A,N: Well here is the next chapter. Sorry for the wait you guys. It is a little dark chapter. Just so you know. But hope you like reading it anyway 😊

Tara's p.o.v.

"Take off every moorings!" Jaden shouted as the four of them tried to make the boat ready for sail.

Tara rolled her eyes. Her brother was sounding like some kind of captain right now. He was at the rudder, and Jesse and Ember was tossing of the moorings. They had told them they were gonna do it, since they wanted Jaden and Tara rested for battle. Tara sighed deeply. She really didn't like doing nothing right now. Maybe that was why Jaden was shouting around like some captain, since he had nothing else to do either. She sighed again.

"Hey Tara, stop sighing" Jaden then complained "It drives me crazy".

"Sorry" Tara replied slowly "It is just that I am nervous, and I hate doing nothing".

"Yeah tell me about it" Jaden complied "The battle. The prophecy. The duel with Nightshroud. All of it makes me on the edge too, but we gotta stick together..".

"Yeah I know" Tara replied with a sigh "I am just worried about Zane. He is not ready yet to duel. Not since I last saw him in the hospital.. what if..?".

"You can't think like that" Jaden reminded her in a firm tone "We have to believe in hope. We have to believe we can win. If not, all this is pointless".

"He is right you know" Yubel said and appeared beside them now. "If you don't believe Tara, then Nightshroud will win for sure. I am not sure what that means for your future, but let's not find out". Tara nodded slowly. That thought alone scared her a lot, but she was prepared to fight. She had promised Jaden it.

"I do not like this" Haou suddenly mused and appeared as well "It is too quiet".

"Well there is no one in the city.." began Jaden, but Haou lifted a hand to make him silent. Then a scream filled the air, and the twins quickly turned towards it. A horrified scenario meet them. Ember in a tight grip of a Trueman.

"Ember!" shouted Jesse and Jaden in unison. Jesse even tried to attack him. Jaden hissed angrily and was on the way to the mole, when he turned towards Yubel and Haou with a puzzled look.

"This is the real Trueman right? Not a trick like before?" he asked Haou.

"Go!" Haou only replied and Tara grabbed her brother's hand.

With swift movements Jaden was jumping down from the ship. His powers from Yubel made him agile and they were soon standing on the ground at the harbor. Tara fired a blast at Trueman with her powers, but in the last minute stopped up, when Ember was pulled in front of the blast. In the last minute, she made the blast turn upwards instead. Only a tiny bit of her powers hit Ember on the chest. Trueman smirked evilly at that.

"What a lovely surprise to see you two again" He said and chuckled. His eyes fixated on Jesse who had his duel disk ready. Then on both of them. "Our master sends his regards, and congratulates you for surviving for this long. I had thought our rabbit would have dragged you to our world, but like everything else, it seemed like he failed too. What a pity".

Jaden hissed angrily.

"That is right! Your master Nightshroud will never get rid of us" Jaden yelled "And I swear I will get you for what you did to everyone. Our friends and this cities civilians. You will all pay". Tara nodded in agreement and glared coldly at him.

"You must be very confident in your skills, to speak so casually of our Master" Trueman said and chuckled "Very brave or very foolish indeed. However I am not here for you. I am here for him". A finger got pointed at Jesse, who hissed angrily.

"Well bring it!" He shouted angrily "Give Ember back ya know".

"What do you want with Jesse and Ember?" Tara questioned and activated her duel disk as well. Jaden did the same thing.

"Whatever it is, we won't let you get close to our friend" Jaden hissed back.

"His crystal beast along with her pesky bird spirit, have killed my men left and right" Trueman informed them and glared at Jesse "I was going to get some payback, but seen how tight the security is, I might settle with this price for now". With swift moments, Ember disappeared in the grip of Trueman to who knows where.

"Ember!" Jesse shouted and were about to rush forward and attack Trueman.

Jaden however stopped him. Tara were rather grateful for that. Her eyes turned golden and she charged at Trueman. Darkness was in her palms as she touched the messenger of darkness. He dissolved into cards, but they assembled quickly into one, and Trueman were soon standing in front of them again. He was smirking evilly.

"What was that?" He mocked "That didn't even hurt, and you are supposed to be the king's vessel. How patheti..".

