For the Sake of Syrus

At the card shop Jaden was writing something on a piece of paper. "It's because of him Sy's got no confidence at all. If my big bro told me I wasn't good enough to use a card I'd be insecure too. But that's all gonna change." Jaden said as he tapped his cheek with his pencil. "I wonder do you spell Zane with two N's, these duel request forms are a drag."

As Jaden filled out the form he didn't notice Dr. Crowler right behind him.

"Duel Request form?" Crowler reached over Jaden's shoulder and grabbed the form. "Planning a duel eh? Against who?" Crowler looks at the form with wide eyes. "You must be joking."

"No I'm not. I'm taking Zane on to help Syrus with his confidence problem, so he'll be ready for our duel." Jaden said.

"Ah yes the big tag match where if you lose you'll both be expelled, well that's a shame because there will be no duel." Crowler said ripping Jaden's request form into pieces right in front of him.

"We can help with that." Jaden turned to see the Shiba siblings walking up to him.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked the three.

"I'll let Zane know you want to duel him."

In the forest near the academy center Chumley was sitting on a tree branch going through his cards.

"Look it's not you it's me. I just can't use you, I gotta make room for another Koala, 15 outta do." Chumley said.

"You're only permitted to have 3 copies of a card." Chumley looked down to see Ryan at the base of the tree.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting your deck ready for your duel?" Chumley asks.

"Yeah. Alexis told me she had someone for me to duel, but I haven't seen them yet."

'If you say so." Chumley began scooping up his cards when most of them slid off and fell to the ground. Chumley tried to get them all but ended up slipping resulting in him clinging to the branch for dear life upside down like one of his koalas.

"Hey guys!"

Ryan and Chumley look over to see Jaden standing nearby.

"Hey Jaden, waddup?" Chumley asks.

Jaden bent down to pick up his friend's cards and couldn't help but laugh. "Chumley, there's like a zillion koala cards here."

"Yeah Koala's are cool, want to have a pick-up duel against them?" Chumley asks.

"A pick-up duel? Why didn't I think of that? Thanks guys!" Jaden said running off.

"Where are you off to?" Ryan asked.

"The Obelisk Blue Dorm!"

"Why are you going there?!" Chumley asks nearly letting go of the branch.

"To duel Zane!"

"The Zane?!" Chumley lets go of the branch and ends up crashing on top of Ryan.

He pushes Chumley off and then stands up.

"What are you boys doing?" A Obelisk Blue girl walked up with her duel disk.

"Seika Kohinata, what are you doing here?"

"Alexis told you that she found an opponent for you to duel, well you're looking at her." Seika said activating her duel disk surprising him.

"You're my opponent."

"Yep now get ready." Seika smiled.

"Whoa this will be an interesting duel." Chumley said as the two of them stood apart.

"Let's duel!" They both said drawing their cards.

Ryan: 4000

Seika: 4000

"I'll begin with Blade Knight."

Blade Knight: 1600/1000

"Finally, I'll end my turn with a face down." Ryan said.

"My turn. I summon Black Mamba in attack mode!" Seika said summoning a large black snake.

Black Mamba: 1300/ 1000

"And when Black Mamba is summoned it changes the battle position of any monster on your side of the field. Now attack Blade Knight."

Black Mamba chomps Blade Knight in half with one bite.

"That is one strong jaw." Chumley gulps.

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Seika said as Ryan drew a card.

"I play Iron Knight Gearfried."

Iron Knight Gearfried: 1800/1600

"Attack Black Mamba."

"I activate my face down card!" Seika said as Black Mamba was cut in half.

Ryan: 4000

Seika: 3500

When Gearfried returned to his field, he was surprised to see another Black Mamba.

"What gives?"

"I activated my trap, Grudge of the Venomous Snake when a reptile monster is sent to the graveyard I can summon another one from my deck and I chose to summon another Black Mamba. Now I'll use its ability to switch your Knight to defense mode." Seika said as Gearfried knelt down.

"That's a problem."

"My turn. I sacrifice Black Mamba to summon The Avatar of Resent Ourubonus!" Seika said as a large serpent appeared on the field.

