Chapter XV: Awakening

Welcome back, GX fans and fans of this version of the Yugi-verse! Yes, somehow we've managed to speed up in our updates and we hope you're okay with that. Anyway, thanks again to all our reviewers and don't worry about your defenses of us and this fic. We do appreciate that we have such wonderful, passionate fans. And we'd like to welcome our new readers and reviewers. New and old, you make two authors very happy! Now, on with the story!

Last time, Jaden had a horrific nightmare of a possible alternate timeline where all of his friends were murdered and then came back as zombies. Meanwhile, Rosa relived a nightmare of her own, partly based on reality, but also based on the twisting of Darkness. So what awaits the gang with the morning? Read on!

Disclaimer: No, we don't own GX. We probably never will. We just own our OCs, this plot and this version of the Yugi-verse. Also, please remember that this is an alternate timeline, much like the Star Wars alternate timelines portrayed in the "Star Wars: Infinites" series of graphic novels. Thank you!

Authors' note: This again, may not be the most cheerful of chapters. There will be some appropriate jokes, but this will again be a serious chapter. Also, Jaden may seem very different, but it is an accurate reaction due to post-traumatic stress disorder, which does cause hallucinations. And Adrian does an impression. That may be interpreted as OOC. Thank you!

The next morning, Jaden didn't wake up in time for class which in itself, wasn't an abnormality, though this semester it hadn't happened. The rest of the gang had gotten up and gotten to class, and roll was called. "Hanson, Annie!" Dr. Crowler called.

"Here, sir!" she answered cheerily.

"Truesdale, Syrus!" the teacher continued, not going in any particular order.

"Here!" Syrus answered, glancing around. He hadn't seen Jaden yet...

Crowler went through roll call, but didn't call for Alexis and Jaden. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make. Now that we've taken attendance, I must leave for an emergency staff meeting. One of our students is out of class today and we need to discuss what we can do for that student. So you may go and study where you wish for the period. Remember that we have a quiz on Friday on the subject of famous dueling taunts. Class dismissed," he concluded and left the room.

"It's Jaden," Annie murmured, gripping her fiancé's hand.

Syrus frowned deeply. "Should we...go see if he's okay? I mean..."

The class had cleared out quickly, except for their group. "Both Jaden and Alexis aren't here," Bastion said, coming to Annie and Sy with Violet in tow. "It was a rough night for them, perhaps..."

"It probably was... I'm still feeling a lot of bad karma; it may have even gotten worse... We should go check on them," Violet agreed.

Annie took a breath. "I'm not sure we should yet," she sighed, face framed with worry. "Maybe... we should wait until we hear something..."

"But what if we don't hear anything?" Syrus asked worriedly.

"We will... they can't keep us in the dark... Besides... Alexis is there and Jack and Scout will tell Chazz and Atticus, and then those two will tell us... We don't want to just descend on Jaden all at once," she concluded.

Violet sighed. "Guess you're right. But what do we do until then?"

"What else? Study," Bastion sighed.

Tyson groaned. "Yeah... guess we got no choice..." But they did, because at that moment, Atticus came from the top of the stairs. He'd been late to class, but with permission because his mother had called him early in the morning to come talk to her.

"Hey, guys," the tanned and brown-haired Obelisk greeted, walking down the stairs and stopping beside them.

"Hey, Lieutenant Atticus... Have you heard anything?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah, can we see Jaden yet?" Annie asked.

Atticus shook his head. "Not until noon... Guys, Mom heard from Jayda that he had a really bad night... He's still sleeping, along with Lexi..."

"How... how bad?" Bastion ventured to ask. Annie put her arm around Syrus, in case it was really, really bad.

"Well... Mom didn't tell me too many details... All she told me was that it was enough to make him wake up screaming...and crying," Atticus muttered, looking down.

Syrus's eyes went wide. "Jay..."

"He'll be all right," Annie murmured, trying to reassure her love. "So... all we can do is wait?"

Atticus nodded, gravely serious. "Yeah. Mom specifically told me that Jay wasn't to be disturbed before noon..."

It was then that Chazz came into the room. "Oh, crap... I knew I overslept," he groaned angrily. "What happened?" Bastion quickly told him the details. "So... Slacker's in bad shape?" the raven-haired Slifer asked, stunned.

