[Central Academy Main Building - Classroom #4 - 9:00 AM]

A month had passed since Oleander had "enrolled" in Duel Academy, and he had to say it was not what he was expecting; it was essentially school if said school revolved around a children's card game.

Though to be fair, the anime barely, if at all, focused on the educational aspect of Duel Academy to focus on Jaden's wacky shenanigans.

And speaking of the kuriboh-haired slacker, Oleander didn't have a chance to speak with him, which was a bit weird since he was sure that someone like Jaden who lives and breathes Duel Monsters would be hounding after the purple-haired duelist after his duel against Shinji.

Shinji turned out to be a pretty chill guy; unfortunately, he tends to be extremely busy with extracurricular activities to hang out with Oleander, but the few times they did were a blast.

"Syrus Truesdale, could you please explain to the class what a Continuous Spell is?" Crowler stared at the blue-haired boy dead in the eyes, causing him to flinch.

Oleander then bore witness as poor Syrus just stood there frozen in place, trying and failing to get the words out, causing him to become a laughing stock for the Obelisk Blue.

"Forget it, Miss Rhodes, could you be so kind and remind us what a Continuous Spell is?" He turned to face the blonde in question, his tone of voice being a lot more calm.

"It is a type of card that remains in the field after being activated." Alexis rose from her seat to give the explanation.

"I expected nothing less from someone like you," Crowler praised her while clasping his hands together.

"Wow, she knows basic text interpretation; what a genius," Oleander nonchalantly commented while twirling a pen between his fingers.

"What was that?" The Obelisk Blue headmaster asked while looking positively aggravated.

"I said she's a shiny example that all students should aspire to be." The purple-haired duelist lied while giving his teacher a shit-eating grin.

"Good to see that at least one slacker knows what they're talking about." Crowler turned to face the chalkboard, but before he could write anything, the bell rang.

"Syrus Truesdale I expect a 10-page report on the story of Continuous Spells is on my desk tomorrow." The Obelisk Blue Headmaster added, causing the Slifer Red in question to visibly deflate.

The class started to disperse; some students opted to immediately leave the classroom while others chose to stay to chat with their friends. Oleander chose to do the latter; he took out his deck and started to go through the cards, smirking once he reached Starving Venom Fusion Dragon.

Though the analysis of his deck was cut short when a shadow blocked the light, upon turning his attention upward, he was met with Alexis Rhodes and her friends looming over him.

"Let me guess; you heard what I said, didn't you?" He leaned on his table while resting his chin on the back of his hands.

"Every word," the blonde confirmed while crossing her arms.

"Well, I didn't mean to offend, but you have to agree with me that Crowler praising you for the most basic understanding of the game is a bit idiotic." He shrugged while giving her a grin.

"Yeah, I do, but you could've been a bit nice, you know?" She tilted her head to the side.

"But it wouldn't have been as fun." He countered while his grin became a lot more smug, though it somewhat faltered after he checked his wristwatch. "Well, I would love to stay and talk, but I got some stuff to do." He collected his deck and swiftly left the classroom.

"What a weirdo." Jasmine commented, and Alexis couldn't help but agree with her orange-haired friend.

[Central Academy Main Building - Card Shop - 9:13 AM]

Oleander decided to spend the free time he had before PE class by checking out the academy's card shop, and he was not disappointed by what he saw.

Shelves filled to the absolute brim with all sorts of cards and structure decks, all in the most pristine condition one could imagine, not to mention the inviting aroma of Ms. Dorothy's famous sandwiches.

There was even a machine where one could punch a card code, and the machine would give them the card, provided the person had the Duel Points to spend.

And speaking of them, Duel Points (or DP for short) are the currency used; there are two ways of gaining those oh-so precious DPs.

1. Every student gets an allowance, the amount of which depends on their dormitory, meaning an Obelisk Blue will get a bigger allowance when compared to a Slifer Red.

2. Duels also reward students with DP depending on how well they performed; there was even a challenge tab that would reward extra DP if the student performed a certain task, for example, winning without losing any Life Points and so on.

It was very reminiscent of how things worked on the Tag Force games, said games that Oleander played to hell, and back on his previous life to the point where he was sure that the image of the deck building screen was permanently burned into his PSP screen.

But back to the topic of DP, normally Oleander wouldn't pay too much attention to that sort of stuff; his Predaplant deck was pretty stacked; however, he quickly changed his mind when he saw a copy of Aleister the Invoker on one of the shelves.

