Warnings: My biggest, and, in my humble opinon, BEST deviation from the original story. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX
Year One: The Academic
" Darling!" Camulla almost purred in delight. " I vas afraid you veren't going to come!"
Zane said nothing from where he stood, at the edge of the lake. Across from him, floating on the red carpet that was suspended on the murky water, stood the vampire. In a blood red dress that was draped attractively over her form and a sultry smile (to match her scorching eyes), Zane was surprised by his own lack of response. While he might have prided himself on his icy exterior, he was still very much a red-blooded male (the flush of heat that had surged up upon his introduction to Alexis was proof enough). And Camulla seemed more than ready to fulfill the stereotype of draculinas portrayed in movies.
" But, I should have known you vouldn't leave me out here to vait all night." Zane blinked, and suddenly the pale skinned woman was before him. She reached out a hand to brush the bangs out of his eyes, but Zane whipped his hand up, his duel disk clicking into place.
" Since I didn't keep you waiting, maybe you shouldn't keep me waiting." He said lowly, just the barest hint of a threat in his voice.
" Vhy, darling." Camulla's eyes lit, and she leaned close, tracing his cheekbone with a clawed finger. " Vhatever are you waiting for?"
" A duel." Zane growled.
" That's all?" Her voice had dropped lower, until it sounded husky with a promise. What she was promising, Zane wasn't exactly sure. But it made his heart thunder, just a little. Her finger slid down the edge of his cheek and tapped, very lightly, on his lips.
" Yes." Zane snapped through gritted teeth. " That's it."
Instead of scowling at him, like he'd expected her to do, Camulla let out a trilling laugh, patting his cheek as though he were a child. All around them, her bats echoed her hilarity, squeaking until their shrill calls made the water ripple.
" Ve vill see if you still feel that vay by the end of the night." Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the fluttering pulse at his neck.
" Quit touching me, and let's just get this over with." Zane made to pull a card.
" Here, darling?" Camulla raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. " My, my, you are eager."
Zane stopped, looking at the vampire suspiciously.
" I had thought, perhaps, ve might duel in a more…dramatic setting." She gestured to the castle that was slowly fading out of the mist, floating on the black water.
" This isn't dramatic enough for you?" Zane looked around. The trees whistled in the cold wind and the fog was so thick he could just see the form of the Shadow Rider, her red dress gleaming in the distilled moonlight.
" Vhen you've lived as long as I have, darling, such sights become commonplace." The woman shrugged as she looked distastefully around her. " Things that you might find fascinating are drab and listless in my eyes. Come." She beckoned him to follow her as she started down the carpet. " I vill show you a vision of true magnificence!"
She vanished into the mist, her bats flitting this way and that, screeching and wailing, their cries all mixed together in horrendous cacophony until Zane could swear he heard screams echoing up from the water. He put his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the sounds, but the screaming slithered in between his fingers, coiling around his eardrums and sifting through his brain until they rose up all the other sounds (the flapping of the bats, and lapping of the water, the very sound of his heart. And with each beat of that traitorous heart – It's the right thing to do – the screams crescendo-ed, breaking over him like a maddening wave.)
Zane yanked the hands at his ears back, greeted with a dead silence.
" Come if you dare, darling." Camulla's disembodied voice baited.
With a steady foot, Zane stepped onto the carpet, and walked forward, placing one foot in front of the other, trying very hard to ignore the ripples on the water below. His hands, still trembling from earlier, were clenched into fists and hung at his sides, the weight of his disk oddly comforting.
**_**
It might've once been a ballroom.
A great room, looming up to the sky, with great, glaring windows of stained glass, greeted him at the end of the candle lit hall. A faded red carpet, much drabber and older than the one he'd taken to get to the castle, covered the floor. Two raised platforms, overlooking the ground like balconies, stood at either end of the room, the railings that had once gone all around shattered and broken in bits. The opposite wall, painted an eerie blue, rose up behind a grand stair railing that looped the entire room, broken and splintered in places. High above him, hanging from the ceiling, was a circle of brass with a few, chipped candles attached to it, which was all that remained of what he was sure had once been a beautiful chandelier.
