Moving right along to the next chapter...


Zane was walking through the halls, heading towards the Obelisk Blue dorm. He had spent some time at the beach, something he did on occasion. It was getting late quick though, and dinner would be starting soon.

While he was walking however, someone had accidentally ran right into him. The collision sent the person to the ground.

"You should watch where you're going," Zane stated.

"Yeah that was my bad," the person said, getting back up. When they saw Zane they smiled. "Oh hey, aren't you Zane Truesdale?"

"It's common courtesy to give your own name when asking for someone else's."

"Ha-ha, right. I'm Carmine Kojima. I just transferred here today."

"A transfer student? There's something that's rare around here," Zane said.

"Yeah so I've heard. I probably would have enrolled like everyone else but I didn't have a reason to at first."

Zane narrowed his eyes. "That so?"

"Oh, I forgot! I need to get to the Slifer Red dorm for dinner! It was nice meeting you Zane!"

Carmine soon left after that.

Kojima huh? Zane thought. Carmine Kojima…could it be? Hmm, guess I'll have to find out another time.

Zane just continued his way to his dorm.


As usual, Jaden chowed down during dinner. And as usual Syrus was trying to get him to slow down.

"Ease up Syrus," Jaden said. "I'm the kind of guy who knows how to throw down and chow down."

"Yeah well how about 'chowing down' more slowly? You're going to get sick at this rate!"

"Oh you're just overreacting Syrus," Jaden said, as he went back to eating.

Syrus just sighed. He figured it was futile at this rate. Syrus just ate his own dinner, at a much slower rate than Jaden, seeing as how he was the only one who hadn't eaten yet. Chumley finished his dinner not long ago. Of course he was muttering about how he wished he could have a grilled cheese sandwich, but that was just Chumley.

Syrus looked up when he saw Kojima, who had been sitting in the corner eating dinner, get up then leave the small dining hall. Guess he was done eating already too.

"Hey, doesn't Kojima have his own room?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah it's two doors down from ours," Jaden answered, once he finished his dinner. "Wonder if he's one of those loner-types. I mean, just this morning he didn't even bother to reply when I introduced myself."

"Maybe, I still think that maybe he just needs some time to adjust."

"If you say so Syrus," was all Jaden said.


The next time Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley met up with Kojima was in the hallway the next day. Since it was a Saturday, there weren't any classes to get to. Jaden and them were just on their way to the card shop to see if they could get some new cards. Then they saw Kojima coming from the direction of the shop.

"Hey, Jaden right?" Kojima said. "Sorry about yesterday. Wasn't in the best of moods to chat."

"Oh that? It's fine," Jaden said. "Hey if you were just at the card shop, mind telling us if they got any good cards?"

Kojima shrugged. "Nope. Haven't been to the shop. I've just been walking around really."

"Oh, well want to come with us then?"

Kojima shrugged again. "Why not? But I think I should introduce myself first. If you want you can call me Carmine. That's what I usually go by anyway."

"Well then nice to meet you Carmine."

"My name's Chumley Huffington," Chumley introduced.

"And I'm Syrus Truesdale."

Carmine smiled. "Nice to meet you guys then."

"So what kind of Deck do you have?" Jaden asked as the four headed to the shop.

"A bit of a mixture really," Carmine said. "Course I haven't really dueled in a long while."

"Well maybe after we hit the shop you and I can have a go," Jaden suggested with a smile.

"Uh, sure. Might as well get back into dueling somehow."

"Sweetness. First the card shop and then we throw down!"

"Is he always like this?" Carmine asked Syrus.

"Unfortunately," Syrus sighed. "He can be a bit of a hand full."

"A bit?"

"More like a lot sometimes."

"I'm sorry?"

"More unfortunately, I'm used to it by now," Syrus admitted.

Carmine chuckled as the four entered the card shop.

"See any cards packs you might want?" Carmine asked Syrus.

