Chapter 22: Sacrifice part 02.

Continuing the duel Alexis managed to buy some time for her and Jaden as she slotted a few face downs chief among them being Doble passé as she ended her turn with the hero duelist drew his next card , Pot of Greed.

" I play a classic Pot of Greed, I trust you don't need a reminder of what it actually does?"

Nightshroud just gestured for Jaden to continue as the hero duelist did.

Drawing his two cards he drew Elemental Hero Clayman and a second specially made card, saving the latter card, he played Clayman as follows.

" I Set Clayman in defense mode and play a brand new card just for you curtesy of Pegasus himself, a spell card I call, split at the center."

Elemental hero Clayman (800/2000)

Nightshroud surprised and intrigued simply asked.

' care to explain what it does?'

Jaden answered as follows.

" if I have a fusion monster in my grave then I'll get to summon the monsters that created it back to the field in defense mode."

With that said and done Avion and Burstinatrix came back to the field.

Elemental Hero Avion (1000/1000), Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800)

" with this done I'm giving you the turn."

Skeptical Nightshroud thought to himself.

' what he's up to?…

sensing an opening Jaden asked.

" what's the matter? Lost your nerves?"

Nightshroud answered dispassionately.

' hardly.'

With that Nightshroud continued the duel as such.

' I activate Zero and Infinity once more to play Darkness 2, would you both like to know what it does?'

Jaden and Alexis spoke in unison..

" like we have a choice?"

Nightshroud spoke anyway.

' darkness 2 adds 1000 attack points to my monster and allows the rest of my cards within the line up to have the exact same effect.

Darkness destroyer (2300 → 5300 /1800).

Surprised both Alexis and Jaden exclaimed.

"5300!?"

Nightshroud continued as though as he wasn't interrupted.

'darkness destroyer proceed with your attack and go after that oaf Clayman….'

Jaden interrupted

" not so fast, I play Hero barrier."

The card in question went into action as the barrier protected the earth hero.

Nightshroud chuckled darkly.

' no matter, Darkness Destroyer, attack again.'

Jaden interrupted yet again.

" not if I have anything to say about it…. and I do….."

At that Jaden activated his face down card.

" I activate Draining shield to negate your attack and gain life points boost so thanks"

Jaden: 1500-6800.

With that upset Nightshroud's turn came to an end as it once again became Alexis's turn, drawing her next card she placed a monster in defense mode faced down saying.

" I'm ending my turn."

Nightshroud raised an eyebrow as he asked condescendingly.

' surely you can do better than that.'

Alexis's only response was.

" I don't have to."

Before Nightshroud could ask her what she meant Jaden clarified.

" I have all I'll need to defeat you within three turns…. And don't call her Shirley."

Nightshroud missed the joke altogether while Alexis gave Jaden a silent deadpan look saying 'really?' to which the hero duelist replied with.

" it's a classic….."

Jaden cleared his throat as he played his last set face down, a card depicting his past self leading the charge of an army comprised of entire elemental monsters, both the regular version and its evil variant.

" I play the card Supreme Declarations, and you might want to take a seat because it has one doozy of an effect…. For every monster on my field I get to make a rule regarding the battlefield or the duelists fighting, the trade off is that if I'm sacrificing the monsters on the field the rules stop applying and last but not least, if I want to keep Supreme Declarations I'll have to pay a sum of 500 life points.

' get your turn over and done with.'

Jaden responded calmly.

" if you insist….."

Jaden's first declaration was thus.

" I declare that the duelist in front of me should be separated into the being called Darkness and the one called Atticus Rhoades to be permanently split."

At this Nightshroud began shrieking and hollering in great pain as Atticus Rhoades little by little as eventually the two separated completely with the older teen crawling slowly back to Jaden's side with only Darkness facing Jaden.

"thanks for the save…."

Alexis was about to join the praises with him pointing out.

" now I pay 500 life points."

Jaden: 6800 - 6300.

Before Jaden was done with his turn he made the following ruling.

" Atticus's life force will be restored for him in full at the end of this duel."

With that said and done Jaden ended his turn as it was Darkness's turn with it and the set cards coming at them full force.

