Man oh man, was I in a rush to get this done in time for Halloween.

Chapter 53 – The Halloween Party

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!"

After his duel with Atticus, Rex ran as hard as he could around the island, searching for his partner in crime. "This is bad! This is seriously bad!"

They use them in the Underground Duel Circuit to inflict real pain, Atticus' voice replayed in his head.Every time a duelist loses Life Points, they deliver an electric shock to the duelist. And unfortunately, Zane has a bad habit of going overboard.

"I mean, it sounds cool," Rex admitted to himself, "but there's no way Weevil's prepared for something like that!"

Up on the cliff…

The smoke from Chimeratech Overdragon's attack still hadn't let up even after Overdragon itself faded away and Zane retracted his Duel Disk. Syrus and Missy both stared with wide eyes, waiting for some sort of response from Weevil.

"Weevil!" Syrus shouted, but received no answer.

A gust of wind blew by, inexplicably blowing away the holographic smoke. And sprawled out on his back was Weevil Underwood, with his eyes rolled back in his head. He seemed to show signs of life as his body was still randomly twitching.

"Oh no! Weevil!" Syrus ran past his brother to check on Weevil while Zane simply turned to walk off. Missy could only watch helplessly as Zane sauntered away.

"Missy!" Syrus yelled. "Don't just stand there! Help me get these things off him!"

"O-Okay." Missy hesitantly ran over to get Weevil's shock collars off. Because of this, she wasn't able to see Zane hunched over and clutching his chest.

Damn, Zane thought to himself. Not this again. Zane forced himself to straighten up. And just in time, as Rex was running up the hill, nearly out of breath.

"Hey," Rex huffed out. "Where's Weevil?"

"Up on the cliff," Zane said, trudging past Rex. "He's still alive. But that twitching could mean something else."

A week later…

The Halloween Dance was officially on. The main facility had a pair of Jack O'Lanterns on either side of the front door, one smiling and one scowling. A whole bunch of students had arrived already, wearing their own costumes, some Halloween-ish, some not so much, and some looking remarkably like Duel Monsters. Apparently, Chancellor Shepard and Ms. Dorothy had decided to dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus respectively. Now, who else is here…?

"Hold it right there, evildoers! I am the mighty Jadenman!"

Yes, rather predictably, Jaden decided to dress up like a superhero, complete with red cape, black mask, and white spandex bodysuit with red gloves and boots. And yes, he's gathering quite a bit of attention. And doing not so much attention grabbing was Syrus, who sauntered out from behind Jaden in a similar suit with blue gloves and boots. But no cape. Just a hood.

"Why do I have to be Sidekick Boy? I think Super Syrus would've been a cooler name!"
"I know that," Jaden said, "but you're the sidekick. And by default, you can't be cooler than the main hero. Don't you read comic books?"

Syrus sighed heavily. "I'm always Sidekick Boy."

"It suits you both!"

"Who dares?" Jaden spun around to meet his challenger: Chazz Princeton (of course) had upgraded his costume from the Spirit Day Festival to the VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon.

"Holy evil robot, Jadenman!" Syrus felt the need to shout.

"You got that right," Jaden said, dramatically pointing a finger. "An evil machine created by some mad scientist! Nice touch, by the way."

"You really think anyone's going to buy into your dumb superhero sideshow?" Chazz practically spat out. "You guys are lamer than I thought!"

"Your words have no effect on me," Jaden said with his knuckles on his hips. "Cease and desist, mechanical monster!"

"I've got better things to do than waste time…" Chazz stopped his complaining when he noticed the crowd they were gathering. And in seconds, it was clear by the smirk on his face that Chazz's show-off side was getting the better of him. "In that case…cower in fear, heroes! You have no chance against me! I'm gonna blow you to smithereens!"

"That's not gonna happen!" Jaden said, clenching a fist. "We have the power of friendship on our side! We can't lose!"

"Yeah!" Syrus spoke up. "Do your worst!"

Chazz raised his…well…could you call those fists? "You asked for it! Here I come!" No sooner than he started running that he tripped over his clunky armor and fell face first on the floor. Chazz struggled a bit in his suit, but his arms were too long to push up. "Well, that's great."

"Ha ha!" Jaden and Syrus did a high five for their (fluke) victory. "A victory for us…"

"And a victory for justice!" Syrus finished.

"Oh, Jadenman, you saved me!"

Jaden went white as a sheet when he heard that voice. "Oh no… It can't be!"

