Chapter XXXV: Jaden Versus Darkness: Death Shall Have No Dominion!
Hello again, everyone and welcome back to Darkness Falls! We're glad to see you're all still interested in this story, even though the length is changing. It's still going to be a bumpy ride, but we hope it'll still hold your interest. Thank you so much, everyone who's been reviewing and we're glad to see RGZ Archer return to the review board. So anyway, let's get on with the really big show!
Aster Phoenix steps onto the stage, hearing numerous fan girls squeal. Hi, everyone. Peach and Ani, for some reason, asked me to do the recap and disclaimer. So last time, we actually had a moment of peace before everything went nuts again. Rosa was recovering and Jaden talked to Professor Banner about why he actually lured kids to the abandoned Horakhty dorm. And then we all readied ourselves for battle. So now, it is the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny… JADEN, ATTICUS! DO NOT START SINGING! Jaden and Atticus, from behind the curtain have pulled out mikes and are ready to sing a song by Lemon Demon. Okay, so on with the story.
By the way, according to my legal department and Peach and Ani's legal department, we have to do the disclaimer. Peach and Ani just own their OCs, this version of the universe I live in, and their storyline. They don't own me or anyone else. Thanks. Aster walks off the stage.
Authors' note: This duel's turns were taken from Episode 178 of GX. We made some modifications, including how the duel ended. So we hope you don't mind the changes and bear with us. And apparently when one Darkness continuous trap card is played, the effect is that the other two cannot be used. Finally, as many of you will point out, Nightshroud and Darkness may be considered one and the same. So consider that Thank you!
The entire group ate their breakfasts and then headed outside, with the exception of Tyson, Rosa, Atticus, Chazz, Jasmine and Mindy. "Well... where is he?" Jaden wondered out loud. "We ate our breakfast and everything... SO WHERE ARE YOU, DARKNESS! I'M READY!!" he yelled, wanting to just get this over with. And then he sweat-dropped, chuckling. "Guess I shouldn't be yelling..."
However, it did seem to do the trick. The sky darkened with clouds, the gentle breeze suddenly became a harsh wind, and shadows seemed to thicken around every corner. "Uh...it worked, I think," Syrus stated, grinning sheepishly.
"Here it comes!" Aster called, his blue eyes narrowing.
Belowski's eyes widened as he stayed close to Professor Sartyr. "Can I hold your hand, Professor Sartyr?" he asked softly. The small teen boy, safe in a holographic environment for most of his short life, had never truly known this sort of danger. And it frightened him.
The teacher nodded, taking the boy's hand. "Of course, Belowski. Just stay close..." As all of this was going on, the wind became centered on a specific spot before the group, like a cyclone. That area darkened significantly, as if a shadowy portal were opening.
Annie's eyes widened in horror. The strange figure coalescing looked like the same creature she had faced back in early September. "The Grim Reaper," she murmured, rubbing the rosary beads in her pocket. "You will not win today."
Syrus's head whipped around to look at her. "W-Wait...this is the Grim Reaper?! He's Darkness??" he yelped, own eyes wide. Indeed, as the winds died down at last, the giant cloaked figure with red eyes could be no other entity.
Annie nodded, something in her blue eyes that the gang rarely saw, or even her love. "He is... And Jaden will win against him, because he has tried to exceed his power... You will not win, Grim Reaper... What did the Dark One promise you for this?" she challenged, believing Satan was involved.
"Nothing. This is of my own choosing, mortal soul," he answered in a gritty, low voice that ground across their mentality like sandpaper.
"Then you know you will lose today," she countered.
"ENOUGH." The voice took on a frightening tone, and a shadowy bolt struck the ground between the group and himself. "I have come to rid myself of you all. Nothing more. I have no time for talk. Jaden Yuki...are you prepared?" he asked, pointing a bony finger at him.
"I'm ready," the boy countered, his gaze turning steelier than the gang had ever seen. He would not quail in fear of the embodiment of death. "And I know the stakes. And Annie's right; you aren't going to win today. Game on..."
