For the Sake of Syrus

The day after Jaden talked with Alexis and Jenny, he found himself walking through the halls of Duel Acadmey and arrived at the card shop. He could hear the conversation with them earlier replay in his mind.

"Syrus has a brother that goes to this school Jaden. You've probably heard of him too."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hello! Third year Obelisk blue and number one duelist at the academy! He's the big man on campus. Zane! And he really is as good as his reputation."

Jaden sat down at a table after grabbing a duel request form and started to fill it out. "I can't believe this Zane guy. I mean, no wonder Syrus has zero confidence. If my big bro told me that I wasn't good enough to use some card, I'd be insecure too. Well that's all about to change."

He placed his pencil at his chin while thinking. 'Hm, I wonder… do you spell Zane with two N's?'
"These duel request forms are such a drag."

As he continued writing, Crowler happened to pass by him. He walked up to him. "Duel request form?" He said, as he grabbed the paper.

"Hey!"

"Planning a duel, are we?" He asked while looking at it. "Against whom?" His eyes widened when saw the name written on it. "You must be joking."

"No, actually I'm not. I'm taking Zane on to help Syrus get over his confidence problems. So he'll be ready for our upcoming tag match."

"Ah yes, of course. The big tag team match. The one where if you lose, you'll both be expelled from the academy, am I right? And you say that dueling Zane will help you prepare. Well that's a shame because, there'll be no duel." Crowler then proceeded to tear the paper to shreds in front of Jaden's startled face."


At that time, in the three Slifer boys' room, Syrus was alone, sitting on his bed, with the blanket on his head and staring at his Powerbond card.

"I would have never given you that card had I known you would misplay it."

"Ah!" Syrus cried out when he heard Zane's voice inside his head. He tried to shut the voice out by covering his ears, but he could still hear his brother's scolding voice.

"Sure, you may know how to use Powerbond, but there's more to dueling than just that."

"Aww man. I don't know a thing about Duel Monsters. I'm gonna let Jaden down."


Then in his mind, Syrus imagined himself and Jaden dueling against two people in a tag duel.

"You gotta be kidding me. That's your move?" One of the opponents said. "Fine, then I'm gonna use my spell card to take control over your monster and attack… Jaden."

And with that, Syrus' Patroid turned towards Jaden and punched him, knocking him on his back.

"It's all my fault." Syrus said disbelieved.

Jaden and Syrus: 1200-0000

While laying on the ground, Jaden reached out with one of his arms. "Why Sy? WHYYY!?"

"I'll tell you why. Because he doesn't belong here." A voice spoke up.

Syrus looked in the direction the voice came from and to his horror, that voice belonged to Zane.

"Big bro?"

Zane then let out a sinister laughter.


"I'm toast!" Syrus cried out, as his mind returned to reality.


Meanwhile, Chumley was sitting on a tree branch, his deck spread out before him and a Des Koala card in his hand.

"Look, it's not you, it's me. I just can't use you in my deck anymore. I gotta make room for another koala. 15 ought to do."

"Hey Chumley. What are you doing up there?"

"Huh?" Chumley looked below to see Andrew and Michael looking up at him. "Oh, hi Andrew. And you are, um… Michael, right?"

"Yup. It's been a while." He greeted with a grinning face. "Anyway, what are you doing, sitting in the tree?"

"Well, just rearranging my deck. I wanted to make room for another koala or two."

"Sounds like you really like koalas so much huh." Michael said.

"Yeah, totally. Koalas rocks."

"But there aren't many types of koala monsters though." Andrew said. "And according to the rules of Duel Monsters, you may only have three copies of one card of the same name in your deck."

Chumley blinked twice before before responding. "Um duh, I totally know about that rule." He paused for a moment before scratching at his cheek, as he looked a little embarrassed. "Well, at least now I do."

Michael sweat dropped at his response. 'So he never knew about that rule huh.'

"Lousy Dr. Crowler." A familiar voice spoke up from a distance. The boys turned to see Jaden walking towards them, and he wasn't really happy. "Where does it say those duel request forms need to be filled out in triplicate? And with a number eight pencil?"

"Hey Jaden!" Andrew called out.

The brown haired Slifer noticed his Ra yellow friend. "Oh, hey Andrew. Huh?" He then noticed the Obelisk blue boy with him. "Wait, is that you Michael? It's been a while."

"It sure is." He greeted back. "So, what's up? I think we heard you talk to yourself about duel request forms or something."

Jaden then made a sour expression. "Yeah, I was about to fill out one so I could duel Zane. But then, Dr Crowler showed up and teared it to shreds."

"Wait a minute!" Chumley spoke up. "The Zane!?" He was so surprised, that he started to lose balance and rolled over on the branch, but managed to wrap his arms and legs around it, though he caused most of his cards to fall down to the ground in the process.

"Whoa! What's that?" Jaden looked up and saw Chumley hanging upside down from the branch… kind of like a koala. "Uh huh. It's either a giant tree sloth, or it's Chumley."

"Hey. What up?"

Jaden kneeled down and checked out the cards Chumley dropped. "Wow Chum. There's like, a zillion koala cards down here."

"Yeah, they so rule. Wanna have a pick up duel against them?"

"Hey… a pick up duel, why didn't I think of that?" Jaden suddenly turned around and ran in the same direction he'd come.

"Hey, Jaden! Where are you going!?" Andrew called out.

"The Obelisk Blue dorm!"

"But why!?" Michael asked.

"A pick up duel… with Zane!"

"What!? Seriously!?" Chumley shouted in shock. And then, he lost his grip and fell down.

"Are you okay Chumley?" Andrew asked, as he helped the koala duelist up.

"Yeah, I think so."

"But I wonder if Zane will accept Jaden's challenge." Michael said.

"Is Jaden actually going to challenge Zane. I mean, duh. Zane is the number one duelist at the academy."