Avatar of Resent Ourubonus: 2000/ 800

"And using the effect of my trap I'll summon another Black Mamba and I'll use its effect to switch your monster back to attack mode." Seika said.

"This is gonna suck." He read up on that monster's effect.

"Oh so you're familiar with my Ourubonus's effect. When it battles a monster its attack and defense points drop by 300. Attack!" Seika's giant snake opened its mouth and swallowed Iron Knight Gearfried whole.

Ryan: 3500

Seika: 3500

"That was not lishius." Chumley said.

"I agree." Ryan added.

"Now I'll attack you directly with Black Mamba!" Seika said her other snake attacked him.

Ryan: 2200

Seika: 3500

"You're a lot better than I expected."

"They don't give the rank of Obelisk away to just anyone, I activate my spell Swamp of the Serpent!" Seika said as dark swamp water appeared around Ryan. "It allows me to summon a snake monster from my deck onto your side of the field! Consider it a gift." Seika said throwing him a card.

"Do you mind if I return it?"

"I summon Virulent Serpent on your side of the field!" Seika said.

Virulent Serpent: 100/ 200

"My turn!" He drew a card and Virulent serpent lunges and bites his arms.

"My serpent's effect activates and every time you start your standby phase you lose 500 points." Seika said.

Ryan: 1700

Seika: 3500

*'Alright these snakes are going down.'* He thought.

"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon. Say goodbye to your trap card."

"And since you're the only one with a monster on the field, I can special summon Cyber Dragon."

Cyber Dragon: 2100/1600

"That's not all. Next I normal summon Vorse Raider."

Vorse Raider: 1900/1200

"Attack Black Mamba with Evolution Burst!" Cyber Dragon fired a blast of energy at Black Mamba destroying it.

Ryan: 1700

Seika: 2700

"Now you're not able to summon any more Black Mamba. I'll set two cards and end my turn there."

"Impressive, but I'm nowhere near done." Seika draws and grins. "I summon Lamia in attack mode!" A female with a snake's body appeared.

Lamia: 1300/ 1500

"Now Ourubonus attack his Cyber Dragon! And don't forget when it attacks your monster's points are lowered by 300!"

"I activate the counter trap Negate Attack! This cancels your attack and ends the battle phase."

"That's what you think. My turn is far from over, by removing all the serpents on my field and graveyard I can special summon my strongest monster! Rise, Ananta The Wicked Seprent!" On Seika's side of the field a large 5-headed snake appeared.

Anata the Wicked Serpent: ?/?

"That's one big monster."

"And Anata's attack and defense is equal to the number of removed serpents multiplied by 600. Since I removed 5 of them the attack and defense points equal 3000." Seika said making his eyes widen.

"Don't worry, she can't attack you with that this turn." Chumley said.

"That's where you're wrong Chumley I activate my spell Surprise Attack! This allows me to attack one more time this turn! Ananta destroy Dark Magician Girl!" Ananta attacks Dark Cyber Dragon with 3 of it's heads destroying her.

Ryan: 800

Seika: 2700

"And to end my turn I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your remaining set card."

"No!" Chumley panics.

"I need to draw something otherwise this duel will end." Ryan said as he drew a card and Virulent Serpent bites him again.

Ryan: 300

Seika: 2700

He looked at it.

"I play Pot of Greed." Ryan drew two additional cards.

*'Yes. Lightning Vortex and Mirror Force.'*

"I normal summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in attack mode."

Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke: 1800/1000

"Hate to break this to you, but your ninja doesn't stand a chance." Seika said.

"That's why I have this. Lightning Vortex. Say goodbye to Anata the Wicked Serpent."

"How about we wrap this up."

*'He was just about to lose, but he managed to change the outcome with a single card. Amazing.'* Seika thought with a smile.

His two monsters attacked Seika head on.

Ryan: 300

Seika: 0

"That was a great duel." He replied.

"Well don't get so emotional I just did it because Alexis asked me too." Seika smiles.

Back with Jaden, he went to the Obelisk Dorm planning to duel Zane, but instead two Obelisk boys pushed him to the ground.

"What's your problem?" Jaden glares.

