Disclaimer: Sigh...
Chapter 45: Time's Up!
At the White Dorm (Nighttime)
"Light! More light! The world shall be flooded in light!!" Sartorius yelled in panic.
He suddenly calms down, "But...if that happens, the world will be..."
"Silence! With my light I shall bury all things dark!" A white aura suddenly burst forth from Sartorius. "I'll slice through the darkness with my light and bring about the end of the world!"
The light pierces out from the dorm and far out into the night sky.
Meanwhile Jaden is sleeping in his dormroom but is woken up by a mysterious shining light from the door. Jaden wakes up slowly, his eyes squinting, trying to adjust to the light.
Suddenly Sartorius appears. "What the...? What the heck?!" Jaden exclaims.
"It's the Light of Misfortune that must not shine." Sartorius replies.
"Sartorius?!" Jaden looks suprised.
"Jaden, I'm giving this key to you."
Jaden blinks in confusion. "Huh?"
"You must not, by any means, give this key to anyone." Sartorius urges as he hands Jaden a box and disappears. Jaden looks into the box, "...?"
Aster wakes up abruptly when a mysterious shining light enters his room. "...?"
Sartorius suddenly appears. "Aster! The Light of Misfortune must be stopped, protect this key! Save the world..." and with that Sartorius disappears.
Aster looks at the box confused, "What just happened? Why was Sartorius in my room?" Aster opens the box and takes out the key, "And what is this key for?"
Sartorius looks at himself in the mirror angrily. "The keys! Our keys!
Where did you hide them?!" The evil Sartorius demanded.
"I left them with those who will rule over their destinies!" The good Sartorius replied.
"You couldn't have! Those keys are rightfully mind! Give them back"
The evil one demands again.
"You shouldn't fight against destiny. After all we're no more than mere on-lookers. The fate of the world now lies in those who hold the keys."
Evil Sartorius punches the mirror in anger, cracking it. He withdrew his hand from the mirror, his hand was bleeding. "That fool! Heh heh heh, soon I will slice through my inner darkness! Glory to the light!!"
The Next Day
"See?" Jaden showed everyone the key that Sartorius had given him.
"Wow!" Syrus says in suprise.
"I wonder what's it for?" Ayato askes in deep thought. Jaden simply shrugs. Suddenly Aster walks in, "If you ask me, I think it holds the fate of the world." Aster shows everyone his key.
Everyone looks at him suprised. "You got a key too?" Ayato exclaims.
"Jaden, we are both obligated to protect these keys with care, got it"
Jaden nods in agreement. "Yeah, I got ya."
Ayato pouts. "Why didn't I get a key?" He mumbles to himself.
Jaden, Syrus, and Nico are walking along the hallway of the school.
'What is Sartorius thinking?' Jaden thinks to himself. Suddenly Nico and Syrus stop walking.
After walking a few steps in front of his two companions Jaden turns around. "Um, anything wrong?" He asks the couple.
They simply point ahead. Jaden turns in the direction they are pointing and sees Alexis looking straight at him. "I know you have the key Jaden"
She simply states.
"Huh? How do you know I have the key?" Jaden asked dumbfounded.
"Master Sartorius left the key with you, he wants me to get it back"
She says coldly.
"Huh? What do you mean, I don't understand."
"There is no need for a reason, my duty is to follow Master's command"
Alexis replies.
Jaden sighes, "I still don't get it."
"Alexis is acting weirdly today, she looks different too." Syrus says.
Nico nods in agreement, "Just look. Her eyes are set."
"I challenge you to a duel Jaden, if you win, then I will leave you alone, but if I win the key must be returned to Sartorius."
"Wait a minute! I still don't understand what's going on with you!"
Atticus appears beside Jaden, "It's useless. Our words can't reach her.
Sartorius is manipulating her. More importantly, if Alexis defeats you then she will stay like this forever."
"Hey, you say that like I'd really let that happen. I accept your challenge Alexis! I will definitely wake you up!"
"Tonight, then." Alexis says before leaving.