"Basically, we won't really know how bad until we see him, though," Violet answered with a sigh.

"Bro?" Chazz asked, "Didn't Mom tell you anything else? And how's Lexi?"

Atticus shook his head. "She didn't tell me anything else about Jay... She said Lexi was pretty shaken up, too, and still sleeping..."

Chazz turned away for a minute. 'This can't be right,' he thought, eyes glittering.

"Bro...?" the eldest Rhodes sibling asked, reaching to place a hand on Chazz's shoulder.

The raven-haired Rhodes took a deep breath, steadying himself. When he looked back at his brother, Charles Xavier Rhodes had some semblance of control. "It's just... of all people at this school, Jaden doesn't deserve this... He's always trying to help everybody, and... He just doesn't deserve this, you know? It's like you didn't deserve to be snatched, big brother..."

Atticus sighed. "I know, little brother... Things happen to people, though. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are... You didn't deserve such horrible brothers, either."

Chazz flinched slightly at the mention of his ex-brothers. "No... I didn't. There were times I thought I did... But I know I definitely don't..." His face was serious. It had taken a lot of counseling for him to really begin to believe that he didn't deserve that sort of pain. "We've got to do for Jaden what you guys did for me..."

"Chazz... what did we do?" Bastion wondered.

"You guys stuck with me even when I wasn't much of a friend. See... it wasn't easy for me to let people in when I was... messed up, and I'd forget there were people who actually cared if something happened to me. You guys all made sure I didn't forget. Syrus... even you did that, and I was nasty to you..."

"I did?" Syrus asked, blinking.

Chazz nodded, a little smile breaking his features. "Yeah, you did. You've got this way of telling people they matter. You stand by your friends, and... you're really forgiving, you know?"

Syrus considered this. He had no idea he'd actually been such a big help to Chazz. "I...guess I am. I mean, you weren't all bad..."

"And..." If there was any doubt that Chazz had changed a lot due to the therapy, that would be gone after what he said and did next. "And you might not be the biggest guy on campus, but you're one of the bravest, Truesdale..." And the youngest Rhodes sibling knelt slightly, opening his arms for a hug.

For a moment, Syrus was shocked. Even if Chazz had changed, it was still amazing to hear him call Syrus brave. Especially "one of the bravest." When his shock wore off, he smiled and gladly hugged the taller boy. Two years ago, this would have been impossible. A year ago, Chazz would have snapped off some comment and pulled out of the hug. But this time, it was he who actually asked for it.

Chazz had seen the shock and when they let go slightly, he explained, "It's true. You are one of the bravest guys at this school. You haven't been afraid to fight for the right things. You stood up to Tyson... And you never left Annie's side when she needed you and you stood up to Yubel. If that isn't bravery, Syrus, I don't know what is..."

"Th-Thanks, Chazz..." Syrus didn't really know what to say. He'd always thought that Chazz would be the last person he'd hear such a compliment from.

The raven-haired young man stood up as they pulled apart. "No problem. And now, I know you'll help Slacker get better. We're all gonna..."

"Hey, guys!" Mindy shouted, coming through the door, along with Jasmine. They were each dressed in workout clothes, and wearing sweatbands on their foreheads. "Anything?" the raven-haired girl asked her boyfriend.

Chazz filled her in as Jasmine went to stand by Atticus. "So not until noon?" Jasmine asked for confirmation.

Atticus nodded. "Yup. That's what Mom said..."

"Hmm," Annie said, pulling on her backpack and getting up on her crutches, "I wonder how long the teachers will take with the meeting..."

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As it happened, the meeting took nearly three hours to complete. When the faculty and staff came out of the meeting room, they all looked serious. Fonda Fontaine sighed in worry. "Don... this is going to be very rough," she said to her longtime friend.

Don nodded solemnly. "Yes, it will be. But he'll get through it..."

She met his eyes, pain evident in hers. "I just hate seeing them all in pain. And this is something that can't be fixed easily. Physical wounds can be fixed and heal quickly, but emotional wounds are another story... And they're more painful... I just wish there was more I could do." And a tear came unbidden, and rolled down her cheek.