Now he wasn't the kind of person that would keep up with the releasing schedule cards, but he was pretty sure that a card like that was released in the 2010's.

And Aleister wasn't the only modern cards—Shaddolls, Dragon Rulers, even Nekroz—meaning it wouldn't be farfetched to assume that if cards like those were in circulation, the bad guys like the Shadow Riders would also have more updated decks.

And Oleander would be damned if he allowed a geriatric old man to use those knock-off versions of the Egyptian God Cards to end the world just because he doesn't want to be old again. And while he wasn't worried to face the likes of Don Zaloog or that Abidus guy, the same couldn't be said for the likes of Camula and Nightshroud because of the amount of support that Vampires and Red-Eyes received, not to mention Camula's Gate of Illusion.

In other words, he was on a bit of a timed schedule; he needed to upgrade not only his deck but the main cast too, because it's like the old saying goes, "Prevention is better than cure.".

But right now he needed to find a way to not only make contact with the main cast but also earn brownie points with them so they see him as an ally, and he was presented with the opportunity because, if memory didn't fail him, that whole situation with Crowler asking Syrus about Continuous Spells was the beginning of the episode where Jaden and Alexis duel on the lake near the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm.

Now all he needed to do was somehow insert himself in that situation in a natural manner.

"Pretty cool to look at, huh?" A voice spoke behind Oleander, snapping him from his brainstorming session.

Turning around, the purple-haired duelist was met with none other than Sadie, who was wearing her employee uniform; she was holding a mop in her hands.

"Yeah, where I come from, we don't have a selection this big, much less in such pristine condition." He remarked while picking up a copy of Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon.

She was about to say something, but a yawn interrupted her before she could begin the sentence. Upon closer look, Oleander noticed the bags that were starting to form under her eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked while placing the card back on the shelf. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"Sorry about that." She rubbed her tired eyes in an attempt to stave off the sleepiness. "I barely had time to sleep these last few days."

"Then why don't you ask Ms. Dorothy for some off time?" He questioned while crossing his arms. "I'm sure she would understand."

"And let my grandma deal with this year's legion of students?" She shook her head. "No way, don't worry about me; I can handle a few more–"

Before Sadie could complete her sentence, she lost balance on her mop. Oleander quickly grabbed her before she could fall face-first into the floor.

"Where's the employee break room?" The purple-haired duelist asked while looking around, trying to spot the aforementioned room.

"Behind the counter." She trailed off when she realized she was still in Oleander's embrace. "You can let go now; I can still walk."

Oleander eased his embrace, allowing her to stand upright again. She wobbled a bit but eventually managed to stabilize her footing.

The duo made their way to the break room, and upon arriving, Sadie practically threw herself face-first onto the couch, only looking up when Oleander offered her a cup of coffee as he took a seat next to her.

The next few moments were spent in silence that would be occasionally broken by the sound of Sadie sipping on her drink; eventually she finished her coffee with a weary sigh.

"Thanks for helping me." She leaned back on the couch.

"No worries," Oleander waved her off. "So this year's batch of students."

"You have no idea." Sadie ran a hand across her face. "Grandma tried to talk with Chancellor Sheppard to see if he could assign more staff, but had no luck."

Ah yes, the titular Chancellor Sheppard, a guy who infuriated Oleander to no end when he watched the anime; he is the definition of incompetence; his feats include but are not limited to handing the Spirit Keys to a bunch of teenagers and, by extension, painting a giant target on their back, allowing a literal cult to remain in the academy, and who could forget that whole situation with Professor Viper?

How he managed to keep his job for as long as he had was a mystery in itself since Kaiba is the kind of person to literally fire a guy because he designed a bottle that bended too easily.

"So what's the plan?" He leaned against the armrest of the couch. "Because as things stand, you're going to hurt yourself if you continue like this."

"Grandma did put on a help-wanted plaquette, but not a single soul has volunteered themselves."

Oleander was about to open his mouth until he heard the bell ringing, signifying that it was time for his PE class.

"Well, the free period is over, so why don't you..." He trailed off when he noticed she had fallen asleep.

Getting up from the couch, the purple-haired duelist eased the tired employee into a more comfortable position while taking the empty cup from her hands. Searching the room, he couldn't find anything to cover her.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully until he looked down at his jacket. Well, if Chazz could walk around in that black trench coat after his soul searching in North Academy, then there would be no trouble with him walking around without his jacket.

Besides, he's a Slifer Red, so who cares?

[Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm Outskirts - Forest Trail - 22:21 PM]

The chill wind of the night swept across the forest, causing Oleander to shiver while hugging his sides. Apparently, students only got one free uniform if one wanted an extra or had to replace their uniform for whatever reason they had to pay, not in DP but in real money.

And with that in mind, Oleander decided to simply suck it up and brave the cold night; he snuck out of the Slifer Red Dorm to make sure he'd bump into Jaden when he was dashing through the forest.

And speaking of the devil, the purple-haired duelist spotted the kuriboh-haired duelist making a mad dash through the forest, and now all Oleander needed to do to insert himself into that situation was to simply step forward and...

"Ugh!"

"Ack!"

Both youngsters grunted as they crashed onto the ground.

"What the…" Jaden rubbed the front of his head before suddenly stopping as he noticed Oleander, who was lying on his back. "I'm so sorry!"

The HERO user scrambled to help Oleander back on his feet, and once uptight, Jaden made sure to dust him and fix his hair for good measure.

"What's the hurry?" The purple-haired duelist questioned while tilting his head to the side.

"My bro Sy has gotten himself into some trouble, so I'm rushing to help him!" Jaden hurriedly explained

"He wouldn't happen to have blue hair and wear small glasses, would he?" Oleander cupped his chin.

Jaden's answer was to simply nod furiously in a display that had Oleander containing a chuckle; he always liked Jaden's childlike antics.

"I was curious where he was going; you don't mind if I tag along, would you?" The purple-haired duelist squinted his eyes while a sly smile appeared on his lips. If Jaden was anything to go by, the answer would surely be a–

"Yeah!" The Slifer Red pumped his fist high in the air "Welcome aboard!"

[Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm - Lake - 22:30 PM]

Oleander and Jaden's boat silently drifted across the thinly fogged lake; although the purple-haired duelist knew for a fact that nothing supernatural would happen, he still felt a bit on edge, like he was being watched.

He pushed those toughs to the back of his head as the boat with Alexis, her two friends, and poor Syrus, who was tied up, appeared into view.

"I vividly remember telling you to come alone," Alexis chided.

"Sorry, I bumped into him on the way here," Jaden explained with a jovial little laugh.

"Bumped him on the path?" Jasmine questioned with a voice full of suspicion, "So he too was making his way here?"

"I saw Syrus sneaking out of the dorm and decided to follow him." Oleander smoothly lied while crossing his legs. "Turns out this little late-night excursion is about to become a whole lot more interesting."

"Whatever," Alexis shrugged before crouching down and untying Syrus, who wasted no time in scrambling to Jaden's side, clinging tightly to his friend.

"So care to enlighten us on what's going on?" Oleander asked while shifting his position until his chin was resting on the back of his hand, "Because judging by your expression, I will take the wild guess and say you're not about to let them go scott-free."

"Oh yeah, I hadn't told you." Jaden nervously laughed as his cheeks blushed a bit. "Alexis said that she will let us go if I beat her in a duel."

"I will make the assumption that if you lose, she's going to report this incident," Oleander hummed to himself as Jaden nodded.

The purple-haired duelist turned his head to face the blonde, his eyes intently scanning her face; eventually he simply started giggling while shaking his head.

"Didn't your parents teach you that lying is wrong?" Oleander clicked his tongue while shaking his head in a feing display of disappointment.

"Excuse me?" Alexis asked while looking truly taken aback.

"You heard me right, you're lying." Oleander got up and motioned to Jaden, who was busy comforting a still rattled Syrus. "Wherever he wins or loses, you're not going to report anything; you're using this situation as an excuse to duel against Jaden."

"Psh, yeah, right," Mindy scoffed with a smug expression that quickly felt apart as she noticed Alexis' shocked expression.

"How can you tell?" The blonde shot back, earning yet another smirk from the purple-haired duelist.

"I may not know the whole situation, but I do know that this is all one big misunderstanding." Oleander once again sat back down while leaning on the boat. "And you strike me as a reasonable person."

Silence hung in the air for a few moments as Alexis and Oleander were both locked in a staring contest.

"You really threw a wet blanket on my plans; did you know that?" She shook her head, but she smiled regardless. "But you're right, I never had any intention to get them into trouble."

"So you're not going to report me?" Syrus asked while whipping away the tears that began to form on the corner of his eyes.

"No, I'm not going." She then nodded toward her friends, "And neither will them, right?"

