Chapter 1: The Day for a New Beginning
Domino City is the home to some of the world's most famous duelists of Duel Monsters: Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, and most of all, the King of Games: Yugi Moto. It's also home to the Kaiba Dome where students from all over were applying to go to the prestigious Duel Academy. This is the part where our story begins.
A silver motorcycle was coming up on to the parking lot of the Kaiba Dome and the driver parked his motorcycle and stopped the engine. The driver removed his helmet revealing to be a teenager who is about 16-17 years old, has black hair in a buzz cut style and has hazel eyes. He was wearing a black biker's leather jacket and under it was a plain purple shirt. He also wore light–blue denim jeans, with a belt that held his deck of cards, white socks, and black Sketchers Shape-Ups while carrying a backpack that carried something bulky.
"Alright, everyone. Let's show these guys at Duel Academy what we're made of." The boy smirked as he looked at his deck box.
"Yeah (Pika)!" Several phantom voices called out at once. Yeah, Davis also gifted with the power to see Duel Monster spirits, which means that he's that special. Which ones you ask? Just wait. A few minutes later, he proceeded to the Kaiba Dome arriving at the desk, where people are signing up to be tested to see if they had what it takes to be at Duel Academy. Davis came up to the desk with a woman sitting behind it.
"Greetings. How may I help you?" He asked.
"My name is Davis Eitoku and I'm here to apply for Duel Academy." The boy answered.
The woman took a clipboard from her desk and checked the list carefully. "Ah, here you are. Davis Eitoku." the woman nodded. "Just head inside and when they call you, head to the arena."
"Thank you, sir." Davis nodded respectfully and went to proceed inside the building.
Once inside, he saw a lot of students and examinees around. Some who already finished their exams were already wearing red, yellow, and blue blazer jackets, the blue blazers jackets having coat tails on the bottom. "Wow." Davis thought to himself. He also noticed other people wearing clothes other than the red, yellow, and blue jackets. "They must be the ones that applied and finished too."
Down below, Davis noticed a duel going on duel between a boy about a year younger than him wearing a grayish–white school uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two monsters in defense mode. Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and Big Shield Gardna. The monster opposite of them was a Vorse Raider and there was also a face down card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone.
"Alright, newbie. Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to yo mamma?" The proctor asked.
"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before pressing a button on his duel disk. "I choose to activate my trap card. You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."
A ring of red bombs appeared around the Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact.
Proctor: 0
Boy: 1300
"Smart move." He said. "Welcome to the Academy."
"Thank you." The boy bowed.
'Nice.' Davis thought.
Up in the stands, he saw three boys wearing Obelisk Blue Academy blazers who also watched the duel as well. "Wow, that guy's pretty good huh, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair and glasses said.
"Guess the rumors about him being some whiz kid were true, huh Chazz?" The boy on the other side said.
"He's a punk." The person in the middle called Chazz scoffed. "We went to Duel prep school for the past three years. We're ready for the Academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into. But they'll learn… the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."
'Chazz Princeton, huh? With an attitude like that, I might have to change your tune when we duel.' Davis thought.
"Davis Eitoku, please report to Dueling Field #1. I repeat, Davis Eitoku. Dueling Field # 1." A voice over the PA announced.
"I got to go." Davis said to himself as he headed over to his assigned field.
Meanwhile, in another part of the dome, a short, a light blue–haired boy also got finished watching the last duel as another teenager with brown hair commented on it. "Wow, that guy really tore it up." He said.
"Yeah, Bastion Misawa; they said he got a perfect score on his written exams out of all of us new applicants." The light–blue haired boy said.
"Wow really? I barely made it through mine. Oh yeah, name's Jaden!"
"My name's Syrus, nice to meet ya." Syrus then looked somewhat nervous. "I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety. So I don't know how I won my duel."
"So you're in! Congratulations!" Jaden praised patting Syrus on the back. "I will be too as soon as I have my duel."
"Wait, you mean you haven't dueled yet?" Syrus asked shocked.
"Nope. Why?" Jaden replied.
" The last duel is the one after Bastion's." Syrus explained.
"WWWWHHHAAATTT?!" Jaden exclaimed.
Davis rose up from an elevated platform wearing a duel disk. It was the standard Kaiba Corp. Duel Disk. In front of him was a African-American man wearing the purple blazer with a coat tail. It was one of the proctors.
"Alright, applicant. Name?" The proctor asked.
"Davis Eitoku." He replied back respectfully.
"Alright then Davis, you know the rules: you win, you're in. If not, better luck next year." The proctor said strapping up his duel disk.
"Oh, I'll be in this year. I just know it." Davis smirked as he took out his deck out of his deck box. "It's morphin' time!" he shuted as he inserted his deck in the deck slot and the duel disk went from standby to active.
