Jaden and Fluttershy were walking through the main building to the Card Store in order to sign up for a duel against Zane. They couldn't help but remember what Alexis had told them yesterday.

"Actually, Syrus's brother goes to this school. In fact, you may have already heard of him."

"Really? I have no idea who you are talking about," Jaden bluntly said.

"Hello? Zane Truesdale? Third year Obelisk Blue? Best duelist at this school?" Alexis revealed who he was. "And yes, he is as good as his reputation says."

"I can't believe that Syrus's brother said that he wasn't good enough to use Power Bond!" Fluttershy said as she filled out a duel request form.

"I know, right?" Jaden agreed. "If I had an older brother that told me I wasn't good enough to use some card, I'd be insecure and lacking confidence too. Well, that is all about to change," Jaden said as he also filled out a duel request form. "Hey, Fluttershy? Do you spell Zane with one or two "n's"?" At this, Fluttershy fell over onto the ground in shock.

"I think his name has one "n," Jaden." Fluttershy stated as if it was obvious.

Suddenly, before the two of them could continue, Dr. Crowler and his Corgi Clarissa suddenly approached them and grabbed their duel request forms. "Let's see. Who are you two dueling?" As Dr. Crowler looked at the forms, he was flabbergasted to see that they were both requesting to duel Zane. "You two must be joking. I think you'll find that Zane will be too tough to handle against a dropout boy like you Jaden. As for you Fluttershy, might I recommend you find an opponent more your speed?"

"Sorry, Dr. Crowler, but this duel is important. We want to duel Zane in order to find out what is going on with Syrus so we can curb his confidence issues," Fluttershy explained calmly, with no sense of nervousness present where it normally would be.

"Yeah. It'll help Syrus be ready for our upcoming tag match, see?" Jaden continued.

"Oh yes. The tag duel where if you lose you both will be expelled from the academy. And you say dueling Zane will help you prepare for it? Well, sorry, but there will be no duel for the both of you," Crowler rejected their duel, and gave the forms to Clarissa, who proceeded to tear them to shreds with her teeth, much to the horror of Jaden and Fluttershy.

Syrus was holed up underneath his covers, dejected as he looked at his Power Bond card, with an unbearable weight hanging on his shoulders. "And I never would have given you that card if I knew you would act the way you did or misplay the card like you were about to." Syrus suddenly placed his hands over his ears, desperately hoping they would keep these words out of his head even though he knew they were forming in his mind anyhow. "You were reckless and needlessly mean Syrus. You don't deserve to play that card until you've become a true duelist"

"Aw, man. I don't know a thing about duel monsters. I'm gonna let Jaden down," Syrus miserably wailed to himself.

Suddenly, Syrus imagined a scenario where he and Jaden were tag dueling against two unknown opponents. They had only 1200 Life Points remaining while their opponents still had all of theirs. After bashing Syrus's move, their imagined opponent played a spell card to take control of his Patroid and attacked Jaden directly, costing them the duel. As Jaden cried out in defeat to Syrus, he wanted to know why his friend cost them the duel. Before he could respond, one of his imagined opponents answered, "I'll tell you why. It's because he doesn't belong here." The opponent who said this was revealed to be Zane, who simply laughed wickedly at his younger brother.

Syrus finally left his fantasy and returned to the real world, not that this boosted his morale in any way at all. "Man, I'm toast."

In the forest, Rainbow Dash was there talking with Pinkie Pie about what had occurred the previous day with Syrus losing the duel when he could have won easily.

"And he totally is a great duelist too. He just doesn't have the confidence to help him reach his massive potential," Rainbow Dash finished explaining.

"Man, that sounds bad. It sounds like it may take more than a simple party to cheer him up, though if he wants one to help I'm still game to do it," Pinkie Pie offered.

"Thanks Pinkie, but no thanks. I think what he needs is a good talking to by me and the rest of the girls. Maybe with all of us working together we can get to the core of his confidence problems.

"Yes indeedy, I'll go get the rest of the girls. See you in a bit!" Pinkie Pie responded as she jumped up and hopped off to get the others.

Before Rainbow Dash could get accustomed to being alone again, she was interrupted by Jaden and Fluttershy. "I can't believe Dr. Crowler wouldn't let us duel Zane! That was very mean!" Fluttershy grumbled to herself.

"Yeah, and where does it say that the forms need to be filled out in triplicate?" Jaden complained with Fluttershy.

"Wow, you two are angry, which I'm not used to seeing on either one of you. What's the problem?" Rainbow Dash asked the duo.

"Well, we're trying to duel Syrus's brother in order to help boost his confidence for our upcoming tag match," Jaden started.

