Saturday, August 30th

The deck hand rapped twice on the heavy metal door, then opened it and quickly entered the ship's bridge. He shut the door behind him and scanned the room. The bridge was relatively small and not very busy, suitable to the passenger vessel. Two men sat a bank of electronic controls at the front, near the viewport, a third man standing behind them, staring out at the sea ahead.

"Captain," the deck hand said with a salute. The third man turned, showing his worn face and neatly trimmed graying goatee.

"What is it?" he gruffly asked.

"The passengers would like to know how much longer it will be until we reach land," the young sailor explained, "They're beginning to get restless."

"As expected," the captain murmured with a small smile. To the deck hand, he said, "Tell the kids that we will be arriving at Duel Academy within the hour!"

Theme music:

Chillin' out with the crew in the school yard,
Findin' trouble, never lookin' too hard.
Well back at class, they never taught us this,
Some things you gotta learn, hit or miss.

Tough times, hard climbs,
We'll take 'em on together.
Right now, let's go!

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Generation Next!

Game on, get your game on,
Come on ya better play your cards right.
Game on, get your game on,
We'll make the grade and win this fight.

We'll make the grade somehow.
Yeah!

Yu-Gi-Oh GX!

Game on, get your game on,
Come on ya better play your cards right.
Come on and get your game on!

Elsewhere on the ship, a young man- he looked to still be a teenager- stared blankly at the passing waves as he leaned over a rail on the main deck. He was dressed rather plainly; a pair of jeans accompanied a nondescript white t-shirt. He tapped the toe of a New Balance sneaker against the deck of the ship as his wavy brown hair was whipped across his forehead by the ocean wind.

Well, not ocean wind, he thought wryly. The ship was traveling through the Gulf of Mexico, just west of Florida, where he had boarded. Near shore, where the water was shallower, he had seen the sea floor through the crystal clear water. It was much more appealing than the murky water of the East Coast beaches he had visited on summer vacations.

This is no vacation, he mused as he glanced around the deck. The deck was sparsely populated by people about his age, hanging out in groups of two or three for the most part. When they had boarded the ship, almost none of them knew each other; when they departed, they would be classmates.

The man turned away from the railing and strolled across the deck towards the stairs that led below. He carefully made his way down the flight of steps, a task made difficult by the rocking of the ship. At the bottom, he walked down a hallway with evenly spaced doors to either side. When he reached the third door, he knocked once and opened it without waiting for a response.

"How ya feeling, Beal?" he asked as he entered and closed the door behind him.

Inside the small room was a bed that took up about half of the available space. Another boy about the same age as the first sat on the bed, his head bowed and held in his hands. He looked up and shot a glare at the intruder, the impact of which was diminished by the slight greenish tinge to his skin.

"I haven't puked yet, if that's what you're asking," he replied sourly.

"If you keep up that attitude, I won't share my good news with you," the first boy said with a grin as he leaned back against the closed door.

The sick boy mustered a fake smile and said, "I'm so sorry, Simon, that my seasickness has me in a foul mood. Would you be ever so kind as to forgive me and share your good news?"

Simon made a show of considering the request and muttered, "I don't know, that sounded pretty sarcastic…"

"Tell me, or I swear to God, I will punch you when we reach land."

"Well when you put it like that," Simon replied with a frown, "A crewman told us that we'll be at Duel Academy in less than an hour. And that was about fifteen minutes ago."

"Good," the other boy said with relief, "The sooner I can get back on land, the better."

"Ya know John, if you don't like sailing, maybe you shouldn't have gone to a school that is only accessed by boat," Simon suggested.

John scowled and exclaimed, "It was your idea to come here in the first place! I was going to go to a sensible college for a sensible career-"

"But you wouldn't be chasing your dream!" Simon interrupted, "Besides, we did well enough on the written entrance exam to earn scholarships, so it's not like we're wasting money on this."

"You're the one with the perfect score on the entrance exam," John countered sourly.

"Yeah," Simon replied smugly.

