Hey everyone! Glad you liked the last chapter. Here's a new one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh GX or Jess; she still belongs to ladydream-chan.

Claimer: This entire story is mine, the plot especially. Every OC is mine and everything about this story is unique. Any and all copiers in any way WILL BE reported to the administrators. Please don't take anything.

xXx

Jaden's POV

Everyone's heads snapped toward the sound of the front door opening up. They Pyramids walked into the house, heads hanging a little too low. I jumped to my feet when I noticed they were one short; Marik was gone.

"Atem, what happened?" I demanded, seeing that he was standing farther back than the rest of his Pyramids. Joey and Tristan, seeing my eyes focused on where Atem was standing, moved out of my way and stood behind me; Kaiba followed them.

"Atem, what's wrong?" Serenity asked, standing in the doorway, watching him with concerned eyes.

He sighed and looked up at us, mainly her though. "Bakura killed Marik; he's dead."

Everyone remained silent, taking in the information. I blinked a few times before walking over to Atem and punching him in the jaw. He fell down on his knees, clutching it. A little blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. Instantly Joey, Tristan, and Kaiba jumped to their feet. Jim and Jesse reacted a moment faster though and got in their way, stopping them from killing me for striking their leader.

"Jaden, why did you do that?" Hassleberry demanded.

I ignored him and grabbed the collar of Atem's shirt and punched him again, holding him so he wouldn't fall the floor.

"Jaden, stop!" Serenity screamed making a move to intervene but Julie grabbed her wrist, keeping her in place.

"YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT!" I screamed at Atem, who dropped his head so he didn't have to look at me. I grew annoyed and slammed his back against a wall, causing a picture to fall off and shatter against the floor. He grunted in pain. "LOOK AT ME!"

Slowly he titled his head up to look at me. He looked so devastated at the loss of Marik, but I could also see the guilt in his eyes.

"You deserved that! You deserved to lose someone like that for that idiotic move you just pulled!" I snapped.

Atem's eyes grew wide and everyone behind me gasped.

"That's going too far, Jaden!" Yugi snapped, sounding angry.

"No, Yugi, Jaden's right," Atem said, slouching against the wall.

"Atem," Serenity gasped. I let go of his collar and let him fall to the ground.

"No, we shouldn't have run off like that. Marik is dead because we got tricked, because we became protective and possessive of the city. We became cocky and overconfident thinking we could take care of these Skulls by ourselves but we can't!"

"You really are the biggest hypocrite I've ever met, Atem," I said. "Aren't you the one who said that my Bloods and I can't take on the Skulls by ourselves?"

"Yes."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, taking deep breathes.

"But, Atem, Jaden and I both understand why you guys reacted the way you did," Yusei said, stepping forward. Atem and I turned to look at him; he stopped and stood next to me. "Had this been New Domino City or Ochi City, either of us would have run out that door faster than anything to stop the Skulls same as you."

I sighed again. "Right, I guess it's our fault too for not following them."

Yusei nodded.

"Everyone and no one is really to blame here. There was no right way to handle the news," Julie said.

"Very true," Jack said.

"I just don't understand why my friend would tell me something like that," Nathan said, biting on his thumb. "He's usually very reliable."

"Don't go writing him off as a liar just yet, Nathan, he still is," Joey said.

"What do you mean?" Nathan looked at him confused.

Joey stuffed his hands in his jean pockets. "Bakura fed that lie to the black market hoping to draw us out of hiding and into the open. It was all part of the leader's plan to feed us information, his true master plan."

I looked at Joey, not liking the tone his voice had taken. "What kind of plan is that?"

He didn't look at me, staring at the floor. I looked at all the Pyramids, seeing that they were all avoiding eye contact with me.

"Damn it! Someone better explain this plan to me now or I'm gonna start knocking some heads in!" I snarled.

"The leader of the Skulls isn't interested in completely eliminating the Bloods, Jaden," Atem said.

I looked at him, seeing that he was staring at my feet to avoid looking at my face. "What do you mean? Of course that's his plan!"

"It's all a game to him, Jaden. Sure, he wants to eliminate the Bloods, but he only has one real goal." Atem looked at me. "And that's you."

"Me?"

"The leader of the Skulls is only interested in killing you. Don't you see? This is all a game! Every life that isn't yours that is taken is meant to torture you! They aren't really the focus of the leader, he only wants to cause you pain!"

I'm not exactly sure how I can react to that. I've seen how these Skulls kill; I've seen the ones they've killed and it isn't pretty. I saw how Emmy lost it when Chris was killed; I see the need for vengeance etched onto Julie's and Jim's face for the death of Emmy and Axel.

And now it's all because of me?

"Why?" Yusei asked, grabbing my elbow and holding it tightly so I didn't collapse to the floor like I almost did.

"The original leader recruited the new leader last minute of the war in which you destroyed the Skulls because he knew you would survive, Jaden," Atem said, finally looking at my face. "The new leader hates you for some reason and the original recruited him because he knew that you would be killed someday by the hand of a Skull."

I shook my head slowly. "And this new leader recruited all of these Skulls so they could take out the banes of their existence while he takes out me? And it's all meant as a game to torture me?"

"Yes."

I let out a shaky breath and shook off Yusei's hand, walking over to Atem. He watched me cautiously, eyes zeroing in on my extended hand. He took it and I pulled him to his feet.

"From here on out we fight as one. We aren't the Bloods, and the Pyramids, and the Signers. We're just a group of people working together to eliminate the Skulls once and for all." I looked at everyone. "And if we don't fight as one the Skulls will kill us all."

All because of me.

xXx

Yeah…not quite sure…about this one…my file with all my chapter summaries that I use to help guide the chapter is being dumb so…yeah…

It's interesting though! XD Please review! :D

-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-

-o-Mel-o-