"And he's also Syrus' brother." Andrew said. "But apparently, Syrus has no confidence because of him. And Jaden want to duel Zane so he can find out what's going on between them."

"Really? Is that why Syrus is so depressed?"

Andrew nodded with a sad look on his face. "Yeah. I don't understand why someone could be so bad towards his own brother."

"We can figure that out later." Michael spoke up. "But right now, we should go after Jaden, in case he would get himself in trouble."

"Good idea." And so, all three of them ran after Jaden.


Meanwhile, Jaden had reached the entrance to the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm. But as soon as he arrived, he was met with a welcome. And not a warm one. He was pushed to the ground by two of the obelisk students that barred his way.

"What's your problem?"

"I ain't got no problem." One of them answered. "But you sure will if you don't beat it."

"Yeah, Zane wouldn't waste his time with you." The other said. "You're still probably wet behind the ears from pre duel school."

"I am not." Jaden replied insulted.

He had just enough time to raise arm up in front of him as one of the Obelisk boys splashed him with a bucket of water. "Now you are." They both turned back, laughing at him.

"We're gonna duel." He said with determination.


Sometime later, Andrew, Michael, Chumley and Jaden had met up again. They walked towards the Slifer Red dorm while Jaden was drying his hair.

"That's so uncool." Michael commented when Jaden told them how he'd been treated at the Obelisk Blue dorm.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Chumley asked.

"Well I'll tell you what I'm not gonna do, and that's give up. I'll get Zane to duel me one way or another."

"You sure are confident, Jaden. I know you are a good duelist, but are you sure you can take on the best?" Andrew asked, as his Slifer friend opened the door to the dorm room.

The group stepped in and before Jaden could reply, they noticed Syrus was still in bed, wrapped up in his blanket.

"Sy, are you still in bed? Look, I know that you're down, but that's no excuse to act like some lazy slug. I mean, even Chumley got up today."

"Yeah, lousy bladder." Chumley added.

Jaden went to wake Syrus up. But when he pulled away the blanket, it turned out that Syrus was in fact not there. "Huh? Where did he go?"

"Hey, look. He left a note here on the desk." Michael spoke up as he held up the note he found.

"What's it say?" Andrew asked as he, Jaden and Chumley went next to him so they'd be able to read it.

Dear Jaden
I'm leaving Duel Academy.
Don't try and stop me. It's for the best.
I would only be holding you back if I stayed.

Jaden grabbed the note, then crumpled it. "Sy's not going anywhere."

"Yeah, let's find him before he leaves the island." Andrew added.

"Yeah, let's go stop him… after dinner." Chumley said.

"Dude, your little friend is more important than food right now." Michael scolded.

"Michael is right. We're going now!" Jaden said.

"But today is grilled cheese day."

"If we don't hurry, it'll be Syrus' last day." At that, Jaden grabbed one of Chumley's sleeves and ran out the door with him along with Andrew and Michael.


The boys searched around the shoreline, looking for any sign of their friend.

"Syrus!" Jaden yelled. "Come on."

"Sy! It's grilled cheese day!"

"Where are you Syrus!?" Andrew yelled.

"Hey Syrus! Where did you go!"

"We missed you Sy! We'll miss dinner too if we don't find you before kitchen closes." Chumley commented as he tried to catch his breath.


Meanwhile, Syrus was already set to leave. Hidden in a small bay near the lighthouse, he had already made raft of logs and he was ready to leave.

"So long, Duel Academy." He muttered with a sad tone in his voice.


The four boys were still looking for Syrus. Jaden and Andrew stopped at the edge of a cliff. And then, their decks glowed with a white light. Both their duel spirits appeared beside them.

"Coo."

"Oh it's you." Jaden said to his Winged Kuriboh.

"Is that you Phantom Magician?"

"Yes, partner. It's me."

Chumley wheezed as he and Michael caught up to them. "So hungry… Starting to hear voices."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, obviously confused by what Chumley just said.

"Can you find Syrus?" Andrew asked.

"Coo!" Kuriboh nodded

"Yes. Just follow us." At that, the two duel spirits took off.

"Come on!" Jaden called out the others as he and Andrew followed them.

"First no grilled cheese and now I gotta run? Why me?" Chumley whined.

"Hey. You should be more worried about your friend than your stomach." Michael scolded. "So stop your complaining and keep moving."


Zane stood at his usual spot on the lighthouse dock, looking at the sunset. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Alexis come up to him. And this time, Jenny was with her as well. He turned back to the sunset as the girls came to his side.

"So any new leads?" He asked.

Alexis shook her head. "I can't believe he's still gone. I keep looking for some sign. But it's like my brother just vanished into thin air."

"Don't give up. You'll find him."

Jenny placed a hand on her blonde friend's left shoulder. "He's right. Just keep trying and you find him someday."

"I hope so." Alexis looked at Zane. "Speaking of brothers Zane, I saw yours the other day."

"Oh did you now?"

"Yeah, he lost at a practice duel with Jaden Yuki. Your name came up too… and not in a good way"

"The big, bad brother." Zane didn't even blinked at the news. "What? Does Jaden want to scold me now?"

"Actually, he wants to duel you." Jenny replied.

Before Zane could say anything else, they heard a voice from a distance...

"Stay back Jaden!"

All three of them looked in the direction the voice came from, and saw a small raft floating behind a couple of rocks, along with a certain light blue headed Slifer boy.

"It's Syrus!"


After running after the two duel spirits, the four boy found Syrus. When they did, he was on the raft and was pushing himself away from land. But Jaden ran to the edge of the water and jumped onto Syrus' makeshift craft. But the sudden imbalance caused it to break apart and dump the two boys into the water.

Syrus came to the surface, arms flailing. "Help me! I can't swim!"

"And you were about to raft out into the ocean? That makes sense." Jaden cried as Syrus wrapped his arms around his neck.

The two of them disappeared beneath the waves, with Kuriboh watching from above.

