Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Yu-Gi-Oh GX

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Author's Note: I will be using a ton of original cards in the duels, so if that isn't what you enjoy reading about, then choose another story, and OMR, you don't actually expect me to reveal every single detail about the main characters in the first chapter do you? Anyway, I would greatly appreciate tips on writing duels. But please don't say describe the cards more, half the time I don't even have access to pictures of the cards. I will try my best on that, but I can't promise anything more. Oh, and I'm also creating new looks for certain canon cards…because I can.

…

The car let out a horrifying screeching noise as it spun out of control, straight toward the sidewalk. Naota tried to let out a scream but it refused to escape his throat; he closed his eyes in fear, praying he would be safe. The car was heading straight toward him, but he couldn't run, his legs were far too heavy. It was a tragic accident, but that was ten-years ago. So why was it haunting his nightmares now?

...

"Ahhhhhhh," Naota screamed in horror as he woke up from his dream. He tried to shake off the icy chill that ran through his veins. He lifted his head up and noticed the entire class staring at him. He wished that this was the nightmare, but much to his chagrin, it wasn't. "Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, trying to hide his face behind his notebook.

The teacher rolled his eyes and scowled. "If you're just going to sleep in class, maybe it would be better if you didn't bother coming," Mr. Ayanami let out a long sigh and muttered something under his breath as he ran his fingers through his short white hair, something all his students recognized as a sign of his annoyance. Ayanami's annoyances were usually accompanied by extra homework, which in turn would lead to the class metaphorically crucifying the source of his annoyance.

Displeased cries of "Way to go Naota," and "Look what you did now," were erupting from the choir of students before the teacher had even announced the class's 'punishment.'

"Now class, tonight for homework I want you to do page 16, problems 1-35. This shouldn't take even the least talented of the class more than an hour to complete, and anyone with talent worth recognizing would surely be able to do the assignment in a few minutes.

Who can say why someone who clearly hated the job so much would even bother doing it?

Naota quickly jotted down the page and problem numbers before turning his attention outside. The sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight and the sun was shining brightly; days like these made Naota want to bang his head against a wall. It was only his twenty-first day at Duel Academia and he was already beginning to regret his decision to come. He woke up that morning and got ready just like usual. That involved taking a shower, brushing his short black hair free of the annoying tangles he somehow always had to deal with, forcing down whatever the Osiris Red cafeteria had cooked up for breakfast, and then running off to class. (He always reminded himself that he should brush his teeth, but he couldn't pull it off without gagging anytime the taste of toothpaste got near his tongue.) Life was boring. He had been expecting non-stop duels to come his way. He found himself thinking things like, 'Maybe I should have been late to the entrance exams so one of the teachers would have used their real deck against me, maybe then I could get someone to notice me.'

The teacher's lecture was already over so Naota quickly propped open his textbook to the assigned page. They were simple duel puzzles, revolving around various situations one might find themselves in during the duel. Each problem gave a list of your opponent's cards and your own, as well as an objective to accomplish, such as: reduce your opponent's life points to 0 or destroy all your opponent's monsters. Naota chewed on the end of his pencil as he read the first the first problem, trying to block out the complaints of everyone around him. They were all starting to irritate him.

"I was supposed to meet up with my friend after class, now I won't finish my homework until way later," one noisy Obelisk Blue grumbled to his friend. "I swear to God why does Yamaguchi always have to be such a pest annoy the teacher?"

"It's like he want to get us extra homework," the other Obelisk moaned, not bothering to hide the anger bubbling over in his voice. "I swear to God one of these days I'd like to just…." He let his friend's imagination fill in the blank.

"I can hear you, you know," Naota told the duo, hoping to Osiris they'd shut up.

"Good!" One of them snarled angrily.

