Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Only own any OCs.

AN: I am back to grace you all with my presence. I am finally getting things under control in my life, so I'll hopefully be able to update more frequently now that I got a plan going for my writing schedule. I hated leaving you all with a hiatus, but know that I'm trying my best! The day I really stop fanfiction is the day I get my own work serialized and even then, I'll still keep doing this!

Anyway, we'll delve into the minds of four characters. The first half will be Alexis and Asami while the second half will be Chazz and Atticus. I actually think this is the first chapter ever that doesn't have Jaden or Jason appear! A landmark has been made! Also, there's a fanfiction joke in here. You'll know it when you get to it. I hope you find that funny. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8-

Alexis yawned as she stretched her arms over her head. Although her eyes were closed, she could still feel the light of the sun dashing across her face as the ball of fire started waking up too. Alexis had to wonder why the sun seemed to always kill any peaceful slumbers she was having on any weekend or days off. It was like she was being played with by a round yellow ball that was millions upon millions of miles away.

Shaking her head to erase a little more remnants of her sleep, she hopped out of her bed and looked to see if her roommate was awake. She could feel envy as she witnessed Asami sleep like her head had just hit the pillow that second. Alexis didn't know how she could sleep with a bright beam of light hitting her face. Once the sun was up, so was she. She felt a little disgusted when she noticed the trail of drool traveling down her lips. Now that she didn't envy.

Sighing to herself now that sleep was gone until that night, she climbed out of her bed and crossed the space between her bed and the computer that was set up in their room, sitting in the revolving chair in front of it. Breakfast wasn't opened for another ten minutes after she checked the clock set up on the lower right of the computer screen. She figured a little internet surfing would do wonders in erasing that timeframe. She thought about getting dressed, but she was feeling lazy at the moment, and since all girls could go to breakfast in their pajamas, Alexis didn't see the point; especially since she was coming back here anyway to do her homework. She would get dressed when her schedule required her to leave the dorm.

She turned her head back when she heard Asami start to snore. She shook her head at her friend. How could someone usually well composed like her be so gross when she was sleeping? She had to smile when a thought came to her. Did Jason know about the snoring when the two of them lost their virginity? If he did, she wondered if he made fun of it. Asami hated people making fun of her snoring.

Leaving her sleeping friend to dabble in her snoring and drooling, Alexis went to browsing the internet for the ten or so minutes she had until breakfast would open. She would wake Asami's sleeping ass up when the time came. The pinkette would sleep all morning long into the afternoon if someone didn't wake her up or if she didn't have any incentive to do so herself. Again, Alexis envied that.

Opening the internet browser, she aimlessly clicked on links until something would catch her eye. Clicking link after link, she swallowed harshly when she saw that she ended up on a news page. "Domino Eight is now Domino One." The headline read.

Alexis frowned. This was old news. This was when Jaden was the only one of his group of fellow inmates that was not dead or apprehended by the cops. She clicked on the mouse with more force than she felt was necessary, but she didn't really care right now. She was tired of everything about their shitty summer being thrown back into their faces every minute of every day. It was over. Let it die already.

She started clicking again when she realized she only took away a minute of the ten she started with. Deciding the internet would probably only meet her with more and more reminders of the past, she went to Duel Academy's homepage. Here, at least she wouldn't find links to anything involving what happened. She noticed many comments about Jason's duel with Steve on the comment section where students can put their thoughts in on any recent school event. Whether that duel counted as it was a punishment duel was up to the individual, but many seemed to think so as she was looking at the page right now. Shrugging, she scrolled through the hundreds of comments with many more appearing every second.

'Did you see Jason's last move!? Crazy!' One read. Alexis smiled. It was a crazy ending move.

'Steve technically won! He just got the attack order wrong!' Another read. Alexis shrugged. He shoulda thought his move through a lot better. His lost was his fault.

'Jason's one of the top duelists for a reason! This duel was proof!' Jason should read some of these, Alexis thought. It'll make him feel better about himself after what happened.

'No, his duel with Jaden last year was proof!' Alexis' smile grew when she remembered that duel. She honestly felt that duel between the two was more intense than the actual School Duel itself. Now that she remembered it, she would love to see a rematch between the two of them.

'Jaden would probably win again,' one comment replied to the one she just read. 'That guy never loses.' Not true. Zane beat him and Jason and Asami beat him and her in their end-of-the-year tag duel. Still, no one knew about those matches so the opinion was valid. She scrolled through, reading comment upon comment about the duel and references to Jaden and Jason's match last year. Through the reading, she found a link that told that Zane's first pro duel would be sometime next week. That was awesome! She made a mental note to tell Syrus if he didn't know already.

Towards the middle, she saw something that made her curiosity peek and her anger grow. 'Why is everyone ignoring the fact these guys are criminals!? Killers! They're psychotic and don't deserve to be here!' There was no name since the faculty decided that they could avoid any potential fights between the students this way if they left the comments as anonymous. This way, any argument stayed in the website and wouldn't travel out into the school. Alexis thought it was a good idea, but she was wishing that she knew who wrote that so she could break their arm.

Alexis wasn't stupid. She knew that the twins' welcome back here would be divisive. People were gonna have their own thoughts on why they should and shouldn't be here, although she hadn't actually heard anyone say they shouldn't be here. She heard people were scared of them, but not that they shouldn't be here at all. She knew those people existed though. There were always doubters, like the skeptics in the audience of a magic show. Though she was angry, she was curious.

How many people have the twins killed?

They never said and the only ones that Alexis knew for sure were two each between the twins when they killed Asami's sister's rapists and a third on Jason's side. Brian, aka Banger, Phillips was his name; a fellow member of The Domino Eight. Oh yeah, she remembered; Jaden killed that guy last year that worked for the Admiral. So, each boy had three at least.

She knew there was more. Who were they? Did they have families? Friends? Alexis shook her head. Why was she even thinking about this? They did what they had to do to survive and anyone that they did have to kill were all scum anyway...

But Jaden shot that guy cold blooded executioner style. Shot him even after he was no longer a threat. Alexis didn't like that she questioned what Jaden did, but it was kinda hard not to question someone who murdered another man with no remorse. She could see Jaden's face in her head as clear as the day the deed actually happened.

