Through the Rainstorm {PG13} {YGO Ultima Academy RP fanfic} Chapter 6 is here!

[Naimo]

[spoiler=Small Disclaimer & Original Character Owners]

Disclaimer: Ultima Academy does not belong to me. I had asked for permission, which was granted, from the original owner, Supercardman101. All characters mentioned (except for Crystal) have been reproduced to the best of my knowledge and understanding, along with guidelines from their original owners. All characters you read are not 100% accurate.

 

Characters and their original creators:

Crystal - Leonic_0922 (myself)

Peter - Supercardman101

AJ (full name Andrew Joseph) - Stein-hakase

Seijin - Lord JZ of the Engima

Michael - Awesome66

Liang - Succubus Queen

Liang's duel spirit Bloodlust - Succubus Queen

 

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[spoiler=Index]

Chapter One - page 1

Chapter Two - page 1

Chapter Three - page 1

Chapter Four - page 1

Chapter Five - page 1

Chapter Six - page 1

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter One]

Chapter One

 

“We are approaching the island in ten minutes. Please can all students gather their belongings.”

 

The message blared through the PTA system, over the noise of the chattering students. All of them were excited about the new school year, whether they were returning students or fresh faces, but none were as excited as nineteen and eighteen year old AJ and Crystal, respectively. Soon to be husband and wife, they sat in a quiet corner at the back of the ship, near a closed door, wrapped in each other’s arms, discussing nothing else but the upcoming wedding.

 

“I still don’t think we should dress up as Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl,” said Crystal as she smuggled closer to AJ. Being shorter than AJ, her head rested on his chest, her shoulder-length black hair tossed back. Her brown-almost-black eyes were looking upwards, fixed on AJ. She had donned a proper Obelisk Blue uniform, except a pair of Obelisk-Blue-blue shorts replaced the skirt, and her ankle-boots had no heel. Her duel disk lay underneath their chairs. “It’s too clichéd.”

 

“So you’re suggesting we stick with Silent Swordsman and Silent Magician?” asked AJ. His hazel eyes – which were fixed on Crystal – were almost hidden by the veil of layered brown hair that covered his face, mainly because he was looking down at her. Like Crystal, he too wore an Obelisk Blue uniform. He left his tailcoat unbuttoned, and his sleeves were pulled back. His duel disk was stacked on top of Crystal’s.

 

“Of course I am,” answered Crystal. “It gives more originality. And also, it means I won’t run the risk of my breasts falling out.” At once AJ raised his eyebrows.

 

“This is coming from someone who wore a Magician’s Valkyria costume on Duel Spirit Day,” AJ pointed out.

 

“That was different,” Crystal said. “Even if they had fallen out, you wouldn’t have seen anything, whereas technically with the Dark Magician Girl dress, it would be full on cleavage.”

 

“Now that would be a wedding to remember,” grinned AJ. At once Crystal lightly punched his arm.

 

“Oh be quiet, you pervert.”

 

“I’m going to see them anyway, it’s no big deal,” AJ pointed out again.

 

“In your dreams.”

 

“Funnily enough –”

 

“– the whole conversation’s gone downhill,” interrupted Crystal at once. “We’re talking about what to wear for our wedding, not your private fantasies.” She coughed. “Who are you going to have as your best man?”

 

“I’m thinking about asking Peter,” answered AJ as he hugged Crystal tighter. “What about your bridesmaid of honour?”

 

“Probably Rinslet. If not, Pikeru and Curran will have to fill in for me.” She paused. “Have you got the rings sorted?” AJ mumbled something Crystal couldn’t hear clearly.

 

“I knew there was something missing. Since we’re alone, I might as well ask you about what sort of ring you want.” Crystal looked down at the engagement ring sitting on her fourth finger. Resting on the bright, gold ring was a large crystal surrounded by small rubies.

 

“If we get anything bigger than this ring, it will be so costly we’ll have to hold the wedding in a barn,” Crystal told him, now looking up at him again. “I think we should keep it simple, maybe plain gold or something similar. Personally, I think white gold would be an interesting touch.”

 

“Yeah, why not? So –”

 

The door suddenly flung open as Liang stumbled through, followed by Bloodlust, Liang’s annoying female duel spirit. Now in her assassin form, she wore light green clothes and carried two lethal-looking chakrams. Bloodlust bounded in and it only took one look at Crystal and AJ before she immediately retched. If there was one thing she never understood, it was love.

 

“Ignore her,” said Liang, jabbing at Bloodlust as he tossed back his dark grey hair, and straightened his yellow ballroom-like blazer. He glanced over his shoulder and called out, “You might as well come in.”

 

“I knew they would listen in on us,” said Crystal to AJ. She looked back at the door. “Oh hey Pete!” A boy with blue eyes and brown hair styled like AJ’s stepped through the doorway. He was wearing his Obelisk Blue uniform, leaving the tailcoat unbuttoned.

 

“Hi AJ, hi Crystal,” said Peter cheerily. “So how are you guys?”

 

“We’re fine, still busy about our wedding,” answered Crystal. “It is one of the most chaotic things I’ve ever done, and I’ll be glad when it’s all over.”

 

“Have you still not settled on a date yet?” asked another voice from the doorway. All heads turned to see Seijin, a Slifer Red boy with short shaggy brown hair and light brown eyes, leaning against the doorway, his arms folded.

 

“Hi Seijin,” said AJ. “And to answer, no. I want to hold it a few weeks into term time, but Crystal wants it nearer Christmas.”

