Here we go again! Sakura, do your thing!
Sakura: Wolf don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, if she did Jaden and Jesse would have gotten together. She only owns her OC's and any cards she makes up.
Chapter 3: Reunion and Punishment
The three Slifer boys just left the Abandoned Dorm, with Chumley carrying Alexis and Jaden carrying his brother, who had passed out shortly after regaining consciousness. They had decided to wait for Alexis to come around before Jaden took Kaizen to the infirmary.
They didn't have to wait long soon they heard Alexis stir and slowly come back to reality. When she was fully awake, she found herself in the forest with Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and an unconscious boy that looked like Jaden but she had never seen him before. "Where am I?"
"Hey, morning sleepyhead," Jaden said, staying close to his brother's side.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded.
"Hey, what kind of a thanks is that?" Jaden asked in his usual laid back tone. "We're here because we had to fight the bad guy, win the duel, save the damsel in distress, and reunite with the knight's magician brother along the way." That last part was said with a glance at Kai.
"Yeah, that strange man snatched me," Alexis remembered, "But, who's that guy?"
Jaden looked at his brother. The sight of him after so long and seeing the weaken state he was in made the tears threaten to fall all over again. A few actually formed in the corners of his eyes. He rubbed at his eyes to get rid of them, but Alexis saw them.
This took her aback, never seeing Jaden look so pained. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell what's going on if you don't want to."
"No, I need to. If I don't say now then it will never come out," With that, Jaden told her and the guys everything, from the kidnapping months ago to what had happened in his duel at the end.
Alexis was stunned to learn that the other brown haired boy was Jaden's brother and even more so by what they had been through in both occasions. She felt empathy for Jaden, knowing what it was like to lose a sibling. She took the time to get a better look at Kaizen and she admitted that he was kind of handsome, but she quickly shot that thought down.
Jaden took the time after that to change the subject. "Oh right, we found your card… and this!" He handed Alexis her Etoile Cyber along with the picture of the brown hair Obelisk boy.
Alexis nearly gasped at who was in the photo, "My brother?! This the first trace I've seen of him in a long time!"
Jaden smiled, "I brought it to you to let you know that we want to help you find him. After all, we can't have you going around getting locked up in anymore tombs looking for him by yourself."
"You were really worried about me, weren't you?" Alexis commented.
Before he could answer, Jaden noticed that the sun was rising and he still had to get Kaizen to the infirmary. "Uh oh, sun's up. Syrus, how 'bout you go to the dorm and cover for us if anyone asks. Chumley and I will take Kai to nurse's office." He suggested.
The boys nodded, thinking it was a good plan.
"Bye, Alexis!" Syrus said as they got up, Chumley helping Jaden get Kaizen up.
"Yeah, later!" Chumley followed.
"See you in class!" Jaden said, and they all left toward the dorm/main building, "Oh, and if anyone asks, we were never here!"
As they left, Alexis looked back down at the photo of her brother, 'But you were and you saved me, and now I may have the chance to save my brother, too.'
After Syrus got to the dorm, Chumley and Jaden made their way to the nurse's office. When they got there, Jaden said he would finish this himself. Chumley agreed, mainly because he wanted to go to bed. So, Jaden took his brother and went into the nurse's office.
By a stroke of luck, despite it being Saturday, Nurse Fontaine, a young woman with brown hair in a bun and blue eyes wearing a pink dress and an Obelisk coat, was in the office. "Nurse Fontaine, I have someone who needs help!" he said.
Fontaine turned and gasped when saw the boy Jaden was helping carrying into the room. She had him lay him down on one of the beds and got a second shock when she saw how similar the mystery boy looked to Jaden. She pushed those thoughts aside and did her examination.
Jaden stayed there through the whole thing, afraid to leave his brother alone with anyone even if it was with a nurse. "Is he going to be okay?" He asked, afraid of the answer.
The nurse turned to him, "He'll be fine. What he needs now is rest and some nourishment."
Jaden sighed in relief. "But Jaden, you need to tell me who he is and what's going on." she said, sternly.
Jaden looked at the floor, afraid he would fall apart again if he started talking. "Could I explain things later? Right now, I want to stay with my brother," He said, not realizing what he had just said.
Fontaine was shocked to hear that this was his brother and wanted to press for more information, but after seeing the uncomfortable look in Jaden's eyes she decided against it.
She sighed. "Alright, you can stay with him, but only if you promise me to tell me everything at some point, because I'm going to have to tell the Chancellor about this."
Jaden was surprised by the fact he was being allowed to stay, but nodded. He then sat down in a chair next to Kaizen's head and soon fell asleep.
Meanwhile, the nurse sat down at her computer and looked up Jaden's file. When she went to the part that listed immediate family, she noticed another name besides the names of his mother and father. Kaizen Skylar Yuki.
When she clicked on the name, Kaizen's medical file along with an incomplete Duel Academy application. She also saw another link attached to the name. She clicked on it and an old newspaper article came up. The more she read the article, the more shocked she became.
