The Supreme Vampire King
Chapter 16: The Second Key
Jaden ran into the gymnasium with all eyes on him. Moka, who stood in the center of the room, crossed her arms as she stared at her little brother judgingly. "You're late Jaden… Honestly. You must really be wanting me to fail you." She said as she shook her head. Jaden chuckled nervously as he went to join her in the center of the gymnasium. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was having a crisis, but everything is resolved now. Or at least, I think it is." He said with a not very confident expression.
He was almost on the brink of letting the Supreme King roam free and possess his body. If it wasn't for inner Jaden coming to his rescue, he probably would have completely lost himself to the king's manipulative words. He still wasn't 100 percent his usual self, but he was at least back to his normal senses. "Is it too late for me to take the test? I know I was late, but at least I'm here now and I'm ready to fight!" Jaden said with his usual toothy grin.
Moka sighed before she ran a hand through her long silver hair. "Normally, I would have told you no. But someone else refused to participate until you showed up. So, for that reason alone, I will allow your match to continue. Your opponent is right over there." She said before she pointed towards the stands to a particular incubus. "Jessie Anderson! You're up! Step forward, and both participants take their marks!" She said as she left the arena to join the other staff who were watching from the sidelines.
Jessie smirked before he arose from his seat in the stands and walked to the opposite side of the arena with Jaden staring him down. "For a second there, I thought you were chickening out on me. But I guess I was wrong. Now, are you ready to settle things between us once and for all?" He said before he cracked his fingers and transformed into his monster form. His ears elongated and became pointed, and a devil looking tail poked out from underneath his blazer and bat wings sprouted from his back. His fingernails grew longer and were sharp enough to cut through even the thickest of steel.
Jaden smirked back and tapped his toes on the ground, kicking off the dust from the bottom of his shoes. He then summoned one of his favorite heroes to join him in the fight. Elemental Hero Flamed Wingman materialized behind him and released out a mighty roar which echoed throughout the room. "Now why would I want to run away? I just needed to clear my head is all… I'm not gonna lie, you really messed up my head earlier. And then it got me thinking, why were you trying so hard to stir up my emotions?" Jaden asked as he raised a questioning brow.
The incubus shrugged his shoulders and tried to act dumb, "I have no idea what you're talking about. If you were feeling a type of way because of my actions then that's your own fault, not mine." But Jaden just sucked his teeth and wagged a finger at him. "Oh come on, I might not be the smartest person alive but I'm not that stupid either. You recognized one of my weaknesses and wanted to exploit it. You saw how important my friends were to me and used that to get to me. Not to mention you're a sex demon and you wanted to steal away one of the most important women in my life. Not only are you a demon of sexual nature, but you're also pranksters." Jaden stated matter of factly.
Jessie couldn't hold it in anymore and started to laugh. He wiped away a tear that started to pour from the corner of his eye and hunched over as he held his gut. "So it was that obvious huh? You read me like a book, that's for sure. Yeah, you got it right. I just wanted to make you mad so that I could get a good fight out of you. Knowing that you're Miss Akashiya's brother is enticing enough as it is, but I can't call it a real fight if you're not trying to kill me." Jaden furrowed his brows as he crouched into a defensive stance.
Jessie stood back up and unfurled his wings as he raised his clawed fingers up, ready to strike. "But I guess since you had time to cool your head, that means I'm not going to see that potential after all. Which is such a shame… But oh well. We're here now, so show me what you got!" He lunged forward and took off into the sky. He started flying circles around Jaden's head who was watching him with trained eyes. If Jaden wasn't careful, he could easily be diced into pieces by Jessie's nails. Even though the staff was there to break up the fight, Jessie made it clear he didn't want any intervention between the two of them. He wanted to fight like they were going to kill each other, which meant that couldn't let his guard down, not even for a second.
"Flamed Wingman! Shoot that sucker out of the sky!" The vampire commanded. Flamed wingman raised his dragon shaped hand into the air and rapidly shot out five consecutive fireballs into the air. Jessie dodged them however as he gracefully maneuvered around the shots, but he wasn't fast enough when Flamed Wingman shot a sixth shot which collided with his right wing, catching it on fire. The incubus grimaced in pain and was forced to land as he flapped his wings to extinguish the flames. "Not bad, not bad at all! You monster has some serious fire power!" Jessie said as he started to fanboy over the Duel Spirit.
"Thanks for the compliment, but Elemental Hero Flamed Wingman can do more than just shoot out fire! Now, go forward partner!" Jaden said and his monster took off flying towards his opponent. Jessie had little time to react when the spirit collided with him, clamping one of his wings in his dragon-shaped claw and throwing jabs at him with the other. Jessie flinched when the monster got a good slug across his face, making him lose focus and he lurched forward in pain when Flamed Wingman kneed him straight in the stomach.