He never finished his sentence, because a scream escaped his lips. He looked rather horrified at Tara now. Darkness was ebbing out of him, and cards fell slowly to the ground.

"Wh-what did Y-you do?" Trueman stuttered out and fell down to one knee.

"Pretty simple" Haou said and appeared in front of him "Your attempt in affecting my vessel, backfired". Tara nodded proudly.

"When I looked into your eyes, You gave me the knowledge as well on how your master created you" She then said "From the darkness in peoples heart, but there is a big flaw. Your medium is the cards the original were using, so by clenching the cards, you will stop existing".

"Pretty clever.." Trueman said and clenched his chest. Then he laughed like hell "But it doesn't matter. Our victory is assured, and even the twins of prophecy will in the end be helplessly defeated. Our master is waiting for you two. At the place it all began. Duel academy. Ha-ha!".

Then the darkness left the cards completely and Trueman 'died'. Jaden rolled his eyes and bowed down to collect the now freed cards.

"I hate when they do that" Jaden mused slowly "Having that last speech, makes me just so agitated instead. We will prove them wrong. Just like he have done to all other bad guys we faced". Tara nodded slightly to that.

"But what about Ember?!" Jesse uttered in distress and shook Tara a little "If you could kill him from the get go, why didn't you? Why did you let Ember get taken?!".

"I couldn't clench him with Ember there" Tara replied "She would have been killed or worse, taken over by him. Don't worry, Ember is safe for the time being".

"Oh and how can you be so sure of that?!" Jesse sneered angrily "He sent her to god knows where, and you two didn't think twice about that". Jaden placed a hand on Jesse's shoulder, and made him let go of Tara, which she was grateful for.

"The blow I fired was a protective spell" Tara replied "As long as Ember is not losing hope, everything will be fine. She is very strong willed".

"I agree. She was especially stubborn when I had her captivated" Yubel replied and chuckled "She is properly expecting Her beloved Jesse to save her.. again".

"Fine, let's get going" Jesse mused in a cold tone "Where to..?!".

"Duel academy. Trueman mentioned their master was waiting for us" Jaden said and jumped on board again.

"Yes and by beating him, everyone else as well as Ember is saved" Tara continued and jumped on board again. Jesse followed determined after.

"I can't wait for that" he mused "Ember would want this..". Soon they drove away towards Duel academy.

Normal P.o.v.

In the meantime on duel academy, a lot of things were happening. Hassleberry and Sorano were still dueling. However that had been a quick duel. Hassleberry had fought valiantly, and even though he had his Dino dna and had no darkness in his heart, Hassleberry had not been prepared on Trueman's next move. He had created his darkness, by making Hassleberry believe his bone in his left leg was actually a curse from his other life as a dinosaur. In the end Trueman got Hassleberry to their world along with a lot of other students. No one escaped their relentless assault on duel academy. But that was not all. Every time they dragged a person to their world of darkness, their existence in this earthly realm disappeared as well, making everyone forget they existed in the first place. Even for the certain Truesdale brothers...

Syrus dropped to his knees, cards were spread all over the ground, as his life points hit 0. Another Sorano copy, alias Trueman were hovering over him.

"I lost.. I tried to protect you big brother.." Syrus mumbled weakly.

"But you couldn't. Why don't you realize that? You are never gonna be as strong as your brother. You will never make his dream a reality. So now, Syrus Truesdale, let's go, to the true world of darkness".

Before Syrus could do or say a thing, he got swallowed by the darkness and disappeared. His last thought was on his brother.

Zane woke up in the hospital, gasping for air. He had a terrible nightmare about Tara. She had been screaming in that darkness, and Zane had not been able to stop it. Sweat dripped down his forehead, as he slowly calmed down, and then he realized that someone was in here with him. Inside this hospital room. The most noticeable was the darkness in here wrapping around everything. Zane had closed the curtains , but clearly not that much, so he couldn't see the light outside the window. He sighed deeply.

"I know you are there" he mused out in a cold tone "Show yourself".

"He-He, oh you realized I was here. That was quick" a voice grinned "But then again, you were never easy to fool Zane. It is funny how trash like you all find the strength to resist".

