Disclaimer: I do not own yu-Gi-Oh! GX or Disney's Anastasia.
The only sound in the room was his breathing, deep and nosier than usual, just as it should be when one is sleeping. He was the only one occupying a bed in the hospital and he was alone except for the boy who sat beside his bed. His eyes watched his sleeping friend although all they wanted to do was close so he could sleep. They began to close again and he blinked hard and shook his head, causing his glasses to slip to the end of his nose. Sighing, Syrus pushed them back up and resumed watching the other boy sleep.
He had no idea what time it was; the darkness outside the window was all the same to him. All he knew was that he had been sitting in the same spot for hours just watching. The others had left so long ago he'd almost forgotten they had been there in the first place. They had promised that they would come back in the morning, and until then he would stay on guard. Although some things were so peaceful now there seemed no cause for alarm…
Suddenly the still form on the mattress twitched. Syrus held his breath, instantly wide awake, and hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was… A minute passed with nothing else happening and he was just about to give a relieved sigh when it happened again, this time drawn out and accompanied by the sleeper's face scrunching up a bit. Syrus leapt to his feet and stood beside the now not peaceful boy as he began to toss and sweat.
"Jaden! Jaden wake up! It's only another nightmare! Jay it's just another nightmare!"
Syrus bit his lip as his calls did nothing, even though he hadn't expected anything to come of them- nothing had the previous times. All he could do is wait until the nightmare drove Jaden awake and stop his friend from hurting himself more. It was agony to just stand and do nothing, just watch his friend like that but finally, with a gasp that shook his entire body, Jaden's brown eyes flew open.
"Stay down!" Syrus cried, swiftly catching hold of Jaden's shoulders and pushing with all his might against the natural reflex that told Jaden to site bolt upright after the nightmare.
He managed to keep Jaden from lifting himself more than three inches from the mattress before pushing him back down again, but even that small action caused some damage. Jaden let out a moan of pain and his arms wrapped loosely around his broken ribs.
"Jaden! Are you alright?"
Syrus tried to keep his voice from shaking. He had seen this happen many times before but in the beginning they had been too late to stop Jaden rising all the way up into a sitting position. In answer to his question, Jaden nodded, his eyes closing again.
"Alright then…"
Syrus wanted to ask, wanted to talk about the nightmare but he knew that Jaden wouldn't speak about it. Within five minutes Jaden was asleep again and Syrus, hearing voices outside, exited the hospital.
"Jeeze Sy, you look terrible."
"Thanks," Syrus replied wearily, too worried about Jaden to pick a fight with Chazz.
Alexis picked up on this and her jaw tightened.
"Sy? What happened?"
"Another nightmare," Syrus replied flatly, lowering his eyes so he didn't have to see the reaction his news caused.
"Another one? That brings the total up to twelve in the past three days!"
"Yea, we know that, Einstein," Chazz shot back at Bastion.
The Ra Yellow scowled and was about to reply with a cutting remark when Zane interrupted.
"Focus you two. This is about Jaden, not your petty arguments."
Bastion and Chazz fell silent instantly, without Zane having to raise his voice above his usual, quiet level.
"Did he manage to sit up again?" Alexis looked worried, and she absently played with a strand of her hair.
"No, I managed to stop his about three inches up."
"But that still caused damage," Bastion added grimly.
Chazz snorted.
"You'd think the Slacker would figure out that he should stay down owing to the fact that he has almost all his ribs broken, a sprained shoulder, a wound the size of Paris on his chest and one the size of London on his size as well as bruises for the entire Africa."
"So somebody's been studying his Geography, eh?"
"He can't help it, Chazz," Alexis said rather hotly, cutting across whatever Chazz was going to Bastion's snide remark. "It's a bodily instinct that he can't fight when he's asleep."
"Chain him down then!"
"Maybe we should chain you down an-"
"Hello Chumley," Syrus said loudly, stopping the brewing argument.
"Hey guys," Chumley replied, walking up to where they were standing.
