Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Season 1
Last time Jaden and his friends together with Professor Banner took and visited some ancient ruins, where they got transported to another dimension, there Jaden's friends and Banner got captured because they had unintentionally trespassed on sacred ground and Jaden to win their freedom through a duel. The Gravekeeper Chief turned out to be a tough opponent with his Gravekeeper's deck, but in the end Jaden managed to win and earned all of their freedom and then they managed to get back to their dimension in time, what will happen next to our heroes?
Chapter 20- The Shadow Riders, enter Darkness Dragon
In a cave during the night, the shadows of a group of people could be seen, then a voice could be heard, "Our enemies has been tested, our allies are in place, the hour is upon us, it's time to cover the world in shadow, which of you will lead us to battle?"
Then one of the figures stood up, revealing a brown haired young man with a black dragon mask covering the top part of his face, he also had a black coat, shirt and pants, "I will go first master", the voice then spoke again, "Nightshroud… so be it".
"I will not fail", the man called Nightshroud said as he took out a Duel Academy version Duel Disk and put it on his arm, "Academy Island's prize… will be ours".
LATER AT DUEL ACADEMY,
Chancellor Sheppard stood in his office and looked out the window as it rained and thunder roaring in the sky, he then got shocked as he saw something fly over the sky, he narrowed his eyes, "And so, it begins…. the fight… the war".
At that moment the Nightshroud landed on the island near its volcano on his hang glider, he then tossed it behind him and it burst in to flames, he was ready to get started. But then he noticed that the half medallion around his neck began to glow, he put it in his hand and looked at it, he then looked out over the island, realizing that someone on it must be in possession of the other half.
AT THAT MOMENT AT THE SLIFER DORM,
Syrus and Chumley was covering their heads with their blankets, scared of the thunder and lightning, Jaden on the other hand slept peacefully, so he was unaware that his half medallion had was glowing.
Jaden looked down at the snoring Jaden as he turned to his left side as he slept, "I just can't get it Chum, there is thunder and lightning, how in the world can Jaden sleep?"
"Uh Sy? Forget the guy who CAN sleep, think about the guy who can't, hold me", Chumley said as he climbed down to Syrus's bed and hugged the smaller boy so hard that he could barely breath.
Unknown to them however, so was Yubel floating in front of the window and was looking out, she could feel that something was about to happen, and that it would be really bad.
THE NEXT DAY,
Jaden and his friends was currently sitting in Professor Banner's class, of course Jaden was lying with his head on his desk with a paper mask on his head that would make it look like he was awake, even though only a complete idiot would fall for that.
Alexis was secretly watching her sleeping boyfriend, she smiled over that his habit of sleeping in class from time to time had not changed since they got here, it amused her somewhat. Although he had been having a bit of trouble a little while after they got back from that dimension they ended up in when they visited those ruins, apparently someone had seen then kiss at some point and it spread like wildfire, Crowler had literally fainted when he found out that one of his best students dated a Slifer, her friends kept asking questions about them and about 90 percent of the boys in the school wanted to kill him.
Then the school bell rang, Jaden yawned as he sat up, now awake, "Alright, time to get up", Syrus looked from his PDA at him, "For the next class Jay?" It was natural for him to wonder, for while Jaden was awake in some of them, he slept through a lot of them as all.
Jaden then took out a box from under the desk and looked at Syrus with a smile, "Of course not Sy, for lunch", Jaden opened the box and looked at the food, he then rubbed his hands excited, "Oh yeah, the one subject I can never get enough of".
But just as Jaden put some fried shrimp in his mouth so looked Banner at him with a smile, "Just a moment Jaden, I'm afraid your lunch will have to wait, it seems Chancellor Sheppard wants a word with you", Jaden who still had the shrimp in his mouth looked at Banner a little shocked.
Chumley leaned in and looked at Jaden, "I would be more than happy to look after it for you Jaden, especially if you have a side of grilled cheese in there", Jaden swallowed the shrimp before looking at Chumley with a smirk, "Yeah you would like that wouldn't you?" Syrus looked at him worried as Jaden put his lunch away, "Chancellor Sheppard? Oh, Jaden, what did you do?"
Jaden looked at him confused, "I haven't done anything Sy, maybe this is good news, like an award or something?" Even though a part of Jaden had been telling him that something was not right since he woke up.
Chazz stood up and laughed a few rows up on the opposite side of them when he heard what Jaden said, "Yeah right, as if, it's never good news with Sheppard", he then turned towards them and pointed at Jaden, "You are so busted".
Banner then looked at Chazz, "Actually Chazz, he wants to see you as well", Chazz looked at Banner as well, "He what?" Banner nodded, "Yes, and two others as well, you Bastion, and you Alexis", as both of them stood up confused, Jaden got a troubled look on his face, "This doesn't sound good". They all got up as they followed Banner out of the classroom.
A FEW MINUTES LATER,
Jaden looked at Banner who was walking in front of them, "Uh you don't have to escort us to Chancellor Sheppard's office Professor Banner, it's not like we're going to make a run for it after all".
Banner just smiled, "Yes I do, you see, he wants to see me as well", they then arrived outside of the door to Sheppard's office and at the same time both Zane and Crowler showed up there.
Crowler got a smile on his face, "Well well, look at this convocation of students, some of the best students in the school I see", he then saw Jaden who stood almost exactly behind Banner, "Uh oh, which one of these are not like the others", he said with a smirk on his face, "clearly someone here is a little bit lost".
Jaden just had smirk on his face, "And who exactly would you be talking about Crowler?" Crowler just glared at him before Banner told them that they should all enter now, and so the automatic doors opened and they all entered Sheppard's office.
A FEW MINUTES LATER,
Jaden and the others stood in front of Sheppard's desk and looked at him, "The three Sacred what cards?" Jaden wondered, Sheppard turned towards them, "Beasts, and due to their immense power, their colossal might, they were hidden here", Jaden then remembered the visions he had been having about three enormous creatures. He then also noticed that Yubel appeared next to him with a shocked and scared look on her face, something he rarely saw on her face, meaning that these monsters must be really dangerous.
Jaden looked at him, "So they were hidden here you say? Where?" Chazz looked at Jaden, "Hey, let him finish Jaden", Sheppard looked at them and then pointed down, "They're actually much closer than you think, right below you". All of them murmured and looked down.
"You see, this Academy was built in part to protect the three Sacred Beast cards, they were buried deep underground, their powers sealed away, after legend has it that if these cards ever see the light of day… terrible things will happen, buildings will crumble, light will fade, souls will fall, our world will be no more".
Alexis swallowed nervously, Bastion looked also really nervous, "No more?" Jaden could understand how they felt, if these three cards was as dangerous as Sheppard said, there was no wonder they had been sealed away, it sounded like they might be almost as powerful as the Egyptian Gods.
Sheppard then looked at all of them, "So this is why the seven of you are here, to protect these three cards from the wicked ones", all of them looked at him now confused, "The wicked ones?" Zane asked, Sheppard nodded, "That's right, seven duelists known as the Shadow Riders who covet these cards, and I'm afraid that one of them is already here, he arrived in the thick of last night's storm".
