Whoa. Fifteen reviews last chapter? That's awesome! And, as of right now, I have 350 Reviews, 106 Favs and 108 Follows. Thanks you guys! I'm glad you like this story so much.
Thank you to Guest, SuperNeos2, Kai, UltimateTouken, weather741, reven228, iloveyugiohGX93, bobmanv2.0, Vanishing Raptor, a1993, decode9, Kamen Rider Sting, EndlessNight025, DarkZorua100, and Nova-Lioness for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are the greatest!
And, as usual, a huge thank you to EndlessNight025 for being an awesome beta-reader.
I hope that you enjoy this chapter. The next chapter will be posted sometime next week and I might post the next two chapters next week (since I'm going to be on Spring Break anyway) but I might not because [spoiler] Chapter 37 has a cliffhanger [end spoiler].
Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
35
The Final Shadow Rider
"I hear Steven woke up last night," Kasumi said as she walked into the lounge in the morning, two days following Alexis' duel with Pierre. "Ms. Fontaine said he'll make a full recovery, like Raiden and Atticus, but he'll need to stay in the infirmary for a while longer, but I figured that."
Alexis nodded. "It did take a while for Atticus and Raiden to recover," she said.
"Sooo, have you told Atticus about your new relationship with Jaden?" Kasumi asked. She, Arina, Jasmine and Mindy had been the first ones to be told about Alexis's new relationship the day before and all Kasumi could say to that was "finally!"
Alexis stared at her like she was crazy. "He'll probably find a way to embarrass me because of it," she said.
"That's brothers for you. Raiden and Jaden do that to me all the time," Kasumi said with a shrug. "But I get them back for it."
"Does Raiden know?"
"Either he does or Jaden hasn't told him for the same reason you haven't told Atticus."
"Maybe."
. . .
"Did you notice how close Alexis and Jaden were yesterday?" Atticus asked, dropping into a seat beside Raiden who was reading one of his novels in his dorm room; he had left the door open, though, so Atticus had let himself in.
"Yeah," Raiden said distractedly.
Atticus rolled his eyes. "Bookworm," he said before snatching the book out of Raiden's hands.
"Hey!"
"C'mon, we really should try and get those two together," Atticus said with a grin.
Raiden, snatching the book back from his friend, saved his spot and closed it. "I don't think they need help," he said.
"Their actions speak louder than their words, Rai. They're getting closer and all but I think they need an extra little push."
"Of course they do," Raiden said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "Seriously though, Atticus, let 'em get together at their own pace."
Atticus pouted. "You're no fun," he said.
The Shadow Reckoner duelist sighed.
. . .
"Aw man, we overslept!"
"That means we'll miss out on breakfast!"
Those two shouts came from the Slifer Dorm as Jaden, Syrus and Chumley rushed into the Slifer meal hall only to see a few plates left on empty tables while the rest of the meal hall with the exception of Chazz who was seated at the far end of the room.
Jaden examined the meal hall before sighing. "Not much left," he said as he sat down and looked at the bare plates.
"We've been cleaned out," Syrus groaned.
"What kind of selfish slime would do that?" Chumley asked.
All three of them turned as one to look at Chazz and got up before gathering around his table who was sipping at his morning drink.
He glanced at them before smiling. "You snooze, you lose," he said.
"That's it!" Syrus slammed his hands onto the table. "Give back our food or I'm telling."
"I would give it back, only I ate it all," Chazz said. "So, no luck. Unless you wanna wait a few hours."
"Professor! Chazz is being Chazz again," Syrus shouted.
Unfortunately, no one showed up and Jaden sighed. "Guess he's still missing," he said, frowning as he was suddenly worried. A bad feeling washed over him and he didn't like it.
. . .
Later that morning in Banner's Alchemy class, Jaden was resting his head on his desk, unable to shake off that bad feeling he started feeling earlier, while everyone talked about random things around him.
Above, Kasumi was in the same boat with a bad feeling that she couldn't get rid of for some reason.
"Are you okay?" Arina asked.
"I just…have a bad feeling," Kasumi admitted.
Back with the Slifers, Syrus and Chumley had noticed Jaden's behavior and decided to try and cheer him up.
"It's okay, Jaden," Syrus said, leaning over and looking at him.
Chumley followed Syrus' movement. "Yeah, Sheppard's got a bunch of people out looking for Professor Banner. They'll find him," he said.
Jaden didn't want to tell him that wasn't what he was thinking about, at least not entirely, but he was grateful that they were trying to help.
"Good morning, students."
Everyone turned to see Crowler standing in front of them with a planner book under his arm. He raised an eyebrow as he moved to the center of the room. "Due to Professor Banner's absence, I will be your substitute teacher for the day. Aren't you lucky?" He muttered his next words as he placed the planner on the podium, "because I'm certainly not. It was supposed to be my day off."
After a short time of complaining, Crowler placed a large paperboard on the wall behind him; on it was a large black, nearly complete circle with a dot in the middle drawn in marker.
"Let's see," Crowler murmured as he flipped through Banner's planner. "Ah yes. The Mark of Amnael. So that's where he left off, more alchemy nonsense, I see. Well, according to these tomes, the basis of this is"—Crowler frowned at the text—"Well, not that and I can't even make that word out."
"Five bucks says he freaks out," Kasumi whispered to Alexis and Arina.
They chuckled.
"No deal," Alexis murmured.
Sure enough, Crowler slammed the books he had been looking through closed, frustrated. "This is gibberish and he's teaching you it!" He shook his head as he added, "Maybe it's a good thing he's gone. I mean, he's bee poisoning your young minds."
Jaden chuckled. "He hates this stuff," he said.
"Actually, Jay, I think he doesn't understand this stuff himself," Syrus said with a nervous smile.
After Crowler cursed and ranted for several minutes, things settled then and he picked up a curved metal utensil and held it above a jar of clear liquid. "All right, time for lab work, according to the syllabus, anyway," he mumbled, dipping the utensil into the liquid. "I think this is right."
It wasn't as was proven later when the jar exploded, sending a small cloud of smoke into the air. The cloud started to fade away and everyone saw that Crowler's forehead was branded with the utensil, the sound of sizzling meat permeating the air.
Crowler screamed in pain and anger and started ranting about how Duel Alchemy was useless to him.
Jaden sighed. While Professor Banner did blow himself up several times, he was still better at this than Crowler was. "I wish Professor Banner was still here," he admitted.
"Mister Slifer Slacker!"
Jaden looked up. "Yes?" he said.
Crowler looked at him, the mark burned into his forehead. "Chancellor Sheppard would like a word with you," he said.
Jaden nodded.
"And the rest of the gang, too," Crowler added, pointing to Arina, Kasumi, Alexis, Chazz and Kyle.
. . .
"What do you mean 'he's still lost'? Professor Banner couldn't have just disappeared," Kyle said with a frown.
Sheppard frowned as he gazed at the students standing in front of him while Crowler stood next to the desk. "I'm sorry, but the bottom line is that we've searched everywhere and we can't find him," he said.
"And there's no log of him leaving the island," Crowler added.
Chazz shrugged. "Well, if that's the case, then we all know what happened. Banner got sucked into the Shadows," he said.
"Don't say that," Alexis snapped.
Sheppard shook his head. "No, you see there hasn't been any new activity," he said.
Jaden glanced at Yubel. What do you say, Yubel? he thought.
'I think that Chazz may be right,' Yubel said gravelly. 'Even if there hasn't been any new activity, there is no other explanation, unless he's hiding somewhere.'
But why would he hide?
'I do not know.'
"I think we should look for him," Kasumi said. "I mean, I certainly wouldn't want anyone to have to go through whatever it was Atticus, Raiden and Steven went through that turned them into Shadow Riders."
Sheppard nodded. "If you wish to look, then be careful. There is still one Shadow Rider left," he said
The group nodded before leaving the office.
. . .
The gang began their search with Chazz taking up the role of detective again. It didn't go well with him as he had thought Dorothy was a Shadow Rider. It turned out that she wasn't. Still searching for clues, the gang ended up coming across a map with an area marked in the forest. So they decided to search for that area, as well as find Pharaoh as Chazz still believed that wherever Pharaoh was, Banner was.