"Let us finish this once and for all..." Part of the Reaper's cloak and arm transformed into a bony duel disk, and the duel began. "I shall go first. I summon Darkness Eye (0/1000) to the field." An eerie looking vine grew up out of the ground, an eyeball sprouting from its top and opening to stare at Jaden. "Then, I activate the field spell, Darkness. It has two effects. When activated, it destroys every spell and trap card that I control. But I control none. Its second effect is that I can randomly set from my hand or deck one each of Zero, Infinity, Darkness 1, Darkness 2, and Darkness 3 in my spell and trap zone." As he explained, the five cards were set, the world around them darkening even more from the field spell. "I shall end my turn at that."
Jaden nodded, somehow unafraid even as the world around him grew darker. If he looked behind him, he would just barely be able to make out his friends' and teachers' silhouettes. But in his mind's eye, he saw them all surrounded by a warm glowing aura. "Well I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) in attack mode!"
"GO JADEN!" several voices shouted in the darkness.
"I activate one of my set cards!" The Reaper pointed at one of the cards, and it flipped up to show a picture of a water droplet landing in a black puddle. "Zero. It allows me to activate another of my set cards. And I choose that one!" This card flipped up to show a picture of a spiral galaxy. "Infinity. It allows me to activate every card between it and Zero, which means I can activate this one!" The card between the two activated ones flipped up to show a picture of a familiar shadowy ocean. "Darkness 1. When activated by the effects of Zero and Infinity, it destroys an opponent's card for every face-up Darkness trap in play. I choose to destroy your Sparkman!" The Reaper pointed the grim finger of death at the Elemental Hero, and he imploded instantly.
Jaden yelped as Sparkman blew. But then, he pulled out a spell card with a picture of Elemental Hero Clayman appearing in front of a doomed Elemental Hero Neo Bubbleman. "I activate the spell card, Relationship! And this card lets me special summon a monster now as long as its attack power is equal to the Elemental Hero that was destroyed. And I summon a new monster facedown in defense position! And then I set another card facedown. And that's it for me!" he concluded.
"Win this, Slifer Slacker!" Doctor Crowler shouted. The group understood now that the teacher using that term was a gesture of affection.
"By the effect of Darkness, all of the face-up spell and trap cards I activated in this turn are reset and shuffled," the Reaper explained. The cards dropped back and switched around as he drew. "Because Darkness Eye is in attack position during my Standby Phase, its effect activates. Allowing me to summon Darkness Destroyer (2300/1200) without any tributes!" A vicious-looking monster with wings and claws appeared, with eyes as red as its master's. "Next, I activate one of my set cards. That one!" The Reaper pointed at an end card, and it flipped up to reveal Zero yet again. "By Zero's effect, I activate another set card." He pointed at the other end card, and it flipped up to reveal Infinity. "By Infinity's effect, all three cards in-between are activated. First, Darkness 2, which increases Darkness Destroyer's attack by 1000 for every face-up Darkness trap in play." The fiend's attack rose to 3300. "Next, Darkness 1 and Darkness 3. Increasing Destroyer's attack by another 2000! Unfortunately, because of Darkness 2's effect, I cannot use the effects of Darkness 1 and 3. But that matters not. Darkness Destroyer (5300/1200)! Attack his facedown monster!" The beast roared ferociously and charged at the facedown card, fangs bared and reared for destruction.
Before his friends could gasp or scream, Jaden shouted, "I activate Hero Barrier, which negates your attack against my Elemental Hero Necroshade (1600/1800)!"
The Reaper laughed, however, as Destroyer struck Necroshade again and successfully destroyed him. "Destroyer's effect allows it to attack twice during the same Battle Phase. Also...it has a piercing effect. You take damage equal to the difference between Destroyer's attack and Necroshade's defense."
Darkness Destroyer extended its arm out and rammed a ghostly hand through Jaden's chest. "AAAARRGH!" he screamed as his life points dropped to 500.
Annie gripped Sy's hand. "He's not going to lose," she stated softly, the fire burning in her blue eyes.
Syrus nodded, the same confidence in his own eyes. "He won't."
"JADEN! Be careful!" Alexis called, worry etched in her features. She might know instinctively that her love would not be defeated, but in the here-and-now, the possibility he might lose terrified her.
