Previously, on Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Arcane Chronicles and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: The war at long last erupted at the Arcane Academy, and duelists began to fall by the dozens, including Jay of the Good Duelists. The loss shook the Good Duelists and stole CyberV's confidence, but a concerted effort by Ikke, as well as a pep talk by Yugi Mutou, restored it. Ishizu revealed the secret of CyberV's transformations, the Millennium Wdjat, which was hidden inside his duel disk. As the Good Duelists prepared to return to the fight, the duel spirits suddenly cried out in agony. Jay found himself alone in the Shadow Realm, and in mortal peril, as Creator vanished. The reason why was at Duel Academy, where Jaden Yuki found himself face to face against the forbidden God Demon Cards...

"We've confirmed it," said LazyMan. "I just spoke to Chancellor Sheppard's assistant. The God Demon cards are being used right now. Almost every Duel Monsters card's lost their picture."

"And the one fighting them is this Jaden Yuki guy?" asked CV.

"That's what I was told."

"He'll win. He has to." From what he remembered, Ishizu had once told him that Jaden was like him, a chosen Duelist, possibly another Warrior. Jaden had his own destiny, but at this moment, their futures were entwined. If Jaden failed, the war was almost certainly destined to end with no winner... and that would mean that Jay and all the other missing would never return. And that was without considering that Duel Monsters would come to an end, and the Duel Spirits would never return... maybe even perish. As it was, only Rocket Warrior and Red-Eyes were still present, and they were unconscious, living within their cards and barely hanging on.

"I know this must be hard on you," said LazyMan. "Especially after Jay..."

"We'll get them back. All of them."

CV looked up to the sky. It was hard to believe that the entire war had so far only been about ten hours. Night would fall soon... It would no doubt be a very restless one.

"Good luck, Jaden... We're all with you."

Timezones away, Jaden Yuki looked up one of the biggest monsters ever created.

And grinned. This was gonna be fun!

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Arcane Chronicles: Battle for the Balance

Episode 37: While Jaden Duels: One Hour of Silence

Written by: Aaron (CyberV) Thall

"They're all blank..." Yugi looked at his deck and scowled with concern. The deck that held his heart was completely blank. He could still read them, yes, but their essence was gone, and to him, it was a terrible loss. He had only recently retrieved his deck from Kaiba's world tour, thanks to Hikari. Having it back made him feel almost whole again.

Instinctively, he put his hand to his chest, forgetting for a moment that the Millennium Puzzle was no longer around his neck... That the Pharaoh, his other self, was no longer with him. In a way, his relationship with Atem was like the one that several of the students at the Academy had with Duel Spirits. Bonded, sharing a soul... Losing them, even temporarily, had to be traumatic. And all on top of what Ramesus had already inflicted...

Yugi narrowed his eyes. He wouldn't allow Ramesus to bring the world into darkness. One way or another, the villain would be stopped.

"I... I wanted to thank you for before," said CV, coming up to Yugi.

"Hmmm?"

"What you said during the duel. It... It helped me get my head on straight. Helped me to find the strength to continue the fight."

"You would have found that resolve on your own," said Yugi. "I could see it in you the moment I walked into that room." Yugi smiled, softly. "I can tell that you're not the type to desert a friend in need."

"I try not to. I never had friends before I came here. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt them."

"So," said Yugi, "how do you intend to start?"

"Simple," said CV. "The others told me about Ishizu's belief that Ramesus knows all our decks. The first thing I need to do is build a new one..."

Yugi chuckled, knowingly. "I think I can help you with that..."

Ashes looked towards the west, where the sun was just beginning to set. Standing with her was Nat, ever the loyal friend.

"The hurt... It won't go away, " she said, miserably. "First Jay, now Flame Sprite. I... I'm afraid that everyone I care about is just going to vanish."

"You know that's not going to happen."

"My brother vanished on me," she said. "One minute he was there, my big, unwavering protector... And then..." She snapped her fingers. "Gone. He died saving my life..."

Nat nodded, having heard the story before. She knew Ashes had been forced to face her brother's ghost in a duel several months ago. She couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible that must have been. To get her brother back, but have to fight him and watch as he went away again...

Ramesus had really crossed the line that time. Of all his attacks, that one had, by far, been the most personal.

