Ok, so I've been hitting a bit of writer's block with Into The Darkness. I know what I want to happen, but every single time I sit down to write some more, I just hit a blank. So, I decided to try this, which is something I've had on my mind. Could be a one-off thing, could be a long-time thing, I don't know. But because it's been stuck on my head, I decided to get rid of that by writing.

This is just going through GX with some changes. Nothing major, like a whole rewrite, but with stuff like:

8000 point duels. There's just so much more room to work with.

Different characters duelling. Something most series has had was having the protagonist duel about 70% of the duels. Arc-V showed using your roster lots and lots works. So, for example Jaden won't duel about five of the Shadow Riders.

Having Jaden lose more. One of my favourite things about Arc-V was that Yuya lost a fair amount, even when it was later in the series and the stakes were high. It gave him room to grow as a duelist. Jaden just constantly won, only losing three times outright (and then going over 120 episodes without a single loss.)

Tying into more characters duelling, just a better developed roster. Chazz was probably the best developed of the series, but others like Hassleberry, Syrus, and Alexis got serious neglect, with over 50 episodes passing between some of their duels.

And just to clarify, I'm not going to try and repeat the dialogue or anything. That just feels too….restrictive, I guess.

Extra note. While most cards will use their official effects, occasionally I'll use the anime effect. But I won't make a habit. So for stuff like Card of Sanctity or Card of Demise or Bubbleman.

So, without further ado, let's begin!

Chapter 1 – The Next King of Games

Inside the Kaiba Dome, numerous duels raged on. For it was the day of Entrance Exams for Duel Academy, and several young duelists were hopeful of getting a place in the prestigious duel. One such duelist was Syrus Truesdale, though he certainly wasn't having the easiest time. Indeed, he was in quite the predicament, as he took the hit from the third of his opponent's copy of Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (4/800/2200).

Syrus: 500

Proctor: 1200

"I'll admit you haven't made too bad an effort, kid." The proctor called out. "But due to the ability of my Gear Golem monsters, I can just keep attacking you, even with your Gyroid (3/1000/1000) in the way. And now I end my turn, which sets off my Labyrinth of Nightmares Continuous Trap, switching the mode of all my monsters. Meaning my Golems go back into defence mode!"

Looking at the top of his deck, Syrus felt truly lost. 'Aww man, what am I supposed to do now? I wanted to come to Duel Academy to show my big brother that I could be a great duelist, but now it looks like I'm not even going to get in. Maybe I should just give up.' But as his hand hovered over his deck, he felt a fire awaken inside him. A determination to prove himself. "It's not over yet, my turn! Draw!" As he snapped the next card off his deck, he examined the options his hand gave him, taking a small moment to smile before making his move. "I summon Submarineroid (4/800/1800) in attack mode!"

From the ground emerged a half-navy half-yellow submarine, with eyes and hands that held onto a torpedo. Immediately, it dove back into the ground, charging towards the proctor as Syrus yelled out. "And my buddy has the ability to attack you directly!"

The proctor let out a small laugh as the ground began to shake near him. "Not a bad move, but I'll still have life points left. And with my Secret Pass to the Treasures, this duel is over!"

But the smile never left Syrus's face. "That's what you think. I activate my Limiter Removal spell in order to double the attack of all my Machine monsters. They'll be destroyed at the End Phase, but we won't get that far!"

The examiner's eyes widened as the blue copter over by Syrus's field doubled in size (3/1000 x 2 = 2000/1000). But he wasn't concerned about that. No, his worry went for how the shaking of the earth had suddenly gotten very powerful, and suddenly the submarine emerged again, throwing the abnormally large torpedo at him (4/800 x 2 = 1600/1800).

Syrus: 500

Proctor: 0

Having been knocked down to one knee, the proctor had a smile on his face as he forced himself back to his feet, looking over to Syrus. "Not bad, kid. Looks like you made it through in the end. Welcome to Duel Academy."

Turning on his feet, Syrus began the walk back to the stands, with a grin on his face that wasn't going away anytime soon. Even though he had doubted himself, he had managed to win in the end.

He was going to Duel Academy.

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Meanwhile, not too far away from the Kaiba Dome, a young teenager was running as if his life depended on it.

"Can't be late, can't be late." The duelist muttered to himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't looking where he was going, and found himself on the ground after slamming into someone, causing some of his cards to come out of the deck box. Turning around to pick them up, he called to who he had bumped into. "Sorry, man. In a bit of a hurry!"

