Fighting for a Sibling

Alexis was sitting in the infirmary next to Atticus. Nurse Fontaine was currently teaching a class so Alexis was by herself.

Ryan passed by the infirmary doors and noticed Alexis was sitting inside.

"You alright?" He asked as he walked in and sat next to Alexis.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Alexis said although she was unable to hide the sadness in her voice.

Ryan sighed. He knew that seeing Atticus like this every day saddened Alexis, however he also knew that it was pointless to ask her to leave. After all, if his sister was like this nothing would convince him to leave.

He placed his hand on Alexis's in an attempt to comfort her.

"Do you want to me to get you something to eat or drink?" Ryan asked. Alexis half smiled at Ryan's attempt to cheer her up.

"A cup of coffee would be nice." She said.

"You got it." Ryan said as he stood up and left the room leaving Alexis alone once again.

"Do you truly want to help him." A voice said. Alexis immediately stood up and looked around the room.

"Who's there." She demanded.

"I said do you truly want to help him." The voice repeated.

Alexis didn't know who the voice belonged to but she did think that it sounded familiar.

"Yes, of course I want to help him." She said.

"Then come this way and I'll show you how you can restore your brother." The voice said.

A dark portal opened in the center of the room. Alexis looked into the portal and saw that it led to the abandoned dorm. Alexis immediately became skeptical.

"How can I trust you." She said.

"Walk away if you don't believe me, but know this, this is the only way you can restore your brother to his true self." The voice told her.

Alexis was about to turn away but then she stopped herself and looked back at the portal. She thought about Atticus and how this could be the only way to save him, but she also thought about how this could easily be a trap.

After over a minute of thinking Alexis made her decision and stepped into the portal.

Ryan had returned just as Alexis walked into the portal.

"Alexis, what are you doing!" He shouted as he dropped two cups of coffee and ran towards the portal. However it shut before he reached it.

"Not good." Ryan muttered.

Although he had only seen the portal for a few seconds he saw that it led to the abandoned dorm. He was immediately on guard as he knew from past experience that the abandoned dorm was very dangerous.

Ryan walked out of the infirmary and then down the corridors. He was heading back to the abandoned dorm before something bad happened.

Alexis found herself in the abandoned dorm. She was standing in the basement in the same room where Ryan faced Titan.

"Ha ha welcome back my dear, it's been too long since we last met." A voice said. Alexis turned and saw Titan standing at the end of the room.

"What, but how is this possible?" A confused Alexis asked. She was sure that she saw Titan be taken to the Shadow Realm.

"Surprised to see me?" Titan asked in a mocking tone.

"How are you here? Ryan defeated you." Alexis questioned.

"Yes he did, and I was sent to the shadow realm where every moment was pure agony and hell." Titan said with pure hatred in his voice.

"Then how did you escape?" Alexis asked.

"The Shadow Riders found me and took pity on me. They freed me and gave me more power than I thought possible." Titan explained gesturing towards his new mask which was clearly a shadow charm.

"So you're the next Shadow Rider." Alexis said.

"Yes I am and I have come to take my vengeance on Ryan for sending me to that hell." Titan said.

"If you want him then why am I here? Are you trying to use me as bait again?" A very angry Alexis asked.

"No not at all, you see destroying Ryan isn't enough for what he did to me. I'm going to take away everything that he cares about first, starting with you." Titan laughed.

"So you were lying, you never had anything that could wake Atticus up." Alexis said with pure venom in her voice.

"Actually that wasn't a lie." Titan said as he opened his hand to reveal a bright ball of light.

"Your brother was quite resistant, so the Shadow Riders removed his mind and replaced it with another." Titan said.

'So Atticus really didn't join the Shadow Riders willingly.' Alexis thought with a hint of relief.

"Give my brother back his mind you bastard!" Alexis shouted. Titan closed his hand and the light disappeared.

"I'll gladly bet your brother's mind on this duel, if you put something at stake as well." He said.

"What do you want?" Alexis asked getting angrier by the second.

"If you defeat me then your brother's mind will be returned, but if you lose then your mind will be taken and you will take your brother's place among the Shadow Riders." Titan laughed.

Alexis thought for a second. On one hand she could save Atticus, but on the other hand she could end up becoming just like Nightshroud. It only took Alexis a few seconds to decide.

"I accept." She said as she activated her duel disk.

