Sunken Feelings

It's been two days since Jaden left the Duel Academy with the Admiral. And his friends had varying degrees of concern about his absence. But the one who felt worst of it, was Syrus. While the other Slifer students were eating their breakfast, the small, blue-haired Slifer was just siting at the table, staring at his plate with a depressed look on his face.

Chumley was sitting across him, and gave his roommate a concerned look. "You okay, Sy? Are you gonna eat that?"

"If you want it, then take it. I'm not hungry." He muttered almost quietly.

The koala duelist merely frowned at the response.

Xander and Matt, who were sitting at another table, pitied the younger Truesdale.

"Poor guy. He's not taking this so well." Xander noted.

"Yeah. I think Syrus blames himself for Jaden leaving us." Matt added.

"He shouldn't. I mean, sure, he was mad at Jaden for trading his bed for a card, but that doesn't mean he drove him away. It's Jaden we're talking about. He's not the kind of person who would leave because of something like that."

"Maybe, but what can we do?"

"We need to contact Jaden and get to the bottom of this."

The purple-haired midget gave the mechanic a skeptical look. "And how are we supposed to do that? It's not like we can use our PDA's or something. It can't possibly reach him if he's far away from the island, not to mention the Academy building he's been taken to is underwater."

Xander rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look. "You're right. It won't... at least not by its own."

"Huh?" Matt raised an eyebrow. Xander quickly finished his breakfast and stood up.

"I have a lot to do." He said before leaving his curious roommate behind.


Right after breakfast, Syrus returned to his dorm room. He slowly walked over to the desk, and was about to sit down on the chair, when he noticed a card laying there.

"This is..."


Later on, Andrew, Michael and Clover were walking around the campus. And they're not exactly enjoying the nice weather.

"Things aren't really the same without Jaden." Clover commented.

"I know, right?" Andrew agreed. "And out of all of us, Syrus is feeling the worst because of this."

"I just don't understand how Jaden could leave just like that." Michael said. "Didn't you say he told the Admiral he didn't care about the money?"

"He did. I just don't get it. It's not like Jaden to act that way. Now when I think about it, the Admiral didn't even tell us why Jaden changed his mind."

"That sounds a little fishy... no pun intended." Clover said.

"Hey guys." Someone greeted them. The trio turned to see Chumley and Matt approach them.

"Hey Chumley." Andrew greeted back.

"What's up, guys?" Michael asked.

Matt frowned. "It's Syrus." He then pointed in a direction, showing them the blue-haired Slifer in question sitting at a tree, clearly depressed.

"So he's down in the dumps." The redhead noted.

"Yeah. I've been trying to cheer him up, but nothing I do works." The koala duelist explained.

"We have to do something." Andrew said.

"Right." Clover agreed. She walked over to Syrus.

The blue-haired Slifer sat there silently, still moping around. He didn't acknowledge Clover's presence when she approached him.

"Hey. Mind if I take a seat?" Clover asked. No response came from the boy. "Okay." She said, scratching her head. "So..." She spoke up again "Me and the guys were about to head to the card shop. How about it? I think it will be good for you."

Syrus made no reaction at all.

Clover's right eye twitched at that. But she remained calm. "Look, it's not really good if you're sitting all day, and do nothing. Come on, it'll be fun."

"I pass." Syrus said.

A tick mark appeared at Clover's head as she was starting to get annoyed. "That's out of the question..." At that, she grabbed him and threw him over her right shoulder and walked towards the academy building. The blue-haired Slifer didn't do anything in response.

Andrew, Chumley, Michael, and Matt blinked at this before following the redhead.


And so, the gang found themselves at the card shack. They were sitting at a table, looking over the new cards they got.

"I think this one might be useful to you." Andrew said, showing one of the cards for Clover.

"Yeah, you're right."

"What do you think about this card, Chumley?" Matt asked.

The koala duelist looked at the card the purple-haired Slifer mentioned. "That one looks lishus. Right, Sy?" He turned to the boy in question.

