-hiding- Ummm…enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh GX or Jess, she still belongs to ladydream-chan.

Claimer: YAY! This ENTIRE STORY IS MINE! And the one or two or three OCs that show up that aren't Jess are also mine. :)

Remaining Chapters (Excluding this one): 9

xXx

Jaden's POV

I pushed pedestrians out of my way, nearly punching those who refused to move. There was a large mob outside the Precious Metals Corner Mart, where Hassleberry told me to go. My heart was pounding in my ears as I begged some unknown force for this to be some joke. But, as I broke through the mob, finally at the heart of the circle, I knew it couldn't be.

"God, no," I whispered, hardly believing what I was seeing: Syrus, lying face down in a pool of his own blood. I knew without question that he was dead.

"Oh no," Jesse whispered, appearing next to me. Slowly everyone else wormed their way to the front, growing silent at the site before them.

"Jaden!" Hassleberry exclaimed. I looked up, seeing him running toward me. Tony was following after him, looking a bit flustered.

"Hassleberry," I muttered, trying to keep calm. I kept my eyes focused on Hassleberry's tear stained face, as it was better than looking at the lifeless body of one of my closest friends.

"God, Jaden, I'm so sorry!" He choked back a sob. "I swear he was right behind me!"

I nodded, staring at him mutely. What could I say? Part of me wanted to blame him for Syrus' death, another part wanted to demand what the Hell they were doing here anyway, but I couldn't do that. It just isn't me, so I bit my tongue.

"But-but then I heard a gunshot! I swear, it only took my five seconds to find him but the guy who shot him was already gone! No one saw him!"

"Or no one wanted to admit to seeing him," Jim muttered. I noticed his hand balled into a tight fist.

Hassleberry sniffed loudly. "I've already been interrogated by the police. An EMT and CSI (1) are on their way here." He sniffed again. "I can't believe I let this happen!"

"It isn't your fault, Hassleberry," Jesse insisted.

He shook his head. "Of course it is!"

"Knock it off, Hassleberry," I muttered, closing my eyes.

"But-"

"Stop it!" I barked, whirling to glare at him. He jumped back in surprise. "Blaming yourself won't change a damn thing! You couldn't have stopped it! The only thing that would have been different had you been with Syrus is that you'd be dead too!" I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what good would that have done?"

His eyes fell to the sidewalk; he reached up and rubbed the tears from his eyes. "You're right," he choked out, swallowing more sobs. Everyone stood there for a moment, just absorbing everything.

"Do you guys have any idea who might have shot him?" Tony asked after a moment. I clenched my hands and shook my head, my eyes drifting unwillingly toward Syrus.

"No," I whispered.

"Giese?" Crow offered but Jesse quickly shook his head.

"No. Syrus was shot at close range; Giese is a sniper kind of guy, he prefers killing from distances." His eyes narrowed at the thought of the Skull after him. "He can't look his victims in the eye." He squeezed his eyes closed, hands balling into tight fists. "Except for me."

I gave his arm a hard squeeze, one that would leave a bruise but wasn't meant to. He simply nodded and let out a shaky breath; now was not the time for him to start acting like this.

"Jaden!"

My head snapped up at the sound of Jess' voice. She and everyone else was running toward us.

"I called them," Hassleberry whispered, probably seeing the question in my eyes. "Sorry."

I shook my head, secretly relieved. I did not want to be the one explaining to everyone that Syrus was killed. Everyone slowed down as they approached, gasping when they saw Syrus.

"No," Bastion whispered, covering his mouth with his hand. I looked at everyone, seeing the tears in Blair's eyes, the tight line of Chazz's lips as he tried to keep calm, the horror on Jess' face, the open-mouth expression on Atticus', and the hardening of Aster's eyes. I didn't see Alexis or Akiza. Just then a hand slipped into mine. I looked to my right, startled to see that Alexis was standing next to me. I noticed Akiza next to Yusei. Even Yugi was there, talking quietly to Atem and Joey; he was probably explaining why Syrus, Hassleberry and Tony had left the house.

