Here's chapter three!

Eric: Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. She only owns this idea for a story.

Chapter 3: Demon or Fallen Angel?

It was morning at Duel Academy and the start of classes. The seating chart was so that first years were toward the front and the higher grades were near toward the back. However, since the Obelisks did pretty much got whatever they wanted, it was more like Slifers at the bottom, Ras in the middle, and the Obelisks at the top.

Jaden was sitting next to Syrus up front with Chumley and Bella sitting behind him. Azura was sitting next to Bastion in the Ra section. Bianca was sitting in front of Alexis and Eric was sitting near Chazz and his flunkies.

Soon, everyone was seated and class began, the first one being Dr. Crowler, who started by quizzing them to see what they already knew about duel monsters. He had started by asking Alexis the different categories of monsters and their sub-groupings.

"Duel monster cards can be grouped into normal monster cards, fusion monster cards, ritual monster cards, effect monster cards, trap cards, and spell cards. Trap cards can be divided into normal traps, counter traps, and continuous traps. Spell cards can be separated into normal spells, continuous spells, equip spells, quick-play spells, ritual spells, and field spells." Alexis addressed the entire class.

"Perfect!" Crowler praised. "Well done, Alexis! Of course, I wouldn't have expected anything less from one of my blue Obelisks!"

'Pompous idiot.' Jaden rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Dr. Crowler." Alexis responded as she sat back down.

"Hmm, now, who should we question next?" The doctor directed his attention toward the lower seats "You, Syrus Truesdale, please tell the class what a field spell is."

Syrus tried, but because of his test anxiety he just stuttered the whole time.

"If you can't answer a simple question like that then sit down." Dr. Crowler said after a few minutes.

After that, Syrus sat down, thoroughly embarrassed, much to the Jaden's anger, especially when some of the other Obelisks started laughing.

'What a jerk,' He thought. 'The whole class and faculty knows he was test anxiety! What's his deal?'

A thought then crossed his mind. 'Wait, why do I care?'

This was immediately silenced by a book slamming close quite loudly and a dark aura surrounding Eric.

"Problem up there?" Crowler turned in the direction of the commotion.

"Nothing, sir," Eric growled through clenched teeth. "I just find the inappropriate laughter at another student's obvious test anxiety to be very distracting."

"Ah, I see," Crowler responded, not quite getting the message, before returning to what he was just doing. "Now, can someone else answer that question, preferably not a Slifer."

"He's abusing his authority." Azura muttered, disgusted.

Bastion nodded in agreement with her.

Then, Jaden did something that he couldn't explain. He had started making a doodle of Crowler after that smart remark with Syrus. It showed the good doctor getting flattened by a piano with a caption saying 'Death to the cross-dresser'.

He made the odd decision to further mess with the teacher.

'I think it's time the good doctor got a lesson in humility.' Jaden thought, when his masterpiece was done.

Then, he did something he never willing did. He called attention to himself.

"Hey, Doc! I found this drawing on the floor that looks like you getting flattened by a piano with the words 'death to the crossdresser' written on it!"

This caused Crowler to turn a lovely shade of red and the whole room was now busting a gut. Even the more mature of the class, Alexis and Bianca, were laughing.

'That's it!' Crowler thought in fury, looking at Jaden who had a smug look on his face. 'I won't tolerate this slacker any longer! It's time I get him removed from this school, permanently!'

Next Class

Thankfully, the next class was being taught by the Slifer headmaster.

"Hello class, my name is Professor Lyman Banner. I specialize in teaching some of the lesser known tactics of duel monsters, tactics that some might even call unnatural…"

While he was talking, Syrus leaned over towards Jaden, who was listening with genuine interest, and whispered, "Thanks for standing up for me, Jay."

Jaden glanced over at the other boy, and then looked away, feeling shy. "Yeah, whatever, no problem."

'Why did I even do that?' He thought to himself, since it wasn't like him to get involved in things like that.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something bump against his leg. He looked down and saw Professor Banner's cat, Pharaoh, looking up at him. Without another word, Jaden picked him up and set him on his lap.

"Aww, he's so cute!" Elemental Hero Knospe exclaimed, appearing beside Jaden.

"Shouldn't you be with your mother?" He asked.

Knospe pouted but vanished.

With that, Jaden returned his attention to the class. He had come across much of what the professor spoke of, such as duel alchemy, card creation, and mystical combos, while he was researching his… condition as he called it.

