Zane

Early in the morning the sun wasn't up even up, but someone was: Zane Trusedale, the highest-ranking student at Duel Academy.
He was standing alone near the lighthouse, just staring at the sea.
"Zane?" A female voice calls out. Looking over he sees Alexis walking over. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing just felt like being alone." He said as Alexis stood next to him.
"You know, with your little brother here I thought you'd be less alone, not more." Alexis said.
"Well that's because he doesn't belong here." Zane stated.
It was early in the morning when a truck filled with soldiers pulled up to the Slifer Red dorm. As they marched up the stairs Prof. Banner came out of his room.
"Who's playing war at this time of day?" Looking up he gasps in shock. "Oh no it's the Disciplinary Action Squad! They only show up when a student is in serious trouble and they're heading right for Jaden's room!"
In Jaden's room he, Syrus and Chumley were sound asleep when they heard a forceful knock.
"Open up! Open this door or we'll break it down!" A female voice said waking Jaden up.
"Oh really, you and what army?" Jaden asks.
"The Disciplinary Action Squad Army!"
Jaden opens the door to see the people in dark uniforms outside his door.
"You must be Jaden Yuki and that must be Syrus." She said looking over to his roommate.
"Uh yeah, mind telling us why you're here?" Jaden asks.
"You two are under campus arrest!" She said surprising them.
"Arrest? What we do?" Jaden asks.
"That will be made perfectly clear at the interrogation for you three." She informed them.
"Wait three?" Jaden asks.
The guards moves to see they Takeru with them.
"Takeru?" Jaden and Syrus gasps.
"Hey guys." Takeru said trying to make the situation not seem as bad as it was.
"Both of you get dressed."
----Soon the two Slifers and Obelisk found them selves in a large, circular room with multiple large screens, on them was Dr. Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, the head of the Disciplinary committee, and multiple staff members.
"Suspension?!" The three of them said at the same time.
"That's what I suggest. You three have trespassed into the Abandoned Dorm, we have received an anonymous letter from a faculty member which confirms it. You three must be punished to make an example for all students." The Disciplinary head said.
"But what kind of an example are we setting, that we are a bunch of cold-hearted tyrants? I say we arrange something more sporting." Dr. Crowler suggests.
"What do you mean by sporting?" Jaden asks.
"Well Jaden…how about you and Syrus compete together in a tag duel. Win and you're cleared, lose and you both are expelled." Dr. Crowler said.
"A tag duel? That sounds sweet." Jaden smiles at the idea.
"But Jaden if we lose we're expelled." Syrus said not as on board as Jaden.
"As for you Mr. Nensho you will be in a single duel with the same regulations." Crowler said.
"I'm fine with that." Takeru nods.
"Chancellor, what do you say? I believe they have accepted the conditions." Crowler said.
"Very well I'll arrange some opponents immediately." Sheppard nodded/
"Oh now Chancellor don't worry yourself about this, allow me to find some opponents for these boys." Crowler said.
"Very well, it will go Takeru first and then Jaden and Syrus." Chancellor Sheppard said confirming everything.
----Later that day Chumley went to the Chancellor's office after hearing about what happened to Jaden, Syrus and Takeru.
"You wanted to see me Chumley?"
"Yes. Look I-I was at the Abandoned Dorm too! I should be the one to duel with Jaden!" Chumley said.
"And I should be helping Takeru in his duel."
Chumley turned to see Alexis walking in and he was just as surprised as Chancellor Sheppard.
"They were at the dorm helping me." Alexis explains.
"That's bogus Alexis it was totally my fault. I was the one who lead them to the Abandoned Dorm because I wanted to check out…the Abandoned Cafeteria."
"Fat chance, Chumley. Please let me be Takeru's partner." Alexis said.
Sheppard couldn't help but smile at how much they wanted to help, but he had to stand by his word. "I'm sorry but the decision is final. Takeru will duel alone and Syrus will be Jaden's partner. I'm sure they'll do just fine."
