To Move Up

At the Slifer Dorm, Syrus and Jaden were dueling, but on duel disks or tabletop... it was on their duel pilots.

"Awww, I'm never gonna pass the promotion exam! I have test anxiety!" Jaden complained.

Syrus grinned at Jaden's attitude, moving his stylus pen across his portable dueling terminal. "Watch this! I'm taking out your Clayman with Drillroid! You're wide open!"

"Wait a second!" Jaden panicked and ran his stylus pen across his own terminal.

"And with this card... I win!" Syrus cheered and threw the hand with his pen in the air.

Jaden moaned and lowered his head in defeat. "I lost. I gotta learn how to stay calm during these tests."

"You should chill out, like Chumley." Syrus looked up at the bed, where the koala duelist was sleeping, his back turned to them.

"Uh, Sy, isn't he, uh... like a bit too chill?" Jaden asked, giving their sleeping friend a curious look.

"He's fine, just tired. he was up all night long, poor guy."

"A whole night? That sounds like a lot of studying, especially for Chumley."

"Jaden!"

"What?"

Syrus leaned in. "Chumley's already failed his exams twice. If he doesn't pass them this year, he's out of here forever!"

While the two of them were talking, they were unaware that Chumley was in fact NOT sleeping at all. He was just lying on his bed, understandably worried about his predicament. 'And with my dueling skills, that's exactly what's gonna happen.'


Later that day, it was time for art class, and the students spent their using watercolors to draw and paint their own, original ideas for Duel Monster cards. Or, some of them did. Other few students drew their favorite cards.

"Jaden, look at this." Syrus help up his sketchpad, showing his friend a painted picture of a figure that (sort of) looked like Dark Magician Girl. "What do you think? Is it good?"

"Not bad, but check out my card design..."

Syrus leaned in and stared at Jaden's crudely drawn monster. "Uh..."

"It's a work of art. It's pure genius. It's Sparkman! See?"

"Uh, if you say so..."

"Hey, take a look at my painting!" Matt held up his sketchpad. Syrus and Jaden widened their eyes when they saw that it was a drawn picture of Prediction Princess Tarotrei. "Huh? Huh?"

"Wow! That's your strongest Prediction Princess card, isn't it?" Syrus noted.

"Sweet!" Jaden added.

"And here's my picture of Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon." Xander piped in and held up his sketchpad. The boys looked at it and were amazed how detailed it was.

"Nice." Matt simply said.

"Totally." Jaden added while Syrus nodded.

Shiori added the final touch on his painting. "Hey Andrew, look at this!"

Andrew looked over to see a well drawn picture of Summon Skull. One that was in a different position than the one he had.

"That's great. Take a look at my picture."

Andrew's picture was of his Elemental HERO Stratos. The wind hero in this picture was also in a different position than the one he had.

"Hey, that looks really nice." Shiori commented, going over how it was almost realistic.

"Got that right." Michael added, leaning towards them. "How about this?" He then held up his sketchpad. It was a picture of a certain trap card.

"That looks like Crush Card Virus." Andrew noted.

Shiori narrowed his eyes. "Though it looks a little more purplish than the original.

"I figured it'd look cooler this way."

Jenny painted Airknight Parshath. And Clover was sitting right next to her, painting Dark Paladin, appearing more close up than it did in her card.

Back to the Slifer gang, Jaden looked up to his bigger roommate. "So, what do you do, Chumsters?"

"Hm? Uh..." Chumley put down his paintbrush and allowed his friends to look at his drawing. It was a gorgeous picture with a huge canyon rock, surrounded by grasslands at the bottom while a blue beautiful sky rested above it.

"Wow! That's great!" Matt commented, impressed.

"You said it." Xander replied.

"Cool!" Jaden stared in awe. But... "So, what is it?"

That question caused Chumley, Matt and Xander to face fault. Syrus cried out in shock before turning to him. "What is it?! You've never seen Ayer's Rock?"

"I, uh... no?" Jaden answered dumbly.

Chumley smiled and stood up, holding his sketchpad. "You see, a long time ago, I went camping with my dad in Australia and saw it."

Eventually, other students noticed Chumley's painting. They couldn't help but getting impressed by his fantastic work of art.

"Great brushstrokes." A Ra Yellow commented.

"Cool texture." A fellow Slifer praised.

"Duh, I know." Chumley replied, feeling happy to be the center of attention. "I'm gonna use it for my..."

"Ahem! Attention! Will Chumley Huffington please report to Chancellor Sheppard?" Everyone looked up and saw Crowler's face plastered on the big screen monitor at the front of the classroom.

Chumley was getting worried as he got up and left the classroom.

"Is he in trouble?" Syrus wondered, turning to Jaden.

"Beats me." Jaden shrugged.

Andrew was also a little worried. "I hope it's nothing serious."

"Same here." Shiori added.


Chumley was standing before Chancellor Sheppard and Dr. Crowler, feeling really worried about why he had been summoned to the Chancellor's office.

"Uh, like... am I busted?" He asked slowly.

"Huh?" Sheppard was confused by that question. But only for a very brief moment before he laughed a little. "No. I've called you here because I have some very good news, Chumley."

"You do?" Chumley asked.

The Chancellor then reached down and took up a card. "Look."

Chumley took it from him and looked at. He then widened his eyes, stunned at what he saw. "It's my card!" It appeared to be a spell card, with an image that kinda looked like the painting Chumley made earlier. Except that it showed a sunrise that one could see from the top of Ayer's Rock.

"Congratulations. Your design won Industrial Illusions' contest! It's now official."

Chumley was confused though. "But who chose..."

"I did, Chumley boy."

Chumley turned around to see Maximillion Pegasus himself on the TV monitor on the wall nearby. He walked over to it as the creator of Duel Monsters spoke.

"There were so many cards and so little time to choose. But your card... it was... a gift from the angels themselves. An angel named Chumley."

The big Slifer smiled.

"There's more." Pegasus pointed straight to him. "I want your big brain working on more cards! For me at Industrial Illusions... if your teachers concur." At that, the feed between both monitors ended.

"Chumley, what an opportunity!" Sheppard said excitedly. "Well, my dear boy, you have my recommendation!"

