Chapter 27: Death to the Demon God! The Card Awakened by Love!
The duel between Jaden and Tenma had turned into disaster. The spectators that had slowly gathered outside to watch the duel were horrified to see Jaden swallowed by the flames of Tenma’s Wicked God Fusion monster, The Creator God of Shadows, Zorc. It looked as if the duel was all over. Zorc laughed in delight, as it seemed that the flames of his evil were roasting Jaden alive. When the fire finally cleared however, everyone was quite surprised see Jaden unharmed, and with all of his life points intact.
“Impossible! How did you survive?” the shocked demon god demanded.
“The monster I set on the field during my last turn was Winged Kuriboh!” Jaden explained as he pulled the monster cards out of the Graveyard slot of his duel disk. “When Winged Kuriboh is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I take no damage during that turn!”
“I end my turn!” Tenma announced. Jaden drew his next card.
“First I activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards!” Jaden announced. He smiled after seeing the two cards that he had drawn. “Next I activate O-Oversoul and summon Neos back from the Graveyard!”
The white costumed hero of space reappeared on the field in a flash of light.
“Next I activate Polymerization!” Jaden announced. “I fuse Neos on my field with Yubel in my hand into Neos Wiseman!”
Jaden’s eyes flashed back into their Yubel colors and a long shadow stretched from Jaden’s feet onto the battlefield until they touched the feet of Neos. In an instant Neos’ costume transformed. His upper body hand arms turned black. There were brown scaly patches on the biceps of Neos’ arms, and black spikes protruding up from his shoulders. Neos’ mask changed significantly as well. The lower half disappeared revealing purple skin like the skin of Yubel’s face. The white horn on his forehead disappeared along with his eyes, being replaced by a large orange Cyclops eye. From the sides of Neos’ head grew a pair of long bat-like wings.
“I see, so you’ve summoned your avatar into the duel.” Zorc observed. “A pity that it still isn’t strong enough to destroy me.”
“Maybe not, but Neos Wiseman can’t be destroyed by card effects!” Jaden explained. “Meaning your dice effect can’t touch it! I lay down a facedown and end my turn!”
“Your avatar may be immune to my effect, but not to my strength!” Zorc proclaimed as Tenma drew his next card.
“Zorc, attack Neos Wiseman!” Tenma commanded.
“Zorc Inferno!” the demon god cried as he launched another storm of flames from his claws.
“I activate my Trap, Negate Attack!” Jaden announced. The firestorm was sucked into a small vortex that appeared just in front of Neos. It seemed like five minutes before the vortex had sucked in all of the flames.
“You are starting to annoy me mortal!” Zorc exclaimed with a tone of annoyance in his voice.
“I end my turn!” Tenma announced.
Back on the sidelines, Shizuma had only been half watching the duel. Her primary concern was Nagisa. She was breathing but still in a coma. Shizuma didn’t care about anything else except Nagisa. She didn’t care if Jaden lost the duel or if Zorc turned the world to ashes. Nothing mattered as long as Nagisa wasn’t awake. Shizuma kept thinking that if only she had figured out her feelings out sooner, Nagisa wouldn’t have ended up getting hurt. Suddenly, Nagisa began to stir and open her eyes.
“Nagisa, you’re awake!” Shizuma exclaimed as tears of happiness began to run down her face. “I was afraid that you would never wake up. Are you okay?”
“My head really hurts, but other than that I think I’m okay.” Nagisa replied weakly. “I also remember parts of that duel we had. Shizuma… did you really mean what you said to me back there? Do you really love me?”
“Yes Nagisa, I do!” Shizuma replied with a tearful smile. “And I’m sorry that I didn’t realize it sooner. I was so busy comparing you to Kaori that I didn’t see you for who you really are. Now that I’ve stopped doing that I’ve realized that you’ve given my life meaning again.”
“I love you too Shizuma.” Nagisa replied as tears of happiness beginning to well up in her own eyes. “And I’m so sorry that I tried to hurt you in that duel. I was just so mad at you for rejecting me, and that weird card seemed to make me go crazy.”
“It’s alright Nagisa. I deserved a lot of the punishment you gave me.” Shizuma replied. “Nagisa… if you want, I’d like for us to start over again.”
“I’d love that.” Nagisa replied. Shizuma leaned in closer to Nagisa’s face and the two kissed passionately.
At the exact moment of Shizuma and Nagisa’s kiss, the top card on Jaden’s deck began to glow with a golden light, greatly surprising Jaden and causing Zorc to glance down and quirk his brow. It was Jaden’s turn, so he drew the card from his deck. The glowing card that Jaden drew was the card that Pegasus had given him before the duel. A few lines of text suddenly appeared on the card’s illustration. At first it was written in the same unknown language that was on the original stone tablet, but then transformed into a language that Jaden could read.