Neither Jasmine nor Mindy spoke; instead, the duo decided to simply nod before sitting on the boat, looking positively downtrodden.

"By the way, Lexi, regardless of whether you're going to report me or not," Jaden got into position and activated his duel disk. "I will still take you on."

Duel!

[Slifer Red Dorm - Oleander's Room - 6:33 AM]

Beep…Beep…Bee–

Oleander's hand came crashing down on the alarm clock. Getting up from the bed, he looked out the window. Even though Oleander, Jaden, and Syrus returned to the Slifer Red Dorm close to midnight, the purple-haired duelist was feeling refreshed.

Jumping out of bed, Oleander started to make the preparations to take the day by storm.

He stopped upon hearing a knock on his door. Curious, he peered over the small window into the outside, but alas he wasn't able to discern who it was, and so opening the door, he was surprised to see Sadie.

She looked a lot better, with the bag under her eyes being barely noticeable; in her arms she was holding Oleander's Slifer Red jacket.

"What pleasure do I owe you?" The purple-haired duelist inquired while fixing his messy hair and shooting her a charming smile.

"I came here to deliver this to you." She stated while giving Oleander his jacket.

Now that he was holding it, he couldn't help but notice how soft it felt in his hands, not to mention the lovely aroma oozing from it.

"I don't remember it smelling this good." He then shot her an inquisitorial look. "You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

"Maybe a thankful employee gave it a good wash to show her gratitude?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully before shrugging. "But who knows, I'm right?"

"If you do find this thankful employee, tell her that she has my thanks." He paused for a brief second, mulling his words. "Also tell her to take it easy on the card shop, would you?"

"Okay, all jokes aside, I wasn't expecting to find you up so early." Sadie remarked while leaning on the doorframe, her gaze peering inside his room.

"Early bird catches the worm; beside, I want to get on Crowler's good graces, so you know." Oleander trailed off with a nonchalant shrug. "Might as well start acting like a model student."

"Say, Mr. model student, you wouldn't mind having some company on the way to the main building?" She fluttered her eyelashes.

"Of course not; just give me a few minutes, and I will be ready." That's all Oleander said before slamming the door shut.

Setting his freshly washed jacket down, the purple-haired duelist rubbed his hands together in a satisfactory manner; his week just kept getting better and better by the minute.

Calming himself down, Oleander quickly made his way to the bathroom, because if there's one thing his father made sure to drill into his skull back is that when a lady asks you to accompany her, you must be at your best.

Though as soon as he remembered his dad, all his enthusiasm was almost immediately replaced with melancholy; he had been so caught up in the excitement of being in the world of one of his favorite anime that he forgot about his family back home.

He sighed while shaking his head. There was nothing he could do to change things as they stood, and besides, it's probably for the best—either this or rot on that accursed hospital bed while cancer ate away at him – it's for the best.

…Right?

[Author Notes]

Hey there folks! It's ya boy! Mac!
I figured I owe you guys some sort of explanation for why I've decided to start things over, and the reason is pretty simple: dissatisfaction with how the story was originally unfolding itself.

I made the grave mistake of wanting to implement too much stuff in the story without taking a step back and looking things over. My breaking point was during the creation process of Arc 3.

Might as I tried, I simply couldn't get anything that I was satisfied with, and that's when it finally hit me: I didn't enjoy writing Reinhardt.

Unlike Oleander, Reinni came on a whim, and as such, I inserted him in the story without munch rime or reason, and trust me when I say it severely fucked up the vision I had for the fic going forward.

Not to mention how much I came to absolutely hate the power fantasy feel of the earlier chapters. I've realized how Oleander steamrolling everything in his path was detrimental to this story, so that's another reason for the rewrite.

So going forward, not only will the story be a lot simpler, at least until I'm comfortable with implementing multiple storylines, but I will also give Oleander an actual challenge, so don't expect him to pull a FTK with Starving Venom any time soon.

Another thing, Reinhardt will NOT be a thing in this fic; he was a poorly implemented character that I had no idea what I was doing, and if he ever makes an appearance, expect a VERY different character.

For those who enjoyed the OG story, you can rest easy because I have zero intentions on deleting it; it's going to stay up on my account not only as a testament to the evolution of my writing skills but also out of respect for the people who enjoyed it.

And for those who are new, I hope you enjoy this new journey I'm undertaking, and if possible, go check the OG version.

Anyhow, that's it folks!
Don't forget to leave a review containing Criticism and/or Suggestions! I read all of them!
Mac sign' out!