The King's Plan

"You're done maturing. Those eyes of yours are a symbol of your noble status. These are the true eyes of a natural born vampire. They're permanent I'm afraid." Jaden couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't go out in public like this! Everyone would be able to tell right away that he wasn't human! "Don't worry Jaden! We can easily hide that. Just put on your sunglasses and your hoodie. You need too anyways to protect you from the sunlight anyways, right?" Said Syrus who brought Jaden his change of clothes with his sunglasses sitting on top of the neatly folded pile. "I'll meet you downstairs when you're ready. I woke up an hour ago I just stayed to wait for you. The school bus should be here to take us to the ferry soon so don't take too long getting ready!" And with that, Syrus left Jaden alone in their room.

Jaden took a quick shower and put on his school uniform with his hoodie underneath his blazer with the hood pulled up and placed the sunglasses on his face to try and conceal his rather creepy new features. He went downstairs where the rest of his class was already together, eager to get back to their beloved Duel Academy. They had been gone for only two days but it also felt like an eternity. Jaden himself was ready to go back to class too which was saying something. He hated school, but it was better than being in this city where he had made some fresh new memories he didn't want to think about anymore.

"Why do you look like you're trying to avoid the paparazzi, slacker?" Said Chazz who was munching on some chocolate flavored pocky sticks. "It's not like I'm dressing like this on purpose. I broke my holy lock in my last fight…" said Jaden slightly annoyed. "Well why are you wearing your glasses inside? You'll hurt your eyes doing that." Said Alexis who tried to reach out to grab his glasses but Jaden smacked her hand away shocking her. "S-sorry Alexis! My eyes just really hurt, yeah. That's it. Don't worry, I feel better wearing them anyways." Said Jaden as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly but Alexis scowled at him. He was clearly hiding something.

"Anyways, where's Aster? I wanted to ask him to sit with us on the way back to the academy!" Asked Jaden enthusiastically, trying to change the topic. "He left earlier. Just like the rich boy he is, he had a yacht come and pick him up before the rest of us. God I hate that guy! He just loves flaunting that professional duelist money in our faces!" Jaden laughed awkwardly. But his face turned seriously soon after. No doubt Aster was in a hurry to head back to the academy to report back to his master. And here he hoped that their talk last night might have helped sway him towards their cause instead. But it wasn't going to be that easy it seems.

"Alright students! Our transport is here to take us back to Duel Academy! Line up and get ready to board the bus!" Everyone lined up and one by one boarded the bus in alphabetical order. Once everyone was on the bus, they went to the docks where they boarded the ferry to finally make their journey back to the infamous Duel Academy.

Aster had already made it back to the school and noticed how much the academy had changed in the few days he was gone. Without Jaden here to protect the remaining students, their progression of taking over the school had greatly increased. He saw many students adorning white uniforms walking around. Maynard must have been dueling people left and right to recruit all of these people. He even noticed that the Obelisk blue dorms were painted white showing they were completely taken over already, aside from a few stragglers.

Four former Obelisk stood in front of him and knelt down. "Champion, Master Sartorius requests an audience with you. If you would kindly follow us." Aster looked at them skeptically. Since when did Sartorius get a detail to escort him?

The five students walked towards their HQ where they went inside and Aster made his way inside of Sartorius's chambers. "You wanted to see me?" Sartorius looked at him and gestured for Aster to come closer, and when he did he gently rubbed the top of his head. "Welcome home Aster. We have missed you greatly during your absence. Did everything go smoothly on your end?" Aster shook his head. "If you mean did my meeting with Seto Kaiba go well, then yes. But Maynard made a huge mess. He transformed into his full beast form and went on a rampage. He even attacked me. Why did you send that guy? I had everything handled master!"

Sartorius sat at his table with his arms crossed. "I sent him because I was worried about you. And also cause I wanted to taste Jaden's resolve." Aster glared at him not believing his excuses one bit. "Or more like you sent him to test mine. Do you question my loyalty Master Sartorius? I've given my enter life for this organization!" Sartorius closed his eyes and turned his back to the young man. "And that's the problem. You joined this organization for the wrong reasons. Which I'm completely fine with. After all, you joined us to become stronger. But I've been watching Aster and you're becoming soft. Have you forgotten that sister of yours already?"