'Maybe with what I can learn in this class, I can find out more about this curse of mine. Maybe even a way to get rid of it.'

Soon, class ended and everyone headed for their next classes. As they left, Banner's eyes fell on Jaden. Unknown to said Slifer, Professor Banner and Chancellor Sheppard were the only people at the school who knew about the thing that separated Jaden from the other students.

"Jaden, though you view your gift as a curse, you best learn how to control it. It may be the thing that saves your life in the future." He mused aloud, but it was unheard by the departing students.

Crowler's Office

Since he didn't have a class for a while, Crowler was writing a letter with a feather pen and still fuming over what had happened earlier.

"How dare that slacker Jaden make a mockery of me in front of my class like that!" He grumbled, folding the letter and placing it in an envelope. "It'll be the last mistake he makes at this academy!"

He then picked up a mirror and started applying red lipstick to his lips. When he finished, he kissed that front of the letter where the folds met.

"Aah! The big kiss-off!" He laughed maniacally as he set to put his plan into action.

Gym Class

Later, Jaden and Bella were in the gym with the other students for their next class with Fonda Fontaine, who was also the school's nurse and head of the Obelisk girl's dorm. They had changed into gym clothes and waited for the teacher to show up.

The rose duelist noticed that Syrus was nowhere to be seen. "Hmm? I wonder where Sy is?"

But she didn't have the chance to go look for him. The gym teacher, a woman with brown hair in a bun wearing gym clothes walked to the front of class.

"Hi everyone! My name is Fonda Fontaine and I'm your gym instructor for the semester! Are you ready to sweat?" She spoke in a perky voice.

Jaden got a look on his face that said 'kill me'.

Meanwhile, in the boy's locker room, Crowler was sneaking around while chuckling sinisterly.

"Now, to plant the bait where Jaden will be sure to find it." He said, searching the lockers for the one he thought was Jaden's. He believed he found it when he saw Jaden's boots at the bottom.

"Ah! His shoes!" He chuckled again, placing the letter on them and quickly left.

A few minutes later, Syrus came running into the locker room, trying to get his shoes off as he went.

"Lousy girl's gym!" He said. "They should make the signs bigger."

When he opened his locker, he noticed Jaden's shoes in it. "Hey, those are Jaden's sneakers. Oh, yeah, I was told we would be sharing a locker for a while."

He went to move his shoes, causing the letter on top to fall off. "Huh?"

Syrus picked up the letter to examine it. He instantly saw the lipstick mark.

"But this isn't Jaden's!" He gasped, before looking around to see if anyone was nearby. He then ducked between two sets of lockers to hide, so he could read the letter in semi-privacy.

"Someone wrote me a letter?! Wonder what it says," Syrus muttered opening the letter to read it. "Since the moment I first saw you, I've been… in love with you!? Meet me tonight behind the girl's dorm. Endearingly… Alexis Rhodes!?"

He actually fell backwards after reading that.

"Oh, this sure is a lot better than what my mom usually writes me…" Syrus said before slipping into a daydream about him and Alexis getting together.

"Oh, I'm yours!" He said with a dreamy look on his face.

Later that night, at the Slifer Dorm

True to her word, Ms. Fontaine had definitely made them sweat. First they ran laps, then they split up for three way dodgeball.

Jaden had headed back to his dorm after classes were over to work on homework, eat dinner, and shower. He had just gotten back to his dorm after the third thing.

He then noticed something missing. "Where's Syrus?"

"Gonzo," Chumley said. "He just left, and it looked like he was in really good mood, too."

Jaden almost immediately got a bad feeling after that, and he wasn't sure why. But he was sure that tonight wasn't going to be quiet.

Obelisk Girl Dorm

Meanwhile, Crowler, wearing a tight, black bodysuit, cut the lock to the girl's dorm off with bolt cutters and headed inside. He then dashed from bush to bush in a ninja fashion as a way to get closer to the windows, so he had better light to see but also couldn't be seen.

Meanwhile, inside, Alexis was talking with her friends.

"Hey, Alexis, you and Bianca want to chill out in the Obelisk wading pool?" A girl with brown hair, named Jasmine, asked her.

"No, thanks," She declined. "We'll wade and the guys will rage. I'm not in the mood for a game of tackle marco polo."