 

“I wouldn’t suggest Christmas, everyone’s going to be in too much of a party mode to care about your wedding,” said another voice. All heads turned again to see Michael enter, his crystal blue eyes alive with that usual spark of mischief, his mop-like blonde hair swaying as he walked. The yellowness of his Ra Yellow uniform matched his hair.

 

“My point exactly, Michael,” said AJ at once. “I suppose we’ll manage to find the right time.”

 

“Of course we will,” Crystal corrected. “This wedding will take place at Ultima. Speaking of which –” She sat up slightly. “– how long have we got left until we arrive?”

 

“I’d say about five minutes,” answered AJ. He suddenly sighed. “I can’t believe it’s our fourth and final year here.” The cheery mood faded immediately.

 

“I’m going to miss it here,” said Peter, sounding sad. “This was the first time I had proper friends.” This was met with general agreements.

 

“I’ll tell you what I won’t miss; the number of times we could have been sent to the Shadow Realm and survived,” Crystal piped up. “I think I’ve had enough adventure for a lifetime.”

 

“Not to mention Nightshroud, or the fiasco with Jack,” added AJ.

 

“That doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that we’re still together, after everything that’s happened.” Smiling, she and AJ kissed, and a general wave of “awwww” followed – except for Bloodlust, who wore a repulsive look on her face.

 

“I feel warm inside,” said Liang.

 

“Same,” agreed Bloodlust.

 

“And fuzzy.”

 

“Me too.”

 

“And the love.”

 

“Me too again.” Liang turned to Bloodlust, looking surprised.

 

“Since when did you feel love?” he demanded. Now it was Bloodlust’s turn to look at him.

 

“Since when did I –” she began to snap back but before she could finish she rushed outside and, leaning over the barrier, vomited into the sea.

 

“I think she was lovesick … literally,” added Crystal after a brief pause.

 

Five minutes later, the ship arrived at the island. They walked into the towering white and grain-yellow building, and straight into the duel arena for the boring start-of-term speech. Much like everyone else, the group fought for the seats at the very back, and they managed to secure six seats, one for each person.

 

The speech had barely started and already Peter had fallen into a deep sleep. Unfortunately he was seated next to Michael, who had a black marker pen and was busy scribbling on his face. Meanwhile, Crystal, AJ, Liang and Seijin were about to start passing an ever expanding note.

 

“Oh dear, Pete’s fallen asleep again. His sleeping disease is getting worse and worse,” Crystal almost whispered as she scribbled onto the blank paper. She folded it and passed it over to AJ, who added, ‘I know. Looks like he chose to sit next to the wrong person, LOL’. Crystal watched as he handed it over to Seijin.

 

‘Lol, I think Michael’s been watching too much Pokemon. I’m amazed Peter can’t feel anything!’ He passed it to Liang. ‘I know, me too.’ He chucked it at Crystal, who caught it effortlessly. Making as minimum noise as possible, she scribbled, ‘Have any of you seen Kent, Leo, Koga or Rinslet?’ She saw AJ shook his head as he simply wrote, ‘No.’ As he passed the note on to Seijin, the Slifer was craning his neck, glancing at the teachers seated behind the chancellor. Next to him, Liang was yawning.

 

‘We’ve got three new teachers this year. Do you think they’ll be any good?’ Seijin passed the note to Liang, who seemed to take a while to read it. Eventually he added, ‘No, but I don’t think Crowler’s going to remain the school’s #1 drag queen for long, that teacher on the far right is competiton.’ Crystal found it difficult to stifle her laughter as she read the note. ‘ROFL Liang, I think he should have gone to Specsavers.’

 

“And finally, the academy is pleased to welcome Professors Etheorma, Stewart and Geer,” said Sheppard, indicating each teacher in turn. Scattered applause followed; like Liang and Seijin, most students were busy stifling their laughter at Etheorma’s hideous appearance, boosted by his large glasses. “I’m sure you are all tired, everyone back to your dorms. You have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow.” As everyone began to leave, Michael finished drawing on Peter’s face, and Crystal shook him awake.

 

“Pete, wake up, it’s time to go,” she said loudly into his ear.

 

“Hmmm … GAH!” Peter cried, suddenly alert. “Murderers!” He tried to leap out of his seat but Crystal held him down and spun him round to face her.

 

“Pete, it’s only us, you big panda,” she said, before she broke into laughter at Michael’s drawing. She looked at him over Peter’s shoulder and saw he had his chest puffed up, looking very proud with himself.

 

“What are you laughing at?” asked Peter, sounding very confused.

 

“Your face …” She let go of him and watched as he felt his face.

 

“GAH! Really bad makeup artists!” cried Peter as he leapt to his feet. He clumsily dashed past Crystal and ran off. Only AJ saw this.

 

“Does he still call us murderers?” asked AJ, his eyebrows raised.

 

“Not any more, we’re now bad makeup artists,” answered Crystal, then they broke into grins. She turned to Michael. “Nice one, I doubt he’ll forget that quickly.” Michael returned the compliment with a very big grin which lit up his eyes even more.

 

“Come on you two, let’s go, otherwise we’ll be the last ones left in here,” said AJ. Nodding, Crystal and Michael got up and followed the crowd out of the duel arena.

 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Two]Chapter Two

 

It had barely been midday and already Crystal, AJ and Peter were bored. Class with Crowler had been boring as usual, and they were yet to have a lesson with a new teacher. Not to mention Liang, Michael and Seijin’s classes were at different times to theirs.

 

“Who have we got after break?” asked Crystal. Peter checked his timetable.

 

“Etheorma,” he answered. “I dare you to leave a Specsavers advert on his desk.”

