A Reason to Win

It had been a week since the defeat of Frenic which left just 2 Shadow Riders remaining. After a few nights in the Infirmary, Sereda and Avexis were released though Avexis spent most of her time with Chancellor Sheppard, Miss Fontaine or with Aristide Amell who had taken a liking to the little girl and began to see her as another daughter.
But everything was not well for Atticus Rhodes, the former Shadow Rider known as Nightshroud and the brother of Alexis. He had collapsed again and had been forced to get back to the infirmary. Alexis sat next to him as she heard the storm outside. Solona and Sereda entered the Infirmary. 
"Hey Alexis." Solona greeted "I see that you're still here"
"I am." Alexis replied. "It's just that I'm worried about my brother, he's still having memory issues and his headaches are causing him to come back here to the infirmary."
"Well I'm sure he will recover." Sereda added
"I certainly hope so." Alexis replied and then she looked at Sereda. "By the way, how are you and Avexis doing? It must have been hard after what happened with Frenic."
"It was?" Sereda replied as she shuddered. "That is certainly something I do not want to live again. And Avexis is doing fine; she's just a little shy."
"My father has begun talking about taking Avexis in." Solona added. "That way she can stay at this school. Avexis doesn't want to go back to an orphanage and wants to be able to duel."
"She's a nice girl." Alexis smiled
"And I wouldn't mind having a little sister to look after, even if she's not my blood sister." Solona replied. "Anyway, Sereda and I are going to head back to the Girl's Dorm before this storm gets any worse."
"You do that." Alexis said. "I think I'll stay here with my brother."
"All right then." Sereda replied and then she and Solona left.
As soon as they were gone, Alexis looked at her brother who was lying on an Infirmary bed. 'Only two Shadow Riders are left and victory finally seems near.' She thought 'But it would mean so much more if my brother was here with me. His body and mind, like it used to be.' Alexis then remembered something from her past.
Flashback:
A younger Alexis sat next to a tree as she looked through a deck of Duel Monster cards. 
"Alexis, Alexis!" A voice called and she looked up to see her brother Atticus come out from behind there tree.
Alexis smiled when she saw her brother. 
"Atti." She greeted as she used her nickname for her brother
Atticus then walked over to his sister. 
"What have you got there sis?" He asked and then Alexis gave Atticus the cards and he had a look at them. "Hey some tough cards. But Dueling is more than about power."
Alexis looked confused. 
"What?" she questioned. "What do you mean bro." A leaf from the tree then landed on her head which made Atticus laugh.
"What I mean is that you need a good purpose for Dueling." Atticus replied as he took the leaf off her head. "A reason, that's what really matters in a match."
Alexis smiled and nodded. "Yeah, okay."
"One day, you're going to be a great Duelist." Atticus laughed
Flashback end:
The older Alexis closed her eyes as she thought of these memories.
"You miss him don't you!" a voice called which made Alexis gasp as she opened her eyes. "But there is a way to get him back."
Alexis looked around the room for the voice but saw nobody else but her brother. 
"Who is that?" She demanded then she noticed a dark portal opening near here.
"Come with me." the voice ordered. "And I can give Atticus back all his memories. If you can defeat me in a duel that is." Alexis' eyes went blank and she walked towards the portal. "At the place where we first met, the abandoned Dorm." The voice added and a dark figure appeared and grabbed hold of Alexis and dragged her into the portal but they were unaware that Atticus had opened in eyes quickly as he gasped and he sat up to see the portal closing and a dark figure walking through it. He reached to out the portal but it closed
"What's going on?" he gasped "Who was that?"
...
Later, over in the Slifer Dorm, Jaden was fast asleep in his bed with Syrus and Chumley in their beds above him. Though he was quickly woken up when he heard Winged Kuriboh making noises which woke him up. 
"Hey Kuriboh, can you keep it down?" he asked and then noticed that Kuriboh looked scared. "Hey, what's wrong?" Then he heard someone banging at the door and he noticed Chumley climbing down from his bed.
"All right." He groaned. "I'm coming" Then he opened the door before screaming as he saw a monsters, Syrus also screamed though Jaden noticed that it was just Chazz and he looked like something had happened
"Hey Chazz." Jaden greeted. "What's up?"
