Chapter 2

Realm of Darkness…

“Welcome home boys,” said the Shadow Queen.

“Mother,” bowed the three princes in unison.

“Mother you aren’t going to believe what happened at Moonlight Falls,” said Yugie, as he embraced his mother like an excited puppy.

“Why are you so chipper while your two brothers seem so somber?”

“Oh don’t mind them. They’e just being sore losers,” laughed the little prince.

“Hey…in case you forgot, you got bested too,” grunted JB.

“Yea, but I kinda deserved it. I did steal his flower,” smiled Yugie.

“Wait, you told me you didn’t,” accused Jackson. “Did you lie to me little brother?”

Yugie cowered a little. “Well technically…no. I said the flower didn’t have anyone’s name on it, so I picked it. You were just too entranced by the cute Lighters to notice.”

The youngest prince’s remark caused Jackson and JB to blush a bit.

“What’s all this commotion?” teased the Shadow King, as he entered the throne room.

“Father,” bowed the three princes. 

“My love,” said the queen, as she kissed the king on the cheek. “You’re just in time to hear about the boys' training today.”

“Anything exciting happen?” asked the king.

“Mother’s little precious baby caused a scene at Moonlight Falls,” said JB.

“Is that true Yugie?” asked the king, with his eyebrow raised.

“Umm…yes and no,” answered Yugie. The young prince then proceeded to tell his parents about what went down during training.

“Wow. The Lighter’s flashing was faster than your’s Jackson?” asked the king. Jackson just nodded.

“Yup, that’s why they're sulking,” teased Yugie. 

“Don’t patronize your brothers,” said the king. 

“You know the Realm of Light has three princes that are around your age. Wonder if that was them. Did you boys happen to see if they had wings?” asked the queen. The three princes each shook their heads no.

“Well if they weren’t the crowned princes and just commoners and they were that powerful, imagine how strong the royal family is,” said the king. “You boys definitely have your work cut out for you. But remember this is just a friendly tournament and I don’t want you boys doing anything too rash. Understand?”

“Yes father,” said the Shadow princes. 

Realm of Light…

“Are we really going back there to train tomorrow?” complained BamBam. “What if we run into those Shadows again?”

“Our little brother has a point,” said Jr. “Even though we managed to get the upper hand this time, that doesn’t mean we always will.”

“We finally found some real potential competition who aren’t afraid of our royal status. Don’t you guys want to find out how strong we really are or if everyone is just letting us win our duels on purpose?” said Mark.

“So what? We can’t let them see our wings?” asked the youngest prince.

“Exactly little brother,” said Mark.

“Mother and Father mentioned that the Realm of Darkness has three princes around our age. I wonder if they’re the crowned princes,” said Jr.

“They definitely have the looks,” giggled BamBam. Mark shook his head, pretending to chastise his brother. But Mark had to admit the Shadow boy who seemed to be in charge out of the three, was cute. Then again that was the first time he ever saw a Shadow. 

“If we’re going back there, we must have some kind of game plan. What do yo have in mind brother?” asked Jr.

“Well we know that two of them can control fire and earth, but we don’t know about the third one. Water destroys fire and air destroys earth. If we keep to those pairings, our elemental affinities should always prevail. Do you guys have any objection to the pairings?” Both younger Light princes shook their heads no.

“What about you brother? We still don’t know what the third Shadow’s powers are,” asked BamBam.

“I’m sure our brother can take care of himself. He does have the ability to control two elements. Plus we know that at least his flashing is still the fastest,” said Jr, proud.

“You humble me brother. My flashing is only fast because I use my air power as a booster,” smiled Mark. “So we’ll stick to the plan for tomorrow. Oh we must also fly in close to the area and flash the rest of the way so that they won’t see our wings and our identities won’t be compromised.”

“Yes brother,” said the two Light princes.

The next day at Moonlight Falls…

“Can you guys quit pacing back and forth? You’re making me dizzy,” said Yugyeom.