And that was how they ended up in their current predicament, lost somewhere in the forest.
"How'd we get into this mess?" Kasumi asked.
"Blame Chazz," Syrus muttered.
"Believe me, I am."
"My feet hurt and I'm hungry," Chumley whined.
Chazz stopped walking and turned to glare at the group. Arina, who had been walking at his side, barely stopped herself in time to avoid walking into him. The same could not be said for Kasumi who walked right into Arina, nearly knocking them down. Kyle, Alexis, Syrus, Chumley and Jaden also stopped and frowned.
"Why'd we stop?" Arina asked.
"Because someone doesn't think I know where I'm going," Chazz growled.
"I don't think you don't know where you're going, I know you don't know where you're going," Kasumi snapped.
"Seriously, this finding Pharaoh and we'll find Banner thing hasn't worked yet," Syrus said.
"We haven't found Pharaoh yet, Sherlock," Chazz snapped.
"Precisely," Syrus said.
"I know what I'm doing!"
"Obviously not!" Kasumi snapped.
"Well, do you got a better plan?"
"No, but something would definitely be better than just wandering around a forest with no idea where we're going!"
"Guys, will you two calm down?" Jaden said as Kasumi and Chazz glared at each other. "This arguing isn't getting us any closer to find Banner."
Kasumi calmed down a little before sighing. "Jaden's right. I guess we really don't have a choice but to keep going with Chazz's plan," she said.
"I knew you'd see it my way," Chazz said smugly.
None of them noticed the figure watching them from the trees.
. . .
After searching for a while, Alexis finally decided to return to the Obelisk Blue Dorm; however, part way there, she was surprised when Raiden ran over to join her. "Raiden? What…?" she began.
"Atticus is gone!" Raiden said.
"What?!"
"I heard a commotion in his room, since he's right next door to me, and I decided to check it out, but he was gone and his entire room was ransacked," Raiden explained.
"That's not good," Alexis said and then broke off when she spotted something. "Look." She pointed and Raiden turned to see a glowing near complete circle with a dot at its center appear on the ground.
"The Mark of Amnael?" Raiden said, brow furrowing in puzzlement.
The mark started to move.
Alexis immediately dashed after it and Raiden quickly hurried after them. They came to a stop near the edge of the forest in time to see a figure swathed in shadows dash away. Alexis immediately headed after him.
"Alexis, what…?" Raiden began.
"Raiden, go tell your brother and the others. I think that might be the last Shadow Rider," Alexis shouted and immediately ran into the forest, disappearing into the shadows.
Raiden was left behind, musing that Alexis was a fast runner before he hurried back to the dorm as he had left his duel pilot in his room. He hoped his brother and the others were all right, though.
Meanwhile, Alexis chased the figure for several more yards until they both entered another clearing in which the figure stopped running and turned to face her. Alexis narrowed her eyes. "You're the last Shadow Rider, aren't you? Well, you're not gonna get any further. Let's duel," she said, activating her duel disk and inserting her deck.
The figure responded by activating his own duel disk and drawing his opening hand; Alexis did the same.
Alexis: 4000
Shadow Rider: 4000
The figure drew his sixth card and placed it facedown before signaling the end of his turn.
Alexis raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Fine, my draw," she said before she drew her sixth card. "I play Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater in my hand in order to summon Cyber Blader in Attack Mode." Her blue-haired warrior in the purple and red bodysuit appeared on the field (A: 2100/D: 800).
"Cyber Blader, attack him directly," Alexis ordered and her skater started forward.
The figure pressed a button on his duel disk, revealing Negate Attack and Alexis scowled as her monster's attack was stopped. "Fine, I place this facedown and end my turn," she said.
. . .
"You still have no idea where you're going, do you?" Kasumi said dryly.
Chazz's eye twitched. "Will you be quiet?" he snapped before he started moving again.
"Let's take a break," Jaden suggested.
"I'm all for that," Chumley said, already plopping onto the ground and leaning against a tree.
Chazz growled. "Fine," he muttered before also sitting down.
Arina sat cross-legged on the ground next to him. "Where'd Alexis go?" she asked.
"Said she was heading back to the dorm to get some rest," Kasumi replied as she, Jaden and Syrus sat down.
. . .
Alexis screamed as the figure's two monsters shot forward and crashed into her, knocking her down and taking out the last of her Life Points.
Alexis: 0
Shadow Rider: 4000 WINNER
The figure, still silent, glided forward before taking Alexis' key and then pulled a book from his cloak that had The Eye of Wdjat on its cover. He opened it and Alexis glowed before vanishing into the book.
The figure then glided away in search of his next opponent.
. . .
It was getting dark when Jaden, Kasumi, Kyle, Arina, Chazz, Syrus and Chumley decided to take another break. Kasumi built up a campfire and the group gathered around it as the glow of the flames pushed away the shadows; each of them had flashlights with them but they decided to conserve the batteries and not use them yet.
"Okay, so now what?" Kyle asked.
"Well, we could keep going with Chazz's plan, despite it not working so far," Syrus said.
"No one else has a better plan, shrimp," Chazz snapped before stopping. "Wait, did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Jaden asked.
"Shh!"
The group fell silent and then there was a faint mew. Chazz leapt to his feet. "I'm positive I heard a cat meow. I think we might be close to where Pharaoh is," he said.
"But where?" Kyle asked.
"Let's split up. We can cover more ground that way," Chazz said.
"Is that a good idea?" Kasumi asked with a frown.
"What other choice do we have?"
Kasumi sighed. "True."
. . .
"Banner, you around?" Chazz called, looking around the forest some time later. The group had split into two groups and had gone in different directions only a little while earlier; Chazz was with Jaden, Arina and Kasumi.
"Professor? Where are you?" Jaden called.
"Say something so we can find you," Arina shouted.
A shout sounded and the group whirled around just in time to see Syrus and Chumley dashing forward, fear written on their faces.
"Snake!" Syrus shouted, pointing behind him. "We saw a snake."
"It was huge!" Chumley added.
Chazz rolled his eyes.
"We are in a forest, so naturally there are snakes," Kasumi pointed out.
"But this wasn't natural," Chumley objected.
After a few seconds, snakes suddenly rained down on them and, with a scream, the group dashed away from the falling serpents.
It was only after they got a good distance away that Jaden noticed something. "Wait, what happened to Kyle?" he asked.
. . .
"Syrus? Chumley? Where'd you guys go?" Kyle called, walking around with the flashlight he had brought with him turned on. After seeing that snake, he, Syrus and Chumley had taken off, but Kyle had tripped and, by the time he got to his feet, Syrus and Chumley were out of sight.
Sighing, Kyle looked around for anything resembling a landmark so that he could figure out where he was. It was then that he saw a strange but oddly familiar mark appear on the ground nearby. He frowned. "What's that?" he wondered.
The sound of someone moving around in the undergrowth came and Kyle whirled around to find a figure stepping out of the shadows. "Who are you?" he demanded.
The figure simply held up a book with The Eye of Wdjat on it and Kyle narrowed his eyes. "Shadow Rider," he growled before he activated his duel disk.
The figure responded in kind and they drew their opening hands.
Kyle: 4000
Shadow Rider: 4000
The figure started by drawing a card and then placing it facedown before signaling the end of his turn.
Kyle frowned. "What are you planning?" He wondered aloud as he drew a card. "I summon Solar Flare Dragon in Attack Mode." His serpentine fiery dragon appeared with a roar (A: 1500/D: 1000).
"Solar Flare Dragon, attack him directly," Kyle ordered and his dragon roared before unleashing a blast of fire that shot forward and slammed into the Shadow Rider.
Kyle: 4000
Shadow Rider: 2500
"And I end my turn with a facedown, which means you get dealt 500 points of damage," Kyle added and his dragon shot a fireball at the Shadow Rider.
Kyle: 4000
Shadow Rider: 2000
"You're move, Shadow Rider," Kyle said.
