Appears The Black Dragon

"So, you want to learn more about the Supreme King huh?" Jessie said with a tired sounding sigh. "To be honest, I probably know just about as much as you do. I know a little bit of Jehu's side of the story if that's fine with you. I'm willing to tell you that much." Jaden sat down in the chair he had pulled up next to the injured incubus. "Okay, well then let's hear it. I want to learn how you and I are connected to each other. I mean, it was definitely a surprise to find out that you were also my key. I thought Alexis was the only one." Jaden said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to be able to remove your seal either. Jehu had told me that he had completely severed ties with the Supreme King, whatever that means. But let me start from the beginning…." Jessie said as he sat straight up in his bed and fluffed the pillow behind his back so that he could be comfortable for his long and complicated story. "My past-self resurfaced inside of me around a year ago at the start of my freshman year. I thought I was just going crazy by seeing my doppelganger all the time, but eventually I realized that he was just as real as I was. And that I was stuck with him." Everyone around him leaned forward and started to listen intently. 

"Jehu had told me stories about our past and what he had been through. About a thousand years ago, he had gotten into a fight with his best friend named Haou, who also happened to be the ruler of the Duel Spirits. Their fight resulted in an all-out war when Haou became consumed by the forces of his Gentle Darkness and took on the persona of the Supreme King. Jehu then started a rebellion to free the spirits whom the king treated like slaves." Jaden frowned when he learned about this. Yubel had vaguely told him about the Supreme King's past, but hearing about it in detail made his stomach hurt.

"In the beginning, Haou was your regular guy. Despite being a vampire, he showed kindness and compassion to those who were weaker than him. That's what drew Jehu to him to begin with. You see, Jehu was a refugee from the monster world and somehow ended up In Dark World. When Haou found him, instead of being hostile towards a foreigner, he gave him refuge in the main castle and even made him his right-hand man. They quickly bonded because of their mutual love for Duel Spirits, and that was the start to their complicated friendship." Said Jessie as he tried to recall every detail with clarity.

"Okay, so the Supreme King who is an evil spirit now, used to be a benevolent ruler of his people. So, what happened that made that all change?" asked Syrus who tilted his head in confusion. To be truthful, this was the first time any of Jaden's friends had heard about the Supreme King since Jaden had a bad habit of keeping his problems to himself. "That's the thing, not even Jehu knows what happened to his friend to make him change overnight. One day he was the same old friendly guy he grew to adore and respect, and the next day he was setting off on a crusade to conquer human villages and tame wild spirits. It was absolute chaos!" Jessie responded. He could physically feel Jehu's emotions affecting him, but he did his best to keep himself calm.

"When Jehu told me the stories about this guy, at first, I agreed with him 100 percent. I agreed that the Supreme King needed to be stopped, because if he was able to reincarnate, then no doubt Haou was able too as well. So, we studied certain individuals who would be good candidates to be vessels of the king, and by luck, I happened to meet you Jaden. At first glance, you looked exactly like your past self, albeit you were stuck in your human form. But Jehu could never forget your face." The incubus said with a serious expression as he looked at Jaden who felt too awkward to even respond.

"That's why I did all those things to you when we first met. I wanted to make you lose control, because I couldn't judge just on appearances alone whether you were the king or not. I needed to see for myself the destructive powers that you harnessed. If I could see that, then we would know without a doubt that you were the person that we've been looking for." Jessie's eyes drooped when regret creeped into his subconscious. "But after getting to know you and hearing all the positive things your friends and classmates had to say about you, my opinion changed. My drive to kill you wasn't that strong anymore. Because then I realized something… You are just like me." He said with a monotonous tone. 

