Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, but Billy Jobs still hadn't made his move. The bump on Alexis' belly got a little bigger every week, but that just meant the baby was developing as planned. However the other symptoms of Alexis' pregnancy were starting to get on peoples nerves. She had been having mood swings and worse.
"Jaden sweetie… I need some brownies."
"Uh huh… In the morning…"
"Jaden I NEED brownies, right now."
"Lexi it's 11:45."
"I NEED BROWNIES!"
"Someone's having cravings." sang Yubel.
"At least it wasn't another one of those awful nightmares." said Jasmine.
Alexis' screaming had woken up the whole house. It wasn't until after she had gotten the brownies she wanted that she fell back to sleep. Everyone was starting to head back to their rooms when they heard the doorbell ringing.
"We're not expecting anyone." said Chazz.
All the guys pulled out their guns.
"Stay with Alexis." said Jaden to the girls.
They went downstairs and kicked the front door open.
"Don't shoot! It's us!"
"Aster! Jesse! Zane! What are you guys doing here?"
"We heard you guys were in a little predicament and found room in our busy schedules, so we decided to join the join the party." said Jesse "Now can you please point those P-shooters somewhere else?"
"Sorry… We're all a little jumpy… For a moment there we mistook you for a threat."
"So where's Alexis?" asked Zane.
"Upstairs, we just got her back to sleep after one of her cravings."
Suddenly the lights in the house went black and everyone heard a zapping noise coming from outside.
"What just happened?!" asked Aster.
"I electrified the fence incase we had an unexpected visit from Jobs, looks like we got something."
Chazz took out a flashlight and they all went out to check the area around the fence until they found something smoking.
"Eww! What is that?!" asked Syrus covering his nose.
Chazz pointed his flashlight at what appeared to be a smoking black pile of fur.
"Oh my, I think it was a cat."
"Well if that thing had nine lives, she just spent em all." joked Jesse.
(National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation rocks!)
After the incident with the fence everyone seriously doubted they'd be able to get back to sleep.
"Hey Jay, would you like to duel? You know… just to burn off some steam?" asked Syrus.
"I'd like that. Chazz, is there a place we can duel?"
"There's an arena downstairs."
"Syrus dueling Jaden with his brother's deck? This I've got to see." said Atticus.
"I'll keep an eye on Alexis and the baby." whispered Yubel.
The arena was underground and was about the size of a gymnasium. Jaden knew Syrus would be using his brother's deck, one of the few that he'd never been able to beat, only tie with, but so much had changed since that graduation duel at the end of Jaden's first year at Duel Academy. Jaden was confident that this time things would be different. Jaden and Syrus did a quick game of rock paper scissors to see who would decide who would go first.
"1… 2… 3… shoot!"
"Scissors cuts paper!" said Jaden "I'll go second."
"Let's duel!"
Both their life points went immediately to 4000. Syrus knew that Jaden had decided to go second so he couldn't use Cyber Dragon's effect to special summon it. He'd just have to improvise.
"I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
Jaden looked at the cards in his hand. Syrus had probably played a monster with high defense points, but that wasn't going to be enough to protect his life points.
"I summon Elemental Hero Heat!"
(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200)
"Elemental Hero Heat's super power lets him gain 200 attack points for every Elemental Hero on my field, including himself."
(ATK: 1800)
Syrus knew that even with those 200 extra attack points it wouldn't be enough to destroy his Armored Cybern.
"Now I activate the spell card H – Heated Heart! During this turn I can use this card to increase the attack points of my Elemental Hero Heat by 500, and if he destroys a monster in defense mode the difference between its defense points and his attack points are dealt to you as damage."
(ATK: 2300)
"Hero Heat, attack!"
Syrus' Armored Cybern went up in smoke.
(Syrus: 3700)
Jaden may have destroyed Syrus' Armored Cybern, but now Hero Heat lost the 500 extra attack points it gained from H – Heated Heart, bringing it back to 1800. And now Syrus had no monsters on his field.
"I special summon Cyber Dragon!"
(ATK: 2100 DEF: 1600)
"Cyber Dragon, attack Hero Heat!"
Syrus' Cyber Dragon blasted Hero Heat into nothingness.
(Jaden: 3700)
"Instant karma Jaden."
True Jaden and Syrus were tied, but that was about to change.
"I play the spell card E – Emergency call, which I'll use to bring Burstinatrix from my deck to my hand. Next I play Polymerization to fuse Burstinatrix and Clayman to summon Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster!"
(ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500)
"Now I'll use Rampart Blaster's special effect and cut its attack points in half and attack you directly!"
(Syrus: 2700)
"Next I'll throw down a face down and call it a turn."
"You're not the only one who can summon a fusion monster Jaden, but first I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face down card."
Jaden's Hero Barrier was destroyed.
"Now I play Polymerization to fuse the Cyber Dragon on my field with the Cyber Dragon in my hand to summon Cyber Twin Dragon!"
(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2100)
"Great, I lose my Hero Barrier right when I really need it."
"Cyber Twin Dragon, attack his Rampart Blaster!"
Rampart Blaster was incinerated, but Jaden knew the worst was yet to come.
"Now attack Jaden directly!"
(Jaden: 1100)
"He uses your deck well." said Aster "He's actually winning."
"But the duel is not over yet." replied Zane.