He was still half asleep and this enhanced his resemblance to a Koala Bear even more than usual.
"Where were you? Eating?" Chazz said with a sneer.
"Yea," Chumley replied, not bothering to be embarrassed. "I like, went down to the kitchen and found some licious grilled cheese with Atticus."
Alexis snorted.
"Good one. The only time you'll ever see my brother up before eight is when you give him coffee. And nobody's stupid enough to do that."
There was silence. Chumley shifted uncomfortably. Alexis's eyes widened.
"You gave him coffee?!" She howled.
"Only a little, duh."
A whimper escaped her lips at the thought of her already overactive brother on caffeine. Zane seemed to realize she wasn't playing around as he straightened up from his place against the wall.
"Alright, Chumley and I will go downstairs and calm Atti down Lex, you Chazz and Bastion watch Jaden and let Syrus get some sleep."
He motioned to Chumley to follow him and the two of them headed towards the kitchen, Chumley having to walk rather quickly to keep up with Zane's stride.
"Is he that bad on Coffee?" Bastion questioned.
"You have no idea," Alexis replied, turning and walking into Jaden's room.
Even though Atticus being on caffeine was tiresome, she welcomed it as it drove the real problem to the back of her mind for a while. As Bastion and Syrus stood outside and argued over whether Syrus should go back to the dorm to sleep or whether he could sleep in Jaden's room, she crossed over to his side. He was peaceful now, as though nothing had happened and only the absence of his usual snoring indicated that he wasn't merely sleeping. He suddenly muttered something, but only his head moved before he was peaceful again. Alexis bit her lip as she looked down at her usually lively friend who was now pale and quiet.
"It's not right, Jay. It's just not right."
-x-x-x-
"Should we wake Syrus up?"
Bastion looked over to the small form of the sleeping boy in the armchair.
"No, let him sleep some more," Alexis replied. "It's only eight now, so he's only had three hours of sleep."
Bastion nodded and returned to the breakfast that had been brought for the three in Jaden's room. Alexis was just playing with the food in front of her, listless and uninterested. Bastion watched her silently, knowing what she was going through.
"Chin up. It's Jaden; he's pulled through everything before. Even hospital."
Alexis put down her fork, but still continued staring at her food.
"Yes… but last time it was just a Shadow Duel that put him in here. And last time he didn't have these nightmares…"
Bastion could find nothing to reply to that, knowing she was right. Suddenly voices reached their ears from outside. Three voices that were familiar and that were getting closer accompanied by a slight bumping sound, which sounded oddly like someone was jumping up and down.
"IS that…?" Bastion asked, puzzled.
"Atticus," Alexis replied wearily. "Still on the remains of coffee."
Right on cue her older brother bounded through the door to the hospital room, his trademark grin on his face.
"How's my little sis and her boyfriend this morning?"
Alexis sighed, hiding her smile.
"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend. And he'll be doing better if you lower your voice. Him and Syrus are trying to sleep."
"Oh, Sy's still here huh?"
His grin is almost demonic Alexis thought, shaking her head.
"We tried to stop him, but he beat us to the stairs," Zane said, entering the room with Chumley in tow.
"I'm guessing it didn't go well with the detoxenating," Bastion said with his eyebrows raised, watching Atticus bounce on the balls of his feet.
"Oh he was a lot worse than this before, Zane replied.
"Yea, it was, like, the strangest thing ever…"
Alexis couldn't help but smirk slightly.
"And the moral of the story is what, Chumley?"
"Duh, no coffee for Atticus."
"I think that's been well established," Bastion said, still watching Atticus with raised eyebrows.
"Hey," Atticus suddenly said. "Where's The Chazz?"
"He got bored and left," Alexis said, sounding sour.
"And we didn't try that hard to stop him," Bastion added with a sniff.
"And Jaden?" Zane turned to Alexis.
"Nothing," she replied. "Only a few mumbles. Otherwise he was completely still."
Everyone turned to watch the sleeping form and even Atticus stopped bouncing.