But Syrus was just sitting there, staring at the table, still depressed.

"Syrus." Andrew muttered, giving him a concerned look.

Matt hummed thoughtfully, before he smiled and snapped his fingers. "Okay, I think I know what you need. What you need is..."


"A nice, relaxing bath!" He said as he and the others found themselves in the pool. The same pool they visited before getting dragged into the spirit world where Jaden and Andrew dueled Kaibaman. Of course, Clover was bathing on the female side, while the boys were relaxing here, on the male side.

"This is just the best." Chumley said blissfully.

"I couldn't have agreed more. A nice soak does anyone good, right Syrus?" Michael asked. But frowned when he saw the depressed getting even more depressed. He was even sinking until his mouth was underwater, making bubbles.

"Or maybe not?" Matt said in a disappointed tone.

"Sy..." Andrew mumbled.

Now it was Michael's turn to hum thoughtfully until an idea popped up in his mind. "Okay, I know what might cheer you up..."


Now the boys, plus Clover, were inside Michael's dorm room. They were focused on his plasma TV as they watched the Pro League. They were watching numerous matches. They were all amazed... except for Syrus who seemed to be more depressed.

"Whoa! Look at them go!" Matt cheered.

"Now that's what I call dueling!" Clover agreed.

"You said it." Micheal replied. "Pretty neat, right Sy?" He turned to the Slifer student in question... but in his place was a flickering dotted line outline of where he was. "Syrus!?"

Everyone turned him and saw that their friend was missing.

"You gotta be kidding!" Clover said in disbelief.

"Syrus." Chumley muttered in concern.

"Come on!" Andrew ran out, followed by the others.


Syrus was sitting at the docks, staring at the sea.

"Syrus!" Andrew called out as he and the others found him. "There you are."

"Why did you leave?" Michael asked.

"It was about to get good." Chumley added.

"I don't care." Syrus replied, without turning back. "It's not the same. Not without Jaden."

"Syrus." Andrew mumbled.

"Jaden's probably found some new friends. Especially since I yelled at him that day."

"Don't say that!" Clover said sternly. "You know as well as we do that he wouldn't abandon us for something like that!"

"But what if Jaden never returns?"

"Of course he will return." Matt replied and approached him. "I'm sure we've been tricked by the Admiral. And I believe Jaden knows that too. So stop blaming yourself!"

"But what am I supposed to do?" Syrus questioned.

"If Jaden were here, he would tell you to show him some spirit." Matt continued. "You used to doubt yourself, but with Jaden's help, you stepped up little by little. So, even if it takes him time to get back, you can't let his influence die out."

Syrus looked down thoughtfully. "That's true. Jaden wouldn't want me to do that."

"And I know exactly what to do to keep that from happening." Matt said with a smirk, getting his attention. "Pick up your duel disk, because it's time to duel!"

"Huh?" The gang were surprised by those words.


Just a few minutes later, they were standing right in front of the Slifer Dorm, with Syrus and Matt facing each other with their duel disks ready.

"You ready?" Matt asked, turning on his duel disk.

"You bet I am!" Syrus said confidently as his duel disk cut on.

"LET'S DUEL!"

Matt: 4000

Syrus: 4000

"Then I'll start with this..." Matt drew his sixth card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode!" A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll end my turn with another card facedown." A second card appeared behind the first one.

"Okay, my draw!" Syrus drew. "And I play the spell card Polymerization!"

"A Fusion Summon?" Chumley said astounded.

"A nice start." Clover said with a smile.

"Now watch as I fuse Steamroid and Gyroid to create Steam Gyroid!" The cartoonish helicopter and locomotive entered the fusion vortex and reappeared in the form of the bizarre steam train with helicopter blades. (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1600 LV: 6) "And guess what. I have this!" Syrus held up a spell card. "It's called Shield Crush, and it lets me destroy a monster that happens to be in defense mode!"

"Like my facedown monster!" Matt said in shock as the spell card fired a blast of green energy that obliterated his facedown monster.