"It's morphin' time?" Alexis wondered. "What's he talking about?"
"I don't know," Zane replied, "Never expected an applicant to come with a gimmick."
"Uh… okay?" The Proctor said getting a bit freaked out.
"Sorry. I just always wanted to say that." Davis chuckled, which caused most people, except the Proctor, Jaden and Zane, to backflip anime style.
"Well… ok, then." The Proctor got out. "So… shall we get started?"
"Sure, sure." Davis said. Both duelists drew their starting hand.
"DUEL!"
Davis: 4000
Proctor: 4000
"Since you're the one applying, you have the first move." The Proctor offered.
"Thanks. Don't mind if I do. Draw!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. He looked at his hand and smiled at what he got. "Nice… Alright, for my first move, I'll summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" Kurogasa declared placing his card on the tray. At that point, a teenage boy wearing a black shirt with a green stripe in the middle with a 10, brown pants with pockets at the knees and green and white shoes appears. He also has a weird green and white watch on his left wrist (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500).
"Huh?" The Proctor blinked. "I've never seen that card before."
"No one has. I know. I'm using a Deck with cards that just recently came out. It's called the Avengers Deck, but that's all I can say because I would rather show you how they work right now. ", Davis explained.
Zane Truesdale and Alexis Rhodes looked down at the beginning duel between a proctor and an applicant. Both were idly casting glances, but when the applicant had summoned his first monster, both were trained on the new monster and the one controlling it.
"Avengers?" asked Alexis. "I never heard of them before."
"If what he says is true, then probably, like he said, no one has." Zane reasoned. "Doesn't look much, but there is probably more to them than meets the eye."
"Hey Chazz," one of the boys in blue asked one Chazz Princeton as they watched the duel. "Ever heard of Avengers before?"
"Must be a new set or something," Chazz shrugged. "Who cares? Let the rejects duel with what they want."
"Still, maybe there's something about them we don't know?" Another one of Chazz's friend's stated.
'A new deck of never before seen monsters, hmm?' Bastion thought, showing a thoughtful emotion. 'That would certainly give him the edge…' he added as he sat down in a seat to where Jaden and Syrus were.
"Wonder where he got them." Syrus wondered.
"That sounds pretty sweet!" Jaden said excited. He then noticed Bastion sitting next to them. "Hey there, Bastion. Awesome duel out there!" Jaden exclaimed.
"Thank you." Bastion said politely.
"From the looks of things, you could be the second best duelist here!" Jaden said, confusing Bastion. "And that guy's probably gonna be the third best since you already got the second best position. Who is he anyway?"
"Davis Eitoku." Bastion answered. "I've heard he has the third highest score in the written exam."
"Guys, talk later!" Syrus jumped in, turning their attention back to the duel.
"Alright, I've been itching to get into a fight!" Ben 10 said.
"Well, you'll have to wait for now, Ben, because I went first." Davis said.
"What! Why did you do that?" Ben complained turning to Davis. "You know I hate it when you summon me on your first turn! You should've gone second!"
"Relax, man. You'll get to attack soon." Davis assured him.
"Fine…" Ben then turned around to face his opponent. "Hope you can at least activate my special ability."
'That guy can talk to his Monsters too?' Jaden thought.
"Before I end my turn, I activate Ben 10's special ability! By sending him back to my Deck, I can special summon an "Omnitrix" monster from my Hand or Deck! And I know what I'm gonna bring out." Davis said as motioned his head at his monster. Ben knew what he meant and he motioned back as turned to his watch, which is called the Omnitrix, and, after scrolling down some images and stopping on one, he shouts, "It's Hero Time!" as he pressed the faceplate and was engulfed in a bright green light. Once it died down, a dinosaur-like being in a black and white suit with wheels on his feet and an Omnitrix symbol on the chest was in his place; this is one of Ben's alien forms XLR8(4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000). "Meet XLR8!" announced Davis.
"Ok, all is forgiven" Ben (as XLR8) said. "Least you got me a good alien to use."
"That monster can change forms too? Oh, well. Let's just see if you can beat me," the Proctor stated. "It's my turn! I draw!" The Proctor drew a card and added it to his hand. Taking a card from the other side, he continued. "I summon Red Gadget in ATK mode!" On the field, a red and silver machine appeared. Its body consisted of gears (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500). "Now, Red Gadget's effect activates. When it is Normal Summoned, I can add a Yellow Gadget from my Deck to my Hand." The proctor took out his deck from his duel disk and searched through it. He then showed Davis the card to prove it and then shuffled the deck. "Lastly, I put two cards face down and end my turn. You're up, kid."
"My turn! Draw!" Davis declared and drew his next card. "Alright, let's have another one come out. Or should I say two, because I'm gonna activate the card Double Summon in order to summon two monsters instead of one. So come out Wild Thing and Monkey D. Luffy!" At that point, two people appeared next to XLR8 on each side.
