Yay! A new chapter! An extremely long one at that!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!
The full moon was beautiful tonight, as if symbolizing something was sure to come soon enough. Full moons were always wonderful to watch, even if they last for an entire night and don't come back for a while. Still, the full moon was just as white as a pearl, shining its radiance down and showing its own moonlight.
Stepping out of the shadows and into the breathtaking moonlight, Alexis walked towards a sort of statue right in front of an old, abandoned building. It seemed run down with broken windows and plants growing out of some of the areas, and obviously, nobody was currently using it since no lights were shown inside or any sort of activity. She placed a blood red rose in front of the statue as if offering something to a grave.
'Be at peace, brother...wherever you are,' she thought, still staring at the abandoned building with a solemn expression.
"...And underneath the full moon, I see a path through the cavern that seems...abandoned..."
Syrus was currently telling Chumley and Jaden all about a scary story. They were drawing cards, and whatever monster they drew, the higher the level, the more scary the story would be. They were all seated in the dining room, the candle being their only light source.
Chumley had already finished his tale, and needless to say, it wasn't that good of a story, considering it was about warriors and grilled cheese. Actually, it was more of an adventure story than a scary one.
"Really?" Jaden seemed intrigued. "Then what?"
Syrus's expression grew more serious as his tone deepened, trying to set a scary setting. "Then, back at the cavern, I see a mysterious lake. So, I go in to look veeerrrryyy carefully...And, under just the right angle of light, at the very bottom of the lake, beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card! Naturally, I'd go and get it, but when I reached for it, an arm grabs me, and tries pulling me towards the lake!
Chumley, who had been sitting next to Syrus, freaked out and backed away, curling himself up as he sat down in a different seat. It doesn't seem that he can handle scary stories that well.
"AAAAAHHH! HELP ME! NOT THE WATER! ANYTHING BUT THE WATER!" screamed Syrus, clawing at the air and acting dramatic.
Jaden grinned, leaning in close due to interest in the story. "Aw, water's not so bad!"
Syrus dropped the act, looking curious. "Um...dirty swamp water?"
"Nope!"
The blue-haired boy sighed, disappointed. "Oh, you're right...Only a chump would be scared of that..."
Speaking of, Chumley was trembling like a leaf, staying a bit far away from Syrus in fear that he might say something else. "Please no more...please no more...please no more..." the senior Slifer Red whispered.
"..." Jaden stared dumbfounded at Chumley before snatching the card Syrus had drawn that inspired him to tell the story. "Still, good story! Mid-Level scare for a Mid-Level card. But me...I hope I get a high Level!"
Unfortunately, Jaden's luck wasn't with the heart of the cards, since she pulled out a measly Level 1 Monster: Sinister Serpent.
Syrus was relieved as Chumley sat back down to his original seat. Knowing Jaden, she's full of nasty surprises, so if she had a high Leveled monster, she'd no doubt come up with a story so scary, it might cause nightmares for a month or so.
"Oh, you lucked out. You hardly have to scare us with that card."
Jaden shrugged. "Alright, then! I think I have a story that'll do the trick! Well, it's more like a memory. Back when I was a little kid, I used to hear sounds, but I only hear them real late at night."
Syrus pondered on what a kid version of Jaden would be like. Not to say he was a bit perverted, but he had a lovestruck look on his face, wondering how cute Jaden could have been. He could imagine it; her in a cute schoolgirl uniform and-
"-yrus? Syrus! Hey!"
"H-huh?"
The Slifer Red blinked as Jaden was snapping her fingers in front of him. "Dude, you blanked out! Are you even paying attention?"
"Y-yes I am! Anyways, continue!"
Flashback...
In a small room, completely covered in large blue bedsheets, a little girl about 5 or 6 years old was fully asleep, snoring peacefully as she moved closer to her soft, cloud-like pillow. A Kuriboh plushie, a Marshmallon doll, and other Duel Monster dolls were all surrounding the girl, as if protecting her.
Suddenly, some light illuminated from her closet along with some strange noises. They were enough to wake up poor little Jaden, causing her to groan from the weird noises and light that woke her up.
A bit scared and curious, Jaden grabbed one of her favorite plushie dolls, a Dark Magician Girl, clutching her close to her for protection as she walked towards her closet. She twisted the knob and gently let the door open by itself.
By the time she did, the voices and light were all gone. All that was left of the room was a minature slide, some toys scattered throughout the floor, and her cards in her card case.
Bending down, Jaden lowered her Dark Magician Girl doll on the ground before picking up her card case and lifting off the top of the case with one hand before hugging her cards close to her chest.
Syrus and Chumley blinked, waiting for her to speak further. "...And then...?"
"Hmm...And, that's the end of the story!"
Both boys groaned in disappointment. Sure, the story was starting to get interesting, but like all other things, all things must come to an end. In this case, it was a rather short one.
"That's it?" both of them groaned, with Chumley laying back and Syrus placing his head on the table.
"But, what to know something strange...? Lately, I've been hearing them again," admitted Jaden, scratching her cheek. "But I gotta say, I love it! After all, I got to see Winged Kuriboh! And he's so cute!~"
Maniacal laughter burst out behind Jaden. "Ooh! I want to join in-"
Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley screamed, holding each other tightly while they closed their eyes. If they were going to die from the same person who started laughing like a vampire, the least they could do is die together!
Their screaming went on for another 10 minutes, however.
By the time the screaming ceased, the trio coughed for some breath as they separated from each other. Chumley laid on a bench while Syrus and Jaden gulped down some water, panting afterwards.
"...Wow. I'm quite impressed! I did not think you would go for a full 10 minutes!" exclaimed Banner, grinning. Pharaoh was laying around in his arms, meowing a "Hello" to Jaden and her friends.
"Hey, I just realized something," said Jaden. "Why do you have Pharaoh? I thought you weren't allowed pets on Duel Academy."
"No, Jaden. Pharaoh is not my pet. He is my partner," corrected Banner, still keeping a somewhat creepy smile on his face.
"What, you mean like married?" Syrus joked, causing him, Chumley, and Jaden to begin laughing a little.
"Yes."
Everything went a little chaotic there. Chumley hid in a corner, Syrus fell off his chair, and Jaden just stared at her dorm Headmaster with wide eyes and an open jaw.
"...What?"
"Yes, Syrus. Me and Pharaoh are married."
"You're-You're serious?"
"Yes."
"You swear to God?"
"Yes, Syrus. Why would I lie?" Banner leaned in close to Syrus's face, scaring the short boy even further. "Do you think I am a liar, Syrus?"
Syrus frantically shook his head. "No, no! I don't think you're a liar! ...Mr. Banner, sir!"
Banner smiled gently, pulling back. "Well, that's good. Because for a second, I thought you had something against a man and a cat being together!"
"No, no, no, no! I don't have anything against it! I mean, I-I couldn't have because um...I'm...I...I happen to be...involved! Yeah! With Jaden!"
"Shut up."
"Good, because I was kidding."
"But now that you're here, why don't you draw a card?" suggested Chumley, trying to change the subject for the benefit of everyone. The situation was already awkward as it is; it didn't need to be much more worse than it is.
"Y-yeah!" agreed Syrus, sitting back up. "The tougher it is, the scarier the story has to be!"
"Oh, well that sounds easy enough! Let's see..." Banner drew a card and flipped it over, which happened to be a Level 12 Monster, the most high Leveled of them all. Of course, there are some circumstances where there could be more than 12 Levels, but for the most part, Level 12 is the highest.
"I-I think I'm gonna go to bed now!" said Syrus, his feet trembling under the table. This was Banner; who knows what sort of sneaky stories he might have! Forget Jaden, Banner's probably worst than her!
Banner chuckled, either oblivious to Syrus's fear or just pretending to to tease the poor fellow. "What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the abandoned dorm at the end of the island?"
"Ooh Abandoned dorm? I wanna know! I wanna know!" Jaden was practically jumping up and down, her eyes sparkling with excitement as Chumley and Syrus sweatdropped.
"Jaden...I don't think this is such a good idea..."
"Who cares, Sy! I wanna know! Please, please, please, please, PLEASE!"
"Okay, okay!" said Banner, trying to calm the girl down. "Not many people talk about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest. It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing."
Syrus gulped, a bit of sweat dripping from his forehead already. "Where'd they all go?"
"Well, that's the mystery of it all," continued Banner. "But the rumor was, it had something to do with...Shadow Games..."
"Thanks, but you can stop now!" cringed Chumley, who had been hiding behind a chair all this time.
Ignoring Chumley, Banner turned to the rest of his students. "You see, kids, Shadow Games are duels played with powerful mystical items."
"Millenium Items, right?" yawned Jaden, losing a bit of interest. "I've heard about this, but it's not true."
"Ahahaha! Yes, that is what most people say. But, I believe that most stories generally come from somewhere."
Pharaoh let out a small yawn, signaling Banner to stand up. "Well, I think it's time for bed. Goodnight, children!"
"Goodnight!" said Jaden, waving her hand.
