Running down the street walk like his life depended on it was a boy with blue eyes and white hair with streaks of silver that spiked out to the back and the sides of his head. He wore jeans, a black t-shirt, and a white jacket. On his left arm was what looked like the base of a white duel disk. Around his neck was a necklace with a hexagon on it. It had six orbs of yellow, purple, green, red, blue, and orange at each of the corners and a white one at the center. The name of this boy was 17-year-old Yujo Tagaini.
"Ok, I got my team, I got my gear, and I've got about fifteen minutes till the exams start. Oh well, since I'm not a student yet, they can't through me in detention yet."
(In the Exam Building)
"Once again, all Duel Academy entries who have already passed their duel entrance exams, please proceed to registration," said a voice over the speakers. "For those who have failed, better luck next year."
(Outside)
"Well ladies, that's it," said a man at the table. "Mark all the no shows, no shows."
"WAIT!" They stopped moving and turned to see Yujo stop in front of them gasping for air. "You guys can count Yujo Tagaini as present."
(Inside)
In the bleachers, a boy about Yujo's age with brown eyes and orange hair was watching the duel going on and was surprised to see Yujo appear right next to him out of nowhere.
"Wow. Look at 'em go!" Yujo laughed.
In one corner was a boy about Yujo's age and with green hair and emerald eyes. He had 3200 LP and Slate Warrior (L4/A,1900) on his field with two facedowns. The Proctor had 1500 LP and on his field were Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (L4/D,2200) and Big Shield Gardna (L4/D,2600).
"Alright, new guy," said the Procter, "multiple choice: you got two monsters staring you down. Do you A: through in the towel? B: beg for mercy? Or C: run home to mommy?"
"I choose D: none of the above. I play the Trap, Ring of Destruction!"
"Say what?!"
"Sorry pal, but know we're both taking damage equal to Slate Warrior's ATK! Or at least you will. I'm play the Spell, Ring of Defense! Now I won't be taking any damage!"
The Ring of Destruction appeared around Slate Warrior and destroyed it. The explosion engulfed the Procter and the rest of his Life Points while the Ring of Defense protected the green haired boy from it.
"Clever move, greeny. Welcome to Duel Academy."
"Thanks, man."
"Wow. That guy's pretty good, don't ya think, Hawk?" said a boy in glasses wherein a blue coat to a 17-year-old guy with flaming red hair.
"Rumer has it he's some kind of wild man," said another one with brown hair covering his eyes.
"He's a punk," said Hawk. "We went to Duel Prep School for 3 years. We're ready for the Academy. These kids don't know what they're getting yet. But they'll learn. The hard way."
"Wow. That guy destroyed 'em," said Yujo.
"Yeah," said the boy with orange hair. "Kent Hariken. He's got some serious skill but rumor says that he's some kind of wild man and just barely passed the written exams."
"Wow. Same here."
"Ditto. My name's Chip by the way. Nice to meet you. I've got a little problem with test anxiety. I don't have a clue how I won my match."
"So, you're in. Awesome! I'll be next ounce I win mine."
"Wait, you haven't gone yet."
"Na, just got here."
"Then you might be in trouble. I think was supposed to be the last one."
"HUH?!"
In the bleachers were some of the teachers from the Academy were sitting was a tall older man in blue and long bleached blond hair tied in a ponytail and a younger woman with long blond hair also wearing blue. A man in a tux walked up to the blond man as they were getting up.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," said the man in the tux, "but one last applicant has appeared to take his exams, Dr. Crowler."
"Then tell the truant that they'll just have to come back next year."
"Oh, come one, Crowler," said the women. "We've got time for one more. Let's give the kid a shot. They were just a little late is all."
"Late is rude!" Crowler would have continued if his phone hadn't begun to wring. "Hello…? Ah, Chancellor Sheppard…Huh? Special student…? One moment. This truant, by any chance, does he have blue eyes and white and silver hair?"
"That's the one," said the man in the tux.
"Yes, he's here…What? But why…Yes…Yes, very well sir. Farewell. Apparently, Chancellor Sheppard wants me to duel this boy personally for these exams."
"What? Why would he ask that?" asked the blond young women next to him.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Alexis. He says that we'll find his deck to be most interesting."
In the bleachers, Kent took a seat in front of Chip and Yujo.
"Awesome duel, Kent," said Yujo. "Though I can't say the idea of destroying your own monster like that sits well with me."
"Yeah, not with me either. Normally I use it one my opponent's monsters, but desperate times."
"Yujo Tagaini, please report to Exam Field 4."
"Game time. Wish me luck you two."
"He seems pretty confident," said Chip as Yujo walked off. "I wonder how good he is."
"For his sake, it better be pretty good," said Kent. "Look who he's dueling."
As Yujo entered the duel field, he looked across to see Crowler.
"Alright, test time. So, son, your name?"
"Yujo. Yujo Tagaini."
