The Maiden and The Girly Knight

The sun was going down, turning the color of the sky over the Academy Island to nice orange. And right now it was dinner time. In the Slifer red dorm, the students were enjoying their meal, until Professor Banner appeared and called out to get their attention.

"If I could please have everyone's attention? Eyes forward students! Chumley stop chewing with your mouth open!" The students stopped their eating and looked forward. "Good. Now please join me in welcoming two new transfer students, Blair Flannigan and Leon Mika." He stepped aside to let the two students show up. Both of them were short, more so than Syrus. They were wearing Slifer Red jackets and for some reason, matching caps. Blair had brown eyes and Leon had purple eyes, which were generally hidden because they mostly kept their heads down.

"I had to stop chewing for transfer students?" Chumley complained.

"Aw man. They're smaller than me, dresses goofier than me... my sidekick gig is up." Syrus sighed.

Jaden just smiled. "Be nice." He then stood up between his roommates "Blair, Leon, welcome to S-L-I-F-… something, Slfer!" He half-yelled, raising his arms to the ceiling.

Both of them looked at Jaden like he was crazy. That didn't stop him from approaching the new students. He even pulled Blair to him.

"We're the best dorm on campus! See, here we're not a bunch of stuffy, eggheaded, straight A getting brainiacs."

"Jaden wait. You don't understand." Banner told him.

"What's not to understand, Professor Banner? I'm just trying to…" Blair released himself from Jaden and stood timidly behind Banner. "...help them feel at home."

"H-hey. You didn't have to spook him." Leon said in a low voice.

"Besides, this isn't their home. At least not for long. They scored nearly perfect on all their entrance exams." Banner added.

"Oooh…"

"You see, it is academy policy that all transfer students start out at Slifer. But with their high marks, they'll be moved up to Ra Yellow within a few days."

Jaden laughed at this. "Yeah right. And next you'll be saying that they're gonna move into our dorm room cuz of all the extra space." he turned to his friends with a wide smile on his face. "I just love these guys!"

Syrus and Chumley stood up. "Good one."

"I agree." Banner said. "It's nice of you to offer them a place to stay, Jaden." The brown-haired Slifer and his roommates fell in anime-style at that statement. "However, I do not believe you have enough room for both of them, so…" He then turned to a certain, purple-haired Slifer who was sitting at the table next to them. "...Matt."

"Yes?" He said.

"From what I've heard, you have two bed-bunks to spare in your room, right? Would you mind if Blair and Leon will be sharing your room?"

Matt thought for a moment before shrugging. "Well, that's okay. It's starting to get lonely in my room anyway."

"Good to hear. Now, Blair, Leon. Why don't you say hello to your fellow Slifers?"

"Hi." Leon said.

"Hello." Blair said in a low, soft voice.


The next day, all students from all three dorms in the main greeting hall for a special announcement. People were talking amongst themselves, until a certain someone appeared on the big monitor. And it was Chancellor Sheppard. "Settle down people! Attention please! Chumley, stop chewing with your mouth open!"

Andrew, who was standing among the other Ra students, blinked at the last part and turned towards the Slifer group. He noticed the koala duelist putting away his grilled cheese. 'Are you serious?' He thought disbelieved.

"Good." Sheppard spoke. "Now, the big matchup against our rival school, North Academy is coming up. Last year, Zane, our student rep whooped them good. And this year, I want to win the School Duel again."

Syrus noticed Blair looking at Zane and leaned over. "Hey Blair, did you know Zane is my brother?" He whispered.

"Really?" Blair turned to him, surprised.

Leon, who was standing behind them was also surprised. "It must be amazing to having a brother who's a top duelist."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool, but mom says I got the looks." Syrus said casually.

"Now we still haven't decided on who is going to represent us this year. So if you keep hitting those books and dueling hard, you may be the one who gets the honor." At those words, the monitor went blank with DA insignia planted on it.

"Alright!" Jaden exclaimed. "Did you hear what he said? It could be me in this match!"

"Hey, or me." Syrus huffed. "But we might as well face it, Jay. It'll probably be Zane who gets the spot again."

"How come?" Jaden asked as he turned towards Zane.

"Because he's amazing." Blair said and stared at Zane with... a lot of interest, confusing Jaden.

At the same time, Andrew was talking to Shiori.

"Hey, Shiori. Who do you think gets the spot?"

"Hard to tell. There are many skilled duelists here. It could be you, me, Jenny, Michael. Heck, even Matt could have a chance."

"Then let's hope for the best." Andrew said, making his friend nod.

Unbeknownst to them, Leon was staring at them from afar. More accurately, he was staring at Andrew. The one who noticed this was Matt who was standing right next to him.

'Hmm.'


"Amazing? What's that got to do with it?" Jaden complained as he and his friends just left the academy building. "It should be about who's best!"

"Zane did beat you in a duel, Jaden." Syrus reminded him.

"Yeah, but it was a totally close match." Chumley added.

"That's true." Syrus replied. "Huh?" They all then noticed a certain someone running across the pathway, leading away from the main building.

"Blair?" Jaden voiced. He had a look of suspicion on his face and ran after him.

"Uh Jaden." Syrus called out.

"Gotta check something out!" Jaden replied as he ran after Blair.


Meanwhile, Andrew and Shiori was heading to their dorm.

"Well, this is interesting. A dueling school facing another one in a duel." Shiori said. "This will be exciting, huh?" He asked Andrew.

"Yeah. I can hardly wait." He replied. As they were walking, Andrew looked up to the sky and smiled. 'Speaking of dueling school, I wonder how my old friend is doing at the North Academy.' He thought.

The image of a figure appeared in his mind. It was a person with short, scarlet red hair, wearing a red jacket and a pair of ripped jeans. If one were to look, one could see the back of this person and not their face.

While Andrew and Shiori were on the way to the Ra dorm, none of them realized they've been stalked by Leon who was sneaking behind the bushes.

"Andrew." He voiced quietly.

But what he doesn't know that someone was stalking him as well. That someone was Matt.

"What are you up to, Leon?"


Back to Jaden

He followed Blair all the way to the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm. When he arrived, he hid behind a column and watched Blair climbing up on a tree and walked across a branch towards one of the dorm rooms on the second floor.

'First he makes that weird comment about Zane, now he's sneaking into the Obelisk Blue dorm. Something's definitely up.' He climbed the tree and entered the room. He stood there in silence as Blair made his way across the room. He then took a deck case from the stand next to the bed and opened it up. He took out of the cards, with Cyber Dragon being the top card.

"What in the world is he doing?" He asked himself quietly. He was then weirded out when he saw Blair rub his cheek against the deck case. "This is getting very strange." He said as he backed away all the way to the balcony. He turned around and then...

"Come on, guys. What do you say we chill upstairs?"

He saw Zane making his way towards the dorm, with three other Obelisk boys following him.

"Uh oh. It's Zane." Jaden ran back into the room where Blair was still holding Zane's deck. "I don't know what you're up to, but you've gotta get out of here right now! Otherwise, you'll get booted out of this school for trespassing!"

"Where did you come from?" Blair asked.

