Chapter Forty-One

41

Eclipse of the Heart

"All right, Time to get our eat on!" Jaden beamed bright and early around lunch time as he chowed down like a champ. It was the big match up between Bastion...and getting pumped for a duel really gave the guy an apetite.

"Listen Jaden, just don't stuff yourself!" Syrus huffed.

"Why? What gives?" The brunette blinked.

"Yeah you're being very anti-lishus right now..." said Chumley.

"Maybe so..." Syrus sighed,"But if Jaden is going to win today's match, then he's going to need to be a lean mean dueling machine!" he stated,"After all...Bastion has been training for weeks for this match-up. And what did you train for Jaden?" he asked,"An hour?"

"...Maybe half..."

Syrus sighed.

"Listen Syrus..." said Jaden,"Bastion had his way of training..and I have mine!"

"Yeah I guess you're right." said Syrus,"By the way...has anyone seen Gerard?" he blinked," His lunch is getting cold...and Connar's too...why did I even bother getting it for her?" he sighed.

"Dunno." said Jaden,"But their lunches are mine now~"

xxxxx

Meanwhile the stadium filled quickly, and the lovely host that was began to hype up the gathered crowd of students.

"It's time Duelists~" he beamed,"To find out who will represent our illustrious academy in the Annual School Duel!" he beamed, and the students all went wild.

"Intoducing first, from the Ra Dorm...Bastion Misawa~" the crowd cheered as Bastion took his stand ready on his side of the field.

"And then...from Slifer...some...kid."

The crowd silenced themselves. The school really had a bone to pick with Slifers it seemed. So in solidarity, Connar cheered the loudest from the high point where she stood to see the duel from above.

"Let's Go Jaden~ Let's go!" she cheered and clapped her hands with glee.

"Haha, thanks Connie." he waved to her in appreciation toward the sentiment,"Here we go...good luck pal!"

"I appreciate the sentiment." said Bastion,"But with the deck I prepared...I don't need luck!"

"Yeah?" Jaden laughed,"We'll see about that."

"Go Jaden!" Syrus cheered,"This is what you trained for!"

Connar leaned on the railing where Alexis approached her side. Though she didn't seem much in the mood for talking.

"Connar, good to see you taking the high ground." a familiar Obelisk male called out to her and she greeted him sweetly.

"Oh, Zane!" she smiled,"Good to see you, I thought this would be a better place to watch."

"I see." he smiled as he stepped in between Alexis and Connar,"It will be instinct versus intelligence, here." he stated.

"I guess." said Alexis,"Who cares?"

"What!?" Zane blinked,"Alexis?"

"Ah...I mean...yeah!" She quickly tried to cover ground not realizing she snapped at Zane, which rose Connar's concern bar a little higher. As she looked across the crowd she realized that Gerard was no where to be found.

"...Sorry guys...I'm gonna check out." she said softly pushing herself from the railing.

"What!?" Zane blinked,"You're gonna walk out on what may be the biggest duel of our school?" he sighed,"What is up with you girls today?"

"Sorry...it's just that...uhm..." Connar pondered as she tried to figure her way out of this one,"They're both my friends you know." she blinked,"Yeah so...no matter who wins it will still stink to see the other lose...I just need to process this." she chuckled awkwardly and waved her way out of the situation,"Don't worry...I'll come back as soon as I can!" With that she was gone, and Zane was ever the more confused.

xxxxx

While the students were all distracted by the duel, Gerard took advantage of the opportunity to sneak his way into the Reference room to use one of the computers.

Now that everyone's distracted...I can use this time to dig up some more dirt about those missing kids!

He smirked as he plugged his portable system into the computer and made attempts to crack the security code to get in to the recorded files.

Meanwhile back at the duel field things were already heating up, with Bastion making the first move. Jaden was able to counter with Burstinatrix, but he had a face down ready to win it all for him. Within three turns Bastion was already down to 1600, less than half the life points given. It didn't take Bastion long to bring out Water Dragon, which only puushed Jaden to have to use fusion...the one way that would bring him down.