"Akira, you're just mad at Naota because he beat you in that duel exam last week," yawned a girl who had obviously been paying attention to the conversation. "You're just using any excuse you can to bad mouth him." The speaker was Hikaru Reinhardt, first year Obelisk Blue student and Naota's childhood friend. Her blonde bangs fell over the front of her face, giving her a slightly menacing appearance, a look that had took her ages to pull off right. "Now shut up or I'll tell the teacher that you both have a crush on his daughter." She added with a smile.

Rumor had it the last student to develop feelings for Ayanami's daughter ended up being driven insane over the course of the school year. Apparently, Ayanami called on him in class for every answer, and severely reprimanded him whenever he gave the wrong one.

The students kept their mouths shut, Naota flashed his friend an appreciative smile, and she grinned back.

…

"So what was that scream about?" Hikaru asked after class. "Did you have that nightmare again?" She gently placed her hand over his shoulder to comfort him.

"Yeah," he admitted, hanging his head low, "the one about the car crash."

"That's the eighth time this month," Hikaru said worriedly, "Maybe you should see a counselor."

"I'm fine," he assured her.

It was a lie.

"So how do you like it here?" Hikaru asked suddenly, "Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

Naota grinned sheepishly. "Not really. I was hoping I'd really get to improve my skills here, so that I could become a pro as soon as I graduated. But I haven't learned anything. I haven't even had any good duels yet." He moaned in frustration.

"Well then why don't you duel me?" asked an unfamiliar and angry voice.

"Who're you?" Naota asked, turning to the Obelisk Blue student who had just spoken.

"My name is Uchida Akito," he said with a snarl.

Naota smiled as he recognized the name. "Come to think of it, you kind of do look like your younger brother."

Akito had a muscular build, well-tanned skin, and short spiky black hair, much like his younger brother Akira.

"So you say my brother wasn't good enough for you. Well, how about taking on a third year Obelisk Blue student like me?" Akito asked, taunting Naota. "Or are you afraid that you can't handle me? I'll even give you a handicap if you like. I'll let you start out with 8000 Life Points."

Naota excitedly reached for his deck. "Okay, I'll duel you on the condition that if I win, you have to tell all your friends that I beat you." He face lit up with confidence.

"Sure," Akito agreed. "But if I win, you have to tell your teacher that you cheated during your duel with my little brother." He shuffled his deck and slid it into his duel disk, ready to get the battle started.

Naota cringed in fear for a moment. 'If I do that, then surely I'll get expelled. Not only that, but I'll never get to become a pro if I have something like this on my permanent record.' He quickly shuffled his deck and slid it into his duel disk. The mechanical device beeped to life and transformed from its compact carrying form to its duel form, signifying the start of the battle."

He took a deep breath to regain his nerves. "G-O-O-D Luck," Naota said with a smile as he drew five cards.

"Why don't you go first?" Akito offered politely. He flashed a dubious smile that sent Naota's paranoia into overdrive.

"Fine, I'll take your offer," he said, drawing a sixth card. 'I bet he wants to attack me A.S.A.P.,' thought Naota. 'Well, let's see what he does when I play this card face down,' He played a single card in the magic and trap zone. The duel disk whirred into action as it generated a hologram on the playing a field; a single face down card, with infinite possibilities in store for the duel. "Next I summon Mystical Elf in Defense Mode!" (800/2000) A blue elf wrapped in a violet cloak appeared on the field. She crouched in a defensive position, ready to intercept any attacks coming her way. "I end my turn." Naota tried to hide his smile. 'Let's see what you do now, Akito.'

Akito drew his next card dramatically, as if he felt the need to make his movements entertaining. His mind raced with the desire to not only defeat, but also crush Naota. "You won't be getting any mercy from me," he growled. "First I play Junk Heap Generator, a spell card that fills all your empty slots with Junk Metal Tokens. They have 0 attack and defense and can't be sacrificed."

Naota cringed as he saw his field filled with four separate piles of useless trash. He could predict what would happen next, Akito would create a way for his attack to deal damage, and then he would tear through the garbage.

