(Feel free to skip this, just a little explanation)
Hello to all in Fanficland, and thanks for giving this little fic a try. Although I am about 4 years late, I recently got back into Yu-Gi-Oh and in particular, GX. This story came about watching season 3 and hearing about Duel Academy's "Worldwide Branches". Needless to say, it got my overactive mind whirring. As stated in the summary this is a story based in an alternative universe, I apologize if you prefer your fanfic tea with a nice dose of current timeline but needless to say, I going to use that as a bit of a jump rope through the course of this. Before we get going here's a little information. This is set at the same time as GX, from the very beginning, so depending on how this plays out, this may be a bit long. Also, all the characters for the first few chapters will be OCs but Yu-gi-oh and GX characters will have a heavy role in this story, as it should be. Feel free to review with any questions, comments, or concerns but I hope you will enjoy it all in all. And now, let's begin GX: Parallel Journey
Ch 1
A New Journey Dawns
The morning air blew through Vision City, steady, crisp, and mellow reflecting the end of summer and beginning of autumn. The city may have been young, as reflected by the skyscrapers almost futuristic designs and numerous large cranes littered about the miles of land testified, but the monumental population and the differing ages of the citizens in the central park alone showed that new or not, many found peace an joy in the young city.
In the middle of said park, on a white bench with swirling arm rests sat a young, fidgeting girl. She looked around anxiously, her long, silver hair bobbing back and forth as she switched between looking at her cell phone and the walking path in front of her. Her teal eyes darted around, searching for something, actually someone.
"Where is she?" she wondered, "If we wait any longer we are going to be late for the entrance exams!" she swung her legs nervously, a habit she's had since she was a little child...Well a child, she was still technically 'little',"I knew I should have been the one to pick her up, she's never on time! You would think that she would at least take today seriously! After all, today is the day we test to get into-"
"Pardon me." her frantic thoughts were interrupted by a low, smooth voice. She had to look up to make sure she was being spoken to, the voice was surprisingly calming, despite her current state of affairs. Sure enough, a strange boy stood by the bench, he was dressed in a black jacket, royal purple shirt and black slacks. She blinked, taking a moment to register his garb
"That's a pretty shirt." she mused, "But the rest of that has to be rather uncomfortable, it's still summer..."
"I beg your pardon, but could I ask you a question?" She snapped out of her stupor, and looked up to see the source of the question. She was greeted by a boy with silver eyes, striking by themselves but made more so being contrasted with snowy white hair that fell to just above his shoulders. Around his neck hung a necklace, It appeared to be a sun but colored jet black.
"That's weird..."
"I was wondering if you know where the entrance exams are being held today." she snapped back into reality, and blinked at him and he returned the gesture, "...I apologize, I thought you may know seeing as you have a duel disk..." he said pointing to the device, "...But it appears that I'm just wasting your time, I suppose that I will-"
"No!" she stopped him, he raised his eyebrows in surprise, "No, I mean...Yes, I do know where they are. I'm sorry, I'm just a little flustered, I am actually waiting on a friend so we can go there together,"
"Oh, wonderful then." he said, despite the nice remark his face remained relatively stoic, "Could you please tell me the direction? I didn't call in before hand so I have to sign in before I can take the exam." he ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, "Actually, if you're going there as well, I would be happy to accompany you." She blinked at his offer, he was really polite even if his body language didn't show it.
"Thank you, but I, uh, actually promised my friend to wait for her here." she replied lowering her heard
"If she ever gets here..."
"Very well then, could you at least point me in the direction of the exam hall? I'm new to the city so I'm a bit lost." he explained, she nodded.
"Sure, it actually just a bit further downtown." she pointed to the west, "It's in an area that's called 'The Circle' all the past exams have been there."
"My thanks." he stated, reaching down to pick up an object wrapped in a dark cloth. He slung it over his shoulder, "I hope to see you again when you get there." he walked off towards to park gate, "Have a good day until then."
"Okay, I'll see you there!" she called back, then something struck her, "Wait! What's your..." however, he was past the gate and crossing traffic, to far to hear her, "...name?"
Time rolled on, the girl sighed checking her watch "I will try calling her one more time, and then I am going to have to go without her..."
"Luna!" she looked up to see a girl running towards her. The girl was waving happily, dressed in blue skirt, blouse, and white shirt, her brunette hair flowing in the wind behind her.