. . .
"C'mon, answer!" Raiden muttered as he attempted to get in touch with either Jaden or Kasumi, but neither of them answered. With an irritated sigh, Raiden got to his feet before wandering over to his window, hoping his siblings were all right, but not knowing exactly where they were.
"Maybe I should've gone with Alexis," he said aloud.
'Then who would've warned Jaden?' Rogue asked.
"How can I warn them anyway if they don't pick up?" Raiden asked.
'True. Maybe they left their duel pilots in their dorms,' Rogue suggested.
"Maybe, but that doesn't tell me where they are." Judai, Little Mist, I hope you're okay, he thought.
. . .
The final attack sent Kyle flying to the ground, knocking him unconscious as it took out the last of his Life Points.
Kyle: 0
Shadow Rider: 1500 WINNER
The figure calmly retrieved Kyle's spirit key and then opened his book again, absorbing the boy before calmly walking away. Six down, four more to go.
. . .
'Boss, I'm telling ya, there's something not right here,' Ojama Yellow insisted and Chazz glared at him as he and Arina made their way through the now dark forest. The group had decided to take a break again but, after a while, Chazz decided to start looking for Banner again and Arina had decided to accompany him.
"Get lost," Chazz snapped and batted at Ojama Yellow.
"What?" Arina sounded confused.
"Not you," Chazz said quickly before pausing when a meow sounded. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, I did. It's coming from over there," Arina said, pointing her flashlight toward a glowing near complete circle on the ground; behind it was Pharaoh.
Chazz sighed, relieved. "There you are, you fat furball," he said before he walked forward and knelt down to pet the cat until he spotted something. He frowned before reaching over and picking up a familiar pair of glasses.
"Banner's glasses," he said.
"But where's Banner?" Arina asked.
Chazz shook his head. He didn't know.
Another mew sounded and Chazz looked up find that Pharaoh had padded away and was now sitting near another glowing mark a few yards ahead of him. Chazz and Arina headed toward that second mark and Chazz spotted pieces of clothing on the ground.
"He's naked somewhere?" Arina echoed, surprised.
'Uh, Boss, something bad is happening right now,' Ojama Yellow said uncertainly.
Chazz was about to retort something when he spotted a cloaked figure standing at the other end of the clearing with its duel disk on.
Arina spotted the person as well. "Shadow Rider?" she asked.
The figure said nothing.
"You took Banner," Chazz said before he turned on his duel disk. "And I'm gonna get him back."
Arina also activated her duel disk. "Let's take him together, Chazz. We outnumber him," she pointed out.
Chazz looked at his crush and smiled a little before nodding.
'Boss, look under you,' Ojama Yellow called out and Chazz and Arina looked down to find that they were surrounded by water.
"Whatever. It's time to Chazz it up, Shadow Rider," Chazz declared as he, Arina and the figure drew their opening hands.
Shadow Rider: 4000
Chazz/Arina: 4000
"To be fair, no one can attack on the first turn, okay? And it'll go Chazz, you, then me," Arina said.
The Shadow Rider simply nodded.
"I'll go first," Chazz said, drawing his sixth card. "I summon my Masked Dragon in Defense Mode."
His white and red dragon appeared on the field before curling up (A: 1400/D: 1100).
"And I place this facedown and that's it."
The Shadow Rider drew a card and then placed three cards facedown before signaling the end of his turn.
"My draw," Arina said before she drew a card. "I summon Dunames Dark Witch in Attack Mode."
Her purple haired fairy with the white wings appeared (A: 1800/D: 1050).
"And then I place two cards facedown and end my turn," Arina said.
. . .
"Does anyone know what happened to Kyle?" Kasumi asked with a frown.
"Last I saw, he was right behind us when we were running from those snakes," Syrus said.
"I have a bad feeling about all of this," Jaden murmured.
"You aren't the only one," Kasumi said.
"Maybe we should head back," Chumley suggested.
"We should find Chazz and Arina first," Jaden said and the group started looking around.
Sometime passed before the four of them came across a pool of water and Jaden heard sobbing. He frowned before moving forward and spotted five Ojama spirits floating around the water.
"Ojama Yellow?" he said.
Ojama Yellow lifted his head and then cried, 'They're gone!'
"Who're gone?" Kasumi asked with a frown.
'Chazz and his not-girlfriend,' Ojama Red said sadly. 'They dueled that Shadow Rider person, but he beat them and then they just vanished.'
Jaden and Kasumi exchanged glances before moving forward to see that there were cards scattered on the water; both Chazz's and Arina's.
"So the last Shadow Rider is here," Jaden said as he knelt down and picked up a few of Chazz's cards.
"Yeah, and he took Chazz and Arina," Kasumi said.
"Do you think he took Kyle, too?" Syrus asked worriedly.
"I think it's a safe bet that he did," Jaden said.
"Look, there's Pharaoh," Chumley said and walked over to pick up the fat tabby cat. "But where's Banner?"
"I think it's safe to say now that the Shadow Riders got him, too," Jaden said gravelly.
. . .
The Shadow Rider walked over to the spirit gates before inserting the spirit keys that he had just acquired. He smirked as the slots began to glow, leaving only two slots empty. The chamber began to tremble violently as beams of light shot forth.
Outside, pillars of bright rainbow light shot upward from the waters that surrounded Duel Academy and the entire island trembled as if a sudden earthquake had struck.
. . .
The ground trembled violently.
"HIT THE DECK!"
Kasumi, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley immediately dropped to the ground as eight bright pillars shot up around the island before the tremors began to die down.
"What was that?" Syrus asked fearfully.
"It wasn't anything good, Sy," Jaden said.
. . .
Chazz groaned before blinking open his eyes; he found himself lying in an oddly colored ball that seemed to be floating in midair. He looked around and spotted more bubbles floating around him.
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud as he got to his feet.
Looking at one of the bubbles, he noticed there was someone in it lying unconscious in it and he frowned as he recognized the blonde form of Arina. "Arina?" he said before he looked around and noticed that another bubble contained Atticus, and then another with Alexis in it, and then a fourth with Kyle.
"Where on Earth am I?" Chazz exclaimed.
A bright light shone and he, shielding his eyes, glanced toward its source before gapping when he spotted the Earth itself directly in front of him, floating in a void of space.
Chazz gulped. "Actually, let's make that, where off the Earth am I?"
. . .
"What's going on here?"
"Yeah, those eight laser beams of light just shot out of nowhere."
Syrus and Chumley were gazing at the beams in awe while Kasumi looked nervous and Jaden was frowning.
"Those things didn't shoot out of nowhere," he said with a shake of his head. "Eight of the ten Spirit Gates must've been unlocked, but how?"
'I'll tell you how!'
Jaden looked at the Ojama cards he held in his hand as Ojama Yellow looked at him from the safe confines of the card. 'That Shadow Rider is vicious,' he replied.
"You mean he took them all down?" Jaden asked, grinding his teeth together. Alexis.
"That means you and I are left, bro," Kasumi said.
"Man, that last Shadow Rider must've been really good," Chumley said with a gulp.
Syrus nodded. "No joke," he said before he turned to brother and sister. "Guys, let's get outta here, please? If you're the last ones, then they're gonna hunt you down. We gotta hide right now!"
"No," Jaden growled.
"I am not hiding," Kasumi said firmly.
"What?" Syrus blinked in surprise.
Jaden looked at the spiky blue-haired Slifer. "I will not run from a fight, and especially not when our friends need our help," he said firmly, hand clenching into a fist.
"Exactly, they need us and we're gonna get 'em back," Kasumi agreed.
"Besides, we don't have to worry about that Shadow Rider finding us, Sy, 'cause I'm gonna find him."
"We're gonna find him," Kasumi corrected.
Jaden nodded.
"Uh, when you say we, do you mean us, too?" Chumley asked slowly.
Jaden nodded before he looked at his sister. "There's only one left, Kas, mind if I take him?" he asked.
"I don't mind. He did take your girlfriend, after all," Kasumi said.
