The Supreme Vampire King
Chapter 18: Message Received
It wasn't long before the week rolled through like an early morning Spring breeze. Soon enough, the school trip had come to an end and all the students were saying goodbye to the new friends they had made while staying at their sister school. The school bus had come that morning with the bus driver helping the students put their luggage's onboard, and Moka waited patiently for all the students to gather before she started calling roll. But there were a few faces she couldn't see among the crowd. "Where is that troublesome little brother of mine now?" She said with an aggravated sigh.
Jaden had snuck off earlier with Alexis so that they could get a little bit of private time to themselves before heading back to Duel Academy. Ever since she had revealed her true feelings to him, Jaden tried his best to give her as much attention as possible. It was slowly starting to click in his brain why she was always getting mad at him whenever a girl was around him, like the time those girls gave him those cookies as a thank you when they were at beach. She was so utterly furious with him, but at the time, he couldn't understand why. But now that he knew the truth, he felt like such an idiot for hurting her and he wanted to try and make it up to her as much as he could.
They were hiding behind the gymnasium with Jaden's back pinned against a tree, and Alexis was standing in front of him with a shy expression as she crossed her arms behind her back and started gently swaying from side to side. "Are you sure about this Alexis? You don't have to do this for me every morning you know." Jaden said as he scratched his cheek and sheepishly smiled at her. But she shook her head, and then pulled her hair to the side over her shoulder. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. It makes me feel good knowing that I'm the only one who can offer you this service." she said with a blush as she glanced up at him with an innocent gaze.
Jaden gulped before he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. Their height difference wasn't that drastic, with him being only a couple of inches taller than her, but he was still tall enough to where he had to lean down to reach her neck. He cupped her face with one of his hands and she relaxed into his touch and leaned her head over to reveal her throat to him. Instinctively, his eyes started glowing with a red luster and he couldn't control his instincts anymore. "Let me know if it becomes too much for you to handle, okay?" He said before he licked up her neck, and she shivered from his seductive touch.
Alexis nodded and signaled to Jaden that it was okay for him to proceed. He gently bit into her neck and allowed her deliciously sweet life essence to flow into his mouth, onto his tongue and then down his throat. The minute he tasted her blood, a rosy color found its way onto his cheeks. He could never get over her taste. Just like how Alexis was, her blood was just as delicate and sweet as her personality was. There was no better flavor in the world to him. Alexis was also enjoying their new morning routine as she released a small moan and tightly shut her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and waited patiently for him to finish up.
While they were enjoying their moment, Moka had sent both Bastion and Syrus to go and look for them since everyone was ready to go and waiting for them to show up so that the roll call could start. "Aw man, how come we were the ones who got stuck with finding them?" Syrus said with a yawn as he pulled his glasses off so that he could rub his eyes. "Maybe it's because we're their friends and its our duty to look for them?" Bastion said as a matter of fact, but he did have to agree that this was starting to feel a bit tedious. Every morning those two would sneak off and no one would be able to find them for a while. Not that he minded since he knew their relationship was starting to blossom, but their honeymoon phase was starting to inconvenience everyone.
"J-Jaden, I think I'm almost at my limit!" Alexis blurted out as she clung onto his shoulders tighter. Jaden had to force himself to stop as he detached himself from her neck, and the two stared into each other's eyes breathlessly. Soon, the atmosphere around them turned almost flowery and one could almost say that they could see pink and rose petals surrounding them. The tree leaves above their heads started ruffling and falling to the ground, and then out of nowhere, Jessie plopped out from atop the tree and landed beside them with a wide toothy grin. "There you both are!" He said casually, but the two infatuated students nearly had heart attacks from his surprise attack.
"GAAAHH!" Jaden screamed out and he immediately released Alexis from his arms. She took a step back and covered her face out of embarrassment and did her best to avoid Jessie's gaze. The incubus's eyes looked between the two of them, and a mischievous glint appeared in his seafoam green orbs. "So what do we have here? Were you guys doing something naughty while everyone was distracted?" He said playfully, and his tail appeared and poked out from underneath his blazer and started wagging. "And here I thought you didn't know how to please a woman, mister vampire sir." Jessie said teasingly which made Jaden's face turn a deep shade of red.
"You got it all wrong! That isn't what's happening at all! Alexis was just helping me out with breakfast! R-right Lexi?" Jaden said as he looked at her desperately to clear up the misunderstanding. "Yes, I was just feeding him some of my blood like I've been doing every morning." She said as she looked away shyly while playing with her hair. Jessie smirked before he walked over and wrapped his arm around Jaden's shoulders. "No need to be so defensive, I was just teasing ya'll! But anyways, do you two notice anything different about me?" He said as he let the vampire go and stood in between the two blushing teens and twirled around on his heels.
