Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Spirit Caller: End of Games-Extended Edition, a yu-gi-oh gx fanfic

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Kazuki Takahashi/Konami

CFGX: "Remember the last time I posted when I said I'd make up for that lackluster final battle? Well, this is it. You're about to read the story like it was meant to be. I want you to make sure you read it from top to bottom so you won't miss anything. Because I assure you, it's worth it, and it would make the final chapter of Spirit Caller that much more powerful. Now get ready for the true final battle."

"Also, I'd like to present some drawings based on characters from this story. You can see the rough drafts on my Deviantart account DJW-712, and I also have a P treon account to show my actual work soon to be posted. Essentially, I'll be selling my drawings in bunches for only a dollar per series. If you like my work, support is greatly appreciated. Just PM me to know further details."

Tik…

BRII—TAK!

Those alarm clocks didn't make it past the first second when their buttons were hit. Yes, you heard right. There were three clocks set on the nightstand. All of then set at the exact same time.

The first thing on her routine after getting out of bed was to check her wall calendar; and with a permanent marker, she crossed out the day prior. Because according to her, marking a day off only counts when you're no longer in that day.

She then made herself a plate of toast topped with fried egg and a slab of grilled ham, with a side of whichever assorted fruit she assigned on her schedule, with a set of two glasses of milk and juice to complete her balanced breakfast.

Next she brought out her attire she placed out the night before; a dark-bronze collared long-sleeved button-down with a matching knee-length skirt, with black leggings to cover the rest, and black shoes to top it off.

After an hour of grooming herself, she faced a full-length mirror for one last inspection upon herself. Even when facing herself in the mirror she never removed her trademark stoic scowl, or that cold amber glare.

"Not long now…" she spoke through the mirror, "Make sure you complete your mission this time, Anubis."

Anubis has been known throughout time through Egyptian mythology as the deity of death, whose duty is to guide those who leave the land of the living to the land of the afterlife. It is also the title given to the Grand Judicator of the land of the Necrovalley. As such, it was Anais' duty to dole out justice upon those who endanger the land. That's pretty much how her story began. When six fugitives escaped her justice, Anais followed them to this world, eventually following them to Duel Academy, where she went undercover as one of their faculty. Eventually these High Mages exposed themselves behind the chaos involving the Shadow Riders, where their ranks were quickly being diminished by what she came to know them as the Spirit Callers Club.

Anais was never too keen on enlisting children into their battle against those fiends. Such a dangerous campaign should be left to the adults to handle; yet their ability to handle themselves seemed to outweigh that.

That said, it's one thing to be enlisted, as the young Key-Keepers were by Chancellor Sheppard. But this so-called Spirit Callers Club simply took it upon themselves to face the High Mages. They ran into a war they were never asked to fight; surely in an attempt for fame like all children do.

The one that seemed to stand out among them was Jason Hutchins; but not in a way one would think. Despite of his role the war against the Shadow Riders and the High Mages, Jason always came off as the most unqualified. The Millennium Shield was given to him not because he was worthy, but because the Nobleman decided she needed bait to draw the mages out. That purpose had been served perfectly in that regard, so any further assistance was unnecessary. Even if he had achieved some victories, they were only due to close calls and blind luck. He was better off out of the way.

The battle against Kagemaru was the closest call this school had thanks to Jason. The superintendent had managed to use the fully-powered Millennium Shield to his advantage against Jaden Yuki and Jason, hindering the latter's ability to summon his cards. It was a miracle that Haden managed to win in spite of Jason's handicap holding him back.

It could've been the end of it, but a dark spirit named Calypso was working its evil through Jason's body as a vessel. And now, everyone is on the lookout for whatever Calypso freed from that sarcophagus.

When this is over, Anais will be sure to have that Shield confiscated and locked away where no one could find it.

There was a distinct quiet in the Obelisk dorm room. Aspen absently thumbed through her deck as she waited for the connection to go through. She felt a small twinge of anxiety as she watched for when the mute, black screen would be filled by color. How long had it been since she had last contacted her directly? Right, she thought wryly, it was before all the messy business with the Mages and Shadow Riders. As it happened, saving the world tended to give you other priorities.

Finally a small chime sounded, and the smiling face of a familiar woman appeared on the screen. "It's about time you called me."

Well, you could say I've been a bit preoccupied by other matters Diana," Aspen replied, "I am student after all.

Diana shook her head with a chuckle, her dark hair swaying slightly with her. Propping her head up, the woman's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Oh, dear little sister of mine, are you telling me you actually have things that keep you busy now?"

An annoyed twitch of her brow said it all. "Really? You make it sound like all I do is sit around and study dueling techniques."

Surprise flitted across Diana's features. "Are you telling me that's not what you do all day? Do you have a social life for once?"

"You could say that," Aspen said, a subtle gentleness in her otherwise smug smile.

Her sister's eyes widened. "Woah~ how did that happen?"

Aspen shrugged, "A stroke of fate, I suppose."

Diana's irritated glance made her younger sibling snicker. The elder leaned forward in anticipation, "Meaning? C'mon, you can't get all vague in me like that!"

With a sigh and contemplative look to her deck beside her and Wynn's form barely visible next to it, Aspen began her recounting of the past events. "Well, I guess it all started when a friend of mine, Chakra asked for a favor. She wanted me to duel a Slifer named Jason for him to practice since my deck in effect, is a foil to his."

"You use an elemental Charmer based deck," Diana mused, she tapped a finger to her lips in thought, "Ah, I bet this Slifer uses an E-Hero deck doesn't he?"

"Correct as always," Aspen admitted, "Now let me continue. You could say that he had built up a bit of a reputation here at the Academy, most of the instructors aren't fans of his. I wanted to see for myself if the rumors had any truth to them, so I agreed. It was his potential expulsion on the line after all." Diana's face went stiff in shock, but she said nothing, waiting for further elaboration. "I ended up beating him, and honestly, he wasn't especially impressive. Yet, this guy somehow managed to defeat emthe /emBandit Keith and a machine duelist, Noire, in a tag-duel and save his skin. The next time I got involved in anything was just watching to see who would be representing the for the school duel. From there I just kinda…fell into their little friend group, particularly with his friend Rock and Noire. Now…just promise me you won't get angry after this."

Diana raised a brow and pursed her lips, but nodded. "Fine."

"I may have…temporarily lost Wynn in an ante-duel when Jason disappeared on us."

"You did what!? That card was a treasure! And how irresponsible could you get? I thought you never dueled with an ante!"

Aspen flinched as she tried to appease the ranting of her sister. "Calm down sis, I said temporarily. You know how important Wynn is to me, to us. Rock ended up winning her back for me, and let's just say the three of us had more in common than we originally thought." She was of course, referencing their duel-spirits, but as she had previously decided to leave out the supernatural/life-threatening aspects of her story, being vague was the best she could do.

A look of relief washed over Diana's features. "Thank goodness for that, I would have ripped you a new one if you had lost any of your Charmers! So, I'm guessing these new friends of yours have been keeping you busy?"

"You don't know the half of it," Aspen relented with an exhausted sigh. "I didn't think it was possible for a group of students to get into as many misadventures as we did. Poor Jason got the brunt of it too, I don't think I can remember a time when there emwasn't/em anyone out to get him." She paused briefly, recalling the many, many instances that people had looked down on him, herself included. "…The worst of it had to have been Chakra. I thought she had been helping him earnestly, but after a few too many losses she lost faith in him. It was pretty crushing and things all sort of went downhill from there. It got to a point where it strained my relationship with her, I didn't think she was the type to be so critical of someone trying their best."

"You're being oddly kind," Diana observed, "Normally you wouldn't bother with things like this."

Aspen smirked dryly, "That so? I guess it just gets to you once you go through so much with people. Everything that's happened isn't something easily forgotten."

"I'm glad, you're doing better than I thought. Going to Duel Academy turned out to be the best option for you, huh? To think that you were considering not applying!" Diana exclaimed.

"And whose nagging do I owe that to, huh? If I recall you're the one who sent my papers in without telling me and I had to go along with it!"

Diana laughed, waving a dismissive hand. "Details, details, what matters is that everything worked out in the end. Ignoring how you got there, it was for the best. I'm happy you're doing well Aspen." The older sister's eyes flicked to her side, a small frown marring her face. "Ah, great, work. I need to take this. Get some sleep!"

Shaking her head, Aspen smiled at the sight of her grumbling sister. "Yeah, I got it. You take care of yourself too."

"Take care of your new friends Aspen, I know you have your reasons for not telling me the whole story, but be careful. And, Aspen," Diana smiled kindly, "I'm proud of you."

The monitor went black as the call ended, leaving Aspen in a slight daze of shock. The four Charmer sisters materialized around her, with varying degrees of teasing smiles on their faces. Crossing her arms, Aspen glanced at her duel spirits. "Can you not?"

Suddenly, a flash of light was caught in the corner of her eye coupled with a muffled boom. Rushing to the nearest window, she spotted a shadow of a colossal monster for just a moment before it vanished.

"Took 'em long enough…" Aspen muttered.

The soft hiss of soda being dispensed filled Rock's ears for several moments until he took the cup off the pressure panel. He sniffed it for a moment, taking in the rich scent. Taking a look at it through the clear plastic cup, he smiled at the abundance of carbonation. Finally, he took a sip before fully gulping the beverage down. For a few moments, he was silent. Finally, he let out a whoop.

"Yes! It works!" he exclaimed before turning to Roll, "We did it! Sure, it took nearly the entire time we were here, but a portable soda machine at last! Root Beer at all times now!"

The gynoid rolled her eyes as he continued to celebrate. Though she couldn't begrudge to ruin his mood. He deserved it from the year's issues.

"Ah...What a year, huh? Evil spirit guys out for mystic items, a student that went missing comes back after someone trounces his possessed behind in a Duel, made some good friends, made some enemies...mainly because they were dissing one of my pals..." Rock noted to himself as Roll just nodded, "..." his smile faded a little as he looked at the sky, "Hey, Roll? Ya' think Mom would've loved meeting Jason and the others?"