And Don couldn't help but feel a painful pang in his chest at the sight. Seeing his close friend and secret crush saddened to tears almost made him cry. However, he instead put an arm around Fonda's shoulders comfortingly. "You've already helped them so much, Fonda... And I know that you'll continue to do all that you can for them."

Fonda hugged Don back, needing that sort of comfort. Her feelings for the Ra headmaster had not abated and in fact, had grown stronger. But she would not force him into something, especially if he didn't feel the same way. "Thanks, Don," she murmured in his ear. "You've helped me so much..."

Don blushed lightly at the hug, but quickly forced it down as he held the younger teacher. "You're welcome, Fonda... You've helped me more than you know."

"I'm glad to," she answered softly, unable to force down her own blush. "Why don't we go get a coffee or something since it's too late to start the current class period?"

He smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

Meanwhile, Yugi and Kisara emerged from the room as well. "Well, we've made our recommendations," he said.

"Yeah," she agreed. "He's facing it, but he is clearly a very frightened young man. I guess we may be here for a bit."

"Yeah... it's just a couple of weeks to Thanksgiving and we could bring our families out here for the big day..."

Kisara grinned at her friend. "Yugi, that's brilliant. I don't think we've had Thanksgiving out here since the school was under construction!"

"Hmm... Teá's wanted to bring the kids out here... But can Duel Academy handle all the kids?" he wondered.

"I hope so," she grinned sheepishly. And the grin turned to a worried frown. "Jaden's a wreck... Yugi, I think he's worse off than you were..." He nodded silently, face solemn.

The clock crept to 11:30 in the morning, and back in the Obelisk dorms, Jaden Yuki slept soundly beside his beloved. His brow, usually calm in sleep, was furrowed with worry. But at least he slept. Alexis, though, was just waking up. Her eyelids twitched slightly, mumbled nonsense escaping her lips as she was pulled out of her slumber. Slowly, she opened her eyes, squinting at the sunlight streaming in through the window. Groaning lightly, Alexis rubbed at her eyes to rid them of sleep. "Oh...what time is it...?" she muttered.

Jayda Yuki, already up and dressed, sat on a chair at Alexis's side of the bed. "Hey, honey. It's 11:30. You slept a long time..."

Alexis glanced over at the older woman in surprise. "11:30?? I...guess I was tired..." She was about to sit up, but changed her mind when she remembered that she was holding Jaden. Her gaze drifted to his sleeping form, and she frowned slightly upon sight of his worried expression.

Jaden turned slightly, allowing his fiancée to release him. "It's okay, you can sit up," Jayda coaxed. "Hisoka went out for a little bit and Karen's at the faculty/staff meeting at the main building. How are you feeling, Alexis?"

Alexis sighed, finally pushing herself up into a sitting position on the bed. "Fine," she answered, brushing a hand through Jaden's mussed-up hair.

Jayda looked at the younger woman in concern. "I thought you might say that. I did too, when this first happened. I felt okay, too..."

Alexis looked over at her. "What do you mean?"

"It took a toll on me, sweetie. But after a couple of days, I was worn out. Hisoka really had to get me to talk," Jayda explained.

Alexis frowned. "But...I don't feel worn out..."

"You might not now... but you need to know it's okay to talk. And it's okay to reach out..." Jayda had swallowed a lot of her own worries when Jaden had had his breakdown at seven years old. And she didn't want her son's future wife doing the same thing.

"Jaden's told me that a few times," Alexis muttered, frown deepening.

"He didn't follow his own advice, did he?" Jayda asked knowingly.

"No...it doesn't look like he did..."

The woman who looked like a female Jaden moved to brush her son's bangs a bit. "He's always managed to cover..."

"Why? I don't understand why he wouldn't tell us...he's always seemed so open about everything..."

"Alexis... I think there's been a fear about this part of his life," Jayda began. "Him telling you about Yubel was a big step. And telling you about what she did and the results was a big step. Being treated the way he was, though... I think there was always a fear that if the people he cared about found out everything, he might lose them. He loves you so much, and he didn't want to lose you..."

Alexis pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "But I love him even more...I don't want to lose him, either... I wish he could see that and just tell me about this sort of stuff..." The fact that Jaden was afraid of telling her anything sent a painful jab at her heart. Weren't they supposed to be able to trust each other with anything?

