Chapter XXXIV: Eve of Destiny
Hello again, dear readers and welcome back to Darkness Falls. Now you're probably expecting that this story will end soon. Well, due to the way things have flowed, we may have "Dawn Breaks" become a chapter title, not the continuation of this story. Let us know what you think about that, everyone. Now, as to the question raised by Fantasy Lover, Jaden did give Alexis an engagement ring off-screen. It's just really simple. And so, onto the story!
Last time, Jaden dueled Trueman in order to save Rosa and Yusuke Fujiwara. Jaden succeeded, and Rosa and Yusuke returned to this world. Yusuke had no memory of his time as Darkness's apprentice and Rosa was terribly thin, as captivity had caused her body to turn in on itself. So what comes now, when two have returned and Darkness knows there is a possibility of defeat? Read on!
(Peach and Ani check with the legal department… Again…) No, we don't own GX. We never did. We've established what we already own. Thanks.
Authors' notes and warnings: Mushy moments, a possibly traumatizing view of the World of Darkness, and the Duel Academy teachers and students in the shower. We promise we weren't too descriptive so you won't have nightmares of a naked Vellian Crowler. This chapter also attempts to answer the question of why Professor Banner sent the students into the abandoned dorms, now referred to in this fiction series as the Horakhty dorms, where they disappeared. Thank you!
Meanwhile, as Tyson fed Rosa, and the burn victims and Yusuke rested, a small celebration was happening. "JADEN YOU DID IT!" Aster Phoenix whooped, clapping Jaden on the back in an uncharacteristic display of joy. "That's two back!"
"Yeah... two of 'em," Jaden answered, still looking stunned.
Alexis hugged him tightly, ecstatic at this turn of events. "You beat him, Jaden... You beat him and not only got Rosa back, but even Yusuke... Atticus and Tyson are so happy." Her eyes were shining with hope for the future, knowing that somehow everything would turn out all right.
"Babe... wow," Jaden murmured, his brown eyes meeting her lighter ones. Aster, along with the others, wisely vacated the room to give the joyous couple some privacy. And Jaden kissed his fiancée in triumph. Alexis gladly kissed back, the kiss fueled with passion and her happiness. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. He kissed back, just as passionately. And then, when they broke apart, his face was serious. "This isn't over..."
She sighed. "You're right... There's still the main guy himself, of course..."
"Yeah... It's not over until everybody's home and safe, Lex..."
"We'll have at least a day, I'm guessing. Before he attacks," she mused.
"Yeah... I think Rosa needs it... and maybe Yusuke will remember something," he mused, still holding her. "Or Rosa... she's so thin..." He shivered slightly, thinking of all the people trapped in the twilight world. How many of them, he wondered, were worse off than Rosa? How would they be when they returned?
The blonde young woman frowned. "She's even thinner than Annie when she was going through that eating problem... And it's even weirder seeing Rosa that way..."
"Yeah... well, we'll take the time and get her better... Oh, man... If the darkness did that to Rosa... what's happening to everybody else?!" He had to voice his fear.
This time it was her turn to shiver. "I don't know...we'll probably find out when he attacks..."
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A few hours passed, and the natural sunlight gave way to sunset and then to a clear, starry night. Pharaoh the cat padded into Jaden's temporary Ra quarters, wiggled his ample kitty cat behind, and jumped onto the bed. "Hey, Pharaoh," Jaden greeted as Alexis returned from the bathroom. "You want to sleep with us tonight?" he asked.
The large cat meowed in answer, curling up at the foot of the bed comfortably. Alexis chuckled as she climbed in beside Jaden. "I think that's a yes, Jay..."
"Okay... Lex... maybe if he wants to... and it's okay... would you mind if Pharaoh went with us when we leave the academy?" the brown-haired Slifer asked his love.
She looked over at him in surprise. "You mean...come to live with us?"
"Yeah," Jaden answered, reaching to scratch behind the cat's ears. "I have this feeling... like he's supposed to go with me... with us..."
Alexis smiled, running a hand along Pharaoh's side. "Sure. I don't mind having him around... It'll be nice."
Pharaoh meowed contentedly. "Okay... Pharaoh, I'll clean your litter box and everything," Jaden promised.
Alexis couldn't help but laugh again at that. "And I'll make sure you stay well fed."
"Think you'll like that, Pharaoh?" Jaden asked the big cat. Pharaoh meowed, liking that very much.
