Chapter 36: Pawn of Darkness
A huge amount of dust kicked up from the attack. Chazz and Bastion couldn't see what was going on inside the barrier. But if what they just saw was correct, then they knew what happened. Damian deliberately threw the duel for the sake of being killed.
"I don't get it...why would he do that?" Chazz asked. Bastion didn't have any idea. All he could do is stare in stunned silence. "That's it." Chazz put on his Duel Disk. "As soon as that lizard freak steps out of there, I'm gonna make him give me some answers!"
"Don't be so hasty." Invader of Darkness told Chazz. The dust cleared up, revealing Damian with F.A Motorhome Transport (3600/3000), F.A Hang on Mach (3000/3000) and F.A Dark Dragster (2100/2000). Giga Gagagigo had no monsters. He also only had one facedown card instead of the two he had earlier.
(Damian 400/Giga Gagagigo 2500-0)
"Huh?" Chazz reacted
"What happened?" Bastion asked.
"With Compulsory Evacuation Device, I can target a monster and return it to the hand, or in the case of Extra Deck monsters, the Extra Deck. I couldn't use it on your F.A's due to City Grand Prix, but I could use it on my Revolution Falcon." Giga Gagagigo said. He looked like he was hiding his fury.
Damian looked pretty frustrated as well. "Why did you do that?"
Giga Gagagio snapped his fingers. The barrier of light that surrounded them faded away. The cyborg lizard took of Jaden's duel disk, and tossed it to Damian, who caught it. "Give this back to that Kuriboh haired boy." He began to walk towards the spirits of Invader of Darkness and Lightning Punisher.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" Damian yelled.
"You want an answer? How's this? There's nothing to gain from finishing off someone so weak willed that they'd throw away their life instead of simply choosing a side. Especially when it was a duel that they were going to win. You're not worth killing. You're not even worth hating." Giga Gagagigo turned to the spirit of Invader of Darkness. "Now to get back to our agreement."
"Naturally." The Invader of Darkness stated. The spirit then turned to Damian. "That boy has a notable amount of darkness within his heart. Not anywhere near as much as the boy Gagagigo took the duel disk of, and he has no special powers right now, but perhaps I could take some enjoyment out of him." Invader of Darkness floated towards Damian. "If he gets the proper catalyst, it will cause quite the interesting event."
"The hell are you doing?!" Chazz demanded.
Invader of Darkness stuck a hand inside Damian's chest, it phasing harmlessly through him. A sinister red energy started to glow around Damian. Naturally, only Chazz could see what was going on. The spirit quickly pulled his hand out before turning to Chazz. "I doubt this'll be the last time we see each other." All three of the creatures faded away, not even Chazz being able to see them. They left the human dimension.
"That was spooky boss." Ojama Yellow said.
Damian sat down, thinking about what just happened. 'I wanted to die.' It felt strange to look back on. Damian knew that he enjoyed feeling pain, and that he hated himself for what he was doing. But he never thought that he would try to kill himself. As he was thinking, the sun started to rise behind him. Apparently, he's been out later than he thought.
"Hey! Damian!" Chazz's voice snapped Damian back to reality, as he and Bastion ran towards Damian. "What was that about?"
"You mean the Duel Spirits? Like I said, he attacked me at KaibaLand a while ago so-"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"Why did you try to throw the duel like that?" Bastion asked. "You KNEW that losing would kill you."
Damian said nothing for a little while. Maybe it was time that he told the others the truth. "...Shadow Rider."
"Huh?" Chazz asked.
"Remember how Adrian was possessed by a Shadow Rider? Well...the same thing might have happened to me about four days ago." Damian lied. Maybe it wasn't time to tell them the truth yet.
"What?!" Chazz and Bastion both yelled.
"He was wearing some a tuxedo, and a mask that kinda looked like Arkana's. He called himself Masque." Damian didn't get to actually use his disguise yet like he planned, but it did help provide a fake story. "He didn't say anything about the Shadow Riders, he just called himself a Shadow Duelist. I lost the duel. He didn't kill me though, but he did something to mess with me. He snapped his fingers and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was lying on the floor of my dorm room. Guess he possessed me and had me walk there or smething."
Chazz and Bastion were both taken aback by this. "So...when Gagagigo was saying that we're fake friends of yours-" Bastion began to say.
"Yeah. He's referring to how I might be a pawn of the Shadow Riders."
"Pawn of the...hold on a minute! You mean the Shadow Riders have control over you?!" Bastion asked.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?!" Chazz yelled.