Jayda caught what was going on in her future daughter-in-law's head. "Sweetie, he wouldn't tell me things sometimes, and I'm his mother... When the kids were so mean to him, he didn't tell me for weeks. I could tell something was wrong, but he wouldn't let me help him..." The tears came to her eyes as she remembered the little boy he'd been and how one evening, she'd come home from work to find him facedown on his bed, crying after having been un-invited from a classmate's birthday and told he was a cursed freak.

"Why won't he let anyone help him? Not just with stuff like this... With everything," Alexis wondered, realization hitting her.

Jayda sighed. "In all of this, I've asked myself the same question. I wish I knew the answer." She moved to hug the young woman, knowing that she needed it. Alexis was indeed grateful for the hug. Both women were worried sick and longing to help the same boy; one his mother, and the other the love of his life.

At noon, Scout Rhodes came to the group of teens who waited. "Hey guys... we need to give Alexis and Jaden a few extra minutes. He just woke up and needs to clean off, okay?" Catching the worry on their faces, she added, "I know you're all worried. Jaden did have a very rough night, and he's been fairly quiet this morning. We think he's embarrassed and scared about what's to come... He knows you're his friends, but we think he's scared you'll abandon him now..."

"Then we'll just have to remind him that we're never going to do that," Syrus said.

Scout smiled. "I know you won't... especially you, Syrus."

Syrus smiled a little. "Well...he never abandoned me...or anyone..."

"That's right... and I've never known you to abandon anybody," the mother/doctor grinned. "You probably don't hear it enough, Sy. But you are a very true friend..."

"That's what I learned about him, Scout!" Tyson said eagerly, remembering a particular duel last school year.

The puffy haired bluenette was blushing by this point. He was really surprised by all of the praise he'd been getting lately. "I…I guess I am..."

"It's true, honey," Annie agreed. "You are that way." She knew Sy had always doubted himself, but if there was one thing Annie had learned, it was that her fiancé had a remarkable capacity to love, forgive and be loyal to a fault.

Perhaps it was a good thing for Sy that the group was about to learn how quickly news travels through a school campus. For now, a pre-teen girl in a red uniform came running through the crowd in Obelisk, her amber eyes wide and raven hair flowing behind her. "Hey, guys!" the small girl called.

"Oh, hey, Blair," Bastion greeted 11-year-old Blair Flannigan. 2 years previously, just three months before her ninth birthday, Blair had sneaked to Duel Academy in order to get close to the object of her affections, one Zane Brian Truesdale. But then she'd met Jaden and gotten a crush on him.

Determined to return and clearly already a bright child, Blair had sped up in her studies and graduated elementary school and skipped middle school. She was eligible to come to Duel Academy and had passed the entrance exams with high scores. She had also made a request that she start as a Slifer rather than be an Obelisk. The school as well as the co-founders had, due to the extraordinary circumstances, granted her request and so here she stood, clad in a Slifer uniform of her own design.

Violet grinned. "Oh, long time no see! Where ya been, Blair?"

"I've been doing a lot of studying... But is it true what they're saying? That Jaden's sick?" Blair asked, clearly panicked.

"Well, sick might not be the right word," Syrus answered thoughtfully, frowning.

"What's wrong with him?" Blair asked again.

By this time, the transfer boys had joined the group and Axel explained. "...So he's just having a very rough time," the young man concluded.

"And that's because of all that bad stuff that's happened to him?"

"That's right," Axel confirmed kindly.

"Can... can I help?" she asked, looking around at the gang. "I promise I won't get all fan girl again," she grinned sheepishly, alluding to her actions two years earlier.

Most of the teens sweat-dropped at that statement. Those who had been at the school in the spring semester of 2017 before the School Duel knew all too well how 8-year-old Blair had acted. "I'm sure there's a way you can help, Blair. We can ask Karen," Atticus finally said, smiling kindly, as his sister had informed him of all he'd missed.

"Thanks, Atticus," Blair said gratefully. She sat with the group, chatting about her first few weeks in school and hearing about what had happened to all of them. "I still have a hard time believing that you guys had such a crazy summer..."

"If you need more proof, there's always the scars!" Violet replied simply, starting to unbutton her uniform top without thinking.

"Uh... Violet! Guys in the room!" Annie yelped, quickly.