This sword hath been forged by love’s fire
The armies of darkness it did slay
The power hatred shall expire
The darkness shall be turned to bright day
Right after Jaden read the poetic couplet that appeared on the card, it flashed brightly and changed into a new card. The text on the card was written in a language that Jaden could read. The illustration on the card had changed as well. Instead of an old iron sword the card depicted an elegant French rapier with a gold crossguard and handle. The center of the crossguard was adorned with a large red heart-shaped stone, while the two ends were shaped like gold wings. On one side a third wing extended over the handle to form protection for the hand. Jaden wondered what caused the card to change until he glanced over at where Shizuma and Nagisa were still kissing. Then he remembered the story that Pegasus had told him about the sword and how two young lovers had used the sword to destroy an army of evil. It occurred to Jaden that it might have been Shizuma and Nagisa’s love for each other was what had completed the card. However the card had been completed, it was just what Jaden needed to destroy Zorc once and for all.
“I activate Sword of Love-Hero Heart!” Jaden announced as he placed the newly completed card into his duel disk.
A ray of light suddenly bust through the black clouds over where Jaden was standing, causing Zorc to raise his right arm in order to shield his eyes. From the opening in the clouds dropped the very sword depicted on the card that Jaden had just played. The sword landed in front of Neos with the blade sticking out of the ground.
“Sword of Love-Hero Heart can only be equipped to a Warrior or Spellcaster-type monster, which makes it perfect for Neos Wiseman!” Jaden explained.
Neos walked over to the sword, drew it from the ground, and tested it by slashing the air.
“Just what power does this sword provide?” Zorc asked with a quirked brow.
“Well for one thing the monster that Hero Heart is equipped to can’t be destroyed in battle with a Dark Fiend or Zombie-type monster!” Jaden explained. “But that’s not all! When the equipped monster battles a Dark Fiend or Zombie-type monster, that monster is destroyed and my opponent takes damage equal to its ATK!”
“And since Zorc has 5000 ATK, that means Jaden would win the duel with just one attack!” Chikaru exclaimed from the sidelines in realization.
“Neos Wiseman, destroy Zorc and end this darkness!” Jaden commanded. “Love & Justice Blade!”
Neos leapt into the air and flew towards Zorc, the blade of his sword glowed with a brilliant white light.
“Impossible! No sword can destroy me!” Zorc proclaimed as he launched another firestorm from his claws.
Neos emerged from the flames unharmed. As soon as he was in striking distance, Neos plunged the blade of his sword into the vicinity of where Zorc’s heart would be, assuming that he actually had one. The demon god roared in pain as he was stabbed. Cracks of white light began to spread from where the sword had pierced Zorc. Neos soon pulled out his sword and flew back down to the ground. The cracks continued to spread until they covered Zorc’s body.
“Love triumphs over hate every time Zorc!” Jaden proclaimed as he did his trademark victory pose to the dying demon god. “That’s game!”
With one final roar, Zorc exploded into a binding nova of white light. Tenma screamed in pain as the shock wave from the nova hit him, causing his life points to plummet all the way from 4000 to zero. The light soon faded and the sky was once again clear and bright. Tenma fell to the ground unconscious. As he fell, the three Wicked God cards and the card for Zorc fluttered to the ground and burst into flames. The Wicked Gods and the reincarnation of Zorc Necrophades were no more. Jaden walked over to where Shizuma and Nagisa were.
“Uh, I think this card really belongs to you guys. I’ll explain why later.” Jaden said as he held out the Sword of Love-Hero Heart card to Shizuma. A slightly confused Shizuma thanked Jaden as she took the card from him.
* * *
Things began to calm down a bit after the duel. Because Nagisa and Tamao were obviously unable to compete in the final duel of the Etoile Tournament, Hikari and Amane were declared the winners by default and awarded the position of Etoile. Nagisa, Tamao, and Tenma were all taken to the Miator infirmary. Shizuma remained with Nagisa the whole time. Jaden waited outside the infirmary leaning against the wall next to the door. He glanced down the hall and saw Miyuki approaching.
“Hello Mr. Yuki.” Miyuki greeted with an expression of shame on her face. “I’ve come to see how Ms. Aoi is doing.”
“The doctors are still looking her over, but they all think she’ll be fine.” Jaden replied a bit coldly. “As for Tamao and Tenma, they haven’t woken up yet.”
“I see…” Miyuki replied looking down at the floor.
“Have you come to see Shizuma?” Jaden asked. “She’s in there with Nagisa right now.”
“I can’t face Shizuma right now.” Miyuki answered. “You should believe me however that the only reason why I helped Mr. Tenma was because I was willing to do anything to make Shizuma happy again. She is my closest friend. I was so convinced that the only way to make Shizuma happy again was to bring back Kaori that I completely ignored how Shizuma felt about Nagisa. In the end though, I was only a pawn for a demon. I can’t face Shizuma again until I find some way to make this up to her. I’ll be leaving now.”