Chumley and Syrus exchanged glances but they nodded, silently agreeing to back Jaden up as well.
. . .
"Whoa, nice light show," Raven commented, gazing at the beams of light. "But it's not good news, that's for sure."
"Raven!"
Raven turned to find Raiden jogging over to join her. "Hey, Raiden," she greeted him. She was slowly starting to grow more comfortable around Raiden and the others, even though she knew she would always remember that she had gone against them willingly just to get her mother back. They understood though and had forgiven her, but she knew that it would take a while for her to forgive herself.
"Have you seen Jaden or the others?" Raiden asked.
"No, haven't seen 'em in a while. Why?"
Raiden sighed. "'Cause I've got a bad feeling and I'm worried," he admitted, looking at the beams of light.
"Mm." The Dragon/Winged Beast duelist was feeling that way as well. I hope they're all right, she thought.
. . .
The final Shadow Rider laughed. "Yes, Jaden, come and face me. It won't matter. You will never be able to survive if you do not become more powerful than you've ever been," he whispered before he held out a hand and said something. A giant Mark of Amnael appeared above the dorm briefly before vanishing.
. . .
A lightning bolt shot down from the sky to collide with a large tree, causing it to snap in half. As it fell, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Kasumi quickly dashed out of the way to avoid getting crushed by it.
"That was close," Chumley gasped.
"Tell me about it," Kasumi agreed.
"Guys, look," Syrus said, pointing to the scorched remains of the trunk. Everyone turned to see a glowing nearly complete circle with a dot at its center around the trunk. It lingered there for a few moments and then disappeared before reappearing a few feet away. It kept on doing that, gradually getting smaller.
"The Mark of Amnael," Chumley realized. "It's like it's trying to lead us someplace. Totally not lishus."
"It's leading us to the final Shadow Rider," Jaden said before he began following the mark. "C'mon, you guys."
"Jay, wait up," Kasumi called and jogged after her brother with Syrus and Chumley right behind them.
The mark led them directly to the Abandoned Dorm.
Jaden examined the dorm. I'm not surprised that this is where it will end. It did start here, he thought.
Yubel nodded. 'But the stakes are much higher now,' she said.
I know.
The group entered the Abandoned Dorm.
"I wonder where he is," Kasumi said.
Jaden shook his head, not knowing.
There was a flash of lightning and Pharaoh, with a loud screech, jumped from Chumley's arm.
"Well, may as well follow Pharaoh. We gotta get him back anyway," Jaden said.
The others nodded and followed as Jaden led the way into the Abandoned Dorm. It was just as dark and eerie as it was the last time they had visited.
"So where do we go now?" Kasumi asked, looking around and straining to see in the limited light within the abandoned dorm.
Jaden frowned, scanning the area with his flashlight until he spotted a blur of orange fur streaking down the hall. "There," he said, pointing the beam of light at the hall before heading toward it.
Kasumi immediately dashed after him.
"Wait up," Syrus protested as he and Chumley quickly followed.
. . .
"This sucks," Chazz muttered, leaning against the wall of the bubble he was floating in. He was the only one conscious, from what he could see, and he was bored as heck as well as freaked out by the fact that he was in space. He cast a glance toward the bubble in which was Arina and he pushed himself onto his knees when he noticed Arina stirring.
The blonde girl lifted her head before her eyes widened with surprise when she saw where she was. She scrambled to her knees before looking around until her eyes landed on Chazz. "Where are we?" she asked and Chazz was surprised that he could hear her. Then again, their bubbles were rather close to each other and Chazz guessed the bubble itself didn't block out sound, which was probably why he could hear her.
"I dunno," he said, looking back at the other bubbles. "Must've been something that Shadow Rider did after we lost."
"Probably." Arina rested her back against the barrier and gazed at the bubbles that contained Alexis and Atticus that floated in front of her. "Do you think Jaden and Kasumi and the others are all right?"
Chazz shrugged. "Well, they're not here, so I guess they're fine," he said, turning to observe Kyle's bubble and see if he was awake; he wasn't. "Wonder why we're awake and the others aren't."
Arina shrugged. "Who knows," she said before she looked up. "You know, it's actually pretty out here, getting to see all these stars up close and all."
"I guess."
"Well, if we're going to be stuck up here for who knows how long, maybe we can, I don't know, talk to pass the time."
Chazz raised an eyebrow. "About what?"
Arina smiled. "I don't know. I only know a little bit about you, so maybe we can play a game or something."
"A game?"
"Yeah, like, um, Twenty Questions?"
Frankly, Chazz didn't have anything better to do and he would like to know more about his crush, so he nodded. "I guess we can do that," he said.
Arina smiled. "Okay," she said.
. . .
"This doorway was never here before," Jaden commented upon reaching a passageway deeper into the dorm after where the group had thought they had seen Pharaoh go. "Then again, neither was this passageway."
Syrus grinned but was obviously nervous. "Well, then, I say we wait for another day to check it out," he said.
Chumley nodded. "Yeah, good idea, Sy," he said.
Nevertheless, they still followed Jaden and Kasumi as they led the way through the doorway into a large room shrouded in shadows. Jaden shined his light around the room to see that it was rather dusty. The floor was covered in dust and there were piece of strange equipment laying everyone. However, in front of them were three large stone tablets on which where three horrifying monsters similar to the Egyptian Gods, yet much darker and more monstrous.
'The Sacred Beasts,' Haou murmured.
Jaden blinked at that but said nothing as he scanned the area. "This looks like a lab from a horror movie," he mused.
"But where's the mad scientist?" Chumley wondered.
"Um, I've got a feeling," Kasumi said, pointing with her flashlight and the three Slifers turned to find a coffin leaning against the wall.
"A coffin?" Jaden said with a frown.
"Or a refrigerator box," Chumley suggested.
"Yeah, that's it," Syrus agreed.
"Doubtful," Kasumi murmured while Jaden moved toward it, ignoring Chumley's and Syrus's protests. When he came to the coffin, he glanced over his shoulder.
"Hey, Chumley, come help me with this," he said.
"Uh, sorry Jay, but I'm only good with opening pickle jars and potato chips," Chumley said, rubbing the back of his head.
Kasumi sighed but walked over to join Jaden and helping him open the coffin. Chumley and Syrus jumped, shivering with fear when the top of the coffin came off to reveal a mummy dressed in a white shirt with its long black hair still in place. Jaden's eyes widened with shock as he shone his flashlight into the coffin.
Kasumi gasped in horror. "No, is that who I think it is?" she asked.
Jaden wordlessly reached forward and moved the lab coat away to reveal the nametag that was resting on the mummy's breast. "It is him," he whispered.
"W…Who is it?" Syrus stammered out.
"It's Professor Banner," Jaden said.
"No way, there's no way Professor Banner could've mummified this fast. I can't even make jerky in the time he's been missing," Chumley said.
"Do you think it's a fake?" Jaden wondered.
"I don't think so," Kasumi said with a frown. "And yet I can't figure out how this happened."
"Erm, maybe it really is a fake," Syrus suggested. "Yeah, like a wax dummy or whatever."
"Wrong, that is the body of the one you call Professor Banner."
The light turned on and Jaden, Kasumi, Syrus and Chumley whirled around to find a figure in a long tanned hooded cloak and a black mask over his face with a custom Duel Disk on its left arm.
"Who are you?" Jaden demanded.
The figure laughed. "Who am I? I am the final Shadow Rider. I am the one who defeated your friends and if you want them back, you must beat me. I am Amnael."
"Amnael? As in 'Mark of Amnael' Amnael?" Syrus asked worriedly.
"That's right, and I have your friends right here," Amnael said, pulling out a dark-blue book with the Eye of Wdjat on its cover. He then added, "And if you cannot defeat me then you will be joining them, all of you."
"Excuse me?" Kasumi exclaimed hotly, glaring at Amnael. "I can beat you too!"
Amnael ignored her, much to her irritation.
Jaden's eyes narrowed. "And what about Professor Banner?" he asked. "How do I get him back? Or is it too late for him?" he asked.