They then heard the Obelisks getting closer to the room "Explain later, leave now!" Jaden pulled hard on the on the smaller boy's hand. And then, the next thing happened in slow motion. Blair dropped his hat. And when Jaden turned around to see that Blair... had long, dark-blue hair. "Whoa... what the…?" Blair picked up his hat and ran away. "You're… you're... out of here." As soon as Blair got to the tree, Jaden was about to leave this place. But...

"Hey you!"

He turned around and saw the group of Obelisks entering the room.

"Take a wrong turn on the way to detention?" One of them asked.

"Hey Zane. Look who we caught hanging out in your room."

The Obelisk in question glanced down, making the others follow suit.

"Heh, not just hanging out, he was digging around your cards!" One of the said accusingly.

"You've got some nerve, Slifer!"

"Oh boy." Jaden said nervously. "Now look, it's not like that. See, it was this guy... well girl."

"Save it, Slifer Slacker!" The three Obelisks then approached him.

"Alright! I'll just take off then. Catch you later fellas!" Unfortunately, Jaden was grabbed by them before he got to the tree.

"You are not going anywhere, buddy boy."

"Except to Dr. Crowler's office."

"No, anyone but him!" Jaden said while crying with anime tears.

"Okay, we'll just deal with you ourselves then."

"Dr. Crowler, help, help!"

While this was happening, Zane noticed a hair-clip among his cards. He then had a hunch of what happened.

"Look, I'm telling you, this is just one giant misunderstanding!" Jaden pleaded as he was dragged by the other Obelisks.

"Yeah, then let's see if we can knock some sense into this situation."

"Let him go." Zane said.

"What?" The Obelisks said.

"What?" Jaden parroted.

"Do you want me to reconsider Jaden, or do you want to leave?" Zane asked without turning around.

"Leaving's good. Take care guys! Let's not do this again sometime! Later!" Jaden ran out of the room and eventually came out of the building. "Phew. Wait'll I'll tell the guys about this."

Behind the tree, Blair popped out hearing Jaden's talk. "You won't be telling anyone anything." Blair said in a little girl's voice... her real voice.


Back to Andrew and Shiori

The two Ras have reached their dorm and entered, completely unaware of Leon following them. Of course, he was unaware of Matt following him. He watched as Leon entered the building.

"He's following Andrew all the way to the Ra Yellow dorm and sneak in. What does he want from him?" Matt asked himself as he entered the dorm as well. He walked through the halls quietly and followed Leon until he saw the cap wearing Slifer enter one room. He snuck up to the entrance and peeked in to see Leon go through some stuff on a desk until he found what he was looking for: a deck case. He opened it up, revealing the top card of the deck. It was Elemental HERO Terra Firma.

"Huh? What is he doing with Andrew's deck?" And then… "What the…?" Matt was flabbergasted. Why? Because Leon was embracing the deck case with affection. "Uh.. Uh…" Matt couldn't say anything at this.

And since none of them could see duel spirits, they didn't notice Phantom Magician floating above the cap wearing Slifer while waving his staff wildly. "Hey! What do you think you're doing with my partner's deck!" He exclaimed.

Matt backed away slowly. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

"Matt?"

He jumped upon of someone calling to him. He turned around to see Andrew and Shiori staring at him with confused looks on their faces.

"What are you doing here, Matt?" Andrew asked curiously.

Matt reacted quickly and covered the two Ras' mouths. "Shh. I'll explain later." He whispered. "But right now, there is something you need to see."

"What is it?" Shiori whispered.

"Just look." Matt motioned them to take a look inside Andrew's room. They peeked in and saw Leon hugging Andrew's deck.

"What the…?" Andrew said. He noticed Phantom Magician above the smaller Slifer.

"Hands off from Andrew's deck!"

"That's one of the transfer students." Shiori noted. "What is he doing with Andrew's deck?"

"I actually have no idea." Matt replied, still being weirded out by Leon's behavior.

"Then let's ask him." Andrew declared as he entered the room. "Hey."

Leon gasped and turned around.

"Partner." Phantom Magician called out.

"I don't know what you're doing here, but if you wanted to visit me, you could have just knocked." Andrew said.

Leon yelped and placed the deck case on the desk before making a run for it.

"Stop right there!" Shiori called out as he stopped him by grabbing his arm. "We just want to ask a few questions."

Leon stumbled and fell on the floor. And then, his cap fell off and revealed his… long, pink hair.

"Wha…?" Shiori and Matt gasped in shock by this. As for Andrew, he gasped as he looked like he recognized Leon.

"W-w-what?" Shiori was so shocked that he lost his grip on Leon's arm. Leon picked up his cap and ran away.

"Hey, wait!" Matt called out as he and Shiori and ran after him... or her.

Andrew just stood there until Phantom Magician appeared next to him. "What's wrong, partner?"

"Nothing's wrong... except 'Leon'." Andrew replied as he grabbed his deck case and ran after the others.


'Leon' was running through the forest for the moment, trying to get away from the boys. She looked behind her to see if she lost them. But by doing so, she failed to notice a person walking in front of her. And of course, she ended up bumping into that person and fell on the ground.

"Ow." 'Leon' groaned. She then looked up and saw a certain Obelisk Blue Girl with blue hair tied in a ponytail staring at her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Um…"

"Hey, wait!" Matt called out as he and Shiori came up to them.

"What's going on?" Jenny asked them.

"Well, that girl snuck into Andrew's room and we just want to question her!" Shiori said.

'Leon' got up on her feet and was about to run away...

"Lily, wait up!" Andrew, who just arrived, called out, making Leon, or Lily stop where she was standing.

The others looked at him confused.

"Lily?" Matt repeated.

"You know her, Andrew?" Shiori asked.

"Yes, I know her. And she should know better than sneaking into a school dressed like a boy." Upon hearing those words, Lily lowered her head ashamed.

"Lily…"Jenny voiced as she was thinking. "That sounds like…" She widened her eyes in realization. "Oh, she's the one you saved from that car accident."

"Car accident?" Shiori asked.

"That's right. She was about to get hit by a car once and I saved her. But unfortunately, I ended up in the hospital because of that."

Shiori and Matt gasped.

"Damn." Matt said.

"Hey Andrew." Lily said in her real voice, a girly one. She also took off her cap. "Nice to see you again.

"Why are you here, Lily?" Andrew asked as he approached her. "Why did you disguise yourself to get to this school?"

"Because... I missed you." She said. "I just wanted to see you. Ever since you and I first met, I couldn't help but want to be with you. Especially because of my feelings for you?"

Everyone blinked.

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked.

"It all happened when I was playing with kids...


Flashback

It was a bright day in Domino City, and Lily was in a park with two kids, a couple of years younger than her. A girl with short, light-brown hair, wearing a lime-green summer dress. And a boy with black hair, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of blue pants. Lily was wearing a light-purple, sleeveless blouse, a white skirt and matching white shoes. All three of them were tossing ball to each other.

