Introductory Notes: So, this is chapter 3. I've waited a couple of days before posting, giving people a chance to review… but nobody did (more or less and thanks to those that did). Before I respond to reviews there's an IMPORTANT ANOUNCEMENT that I need to make.

!IMPORTANT! The author of this fic is QUICKLY running out of deck strategy ideas for characters to use. So PLEASE r&r, SUBMIT DECK STRATAGIES to me, ALONG WITH A COUPLE OF THE KEY CARDS FOR THE DECK. After that, I can find cards to support. !IMPORTANT!

Cheesywonder221: I'm glad that you find my writing so compelling and I hope that you enjoy the rest of my story.

DoggyDog13: Well, here ya are DoggyDog, the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as the other two.

Dbygtfan2004: Hahaha, well I'd have to agree with you, they do make a cute couple. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Seeker of the Soul: Thanks a ton for your input on my story. I'll admit, that "negate" might not have been the best choice of words in regards to Dust Tornado. The only reason I chose "negate" was because, since a chain resolves in reverse, it has the same effect as a negation. I look forward to more of your input.

Also, I've heard speak of a season two for Yu-Gi-Oh GX… if anyone has information on when it's going to come out on Cartoon Network let me know… Thanks for your help, and on with the story.

Chapter 3

Return of the Shadows: Preparing for the Second War – Kaiba v.s. Nightmare

Another guard fell, rolling into a cabin as the ship rocked violently. The entire vessel was in chaos. Everywhere, Kaiba Corp guards dueled against the twelve robe clad figures that had invaded their vessel.

From the captain's cabin Seto Kaiba sighed, rubbing his head. "Damnit… do I have to do everything myself?" and without another word he picked up his deck and slid it into his disk, walking from the room.

The dark duelists moved swiftly, taking out the guards that intercepted them with little to no effort. They quickly entered the storage hold and smirked as they located their target, a large metallic device with a grey gas stored in the center chamber, held in an oversized radioactive containment net.

The 12 duelists moved quickly and expertly, encircling the device and chanting. Slowly but surely their efforts were rewarded. A thick purple fog covered the area in which they were standing. It was now that Seto Kaiba barged into the room, his eyes narrowed in a death glare only comparable to that of a murderer out for fresh blood.

Quickly the invaders hastened their chanting the purple glow quickly growing. Then, abruptly, one of the men stepped from the circle and in a brilliant flash the strange device and the other robed men were gone.

The man who had stepped apart pulled down his hood, his eyes fixated on Kaiba, a scowl on his face. "Well, at least you couldn't stop us this time… and you'll regret missing your chance… however short your time is now."

Kaiba just stared back at the man. He was short, or… at least he was shorter than Kaiba. He was bald, and his head was tattooed with odd markings. These markings, oddly enough, were growing.

"Do I… should I know you?" Kaiba's expression hadn't changed.

The man growled, obviously annoyed that Kaiba didn't seem to recognize him. "Yes! I worked for you, damnit!" Kaiba's face remained the same as before… something he'd gotten good at… all emotionless like.

"You'd just appointed me the First Lieutenant of Kaiba Corp's Prevention Department in the U.S… but then you had me transferred before our little group was able to finish our work on that shadow amp."

He motioned to where the others had been moments before. "The next thing we know the department's found and confiscated our device. It made me look bad, made me look careless."

The man snickered. "So, I used my new rank to locate where and when you were shipping it and informed the others. We just figured we'd come and take it off your hands… now it's time I thanked you for moving it closer to our destination. Honestly, it made things a lot easier for us."

The man held up his arm and activated his duel disk, sliding his deck in. "So how about I thank you for your help personally?"

Kaiba shook his head. "This is why nobodies like you annoy me…" his eyes lit up again, the same unnatural fire as before. "You don't know your place." He snarled, and the other man took a step back.

"Humph… such confidence… but you can't stop our return, the return of the Shadow Riders! Please, let me formally introduce myself… I am called Nightmare. Now, allow me to show you why my victims call me 'their worst'. Duel!" (KLP:4000)(NLP:4000)

They both drew their hands, and Kaiba drew a sixth. "I'll start this off. Please, offer at least a little bit of resistance for me. I summon Cave Dragon (2000/300) in attack mode!" The ground began to tremble, and it suddenly split. From the darkness, two red eyes began to glow."