"Hello, Roxy!" she stood up waving back. The brunette slowed down as she reached her friend and then rested on her knees, breathing and exhaling deeply.
"Sorry...for being...so late..." she stammered between breaths, "But...I had to...go back and...get my...duel disk!" she finished standing up and putting her hands above her head.
"Um, you know they provide duel disks at the exam right?" Luna inquired, Roxy nearly fell to the ground.
"Really? I'm this late for nothing?" she exclaimed shaking her head, "Ergh!...Fine! Whatever, let's just get going, or we're going to be late." she sighed and began walking away, beckoning for her friend to follow, "Besides, we wanna get there in time to see if that guy everyone is talking about will show."
"Who?" Luna asked, clearly oblivious. Roxy blinked at her friend, "You seriously don't know? remember at the end of the school year? There was a rumor that the kid of the 'Game Master' was going to try and enroll at our academy!"
"Game Master? You mean the King of Games?" Luna asked puzzled, she thought that the King of Games was to young to have a kid, especially one old enough to test to get into their academy. Roxy shook her head,
"No, you see there was this guy who was some sort of prodigy when he was a kid. He became a world champion at all sorts of different games, from simple board games to chess and the like." she explained, "And he did it all before he was even fifteen, then Duel Monsters came out and he became one of the earliest champions of the game, you know, in the days before holograms and duel disks." Luna looked at her friend incredulously,
"He sounds amazing, but I've never heard of him before..."
"Doesn't surprise me, after all, when Yugi and Kaiba came along they pretty much rocked the whole Duel Monsters world, but more importantly, this Game Master retired by that time." they reached the exit, crossing the street, "You see, he had a son, though no one knows by who, and that's the kid everyone is talking about."
"Oh..." Luna murmured,
"After hearing that all you can say is 'Oh'?" Roxy looked at her friend half-annoyed, "Well, you should hear what else they're saying about this kid."
"What's that?"
"They say that he's just as good as his Dad, and apparently he has some sort of super secret deck that his father won in a tournament that predated Duelist Kingdom."
"His father just let him have it?"
"Who knows?" Roxy shrugged, "But I hear...that he actually inherited the deck from his father's will."
"His father died?" Luna gasped, now engrossed by Roxy's tale, "That's...horrible."
"Actually..." Roxy began, clicking a street crossing switch, "He didn't 'die', at least, it's not known."
"What do you mean?"
"A few years ago, the manor that the they lived in caught fire, everything was all but burned to the ground. They boy survived, but when they went searching for the body of the Game Master, they couldn't find anything. Most just assumed he died in the blaze, but the boy swore that his father wasn't caught in the fire, in fact..." she turned to Luna raising her arms and making claws with her hands, "...He said his father was taken...by a monster!" Luna's eyes widened, Roxy turned back, "Anyway, he apparently decided to go to some boarding school rather than be adopted by his relatives. He graduated from there last year and the rumor is he decided to test here."
Luna's mind swirled, taking in all that was said and letting her mind wander, "I wonder if...any of that is true." she closed her eyes, "If so, then this kid may be great duelist, but he's a great duelist without a father..." something caught her eye, Luna looked up to a tree who's leaves had paled to a light yellow, autumn was close signaling the end of the bright, happy days of summer. Luna looked around, "Hey, this isn't downtown." she looked to Roxy who was arching her eyebrow, puzzled.
"You're just now noticing that?"
"Roxy! We're already late! We gotta get to the Exam Hall!"
"I know, it's over there." Roxy pointed to a giant dome in the distance, it's colors radiated and the glass shimmering in the light of the sun.
"Vision Arena?"
"Yeah, didn't you know that they changed the exam hall destination this year because there was a surplus of applications this year?"
"They...did?" something crossed Luna's mind, a dark figure with silver eyes, "Then that means...the boy from before..."
"Nothing seems to be going well for me today." a low voice muttered, holding on to a trolly pole as the car bumped to and fro, "Getting all the way to that exam hall just to find out that they changed it this year only...wonderful."
"Excuse me." the stranger looked down to see the curious face of a small child pulling on his jacket.
"Yes?"
"Are you a duelist?" he asked, pointing to the deck box barely visible underneath the rim of his jacket.
"As long as the definition hasn't changed recently."
