Oleander found himself lying on the floor of his room, groaning while looking up at the ceiling. Today was a miserable day for a myriad of reasons: the card shop was closed for maintenance, Crowler's lessons drained him, and the cherry on top was that he got jumped not once, not twice, but three times by Shinji.

He even postponed his venture to the Reject Well, because of how absolutely mentally drained he was, he had a suspicion that Crowler was being harder on him because of his little stunt with Shinji on his first day; he couldn't wait for the promotion exams to arrive.

He finally decided that he had enough floor time and got up. He looked around his room, trying to coax his brain to come up with something to entertain him, but nope, nothing came to mind, and he couldn't exactly duel to pass the time thanks to his Predaplants.

"Maybe I could make another deck using only cards from this era," he mused out loud as he tapped his chin with his index finger as his eyes looked up at the ceiling once more.

His brainstorming session was cut short by a knock on the door, he sighed as he walked over to it.

"Shinji, for the last time, I won't-" but he stopped when the person on his doorstep wasn't his "rival" but instead his co-worker Sadie, who was wearing a straw hat and a blue sundress instead of her usual Obelisk Blue girl uniform.

"He has been pestering you?" she tilted her head while a smile formed on her face

"You have no idea," he said in a groan before finally noticing her outfit. "And what's up with the dress?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Oh," she said, looking down at her dress. "I was going to the beach and thought of inviting you."

"Really?" A smile broke through his face, and without warning, he slammed the door on her face, and not even half a second later, it opened itself, and Oleander was now in a completely different outfit.

It consisted of a pink bottled-up shirt with the words "BADMAN" written in big words on the back; he also wore a pair of yellow pants that ended in black shoes; and a pair of sunglasses adorned his face.

"I am raring to go!" He declared in an upbeat tone as he lifted his arm, revealing a small backpack in his hand.

"Wow," that's all Sadie managed to say as she stared wide-eyed at him.

"What are we waiting for?" He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her away. "Come on!"

"W-wait!" she protested while her face going red

[At the beach]

The pair were sitting at a kiosk, and while Oleander was enjoying his drink, Sadie, on the other hand, was glaring at him with her face as red as a tomato.

"What's wrong?" He tilted his head as he finally noticed her red face.

"You can't grab a girl's hand like that!" she finally spoke up "We are not even dating" she practically shrunken on her seat the shade of red in her face becoming darker

"Oh" realization sparkled in his eyes, before he gave her a good natured laugh "Come on, it was just this once" he waved her concerns off

"You are way too laid back sometimes," she declared while finally taking a sip of her drink before looking away.

"What can I say?" He shrugged. "All I have done until now is go with the motions." He turned his attention to the sea and smiled.

"And what if it DOES fail you?" She crossed her arms and pouted.

"I will just find a way," he stated with a smile on his face as he returned his attention to his co-worker before leaning back on his chair and placing his arms behind his back.

Eventually the duo of youngsters finished their drinks and started to walk around the beach with no real destination, just taking in the atmosphere of the place with some small talk between them from time to time.

Soon enough, the pair arrived at a volleyball court that was being used by the Slifer trio, except for Chumley, who was sitting against a rock catching his breath.

"Oh hey!" Jaden exclaimed as he waved at them, "You are that guy that rode on a dragon!" He said that last part with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah" Oleander looked away and started to chuckle nervously while blushing a bit. "I did, huh?"

"And Sadie too." Syrus was the one to point out, "Are you guys on a date together?"

"W-what?!" and once more, Sadie's face became red again. "No, I'm just tough on inviting him to go out, that's all!"

"Sadie, that is the definition of date," Oleander deadpanned as he pointed that out.

She quietly groaned as she sank her face in her hands. Oleander, on his part, gave his embarrassed friend a reassuring pat on the back.

"Do you guys want to play volleyball with us?" He picked up the ball and spinned it on the tip of his index finger, which eventually fell square on his face.

"Sure," the purple-haired Slifer nodded. "What about you, Sadie?" He looked down on his embarrassed friend with an amused smile.

She just emitted a muffled noise of agreement and nodded her head as she still refused to lift her flushed face.

A few minutes later, everyone was in position. On the left side were Oleander and Sadie, and on the right side were Jaden and Syrus. Chumley decided to sit this one out and was in charge of the scoreboard.

The game was a definition of back and forth with no real side showing sides of having an upper hand over the other, and this went on for quite a while.

That was until Oleander tripped on a rock that was hidden under the sand and ended up twisting his ankle which was followed up by a nasty fall.

"Oleander!" Sadie rushed to his side and kneeled down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Yup," he said as he lifted his face and spat out a mouthful of sand. "Feeling good," he said, raising his hand and giving her a thumbs up. He tried to get up, but a roaring pain coming from his ankle prevented him from doing so.

"Okay," he grimaced as he looked at his ankle. "Maybe not so good after all." He let out a nervous, weak laugh, which quickly turned into a wince as the pain flared up once more.

The group helped him off the ground and walked him to a nearby rock where he could sit in a more comfortable position.

"Now what?" Jaden finally spoke up as he rested his chin on his hands

"I might have an idea" Oleander spoke up as he struggle to adjust his sitting position "This is something that i have been thinking for a while now" he reached for his backpack and pulled his Duel Disk and deck

"You want to duel?" Jaden, as expected, immediately got fired up, before all his enthusiasm left his body when he looked at his fellow Slifer Red ankle. "But I am not so sure about that."