"And now you're wide open! Steam Gyroid, attack! Train Twister!" The cartoonish monster rotated its blades rapidly, creating a tornado that went straight toward Matt.

"I activate my trap! Metal Reflect Slime!" Matt's facedown card flipped up and released a familiar, silver-colored, slimy blob. It shaped to look like a wall with spikes. (ATK: 0 DEF: 3000 LV: 10) Steam Gyroid stopped its blades, making the tornado dissipate. "As you know, my trap card is also a monster."

"Aw man." Syrus muttered before inserting a card into his duel disk. "I place a card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move." Matt drew. "And I think you remember this card. The spell card, Prediction Ritual!" A magic circle lit up on the ground under the slime monster.

"Isn't that a ritual spell?" Micheal asked.

"It is." Andrew nodded. "And Matt is about to summon a powerful ritual monster."

"I sacrifice Metal Reflect Slime in order to summon Prediction Princess Tarotrei!" The slimy creature was absorbed by the magic circle. And then, it shot out a pillar of light, from which a certain, six-armed woman wearing a purple dress with black robes appeared. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200 LV: 9)

"Damn! That woman is big." Clover noted.

"And dangerous." Andrew added.

"Now Tarotrei, attack Steam Gyroid! Tarot Fury!" The giant woman summoned a bunch of glowing tarot cards that were sent flying.

"I activate my trap!" Syrus' facedown card flipped up. "It's called Supercharge, and it lets me draw two cards since my roid monster is being attacked." He drew his extra cards right before the tarot cards pierced through the steam train, making it explode.

Syrus: 4000-3500

"Not bad." Matt said. "To end my turn, I activate Tarotrei's special ability. During my end phase, I can take a flip effect monster from my hand or graveyard and place it facedown." He took a card from his hand placed it on his duel disk, making a facedown card appear right next to Tarotrei.

"My turn!" Syrus drew. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards. "I summon Jetroid in attack mode!" The red, cartoonish jet plane appeared. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800) "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared at his feet.

"In that case..." Matt drew. "I'll start by revealing my facedown monster, and it's a big one." His facedown card flipped up and glowed brightly, forcing everyone else to shield their eyes. When the light died down, ground shook as something bigger than Tarotrei came out of the ground. It was a dar giant pot, from which a mass of blackness with a red eye and sharp teeth came out. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 3000 LV: 9)

"What the...!?" Chumley muttered as he was as shocked as his friends.

"Um, what is that?" Syrus asked nervously.

"This is Pot of The Forbidden! The biggest and strongest flip effect monster in the entire game!" Matt explained excitedly.

"It's big alright." Michael agreed.

"And what exactly makes it 'the strongest' flip effect monster in the entire game'?" Clover wondered.

Matt smirked at her. "A flip effect that lets me activate one of its 4 effects."

Everyone gasped at this revelation.

"4 effects!?" Syrus repeated in shock.

"Yup, but as I said, I can only activate one of them. And I think I'll go with option number 3: Destroy all monsters on your field!" At those words, the mass of blackness stretched out, opened its mouth wide and swallowed Jetroid in one gulp. "So now I don't have to worry about your monster's special ability."

Michael snapped his fingers. "Oh right. If he attacked Jetroid, then Syrus could have activated a trap card directly from his hand."

"So much for that plan." Andrew added.

"And since I don't trust your facedown card..." Matt trailed off and took a card from his hand. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode." A card appeared appeared on Tarotrei's other side. "Then I activate another one of Tarotrei's special abilities. I can flip a facedown monster up into attack mode." The facedown card flipped up and revealed a certain two-legged worm with tentacles/arms. (ATK: 300 DEF: 200 LV: 1) "And now, I can use Worm Apocalypse's special ability. One spell or trap card on the field is destroyed." The worm raised one of its arms and whipped Syrus' facedown card, shattering it into pixels. "Now you're wide ope-"

But he was interrupted when a new monster appeared on Syrus' field. It was a cartoonish truck with its wheels crossed as they were arms. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 2000 LV: 4)

"What!? What just happened?"