"COOL!" the small boy's curious stare changed to one of amazement, "I'm gonna be one to when I grow up! I've been training really hard too!" the dark haired boy gave the child an amused look.
"That's good, I'm glad you've found something that you love so early."
"Oh, you bet!" reaching into his pockets and bringing out a deck, "I just finished my deck yesterday, I'm actually going to go meet my friends at the school and duel!" however, the enthusiastic outburst was followed by a depressed stupor, "I just wish I had a duel disk like my friends do..."
"Why don't you?" the stranger asked, "Kaibacorp offers a couple of pretty affordable models, I'm sure if you saved up..."
"No it's not that...My parents don't think I'm ready for one, they're worried that the holograms will scare me." he said with a small sniffle, "But I know I'm ready! I just with I could show them, and my friends that I'm not just a scaredy cat anymore!"
The stranger chuckled, this kid was amusing, but he had heart. He reached down and picked up his pack, unwrapping it. "I'll tell you what, why don't you show them with this?" he said handing him a white and blue duel disk.
The kid's eyes widened, "Seriously?"
"Just promise me that you won't be scared, that you will show all those that don't believe in you that you can conquer you fears." the stranger offered the boy the duel disk.
"Of course, you bet!" the boy nodded furiously taking the machine, "But...wait, what about you? Don't you need a duel disk?"
"Don't worry about me..." bringing out a sharp edged, black and silver machine from his pack. He let the dark cloth that was previously wrapped around it fall to the floor, "...I'll be fine." he looked outside the trolly, a large dome loomed in the distance, "Well, there it is."
"Huh?" the boy looked out, "Vision Arena? That's where those duel exams are being held." he smiled, "One day I hope I can duel in there." the stranger looked at him,
"You know, I said something like that when I was your age." he let go of the pole, and walked to the edge of the trolly's exit door. He placed the duel disk onto his arm, locking the bracer in place, "I'm afraid this is my stop." The boy looked at him like he was crazy,
"Nuh uh, the next stop is at the school." the stranger slid open the door and looked back at the boy.
"Not for me." he said, and leaped from the trolly.
The new exam destination was the Vision Stadium, to some it seemed to be overkill, but on the inside it seemed like no other place could be a better destination. The field was separated into 20 different sections, the faculty hoped that this would make the process speedy and efficient, and it had, but not as planned.
"We have quite a few hopefuls this year." Overseer Mia mused looking at the large crowed in the stands opposite her, "It's been a long morning, but eventful, I'm excited." she said smiling.
"I'm more concerned with the quality of the hopefuls rather than the quantity." Professor Sasha muttered, his arms folded and a half burned through cigarette held between his index and middle fingers, "I cannot say I have been to impressed with the overall abilities of the students I've seen so far."
"You taking this to seriously Sasha." Mia pouted, "We're not here to judge them, we're here to challenge them, these are the next great duelists! Isn't it exciting?"
"Your optimism is almost suffocating, Overseer Mia." Sasha grumbled, taking a drag from his cigarette and adjusting his shades, "I will say that we at least have a clear leader for the new years." he said pointing across the stadium, "Lyserg Leveque, not only did he have the highest marks in the written and practical tests, but I saw his dueling and it's superb."
"Well, that is true..." Mia replied, crossing her arms and staring at the boy Sasha was referring to, "...But I also saw that his dueling was destructive, not only that, but he seemed to be a bit full of himself."
"More than a couple hundred peons with hopeful dreams and naïve wonder. To bad it's all for not." a cocky smirk worked it's way across his face, his eyes hidden behind long, dark bangs, "Whether you make it or not, all of you are nothing compared to me, the great Lyserg." he closed his eyes and shook his head, "No, the great Machina!" he chuckled and looked back to the field, at the latest testers, his eyes focusing on a girl with silver hair. "Hmm, unless I'm mistaken, and I never am, that is Luna Molyneux." he leaned back, stretching his arms across the empty chairs on either side of him, "The little sister of His Infernal Majesty." he watched as the duel proctor's Cybernetic Fiend destroyed some fairy monster on her field, "Well, you certainly wouldn't know it by her dueling." his eyes widened as Cybernetic Fiend began to glow and dissolve to dust, then a trap was activated on Luna's field, a white-cloaked figure holding a staff appeared and attacked, depleting the proctor's lifepoints, "...Interesting." he leaned back, staring at the ceiling, "Perhaps she may not be so disposable after all." he chuckled, "However, she should get comfortable staying in her brother's shadow...and mine." he looked around, the stands were becoming full, the tests were almost done. His eyes darted, teeth grinding, he was getting impatient, "I had better not be staying in this rat hole for no reason." his arms remained outstretched, he began rapidly taping his fingers on the hard material on the back of the chair, "Come on out, son of the Game Master..." he looked to the arena floor as the last tests began, "...I want to know if you'll be worth my time."