"Pegasus wants me?" Chumley asked, finding these news hard to believe.

"Uh, a moment? I'm troubled." Crowler spoke up, frowning.

"What now? Just say yes!" Sheppard said, concerned about his opinion.

"But Chumley... hasn't passed his exams!" The blue headmaster pointed out, glaring at the koala duelist. "Now what kind of school would we be to send Pegasus some flunky?"

"Crowler, come on! Give the kid a break for Pete's sake!"

But Crowler scoffed and crossed his arms. "If Chumley can beat me in a duel, then I'll let him go."

"A duel?" Chumley repeated.

"But..." Crowler shot a glare and pointed his finger towards the startled Slifer. "If he loses, he'll be expelled immediately!"

"It's settled." Sheppard declared. "Good luck, Chumley. And you'll need it. Crowler plays to win."

"And win is what I'll do tomorrow." Crowler smirked.

Now Chumley was really worried.


After that, he left the office. And apparently, Jaden and Syrus were waiting for him outside.

"What happened?" Jaden asked. He then noticed the card in Chumley's hand. "They made one of your cards!"

"Chumley!" Syrus smiled. "Aw man, don't you know how awesome this is?"

Chumley lowered his head a bit. "But, um..."

"But, um what?" Jaden interrupted him. "Come on! You should be ecstatic! I mean, this is huge!"

"Sure is! Congrats!"

"...I guess." Chumley muttered.


Later that night, everyone was sleeping in their beds in their dorms. In the Slifer dorm, Jaden was sleeping peacefully... until he woke up and sensed that something was off. He then checked on his friends' bunks and noticed that Chumley was missing.


The koala duelist himself was sitting on the cliff edge near the Slifer dorm, looking out at the ocean. He was really nervous. And why wouldn't he be? Tomorrow, he was about duel against the blue headmaster. The very same blue headmaster who tried to get Jaden expelled.

"Hey, Chumley. Why are you out here?"

He looked over his shoulder and saw Jaden standing behind him.

"Can't sleep cuz you won that big contest? I'd be excited too." Jaden sat beside him.

"Jaden, um..." Chumley hesitated but managed to speak further. "Look, we have to talk and it's really important."

"The leftover grilled cheese?" Jaden guessed. "Ha, it's cool that you ate them."

"It's not that... Jaden, they're gonna kick me out of here tomorrow unless I beat Crowler in a duel!"

Jaden frowned as his friend got to his feet. "Rewind and repeat! Didn't you just get offered a job with Industrial Illusions?"

"That's if I beat him." Chumley explained, still gazing out at the water.

"Why does Crowler make everything so tough?" Jaden muttered before getting to his feet and placing a hand on Chumley's shoulder. "Well, guess what? You'll just take out that creepy Crowler then." He smiled. "I did. So you can too."

Chumley smiled back. "You're right. I just can't lose as long as you guys are with me."

"Now, tell me about that new card you made..."


The next day, Chumley found himself inside the dueling arena, where his test was about to begin. He and Crowler were standing at each end of the platform, while some of the seats were occupied by Jaden, Syrus, Andrew, Shiori, Matt, Xander, Clover, Jenny, Michael, Alexis, Bastion and Chazz.

"Let's go, Chumley! We're with you!" Jaden called out.

Syrus looked at him worriedly. "Jaden, aren't you worried for Chumley?

"No way! All last night, we stayed up and trained for this match!"

"Then for his sake, I hope Chumley's well prepared." Matt said.

"We're all rooting for you, Chumley!" Alexis cheered from her seat.

"We are?" Chazz asked surprised. "I mean, yeah! We so totally are."

"Go get him, Chumley!" Andrew cheered.

"Rock his world!" Clover added.

"Don't be nervous." Crowler advised casually. "This duel will simply affect... the rest of your life!"

Chumley wasn't sure if wether he was making a cruel joke or stating the truth, but he didn't want to entertain him. "Uh... okay?"

Crowler almost scoffed at his reaction before activating his duel vest. "Well, are you waiting for an invitation?"

Activating his duel disk, he faced Crowler with a determined look. "I got one right here!"

"Let's duel!" Both of them drew their opening hands.

Chumley: 4000

Crowler: 4000

"Here we go, Chumley." He muttered to himself and drew his sixth card. "Let's see here... I think that first I'm gonna lay down one facedown." A facedown monster card appeared on his field.

"That move was absolutely... oh what's the word?" Crowler asked sarcastically and drew his sixth. After looking at it, he inserted it into his duel disk. "Yes, lame! I play the spell, Magnet Circle LV2!"

"Aw man, Chumley is in for it now." Chazz stated.

"What do you mean?" Syrus asked.

Xander had a grim look on his face. "If Crowler has the right level 2 machine type monster, then Chumley's in big trouble."

Syrus gave him a surprised look. "For real?!"

"And thanks to Magnet Circle, I get to summon this." Crowler smiled smugly and held up a card from his hand. "My Ancient Gear!" A small strange monster appeared. Its upper body was made of a large gear combined with smaller ones, while two small metal arms lay at its sides. (ATK: 200 DEF: 800 LV: 2) "And its special effect now lets me summon another one. Not too shabby, eh?" A second gear monster appeared right next to the first one. (ATK. 200 DEF: 800 LV: 2)

"Is that bad?" Syrus asked nervously.

"Big time." Jaden replied.

"Oh boy." Matt muttered.

"Now I sacrifice my two Ancient Gears to summon my Ancient Gear Golem!" The two small gear monsters vanished before Crowler's legendary mechanical giant rose up behind him. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

Chumley was startled as he gasped at the monster's appearance.

"Ancient Gear Golem, attack! Mechanized Melee!" The mechanical golem pulled back its right arm, thrusted it downward, sending a transparent version of its fist. As it got closer, Chumley's facedown card flipped up and revealed one of his favorite cards: Des Koala. (ATK: 1100 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "You never did study!" Crowler hissed. "If my Ancient Gear Golem has more attack points than your thing's defense, then the extra damage goes to you!" The fist rammed hard into the koala.

Chumley groaned as he lost some of his points.

Chumley: 4000-2800

But he regained his footing. "That's it! You're gonna get it now!"