' thine monster shall return to it's normal state and thine traps reset themselves…'

Before Darkness could finish Alexis came in with a clutch.

" I play Ring of Destruction and I'll attach it to Darkness eye."

Darkness eye was destroyed swiftly with no actual damage happening to her or Darkness as Alexis commented.

" good luck activating your set of trap cards without that eye of yours."

At that Darkness slightly hesitated before guessing wrong as his whole combo got ruined with Darkness destroyer's resetting to it's default settings and the field being cleared of the traps in question.

Darkness destroyer (5300 → 2300 /1800).

Jaden at that smirked at Alexis.

" thanks, I owe you one."

Alexis returned the smirk.

" do me a favor?"

Jaden answered innocently and sincerely.

" anything."

Alexis spoke her mind saying.

" stop with the classics."

As Jaden sighed Darkness ignored the whole exchange until he managed to find an opening and continue his move.

' From my hand I summon Darkness Outsider.'

Darkness Outsider was by all means a unique monster Darkness played, it looked like a combination between a classic jester and a small plant.

Darkness Outsider (0/0)

" I'm guessing it has an effect I should know about."

Darkness simply nodded not uttering a word before Darkness outsider opened his maws and shot a few tendrils towards Jaden's deck before pulling a card, that card was no other than Yubel in attack mode.

Yubel (0/0)

With that move Darkness chose to end his turn while Jaden and Alexis dragged the duel for a bit as in the meantime, Chazz from the peanut gallery asked Zane.

" are you sure it's wise to drag out the duel with a monster like Darkness?"

Zane answered as follows.

" considering that he delivered one surprise after the other I wouldn't blame them one bit."

catching on to what Zane said, Chazz didn't push forward with his questions as he wondered the following.

' how will they avoid her special ability'

To answer Chazz's question the duel continued uninterrupted as Alexis summoned a few more monsters as backup before giving Jaden his turn as he successfully summoned Elemental Hero Bladeedge in attack mode, as well as getting a few useful magic cards for later.

Elemental Hero Bladeedge (2600/1800).

"Bladeedge, do us a favor and destroy Yubel."

Before Darkness could question the logic of said move Jaden said.

" I play Dobble Passé which changes the target of the monsters into a direct attack."

Jaden: 6300 -6300.

Nightshroud: 3000400.

with that over with Jaden set the rest of the cards he drew as he said.

Jaden: 6300 -5800.

" over to you creep."

Darkness or Nightshroud as Jaden knew him kept eerily quiet as he drew cards and passed his turns as the duel continued back and forth without anyone taking the lead as Chazz couldn't help but feel that something sinister was heading their way.

" you felt what I felt just now?"

Zane replied.

" even if I didn't we have to warn Jaden and Alexis."

At the most inopportune times a group of "agents" emerged from the shadows expressly to stop them from warning Jaden and Alexis as Darkness commented.

' you've made valiant efforts but they were all for naught.'

As Darkness was about to begin his turn Jaden stopped him by saying.

" I don't think so"

With that he played a custom card as Jaden explained it's function for his opponent.

" I call it Supreme Restrictions…."

Jaden continued explaining.

" and just like the name suggests it will restrict you from using spell and trap slots according to how many Elemental heroes are on the field and I count four."

With that four magic and spell cards were out of commission as Darkness continued dueling.

' for this turn I summon Darkness Slime on to the field of battle…..'

just as expected a slime like monster graced the field though it wasn't a frightening creature by appearance alone.

Darkness slime (0/0)

" that guy will do more than make a mess out of our clothes right?"

Alexis agreed with Jaden's sentiment as Darkness replied with new found "respect" for the two.

' Darkness slime's total attack points is equal to the sum of my monster's attack strength and it can replicate your monster's special abilities.'

Darkness slime (2300/2300)

Both Jaden and Alexis were less than pleased with the proceedings as Burstinatrix was the first to go as Darkness slime attacked per its master's wishes.

Jaden: 5800 -4300.

With that blow dealt Alexis made sure Jaden was as protected as possible while enlisting the help of Chazz and Zane to protect Atticus after they've dealt with their "agents" problem as the hero duelist turn came. As Jaden drew his next card he smirked since the only card remaining was Elemental hero Sparkman.