At the Slifer Dorm
Jaden stared hard at the card Atticus had given him. It was a magic card that had the picture of a girl standing near a swing under a tree.
"Hey Jay, Alexis looked really different today, so you'd better watch out, she's gonna have some unexpectable combos waiting for you"
Syrus warned.
"Yeah I know, but I'm sure I can win." Jaden replies.
"Hey Jaden!"
"Chazz?"
"I want you to use this card in your duel with Alexis. I'm sure once she sees it she'll return back to her normal self."
Syrus looked at him skeptically, "Your the one he made her like this in the first place."
"Was not!" Chazz shouted.
"Was too!" Syrus shouted back.
"Hey Ayato!" Jaden exclaimed. "Where have you been!"
"Ouch!" Syrus whelped as Chazz gave him a noogie. "Take that back now four eyes!"
"Never!" Syrus yelled.
Ayato sighed, "The Millenium Items...there gone."
Chazz and Syrus stopped fightning, "Say what?!" They both said in perfect unison.
The Order's HQ
Kaena smirked, "I can't believe that he'd actually hide them under his bed! What an idiot!"
Ryon nodded in agreement, "I wouldn't expect him to do something so stupid."
Suddenly Ryuji walked in, the Millenium Necklace in his hand. "I got it,
now what?" He asked.
"So you managed to steal it from Hitaki?" Ryon asked.
"Yeah, snuck into her room and grabbed it, listen, this had better be worth my time. I could have been killed, or worse."
Kaena glared at him, "Keep talking like that and you will. Now stop complaining and hand over the necklace."
"Yeah yeah, hey where's the puzzle?" Ryuji asks.
Kaena flushes, "I couldn't get that one."
"No matter, we'll just have to lure him here and seize it." Ryon says.
"It'll be easy."
Ryuji scoffed, "Luring him here will be easy, taking the Millenium Puzzle from him, well that's another story."
"You don't think I can beat him?" Ryon asked.
"I don't know, what do you think, he's come a long way since the last time you saw him duel. And on top of that, well, he is one of the chosen, do you really expect it to be easy."
"Hmmm, I guess you have a point, I'll find a way, trust me."
Duel Academy
"Do you have the key?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah I got it."
"Then prepare yourself."
Jaden smiles, "Just wait Alexis. I'll make you wake up for sure."
"Duel!"
Jaden: 4000/ Alexis: 4000
Alexis draws a card. "I summon Snow Sprite(1100/700) in attack mode.
With this card's effect you can't activate any spells.
A female ice creature appears on the field. "And I place one card face down and end my turn."
"So she isn't using her original deck?" Atticus says as he examines the monster.
"Sartorius must have gave her that deck." Chazz says.
"Don't worry, Jaden holds your true feelinigs in this duel, as long as he plays by that kind of thought there's no way he can lose." Syrus reassures the two as Nico nods in agreement.
Jaden draws a card, "Alright here it is, Chazz, I summon Ojama Black (0/1000) in defense mode! And I'll end my turn by throwing down a face down."
Chazz suddenly stands up, "Come on Alexis-you had better come back to me!"
"What?" Atticus glares at Chazz.
"I play the permanent magic White Night's Fort!"
Building-like pillars of ice burst out of the ground behind Alexis in a rough formation, coating the arena floor and nearby seats in a sheet of ice.
Some of the white students(who are watching the duel) start to panic.
Alexis turns to shout at them, "Be quiet and deal with it!" Jaden shivers slightly, "What kind of effect is this?"
"This card stops both of us from activating traps on the opponent's turn."
"That's not good." Jaden replies.
"I knew you had a face-down trap card. The light can illuminate everything. Next I summon Illusion Ice Statue(0/0) in attack mode."
"What is this?" Jaden asks suspiciously.
"This monster can't be targeted by an attack and it can also turn into a monster on my side of the field, copying it's attack and defense points. Now attack Ojama Black!"
Ojama Black is crushed by the swirling ice. "Now Snow Sprite attack Jaden directly.