Andrew was about to jump in after them, when his spirit partner held an arm out for him to stop. "There's no need for you to jump in. The water isn't even deep here."

"Really?" Andrew asked.

"I'm coming!" Chumley ran by and jumped in the water. After the splash, he opened his eyes to see that he was halfway out of the water and halfway in. He felt the ground and blinked. "It's shallow."

"Guess we don't need to worry about drowning then." Michael commented.

Jaden and Syrus emerged from underneath the water. The spirits then faded away upon seeing their job done.

"Why are you trying to stop me Jaden?" Syrus asked as he rubbed his arm. "I stink. Please, just let me go. They'll assign you a new tag partner and you'll have a much better shot at winning the match."

"Sy that's your brother talking. Come on pal, you gotta believe in yourself."

"You gotta believe me. I'm a lost cause."

"He is right you know."

"Huh?" The five boys looked at where the new voice came from and saw three Obelisk students. Two of them being Alexis and Jenny, the third being a older boy that Syrus apparently recognized.

"Zane."

"So that's the school's top duelist." Jaden said.

"Is that Zane?" Andrew asked.

"Yup, the one and only." Michael answered.

"You're dropping out?" Zane asked his little brother.

"Well, yeah kinda."

Zane closed his eyes. "Well it's about time."

That made Syrus lower his head, feeling worse than he already did before. He turned around and made his way to some logs floating nearby from the destroyed raft.

Andrew gave Zane a small glare. "That was cold."

As for Jaden, he turned to his little friend. "He's wrong."

But Syrus started to cry a little. This made Jaden to glare at Zane. "You're his big brother. How can you say that?" He demanded.

"Because I know him." The Obelisk boy said simply. Alexis and Jenny gasped at the comment.

Jaden however, was still maintaining his same attitude towards him. "Yeah, I bet you think you know it all. But guess what, you don't. And I'm gonna prove it right now. Let's duel."

Syrus turned to his friend. "No, Jaden!"

"Duel a Slifer?" Zane thought out loud before smiling. "Sure, why not? After all, it's been a while since I went slumming."

"Then get your game on."

Jaden, he's good."

"I'm sure he is."
'And I'm sure this duel will solve Sy's confidence problems, without hurting mine.'


That night, after the sun set, Jaden and Zane, as well as the rest of the gang walked to the main dock, Jaden and Zane carrying duel disks.

"Duel!"

Jaden: 4000

Zane. 4000

Both duelists activated their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

"Aww man. My big brother taking on my best friend? There's no way that this could turn out good."

"Don't panic Syrus." Andrew said, trying to calm him down. "The duel is just about to start."

"Yeah. I'm sure Jaden knows what he's doing." Michael added.

"Okay… Now we find out what's going on with Sy and his bro and we find out…" Jaden smiled, barley containing his excitement. "… how I rank up the best. Here I come Zane." He drew his card. "First, I'm gonna summon Elemental HERO Avian in attack mode." The green hero of air did a backflip before landing on Jaden's field. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And I think I'll go ahead and throw down a facedown while I'm at it." Jaden finished as he inserted a card into one of his slots.

"That's all huh? Okay." Zane drew his card. "For my first move, I summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode." Everyone watched in amazement as a serpentine-dragon with a metallic body rose from the ground and curled up behind the number one duelist. (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1600 LV: 5)

"What!?" Jaden exclaimed. "How can you bring out a level 5 monster on your very first turn?"

"I can play my Cyber Dragon because it's my first turn Jaden. With no monsters out, he requires no sacrifice. And now I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card." A blue typhoon emerged from Zane's spell card and shattered Jaden's facedown card to pixels, causing the Slifer to raise his right arm for protection.

"That was fast."

"Not as fast as your life point meter will go down. Cyber Dragon, attack. Strident Blast!" The metallic dragon rose and let out a stream of fire, engulfing Avian completely.

Jaden: 4000-2900

'Ah. I tried to warn him that Zane was good.' Syrus thought worriedly.

"I think Jaden made the mistake of playing a monster in attack mode and placing a facedown card on his first turn." Jenny commented.

"Yeah, I agree. That move is the oldest trick in the duel book." Michael said.

Zane continued his turn, as he played another card. "Next I activate the spell card Different Dimension Capsule." A blue, yellow and orange sarcophagus with a clock emblazoned in the center appeared out of the ground. "It allows me to pick any card from my deck. Then I simply place it in the capsule, and in two turns, I get to take it out and put it right into my hand." The capsule opened up, letting the holo-card inside and closing before sinking beneath the ground.

"Man that's gotta be the best card out of his entire deck. I can't wait to see what's gonna come outta there." Jaden said as he wiped the end of his nose.

'Well I can…' Syrus thought miserably. 'Cause it's not gonna be pretty.'

"It's your move Jaden." Zane said.

'Yeah, and I'd better make it count. Cause I'm starting to get the feeling that not only is this guy as good as everyone says he is, he might even be better. But still, that doesn't mean…' Jaden smirked confidently. 'he's better than me.'
"All right, round two." He drew his next card. "And first I'll rock Polymerization. And next I'll roll out Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman. And fuse them to create, Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The two named heroes disappeared into Polymerization's vortex and emerged as the yellow, giant electric hero. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1500 LV: 6) "And since his special ability destroys monsters with less attack points than him, your Cyber Dragon… is vaporized!" The metallic dragon was struck by a huge bolt of lightning and was completely destroyed. "Yes! Looks like Thunder Giant just made the big man on campus get a little bit smaller. Wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I would say it." Chumley agreed.

"And the best part is that since that blast was just Thunder Giant's special ability, I still get to use his attack. And seeing as you're now defenseless, I'm gonna use it directly on you." The giant hero gathered electricity in his hands and released it all at Zane. However, he didn't move at all. He just stood there calmly, as he lost most of his life points.