"Not a duel per se," he said, activating the machine and starting to go through his deck. "But I thought of some more creative ways to use our monsters," he grinned once he laid his eyes on a specific card.

He placed the card in the Duel Disk, and from a flash of purple light, none other than Starving Venom Fusion Dragon appeared. The beast looked left and right before turning around and spotting his master and the other youngsters.

"If we can't play," he then turned to Jaden with a smirk. "Why not have our monsters play?"

Jaden's grin only became wider, and in a blink of an eye, he rushed to his bag, which was adorned with Elemental Heroes stickers, and pulled his Duel Disk, proudly displaying it before slipping the contraption in his arm.

"Wow, I'd never thought of using monsters like that," Sadie admitted while looking at Oleander's ace monster. Said ace simply snorted before lowering his head until he was at eye level with Oleander.

"I am fine buddy" he gave his dragon a two finger salute, but internally he was fighting back the urge to grimace as another wave of pain flared up.

And to Oleander's surprise and utter bewilderment, the dragon pressed its face forward on his chest in a strange display of affection, and that caught the purple-haired duelist off-guard. He was not expecting a card to be so... Alive, especially one like Starving Venom

And he was not alone; everyone there was also taken aback by the monster's display; the dragon even closed his eyes when Oleander reached forward and patted its head.

"Now that's an interesting development" the purple-haired Slifer muttered to himself as the dragon lifted his head and strode over to the volleyball court, all of Oleander's shock quickly became excitement as he realized the very real possibility of him having is own Duel Monster Spirit, He'd jump in joy if it wasn't for his ankle.

But for now? He'd settled for this unusual game of volleyball. He looked to the side and saw Syrus summoning Steam Gyroid, but he quickly noticed the fact that Sadie had not summoned any monsters.

"What's wrong?" her co-worker turned to face her "Not gonna participate?"

"I forgot my deck" she said with a sigh "Sorry, but I guess I-" she stopped talking when noticing Oleander's extended hand holding his deck.

"Choose a monster from my deck," he said while giving her a reassuring smile.

And she did just that, she went over his monster cards, she eventually settled for a card called Predaplant Dragostapelia

And now it was all set, on the left side was Steam Gyroid and Elemental HERO Flame Wingman and on the right side, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon and Predaplant Dracostapelia.

The game was utter chaos; all hell broke loose when Steam Gyroid spinned his blades really fast, causing sand to fly everywhere, which served as a good enough distraction for Flame Wingman, who took advantage to score a point.

On the next one, however, there was a comeback from Team Predap as Dracostapelia burrowed its tail on the ground and used it to throw Flame Wingman off balance, which caused the hero to drop the ball. Starving Venom, seeing the opportunity, used its tail to smack the ball on the other side of the court, scoring them a point.

And it was a back and forth that lasted for quite a while, eventually a crowd of people formed around the court eager to watch the monsters, there was even a Ra Yellow student with a blackboard as people started to make bets on who would win the next round.

"This is the tiebreaker!" an Obelisk Blue student who had taken upon himself to become the referee announced "the ball will go to team HERO!" He tossed the ball to Flame Wingman.

And with a blow of a whistle the final round began.

Steam Gyroid tried to blind Team Predap with the sand trick, but was stopped in its tracks when Dragostapelia used its tail to keep the machine from spinning its blades. Flame Wingman tried to score, but before the ball could hit the sand Starving Venom used his tail to smack the ball high in the air.

There was a brief staredown between them, and in a blink of an eye, both monsters flew high in the air. Starving Venom was the first one to grab the ball but was tackled by Flame Wingman shortly after.

Undeterred, Starving Venom wrapped his tail around the flaming hero's neck and threw him down to the ground, before rushing to get the ball which was propelled even higher in the air.

However, a blur of red and green enveloped in flames zoomed past the ferocious dragon and got the ball. The flaming hero proceeded to launch the ball, which was now on fire, on Starving Venom, causing the purple dragon to crash down on the sand, lifting a huge dust cloud.

Once the dust had, literally, settled, Starving Venom was lying on a crater with the ball on top of his belly, which proceeded to roll off its body and into the sand.

"Game!" the referee announced raising his left arm "Victory for team HERO!"

Flame Wingman touched down on the field and proceeded to pose besides his partner as everyone erupted in cheers and claps.

"Awww dammit" Sadie pouted as she saw the result of the game, but eventually she sighed and gave Oleander a smile. "At least it was fun."

"Yup," he said, placing his hands on the back of his head and leaning against the rock he was sitting against. A satisfied smirk appeared on his face. "Seems like my idea was a complete success," he nodded to himself.

"Yeah!" She spoke with sudden enthusiasm, "How come we never tough on something like that!?" She gestured back to the crowd, which was swarming Flame Wingman as the hero struck many silly poses.

"It all boils down to this," he said, tapping her forehead. "And I just so happen to have a lot of creativity." He said that last part with a smug smile, but it quickly became a grimace as pain emerged from his ankle. "But can we please go to the infirmary now?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Sadie helped her friend up and together they made their way to the main building.