"What do you mean you and I are the same? As far as I'm concerned, we couldn't be more different!" Jaden said as he crossed his arms and scowled. Jessie smirked as he stared at his clenched hands which were resting in his lap. "I don't mean it in the literal sense. I'm just saying that our destinies were intertwined. Even though our past selves were connected to each other, they still somehow made their problems our own. We were both being haunted by a past that we had nothing to do with. I don't identify as being Jehu, just as I'm sure you don't identify being Haou. Or am I wrong? All I'm saying is that I felt sympathetic considering our similar situations. And you're also a good guy… I didn't want to be known as the person who killed the hero of Duel Academy!" Jessie remarked as he forced himself to smile. 

"So that's your story. Well, thanks for not killing me, I guess. But you got one thing wrong…" Jaden said as his bangs started to cover his eyes. "I am definitely not a hero." He said as he tightly clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Syrus looked at his best friend worriedly and hugged him from behind. "What are you saying Jay?! You are totally a hero! Do you know how many times you've saved all of our lives?!" Syrus declared boldly to try and pull his friend out from his slump. "Yeah, but I'm also the reason your lives were put in danger to begin with!" Jaden blurted out before he abruptly stood up, knocking his chair back which clattered on the floor.

"You don't even know half of the terrible things I've done before I met you all! My childhood was a living hell! My father made me do so many horrible things in the pursuit of obtaining my cursed powers… All the lives I've taken, and the people that I hurt." His eyes started to water as he couldn't keep his composure anymore. He fell to his knees and started to cry. Alexis watched the man that she loved weep, and she didn't want to watch him suffer anymore. "Oh Jaden…." She knelt on the ground beside him and pulled him into a hug where he placed his head on her shoulder and continued to cry while she stroked his hair.

After about thirty minutes, Jaden started to calm down a little bit, and he raised his head up and revealed how red and puffy his eyes were, and snot was dripping from his nose. Alexis knew she shouldn't laugh but seeing him like that was just so cute that she couldn't help but let a giggle slip out. "You got a little something right here." she said as she gestured to his nose with her finger. He titled his head in confusion, but then blushed out of embarrassment when he realized what she meant, and he quickly wiped his nose on his sleeve. "S-sorry! That was probably disgusting to see, huh?" He said as he smiled sheepishly, and Alexis just shook her head. "No, not at all. But what do you mean your father made you do terrible things? I know Miss Akashiya mentioned how protective your dad was." Alexis asked him.

Upon hearing his dad being described that way, Jaden scoffed at the mere notion. "Protective? Hah, that's the funniest thing I've heard in years. He was controlling more than anything. The only reason that man was 'protective' of me was because he was scared someone was going to try and steal his ultimate weapon if anyone ever found out about my existence!" Jaden said with his eyes flashing red and his Rosario immediately started sparking. He hated thinking about his dad, since he absolutely despised the man. "He trained me day and night, the only time I ever felt like a kid was when Kahlua or my mother came to play with me before bedtime. And by training, I mean the kind of training that resulted in someone getting killed. And I'm telling you right now, I was the one that always did the killing."

His friends couldn't even fathom Jaden killing someone. Yeah, his true inner self could appear like kind of a dick most of the time, but even he didn't seem like a murderer. "Wait, you have a mom? How come you never talk about her?" Syrus asked bluntly which made both Bastion and Alexis shoot him sharp glares. He flinched and covered his mouth with his hand. It was reckless of him to ask such a personal question, because it was obvious that the reason why Jaden never talked about her was because it was a sensitive topic. "You really want to know why I don't talk about my mom? It's because she's dead Syrus." Jaden said with a forced smile which made everyone who saw it feel eerie. 

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Syrus said with a deep frown. Jaden sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's fine. It was bound to be brought up eventually. A part of the reason why I've been acting so weird was because I had a dream about her. I dreamed about how she died, and it's been bothering me ever since." Alexis clung to his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. He jolted because of the sudden contact, but after looking at her face, he felt all that much better about everything. Why was he even trying to hide this from them? They've said it many times before in the past, but he shouldn't ever be scared to tell his friends the truth whenever he needed to.