"Next I summon Great Pincer Crab!" (1000/1000) A large metallic crab appeared on Akito's side of the field, snapping its claws wildly. "Every monster on your side of the field loses 500 attack points and my crab gains 500 attack points for every monster on your field!" He announced his creature's effect with all the pride he should feel. The crab drained Naota's already weak monster of 500 attack points, making it even weaker (300/2000) all while its own attack climbed skyward. Now it was even strong enough to take out Naota's Mystical Elf, which was meant to stall. "I activate Fairy Meteor Crush," Akito announced with devilish glee. A meteor crashed to the ground in front of the crab. Akito proceeded to the narration of his Equip Card's effect. "Now my Great Pincer Crab can deal you damage even when it's busy destroying a monster in defense mode. Now go and destroy his token!" The crab lifted the meteor high above his head and spiked it toward s pile of junk. The impact toppled Naota over as smoke clouded his vision. He could hear the sound of his Life Points draining away quickly.

N: 500

"A little word of advice, if you're going to bluff with a face down, don't play a monster with such high defense. Unless they pulled off a decent combo, your opponent wouldn't be able to attack. Make it look like you aren't fearing an attack, like you want them to come at you. Of course, the mind games are endless; you could have been trying to make me think it was a buff, but that clearly wasn't the case." Akito smiled as he delivered his lecture. He was trying to get on Naota's nerves.

The younger boy simply smiled back at him. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"I end my turn." Akito announced.

Naota drew a card, and one of the junk piles exploded. "Did I forget to mention one of those piles will explode each turn and deal you 300 points of damage," Akito teased.

N: 200

"Anyway, you really seem to be mad at me, is this all because I beat your little brother in a duel?" Naota questioned. Akito only growled in frustration. "Anyway, let me return the favor for your advice with some of my own. When you're going to power up a monster like that, make sure it can't turn against you. I once went all out on my opening move; I played a card known as Maha Vailo and equipped it with an Axe of Despair and Malevolent Nuzzler. It had 4250 attack points, but the next turn my friend played Change of Heart and KOed me in one turn- with my own monster." Akito cringed as Naota reached for one of the cards in his hand. "You're just lucky I don't have any cards to take control of your monster with."

Akito's face turned red with anger. "Then what was the point of that little story of yours?" He demanded.

"I just wanted to mess with your mind a bit, before I did this. I summon Giant Soldier of Stone!" (1300/2000) a giant soldier appeared on the field, it was made entirely of stone, just as the name suggested. "Next I switch my Elf to attack mode." Mystical Elf rose to her feet, ready to fight. "Next I activate my face down spell card, Sword and Shield!" With the simple push of a button, his face down card was flipped face up, and its effect kicked into gear. "All monsters will have their attacks switched with their defense."

(Giant Soldier of Stone: 2000/1300 Mystical Elf 2000/300 Great Pincer Crab 1000/3500)

"Mystical Elf, Giant Soldier of Stone, attack!" Naota's giant soldier crushed the crab with his almighty sword of rock, clearing the way for Mystical Elf's charged ball of light to slam into Akito's chest.

A: 1000

"Next I activate Mystic Wok and sacrifice my Mystical Elf to have her attack added to my Life Points!" A giant frying pan appeared beneath the blue elf as she vanished with a scream. Naota cringed for a moment. 'I hate having to use my monsters as sacrifices, but I'm out of options.'

N: 2200

Akito angrily tore a card from his deck. Only when he saw the card he had drawn did he calm down. "I summon Great Turtle Knight in attack mode. (1000/1600) "For every monster he destroys in battle he gets an extra 500 defense points, and at the end of each battle phase, he switched into defense mode. Next I equip him with Michiru's Trident, which gives the equipped monster 400 extra attack points. (1400/1600) And if it's a water monster, you'll take 400 damage for each monster my card destroys, now go and defeat his Giant Soldier of Stone!" The Turtle Knight somehow stood on two feet dressed in medieval armor without looking like a cartoon character. In fact, with the golden trident in his hand, he looked almost……cool. He slashed through Naota's stone knight and blasted the duelist with a spear of water. The Turtle Knight drew its body into its shell, signaling its switch into defense mode. (1400/2100)

