A Not So Happy Friendly Reunion: Part 1

Alexis POV

Before the sky turned black with storm clouds, I was running early in the morning with Jaden.

For him, it was a daily routine for him ever since he left the Academy in his time. Plus, from what I learnt from Yubel the other day, he found it completely impossible to sit still or do nothing in the day. And you know what: I actually believed it, because when Jaden set his mind to something, he does it.

I was actually planning on hanging out with Jasmine and Mindy for the early morning, but then I saw Jaden running by and I quickly changed my mind on hanging out with the girls. I told him to wait for me as I ran back to get changed into some running clothes.

So there I was, sweating heavily as I kept up with Jaden as he ran along the coastal cliffs. I was panting madly as well, as my chest heaved with heavy breaths. I was wearing a sleeveless black top, with a pair of long skin tight black pants that were soaked with sweat. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but that didn't stop it from getting messy. Jaden wore a black top as well, with a pair of black pants and black trainers, with his red jacket wrapped around his waist. He was a little ahead of me, looking back once in a while to check if I was still following him.

Just then, we stopped by the docks, which gave me enough time to catch my breath. I placed my hands on my knees, panting heavily as I managed to slowly get my breath back. Jaden didn't seem to be winded in anyway shape or form, though his face was flushed and slightly sweaty.

"I didn't know...I was that much out of shape," I panted. "How do you even...manage to...stand up after this?"

Jaden shrugged, sitting down on the edge of the docking platform on the right, his feet dangling over the rippling salt water. "No idea. It must be from...the Supreme Kings and Yubels souls being merged...with mine. Doesn't mean I can't get tired though."

I sat down next to him, relieved that I could relax my feet in the cool water. He handed me his bottle of water, and I excepted it gratefully. I looked over at the rising sun, thinking that today would be a great day since it was Saturday today. For me, I thought it would mean the chance to hang out with some of my friends. And thanks to Jaden, I was all fired up and ready to go...just as soon as I get back to my Dorm, get a shower and get a fresh change of clothes on.

Suddenly, Jaden tensed, quickly looking over his shoulder. I frowned, doing the same thing as he did, though I saw nothing in the distance except for the old Royal Family Ruins a couple of miles away from where we were.

"What's up?" I asked Jaden.

Jaden grimaced. "Let's just say that those ruins aren't all that they seem."

I frowned again. "What do you mean?"

Jaden nodded, like he knew I would be confused. "Right, you know how I have abilities thanks to Yubel? Well, some of the abilities you already know of: seeing duel monster spirits, being able to speak with them, understand them and being able to summon them by sheer will. What I didn't tell you is that thanks to Yubel, I can be able to pinpoint wormholes that lead to other dimensions and literally travel to them."

I looked at him in surprise. "So you could actually go to any of them if you wanted?"

Jaden nodded, though he did grimace again. "I can, but it severely drains me of energy for a short time. Most of the time I have Yubel helping me - its easy for her because she's technically a duel monsters spirit, but since she's connected to me it's a lot more complicated."

I nodded along with him, before looking in the direction he looked at before. "So how come you were looking over there? You think there's a portal to another dimension?"

"I don't think, I know," Jaden said. "In my first year after the Christmas Holidays, Banner took several of us to the Gravekeepers Ruins. What I didn't know was that it was a test for me, to see if I could handle what everyone knows as the Shadow Games. We got zapped over to the dimension where the keepers of the tombs were, but we got seperated. You, along with Syrus, Chumley and Banner got captured, while I was forced to battle for your freedom. I managed to do so, but the pain I went through in that duel was intense."

"So its true?" I asked in a worried tone. "The Shadow Games do exist? And I thought it was just a legend."

"Oh, they're not legends," Jaden chuckled. "They're real alright. Plus, you've already seen one: remember, mine and Atticus's duel in the Abandoned Dorm?"