Chumley and Alexis looked at each other knowing full well it wasn't going to be easy.
----Back at the Slider Dorm the second Chumley went in Syrus rushed over to him.
"Did he say yes? Please tell me he said yes! If I'm Jaden's partner I'll get us expelled." Syrus said.
"I tried Syrus. I even lied and said that I was the one who led you guys to the dorm." Chumley said.
"Well you did lead us to its cafeteria." Jaden said looking at his deck.
"How can you be so calm about this Jaden? Aren't you scared I'm gonna get us kicked out?" Syrus asks.
"Nah. I wouldn't have any other partner." Jaden shook his head.
"Are you nuts?" Syrus asks.
"Look Syrus we're gonna go out there, duel our best and win. Know why?" Jaden asks.
"Not really." Syrus said.
"Because you and I are gonna work out our skills right now. Now go get your deck, cause we're gonna duel." Jaden declares.
----At the Obelisk dorm Takeru was sitting down at a table outside going through his deck when Jasmine walked by to see some Obelisks walking up to him.
"Hey Nensho, how much does it suck to be you?" One asks.
"What do you mean?" Takeru asks not even looking them in the eyes.
"You haven't even been an Obelisk for a week and you're about to lose the jacket and your spot in the academy." The other said.
"That Dark Magician is wasted on someone like you, why not save yourself the humiliation of never using it again and give it to someone who might actually do some good with it?"
"I'd rather have him sit in my deck unused for the rest of my life than hand him over to anyone. I'm gonna win that duel and stay in this school." Takeru glares.
"Keep telling yourself that. You'll be pulling a disappearing act faster than your magicians." They said walking away laughing.
Jasmine looks at him concerned and walks over. "Hey is everything alright?" She asks.
"Well I woke up to have the Disciplinary Action Squad pull me out of my room and now my future at this school depends on one duel and everyone seems to think I'm a joke." Takeru groans.
"Yeah Alexis told us what happened. If it means anything that was a really nice thing you did." Jasmine said sitting down next to him.
"Thanks I just did what I thought was the right thing." Takeru said.
Jasmine looks at the table to see his Dark Magician card. Picking it up she examines it.
"I've always wondered how did you find one? This card is one of the rarest on the planet." Jasmine asks.
"I won it in my first Duel Monsters tournament. Pegasus had just released that card design and had offered it up as the first prize." Takeru said.
"So, why Spellcasters?" Jasmine asks.
"It's a family thing, my dad was a magician and my mom was his assistant they even taught me a few tricks." Takeru reaches towards her ear and pulls out a Mermaid Knight card. "Is this your card?" He smiles.
"What the?" Jasmine looks at her deck and sees her card was missing. "That is my card. How'd you do that?" She said impressed.
"A magician never reveals his secrets." Takeru smirks causing Jasmine to giggle.
"Well I hope you win that you can stay here." Jasmine smiles.
"Thanks Jasmine if I win maybe I'll show you a few more magic tricks." Takeru said handing her back her card.
"Sure just keep your hands away from my deck." Jasmine said taking it back.
"Deal." Takeru said.
As Jasmine walks away she couldn't help but smile at how much she enjoyed it.
Takeru puts all his cards away. "Well I better go see how Jaden and Syrus are doing." He said standing up and walking away.
----Arriving at the Slifer dorm he saw Chumley looking over the edge of the cliff. "Hey Chumley, what are you looking at?" Takeru asks.
"Jaden and Syrus are about to duel." Chumley said pointing below them.
"Smart thinking." Takeru said.
"Ok guys remember, this is just practice for your tag duel so go easy!" Chumley called out.
Looking down Jaden had a big smile on his face while Syrus was the exact opposite.
"I don't think Jaden knows how to go easy." Takeru said.
"That's probably a good thing." Turning around both boys saw Alexis walking towards them.