Zane growled in confusion. He couldn't see anyone, but he kept up his cold demeanor. Out from the shadows appeared a seaweed haired male dressed in black clothes, and his face were covered with a mask. Zane's eyes narrowed and his eyes wandered to his deck at the nightstand. He might be able to grab it, but Zane was unsure if he could win with a unfinished deck. Instead he decided to glare at the male.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Zane said in a cold tone.

"He-he you are like I remember you Zane Truesdale. Did you like my nightmare? I had hoped you got swallowed by it, and got an easy sent off, but might have been too easy on you. You have always been stubborn Zane" the boy said and chuckled "Guess I got sentimental over our old friendship. My bad".

Zane glared coldly at the boy. He had no idea what he was talking about. What old friendship? He hissed a little.

"You sent me the nightmare of Tara?" he sneered out "For what purpose? What is it you want and who are you?". The boy chuckled again.

"My Master wants you. He wants everyone actually, but we are particular fond of people close to those twins. Take people they love, and it will weaken their resolve against our Master. Their own weakness in their hearts will be their own downfall" the boy then said "Then the prophecy will never be fulfilled". Zane hummed at that.

"Hmm so you are the ones the king will face?" he replied slowly "Then by all means take me. It doesn't matter that I am gone, Jaden and Tara will bring me back. The twins will fulfil the prophecy despite what you do to them. They will succeed".

"Hmpf Your trash of people are so full of themselves sometimes" The boy said and snort "I am impressed you can keep up such a brave face, considered the situation you are in Zane Truesdale. I know your darkness in your heart all too well".

Zane's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. It wouldn't change the outcome anyway.

"Your love for the king's vessel. It is disgusting!" the boy continued and snort "You use her as an anchor, to keep yourself straight. Your fear of turning back to what your once were. The Kaiser from hell. Your lust for power. My master could use someone like that. He do remember you against your battle with Atticus in the Gx tournament years back".

Zane's eyes rose. That meant Nightshroud was the one facing the twins. His eyes fixated on the boy in front of him. Did that mean this boy was..

"I don't care" Zane sneered "Drag me to that world or let me be. I have a lot of sleeping to do. Whatever you choose, I will never work for that Master of yours..".

"You are a fool Zane Truesdale, but so be it. Now let's get going to the world of true darkness" the boy said and were holding out his hand. Darkness emerged around Zane and soon he disappeared into the darkness.

Atticus p.o.v.

Atticus was sitting at the lighthouse. He was talking to a recorder. In some way he was trying to record his academy life before he graduated. It should remind him about his time here at duel academy. That and he didn't want to forget again. Like when he did when he was possessed by Nightshroud.

"..That certainly happened when I first came here" Atticus said and smiled while holding up the recorder "I am the star of love here at duel academy. All girls are crazy about me, but since I recently found myself as gay, I guess I can't date them, which is totally fine, but it still hurts me to break my fans hearts..".

"Hey what are you doing Atticus?" a voice suddenly said. Chazz was standing beside him now, and was looking puzzled at him. Atticus hummed a little.

"Oh hey there Chazz. I am not doing much. Just recording my Da life" He replied.

"I see. That is nice" Chazz responded and sat down on the ground as well.

"But there is a slight problem.." Atticus continued. Chazz looked puzzled at him so he continued "Lately my memories has been failing me again..".

"Wait you too?!" Chazz uttered rather shocked "Actually It has been the same for me recently. I can't even remember my latest opponent..".

"Take a look at this page" Atticus said and were holding up a page in his notebook. It was blank. Atticus sighed deeply "That page used to contain a list of the girls who gave me love letters". Chazz's eyes widened at that.

"This whole page?!" he uttered shocked.

"Though I'm trying to remember their names, but I can't remember anything" Atticus continued with a sigh "Me, who holds the title as the star of this academy, and then I can't even remember my fans..".

"Atticus.." Chazz said slowly. It was clear he didn't have a clue on how to cheer the male up again. Atticus looked up at the academy.

"Something may be happening to this academy.." he then said "Maybe it is because of me being influenced by Nightshroud, but I am sure something is in the air..".

Time skip.

Atticus couldn't be more right. As he and Chazz returned to the school, they were meet by the Trueman's. They had given up their appearance of the other students, since there only was a few students left. For that reason they were challenging Chazz and Atticus now. All to get them to join them, in the true world of darkness. However, Chazz and Atticus, did the most reasonable thing. They ran! As fast as they could through the hallway of the school. It had been different if it had been one Trueman. Or maybe two, but not a whole army. Even though they were good duelists, they knew they couldn't take all of them on and win.