Stoic, lost, blood stained from his gutting of another man who was more of a monster, scary, angry with a touch of sick satisfaction, rounding off with a bored glance downward once the shooting ended. She barley repressed a shudder when the horrifying image crossed its way into her head, having to momentarily fan out her white t-shirt to get some of the anxiety out.

Jaden might've not have been the nicest guy ever - even last year when they first met he showed signs of being rough - but she never thought he could cross over that line; the Admiral Solider being in self-defense. The feeling of helplessness she had in her, coursing through her veins with her blood spooked her. Taking a seat on the bench wasn't a style she liked, and being forced into that position with Jaden's, and even Jason's, change was agonizing, even to this day.

She sighed. Just why couldn't she let this go? Jaden did what he had to do. He wouldn't have done it otherwise. She trusted his judgement. But still, questions arose that she knew Jaden wouldn't answer truthfully. He's beaten around the bush before. When she asked him after his exoneration why he killed that Peter man, he'd responded with a very convincing "He tried to kill me". She called him out on that, saying that Peter was motionless on the floor the entire time.

Jaden's response? His finger twitched. He could've been trying to attack him. To say she was baffled and scared would've been a giant lie. She almost told him that she knew he killed him just to kill him, so why lie? She just wanted him to tell the truth - to talk to her. That's what she felt boyfriends and girlfriends did. They spoke and confided in one another, and yet Jaden was ignoring that aspect. Why couldn't he just take her help? Why did he feel the need to lie point blank to her face when he knew that she knew he was bullshitting her? So many questions and no way to get the answers to them.

She almost asked Jason, but felt sneaky about going behind Jaden's back. Plus, the younger Yuki wasn't exactly very chatty with about anything that he and Jaden were feeling. Aside from proclaiming his hatred for Aaron and his love for his friends, he kept quiet. It made Alexis ponder if Jason subconsciously forgot how to talk and went mute again to avoid confessing his issues. A groan made her turn to see Asami start to wake up.

"Morning," the pink-haired girl groggily said as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Alexis quickly closed the window so Asami didn't ask and have to hear about someone's apparent hostility towards Jason.

"Morning to you," Alexis nodded back, turning the chair around so she was facing her friend. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah. It's still a little weird though." Asami said. "Now that I've slept with Jason, it feels a little lonely." If she still wasn't tired, she probably would've blushed at talking about her and Jason sleeping together.

"Careful not to let any teachers hear that," Alexis teased. "You two'd get in a lot of trouble."

Asami shrugged, "We're careful..." She recalled their actions yesterday. After they had their little pow wow against the tree, Jason had thanked her and said that he really enjoyed it. She was still confused about why he had to say that. His actions during their love making was more than enough proof for her that he enjoyed it. It was too early for her to be putting so much thought into this, so she filed it away to come back to later. Something was amiss. "Anyway, what're you doing up earlier than me?"

Alexis shrugged. "Nothing much. Just waiting for breakfast to open."

"When is that?"

"Two minutes..." She answered after checking.

"I could use some food," Asami rubbed her stomach as she climbed out of her bed. She strolled over to the door with Alexis following, looking back quickly to make sure she left no trace of her crusade on the internet before following her friend down to the dining hall.

They arrived at the dining hall within five minutes, seeing that there were already a few girls there enjoying the food. Obelisks were given the royal hotel treatment with trays upon trays of food available for them to take as much as they wanted. It was definitely an unequal balance with the other dorms - especially the Slifer Dorm - but it was nice it was here for them to use.

"I forgot to ask you," Asami began as she took a plate. "What's your opinion on the new class set ups?" She asked as she began filling her plate with bacon. "All these new types of classes to choose from adds a lot of variety."

Alexis nodded as she began filling her plate with some eggs. "I agree that it does enhance the learning process. It kind of reminds me of a University - you're allowed all these different subjects and can freely choose what you want to excel at."

"Unless you don't have enough credits and need to add one class you're gonna hate and never learn anything you'll use." Asami added. "Callie had to take a Math course to fill up her credits and she nearly failed every semester. Needless to say, she didn't enjoy that year of school."

Alexis smiled, "How is all that Math education helping her in her Graphic Design business?" She teased as the two girls finished filling up their plates.

Asami smiled back, "Oh it is definitely not helping her at all. She calls that the year of hell - says that if she sees another math equation she'll lose her shit." They started heading to an unoccupied table. Alexis glanced briefly at Asami while they walked - a question at the tip of her tongue. She was currently going over in her head if if was approve to ask the question. She decided it wasn't mean spirited.

"How is Callie doing?" She just wished she hadn't made the question sound so awkward as they sat down. Asami took a glance at her friend, her face lowered into a sort of sad smile. Alexis immediately lowered her face.

"She's doing good," the pink-haired girl answered, "Really well actually. She's not in the hospital anymore and is home now. She's on leave from work at the moment." She explained. She really envied that her sister could seemingly move on from something so traumatic so fast. Unless she was just putting on a facade, but, knowing her sister, that was probably not true. Alexis, while surprised Asami even answered her, managed to give a nod.

"She must really love that," she sarcastically said, "Woman loves her job."

"You're telling me," Asami laughed. "It's the only thing she smiles about. She's still doing some sketches, but she isn't pushing herself too hard - especially considering Mom is making sure she relaxes."

"And you don't want your mom mad at you." Alexis nodded, "She's terrifying."

"Yours too," Asami shot back with a laugh. "Remember when we found Callie's cigarettes in fourth grade and tried to smoke some?"

Alexis paled. "My parents made sure I couldn't walk properly for weeks." She shivered at her punishment for doing something stupid like that. She never thought her skin on her butt would go back to its normal color.

"Mine made me believe I wouldn't ever see the sun again." Asami said, taking a bite from her eggs. "And since Callie was eighteen, they couldn't really do anything to her." The two shared a laugh, feeling good about the light hearted moment they were having.

They were interrupted when they heard someone come up behind them. "Hi!" They turned around to see that it was Misaki. Asami immediately frowned upon seeing her while Alexis was more polite and gave her a nod.

"What?" They both asked, although Asami growled out her greeting.

"Nothing," Misaki bounced on her heels. "I just can't find anywhere to sit..." Asami immediately that was a lie. They were many unoccupied tables at the moment. "Can I sit here?"