"Goodnight..." Syrus seemed all gloomy and scared.
"..." Chumley stayed silent.
After Banner left the room, Jaden noticed Syrus had something to say, but he was looking at his candle, barely noticing Jaden staring at him. She knew that look; it was the look of a mix of guilty and hiding something.
"Syrus, come on!~ I know you're hiding something! Spill it," teased Jaden, giggling as she rubbed Syrus's cute cheeks.
The boy's rubbed cheeks turned pink, which Jaden thought was adorable. He gently whacked away her hands and patted his cheeks, trying to calm himself down. No other girl touched him like that before; guess that was one of Jaden's ways to show affection.
"You know, there was this creepy building I saw in the forest once," admitted Syrus.
"Sweet! Then, you can lead the way for us tommorow night!"
"Wait a sec! What do you mean 'us?'
Syrus yelped, turning around to see Chumley standing right behind him so close. Just when and how did he get there without him noticing? That's it, he's second n Syrus's Creepy People List.
"It'll be fun!" encouraged Jaden, throwing an air punch. "Yeah!"
"Y-yeah...It'll be fun..."
"Oh man..."
Chuckling to himself from outside, Crowler was hiding and currently eavesdropping on the Slifer Reds, specifically Jaden. He figured that the only way to caught trouble for Jaden would be to figure out what he might be up to, and he was right!
"This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for!" whispered Crowler, grinning like a madman. 'I think the Shadow Games should make a comeback! Millenium Items and all!'
"Fufufufufufufu...hahahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Hey, Sy? Chumley? What's that weird laughter coming from?"
"I don't know. Chumley? You wanna come with me to check it out?"
"Oh, shoot!" Crowler ran off, knowing his overconfidence nearly cost him dearly. 'Note to self, laugh maniacally after getting the hell out of here.'
Banner talked all about philosophy and the meaning of it behind dueling with ancient history mentioned in it. While he was teaching the class about the current lesson, Jaden and Syrus were slumped together, sleeping softly while some others glared at them with annoyance.
Peering from a small crack in the door, Crowler was spying on only one sleepy person: Jaden Yuki. He seemed to have adopted a grin on his face as he thought, 'Sleeping through yet another class...But you'll have a make-up class soon enough...A lesson in the Shadow Games!'
"Jay...please be my forever girl..." moaned Syrus, his head still on the desk as he tried to hug at air. He then proceeded to making kissy noises with his lips.
"Fried shrimp...I wanna have ice cream..." groaned Jaden, a bit of drool trailing down her lower lip while she wore a smile on her face.
Some of the kids sweatdropped. Just what were they dreaming about? Their voices were a bit too low for them to understand, plus the kids were still paying attention to Banner anyways.
Late at night...
The lighthouse's beacon kept swirling around over, monitoring the area and providing light for any ships whatsoever. The guards inside the lighthouse were inspecting the area, just in case any kids don't run off and do terrible things, of course. One shadow on the light, and it's game over for the kid that gets caught.
Hiding near the lighthouse happened to be Crowler, waiting for his surprise guest to show. He had to make a few phone calls and call the right duelist for this special ocassion. Hearing footsteps approaching, Crowler turned around, grinning.
"So you're the one they call the 'Shadow Duelist!'"
Smoke started seeping from the Shadow Duelist's briefcase. He was fully masked and his clothing consister of a dark trenchcoat and a hat, hiding his identity even further. The strange part was, why was smoke coming out of his case?
"My opponents call me many names," he spoke. "Most of which are hard to describe due to their shrieks of sheer terror, but you can call me Titan. But enough small talk. What's the job?"
Crowler decided to get straight to the point. "I want you to fright someone so intensely, that he leaves this Academy and never comes back! Up to the challenge?"
"Of course." Titan answered without hesitation. "I never turn my back to a challenge."
"Hmmm..." Growing curious, Crowler kept dashing left and right in front of Titan in hopes to see if he was serious, with the latter trying to follow his gaze. "My, my! You are good!"
"...I'm better than good. And I'll prove it, not just by scaring this someone, but by banishing him to the Shadow Realm!"
Having said that, Titan began moving backwards as if moonwalking. He kept getting farther and farther away until he disappeared into a huge mist.
Having no clue what he meant, Crowler couldn't care less what happens to Jaden. "Hmm...oh well, if you insist."
"Chillin' out with the crew in the school yard!~"
Jaden had been continuously singing the same song over and over like a recorder on repeat. Chumley and Syrus had been following her down a rocky road, each carrying the flashlight as a way to provide them light.
"Jaden, I think we're lost!" complained Chumley, his feet aching in pain.
"We're not lost!" said Jaden. "I mean, you could think of it as lost, or you could say we found a couple of places where it's not!"
"Yeah? Well, we've been 'finding' places for over an hour! Then again, things have gotten worse for Sy!"
"Huh? Sy?"
Chumley nodded. "Yeah. I mean, we could end up in the scary swamp water!"
Syrus wasn't that amused. "Very funny, like you were the one who refused to bathe 'cause you were scared of the bath water last night."
"Hmph! Well, maybe if you cleaned it once and a while, it wouldn't be so swampish!"
"Maybe you grew up and started to take showers!"
As the two were constantly bickering with each other, Jaden started flashing her flashlight around, trying to find something good in the dark. A couple seconds later, she spotted a red rose on the ground.
"Hey! Check this out, guys!"
Stopping their argument, both Syrus and Chumley ran up to Jaden before Syrus looked around with his flashlight. "Check out what's behind it!"
Clicking their flashlights together, the trio turned their attention towards a huge, beatdown dorm with several broken windows, cracked walls, and plants sprouting from the inside. It truly was a mess, but it was no doubt the abandoned dorn,
"The old dorm!" gasped Jaden.
Chumley started shaking in his boots, literally. "And probably lots of ghosts, too!"
"Relax, guys! There's nobody here!" Jaden assured, turning to her frightened male friends. "Besides, if anything goes wrong, I'll protect ya!" She winked at them, causing Chumley to be surprised and for Syrus's heart to start beating rapidly.
"N-no! I'll protect you, Jaden!" promised Syrus, stepping in front of Jaden with his arms wide. He didn't know why he said that, but his protective instincts had taken over, and he felt rather good saying that.
Feeling a bit bad for not standing up for himself, Chumley nodded and went to Syrus's side. "Yup! We'll all take care of each other!"
Jaden nodded. "Yup, yup! We're all in this together, so let's do this, guys!"
At that moment, the sound of a branch snapping in two quickly drained their courage and replaced it with fear.
The three of them screamed, clinging onto each other. Chumley had hid behind Jaden, gripping her shoulders with his giant hands, while Syrus hanged onto Jaden's arm for dear life, not having any intention of letting go.
Jaden had closed her eyes, shining her flashlight around with her free hand as if it was a sword. In addition, she kept making lightsaber and sword noises as she tried to fight against whoever was there.
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Zoom! Zoom! Slash! Swoosh!"
"Jaden."
"Swoosh! Pow! Pow! Bang bang bang!"
"Jaden!"
"Zwoosh! Zwoosh! Pow! Bang! Slash! JADEN SLASH!"
"JADEN! SYRUS! CHUMLEY! JEEZ!"
Slowly cracking one eye open, Jaden shined her flashlight towards the direction of the voice, revealing to be the infamous Alexis Rhodes, who was just as surprised to see them.
"...Oh. Hi, Alexis."
Syrus peeked out from behind Jaden's arm. "...Alexis? What are you doing here?"
Alexis walked over to the Slifer Red group. "That's funny. I was about to ask you guys the very same thing."
"We heard about the abandoned dorm, and we wanted to check it out," explained Jaden.
"Well, that's not very intelligent." Alexis shot a glance at the abandoned dorm. "Don't you know that kids have a way of disappearing around here?"
Jaden shrugged off her warning, thinking nothing less of it. "Ah, come on! There's just some urban myth!"
"No, it's not. Believe me, I know. Why else would the Academy make this place completely forbidden?" She turned to Jaden and her friends. "They catch you here, and they'll expel you three."
"Yeah, sure. Okay, so why are you here?" asked Jaden, practically challenging Alexis and questioning her.
"I have my reasons, that's why!" snapped Alexis, suddenly angry and upset.
Jaden was taken aback while Syrus and Chumley fell to the ground on their bottoms, stunned by Alexis's angry demeanor. They've all never seen the calm and kind-hearted Alexis this mad before.
"Whoa! Okay! No need to snap!" said Jaden, trying to calm her fellow female friend down. "We just came here to look around, but hey! We'll stay out of your way, don't worry about it!"
Alexis's face fell, and so, she relaxed her shoulders, her angry expression replaced with a sorrowful one. She didn't mean to snap at them, but in her current situation, she's been so stressed that...it's been hard to focus lately.
"Look, it's just..."
The Obelisk Blue girl couldn't form the words out of her mouth any longer, so she turned towards the abandoned dorm, leaving their conversation full of tension and confusion.
"Just what?" wondered Syrus quietly, unable to speak up due to fear of Alexis yelling at him.