The first Obelisk was a boy with spiky brown hair shook his head. "I don't have a problem, but you're gonna have one soon if you don't beat it Slider Slacker!"

His friend was a boy with short black hair. "Yeah, Zane wouldn't even waste his time with you. You're probably still wet behind the ears from Pre-Duel School."

"You want to pick a fight with someone, try me." The two Obelisks lifted their heads to see Davis standing in front of them.

"Oh Davis." The short black-haired boy said.

"Jaden's here because I'm going to arrange a duel between him and Zane. Still want to object to that?"

Later Ryan, Jaden and Chumley made their way to the Slifer dorm, Jaden was drying himself off with a towel and was still mad about what happened at the Obelisk dorm.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Chumley asks.

"I'm not gonna give up, one way or another I am gonna duel Zane." Jaden vows.

"You won't last long against the best duelist on the island."

Looking inside the three of them saw Syrus was still in bed wrapped in his blanket.

"It's the middle of the day. Why's Syrus still asleep?"

"Come on Syrus get up! This is ridiculous, even Chumley got up today." Jaden said nudging the bundle.

"Yeah, lousy bladder." Chumley muttered.

Jaden pulls back the blanket to reveal it was just his pillow. "Hey where'd he go?" Jaden asks.

Ryan inspected the room and saw a note picking it up.

"What's it say?" Chumley asks.

"Dear Jaden, I'm leaving Duel Academy, don't try and stop me. It's for the best, I'd only be holding you back." Ryan read aloud.

"Sy's not going anywhere." Jaden said determined.

"It shouldn't be hard to track him down."

"Right, but after dinner, right?" Chumley asks.

"No, right now." Jaden said.

"But it's grilled cheese night." Chumley said.

"That's not important at the moment."

"Alright let's go." Chumley said as the three of them ran out.

"If we don't hurry it will be Syrus' last day!" Jaden said.

As the sun was setting the three of them were running around calling out Syrus's name. Hidden in a small bay near the lighthouse, Syrus had made a raft of logs and was ready to leave.

"So long Duel Academy." Syrus said wiping a tear.

"Syrus! Syrus where are you?!" Jaden yells when both he saw a glowing coming from his deck box.

As the sun was setting Zane was at his spot near the lighthouse when Alexis walked up to him.

"So, any new leads?" Zane asks.

"I can't believe he's still gone. I keep looking for some sign, but it's like my brother vanished into thin air." Alexis said.

"You'll find him eventually. After all there is someone trying their hardest to help you." Zane found out from her that Ryan was also looking into his disappearance.

"He certainly is. Speaking of brothers Zane, I saw yours yesterday." Alexis said.

"Oh did you?" Zane asks.

"Yeah he lost in a practice duel against Jaden Yuki and your name came up, but not in a good way." Alexis said.

"The big bad brother. What does Jaden want to scold me?" Zane asks.

"Actually, I think he wants to duel you." Alexis said. "I heard Davis Shiba was going to arrange it."

"Stay back Jaden!" Syrus's voice said in the distance.

Looking over they saw Syrus near his raft. "It's Syrus." Alexis said.

Syrus looked to see Jaden running after him. Thinking quickly Syrus jumps on his raft, but Jaden did too making them too heavy causing the raft to break and the two of them to fall into the water.

"Help me! I can't swim!" Syrus yells as Jaden grabs him.

"And you were gonna sail away into the ocean? That makes sense." Jaden said sarcastically.

"Give me a minute."

The second he said that both Jaden and Syrus rise out of the water.

"Why did you come after me Jaden? I stink. They'll assign you a new partner. Just let me go and you'll have a much better shot of winning the duel without me." Syrus said.

"Sy, that's your brother talking! You gotta believe in yourself." Jaden said.

"You gotta believe me. I'm a lost cause." Syrus said.

"He's right you know." A cold voice said.

All the Slifers and the Obelisk looked up to see Zane and Alexis looking down at them.

"Zane Truesdale, huh?"

"You dropping out little brother?" Zane asks.

"Uh yeah kinda." Syrus said.

"It's about time." Zane said making Syrus hang his head in shame. Moving towards his raft they hear Syrus start to sob.