"You're a duelist." Came the voice of the man he had bumped into, causing the young duelist to laugh. "Yeah, Jaden Yuki's the name!" Scrambling his cards back together, he stood back up, turning to face the man. Before he could apologise again, he took in the man's appearance. "Wait…you're.."

The man chuckled, taking a card out of his back pocket and handing it to Jaden. "Here. I get the feeling that this card should be with you."

Jaden looked down at the card, raising his eyebrow at what greeted him. "Winged Kuriboh?" He could have sworn he saw the monster wink at him. As he looked up to the man again, he suddenly found himself standing alone. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

He was interrupted by the beeping of his watch, and he gasped as he looked at the time. "Oh man, the exams have started already!" Taking off on his spring again, he ran towards the Kaiba dome. "And I can't be the next King of Games, if I'm late to the games!"

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Out at the front of the Kaiba dome, two young women were sitting at a desk, looking over all the applicants. Soon, a man in a business came over, one of the security guards for Kaiba Corp. "Well, girls, that seems to be all our applicants for the day. Let's pack it up here and go watch some of the duels."

"Wait!" came a call from an unknown voice. As they tried to track where the voice came from, they heard the rustling of the trees and looked over to see a young boy pop up from over the railing. "You can count Jaden Yuki as your latest applicant." A moment of silence passed as they took in the scene, causing Jaden to let out a small whimper. "…..please?"

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Vellian Crowler was, frankly, bored. Not one interesting duelist had seemingly applied this year. Outside of the Obelisks, of course, but he had seen their talent long before today. He was interrupted by his musings on the matter as a young staff member came over to him. "Excuse me, Mr. Crowler?"

Crowler flinched, looking towards the man with a glare. "Mr. Crowler?" He said angrily.

The man fumbled with his speech. "Oh, my deepest apologies. Mrs. Crowler, it's just that –"

He was interrupted by an angry shriek. "I did not get my PHD in Duelig for you to act like I should be address in such a disrespectful way! I am Dr. Crowler, and will only be referred to as such!"

The man stuttered out an apology as he bowed to the Professor. "My deepest apologies, Dr. Crowler. As I was saying, it just appears that we have one more applicant who only just made the deadline."

Crowler gave a derisive snort. "If they're only showing up now, send them home. I will not make extra time for some slacker." As he said that, his phone rang, and his eyes widened as he saw who it was, immediately answering it. "Chancellor Sheppard! To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were being fair to all the applicants." Sheppard said in a laugh that didn't quite feel genuine. "I wouldn't want to again deal with complaints over the silly reasons you turned applicants down."

Crowler went white in the face. "Of course not, Chancellor. I advocate to make sure all applicants get their shot. In fact, I'm seeing to an applicant right now so I've got to go!" Hanging up, he snapped his head back to the man. "I will duel this applicant myself. Since he clearly didn't feel the need to get here early, he must feel confident enough in his skill as a duelist."

"Oh, then you'll need one of the proctor decks." The man commented, looking over to see which Proctor was free to have their deck used.

"I will use my own, thank you very much." Crowler commented as he walked off to the duel field, having every intention of crushing this nuisance beneath his feet.

At the other side of the Kaiba dome, Syrus was watching a young examinee duel a proctor. This person seemed to be having a much easier time than Syrus did. He had a Vorse Raider (4/1900/1200) on the field, as well as a face-down card, presumably to protect himself. The proctor had Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (4/800/2200) on his field as well as Big Shield Gardna (4/100/2600), which led Syrus to believe this was the same deck he had faced in his own exam.

Examinee: 3200

Proctor: 1500

"Well, kid, you're never going to get through my defences!" The proctor laughed. "You've put up an alright fight, but in the end, you just couldn't keep up. Now you can A. Beg for Mercy, B. Cry to your Mommy, or C. Go home! Now what will it be?"

"D!" The examinee announced as he revealed his face-down card. "I choose to win. Defenders Insersect can only be activated during my Battle Phase, and it allows me to switch all your defense position monsters to attack mode. It also negates their effects, but that hardly matters!"

Vorse Raider leaped at Big Sheid Gardna, cutting it down with a single strike.

Examinee: 3200

Proctor: 0

The proctor chuckled as he deactivated his duel disk. "Pretty smart, kid. Welcome to the academy."

The examinee bowed to the proctor. "Thank you." He said with a smile before he turned to head back up to the stands.

"Wow, he's pretty great." Syrus heard someone say, and he turned to face the voice in question, who grinned at him. "I'm Jaden. Jaden Yuki. And who are you?"

"Syrus Truesdale." Syrus answered. "Have you already taken your exam duel? I barely won mine."