"It's... gonna be okay, babe! Think of all the people that are in trouble! We have to reach out to them somehow! They're trapped in that World of Darkness and we have to help them back!" he shouted back. "They're afraid of stuff that's happened and the stuff that might happen! Reach your thoughts out, everybody! Let them know they're not alone!"
"I know! Just don't get hurt anymore!" the blonde girl shouted back.
"Darkness's effect activates, re-setting and shuffling my spell and trap cards. That ends my turn," the Reaper stated.
Jaden could sense his friends around him even more strongly. "All right... here comes something!" he called out. "Thanks to Necroshade's ability when he's in the graveyard, I can summon one Elemental Hero without having to make a sacrifice! So I summon Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2100) to the field in attack position! And don't mess with..."
"Jaden, I'm only going to tell you once! Quit it!" Neos shouted, an angry vein throbbing on his forehead. Sure he liked Jaden, but the last thing he wanted was for the kid to keep pointing out his non-hero career choice.
"Okay, Neos!" Jaden grinned sheepishly, sweat-dropping. 'Now if I could just figure out what Darkness's weak point is,' he thought.
Suddenly, Yubel appeared beside him in spirit form. "Jaden! I've figured out how the Reaper keeps guessing the perfect trap cards every time," she whispered, her heterochromatic eyes shining in the gloom.
'What is it?' he sent back, eyebrow raising.
'It's his Darkness Eye. It has another special effect that allows Darkness to see which trap card is where,' she sent, glaring at the cloaked skeleton.
'Thanks,' he sent with a smile back at his spirit sister. 'Now I know what to do!' "Hey, Darkness, did your mother ever tell you to stop doing something because you'd poke your eye out?" he asked with a wicked grin.
"Oh, boy," Professor Viper groaned at the corny line. "He's got something..."
Jim sweat-dropped. "Did he really have to say something so corny, though?" he muttered. Shirley growled in agreement.
Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper was obviously not amused. "What are you saying? Make your move!"
"Okay! I use the spell card, Effect Shut which negates the effect of and destroys an Effect monster! So say goodbye to Darkness Eye!" A steel cage appeared around the monster, and monster and cage blew apart in a shower of pixels. "And now, Neos, attack Darkness Destroyer!" He motioned with his hand and Neos flew forward to punch the huge creature out.
The Reaper hissed in annoyance. "I activate a set card!" However, without the help of Darkness Eye, the card he chose was Darkness 1. Without Zero and Infinity being activated first, it had no effect, and was reset. So Darkness Destroyer was destroyed and he ended up taking 200 points of damage.
Jaden grinned. "And now I set one card facedown and I end my turn! Oh and I think your field spell takes effect, Darkness! Not so good now, huh?"
"Careful now, don't get cocky, Jaden!" Professor Viper called out.
Darkness's set cards were reshuffled as he drew. "You should listen to your professor, Jaden. I summon Darkness Outsider (0/0) and activate its effect. I discard a card from my hand and declare one Monster Card name. If that monster is in your deck, I can switch control of my Outsider and special summon that monster to my side of the field. And I declare YUBEL!!"
Jaden felt like he'd just been stabbed as his friend was brutally pulled from his deck. "Yubel!" he shouted, eyes wide with pain.
Darkness Outsider, a strange plant wearing a jester's mask, used its vines to drag Yubel to the Reaper's side of the field. "Jaden!! Don't let this stop you! You can still win!" the bat-winged monster called, visibly struggling against her vine bonds.
Meanwhile, Darkness Outsider was switched to Jaden's side of the field. Darkness would have smirked if his visage had had the capability to do so. "And now...Yubel (0/0)! Attack Neos and use your effect to win this duel for me, I command you!!" Yubel was forced to fly at Neos, claws outstretched and ready to attack.
"I activate the trap, Astral Shift! Yubel's target is ME!" Jaden shouted.
"Is he..!" Annie started and then realized, her face lighting up... "Brilliant?! Yubel doesn't have any attack points! She can't hurt him!"
And sure enough, Yubel shifted her attack and Jaden caught her fist in his hand. "It's okay," he said quickly, reassuring her. "I'll get you back."