I nodded, remembering the moment when Atticus summoned Red Eyes Darkness Dragon to the field, its rampage unlike anything I've seen. "How could I not remember that? That was one of the most terrifying duels I've ever seen. Plus, we barely managed to get out before the whole place exploded."

Jaden nodded in agreement. "Well, in all my Shadow Duels, that was not even the most challenging I've ever been in, but that's not the point. The Shadow Games are there to see if you can withstand the pressure." He looked at the distant ruins. "And I know the time will come when I have to go and face the Chief again, and that guy is a little bit of a grump."

I was about to say something else, but then something rumbled above us. Suddenly the air felt more colder and less comforting, making me wrap my arms around myself and trying to keep warm. Jaden stood up, looking around wildly before finally looking up.

"Holy shit," he muttered in shock.

I looked up and to my astonishment, I saw that he sky was going completely dark as black clouds steadily reached outwards towards the rising sun. They flew over Duel Academy Island like a coffin sealing us in a tomb. He sky rumbled, just as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the whole island. I yelped at the loud clap of thunder, making Jaden grab my shoulder to reassure me.

"What on earth is going on?" I asked him.

Before he could answer, another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, making us both yelp. Lightning kept flashing in the sky, the rumbling of thunder growing even more.

"We best indoors," he said with uncertainty in his voice.

"But the Academy building is two miles away," I complained. "And I'm too exhausted to run back all the way there."

"Okay then, we'll go to the Slifer Dorm," Jaden said, pointing to the nearby Dorm. "It's only like a minutes walk from here."

I quickly nodded, following him just as it began to rain heavily as the heavens above opened up.
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Jaden POV

Apparently, everyone came indoors because of the weird weather. They all looked out the windows, watching as flashes of lightning continued to wreak havoc in the sky. In all my life, I had never seen thunderstorms like this one before. It was too controlled and almost as if it had a mind of its own.

"This doesn't seem natural," the Supreme King said, appearing in astral form and looking at the storm clouds with a thoughtful look. "Look at the angle of the clouds: they don't seem to behave like any ordinary storm clouds. And the lightning doesn't flash that bright."

"I agree with ya'," I said back, just as I finished making two cups of tea. "It does look unnatural in any sense. And I've never seen anything like that on our journeys, so it's new. Yubel, what do you think?"

"I've only heard rumours, but according to some sources that I gathered a long time ago, this only occurs when someone from another dimension is trying to enter one of the others," Yubel said, looking just as thoughtful as the Supreme King. "But those are just rumours, they may not be true."

"But we know what going into other dimensions is like," I told them. "We have that ability, even though it drains us. If it's true that someone is trying to get through, shouldn't we go out there and find out what they want?"

"Whoever is trying to come through might not want to be seen, Jaden," Banner said, also appearing. "I'd say we wait until the storm clears, then we can find who this dimension jumper is."

I didn't like it, but I learnt a long time ago to always be prepared when it comes from people from different dimensions and such. Heck, I wasn't prepared to go to the dimensions I went through during my time here at the Academy, but I went through them since I had no choice.

Just then, Alexis came out in a fresh pare of clothes, her hair slightly wet still. She wore her Obelisk Blue uniform, though she did have her fleece on as usual. She looked at the window, seeing that the storm had worsened.

"This is crazy," she breathed out. "I've never seen a storm this bad before. What's going on?"

"According to Yubel, someone from a different dimension is trying to enter this one," I answered. "Whoever it is, they sure know how to arrive with a dramatic entrance." I looked at Alexis. "Did you contact Chazz? He should be here?"

"Yeah, I've contacted him," she nodded. "He should be here any moment, along with Syrus and Chumley."

"In that case, we better get some towels ready. They're bound to be soaked," I laughed, just as the door opened up.

Chazz, Syrus and Chumley came rushing in, panting from their mad sprint to get here. They were all soaked to the skin, and they immediately collapsed to their knees (well, in Chumley's case). Chazz looked at me and Alexis, and looked back at the raging storm outside.

"I have no idea where this storm came from," he wheezed out. "One moment it was a clear day, then it completely changed into what I can only describe as freaking black mass of misery."