Bastion raised an eye brow. "Naturally", he then said sarcastic, that was a typical horror movie cliché, Alexis then looked at Sheppard, "Okay… so how do we protect these cards?" Sheppard looked at them, "By protecting the seven spirit gates, to get to the cards, one must unlock them, and to unlock them one must gain the seven keys for each gate, that's how we will protect these cards, by protecting the keys".
He then placed a box on his desk, "And here they are, one for each of you to guard", all of them looked at the box before Bastion said, "Wait, so... we hold the keys, won't that make us targets?"
Sheppard had a troubled look on his face, "It's true, with these keys, the Shadow Riders will seek you out", Chazz raised an eye brow, "Uh seek us out? Don't you mean take us out?" Sheppard then looked at all of them with a determined look, "Only, in a duel".
All of them got shocked, "A duel?" Bastion asked confused, Sheppard nodded, "That's right, fortunately for our side the keys can't simply be stolen, an ancient edict commands the keys must be won in a duel, and so…I have called on our school's seven best, to take up this challenge and fight the good fight".
He then cleared his throat and looked at the two teachers, "Well… five best really, but I needed seven so you know". Crowler instantly leaned into Jaden's view, "he's certainly not talking about me", Jaden sighed and ignored Crowler's comment.
Sheppard looked at all of them, "Of course if any of you don't think you're up to it, and feel like backing out, I won't blame you, after all, these Shadow Riders play for keeps… so, who feels like saving the world?" He asked before opening the box and saw the keys that were formed kind of like puzzle pieces.
Bastion and Alexis looked at each other before Alexis looked at Chazz who looked at her, trying to decide what to do, Alexis then snuck a look at Jaden who had a confident smile on his face.
He leaned towards the box, "Count me in", Jaden said as he took one of the keys and placed it around his neck with the string that was attached to it, he looked at it, "How about that, it's my size".
Zane got a small smirk on his face when Jaden said that, "I too accept", he said as he also took a key out of the box, Bastion nodded and leaned forward, "It would be my honor", Alexis leaned forward with a smile on her face, "I don't want you boys having all the fun", she then took a key as well and then Chazz took one as well without saying a word.
Crowler then took a step forward with a small smirk on his face, "How could I refuse? I mean… our very world is at stake, our way of life, the future of the school… and if I said no, I wouldn't get this very posh piece of jeweler". Sheppard just looked at Crowler with a weird look on his face, "Yes well… good to know you're doing it for the right reasons kind of".
Banner then stepped forward, "Well then, I'm the last one", he then took and picked up the last key, Pharaoh then lifted one of his paws and began playing with the key.
"Well, let's get started, I think the best duelist should go first so that would mean… me", Jaden said with a smile on his face as he pointed at himself. But then he fell to the floor in shock as Crowler face nearly appeared in his as he yelled, YOU!? You couldn't beat a drum".
He then looked at Sheppard with a smirk on his face, "Obviously, I should go first, if not, I say Zane, after all he did beat Jaden". Crowler then leaned in closer to Jaden while his smirk grew bigger, "Yes that's right, I know all about that little match you had with Zane, and I said little because, I heard that you lost to him in no time at all, how pathetic", Crowler said as he pointed at Jaden with a cruel smirk on his face.
Alexis looked at him irritated, "Excuse me Dr Crowler but I happened to witness that match, and it was a close one, both of them was down to less than 1000 life points, if Zane had just done one thing different then Jaden most likely would have won, Zane might currently be our best, but Jaden is not far behind, he might be in second place at this time, but I'm sure the day then he surpasses Zane will come really soon".
Crowler just shrugged his shoulders without changing his expression even the slightest, showing that he didn't believe that for a second. Jaden during this time looked at Zane who gave him a troubled smile while shrugging his shoulders helplessly, Jaden gave him a short smile, he knew that Zane was an honorable duelist and that he wouldn't make something like that up, he knew that Crowler just refused to believe the truth. After all, the idea of his star Obelisk almost being defeated by a first year Slifer was something he would definitely not accept.
Chazz then looked at them with a cocky smirk on his face, "Forget both of them, I'm clearly the best choice". Sheppard gave them all a hard look when he heard their discussion, "There is no choice, this isn't some tournament where we choose who goes first, this is war, you can be attacked by your enemy at anytime and anyplace, so my students, be on guard". As he said that, all seven of them looked at each other, they finally stopped the discussion they had when they heard the seriousness in Sheppard's voice.
THEN LATER AT THE SLIFER DORM,
Jaden sat in the chair in front of a desk in his dorm room and looked at his key that he held in his hand while Syrus and Chumley looked at him, he had just told them about what happened in Sheppard's office, "So that's it, now I just wait, one of the Shadow Riders has to come for me sooner or later".
Syrus looked at him, "Aren't you scared? I mean I would be terrified if I was in your shoes", Chumley nodded, "Yeah no joke, creepy shadow guys looking to beat you so they can destroy the entire world, I mean that's pretty intense".
Jaden nodded, "That might be true, but at least now I know which creatures I have been having visions about, it must be the Sacred Beasts, speaking of which, Yubel seemed to know something about them when Sheppard mentioned them earlier".
Syrus and Chumley looked at him shocked, they then saw how he turned his head a little to the right and how he looked at something that they couldn't see, which they knew was Yubel.
Jaden looked at them, "It seems like she wants to tell us about them right now", he then opened one of his deck boxes and pulled out Yubel's card, his eyes then flashed golden for a second and Yubel appeared.
She looked at the three Slifer boys, "What I know about the Sacred Beasts are ancient stories I heard in the Dominion of the Beasts, which is the real name of the Duel Monsters spirit world". Jaden nodded and made a motion that told her to keep going.
"From what I have heard the Sacred Beasts are the opposite of the Egyptian gods, they could be called protectors while the beasts should be called destroyers. I heard that many millenniums ago, before any of the six titans were sealed, the Sacred Beast caused a lot of destruction in the human world, destroying everything in sight and devoured every soul they came across".
Syrus and Chumley looked at her in shock while Jaden narrowed his eyes a little when he heard that, she then continued, "Then after that had happened for a while the gods knew they had to stop them, so they took and faced the beasts in an intense battle that lasted for almost a whole day".
Jaden got a little shocked when he heard that, he knew battles between shadow creatures could last quite a while, but he had never heard of a battle that lasted that long, with the same creatures that continued battling that is.
"Anyway, while the gods possessed a bit more power than the beasts, the beasts refused to give up, but in the end the gods managed to drive them in to hiding to recover from the battle, only not long after that, the weakened beasts got sealed in stone, and not long after that. The gods allowed themselves to be sealed as well in Egypt so that when the chosen one that could control their power arrived, he could summon them when they were needed. But the damage from their battle made the area they had fought in unlivable for many decades, I don't know exactly how many, but I think it was at least four or five".
Syrus and Chumley looked really scared when they heard about the power the Sacred Beasts possessed, Jaden looked at them, "Which is more of a reason to guard these keys to make sure that no one can use them for evil", he then yawned, "Well I'm getting tired, so after I look through my decks a little, I'm going to bed".