He clenched his teeth before he started flapping with his free wing, lifting himself up in the air and throwing the monster off balance. For a split second, Flamed Wingman lost his grip on Jessie's other wing. And although it was injured with a new cut and a burn, he ignored the pain and swiped his claw across the spirit's chest, causing it to shriek out in pain. "As much as I love Duel Spirits, I hate the duelists who hide behind them. Your partner is doing all the work while you sit back and watch! But I won't let you Jaden! I want to fight you, not these decoys!" Jessie said as he hovered over the ground.
Jessie lunged forward again, ignoring Flamed Wingman who was still trying to recover and went straight for Jaden who looked like a deer caught in some headlights. He was now in front of the vampire, and he grabbed him by the arms and raised him in the air where he started flying rapidly in circles. Jaden felt the like whole world was spinning around him, and with how fast Jessie was twirling him around, he felt like he was close to vomiting. "L-let go of me!" Jaden said with his eyes shut tightly as he tried to struggle out of Jessies grasp.
"You want me to let you go? Okay, I'll oblige and give you what you want!" He said before he threw Jaden towards the ground who collided with the floor. He hit the ground so hard that it caused the wooden floorboards to splinter and break apart, which made the dirt underneath burst out in a dust cloud. The room fell silent when Jessie landed on the ground and stared at his handy work with a look of satisfaction. He had poured out a great amount of demonic energy when he threw Jaden with all the force that he could muster. With Jaden's powers still sealed away, this fight might as well be over. There's no way someone with a constitution as weak as a humans could still be standing after an attack like that.
He started to walk away as he accepted his victory, but he was surprised to hear the rubble behind him shift around. "Stay right there Mister Anderson!" Said Moka who stood up and walked over to mediate. "Huh? But why? You saw for yourself how powerful that last blow was. There's no way he would make it out of that." He said as he turned around, but then gasped when the dust settled. Jaden stood hunched over on his knees with two new Duel Spirits supporting him up. On the last second before the moment he made contact with the ground, Flamed Wingman had defused back into his counterparts.
While Jaden was falling, Elemental hero Avian had caught him and stopped his downward spile while Burstinatrix softened the ground with her fiery kicks. They were able to minimize the force of the impact at the last second, which left Jaden still standing. "Man, I thought I was a goner there. Thanks, you two." He said with a bright smile to his partners who nodded their heads at him in response. Jessie's mouth hung open in shock to see the vampire was still conscious, but quickly, his shock turned into anger.
"There you go again using your spirits as tools…" Jessie said menacingly with his aura completely changing. The air around him became thicker, and his aura of malice became darker as he glared at Jaden. The vampire stood up and dusted his clothes off, with his arm still wrapped around Avian's shoulders to help him stand up. "That's where you're wrong. I don't think of them as tools, like, at all! I didn't even tell Flame Wingman to unfuse. They did it because they wanted to save me. Because that's what partners do!" Jaden said before he grimaced and clutched his ribs in pain. Although Flamed Wingman was able to save him from serious harm, he still ended up getting hurt.
"Oh? So it's because your partners that they made themselves weaker to save you?" Jessie said as he started walking closer. Burstinatrix stood in front of Jaden to protect him, and Avian joined her side as they tried to defend their master. "Jessie? Are you okay? You're acting a little weird…" Jaden said cautiously as he forced himself to stand up and took a step back to gain some more space between them. "Me? Oh, I'm fine. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my mind around this whole thing is all. As you know, we are both connected to the spirits. But I would never treat them the way that you do. To me, they are free beings that shouldn't have to blindly follow someone else's orders and be forced to fight."
Jessie's bangs covered his eyes as his demonic aura drastically increased which sent a shiver up Jaden's spine. Just what the hell was going on with him? This wasn't the Jessie he knew at all. It's not like he knew the other guy that long, but he knew him enough to know that he was a gentle and caring soul. So why was he acting so malicious suddenly? Before Jaden could ask him what was wrong, he heard the shrieks of both Avian and Burstinatrix when Jessie cut them in half with his claws, which made them explode into shards of glass and dematerialize.
"NO! UGH!" Jaden said before Jessie wrapped his hands around his throat and lifted him up into the air. When Jessie looked back up, he revealed that his eyes had changed colors. They were no longer seafoam green but were a piercing dark shade of orange. Jaden could recognize that cruelty reflected in his opponent's eyes, because it reminded him of himself whenever he lost control to the king. "What the? Just… who the hell are you? You're not… You're not Jessie!" Jaden said as he grasped Jessie's arms to try and pry him off him.