"It was always too late. I suggest you forget the man you knew as Professor Banner, for he is no more," Amnael said.
'Something is not right here, Judai,' Yubel said gravelly. 'This Shadow Rider is not telling us everything.'
Jaden, glancing at Yubel, asked, "What do you mean, Yubel?"
"If you wish for answers, Jaden, then you must duel and defeat me," Amnael said calmly before Yubel could reply. "Only then will the truth be revealed and the secrets of this tome will be unlocked. Will you accept this challenge? Will you face me?"
"Um, no, I don't think so," Chumley said.
"He's talking to Jaden," Syrus pointed out.
Jaden returned his gaze to the Shadow Rider before he held up his duel disk and activated it, inserting his deck as he did so. "Does this answer your question, Amnael? I will get my friends back," he said before he moved forward to stand across from Amnael.
"Be careful, Jaden," Syrus said as he, Chumley and Kasumi moved away from the mummy.
"Prepare yourself," Amnael said, activating his own duel disk and inserting his deck.
"I've been preparing for this since you Shadow Riders first showed up," Jaden retorted. Besides, this guy's gonna pay for taking my friends, he thought.
'Don't let your anger at that cloud your mind, Judai,' Yubel warned.
I know, Yubel, I won't, Jaden thought. "Get your game on, Amnael," he said firmly.
"Duel," the two of them declared.
Amnael: 4000
Jaden: 4000
"It's time to throw down. No matter what it takes, I will get my friends back, Amnael," Jaden said firmly.
"You should not be so cocky, Jaden. You do not know if you have what it takes to beat me," Amnael said. "Because to beat me, you'll have to reach a whole new echelon of dueling. Now, we begin." He drew his sixth card.
"I begin by playing the Spell Alchemic Kettle-Chaos Distill," he said, inserting the card into his duel disk and a reddish-orange kettle-like machine with steam coming out of it appeared on the field behind him.
"What is that thing?" Syrus asked, staring at the kettle.
"Yeah, like I'm gonna know," Chumley muttered.
"With this in play, all cards that are sent to my Graveyard are removed from play instead," Amnael explained.
Jaden frowned. Why would he remove his own monsters from play? Unless his monsters have effects that work when they're removed from play, he thought.
"Next, I'll play my second Spell Card," Amnael said, holding up another card. "Steel Lamp. When Chaos Distill is on the field, I can use Steel Lamp to Special Summon Alchemy Beast – Salamandra the Steel."
A burst of red flames appeared and, from it, a giant steel dragon appeared on the field with a roar (A: 500/D: 500).
"You see, Alchemy Beasts can't be summoned by normal means, but they can wage direct attacks on you," Amnael explained before he held up two more cards and added, "which is a big problem for you, when I play these two cards, Bronze Scale and Lead Compass, with Chaos Distill. I can now summon two more Alchemy Beasts: Ouroboros the Bronze and Leon the Lead."
The first monster to appear in a pillar of red flames was a serpentine rock-monster with three bronze gems on the side of its head (A: 500/D: 500) while the second was a dark-gray lion-like monster with a yellow mane (A: 500/D: 500).
"I will end my turn with one facedown," Amnael said with a chuckle as he inserted a card into his disk.
"Three monsters on the first turn? This is gonna be tough," Jaden murmured as he drew his sixth card.
"Indeed it will. And if you think this is impressive now, then wait until you see them attack," Amnael said.
"Well, I'm not gonna give them that chance," Jaden said, glancing at his hand. "I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in Attack Mode."
He placed the card on his disk and his blonde fiery heroine appeared on the field (A: 1300/D: 1000).
"Lady Heat, attack Salamandra," Jaden ordered and Lady Heat nodded before she conjured up a ball of flames in her hands.
Amnael smirked behind his mask as Lady Heat launched the fire ball at him. "That is one fireball I'm afraid I must put out. I activate a Trap." He waved his hand to his facedown card. "Elemental Absorber."
A metal device with fore spikes covering the top with one spike on the bottom appeared on the field.
"With this card, by removing a monster card from play, I can negate the attack of one other monster as long as they have the same Attribute," Amnael explained before picking up a card.
"Damn," Jaden muttered. "That's not good."
"No, it isn't," Amnael said, revealing a card depicting a fiery red monster. "Especially since I've chosen to remove Spirit of Flames."
The card disappeared and the strange device spun before a red triangle appeared and began to glow brightly; a blast of fire appeared and engulfed the fireball before it could strike.
Jaden swore. "Fine, I place this facedown and end my turn, which activates Lady Heat's effect, dealing you 200 damage for every Elemental Hero on my field," he said, inserting a card into his disk and Lady Heat conjured up another fireball before tossing it at Amnael.
Amnael: 3800
Jaden: 4000
"Now, it is my turn," Amnael said, not at all fazed by the attack as he drew a card. "Go, my Alchemy Beasts, attack Jaden directly. Salamandra the Steel, let loose Flameshot of Ore."
The metal dragon shot a large fireball that struck Jaden in the stomach and he winced.
"Now, Ouroboros and Leon, attack as well," Amanel ordered and his other two monsters fired off a stream of blue energy and a rain of sharp metal scales that struck Jaden soon after the last attack ended.
Amnael: 3800
Jaden: 2500
"Jaden just got clobbered," Syrus moaned.
"Don't give up on him just yet, Sy, he's got this," Kasumi said.
"C'mon, Jaden, he's only got one card left in his hand. If you can hold out this turn, you'll have the upper hand and he'll be the one on the ropes," Chumley called.
"Is that what you think?" the Shadow Rider said before shaking his head. "You should've paid better attention in class. Then maybe you would know that against my Alchemy Deck, nothing is what it seems." He revealed his final card that was divided into a six different colored and different sized sections. "I play Black Process – Negledo. When Chaos Distill is on the field and there are no other cards in my hand, this card allows me to remove all Alchemy Beasts from my field and I get to draw two new cards per beast."
"Wait, what? You're taking out your own monsters?" Jaden said with a frown as all three of Amnael's monsters were engulfed in flames.
"That is the way of the alchemist, destruction and rebirth. However, I can assure you that when you are destroyed here, there will be no rebirth for you." Amnael reached for his deck as he added, "Since I removed three Alchemy Beasts, I can draw six new cards."
He then held up three cards. "I activate Tin Spell Circle, Mercury Hourglass, and Silver Key. Much like the other three cards that work with Chaos Distill, I can use these to summon forth three new Alchemy Beasts."
His three cards turned into light and poured into the machine behind him.
"So now I summon Alchemy Beasts – Aretos the Tin, Ekenas the Mercury and Moonface the Silver."
The first beast was a tin-colored bird (A: 500/D: 500) while the second was a mutated shark-like creature with three horns on its head (A: 500/D: 500) and the third was a smaller, rockier version of the moon with legs (A: 500/D: 500).
Jaden studied the new monsters with a frown before he drew a card as Amnael signaled the end of his turn. "My move," he said before he glanced at the card and then at his hand before he picked a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Attack Mode."
His clay giant with the small red head appeared on the field (A: 800/D: 2000).
"And then I play the Spell Mud Max."
Everyone, but Kasumi, watched, surprised as a large go-kart appeared on the field and Clayman hopped into it (A: 800-1100).
"This card increases Clayman's Attack by 300," Jaden explained. "So guess what, Amnael? I'm gonna use him to run over all your Life Points. Go on, Clayman, attack Aretos."
Amnael watched as Clayman sped toward him before he held up a card. "I activate the effect of Elemental Absorber," he said. "I remove The Rock Spirit to negate the attack of that Earth-Attribute monster."
His device spun and a yellow triangle appeared, stopping Clayman from attacking Aretos.
It's like he can stop the attack of every Attribute monster in my deck, Jaden thought before he looked at his hand. Of course, I do have my Evil Heroes, but I wouldn't put it past Amnael to have Dark-Attribute monsters to remove from play to stop those attacks. This is going to be tough.
"I warned you, Jaden. To beat me, you must learn to use your cards in a way that you've never used them before," Amnael said, patting the tome under his shirt. "If you do not learn to become a better duelist, then you will be joining your friends sooner than you think."