 

“You wish, I’m not stupid enough to do that,” said Crystal. “If you ask me, he’s probably like Boris Johnson – not as stupid as he looks.” Peter raised his eyebrows.

 

“Geez Crystal, you –”

 

Before he could finish, a loud hissing caught their attention. They turned to find a furious Obelisk Blue boy with cola all down his front, and a gloating Michael happily approaching them. It only took one look to deduce what had happened; Michael had given the Obelisk a shaken can of coke, and once he opened it the coke flew everywhere. Crystal had been on the receiving end of this prank nearly two years ago, when she had defeated him in a duel.

 

“I haven’t forgotten that prank, you know,” she said to Michael, her eyebrows raised. He just shrugged. “Have you had any of the new teachers yet?”

 

“Yes, Geer,” he answered, his arms folded. “He’s got these rock golems in his class, they don’t do much except stand around like bodyguards.” Crystal heard Peter’s timetable ruffle as he presumably held it to his face.

 

“We haven’t got him until tomorrow morning,” he said to them. “But we have got Stewart after Etheorma.” The words had barely left his mouth when the bell rang. As Crystal and AJ got off the bench they had been sitting on, Peter stuffed his timetable back in his bag before they set off for the professor’s classroom.

 

By the time they got there, there was no space left in the back few rows. Left with no choice, the trio picked seats in the front, with Peter at the start of the row, and AJ sat next to him. They routinely took out their textbooks just as Etheorma walked in. At once the noise died down and was replaced by poorly disguised sniggers, to which Crystal frowned. Etheorma (fortunately? Crystal wasn’t sure) ignored the laughter and proceeded to the front of the class.

 

“Quiet class!” he shouted, and the laughter died down, though not instantly. Etheorma began to talk, and although Crystal tried to listen, she found it difficult thanks to AJ and Peter whispering beside her.

 

“…he’s ever stopped in front of a mirror and considered why people keep laughing at him?” whispered AJ.

 

“I don’t think he can,” answered Peter earnestly, unaware Etheorma was looking at him. “Every time he stands in front of a mirror it cracks.” He and AJ broke into silent giggles.

 

“– and it seems Mr Aquas has a lot to say on subjects outside the area of Official Card Grammar and card effects,” Etheorma interrupted loudly. He suddenly walked up the steps, grabbing the back of Peter’s tailcoat along the way, dragging him up the steps, before he kicked the door open and threw him out. He slammed and locked the door behind him and walked back down the stairs, glaring around at the now-terrified class. Crystal was quietly shaking her head; she had been right from the start.

 

Etheorma returned to his desk and looked around, then suddenly smiled. “If anybody wishes to follow in the step of our role model, I will only be too happy to comply.” For the rest of the lesson, no one dared to look at Etheorma but instead kept their eyes peeled on pages one to eleven of their open textbooks. It was no surprise that when the bell rang, everybody was desperate to get out first.

 

“I’ll take Pete’s stuff,” said Crystal to AJ. “You go and look for Seijin, Michael and Liang. And AJ, do tell Seijin there’s sandwiches for lunch.” Chuckling, AJ kissed her on her cheek, then left first, leaving Crystal to pack up Peter’s stuff before she could leave.

 

She knew where to look for Peter; forcefully ignoring the fresh smell of newly heated sandwiches (and the barely visible figure of Seijin desperate to jump the crowd to get a big sandwich), she made her way down to the beach where she found Pete, rubbing his left elbow. She sat down next to him and placed his bag down between them.

 

“Hi Crystal,” he said. “Aren’t you going to have lunch?”

 

“Hey. And I thought I’d wait for you,” she added. “Are you alright? Did Etheorma hurt you too badly?” Peter shook his head.

 

“I think I’ve bruised my elbow, but apart from that I’m fine,” he answered grimly. “How was the rest of the lesson?”

 

“Silent. You need to read pages one to eleven, and for homework you need to research that guy mentioned somewhere on page nine, the one who invented OCG in the first place,” answered Crystal. Peter looked annoyed.

 

“I knew he’d set us something, but that’s going to take forever,” he groaned. “How long have we got?”

 

“Until Friday. And Pete, please do this properly, don’t get yourself thrown out again,” added Crystal.

 

“Like I need telling,” mumbled Peter, looking down at his bag. Just then a dark shadow passed over them. Instinctively they looked up and saw a large grey cloud slowly covering the Academy, preparing to shower down on them. As the sun slowly disappeared, both Crystal and Peter got up, brushing any sand off them as they did so.

 

“That’s a shame,” said Crystal as Peter slung his bag over his back.

 

“It rains in September anyway,” Peter pointed out. “Come on, I don’t fancy having a shower at this time.”

 

“OK, nor do I,” added Crystal. “Last one to the cafeteria will have to share a sandwich with Seijin!” She immediately began to sprint, with Peter hot on her heels. And as they ran, the rain cloud continued to roll across the island.

 

[spoiler=Chapter Three]

Chapter Three

 

The rain soon came, just after the start of afternoon lessons. It continued to rain heavily, and it showed no signs of stopping. No one was spared of a heavy drenching as they ran to their dorms, cowering under bags or tailcoats or blazers.

 

Once her door was firmly shut, Crystal groaned as she looked down at herself. The rain had ruined her uniform; she found herself a fresh set of clothes and she changed into them, chucking her soaked clothes into a basket. She made a mental note to get them washed.

 

She sat down and glanced out of the window. Seeing as the rain was likely to continue into the night, she tried to get some homework done. Logging onto her computer, she opened the school’s IM system and was immediately pulled into a six-way conversation. She began to multitask; whilst talking, she focused on Crowler’s essay.