She took one last look at the boys, her heart clenching at what they went through, and then left for Chancellor Sheppard's office.
Early Sunday Morning
It was early on Sunday morning, the sun hadn't come up yet and it was really foggy out. You would think that no one would be up at this hour, but someone was. That someone was a male with blue hair that reached his shoulder wearing an Obelisk uniform that was more white than blue. His name was Zane Truesdale, the top ranked duelist at the academy. He was just standing by the lighthouse, staring out at the sea.
Around this time Alexis Rhodes was also up at this hour and was walking on the docks toward the lighthouse when she saw Zane standing there. "Zane?" she called out. The older male didn't turn toward her, but he knew who it was. "What are you doing out here?"
"Nothing. Just felt like being alone." He replied in a gruff, neutral voice.
Alexis came and stood next to him. "You know, when your little brother enrolled here, I thought won't to be alone less, not more."
"That's because he doesn't belong here." He stated bluntly.
About two hours later
A truck filled with soldiers pulled up to the Slifer dorm. The men started to climb the stairs, when Professor Banner, along with Pharoah, exited his room on the ground level.
"Aren't you boys a little old to be playing war games?" He wondered out loud, because he was still half asleep. "Really guys, how about a nice quiet game of charades?"
When he finally saw what was going on, he was then wide awake. "Oh no, it's the Disciplinary Action Squad! They only show up when a student is in serious trouble, and they're heading right for Jaden's room!"
Inside the room in question, Syrus and Chumley were still asleep because it was a free day. Jaden was in the infirmary with his brother, having been given permission from the nurse to stay with his brother.
Unfortunately, sleep was cut short by a forceful knock on the door stirring the occupants. "Open this door! Open this door right now or we'll break it down!"
Chumley was the first to speak. Yawning, "You and what army?"
"The Disciplinary Action Squad Army!"
That got them fully awake. "Disciplinary Action Squad!" Chumley shouted.
Syrus got down from the middle bunk and opened the door. He was startled and terrified to find a group of people in dark uniforms standing outside his dorm room. Most were men, except for the leader who was a woman.
She looked Syrus over, "You must be Syrus Truesdale…"
"Um… yes?"
She looked over his shoulder and frowned when she noticed the other they were sent to get wasn't there. "Where is Jaden Yuki?" she asked.
Syrus tensed at this. "Uh…he's in the infirmary…"
The woman looked at him. "You and Jaden are under campus arrest!"
"Arrest?" Syrus cried, "What for?"
"That will be made clear at the interrogation," she informed him, "Now get dressed!"
Infirmary
Jaden was asleep in the chair next to the bed where his brother was sleeping. His brother had been sleeping since yesterday, only waking up a few times but then falling back to sleep. It seemed to take what little energy he had just to open his eyes. It took some doing but he convinced Nurse Fontaine to let him stay the night with Kaizen.
Alexis had just entered and smiled sadly at the two brothers. She understood Jaden's pain, and was actually kind of jealous that he got his brother back first. She headed over to the boys and got a better look at the mysterious Yuki brother. Even though they were almost identical in looks, she could tell that Kaizen was probably the more serious of the two. She also had to admit that Kaizen was kinda handsome.
She turned when she heard the door open and saw the nurse enter. "How is he, Nurse Fontaine?" she asked the older woman.
The brunette doctor just sighed, "I'm afraid his condition hasn't changed yet. Still, he's in stable condition. I estimate that he should wake up by the end of the day, if not sooner."
"That's good to hear," said a sleepy voice. The ladies turned to see that Jaden had woken up.
"Now how are you feeling, Jaden?" Alexis asked the Slifer brunette.
"I've had better sleep, if that's what you mean." he responded.
Alexis laughed at that. But before anyone could say anything else, the DASA leader and three of her men stormed into the room startling the people in there.
"What is the meaning of this?" Nurse Fontaine demanded, but she was ignored.
Instead, the commander turned her attention to Jaden. "Jaden Yuki, you are hereby placed under campus arrest!"
"What?! What did I do?!" asked Jaden, incredulously.
"That will be made clear in the interrogation," The commander said, firmly, "Now, let's go."
"No!" Jaden snapped, surprising everyone. No one thought he was capable of it. "I'm not leaving my brother!"
That took the campus police by surprise. Like the nurse, the knowledge that Jaden had a brother was unknown to them.
"Jaden," Alexis spoke calmly, like a mother would an upset child, "It's okay. I'll watch your brother. He'll be okay."
Jaden looked at her for a moment and hesitated. True, he trusted Alexis, but he was afraid to leave his brother's side. With an encouraging smile from both Alexis and Nurse Fontaine, Jaden nodded and left with the DAS.
Interrogation Room
When Jaden arrived at the interrogation room, he was joined by Syrus, who was really freaked out. Before either could speak, the six large screens turned on, each showing a different person. Three of them were Dr. Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, and the woman from the DAS. They were not only told what they were here for, they were also told what was going to happen because of it.
"What?! Suspension?!" They cried at the same time.