"You don't have to tell us if you're not ready too Jay." Alexis said to him supportively, and instinctively she went to hold his hand but stopped before she could touch him. But she was surprised to see Jaden reach out and grab her hand first. Her face instantly turned red like a tomato, and her blush only got worse when her love smiled at her with a face full of warmth. "No, I think I'm ready. And before I say what I have to say, I want to apologize for what I did to you earlier. I could take the easy way and out and say that it was the Supreme King's doing, but that would be a lie. I was being selfish and felt jealous… But that gave me no right to hurt you like that. I'm sorry." He said with sincerity.

  "Everything I said was a lie. Your blood isn't what's important to me Alexis! You are! I don't care if I ever drink your blood again if it meant that I could keep you by my side!" Jaden said as he turned to face her with a slight blush of his own face. Saying these things felt embarrassing, but it was all the truth. After finding out that Alexis had feelings for him, it started to make him see her in a different light. That's not to say that their feelings were mutual, but in the same sense, it meant that he should start treating her better. Because he really hadn't been that great of a friend to her at all. "J-Jaden! Come on, you're embarrassing me in front of all our friends!" She said in response when she withdrew her hands to try and hide her blushing face.

The vampire chuckled as he brushed her hair behind her ear and placed a kiss on her cheek which made her jump. She peaked through her fingers to stare at him, and he just continued to smile as he looked at her adorable face. "Trust me, I'm embarrassed too but I just had to tell you how I felt. And think of that kiss as a thank you for putting up with me all the time." The two were stuck and lost in their own little world when Bastion cleared his throat to bring back their attention. Everyone else in the room was trying to look at anywhere else but them because it was just too hard to watch. "Sorry to interrupt you love birds, but I think Jaden was about to explain his trauma?" Bastion said with his arms crossed.

"Oh yeah, haha sorry about that." Jaden said before he looked back at Alexis, but as soon as their eyes met, they looked away from each other with their faces hot like chili peppers. But what was going through Alexis's mind was that Jaden didn't even deny it when Bastion referred to them as love birds. Does that mean he liked her after all? "Ahem! Let me start from the beginning then, from the moment when my life totally fell apart." That was when he started spilling everything that he had been hiding deep inside. He recounted all the events that happened in his dream from when Kahlua broke him out of his room, to his mother letting them go to the garden and to when he saw the sky for the first time.

"WHAT?! For six years, you really never went outside?!" Syrus asked flabbergasted. "Is that really that surprising when you already know that my father was extremely controlling? If it weren't for the kindness of my sister and my mother, I probably would have been brainwashed and never have left that room until my father found it convenient for him." Jaden said with a heavy sigh. He continued with his story and eventually got to the part where he lost control for the first time, and how he was the one who killed his mother. When his friends heard that, they didn't even know what to say. "And that's why I told you I can't be a hero. When I'm the reason that… When I'm the one who." He tried to get the words to come out, but they just wouldn't.

"But it's the fact that you feel bad about it must mean you're not a bad guy either, right?" Jessie started out of the blue, which made everyone look at him. He had been silent for so long that everyone had forgotten that he was even there. "You say you're not a hero but you're also trying to paint yourself as the villain, but from the way I see it Jaden, that's just not true. You're a victim in all of this." The incubus said when he forced himself to get out of bed and approach Jaden who was still sitting on the floor. "You weren't the one who killed your mother. I guess physically, yeah you did. But it's not like you wanted to. The king made you do that, it wasn't your choice." He said with a serious expression.

"Y-yeah! It was Haou who made you lose control with that stupid, unfair deal he made! All he knows how to do is play tricks and lie! You were six years old; you didn't know any better!" Syrus said in agreement with Jessie. "I know you guys are right, but that still doesn't change the fact that the reason my mom died was because I gave in to my own darkness… I let despair grip onto my heart, and I can never take that back." Jaden said as he tried to fight back his tears again. "As far as I'm concerned, we won't ever let the King control you again! And that's a promise! Do you hear me mister?!" Alexis said before she roughly grabbed Jaden by the cheeks and forced him to look at her. 

