Episode(s): 41

"Alexis," said Rose as she stood next to her friend in the medical room. "Everything will work out for Atticus."

"Thanks Rose," said Alexis as she smiled at her friend. She then started to remines about her friend.

"You miss him," said a voice, shocking the two girls who looked around, "but there is a way to get him back."

"Who's there?" yelled Rose as she pulled Alexis from her seat and put her behind her. 'If it's a Shadow Rider, I don't want Alexis getting caught in the cross hairs.'

"Come with me, Key-keeper, and I will give your friends brother all of his memories back," said the voice as a shadow appeared not to far away from the girls. "That is if you can defeat me in a duel."

"Rose!" said Alexis as her friend started to walk toward the shadow. Her eyes blank and un-seeing.

"At the place we first met! The Abandoned Dorm!" said the man as he appeared behind Rose and grabbed her.

"Rose!" yelled Alexis, only to faint do to an unseen force.

The presence of darkness woke Atticus who reached out toward the back of the man as he walked into the shadow with Rose.

"What's going on? Who was that?" he asked as the portal closed behind the two.

~Not Long After~

"Ohh!" said Rose as he eyes came back into focus to notice that she is in the Abandoned Dorm.

"Alright, so we duel, and if I win you will restore Atticus' memory!" declared Rose with a frown. "That's the deal!"

"Your end of it, at least. But if I win, I get something, too. Your Spirit Key and your soul to take back with me to the Shadow Realm!" said Titan. "You see, dear, when you and I first met up, I was but a charlatan of the shadows. However, since being taken in by them, I am now the real deal, an authentic Shadow Rider!"

He then tossed a duel disk toward Rose. She picked it up and got ready.

"Let us begin!" said Titan.

"There they are!" yelled Syrus as he and the others got to the arena.

They're gonna duel!" said Chumley as he and Jaden helped Atticus along. One of his arms on their shoulders. They had put his Obelisk Blue jacket on him. Alexis was also there.

"And how? Rose!" yelled Jaden. "We're here for you, now beat this creep!"

"AHHH! Then this isn't about collecting that check," said Crowler happily.

"What 'check?' What does that mean?" asked Chazz angrily.

"Oh, nothing," said Crowler with a nervous laugh.

"Let's duel!" said the two duelist.

"Ready yourself for the shadows!" said Titan as he drew a card. "I summon Picador Fiend in attack mode! Then I'll place one facedown and end my turn."

"But not your troubles!" said Rose as she drew a card. "I summon Dark Rose!"

Dark Rose is a monster with rose red hair, an all-black body suite, and a rose mask.

"I thought we were dueling, not playing dollies," taunted Titan.

"Yeah, well this so-called dollie is about to play havoc with your life points!" said Rose with anger.

"It's true, she does have me outmatched," said Titan with laughter. "You'll beat my monster easily!"

'He's to happy, his facedown must be something good,' thought Rose as she grabbed one of her cards.

"I play Allegro Toile! It gives my Dark Rose a little extra kick by destroying one trap or spell card on the field!" said Rose with a smirk.

"NO!" said Titan in shock.

"Now, Dark Rose, attack directly!" said Rose as her monster attacked, taking down Titan's life points to 3,000. "Next I place a facedown and end my turn."

"Hey, Rose is winning!" said Syrus.

"It's true," said Zane, "so far, her resolve to win for Atticus and Alexis has proven stronger than Titan's shadow creatures."

"Well, we'll just see about that!" declared Titan as he drew a card. "Now, Picador Fiend, attack Dark Rose!"

"Nice try! But I play Transfer Rose! And now I take the attack," said Rose as the attack hit her, dropping her life points to 2,400. Her friends watched in shock.

"So, why'd I do it?" asked Rose, rhetorically. "Because now, you have to take a direct hit from Dark Rose!"

"What?" said Titan in shock.

"Go! Rose Kick!" said Rose as Titan's life points went down 2,000.

