Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

'blah' means thoughts

Zane shook his head as he walked to the Slifer Red dorms. All the sudden, he heard, "Hey, Sy!"

Before he could turn around, he felt an arm go around his neck and a weight on his back. Catching the sight of red and putting it together with the voice, he sighed inwardly. Putting on a smile, Zane said, "Hey, Jay!"

"Where were you?"

"Zane called me out to the docks. He wanted to spend time with me."

"He did? What'd you guys do?"

"He wanted to duel."

"Did you duel?"

"Yes and he beat me. However, I pulled some moves that might have impressed him."

"Aw, man! I would have liked to have seen those moves."

"I can try and see of I can pull some of them off again."

"I doubt your brother would want to duel you again so soon."

"True, but I was thinking more along the lines of dueling you."

"Sy, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Usually, you don't want to duel me."

'How would Syrus answer that?' Zane couldn't think of anything, so he decided to stall. He scratched his cheek in true Syrus fashion. "I…uh…"

"Aw, never mind, Sy. Get your game on! I'll start!" Jaden drew his card. "I play Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode and place one card face down."

Zane nodded and drew a card. 'Syrus needs a new deck with better cards.' "I play Jetroid in attack mode."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"All right. I play Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode. Sparkman, attack Jetroid."

"I use Jetroid's special ability. When you decided to attack, you activated my trap."

"What trap? You don't have any face downs!"

"That's Jetroid's special ability. I can activate a trap card from my hand once you declare an attack. So, I activate Magic Cylinder. Sparkman's attack is directed at your life points."

"1600 points of direct damage. You have gotten better."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

Zane smiled a little and drew his next card. "I switch Jetroid to defense mode and play I Steamroid in attack mode. I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. Your face down card is destroyed. Steamroid attack Burstinatrix. Plus you get 500 points of direct damage from Steamroid's special ability."

"You have gotten better. I've got to step up my game." Jaden drew. "I activate Polymerization to fuse Sparkman with the Bubbleman and Avian in my hand to make Elemental Hero Tempest. Attack Steamroid."

Zane took 1000 points of damage plus the extra 500 from Steamroid's special ability. "I draw. First, I sacrifice Jetroid for UFOroid. Then, I play Change of Heart on your Tempest. Now, I activate the magic of Power Bond to fuse Tempest and UFOroid to create UFOroid Fighter."

"8000 attack?"

"UFOroid Fighter, attack Jaden directly."

Jaden – 0000

Zane – 2500

"Sweet move, Sy."

"It was, wasn't it?"

THE OBELISK BLUE DORM

Syrus walked into the corridor, feeling more than a little scared. He wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was because his soul was still a Slifer's. Just then, an Obelisk Blue students that's Syrus had seen around Zane spotted him. "Hey, Zane."

'What would Zane say?' He gave the Obelisk a half-nod. He flashed Syrus a thumbs-up and kept walking. After about a minute, Syrus turned around and walked out of the dorm. 'It's harder to get lost outside.' As Syrus walked, his thoughts were centered on his brother and how he was doing. He was so lost in thought that he had not noticed that he had entered the girls' area of the dorm. In fact, he still hadn't noticed until he heard a sigh. 'That was a feminine sigh.' He then noticed the steam. 'Uh oh! It's the girls' hot spring!'

The sole occupant of the hot spring felt someone staring at her. She turned around and a smile crept onto her face. "Zane. What are you doing here?"

"I…um…" Syrus stared at Alexis, who had stood up at that moment. She climbed out of the hot spring, fixing her towel as she went, and walked over to Syrus. She gave him a sweet smile and threw her arms around Syrus's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. Not even realizing Syrus didn't return the hug, Alexis stood on her tip-toes and kissed him on the lips. She broke the kiss, and Syrus said, "I…uh, just remembered. Dr. Crowler wanted to talk to me. So, I'll see you later, Alexis." He turned on his heel and ran.

Alexis stood there, dumbfounded. "Zane would never run from me, and he'd usually call me 'Lex' or 'Lexi.'"

MAIN CAMPUS

Jaden and Zane were walking around aimlessly when three Obelisk Blue students came to a stop in front of them, causing Jaden to crash into them.

"Watch where you're going, Slifer Slacker!"