"Maybe," Syrus frowned. "But I'm not sure if I have enough points to get any."

"Oh," Carmine said. "What about you Chumley?"

"Chumley's checking out the sandwiches," Syrus said, pointing behind him. Carmine looked to see Chumley looking through the packs of sandwiches the shop also sold.

"Hey, check out this rare card I found!" Jaden smiled.

"Do you have enough points for it?" Carmine asked.

"No not really."

"Spend your points on sandwiches?"

"Kind of yeah," Jaden admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "How many points do you have?"

"None. Remember I just got here and I haven't been able to earn any yet."

"Well let's go change that then. Let's just have that duel now."

"You mean in a Dueling Arena and not in the store obviously."

"Yeah yeah you know what I mean."

Jaden and the others headed straight for the Dueling Field to duel. Jaden stood on one side while Carmine stood on the other. Of course before they went to the arena they had to pay a visit to the Slifer Red dorms to get Carmine's deck.

"Hope you're ready to get your game on," Jaden smirked as the two activated their Duel Disks.

"We'll see," Carmine chuckled.

(J: 4000)

(C: 4000)

"Why don't you go first?"

"Why thank you kindly," Jaden smiled as he drew a card. "First I'll summon Elemental HERO Sparkman (1) in attack mode. Then I'll throw down two cards face down."

"My turn then." Carmine drew a card from his deck and momentarily stumbled. Carmine shook his head then looked at his hand. "I place one monster face down then place two cards face down as well. Your move Jaden."

"Well alright then. My move." After Jaden drew a card he overlooked his hand. "First I'll have Sparkman attack your face down monster!"

Sparkman just lifted a fist as electricity gathered around it. Then he jumped up and slammed his fist on top of the face down card, only to have the electricity blow back and strike Jaden.

(J: 4000-3600)

"Hold up, why did Jaden loose Life Points?" Syrus wondered out loud.

"That's because my Humanoid Slime (2) has more defense points than Sparkman's attack points."

The card that Sparkman attacked flipped up and a light blue slime humanoid appeared, crossing its arms over its card.

"Alright, not a bad move. I'll just play Elemental HERO Clayman (3) in defense mode then end my turn."

Carmine nodded then drew a card. Not a second later his vision started to get blurry. Shaking it off he glanced at his cards, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Think he's okay?" Syrus whispered to Chumley, seeing this.

"Got me," Chumley whispered back. The two then focused back on the duel.

"I'll sacrifice my Humanoid Slime in order to summon Amphibian Beast (4) in attack mode!"

The slime monster then disappeared in order to make way for a tall green beast that had some amphibian-like features such as frills on its face, arms, and with webbed feet and hands.

"That is one wicked monster," Chumley awed.

"But I'm sure Jaden's got a way to counter it," Syrus said.

And judging from his smirk, he did.

"Better say good-bye to your giant frog because I play one of my face-downs—Trap Hole. This automatically destroys your monster due to the fact it has more than 1000 attack points."

Carmine smirked. "Nope, because I play my trap card Dark Bribe. This trap card negates the activation of your trap card. In exchange you get to draw one card." Jaden huffed then drew a card from his deck as Trap Hole was destroyed. "And now, Amphibian Beast, attack Sparkman!"

Amphibian Beast opened his mouth and shot out a strong jet of water right at Sparkman.

"Well that's not going to happen because I play my second face down Hero Barrier. With this card, your attack on my Sparkman is negated."

A force field appeared around Sparkman, shielding him from Amphibian Beast's attack. Carmine just wrinkled his nose.

"Fine then, I'll just place one card face down then activate my first face down Jar of Greed—allowing me to draw one card from my deck. I'll end my turn with that."

"Not a bad uel so far," Syrus commented.

"Yeah but I don't think Carmine is doing okay," Chumley added. True enough, as Jaden drew a card, Carmine started swaying on the spot. Jaden noticed this and asked if he was okay. Carmine didn't even get a chance to answer as he collapsed. While Jaden and the others rushed over, all the holograms from the Duel faded away.