"Atticus over here!" a voice then suddenly shouted and they noticed Alexis along with Mindy and Jasmine. They had opened the door to one of the meeting rooms. Chazz and Atticus rushed over there and slammed the door shut.

"Ahr only we are safe!" Chazz uttered and were trying to catch his breath.

"But.. the enemy has already gotten to everyone" Atticus sneered and slammed his hand at the table "Whoever we still have memories of are those who are currently safe. Let's contact them at once!". Alexis looked rather horrified.

"Is what you said really true? Is this Nightshroud.." she then muttered out.

"Yeah. We believe so. Only us in here, and them out there are the only ones currently at the academy" Chazz said and slowly opened the door to see if the enemy was after them.

As they figured, the Trueman took their time. After all they were the only ones here at the school right now. Atticus hissed angrily.

"We were too careless" he then sneered "It seems everything is going as Nightshroud desires. We have to protect ourselves. You three leave here at once". Atticus were fixating on Alexis and her two friends. Alexis were not happy about that.

"But I..". Atticus just smiled at her.

"Besides us here, there is still someone out there we can rely on" Atticus interrupted.

"Jaden..!" Alexis uttered stunned as she remembered her boyfriend.

"Tara!" Mindy and Jasmine uttered in unison as well. Atticus nodded eagerly.

"That's right. Those two should be able to do something with this situation" he replied slowly "They are supposed to be the twins from the prophecy after all. That and I have no intention on losing to them". He activated his duel disk.

"That's right. Count me in!" Chazz shouted firmly as well "Jaden shall not have all the fun, or be the hero once again". He also activated his duel disk.

"Atticus, Chazz.." Alexis replied but then nodded. Her and her two friends rushed out of one of the secret passageways. They needed to go to a safe place, the enemy knew nothing about. Chazz and Atticus prepared themselves for battle. '

Not many minutes remained, before the door got blasted open. Atticus could see 5 Trueman standing there. Atticus blew away the chair who had tumbled over Chazz. He was not hurt at least. Only startled.

"Are you okay Chazz?" Atticus questioned. Chazz snort in annoying's.

"I'm alright. But seems like we can't rely on the twins for now" He sneered and looked at the Trueman "These guys are out of our league".

"That's right, but we'll do what we can to buy time" Atticus replied. Chazz nodded eagerly. They were ready to fight. Trueman hummed at that.

"As we expected. You two are trying to buy time" he then said.

"Wait you knew?!" Chazz uttered shocked.

Then a scream filled the air. Atticus didn't need more to know that it had been the girls screaming. He rushed down the pathway Alexis had just taken. Chazz was right behind him, as they ran down the hallway. All Atticus could think of was his little sister. He needed to protect her!

"Alexis! I am coming!" he shouted.

As he reached the place where Alexis was, he found her alone, facing one of the Trueman there. She had just lost the duel, and cards were lying everywhere around the floor. Atticus was worried that the Trueman was gonna challenge him next, but he just let Atticus pass without any problems.

"Hang in there Alexis!" Atticus said and placed reassuring hands at her shoulder.

"Atticus.. Jaden.." She whispered slowly and looked up at him. Then the darkness took her, leaving Atticus rather confused.

"I was trying to protect someone, but I can't remember who?" He uttered and looked at his hand. He turned angrily around towards the Trueman.

"You bastards. What are you here for?" he shouted at him. Trueman hummed at that.

"Who knows.." Trueman replied and turned his eyes towards the corridors.

Chazz stumbled inside the room, and had grabbed around his chest in pain. One of the other Trueman must have gotten to him. Atticus was about to rush over to him, as Chazz were holding his hand out towards him. He mumbled Atticus's name, before also disappearing into the darkness. As he did, the Ojama's appeared as spirits. They were crying over their now gone boss. That until the Trueman sent them a cold look. They quickly disappeared. Trueman didn't even bother with such weak spirits.

"So am I the last?" Atticus uttered and looked angrily at the Trueman "Are you gonna take me, like you took my friends? I can't even remember them. I can't even remember my own friends".

Atticus was almost about to cry. The agony he was feeling. All his friends had gone and it was too painful to bear.