"I was playing with two kids, whose mom have gone to get her car. We had some fun for a while. until…

The boy tossed the ball to Lily and she tried to catch it. However, she somehow tripped a little, causing the ball to get past her. Lily ran after it, but didn't notice that she was approaching a crosswalk. She was getting closer to the ball and failed to notice a car approaching her. Just before she managed to get the ball, a pair of hands pushed her, sending her back to the sidewalk. Since she was facing the opposite direction, she didn't saw what happened. But she heard a bunch of sounds. Like screaming from people. Lily slowly turned around and saw something shocking. People in front of an injured (even a little bloody) and unconscious Andrew laying on the ground in front of the car that hit him. Lily looked at this frightened and...

"AAAAAHHHHH!"


"Seeing Andrew in that state was terrifying. I was so scared. Andrew was brought to the hospital, and luckily, he was saved."

Andrew was laying in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown covering the bandages wrapped around his upper body and cast on his left leg. Lily was there to visit him.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked.

Andrew smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to rest for a few weeks and I'll be on my feet again."

Lily lowered her head. "This is my fault. If I haven't chased after the ball, you wouldn't have been hurt like this." She said in a low voice.

Andrew placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Don't be like that. It's not your fault. Bad things happens sometimes. At least I was lucky to survive that accident. I'm just glad you're okay. So cheer up."

Lily widened her eyes as she stared at him with reddened cheeks.

Flashback end


"When you said those words, Andrew, I was so happy." Lily said while blushing. "No-one showed so much concern about me before. Because of that, I… I've been in love with you. That's why came to this school. So I could be together with you!" She smiled widely and held out her arms.

Andrew was quite shocked by Lily's confession.

Jenny was shocked as well, before she shook her head. "Oh my god."

As for Matt, he blinked twice before he snickered. "Okay, that's just hilarious."

Shiori on the other hand, scratched the back of his hand and let out a sigh. "Well, looks like Andrew got himself another fangirl."

Andrew got over his shock and looked at Lily with a small smile. "Lily, I'm flattered, but I don't feel the same about you."

"Huh?" Lily looked at him confused.

"Don't get me wrong. You are pretty cute, but you're just too young."

"I'm not that young. I'm 8 years old!" She retorted.

Shiori and Matt almost dropped their jaws at that statement. "So she's in second grade?" Matt asked.

"That would most likely be the case." Jenny replied.

"And even if you and I were the same age, we don't know each other so much. You can't find your soulmate simply because of one good thing he did or said to you." Andrew scratched the back of his head with an uncertain look of his. "I don't know so much about love, but I think that's one way to explain it."

"Well, pretty much." Jenny shrugged while the guys nodded.

Lily looked down at the ground. "I see." She said with one single tear appearing from her left eye.

Andrew felt bad for her and decided to give her a hug. "I'm sorry about this, I really am. Don't feel bad, Lily. Like I said, you're pretty cute. I'm sure you'll meet someone who might be interested in you."

Lily looked up and perked up. "You really think so?"

Andrew pulled back and smiled. "Absolutely."

Lily wiped away the tear and smiled. "Thank you." She said as she returned hug.

Everyone smiled at this.

"So, what do we now?" Matt asked.

"Obviously, we should make sure she's coming home." Jenny said. "She is in second grade after all, so she's too young to be a Duel Academy student."

"That's true." Shiori added.

Lily stepped away from Andrew. "Wait! I know I have to go home. You're right. I shouldn't have been here in the first place. But can I ask you a favor first?"

What is it?" Andrew asked.

"I... want to duel you, Andrew. My feelings for you isn't the only reason I came here. I wanted to show you how a good duelist I am. I know I have to go home, but can you at least duel me first?" She then bowed. "Please?" She pleaded.

"A duel?" Andrew asked. He then turned to the others. "What do you guys think?"

Shiori shrugged. "Why not?"

"It's not like we have to rush to get her home." Matt added.

"Besides…" Jenny asked. "I'm kinda curious of her skills if she was able to pass her entrance exams, despite her age."

Andrew smiled. "Now when you mention it, so am I."

Lily looked up. "So then…"

"Alright Lily. I'll duel you."

Lily smiled brightly. "Thank you!"

And just a moment later, the two them took their positions, took out their duel disks and activated them.

"Now then, are you ready?" Andrew asked.

"Yup!" Lily replied.

"In that case…"

"DUEL!"

Andrew: 4000

Lily: 4000

"Me first." Lily declared as she drew her card. "I summon Familiar Knight in defense mode!" A knight in grey armor with a red cape kneeled down in front of her carrying a shield and sword. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1400 LV: 3) "I place one card facedown and end my turn." She concluded with a card appearing behind the knight.

"Then it's my turn." Andrew said and drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The white and red armored hero stood up on the field. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This monster gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field. (ATK: 1600-1800) "Now Heat, attack with Burning Fist!" The fire hero ignited his right fist and dashed forward to smash Familiar Knight, making him explode.

"You just activated Familiar Knight's special ability." Lily said. "When he's destroyed in battle, each player is allowed to summon a level 4 monster from their hand."

"In that case, I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat in defense mode." Heat's female counterpart kneeled down right next to him. (ATK: 1300 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) (ATK: 1800-2000)

"And I summon Queen's Knight in attack mode." A blonde woman in red armor with a matching red sword and shield appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Andrew said as a facedown card appeared. "And this activates Lady Heat's ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I've got." The fire heroine conjured a fireball in her right hand threw it at Lily.

Lily: 4000-3600

"Okay." Lily drew a card. "I summon King's Knight in attack mode." The warrior appearing right next to Queen's Knight was a bearded man in orange armor with a sword and shield of his own. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

"A queen and a king." Matt noted.

"And that doesn't stop there." Jenny added.

"That's right, because if I summon King's Knight while having Queen's Knight on the field, I can summon Jack's Knight from my deck." The two royal knights raised their swords, crossed them and created a portal. Out of it came a third knight. A young man with long blonde hair and wearing a blue and silver armor. Just like the other two knights, he had a sword and shield. (ATK: 1900 DEF: 1000 LV: 5)

"Three monsters just like that. Not bad for an 8 years old." Shiori commented.

"Not bad all." Andrew added.

"Thank you." Lily replied cheerful. "But that's not all, I also play the spell The A. Forces." A spell card appeared behind Jack's Knight. "Thanks to this card, all my warrior type monsters gains 200 attack points for every spellcaster or warrior type monster I control."

"Whoa!" Andrew gasped.

"And since all three of them are warrior type monsters…" Matt started to say.

"Their attack strength is increased by 600 points." Jenny filled in.

All three knights glowed brightly. (ATK: 1500-2100) (ATK: 1600-2200) (ATK: 1900-2500)

"Uh oh." Andrew voiced.

"Time to battle!" Lily declared. "King's Knight, attack. Destroy his Heat!" The bearded warrior charged forward as he raised his sword.

"I activate Waboku!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier, causing the knight to halt. "During this turn, my trap keeps me from taking battle damage. And as a bonus, my monsters can't be destroyed battle this turn."

"Aww." Lily pouted cutely at this. "I guess I'll end my turn."

Andrew drew his next card. "I play Polymerization. And I'll use it to combine Lady Heat with Ice Edge from my hand and summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero." Lady Heat was absorbed into a fusion vortex, along with the icy clad kid. And in their place, a blizzard occurred which then died down and revealed the mighty, white armored warrior. (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Now it's time take down your monsters. Absolute Zero, attack King's Knight with Raging Blizzard!" The hero unleashed a powerful blizzard that made its way toward the knights.

