"Alright, this is the end! Laevateinn, attack Jaden directly and bring this duel to a close! Arma Wing!"

The roar from Red Hat Konami echoed through the near-empty Duel Stadium, and with a ferocious cry of its own, a red-winged dragon garbed in dragunity armor flew forth and pierced Jaden through the gut with its spear. The Slifer cried out in pain as he staggered backward, his cards again falling from his hands much like they had with Aster some time ago. He crumbled to his knees in defeat, and clenched his mouth shut while glaring at his Duel Disk.

KONAMI - 4000 LP

JADEN - 0000 LP

The lone monster on the Field vanished as the Solid Vision system deactivated, and Konami approached Jaden with a disturbed frown.

"So it's true then." he muttered, offering Jaden a hand up as he spoke. "You really can't see what cards are in your hand, can you?"

Jaden shook his head sadly, his demeanor far unlike that of the Slifer Red student Konami had encountered during his first year. "No." he said softly, his spirit all but broken. "It's like they're all blank! I can't see anything but white on them! The cards you played I could see, but my own..."

He trailed off, not knowing what to say. Neither of them did. For a duelist as skilled as Jaden to claim that he could no longer connect with his Duel Spirits...

"I'd bet anything that your opponent, Aster Phoenix, had something to do with this." Konami grumbled. "You said you could still see your cards up until you lost to him, right? If that's truly the case...then maybe there's more to his "Destiny Heroes" than meets the eye. Not like we can do anything about it now though. Last I heard the creep already skipped town."

Jaden did nothing but frown in response to the information. Not that anything could have been done even if Aster was still on the island. What would Konami have expected him to do? Duel Aster to get his vision back? Such a thing was impossible so long as Jaden couldn't see his cards in the first place!

Konami seemed to have come to the same conclusion, as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly before averting his eyes. "Sorry." he muttered. "I realize this must be hard for you."

"Yeah..." Jaden agreed quietly, sliding his Deck out from his Duel Disk and cradling it in his hands. He glanced to Konami wearily and sighed. "...don't worry about it, I was the one who asked for your help in the first place. Sorry, I know you were probably hoping your homecoming would be a bit happier...guess that's just one more thing I failed at." he sighed once more and turned to leave the stadium. "I think I'll turn in for the night pal. See you later...I hope."

Konami watched silently as Jaden disappeared into the blackness of Duel Academy's unlit halls. It wasn't until the kuriboh-haired Slifer had complete vanished that he turned to face the stadium's other occupant, one whom he believed Jaden never noticed to begin with.

"You're just going to let him go?" Alexis asked, descending from the bleachers as she spoke.

Konami nodded, albeit slowly. "He could use the time to think. Though it may end up being for nothing, the time he spends away from a Duel Disk now could potentially give him insight to his current situation...and possibly produce avenues we can use to fix it."

"You may have a point...but I'm not sure I can agree with you on letting someone like Jaden stay depressed like this." Alexis replied.

"It's not like I wanted to," Konami grimaced, "and you're more than free to go after him, if you wish."

"Tempting offer," Alexis admitted, finally reaching the stadium floor to stand across from the boy, "but if I'm honest, despite Jaden's situation I'm a bit more curious as to what you've been doing the past few months. The school's been floating with rumors about a certain red-capped duelist using new summoning mechanics, and a few newspapers I've come across indicate him spending time with a certain gambler we all know and love too."

Konami felt his lips twitch despite himself at the mention of Pierre. "I...won't deny it." he said, earning a frown from the beautiful Obelisk.

"To think you'd be spending time over the summer with Pierre of all people..." she sighed. "...it's even more unbelievable when I remember that we all invited you to hang out with us in Domino City! Was it because of her, Konami? I know you hadn't been replying to our calls...do you blame us, is that it?"

Konami sighed. He had been expecting this. There to help or not, the fact was that he had gone dark over the summer, and Yuma had indeed been the cause. Of course, it wasn't out of any hatred for his friends that he hadn't replied to any of their emails or voicemails. He'd just wanted some time away from them, and thoughts of her. Pierre, for all his faults, had offered that, so it was only natural that Konami would have accepted. By the time he finally was ready to deal with it all, school had already resumed and...well, it was always one thing after another, wasn't it?

"I don't blame you, any of you." Konami said finally, realizing that Alexis had still been waiting for his response. "Yuma's death...it was no one's fault. No one's...but Kagemaru's."

"Konami..." Alexis said quietly. "...if you want to talk to someone about it-"

"No, I'm fine." Konami told her. "I'm not out for revenge or anything, and as far as Yuma goes...I don't believe for a second that she's gone for good. I'd planned on spending that summer searching for any sign of her, but not finding any leads didn't help. Once I finally reached Transcend, I preety much decided to put that project on hold, at least for a while."