"He can't attack you right now… but very soon you'll feel the wrath of my deck. So, with that in mind, I play the magic card Mountain. When in play, all dragon, thunder, and winged-beast monsters in play increases their attack and defense by 300 points." (2300/600)

"I lay one face down card and end my turn."

Nightmare scoffed, drawing his card. "Don't get to full of yourself, for I already have you beaten! Kaiba, do you know your deck's main weakness?"

Kaiba stared at the man across from him. "My deck is flawless, and no roach like you has a prayer of beating me!" Nightmare just shook his head and laughed.

"No, no… it's that you're to strong! You rely too much on the strength of your monsters… now; I'll set one creature in defense mode and activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. This magic card destroys one spell or trap card on the field." Kaiba's face down shattered.

Looking over the field he smiled. "Well, I'm done. Go ahead."

"Hmph… how pathetic." Kaiba drew his card and slammed it down onto his disk. "Well, Cave Dragon has gone stale to me now… so I'll use the ritual card White Dragon Ritual. Now, by sacrificing my Cave Dragon, I can summon the Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)."

Nightmare smiled, already aware of Kaiba's next move. "Now I activate its effect. By sacrificing the Paladin of White Dragon I can summon one of my Blue Eyes White Dragons into play from my deck or hand!"

The card popped out of his deck and he slammed it onto his disk. "Blue eyes White Dragon, come forth and crush his face down monster! (3300/2800)" Kaiba's main-stage monster descended onto the field and immediately shattered the face down monster with its tail.

Nightmare gave Kaiba a twisted grin, revealing the card that had been destroyed. "You've destroyed my UFO Turtle, activating his effect. Now I can special summon one pyro type monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less… so I'll summon my Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)." The creature entered onto the field in an eruption of fire.

"Fine… go."

"Hahaha… you'll be helpless after this turn! I draw and summon a second Solar Flare Dragon to the field (1500/1000)." Kaiba scoffed at the man's confidence.

"Pathetic… putting all of your faith on two weak creatures. I'll crush them with the power of my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Nightmare shook his finger at Kaiba. "Don't get two confident yet Kaiba. I activate the magic card Dark Room of Nightmare." A dark missed swelled around them and statues representing a number of unfamiliar gods rose from the ground, encasing the darkened arena in a damp red glow.

"Hehehe, I'm done for now." Kaiba went to draw his card, but quickly pulled his hand back as a blast of fire smashed into his face, knocking him to the ground.

Nightmare laughed as Kaiba struggled to his feet. "Oh, did I forget to mention the effect of my Solar Flare Dragon? At the end of each of my turns it deals you 500 points of direct damage!"

Kaiba got back onto his feet, but staggered backwards almost immediately as beams of red light shot from the bases of the God statues. "What the…!"

Nightmare snickered. "Every time you take direct damage, Dark Room of Nightmare deals you an extra 300 damage!" Kaiba watched as his life points drained (KLP:3200). "Now get ready, here comes round 2!"

Kaiba staggered back yet again as another fire blast hit him square in the chest, but managed to balance himself before the beam of light pierced his chest. (KLP:2400)

He slowly got to his feet, a growl escaping him and his eyes dripping with enough death that Nightmare visibly shook. 'I can't let those stay, or else they'll drain my life points away in two more turns…'

"Fine, I'll draw," he drew his card "Now prepare yourself for the coming of my second Blue Eyes White Dragon! I'm sure this card is familiar to you, no?" He lay down another White Dragon Ritual.

"Now, by sacrificing a Mirage Dragon from my hand I can summon my Paladin of White Dragon!" Kaiba's Paladin of White Dragon flew onto the field in the same swooping fashion as the last, his blue armor glinting as his spear shone.

"Now, as before I'll tribute him in order to summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck." The card popped out and he lay it onto his duel disk. The Blue Eyes White Dragon roared onto the field next to his other, showing off his spotless scales.