"Hello! Girl's dorm! No guys allowed, remember?" Her friend persisted, until Alexis finally agreed and went to get Bianca.

Meanwhile, Crowler had finally gotten into a position he liked to spring his trap.

"This will be perfect, thanks to that faux love letter that I wrote!" Crowler said gleefully, going over his plan again. "Jaden will show up looking for Alexis, but all he'll find is trouble instead! Once he arrives, I'll snap a picture of him. And then, I will have caught him red-handed breaking campus rules. He will be ruined!"

The wading room was all gold and kind reminded you of a Greek bathhouse. Alexis was talking with her friends about the day. Bianca was there, too, mostly just listening to their conversation. Soon, the subject of what happened in Crowler's class.

"Can you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler in class today?" Jasmine said. "He's got some nerve to talk to a teacher like that. "Found the picture on the ground" my foot! Completely disrespectful! What do you think, Alexis?"

"Actually, I thought it was kind of cool." Alexis said, in a kind of dreamy voice.

Bianca smirked, finding it admirable.

"What?!" Jasmine cried in shock. "Him, cool?!"

"He could be," the black haired girl, who's name was Mindy said. "If he had the talent to back up that talk maybe…"

Bianca gave them a look, like she was trying to tell them to stop acting like her brother.

"I think he just might," Alexis interjected. "Still, I won't know until I duel him myself."

"You…you would duel him?" Came a timid voice from behind them.

They turned to see a girl with red hair in big, yellow pajamas standing there with her towel, toothbrush, and toothpaste, looking really nervous.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Jasmine asked her.

"Oh, I don't know," The girl, called Anna, said, looking down and hugging herself slightly. "He's kinda scary."

"Scary?" Alexis asked, confused. "Jaden? I mean sure he has a bit of a temper, but Chazz has a habit of pushing people the wrong way."

"It's not that," Anna said, even quieter than before, if that was possible. "It's just that I heard some bad rumors about him."

"Rumors?" Mindy asked, confused like Jasmine.

"Yeah. I heard this rumor that he can make his cards come to life and inflict real damage," Anna spoke, shaking a little. "They say that he's some kind of demon and that his powers were the reason he was kicked out of several boarding schools before coming here."

The four girls were all shocked to hear about this.

Bianca wasn't as shocked as the others, but mainly because she hadn't heard the rumors until now. Now, she remembered what was going on with her brother during his duel with Jaden.

Anna had left a moment later, leaving them in a cold silence.

Before they could say anything, some girls shouting caught their attention. They had wrapped themselves in towels and found Syrus being tied up by other girls. This wasn't good.

A short time later

"A love letter from Alexis?" Mindy asked after hearing Syrus' explanation. "You've got to be kidding."

After being seen, Syrus had been tied up and was know kneeling before the Obelisk trio, being interrogated. Jasmine and Mindy had changed into pajamas and Alexis and Bianca into their uniforms.

"Yep! Ask her!" Syrus replied with a giggle, giving Alexis a wink.

"Um, hello," Jasmine retorted. "Like Alexis is really tall, and you're really short. She's really good at dueling, and you're really not. She's really hot-"

"But it's true, just tell them, Alexis! I even have the note right here!" Syrus protested, pulling out the letter. "Look, see?!"

Jasmine took the note and the girls looked it over.

"Syrus, my name's not even spelled right there." Alexis said.

"Sorry, Syrus, but I think someone's yanking your chain here." Mindy said, but her tone said she wasn't sorry at all.

"So then you don't love me?" He asked.

"Hey, wait a second," Jasmine interrupted, looking over the letter again. "This note is made out to Jaden Yuki."

"What? Jaden?! But…" Before Sy could finish his protest, the brunette turned to him for him to see. Sure, enough, Jaden's name was at the top of the letter. "So, I can't even get a fake love letter."

"I'm sorry, Syrus…" Alexis apologized.

"Me, too."

"I don't buy it." Jasmine wasn't ready to let the matter go.

"What?" Mindy asked her friend.

"He could've written the note to have an excuse to come here!"

"What are you saying, that we should report him for trespassing then?" Mindy asked.

"But I was invited! I swear!" Syrus persisted, now panicking slightly.

"Girls, just what on earth is going on down there?" The girls looked up at the balcony to see Ms. Fontaine looking over the rail.

Alexis quickly took control of the situation. "Get down! Hurry!"