"But Dr. Crowler rejected letting us duel him," Fluttershy finished.

"Wow, and here I thought I knew how mean Crowler could be," Rainbow Dash was surprised to hear. "Well I guess if Crowler won't let you duel him you can just go to the Obelisk Blue dorm and ask to duel him personally," Rainbow Dash suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea! Thanks Rainbow Dash. We'll go do that now!" Fluttershy and Jaden ecstatically said.

"By the way, who is Syrus's brother anyway?" Rainbow asked out of curiosity.

"He goes by the name Zane Truesdale, and he's the best duelist in the school!" Jaden answered before he and Fluttershy ran to the Obelisk Blue dorm.

When the duo reached the Obelisk Blue dorm, however, they were not met with positive reception. Jaden was pushed down to the ground and Fluttershy was hit on by some of the boys, much to her discomfort.

"You really wish to challenge Zane? Please. Like he'd waste his time with chumps like you," one of the boys said.

"Yeah. You're probably wet behind the ears from pre-duel school," another boy mocked.

"No we're not!" Jaden countered only to be splashed in the face with a bucket of water by the Obelisk Blue boys before they walked away. "We'll find a way to duel him one way or another," Jaden muttered under his breath.

After this failure, Jaden and Fluttershy returned to the Slifer Red dorm to check up on Syrus. When they got there, they found that Syrus's bed was empty and that Rainbow Dash was reading a note. Upon asking about it, the duo were read the note by Rainbow Dash, "Dear Jaden, I'm leaving Duel Academy. Don't try and stop me. I'm only holding you back. It's for the best, Syrus."

After finishing reading the letter, Jaden grasped it in his left hand. "We need to find and stop Syrus right away!" Jaden realized.

"Right!" Both Rainbow and Fluttershy agreed as the trio left the room to find Syrus. Upon getting outside, they started their search near the rocks by the ocean.

"Syrus? Where are you?" Jaden called out, hoping that his friend could hear.

"Syrus? Come out and tell us more about your brother, please?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious about the best duelist at this school and hoping she could duel him.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy scolded her friend for how she was focusing on the wrong detail.

Meanwhile, Syrus had built a raft and was prepared to use it to get away from the academy. "Goodbye, Duel Academy."

Back with Jaden, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, the three of them were continuing to look for Syrus only to be met with no luck. Before they could continue, Jaden's deck glowed and Winged Kuriboh's spirit appeared, much to the confusion of the trio.

"Wait, is that Winged Kuriboh?" Rainbow Dash was confused.

"Yes, it is. Hey, do you think you can help us locate Syrus?" Jaden asked the tiny spirit. The spirit complied and the trio followed after the spirit.

Zane was standing by the lighthouse at sunset, waiting for Alexis to arrive. As expected, she arrived at the lighthouse and took her spot next to Zane. "Any luck yet?" Zane asked Alexis without looking at her.

Alexis sadly shook her head. "I keep looking for some sign or clue but all I've found so far is nothing. It's like my brother doesn't even exist anymore."

"Don't worry. You're sure to find him soon," Zane comforted.

"Also, speaking of brothers, I saw yours the other day. He lost a practice duel with Jaden Yuki. Your name came up and not in a good way," Alexis added on.

"So, the big, bad, brother. So what? Does Jaden want to scold me?" Zane snarked.

"Actually, I think he wants to duel you," Alexis responded.

Before the conversation could continue, they suddenly heard a voice, which belonged to Syrus yell, "Stay back, Jaden!" They noticed that he was going to use a raft to leave Duel Academy.

Jaden ran towards Syrus's raft jumping on before Syrus could get too far. However, before Jaden could say a word, the shoddily built raft fell apart and the two fell into the water.

"Help me! I can't swim!" Syrus yelled out as he grabbed onto Jaden, who started to sink into the water.

"And you were about to raft out into the middle of the ocean? That makes sense!" Jaden sarcastically yelled.

"Don't worry guys! I'll save you!" Rainbow yelled as she jumped into the water, only to be met with a surprise. "It's-shallow."

Immediately upon hearing this, Jaden and Syrus stood up, the water only meeting up above their knees. "Aw, Jaden, why are you trying to stop me? I stink. Just let me go. They'll assign you a new tag partner and you'll have a much better chance at winning the tag duel," Syrus reasoned.

"Hey, don't say that. That's your brother talking!" Jaden bit back.

"Yeah. He just can't see how great you truly can be," Fluttershy comforted.

"You guys just listen to me! I'm a lost cause!" Syrus wailed.