"That's what I suggest," the commander said, "You two trespassed in the Abandoned Dorm, an anonymous letter from one of the faculty confirms it. You two must be punished to set an example for the other students! Not to mention we still have questions about the boy in the infirmary who's clearly not a student!"
Jaden flinched at that.
"But what kind of example are we setting, that we're a bunch of hard-hearted tyrants?" Crowler jumped in. "I say we arrange something a bit more sporting…"
"Sporting?" Jaden asked getting suspicious. "What do you mean?"
"Well Jaden, off the top of my head… how about you and Syrus team up in a tag duel?" Crowler suggested, "Win and you're off the hook… lose, and you're both expelled?"
"A tag-duel?" Jaden smiled at the thought. "That sounds sweet!"
Syrus turned to him, his face saying he didn't like this idea, "B-but Jaden, he said we'd get expelled!" he whimpered.
"Chancellor, I believe they have accepted the conditions?" Crowler asked Shephard.
Sheppard nodded. "Very well… I'll arrange some opponents."
"Oh no, Chancellor," Crowler cut in, looking back at the two Slifers. "Don't worry yourself! Leave that to me."
"What about the other boy?" the commander pressed.
"Well, I say we interrogate him when he wakes up and and then send him back to wherever he came from." Crowler said like it was so simple.
Jaden went rigid at that. He didn't want to be separated from his brother again. Thankfully, Sheppard saw the change in mood in the brunette.
"That's enough, Dr. Crowler," Sheppard said sternly, making Crowler shut up. He then turned his attention to Jaden. "Jaden, I'm aware of your connection to the boy as well as what happened a few months before the start of the year."
Jaden looked at the chancellor, surprised that anyone knew. "With this in mind, I want to hear the events from you before I make a final decision." he finished kindly, knowing Jaden's state of mind about the situation. He didn't want to reopen any scars that had healed, if any.
Jaden sighed, trying to get himself together. "Yes, sir." With all eyes on him, Jaden told his story, starting from the kidnapping, to learning of the Abandoned Dorm, to having to duel his former kidnapper, and finally, getting Kaizen back.
After that, everyone was in stunned silence, even Crowler, who was now feeling guilty about what he had done. While he didn't like Jaden, he would have never hired Titan to do the job if he had known of the history between the two. But he couldn't change his decision now or he would look suspicious. Syrus just put his hand on his best friend's shoulder, who looked like he was about to start crying all over again.
"I see," Shephard said, being the first to break the silence, "Given the turn of events, I have decided that once Kaizen recovers, he will duel one of our students and how he performs will determine what dorm he will be placed in. For now, we shall enroll him as an exchange student staying in Slifer Red. I shall inform Professor Banner to make living arrangements and have Ms. Dorothy see if we have any spare Slifer uniforms on hand. Jaden, when this is over, I ask that you go get that along with your brother's new school PDA and duel disk. Are we all in agreement?"
Everyone agreed, even Crowler, though he wasn't too excited about having another Yuki at the school, especially if he was anything like his brother, the last thing he wanted was another slacker in the school. "Very well, I believe we are done here." With that, the screens went dark and the boys were allowed to go.
Infirmary
Alexis was still by Kaizen's side as he slept when Jaden came back with Kaizen's new uniform and school stuff to drop off before heading back to his room to work on his deck. He told Alexis what was happening and she was horrified, because she had seen Syrus duel and he had a lot of kinks in his form. Jaden told her not to worry and headed to his dorm after asking Alexis to keep an eye on his brother for a little longer.
But after he left, Alexis asked the nurse if she could watch him instead so she could go talk to the chancellor and left. Not even five minutes after she left for the main office, Nurse Fontaine heard a noise like a moan come from where Kaizen was resting and was shocked to see him coming around. "Oh my! You're awake!"
Kaizen groaned before he fully opened his eyes. He looked around and saw almost all white around him and noticed he was laying in a hospital bed. With a bit of difficulty, he sat up slightly, "Where am I?" he asked in a voice that was hoarse from disuse.
"You're in the infirmary at Duel Academy." At the sound of the voice, he turned to see the nurse walk over to him to check his physicals and vitals. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"The last thing I remember was pain and, then this numbing, cold feeling. I think I was dueling someone...I think he called himself a shadow duelist…" he answered with a strained look on his face.
Then Kai got a wide eyed look. "Jaden! Where's my brother?! Is he okay?!" he asked in a panicked tone.
"Calm down, it's okay." she said, in a soothing manner. "You're brother's okay. The incident happened a few months ago. That man's gone and your brother's safe. It's all over."
Kaizen sighed in relief, even though he was slightly unnerved by the fact he was trapped in the Shadow Realm for that long, then something she said finally registered in his brain, "Wait a minute, did you say I'm at Duel Academy?" he asked, with an excited smile growing on his face.
"Yes, she did," came a third voice from the entrance. The first two occupants of the room looked to see Professor Banner had entered the room with Pharaoh in his arms. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Kaizen. My name is Professor Lyman Banner, one of the teachers here at Duel Academy."