" first I Summon Sparkman to the field in attack mode.

Elemental hero Sparkman (1600/1400)

Jaden continued before he could be interrupted.

" and now I declare that Darkness himself will become an actual duel monster."

Before Darkness could protest his essence was drawn into the battlefield as an identical copy was created.

" choose its mode….."

Darkness chose attack mode since he still believed he'll win the duel as Jaden stated.

" I thank you for choosing that."

Before Darkness could retort Jaden played the following trap card.

" from my hand I play Eternal Entrapment, would you like to know about this card!?"

Darkness/Nightshroud remained silent as Jaden continued regardless.

"this card traps any monster in both body and soul unless the duelist that used it, in this case me, decides to release the monster from captivity, though don't worry the monster in question has to be destroyed for it to activate."

With that Jaden canceled his decrees minus the last one regarding his opponent returning the duel's conditions to normal, minus Atticus being possessed as the hero duelist declared.

" Sparkman, get ready to attack Nightshroud…."

Nightshroud's only reply was a question.

' are you sure it's wise to do that?'

Before Jaden could reply Nightshroud made his move.

' I send Darkness seed to the graveyard and then I play Swords of Revealing Light.'

Alexis and Jaden were pissed at this point since they almost had the duel in the bag until Nightshroud blindsided them.

" I end my turn."

Jaden: 4300 -3800.

At that Nightshroud let out a quiet chuckle as he stated.

' and now I will end this duel thanks to the effects of darkness seed.'

Before Jaden and Alexis could ask they began to see the effects in action.

Darkness seed (1000/1000)

Nightshroud: 4004000.

Jaden at that corrected him.

" the duel isn't over until the last card is played and I have plenty more still."

With that said and done Jaden and Alexis focused on reinforcing their defenses for the next three turns as the hero duelist was thankful that he designed the last trap card as he did as Nightshroud asked point blank.

Jaden: 3800-2300.

' your trap still remains, how so?'

Jaden replied as follows.

" I designed it to last four rounds before it destroys itself."

Nightshroud concluded the conversation as follows.

' you have a single turn left, make it count.'

Jaden smirked as the swords disappeared while he drew the next card. At this point Jaden drew Transcendant Wings as he held in his hand the following cards, Ring of destruction and Skyscraper. With Winged Kurriboh still on the field Jaden had a plan in mind. Slotting Ring Of Destruction and Transcendent Wings in the spell and trap zone he immediately activated the ring as he attached it to Darkness seed.

Nightshroud: 4000-3000.

Jaden: 2300-1300.

Once Nightshroud caught on to what was about to happen he tried to stop Jaden however Alexis blocked him at every opportunity stating.

" that's what happens when you mess with my family."

Jaden didn't waste anytime as he continued his move by slotting Skyscraper changing the scenery as Nightshroud reminded him.

' your last turn is about to end'

Jaden shrugged.

" so do you."

Jaden didn't hesitate to launch an attack against Nightshroud with Bladeedge with the golden hero in question got a temporary boost due to Skyscraper.

Elemental Hero Bladeedge (2600 → 3600/1800)

" and since I've decreed you to be a monster in this game you know what that means…"

As the realization hit Nightshroud it was already too late as the villain tried to save himself at the last moment only for Yubel to get in his way as she said.

' that is for forcing me to turn on my friend…..'

with the attack connecting Nightshroud began to disappear as both body and spirit began absorbing into the card, Yubel's soul began to disappear.

' do not threat or cry for me, I will keep him from trying to escape for quite a while.'

Jaden nodded in understanding.

" I trust you'll do a good job at that."

As the Eternal Entrapment card stopped glowing so did the duel officially came to an end.

Alexis: 2000 - Jaden: 1300 – Nightshroud: 3000 → 0.

As the dust settled Jaden picked up the custom trap card as Alexis asked.

" now that we won…. how do we go forward from here?"

Jaden gave her a friendly smile.

" first we check if Atti's completely back, second, I ask your dad to lock this card deep within this temple and then have us a nice long vacation from this vacation….."

Alexis gave a smile of her own.

" you took the words right out of my mouth."

With that both of them started laughing as Zane and Chazz joined them in this small victory celebration as a small boat was making it's way towards them trough the horizon.