The girls, except for Bianca, pushed Syrus down and pretty much sat on him to hide him from view of the gym teacher.

"All right, what's up?" Ms. Fontaine asked suspiciously.

"You guys are heavy!" Syrus grumbled, squirming under the three girls.

"Beg your pardon!" Jasmine snapped.

"Maybe you're just brittle!" Mindy hissed.

"Gee, sorry, Ms. Fontaine," Alexis spoke to the Obelisk headmistress. "We'll make sure to keep a lid on things!"

"Well, I should hope so, it's nearly midnight, and I have pilates in the morning!" Miss Fontaine said before heading back to her room.

As soon as they were sure she was gone, they got off of Syrus.

"So, what now?" Jasmine asked.

"I'll tell you what now, girls…" Alexis answered, crossing her arms with a smirk. "I say we use Sy here as a kind of bait to find out what we were wondering about before. Just how good Jaden really is. And I think I know just how we can get him to show us his best!"

Bianca didn't like it, but she agreed to it. They needed answers and Jaden was the only one who give them.

Slifer Red Dorm

Jaden was lying on his back on his bed, playing a handheld fighting game, but he wasn't really into it. He seemed to be playing it automatically, like he had played it a thousand times before…which he had.

Meanwhile, Chumley was already asleep on the top bunk.

As he beat the level he was on, his PDA went off, signaling he had a new message. Putting down his game, he picked up his PDA, wondering who would be calling him at this hour.

"We have your friend, Syrus. If you want him back, come to the girl's dorm, now. Alone." Then the message ended.

Jaden wasn't sure about this, but he knew that if he didn't do something there was going to be a problem. He got dressed, grabbed his deck and duel disk, and headed out.

Obelisk Girls Dorm

Back at the scene of the incident, in the lake, Crowler came up for air after hiding for a while. He was shocked at the fact the wrong Slifer showed up, and even more shocked when the girls started screaming that a boy was on the grounds. Knowing that he had to get away, he dove into the lake.

"You try to expel one kid and the entire world turns against you!" He muttered.

He didn't see Jaden warp in behind and then vanish again. As stated before, his teleportation only works when he can tell where he's going. To get there faster, he warped to the main building and walked from there. It took him a bit, but when he got a sense of where to go, he did a few small jumps to get there.

Soon, he came to a stop off to the side of a group of five standing by a dock area. He recognized Alexis, Bianca, and Syrus, who was in the middle of the group with his hands bound. He didn't recognize the other two girls, since he hadn't met Jasmine and Mindy.

Jaden walked over to the group and got their attention. "Yo!"

The group jumped slightly before turning in his direction.

"Hi, Jaden…" Syrus greeted, glumly.

"So, what's this all about?"

"Well, uh," The shorter Slifer explained, embarrassed. "To make a long story short, I'm basically a big loser."

"Your friend here trespassed into the girls' campus!" Jasmine said angrily.

Jaden could tell she didn't like him, but didn't say anything to it.

"Really?" He glanced at his roommate.

"Hey, it's not like that!" Syrus interjected.

"And now that you're here, Jaden, you're trespassing, too!" Mindy added, ignoring Syrus and sounding like a total snob.

"That's right," Alexis said her challenge. "So if you don't want us to turn you in, you're gonna have to win your freedom by beating me in a duel right now!"

"But if you turn us in, we'll be expelled!" Syrus cried.

Jaden closed his eyes and sighed. Focusing, he did a mind-scan of all five people. He quickly got a sense of the situation and had a sneaking suspicion he knew who was behind this. He was also annoyed that they would take advantage of a situation because of some rumors.

What surprised him was that he couldn't read Bianca. It was like there was an impenetrable wall around her mind. But he didn't have time to think on that.

"You know, if you guys really wanted to test my skills, you could have just asked."

This got a jump from the group. How could Jaden have known about that?

"Also, I'm getting really tired of these late night duels. This could have waited until morning. If you want to see who can be crankier from lack of sleep, believe me, you will lose."

After ranting, he sighed and fixed Alexis with a tense stare. "However, since you're not giving me much of choice, then I accept. Let's duel!"

Said girl returned his stare.

Since Jaden had shown up "on foot", the duel was going to take place on a neutral stretch of land on the side of the lake. Syrus stood on Jaden's side, Mindy, Jasmine, and Bianca were on Alexis's side.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden." Syrus said, nervous.

