As dawn broke out the next day, Ser Henry, the knight Jaden defeated the other night, snuck through the hedges and climbed over the wooden fence to the backyard of the Black Rose Inn, a franchise of taverns built by none other than the woman he hoped to impress, Lady Akiza Izinski of the Knights of the Crimson Dragon. The tavern was made of brick with a black-tiled roof. The walls were festooned with vines covered with roses. Henty put on his gloves made of dragonhide and climbed up the walls. The vines made it easy for him to scale the walls. He had a nasty grin on his face as he got nearer and nearer to Jaden's room, which were the luxury accommodations. Two floors all to himself and Della.

He got near the windowsill. What luck! It was opened. Hopefully, he could get the card he wanted and be on his way. By the time Jaden woke, Henry would be long gone from Applemarble. He reached over the windowsill and, at last, he was in the room. And there they were on a desk nestled right by the window of all places. But so overcome with greed for the deck Jaden used, Henry did not see the room was a bathhouse. He heard a sweet humming and looked up. Della, Jaden's pretty female companion was standing by the edge of the tub hanging up articles of clothing that he was not supposed to see. And she was damp from a bath she took earlier and was wrapped in a white towel.

Everything happened so fast. She turned and saw him hanging out of the windowsill. And in a matter of seconds, she screamed from the top of her lungs.

"JAAAADENNNN!" she cried out with all her might. "HELP! HELP! A BURGLAR!"

And just like that, Jaden burst through the black doors of the bathhouse and summoned Elemental HERO Flame Wingman. Henry thrust himself out the window just in time. Mere seconds after his fall started, the flames burst out the window, shattering the glass and incinerating the curtains. He was so close to the flames that he could feel the heat singe his back. And then he landed with a splat on the soft, cool, grass.

"Phew," he breathed. He thought that was it. But then he felt his butt was really warm. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the back of his pants caught fire. He didn't have time to drop and roll, he knew he couldn't do that. Jaden and Della would look over the window at any second and spot him. If he did, it was off to the dungeon with him. So he sped off like a flaming comet into the forest and disappeared. But he would be back.

Later that day, Jaden and Della had their breakfast and went into the city. With the increase in violence from radical Yeyunism going on, he had to show the guards a Letter of Safe Passage, which was written and handed to him by Prince Michael himself. As they neared the entrance, they passed by a monk, standing on the wooden box. This was the road the pilgrims of the Covenant would take to the Mountain of Vorak, a holy site where a saintly woman used her tears, blessed by Yeyu, to kill a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"To kill a Duelist is not a sin," said the monk. "But a pathway to paradise. To kill a Duelist is not a sin, but a pathway to paradise. To kill a Duelist is not a sin, but a pathway to paradise."

"And I'm the King of England," Jaden muttered. He put an arm over Della and held her close to avoid the monk's gaze.

At the gate, Jaden showed the guard his letter of passage and they walked in freely with no problem.

Jaden sniffed the air, perfumed with sweet meat and freshly baked pastries. Fish caught from the lake were frying in the pots, and there were funnel cakes. Carts and carts full of funnel cakes.

"Aw, yeah! This is more like it!" Jaden said, stretching, relieved to be behind city walls. "I'm gonna head straight to the card shop and see what's new."

"Excuse me!" said Della. "Slow down, will you? Your Elemental HERO burned all my underwear! You owe me some new clothes you big jerk. I need that money more than you, hand it over!"

Jaden scratched the back of his head. He had hoped walking through the city walls was going to quell her anger. Winged Kuriboh appeared before him and bumped his face. "Ow, come on! It's not my fault she left them hanging there."

"How was I supposed to know we were about to be robbed, Jaden! You couldn't have dealt with the robber yourself? Why must you go extra? Why did you need an Elemental HERO to take on a petty burglar? You realize we had to use most of our travel funds to pay for the damage you caused."

"That's nothing," said Jaden. "Once I win this tournament, we'll buy you all the clothes you need and then some."

Just then, a knight in gold and white armor approached them. His royal red cape flapped behind him elegantly. His helm looked like it had wings and was crested with the upper body of a pegasus. "Della?" the knight said taking off his helmet to reveal a young man with short, brown, hair. "Della is that you?"

Della placed both hands over her mouth and breathed heavily. "Mathias? I..I can't believe it's you."

"I thought I'd never see you again. Look at you. You've grown much more beautiful."

"And look at you," said Della. "My goodness, a Knight of the Sword Goddess. You, a boy always running from the law and stealing from every vendor in town? Who'd a thunk it?"

"And your traveling companion. Bless my soul, it's Jaden Yuki. I read about your rescue of Princess Alexis Rhodes. Such gallantry. Such bravery. It's a shame you didn't take the oath to a lord, or the King of Eredas. You would make a fine knight."

"Nah, too many rules to follow," Jaden said with a chuckle. "Well, our mission to save Alexis is kind of why we are here."

"I heard from the High Priestess of the Seven," said Mathias. "Della unlocked a strange power that helped Zane's synthetic dragon destroy that villain, Aldric."

"Have you heard anything about him?" Della asked.

"Nothing. But with heroes like Jaden, Zane, and Aster around, I doubt he'll show his face in Domino City again."

"Still," said Della, "it would be good to get the other half of the Heart of Helios back. Aldric can still cause great damage with that stone."