I threw him a towel and he immediately began drying his damp hair, scrubbing it fast. Syrus did he same with his towel. Chumley was passed out on the floor, probably from exhaustion. I shook my head in amusement: whenever Chumley exorcised or did like several miles of walking, he would pass out immediately.

We all sat down, watching as the storm raged on outside. Lightning continued to flash outside, and the wind kept of buffing the windows. Heck, it kept on making the door of the Dorm rattle wildly. Every other Slifer Red in the Dorm was trying their hardest to not look at the storm but it was impossible. Soon, pretty much everyone was barricading the door so that it would stay on its hinges.

"When will this storm end?" Syrus asked, a blanket wrapped around him as he drank his coffee.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It could be a while yet."

Alexis was about to say something, but then she frowned as she looked at my deck case that hung on my belt. Then her eyes widened. "Jaden, your deck is glowing."

I looked down and saw that she was right. Light was flaring from my deck case. I opened it up, and pulled out one of the cards. It turned out to be Elemental HERO Neos, his card glowing and pulsing with light. I wondered what was going on. I mean, Neos always warned me if something was wrong, by never did his card glow like this.

"Something is definitely up," I said to everyone. "Neos's card doesn't light up like this."

Before Alexis could say anything, Syrus interrupted, looking through the window. "Hey guys? What's that glowing behind the clouds?"

I looked where he looked. Above us in the sky, the clouds were the blackest I've ever seen, but there was something glowing behind them. I had to squint to see what it was, but when I could, I saw that he glow was in a dark red and a bright gold colour. I thought that it was the sun trying to shine through, but I quickly changed my mind as a high-pitched echoing roar cried out in the distance. It was that high-pitched that everyone had to cover their ears.

Then to my amazement and surprise, a large red and gold dragon made out of pure light, energy and fire flew across the sky, howling across the blackened stormed sky. Everyone gasped in amazement as the dragon flew over the Slifer Dorm and sped up towards the old family ruins. Suddenly, the whole ground shook when the dragon smashed into the earth with an almighty explosion.

"What in the world was that?!" Chazz exclaimed, as he held onto the chair for dear life as the ground shook violently.

I looked at Alexis, both of us thinking the same thing. "Is that...the dragon that you spoke of? The one that carried you and that friend of yours through time?"

I looked back at the window, seeing the smoke the explosion caused. "It's the Crimson Dragon. That would mean that..."

I didn't even finish the sentence, as I quickly grabbed my duel disk, and rushed out into the pouring rain. Alexis, who didn't look surprised, rushed out with me. Chazz and Syrus hesitated for a moment, but they did rush out with us as we, the rest of the Red Dorm following us.

I noticed this, and turned around sharply. "No, you guys stay indoors! We'll take care of this! Keep the doors shut at all times!"

They looked a little disappointed but did as I said.

It took us a couple of minutes to get there, but we came to the crash sight, which in turn was a small crater that bellowed with smoke, dust and rubble. All of us looked around at the ruins, standing in a semicircle around the crater. I walked forward and jumped in, landing on the burnt ground and quickly looking around.

As the smoke started to clear a little, I saw in the middle was a large mass of metal lying on its side, broken up and battered. Next to it was a smaller figure, lying face down. By the looks of it, it was a barely conscious male who was lying on his front. I ran forward, and knelt down to see who it was, turning him onto his back, and I gasped when I saw who it was. He might've been wearing a dark red helmet at one point, but there was no mistaking him.

He wore a long-sleeved blue jacket with high collars and amber gems, over a sleeveless black shirt with a red symbol, and wears gloves below his elbows with an amber gem on them. His lower body consists of black jeans with amber knee pads, a belt with two deck cases hidden under his jacket. On the left side his face was a jagged yellow mark, and his gold highlighted black hair jutted upwards, though it jutted downwards on the lower parts.

"Yusei!" I cried out, shaking him to try and wake him up. "Yusei! Come on pal! Wake up!"