"Can't sleep." Chazz replied. "Because of the news I've just heard"
Then the five Ojama brother spirits appeared. 
"Oh Jaden, its horrible!" Ojama Yellow exclaimed
"It's Alexis." Chazz added. "She's gone missing."
"What!" Jaden gasped
…
Later, Jaden was with Chazz, Syrus and Chumley as they ran through the corridors of Duel Academy until they saw Zane, Dr Crowler and Professor Dorian. 
"Well, any sign of her?" Jaden asked
"There's no sign of her." Zane replied, they had all just gone out to try and find Alexis and no one could find her or any hints on where she had gone.
"It's like she's vanished into thin air." Dr Crowler added
Then Solona, Sereda, Aedan, Daylen and Neria joined then. 
"We can't find her either." Aedan stated
"I don't understand." Solona claimed. "When Sereda and I saw her she was just seeing her brother after he collapsed again."
"Then maybe we should see Atticus." Dorian suggested. "Maybe he knows where to find her."
So they went over to the Infirmary but when they opened the door, they all gasped at what they saw. The Infirmary was trashed and Atticus was lying on the floor as he groaned.
"Atticus!" they all gasped
"Dear me" Crowler gasped
Jaden then ran over to him and helped him sit up "Are you okay?" he asked
Zane and Aedan looked at him. 
"Atticus, can you tell us what happened here?" They asked
"It was him..." Atticus said slowly. "He took her."
"Who took Alexis Atticus?" Solona asked. "Who was it?"
"Tit...an" Atticus said slowly
"It was Titan?" Jaden questioned. "Wait who's Titan?"
Everyone gasped at Atticus' words but they didn't notice that Crowler was creeping out as he knew who Titan was. 
'Titan?" He gasped in his mind. 'That's the name of the Shadow Duelist I hired to scare Jaden. And I never paid him!' He was sweating which Dorian noticed
"You alright Doctor?" He asked. "Do you know this Titan person?"
Crowler gasped in surprise but he managed to speak up in a panic. 
"Err Titan?" he said "Never heard of him."
"I have." Sereda confessed which made everyone look at her. "I don't know him personally but remember when you went to the Abandoned Dorm." She looked at Jaden "And that fake Shadow Duelist kidnapped Alexis. His name was Titan."
"If this Titan has Alexis then there's only one place he will go" Daylen claimed
"The Abandoned Dorm." Solona finished
"Come on then." Jaden said as he got up. "Alexis needs our help." then he ran off with the others following him and Chumley carrying Atticus on his back.
...
On the north side of the Island, Titan had taken Alexis deep into the Abandoned Dorm and had taken her to the place where he had dueled Jaden. Titan then restored Alexis who gasped as she looked at Titan. "All right, so we duel and if I win, you'll restore my brother's memories. That's the deal."
"Yes if you win." Titan laughed. "But if I win, I get something too. Your Spirit Key and your Soul to take back to the Shadow Realm. You see my dear, when we first met; I was but a charlatan of the Shadows. However since being taken in by them, I am now the real thing, a proper Shadow Duelist and a Shadow Rider. So let us begin" he activated his dueling vest.
Alexis was about to activate hers when she heard someone coming and she looked to see the other Key Keepers along with Zane, Crowler, Dorian, Syrus, Sereda and Chumley who was carrying Atticus. 
"There they are." Syrus gasped
"Look, they're going to Duel!" Chumley gasped
"They sure are." Solona stated
"Hey Alexis, we've got your back." Jaden added. "Now beat this creep." Alexis smiled at him
Crowler meanwhile looked relieved when he saw that Titan was here because he was a Shadow Rider and not because he wanted to be paid. 
"Ah, so this isn't about collecting that check." He smiled
"Check, what check?" Chazz questioned. "What does that have to do with this?"
"Something you want to say Crowler?" Dorian hissed
Crowler laughed nervously. 
"Oh, nothing." He claimed
Alexis then placed an Academy Duel Disk on her arm as she looked at her brother. 
"Don't worry Atticus, this one's for you, I'm going to win you back your memory here and now." She said to herself and then she placed her deck into her disk and she looked at Titan. "Now let's Duel."
"Duel!"