 

Liang wrote:

I hate the storm, it’s forcing us to do long boring homework

 

Peter wrote:

Me too ><

 

Crystal wrote:

Come on guys, stop moaning, the earlier you get your homework done, the less stressed you will be. I’ve seen you scribbling whatever comes to mind during break, before the lesson ... it’s always best to do things early rather than late

 

Michael wrote:

You sound a lot like Hermione

 

Crystal wrote:

Since when did you read Harry Potter?

 

Michael has logged off

 

Seijin wrote:

No wonder why he always has the most annoying magician duel spirits

 

AJ wrote:

LOL, too true. Well, I don’t mind if my fiancée turns out to be bossy ... I love you

 

Crystal wrote:

And I love you too

 

Liang wrote:

Eurgh, can’t you two stick your love lives up your ar

 

Liang wrote:

Sorry, that was Bloodlust

 

Crystal wrote:

*has died from laughing*

 

Peter wrote:

rofl :P

 

AJ wrote:

lol!

 

Michael has joined the conversation

 

Seijin wrote:

Harry Potter geek’s back!

 

Michael has logged off

 

Liang wrote:

... again

 

AJ wrote:

Did any of you take Ruby by accident?

 

Crystal wrote:

No, why?

 

Seijin wrote:

Oro? No

 

Peter wrote:

No, sorry

 

Liang wrote:

No

 

Michael has joined the conversation

 

AJ wrote:

Michael, have you seen Ruby?

 

Michael wrote:

Er ... who?

 

AJ wrote:

Crystal Beasts Ruby Carbuncle – ie my duel spirit

 

Michael wrote:

Oh, right. No. What’s the matter?

 

AJ wrote:

I’ve lost her. I don’t know where she is, so I thought you might have accidently taken her.

 

Peter wrote:

AJ, you’re not the only one. Where’s Neos gone?

 

Seijin wrote:

I’m missing Light and Darkness Dragon too! :(

 

Liang wrote:

 

Me too! :( :( :( Chaos Necromancer has gone!

 

Michael wrote:

What a weird coincidence, I’ve lost Dark Armed Dragon

 

AJ wrote:

Crystal, what about you? Is DM safe with you?

 

Seijin:

Didn’t she say she was busy with homework?

 

Crystal wrote:

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Seijin wrote:

... maybe not ...

 

Crystal wrote:

DARK MAGICIAN’S GONE!

 

Peter wrote: Cheer up Crystal, we’re all in the same boat *cuddles*

 

AJ wrote:

Hey! That’s my job! *cuddles his fiancée*

 

Crystal wrote:

lol thanks guys.

I’m finding this weird. Why have they suddenly disappeared? They can’t have just been blown out of our decks, I didn’t feel anything.

 

Liang wrote:

You’re right. This calls for our local detective, Peter Holmes.

 

Peter wrote:

:P

Maybe we haven’t looked at our decks properly?

 

Liang wrote:

All six of us are missing duel spirits Peter

 

Michael wrote:

If I find I have overlooked DAD, I will immediately move into a retirement home *goes to check*

 

Crystal wrote:

Brb, going to try and find DM

 

Michael wrote:

No, it’s definitely gone ... :/

 

As Crystal looked through all four decks for Dark Magician, thunder and lightning began to flash outside. She looked into the mirror and jumped as she saw not herself, but Dark Magician. Lightning flashed, and he was gone. Wondering what that was about, she soon sat in front of the computer again.

 

Crystal wrote:

Back, and he’s definitely gone :(

 

Peter wrote:

I think we better log off, the thunder doesn’t look good

 

Liang wrote:

I agree. Bye guys!

 

Seijin wrote:

Same, adiosin!

 

Michael wrote:

Me too, see you tomorrow as well

 

AJ wrote:

Yeah, good idea. I love you Crystal *kisses*

 

Crystal wrote:

Cya guys! And I love you too *kisses back*

 

Peter: Awww :) well, bye!

 

Michael has logged off

AJ has logged off

Seijin has logged off

Peter has logged off

Liang has logged off

 

Crystal also logged off. She glanced out of the window and couldn’t help but wonder whether this was more than a mere rainstorm …

 

[spoiler=Chapter Four]

Chapter Four

 

Tomorrow came and the storm had worsened overnight. As everybody ran across the rain again, AJ caught up with Crystal and thrust his tailcoat overt her, shielding himself with his bag. Crystal tried to talk but the sound of the rain drowned out her speech, as well as her haste to escape the rain.

 

When they were inside the main building, Crystal handed AJ his dripping coat. She watched as he checked his bag to make sure everything inside was dry.

 

“You didn’t have to do that,” said Crystal.

 

“Of course I did, you’re my fiancée,” AJ pointed out. “I would never forgive myself if I hadn’t done that.” Smiling, they kissed and when they broke, they saw Bloodlust looking at them as if they were repulsive. Both AJ and Crystal raised their eyebrows.

 

“What?” asked Crystal.

 

“Go away Bloodlust,” Liang smoothly interrupted as Bloodlust vanished. His wet hair was plastered to his face, his coat now a darker, soggier shade of yellow. “Before you ask, I just ran, I didn’t cover myself.”

 

“I guessed as much,” said Crystal. “Do you know where Pete, Michael and Seijin are?”

 

“That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you,” answered Liang. “I left with Michael but we separated pretty quickly. I left him behind.” He looked over his shoulder. “Speaking of the devil…” Sure enough, Michael’s figure appeared and Crystal immediately ducked away, unable to control her laughter at the sight of Michael looking as if he was wearing a wet mop wig.