"I thought the thing with that Masque guy was just a dream or something. I didn't think much of it until Alexis told us about her duel with Adrian. And it made me worry that if Adrian was possessed by them, what if I was too?"
Damian stood up, reached into his pocket and got out his spirit key. "Here." Damian tossed the key to Chazz. "Tell Sheppard that I'm dropping out of this for the same reason Adrian is. I can't be a key keeper if I'm brainwashed by the Shadow Riders."
"Hold on a sec. You said so yourself. You don't know if that's actually the case." Chazz protested.
"It's too much of a risk. If it turns out that I'm an enemy of you guys, it means that the Shadow Riders already have a Spirit Key if I'm a key keeper."
"You have a point." Bastion admitted. "Still, that doesn't mean throwing your life away is an acceptable solution."
"Don't worry. That was just a heat of the moment decision." Damian said.
Damian's told a lot of lies during his time at Duel Academy. And with the exception of Banner and Zane when they got more information about the boys, everybody fell for his lies without a hitch. This lie however, Chazz and Bastion didn't buy for a single second.
"Damian. You realize we have to tell Miss Fontaine about this." Bastion told him.
Damian sighed. "Wait until Jaden and Atticus recovering before you do that."
"Damian-" Bastion began to say.
"Listen. Both of them are unconscious after recently being in a life threatening duel. If you put a suicide attempt on Fontaine's plate, coupled with dealing with Jaden and Atticus' injuries and Zane's coma, she won't be able to give the needed time to any of us."
"You can't treat this like an after-thought." Chazz told him.
"I'm not. I'm just saying that I'm a lower priority. What if something happens to Jaden because Fontaine was too busy dealing with me? Then we'll be down a Key Keeper for nothing."
Chazz and Bastion didn't know how to counter that. "The moment Jaden's back to normal, we're having you talk with Fontaine." Bastion said.
"Fair enough." Damian turned around and started to walk towards Duel Academy. He really needed to get some sleep.
"Hm hm hm. Clever boy." Camula said. "He came up with an explanation that answered everything the Duel Spirit was talking about without telling them the truth."
Scott was pretty relieved. Looks like he didn't have to worry about Damian giving away anything. "So, your verdict Kagemaru?"
"The boy's a skilled duelist. And he can think on his feet. However, he seems far too mentally unstable to truly be a Shadow Rider." Kagemaru answered.
Scott nodded. Honestly, he agreed with him on that. Damian proved time and time again that he wants to get back home, and never took any of the opportunties he had to expose himself, Scott, and Ghassan. Scott believed he didn't have to worry about being betrayed by Damian if he would rather choose to die than change sides. Still, that very decision proved that Damian couldn't handle too much of this.
"I'm not so sure about that Kagemaru." Camula stated after a moment of silence. Scott almost forgot about her.
"What do you mean, Camula?" Kagemaru asked.
"The boy told them that it's possible he's brainwashed, right? Well then, how about we have him act on that lie?"
"Did you hear about what happens if you go by the lake?" A Ra Yellow student asked two fellow Ra Yellows in the locker room.
"Yeah! They say at night time, if you go by the lake, a mysterious woman will be there standing on the water."
"Yeah. But the thing is, she has fangs!"
Ghassan widened his eyes. Damian told him about this. When students started talking about rumors about a lady at the lake, it meant Camula was about to make her move.
It was two days after the Nightshroud attack. Jaden was still in the infirmary, and apparently, Giga Gagagigo went AWOL after attacking Damian.
Ghassan closed the locker and walked out. 'Now that another Shadow Rider is going to make their move, a huge amount of Duel Energy will be absorbed by the Sacred Beasts again. If there was just some way to tell how close they were to awakening.'
As he walked in the hallway, Ghassan came across a familiar looking red-head. "Oh. Hey Adrian."
"Hey Ghassan. You heard about the rumor?"Adrian asked. "Apparently, there's some talk about a lady vampire appearing if you go to the lake at night."
Ghassan nodded. "Looks like Camula's made her move. It's a good thing you got the other half of the Shadow Pendant."
"True...but it looks like Camula has something up her sleeve."
Ghassan was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you remember when Scott told us about what happened? He told us that Camula was saying something about using Damian as a pawn."