Alexis: 8000
Titan: 8000
"Ready yourself for the Shadows." Titan laughed as he drew a card. "I'll take the first move and I summon Picador Fiend in attack mode." A skeleton man on top of an undead horse and had large bat like wings appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 1200) "Then I will throw one card face down and end my turn."
"Now it's my draw." Alexis said as she drew her sixth card. "And I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode" a ballerina with short shoulder length pink hair appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1000 Defense 800)
"I thought we were dueling, not playing with dolls." Titan mocked
"Well this doll is going to give you a great kick since she can attack you directly." Alexis countered
"Well then, she has me outmatched, so why don't you attack?" Titan sneered. 'Though she has no idea that my face down is a trap that will destroy that monster when it attacks.'
Alexis knew that something was wrong. 'Something's not right here.' she thought. 'Why is he trying to make me attack.' then she gasped as she realized it. 'Of course, his face down card, that must be a trap that will destroy my monster.' But she wasn't about to have that. "I play the spell card Allego Tolie, since I normal summoned a monster, this card automatically destroys one spell or trap card and I choose your face down card." The shoes on Cyber Tutu glowed and then she spun around and threw a shoe which destroyed the face down card.
"No!" Titan growled
"And now my I equip my Cyber Tutu with my Angel wing so now when she deals battle damage, you take an extra 300 points of damage." Alexis added. "Now Cyber Tutu, attack him directly." Cyber Tutu zoomed over to Titan where she kicked him in the face and knocked him back.
Alexis: 8000
Titan: 6700
"And I will end my turn by throwing one card face down." Alexis finished
"Hey Alexis is winning" Syrus commented
"Well she is one of the strongest female Obelisks." Solona commented. "She's smart and know how to duel."
"It's true." Zane added. "So far, her resolve to win for Atticus has proven stronger than Titan's Shadow creatures."
Titan growled at that. "Well we'll just see about that!" He growled as he drew his next card "I play an equip spell known as Black Pendant. which gives my Fiend and extra 500 attack points." A black pendant necklace appeared around Picador Field's neck (PF Attack 1600-2100) "And now Picador Fiend, attack that Cyber Tutu." Picador Fiend's horse reared up and began charging towards Cyber Tutu.
"Sorry but I play my trap card." Alexis countered Double Passé so now your Picador Fiend attacks me directly." Picador Fiend charged and he knocked Alexis back who groaned from the attack.
Alexis: 5900
Titan: 6700
"If you are wondering why I did that then this is why." Alexis smirked. "Now Cyber Tutu gets to attack you directly." Cyber Tutu then gave Titan another kick which knocked him back and he rubbed his chin.
Alexis: 5900
Titan: 5400
"All right" Jaden cheered. "You show him Alexis."
"A clever move." Daylen smiled. "Alexis took damage to protect her monster because losing Cyber Tutu may have big problems."
Aedan agreed with him "I agree with that."
"It's a long duel guys." Zane commented. "Don't start celebrating yet. After all, we've seen just what these Shadow Riders can do."
"They can have cards that turn this duel around like what happened when I faced Frenic." Sereda commented
Alexis looked at the field. 
'Alright, so far so good.' She thought. 'I just need to give him a few more of those combo attacks and then...' Her thoughts were cut off by Titan laughing. "Now what?"
"Oh I'm just remembering our first encounter." Titan laughed. "How the tables have turned."
"Yeah they have turned!" Alexis hissed "Because this time I'm not someone who got kidnapped and then stuffed in a coffin. Now I can fight back."
Titan sneered at that. "No my dear." he said which made Alexis gasp. "I mean before you were the bait luring my friend to me. But now you're the prey and my target." Titan then placed a card on his Duel Disk. "And now I'm going to treat you as such, I play Ritual of the Matador and sacrifice my level 6 summoned skull in my hand in order to Ritual Summon in order to summon Matador Fiend." A large demon wearing black scaly armor and had red wings appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 0 Defense 0)
Alexis narrowed her eyes "A monster with zero attack and defense points?" She questioned. "Something tells me there's more to this than meets the eye."
Titan laughed. "Oh that is true so keep a sharp eye out." He laughed. "Though that may be difficult when I play this. Difficult for you that is, not for me." then his mask glowed. "I play the Field Spell known as Dark Arena."