"No/Sure." Both girls answered. Asami was given a disappointed glare from Alexis. In sign language - something Alexis was learning a little bit about to understand Jason better before he got his voice - the unofficial Queen of Obelisk Blue told Asami to stop being mean to Misaki over her crush on Jason. It was childish and beneath her. She also asked her if that meant Asami was mad at her five-year old sister Gracie for having her own crush on Jason.

Asami sighed. No she didn't think that. She found it adorable when her younger sister met Jason for the first time and immediately took a liking to him. She supposed she'd try being civil with Misaki. There were definitely more approving targets to direct her hostility towards.

She turned to Misaki - who didn't move due to getting two separate answers - and pointed to one of the empty seats. "Fine. Whatever."

Misaki grinned. "Cool!" She looked over her shoulder. "Hikaru, come here!" Alexis' eyes widened instantly upon hearing that name, which had Asami laughing at the turnaround. "Come sit with us!"

Asami got Alexis' attention back to her and, in a satisfying moment, told her in sign language to not be childish towards Hikaru. It was beneath her. Alexis glared at her long enough to not notice Hikaru take the seat next to her.

"Why do I have to sit here?" The southerner asked, Alexis thinking the same thing.

"Because you looked lonely," Misaki answered. "You couldn't decide where you wanted to sit."

"I was deciding between the table by the window or the one by the door." She answered. Misaki blushed upon hearing that, feeling she jumped the gun. "But thank you." She said, getting Misaki to cheer up.

"So... How do you girls like Duel Academy so far?" Alexis asked, seeing that Asami wasn't gonna be the one to talk. She was just eating her food while scrolling through her PDA.

"It's nice," Hikaru answered. "The scenery reminds me a lot of the ranch back home."

"You live on a ranch?" Alexis asked.

"Been in the family for generations upon generations." Hikaru answered with a shrug, taking a bite of her toast. "With me being the only child, it's pretty much mine in a couple years. I like it, but wanna do something else besides tend a scape of land my whole life." She explained.

"I can see why. Being cut from the same cloth doesn't mean you have to do everything your family did." Alexis said.

"Can you talk to my grandfather?" Hikaru asked with a smirk. "He seems to think that what your ancestor from the 1700s did is what you have to do too. Gotta say I'm getting annoyed now with trying to explain myself."

Alexis had to give a small smile. Despite her suspicion towards her in regards to that blush towards Jaden, Hikaru seemed like an okay person. Maybe she had nothing to worry about at all. "Some people are just engraved in tradition. They wanna keep it going since it worked out well for everyone else."

"Yeah, I guess..." Hikaru shrugged. "Still annoying though."

"Never said it wasn't..."

Misaki curiously took a quick glance at Asami's PDA, immediately squealing when she saw what she was looking at.

"Jason looks so cute!" She exclaimed, causing Asami to nearly drop her PDA in shock, and Alexis and Hikaru to turn from their conversation to see the new event unfold. "How old is he here!? Do you have any more like this!?"

Asami gave an annoyed shake of her head. Why was she peeking at the picture she was looking at? Jason was still a toddler in it and had chocolate cake splattered on his face and in his hands. Needless to say, she thought he looked adorable. And apparently Misaki did too.

"He's five in it; yes I have others; and stop screaming." She said as nicely as she could. Misaki opened her mouth, "No. You can't see. With all due respect, those are private." She shrugged.

Misaki nodded, "I get that. I'm sorry." She apologized. "I just like seeing new stuff when it comes to my idols. I got carried away."

Asami shrugged again, "It's fine."

"You're so lucky. He's very cute." Misaki said.

Asami had to smile. "Yes he is." She had to appreciate Misaki being so passionate about Jason. Her genuine affection towards him while being super annoying to her as his girlfriend, she respected as someone who loved him due to Jason's traumatic experiences lately. It wasn't a secret that Jason was a killer. Seeing this new girl have some kind of idolization towards him was in a weird way kinda cool.

Or she was just a sick freak who idolized his murders.

Alexis and Hikaru shook their heads. "It's all she talks about." Hikaru commented. "Jason this, Jason that, Jason is sexy, Jason is a hero, Jason is misunderstood, I want Jason to have my babies." Hikaru listed. Alexis stifled a laugh while Asami and Misaki looked horrified, although for different reasons.

"I-I didn't say that!" Misaki was red in the face, nervously looking at Asami, who still had her mouth agape.

"Then what did I hear last night when I went past your room?" Hikaru asked. "You said that, and you were doing something else."

"Shut up!" Misaki exclaimed, jumping forward to cover her mouth. She was turning as red as the ketchup she had on her eggs. She couldn't even look at Asami right now, instead looking at Hikaru and giving her best glare... Which only made her look less than intimidating. She looked like a blonde teddy bear.

Hikaru pushed her off, looking a little bit disgusted. "I hope you washed that hand."

Alexis lost it and laughed out loud. She rested her head on her folded arms, which were resting on the table. She occasionally slammed her palm on the table whilst sucking in what air she could.

Asami instead just glared. She kept her disgust under control by squeezing her PDA. She quickly figured out what Misaki had done. She honestly didn't care although she was a little bit disgusted, which she found ironic because she does the same thing. "I don't care what you do in private..." She answered before going back to her breakfast. She added quickly though, "He's gonna have MY babies by the way; although the correct phrase is I'm gonna have HIS kids." She firmly stated, letting this conversation die before she went to wishing Misaki to do so instead.

Misaki's face was as red as can possibly be. Smoke would undoubtedly be coming out her ears if that was possible. Hikaru was simply shaking her head while Alexis was holding her chuckles back. If Asami and Jason kept up with that late-night festivities of theirs, that plan would be beginning much sooner than any of them could hope or be ready for.

Silence enveloped them for a little bit. They all went to their breakfasts with Misaki taking her PDA out to do whatever. Her giggles started roughly two minutes after she took it out. Her 'awws' came next, getting Alexis and Hikaru to glance up to see what she was awwing at. She never looked up from her PDA. She mumbled something about something being cute and then giggled again. This went on for a good three minutes before the curiosity became too much.

"What're you giggling at?" Hikaru asked.

Misaki widened her eyes as she hid her PDA from view. "Ummm... Nothing?" She couldn't sound more unconvincing if she tried. "... Jokes dot com?" Her red face was still present - now taking on a much darker tone at being called out.