"Wow," Kaizen breathed, "How did I get here?"
"Your brother and his roommates found you unconscious in the Abandoned Dorm." Nurse Fontaine answered. "I'm surprised you're awake after a short time."
"Unfortunately, finding you may cost them being students here." Banner mentioned, uneasily.
"What do you mean?" Kaizen asked, suspiciously.
With a sigh, the professor told them about the trouble Jaden and Syrus were in and the upcoming tag duels that would decide their futures. Kaizen was startled, guilty, and slightly annoyed with his brother for getting himself into this kind of trouble.
"But, that also leads me to my next order of business," Banner said, getting Kaizen's attention. "Since you planned to become a student here before the accident, the chancellor decided to let you enroll anyway."
Both adults got a smile on their faces when they saw the older Yuki's face light up. "We won't be able to make anything official until the nurse gives you the ok to duel, so until she does you'll be listed as an exchange student in the Slifer dorm. The chancellor also wants to see you to give you more information. Now," Banner then turned and gestured to the box left on one of the beds, "Here is your uniform and school PDA. When you change, I'll take you to the main office."
Kaizen nodded, got up, and took the box into the bathroom. He came back out wearing the same shirt and jeans with the Slifer jacket and he had traded his hiking boots in for the uniform shoes. "Alright, let's go!"
Chancellor's Office
Meanwhile, the chancellor got an unexpected visitor in the form of Chumley, who went there after hearing about the conditions Jaden and Syrus were placed in. "You wanted to see me, Chumley?"
The older Slifer looked ready to back down, but he screwed up enough courage to tell the Chancellor what's up, "Yeah. Look I just wanted to say that I...I was in the Abandoned Dorm too! And that...I should be the one to duel with Jaden!"
"No, it should be me." Chumley turned to see Alexis walk up to the desk walk in, the door closing behind her. Chancellor Sheppard was surprised by this, since he was not expecting her.
"Listen chancellor, they were at the dorm helping me." Alexis said as she stepped in front of the desk.
"That's totally bogus, Alexis." Chumley interjected. "I led them there because I wanted to check out it's...abandoned cafeteria."
"Fat chance, Chumley," Alexis said. "Please Chancellor, let me be Jaden's partner."
"I'm glad to see that my brother has some real good friends." came a new voice from the the door. The three turned to see Professor Banner and a now awake Kai standing in the doorway.
"I brought Mr. Yuki as you requested, Chancellor." Professor Banner spoke up.
"Thank you, Banner. I'll take it from here." Banner nodded, but stayed in the room in case he was needed.
Sheppard then turned to Kaizen. "Well, no need to just stand in the doorway Kaizen. You may come up here."
Kaizen nodded, suddenly feeling unusually shy for some reason. He's always been good with other people, but seeing has how he had just spent the last few months in a place that not even his worst nightmares could come up with, one could understand why he would be nervous. When he stood in front of the chancellor's desk, he began to feel more at ease with two others there.
"Hi, my name's Kaizen Yuki, but everyone just calls me Kai." he introduced himself to his brother's friends.
"Yeah, we heard about you from Jaden," The large boy who reminded Kaizen weirdly of a koala, said, smiling at him. "I'm Chumley. Your brother and I are roommates."
"Nice to meet you." Kai answered, shaking his hand.
"And I'm Alexis." added the girl beside him.
He turned to shake her hand, but when he looked at her directly, his voice caught in his throat. He wasn't sure what it was, but this person had a certain simplistic beauty to her, she wasn't over the top gorgeous but not completely plain either.
"It's nice to meet you, Kai." Her words managed to bring him back to reality.
"It's nice to meet you all." Kai said, smiling. Then he turned to the chancellor and turned serious. "So what kind of trouble has my brother gotten himself into this time?"
Sheppard smiled, glad the boys had such good friends, and that Jaden had such a caring brother. However, he still had to keep some authority. "Look, I know the stakes are high, but the decision is final. Syrus will be Jaden's tag partner. I'm sure they'll be fine."
Chumley and Alexis just looked at each other, both knowing this wasn't going to be easy for Syrus. Kaizen was about to ask what the looks were about when Sheppard directed his attention at him. "Now, Kaizen, I understand that you were planning to enroll here along with your brother before the um… incidente happened. For this reason, I have decided that for right now, you'll be in the Slifer Red dorm as an exchange student until you're well enough to duel. Then, I'll have one of our students duel you, and depending on how you duel, will determine what dorm you're placed in as an official student. Sound good?"
Kaizen was stunned that he was being offered a chance, but smiled and nodded. "Yes, thank you sir."
Alexis and Chumley were equally happy about this and knew Jaden would be happy too.
"Alright," said Sheppard, turning back to Banner. "I take it that rooming has been taken care of."
"Yes, sir," Banner nodded. "I figured given the circumstances, Kaizen might feel more comfortable staying in Jaden's room, being near someone familiar."
Sheppard nodded in agreement. "Very well. Kaizen, we shall have you room with your brother until further notice. Sound good?"