"If I wasn't about to puke, I would wipe that smug smirk off your face," John threatened.

"It'll be fun," Simon assured. He turned around and opened the door then stopped and said, "Trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Yes!" John cried, "The Philadelphia Tournament, when you convinced me to go for a joyride in 10th grade, and don't even get me started on Scranton-"

"Bye!" Simon said abruptly, slamming the door shut and dashing back to the deck.

"Scranton," he muttered and shook his head.

Twenty minutes later, John, Simon, and the rest of the students filed off the ship and onto Duel Academy Island. The island was located in the Gulf of Mexico, about a two hour boat ride from the west coast of Florida. It was approximately 10 square miles of land, accessible only by boat and helicopter. In fact, there was a helipad at the docks.

The island also held the campus of Duel Academy. The college was relatively new- this freshman class would be its tenth- and had a relatively small enrollment of around three hundred students. Of course, Duel Academy was rather unlike other colleges. Students could only get one degree here: a dueling degree. A degree in dueling only required three years of study at the Academy, but it wasn't the main goal for most students. No, most who enrolled at Duel Academy dreamt of becoming pro duelists.

"Land!" John cried happily. He dropped to his knees on the docks, and then to his belly, his arms splayed as he tried to 'hug' the ground.

"I missed you so much! I promise I will never leave you again!"

"Get up, lover boy," Simon said with disdain, "Do you really want to get busy in front of the entire freshman class?"

John got to his feet and shot a glare at his companion. Once he stood, he towered above Simon by about half a foot. Then again, most guys were taller than Simon. John's dark brown hair was shorter and came to a point in the middle of his forehead. Both boys had brown eyes, but where Simon's were almost light enough to be hazel, John's were a dark brown. His cargo shorts and black t-shirt were now covered in bits of dirt and rock.

"I was not 'getting busy'," John said indignantly, "Besides, this isn't the entire freshman class."

He was right, at least on the second point. A part of the freshman class had attended dueling prep schools instead of traditional high schools. Those students had gained entrance to Duel Academy by virtue of their performance in prep school, and had arrived on the island before the rest of the freshman class. Those that were in actual high school had to pass the Duel Academy entrance exams. Even then, some who passed the entrance exams were cut due to class size limits. John and Simon had attended a traditional high school, the same one in fact, and had passed the entrance exams.

"Students, students!" A voice called from the end of the harbor, "Listen up, please!" The voice belonged to a tall, skinny man in a long blue jacket with pink frills. At least, it might have been a man. He had an odd haircut, including a long blonde ponytail and appeared to be wearing light purple lipstick. His voice was shrill, but still vaguely masculine. The students from the boat quieted down and formed a semi-circle around the man.

"Thank you," he said once we were silent, "I would like to be the first to welcome you to the best dueling school in the world, Duel Academy!" He threw his arms into the air for dramatic effect and paused, seemingly for applause. The crowd of students remained silent.

"Anyhoo," he said with a noticeable scowl, "For those of you that do not know me, I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, Ph. D in dueling, professor at Duel Academy, and headmaster of the Obelisk Blue dorm."

"Dr. Vellian?" John muttered to Simon, "I still don't know if that's a man or a woman!" Simon tried to suppress a laugh as his friend mirrored his own thoughts.

"Now, I will lead you all to the Duel Academy Main Campus. From there, we will go to the assembly hall, where Chancellor Sheppard will give you his spiel. Then, you will be assigned your dorms, uniforms, and schedules so that you may get settled in before the welcome assembly tonight," Crowler explained, "So, follow me."

The doctor turned and began walking inland along a well-worn path. The freshman followed, walking two abreast for the most part. John and Simon walked side-by-side near the back of the pack. After a minute or so, they intersected a path that led to a worn building along the shore.

"That's probably some kind of facilities services building," Simon guessed.