"You're half right. I'm not Jessie, but at the same time, I am." said the person that took control of his body. "I was just going to let Jessie handle this mess, but I just couldn't sit back anymore. Especially not after watching how you disrespect your spirits the way you do. You still haven't changed even after all these years… Haou." Haou? Who the hell was Haou? And why was Jessie acting like they knew each other? Just what the fuck was going on here?! Jaden clenched his teeth and for a moment, his eyes flashed gold as he let his emotions start to spiral out of control again. The person in control of Jessie's body smirked before he tossed Jaden to the ground, who started coughing to try and catch his breath.
"That look I saw in your eyes. I wasn't sure before which is why I asked Jessie to provoke you, but now I'm certain of it. You really are him, aren't you?" He said as he placed his hands behind his head and relaxed his shoulders. Jaden was more confused now than ever. Why was Jessie acting like this? And why was he talking like the two of them have known each other for a long time? "I don't know what nonsense you're spewing, but I'm not this Haou guy you're looking for or whatever!" Jaden said as he rose to his feet while rubbing his sore throat. Jessie started to chuckle and tilted his head back and burst out into a fit of laughter with the crowd watching them with confused gazes.
"Now tell me who you are. Who are you, because you're clearly not the Jessie I know!" Jaden asked demandingly with Yubel appearing by his side in their ghostly form. "Remember what I was telling you before Jaden? About how the king made a mistake? If I'm right about this… then the person before us is the Supreme King's best friend. His vengeful soul refused to leave this plain of existence and ended up getting reincarnated, just like my beloved king. Or am I wrong, Jehu?" Yubel said as she glared at the incubus who smirked at her.
"I haven't been called that name in a long time. But anyways, it's nice to see you again Yubel. It's good to see how you're still clinging to that bastard Haou's treacherous side even after all these years. He still has you wrapped around his little finger, but I've long since abandoned my connection to him." Jehu said as he placed his hands on his hips. "It makes me feel sick to see how you still have undying loyalty to him, even after knowing what he did! This bastard's evil, and since Jessie isn't up to the task, it looks like I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands!" Jehu said before he plunged his clawed hand into Jaden's stomach, piercing all the way through to his back and making blood splatter everywhere.
The crowd watching gasped in unison as they watched blood start to spill out of Jaden's mouth, but none were screaming louder than his friends who watched horrified on the sidelines. "JADEN!" Shouted Alexis as she got up from her seat and ran to the middle of the gymnasium to try and reach him. She didn't care if she was still mad at him, that didn't mean she wanted to watch him die! But before she could get to him, Moka blocked her path when she raised a hand in front of her and stopped her from proceeding. "Miss Akashiya! Why are you stopping me?! If I don't take off his seal now or give him some of my blood, then he is going to die!" She said angrily, but Moka just looked at the two fighting students.
"Just give it a second. You know I would never let my little brother die… But their conversation is intriguing me right now. I want to see where this leads to." Moka said as she continued watching. These were unforeseen events she did not see coming, and apparently Jessie had a lot more to do with Jaden's past than she realized. The mystery of the Supreme King just might be resolved a little bit more and she could finally understand her brother's situation better. If she really needed to, then she would step in and put a stop to this, but she had faith in her little brother that he would be able to resolve this himself. Jehu withdrew his blood covered hand out from Jaden's stomach who fell over while holding his gut in pain.
"I know this might be confusing to you since you're just a bystander Jaden. I can't fault you for the past that you've been stuck with… But it doesn't change the fact that you're a vessel to the ultimate evil. And it doesn't matter how many lifetimes it takes me, but I will kill the king every time until I can find a way to put a stop to him permanently. I hope you understand." Jehu said as he raised his hand to deliver the final blow, but he faulted as his hand started shaking rapidly, almost as if Jessie was trying to fight back for control. "No… I won't let you! This isn't what we agreed upon! I wanted him to face me like we were going to battle to the death, but I never said I wanted to kill him!" Rang out Jessie's voice as one of his eyes started to return to its regular color.
"Ch… So annoying. And here I thought you were going to let me do what I wanted. I will never understand this younger generation. Do you not see that this is our opportunity? The sooner the king dies, the sooner peace will rain down upon the world! I thought that was what we agreed upon!" Said Jehu who fought with his other half. "Yeah… I know that's what we said. But I never agreed to killing innocence either! You said it yourself; Jaden is just a bystander… Just like me, he was pulled into a war he didn't even know he had a part in. So, I'm not going to let you kill him!" Jessie said as he clutched his hand around his own throat and started squeezing. Jehu started to laugh with his voice coming out of Jessie's body.