Jaden looked at him thoroughly, and gasped when he noticed his uniform. Jessie was no longer wearing the standard Yokai Academy uniform but was now wearing an Obelisk vest from Duel Academy, but it was modified. Instead of the long trench coat look, he opted to wear a vest version of it overtop a flowy white shirt with a deep V-neck. "No way! Did you transfer to Duel Academy?!" Jaden asked, shocked, as he walked over to inspect his new classmate's outfit. Jessie smiled happily as he nodded his head and gave a thumbs up.
"Bingo! You got it right on the money! I fell in love with ya'lls friend group, and I didn't want to say goodbye to my new friends so quickly. I didn't want to have to wait another year to see you guys again, so I asked Miss Akashiya to approve my transfer paperwork. She did it right away, so I'm able to go back with you guys right now!" Jaden grinned from ear to ear and gave his incubus friend a hardy high five and the two started laughing together, almost as if they were in sync. "That's freaking awesome dude! And congrats on being accepted to our school! But wait, how were you able to join Duel Academy? I know Moka said you could transfer, but don't you still have to do an entrance exam?" Jaden asked as he titled his head to the side.
"Oh! Well to be honest, I originally planned to enroll at Duel Academy last year. I took the entrance exam when ya'll did and I got accepted, but my parents insisted that I come to school here. But I talked to them already and they said it was fine since they knew I would be in good hands, especially now that Headmaster Aono has put up a barrier around the school." On que, Bastion and Syrus came running up after hearing Jaden scream earlier. Syrus, who was out of breath from running, trudged over to his best friend and placed a tired hand on his arm as he inhaled a deep breath. "There you both are! Geez, we've been looking for you for half an hour already!"
Jaden chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that's our bad. We thought we'd have more time since we thought it would take a little longer for everyone to get settled in before they started boarding the bus. But we're ready to leave now if you guys are." Eventually, the group of five headed back to the school's courtyard where the rest of their classmates were waiting, and an aggravated Moka was impatiently waiting while tapping her foot on the ground. "Finally, the prodigal son arrives. Now get your asses in line and wait for your names to be called!" She demanded while flaring her Yokai energy, and soon, everyone fell into line. One by one the students boarded the bus, and after everyone was seated, the bus took off back towards the portal which would take them to Duel Academy.
"I can't wait to get back!" Said Syrus as he sat beside Jaden who took a window seat. "My mom told me to send her a letter when we got back so she knows that I made it out of the monster world in one piece. But I definitely can't wait to tell her how surprisingly pleasant the trip was." He said as he took out his cellphone to check if he had any signal yet. While they were in the barrier of Yokai Academy, all forms of human communication were turned off, so no one was able to send word to their loved ones for the entire week or get news from the human world for that matter. "Oh yeah, speaking of your family, how's your older brother doing? I haven't heard from Zane since he graduated." Jaden asked inquisitively.
On the last day of school during his first year, Zane had chosen Jaden to be his opponent in the graduation match. It was an honor that was only given to one person by being challenged by the top student. Their duel ended up turning out to be a draw, which was an amazing feat, because that was the closest anyone ever got to beating the Cyber Dragon wielder. And thus, Zane past the torch down to Jaden who then officially became Duel Academies top student. Well, when it came to duels and fighting anyways. Academic wise, Jaden might as well have been in last place.
After a couple hours of being on the road, the bus finally made it through the portal and all the students rejoiced when they found out that they were back in the comforts of their own school grounds. The window shades that covered the windows to hide the location of the portal lifted, and the humans who were on the bus all sighed with delight and relief when they saw the usual blue ocean that they had missed so much while they were gone. "I never thought I'd be so excited to say this but thank god for regular BLUE WATER!" Syrus said as he leaned across Jaden's lap to press his face against the glass.
Jaden started to laugh when he witnessed his best friend's silly antics, but his laughter soon faded when he got a sense of terrifying dread. Most of the higher leveled monster students had the same reaction, because their senses were keener than their human and weaker, monster classmates. The minute that they started pulling closer to the school, they could tell that something bad must have happened while they were gone. Human despair was thick in the air, it was so thick in fact that you could cut it with a knife if you tried to. Jaden exchanged glances with Jessie who was sitting in the row in front of him, and that's when they knew that something must have happened if they were feeling the same thing.