N: 1700

The young boy drew a card, and another junk pile exploded on him, chipping away at his life points even more

N: 1400

He quickly looked over the four cards in his hand, finalizing the plan he had in mind. "I'll remove Mystical Elf from the grave to Special Summon Holy Mystical Elf in attack mode. (800/2000) As long as she is in play in attack mode, I can't take any damage at all. In addition, any battle damage I would receive when she's in a battle is instead added to my Life Points." He pointed at his opponent's only monster. "Attack!"

N: 2700

Akito was beginning to grow tired of this game. "That's it, I'm ending this!" He proudly declared as he drew his next card. "Go ahead and increase your life points all you want, it won't do you any good. I activate The Ancient Flood of Gilgamesh! I have to choose ten water monsters from my deck and remove them from play, and then I win the duel in ten turns!" He smiled, knowing that all he had to do was hold out long enough to win. "Next I sacrifice my Great Turtle Knight to summon Great Kraken Zombie!" (2200/2100) A giant rotting squid rose from the ground, towering over the battlefield, ready to strike. "My Kraken gains 200 attack points for every water monster I have removed from play!" (4200/2100) He could practically taste his victory already; he twitched with delight as images of Naota being expelled flashed in his mind.

"Now, seeing as you probably plan on doing this anyway, why don't I just attack your elf right now?" Akito announced. His Kraken raised its longest tentacle high into the air, slamming it down upon the blue elf.

N: 5100

A far better tactic would have been to attack with his Turtle Knight first and then sacrifice it, but at this point Akito was far too angry to notice; he wasn't thinking straight. "You're going down one way or another, even if you keep healing somehow, my flood will wipe you off this planet for good. And then its bye-bye to this school for you."

Naota just drew his next card, watching as the final pile of garbage exploded.

N: 4800

'You should finish this soon,' a voice nagged in the back of his mind. 'You want to be a pro don't you? Well, you can be the best duelist ever and it won't matter if your duels all drag on this long. Pull off something decisive and win this now. You better hurry, before that flood comes along.' The young boy simply nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry, this was really fun, but I have things I need to do. I summon Assassin of Lies in attack mode." (1000/1700) "When this card enters a battle, the monster battling it has its attack reduced to its original attack points, and any augmentations lost this way go to the Assassin instead. Now go and kill the dead squid." The assassin was garbed in shadows for the split second it appeared, but it wasn't long before it vanished, slicing the Kraken into two halves.

A: 200

Even though he had an advantage after the first turn, Akito was losing badly, and his sanity was fading fast. "You will pay for this," he promised as he reached for his next card.

"Sorry, but I'm not done yet, and you won't need to draw another card, because I'm about to win," Naota promised. "I activate the Spell Card Mystic Aura of a Broken Shield. It lets me sacrifice a monster with more defense points than attack points in order to either regain a 1000 life Points, or deal 500 points of damage to my opponent. Guess which one I pick."

A; 0

Akito's life Points dropped to 0 and he fell to his knees, crying. "Why, why, why, why?" He screamed out into the heavens.

"I think he's losing it," said Hikaru, rushing to the boy's side. "Snap out of it, it was just a duel."

Naota was also concerned for his opponent. "She's right Akito, it was only a duel, and it was a fun one."

Something was wrong. Akito stopped crying, his screams dies down in his chest. Instead, he only stared at the sky with a blank expression, as if nothing mattered at all. Hikaru shook his body, trying to get some sort of reaction. Nothing.

"What's going on?" Naota asked. He was starting to have a very bad feeling about this.

…

Somewhere, a young man watched these events unfolding on screen. "Interesting, I guess the first experiment was a failure then. Akito couldn't handle it at all. Looks like my next test subject will have to be someone stronger then him. But who should I pick?" He clicked a few icons on his laptop, and opened a list of all the students attending Duel Academia. "How about……..you?"