Syrus smirked. "I just summoned Truckroid, that's what."

"But how did you do that?"

"Remember that facedown card you destroyed? It was Wonder Garage, and its destruction allowed me to use its effect. An effect that lets me summon a roid monster from my hand that's level 4 or less, like Truckroid."

"Oh yeah. I remember that time he pulled that trick on me." Michael grinned.

"He really is getting better." Clover added.

"And here I thought I could take you down this turn." Matt said. "Oh well, I attack anyway. Go, Tarotrei!" The named monster summoned more tarot cards that pierced the truck monster and blew it up. "And now I attack with Pot of The Forbidden!" The mass of blackness stretched out and quickly approached Syrus.

"GYAH!" He yelped as he fell backwards, barely avoiding the scary-looking monster.

Syrus: 3500-1500

"Worm Apocalypse, your turn!" The worm simply slapped Syrus with one of its arms.

"OW!"

Syrus: 1500-1200

"And to end my turn, I'll use Tarotrei's ability to take a monster from my graveyard and place it on the field facedown." A card appeared next to the worm.

Syrus stood up and drew his next card. "I summon Shuttleroid in defense mode." A cartoonish space shuttle appeared. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Then I'll end my turn with with two cards facedown." Two cards appeared at his feet.

"Before I'll make my move I'll use Tarotrei's ability to make Pot of The Forbidden return to its facedown position." The giant pot disappeared and was replaced by a facedown card. "And now..." Matt drew. "I just flip it up again." The card flipped up and the giant pot returned. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 3000 LV: 9) "And now I can activate its flip effect again. And this time, I'll use the effect number 2: All spell and trap cards return to the hand." The giant pot glowed purple.

But Syrus smirked. "Sorry, Matt. But you triggered my trap card!" One of his facedown cards flipped up. "Breakthrough Skill! This lets me negate the special abilities of one of your monsters for one turn. So your Pot won't do anything!" The giant pot stopped glowing. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

Matt looked at Syurs' remaining facedown card. 'Since he stopped me from sending that card to his hand, he probably wants to activate it when I attack.' He then glanced at his Worm monster. 'I could use Tarotrei's ability to flip Worm Apocalypse down, and then flip it up again so I can destroy Syrus' card.' But then, Matt narrowed his eyes. 'Or is it possible that he expects me to do that?'

"What's he gonna do now?" Chumley asked.

"That's hard to tell." Clover replied. "With Tarotrei's ability, he could flip down Worm Apocalypse and then flip it up to destroy Syrus' facedown card. But then again, there's a chance that there's another card that can be activated when it's destroyed."

"Which means Matt's decision will determine the outcome." Andrew added.

After pondering for a while, Matt finally decided what to do. "Tarotrei, attack! Tarot Fury!" The named monster summoned another bunch of tarot cards and sent them straight to Shuttleroid.

"Just as I was hoping for!" Syrus said with a smirk, surprising Matt. "When Shuttleroid's attacked, its ability activates. I can remove it from play until my next turn." The space shuttle simply vanished.

"But that leaves you defenseless." Matt pointed out.

"Then it's a good thing I can activate this trap card!" Syrus' facedown card flipped up. "It's called Zero Ring. Since my monster was removed from play, I can reduce the attack points of all your monsters to 0."

"Say what!?" Matt watched as his monsters were briefly surrounded by a ring of dark energy. (ATK: 300-0) (ATK: 2700-0) (ATK: 2000-0)

"Whoa! What a move!" Michael said.

"Looks like Syrus' risky move payed off." Andrew noted.

"I can't say I expected such a clever move from him." Clover said.

"So, what now?" Syrus asked.

Matt went silent for a moment, before he spoke up. "I end my turn."

"My move!" Syrus drew. "And for starters, my Shuttleroid comes back to my field!" The space Shuttle returned. to the field. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And here's another surprise. After my Shuttleroid returns, you lose 1000 life points!" The shuttle flew right through the flip duelist, who cried out.

