Happy Holidays!

Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

Chapter 11

Aster stood in the doorway, shocked as all of his Duel Academy friends came out of hiding. "W-where did you – when did you get here?"

Jaden grinned, "While you were out. Where were you anyway? Sartorius said you had a Duel Disk inspection, but you were gone for hours!"

Aster frowned slightly, "That's where I was. At Kaiba Corp. There were a few…delays…," he paused, taking a good look at his old rival, "Jaden…do you always wear that red Slifer jacket wherever you go? I mean, you're not at Duel Academy."

"I think it's an Academy regulation since school is still in session," said Alexis. She too was in her uniform, "Then again…that doesn't stop Atticus from dressing like he's on the beach."

Still slightly dazed, Aster sat down in an armchair, "What – what are you guys doing here? Surely you didn't sneak out just to say hello."

"I invited them," said Sartorius, sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room, "You haven't seemed yourself lately so I allowed them to leave Duel Academy and help you to relax before the Kaiba Dome event on Saturday."

Aster slumped down in his seat, flabbergasted, "…Wow…Sartorius, you – you didn't have to do that. How did you even manage it?"

"He put Vipor in his place. It didn't take much to convince Sheppard," said Chazz.

"Aster," Sartorius began, "I know I may have seemed rather overprotective of you these past few days. I am just looking out for your safety."

Aster nodded, "…It's alright." He turned to the others, "…so…eh…where are you guys staying?"

"Sartorius booked us up in one of the nearby hotels. They didn't have the right number of rooms so one of us got a room of his own," Chazz said, then, rather stiffly, "I wanted it…but Jim took it."

Jim shrugged, "Sorry, mate. But no one else wants to room with Shirley."

"Enough sitting' around, soldiers!" Hassleberry jumped up, "On our way over, I saw a bunch of sights in Domino City I wouldn't mind visiting. Let's take a tour of the town!"
Sartorius stood, "Go on," he said, "Don't limit yourselves. Tour the city and have fun. I'll be here if you need me for anything."

"Let me drop off my duel disk upstairs. I won't need it," said Aster, standing and heading towards the stairs.

Sartorius watched him with narrowed eyes as he left the room. "Is he…limping?"

Atticus craned his neck to peer out into the hallway, watching Aster climb up the steps. "…He is, not very much though. Looks pretty hard to tell, though."

Sartorius looked down, "I…I want you to keep an eye on him. Please, don't let him out of your sight."

Jaden nodded, "You can count on us."

"So what do you guys want to do?" Aster asked as they stopped at a street-corner.

"Doesn't matter to much to me," said Jim, "I think Hassleberry said there was some place he wanted to go see."

Hassleberry rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously, "Well – I – err…not really…eh…Sartorius still freaks me out a lot."

Aster sighed, muttering, "You're not the only one."

Jaden's stomach gave a loud rumble, "Maybe a place where we can eat?"

Alexis pointed across the street, "There's a restaurant over there…."

"Race you!"

The waitress at the restaurant smiled as the group ran forward, "How many?"

Jaden took a head count, "Eight, I think."

"I'm surprised Slacker can count that high," Chazz muttered low enough for no one to hear.

"A private table please, if one is available," said Aster, looking around the place cautiously. The waitress nodded and led them to a large booth in the corner of the restaurant.

"So…," Atticus began as they all sat down, "What's the life of a pro like when he's not dueling?"

"Speaking of dueling, when was the last time you had a public match?" asked Hassleberry, "Haven't seen you on TV for at least a few weeks!"

Aster shrugged, "Not since the title match, I don't think. Sartorius used the cast as an excuse to keep my out of the Dome."

"But you've also been out of the cast for a few weeks now," said Jesse, "Still no dueling?"

Aster shook his head, "No. I've been lying low for a while. Sartorius purposely hasn't been setting me up with anyone." He glanced around the table at his friends, "Did Sartorius really get you guys or did you sneak out of school?"

"He came to get us," said Jaden, "Why?"

Aster sighed, leaning back in the booth, "He's…he's been – very – overprotective of me since we started staying with Serena. If I have to step out of the house and go somewhere without him, he thinks someone is going to jump out of the bushes and nab me."

The waitress came by and delivered a round of drinks. Once she was out of earshot, Syrus leaned in, "Are you in that much danger?"

Aster shrugged, "Depends on your view of 'a lot'. Let's review – a bunch of dueling criminals escape from prison. Someone blasts a hole in my house, and professional duelists are turning up dead. I'd say danger runs high for anyone in the Leagues right now."

Syrus gulped, "Even my brother?"

"Zane's been tearing up the competition in the Dome. If anyone was going to go after him, they'd have the perfect opportunity, but so far, nothing has happened. I'd say he's safe. Besides, he's the type of guy who can generally take care of himself. He's probably creaming duelists at the Kaiba Dome right now."