"Oh no you don't!" Lily interrupted as she revealed her facedown card. "I activate Mirror Force! Now I can destroy all monsters you have on the field in attack mode." A glass wall appeared and reflected the blizzard. Andrew's hero were caught in it and was eventually destroyed. "Yay! My monsters are safe!" She cheered.

"Not exactly." Andrew replied with a smirk.

"Huh?"

Lily was then surprised by seeing another blizzard occur and surround all three of her knights. And then, they were destroyed.

"What the…!?"

"Sorry, but when my Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monsters on my opponent's field are destroyed."

"So much for the triple threat." Matt commented.

"That Absolute Zero is not a monster to take lightly." Shiori added.

"To end my turn, I summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in defense mode." Andrew concluded as the black armored woman kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"Alright!" Lily drew her next card. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." After drawing her two cards, she inserted one of them into her duel disk. "Then I activate the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This lets me take two normal monsters from my graveyard back to my hand, like Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight." She took out the named cards from the graveyard slot. "And now I activate Monster Reborn so I can bring back my King's Knight." The orange armored warrior returned to the field. (ATK: 1600-1800 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And now I summon Command Knight." The new monster was female warrior wearing red armor with a black cape and holding a long sword. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1900 LV: 4) "Thanks to The A. Forces, she gets stronger." (ATK: 1200-1600) (ATK: 1800-2000)

"Another knight, huh?" Andrew noted. "Is it some kind of themed deck you built."

"Yup. Because of my crush on you, I made a knight deck since you saved me, like a knight in shining armor." Lily explained with her face being a little pink tinted.

"You don't say." Andrew replied as he sweat dropped at her explanation.

And so did Jenny. "Makes me wonder if she really thought things through when she built her deck."

"Anyway, my Command Knight has a special ability. She gives my warrior type monsters, including herself, 400 extra attack points." (ATK: 1600-2000) (ATK: 2000-2400)

"Uh oh." Andrew voiced.

"Command Knight, attack Shadow Mist!" The female knight slashed down on the dark female hero.

"When Shadow Mist is sent to the graveyard, her special ability activates." Andrew said. "Now I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Blazeman." He held up the card he took from his deck.

"Okay, but now you're wide open. I attack you directly with King's Knight!" The bearded warrior dashed forward and slashed down on him.

Andrew: 4000-1600

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Matt stated.

"And that ends my turn." Lily concluded. "By the way, if I have another monster on the field, Command Knight is safe from your attacks."

'Which means I have to get through KIng's Knight first.' Andrew thought. "I draw." He looked at the card he drew. 'Hm, not what I was hoping for, but I guess it will do.'

"First I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Lily's monsters were now surrounded by swords of light. "Now you can't attack for three turns. Then I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The flame headed hero appeared. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And now I activate his special ability. By sending an Elemental HERO from my deck to the graveyard, Blazeman will have that monster's attack and defense points, as well its attribute until the end of my turn. So I'll send Bladedge to the grave." When Andrew slid the golden hero into the graveyard slot, the red armored hero glowed brightly as his armor's color turned into dark brown. (ATK: 1200-2600 DEF: 1800)

"2600 attack points!" Lily gasped.

"More than enough to destroy you King's Knight. Now go!" Blazeman smashed the orange armored knight with his left fist, making him explode.

Lily: 3600-3400 (ATK: 2000-1800)

"And with that, I'm done." Blazeman turned back to normal. (ATK: 2600-1200)

Lily drew her next card. "Okay, maybe I can't attack, but I can summon Queen's Knight." The blonde female warrior appeared next to Command Knight. "And now for her power boost." Both of her knight monster glowed for a moment. (ATK: 1500-2300 DEF: 1600 LV: 4) (ATK: 1800-2000) "I end my turn."

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. " I summon Elemental HERO Knospe in attack mode." The little plant hero appeared. (ATK: 600 DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "With another Elemental HERO on my field, she can bypass your monsters and attack you directly. Now Knospe, attack with Seed Blast!" The hero fired seeds from its open buds, causing Lily to shield herself.

Lily: 3400-2800

"And after her direct attack is successful, her attack points are increased by 100, and her defense points are decreased by the same amount." (ATK: 600-700 DEF: 1000-900) "I switch Blazeman to defense mode and end my turn." The fire hero crossed his arms and kneeled down.

"Draw." Lily drew her next card. "I summon Doomcaliber Knight." A fiendish knight riding on a black steed came galloping on the field. It was wielding a sword and shield that looked as fiendish as his skeleton face. (ATK: 1900 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "This monster is a fiend type, so there won't be any extra points. I end my turn."

"I draw." Andrew announced. "Then I'll attack with Knospe again." The plant hero fired another barrage of seeds.

Lily: 2800-2100

"And now she gets a power boost." The hero started to glow.

But it was then Lily smirked. "Not this time." After she said that, the Doomcaliber Knight disappeared.

"Huh? What happened to her monster?" Matt asked.

"Not just him. Look." Shiori said.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw Knospe cry out in pain as she was surrounded by a red aura. And then, she exploded.

"What happened?" Andrew asked.

"It was my Doomcaliber Knight's ability. When a monster effect is activated, he is automatically sacrificed, and that monster's special ability is cancelled out."

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Jenny said smiling.

"A good move." Andrew complimented. "You're a promising duelist, Lily."

"Thank you." She said smiling brightly.

"I think I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Blazeman.

"I draw." Lily drew a card. "I activate the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This lets me take back a warrior type monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose King's Knight." The card came out of the graveyard slot of her duel disk. "And now I'll summon him to the field." The bearded knight appeared on the field, once again. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And of course, he gets stronger, thanks to my spell and Command Knight." (ATK: 1600-2600) (ATK: 2300-2500) (ATK: 2000-2200)

"Him again?" Matt asked. "How many times is she planning to summon him?"

"She probably just wanted to power up her monsters." Shiori guessed.

Jenny on the other hand had a look of suspicion on her face. 'I don't know about that. It might be something else. And based on the fact that those knights work together, I think I know what it is.'

"I end my turn." Lily concluded as the swords of light disappeared.

"Alright then." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Flash in defense mode." The blue and silver clad, electric hero appeared next to Blazeman. (ATK: 1100 DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"Here goes." Lily looked at the card she drew and smiled. "Okay, now I drew what I needed." She held it up. "I activate Polymerization."

Andrew and the boys gasped. Jenny nodded firmly. "I knew it." She said.

"And I'll use it to fuse Queen's Knight, King's Knight and Jack's Knight in order to summon my most powerful monster. Arcana Knight Joker!" The three knights joined together and entered the fusion vortex. And out of it, appeared a warrior clad in black armor golden accessories, including a set of red, yellow and blue jewels in several places in the armor. His left arm carried a shield, and the right arm carried a silver blade. (ATK: 3800 DEF: 2500 LV: 9) With one warrior monster less on Lily's field, Command Knight became weaker. (ATK: 2200-2000)

"Whoa! That's one powerful fusion monster." Shiori commented.