"Ello' der Roxy." a voice called out in a think Island accent, "How ya been?"
"Hey Deval!" Roxy waved walking up to her friend, "Have you already dueled?"
"Absolutely." he nodded, dreads bobbing back and forth, "Pity ya missed it, it was certainly a sight to see"
"Yeah, sorry, I ran a bit late." Roxy apologized, rubbing the back of her head.
"I would wait for you as long as need be my dove." a smooth voice replied, as the owner embraced the girl from behind. Roxy continued to smile but gritted her teeth.
"Sephir, what's my policy on you touching me?" she asked happily, balling up her fists, "Don't do it." and in one swift motion bashed the boy behind her. He tumbled to the floor, shades falling off as he was painfully stopped by the railings
"OW! Hey! No need to be so rough!" Sephir whined as he picked up his shades and placed them back on his face, "Unless that's just what you like..."
"The only thing I 'like' right now is the image of your face black and blue." she said, her previously happy demeanor now replaced by the face of someone pretty pissed.
"Ello' Luna, good job durin' ya duelin'!" Deval called out to the girl as she climbed the steps. She was greeted to the image of the happy islander and Roxy holding Sephir in a headlock.
"Thank you Deval, I hope I did well enough to get in with you guys." she said walking up to them, "But it's pretty hard to start in the Baron class."
"Don't worry about it Luna." Roxy huffed as she tightened her grip on Sephir, "I mean if lover-boy here can get in you shouldn't have a problem."
"THaT's...RIghT!" Sephir choked out between his struggles, "BEsiDes! SinCE you ArE...WOULD YOU PLEASE LET ME GO?" Roxy gave up her grip as Sephir slumped to the floor, gasping for breath, "Besides...considering who your...brother is...that has...to be helpful..." he added, gasping.
"Yeah...I suppose..." Luna whispered, voice hushed with melancholy, she looked out to the duel arena, "By the way, have any of you seen a white-haired boy with silver eyes duel yet?" the group looked at her.
"Can't sey I have." Deval shrugged.
"Me either." Roxy concurred.
"Why do you ask little Luna? Boyfriend?" Sephir nudged, as Roxy loomed over him.
"No, No! It's not that it's..." she drifted off looking at the field, "I kind of gave him the wrong directions earlier...and I don't want him to be disqualified because of me."
"Ah, makes since." Deval nodded, "But cha betta hope he gets here soon, I tink de tests are almost ova."
"What!"
The stranger hurried into the arena, he was already late to begin, but now he was in danger of being disqualified. His only hope, according to the sign-in clerk, was to go and find an overseer and see if they will schedule a quick match. A part of him wanted to blame the girl in the park for giving him the wrong directions, but he knew better, if he had put any forethought into this he would have brought a map and looked up the directions earlier.
"Oh well, I guess I get to be captain hindsight for a day" he thought rushing through the double doors that led into the stands. "Late enough to almost be disqualified for dueling exams, I bet there is no other kid that's in this predicament..." he looked around at the stands, he was surrounded by other applicants, "Damn..." he cursed looking for the overseers, he looked across the arena and spotted several adults across the way, "That's probably them..." he ran down the circular path to the other side of the arena.
"Well he's sure in a hurry." Sephir motioned below, "He is pretty late though, I would be to."
"Hey Luna, is that him?" Roxy asked, noting the boy's dark hair and silver eyes, "Not bad..." Luna looked over the side of the railing, her eyes widening.
"It is!" she exclaimed, she looked over to where he was headed, "I'll be right back!" she shouted as she ran off.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Roxy called after her.
"Well that seems to be about it." Mia muttered as she checked the attendance list, "All the sign-ins have been tested, guess we should get around to starting the closing announcements."
"Appears so, a pity really" Sasha muttered, lighting up a new cigarette, "I was hoping that child would come." he said pointing to a name on the list.
