Chapter 33:
"Woah, what was that?" Jaden exclaimed once the tremors subsided. He dusted himself off and got back on his feet, after he'd fallen on his bum because he ran ahead and got surprised.
"Good question-" Bastion began, only to be interrupted by a brief flash of golden light coming through the small windows along the corridor they're in.
"Woah, that looked pretty cool." Jaden said, only to let out a disappointed noise once it was over. "Sorry, what were you saying, Bastion?"
"That we know too little and should hurry up." Bastion said. "I assume something inside this building might've changed, but since we see nothing of that our friends might be in danger. If anything, that light just now felt a bit ominous to me."
Jaden tilted his head to the side. "Really?" Now that he said it, he too felt a bit off all of a sudden. As if something deep inside of him was stirring. He'd noticed a weird feeling ever since they entered the building that'd only gotten stronger the further they went in. But those were probably just his nerves, at least that's what he thought before the quake.
"Then let's get going." Chazz urged, looking a bit on-edge. "The faster we find whatever we're supposed to find the quicker we can meet up with the rest."
"I agree with Monsieur Princeton." Crowler said. "If this really is where the barrier surrounding the island originates it's in our best interest to remove it asap."
"That's what I like to hear; let's go!" Jaden cheered loudly before running ahead. He didn't hear what Bastion shouted after him, but since there were three pairs of feet following him, he didn't bother turning around.
The corridor soon led into a big hall with a rectangular layout. It went on farther than he could see, with several pillars going up to the ceiling, which had a large round opening showing the night sky. The moonlight coming through the hole was the only light in the room, illuminating the open space in the middle of it. The rest of the room looked unnaturally dark, however.
Jaden walked forward, feeling drawn towards the light for some reason. Once in the middle of the room, he looked up into the sky, to the moon, and felt oddly … nostalgic. A scene suddenly flashed in his mind. The image of a child with oddly familiar looking brown hair, wearing some Roman-like clothes and looking out at the night sky from what appeared to be a castle wall.
The scene shifted to the side and a new figure appeared, but their form was so distorted that he couldn't make them out. What he could see, however, was the figure turning as if to look straight at him. He abruptly found himself back in the room, holding his aching head. A hand on his shoulder shook him, which turned out to be Bastion.
"Jaden, what's wrong?"
"I … I don't know." Jaden replied, shaking his head in hopes of getting the images he'd just seen out of his mind and focus.
"Why doesn't you daydreaming in the middle of our mission surprise me." Chazz said sharply.
"Hey, it wasn't like that-" Jaden began.
"Behind me." Doctor Crowler hissed, stopping him immediately. The man then activated his duel disk, prompting his students to do the same. "We're surrounded."
"What? How?!" Bastion question, looking from side to side as he turned around. Jaden and Chazz followed suit, and the four of them quickly found themselves back-to-back.
From behind the pillars over a dozen figures dressed in black cloaks appeared. The first thing that came to Jaden's mind when he saw them were the Rare Hunters from the Battle City Tournament. The longer he looked at them, the more they reminded him of a certain set of cards.
"Are those … Gravekeepers?" He blurted out, which halted the group's approach for a moment. Then, they revealed their own duel disks and activated them.
"Would it kill you to keep your mouth shut for once?!" Chazz barked.
"He's got a point." Bastion added, not specifying whether he meant his or Chazz' words.
"Don't do anything reckless, students." Crowler ordered. "We don't know how many there are, so make sure to play safe and end your duels quick. Especially you, slacker."
Jaden laughed sheepishly. "Alright, alright. You better get your game on!"
"If what you say is true, Chancellor, then …" Zane said as it slowly dawned on him.
"Then Alexis got wrecked." Blake stated matter-of-factly. When everyone around him sent him an angry look, he shrugged. "I mean, sure it could've been one of the other guys, but realistically speaking? She'd be the one to go down first." 'And not just because I sicked someone at her that's way above her level.'
"Who has or hasn't lost is beside the point." Sheppard said after a few moments. "What matters is that one of us has lost and is likely in critical condition. We need to find the others and regroup."
"So, we're missing two guys, come from different directions, and have two ways ahead of us." Kami surmised, looking just a tad bit nervous.
Blake clapped his hands. "Alright, let's split up."