"Now I'm curious," Alexis said. Asami kept her interest on her breakfast.

Seeing she was trapped, Misaki sighed, "... Fanfiction..." She embarrassingly answered. Asami looked up. She knew about that. It was one of her elementary school teacher's recommended methods for her to practice her reading skills back when her disability had plagued her academic life. Alexis had known about it for the same reason.

"Fanfiction?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes... It's when fans write stories based on their favorite franchises." Misaki explained.

"Okay... What's so embarrassing?" Hikaru asked, not seeing why Misaki couldn't say what she was reading. She's known this girl a total of a week days wise and an hour in actuality, but she could easily figure out that being shy was something Misaki was not.

"This is a... different type of fanfiction." She said, hoping to leave it like that. Like with her hopes of her and Jason, it just wasn't happening.

"How?"

Nervously looking at Asami, she scooted away towards Hikaru until she was basically sitting in the girl's lap. Hikaru moved away a little bit to get some space. "... It's based on Jason and his friends."

"What!?" Asami screamed.

"Come again!?" Alexis gasped.

"They have fanfiction on that?" Hikaru calmly asked.

"Uh-huh..." Misaki nodded. "And I'm a sucker for slash... or Yaoi if you want the other term."

"..." The three girls sat in silence, looking to one another for the answer. They were met with just two more confused looks that mirrored their own.

"Gay pairings..." Misaki clarified.

"Ah..." Hikaru and Alexis answered with a nod.

"... Who?" Asami asked, seeing very clearly where this was going based on Misaki's favorite topics to talk about. And also apparently her favorite topics she liked to 'think' about.

"... Jason and Shane Nelson..." Misaki almost whispered in reply.

"You're reading a story about my boyfriend and his dead friend being lovers?!" Asami shouted, getting attention from all other occupants around the cafeteria. Alexis just pointed to her head and wagged her finger around in a circle, causing the other girls to look away.

"The plot is really intriguing..." Misaki tried to defend herself. "Plus, they're cute together."

"You're not helping your case..." Hikaru muttered.

"Why?!"

"Their friendship is known by everyone who followed the news. When they were addressing their whereabouts, they said Shane would probably be with Jason."

"I know what the news said! What I want to know is why are people writing about them!"

"They're still the hottest thing right now..." Misaki realized what she just said. She got Alexis and Hikaru to laugh and smirk respectively while Asami glared. "Sorry, wrong choice of words..." She coughed to compose herself. "Anyway, they're the most popular thing right now news-wise. You should check some of these out. They're well written, especially the post mortem stories."

"Post mortem?"

"People give their interpretation of how Jason is handling Shane's death. Some range from simply mourning a friend to agony over losing a lover. It's really moving."

Alexis dropped her smile. She herself had seen Jason lose it over his friend before. That agonized scream that he gave when he was trying to be strong at the mini-funeral he and Jaden held for their dead friends was gut-wrenching. It made her cry and Alexis didn't do that easily. But this whole lovers thing was a new one to her. Why did people interpret that? How could people see the signs of that if it were true and when no one other than their fellow prisoners really saw them interact? Were people just sick? Actually... Based on her recent experiences... Yeah, that could be it.

Hikaru just accepted it. People had a right to their opinion. Although she was a little interested. Not in the gay pairing itself, but in the supposed story. Being a reader, she was always looking for new material. Maybe Misaki could email her the link.

"... Please don't talk about this shit around me." Asami requested. She sounded very calm, which made Misaki relax a little but made Alexis tense. "I rather not hear about my boyfriend loving someone else, especially someone he sees as his best friend..." She didn't know how to take people's interpretation of Jason and Shane's friendship having romantic undertones. She wasn't repulsed by it, but she wasn't exactly ready to be accepting either. Jason wasn't gay for his friend. That jerk Steve called them that out of spite and now others are saying the same thing because it was cute? What was wrong with people. If he was gay, he would've told her. "And I can tell you the real one - he's mourning a friend. A friend..." She made sure to make that clear. She sighed, "I need to do homework." She muttered as she walked away towards the exit to the cafeteria.

"Can't say I blame her." Alexis emphasized. "I'd be pissed if there was a Jaden story where he loves someone else." Misaki just whistled innocently. Alexis sighed, "Who...?"

"Carlos Rodriguez and Eren Franklin." Misaki revealed. "There's also some with Jaden and Walter Anderson. I saw some Jason and Brian Phillips, but I stayed away. Wasn't he a pedophile?"

"Yeah..."

"Ewww!" Misaki shivered.

"Wow, people are sick..." Hikaru muttered. She didn't care how good the story was. She wasn't touching that kind of literature with a fifty-inch pole.

"Jason and Carlos are quite popular too and we haven't even hit the most popular." Misaki continued.

"Which is?"

"Jaden and Jason..." Misaki revealed, blushing a little bit in fondness. She had just gotten finished reading a story - non-romantic - that captured their cute sibling relationship well.

"I'm done..." Alexis stood up and left, leaving Misaki and Hikaru to their giggling and smirking.

Chazz wandered around the back of the academy building after classes had let out, not at all in a hurry to get back to the Slifer Dorm just yet. Jason and Jaden were there after another small outburst in class, this time amongst each other. Chazz couldn't recall who started it, but knew that Jason was the one who made the argument known. Luckily there hadn't been any punches thrown and simply words or else it could've gone worse. Chazz hadn't heard most of the conversation, but he did hear this:

"You don't give a fuck that they're dead!"

Chazz had immediately knew what their argument was about after that. It was the same one they were having ever since that time in the abandoned apartment building and Jason wanted to go and save Eren "S-Circuit" Franklin. Jaden declined, what with two of their friends already dead at that point and not too keen to throw himself and Jason into the crossfire. It sparked an uneasy friction between them that only surfaced on very bad days.

And he wasn't all for going back to the fire. He rather watch from safety until it begun to spread towards other places where his interference could mean the difference between a petty argument and a vicious brawl. He's seen the twins fight. With their current mental health - they'd end up killing each other.

He thought the therapist was supposed to be helping - not making them tether more towards a breaking point.

