"The Darkness Within", known as "Hell Kaiser VS Darkness Fubuki" in the Japanese version, is the eighty-ninth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. It first aired in Japan on June 14, 2006 and in the the United States on January 31, 2007.

Chancellor Sheppard asks Atticus Rhodes to face Zane Truesdale in a Duel, in hopes that the former Nightshroud can convince Zane to abandon the path of cruelty and hatred.

SummaryEdit

During lunch at the Slifer Red dormitory, Jaden, Hassleberry and Chazz learn from Syrus that Zane has just returned to Duel Academy. Meanwhile, Atticus has also returned, under request from Chancellor Sheppard. After learning of Zane Truesdale's birthright and his theft of the Cyber Style-Reverse Deck ("Underworld Deck" in the English dub), Atticus agrees to Duel Zane, as Sheppard hopes that Atticus can help Zane abandon the dark path he has chosen to walk.

Remembering that he was once controlled by evil, Atticus brings Zane to the now-extinct volcano, reminding Zane that Nightshroud battled Jaden in a Shadow Duel here, and then reveals that he plans to use his Red-Eyes Deck in their Duel, in hopes of convincing Zane to accept that a Dark path is a terrible one to be taken by a respectable Duelist—even if Atticus runs the risk of resurfacing Nightshroud again.

The Duel begins, and Atticus takes an early lead with a combo of "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and "Inferno Fire Blast", bringing Zane down to 1600 Life Points. As Atticus ends his turn with 1 Set card, Zane mocks him with the belief that Nightshroud may have helped him use that recent powerful combo. Atticus declares that he won't be controlled, just before he feels the dark aura of Nightshroud seeping from his Duel Disk.

Zane begins his turn, revealing the first of the new monsters in his Cyber Style-Reverse Deck: "Cyberdark Horn", which, when Normal Summoned, can equip itself with a Dragon-Type monster from either player's Graveyard, if it is Level 3 or below (In the English dub, Zane mistakenly says "Level 4") and then add the amount of the ATK of the equipped monster to its own ATK. He equips "Cyberdark Horn" with "Red-Eyes B. Chick" (which Atticus used to summon "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" in his first turn) and uses "Megamorph" to double its original ATK, which brings its ATK to 2400, equal to the ATK of "Red-Eyes B. Dragon". Even though this is the case, Zane attacks, because if a "Cyberdark" monster would be destroyed in battle while equipped with a Dragon, the Dragon can be destroyed in its place. However, Atticus ends Zane's Battle Phase with "Negate Attack", which prompts Zane to Set 1 card and end his turn.

Atticus begins his turn, and when he realizes he has drawn "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon", he immediately hears the voice of Nightshroud urging him to embrace the Darkness. On this note, he Tributes "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" and Special Summons "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon". Once the monster is summoned to the field, Nightshroud's Dark aura grows stronger.

Elsewhere, Jaden is celebrating his latest victory in the Genex Tournament, when he suddenly sees "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" at the location of the extinct volcano. He learns from Syrus and Hassleberry that Zane is Dueling Atticus, so all three of them rush to the volcano site to investigate.

Atticus explains that, with "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" in his Graveyard, "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" gains 300 ATK, bringing it to 2700, as its ATK rises by 300 for every Dragon-Type monster in his Graveyard. "Darkness Dragon" attacks, and Zane is down to 1300 Life Points, but "Cyberdark Horn" has been unharmed, as "Red-Eyes B. Chick" was destroyed in its place. However, now "Darkness Dragon" has gotten stronger, as its ATK has increased another 300, to 3000, because "Red-Eyes B. Chick" is back in Atticus's Graveyard. Atticus ends his turn with "Super Rejuvenation", drawing 1 card for the Dragon he had tributed in his last turn.

Zane begins his turn, changing "Cyberdark Horn" to Defense Position and summoning "Cyberdark Edge" alongside it. With "Cyberdark Edge" on the field, it equips itself with "Red-Eyes B. Chick" again, causing "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" to lose 300 ATK and bring it down to 2700. "Cyberdark Edge" is able to attack directly by halving any Battle Damage it inflicts. As a result, Atticus loses 800 Life Points, bringing him down to 3200, and Zane Sets 1 card to end his turn.

Atticus feels Nightshroud's aura growing stronger as he begins his turn, activating "Dragon Heart", which disallows him to Normal Summon or Set a monster, but he can send 3 Dragon-Type monsters ("Troop Dragon", "Mirage Dragon", and "Attachment Dragon") to the Graveyard from his Deck, increasing his "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon's" ATK from 2700 to 4600—1000 ATK from "Dragon Heart", and 900 ATK from its own effect. However, before he can attack, Atticus feels himself losing control, but decides that the only way to reach Zane is to embrace his own inner Darkness. He attacks with "Darkness Dragon", just as Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry arrive to witness the Duel. As the attack goes through, "Red-Eyes B. Chick" is destroyed in place of "Cyberdark Edge", and everyone thinks Atticus has won—everyone except Zane, who reveals that he had activated "Power Wall" to reduce the Battle Damage to 0 by sending 30 cards from his Deck to the Graveyard. (In reality, he'd thrown them out of his Deck onto the ground, to show his disrespect for Dueling and for his opponents.)

Upon seeing Zane show such blatant disrespect for his Deck, Atticus decides that Zane can't be helped, before Nightshroud possesses him again. Nightshroud takes over for Atticus and plays "Dragon's Gunfire", which he uses to destroy "Cyberdark Edge" before ending his turn, declaring that Zane can do little with only 3 cards left in his Deck. However, Zane proves him wrong by fusing "Cyberdark Horn", "Cyberdark Edge", and "Cyberdark Keel" (which he summoned after using "Call of the Haunted" to revive "Cyberdark Edge") into "Cyberdark Dragon", who equips itself with "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" from Nightshroud's Graveyard, and then gets even stronger with every card Zane has in his own Graveyard. This monster destroys "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" and wins Zane the Duel, freeing Atticus from Nightshroud's influence.