"What do you mean?" Chumley asks.
"It means I know Dr. Crowler and he isn't gonna get a bunch of pushovers. Both Syrus and Jaden need to be at their best, because if they're not they'll be expelled." Alexis said.
"I gotta be at my best too." Takeru said.
He and Alexis look at each other and immediately look away blushing as they remember the kiss the two of them shared.
"Alright Syrus get your game on buddy and let's have some fun!" Jaden said.
"Yeah fun. Might as well have some fun before we fail and get kicked out of here." Syrus sighs.
"Uh what was that?"
"Oh uh nothing!"
"Then, let's duel!"
"Yeah…let's duel." Syrus sighs again.
Jaden: 4000
Syrus: 4000
Jaden drew a card. "Here I come Syrus." Jaden looks at his hand and grins. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in Attack Mode!" Jaden said as his winged warrior appeared.
Elemental Hero Avian: 1000/1000
"And I'll place one card facedown. Your go."
Syrus drew his card. "Let's see…" Syrus looks at his hand and smiles. 'Ooh my Patroid has enough power to take down Avian.' He thought.
"Hey Syrus, what's that smile for, you just get something good?" Jaden asks.
"Uh yeah I think so. I summon Patroid in Attack Mode!" Syrus said as a police car that looked like an old cartoon appeared. It had big eyes, a police hat on its roof and wheels sticking out like arms and legs.
Patroid: 1200/1200
"Attack with Siren Smasher!" Patroid rushed towards Avian with its sirens going off.
"Not so fast! I play a trap, Negate Attack!" Jaden said as his facedown rose up cancelling out Patroid's attack.
"Aw man I should have known your facedown was a trap." Syrus groaned.
"Duh Syrus walked right into that one." Chumley said when he heard purring. Looking down he saw Pharaoh at his feet.
"This isn't a good start. There's no way they'll last in the tag duel if Syrus plays like this." Alexis said.
"He needs to think his moves through." Takeru said.
Down below Syrus was making designs in the dirt with his back to Jaden.
"Wow dirt is just the greatest thing." Syrus said.
"Come on Syrus you just made one mistake." Jaden said.
"Yeah my mistake was coming to this school." Syrus said standing up.
"No Sy, you just forgot to use Patroid's ability. He lets you look at an opponent's facedown card once per turn. You could've seen my trap and played something to stop it." Jaden said.
"Yeah I know I'm no good! I don't belong here." Syrus said.
"Whoa hold on I didn't mean that!" Jaden said.
Syrus lowered his head. "I know that Jaden it's just that…"
"You're right I shouldn't butt in. We're opponents right now and from now on we should act like it." Jaden said drawing a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" Appearing on the field next to Avian was the electrifying hero.
Elemental Hero Sparkman: 1600/1400
"Now attack Patroid!" Sparkman threw a spear of lightning hitting Patroid causing an explosion.
Jaden: 4000
Syrus: 3600
"Now Avian, attack with Windstorm Strike!" Avian dives towards Syrus knocking him off his feet.
Jaden: 4000
Syrus: 2600
"Finally, I'll place a card facedown and end my turn." Jaden said.
"Can I crack up now? I just got nailed on both our turns, I can't win." Syrus said sitting up.
"Of course, you can Syrus. You just have to believe in yourself." Alexis said.
"Come on Syrus! Even if you lose you should at least try." Takeru said.
"They're right Syrus!" Chumley said getting his attention. "I mean duh, that's the first thing they teach you in Freshman Dueling class, I should know I had to take it twice!" Chumley said.
"But that's the easiest course in the academy how'd you fail?" Takeru asks.
Syrus let the words sink in. "He's right. Not only am I dueling for myself, I'm dueling for Jaden too. And the best thing I can do is take him down!" Syrus said pulling himself out of the dirt.
"You got this Syrus!" Takeru said.
"You just gotta believe in yourself!" Chumley said.