Ghassan suddenly remembered that bit of the conversation. Though he immediately forgot it because he was too focused on something else Scott told them. Scott told Ghassan and Adrian that Damian tried to let his soul get absorbed. Ghassan was shocked out of his mind and tried to confront Damian about this immediately, but Adrian and Scott convinced him not to. Emotional confrontations with each other would basically ensure that Damian would betray the group. They couldn't have that. "Yeah, I remember now. So, what should we do about it?"
"Whatever Camula is planning, we need to get Jaden to wear the pendant as soon as possible. Otherwise-"
"Hey! Gecko!"
Adrian and Ghassan turned around and saw Chazz walk up towards them, looking pretty angry. 'Great. Him.' Adrian thought. "What's up Chazz?"
Chazz reached into his pockets, and held a Spirit Key. "What's up is that we're down a key keeper thanks to you."
"What are you talking about?" Adrian reacted in confusion, only half of it fake.
"I'm...just gonna leave you guys to this conversation." Ghassan walked away, not wanting to get wrapped up in this.
"This is Damian's Spirit Key. He gave it to me because he thought he would be brainwashed by the Shadow Riders. Apparently, he lost to one before we found out about the Spirit Keys, and his opponent took over his mind for a little bit."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Don't play dumb. Who's the one who brought up the idea of being brainwashed again in the future? You said you'd refuse to be a Key Keeper because you were worried that the Shadow Riders would take over your mind again."
Adrian groaned in annoyance. Was Chazz seriously trying to pin the blame on Adrian for Damian's decision? "Yeah. I was worried about them possibly taking over my mind and getting a free Spirit Key. It's called being careful."
"Cut the crap! We both know that you were just too pampered to get your hands dirty. But thanks to your excuse, Damian thought he was our enemy and tried to kill himself in a Shadow Duel! And now he gave up being a Key Keeper days before another Shadow Rider is about to attack!"
Alexis and Bastion came running from the same direction Chazz came from. "Sheesh Chazz, no need to rush ahead of us." Alexis told him.
"Did Chazz tell you about our request?" Bastion asked.
"No. He's been busy blaming me for something that his friend did." Adrian responded.
"We want to ask you to be the 7th Key Keeper." Alexis said. "You gained back control of yourself after I beat you, so unlike with Damian, we shouldn't have to worry about you being controlled by the Shadow Riders anymore."
Adrian pretended to give it some thought. "Sorry, but I think it's too much of a risk. Just because I got control back after you beat me, it doesn't mean that the Shadow Riders lost control completely."
Alexis and Bastion sighed in disappointment. "It's like I said. He's too pampered to want to deal with any threats." Chazz said.
"Chazz!" Alexis yelled.
Adrian felt a brief surge of anger. Once again, Chazz was assuming Adrian had a silver spoon in his mouth. But ass Adrian thought about it, knowing that Chazz's anger came as a result of a completely off-base belief caused him to start chuckling.
"What's so funny?" Chazz asked.
"That you're throwing a tantrum like a spoiled kid while calling someone who you don't even know pampered." Adrian answered.
"What was that?!"
"Look, if you hate me because my family's richer than yours, just go ahead and say it. You don't have to assume how I lived my life, or act as if me not wanting to risk giving the Shadow Riders an advantage is a bad thing."
"You little-!" Chazz tried to charge at Adrian, but was held back by Bastion.
"Enough Chazz!" Bastion yelled.
"I'm out of here." Adrian turned around. "Oh yeah. One more thing." Adrian tossed his half of the Shadow Charm pendant to Alexis.
"This...this looks like the pendant that was on Atticus' neck." Alexis noticed.
Adrian nodded. "I was given this a few nights ago by a Duel Spirit. Apparently, someone who's wearing both halves of the pendant can counter a Shadow Rider."
"Wait, what?" Bastion asked. Before they could ask any more questions, Adrian walked off.
"That bastard. He caused us to lose a Key Keeper, and he's not even gonna bother taking responsibility for it." Chazz said. "And what, he can see Duel Spirits now too?"
"Look Chazz, Adrian made a good point. If a Shadow Rider takes control of a Key Keeper, they get a Spirit Key for free." Alexis told him.
"We don't even know if they can take control of Damian though! And Adrian has even less of an excuse because you snapped him out of it!"
Bastion let go of Chazz. "Even still, that's no reason to try and attack the person we're asking to be the seventh Key Keeper."
"The guy pissed me off."
She took a look at the half of the pendant Adrian tossed her. "Besides, he's still willing to help us out, even if he isn't dueling the Shadow Riders." Alexis put the pendant in her pocket. "At the very least, Adrian's someone we can trust. Not sure if the same thing can be said for Scott and Damian."