Violet blinked a few times. Some of the guys were either blushing, purposefully looking away, or looking a little uncomfortable. She blushed and put on a sheepish grin. "Er...maybe some other time, then. Heh heh..."

Bastion was a nice red color in fact. "In the girls' locker room, perhaps, darling," he grinned sheepishly.

"Oh! Guess what! I met a guy here that I can be friends with!" Blair said when a long moment of silence reigned, knowing she should probably break the tension.

"Blair, that's awesome!" Annie congratulated the younger girl. "So who is he?"

"He's a Ra Yellow and his name is Marcel and he's thirteen..." And then Blair looked down, blushing a little.

Some of the girls knew what the reaction meant. Rosa smiled. "Are you good friends with him?"

"Uh... yeah," Blair said. "We're really having fun together." She wasn't totally sure about Marcel yet, but she knew she liked him.

"Hey, wait... You said his name was Marcel? Isn't that the student who came here from France?" Violet asked curiously. Blair nodded.

"Oh, he's the boy that kinda looks like Gaara," Annie said. "Oh, crap, I did it again!" she groaned.

Syrus sweat-dropped. "It's okay, Annie..."

"Well, uh... what I meant was," Annie blushed, obviously flustered.

Blair grinned. "It's okay. He knows he bears a resemblance. And he's okay with it. Anyway, yeah, he's from France and he won't tell me his last name... And I looked him up on the directory and his last name was blocked out!"

Atticus's eyes went wide. "You're kidding! I didn't even know that was allowed..."

"Unless," Bastion surmised, his brow furrowed in thought, "someone needed his records secret..."

"Hmm," Annie murmured. "An actual conspiracy?"

Violet jumped up with a grin. "A conspiracy?! Really?? And here at the school, too! How cool is that!!" she squealed excitedly.

"At least this isn't the Scooby Doo Murder Files," Axel muttered drily. "Darn you, Family Guy..."

"That's the last thing we need," Syrus said, grinning sheepishly.

"So... gee whiz, gang, let's get to the bottom of this mystery!" Adrian grinned, doing a bad Freddie imitation.

Everyone cracked up, and Tyson said, wiping the smile off his face, "But first, we need to fix the Sarge... if we can."

Just then, Atticus's PDA rang. He blinked in surprise and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, honey," Scout Rhodes said. "I just wanted to let you know the gang can see Jaden now. He's awake and he really could use everyone around him..."

"Oh, hi, Mom. We can? Okay, I'll tell the guys... Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

Scout took a deep breath. "He's still a little dazed from the nightmare, so he may not be acting like himself..."

"All right... We'll be up in a minute, Mom. Oh, how's Lexi doing?"

"She's pretty shaken up, sweetheart. Get your brother ready for this. It's going to be hard on him. Daddy and I know it's hard on you too, Atty... So just prepare Chazz for this while you're all heading here okay?"

"Okay, Mom. Bye..." The mother and son hung up and Atticus sighed. "Okay, guys, we can go up and see Jay now. Mom says he really needs us, but that he may not be acting like his usual self because of the nightmare."

The gang looked at each other, varying degrees of worry and concern on their faces. "Slacker," Chazz groaned softly. Annie gripped Sy's hand as well.

Syrus squeezed back, every inch of his expression conveying worry for his surrogate brother. As the gang stood and started off for the dorm room, Atticus silently pulled his brother back a little. "Chazz..."

The younger boy looked up at his brother. "Yeah, bro?" he asked softly, eyes expressing his empathy for Jaden.

"Listen..." The older boy placed a strong hand on his younger brother's shoulder, obviously a bit shaken by this. "Mom said that Lexi...she's pretty shaken up by all this. So...it might be a little...weird, okay? Just remember that I'm here for you if it gets too hard...all right?"

Chazz met his brother's big brown eyes. "Thanks, bro... and I'm here for you, too," he answered, smiling a little.

Atticus blinked, but then returned the smile. "Thanks, little bro..."

The group made its way to Jaden and Alexis's room and Jesse knocked on the door. Alexis, surprisingly, answered the door. She looked a little worse for the wear, obviously the most distressed out of the group. "Oh. Hey, guys...come on in," she said, a bit wearily.