"He is right, you know," Zane said to the group, him and Alexis having arrived at the spot where they were.

"So, that's Zane," Jaden was in awe upon seeing Zane, the school's best duelist.

"You dropping out?" Zane simply asked his younger brother.

"Yeah, kinda," Syrus sadly answered.

"Well, it's about time," Zane bluntly answered.

Syrus fell into misery upon getting this confirmation from his brother. He wasn't good enough for this school and he never would be. As he walked towards the remains of his raft, he started to sob to himself. Jaden, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash couldn't stand for this any longer.

"You're his big brother! How can you say that to him?!" Fluttershy cried out.

"Yeah! What makes you think you can treat Syrus with such cruelty?!" Rainbow Dash bit back, not being able to stand bullies.

"Because I know him," Zane answered simply.

"Yeah, well you think you know it all, but guess what? You're wrong! In fact, I challenge you to a duel to prove it!" Jaden challenged the older student.

"Yeah, me too! That will show you to be nicer to your brother!" Fluttershy agreed.

"Dueling a Slifer and another opponent all at once? Sure. I can always use the extra experience," Zane agreed to the duel.

"Well, get your game on!" Jaden said.

"Jaden, Fluttershy, don't! He's good!" Syrus tried to warn his friends.

"I'm sure he is, but I'm still going to duel!" Jaden cried out.

"Yeah! Maybe we can find out what happened at the same time!" Fluttershy agreed.

Later that night, the group of students set up for a duel by the lighthouse.

"Duel!" Jaden, Fluttershy, and Zane yelled as they set up their hands, with Jaden and Fluttershy each having 4000 Life Points while Zane had 8000 Life Points.

"Aw man! My big brother taking on my best friend and another of my friends? There is no way this can turn out good!" Syrus cried out.

"Great! Now we not only get to find out what is going on between Syrus and his brother, but we also find out how we rank with the best! It's go time! First, I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode! (1000/1000). I'll also throw down a facedown while I'm at it."

"I guess it's my turn then." Fluttershy began her turn. "I summon Kuribon onto my field in attack mode!" A cute furball with a mouse-like tail was summoned onto Fluttershy's field (300/200). "I then place three cards facedown (Mirror Force, Dust Tornado, and Bad Reaction to Simochi). That's all for my turn."

"Very well. It's my turn. I play the spell card Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards. Next, I special summon Cyber Dragon to my field in attack mode." A metallic dragon was summoned to Zane's field (2100/1600). Surprisingly, Fluttershy's determination to defeat Zane ruled out her normal fear for dragons.

"Whoa! How can you summon a level five monster on your first turn?!" Jaden was shocked.

"I can summon my Cyber Dragon to my field because it's my first turn, Jaden. With no monsters on my field while you have at least one means I can summon him without a sacrifice. Next, I play Heavy Storm to destroy all of your spell and trap cards," All of Jaden's and Fluttershy's trap cards were destroyed, leaving them wide open to attack.

"Aw man. This isn't good. At this rate, my friends are going to be in huge trouble," Syrus feared for Jaden and Fluttershy.

"Don't worry. Kuribon's special ability will protect Fluttershy from damage. As much as I'd prefer to be dueling myself, it looks like Fluttershy can deal with this guy on his own," Rainbow tried to comfort Syrus.

"Wow, that was fast!" Jaden was amazed.

"Not as fast as your Life Point meter will go down, especially after I play the spell card Strident Blast. I can play this card only while I control a Cyber Dragon or a fusion monster that requires Cyber Dragon. When activated, it allows me to attack twice in a turn and negate the effects of any monster battled. Now, Cyber Dragon, attack Kuribon and Elemental Hero Avian!
Strident Blast!" Cyber Dragon launched a stream of fire out at Avian and Kuribon, destroying them and inflicting damage to both Fluttershy and Jaden.

Zane Truesdale

8000

Jaden Yuki

2900

Fluttershy

2200

"Aw man. I tried to warn them that Zane was good," Syrus worried.

"Next, I activate the spell card Different Dimension Capsule," Zane started to explain as he played the spell card. "With it, I get to place one card from my deck into the capsule and in two turns I get to add it to my hand." A strange green capsule appeared and a card was placed into it before it sunk back into the ground.

"Aw, sweet. That card has gotta be the best card in his entire deck! I can't wait to see what it is," Jaden was excited.

"I'm not. I already have an idea and it's not a very good one," Syrus was worrying to himself.

"That will end my turn. It's your move, Jaden," Zane said.