Jaden narrowed his eyes. "Don't underestimate me, Amnael, I'm still in this and I will free my friends. I switch Lady Heat to Defense Mode and end my turn. Also, let me remind you Lady Heat can still dish out 200 points of damage to you, thanks to her effect, for every Elemental Hero on the field at the end of my turn," he said and Lady Heat tossed two more fireballs at Amnael.
Amnael: 3400
Jaden: 2500
"Well, so long as Lady Heat's on the field, Jaden can still take out Life Points even with Elemental Absorber on the field," Syrus said, relieved.
"You have still fallen far behind, Jaden," Amnael said with a chuckle. "You'd better 'get your game on', as you are about to fall even further behind. Observe." He drew a card. "I activate the Spell White Process – Albedo. Thanks to it, I can now Special Summon Golden Homunculus."
Another large pillar of fire poured out of the earth and a gigantic golden golem appeared alongside the three Alchemy Beasts (A: 0/D: 0).
"Forged in fire, Golden Homunculus doesn't work like any other card you've seen," Amnael said. "His Attack and Defense Points now rise to the number of my cards that are removed from pay and multiplied by 300. So, since I've removed thirteen cards from play, his Attack and Defense increase by 3900 and your Life Points are about to become zero." He chuckled as an aura of light surrounded the golem and his power increased (A: 0-3900/D: 0-3900).
"It's over, Jaden, and I was expecting so much more from you. Now go, my Alchemy Beasts, attack him directly. Sonic Shears, Screaming Stream and Shockwave Slivers."
The three Alchemy Beasts let lose a mixture of high-pressurized water, glowing scythes and raging fire that struck Jaden hard.
Amnael: 3400
Jaden: 1000
"Jaden!" Kasumi gasped.
"Man, he got nailed," Syrus whimpered as Jaden staggered back but managed to remain on his feet.
"And now, Golden Homunculus, end this and attack Clayman," Amnael ordered and the golden golem roared before unleashing a rain of heavy slabs of gold onto Clayman and Jaden's field was suddenly engulfed with thick smoke.
Amnael looked at the smoky other end of the field. "You are beaten and…" he paused and peered through the smoke. "Hm?"
Jaden was smirking and chuckling as the smoke cleared to reveal that Clayman was still on the field, though the go-cart thing was gone (A: 1100-800).
"Sorry to disappoint you, Amnael," Jaden said. "But I'm still here. Know why?" He held up his Mud Max card before adding, "Before you attacked, I activated an effect of Mud Max. By destroying it, your attack's canceled out, but there's something else, Amnael. Or should I say someone else. I also get to summon an Elemental Hero and I choose Ocean."
His blue hero with the shark's fin on his head appeared on the field between Clayman and Lady Heat (A: 1500/D: 1200).
"Impressive," Amnael said, nodding slowly before he signaled the end of this turn.
Jaden drew a card. "I now summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in Attack Mode." His second fiery heroine appeared on the field next to Lady Heat (A: 1200/D: 800).
"Let's take out some of his monsters," Jaden said before he pointed and added, "Ocean, attack Aretos." Ocean unleashed a blast of water at Aretos.
"Go Elemental Absorber. I remove Aqua Spirit to negate your attack," Amnael said and another triangle, this one blue, appeared, conjuring up a veil of water that caught the attack.
"And since another card has just been removed from play, my Golden Homunculus gains another 300 Attack and Defense," Amnael added as his golem glowed again (A: 3900-4200/D: 3900-4200).
"Aw man, nothing's getting through to do damage except Lady Heat's effect," Syrus said with a shake of his head.
Chumley nodded. "It's all because of that Elemental Absorber that keeps canceling out Jaden's attacks," he said.
"Guys, don't worry," Jaden said as he picked another card from his hand. "I'll just use something other than my Elemental Heroes. I play the Spell Burst Return. When Burstinatrix is on the field, this card allows me to recall all other Elemental Heroes back to my hand. C'mon back guys and gal." Clayman, Ocean and Lady Heat nodded and vanished before reappearing in Jaden's hand.
"Next, I activate Burst Impact," Jaden added, holding out another card. "Now, all other monsters on the field besides Burstinatrix are destroyed and you take 300 points of damage for each of them. Go, Burst Impact."
Burstinatrix was engulfed in flames and she tossed a large ball of glowing energy at Amnael's field. An explosion of smoke and flames erupted on Amnael's side of the field as all of his monsters were destroyed.
Amnael yelped in pain from the flames and a large crack appeared in his mask.
Amnael: 2200
Jaden: 1000
"He did it!" Chumley said.
"Way to play, Jay," Syrus said.
"Good move, Jay," Kasumi agreed.
A meow sounded and the spectators turned to see Pharaoh padding into the room.
"Aw, you're here to help cheer Jaden on?" Syrus asked as he smiled and picked up the cat. "C'mon, you can watch with me."
Pharaoh meowed angrily and slashed his claws across Syrus' face. Syrus cried out in pain and dropped the fat tabby, who immediately bounded toward Amnael.
Jaden frowned as he watched Pharaoh rub against Amnael's boot and, suddenly, pieces began to click into place and his eyes widened.
"Pharaoh's never friendly with strangers," Chumley said with a shake of his head.
"That's right, so that means…" Jaden trailed off.
"…I am no stranger to Pharaoh, nor to you," Amnael said, reaching up for his mask and pulling it off.
Syrus shook his head. "It can't be," he said.
"Professor Banner?" Kasumi said, confused.
There was no mistaking that the man standing in front of them, holding a book that held their friends captive, was the head of the Slifer Red Dorm. The glasses were the same, the hair was the same style, though white, and the face was the same, except for the presence of thick veins here and there.
Lyman Banner was the final Shadow Rider.
"Wait, but if you're Banner, who's that?" Jaden asked, pointing to the mummy.
Amnael—Banner—chuckled as he bent down to pet Pharaoh. "That mummy is also me," he said as he looked at them while he picked up the cat. "Oh, my children, there is more going on here than you can possibly imagine but the truth will be revealed soon enough."
Jaden frowned. "I don't understand," he said.
"Before I defeat you, I may as well tell you the whole story," Banner said calmly.
Jaden nodded. Now I see you're right, Yubel. He didn't tell us everything, he thought. "Knock yourself out," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Like you, Jaden, I was once a duelist with unlimited potential. I scoured the world for the rarest and most powerful cards," Banner said, glancing at the group. "Finally, my travels led me to the ultimate prize. Deep under an ancient desert, a lost and forgotten tomb was found. Within it was a duelist's dream. The very first Duel Monster cards."
Pharaoh mewed as Banner continued to pet him.
"Like Pegasus, years before, I sought out their powers. But the tomb was cursed and science had no explanation for the magic that ravaged my body. I tried everything, but I soon realized that there was only one thing to be done." He stopped petting Pharaoh and held up a hand. "I had to create a new body. Therefore, I used alchemy to create a homunculus, an artificial life form, and I put my own soul inside of it."
"Uh, say what?" Chumley said, confused.
"Whoa, so he's basically a clone?" Kasumi said.
Banner reached up and lightly scratched at his cheek, causing what looked like clay to crumble away. "But this body is only temporary. It won't be long until I am nothing but dust in the wind. You see, my children, I don't have much time left."
"So you lead everyone into this?" Syrus asked. "Alexis, Arina, Chazz and Kyle?"
Banner chuckled. "I think they are a small price to pay for myself to have a renewed life. I need the divine power of the Sacred Beasts, children," he stated.
'The Sacred Beasts cannot do that. They are only bred for destruction,' Haou said.
Are you sure about that, Haou? I mean, you said you've only faced them once, so you don't know everything there is to know about them, right? Jaden thought.
Haou said nothing.
'You're right, Judai, but I have seen the Sacred Beasts in action and I can't see how they could be used to help Banner in any way,' Yubel said.
"But how did you get your own key?" Kasumi said with a frown. "I thought they could only be won in a duel."