 

Crystal wasn’t the only one laughing; as Michael approached them, bystanders openly pointed, giggled and swapped remarks with each other. Surprisingly Michael didn’t seem to care; they knew he couldn’t take anything which crushed his pride. They soon saw their answer as the faint outline of Exodia followed Michael.

 

“Did you make him deaf?” asked Liang to Exodia as Michael stopped in front of them. By this time, Crystal had managed to stop laughing, but was still struggling to pull a straight face. Exodia nodded before he unblocked Michael’s ears.

 

“Hello guys,” he said, seemingly unaware of the laughter he was attracting. “What’s the matter with you Crystal?”

 

“No … Nothing,” she said, still battling to keep a straight face. She looked out of the window and saw Seijin running, while using his blazer to protect his sandwich from getting soggy. Suddenly there was a crash as lightning flashed, temporarily blinding them. When it had gone, Crystal jumped.

 

Seijin was gone.

 

“Guys, did you see that?” she asked to AJ, Liang and Michael. She didn’t need to; they too saw and they too immediately ran outside. Along the way they jostled into a heavily soaked Peter, ignoring his questions as they ran. Sensing something was wrong he chased after them.

 

Due to their numbers, Michael and AJ body slammed the doors open, with Liang roughly shoving them out of the way as he overtook them. Crystal kicked a door open long enough for Peter to leave without it slamming in his face.

 

They battled against the howling squall as they leapt to the place where Seijin had disappeared. Speckles of barely opaque raindrops fired down on them like ammunition out of a gun, and the wind battered them like rag dolls, yet they continued to run on, desperate to see what had happened to Seijin.

 

Overhead lightning clapped again and Crystal heard Peter yelp. She turned round and saw he was gone, just like Seijin. She tried to yell out what she knew, but her voice was lost to the wild howling of the wind. Liang, AJ and Michael weren’t aware of what had happened; she had to try and get the message across –

 

“Argh!” She had been hit in both eyes by the squall, forcing her to a slower pace as she tried to open her eyes, only to shut them again as they stung her. Three more times lightning crashed, and three more times she heard yells. Finally, when she dared to open her eyes, she found she was standing alone in the rain.

 

At once Crystal turned round and tried to head towards the building. She never reached it; thunder and lightning struck again, and before she knew it the earth had disappeared under her feet. She yelped a silent cry as everything went black; she was falling down through nothing. Her target was nothing, her atmosphere was nothing …

 

She was nothing. She was simply a gigantic particle suspended by the strings of infinite darkness.

 

Suddenly she landed face first on something. But what it was she wouldn’t know for the next few hours, as she passed out from the force of the landing, just like everyone else had.

 

[spoiler=Chapter Five]

Chapter Five

 

Crystal would have slept on for much longer if it wasn’t for one of the oddest noises she had ever heard; the sound of a funny gargling mixed with the unmistakable tone of a dragon. Curious to know what was going on, she opened her eyes.

 

It was a very odd sight. A large Light and Darkness Dragon was crying, with its head trying to be held between its front legs, making it look even odder. Crystal saw the source of its misery and could have laughed; it was weeping over the crushed remains of a slightly soggy sandwich.

 

“Cheer up,” said Michael as a Dark Armed Dragon, almost half the size of the Light and Darkness Dragon, came stomping into view. The way the sunlight fell on him made him look even more lethal – his black armour-like scales moved and shone like it was oiled, and the sharpness of the claws was reflected. Crystal didn’t fancy being on the receiving end of them. She wondered where Michael was, and why she was facing two dragons. “There’ll be another sandwich somewhere.”

 

“But it was my favourite filling!” sobbed the dragon, his midnight-black and cloud-white scales looking extra beautiful in the sunlight. Crystal recognised his voice as Seijin’s … wait, Seijin’s voice came from the dragon? Something wasn’t right…

 

“Erm, what are they saying?” asked Peter somewhere to Crystal’s right. She turned her head and saw an Elemental Hero Neos standing up, looking bemused at the two dragons. Beside him sat a Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle, sitting very uncomfortably, as if it was unused to sitting in such a way. Still confused, she looked down at herself and started.

 

She was now wearing purple, slightly stiff armour over a dark violet tunic. But what startled her most was she was now stuck in a male body … more specifically, Dark Magician’s body. She looked around her and saw an emerald staff with a topaz-coloured glass orb lying beside her, gleaming in a polished manner in the sunlight, waiting for her to pick it up. She stretched out one (trembling? She couldn’t quite tell) hand and clasped it around the staff. Nothing happened. She lifted it up and swung it around slightly like she would do with a normal staff. The tip on the end was sharp enough to be a spear.

 

“Where’s Liang?” was the first thing Crystal asked. It was clear Neos was Peter, and Ruby Carbuncle was AJ … and if the two dragons were Seijin and Michael, then that just left Liang. No one could answer her; they too wanted to know.

 

Suddenly a low groaning emitted from the ground as two zombies dressed in blue rags rose from the ground, silver magical strings pulling on every limb. Crystal jumped, then followed the strings to see a Chaos Necromancer, dressed in the armour and torn cape, sitting in the stands around them. And suddenly it hit Crystal she had paid no attention to where they were until now. They were stood in the ruined stadium in the Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. Overhead a bright rainbow shone smiling upon them. The red matched the ruby on AJ’s forehead.

 

“This is weird,” said Crystal as she further inspected her new body. “So this is what it’s like to have a flat chest and a …” She coughed to replace the word she intended to say.

 

“Can someone tell me what the dragons said?” repeated Peter.