Sweat started to drip from his forehead and he gulped before he nodded his head. "Yes ma'am. I hear you loud and clear." She smiled at him before letting go of his face and pulling him into a hug. "Back then, you were all alone. But you're not alone anymore. Whenever you feel like the darkness is about to take over again, just remember that it's your friends who will help to steer you back towards the light. Okay???" Jaden smiled and immediately, his heart wasn't aching so much anymore. He had been such a fool. It was like he could never learn from his mistakes. Honestly, the minute he had that dream he should have told his friends about it immediately instead of letting despair grow inside of him.

While they were at Yokai Academy having a heart-to-heart talk, chaos was raining in a different part of the world. In Domino City, monster enemy forces who were employed by Issa Shuzen were slowly reaching the city's borders. Zane Truesdale, who was Syrus's older brother and had graduated from Duel Academy last year at the top of his class, was now apart of Seto Kaiba's special forces and was on the front line of the battlefield. It was his job to stop the enemies from entering the city's limits, and he was a serious force to be reckoned with. "Cyber End Dragon! Knock down the enemy line!" He commanded his almighty three headed, cybernetic beast. 

The monster roared before charging up its attack and shooting a large plasma beam at the approaching enemies and immediately incapacitating them. But they weren't part of Fairytale for no reason. They were the best of the best, and none were low level monsters themselves. All of Issa's subordinates were pure breed monsters of Grade A or higher, meaning that even a creature like Cyber End Dragon couldn't bring them down with just one attack. However, despite the difference in their numbers, Zane wasn't perturbed in the slightest. "Just one more attack and they should all scurry away like cockroaches. Do it one more time Cyber End Dragon! Blow them to smithereens!" 

The large dragon readied up for another plasma beam, and it fired with just as strong an attack as the first one, and while Zane was confident that the attack would land, from the enemy's side of the field, his monsters beam of energy was met by an inferno of dark fire which easily matched its power. The two attacks collided and caused an explosion of white and black flashing lights which left everyone watching stunned. When his vision finally came back to him, Zane's ears were met by the sound of familiar laughter and slow clapping hands. "I'll never get over how powerful your monster is. But one thing for sure is that it was never strong enough to beat mine." 

Nightshroud walked out from the group of monsters who parted out of the way to make room for him. Flying above him was his own Duel Monster partner, Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon. Zane glared at him but didn't recognize him, even though the man talked to him like they should have known each other. The man wearing the black masquerade style mask stood adjacent to him on the battlefield, and both duelists stared each other down menacingly. "You're a human. I can tell that much from how you rely on Duel Monster's to fight. So why the hell are you on the side of that bastard Issa Shuzen?!" He shouted between clenched teeth. 

Nightshroud laughed in a dark tone before he summoned a second monster to his side, which was Archfiend Skull Dragon. Zane's mouth fell open when he saw the second monster appear. It was hard enough to summon just one level 8 or higher monster, but for this man to summon two level eight monsters left him with a terrible feeling of dread. He was powerful, there was no denying that. Dark forces were at work here if a mere human could pull off a stunt like that. "You're asking why I'm working with the enemy? That's simple. It's because I want to stick to the side that is going to win!" He said before his monsters simultaneously blasted their attacks at Zane's dragon who was instantly destroyed.

After fighting for some time, Zane, who was known as a prodigy, found himself on the floor. He was heavily injured, and his Cyber End Dragon had been blasted into oblivion which left him defenseless. His comrades were all killed, leaving him the only person left to defend the city against the invasive enemy forces. Nightshroud walked towards him and loomed over his pain stricken body. "Just get it over with and kill me if you're going to do it!" Zane said as he spit blood at Nightshroud's face. The evil man chuckled before he wiped the blood away and picked Zane up by the collar using only one hand. "Nah, I'm not going to kill you just yet. Because I need you to deliver a message for me."