"It's not right," he said quietly. "Jaden's usually the preppy one. He shouldn't look half like he does now. It's just not right."
"I know," Alexis said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I said that too."
There was silence again as all of them stared at Jaden, each with their own thoughts. He twitched, and they all held their breath, but it turned out to be nothing, not even a mumble of the usual sentence.
"Jeeze, it's like a morgue in here."
The scathing voice announced the return of Chazz who had obviously sneaked in a few more hours of sleep.
"Welcome back," Bastion said, not only a little sarcastic.
"Anything happen?"
They all shook their heads.
"So no more clues to why he's so spooked?"
Again all they could do was shake their heads. Chazz sighed and folded his arms.
"Then I guess it's time for Detective Chazz to get on the case again."
"Chazz, we've retold the event over and over again and found nothing. Why would now be any different?"
"Well, each one of us has had our turn to say what he or she saw happen. Everyone except Syrus, and he's one of the closest people to Jaden."
"There's truth in that…" Zane said slowly.
"Right then, it's decided. Oi Syrus, wake up!"
Before anyone could stop him Chazz was upon Syrus shaking him awake.
"Wahzzappaning?" Syrus said sleepily, blinking a few times as he woke up fully.
"It's your turn," Chazz said, letting go of him.
"My turn? My turn for what?" Syrus asked, completely lost at Chazz.
"Your turn to tell us what happened three days ago!"
"You woke me up for that?" Syrus sighed. "We couldn't find anything the first six times the story was told."
"Maybe not, but you might remember something that we don't."
"Alright, alright," Syrus gave in, sitting up. He took a deep breath and began.
The air was so cold it felt like it was biting them, even through the extra layer of clothing. It was unnaturally cold and unnaturally quiet, too. Putting it down to a strange weather pattern the Academy's inhabitants weren't too worried about it. The Slifer Reds, having no heating in their dorms, made fires outside and huddled around them, covered in blankets. Chumley had produced a packet of marshmallows and the three friends were busy toasting them over their fire.
"The cold I can sort of understand. But the silence… There's something wrong here Jaden."
Jaden laughed, testing his marshmallow as he did so.
"Don't worry, Sy, that's just 'coz of the weather too."
"You sure?" It doesn't feel that way."
"Those Shadow Riders have made you paranoid. It's all over, remember? The Sacred Beasts are back under the school, and the keys are safe."
"Yea… I guess so…"
Syrus still couldn't shake the ominous feeling, even as Jaden and Chumley started wrestling for the last marshmallow. Something was just not right to him, and paranoid as it might be, he wasn't going to be stupid enough to ignore it.
"Syrus, cheer up!" Jaden called to him, dusting himself and returning to the fireside without the last marshmallow in his possession.
"I just wish it wasn't so silent," he murmured.
His wish was granted as a few minutes later a scream shattered through the stillness. Syrus twisted around so quickly he heard his neck click and Jaden leapt to his feet.
"That sounded like Alexis!" Jaden said as his eyes scanned the darkness in the direction the scream had come from.
"M…maybe it was just our imagi-"
He was cut short by another scream. Jaden plunged forwards, Chumley and Syrus scrambling to their feet and following him. The three sprinted as fast as they could until they reached the place in the forest the sound had seemed to come from. There was no one around and they were just about to look elsewhere when Bastion came jogging up.
"Did you lot here that scream too?"
"Yea, but Alexis isn't here."
"What's going on?"
The last call came from Chazz, who also jogged up to the group.
"The scream sounded like Alexis, but she's not here."
"I am now," came Alexis's voice.
Turning they saw Alexis, Atticus and Zane appear out of the darkness.
"So it wasn't you who screamed?" Jaden asked her.
"No, though I admit it sounded a lot like me. The three of us were in the common room when we heard it and decided to see what the heck was going on."
"I'd love to give you an answer, but we're a clueless as you are," Bastion told her.
"This is weird," Syrus said nervously. "First the total silence, then someone who sounds like Alexis screams but there's no one here."