"Well, Yujo Tagaini, I'm Dr. Crowler. One of the top teachers here at Duel Academy."
"Pleasure to meet you sir."
"Duel vest, on," said Crowler as he activated his duel vest. Crowler stared in surprise at the site of Yujo's duel disk. (It was a white duel disk from ARC-V with a silver hologram.) "That's a rather interesting duel disk you have there."
"Thanks. It's pretty popular where I'm from. Alright, teach. Game time!"
"LET'S DUEL!"
Yujo: 4000
Crowler: 4000
"Here goes," said Yujo as he drew his card. "First off, I think I'll use Unimon Daku, the Dark and Unimon Sukochi, the Scorch to set the Pendulum Scale!"
"The what?" asked Crowler.
He was answered as Yujo set his cards on his duel disk. Two pillars of light appeared. Floating up high in the one to Yujo's left was a cross between a wolf and a lion that was made of fire. Under it was a glowing 8. Floating up high in the one to Yujo's right was a fiend with a black body and wore a black hooded cloak that covered its face. Its red eyes and black horns were visible though. Under it was a glowing 1.
"Guess Sheppard wasn't kidding when he said this kid's deck was interesting," said Alexis.
"What is this? What are those numbers."
"Those are there Pendulum Scales. With this I can know Pendulum Summon."
"Pendulum Summon?"
"I'd give you a full demonstration, but for now you'll just have to wait. Because I'm summoning Unimon Mizu, the Water in DEF (L4/D,1700)." Mizu was a woman with water for hair. She wore a long blue gown with white trimmings.
"Now I'll activate her special effect, which lets me add a Unimon Ritual Spell or monster from my deck to my hand."
"A Ritual Card?" asked a girl in the stands with sapphire eyes and wavy blue hair that reached the small of her back. She was 17 and standing with two guys of the same age. One has blond hair that reached his shoulders. The other had purple hair that covered his right eye. All three were wearing blue.
"Looks like there's more to this guy's deck then meets the eye," said the blond.
"This should be interesting," said the guy with the purple hair.
"Well that's all for now. Your move teach."
"Yes, very good," said Crowler as he drew his card. Alright, Yujo. Sheppard wanted me to duel you with my own personal deck, and I'm beginning to see why. However, you still have to win to get into Duel Academy, so for your sake I hope your dueling skills can match your odd deck. "Alright, for this first move, I think I'll start nice and easy. I choose to summon the monster, The Trojan Horse (L4/A,1600). Next, I'll play the Spell Card, Double Summon!"
"Oh boy," said Kent.
"What is it?" asked Chip.
"Double Summon lets him Normal Summon again this turn. And that horses effect is gonna make that dangerous."
"A combo like that couldn't be in one of the test decks," said Obelisk Goon 1. "Crowler must be using his own."
"Then this is over," said Obelisk Goon 2. "No new student can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler."
"Yeah, it's impossible. Don't ya think, Hawk?"
"Yeah, what do you think Hawk?"
"I think I'm gonna enjoy seeing Crowler mop the floor with our white-haired friend down there," said Hawk. "I only wish he treated every other second rate duelists that applied to this academy the same way."
"What a jerk," said the girl with blue hair. "He's bullying some amateur with his best cards."
"Don't go calling him an amateur yet, Mia," said the blond.
"Yeah. He hasn't used those Pendulum things yet," said the one with purple hair. "I for one am eager to see them in action."
"Ready for your next lesson?" asked Crowler.
"Heck yeah! I can't remember the last time learning in action was this much fun!"
That puzzled Crowler. That's odd. This kid seems strangely familiar. "Thanks to my Horse's special effect, when sacrificing monsters to summon a Level 7 or higher EARTH monster, it counts as two sacrifices. So, I'll sacrifice him to summon Ancient Gear Golem (L8/A,3000)!" Everyone stared in amazement as the mechanical golem appeared.
"There it is!" said Mia. "Crowler's legendary rare card!"
"And something tells me we're about to find out what makes it so legendary," said the blond.
"Now now," said Crowler, "I hope you're not too scared of my Ancient Gear Golem."
"You kidding?! This rocks! Thanks, teach!"
Everyone gasped in amazement at Yujo.
"Either Yujo's brave or he's nuts!" said Chip.
"Guess which one I vote for?" said Kent.
"He's staring that thing down without a care in the world," said the blond in amazement.
"At least he's showing some backbone, Ray," said Mia.
"There won't be much left to show after this," the purple haired one added.
Crowler laughed before making his move. "Golem attack! Mechanized Malay!" Golem through its fist at Mizu, who was destroyed into pixels at impact.
"Aw man," said Chip. "Yujo's monster didn't stand a chance. Her defense points were way too low. This isn't going good so far."
"Just wait," said Kent. "It's about to get worse. That Golem's got a piercing effect."
