"Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, finish this duel!" A boy shouted as his monster shot a fireball at a boy wearing a blue jacket. He watched his life points fall to zero. "And that's game." He smiled adjusting his red jacket and walking off the stage. He looked around the stadium and saw one of the seats in the professors' section empty. "Huh, Chancellor Sheppard doesn't usually miss a tournament."
A short blue-haired boy interrupted him from his thoughts. "Jaden, nice work out there."
"Thanks Sy." He smiled as they walked to catch up with their friends.
"Have you guys seen Chancellor Sheppard?" A girl known as Alexis asked looking around the room.
"Haven't seen him." Tyranno Hassleberry chimed in.
"It must be something important for him to be missing the opening rounds." Bastion said stroking his chin.
"All I know is that the tournament isn't slowing down because he isn't here." Chazz said walking away. "Make sure to keep up."
"He isn't wrong. I need to go work on my deck." Syrus said waving before running off.
"Great job out there, Jaden!" Blair said running over.
"Thanks." He smiled. "I'm going to have this tournament in the bag."
"I wouldn't say that. You still have to beat me." Alexis responded. "I've been tuning my deck, and I'm ready to go."
"Can't wait to see you on the field." Jaden smiled. Alexis nodded her head walking off with Blair following behind her.
"I need to be going too." Bastion said. "I have to retune all of my decks."
"See ya." Jaden said watching him walk off. "I look forward to your duel."
"I won't disappoint." He smiled and winked before disappearing.
"I'll catch you later soldier. I'm going to go work out for a bit." Hassleberry said walking off.
"I have to get ready too. Maybe after a nap." He yawned walking off.
Meanwhile…
"Pegasus, I'm surprised that you came all the way out here to talk about this issue."
"Well, I never like seeing duelists get hurt like this." He said motioning to the images being projected in front of them. Each showed a student laying unconsciously covered in bruises. "What do you suppose the cause is, Chancellor?"
"I was hoping you knew." Chancellor Sheppard said looking a bit worried.
"I have my theory, and after some analysis from our satellites, it's been mostly confirmed. A few months ago, I was contacted by the headmaster of a school located deep in the mountains. He said that a sacred card was taken from one of their temples. He said the user would be incredibly dangerous and the card would only make it worse. I believe that duelist is on this island. That is why we're going to pay him a visit to discuss actions to take."
"Why do I need to come?" He asked.
"Well, the headmaster told me that they would like to reclaim the card themselves, but I know how important the safety of your students is to you, and the island is under your jurisdiction. I was hoping we could come to some form of agreement."
"Why? Are these students of his dangerous?"
"I paid them a visit once years ago, and one recently. They are incredibly gifted and skilled duelists with powers and skills that go leaps and bounds beyond normal duelists in and out of duels."
"If it means that these attacks stop, there isn't a moment to lose. Let's get going." He shut off the projector before following Pegasus out of his office.
Several hours later…
A helicopter flew high as it moved through the mountains. "Sir, we're approaching the landing." A voice said over the intercom.
"About time." Pegasus said stretching out in his seat. "Look out the window Chancellor, and take sight of the mountain of elements. It's a sight like no other."
He looked out the side seeing so many unique environments in one place. He saw small bodies running on the ground. "It's incredible."
"Yes, and they're expecting us." Pegasus said fastening his seatbelt while the helicopter began to descend lower.
Once the blades stopped spinning, Pegasus was the first to step out of the helicopter. Chancellor Sheppard followed behind him. A young teen wearing a gi ran over to them. He bowed. "I have been given instructions to take you to the headmaster."
"Lead the way." Pegasus smiled walking behind him.
"It is nice to see you again Pegasus."
"You too. How has training been going?"
"Well." He said continuing to walk. They walked up stairs made of stone. They took notice of some of the students sweeping and washing them. The boy took notice of their stares. "The students here practice discipline in all forms." At the top of the stares was an old looking temple. The boy walked inside and back out. "You may go in now." He bowed to them before walking off.
An older man was kneeling at a table in the bare room. Stone statues of duel monsters lined the walls. "Maximillion Pegasus and Chancellor Sheppard of Duel Academy I presume. An honor to meet you."
"You as well." Pegasus said bowing.
Chancellor Sheppard followed suit. "Truly a pleasure to meet you."