 

“Couldn’t you understand?” asked Crystal, looking and sounding confused. Peter shook his head. “I could … could you two?” she added, glancing at Liang and AJ and back.

 

“Not me,” answered Liang as he stood up, his clawed fingers making his puppets dance very weirdly.

 

“I could,” said AJ as Liang began to make his way back down. “I think you’ve got to be magical to understand speech. In other words –”

 

“Spellcasters and Fairies can understand any language,” finished Crystal, before she frowned. “This is going to be a problem. Who knows how long it will be before we can leave here and change back to our normal selves? Not to mention the possibility that we can’t …” A very awkward silence followed as the stinging truth bit them in their hearts. What if they couldn’t? No one wanted to be stuck like this forever!

 

“We must have been sent here for a purpose,” said Michael at last, breaking the silence. “Except we just don’t know what that purpose is.”

 

“Translation please,” Peter promptly said. AJ translated for him, and Peter shrugged when AJ finished. “Come on, we’ve been doing this for the past three years … except this time it’s just a little more bizarre.”

 

“Little?” repeated Crystal incredulously. “You call this little? And to think AJ and I were going to have our wedding soon and we were going to go as duel monsters…”

 

“You could host it now, you’re more than dressing up as your duel spirits,” Liang casually pointed out. Both Crystal and AJ were quick to react.

 

“I refuse to marry when I am a male!” declared Crystal firmly.

 

“There is no way I’m marrying as a cat!” added AJ ferociously. Liang tried to shrug at their reactions, but his armour prevented him.

 

“It was just a suggestion,” he added, still sounding casual. Crystal and AJ were on the verge of retorting when a cry from the sky caught their attention. All six looked up and saw a Cobalt Eagle circling overhead, grasping what looked like a scroll in its talons. Without warning it swooped and as it began its ascent, dropped the slightly-thicker-than-usual scroll it was carrying. Peter caught it swiftly and everyone moved in to glance at the seal. The logo was a peculiar one; they couldn’t quite work out what it was. Ignoring this, Peter broke the seal and read the writing.

 

Greetings Ultima students,

We have gathered you here because we need your help. Do not ask questions or talk about this, for the walls do have ears. By the time this reaches you, we are sure you will have discovered what we have done to protect you, for humans are never meant to set foot inside this World. Come to Location X, as marked on the map. We shall say no more for now.

 

There was no signature. Peter separated the two pieces of paper from each other and all the attention turned, wordlessly, to the map. It was a very pretty, simple drawing of the World they were now in. They recognised many places as field spells, and it dawned on them this really was a world they would perhaps never again set foot in after this. It took them a while to work out where Location X was; they would have to cross several lands to reach the location.

 

“That’s the mission,” said Liang as they all registered where they needed to go. “This is a piece of cake. We can get there in no time.” It was true; all of them but Liang could fly, but that wasn’t an issue; he would simply have to get onto the back of one of the dragons.

 

“What are we waiting for?” asked Seijin; before anyone could answer, dust flew as he took off from the ground. However he had barely remained airborne for ten seconds before he crashed back onto the ground, unused to flying, and squashing his sandwich even further with his gigantic foot. Peter and Liang collapsed from laughing, Michael was making the ground rumble from his deep laughter, Crystal was clutching her side, and AJ’s melodic, cat-like laughter complemented Michael’s deeper tone.

 

“We’re going to be here a long time,” gasped Crystal when she finally found her breath.

 

[spoiler=Chapter Six]

Chapter Six

 

It took everyone almost an hour to get the hang of flying. While Liang unhelpfully yawned, laughed at the failed attempts and made his puppets perform slapstick violence, Seijin and Michael took the longest to get the hang of flying and kept knocking everyone – and occasionally each other – out of the air. AJ and Peter had to practice using their body weight to steer their flight path, and Crystal – who now possessed a vast knowledge of spells, some of which would take a full five minutes to properly recite and cast – took a while to cast the right spell and follow what AJ and Peter were doing.

 

“All done?” she asked after Michael and Seijin clumsily showed off their new ability.

 

“Of course,” answered Seijin (AJ had assigned himself as Peter’s translator, while Crystal translated for Liang). “Now we can go!”

 

“Finally!” Liang called out as he left the stands for the second time. “Who am I getting onto the back of?”

 

“I think it’s better if you got onto Seijin,” answered Crystal. “Do you need any help?” Liang looked up at the gigantic dragon.

 

“What do you think?” he asked rhetorically. Grinning, Crystal waved her staff and muttered presumably the right spell, because Liang was levitated onto Seijin’s back. Once that was done, they took off simultaneously and began to fly towards Location X, with Peter serving as their navigator.

 

They couldn’t have been more mismatched as a group. Seijin stood out most, being a bulky sixteen-foot dragon, and easily the biggest of the group. Next was Michael, standing at a smaller height of nine and a half feet. For once Crystal was not the shortest; she and Peter were now tied at six feet tall. Due to the absence of a lower half, Liang had considerably shrunk to four feet, while poor AJ was now the smallest out of them all, now only two feet tall.

 

The group soon realised they were flying over an Ancient Forest, as marked on the map. To their left was the faint borderline of mountains, beyond which seemed to be endless sea. To their right they could see more stretches of Forests; and straight ahead on the horizon was a clock tower very very slowly growing taller and taller. At their current distance, it was just a mere coloured dot.

 

It was unsurprising they quickly grew bored of staring at a forest. They began to discuss the possibilities of what their mission could be, which grew more and more elaborate by the second until it was far too fanciful to come close to reality. By then they were about to change realms, and sure enough they smoothly flew over the Ancient Forest and were now flying over Sogen, where they could see tiny figures of Warriors sparring each other openly. On the left of Sogen was Skyscraper – Hero City, and to its right was Geartown.