A large black dome surrounded the field which covered the whole area in darkness. Alexis' friends couldn't see the duel anymore and Alexis couldn't see her friends or her opponent's field. 
"The Field, I can't see!" Alexis gasped as she looked to her Titan's field was covered in shadows and she could no longer see her opponent's monsters "How can I fight if I can't make out my enemies."
"It's your move." Titan laughed
Outside the Duel, the others all watched in horror. 
"What happened?" Zane gasped
"I can't see!" Syrus gasped as well
"Someone should go in there!" Crowler gasped. "Someone other than me of course."
"Wimp!" Dorian hissed
Atticus just looked on in fear while Chumley whimpered. "A grilled cheese, I'm eating grilled cheese. A tripled dickered grill cheese sandwich."
Chazz looked at Jaden. "Jaden, you took on this guy in a duel before, tell Alexis how to get out of this jam."
Jaden sighed. 
"I wish I could but something tells me he's different now." He said. "The guy I dueled was a sham."
"And he used a different deck." Sereda added
"I concur." Crowler commented. "I don't know why I ever hired him." This made everyone look at him confused which made him gasp in fear. "Oh why did I ever say that out loud!"
"The point is, this time his powers are real." Daylen said
"Which means that Alexis is in trouble?" Neria gasped
Inside the dark Arena, Titan laughed while Alexis looked on in fear. 'With this Dark Arena card in play I can't see anything, including what monsters Titan has out.'
Titan then laughed out again. "The Darkness is fitting for a Shadow Duel don't you think." Titan chuckled. "But still allow me to shed some light on the Situation. Here in the Dark Arena, your monsters in attack mode must attack though because they can't see, I get to pick their target."
"Just one problem." Alexis smiled. "That's a case of blind leading the blind. After all just because my monsters can't see doesn't mean we can't win. I just need a monster that packs a really powerful punch. My draw." Alexis drew her card and smiled at it "Perfect." she smiled. "I play the spell card known as Pot of Greet to draw two more cards, then I play Polymerization so now I can fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater in my hand to create Cyber Blader." The red and purple armored skater monster, with blue hair appeared on the field (Level 7 Attack 2100 Defense 800) "And what's cool about her is that her special ability is different for the number of monsters on your field. So with two on your field, her attack points are doubled to 4200." Cyber Blader glowed as he gained power (CB Attack 2100-4200)
Titan laughed. "4200 attack points, whatever will I do."
"You'll get your butt kicked as now you'll take a good amount of damage, though first I will use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Black Pendant." Alexis smirked as the pendant on Picador Fiend shattered (PF Attack 2100-1600) "Now go Cyber Blade Attack."
"She'll attack my Matador Field." Titan decided and his Matador Field appeared from the black fog.
"Fine by me." Alexis said. "Now attack with Whirlwind rage." Cyber Angel spun around and then slammed into Matador Fiend but the attack was blocked and then the green gem on Matador Fiend's head glowed and sent a laser that zapped Cyber Blader causing her to groan and Alexis gasped in shock "What! But by Cyber Blader is so much stronger than that Matador Fiend, she should win this!" Then Cyber Blader shattered and made Alexis take cover "What's going on?"
"Oh I'm sorry." Titan mocked. "Didn't you know, Matador Fiend cannot be destroyed in battle, and I take no damage. Although the monster that attacks it is destroyed."
"No way!" Alexis gasped
"There's more." Titan added. "Like I said before, every monster in attack mode must attack"
"Well remember my Cyber Tutu can attack you directly." Alexis hissed. "So your Matador Fiend will have to pick a battle with someone else."
"I don't think so." Titan laughed. "Cyber Tutu's effect only activates when I have no monster with less attack points and Matador Fiend has zero so your Tutu's effect can't be used. And it won't be used again after Picador Fiend is done with her." Picador then marched onto the field and sent a green laser from his arm "This will be her last dance." Cyber Tutu was drawn towards Picador and then blasted with a green laser which caused her to scream before shattering.
"Tutu!" Alexis yelled and then a second laser zapped her which sent her staggering back.