Nightmare laughed and pointed to Kaiba. "It appears your monster's personality reflects your own, vain." Kaiba only glared at him, making a gesture with his hand.

"Blue Eyes Whit Dragons, teach Nightmare what the strength of a true dragon is… attack his Solar Flare Dragons!" The Blue Eyes Whit Dragons reared their heads and shot balls of raw power. To Kaiba's surprise, however, both of the balls swept around the Solar Flare Dragons as well as Nightmare.

"What the… what the hell did you do?" Kaiba tried to keep the strain from his voice, but was even more shocked when he fell to his knees, struggling to catch his breath. "What in… what's going on here?"

Nightmare just smiled, pointing to his Solar Flare Dragons. "To answer your first question, whenever my Solar Flare Dragons are in play, and there's another pyro type monster on my field, it can't be targeted for attacks!"

Kaiba grimaced, realizing that he'd just wasted one of his turns. 'And at the rate this is going I don't have the luxury of wasting turns'

"Now…" Nightmare held up his arm and pointed at Kaiba. "To answer your second question, I believe that this will be sufficient!" Slender rods of fog erupted from his arm, connecting together behind Kaiba. Slowly the needle like threads thickened, finally encasing the two of them in a dome of darkness.

Kaiba's eyes widened slightly. "I guess it should… it's your turn."

Nightmare smiled and picked up his card, examining it closely. Finally, deciding upon his move, he began.

"Well, since there isn't any way to get out a stronger monster than you right now I think I'll lay one card face down and end my turn, and since it's my end phase the effects of my Solar Flare Dragons activate!" (KLP:800)

Kaiba was pushed backwards as the dual fireballs struck him, and winced as beams of red pierced through him as needles would an acupuncture doll. Pulling himself together Kaiba drew his card, smiling when he saw what it was.

"This duel is mine! I activate the spell Snatch Steal. Now I can equip it to one of your monsters in order to take control of it. Ordinarily you'd gain 1000 life points every one of your standby phases that this card is in play but you won't get the chance! I take control of one of your Solar Flare Dragons."

Nightmare's eyes widened as he realized what Kaiba was planning, his eyes flitting to his face down card.

"Now, Solar Flare Dragon, attack Solar Flare Dragon!" The flaming dragons both shot waves of fire, obliterating each other. The Snatch Steal spell card also shattered.

Nightmare quickly pressed a button on his duel disk, activating his face down card. "That was the last mistake you'll have the chance to make. I activate my face down card, Backfire! Now whenever a fire type monster on my field is destroyed you take 500 points of direct damage!"

Kaiba's eyes widened as a wall of fire shot at him, burning as it passed around him. (KLP: 300)

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I still have life points left, and now you're…" He was cut off as beams of red light pierced his body, forcing him to his knees. (KLP:0)

"What?"

Nightmare put a hand to his face and howled in laughter. "Didn't I tell you that the damage caused by Backfire was direct damage? The effect of Backfire activated Dark Room of Nightmare's effect… you lose."

Nightmare reached into a bag on the ground next to him and, pulling out an old tome, flipped through it until he found a blank page. "We'd had someone at your precious Duel Academy last year, and this book was his. But he was too soft and lost… I won't let this tool go to waste."

Kaiba could only watch as the book was engulfed by a strange purple aura. Slowly the aura extended out and covered his body, holding him still no matter how much he struggled. "Seto Kaiba… for losing this duel your soul will be my prize!"

Kaiba's limp form fell as the dark aura left his body, returning to the book that had spawned it. It was at this same time that the remainder of the guards entered the room. Nightmare looked at them, then sighed.

"Well… I can't beat all of them. I used up to much energy during that last duel. So… I think I'll take my leave now." Dark shadow aura suddenly burst into a whirlwind around his body and so great was the resulting force that it blew the guards back to the wall.

Then, as suddenly as the eruption of power had begun, it was gone… as was Nightmare.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the boat pulled up to the dock, the students on board noticed the faculty that had remained already assembled around another boat, even larger than the one that they were aboard.

Jaden glanced at Alexis and Jack. "Uhh… are their more students arriving on that ship?"