“Don’t act so nonchalant. You can’t wait to see your little Lighter boyfriend either,” teased JB.

“He’s not my boyfriend. Well not yet,” blushed the young Shadow prince, as he stuck out his tongue.

“Quit bickering you two. I think they’re here. I hear something,” said Jackson. 

As the three Shadow princes look up, they see the three Lighters they’ve been waiting for flash in. The two teams of three naturally took their places in front of their opposing elemental affinity: BamBam in front of Yugyeom, Jr in front of JB, and Mark in front of Jackson.

“Look who decides to finally grace us with their presence,” said JB.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were waiting for us. What do you think brothers?” smirked Jr. 

“Well excuse us for having a life,” laughed BamBam. “We have more important things to do than waiting around idly.”

“Don’t flatter yourselves,” said JB. “We just have some unfinished business.”

“Is that right? I could’ve sworn we won, being that we left with the flower in our hands,” teased Jr.

“Look…we’re just here to train for the tournament. As I’m sure you guys are too. Why don’t we just keep to ourselves and stay out of each other’s way,” said Mark.

“I have a better idea, “ replied Jackson. “Why don’t we have a friendly little competition? That way we can train as well as settle our little dispute.”

“Maybe I’ll consider it. What’s your proposal?” asked Mark.

“We’ll have a mock duel, one-on-one and the losing team must tell the winners their names and call them master. What do you say?” asked Jackson.

“Fine. We’ll keep the pairing as is. First to fall on their , loses. Deal?” said Mark, as he extended his hand for a handshake.

“Deal,” replied Jackson. But instead of shaking Mark’s hand, he grabbed his hand and kissed the back of his hand instead. Mark was taken aback by the other boy’s gesture. Slightly embarrassed, Mark pulled back his hand. “You’ll pay for that,” blushed Mark.

“Can’t wait,” laughed Jackson. He’s too cute.

Round 1: BamBam vs Yugyeom

Both boys bowed to each other.

“Hi little Lighter. Did you miss me?” teased Yugyeom. “I sure missed seeing you shirtless.”

“Still a big I see…Little Yugie,” smirked BamBam.

Yugyeom flashed next to BamBam’s ear and whispered, "Only those close to me call me Yugie. So you’re saying you want to get close to me.”

“You wish,” replied BamBam, caught off guard. He then pushed the other boy back with a strong gust of wind. Yugyeom almost fell, but he used the earth to close in around his feet which stabilized him like an anchor. 

“I see you’re not gonna go easy on me. Fine. I won’t hold back then. But don’t worry, I won’t hurt that cute little face of yours.” The young Shadow prince stomped his feet causing the ground to ripple around BamBam and the earth began to split in two, threatening to swallow him. The Light prince used his air powers to levitate off the ground and stood suspended in midair. He then clasped his palms together and when he slowly took them apart, a cyclone formed. The cyclone pulled Yugyeom in, spinning him round and round. BamBam laughed as he saw the other boy’s face, trying hard not to throw up. He then snapped his fingers causing the cyclone to dissipate and Yugyeom to fall on his behind. BamBam flashed next to Yugyeom’s ear and whispered, “Is this close enough for you? Guess I win.”

Round 2: Jr vs JB

Both boys bowed to each other.

“Are you calmer now?” asked Jr.

“Huh? What do you mean?” said JB, confused.

“Well I left you dripping wet last time,” smirked Jr. 

“How could I forget. Do you take pleasure in making guys, particularly me, wet?” teased JB.

Jr shrugs, “My specialty is water. Let’s get this over with. I just want you to know, you’ll never be able to beat me.”

“We’ll see about that,” said JB. JB tried to summon his fire power, but he couldn’t move. 

“Something the matter,” laughed Jr.

“What did you do to me? I can’t move.”

“How well do you know about the human body?” asked Jr.

“Umm…as much as the next guy. Why?”