"That is true, Kasumi," Banner said with a nod, "which is why I gave my key to Atticus and then dueled and beat him for it. I was not sure that would work, but it was the only option I had left. I will gain those Beast cards so that I can be whole again."
Jaden shook his head. "I'm not going to let you destroy the world just for that, Banner. Those cards are bred for destruction and that's exactly what they will do," he snapped, subconsciously quoting Haou. "I won't let you do that."
"Too late, Jaden, because once you lose the duel, those beast cards are mine."
Jaden lowered his head. "Then I won't duel," he said.
Banner smirked. "Oh, yes you will," he said as he bent down to let Pharaoh go. "Did you forget about your friends? If you do not defeat me, Jaden, then their souls are mine for eternity. And I doubt your sister is duelist enough to face me."
Jaden's head snapped up and he glared at the former head of Slifer Red while Kasumi scowled angrily and muttered under her breath.
"Heeheehee, call it your final exam," Banner said with a chuckle. "Win and pass, lose, fail, and lose your soul."
"Fine then," Jaden hissed, eyes flashing to gold. "Bring it on."
Banner: 2200
Jaden: 1000
Banner drew a card. "I activate Chaos Greed," he said, holding up the card he just drew. "Now I can draw two cards because I have at least four cards that have been removed from play and no cards in my Graveyard." He drew before adding, "I then place these two cards facedown and end my turn.
"My draw then," Jaden said, drawing a card. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." He did so before adding, "Next, I summon Elemental Hero Stratos to my field in Attack Mode." His blue armored warrior with the fans in his metallic wings appeared on the field (A: 1800/D: 300).
"And thanks to Stratos' effect, when he's Normal or Special Summoned, I can activate one of his effects and his first effect lets me destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field up to the number of HERO monsters on the field, except this card, and Burstinatrix is still on the field. So I choose to destroy your Elemental Absorber."
Stratos flew into the air and unleashed a blast of wind that slammed into Banner's Trap.
"Next, I activate my Dark Fusion Spell card," Jaden added, holding up the second card he drew with Pot of Greed. "With this, I fuse Elemental Hero Burstinatrix and Elemental Hero Clayman in my hand in order to summon Evil Hero Infernal Sniper in Defense Mode." His fiery heroine and his clay giant fused together to create a fiend in red and gold armor with long hair and a two-prong blaster on his arm (A: 2000/D: 2500).
"And when Infernal Sniper is in face-up Defense Position, he can deal you 1000 points of damage!" Jaden added and Sniper fired a blast that slammed into Banner, sending him skidding back and causing him to scowl in fury.
Banner: 1200
Jaden: 1000
"And now, Stratos will attack you directly and end this duel," Jaden shouted as his Elemental Hero jumped into the air, preparing to attack.
"Fool!" Banner shouted as Stratos flew toward him. "It will be me who will take you to the Great Beyond. I activate Macro Cosmos. This Trap card removes Chaos Distill from play and now I'll be removing you from this world."
His kettle glowed bright red and then white before exploding.
Jaden and the rest of the spectators covered their eyes as the entire room was engulfed in blinding white light. After several long moments, the sounds of the explosion and the light began to go away and everyone lowered their arms to see that they were no longer in the lab beneath the Abandoned Dorm; they were in the vastness of space.
Banner smiled at their reaction. "The power of Alchemy flows through me, and it has broken our earthly bonds and taken us here," he said.
Jaden, as his eyes adjusted, narrowed them. "Well, this ain't gonna shake me," he retorted.
"Then, perhaps, this will, Jaden," Banner said, holding up a card. "Thanks to Macro Cosmos, I can now summon this card: Helios – The Primordial Sun."
A weird-looking mummy like monster with some of the gauze unwound with a sun for a head appeared (A: ?/D: ?).
"Undetermined Attack and Defense?" Kasumi said with a frown.
Banner nodded. "The Attack and Defense of my Helios depends. For each monster that has been removed from play, she gains 100 points. Since I have ten monsters removed," he trailed off as his Helios gained power (A: ?-1000/D: ?-1000).
Jaden frowned and was about to say something when he spotted a small number of oddly colored bubbles coming out of nowhere and closing in on them. Jaden gasped, eyes widening in surprise when he spotted who was in two of the bubbles who were up and seemed to be talking to each other, though Jaden could not hear what they were saying.
"Chazz! Arina!" he called out but neither of them responded.
The remaining bubbles contained Atticus, Alexis and Kyle.
"Don't bother screaming out their names, children, they cannot hear you," Banner said as he glanced at his captives. "They're my prisoners now, much like you all will be for all eternity." He reached into his robes and pulled out the book again. "Face it, Jaden, this Tome is your destiny now. Soon you will be locked in its' pages. A prisoner, a pathetic footnote in my saga of my ascension to greatness. Don't you see, Jaden, you cannot beat me. You do not have what it takes. You and your friends are finished."
He lowered the book and ran his hand over it. "I've paid for this book with my flesh and blood and I won't lose to a Slifer Red Slacker!"
Jaden's golden eyes flared. "Have you forgotten all the matches that I have won? All the people I've beaten?" he demanded.
"Jaden, you naïve fool," Banner said with a smirk, closing his eyes. "You were just a pawn in my little game. All of your matches were fixed so you would be given a Spirit Gate Key and then face me in a duel." He opened his eyes, revealing bright red irises glaring at them. "You're nothing but a loser, Jaden."
"You're wrong!" Kasumi shouted.
"Am I?" Banner's smirk widened.
Is he right? Jaden thought.
Haou scoffed. 'Of course he isn't right,' he murmured.
"Now, on with the duel," Banner said before he pressed a button on his disk, revealing his second facedown. "I play Planet Alignment."
The planets around them lined up with Helios and the air around Jaden and the spectators became distorted.
"This card is so powerful," Banner's voice changed from its normal tone to a distorted deep voice as his face swirled with the distorting space, "it can warp time and space itself and it destroys all your monsters, dealing you 300 points of damage."
Infernal Sniper and Stratos both let out screams of pain as they exploded into nothingness and Jaden's Life Points went down.
Banner: 1200
Jaden: 700
Jaden ground his teeth together. "I'll end my turn," he said, glancing at the two cards in his hand.
"Very well, my turn now," Banner said, drawing a card. "And now I tribute Helios – The Primordial Sun in order to summon Helios Duos Megistus." The new monster looked a lot like the first Helios except that its body was fatter and it had two suns in place of its head, a small one orbiting the bigger one (A: ?/D: ?).
"Now, for each monster removed from play, Helios Duos Megistus gains 200 Attack and Defense," Banner explained as his monster glowed (A: ?-2200/D:?-2200). "Since there are eleven monsters removed from play, Duos Megistus gains 2200 points."
"Now, attack with Solar Singer," Banner said, pointing to Jaden.
Duos Megistus' body was soon covered by a swirling mass of fire that launched itself towards Jaden's defenseless field.
"I activate my Trap, A Hero Emerges. Now, you get to pick a card from my hand and if it's a monster card, I can summon it to the field." He held up the two cards in his hand.
"One card?" Banners scoffed. "That won't save you. The left one." He pointed to the left card.
Jaden nodded. "I summon my Elemental Hero Lady Heat in Defense Mode," he said.
"I will continue my attack, though," Banner said and the mass of fire engulfed Lady Heat, destroying her. "I end my turn."
"My draw," Jaden said, drawing a card before glancing at it and nodding. "I play Card of Sanctity so that we each draw until we're holding six cards in our hands."
They each drew until they held a full hand.
"Next, I play Double Summon to summon Elemental Hero Knospe and Elemental Hero Avian to my field in Attack and Defense Mode respectively," Jaden added and his green plant monster with the permanent blush (A: 600/D: 1000) and his green feather hero appeared on the field (A: 1000/D: 1000).
"And, because of Knospe's effect, not only can't she be targeted for an attack while another Elemental Hero is on the field, but she can also attack you directly," Jaden added. "Do your thing, Knospe."