"What?!"
He rolled his eyes at the simultaneous exclamation. "It'll be way faster like that. You two go that way, we'll take this one. Then we'll grab who we find and get back here, easy." They'd both find who they're looking for, and he'd no longer have to deal with Sheppard's stupid ideas. A win-win situation.
"I mean, you're not wrong, but …" Kami mused and took a step closer to him.
"No, we're already spread thin enough as is." Sheppard denied the idea with a tone of finality. "If something were to happen that split us again after that, every one of us would be on their own. We'll stay together." With that said, he walked over to one of the ways neither of them had come from. Zane quickly followed behind.
Blake let out an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, sure. Let's go with your idea. Not like it got us in this situation in the first place." He reluctantly followed, with his partner just a step behind him. Then a thought crossed his mind. 'If you're so confident in taking charge, be my guest. Go try and fix this yourself.'
Their group walked for minutes, when suddenly, the smell of something burnt hit them. Before he could say anything, Zane and Sheppard took off running. "Fucking hell; why's no one using their brain?!"
He felt a tug on his sleeve. "W-we should follow them."
"Oh, we will. But you'll stay out of whatever's happening. You go that?"
She looked like she wanted to argue but after a sharp look at her she just nodded.
"Good."
He knew she wasn't happy about getting talked to like that, but he didn't care right now. It was his job to keep her safe, and the less she got herself into dangerous situations the better. 'I should really get myself a hazard-pay for this one.'
They ran after their seniors, and Blake felt his annoyance turn into anger. He got that they're worried, but that didn't mean they should rush in like a pair of idiots. If it wasn't for the fact that the Shadow Riders needed to win those stupid keys in Shadow Duels they surely would've been caught in some deadly trap by now.
But luckily for them, that wasn't the case. When they caught up with the others, they found themselves in a circular room with only one way going forward. Before Sheppard and Zane stood two figures.
The first wore a long black coat, had long black hair, and a distinct black half-mask on their face, covering their eyes. Nightshroud's 'eyes' met Blake's for just a moment, and the possessed body of Atticus looked highly amused for some reason. Blake barely heard the almost silent growl of his spirit partner at the sight.
Next to him stood their missing guardian. Alexis didn't look exactly well; her hair was ruffled and the tips of it slightly singed. Her uniform-jacket hat been burnt off, leaving her in just a black shirt and dusty pants. But most strikingly, at least to Blake, were her eyes. They appeared to be glazed over, as if she wasn't really there.
"I see I've got myself another batch of victims to play with." Nightshroud haughtily said after a few moments.
Zane looked shell-shocked, no doubt realizing that his lost best friend stood in front of him. But not as his friend, but his enemy.
Sheppard seemed to have more peace of mind. "Atticus, what happened to you? And what happened to Alexis?"
"Oh, now you care?" Nightshroud asked. "Got a habit of always doing that a little late, don't you, Sheppard?"
The man flinched.
"Not that it matters. I'll show you exactly what happened." Nightshroud then turned to Alexis. "Won't you help me with that, dear sister?"
Alexis nodded almost robotically and readied herself for a duel.
"Snap out of it you two!" Zane finally shouted, broken out of his shock.
"Make us." Nightshroud taunted and activated his duel disk. "Though I hope our intel was correct and my sister was in fact the weakest of your little group. It'd be a shame to have another duel that barely lasts two turns."
"Your what?" Sheppard questioned.
"What, did you really think we didn't know all about you and your little guardians?" Nightshroud replied with a sick grin. "You might want to check your so called 'allies'. Not that you'll get a chance to do so once I'm done with you."
Zane looked to be torn on what to do, but it was Sheppard who got him to focus. "Zane, listen to me. It's clear that someone or something has messed with their minds. This isn't the first time I've seen something like this."
"So, what? We'll fight them in a Shadow Duel they themselves set up?!" Zane replied in frustration. "Then they'll get hurt!"
"They'll get hurt even more if we leave them be." Sheppard said and put his hands on his pupil's shoulders. "And if anyone could get through to them, it's you."
Blake watched the scene with mild interest. On one hand, he got Nightshroud where he wanted him. On the other, he would've preferred to get there without sacrificing Alexis, even if she wasn't all that useful overall. He was expecting Zane to turn around and call him over to partner up, but that's where Sheppard surprised him once more.
