think?"

"I'm sure of it. Although we'll need to be much more discreet back on Earth…"

"Aw man, you're right." Judai's pout floods Yubel's heart with fondness, and without thinking they lean down to press a light kiss to the top of his head.

Then they freeze.

(Have they ruined the tentative balance they and Judai have reached? Are things still too fragile between them for such a mistake?)

...Words. Yubel has to use their words, they remind themself as they lift their head back up. They and Judai have promised that to each other and to themselves, these past four days.

"Is this all right, Judai?" Yubel winces at how their voice trembles, and they almost regret asking the question.

But Judai just smiles, and with a twist of his body flops over to lay down in their lap instead. "Yeah, it's okay, Yubel. That's another thing I'm going to miss about this place, actually. Back on Earth, you won't be solid most of the time. Even duels won't be the same." He sighs exaggeratedly.

And it's true, Yubel will miss being able to touch the person they love as freely as they have these past few months. But that had been true for nearly eighteen years before they arrived, and they're sure it will be rather less than eighteen years before Judai is able to manifest them on Earth. And they've never needed Judai's touch to feel his heart, even in the less-distant past of Judai's childhood.

Still, this is going to be their last opportunity to interact physically for some amount of time now. Yubel intends to take full advantage of this last night together.

They stay like that for another few hours, just basking in each other's presence as the night yawns above them, before Yubel reluctantly declares it's time they return to the others.

Judai kisses Yubel on the cheek as they both stand for the flight back. Yubel closes their eyes as they let their conflicting emotions wash over them.

Just a week ago that kiss would have had heat behind it, pulling Yubel into Judai as the two of them wrapped themselves around each other. Today Judai kisses them softly, casually. It is a reminder of his presence alongside theirs, not a dizzying tangle but a solid blanket of warmth.

This too is love, they realize now.

He watches them carefully as he pulls back, watching for their reaction. Yubel hasn't forgotten their feelings for the Judai of the past, and they know Judai knows they haven't. "Was that okay?" he asks.

Yubel misses the Judai that only had eyes for them, the boy who declared he would only ever be theirs. Judai had conveyed that farewell to them, the day after their final battle:

"That part of me wanted to say that he was glad to see you one last time. And he said…goodbye."

They miss that Judai, and it aches. But the ache fades as Yubel looks at the Judai in front of them, and they smile. "Yes. Yes, it was."

"Yubel…" Judai straightens his posture and takes their hands in his, looking up at them with determination. "Yubel, I promise you…I will always love you. My love is no longer yours alone, but my feelings for you will always be special. No matter what anyone says, we share an eternal bond."

Yubel hears the past melding into the present in those words. It's too much, and it's exactly what they need.

"H-hey, Yubel, don't cry…!"

Yubel ignores the tears streaming down their face to embrace their love, their partner, their Judai.

They should be so lucky, to have another lifetime with Judai to explore all the meanings of love.

"...That concludes my report on the events in the other dimension, sir."

Austin returns to his soldier's resting position and waits for Pegasus's response.

With his mission no longer covert, Principal Samejima has loaned Austin the use of Duel Academia's facilities for a full video call. That means Austin can watch Pegasus process the tale for several seconds, shock slowly morphing into a grateful smile.

"Bravo! What a tale, O'Brien-boy. This truly was a complicated matter, and you handled it well."

Austin does not deflect the praise, although he considers it. His own part in everything had been but a part of the larger picture, neither insignificant nor the crux of the matter.

"I'm truly honored that the card we made for Judai-boy worked so well," Pegasus continues. "What was that new card you mentioned? Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter...Judai-boy wouldn't happen to still have that card, would he?"

"He does." Checking had been one of the first things Judai had done, after running to reunite with his father. But if Austin's suspicions are correct… "If you want to examine it, sir, you may want to proceed with caution still. Although Judai has accepted his parents' feelings, he is still…hesitant, about establishing connection with them and the rest of Industrial Illusions this soon. Especially if it concerns Yubel."

Even Professor Cobra, Judai's own father, wasn't immune to the consequences of the careful sphere of ignorance they'd all traced around Judai. Even understanding why Judai needed space, he'd been the most hurt when Judai announced his plans to go stay with Johan Andersen after their graduations. Judai's birth parents are a more complicated question still, after six years of estrangement.

"I see." Pegasus hums in airy thought. "Disappointing for now, but I'll inform Yuki Eisuke. Let Judai-boy know that they'll wait until he's ready."

Austin smiles. "Thank you, sir."