On the left is a girl wearing a striped undershirt and black pants who sort of look like Megan Fox, except for the part where she growled and unsheathed two metal claws from each of her hands, showing that she's ready to fight (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400).
On the right is a teenage boy in a red vest, blue shorts, and a straw hat. He also has a scar under his left eye and above his grin (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1700).
"About time you got here." XLR8 said.
"Better late than never, Bub." Wild Thing said.
"Yeah! At least the three of us are here and we are ready to go!" Monkey D. Luffy stated.
"Well said, Luffy. Alright Ben, now you can attack first! Take out Red Gadget!" Davis said.
"Right," XLR8 said as he ran in superspeed as he charged at Red Gadget.
"I activate my face down, Waboku!" The face down card on the left flipped up and showed a magenta card with a picture of three women in holy robes on it. "Until the end of this turn, I receive no damage and none of my monsters are destroyed. That was good try though kid." The three robed women appeared and XLR8 stopped in his tracks.
"Hey! Move out of the way!" Luffy demanded.
"No use, Luffy. We can't touch life points with that trap activated this turn." XLR8 stated as he
ran back to Davis' side of the field.
"Damn" muttered Wild Thing as she stood in her place.
"I'll end my turn there."
"It's my turn." The Proctor drew a card and stared at it. "First off I activate my Double Summon. So first off I summon Yellow Gadget!" Next to Red Gadget, a similar looking monster appeared, except the color scheme was yellow (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200). "Now his effect activates. When Yellow Gadget is summoned, I can add one Green Gadget from my Deck to my Hand."
Once again the Proctor looked through his deck and got his card. He then shuffled it and returned it to his duel disk. After that the Proctor grabbed another card in his hand. "Now I summon Machina Gearframe in ATK mode!" Next to the other two machines was a skinny orange and silver robot with an overly large orange helmet (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 0). "Now I'll use his effect to add one Machina monster to my Hand from my Deck, and I choose Machina Fortress."
After adding the card to his hand, the Proctor said, "Next I equip Gearframe to my Yellow gadget." The orange machine attached itself to Red Gadget, similar to that of a screw into a bolt. "Lastly I put one card face down and end my turn."
'He's got something planned. I know it. And that facedown would probably help him too.' Kurogasa thought. "It's my turn!" Davis declared and drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck." Davis drew his two cards. "Now, Luffy, attack Red Gadget with Gum Gum Pistol!"
As the attack had been declared, Luffy then charged forward and prepared his attack, shouting, "GUM GUM PISTOL!"
"Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card, Dimensional Prison! This banishes your attacking monster!" the Proctor shouted as he revealed one of his face downs.
"That won't work. Luffy's immune to Trap cards!" Davis countered.
"What!?"
The straw hat boy struck, with his arm stretched at an abnormal length as his fist slammed into Red Gadget and the trap card, destroying them in the process. "Guh!" Wind blew the Proctor back when the explosion occurred.
Davis: 4000
Proctor: 3400
"I'm not done yet! Laura, do your thing!" Davis told the girl with the metal claws. Wild Thing nodded her head, giving off a startling growl before jumping into the air. She then unsheathed two more metal claws, one from each foot as she was about to attack. When she came down, Wild Thing sliced and diced at the Proctor's monster. A large explosion occurred afterwards.
Davis: 4000
Proctor: 3100
When the smoke cleared it showed that Yellow Gadget was still standing, but lying next to it was a broken Machina Gearframe.
"What happened?" Luffy asked, scratching his head in the process. "I thought the attack hit!"
"When a Union monster is equipped to a monster on the field, it is destroyed instead of the monster it is equipped to," the Proctor informed the straw hat guy. Even though he said that, the Proctor felt odd talking to a hologram. He just chalked it up to the boy knowing ventriloquism.
"It doesn't matter Luffy," Davis interrupted. "Ben, destroy that thing!"
XLR8 charged at superspeed towards the little yellow machine. He did an array of kicks before doing an uppercut slash, destroying the monster.
"And once it's done, he can attack again!" Davis shouted as XLR8 whipped his tail hard on the Proctor.
Davis: 4000
Proctor: 300
"Nailed it! Almost done!" XLR8 shouted.
"Just one facedown and I end my turn." he informed the Proctor.
"Oh man, he's good." Syrus said with amazement.