"I guess I was right," I murmured softly, looking back at Syrus.

"Right?" Alexis whispered. I smiled sadly at her.

"I had a feeling that after Jim killed Viper that the next person to die wouldn't be a Skull." I looked back at Syrus, not really seeing him. "I just didn't think that the next person to die would be one of you guys."

Alexis placed her hand on my cheek, turning my face so was looking at her. She looked ready to say something when someone else spoke up.

"What the Hell is going on here?"

Every neuron in my brain fired up at the sound of that voice, a voice I recognized but couldn't believe. Slowly I turned to see someone I knew very well…once.

"Zane."

Zane Truesdale, Syrus' older brother, the once-King of Obelisk Blue and ruler of Duel Academy. He graduated Duel Academy two years ago and had been taking the Pro-League by storm when he suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth. Now he was standing not ten feet away from me, ten feet away from his brother's body, dressed in black with a dark look in his eyes.

"Jaden. What's going on?" he demanded, tone hard and cold.

I ground my teeth together and pushed Alexis away from me, against Jim, and jumped on Zane, grabbing the collar of his jacket and spinning him around, slamming him into the wall of the Corner Mart. He grunted in pain.

"Jaden!" Alexis gasped but I ignored her, keeping my eyes narrowed at Zane.

"Jesse!" Julie said. I could see him out of the corner of my eye, gun raised and pointed at Zane.

"What's going on here?" I tightened my hands around jacket. "What the fuck do you think is going on?"

He glared at me. "If I knew what was going on then I wouldn't be asking what's going on!"

"Don't get smart with me!" I pulled him away from the wall and slammed him against it again. His head cracked against the brick, causing him to become dazed for only a moment.

"Jaden, stop!" Alexis cried but, again, I ignored her.

"I'll tell you what's going on here! Syrus was just murdered!"

If I hadn't been practically nose-to-nose with him, I wouldn't have heard the hitch of breath in his throat, the minuscule widening of his black eyes. He even sagged slightly, as if the news of his brother's murder actually affected him.

"Murdered?"

"Yeah, murdered, by the goddamned Skulls!" I pulled him closer to my, his nose touching mine, "Your new buddies!"

There was an audible gasp behind me, more from my friends.

"What?" Bastion whispered.

Even Zane looked surprised. "My new what?"

I slammed him against the wall. "Buddies! You know? Your new buddies, amigos, friends! The sick, twisted bastards you've been spending all your time with during the past few months!"

You could just feel the tension in the air, the shock mixed with horror. Zane sagged in my grasp just slightly, but he kept cold, steel-like eyes on me. "Why do you think-?"

I cut him off. "I don't think anything! I know!"

He was ready to speak again but someone else did first.

"I saw you," Jesse said calmly, taking a step forward with his gun still level. "That day at Chris and Emmy's apartment. You were the Skull that drowned the apartment in gasoline. You were there, with the match in your hand, while Julie and I were there." Jesse pulled back the safety on his gun. "You tried to kill me and Julie."

"Zane," Atticus whispered, looking at him in horror. "Please tell me that isn't true." He took a step closer. "You're my best friend; tell me you aren't working with these…these sick people!"

Zane refused to look him in the eye, keeping his own on the ground.

"I can't believe you!" I snarled. "You lose one duel against Aster and you turn into a living Michael Myers!"

Zane snapped his head up. "I haven't killed a single person!"

"But you tried to burn two alive!" I tightened my hands until my knuckles were white. "Just because you didn't succeed doesn't make you a saint!"

He turned away from me.

"I can't believe you! You're brother was just killed by your new friends and you don't give a damn!"

He snapped his head toward me, eyes blazing. "Of course I give a damn!" He shoved against me, forcing my hands to free his jacket so he was standing. "He was my brother! Why wouldn't I care?"