The man snapped his fingers. A boy and girl ran over. One set a teapot in front of them and the other sat cups down for each of them. He snapped his fingers once more dismissing them. "Tea?" He asked filling each cup. "I promise it will be some of the best tea you have ever had."
"I can't pass up your tea Master Shinziro. I may have to make time in my schedule to come here to have tea with you more often."
"I would certainly appreciate the company." He smiled sipping from his cup. "And you Chancellor?"
He took a sip, and his eyes went wide. "This is incredible. You would do great selling this on the market."
"That will not happen. This tea is cultivated here in the mountain and is infused with the elements here. I can not and will not have commercial values to corrupt this sacred place."
"Very sorry." He apologized.
"Do not worry. That is not the first time that someone has said that. I know you meant no harm by it."
"While we all love tea and all, there is a more pressing matter to discuss." Pegasus sighed.
"Yes, I am well aware." Master Shinziro sighed. "I had a student practicing to be a master of the dark element. He was infuriated. He stole the sacred dark card and took off. He is a disgrace to our practices here."
"Yes, and now he seems to have made his way to Duel Academy. He is attacking the students there and causing trouble." Pegasus added in. "That is why I have brought the Chancellor. Now, we can come up with an agreement and solution to our problem."
"Wait, how powerful is this card?" The Chancellor asked.
"Quite powerful." Shinziro began. "Long ago, nine warriors discovered these mountains and built a school to train others to master the elements like them. By the time they reached old age, they collected several students, but none were worthy to match them. Under an agreement, they all sealed their souls in cards. When they find a worthy warrior, they shall be granted their power. Unfortunately, they have not found worthy heirs yet. However, under my guidance, there have been several duelists here who show the qualities to possess their power."
"And this student stole that power?" Chancellor Sheppard asked growing concerned.
"Yes, but I feel that he can not control it fully only emphasizing his negative qualities."
Pegasus sipped his tea not bothering to interrupt them; he knew his place as the deliveryman.
"So your plan?" The Chancellor asked.
"I will send my eight best students to your academy to defeat this enemy."
"I am concerned for the safety of my students on that matter."
"So how can I make you feel better about my students? They are incredibly disciplined."
"As you know Duel Academy is under my jurisdiction." He nodded his head continuing to listen. "Perhaps they can come to our school as exchange students thus transferring your jurisdiction over them to me."
"If that is the case, I want them to receive some special privileges."
"Go on." Chancellor Sheppard said eager to listen.
"You will administer the entrance examination to them and place them accordingly. I want you to punish them for their infractions harshly. They are disciplined and should not disgrace this school with rash behavior. The only punishment they can not have is expulsion."
"That is very reasonable. Although your punishment bothers me."
"It's fine. I will send you a list of punishments you can administer. If you want, you can even make your own."
"It doesn't sound like you want them to receive any special treatment at all."
"Exactly. I want them to be treated like normal students. If that is agreeable, I can take you to meet them."
"I agree." Chancellor Sheppard said shaking the headmaster's hand.
"Wonderful." He stood up. "Let's go meet my students." He walked out of the temple with the Chancellor and Pegasus following behind him. They walked down a path the sky growing a bit darker, but everything was still visible. "Welcome to the dark element training grounds. Here students learn how to duel in the shadows. You may see a few students dueling around, but the main battles and training always occur at the temple." He continued walking until they approached several kids practicing their draw while wearing blindfolds. They did not miss a beat. Master Shinziro looked at the top to see a girl leading their exercises. "Rena, we have guests."
"Continue your training." She walked over to them. She wore a short black cloak that seemed to turn into a skirt. The sleeves billowed out at the ends. In her hand was a scythe that also appeared to be a duel disk.
She pulled down her hood revealing her purple hair. "Master Shinziro and guests, welcome to the dark." She bowed to them. "Have you found my card?"
"Yes Rena, but you and the others will be going to Duel Academy to retrieve it. Chancellor Sheppard was kind enough to allow you an invitation to attend Duel Academy with his students."
"I'm going to make Xander pay for disrespecting the dark. Shall I gather the others for you?"
"No, I would like to show our guests our training grounds."
"I understand."
"Wait, you teach the students here? You're no older than the students at Duel Academy." Chancellor Sheppard looked surprised.
"Yes, I have trained the hardest and the most extensively in the darkness. Under the guidance of Master Shinziro, I was deemed worthy by him to be the teacher for the dark students. Of course, a student can learn just as much if not more by training on their own."