"When I came here, Jay became the one I felt safe with. When I needed someone to lean on, there he was. He could always make me laugh... Even not miss home. At times, I could even almost forget that my brother wasn't waiting for me there."

Nat smiled softly. She could see why Ashes had fallen in love with Jay. Just like she had. But she'd grown to accept that she and Jay would only be friends and nothing more, and while she envied Ashes for being closer to him, she accepted it as the way things were meant to be.

"And now Jay's gone. Just like my brother... And he went just like my brother, too... Protecting someone that couldn't defend themself." Nat winced. "I'm proud of him for that... But I'm so angry at him, too. I keep thinking that he should have thought of something else to save Tapkar... Or... Oh, I don't know... It just keeps running through my head..."

"I've been doing the same thing," said Nat. "I still don't know what he could have done differently. Ramesus has shadow powers and Jay... doesn't."

"No, and neither do we... The closest we've ever come are the duel spirits... Flame Sprite's the sister I never had... She and I have been inseparable, ever since the warehouse fire. And now she's missing too... Maybe..." She almost broke down again, but steeled herself.

"If they're gone, I won't stop until Ramesus pays, Nat. I swear, I won't."

"I don't doubt you, but like you said, you don't have shadow powers. You can't beat him one on one. Only one person on our side can, and the dork can't be everywhere."

"I know... It's just... Why couldn't he have been with US?" She couldn't help shouting the last word, the stress and anxiety getting to her. "It's horrible and selfish of me, but every time I think about Allis, I blame her and I blame HIM for HELPING her! He was TWENTY FEET AWAY, and it might as well have been twenty MILES."

"That explains the slap." Nat said it calmly, but she couldn't help the hint of sadness that tinged her own voice.

Ashes flushed. "I... I didn't mean to do that."

"He had a crush on you, you know."

Ashes nodded. "I know. The minute we first met, I knew, back on the plane that brought us together. I actually thought he was kinda... well, cute, in that immature goofball kind of way. But more like a kid brother than anything. Even when he transformed, he was still the biggest blasted showoff I've ever seen."

"Too true," said Nat.

"I guess that's kinda why Jay and I tried to set you two up together."

Nat flopped, then shot up.

"WHAT?!"

"Well, it's not like you're low key with those Cyber Dragon monsters of your's."

"So I'm a showoff?!"

"...Yeah, pretty much."

Nat considered that, and sighed. "I hate it when you're right. But me and the dork? Never happen."

"I dunno. We thought you'd be kinda good together."

"Then you've lost your mind, too," said Nat with a wry smile.

"If you say so..." said Ashes in a tone that clearly said she didn't buy the denials for an instant. "But when you talk about how he saved Big Andy, or your Cyber Dragon, there's suddenly a hint of something in your voice that's never there otherwise. I'm not sure what, but it's there."

Now it was Nat's turn to feel her face flush red.

"Well well," said Ashes. "A crack in that emotional armor you wear all the time." She smirked. "So there IS something there."

"I..." Nat sweatdropped.

"Relax," said Ashes. "I won't tell... But... you think he can get Jay back?"

"Yeah," said Nat, looking at the sunset. "I really do."

"I really, REALLY HATE THIS PLACE!" Jay ran as fast as he could, wondering what had happened to the Creator. All he knew was that they'd been about 80 feet above the floor of the Shadow Realm when his spirit had suddenly vanished, leaving him alone in a throne he couldn't steer. The crash had been painful, to say the least, and the throne had gotten trashed in the process.

At least he had weapons, though. He held a couple good sized chunks from the throne, the perfect things to smack away the shadow creatures when they caught up.

And they were catching up REAL fast.

He could only catch quick glimpses of them, but they were the same shapeless black blobs he remembered from before, craving the taste of human soul.

He was NOT inclined towards being on the menu.

"Man, I miss the others..." he muttered out loud.

With no better plan, he kept running. He had already lost all sense of time. He didn't know if he'd been in the Realm for hours or days... He only knew the hissing and growling of the creatures.

And he knew one other thing... They could jump.

He turned and saw one leaping, trying to latch onto his back. If that happened, they'd bring him down in no time.

"NOT TODAY!" he shouted as he swung one of his makeshift weapons, smacking it away like it was a baseball. It flew off into the distance, but he knew there were plenty more to take it's place.