"No, we have orders not to touch you" The Trueman replied with a smirk. "Besides you are already ours Atticus Rhodes. He wants you. You belong to Him!".

"What? Who do you mean? Are you referring to Nightshroud?" Atticus yelled up. But instead of Trueman replying him, he just disappeared somewhere, leaving Atticus all alone in this big world.

Jaden's p.o.v.

In the meantime the twins and Jesse was on their way to duel academy in the boat they borrowed. They were driving in really fast speed, with Jaden steering. Tara and Jesse were sitting down in the boat and were just waiting. The sun was up, and they were blessed with this beautiful view. Jaden was sure they would have appreciated it, if it wasn't for the fact that they were in a hurry.

"Aren't we there yet Jaden?" Jesse hissed irritated. Jaden could fell his burning anger.

"This is as fast as it goes" Jaden replied slowly. He understood Jesse's concern though. His girlfriend got taken, right in front of him. Jaden's thoughts wandered to Alexis. He just hoped she was okay.

"Jaden!". It was a low voice, but Jaden clearly heard it. Alexis voice. It sounded weak and scared. Jaden groaned a little. What was that?

"Jaden, Jaden, did you feel that?" Tara suddenly questioned and the Slifer red student turned towards his sister. She was clenching around her chest with one hand.

"Feel what?" He questioned. Tara groaned a little.

"Zane.. I can't feel Zane any longer" she then whispered "Something happened to him". Jaden bit his lip. That had been Alexis voice just now. Did that mean..

"I could hear Alexis voice" Jaden said slowly and slammed his hand somewhere at the boat "This is not happening. First Domino, now this!".

"We need to stop them!" Jesse sneered "Trueman is really invading as we speak". Jaden nodded. He bit his lip again. Alexis don't worry. I am coming!

Atticus's p.o.v.

Back at Duel academy, Atticus were wandering around, as the only single student at duel academy. He wandered the hallways, in hope of just finding someone, but the only thing he found was empty corridors and classrooms.

"The place I studied with everyone, but I don't know who" Atticus mumbled at he entered the empty classroom. A pained expression were shown on his face since he couldn't remember his fellow school students. He groaned again.

"Just where.. where did everyone go?!" he said slowly.

He continued his journey around the school, and in the end ended at the entry hall. There he found a poster on the floor, who showed who was on top of the mid-term. It was three familiar people on the top, but Atticus couldn't see the pictures. His memories were so blank. He let out a painful exhausted groan, and fell down to his knees. He felt so lost.

"I'm alone!" He whispered to himself "The last one in the world. There is no one left to protect. No one left to fight for. But what are these painful feelings? No, I know it. This is anger! This anger for my beloved ones, who's been taking from me..".

Atticus got up and were holding his arm up in the air. He began yelling.

"Even if my memories are taken, my heart can't be taken away!".

As he yelled that out loud, an object suddenly began shining in the pocket of his coat.

Atticus looked puzzled at it, and took out a card. The card who had the Nightshroud mask sealed away. From it he could hear the voices of his friends. Alexis voice. Chazz's voice. Even Syrus's voice. They were all calling from within the mask.

"I can hear them.." Atticus whispered.

He didn't hesitate any longer, and took out the mask, and placed it on his face. Darkness rose around him, and soon he disappeared to where his friends were.

Atticus traveled through the galaxy. He traveled through the darkness, and at some point, he reached some kind of dark ocean. There millions of cards were lying, and Atticus knew, all these cards resembled one person who had lived on Earth once, before Nightshroud had taken them to this world. He zeroed in on his friends however, and found Alexis, Chazz, and Syrus card. With the mask, he could see what they were seeing here in the true world of Darkness.

Chazz were standing on a pro field, where he could hear the crowd shout, that if he didn't win, he was out of the pro league for good. It was turn 8. Chazz had 300 life points, and his opponent had 1200. Both of them had no monsters on the field, and it was Chazz's turn. Chazz had only one card in his hand. The spell "Reload", but it was his draw turn. If he drew a monster with more than 1200 att, he would win the duel. He drew, but the only monster he got was "Ojama yellow" who had 0 att. Chazz looked at his options. He could summon 'Ojama yellow' in def mode, or use reload, and hope he got another monster. Chazz placed Ojama yellow in def mode. He felt that was the right move. That until his opponent summoned "Mad sword beast" who gave piercing damage. In the end, he lost the duel. Chazz was flying through the air.