The Proctor stood up straight and shook off the attack. "Good, now I draw!" He announced. After drawing his card he showed it to the boy. "I activate Pot of Greed, which like you know lets me draw two more cards." Drawing again, the Proctor smiled slowly. "First I use the effect of my Machina Fortress! By sending monsters whose levels add up to 8 from my Hand I can Special Summon it onto the field." The man discarded a card and special summoned yet another machine. This time it was a three wheeled tank machine. It was blue in color and had two mechanical hands on each side with a large cannon on the left side. (7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1600)
"Next I use Monster Reborn! This lets me summon a monster from either graveyard, and I choose the monster that I just sent there! Come forth, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" The stone floor broke open and out flew an old looking machine. It was made up of several gears that seemed rusted and it was in the shape of a dragon. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)
Several of the students watching gasped. "Hey, did you know that they had that card in one of the proctor's test decks?" Alexis asked Zane. The older boy stared at the battlefield without saying a word, intent on finding out the potential of the boy on the battlefield.
"My word!" Bastion gasped.
"You're telling me!" Syrus added. "That's one big dragon!"
"Dragon, destroy Monkey D. Luffy while Fortress attacks XLR8!"
The large dragon flew up into the sky and fired down a beam of grey energy. The attack hit its mark, and Luffy was destroyed.
Davis: 2900
Proctor: 300
The machine next to it gathered energy into its cannon and fired it. XLR8 was destroyed, but in his place was his normal human self, Ben 10. "When an "Omnitrix"monster is destroyed, Ben 10 comes back!" Davis explained. "And yet, I still take damage."
Davis: 2400
Proctor: 300
"Looks like this duel is over soon." Chazz said smugly. "That kid ain't nothing special."
"And since we're at Main Phase 2, I'll activate the Spell, Lightning Vortex! By discarding one from my hand, I can destroy all Monsters on your side of the field!" A vortex of lightning appeared and swallowed up Ben and Wild Thing, destroying them into pixels.
"Ben! Laura!" Davis cried.
"Aw man, not only his only Monsters were destroyed, his field is wide open." Syrus said with worry.
"Relax. I'm sure he's got this." Jaden assured him. "He just has to draw the right card."
"And the probability of that is 50/50." Bastion added.
"I end my turn." The proctor noticed that Davis had his head down and was taking a couple of breaths. "Hey, you know you can always try next year." But then the proctor started to hear laughter and Davis brought his head up.
"Sorry. I'm gonna attend this Academy and I'll win to do so!" Davis said drawing his next card. He looked at it, his hand, and his facedown card. He then smirked a bit before saying…
"THIS IS IT!"
The people watching the duel and the proctor himself were a bit surprised and murmured amongst themselves when they heard him.
"What's it?" Jaden and Syrus wondered.
"Does he have the duel won already?" Bastion wondered.
"He's bluffing." Chazz scoffed. "There's not a card in his hand to help that rookie…"
"He seems a little cocky to declare a last move." Zane said.
"That or maybe he has the cards to do it now…" Alexis stated.
"First I'll summon Bartman OOO in ATK mode!" A Filipino man with a red shirt, blue jeans, a graphic black jacket and black sneakers appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. The silhouetted man then took out three, one red, yellow, and green. The red coin had a picture of a hawk, the yellow coin, a tiger, and the green coin, a grasshopper. He inserted the coins in the slots, and took a scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. "Let's Ride!"
HAWK! TIGER! GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!
TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!
The man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.
The helmet was mainly black, save for the red faceplate which looked like a hawk with its wings spread out in flight. On his forehead and acting as the hawk's beak was a red crystal and his head had green lens eyepieces. Running from his chin and down his neck was a red line that was connected to the top portion of the image on his chest. The torso armor had rounded shoulders that had yellow lines on them. Yellow lines ran down his arms and into the yellow gauntlets decorated with what looked like folded claws on the forearm. Lastly the legs were minimally covered with segmented green armor not unlike that of a grasshopper's legs, connected by green lines to the lower section of the crest. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000)
"Next I activate the Spell, OOO Roulette!" Davis said next playing a card depicting an array of various different colored Medals. "Here's how it works: I roll a die, and OOO will gain a new form depending on the roll. So let's do this! Go, dice roll!" He yelled. A huge die came out of the card and dropped to the ground. It rolled, for a few seconds until it landed on a 4. "Nice! It landed on a 4! With that, I can Special Summon Bartman OOO – TaJaDor Form! And I'll special summon him from my Deck! Do your thing, Bart!" Bartman OOO, or Bart as he is known to his friends, turned around to Davis and nodded before turning back. He took out the yellow and green coins and replaced them with two new red ones. One red coin has a picture of a peacock, and the other new red coin, a condor. OOO then scanned the medals.
HAWK! PEACOCK! CONDOR! TAJADOR!
TA~JA~DOR!
BGM: Time Judged All
OOO became surrounded by spinning colored Medals by the spinning medals again. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Peacock was in the middle, and Condor was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.
