Chapter 8: Stumble
Summary: On the path to growth one will often
Takashi had slept for 16 hours, waking up by 10 am Sunday. After getting ready for the day, he left his room to go talk to his friends. He knocked on their door and didn't get a response. He was about to check for them in the mess hall when he heard a commotion around the dorm. Checking it out he sees Alexis and Chumley looking at something at the bottom of the cliff.
"What's going on guys?" Alexis and Chumley turn to Takashi surprised by his presence, shaking off the surprise Chumley smiles and answers the question.
"Oh, hey Takashi. We were all still feeling a little tense, so Jaden suggested some duels to unwind." Takashi shakes his head with a small smile.
"That sounds like Jaden. I swear if he's not thinking about food he's thinking about dueling." Chumley chuckles and Alexis speaks up giving Takashi a small smile.
"I was still collecting my thoughts as well. So, I thought I'd come see you guys, when I saw this." She points down the cliff. Takashi walks over to curiously look down and sees Jaden attacking Syrus with Thunder Giant and Burstinatrix.
"Go Thunder Giant! Voltic Thunder!" Thunder Giant throws a blast of electricity at Syrus bring him down to 200 Life Points. "Now Burstinatrix! Burst Fire." Burstinatrix launches a ball of fire at Syrus bringing his Life Points to zero as he falls on his back. Jaden points two fingers at Syrus with a grin.
"Gotcha! Syrus, that was a fun duel!" Syrus looks despondent at the statement as he pulls himself up to his knees.
"I knew it, I'm no good. There's no way I can help you guys protect Takashi." Jaden looks confused as he walks up to Syrus.
"What are you talking about? Sure, you got kicked around at the end there, but till then, it could've gone either way." Syrus looks down in shame.
"But…" Seeing Syrus trail off; Jaden looks curiously at Syrus.
"When you drew that card, you got this weird expression on your face. Let me see your hand." Not giving Syrus a chance to protest he grabs his hand of cards from him. Seeing it Jaden lets out a small gasp of surprise.
"Why didn't you use Power Bond? If you had, you would have doubled the attack points of Steam Gyroid. With 4400 attack points he could of beat my Avian, dealt me 3400 points of damage and won you the duel." Syrus jumps to his feet with his hands balled into fists at his side with a determined expression.
"I can't do that! My brother declared that card off-limits!" Syrus snatched his cards back with angry tears welling up in his eyes. "I gave that big speech yesterday, but there's just no way I can help you guys protect him!" Syrus then runs off leaving Jaden and the others up top behind. Takashi and Chumley shout his name running after him with concerned looks, while Alexis walks down to talk to Jaden with a worried look on her face.
"Are you alright? You normally look so full of energy after a duel, but you look drained now." Jaden stares out at the ocean with a look of concern on his face. After a minute of silence, he speaks up with a subdued tone.
"Dueling's supposed to be fun." Alexis stares at Jaden with concern as he continues talking. "When you duel, you expose yourself to your opponent, your joy, your fear, your troubles, and everything else. It makes you lighter. But when I dueled Syrus just now, when I saw Takashi duel Titan, there was so much pain."
"Syrus had a great card that could have won him the duel, but because his brother forbids it for some reason, the card caused him so much pain. And then everything with Takashi..." Alexis' frown deepens at the mention of what Takashi revealed last night.
"I don't want to believe something so horrible could happen to someone, especially as friendly as Takashi, or that someone could be monstrous enough to do that to someone. But listening to him, seeing the look in his eyes, you just can't help but to believe it's all true." Jaden nods with a contemplative look in his eyes.
"When I look back at his two duels before Titan, he was enjoying himself, but there was something holding him back from truly losing himself in the fun of the duels. While knowing how much of his power he has to keep at bay from hurting others explains a part of it…" Alexis jumps in at his pause.
"But it's not all of it."
"Yeah. He may never be able to fully shake the chains they put on him, and it's frustrating!" Jaden takes a deep breath, feeling conflicted about the whole situation. Alexis puts a hand on his shoulder, knowing how he feels.