Crowler was a little surprised as he saw the koala mustering the last of its strength and fought back against the transparent fist before finally getting destroyed.

"Des Kola's flip effect! For every card in your hand, Koala hits you for 400 points!"

Crowler cried out and stumbled, feeling the damage come through.

Crowler: 4000-3200

"When did Chumley learn to duel like that?" Syrus asked, both surprised and impressed.

"I told you not to worry, Syrus." Jaden smiled. "This is just the kind of thing we were talking about."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked curiously.

"When he dueled his dad, Chumley blanked out on the flip effect. But thanks to last night, Chumley's now a lean, mean dueling machine!"

"Cool." Michael smiled. And so did Syrus.

"Well... maybe not lean." Jaden added.

Chumley began his next turn. "I summon Eucalyptus Mole in defense mode!" A hedgehog like monster appeared, big green leaves growing out of its back. (ATK: 300 DEF: 1300 LV: 3) "And next I'm laying down another facedown." A card appeared near Chumley's feet.

"Come now, Chumley. That's your move?" Crowler questioned and drew his next card. He looked at it briefly before continuing. "Ancient Gear Golem, attack Eucalyptus Mole! Mechanized Melee!" The mechanical golem fired another transparent fist, easily destroying Chumley's Mole. "And of course, let's not forget, all extra damage goes to you."

Chumley: 2800-1100

But Chumley was still confident, despite his loss of points. "Let's just wait one minute, okay? If you take my Eucalyptus Mole, I get a koala from my deck. And guess who wants to say hi." He fanned his deck out. "My little friend... Big Koala!" His gigantic, blue-furred koala appeared. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"More like... hmph, a big waste!" Crowler insulted and took a card from his hand. "I, on the other hand, will be summoning Ancient Gear Soldier!" The machine soldier with the machine gun arm kneeled down right next to the golem. (ATK: 1300 DEF: 1300 LV: 4)

"Whatever, check this!" Chumley drew his next card and looked at it. "Lishus!" He then revealed it. "I'm gonna play Wild Nature's Release! And all of a sudden, my Big Koala's defense points are added on to his attack points!" The giant koala glowed with a blue aura. (ATK: 2700-4700)

"Whoa!" Shiori exclaimed.

"When did Chumley get so good?" Alexis asked, clearly impressed by his move.

"From watching me!" Syrus said, popping out of his seat.

"Yeah, that's it!" Jaden said sarcastically.

"And now I activate the spell card, Poison Fangs!" A spell card appeared on Chumley's field.

Andrew smiled as he recognized it. "I remember that card! I gave it to him when he was about duel his dad."

Jenny glanced at him. "Really? That's a good card for him."

"So what does that card do?" Clover asked Andrew.

"Just wait and see."

"Okay, Koala, take out that pile of rusty bolts!" Big Koala rushed forward. "Take Down from Down Under!" The koala tackled Ancient Gear Golem, shattering it into pixels.

Crowler: 3200-1500

"And check this out!" Chumley continued. "Since you just took battle damage from a beast type monster, my Poison Fangs now deal you another 500 points of damage!" The spell card shot out an electric energy beam and blasted Crowler.

Crowler: 1500-1000

But despite the shock he received, he wasn't worried. 'Nothing I can't come back from.'

Chumley pumped his arm. "Alright! Now check out my facedown! This is, like, totally awesome!" His facedown card flipped up. "Beast Soul Swap lets me bring back a monster to my hand, and then I get to summon another beast with the same level. It's Switch-a-Lishus!" Big Koala disappeared into his his hand. "Guess I'll call... another Big Koala!" The gigantic blue koala returned to the field. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"Uh, I'm lost." Syrus said, confused. "Why did he trade out for another? Anyone? Well?"

"I thought Chumley was dumb." Chazz smirked.

"Wild Nature's Release is risky." Bastion explained. "The card destroys your monster."

"Yeah, unless, you swap out your monster just like Chumley did." Alexis added. "Nice move, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Syrus said, understanding a bit better.

"Ya know, I think Sy slept through that class." Jaden grinned at his roommate.

Clover gave Jaden a deadpan look. "I don't think you of all people have any room to talk."

Jaden chuckled a bit. "Actually, I don't think I'd call it sleeping in class. It's more like Scheduled Study Eye Breaks."

"Give us a break, Jaden!" Alexis and Jenny said simultaneously.

"Big Koala, take out that Gear Soldier!" The blue koala rushed ahead and slammed on top of Crowler's monster, causing the blue headmaster shriek from the explosion. "Now that's Aussie-sized Super Slam!"

'It's all for naught.' Crowler thought, still not worried.

"And I'll be laying down one facedown!" Chumley concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

'The tutorial is over!' Crowler clenched his fist. 'It's time to give Chumley a real schooling!'
"Let's see how you handle this!" He drew his next card. "Okay, Chumley, I activate Pot of Greed, which of course, allows me to draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards, looked at them and revealed one of them. "Such as... the ultimate spell card, Ancient Gear Factory!"

Everyone watched as an impressive, yet strange looking factory rose up behind Crowler, mechanical limbs, wheels, wires, and conveyor belts coming out of the wazoo.

"Dear Chumley, you're about to fail again... for the last time!"

Matt turned to Xander. "Hey, Xander, since you use some Ancient Gear cards yourself, do you have any idea what that card does?"

The mechanic grimaced. "Since you guys are about to find out, I'm just gonna say this: that factory is really bad news for Chumley!"

Crowler smiled proudly. "Beautiful, isn't it? It allows me to summon any Ancient Gear card I hold. Such as..." He revealed one of his cards. "...my friend, the Ancient Gear Golem."

"For real?!" Michael asked in shock.

"Not again?" Jaden moaned.

"Just what's he trying to pull?" Alexis questioned. "What about his sacrifice? As in Golem kinda needs one?"

"Not quite." Everyone turned and was surprised to see Chancellor Sheppard sitting near them.

"Chancellor Sheppard?" Jenny blinked.

"You're here?" Andrew asked.

"Why not? I just love a good duel. Though, it doesn't look so good for Chumley."

"He's right." Crowler smirked. "I don't need to sacrifice a card. All you need to is look into my graveyard."

"Huh?" Chumley raised his eyebrow, confused.