"Sis," Chazz murmured, moving to her, "if you want to talk... I'm here."

"Me too, sis," Atticus added, also stepping forward.

Alexis looked from one brother to the other, and then managed a smile. "Thanks...I know you two are..."

And so the gang headed into the sitting area. Jaden was sitting on an oversized chair, looking much the worse for wear than when his friends had last seen him. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying, his skin was pale and his hair was disheveled. "H-hey, guys," he said softly, almost as if he was afraid they would vanish or turn into who-knows-what.

"Hey, Jay... How you feelin', buddy?" Jesse asked, stepping forward. Perhaps that wasn't the best of ideas.

Jaden's eyes widened when he saw Jesse and Violet. In his mind's eye, the room transformed into the hellish landscape he had seen in his nightmare. Jesse's eyes were an orange-gold and Violet's brilliant green eyes were blood-red. "No... Jesse... Yubel, let him go!" the brown-haired boy shrieked. "Whatever you are, let Violet go! Guys... I didn't kill you! You've gotta believe me!"

Jesse and Violet both backed off, obviously shocked and very, very confused. "Jay...what," Violet muttered as Alexis quickly went over to Jaden.

"Jay! Jaden, calm down. This isn't your nightmare...you're not dreaming... Shhh...it's all right," she tried, wrapping her arms around him. "We're all alive..."

Scout moved forward to Jesse and Violet as Jaden's mom and dad moved into the hug. "He's been acting frightened since he woke up and apparently in his nightmare, Violet, Jesse, something happened to both of you."

Both teens looked at each other, then back at the doctor. "Something...happened to us?" Jesse asked, frowning.

"Scout...what should we do? He looks so scared," Violet muttered, glancing over at Jaden.

Jaden was hugging Alexis like she was a life preserver and shaking. "Jay-Jay," Jayda tried soothing her son, "whatever happened, it isn't real... Jesse and Violet are okay..."

The frightened young man looked up at the face he'd seen from his crib. "Really, Mom?"

"Really, angel," she answered tenderly.

"Just remember, son, it was only a dream. What's here now is real. Focus on it, Jaden," Hisoka added reassuringly.

Jaden blinked several times, trying to banish the specters from him. 'They're not dead,' he told himself looking at his friends and seeing them as they actually were. 'They're here...' He could feel the warmth of Alexis's arms around him, her soft warm skin not the ash-white of a corpse, but the peaches-and-cream tone of the living. He saw Atticus, Chazz, all of them, whole and unharmed, and met Jesse's sea green eyes. "J-Jesse? You're really okay?" he asked.

Jesse nodded, daring to step forward again and holding his arms out. "Yeah... See, Jay? I'm just fine. Nothin' wrong at all."

Jaden stretched out his hand slowly, needing to touch Jesse's hand to be sure. "Violet? You're not Mary?" he asked her as well.

Violet blinked and scratched her head in obvious confusion. "Mary? Never heard of her. So nope. It's just me, Jay! I'm pretty sure I'm Violet," she answered with a grin.

Jaden nodded. "You guys are all okay..." That wasn't a question. Nevertheless, everyone moved forward. "Jaden, we're here, and we're not hurt," Bastion said firmly but kindly. "And no one's turning evil..." But Jaden's hand remained outstretched. No one seemed to understand exactly what Jaden was waiting for, but then it seemed to click in Jesse's head. He smiled a little and grabbed Jaden's hand in a strong, living grip. Jaden seemed to be waiting for the pair of green eyes to suddenly turn orange, but when they didn't turn, he sagged in relief. "You're really okay," he said, letting go of the hand.

"Yeah, Jay...we all are. So you can relax, okay?" Jesse replied, hoping Jaden would respond positively.

Jaden nodded silently, but everyone in the room could tell he was still waiting for something bad to happen. He had the air of a rabbit being chased by a particularly hungry wolf. And though the wolf had given up the chase, this rabbit was waiting for another attack. "Jaden... we're okay," Annie tried. "See? I'm okay... Sy's okay," she added, pushing her fiancé forward as Jesse backed away to give Sy room to go to his best friend.

Syrus went to his best friend's side, just a bit taller than him for once since Jaden was sitting down. "Jaden, nothing bad's going to happen. Really. We're all fine...and it's going to stay that way. All right?" he tried, placing a hand on Jaden's.

