Here is the first chapter of my first serious fic. Please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh Gx, but I do own the characters used here.

Chapter 1

Alchemist's Promise

10 years ago

The stars were bright in the inky black of the night sky and fireflies danced over the long grass of a meadow. The air smelled of summer. A sudden explosion caused the fireflies to scatter away from the source of the noise. In the middle of the meadow were two people, one was a man of about twenty and the other was a young boy of no more than five. The man had wild red hair and eyes that matched. He was dressed in a black t-shirt with blue jeans and black boots. On his arm was an Academy duel disc. The boy had short black hair that was well kept and frosty blue eyes. He was dressed in a navy blue windbreaker and brown cargo shorts with white sneakers. On the young one's arm was a Battle City duel disc.

The field stood like this. On the boy's side was Des Koala (1100/1800) in face up defense mode. There were no spells or traps on his field, he had one card in his hand, and he only had 1000 life points left. On the man's side there was one Giant Orc (2200/0) in attack mode, two card face down, four cards in his hand, and he had 7000 life points. It was the boy's turn.

The young man's face fell as he eyed his two cards. The man yawned in a smug way and said, "Hurry up, boy, I haven't got all night." The boy growled at him and yelled, "Shut up! I will beat you and get my daddy's soul back!" The man chuckled and replied "Foolish little boy, even if you do get Dr. Hirosh's soul back it won't matter. I have already turned his body over to my master."

The boy began to sob and shake and shouted, "No! You're lying!" He slapped a card on his disc and a horizontal back card appeared. "One monster in face down defense mode! Turn over." The man chuckled as he drew his next card and glanced at it before he inserted it into his spell and trap card zone. "I activate a spell card called Storm of Meteors. It destroys all cards on the field and inflicts 300 points of damage to each of us for each card destroyed. So that means I win, tough luck brat." As the man said this all cards on the field were shattered into pixels and a barrage of fireballs slammed from the sky into both duelists. The man barely flinched but the boy got blown back into the air and landed a few feet away.

As the young boy's counter hit zero he hunched over on the ground crying his poor little heart out. The man walked over to him and said in false sympathy, "Aw, poor little brat. Here's something to remember your father by." The man threw a long, black overcoat over the boy. The coat had many pockets, and a huge blood stain on the front.

The boy began to cry harder. "Th..th..this is daddy's coat." The man chuckled again. "Correct, brat. Let that smell of your father's blood be a reminder, don't cross the Shadow Company," and in a gust of wind the man was gone.

The boy was still laying there crying when his wandering hand felt into a pocket of the grim coat and pulled out a duel monsters deck. The boy stopped for a moment and finally said. "Daddy, these cards must be the ones you told me about. I promise that I will find a way to revive you, body and soul. I promise you as an alchemist!"

Present day

A gentle sea breeze wafted across the docks. It teased the teen's short black hair and long black overcoat. He gazed with his blue eyes at the domed building situated on its own dock. It was a mostly white building but the dome had red, yellow, and blue stripes on it. Across the entrance was a banner that said, "Welcome Central Duel Academy Applicants! Please sign in at the lobby."

The young man entered through the sliding doors and walked up to the reception desk and talked to the girl behind it was wearing a white uniform shirt with no sleeves and yellow trim and yellow miniskirt to match. "I'm Joshua Hirosh and I'm here to take the duel portion of the entrance exam." The girl shuffled through some papers and said, "OK, Mr. Hirosh. But, you're fifteen minutes late."

Joshua lost his previous cool demeanor and anime fell, causing the reception girl to sweat drop. "WHAAAAAAT!?" exclaimed Joshua. He checked his watch and the clock on the wall. "Damn! My watch is late. I knew I shouldn't have used it to support my coffee table!" The receptionist sweat dropped bigger this time.

Just then one of the two doors on either side of the reception desk opened and a beautiful woman walked out. She looked about twenty-five with brown hair that was about shoulder length. She had hazel eyes under small glasses and she was wearing the same uniform as the receptionist. Josh stopped and stared at the "gifted" woman as any man would, until she spoke and brought him back to earth. "What is all the ruckus out here?"

she asked.

"Please, mam, I really need to get into this school. I'll do anything!" replied the panicking teenager. The attractive woman thought for a moment until she finally answered, "OK, you may take the exam. But you must agree to these conditions. First, you will enter at the lowest rank, even if you win. Second, you will duel me. Finally, I will be using my real deck, not an exam deck. Do you agree to the conditions?" Joshua nodded his head desperately. "Good, meet me at arena four in five minutes."