Matt: 4000-3000

And now I activate the spell card, Monster Reborn! And I'll use it to bring back Steam Gyroid!" The bizarre steam train appeared again. (ATK: 2200 DEF: 1600 LV: 6) "Now I have two monsters I can attack with, so even if you use Tarotrei's ability to flip one of them down, I can still attack with the other monster. Shuttleroid, attack!" The shuttle flew towards the giant woman.

"If I can't save Tarotrei, then I'll use her ability to reveal my facedown monster!" Matt declared, pointing at the card in question.

"Uh oh! I forgot about it!"

"And here it is..." The facedown card flipped up and revealed a familiar, one-eyed space pod. (ATK: 900 DEF: 900 LV: 3) "It's Cyber Jar, and its flip effect destroys every monster on the field!"

"Aw man." Syrus moaned as the space pod glowed brightly before it exploded, obliterating everything on the field.

"He just destroyed his own monsters!" Chumley said in disbelief.

"Given the circumstances, he didn't have a choice." Michael replied.

"That's true, but there is a bright side. After Cyber Jar destroys all monsters on the field, we must pick up five new cards." Matt drew his extra cards. "And then, we must summon every level 4 or below monster we got. Either in attack mode, or facedown defense mode."

Syrus drew his extra cards and looked at them. "I got three monsters to play. I place two of them facedown." Two cards appeared. "And I'll place this one in attack mode: Drillroid!" The cartoonish, drilling machine appeared. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

"I got three monsters as well." Matt commented. "And I'll place all three of them in defense mode." Three facedown cards appeared on his field.

"Even if you'll use one of your flip effects, I won't back down. Drillroid, attack!" Its drills spinning, the named machine rushed forward and slammed them into the middle card, revealing a certain, pink skinned fairy holding a coin, who appeared briefly. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1400 LV: 3)

"With Prediction Princess Coinorma's flip effect, I can take a level 3 or higher flip effect monster from my deck and place it facedown." Matt took a card from his deck and placed it on his duel disk, right between the other two.

"Okay, for my next move, I play Graceful Charity. Now I can draw three cards and discard two." Syrus drew three cards from his deck and then discarded two of them. "But that's not all. One of the cards I discarded was Card of Compensation. After sending that spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. His eyes widened when they landed on one of them. 'That card...' He then inserted it into his duel disk, along with another card. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"My move!" Matt drew. "And I'll start by revealing one of my three facedown monsters." The card on far left flipped up, revealing a green-haired woman wearing a purple dress. She wore a feather in her hair, held a bow. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "This monster is called Prediction Princess Arrowsylph, and thanks to her flip effect, I can take a ritual spell card from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." A certain card came out from his graveyard slot. "So I'll take back my Prediction Ritual."

"That spell card again?" Chumley asked.

"Something tells me we're about to see a certain someone again." Andrewsaid.

"Now for my next monster..." The middle card flipped up and revealed a certain blue-haired woman wearing a blue and purple dress and holding a crystal ball. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 2200 LV: 5) "Prediction Princess Crystaldine! And her flip effect lets me take a ritual monster from my deck or graveyard..." Matt took the card in question from his graveyard and held it up.

"I knew it." Andrew nodded.

"Her again, huh?" Michael noted.

"Syrus is in big trouble now." Clover added.

"And now I'll use my Prediction Ritual to sacrifice Arrowsylph and Crystaldine in order to summon back Tarotrei!" The two named flip effect monsters disappeared in a flash of purple light and were replaced by the six-armed woman. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200 LV: 9)

"Aw man." Syrus muttered.

"And now I'll use Tarotrei's ability to reveal one of your facedown monsters." The giant woman held out her six arms, making one of Syrus' facedown cards flip up and reveal a certain one-eyed bicycle. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"That's Cycroid." Chumley noted.

"If Matt attacks that monster, then it's over." Andrew said.

"And now I activate my own Monster Reborn! So hey hello to an old friend!" The familiar giant pot rose next to Tarotrei. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 3000 LV: 9)

"Pot of The Forbidden." Syrus said.