Jaden shook his head. "Actually, I just got here. Who was that guy there?"

"Bastion Misawa, apparently he did the best at the written exam." Syrus said before looking at Jaden again. "Are you sure you still have a duel? I think Bastion was the last one."

Jaden face-fell at that one. "What!? Are you telling me I'm not going to even have a chance to show my skills?"

Fortunately, his moment of panic vanished when a voice spoke over the speaker. "Will Jaden Yuki please report to Arena 3 for your Examination Duel?"

"It looks like you'll be the one finishing the day off." Came a new voice. When Jaden and Syrus looked down to the source, they saw that it was Bastion.

"Hey, tight dueling out there, Bastion!" Jaden said in a cheerful voice. "You just might be the second best duelist here!" He began to head down to the arena.

"Wait!" Bastion called, causing the young applicant to halt in his movement. "If I'm second best, then who's the best?"

Jaden grinned, pointing at himself. "Why, yours truly, of course." And without another word he went down for his examination, leaving the two new people he had met in silence.

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Vellian Crowler was still unimpressed as he came into view of his opponent. The boy looked like he was only brought here to be stupid. Well, it had been a while since he had crushed someone. At least he could enjoy this.

"Hey, ma'am." Jaden said, rubbing the back of his head and causing a few snickers to come from the crowd watching them.

"I am a man!" Crowler shrieked angrily, activating his duel vest. "And it is Dr. Crowler to you, slacker!"

Crowler: 8000

Jaden: 8000

"I'll go first, Doc!" Jaden smiled, drawing his sixth card. Grinning at his hand, he placed the first card on the field. "And I'll summon out Elemental HERO Bubbleman (4/800/1200), in defense mode!"

Appearing in front of the young applicant was a warrior dressed in blue armor. He had two hydro tanks strapped to his back. Jaden was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "And if Bubbleman is the only card on my field when he's summoned, I get to draw two cards!" Musing over his two new options, he placed one face-down. "I'll end my turn here."

Crowler sneered as he drew. "I have no time for children obsessed with superheroes." Smirking at his hand, he immediately played one. "At the mere price of 1000 Life Points, Confiscation allows me to look at your hand and force me to discard one."

Crowler: 7000

Jaden: 8000

Jaden grumbled as the holograms appeared above his head, exposing his hand. He was even more annoyed at Crowler's mocking tone. "Oh, such rookie cards. I suppose I'll have you lose Monster Reborn." Before Jaden could even get over losing such a great card, Crowler was already moving again." "And now I'll set these two cards and destroy them with Heavy Storm!"

Syrus looked confused as the storm swept away Crowler's newly placed cards, and his confusion only grew as two golden statues appeared in front of the professor. "So, can someone explain to me what just happened?"

"It's Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained. "It allows Crowler to summon a Wicked Token when it's destroyed."

Back on the dueling field, Crowler was chuckling again. "I suppose a move like that was far too advanced for y-" He stopped his musings as he realised Jaden was laughing.

"Thanks, teach!" He called with a grin. "You destroyed my Hero Medal, and when it's destroyed by a card effect, I can shuffle it back into my deck and draw a card!" He took a card from the top of his deck, bringing his hand size to seven.

Crowler snarled again, snatching another card from his hand. "I sacrifice my two Wicked tokens in order to bring out the mighty Ancient Gear Golem (8/3000/3000)!"

As the two statue tokens vanished from the field, the ground erupted. From it emerged a rusted machine that seemed about ten times the size any monster really needed to be. Crowler called upon it to attack Bubbleman, glee in his voice as he called to Jaden. "And my Golem can deal damage through defense, by the way!" The aquatic hero was destroyed easily, and Jaden groaned as he felt his Life Points drop.

Crowler: 7000

Jaden: 6200

Crowler laughed maniacally as Ancient Gear Golem returned to his field. "I suppose that'll be all from me. I hope you have fun trying to figure out how to survive. Just as a warning, it's fruitless to set anything. My Ancient Gears can all make sure you are unable to activate any spells or traps when they attack."

To his great surprise, Jaden started laughing as he drew his next card. "Aw man, I'm taking on a monster like that? This is amazing!" Looking at his hand, he played his next card with a grin. "And the fun continues with Polymerisation!"

A vortex appeared above the two. As Jaden discarded two cards, a man with feathered winged and a woman clothed in red conjuring fireballs appeared and flew into the vortex "I fuse Elemental HEROes Avian (3/1000/1000) and Burstinatrix (3/1200/800) in order to Fusion Summon my Elemental HERO Flame Wingman (6/2100/1200)!"