"Pretty good words of encouragement Chumley." Alexis said.
"Yeah, I got lots of books on self-motivation. For some reason my dad keeps getting them for me." Chumley said.
"Gee I wonder why." Takeru said rolling his eyes.
"Well at least Syrus is back in the duel and not playing in the dirt." Alexis said.
"Alright here goes nothing." Syrus drew a card and looks at his hand. 'Alright I don't have a monster that can beat Jaden. Looks like I'll have to go with a different strategy.' "I play Pot of Greed which lets me draw 2 cards!" Syrus looks at his cards and one was Polymerization and the other card made him gasp. 'Power Bond!'
'Judging from Syrus' face he must have drawn a sweet card.' Jaden thought.
"Power Bond is like Polymerization only better. If I summon a Machine-Type Fusion monster its attack points are doubled. Oh well I'm not good enough to play a card this strong at least according to my brother." Syrus whispers to himself.
Flashback:
"I'll never forget that day. It was back in grade school and I was dueling this really mean bully. It was my big chance to stand up to him and show him that I couldn't be pushed around."
Syrus: 1600
Bully: 1900
A younger Syrus was facing a big sized bully. The bully had Gearfried the Iron Knight and a facedown while Syrus had Steamroid and Gyroid.
"Alright you're going down." Syrus drew a card and smiles to see it was Power Bond. 'Awesome Power Bond, the card my brother gave me. I'll win for sure now.'
"Quit stalling you little pip-squeak! You're gonna lose so let's get this over with." The bully said.
"That's what you think! This duel is mine!" Syrus said.
"Yeah right. The only thing that's gonna be yours is a serious butt-kicking!" The bully said.
"I'm not scared of all your threats. Do you hear me? I'm not afraid of you anymore! You know why? Cause I'm gonna take you down!"
"STOP!" A voice shouted.
Syrus stopped in the middle of his moment and fell to the ground. "Who said that?"
Looking over he saw a taller boy in a blue uniform and dark blue hair. This was a younger version of his brother. "Zane?!"
Zane walks over and holds out a card. "This duel never happened, got it? Just take this card and go."
The bully looked at the card and laughs. "Nice card you got yourself a deal."
"What are you doing Zane? I was about to win with the card you gave me!" Syrus said standing up.
"No, you weren't Syrus and if I had known you were gonna misplay it I'd have never given it to you in the first place." Zane said.
"Misplay? What are you talking about? I wasn't gonna misplay it." Syrus said.
"Yes, you were. This was the facedown your opponent had on the field." Zane shows Syrus the card and it was the popular Spellbinding Circle.
"Spellbinding Circle?" Syrus gasps.
"That's right. A very powerful trap card. Once it's played the monster it's trapped in cannot attack or change its battle position. You would have summoned a fusion monster with Power Bond, but this trap would have stopped you making you take Power Bond's after effect at the end of the turn. You weren't thinking Syrus you didn't take into account the facedown or Power Bond's after effect. Sure, you may know how to use Power Bond, but there's more to dueling than just that." Zane said making Syrus drop to his knees.
Flashback End:
"Just holding this card again is giving me chills." Syrus muttered. "And what did he mean that just using it isn't enough?"
"You alright over there Sy?" Jaden asks.
Snapping out of his trance Syrus put Power Bond in his hand. "I'm fine. I play Polymerization! Now I'll fuse Gyroid and Steamroid to create the Steam Gyroid!"
A swirling vortex appeared and a cartoon helicopter and train appeared before they were sucked in creating a monster with Steamroid's body and Gyroid's fan blades.
Steam Gyroid: 2200/ 1800
"Alright Steam Gyroid, its time to go loco-motive! Attack with Train Twister!" Steam Gyroid spun his blades creating a twister that flew towards Avian and rams into him.
Jaden: 2800
Syrus: 2600
"Had enough Jaden?" Syrus taunts.