"It is!" The crowd behind Jaden backed off as Blair Flannigan emerged with a smile on her face. She was dressed up like the Maiden in Love card! "I can't thank you enough for saving me that horrible robot!"

"Can someone help me up?" Chazz asked.

"As a reward for your courage," she said with a twirl, "I must present you with a very special Maiden Counter!" Blair's lips seemed to sparkle as she spoke and the entire background turned pink. Both Jaden and Syrus were freaked out.

"Maiden Counters…" Jaden said with a shiver. "My one weakness…"

"Is she really wearing lip gloss?" Syrus nearly shouted.

"Now come to me, heroic Jadenman!" Blair held her arms out wide. "Accept your reward! I insist!" At that instant, the pink background faded in seconds. "…Jaden?"

"JADENMAN AWAY!"

"Don't you leave me with her!"

The courageous hero, Jadenman, and his trusty sidekick had evidently disappeared into the crowd. Blair was clearly baffled. "Was it something I said?"

"You're standing on my hand!" Chazz shouted.

"That was a close call, Sidekick," Jaden said, wiping his brow, "but I think we lost her…Sidekick?" Jaden pulled up his mask. "Syrus?" His faithful sidekick was nowhere to be found. "Where'd you go?"

"That girl is out of control," Syrus said, pulling back his hood and trudging through the crowd. "And on top of that, I lost Jaden!" He stopped his complaining when he bumped into someone from behind. "Oh. Sorry about tha…" Syrus froze. The reddish-violet haired person in front of him slowly turned around. She wore a short black dress, a pair of large butterfly wings on her back, a pair of antennae on her head, a bandage wrapped around her face, and a very incensed glare.

"M…Missy?"

"Jaden, my man! There you are!"

Jaden turned around to see Atticus heading his way with a grin on his face. He had decided to dress up like a vampire. "You're just who I wanted to see!"

"Atticus!" Jaden put his mask back on. "Hey, have you seen Sidekick…I mean Syrus?"

"No, I haven't. But there is someone else who's looking for you."

Jaden sighed in frustration. "Oh, I hope it's not Blair."

"Nope, even better! Come on!" Atticus led Jaden through the crowd and over to one of the walls. "There she is!"

"Atticus?" The person in question was Alexis, who had decided to dress up like Cyber Angel Benten. "You said you were going to get me some punch!"

"Another time," Atticus said, putting an arm around the clueless hero's shoulder. "Now, I don't know about you J-Man, but I think Alexis looks even better in spandex than you do. But what do you think?"

"Are you kidding? That's an awesome costume!" Jaden said enthusiastically, unknowingly causing Alexis to blush.

"Well, Jaden," Alexis said, brushing her bangs from her eyes, "I have to admit, you don't look…"

"I should've dressed up like a Duel Monster too," Jaden said, rubbing his chin. "I would've rocked as Flame Wingman. Or maybe Thunder Giant! But what would Syrus dress like? MudballMan?"

Alexis couldn't help but sweatdrop. "For Heaven's sake…"

"Jaden, come on!" Atticus snapped. "I gave up on Chazz so I could try to hook you up with my sweet baby sister! To be honest, you seem a heck of a lot more fun. Plus, I'd rather she not be single for the rest of her-OW! OW! OW!" Atticus stopped when Alexis started tugging on his hair. "Not cool, Sissy!"

"I told you a hundred times I'm not looking for a boyfriend. And I told you a hundred more times not to call me Sissy! I have a name!"

"Jeez, I'm sorry!" Atticus said as she let go. "Can't say I never did anything for you. By the way, do you have any glitter I can borrow?"

"Uh…What do you need glitter for?" Jaden asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Isn't it obvious?" Atticus said, putting on a grin. "Sparkly vampires pick up more chicks! Haven't you seen those new movies?"

Alexis put her hand to her face. "Atticus, you know full well I hated those stupid movies! And who likes…?"

"Sparkle! Sparkle! Sparkle!" You guessed it. That was from Mindy and Jasmine who were happily pumping their fists. They, respectively, were dressed as Cyber Angel Dakini and Cyber Angel Idaten.

Alexis couldn't help but hang her head. "I need to make new friends."

"You're…not mad at me?" Syrus asked as Missy got a drink from the punch bowl.

"Of course I'm still mad at you," Missy snapped. "But taking it out on you won't make my nose heal any faster…no matter how much better it would make me feel."

"I'm sorry!" Syrus bowed his head to her. "I'll apologize as much as you want!"