Jaden blinked and then released from Alexis to hug Sy tightly. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry," he whispered over and over. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd hurt Sy and needed to apologize for it.

Syrus returned the hug, frowning. "Jay...stop saying sorry. You didn't do anything... Please?"

The Slifer quieted, but kept hugging. "Jaden... what do you think you did?" Jayda tried.

"I hurt him, Mom... and I didn't mean to," Jaden explained softly. "Sy... I didn't mean to..."

"But Jaden...I'm fine. See? You didn't hurt me...I know you never would," Syrus reasoned.

Jaden went quiet for a moment and then gently released his friend. "Excuse me," he said softly, got up and padded to the bathroom without a word.

"Kids, he's really not himself," Jayda explained.

"Jayda, we understand," Tyson said clearly. "He ain't himself... and Sam Hill... he's been through lots of stuff and had the pressure of savin' the whole world..."

As the gang talked, Jaden shut the bathroom door and answered the call of nature. It didn't take long, and he went to wash his hands. He looked at the mirror and saw his reflection, a frightened young man in Flame Wingman pajamas. But then, his reflection altered to reveal his face, but with frightening, soulless golden eyes. "Jaden... you can't escape me," the dark version of himself said.

"No," Jaden moaned. "I'm not like you... Leave me alone..."

"I'm part of you... I am the Supreme King, and eventually... I will become you," the dark presence smirked.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Jaden screamed, clawing at the mirror, which crashed to the tile floor.

Everyone in the room jumped in shock at the sudden crash, all heads turning to look in the direction of the bathroom. "Jaden!!" Alexis called, quickly running over to the bathroom door and opening it.

Jaden was visibly shaking, standing away from the glass shards. "Make him stop, Alexis... Tell him to leave me alone..."

The blonde just barely stopped herself from stepping on the broken glass, having been entirely focused on Jaden. She easily hopped over the danger zone and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh, Jaden...I wish I could...but I don't know who keeps hurting you..."

"He called himself... the Supreme King... and he said... he'd take me over," Jaden whimpered.

Alexis frowned. "Take you over...?"

"Y-yeah... I don't want him to," Jaden moaned, catching a look at one of the bigger glass shards. "There's one way to stop him... he can't do it... if I'm gone... then... he can't hurt you..." He struggled slightly in her grip, as if to get one of those shards. "I can... end this..."

Alexis turned her head to see what he was looking at, and instantly pulled him closer. "Jaden, no! Don't even think about doing that...you can't... Doing that would...it would be worse than if you hurt me! It would hurt so much more..."

"He'll hurt you," Jaden whispered, terrified. But he let her get him out of the bathroom.

"Jay-Jay... sweetheart," Jayda exclaimed. "What on Earth?"

"Mom... don't let him take me over," he pleaded as Alexis got him back to the overstuffed chair he'd sat in. The gang looked at each other, and Annie, already holding Sy's hand, squeezed it tightly.

"Who, sweetie?"

"The Supreme King... he'll hurt everybody. But Alexis doesn't want me to do what'll stop him..." Jayda glanced at Alexis in alarm, having a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Alexis was frowning deeply, and wouldn't look up to meet the mother's eyes. Her bangs hid most of her face this way, but it was obvious that she was truly upset. And she wouldn't let go of Jaden, either. "I'm going to call Kisara... Jaden, honey... Let's get you back to bed... Sorry kids," Jayda apologized.

"It's okay, Jayda. Do what you need to," Violet replied knowingly.

And so Jaden was led back to bed, and Jayda called Kisara. "Oh, good heavens," the white-blonde woman muttered when she got into the bedroom, Hisoka Yuki hot on her heels along with Yugi. "Jaden, I'm going to give you a shot, okay?" Jaden nodded wordlessly, and took the shot she gave without flinching. Within seconds, he was sound asleep. Out in the sitting area, the teens looked in worry at each other, not sure what to do next.

So Jaden is really scarred and scared by all that he has experienced and the dreams that tormented him. The gang is visibly shaken, as any friends would be when one of their number is so badly hurt. Will they be able to figure out a way to help him? Find out next time in "A Stronger Bond." So until next time, please read and review! Thank you!