Jaden's duel continues. Jaden plays Pot of Greed. He gets 2 cards. Next, he plays De-fusion, getting back Bursinatrix and Clayman. Then he fuses Clayman and Sparkman for Thunder Giant. Then he plays Mirage of Nightmare, and gets 4 cards. He strikes back at Nightshroud with Thunder Giant. He attacks Red-Eyes, destroying both monsters. He then attacks directly with Bursinatrix.

Nightshroud's turn. Jaden uses Emergency Provisions to destroy Mirage, like always, to gain another 1000 life points, avoiding Mirage's cost.
Nightshroud doesn't care. He summons Mirage Dragon and attacks Bursinatrix. Jaden falls down from the pain of the shadow game.

Syrus and Chumley are still trapped in their ever-weakening bubble. Syrus tells Chumley (and possibly Jaden too) that he loves him. Chumley tells Jaden to hurry up, because Sy's getting mushy.

Jaden summons Elemental Hero Tempest, a fusion of Sparkman, Avian, and Bubbleman. He destroys Mirage Dragon.

Nightshroud summons Red Eyes Black Chick and sacrifices it for Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which he then sacrifices for Red Eyes Darkness Dragon. He attacks Tempest with REDD, but Jaden activates Negate Attack.

Jaden plays Wroughtweiler in defense mode, switches Tempest to defense, and ends his turn.

Nightshroud summons Spear Dragon and attacks Wroughtweiler. Jaden takes an Elemental Hero and a polymerization from his graveyard and adds them to his hand. But then he loses life points because of Spear Dragon's special ability. REDD then attacks Tempest. He falls down again from the pain of the shadow game. Alexis tries to step in and duel Nightshroud instead, but Jaden gets back up and says he'll finish the duel. Nightshroud recognizes Alexis, but from where, we do not know... yet.

Jaden plays Elemental Hero Wildheart and a card that makes a copy of REDD, leaving both the copy and the original with half the monster's original attack points. However, since they both get the same effect, each has 3300 attack points. Jaden then fuses Elemental Hero Wildheart with Elemental Hero Blade Edge from his hand to form Elemental Hero Wildedge. Then he activates Skyscraper. Nightshroud has 600 life points, Wildedge has 3600 attack points, and can attack all of Nightshroud's monsters. Jaden attacks and Nightshroud loses.

But the Shadow game has taken it's toll; Jaden passes out. Alexis runs over to him, but flames shoot up all around them, and then they all disappear and reappear on the side of the volcano.

Syrus, Chumley, and Alexis go over to Jaden, who doesn't wake up. Syrus is worried, but Alexis checks his pulse and says he's fine. But then she notices the card by Jaden's hand. It's the card that sealed the loser's soul. Rather than a picture of Nightshroud, the card shows his mask and some chains. She goes over to Nightshroud, whose mask is now gone. He looks at her, says her name, and passes out. She gasps and goes over to him.

Zane, Bastion, and Chazz have arrive, having been made aware of the duel from their spirit keys. They see Jaden and ask Chumley and Syrus about the duel. Zane gets angry when he hears that Jaden won, but was still injured. He goes over to Nightshroud, possibly intending to duel him? Well, he was going to confront him in some way, anyway. But Alexis is there. She's crying, holding... Nightshroud? "He's back..." She says "I don't know how, but he's back..."
"Who?" Zane asks.
"Look at his face. It's my brother!" she replies.
"Atticus!" Zane exclaims.
Yes, it is Atticus. When he lost the Shadow Game, it took the darkness that was Nightshroud, and left his good side.

The sun rises and Zane wonders, if this is what happens to the winner of a Shadow Game, what happens to a loser? He realizes just how serious the situation they are all in with the Shadow Riders.




Enjoy!

darkrunner