The examination area was a huge stadium. It consisted of hundreds of seats in a circle going very far up around an area of ten duel fields. All the occupants of the stadium were chattering among themselves until a jingle over the intercom indicated an announcement was being made. "Attention. We are sorry for the delay, but there is one more duel to be conducted. Please turn your attention to duel field four so as to watch this duel. Thank you.

Up near the top seats was boy who was about the same age as Josh. He had short, dirty blonde hair and coal black eyes. He was wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform jacket and long, grey dress pants. On either side of him were two burly Obelisk Blue boys and surrounding him was a fandom of girls and suck ups. "Humph," he snorted in an arrogant way, "Why should I have to stick around for some loser who can't even be on time?" His fan club chorused their agreement.

A little below the "popular" teen was girl sitting quite by herself who also looked about Joshua's age. She did not have a uniform yet, but instead wore a plain blue t-shirt and tasteful brown shorts that at her knees. She had short, black hair that hung a little past her ears and pale green eyes. She was drumming her fingers nervously on the seat in front of her. When Joshua entered the arena she started blushing. "Oh..dear…"

Near the bottom row of seats sat two boys with the second year Obelisk Blue uniform. One had his feet up on the chair in front of him and appeared to be napping. He had shaggy brown hair and was wearing a black muscle shirt underneath his opened jacket with loose black pants. The other was sitting upright in his seat with his arms crossed. He had a shaved head with a hint of red stubble of hair and cool green eyes. With his buttoned up uniform jacket he had green camouflage pants and black combat boots. The apparently napping one asked, "What's going on, Al?," without even opening his eyes. The one addressed as Al responded, "Not much, Mer, just some late guy some how getting in. I'll alert you if anything interesting happens."

Back in the arena Josh slipped his freshly shuffled deck into its slot in the Academy duel disc he had been issued. "By the way," he began as he disc hummed to life, "What is your name sensei?" The woman responded, "Temari Takasha," as she too slipped her deck into her duel disc. Joshua bowed quickly, "Thank you for dueling me, Takasha-sensei."

"DUEL!" TLP 8000 JLP 8000

"The applicant goes first," Temari stated drawing her first five cards. "Thank you Temari-sensei," responded Josh as he drew six cards. The teen scanned his hand for a moment before he selected a card and slapped it on his disc. "I summon Alchemist Hero Gold Breaker (1500/1300) in attack mode." As Josh said this a brilliant golden light filled the arena. From the light emerged a tall man with blonde hair wearing a thick, golden chest plate that covered his torso and arms and green pants with black boots. On the arms of his armor were two red transmutation circles.

"Mer, you may want to take a look at this," said Al as he shook his companion. Mer sat up and chuckled at what he saw on the duel field. "Well, looks like that other Alchemist set has turned up."

Temari froze in shock for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "It seems you have some rare cards there." The teen just nodded as he pulled two more cards from his hand. "Now I set two spells or traps and end my turn." Temari pulled her next card out and almost immeadialty played it and a magician with a blue cloak and cowl carrying a staff appeared. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode." The professor pulled another card from her hand and slipped it into the disc which made a spell card that showed a magical aura being drained away from the Dark Magician. "I'm also activating a spell card known as Spell Absorption (spell counters 1). Now, every time a spell is activated I gain 500 life points." She pointed at Joshua's monster. "Attack my sorcerer!"

The magician raised his staff which caused purple lightning to fall from the sky toward the Alchemist Hero. Just before the lightning hit one of Joshua's face downs went active to reveal an iron maiden with many vines wrapped around it and a blue transmutation circle on it. "I activate my trap which is called Transmutation of Energy! Here is what happens, when you attack an Alchemist or Alchemist Hero then I can negate the attack and summon a new monster from my deck as long as it is level 4 or below."

The dark lightning disappeared into the iron maiden. The transmutation circle on it began to glow and the device opened to reveal a young woman with a long, silver cloak that partially covered her slim body. She had silver boots, a sliver miniskirt, a silver shirt, silver eyes, and long silver hair that fell to her waist. In her hands was a staff that pictured the kanji symbols of earth, water, fire, and wind. Joshua threw his free hand in the air, "I choose my Alchemist Hero Element Enchantress (1700/400)!" There were a few catcalls from the audience which caused Joshua and his monsters to sweat drop. The Alchemist user coughed nervously before continuing, "Anyway, on to her effect." The kanji on the enchantress' staff began to glow white and four cards shot from the boy's deck to his hand.

