Chapter One
Elliot climbed the ladder into his top bunk. He sighed and rested his head on his pillow. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the noise of his fellow Slifer Reds moving into their rooms. He was a sophomore now, and was still stuck at the bottom of the barrel. He barely managed to pass his entrance exam to Duel Academy this year, and was starting to worry about his future. He had reached a downward spiral as of late, losing nearly every time he dueled. If I can't break out of this streak soon, I don't know if I can make it through another year here.
His melancholy thoughts were interrupted when his door suddenly opened. Another student in a red uniform entered his room. He had short black hair, a plain Duel Disk on his arm, and was carrying a suitcase behind him. He closed the door and looked up at Elliot. "Oh, hey!" he said with a smile.
"Hey," Elliot mumbled back. "I guess you're my roommate this year."
"Looks like it." He put down his suitcase and started to open it. "I'm Mason Rehn."
"Elliot Harris."
"Nice to meet you," Mason said with a smile. Elliot didn't smile back. Mason's happiness was upsetting him even more. "Are you a freshman too?"
"No, I'm a sophomore," Elliot replied. I can't believe this. They roomed me with a freshman.
Mason slowly and carefully removed a box from his suitcase. He brought it over to one of the desks in their room and set it down. Elliot noticed that there it had been locked with a keypad. He considered asking Mason about it, but chose not to. He just wanted to be alone right now.
"Hey, I heard they've opened the card shop early and they're having a sale," Mason said. "I think I'm gonna go. You wanna come along?"
"Eh, I don't think so. I'd rather just stay-" Elliot's voice trailed off as he was distracted by noise from outside their room.
"What's that sound?" Mason asked.
Elliot hopped down from his bunk to investigate. They both exited the room. As he looked down from the balcony to the grounds outside the Slifer Red dorm, he could tell what all the commotion was about. Several Obelisk Blues and couple of Ra Yellows were spectating a Duel. They were chanting "slaughter" as one of the older Obelisk students was dueling a Slifer.
"Why are they chanting 'slaughter?'" Mason asked.
Elliot looked at him. "I'm surprised you managed to avoid it. Welcome to the Slifer Slaughter. Supposedly, it started a few years back when some Blues decided it'd be fun to take on all the new Slifer freshmen and humiliate them. Now it's practically a school tradition."
They looked down at the Duel going on below them. Elliot immediately recognized the dark blue-haired Obelisk student. "That's Kaesa," he said to Mason. "He's one of the top students here. He's a Junior, and he's good. He's got a nasty deck of dragon cards."
Elliot looked at the field. Kaesa was winning. He still had all 4000 of his Life Points, while the Slifer girl he was dueling against had only 600 left. He could tell that the Duel was just about over.
"My turn!" Kaesa said as he drew a card. "I activate the Spell card Dragon's Mirror, which lets me banish the dragons in my Graveyard to summon my Five Headed Dragon!" The giant monster appeared on the field. The Slifer girl was visibly horrified as the monster used its 5000 Attack Points to defeat her.
The crowd cheered Kaesa on as the Slifer girl fell on her knees, trying her best to hold back tears. One of the Obelisk Blue girls ran up and kissed him on the cheek. Elliot recognized her as well. She was Lodus, Kaesa's girlfriend. Kaesa laughed. "Oh, please. Your cards are garbage. They could never beat me."
"Hey!" Mason yelled from the balcony. Elliot looked in horror as all eyes shifted toward him and his new roommate. This cannot end well. "All cards are valuable."
"Oh, yeah?" Kaesa grinned. "Well I think she's got about forty of them that disprove that theory." The crowd backing him up laughed.
Mason began to walk down the stairs toward him. "Is this really what you do with your time? You duel inexperienced freshmen to try and prove that you're better?"
Kaesa got closer and stood over Mason. This is either going to end in a fistfight or Duel. "You think you can beat me and my all-powerful deck?"
Mason smiled. "You don't think all cards are valuable? I'll tell you what. I bet I could beat you with a deck made from random cards I get at the card shop tonight."
Kaesa laughed. "Alright. Tomorrow night at the Duel Arena in the main hall. I'll humiliate you in front of the whole school."
"I'll see you there," Mason said confidently. He walked over to the Slifer girl and whispered something to her. She wiped her eyes and ran to the Slifer Red girl's dorm. Mason started back up the stairs toward the balcony.
"Good luck!" Lodus shouted sarcastically. "Not that it'll save you!"
Elliot quickly approached Mason as he reached the balcony. "Are you out of your mind? You're only in Slifer Red and you just challenged one of the best Obelisk Blues to a Duel?"
"Come on," Mason said. "Let's go to the card shop."