"Transcend?" Alexis inquired.

"Oh, that's right, I haven't you about them yet!" Konami said, his face visually brightening at the thought of the pair. "It's a card shop I visited just before resuming my education here. You were asking me about the new summoning mechanic right? Well they're the ones I picked it up from. They were really picky about it too! The angry midget who works there said that they don't just hand Synchro Summoning out to anybody."

"Synchro Summoning?" Alexis asked. "Is that what it's called then, this summoning mechanic of yours?"

"Yeah." confirmed Konami. "Using clustering wishes to create a new shining star in the world of Duel Monsters...that is the mechanic known as a Synchro Summoning!"

Alexis smiled softly. "You seem enthusiastic about it. I'm glad. With Jaden's situation as it is, we need at least something to be happy about."

Konami's eyes widened. "Wait...that's it!"

"Huh?"

Alexis blinked curiously at Konami, unsure of what "that's it!" was supposed to refer to. Konami seemed to have noticed this however, and had grabbed her by both shoulders whilst moving to explain. Surprisingly, Alexis didn't object to the physical contact.

"The solution to Jaden's problem! Jeez, why didn't I notice it before! He all but told me when we were dueling just now!" Konami complained, berating himself for not having figured it out sooner.

"Um...I'm not quite sure I follow." Alexis said with a sheepish smile.

"Well you should!" Konami told her, releasing his grip before turning to chase down their kuriboh-haired friend. "After all, if this goes well, when we get back Jaden will be stronger than ever!"

Alexis merely blinked in confusion at the declaration, and promptly gave chase to her capped comrade.

Yu-Gi-Oh: Tag Force

Learning to Shine

Arc Three - Chapter One

Hope

Chazz, Bastion and the others glanced at Konami in surprise.

"Huh?! What do you mean you're leaving?! You just got here!"

"It can't be helped." Konami sighed. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and besides, Jaden says he can actually see my cards, something that can't be said for yours'."

"He's right." Jaden agreed, handing Syrus back his Deck after confirming it once more. "Your guys' cards look just as white as mine, but Konami's cards...I can see them without a problem at all!"

"And because of that, you think this Transcend place might be able to fix whatever your problem is?" Tyranno asked. "I dunno Sarge, sounds kinda shady if you ask me!"

"And just who are you supposed to be anyway?" Konami asked, clearly irritated by the stranger's wary tone. "Discount Bastion?"

"I object to that!" Bastion shouted, but everyone ignored him as usual.

"What was that?! I'm Hassleberry, Sarge's right hand man!" Tyranno complained. "Not that some no-good deserter like you needs to know all that!"

Everyone, sans Bastion himself, sighed.

"Look," Alexis said, deciding to step in before things got hairy, "Konami wouldn't put Jaden in any real danger. He's known Jaden longer than you have, and if he thinks this card shop of his might be able to help, then I think we should at least give it a shot."

Chazz nodded in agreement, and for once, it wasn't just because Alexis was thinking the same thing. "Yeah," he said snidely, "besides, it'd beat having the slacker here moping around all day! Not to mention that if the solution involves Jaden leaving Duel Academy, then I'm all for it! After all, with him gone, it's clear who'll be the new top dog around here - me!"

"Uh, Chazz...?" Syrus asked. "You do know they're coming back right? And besides...I think that if anyone would be the new top dog, it'd be Atticus!"

"A-Atticus?! You mean he's back already?!" Chazz asked with a gasp.

"Yes. He was on the same ship I was on," Konami said, "well, until he got kidnapped by some weird cultists anyway, but he and I put a stop to that."

"Cultists? You didn't say anything about cultists when you got here!" Alexis complained.

"Eh," Konami shrugged, "with everything going on it didn't really seem all that important. Besides...Atticus was fine last I saw him. He'll probably be asking you to join his "Bro-Bro and Sissy" pop idol group soon."

"Will he now?" Alexis asked, feeling her eye twitch at the information. "And just how long were you going to wait before warning me about this?"

"We're getting off-topic." Bastion said, drawing everyone's gaze. "What really matters here is Jaden's opinion on all this."

"My opinion?" Jaden asked. "Well, I think it might actually make for a pretty sweet idea! I mean, it's not every day that you can join a pop idol band with your big brother-!"

"Not that you idiot! I'm talking about going to the card shop, not Atticus' foolish ideas!" Bastion roared.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?!" Jaden asked sheepishly. He seemed a little more like himself now that a potential lifeline had been offered to him. "Of course I'm going! It's not like we have any better ideas right now!"

