Syrus frowned as he looked up at his friend lying on the top bunk bed. Jaden was staring at the ceiling his eyes wide, he hardly blinked.

The school had thought it to be a miracle they had found Jaden after having an encounter with the shadow realm. An hour after Jaden had disappeared he had reappeared in the same place he had vanished.

People had thought it to be a miracle but the real miracle was that Jaden was still alive. After he had been found he was immediately rushed to the infirmary. No one knew why Jaden had shards of metal embedded in his body or why he had huge bruises all over his chest. No one questioned it; the only important thing was keeping Jaden alive as they flew in doctors and medical equipment.

It had taken him more than a week to cover and during it had said nothing. Syrus noticed it, he noticed how Jaden wasn't eating properly or sleeping at night. He noticed how his friend would not smile or laugh with him or even respond when he talked to him.

But one thing that Syrus noticed was that the moment Jaden had awoken up he had taken his deck and left it in the infirmary. He never went back for his deck, Syrus had taken it to keep it safe but he was sure that if he gave it Jaden then he would just leave it somewhere else maybe even rip it to pieces.

"Jaden?" Syrus asked his friend looking up at him "Aren't you going to get up? The doctors said that some fresh air and exercise would be good for you?"

Jaden didn't reply. He merely blinked as he stared at the ceiling. Syrus sighed, "Jaden are ever going to talk to me?"

Jaden didn't reply again. Syrus paced around the room in frustration trying to think of a way to make his friend respond.

"Hey why don't we go find Bastion or Bastion and have a tag team duel with-" Syrus paused as he watched Jaden suddenly lurched and curl up.

"Jaden don't you want to duel?" Syrus asked watching again as Jaden shuddered at the very mention of the world duelling.

"What's wrong Jaden? What happened in that place?" Syrus asked his eyes full of concern. Jaden began to slowly sit up on the bed. He was breathing heavily, a bead of sweat formed and fell from his face.

"He…killed…him" Jaden choked slowly before clutching his stomach and letting out a groan of discomfort.

"Jaden you spoke!" Syrus exclaimed the actual words not registering at first. The smile on his face vanished.

"Wait who killed him?" Syrus asked before Jaden let out another groan of discomfort.

"Okay we can talk about it later for now you need some food" Syrus said his eyes narrowed on Jaden now determined so see that his friend was going to get up and start acting like his old self.

"Come on get up Jaden" Syrus said climbing the ladder of the bunk bed and taking Jaden by the shoulder and pulling him towards the ladder. He obeyed and followed Syrus down the ladder and out of their room however his eyes were now stuck on the ground.

He couldn't stop thinking about it. Wildedge holding Mario's head over him, that wasn't one of the Heroes that he had always put his trust in.

---

"So he's been liked this every since he came back from that place?" Bastion spoke to Syrus from across the lunch table. He was a mature person with dark hair and wore a yellow uniform. He looked towards Jaden who was now eating his lunch very slowly with his eyes fixed on the table.

"Yeah I don't know what to do with him"

"Has he said anything since he came back?"

"One thing…" Syrus paused recalling the words of Jaden "He said 'he killed him'"

"Jaden said he killed someone?" Bastion asked an eyebrow raised, but he had no idea what saying that sentence would cause.

Jaden suddenly snapped, he threw his arm forward and knocked all the food off his lunch tray to the floor. He buried his head in his arms his body shaking. The sound of him sniffling was heard behind his arms.

Bastion starred at Jaden eyes wide. Syrus looked from Jaden to Bastion with the same shocked expression, "Erm…no Jaden didn't say HE killed someone he said 'he killed someone' as in someone else killed someone"

The two of them sat in silence for a moment before looking towards Jaden, "Then why would Jaden react like that…" Bastion began before his eyes suddenly widened "Unless…"

Jaden suddenly sat up and ran from the lunch table and out of the cafeteria, the sound of Syrus calling after him ringing in his ears. But he did not go back.

----

Jaden had run as far away as he could from the academy. He now sat on the edge of a cliff dangling over the sea that crashed against the rocks. His hands were shaking he felt like crying but did his best to suppress it. He couldn't stop thinking about it. The head, the blood that gushed from it and how his elemental hero was proud of his kill!