Stopping right in her tracks, Alexis sighed, rubbing her temples stressfully. "One of the kids who disappeared here...was my brother."
Syrus, Jaden, and Chumley looked bewildered at this new information, wondering what to do in order to make Alexis feel better. They didn't mean to make her upset, but they wanted her to at least cheer up a little.
'Oh! That explains the rose!' thought Jaden, glancing back behind her shoulder to where the rose was as Alexis wandered off. 'So, Alexis must have put it there! Poor Alexis...'
"If Alexis's brother really disappeared..." started Syrus, trying to deduce something. "Then, the rumors aren't just rumors! I say we go back, Jaden!"
"Yeah? Well, I say we go in!"
Jaden and her companions stared at the abandoned dorm. It was dark, spooky, broken down, and even suspicious-looking, but even so, Jaden's fearless spirit prevented her from running away. Actually, hearing Alexis's tale just made her more determined to find out what's going on inside.
"What?!" cried out Syrus. "I'm not going in there!"
"Okay! See ya in a few, Syrus!"
Seeing Jaden wander towards the abandoned dorm made Chumley feel fiercely protective of her. Not wanting for her to get hurt, Chumley walked side-by-side with her, in case anything bad happened.
"H-hey! Wait up!" Syrus rushed up to his two friends, grabbing onto Jaden's soft-skinned hand. Her hand was so smooth like lotion in his hand, and he tightened his grip, clinging close to Jaden in case ghosts appeared out of nowhere.
Standing near a tree, Alexis watched as the three ventured inside the abandoned dorm, in hopes that they might find something interesting. Alexis did explore inside once, but found nothing but cobwebs and dust bunnies.
'I hope Jaden knows what he's doing,' thought Alexis, turning to leave when she suddenly encountered a mysterious masked man in a trench coat.
"Why, hello there-"
Alexis let out a high-pitched scream that echoed throughout the night, and proceeded to kick the man right where the sun doesn't shine.
"Augh! Straight in my Life Points!"
Inside the abandoned dorm...
"This place is sweet!" exclaimed Jaden, her flashlight shining all over the place as the wielder looked around the dusty area and took in the dirty scenery. "You know, a little paint, a couple of cardboard boxes, and maybe a throne rug can totally get us to move here!"
Chumley and Syrus looked at her, wide-eyed. Move here? In the forbidden abandoned dorm that would most likely expel them if anyone found out they were in here? Not a chance!
"No way, Jay!" protested Syrus. "This is even worst than the Slifer dorm, and that's saying a LOT!"
"Yeah, and what's with the stuff on the walls?" pondered Chumley, pointing his flashlight towards the strange Egyptian-like symbols and writings. "Do you think it has something to do with the Shadow Games?"
Seeing Jaden walking closer to the strange symbols, Syrus began to freak, his feet trembling too much to move towards her. "J-Jaden! Don't stand so close! Are you nuts?!"
Jaden wasn't even fazed or rattled at the current situation. "Hey...I think this shows the seven Millenium Items! How cool!" She turned, shining her flashlight towards a different object: A picture of a young, attractive man. "And that just shows someone I've never seen before!"
Getting a little jealous, Syrus stomped over and snatched the photo. This guy was several times more handsome than he was, and he's supposed to be the cute one! He won't let some random guy steal Jaden's heart!
"I...I'll hang onto this! It might come in handy!" said Syrus, trying to make up an excuse since Jaden and Chumley were looking at him strangely. He placed the picture inside his backpack for safekeeping.
Jaden smiled and shrugged, continuing her investigation inside and entering more rooms. Of course, her two friends followed from behind, holding each other's hands in case something bad happened.
Alexis groaned, her vision a little groggy and her head throbbing madly. She couldn't exactly remember what caused her to black out, but when she came to, she was laying down uncomfortably, with her hands tied in front of her.
"W-where am I?!"
A low chuckling from a man's voice echoed inside her mind, causing confusion and fear to enter inside her body. She had no idea where she was, but from the looks of things, it seems she was trapped inside a sort of grotesque coffin.
"All alone...dangling...dragging your friends into my trap..."
"W-what?"
Alexis was still unsure what was going on, but then she saw a golden eye springing open, blinding her with such radiant power and light. She screamed, not knowing what was going to happen to her.
"AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Syrus, Jaden, and Chumley gasped, hearing the feminine scream just now. There was no cloud of doubt about it; that scream came from Alexis!
"That sounded like Alexis!" cried out Syrus.
Jaden nodded. "Let's go!"
Pursuing after Jaden's trail, Chumley and Syrus hurried to keep up, worried about Alexis's safety and what had become of her. They stopped right in front on top of the staircase, calling out Alexis's name.
Jaden showed her flashlight all around the area below, hoping to find Alexis's body somewhere if she had gone unconscious. Instead, she found a facedown card on the ground.
Being somewhat foolish, Jaden jumped over the staircase railing, ignoring her friends' cries as she started to fall. Luckily, she managed to land safely, but the way her feet slammed onto the ground like that caused pain to course throughout the rest of her body. She was lucky that her legs weren't broken after that jump!
"Jaden! Are you crazy?!' both Chumley and Syrus yelled at her, their heads anime enlarging at the cowering Jaden, who looked like a cornered cat. Most of them time, they knew Jaden would be reckless, but this was just too much!
"S-sorry..." Jaden's arms were placed behind her back, having taken a sudden interest in her shoes as she rubbed her feet against the ground.
Syrus and Chumley couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Jaden, as well as admiring her cute pouting. Wait, now was not the time! They needed to find Alexis!
"Whatever! Let's just hurry, pancake!" called out Chumley.
"Wait, pancake?" Jaden tilted her head in confusion, until she figured out what the meaning was. "HEY! STOP CALLING ME FLAT!"
Chumley couldn't help but smirk. "Oh yeah? The day I stop calling-"
"GUYS! Can we please focus!" shouted Syrus, trying to get their attention. Jaden's eyes widen in realization, completely forgetting they had to rescue Alexis!
She ran over to where the facedown card was, picking it up and turned it around, revealing it to be one of Alexis's favorite monsters; Etoile Cyber.
"This is Alexis's card!"
Chumley pointed towards a different direction up ahead. "Well, there's only one way that she could have gone!"
"Then, that's the way we're going!"
The trio dashed down a hallway, which seemed more of a dark tunnel people would normally see in mines and caves. This hallway was a bit more longer than usual hallways, so it did take them a while to see the other end of the hallway. Once they arrived, they saw a huge cave-like room, with Alexis unconscious inside an opened coffin with fog flowing near her feet.
"Alexis!" shouted Jaden, concerned for her friend.
Before she could try and get closer, a man's voice laughed out loud insanely. "She can't hear you! She's far away...Locked in the Shadow Realm!"
"Who's there?!"
Emerging from the fog, a mysterious masked man in a trenchcoat made his acquaintance. "Your worst nightmare come true..."
Jaden frowned, readying herself in case this man tried anything. "Oh, give me a break!"
The mysterious man raised his head, his hidden eyes meeting Jaden's fierce ones. "Then let me prove it to you...in a Shadow Game!"
"Hand her over right now, or you'll be sorry!" threatened Jaden, raising her fists up like she was ready to fight.
Despite the dangerous situation, Syrus couldn't help but silently awe at Jaden's current position. She didn't really look that intimitating, but she did look cute, like she was trying to fight a puppy.
Noticing Syrus was out of it, Chumley shook him and whispered, "Psst! Syrus! Get a hold of yourself!"
"H-huh? Oh! Sorry!"
"The only way I will free her is if you beat me in a Shadow Game," proposed the mysterious man.
Chumley gulped, mumbling, "He's not looking at me, is he?"
Ignoring Chumley, Jaden took a brave step forward. "Look, I'm not afraid of dueling you, but Shadow Games don't exist!"
"The others didn't believe in the Shadow Games either," pointed out the mysterious man, unperturbed. "But they were soon convinced, for you see, when you lose at a Shadow Game, you don't just pay with your Life Points, you pay with your soul."
Jaden gritted her teeth and didn't realize until now that her knuckles had turned white from tightening so much. Chumley was rummaging through his backpack, trying to fetch something. Was this guy the one responsible for the disappearance of Alexis's brother?
"So, you're the one behind all those disappearances! Who are you, anyways?"
"I am the Shadow Duelist, Titan! Well, it's not like you're going to be around to remember that anyways. Soon, I'll have your soul..."
"Well, you're not getting us! Especially Alexis!"
"Unless you win, she's mine forever, as well as you," warned Titan, a twisted smile composed on his face.
"Jaden!" Chumley handed Jaden a duel disk, in exchange for the flashlight she had been carrying so that Jaden wouldn't have anymore distractions keeping her away.
As soon as Jaden equipped the duel disk onto her arm, she faced Titan, determined tow in back Alexis. "Alright, get your game on!"
"Hmph." Titan, who had been clenching his fist all this time, opened his palm and prepared himself to duel. His duel disk shot out and extended, resembling some sort of bat wing-like duel disk. "A Shadow Game, that is!"