Roll smiled as she nodded. Despite the issues of the year, her own opinion was that she enjoyed seeing Rock have so many friends now, but his mother? Oh, she'd be so happy for him.

"Yeah, I thought so," Rock chuckled.

Even if it had dulled over the last two years, his heart still ached whenever he thought of his mom and her death. His hand subconsciously moved to where he kept his deck as he thought of his mother. This deck was the last gift she gave him before her death. Funny enough, that was also the day he first met Roll, his Deck's Duel Spirit. Honestly, it surprised him that she was the Duel Spirit and not one of the Mega Men...and she made it clear with a broom to his noggin that it was not an amusing comment when he told her that. Roll raised a brow as he chuckled again.

"Was just remembering when we first met and you took rightful offense at my comment," Rock explained, earning a nod and a smug smirk from her, "Of course you're smug since ya' bopped me that time." he smiled at her, "I'm glad you're with me."

Roll sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, a small blush on her cheeks. Aside from the times she wanted to smack him with her broom, he always did his upmost to treat all women with respect that they deserved, even if they were robotic.

"Though, in all seriousness, I both like and hate this place," Rock noted, "I like it because of all the stuff we've done here, the friends made, and all the dueling." Roll nodded, "Though the hate...is the bum rap Jason got." Roll frowned at that, agreeing with him, "Especially with Chakra and her being a pain in the rump. She does stuff that fails and puts the blame all on Jason when she's the one who made the mistakes. Honestly, she reminds me of father."

Roll scowled as her eyes narrowed. She could very well agree. His father didn't want him to go into dueling or have anything to do with it. He had to sneak out for the trials to get in to Duel Academy, even. When the man had learned of it...things had not gone down well. Frankly, she expected them to be camping for the few months of break before the academy started up again.

"Think we should stock up on more root beer?" Rock asked...earning him a broom to the face and an annoyed Roll, "Gah! Okay, okay! I was kidding! I know I'm going to need a few things for staying out camping for a few months if the guy really does cast me out. Honestly, Mom didn't die because of Duel Monsters..." suddenly he was brought to the ringing of his PDA, and he answered it, "Hello?"

"Guess who's back…"

Noire was now sitting on the foot of the bed. She had been so restless lately, like a fidgeting, caffeinated mouse. She had become incredibly nervous since recent events after the Spirit Callers' last encounter with Jason; or rather Calypso, the enigmatic spirit possessing Jason at the time. Since then, students started missing classes; only to discover they went missing altogether. And even when no one knew the cause, the Spirit Callers had a hunch.

'Whatever came out of that coffin must have something to do with it…' Noire somberly thought.

She then thought back to what Rock said earlier; the last thing before they turned in:

"Let's promise that whatever's behind this, we're facing it together!"

And that's what worried her. She was supposed to be a master of machines, the strongest monsters in terms of raw power. She was trained by THE Bandit Keith, former top Card Professor, so she should feel like the strongest. So why doesn't she…?

The answer then became clear: it turns out she wasn't the strongest. Not since her loss in the hands of High Mage Martis. When watching the others face the High Mages and the Shadow Riders, she felt left out and decided to step up to plate. When that failed it only got worse when the Earth Mage created another mage; a Firestorm Mage based on Noire's aggressive side; due to said new mage literally being Noire's aggressive side. What used to be her bipolar alter-ego became their greatest enemy at the time; as well as Noire's greatest challenge as she managed to take her twin and brought her over to the side of good. But it took the rest of her Spirit Caller friends to make sure the two were reunited. But the sting of her defeat from Martis still remained, because she knew if it wasn't for that, this whole business with the Firestorm Mage wouldn't have happened. Sometimes she wished she could talk with her alter-ego about her problems. After all, who knows oneself better than themselves?

The sudden ring of her PDA scared Noire right off her bed, causing her to fall flat on her face, "Owwie…" she searched the floor until she finally found her PDA and answered to a message that got her full attention.

"We found the guy! Meet us in front of the school! Quick!" Rock's message ended with a beep.

Chakra was spending the very early morning studying her cards. After overhearing about the strange string of disappearances lately, she wanted to keep her skills sharp. Because when it comes down to it, she may be the only one to stop it; because of course she is.

Chakra Silvers had been born with a great destiny and great expectations; both treated as a blessing and a curse. And here's why: one Slifer Red by the name Jason Hutchins.

Ever since the two met, she thought she saw potential in him. Through all of his battles, she thought that potential was showing. But in that one duel, the School Duel, where all that potential was to be put into practice, he failed her. All that time Chakra had spent grooming Jason for that moment amounted to nothing; and because of him she lost not only her part of the family business to the Princeton Brothers, but the trust and faith her own parents have for her. She was so humiliated she hasn't contacted them since. She had discovered since then that the so-called potential Jason had was just an illusion; and Jason was playing along.

And his friends wonder why she hates him so much and lost all faith in him. They think Chakra was being a bully but she apparently saw Jason for what he really is. She just wished she had seen it sooner. They thought to gaslight her by pointing at all of those apparent victories against the Shadow Riders and the High Mages, but she knew better to see those victories to be dumb luck.

Jason's involvement in the battle against Kagemaru was supposed to be the wakeup call his enablers needed. But even when the others agreed to evacuate the island, they stayed. Even when Kagemaru was defeated, it was only thanks to Jaden despite the handicap Jason brought onto him. Otherwise, Jaden would've won sooner and easier.

And now there's a string of disappearing students and Jason's in the center of it as always. If only his little fan club would have the sense to see the danger he poses, rather than the danger they think he's in.

Something moved at the very corner of her eye, and looking down through the window right next to her, she spotted Aspen racing into the forest, straight towards the school, "Guess I better get to the party myself."

The Spirit Callers finally arrived at the school's entrance, where they spotted someone in their path, their back turned and hidden behind a blue cape.

"Is this him?" Noire asked.

"I don't see any other strangers standing around," Aspen replied, "Do you?"

"Hey, let me take care of this…" Rock stepped forward, confronting the stranger with a single stomp on the ground, "Hey you with the cape! How about you show your face! No fun in beating someone with his back turn!" the stranger spun around, with a flourish of their dark-blue cape, to expose the ruby, gold-rimmed armor they were wearing; that all-too-familiar armor. Rock flinched, stepping back, "Whoa! Deja-vu…"

And Noire's eyes were wide, "B-but I thought Kagemaru learned his lesson…"

"…You know what?" Aspen mused, "I don't think that's Kagemaru; but someone different altogether."

"You…" the stranger raised a finger and pointed at them, "I suppose you came offer yourselves to be the next of my tributes."

"Tributes?" Aspen's confused question was answered only by black shapes bursting out from the ground; from the shadows around the stranger's feet.

Caught completely by surprise, they were unable to move out of the way to avoid the fast-acting shadows from devouring them.

But a different set of powers arose and countered the darkness, keeping it at bay and away from the children.

Darknite drew the darkness back into his shadows, "Impossible! How could mere children possess such power?!" he soon found his answer when it took form. He was now seeing Aspen's Charmer Sisters protecting the Spirit Callers, "I see. So you possess the power of spirits. I supposed I should destroy you using an alternative method: a duel!"

"Now you're speaking my language!" Rock exclaimed with a wide grin. He pumped his left fist into the air, and pulled it down holding an activated duel-disk; with Mega-Man and Roll by his side, "Lemme hear it, girls! Who's ready for the final battle?!"

Aspen sighed, and shook her head with a shrug and a smile, "You know what…" she activated her own duel-disk, "Since this is the last go-round, I'll let it slide."

"R-right…" Noire shyly nodded and activated her duel-disk, "I'll help too."

Rock's grin grew wider, "Then girls, IT'S TIME TO—"

Suddenly, both Rock and Noire felt a hand grab their shoulder, meaning that Aspen got their attention, "Sorry, guys," she said, stepping forward past them, "But I'm gonna need you to sit this one out."

"But…"

"That's insane!" Rock exclaimed, finishing for Noire, "There's no way you can take this guy alone!"

"That's why I won't do it alone."

"That makes no sense!"

"I guess this is my cue, then?" both the Slifer and Ra looked back to the source of the new voice and gasped at its owner.

"Chakra?!" Rock exclaimed.

The chain-wearing Obelisk strode past them without much of a glance and stopped right next to Aspen, with a duel-disk of her own strapped on.

"Nice of you to drop by," Aspen simply greeted.

"What?! No! Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" Rock scurried over in front of the two girls to confront Chakra, "What, are, you doing here?! …Wait a minute…" he then looked at Aspen, "You knew she'd be here? …You called her here?!"

"Hold your horses, Rock, and let me explain."

"You're kidding me!" Rock exclaimed, "Why did you bring her here when we can just beat this guy together; the three of us!?"

"Because if the three of us go out there, we'd most certainly lose," Aspen scolded, "Pay attention and let me break this down for you. This guy would want to duel us on an even playing field. Meaning: if three of us face him with 4000 life-points each, we're gonna have let him duel with three times that. We'd be facing this guy with 12000 points, which gives him more time that we have. And if we try to even things with 8000 per side, we're gonna have to share our side of the field between us. And let me tell you, that field's not big enough for the three of us; not of we want to use our cards effectively. Trust me, the best way about it is to duel him like this: two-on-one, 8000 points each."

"But why her?! Why not me?! Or Noire?!"

"Let me handle this part," Chakra said to Aspen, stepping around her friend to confront the Slifer, "Maybe because me and Aspen were best friends before she even joined your little club. Or maybe because me and my deck is more in sync with Aspen than any of yours'," she shot a lazy glare at the skittish Noire, "Take Noire, for one. She may have raw power on her side, but that same power can turn on Aspen easily. So I convinced her it's not worth the risk," then a harder glare at Rock, "And you, Xander. You take up too many zones with your combo-cards; and too much time. So I convinced her it's not worth the waste of space. Also, I just don't like you."