"Whoa! He was going to come to our school? I guess he must have found a better one if he's not here." she huffed, "I guess it really is a pity, it would have been great for our school to have someone like that..." Sasha nodded picking up the list and looking at the name, "The child of the Game Master, Ciel Noir."
"Pardon me!" A ragged voice called out, the Overseer's turned and saw a white haired boy walking up to them, "I apologize for being so late, however, I was told that I may still be able to test if I spoke with you." he said, despite the frantic explanation he delivered it with an unearthly calm.
"Yeah you are a little late, but you caught us just in-" Mia was cut off a Sasha held up his hand, he adjusted his shades and looked at the boy.
"Running late is not a good first impression." he replied stoically, "May I have a reason why we should allow you this chance?"
"It's not my habit to show up late, however-"
"Professor Sasha!" all parties turned to look up at the girl almost leaping down the steps, "Professor Sasha, please allow him to test, it's my fault he's late." Sasha raised an eyebrow,
"Is that so?"
"I thank you for the assistance, but to say it's your fault is your only fault." the boy replied, shaking his head, "I could have just as easily figured it out myself if I had thought to do it."
"But I was then one that sent you downtown, your late because you went there first!" she exclaimed, the boy simply shrugged.
"...I suppose..." the boy and girl looked at the cancer-stick smoking man, "...Under the circumstances I will allow it." he crossed his arms and looked at the boy, "However, you shall be dueling me."
"Sasha!" Mia sputtered, looking at the shaded overseer in disbelief, "I don't think that's normally protocol for these things."
"That's the ultimatum, besides we do not base entrance on winning. We base it on ability, tactics, and how well they handle what ever situations applicant's are handed. This is simply one of those situations." he flipped the bangs of his hair, "What do you say?" Mia once again looked to her fellow overseer. Shaking her head is exasperation, she sighed and turned to the boy,
"I guess it's up to you." she folded her arms as she addressed the boy "Do you want to take on the challenge?" the boy, closed his eyes for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought, he looked to the female overseer and nodded,
"Of course, after all it seems fitting." the boy agreed. Sasha looked back to the other overseers, they nodded in acknowledgment and left the stands to prepare. He looked back at the boy, taking in one last drag,
"I shall meet you on the field, do hurry this time." Sasha turned and walked away, picking up a deck on the overseer's table on his way past Mia and the arena floor. Luna looked anxiously at the boy.
"I'm sorry, this is my fault."
"Like I said before, don't blame yourself." the boy looked to her, "Don't worry about me, I've certainly been though worse." he began to walk to the arena entrance, "...I do thank you though..." Luna looked at him, "...For your help, I hope to see you again." he walked away, opening the container strapped to his waist and sliding a deck of duel monsters cards out of it. Luna watched him go.
"Good luck!" she called to him, he stopped momentarily and raised his hand in acknowledgment and continued on.
"Attention all applicants!" Mia's voice rang through the arena's speakers, "I just wanted to congratulate all of you on terrific duels and to say thank you for being so patient! Also, I should mention that every single applicant here passed!" a loud cheer sounded from the east side of the arena, Mia smiled, "Before we start closing announcements, we have one last duel to get through!" the cheers have been replaced by whispers of curiosity and, in some cases, annoyance. "So please give the duelists your full attention and be a great audience and let them get their game on!" cheers again and excited chattering as most students looked to the field to see these last duelists.
"Well here weh go." Deval stated as he took his seat.
"This should be good, I mean it's Professor Sasha! He was a champion before he became a teacher here wasn't he?" Sephir stretched his arms above his head and then folded them behind his neck, "Your boyfriend had better be pretty good little Luna." Luna blushed slightly before looking to the field.
"I hope so to."
Sasha watched as the tardy applicant entered the field and walked to their section, "You are certainly making up for your initial impression, I'm impressed that you decided accept this." the boy looked at him.
"I've made my decision to go to this school, so I will certainly not back down to from any obstacle in my way." his eyes narrowed, "That includes you professor." Sasha shifted in unease.
"His entire demeanor changed." he pondered, "He's certainly going to take this seriously...good."
Sasha activated his duel disk, it's black and maroon casing shimmered under the arena lights, "Before we begin, would you please tell us your name?" The boy looked up, his duel disk activating on his hanging left arm. He raised it to chest level and looked at the overseer.
"Ciel Noir."