He couldn't help but feel just a little bit responsible. His brothers - his own fuckin' brothers - did this. They took their revenge too far for Jaden standing up for him and ruined the lives of not just Jaden and Jason, but everyone around them that summer. They got four supposed good people murdered by the father of one of their own just because Jason was dating his daughter and it would be 'poetic' for Aaron to be the one to rip them apart.

He wished they died. He didn't care anymore after what they did. Happy wouldn't even begin to describe what he'd feel.

Chazz sighed as he leaned against the pillar out front of the academy, having circled around during his mental tangent. He just wanted shit to go back to the way they were. Jaden being a sarcastic smartass; Jason and Asami being sickingly sweet with their affection; The crew being relatively innocent towards the limitations people can fall to.

You just didn't forget seeing two of your friends bite a man's neck out and gut one open.

"Chazzaroo!" He heard his name being called. He glanced up to see Atticus exiting the building. The students were starting to file out and any stragglers were catching up. "What you hanging out here for?" He grinned. "Waiting for a special someone?"

Chazz glared. Atticus seemed to get off on poking fun at his slow love life. He just got out of a fucked up polygamy entangled fantasy with his childish crushes on Alexis and Asami. Atticus knew that... Which actually would help explain why he was doing this. Now that the coast was clear, Atticus had nothing stopping him from pushing Chazz forward towards new love. Too bad the only new love Chazz wanted was the one with his upcoming rec room. He was gonna love the shit outta that room. The two relationships in the gang would look mediocre and tamed by comparison.

"No," he grumbled. "Just walking..."

"This coming from the guy so lazy he stayed in his chair rather than come outside because the door was 'too far away'." Atticus reminded.

"It wasn't because I was lazy!" Chazz defended himself. "I was-" he quickly shut up when he realized what he was doing. He had a choice. Either appear lazy or reveal that he got a semi because Asami's older sister was walking around the house in tight denim shorts with a tank top that day. He nodded, "Yeah, the door was too far; was feeling very lazy that day." He shrugged. Close one.

Atticus blinked before he shrugged. "Okay...? So what's up with the walking?"

Chazz sighed. Atticus could know what happened. He was one of the only ones who didn't. "Our J-Morons are close to World War 3."

"Ah," Atticus nodded, understanding now. "Rather run from the fight than get mauled by the fighters. So... What happened... This time."

"Something about Jaden not caring that their friends are dead."

"The S-Circuit argument again?" Atticus wondered. "I thought that was water under the bridge?"

"About as much as Jason's self-feud with Aaron." Chazz compared. Atticus hissed. "Nothing is water under the bridge with these two. They don't forget anything."

"They forgot about your past endeavours."

Chazz shook his head, "No they didn't. They just moved past it."

"So they can move past this. It's all the same."

Chazz just stared at his friend seriously. "I didn't kill anyone they cared about. I just name called to Jason, which I still hate myself for. I called a mute handicap a Cyclops and a mouse. I was an evil asshole the other two'd be proud of."

Atticus hardened after hearing that. It seemed to be the go to action from the whole crew when Slade and Jagger were mentioned in any conceivable way. "You were never evil. You changed your ways when an evil person wouldn't care at all about the way they act."

"I've seen some horrible people when I worked as the gravedigger for Red Road. Those guys, especially the ones Jason and Aaron killed, were Satan incarnate. It'd be Hell's Army if that place was in actual hell - although some seem to think so." Atticus explained. "So, before you decide to call yourself evil, compare yourself to the likes of Theo Marino, Samuel Rivera, The Dictator, and anybody else up there. Name calling is an act of love compared to the shit they do-did." He corrected. He remembered his brief week working there and knew that, despite the fair distance he had to the carnage, it somehow wrangled towards him. He never knew someone could appear so detached from humanity with a single look.

Especially not someone like Jason.

Maybe his trauma wasn't that simple to erase and move past. Atticus hated getting too optimistic, but the negativity was, for a lack of a better word, pissing him off.

Chazz processed everything he said, nodding slowly afterwards. "I definitely don't like what I did or who I was before." He admitted. "I guess I haven't let it bother me for a few months now, but in light of all these questionable acts committed..."

Atticus understood fully. "When I was the gravedigger at Red Road, I observed some of the acts there from the gate. I saw people killed, beaten, and assaulted." He grimaced, "I always asked myself what would I have done if I was there. I saw one of our friends let someone die to cover his own hide... And I didn't disagree with what he did." Atticus remembered the rage of the warden asking for someone to speak up for the escape and despite the stupidity of doing so, he was mentally pleading for Jason to do it, if only to prove that he was still him.

Jason didn't even flinch when the gun went off and killed the other inmate. Atticus hadn't had his mouth open so low since the summer began. For the first ten seconds, he belittled him for essentially murdering someone innocent. Then, after asking himself why he would do that, he eventually decided that he would've done the same. It still scared him.

Chazz nodded, "Yeah... I don't think I would've opened my mouth either..."

"So it's not just the twins..."

"The whole entire crew is sick."

Chazz and Atticus turned to the two new voices. One was a Ra Yellow with a bowl cut hairstyle while the second was a brown haired Slifer Red with a combed back head.

"What did you just say?" Chazz growled.

"I should be asking that to you," the Ra stated. "You're the one who just admitted to willing to let another man die to save your own ass."

"Oh, fuck off with the moral high ground bullshit!" Chazz complained with an eye roll and aggravated sigh. "Idiots who talk like that would be the first ones to let someone else get left behind."

"I don't wanna lose respect for you Chazz," the Slifer stated. "So let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Bite me! I don't care if you lose 'respect' for me. I don't have anything to prove to anyone." He continued to argue.

"Who are you two anyway?" Atticus was the one to ask, seeing Chazz wouldn't ask in his little two-on-one spat. "What does this private conversation have to do with you?"

"Well since you want, I guess we can introduce ourselves," the Slifer shrugged. "Name is Ryder."

"My parents named me Winston for some reason." The Ra shrugged with a smirk.

"Funny guy, aren't ya?" Chazz deadpanned. Atticus kept observing, trying to see where these disjointed steps were going towards.

"And it doesn't have anything to do with us - the conversation - but it is interesting to know that the Yuki twins aren't the only sickos in here." Winston ignored Chazz.

"Well, that guy Steve is kind of a prick." Chazz mellowed.