"Well, how about now we get some sleep? We're still at Duel Academy, if you remember," Alexis murmured, stifling a yawn.
Jaden nodded. "Yeah... tomorrow's gonna be a long day... But we're going to save everybody... And tomorrow night, Bastion and Violet will be back, and Marcel... and everybody who's disappeared. Kisara will have Noah and Rini back and Bakura and Amane will have Alex... Joey and Mai will have Angela back... And Yugi and Teá will have Lil back... Those kids had better be okay..."
Alexis sighed. "We won't know for sure until they get back... Hopefully none of them are as bad as Rosa..." Jaden nodded again, choosing to cuddle close to his love, enjoying the peace before the storm hit.
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As the residents of Ra Yellow drifted off to sleep, millions, no billions of people drifted in an endless sea. Each was locked in their own personal hell, doomed to see things that made them feel guilty for all eternity, unless they were freed. They were floating in the ether, some twitching as they fought their horrid visions. Children saw their parents, friends or family twisted into grim phantoms or saw bleak futures.
It was the same for three Duel Academy students. One, a tiny Ra who had grown even smaller during his time there, was forced to relive his parents fighting and leaving. Over and over again, gradually being forced to succumb to the idea that it was his fault it happened. 'No, Maman, Papa… I didn't mean it! I didn't mean to make you hate each other!' Marcel Bonaparte cried out in his head. But while his actual parents would've tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, the distorted phantoms of his mind and Darkness's imagery continued to torment him.
And a young man with dark hair twitched in the ether as memories of failure to protect the woman he loved, and watching her die over and over again. And he watched as he repeatedly had to kill, even though he had known he had no choice in the matter. 'Violet,' he mentally cried out. 'I love you... forgive me...'
Violet was closer than Bastion, though; in fact, she floated next to him, just far enough so that his hand was out-of-reach. 'Bastion,' she called back. 'I love you... don't leave...' Unlike her fiancé, she was forced to go through various scenes where her friends abandoned or berated her. And she had to go through even more nightmares of the man she loved saying he didn't love her, or transforming into a Mike-like monster of his former self. Perhaps if they'd been able to touch, it would have alleviated some of the torture. But alas, they drifted so closely, and yet so far apart, surrounded by a multitude of others just like them.
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When dawn came to Duel Academy, Jaden Kiyo Yuki, for once, was up with the sun. Alexis still slept in the big bed, and so the young man got out and headed to the sliding glass door. He opened the door and stood out on the small deck alone. The calm cool breeze ruffled his brown and red hair, but it did little to alleviate his inner tension. So much rode on his next duel, and it frightened him a bit. And so he stood, looking out at the green grass, dirt paths, the tall trees and the sapphire ocean.
Pharaoh, smelling the morning breeze, woke up, stretched and lightly jumped off the bed. The large cat padded to the open door and sat next to the human. He meowed, allowing a familiar golden orb to escape from his mouth. Jaden noticed the orb, as he had the past two years. "Hey, Professor Banner," he greeted softly.
The orb floated around the Slifer for a moment, before coming to rest near the teen's shoulder. "Hello, Jaden. You're up early," Professor Banner's voice greeted.
"Yeah... it's a big day, Professor Banner... I have to be up to this... Or... so many people," the young man groaned softly, feeling the heavy weight upon him become even heavier.
The orb projected the familiar ghost of the deceased professor, and he smiled, sensing his student's tension. "Jaden, you have done so well all this time. This is your last challenge... And you will win and save everyone. I know it."
Jaden managed a smile. "Professor Banner, thanks...But... can I ask you a question?"
The spirit nodded. "Of course, Jaden."
"Why did you send Atticus to the Horakhty dorm?"
Professor Banner frowned slightly, turning his gaze out towards the rising sun. It even glinted off of his ethereal spectacles. "You mean when I asked those students to come for a special test?"
Jaden nodded, meeting Banner's gaze squarely. For some odd reason, the young man had to know the truth, just in case the worst occurred. "Yeah... I just want to know why, is all..."
The instructor sighed, and took what in life would've been a deep breath. "Jaden...do you know why Atticus had half of the shadow charm, as you did?"
"Not really... Yasmine gave it to him... I think," the boy remembered, referring to the Gravekeeper Chief's pretty daughter in the strange pseudo-Egyptian dimension.