"And it's about to get stronger." Jenny added.

"That's right, because I still have The A. Forces and Command Knight on the field." The new knight glowed with a golden aura. (ATK: 3800-4600)

"4600 attack points!" Andrew exclaimed.

"And I'm gonna use all them on you. Arcana Knight Joker, attack Blazeman with Royal Flush Blade!" The warrior roared and raised his sword, getting ready to strike.

"I activate my trap card Fiendish Chain!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "This lets me choose an effect monster on the field. And then, that monster can't attack or activate it's effects. I choose Arcana Knight Joker." Chains erupted from the ground and were about to wrap themselves around the knight.

"Sorry Andrew, but my Joker has a special effect. If he's targeted by a card effect, I can negate it and destroy it by discarding a card that is the same type as the one targeting him. So I'll discard the trap card Shift to destroy Fiend Chain." As soon as Lily slid her card into the graveyard slot, the warrior used his sword to cut the chains to pieces.

Andrew clicked his tongue. "I was hoping you didn't have one in your hand."

Lily stuck out her tongue playfully. "Too bad for you. That means my attack continues." The knight slashed down on the fire hero. "And now Command Knight, destroy his Flash!" The female warrior took down the electric hero the same way as Arcana Knight Joker.

"You activated his special ability. When Flash is destroyed in battle, I can remove him from play, plus three other Elemental Heroes from my graveyard." Lady Heat, Ice Edge and Bladedge came out of the graveyard slot. "Then I can take a normal spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose Polymerization."

"Okay, if that's all, then I'll end my turn." Lily concluded

"Man, I can't believe managed to push him to a corner." Shiori said.

"And this might be his last chance to turn this around." Matt added.

"Here goes." Jenny muttered.

"I draw." Andrew announced. He looked at the card he drew and held it up. "I activate Pot of Greed, and that means two more cards for me." Andrew drew his two cards, looked at them and smiled. "This is it, Lily."

"Huh?" She widened her eyes.

"First I play my own The Warrior Returning Alive. So now I can take back a warrior type monster from my graveyard. So welcome back, Elemental HERO Blazeman." He took the named card from his graveyard slot and placed it on the duel disk, making the red armored fire hero appear. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And once again, I activate his special ability. I'll send my Stratos to the graveyard so Blazeman will have his strength." The spirit of the turbine winged hero appeared and entered the fire hero's body, making his red armor turn green. (ATK: 1200-1800 DEF: 1800-300)

"What are you going to do?" Lily asked.

"Simple, I'll use Polymerization to combine my Elemental HERO Woodsman and Blazeman, who by the way, is a wind monster now." The green armored hero and the green-skinned wooden man entered the fusion vortex. "By doing so, I can create a new hero." And it was then a powerful whirlwind came out of the fusion vortex. It was so strong that it caused Lily and the spectators to hold up their arms for protection.

"Whoa! What's he gonna bring out now?" Shiori wondered.

"We're about to find out." Jenny replied.

They all watched as a figure was formed inside the whirlwind. "Now come forth, Elemental HERO Great Tornado!" Andrew called out. The whirlwind died down and revealed a warrior in green, black and yellow armor with a tattered black cloak hanging over his left shoulder. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2200 LV: 8)

"Wow! That guy is cool." Matt commented.

"Really cool." Lily added, staring at the new hero with amazement, until she looked at Andrew. "But, that monster is not as strong as Arcana Knight Joker, and as long as I have another monster on the field, Command Knight is safe."

Andrew just smirked. "True, and that's where his special ability comes in. Great Tornado, unleash your Downburst!" The hero raised his right fist and created a fierce tornado. Lily's monsters were then trapped within it. "Here's how it works: When Great Tornado is fusion summoned, the attack and defense points of all your monsters are cut in half. And since this doesn't target, your Joker can't stop it."

Lily gasped and watched as her monsters fell to their knees due to the loss of their strength. (ATK: 4600-2300 DEF: 2500-1250) (ATK: 2000-1000 DEF: 1900-950)

"Nice!" The boys cheered.

"Alright!" Jenny cheered.

"Now Great Tornado, attack her Arcana Knight Joker! Supercell!" The yellow parts of the hero's armor glowed brightly. And then, the tornado was only surrounding the Arcana Knight, who screamed in pain before he exploded.

Lily: 2100-1600 (ATK: 1000-800)

"Oh no!" Lily cried out.

"And I'm not done yet. I have one card left." Andrew declared and held it up. "I play Form Change. With this spell card, I can send a HERO fusion monster back to my fusion deck, and replace it with a Masked HERO that has the same level, but a different name. So now I'll change Great Tornado into…" The hero's body glowed. "Masked HERO Divine Wind!" The elemental hero was now taking the form of the emerald-green armored, masked hero. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1900 LV: 8) "Now Divine Wind, end this duel with Storming Justice!" The hero glowed and then it was Command Knight's turn to be surrounded by a tornado. And just like the previous knight, she screamed in pain and exploded.

Lily: 1600-0000

The holograms disappeared and Andrew turned off his duel disk.

"Nice dueling." Shiori said as he and the others approached him.

"You really pulled off the big gun." Matt added.

"Thanks." Andrew said smiling.

Jenny smiled as well and turned toward Lily who looked down on the ground with a disappointed look on her face. She walked up to her. "Are you okay?"

Lily looked up a little. "Yeah."

Jenny placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't feel bad. You were great. I'm actually surprised you could duel like that."

"Me too." Andrew said as he and the others approached them. "You dueled great, Lily. I believe you might become a top duelist when you're old enough to become a student here."

"You really mean that?" Lily asked as she perked up.

"No doubt about it."

Lily smiled brightly.

"Okay, now it's time help Lily come home." Matt declared.

Everyone nodded in agreement. However, Lily glanced away with an uneasy look on her face. She then thought… 'I wonder if Blair is okay.'


That night, Alexis and Jenny headed to the lighthouse, where Zane was waiting for them. On the way, Jenny told Alexis about Lily. She was surprised that a little girl would sneak into the school, all because of having a crush on Andrew. When they arrived, Alexis was the one who spoke up...

"Wow, a cold, wet dock in the middle of the night. You sure haven't forgotten how to show a girl good time." She said sarcastically.

Jenny laughed lightly at that. "So, what's up, Zane?"

"I caught Jaden snooping in my room today." He answered.

"Jaden? What on earth would he be doing in your room?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know, but I found this." He showed them a wooden barrette with a cute duel monster on it.

"Uh, that's a girl's hair clip." Alexis pointed out.

"I don't think it belongs to Lily." Jenny added.

Zane turned to them. "Who's Lily?"

Alexis and Jenny looked at each other before looking at him.

"She's a girl who came to this school dressed as a boy." The former answered.

Zane just kept his stoic expression and closed his eyes. "I see, so Blair wasn't the only one then."

Alexis and Jenny blinked. "Blair?" The latter asked.

"One of the new transfer students. Just like this Lily you just mentioned, Blair is trying to pass off as a boy for some reason." The Obelisk boy explained.

"Okay, we may have found out Lily's reason, but what's Blair's reason?" Alexis wondered.