"And I won't let you do this alone." Sheppard assured and activated his own duel disk. "I might be rusty, but I'm still a duelist. And more importantly; these are my students. It's my duty to help them." The man stood taller than ever and off an aura of calmness and assurance that hasn't been there before.
If it wasn't for Sheppard doing the exact opposite when it came to him, Blake would've almost been touched by the sight. He crossed his arms as he watched Zane ready himself, a burning sensation running through him as his charm reacted to the one Nightshroud was wielding as he activated it. It urged him to get in there himself and began to hurt when he didn't.
The four duelists got encircled by a line of shadowy smoke, causing Kami to jump back with a shrill 'eep'.
"S-so, this is a Shadow Duel?" She nervously asked while mimicking Blake's stance, although way shakier.
"You've seen nothing. But you may want to pay attention to just what you got yourself into." Blake answered. Hopefully she'd back out of the whole guardian-thing after this duel. It'd make his life a lot easier. Then again, when was it ever easy?
The duelists drew their cards, and waited for the system to call the first turn. (Zane + Sheppard 8000 / Nightshroud + Alexis 8000)
"My turn, draw." Alexis announced stoically. "I set a monster and a face-down. Pass."
Sheppard drew next. "I set a monster myself and activate Swords of Revealing Light!" A row of shining, white swords fell down onto their opponents' side of the field, surrounding their frontline. The bright light burnt away the card Alexis' monster was hiding under, revealing a Warrior Lady of the Wasteland (1100/1200). She remained in a defensive stance, hiding her body under the brown cloak and hat she wore.
"Then I set a card and end my turn." He said and nodded to Zane.
"And here I thought my sister was weak, turns out she learnt it from the worst." Nightshroud said. "A little monster and some glow sticks won't protect you. First, I summon Black Dragon's Chick!" A red egg the size of a basketball appeared in front of him, its top breaking and revealing a black baby dragon (800/500).
"Next, I use my monster's special ability to send it to the graveyard to summon a real monster. Show them your might; Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The egg and baby inside began to glow, then grew rapidly. When the glow stopped, the full size of the black dragon towered over everyone as it spread its wings and let out a deafening roar (2400/2000).
"An impressive start, but my swords won't allow you to attack." Sheppard stated calmly.
"I see you're as slow as I remembered, Sheppard." Nightshroud mocked. "I activate Inferno Fire Blast! In exchange for my dragon being unable to attack this turn, this card inflicts damage equal to its attack! Red-Eyes, show that idiot who he's messing with!"
The dragon's hateful red eyes locked onto Sheppard, before it reeled back its head and unleashed a ball of dark flames that hit the Chancellor head-on. The man barely got his arms up in time to shield himself, but was blasted back nonetheless. He hit the shadows surrounding them and defiantly remained on his feet. But his sleeves were already burned off, and the arms beneath didn't look much better. (Zane + Sheppard 5600 / Nightshroud + Alexis 8000)
The sight wasn't anything new to Blake, but certainly for Kami. "T-this is insane. H-how?" Her fingers dug further into her arms; her eyes wide with shock.
"Didn't you listen when Bastion and I explained it to you? It's magic, as stupid as it sounds."
She audibly gulped and got closer, almost leaning on him.
"Second guessing your decision already?" He teased her, but got no reply. So, he focused back onto the duel.
Nightshroud set a card himself before ending his turn, giving way to Zane as the first third of revealing swords vanished from the field.
"I summon Cyber Dragon Zwei in attack position." Zane began and a smaller version of the Cyber Dragon appeared, various green-glowing highlights across its body (1500/1000).
"Next, I activate its effect! By revealing one Spell card in my hand its name becomes 'Cyber Dragon' until the end of the turn." He revealed a card Blake couldn't make out, but it didn't matter since he activated right away. "Then I activate the card I just showed you; Future Fusion!"
A trio of skyscrapers appeared behind him, a bright blue light beginning to form above them. "I aim to summon Cyber Twin Dragon, so I send two Cyber Dragon from my deck to the graveyard. Then I activate Polymerization to fuse the last Cyber Dragon in my hand with my Cyber Dragon Zwei to summon a Cyber Twin Dragon right now!"
