heleentje

Series Title: Crossroads Universe
Story Title: Crossroads
Chapter Title: Interlude: Power of Darkness
Author: Heleentje
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Rating: K
Characters: Johan, Yubel, Judai, Gem Beasts
Word Count: 1229
Warnings/spoilers: spiritshipping-if-you-squint, psycheshipping-if-you-look-sideways-and-squint-very-very-hard, spoilers for seasons three and four
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX or any of its characters

7. Interlude: Power of Darkness

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota - 2.50 p.m.

A haggle of tourists had spread out on the Grandview Terrace, trying to get the best view of the famous sculpture. A few guides were attempting to do their job, but the overall excitement made it hard for them to work. One of them looked down from the Terrace, spotting someone walking around near the bottom of the rock formation. Most tourists prefered the Grandview Terrace, since it provided a better view, but this person had never come up.

The guide didn’t know him, but he had been here for a while. He had shown up three days ago, accompanied by a cat and aimlessly wandering around. They had sent someone to go talk to him, but it had soon become clear that the boy didn’t understand English. A Chinese and Japanese guide had been sent down next, and while they had managed to confirm that the boy was Japanese, they hadn’t succeeded in getting any useful information from him. They had briefly considered calling the police, but the boy hadn’t bothered anyone since his arrival, and he had managed to produce a valid entrance ticket. How he had even gotten hold of the ticket in the first place was something this particular guide didn’t want to think about too much. Sometimes one was better off not knowing.

The boy in question, meanwhile, was staring up at the memorial, trying to take in the details, but finding it a bit hard to do. He briefly considered joining the other tourists, but he didn’t care much for the crowds, and he was concerned about the cat. Besides, he was only passing through and the monument wasn’t of any real interest to him.

A spirit appeared behind him, invisible to the majority of the people on Grandview Terrace (and even if they saw it, they would probably write it off as a hallucination), but clearly visible to the boy himself. He turned towards her.

“Slept well? It was a long trip.”

“Yes, quite,” she answered, “Judai, where are we going next?”

Judai shrugged: “Somewhere? Everywhere? We’ve got the whole world to see.”

“I still can’t believe we ended up in America. Did you find out where exactly we are anyway?”

“What’s the fun in knowing? We’ll find out eventually.”

“Still, there were enough people you could’ve asked. They do have Japanese guides here.”

“I know,” Judai answered lightly, “They’ve come down here, while you were asleep. They asked me for an entrance ticket.”

He took out the ticket and showed it to Yubel. The origin of that ticket was much more mundane than anyone who knew Judai would have believed. He had just asked the first Japanese family he had come across for help, and they had bought him the ticket. The youngest child had recognised him, and while he hadn’t reached the levels of fame that Edo Phoenix possessed, he had been named as the next great talent in the dueling world.

Yubel examined the ticket carefully, before nodding briefly. Judai pocketed it again.

“When do you want to leave?”

“Soon, but we’ll go by foot this time.”

Yubel looked vaguely offended: “Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do! But this flying thing is exhausting you, and I don’t want you to get hurt! If you would just let Neos or Flame Wingman handle it...”

“I can sleep it off. No need for them.”

“If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it or me at least. I really don’t want you to suffer from this! Besides, I’m the one sustaining your physical form, this drains my powers too.”

Yubel sighed and admitted defeat. Judai looked up at the sky, more out of habit than out of a genuine expectation to see something interesting. A few children on the Grandview Terrace pointed at him, and he waved. The bravest ones waved back.

Pharaoh walked over to him, slumping down in front of his feet and yawning widely. A ball of light escaped from the cat’s mouth and assumed the familiar form of Daitokuji-sensei. He glanced around to see where he had ended up, quickly stepping a few feet to the side when he spotted Yubel next to him. Pharaoh meowed loudly, and he recoiled, but the cat apparently didn’t feel like giving chase, for it rolled over and closed its eyes.

“Judai-kun, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine. Why don’t we find some shade? It’s warm here.”

The sensation was lost on both spirits, but they agreed anyway. Judai got down and prodded Pharaoh with one finger, trying to get him to move. The cat cracked open one eye indignantly, but paid him no further heed. Judai smiled slightly, and picked up the animal, carrying him over to a place in the shade.

He placed his load on the ground carefully, and Pharaoh shifted slightly, but continued to sleep on.

“How long do you plan on staying in America?”

Judai turned to Yubel and shrugged: “Like I said, I don’t know. We’ll see.”

“We’ve been here for ten days. Wha-“

She was abruptly cut of by a muted sound, coming from Judai’s duffel bag. Judai spent a few second digging through the bag before retrieving his cellphone. It was buzzing, and the ringtone was now clearly audible. Judai opened the phone.

“Hello?”

His eyes widened in surprise.

“O’Brien? You’re calling me?”

He listened intently while O’Brien spoke, nodding once or twice, before answering again:

“America. Not sure where exactly, but there’s a big rock with faces carved into it. It’s some sort of landmark, apparently.”

He laughed embarrasedly at O’Brien’s answer, mumbling “should’ve known”, but his expression quickly became serious again.

“Why do you want to come and get us? We’ll get out of here on our own, no worries.”

He exchanged looks with Yubel, his face steadily growing more serious.

“Me? Why would he...” Judai looked genuinely troubled now. He inhaled deeply before continuing.

“So, darkness, what do you think?”

Daitokuji-sensei looked panicked at the mention of darkness, trying to say something, but Judai quickly shushed him, still listening intently.

“I see. When did all of this start happening?”

He nodded a few times in quick succession.

“Okay, I’ll wait here. You can trace me?”

Judai nodded again, then quickly said goodbye and slid his cellphone shut, but didn’t switch it off. He turned to Yubel, addressing her directly.

“We ‘re going to have to leave. Industrial Illusions is sending a helicopter to pick us up.”

Yubel frowned: “Why? I thought you wanted to see the world?”

Judai waved dismissively: “That can wait. Something important’s come up.”

“Even so, why do you need a helicopter? You know I can just as well fly you out of here.”

Judai laughed slightly, although he didn’t sound entirely happy: “We’ve been over this before. That would be far too taxing, both for you and for me. Unless you think you can handle flying me over the better part of America and the Atlantic?”

“Atlantic? Judai, where are we going?”

Judai looked up at the sky, even though it was much too early for the helicopter to arrive.

“I take it we’re not going back to Japan?” Yubel pressed.

Judai looked at her, smiling slightly.

“This is important, we’re making a detour first.”

“Where to?”

“Have you ever wanted to visit Europe?”