Zane: 4000-1600

"You could at least kinda flinch." Jaden commented, as he inserted a card into a slot. "Oh well, maybe this facedown card will get to you later."

'Yeah… if Jaden lasts long enough to use it.' Syrus thought, turning to his brother.

"Wow. He's ice cold. He didn't even blink by taking damage from that last attack." Andrew commented.

"Nice moves kid. Of course, with my field now empty again, I can just throw out another Cyber Dragon." An identical metallic dragon appeared in front of Zane. "Or better yet two. I play Monster Reborn, and with just one monster in my graveyard, you can guess who's coming back." The first dragon appeared beside the second one. "But neither will be here long…" Zane paused before taking a card from his hand… Polymerization. "In present form. Dragons, unite!" He commanded as both dragons swirled together into a black void. "Now Cyber Twin Dragon, emerge!" From the dark void, a new monster appeared. It was a big metallic serpentine-dragon with two heads instead of one. Each head had a different circle of color. One yellow, and one blue. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

"Huh? Twin Dragon!?" Chumley exclaimed. "One was tough enough."

"Now my dragon can attack twice in a round, which means double the trouble for your monster and your life points. Twin Dragon, attack!" He commanded.

"Not so fast! Iv'e got a trap card out. A Hero Emerges! Now normally, you'd have to randomly pick one of the cards in my hand and if it was a monster, I'd get to summon it. But since I only have one card in my hand, let's just get right to it, shall we? Wroughtweiler, defense mode!" A large, black metal dog with a blue visor over its head appeared next to Thunder Giant in a defensive crouch. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 3)

"You'll need him. Cyber Twin Dragon, Double Strident Blast!" After hearing Zane's command, the twin headed machine let out two separate blasts of energy, each one hitting the different monsters on Jaden's side of the field.

Jaden: 2900-2500

"Glad you did that. Cuz when Wroughtweiler is destroyed, his special ability activates. It brings one Elemental HERO and one Polymerization card back from the graveyard and into my hand. And just when you thought you could probably stop worrying about them, huh Zane?"

"I don't worry." Zane said evenly.

This made Jaden smile. "Man, you're chill. Not worrying, not even flinching… you are good!"

Zane smiled slightly. "You too, Jaden."

"Well at least he's being nice." Michael commented. Andrew and Jenny nodded.

Syrus was surprised by this. 'Whoa! Since when did Zane give props?'

"Now where was I? Oh yeah." Jaden drew his next card. "I was about to summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode." The white caped water hero appeared, water hose ready to fire. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And since Bubbleman is the only monster out on my field, I can use his special ability to draw two more cards to my hand."

The moment Jaden drew his two cards, his duel spirit appeared. "Coo" He then looked at the cards he drew.

'Transcendent Wings and Winged Kuriboh. The cards I used to trash that Dragon Catapult Cannon. An evolved Winged Kuriboh would turn Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon into a pile of cyber junk. Then, its attack points would be dealt to him as damage. That'd be enough to drop his life points to zero and win the duel. But I can't summon any more monsters this round, so I'm just gonna have to wait until my next turn. Still, I won't have to wait until next turn to use another card.'

"All right Zane. I play Polymerization and fuse my Elemental HERO Bubbleman with Elemental HERO Clayman!" The two heroes absorbed into the boac vortex. "Now, Elemental HERO Mudballman! Rise, in defense mode!" The new monster came out and kneeled down, protecting Jaden. Its body looked similar to Clayman, but it's main body and arms were round and bigger. The warrior also had Bubbleman's face. (ATK: 1900 DEF: 3000 LV: 6)

"Lishus. Mudballman's got 3000 defense points. That Twin Dragon's attack won't get through to Jaden."

"And that might give Jaden some time to prepare a strategy and win the duel." Andrew added.

'I can't believe it. Jaden might actually win.' Syrus thought, stunned at how the duel went so far.

"Now give me your best shot Zane!" Jaden challenged.

"My best shot? You got it." Zane drew his card and something rose from the ground.

'Oh no.' Syrus thought.

Jaden recognized the object that appeared. 'The capsule.'

"It's been two turns since I first activated Different Dimension Capsule. And now I can take the card I first put into it and add it to my hand." Zane took the card in question and the capsule then broke apart. "You played well, but not well enough."

"Hey, gimme what you got. I'm ready."

"I'm sure you are. A good duelist is ready for anything. And that means not just knowing how to use all of their cards, but knowing how to play them too. And you play your cards well Jaden."

'Knowing how to play your cards?' Syrus thought, as he was starting to understand what his brother was trying to tell him.

'That's a nice compliment. But even better advice. Hope Sy's listening.'

And Indeed Syrus was listening what Zane said. 'Of course. Knowing how to use a card and knowing how to play it are two totally different things. That's what Zane was trying to tell me all those years ago. I get it now.'

"First, I'll activate this De-fusion card. It splits my monster back into two separate Cyber Dragons." The Twin Dragon disappeared and was replaced by the two original dragons. (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1600 LV: 5) x2 "Next, I'll activate the magic of Powerbond."

As soon as Syrus heard this, he gasped.

"With this spell card, I'm allowed to summon a machine type fusion monster. And with another Cyber Dragon in my hand as well, I can now fuse three of them together and create, the Cyber End Dragon." The dragons were surrounded by a flash of light. And then, in their place rose a different one. It had a body from which rose three different heads each attached to a long neck, a tail that ran from behind and two widespread wings coming fro its back. (ATK: 4000 DEF: 2800 LV: 10) "Plus its attack points are doubled because of Powerbond's effect." The monster in question roared from all its heads as its body unleashed electricity. (ATK: 4000-8000)

"8000!?" Chumley exclaimed.

"That would be enough for a One Turn Kill!" Jenny added.

"And keep in mind, when Cyber End Dragon attacks, the difference between his attack points and your monsters defense points are dealt to you as damage."