"I heard you the first time. Jeez. You're really nothing like…" Missy froze and Syrus slowly lifted his head. The shock amplified duel from last week was still fresh in their minds.

"I…haven't seen Zane since that duel," Syrus spoke up. "It's like he disappeared."

"Oh," Missy said. "Is that so?"

"Do you still like him?" Syrus asked. "If it's any comfort, I think you make butterfly wings look amazing."

Missy kept her back to Syrus, but looked to the front of the hall. "Looks like Atticus is ready to start."

"Good evening, Duel Academy!" Atticus shouted into a microphone, causing the girls in the audience to go wild. He didn't get any glitter, but he did get a black eye, courtesy of "Sissy." "I apologize that Zane couldn't be here tonight. He sends his love, his apologies, and a pumpkin-shaped bucket of candy. Actually, that last one was my idea. Anyhoo, we're just about ready to start the music. Does anyone have any requests?" Once again, the girls burst into chatter, raising all their hands at once. "Okay, okay, settle down. Eenie, meenie, miney…"

"I have a request," another voice sounded on the speakers, causing everyone to go quiet.

"Uh…" Atticus briefly glanced around. "Who said that?"

"I'm right behind you."

Atticus jumped when, practically out of his silhouette, emerged the woman in red with a microphone of her own. The crowd went into chatter, questioning each other on who she was. But there were a select few who knew exactly who it was.

"What are you doing here?" Jaden shouted.

"Holy diabolical witch!" Syrus shouted, earning a weird look from Missy. "Did I really just say that on my own?"

"This is quite a party you're throwing here," the woman said, walking slow circles around Atticus. "You must've known gathering everyone on the island here would draw me out of hiding. Smart boy. But I'm willing to bet not a single one of you brought your Duel Disks, am I wrong?" At that point, an evil black aura emanated from the woman as she smiled a bone-chilling smile. Jaden reached under his cape to grab his cards. "Shame, shame on all of you. It's no fun, but I'll just take your souls without a duel." All of the students freaked out and started colliding and trampling each other to get to the exit while the faculty tried to get everyone to calm down and exit in an orderly manner. The woman, however, held her hand out and it started to crackle with electricity.

"Hold it!"

The woman stopped and turned to glare at Atticus. "There's someone back stage who wants to talk to you," Atticus said. "Please, come out."

The crowd went silent as footsteps could be heard. From backstage stepped out Wesley Reddings, dressed up like an angel, complete with wings and halo. But he still wouldn't get rid of his sunglasses.

"Ohhh, I recognize you," the woman said with a smile. "You have such a strong soul. Certainly your friend knows that, doesn't he?"

"Enough of this," Wesley spoke into a smaller mike wired to his robe. "I know this isn't some random war you're declaring on us. I think we all deserve to know what you're planning…Cosmo Queen."

The gym burst into chatter again and the woman's smile melted in mere seconds. "So someone finally figured out who I really am?"

"I tried to figure out where I'd seen you before since I dueled Dalton at the docks. Obviously, you weren't human. Anyone could tell just by looking at you. I did a little research over the internet and came across the Cosmo Queen card. Aside from a few missing articles of jewelry, your appearance matches the card perfectly."

"I knew you were a smart boy," the woman said, putting her long fingers together. "You're right. I am missing a few things. I simply feel naked without them. I simply must remedy that!"

She spread her arms wide and a pillar of light erupted around her, causing Atticus to jump back several feet. Materializing on her was a pair of golden bands around her arms as well as an enormous regal-looking gold and green collar around her neck. And beneath that collar was a golden choker with an eyeball design. Another golden band materialized around her waist. Her hair briefly fanned out in the light before curling up into some strange headdress that looked like it would snap a normal person's neck just by leaning the wrong way.

"Ahh, much better. Now where were we?"

"I can't see anything," Chazz said, still on the floor with his costume crushed to oblivion. "Are we boned?"

-XX-XX-

Alexis: Sissy?

Duo: OW! Who threw that? Anyway, you now know the true identity of my main antagonist: the Duel Monster Spirit, Cosmo Queen (2900/2450). I never noticed before, but that headdress makes her look a lot like Rita Repulsa. Also, those extra golden bands aren't really on the card, but I added them to make her more regal looking. And that choker? It's the Shadow Charm the vampire Camula wore. I believed it to be the most dangerous.

Anyway, Cosmo Queen decides to inform the students of her nasty little plan and has another special guest ready for a duel. Can you guess who it is?