Jaden is hit by the swirling ice.
Jaden: 2900/ Alexis: 4000
"I will freeze you Jaden, both your body...and your heart."
"Things aren't looking good for Jaden." Syrus says as he watches Jaden tremble.
"Probably because Chazz gave him Ojama Black, it didn't stand a chance"
Ayato says. "Hey take that back!" Chazz bonks Ayato on the head.
"Hey!" Ayato and Chazz start arguing.
Jaden continues to tremble, "If this keeps up I'm gonna be too weak to duel, I gotta take out that Statue. I summon E-Hero Sparkman(1600/1400)
in attack mode! Now attack her Ice Statue!"
Sparkman shoots a bolt of electricity which sends shards of ice flying in every direction.
Jaden: 2900/ Alexis: 3500
"I'll end my turn with a face-down."
Atticus gets up calling out to Alexis. "Alexis, you remember me right?
Your beloved brother, Atticus!"
"The only person that matters to me is Master Sartorius, no one else."
Alexis replies coldly. Atticus sits down, defeated.
"It's my turn, I play the spell Sacrifice Icicle! This card allows me to summon one Icicle Token on my field. And that's not all, it counts as two tribute monsters! So I'll use it to summon White Night's Queen (2100/800)."
"And that's not all, her special effect allows her to destroy one set card on the field."
'But that face down card was The Swing of Fond Memories!' Jaden thinks to himself.
"Sh-she destroyed it." Atticus says to himself. "Hang on Atticus, the real Alexis hasn't forgotten you!" Jaden tries to reassure him.
"This is my true self, and this is my true power! White Night's Queen destroy Jaden's Sparkman!" Sparkman is overcome by the swirling icestorm and is destroyed.
Jaden: 2400/ Alexis: 3500
"Now attack Snow Sprite!"
Jaden: 1300/ Alexis: 3500
"That's gotta hurt." Chazz says as he looks on.
"She's so ruthless." Atticus says sadly.
Jaden falls to one knee, "It's s-so c-c-old."
"You should just give up Jaden, you can't win." Alexis replies.
'Darn it! I carried Chazz's and Atticus' feelings on my shoulders, but ...what should I do...to melt Alexis' ice-cold heart?'
Alexis smirks, "This is my triple combo Jaden. You can't set or activate spell cards, can't activate traps during my turn, and White Night's Queen can detroy a set card on the field, your deck is sealed."
"She's right! Jaden can't use his fusion monsters now!" Syrus exclaims.
"He'll find a way. After all this is Jaden were talking about." Ayato looks over in Chazz's direction. "This is all your fault anyway."
"Yeah it's your fault!" Syrus joins in.
"You two want some more!" Chazz retorts.
Jaden slowly draws a card, "I summon Card Gunner(400/400) in attack mode. His effect allows me to boost his attack points by 500 every time I discard a card from my deck, up to three cards."
Jaden quickly discards the top three cards in his deck, increasing Card Gunner's attack to 1900. "Now destroy Snow Sprite!"
Jaden: 1300/ Alexis: 2700
"And with Snow Sprite gone I can activate my spell card, Pot of Greed to draw two more cards. Next I play the spell Oversoul, which brings back my E-Hero Sparkman in defense mode."
"Finally I play another spell Spark Gun, and I use it on my Card Gunner to switch him to defense mode. And I'll end my turn with that."
"Yeah Jaden's back in the game!" Syrus exclaims happily.
Alexis smirks as she looks at the card she just drew. "First I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to bring back Snow Sprite. Next I use the special effect of my White Night's Queen to detroy your face down."
"Man she sure has change, it's like looking at a whole different person"
Ayato says.
"She has not changed, she's just being controlled." Chazz argues. "He's right, her kind heart must be hidden under her cold smile." Atticus agrees.
"Now White Night's Queen destroy Sparkman. Snow Sprite destroy Card Gunner!"
"Thanks to the effect of Card Gunner I can draw one card from my deck!" Jaden quickly draws a card.