"You've been hanging out with murderers for months, Zane!" I took a step toward him. "I'm not even sure who you are anymore!"

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean!"

"Look at you! You've changed all because you lost a fucking Duel!"

He shoved against me. "Look who's talking!"

I stood my ground. "What does that mean!"

"You ran away from Duel Academy just after Aster defeated you, same as me!"

I bristled. "I left because I couldn't see my damned cards! Why duel when all I'm staring at are blank card? I wouldn't even know what I'm playing!" I got right in his face. "And I didn't run off and join a fucking cult!"

"Right," Zane said, smirking. "Because you were already leading one!"

I snapped my arm out, punching Zane across the jaw. He stumbled back by the force, actually falling on the ground. He glared up at me, holding his jaw. I was fuming, clenching my hands into fists as I breathed deeply.

"Enough is enough!" I snarled. He looked away from me, almost ashamed. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "These Skulls die tonight!" I shoved him against the wall, pointing at him snarling, "And if you don't tell us where they are I'll kill you right now!"

Jesse moved closer.

"I know where they are," he muttered.

"Where!" I snapped but he shook his head.

"I'll tell you when we're not in the open."

I was about to tell him that he was going to tell me where they were now if he wanted to live when I heard the sound that meant he probably wouldn't have had a choice. A gun went off and I knew it wasn't Jesse's. Zane sagged against the wall and everyone else whirled around. The civilians scattered quickly, afraid to be on the wrong side of the bullet. My friends simply moved closer to us.

"Damn it!" I cursed loudly, seeing the 'hidden shooter'.

"I got this!" Joey yelled, running across the street.

"But who's got you?" Tristan yelled after him. Joey flipped him off but jumped on the person who thought they were pretty well hidden. He knocked the gun out of their hands and flipped them out into the light.

"Josie," Crow muttered, recognized the Skull from his own days as one. The girl was dressed in black from head-to-toe; you couldn't see one square inch of skin.

"Should we be worried about Joey?" I whispered. He shook his head.

"No."

And I knew he was right. I turned back to see Joey grab a knife from his belt and stab Josie in the eye as she launched at him, her own knife in hand. She slumped immediately, her knife barely grazing Joey's chest. He pushed her off his knife with his foot, walking back to us as he whipped the blood off his knife before putting it away.

"Too easy," he said, sounding disappointed.

"She was the weakest; easily expendable," Zane said, holding his bleeding arm. Obviously Josie wasn't that good of a shot.

"And you?" I asked.

"Obviously I'm the same." He sounded like he'd known that fact all along. He looked at me, eyes blazing. "I will tell you where they are, Jaden. Just get me out of here before they send in Giese to finish what Josie couldn't."

I knew not to mess around with Giese. "Fine," I said. "Get him back to Yugi's." I spoke to Jesse, who'd began looking around with a pale expression. He nodded and put his gun away, grabbing Zane forcefully. He began yanking him toward Yugi's and everyone followed; everyone besides Alexis and me.

She grabbed my hand. "Are you okay?"

I didn't feel like lying. "No."

"Are you blaming yourself?"

"Yes."

She placed her hand on my cheek, turning my head so I was looking at her again. I stared at her with a blank expression. "Are you going to pinch me now?"

She shook her head slowly. "No." She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine softly, pulling back after only a moment. She then wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling my head down to her shoulder, and just held me. It was then that everything hit me. Tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes and my arms tightened around her waist. I buried my face in the crook of her neck and simply held onto her until I could breathe again.

When I finally pulled away, Syrus' body had already been taken away.

xXx

Yes, Zane's a Skull and Syrus is dead.

Yes, I am very evil.

Please, please review!

-runs away…again-

-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-

-o-Mel-o-

1. I'm not sure if Japan has CSI, I assume they do but I don't know if that's exactly what they call them. ((CSI means Crime Scene Investigation, just in case some of you guys don't know.))