Alexis shook her head, confused by the circumstances. "No, there shouldn't be. This is my third year here and there's never been more than on ship. The dock can't handle any more."

As she spoke, Dorothy's truck came barreling down the hill and screeched to a halt in front of the docks, a small red light flashing on its roof.

Jack's eyes narrowed as he noticed the red light. "Then, an emergence landing maybe… probably of relative importance, noting whose ship it is." Jaden and Alexis glanced over and saw what Jack was talking about. The side of the ship read 'Kaiba Corp: Prevention Transport'.

Almost an hour passed, but just as the students began to get anxious Dorothy's truck sped back up the hill and the Kaiba Corp ship quickly departed toward shore. The ship carrying the Duel Academy students landed, and the students departed ship. They were greeted by Chancellor Sheppard and Dr. Crowler. Dr. Crowler stepped forward.

"We are sorry for the short delay," there was muttering in the crowd, but it was silenced by Crowler's glare "however, due to a message, sent to us by the Kaiba Corp Prevention Squad ship that was here just a moment ago…" he began to trail off and the Chancellor stepped in to finish his sentence for him.

"Due to the message, Duel Academy will be undergoing a mass dorm re-assignment. We are sorry for the trouble this may cause, but all students must report to the school's dueling arena immediately. Be prepared to duel, for this re-assignment will only be effected by your skill as a duelist. Entrance exam scores and grades during previous years will not be taken into account."

A mummer rushed through the crowd, everyone was excited at the opportunity this created for them. They were all hoping to be placed into Obelisk Blue.

It was at this time that chancellor Sheppard stepped up again. "As a side effect of this re-assignment, all first week classes will be canceled. Now, to finish up here, I need the following students to see me in my office immediately: Jaden Yuki, Alexis Rhodes, Chazz Princeton, and Bastion Misawa. Now, everybody please report to the Dueling Arena."

Jack watched as Jaden, Alexis, and the other students who'd been called walked off towards the main building. Finally, turning around, he began to walk towards the building that housed the academy's dueling arena.

He stopped, however, when something in the forest caught his eye. He turned and found himself face to face with them same man who had met him at the hotel. The man only stared back at him, causing Jack to shiver. The man only smirked at Jack, and dissapered in a silent crack of dark smoke.

Jack quickly headed over to the nearest teacher. "Um… excuse me, sir? I was wondering who that man over there is?" He pointed over towards the forest, but started when he found the man no longer there.

Dr. Crowler didn't seem impressed. "Listen here young man…"

"No, honestly sir. He was just there. He was a semi-muscular man about the same height that you are. Honest." Jack wished the teacher would believe him.

"Oh, well, what a big help. Anything else?" Crowler leered at the Jack.

"Um…" Jack thought franticly, then remembered something that might help him out. "Yes! He had on a metallic looking mask that covered his face, and it cut off at his wide-brimmed hat. He didn't have the hat on now, but I remember it from when he came into my hotel room earlier!"

Dr. Crowler stopped and turned away, white as a sheet. 'Damint… this is going to be such a hassle for me… I hope he's not here after his payment…'

"Boy, you said that he visited you in your hotel room, correct?"

"Yes sir, and,"

"Do you know what he wanted from you?"

"Well, no, but…"

"That's fine. Come with me, I need you to tell the Chancellor about this man."

With that jack and Dr. Crowler rushed up towards Chancellor Sheppard's office.

End Notes: Well, that's chapter 3. The shadow riders are on the island and there's a mass re-assignment for dorms…but what's going on? …Sorry, but I can't answer that yet since I'm not positive yet myself, and if I could tell you I wouldn't anyways. It'd spoil the story. Also, sorry again for the wait. I tend to procrastinate a bit, plus the duels take me a while to choreograph on paper then transfer over… that and creating the decks is a pain.

Next time: After the events of last year, Chancellor Sheppard hid the Sacred Beast gate keys, permanently. But when they're found to be missing, the search is on… but what happens when Jack runs into Titan? Return of the Shadows: Jack v.s. Titan: End of the Sacred Beasts.