Yubel smiled slightly. "I know you will." Then, she was forced to fly back to the opposing field. Jaden was also allowed to draw a card thanks to Astral Shift's effect.
"I use Darkness Slime's (2500/2500) special effect to summon it in Defense Position. That ends my turn," Darkness concluded ominously.
Jaden's eyebrows raised. 'He didn't Tribute a monster to keep Yubel... bad idea...' He looked over his hand and saw a new fusion monster that he could use since Darkness had given him the ability to get Yubel back. "I play Monster Reborn to bring Yubel to my side of the field!" he called out. "Welcome back!"
Yubel grinned as she reappeared on her human friend's side of the field. "Glad to be back, Jaden! I'm glad he didn't sacrifice a monster to keep me."
"Yeah. Me too! I play Polymerization to fuse Yubel and Neos to form a new Neo-Spacian hero to the field! Guys, say hello to Neos Wiseman (3000/3000)!" Neos and Yubel took each other's hands and merged into a hero with a dark costume and what looked like bat-like wings coming out of his headgear.
"Whoa," Axel muttered, impressed.
"Jaden, use us to win this duel," Yubel stated. She and Neos currently shared a mind.
"You heard her, Jaden," Neos added clearly.
"You've got it, guys!" he answered. "Okay, Wiseman, take out that Darkness Slime!" Neos Wiseman flew forward and broke Darkness Slime apart like a clump of old Jell-O. "Oh, and Neos Wiseman has a very special ability! See when my monster does battle with your monster, I gain life points equal to your monster's defense point and you lose life points equal to Darkness Slime's attack points! So say goodbye to 2500 life points!" Jaden grinned as his life points jumped to 3000 and Darkness's dropped to 1300.
"All right, Jaden!" Aster called out.
"This duel is not won until life points hit zero. Do not get ahead of yourself, mortals!" The Reaper stated as he drew. "I summon Darkness Necroslime (0/0) and activate its effect. By sending it from the field to the Graveyard, I can revive Darkness Eye (0/1000)!" The old, creepy-looking eye appeared again, meaning Darkness could once more confirm his set cards. "I activate Zero and Infinity, in turn activating the two cards in between. Darkness 1 allows me to destroy a card. And by negating Darkness 2's effect, I can destroy a second. I choose Neos Wiseman!" A dark blast of energy was sent at the monster.
Everyone watched as the attack hit, but then... "Did I mention another special ability?" Jaden asked with a calm look on his face as the smoke cleared to reveal Wiseman unharmed. "Wiseman can't be destroyed by card effects, so Darkness 1 EPIC FAILS!" he whooped.
"He used it right," Annie remarked to Syrus. "He used Epic Fail properly."
Syrus sweat-dropped. "Even in a duel for the fate of the world...he can be like that..."
Darkness's red eyes flashed, but he reset and shuffled his cards. "I end my turn there."
"We wouldn't have him any other way, though," Annie smiled, squeezing her love's hand.
"Okay, Wiseman, take down that freaky eye!" Jaden shouted.
"With pleasure," the merged voices of Neos and Yubel stated. The fusion creature flew forward and the eye again exploded in pixels.
"Thanks to the effect of Wiseman, I gain 1000 life points!" Jaden crowed as his life points jumped to 4000.
"But as its attack strength was zero, I lose none," the Reaper added.
"Come on, Jay! You can do this!" Adrian shouted.
"I'm going to. Now I end my turn!" Jaden finished.
Darkness drew his next card; he just seemed to be full of strategies. "I activate the effect of Darkness Seed (1000/1000). It was a monster I discarded to the grave. It is my second Standby Phase since the card was in my Graveyard, so now I can special summon it." A strange-looking plant with razor-sharp leaves appeared, fangs hidden within its blossoming flower. "With that I end my turn. This activates Darkness Seeds second effect. Since my Life Points are lower than 4000, they now become 4000!"
"Crap," Jaden groaned. "Oh, wait! Wiseman? Attack that overgrown Venus Flytrap! It probably has a special ability or something, but I'm still going to do damage to your life points!" Wiseman attacked and Darkness's life points dropped to 1000 while Jaden's rose to 5000. But... "It's still there!" he groaned.