"What we have to find out," Chazz said impatiently. "Is who screamed and why."
"I'm afraid I'm guilty of that."
The voice was smooth and drawling and it belonged, as the group saw a moment later, to a tall man no older than thirty. He had a shock of white hair adorned with streaks of purple and black, making him look more or less like a circus clown. His eyes, however, were anything but friendly. They were a cold, hard grey with a glint of the predator in them and at that moment they were locked onto the group of friends, watchful and slightly hungry.
"Who the hell are you?" Chazz snarled at him, startled into hostility.
The man just gave them all a lazy smile, tucking his thumbs into the belt he wore around his faded jeans.
"The name's Reaper," he replied, not in the least intimidated by Chazz.
"What kind of a name is that?" Chazz scoffed.
In response he got a grin that showed off Reaper's sharp teeth.
"Well I think it's a lot better than Chazz," he drawled.
That threw Chazz completely off guard.
"How…how did you know my name?"
"I know everything about you, Chazz. Every single thing about you and every one of your friends."
"Oh please," Bastion said, covering for Chazz. "It's impossible to know everything about a person."
Reaper laughed, a chilling sound despite its lightness.
"Oh but I do, Bastion. For example, I know that you got an electrical car for your seventh birthday that you traded in for a chemistry set, which you used once and set your sitting room on fire."
Bastion's eyes widened. If the situation wasn't so serious, the others would have burst out laughing.
"What do you want?" Zane asked curtly.
"Almost what the rest of the people in my group wanted," came the singsong answer.
"Stop playing with us and tell us!" Alexis growled.
"Oooh Alexis, you growl almost exactly like your puppy that you lost when you were five," Reaper said with a chortle.
Alexis looked like she'd just been slapped, making Atticus's face darken.
"Just tell us who you are," Zane said, his voice rising slightly.
"He doesn't have to," Atticus replied in a cutting tone.
All of them turned in utter surprise to Atticus, who was glaring with a good deal of hate at Reaper.
"Ah Atticus," drawled Reaper with a smirk. "Or should I call you Nightshroud? I hear you answered to that name for a while."
"You would know," Atticus shot back. "You're one of those blasted Shadow Riders!"
"Was," reaper corrected him. "But I resigned. Shortly after you arrived, actually."
"What do you want with us then?" Jaden asked, speaking for the first time since Reaper had appeared.
"Like I said: the same thing as the rest of my group wanted."
"The Spirit Keys and our souls," Bastion replied in a dull voice.
"I have no use for the keys," came the reply. "Just the souls."
"Wha…?"
"You see, when I was replaced with Atticus here and I was thrown out, half by my own will and half by theirs, I went on a little journey around the world, looking for a new purpose. I found one; avenging cards. By now you know that there is a beast world in which all the duel monster spirits live. In other words, you know that the monsters are real. Ever since Duel Monsters became popular every child has changed his or her deck at least once. And almost all of the old cards have been abandoned. You won't believe how many have been abandoned in horrific ways: dumped into a hole, thrown away, buried, hurled into a lake… I made a deck out of all of these cards and made it my mission to avenge each and every one of them. In return they have been faithful to me, winning every duel and not turning on me at any time. And every time I win a duel with one of their old masters, I punish them for leaving their cards by taking their souls and trapping them in the belt you see around my waist. And every once in a while, when a gateway to the Beast Realm opens I throw their pathetic souls into the realm so they can meet the wrath of their old cards face to face."
"Uh, melodramatic much?" Jaden asked, his eyes wider than usual. "Sure, I guess the owners have to be punished for what they did, but that doesn't involve you taking their souls and leaving them in the Beast Realm forever."
"Oh I don't leave them there. Each gateway is open for exactly an hour, and that is more than enough time for their old cards to get reacquainted with their masters before I lock them in my belt again."
He patted his belt as he spoke, and it glittered like the other Shadow Charms had.
"I still don't get what you get out of it," Chazz growled.