"Wow," Rock spat.

"Look, we don't have to marry each other," Aspen continued, "Don't worry, it's just this one time, then we can all go back to hating her. Cool?"

Rock eyed Chakra, then Aspen, then back to Chakra, "…Fine," he stomped off to Noire's side, "I don't have to like it, but fine!"

Taking it as close to a blessing as she can get from Rock, Chakra took her position and faced the masked stranger, "So it's agreed. Two of us against one of you; both sides get 8000 points."

Aspen took her position next to her partner, "And if we win this duel, I want your word—no, make that your guarantee, that everyone you took will be brought back to this world."

"You dare make demands?!" the stranger snapped, "You best watch your tongue, girl!"

"Alright…" Aspen taunted with a shrug, "Stay on the safe side. You'd be having trouble with girls anyway."

The stranger growled, "You presume too much! But very well, I will approve of these stakes!"

Aspen silently smiled to herself, 'Works every time.'

"Just as you shall agree to mine!" the stranger added as the shadows return, bursting from behind him. These shadows stretched over everyone's heads and surrounded them.

"I was af-fraid this would happen!" Noire mewled, leaning into Rock and grabbing his arm.

"Let's hope they can get us through this," Rock said. Even though he was nervous, he put up a brave front for Noire.

"You ready, Chakra?"

"Ready when you are," Chakra assured Aspen as she activated her duel-disk to match her partner.

As for the stranger, five giant versions of duel-monster cards materialized in front of the stranger, giving the hint that is was to be his playing hand.

Everyone shouted, "Duel!"

Aspen/Chakra: 8000

Darknite: 8000

"Darknite?" Noire repeated Rock's inserted name in his PDA's scoreboard.

"We gotta name 'im something," Rock replied.

"Ladies first!" Aspen drew her sixth card, 'Something tells me this is gonna be a staple for the future…' "I set a monster card face-down, and another card face-down," a set monster and reverse-card appeared, "My turn ends there."

"Then it will be my turn," with a raise of his glove-covered hand, another giant card appeared in front of him to join the others, "First, I activate the field-magic card known as the Wasteland!" a darkness seemed to be wiped away as if it were a whiteboard; at the same time as if an entire new world was being shown. There was now desert ground and rocks as far as the eye can see, under a cloudless blue day sky. But the sun shining above beating an intense summer heat over the Spirit Callers made it clear to them: they were taken to a new location!

"Wait, how did we get back outside?!" Rock wondered, looking around with Noire.

"Relax, you guys!" Aspen called to them, "This must come with the shadow-game package."

"Next, I will summon (1) Muka Muka(2/ATK: 600/DEF: 300) in ATK position," a small, crab-like rock monster appeared standing on its four insectoid legs with scorpion-like stingers in place of pincers raised threatenly (ATK: 1980).

"And he gets a field-power-bonus," Aspen muttered, "Big surprise."

"Next, I will activate the magic card Double Summon," with a wave, one of Darknite's hand cards turned over, revealing the aforementioned spell card, "According to this card's rules, I am allowed to summon for a second time this turn. So now, by this era's laws, I will sacrifice Muka-Muka to summon the Enraged (2) Muka Muka(5/ATK: 1200/DEF: 600)," the rock-crab was replaced by a larger monster sharing much in common with the previous monster: both crab-like and made of rock, but this monster held a massive, protruding underbelly glowing hot, looking like it was made of orange cut diamond (ATK: 1200), "And like the previous monster, the cards in my hand give it additional power; 400 points per card (ATK: 2360). Now attack!" Muka-Muka scuttled quickly towards the set monster.

"I play my trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Aspen's reverse-card opened revealing a makeshift metal scarecrow, which then formed a barrier that kept those claw-like pincers at bay, "And not only is your attack blocked, I can also set it back face-down to use again later," the scarecrow vanished as its card fell back face-down.

Darknite growled lowly as a card from his hand was placed on the field, "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn," Chakra drew her sixth card…

"Yet I activate my own face-down card: the trap card Shifting Sands!" after Darknite's set card opened, the ground at the center of the field seemed to collapse into a pit of draining sand, "You may continue."

"You're too kind…" Chakra muttered before continuing, "I summon Legendary Combo Fighter!" a humanoid phantasm appeared wearing a blue martial-arts suit with an orange undershirt underneath (ATK: 500). Chakra then turned to her partner, "Mind if I borrow a monster?"

Aspen shrugged, "Buy a vowel for all I care."

"Then I summon the monster Aspen has face-down: Aussa the Earth Charmer!" the spectacled brunette of the charmer sisters appeared (ATK: 650), "And by triggering her flip-effect, I can take control of whatever earth-attribute monster's on your field; and guess what attribute your Muka-Muka is!" Aussa held her staff upright as it glowed a bronze color. Muka-Muka was given the same colored aura before scuttling over to the opponents' team of monsters, "And the more cards in my hand, the stronger my new monster gets!"

Enraged Muka Muka: (ATK: 3560)

"Now let's see how you handle three attacks all at once! Attack!" the army of four monsters charged forth and bombarded the enemy with a combination of claws, punches and magically-conjured rocks.

Aspen/Chakra: 8000

Darknite: 3290

Darknite's knees buckled after being knocked back by the assault, until he shook it off and stood back upright, 'This sensation…what is this…?'

"I place four cards face-down and end my turn," Chakra concluded with four reverse-cards.

"Not just yet, child. During this time, your strongest creature will be consumed by my Endless Shifting Sand," as Darknite was addressing that, Muka-Muka was already being pulled into the pit before it disappeared beneath the sand. Aspen displayed her displeasure with a scowl, "It is my turn…" another card appeared in front of Darknite, whereas his trap card suddenly shattered and was destroyed, causing the giant sinkhole to vanish, "What?! What happened to my trap card?!"

"Really?" Aspen scoffed, "You didn't know that by having less than four cards in your hand, Shifting Sands gets destroyed on the next turn? Don't you read your own cards?"

"You will hold your tongue, girl!" Darknite exclaimed, "I will not need that card for my next strategy! I play the magic of Card of Sanctity! According to this, each player must draw until they hold six cards in their respective hand," per orders, all three duelists drew until they held six cards each, "Next, I will activate the field-magic card, Umi!" like before the environment was being wiped away to make way for a new one. This time there was water as far as the eye can see. The sun was still present without its scorching heat. Small plateaus of rock were the only support available; one for Darknite, one each for Aspen and Chakra, and a larger one for Rock and Noire to stand on.

"The field changed locations again!" Noire gasped.

"Thank goodness!" Rock exclaimed, throwing off his jacket, "I was so tense from watching the duel I forgot how hot the desert was!" he dropped to his knees and dunked his head into the water…before pulling back and spitting out the water with a loud groan, "Why didn't he take us somewhere with water that's not dumped in salt?!"

"Next, I will summon the monster known as the (3) Mermaid Knight(4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 700)!" instead of another monster appearing, there was a brief flash of light under the sea right by Darknite's feet.

Chakra was looking around through the ocean, looking for the monster, "Something tells me this is part of the new rules."

"This happened once before," Aspen replied, "Water monsters can hide in a Sea field. No non-water monsters can touch them. The only way these monsters will come up is when they attack…" 'But there's something wrong here. I can smell it through the sea salt…'

"Now attack, Mermaid Knight!" Darknite commanded.

"Get ready to brace yourself, Chakra," Aspen warned. She tensed herself and listened in, letting the sound of the ocean guide where to predict where the monster would attack. There was a loud splash from behind.

"Activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Aspen's scarecrow returned to block the Mermaid's sword attack; right behind the two girls! "Chakra! Do the thing!"

"Consider it done!" Chakra exclaimed, "Countering Scrap-Iron with these four face-downs!" all four of Chakra's reverse-cards opened, "And since all of them are played at once, they count as a combo and the last card I play goes first; starting with Chain Strike!" black chains fired out of the first opened card and wrapped themselves tight around Darknite, "Next, Accumulated Fortune lets me draw two extra cards," Chakra drew twice more, "Next Chain Healing grants me 500 life-points," a silver pot appeared overhead and tipped over, spilling a rain of stardust over Chakra.

Aspen/Chakra: 8500

Darknite: 3290

"And lastly, Chain Detonation takes 500 points of damage out of your life-points!" a large golden x-shape with a red gem attached itself to the chain-bound Darknite on his torso, "And back to Chain Strike, you take even more damage; 400 points times the chain-link number this card is on! So since Chain Strike is number five in the chain, you take 2000 extra points of damage!"

A surge of dark energy coursed through the chains. And while Darknite was roaring out in pain from the electrifying attack, the ornament suddenly glowed dangerously before it detonated, stacking up the damage in the surprise attack and blowing up the chain links.

Aspen/Chakra: 8500

Darknite: 790

Spiritual Combo Fighter: (DEF: 1000)

Darknite was now fighting to stay upright due to that last assault, his armor steaming in several places and a hand placed over his face, groaning.

"You don't look so hot," Aspen snided.

"This…this sensation…" Darknite hissed, "This…pain…it hurts me…that HURT!" when Darknite removed his hand to glare at his opponents, the golden eyemask began to crack, small pieces falling to the ground, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" his outburst caused the mask to fall apart, revealing his true identity.

"That can't be! No way!" Rock flinched, "Tell me that is not who I'm looking at!"

"I don't get it…" Noire whimpered, shaking her head, "I-I don't understand; just what am I looking at?!"

"…But he fell…" and Aspen would have been right if she weren't seeing him with her own eyes. Right in front of the Spirit Callers, glaring at them with burning, yet soulless blue eyes as their old Slifer friend Jason.

"But how?!" Rock exclaimed, "We saw the guy fall in that coffin! So how did he get out?!"

Rock wanted to ask himself, but Chakra had beat him to it, exclaiming, "I knew it! I knew you were involved in this somehow! What do you think you're doing, Jason?!"