"Charming," Ryder snarked. "But we're not exactly calling you a prick. Just pointing out that maybe the two weren't the only damaged ones to come back. Let's face it - they are a danger and two dangers are better than two-hundred."

"Everybody is damaged. Point to me one person who is completely satisfied with their life and how things turned out." Ryder pointed to himself. "You're a Slifer, so I'm not sure about that."

"Coming from the guy who turned down Obelisk because he liked where he was." Ryder reminded. Chazz just glared. "Oh, looks like I won this round."

"Congrats on winning the big mouth round," Chazz slowly clapped. "Now let's begin the next round..."

"Enough!" Atticus interfered, having enough of staying quiet once he figured out the eventual outcome. "Chazz, we both know where this is gonna go. Remember Crowler's example with Jason and Steve." Chazz stepped away. "And you two," he turned to the new pair. "It's best not to poke the bear and not expect to get mauled. Especially ones that went through the shit we did."

Atticus pulled out his duel disk, "Let's settle stuff the way it's supposed to be here. None of us wanna get expelled for a stupid argument."

They could all agree to that.

Ryder shrugged, following suit with his own duel disk. "Fine. Let's go. Two-on-two."

Chazz nodded, "Whatever. I've been meaning to team with Atticus since the Domino Tournament."

Winston smirked, "Looks like you got your chance."

They all inserted their decks.

"Duel!"

Chazz/Atticus: 8000

Ryder/Winston: 8000

"Alright, you punks! I'll draw first!" Chazz declared as he drew. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and set a facedown to end my turn!" Chazz concluded as two facedowns appeared on his field.

Ryder scoffed, "I thought you were an all tough guy? Hiding already?" He drew. "I summon Goblin Black Ops in attack mode!" A small squad of green goblins in black outfits appeared with knives at the ready. (ATK: 1300/DEF: 0)

"Yawn..." Chazz mocked, getting a vein to throb on Ryder's forehead.

"Now I'll play Quick Rush!" He shoved the next card into his duel disk, showcasing a spell that had a man wearing a white robe raising his sword. "With this, I can attack you right now!" He turned to Atticus. "And since Pretty Boy there has no cards to his name, he's fair game!"

"Son of a goat..." Atticus mumbled as the Goblins charged forward and started pelting the Obelisk with a barrage of attacks.

Chazz/Atticus: 6700

Ryder/Winston: 8000

"Now they go to defense and I'll end my turn with two facedowns." Ryder concluded as the Goblins took a knee with two reversed cards appearing behind the small group.

"I'll make sure you feel twice that pain." Atticus warned as he drew his sixth card. "I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode!"

One of Joey Wheeler's iconic cards appeared in the form of a purple panther dressed in armor. It carried a shield fashioned out of the golden material as the armor and a curved sword. (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1600)

"Three facedowns will suffice for the moment." Atticus concluded with a frown that warned their opponents of trouble brewing.

"Time for me..." Winston started. "I'll begin with my Dark World Dealings. So now we all draw and then ditch a card." They all complied, leaving Chazz with four; Atticus two; Ryder two; and Winston with five. "With this, your defeat is now imminent."

"If I have to hear another clichéd speech about victory and me losing, I'm jumping out a window." Chazz complained. "Hurry up already!"

Winston glared at him before he continued, "I'll summon Chainsaw Insect in attack mode!" A robotic beetle looking creature appeared with a pinch of its claws. (ATK: 2400/DEF: 0) "And a single facedown will do it for me!"

"Now we can begin the action!" Chazz drew.

"We'll have to wait a little bit more as the effect of the monster I threw in the graveyard activates!" Winston interrupted as a ghostly arm shot up from Chazz's duel disk and took the card he drew.

"Son of a-!" Chazz exclaimed as his card was stolen off him. "What was that!?"

"Helpoemer," He explained. "Now you'll each lose a card from your hand every turn while he's in the graveyard..." He smirked at their synchronized frowns.

"Whatever. That card wasn't worth anything right now anyway..." Chazz held a great poker face as he silently mourned the loss of his Armed Dragon LV 10. He had a plan ready for it and now it was gone. Whatever. He was good at improvising. He would figure out another way.

Chazz examined his hand as he ignored the skeptical look Atticus was giving him. "I summon my Armed Dragon LV 3 in attack mode!" The small orange dragon appeared with a less than intimidating roar. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 900)

"Maybe I should've taken that card instead. I feel kinda bad leaving you with a monster that pathetic looking." Winston mocked as the Armed Dragon growled.

"You might not wanna make me mad as I flip summon my Masked Dragon." Chazz warned as the facedown monster on his field turned around to unleash the dragon hidden underneath. (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100) "Now I'll attack those Goblins with my 'pathetic' Armed Dragon!"

The little dragon ran in to give a winding punch to the kneeling goblins, effectively blasting them off the field.

"Now I'll go for the direct attack with my Masked Dragon!" Chazz continued as his second monster prepared to breathe out a stream of flames towards Ryder.

"I'll activate my facedown Defense Draw. Now I lose nothing and get another card for my troubles." Ryder said as he drew, bringing his hand to three as the flames went above him.

"I'll end..." Chazz concluded.

"Now it's me again," Ryder drew again. "Now I summon Cactus Fighter in attack mode!" A large humanoid cactus appeared with a wide eyed expression as it examined the field. (ATK: 1900/DEF: 400) "Now let me outfit him with an Axe of Despair!" A large wooden axe rested in the hand of the plant creature. (ATK: 1900-2900)

"Let's take it to your life points! Attack his Armed Dragon with Cactus Punch!" He declared. The little dragon could only look on in fear as the weird looking Cactus man swung the axe down and took it off towards the graveyard.

Chazz/Atticus: 5000

Ryder/Winston: 8000

"Don't feel bad because now since I destroyed your monster, you get a little something. A Needle token." A mini cactus appeared on Chazz's field. (ATK: 500/DEF: 500)

"Not so fast punk!" Chazz stopped him. "I reveal my Level Soul trap card!" His lone facedown flipped up to reveal a Silent Magician LV 4 with the faded image of a Silent Magician LV 10 above him. "Now I can sacrifice my Masked Dragon and then remove my Armed Dragon LV 10 from my graveyard to allow myself to Special Summon my Armed Dragon LV 7!"