The two mechanical dragons leapt into the swirl of fusion magic, but before their combination completed, Sheppard activated his set card. "In response I chain my set card; Cyber Summon Blaster! Whenever a machine monster gets special summoned it inflicts 300 points of damage to our opponent!" A large machine running on tracks appeared next to the man, opening the radar-like dish on its top.
With that over, out came the two-headed Cyber Twin Dragon, screeching and ready to battle (2800/2100). Right on time, Sheppard's trap reacted and shot a blast of electricity at Nightshroud. (Zane + Sheppard 5600 / Nightshroud + Alexis 7700)
Blake scoffed at the bit of chip damage and the useless card that caused it. 'Could've been something to negate the damage they took, or even a Bottomless Trap Hole. Sheppard sure is rusty if he runs scrap like that.'
"Now, Cyber Twin Dragon; attack his Red-Eyes!"
"Not so fast!" Alexis suddenly raised her voice and revealed her own trap. "I activate Spirit Barrier! As long as we have monsters, we won't receive any battle damage!"
With that, the dragon's stream of plasma successfully ripped through the dark flames its target tried to protect itself with, but left no damage on their opponent themselves.
Zane clicked his tongue, but continued nevertheless. "Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice per Battle Phase. Go, destroy her Warrior Lady!"
Blake sighed, loud enough for Kami to be startled in surprise. "What's wrong? They're gaining ground."
"They're playing into their opponents' hands." He replied. "Aside from the stupid cards they're using, Zane doesn't have his head in the game. Otherwise, he wouldn't have attacked Alexis' monster."
He pointed over to her side of the field and his point was made. The destruction of the Warrior Lady allowed Alexis to summon another monster from her deck, specifically the Blade Skater (1400/1500) she needed to fuse her ace monster.
"Oh."
"Yes. Oh."
Zane grumbled and ended his turn with a face-down, and another third of the revealing lights fading.
"My turn!" Alexis announced. "First I'll get rid of these pesky swords. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy them!" The blue typhoon ripped through what was left of the swords, only to be replaced by another fusion swirl.
"Then I use my own Polymerization to combine my Blade Skater and the Etoile Cyber from my hand to summon Cyber Blader!" The purple skinned warrior appeared, its red vizor scanning the opponents' side of the field (2100/800). With two monsters opposing her, her red armor began glowing and the spikes on her shoulders parted as pure energy pulsed between them, doubling her attack (4200/800).
That boost of power didn't last, however, as the moment it was sent to attack the Twin Dragon, an orb of light hit her in the middle of her body and ripped her apart.
"I activate De-Fusion, targeting your Cyber Blader." Zane said. "Normally it'd summon back the materials of the selected Fusion monster, but only if they're in my graveyard, which they're not."
Alexis frowned and ended her turn with that.
"Then I believe it's my turn." Sheppard took over and made a play Blake never would've thought to see.
"I begin by summoning Bokoichi the Freightening Car!" A red and brown wagon with a face stopped in front of the man (500/500), looking a bit grumpy. "Next, I activate Machine Duplication and target my Bokoichi! This allows me to summon up to two copies of my monster from my deck!" Another two wagons parked next to the first, and the blaster shot once more. (Zane + Sheppard 5600 / Nightshroud + Alexis 7400)
"Now, I flip my set monster; Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive!" And out came the purple, anrgy-looking … well, locomotive (1400/1000). "When its flipped I get to draw one card, and an additional card for every Bokoichi I control. Which means I get to draw four cards!"
Blake blinked and despite the ridiculousness of the play, he couldn't help but be astonished that he managed to pull it off. It was a real shame that the Cyberdarks had too high attack points, otherwise he might've added that strategy to them as well.
"There're no monsters between you and us, so your Spirit Barrier won't protect you from all our monsters. Cyber Twin Dragon, direct attack!" Sheppard announced and chopped his hand forward. The machine's first head shot out a stream of energy, rapidly closing in on Nightshroud once more. But he only smirked.
"I don't think so. Go, Mirror Force!"
The attack hit the spherical barrier and split into five, sent back to its originator. Each part hit one of the monsters on Sheppard and Zane's side of the field, reducing them to ash and leaving them wide open as well.