“Not bad on the eyes, but not too bright. Figures. Well let me enlighten you. The human body is roughly made up of 60% water.” Jr walks up to the immobilized JB and swipes his feet out from under him. “At least I left you dry this time. Unless you’re wet somewhere else,” teased Jr. JB turned beet red; he didn’t know if it was from anger or embarrassment. 

Round 3: Mark vs Jackson

Both boys bowed to each other. 

This is the first time Jackson is seeing Mark up close and personal and he likes what he sees. His bright pale skin vibrantly glows and his blonde, close to white hair shines like a halo. Damn those pink lips. I just want to bite them.

“Did it hurt?” asked Jackson.

“Did what hurt?”

“When you fell from Heaven,” smirked Jackson. 

Mark rolled his eyes. “Can you be anymore corny?”

“And here I thought I was being sweet,” pouted Jackson.

“You know we already won. Both my brothers beat your brothers.”

“I know. I’m here for personal redemption.”

“You can certainly try. So what’s your element?” asked Mark.

“What’s your’s?” replied Jackson.

“Guess we both just have to force the other’s hand.” Mark flashes behind Jackson and tries to trip him. Jackson flips and swirls the earth around Mark’s feet to sink him in quicksand. Earth huh? Guess I have to use air to beat him. Mark spins rapidly like a tornado, causing him to rise from the quicksand. His element is air. I can’t beat him with earth alone. Guess I have to use fire if I want to win.  All of a sudden Mark sees Jackson’s body engulfed in flames. At first he thought his brother was helping him, but he was on the sideline just like his brothers were watching them diligently. Could it be that he can control both earth and fire?

“Seems like our brother is going to win this round,” stated Yugyeom. “Fire definitely beats air.”

“Don't count your chickens before they hatch” replied BamBam.

“It’s hard not to, when it’s two elements against one,” said JB.

“It’s funny that you think it’s two against one,” smirked Jr.

Jackson rose up in midair, engulfed in flames. His fire power transformed his body into the shape of a burning phoenix with him centered in the middle. Mark didn’t want to use his second elemental power, but he had no choice. He can’t afford to lose. This is it. There’s no way he can beat my fire power with his air power. Jackson was smiling from his alleged victory. Mark rose up in the air so that he was eye to eye with Jackson.

“You know if you give up now, I won’t hold it against you,” smiled Jackson.

“If you think I’d give up that easily, then you’re mistaken,” replied Mark.

“There’s no way you can beat my fire power, with just your air power.”

“Oh I don’t intend to use air against fire.” 

Jackson’s smile faltered when he saw water gathering around Mark’s body. Wait. He can control both air and water? Is that even possible? I thought I was the only one capable of controlling two elements. Mark’s water power transformed his body into the shape of a serpent dragon with him centered in the middle. Jackson’s phoenix shot out bursts of fire while Mark’s dragon shot out blasts of water. The pair seemed to both be equally matched. I have to put out his flame or this can go on forever. Mark’s dragon charges and constricts Jackson’s phoenix, while sprouting jets of water. Jackson puts up a hell of a fight, but fire is no match for water. That’s it. I lost. Jackson’s body begins to fall from midair. Mark knew he had won and didn’t want to see the other boy get hurt from the fall, so he flashed to him and caught Jackson’s body carrying him bridal style as they descended gradually to the ground. 

“So you are an angel,” teased Jackson. “My knight in shining armor. I have to be honest, I’m not used to being saved and rescued. It feels good,” as he snuggled close to Mark’s chest. Obviously he could’ve saved himself from falling if he wanted to. 

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I would’ve done this for anybody,” said Mark, as he dropped Jackson on the ground causing him to yelp. 

Here's the next chapter. I've been busy with work and life in general, so I can't update as quickly as I did with my first story. Plus this story is a lot more intricate, so it takes me a bit longer to write. Hope you guys enjoy it. This time Mark drops Jackson, opposed to my first story. =)