When the bus pulled in front of the school, the students started filing out, just ready to unpack and unwind in their dorm rooms. But Jaden wasn't ready to relax just yet. When he stepped off the bus with his friends following behind him, he wasn't surprised to see his brother-in-law waiting for them, and Tsukune too had a very serious expression on his face. "I knew it… I could tell something was wrong." Jaden said with a scowl as he ran over to join the headmaster. Tsukune shook his head and stared at the floor. "I want to try and keep this under wraps for now because I don't want the other students to be worried, especially not after they just made it back home. But it's for the best that you lot at least find out the truth."
Tsukune looked behind Jaden at Syrus who was obliviously chatting away with Chazz who was budding heads with Bastion. "Your friend over there. His name is Syrus Truesdale, right?" He asked which made Jaden start to feel on edge. Why was the headmaster of Yokai Academy suddenly interested in his best friend? "Yeah? Why? Do you need to talk to him or something?" All Tsukune did was nod his head in response and walked over to Syrus and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Mister Truesdale? I'm sorry to bother you when you just got back, but there's someone you need to come see if you'd just follow me." He said before he turned his back and started walking towards the school.
"All of you need to follow me in fact. Especially you Jaden, it has to do with your father." He said over his shoulder before he started walking again. Jaden's eyes immediately sharpened into a pointed glare the minute his father was mentioned. None of this could be a good thing. First this feeling of despair the second they made it back to the island, then Syrus is somehow involved, and now his father is being brought up. Just what did his piece of shit of a dad do this time? They all followed Tsukune to the infirmary, but before they could enter, Tsukune stopped them to say one last thing. "We are here for you Mister Truesdale. I just hope you're ready to face what you are about to see."
With those final words, Tsukune opened the door to the infirmary and when Syrus walked in, his ears were met with the sound of beeping machines and oxygen pumps. His eyes followed the source of the sound, and when he saw it, he fell to his knees and his skin turned ghostly pale. "Oh god. Oh my god, no. Zane!" He said as he started to cry into his hands. His brother was lying in a hospital bed with his left arm having been cut off and his eye had been gauged out of his skull. A bandage was wrapped around his head to protect his head wounds while his stump was plastered to help it heal. Both of his legs had been broken and were casted and strung up on a pully system. Not to mention that his entire upper abdomen had burns which were blistered and had topical burn treatment on them.
Everyone else followed suit and had similar reactions to the horrific sight of their mangled friend. But Jaden was different. He too was sad and disturbed by what he saw, but all he could do was just stare in shock and cover his gaping mouth. He wanted to scream and cry, but no sound would come out. The last time he had seen Zane, he was perfectly fine and had assured him that he was going to have a bright future. But never did Jaden think his future would look like this. "Just what the hell happened to him?" Jaden said in a low tone, but when Tsukune didn't reply right away, he stomped over to his brother-in-law and grabbed him by the shirt and snarled at him.
"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM TO PUT HIM IN THIS KIND OF CONDITION?!" Chancellor Shepherd walked in and gently closed the door behind him and cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Jaden please, I ask that you keep your voice down. We understand that you are all in shock right now, but you screaming like that does not help with his recovery. I implore you, please be quieter." Jaden realized how inappropriate his actions were and he released Tsukune. "Sorry, I know it's not your fault this happened, I just don't know where else to put my frustrations!" He said before he walked over to the wall and punched it before plopping down in a chair.
"It's a miracle that he even made it to the school." Tsukune said as he pulled up a chair to sit next to the younger vampire. "Before I erected the barrier in its completed form and hid the school away from the rest of the world, he came flying all the way from the mainland on the back of his Cyber End Dragon. He was barely clinging to life when me and Chancellor Shepherd found him. We immediately took him to surgery, but the entire time, he was just asking where you were and how it was imperative that he got to talk to you." Tsukune said as he placed his intertwined hands over his mouth and sighed. "But what happened to him? Zane is by far one of the strongest students to have ever graduated from this Academy. What form of monster could do something like this?" Jaden said as he clutched his Rosario that was going haywire.
"Not a monster, but a man." Chancellor Shepherd said as he walked over to the tv monitor on the other side of the room and turned it on to the news. "About five days ago, the North Border of Domino City was attacked by a legion sent out by Fairytale. Zane was apart of the special task force employed by Seto Kaiba. He led the front line in the battle to protect the city, and all was going well until they were met with a terrifying individual. He was not a monster at all, but a human working for your father as a general and an assassin."
As they watched the news, they saw video footage of what happened that day. The camera work was shaky which meant that a civilian most likely was the one recording, but it was clear enough to see the giant dragons flying in the sky. One of them was of course Zane's signature Cyber End Dragon, and it battled with two other dragons which Jaden could recognize to be Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon and Archfiend Skull Dragon. "No way, those are two very powerful Duel Monsters. You mean to tell me one person was able to summon both of those things at once?!" Jaden said as he stood up to get a closer look at the monitor.