He turned around to the desk which he had had his back towards, he took out both of his decks and began looking through them, Syrus and Chumley looked at him, while they were worried, if it was Jaden then things would most likely turn out okay in the end, like it always did.
LATER THAT NIGHT,
Alexis was walking towards the Slifer dorm, she was unable to sleep, after the meeting in Sheppard's office, she had been troubled by a thought, and that thought involved her boyfriend.
If what Chancellor Sheppard said is right, and it's these Shadow Riders who decides who to duel, the odds is they'll go after the one they think is the weakest first, and with that Slifer jacket, that's Jaden, I have to warn him, she thought as she was getting closer to the red dorm.
But at that moment, in a tree line next to the Slifer dorm a pair of feet appeared, Nightshroud stood and watched the Slifer dorm for a few seconds before the eyes on his mask glowed red.
AT THAT MOMENT INSIDE THE DORM,
The three Slifer boys was sleeping peacefully, then suddenly a bright light came in through the window and enveloped the room, Winged Kuriboh and Yubel both appeared, both feeling something was wrong, Winged Kuriboh flew over to Jaden and was flying his face as he squeaked loudly to wake him up.
Jaden grunted as he slowly opened his eyes, "Whoa Winged Kuriboh, can you keep it down buddy?" Yubel appeared next to him, "No he can't, because you need to get up, right now", Jaden turned towards her to asked what she meant when he noticed the light, he immediately was fully awake and jumped out of bed, since it was in the middle of the night, he knew that something was about to happen, and at that moment he noticed that his half medallion had begun to glow.
AT THE MOMENT OUTSIDE OF THE SLIFER DORM,
Alexis gasped in shock as she saw a weird light appeared in Jaden and his friends room, "Jaden", she then ran towards the dorm, she then flung open the door to their room and ran inside, "Jaden, are you okay?" Jaden looked shocked when he saw her there, then both of them heard a loud laughter around them, they looked around them and Alexis asked, "What's happening?" They then heard a voice say, "The first duel is happening, that's what". Then the light got brighter and blinded both of them.
MOMENTS LATER AT THE VOLCANO IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ISLAND,
A platform of white energy formed in the middle of the volcano, Jaden and Alexis then appeared on it, Jaden's Duel Disk had appeared on his arm, they both looked around, "Where are we?" Instead of answering her question Jaden walked over the edge of the platform and looked down, only to see molten lava underneath them.
"In one very weird dream if it is one", he then felt an energy build up in the lava and jumped back a few steps before a pillar of lava shot up close to where he had been standing.
Jaden and Alexis then saw how the pillar of lava took the shape of a dragon that roared, "More like a nightmare", Alexis said as they watched the lava dragon fly in a circle over them, they then heard that voice again, "It's neither".
The dragon then circled a few times in the same place before flying down in to the platform, causing fire to appear, then out of the fire walked a young man.
Jaden narrowed his eyes when he saw the man, "What's going on here?" The man looked at him, "You mean you don't know?" Jaden just shrugged his shoulders, "I guess you can call me a slow learner".
"And you can call me Nightshroud", the fire then died down and you could now clearly see him, he had brown hair and a black dragon mask covering the top part face, had black clothes as well as a black coat.
Jaden raised an eye brow, "Nightshroud?" Nightshroud got a smirk on his face, "I'll be the one to take that key you have around your neck". Jaden then narrowed his eyes but got a small smirk on his face, "Wow, you guys sure don't any time coming after us do you?"
Then the half medallion around Nightshroud's neck began to glow, he put it in his hand and looked at it with a small smirk on his face, then the half medallion around Jaden's neck began to glow as well, he looked down at it and then at the half medallion of Nightshroud's neck.
"Nice medallion, the Gravekeeper…. must be getting sloppy, but if you think you will be able to beat me as easily as you beat him, you have another thing coming, "I'll get that key, and I'll get it now, oh and just to make sure of that, I'll brought friends".
Now Jaden got a worried look on his face, "What's that suppose to mean?" More lava shot up as Nightshroud smirked menacingly, "Here, say hello to Syrus and Chumley", Jaden got really worried now, "Oh no, where are they?" Then both of them heard Syrus, "Jaden", then they heard Chumley call out as well, "Help us".
They looked down and saw Syrus and Chumley lower down on a rock in the lava, inside a sphere of energy while being surrounded by three rocks that looked like claws.
"No, Syrus, Chumley!" Jaden shouted as he saw his friends, Alexis was just as worried as he was now, "Hold on". Nightshroud just smirked as he looked down towards, "Looks like they're in hot water, or maybe I should say hot molten lava". He then looked at Jaden, "But then, such is the nature of a shadow game key keeper".
Jaden turned his eyes back to Nightshroud and glared at him, "Shadow game? Now listen to me, if you want to duel me then fine, I'll face you, but let the others go". Nightshroud's smirk just grew bigger, "I don't think so, I need them to insure speedy match, after all, that protection orb they're in… well let's just say it's not exactly built to last for long".
Jaden's eyes widened in horror, "So you're saying that if this duel takes too long, that orb will disappear and they will get a lava bath?" Nightshroud nodded still with a smirk on his face, "That's right, oh and I'm afraid there is more too".
Nightshroud then lifted up a card and showed them, only that there it would be a picture of a monster it was black, then the card got covered in a dark aura, "For you see, also at stake, is your soul, that will be sealed in this card if you lose. Of course, if I lose, then my soul will be sealed, but hey, let's be honest with ourselves, me lose? Not a chance, now then, shall we?"
Jaden narrowed his eyes, Alexis looked at him really worried, "Jaden, you can't agree to this", Jaden turned his head around a little and looked at her, "Tell that to Syrus and Chumley, if I don't do this then they will be fried to a crisp, there my friends and I'm not going to let that happen to them or us".
Jaden then looked back at Nightshroud, "Besides, it's not like this is my first shadow game, I have faced a few of them in the past, I just hope, that this one won't be just as painful as the others". Jaden then pointed at Nightshroud, "Alright pal, you want a duel? Then you got one". Syrus looked at him, "Good luck Jay", Chumley nodded, "Yeah Jaden we believe in you", Jaden nodded at them before he took out one of his decks.
"Alright, let's throw down, now get your game on Nightshroud", both players put their decks in to their Duel Disks and drew their first five cards, "You want to see game? How's this?" Nightshroud said as he went first, he drew his next card and looked at it, "He's called Troop Dragon, and I'll have him defend me, plus I place a face down while I'm at it". A card appeared in front of Nightshroud's feet and then a dragon with armor holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other appeared on a knee, Def: 800.
Jaden's eyes narrowed, "Not bad", he then drew his next card and looked at it, "But I say fight a dragon with another dragon, so I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode", Luster Dragon appeared on the field, Atk: 1900.
"Now show that Troop Dragon who's boss, attack with Breath of Fire", Luster Dragon then opened his mouthed and unleashed a stream of fire that hit the Troop Dragon, who got destroyed a second later.