Jaden growled as he glared at Zane. "You're his big brother, how can you say that?!"

"Because I know him." Zane said.

"Yeah I bet you know it all, but guess what you don't! I'm gonna prove it right now. Let's duel!" Jaden said.

That night Jaden and Zane were facing off with duel disks at the ready.

"Duel!" They both shouted.

Zane: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"Alright, now let's see what's going on between Syrus and his bro and also how I rank against the best." Jaden smiles as he drew a card. "Here I come Zane! I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!" The winged hero appeared on Jaden's field.

Elemental Hero Avian: 1000/ 1000

"Now I'll finish with a facedown." Jaden said ending his turn.

"That's all huh? I summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode!" Zane said as a metallic dragon appeared.

Cyber Dragon: 2100/ 1600

"What?! How can you summon a Level 5 monster on your first turn?" Jaden asks surprised.

"It's because it's my first turn. If I have no monsters on my field I can summon Cyber Dragon without sacrificing a monster. Now I play Mystical Space Typhoon!" Zane said as he destroys Jaden's face down.

"Wow that was fast." Jaden said impressed.

"Not as fast as your life point meter is about go down. Cyber Dragon Strident Blast!" Cyber Dragon breathes fires as it blasts Avian destroying him.

Zane: 4000

Jaden: 2900

*'I tried to warn him that Zane was good.'* Syrus thought.

"Next I play the spell Different Dimension Capsule. It allows me to pick any card from my deck and put it in the capsule. Then in two turns I put right into my hand." Zane said as a card went into a blue sarcophagus shaped capsule and disappears.

*'What did he put in that capsule.'* Ryan thought.

"It's your move Jaden." Zane said ending his turn.

'Yeah and I better make it count. I'm starting to think this guy is not only as good as everyone thinks he is, he's better, but that doesn't mean he's better than me.' Jaden smiles. "Round 2, and first I'll rock Polymerization to fuse Sparkman and Clayman to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" Both heroes fused to create the powerful electrical hero.

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant: 2400/ 1500

"And with his special ability, he can destroy any monster with attack points less than his, your Cyber Dragon is vaporized!" Jaden said as a large bolt of lightning destroys Zane's dragon. "Yes! Looks like Thunder Giant just made the big man of campus even smaller."

"Yeah I would say it." Chumley smiles.

"And since that blast was just his special ability, I still get to use his attack!" Jaden said as Thunder Giant releases a powerful blast, but Zane doesn't even flinch.

Zane: 1600

Jaden: 2900

"You could at least kinda flinch, oh well maybe this facedown will make you flinch." Jaden said.

'Yeah if Jaden lasts long enough to use it.' Syrus thought.

"Nice moves kid. Now that my field is empty I can summon another Cyber Dragon." Zane said as he summoned another. "Or better yet how about two? I play Monster Reborn! Since there's only one monster in my graveyard you can guess what's coming next." His first Cyber Dragon appears next to his other. "But neither will be here for long…in present form." Zane reveals his own Polymerization. "Dragons unite! Now Cyber Twin Dragon emerge!" Zane said as a two headed version of his Cyber Dragon appeared.

Cyber Twin Dragon: 2800/ 2100

"Twin dragons? One was tough enough." Chumley gasps.

"Now my dragon can attack twice in one turn which means double the trouble for your monster and your lifepoints! Attack!"

"Not so fast! I activate my trap, A Hero Emerges! Normally you would pick a card from my hand, but since I only have one card, let's skip that. Wroughtweiler, defense mode!" Jaden sad as a black metallic dog appeared.

Wroughtweiler: 800/ 1200

"You'll need him! Cyber Twin Dragon, double strident blast!" Zane said as both heads blasted Jaden's monsters destroying them.

Zane: 1600

Jaden: 2500

"Glad you did that! Cause when Wroughtweiler is destroyed his special ability activates! I take one Polymerization and one Elemental Hero from my graveyard and add them to my hand. Just when you probably thought you can stop worrying about them, huh Zane?" Jaden smiles grabbing Polymerization and Clayman.

"I don't worry." Zane said.