'Jason' narrowed his eyes, "Who?"

"Don't you dare try to play dumb!" Chakra snapped, "First you stole that book from before, and when people started disappearing we find you mixed up in all of this?!"

"Chakra?"

"Do you even care what you're doing has consequences anymore?!"

"Chakra!"

"What?!" Chakra snapped back towards Aspen.

"...I don't think that's Jason over there. Not the one we know, anyway," Aspen eyed back to 'Jason' "That's his body, but that's not Jason. I think Darknite's taking hold of Jason's body like Calypso did.

"'Jason'. So that is what this vessel is known by," Darknite muttered, looking himself over, "I had been using its knowledge of this era's dueling hoping to gain an advantage, but so far to no avail."

"So once again, Jason got in the way…" Chakra scoffed, "And for once I'm glad he did," she then turned to Aspen, "By the way, you never told me WATER monsters can attack directly like that."

"Because that never happened before," Aspen muttered.

"You fools are forgetting one other thing," Darknite growled, "My Mermaid Knight can attack twice!"

Mermaid Knight burst out of the water behind Aspen and as she brought her sword down, Aspen spun around and blocked the blade with her duel-disk before the mermaid dropped back down underwater, "I didn't forget," she said, turning back around, "So are you finished?"

Aspen/Chakra: 6550

Darknite: 790

"No. I'll then play the magic card Supremacy Berry. Since I have the least life-points, I recover with 2000."

Aspen/Chakra: 6550

Darknite: 2790

"Next I activate the magic card Magical Stone Excavation. By sending 2 additional cards from my hand to the graveyard, I can then add another magic card from my graveyard to my hand; and I choose Card of Sanctity. Next, I activate said Card of Sanctity," like before, everyone draws until they held six cards, "Finally I end my turn by playing the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light," A series of giant swords of pure light fell from the sky and hovered around the two Obelisks, "Now you two are unable to attack until your third end-phase."

The large dome of darkness stood in the middle of the Academy building's entranceway, and many students stood around it wondering what it is or where it came from. And before one of then can touch it…

"What are you still doing here?!" came the demanding bark of Anais coming their way, "What have I told you?! No loitering around the entrance! There's nothing to see here! Now get on! Get! Get to class before I report you!" after she made sure she shooed away every student, she was standing alone in front of the dome.

That was when she took her staff and stood in a meditative pose. From there, she gathered amounts of energy from within herself and channeled it into her staff. Fully charged, she pointed her staff forward and fired an bolt of energy at the dome. This mystic side of her was never shown to her fellow faculty, mostly because she had no need for it then. But now it's needed to break through this barrier.

The barrier itself, though, fought back as Anais' power was pushed back by a bolt of its own, knocking the guardian off her feet and onto the ground.

This has happened several times already. No matter how much power she put in, the barrier fought back with twice as much. Anais was nearly drained and out of options…

BZZZT! "Miss Anais! We have a problem!"

Anais snatched her walkie-talkie from her person and answered it, "What is it?"

"There's some tiny white rodent flying around in the building! And it went into your office come quick!"

What rotten luck Anais had as she pulled herself back up and marched into the building. She was getting nowhere out here anyhow…

"It's my turn," Aspen drew her next card.

"Aspen, I'm sure you know what we have to do-"

"Don't even go there, Chakra," Aspen interrupted Chakra.

"…Denying it won't change anything. Let's face it: the only way to win is to stop dancing around it before it's too late."

But Aspen ignored her with this play, "First, I play a monster in DEF mode," a set monster appeared, "Next I activate the spell card Book of Taiyou, which switches a face-down monster to face-up position. And mine's the only one on the field," the set monster flipped over, revealing another Charmer sister; the one with the long blue hair (ATK: 650), "And just like her sisters, Eria will take control of a monster that shares her attribute; and your Mermaid Knight fits," after falling under Eria's spell, Mermaid Knight swam over to the Obelisks' side, diving under the barrier of swords and positioning next to Eria, "Next I switch Aussa and Spiritual Combo Fighter to DEF mode," both monster knelt into position, "Finally I end my turn with a face-down," Aspen concluded, giving her time to think, 'I don't care what Chakra says, I'm not forsaking Jason like this. Otherwise, what's the point in this duel?'

Anais eventually reached her office, with Crowler waiting next to the door, "Alright, is the rat still in there?"

"Yes, but…" Crowler said, pointing at the door, "It's not a rat, exactly…"

"What are you talking about?" Anais asked as she opened the door and went inside, being quick to close it behind her. Then her eyes widened when she saw what Crowler meant.

Crawling about her desk was a small white bat; and in that bat's tiny mouth was…

"Where did you get that key?!" Anais exclaimed as she lunged towards the bat to retrieve her key, only for the bat to jump out of the way, hopping onto Anais' seat. She took another swipe but it simply jumped out of range, each time hopping over to scratch at the drawer beneath the desk. It was almost like it was trying to get in; but what could it possibly want from there? All that's there were a few papers and…

"Wait a minute…!" Anais stopped her assault and grabbed the key from her desk and unlocked the desk drawer. From there she brought out…

The Book of Lost Millennium.

A book commonly used by the girl who called herself Calypso, although simply put she will no longer be needing it. It's been rumored to contain great and terrible power…power that can help Anais break the barrier! …But how? This book is written in a language she has no learned. So how could she find the spell she needs to—

"What in the—!" Anais jumped in fright when she felt something rough and dry rub against her ankle. And when she grabbed her staff and looked down to face the thing she saw about to skewer, she saw a turtle right at her feet. Even more stranger, in his mouth was a single card.

She took the card and, for some reason, when she looked at it, a connection began being made…

"My turn," another card appeared in front of Darknite, "I replace Umi with the field-magic card Mountain!" this time, the environment changed and they were now standing atop of a large plateau on top of the mountain surrounded by a sea of fog. Beyond that are many larger mountains, their peaks poking the grey, thundering clouds above, "Next, I activate the magic card Ancient Rules. With this, I can summon a normal-monster with five or more stars on it. So I will use it to call upon the Tri-Horned Dragon(8/ATK: 2850/DEF: 2350)!" a massive blue beast came to the battlefield on it bipedal feet. Its sharp claws, along with its many long spines along its back and crest gave an instant aura of danger. From its beak-like maw came out a low growl, "And like all dragons, it gains a field-power-bonus from the mountains (ATK: 3705). Next, I summon Alexandrite Dragon(4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 100) in ATK mode," another smaller dragon appeared, with yellow scales and large wings (ATK: 2600), "Alexandrite Dragon, attack the Water Charmer!" Alexandrite fired a stream of fire from its maw.

"I activate the trap card, Shift!" Aspen's reverse-card opened, "This card switches the target of your attack! So now it's attacking Mermaid Knight!" Eria and Mermaid Knight switched places, so the flame incinerated the mermaid instead.

Aspen/Chakra: 5450

Darknite: 2790

"Tri-Horned Dragon, it is now your turn! Attack!" Tri-Horned Dragon charged in with its claws at the ready.

"Activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Aspen's scarecrow returned to protect Eria with its barrier.

"I place one card face-down to end my turn," Darknite concluded.

"It's my turn," Chakra drew her next card, "First. I activate the spell Card Destruction! Simply put, we get rid of all the cards in our hands before drawing the same number of cards," everyone discarded, then redrew, "Next, I sacrifice Aspen's last two monsters to summon Lightning Punisher!" the two Charmers were replaced by the masked lightning-throwing warrior (ATK: 3380), "I place three cards face-down and end my turn," Chakra concluded.

"It is my turn," another card appeared in front of Darknite, "Alexandrite Dragon, attack Combo Fighter!" Alexandrite fired another fire stream.

"Activating Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Aspen's scarecrow returned and protected Spiritual Combo Fighter.

"And I'll follow with these trap cards!" Chakra announced, opening her three reverse-cards, "First Chain Healing gives me 500 life-points," the chalice returned and tipped over Chakra.

Aspen/Chakra: 5950

Darknite: 2790

"And since I have an effect-monster on the field, you take 500 points of damage from my trap card Ceasefire! Combined with the 800 more from Poisons of the Old Man, that adds up to 1300!" A burst of energy exploded under Darknite's feet, attacking him right from underneath like a volcano. The pained roars of Darknite can be heard beneath the rushing power ripping through him through his armor.

And that was when it happened.

The tone and pitch of Darknite's roar shifted, until it found a certain frequency that made the others freeze. The Spirit Callers were forced to realize that the one screaming against the column of burning energy was their friend Jason Hutchins.

The attack stopped and Jason fell unconscious on his face.

"What the heck just happened?!" Rock exclaimed.

"Did we just hear Jason's voice just now?!" Noire whimpered.

Streams of darkness then gathered and formed in one point. Everyone watched as that mass took shape into a shadowy shroud hovering over them and staring at them with familiar red eyes.

"Wait! Is that…!"

"Darknite," Aspen murmured for Rock, "He must've separated himself from Jason's body." 'And I don't like where this is going…'

"I was foolish to not do this sooner," Darknite said, "All I had to do is evade your attacks this way."

"And in the meantime we'll only hurt Jason in the process!" Rock exclaimed, "That's a dirty move!" then an idea came to mind, "Wait a minute… JASON! WAKE UP!" he yelled out, "SOME EVIL SPIRIT IS TAKING OVER YOUR BODY! SO GET OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE HE POSSESES YOU!"

But it was already too late when Darknite had already rendered Jason's body. It jumped off the ground and convulsed, coiled up like a dunebug as if he were having a heart attack. Moments passed before he stopped limply before standing to his feet.

"…Jason?"

"Wrong!" Darknite bellowed from Jason's mouth as his crimson armor reformed over him, quickly disappointing Rock, "That was unsettling just now. I had to deal with this sort of thing for quite some time. This will no longer stand," his eyes lowered to the Millennium Shield embroiled on his chestplate, "Which is why every time damage is dealt, the spirit of this vessel will take the damage. And I am willing to guess that if this spirit ties with my life-points…"

"We'd be destroying Jason by taking the rest of your life-points," Chakra finished, causing everyone else to gasp and exclaim upon the reveal.