Nightshroud got smirk on his face, "Oh, you know, there is something I forgot to mention before, the Troop Dragon's special ability lets me summon another Troop Dragon, whenever he's sent to the graveyard". Nightshroud took out his deck, he then looked through it before he grabbed one card, he then summoned a second Troop Dragon in defense mode and then shuffled his deck and placed it back in to his Duel Disk.
Jaden gritted his teeth, "Hence the name troop", he then ended his turn, "Nightshroud drew his next card with a smirk, "That's right, and I'm not done yet". He then pointed down at his face down with the card he drew, "Now, I play my face down, Call of the Haunted, this lets me dig through my graveyard, for a monster previously destroyed, such as, the Troop Dragon", then the first Troop Dragon reappeared in attack mode, Atk: 700.
Nightshroud's smirk then grew bigger, "But wait, there's more where that came from, now I trade in my Troop Dragons to summon…"He then paused, causing Alexis to get worried, "Summon what?" Jaden narrowed his eyes.
Then another lava serpentine dragon shot out of the lava as Nightshroud shouted, "The Red-Eyes Black Dragon", the serpentine dragon circled around the them for a few seconds, as it flew close by Chumley and Syrus, they fell down in shock and fear.
Chumley sat up on his knees, "It's cool Sy, the wall is still in one piece", he then started knocking on the protection orb. He then stood up as he continued to knock on it, but then suddenly as he knocked on it so passed his arm through it s a hole formed in it, he quickly pulled his arm back in as he fell back down, "Though it's a smaller piece", Syrus looked at it worried now, "It's… disappearing".
The lava dragon then circled in the air about them a few more times before crashing down in to the ground in front of Nightshroud, the lava then began to take a shape, then as it disappeared, big black dragon with red eyes was there, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Atk: 2400.
Jaden took a step back in shock as he saw the dragon, he then took a closer look at how Nightshroud looked, he then started to wonder something, it didn't make sense to him, but what if he was right?
Nightshroud then pointed at Luster Dragon, "Now, Red-Eyes, attack Luster Dragon, Inferno Fire Blast", Red-Eyes unleashed a huge fire ball that hit Luster Dragon and caused an explosion, Jaden felt the heat from the fire as his monster got destroyed, Jaden LP: 4000-3500.
The explosion caused Jaden to slide backwards a few meters and stopped right in front of Alexis and he went down on a knee in pain, "Jaden!" Alexis said worried, Jaden held a hand over his chest, "Okay, that really hurt". Nightshroud just looked at him with an evil smirk on his face, "That's right, and it's about to hurt a lot more key keeper, because the true pain… is about to begin".
Jaden looked to his right where Yubel appeared in spirit form, "Yubel, I have a really weird suspicion, with how Nightshroud look, and the fact that he not only uses a dragon deck but also Red-Eyes Black Dragon, do you think he can really be Atticus?"
Yubel looked at him, "I believe that's most likely the case Jaden, I have been sensing his duel energy since the matched started, and while something seems to have twisted it a bit, it feels like Atticus's dueling energy".
Jaden glared at Nightshroud, "This is not even funny, if I win then Atticus's soul will be sealed in a card, but if I don't win and soon, Syrus and Chumley are goners". Yubel looked at him, "Don't lose hope Jaden, from what I can sense, the reason Atticus is like that is because he has gotten possessed by an evil force, and I suspect that if you win this match, that evil consciousness possessing him will be sealed, not him".
Jaden looked at her and then back at Nightshroud who pointed at him, "Come on, hurry up and make your move, I got a doomsday to start", Jaden slowly stood up again while still in pain, placing faith in Yubel's theory, after all, he had to if he wanted to win this duel and hopefully save three of his friends at the same time.
His friends looked at him worried as he glared at Nightshroud, "Trust me on this Nightshroud, I will take you down, and I'll start by taking down that Red-Eyes, my turn", he drew his next card and saw that it was Polymerization.
"Alright, now we're talking, I play the spell card Polymerization, and…" he grabbed two cards in his hand, "With Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand, I fuse them to create, the Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster", Burstinatrix and Clayman got sucked into the vortex and out came Rampart Blaster, she went down on a knee in defense mode with her shield in front of her, Def:2500.
Jaden pointed at Nightshroud, "But don't think for a second that I'm just hiding or that you're safe, because thanks to her special ability, once per turn she can deal 1000 points of damage if to you, now give him everything you have Blaster, Rampart Barrage".
Rampart Blaster fired missiles at Nightshroud and hit him, Nightshroud LP: 4000-3000, Alexis smiled relieved that Jaden had managed to deal twice as much damage to Nightshroud as Nightshroud had dealt to him.
Jaden looked at Nightshroud with a smirk, "And since she's in defense mode, if you want to get to me, you have to get through her and her 2500 defense points, pretty sweet move don't you think Nightshroud?" Nightshroud took a stumbling step as he felt the pain from the damage he had taken.
Jaden looked a little shocked before he got a smirk on his face, "Of course it might not be so sweet for you, since you also seems to feel the pain of the shadow game, also if you don't take out Rampart Blaster soon you will only feel more pain, but since Red-Eyes only has 2400 attack points, that won't be easy now will it?"
Nightshroud just growled at Jaden, "ENOUGH!" he then drew his next card and looked at it, he then looked up at Jaden with a smirk on his face, "You fool, that Blaster of your doesn't change a thing, but you can bet that this next card will, it's going to change your life points Jaden, oh and… not in a good way, for you see Jaden, your Blaster can't protect you from my Red-Eyes's attack".
Jaden just looked at him still with a smirk on his face, "Alright, I'll bit, why not?" Nightshroud lifted his arm, "Because this time, his attack is an actual card", he shouted as he showed a card that displayed Red Eyes firing a fire ball, "Inferno Fire Blast".
Red-Eyes once again fired his attack, while Jaden was shocked about the spell card version of the dragon's attack and so were the others, "A card?" Alexis said, Syrus looked worried as the fire ball got closer to his friend, "Look out Jaden", Chumley also looked on worried, "Not licious".
Then the fire ball went past Rampart Blaster and hit Jaden directly, Alexis covered her face from the explosion as she watched Jaden trying to shield himself as good as he could from the heat of the flames.
Nightshroud then looked at Jaden with a smirk on his face, "Nice card right, it's just as strong as my Red-Eyes's attack, the only difference is,,, it hits your life points directly", Jaden took a few stumbling steps because of the pain, Jaden LP: 3500-1100.
"And I'm not through with you just yet key keeper, "Next I summon Attachment Dragon", a small green dragon appeared on the field, Atk: 100, Nightshroud chuckled a little, "But don't worry, he's not the attacking type, just like his name suggests, he's a lot more like the attaching type, now show him what I mean my dragon".
Jaden looked as Attachment disappeared in high speed only to reappear above Rampart Blaster, the small dragon grabbed a hold of her shoulders with its feet and dragged her up on her feet before wrapping himself around her, Rampart Blaster, Atk: 2000.