"Didn't you listen? They are as loyal to me as if I am their kinsman. They give me their all which mans I cannot lose a duel easily, if I can even lose at all. Together my deck and I have conquered almost every person who ever dared to call themselves a champion. In between my quest of revenge, naturally."
"That still doesn't explain why you're here," Zane said coolly.
"I'm here for Jaden Yuki."
"Why is it always Jaden?!" Chazz exploded, his hands balling into fists.
"Because it just is," Alexis said shortly. "And don't say it like it's a good thing, because it's not."
"But now the question stands: Does Jaden want to stand up to the challenge even after everything I've just told you about my deck? And what if I add that my Shadow Charm has an extra special ability?" Reaper's eyes gleamed as he watched Jaden.
"I never back down from a challenge!" Jaden replied, getting out his Duel Disk. "So get your game on!"
"Very well," Reaper smiled. "I shall. But you'll have to do much more than that, Jaden. Oh so much more…"
The duel had been going on for a hair-raising half hour, with both duellists now having under 2000 Life Points. Jaden had Avian in Defence Mode, with Reaper having the upper hand with Beast of Talwar and Neo The Magic Swordsman both out in Attack Mode. Both were showing strains of the duel, but both were unwilling to back down even an inch.
"Say goodbye to another one of your monsters, Jaden. Neo, take the birdie out."
Jaden bit his lip as Avian was destroyed and he was left defenceless.
"You do realize what this means, don't you? With my Beast's 2400 Attack Points, you're finished, despite your trap you have over there."
Jaden's eyes flickered down to the said facedown card and his grimace deepened.
"Not good," he murmured.
"No it isn't, Jaden. But I'm not going to take you out just yet."
Jaden's eyes widened in shock and surprise and the rest of the gang, who were watching from the sidelines. Were getting very nervous. And not only about the duel.
"Jaden better get out of there fast; this storm's looking vicious."
The weather had turned from freezing cold to freezing cold with a howling wind and the occasional flash of lightning that struck closer and closer every time.
"I'm more worried about the duel. Why isn't Reaper attacking?" Alexis murmured.
"You see, Jaden," Reaper called over a fresh gust of wind. "I keep my end of the bargain. I promised her I'd let her have a go at you; that she'd be the last one you saw before your soul is mine. I can't destroy you now, not yet. Instead I'll play a Spell Card that decreases my Beast's attack to 500 for this turn only. Then, he will attack you directly."
Even though the card was weak, its attack still hurt as it drew its sword and flew at Jaden. He collapsed with a slight moan, clutching his shoulder.
"That wouldn't have hurt as much if it wasn't a Shadow Duel. Now that it is…"
Bastion didn't have to finish the sentence. They had all been in that position and had all felt how much it hurt.
"Hang in there, Jaden!" Alexis called, causing the others to yell out encouragement as well.
Jaden struggled to his feet, still clutching his right shoulder and panting ever so slightly.
"What do you mean, 'she' wants to finish me off? Who's 'she'?"
Reaper's grin became so wide, one would think Jaden had asked him if he wanted a million dollars.
"Why do you think I came after you, Jaden? Or, better yet, why do you lot think I came after him?"
The last question was directed at the watching group.
"Duh, Because Jaden's like, on of the best."
"Hmmm… I have heard that rumour. But that's not why I'm here."
"Wait, you mean…" Syrus gasped.
"Oh yes, I'm here on official revenge business."
"But I've never gotten rid of any of my cards, except the ones I gave my friends," Jaden said, looking perplexed. "And as far as I know they still have them."
"And those are the only cards you've ever discarded, Jaden?" Reaper's eyes seemed to glow as they fixed on their opponent.
"Yea," Jaden said simply.
It was almost as if someone had pushed a button that was labelled 'start storm'. The wind picked up to tremendous volume and the lightning flashes became more and more frequent, violent and closer to where they stood.
"See how angry she is, Jaden? See how big her wrath is now that she hears you've forgotten her? Remember, this is a Shadow Duel; the monsters are real and she heard every word you said."