Next, they saw a much nicer two-story building that John pointed out as a dorm. By now, the Main Campus building was within view. It was a huge domed structure, with three taller pillars evenly spaced around the exterior. The pillars were each a different color; the leftmost one was red, the middle one yellow, and the rightmost blue.

"I wonder what all is in there," Simon commented.

"Classrooms," John said flatly.

"But, what about the assembly hall?" Simon asked, "And there are probably arenas, and maybe a room filled with cards!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," John cautioned.

As the main building grew closer, the boys caught sight of a magnificent blue roofed building on the shore of a lake. There seemed to be another identical building on the far shore, but it was difficult to tell from this distance.

"I wonder what that could be," Simon said.

"Looks too nice to be a dorm," John replied.

"Maybe it's some kind of hotel?" Simon suggested, "Like, for when people visit the island?"

"Maybe," John said doubtfully, "A little big, though. I mean, how many people are going to visit the island at one time?"

At this point, the party had reached the front doors of the Academy's main building. The group filed inside and entered a curving hallway. The hall seemed to follow along the outside of the building, with the outside wall functioning as one large window. However, the line of new students went straight ahead into a set of double doors that led to an auditorium. Crowler led them down the steps to fill the seats closest to the stage. Once everyone was seated, the auditorium was only about a sixth full.

The stage was mostly empty except for a central podium with a microphone. A bulky man in a maroon blazer stood behind the podium with a patient smile. The only hair on his bald head was his thick brown goatee and mustache. Crowler quickly joined him on the stage, standing just behind him on his right.

"Good afternoon, students," the cheery bald man began, his voice booming despite the fact that the microphone was apparently disabled, "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Chancellor Sheppard, head of Duel Academy. I would like to welcome all of you to Duel Academy Island. You are all here because you have shown tremendous potential in the game of Duel Monsters, and this is the best place to fulfill that potential."

"Yeah, but I've got the most potential," Simon bragged quietly.

"Is that what your Mommy tells you?" John chided.

"Now, today is your day to get settled in," Sheppard continued, "Since tomorrow is Sunday, it will essentially be a free day before classes begin on Monday. I suggest you use that time to explore the island and make some friends. As for the rest of today, shortly you will be assigned dorms. After that, each dorm will host an introduction dinner before tonight's assembly in the Duel Arena."

"I told you there was a dueling arena!" Simon whispered to John. John replied by subtly elbowing Simon in the ribs.

"At most colleges, students may choose which dorm they would like to live in," Sheppard said, "But here at Duel Academy, dorms are assigned based on dueling level. The lowest ranked dorm is Slifer Red. The majority of freshmen that did not attend a Prep School end up in Slifer Red. Next, is Ra Yellow, the middle dorm. This dorm usually houses students with great potential who haven't yet realized it. Many freshmen end up in this dorm as well. The highest dorm is Obelisk Blue. This dorm is reserved for the best of Duel Academy's students. Only freshmen that attended a Prep School are eligible for Obelisk Blue. However, very few freshmen are in Obelisk."

The new students began murmuring among themselves as Sheppard described the dorms. They mostly asked each other what dorm they thought they would be in. Crowler called for quiet and the murmurs quickly faded.

"Please, don't be disheartened by your dorm assignment," Sheppard reassured the nervous freshmen, "The assignments are based on your skill in both the field entrance exam and the written entrance exam. The written exam is not always indicative of a duelist's skill in battle, and there will be an opportunity for advancement at the end of every semester. Besides, most students reach Obelisk by their final year anyway. Now, I will call your names followed by your dorm assignment so please listen carefully. First, Isaac Adams, Ra Yellow…"

"Please be Ra, please be Ra, please be Ra…" John pleaded. He didn't have long to wait with a last name near the top of the alphabet.

"John Beal, Slifer Red."

"Damn!" he cursed, "I thought I would make Ra."

A few names later, Sheppard announced, "Simon Brown, Ra Yellow."

"Sweet!" Simon cried. John glared at him, and then swiftly punched him in the shoulder.

"It's not my fault!" Simon said indignantly.