"Aw man! You're so chill you are good." Jaden smiles.

"Thanks. You too Jaden." Zane smiles slightly.

*'Since when did Zane give props?'* Syrus thought.

"Now where was I? Oh yeah!" Jaden drew a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" On Jaden's field a cape wearing blue hero appeared. "And since he's on the field alone I can use his ability to draw two cards.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman: 800/ 1200

Jaden looks at his hand and smiles. *'Transcendent Wings and Winged Kuriboh. The same cards I used to trash that Dragon Catapult Cannon. An evolved Winged Kuriboh would turn Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon into a pile of junk and its attack points would be dealt as damage. That would be enough to win the duel, but I can't summon anymore monsters this turn, so I'm just gonna have to wait til next turn.'* Jaden thought.

"Alright Zane. I play Polymerization and fuse Bubbleman with Clayman to create the Elemental Hero Mudballman in defense mode!"

A new monster appeared with a perfectly round body, round arms and a blue head.

Elemental Hero Mudballman: 1900/ 3000

"Lishius! Mudballman has 3000 DEF points! That Twin Dragon won't even touch Jaden!" Chumley smiles.

*'I don't believe this, Jaden might actually win.'* Syrus thought with a stunned look on his face.

"Gimmer your best shot Zane!" Jaden challenged.

"My best? Alright, you got it." Zane drew his card and his capsule rose out of the ground.

"Different Dimension Capsule. It's been two turns since that activated."

"Gimme your best shot, I'm ready." Jaden said.

"I'm sure you are. A good duelist is ready for anything. And knows the difference between using a card and playing a card. Jaden you play your cards very well." Zane said briefly glancing at Syrus.

'That's a good compliment, but even greater advice. Hope you were listening Syrus.' Jaden thought.

'Of course! That's what he meant all those years ago. Using a card and playing it are two different things.' Syrus realized.

"First I play De-Fusion to split my Twin Dragon into two separate Cyber Dragons. Next, I activate the spell Power Bond! This allows me to summon a machine type fusion monster and with my final Cyber Dragon in my hand I can fuse them to create…the Cyber End Dragon!"

Everyone watched in amazement as a three headed machine dragon appeared.

Cyber End Dragon: 4000/ 2800

"Thanks to Power Bond's ability when I fusion summon a monster its attack points are doubled!"

Cyber End Dragon: 8000/ 2800

"8000?! No way!" Chumley gasps.

"And when Cyber End Dragon attacks the difference between his attack and your monster's defense come out of your life points." Zane said.

"Just hang in there! If you can survive this turn you can win thanks to Power Bond's effect." Chumley said.

"Chumley's right, at the end of the turn the one who used it is dealt damage equal to his monster's original attack points." Alexis said.

*'Yeah but it won't matter if you play it right. And Zane has, I just wish it wasn't at Jaden's expense.*' Syrus thought.

"Cyber End attack Mudballman with Super Strident Blaze!" All three heads blast Jaden's monster obliterating it and the rest of his life points.

Zane: 1600

Jaden: 0000

"Jaden!" Chumley yelled.

"I can't believe he lost." Alexis said.

"No Jaden!" Syrus said running to his friend.

Jaden lifted his head up and smiles. Great duel Zane."

Zane smiled and turned away, looking back he met Syrus' eyes as the two brothers had a mental understanding. Turning away Zane walked off.

"So…what do you think?" She asks.

"I think Syrus chose some good friends." Zane smiles.

"You're brother has some mad skills." Jaden said.

"Maybe, but I got the looks." Syrus smiles.

Jaden and Chumley look at him before they burst into laughter.

"Wait what's funny?" Syrus asks.

"See ya." Ryan waved his hand, walking away.

"Come on let's go home and work on ours too. While we're at it lets rearrange so you can use Power Bond." Jaden said.

"Yeah, now I know how to play it, not just use it." Syrus said.

Suddenly they heard a loud rumbling noise. Looking over they saw Chumley holding his stomach.

"You know what I could use? Some grilled cheese sandwiches." Chumley groans.

"I could eat." Syrus smiles.

"Not if I eat them all first!" Jaden said running off with Syrus and Chumley right behind him.