"Wait, I can't use Polymerization anymore!?" he gasped, as Bastion's trap card Cursed Seal of The Forbidden Spell took away any chance Jaden had of fusing his monsters.

"I'm afraid not." said Bastion,"Which essentially means you also can't use any of your fusion monsters anymore either."

"No Fusions!?" Syrus gasped,"But...that's how Jaden wins all his duels!"

of course was more than pleased with this turn out.

"Compute it however you like." said Bastion,"But the fact remains...this duel's over...you can't win~" and with that he left it as is, with a victorious smirk.

xxxxx

Back at the Reference room Gerard was still at it, chipping away at the computer's codes.

"As soon as I crack this password...I will be able to access all of the student files!" he smirked as a successed chime rang through his system," I got it!" he grinned, as the images appeared on screen he began reading through them one by one,"Atticus Rhodes...studying abroad on special sebatical?" he blinked," And not just him...there are others too...but there's no forwarding address!"

I don't buy it.

He thought to himself.

"These must be the missing students..." he said,"But the Academy is trying to cover it up!" he grinned," I smell a front page scandal!" he stated,"And a major pay day...thanks for the scoop~ Duel Academy!" he smirked," And good luck surviving all of the bad publicity."

"I'm afraid I can't let you take that any further." said Connar, interrupting the reporter in his scoop.

"You again!?" he huffed,"What could the Corporate Heiress want from me now?"

"I'm afraid I can't risk letting you do anything that will ruin either Duel Academy or the founder's name!" she huffed,"I will duel you, right here and now to stop you!"

"Duel?" he scoffed,"You must be joking...I told you I don't duel anymore...huh?" He blinked as he noticed one of the monitors streaming the duel going on at the field.

"Oh no..." Connar said,"Jaden is at risk of losing."

"You see?" he laughed,"All that waits in dueling is disappointment."

She huffed and shot him a glare as he shrugged while he walked out with all of his materials.

"Come back here!" Connar huffed and stormed after him, she wound up chasing him all the way down the hall demanding a duel that he refused to give when suddenly they found themselves pulled off into a side corridor at the duel field.

"Hey...We're back at the duel off." she stated

"This is the duel you Slifers wanted me to come and see right?" he asked,"The one that's supposed to change my life?"

She let out an irritated growl and shot him another icy blue leer.

"Look at that." he stated,"It seems Jaden is losing."

"It's not over yet, you know!" she huffed,"Jaden's come from behind tons of times before!"

He blinked as he gazed upon her and her fierce expression of pure determination. It seemed to move him a little.

"Besides...we don't watch Jaden just so we can expect him to win all the time." she stated,"Jaden moves us with his passion..win or lose. That's what keeps us dueling."

"Hmm...Passion, huh?" he huffed, shifting his attention back to the dueling opponents.

xxxxx

"Well, my turn's done Jaden." said Bastion,"So, if you still plan to beat me...go on ahead and do your worst." he smirked.

"You bet I will!" Jaden grinned,"'Cuz my duel's just starting!"

"Is it now?" Bastion chuckled.

"Sure is." Jaden grinned,"See you and I are different." he stated,"You make all your moves at home...I make mine on the field!"

"That's right!" Syrus grinned.

"Yeah! Jaden plays with his gut!"

As Connar listened in-

She figured they must have entered near where her other friends were sitting and it brought a smile to her face.

"You see that?" she smirked,"That's what I'm talking about!"

"Hmmm..." Gerard blinked but didn't say much else. He raised a brow and gave a slight smirk. Admittedly, he was a little impressed.

"I'm no one trick pony, Bastion!" said Jaden as he made his next move,"If you take away my fusion monsters...I'll strike back with something else!" he grinned,"It's not about the fusion...it's about the monster, and mine are still raring to go!" he grinned.

"I'm sure." Bastion shrugged,"But the fact of the matter is, that your most powerful monsters, are not."he stated,"Now...My draw!"

"And with it, the effect of my spell activates!" said Jaden as he hovered his hand over Mirage of nightmare,"During your stand by phase I get to draw 4 cards, then next I can activate my face down, Emergency Provisions, by sending a spell or trap on my field to the graveyard, I gain 1000 life points!" he grinned,"So Adios~ Mirage of Nightmare!" he stated as his life point increased from 2800 back up to 3800.