"I understand how you feel Jaden, but some problems just don't have simple fixes. We'll just have to be there for him, remind him that we support him. And who knows, maybe one day he'll get full control of his powers and won't have to cause himself pain to not hurt his opponent in a duel." Jaden sighs sadly.
"I know you're right." After a moment he gets a determined gleam in his eye. "I may not know how to help Takashi right now, but I know how to help Syrus!" Alexis chuckles at that.
"And how do you plan to help him?"
"I'm going to help him overcome his fear of Power Bond! Now I just need to give his brother a piece of my mind!" Alexis side eyes Jaden with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Do you even know how to get a hold of Syrus' brother?" He deflates at that.
"Uhhh, no I don't." She shakes her head at him with a fond smile.
"He's a third year Obelisk Blue student, considered the best duelist at the academy and a shoo-in for the pro circuit." Jaden looks at her shocked causing her to giggle. Before taking on a sad smile. "Yeah, he was actually my brother's best friend. So, in a way he's like a big brother to me too. I'll tell him you're interested in talking to him." Jaden gives her a challenging grin.
"Thanks Alexis! But don't tell him I want to talk. Tell him I want to duel!" She rolls her eyes at him.
"Of course."
/RFSXPL/
Having lost sight of Syrus, Takashi and Chumley split up to cover more ground. After searching for a bit, Takashi found Syrus sitting under a tree, knees brought up to his chest with his head resting on them. He quickly sent a message to Chumley, saying that he found Syrus and would bring him back to the dorms.
After jogging over to Syrus, who didn't acknowledge his approach, he sat down next to him. After a minute of silence, Takashi finally speaks up.
"So, do you want to tell me what's wrong? If you don't want to, we can just sit here till you fall asleep, and I can carry you back to the dorm." After another minute of silence, Syrus' face going through a range of emotions from sad, to angry, to resignation, he finally sighs.
"When you told me what had happened to you, that people were still after you, I was so angry hearing about the people who did that you. So, without thinking, I jumped in and said I would help protect you, but I'm not strong enough. I never will be." Takashi hums in appreciation at that.
"Well first of all, while I appreciate you all wanting to help me, I didn't tell you all my story to get you to join my fight, just to warn you what being around me could get you involved in." Syrus looks up at Takashi in shock.
"But there are horrible people after you, wanting to lock you up to experiment on you! You're our friend, so of course we want to protect you from them!" Takashi gives a weak chuckle at that.
"Please try not to broadcast details in the open like this Syrus." Syrus covers his mouth in embarrassment. "Secondly who said you weren't a strong enough duelist? And who said you couldn't get better?"
"But you saw how my duel with Jaden went, or at least the end where he creamed me." Takashi raises an eyebrow.
"Well for one, you lost to Jaden, someone who is one of the top tier students in the practical side of dueling. And two, you lost a single duel. Why does one loss make you weak?" Syrus looks at Takashi like he said the sky is green.
"But it's not just one duel! I'm towards the bottom of the class, barely scraping by." Takashi looks at Syrus with a knowing look.
"Syrus, you get nervous when it comes to duels and tests, it happens. You spend so much time feeling like you're going to lose; you beat yourself before your opponent can." Syrus looks away from Takashi with a huff.
"And what, I'm just supposed to believe in myself, and I'll become a top duelist?" Takashi gives a so-so motion with his hand.
"I mean yes, but also no." Syrus looks back in shock at Takashi.
"N-n what!?" Takashi gives Syrus a knowing smile.
"Believing in yourself will take you far, yeah. But the further you go, the more you'll run into people who also believe in themselves. Most duels are only going to have one winner, so does your belief in yourself have more intrinsic value than your opponent's belief in themselves?" Syrus takes a minute to contemplate what he was just asked, looking deep in thought.
"I guess not." Takashi nods with a small smile.
"Also, judging by your tone with that question, I'm pretty sure you've heard people tell you to "Just have confidence in yourself," so much, you're probably sick of hearing it." Syrus gives a sigh of exhaustion.