"I'm gonna have to be careful if I'm gonna win this. Not only is this guy as good as people say he is, he might even be better. Still, that doesn't mean he's as good as me!" Jaden thought to himself. "My draw! And I'm gonna rock Polymerization! With it, I'll fuse Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman together to form Elemental Hero Thunder Giant (2400/1500)! And I'll use his special ability to destroy your Cyber Dragon since his original attack points are weaker than Thunder Giant!" Thunder Giant launched out a powerful volt of electricity, destroying Cyber Dragon. "The best part is since that move was Thunder Giant's ability I still get to use his attack on your Life Points!" Thunder Giant zapped Zane, only for him to not react to the attack at all. "Um, you know you can kinda flinch. Whatever. Maybe this facedown card will make you later."

Zane Truesdale

5600

Jaden Yuki

2900

Fluttershy

2200

"That is, if he lasts long enough to use it," Syrus thought to himself.

"Now, it's my turn! And, I'll play the spell card Double Summon! With it, I can summon two monsters this turn instead of one. And with it, I'll summon Sunlight Unicorn (1800/1000) and Regulus (1700/1000) both in attack mode." Zane was still undeterred, even at the sight of two monsters. "I'll have both of my monsters attack you directly!" Both monsters rushed at Zane, inflicting damage to Zane's Life Points.

Zane Truesdale

2100

Jaden Yuki

2900

Fluttershy

2200

"Not bad, you two. You managed to do quite a bit of damage to me. You should both be proud," Zane congratulated the duo.

"Thanks, I'm having a blast," Jaden accepted the praise.

"You're welcome. Not many duelists know this, but the secret of being a true duelist is to be able to respect your opponent," Zane said with a smile.

"Hold on! I want to know something and I think Jaden wants to know too. Why are you so hard on your brother? After all, you seem perfectly capable of giving respect to us, so why not to him?" Fluttershy asked, wanting to know the reason why.

Zane was silent for a few moments before he gave out his answer. "It was a few years ago. My brother was battling a bully in a duel and when he drew Power Bond he got too overconfident and talked negatively to his opponent. I couldn't stand for it and ended the duel before he could unknowingly lose. I don't hate my brother at all. If he is going to be a duelist he needs to learn proper respect and how to play his cards. Without this knowledge, he can never become a good enough duelist to use Power Bond." At this, Syrus moaned in sadness.

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment before she finally responded, "Do you really think that your reasoning is good enough to scar Syrus as much as you have? You've broken his confidence big time. We are here to duel to fix his confidence, and while you don't seem all bad, you still need to understand where you messed up!"

"You tell him, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cheered her on.

"Right, now I'll end my turn!" Fluttershy announced, only for Rainbow and Syrus to fall forward in response.

"Well, I don't need to listen to your opinion. My draw! Since I now have no monsters again I can summon another Cyber Dragon. Next, I'll play Monster Reborn to revive my Cyber Dragon in the graveyard. But they won't be here for long in present form. I'll play the spell card Polymerization to fuse both my dragons together in order to fusion summon Cyber Twin Dragon

(2800/2100)!" Zane announced.

"A double dragon?! Wasn't one of these guys enough for Jaden to deal with?!" Rainbow Dash yelled in annoyance.

"You see, I can attack twice in a round with Cyber Twin Dragon. This duel is getting close to being over," Zane said. "Cyber Twin Dragon, attack Thunder Giant!"

"Not so fast! I play the trap card A Hero Emerges! With it, you would normally have to select a card and I'd get to summon it if it was a monster. However, since I only have one card in my hand, let's cut right to the case! Wroughtweiler in defense mode!" Jaden yelled out.

"You're still in trouble, Jaden. Now, Cyber Twin Dragon, attack both of Jaden's monsters!" Zane yelled out as both of Jaden's monsters were destroyed.

Zane Truesdale

2100

Jaden Yuki

2500

Fluttershy

2200

"Thanks for that, Zane. Thanks to you destroying Wroughtweiler, I now get to add a Polymerization and an Elemental Hero from my graveyard back to my hand from the graveyard. Just when you thought you could stop worrying about them!" Jaden called out as he showed that he brought back Clayman.

"I don't worry," Zane bluntly stated.

"Wow! Not worrying or flinching?! You really are good!" Jaden complimented Zane.

"Thanks. You both are pretty good yourselves," Zane complimented back.

"Wow. Since when does Zane give props?" Syrus was confused.