If the room itself was unimpressive (and, truth be told, it wasn't. The massive size, the delicate windows, the ruined chandelier all contributed to the dramatic feel), then the air of tragedy that emanated from it certainly was. The instant Zane stepped into the room, he was almost driven to his knees by the feeling of sadness that oozed from every wall, that dripped from the absent candles like melted wax, that slunk up from the floor and seeped into his flesh.
There was a sense of candlelight, of laughing couples, and goblets of spiced wine being held in delicate hands. Before his eyes, he could almost see the spinning figures of men and women in century old dress, dancing gaily to the music that played from nowhere.
He blinked and the vision was gone, snuffed out like a candle in the wind.
He blinked again, to rid his eyes of the tears.
" So, you see vhy I chose this arena."
Camulla stood atop the platform, looking out over the empty ballroom with far away eyes.
" It is a fitting place for a battle with such high stakes, vouldn't you agree darling?"
" What is this place?" Zane whispered to himself as he climbed up to the platform opposite. " What happened here?"
" Pain." Camulla spat. " Pain and suffering." She stopped abruptly. " But I don't vant to talk about such unpleasant things now, darling."
" Fine then." Zane let his disk activate. " Let's move on to the dueling."
" You seem to have read my mind, darling." Camulla grinned. " If you don't mind, I'd like to start things off my summoning my Vampire Lady in defense mode!"
There was a flash of muted light (darker, somehow, than the light he was used to), and a trilling laugh, and then a pale skinned girl wearing a flowing magenta gown appeared, kneeling on her card.
" And then, von card face down." Camulla smiled slyly at him. " Your turn."
(Truth be told, Zane had half been expecting the exuberant 'I'm thrownin' down a face down!" that ran rampant at Duel Academy. It was a bit of a relief to see that it had caught on in the rest of the world yet.)
" Since you seemed to be so eager to have this duel with me," Zane yanked a card out, " I supposed I'll have to impress you."
" That's vhat I like to hear, darling." Her fangs gleamed.
" I'll use Power Bond to fuse my three Cyber Dragons together!"
Camulla looked taken a back, going so far as to take a small step away from where a trio of lights had lit up Zane's side of the field, and his dragons were roaring in approval.
" And when these three dragons combine, they form the unstoppable Cyber End Dragon!"
With a triumphant roar, his dragon emerged from the light that flooded his side, towering over him in a mass of gleaming metal and sharp, jewel bright eyes that sneered at the stunned vampire. The three heads of the Cyber End Dragon went rearing back and let out an ear splitting keen, the metal of their hooked jaws grating together as they proclaimed their arrival. Zane, despite the feeling of sorrow that was still stirring in his chest (next to the heart that had broken with Syrus' proclamation), smirked.
" I take it I've accomplished my goal."
" Oh darling…" Camulla stared up at the monster, her eyes wide. Slowly, a manic smile spread across her face, throwing her fangs into sharp relief. With a heaving chest she grinned up at her opponents monster, her pale cheeks almost flushing in the red tinted light shining in through the coloured glass behind her.
" Oh, I knew it darling!" She clasped her hands in rapture. " I knew it the second I saw you! I knew you vould be the von to give me my great duel!"
" Your 'great duel'?" Zane raised an eyebrow.
" Not now, darling, not now!" Camulla pulled a card from her deck. " That will come later! But for now, let's see vhat it is you can do vith that great beast of yours!"
Zane rolled his eyes at her theatrics.
" If you want to lose so quickly." He sighed, and then threw his arm forward, his eyes like steel.
" Power Bond doubles the attack points of my monster, giving him 8000!"
" 8000?" Camulla breathed. " My, darling, you certainly do vork fast."
" And the bite," Zane smirked, " is most definitely as bad as the bark! Cyber End Dragon, attack Vampire Lady with Super Strident Blaze!"
Each head went up, it's mouth filling with bright yellow light. With a shuddering movement, each head sent the blazing ball of light hurtling towards the kneeling girl. As the balls flew at her, they struck, and in a shower of sparks, combined into one huge ball that threatened to engulf the vampire.
" Not so fast, my dear Zane!" Camulla's grin stretched from ear to ear. " I play the trap card, Red Ghost Moon!"
Her face down card flew up, revealing a haunting, grinning visage carved into a crimson moon.
" If I discard von zombie to the Graveyard, Red Ghost Moon adds the attack points of your monster to my life points." She stared the attack down. " So it's 1200 points for me, and yours drop down to 0, vhat vith Power Bond's effect."