"Blaster's made a new friend, a friend that forces her in to attack mode, and can do it once per turn should you try to change her back to defense mode, meaning… no more direct attacks on me", Alexis looked on worried, Syrus and Chumley placed their hands on the orb as they leaned towards it, worried about Jaden, they then got scared as they fell halfway through it, they managed to get back inside it, but watched as the two holes both became one big hole instead worried.
Jaden looked towards then worried, the orb was disappearing fast and he hoped he could end this before it was completely gone. He then heard Nightshroud chuckle and looked at him, "Even though I like to take down that Rampart Blaster right now I can't thanks to my spell, I will just have to wait until my next turn".
Jaden who was gasping in pain glared at him a little, "Alright, my turn", Jaden placed his fingers on his deck, He's right that Rampart Blaster won't survive next turn, I need some way to save her and take down that Red-Eyes, in order to save my friends, and protect the world from the Sacred Beasts.
Jaden then drew his next card, he then looked at it and smiled, he then heard Syrus call out to him, "Go Jay", he then looked at him and saw him pull his arm back inside the orb, Chumley looked at him worried, "Jaden this orb is disappearing fast".
Jaden looked at them, "Just hang in there you guys, I will get you out of there soon, so let's hope that you won't have to literally hang in there", Nightshroud's smirk grew bigger, "If you don't hurry up then they will have to eventually, so make your friends a favor and make your move now".
Jaden looked at Nightshroud with a smirk, "If you knew what I was packing Nightshroud, you wouldn't be so eager for it",
Jaden then placed a card in to his Duel Disk, "First, I activate the spell card De-Fusion, so now I split apart Rampart Blaster back in to Clayman and Burstinatrix". Attachment Dragon then let go of Rampart Blaster who had become a light that then split into two.
First Clayman appeared on the field, Atk: 800, then Burstinatrix appeared next to him, Atk: 1200. Jaden then pointed at Attachment Dragon, "And now since Rampart Blaster is gone, Attachment Dragon who was equipped to her is sent to rest in your graveyard", Nightshroud gritted his teeth a little before his smirk returned, "Doesn't matter, neither of your monsters can take on my dragon".
Jaden then showed his Pot of Greed card, "Yeah well, I think I might change that, now with this, I draw two more cards", Jaden drew his new cards and looked at them, "Now first, I sacrifice Burstinatrix in order to summon Elemental Hero Necroshade in attack mode".
Burstinatrix left the field and Necroshade took her place, Atk: 1600. Nightshroud laughed, "That was not so much better either, he's only have 1600 attack points".
Jaden then took and showed the other card he had just drawn, his Fusion Sage, "I now use this spell card to add my second Polymerization to my hand", he looked through his deck until he found the spell, he then shuffled his deck and placed it back into his Duel Disk.
"And now I fuse Clayman on my field with the Sparkman in my hand in order to create, the Elemental Hero Thunder Giant". Clayman and Sparkman got sucked into the vortex and then Thunder Giant appeared, Atk: 2400.
Alexis looked at Jaden's Thunder Giant and then Nightshroud's Red-Eyes, both of them have the same attack points, is Jaden planning on taking down Red-Eyes by sacrificing Thunder Giant? She wondered.
Jaden smiled, "Alright, let us see who blinks first, Elemental Hero Thunder Giant attack that Red-Eyes Black Dragon, with Voltic Thunder", Thunder Giant charged up his attack and unleashed it towards Red-Eyes.
"Go, Inferno Fire Blast", on Nightshroud's order, Red-Eyes counterattacked with Inferno Fire Blast, both attacks met each other as both the monsters continued to attack as they got closer to each other, then the energy hit them both as they got too close, they fell through the platform and into the lava underneath them.
Both Alexis and Nightshroud looked shocked, "Both my Red-Eyes and your Thunder Giant are gone", Alexis looked at Jaden, "So your plan actually were to destroy both of them?" Jaden had a smirk on his face, "Oh yeah, because now thanks to Thunder Giant that annoying Red-Eyes is gone, leaving the way open for a direct attack from Necroshade, go Dark Shadow Slash".
Necroshade then vanished only to reappear behind Nightshroud as he slashed him across his back, Nightshroud LP: 3000-1400. Jaden then looked at Nightshroud who looked unaffected by the attack, "Oh come on, aren't you going to flinch or anything from the damage?"
Nightshroud looked at him with a smirk on his face, "Sorry, but I leave all of that to my opponent", "Jaden narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the last card in his hand, "Oh yeah well we'll see what we can do about that soon enough Nightshroud, for now I place a card face down and end my turn".
Nightshroud drew his next card, "If that's all you got then this will not take long", he looked at the card, "And this will help, I now summon my Luster Dragon", Another Luster Dragon appeared on the field, "And now he will attack your Necroshade, Breath of Fire". Luster Dragon unleashed its attack and hit Necroshade and destroyed him, Jaden LP: 1100-800.
Jaden once again went down on a knee in pain, he gritted his teeth as he stared at Nightshroud, "I won't go down that easy", he then slowly got up again, he then and looked at Nightshroud with a look on concern in his eyes, Don't worry Atticus, I will defeat the evil force that's controlling you in order to save both my friends and you at the same time, he thought.
Nightshroud smirk grew bigger, "No matter, my Luster Dragon will take you done soon enough", Jaden drew his next card, "Don't bet on it Nightshroud", he looked at his card, "Now I activate the spell card Card of Sanctity, so now both of us has to draw from our decks until we're both holding six cards in our hands", Nightshroud drew three cards while Jaden drew six.
Jaden looked through the cards in his hand, he then pressed a button on his Duel Disk, "Next I play the spell card E – Emergency Call, with this I can add an Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand", Jaden looked through his deck and then grabbed a card, he then shuffled it and placed it back into his Duel Disk.
"And then…. because Necroshade is in my graveyard, I can summon an Elemental Hero without a sacrifice, so say hello to my Elemental Hero Bladedge", Bladedge then appeared on the field, Atk: 2600.
Jaden then grabbed a card in his hand, "And if you think that's all then your mistaking big time, I play H – Heated Heart, now for this turn, Bladedge gains 500 extra attack points". Bladedge got covered by a blue aura, Atk: 2600-3100.
Syrus got a huge smile on his face, "Alright, now Bladedge has 3100 attack points", Chumley also got a huge smile on his face, "Yeah, and that's way more than Luster Dragon's attack points", he lifted his left arm in excitement but it accidently got outside of the protection orb, he quickly pulled it back in as he felt the heat, "Ouch, hot, hot".
Jaden then pointed at Luster Dragon, "Now go Bladedge, attack Luster Dragon with Slice and Dice attack", Bladedge flew towards Luster Dragon and slashed him with the blades on his arms, destroying him, Nightshroud then groaned in pain as he took the damage, Nightshroud LP: 1400-200. Jaden felt a smirk appear on his face as he saw Nightshroud wobble as he got unsteady on his feet, "There is the flinch I was looking for".