"That's right. And now I play this..." Matt held up a spell card. "Book of Moon. This lets me put a monster facedown. And I choose Pot of The Forbidden." The monster in question and was replaced by a facedown card. Matt smirked when he noticed the confused look on Syrus' faced. "Wondering why I did that? Well, because I needed my monster facedown so I can use this spell card." He held up the card in question. "Book of Taiyou. This lets me make a monster on the field to flip up."

The spectators else gasped.

"Is he...?" Chumley asked.

"He is." Clover replied.

"I reveal my Pot of The Forbidden!" The facedown card flipped and the giant pot appeared again. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 3000 LV: 9) "Once again, I activate its flip effect, and this time, I send all your spells and traps back to your hand for real!" The giant pot glowed purple.

And so did Syrus' facedown cards... "I activate my trap card!" One of them flipped up. "Pulse Mines! Since I have a machine type monster on my field, I can force your monsters into defense mode!"

"What!?" Matt exclaimed as Tarotrei crossed her arms and kneeled down, while an image of a card appeared underneath the giant pot. Meanwhile, Syrus' other facedown card returned to his hand. Matt couldn't help but smile at this. "Wow, Syrus. I never thought you planned something like that."

The blue-haired Slifer smiled back and rubbed the back of his head. "It was something Xander showed me once."

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared at Matt's feet.

"Then here goes!" Syrus drew. "First I reveal own facedown monster." The card in question flipped up and revealed... another Cycroid. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"Two Cycroids?" Michael questioned.

"And now I activate the spell card... Power Bond!"

"Powerbond?" Clover repeated.

Andrew smirked. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"And now I fuse my two Cycroids together in order to create Pair Cycroid!" The two orange bikes merged together and formed a red tandem bike with a pair of arms and cartoon eyes on the handlebars. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 5)

Matt raised an eyebrow. "And what can that do? It must have something more than mere 1600 attack points."

Syrus smirked. "It may start with 1600, but because it was summoned by Power Bond, its attack points are doubled." (ATK: 1600-3200)

"Damn!" Matt muttered in shock.

"And my Pair Cycroid has a special ability. And that special ability is... he can attack you directly!"

The spectators, plus Matt, gasped again.

"Dude, that's extreme for a monster with 3200 attack points." Michael commented.

"And that's enough for Syrus to win." Chumley added.

"Definitely. Nice one, Syrus!" Andrew cheered.

"Pair Cycroid, attack!" The tandem bike charged forward.

But Matt smirked. "Nice try, Syrus. But you forget, I can use Tarotrei's ability during both of our turns. Which means, I can force your little bike into defense mode." The named ritual monster raised her arms.

"I don't think so!" Syrus countered. "Because I have... Breakthrough Skill!" The named trap card came out of his graveyard slot.

"What!?"

"During my turn, I can remove it from my graveyard, and negate your monster's special abilities." Tarotrei was suddenly surrounded by a dark aura and moaned as she fell down.

"Lishus!" Chumley said in joy.

"Damn, that was good." Clover commented.

Even Matt was impressed. 'Didn't see that coming. Oh well, plan B, then...'
"I activate my trap card!" His facedown card flipped up. "Gift of the Mystical Elf! This card gives me 300 life points for every monster on the field. There are 3 monsters on my side, and you've got 2. Which means with 5 monsters in total, I gain 1500 life points." He was surrounded by a blue aura.

Matt: 3000-4500

And then, he was tackled by the tandem bike.

Matt: 4500-1300

It then returned to Syrus' field.

"Almost had him." Andrew said.

"And that's not all." Clover added. "The moment this turn comes to an end, Power Bond's side effect kicks in."

"That's right." Michael nodded. "Syrus will take damage equal to his monster's original attack points. And that's 1600."

Matt heard what they said. 'And since he only has 1200 life points, the damage will be enough to wipe him out. Unless he has something to save himself. Maybe a card to protect himself from effect damage.' He then glanced at his facedown monster. 'If he survives this turn, I can use Night Assailant's ability to destroy his Pair Cycroid and then, I can just attack with him with everything I've got.'