The now vengeful looking dragon on the field floated into the air as the spirit of Armed Dragon LV 10 flew towards it, eventually colliding and merging with it. Out of the bright light came the LV 7 version of the Armed Dragon. (ATK: 2800/DEF: 1000)

Ryder glared. "Whatever. I'll end my turn."

"Now I can get in on the fun!" Atticus drew.

"But not before my Helpoemer takes away a card you're holding!" Winston reminded as the hand went to take a card from Atticus. He stole his Bronze Warrior and slid it down towards the graveyard, leaving Atticus with two cards in his hand.

"That's fine," Atticus shrugged it off, "Because now I activate one of my facedowns Horn of the Phantom Beast!" One of Atticus' three cards flipped up and allowed Panther Warrior to become enveloped with a fiery aura. "Now my Panther Warrior gains 800 attack points!" (ATK: 2000-2800)

"But since I can't attack without sacrificing another monster, I activate my Stray Lambs to get past that!" Two lamb tokens appeared next to Panther Warrior. (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)x2 "Now I'll sacrifice one to attack Winston's Chainsaw Insect!" One token vanished inside Panther Warrior's blade. The purple panther charged forward to the metallic insect, taking a swipe and decimating it with ease.

Chazz/Atticus: 5000

Ryder/Winston: 7600

"And since my monster equipped with Horn of the Phantom Beast managed to destroy a monster, I get to draw a single card." Atticus drew. He glanced at it. "And I'll end with one more facedown." He ended, leaving him with one card left in his hand.

"Minor setback," Winston shrugged as he drew, having four. "Good. It's time to unleash one of my most powerful monsters! Firstly, I'll activate the spell Tribute Burial!" A card depicting a series of graves with souls flying out showed up. "With this, I can remove a monster from each of our graveyards to summon a Level 5 or higher without having to sacrifice anything."

"Oh joy..." Atticus muttered.

"Now I sacrifice Princeton's Armed Dragon LV 3 and my Chainsaw Insect to summon out the Legendary Fiend!"

Armed Dragon LV 3 and Chainsaw Insect's cards flew out of the duel disk as a purple mist enveloped the field. Once the mist started to evaporate, a large demonic looking creature with sharp claws and fangs along with black wings appeared with a menacing growl. (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1800)

"Wow, whoopee..." Chazz muttered. "Big threat."

"Don't get too cocky, Chazz," Atticus warned. "With each Standby Phase, that thing will gain 700 attack points nonstop."

"Pretty Boy is right, Princeton." Winston stated. "So if I were you, I'd not let myself get too comfortable." He examined his hand. "Especially since we're about to take a little trip to the future." He took one of his last two cards to show them a spell card with a pocket watch on front. "With Turn Jump, we each skip three turns from both our sides. So, we make the full turn and then stop back on Ryder, meaning my Fiend here gains the 700 points."

The Fiend roared as he allowed himself to get powered up with Atticus and Chazz groaning at their turns being skipped. (ATK: 1500-2200)

"Now it's me," Ryder drew, having a total of three. "So let's up the fun we're all having here with the summoning of my Nightmare Horse!"

A blue horse covered in bandages bellowed as it landed by Cactus Fighter. (ATK: 500/DEF: 400)

"500 points?" Chazz asked.

"For now, yes," Ryder nodded. He took one of the two cards in his hand, showing a man kneeling with an angel swooping above him. "Gift of the Martyr will now take my Cactus Fighter's strength and give it to the Horse."

"Fuck... Me..." Chazz groaned as the Cactus Fighter disappeared into the Horse, who now grew to the height of Chazz's Dragon. (ATK: 500-3400)

"Attack Princeton directly!" Ryder declared as his Horse moved in for the kill.

"I don't think so!" Atticus interrupted. "I reveal my Shrink spell card to lower your card's strength!"

Nightmare Horse shrunk a little bit, but was still big enough to hit Chazz with enough force to make him stumble. (ATK: 3400-1700)

Chazz/Atticus: 3300

Ryder/Winston: 7600

"Dude, we are way behind..." Atticus pointed behind.

"Would've been worse without your interference," Chazz said. "So good work. And about the score," he smirked, "We'll figure something out. We always do."

"Nice confidence, so let's see you back it up." Ryder provoked, signalling the end of his turn with his last card facedown, giving him two in total. (ATK: 1700-500)

Atticus nodded with a smile. "Yeah. Don't count us out yet. Especially since one of us is the winner of the Summer Domino Tournament." Chazz gave a smirk at being reminded of that. "We're about to rain down hell and it starts right now." He drew.

"Too bad Helpoemer takes away a card." Winston reminded as the hand climbed back up to take one of Atticus' other cards that he didn't draw, leaving him with two.

"It's fine because you missed the card I needed." He flipped his card around to show a equip spell detailing two samurai about to round a corner and fight. "Now I can equip Path of Destiny to a Beast Warrior like my Panther Warrior and he can go around your monster's to attack you directly!"

Panther Warrior glowed in a light blue aura.

"But I don't like the facedown opposition I'm facing, so I'll reveal my Trample Fury trap card!" One of Atticus' two facedowns flipped up to show a Battle Ox slicing down many Skull Servants. "Now for every Beast or Beast Warrior I have, I can destroy a spell or trap on yours."

Panther Warrior swung his blade down towards Winston's lone facedown and destroyed it effortlessly.

"And now I'll wage a direct attack by sacrificing my other Stray Lamb token!" The second token disappeared to allow Panther Warrior to make a successful strike with Winston's duel disk.

Chazz/Atticus: 3300

Ryder/Winston: 4800

"Good for us," Atticus nodded. "I like this score better. I end."

Winston growled, "Good because you're about to each get it." He drew, having three. "Now Legendary Fiend gains 700 more points!" (ATK: 2200-2900) "Now he can take away your monsters, but I'll let the odds settle more towards me by summoning a Gil Garth."

A steel armored fiend wielding a large blade jumped down next to the Fiend. (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200)

"Now I'll leave Rhodes for later. Attack both of Princeton's monsters." Legendary Fiend took out the Armed Dragon while Gil Garth took out his Needle token that he received a while ago, leaving Chazz's field bare.