"Better go and find out." At that, Zane walked off, followed by Alexis and Jenny. Jenny took out her PDA and prepared a message for Andrew.


Meanwhile, Syrus walked into him and his friends' dorm room, drying his hair with a towel. "Alright Jaden, the outhouse, she's all yours. Jay?" He blinked when he noticed that Jaden wasn't there. "Where is he?"

Chumley, who was in hid bed, got up. "I thought he was with you." He said.

"I hope not, I was taking a shower. So you're saying you haven't seen Jaden since he was running off?"

"That's what I'm saying. Of course, my eyes were shut for my six hour nap."

"I hope everything's okay."


At the same time, Matt and Lily had just returned to their own dorm room, with the latter wearing her cap again, hiding her long, pink hair.

"Okay, better get yourself ready." Matt said.

"Yeah." Lily said, although with an almost sad tone. "I just hope Blair will be…" She stopped at mid sentence as she looked around and found Blair nowhere. "Wait, where is Blair?"

Matt looked around. "That's weird, why isn't he here?"

Lily started to look nervous. "Could it be she has been exposed?" She muttered.

"Hm? What did you say?" Matt asked.

But Lily ignored him. She was just worried about Blair. And then, to Matt's surprise, she ran out of the dorm room.

"Hey, where are you going?" He called out as he ran after her.


Meanwhile, Jaden and Blair were standing at the bottom of the seaside cliff right beneath the Slifer dorm. After Jaden found out Blair's identity, the little girl convinced the brown-haired Slifer to have a chat. Blair had her hair hidden in her cap, only this time she had an orange bandana to keep her long hair in place. As for Jaden, he was holding a backpack.

"Listen Jaden," Blair spoke up. "The fact that I'm a girl has to stay a secret."

"But what for, Blair?"

The girl didn't answer Jaden's question. She just looked down.

"Look , I don't want to blow your cover, but if I'm gonna keep the secret, I think I should at least know why it is one…"

"NO! You don't need to know why! Nobody does, you got that!" She snapped.

Jaden kneeled down and reached into the backpack. "Fine, but if you're not gonna tell me, you at least have to duel me."

"What!?"

"Get your game on." Jaden challenged as he gave Blair a duel disk.

"A duel? How will that solve anything?" She asked.

"Cuz in a duel, the truth always comes out."

"Fine, but if I win, You keep quiet without me having to explain myself."

"Hey, this duel will tell all I need to know."

None of them noticed Syrus and Chumley peeking over the cliff. "Well, we found them." The koala duelist said.

"But what are they talking about down there?" Syrus asked.

"I don't know."

"Hey guys!" Someone called out from behind. They turned around to see Lily and Matt approaching them. "What are you doing out here?" Matt asked.

"Shhhh!" Syrus and Chumley hushed, trying to get them lower their voices.

Matt and Lily tiptoed over to them and saw Jaden and Blair talking to each other. "Ah, there is Blair." Matt said.

"Did Jaden find out." Lily asked herself. But unfortunately for her, she was loud enough for all three boys to hear her.

"What do you mean find out?" Chumley asked.

"Oh… Um…" Lily tried to answer, but she couldn't get any words out of her mouth.

Matt looked at her suspiciously. "Lily, is there something you haven't told us yet?" He asked.

Syrus and Chumley blinked at what they just heard. "Lily?" They said.

Matt realized what he just said. "Oops."

Lily on the other hand calmed down. "It's okay. Since I'm going to leave this school, I may as well tell the truth." She then took off her cap, revealing her long, pink hair.

Syrus and Chumley were shocked by her appearance. "Huh!?"

"Yeah, your eyes are not fooling you. I'm actually a girl, and my real name is Lily, not Leon."

"So, you're a girl…" Syrus repeated.

"And came to this school in disguise?" Chumley filled in.

"Yeah."

"But why?" Syrus asked.

"It's a long story, but let's save that for later." Matt replied. "Right now…" He turned to Lily. "I would like you to answer me, Lily. Is there something you forgot to tell me and the others."

Lily looked down. "Well, you see…"

"I don't think she needs to tell us." Someone spoke up. Everyone turned to see Andrew, along with Shiori, Zane, Alexis and Jenny. "Because we already figured out what that is."

"Really?" Matt asked.

Zane nodded before he spoke up. "It's about Blair. He's not a guy, she's really a girl. The Obelisk security cameras showed her in our dorm."

"Wait, so Blair is another girl in disguise?" Matt asked.

"That's right." Jenny replied.

"But what they didn't show is why she's gone to all this trouble." Alexis added.

"Do you know anything, Lily?" Andrew asked.

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "No, she never told me why. Of course, I never told her my reason either. She only asked me to keep her identity secret and promised to keep mine secret."

"That's too bad." Shiori said.

"I wonder how Jaden plans to solve that mystery…" Syrus said.

"DUEL!"

Everyone looked down to see Jaden and Blair start their duel.

Jaden: 4000

Blair: 4000

"Time to throw down" Jaden declared.

"Alright!" Blair said, drawing her card. "Get ready... to fall in love. I summon Maiden in Love!" A young, beautiful girl wearing a flowing yellow dress appeared. She had wavy long brown hair, just as beautiful as her pink tainted face. (ATK: 400 DEF: 300 LV: 2)

"She's cute." Syrus commented. Chumley grumbled a bit, while Matt and Lily gave him a weird look. The rest of the group focused on the duel.

"My turn now! Here goes!" Jaden drew his next card. "So many choices, but I think that I'll go with this one: Elemental HERO Avian!" The green hero with feather wings appeared. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "Attack!"

"(sigh) My poor, helpless maiden." Syrus said sadly.

"Hey, who says she's yours?" Chumley responded.

"How about we let the monsters do the fighting, okay guys?" Alexis suggested while Jenny shook her head at their behavior.

"Quill Cascade!" Avian beat his wings hard and sent his quills down onto the maiden, who gasped both in surprise and pain before falling down to her knees to cover herself from the attack. Blair endured the wind that was blown her way.

Blair: 4000-3400

"You may have broken her heart, but she lives to love another day!" She said. "You see, as long as she stays in attack mode, her special ability keeps her from being destroyed"

"Sounds like she's got a monster with some girl power." Shiori commented.

"You're not falling for her, are you?" Andrew asked.

"Nope, not quite."

A cooing sound grabbed Jaden's attention. He turned to see his duel spirit. "Winged Kuriboh." The spirit pointed to Blair's side of the field and Jaden was shocked to see his wind hero kneel beside the maiden. "Whoa! What's going on?"

"My... my lady, are you alright?" Avian asked.

"Maybe, maybe not." Maiden replied, looking away.

"WHAT!?" Jaden shrieked, surprised at his monster's behavior. "Come on, Avian, pull yourself together! You're supposed to be in attack mode, not in love!"

"It looks like we have some competition." Syrus said to Chumley.

"You guys are weird." Matt commented.

"Yeah, it's just stupid of you to be like this because of a duel monster." Lily added.

"But she's a good looking duel monster." Syrus replied, making them face palm while Andrew and Shiori shook their heads.

"My monster is head over heels, could it get any worse?" Jaden asked, staring at the field.