Knospe giggled. 'Okay,' she said happily before launching a few seeds at Banner, striking his duel disk.
Banner: 600
Jaden: 700
"And now she gains 100 Attack but loses 100 Defense," Jaden added (Knospe A: 600-700/D: 1000-900). "And I'll throw down a face-down and end my turn." There isn't much else I can do, he thought.
Banner wordlessly drew a card. You are starting to show your strength, Jaden, but shall it be enough? he thought. "This is the end of the line for you, Jaden. I now tribute Helios Duos Megistus in order to summon Helios Trice Megistus in Attack Mode."
His second Helios vanished to be replaced by three smaller monsters wrapped up like mummies with large suns as their heads floating around each other (A: ?/D: ?).
"And, for every monster removed from play, this card gains 300 Attack and Defense," Banner said with a smirk. "Thus, since there are twelve monsters removed from pay, this card gains 3600 Attack and Defense." His new Helios started glowing with power (A: ?-3600/D: ?-3600).
"Now, Helios Trice Megistus, attack his Avian with Phoenix Flare," Banner ordered and his monster launched a flare of flames that slammed into Avian, causing him to shatter.
"And, because my monster destroyed one of yours and you control another one, it can attack again," Banner added, "and that means you lose."
"Not yet, I don't," Jaden snapped, pressing a button on his duel disk. "I activate my Nutrient Z Trap Card. Since I'm about to take more than 2000 points of damage, I regain 4000 Life Points."
He was surrounded by a white aura as his Life Points increased.
Banner: 600
Jaden: 4700
However, Helios Trice Megistus' flames crashed into Knospe, causing her to scream in pain as she shattered and Jaden winced a little from the aftershock.
Banner: 600
Jaden:1800
"Very well, Jaden, but that does not mean you win," Banner said as he signaled the end of his turn.
"Maybe not, but I can still win," Jaden said, drawing a card before glancing at it and smirking. "And I'm gonna do that by summoning Elemental Hero Bubbleman in Attack Mode." His white caped blue-armored warrior appeared on the field (A: 800/D: 1200).
"And then his effect activates, allowing me to draw two cards since he's the only card on my field," Jaden added and drew two extra cards. He then held up one card and smiled. "And this card is going to end this duel. I activate Miracle Fusion. And I remove Elemental Heroes Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman and Bubbleman from play in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Electrum!"
"Nice job, Jay!" Kasumi said as the four Elemental Heroes fused together to create a tall muscular warrior with gold and silver armor that glowed with a large E on his chest who folded his arms across his chest as he faced Banner (A: 2900/D: 2600).
"And when Electrum is Fusion Summoned, its effect activates, shuffling all monsters that were removed from play back into their owners' deck," Jaden added with a grin.
Banner shuffled his cards back into his deck as his Helios Trice Megistus's power dropped significantly (A: 3600-0/D: 3600-0). Very good, Jaden. I knew you could do it, he thought
"Now, Electrum, attack Helios Trice Megistus and end this duel!" Jaden ordered and Electrum unleashed a cyclone of green, blue, brown and red energy that surged forward to obliterate Banner's Helios monster.
Banner: 0
Jaden:1800WINNER
Banner screamed as he fell and the field returned to normal, the gang returning to the lab and the tome falling to the floor, the eye symbol breaking into small bits.
"And that's game, Banner," Jaden said quietly as he turned his duel disk off just as the whole room began to shake violently.
. . .
The eight Spirit Gates closed and the beams of light that had surrounded the island vanished. One by one, the duelists that were trapped in Banner's tome reappeared.
Chazz and Arina appeared next to the water where they dueled Amnael, Arina's head was resting on Chazz's shoulder and his arm was curled around her shoulders, though both were unconscious and so did not notice this.
Atticus reappeared, unconscious, in his room and Alexis and Kyle were lying unconscious on the forest floor where they had lost their duels.
. . .
Jaden walked up to Banner as he coughed. "Jaden," he said weakly before he took a deep breath. "Listen carefully to me, my children. Jaden, I lied to you…"
Kasumi, Syrus and Chumley also walked over to join them as Banner lifted his head.
"Jaden, you won all those duels of yours," he said, parts of his face crumbling away. "I said you didn't to test you…to prepare you for the real threat that will come to the island. That is why I became a Shadow Rider. Not to take over the world, but to stop the one who was truly trying to. To stop him, by forcing you to be a better duelist, so you can face him and, hopefully, defeat him."
He held up a hand to try and catch the pieces of clay flesh that fell from his face. "You see, the threat is so grave I had to deceive you," he said before he smiled sadly as he looked at them. "My children, I hope you can forgive me."
Jaden was unsure but Banner did seem genuinely sorry.
The former head of Slifer Red picked up his Tome before holding it out to Jaden. "Take this, my boy," he said.
"But, this is your book," Jaden said with a frown but he took it nevertheless.
"It is mine no longer…as I am no longer…a part of…this world…" Banner murmured and then his whole body crumbled into dust. The only thing that now sat in his place were his robes and a large pile of dirt and clods. At the same moment, the mummy of Banner's original body also disintegrated.
Jaden closed his eyes, silently mourning his former mentor. Even if he had deceived them, and even if he had been the one who was responsible for what happened to Jaden's brother, Jaden couldn't find it in himself to hate Banner.
Kasumi placed a hand on Jaden's shoulder. "I guess it's over now," she said softly.
Jaden shook his head. "It's not over yet, Kas. There's another threat coming," he said.
"So what do we do now?" Syrus asked.
Chumley looked at the three of them. "I guess we have to be on the lookout for a terrible evil that wants to take over the world and possibly destroy it while he's at it."
"Well, yeah, but when aren't we doing that?"
"This time it's different, guys," Jaden said with a shake of his head as he gazed at the Tome. "Banner gave his life to prepare us for what's coming."
I just hope we're ready—I'm ready—because whatever we're about to face is going to be unlike anything we've seen before, he thought. And if this threat gets a hold of the Sacred Beasts, I'm not sure I have what it takes to defeat this threat.
'You can do it, Judai,' Yubel said gently. 'I will help you in any way that I can and'—she seemed to hesitate before, grudgingly, adding—'and you do have Haou to help you as well.'
'Gee, I feel so welcomed,' Haou drawled sarcastically, obviously hearing the reluctance in Yubel's voice.
'If Banner is right and if this threat is stronger than ever, and gains those Sacred Beasts, then you'll need all the help you can get,' Yubel added.
I know, Jaden thought.
As the group got up and left the room, no one noticed that a ball of light had emerged from Banner's remains. They also didn't notice when Pharaoh opened his mouth widely and swallow the orb.
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Chazz: where's Blaze?
Jesse: she's…actually, I don't know where she is. Jay?
Jaden: (looks up from eating fried shrimp) hmm?
Jesse: do you know where Blaze is?
Jaden: she said something about finding candy and wandered off
Chazz: wonderful. Blaze on a sugar high
Bakura: why is he upset?
Jesse: Blaze might be on a sugar high
Bakura: (blinks and flees to soulroom)
Yami: he actually ran way? (Starts laughing)
Ryou: you haven't seen Blaze on a sugar high, have you?
Yami: no, but she can't be that bad, can she?
Everyone Else: (exchanges glances)
Chazz: yo, Slacker, finish the chapter so we don't have to be here when Blaze comes back
Jaden: sure thing, now where's the question?
Jesse: (holds up paper) I have it. Blaze's question for today is: What is your favorite archetype? If you have more than one, just name five that you like. Five archetypes that Blaze likes a lot are Crystal Beasts, Heroes (Elemental, Evil, Destiny and Vision), Gem-Knight, Lightsworn and Ice Barrier.
Chazz: okay then. So let's finish this chapter and get the heck outta here
Jaden, Jesse and Ryou: agreed
Blaze: HI GUYS! HI! HI! HI!
Jaden, Jesse, Ryou and Chazz: uhhh, we gotta go…do something (take off running)
Yami: (sweatdrops) okay then. Please review and Blaze will post chapter 36 sometime next week, she will try for either Sunday or Monday, but she makes no promises.