" looks like soon it would be a full family reunion."

Alexis's only response was as follows.

" yeah…."

Noticing that Alexis was acting weird Jaden in turn bluntly asked.

" something on your mind you'd like to talk about?"

Alexis in turn replied with.

" it's Adrian, I managed to force Nightshroud to return him before the duel but….."

Jaden finished for her.

" but you think that he pulled a fast one on you….. a fast one on us…."

Alexis half amused and half impressed decided to tease Jaden a bit.

" look at you being so smart…."

Jaden teased back.

" well… I do have a great teacher…"

Before the teasing could continue Henry Rhoades the second subtly interrupted as Jaden and the Rhoades men greeted each other before they entered the temple once again to seal the trap card once and for all. Noticing the worry on Jaden's face Alexis's father cleared his throat.

" you save my son, you save the world but you look like you're about to face the firing squad, so what's on your mind?"

Jaden sighed as he gave an honest answer.

" did you ever had the feeling that something went too smoothly?"

Henry Rhoades the second returned the favor by saying.

" sometimes….. you think it went too easy?

Jaden at that stated.

" it's maybe just a funny feeling, that's all….."

Alexis's old man smiled at him saying.

" since I owe you for saving my son twice consider me at your debt."

With that said and done Jaden asked.

" can we stop at the academy on the way back to domino?"

Alexis's old manresponded with a thumbs up before the group searched the temple for a proper burial room. Once found Jaden placed the trap card in the middle before leaving the quite frankly creepy temple altogether. With the card in place and the world seemingly saved Jaden and the rest of the group made their way back into the mainland before taking the family jet towards academy island.

The Rhoades family jet, head bound towards academy island.

As each of the members were busy in their own worlds Atticus tried to come to terms with his actions under Nightshroud's influence.

" good to see you again dear…."

Atticus sighed.

" I'm not sure about it mom…."

Mariam offered him her ear as she stated.

" do you remember what I tried to teach you a long time ago?"

Atticus responded with.

" there's no point with crying over past actions… focus on the here and now….."

With that Atticus made peace with his mother to start with, speaking of peace, within the Eternal Entrapment card.

Yubel was giving chase to Nightshroud who in turn tried to find a way to escape his newest prison.

'surrender it is over fair and square.'

Nightshroud in turn continued the chase with Yubel keeping up with him as the card's art was showing Yubel and Nightshroud/ Darkness forever locked within what seems to be an eternal battle until said villain got an idea with Jaden's guardian thinking.

' I must keep my eyes on him at all costs….'

Within the grounds of academy island.

Over the last few hours Jaden spent dueling Nightshroud the group that stayed behind managed to evacuate most of the infirmary while the "agents" attacking the facility seemingly vanished into thin air with the only people left were those that dueled and the still unconscious Adrian being attended by Echo.

" any change in his condition?"

Echo nodded negatively while asking Axel.

" any word from Jaden?"

Jim cook answered confidently.

" I'm sure he's on top of the situation."

Echo at that wasn't sure how to feel about the subject as she asked to be left alone while she took care of Adrian. As Jim and Axel left the building none of them noticed right away that a sliver of darkness was present in Echo's eyes, what was noticeable for a fact is Shirley's behavior which could be described as jumpy and tense.

"I don't know about you but I feel it's far from over."

Jim's only response was.

" agreed"

With that said and done the next thing they agreed on was to contact Jaden and get him updated on the current situation.

Back with Jaden, within the Rhoades's private jet.

As Jaden got the phone call from Jim and Axel about what's happening on academy island he couldn't help but sigh as Alexis noticed his mood.

" what's wrong?"

Jaden replied as follows.

" Adrian hasn't woken up yet."

At that moment Alexis realized something.

" I tried to save Adrian from Nightshroud but I didn't ask if that creep returned him as a whole."

Jaden at that in return reassured her that she did everything possibly could saying.

" it's not over until it's over."

As the day kept going eventually nightfall came as the private jet landed on academy island with Jaden and the rest of the group already fast asleep with Jaden struggling at first to fall asleep until his monsters Avion and Burstinatrix intervened.

' rest up Jaden, you're not good to anyone stressed.'