"It's now my move! I summon the Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode! And since he is the only card on my field I'm allowed to drw two cards," Jaden drew two cards, only for Winged Kuriboh's spirit to point out to Jaden what he just drew. "Transcendant Wings and Winged Kuriboh?! These are the same cards I used to trash Chazz's Dragon Catapult Cannon! With Winged Kuriboh Level 10, I could destroy Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon and deal it's attack points to Zane as damage, winning the duel for us in one shot. However, I can't normal summon again this round, so I'll just have to summon another monster." "I play the spell card Polymerization to fuse Clayman and Bubbleman together to create Elemental Hero Mudballman (1900/3000) in defense mode! That'll do for me. What about you, Fluttershy?"

"As for me, I'll summon Dark Reasonator in attack mode. Then, I'll tune my Dark Reasonator with my Sunlight Unicorn in order to synchro summon Ancient Fairy Dragon (2100/3000) in Defense mode! While I'm at it, I'll also switch Regulus to defense mode. That's it for my turn. Give it your best shot, Zane!" Fluttershy encouraged her stoic opponent.

"Wow, you guys both got out very defensive monsters out in a turn each?! Great job! Now, show him who's the best!" Rainbow Dash encouraged her friends.

"You want my best? Well, you'll get it! It's been two turns since I played Different Dimension Capsule. Now I can take the card I placed in it earlier and add it to my hand! You both played well, but not well enough," Zane gave his opinion to the two duelists.

"Give us your best shot!" Jaden challenged.

"Yeah! Let's get this over with!" Fluttershy agreed with Jaden.

"You both are true duelists, all right. You now not only know how to use all their cards but how to play them as well," Zane explained with a smile on his face.

"Knowing how to play your cards?" Syrus wondered.

"That's a very good compliment, and even better advice. I hope Syrus is listening," Jaden thought.

"Of course! Knowing how to use your cards and how to play them are two totally different things! That is what Zane was trying to tell me all those years ago!" Syrus thought.

Zane began his move. "First, I'll activate my spell card De-Fusion in order to split my Cyber Twin Dragon back into two Cyber Dragons. Next, I'll play the fusion spell card Power Bond, allowing me to fuse the Cyber Dragons on my field with the one in my hand in order to fusion summon Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

"Eep! That doesn't look good!" Fluttershy nervously said.

"Also, keep in mind that my monster's attack points have doubled due to Power Bond. In addition, Cyber End Dragon can inflict piercing damage when attacking a defense position monster," Zane explained, much to Fluttershy's growing dread as Jaden was left undeterred.

"Well, no matter what Cyber End Dragon can only attack once meaning that at least one of them will win thanks to Power Bond's negative effect," Rainbow Dash tried to comfort her worried friend.

"That's right. Power Bond will inflict damage at the end of Zane's turn and his Life Points will go to zero," Alexis said in realization.

"Yeah, but that won't matter if you play it right, and I'd say he has. Especially because of…"

"I play the effect of Strident Blast from my graveyard! Now, by banishing it from my graveyard, I can have my Cyber End Dragon attack twice this turn. Now Cyber End Dragon, attack Mudballman and Ancient Fairy Dragon with Super Strident Blaze!" Zane yelled as Cyber End Dragon attacked and destroyed both monsters, lowering the Life Points of both Jaden and Fluttershy to zero.

"He...lost," Alexis was in shock at Jaden losing the duel.

"Jaden! Fluttershy! I'm sorry!" Syrus called out to the two.

"That was a great duel, Zane," Jaden thanked the Obelisk Blue.

"Even though I lost, I think I've still learned quite a bit. I'm not entirely sure about how you treat Syrus, but I can still admit you are a great duelist," Fluttershy also thanked.

Alexis moved to follow Zane. As they were leaving, she asked him, "So, what do you think?"

"I think that Syrus chose some good friends," Zane answered with a smile.

"I'm sorry we couldn't win Syrus," Fluttershy immediately apologized to Syrus.

"You know what, it's fine. Thanks to this duel, I learned to play Power Bond, not just use it," Syrus was left feeling better than he had for some time.

"So, what do you say that we edit your deck in order to play that Power Bond of yours?" Jaden offered.

"Yeah, now that you know how to play it. Who knows? Maybe someday you can beat Zane." Rainbow Dash added on.

Before they group could continue giving their encouragement, Twilight and the others suddenly arrived. "Hey guys! We've been looking all over for you for hours. Where have you been?" Twilight wanted to know.

The group was silent for a moment before Fluttershy suddenly answered, "We were just getting Syrus some confidence, which I think that we did."

The group wanted to say more, but couldn't think of how to respond right away.

Suddenly, everyone's stomachs were growling. The group decided to return to their dorms in order to eat before editing Syrus's deck. While Fluttershy and Jaden were not able to accomplish what they initially set out to do, they were able to restore Syrus's lost confidence, which was a prize much better than a simple win.