"Darkness Seed cannot be destroyed by battle," the Reaper explained. "Figures it'd have an effect like that..." Jesse muttered, glaring at Darkness.
"He'll get out of it," Adrian answered, squeezing Echo's hand gently and gazing at her tenderly.
"All right, I place one card facedown and end my turn," Jaden sighed.
"Darkness Seed returns my Life Points to 4000," the Reaper stated before drawing. "I tribute Darkness Seed to summon Darkness Bramble (2000/2000)!" The strange flower disappeared, only to be replaced by an even larger plant. "One of its effects: I am not restrained by the effect of Darkness and can now check my set cards. I now activate Zero, Infinity, and the three cards in-between. Since Darkness 3 is activated first, it negates the effects of Darkness 1 and 2. Darkness 3 inflicts 1000 points of damage to you for each face-up trap card with Darkness in its name."
Jaden yelped as he lost 3000 life points. "Ouch!" he groaned. "Now what?!"
"DON'T GIVE UP!" his friends shouted.
"You can beat him, Jay!" Syrus added.
"I end my turn," the Reaper concluded. His cards reset and shuffled.
'He's going to try something,' the young man thought. 'And I'm ready,' he thought.
After Jaden drew, Darkness made his move. "I activate Dark Brambles effect. I can check and move my set cards." After moving some around, the Reaper continued. "I activate Zero, Infinity, and Darkness 3, which negates Darkness 1. However, Darkness 3 deals you 2000 more points of damage! I am the victor!"
"JADEN!!" Alexis called, fearful that he was going to lose here.
"Not quite! I play the spell card, Quick Summon, which lets me call Chrysalis Pantail (800/300) from my hand to the field! And then I activate the trap, Cocoon Veil to negate the damage from Darkness 3!" The attack hit, but blew by the young man like a capricious passing wind.
"That was close," Chancellor Shepherd murmured, beads of sweat coming on his.
"You can say that again," Professor Sartyr agreed, sweat-dropping.
"Very well. Continue your move," the Reaper stated.
"And now I tribute Pantail to summon a creature in Defense Position," Jaden stated calmly. "And now, Wiseman, attack that Bramble monster!" Neos Wiseman flew toward the plant monster, ready to destroy it.
"Not so fast. I tribute my Bramble and discard Darkness Raincrow to special summon Darkness Neosphere (4000/4000)! And with your target gone, your attack goes nowhere. Also, Neosphere allows me to check my set cards and rearrange them," the Reaper explained. A mutated-looking warrior appeared with long, magenta hair. Its arms were tipped by large claws; it had one angelic wing, and one bat-like wing.
"Well, actually... you're about to get a surprise... I reveal my facedown monster, Neo-Spacian Dark Panther (1000/500)! And thanks to his special ability, he can copy Neo-Sphere's ability and reset Darkness. So if you want to use that again, all your spells and traps will, as my fiancée's younger brother says, go bye-bye! Now I set one card and end my turn!"
The Reaper appeared to be unphased as he drew. "I attack Neos Wiseman with Darkness Neosphere!" The warrior charged forward, slashing through the hero with its giant claws.
Jaden started to crack up, suddenly euphoric. "You shouldn't have attacked Wiseman!"
But again the Grim Reaper seemed unfazed. "I know." This definitely sent all those present sprawling into confusion.
"He knows he just totally lost?!" Annie yelped as Neos Wiseman was blown off the field.
But instead of Jaden's life points taking a hit, they rose to 6000, while Darkness's life points dropped to 0. "That's game!" the young man whooped in triumph. "And now, free everyone you trapped!"
"Of course. But a warning, Jaden Yuki." The reaper of souls pointed a bony finger at the Slifer. "I shall return. For I am the embodiment of Darkness, which can never truly die."
Jaden's face turned serious as the darkness began to clear. "That may be, but as long as we believe in each other, and in the future, you're not going to win... And my friends taught me that death shall have no dominion..."