Nightshroud glared at him, "No it wasn't, that was a twitch, it's not the same. I had something in my eye that's all, you got that? It was a twitch". Jaden narrowed his eyes a little, "Hey you can deny it as much as you want, but one thing you can't deny is that I have the advantage now. And even though Bladedge will lose the extra points once my turn is over I doubt you can summon a monster with 2600 attack points or more, and since Bladedge can deal piercing damage so doesn't it matter if you defend yourself. Now I place one card face down, I will end this next turn", Bladedge, Atk: 3100-2600.
Nightshroud just drew his card and looked at it, "Hey, you think you have won right? Well then think again, after all we both know it's not truly the life points that decides who's winning in a duel but the cards the player holds, and I have just drawn the card that will help me win the duel and then I will be taking that key".
Jaden narrowed his eyes a little, "Yeah right, I bet you're just bluffing right now", But a moment later the lava began to take the form of dragons and rose up behind Nightshroud, "Or maybe I'm wrong", Jaden said as he could now feel something from one of the cards in Nightshroud's hand, a powerful presence infused with a lot of dark energy.
"Did you honestly think key keeper... that you could get rid of all my dragons that easily?" Jaden gritted his teeth a little as the dragons made of lava behind Nightshroud roared, "That you could simply banish them all to the graveyard, and then be done with them?"
Jaden's eyes narrowed a little, he did not like how Nightshroud was talking right now, "Well yeah, that's kind of what I was hoping for". Nightshroud then lifted the card he had just drawn, "Well then you can just keep on hoping because now, I summon the Red-Eyes Black Chick in attack mode". A red egg then appeared out of the lava and flew up to the field, cracks appeared on the egg and then a pair of red eyes could be seen in the hole that appeared on the egg, Atk: 800.
"What then you mean... that's you're big card?" Jaden asked confused, that card wasn't what he had sensed earlier, but then he saw how Nightshroud got a smirk on his face, "That's right, until I use my Chick's special ability that is. You see by sending Chick to the grave, I can summon from my hand, his daddy… the full grown Red-Eyes Black Dragon".
The egg then cracked open and Jaden saw a new born Red-Eyes before it glowed red before it grew in to its adult form, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Jaden was not too please to see another Red-Eyes but was still confused, even Red-eyes wasn't powerful enough to end the duel or even take out Bladedge, and it was still not the spirit he had sensed, he had no idea what Nightshroud was planning.
He then saw that Nightshroud's smirk grew bigger, "Well actually, that's not entirely true, for you see, as big as this Red-Eyes is, they can still get even bigger… Red-Eyes, I now sacrifice you, to bring out…" as he said that so dove Red-Eyes down in to the lava, "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon".
Even though he wasn't standing on the volcano, Jaden could still hear the intense trembles and saw how the lava was flowing violently and was close to the orb that Syrus and Chumley was in.
Jaden then saw how a huge dragon covered by lava rise up from the volcano, Atk: 2400. It then flew up in the air and Jaden then noticed how seven lava dragons flew up behind it, "Now the molten ashes of my fallen dragons boil up from their fiery grave, ablaze with new life, each of them granting my Darkness Dragon 300 additional attack points".
Jaden's eyes widened in shock when he heard that, "But wait… with seven dragons in your graveyard, that means that… he gains 2100 attack points", as he said that the seven lava dragons disappeared, Darkness Dragon, Atk: 2400-4500. Alexis looked at the amount in shock, "4500 attack points? Jaden can't withstand that, if Darkness Dragon manages to attack and destroy Bladedge then Jaden will…" she couldn't finish her sentence as she looked at her boyfriend worried.
The lava then disappeared from Darkness Dragon and they could clearly see him, he looked a lot like the previous Red-Eyes, only he had a few red crystals on his body and golden lines going across his body, no front legs, and instead of just two wings he had six wings that were a little smaller.
Nightshroud looked at him with a smirk, "Now it's over, the spirit key, your friends, your soul… with Darkness Dragon's attack… they're all mine, so go Inferno Dark Fire, END THIS NOW!" Darkness Dragon then unleashed a huge stream of fire towards Bladedge, Jaden's friends and girlfriend looked on in horror, but Jaden pressed a button on his Duel Disk.
"This is not over yet Nightshroud, I play my trap, Hero Barrier, now since I have an Elemental Hero on the field, I can negate one of your attacks". A barrier appeared in front of Bladedge and blocked the Inferno Dark Fire, leaving both Bladedge and Jaden's life points unharmed.
Nightshroud then growled and glared at Jaden, "Oh well, no big deal, I will just have to finish you off next turn, as long as I have my Darkness Dragon, my victory is certain". Jaden narrowed his eyes, he didn't plan on being defeated here, but he had to admit that it would not be easy to bring down that Darkness Dragon.
AT THE SAME TIME WITH THE OTHER KEY KEEPERS,
Zane was standing at the pier, looking out over the ocean, he then felt that the key was shaking a little, he grabbed it and then looked towards the volcano, "There's something amiss… a Shadow Rider, this key's telling me… one's close". He then let the key led him to where the Shadow Rider were.
At the same time at the Ra dorm, Bastion was sitting at his computer, he then looked down at his key as it also began shaking, "Ah, the spirit gate key, it's shaking", he then got up as he let the key led him to where it sensed the trouble
At the same time so were Chazz growling in annoyance as he watched Ojama Yellow dance in the air above him as he laid in his bed, "Stop dancing", Ojama Yellow looked at him, "Sorry boss, just trying to keep rhythm with that spirit key".
Chazz sat up, causing Ojama Yellow to fly backwards as he hit the spirit when he sat up, "Actually what IS that trembling?" He then looked down on his key and placed it in his hand, feeling it tremble in it, he knew it sensed trouble and got up to get dressed.
At the same time so was Crowler peacefully sleeping in his bed with a night mask and nightcap on, he slept so deeply that he didn't woke up from the trembles of his key, so he was unaware of what was currently going on.
Banner at that time stood with Pharaoh in his arms and looked at the volcano with his key wrapped around his right hand, he like the others could feel the trembles of his key, he understood that the Shadow Rider that had arrived on the island must have made his move, only he didn't know who had been targeted.
AT THE SAME TIME IN SHEPPARD'S OFFICE,
Sheppard sat at his desk with his head in his hands, he was really troubled over what he had to do, as he thought, What were you thinking Sheppard? Getting your students involved in a battle with such stakes… but then, what other choice did you have, after all if those Shadow Riders get a hold of those Sacred Beast cards…
Sheppard looked up from his hands with a solemn look on his face, "They'll be destroyed no matter what… we all will be", all that he could do now is hope that his students (and the two teachers) were up to the challenge.
BACK TO THE VOLCANO AND TO THE DUEL,
Jaden took and drew his next card, "Alright, first I place two cards face down on the field, next I summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode, and then I place Bladedge in defense mode as well". Two cards appeared in front of Jaden's feet, then Avian appeared on a knee with his arms crossed in front of him, Def: 1000, then Bladedge crossed his arms and went down on a knee as well, Def: 1800, Jaden then looked at Nightshroud, "And then I end my turn".
Nightshroud got a mocking smirk on his face, "That's funny, you know what I call that move? A waste of time, and time in case you forgot is very much of the essence right now, well…" he then looked at Syrus and Chumley, "At least for your friends who is about to get deep fried that is".