A blazing aura burst from OOO's body as the armor formed on his body and once it had completely formed. The Hawk Head helmet had turned into the Great Hawk Helm with a more detailed design on the helmet to resemble a bird's head with the yellow beak being a gemstone. The wing–like attachments to the helmet had become bigger and the eyes had turned red. Then there were the Peacock Arms where the shoulder blades were winged and equipped with a shied-like weapon called the Taja Spinner. And equipped to his legs were the Condor Leg armor. The sides of his thighs were decorated with crimson fabric which held the image of feathers when looked upon. The shin armor spread out just below the knees in more wing–like decoration. His feet though had a single yellow blade rising from the red armor over his feet with two similar blades coming from either side of his ankles. The O–Lung Circle crest was surrounded by a golden ring which sported a red emblem that resembled a phoenix (8/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2400). Everyone looked in awe.
"He just used random chance to summon a monster," Bastion stated. "I haven't heard of cards like this since Duke Devlin playing the game."
"I never heard of a card like that," Syrus noted.
"What difference does it make, he's got one butt–kicking monster," Jaden exclaimed, "I feel sorry for the Proctor."
"He did know it was the final turn," Alexis mused, "The Proctor cannot get out of this one."
"Impressive, it's still not enough to beat my dragon." The Proctor said.
"You sure about that?" Davis asked making the Proctor looked confused. "I activate the card I drew!" He said flipping the card over to show. "Megamorph!" Everyone gasped at this.
"No way!" Chazz exclaimed with his eye pupils small.
"Great Scott! He's won this duel!" Bastion gasped with his eyes the same as Chazz.
"Now I'll halve your Dragon's ATK points, since my Life Points are lower than yours. A bright red aura glowed around the Dragon as its power is halved.
Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon (8/ATK: 3000–1500/DEF: 2000)
"Now to finish this off, Bart, take out his Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon with Prominence Drop!" Grabbing the scanner from his side, he swiped it across the Medals and three chiming noises were made.
SCANNING CHARGE!
He crossed his wrists in front of him and spread his arms to the side. Red, bird–like wings spread out from his back and took off into the air. Once high enough, he dove down a the mechanical dragon. Zooming closer, the armor on his legs ignited into red flames. He flipped over so that my feet would hit the dragon, and kept his knees bent. As he moved, the leg armor on the sides of his legs and down to his ankles flipped up so that the ankle talons were pointed forward. With the talons on his toes where they were, it looked like his legs had transformed into a pair of flaming bird talons.
"SEE–YAAAH!"
He reached the dragon and impacted it with his talons with as much force as gravity and speed allowed him to do. The force rocked the mechanical dragon, sending them to the ground. The ground came up incredibly fast and the dragon hit first, exploding.
Davis: 2400
Proctor: 0
BGM Ends
The holograms disappeared and the Proctor recovered from the last attack and stood up saying, "Congratulations applicant. Welcome to Duel Academy."
"Thank you." Davis bowed.
"No way…" Chazz growled. "A guy with made–up cards won?"
"Alright, he won!" Syrus cheered.
"Sure did, that proctor got nailed hard!" Jaden grinned.
"At least there's proper competition coming along." Bastion smiled, impressed with the duelist's victory.
"This guy is interesting," Alexis smiled, "He should be a good opponent…"
"Only time will tell." Zane said.
Davis turned around to see the crowd and they were stunned. If it was from the last attack Davis made or the Final Assault declaration, he doesn't know, but he definitely got a lot of people's attention, including this one girl whom he noticed in the crowd. Hard to say, but she kind of resembled Deena from Jersey Shore, whom is Davis' favorite celebrity/ celebrity crush.
'Man, I'm gonna love Duel Academy.' He thought, planning to get with that girl as well. Just then, Bartman OOO appeared in spirit form.
"You did good, Davis." Bart said. "You've impressed everyone."
"Well, you're the one that did an impressive attack, Bart." Davis chuckled quietly so the people won't hear him like he's talking to himself.
"True, true, but I think you really deserve the credit."
"I guess so…" Davis shrugged. He then headed back to the stands as Bartman OOO disappeared.
Right below them, in the VIP seats for Academy faculty members, the teachers watched as Kurogasa left the dueling arena. "Looks like we've got a pretty good crop this year." One of them said.
"Yes, indeed." Another teacher agreed.
Also right next to them, another teacher sat there silent not paying attention to the other teachers' talk. He's male, but could easily be mistaken as a woman if you didn't know who he was. He wore a blue blazer similar to Chazz but had some gold shoulder plates and trimmings along with a ruffled pink collar. He also had his blonde hair in a ponytail and wore makeup. This was Dr. Vellian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm.
'Another rookie for the Academy.' He thought dismissively. 'I'm just glad that this was the last duel, otherwise there could be more slackers coming in, too.'
He was about to get up and leave when…
"I'm sorry to interrupt." A man in a black, business suit appeared stopping Crowler from leaving. "But one last applicant has arrived to take his exam, Mr. Crowler."