"I don't want this to happen" He muttered out loud.

Sadly that caused the duel to go around in an endless cycle, where Chazz only had those options. Reload or Ojama yellow. Even when he used Reload, his deck didn't respond, and he got the spell "Level up" from his deck.

"Please spare me!" Chazz uttered in the end.

What Syrus relived was that Zane was sick, and as little brother, he should of course take care of him. He had promised Zane that they would make a pro league together, but since Zane was sick, Syrus had to take care of everything. The pressure was very high for the youngest of the Truesdale brothers.

"Syrus, I can only come this far" Zane told him "I'm counting on you to make us a new pro league career".

"Please don't worry brother" Syrus had responded with a fake smile "For your dream, I'll differently make it".

However as he was standing on the field, introducing this new pro league, Syrus got hit by doubts. Could he really make his big brother's dream come true?

Lastly there was Alexis. In here is had gotten her dream of becoming teacher, but were having problems with the dropout students in her class.

"Wait up everyone!" she told them "I chose the path of becoming teacher in order to encourage all my students to not give up, and continue dueling".

"We couldn't care less about that" one of them responded.

"Then answer this teach" one of the students said "How can potential drop outs like us become top elite students?".

"Well.. you see.." Alexis stuttered out. She had no idea what to reply here.

"As I thought" one of the students sneered "It seems our teacher doesn't know how to teach these important things".

"Duelists at your level, aren't fit to teach anyone!" the students then shouted.

A scream filled the air as Atticus couldn't keep the mask on any longer. He was gasping for air, as the mask was pulled off. He couldn't believe what he had been seeing. Those waters and what had happened to his sister and friends. Alexis, Syrus, Chazz. All their hope was taken, and they only face despair.. soon their hearts will be broken. Is this the way of Nightshroud and the true darkness?! I got to do something! And with that resolve, he made the Nightshroud mask disappear into a card, and began leaving the academy. He was determined to do this.

He reached outside the main gate, where he saw a herd of Trueman standing outside. They looked at him, as Atticus wandered through the crowd, but they didn't touch him or do anything. Just like they were ordered to. Atticus also ignored them. He didn't want anything to do with them anyway. He wanted something else.

"Now, Get out here! Fight me! Nightshroud!" He then shouted out in an angry matter "I already remember everything! About Alexis! And Syrus! And Chazz! Now just try to take my memory away completely!".

As he said that, the Trueman all moved out to the sides of the main road, as an individual began materialize themselves in the air. Atticus turned around to see a male dressed in black, and had a mask on his face. There were something about him, and his seaweed hair that made Atticus hesitate for one moment, then he turned towards the person.

"Are you Nightshroud?" He shouted angrily. The male snort at that.

"I am fully aware. The truth of the world" He then said "People don't understand. It's the limit of those who deny themselves. But I am the one who will make you trash accept it".

Atticus hissed angrily at that and activated his duel disk. He had never seen Nightshroud in person, being possessed and all, but this male could only be him.

"I will never forgive you!" he shouted back to him.

"I'll accept your challenge, Atticus Rhodes" Nightshroud then responded.

Nightshroud??: 4000 Lp's

Atticus: 4000 Lp's.

Nightshroud supposedly started off and drew. Then he summoned "Clear Phantom" (1200 att) in att mode and sets a card, ending his turn. Atticus looked puzzled at the monster. It was really weird inside this cube or crystal thing. It also had no attribute.

"What is.. that monster?" Atticus then questioned.

"Nothing can be known. Existence is free of time. That is the true darkness" Nightshroud responded "This monster have no attribute".

Atticus eyes narrowed, but it was his turn, so he drew. He summoned "Red eyes Wyvern" in att mode (1800 att) He of course attacked his clear phantom, destroying it, and dealing 600 points of battle damage. Atticus was mighty pleased here.

"How was that? Did you enjoy the pain?" he sneered back. For everything he had done to all his friends, he deserved that hit for sure. Nightshroud chuckled darkly.

"I activate clear phantom's eff" he then said and crystals hit Atticus red eyes and destroyed it without warning. "When clear phantom is destroyed in battle, the opponent's monster is also destroyed. Afterwards you also send three cards from the top of your deck to the grave".