Aster stepped back and his eyes widened. "Of course I haven't! How can you even ask such a thing?!" Said Aster as he punched the table next to him. "No need to get upset my boy. I only care about you. You are my most precious asset." Sartorius walked over to him and pulled him into a hug with Aster staring blankly into his chest. "I'm the only one you will ever need. Don't forget that. Now go. I have words I must speak to someone else."

Aster turned to walk away and opened his mouth to ask one more thing but decided not to. When he left, Malin and Mya were on the other side of the door. "Welcome home, Aster." Said Malin. Unlike his brother, he wasn't nearly as hostile. But answer didn't reply and continued to walk away. He didn't have time to entertain those mutts.

"Ah, Malin and Mya. Welcome. I hope you have the reports that I asked for?" Asked Sartorius as the two siblings walked in and closed the door behind them. "Right here Master Sartorius. It's the latest data chart from the experiment." Said Malin as he handed Sartorius the manila envelope containing the secretive information. "Perfect. I will check in with the group of scientists I hired to monitor the subject later." Malin cleared his throat before he spoke, "I don't mean to pry Master Sartorius. We know we don't have the clearance to know anything about this but we've been more than helpful in assisting you with this project. Could we know the name of this experiment of yours at least? We've been rather curious to know more."

Sartorius held a finger up to his chin. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you. I've been eager to talk about it a little myself. But I have dubbed this experiment the White Devil Project." Malin nodded his head in approval. "I like the sound of that, it has a rather menacing ring to it that will drill fear into the hearts of our enemies. Does Aster know about this experiment of yours? It's not like you to not include him with your schemes but you've been asking for our help instead of his. Why is that?" "I can see why you'd be concerned but no, Aster doesn't know about this. And it is going to stay that way. I am telling you this in confidence but if he finds out then I will not hesitate to put your little wolf heads on a platter, am I understood?" Malin gulped nervously and bowed his head. "We understand, master. We will be taking out leave now." The two left the room leaving Sartorius who was now eagerly reading his latest findings.

Aster heard everything they were saying from down the hall using his vampiric hearing that was now a lot stronger thanks to Jaden's blood. "The White Devil Project? Why is he keeping something like that from me? Just what are you trying to hide from me Master Sartorius?" The first thought that crossed his mind was going to tell Haou about what he just found out but he slapped his cheek. "Stop thinking like that Aster! You're not his lap dog! But still… maybe it wouldn't hurt to confide in Jaden about this. This could involve him somehow. I could tell him as a thank you for buying dinner last night." He said as a small smile befell his lips.

The ferry with all the students finally reached Duel Academy's shores and everyone piled off, happy to be back. Jaden stretched out his body as he departed off the boat with his friends in tow. "Man those seats can really do a number on your back! But man is it good to be back home! That hotel was nice and all but I missed the Slifer Dorms. Nothing comfier than a cramped bedroom you get to share with someone else!" He said as he laughed out loud causing his friends to sweat drop.

"Uhm, is it just me or is there a lot more white coats now than before we left?" Said Syrus nervously. When his friends looked to see what he was talking about, sure enough, almost the entire student body that didn't go with them on the field trip had on the same white uniforms that those Society Of Light freaks wore. "Looks like that dog's been busy while we were gone. This is bad Jaden. At this rate, they will have an army." Said Haou inside of his mind. Jaden glared, his eyes glowing underneath his sunglasses. "You think I don't know that already?"

They left the docks and made it back to their respective dorms to unpack their belongings and after he put all of his stuff away, Jaden flopped onto his bunk bed. "It feels good to lay on this lumpy mattress again!" Syrus looked at him concerned. He knew that Jaden was distraught by their friends becoming mindless zombies but he was trying his best to put on a brave face. "You don't have to hide your feelings Jaden. Remember what we talked about?" Jaden sighed and sat up, removing his glasses and revealing his new vampiric eyes.