Jaden's eyes widened and he made a lopsided grin.

"Just hang tough. If you can survive his attack, you can win for sure because Powerbond's nasty side effect."

"Chumley's right." Alexis said. "At the end of the turn Powerbond is used, the player who activated the card takes damage equal to their attacking monster's original attack points."

'Yeah. But that won't matter if you play it right.' Syrus thought, hearing his friends. 'And Zane has. I just wish it didn't have to be at Jaden's expense.'

"Cyber End Dragon, attack Mudballman. Super Strident Blaze!" The powerful monster shot a beam of energy from its three heads that combined into one. It obliterated Jaden's defending monster and passed through him.

Jaden: 2500-0000

After the blow, he fell to his knees, head hung low.

"Jaden, no!" Chumley yelled.

Alexis stared. "I can't believe it… he lost."

"It seems to be so." Jenny said.

"Nooo!" Syrus ran to his friend.

Jaden lifted his head as Syrus came to him, and smiled at the older Truesdale. "Thanks for a great duel Zane."

Zane smiled and turned back. He was about to walk away, but looked at his brother for a moment. They just stood there as if sharing a mental, mutual understanding of what just happened. Zane turned away and walked away, with Alexis and Jenny following after him.

"So Zane… what do you think?" Alexis asked.

"I think Syrus chose some good friends."

"No doubt about it." Jenny agreed.

The boys just stood there, watching Zane and the two Obelisk girls leave.

"Your brother's got some mad skills." Jaden commented.

"Well, at least I got the looks." Syrus replied, now having regained a cheerful attitude. All the other boys stared at him, speechless, and then began laughing. Syrus laughed too, before stopping. "What's funny?"

"Come on, let's go home and work on our decks." Jaden suggested. "And I say we arrange yours so you can finally use that Powerbond. How about it?"

"For sure. Now I know how to play it, not use it."

Chumley's stomach chose that moment to growl and let everyone know that it wasn't content. "Yeah, well do you know what I could use? A couple of grilled cheese sandwiches."

The four other boys' stomachs took Chumley's example of saying they weren't happy either.

"I suppose it's time for dinner." Andrew said.

"Yeah, definitely." Michael agreed. He then turned to the Slifers. "If you're going to prepare yourselves for your tag team match, then I hope you don't mind if I help you."

"Oh, really? You will help us?" Jaden asked.

Michael gave them a toothy grin. "Of course. It would be bad if they expel you, right? I expect to see you two outside your dorm tomorrow morning."

"Okay. See ya." And with that, the Slifers ran off back to their dorm.

"Ohh, we gotta run again?" Chumley complained as they left.


Next day, early in the morning, Michael was helping Jaden And Syrus to get ready for their tag duel. And right now, the two Slifers were standing outside the dorm, along with Chumley, Michael and Andrew. As soon as they met, Michael explained how he was going to help him. What he suggested was something surprising…

"A duel?" Both Jaden and Syrus asked.

"That's right. You two will team up in a duel against me. After all, in order to win your upcoming tag team match, you guys need to work together as a team. So, are you up to the challenge?" Michael asked as he held up his arm with a duel disk strapped on it.

Jaden was obviously excited by this. "Well I am. Let's show him what we got Syrus."

The little Slifer hesitated before nodding to him. "Yeah."

The three boys then activated their duel disks.

"So it's two against one, huh? This should be easy for Jaden and Syrus." Chumley said.

"Don't be so sure about that." Andrew replied. "Even if it is two against one, Michael should be able to give them much fight. I should know, since I dueled him myself."

The duelists inserted their decks into their duel disks.

"Are you guys ready?" Michael asked.

"Oh yeah." Jaden answered.

"Y-yeah." Syrus said.

"Well then…"

"Let's duel!"

Jaden & Syrus: 4000

Michael: 4000

"Okay, since this is a two-on-one match, none of us can attack on their first turn. Is that okay?" Michael asked, earning a nod from both of his opponents. "Good, then how about you take the first turn Jaden?"

"Don't mind if I do." The brown haired Slifer drew his sixth card. "First I'm gonna summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode." The stone warrior rose in front Jaden before kneeling down. (ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "Then I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn."

"Okay then." Michael drew a card. "I think I'll start by summoning Sangan in defense mode." A small brown, furry monster with three yellow eyes two green arms and legs with claws appeared crouching on Michael's field. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 600 LV: 3) "Then I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"All right, watch this." Syrus drew his card and looked at his hand. "I um, I… summon Gyroid in defense mode." His blue cartoonish helicopter appeared in front of him. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "Then I place one card facedown and that's all."

"Back to me then. I summon Witch of the Black Forest in attack mode." A purple haired woman with a a third eye, wearing a black robe appeared next to Sangan. (ATK: 1100 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Next I activate the spell card Double Summon. This lets me normal summon a monster a second time. Which means I can sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon Dark Horus." The two monsters were swallowed by black flames and then, a new monster stepped out of them. It was a giant bird like creature with a black, metallic body. It had arms and legs with claws, and a pair of wings. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"3000 attack points?" Syrus asked disbelieved.

"Now that's a monster. I can't wait to see it in action." Jaden said excited.

Michael smirked. "That's not all. Since my witch and Sangan were sent from the field to the graveyard, their special abilities activates. And I'll start with Sangan's ability. It lets me take a monster from my deck and add it to my hand, as long as that monster has up to 1500 attack points. I think I choose Witch's Apprentice." Michael explained as he held up a monster card with the picture of a woman dressed in blue with white wings and wielding a broomstick. "And now for my Witch's ability. It happens to be same as Sangan, except that the monster I get to add to my hand must be a monster with up 1500 defense points. And I think choose a monster you guys might remember." He said as he held up a monster card with the picture of a certain black and silver dragon.

"Dark Armed Dragon!"

"Aw man, that's the monster he used when Andrew dueled him."