"If it holds Ancient Gear monsters whose levels are twice that of my Golem, they become the sacrifice, even though they're already destroyed." The factory activated, dropping gears and other mechanical supplies into the furnace. As the machine parts entered the machine, the star symbols on the top of the factory glowed one by one, while the machine became louder and louder. "So please, let's all welcome back..." Crowler trailed off as the machine started to shake and puffs of steams hissed out of it. "Ancient Gear Golem!" And then, the factory pulled apart slowly. After a moment, Crowler's ace monster emerged from it. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"What a move!" Jaden praised from the sidelines. "I mean... you know, I guess."

"Hey! Just whose side are you on?" Syrus questioned.

"Dude, we're supposed to give Chumley our support!" Michael reminded.

"Dear Chumley. How could I recommend you? I mean... come now, you can't even win one easy duel!" Crowler taunted before pointing to the koala. "Ancient Gear Golem, attack Big Koala! Mechanized Melee!" The mechanical golem fired another transparent fist that phased through the koala, destroying it easily.

Chumley: 1100-0800

"I play a trap card!" Chumley revealed his facedown card. "And it's a totally lishus one called Animal Trail! Now Des Kangaroo jumps right into my hand!" He searched through his deck and took the named card before adding it to his hand.

"A kangaroo? You have to do much better than that, Chumley." Crowler advised. "Something..." He trailed off as he discarded one of his cards before revealing the other one. "...like Ancient Gear Drill! Impressive, isn't it? Thanks to this 'lishus' card, I get to take any spell card and... place it facedown!" He fanned out his deck and grabbed a card before inserting it into his duel vest.

"Aw man." Syrus moaned worriedly.

"Did he say any spell?" Alexis asked.

"This is not boding well." Bastion added.

"Give it a rest already. He's through." Chazz muttered under his breath.

"Not yet." Jaden said confidently. "Chumley, remember last night and what I said?"

"Which was what?" Sheppard and Xander both asked him.

"That your friends are with you!" Jaden stood up, pumping his hand.

"That's right!" Andrew agreed and followed suit.

Soon after, everyone was cheering for Chumley. He glanced at them for a moment before talking to himself. "I get it now. That's why Jaden has so much fun. He never duels alone, cuz he's got us! And now, I got them!"

"That's right!" Jaden replied, proud.

"You can't beat me, Crowler!" Chumley shouted happily, raising his duel disk in the air. "Cuz it's more than just me! It's all my best buds too!"

"Right on!" Andrew smiled.

"Look at him." Alexis smiled as well.

"He's happy!" Syrus pointed out.

"That's a first." Bastion cracked.

"Yeah, big deal." Chazz muttered.

"Of course it is!" Clover replied.

"Atta boy!" Xander called out.

"Jaden, thanks for everything. Now let's do this!" Chumley said, focusing on the duel again.

"Jaden can't save you." Crowler said, wearing his usual smug smile.

"But this card just might!" Chumley drew his next card and looked at it. And to his surprise, it was the card he designed. 'It's my card! The one I thought up when I went camping with my dad!' At that moment, his mind went back to an event that occurred in the past.


Flashback

'Aw, who am I kidding? From when I ran away was when I flunked my second advance exam. I went to toss my deck off the highest rock I could find to give up dueling again.' Chumley was wearing a jacket with a fluffy collar and a hat, carrying a backpack. He walked on top of a high rock, depressed by his failure on the exam. Eventually, he stopped at the edge, and held his deck, ready to get rid of it. 'But then... it happened!' A gust caused his hat to get off his head and fall down. The moment his eyes followed it, the sun started to rise. That made him awestruck. 'I saw the most awesome-lishus sunrise ever! And that's when I realized things may seem to be in their darkest, but they're not going to stay that way for long.'

Flashback end


With that in mind, Chumley looked up with a newfound determination that surprised Crowler. "I activate Ayer's Rock Sunrise!" Behind Chumley, a large, flat rock formation rose out of the floor behind him, a beautiful sunrise pouring out from behind it. "You can't stop the sun from rising, just like you can't stop my dreams." The spirit of Des Koala was right beside him and nodded. "I will be a famous card designer! And now, let's see one of my first cards in action! First it lets me summon one beast from the graveyard! Think you can guess who? The one, the only... Big Koala!" The gigantic blue koala appeared on the field once more. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"Then, turn your eyes to my graveyard, and you'll find for each beast, plant, or winged beast, Mr. Tall, Dark and Rusty loses 200 attack points!" Des Koala and Eucalyptus Mole appeared and gnawed briefly on Ancient gear Golem, shocking Crowler. (ATK: 3000-2600) "Now, how about we try something fuse-a-lishus with Polymerization!" Chumley held up the spell card and a certain monster card, causing a whirling vortex appear behind Big Koala, while Des Kangaroo appeared right next to it. "I'm melding Big Koala and Des Kangaroo to create Master of Oz in attack mode!" And from the vortex, the gigantic, boxing koala/kangaroo hybrid emerged and landed on top of Ayer's Rock. (ATK: 4200 DEF: 3700 LV: 9)

"That's like Chumley's best monster!" Syrus half-shouted happily.

Jaden smiled a little. "Go, get 'im, Chum..."

Chumley looked up at Master of Oz, the great beast standing impressively against the sunrise behind Ayer's Rock. "Alright, time to finally ace an exam..."

Crowler stared at Chumley for a few moments. "Bravo, Chumley. Very impressive. Especially for you." He praised evenly. 'Very impressive indeed. But how could I, Dr. Crowler, an Obelisk Blue, allow a Slifer red flunky to defeat moi? The answer: I can't. If you attack, it'll be your last mistake.'

Chumley then turned towards Crowler and commanded. "Alright, Master of Oz! Attack Ancient Gear Golem! Outback Attack!" Master of Oz jumped hopped off Ayer's Rock and charged forward, pulling its right fist back.

"I activate the spell, Limiter Removal!" Crowler's facedown card flipped up.

"Ah!" Andrew's eyes widened.

Clover gritted her teeth. "Damn!"

"With it, the attack points of all my machines are doubled!" The gears inside the golem's body spun as it felt the extra power. (ATK: 2600-5200)

"Man, this is not good news." Chumley muttered.