"I don't know what I'm doing Syrus. I'm just a kid! I don't know how to fight a war! This is just too much for me to handle!" Syrus sat next to him on the bed and swung his feet. "Well, let's start by making a game plan. I'm sure Haou would have some ideas on what our next step would be."

"He's right. I do have a plan. Whenever you all are ready I would like you to call your friends here and give me control so that I can speak with them. Don't worry, I don't plan on taking over again but I need to tell them my game plan. I have a present for all of them as well that would prove very helpful." Jaden gulped. "Haou said he has a plan. He says that he needs us to wrangle the group together and he wants to give you guys a present. Don't ask me what that means cause he won't elaborate." Syrus chuckled. "He's such a mysterious guy. It's so weird to think that you and him are the same person. You guys are so different."

"Tell me about it. I'm the one that has to live with him inside my head. But we should probably do what he said. If you don't mind Syrus can you send a mass text out to our friends to meet us up here after dark? I think I'm going to take a little nap." Said Jaden as he let out a long-drawn-out yawn. "Seriously Jaden? How can you sleep at a time like this?" But there was no use in arguing, Jaden was already out like a light. "And he's out. Even when he's trying to be serious he can't." Said Syrus as he went through his PDA to send out the text to their friends to come to their dorm room later that night.

Night had come quickly and Jaden had finally woken up from his nap. "Oh man! I slept great!" He said as he stretched out. They heard a knock at the door and Jaden stood up to open it and let his friends inside. "So what's the big emergency Jaden?" Asked Bastion but all their mouths fell agape as they stared at the Slifer student. "Why are you guys staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" Said Jaden as he started rubbing his face. Syrus gasped and pulled Jaden over to whisper in his ear. "Your glasses! You're not wearing your glasses!"

"Oh crap! Uh, guess you know my secret now ha ha." Said Jaden as he rubbed the back of his neck and let out a nervous laugh. "I knew you were hiding something earlier! But why did you feel the need to hide this from us?" Said Alexis as she cupped his cheek making him blush, staring deeply into his eyes. She found them strange but also alluring. "I don't know, I guess I was feeling insecure. This was just one more thing that made me feel different from you guys." Said Jaden sadly but Alexis kissed his cheek and his blush only grew deeper. "Don't feel insecure about that. I think they make you look pretty bad ass. They're unique, just like you are." Jaden smiled and held her hand. "Thanks Alexis. That makes me feel a lot better."

Chazz had to be held back by Bastion as he tried to run at Jaden with anger boiling in his blood. "Stop trying to take my woman!" Everyone sweat dropped, Chazz was again being his regular delusional self. "I assume this isn't the reason you had Syrus ask us here?" Inquired Bastion. "No. Someone needs to have a talk with you. But you've all met him already." They all sat down in a circle with Jaden standing in the middle.

"Haou…" He said as he closed his eyes, and when he reopened them they were golden. "Oh no not this jack ass again!" Said Chazz which caused Haou to glare at him making Chazz sweat slightly. "Nice to see you all too. Now then, straight to business. I want you all to take out your decks and give them to me." They all looked around amongst themselves not understanding where this was going but they did what they were told and put their decks on the table in front of Haou.

Haou held his hand up and a black aura surrounded his hand and one deck after the other he touched them and his energy jumped from his hand into their decks giving them a dark aura around them. "Done. I imbued your decks with my power so that way, if you duel against any members of the Society of Light you can turn them back to normal. I need your help if we are to take this school back. I am powerful, but even I need help sometimes. I trust that you are all capable duelists otherwise you wouldn't be attending this school."

"Yes we are more than capable. Don't forget that last year we helped protect the Sacred Beast Cards from the Shadow Riders." Said Bastion proudly but Haou scoffed at him. "And if I recall, you all lost. If it weren't for Jaden then all of your souls would still belong to the shadows. I need competent duelists at my command so I need you all to be better. This is war, not just a card game anymore." Said Haou sternly.