"Rena exhibits the qualities to be a dark master. She is powerful enough to have forged an alliance with the Dark Magician himself and a relationship with the light teacher."
Rena blushed at the end of his statement. "Thank you for your praise master." She bowed.
"Thank you for your time Rena. We must be going now." Master Shinziro smiled leading the Chancellor and Pegasus away with him. They continued walking turning down another path. The sky grew brighter. As they grew closer to the main grounds, they could see students dueling. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes was walking around looking at their hands and giving advice to them. He wore a white dress shirt and long pants. On his arm was a duel disk that resembled a shield in its shape and design; it was white with a gold trim. He paused his teaching and ran over to the group.
"Master Shinziro and guests, what do I owe this honorable presence?"
"Paul, this is Maximillion Pegasus and Chancellor Sheppard of Duel Academy." He then turned. "This is Paul, he commands Shinato, King of a Higher Plane. Paul controls the light in his duels." He then turned to Paul. "We are preparing for you and the others to attend Duel Academy. The chancellor has been kind enough to allow you the opportunity to attend and reclaim the lost card."
"Thank you for your generosity." He bowed to them. "I look forward to our meeting later."
"We must be going now." Master Shinziro said walking away. They turned down another path. This one was a bit longer. It lead into a grassy meadow with large boulders scattered about. "This one is a bit special. I mentioned nine elements, but there are eight masters. This student of mine has managed to merge the grass and earth elements into one."
"Intriguing." Pegasus said looking around. He watched the students harvesting crops while he saw others punch boulders.
"It's even more intriguing that most of these students do not yet possess full decks." Master Shinziro said smiling. "Bruno believes that with hard work students can become better people. Watch closely." He pointed to some students harvesting apples from some of the trees. They watched the students picking apples and throwing them into baskets below. On one of the higher branches, they watched one of them grab a card that was hidden on one of the branches.
"Interesting style of teaching." Chancellor Sheppard said stroking his chin.
"Bruno should be around." Master Shinziro said looking around.
"How do you expect me to break a boulder?" A girl asked plopping down on the ground.
"You must start small and practice." A shirtless boy said shattering the boulder with a single kick; his body was very muscular, his skin was tan, his hair was black and short, and his duel disk looked like part of a tree stump. He picked up the card that was laying underneath the boulder. "You can't just do the bare minimum if you want to be great. To be great, you need to do more than the bare minimum. After your work today, perhaps you should go with some of the others and break some boards."
"I'll try." She stood up and walked off.
"Bruno." Master Shinziro called out to him. The boy walked over standing tall. "You will be going to Duel Academy to retrieve the lost card. This is the headmaster of Duel Academy and Maximillion Pegasus."
"Do the students there work hard?" He asked.
"Most of them." The chancellor said slightly intimidated by his appearance. He took notice of two straps on his arms. Each strap was around a deck box. "Two decks?"
"One for the master of grass and one for the master of earth." He responded.
"You will find Bruno to be calm, modest, powerful, and at times a little surprising. He works hard, never takes shortcuts, he holds the values of both masters close to heart." Master Shinziro said praising him.
"You are too kind." He smiled. "If you will excuse me, I must return to my work." He ran off going to help some students trying to break boulders.
"I suppose we can go meet the other students now." Master Shinziro said preparing to walk off.
A younger student walked over holding something in his hands. "Master Shinziro, I carved you this walking stick."
Master Shinziro took the wooden stick from him and held it in his hands examining the intricate carvings and design. "Your hard work is evident in this masterpiece. I must thank you for the kind gesture." He reached into his robe and handed the boy a card.
"Thank you." He smiled running off with the card in his hands.
"On with the walk then." He smiled leaning on the stick for support as he walked. "I should have given him two cards." He chuckled picking up speed.
"Quite the loyal and caring students." Pegasus said eyeing the stick.
"Common values I try to instill here." He responded. The sky started to grow dark as they walked.
"Weren't we already here?" Pegasus asked looking around.
"Look again." Master Shinziro said pointing to the sky. Flashes of light shot down striking the ground.
"Is this place safe?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.