"Don't call him that!" Zane exclaimed.

"Would you prefer if we called him Slifer Slime?" One of the Obelisks pushed Zane hard enough to knock him off his feet. "Know your place, Slifer Sludge!"

"Yeah! Off the island."

"Slackers like you don't belong here."

Zane sat there, dazed. 'Is this how some of the Obelisks act when I'm not around?"

"Leave him alone!" Jaden yelled.

"C'mon, guys. Picking on Slifers is too easy." The trio of Obelisks laughed and walked away.

"Sometimes I'd like to tell the Obelisks off." Jaden sighed. "C'mon, Sy." Jaden held his hand out, but Zane didn't take it. "Sy?"

MEANWHILE…

Syrus was walking down the corridor, trying to shake off the feeling of Alexis's kiss. Suddenly, three laughing Obelisks passed him and he heard part of their conversation.

"…Slifers…crashed…don't belong…pushed…"

Syrus put it together and walked up to the Obelisks. "You were picking on Slifers?"

"Zane?" The three Obelisks were suddenly very interested in the floor.

"That is as good an admission as any. Who were they?"

"We don't keep up with Slifers."

"Describe them."

"Well, one had brown hair and a haughty attitude."

"The other one had sky blue hair and glasses."

Syrus's eyes narrowed at the last description. "The Slifer with glasses is my little brother. What did you do to him?"

"We kind of pushed him and said that he didn't belong here."

Syrus got mad hearing that. "Leave them alone."

"Sure."

"Whatever you say, Zane."

The three Obelisks ran off from Syrus, leaving him fuming. As he hurried off his thoughts were on Zane. 'It's one thing to push and insult me, but it's another to do the same to Zane. He's never had to deal with it." It didn't take long for Syrus to find Jaden, who was shaking his brother's shoulder.

"Sy? C'mon, Sy. Snap out of it."

Syrus stepped over to the pair and asked, "Jaden, what happened?"

"Well, there were three Obelisks hanging out in the hall and I accidentally crashed into one of them. They called me the usual insults and Sy told them not to call me that. His comment got him pushed and insulted. They also told him that he doesn't belong here. It was all my fault and Sy just got caught in the middle of it."

"All right. I will take care of Syrus. You can continue on your way." Jaden nodded and walked off. Syrus looked around and, seeing no one, knelt down next to Zane. "Zane? C'mon, big Bro. Snap out of it."

"Don't belong here." Zane repeated in a faraway tone.

Syrus involuntarily winced. 'So that's what's bothering him. Thanks to my card he goes from being the big man on campus to the bottom of the barrel.' "Of course you belong here, Zane. You're the number one duelist. The one that doesn't belong here is me."

That snapped Zane out of the trance. "No, Sy. You do belong here."

"Zane! Syrus!"

Both Syrus and Zane turned and saw Alexis coming toward them. Syrus blushed a little and whispered to Zane, "Alexis hugged and kissed me about ten minutes ago."

"What happened?" Zane asked in a whisper.

"I froze," was the whispered reply. "After the kiss, I made up an excuse and ran. Oh and it was at the girls' hot spring."

At this point, Alexis came up to them. "What happened, Syrus?"

"A trio of Obelisks picked on me and Jay. Zane came to our rescue."

"Are you okay, Syrus?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Zane looked up and saw Syrus holding his hand out. Zane took the offered hand and Syrus helped his brother to his feet.

"Now," Alexis turned to Syrus. "What was that about in the hot spring?"

"You caught me off-guard. Plus," Syrus looked at the floor. "I was trespassing."

Alexis was surprised. 'Zane is never this shy. I guess Syrus is rubbing off on him.' Then she caught Zane looking at her. 'I think Zane is rubbing off on Syrus too.'

Zane caught himself staring at Alexis and stopped. "I'm going to go back to my dorm."

Zane left. Syrus watched him leave. 'If I know him, he's going to the dock.' Syrus continued his walk.

Alexis looked from Zane to Syrus and back to Zane. 'I'm going to follow Syrus. Something's up between those two and I'm more likely to get an answer from Syrus.' Alexis followed sky-blue haired boy, but not too close. Suddenly, he took a turn toward the dock. 'Why is he going there?'