"Hey, Andrew. How does that card work again?" Chumley asked.

"Well from starters, that dragon lets Michael destroy one card on the field by taking a dark attribute monster from his graveyard and remove it from play. Of course, in order to summon it, he need to make sure that there are exactly 3 dark monsters in his graveyard."

"So with Sangan and that witch, that makes…" Chumley said as he was counting the number of monsters in Michael's graveyard."…two?"

Andrew nodded. "That's right. Which means he only need one more monster before he can summon it. So even if Jaden and Syrus manage to get rid of Dark Horus, There's still another powerful monster they're going to face."

"Now then, which one of you will take the first blow?" Michael said, as he looked between his two opponents. After seven seconds of thinking, he made his decision. "Dark Horus, attack Syrus' Gyroid with Dark Flame Breath!" The powerful dragon spat a torrent of black fire that swallowed the helicopter creature entirely. Everyone, minus Michael, were worried about Syrus. But then, the black flames were suddenly swirling, like a tornado and continued until the flames were gone. All that was left was a whirlwind, which was created by, wait for it… the rotating helicopter blades on top of Gyroid's head.

"Huh? What happened?" Chumley asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Andrew asked with a smile. "Syrus's monster survived."

"That's right." Syrus replied. "Because Gyroid has a special ability. He can survive in battle once per turn."

Michael was actually impressed by this. "Well, looks like I underestimated your machines. Oh well, what's done is done." He then blinked when he noticed a face up trap card in front of Syrus. "What is that?"

"It's a trap card known as Supercharge. Since you attacked me while I had a 'roid' monster on the field, I was able to activate it. It lets me draw two cards from my deck." he explained as he drew two cards.

"Heh. Well you're going to need them if you and Jaden want to win this duel. I end my turn."

"That was a sweet move Syrus." Jaden complimented. "Good job."

"Uh, yeah. But there are better moves than that." Syrus said.

"Don't say that. It was a great move. We can win this if you keep up like that."

Syrus was starting to feel a little more confident. "Yeah, you're right."

Jaden grinned before focusing on the duel. "Speaking of moves, I think it's my move now." He drew a card. "And what do you know? I drew just what I needed, the spell card Polymerization. And I think I'll use it to fuse my Elemental HERO Clayman with Elemental HERO Burstinatrix to form, Elemental HERO Rampart Blaster." Clayman was sucked into a fusion vortex, along along with the red clad fire hero and came out as one. The new hero looked feminine and wore a red helmet, an armor resembling to Clayman, a red shield on the left arm and the right arm was a missile launcher. She kneeled down in front of Jaden. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 2500 LV: 6)

"A monster with 2500 defense points, huh? That's an impressive defense. And speaking of defense, here's mine." Black flames shot up from the ground beside the bird like dragon. Once the flames faded, the Witch of the Black Forest was kneeling down right in front of Michael. (ATK: 1100 DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"What? Where did she come from?" Syrus asked.

Michael chuckled. "From the graveyard of course. Guess I should have told you guys about Dark Horus' ability. Once per turn, I can summon a level four dark attribute monster from my graveyard when any of you activate a spell card during your main phase."

"Wow. That's a handy ability you got there." Jaden commented. "But it won't stop me from blasting you."

"Oh? And what would that mean?"

"Well, my Rampart Blaster has a sweet ability of her own. When she is in defense mode, she can cut her attack points in half and attack you directly."

"What? Seriously!?" Michael exclaimed.

The armored heroine shot a couple of missiles at Michael, who winced by the explosion.

Michael: 4000-3000

"Whoa! Looks like Jaden took the first blood." Andrew commented.

Michael brushed off some dust from his uniform, before giving Jaden a smile. "Heh, not bad Jaden."

The brown haired Slifer smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, I do what I can. I think I'll end my turn."

"Okay then, here goes. I summon Witch's Apprentice in defense mode." The witch monster Michael revealed earlier flew down on her broomstick. (ATK: 550 DEF: 500 LV: 2) "With this monster on the field, all dark monsters gain 500 attack points." The witch threw a pinch of powder in the air that empowered herself and the other monsters. (ATK: 550-1050) (ATK: 1100-1600) (ATK: 3000-3500) "And now I switch my Witch of the Black Forest into attack mode." The purple haired witch stood up. "And now I'll attack your Rampart Blaster with Dark Horus." The dragon spat another another torrent of flames.

"Not so fast! I play my facedown card, the spell card De-fusion! And I'll use it to split my Blaster back into Clayman and Burstinatrix." The heavy armored heroine separated into the two fusion materials. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3) (ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 LV: 4)

"In that case, I'll focus my attack on your Clayman instead." And just like that, the stone warrior was destroyed by the black flames. "And now I'll have my Witch of the Black Forest attack your Burstinatrix." The purple haired woman chanted an ancient incantation which allowed her to gather magic energy in her third eye, before she shot a beam of magic energy at Burstinatrix. "And with that, I end my turn."

"Are you okay Jaden?" Syrus asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Now it's your turn Syrus." Jaden said, while encouraging him.

"Okay. Here goes." He drew his next card and looked over his hand. 'Aww man. I don't have a monster that can defeat any of Michael's monster.' He then looked at the card he drew and smiled. 'But I might be able to do some damage at least.'
"All right! I summon Submarineroid in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a blue and yellow submarine with a cartoonish face. It was also holding a torpedo underneath it with its hands. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1800 LV: 4)

"What's up with that monster?" Michael asked.

Syrus smirked. "Good question. My Submarineroid has a special ability. It can bypass your monsters and attack you directly."

Michael backed away a step. "Another direct attack!?"

"That's right. Go! Subterranean Sneak Attack!" The submarine dove under the ground and from there, something was headed towards Michael. Once the object reached its target, it exploded right at Michael's feet.

Michael: 3000-2200

"And after it attacks, it switches to defense mode." Submarineroid surfaced in front of Syrus and crossed its arms. "Then I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Nice move Syrus." Jaden complimented.