"Excuse me? Did you just call me, 'mister'?" Crowler scowled.
"I'm sorry. I'm new here Miss…"
"I have a Ph.D. in dueling to earn the title 'Doctor' thank you!" Crowler snapped a bit. He then looked away. "Now tell the truant that he'll have to come back next year." The other teachers looked at him like he lost his mind.
"Come on, Dr. Crowler, we have time for one more."
"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot."
"He was just a bit late, that's all."
"LATE IS RUDE!" Crowler finally snapped. He slammed his hands down, freaking out the other people around him. "I HAVE NO TIME FOR SLACKERS!" Just then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it "WHAT!?"
"It's Sheppard."
"Oh, Chancellor Sheppard, how nice of you to call." Crowler said, suddenly changing his angry tone to a pleasant one.
"Just calling to make sure everything is running smoothly." Chancellor Sheppard said. "We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year." That made Crowler bug out a bit. "When you cut a third of our student applicants because someone called you 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'? Never mind, just make sure everyone gets a fair shot!"
"Yes, o–of course, sir." Crowler said as he hung up scowling. 'Furry–chinned windbag; doesn't he realize that there are enough talentless flunkies at this Academy? But he's the boss, and if he wants to give this scrim shaker a duel…fine.' He then got up from his seat. "Pardon me, gentlemen, I'll be right back." He said then starting walking away.
"But sir, who will be the boy's dueling proctor? And which exam deck should we use?"
Crowler just huffed and walked away. "Leave that to me." He pulled out a deck from inside his blazer, grinning evilly.
Back with Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion, they were waiting around until Davis showed up.
"Hey man, that was one sweet duel!" Jaden said excited running up to Davis.
"Thanks." Davis said. "Name's Davis Eitoku."
"Jaden Yuki!" He said and the boys shook hands.
"I'm Syrus Truesdale." The light–blue haired introduced.
"And I'm Bastion Misawa, the duelist that went before you went to duel."
"Nice to meet you guys." Davis said back.
"By the way, those cards you showed were sweet and especially how you knew it was the final turn when you drew that last card!"
"Yes, I wonder how you knew exactly that." Bastion added.
"Well, after looking at my hand on the turn and can see without a doubt I can win with either one card or more, that's when I know." Davis shrugged.
"I see." Bastion said.
"Jaden Yuki, please report to Dueling Field # 4." The PA announced again. "Jaden Yuki, to Dueling Field # 4."
"Go time!" Jaden said as he got ready to go. "Wish me luck, guys."
"Wait! Before you go, what did you mean by me being the second best duelist and Davis being the third best? Who's the first?" Bastion asked.
Jaden pointed his thumb to himself. "This guy!" He grinned. He then continued his stride down to the exam floor.
"Third–best?" Davis asked confused looking at Bastion.
"It's a long story." Bastion answered.
"Jaden sure is confident though." Syrus noticed.
"He's going to need to be." Bastion said, pointing to the exam field in question. "Look who's he up against…" Bastion, Syrus, and Davis looked to see the ponytailed Headmaster.
"Who's she?" Davis asked.
"He is Dr. Crowler; he's in charge of these exams and also the head of the top dorm in the Academy." Bastion replied.
"That's a guy?!" Davis gasped. 'Maybe he may be a transvestite. Hehehehe.' He jokingly thought to himself.
"Yes. And I've heard that last year, he cut a third of the applicants they called him either 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'."
"Oh crap."
"It's about to start." Syrus said gaining their attention.
On the field, Dr. Crowler was being prepped and ready to duel. The duel disk he was equipped with looked as though it was crafted into his blazer. The part that held his graveyard and deck slots was strapped to his chest, while the duel tray looked as though it was being held up like a guitar. In fact, the duel tray itself looked almost like a rock guitar itself. Jaden rose up from a platform and was on the duel field
"Alright, test time!" Crowler said looking at Jaden. "So, son, your name?"
Jaden stood at attention like a soldier and replied, "Uh… Jaden, Jaden Yuki."
"Well 'Uh, Jaden Yuki', I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chairman and Techniques Professor here at Duel Academy."
"Wow." Jaden said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hearty laugh. "A Department chairman, I had no idea. From the way you were dressed I thought you were some kind of Academy mascot." Crowler sweat dropped at that comment.
"Now that he mentions it," The boy wearing glasses next to Chazz said.
"This guy's got some lip, huh Chazz?" The other said.
Chazz just looked on as he didn't like what Jaden was saying to Dr. Crowler.
"Duel Vest On!" Crowler said activating it and drew his five cards. Jaden was just amazed by the machinery.
"Hey, that's some sweet gear, teach. How do I get one of those?" Jaden asked.
"Oh, a lot of hard work, high marks and dedication." Crowler answered. 'Of course, you have to be accepted first, which I will make sure you don't.'