"Well, you didn't have to be all happy about it," John muttered. Sheppard continued through the names as every student was assigned a Ra or a Slifer. By the end of it, there were about twice as many Reds as Yellows.

"Dr. Crowler will now lead you to your dorms. I will see all of you tonight at the Duel Arena," Sheppard concluded. Crowler got off the stage and told the students to follow him. He led them back out the auditorium and then out of the building. They followed the path they had walked earlier, John and Simon again noting the impressive blue buildings. As they approached the building that looked like a dorm, the group noticed an older gentleman in a yellow blazer standing where the main path intersected a path that led to the dorm.

"Hello students," the man said as the party approached, "I am Professor Sartyr, head of the Ra Yellow dorm. Those who were assigned to Ra Yellow should come with me. The rest should stay with Dr. Crowler."

"I guess this is where I get off," Simon told John.

"Guess so," John replied, "See ya around."

"Good luck in Slifer."

Simon and about twenty other students followed the aging professor down the path to Ra Yellow. Soon enough, the lake and blue buildings came into view.

"Professor," one of the female students asked, "What are those buildings?"

"Those are the Obelisk Blue dorms," he replied, "They have a male and female dorm."

Those are dorms? Simon thought, I need to get to Obelisk ASAP.

The small party finally reached the Ra Yellow building. To make up for its lack of height, the dorm took up quite a large area. The building had yellow walls with a tiled roof and Japanese styled sliding glass doors.

"Before we enter, there are a few things I would like to say," Professor Sartyr told the freshmen. Sartyr was a shorter man, but still a little taller than Simon. His shoulder length salt and pepper hair was slicked back away from his face. He also had a thin graying mustache.

"First of all, the first floor of Ra Yellow houses the boys while the second floor is for the girls," he explained, "At six o'clock, everyone should be in the cafeteria for the welcome dinner. Right now, I will be giving you your room assignments. In your rooms, you will find your luggage, which the crew of the transport ship was kind enough to bring here for you, five Ra Yellow uniforms, which must be worn to all school functions, a Duel Disk, and a Duel Academy issued PDA, which we call Duel Pilots. This Duel Pilot will take the place of your cell phones, since, if you hadn't noticed, you won't be getting service out here."

Everyone reached into their pockets to check their cell phones. Simon groaned as he realized he had no cell service.

"The Duel Pilots have a text messaging system, and are pre-programmed with the contact information of all students and faculty on the island," Sartyr elaborated, "There are many other unique features that I encourage you to check out. But now, it is time for your room assignments."

John and the rest of the newly minted Slifers followed Dr. Crowler further down the path. The group once again reached an intersecting path with a waiting professor. This professor wore a white dress shirt with black slacks and a loose black tie. His black hair skirted his face and fell to his shoulders, except in the back where it seemed to reach down to his waist. His bespectacled face was clearly of Eastern European descent. What stood out most was the fat tan cat in his arms.

"Good afternoon students," he said with a clipped accent, "I am Professor Lyman Banner, head of the Slifer Red dorm."

"Well," Crowler interjected, "I'll just leave these slackers in your, er, capable hands."

What does he mean by 'slackers'? John wondered as Crowler strode away. Several students glared at Crowler's receding backside.

"Now, if you will please follow me to the dorm," Banner instructed. The cat leapt out of his arms and walked ahead of Banner down the path.

"Pharaoh, wait for me!" Banner called.

"I really hope he lets us play with his cat."

John looked to his left, where he saw a blonde girl several inches shorter than he with a wide grin on her face. Her freckled face looked up at him expectantly.

"I don't. I hate cats," John scoffed, "Dogs are way better."

"I just love animals," The girl replied with a chipper tone, "Dogs, cats, oooooohhhh ducks, I love ducks!"

"Right," John said hesitantly, "Who doesn't love ducks?"

"Right!" she exploded, "Oh, how rude of me! I didn't introduce myself. I'm Amy."

"John. It's uh, nice to meet you, Amy."