"And speaking of parents…what of Amon Garam?" Pegasus asks. "The Garam family has been the subject of many rumors as of late, so to speak. They haven't yet released any statements on anything that happened at Duel Academia, but given your reports I'm concerned what they may have in store."

"Amon Garam…" Austin frowns. "He's left the school. I believe he took Echo Nersisyan with him. He applied for a leave of absence at the East campus and sent an encrypted communication to the Garams before he left, although I don't know what the message contained."

…He has his ideas. But that kind of conjecture isn't in the scope of this report. "At this time, I do not believe that neither Judai nor the dueling world has cause for concern from Amon himself."

"Very well. And the rest of those who went with you?"

"Edo Phoenix has begun making arrangements to relocate with his friend and continue his career, with Duel Academia's cooperation. Everyone else has started attending class again as of today. Judai intends to finish the next month before we return to the West campus for graduation."

Technically that's if he doesn't get dismissed for sneaking in to see Motegi Mokeo again, as Austin has heard him and Yubel plotting with Johan. Given the circumstances, though, Austin has doubts about the likelihood of serious punishment even if they are caught, and so he's choosing to be discreet on this matter.

Pegasus nods. "All right, then. And of course I've already settled the question of your course credit with the West campus, O'Brien-boy. You'll be graduating along with Judai-boy, don't you worry."

Austin had never doubted Pegasus's credibility in that matter, but it is good to confirm. West's graduation ceremonies are coming up, and even his parents are leaving their seclusion to attend. "Thank you, sir. Is there anything you would like me to report on?"

"That's all, O'Brien-boy." Pegasus waves a hand to dismiss him. "Kaiba-boy grumbled for a little while, but he's aware of your presence on the island and has made arrangements to host you for the last month should you wish to stay."

It's an offer Austin hadn't expected. But it is an appealing one. "That's generous of you, Chairman. I plan to take that offer."

"Consider it a reward for your excellent work!" Pegasus beams with satisfaction. "Enjoy, hm?"

"I will. Thank you again."

After a last exchange, Austin turns off the video call. Then he goes up to the roof, where he knows Judai must be.

His best friend doesn't notice him at first, lying down with his head turned mid-conversation with Johan Andersen. But he looks up at seemingly empty air after a moment and flashes the spirit a grateful smile that Austin recognizes as something specific to him and Yubel. Then he sits up to look over at Austin and waves enthusiastically.

"Hey, Austin! You're done already?"

Austin may never fully understand the relationship Judai has with his partner, but he recognizes how important it is to his friend all the same. And thankfully, this world is wide enough for all of them.

Chapter Text

"I almost had that duel!" Judai groans and buries his head in his arms on the cafeteria table. "And I really wanted to meet Johan in the finals…"

Johan pats him on the shoulder. "We'll duel again another time. We can even duel tonight if you want. It'll be practice for my matches tomorrow, if I'm still in it after this afternoon."

Judai pouts, knowing full well he's being dramatic. "Yeah, but I wanted to duel you with the tournament at stake. You know it's different."

"Ah, well, I can't argue with that…"

"Judai, you should go over your deck." Austin sips at his soda as he considers Judai, and Judai knows that his best friend has got a list of points from the two matches he observed this morning. "You've kept too many of the Neo Spacians in comparison to your other Heroes. It imbalances the deck, and makes it difficult to execute strategies that don't use Neos."

"Oh, so you noticed it too, O'Brien." Johan nods over his fish balls. "I warned Judai about that when we were preparing for the tournament, but he insisted."

"The Neo Spacians have never seen a tournament before," Judai mumbles into the table. "I wanted to bring out as many of them as I could."

"If that was your objective, you achieved it within the space of those two duels. But you could have done that and given them more opportunities to battle."

"Yeah, I told him the same thing!"

And it's not fair, the way both Judai's best friends team up on him. "I'm working on it," he groans. "This deck was…experimental."

Which is true. Four months since graduation, five months since receiving the Neo Spacians, and he still hasn't figured out how to juggle everything in his deck.

"Show me your deck," Austin says, and a few minutes later Johan's wolfing down his food as Judai spreads his cards across the entire table aside from a stack of paper plates.

Austin frowns as he examines the deck laid out. "Where's Yubel?"

"Ah…" Judai scratches his cheek, remembering that this is the first time Austin's seen his deck since their graduation duels. "Yubel's not in this deck."

"I know," he adds as Austin looks up in surprise. "We're, uh, trying something."