"Well, I'm ready!" Jaden said activating his duel disk.
"So let's duel!" Both players shouted as both players drew their starting hands.
Crowler: 4000
Jaden: 4000
"Here goes!" Jaden said as he drew his first card and looked at his hand. "Sweet, I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in DEF mode!" As he placed the card horizontally on the field, a green feathered man with a pair of wings appeared and knelt down (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "I'll also throw down a facedown." A reverse card appeared on the field.
"Huh… so he runs Elemental Heroes." Davis stated. "Those cards are hard to use properly."
"Alright, get your game on!" Jaden said excitedly.
"Yes, of course." Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his sixth card. 'Don't tell me what to do.' He then took a look at his hand. 'After all, since I'm using my own personal deck rather than those puny test ones, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail that miserable little brat and send him home in no time flat.' "I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the Spell Card, Confiscation!"
"Okay, so what's it do?" Jaden asked.
"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and toss one of your cards to the graveyard." As his explanation finished, holographic images of Jaden's cards appeared. They were Monster Reborn, The Warrior Returning Alive, Hero Signal, and Polymerization.
Crowler: 3000
Jaden: 4000
"Ah yes, I remember some of these when I was a naïve rookie. Now which one shall I banish?" He asked looking at each card. "I know, Monster Reborn to the graveyard!" Jaden's Monster Reborn card was sent there. "Next I'll set two cards face down." Two reverse cards appeared on the field. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field." A heavy wind picked up and Jaden's facedown was destroyed along with Crowler's two facedown cards.
"Whoopsie, did you forget that you had two cards on the field as well?" Jaden said teasingly.
"Now, now, young scholar, you mustn't speak out–of–turn." Crowler waggled his finger. After that dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.
"Hey, what's happening?"
"Nothing's happening. Not yet anyway!" Crowler grinned. Two yellow worm–like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."
The audience was awestruck by these two monsters but Syrus was confused, again. "Could someone tell me what's happening?"
"Those two trap cards that Dr. Crowler had out on the field were called Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained as he observed the duel with Syrus. "It's a special trap card that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."
"And I'm already seeing a few red lights on this too." Davis grimaced. "That ain't no test deck Crowler's using. Test decks don't have cards like Heavy Storm and Confiscation. Those are rare cards."
"Of course! And they can change the tide of battle without any serious costs!" Bastion realized.
"Which means…..?" Syrus asked.
"Crowler's probably using his personal deck." Davis answered. "This guy doesn't want Jaden to enter the Academy."
And he wasn't the only one who came to the same conclusion.
"Crowler must be using his own deck in this duel." The boy with glasses said.
"Then this duel is over. No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler." The other boy said.
"I think I'm going to enjoy Crowler wiping the floor with that kid. I just wish they treated all the other second–rate duelists that apply at this academy the same way."
"What an elitist snob." Alexis said, "Bullying some kid with his very best cards."
"You're too soft, Alexis." Zane spoke up. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler had stashed in that deck of his."
"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler asked Jaden.
"You bet! I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!" Jaden laughed excitedly.
Crowler simply regarded it negatively. "Yes, well I am quite the teacher, thank you." His monsters then started to glow and started writhing in flames. "And now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" The worm-like creatures disappeared and a giant robotic monster with exposed working gears appeared. The audience members were in awe of the sight of the monster. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000)
"That's it, that's his legendary card!" Alexis gasped.
"Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary." Zane added.
"I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically towards Jaden.
"No way, I've always wanted to take one on!" Jaden said excited. He looked like he had Christmas and his birthday in one day.
This shocked many people in the arena, including Syrus. "Either Jaden's really brave or he's nuts!"
"He could be both." Davis added and checked again. "Yep. Definitely both."
"He's staring down that legendary rare monster like he doesn't have a care in the world." Zane said incredulously. "I guess youth and inexperience does have its benefits after all."
"Give it a rest, Zane." Alexis said. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."
"There won't be much to show after this."
Dr. Crowler cackled as he ordered, "Golem attack, Mechanized Melee!" His Ancient Gear Golem's red eye glowed slightly before pulling back its fist and punched Jaden's Avian to pieces.
"Oh man, Jaden's defense monster didn't stand a chance!" Syrus complained. "It's ATK points were way too low. This doesn't look good."
"And it's about to look a whole lot worse." Bastion added. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a Monster in DEF mode, the difference between its ATK points and the defending monster's DEF points are dealt to the opponent as Damage."
"But that would mean that Jaden's Life Points are gonna take a hit!" Syrus realized.
"Yeah, and Piercing Damage is a pain in the ass when it's used against ya." Davis muttered. A transparent version of Ancient Gear Golem's fist then slammed through Jaden's body.