Alexis: 5300
Titan: 5400
"So this is what a Shadow Game feels like" Alexis gasped
Outside the field, everyone watched as lightning zapped from the arena which made them looked worried
"Oh no, that can't be good!" Solona gasped
"Oh man!" Jaden groaned as he gripped his shadow charm that he got from the Gravekeepers. "I hope Alexis is okay in there."
Back in the Dark Arena Titan looked at Alexis who was on her knees "Don't worry Alexis; at least your brother won't remember that you failed him."
Alexis growled. "I won't fail him." She hissed. "Because since you destroyed Angel Wing, I get to draw one card, and now I play Cyber Gymnast in defense mode." A muscular woman with long blond hair and wearing a mask appeared in the field kneeling down (Level 4 Attack 800 Defense 1800) "Give me your best shot."
Titan laughed. "Dear, if you knew what my best was, I'm sure you won't be so eager to see it." He sneered
"Oh really?" Alexis questioned
"Haven't you realized, I'm not the same Duelist you met before." Titan replied. "I changed when the Shadows took me in and this voice gave me my mask for my Shadow powers." Titan remembered being dragged down and begging for help and then someone spoke to him and gave him a new mask and the powers of Shadow Dueling and find the Spirit Gate Keys. Titan laughed as his veins appeared all over him "So you see, I'm more powerful than ever."
"And uglier." Alexis added. "But I have something to say to you, true Dueling doesn't come from some shadow charm, it comes from the reason why you duel, and that's why you're going to lose this duel, got it"
"The reasons why you duel?" Titan questioned. "Where did you get that idea from, surely not from your beloved brother, after all, the whole reason he became a Shadow Rider was to gain power."
"That's not true!" Alexis snapped. "You're a liar!"
Titan smiled. "I'm sorry, but it's a fact, but if you still don't believe me, just wait." Titan then drew his next card. "After all, as soon as I banish you to the Shadows, you'll see what I mean. I play the spell card called Card of Sanctity so now we both draw until we have 6 cards." Alexis and Titan drew until they had 6 cards in their hands. "And if you're thinking about using your Gymnast's effect then forget it because I play the spell card Lightning Vortex which destroys it." Alexis gasped as Titan discarded a card and then a large lightning storm blasted down and destroyed Cyber Gymnast. "Then I play the Ritual spell Curse of the Masked Beast and discard another Summoned Skull along with my Sangan in order to Ritual summon The Masked Beast in attack mode." A fiend with the upper body of a man but the body of a spider appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3200 Defense 1800) Alexis gasped at the power of the monsters. "And now Masked Beast and Picador Fiend will attack you directly." Masked Beast held a staff and sent a green laser at Alexis while Picador fired a laser of his own and both blasts hit Alexis when caused her to fall to the ground and onto her knees.
Alexis: 500
Titan: 5400
Jaden and the others watched in horror as more sparks flew from the Dark Arena and Atticus reached out. 
"I know it's hard but we must keep hope." Jaden said to him.
Titan laughed. "Get up, or are your reasons for Dueling not enough anymore."
Alexis' eyes began to close. 'Maybe he's right.' she thought. 'Maybe my reasons are not enough, because no matter how much I want to win, I don't have the strength. It's over, my key, my brother, my soul. I've lost them all.' Alexis then fell face first onto the ground.
Titan laughed. 
"That's right stay down." He hissed. "There's no point to keep fighting, you can't win. After all, the reasons you fight aren't nearly as strong as the shadows."
Alexis groaned but then she began to hear Atticus' voice in his head. 
"Alexis" he said. "Don't give up, you can win this."
Alexis lifted her head up. "Bro."
Atticus carried on talking in her head "Lexi."
Alexis then got her confidence back. "I can't stop now." She then pushed herself up and glared at Titan. "Alright Titan, if you want to duel, then here goes."
Titan laughed "So you still fight. Well no card can help you"
"Well thanks to you I've got several good cards." Alexis laughed as she had drawn some good cards when Titan played Card of Sanctity. "Such as this one, the spell card known as Machine Angel Absolute Ritual. You're not the only one who can Ritual summon because now I can also shuffle Warriors or Fairies in my graveyard to my deck as the Ritual materials. So I discard by Cyber Prima and shuffle Cyber Tutu back into my deck so now I can summon a level 10 Cyber Angel monster and I choose Cyber Angel Vrash." A large fairy with pink hair and a large blue cape who also a large hat on her head appeared on the field (Level 10 Attack 3000 Defense 2000) "And then I play the spell card the Warrior Returning Alive which gives me my Blade Skater back. Next I play Fusion Recovery which allows me to get back Polymerization and Etoile Cyber back to my hand." The three cards returned to Alexis' hand "Next I play Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater in order to summon another Cyber Blader." A second Cyber Blader appeared on the field next to Vrash.