"Hey!" Chazz said suddenly, "What happened at Kaiba Corp?"

Aster raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Chazz pointed at the TV on the wall. "There, on the news."

They all turned to the television.

Aster frowned, "Oh, that. Someone tried to break their way into a restricted section of the building and got arrested."

"Is that why you were late earlier?" asked Syrus.

"You could say that."

Alexis frowned, "But that's not what the captions are talking about. It said the police were called to Kaiba Corporation, but the squad car that was dispatched never returned!"

Aster immediately frowned, "That's not good." Great…just what I needed to hear. Criminal gets arrested and immediately escapes.

"I'm sure the car just got side-tracked. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about at all," said Jaden.

"Hey, Aster," Jim began, "I couldn't help but notice tension between you and Sartorius. I don't mean to pry but…"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yea, it is," said Atticus.

Aster sighed, shaking his head, facing down at the table, "Sartorius is having visions again."

"Visions?" Hassleberry gasped, "Has he been looking at his freaky cards again?"

Aster shrugged, "I don't know where he keeps those cards. Sartorius hasn't made any mention that he still uses them. The only visions he's had are from dreams – or, at least, those he's told me."

"Then what's the problem?" asked Syrus.

"Turns out his little alien buddy isn't as gone as he thought it was."

Jaden's eyes widened, "You mean…The Light of Destruction is back?"

Aster scowled, "I don't know. It pretty much cornered me the other day when I got back to the house, but it's the last thing I need on my mind right now…which is why I'm glad you're here. …I need your help."

"You need our help?" Jesse asked, "What kind of help? And what's this Light of Destruction?"

"Long story short, Sartorius was possessed by a power-hungry alien called the Light of Destruction," said Chazz, "Under its influence, they pretty much brainwashed all of Duel Academy."

"Don't forget to include yourself under those brainwashed," Syrus muttered, "And that you helped convert most of the school yourself!"

"Shut up, half-pint!"

Hassleberry glared at the two before turning to Jesse, "That there alien had some sort of test between Aster and Jaden to figure out which one would defy destiny and be the bigger threat. In the end, there were two showdowns – a Private Phoenix versus Sartorius match and a Sarge versus Sartorius showdown to save the world!"

"So what happened?" Jim leaned in.

"The alien we thought was gone certainly is still alive and kicking. It nearly took over Sartorius the other day. He said it might be fueled by his emotions."

"But isn't Sartorius usually…kinda…emotionless?" asked Atticus.

"Exactly," Aster nodded, "normally, there's probably no issue at all, but these past weeks have him worried. And that alien is taking advantage of that. If something happened to me…" he looked away.

"We won't let that happen!" Jaden exclaimed, "Nothing is going to happen to you!"

"That's right!" Syrus chipped in, "The Aster Phoenix bodyguard squad is on the case!"

Aster turned slowly to face him, "…the what?"

Alexis sighed, face-palming, "Don't worry about it."

Aster leaned back, "I wish I could be as positive about this as you, but as far as anyone knows, no one in the Leagues is safe. I'm purposely being targeted and the exhibition matches on Saturday is a disaster waiting to happen."

"Why do you say that?" asked Chazz, "Wouldn't large crowds make it harder for some kind of an attack on anyone?"

Aster shook his head, "You'd like to think crowds and tighter security than an airport would be the answer, but…" he leaned in towards the others, "This stays out of Sartorius's earshot, got it?"

He waited for them all to respond before continuing, "I was at Kaiba Corp today, getting my duel disk inspected before Saturday…"

"Do they do that for everyone before every match?"

Aster shook his head, "That was a story for Sartorius. What really happened was Kaiba went over security arrangements for Saturday. …Until things went downhill…"

Alexis gasped, "The intruder!"

Aster nodded, "He wasn't one of these random trespassers doing something stupid. This guy knew I was meeting with Kaiba about security at the Dome and was listening outside the door. He was also one of the escaped prisoners."

"But that soldier's been captured and sent back…to…oh man, he escaped!"

"Yea, he escaped all right – but not before finding out some very confidential information and causing a ruckus in Kaiba's office."

"So what happened?" asked Jesse.

Aster shook his head, "We'll just say that if the danger in the Leagues wasn't apparent before, it sure is now." He glanced around, "Can we go somewhere?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Jaden jumped up, "Can we visit the Kaiba Dome? It'll be hard to get a good look around when there will be crowds of people!"

Aster shrugged, "Sure. It's not too far from here. Who knows – you might get to see some pros going at it."

"This place looks a lot bigger in person than on TV," said Alexis, "The arena must be huge!"