"Then it's settled." Konami said. "Tomorrow morning...we'll catch ourselves a flight to card shop Transcend!"

And so, their plan was set. Of course, even in a place like Duel Academy, everyone knew that no plan ever survived contact with the enemy. Doubly so, when the "enemy" was the temporary Chancellor of the school.

"Absolutely not!" Crowler said, banging his fist against his most expensive desk as he spat. "You expect me to let you leave when you've only just arrived?! Do you know how much such an endeavor would cost?! Never mind all the work you already have to catch up on!"

"But this is important!" Konami complained. "And it's not like we're going on some half-assed field trip! This could determine the future of Jaden's dueling career, if not his connection to Duel Monsters entirely!"

"Hmpf! So the boy's having a bit of an off-day! It's nothing a Golden Egg Sandwich or two couldn't fix!" Crowler snapped back. "I'm busy enough making sure everything's ready for when our new Vice Chancellor arrives! I don't have time to babysit a couple of Slifers as well!"

Konami rolled his eyes. "I'm not asking you to babysit us. Just...lend us a helicopter for a few days or something. Obviously you'll need to provide someone who can fly it...but other than that Jaden and I will be fine on our own!"

"Not wanting a chaperone? Now I know you're crazy!" Crowler laughed. "Listen boy, I like you, and I've even learned to warm up to Jaden a bit, but that doesn't mean I'll let two of my students run around without looking out for them!"

Konami grunted. "In that case...there's no helping it! This is a dueling academy, so we might as well skip the talking and get right down to what matters!"

"You're challenging me?!" Crowler snapped, "Is that it?!"

"Yeah, if me winning means Jaden and I get to stop by Transcend, then there's no way I'll lose!" Konami shouted in response.

Not wanting to fall back into old habits, Crowler resisted the urge to cackle. He had just started becoming a good guy after all, it simply wouldn't do for all that hard work to go to waste. Humming softly, he folded his hands over one another and steeled his gaze.

"Very well." he decided after a moment, choosing to use some of his good will. "I'll accept this challenge of yours, of course, it needn't be said that if I win, not only will you and Jaden be staying at Duel Academy, but you'll be working tirelessly through the night catching up on all the work you missed!"

"Heh, not even gonna give me a chance to sleep huh? That's pretty scary~" Konami drawled sarcastically. "Alright then! The challenge is set, and the terms have been made! All that's left now...is to decide the time!"

And so it was some several hours later that the two remarkable duelists stood across from each other in the grand stadium, paying no mind to the many onlookers of their duel.

"Hmm...this will mark the third time Crowler's deigned to go up against one of his students!" Bastion noted in the bleachers.

"Well, yeah." Syrus nodded in agreement, "I guess it would, but I don't see what that has to do with anything!"

"Well, ain't it obvious?" Hassleberry asked. "Don't you know what they always say Syrus? Third time's the charm!"

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "Though his previous duels leave much to be desired, the fact that this is the third duel can only make me worry for what Konami will be going up against! There's no telling what Crowler may have in his Deck, but if what I heard about him studying over the break, it won't be anything good!"

"True," Atticus said as he joined the group, "but trust me when I say that Konami's got a few new tricks too!"

"That Synchro Summoning mechanic of his, right?" Alexis inquired. "He was telling me about it earlier, but he never really went into detail about how it worked. I think of everyone here, Jaden's the only one who really got to look at it."

"Hehehe...not quite!" Atticus said with a grin. "Yours truly got to face it head-on, and not only that, but I came out on top too!"

"Huh. Is that so?" Alexis wondered, not quite believing it. Atticus did tell some strange tales at times after all. "Anyway, I think our questions are about to be answered. They're about to start!"

She was correct. Down in the stadium, Konami and Crowler stood shuffling their Decks. Upon finishing, their Duel Disks whirred to life, connecting with the Academy's Stadium System to display their pictures and Life Points for the entire stadium to see.

As they slid their Decks back into their Duel Disks and drew their starting hands, Crowler glanced over to his wayward student and frowned.

"I hope you don't think this will be an easy victory for you Konami! You may have a new Summoning Mechanic, but don't think that you're the only one who's gotten stronger over the summer! Teachers train too you know?!"

"I'm aware." Konami mused quietly. "I'm just wondering if you trained enough. Well, I guess we're about to find out."

"Indeed we are!" Crowler agreed, and he let loose his typical smirk whilst raising his "Duel Vest." "Come my student, it's time to duel!"

Arc Three - Chapter One

END

A short chapter, yes, but one that leads in to perhaps the most meat-heavy arc of the story. Prepare yourselves, it won't be pretty.