Syrus looked at Jaden as he and Chumley held onto each other, "Don't listen to what he's saying Jaden, just focus and win the duel", Chumley nodded, "Yeah we're okay", a small eruption happen next to them, "Or at least for now we are", he said as Syrus and Chumley got nervous.
Alexis looked at their friends worried, "Jaden, hurry up", Jaden looked at them with a worried look on his face as well, "Yeah I know, that lava… is beginning to look really restless", Nightshroud chuckled a little, "La dee dah, what to do, what to do?"
Jaden gave him a hard look, "How about you make your move already?" Nightshroud got a smirk on his face, "Oh right it's my turn, sorry", he drew his next card and looked at it, "I now Graceful Charity, so I draw three cards and then discard two". He drew three cards, and then placed one of them and another one from his hand in his graveyard, "Next I summon Spear Dragon in attack mode", Spear Dragon appeared on the field, Atk: 1900.
Nightshroud's smirk grew, "Oh, and just so you know, the cards I discarded was my third Troop Dragon as well as my Mirage Dragon, so Darkness Dragon gain 600 more attack points", Darkness Dragon, Atk: 4500-5100.
Nightshroud pointed at Jaden, "Not that it matters, because he won't need them since he won't even be the one who finishes you off after all. Since Spear Dragon inflicts piercing damage to the opponent, once he destroys your Avian, he will end this match by dealing 900 points of damage to you, now Spear Dragon attack Avian and end this, Cyclone Blast".
Jaden quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk, "I activate my trap, Elemental Recharge, with this I get 1000 life points for every Elemental Hero on my field, so with two, Avian and Bladedge, I gain 2000 life points", Jaden LP: 800-2800.
The prehistoric dragon then took and unleashed a green energy beam from its mouth that hit Avian and destroyed him, Jaden then prepared himself as the beam hit him, Jaden LP: 2800-1900. He felt intense pain and felt like he would cough up blood, he barely managed to remain on his feet from the pain.
Nightshroud looked at him with a smirk, "Looks like someone is in pain, so even though you managed to survive Spear Dragon did a great job, however since he attacked he now has to switch to defense mode". Spear Dragon then folded its wings in front around itself as it landed on the ground, Def: 0.
Jaden glared at Nightshroud, "And now, let's see you save your Bladedge from Darkness Dragon for a second time, now Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack, Inferno Dark Fire", Darkness Dragon took and unleashed its attack in this time it destroyed Bladedge in an explosion caused by the attack, the force behind the explosion was so great that it sent powerful shockwaves at Jaden and Alexis.
Nightshroud looked at Jaden, "It's you're move now, if you have any strength left to make it that is", the moment after Nightshroud said that so went Jaden down on all four before he collapsed with his face down towards the energy platform, barely having any energy left.
Alexis called out to him worried, she then looked at Syrus and Chumley who was still in the orb and the only reason the lava hadn't reached their feet by now was because the orb was held up by the three claw like rocks around it, seeing all of this she made her decision, she would not just watch this anymore.
She looked at Nightshroud with a hard look on her face, "That's enough, this duel is over", Nightshroud looked at her, "Says who exactly?" She glared at him, "Says me and this".
She held up her key, "I have a spirit gate key too, just let my friends and boyfriend go and you can duel me for it and get my soul either way".
Nightshroud looked at Alexis without saying anything, I know you, he then thought thinking that for some reason this girl seemed familiar to him. Alexis then stared at him, "You can't lose, so just let them go and deal with me".
But then she heard Jaden groan, she looked down and saw him fighting his way back up, "No, I won't let you Alexis…. this is my fight and besides…" he looked at Nightshroud, "This is the one opponent I can't let you duel", Alexis looked at him confused, she had no idea what he meant by that.
Jaden got up, he then drew his next card and looked at it before his eyes widened, since last turn he had had a plan on how to take out Darkness Dragon, a big part of that would be his last face down, the trap Hero's Rule 1 Five Freedoms, this would let him remove up to five cards from either of their graveyards. That would seriously cripple Darkness Dragon while he would use his last two cards, Miracle Fusion and Fusion Recovery, to finish him of with Shining Flare Wingman.
But the card he had just drawn made him change his plan, he was planning on using Darkness Dragon's greatest power to take him down. But at that moment so heard he Syrus and Chumley yell and saw the lava plashing over the orb they we're in. Jaden got horrified but relaxed when Yubel informed him that they were still safe, but he needed to end the duel this turn or they would not survive for much longer.
Jaden narrowed his eyes and slammed the card he had drawn onto his Duel Disk, "I summon Skilled White Magician in attack mode", the white magician appeared on the field, Atk: 1700.
Jaden then held up Fusion Recovery, "Next I use Fusion Recovery to take back Polymerization and one monster I used in a fusion summoning, and I chose Sparkman". As the two cards came out of the graveyard a light appeared on Skilled White Magician.
Jaden then showed his Miracle Fusion, "Next thanks to Miracle Fusion, I can remove monsters to summon an Elemental Hero fusion monster, so I remove Avian and Burstinatrix to fusion summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman". Burstinatrix and Avian disappeared and Flame Wingman appeared, Atk: 2100.
A second light appeared on Skilled White Magician, "And finally, I activate Polymerization, so now I fuse Sparkman and Flame Wingman to form… Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman", Sparkman and Flame Wingman got sucked in to a vortex and out came Shining Flare Wingman, Atk: 2500.
Jaden pointed at Nightshroud, "And like Darkness Dragon, Flare Wingman's power also increases because of monsters in the grave, so for every Elemental Hero in my grave he gets 300 points, and I count five of them, meaning he gets 1500 points". Shining Flare Wingman, Atk: 2500-4000.
Nightshroud laughed, "Impressive Jaden, but I'm afraid he's still 1100 points too weak to take on my Darkness Dragon". Jaden really wanted to activate his trap and weaken Darkness Dragon enough for Flare Wingman to take him out, but he had already decided on his new plan, he then pointed at Skilled White Magician who now had three lights on him.
"Now, since I have activated three spell cards, my Skilled White Magician have now gained three spell counters, which means I can sacrifice him in order to summon a certain monster from my deck, my hand or my graveyard".
Jaden took out his deck and looked through it, he then grabbed a card, shuffled it, and then placed it back into his Duel Disk, "I now call upon the power of the mighty dragon hunter, I summon Buster Blader in attack mode". Skilled White Magician disappeared only to be replaced by Buster Blader, Atk: 2600.
Nightshroud took a step backwards in shock and horror, Jaden then pointed at Buster Blader, "And as I'm sure you already know, this guy's attack points increases by 500 for every dragon on your side of the field and your graveyard, and with two on your field and nine in your grave, he gains 5500 attack points".
Buster Blader pulled out his sword that he had on his back and held it out, Atk: 2600-8100. Nightshroud was completely horrified now, "It has over 8000? This was your plan from the beginning right? That's the only reason you summoned Flare Wingman".