Banner nodded. "Yes, she did. Jaden, the reason why he had it, is because he was the one meant to defeat the Shadow Riders and Kagemaru. He would have been in your place...had I not interfered."
"Why did you?" Jaden had long ago forgiven Professor Banner. Now he just needed answers, if they were there.
The teacher chuckled softly, and then smiled bitterly at the Slifer. "Pure selfishness on my part. Of course Kagemaru requested it, but I followed through with it..."
"You were trying to save yourself... Professor, I understand wanting to live... But wasn't there any other way?"
Banner looked back out at the sky, sighing. "Sometimes I ask myself that same question, Jaden. I will never know for certain... But at the time, all I had to go by was my own experimentation and research."
"So...what did Kagemaru ask you to do? And what did you get in exchange?" the student asked.
"He asked me to gather a group of students in the basement of the Horakhty dorm. He would handle the rest... He also asked me to include Atticus, since he would be the biggest threat to his plans. In exchange...he promised to continue funding my research."
"And that bought you some time," Jaden stated, somewhat understanding his teacher's desperation.
"Hm…did it?" Banner mused, looking at his see-through hand. "I still wonder...if I made the right decision... Perhaps that is why I'm still here..."
Jaden reached out and placed his hand over the ghostly one as best he could. "Maybe you're still here because I still need guidance. That's what Annie thinks. She said you're like Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. And she says he didn't move on until Luke Skywalker was really ready for him to. So maybe you're here for a good reason..."
The ghost looked at Jaden in surprise, but then smiled. "And maybe you're right, Jaden... Whatever the reason, though, I am still here. And I will help you as much as I can..."
"You already are, sir... And you did the first day I was in class. You believed in me..."
It was one of those moments that any good teacher lives for; to know that one made that much of a difference in a student's life. Professor Banner's smile broadened happily. "Of course I did, Jaden. I knew you would do great things."
"Thanks, Professor," Jaden answered. "Just stay close today... I need everybody behind me..."
"Don't worry, Jaden. I will. Right, Pharaoh? You'll stay close to Jaden, yes?" Banner asked, turning back into an orb. Pharaoh meowed, inclining his big, fluffy head, and opened his mouth to capture the big shiny orb.
"Yeah, I know you'll stay close, Pharaoh," Jaden smiled, reaching down to scratch the cat behind the ears. But the cat had other plans and rolled onto his back so the Slifer could rub his big, furry belly.
"Jaden?" asked a voice groggily from the doorway, followed by a yawn. Alexis stood in the sliding door's frame, her pretty figure encased in a long pale pink nightgown that came to her knees and had spaghetti straps. Her hair was slightly disheveled from lying on the pillow, but she still presented a pretty picture.
The young man looked up from where he was now kneeling, rubbing the cat's belly. "Morning, babe... did I wake you?" he asked, getting up to hug her close.
"No... I woke up myself and was wondering where you were... Usually I'm the first one up," she answered, smiling slightly.
"I had some stuff on my mind... And I had a chat with Professor Banner... Everyone's coming home today," he stated gently. Somehow, he had a feeling that he could not fail. That emotion warmed him as the rays of the rising sun warmed him.
"Yeah...you're going to beat whatever this is, Jay... I know you will."
He kept her tight against him for a long moment. "Yeah... I've got everybody... Hey, Yubel?" he called out.
The duel spirit appeared beside them. "Yes, Jaden?"
"I have a feeling you're not going to be benched today... Be ready for anything... And remember what we promised a long time ago," he smiled, softness coming into his eyes. The promise to love and care for each other hadn't changed and never would. "I'm always gonna watch your back..."
"And I'll always love and protect you, Jaden," Yubel answered softly, hugging the young man and his fiancée. Jaden grinned, feeling his spirit friend and the woman he loved surrounding him. And it was at that moment he knew for sure that he would not fail.
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About half an hour later, the girls headed to the spacious Ra group showers and got ready for the day. "Did everybody sleep okay?" Blair asked, scrubbing her long, raven locks.
Alexis sighed, letting the warm water wash over her. "Jay and I slept okay."
"So did I," Echo added; it was the first time they had seen her without make-up.
Miss Fontaine smiled, also letting the water rush over her slim body. "Me too... I caught some catnaps, watching Rosa... She's doing better this morning, by the way, girls. She'll need a couple of weeks to gain back the weight she's lost and to get her muscle back, but she's going to be fine."