Jaden slipped her deck in the slot of her duel disk, peering at Titan with determination as her duel disk activated. She turned to the unconscious and captured Alexis, her face falling with concern.
"Just hang on, Alexis...I'll get you out."
Both duelists turned at each other's directions, setting themselves up for a grand duel like never before. If this truly was a Shadow Game, both lives were at stake.
"DUEL!"
- DUEL -
Jaden - 4000 LP
VS
TItan - 4000 LP
"Prepare, fool, to enter into the shadows," jeered Titan, drawing a card. "I summon Infernal Queen Archfiend in Attack Mode!"
Emerging from the shadows, as fitting as it may be, a somewhat skeleton-like feminine figure arrived. She wore some red armored shoulder pads, a velvet dress, an indigo-colored ragged cloak, and sharp wings to indicate how strong she may be.
Infernal Queen Archfiend - (FIRE/Fiend) - LV4 - (900/1500)
"An Archfiend monster?" wondered Jaden, a bit surprised. She may not pay attention to class, but she did know a little about Fiend-types. Apparently, they have huge costs in Life Points, whether it's to the opponent or the duelist himself. In exchange, something good or bad may benefit from those consequences.
"Yes, and now that this card is out, each and every monster with Archfiend in its name gets 1000 Attack Points," explained Titan.
Both Syrus and Chumley gaped at the sudden advantage Titan just received. And on the first turn, too! Luckily, since it was the first turn, he wasn't allowed to attack.
"Be careful, Jay!" called out Syrus.
Infernal Queen Archfiend - (FIRE/Fiend) - LV4 - (1900/1500)
"Uh, yeah. I already knew that," revealed Jaden, getting a bit cocky. "And I also know that if you keep those Archfiends on the field, you gotta pay Life Points during every Standby Phase of your turn."
Ttitan cackled, a little impressed by the young student's knowledge. Looks like this kid wasn't as half-brained as he thought.
"Now I don't...not after activating the Spell Card, Pandemonium."
Quickly inserting the Spell Card right into some sort of slot, the slot began filling up with light that illuminated the entire room. Jaden, and the other spectators besides Titan had to shield their own eyes from the light.
Sensing that the blinding light had dissipated, everyone glanced around, noticing an obvious change in scenery. There were gargoyle-like statues abd large centipede statues sticking in the walls, emitting a sense of fear, while the ground stood as some sort of rocky-like spider web.
"Pretty cool..." murmured Jaden.
"And it doesn't just change the scenery," said Titan. "It changes the rules! Now I don't have to pay any Life Points for my Archfiends, and if they're ever destroyed outside of a battle, I get to put another Fiend right into my hand! I know what you're thinking; your little friend's fate is all but sealed! Well, you're right!"
While he spoke, the ground began shaking, and the coffin's door closed and sealed up Alexis inside before the coffin itself was wrapped up by rough, claw-like tentacles. Once again, the ground was trembling as the coffin submerged and buried itself underground.
"Alexis!" shouted Jaden, reaching her hand out to her. By then, it was too late.
"That's not fair!" growled Chumley.
"Yeah! What have you done?!" cried out Syrus, glancing angrily at Titan.
"The same thing that I would do to you," answered Titan, getting irritated by both Chumley and Syrus's constant presence. "Should you continue to pester and annoy me!"
Seeing her two friends whimper in fear, Jaden grew displeased. "Hey! Just leave my friends out of this! My move!" She drew a card, then became preoccupied with her thoughts.
'I don't have any cards that can go up against 1900 Attack Points, but maybe...'
"Elemental Hero Avian! I summon you in Attack Mode!"
The green feathered, coated hero flew onto the field, his feather-like wings flapping over and over as he stood by, ready for combat.
Elemental Hero Avian - (WIND/Warrior) - LV3 - (1000/1000)
"And, I'm gonna throw down two facedowns as well!"
Titan sneered, thinking this was going to be easier than he thought. "Too bad you won't have a chance to use them. I summon Terrorking Archfiend in Attack Mode!"
Resembling very deadly and similar to his Queen counterpart, Terrorking Archfiend had a much bulky figure and was already twice as strong as his Queen, with a few different aspects for appearance other than the crown on his head.
Terrorking Archfiend - (FIRE/Fiend) - LV4 - (2000/1500)
"Now, you have two ficious Fiends to contempt with! And thanks to the special ability of the Infernal Queen Archfiend, the Terrorking's Attack Points automatically increase by 1000, making him an even more fiendish force to be reckon with!"
Terrorking Archfiend - (FIRE/Fiend) - LV4 - (3000/1500)
"3000 Attack Points?!" gasped Jaden, clearly not expecting this outcome.
"That's right!" Titan said, not yet fully releasing the power of his two Archfiends. "And now, I'm going to put them all to good use! Terrorking Archfiend! Attack Avian! Locust Storm Barrage!:
Terrorking Archfiend's chest opened up like a gate, with several moths and wasps fleeting out and heading straight at Avian.
"No way! You forgot about my facedown card, Mirror Gate!" yelled Jaden, who was prepared for this moment. "This Trap Card causes our Monsters to trade places! My Avian for your Terrorking! So now, all those 3000 Attack Points are going to work for me!"
Titan merely smirked. "You thought that you could lure me into a Trap? Look around you and tell me who's trapped."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, your Trap won't work on my Terrorking! He simply activates his ability! An ability that will determine our monsters' way of chance!"
A lava pit resides somewhere in the Pandemonium's den, and floating out of the lava pit came a couple of multi-colored pool balls with numbers on them. They all flew towards Titan's side and hovered besides him.
As Jaden stared, Titan began explaining, "You see, when he's targeted by an opponent's effect, Terrorking's special ability gives me a gambling chance. A number between 1 and 6 is selected at random. And if it happens to be a 2 or 5, then your Trap's destroyed, and Archfiend stays to fight on my side! So, let's spin the wheel of fate and see what happens, shall we?"
Wisps of fire blazed through each pool ball, one fire to another as it kept rotating over and over in a circle. The chance of failing seemed higher than winning, or so anyone thought.
"It's okay! The odds are way in Jaden's favor!" Chumley tried to encourage.
"You flunked math, Chumley," reminded Syrus dully.
"No, I got a 54!"
The wisp of fire started to gradually slow down; its time almost up. Right at that moment, the wisp landed straight on a 2.
"2!" Titan grinned sinisterly. "It seems that chance has favored the Terrorking Archfiend! Mirror Gate is shattered! Locust Storm Barrage! Finish him!"
Once the Mirror Gate surrounding Avian's body vanished, the wasps swarmed in and started invading Avian's body while he cried out in pain, trying to fling the wasps off him. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to deal with the numbers and exploded.
Jaden - 2000 LP
Titan - 4000 LP
"Well, that stinks," commented Jaden. "But at least it activates my other Trap! Hero Signal! When my Monster's destroyed in battle, this Trap card allows me to automatically summon a monster from my deck or my hand with Elemental Hero in its name! And I summon Elemental Hero Clayman! Defense Mode!"
The rocky shield defender herself shot onto the field, kneeling down afterwards to protect his mistress.
Elemental Hero Clayman - (EARTH/Warrior) - LV4- (800/2000)
"Oh, way to duel!" cheered Syrus.
"That Clayman should keep Jaden safe!" agreed Chumley.
Overhearing the spectators, Titan said, "I don't think so...At least, not from this!"
Shockingly, Titan took out something from his pocket, and it happened to be a golden puzzle-like object. Immediantly, the eye in the center of the puzzle-like object began shining, forcing everyone to shield their eyes once again.
"Now, the Shadow Games have truly begun! Don't your Life Points seem so insignificant? Now that it's your very life that's at risk?"
After the light died out, Syrus and Chumley shrieked, perceiving something wrong with Jaden's body. "Jaden! Your body!"
Jaden noticed that part of her body had disappeared, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. What was this? And where did her body parts gone too?
"It is the way of the shadows," said Titan. "Transcending the game, attacking your body!"
Jaden grunted as she tried moving around, only to find her feet weren't working. "Hey, I can't move my feet!"
"Of course not. As the shadows grown faster, you will all be taken right into the shadows' grip, completely."
Feeling weakened and finding it hard to breath, Chumley and Syrus began coughing and choking madly. The shadows that were slowly increasingly growing was filling up the area, making it difficult to breath.
"T-the air! I can't breath!"
"You are at the mercy of the night now!" Titan continued, completely unaffected by the shadows whatsoever. "Treasure the numbness, for it will not last! Soon, you will be drawn into an infinite chasm of eternal darkness where every waking moment will be filled with-"
"Come on, give me a break!" replied Jaden, still as cheerful as ever. "How bad can it be? So what? Back in our dorm, we've got blackouts so we can sleep in later! I'm not scared of the dark, it's great! Besides, if Crowler sees me like me, he'll totally freak!"
Jaden's imagination...
Crowler was simply writing down a poem with a quill pen and muttering something about loving Ancient Gear Golems. He was all alone in his classroom, having nothing better to do when someone walked in.