"Whenever my enchantress is summoned I get to add one monster each of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind." Temari scoffed, "Whatever, it's not like I don't have a contingency plan." The proctor inserted another card into her disc. "I place one spell or trap face down and end my turn."

The coal-eyed boy was leaning forward in his seat. "I can't believe this guy has an Alchemist set!" One of his burly lackeys grinned stupidly at him. "Don't worry, Roji, he could never beat you." Roji glared at him with murder in his eyes. "What did you call me?" The lackey stepped back and held his hands up in a defensive manner. "I…I…I..meant…Mr. Kimaru. Sorry, sir." Roji sulked back in his seat and snorted, "That's what I thought you said."

Joshua drew his next card and looked at it. He smiled and said, "Well, Takasha-sensei, looks like I win." The woman professor's face distorted in confusion for a moment and then she said, "How? No life points have been lost." Joshua chuckled and only replied mysteriously, "You'll see in a minute, but first I have to activate my Gold Breaker's effect!" The gold armored monster began to shine with a golden light. "By removing him from play I can special summon four monsters from my hand." Temari shouted, "That has to be a broken card!" Joshua shook his index finger at her. "You didn't let me finish. Those monsters all have to be different attributes and I have to surrender half of my life points But, neither of those is a problem since I got four different attribute monsters from my enchantress and I have all my life points." (JLP 4000) "So now, I summon Alchemist Hero Steel Fighter (1800/1800), Alchemist Hero Aqua Hunter (1000/0), Alchemist Hero Dragon Tamer (1400/1150), and Alchemist Hero Storm Rider (1500/1400)!"

The monsters appeared one by one. The first was a young man who looked about 18. He had an earth green martial arts uniform with orange boots, unkempt black hair and steel gloves with green transmutation circles.

The second monster was another young woman who also looked 18. She had sea blue hair that was up in a bun and kept together with chopsticks. She was wearing a blue kimono that pictured various colorful fish and wooden sandals. In her right hand was a long spear with a blue transmutation circle on the head.

The third monster was a handsome man in his thirties with hair that was colored like flames. He wore red armor with a dragon silhouette pictured on it, tight, orange pants, and charcoal colored shoes. He had a whip that was covered in orange transmutation circles.

The last monster was another man in his thirties. This one had spiky green hair and a bird feather behind one ear. He had a grey, tattered cape over a sleeveless grey shirt and baggy blue pants. On the feather behind his ear was a grey transmutation circle.

The proctor raised her eyebrow. "I still don't see how this helps you win." Joshua chuckled yet again. "I'm still not done." He raised his hand towards his monsters. "You see," he continued, "Alchemists and Alchemist Heroes are able to fuse without a fusion card. I can simply remove the monsters I need from play." As he said this a blue transmutation circle appeared beneath Aqua Hunter and Strom Rider.

Both monsters sank into the ground and from the circle emerged a new monster. It was a tall man in his thirties. He had blue and green striped hair that fell to his shoulders and covered one eye. He wore a grey tattered cape on the back of which was a giant blue transmutation circle. Under that was a grey sleeveless shirt and baggy blue pants.

"I fusion summon Typhoon Alchemist (2600/2000)!" proclaimed the teen duelist. "Now I play the spell card Brave Ambush!" The spell card pictured several warriors hiding in the trees with various weapons about to jump out on Roman soldiers. "Before you ask, this card is a little like Brave Attack," explained Josh, "with a difference. It combines all my monsters' attack points for a direct attack, but I have to cut their powers in half."

"Sorry to disappoint you," scoffed Temari, "but your no where near defeating me with that move." "Sorry to disappoint you, but Typhoon Alchemist has a special ability. He blows away the cost of one spell card per turn."

The fusion monster sent out a wave of air making the spell card hologram waver for a moment then regain form. "So now," Josh continued, "all of my monsters get to attack you directly."

Temari gulped, "That will do a lot of damage but you still won't win." Joshua scoffed, "You got me there, or you would were it not for Steel Fighter's special ability. You see, when he attacks my opponent's life points directly he gains 1000 attack points and is destroyed at the end of the turn. But that won't matter because I just won."

All four of the monsters jumped towards the female duelist. Steel Fighter jumped high then slammed his foot into the ground sending rocks flying toward his target. Dragon Tamer cracked his whip in the air to create a storm of fireballs. Element Enchantress held up her staff and summoned a stream of dirt, water, flames, and wind. The final attack came from Typhoon Alchemist, he spun around at high speeds to create a massive storm complete with cracking lightning, fierce winds, and pouring rain. That last attack even forced some members of the audience to hold on to their seats.