"You can't be serious!" Rock exclaimed.

"How could he do such a thing?!" Noire whimpered.

"…In any case," Chakra continued, "You still lose points due to the damage."

Aspen/Chakra: 5950

Darknite: 1490

"And with that combo out of the way, Spiritual Combo Fighter gains 100 points per card."

Spiritual Combo Fighter: (DEF: 1400)

"It also triggers Lightning Punisher's effect! Because when I play a combo with four or more cards, he destroys a monster on your field!" Lightning Punisher raised his hand towards the rumbling skies, where at the next moment he was struck by lightning. But instead of being harmed, he managed to capture the lightning, holding it in his bare hands, before shaping it, molding it to form a javelin-like shape that he threw and pierced Tri-Horned Dragon, destroying it.

Darknite growled at the sight of one of his most powerful monsters so easily destroyed, "Very well. I activate the field-magic card, Sogen!" this next environment consists of a vast meadowland complete with a surrounding forest from afar, "Next, I activate Card of Demise, allowing me to draw until I hold five cards in my hand," he redrew his hand, "But according to the card, I must remove all the cards in my hand during my fifth standby-phase. But in the meantime, I offer my Alexandrite Dragon as tribute to summon the Swordstalker (6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1600)!" what took the dragon's place was a muscle-bound man in complete black and red underneath his tattered cape, his only form of identity was his yellow domino eyes and wide toothy grin (ATK: 2600). A ghostly, specter-like wisp gathered around the wicked golden sword in his hand. A faint screech was thought to be heard and a subtle shape of a dragon was thought to be seen as the smoke's shape, "And of course, my Swordstalker now gains power from his fallen ally the Tri-Horned Dragon. I thank you."

Swordstalker: (ATK: 3455)

"Next, I will sacrifice my empowered Swordstalker with this Mystik Wok magic card, thereby adding its combined ATK points to my life-points," Swordstalker vanished from the field.

Aspen/Chakra: 5950

Darknite: 4945

"Next, I place one card face-down," a reverse-card appeared, "Then I activate the Pyro Clock of Destiny trap card," Darknite's other reverse-card opened, "And now I use it upon the Swords of Revealing Light! I end my turn!"

"My turn," Aspen drew her next card, "First I set a monster card face-down," a set monster appeared, "Then I end my turn after placing Lightning Punisher in DEF mode," Aspen concluded as Lightning knelt into position.

"My turn," another card appeared in front of Darknite, "I place one card face-down, then activate another Card of Sanctity."

"This guy must really love that card," Aspen muttered as everyone redrew their hand.

"Next, I activate the magic card Star Blast. This card reduces the number of stars on one of the cards in my hand by paying 500 life-points per star. But first…" Darknite shrouded himself in a black aura, something fell out soon after. Everyone were shocked to see Jason, unconscious and outside the crimson armor. He had fallen to his knees, held up by tendrils of darkness shackled to his wrists. Those tendrils were connected to a tall, figure-like shadow with piercing red eyes. What was said next came from that shadow, "This is to ensure I am not caught in the ceasefire. Now, back to the duel, I will remove four stars for Star Blast's effect," four ruby spears with golden stars appeared hovering close to Jason. They soon glowed before they detonated, a sharp cry being mixed in with the explosions.

"Jason!" Rock and Noire cried out.

The smoke cleared, revealing Jason with singes covering his uniform, even a few spots in his hair; yet still unconscious.

Aspen/Chakra: 5950

Darknite: 2945

The shadow pulled Jason to his feet by his shackles and drew back inside. The shroud then took form back into the crimson armor of Darknite, "Now I am able to summon the eight-star Sengenjin(8/ATK: 2750/DEF: 2500) from my hand!" there appeared a hulking blue Cyclops wearing red sack boots, silver braces and strapped to his back were an assortment of weapons (ATK: 3575), "Next, I give Sengenjin two accessory-cards: Axe of Despair and Fairy Meteor Crush. So now, with the additional 1000 ATK points thanks to Axe of Despair, Sengenjin will be able to inflict damage no matter what position the destroyed monster is in."

Sengenjin: (ATK: 4575)

"Sengenjin! Attack Lightning Punisher!" Sengenjin lunged towards Lightning Punisher with his new axe raised over his head.

"I activate the trap card, Enchanted Javelin!" after Aspen's reverse-card opened, a decorative spear fell right into Lightning's hands, just when the enemy's attack connected, cleaving Lightning in two regardless with the overwhelming power of Sengenjin and his axe.

Darknite scoffed, "Pointless."

"Enchanted Javelin adds the attacking monster's ATK points to our life-points," Aspen explained.

Aspen/Chakra: 10525

Darknite: 2945

"You're calling that pointless?"

Aspen/Chakra: 8550

Darknite: 2945

"Next I will play another Supremacy Berry to gain 2000 additional life-points."

Aspen/Chakra: 8550

Darknite: 4945

"Finally I will put the permanent-magic card into play: Dark Snake Syndrome," another spell card turned itself over among Darknite's oversized hand cards, and stayed in that position on a spot on his field, "I will then end my turn as such," Darknite concluded.

"It's my turn," Chakra drew her next card, "I place these four cards face-down and end my turn!" four reverse-cards appeared.

"Not quite yet, as I play this card during your end-phase," Darknite said as his set card opened, "Turn Jump, according to the card, moves the entirety of the game by three turns for each player."

"I don't wanna jinx it but what's the point?" Rock wondered, "I mean, all he's doing is skip a few turns. I don't get it."

"Then congratulations. You just jinxed it." Chakra grimaced, "What he did was the same thing he did with Pyro Clock of Destiny! He's adding up turns on a certain card on his field, just like he did with Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Wait, slow down! What does that Dark Snake thing do anyway?!"

"It's a card that deals damage both ways each turn," Aspen replied, "Not only that, it doubles each turn, starting with 200, then 400 and so on. And by using Turn Jump just now…"

"Then I have doubled such damage three times over. And it all begins on this next turn!" another card appeared in front of Darknite,, "During this standby-phase the effect of Dark Snake Syndrome will activate. But first…" the crimson armor turned black as it dissolved off the body before reforming overhead into Darknite's spirit form. Jason's unconscious state was left to fall over, only being held up to his knees by his wrists, shackles of darkness wrapped around them connected by tendrils from the dark spirit.

The shadow cast by Jason seemed to come alive as it became the darkest of black and thick strands began to stretch from it. Those strands then took the form of snakes; what the Spirit Callers had dreaded would come to.

Before they could realize that the same applied to them, both Aspen and Chakra found themselves bound by more of the very snakes of darkness, their arms stuck to the sides to keep their hands away from their duel-disks.

A hiss can be heard right within earshot, as the snake binding her opened its jaws, long fangs folded down looking for flesh.

Not wanting to wait for what happens next, Chakra struggled against the coils to bring her arms together, until eventually, her right index finger pressed into one of the duel-disk's buttons, playing open a set of face-down cards that erased the snake just before it could sink its fangs in. The same went for Aspen, both then landing their feet on top of a glowing white magical circle, forming a barrier around them with a radiant light, "The card I activated was Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment protects us from damage for the rest of the turn! But that's only the first of my latest chain of cards!" she gestured over to the card next to her trap, "My next card is Reckless Greed! This trap card lets me draw two extra cards," Chakra drew her cards, "And my last card is my favorite card right now, because with Spell-Shattering Arrow, I can destroy every spell face-up on your field, and then you take 500 points of damage for each one. And right now, I'm counting five, including that Sogen field-spell of yours!" the quick-play spell fired off a burst of white light that soon broke into separate spears, which shot across the field and pierced through each of Darknite's spell cards. One arrow flew into the sky, and the skies themselves seemed to rot away, replaced by the darkness. The others kept going through the cards like sewing threads joined it in the dark sky, finally destroying the spells as they finished running through.

A spot wrinkled in the sky before rays of light shot back downward, where another sharp squeal caused the Spirit Callers' skin to crawl yet again, because they were being forced to watch their captive Slifer friend, jerked back as a series of shining spears pierced his back. The arrows then vanished, and Jason slumped over back to unconsciousness.

"Jason!" Noire shrieked. She was about to run to him but Rock stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Hey, look there!" Rock pointed over to where Darknite was hovering, and Noire also saw that the shadow was smaller; just a dark cloud being singed away with an outline of white light, and twitching red eyes to show its pain, "Those arrows went through Darknite and damaged him! And he's even in his shadow form!"

Aspen/Chakra: 8550

Darknite: 2445

"How…?" Darknite groaned, "I don't…even…"

"There is no way you planned that…" Aspen said, eyeing her partner with suspicion.

"Not this time," Chakra replied, "But now we know that Darknite can be damaged; in one form or another."

Eventually Darknite had healed itself, yet the pain was seen in its red eyes, "You will not succeed twice with that sort of technique! I will do best to evade any more of your attacks!"

"That sounds like a challenge."

"And you will wait until I am done with my turn; and this is still the standby-phase! Because remember, you tethered your card combination to my Dark Snake Syndrome. That means your combination will only end with its effect!"

"What the heck does that mean?!" Rock exclaimed, despair running through his words.

Aspen swallowed the lump in her throat and replied, "It means her card combo's not done yet," as she glued her eyes at the pit of vipers swaying around Jason.

The snake slithered against Jason's neck. When it made its full lap it squeezed itself around it, slowly crushing his throat and cutting off his air supply. This forced Jason to twitch uncontrollably, then thrash about as his lungs started to collapse, unable to breathe or focus as the serpent continued constructing against his windpipe.

"Stop it!" Rock yelled.

"Leave him alone!" Noire screamed.