I wrapped my arms underneath his armpits and around his chest, before I looked behind me. "Chazz, help me lift him up!"

Chazz immediately ran down and picked up his legs, helping me carry him out of the crater. As we climbed out of the crater, Alexis and Syrus helped me and Chazz rest Yusei down on the damp grass, careful not to place him on any stray rocks.

"Is he alright?" Alexis asked, placing two fingers on his neck, checking for a pulse.

"I hope he is," I said, looking back at his battered Duel Runner. "Though after the crash landing he had, I'm not so sure. Yusei, wake up!"

Yusei groaned, slowly opening his royal blue eyes. He looked up at me and the students surrounding him, a confused look on his face before a look of shock appeared on it. "Jaden?"

"Yeah, it's me pal," I told him, smiling in relief that he was alright.

He tried to sit up, but he groaned as he did so. "Take it easy, you've had a nasty entrance getting here. You're lucky that you're even in one piece."

Yusei rubbed the back of his neck, hissing at how stiff it was. "Yeah, that tends to happen when you enter a different time period at super fast speeds." He looked back at his Duel Runner, which was completely wrecked beyond repair. He groaned in annoyance. "Great, my day just got worse."

"Don't say that!" I exclaimed. "That's a jinx word! It's bad luck to say that!"

Chazz knelt down, looking at Yusei. "So, you're this Yusei guy that Jaden talked about? For some time, I doubted that you even existed but you're definitely real alright."

Yusei leaned away from Chazz, looking back at me. "Who's he?"

"That's Chazz Princeton, a student from Obelisk Blue," I answered. "And a royal pain in the butt."

"What'd you say?!" Chazz barked, going red as a tomato.

Before I could tell him to shut up, I noticed a dim white aura surrounding my body. It was like my body was giving off natural light, when I know that it doesn't. But then I noticed that it wasn't just me, but the others as well, and they all noticed. They were completely bewildered by what was going on, but then the light around us started getting brighter.

Before I could cry out a warning, our bodies started to evaporate into stardust, making everyone panic. I knew what was going on, and I had to calm the others down before something happened.

"Guys, calm down!" I told them quickly, just as my right hand vanished. "Keep still!"

"What's happening to us man?!" Chazz exclaimed, just as his entire left arm vanished.

"We're being transported, that's what's happening!" I answered. "Someone is pulling us into another dimension! Grab each other's hands! Quickly!"

Everyone did as I said, Alexis grabbing mine and Yusei's hands. Before I could even say anything else, we all screamed as the light completely surrounded us in a two metre wide circle and the whole world was nothing but a bright white light.
===========
Next thing I knew, all of us landed hard on some sort of stone pavement, which was cracked in places. I groaned as I slowly got to one knee, looking around the place. With a start, I realised that we were in the dimension where the Gravekeeper family lived. The temple was only a mile away, and I could see it jutting out into the sky. The ruins were completely rebuilt, and the fountain started pouring clean water into the basin part of it.

I looked at everyone as they all gained consciousness, looking around at the sight of the ruins. Yusei struggled to his feet, gripping his right shoulder as he limped up to my side.

"Where are we?" he asked, confusion and apprehension on his face.

"We're definitely in another dimension, that's for sure," I said, pointing upwards towards the three suns that were floating high in the sky. "If I have to guess, I'd say we're in the dimension that houses the Gravekeeper Family."

"The Gravekeeper Family?" Chazz asked as he quickly got his duel disk out and slapped it onto his left wrist. "Don't tel me we have to duel anyone. We had enough of that when Nightshroud took over Atticus."

"Don't worry about it," I said, pointing up to the towering temple. "They're gonna be in there, where they keep themselves hidden and secret. Last time I ran into them, let's just say that the Chief and I had a little Shadow Game that I almost lost in."

I turned to look at each of them. "Guys, I'm not joking now. We've got to stick together. This is dangerous territory - one small mistake will be big trouble for us."