Bastion and Chazz clearly looked uncomfortable at the statement. "Look, I know that both of you are friends with at least one of them, but you can't deny that they're suspicous. Both of them knew about Atticus since last semester, and didn't say anything about it. They had Chazz lie to us about him being the one to set up the tag duel against Jaden and Syrus, and to top it all off, that Duel Spirit explicitly said that Damian wasn't really on our side."
"He risked his life for our sake against that thing though." Chazz pointed out. "Sure, they tried to get Jaden expelled, but it's not like they're the only ones who did that. I tried to enter the tag duel to get Jaden expelled before Scott and Damian did."
"Not to mention that Crowler's tried to get Jaden expelled several times." Bastion added. "But it's clear that both he and Chazz are on our side."
"But according to you guys, Damian himself said that he couldn't be trusted holding a Spirit Key." Alexis replied. "And that's not even mentioning how he didn't tell any of us about the Shadow Rider he apparently met until the Gagagigo incident. And of course, the Synchro and Xyz monsters."
"What do they have to do with this?" Bastion asked.
"Back during September, Ghassan challenged me to a Duel. In it, he used Synchro and Xyz monsters before any of us at Duel Academy heard of them."
"Yeah. America got them before we did. Makes sense Scott, Damian, and Ghassan are from America, like Pegasus." Chazz said.
"That's the thing. After I beat Ghassan, I spent hours searching for information about those monsters, and got nothing."
"Huh?" Bastion and Chazz reacted.
"Chazz. When did you get those Infernity monsters you used to have?"
"Well, I ordered another deck after I came back to Duel Academy since my first one was dropped in the ocean. But the first one I got in October." Chazz anaswered.
"And Bastion. You made a bunch of decks with Synchro and Xyz monsters, but when did you make the first one?"
"I believe...mid November. Shortly after Jaden and Syrus got suspended." Bastion answered.
"Exactly. Until those three arrived, there was no information about these Synchro or Xyz monsters ANYWHERE. I looked it up for hours after my duel with Ghassan, and found nothing about them. Those three lied and said they were commonly used in America. What reason would they have for that unless they didn't want to tell us the truth?" Chazz and Bastion didn't have an answer to that. "I think we should meet with Jaden and Crowler about this. We need to talk about whether or not Scott and Damian are actually our allies."
Damian was lying on his back by the lake. Ever since the Gagagigo incident, he's been staying away from the key keepers, and he's barely talked with Scott and Ghassan either. He really messed up that day. It's one thing that he has a bunch of people worried for him. But with what Giga Gagagigo said, it was pretty much guaranteed that suspicions about him would rise. And that's not even mentioning how Scott, Ghassan, and Adrian probably view him as a liability at this point.
'Maybe The Light will have one of them try to kill me next.' Damian said. He rose up and stared out the lake. He wished that he could have been in a more simple situation. Well, as simple as it could be in regards to being in the Yu-Gi-Oh world. Being an actual ally of the heroes, having full confidence that the world wouldn't be destroyed, but also having easy access to getting back home. He would still have his excitement. But he wouldn't have to feel constant guilt or anxiety.
Damian picked up a nearby rock, and tossed it into te lake. 'I always thought that going through a world where everything is pretty much the same as canon would be less interesting. But what I wouldn't give to have that now.'
A few seconds later, Damian started to notice something. Fog was suddenly starting to build up around the area. A few seconds later, a red carpet started to unroll itself from the distance to the shore, the carpet standing on water as if it was regular ground. Damian knew what was going on.
"Hello boy." From the distance, Damian saw Camula in a canone nearby one end of the carpet. She got off the boat and started to walk on the carpet, towards Damian. "It's quite convenient that you're already here. Now I don't have to search around the island for you."
"What do you want Camula? If you're here to duel me for my key, I don't have it anymore. Or is it just a simple betrayal?"
"I'm aware you don't have a key. But that doesn't mean we can't have a chat, does it? I'm not here to duel you. You're too powerful a duelist for me to risk a Shadow Duel against anyway."
"Let me guess, you want to make a deal. So what is it?"
"You cut straight to the point." Camula stepped off the carpet and onto the shore. "It's clear that out of your trio of anomalies, you're the one who's the most conflicted. Am I wrong?"
"I tried to kill myself two days ago. You tell me."