"If he causes any trouble, we know who to call, isn't that right, Jaden."

"Right. So, uh, Mathias, right? Think you can watch Della for me and attend to that temple business. I've got to register for the tournament."

"Of course," Della said disappointedly. "Always thinking of Duel Monsters. Just keep an eye out, Jaden. I have a feeling we're not going to stop running into trouble here."

"Yeah, same to you, Della." He walked away, leaving Della with her old friend.

"How did you run into him?" Mathias asked.

"He saved me from bandits who were commanded by Aldric to find my stone. After that, he became my best friend."

"Oh," Mathias said, feeling rather hurt. "And what of me?"

Della bit her lip, realizing the fault in her words. "Forgive me, Matty. I still consider you a dear friend. It's not that I've forgotten you or anything. It's just been so long since we've seen each other. You went off to be a knight, and I a priestess. I never heard from you since then."

"That was my fault," Mathias admitted. He led her toward the temple. "I admit I sort of got side-tracked with my tasks in the Temple Knighthood."

"It is no excuse," said Della. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "You knew where I resided and you failed to send me a letter or anything. You couldn't have told me where you were so I could write to you, at least? I thought you had forgotten all about me."

"I apologize." He stopped. "Listen, Della, I was wondering. If you weren't busy after your meeting with the High Priestess of the Seven, I was thinking we could...you know, catch up. Four years is a long time."

"You mean a date?"

"Date? The fruit?"

Della couldn't help but laugh at that. "Forgive me, I've been stuck in the Southeast for so long. Do you wish to take me out for the evening?"

"It would be a great honor for me, Della. Consider it my way of making it up to you for all these years apart. My coffers are at your disposal. It's the least I can do."

"I'll have to think about it, Matty. I've got so much to do right now. If there's time and I'm feeling up to it, perhaps I'll accept. For now, I must attend to my duties."

Jaden registered for the tournament and in no time at all found himself in his first match against an opponent with a very interesting dragon deck. They played in an arena out in the fields by the jousting tilts. The colorful streamers hanging above the Dueling Grounds gave the arena a very festive look. As Jaden and his opponent got into position, a merry band sitting on a balcony seats above grounds started to play. Finally, the Duel started.

Jaden's opponent's first turn was just a swarm of different monsters coming out like crazy until he had a powerful lineup of dragons. Saryuja Skull Dread, Borreload Savage Dragon, Triple Blast Dragon, and an Apollousa to negate Jaden's effects. However, to get those monsters out, the opponent foolishly paid half his Life Points. Jaden got to work on this at once.

"Turn Two!" called the crier. "Ser Kenneth of Frostborne stands at 4000 Life Points. Jaden Yuki stands with 8000 Life Points. Begin, Jaden!"

Jaden nodded and drew. "Nice set up you've got there. Took an eternity. But, good job. Now I'm gonna show you what my HEROES can do. First, since I control no cards, I can activate this Trap Card from my hand. Infinite Impermanence, which I'll use to negate the effects of Borreload Savage Dragon. Next, I summon Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier!"

"My Apollousa will negate his effect!" said Ser Kenneth.

"Good, because now I'm using Mask Change, switching out Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier for Masked HERO Acid!"

A flash of light and Liquid Soldier was gone, replaced by a comic book hero with a small gun that shot acid.

"Now, here comes the fun part! Acid destroys all Spell and Trap Cards on the field and your monsters lose 300 attack points. Now, I'll attack Apollousa!"

"Oh no!" cried Ser Kenneth. His Life Points went down to 1900. "Nice play, Jaden. Hopefully, this will turn things around."

He special summoned a few dragons and then used them to Link Summon Borrelsword Dragon. With 3000 ATK he overpowered Jaden's Masked HERO Acid. Then, Borrelsword switched Borreload to defense mode to attack Jaden again, reducing his Life Points to 4000. Jaden was knocked back a few feet and landed on his back, sliding to a stop. He kicked himself back up and drew.

"I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman!" shouted Jaden. "Blazeman's effect activates! I send an Elemental HERO to the grave and his attack points become equal to the monster I used. My buddy Bladedge will lend his points to Blazeman."

"Still not enough," sneered Ser Kennety. "My Borrelsword Dragon is still stronger."

"Oh-ho, I'm not done yet, man. Now, I use Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Stratos with Liquid Soldier to create Elemental HERO Sunrise!"

"Still not enough," laughed Ser Kenneth.

"I'm not done, Kenneth. Now, with Sunrise's effect, I can add Miracle Fusion to my hand. And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Ocean and Woodsman to summon Elemental HERO Terra Firma!"

The crowd applauded. Amongst the audience was Ser Henry, eyeing the monster with jealousy. "There he is! The card I need to win Akiza's love! I must have it!"

Jaden continued. "Now, I sacrifice Blazeman and his attack points get transferred to Terra Firma's."

ATK/5400

Terra Firma picked up the energy swords from his shoulders and charged at Borrelsword Dragon destroying it and ending the Duel, winning him his first match of the tournament. He still had a long way to go, but with his Elemental HEROES fighting with him, Jaden was confident he could prevail over anything the games had to throw at him.

He was watched from above the stands by a priest with a red-visored mask. "Jaden Yuki," he said. "Not bad. Your Elemental HEROES are impressive, but let's see how they can fare against my beasts."

He snapped his fingers and summoned a portal. He walked in and vanished.