Avion agreed with that notion as he said.

' I sense Nightshroud hasn't made his move yet.'

Jaden at that countered.

" and that's what worries me."

Burstinatrix at that responded with.

' we know he won't play fair but rest assured the two of us won't let anything happen to you or anyone here.'

Jaden smirked.

" I know, why do you think I play you often?"

Avion blurted out.

' Burstinatrix's temper?'

Jaden let out a small laugh as the elemental heroine just shrugged confirming that indeed she had a temper as Jaden finally fell asleep.

' let's go, time to prove ourselves yet again.'

Avion only nodded as he followed Burstinatrix.

' you know I'll get you back for that temper comment right?'

Avion replied with.

' I was afraid of that.'

in the meantime, deep within the supreme king's temple. The card that Jaden specifically designed to entrap Nightshroud began to glow faintly and consistantly as the two monsters depicted on it struggled within its confines as Yubel, while not physically hurting the grim reaper figure, is in fact managing to weaken it considerably. As the battle dragged and dragged some more until Nightshroud not only stopped putting up a struggle he managed to vanish completely from Yubel's eyes. Trying to track him she only managed to locate him heading towards academy island.

' I need to warn Jaden now without him stopping me…'

Thinking of a solution she managed to come up with an idea she settled on making short visits to his dreams.

' prepare yourself…'

With her powers and influence waning Yubel decided she'd visit Alexis as well repeating the following message.

' protect him at all cost….'

With those messages repeating in their heads Jaden and Alexis were the first to wake up as the hero duelist bones cracked .

' did we have the same dream?…..'

Jaden nodded ass he tried to shake the tirdness away as in the meantime Nightshroud's consciousness was implanted into Adrian's mind though unbeknownst to him Yubel was implanting a small piece of her so hopefully Adrian could resist.

' you must always fight…'

'…. hello?….. who is this…..'

Surprised for the better Yubel encountered small fragments of Adrian as she introduced herself while explaining what's happening all around them. The next couple of hours were crucial as neither sides showed themselves as Adrian wondered.

' is there no actual way to let Jaden know of what's happening.'

Yubel replied as follows.

' I already am.'

Within Echo's mind however Nightshroud still had control over her as he directed her to act as though nothing was wrong so that his most valuable pawn could trap Jaden and his group exactly where he wanted them, speaking of the hero duelist and his group he in turn was having a conversation as Chazz asked flatly.

" while you're doing mental gymnastics with Nightshroud, what should we do except taking up space?"

Jaden smirked.

" the Rhoades are researching of any other ways to seal Nightshroud, your job will be to make sure they're not interrupted, any other questions neighbor?"

Chazz smirked in return.

" since you didn't ask, when do we actually eat?"

Jaden's stomach seconded that motion as it grumbled while he in turn admitted.

" kinda forgot about that."

With that the group left the plane and headed towards the academy as the all too familiar figures of " agent" shadows kept a watchful eye on them.

' what are your orders sir?'

Nightshroud relayed the following instructions.

' do not engage them in a duel until you are sure you can keep them isolated.'

the " agents" responded with agreement as they dispersed to where their namesake laid. After having a large breakfast Jaden couldn't afford to relax as he usually did as he waited for Nightshroud to make his next move.

" Jaden….."

Adrian at that greeted them as Jaden was picking up on the fact that his recently made friend was acting a bit weird.

" how are you feeling buddy?"

Adrian simply replied with.

" a bit of a headache but otherwise fine."

Jaden nodded, acting as if everything was fine as he invited Adrian to eat with them. Politely refusing Adrian continued on his way as Jaden rejoined the table as a recovering Atticus pointed out.

" you felt that too right?"

Jaden replied with an half of a joke.

" from a mile away, now let's finish here because we have a lot to do."

True to his word when Jaden finished breakfast he excused himself as Atticus joined him as he started a conversation.

" Jaden Yuki, having no trouble leaving the breakfast table, could you believe it?"

Jaden joked.

" I know, I could hardly believe it myself."

With that said and done both of them began to laugh as they reached the infirmary greeting Ms. Fontaine.

" let me guess, you need me to clear Atticus to duel right?"