He can't fault Austin for being surprised. Since their return to Duel Academia and then West, Yubel had been a seemingly permanent part of his deck. He'd refused to ever take them out, ignoring people's questions about their sudden appearance, and adapted as best as he could to the complications. It must be strange to suddenly visit Judai and learn Yubel is on break from his deck.

Having Yubel back, being able to bring them out again after eleven years, fighting alongside each other in duels…it had been living a dream every day. But dreams can't last forever. They'd both learned that in that other dimension.

"Yubel suggested it, actually. They…" Judai falters, not quite sure how much he ought to say. Those had been conversations between just him and Yubel, after all. Would Yubel want Austin to know?

And then Yubel materializes out of his pendant to handle the matter themself. "It is…healthy, to learn to exist apart from each other when necessary."

There's a beat, and then Austin looks to a spot just behind Judai. "Has Yubel said something? Or one of your other spirits?"

"Oh my," Yubel drawls. "It seems we've been spoiled by Johan's presence. You'll have to tell him yourself, dear."

Oh, right! Judai hurriedly relays their input to Austin, who only nods. "Judai…you and Yubel really have grown since we came back."

"They really have been working hard," Johan says. "I've seen the progress they made since they came back."

Judai likes to think that's a compliment. "Aha, we're trying…" He laughs nervously for a second. "There really are times when Yubel's going to have trouble with the rest of my deck," he admits. "Even after Pegasus sent me that new version of Flame Wingman, it hasn't always been easy for Yubel to work with everyone, between their effects and their personalities."

Yubel grumbles something about Glow Moss that Judai ignores for now.

"But they're learning! And back in our past—"

Well, there are some things not worth talking about.

"I survived without Yubel in my deck for six years before we were able to fight together again," Judai explains. "It's good to remember how to fight without them, if we have to do that."

The Light of Destruction will never be gone for good. Neither will the gentle darkness. There's going to come another time, someday, when he and Yubel will be needed again. But they have time to get stronger together, and they won't ever be alone.

"I'm going to put them back in eventually, of course! For now, we're learning what we can manage."

"In that case…" Austin reaches out to point at a few cards on the table. "If you want to build a deck that focuses on the Neo Spacians, you want to use more of this card."

"Uh, does he have more of that one?" Johan asks. "I've never seen Judai use more than one copy, and the deck that came out of that satellite was all he got."

"We don't," Yubel reports.

"Yubel says he doesn't!"

"Industrial Illusions won't create more?"

"Aren't you the one who works for them, O'Brien?"

"I'm a mercenary, like my father. Not a card designer." Austin crosses his arms. "Although I'm doing work for Industrial Illusions, that isn't how I operate."

"Oh, yeah." Judai perks up. "How are your parents doing? Am I still on to visit next summer?"

"My mother's been talking about making you her apple pie. She'll be disappointed if you don't."

"I won't!" Honestly, disappointing Austin's mom sounds as bad as disappointing his dad. "It'll be great to go somewhere with hot summers again, anyway."

"It's not that cold here in summer," Johan points out.

"It's not hot either! Summer should make you sweat!"

"We went to school in the middle of the desert," Austin adds dryly. "I agree with Judai."

Judai puts out his hand for a high-five, which Austin gives.

"Edo says London won't be that hot either when I visit him and Saiou," Judai grumbles. He hadn't said as much to Edo, knowing he wouldn't get any sympathy, but really. Why were they all choosing colder locations for their fresh starts? "Man, I never thought I'd miss the summers at West."

"Speaking of which, how is your father, Judai?" Johan asks. "I know you two have been keeping in touch."

It's easier to talk about it these days. "Well, he's still in hot water with KaibaCorp. I think the only reason they didn't fire him is because the principal at Central vouched for him and his work, and they didn't want Industrial Illusions to take him. As it is, they've got him working with Dr. Zweinstein part-time, in an offer-he-can't-refuse kind of way. KaibaCorp likes the idea of collecting duel energy as a form of clean power…with willing duelists."

Judai sighs. He…hadn't avoided Dad, those last few months at Duel Academia up to his graduation at West. Dad had gone through enough those weeks-slash-months he and Yubel had been off in the other dimension, on top of accepting that Rick was never coming back. Judai didn't want to become another bittersweet photo on a desk – or, worse, a painful enough memory that Dad couldn't even look at their photos.

But Dad had lied to him just as Yubel had, and Yubel had lied to Dad. So Judai had spent that last month at Duel Academia doing what he could to help Dad modify the Disclosure Duel system into something he could return to West with, and something that could make a change at the central campus too…but he'd never budged on coming to Norway with Johan.