Atticus hissed angrily as he discarded the three cards. His "Red eyes black dragon" was one of them. Nightshroud was not done yet. He activated the continuous trap "Memory snatcher". This card prevents Atticus from checking his graveyard, unlike Nightshroud, and if he needs to activate an effect from there, or use a card who has something to do with the grave, he has to declare the monster target first. If the target is not in the grave, Atticus cannot activate it or the cards effect. Atticus got really surprised by that.

"What? Why do that?" he then asked.

"Because, you will forget everything now" Nightshroud replied and Atticus were sure his eyes were glowing "Your mind will become blank now".

"Fine I just place down a face down and end my turn" Atticus then said and did just that.

It was Nightshroud's turn once again. He drew and summoned a new monster in that glass, crystal shell. It was "Clear rage golem" in att mode. It had 1600 att. Since Atticus had no monster, he of course made a direct attack of his golem. Atticus was ready with his facedown though. The trap "offensive guard". He could halve the Golem's att points this turn, and draw a card afterwards. Atticus therefore only took 800 points of damage, and got a new card added to his hand.

"I activate my golem's effect" Nightshroud told him "Since it was able to attack you directly, you receive 300 points of damage for every card in your hand".

Atticus looked rather horrified now. He had 5 cards in his hand, which means he would take 1500 points of damage now. 5 blue flames hit him causing Atticus life points to drop down to 1700. Nightshroud chuckled darkly at that.

"What pain you've tasted" he mused out firmly "You're simply a lost dog trying to prolong your demise. Now, follow me obediently. To our True world of darkness".

"I'm not feeling any pain at all" Atticus responded as the dust cleared from the effect damage. This pain was nothing compared to how Alexis and the others felt.

"You really irritate me" Nightshroud said and his eyes glowed again.

Then he set down a facedown and ended his turn. Atticus was up again. He drew and were soon holding the spell "Swing of memory". He decided to activate it. With it he could special summon one normal monster from his grave, but sadly it was also destroyed during the end phase. There were just one problem..

"And what monster are you planning to summon?" Nightshroud then questioned. Once again his eyes glowed in a weird blue color.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Atticus shouted back "The monster you sent to the grave with your phantom's eff..".

Atticus stopped surprised up. He knew he had sent three cards to the grave that turn, but for some stupid reason, he couldn't remember why.

"What's wrong?" Nightshroud questioned "It is only your second turn".

Atticus hissed at that. My cherished card, yet.. I can't remember it. He tried to look into his graveyard for the right monster, but because of the continuous trap card "Memory snatcher" he was not allowed to look.

"Remember Memory snatcher doesn't allow you to look at your cards in your graveyard" Nightshroud told him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, choose your card already! If you can't remember it, the spell you activated will be useless".

Atticus sneered angrily. There was something going on here. Then he remembered. He had once looked into his eyes, as they glowed, stating his mind will be blank. That didn't mean.. He erased his memories!

"What a dirty trick!" he sneered back at him. Nightshroud only chuckled.

"Right, it is just as you figured. I erased some of it" He replied slowly "But I simply granted your sleeping desires resting in the bottom of your consciousness".

"What was that?!" Atticus yelled angrily.

"You hate the power of darkness you used before" Nightshroud began explaining "When you used it at that time, that deck also held hatred. That caused your memory to disappear".

Atticus was rather stunned at that. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this really true? Did his deck have their darkness in it?

"Is there any point?" Nightshroud continued in a firm, but sweet tempting voice "The card itself creates the dark power. After all Atticus, your essence and being still belongs to Nightshroud. It always has, and always will be. Just accept it already, and come along with us!".

Atticus felt so confused and at the same time drawn to his words. It had been true, he was once Nightshroud and the mask and..

"I.. and Nightshroud" Atticus mumbled out and shook his head. He didn't know what to believe. He was having a giant headache now. His cards were all black in his hand.

"Now, come along with us Atticus. To our true world of darkness" Nightshroud once again tempted.

As he did, you could see the Trueman smirk in the background. Atticus nodded slightly and took a step forward.

"Don't go Atticus!" A voice then shouted and shook him out of the trance he was in.