"What? But that means...Yujo's Life Points are gonna take a hit!"
Yujo: 2700
Crowler: 4000
As Yujo got hit, it seemed as if he was crying.
"Don't feel bad," said Crowler. "This is the top dueling school in the country. Some people just aren't cut...out...for…" He stopped as he realized Yujo wasn't crying, but laughing.
"Oh man. If this is what it's like every day at this school, then I really wanna come now."
This made Crowler's eyes widen. His attitude...So that's why the Chancellor wanted me to duel him. This Yujo character, he's just like...him.
He's bine acting just like him since he came in here, thought Alexis with wide eyes.
"My draw. Awesome. Now remember when I told you about those Pendulum Summons?"
"Are you about to show us?"
"You bet. Swing forth pendulum! And carve the arc of victory!" A giant pendulum appeared in the air and swung between Daku and Sukochi. "You see teach, when a Pendulum monster is destroyed, instead of going to the grave they go face up to the Extra Deck. And Pendulum Summoning allows me so summon multiple monsters all at the same time from my hand or face up in my Extra Deck who are Level 2 through 7 right now with the current scale!"
"Say what?!"
"And with that, I'm bringing Mizu back from my Extra Deck (L4/D,1700) and summoning Unimon Chikyu, the Earth from my hand (L4/D,2000)!" A portal opened up where the Pendulum was swinging and out of it came Mizu. Along with a monster whose body was made of boulders.
"So, he can just keep on bringing her back no matter how many times she's destroyed!" said Mai in surprise.
"And that's not all," said the one with purple hair. "This means if he could, he could've summoned two or more Level 7 monsters from his hand at once."
"That's not all Shade," said Ray. "With the right scale, maybe even five Level 11 monsters. This Pendulum Summoning is pretty powerful."
"Very interesting, Yujo," said Crowler. "However, neither of those monsters can save you right now, so I take it there's more?"
"Of course there is. But first, I'm gonna play Mizu's effect to add another Ritual card to my hand. Now I play the Spell Unimon Ritual!" The spell showed a picture of Mizu praying with three silhouettes behind her. One a sea serpent, the other a machine, and behind them was a big dragon. "With this, I'll toss the card I just got to Ritual Summon Unimon Kori, the Ice (L6/A,2300)!"
Appearing on Yujo's field was a large sea serpent with ice horns and ice spikes on its back.
"I apologize, but that mighty ritual beast of yours isn't strong enough to take on my golem."
"Not yet he isn't, but just wait until after I Xyz Summon!"
"Say what?" Kent, Chip, Mia, Hawk, and Alexis gasped together.
"What Summon?" asked Crowler.
"Xyz Summon. You do it by overlaying monsters with the same Level to summon an Xyz monster from your Extra Deck who doesn't have a Level but a Rank equal to the overlaid monsters. Watch. I overlay my Level 4 Mizu and Chikyu!" Mizu turned into blue energy while Chikyu turned into orange energy. Both energies flew into the air. "With these two monsters, I build the overlay network!" A black hole like portal appeared and the two energies flew in. "I Xyz Summon the Rank 4 Unimon Mokuzai, the Wood (R4/A,2000/O2)!" Out of the portal came a large golem made of plants and wood. Flying around the creature were two orange lights.
"Awesome!" cried Chip. "Oh, but wait. Crowler's monster's still too powerful to beat."
"Not for long I'm guessing," said Kent.
"Well now, Yujo. I admit it is impressive. However, it's still not strong enough to take on my golem. Are you done yet?"
"Not yet. I activate Mokuzai's special effect! By using one overlay unit, your Golem's ATK gets cut in half!"
"Wait! Time out!"
"Draining Vines!" One of the orange light flew into Mokuzai's chest. His arms grew out and vines tangled over the golem and began to drain it of power.
"Oh, and by the way, all those drained points go straight to Mokuzai!"
Ancient Gear Golem: ATK 1500
Unimon Mokuzai, the Wood: ATK 3500
"Now Mokuzai! Attack that golem with Fist of the Forest!" Mokuzai clobbered the golem with one punch. Everyone stared in surprise as the giant machine burst into pieces.
"This can't be!" said Crowler.
Yugo: 2700
Crowler: 2000
"I'm not done! Kori, win this duel for us with Frozen Fury!" Kori let out a burst of ice and snow from its mouth that wiped out the rest of Crowler's Life Points
Yugo: 2700
Crowler: 0
The crowd cheered as the unexpected victory.
"That's that," said Yujo as his monsters disappeared. "Guess I pass, huh teach?"
Hawk stared in total shock. "It must be dumb luck. No way Crowler could lose to some flunky."
"That guys got a future here," said Mia. "Wow."
Ray and Shade merely stood there smiling.
"Alright Yujo!" cheered Chip.
"Nice," said Kent. "I could use some competition."
Yujo just stood there smiling at the crowd.