Alexis glares at Jaden coldly, "I end my turn."
'Man, this Alexis is totally different, I hardly have an opening to do anything.' Jaden thinks to himself as he draws a card. "I summon Dandelion(300/300) in defense mode and end my turn."
Alexis draws a card and examines her hand. "I summon Cold Sleeper (Atk:1100) in attack mode, destroy Dandelion!"
Dandelion is quickly destroyed, but in it's place is two fluff tokens in defense mode. "Trying to buy time huh? Well it won't work! White Night's Queen, Snow Sprite, double attack!"
The two monsters easily destroy the two fluff tokens.
"There's nothing you can do."
"I disagree, you won't know until the end." Jaden counters.
"Really? Then I'll just have to shatter that belief." Alexis smirks.
"Alright it's my turn, I activate the effect of E-Hero Necroshade in the graveyard."
"What!? But you ne-"
"I sent him to the graveyard earlier to power up Card Gunner. Anyway his effect allows me to special summon E-Hero Neos(2500/2000) without any tributes. And he's gonna get rid of Snow Sprite."
Jaden: 1300/ Alexis: 1300
"Cold Sleeper has the effect to special summon a destroyed monster at the end of the battle phase." Alexis explains.
"Well I'll just have to activate a spell card before the battle phase ends. I activate Quick Summon to summon Card Blocker in defense mode from my hand!"
"I activate the effect of Cold Sleeper, it designates one monster card zone on my field, so I can't use it during the duel. However I am able to summon Snow Sprite back from the graveyard unto the field in defense mode, but it can't change it's position."
"Man that monster is annoying." Ayato says.
Alexis draws a card. "I sacrifice Cold Sleeper and White Night's Queen to summon White Night's Dragon(3000/2500)." A dragon completely made of ice appears on the field.
Jaden's face lights up with excitment upon seeing a new monster.
"Next I play the permanent magic card White Blizzard. If a monster on your side of the field is destroyed you lose 600 life points. Next I equip White Night's Dragon with White Veil."
"Man this is bad, White Night's Dragon can destroy any spell and trap cards that target it, furthermore, with White Veil it can destroy Jaden's magics and traps when it attacks." Ayato explains to Syrus.
"Man that is bad." Syrus looks on worriedly.
Alexis smirks, "Surrender in front of the white light! White Night's Dragon attack Neos!"
"Not so fast! I activate the effect of Card Blocker! Now White Night's Dragon's target is Card Blocker!"
"It doesn't really matter, you still have to take 600 points of damage from White Veil."
Jaden: 700/ Alexis: 1300
"I place one card face-down and end my turn. Don't forget Jaden, it's useless to aim for Snow Sprite, according to my Dragon's effect, I can destroy a magic or trap to change the target to my dragon instead. So what are you going to do Jaden, you are blocked in all directions"
Alexis says.
"How in the world is Jaden gonna get out of this one?" Syrus begins to panic.
"Relax Syrus. Jaden doesn't seem ready to give up yet." Atticus interjects.
"Alexis! I haven't given up yet! I already said it didn't I? You don't know what's gonna happen in a duel until it's over." Jaden says confidently.
Alexis smiles, "It's useless to struggle."
Jaden draws a card and turns to Chazz and Atticus excitedly, "I'd like to borrow you guys power one more time."
Chazz blinks in confusion, "Huh? What is he taling about?"
"I remove Ojama Black And Swing of Fond Memories from play in order to summon the card I just drew. Magic Striker(600/200)! Next I summon Armor Breaker(Atk: 600), and with it's special effect I attach it to Magic Striker!"
"What are you planning to do?" Alexis asks.
"Magic Striker has the effect to make a direct attack." Jaden explains.
"How shrewd." Alexis replies.
Jaden: 700/ Alexis: 700
"How dare you attack Alexis like that!" Chazz shouts at Jaden. "Hey who's side are you on!" Syrus asks angrily.
Alexis stares at Jaden angrily, 'He attacked me! I don't know why, but,
I feel...'