"I agree." Michael replied, after coughing a little. "So far both of you managed to damage my life points without losing any of yours. I guess that means I need to get more serious. And I'll start with this." He drew a card. "I activate the field spell Mystic Plasma Zone." Dark clouds with lightning racing amongst them materialized above their heads. "Thanks to this, all dark monsters on the field gain 500 attack points, and lose 400 defense points." (ATK: 1050-1550 DEF: 500-100) (ATK: 1600-2100 DEF: 1200-800) (ATK: 3500-4000 DEF: 1800-1400)

"Whoa! That Horus has 4000 attack points now!" Chumley said.

"And Jaden has no monsters on his field." Andrew replied. "Which means one attack will be enough to end this duel."

"You guys did well. But it seems you still got a ways to go. Dark Horus, attack!" The bird like creature was about to unleash another breath of flames. But then...

"Not so fast!" Syrus called out. "You triggered my trap card, No Entry. Thanks to this, all monsters on the field are switched from attack to defense mode. So your attack is cancelled out." And so, Dark Horus stopped itself and lowered its body a little, while the Witch of the Black Forest kneeled down.

"Nice work Syrus." Jaden complimented.

The light blue headed Slifer nodded to him before turning toward Michael. "And there's more. My trap card forces you to discard one card from your hand."

Michael shrugged before discarding one of his cards. "Okay, I guess that's all I can do. Your turn Jaden."

"All right then. Here goes." He drew his next card. "I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode." The familiar water hero appeared. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And as you know, I can draw two cards since he's the only card I have on my field." He drew his two cards." He drew two cards. "Sweetness. This is just what I needed. The equip spell Bubble Blaster." Bubbleman grabbed the blue bazooka like weapon that appeared. "This spell gives him 800 extra attack points." (ATK: 800-1600) But wait, there's more. I activate my own field spell, Skyscraper." He inserted the named card into his duel disk and tall city buildings appeared around the five boys. And the sky was no longer cloudy. "Now with your Mystic Plasma Zone gone, all your monsters loses some points." (ATK: 1550-1050 DEF: 100-500) (ATK: 2100-1600 DEF: 800-1200) (ATK: 4000-3500 DEF: 1400-1800)

"Well, they may lose some attack points, but their defense points on the other hand are restored. So I'm afraid your Bubbleman won't be able to destroy my Dark Horus."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not really true. You see, my Skyscraper has a sweet effect. If my Elemental HERO is weaker than any of your monsters, he gets 1000 extra attack points." (ATK: 1600-2600)

"Lishus! With 2600 attack points, Bubbleman can destroy Dark Horus."

"Yup, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Now attack with Bombarding Bubble Barrage!" He fired off a stream of bubbles that blew up on contact with the bird like dragon. "Gotcha! And with that done, I'll throw down two facedowns and play Mirage of Nightmare. Then I'll call it a turn."

"Impressive, but this duel is far from over. I draw."

"Stop right there Michael. The effect of my Mirage card activates. Now I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand."

"That's good, but I don't think you guys will survive long enough to use them."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Syrus asked.

Michael smirked. "What I mean is that even though you guys defeated Dark Horus, I still have this card." He held up his Dark Armed Dragon card.

"Dark Armed Dragon? But you can only summon it if there are exactly three dark monsters in your graveyard. And so far, you only have Sangan and Dark Horus." Jaden stated.

"Not quite. It's true that I have Sangan and Dark Horus in my graveyard, but I also have another monster in there. And it's all thanks to Syrus' No Entry card. You remember what that card did, right?"

Jaden and Syrus widened their eyes as they remembered the time Syrus used that card.


Flashback

"And there's more. My trap card forces you to discard one card from your hand."

Michael shrugged before discarding one of his cards.

Flashback end


"Aw man. So the card you discarded was a monster?" Syrus asked with a panicked tone in his voice.

"That's right. Which means the number of dark monsters in my graveyard… is just the number I need to summon my beast. Come forth, Dark Armed Dragon!" The black and silver dragon rose on the field right behind Michael. (ATK: 2800-3300 DEF: 1000 LV: 7) "And I bet you guys remember its special ability. By removing a dark monster from my graveyard, I'm allowed to destroy one card on the field. And I'll start to remove my Dark Horus to destroy one of Jaden's facedown cards." The dragon aimed its tail at the facedown card right next to Jaden's Mirage of Nightmare and shot a spike from it.

"Stop right there! I won't let you destroy it, because I'm gonna play it right now. The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This card allows me to summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck. But wait, there's more. I play my other facedown, Emergency Provisions. This lets send other spell or trap cards to my graveyard and then I gain one thousand life points for each card. So I'll toss out Mirage of Nightmare and The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh." The two named cards disappeared and Jaden was surrounded by a healing aura.

Jaden & Syrus: 4000-6000

"Of course, just because my spell was sent to the graveyard, doesn't mean my furry friend won't join us." Jaden commented as Winged Kuriboh was summoned to the field. (ATK: 300 DEF: 200 LV: 1)

"Winged Kuriboh. As I recall, that monster protects you from battle damage after being destroyed." Michael said. "In that case, I'll use my dragon's ability again to destroy your field spell." The dragon shot another spike at Jaden. After it exploded, his field spell tray popped open, causing all the buildings disappear.

"Uh oh. Without the field spell, Jaden's monster loses his extra points." Andrew commented. (ATK: 2600-1600)

"And now I have one monster left in my graveyard, which means I can use my dragon's ability one more time. So, which card should I destroy?" Michael asked himself as he looked around on the field. Finally, he stopped when he glanced at Syrus' facedown card. "Ah. How about that mystery card of yours?"

Syrus widened his eyes at this.