Like the thirty he saw massing where the one had fallen.

"...Time to run again." He did.

"It's confirmed," said McMike. "Every card on campus has gone white."

"Annoying," said Ramesus. "And there's nothing to do but wait. After all, we can't wage a war without ammunition, now can we?"

"I can," said McMike.

"Of course you can," said Ramesus, amused.

"There's more," said the ninja enthusiast. "We're still trying to pin down exactly WHEN, but..."

Ramesus looked at him. "Spit it out."

"Yugi Mutou is here. In the school."

Ramesus narrowed his eyes and turned away from McMike.

"Surprising, but far from unexpected. His goddaughter is here, after all." He began walking away from McMike, just a few feet, before stopping, his back still turned. "This does complicate things, however. The Warrior's been taken care of, but the King of Games is another animal entirely. Is he alone?"

"No. He brought his usual entourage with him, and Ishizu Ishtar."

"So we'll have to deal with four very experienced pests," said Ramesus. "No bother. I've come too far for the likes of Joey Wheeler to be any sort of a threat."

"I'm glad you're here, Dad," said Hikari. "Things have been pretty rough here."

"Like I'd ever miss a good scrap," said Joey. "And besides, Joey Wheeler never lets down a friend, much less his own daughter!"

Hikari fiddled with her deck holster for a moment. "Dad... I... I wasn't exactly honest with you about my first week here."

"Hmmm? Whatcha mean?"

Hikari looked away. "Dad, you and Uncle Yugi have always taught me to duel with honor and integrity. But... But when I accepted the invitation to come here, I was filled with anger and jealousy, and I was willing to do almost anything to fix an imagined wrong..."

"What're you saying, Hikari?"

"I... I cheated in a duel, Dad. Against the dork... I thought he'd stolen those two cards and I just wanted to get them back so badly, that I used a list of his cards to use against him in a duel."

"You WHAAAAAAAT?!?!" Joey shot out of his seat and put her in a headlock. "What have I told you about cheating?! Don't you ever listen?!?!"

"ACK! I DESTROYED THE LIST! I SWEAR! He figured out what was going on and got my head on straight!" She pulled free from her dad and turned to face him. "And ever since, I've played straight and narrow. Totally clean."

"Did ya learn yer lesson?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. And I gained a friend I hadn't expected."

"Good," said Joey. "Thanks for telling me."

"I know you're disappointed in me, and you have every right to be... Especially... Especially after that guy I dueled a couple hours ago."

"Aw come ON..." groaned Joey. "What ELSE did ya do?"

"After Jay's... incident... I was... I was so ANGRY that I jumped the first evil duelist I could find and... I dueled the tar out of him, totally terrorized him, and made sure he went to the same place as all the missing students."

"You dueled for revenge. Did it make ya feel any better?"

"No... Not at all."

"Good. Then ya learned somethin'."

Hikari relaxed visibly.

"Now would ya hurry up and give yer old man a hug already! Sheesh! What's a guy gotta do around here?!"

Hikari smiled and gave him the biggest hug ever.

"I'm glad you guys are here," said Mokuba. "Things have been nuts around here all year. I mean, the first day here, those nuts are blowing up storage warehouses."

"Yeah, so we've heard," said Tea. "How are the students holding up?"

"They're scared out of their wits," said Mokuba. "But some of the unaffiliated students are trying to rally them... Not much luck, though. They're all just too afraid of Ramesus."

"I'd like to get my hands on that little punk..." Tristan punched his hand with his fist.

"Yeah. Beat up someone that hasn't even reached the driving age. Real nice..." Tea sighed. "So, Mokuba, how can we help?"

"Honestly, Tea? I just don't know. I just have this horrible feeling that as bad as things are... Ramesus hasn't even started TRYING yet."

"Okay," said CV as he looked at all his cards, spread out neatly along two tables. With them all blanked, the only way to tell them apart was the name on each card, which was going to make it a lot harder to do the job. "All three of my decks."

"An impressive assortment," admitted Yugi. "You've devised some powerful strategies."

"Not impressive enough," said CV. "Not if I'm gonna stop Ramesus."

"And you're sure you want to combine these decks?"