 

“Swerve left!” Peter suddenly yelped in panic. Sensing his tone, no one argued and followed his command.

 

“Why did we need to do that?” asked Michael. A pause followed as AJ and Crystal translated again.

 

“It says here, ‘Do not be seen by residents of Geartown’.” A long, cold pause hung in the air. What did it mean? What were they being dragged into …?

 

The urge to turn back was strong, yet they could do nothing if they were to leave. Forced against their better judgement, they eventually spotted a small round area lined with black cobble pavements, and they descended. While Crystal, AJ, and Peter easily landed, Michael and Seijin almost topped over from the uneven paving, and Liang yelped, frightened of being thrown off.

 

“Ermmmm … help?” he asked as he looked around him, unable to get off. Peter flew to him and helped him off.

 

“Now what do we do?” asked AJ. He still looked uncomfortable sitting down.

 

“Apparently, one of us need to tap the ground three times,” answered Peter. They watched as he kneeled down and tapped the pavement with his knuckles. Suddenly a black dome covered them, and it disappeared as quickly as it came. When it vanished, they started.

 

They were clearly in an underground cave, with no entrances or exits. Brackets with burning torches were mounted on the walls, yet they provided poor lighting, throwing most of the cave into darkness. Suddenly a rattling sound alerted them.

 

“What –” began Crystal, promptly surprised.

 

“Do not be alarmed,” a deep, powerful voice called out. There was a flash of yellow as the faint outline of a head emerged. “I see you have arrived, safe and whole – though not as whole as my brothers and I expected. You are curious, I can see. Allow me to explain …

 

“This World is ruled by the Egyptian Gods. With the power of their bare hands, they shaped our land and worked with caress to create the perfect world … their World. Myself, Raviel and Uriah were their first creations, and their disciples. While the Gods limited our powers, we were given freedom to patrol this World.

 

“All was well, until the crazed scientists Kozaky and Magical Scientist began to form their own experiments. The Spellcasters foresaw their ill weakness and tried to persuade Magical Scientist to stop. Yet he ignored them and together with Kozaky, they created the first Gogigo Gagagigo. Pleased with their efforts, they experimented further and further until the three Wicked beasts were born. They kept all this a secret, and they nurtured the beasts, aiming for three monsters powerful to match the Gods, yet tamed and under their command.

 

“As chance would happen, a young Machine – more specifically, Boot-Up Solider – Dread Dynamo – found them and threatened to tell us of their find. Kozaky and the Magical Scientist immediately persuaded him they could fulfil his dreams. How they knew, no one knows, yet the Solider’s greed overrode his common sense and a deal was made. Day after day the trio worked until at last, the weak gear sitting upon their desk was born. The first Ancient Gear was alive.

 

“He was merely aimed to be a pet, but Kozaky saw potential and he had a row with Magical Scientist, who wanted to persue only with the Wicked project. They could not agree, and the long-time duo split. Magical Scientist had the lone task of raising the Wicked beasts, and Kozaky and the Solider continued with the Ancient Gear project. They developed further and further, built a fine army, and yet no one knew of this, although by then we were growing suspicious. Alas, we foolishly did nothing.

 

“It took fifty years to properly develop the Ancient Gears, but when it was done, Kozaky declared it his finest achievement. By misfortune, the Wicked Dreadroot heard him. Enraged, he fought off the Solider and swiped Kozaky. His powers activated and he took almost all of Kozaky’s energy. The leader of the Ancient Gears – whose name is long forgotten to all but the Ancient Gears – saw what happened and fought the Wicked Dreadroot. Back then, they were equal in strength, yet the Wicked Dreadroot had more powers and he used them to win victory. He placed a dreadful blow upon his fallen enemy, and the robot was no more as the Dreadroot’s strength increased.

 

“The Ancient Gears cried in dismay at the disgraceful fall of their leader, and swore to take down this unjust World as they gathered the pieces of their leader and fled. The Wicked Dreadroot did not chase after them, for he took his brothers with him and fled to the wild, where he taught them the wicked ways they work by now. As this happened, the Ancient Gears stormed into the town which is now Geartown, and their huge numbers and successful strategies meant they easily overran the town, and they created a fascist, anti-Gods state.

 

“The Egyptian Gods were in despair. Their perfect World was ruined, and they could do nothing, for all life would be destroyed if such were to happen. Alas, to prevent the Wicked Gods from growing stronger, they chained us here, in three separate caves, for our own good. And thus, the story ends so far.”

 

“So you want us to free you?” asked Crystal after a pregnant pause. Hamon nodded, though they couldn’t see too clearly.

 

“That is the case.”

 

“But why? Isn’t it better if you’re kept out of danger –”

 

“No!” he thundered, making everyone jump, and putting them in risk of Michael or Seijin squashing them. “That is exactly what you would think! What I am asking of you is dangerous, yes, but if we are to end this aeon-old war, someone needs to make a move! The Egyptian Gods have scattered three keys – one for each of us – around this World. We need your help to find them.” No one needed to confer; they knew they had to help in order to escape.

 

“We’ll do it,” said Peter suddenly and confidently. Everyone nodded in agreement.

 

“I am glad. Your first mission is to retrieve the seven stones from the Crystal Beasts. This is not as easy as it sounds; there are seven Gatekeepers, and all must be fought. Fortunately, perhaps for you, they are distinguishable. They are pure white, except for their gems which will sparkle. Once you have acquired the seven stones, come back to me and I shall give you further instructions.