"Who heard?" Jaden asked still totally lost and a little worried as the ground shook with the lightning strikes.
"You've really ticked her off now Jaden!" Reaper yelled with glee.
"Who-" Jaden began impatiently, but Reaper cut him off.
"You've really angered her now! Her, the Queen of Shadows!"
The effect that name had on Jaden was tremendous. He froze and seemed to stop breathing. They could almost see the blood freeze in his veins as his eyes widened in shock, disbelief, remembrance and… terror. Pure, cold and unlike they had ever seen in him before. And that terror made them more scared than anything had since they had come there because, even through all of the Shadow Riders and even when facing the Sacred Beasts Jaden had never shown half the fear he did now.
"Jaden!" Syrus called to him, wanting some signal from his friend that everything was alright.
He said nothing. He did nothing. He just stood, shaking badly now from more than just exhaustion.
"I'm glad I finally got through. But I'll leave her in your mind until our next duel, for now it is time for me to go: the storm is far too dangerous and there isn't a chance I'll be able to play her I this duel. And so, until the next time Jaden, I id you farewell."
He made a false bow, his eyes shining at the look still frozen on Jaden's face.
"But you can't just leave!" Chazz bellowed to him. "That means you lose, and your soul gets taken!"
Reaper's smile got wider yet again.
"Didn't I tell you my Shadow Charm had a special ability?"
"Yes, but the ability is to mimic sound! That's how you copied Alexis's scream!" Syrus gabbled, grasping at straws and hoping against hope he was right…
"No," Reaper laughed. "I recorded that onto a CD and that was what you heard playing tonight. No, my charm's effect let's me leave any duel at all whenever I please. It's like it never happened. Except you know it did, because the pain stays."
The entire group was knocked speechless as Reaper's belt began to glow.
"Until next time, my friends!"
He was gone. Just like that he was gone, and the monsters disappeared along with him. But the storm didn't leave; it wasn't done yet.
"Jaden!" Alexis screamed. "Get out of the way!"
Even if Jaden had snapped out of his shock, he still would have been in the way of the tree. The tree that got struck by lightning and fell, in what they saw as slow motion, straight towards him, smashing into his and holding him beneath its weight to the ground.
"And then we rolled the tree off him and brought him to the hospital, where he's been ever since," Syrus concluded his story.
"Yes, that's all I saw as well. But it still doesn't explain why Jaden is so spooked."
Bastion was frustrated, like the rest of them. They had told the story over and over again, searching for some clue to why Jaden had been, and largely still was, petrified.
"And you didn't find anything on the 'Queen of Shadows', Bastion?"
Bastion shook his head with a sigh.
"The way Reaper said it, it sounded like Jaden had a card by that name."
"Yes, we know. But there is no record of a card by that name, and you heard Jaden: he's never thrown out a card before," Bastion replied to Syrus.
"So the Queen must be something else," Alexis said.
"We've come to that conclusion so many times!" Chazz snarled, losing his patience. "We know she's something else, but WHAT IS SHE?"
"Shut up, you'll wake Jaden!" Alexis hissed, thumping Chazz around the head.
'Well good, then he can tell us what the hell is going on!"
"You know he won' Chazz. We've asked him before, remember?"
"Yes, and in doing so we just made matters worse," Zane said quietly.
"So we're back to square one," Atticus said dully.
Silence washed over them as they all stared at the ground, lost once again in their own thoughts. The silence was broken by Jaden who tossed three times and then utters the line he said every time he spoke in his sleep.
"Queen of the Shadows," he mumbled, before falling silent again.
"He never says anything else, does he?" Bastion asked softly.
"No," Alexis replied. "Just that same line over and over again."
"Well, seeing as it's Jaden we're talking about, whatever it is that scared him must be pretty big," Atticus interjected.
"Whatever that big thing is it's our mystery to solve. And we better solve it quickly; Jaden needs to recover."
Zane was watching Jaden as he said this, his face grim. No one said anything for a while as they gazed upon the pale face of the usually live wire.
"It's just not right…"