"Not a bad move..."Gerard said softly," First he plays Mirage...then ditches it before it hurts him!"

"Hmm~?" Connar snickered,"You sound impressed there you smut peddlar."

"Er.." he blushed awkwardly,"N-not that I care about this duel or anything..." he stuttered,"A-And I'm not a smut peddlar! I write scandals!"

"I see no diffference." she muttered and crossed her arms.

Bastion's counter however brought Jaden back down to 1800. However his trap card Hero Signal allowed him to summon another defender in the place of the destroyed Bubble Man.

"My...you just won't give up, will you?" Bastion blinked,"You're certainly one stubborn duelist."

"Haha, thank you~" Jaden grinned,"At least...I think that was a compliment?"

"This is really getting good!" said Gerard as Bastion ended his turn with a face down,"I forgot how much fun dueling could be..."

"...That's the true power of Jaden Yuki." Connar chuckled. As she too felt a similar sentiment when she first dueled against him.

Suddenly the field shifted into tall buildings of a night time city as Jaden activated his field spell Sky Scraper. Gerard could feel a small wave of anxiety thinking back to his last experience with the card and its game. With its help Jaden was able to attack the defending Water Dragon with his monster of Bladedge, whose abilitly was able to drop Bastion's life points to 500.

It was a very close duel, and neither player was letting up. With Bastion's Ritual monster he just about evened out the game...but Jaden was ready with a come back and a new hero along with a new combo. at the cost of a life point drop to 300 Jaden was able to end the game due to his equip spell's effect that destroyed every spell and trap on the field, givng Bastion 500 points of damage for each. Which was just enough for Jaden's win.

"He did it!" Gerard cheered, which sartled Connar,"What a duel!"

Once he noticed the girl watching him with a raised brow and a victorious smirk he pretty much gave in with a shrug and a light hearted chuckle, "...Thanks Jaden..." He turned to leave but Connar still refused to let him out of her site,"Hey! Wait, will you!" she huffed,"Don't tell me you still plan to take that story with you!?"

"Hey you!"

"Huh!?" Connar blinked as she looked ahead and found Alexis approaching them as well.

"You're the guy who was asking me questions about the abandoned dorm." said Alexis,"What are you doing here!?"

"Well...not what I thought." Gerard chuckled.

"What?" Alexis blinked.

"I came here looking for a story but what I found was something different." he chuckled,"I found the duelist inside of me, the duelist who I thought was gone." he shrugged,"...I'm a reporter." he stated.

"Yeah...a sleazy one at that!" Connar huffed.

"...I see you're familiar with my work...Connar." he chuckled,"I make a living off of digging up dirt...but before then I took on monsters and spells before I took tabloid photos." he shrugged,"It's true. I was a duelist...like Jaden and Bastion...but I was never any good." he sighed,"I got beat all the time, those memories are awful but after today's match...I remember what the game is really about." he sighed and pulled out his camera, tossing it to Connar.

"Ah...do you mean it?" she blinked and Alexis looked on with confusion.

"I had a great lead." he stated," I was gonna sell it...but it probably would have ruined Duel Academy." he stated,"...But I don't wanna ruin this place." he said,"Now I only wanna help find them. All of the missing students...including your brother, Alexis." he smiled,"And Connar?"

"Huh?" she blinked responding to his call,"...Don't worry. I'll keep my mouth shut."

"...Thank you." she said softly.

"Huh?" Alexis blinked.

What is he talking about...?

She thought to herself, with her gaze hanging on Connar, who seemed to know. And with that...Gerard was gone, after his meaningful goodbye.

"...Hey, Connar?" Alexis called to her softly.

"...Yes?"

"What was he talking about?" she asked,"About keeping his mouth shut for you?"

"...It's not important." she responded with a soft smile and a light head shake,"Come on Alexis." she beamed,"Let's go celebrate Jaden's victory~!"

"All right!" Jaden called out with an excited prance in his step,"School Duel...Get your game on!" he grinned,"Because here I come!"

To Be Continued