"It's not the safest, but the students enjoy it." Master Shinziro said pointing to several students who were standing around with metal poles in their hands. "They like to make games out of it." They walked for a bit more until they stopped at a small building. Out front, a boy with highlighted, spiked hair wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and sneakers was sitting. On his arm, he had a duel disk shaped like a lightning bolt. In his lap was a laptop that he was looking at intently. He paused to type something before returning to looking. He looked up again seeing Master Shinziro staring at him.
He closed the laptop and stood up. "Sorry, I was watching the students dueling."
"Ray is very into technology." Master Shinziro commented. "He also perfectly embodies the values of the lightning master, to destroy and to create. With Gilford the Lightning, he is quite powerful."
"I mostly enjoy tag dueling." He said shaking the hands of Pegasus and the chancellor.
"We're here to…" Master Shinziro was cut off by Ray.
"Talk about going to Duel Academy to retrieve Rena's card."
Master Shinziro hit him on the head with his walking stick. "What have I told you about interrupting?"
"Sorry, I'm just so excited. I heard that you guys have state of the art fields, computer systems, everything."
"Thank you." Chancellor Sheppard smiled.
"You are forgiven. I still have to introduce our guests to the others. I will talk to you soon." Master Shinziro said walking off with the chancellor and Pegasus. Ray returned to his laptop typing a few things.
They continued walking. The sky remained dark. The air started to grow thick and hot. Smoke could be seen in the distance. "Hot out here." Pegasus said rubbing a few beads of sweat from his forehead.
"Element of fire." Master Shinziro said unaffected by the heat.
"Let's hurry this one up." Pegasus said growing a bit irritable.
"Agreed." Chancellor Sheppard said rubbing his forehead.
"Not much farther you two." Master Shinziro said pointing to one of the peaks. They saw a girl wearing a flowing black robe with a red trim. Under it was a black skirt and a red t-shirt. Her black hair was tied off in a ponytail that went to the middle of her back.
They watched her walk down towards them. The duel disk on her arm resembled the shape of a flame. "Master Shinziro." She bowed. She stared at them with her fiery, orange eyes.
"Aria." Master Shinziro smiled.
"Where would your students be?" Pegasus asked looking around.
"They train individually." She responded. "Some duel, some stand on hot coals, some start fires. I don't particularly care. You can't control a wild flame."
"The master of The Blazing Mars. I'm hoping you will see us later to talk about your attendance to Duel Academy to find our lost card."
"I'll be there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a challenger." She pointed to a girl standing on her peak.
"Perfectly alright, I'm sure that these two need to get out of the heat." Master Shinziro pointed to Pegasus and Chancellor Sheppard who were both sweating. "Come, we still have some more people to meet." He started walking off with Pegasus and Chancellor Sheppard trudging behind him.
After escaping the heat, the group found themselves in a lush, meadow area. "A stream!" Chancellor Sheppard shouted excitedly splashing his face with some cool water. "That's nice."
"You can do that at the lake." Master Shinziro pointed down the path towards a large lake where students were fishing, dueling, and playing in the water.
"And what card does the water master control?" Pegasus asked curious.
"Water Dragon, of course." Master Shinziro smiled walking down the path leaning on his new walking stick for support. They walked down to the lake. Some of the students walked by carrying baskets of fish. "Good job out there."
"Thank you, Master Shinziro." They smiled walking off with their haul.
They watched two students stand on stones dueling. A girl on a jet ski pulled up behind one of them. She seemed to be giving instructions to them. They then watched him make his move. "I play Rush Recklessly and give my Suijin an extra 700 attack points. Suijin, finish this!" Their opponent fell off their stone into the water when their life points hit zero.
The girl on the jet ski sped over and picked them up. They held her back while she brought them to shore. "You did great out there. Work on your traps." She pulled into the dock and got off seeing Master Shinziro.
"Pegasus, Sheppard, this is Amy, the water teacher."
"Hi." She smiled looking at them. Her hair was dark blue, short and tied off into a ponytail. She wore a pair of short jean shorts and a blue, short-sleeved jacket. She had biker gloves on her hands. On her arm was a duel disk shaped like a wave of water.
"Chancellor Sheppard has invited you to attend Duel Academy to help retrieve the lost dark card."
"Do you guys have jet skis?" She asked a bit excited.
"We have some money in the budget for some." Chancellor Sheppard smiled rubbing the back of his head.
"Awesome. I'll see you guys there." She bowed before hopping on to her jet ski and speeding off.
"Fast girl." Pegasus commented.