"Syrus has really grown up. But that's no reason for me to let him win."
Jaden drew his card.
"I play O –Oversoul, and I'll use it to special summon Clayman from the graveyard!"
(ATK: 800 DEF: 2000)
"And I'll end my turn with a face down."
"A face down, knowing Jaden it's probably a trap… wait, what if he wants me to think it's a trap and he's really just bluffing, but what if that's just what he wants me to think? Oh forget it; I'm just going to attack."
Jaden's expression was impossible to read.
"Cyber Twin Dragon, attack!"
"Not so fast Sy, I activate the trap card Hero Ring!"
Cyber Twin Dragon stopped in its tracks.
"Now monsters with 1900 or more attack points can't attack Clayman."
"I guess some things just never change." said Chazz "Including little Syrus falling into an obvious trap."
Jaden drew his card, but decided to pass.
"Hmm… I might not be able to attack Jaden, but maybe I can take his life points another way."
Syrus looked at the cards in his hand; he almost had everything he needed for the grand finale.
"I'll play one card face down, and summon Cyber Kirin!"
(ATK: 300 DEF: 800)
Jaden guessed that Syrus must've played a trap. Fortunately he had just the card to deal with it in his hand.
"I'll throw down a face down, and next I play the spell card R – Righteous Justice! Since I have Clayman on my field I can destroy one spell card on your side of the field."
When Syrus' face down card was destroyed Jaden lost 500 life points.
(Jaden: 600)
"What just happened? Did I attack myself?!"
"No, it's the effect of my Black Pendant, when it's destroyed my opponent takes 500 points of damage."
"Clever."
"He even managed to find a way around Jaden's defenses." said Zane.
Syrus drew his next card.
"I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two more cards."
Syrus drew his cards, now he had everything he needed.
"First I play the spell card De-Fusion to defuse Cyber Twin Dragon!"
Cyber Twin Dragon split back into two Cyber Dragons.
"Next I play Proto-Cyber Dragon!"
(ATK: 1100 DEF: 600)
"Next I play the spell card Power Bond, and I'll use it to fuse the two Cyber Dragons on my field with the Cyber Dragon in my hand to summon Cyber End Dragon with twice as many attack points!"
(ATK: 8000 DEF: 2800)
"Sure it's got 8000 attack points, but it still can't attack thanks to my Hero Ring."
"Only as long as Clayman is on the field, which won't be much longer. I activate the spell card Evolution Burst, I can use this card to destroy one card on your side of the field with the Proto-Cyber Dragon I just played!"
Jaden's Clayman was incinerated.
"Now I'll attack you directly with Cyber End Dragon!"
Cyber End Dragon fired streams of energy from its three heads, but when the smoke cleared Jaden's life points were untouched.
"What!?!"
"Sorry Sy, but you forgot about my face down card, the Flute of Summoning Kuriboh, which I used to summon my good friend Winged Kuriboh, so Cyber End Dragon had to attack him, and since he was destroyed this turn I didn't take any damage. And since your turn is over your Power Bond card now causes you to lose life points equal to you monster's original attack points!"
"You mean that would've happened if not for Cyber Kirin, by tributing him I can negate any damage I take due to an effect."
"That was a close one." said Jesse breathing a sigh of relief.
"I don't think it'll make much difference."
"Why not?"
"Because Jaden has no cards left in his hand and no cards in play, and even if he draws a monster Cyber End Dragon will be able to wipe out Jaden's life points with its effect." said Chazz.
"I don't know how Jaden can possibly pull this one off."
"Aster's right, it does look hopeless." thought Jaden "But my deck has pulled me out of certain death before."
Jaden drew his card.
"I play Pot of Greed which lets me draw two more cards."
Jaden drew two more cards.
"Uh-oh, he smiled!" thought Syrus.
"I play Hero Flash!! First I remove from play: H – Heated Heart, E – Emergency Call, R – Righteous Justice, and O – Oversoul, so I can special summon a normal type Elemental Hero from my deck, and I choose… Elemental Hero Neos!"
(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000)
"Next I activate the Equip spell Neos Force! With this spell card Neos becomes 800 attack points stronger!"
(ATK: 3300)
"So what? Neos only has 3300 attack points, my Cyber End Dragon has 8000!"
"He's not attacking your dragon Sy, he's attacking you."
"What?!"
"On the turn I activate the spell Hero Flash, all normal type Elemental Heroes on my side of the field can attack you directly."
"Okay, this is bad."
"Neos, attack Sy directly!"
Neos flew over and punched Syrus in the gut.
(Syrus: 0)
When Syrus was able to stand he saw his big brother standing in front of him.
"Congratulations, I actually thought you had him for a minute."
"But I didn't win."
"I speak from experience Syrus, you can't win em all."
That's when they heard Alexis.
"HE'S COMING FOR ME! NO! NO! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"
The boys all ran up the stairs to Alexis' room.
"It's okay, it's just another nightmare." said Jasmine.
Alexis was lying in bed crying.
"Lexi, are you alright?"
"I saw him Jaden… I saw his face… I could feel his breath on my neck!"
She fell into Jaden's arms crying.
"Lexi, Zane's here to see you."
"Zane?"
"It's alright Alexis, if that psychopath thinks he's going to lay a finger on you or your baby, he's going to have hell to pay."