Jaden bursts into laughter and smiles. "Have I had enough? No way, Sy. You know the old saying No Pain, No Gain and with what I have planned, you're gonna get a lot." He drew his card.
"I play Polymerization! Sparkman and Clayman, unite as one!" He said as storm clouds formed in the air, thunder rolling and lighting streaking across the skies. From it a huge figure descended from the sky.
Thunder Giant: 2400/ 1500
"Here he is, the Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"
Seeing the monster startles Pharaoh out of Chumley's grip.
"C'mon it's just another monster." Chumley said.
"No, it's not Chumley, Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on the turn he's summoned if the monster's original attack points are less than his own." Alexis explained.
"Guess practice is getting out early for Syrus." Chumley said.
"Poor guy." Takeru said.
"Alright Thunder Giant take out Steam Gyroid!" Jaden orders as Thunder Giant zaps Steam Gyroid destroying it.
"Aw man I'm defenseless." Syrus groans.
"Yes you are! I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode!" Jaden said calling out the female hero.
Burstinatrix: 1200/ 800
"Now attack!" Both heroes charge in with their attacks and knock Syrus to the ground.
Jaden: 2800
Syrus: 0000
"That's game!" Jaden said giving his two-finger salute. "Great duel Syrus."
I dunno I didn't put up much of a fight." Syrus said.
"What are you talking about? Sure, I was able to pull through in the end, but you pulled off some pretty good moves yourself. Although, I am wondering what that card you didn't play was." Jaden looks at Syrus' hand and gasps. "Power Bond? Why didn't you play it? You could've doubled Steam Gyroid's attack. On second thought for my sake I'm glad you didn't."
"You don't understand." Syrus stood up and took his cards back. "My brother says I'm not good enough to play that card and it's obvious he's right. It's also obvious that you won't be able to win with me as your tag partner." Syrus said before running away.
"Hey Syrus wait!" Jaden calls out.
"Syrus!" Chumley runs after him.
Making their way down Alexis and Takeru walk over to Jaden.
"This was not his day." Takeru said.
"I guess practice doesn't make perfect at least not with Syrus." Alexis said.
"I don't get it. Syrus is a cool guy, but he doesn't see what I see. He has a problem believing in himself and he has this awesome spell but he doesn't use it because his brother says he can't use it." Jaden said.
"He's not a very good brother if he says that." Takeru said.
Alexis gasps as her eyes widen.
"Is something wrong Alexis?" Takeru asks.
"Yeah…that brother of his goes to this school and you've probably heard of him." Alexis said.
"Who is he?" Takeru asks.
"Yeah I'm with Takeru, who is he?" Jaden asks.
"Hello? Third-Year Obelisk and the best duelist on campus. Zane, and he's as good as his reputation, maybe even better." Alexis said.
"Wait a minute. The Kaiser is Syrus' brother?" Takeru gasps.
"Well, he doesn't sound very good to his little brother. I wonder what happened to them?" Jaden asks.
"Jaden don't pry." Alexis warns.
"Oh I'm not gonna pry, I'm gonna duel." Jadne said.
"Jaden you're not listening! No one duels Zane!" Alexis said.
"They do when their tag partner is not up to snuff because of him. I'm gonna duel him to see how I stack up." Jaden said.
"Give it up Alexis he's not gonna stop." Takeru said.
Alexis shook her head and smiles. "Then go get him."
"Get ready Zane! I'm coming for you!" Jaden declares before running off.
"I hope Jaden figures things out." Takeru said.
"I hope so too, in the meantime what about you?" Alexis asks.
"All I can do is prepare myself and make sure I'm ready." Takeru said.
"Then we better get started." Alexis said surprising him.
"We?"
"That's right I'm not letting you get expelled so I'm gonna help you anyway I can." Alexis said making Takeru smile.
"Thanks Alexis." He said as the two of them went back to the Obelisk dorm.