"She's usually calm, but I think she's a bit excited to go somewhere new." Master Shinziro said pointing down the path to the next element area. "Chancellor, I must thank you for setting aside some money for my students."
"It's no problem, really."
"It was a very generous act on your part. Thank you."
"Anything I can do to help." Chancellor Sheppard smiled following him up hill into a more mountainous area.
Pegasus ducked a little bit trying to stand his ground while a large wind hit the group. "Welcome to the wind training grounds."
Pegasus heard music playing further ahead. "What a beautiful tune." He commented.
"Students here like to play certain instruments to reflect their abilities. The flute is very popular up here." Master Shinziro told him as they walked to the top of one of the cliffs. They witnessed students wearing wingsuits gliding along the breeze.
"What a view!" Pegasus exclaimed. He then looked around to see students in circles playing flutes and other woodwind instruments.
"So where is the wind teacher?" Chancellor Sheppard asked looking around.
"Up there." Master Shinzior pointed to a higher cliff. A boy sat up there meditating. "Shun!" He shouted calling the boy.
His eyes opened, he stood up, jumped down, and knelt before the group. "Master Shinziro."
"Shun, stand up." Master Shinziro instructed. "This is Shun, the wind teacher. He commands Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry and Simorgh, Bird of Divinity."
He brushed back the black bangs over his green eyes and examined the group. He pulled down the fabric covering his mouth and the hood over his head revealing the mess of shaggy black hair. His shirt was short sleeved and a very dark green. He had a leather strap over his shoulder with a pouch at the bottom. His pants were black. Boots were on his feet. His duel disk looked standard, but it was green with a silver trim; the lights were silver colored. "What can I do for you?"
"We'll be having a meeting soon about retrieving the dark card. You and the others will be going to Duel Academy. Speaking of which, how is Aaron?"
"He's still in the cave."
"Would you mind talking to him?"
"No problem." Shun pulled up his hood and the fabric over his mouth before walking off.
"Who is this Aaron fellow?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.
"We can talk about it while we walk to his training ground." Master Shinziro pointed to a path with bits of snow on the ground. The group started walking down the path. "Aaron is the ice teacher, technically, but lately he has been designating the responsibility to other students."
"How does he do that?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.
"He's established this method from all of the other times he's gone into solitary. He'll give a student a card and they will bring him his meal for the day and train the others. At the end of the day, they will pass the card to a student they think is better than them. If they can not pass it, he will duel them and take the card away. His training is harsh and cold."
"What's he like?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.
"He prefers to be alone, like the original ice master. He's smart and strong as well. I asked Shun to go talk to him because he is the only person Aaron really trusts and confides in. Also, Shun can navigate that labyrinth of a cave that he disappears into. He commands General Grunard of the Ice Barrier."
"Why is he in solitary?" Pegasus asked as they reached the training grounds; they were covered in ice. A student stood at the top of a snow bank showing spell cards to the others.
"He saw Xander when he stole the card. Aaron challenged him to a duel and lost. He was ashamed of his defeat and hid away in that cave." Master Shinziro looked at the setting sun. "The meeting should be starting soon. How about we go back to the temple." He started walking off with the others following him.
Later…
A boy with white hair sat at the end of a cave staring at his reflection in the ice; light blue eyes stared back at him. His clothing was similar to Shun's but his shirt was white and his duel disk resembled a chunk of ice; it sat on the floor next to him.
"Vampire Genesis, finish him." A smug smile appeared on a boy's face while Aaron fell on to his back in defeat. "See ya, ice loser."
Aaron winced still feeling the attack.
"You okay?" Shun asked entering the cave.
"Fine." Aaron mumbled. "Just thinking."
Shun threw a brochure at him. "Think about this." Aaron picked it up and looked at the front; it was a picture of an island with a large building on it.
"Duel Academy?" Aaron asked confused.
"Xander's hiding out on the island. We're all going as exchange students. Helicopter leaves tomorrow so we can go take entrance exams. Then we go to the island. I'm hoping that you'll think about it."
"I will." Aaron responded opening up the brochure.
"I hope you decide to come." Shun walked off leaving Aaron alone.
"Something to think about." Aaron flipped through it reading carefully before moving on to the rulebook.
I am aware that the characters are a bit underdeveloped, but I hope to progress them as the story progresses. I hope that you bare with me.