Blair hummed playfully. "Actually, it could, Jaden. See, Maiden in Love has another special ability too. Any monster that attacks her get a Maiden Counter." She explained as the maiden sent away a small love heart that popped right in front Avian's face.

"What's Maiden Counter?" Jaden inquired.

"You'll find out.~" Blair replied as the wind hero blushed and a love heart appeared on his chest. "Well, moving on." She drew her next card and looked at her hand. She then inserted a card into her duel disk. "Alright, I attach the equip spell card Cupid's Kiss to my Maiden." A small cherub with a bow appeared and kissed the maiden on the cheek. "And now…" Blair pointed to Avian. "I'll have her attack!"

The maiden ran slowly to the other side of the field. "Mister Avian Hero, come out, come out wherever you are. I want to give you a hug." She called out. Avian was surprised at this and stepped aside, causing the girl to fall to the ground. She slowly sat up and and looked at him sadly. "Why did you do that? You're so mean!" She placed her face into her hands and cried.

"My Lady…" Avian kneeled down. "Please accept my apologies."

"Okay." The maiden smiled and blew him a kiss.

"Give me a break." Jaden complained as the hero monster helped the girl up.

"Now, how about doing me a little favor, mister Avian?" The maiden asked sweetly.

"Anything."

"Good, see him?" She pointed to Jaden. "Take him down."

"Done!" Avian leapt in the air and flapped his wings, creating a gust.

Jaden covered his face as the attack ripped through him. "Avian, are you nuts!? Come on, snap out of it! Can't you see she's totally just using you!?"

"She can use me anytime!" Syrus said.

'I never felt this way without a grilled cheese around.' Chumley thought to himself.

"Sorry Jaden, but when Maiden takes damage from a monster that's been pegged with a Maiden Counter, the equip spell Cupid's Kiss automatically activates. And that lets me take control of your monster. Sure, it costs me some points, but it's about to cost you a lot more."

Jaden: 4000-3000

Blair: 3400-2800

"That's gotta hurt Jaden more than his life points." Jenny noted. "With that equip spell, she's able to control any monster he would play against her."

"This proves that even the weakest monster can be the most troublesome one." Andrew added.

"Well, now that I've taken control of your only monster, I think I'll just play a facedown card and end my turn." Blair concluded, inserting the card into her duel disk.

"Man, Avian's fallen in love, and I'm falling behind." Jaden commented as he drew his next card and looked at it. 'Sparkman.'He looked back at the field. 'But if I attack, he'll fall for Maiden just like Avian did. Still, I got do something'
"I summon the Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The blue and golden hero showed up in an electric current. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Hate to do it Avian, but you're either with me or against! Sparkman, attack Avian with Static Shockwave!"

The hero fired a stream of electricity in attempt to destroy the wind hero. But Blair had another plan. "Don't think so! I use Defense Maiden!"As soon as the trap card flipped up, both Jaden and Avian were surprised to see the maiden step in just in time to take full hit of Sparkman's attack. "See, it redirects Sparkman's attack so that Maiden in Love gets hit instead of Avian." Blair explained while her life points went...

Blair: 2800-1600

"And you know what that means."

The Maiden fell to her knees, shaking due to the damage of the attack. Avian knelt down beside her, glaring at his fellow hero. "Sparkman, you dare strike a defenseless maiden? For shame Sparkman, for shame!" He scolded.

Sparkman clutched his helmet and cried a little "You're right! I'm so sorry!" He apologized to the maiden. "I beg for your forgiveness! I'll do anything, anything!"

"Anything?" She asked as she looked up. "Well, nothing comes to mind now, but I'm sure I'll think of something later." She said, winking at him.

Sparkman was overjoyed. "Smply say the word, my darling!" He said as a pink love heart appeared on his chest.

While Jaden groaned at this, Blair smiled. "And she will now that he's pegged with a Maiden Counter."

"I want one!" Syrus said. "How do I get a Maiden Counter?"

"Yeah, me too! I want one too!" Chumley agreed.

"Uh… guys, try remember that is just a card you're looking at." Alexis suggested.

"I think it's gonna take a while after the duel." Jenny commented.

Zane closed his eyes. "Try remember who you're talking to. When we were growing up, Syrus used to claim that he was going steady with Dark Magician Girl."

That caused Matt and Lily snort, to the Syrus' embarrassment.

"Are you serious?" Andrew asked while trying his best to keep himself from laughing.

"She break you heart, Sy? Or did you just decide to see other monsters?" Alexis asked teasingly.

"Well, he was ogling my Queen of Oblivion card once." Shiori said.

"Hey!" Syrus retorted with a red face.

"Alright, here I go!" Blair announced and began her next turn. "I activate the equip spell card Happy Marriage!" The maiden's yellow dress was now replaced by a white wedding dress with flowers in her hands. "Now Maiden gains as many attack points as Avian has... that is, if Avian says 'I do' of course."

"It would be my honor." He swore as he took the maiden's arm into his. (ATK: 400-1400)

"Hooray!" Blair cheered to Jaden's dismay. "Now let's have her pay a visit to Sparkman. Attack!" The Maiden ran to Sparkman, who stepped aside, causing her to trip.

"Blair: 1600-1400

Jaden groaned while Winged Kuriboh sweat dropped.

"Sparkman, how could you do that? You said you'd do anything for me." She whimpered, sobbing in her hands.

Sparkman immediately went to her aid. "You're right, I'm sorry! Command me, my love!"

"Alright then, that's better." She said looking at him.

"What is your wish?" Jaden was clearly weirded out at this.

"I wish... that you'd beat up that mean boy over there!" She pointed to Jaden.

"With pleasure!" The electric turned to Jaden and fired a stream of electricity.

Jaden yelled as he got zapped by his own monster's attack.

"Well, don't just stand there, hubby." The maiden said to Avian.

"Of course not, my dear." He beat his wings, and the the air blasts combined with the electric attack, causing even more damage to Jaden.

Blair then took off her cap and bandana, allowing her long hair to flow loosely. "Sorry, but you'll never be able to beat me, Jaden. I'm dueling for love."

Jaden: 3000-0400

"Did she say dueling for love? Doesn't she mean dueling with love?" Zane wondered.

"Don't tell me you haven't put the pieces together yet." Alexis said. "Think about it Zane. She puts on a disguise, tricks her way into our school, breaks into your room."

Lily and the other boys widened their eyes and realized where she was getting at. "I can't believe I didn't realize it earlier." Lily said. "She's in love."

"Big time." Jenny replied. "And she's in love with you, Zane."

Winged Kuriboh cooed to his partner as Jaden rose to his feet. "Yeah, you're right. Playing two guys against Maiden wasn't too smart, but what's done is done. Not much I can do about it now." He shrugged as he drew his next card and then looked at his hand. "Or is there? Of course, it's so obvious! If I'm gonna take on that Maiden, I need a woman's touch. And I have just the one!" He said as he summoned a certain red clad, female hero. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3) "Now set those saps straight, Burstinatrix!"

Both Sparkman and Avian started to panic when they saw her. "Burstinatrix!" They exclaimed. "Uh... I know this looks bad, but…" Avian started.