The serpent loosened its grip on Jason and retreated, as if granting their wish, and let Jason suck in one lungful after another of sweet coveted air he was deprived of. Rock and Noire were relieved…

Until they watched what happens next; and when Jason got his breath back, he looked forward, and was met with the scarlet red glare of a serpent…

That was the only warning he was given before a sharp cry escaped him when the serpent struck, sinking its fangs into his jugular before tugging them out again his skin white retreating, all before Jason could even blink. Two more snakes took their turn, then three, each attack succeeding in taking a cry from him. There was a moment of recess as more serpents rose, gathering around, staring down their prey...

Then the real terror began.

The meadows were filled with sharp hisses and cries, of snapping jaws and fear-filled squeals as the black pit of vipers attacked in a storm of bites. Each one dug their fangs into their victim before ripping them back out. Some bite while others tear away. Some tear away while others bite.

Suddenly it ended. This sick, dark melody of Jason's shrieks, the hisses of vipers and the tearing of flesh ended as the serpents fluidly sank back into Jason's shadow, leaving the Slifer a pathetic, sobbing mess…

Darknite, now finished, pulled itself back into its vessel an possessed him once more, standing back on his feet, "It is done."

Aspen/Chakra: 8550

Darknite: 645

Noire fell to her knees crying, horrified by what she had just watched. Even Rock felt like tearing himself apart just to scrape what he had witnessed out of his head.

'This is disgusting. I still can't believe that happened to Jason. At least Dark Snake Syndrome's gone, thanks to those arrows.' "…Wait a minute…" it slowly dawned on her that something was wrong, "Spell-Shattering Arrow was a quick-play card…" she then turned to her partner, "Chakra, you could've used that spell card as soon as you drew it. Why did you wait until the last minute?!"

"Would you had preferred that I pass up the chance for extra damage? Let me guess: I shouldn't have waited until the last second because 'Jason might get hurt!'. I thought I made it clear that nothing's gonna stop us, stop me, from winning. And if Jason couldn't tough it out in the meantime, that's on him. I mean, he could at least give us that for putting us in this mess."

"It's official! You've lost it, Chakra!" Rock exclaimed.

Chakra scoffed, "Don't you worry. You won't have to deal with me for any longer, because I'm about to end this. And it all comes down to this turn!"

Rock gasped, "What?!"

"On this turn?" Aspen asked, then realized, "You're going to use that martial arts combo, aren't you?"

Chakra sighed, "You ruined the surprise. …Oh well, might as well bring 'em while I can."

"What are you scheming?!" Darknite demanded.

"Just watch. Because I'm about to bring this shadow-game to a close with this one last combo!" as Chakra said this, four cards hovered from out of her graveyard slot and hovered over her head. Those cards then came to life as monsters, "Blue Dragon!" a specter in the form of a blue-scaled dragon with a corporeal mask and iron-bladed tail, "White Tiger!" a phantasm of a masked white tiger with an armored saddle, "Red Sparrow!" a spirit of a large red bird with larger metal wings, "And Black Tortoise!" and the last was a large ghost of a black turtle with a materialized metal shell, "These are the four ancient Martial Artifacts! And guess what: they're all getting chained to Spiritual Combo Fighter's special-ability being triggered! And you're never going to guess how they're gonna do it!" all four of Chakra's Martial Artifacts inserted themselves into Combo Fighter. In a flash of light, the Fighter was revealed in a new form: a full suit of black armor complete with a helmet, a long red scarf around his neck, large white gauntlets with long claw-like blades, one of which a large blade with a blue-dragon handle on one hand, "That's four more cards chained together! But this last card…" she rest her fingers on one particular card, "This last one will finish you!" she pulled it out and showed it to the world, "My Crossroads Dragon!"

"Wait, why did that thing sound familiar?!" Rock asked.

"Didn't we see Chakra use something like that before?" Noire wondered.

Aspen narrowed her eyes, "From the last time she dueled Jason."

"And it works like this…" Chakra began explaining, "On one hand, I can summon it to the field with a power 800 times the number it represents in a combo. But you know what, I'll pick the one that deals 400 points of damage equal to that same amount."

Noire counted that up, "…That's 2000 life-points!" she then gasped, "That means they can finally win this!"

"But hold up!" Rock interrupted, "What'll happen to Jason, then!? That's still our friend in there!"

Noire lowered her eyes in embarrassment, and shame, knowing she accidentally glossed over that fact.

"Hold on for a minute and think about this!" Rock ran over to the Obelisks and stood in their path, "We don't know what'll happen if you do what hope you're not gonna do!"

Chakra glared over her shoulder at Rock, "And I take it you have an alternative? As in a different plan?"

"W-well…I'm gonna think of something—"

"Face it. This is our best chance to win and escape this shadow-game; and we can't afford to wait for another one," as she said that, Chakra's eyes fell to her duel-disk as her card was being brought towards the tray. When Rock grabbed her wrist to keep the card away, she met Rock's glare with hers, "Let go of my arm, Satoshi."

"Absolutely not! Look, I don't care what kind of problems you have with Jason, I am not gonna let you do my best friend dirty like that! Now we are going to find a way to get out of this without losing him! Do you hear me—"

"I heard enough," Chakra dismissed. The next moment went by in a blur. Rock couldn't figure out what was going on until he somehow found himself sprawled on the ground, his hands tied behind his back with one of Chakra's weighted chains. She then glared over her shoulder to another one of the Spirit Callers, "Are you gonna get in my way as well, Noire?"

Noire fully planned to march over and face Chakra. But facing that Chakra's deathly glare prevented her from taking another step forward. Instead of listening to her better judgement, she could only focus on the parts screaming to her 'STAY AWAY!' over and over. That side of her eventually won over and Noire stepped back, eyes downcast in shame.

"That's what I thought," Chakra muttered before turning back to the duel, "If there are no further interruptions…I call upon Crossroads Dragon!" the moment she played the card, Legendary Combo Fighter shot his powered fist into the air, before exploding in a column of flashing light. That column then took shape as it contorted and twisted while growing large scales on the surface. Soon, all bore witness to a colossal, serpentine golden dragon, its body seeming to go for miles. It introduced itself with the mightiest roar a dragon can make.

"You'll not dare attack!" Darknite proclaimed, glaring uneasily at the dragon, "You'd destroy your friend in the process!" he looked back to ground level at Chakra, searching for signs of weakness only to be met with an iron-hard determination glaring back at him, "You will not!" he, the embodiment of evil, pleaded.

Anais was now again standing in front of the dark barrier, with the book in hand and staff standing by in its duel-pedestal mode.

"This had better work…" she muttered as she stared at the card in her hand before she planned to play it, "I summon to the field…" she began as she raised the card over her head before slapping it onto her pedestal, "Elemental Hero Escuriadao!" in a flash of shade, the dark Elemental Hero rose from an instant pit of shadows. The living darkness surrounding it reached out with tendrils onto the book Anais was holding, where it suddenly opened up and already flipping through its pages as if it were alive. Anais looked on in amazement even as Escuriadao reached out with a large clawed hand and fired a dark beam of energy at the barrier, "It's working…!"

"Crossroads Dragon, finish him off!" the dragon roared in reply and dove down towards its quarry. He was about to shed himself of his vessel to avoid the attack. But it was too late as the dragon hit its target home.

The screams returned. The screams of Darknite, and eventually those screams of their friend, mixed with the rushing-tide-like golden power that became a tornado of raw energy.

"NO!" Chakra was fully prepared to discipline Noire like she did Rock when she spun around, only to see the Ra in the arms on Chakra's partner, "Let me go! Let me go!" cried Noire, who was struggling to escape Aspen's hold, "Please! Someone stop this! You don't have to do this!"

Chakra slammed her hands against her ears to block out all those horrible sounds, both Jason's screaming and his friends' pleading; while at the same time dropping to her knees, and began muttering incoherently. Anything to drown out the screams.

A fresh scar opened which then expanded into a large gap in thin air. It was a door between worlds which Anais used to cross over. But when she stepped foot into this world, she was met and awed by the golden cyclone, and horrified by the screams came from it. And all she could do was watch.

They watched as the golden power tore through him.

They watched as pieces of his shadow started to crumble.

And eventually, his silhouette was erased…as if he were sand against the wind before everything went dark…

Finally, it was at long last over. The attack ended, leaving not a trace of the dragon or its victim. All was quiet in this realm of darkness…

A heavy thud broke that silence and, where Darknite once stood, was his host; face-down on the ground.

"JASON!" they all screamed as they ran to him.

"Someone get me out of this!" Rock exclaimed and was released from his bonds. After he was freed, he rushed over to Jason. He rolled his body over face-up, and was met with a tired look from Jason's vacant eyes, before resting his hands on Jason's shoulders.

"C'mon, Jason, get up," Rock softly pleaded, while gently shaking Jason by the shoulders, but there was no response, "Hey. Listen, we won the duel! Darknite is gone! He can't control you anymore, so wake up!" still no response, even when he shook Jason a bit harder, "Why aren't you waking up?! Maybe…" Rock ripped open Jason's red blazer and started pumping his hands against Jason's chest, "He just needs a little air," he huffed as he pumped, "He might need mouth-to-mouth! Quick, one of you help me out!"

"Rock…" Aspen began, void of hope, "It's not going to work."

"We won't know unless we try!" Rock said, "Are you gonna help or not?!"

"Rock, please…"

"I can't do this on my own!"

"He's gone!"

"Shut up! If you're not gonna help, just say so! But don't you dare say he's—" but he was suddenly pulled off of Jason, and forced to look Aspen in the eye, as he was being held in place by being pulled close to her by his arms, "There's nothing we can do; don't you get it?! It's not his body that's the problem; it's his spirit! His lights are on but nobody's home! Because his very soul is completely destroyed! He cannot be saved!" it took a moment but Rock eventually stopped squirming, after having to accept what had happened as reality. No longer resisting, Rock was finally let go to drop to his knees. His gaze drifted off to nowhere. With clenched teeth and fists, like the others, he's been taunted by the reality that this is a problem that just cannot be fixed.

