AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. This one was a lot of fun to write, but also was one that got me very emotions while writing. I do have a soft spot for character that don't talk in stories, as I feel you can see a lot more emotion with the character's actions over words. That being said, this duel has some awesome plays and reveals throughout. The ending might cause a bit of rush of emotions, so be prepared. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.

See Datasheet Chapter for cover art details.

Chapter 16 – The Mute Shadow Rider Pt2

Ruby made it to the infirmary building, standing where Alexis had dueled Roman. Despite it being almost a week ago, she still could see a slight dark patch on the ground where he met his end, "Come on Ruby, think!" She said while catching her breath, "There has to be proof here, somewhere!" She scanned the arena for clues but found nothing. She gritted her teeth, "Where else can I look? Think! Think! Think!" Ruby racked her brain, shutting her eyes as she tried to focus. The image of her failing formed in her mind, unable to get back in time. As Jaden's life points hit zero, his body limply falls to the ground. The image of Neo smiling over his corpse, not knowing she is helping the one who actually took Roman from her. "NO!" Ruby's eyes shot open, "I can't let that happen."

Suddenly, Ruby heard the faintest hum. In search, she heard it ones more. However, it seemed to be coming from one of her cards. She pulled out her deck, seeing Jaden's Winged Kuriboh she placed there for safety, "A-am I hearing things?" Ruby said to herself before she saw the creature's claw flinch in the artwork. Her eyes widened, but the creature did it again as if it was trying to point at something. Ruby looked up towards the direction it was pointing, discovering something that caused her gasp, "That's it!" Ruby said with a smile forming, "That'll convince Neo!" the hooded Slifer Red looked back down to the card, "Thank you!" She said with the card winking, but Ruby did not see it as she quickly put it away. With a focused gaze, she ran into the infirmary building to retrieve the proof.

Neo: 3000 Life Points

Jaden: 400 Life Points

Back to the duel, it was Jaden's turn. He had nothing but his draw, while his opponent had; a powerful ace monster, three facedown, and a couple of cards in her hand. However, the Slifer Red was not giving up. He played the card he drew, "With no other cards in my hand, I special summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in defense mode." Jaden said as the light blue aqua fighter entered the field in a blocking stance, (800 ATK / 1200 DEF). "Since I summoned him this way, I draw two cards." Jaden said while doing so, then played a spell, "I activate Fusion Recovery to add Polymerization and Sparkman back to my hand." He said before playing his recently added spell again, "I activate Polymerization, fusing Sparkman and Necroshade in my hand to form Elemental Hero Darkbright in defense mode." The vortex unleased as black and yellowed armored electricity fighter, one who sparked chaotic electricity, (2000 ATK / 1000 DEF). With no cards left to play, Jaden ended his turn.

Neo drew, switching the color of her eyes again. She pointed at Jaden's fusion monster, causing Silent Magician LV8 to unleash a beam of white energy again. The blast collided with Jaden's monster, about to destroy it. However, the chaotic electricity ran up the white beam, "When Darkbright is destroyed, I can destroy one monster you control." Jaden said as Neo gasped. After the fusion monster exploded, Silent Magician LV8 met with the same fate.

One the smoke cleared Neo gritted her teeth. She activated the trap card showing an image of a graveyard, Call of the Haunted. In doing so, Silent Magician LV4 returned (1000 ATK / 1000 DEF). She ordered her to attack Bubbleman, despite the lower attack points. However, Neo revealed the card she set on her first turn. The spell that showed her monster in a scorching aura, Silent Burning. With it, both players drew until they had six cards in their hands. Since Jaden drew, Silent Magician LV4 gained 500 attack points, (1000 + 500 = 1500 ATK). Now with enough attack points, the thin white beam on magical energy the tiny mage launched grew slightly larger, obliterating Bubbleman with an explosion. In the second main phase, Neo tribute her Silent Magician LV4 for Silent Swordsman LV5. The buster sword-wielding warrior entered the field with a glare towards his opponent, (2300 ATK / 1000 DEF). The Mute Shadow Rider ends with one card face down, then typed a message.

"You just barely escaped," The sign read, "But I will not let you get away again."