"Oh, thank God," Annie murmured. She had slept, but somewhat fitfully in her fiancé's arms. Her dreams had been troubled by images of her still-missing friends drifting on a seemingly endless sea, twitching in pain. She closed her eyes as the water raced down her figure, trying to block the worst of the dreams.
"Annie?" Alexis asked, breaking through her concentration in a worried tone.
"Huh?" the dark-haired girl asked, opening her eyes. "What is it, Alexis?"
"Are you okay?" the blonde inquired as she washed the shampoo out of her hair.
"Uh... yeah...Just... had rough dreams last night... I didn't kick Sy out of bed, though I think I did wake him up," Annie sighed, wishing that she didn't flail when she had troubling dreams.
"Rough dreams? It wasn't a nightmare, was it?" Echo asked, remembering what the group had told her about their dreams before Trueman had taken them.
"I don't know... It felt... different... like I was seeing something... real," Annie explained, shivering despite the warm water running down her form to the cream and yellow tiles on the floor.
"What was it?" Mindy asked, rinsing out the conditioner from her hair.
The blue-eyed, dark-haired teen girl tried to collect her thoughts, forcing herself to recall exactly what she'd seen. "I saw... Violet, Bastion, Marcel... the Kaiba twins... and a lot of other people drifting somewhere..."
"Drifting...? Isn't that what Rosa was doing when Trueman showed us where she was?" Alexis asked, remembering.
All of them nodded. "Annie... honey, you saw where they were," Miss Fontaine realized. "What did they look like?"
When Annie spoke again, it unnerved the group. "We need to set up medical quarters... It's going to be rough for some of the people..." She'd seen her fellow students, people she didn't know, and people she recognized looking like shadows of their former selves. She knew that things might be very bad and that Duel Academy must be prepared to help the weakened victims.
"But we don't know for sure where they're going to appear. Maybe...only the students will reappear back here on the island," Echo stated musingly.
"Whatever the scenario... we're going to be ready," Miss Fontaine answered. "I may need a lot of help, or it may not be needed, but whatever... be ready, all of you."
"I can help with blankets and stuff," Blair volunteered eagerly, turning off the faucet in front of her.
"I know a little first-aid...and I can help get things too," Alexis added.
"I know first-aid and have some extensive medical knowledge," Echo stated.
"Us, too!" Mindy and Jasmine added together. The girls finished their showers and went to get dressed. And then it was the boys' and male teachers' turns for the showers.
"Okay, so who goes first?" Professor Viper wondered. "Since we have to go in shifts..."
"Uh... should we duel?" Jaden asked curiously.
"Well, uh...what if the teachers go first, and then the students?" Syrus offered.
All six male instructors looked at each other. "Syrus, that's a good idea," Dr. Crowler praised, clad in his favorite blue bathrobe. "We don't have to duel every time we have to do something..."
"Don't tell me you guys do that," Yusuke muttered, picturing duels every time someone moved.
"Do we?" Jaden wondered, laughing.
"Well, what's so bad about that? Duelin's great!" Jesse countered, grinning eagerly.
"Uh... Jesse... we're just choosing who takes showers first," Adrian explained with saintly patience, while Axel face-palmed.
Jesse pouted. "But duelin's more fun than doin' rock, paper, scissors or somethin' to decide. Ain't it, Jay?"
"Yeah, it is!" Jaden grinned, "But... since Darkness might attack us soon... I don't think we should take the time..."
Aster grinned, catching the humor in what his friend and rival had said. "You think? Okay, so... All in favor of Sy's suggestion, say, Duel!"
"Duel!" everyone shouted.
And so the teachers headed into the showers first. "That boy is our best hope," Jean-Louis said softly as he scrubbed himself down. The past few days had clearly taken their toll on the rotund professor. He looked like he'd aged nearly 100 years in that short time.
"Jaden will win, and he will save us all," Vellian stated and then shivered. "I still can't believe I'm saying that..."
"Oh, come now, Vellian, I think you knew long ago Jaden would do far better than you thought the day you met him," Andrew Shepherd smirked, carefully cleaning his mustache.
"Yes, you simply did not want to admit it. You were known to favor the Obelisks, after all. And Jaden has always been a Slifer," Don Sartyr added with a grin as he washed his graying hair.