"We need to get him to Miss Fontaine," Jaden said as Syrus helped get Carmine on Chumley's back in order to carry him. "Come on let's hurry."

"Oh great, running," Chumley groaned as the trio headed towards the infirmary.


Waking up in the infirmary was definitely not something Carmine enjoyed. Thankfully Miss Fontaine was able to help Carmine get over the shock.

"Seems you're awake," she smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than before," Carmine admitted.

"Good to hear."

"Hey Jay! Carmine's awake!" a familiar voice called.

"Seriously? Move!"

Before long Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley appeared looking relieved.

"Hey you're okay," Jaden smiled. "You scared us when you passed out like that in the middle of our duel."

"Yeah why was that Miss Fontaine?" Syrus asked.

"Is it because of my anemia?" Carmine asked. Miss Fontaine nodded.

"Do you have any pills for that?"

"I've got my vitamins yeah," Carmine answered, sitting up. "I take them everyday before breakfast."

"Well then from what I can conclude, you just didn't get enough to eat today. I'll have to write a note to Professor Banner to make sure you eat enough. After all, a growing girl such as yourself, especially one suffering from anemia, needs all the protein you can get."

While Carmine nodded, Jaden and the others stared at Miss Fontaine in disbelief then at Carmine.

"Whoa. You're a girl!"

Carmine blushed. "Well…yeah. You didn't notice?"

The three boys shook their heads.

"Oh…well," Carmine pulled the visor of her hat lower in attempts to hide her blush. "My bad."

"Well if you'll excuse me I have some matters to attend to apparently." Miss Fontaine turned to Carmine. "You should rest some more just in case. But before you leave see me and I'll see if I can't get Dorothy to cook up a meal for you too."

Carmine nodded as Miss Fontaine left.

"Whoa, free meal? Think I'll get one if I pretend to be anemic?" Jaden joked. Carmine giggled.

"Sorry Jay. Don't think you can pull that off. Plus, being anemic isn't very fun. Having to constantly check to make sure you've eaten enough, taken your vitamins, not staying out in the blazing sun too long, staying hydrated and what not," Carmine huffed. "But I digress."

"So why'd you pretend to be a boy?" Syrus inquired.

"I wasn't pretending."

"But you're wearing the boy's uniform."

Carmine shrugged. "It was the only uniform they gave me."

"But you're also wearing such big clothes."

Carmine blushed again. "Most of my clothes are big."

"And the hat?"

Carmine gripped the bed sheets and readjusted her hat.

"Reasons," was all she said. Then she took off said hat, showing her layered short black hair, scratched the back of her head, then placed the hat back on. "Anyway, sorry for worrying you guys."

"Ah s'okay, we're just glad to see that you're alright," Jaden smiled. "Too bad about the duel though. Well, good for you though."

Carmine raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I drew this."

Jaden showed her a Polymerization card.

"You were planning on fusing Sparkman and Clayman together huh?"

Jaden nodded.

"Yeah well, we'll just let you rest now Carmine," Syrus said.

"See you back at the dorm!" Jaden waved as the three boys left.

"I'll buy you a sandwich from the shop!" Chumley said.

"Yeah if you don't eat it!" Syrus laughed. Carmine just smiled then laid back down and drifted off to sleep.


Cards appearing in this chapter:

(1)

Elemental HERO Sparkman

Attribute: Light

Type: Warrior

Level: 4

ATK/DEF: 1600/1400

(2)

Humaniod Slime

Attribute: Water

Type: Aqua

Level: 4

ATK/DEF: 800/2000

(3)

Elemental HERO Clayman

Attribute: Earth

Type: Warrior

Level: 4

ATK/DEF: 800/2000

(4)

Amphibian Beast

Attribute: Water

Type: Fish

Level: 6

ATK/DEF: 2400/2000


Another chapter over and done with. Until next chapter!