Kaizen nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, sir. Now if you'll all excuse me, I must go lecture my brother about doing stupid things while shaking my finger in a disapproving manner."
Everyone burst out laughing at this one.
"Come on, Kai, I'll show you the way to the dorm." Chumley said, getting over his laughter.
Kai nodded and followed Chumley out of the office. Everyone was thinking the same thing, the year was about to get doubly interesting.
Slifer Dorm
The boys had arrived at the dorm, and to Chumley's surprise Kaizen liked it. "It looks like the motels you see in the action movies right before the fugitive makes a run for it."
The boys kept talking as they entered their room, but were interrupted by a short, distraught bluenette. "Did he say yes?!"
They had just barely entered the room before a short bluenette with glasses, who Kaizen didn't know, latched onto Chumley with a worried look on his face. "Please tell me he said yes! If I'm Jaden's partner I'll get us both expelled!"
Chumley remembered what he'd been doing in the office before Kai walked in and he sobered up. "I tried Syrus!" He said. "I even lied and said I was the one who led you guys to the dorm!"
"Well, you did lead us to it's cafeteria…" Jaden offered as he sat at his desk, going through his desk.
"Typical you, you always try to make light of the situation." Kaizen noted, walking into the room a bit to look around.
Jaden turned at the sound of his brother's voice and was surprised to see him standing there. Then, just almost out of nowhere, Jaden dropped what he was doing and tackled his brother in a hug, almost making them both fall down. "Whoa, easy Jaden! Man, I forgot how strong you actually are!"
Kaizen was going to say more but then he felt Jaden start trembling slightly against him. "It's okay bro, don't cry." He said gently, returning the hug.
"I thought I'd never see you again!" Jaden sobbed lightly.
The other two boys in the room weren't sure whether to leave or not, to give the brothers some privacy.
"I'm back now, little brother," Kai said, soothingly to his brother. "And I promise I'll never leave you again."
After a few more minutes of crying, Jaden took a shuddery breath and stepped back to look at his brother, his usual smile back on his face. "I missed you, Kai." He said one more time, before remembering something.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I kept this safe for you." He reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a card, handing it to Kai. Kaizen looked at the card and smiled at the familiar blond magician girl, whose spirit appeared next to him.
"Welcome back, master Kai!" DMG cheered, happy to be back with her duelist.
Kai smiled at her, before turning to his brother with a serious face. "Alright, so what happened while I was gone?" He asked, wanting to hear the story from Jaden.
After hearing the story again, Kaizen wasn't sure whether to be happy that Jaden never stopped looking for him or whether to be annoyed that Jaden would do something this reckless. Kaizen just sighed. "Are sure you're going to be okay?"
"Don't worry, Sy and I can handle this!" Jaden said, back to being upbeat and happy like before.
Syrus chimed in at that. "How can you be so calm about this Jaden? Aren't you scared that I'm going to get us kicked out?"
Jaden looked at Syrus and shook his head, "Nah, I wouldn't have any other partner!"
"Are you out of your mind?!" Syrus cried.
"High strung little fella, ain't he?" Kaizen cracked with a wry smile.
Jaden playfully smacked him on the shoulder with a laugh. Jaden then focused his attention back on Syrus, "Look, Syrus, we're going to go in there, duel our hardest, and win the match. Know why?"
"Not really…" Syrus said, unsure.
"Cause you and I are going to work out our kinks right now. So grab your deck, cause we're gonna duel!" Jaden exclaimed, always excited.
"Uh…" Syrus just stood there for a moment, then what he said had sunk in, "W-What?!"
Later, outside by the ocean
Chumley and Kaizen stood up on the cliff side, while Syrus and Jaden stood on the outcove down below them. Syrus was nervous, but Jaden was all smiles and excitement at the idea of a duel. Kaizen just smiled, knowing his brother's tactic at helping struggling duelists, and it was very different from his method.
"Ok guys, remember this is just practice for your upcoming tag match, so go easy!" Chumley called down to them.
"Slight problem, Chumley, my brother doesn't know how to go easy." Kai said.
"That's probably a good thing." Chumley and Kaizen turned to see Alexis walking toward them.
"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.
"It means I know Dr. Crowler and he's not going to put them up against a couple of pushovers," Alexis said. "Both Jaden and Syrus will have to be at their best, because if they're not, they could both be expelled."
"Alright Syrus," Jaden said, inserting his deck. "Get your game on! Let's have some fun!"
"Yeah…fun," Syrus muttered. "Might as well before we get kicked out of here."
"What was that, Sy?" Jaden asked, not quite catching that.
Syrus jumped, "Uh…nothing."
"Then, let's duel!" Jaden exclaimed, back on his one track mind for dueling.
"Yeah, yeah…let's duel." Syrus said, sighing.
Jaden: 4000
Syrus: 4000
Jaden drew his hand. "Here I come, Syrus," he drew his card and looked at his hand.
'Sweet,' Jaden thought, already having a plan. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode."