Chazz/Atticus: 3200

Ryder/Winston: 4800

"Not too bad," Chazz shrugged it off.

"And since you two are close to losing, I'll reveal both my Ring of Destruction and my Ring of Defense!" Ryder interrupted as his two facedowns flipped up. "Now I'll take out Rhodes' Panther to destroy most of what little points you two have left!"

Chazz and Atticus both gasped as a large ring wrapped around Panther Warrior and destroyed their last monster with a high detonating explosive.

Chazz/Atticus: 400

Ryder/Winston: 4800

"Damn, this is bad." Atticus panted.

"I'll put one facedown to end this turn." Winston concluded.

Chazz growled. He examined the field. He had nothing; Atticus had one facedown; Ryder had his Nightmare Horse; and Winston had his two monsters and a facedown. This wasn't looking well for them. But he knew they could turn this around. He went through worse. They went through worse. This was child's play.

He knew what he had to do. He just needed Helpoemer to do one more thing for him.

"My move!" He drew.

"And prepare to lose a card!" The familiar hand shot up and stole Chazz's card from the far end of his hand. Chazz's smirk caused their opponents to give a confused frown and Atticus to smile.

"Thanks. That was Ojamagic, morons." He took out his deck. "Now I take the three Ojamas and add them to my hand."

"Here we go!" Three of the Ojama brothers shouted in glee as Chazz added their cards to his hand.

"Now to begin the clean up as I summon Ojama Red!"

"I always wanted to be a janitor." The small red skinned Ojama appeared with a grin as he landed in defense. (ATK: 0/DEF: 1000)

"Now with his ability, I can summon out up to four Ojamas! And I have three that are perfect for this job!"

"Time to go to work!" Ojamas Green, Black, and Yellow shouted as they appeared kneeling next to their brother. (ATK: 0/DEF: 1000)×3

Chazz took one of his last two cards. "Now I play Ojama Delta Hurricane to destroy everything on Winston's field!"

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh? I wouldn't?" Chazz mockingly asked. "Let's see together." He inserted the spell, watching with an eager anticipation as three of his Ojamas spun around into their typical attack and obliterated Winston's field to ash. "Look at that. I did." He smirked at Winston's angered face. "I'll end with one facedown and let Atticus finish the job."

"You aren't gonna get that chance, Princeton!" Ryder warned as he drew. "Especially since I still have Nightmare Horse! Finish this!"

"I didn't forget about your dumb horse!" Chazz revealed. "I activate Super Junior Confrontation! Now one of my Ojamas and your Horse have to fight! And since they're in defense mode... Well, you can guess."

The Horse deviated off course and started running towards Ojama Yellow.

"I don't think so! No one messes with the boss!" Yellow jumped on Nightmare Horse, grabbing its neck and forcing it to turn around back towards Ryder. "Ojama Kick!" He kicked the back of the horse as he jumped back to Chazz's field.

Chazz/Atticus: 400

Ryder/Winston: 4300

Ryder growled. "You two are annoying." He went to his Main Phase 2. "I'll end this turn by summoning out my Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in defense mode!" A spiked golem appeared next to the Horse. (ATK: 800/DEF: 2200)

"Then you'll love this move. Time to take advantage of the opportunity Chazz gave me." Atticus drew, losing a card to Helpoemer; leaving him with one. "But since this is Pot of Greed I still have left, I'll draw two more times!" He did so. "Now I have the pieces I need. I'll activate Monster Reborn to summon back the monster you sent to my graveyard just now."

A beast warrior with a four-legged body, half on the bottom and a muscular lion on top, carrying a lance and blue shield appeared by Atticus. (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1200)

"Say hi to my main man - Beast King Barbaros! Now I'll summon out my Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei right alongside him!"

A orange furred Beast Warrior wearing light colored armor appeared next. (ATK: 2300/DEF: 0)

"And now to let things end once and for all, I activate my facedown Beast Rising!" He revealed his lone facedown; showcasing a Berserk Gorilla terrorizing the Ojamas. He had to give a sheepish grin to Chazz for the nature of the artwork. "Now I can sacrifice Lei Lei to power up my Beast King by his ATK points!"

Ryder and Winston gasped as Beast King took in the strength of Lei Lei as he disappeared. (ATK: 3000-5300)

"Now attack Nightmare Horse and end this stupid duel!"

Beast King grabbed the legs of the horse, roaring as he picked it up and swung it around and around until it had enough playing around and slammed it into the ground - a massive boom echoing in the area.

Chazz/Atticus: 400 (Winners)

Ryder/Winston: 0

"That's game, punks!" Chazz boasted. "Now, the next time you wanna talk shit, be sure to double check that none of our crew are within hearing distance." He warned. "Oh, and be grateful that we were the ones that found you and not the others."

"Very sure things would've gone worse," Atticus estimated. "Good day gentlemen. If you want a rematch, just holler."

"And let's do one-on-one next time. I find those to be much more personal and thrilling than two-on-two, especially given the right circumstances." Chazz finished. "Sayonara, chumps." He and Atticus walked away. Chazz exhaled a sigh, "I hope we don't have to do this all year..."

"Well if we keep winning, the message will eventually get across to keep any and all comments private." Atticus assured. "People learn their lesson after a few good hard knocks."

"Yeah, I guess..." Chazz unsurely responded.

End of Chapter 8 of Gentle Darkness vs. Light of Destruction

I love foreshadow and parallels, especially when it's well hidden and hinted. See if you can analyze it for what is hidden in there. It may seem like filler, but it'll come back around in a few chapters. Plus, we got some character development and a fanfiction joke xD

Chazz and Atticus showcasing the bond with the gang as they wreck havoc in a tag duel. Be ready for Tag Duels to be a big theme this season for the canon reasons and for my own, hopefully, subtle ones. Hopefully you enjoyed the duel since it's the first one I've written in months.

The next chapter will showcase the first of Zane's pro duels with Syrus getting some very interesting development and character insight. I may also throw Bastion in as well depending on the chapter construction.

And I would like to make a small request from all of you: I've been addicted to this site lately called TV Tropes and saw that you can make pages for Fanfics on there. So, as a celebration for the return of this and The Domino Eight, which'll get an update within two weeks, lets make a page for the SKJ series!

Thanks in advance and it's great to be back!

Next Time: Chapter 9