Jaden didn't respond, he just continued his stare down with Alexis.

Crowler had gotten a little closer, but still far enough away that he wasn't seen. "Well, well, well. A Slifer versus an Obelisk! Put him in his place, Alexis!"

"Ready?!" Alexis called.

The hero duelist nodded.

"Duel!" Both players drew their opening hands.

Alexis: 4000

Jaden: 4000

Alexis's friends were watching in a mix of curiosity and disdain.

Syrus watched with mostly worry. "Here we go."

"All right! Let's see!" Alexis drew her sixth card. She looked over her hand and acted on a strategy.

"Etoile Cyber, rise!" A red-headed ballerina in an orange leotard appeared with pirouette (1200/1600). "And I'm also going to play one card face down!"

Jaden started his turn. "First, I'll play the spell card Double Summon, so I can normal summon two monsters this turn. So, I summon Elemental Heroes Knospe and Lady Heat in attack mode!"

The first hero was the one from earlier. She was a cute rosebud with two leaves on her back that look like either wings or a cape and rosebuds for hands. She also had blue eyes and a permanent blush on her cheeks (600/1000).

The other hero was female with blond hair and wearing a white bodysuit with a red and gold skirt and red handless gauntlets. Her blue eyes fixed Alexis with an intense stare (1300/1000).

"And since Knospe is on the field with another Elemental Hero, she's allowed to attack directly. Plus, she can't be targeted for an attack. Go, Knospe, attack Alexis directly." Jaden commanded.

Knospe giggled before launching some seeds at Alexis.

Alexis: 3400

Jaden: 4000

Alexis was blinked after the attack. 'That was odd, I could have sworn I felt something.'

"And when she deals battle damage, she gains 100 attack points but loses 100 defense points." Jaden added (600-700/1000-900).

"Now, Lady Heat, attack her Etoile Cyber!" Lady Heat nodded before conjuring some fireballs in her hands and firing them at the ballerina.

Alexis growled. "Hold it right there! I activate the trap card Doble Passe!"

The fireballs passed Etoile Cyber and struck Alexis, causing her to cry out in pain and be knocked down.

Alexis: 2100

Jaden: 4000

"Alexis!" Jasmine called while Mindy gasped.

Bianca and Syrus were surprised that Alexis was knocked off her feet by one attack.

Alexis was shocked that she actually felt pain from the attack. 'I was right, I did feel something! That actually hurt! But I can't let that get to me.'

Jaden glared as Alexis got up and explained. "Doble Passe changes your monster's attack into a direct attack on me! And now, my monster, that you were about to attack, gets to wage a direct attack on you!"

"Great!" Jaden muttered.

"Oh, and when Etoile Cyber attacks someone directly, her attack points increase by 600." Alexis added.

Her monster danced and spun, and then roundhouse kicked Jaden in the ribs. However, he didn't even flinch, the only sign you could tell that Jaden had been hurt was the almost inaudible grunt he gave.

Alexis: 2400

Jaden: 2200

'Jaden.' Syrus was worried about his roommate. Jaden usually looked distant, but right now he looked emotionless and down right cold.

"So, she was willing to sacrifice her own life points just to get at mine, huh?" Jaden murmured.

"So, you impressed?" Alexis asked.

"I'll admit that I am." Jaden responded, as he laid a face down.

"You're sweet. Too bad I have to crush you…" Alexis said before she was hit by a couple more of fireballs, knocking her off her feet in pain again.

Alexis: 1700

Jaden: 2200

"What the…?" Alexis groaned, getting back up.

"Lady Heat's special ability," Jaden explained. "You lose 200 life points for every Elemental Hero on my field."

Mindy then noticed something alarming. "Alexis! Your arm!"

Alexis looked down and saw what she was talking about. The skin on her left arm was red, like a sunburn. 'Where did this come from?!'

Jaden noticed what they were talking about and his cold facade slipped for a minute. 'Oh, crap, my control slipped!'

Alexis didn't dwell on her burn long and got back to the duel. She drew her next card.

"I play Blade Skater!" A bald, gray-skinned woman with an ice skate blade on each wrist appeared, skating on the water before joining her comrade (1400/1500).

"And I activate the spell card Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater together to summon Cyber Blader!" Alexis's new monster had dark blue hair and light blue skin wearing an orange and white leotard and a pair of futuristic goggles over her eyes (2100-4200/800).