"When Armor Breaker is attacthed to a monster that dealt battle damage to the opponent, he can destroy a equipment spell card on the field"
Jaden points to the White Veil, in which Magic Striker destroys with a powerful hit. "I switch E-Hero Neos in defense mode and end my turn."
"How dare you do that to my card!" Alexis shouts.
"Huh? She's getting mad over one card." Syrus looks confused.
"The spell on her must be loosening." Atticus says. Syrus, Nico, and Chazz turn around to see Ayato and Atticus several seats back.
"What are you guys doing back there?" Nico asks.
"She's scary." Ayato simply says. Atticus nods in agreement.
Alexis draws a card quickly, "I play the spell card Mystical Typhoon to destroy Armor Breaker!"
Armor Breaker is blown away and destroyed. "Now White Night's Dragon attack Magic Striker!"
"Magic Striker doesn't take any battle damage." Jaden reminds Alexis.
"But the effect of White Blizzard still deals 600 points of damage to you." Alexis reminds Jaden.
Jaden: 100/ Alexis: 700
"It sorta seems like Alexis has turned back to her normal self." Ayato says as he examines her face.
"Yes, it does." Atticus agrees.
"Hey when did you two get back here?" Syrus asks.
"But at this rate Jaden's gonna lose and Sartorius' curse will never be lifted." Chazz says.
"But this is Jaden were talking about, I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve." Ayato reassures Chazz.
Nico looks around, "Hey! Where's Aster?"
"Aster? Well last time I saw him he was heading towards his yacht with a serious expression on his face." Syrus answers.
"You've really got me beat! But I won't give up." Jaden says.
"Hmph." Alexis replies.
Jaden draws a card. "Just what I needed! Flare Scarab(500/500)!"
"It doesn't matter how many scrubs you summon, White Blizzard will..."
"My monsters aren't scrubs. It's like I keep telling ya! Watch closely.
Flare Scarab, Neos, Contact Fusion, create E-Hero Flare Neos(2500/2000!
And for every magic and trap on the field my Hero gains 400 extra attack points, for a total of 3700!"
Alexis smirks, which in turn confuses Jaden. "What are you smirking about, your about to lose." Jaden says. Alexis answers, "Defeating me means nothing. Do you really think that beating me will stop the glory of the light."
"What?!" Jaden says with disbelief.
"Beating me will not shield my eyes from the light, nothing can cloud my vision of the holy shining light!" Alexis says.
'Darn it, if I attack her she'll still be like this. What am I supposed to do?' Jaden thinks hard but nothing comes to him.
Ayato hops down from his seat, making his way towards the duel arena.
"What are you doing Ayato!" Syrus calls out.
"I've got an idea!" Ayato shouts back.
"What's the matter Jaden? Aren't you going to attack me?" Alexis mocks him. "There's nothing I can do to stop you."
"Jaden!" Jaden turns to Ayato. "Ayato?! What are you doing down here"
Ayato whispers something to Jaden, which in turn causes him to blush.
Jaden turns back to Alexis, a serious expression plastered across his face. He starts to slowly walk towards Alexis.
"What is Jaden doing?" Chazz asks. Atticus smiles, "So that's your plan, Ayato."
"I don't get it, what's going on?" Syrus asks confused.
Jaden and Alexis are standing face-to-face. Jaden places his hands on Alexis' shoulders.
"Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!" Chazz screams in agony. "What the-?!" Syrus looks on with disbelief. Atticus and Nico smile. The white students shout in an outrage. Ayato smirks.
Jaden had kissed Alexis. Alexis had intially tried to fight back,
but she eventually accepted the kiss, deepening it as Jaden embraced her.
Chazz was in tears. "Alexis! No!"
"Shut up!" Atticus says. "This is what we should have done from the beginning. She always did have a thing for Jaden." He says smiling.
Jaden pulled away, looking into Alexis' eyes. "Jaden?" She questioned.