Dad had understood, much as he didn't like it.

"I'm going to be one of the test subjects next year, once they're ready. I think by then, I'll be able to face him again."

And then maybe someday he'll be able to face his birth parents, too. But not before he sees Dad again.

There's a faint sensation on his left hand. Judai looks down to see Yubel's transparent claws over his fingers, a comforting gesture. He smiles up at them and starts packing up his cards from the table. "Well, I've got to figure out my deck before then! Dad'll be disappointed if I don't have it together. I want to show him the best I've got when we meet again."

He hears the Neo Spacians' voices cheering him on as he shuffles his deck, and feels the warmth of their love. He smiles to himself; no matter what Austin and Johan say, he doesn't regret taking them all out to the tournament today.

Elemental Heroes. Masked Heroes. Neo Spacians. Yubel. They're not all parts that work together, but he refuses to give up on any of them. They're all his favorites, after all.

"Darling," Yubel calls. "You've got company."

Judai puts down his deck and looks up in the direction his partner points, then shoots up from his seat with a gasp. Johan sits up straighter, and he can feel even Austin reacting once he follows the line of their attention.

"Excuse me," calls a voice Judai has only ever heard on old videotapes. Although he's in a slightly ill-fitted suit rather than his signature tank top and belts, the Duel King is immediately recognizable as he approaches holding a single card in front of him like a map.

Mutou Yugi perks up as he gets close. "Oh! Johan Andersen. My friend speaks highly of your dueling skills." His eyes slide to Judai. "And who are your friends?"

"I-I'm Judai Yuki. I'm Johan's friend."

"Austin O'Brien."

"Judai and Austin, huh." Yugi considers the card he's holding, and Judai hears a voice cry out.

"Kuri kuriiii!"

Yugi nods and offers the card to Judai. "I know this is a strange thing to say, but here. This is a lucky card. It wants to be with you." He smiles. "It's pretty impatient, actually."

Judai takes the card in a daze, only half reading the effect text written on it. Atop a glittering background, Winged Kuriboh winks at him.

"Kuri!"

The voice is more forceful this time. Judai looks up to see Winged Kuriboh's spirit fade into view and start flying excited circles around his head.

"Kuriiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Oh?" Yugi murmurs. "It seems that you two are getting—"

He's interrupted by an insistent beeping, which prompts him to check a nearby clock. "Oh no! I'm going to be late for my presentation!"

Mutou Yugi departs much more swiftly than he'd arrived, leaving the rest of them to ponder how the Duel King had just walked up and offered Judai a new spirit friend before running off without elaboration.

Both of Judai's friends look at him.

Judai looks up at Winged Kuriboh.

Winged Kuriboh is now in front of Yubel at eye level. Yubel has their arms crossed as they stare down the little fluffball.

Judai watches them carefully, but after a moment Yubel rolls their eyes. "This would only happen to you, Judai."

"Ah…" Judai's not sure if that's a compliment or an insult. He looks between the two spirits as Johan helpfully relays Yubel's comment to Austin.

"Kuri!"

He's pretty sure the spirit is pleased.

Judai takes out his deck and slides Winged Kuriboh in.

"This time I agree with Yubel," Austin says. "Only this would happen to you, Judai."

It's starting to sound like an insult. Judai's getting fired up, and he starts to activate his duel disk.

"Well, Austin, do you want to help me test out my new partner?"

Partner. It's a special word between him and Yubel, but with Winged Kuriboh it feels right in a different kind of sense. Winged Kuriboh had chosen him, for whatever reason. It's not nearly the same as what him and Yubel have…but everything starts somewhere.

Austin's already doing a once-over of his own disk, though Judai knows it must be perfectly maintained. "I would be honored."

"Winged Kuriboh will protect you when your Neos fusions can't," Yubel observes, floating closer as Judai and Austin take positions to take a duel.

"Ah, I see!" Johan says. "That's a good match."

"Not as good a match as me." Yubel hums with amusement, coming to Judai's side. "Still, this will be interesting…"

Judai glances to Yubel as they come to a stop next to him. "Ready, Yubel?"

"You won't have me to call on in this duel, Judai. I'm here as a spectator only."

Ah, yeah, too bad. "Then watch us, all right?"

"I'm ready," Austin calls.

"Me too!" Judai grins at his longtime rival. "It's been a while, hasn't it Austin?"

"Too long," Austin agrees. "Now, let's begin."

"Duel!"