However, upon recovering from Nightshroud's control, Atticus is surprised to discover that Zane has not abandoned his cruel disposition. Zane explains that he simply changed his outlook on Dueling: Now, all that matters to him is defeating his opponents, one way or another. As Zane walks away and past Syrus without accepting Atticus's Genex Medallion, Syrus promises himself to defeat his brother in a Duel.

Featured Duel: Zane Truesdale vs. Atticus RhodesEdit

This Duel uses Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime gameplay. Rules and card effects may differ from that of the TCG/OCG. See the individual card articles for more information.

Turn 1: Atticus
Atticus Normal Summons "Red-Eyes B. Chick" (800/500) in Attack Position. He sends it to the Graveyard via its own effect to Special Summon "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" (2400/2000) from his hand in Attack Position. He then activates "Inferno Fire Blast", inflicting damage to Zane equal to the ATK of "Red-Eyes", though it will not be able to attack this turn (Zane 4000 → 1600). Atticus Sets a card.

Turn 2: Zane
Zane Normal Summons "Cyberdark Horn" (800/800) in Attack Position. He activates its effect, equipping it with the "Red-Eyes B. Chick" from Atticus' Graveyard, increasing its ATK by the equipped monster's ATK ("Cyberdark Horn" 800 → 1600/800). Zane equips "Cyberdark Horn" with "Megamorph", doubling its original ATK as Zane's Life Points are lower than Atticus' ("Cyberdark Horn 1600 → 2400/800). "Cyberdark Horn" attacks "Red-Eyes", but Atticus activates his face-down "Negate Attack", negating the attack and ending the Battle Phase. Zane Sets a card.

Turn 3: Atticus
Atticus Tributes "Red-Eyes" to Special Summon "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" (2400/2000) in Attack Position via its own effect. It gains 300 ATK for each Dragon-Type monsters in his Graveyard ("Darkness Dragon" 2400 → 2700/2000). "Darkness Dragon" attacks "Cyberdark Horn" (Zane 1600 → 1300), with the equipped "Red-Eyes B. Chick" being destroyed in place of it. The ATK of "Darkness Dragon" increases by 300 as there is another Dragon-Type monster in Atticus' Graveyard ("Darkness Dragon" 2700 → 3000/2000). Atticus activates "Super Rejuvenation", drawing a card as he Tributed "Red-Eyes" earlier.

Turn 4: Zane
Zane switches "Cyberdark Horn" to Defense Position. He Normal Summons "Cyberdark Edge" (800/800) in Attack Position. He activates its effect, equipping it with the "Red-Eyes B. Chick" from Atticus' Graveyard, increasing its ATK by the equipped monster's ATK ("Cyberdark Edge" 800 → 1600/800). The ATK of "Darkness Dragon" deceases by 300 as there is one less Dragon-Type monster in Atticus' Graveyard ("Darkness Dragon" 3000 → 2700/2000). "Cyberdark Edge" attacks directly via its own effect by halving its ATK (Atticus 4000 → 3200). Zane Sets a card.

Turn 5: Atticus
Atticus activates "Dragon Heart", sending "Troop Dragon", "Mirage Dragon" and "Attachment Dragon" from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard, increasing its ATK by 1000 ("Darkness Dragon" 2700 → 3700/2000). As there are three more Dragon-Type monsters in the Graveyard, "Darkness Dragon" gains 900 ATK ("Darkness Dragon" 3700 → 4600/2000). "Darkness Dragon" attacks "Cyberdark Edge", with the equipped "Red-Eyes B. Chick" being destroyed instead. The ATK of "Darkness Dragon" increases by 300 as there is another Dragon-Type monster in the Graveyard ("Darkness Dragon" 4600 → 4900/2000). Zane activates his face-down "Power Wall", sending the top thirty cards of his Deck to the Graveyard to negate the 3000 Battle Damage he would have taken. At this point, Nightshroud takes control of Atticus and activates "Dragon's Gunfire", destroying "Cyberdark Edge" as it has 800 or less DEF. At the End Phase, the ATK gain from "Dragon Heart" disappears ("Darkness Dragon" 4900 → 3900/2000).

Turn 6: Zane
Zane activates his face-down "Call of the Haunted", Special Summoning "Cyberdark Edge" (800/800) from his Graveyard in Attack Position. He then Normal Summons "Cyberdark Keel" (800/800) in Attack Position. He activates "Polymerization", fusing "Cyberdark Edge", "Cyberdark Horn" and "Cyberdark Keel" to Fusion Summon "Cyberdark Dragon" (1000/1000) in Attack Position. He uses its effect to equip it with the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" from Atticus' Graveyard, increasing its ATK by the equipped monster's ATK ("Cyberdark Dragon" 1000 → 3400/1000). "Darkness Dragon" loses 300 ATK as there is one less Dragon-Type monster in Atticus' Graveyard ("Darkness Dragon" 3900 → 3600/2000). The effect of "Cyberdark Dragon" also increases its ATK by 100 for each card in Zane's Graveyard ("Cyberdark Dragon" 3400 → 7100/1000). "Cyberdark Dragon" attacks and destroys "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" (Atticus 3200 → 0).

ErrorsEdit

• In the dub, at one point, the "R" on Zane's belt is not erased, as it normally would be.
• In the dub Nightshroud mentions Zane only has three cards left but his duel disk shows a full deck.

Featured cardsEdit

The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.

NotesEdit

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} This card can be seen in the air after Zane used the effect of "Power Wall".