Coming down from the vortex was a new monster. It was half red and half green, save for the sole white feathered wing. It had a dragon's tail that curled further around its body until it reached the dragon's mouth that the hero had for an arm.

Opening a slot on his duel disk, it was clear to everyone that Jaden was far from done. "And to take it up a notch, I'll add the Field Spell Skyscraper and then have Flame Wingman attack your Golem!"

Around the two duelists, buildings popped up until they were suddenly inside a city. Moving to the top of the tallest Skyscraper, Flame Wingman dove down at Ancient Gear Golem. Before Crowler could even mock the move, Jaden shouted happily. "And when an Elemental HERO monster attacks a monster stronger than it, Skyscraper gives it an extra boost of 1000 ATK (6/2100 + 1000 = 3100/1200)!"

Crowler's eyes widened, and the crowd gasped as the hero tore a hole right through the mighty mech.

Crowler: 6900

Jaden: 6200

Jaden was still grinning as the victorious hero landed in front of Crowler. "And to add to that, Flame Wingman deals damage to you equal to the original attack of any monster it destroys in battle!"

Crowler shrieked in terror as he was suddenly set ablaze by the dragon's mouth.

Crowler: 3900

Jaden: 6200

Up in the stands, a young blonde woman in a white blue-trimmed top and a matching blue skirt was watching the duel with keen interest. "Wow, that kid took out Crowler's ace like it was nothing."

"Don't count Crowler out yet, Alexis." Alexis turned to face the voice, a young man in similar clothing with dark blue hair that stopped at his shoulders.

"What makes you say that, Zane?" Alexis asked curiously, causing the man, Zane, to cross his arms over his chest.

"There's rumours that Crowler has an even more powerful monster than his Golem." He said as he kept his eyes glued to the duel."

"I'll end my turn with another face-down and send it back to you, teach." Jaden smiled.

Crowler was seething as he drew his next card. "I will not be treated like some duelist you can just discard. I activate Graceful Charity, letting me draw three cards and discard two!" Once he had made his choices on what to discard, he was smirking maniacally. Are you ready to see a power like no other?"

This causes muttering in the stands, especially from people more familiar with Crowler who had heard of the rumour. At a group of three boys wearing blue blazers, one of them turned to the boy in the centre. "What do you think his big monster is, boss?" He asked him.

"Shut up and let me watch." The boy muttered, a raised eyebrow as he sat forward.

"I activate Cybernetic Fusion Support!" Crowler announced. "At the cost of half of my Life Points, I can now banish monsters from my Graveyard as well when I perform a Fusion Summon!"

Crowler: 1950

Jaden: 6200

Jaden chuckled nervously. "Uhh, teach, you only have Golem in your graveyard. How can you have any more materials?"

Crowler rolled his eyes, activating the Polymerisation in his hand. "I discarded material with Graceful Charity, Slacker. I remove Ancient Gear Golem and two Ancient Gear monsters in order to summon my true power, Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem (10/4400/3400)!"

The spectators all stood on their feet to watch the spectacle of the legendary machine. At full size, it made Ancient Gear Golem looked miniscule. If it had been a few inches taller, it could have gone through the roof of the Kaiba dome.

Not even missing a beat, Jaden hit a button on his duel disk. "Since you said all your Ancient Gear monsters have the same ability, I'll be safe and use my trap now! Elemental Recharge allows me to gain 1000 Life Points for every Elemental HERO I control!"

Crowler: 1950

Jaden: 7200

Crowler shrugged at that. "It doesn't matter. Now you can't possibly win. Turn his Flame Wingman into nothing!"

The gigantic mech punched down hard, completely obliterating Jaden's Fusion Monster.

Crowler: 1950

Jaden: 4900

Up in the stands, the boy in the blue blazer was chuckling. "Man, at least we got one thing interesting to happen today. Now this wimp is gonna get creamed by Crowler."

Realising it was his turn as Crowler didn't have any possible moves left, Jaden dfrew his card, and brightened up as he saw a familiar face. "Hey, you. Guess it's time to see if you really do belong with me." Looking at Crowler, he smiled as he played his card. "I summon Winged Kuriboh (1/300/200) in defense mode!"

Appearing in front of the HERO duelist was a version of one of Yugi Moto's most famous monsters, but it came with wings. A chorus of awws, as well as a couple of snickers, came from the crowd, but Jaden paid them no mind. "Back to you, prof."