"A little, yeah." Takashi nods with a knowing look, figuring that would be his answer.
"It's easy to tell people to "just be confident" and to "believe in yourself," but that doesn't just happen overnight. So, all I can confidently tell you, is to work on yourself a little every day; don't feel like you have to take big leaps just to catch up to everyone else. The only pace you need to worry about is your own." Syrus stares at Takashi in silence making him chuckle nervously scratching his cheek. "Or, you know, something like that. I'm not really a trained therapist or anything, just been to one for about a year."
Syrus chuckles seeing Takashi start to ramble. "Well, it helped a little. I appreciate it." Takashi laughs as he stands up and holds his hand out to help Syrus up.
"I'm happy to hear it. You ready to go back to the dorm's now?" Syrus smiles, taking the hand.
"Yeah, I guess it's about time." Takashi and Syrus begin walking back to the dorm. "I appreciate what you said Takashi. I don't think I'm ready to use Power Bond yet, not until I figure out what my brother meant back then." Takashi quirks an eyebrow.
"What your brother meant? What's that about?" Syrus' smile dims.
"Just something he said when he forbade me from using Power Bond. It's something I have to figure out on my own." He gives Takashi a determined look. "But when I do, I promise I'll become a level of duelist you can rely on to back you up!" Takashi grins at that.
"I look forward to it!"
/RFSXPL/
As Takashi and Syrus are walking back up to the red dorm, Jaden sees them and comes running up. "Syrus!" He puts his hands on Syrus' shoulders. "I'm glad you're back! I'm going to help you use Power Bond again!" Syrus's eyes widen.
"W-what?" Jaden gives a huge grin.
"I'm going to duel your brother!" Syrus' eyes widen even more, looking like they are seconds away from popping out of his head.
"You're going to what?!" Jaden laughs.
"I'm going to duel your brother so I can dig deeper into why he won't let you use Power Bond! Then I can help you get over your anxiety about it easier!" Syrus starts stammering while Takashi looks on with an amused smile on his face.
"B-but that doesn't even make sense! How is you dueling my brother going to help me?!"
"It makes perfect sense! Dueling is the best way to get to know and understand someone, and if I can understand him, I can understand how to better help you, since your hang up with the card is tied to him!"
"But even if that did make sense, which it doesn't, you can't beat my brother! He's the top duelist on the island! People even compare him to pros!" Jaden just smiles even more.
"I know, Alexis already told me! That just makes me even more excited to duel him!" Syrus is trying to stutter out a response when Takashi speaks up shaking his head in amusement.
"You might as well just accept it, Syrus. You know once Jaden gets an idea in his head, whether it makes sense or not, nothing can stop him." Syrus' shoulders slump as he sighs in defeat as Takashi and Jaden laugh.
/RFSXPL/
Zane is at the Academy Lighthouse starting out at the ocean, the sun beginning setting, casting a beautiful orange glow as Alexis approaches him. "It's a beautiful sunset tonight." Zane gives a hum of acknowledgement before giving her a subtle look of concern.
"I heard vague rumblings of what happened the other night. Are you alright?" Alexis gets a grim look on her face but nods.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I honestly was unconscious for most of it." Zane continues to look at her.
"Can you tell me what happened exactly?" Alexis begins to speak up before closing her mouth and shaking her head.
"I can't go into too many details without giving away someone else's secrets; secrets they trusted me with." Zane nods at that.
"Fair enough. Is there anything you can tell me? So, I'm not just left with rumors." Alexis thinks for a moment before nodding.
"Some creep from off island held me hostage to lure someone out to the abandoned dorm for a supposed Shadow Game. But they won and got me free." Zane nods taking in the new information as Alexis continues. "Your brother and his friends were there too. They heard me scream and came running in to help me and got held hostage too." While most wouldn't notice, Alexis could see the flash of panic in Zane's eyes at the mention of his brother being in danger.