A green winged warrior appeared in front of him (1000/1000). "Then I'll throw down a face-down and end my turn! Your go!"
Syrus drew his card. "Let's see…" He looked at the card he had just drawn and smiled. 'Hey! My Patroid has enough power to take out Jaden's Avian!'
"Hey, Syrus, what's that smile for?" Jaden called over to him. "You get something good?"
Panicking, Syrus answered, "Uh… yeah, I think so. I summon Patroid in attack mode!" He declared as his monster appeared. It looked like a police card from kid show, complete with big eyes, a police hat on the roof, and its wheels sticking out like arms and legs (1200/1200).
"Now attack, with Siren Smasher!" Patroid sped towards Avian, its sirens blaring and lights flashing.
"Not so fast, Syrus! I play a trap, Negate Attack!" Jaden declared, activating his card. The trap unleashed a strange vortex that forced Patroid back, away from Avian, keeping the winged hero safe for the time being.
"Aw man," Syrus moaned. "I should've known your face-down was a trap."
"Duh…Syrus walked right into that one." Chumley muttered.
"This is bad," Alexis noted, solemnly. "They'll never make it through the tag duel if Syrus keeps playing like this."
Kaizen kept staring at the duel, analyzing all the moves made, seeing where all the strategies were aimed and where they were going. He could already see Syrus had no real plan, which was a problem, but he could also see a lot of potential in him and that all he seriously lacked was the confidence.
"Doncha ya think dirt is just the greatest thing, Jay?" Syrus asked, since he was crouched down and making designs in the dirt.
"Sy! Don't quite in me now! You just made a mistake, that's all!" Jaden said.
Syrus rose to his feet. "Yeah, the mistake of coming to this school…"
Jaden disagreed. "No, Sy, you just forgot about Patroid's special ability. Once per turn, he lets you check out one of your face-down cards. You could've seen my trap and played something to stop it." He explained.
"Yeah, I know I'm no good," Syrus looked away. "I don't belong here."
"Whoa, hold on! I didn't mean anything like that!" Jaden jumped, trying to reassure his friend.
Syrus lowered his head. "I know you didn't mean anything by that, Jaden. It's just that…"
Jaden stopped him. "No, you're right. I shouldn't butt in. We're opponents right now and from now on, we should act like it! And now it's my turn!" He drew his card.
"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" A warrior in blue and gold armor appeared next to Avian, sparks flying out everywhere (1600/1400).
"And now I'll have Sparkman attack Patroid!" Syrus watched as Sparkman created a spear of lightning and threw it at Patroid. Patroid let out a strange siren sound and then exploded.
Jaden: 4000
Syrus: 3600
"And now, Avian, attack Sy directly!" Jaden declared. "Windstorm Strike!"
Avian lept into the air and beat his wings hard, creating a gust of wind that knocked Syrus clear off his feet.
Jaden: 4000
Syrus: 2600
"Last, I'll lay a card face-down and end my turn." Jade concluded as Avian came back to his field.
Syrus sat up, smiling for some odd reason. "Can I crack up now? I just got nailed on both our turns! I can't win!"
"Of course you can win, Syrus!" Alexis called down to him. "You just have to believe in yourself!"
"Yeah, Sy!" Kai added. "Your machines have some pretty powerful abilities, you just need to learn how to utilize them!"
"They're right, Sy! Don't give up! I mean, duh, that's the first thing they teach you in Freshman Dueling class! I should know! I had to take it twice!" Chumley shouted.
"Huh?!" Kaizen asked, looking at the koala boy wondering just what year he was in.
Syrus thought the words over, and then looked at his deck. "He's right. I'm not just dueling for myself, I'm dueling for Jaden too!" He pushed himself from the dirt. "It's time I started acting like it."
"Come on, Syrus, you can do this!" Alexis shouted.
Chumley nodded. "Yeah, go for it Syrus! You just gotta believe in yourself! Duh!"
"You've got people up here who want to see this play out!" Kai added, having settled down on the grass with his legs dangling over the side of the ledge.
Alexis giggled and looked at the boys. "You know, you two are really good with words of encouragement."
"Thanks!" Kaizen smiled. "Lots of practice from when I was helping Jaden learn to duel."
Alexis was surprised. Jaden's brother taught him how to duel? She started wondering just how good Kaizen really was.
Chumley was surprised by the comment and the information, but he smiled slightly. "Thanks, I got all kinds of books on self-esteem and self-confidence. For some reason my dad getting them for me."
"Yeah, I wonder why…" Alexis said, still half in her thoughts. "Well thanks to you, Syrus is back to playing in the duel instead of playing in the dirt."
Alexis then looked back down at her two friends. "The only question now is how well will he play from here on out…"
"Alright…here goes nothing…" Syrus drew his next card and looked down at his hand. 'I don't have anything in my hand that could take down Avian or Sparkman. I'll have to go with a different strategy.'
"I play the spell card Pot of Greed! This lets me draw 2 new cards from my deck!" Syrus drew two new cards.
'Huh?!' Syrus stared at the cards he just drew. One was Polymerization and the other card was…'Power Bond?!'