" Wrong." Zane slapped a card down onto his disk. " I activate Diffusion, which takes my Dragon, and splits it up into its three original components." Above him the Cyber End Dragon glowed. As the glow split itself up into three separate glowing entities, Zane breathed a well-hidden sigh of relief. " So you're left with nothing, Camulla, what with red Ghost Moon's target gone."
" And with Power Bond gone, you don't suffer any consequences." Camulla sighed. " You are a most vorthy opponent, my darling."
" Stop calling me that." Zane snapped at her. " This is a duel, not a chance for you to flirt."
" Flirting implies that what I am doing is not serious. And let me assure you darling, that I am completely serious." Camulla looked him dead in the eye. " Your soul will make a fine addition to my army. I may even make you my king, if you continue to impress me."
" What army?" Zane said, put on edge. " What king?"
" I am old, darling." Camulla looked away, staring at the opposite wall. " Older than you can imagine." She smiled sadly. " Eternity can be so lonely and cold, vhen there's no one to share it with."
" I'll play one face down." Zane said, eyeing the vampire as though she may attack him (she was a vampire, his preservation instincts argued, there was a pretty safe bet that she might attack him).
" Vhat?" Camulla blinked, drawn out of whatever dreamed had invaded her senses. " Oh, yes, of course darling. Good move."
Zane blinked at the praise.
" It's your turn you know."
" Oh yes, yes of course. I'll sacrifice Vampire Lady to summon Vampire Lord!" The kneeling girl vanished in a swirl of light. In her place floated a young man in a dark purple suit with a flowing red cape, his pale aqua hair shading one of his eyes from view. " And then, I'll sacrifice him to summon Vampire Genesis!"
In the place of the young man rose up one of the most hideous monsters Zane had ever seen. It was a bulky, muscle-y purple bodied thing with demonic red eyes and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. From each finger jutted a pointed claw, and two curved horns curled out from where his ears should be over his shoulders. A third horn speared out from the center of his forehead. At his back was an unusual set of blue wings, each strewn in between an ugly, dark blue claw, of which there were five. If he had been any less of a duelist, Zane would have cringed. As it was, he just let the corner of his mouth drop distastefully.
' Well, isn't that a pretty sight?' He thought sarcastically.
" Vampire Genesis, see if you can't shake that blank exterior a bit." Camulla pointed at Zane. " Attack him!"
The monster made to spew something from its body.
" Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to interrupt." Zane stared at the writhing creature. " I play my face down card, Attack Reflector Unit!"
" Don't tell me…"
" This card will evolve my Cyber Dragon into the Cyber Barrier Dragon!" His dragon was surrounded by a shining blue light. " And if the Cyber Barrier Dragon is in attack mode, then, once per turn, it allows me to send your monster's attack," Vampire Genesis let a wave of red energy surge off of its body, " right back to where it started!"
The energy smashed into the bright green shield that had surrounded his monster. With a screech, the Cyber Barrier Dragon tossed the attack back at the stunned Vampire Genesis, who went skidding backwards, but was otherwise unharmed.
Camulla flinched as the resulting shockwaves made the platform she was standing on tremble. When they had finally died down, she stood straight up, her lip half turned up to reveal a fang.
" Vell played, darling."
" Seeing as how it's my turn, I'll play the spell, Pot of Greed." He stopped. " I don't have to tell you what this does, do I?"
" Of course not, vhy vould you?" Camulla looked confused.
" It's just that…every time I've ever played this card, or anytime anyone else plays it, someone had to explain what it does."
" That…sounds like it could get very boring very fast."
" Tell me about it…I'm just gonna draw my two cards now."
" Oh, go right ahead, darling."
" It's Zane."
" Of course it is, darling."
" I'll play the spell Photon Generator Unit!" Zane held up the card. " By sacrificing my two dragons, I can summon the Cyber Laser Dragon."
" You are rather fond of those dragons, aren't you?" Camulla smiled up at them. " They really are quite beautiful. I had a dragon once. He was just a tiny little thing. It was a tradition to give them to your children when they reached a certain age. My poor Aaron never got his dragon."
" Who?" Zane couldn't resist.