"Neo, please believe me!" Jaden pleaded, "It was Cinder who did it." He said before showing his key, "She is just using you to get this and unlock the Sacred Beast." The Slifer Red said as Neo's hatred remained focused on him, "It will mean the end of the world!"

Neo typed, "My world already ended." She typed with her right hand, gritting her teeth, "I grew up in the poorest part of the Domino City. No mom. No dad…No one." Jaden remained quiet as Neo continued to type, "I couldn't go to school, I learned to read and do math thanks to the cards people threw away." She typed as tears formed on her face, the memory of a young Neo, her cloths dirty and worn out, sitting on the folded out cardboard box in the middle of the sidewalk. She was dueling herself, but there was no light in her eyes as she made her big combo, "Nobody cared. They all just walked by me, all without saying a word." The Mute Shadow Rider typed before she remembers the exception.

One person had stopped before her, "You're pretty good." The young Neo heard the voice that made her look up. To her this make looked like a candle in the dark, the only light she could see, "It would be a shame to waste your talent out here." He said as he extended his right arm, "If you have nowhere else to go, how about you come with me?" He asked with Neo's eyes lighting up for the first time in her life. She hesitated at first, thinking this was all an illusion. However, once she realized he was real, she accepted his offer.

"Roman was the only one who cared about me, my One Thing," Neo typed before wiping her eyes before adjusting her hat, then typed some more, "Now, he's gone, and all I care about," The Mute Shadow Rider then glared back at Jaden, her eye colors swapping, "Is getting my Revenge."

"Neo…" Jaden responded, "I understand how much Roman meant to you. And I think he genuinely cared about you too." He spoke with a look of worry, causing Neo to have a look of confusion, "But, he wouldn't want you here. He wouldn't want you to endanger yourself like this. That's why he went in place of you." The Slifer Red said as Neo gasped, "He was sent here by Cinder, she is the reason he became a Shadow Rider. And when he lost, she had him eaten by monsters and killed! And now, she is having you do her dirty work the same way. Please, believe me!" Jaden pleaded one last time, "I didn't kill Roman!"

Neo examined the facts in her head, while Jaden hoped this was when she would realize the truth. However, the Mute Shadow Rider glared back at Jaden, realized something, "You seem like a nice guy, one who wouldn't hurt anyone." She typed, causing Jaden to smile, "But if you killed Adam, what's to say you didn't kill Roman as well."

"What?" Jaden said as a look of dread fell upon his face, "How did you-"

"So, you admit it," The sign read, "You killed Adam."

"I…I…" Jaden responded, but he failed to speak right away, "I tried to save him, but he fell before I could reach him."

"Liar." Neo typed, "Cinder and I found his body. We saw his burn makes and his eye." The mute Shadow Rider typed as Jaden took a step back, "You're a murderer."

"No, I'm not a murderer! I'm a…" Jaden said, but struggled to say the word, "…A hero." He said, but the Slifer Red hung his head low as he spoke. Neo looked at him with her eyes half-open. Even Jaden did not believe what that word meant to him anymore.

Neo typed, "You're no hero." The sign read, "It's your move."

Jaden gritted his teeth before drawing his card. With seven new cards, he started to examine his hand for a strategy. However, his eyes widened at one spell card, causing the voice in his head to speak, "Dark Calling." The Supreme King identified, "Play it, remove from play Sparkman and Clayman," He ordered Jaden, who had a look of panic as his eyes started to change to a cold golden color, "To Dark Fusion summon Evil Hero Lightning Golem." The Supreme King said grabbed his face with his land, covering his mouth and nose, "It already has more attack, but you can destroy Silent Swordsman LV5 without a cost. Then, attack her directly as she attacks you." He said as the Slifer Red's hand started to come off his face, reluctantly going to the spell card, "Do it, make her feel the same pain, get revenge."

"NO!" Jaden shouted as he shut, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He declared before opening his eyes, their normal color returning. While he was millimeters away from picking that card, Jaden plated a different spell instead, "I activate Skyscraper." The Slifer Red said as his duel disk cartage slot open, allowing him to play the field spell. Neo gasped as the mountain terrain they stood in was replaced with a cityscape, "Next, I use Necroshade's effect from the grave, allowing me to summon an Elemental Hero without tributes." He said before summoning the seven-star monster, "Meet my blade master, Elemental Hero Bladedge." The golden armored hero emerged on the field, his arm blades extended and at the ready, (2600 ATK / 1800 DEF). "Bladedge attacks!"