"Wait, what just happened?" Syrus asked confused.

Jaden growled, knowing what this was.

Alexis smirked. "Looks like you figure it out. It's one of Cyber Blader's special abilities. When my opponent has two monsters on the field, her attack points double. Now, Cyber Blader's more powerful than either of your monsters."

"In that case, I'll use this!" Jaden said, activating his face down.

The card had a picture of a glass tube with Burstinatrix being recharged with electricity surrounding the tube. "It's called Elemental Recharge. Now, I gain 1000 life points for every Elemental Hero on the field."

Jaden was then surrounded by a white aura as his life points increased.

Alexis: 1700

Jaden: 4200

"Alright, looks like you saved yourself this turn. Now, Cyber Blader, attack Lady Heat with Whirlwind Rage!" Alexis continued her move.

"Ugh, I hate the graveyard." Lady Heat muttered.

The monster went into a spin and headed towards Lady Heat. Her foot lashed out and destroyed her.

Syrus braced himself against the wind, but Jaden still didn't flinch and didn't say anything.

Alexis: 2400

Jaden: 1300

"Way to go, Alexis!" Mindy cheered.

"Yeah, you got him now!" Jasmine added. "Demon or not, I knew he was all talk!"

From where he was, Crowler was smirking at the turn of events.

Bianca, however, had a feeling Jaden was just getting warmed up.

Jaden had been ignoring the spectators up 'til then, but Jasmine's comment made him glare. He remained emotionless, but Bianca could clearly see the anger in his eyes.

"Be careful who you call a demon." He said in a deadly tone, causing the two Obelisk girls to become scared.

He drew his next card, starting his turn. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards."

He did so before continuing. "And now I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix together to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

The two heroes appeared briefly before fusing together so Flame Wingman could appear on the field (2100/1200) (2100-4200/800).

'I have two monsters on the field again, so Alexis's monster is still too powerful,' Jaden thought, going over his hand again. 'If I can get four monsters out on the field, then all of Cyber Blader's abilities would be neutralized. But I can't do that now, though I can still do one thing.'

"Before you say, I know your monster's still too powerful, but it won't matter with this move. I activate Knospe's special ability and attack you directly." Knospe shot a few seeds at Alexis, causing her life points to drop.

Alexis: 1000

Jaden: 1300

"And now Knospe gains 100 attack points and loses 100 defense points. I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Jaden said (700-800/900-800).

Alexis growled and drew her next card. When she saw it, she smiled. "I could use this, but that would be overkill. So, I'll just settle for this. Go, Blader! Attack the Flame Wingman with Whirlwind Rage!"

Cyber Blader spun across the field towards Flame Wingman.

"I activate my trap, Hero Barrier! Since I have an Elemental Hero out, I can negate your monster's attack!" Jaden said.

A swirling barrier appeared in front of his monster, catching and stopping the attack.

"Looks like you saved yourself this time," Alexis said. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Now, it's my turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "I activate Card of Sanctity. Now, we both draw cards until we have six in our hands."

Both players drew the appropriate amount of cards.

When Jaden saw his, he hesitated for a second. When he used these cards, it felt harder to control his powers. However, if he used it, then Alexis wouldn't be able to use her facedown. He knew what he had to do.

"Looks like this duel's over." He said.

"And why would that be?" Alexis raised an eyebrow.

"You're about to find out. First, I activate De-Fusion to bring back Avian and Burstinatrix in defense mode." He said, as said heroes came onto the field.

"Jay, what are you doing?" Syrus asked, confused.

"When there are three monsters on the field, Cyber Blader negates the effect of all your spells, traps, and monsters. So, what was the point of that move?" Alexis asked as her monster powered down (4200-2100/800).

"Simple, none of Cyber Blader's abilities work if there are more than three monsters on the field and I'm about to bring the fourth one out." Jaden explained.

'A fourth monster? Well, it'll have to have over 2100 attack points to beat my Blader, and if it does I have my trap to use. That should at least get me to the next turn to think of another plan.' Alexis thought.

"Time to end this. I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in defense mode." A blue and gold armored warrior appeared in a defensive crouch (1600/1400).

"And since I have four monsters on the field, you Cyber Blader's abilities are out of the game. This means I can activate the spell Dark Fusion!" Jaden held up a card that showed Burstinatrix and Avian holding hands, surrounded by yellow energy with a dark figure in the background.