"Alright! You show him, Rose!" said Jaden, causing Chazz to glare at him.

"GO ROSE!" yelled Chazz in Jaden's ears, pissing Jaden off as the two glared at each other.

"It's a long duel, Jaden," said Zane as if nothing weird was going on. "Don't start celebrating yet."

'I have this feeling that this isn't going to go well,' thought Rose as Titan started to laugh. 'I need to get ready for the worse.'

"I just remembered our first encounter," laughed the man. "My, how the table have turned."

"Yeah, you got that right! Now I'm gonna kick your ass!" said Rose in anger.

"No, dear," said the man with a smirk, shocking Rose, "I mean, before you were the bait luring my prey to me. But now, you're the one who's my quarry, my target!

"And now, dear, I'm going to treat you as such! I play Ritual of the Matador! And next, I sacrifice the Level Six Summoned Skull in order to summon Matador Fiend!"

"Zero attack and defense points?" question Rose. 'I can't think that this monster is weak. Chazz proved that a monster like this can be strong.'

"I activate Dark Arena!" said Titan with a smirk.

"The field! I can't see!" said Rose as she tried to look around. She then heard growls. 'How can I fight what I can't see?'

"Your move!" laughed Titan.

'With this Dark Arena card in play, I can't see anything, including what monsters Titan has out!' thought Rose in anger.

"The darkness is fitting for a Shadow Duel, don't you think? But still, allow me to shed at least some light on the situation. Here, in the Dark Arena, you monsters in attack mode must attack. But, since they can't see, I am allowed to choose their target for them."

"Well then, that's a case of the blind leading the blind," declared Rose "after all, just because my monsters and I can't see, it doesn't mean we can't win! I'll just need someone who really packs a powerful punch!

"Here we go! My draw! Perfect. I activate the spell card: Polymerization! Fusing Rose Princess and Dark Guardian to create Rose Guardian! And what's cool about her is her special effect changes with the number of monster you have."

"Does it?"

"Yeah! And since you have two monster out on the field, Rose Guardian's attack points are doubled to 4,200!"

"4,200 attack points?" laughed Titan. "Whatever will I do?"

"You'll get your butt kicked, cuz now it doesn't matter who I attack! My Guardian's the strongest creature out! She'll take down any target! Now, go in!"

"Face her, Matador Fiend!"

"Go Strike of Petals!"

Rose Guardian went to attack but it failed, and she was destroyed.

"What? My Rose Guardian is so much stronger than that Matador Fiend! She should win this! What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't you know? Matador Fiend cannot be destroyed in battle, and it also doesn't take damage. Although, the monster that battles it is destroyed."

"No way!"

"There's more. Just like I said before, every monster that's in attack mode here must now battle each other."

"I don't think so! Dark Rose's special ability allows her to attack you directly! So, your Matador Fiend will have to pick a fight with someone else!"

"You're wrong again!" laughed Titan. "Dark Rose's special ability only activates if there are no monsters on my field with less attack points, but my Matador Fiend has zero attack points. So, you can see, Dark Rose's effect can't be used. Nor will it ever be used again after Picador Fiend gets done with her! This will be her last dance!'

"No!" said Rose as her life points went down to 1,800.

"Haha," laughed Titan.

"So this is what a Shadow Game feels like."

"Don't worry Rose. At least Atticus and Alexis won't remember that you failed them," laughed Titan.

"I'm not going to fail them!" declared Rose as she played a card. "I play Knight Rose in defense mode! Gimme your best shot."

"Dear, if you actually knew what my best was I doubt that you would be so eager for it."

"Oh really?" said Rose angerly.

"Haven't you realized yet? I'm not the same duelist you knew from before. I changed when the shadow took me in," said Titan as he started to laugh crazily. "So you see, now, I'm more powerful than ever!"

"And uglier," said Rose, ignored. "But I got news for you! True dueling power doesn't come from some Shadow Charm! It comes from the reasons why you're gonna lose this! Got it!"