"That monster already failed you once." Titan laughed. "And that powerful Cyber Angel can't help you either. I still have Dark Arena and three monsters on my field and you are still in the dark."
"Maybe but not for long." Alexis smirked "Because Cyber Blader is about to light up the dark."
"You lie!" Titan hissed
"Wrong because now my Cyber Blader's third ability known as Shining Cyber light activates." Alexis smiled. "Now all special effects you have out are negated." Cyber Angel glowed bright and then the Dark Arena shattered
"No fair!" Titan growled. "My Dark Arena, you destroyed my spell."
The other Key keepers watched as the field began to vanish "Something's happening." Daylen gasped
"The Field, its vanishing." Neria added
"And look!" Aedan added as they saw Alexis. "It's Alexis!"
"She's okay" Jaden cried out
"See, I told you not to worry." Solona smiled
"And now your Matador Fiend's special ability which prevents it from being destroyed is also negated." Alexis added. "Now Vrash, attack and destroy that Fiend" Vrash sent a beam of light towards Matador and the Fiend shattered
Alexis: 500
Titan: 2400
"No!" Titan howled
"And now with two monsters, my Cyber Blader's attack points double." Alexis added (CB Attack 2100-4200) "And now, attack Picador Fiend and end this Duel." Cyber Blader spun around and kicked Picador and destroyed him
"NO!" Titan howled as he took damage and fell to the floor.
Alexis: 500 (Winner)
Titan: 0000
Titan looked up but gasped in fear when he saw the same tiny shadow creatures that took him before and they soon went all over him and began dragging him down into the Shadows. 
"No!" Titan howled. "No, not again, oh please help. Someone help!" His screams died down as Titan was dragged away leaving his mask behind which was picked up by Alexis who then looked at her brother who had regained his strength and was now standing up.
...
Later, they had all left the Abandoned Dorm and had gone down to the outside. Atticus and Alexis looked at each other and they said each other's names before they hugged each other.
"Atticus, welcome back." Alexis said
"Well this is nice to see." Zevran said as he walked over with Alistair and Leliana.
"We just remembered everything that happened to us." Alistair said
"And we needed to tell you about it." Leliana added
Solona smiled. 
"Well now we'll finally know who caused the disappearances from the Abandoned Dorm." She said
"Thank you Alexis." Atticus replied to his sister "For everything."
"But I don't understand." Alexis said as they released each other from their hug. "There are still so many unanswered questions. Like how did you become a Shadow Rider in the first place." She then looked at Alistair, Zevran and Leliana. "And the same with you three."
Atticus looked down. 
"Alexis, we did not become Shadow Riders by choice." He said. "It was horrible what happened."
"We were told that we had been selected to take part in some kind of important test." Alistair added
"I thought it was promotion exam to become and Obelisk Blue." Zevran commented
"We were told to head to the abandoned dorm to take a Duel test in the basement." Leliana added
"But then it happened." Atticus finished. "Instead of a dueling test, we found hundreds of those tiny Shadow Creatures which overran us and took us to the Shadow Realm."
"And while we were there, they brainwashed us for months until we became those Shadow Riders." Alistair added
Alexis looked at them "But who was it?" She asked. "Who was it who brainwashed you four."
Zevran sighed "We don't know who did it, we never got a good look at him."
"But this might shock you all." Leliana added
"It will indeed, I can't believe he would do this." Alistair sighed
"What are you talking about?" Solona asked
"The person who sent us on these test, was professor Banner." Atticus revealed and this made everyone gasp in shock.
"Our professor Banner?" Jaden questioned. 'So he's in on it.'
Everyone looked at each other in shock at this revelation and wonder what Professor Banner was really up to. And on top of that, where was he, they had not seen him since Daylen dueled against Abidos.