"Every time…" he hissed, "Every single time something bad happens!" he started pounding his fists in a fit of rage, "Why does this always happen?! And why does he always have to pay for it?! And now we can't even get him back…" Rock sobbed quietly, in grief like his friends, "Please…someone tell me why this happened…"

Noire indeed had the answer as her eyes fell on Chakra, still in her fetal position.

Aspen spotted Noire looming towards Chakra and, having a lingering bad feeling, quickly ran up and grabbed her.

That only caused her to start thrashing about in Aspen's grip, "Arrogant, self-centered, two-faced doublecrossing-! Did you have any idea what you did!"

"Hey, you're not the only one who feels this way! But this is not the way to go about it!"

"Why did you stop me?! Why did you let her do that to him! Jason could've been saved if—…if… He's…" Noire let out one last desperate cry before standing limp in Aspen's arms. Aspen turned that hold into a hug, trying to comfort the Ra girl as she was sobbing in Aspen's shoulder.

Anais was not far, watching their mourning. This is what she feared the most throughout this whole ordeal. Of course the children would not understand, but this was the price of war. And loss is inevitable in war…

That moment was shattered but a clap of thunder from the sky, where tendrils of darkness gathered and reformed into Darknite's shadow.

"Oh please don't tell me…" Aspen muttered.

"How are you still here?!" Rock exclaimed.

"You fools! This is my domain! And this domain is me, so my life is an eternal one! No matter how many times you battle, I can never be destroyed! And now, to be rid of the lot of you once and for all!" as it said that, countless orbs of light appeared before being pulled towards Darknite's shadow, and disappearing as if being swallowed. More and more followed, drawn in and consumed by the growing vacuum-like shadow as it kept devouring.

"Something wrong, Roll?" Rock asked as his eyes were led towards where his duel-spirit's were looking. He had to squint his eyes to find anything weird. Unfortunately for him he finally did. What he thought were unorthodox shapes that were part of the murky, messy background were now distinguished into a noticeable form. They were bodies; human bodies floating pimply around the space with the countless balls of white light, "Are those people I'm seeing?!" Rock gasped.

Overhearing Rock, the others looked up at the background until they saw what he saw.

"I can't believe this…" Anais said with wide eyes, "There are more people here?"

"You know what…?" Aspen said, "These must be everyone that lost their duels in a shadow-game!"

"Sent to the Shadow Realm?" Rock muttered breathlessly.

"Those poor people…" Noire followed, then gasped, "Are we gonna end up like them?!"

Already having absorbed so many souls, the shadow had grown into the size, and shape, of a titan, claws and all; and it was ready to unleash them on its enemies.

"I think we should go!" Aspen suggested, "Run!" the others took her advice and ran with her away from the monster.

"Through here, children! Hurry!" Anais exclaimed as she guided the Spirit Callers into the exit she created. Rock and Noire made it through, but Aspen stopped just shy of following them when she realized someone was missing, and spun around to find Chakra still in her fetal position.

"For the love of…" Aspen growledto herself as she rushed back towards her.

"Aspen, wait!" Anais cried as she followed her.

"C'mon, Chakra, this is no time for a panic attack! We got to go, now!" Chakra was unresponsive, but not having the time for it, she, with Anais' help, pulled Chakra to her feet and practically dragged her off, just before a giant clawed hand could fall on top of them. Eventually, the three managed to get through the portal.

Now that everyone was outside, Anais aimed her staff from a distance, "Stand back, children!" she said before firing a magical bolt that covered the dome of darkness. It became smaller, being crushed by Anais' magic. Eventually it became a sphere-like shape while still being shrunken from existence.

But a large golden spike jutted out before it could close. After being followed by several more spines, the black space was being stretched out, expanding wide enough for a giant to pass through.

And that very giant came through, stopping at the waist. Gold accents curled around the blue chestplate like veins. Large gold shoulderpads fan out like wings, and so did the horns of its golden helmet crowned around the dry skull of Darknite's face. Its most terrifying feature was just below its waist; a colossal eyeball staring right at the Spirit Callers, "I TOLD YOU I WOULD HAVE MY REVENGE!" the voice of Darknite echoed from the animate skull, "NOW COME! ONE MORE TIME! ONE MORE GAME!"

"Oh, I am getting so sick an tired of this guy!" Rock exclaimed, reactivating his duel-disk.

"You and me both," Noire snarled, her and Aspen doing the same.

However, a hand fell on each Rock and Noire's shoulders. The two looked over them, as well as Aspen when she noticed them, causing the Spirit Callers to jump away in shock; because the one who got their attention, they thought he was dead.

"JASON!" they all exclaimed, seeing their friend back on his feet.

"But how?! I thought—"

"How are you back on your feet?!" Rock asked, cutting Noire off.

Jason didn't give an answer, simply pushed past their friends and shot a glare at Darknite, while taking out his own deck.

Rock connected the dots and said, "You're not going to… No. No way you're going out there in the shape you're in. Especially not alone!"

"I have to agree with Rock on that," Aspen added as she quickly stood in Jason's path and grabbed his shoulders, "He's right. You're too beat up to fight; and there's no reason to prove yourself. Just let us hand this and…"Just let us handle this and…" Aspen lost her train of thought while staring Jason down. Jason was keeping his eyes away, but Aspen could see what was behind them. No one else would see what she is seeing, but this is not the Jason who would carry this certain aura behind them. What if… "Rock…" Aspen said, "Give Jason your duel-disk."

"Wait, what?"

"But what about his health?" Noire asked.

Aspen removed her hands and backed away, "Trust me, something tells me he needs this."

As soon as she said that, there was a glow at the corner of het eye, drawing her to her duel-disk. He fished out the light in the form of cards. The glow ended when Aspen's Charmers appeared in their spirit form. The same went for Rock as Mega-Man and Roll were summoned.

They then became forms of assorted lights which then drew themselves into Jason's body, giving the Slifer a rainbow-colored aura as a result.

"Did those monsters just enter Jason's body?!" Noire asked, amazed.

Rock stepped forward, "Mega? …Is that really you in there?" and in total change of character, Jason gave a thumbs-up complete with a wide grin; something only a Mega-Man would pull off, "Guys, I think this could work."

"Out of the question!" came the voice of Anais, who was still affected by the hit on the ground, "I cannot let you endanger yourselves yet again! Let's just retreat so now so we can—" but as she was trying to stand, a sharp jolt of pain forced her back on her knees, her hand gripped tight around her staff.

"Miss Anais, we appreciate taking your job seriously, but my gut tells me there's no running from this one. If there's ever a time to finish this, it's now," she then faced Jason again, "So I hope you're ready; 'cause it's crunch time."

Jason gave a solemn nod in response.

"Then you're gonna need this!" Rock came over with a duel-disk for Jason.

After equipping himself with his new duel-disk, he was all set when he was suddenly grabbed from behind, and blushed knowing who was pressed against him.

"Please be careful," Noire said as she hugged him, letting go when given a back rub from Aspen.

Fully prepared now, Jason backed away and made one last sweep at his friends, their eyes full of hope for the near future; their remaining days of Duel Academy to be spent with the four of them together.

That in mind, he spun around and marched into battle, eyes set on the monstrous titan Darknite.

"SO YOU CHOSE TO BE THE FIRST TO PERISH BY MY HAND!" Darknite exclaimed, "VERY WELL! AFTER I RETAKE MY MILLENNIUM PENDANT I WILL EXTERMINATE YOU ALL!" the wind picked up as it carried visible streams of darkness that was seeping from Darknite himself, making the world around it its battleground for the ultimate shadow-game, "NOW LET US BEGIN OUR FINAL DUEL!"

Jason activated his duel-disk, all without taking his eyes off his opponent; because there's only one objective, only one target, in mind: the monster that imprisoned him.

Darknite (Nitemare): 8000

Jason: 8000

"I WILL BEGIN!" A giant duel-monster card appeared in Darknite's open claw, spinning over face-forward upon activation, "I PLAY THE MAGIC CARD POT OF GREED, ALLOWING ME TWO MORE CARDS IN MY HAND," the spell card was replaced by two more, before one of them flipped over,"NEXT, I PLAY THE MAGIC OF POLYMERIZATION, MERGING THE FIVE MONSTER CURRENTLY IN MY PLAYING HAND TO FORM THE MIGHTY FIVE-HEADED DRAGON!" in a flash of light on the field, the colossal dragon rose (ATK: 5000), "FINALLY I END MY TURN BY PLAYING THE MAGIC CARD SOUL CHARGE!"

Darknite (Nitemare): 4000

Jason: 8000

"THIS PERMITS ME TO REVIVE FOUR OF THE FIVE DRAGONS I SACRIFICED TO THE GRAVEYARD!" four additional mighty dragons then appeared, each one representing one of the four elements: one with scales glowing bright orange, and so hot that it caught fire in various places. Another had a sleek and slender form built with its blue scales, as if all its movements would be as smooth as gentle pouring water. Another hovered with massive wings as green as its light hide, creating bursts of wind with each beat. And the final, bronze-scaled beast, carried no such wings, but had large chunks of rock covering its rough and bulky body. And all joined Five-Headed Dragon on the field.

It was now Jason's turn to draw. The first card he played was the monster card Silent Swordsman. But instead of the monster itself, its trademark sword fell from the sky and landed blade-first into the ground.

Rock blinked in confusion, "Okay, I see the sword, but where's the swordsman?"

Next was the spell card Polymerization, merging the heroes Ocean and Woodsman to bring the ice-armored Elemental Hero Absolute Zero to the field.

The next play consisted of two more spell cards, Tremendous Fire and Gift of the Martyr. With that combo, Absolute Zero was broken down into a sparkling wisp of vapor before it, along with a billowing stream of fire, wrapped themselves around the sword.