"Hey, Professor Crowler!"
The feminine-looking teacher sighed, immediantly recognizing the voice as Jaden Yuki. He sighed, then put down his quill pen to look up.
"Alright, what is it, Slifer sl-OH DEAR LORD! WHERE'S YOUR BODY?!"
After that, Crowler fainted in shock while the half-bodied Jaden held out a victory sign with her fingers, laughing in success.
"Yup..." giggled Jaden, completely forgetting the duel.
Sweatdropping, Chumley and Syrus had to chuckle at that thought. "Wouldn't that be a sight to see..." both of them said.
Titan held up the puzzle-like object with a rope, smirking. "Still, you are no match against my Millenium Item! It's your move, but make it count, it may be your last!"
Jaden stared down at her palm, which was a little faded due to the supposed 'Shadow Game.' 'Wow, Millenium Items, a shadow fog, who could ask for a better challenge?'
'What's he smiling about?' cogitated Titan, a little frustrated that his opponent wasn't even a little frightened by all that's going on. Either he was brave or just obnixiously stupid!
"Alright, Jaden...Get your game on!" mumbled Jaden to herself. "Here goes, buddy! For my move, I play the Spell card Pot of Greed!" Thanks to its effect, she drew two cards. "And I'll fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman with my Clayman on the field! Now say hello to Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"
A combination of thunder and earth mixed together sparked a new hero before he emerged onto the playing field, in the form of a stronger individual. That strong individual had a tank-like suit that's defensive power was as strong as Clayman, but destructive power like Sparkman.
Elemental Hero Thunder Giant - (LIGHT/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (2400/1500)
"And now, I'll use his special ability which lets me destroy a monster whose original Attack Points are lower than his! Now, Thunder Giant! Let loose! Static Blast!"
The sphere on his chest crackled with electricity, charging up his right palm before he fired a blast of lightning and electricity straight at Terrorking Archfiend. The attack did seem like it was going to succeed electrifying its target, until Titan began chuckling.
"I activate Terrorking's special ability once again!" announced Titan with self-confidence. Six pool balls remained floating in the air, the wisp of fire continuously going around in a circle to determine which number to go by.
"Oh no!" said Syrus. "If he lands on a 2 or a 5 again..."
Unfortunately, luck seemed to favor on Titan's side once again, because this time, the wisp of fire landed on a 5. The blast that was intended for Terrorking Archfiend redirected itself back at Thunder Giant, destroying him straight on.
"This stinks!" complained Jaden. "Talk about a run of some really rotten luck!"
"Now, all your monsters are destroyed, and you're next!" told Titan before guffawing roughly, knowing he was going to win with ease. This punk should have never picked a fight with the Shadow Duelist!
Jaden was panting heavily, trying to get a grip on things and stay as conscious as possible. The whole Shadow Game thing was making her vision a little blurry, and, while she managed to maintain a good act, she struggled to keep herself still standing and awake.
"Your destiny's set," remarked Titan. "Soon, my Archfiend deck will finish off all your Monsters and my Millenium Item will finish off your soul!"
"This match isn't over yet!" riposted Jaden. "I've still got a few cards up my sleeve. Like, this! Mirage of Nightmare! And, I'll throw down a couple of facedowns while I'm at it!"
Titan scoffed, still fully confident of himself. "Don't waste my time! Your Life Points won't last long enough to use anymore of your cards! And Alexis's soul will soon be gone! And so will yours! It's my turn! Draw!"
"Hold on!" Jaden interrupted loudly. "I think you're forgetting something! Mirage lets me draw until I have four cards in my hand!"
Not bothered by the fact, Titan shrugged. "So, go ahead then! You could have 4 million, and it still wouldn't help you beat the crushing power of my Monster! Allow my Terrorking Archfiend to give you an example! Attack, Locust Storm Barrage!"
"Talk about butterflies in your stomach!" pointed out Jaden, feeling a bit queasy about the scary moths. "Good thing I played a Trap card! Mirror Force! Say goodbye to all your Monsters in Attack Mode!"
"Totally 'licious!" lauded Chumley. "If Jaden keeps this up, we can finally get out of here! And Alexis too!"
A large wall of glass formed from beneath the ground to reaching up the ceiling, fully protecting Jaden right as the wasps and moths flew head on. They bounced off the mirror wall and started investing onto Terrorking Archfiend and Infernal Queen Archfiend, destroying both Archfiend rulers.
"How dare you?!" barked Titan, angry that the two Monsters he had worked so hard to summon was simply destroyed, just like that!
"How? 'Cause I'm daring, I guess," said Jaden, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, let's see how daring you are after this! I use Desrook Archfiend's special ability, which allows me to resurrect Terrorking Archfiend by sending this card to the Graveyard! Say hello to a not-so-old friend!"
The king of Archfiends returned, a little weaker than usual due to his special ability wearing off, but he seemed rather angry at Jaden for destroying him. Now, he looked ready to want revenge.
Terrorking Archfiend - (FIRE/Fiend) - LV4 - (2000/1500)
"Him again?" complained Jaden.
"And now, I activate the effect of the Field Spell card, Pandemonium! Hahahaha! Its powerful Magic allows me to draw a new Archfiend if one of my Archfiends is ever sent to the Graveyard! Of course, this new Archfiend can't be as powerful. But then my Terrorking Archfiend packs more than enough power as it is! Now, let's try this again! Locust Storm Barrage!"
"Go, Emergency Provisions!" declared Jaden, saving her last facedown for last. "This Spell Card allows me to sacrifice another Spell or Trap card and give me a 1000 Life Points!"
Jaden - 3000 LP
Titan - 4000 LP
That still didn't even stop Terrorking's Archfiend's assault as he exposed his chest out once more, sending hundreds of wasps and moths at Jaden as she tried protecting herself with her arms for that direct attack.
Jaden - 1000 LP
Titan - 4000 LP
"You still stand?!" exclaimed Titan, growing aggravated by the kid's persistence.
Jaden grinned, before her knees bent down forcibly as sweat trickled down the sides of her forehead. Heaving for some air, Jaden gulped down a little bit of air with her dry throat, trying to stay strong as she forced herself to straighten her back. That last blow nearly got to her, but she's standing strong.
"As long as I've got two good legs, I'm still standing!"
Titan had to hand it to him; this punk was good. Taking the Millenium Puzzle out of his pocket, he spoke, "But your legs are not good. And now, with this latest strike on your Life Points, neither are your arms!"
Seeing that her arms except for her hands had vanished just like her legs, Jaden gasped, as well as her two friends.
"Aw man!" said Syrus. "Jaden's fading really fast!"
While Syrus and Chumley were concerned for the disappearing girl, Jaden had other things in mind. 'Hmm...with my invisible legs...and my invisible arms...I could actually freak out Crowler! Yeah! He'll be so spooked that he won't give me homework again! First, I gotta win this, and then, I'll ask the masked guy how to make myself invisible!'
"Better make this turn count!" said Jaden, drawing a card. "Alright! I use the Spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive, which brings back Elemental Hero Avian! Now, fuse with Burstinatrix to create the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"
Both Fire and Wind Attribute monsters jumped into a sort of portal which combined their bodies and abilities together, and out of the portal came the all-powerful green and red monstrous Hero with one wing.
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman - (WIND/Fusion/Warrior) - LV6 - (2100/1200)
"Now, why don't we say we turn up the heat in here, Wingman? Attack with Inferno Rage!"
Roaring angrily, Flame Wingman flew towards the ceiling and fired a blast full of fire towards Terrorking Archfiend, incinerating him with the flames of his rage.
"Oh, by the way, did I mention his super power? Your beast won't be the only one he's hurting! You will, too! You take damage equal to your destroyed Monster's Attack Points!"
Jaden - 1000 LP
Titan - 1900 LP
The moment Titan took all of that damage, his lower half of his body began vanishing up to his waistline as part of the Shadow Game.
Syrus noticed and turned to a stunned Chumley. "Parts of him are starting to disappear too, Chumley!"
"Think that could work on my waistline?" Chumley wondered, half-joking.
"It matters not!" Titan said. "Because I have yet another Desrook Archfiend! I simply discard him to bring back my Terrorking! There's no escaping him! Rise again, Terrorking!"
Rising from the ashes on the ground, the skeleton-looking Archfiend spreaded his wings and roared at Jaden, freaking her out and causing her to stumble back a little in surprise.
Terrorking Archfiend - (FIRE/Fiend) - LV4 - (2000/1500)
Flame Wingman took a step forward, placing himself in front of Jaden to protect her from the dastardly Archfiend Monster. He growled lowly at him in response for daring to scare his mistress, even a little.
"This guy's really overstaying his welcome! I've got to find a way to get rid of him, somehow!" said Jaden. "First, I'll protect myself with Dark Catapulter! And isn't he so cool and adorable? Now, do your worst!"