And then Camulla looked at him, really looked at him for the first time, and the tragedy that had hung in the air came rushing back into his chest. In her eyes, across the desecrated ballroom, was all the sorrow and all the pain of an entire race, summed up in one pair of glistening eyes that could not cry. His chest constricted painfully, and Zane fell to his knees, gasping, his own eyes stinging with Camulla's tears.
" Aaron vas my son. My dear sweet little boy. My light. He vas fond of running, my Aaron, and he always beat all the mortal children he used to play with. But they never hated him, never resented him. They applauded and laughed vith him, and patted him on the back. They vere innocent. They did not hate." Her voice was barely a whisper, barely a sound over the howling wind and the crashing waves. But Zane heard her, clear as if she was shouting from the rooftops. The sadness flooded deeper, over his chest and down his body and into his weakened legs. Then up his torso and into his throat (he couldn't speak. He couldn't call for help. All he could do was make terrible, hiccupping noises), up his pale cheeks and into his eyes (he'd never cried before, not even when he'd pushed Syrus away.) over his aching forehead and into his puzzled brain, seating itself in between his thoughts.
" They didn't understand vhy they were forbidden to play vith us." Camulla whispered. " They didn't understand vhy their parents started killing all the vampires they saw, even the little ones who used to run in between the rocks vith them. They didn't understand vhy Aaron, my sweet little Aaron, was lying dead on the ground. They asked vhat vas happening. They vanted to know vhat had gone wrong. But I vas so angry…" Camulla pressed a hand to her eyes, which were dry. On his side of the field, Zane cried harder. " I vas so angry and hurt…can I be blamed? Should I be hated? They'd taken my son from me…shouldn't I take theirs from them?"
" Stop it!" Zane choked hoarsely. " Whatever you're doing, stop it!"
" My heart can't break, darling. It stopped beating centuries ago." Camulla looked at him indulgently. " My eyes can't bring forth tears. They vere dried with my rebirth. I need a beating heart, I need vet eyes, if I am to show you."
" This…this feeling…" Zane clasped a hand over his chest. " This feeling is…"
" This is my sorrow, Zane." And then Camulla was before him, cupping his cheek and forcing him to stare into her eyes. " This is my heart, broken vhen it could not be shattered, torn vhen it could not bleed. Only a mortal who bears a broken heart can feel my pain." She pressed his hand against where her heart was. There was s stillness there, an emptiness that made him want to pull away.
" There is no beat to skip, no breath to still. My pain is immortal, because I cannot feel it."
And then he blinked, and she was back across the field, staring at his Cyber Laser Dragon, and he was on his feet, like nothing had happened. And he was speaking, his throat unclogged.
" And Cyber Laser Dragon allows me to destroy one monster with equal or greater attack or defense points to it, once a turn."
" I bet you talk to all the girls like that."
" No." Zane's eyes narrowed. " Just the ones I really don't like." Anger was easier to deal with the confusion that was clouding his mind.
" Careful darling." Camulla bared her fangs. " Or you might just hurt my feelings."
" I'd rather hurt your life points!" Zane shouted. " Cyber Laser Dragon, Blue Lightning Lash!"
The blue light struck Vampire Genesis, making him vanish in an explosion of stars.
" And now, attack Camulla directly!"
The light struck her as well, sending the vampire spiraling back against the wall. The dust kicked up by her crash landing settled onto the ground. Shakily, she climbed to her feet, her hair a bit messier, and smudged of dirt of her face. She glared at him
" And now, Cyber Barrier Dragon attacks! Sonic Shriek!"
The look on her face as she was being thrown back against the wall she had just hobbled away from, Zane decided, made everything worth it.
" And one face down ends my turn." Zane smirked. " Have I been living up to your expectations of me?"
" Careful darling." Camulla chided from behind the dust. " You're forcing me to reveal my ugly side. And if these keeps up," the dust cloud settled, " it will only get uglier."
' I don't think I'll be able to keep my cool if that gets any uglier.' Zane thought, but knew better than to say out loud.
" I play Illusion Gate!"
And then everything went straight to Hell.
Not the duel exactly.
Yes, Camulla summoning Cyber End Dragon to her side of the field was bad. And having previously destroyed all the monsters on his side of the field was quite a bit on an inconvenience. And watching Camulla split into two separate, but very corporal Camullas had freaked him out more than he dared to admit (stupid horror movies. Why he had stayed up watching them – and forced Syrus to stay up watching them too- when he was a kid was coming back to haunt him).