Grabbing the handle with both hands, he pulled the energized sword from out of the ground, and made a couple of practice swings, leaving behind a trail of red and blue vapor each time.

All the while, the Spirit Callers watched and were amazed at each feat performed, "I didn't know Jason could even do that!" Rock said.

Having a decent handle of his new weapon, it was time for Jason to go on the attack. He took one mighty swing, and a massive gust of sparkling, frigid wind, helping in freezing the five dragons until they stood under colossal blocks of ice.

"Or that!"

Another swing was took, this time bringing forth an intense heatwave. With it, those five ice coffins burst from the inside out, smashed into tiny pieces along with the dragons.

"Or even that!"

Jason then made a mad dash towards Darknite and when he got close enough, he jumped high into the air. He pulled the sword up over his head before bringing it down…

But he was suddenly caught in the large, golden clawed hand of Darknite, causing Jason to drop his sword in surprise.

Darknite drew his captured prey close, enough to see through the hollow of his eye sockets, "NOW THAT I HAVE YOU, YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE MY GRASP! SO I WILL SIMPLY CRUSH YOU," as he said that, he took his spare claws and tightened his grip, squeezing into his prey. Jason grit his teeth, trying to suppress what screaming would come out…

Just as it seemed like this was the end, a colored aura began surrounding Jason. This strange occurrence caused Darknite's grip to loosen just a bit.

That aura became a flash of light centered around the Millennium Shield, which then took form of Mega-Man and the Charmers. With a combined attack of power and magic right in Darknite's face, the monster covered his hands over his face, forgetting he dropped Jason while groaning in pain.

"Now!" Aspen exclaimed, and brought out her cards, "Activate, Magicians Unite!"

"And I'll play Hyper Formation!" Rock followed, playing his own card.

The four sisters pooled their magic together between their crossed staves while Mega-Man evolved into the mecha-like Hyper Mega-Man.

"Now attack!" Aspen and Rock both called out. The Charmers launched their massive magical energy ball while Hyper Mega-Man fired a barrage of missiles from his many compartments under his armor.

Darknite was hit full-force, causing him to stumble back slightly. When he recovered, he loomed towards the Spirit Callers with a roar, "HOW DARE YOU?!"

"You didn't expect us to sit by the sidelines, did you?" Aspen snided.

"Yeah, it's not just Jason you're fighting; it's us too!" Rock added, "So if you're messing with him, you're messing with us!"

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR—" but Darknite was interrupted when he felt himself being pulled back. Darknite was being held back by Perfect Machine King who was holding Darknite by the arms.

"Jason! I got him pinned!" Noire exclaimed, "What are you waiting for?! Finish 'im now!"

Jason took that to heart and made another dash towards Darknite, grabbing the energized sword from the ground along the way. He brought the blade forward and, with a silent cry, lunged towards the creature and thrust his sword forth. The island was filled with a shrill cry of agony when the eye on Darknite's abdomen was skewered.

Sword still in hand, Jason pulled his blade upward, slicing Darknite across the chest until it was freed when the blade reached through the skull.

The deep gash it created was glowing a faint blue, with many wisps of light bleeding out, floating upwards instead of pouring downwards.

Darknite gave one final roar of defeat as his body was being engulfed in that light, and eradicated from the inside out to nothingness.

And like that, Darknite was no more…

"That…was the most incredible thing I have ever seen…" Rock whispered in awe, a tear trying to escape from him.

"Guys, look!" Noire pointed over to one the glowing bits that fell on the ground, where the grew in size and uncovered themselves from what was underneath, "Is that a person?"

Aspen looked around to find many students reappearing in the same comatose state; students that had one thing in common besides the colored blazers, "These must be all the students Darknite took. Looks like even villains had to follow the rules," she then looked back towards their savior, "Thank you…"

Jason stood tall after the Spirit Callers called back their monsters. He even looked epic with that sword held over his head, while blue stardust rained down over him. He lowered his sword when he spotted his friends coming over.

"That! Was! Awesome!" Rock exclaimed, "I didn't know you can do that! That was—WHOA!" he was cut off when being pulled back by the collar thanks to Aspen.

"Hold on a sec," Aspen said before turning to Jason, "Don't you think it's time to show yourself? Can't exactly thank someone who's hiding in a human vessel."

That raised question marks over Rock and Noire's heads, and an exclamation point over Jason's. Realizing that his secret was revealed, he closed his eyes before an orb of light left his body. His body was falling over before Rock and Noire caught him. The orb then grew and shift its form until it took the shape the Spirit Callers instantly recognized.

"Un, Real!" Rock gasped.

"So that's who it is…" Noire whispered.

Aspen smirked slightly, "Thanks for the assist, Silent Swordsman."

The quiet little swordsman hovered in front of the Spirit Callers with his eyes downcast in embarrassment of being in the spotlight.

"So it was Jason's monster spirit who took that thing down? Not Jason?" Noire asked, which Silent Swordsman replied with a nod.

"But then…that means Jason really is…" Rock was approaching another breakdown, since he lost all hope for the best.

That was when Silent Swordsman brought a hand out and opened it, revealing a glowing shard of crystal floating in his palm.

"What is that?" Noire wondered.

"It looks like some kind of rock," Rock guessed.

"I think she means besides the obvious," Aspen replied.

"Perhaps I can explain," the children turned back to see Anais approaching, "What we're looking at is basically a piece of Jason's soul. It appears that Jason is not completely gone."

"But what does that mean?!" Rock asked.

"It means that we've given an opportunity to save Jason. I've read about this: If we give him that soul shard, And give him steady amounts of magical energy over time, eventually his soul will heal and restore itself. However, tending to a soul is like tending to a plant. If we neglect his treatment or give him more than he could handle at once, we'll do more harm than good."

"So we'll get Jason back to normal?" Noire asked.

"We can hope."

"But how do we give him magic?" Rock wanted to know, "Where are we supposed to get that?"

"My Charmers got that covered," Aspen replied, her duel-spirits gathering around her, "They've gotta be called spellcasters for a reason."

"And I will assist them," Anais added, golden staff in hand, "Between the five of us, we need not worry about exhausting our magic reserves."

"Good," Aspen clapped, "Then we're set!"

"Indeed. I'll inform Fontaine to make the arrangements," Anais left for the school, but stopped and turned back, "Before that, however, I believe it is only right to congratulate you on your part in ending this war; for thanks to you, the threat of the High Mages is finally over."

"And you wanted to keep us out of all that," Rock replied, only to recoil when being grabbed by the back of the neck.

"Don't spoil it!" Aspen hissed.

"Quite…" Anais muttered before continuing, "I'm not apologizing for simply practicing my duty as a teacher. Making sure our students remain safe and out of trouble is part of the job. That said, I am not beyond giving credit where credit is due," she then looked over the Spirit Callers one by one, "Miss Seki: you are the most grounded to reality in your group, preventing them from going too far into danger. I would go so far as to call you their mother figure. That is quite the honor," then to Noire, "Miss Kennedy: you have the heart of a lion, and just as ferocious. And even when you would rather be seen as a mouse, that never stopped you from protecting your friends. Show pride in that strength in the future," then to Rock, "Mister Satoshi: you're brave, and although that often gets you in trouble, it also what kept this group going forward. I'd even say that you're their team leader. You three have proven yourselves to be able to protect this school and our war. On behalf of Duel Academy faculty, I am grateful."

"Hey, wait a minute! What about Jason?!" Rock gestured to the comatose Slifer he and Noire were holding, "He was much a part of this as the rest of us! Where's his credit?"

"…" Silence. Nothing came out of Anais' slightly-ajar mouth. After keeping her eyes away, she brought them back to the Spirit Callers with this: "We're wasting time. I suggest we move Jason to the nurse's office immediately," she then turned and left for the school building, ending the conversation.

"Well, I think that's enough bizzare adventuring for one day," Aspen said, stretching her arms out with a satisfying sigh, "You know what, I've had enough of adventuring, period," she then walked off towards the building and waved off, "After today, never again!"

After Aspen went inside, Noire and Rock were left with Jason in tow, "Do you think Silent Swordsman can keep Jason safe?" Noire asked.

"Don't worry, Noire. He's got five duel-spirits looking after him. If I learned one thing from this whole adventure this year, it's that our spirits always got our backs," moments passed before Rock whipped his head back to her with bug eyes, "Wait a sec! You were looking right at that Silent Swordsman entering Jason! And you mentions when Mega and the Charmers did the same thing!"

Noire blinked, "Didn't you? I thought everyone else did."

"That's not what I'm talking about! Remember, in one of our club meetings you thought we were just showing off our favorite cards, but we were really showing Jason our duel-spirits because we found out he got one! But here you are, making eye contact with the Charmers for the first time! Do you know what that means? You can see duel-spirits now! You're an official Spirit Caller now, just like us!"

Now seemed to be a turning point in the Spirit Caller relationship. For a long time Noire felt like an outsider in the group. She couldn't pinpoint the reason why until now, at what seemed to be the very end of their adventures. Now her place didn't seem foreign anymore. She's now really part of the team, "A Spirit Caller…? I've never thought of it like that…"

That precious moments was then broken by a growing number of moan and groans coming from the comatose students that were soon waking up.

"What happened?" one asked.

"I had the weird dream," another said, "There's this guy in red armor."

"Come to think of it, I had that dream too!"

"Yeah, me too!"

Rock's ears were burning from their collective conversation. This was the chance for Jason to get credit, so here goes… "Good news, everyone!" Rock called, "The bad man in red is long gone! And you have this guy to thank!" he shot a glance over to Jason and the rest of them followed, watching in awe at their savior. Rock grinned, knowing after all this time fighting, Jason would finally get the thanks he deserved.

"Hey, wait a minute!" one said, "That's the guy wearing that armor!"

"Now that I think about it…" another asked, "I remember breaking that guy's mask in my duel!"

"So he's the one behind all this! He tried to get us killed!"

What were once cheers of praise soon became jeers of disgust when they discovered who was behind their troubles.

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