Sheppard grimaced, but he wasn't done yet. "In that case I believe it's my turn to use Polymerization next: I fuse the two Cyber Ogre in my hand to summon Cyber Ogre 2." Two large ogres made of metal appeared and disappeared in a flash, before coming together in one massive form. Said form was even bulkier, with a thick silver armor covering its body. Where the ogres once had legs, it instead had a spiked tail and kept itself up with its giant claws, as it looked down on its opponents (2600/1900).
The man set one additional card as his trap hit his opponent once more. (Zane + Sheppard 5600 / Nightshroud + Alexis 7100)
Then it was Nightshroud's turn once more. He didn't look impressed by the tall monster at all. "Let's see if that one can actually do something." He said dismissively while setting a monster and a backrow.
Now it was Zane's turn to mock him. "What, that's all?"
"It is. Feel free to repeat what your worthless teacher just did." Nightshroud shrugged with a smirk.
"We'll see about that. First, it's been two turns since my Future Fusion was activated. And since my Cyber Dragons are still in the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon another Cyber Twin Dragon!" Out of the bright blue light strode an exact copy of the monster destroyed only moments prior. And with it came another blast. (Zane + Sheppard 5600 / Nightshroud + Alexis 6800)
"Now, let's see what you got, shall we? Twin Dragon, attack his monster!" This time, the attack wasn't interrupted and destroyed the red and beige dragon that hid under the set card, only to be replaced by another one. Grumbling to himself, Zane ordered another attack from his dragon, and then another from the ogre.
After three Masked Dragons were defeated one after the other, a Twin Headed Behemoth stood tall against them, with no attack left to destroy it as well (1500/1200).
Zane was visibly frustrated. "I set a card and end my turn."
Alexis' turn was a matter of drawing and setting a backrow, during which she kept awfully quiet.
"I summon Cyber Esper, then attack your monster with my Cyber Ogre 2, who gets half of its targets attack points when it attacks!" Shepard boomed. The boost, while nice, didn't matter due to Spirit Barrier still being active. "Cyber Esper, direct attack!" The humanoid machine clad in grey and copper metal unfurled its bladed wings (1200/1800) and dashed forward.
It was interrupted by a quartet of fluffy sheep, summoned by Alexis' Scapegoat spell.
"Cut through them!"
The machine obliged and sliced through the first, with Zane's two-headed dragon taking out another two, leaving just one. With no play left to do, Sheppard ended his turn.
"Would you look at that, she can actually be useful." Nightshroud chuckeled darkly. He drew his next card and his grin almost split his face. "Well, it was nice, and definitely longer than I anticipated. But this is where we must part ways."
He slid his card into his duel disk, and a massive spire made of wires and metal appeared in front of him, slowly charging up with energy. "I activate System Down. In exchange for a measly 1000 lifepoints it'll banish all Machine monsters you control and have in your graveyards." (Zane + Sheppard 5600 / Nightshroud + Alexis 5800)
The spire released an electric pulse that ripped apart all of the machines, sending their remains through a rift in space and out of the game.
Blake couldn't help himself but whistle at that. It was the second time Nightshroud had cleared his opponents' field, after all. And with such a specific counter card to boot. He didn't even bother to bring back the weakened form of his Behemoth. Neither Zane's Overdragon nor Eltanin would be able to be summoned like that. They're fucked.
"After you've had your chance to pull out your big monsters, I believe I'll do so as well. I activate my set Soul Resurrection to bring back my Red-Eyes. But it won't stay for long; for I tribute it to summon its evolved form: Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"
The newly returned dragon's scales began to shift and turn, as did its wings. Red lines formed all over its body, with similar red jewels adorning its wings and legs, a dark aura enveloping its whole being.
"I must thank you for destroying all my dragons. My Darkness Dragon receives 300 attack points for every Dragon in my graveyard, after all." Nightshroud said. The energy of his fallen dragons flew to his ace and its body lit up in a dark red glow as it grew in power and size (4200/2000).
"Red-Eyes; attack them directly!" The black dragon opened its mouth and released what seemed like an endless torrent of red and black flames that washed over its enemies.