"Yeah," said CV. "It's the only way to create a deck unpredictable enough that Ramesus won't be able to counter my moves."

"Nothing's unpredictable. Not if you believe in the heart of the cards."

"Right now," said CV. "The cards with the heart are out of commission. But I'm hoping they'll be back soon." He glanced at his Duel Spirits' cards.

Yugi looked around CV's dormroom, and spotted a fourth holster. "What's this?" he asked, picking it up. He glanced inside. "A fourth deck?"

"My original deck. I called it Underdog. I abandoned it when I came here, even dismantled it. But something made me put it back together."

"Then maybe," said Yugi, handing the holster to CV, "you should add these cards to your arsenal again."

CV looked at the holster. "Maybe..."

"Okay," said Forest as he looked at his mostly blank cards. "This is creepy. With a capital CREEP."

"Would you PLEASE stop it?" asked Mech.

"Yes," said StrongMan. "You're frightening the other students more than they already are."

"I don't think that's possible," admitted Tapkar. "They keep pumping me for more on what happened in Arena 3."

"And what have you told them?"

"The truth..."

"Oh, WONDERFUL..." StrongMan groaned. Now they were bound to be afraid of their own shadows.

Ishizu found LazyMan's office quite abandoned. It would prove useful enough to help her gather her thoughts.

"The Warrior faces difficult times," she said. "And the true test lies ahead. I pray he's ready to face the darkness."

She looked at the small box she'd brought with her.

"And if he is not..."

"It's done," said Ikke as he entered the infirmary. "He's back to his old self."

Allis sat up, relieved. "I knew you could do it!" She hugged him hard. "Is he going to stop Ramesus?"

"He's going to try, and I will help where I can." He paused. "He must win this battle, if my country is to survive and be free of my father's tyranny."

Something dawned on Allis. "It hurts you, doesn't it? Not being the chosen one?"

"Yes," said Ikke. "All this time I have trained to stop my father... I... I resent having to rely on such a fool for salvation."

"He means well," she said. "He's a good guy."

"Perhaps," allowed Ikke. "But he's still the most annoying, aggravating twit I have ever met and... Why is that THING holding vigil over you?"

He stared at Spider-Rock, which was perched in the chair next to Allis' bed.

Both sweatdropped.

"I have NO idea how it got there."

They stared at it again, before shrugging.

Spider-Rock offered no explanation.

"An impressive trick," admitted Magyk as he stared at the blanked cards. "Whatever these God Demon things are, they sure pack a wallop."

"Indeed they do," said Poison, the sudden announcement of his presence being enough to make Magyk turn, instinctively ready for a fight. "God Demon things? What are you talking about?"

"You'll never know," said Magyk. "And what do you want?"

"I just thought you'd like to know that Ramesus knows that Yugi Mutou is at the school. He'll be ready for him."

"I doubt it," said Magyk.

"And by that confidence," said Poison, "I'm guessing that my illustrious leader underestimated CyberV's resolve." He smirked. "Good."

"'Good'?"

"Hey, I may be evil, but I don't have any interest in ending the world or stealing souls." He shrugged. "Personally, I'm in it for the babes."

Magyk sweatdropped.

"In any case," said Poison. "I thought you might like some advance warning."

"Thanks," said Magyk. "Won't you get in trouble for this?"

"Pfft." Poison waved it off. "Way I see it, if I don't, we ALL pay the price."

He walked away, smoke billowing out from his body to cover his exit. When it cleared, he was gone.

"The time draws near," said Jimbo, alone in his room. "Soon, I shall strike, and none, not even the fool who dares believe that he is my master, shall stop me from reclaiming what is rightfully mine."

His eyes glowed red in the darkness...

"It's been almost an hour," said Mouse, checking her watch.

"If this Jaden guy's gonna stop the God Demon Cards, he'll do it any minute now," added Drift.

"I know," said LazyMan. "And the minute he does, this war is back on."

"I'll get everyone ready," said Drift. He turned and left.

"Are you worried?" asked Mouse.

"I'd be insane not to be worried," said LazyMan. "Mouse..."

"I know," she said, taking his hand. She kissed him on the cheek. "No matter what, we find each other again when this is over."

"Its way too quiet," said Rex. "Wars aren't supposed to be quiet."