"The reasons why you duel?" asked Titan in a mocking voice. "Where did you get that from? Surely not from your beloved friends? Pathetic!"

"No, it's not!"

"Just wait! After all, once I banish you to the Shadows, you'll see what I mean. And you'll see soon! Because the Picador Fiend now attacks you directly!"

"Ahhh!" yelled Rose as she was attacked. Her life points dropped to 200 as she dropped to her knees.

"The end is near," laughed Titan. "The Shadows beckon. You squirm but they still close in. it is simply a matter of time now."

'I know that. With Knight Rose's special ability, I can discard one card from my hand and destroy one of his monsters, but since I don't have any cards right now I'll have to wait until next round to use it,' thought Rose as she grit her teeth.

"What are you plotting over there?" asked Titan with a laugh. "Let me guess. Something with Knight Rose?"

'Shit!'

"Well, don't even bother! She won't be around for much longer! I summon Banderillero Fiend! And his special ability destroys your Knight Rose!

"Get up! Or are your reasons for dueling not enough anymore? Hahaha!"

'It doesn't matter! I have to keep fighting! No matter the cost! I refuse to be weak! I need to win this for Alexis and Atticus. For everyone!' thought Rose as she got to her feet.

"What's this!" exclaimed Titan, surprised.

"This is my turn!" said Rose as she drew a card. "And I activate Pot of Greed! Hmm. And with one, I can call back an old card. I play The Warrior Returning Alive to bring back Dark Guardian to my hand. Then I'll activate the spell card Fusion Recovery! It allows me to bring back Polymerization and Rose Princess from my graveyard!"

"What!?"

"Next, I'll activate Polymerization and fuse them together to bring out Rose Guardian! You remember her? Well now she's back and ready to get some sweet revenge! This is so over! Your shadow powers have failed you!"

"You're delirious," said Titan with a smirk. "I still have three monsters out and you are still in the dark."

"Yeah, maybe," said Rose with a smirk, "but not for long! Because my Rose Guardian's about to bring the light!"

"You lie!"

"Wrong! Since you have three monsters on the field Guardian's special ability, Shining Guardian Light, activates! Canceling any and all affects you have out!"

"No fair!" whined Titan, like a child.

"Rose is okay!" said Jaden as he and the others were finally able to see her again as the darkness had disappeared.

"And there's more!" said Rose as if nothing had happened. "Matador Fiend's special ability to reduce battle damage to zero is negated, too!"

"No!" yelled Titan.

"So go! Rose Guardian! Attack with Guardian Rose Slash!"

"Yes!" yelled the boys and Alexis, minus Zane who just smirked, as Titan's life points went down to zero.

"No! No! NO! NOT AGAIN!" yelled Titan as he was swallowed up by the darkness as the others watched.

~Outside The Abandoned Dorms~

"Atticus," said Alexis as she looked at her brother in happiness.

"Lexi," he said in return with a smile. They then hugged.

"Atticus, I have a question," said Rose as she looked at the two siblings. Atticus turned to look at her.

"Yes?" he asked, confused.

"How did you end up in the Shadow realm?"

"It wasn't by choice," he said as he looked at her and the others. "One day, a group of us were told to meet at the Abandoned Dorm. And then, well, it happened.

"See, there was supposed to be a duel test in the basement, but instead, we found hundreds of those little Shadow Fiends. I couldn't escape."

The others looked at him in shock as he sounded as if he would break down any moment.

"I was then brought to the shadow realm and kept. For months they brainwashed me 'till I became this thing called Nightshroud."

"But who was it that brainwashed you?" asked Alexis, upset.

"I never did figure that out," he said as he shook his head, but then he looked thoughtful. "However, the person who call me to take the duel test was Professor Banner."

"Our Professor Banner?" asked Jaden in shock as everyone gasped.

'What's going on?' thought Rose to herself as she looked at Atticus in shock. 'Why would Banner be apart of this?'