"He's okay right? I-I haven't talked to him since he's been here." Alexis smiles fondly.
"He's fine, Zane. Everyone made it out ok." Alexis then frowns at him. "But you should really talk to your brother." She looks off into the distance with a sad expression. "Not everyone can." Zane winces at that.
"I know I need to. Our relationship just became, strained, after an incident a while back." Alexis turns to look at Zane curiously.
"An incident?"
"Everyone has a right to their secrets, remember" Alexis chuckles at that.
"I suppose they do." Her face takes a slightly serious look. "It wouldn't have to do with why he won't use Power Bond, would it?" Zane looks at her with mild curiosity.
"And how did you hear about that?" Alexis gives him a stern look at his dodging the question.
"Well, I kind of witnessed it this morning. It really upset one of his friends." Zane quirks an eyebrow.
"And who would that be?" She gives him a small mischievous smile.
"Jaden Yuki." That caught Zane's interest looking at Alexis in open curiosity.
"One of the new kids that beat Crowler?" Alexus nods, happy to have caught his attention.
"That would be the one. I also told him I would tell you something." Zane had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"What's that?"
"He challenges you to a duel."
Zane smirks. "Sure, sounds like it could be fun."
/RFSXPL/
Jaden gets a message on his PDA from Alexis telling him to meet them here, with the location of the meeting spot attached. "Sweet!" Syrus and Chumley jump and stare at a grinning Jaden surprised, while Takashi looks over with a smile.
"Good news Jaden?" Jaden's grin grows bigger.
"You bet! My duel with Zane is on! We're supposed to meet them at one of the cliffs two hours before curfew tomorrow!" Syrus and Chumley share nervous looks while Takashi smiles at his friend's enthusiasm. Takashi gets up and stretches.
"Well, I'm still a tired, and you have a deck to prepare." Takashi walks to the door and waves at the trio. "Have a goodnight and don't stay up too late, you still need your sleep." Closing their door behind him he leans on the railing and looks up at the moon in the sky for a minute.
"How long before your next move, commander?" With a sigh he pushes off the railing and heads to his room. "Whenever it is, whatever it is, I'll be ready." He closes his door behind him after entering.
/RFSXPL/
Jaden, Takashi, Syrus, and Chumley walk towards the docks by the lighthouse where Zane and Alexis are waiting for them. There's a moment of silence before Zane breaks it.
"So, I heard you wanted to duel me." Jaden brings one foot forward, fist clenched fist in front of him in determination.
"That's right! I don't know what happened between you and Syrus to make him afraid of using a sweet card like Power Bond, but I promise by time this duel is over not only will I understand, but I'll know what I need to do to get him to use it!" Zane smirks in amusement.
"Oh, will you now?" Zane closes his eyes as he lowers his head. Before opening his eyes and snapping his head up and activating his Duel Disk. "Well, I accept your challenge, sounds like it could fun." Jaden grins determinedly activating his own Duel Disk.
"Fun is the only way I know how to play!" The others look on, Syrus looking ready to pass out from the stress.
"I still don't like this, my brother's too good, he'll crush Jaden." Takashi puts his hand on his shoulder, making him turn around to look at his smiling face.
"There's nothing to worry about Syrus. Even if Jaden loses you know he'll be a good sport. He might enjoy winning, but he'd lose a thousand duels if all were guaranteed to be fun. And hey, you never know, Jaden could win. It all comes down to what they draw."
"I guess you're right. I just…"
"I know, but in his own way, Jaden's doing this to learn Zane's reason for banning the card. If you watch closely, you might finally understand what he meant all those years ago." Syrus rapidly shakes his head before stopping with a determined look.
"You're right Takashi. Go Zane! Go Jaden!" Zane smirks at that while Jaden grins at him
"Well, you heard him Zane, let's do this!"
"Let's."
"Duel!"
The aftermath of the reveal has begun. Syrus wants to be stronger to help his friend he now knows is in danger, but his own insecurities are rearing their ugly head after his initial passion as had time to sit.