Jaden shock his head, "No because I originally planned on taking you down with Flare Wingman since my last card would allow me to remove up to five cards from either of our graves, meaning that I could have gotten rid of five of your dragons, which would have made him weaker than my hero".
Nightshroud looked shocked when he heard that, Jaden then pointed at Darkness Dragon, "Alright now Buster Blader, attack Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon with Dragon Sword Attack".
Buster Blader then ran towards Darkness Dragon who roared at him, he then jumped up in the air as he lifted his sword over his head. Jaden looked at Nightshroud as his monster prepared to strike down the dragon of darkness, "Come on now man, come to your senses and return to us".
Alexis looked at Jaden confused over what he had just said, but before she could ask she heard a roar of pain and saw that Buster Blader had just split Darkness Dragon in half with one swing of his sword, Nightshroud LP: 200-0.
Nightshroud screamed as his points went down to zero, then pillars of fire shot up through the platform around them, Nightshroud then fell over, then he got surrounded by a ring of fire, he screamed as he got engulfed by the fire. Jaden then went down on his knees, he felt that he were about to pass out, but he managed looking at Syrus and Chumley, seeing them vanished in a flash of light.
"Well at least… they're safe…" he managed to say before losing consciousness and fell down, "Jaden!" Alexis shouted as she ran towards him, but when she reached him a ring of fire surrounded them and she screamed before both of them along with Nightshroud disappeared in flashes of light just like Syrus and Chumley had.
MOMENTS LATER OUTSIDE OF THE VOLCANO,
Chumley and Syrus reappeared outside of the volcano in a flash of light, they slowly pushed themselves up on all four, Chumley looked around himself confused, "What the…" Syrus looked around too and then got a relieved look on his face, "We're alive, we're alive Chum".
Chumley then looked next to him and saw Alexis lying on the ground as well, Syrus followed looked in the same direction and noticed her too, she slowly got up and saw the two Slifer boys, "He did it, Jaden did it, he won and saved both of you".
The two boys nodded happily as they got up and walked towards her as she got up, she then looked around with a worried expression, "But, where is Jaden?" The boys looked around as well, Chumley then gasped and pointed, "Over there".
The other two looked where he pointed and got worried when they saw Jaden lying on his back not moving, they all ran towards him, Syrus and Chumley carefully lifted up the top part of his body, "Jaden, please wake up", Alexis said worried, Syrus looked like he was about to cry, "He's not moving, come on Jay".
A worried Alexis placed two fingers on his left wrist and got relieved when she felt a pulse, "Sy he's fine, very tired maybe, but who can blame the poor guy", Chumley sighed relieved, "I agree, I'm just tired from watching, but even so, Jaden pushed himself this far for our sake". when Syrus heard that he couldn't stop his tears and he broke down.
As Alexis looked at the unconscious Jaden she noticed something near his hand, it was a card. She picked it up and looked at it, it was the card with the black picture that Nightshroud had shown before the duel started.
As she looked at it, she saw how a picture of Nightshroud's black dragon mask appeared on it with chains behind it, "While Jaden's fine, it seems like I can't say the same thing about Nightshroud, well at least we will be safe from him now".
She then noticed Nightshroud lying on the ground on his stomach, she got up and walked over to him, still thinking about what Jaden had said during the duel about how he could not let her fight Nightshroud, and how he told Nightshroud to come to his senses at the end of the duel, she wondered if Jaden knew something about this Shadow Rider.
She went down on a knee and looked at him, she then heard as he grunted which confused her since his soul should have been sealed, he turned his head a little and she could see him open his only visible eye and saw that it was brown, "A…Alexis?"
She gasped as he said her name, she then saw him lose consciousness again, she started to tremble, "It… it can't be…" she stared at the brown haired teen in front of her, not believing what she was seeing or what she had just heard,
At the same time Syrus and Chumley was making sure that Jaden really were okay when they heard Bastion's voice, "Jaden, hold on, we're coming", They looked in the direction they heard the voice and saw Bastion, Zane and Chazz running towards them.
As soon as they reached them, the three boys went down on a knee next to Jaden, looking at him with concern, "What happened to him?" Chazz demanded to know, Syrus looked at them, "One of the Shadow Riders challenged Jaden to a duel".
Chazz continued to look at Jaden while he asked, "So what happened? Did he win?" Chumley nodded, "He sure did Chazz, and let me tell you it was one of the most intense matches I have ever seen, Jaden facing dragon after dragon while taking damage and dealing damage and trying to win in time to save us since the Shadow Rider had taken us hostage before we would get fried by the lava in the volcano".
The other three boys felt anger hearing that Syrus and Chumley had been taken hostage, Zane then noticed that Alexis was sitting next to another figure, "So is that him? The Shadow Rider?" He glared at the figure as he walked towards them while the others helped placing Jaden onto Chumley's back so that he could carry him to the Academy so that he could be treated.
As Zane reached Alexis and the Shadow Rider he got shocked when he saw that she was hugging him while crying, "Alexis?" He said not understanding what was going on.
Alexis looked at him with tears in her eyes, "It's him Zane, it's him, I don't understand how but… it's him", Zane looked at her even more confused, "I… I thought I had lost him but he's back, he's finally back", Zane now felt he needed her to explain what she meant, "What are you talking about? Who's back Alexis?"
Alexis looked at him as her tears started running down her cheeks again, "Look at his face, it's my brother", Zane then gasped as his eyes widened wide in pure shock as he finally got a good look at the brown haired teen's face, it was his old friend and classmate as well as Alexis brother.
"Atticus? Zane said carefully as he still couldn't believe what he was seen, the others came over to them, Chumley with the unconscious Jaden on his back. Alexis looked at them all, "It wasn't him before, but that card took away whatever darkness that was controlling him, he's back now, thanks to Jaden".
At the mentioning of the Slifer boy so looked Zane at him as the sun began to rise, "And if this is how it is after you WIN a duel against the Shadow Riders, just imagine what it's like when you lose, the sun may be coming up now, but night will fall again soon, and when it does, we MUST be ready". The others nodded while agreeing with Zane as they looked at Jaden, they then began to make their way back towards the school, so that Jaden would get treated.
So Jaden finally learned that the creatures he had been having visions about was called the Sacred Beast and had almost as much power as the Egyptian Gods, and that a group called the Shadow Riders would try to take the seven spirit keys needed to get to the three beast cards, Jaden along with some of his friends accepted Sheppard's request to protect the keys. Then the same night a Shadow Rider called Nightshroud teleported Jaden and Alexis who had been worried about Jaden in to the volcano in the middle of the island there he challenged him to a shadow game. Jaden also had to win fast if he wanted to save Syrus and Chumley or they would get fried by the lava. After an intense duel Jaden managed to win but passed out because of the damage he had taken from the shadow game, then it was relieved that the Shadow Rider were none other than Alexis missing brother Atticus, what will happen next? Continue reading to find out and please review.
P.S To those who expected to see the Elemental Dragon Heroes in this chapter, even before I got the idea of making his second deck I had already decided to finishing Nightshroud off by using Buster Blader and since that card is part of his Elemental Hero deck he had to use it, just explaining why I did what I did.