"Dark Fusion?" The girls, minus Bianca, and Syrus asked.

"I fuse the Clayman in my hand with my Sparkman on the field in order to summon Evil Hero Lightning Golem!" Jaden said.

His eyes flashed gold briefly, but he didn't know that and who did thought it was a trick of the light from the lightning effects.

The two monsters fused together and a new monster took their place. It was a giant of green and purple armor with yellow lightning bolt shaped plates and lightning bolts on either side of his head. It had a blue helmet on its head, a large red orb in his chest, and two smaller orbs on the back of each gauntlet (2400/1500).

"Evil Hero? I've never heard of them." Alexis mused, before she noticed something else. 'Wait a minute, did his eyes change color?'

"They're rare." Jaden stated simply.

Alexis ignored the question in her head and looked at the stats of this new monster. 'Good thing I have this trap, or I'd be done this turn.'

Jaden watched Alexis, his eyes flickering to her face down. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to help her. "I activate Lightning Golem's special ability. I can destroy a monster on the field and guess who I pick."

Alexis covered her face with her duel disk as her Cyber Blader shattered.

"That's not all, Lightning Golem still has his attack to use, so I'll have him attack you directly," Jaden said. "Go, Dark Lightning!"

Alexis lowered her duel disk. "I activate my trap, Negate Attack!"

"Not a chance," Jaden countered. "On the turn Dark Fusion is used, the effects of all spells and traps targeting the monster summoned are negated."

Alexis gasped as her card was destroyed and she was struck by a burst of lightning. She screamed in pain, and the force from the blast nearly sent her flying, but she ended up only falling flat on her back.

Crowler was also not safe, since we all know what happened with electricity and water mix.

Alexis: 0

Jaden: 1300

"Alexis!" Jasmine and Mindy cried, running towards their friend.

"Is she okay?!" Syrus asked, running over to them.

Bianca was also worried about Alexis, but she was also worried about Jaden. He tried to hide it, but Bianca could clearly see that Jaden was afraid. He was afraid of his powers and afraid of himself.

Speaking of Jaden, he was experiencing that same fear right now. He knew it was going to be hard to control his power if he played those cards, but he didn't think it would be that bad.

After that, instinct just took over. He turned and ran, not wanting to be there anymore. He didn't care if they saw anymore, he teleported away.

When Alexis finally got to her feet, that's when they noticed Jaden was gone.

"Where'd Jay go?" Syrus asked.

"Who cares?! Look what he did to Alexis?!" Mindy cried.

"I'm going to get Ms. Fontaine!" Jasmine said, about to rush off.

"Jasmine, no!" Alexis stopped her.

"Alexis?!"

"I'm okay, these injuries are minor. They'll probably be gone in the morning. That aside, Jaden beat me in a duel fair and square, and that's all there is to it."

She looked to Syrus. "A deal's a deal, Sy, we'll keep quiet about what happened tonight. You should get going."

Syrus as still kind of in a daze, but he nodded and ran off.

'Even if I did win I could never have turned those two in.' Alexis thought with a smile as they left. 'I have the feeling that this is where Jaden needs to be.'

Crowler had been stunned momentarily from the last attack, but when he recovered, he growled when he noticed that Jaden was gone and Syrus was leaving.

"Hmm! Lucky brat! He escaped this time, but I'll still find a way to expel him. After I find a way home." He then dived into the water to swim home.

With Jaden

Jaden wasn't sure when and how he got there, but he was now at the spot where he had been the night before.

He was breathing hard, feeling out of breath from adrenaline and fear. Eventually, he dropped to his knees, still shaking.

"You knew that was going to happen!" He hissed at himself. "You knew full well what was going to happen if you played those cards! You knew you probably weren't going to be able to control it!"

When he calmed down a little, he sat back to try and even out his breathing. "But you had no other choice. Getting expelled was nothing new, but I didn't want to drag Syrus down with me. It wouldn't be fair to him."

After he said that, he looked down in the water at his reflection. He saw the loneliness he felt, but he knew that this was for the best. He had to keep people at a distance, he didn't want them to get hurt.

Jaden sighed. "It's getting late. Better go get what sleep I can so I can deal with the fallout in the morning."

With that, he got up and headed back to his room.

And that ends that chapter, along with the year. So, from all of us...

Everyone: Happy Holidays! (And remember to drink responsibly)