Neo smirked at her moment; she revealed her face down. The quickplay spell showing her sword master in a flurry of slashes, Silent Sword Slash. Silent Swordsman LV5's attack point increased to more than enough to destroy Jaden's monster and the rest of his life points, (2300 + 1500 = 3800 ATK). "Not so fast," Jaden said but Neo was calm. She knew her spell could not be negated, and her monster was unaffected by spell cards, "Since your monster has more attack points, Skyscraper gives Bladedge 1000 more attack points." Jaden said as Neo's eyes went white, (2600 + 1000 = 3600 ATK). The two blade masters clashed weapons, sparks flaring from the strikes. However, Silent Swordsman LV5 saw an opening and took it. He stabbed through Bladedge's chest, cashing the monster to explode. Jaden shielded himself from the shockwave.

Jaden: 400 – 200 = 200 Life Points

As the smoke cleared, Jaden entered his second main phase, "I thought you would counter like that," He before playing a spell card, "I active Miracle Fusion, removing from play Sparkman and Bladedge to create Elemental Hero Plasma Vice." The golden sparking hero entered the field, his massive arms radiating electricity between each other, (2600 ATK / 2300 DEF). Jaden then took Dark Calling in his hand, glaring at the card before looking back to Neo, "Like Thunder Giant, I can discard a card to destroy a monster. Except that monster has to be in attack mode." He said as he sent the dark fusion card to the graveyard. Plasma Vice then unleashed a lightning blast wave that encompassed Silent Swordsman LV5. Neo's monster exploded as Jaden ended his turn with a face-down card.

Neo drew, smiling at the first time she could play this silent monster. Onto the field, she summoned a female knight with a shield and sword. Her hair was a dirty blond ponytail, part of her bangs covered her right eye, (500 ATK / 1500 DEF). "Silent Paladin." The sign read, "When summoned, I can add Silent Swordsman LV3 to my hand." The card ejected from Neo's deck.

She then took a spell card out of her hand, then glared back to Jaden as she played it. A white stone altar formed in the center of the field with massive marble pillars. At the center, an offering to a headdress was seen, "Ritual of Grace." The sign read before Neo took the level three monster she added to her hand and the level four monster on the field. She offered both as tribute causing two flames to light on the pillars. Suddenly, the headdress began to move before being enveloped in a beam of light. Neo looked at the target in her hand, causing a memory to playback in her mind. After winning her first tournament, she was presented this card as the prize. This was her first rare card, the first time she was given a card instead of finding one. She turned to the cheering crowd, but her eyes focused on one man who was applauding with a smile on his face. "Appear now, Divine Grace – Northwemko!" The sign read as the light fade, revealing a maiden now wearing the headdress. She wore a dark people elaborate dress with golden lining. She long blondish white hair almost reach the floor, her bangs almost fully hiding her eyes. In her right hand, she wielded a golden staff with a sun-like head fixture at one end, (2700 ATK / 1200 DEF).

"A ritual monster," Jaden responded, "She had another ace up her sleeve?" Neo pointed at Plasma Vice, causing Northwemko to raise her staff. Suddenly, a beam of concentrated sunlight fired from the staff. Jaden gasped as his monster was enveloped by the blast, disintegrating. The heatwave passed over Jaden as he fell to one knee.

Jaden: 200 – 100 = 100 Life Points

Jaden had almost no life points left, but he revealed his face down, "I activate Hero Signal." He played his trap, shining an H-spotlight into the sky, "This lets me summon a level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck." The Slifer Red said as the card ejected, "I choose Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode." The hunter hero emerged onto the field with a battle cry, (1500 ATK / 1600 DEF).

Neo scoffed as she ended her turn.

Jaden drew, placing the card in his hand before selecting a spell card, "I equip Wildheart with Cyclone Boomerang, increasing his attack points by 500." The hunter hero gained a massive weapon in addition to his sword, (1500 + 500 = 2000 ATK). "Now, attack! And thanks to Skyscraper, he gains 1000 more attack points." Wildheart glowed in a light blue aura before he tossed the boomerang, (2000 + 1000 = 3000 ATK).