"Alexis? Is it really you?" He asked. Alexis simply smiled and kissed Jaden again.
Ayato looked back up to Atticus grinning, "It's about time, huh?" He asked. Atticus simply nodded.
"Are you sure that it's a good idea just letting them take the Millenium Items, what if Ryon suceeds?" Hitaki asked.
"He won't, just let him dig his own grave." Lina replied.
Hitaki sighed, "But wouldn't it be a lot easier to just take them out now?"
"No, this is something Ayato must do."
"Oh I get it! This is a test, you wanna see what he can really do, but you know your putting the fate of the world on the line here Lina"
Hitaki warned.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. Jaden will handle the threat of Sartorius, and Ayato will handle Ryon. This way, I can see just how much they've grown."
"Hmph, you make it sound like their unbeatable." Hitaki says indignantly.
A cruise ship was leaving Duel Academy. Kazama looked back, "Hmph. That Sartorius is a fool. Does he really think he can control me."
He looked down at his white blazer, "How absurd. To think that he believes in the light of destiny. Everyone has a choice, there is no set path for anyone."
He smirks, "I'll be back Duel Academy." He turns away, "For now I'll have to return to the Pro League and improve my skills with this new deck."
Kazama pulled out a deck of cards, "I don't need you Sartorius." He throws the deck of cards that Sartorius had given him into the sea. "This deck is much better." He said pulling out another.
Flashback
Kazama slowly exits a cave(A/N: Sounds familiar?). "To think that I would find something like this." He looks down at the shining deck of cards in his hand.
"Sartorius was right, there was something in there that I would like."
"So, you managed to get it, just like I had predicted." Sartorius says with a smirk. "But it seems you ran into trouble."
Kazama wipes the blood from his lip, "Yeah, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I'm sure you've came here for another reason other than to check up on me."
"How very perceptive, now that you have that deck, I want you to help me expand my society."
"Hmph, why should I do that?"
"Because it is your duty as the being who personifies light!" Sartorius answers.
Kazama turns his back to Sartorius. "Listen, I don't personify light, I personify raw power, which is something, though you promised me, couldn't give me."
"What are you saying?"
"That I don't need your false promises, beat it."
End of Flashback
Two Weeks Later(Actually a little earlier than that)
"Here you go Syrus." Ayato handed his coins to Syrus.
"Huh? But why?" Syrus asked, confusion crossing his face.
"Just take it." He urged. "Well alright." Syrus gave in.
A giant jet made it's way towards Duel Academy Island. The duelist who had aquired the required ten coins were standing outside, waiting for it's arrival.
The jet soon arrived. Alexis was standing next to Jaden, there hands interlocked. They both nodded to eachother as they made their way towards the jet.
"Hey Aster!" Ayato called. Aster turned around. "Yeah?"
"So, you'll be alright now, right? Now that you've avenged your father's death?" Ayato asked.
Aster nodded. "Yeah. You know what? Your alright Ayato." Ayato grinned as he shook Aster's hand. "Sorry about not trusting you."
"It's alright."
"Just protect that key, okay, you and Jaden had better not let us down.
Were counting on you two."
Aster waved his goodbye as he boarded the jet, Alexis and Jaden waved as well.
"Well, there gone." Akari said, turning to Ayato. Ayato nodded. "Yeah,
let them handle Sartorius, I've got something I have to do too."
Akari looked at him skeptically, "What are you talking about?" She asked.
"I'm sure their gonna make their move. After all I still have the Millenium Puzzle."
"Your right, but you don't have to do it alone, I'm here to help"
Akari assured him.
Ayato smiled, "Yeah I know." Ayato started to make his way towards the Slifer Red dorm. "C'mon. I'm sure there gonna show this tournament on television. It'll give us something to do while we wait."
Akari smiled, after everything that had happened in the past month, she couldn't think of anything better to do than to spend some time with Ayato.
Well, the next chapter should be out relatively quick as I have decided to take a break from my video games, as I matter of fact I'm working on it right now. Anyway, review please, and see ya later! I'm out!