The room became darker as black goo emerged from the symbols around the room and covered everything just like it had done when Ryan had faced Titan.

"Soon you will be one of the Shadow Riders." Titan said as he activated his duel disk.

The duel started and Alexis took the first turn.

"I'll start by playing a monster in defense position and one card face down, now I end my turn." She said.

"Such a shame. I hoped that you would be more of a challenge." Titan said as his turn started. "I activate the field spell Archfiend Palabyrinth. This card will increase all of my fiend monster's attack by 500." He explained.

"Now I'll summon Archfiend Cavalry in attack mode and I'll use him to attack your monster." Titan said. Archfiend Cavalry attacked Alexis's monster which was revealed to be D.D Assailant.

Archfiend Cavalary ATK 1900 DEF 0 LV4 DARK Fiend

Archfiend Cavalry ATK 1900 + 500 = 2400

D.D Assailant ATK 1700 DEF 1600 LV4 EARTH Warrior.

Alexis smiled.

"My monster was D.D Assailant. When she's attacked she banishes herself and whatever monster attacked her." Alexis explained. Titan growled in anger as his monster was banished. However there was nothing else he could do so he ended his turn.

Alexis started her turn.

"I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. When this card is normal summoned I can add a ritual monster or ritual spell from my deck to my hand." Alexis said as she added Sprite's Blessing to her hand.

Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands ATK 1400 DEF 1000 LV4 LIGHT Fairy.

"Now I'll activate Sprite's Blessing and use the Cyber Angel Benten in my hand as the tribute. With this I can ritual summon Herald of Perfection." Alexis said as she summoned Herald of Perfection in defense mode.

Herald of Perfection ATK 1800 DEF 2800 LV6 LIGHT Fairy.

"And since I used Benten as a tribute I can add a LIGHT Fairy monster from my deck to my hand." Alexis said as she added Cyber Angel Idaten to her hand.

"Now Manju attack him directly." Manju attacked Titan.

Titan LP 4000 - 1400 = 2600

Titan's life points went down however he didn't seem to mind.

"The shadows are my friends now, they won't hurt me." He said.

Titan started his turn.

"I activate Dark Hole. This spell will destroy all monsters on the field." He said as he activated his card.

"I don't think so. I activate Herald of Perfection's effect. By discarding a fairy type monster I can negate your card's activation and destroy it." Alexis said as she discarded Idaten. Dark Hole was negated and destroyed.

Titan looked incredibly angry as he continued his turn.

"I summon Lancer Archfiend in attack mode and I'll use him to destroy your attack position monster." He said. Manju was destroyed by Lancer Archfiend.

Lancer Archfiend ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LV4 DARK Fiend.

Lancer Archfiend ATK 1600 + 500 = 2100

Alexis LP 4000 - 700 = 3300

Alexis felt intense pain rush through her body.

'So this is what a shadow game's like.' She thought.

"Now I'll place a card face down and end my turn." Titan said.

Alexis started her turn.

"I activate the spell card Pot of Extravagance. This card allows me to banish six random cards from my extra deck in order to draw two cards." She said as she drew her cards.

"Now I'll summon Exiled Force in attack mode." Alexis said. Titan laughed at Alexis's monster.

"That card isn't strong enough to defeat my monster." He said.

"This card's a lot stronger than it looks." Alexis told him.

Exiled Force ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LV4 EARTH Warrior.

"I activate Exiled Force's effect. By tributing this card I can destroy one monster on the field." Alexis explained. Titan looked horrified as Lancer Archfiend was destroyed.

"Next I'll switch Herald of Perfection to attack mode and use him to attack you directly." Alexis said as her monster attacked Titan.

Titan LP 2600 - 1800 = 800

This time Titan showed clear signs that he was in pain as he lost life points.

"It looks like the shadows don't like you as much as you thought they did." Alexis said.

"Shut up." Titan panted.

Titan started his turn.

"I activate the ritual spell Contract with the Abyss." He said.

"No you don't, I'll use Herald of Perfection's effect to negate your card." Alexis said as she discarded Cyber Petite Angel.

"I don't need that card, I can just use this instead. I activate Double Summon." Titan said. Alexis knew that she was in trouble as she didn't have another fairy monster in her hand so she couldn't use Herald of Perfection's effect again.