Neo saw this as her moment. She revealed her last face down. The holy barrier to stop all attackers, Mirror Force. The barrier formed as the boomerang grinded against it. However, her eyes turned white as the barrier cracked, then fully shattered. The boomerang collided with Northwemko, breaking her staff before she shattered as well. Neo shielded herself as she took slight damage.

Neo: 3000 – 300 = 2700 Life Points

"!?" Neo typed.

"Wildheart in unaffected by trap cards," Jaden said as his monster lost the aura, but caught his boomerang, (3000 – 1000 = 2000 ATK). "I end my turn."

Neo gritted her teeth before drawing, her eye colors back to normal. She then placed the card in her hand before discarding another one. Then she picked the card she drew and summoned it. A caped jester with a red question mark on his chest and face was seen, The Tricky, (2000 ATK / 1200 DEF). Neo pointed at Jaden's monster, causing The Tricky to unleash a yellow sphere of energy towards Wildheart. The hunter hero through his boomerang to counter, but the two attacks passed by each other, collide with the monsters instead. Both targets exploded, while the skyscrapers started to fall, "When Wildheart is destroyed, Cyclone Boomerang destroys all spells and traps on the field, and you take 500 damage per." Jaden said before the skyscrapers collapsed.

Neo: 2700 – 500 = 2200 Life Points

As the smoke cleared, the field was fully empty. Neo had only one card in her hand. However, she did not play it, as she ended her turn. Jaden had two left in his hand before drawing. However, after he drew and saw the spell, his heart sunk, "Dark Fusion!?" He said to himself, looking back at his hand and seeing Avian and Burstinatrix, "No, not again."

Suddenly, the voice echoed in his mind, "Play it," The Supreme King ordered, "Bring out Inferno Wing and burn your opponent to ashes." He said as Jaden gutted his teeth, pressing his ears shut, "You know it is your only option, you cannot stall any longer and hope to still win." He said as Jaden shut his eyes, "…I am done giving you chances."

Suddenly, Jaden's body erupted with a vertical pillar of black aura. Neo shielded herself from the force as her opponent screamed, "AAAAAAA!" Jaden yelled as the agony went on for a few seconds but was an eternity for him. After the aura faded, a thin amount still radiated from his body. The Slifer Red hung his head while lowering his arms. Neo had a look of confusion as Jaden was now the unresponsive one. However, Jaden heard a new voice speak to him.

Awaken once more, My King.

Lifting his head and opening his eyes, the Supreme King focused on Neo with an emotionless glare. The Mute Shadow Rider gritted her teeth as she swapped her eye color, while the Supreme King's eyes remained a cold golden color, "I active the spell card, Dark Fusion." He played before sending the last two cards in his hand to the graveyard, "With Avian and Burstinatrix, I dark fusion summon Evil Hero Inferno Wing!" He said as the dark vortex merged his monsters, causing the female demonic hero to exit onto his said of the field. (2100 ATK / 1200 DEF).

Neo scowled at the monster's sinister smile.

"This attack will leave you with 100 life points left. Meaning, I will allow you one turn to show me your power." The Supreme King said before declaring his direct attack, "Go, Inferno Blast!" Inferno Wing gathered a ball of blue flames, ready to toss it at Neo. The Supreme King watched, waiting to see The Mute Shadow Rider writhing in fear. However, Neo did not break eye contact. Rather, she looked like she was about to play the last card she had. "Huh?" The Supreme questioned what the card could be.

However, a person had returned, "WAIT!" Ruby called out as she ran, waving her scroll in her left hand, "I have proof!" She shouted, gaining Neo and The Supreme King's attention. However, Inferno Wing still had its order, "Oh no." The red hooded girl said as the Inferno Blast was launched, "Look out!" She warned as Neo looked back, her eyes white with panic.