Camula chuckled. "Anyway, what you worry about most of all is having to make a choice about which side to take, correct? The side of whatever brought you to this dimension, or the side of Jaden Yuki and his friends. There's also the side of the Shadow Riders, but it's clear that you don't feel any true loyalty to us."
"Is this going somewhere?"
Camula put a hand on her choker, and gazed at Damian's eyes. "What if I offer you an opportunity to continue feeling the excitement of duels, but without having to worry about the guilt and worry that's eating at you?"
"What kind of...deal are you..." Damian faltered.
"It's simple. Just duel who I tell you to duel."
"How will...how will that...solve..."
"All you'll need to feel are the exhilirating duels. Let go of your conscience. All it does is make you feel worse after all."
"I...I won't have to worry?"
Camula's smile widened. Usually, the hypnosis of vampires was only good for stunning a human for a little while so that said vampire could have a drink. But with her powers amplified by the Shadow Charm, and more importantly, Damian's fragile state of mind, he could make good use as a puppet. "You don't have to worry about anything, Damian. Just let me do the thinking. While you be my arms."
It was all so clear to Damian now. It didn't matter if he hurt this dimension or not. They weren't his concern. What mattered was getting back home. And with the powers of the Sacred Beasts, he could accomplish that goal, even without The Light of Destruction. He shouldn't be beating himself up if his actions hurt the characters of GX. Sacrifices had to be made.
Besides, if he let those feelings distract him, Shadow Duels against them would be a lot less fun.
Ghassan and Scott were running through the hallway of the main building. They needed to get to the infirmary quickly. "Are you sure that's what happened?!" Ghassan asked.
"No need to yell. You know that you can communicate with me without talking." The Light replied.
"Just answer the question!"
"Bold of you to speak to me in that tone. But yes. I'm sure. That vampire woman, Camula, filled Damian with darkness while telling him to follow her. I stopped being able to see through Damian shortly after due to the dark energy that she filled him up with, but I'm certain that she controlled his mind."
"Damnit... Damnit!"
"Ghassan, keep it together." Scott told him. "We can still save him, but we need that Shadow Pendant if we want to duel Camula."
"I know, I know. That Illusion Gate card or whatever."
Jaden was lying in one of the beds of the infirmary, Alexis, Bastion, Chazz, Syrus, Chumley, and Crowler standing near him. Tied around Jaden's neck were two halves of the Shadow Charm.
"Damian I feel like I can trust. But Scott...I dunno. There's something off about him." Jaden said.
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?" Bastion asked.
"It's hard to explain, but during the triangle duel, I saw this strange energy around him. And it didn't exactly feel like a pleasant one."
Almost everyone looked confused, but Chumley nodded. "Yeah, I saw it too. I don't know what that was about, but I had a bad feeling about it."
"Guess it must be a Duel Spirit thing." Syrus said.
"Even so, can that really be a sign that he's an enemy?" Bastion wondered.
"Maybe not on it's own, but how the energy felt...it felt malicious." Jaden recounted.
"Hold on. So in addition to needing to find a replacement for Damian, it's possible we need to replace Mr Sheaffer as well?" Crowler asked.
Alexis nodded. "Like I said before, both of those two hid information about Atticus, and had access to Synchro and Xyz monsters before literally anybody has heard of them."
"Wait, does this mean me and Chumley will have to be key keepers?" Syrus asked in worry.
"Please. It's enough that we have Jaden and Chazz as key keepers, we can't afford having two more Slifers." Crowler responded.
"...We're right here you know." Jaden pointed out.
Chazz remained silent. "Something up Chazz?" Alexis asked. He knew that normally, he wouldn't let Crowler's comment slide, especially since he used to be an Obelisk.
"Just wondering about something. Who will we have replace Damian? Scott to if we decide he can't be trusted."
"Zane's still in a coma, so perhaps we should have Harrington Rosewood. It's said that his skills rival Zane's." Crowler said.
"Jaden kinda disproved that rumor." Syrus replied.
"And the less time I spend around that guy, the better." Alexis stated.
"Then what about Missy?" Crowler suggested. "She's the highest ranking sophomore in Duel Academy. I'm sure that she'd be a better alternative than Syrus over here."
"Again, right here." Syrus said.
Alexis took a look at Chazz again. The more they talked about replacing Damian, the more uncomfortable he looked. 'I don't think I've seen Chazz care about anyone before. I guess Damian was the only real friend Chazz had.'
Soon, the doors to the infirmary opened, Scott and Ghassan running in. "Guys, you have to come to the lake, now!" Ghassan yelled.