At that, both of the monsters threw their punches on each other. Unfortunately, Ancient Gear Golem was the only one that landed a direct hit on Master of Oz's face.

Chumley: 0800-0000

Chumley couldn't help but sob at this. "I lost!" At that, his best monster shattered into pixels. And with the duel over, Ancient Gear Golem vanished.

It was silent for a brief moment before all of Chumley's friends, along with the Chancellor, started to applaud, getting the confused koala duelist's attention. "Hey, that was your best duel ever! Nice work, Chumley!" Jaden gave him his two-finger salute.

"Yeah, way to play!" Syrus agreed. "Really, it was awesome! Am I right, guys?"

"Definitely!" Andrew nodded.

"Yeah!" Jenny and Clover agreed.

"Bravo!" Bastion praised.

"Eh, not too shabby, I guess." Chazz muttered.

"You kidding?" Michael gave him an incredulous look. "The dude took Crowler to the limit!"

But despite all the praises he was given, Chumley was still disappointed. "But I... I still lost. I can't get my dream job!" He sobbed, wiping his tears away with his sleeve.

"Stop that crying!"

"Huh?" Chumley looked up and saw Crowler standing right in front of him.

"It's true, you have lost this duel, but losing doesn't always means failure."

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"Uh, what does he mean?" Jaden asked, turning to Sheppard. The man was smiling, like he knew where Crowler was getting at.

"You see, the duel was not win or lose, but to prove your ability!"

"Huh?" Chumley's eyes widened.

"For the talent you displayed today, how could I fail you. I will... recommend you for the position at Industrial Illusions!"

"So I'm not kicked out?"

"You're graduating." Crowler held up his hand for a handshake, which Chumley gladly accepted. "Farewell, and congratulations, Chumley."

On the sidelines, the others were filled with mixed emotions. While they did feel happy for Chumley, some of them didn't want to see him leave.

"He is going." Syrus muttered, sounding a little sad. "I don't know how I should feel."

Jaden turned to him. "Look, Chumley gets to follow his dream. Let's not be sad. We should be all parties and hugs!"

"You're right." Andrew nodded. "We should be happy for him!" He then heard sobbing and turned to his left. He was surprised to see Sheppard with tears running down on his cheeks. He then couldn't help but laugh, along with the rest of the gang.


Later on, everyone watched as Chumley's plane flew away into the air, taking him to his future.

"Chumley... good luck." Jaden said.

"Take care of yourself." Andrew added.


At that moment, Chumley was looking back at Duel Academy. And he was no longer wearing his Slifer uniform. He was wearing his suit for his first day at his dream job. "Goodbye, everyone. Jaden... Sy... Andrew..." He sniffed a bit but then wiped his tears away. "I'll be back... someday."

As he made that promise and nodded to himself, his duel spirit, Des Koala, was sitting on the seat behind him and nodded with a smile.


A couple of days later

Today was the day of promotion exams, and right now, the students were in the middle of their field test, dueling each other. And some of them were done.

"Whoa, what a duel?" Jaden said to himself, walking away from a fellow Slifer student who was a little disappointed.

"I'm done as well." Syrus said as he walked up to him. "Although, I can't say I did good enough to move up in rank."

"That's too bad." Andrew replied as he approached them. "Given how you've improved since your tag team duel, I think you would have moved up by now."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I'd say I did great." Matt said and came up to them. "In fact... I'm moving up!"

"Really? That's sweet!" Jaden said.

"Andrew Wilson. Please report to exam field 4."

"Oh, it's my turn now!"

"Good luck." Jaden said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Thanks."


Moments later, Andrew came to his assigned exam field. And when he did, he saw the person standing at the other end of the dueling field and smiled. "Ah, Shiori! I guess you're my dueling opponent then."

The ritual duelist smiled back. "Sure am. It's been a while since we dueled each other, right?"

"Definitely. Honestly, I wanted to have a crack at you again."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Shiori activated his duel disk.

"Right!" Andrew activated his duel disk.

"Let's duel!"

Andrew: 4000

Shiori: 4000

"Here goes!" Andrew drew. "I'll start with Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in defense mode!" The black armored woman appeared kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Then I'll play a facedown and end my turn." A card appeared near his feet.

"Then it's my turn!" Shiori drew his sixth card and looked at it briefly. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon in attack mode!" The majestic jewel scaled dragon appeared. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 100 LV: 4) "Now attack his Shadow Mist!" The dragon spat out a torrent of flames and burned the heroine to a crisp.

"Since you sent Shadow Mist to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability, which lets me add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand." Andrew fanned his deck out and grabbed a card.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Shiori concluded and inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Then it's my turn again!" Andrew drew. "And now I summon forth Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier!" From a pillar of water, a new hero emerged. He was wearing a bluish dark-grey suit with some armor in lighter blue and silver linings, including a visor. He also had glass balls on his wrists that seemed to be filled with water. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1300 LV: 4)

"That's a new one." Shiori noted.

"And he's got a special ability." Andrew continued. "When he's normal summoned, I can summon a level 4 or lower HERO monster from my graveyard. So I'll bring back Elemental HERO Shadow Mist!" The black armored heroine reappeared. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And since she was special summoned, I can take a 'Change' card from my deck to my hand." He fanned his deck out and took a card. "And now I activate the trap card, Elemental Recharge!" His facedown card flipped up. "Thanks to this, I gain 1000 life points for each of my Elemental Heroes."

Andrew: 4000-6000

"Now I activate the spell card, Mask Change! And with it, I'll transform my Shadow Mist into Masked HERO Anki!" In a brilliant light, Shadow Mist changed into the hero in jet black armor. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 1200 LV: 8) "Now attack his Alexandrite Dragon!" The hero dashed forward.

"Stop right there! I activate the trap card, Justi-Break!" Shiori facedown card flipped up and fired a bolt of lightning. It struck both Anki and Liquid Soldier and zapped them until they exploded.

"What?!"

"When you attack a normal monster I control, I can destroy all monsters on the field, except normal monster that are in attack mode."

"In that case..." Andrew trailed off and held up a card from his hand. "I activate the spell card, Swords of Revealing Light!" Swords made of light came down from above and surrounded Shiori. "From now on, you can't attack for three turns. I end my turn."