 

“Now, in the meantime, I shall see to it you are served. If you go further down this cave, there are several hideouts where you can rest, and you may have whatever you wish.” A Phantasm Token suddenly appeared striding from the shadows.

 

“What … whatever we want?” asked Seijin, sounding as if Christmas had come early … which it probably had for him.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Even … sandwiches?” His voice was now full of hope./

 

“If it pleases you.”

 

“Out of the way!” He sweapt everyone aside with one swipe of his muscular tail, and eagerly trampled after the leading, frightened Phantasm Token.

 

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

Awesome, you already have Pete and Micheal's prank war started, and you have Seijin's sarcasm level just right. remember to add his sarcasm in Spanish every once in a long time, I enjoyed it, and I can't wait for the next one....hmm

[Guest Lily]

ROFL Leonic, good work. Lovin how you displayed my characters ;)

[Naimo]

Thanks JZ and Succubus, not to mention Pete's "GAH! Murderers!" line whenever someone wakes him up, and AJ and Crystal's upcoming wedding ... and Bloodlust's misunderstanding of love

[Guest Lily]

Lol Pete's line is classic. AJ & Crystal's wedding is absolutely lovely and Bloodlust's misunderstanding of love is just for the lulz (As is Duel Academy's #1 Drag Queen XD)

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

Where there's a duel academy, there's a Drag queen, quite sad.....I also never knew AJ would talk like that....I knew he was a perv, but my gosh...(so says the guy that played the biggest flirt in school.)

[Naimo]

Oh yes, I had to make the little love bit between Crystal and AJ as sweet as possible to enhance Bloodlust's throwing up part. And anyway, everybody always pokes fun at Crowler for looking like a woman, and I remembered Pete and Poseidon poking fun at Etheorma for his appearance (which included very thick glasses), which resulted in Pete being thrown down the stairs twice before being kicked out

 

And lol JZ I know he wouldn't talk like that but it was too good a comedy-creating opportunity to bypass

[Negimalevolent]

You certainly pay attention to detail, that's for sure! ^_^ I couldn't stop laughing under my breath, great job turning my rp into a story there! honestly, you should become a full time writer! ^_^

[Guest Lily]

You certainly pay attention to detail' date=' that's for sure! ^_^ I couldn't stop laughing under my breath, great job turning my rp into a story there! honestly, you should become a full time writer! ^_^

[/quote']

 

No she shouldn't, or else she wouldn't have time to RP with us D:

[Naimo]

Thanks Super XD

Ironically, I do intend to be an author. And btw just to let you know, the fanfic's an alternate version of what happens in our final year so it is semi-original.

And Succubus, I will have time, all my stories go through the first draft (written using pen and paper), final edit (typed into Word and some parts are changed, added or taken away as they're typed up), before publication

[~Kefka~]

:( i'm not a perv.......

 

not that much anyway ;)........

 

ok, so i was a bit pervish there :), but i really liked it leo-chan!!! you got AJ down near flawlessly, i can't wait to see how you write me when i'm with Nightshroud :)

 

two thumbs up and i'm hoping for an update soon

[Goldeneagle]

Fantastic fanfic, it's just a pity that my character died in the 3rd part so Koga can't appear. It really brings back loads of memories of all the old characters who've grown up and left Ultima Academy now. I'm looking forward to the next update.

[Naimo]

He died in the third part? :? I never knew that...

[Goldeneagle]

Well I had to stop playing, so later on I created a cover story that he had sacrificed himself to destroy Yami-Koga. He's currently trapped in the shadow realm along with Akuma and Yami-Koga, but I'm thinking of letting him make a guest appearance in part 5 or 6.

[Altαir]

Very intresting, you are a great writer. I hope you continue. I wish I was in, but I'm not important enough... Oh well. But what is the reason for the title?

[Naimo]

@Goldeneagle: I see

@Golden Light: you'll find out soon

[Naimo]

Updated! Chapter two is now here

Enjoy :D

[Negimalevolent]

it's good, thats for sure with chapter 2 there now, not as good as the first, but it still had me smiling, great job leo-chan!

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

HA! Share a sandwich, that's pretty much saying your gonna starve.

[Naimo]

I was expecting that

To use two terms I've recently learnt in English Lit, chapter two's meant to be foreshadowing and includes a motif so it naturally won't be as good as the first

But hey, I got a sandwhich gag (unofficially copyright JZ and Leonic) in!

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

Oh yeah! anyone mentions a sandwich they pay a dollar...or...uhm....well they pay money! to both of us in both countries! Yeah!

[Goldeneagle]

Nice second installment, the ominous rainclouds was a nice finishing touch, hinting at something sinister happening in the next part of the storyline. And to make things even better, I didn't see the original Part 4 so I have no idea what's going to happen. I'm really looking forward to the next chapters. :)

[Naimo]

I hate to break it to you but this is an AU version of what happens in our last year ... in other words, it's a storyline I made up if you're not familiar with the term

[Infinitus]

Very interesting, very interesting. The detail is down-near flawless, as well as character personalities. It's good you are making things original, and you made sure to "Show" rather than "Tell" your story.

 

I await the day that my character develops completely. Truthfully, since it's your Fan-Fic, you can develop him however you want. You can make him a completely different person from what he was originally, which gives me plenty to look forward to, not to mention what, or who, will go down as the main problem, other character developments, and various other things.

 

You've done great work. Keep it up.

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

Can't wait till the next one is up........yeah, I can't come up with any helpful criticism, you're a better writer than me, so ganbate!!(do your best!)