Suddenly, The Spirit of Winged Kuriboh emerged from the card. The Supreme King watched as the small monster had a look of focus in its eyes, ramming its body into the attack. The fireball exploded a meter in front of Neo. While the Mute Shadow Rider was unharmed, the duel spirit was not. As the smoke cleared, Winged Kuriboh was on the ground. His furry body mangled, and his wings broken. It took everything of the creature to lift its eyes to look back at its owner, "Winged Kuriboh?" The Supreme King said, his voice slightly trembling as his eyes returned to normal, "Buddy?" Jaden asked in fear of what was about to happen. Winged Kuriboh hummed once, then happily closed his eyes. The spirit faded away into yellow particles, leaving this world. Jaden fell to his knees as tears ran down his face, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jaden cried and screamed as loud as he could, mourning the loss of his friend, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he fell to his elbows, screamed towards the earth as the tears continued to fall, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Neo was still dumbfounded. She looked to Inferno Wing, but the monster faded away. The duel was over, ending with no winner. Ruby ran over to Neo, "Here, watch this, please!" She quickly gave the Mute Shadow Rider the scroll, showing a video of on playback. Neo watched the video, but her eyes went white with shock. It was an upward angle feed, one from a security camera, showing the results of the duel between Roman and Alexis. It showed the moment Cinder called the evil spirits to devour Roman.

Neo almost crushed the scroll; she was lied to by the Fall Shadow Rider. Neo turned back to the two Slifer Red's, seeing Ruby try to comfort her still crying friend. Neo walked over, her eyes filling with remorse as she put her last card back into her deck. She knelt as they looked to her. In looking at the scroll, the mute duelist typed a message, "I was wrong." The message read as she showed it to them, "It was Cinder." Her eyes then focused as she typed a new message, "I will make her pay."

"Neo," Ruby said in worry, "Don't do it, you'll only get hurt…or worse."

Neo gave the hooded girl as slight smile as before handing back the scroll, "I have nothing to lose anymore." She said before returning the scroll to hooded Slifer Red. The mute duelist then turned to Jaden, who still had tears run down his face.

Suddenly, Neo hugged him, casing Jaden's eyes slightly widened at the gesture. After a few seconds, Neo let go of him and stood up. She winked with a smile to him before turning around, then ran towards the volcano, "Neo!" Jaden called out in worry, but the pain of the Shadow Duel rung through his body.

Ruby helped him up as the two started moving to pursue. However, the hooded Slifer Red noticed something, "Jaden!" She asked in a panic, "Where's your key?" Jaden checked around his neck but could not find it. Did this last duel count as a loss? No, he had it just a second ago. And at that moment, Jaden knew the true meaning of that hug.

As Neo ran, she looked at her right hand, seeing the key she snagged. She had her reason to duel Cinder, but Cinder needed a reason to duel her. The mute duelist placed the key around her neck, then reset her deck, ready to take down the Fall Shadow Rider.

AN: There you go, the first duel in this series to end in an inconclusive outcome. Now, I should start talking about Winged Kuriboh's sacrifice. To give you a behind the scene on writing this chapter, as soon as the idea of doing this came to my mind, I almost instantly started to cry. That is when I knew I had to put it in the story. It is sad when any good character dies, but Winged Kuriboh goes out like any Kuriboh would want to; save people from taking damage. Because of his sacrifice, Jaden regained control over the Supreme King. However, this is only going to pile on the emotional stress he is going though. Neo was about to take a direct attack, but what was that last card? All I will say is that you will see it played in the next duel, where Neo takes on Cinder. Can she do what is normally reserved for protagonist, defeat the main villain? You'll have to wait and see. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.

Since I posted the first part early, I didn't have any questions pop up yet to answer. I will just address that I used Cyclone Boomerang's anime effect, mainly because the actual card effect is too underpowered compared to the original. I also checked, he despite it being a trap, Wildheart is a target for Hero Signal because he is not on the field during the effect, only after it has resolved. I wanted to talk about Neo having Northwemko as a secondary ace. That is one of my favorite card arts and something that fits for Neo very well. The two even share a name that's ten letters long that starts with the letter N. Her getting it as a prize card was also something I liked, as well as referencing her origin in this series. Which if you watched Crow's origin, it should sound familiar. Like Neo, both are character's whose popularity gave them bigger roles in the series. And in their respective series, they are my favorite characters. I appreciated them for existing as unique character in a medium where you can see a lot of the same thing over and over again. Sorry for the small gushing, but it was something I wanted to include.