"My move!" Shiori trailed off and drew his next card. "I activate the ritual spell card, Cycle of the World!" A golden hexagon-shaped lighting appeared under the dragon's feet. "With this, I can ritual summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion or Demise, King of Armageddon."

Andrew's eyes widened. "You mean that card is like End of the World?"

"One of the differences is that unlike End of the World that would require sacrifices whose total levels exactly equal the level of my ritual monster, this card lets me sacrifice monsters with a total level that's equal or higher than the monster I'm ritual summoning. So now, I sacrifice Alexandrite Dragon..." The hexagon shot a pillar of light that enveloped the dragon. "...in order to summon Ruin, Angel of Oblivion!" The light died down and revealed a new monster. Its appearance was actually surprising for Andrew. It was a girl... looking like a younger version of Ruin, Queen of Oblivion. But unlike the original, who wore a red, white and black dress, this one was wearing a dress that was just red and black, wielding a red staff. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

Andrew blinked. "Angel of Oblivion?"

"Oh yeah. Due to her special ability, her name becomes Ruin, Queen of Oblivion while in the hand or on the field." Shiori explained. "I end my turn."

"Okay..." Andrew drew and looked over the cards in his hand. 'I don't really have a monster that can destroy that Angel. But I might be able to get one on my next turn.' He glanced at the card he drew before placing it on his duel disk. "I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode!" The green-skinned wooden man appeared. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared near Andrew's feet.

"Alright then..." Shiori drew. "I activate Pot of Greed! So now I get two more cards!" He drew his extra cards and looked at them. He smirked. "And one of them happens to be a field spell known as Breaking of the World!" Moments later, the two duelists found themselves in a destroyed land with blue flames burning between the cracks on the ground.

Andrew was surprised by this change of scenery. "What kind of field spell is this?"

"You'll see. But first... I activate the effect of Cycle of the World!" The named spell card came out of his graveyard slot. "During my main phase, except the turn it was sent to the graveyard, I can shuffle it into my deck. And then... I can add End of the World from my deck to my hand."

Andrew gasped as Shiori shuffled his deck and then held up the card in question.

"And now I activate the effect of my field spell. Once per turn, I can select a ritual monster on my field, like Ruin here. And then, I reveal a ritual monster in my hand, like this level 10 monster here." He held up a card.

But Andrew didn't pay attention to its image because of what Shiori just said. "A level 10 ritual monster?!"

"Got that right. But not for long, because my field spell now makes the level of my revealed ritual monster the same as the ritual monster on my field." The revealed ritual monster card glowed briefly. "And now..." Shiori held up another card. "I activate End of the World!"

"What!?" Andrew exclaimed.

The ritual duelist smirked. "You see, like my Angel of Oblivion here, the monster I'm about to summon counts as Ruin, Queen of Oblivion. While it's in my hand or the field, that is. So now I sacrifice my Angel of Oblivion..." A pillar of light enveloped Shiori's ritual monster. "...in order to summon... Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion!"

Despite the bright light, Ruin's silhouette was visible. And Andrew could watch as the silhouette suddenly grew taller. And then, the light died down, giving everyone who watched this a good look on Ruin's new form. She looked pretty much like the original Ruin. However, she was a little taller, and so was her white hair. She was wearing an elegant dress that was red, black and golden and a matching black and red headdress. Not to mention black and golden shoulder-length gloves. She was wielding a red and golden staff that resembled an axe. (ATK: 2900 DEF: 3000 LV: 10)


From the stands, Jenny watched this duel, slightly stunned at Ruin's appearance. "Just when I thought Shiori didn't have any other surprises in his deck."

"I'll say."

Jenny blinked before turning to her right... where Cynthia was sitting right next to her. "Oh, hi Cynthia."

"Hi there." She greeted back. "You waiting for your duel to begin?"

"Actually, I've already dueled. I did well without any problem."

Cynthia smiled. "So you're taking a break while watching your Andrew dueling?"

Jenny blushed a bit before nodding. "Yeah." She then gave her a smirk. "And I believe you're rooting for Shiori, right?"

The plant duelist giggled. "You got me!"


"I never thought Ruin had different forms." Andrew muttered, staring at the ritual monster. "Especially this."

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Shiori replied. "You see, Breaking of the World has two more effects. And I'm allowed to activate one of them once per turn... But only after I ritual summon Ruin or Demise."

Andrew's eyes widened.

"And I'll go with option number 2... which lets me destroy one card on the field! There goes your Revealing Light card!" Andrew's spell card was enveloped by a pillar of blue flames for a moment until it died down and it was gone. And so were the swords that surrounded Shiori's field. "So now I can attack! Ruin, destroy his Woodsman with Doom Blast!" The new and improved Ruin pointed her staff towards the wooden and conjured a ball of purple energy. And then, she fired it away.

"I activate my trap!" Andrew announced and held out his right hand towards his facedown card... but nothing happened. "What the...?" Was all he said before Woodsman was destroyed by a massive explosion when the energy ball collided. "What just happened?"

Shiori smirked. "Oh, sorry. There was one thing I forgot to mention. When my Angel of Oblivion was sent to the graveyard earlier, her ability was triggered. It allowed me to select a ritual monster on my field, like my Supreme Queen of Oblivion. And she was given a certain ability. As long as she remains on the field, you can't activate cards or effects when I attack with my ritual monsters."

Andrew's eyes widened. "Seriously? That's really cool, I admit."

"Then let's see how you like my Queen's very own ability. When she destroys a monster in battle, she deals damage equal to your monster's original attack points!"

Andrew gasped as the woman tapped her staff on the ground. And then, the ground under his feet cracked open and released some blue flames that engulfed him for a moment.

Andrew: 6000-5000

And just as he recovered from the assault, Shiori spoke up. "But wait! My Ruin has another ability. If all the monsters used to ritual summon her were ritual monsters, she can attack twice each turn!"

"Say what?!" Andrew looked up as Ruin pointed her staff towards him and blasted him with another energy ball.

Andrew: 5000-2100


Jenny grimaced a bit. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt."

"I didn't think Shiori had a monster that strong in his deck." Cynthia commented, impressed.