As the clouds cleared Temari was revealed to be hunched over, holding her stomach. "Well, Mr. Hirosh," she choked out, "welcome to the Central Duel Academy."

At those words the audience of students and faculty burst out in cheers and applause. Caught up in the excitement Joshua flashed a double victory sign with an ear to ear smile.

The lone girl was among those clapping. "Oh, Joshua Hirosh. You are so confident and strong a..a..and handsome." She blushed even at the thought.

Roji Kimaru sulked in his chair and grumbled to himself. "That guy. He's a threat for my position as Kaiser."

The two known as Al and Mer were also clapping. "Well, Al, looks like we might get some challenge this year after all," said Mer with a grin. "Indeed, this one seems quite promising," responded Al with a smirk.

From his place in the arena Joshua was still doing victory poses. "I did it dad. I'm one step closer to finding a way to get you a back. Are you proud of me?"

Original Card Stats (In order of appearance)

Storm of Meteors/Spell: Destroy all cards on the field and inflict 300 points of damage to each player for every card destroyed

Image: Many meteors falling from the sky and hitting a small village.

Alchemist Hero Gold Breaker/Warrior/Light/4 stars/ATK 1500/DEF 1300/Effect: By removing this face up card on your side of the field from play you are allowed to special summon up to four monsters from your hand. You must also pay half of your life points and all four monsters must have different attributes.

Image: A tall man with blonde hair wearing a thick golden chest plate that covers his torso and arms and green pants with black boots. On each of the arms is a red transmutation circle.

Transmutation of Energy/Trap: When your opponent attacks an 'Alchemist' or 'Alchemist Hero' you may negate the attack. You may also special summon a level four or lower monster from your deck.

Image: An iron maiden with many vines wrapped around it and a blue transmutation circle on it

Alchemist Hero Element Enchantress/Spellcaster/Light/4 stars/ATK 1700/DEF 400/Effect: Whenever this monster is normal, flip, or special summoned you may add 1 monster each of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind from your deck to your hand.

Image: A young woman with a silver cloak that covers her slim body. She has a silver shirt, silver miniskirt, silver boots, silver eyes, and silver hair that falls to her waist. She is holding a staff that pictures the kanji symbols for earth, water, fire, and wind.

Alchemist Hero Steel Fighter/Warrior/Earth/4 stars/ATK 1800/DEF 1800/Effect: Whenever this monster attacks your opponent directly this monster gains 1000 ATK. Destroy this monster at the end of the turn this effect is activated.

Image: A young man of about 18 with unruly black hair. He has a green martial arts uniform with orange boots. On both of his hands are steel gloves with green transmutation circles on them.

Alchemist Hero Aqua Hunter/Warrior/Water/3 stars/ATK 1000/DEF 0/Effect: When this monster is normal summoned you may remove all other monsters on the field from play.

Image: A young woman of about 18 with blue hair held in a bun by two chopsticks. She is wearing a blue kimono that pictures many colorful fish and wooden sandals. Her weapon is a long spear that has a blue transmutation circle on the head.

Alchemist Hero Dragon Tamer/Warrior/Fire/4 stars/ ATK 1400/DEF 1150/ Effect: If this monster is destroyed in battle you may choose to remove it from play to add two 'Alchemist' or 'Alchemist Hero' monsters from your removed from play pile to your hand. You may not choose this card.

Image: A handsome man in his thirties with hair colored like flames. He has red armor with a dragon silhouette on it, tight orange pants, and charcoal colored shoes. In his hands he holds a whip with many orange transmutation circles on it.

Alchemist Hero Storm Rider/Warrior/Wind/4 stars/ATK 1500/DEF 1400/Effect: When this card is removed from play you may choose to return all spell and trap cards on the field to their owner's hands.

Image: A man in his thirties with a bird feather behind one ear. He has a grey, tattered cape over a grey sleeveless shirt and baggy blue pants. On the feather behind his ear is a grey transmutation circle.

Typhoon Alchemist/Warrior/Water/6 stars/ATK 2600/DEF 2000/Fusion/Effect: (Alchemist Hero Aqua Hunter + Alchemist Hero Storm Rider) You may fusion summon this monster by removing the above material monsters on your side of the field from play. Once per turn you may negate the cost of 1 spell card.

Image: A tall man in his thirties with blue and green striped hair that falls to his shoulders and covers one eye. He wears a grey tattered cape with a big, blue transmutation circle on the back. Under that he wears a grey sleeveless shirt and baggy blue pants.