Aster nodded, "It is. There's enough space to have up to five tag-team matches going on at once."

"Come on, Sis, you remember, don't you?" said Atticus, "We had our entrance exams for Duel Academy there."

"The arena had to be rebuilt after the D's championship match last year," said Aster, "You can fit a lot more duels in there now." He led them through the entrance and down a side corridor.

"What's down here?" asked Chazz.

"It's sort of the back way into the stands. Spectators aren't generally veered down this way because a lot of the prep rooms are around here. There are also private dueling rooms that some people rent out for training matches and whatnot. When the Dome reopened, supposedly a Duel Computer was added to a renovated prep room. Apparently you can set the computer to duel anyone registered in the Leagues. I've never tried it though."

Jaden perked up, "You mean I could duel the King of Games if I really wanted?"

Aster shrugged, "You can give it a shot, but I think the computer only has registered League members…and Yugi Muto hasn't dueled publicly in years. The computer has everyone's deck stored in memory, but I've never used it to know who you can duel."

"So someone could be dueling you right now?" asked Syrus, "That's pretty neat."

"It is. I wanted to duel myself once or twice, but the room has been booked solid since the Exhibition was announced."

"I wonder who rented it out…" Hassleberry pondered.

Aster shrugged, "Who knows. I'm more curious about who my opponent is going to be. Sartorius hasn't been giving any clues about who it could be. All he said, and he told me this after I heard it from someone else, was that I wouldn't be dueling against Zane."

"But he's your biggest competition!" Jaden cried, "I don't see how anyone else can make a showstopper match! …You've beaten everyone, haven't you?"

"Eh, people join the Leagues all the time, but they won't pair me with a rookie in a publicity match – that's just cruel. All I know is Sartorius's word, which is that this will be the biggest duel of my career."

They pushed through the doors into the stands just as a duel finished up.

"Awww," Syrus pouted, "We missed it!"

They filed into a row of seats as the duelists left the arena.

"Don't worry about it," said Aster, "There's usually open dueling during the day. Another match should start soon." He leaned back in his seat and turned to the others. "So…how's life at Duel Academy?"

"Awesome!" Jaden grinned, "Dueling, fried shrimp, more dueling…what more could you ask for?"

"There's plenty of dueling all right," Syrus sighed, "Too much dueling."

Aster raised an eyebrow, "Too much dueling? You do realize you go to a school that specializes in that sort of thing…."

Syrus shook his head, "It's not that. Professor Vipor is making us duel more and more – all for these personal assessment tests. It's a bad idea to have all of these nonstop matches. People are getting hurt!"

Aster frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Jaden was dueling Axel and they both collapsed right afterwards. And then Jim and Hassleberry were dueling and then immediately passed out," said Chazz, "We think it's from the bands that Vipor was making us wear."

"The bands?"

"It's like they're sucking out our energy after we duel," said Alexis.

"That can't be," said Aster, "I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure it's impossible to drain energy from someone. It's not like you're getting the blood sucked out of you like a vampire."

"It these bands doing the energy-sucking," said Jesse, "You feel all worn out after a duel, and depending, sometimes it takes a while to get back on your feet again."

"I know I've said it before," said Syrus, crossing his arms and sighing, "But can you really trust a guy named Vipor? It just screams villain! I mean, in our first year, we had the Shadow Riders. Last year, it was Sartorius and the Society of Light. It wouldn't be a year at Duel Academy without some crazy person taking over the world! …Or at least causing trouble."

Aster held his hands out, "Okay, okay. Just say, hypothetically, that Vipor is behind…something. Assume he's the cause of these energy drains. …Why? What would he possibly hope to gain from it? Why would he need to drain people's energy? The guy's built like six of Hassleberry."

"I suppose that's the greater mystery this year," said Atticus, "We'll have to get our detective caps on once we go back to school."

"Entering the arena are Zane Truesdale and Irondi Fharr!"

"My brother!" Syrus leaned forward in his seat.

Aster leaned back as the two duelists entered the arena.

"Who's Fharr?" asked Jim, "I've never heard of 'em before."

"I dunno," said Aster, "Maybe he's new, or visiting from a different league."

After the two duelists took their stances, Zane happened to look up and spotted them in the seats. What are they doing here? His eyes finally locked on Aster, and immediately narrowed.

Aster matched Zane's gaze from above. He could almost see the wheels turning in Zane's head. Was he going to find him after the match and demand a duel?

"Your plan is to wait to find the kid? If you haven't noticed, Truesdale, Phoenix's days are possibly numbered." Shrouds words resurfaced in his mind as the staring match continued. Zane wasn't sure entirely what he had meant by that statement, or the validity behind it…but there he was, up in the stands. It was the perfect opportunity to set up a match. He didn't have a problem challenging the younger champion, and he was positive that Phoenix wouldn't turn it down…but what if he lost?