"We're going to be friends," Amy said definitively.

"Don't I get a say in the matter?" John asked, alarmed.

Amy ignored him and instead cried, "Ooohh, is that our dorm? Awesome!"

This is terrible! John thought. It was the ramshackle building he and Simon had thought was a storage facility for grounds keeping equipment. Upon closer inspection, the exterior paint was peeling, the red-tiled roof appeared to have several leaks, and the second-floor balcony looked rather unstable. John wondered how bad the inside was.

"Welcome students, to the Slifer Red dorm!" Professor Banner said enthusiastically.

"We're right on the beach!" Amy squealed.

The dorm was located on a bluff overlooking a small, rocky beach. There was a small, steep path down to the patch of sand below.

"As you can see, all of the rooms open up directly to the outside. There are additional rooms around the other side. However, there are still few enough rooms that everyone will have a roommate. Room assignments will be given after the welcome dinner," Banner informed his charges, "The cafeteria is through the sliding glass door, so please, go inside and eat!"

Several students dashed for the cafeteria, while others, including John and Amy, walked like normal, civilized people.

"Can I please speak to John Beal and Amy Hart?" Banner suddenly called.

"That's me!" Amy exclaimed. She looked up at John and asked, "Is that you?"

"Yes, that's me," John replied tersely. The pair stayed behind as the rest of their fellow Slifers entered the cafeteria.

"So, uh, what's up Professor?" John asked.

Banner smiled nervously and put one hand on the back of his neck, "Well, you see students, there is a slight problem."

"What problem?" Amy wondered.

"Slight?" John questioned.

"You see," Banner continued, "There is an odd number of boys and girls in Slifer Red this year so…"

"So John and I get our own rooms!?" Amy asked hopefully.

"Not exactly," Banner answered with a nervous laugh, "Instead, one boy and one girl will have to room together."

John went wide-eyed and exclaimed, "Wait! You mean Amy and I are…"

"Roommates!" Amy shouted gleefully.

"If that's okay with the both of you," Banner quickly added, "If not, I will work with Chancellor Sheppard to make other arrangements."

"I'm definitely okay with it!" Amy declared.

John hesitated and glanced at her. Amy was beaming at him expectantly.

He sighed and said, "Yeah, I guess I'm fine with it too."

"Roommates!" Amy shouted again, leaping into John and wrapping him in a bear hug. She quickly let go and dashed towards the cafeteria crying, "Race ya!"

John stayed rooted to the spot and muttered, "I regret this already."

Simon entered room 108 of the Ra Yellow dorm. The door was painted to resemble a Japanese paper wall, but it was made of solid wood. The walls were painted yellow, like every other room in the Ra building. The interior was sparsely decorated, with a bed, a small flat-screen television adjacent, and a closet in the far wall. Two suitcases were placed on the bed, as well as several yellow blazers and the other items Sartyr had mentioned.

Simon immediately went for the smaller of his suitcases. He unzipped the bag and dug through clothes to the bottom. There he found eight deck cases, seven black ones and one white one, all filled with Duel Monsters cards. He laid the deck cases out on the bed before digging to the bottom of his second suitcase. There he found two shoeboxes filled to bursting with more Duel Monsters cards.

At least my card stash arrived intact, he thought. Simon next examined his school uniforms. Four of the blazers were exactly alike: they were primarily yellow with a button at the neck and waist and a zipper down the front with long sleeves. The area around the base of the neck was white, as was an outline on the chest in the shape of a V-neck. The fifth blazer had the same basic pattern, only it was primarily white with yellow trimmings.

Might as well try it on, Simon thought. He unzipped and unbuttoned the white blazer and slipped it on. He was just finished closing the jacket over his t-shirt when he heard a knock on his door.

"Coming," he called as he scampered over to the door. Simon put his eye to the peephole and saw an unfamiliar student in a yellow blazer. Simon shrugged and yanked the door open.

"Hello," he said.