Even for him, who was supposed to be the reincarnation of the King of the Duel Spirits, had trouble summoning two monsters at once, let alone two level-eights. "That's correct. Eyewitness accounts describe a man wearing all black with a duel disk attached to his arm on the enemy's side. He had long brown hair and apparently also wore a mask that covered the top half of his face, so uncovering his real identity will be very tricky." Tsukune said before he turned off the monitor. "But how's the city doing? If he defeated the special task force and the military that easily, then does that mean the North Border has been conquered?!" Bastion asked as he bit his fingernails. Chancellor Shepherd's face became sullen, and all he could do was give a single nod and a grunt.
"Yes, the North Border has fallen and almost all the people that were living in that quadrant of the city have been either kidnapped for the human slave trade or murdered in mass genocide." Said Tsukune as he stared at the floor. Everyone who was in that room couldn't say a word. While they were all having fun and doing bonding exercises, they had no idea that the people they were learning on how to protect were being murdered. "But… no. I just can't believe this. Then what are we all doing this for? If one person could cause all that damage, then there's no way of defeating my father!" Jaden said as he started to hyperventilate.
How many people like him did his father have under his wing? He thought Kahlua was terrifying, but this man seemed much worse and crueler. If these were the forces that his father had control over, then what were some silly teenagers with a dream too big for their heads able to do?! "Ch… You're all being too noisy." Said a raspy sounding voice. Everyone's heads immediately swiveled around to look at Zane who had finally gained consciousness. "ZANE!" Syrus said relieved as he joined his brother's side and held his uninjured hand in his own. Despite how weak he felt, Zane smiled at his little brother and affectionately rubbed his head.
"It's good to see you too Syrus. I'm glad to see that you're doing alright." He said before he started to cough with blood coming out of his mouth. Alexis ran over to get him a wet cloth and a glass of cold water. She damped his mouth clean and then helped him to sip so he could quench his dry throat. "You don't have time to worry about me! Just look at you, if anyone should be saying that it's me!" Syrus said as he sniffled and tried to fight back his tears. "Don't worry, I know I'm pretty banged up now but at least I got away with my life." Zane then looked at Jaden, but instead of his friendly gaze, he shot daggers towards the young vampire's way.
"So it's true what that guy said about you. You really are Issa Shuzen's son. Ugh! JADEN! THIS IS ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT!" Zane shouted as he sat up in bed, and despite his injuries, he tried to force himself out of bed so that he could put his hands on Jaden, who stepped back with a terrified expression. "Calm down Zane! Don't move, you're still hurt!" Said Bastion who, with Jessie's help, forced him to stay in bed. "This is all your fault. You want to know why I'm even alive right now? That guy, Nightshroud or whatever he calls himself, he used me to send you a message. He told me that this is what will happen to the people you love if you don't return home. And he won't just stop at me." Zane said as he laid back down while wincing in pain.
"It wasn't enough to just kill me. He said that would be too easy and too merciful. He will find everyone you care about and mull them so badly that they'll have to live the rest of their lives wishing they were dead." Zane said with a venomous hiss. Jaden's eyes grew wide, and the world started spiraling around him. Just who was this guy that his father hired? Where on Earth did he find someone so sadistic like that to work for him? "Nightshroud also told me to tell you this. It doesn't matter how long you try to hide from him, like a shadow in the night, he will find you. And that you two will meet very soon."
All the strength he had left had vanished, and soon, Zane was back in a comatose state. Jaden couldn't breathe. What was he supposed to do? Was he even strong enough to defeat someone like that? Or should he do what he said and just allow Nightshroud to take him? If he did that, his father would win, but at least his friends would be safe. Alexis cautiously walked over to him when she noticed him falling back into darkness. "Jaden? Hey, speak to me. Tell me what you're thinking right now." She said as she grabbed his hand, but he pulled away and looked at her with pure horror. "I think… I think I… I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" He said before he burst out of the room and ran as fast as he could.
"Jaden! Stop! We can talk about this!" Alexis said as she went in the hallway to look for him, but he was already long gone. She wiped away her tears and felt like she was about to break apart, but a warm and friendly hand placed itself on her shoulder. When she looked up, Jessie was standing behind her with a sympathetic and supportive smile. "You stay here. You all must be really shaken up, but since I'm the new guy, I stand on a more mutual ground. You take care of your injured buddy over there, and I'll bring back our little runaway." He then took off and started running around, following the traces of Jaden's Yokai energy he had left behind. When he imagined his first day at Duel Academy, this was the last thing he expected to happen. But hey, at least it wasn't boring.