"All right Dark Armed Dragon, destroy his facedown card." The dragon shot another spike and shattered the card to pixels. But then, to Michael's surprise, the pixels merged together and formed a face up trap card. "Huh? What happened?"

Syrus gave him a smile. "My trap card was activated. It's called Wonder Garage and this card can only be activated when it's destroyed. And when that happens, I can summon a level four or bellow roid monster from my hand. And I choose Decoyroid." The monster that appeared looked like a toy car. (ATK: 300 DEF: 500 LV: 2)

"Oh. So you knew I would destroy your trap card? Pretty impressive. Well then, moving on. I switch my Witch's Apprentice to attack mode." The blue clad witch stood up." And now I activate the spell card Stop Defense. This lets me choose a monster on field and switch it to attack mode. And I think I choose Gyroid." The named machine monster stood up.

"Why did he choose Gyroid?" Chumley asked. "Syrus' Decoyroid has less attack points than him. He would totally cause so much damage by attacking that monster."

"That might be true." Andrew replied. "But Gyroid has a special ability, or did you forget? It can survive in battle once per turn. So by forcing it to attack mode, Michael will be able to cause even more damage by attacking it twice."

"Oh." Chumley's eyes widened. "I never even thought of that."

"Okay. Time to scrap some metal. Are your Gyroid ready for battle, Syrus? I know my Witch's Apprentice is."

"Not quite. You see, my Decoyroid has a special ability. As long as it remains on the field, all my other monsters are safe from your attacks."

"Is that so? All right, then I guess I'll take care of him first." The witch flew over the little car and threw another pinch of powder. The powder caused the little car to explode. "And now, I'll let my Dark Armed Dragon attack your Gyroid. Dark Dragon Talon Terror!" The giant dragon roared and clawed the helicopter. The attack caused Syrus to groan a bit.

Jaden & Syrus: 6000-3700

"And now I activate my facedown card, Escape from the Dark Dimension. This lets me summon one of my dark monsters that's been remove from play. Which means I can bring back Dark Horus." A big, dark portal appeared, and out of it came the bird like creature. (ATK: 3000-3500 DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"What? That monster again!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"That's right. And I believe he's ready for a rematch. Dark Horus, attack!" The dragon let out another stream of flames, engulfing Gyroid completely.

Jaden & Syrus: 3700-1200

"I think I've caused enough battle damage for one turn, so I'll let my Witch of the Black Forest destroy Winged Kuriboh." The witch shot another beam of magic energy from her third eye and destroyed Jaden's duel spirit.

'Sorry Winged Kuriboh.' Jaden mentally said.

"And with that, I end my turn."

"Um Jaden?" Syrus asked nervously. "Any chance we can stop now?"

"No way Sy. A duel is not over until the last card is played. And I believe your cards are going to end this duel. Now show him what you got."

Syrus hesitated for a moment. But then he nodded and was about to draw his next card. 'Well, I hope I draw something good. Here goes.' He drew his card and looked at it. It was a strong trap card known as… 'Magic Cylinder. This card can take a monster's attack and send it back to the opponent. I can use it to make one of Michael's monsters to wipe out the rest of his life points.' He then had an insecure look on his face. 'But then again, he might be able too see through me and destroy my trap card. And it's not like I have anything useful in my hand.' He looked over his hand disappointed. He was about to give up, but then he noticed a certain monster card in his hand. 'Wait. Is that…' He smiled as he recognized that card. 'Yes. This might work.'

Michael raised an eyebrow. 'I wonder what he drew.'

"All right. First I summon Jetroid in attack mode." A red fighter jet with the same cartoonish look appeared on the field. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "The I place a card facedown and end my turn."

Michael drew his next card. "Ya know, I don't know wether you're bluffing. But I won't take any chances." He inserted a card into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card Foolish Burial. With this I can take a monster card from my deck and send it to the graveyard." He explained as he took a card from his and placed it in the graveyard slot.

"Huh? Why would he do that?" Chumley wondered.

"There's only one reason I can think of." Andrew said. "His Dark Armed Dragon."

"Got that right. By removing that monster from my graveyard, I can use his ability again." Michael's card ejected from his duel disk and the dragon shot another spike from its tail, destroying Syrus' facedown. Michael was surprised when he noticed the identity of that card. "Polymerization? So you were bluffing."

Syrus scratched at his right cheek. "Um…"

"Well, that's to bad, cuz with 1200 attack points, your monster won't be able to protect your life points. It's over. Dark Horus, attack his Jetroid with Dark Flame Breath!" The dragon unleashed one more stream of flames. The attack was about to hit Jetroid. But then...

"Not so fast! You activated Jetriod's ability."

Michael was startled by this. "What? His ability?"

Syrus smirked. "That's right. When he's attacked, I can activate a trap card directly from my hand."

"Your hand?"

"You heard me. And the card I choose is this, Magic Cylinder." A pair of red cylinders appeared between his monster and Dark Horus. "This card can take your attack and send it right back at you."

Everyone were surprised, but Michael was more surprised than the rest of the gang. "No way!"

"Awesome!" Jaden cheered.

The attack was absorbed into one cylinder. And then, the flames came out of the other and burned Michael's field, wiping out the rest of his life points.

Michael: 2200-0000

As soon as the holograms disappeared, Syrus fell down to his knees, feeling relieved. "Aw man, that was a close one."

He was then approached by Jaden. "That was a sweet move Syrus. I knew you had some skills."

"Yeah. I can't believe we actually won."

"That was well played guys." Andrew said as he walked up to them smiling. "I think you two are more than ready for the tag team match." He then turned towards Michael. "What do you think?"

The Obelisk boy walked up to them and gave a toothy grin. "I couldn't agree more. There's no doubt that you guys can pull it off, regardless who your opponents will be."

"Yeah, totally." Chumley agreed.

Jaden balled up one of his hands into a fist. "Well guys, if that's the case, then…" He then raised his fist to the air. "Get your game on!"


Finally done. Until next time.