The other boy was a few inches taller than Simon and had a well-muscled frame. His dark complexion and features spoke of a Pacific island background. His dark brown hair formed a widow's peak in the center of his forehead, but was otherwise slicked straight back. Other than the Ra Yellow uniform, Simon's visitor wore a green undershirt and black jeans.

"Hello," he said with a slight accent, "My name is Bastion Misawa. I live across the hall," he said, indicating the door directly across from us.

"Simon Brown," the shorter boy replied, "I guess that makes us neighbors." Simon extended his hand which Bastion firmly shook.

"Well, come in, I guess," Simon suggested. Bastion stepped into the room allowing Simon to close the door.

"I've heard that name before," Bastion said thoughtfully. He thought for a second, and then suddenly cried, "Eureka! You're the other student that received a perfect score on the entrance exam!"

"Yep, that's me," Simon said sheepishly, "I don't like to brag or anything- Wait, what do you mean 'other'?"

Bastion smiled and chuckled softly before replying, "I, too, earned a perfect score."

"Small world," Simon commented.

Bastion regarded the deck cases and shoeboxes on my bed and said, "Yes, indeed. I see you too have multiple decks. I myself have six."

"How do you have six decks? Learning how to do duel with one is tough enough. Not to mention trying to figure out which one to use. How do you keep all that straight?" Simon asked in wonder.

"What do you mean?" Bastion replied, "You have eight."

"Not really," Simon said, "The decks in the black cases are my test decks. The white case has my actual deck."

"Test decks?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah, well, as you can see, I have a large collection of cards. So, when I find a card I think I could use, it goes in a test deck. If I like it, I might put it in my main deck."

"Fascinating," Bastion said, "You must duel quite a bit with your test decks in order to try out so many cards."

"Definitely," Simon agreed, "In fact…"

Like the rest of the dorm, the cafeteria in the Ra Yellow dorm had yellow walls. It was filled with long wooden tables, also yellow. Large glass plates, cups, and silverware were set at each available seat. The cafeteria was quickly filled by the Ra Yellow students, freshmen and otherwise, all wearing the Ra Yellow uniforms. For girls, this consisted of a sleeveless, yet otherwise identical to the boys', blazer and a narrow yellow skirt. Professor Sartyr sat at the head table in the front of the room, facing the students.

"Welcome," he began once the cafeteria was full, "I am glad to see so many new faces this year. Many of you are about to begin your first year at Duel Academy, and some of you were in the Slifer Red dorm last year. Most importantly, none of you were in Ra Yellow at this time last year, which is most encouraging.

"The goal of our dorm is advancement," Sartyr elaborated, "Each of you has the potential to make Obelisk Blue, as determined by our staff. My goal is for all of you to be in Obelisk by this time next year.

"Now, before we eat, I would like to tell you a little about myself. As some of you may know, I am the head of the Game Design Department at Duel Academy. I also teach Duel Theory and hope to see most of you in my classes this sem-"

"I win!"

"Not so fast, Bas," Simon countered the excited Bastion, "I have a trap card."

Bastion stared at the field, which consisted of several cards laid out on the table. He looked at the card Simon had just revealed in his Spell/Trap Zone, and then at Simon in surprise.

"Widespread Ruin!" he cried, "But that trap destroys my monster!"

Simon grinned at his new friend and replied, "Yep, so when I attack next turn you'll be defenseless."

"Well done, young man."

Simon and Bastion both jumped to their feet in surprise, causing the rest of their fellow Yellows to burst into laughter. Sartyr stood behind Simon with a kind smile on his face.

"As much as I appreciate your eagerness to duel, it will have to wait until later," Sartyr gently reprimanded the boys, "Now, it is time to eat."

At the professor's proclamation, staff in gray Duel Academy uniforms entered carrying a large assortment of food in huge dishes. The students murmured eagerly amongst themselves.

"Well," Simon said, sitting back down, "I could eat."

"It all smells divine," Bastion added.

"Welcome to Ra Yellow!"

End credits music: Immortals, by Fall Out Boy