Both Jaden and Atticus scratched the back of their heads as the former sheepishly asked.

" was I that obvious?"

Ms. Fontaine responded with a serious tone.

" no, but it is a school for dueling first and foremost."

Atticus continued the conversation as follows.

" and I'm afraid you won't clear me for dueling am I right?"

Ms. Fontaine sighed.

" that's what my instincts as a nurse tell me is the right thing to do."

Atticus returned the gesture as he said.

" look, my actions caused the mess that we're in right now so I need to try and make things right, more importantly… I need to protect my family from these weirdos." To say Ms. Fontaine didn't understood where Atticus was coming from would be a bold faced lie so she did what had to be done as she cleared him with a stern talking to.

" no heroics you two, got it?!"

A little scared by this side of her both Jaden and Atticus simply nodded as they continued on their way.

" not to sound like an airhead but where are we going now?!"

Jaden simply replied.

" normally I would tell you but I'm betting Nightshroud is somehow listening in so keep following me and everything will fall into place."

True to his words Jaden led Atticus to the card shop as Atticus caught on immediately to what Jaden had in mind as the latter greeted the shop owner Ms. Dorothy.

" well if it isn't my favorite auto club member, what can I help you with today?"

Jaden looked around for a bit before asking the following.

" look I know it maybe too early but, do you have any booster packs laying around, we need an upgrade for our decks like yesterday."

Smirking Ms. Dorothy answered.

" normally I wouldn't let anyone get away with it but since you're an upstanding young man, I'll see what I can do."

Giving a genuine smirk Atticus asked.

" you're one heck of a charmer aren't you?"

Jaden at that laughed as he answered with a bit of embarrassment in his voice.

" oh no… it's nothing like that….. I just helped her push a broken down van up the hill, no biggie…"

Still smirking Atticus gave a loud pat on Jaden's back.

"…. ouch…."

Atticus retorted humorously.

" in the last week alone you've survived what soldiers describe as hell on earth yet you can't take a pat on the back?"

Jaden shot back.

" not if that pat pops my shoulder out of place…"

As their back and forth went on for a little bit Ms. Dorothy returned with a handful of booster packs as Jaden and Atticus found a place to sit down and work on their respective decks.

" Jay….. thanks for everything."

Jaden at that replied with.

" thank me when this is over."

An hour or so passed by and the two were still going at adjusting their decks as Alexis came rushing in as Atticus was the first to notice.

" how bad is it?"

Alexis in turn replied with.

" it's not an emergency but Adrian disappeared."

Jaden at that joined the conversation.

" and I bet Echo followed right after him."

With that the three left the card shop as they thanked Ms. Dorothy before they regrouped with their friends as Jaden asigned Jim and Axel to protect the island's staff, Zane and Atticus to make sure nothing happens to the Rhoades while him, Alexis, Chazz and Syrus will face Nightshroud's forces head on.

" are you sure you want me with you?"

Jaden answered as follows.

" I won't lie to you Sy…. This isn't going to be pretty, but there's no one I'd want watching my back other than my best friend."

Chazz rolled his eyes as he asked.

" and what are we?, chopped liver?!"

Smirking, Jaden asked in return.

" do you actually want to split hairs right now?"

That kept Chazz quiet for a little bit as the group waited for the imminent attack however it never came as the others didn't report in either. A few minutes of inactivity passed as Alexis addressed everyone.

" sorry guys, I may have jumped the gun here."

Jaden at that chimed in.

" you don't have to be, Nightshroud's doing this on purpose."

Chazz at this point responded with.

" what?, getting on our nerves?… he's doing great so far….."

Jaden corrected him.

" he's trying to feed on our darkest thougths and impulses."

Chazz rolled his eyes in annoyance as he further asked.

" great….. so how do we make sure we don't make him fat and plumb?"

Syrus spoke up.

" maybe try and think of a nice memory… or something….."

Jaden at that began smiling as he said.

" that's an excellent idea Sy."

With that the group contacted the rest updating them with what's going on as " Adrian" and "Echo" in the meantime were trying and failing to feed themselves as a shadow " agent" reported in.

' should we begin our attack?'

"Adrian" at that gave the order for attack.

To be Continued in : Sacrifice part 03.