Chapter 18
By KellyQ
Jaden followed Ruby to the other side of the school campus. Hang in there, Jess! I'm not going to let anything happen to you! Jaden thought.
Jaden finally made eye contact with Yami. "I don't care! I just want to save Jess ..."
Yami sighed. "I know you do ..."
"No you don't!" Jaden cut in. "I love Jesse and I'll do anything for him! Just like you love Yugi .." Yami nodded his head. "And that's the thing, I don't know why you won't let me do this? If you and Yugi were in the same situation, wouldn't you be trying to find a way to rescue him?"
Yami narrowed his eyes. "I would Jaden. But you need help. I got help when Yugi got captured multiple times."
Hurt flashed across Jaden's eyes as he cowered a little. "B-but I'm not weak -"
"I didn't say that-"
"You're just like all the others," Jaden muttered.
Yami flinched in shock at first, but he narrowed his eyes again. "What. Did. You. Just. say?"
Jaden cringed. "I just feel that no one understands me ..."
Ruby stopped abruptly when a snake slithered up toward them. Jesse's pet turned and jumped into Jaden's arms; she shook slightly.
The snake hissed and turned. Jaden felt Haou take control. "You want me to follow?" he asked the snake.
The snake nodded his head. Ruby looked up to see that Jaden's eyes were a different color than they should be. Ruby suddenly bit Haou and leaped out of his arms.
"Ruby ... you ..." before he could finish, he noticed that there was a collar around her neck. "Yubel ..." he hissed.
With no other thoughts, Haou dashed forward. The snake and Ruby went after him too. It didn't take long for them come to like an old abandoned laboratory. Moss grew along the side of the one story building, and there were no windows. Haou narrowed his eyes.
"I see that you have made it, " came Cobra's voice from a hidden camera.
"Yeah. Now you tell that bitch of a sister of mine to release Ruby at once; she has nothing to do with this!" Haou demanded, looking for the source of the voice. He found the camera and glared.
As if on cue, the black collar slid off and the door to the lab opened. The snake quickly slithered in just as a thorny vine came out of the darkness and coiled around Haou's body and pulled him forward. Ruby shivered and tried to get her self to move but she was too terrified to help.
"Jaden!" cried familiar voices, just as the door closed with a loud clang.
Ruby turned to see Pegasus and his friends running toward the scene. The cat like creature ran up to Pegasus and clutched onto his leg. Jesse's trainer bent down and scooped up the frightened animal.
"Shush," Pegasus soothed. "You're safe now. Can you remember anything?"
Jaden was dropped to the floor. He moaned in pain and weakly got to his hands and knees. Jaden looked around and spotted a door to his right. He slowly got up and staggered to the door and opened it. What he saw wasn't something he suspecting to see. Jaden saw Jesse's body floating horizontally five feet above the floor. His shirt was torn and Jaden could see bruises a long Jesse's arms. The scar on the turquoise haired teen's chest was glowing.
"Jesse!" The brown haired teen dashed forward but stopped when some snakes slithered up. Jaden stepped back and he allowed Haou take control. He looked around and spotted a figure lurking in the darkness. Haou couldn't quite make out who it was, but the out-line of the person gave it away. "All right, Yubel. Playtime is over. Now hand over Jesse!"
"Not quite yet," came Cobra's voice. Haou spun around and came face to face with the imposing man. Cobra stared into yellowish-red possessed eyes. "So. You must be Haou - Yubel's brother."
"Just cut to the chase, Cobra," Haou growled.
Just then the building started to shake. "It looks like your friends are trying to rescue you," Cobra mused.
"Friends? They're not exactly friends!" Just as Haou said that, he moaned, feeling Jaden tying to take control of his own body. The brown haired teen didn't really feel that way - did he?
Yubel watched with a curious expression on her face. After a moment, realization started to sink in as memories started to actually come back to her. She did go on a mission with Jaden a while back to stop Haou from taking over the world. The fight was a bit fuzzy and Yubel didn't remember much after, but she felt a little betrayed by Jaden. Now everything made complete sense! Haou's body was destroyed and the only closet target was Jaden. So, that means, some of Jaden's memories were erased, Yubel thought. She glanced over at Cobra. He lied to me! This may change some things, but I'll make Cobra pay for lying to me! Then I'll deal with my pesky brother.
"I think we should find a more suitable place to talk," Cobra said.
Jaden was about to ask where else they could go when Jesse's body started to glow, and the scar started to shine even more. The brown haired teen turned but his vision was met with a bright flash of light before Jaden could do anything.
To Be Continued ...