"Wars aren't supposed to be," retorted Ami. "Period."

"No argument here," said Rex. "So, how are things with you and your guy?"

"It's going all right," she said. 'But he's been distracted for a couple days now."

"If I remember right, he was possessed by his duel spirit, vandalized the cafeteria, and started fighting an insane shadow battle. Not exactly a lot of time for romance, right?"

"No... No, I guess not..." admitted Ami. "I just hope that whatever he's doing right now helps put an end to this nightmare."

"It's done," said CV as he gathered the chosen cards into a single holster. "One deck unifying all my strategies into a single package."

"Hopefully," said Yugi, "it will be enough."

"Yeah... Hopefully..."

"You're worried about the spirits?"

"Honestly? No. Jaden will pull through. I have faith in him and in destiny. We didn't come this far to fail now. Any minute now, he's going to save the world, and then, it'll be our turn to do the same."

Jaden Yuki was primed and in the zone. "ELEMENTAL HERO ELECTUM! FINISH HIM OFF!" His Hero, a fusion of four of his best monsters, leapt forward with a wicked looking blade and sliced through one of the God Demons, destroying it utterly and bringing the psycho that had summoned them to zero.

"And that's game!" He saluted, his usual duel ending tag.

It was all over but the accolades... Whatever THAT word meant.

The effect was immediate across the globe, as card images began reappearing.

"My... My deck!" Forest looked as his cards returned to normal. "They're all coming back!"

"Great," said Strong Man. "Now we can all go be in mortal peril again..."

"ASHES!" Ashes looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, just in time to see Flame Sprite and Cyber Dragon appear. She would have hugged the little spirit if she'd been able to.

"You're back!" Ashes almost cried. Nat just gave a thankful nod to Cyber Dragon, who growled in response.

"Did ya miss me?" she asked.

"Not at all." Ashes smiled.

"Oh man oh man oh man..." Jay looked in all directions. He was surrounded by the shadow creatures. "Looks like this is the Alamo, and I'm a Texan..."

The shadow creatures leapt to swarm him... but a golden glow knocked them all away at the last instant. He turned to see the Creator, hale and hearty.

"BACK, VILE SCAVENGERS! Ye'll not sup upon innocent soul today!"

"I never thought I'd miss that silver tongue of your's..." Jay breathed a sigh of relief. "Now let's get the heck OUTTA here!"

"Indeed." The Creator gestured, and a new throne appeared. Jay scrambled on as the duel spirit lowered into the chair.

"And could you try flying lower this time? Just in case..."

"Flame Swordsman!" Hikari whooped for joy as her spirit reappeared.

"I am pleased to see that you're unharmed," he said.

"I'll bet," she said with a grin.

Joey blinked, confused. "Ummm... Who are you talking to?"

"Flame Swordsman. He's standing right next to you."

Joey looked right at the spirit, but saw nothing.

"Oooooookay... Backing away now..."

Ramesus barely glanced as Ryu Kokki awoke.

"Welcome back."

"A pity," said Ryu Kokki. "I was having the most wonderful nightmare..."

CyberV watched as Rocket Warrior and Red-Eyes opened their eyes.

"Have a nice nap?" he asked.

"In a word... No." Rocket Warrior stretched. "What happened?"

"A long story," said CV. "But it doesn't matter now. With the spirits back, and the cards returning to normal, the war'll start up again at any moment."

"Ugh. I was hoping that part was a bad dream."

"Afraid not." CV holstered his new deck.

"So, what do we do now?" asked the spirit.

"We gather the team," said CV. "I have a plan."

"Okay, we're together," said Void. "Now what?"

"Now," said Drift, "we listen."

"What's going on?" asked Ashes.

"It's simple," said CV. "Now that the war is set to resume, we have a chance to take the fight to Ramesus... To stop being reactive and be proactive."

"You want to fight him on his turf?" asked Nat.

"Yes, but there's a far more important goal to accomplish." He looked at everyone in the room. Yugi nodded, approving of the plan. "Somewhere in their area of the school lies the key to stopping the war and getting back everyone that's been lost. We have to find that key, whatever it is..."

He looked everyone square in the eye. "To stop the war, we need to find the Scepter of the Balance, no matter the cost!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next time: The Dueling Detective, Once More on the Trail