Andrew was stumbling a little before recovering. "Geez, Shiori. Where was that ritual monster when we were dealing with the Shadow Riders?"

Shiori rubbed his head. "I sort of got her very recently. Anyway, that's the end of my turn."

"Alright then." Andrew drew. "I activate Pot of Greed and draw extra cards." He drew again and looked at his two new cards. "This will do! I summon Fortress Warrior in defense mode!" The four-legged, structure wielding creature made of stone appeared. (ATK: 600 DEF: 1200 LV: 2) "And that's all for now."

"My move!" Shiori drew. "Now Ruin, attack Fortress Warrior!" The woman fired another energy ball. It collided with the stony creature and exploded. "And that will cause you more damage."

"Not exactly."

Shiori blinked as the smoke dissipated and was then surprised to see Fortress Warrior completely unharmed. "What? What is this?"

"Due to its special ability, my Fortress Warrior can survive in battle once per turn." Andrew explained.

Shiori's eyes widened briefly before he smirked. "Then I'll just have to attack again! Go, Doom Blast!" Ruin fired one more energy ball. And this time, Fortress Warrior was successfully destroyed.

Andrew: 2100-1500

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Shiori concluded and inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Alright then." Andrew his next card and looked at it. He smiled. "Perfect! I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman in attack mode!" The fiery hero in red armor appeared. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And with him summoned to the field, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." Andrew fanned his deck out and took the spell card in question. "Then I activate The Warrior Returning Alive! Now I can take a warrior type monster back from my graveyard, like Liquid Soldier." He took the named card from the graveyard. "And now I play Polymerization, fusing Liquid Soldier with Blazeman in order to summon Elemental HERO Nova Master!" The water and fire heroes were sucked into the fusion vortex. And then, moments later, the red and orange armored hero emerged. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

"You think that guy can take down Ruin?" Shiori questioned.

"I'll get to that. But first, I activate Liquid Soldier's second ability." Andrew continued. "When he's sent to the graveyard or removed play, all because he was used for a fusion summon, I get to draw two cards." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. "But then, I have to discard one card." He grabbed one of his new cards and discarded it. "And next, I'll attack with Nova Master!" The fire hero started to conjure a fireball between his hands.

"But Ruin is stronger! Attacking her now would be stupid... unless...!" Shiori's eyes widened in realization.

Andrew smirked and held up a card. "Unless I happen to have Battle Fusion in my hand. With this spell, I can give my monster extra attack points equal to its opponent's attack points!" Nova Master's fireball became huge. (ATK: 2600-5500) "Go, Burning Sphere Bomb!" The fire hero threw the fireball at the woman, who ended up getting destroyed by a huge explosion.

Shiori: 4000-1400

(ATK: 5500-2600) "And since Nova Master destroyed a monster, I draw a card." Andrew his extra card, looked at it, and then inserted it into his duel disk. "I'll end my turn with a facedown." He then noticed that Shiori almost lost balance. "You okay?"

The ritual duelist found his footing before answering. "I'm fine. In fact, I'm getting excited." He then looked up smiling. "Because I'm about to bring out something bigger."

Andrew's eyes widened.

"But before that, I activate the trap card, Renewal of the World!" Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "When this card is activated, I have to take a ritual monster from my deck and remove it from play." He took a card from his deck and put it into his pocket.

"And what ritual monster is that?"

"You're about to find out, because now it's my turn!" Shiori drew his next card and looked at it. "And I'll start by activating the spell card, The Shallow Grave! Now both of us can summon a monster from the graveyard in defense mode. I choose Ruin, Angel of Oblivion!" Ruin's younger form appeared. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"And I choose... Fortress Warrior!" The four-legged stone creature appeared again. (ATK: 600 DEF: 1200 LV: 2)

"And now I send Renewal of the World to the graveyard!" The trap card vanished.

Andrew blinked. "Why would you do that?"

"Because by doing so, I can activate one of its two effects. And I think I'll go with this one: I get to ritual summon the ritual monster I removed from play. And for that, I need monsters whose total level is at least equal to my ritual monster. I can either sacrifice monsters from my hand or field, or..." A certain card came out of Shiori's graveyard. "I can shuffle 1 ritual monster from my graveyard into my deck, like Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion!"

Andrew gasped.

As Shiori shuffled his card into his deck, the blue flames on the field started to go wild. "And now, I ritual summon the mighty ruler of destruction! The almighty Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon!" A pillar of blue flames erupted from the ground in front of him. And then, a figure stepped out of it. The new monster's appearance made people from the audience gasp. It looked like the original Demise. Except that it was taller and more intimidating. Its horns were bigger and it had big, white spikes on its armor, not to mention wild silver hair. It was wielding a golden axe that was bigger and more impressive than the original. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000 LV: 10)


"Incredible!" Jenny muttered.

"I'll say." Cynthia added. "Way to go, Shiori!"


"First a stronger version of Ruin, and now a stronger version of Demise?" Andrew questioned. "Are there other surprises you've been keeping from me?"

"As a matter of fact, there are. But before I explain, I activate the effect of my field spell. And this time, I'll use effect number 1. I get to draw a card." Shiori drew. "Now then, my Supreme King of Armageddon has a special ability that usually can be activated by paying 2000 life points. But if all monsters I used to ritual summon him were ritual monsters, I don't need to pay anything."

Andrew started to get nervous. "And... what special ability are we talking here?"

Shiori smirked. "Once per turn... Demise can destroy all other cards on the field! Activate Armageddon of the World!" Demise slammed his axe down, causing lots of cracks appear on the ground. And then... the entire field was swallowed by blue flames.

"Agh!" Andrew covered his arms for protection. After a while, he felt that the flames were gone. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the field was back to normal. Everything was gone. Except for Shiori's ritual monster. "You wiped everything clean."

"Got that right. Oh! I almost forgot! After Demise destroys all the cards on the field, you take 200 points of damage for each card you controlled."

"Say what?" Was all Andrew said before he groaned when a red aura surrounded him.

Andrew: 1500-0700

"And of course, since my Angel of Oblivion was sent to the graveyard, I can select a ritual monster on my field, and grant it her additional effect." Demise glowed white. "Now you're wide open for a..." Shiori started to say but stopped at mid sentence when a certain mechanical turtle appeared in front of Andrew. "Huh?!"