It only hit Sheppard, who'd stepped in front of Zane, however. (Zane + Sheppard 1400 / Nightshroud + Alexis 5800)
His burnt and smoking body dropped like a sack of potatoes, much to the shock of his students. His pained breaths were the only sound echoing through the room for a few seconds. At this point, Kami had buried her face into Blake's chest, shaking like a leaf. The nigh silence was broken by Nightshroud's laugh.
"Told you. But don't worry, you'll join him soon enough."
Zane slowly looked up and pointedly drew his next card. "No, I'll stop you here and now."
"Oh, and how do you think you'll do that?" Nightshroud laughed once more. "All your little Cyber Dragons are gone!"
"You'd think so, but I wouldn't be the duelist I am today if I didn't have a backup." He revealed the card he'd set on his last turn. "I activate Return from the Different Dimension! In exchange for half my lifepoints I get to summon as many of my banished monsters as I can!" (Zane + Sheppard 700 / Nightshroud + Alexis 5800)
A rift opened above the battlefield, and out came three Cyber Dragons, a Cyber Twin Dragon, and finally Sheppard's Cyber Ogre 2. Nightshroud visibly paled at the sight.
"And I'll have to correct you; I haven't pulled out my strongest monster yet. But I will now." Zane slapped down his next card. "I activate Power Bond to fuse my three Cyber Dragons to summon Cyber End Dragon!"
The three dragons were caught in a sphere of metal, blue flames shining through its openings as they combined into Zane's ultimate monster. "And because of Power Bond, its attack points are doubled!"
The titanic form of the empowered Cyber End Dragon broke out of the sphere, all of its heads roaring proud and full of anger (8000/2800). "And now, for the last card Sheppard left me; I activate Limiter Removal!"
All of Zane's monsters began to glow hot-red with steam coming out of every part of their bodies as their power was doubled beyond their limits.
"No, no! I can't lose here!" Nightshroud shouted angrily.
"You will lose and I will safe both you and Alexis from whatever ails you. I'd say sorry for the pain, but not after what you've done to the Chancellor." Zane stated neutrally.
"Cyber Ogre 2, destroy his dragon!" The massive machine crushed even the empowered Darkness Dragon with ease.
"Cyber Twin, the last sheep." The poor blue token sheep didn't even see it coming.
"Cyber End Dragon, full force attack!" The three-headed dragon reeled back and unleashed three streams of energy, and the 16000 points of damage behind it, all at Nightshroud.
The room was flooded with light. Blake had to shield his eyes, but saw a strange black barrier form in front of Nightshroud just before he's blinded. The room shook violently, and an angry, painful cry echoed through the sounds of destruction. When he could see again, the other half of the room was gone. All that was left were Alexis' and Atticus' bodies.
Both looked terrible. The later had lost his cloak, with his mask thrown off and crumbling into dust just in front of him. But with Alexis, it looked like some kind of small shadowy figure came out of her. It vaguely resembled a bat before it evaporated.
With the duel over, Zane let out a long breath before falling down to one knee.
"Blake … call security and medical here, please." Was all he could say before face-planting on the ground.
Jaden was breathing heavily and so were the others around him. They're all in their fourth duel in a row, and those had clearly taken their toll on them.
While both he and Doctor Crowler were still somehow standing, both Bastion and Chazz were down on one knee. The good part? It seemed like there were no further opponents for them. The bad part? He didn't know if he could pull off another win.
While all their opponents were playing more or less the same deck, they all managed to play it differently. His first opponent tried to brute-force his way to a win. The second through burn-damage. The third did his best to lock him out of his graveyard and options.
And the one he's battling now, and looked like the leader of the bunch, did all of that at once.
Bastion had a lot of trouble dealing with their opponents Necrovalley Field Spell, given that he very much needed to use his graveyard for his Zombie monsters.
Doctor Crowler was handling himself really well, giving Jaden a newfound respect for the man's skills. While the two of them certainly got off on the wrong foot, they were still duelists. And duelists respected one another's skills.
Chazz was faring about as well as he did, but he couldn't really watch him since he's standing right behind him.
His own situation wasn't looking good. While his opponent's monster wasn't that strong, one attack should win either of them the game. Plus, he lacked the chance to pull anything out himself. All his fusions have either been used or negated and the active Necrovalley made his Miracle Fusion useless. As much as he loved them, neither Avian nor Burstinatrix were helping him right now.