"I place one card facedown." Syrus proceeded and inserted a card into his duel disk. "And now I activate the spell card, Bait Doll."

"What does that do?" Matt asked curiously.

"This lets me let force a facedown trap card to activate. Which means... I can activate the card I just played. The trap card, Mirror Damage!" His facedown flipped up. "I can equip it to one of my monsters, like Pair Cycroid." As a result, a pair of rear-view mirrors appeared on the bike monster's handle-bars. "And here comes the best part: Whenever I would take damage equal to the equipped monster's original attack points, the damage is reflected onto you."

"No way!" Matt exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid you lose!" The tandem charged forward and tackled Matt once again, causing him to fall on the ground.

Matt: 1300-0000

As the holograms disappeared, Syrus let out a long sigh of relief.

"Hey, nice work, Syrus." Michael complimented as he came over.

"That was totally lishus, Sy!" Chumley added. "Just exactly I would have done."

Clover rolled her eyes. "Sure you would."

Andrew helped Matt up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Matt replied before turning to Syrus. "That was a nice comeback you made."

"Definitely." Michael agreed. "That Mirror Damage card was especially useful there. How did you get that card?"

Syrus smiled proudly. "Simple. I got it from..." His smile fell slowly. "...Jaden... when he traded my bed for it..." Now he was depressed again. "And I yelled at him and drove him away."

Everyone frowned at him.

"Syrus..." Andrew reached for him, but he stepped back and looked away.

"Sorry, but I want to be alone." With those words, he walked away, leaving the concerned group behind.

"Damn. Now we're back to square one." Clover said.

"Just when things went smoothly." Matt added.

"Poor little guy." Michael said.

"If only Jaden just returned to us. Then everything would go back to normal." Chumley stated.

"Then perhaps we can help." A voice spoke up. The group turned around and saw the person who spoke up... Xander. And he wasn't alone. Bastion was with him. But caught most of their attention was what the two were dragging. It was a cart with Xander's laptop placed on the top. Sitting right next to it was a device with a parabolic antenna.

"Xander? Bastion?" Andrew noted.

"Why are you guys here?" Michael asked while eyeing on the equipment. "And what's with that?"

"Well..." Bastion spoke up. "Xander came to me and told me about an idea of how to contact Jaden with the PDA. By gathering the necessary parts from the junkyard, we managed to construct an improvised communication device that should allow the signal reach Jaden's PDA... in theory."

The gang widened their eyes.

"For real?" Andrew asked.

"Dude, that's awesome!" Michael grinned.

"Does it work?" Chumley asked hopefully.

Xander hesitated for a sec before answering. "To be honest, we actually haven't tested it yet. But let's hope it does work. Alright then..." He then pressed a button on the machine, causing it to lit up and beep a few times. He then took the laptop and typed away for a moment. "Okay, the preparations are ready. Time for step two..." He grabbed a cable that was attached to the machine. He inserted the other end into his PDA. "Here goes..." And then, he used the PDA to give Jaden a call.

Everyone waited for a while in silence. Clover voiced their concern. "Well?"

Bastion shook his head. "Nothing."

Xander sighed. "I guess it didn't-"

"...llo?" A faint voice spoke up. Everyone quickly turned to the computer screen and saw a blurry image. "...he...loo!"

"Is that..." Chumley trailed off.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" Xander called out to the person on the screen.

"Yeah... I... hear you..." The voice replied. "Who... I talking to?"

"Come on..." Xander typed on a few buttons on the machine, hoping to get a better signal. He then turned to the screen.

"Hello!" The voice was now clearer. And image started to slowly, but surely, get better as well. "Who is it?" The voice asked. And just then, the image was 100 percent clear, showing everyone a certain, brown-haired boy in red jacket. His eyes widened. "Guys, is that you!?"


And cut! That's all for now. I hope you guys liked this. Until Next time.