"Your not supposed to kill people…you were a good guy" Jaden whispered. He was sat on the ground his knees brought up to his chest, "What can I do? I love this place I don't want to leave…but if I stay there's going to be more of those shadow games…I can't take that"

"But you've always come out of them okay" A voice spoke behind him. Alexis was stood looking over him with a soft gaze. Jaden turned away from her but Alexis still sat down beside him.

"You saved them you know" She spoke looking out towards the ocean "Gale and Syrus…if they had been dragged into the shadow realm who knows what may have happened"

Jaden didn't reply he merely looked at the ground his arms still hugging his knees.

"Would you really have wanted them to have gone in instead of you?" She asked quietly "Would you prefer it if Syrus felt how you felt right now?"

Jaden thought over the question. Of course he wouldn't, Syrus's roid cards were innocent he knew that Syrus would probably break down if he saw Mario be crushed to death by his cartoon train steamroid.

"And if that guy did to Syrus what he did to that poor boy how would you feel then?" Alexis asked looking at Jaden from the corner of her eye, "I don't know what happened there…but you should be glad that you went instead of Syrus and Gale…just think at least you came back alive"

Alexis was smart and she was right, it was better that he went instead of Syrus. But he couldn't stop himself from thinking about that card, the last move that ended Mario's life, "But…" he croaked "Now I wish…"

Alexis looked towards Jaden her eyes filling with concern as she watched Jaden tremble.

"But now…but now…cause of that…I'm a murderer" Jaden choked burying his head into his knees.

Alexis's face twisted in shock, "Jaden how can you say such a thing? You would never kill anyone!"

"I did I killed Mario I made Wildedge attack in the shadow game!" He cried.

"Shadow game?" Alexis asked tenderly.

"Mario duelled me…he said that only one of us could leave…I just went along with it…and I won with Elemental Hero Wildedge" The name of the card caused his body to tremble more fiercely than before "And then he killed Mario he took off his head in one swipe"

"And now I've killed him! And now I wish I was dead!" he yelled out, Alexis's jaw dropped as she watched Jaden break down. He began to shout into his knees that it was his fault, muffled cries of regret.

How could he say that? How could he want himself dead? The pain inside her heart flared up inside her she felt herself tense. How could Jaden of all people? The happy energetic person she always admired go and say that?

"I killed him it was me I killed him!"

"Jaden…" Alexis spoke softly "You didn't kill him Wildedge killed him"

"Yes I did I ordered-"

"No you didn't you were playing a game for your life it was survival!" Alexis snapped at him her fists clenched her eyes narrowing. Jaden looked up from his legs his eyes swollen from the tears he had tried to suppress.

"But I-

"No listen to me Jaden you didn't know that Wildedge would kill him when you ordered him to attack you thought it was just like every other shadow game! And yes he did die but do you think if you had let him live he would have done the same for you?" She asked his voice rose before she looked back at the ocean.

"He would have come back for more victims he would have killed more people" she clenched her fists tighter "Do you want anything to happen to us?"

Jaden starred towards Alexis his mouth hung open slightly "Do you think we would want anything to happen to you?"

"Do you think I want anything to happen to you?" Alexis asked now turning towards Jaden a small soft smile on her beautiful face.

Jaden turned away. He slowly shook his head, "But he was killing to bring back someone he cared about"

"That doesn't make it right" She spoke softly. Jaden didn't reply. He was too busy thinking it all over in his head.

"Don't hate yourself or your deck Jaden hate the shadow realm" She said leaving him in total silence.

A few minutes of silence went by. Jaden was still thinking.

But it is my fault in the end isn't it?

His thoughts however were interrupted as he felt something tighten around him. Alexis had pulled him into a hug resting her head against his.

"Listen Jaden you wouldn't want to kill anyone but in that case life was being unfair you had no choice" She spoke softly into him. He felt himself relax in the warm embrace. He felt the guilt slowly slip away.

"So are you going to keep duelling?" She asked with a smile on her face as she ruffled his brown hair. He nodded against her with a smile.

"Good cause we don't want you gone" she said letting go of him slowly and smiling warmly at him.

Jaden chuckled and nodded again before looking out towards the ocean.

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure" Alexis said with a nod.

"If I ever go mad like that every again…can you hug me like you just did?"

A blush erupted over Alexis's face but she managed to nod. Jaden turned back to her before grinning at her a little blush in his cheeks.

----

"So Jaden Yuki duelled a tormenter?" The wise but childish voice of Maxamillion Pegasus asked as he sat at his grand wooden table. His long silver hair hung over half of his face to conceal where his millennium eye had once been.