'Judging from Syrus' face he must have drawn a sweet card!' Jaden thought as he watched his friend stare at his cards.
"Power Bond's like Polymerization only better." Syrus whispered to himself. "If I summon a Machine type fusion monster, it's attack points will double!"
His shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes. "Oh well, I'm not good enough to play a card this strong…at least not according to my brother…"
Flashback
"I'll never forget that day. It was back in grade school and I was dueling this really mean bully. It was my big chance to stand up to him, my big chance to show him that I wouldn't be pushed around anymore."
Syrus: 1600
Bully: 1900
A younger Syrus was a facing a bigger bully at the school playground. The bully only had a face down while Syrus had nothing.
"Alright, you're going down!" Syrus drew his next card and smiled, very happy with his luck.
'Awesome, Power Bond! The card my brother gave me! I'll win for sure now!' He looked up at the bully, smiling.
"Quit stalling, ya pip-squeak! You're gonna lose, so let's just get it over with!" The bully shouted.
"That's what you think!" Syrus said confidently. "This duel's mine!"
"Yeah, right!" The bully snapped back. "The only thing you're gonna get is a serious butt kicking!"
Syrus laughed at him. "Sorry, but I'm not scared of your nasty threats! Ya hear that? I'm not afraid of you anymore! You know why?"
He raised his card high, ready to play it. "'Cause I'm the one who's gonna take you down!"
"STOP!" A voice shouted from behind them.
Syrus stopped in the middle of his movement, which caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. "Hey, who said that?!"
A taller, older boy in a blue school uniform walked by with his dark blue hair swaying behind him. "Zane?!"
His older brother walked up to the bully and held up a card. "This duel never happened, understand? Just take the card and go."
The bully looked at the card and laughed. "Nice card. You've got yourself a deal!" He swiped the card from Zane's hand and walked away.
"What're you doing Zane?!" Syrus demanded, picking himself up. "I was about to win this duel with the card you gave me!"
Zane didn't turn around to face his brother. "No you weren't Syrus, and if I would never have given you that card if I had known you were going to misplay it!" he snapped.
"Misplay? What're you talking about? I wasn't gonna misplay it!" Syrus defended.
"Yes you were!" Zane countered, holding up a card. "This was the face down card the kid had on the field!"
Syrus peered at the trap card and instantly recognized it. "Spellbinding Circle!"
"Exactly! When this trap is sprung, the monster attacking is forced to stop its attack and it can't change battle positions," Zane explained. "So you would've attacked using a monster you summoned with Power Bond, and it's attack points would have doubled! But Spellbinding Circle would have prevented you from attacking and you would have lost the rest of your life points from using Power Bond!"
He was right and Syrus knew it. "You weren't thinking Syrus, you didn't take into account the face down card or Power Bond's cost effect! Sure you may know how to use it, but there's more to dueling than just that!"
Present
"Just holding this card gives me the chills," Syrus muttered, still staring that the card in his hand. "And what he mean by there's more to dueling than just playing a card?"
Kaizen looked over at Syrus' hand and saw the cards he needed to win. 'Looks like Jaden's about to have his first lose in a long time.'
'Judging by that look, Syrus must have drawn some pretty sweets cards.' Jaden thought. "Hey! You alright over there Sy?"
Syrus snapped out of his trance and looked at Jaden. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine." He put Power Bond in his hand and used a different card. "I play the spell card Polymerization! I fuse the Gyroid and Steamroid in my hand to create Steam Gyroid!"
'What the heck is he doing?!' Kaizen thought, scowling as he watched the scene unfold.
A swirling vortex opened and two cartoon like vehicles appeared on the field, one looked like a helicopter and the other looked like a train. Both were sucked into the vortex and out came a monster with Steamroid's body and Gyroid's propellers. This must be Steam Gyroid (2400/1500).
"Alright, Steam Gyroid, it's time to go loco-motive!" Syrus commanded. "Attack! Train Twister!"
Steam Gyroid rotated his fans fast, creating a wind funnel that shot upward and then curved and slammed into Avian. The winged hero struggled for a few minutes before hearing a loud whistling sound. Steam Gyroid raced through the funnel and slammed into Avian, destroying him.
Jaden: 2800
Syrus: 2600
"Gotcha!" Syrus cheered. "Had enough practice, Jaden?"
Jaden shook for a moment before they realized he was laughing. "Have I had enough? No way, Sy! You know the old saying 'no pain, no gain', and with what I've got plan your going to feel a lot!"
He drew his next card. "You and I aren't just friends anymore Syrus, we're rivals, and I have the cards to treat you like one!"
He graded a couple of cards from his hand. "Brace yourself, Sy! I play the spell card, Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Hero Clayman and Elemental Hero Sparkman!"
As he said that, a large, clay hero on the field and rose into the air with Sparkman. In the air, a large mass of storm clouds with thunder and lightning had gathered where the two heroes had disappeared. Soon, a huge figure began to descend from the sky, trailing clouds as it fell. "Here he is, Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" (2400/1500)
Kaizen heard a cat behind them. He turned to a fat, brown tabby walking away from them.