Andrew smirked. "As you mentioned earlier, the additional ability that was granted from your Angel of Oblivion keeps me from activating cards or effects when your ritual monster attacks. So... I chose to activate Electromagnetic Turtle's ability right at the beginning of your battle phase."

"But... when did you sent that card to the graveyard?"

"When I used Liquid Soldier's ability..."


Flashback

"But then, I have to discard one card."

Flashback end


"Oh, back then, huh?" Shiori realized.

Andrew nodded. "So with my turtle removed from play, your battle phase is already over."

"In that case, I activate the spell card, Ritual Cage!" The named spell card appeared. "This card protects me from battle damage from attacks involving my ritual monsters. What's more is that my ritual monsters can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects."


"So now he's got a ritual monster that can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. And it keeps Andrew from activating cards or effects when it attacks." Jenny noted.

"And on top of that, Shiori can activate its special ability without paying life points. He doesn't hold back, that's for sure." Cynthia said, smiling.


"I end my turn." Shiori concluded.

"My move then." Andrew his next card and looked at it. "I activate Legacy of a HERO! With at least two Elemental Heroes in my graveyard, I can draw three new cards." After drawing his extra cards, he took a good look at them. He then smiled. "Just what I needed."

"Hm?" Shiori gave him a curious look.

"First I activate the spell card, Fusion Recovery! This lets me take a Polymerization back from my graveyard, along with a monster I used for a fusion summon. And I choose Liquid Soldier!" Andrew took the named cards from the graveyard. "And now I'll use Polymerization to fuse Liquid Soldier and Avian!" The two named monsters entered the fusion vortex. "Come on out, Elemental HERO Great Tornado!" The green, black and yellow armored wind hero emerged. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2200 LV: 8) "Your Ritual Cage may be able to protect your monster from lots of monsters effects, but not this one! When Great Tornado is fusion summoned, all monsters on your field lose half of their attack and defense points!" The wind hero thrusted his hand hand forward, unleashing a powerful gust.

"Agh!" Shiori held up his left arm for protection, while Demise groaned and fell down to one knee. (ATK: 3000-1500 DEF: 3000-1500)

"And once again, Liquid Soldier was used for a fusion summon, now I get to draw extra cards again." Andrew two cards and discarded one. "Next I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode!" The white and red armored fire hero appeared. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This guy gains 200 extra attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field." (ATK: 1600-2000) "Now attack Demise with Burning Fist!" The fire hero ignited his right fist and dashed forward. When he got close enough, he pulled his arm back before throwing a punch.

Clang!

But... the fiend used his axe to block the attack.

"What?!" Andrew exclaimed.

Shiori chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Demise happens to have another ability. Since he was ritual summoned, he keeps all ritual monsters, including himself, from being destroyed in battle!"


"Well well." Cynthia said, smiling.

Jenny looked shocked. "Are you serious?"


Andrew couldn't help but be impressed. "Okay, I have to admit. That monster is really awesome."

"Thank you." Shiori replied. "I aim to please."

Andrew looked over his hand for a moment before inserting a card into his duel disk "I play a facedown. You're up."

"Okay then." Shiori drew his next card, glanced at it and turned to Andrew. "Alright! Let's burn everything down! Once again, I activate Demise's special ability!" The fiend slammed his axe down again, releasing a wave of flames that headed straight to Andrew's field.

"Not this time!" Andrew said and revealed his facedown card. "I activate my counter trap, Fusion Guard! With this, I negate the activation of an effect that would cause effect damage." The flames died down. "And after that, a random fusion monster goes from my fusion deck to my graveyard." Images of his remaining fusion monsters appeared. After a moment, Absolute Zero vanished.

Shiori snapped his fingers. "Damn! Almost had you there. I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared near his feet.

"Okay. I draw!" Andrew drew and paused. He then looked at it. "Yes! I activate the spell card, Form Change! Now I can trade my HERO fusion monster in for a Masked HERO!"

Shiori's eyes widened. "Uh oh!"

"Great Tornado, time to transform!" A bright light engulfed the wind hero. "Now I summon Masked HERO Acid!" The light died down and revealed the dark-blue armored hero who had his gun ready. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "And get ready to take cover! Because when he's summoned, all your spells and traps are destroyed!" The hero aimed his gun at Shiori's field and fired a stream of acid, destroying his spell card and facedown card.

"Oh no!"

"And your monster also loses 300 attack points." (ATK: 1500-1200) "And even though it can't be destroyed in battle, your life points are a different story! Acid let him have it!" The Masked HERO fired another stream of acid. As the attack hit the fiend, he fell backwards and landed on top of Shiori.

Shiori: 1400-0000

As the holograms faded, the crowd applauded for the duel.


Jenny smiled. "Way to go, Andrew."

Cynthia sighed. "Too bad for Shiori."

"But you have to admit that it was a great duel."

Cynthia smiled to her. "Can't argue with that."


As Shiori got up, Andrew walked up to him, holding his right hand. "Thanks for the duel, Shiori. It was great."

He smiled and grabbed it for a handshake. "Likewise. You never cease to surprise me. Let's duel again sometime!"

"You can count on it!"


Next day

Jenny and Cynthia were walking together, heading towards the main building.

"Good morning!" Someone greeted from behind.

They turned around and saw Andrew waving to them. And... he wasn't wearing his Ra Yellow jacket. He was wearing an Obelisk Blue jacket.

"Andrew!" Jenny rushed over and gave him a hug. She looked at his uniform. "You really look good in blue."

Andrew blushed a bit. "You think so? I still can't believe I managed to promote."

"Well I do." Shiori spoke up, showing up behind. "And personally, I think you deserved it."

Andrew smiled. "Thanks."

Shiori sighed. "Although, it would have been nice if I promoted as well."

"You'll get your chance someday." Cynthia said as she walked up to him and grabbed his hand, making him blush. "Come on, let's go!" She then dragged him away.

Andrew and Jenny watched this for a moment before facing each other. They then laughed a bit before running after them.


Took me longer than I intended, but I hope you guys liked it. Until next time.