The group quickly decided to stop talking about their suspicions of Scott and Damian. "Why? What's going on?" Jaden asked.
"That vampire lady that the campus has been talking about. She's at the lake." Scott answered.
"And she took control of Damian's mind." Ghassan added.
"WHAT?!" Everyone else reacted.
"What do you mean you refuse?!" Camula demanded.
"I mean that I don't want to use such a lame strategy." Damian replied. "It's no fun to duel if I use that Illusion Gate card to hand me victory."
"Don't you understand what the idea is here? I use my Shadow Charm to initate the Shadow Duel, but you do the actual dueling."
"So that you don't have to risk your own life, right?" Damian started picking at his ear. "Yeah...I'm gonna pass on that lame strategy."
Camula sighed. She didn't know what happened, but her hypnosis completely backfired. "Boy, you realize that, now that you don't have a Spirit Key, I have no reason to spare you." She bared her fangs. "So I'd suggest that you stay on my good side."
Immediately, Damian pointed a palm of Camula. A burst of purple wind fired from it, Camula starting to be pushed back. "Wh-what the?!" Soon, the wind blasted Camula into the lake.
Damian started to pant a bit. "Look, you taught me to let go of my conscience and only think about dueling. I appreciate that. But don't think for a second that it means I have to listen to you."
'What...what the hell's going on?!' Camula wondered.
Soon, everyone who was at the infirmary arrived at the lake, Chumley carrying Jaden on his back. "There they are!" Alexis pointed out.
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Did I miss something, because it looks like Damian tossed the vampire into the lake.
Camula took note of the recent group of people. 'Great. To be seen in such an embarassing position.' Camula jumped out of the lake and onto the shore. "Welcome everyone to my duel of darkness."
"So you're the vampire that the school's talking about." Jaden said.
Camula chuckled. "It seems that word has spread about me. Don't mind the boy. Apparently, he's forgotten his manners when I hypnotized him."
Ghassan clenched his fist in anger. "Whoever has Damian's key, give it to me."
"Huh?" Bastion reacted.
"That vampire bitch won't duel me unless I'm a Key Keeper. So give me Damian's Spirit Key. I'll be his replacement."
"Actually, I'll be taking my Spirit Key back." Damian spoke up. "But if you don't want to give it to me, I'll be happy to duel you for it."
"Damian, snap out of it! She doesn't have to take control over you!" Chazz yelled.
Damian stared in silence for a little bit, but before he started laughing. "Hahahaha! Sorry, it looks like there's been a huge mix up here." Damian aimed a hand at Camula, firing a blast of purple wind once again. In a blink of an eye, Camula dissolved into mist to avoid it, reforming quickly afterwards.
"Annoying brat..." Camula gritted her teeth.
"Wait, it's one thing for him to have these weird darkness powers, but did Damian attack her?" Alexis asked.
"I thought you two said she was controlling his mind?" Crowler asked Scott and Ghassan.
They looked just as confused as everybody else. "That's what we thought too." Ghassan said.
"Before you ask, no. I had no idea about this." The Light of Destruction told Scott and Ghassan.
Damian spent a few seconds catching his breath. "Man...I need more practice with this stuff." He turned back to the others. "Don't write me off as a brainwashed lackey. When Camula tried to hypnotize me, I realized something. Constant worrying and feeling sad is a waste of time. If I want to accomplish anything, I have to actually take action."
"Umm..that's a good thing right?" Chumley wondered.
"Unfortunately, I feel like he's taking the message in a different way than he should." Bastion said.
Damian put on his Duel Disk. "I'm not a Key Keeper anymore. But I'm not going to be a pawn of the Shadow Riders either. I'm gonna awaken and take control of the Sacred Beasts for myself. Then I can use them to get back to our home dimension."
A plan to hypnotize Damian by Camula failed utterly, and instead, awakened a different kind of darkness within him. Just what did The Invader of Darkness do to him? And considering how he openly told the GX cast about him being from a different dimension, it looks like Scott and Ghassan are gonna have quite a bit of explaining to do.
Originally, the conclusion of Damian's duel with Giga Gagagigo was meant to be in the previous chapter and Damian giving away his Spirit Key would be the end of said chapter. But I decided that Damian's suicide attempt would make for a good cliffhanger. Also, it's now the two year anniversary of when I started this fanfic. I wasn't sure if I would have the story last this long, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Thank you to everybody who read and enjoyed the story, and here's to hoping that I can continue to deliver.