A large medium-sized monster whose head was somewhat part dog and part dinosaur squealed and blushed when he heard Jaden said that. It was obvious due to his cheeks being tinted pink, thought Flame Wingman didn't seem to take it fairly that Dark Catapulter got a comment. He's been in more battles than him! He should have more cute praises!
Dark Catapulter - (EARTH/Machine) - LV4 - (1000/1500)
"'Do your worst?'" Titan seemed amused by the dare as he drew a card. "You should be careful what you wish for! Because you just might get it! Especially with this card is in play! I sacrifice my Terrorking Archfiend and call forth the Skull Archfiend of Lightning!"
As soon as Terrorking Archfiend dispersed right into the darkness, lightning took his place, in the form of a humungous skull-like creature with wings and lightning surging throughout his body like he was a lightning rod.
Skull Archfiend of Lightning - (DARK/Fiend) - LV6 - (2500/1200)
"Oh, cool! He looks like that Skull guy Yugi had!" gasped Jaden, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Summoned Skull! Yeah, now I definitely want you to bring your worst!"
"You wanted my worst? Well, now you have it! Super Charged Bolt!"
Lightning grew stronger the more it surged around Skull Archfiend of Lightning before he combined it in an attack that electrocuted Flame Wingman and caused him to shatter into tiny pieces.
Jaden - 600 LP
Titan - 1900 LP
"Aw man!" cried out Syrus and Chumley, seeing her Life Points depleting. "Jaden!"
Jaden panted, gritting her teeth as she struggled for the fight of staying awake. 'I...I gotta hang on...for Alexis...'
Once he saw that Jaden was growing more weaker and weaker with every Life Point gone, Titan chuckled and took out the Millenium Puzzle as it glowed again. "Look into my Millenium Item, and feel yourself drifting even further into the shadows! You are defeated! Your Life Points are all but gone! Soon, you will be nothing but a hollow soul of a shell! Feel yourself drifting...drifting...drifting..."
Unable to take it anymore, Jaden collapsed on her knees, gasping for breath as more sweat dripped down from her forehead to the ground. The pain, the sleepiness, the anxiety, it was all too much! Not only was her vision becoming more and more black, but she had a throbbing headache and an aching pain to point out.
'I...I can't see anywhere,' she thought. 'What's happening to me...?'
Thinking that Jaden might have had enough, Titan put away his Millenium Puzzle, smirking in success. Syrus and Chumley wanted to rush over there and help Jaden get up, but they couldn't risk being sucked in the Shadow Game as well.
"She can't even stand up!" muttered Chumley.
"Jaden!" yelled Syrus, wanting to run over and protect her.
Seeing the poor, pitiful Slifer Red on her knees, Titan thought, 'Look at him, so pitiful! The shadows are a powerful weapon, indeed! Even the ones simply in your mind! If only he knew...'
Unknowest to anyone besides Jaden, the top card of her deck began glowing, and a soft, purring sound echoed inside Jaden's lost mind.
In complete darkness...
Jaden was groaning and kneeling in what seems to be a world of darkness. She didn't have any clue what was going on; only that she was in agonizing pain and suffering. Seeing a small ball of light flying out of her deck, Jaden instinctively knew it was her cute, furry friend, Winged Kuriboh.
'Hey...that you, Winged Kuriboh?' wondered Jaden, following Winged Kuriboh's trail around with her eyes, her mind still groggy. '...What is it, pal? You...trying to tell me something?'
Hearing Winged Kuriboh's purrs and cute sounds made her feel a little better, but it didn't stop her overwhelming headache. She felt that the way Winged Kuriboh was flying around, it was almost like he was trying to hypnotize her. Wait...hypnotize...?
That's it!
'Wait! That's it! That's what you're trying to tell me! We're not playing in the shadows! He's playing with my mind!'
Understanding what was happening, Jaden found new resolve to stand up and fight once more; this time, without showing any signs of pain or fatigue.
"Yeah! I've got this Shadow Game scam all figured out!"
Taking notice of what she said, Syrus and Chumley blinked, baffled. "Did she just say 'Shadow Game scam?' wondered Chumley.
"What's she mean, Chumley?"
Jaden was more than obliged to answer Syrus's question. "I mean, my soul's not on the serving plate anymore!"
The two male spectators glanced at one another, still confused.
"Let's keep going! My turn!" Much more resolved than before, Jaden swiftly drew her card, a confident smirk on her face. No traces of fear or doubtness were found anywhere on her body.
Titan was taken aback, not figuring out what was happening. 'What's going on?! Why isn't he scared anymore?!'
The red gem on Dark Catapulter's forehead lit up a sort of spark, which happened to be one single Counter.
"First, I'm gonna activate my Dark Catapulter's special ability!" announced Jaden. "It allows me to remove one card from my Graveyard for every turn Catapulter's in Defense Mode! Then, for every card I remove, I get to remove one Spell or Trap card out on play! So, since he was in Defense Mode for one turn, I'll remove Avian, and now, I'll destroy your Pandemonium card! Storm Shower Blast!"
Directly straight out of the Graveyard, an electrical charged sphere of energy shot out and blasted away the remains of the Pandemonium field in no time. All that was left on the field besides the Monsters was the same cave-like area they were in before Titan played Pandemonium.
"So what?!" scorned Titan, holding up his Millenium Puzzle. "You still haven't destroyed this!"
"Heh. You better be careful what you wish for!" Jaden repeated Titan's exact words from before with confidence. "Ninja Card Shuriken Attack! Hiya!"
Rashly, Jaden threw her card straight towards the Millenium Puzzle in a way that she often seen ninjas throw shurikens in TV shows. Surprisingly, the card hit the Millenium Puzzle's eye center and stuck there. Avian was not going to be happy being thrown like a shuriken, but at least it was for a good cause.
Titan gasped. "What did you do?!"
"Simple. I threw a card. Like a ninja boss!" replied Jaden, being cheeky as she held up a victory sign with her two fingers. Her body parts began returning back to normal like nothing had happened.
"Alright! You got your body back!" cheered Syrus, relieved to see that Jaden was fine.
Jaden replied, "I never lost it! This whole Shadow Game thing was just a huge farce! It was all just hypnosis! A whole lot of smoke and mirrors to make me think I was losing my soul! This guy's a complete sham! I mean, he's probably just some out-of-work bozo!"
"I-I'm not out-of-work!" stammered Titan. "I can get my job at the pub anytime I want!"
"Yeah, I'm sure that you could!" taunted Jaden. "And I'm sure that paper Millenium Item will work well with the kitties!"
"No! Be quiet!" Titan was growing more agitated by this kid's constant insulting. "It's real! I'm real!"
"You're a sideshow phony!"
Titan recalled another fact, then smirked. "You fool! You forget! The girl! Don't you remember? She's imprisoned in a shadow tomb! Her soul is festering in the recesses of the Netherworld! That proves this Millenium Pendant is real! What do you have to say to that?!"
Syrus and Chumley looked at one another, fear and worry written all over their faces. It was true; they almost forgot about Alexis! If the Shadow Game wasn't real, then where did Alexis go? Her being a captive doesn't change anything!
"Huh, that you're as more stupid than you look?" said Jaden. "See, all the Millenium Items were sketched on the inside of this dorm. And yours would be called the Millenium Puzzle. Not 'Pendant.' You don't have Alexis's soul! You never did! So, hand her over, and hand over all the other kids you snatched!"
Titan's expression was filled with bewilderment. "Other kids? I have no idea what you're talking about! And because of your earlier comments, you can find your friend by yourself!"
Having said that, Titan threw his Millenium Puzzle to the ground, and once it made contact, the Millenium Puzzle made a small explosion, creating a sort of smoke screen that surrounded Titan and hid him safely from sight as he made his getaway.
"Gah!" cried out Jaden, giving chase to Titan. "Titan used Smoke Screen! It was not effective against Jaden! Jaden gives chase and uses Agility! It'll be super effective!"
Watching Jaden run and making random comments, Chumley and Syrus sweatdropped. "...Did she just make references from that one TV show?" both wondered.
While Jaden sprinted towards Titan, the statues surrounding the area began lighting up as she ran passed them. Once all statues were lit, they all focused on one spot in the center of the room, making Jaden stop.
"Whoa!"
The ground started shaking like crazy, and a huge golden eye-like symbol lit up beneath everyone's feet, startling everyone. Titan even stopped to wonder what was going on, and he was just as confused as the rest!
"Hey, how'd you do this trick?" shouted Jaden through all the noise.
"I didn't!"
Right at the moment, the smoke swirled around right above their heads, engulfing both Jaden and Titan in. The smoke whirled around until it fully transformed into a giant sphere of darkness crackling with electricity.
"Jaden!" cried out Syrus, running towards the sphere before Chumley tackled him to the ground. "What are you doing?! Lemme go! I have to save her!"
"No! We don't even know what'll happen if we touch that thing!" argued Chumley, keeping him hold on the ground. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens."
"Jaden...I hope you're alright..."
Inside the void sphere of darkness...
