A tunnel of light tears through a mass of dark storm clouds above Duel Academy Island, striking the ground below. This creates a dust cloud and sends a tremor that shakes the island in its wake. As quickly as it came, it vanishes.
At the site of the flash, a group of teens and an adult begin to rouse.
Axel and Jim are the first ones awake. With a quick glance around, they both frown. They're home, but how? And where's Jaden? They can't find hide nor hare of their brown haired friend.
Aster wakes up moments later. Sitting up with a grunt of effort, he looks around as well. Worry heightens Aster's pulse; where's Jaden?
Bastion sits up next, bewildered. "Great Scott, he did it! Against all odds, he's gone and done it again."
With moans of pain and discomfort, Alexis, Atticus, Chazz and Hassleberry sit up from their places on the ground.
"We're home?" Atticus asks nobody in particular in utter surprise.
"Yep, looks like the Slifer Slacker pulled it off," Chazz grunts, still rubbing his aching head.
"Hey, where is the Sarge?" Hassleberry wonders aloud as he gives the area a once over. "I don't see him anywhere."
Before anyone can answer, a sob echoes in the air.
At the same time at the main building of Dual Academy, there's a commotion.
"Sheppard! The portal has opened, we must hurry! And bring a doctor! We can't be sure whether or not if the students are injured or healthy!" Professor Eisenstein calls out with urgency. He rushes to a Jeep parked in front of the school and takes the driver's seat. Miss Fountain and the Chancellor quickly join him and head to the site where the light hit the ground.
As the three adults approach, the students come into view. Crowler smiles nervously at the adults as he holds up a half conscious Jesse, who is leaning heavily on him just to remain standing. By now everyone present is standing, forming an open semi circle at the site where the sacred beasts were once sealed away. Attention is turned to Syrus, who is standing at the cliff. He cries silently as he stares at the sky.
"Where's the Sarge, Syrus?" Hassleberry speaks up worriedly.
Finally lowering his gaze from the sky, Syrus sniffs, looking down at his feet. He stays quiet for a moment, shutting his eyes tightly as tears threaten to fall again. It hurts so bad, but everyone has to know. He has to be strong and do this. For Jaden.
Wiping tears from his eyes with his sleeve, Syrus finally turns to look everyone in the eye. "He said he was sorry for everything, and that he had to help an old friend... Then everything went white."
Tear prick his eyes again. He can't be brave anymore. It's too much. With that, Syrus takes off running into the woods. 'I'm sorry big brother, I can't do this.'
"Syrus!" Jim calls after him, "Wait, come-"
"My word!" Crowler suddenly yelps, cutting Jim off mid sentence. All eyes turn to Crowler, who is struggling to support a now unconscious Jesse. Jim and Axel move to carry their friend..
Ms. Fontaine steps forward. "Bring him to the car. Chancellor, please watch over the remaining students."
Chancellor Sheppard nods. Jim and Axel move Jesse to the backseat with the nurse. The Chancellor asks, "Just what happened, Dr. Crowler?"
"I honestly am not sure on the details, sir. However... I fear for the worst." Crowler explains, legitimate worry etched in his voice.
With Jesse situated in the back seat with Miss Fountain, Eisenstein drives them back to the main building.
Alexis can only stand there, shell shocked as Syrus' words echo in her ears over and over again. Jaden's gone? Questions reel in Alexis' head as the group waits in silence, broken only by the sound of the helicopter coming from overhead.
Meanwhile, Syrus is running as fast as his legs can carry him. Thanks to his time in the Dark world dimension, Syrus' cardio has improved immensely, so he can run much longer than he used to be capable of without getting a stitch in his side. He keeps running until he stumbles upon Jaden's favorite spot at the cliff. Happy memories flood his mind. Syrus stumbles and falls to his knees.
As hard as it is to be there without Jaden, it's the only place Syrus feels like he can go. There's no way he'll go to Jay's room at the dorm right now. That'll be the first place where the others will look for him. He can't tell anyone that Jaden stayed behind to help Yubel, whatever that meant. Not until he's sure of how they'll react.
Syrus knows now that as Jaden's friend he needs to stay with him through the bad times as well as the good. Jaden isn't a superhero; he's a seventeen year old boy that's gone through more in two and a half years than most do in their entire lifetimes. Jaden's human. He'll have bigger issues than the child-like behavior and naivety he's had since first year. Syrus is ashamed to think it took nearly losing his best friend for good for him to realize that.
But this brings him to the realization that Alexis, Hassleberry, Atticus and even Chazz still idolize him as their hero. While Jaden is still his hero and he still admires him, Syrus doesn't hold Jaden on a pedestal the way he used to anymore. The others still do though, whether they know it or not, which is why Syrus worries about their reactions.
Syrus doesn't know what to do...And for the umpteenth time since this year began, he has no one to turn to. But here, in the privacy of his best friend's favorite spot, he lets himself go. For the first time since the day he resolved to help Jaden, he let the dam fall.
He'd been so sick of being the cry baby, the one in need of comfort or saving, that he'd forced himself to dry his tears in Dark World. Be the strong one, for Jaden's sake. Because at the time there was no one else left who could, and Jaden needed an anchor more than anything in the world.
And now, just when Syrus thought he didn't have any tears left, he cried. For his brother who he had a hard time believing loved him until he was gone. And for his best friend who went through hell and back time and again for his friends, only to be abandoned by them just when he needed them the most.