"You have a funny way of asking for help you know! We're not your soldiers to command! If you want us to help then how about starting with asking for help the right way and stop criticizing us or we'll walk away and leave you to deal with on your own." Said Chazz who was starting to get pissed off by the king's cocky attitude. Haou crossed his arms and let out a deep sigh, a light blush spread on his cheeks. "I apologize human. Now please, I ask for your help. You are the only people I can rely on right now. If not for me, then do it for Jaden." Haou cleared his throat and looked away trying to hide the look of embarrassment on his face.

Alexis giggled. He was pretty cute when he wasn't being a total monster and acting all shy. "Well that settles it. We will fight for you mister Supreme King." Haou looked at her and slightly smiled for a small moment before his face became stoic once more. "Thank you very much. Now then, I will be taking my leave. I used up quite a bit of my power to fuel your decks. I will see you again when the time comes that I am needed." He closed his eyes giving Jaden back control who wobbled and almost fell to the floor before Bastion caught him to help him catch his footing.

Jaden held his head. "Man that takes a lot out of me. I'm guessing he told you guys the plan. I hope he was on his best behavior." "Actually, he was kind of nice to us. As nice as he can be anyways. If he showed that side to him more maybe we'd start hanging out with him more instead of you, slacker." Said Chazz as he pointed and laughed at Jaden mockingly which made steam come out of the young vampire's ears. Jaden pinched his nose trying to tame his anger. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. But I'm happy to hear he treated you guys good otherwise him and I were going to have to get into a fight."

"How would you go about fighting yourself anyways?" Said Syrus as he cocked his head to the side imagining Jaden just punching himself in the face which made him giggle. "Oh no, you're making fun of me too Syrus?" Said Jaden who looked defeated by their bullying. "We're just having a bit of fun with you Jaden. Liven up a little." Said Alexis who smiled at him. Jaden couldn't help but start laughing too. He was utterly stressed out right now but his friends always knew how to make him feel better.

"Yeah you're right. I guess you guys can head back home now since that's all I think we needed to talk about. I'll see you guys in the morning." They all started to leave and Jaden waved by to them with Alexis being the last one to head out. But before she left, she turned around and gave him another kiss on the lips shocking Jaden, but he kissed her back, nonetheless. "Hey Alexis? What are we anyways? I mean, last year I didn't think you had any feelings for me but then you go ahead and do stuff like this. What changed from then to now?" Alexis gave it some thought before she replied.

"I always liked you. And I would be lying if I said you being a vampire wasn't a part of the reason I'm showing you my feelings now. That's not all of course! I think you're an amazing guy and you're one hell of a duelist. But every girl wants to live out their twilight fantasy so it's a pretty nice coincidence that the guy I like just so happens to be one. It's attractive to me." She said, her face becoming red as a tomato. She can't believe she just called him attractive!

Jaden gulped and wrapped his arms around her. "So, does that mean you want us to date? Chazz would be pretty mad about this you know." Her face fell into a scowl as she puffed out her cheeks. "Who cares what he thinks. Maybe me getting with another guy will finally put it in his thick skull that I'm not interested. And I don't know. Dating sounds nice… But I won't call myself your girlfriend. Not until you take me on a real date that is." She said as she winked at him and pulled away from his embrace and ran down the stairs back to her dorm.

Jaden stood there still shellshocked by her sudden confession of affection and his heart would not stop pounding in his chest. He sighed happily as he touched his lips. He could still feel her soft lips like a sweet impression. "I am one lucky guy." He opened the door back to this dorm where he saw Syrus looking at him mischievously with a wide grin on his face.

"Hey lover boy. Did Alexis finally say she was in love with you? I know something nice must have happened with how red you look!" said Syrus as he blew kisses in the air making Jaden more embarrassed. "Oh shut up! Just go to sleep already!" Yelled Jaden as he chucked a pillow at Syrus's face making him laugh. "Okay, okay! Goodnight lover boy! Save me a kiss from Alexis tomorrow okay?" Jaden pounced on Syrus and started smothering him with the pillow trying to silence him. The two continued to wrestle until they were both out of breath. "Goodnight Syrus. I'll see you in the morning." Said Jaden as he climbed into the bunk under his and laid down. He knew he was going to have some pretty sweet dreams tonight.