"I'm guessing that you've explained to them that you're from the future?" Yusei summed up, taking his battered helmet off his head. "Well, if that's the case, then you might want to explain why this is dangerous."

"Even though we just met him, the guy has a point," Syrus said. "We don't know anything about jumping between dimensions, and you're the only one here who knows what it's like, Jaden."

"Dimensions exists parallel to our world," I explained. "They're all connected because they're based around ours: whether they're populated by humans, or by duel monster spirits. All together, there are twelve different dimensions, seven of which I know off with this dimension being one of them. The others are almost completely desolate, except for the Dark World Dimension. All the other dimensions are yet to be discovered."

"So you jump between these dimensions just for the fun of it?" Chazz asked. "Why didn't you tell us that?"

"Travelling between dimensions isn't easy for him, Chazz," Alexis explained. "It drains him and Yubel of energy every time they jump to another dimension. Jaden has to concentrate on Yubels powers to do such a thing, and it takes too much out of him."

"Plus, I'm connected to Yubel who is a duel monster spirit," I added. "I only jump between dimensions to find others like me, and help connect them better with their duel monster spirits. It's not easy, but I do the best I can with them."

Everyone had amazed looks on their faces. Before Syrus could even ask a question however, a loud horn sound bellowed out in the open air, making me spin around in surprise. Suddenly, loud battle cries roared out from the woods, making all of us step back in surprise.

"I'm guessing that's them?" Yusei asked, his face calm.

"Yep, that's them," I said, the same look on my face.

Chazz, Syrus and Alexis stood behind us, trying to keep themselves hidden. I could understand how they would do that: when something is about to go down, always stay behind the ones strong enough to keep them safe. I rolled my eyes at this. I mean, I know I'm a good duellist but there's a limit to what I can be able to do. Plus, I knew that me and Yusei could hold off against separate opponents. However, I had doubts that we could hold off an army.

Suddenly, a large crowd of spear men came rushing out of the woods, yelling and brandishing their spears and lances. They all wore black cloaks, with sandals going up to their knees and with what looked like purple tunics underneath their cloaks. I got my duel disk ready, as well as Yusei. I was about to reach for my deck which was in its deck case, until a loud gruff voice interrupted.

"Lower your arms, men!" an old man with a white cloak ordered, coming to the front of the small army. He had a black hijab on his head, and he had a long black beard that went just below his chin. He wore dark green clothing underneath his cloak, and he carried with him an aura of authority. "I shall deal with these trespassers myself."

I sighed in relief. It was the Chief of the Gravekeepers. I lowered my duelling arm, and bowed in respect. Yusei looked a little confused, but he did the same thing as I did. The Chief raised an eyebrow at this, though he did smile a little.

"I see that you're respectable to someone who is obviously in charge around these parts," he commented. "For a moment, I was beginning to think that you were more trespassers trying your luck at discovering the secrets of the Gravekeepers tomb."

"With all due respect and honesty, we didn't come here to discover whatever power you are trying to hide, Chief," I said, standing up again. "We arrived here by accident. We got caught up in this beam of light, and me and my friends got transported here."

"You lie!" Gravekeepers Curse snarled, coming and pointing his blade at me. "I know a liar when I see one!"

"I'm not lying! I swear on my life!" I told him quickly.

"Oh, who are you kidding?" the Supreme King said, appearing in astral form. "None of the Chiefs men are going to believe you. They only care about ripping all of yours limbs off. They don't even care about what you say."

"You do know that I have to at least try, right?" I thought back to him.

The Chief looked directly at me, a look of interest in his eyes. Then he suddenly turned to face the Supreme King, with a look of surprise on his face. Suddenly, he pounded his chest, and bowed deeply as soon as he looked at the Supreme King, who looked at him with an emotionless expression.

"My King," the Chief said, kneeling in respect. "It is an honour to finally meet you. We have heard that you were traveling between worlds with one that bears your face. I apologise for my mens behaviour: it has been so long since they had any sport of any kind."