Stein smirked as he cleaned himself, his vision slightly blurred without his glasses. "Hmph. You can't very well blame him. Slifers were often at the bottom for good reason." There was still some elitism within the normally bespectacled instructor, though he knew the truth of the Slifer boys' worth.
"We underestimated those boys, Ben," Vellian countered, surprising himself. "Look at Syrus Truesdale and Chumley Huffington. They just needed their confidence built up..."
"I suppose you're right. We both owe them for changing us for the better, don't we?"
"Definitely," Vellian answered.
Professor Viper nodded thoughtfully. "If not for those kids, I don't know where I'd be right now..." He often wondered how his plan with Yubel would have turned out had Jaden and his friends gotten back to school as scheduled. Perhaps, he reflected, it was a good thing he didn't know and would never know.
"They managed to help all of us, even while they were busy fighting evil constantly. It's amazing," Don stated, smiling.
Andrew grinned, his eyes dancing joyfully. "And they helped each other. And now, they're going to save the world... Jean-Louis... you're going to have Marcel safe with you in a very short time..."
"I hope so," Jean-Louis murmured again.
Next, the boys headed in to take their showers. Belowski looked a little nervous. "Uh... so... everybody's like in here?" he asked curiously as he'd never had a group shower before. He was also smaller than most of the boys, and was self-conscious.
"Oh yeah, you've never done this before, Belowski. It's just like taking a shower by yourself...then just add other people," Syrus tried to explain, remembering how he'd felt the first time in Domino High's boys' locker room.
"If it makes you feel more comfortable, mate, pretend you're alone," Jim added, grinning.
"But I'm not alone," Belowski answered, still a little nervous.
"Dude, it's cool," Aster soothed. "Just… don't worry about it. We're all guys and we're all talking about stuff. And NO TOWEL SNAPPING!" he yelled at Jaden and Jesse who had suddenly decided to horse around.
Jesse pouted again, exchanging glances with his twin. "Aw, Jay, we got caught before we could even do anything."
Jaden, frozen in a pose indicating he was clearly about to get his Southern counterpart, grinned sheepishly. "Yeah... How'd you know, Aster?"
"This is the second year I had to deal with you snapping towels, Jaden, and then you came, Jesse," the platinum blonde blue-eyed teen answered clearly.
Jesse's pout turned into a broad, proud grin. "I was the towel snappin' champ back at North Academy! You can ask Chazz!"
Syrus sweat-dropped. "It's probably a good thing he's not here right now..."
"Yeah... it probably didn't help that I did that here all the time," Jaden grinned sheepishly as the guys turned on the water. "Chazz avoided the group showers here when he could our first year or got in and got out really quick..."
"Atticus wasn't much better... I'm really glad he's not here right now," Syrus reminded his best friend, grimacing at the thought. The Obelisk had a very good technique that would make it sting for a while.
Belowski, fortunately, had read up on towel snapping. "Ouch, dudes... peace in the bathroom..."
Yusuke had been pretty quiet in the bathroom as he disrobed, but now spoke up. "This is my first shower in... four years," he said, stunned.
"You don't remember anything at all from your time in that world, mate?" Jim asked.
Yusuke shook his head. The spell Darkness had cast was very strong. "It's a blank...and maybe that's a good thing... I'm not sure I want to remember..." He shivered a little in the warm water now running down his back.
"But...that's four whole years..." Syrus said, frowning.
"Yeah... maybe I'll remember some good things...I'm glad I remember your brother, Syrus," Yusuke said. "And I remember him talking about you..."
Syrus looked at the taller boy in obvious surprise. "He talked about me??"
"Yeah... He had pictures of you two up in his room... And he told me all about his little brother who wanted to be a duelist." The older guy grinned at the memory. And then he caught Sy's expression. "He didn't tell you?"
Syrus frowned, looking down. "No... He wasn't like that around me..." He explained how Zane had treated him mostly in the first year, before he had opened up and proved he really did care about his little brother.
Yusuke remembered that. "He was almost as closed off as I was..." And a memory came to him from the time with Darkness.
"I wanted to forget that world," he said to his dark master.
"Nothing is stopping you from doing so, Yusuke, but yourself. Now that you have left it, it is only your will to remember that stops you from forgetting," Darkness had explained patiently. Though the creature was considered evil and had dark intentions, it was actually quite wise and simply going about things the wrong way.
"I cast that spell... and now, he forgot me... they're all forgetting me..."