Amazed by the scenery of the void, Jaden couldn't help but feel excited. This was amazing! Sure, Titan might be a fraud, but he sure knows how to make an exit! If this wasn't fake, she'd probably be a little freaked out right now!
Titan, however, wasn't sharing an ounce of her enthusiasm. "W-what is this?! Where am I?!"
"Whoa! How'd you do this trick?! You gotta teach me a thing or two!" said Jaden.
"A trick?! I can't do something like this!"
Hearing something approaching, both of them saw weird blobs plummeting from the skies and piling up one at a time. Eventually, those blobs reverted their attention towards Titan and began sticking themselves to his body.
"Help! They're attacking! Jaden, save me-MMPH!"
One of the blobs took advantage of his open mouth and leaped right in, gagging him. As more and more blobs invaded his body, Titan grew weaker and weaker, until he collapsed and countless blobs descended upon his supposedly fallen corpse.
Noticing blobs surrounding her too, Jaden looked around, trying to find an exit of some sort. Her back, left, right, and front were all blocked by the blobs, and it was too far for her to jump over the blobs.
"Kuri! Kuri!" ("Don't worry, Jaden! I'll save you!")
Glancing at her deck, Jaden was surprised to see a small brown furball with wings struggling to squeeze his way out of her duel disk. When he finally popped out, he landed straight on her arm; his huge eyes staring straight at Jaden.
Just when Winged Kuriboh's about to help out his mistress, something unexpected happened.
"EEEEEKKKKK! YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST THING!~" squealed Jaden, squeezing Winged Kuriboh tightly to her chest and practically suffocating him. Winged Kuriboh's face turned blue, and he was flapping his wings frantically to get away.
"KURI KURI KURI!" ("HELP HELP HELP!")
Accidentally, Winged Kuriboh slapped Jaden's face with one of his wings, which was enough for her to release him. He plopped to the ground and landed near the blobs, clawing at them. The blobs began scattering away, drawing their attention towards Titan inside.
"Awww! You saved me, Kuriboh!~ You're my hero!~" gladdened Jaden, picking up Winged Kuriboh in her arms and holding him tight as she pressed her lips onto his fur.
Winged Kuriboh's cheeks tinged red as he hid his face into her arms. This was too embarrassing! Hopefully the other guys didn't notice! He'd never hear the end of being a stuffed animal!
Hearing Titan's muffled cries as he was forced to swallow up all the blobs, Jaden turned to him, clinging onto Winged Kuriboh for safety. Titan turned to her, although he seemed different, due to having red eyes.
"Jaden Yuki...The shadows aim for a soul," spoke Titan in a monotone voice. "Only one shall survive..."
Jaden was even more annoyed on the whole trickery act he was still going on. "Oh, come on! Red contacts? You really went overboard setting up for this!"
"This duel will now continue on the Shadow Realm." Afterwards, the blobs quickly dispersed for room and the monsters and other cards Titan and Jaden had on the field returned, thus commencing the duel once more.
"So, you're sticking to the Shadow Realm thing!" said Jaden, releasing Winged Kuriboh before he floated near her side. "Fine! At least we get to finish our match! I play the Spell card Monster Reincarnation! Now, by discarding one card from my hand, one of my Graveyard Monsters comes back! And I choose everybody's favorite golden boy, Sparkman in Defense Mode! You remember him, don't ya?"
The electricity-manipulating Hero shielded himself with his arms over his chest, protecting himself and his mistress while in defense.
Elemental Hero Sparkman - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1600/1400)
"Very well, my turn," said Titan emotionlessly, drawing a card.
"Yeah, but don't forget, Mr. Tall, dark, and scary! Without your Pandemonium Field card in play, your Archfiend causes you 500 Life Points per turn!"
Jaden - 600 LP
Titan - 1400 LP
"500 Life Points are nothing compared to a soul!" Titan said, grimacing. "Now, Skull Archfiend, attack!"
Skull Archfiend of Lightning shot out a blast of lightning at Dark Catapulter, not wanting him to use his special ability to hender anymore Traps or Spells during the game. At least one defensive Monster was out.
"I now place one card facedown and summon the Desrook Archfiend in Attack Mode to end my turn."
A sort of skull-like Monster with a body of tentacles sneered at his opponents as he made his way towards the field, prepared to take down Jaden as soon as her Sparkman was gone from the field.
Desrook Archfiend - (LIGHT/Fiend) - LV3 - (1100/1800)
Winged Kuriboh looked worriedly at Jaden, wanting to protect her from all those Monsters even though he had no chance of survival. Jaden noticed his concerned and smiled.
"Don't worry, Winged Kuriboh! I'm totally still in this duel! Here goes!" She drew a card, knowing what to do.
'Alright! They say the best defense is a good offense! But what's cool about this card is that it can let me have both!' thought Jaden. "Sparkman, I'm placing you in Attack Mode! And arming you with Spark Blaster!"
Once standing up, Sparkman's palm held the trigger to the Spark Blaster weapon, a suitable weapon only meant for the Elemental HERO of electricity himself.
"It has three blasts and lets me change the Battle Mode of any Monster on the field for each of them! And I think I know the first Monster I'm gonna use it on first!"
Titan didn't look impressed. "So, be it. Change the Battle Mode of my Skull Archfiend of Lightning. His 1200 Defense Points should come for easy conquest. Unless the roulette negates your effect again."
"Sorry, but that's not the Monster I was talking about!" corrected Jaden. "In fact, my Sparkman's not even gonna use that Blaster yet! He's attacking your Desrook Archfiend with Static Shockwave!"
Lowering his gun hand, Sparkman blasted lightning from his free palm at the other Monsters, having enough power to wipe him off the field.
Jaden - 600 LP
Titan - 900 LP
"Oh, and as for who I'm going to use the Spark Blaster on, the Sparkman himself! From offense to defence!"
Sparkman obeyed his mistress's commands without question, shooting the Spark Blaster at his own feet which created an electrical magnetic field, forcing him down on his knees as he defended.
"Coward," said Titan, drawing a card. "First, you have your Sparkman attack my Life Points, and then you have him switched to protect your own. But it matters not! Nothing can protect you from this! A Trap Card, Battle Scarred! With it, the 500 Life Point per turn cost from my Skull Archfiend of Lightning not only affects me, but you too! And for as long as he's out on the field!"
Jaden - 100 LP
Titan - 400 LP
"Urk...this is bad! I won't be able to last another turn!" grunted Jaden. More blobs began crowding around Jaden, wanting to feast on her white, milky skin.
Winged Kuriboh wouldn't allow anyone to hurt Jaden as he swoop down to claw at them again with his adorable antics, which proved to be helpful. If they were in a serious duel, Jaden would just squeal and squeeze the living life out of Winged Kuriboh again.
"Aww! My hero!" cooed Jaden. "Oh, and Sparkman, too! As long as he's here, nothing will stop us!"
"Wrong!" denied Titan. "Skull Archfiend, destroy that phony! Blast Stream of Fury!"
Skull Archfiend of Lightning fired electricity from his mouth again, destroying Sparkman and nearly electrocuting Jaden as the electricity waves bypassed her. She was lucky to have placed him in Defense Mode, otherwise, she'd be done for!
"Then, I place a facedown card and activate the Spell card, Double Spell! Now, by simply discarding one of the Spell cards in my hand, I am allowed to use one of the Spell cards from your Graveyard! And I select Emergency Provisions! Now, I sacrifice one meaningless card and regain a total of 1000 Life Points!"
Jaden - 100 LP
Titan - 1400 LP
"Your fate is sealed! You have not a single card remaining from your hand!" said Titan. "Battle Scarred will take your last Life Points next turn! Then, you'll join the rest of the students I've taken...in the Shadow Realm!"
"Better make this turn count, because one way or another, it's gonna be my last! Here I come!" muttered Jaden, drawing her card.
Winged Kuriboh was shooing away the blobs with his small claws and angel-like wings. He was lightly growling at the blobs, who seemed to be quite terrified by the Light Attribute Monster as they ran off and avoided him.
"I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in Attack Mode!" she shouted, placing the blue suited HERO on the field.
Elemental Hero Bubbleman - (Water/Warrior) - LV4 - (800/1200)
"Now, Bubbleman will burst if he's left alone. So, if he's the last card in my hand, I'm allowed to summon another Monster! And, there's more! If he's the only one in the field when he's summoned, I get to draw two more cards! And what do you know? I drew his favorite, Bubble Shuffle! Actually, it's more of a two step. See, it works like this; I switch him and one of your Monsters in Defense Mode, then I sacrifice Bubbleman and summon a Hero!"
"That's if my Skull Archfiend's counter effect does not render your Spell card useless, that is!" reminded Titan; six pool balls engulfed in a wisp of fire besides him. "If this roulette lands on a 1, 3, or 6, your Bubble Shuffle Spell fails to activate!"
Jaden groaned, having hated that chance ability. Already, she's had bad luck with that thing, and she really didn't want to deal with that again! Oh well, guess it was all or nothing!
The wisp of fire kept switching from one pool ball to another, constantly flowing around over and over until it landed on a...2.