"That cat's got the right idea." Alexis muttered, glancing back as well.
"Oh c'mon, it's just another monster." Chumley dismissed.
"No it's not Chumley," She said, grimly. "Thunder Giant can destroy a monster per turn as long as it's original attack points are less than his own. Looks like practice is getting out early for Syrus."
'You know it,' Kaizen added in his head. 'And it wouldn't have happened if Syrus had gone with the other card he'd drawn.'
"Ok Thunder Giant, take out Steam Gyroid!" Jaden commanded his fusion monster.
Thunder Giant roared and raised his finger to the sky, using it like a lightning rod. A bolt struck and he redirected it at the sky. A minute later, a shower of bright needles rained down on Steam Gyroid. It let out a whistle before being destroyed.
Syrus lowered his arm as the smoke cleared. "Aw man, that leaves me defenseless." He muttered.
"Yeah, it does!" Jaden placed another card on his duel disk.
"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode!" A pale, red clad heroine appeared and flew around Thunder Giant a few times before floating in the air (1200/800)
"Now, double attack!" He ordered. "Thunder Giant, Voltic Thunder!"
Syrus cried out as he was struck by lightning.
Jaden: 2800
Syrus: 200
"Now, Burstinatrix, Flare Storm!" The heroine's hands were engulfed with red hot flames, that she pressed together to create a large fireball that she then launched straight at Syrus.
Syrus backed away as the holographic flames raged towards him, before crying out as he was knocked down and the rest of his life points were lost.
Jaden: 2800
Syrus: 0
"That's game!" Jaden said, giving his two finger salute. "Pretty sweet duel, Syrus!"
Syrus sat up as his friend approached. "I dunno, Jaden. I didn't put up too much of a fight."
"What're you talking about?" Jaden stopped a few inches in front of Syrus. "Sure I was able to pull it out in the end, but pulled off some pretty sweet moves too, you should be proud. Although, I am wondering something, what was that one card you drew but didn't play?"
Before Syrus could stop him, he bent down and took the card his brother had given him. His eyes widened at what he saw. "Power Bond?! Syrus why didn't you play it? Steam Gyroid's attack points would have doubled, you would have had one tough monster."
He then blinked when a thought came to him. "On second thought for my sake, I'm glad you didn't."
"You don't understand," Syrus muttered as he snatched the card back. "My brother says I'm not good enough for this card and it's obvious he's right."
"Syrus…" Jaden tried to tell him he was wrong, but he didn't get the chance.
"It's also obvious that you'll never win the tag duel with me as your partner." Syrus finished before running off.
"Hey, Syrus! Wait!" Jaden called after him, but the little Slifer just kept running.
"Syrus!" Chumley called, running after him.
Alexis and Kaizen were left there alone, the duel still fresh in their minds.
About an hour later, after going to help Chumley look for Syrus, Alexis came back to the duel site. The waves were crashing against the shore as she walked up to the Yuki brothers, who were staring out at the water.
"I guess practice doesn't always make perfect, at least not with Syrus it doesn't." Alexis spoke, trying to ease the tension in the air.
Jaden's frown deepened. "I don't get it. Syrus is a great guy, I just wish he'd see what I see. That the only thing holding him back is himself. I mean, he had this awesome card all ready to use but he doesn't. Why? Because some brother told him not to."
"Not a very good brother if you ask me." Kai added.
Alexis just looked at the boys, her eyes wide at what she just heard.
Jaden was the first to notice this. "What is it Alexis?"
Alexis frowned slightly. "Well, that brother of his goes to this school. You've probably heard of him too."
"I haven't, but then again I was trapped in a place that could only exist in your nightmares for the past three months." Kaizen muttered, putting his hands behind his head.
"Yeah, me neither, who're you talking about?" Jaden asked.
Alexis looked at the brothers. "Hello? Third year Obelisk Blue student and the best duelist in the school? He's the big man on campus! Zane! And he is as good as his reputation!"
"Well, Alexis," Jaden turned back to the waves. "It doesn't sound like he's very good to his younger brother. I wonder what happened between them…"
"Jaden, don't pry." Alexis warned him.
Jaden grinned. "Oh, I'm not going to pry, I'm going to duel!" He looked at the two people next to him. "I'm gonna duel him and find out what's going on."
"Jaden, you're not listening! No one duels Zane!" Alexis protested, trying to talk him out of it.
"What is he supposed to be untouchable?" Kaizen asked.
"They do when their tag partner isn't dueling up to snuff because of him." Jaden shot back. "Besides, I want to see how I stack up against this guy." He said, grinning.
'Well, he's not going to listen to me,' Alexis smiled. "Good luck, Jaden."
"Go get him, Little Bro." Kai said. 'While you take the brother angle, I'll take a crack at Syrus myself.'
Jaden threw his fist in the air. "Get ready, Zane! I'm coming for you!"
And that is that. Read and review and see you next time.