Crowler sneered as he drew his next card. "I expected at least some sort of fight, but I suppose I shouldn't get my hopes up with slackers. I will just have to end this duel here and now with Forbidden Substance, which allows me monster to attack twice each Battle Phase!"

Alexis sighed. "I guess the duel is over, then. Shame, I was rooting for the kid." However, when she turned to look at Zane, she was surprised to see the ghost of a grin on his face.

"Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, destroy Winged Kuriboh then attack him directly!" As his monster started moving, he began to laugh. He continued to laugh as Winged Kuriboh vanished behind a fist, and he still laughed as Jaden disappeared behind smoke. He only stopped laughing when he looked at the Life Point totals. "What's this?"

Crowler: 1950

Jaden: 700

Jaden was chuckling as the smoke cleared. "After my Winged Kuriboh is sent to the Graveyard, I get protection from any damage! Better luck next time, man!"

Crowler was practically fuming at having his victory thwarted by such a weak card. "Just take your final turn!"

Jaden smiled as he drew, looking over his four card hand. "Well, teach, this is definitely my final turn. But it's also the final turn of the duel! And it starts with Dark Factory of Mass Productions, which lets me take Avian and Burstinatrix and add them back to my hand!" Taking the two cards from his graveyard, he didn't even hesitate to play his next card. "And I'll combine that with The Warrior Returning Alive, allowing me to put Flame Wingman back in my Fusion Deck." Still grinning, he used his next card. "And now it's up to Double Fusion, which costs me 500 Life Points

Crowler: 1950

Jaden: 200

Crowler raised his eyebrows as Jaden again sent his monsters to the Graveyard, and Flame Wingman again appeared. "Skyscraper doesn't raise your monster's attack enough, young man."

Jaden merely chuckled at that. "Didn't you hear the Double part, prof? I get to perform two Fusion Summons. And it's only fair that I take down your upgraded ace with my own. So, joining my Flame Wingman will be my Elemental HERO Sparkman (4/1600/1400)!"

Appearing next to the hero was a new golden and blue monster. They both disappeared into the vortex, and a bright light flashed across the room as a new monster descended.

Majestic was the only word that could possibly describe this new Fusion. Around his green skin was silver armour, complete with wings. "Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, meet Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman (8/2500/2100)!"

Crowler got over his initial awe to laugh. "That wasn't worth all the trouble if you're 1900 ATK short."

Jaden grinned. "Pay attention, teach. My shining Flare Wingman gains 300 ATK for each Elemental HERO in my Graveyard. And with Bubbleman along with Avian, Burstinatrix, Flame Wingman, and Sparkman….(8/2500 + 300*5 = 4000/2100)"

Crowler was about to make another comment before he paled. "Skyscraper…"

Jaden nodded as his new hero headed straight for the legendary monster Crowler owned (8/4000 + 1000 = 5000/2100). "That's right! And my monster also carries the original ability of Flame Wingman, so it's adios!"

Shining Flare Wingman put a whole right through Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, causing it to begin to topple no matter how much Crowler begged it not to.

Crowler: 1350

Jaden: 200

Then, Shining Flare Wingman appeared in front of Crowler, practically blinding him as it drained away the rest of the teacher's life points.

Crowler: 0

Jaden: 200

Jaden laughed as he activated his duel disk, striking a pose. "And that's game! So I got into the Academy, right?"

Crowler merely grumbled in his shock, which Jaden took to be a yes as he cheered and headed up to the stands.

"That was a fluke." The boy in blue said. "Wait until the Slacker gets a load of Chazz Princeton."

From the top, Alexis and Zane were smiling. "Looks like this might be a pretty interesting year." Alexis muttered, watching Jaden head back up to Syrus and Bastion.

"That was a tremendous final turn!" Bastion said excitedly as Jaden came up to them, clapping.

Syrus was absolutely ecstatic. "Way to go, J! You showed Crowler that he shouldn't underestimate any of us!"

Jaden laughed out loud, looking at the cheering audience. "Alright! Duel Academy, here I come!"

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Alright, I think that's us got off to an alright start. Hopefully, you enjoyed my alternate here. I will constantly try and give this story its own identity rather than jusat a by the books rewrite.

Because of this, I am going to open the door for OCs. Academy Students and Teachers are welcome. And I could be open to a Shadow Rider or two. Just give me their name, their year and dorm if they're a student, the subject if they're a teacher, and just a good old backstory and deck no matter who they are. If you just want to give a general vibe or an exact decklist, either is fine by me! I had lots of fun doing this, and I hope you had fun reading!

Until next time, leave your thoughts!