"Alright! Finally, I win!" cheered Jaden as Bubble Shuffle worked its magic; sending Bubbleman and Skull Archfiend of Lightning into Defense. "Now, let's give a big shadow welcome to...Elemental Hero Bladedge!"
Taking over Bubbleman's place, a hero cladded in golden armor flew down, the blades on his elbows gleaming even in the midst of darkness.
Elemental Hero Bladedge - (EARTH/Warrior) - LV7 - (2600/1800)
"I know what you're thinking! 'He looks pretty sharp!'" said Jaden. "Well, you're right! So sharp, that when he cuts through your defending Monster, all extra Attack Points go to you! Now, HERO Bladedge! Show him how you got your name! Slice And Dice attack!"
His blades sharpened, Bladedge swooped past Skull Archfiend of Lightning, slashing through his defences and delivering several slashes to his body while he was at it.
Jaden - 100 LP
Titan - 0 LP
Winner: Jaden
"Nooooooooo!"
Dark smoke enveloped around Titan as blobs piled and cemented onto Titan, sticking onto him like wads of sticky gum. He struggled, gasping for breath as he tried fighting back.
"G-get off me! Tell my kids I...love them!"
As the blobs began swallowing Titan whole, Jaden and Winged Kuriboh simply stared, amazed. "Whoa, now those are sweet special effects," commented Jaden. "So realistic!"
Desperately searching for an exit, Winged Kuriboh began scratching at the walls of darkness, and thanks to his powers, he was able to provide a small opening, which widened quickly and made way for some light.
"Huh? Think that's an exit?" Before Jaden could question anymore, she saw more blobs piling up; the countless of blobs forming like an army. "Well, good enough for me!"
Winged Kuriboh flew out of the hole he created and watched as Jaden tumbled out of the hole, falling right on her bottom. She yelped and rubbed her back as she crawled away from the sphere of darkness.
"Jaden!"
"Are you okay?"
Glancing up, Jaden saw her two friends, Chumley and Syrus, rushing towards her. She had no idea how long she was in the sphere of darkness, but perhaps it wasn't too long.
"Oh, hey guys!" Jaden waved at them, giving off a cheeky grin.
"JADEN!" Syrus tackled her into a hug, knocking her flat on her back as he cried out tears of joy. "You're alive! You're alive! I thought you were dead!"
"Whoa there, buddy! I'm still alive!" giggled Jaden, ruffling his soft, blue hair. "After all, I used Protect! It's super effective!"
"Uh...right..."
"What happened in there?" asked Chumley. His body shook for a second, sensing something ominous about to happen, before he turned his head and realized something was happening to the sphere of darkness. The sphere crackled with electricity and it seemed that something bad was about to happen. As quickly as he could, he got on top of Syrus and Jaden, shielding them both with his huge body.
Strong winds whirled around as the sphere of darkness was shrinking smaller and smaller. The winds were so powerful, that they tried to suck in Alexis while she was still in the coffin. Not letting that happen, Jaden struggled to get Syrus and Chumley's heavy weights off her before she grabbed hold of the coffin, keeping Alexis from being wafted off.
Hearing a loud gun shot-like explosion, Jaden yelped before seeing it was only confetti the moment the sphere of darkness vanished. She applauded and commented, "Awesome! I wonder what he does for an encore! Talk about a magic trick! There were little monsters, and vortexes and sort of stuff!"
"Magic trick?" pondered Syrus, looking at Jaden. "You don't think that was the real shadow realm?"
"Nah! It's all mirrors and fog machines! Just like I said!" said Jaden being cheerful despite being in actual danger a few minutes ago. "Though, I'd give my entire deck to know how he did it! I've never seen anything like it! Wait! I got it!"
"What? Did you figure out his magician's trick?" asked Chumley.
"Yeah...he used Trick Room! It was super effective!"
"...Jaden? We need to get you to stop watching that show."
Crowler was exploring around the dark places of the abandoned dorm, his flashlight guiding him through the dark. He snickered, wanting to see the terrified look on Jaden's face. Maybe tommorow, he'll pack up his things and head for the next ship off the island! After all, tommorow is where the delivery ships come!
"Come on, Shadow Duelist! I want to hear every last detail" he called out before spotting a card on the ground. "Hmm? What's this? It's that Shadow Duelist's Pandemonium card! He would never leave this behind unless...HE LOST?!"
Grumbling, Crowler turned around, ripping the card to shreds in frustration. Okay, so the whole Shadow Duelist scaring Jaden plan failed. No matter, because he's got more plans up his sleeve just waiting, all for Jaden Yuki!
Slowly waking up, Alexis regained consciousness. She seemed alright, but the first sight in front of her was Jaden Yuki, being a little way too close to her face.
"Morning, Ale-"
"EEK!" SLAP!
"Owwwww!" cried Jaden, falling down and covering her red cheek. "Alexis! What was that for?!"
"I could say the same thing!" demanded Alexis, standing up indignantly. "What happened?! And why were you so-"
"Wait wait wait! Alexis!" shouted Chumley and Syrus. "Jaden saved your life!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
They had only a few seconds before Alexis would beat up Jaden for practically doing something to her while she was asleep. As quickly as they could, Syrus and Chumley explained to Alexis the events that occured a couple of hours ago, and how they had been waiting for her to wake up.
"Oh, yeah! There was this strange man who kidnapped me!" gasped Alexis.
"That's right! We found your card, too! Along with this!" Jaden handed her her Etoile Cyber card back and a picture of a young male student.
Alexis gasped, tears whelming up in the corners of her eyes. "My...brother? Oh...This is the first trace of him I've seen in a long time!"
"That's right," said Jaden. "I brought it to let you know that we want to help you find him. After all, we can't have you getting locked up in tombs searching by yourself!"
"You...really were worried about me, weren't you?" Alexis felt her heart filled with guilt; she just slapped and yelled at Jaden, even thinking of beating him up for being too close for comfort, when all this time, Jaden and his friends were the ones who rescued her and retrieved her card and a picture of her brother for him!
While they had been talking, the sun started rising, indicating that it was now daylight and early in the morning.
"Uh-oh! Sun's up! We better get back before they notice that we're gone!" said Jaden, rubbing her eyes as she stretched her body. "See ya in class...*yawn*..."
"Bye, Alexis!"
"Yeah, bye!"
"Oh, and if anyone asks, we were never here! *yawn*"
"Oh, jeez! Jaden, this is why I kept telling you to sleep! We could have taken turns watching over Alexis!"
'Oh...shut up...guys...*snore*"
"I'll carry her!"
"Syrus, you're too small! I'll do it!"
After some constant bickering, both of them decided the fastest way would be if Chumley carried Jaden on his back, though Syrus trailed from behind to catch Jaden just in case Chumley's hands slipped.
"Oh! Guys!" called Alexis. "Tell Jaden I'm sorry for slapping him! And thank you guys!"
"No problem!" Both Slifer Red boys called back before making a break for the Slifer Red dorms.
Alexis turned back to stare at the picture of her dear brother. Maybe this was just the first step to finding him. Someday, she'll find her dear, sweet brother, and tell him all that he's missed and how her new friends helped her out.
ATTENTION! ATTENTION ALL FOLKS! Please read!
I was...kinda hurt by one of the reviews in my story. I mean, I know I'm supposed to take the review as a compliment and just respect it and all, which I do respect, but it doesn't change the fact that I am hurt. But, I will explain a few things.1) I like the plots of each season in GX, so I don't really care much about who Jaden's pairing up with. I just put up the poll for fun and letting everyone wonder who she's gonna get paired. Maybe it might be Zane? Maybe Chazz? Jesse? Anyone? I just think Jaden's cute as a girl.
2) There can be girls in the Red Dorm, even if nobody except a few people know that Jaden is a girl. I mean, look at Blair! She's a girl, yet she's allowed in Slifer Red, even though she lost to Chazz!
3) Remember when Jaden rejects being in Ra Yellow? Who's to say she'll do the same thing to Obelisk Blue if people discover she's a girl? Of course, there's going to be chances in the Red Dorm, of course.
4) For the whole co-ed changing room thing, maybe Jaden changed in a different small stall, like a bathroom stall. People can change in bathroom stalls if they want to, after all. I saw that locker rooms have bathroom stalls. Maybe the girls never noticed Jaden at all, most likely because they were too busy putting on makeup or other girly things.
5) I do try my best to make at least a couple of changes throughout the story. I try not to focus everything on Jaden, but some other characters too.
6) Alexis doesn't even know Jaden's a girl, at least, not yet. The fact that she has a crush on her proves that she doesn't know that Jaden's a girl. Since Jaden is tomboyish, she still thinks she's a guy, and develops a crush due to her actions, especially since she saved her.
7) There is an actual good reason why nobody noticed that Jaden is a girl. That will be revealed later on.
8) Awww! Cute Jaden flashback with the dollies! I thought it would be good!
Having said that, I hope you all respect other people's stories and don't you guys give bad reviews! If you don't like the story, you don't have to continue reading other stories.