"A Reason to Win"
Sorry about the wait, but here it is. It's short, sorry. Hope you all enjoy and please review!
Dai was cuddling up in her bed with V-Mon sleeping when Duskmon appeared looking troubled.
He walked over to the bed and gently shook his Master awake as she groaned pitifully.
"Oh, what now?" she whined as she sat up in her bed.
"I sensed a dark force. One of your friends may be in trouble. Hurry." Duskmon said.
Now fully awake, she got up and quickly dressed, V-Mon awake too.
Once Dai was in her uniform, she ran out of her room to see that Chazz was at Chumley, Syrua and Jaden's room with his three Ojamas hovering around him.
"What's going on here?" she asked.
"Bad news." Chazz said.
"Please don't tell me someone went missing." She almost begged.
The Raven Slifer nodded.
"Who's missing?" Jaden asked.
"Alexis." Chazz said.
The five Slifers were running off in the academy to meet up with the others after their search for the Obelisk Queen had failed and found Zane and Crowler.
"So?" Jaden asked.
"There's no sign. It's like she just disappeared." The Kaiser said.
"I don't understand. It's not like Alexis to up and vanish. Maybe her brother knows her where abouts." Crowler said as the group all went into the infirmary.
As they walked in, they saw that the male was collapsed on the floor.
"Atticus!" they called.
"Are you OK?" Jaden asked as they all rushed over.
Zane picked his friend up and held him so that he could see everyone.
"What happened here?" Zane asked.
"It was…him…T-Titan." Atticus said.
"It was Titan? Who is Titan?" Jaden asked as the others whined in worry.
"Talk to us." Zane said.
Renamon and V-Mon were looking at Crowler as he began sweating bullets for some reason.
The child of Miracles recognized that name and looked at Crowler with a glare on her face as she stood up.
"The abandoned dorm." Duskmon said making the students who could see spirits look at him.
"A Shadow Freak took Lexi to the abandoned dorm, huh?" Dai asked so the ones who couldn't see the Tainted Warrior of Darkness would know what was going on.
"Let's go then." Jaden said standing up.
"Dusk, can you take us there?" V-Mon asked.
Duskmon nodded as shadows wrapped around the group, everyone but the children of Darkness and Miracles shying away from the coldness of it.
Soon enough, they found themselves encased in utter darkness until it faded away a few seconds later and viewed them in a room of the abandoned dorm where Alexis and this man named Titan were getting ready to duel.
"They're gonna duel." Chumley said as he and Jaden held Atticus up between them.
"And how. Alexis, we're here for you, now beat this creep." Jaden called down to the blonde.
"Come on, Lex! Take this freak down." Dai called down her support.
"Ah, then this isn't about collecting that check." Crowler said in relief making Chazz look back at him.
"What check? What does that mean?" he asked making the man laugh nervously.
"Oh, nothing." He said.
"He paid Titan at the beginning of the year to duel Jaden in a fake shadow game to scare him off and make him drop out of Duel Academy." Dai said making the males all turn to Crowler who looked very pale.
"That was you?" Jaden asked.
"I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance." Renamon said.
"How do you know? Where do you have the proof?" the man yelled.
"I had Mercurymon and Arbourmon do some digging when I heard about the fake shadow game. My boys found the check." Dai said.
Crowler was sobbing at this pitifully while the others all rolled their eyes at his act.
Alexis and Titan then got into the duel that the Obelisk Queen was doing so that she can win her brother's memories back.
It looked bad for her as it raged on and after a while she took a hit that had her fall to the ground and snapped Atticus out of his dazed stupor.
"Alexis." He called.
"Don't give up. You can do this." He said.
"Bro." she gasped softly as she turned her head over to look at him.
"Lexi." He said.
She then forced herself up off of the ground, shocking Titan that she was still rearing to go after all of the damage he was inflicting on her.
Alexis then won the duel and the shadows that had consumed Titan and turned him into a Shadow Rider rose up and attacked him as he cried out in fear.
Alexis looked over to her friends and saw her brother was smiling at her.
When the shadows were gone, all that was left of Titan was his mask that had the Eye of Horus on it that Renamon collected and handed to her partner.
The group all walked out of the dorm as the sun started to rise up from the long night of terror, the Rhodes siblings facing each other.
"Atticus." Alexis said.
"Lexi." Atticus said.
They then hugged, happily reunited after all of this time of separation, Alexis' hope and faith in her brother being found finally realized and worth it.
"Atty, welcome back." She whispered.
"Thanks, Lex. For everything." Atticus said as the siblings pulled apart.
"But, wait. There are so many unanswered questions like how you ever wound up in the Shadow Realm. Titan said you did it for the power." Alexis said looking confused.
"Believe me, Lexi. I never chose to go. One day a few of us were told to meet at the abandoned dorm and then, well…it happened. See, there was supposed to be a duel test in the basement, but instead we found hundreds of those little shadow fiends. I couldn't escape. I was then brought to the Shadow Realm and kept. For months they brain washed me until I became this thing called Night Shroud." Atticus explained.
"But who? Who was it that brain washed you?" Alexis asked as the others all eagerly awaited the answer.
"I never did figure that out. However, the person that called me to take the duel test was…it was Professor Banner." The eldest Rhodes sibling said shocking everyone.
"Our Professor Banner?" Jaden asked.
"I knew it. Teachers are evil. I hate this school." Dai said.
Everyone then felt a sinking sense of betrayal at this news, no one sure of what to do or how to approach the Slifer teacher about this.
To be continued…