"We shall see. And we will meet again...at least once more..." With that, Darkness faded, and the day became clear again. And gradually, one by one, Duel Academy students began reappearing on the ground.
However, in the World of Darkness, one was having a problem doing so. Seconds before Jaden had won, Violet had given up. A wave crashed through her nightmare, and she began sinking down into the ocean. The darkness was suffocating her in the way water can drown a person, seeping into her body slowly. 'I can't take it... Just let me be alone... No more pain...please,' she thought.
And slightly above her, Bastion was slowly coming around. 'What? Where am I?' he wondered, looking around in the ether. He looked down and saw Violet's pale form sinking. 'No! Not again! Not now!' He turned and began to swim toward her as fast as he could. 'Darling... I'm coming,' he thought/sent as hard as he could. 'I love you and I will not fail you again!'
And Violet's eyes opened slightly, just enough to see his familiar form coming towards her. 'Bastion...? Why...why are you saving me? You don't love me,' she thought. And as Bastion swam, the darkness seeped into him as well, even if he hadn't succumbed to his darkness yet.
He could hear the doubt and fear, but pushed it aside as hard as he could. 'I...will... not... fail... you again,' he sent, reaching out to her. 'I do love you... and I will not let you die here, my love...' He stretched out and clasped her wrist, pulling her upward as hard as he could. Violet didn't help, still shocked that he was even saving her. She stared blankly at him as they rose, assisted by the light pulling them back to the real world. What Violet didn't know was that Bastion had used up most of what remained of his strength in saving her. His body had weakened in his fighting of the darkness. 'I did it,' was his last conscious thought as they broke through to find themselves back on Earth.
GXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGX
All over the planet, people were waking up and reuniting with their families. In Domino, Kisara Kaiba woke up in her hospital room to hear, "Mom?"
"Noah! Rini!" she called out, managing to sit up as her eldest twins raced in eagerly to hug her.
And in a small apartment in another part of town, Amane Ryou was shocked when her brother appeared out of nowhere on the floor. "Alex?" Amane asked, shocked as her brother reappeared as suddenly as he'd disappeared.
"Amane!" Alex cried out, hugging his twin to him.
"DAD! DAD!" Amane shouted at the top of her lungs. Bakura came out of his office, and sank to his knees in tears as he held both his babies to him. "Alex... my sweet little boy..."
In another part of Domino, at the Muto residence, the King of Games was in for a shock when his youngest daughter abruptly fell onto his lap. Lily Muto looked up at her spiky-haired father and blinked. "Daddy?"
Yugi sat stunned for a moment. "Lil...Lily... TEA!" he shouted, hugging his littlest one close.
"Dad, why are you yelling?" the seven-year-old twins, Temmy and Yugi wondered and then... "LILY!" they both shouted as their mother and big sister, Sophie, came running into the room.
As the Muto family hugged and cried happily together, one more famous child reappeared in Domino. The Wheeler family had been relaxing in their backyard, a brief respite after stressing for so long over their lost family member. However, much to everyone's shock and Jo-Jo's dismay, said family member appeared in mid-air and promptly landed on the boy. "AGH!! Dad! Angie fell on me!" he shouted indignantly. And then his expression went from anger, to puzzlement and then to joy. "Wait, ANGELA?!" he squealed.
10-year-old Angela Wheeler blinked her big brown eyes in shock at her brother. "Jo-Jo? Where... Where was I?" she asked, getting off him.
Mai Wheeler completely lost it at that moment. "Angela!" she yelped, hugging her eldest child tightly. "Oh, baby, where were you?" Tears were streaming down her face.
"I... I don't know, Mom... Dad? Gina? Jo-Jo? Where was I?" Angela asked again, her big brown eyes swimming with confusion.
Joey, finally coming out of his shock, ran over and joined in the family hug that had ensued. "I don't know, but all that matters now is that you're back! You're finally back..." Even the tough, witty duelist had tears in his eyes.
"Angie's back! Angie's back!" three-year-old Gina cheered at the top of her lungs. It seemed everything was going to be okay.
So the people have returned to the world thanks to Jaden. But is everything really over? Next time, join us for "In Sickness and In Health." Until then, please read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!