"Hey," Fharr called from the other side of the arena, "You ready?"

Zane broke his gaze. "Tch. This won't take long."

Shroud watched from the shadows as Zane obliterated his opponent. From his vantage point in the stands, he could see Aster and his friends watching the match. It didn't seem like they were ready to leave once Zane left the arena, so he waited to see if his old star would make a move. Enough time elapsed that another group of players entered the field and still no sign of Zane. He waited a few more moments, then pulled out his cell and dialed a number.

It picked up after two rings, "What?"

"Truesdale isn't taking the bait."

The man on the other side of the line swore, "This isn't good. Truesdale needs to be the scapegoat for the plan to work. Feed him something, anything that will get him talking to the kid before Saturday."

"Did you learn who his opponent is on Saturday?"

"Phoenix's dueling opponent is the most-guarded secret in the Leagues right now. Eavesdropping on the kid with Kaiba didn't reveal anything. And to have someone listen on his manager is a no-go. That man has a weird sixth sense."

"I'll just have to improvise then." He stood and ended the call.

"Have you been keeping an eye on me?" asked a cold voice.

Shroud twisted around in his seat. Zane, arms crossed over his chest, stared down at him, eyes narrowed. "How'd you know I was up here?"

"I saw you when I spotted Phoenix in the audience. What are you doing here?"

"Forgive me for being in a public place during a public duel, Mr. Truesdale. Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"I already told you I don't need anyone to book matches for me."

"That's fine. I also noticed Mr. Phoenix in the stands. So I assume he accepted your challenge to duel?" He paused, "Oh…I take it you still haven't asked him."

"What I decide to do is none of your business, Shroud. What does it take for you to get the hint and stay out of my life?"

"I'm only thinking for your best interests. The only way you will be able to move anywhere in the Leagues is if you man up and challenge him. Otherwise you will always be second-best."

Zane scowled, "Well, stop. I live my own life the way I want to, and I will not let someone like you tell me what to do. You are not my agent. You do not make the decisions for what I do and who I duel. You do not dictate my life. Stay out of it." Turning on his heel, Zane stalked off.

They were in the middle of watching their third match of the afternoon when Aster stood suddenly and headed towards the aisle.

"Where are you going?" asked Jaden.

"Just gonna stretch my legs for a minute. I'll be right back." Frowning, he stalked off towards the hall that led to the nosebleed seats and pushed through the arena exit doors. He was halfway down the hall when the door he was walking towards banged open and Zane Truesdale stalked out.

"Truesdale."

Zane paused, sneering down at Aster as if he was something unpleasant that was stuck on the sole of his boot. "Phoenix."

"I saw your match. Congrats on your win. It's a new record for you now, isn't it? Destroying your opponents in ten turns or less now?"

Zane scowled.

"…I know you don't like me. But I can't say the same for your creepy manager. Does he have a habit of staring at people for long periods of time?"

Zane glared at his rival, "As much as he likes to believe otherwise, Shroud is not my manager. I kicked that snake to the streets a long time ago. Now if you excuse me, I have a duel to prepare for."

"Wait," Aster said, and Zane paused, "That's it? No 'I want a rematch, Phoenix'? No threats, jabs, no name-calling?"

Zane looked over his shoulder at the other teen, "I was told I would be participating in 'the biggest duel of my life' this Saturday…considering that there is no one else in the Leagues that would give me half of a challenge, that must mean I would be dueling you then."

Aster folded his arms across his chest, "That can't be."

Zane turned to face him, "What?"

Aster shook his head, "I was told the same thing. Saturday's match is going to be the biggest duel of my life too…but I haven't heard anything on who my opponent will be. What I do know…is that it's not you."

Zane's eyes shifted for a moment to the doors he had just walked through, and then focused on Aster again, "That doesn't make any sense. The only people in the Leagues to give a decent enough challenge to us…is each other."

Aster nodded, "I know…but oh well. Maybe some pro from another league is coming in."

"Hmph. If I'm not dueling you, then I don't need to worry. They don't stand a chance."

Aster watched Zane pause, as if he was debating whether or not to say something. He must have decided not to, and then stormed off towards an exit. Aster shrugged, walking into the stands, heading up the steps where he remembered Shroud was sitting.

He turned the corner, expecting to find the shady man waiting for him. No one was there.

Aster headed back to his seat with the others. I saw Zane talking to the man. Zane left and I caught up to him. His creepy old manager was still there. So where did he go?

That's all for now! A new poll is on my profile. I have four current fanfics going on right now. Which ones should I finish up first? It's up to you to decide!

Until next time!