"You can fight me all you want Jessie. But your tantrum isn't going to stop me from doing what needs to be done!" He said aloud before he started walking towards an injured Jaden who was to hurt to move from his spot. With himself still being the one who was mostly in control, Jehu prepared for another attack. He swiped with his hand towards Jaden's throat, but the vampire wasn't ready to lay down and die yet. Jaden leaned back, just barely being able to dodge the attack when something unexpected happened. A clink sound was heard as jehu accidentally removed Jaden's Rosario.
Both Moka and Alexis gasped in shock when they saw the impossible, suddenly become possible. As far as they knew, Alexis was the only person that was able to take off his seal like that, and Moka was just as shocked because for all these years, she thought a person could only have one key. But Jessie was able to do it with such ease. Jaden watched with wide eyes as Jehu clutched his seal in his hand, and he brought his hand up to his empty choker. "No way… This can't be possible!" Said Jehu in a disgusted tone as he allowed the Rosario to fall to the floor. "I thought for sure that I had severed my bonds with you… So how is it that our wavelengths are still the same?!" He said in disbelief before Jaden started to transform.
A dark purple energy erupted around him, and everyone had to cover their faces and brace themselves from the sheer force of his demonic energy. Jaden's hair turned silver and his skin became pale, as well as his eyes took on that iconic red color with the cat like slit pupils. Inner Jaden smirked before he rose to his feet, and his wounds had already started to rapidly heal with the hole in his stomach becoming drastically smaller. "Well, I didn't see this coming. I only vaguely know what happened, but I know enough to understand that you just tried to kill me." He said in his deep, sultry sounding voice.
He cracked his knuckles as he approached Jehu/Jessie who slunk back in fear. This was the true nature of the Super Class vampire. It was just as terrifying as Jehu remembered from when he was still alive. He had encountered many vampires in his lifetime, but none of them had as dark and evil of an aura as the vampire that stood before him now. He tripped over his own feet and landed on his butt, and Jaden stood over him with a mocking smile. "So you're the one who took off my seal? I don't swing that way, so it honestly disgusts me that a man was able to release my true power, but oh well. It is what it is." He said with his eyes glowing red, and a playful smirk etched on his face.
He grabbed Jehu by the collar who had sweat dripping from his forehead. "L-look here! I didn't mean any harm, okay?! I was just trying to do what was best for the entirety of the world! It's my destiny to be a hero, and a hero's job is to slay the villain! I was just trying to do what's right!" But despite his plight, Jaden couldn't have been more uninterested. "I don't know what beef you have with the Supreme King, but it has nothing to do with me." He said before he smacked Jehu across the face who was sent flying and crashed into the wall of the gymnasium; blood was now pouring from the top of his head.
Jaden walked over with his hands in his pockets and placed a foot on top of his head. "My name is Jaden Yuki, and I am not anyone else but me! Whatever that fuck face did is not a reflection of who I am, do you get that?!" He said as he lifted his shirt to look at his wound that was already almost fully healed. "You got me pretty good earlier. I should count myself lucky that I didn't die. If it wasn't for the fact that you are my key, I probably would be dead by now. But enough talk… I think it's time we put an end to this ridiculous squabble." He said before he lifted his foot up. "Nighty night, you bastard." He said lastly before descending his foot onto Jehu's head, whose vision quickly went black as he was knocked out.
A couple of hours later, Jessie laid in an infirmary bed sleeping peacefully until a voice started to reach his subconscious. "Jessie… Jessie! Wake up!" His eyes suddenly snapped open, and he sat straight up in his bed and held his head that was pulsating in pain. "Owww, my head is pounding. Just what the heck happened to me?" He said as he groaned in agony. Surrounding his bed was Jaden and the rest of his friends who looked at him sympathetically. As soon as he woke up, Jaden immediately felt better as the guilt lifted off his shoulders. "Thank god you're awake! I thought I gave you brain damage for a second! I was scared you wouldn't wake up!"
Jessie chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That's still debatable. Cause my brain feels like it's about to burst at any second. And the fact that I'm laying here and you're not, must not mean that I lost, right?" he asked, and the room fell oddly silent. "Of course you lost! There is no way that you were ever going to beat my best friend! Right Jaden?!" Said Syrus smugly as he clutched onto Jaden's arm who sighed. "Come on Sy… I won only by luck. But I still have something we need to talk about." He said with his expression becoming very serious. "Jessie, I need you to tell me everything you know about the Supreme King."