"Save it!" She interrupted as she was surrounded by a fiery aura. "You two are pathetic! But your honeymoon is just about over!"

"We're in for it now!" They stepped back while Maiden glanced at them confused.

"Wow! You go, Burstinatrix. Now let's go and get our monsters back." Jaden declared as he held up a spell card. "I activate Burst Return! When Burstinatrix is out, this card let's me bring back all other Elemental Heroes to my hand. Trust me, you guys will thank me for it."

The little pink hearts on the two male heroes' chests disappeared, and the shook their heads, as if they were coming out of a trance.

"What was I thinking?" Avian clutched his head. "I didn't want to get married!"

"Oh boy, Sparkwoman's never going to forgive me!" Sparkman followed suit and held his head.

The both of them then looked at each other. "Guy pact: this didn't happen, okay!"

"How about you two guys get over here right now or I'll tell the entire deck!" Burstinatrix snapped at them.

Both heroes left the field, leaving Maiden alone.

"Alright, and now that I have my heroes back, it's time for a little payback." Jaden said as he played another card. "I play Polymerization and fuse together Burstinatrix and Avian to create Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" The two heroes combined together and appeared in the form of Jaden's headliner. (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "Now that's the perfect couple, and this is the perfect attack: Infernal Rage!" The hero raised his dragon arm and fired a stream of flames, destroying the maiden. By the time the others came down to the two duelists, Blair was engulfed by the flames and lost her remaining life points.

Blair: 1400-0000

Jaden glanced at his duel spirit before giving Blair his usual two finger salute. "That's game! Thanks for the sweet duel, Blair. That was fun."

Blair sighed and looked at him. "Alright, guess I have to tell you my secret now."

"Nah, I learned more than enough, from our duel, Blair. And I think our spectators learned a few things aw well." Blair turned around and saw Zane and the others standing a short ways behind her.

Alexis smiled and glanced at the top duelist. "Sure did. Love is on her mind, Zane."

Jaden noticed Lily and looked at her confused. "Wait a minute, who is that?"

Lily looked at him embarrassed. "Well, it's me, Leon. Only, my real name is Lily."

Jaden blinked. "Wait, so you're another girl in disguise?" Lily nodded. "Then why were you dressed like a boy?"

"I'll explain later." Andrew responded. "Right now, it's Blair we should listen to."

Blair got up on her feet quickly. "Zane, you're here!" She blushed a little. "Well then, I guess you know…" She lowered her head. "I'm the one who snuck into your dorm room, not Jaden. I've been in love with you ever since I met you.

Zane nodded. "The nationals."

"Yeah, that's right. We met right after you won the championship match. It was then I made a pledge, that I would do anything to be with you."

Chumley and Syrus let out an 'aww' at that.

"Kinda similar to my situation." Lily commented.

"I remember you said if I trained really really hard, I could get into Duel Academy like you, so I did. And now that I'm here... we can get married!" Blair opened her arms wide and smiled as sweet as Maiden in Love.

Zane took a step back in uncertainty while Andrew, Shiori and Matt laughed at this. Of course, Jaden was laughing as well. "Get married! That's a good one!" He said. "Your honeymoon can be in the cafeteria. Dr. Crowler can give you away!"

"I'm not joking." She told him.

Alexis smiled slightly and spoke to her. "Blair sweetie, love doesn't work like that. You can't sneak your way into somebody's heart. Just look what happened to your maiden. She used tricks to get love and she ended up alone and in tears. You can't use spells or disguises to find your soulmate. You have to be honest and upfront with them."

Lily stared at her with awe. What she said was so deep. Lily would remember to keep that in mind.

Blair on the other hand... "Yeah right! You just want Zane for yourself! You're trying to get rid of me!" She gave Alexis the evil eye.

Alexis smiled nervously while Jenny giggled a little. "Zane, a little help here?" The fairy duelist asked.

"Blair, as flattered as I am by your affections, right now I'm only in love with one thing: dueling."

"Dueling?" Blair asked as Zane took something out of his pocket.

He took her hand and placed the barrette she had lost in his room into her palm. "I'm sorry, but it's time for you to go home." Lily noticed the sad look on Blair's face and approached her to comfort her.

"Wait, why does she have to go home?" Jaden stepped in. "Cuz you said so? Hello! She's a student here at Duel Academy and a good one!"

"Jaden, she has to go home."

"Oh... I see what you're doing here, Zane. You're pushing her out because she's a good student." He then smiled. "Because she might dethrone you." Everyone except Zane chuckled at this.

Lily decided to break the ice and raised her hand to get his attention. "Actually, me and Blair has to go home because we're in second grade."

"Uh, say whaaat?" Jaden's whole body turned white.

"In second grade!" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed.

"Yeah, me and Shiori reacted similarly when we learned about Lily's age." Matt said while scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, so then you're saying, that I almost got beat by a girl who's only 8 years old!?" Jaden asked while holding his hand.

Blair stuck out her tongue playfully and smiled. "8 and a half if it makes you feel any better."

Jaden fell to the ground and laughed hysterically. "That's why dueling's so great! If you're old enough to draw, you're old enough to win!"

While the others watched the laughing Jaden, Lily walked up to Andrew and tugged his sleeve. "Hey, Andrew."

"Hm?"

Lily picked up her deck, looked through it and picked up one of her cards, and held it up. "I want you to have this."

Andrew widened his eyes as he took the card. He looked at it, and recognized it as Doomcaliber Knight. "Thanks, but why give it to me?"

Lily smiled. "Just something to remember me with."

Andrew blinked before he chuckled. "I see. Then I promise to take good care of it."

The pink-haired girl laughed.


The next day, they all stood at the docks to watch Blair and Lily leave on a boat. "Goodbye you guys!" Lily called out, waving to them.

"I'll be back just as soon as I finish grade school, and middle school too. But I'll be back, you guys!" Blair called out.

Jaden laughed. "Hear that, Zane?"

"Oh please, I'll be long gone by the time she gets here."

"That's true. I guess Blair's crush ends right here."

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Zane said.

"Goodbye Jaden, my sweet prince! I love you!" Blair called out, making Jaden really shocked.

"What!? Wait, she's supposed to like Zane." Jaden said turning to Alexis.

"She does like Zane, but apparently she loves you." She replied while Jenny giggled at this.

"I guess Lily is the only girl who learned her lesson." Andrew commented, also amused by Jaden's situation.

"Good luck." Zane said as he walked away.

Syrus and Chumley followed him. "Hey, Chumley, wanna get some new cards?"

"Yeah, I got one in mind."

"Just do me a favor fellas and stay away from the girls in my deck." Alexis said as she followed suit.

"Mine too." Jenny added.

"And you better not ogling my cards." Shiori warned them.

"Or mine." Matt added.

"It certainly is a lot love in the air." Andrew muttered as he and the others walked away, leaving Jaden alone at the docks.

"I'll see you soon! Write me everyday! I love you Jaden sweetie!" Blair called out still waving at him. Lily giggled at her friend's affection.

Jaden wasn't so pleased though. "I wish they made cards to counter this." He complained while waving to her.


And finally done. I hope you loved this. Even as much as Blair loves Jaden? ^-^ Until next time.