"With Double Summon I can normal summon two monsters this turn, so I'll normal summon Mad Archfiend and I'll also normal summon Archfiend Soldier in attack mode." Titan said.

Mad Archfiend ATK 1800 DEF 0 LV4 DARK Fiend.

Mad Archfiend ATK 1800 + 500 = 2300

Archfiend Soldier ATK 1900 DEF 1500 LV4 DARK Fiend.

Archfiend Soldier ATK 1900 + 500 = 2400

"Mad Archfiend attack her monster." Titan ordered. Mad Archfiend attacked and destroyed Herald of Perfection.

"Now Archfiend Soldier attack her directly." Titan ordered. Alexis was attacked directly.

Alexis LP 3300 - 500 = 2800

Alexis LP 2800 - 2400 = 400

Alexis fell to her knees in pain and exhaustion. The shadows sensed her weakness and slowly began to make their way towards her. Titan smiled as he watched the shadows move closer to Alexis.

However before the shadows could reach her Alexis clenched her fist and managed to stand up.

"What! How can you still have enough strength to fight?" A shocked Titan asked remembering that he had fallen to the shadows during his first shadow game.

"Because unlike you I have something to fight for." Alexis panted. She was standing but was very unsteady. Her legs were shaking and her vision was blurred, however she was still prepared to fight.

Suddenly both Alexis and Titan heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.

"It seems we have some company, shall we let them in." Titan said as he raised his hand to his mask.

The shadowy goo around the door receded and Ryan ran into the room.

"Alexis, are you okay?" He asked as the shadows returned to the door trapping him inside.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Alexis panted. It wasn't hard for him to figure out she was lying.

Ryan tried to reach Alexis but shadows burst out from the ground blocking his path.

It was at this point he realized who Alexis was dueling.

"Titan? I thought you were dead." He said.

"You're going to wish that I was dead." Titan laughed.

"Believe me, I already do wish that." Ryan replied.

"I'm so glad you're here. Now you can watch as I take away someone you care about." Titan laughed.

"You act as if you're going to win this duel." Ryan commented.

"What do you mean." Titan said with a hint of anger.

"Alexis is just as good a duelist as I am and as I recall you couldn't beat me in a duel." He pointed out. Alexis smiled knowing he had complete faith in her.

"When you defeated me I was merely a pretender, but now I have become one with the shadows. Neither of you could possibly hope to beat me." Titan said.

"Well I'm about to beat you right now." Alexis declared.

Alexis drew her card.

"I activate Reinforcement of the Army. This spell card lets me add a level 4 or lower warrior monster from my deck to my hand." Alexis said as she added Blade Skater to her hand.

"Next I'll use Polymerization to fuse Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber together. With these two monsters I can create Cyber Blader." Alexis said as her new monster appeared on the field.

Cyber Blader ATK 2100 DEF 800 LV7 EARTH Warrior.

"You fool, that monster can't defeat either of my monsters." Titan said.

"Yes she can. Cyber Blader gains a different ability based on how many monsters you control and if you have two monsters then Cyber Blader's attack is doubled." Alexis explained.

Cyber Blader ATK 2100 + 2100 = 4200

Titan's eyes widened in fear as he realized what was about to happen.

"Cyber Blader attack his monster now." Alexis ordered. Cyber Blader sliced straight through Archfiend Soldier destroying it.

Titan LP 800 - 1800 = 0

The shadows began to creep closer to Titan as his life points hit 0.

"No, no please I don't want to go back to the shadows!" Titan screamed as he tried to get away. However the shadows grabbed a hold of him and they started to pull him down.

Titan tried to use the magic of his shadow charm mask but this did nothing and the shadows soon covered his face. With one last scream of agony and fear Titan sunk into the ground and was gone.

Alexis was so exhausted from the duel and she could no longer stand. She was about to collapse onto the floor but Ryan ran up and caught her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am." Alexis said as she almost fell asleep in Ryan's arms.

Suddenly a ball of light burst out of the floor where Titan had been sucked down. The ball of light flew past Ryan and Alexis and out of the abandoned dorm.

"What was that?" Ryan asked.

"Atticus. Titan bet Atticus's mind on this duel. He said that Atticus would be restored if I beat him." Alexis explained regaining some of his strength.

"Then we need to return to the infirmary. He could wake up at any minute." Ryan said. Alexis nodded and then Ryan helped her up the stairs and out of the basement.