“Do you want me to tell Shizuma that you were here?” Jaden asked.
“Only if you wish to.” Miyuki answered as she walked away.
* * *
After the combined excitement of both the Etoile Tournament and the duel between Jaden and Tenma, the head mistress of the three academies decided to declare a week off from all classes. The doctors found nothing wrong with Nagisa, but they did strongly recommend that she rested for the week off. Shizuma decided to take Nagisa back to her villa on the island for that week. Shizuma asked Jaden to go with them, partly as thanks for his help saving Nagisa from The Wicked Avatar, and partly to help Shizuma take care of Nagisa during the week. Jaden accepted the invitation.
Jaden was fairly impressed by Shizuma’s villa. It wasn’t very large, but it was quite luxurious. Shizuma put Nagisa in the room that Miyuki normally stayed in when she was there, while Jaden stayed downstairs on the couch. During the first couple of days at the villa, Shizuma was running herself ragged taking care of Nagisa. Jaden was concerned because Shizuma was getting very little sleep. One afternoon Jaden went into Nagisa’s room to check on her, inadvertently waking the redhead up.
“Jaden? What’re you doing here?” Nagisa asked drowsily.
“Sorry, I’m just here to check on you. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Jaden replied.
“Where’s Shizuma?” Nagisa asked.
“She’s downstairs getting a bite to eat.” Jaden replied with a worried smile.
“Is something wrong?” Nagisa asked.
“Nothing, it’s just that Shizuma hasn’t been getting much sleep the past few days.” Jaden replied.
“I see…” Nagisa replied with a worried expression. “Jaden… could you ask Shizuma to come up here please?”
“No problem. I’ll se if she’s done eating.” Jaden replied, and with that he left the room. About two minutes later, Shizuma entered the room.
“Is something wrong?” Shizuma asked in a worried tone.
“Well… I’m not sure if I can get back to sleep after Jaden woke me up accidently.” Nagisa answered nervously. “Do you think that… you could get into bed with me? At least until I fall asleep?”
Shizuma smiled warmly at the redhead. Still fully dressed, Shizuma got into bed on Nagisa’s left side and turned to face her, putting her arm over Nagisa at the same time. Nagisa’s heart began to pound like a jackhammer. She and Shizuma had never slept in the same bed before. Nagisa’s face began to turn bright red.
“This is nice…” Shizuma said just before drifting off to sleep. Nagisa smiled because her plan to get Shizuma to get some rest had worked. Just as Nagisa was about to drift back to sleep herself, Shizuma started mumbling something. “Nagisa… don’t leave me.”
With those words, Nagisa felt as if her heart was about to fly out of her chest. She was very happy to hear that Shizuma didn’t want her to leave, even if Shizuma was only talking in her sleep.
“I won’t leave you, I promise.” Nagisa whispered back. With those words, Shizuma unconsciously pulled Nagisa closer to her. Nagisa took in every sensation that she was feeling in that moment, Shizuma’s sent, the warmth of her body, the feeling of Shizuma’s breath against her own face. As Nagisa took it all in, she realized that she was the happiest and most content that she had been in quite a while. At last, Nagisa drifted back to sleep.
From that moment on, Nagisa’s recovery seemed to go faster. Jaden also noticed a distinct change in Shizuma as well. The silver haired girl actually seemed happy. During the first few nights at the villa, Jaden entertained Shizuma and Nagisa with the stories of his exploits at his old academy. He told them about the Shadow Riders and the Society of Light, and about the journey he took into the Duel Monster dimension to save his friend, Jessie Anderson. Jaden also told them of his final battle with the demon Nightshroud that happened just before he graduated.
During the final night at the villa, Shizuma asked Jaden to go sleep in the tool shed out behind the house. Apparently Shizuma wanted to spend the last night there completely alone with Nagisa, so Jaden didn’t object. It was a fairy well sized shed, and even had a cot that Jaden could sleep on. The shed actually reminded Jaden of the Slifer Red dorms at his old academy. Though he had to admit that his old dorm was much nicer, and didn’t smell like fertilizer.
* * *
Not long after classes resumed on the island, both Tamao and Tenma came out of their comas. The last thing that Tenma remembered when he woke up was challenging his twin brother to a duel with the Wicked Gods. Pegasus took the opportunity to clear a few things up with Tenma. As for Shizuma and Nagisa, they were often seen together outside of class. Their relationship had become a source of gossip for all three schools.
About two months before the end of the school year, it came time for Jaden, Pegasus, and Tenma to leave the island. Jaden was sad to be leaving behind all of the friends that he had made on the island, but he was also glad to be getting back on the road again. It was time he set off on another adventure. Jaden said goodbye to everyone before getting in the helicopter. As the helicopter flew away, Jaden took one last look at the island and hoped that he would see all of his friends on Astraea Island again one day.