But it wasn't as if he didn't have a plan. The second she'd ordered the Cyber End Dragon's attack, he'd played Call of the Haunted, and used his newly resurrected Cyber Barrier Dragon to send the attack ripping right back. And while it actually made his chest tight to have to destroy his own monster, he knew in the end it would be worth it when Camulla was defeated, and there would be one less Shadow Rider in the world. So he silently saluted his beast as it went down, relishing in the look of horror on Camulla's face as she was defeated. The Illusion Gate had opened ominously, and Zane had stood back to watch it take her soul to the Sacred Beasts, just as she said would happened.
Camulla had smirked.
" Darling," she taunted, " I said I had to offer a soul. I never said it had to be my soul!"
And then she'd pointed at him, smiling manically.
" I vill honour my word and give up my quest." He was being pulled toward the glowing gate. " But if I don't get to have you darling, I don't think anyone else should either!"
And, laughing in a distinctly insane way, Camulla had watched him being helplessly dragged toward the burning, blazing light.
" Like Hell!"
And then he was being pushed away, rolling and tumbling over his own two feet, skidding along the musty caret, kicking up dust. He snapped his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, content to let himself fall head over heels so long as he was away from the vice like grip of the shadows yanking him into that blinding light. He heard Camulla's shriek of rage, and the creaking of the gate as it began to close, and finally opened his eyes.
Syrus was floating, glaring determinedly at Camulla, towards the open Illusion Gate.
" Not my brother!" The boy snapped. " You can't have him you bitch!"
" Syrus!" A horror, unlike any he had ever felt, filled him. " What the Hell are you doing?!"
Syrus turned to him, his eyes softening.
" I didn't mean it!" He called. Zane's heart skipped a beat. " I didn't mean any of it! You can talk to me whenever you want, and nothing's over, because I never meant to say any of that stuff! I was just so mad!"
Behind him, Camulla gave a start, staring at the boy being dragged into the blinding abyss.
" I told you not to come!" It seemed very important that he scold Syrus. " I told you!"
" But I'm not getting in the way!" Syrus smiled, and Zane's heart, whatever was left of it, shattered and swelled at the same time, sending sharp shards spewing out to jab at his body. " I'm helping you Zane!"
" Get away from that thing!" Zane shouted desperately, trying to push himself to his feet.
Syrus shook his head.
" I can't Zane. It's got to take somebody, and I'd rather it be me than you."
He was almost in the light now. Zane finally managed to right himself and went lopping across the distance, terror making his steps clumsy and unbalanced. He took another tumble, rolling forward and hauling himself back up again, eyes locked on where his brother was slowly vanishing.
" You stay right where you are! You stay right there!"
" It has to be one of us." Syrus seemed so resigned to that fact, and Zane's heart leapt up into his throat. " And it can't be you, because you're the one everyone needs. You're the brave one, the strong one, the smart one. You can't go away."
" Neither can you!" Zane shouted, still running forward. " You can't leave Syrus!"
" It's okay. I finally got to be the hero." Syrus smiled. " And that's all I ever wanted. To be remembered like that."
" You don't have to be remembered because you aren't going anywhere!" Zane reached his hand forward, trying to grab at Syrus' sleeve. The boy gave a small, sad, smile, and leaned into the light.
" Bye, Zane. Tell everyone goodbye for me." He was almost there. His fingers brushed the edge of that stupid red jacket he'd used as justification to bully his brother more (full circle, second chance, rebirth; why did he never hear opportunity when it knocked? Why was he always such a blind fool?).
" And I know you don't want to hear it Zane," His fingers closed around the fabric, " but…"
Just one pull backwards and…
" I love you."
The gate slammed shut.
Well? What do you all think? Was that awesome? Did I do good? Did you like it? Please feed my ego, because I am so nervous about this chapter.
I think that everything is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case:
Aaron - I wanted something with a ling 'r' sound, and old sounding. Plus, Aaron means 'light'.
Camulla not being destroyed - She was my favourite Shadow Rider, because she seemed like she had the best shot at redemption. Abidos was nice (pretty much) to begin with, and Atticus was brainwashed (and Tayna was just too intense for me to like too much- don't worry, she won't be bashed). I might bring Camulla back for a cameo in later Years. You never know.
MoS