"Just as you wished, Yusuke. Besides, they would have forgotten you eventually."
"They would have," the past Yusuke said bitterly.
In the present, he moaned softly. "I remember something."
Axel tensed in his shower stall. "What was it?"
Yusuke took a deep breath, paling a bit. "I wanted to forget because of my parents... For a long time, I thought they'd forgotten me but they were dead..."
"Honest told us about that," Jesse piped up, remembering the angel monster's explanation.
"Yeah, he said you did what you did because you didn't want to hurt anymore," Jaden added. "He didn't know what happened to you and thought you died. But then he said he could sense you so he knew you weren't gone!"
Yusuke began to smile. "Figures he'd have done that. He promised to protect me..."
"Like a guardian angel?" Jesse asked, grinning at his joke.
Yusuke laughed, really laughed for the first time in four years. "Yup!" The gang of boys all laughed and finished their showers.
"Now that we're clean, hopefully Darkness will wait until we've had breakfast!" Jaden stated, now clad in his clean uniform.
"Well, it hasn't attacked us yet. I'd say that's a good sign it plans to wait," Jim replied, Shirley back by his side.
"Good..."
And just before breakfast was ready, Jaden quietly headed down the hall to Tyson and Rosa's room. "I figured you'd be here, Jaden," Miss Fontaine smiled, standing at the door. "You can come in for a few minutes..."
"Thanks, Miss Fontaine," he answered. The room was curtained so the occupants who needed to sleep could.
"Mornin', Sarge," Tyson greeted. "Rosa... darlin', look who's here," he said, helping her sit up.
Rosa was still weak, but she could do everything that one could while on bed rest. However, she still looked as thin as when she'd first reappeared. "Jaden... It's nice to see you again," she greeted, smiling. Though it had only been a little over two weeks, to Rosa it had felt like an eternity.
"Good to see you too... We all missed you, Rosa," he answered softly, coming over to sit where he could take her hand. "Tyson missed you most of all..."
Her smile grew a little as she sent a loving look at her fiancé. "I know... I wish I could say that I missed all of you, but I'm not sure if I had a chance to..."
"It's all right... You just concentrate on feeling better... And Tyson, you stay here with her..."
"Sarge?" the big Ra asked, eyebrows raising. He wanted to be with Jaden, but something told him his friend was about to ask him to stay put.
"This is still the field of battle, and your place is here with Rosa. I'm going to get our friends and the whole world back." Jaden's eyes were very serious.
Rosa frowned, knowing that Tyson wanted to be there to cheer Jaden on. "Jaden, it's all right if he goes to help..."
"No... he's already right with me," the Slifer answered calmly.
Tyson understood. "I ain't breakin' orders, Sarge. Rosa, darlin', it's okay... I need to stay with you... 'Sides, he's right. This is still the battlefield..."
Rosa looked from Tyson to Jaden, then sighed. "Los ninos son tan confuso," she muttered, frowning. What she'd said was Spanish for, "Boys are so confusing".
Tyson's eyes widened. And so did Jaden's. "Uh... why?" the Slifer wondered.
"'Cause she told me it was okay to go, but I ain't goin' 'cause you said I need to stay here. Right, darlin'?"
The Spanish girl nodded once. "And you say women are hard to understand. Hmph..."
"Well... it's only on stuff guys really can't understand, like... why you want to wear shoes that hurt," Jaden said, rubbing the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.
She raised an eyebrow. "The same reason we wear make-up. To look beautiful. Why do you men always have to prove that you're better than each other?"
They looked at each other. "She has a point," Jaden stated.
"Yeah... she's right. But still... I think I prefer arm wrestlin' to high heels..."
"As do I. But that's enough talk. Jaden, go and get our friends and everyone else back," Rosa stated seriously.
"You got it!" the boy grinned, getting up and giving her his signature triumphant pose.
"Go get 'em, Sarge!" Tyson whooped as Jaden headed out and Miss Fontaine came in with a bowl of oatmeal. "Okay, Rosa, time for breakfast..."
"Great. I'm still starving." The young man fed his future bride the oatmeal, and prayed mentally that his leader, his friend, would be given the strength to save the world again.
And after this brief interlude, Jaden is about to face his toughest duel ever. So next time, join us for "Jaden Versus Darkness: Death Shall Have No Dominion!" So until next time, please read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!