The night was quite at his mansion. He was dressed in a red smoking jacket and had a glass of red wine in his right hand while in his left were five duel monster cards. He was currently playing his guest. A woman with brilliant pale skin and dark locks of hair that hung over her face. She was wearing a long black hooded cloak.

"Yes and so has Alistair Noir" She spoke her voice pure and wise as she tapped her fingers against the table. Pegasus currently had Toon World on his side of the field and a Blue Eyes Toon dragon (3000/2500) while she had a Feral Imp (1300) and curse of dragon (2000) on her side of the field and a face down card.

Pegasus life points: 3500

"How are they? Are they hurt?" Pegasus asked "I attack you with blue eyes toon dragon while giving up 500 of my life points"

Pegasus life points: 3000

"Jaden was emotionally scarred from the duel he's never seen so much blood and killing The Tormentor was clearly too much for him…and I'm going to activate Wabakou to reduce your damage to nothing" she put the trap card in her graveyard before drawing a card.

"Well played….and what about Alistair?" He asked.

"He surprised me…he grinned, he laughed he didn't even feel a bit of remorse" She said with a small chuckle as she looked at the card "I sacrifice feral imp to summon a summon skull" (2500/1200)

"He has the mind of a killer"

"No he has the mind of a weapon to defeat Tormentors"

She put down a magic card on her side of the field "I play Gift of the Martyr which lets me send curse of dragon to the graveyard and power up Summon Skull by half its attack power" (3500/1200)

"So what do we do next then?"

"I'll gather my troops and you gather yours…you realise were going to be needing your companies to produce some new cards for our troops" she pointed at blue eyes toon dragon "attack then I'll play one card face down"

Pegasus life points: 2500

"I understand…but you should know something" Pegasus said in a quiet tone as he drew a card from his deck, he looked towards his guest who awaited his next move.

"I'll play Black Illusion Ritual to summon relinquished (0/0) that will take your summoned skull raise it's stats to the same amount of points" (2500/1200) He looked towards her again, she was now waiting for his news.

"Last Friday one of my company's factories vanished"

"Vanished?" She asked cocking her head to one side confused.

"Into thin air…there is only a crater where it once stood and in the centre of it are the bodies of its employees"

"So while were making new cards to fight the Tormentors"

"The Tormentors are doing the same…they've recognised that were putting duellists amongst their prey to trick them into duelling them…now I attack with relinquished"

"I activate Hallowed life barrier and discard one card from my hand to the graveyard to reduce your damage to 0 but because I discard Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (1600/1300) it can be special summoned in attack mode" The woman explained the effect but she seemed more focused on what he had just said.

"Surely there not going to try and attack duel academy like Mario? That's the worst idea considering not all the Tormentors are professionals at the game"

"There doing it because duel academy is full of warriors blood"

"Warriors blood?" she asked as she drew a card from her deck

"They were once rewarded for their kills in the shadow realm but recently the shadow realm itself has been…changing the rules"

"What do you mean?" she asked before looking through her hand

"I sacrifice my Vanguard of Dark World to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/2000) that allows me to destroy your relinquished when it's summoned" She explained before Pegasus put relinquished in the graveyard.

"Nice move….and what I mean is that my sources say that one Tormentor with an archfiend deck tried to duel a kid who had never played the game and kill him in the shadow realm…the shadow realm cut the Tormentor in two and left the boy"

"So the shadow realm is now only accepting people who know how to play the game its even odds"

"So their now going to kill duellists for their plans" Pegasus said as he sipped his wine slowly.

"Excellent" She said licking her lips "We'll be there to fight them when they do…now I play Electro whip on Zaborg to increase his attack to 2700 and attack"

Pegasus merely smiled "You win…and your new deck shall be made for you tomorrow morning"

The guest smiled in return before picking up her cards and bowing politely "Thank you Pegasus I can't wait to try it out before I meet little Al…good night friend" she said with a small smile before walking out of the room.

"Goodnight my queen" Pegasus replied with the same small smile.

---

Hmmm well there we go…may as well warn you now that things are gonna head more in the direction of the duels so there's going to be a few card games that some people may not enjoy….however don't count it out yet because I do plan on putting the usual violence in it everyone likes…anyway keep reading please enjoy

(ps. Yet again I made a mistake with the last chapter and the beast of talwar….my bad)