Winged Kuriboh cooed with concern, jumping up and down to cheer him on.
"We're in a bit off a rough spot, aren't we, buddy?" Jaden laughed weakly.
And if his current situation wasn't bad enough already, he clearly felt some weird-feeling rummaging around inside of him. Not the giddy kind he got when a duel reaches its peak. A sad one. An angry one. One he hadn't felt in years.
His opponent ended his turn, and it took Jaden a few seconds before he found the strength to reach for his duel disk to draw. He grasped his deck tightly and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did.
When he opened them, everything seemed to be much clearer. His head, the darkness of the room, the fact they're going home. He drew his final card in a wide arc before looking at it.
Huh, he didn't remember putting that one in the deck. It sure came in handy right now, though. The very concept of the card felt wrong to him every time he looked at it when going through his stash. It didn't feel like that now.
"You really pushed me there, my guy." Jaden began, surprising himself when he heard his own cold tone. "But we really gotta go."
He put the card into the backrow slot of his duel disk. "I activate Dark Fusion. With it I fuse together the Elemental HERO Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to summon a whole new Fusion monster. Come forth and burn my enemies to the ground; Evil HERO Inferno Wing!"
Unlike every other time he fused those two heroes together, this time they vanished into a dark swirl of magic. And out came not the male hero with his iconic draconic arm, but a female version. Dressed in dark red and gray, sprouting two dark plated wings, and a vizor that hid her face, his newest hero stood tall and proud. She briefly turned around, bowing to him with one arm and a small smile on her face.
"Inferno Wing, destroy his monster!" he ordered, and his monster gladly obeyed.
His enemy and his monster vanished in a torrent of dark flames, leaving nothing but dust behind. For a moment he thought there would be another one of them trying to duel him. A tall figure with a beige cloak hid in the far back of the room. But when he blinked, the figure was gone. All the better for them.
Much to his surprise, his own monster didn't vanish, despite his duel disk deactivating. Instead, she caught him as he fell forward, gently lowering him to the ground.
"Heh, thanks." He mumbled weakly. "Sorry for thinking bad of you. I shouldn't have waited to bring you out until I was at the brink of defeat."
The hero gently waved him off and continued holding onto him as he watched his friends finish their own duels. Unlike him, they did collapse completely, even though they won.
He tried to get back on his feet, but his body wasn't obeying. "Hey, I know this might be asking a bit much, but could you get us out of here?"
Inferno Wing nodded and began throwing the others over her shoulders. When they're settled, and Jaden himself held in her arms like a bride, he finally found it safe to close his eyes.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Hope I didn't promise too much last time when I said you'd get a special duel. Sheppard in action, wohoo! I thought about giving Alexis a short section as well, but since I'm focusing on others more, I just skipped it. Sorry Alexis fans, but a guy gotta make a decision. But at least she was a good support for her 'brother'.
On that note, I hope the one you got was good enough. Since Sheppard's only really known for his Cyber Ogres and hasn't really dueled in a while, I tried to give him cards that show that. Plus, I really liked the idea of him using Machine Duplication the way he did.
As teased before, Jaden keeps progressing with his innate powers, even showing off a Dark Fusion for the first time. Wonder what that means …
Glad everyone enjoyed last chapter! I think I'll be going with the anime effect of the Cyberdark Dragon, since most of you agreed on it'd be better. Gotta see what I'll do for the Sacred Beasts to make them viable, probably use some of their modern support to make them work.
Yeah, manga-story will make an appearance - later. I'll just keep on teasing it and change a bit of stuff as you'll see if you've read it.
Liked the review saying that Blake kept Banner with him to protect Kami or force a 2v1. Not my initial thought, more so to keep an eye on the man, but I really like this interpretation. And while Banner didn't take out Alexis, he surely kept tabs on someone else.
That said, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. It's been almost a year since I started writing and publishing this story and I thought maybe I'd write a short extra chapter for its first-year anniversary. Maybe some kind of interlude showing what's going on outside the academy right now, or showing you guys some ideas I scrapped. Maybe even a short insight into the version of this story where Blake actually got his letter to Pegasus, and never had to duel underground. What's your guys take on that? Let me know!
Until then, have a great time ~