"Jaden! Over here! Hurry!" A young, blue haired boy called to his best friend, Jaden Yuki, as he entered the classroom. Hopping down the steps until he was besides the blue haired boy, Jaden grinned as he took his seat next to the boy, "Whoa! I was almost late for the entrance ceremony!" He said whilst still grinning, making the blue-haired boy sweat drop, "Exams, ceremonies, whatever...your always running late Jaden!"
"Ha, ha, ha. Now that you mention it...But it's so hard to get up early!" Jaden countered with a laugh, making the blue haired boy shake his head in disbelief, "Today Austin got here before you Jaden" Another young boy's ears perked at the mention of his name, making him turn and look towards the blue haired boy and Jaden, "Wow, Austin! You managed to get up early?" Laughing at Jaden's words, Austin smiled and nodded, his spiky blond hair moving with his nod, "I did...don't know how, but i did!" He remarked with a grin, making the blue haired boy sigh.
"Chill out Syrus! At least i got here before it started, right?" Jaden said, reaching over and high fiving Austin, who bore a similar grin, "Will you three shut up?! I can't hear what the Chancellor is saying!" A voice suddenly interjected, making the three duelists turn towards a black clad, and black haired boy, "Jeez Chazz, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed like Syrus?" Jaden said with a laugh, his laugh dying down as a cough caught his attention, making him blush as he shot a sheepish grin towards the Chancellor.
"Ahem!" The bold headed man coughed with a pointed look towards Jaden, who laughed sheepishly before taking his seat next to Syrus, "All right, as you all know, it's the start of a brand new year..." "Humph. Looks like Jaden and Austin went up a grade..." Chazz mumbled under his breath as he looked at the two boys who were leaning back in their seats lazily, "Don't know how those slackers managed it..." He continued, only to be interrupted by a tanned duelist with long black hair and a dinosaur shaped hat on his head, "You never change, do you...you're as stuck up as ever..."
"What did you say?! Dino-breath!" Chazz retorted, glaring at the short sleeved boy who glared right back, "Boy, you always have to insult people, don't you?" He retorted, both of them looking away form each other as a second, much shorter person clapped his hands together in an angry fashion, "Attention! Reciting the academy pledge is out freshman representative, Blair Flannigan" "
A young girl with long blue hair and sporting a more feminine version of the slifer red jacket stepped forward and began re-sighting the pledge, to which everyone zoned out, having heard it so many times that it was boring.
"Must be a bummer to have to return to the Red Dorm, only to have your room taken over by her!" The dino-clad boy said with a smirk towards Chazz, making the black-haired boy sneer, "Shut up hassleberry! Why don't you go sit with your dorm?" Chazz retorted, turning his head away from Hassleberry, who just smirked as Blair came to a finish, instead choosing to stare at Jaden with a love-struck face, "Jaden..." She sighed out lovingly, making Jaden sweat drop and lean back slightly, "Ack!" He said as he looked away from the young girl in embarrassment.
To the left of our protagonist Austin,sat a blue and white clad girl, who was glaring at Blair silently, " Boy, Alexis...looks scary..." Syrus mumbled as he looked past Austin and at the blue clad girl.
Coughing once more, the Chancellor smiled as he stepped forward once more, "With each new year comes modification and improvement! So to keep each one of you at the top of your game, we invited representatives from our worldwide branches!" Hassleberry blinked with a surprised look on his face, "Wow, duel academy has worldwide branches, and we get to meet their champions?!"
"This rules! I gotta get my game on!" Jaden chipped in with an excited look on his face as the Chancellor stepped aside and a tall, older looking boy stepped forward, "Time for introductions! Visiting us all the way from East academy, Adrian Gecko!" The Chancellor announced as the tall boy stepped forward, his spiky red hair not moving an inch as he walked, "He, he, he.." The boy said creepily, making Austin sweat drop.
"Hailing from West Academy! Please welcome Axel Brodie!" The chancellor continued, making Austin look away from the creepy red haired boy and towards the dark skinned visitor, who nodded towards the crowd silently, "From he south is Jim Crocodile Cook!" Next came a brown hat wearing boy with spiky black hair and...a crocodile on his back?!
"Hiya mates!" He said in a friendly manner, a smile on his face as he removed his hat and bowed before stepping back, allowing the chancellor to talk once more, "And finally, from north academy, its Jesse Andersen!" Silence filled the room as confusion crossed everyone's face at the empty spot on the stage, "Huh?" A slick-black haired boy wearing a yellow blazer muttered,"So...where is he?" Jaden voiced everyone's thought's, looking rather confused himself at the empty spot on the stage.
"This is weird..." A blue and pink clad male with choppy blond hair said slowly, looking around in confusion, "No! It's just plain rude!" The short man from before bellowed angrily, stamping his small feet in irritation, which made Jaden and Austin snort at the man's behavior.
Suddenly, the doors at the back of the classroom flung open, revealing a blue blazer wearing boy with crystal blue hair, "Sorry folks! Guess i got lost!" He shouted as he descended the stairs, "Hey, it's the new guy!" Jaden said, high fiving the boy as he walked past, "Hey jaden! I guess this is that pep rally thing!" The crystal haired boy said back as he high fived the boy, "Yep!" Jaden replied, smiling as he looked at the boy, "By the why, have you seen a guy named Jesse?"
"Sure did" "You've seen him? where is he?" The chancellor asked, watching as the blue haired boy grinned and stuck a thumb towards himself, "Y'all lookin' at him! I'm Jessie! Sorry, guess i didn't properly introduce myself"
"Thats Jesse..." A silver haired boy mumbled, catching the attention of Hassleberry, who looked towards the boy with a confused look, "Aster?" "What are you doing here?" Chazz interjected, smirking at Hassleberry's glare, "Hey, have you forgotten? I'm a student here!" Aster said with a roll of his eyes, 2Looks like there'll be a lot of duelists coming here..."
"And last but not least! I'd like you to meet out visiting professor from west academy, Professor Thelonius Viper!" The chancellor continued over the speaking, stepping aside and allowing a tall and broad shoulder man with straight up spiking black hair wearing a dark blue blazer with gold shoulder pads to step forward, "It's an honor..."
"For those of you who have heard, I believe actions speak louder than words" His voice boomed around the room, commanding everyone's attention, even Austin and Jaden's, "So, i announce that all students and even some pro duelists will compete in a special event! Let the "Partner Disclosure Duels" begin"
"What?" Jaden voiced his confusion, staring at the tell man in confusion, "Starting tomorrow, every student will pair up ajnd move around in teams of two - you will have to learn to live together and learn from each other! In the other words, this curriculum is to make you into a complete tag duelist!"
"Wow! That sounds super cool!" Austin chipped in with a grin, already going over who his partner could be, 2Man, i have a bad feeling about this..." Syrus mumbled, followed by Hassleberry saying, "This looks like trouble!" Professor Viper ignored everyone's concerns with a large grin on his tanned face, "No, go! Select who will be your partner, get a good nights sleep, and get ready to duel with your partner starting tomorrow!"
The room was filled with silence before chaos broke out, everyone running aorund and asking people to be there partner, all but Jaden and Austin, who looked at each with a grin, "Partners?" They both said, grinning wider and grasping hands as they laughed and shouted, "PARTNERS!"