All of my friends looked to my right, finally seeing the Supreme King finally taking on his physical form. As usual these days, he wore his black leather jacket that trailed to his feet, with his black boots and dark jeans. His hair was the same colour and length as mine, but his eyes were yellow and seemed to pulse with power.

"Whoa," Yusei gawked in surprise. "Okay, I knew you were connected with some spirits, but I never realised that you had another version of yourself that was a king."

"It's not that, Yusei," I said. "He's...kind've my ancestor. His spirit got fused with mine as soon I met him. Me and him have been connected ever since then."

The Supreme King nodded to confirm the story, before turning to face the Gravekeepers.

"You may rise, Gravekeepers Chief," he said in that monotone voice of his. "I may be the Supreme King, but here I am just a brief accidental visitor."

The Chief nodded, standing up to full height. He barked at his men to stand down, which they quickly did. However, before the last spear men lowered their weapons, the ground began to shake again. A cold laughter filled the air, before black smoke finally encircled the area around us. I looked closer at what it was, and I swear I saw a black smoked card or two fly around in the black fog. I groaned loudly, annoyed at the fact that I knew what was going on.

"Alexis, you and the others need to get back now!" I quickly shouted, peeping my duel disk. The Supreme King vanished, as I felt his soul retreating to the back of my mind.

"Why? What going on?" she asked, worry etched on her face.

"Don't ask questions! Just get back!" I looked at the Chief. "Whatever you do, don't let your guard down! Protect my friends!"

The Chief nodded, before several of his guards quickly escorted my three friends into their ranks, forming a barricade to protect them.

Yusei on the other hand only prepped his duel disk, standing two metres to my left. He quickly took his deck out, holding it up and looked at me. He gave me a small smirk. "Just like before, huh?"

I smirked back. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Just then, more cold laughter filled the air. Black smoke bellowed in front of us, and it began to take the shape of two tall figures. As soon as the smoke dispersed, two 6'8 figures dressed in orange outlined black leather suits in the place of the smoke. They both wore dark sunglasses, possibly because of the light, and they had short black hair, with pale faces so white that they looked like snowballs.

"Ah, Jaden Yuki," the one on the right said maliciously, giving me a very sly smile.

"And his friend: Yusei Fudo," the left one sneered.

"Trueman," I spat. "I should've known that Nightshroud would send you in sooner than I expected. Why wouldn't he? After all, you're nothing but a figment of his own mad creation, sent to do his dirty work instead of him facing me. But there he goes again and acts like the coward he is, sending in what he thinks as his most powerful frontline soldier."

Yusei raised his duelling arm. "I've heard about this in the history books. You faced some sort of entity that wanted to consume the entire world into darkness. You sent him packing, but I'm guessing that he sent in these guys first?"

"Yep," I said. "Trueman can split himself unto numerous copies of himself. And that's bad when your facing two of them, because they both use the same tactics."

"In that case..." Yusei smirked, inserting his deck into his duel disk. "Instead of just talking about it, let's put these guys in the mark and give them the beating of their life. How does that sound?"

I smiled in response, grabbing my deck and inserting it into my duel disk. I glared at the two Trueman copies, my eyes changing into Yubels as my duel disk flared to life with red and gold fire. "Trueman, it's time to get your game on!"

"Whoever you are and whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, you're not gonna succeed in this twisted plan of yours," Yusei shouted, raising his right wrist just as the shining red image of what appeared to be a dragons head appear there. Behind him, the glowing silhouette of the Crimson Dragon roared to life. "Let's rev it up!"

"As I suspected, these two duellists show remarkable courage and strength," Trueman number one sneered to his copied version. "But I've crushed foes like them, so this makes no difference."

A black wing-like duel disk appeared on his left wrist, though it was connected to his arm permanently just like Yubels was for her. "Let's take them out and ensure that master Nightshrouds plan reaches success."

"I agree," Trueman number two said, his duel disk also appearing.

"GAME ON!"

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