"You can't go" another voice followed, and Atticus now noticed Jaden, Tara and Jesse arrive at the scene. They were running towards him.

"Atticus, you are no longer Nightshroud! I clenched you remember?!" Jaden shouted and made Atticus return back to normal. That is true. Jaden freed me in that duel, when I was fighting for the shadow riders. I remember now.

"Jaden and Tara Yuki, as well as Jesse Anderson, I won't let you interfere" Nightshroud sneered and his eyes glowed once again. Soon a herd of Trueman were blocking their paths. They couldn't get to Atticus.

"So what?!" Tara said in her monotone voice and got ready in fighting stand "I'll just clench all of your stupid minions". Nightshroud hummed at that.

"Really? You dare do that Tara Yuki, when I have your friend custody right here?" he said and were holding a hand out in the blue. Inside what looked like some kind of dark bubble was Ember captured. Jesse hissed angrily at that.

"Let Ember go!" Jesse shouted "She has nothing to do with this".

"You all stood between me and my minions. I will say they she has a lot to do with this" Nightshroud replied "Now stand back as real adults, or your friend is gonna get it". The twins and Jesse hissed angrily at that. Jesse turned to Atticus now though.

"Atticus, Originally the dark power didn't exist within a card" He then shouted "It's the darkness of the duelist's heart that turns the cards black".

"Atticus remember, you use your Nightshroud's power for good, not evil" Jaden then shouted "Your means are justified. Unlike him!". Nightshroud snort at that.

"Jaden and Tara Yuki, as well as Jesse Anderson" he then said in a cold tone "You guys are deferred because you can't just become one with the true darkness. Like Ember Trussell over here. If you want her back, you will not interfere in this match".

"Thank you Tara, Jaden and Jesse" Atticus then said and stopped their conversation. He turned towards Nightshroud "I won't let them become your opponents. I will defeat you!".

Nightshroud just snort at that. Atticus turned to the "swing of memory" spell card. He remembered how much Alexis loved that card, and how he had used this card, as well as the monster card he now was about to summon.

"This card is the card that bonds me with Alexis" Atticus told them "And the bond between my rivals as well. I will call that card. Come forth Red eyes black dragon!".

On his field now, the majestic Red Eyes Black dragon now appeared onto his field. Atticus didn't waist any time and attacked Nightshroud's golem with his mighty dragon. The golem of course got destroyed and dealt 800 points of damage. As the attack hit, some of the blow from the attack scattered Nightshroud's mask as well, revealing a grey colored eye hiding under there. Nightshroud however tried to cover it up, as much as possible. Atticus placed one facedown. As he did, the swing of memory spell disappeared since it was near his end phase, which also sent red eyes black dragon back to the graveyard.

"However Red eyes is my ultimate partner" Atticus said with a smile "Therefore I didn't just revive him for just one single blow. I must not forget my deck, my cards and my rivals fighting together. For my important friends, I hope my deck will respond to my feelings. I activate Red eyes Wyvern effect from the grave. By removing him from the game, I can return my red eyes to the field. Revive red eyes black dragon".

Once again his majestic dragon appeared on the field. It was roaring rather loudly. Suddenly a shadow covered the field, and they all looked up in the sky.

A tiny black scale was shown on the sun now, and it was slowly covering the sun.

"This is.. a solar eclipse" Tara muttered in the background.

Atticus didn't comment on that though. He was more focused on the person he was dueling. Atticus eyes narrowed. Even though he tried to cover his face up, Atticus had a good hunch over who was now really standing in front of him. The male chuckled.

"It's about time you stop this farce Atticus" he said "You know who I really am, don't you?". Atticus nodded slightly at that.

"Yes, you are the person closest to me, who gave me the Nightshroud mask" he then said slowly, remembering the image of him, last time he saw him. Then he shouted out his name "You are/were my boyfriend Yusuke Fujiwara!".

The others reacted surprised by those news. Nightshroud or in reality Yusuke chuckled darkly, and removed his mask, revealing a boyish face. Atticus glared at him. There were no mistake. This was his long lost boyfriend Yusuke Fujiwara.

A;N: Well cliffhanger. Cruel, cruel me. But that is how the episode ends, so yeah. But as you figured, the duel continues with this love scrabble, if you can call it that. It is an intense and sad duel, but hope you still find it interesting. Please comment what you think.