Crowler: 3000
Jaden: 2000
Crowler noticed that Jaden's body was shaking. "Now don't feel bad." He taunted, "This is the top dueling school in the country, some people simply aren't…" Crowler's voice trailed off as he then started hearing Jaden laughing."
"Now I really wanna come to this school now! You really know your stuff teach!" Jaden said excitedly.
This took Crower by surprise before scowling angrily. 'Doesn't he take a hint? He will not be permitted to pass this exam! And he will certainly not make a mockery of my deck!'
'Just look at him tremble.' Jaden thought as he reached to draw a card from his Deck. 'He must really be impressed by me!' But just as he was about to draw his card, he heard a faint cooing sound. He paused for a second before drawing the card and taking a look at it. 'Winged Kuriboh?' He then remembered that it was the card a guy he bumped into gave to him.
(Flashback)
"Something tells me that it belongs with you."
(End Flashback)
'You know, something tells me I'm starting to believe that too.' Then, whether if it was his imagination or not, he noticed that the card actually winked at him! He blinked at first making sure he wasn't seeing things, but got over his shock as it wore off and then made his decision. 'I guess that's a sign that I should play ya.' "Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in DEF mode!" When he declared that, a small furry creature with for green paws and a pair of angelic wings appeared above its card image (1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200). "Next, I play a facedown. Not bad, huh, teach?"
Crowler simply laughed at this. "No, not bad, but you must understand that I'm a master technician." He teased Jaden. "A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian; even one with wings its DEF points are no match for my Ancient Gear Golem! It's a textbook mistake, so let's proceed." He then drew his next card. "Okay Ancient Gear Golem, attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"
The giant Ancient Gear monster reared back a fist and threw a punch at the tiny creature and shattered the hologram to pieces.
'Sorry Winged Kuriboh.' Jaden muttered in his thoughts.
But Dr. Crowler noticed that Jaden's life points hadn't dropped. "Check your gear, your Life Points hasn't changed."
"My gear's fine." Jaden shrugged. "On the turn that Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero Damage!" That actually took Crowler by surprise. Even some of the audience members were stunned that Crowler didn't know that.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Man, when will people like him ever stop underestimating the Kuribohs?" Davis cracked up with his face up and covering his eyes.
"Well how about that. A technique the doctor didn't know." Alexis said.
"No one can expect to know every technique, Alexis. Especially one as obscure as that." Zane argued.
"Yeah, well that kid sure knew it." Alexis countered with a slight laugh.
"Fine, fine, I guess your little pathetic monster saved you there." Crowler taunted.
"Whoa, slow down there, teach! Just because you beat him doesn't give you the right to call him pathetic!" Jaden snapped.
"Oh yes. I forgot how you young duelists get attached to your monsters." Crowler taunted again. "I'm sorry."
"You should be sorry." Jaden said as he pressed a button on his duel disk. "Because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap card, one of my favorites too, Hero Signal!" As his trap card activated, a spotlight with a unique 'H' symbol appeared on the ceiling. "And that lets me bring out another Elemental Hero. Here's Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" He said taking the card from his deck and placing it on the tray. From a column of red flames a gray–skinned woman in a red body–suit appeared (3/ATK: 1200/ATK: 800). "Now it's my move!" He said drawing his next card he then looked at his hand. "Okay, Winged Kuriboh, this one's for you! First I'll bring Avian back to my hand with the Spell Card, The Warrior Returning Alive." The card came out of the graveyard slot of his duel disk. "And now, I'll summon him to the field!" Avian reappeared on the field.
"Oh, ok, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good, now would anyone like to tell me what our little friend here…" Crowler began to taunt.
"I didn't say I was done yet." He said. "See, I know that my two monsters aren't very powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together it's another story! And I have just the card to unite them! Go Polymerization!" Jaden said showing the card to Crowler and then playing it. The two Elemental Heroes leapt up into the air and started to swirl together as the effects of Polymerization activated. "Fusion Summon!" After they fused, a new monster appeared that had some features Avian and Burstinatrix. It had one of Avian's wings along with a few of Burstinatrix's colors. The only thing new was a dragon–like hand on its left arm (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200). "And there he is, Elemental Hero Flame–Wingman! Hope your Golem's ready for a Clash of the Titans!"
"I must say, you're dueling quite well for an amateur but next time try summoning a monster with more ATK points than the one that's already out." Crowler said.
"What does he mean by that?" Syrus asked.
"He means that the Wingman's ATK points are lower than the Golem's 3000 ATK points." Bastion answered. "A shame too, because that Elemental Hero of Jaden's has a very powerful ability."
"Well, let's hope that lone card in his hand can help him." Davis added.
"Alright, young man. I don't mean to rush you but I am a very busy man, so are you even done yet?" Crowler sighed.
"Of course I'm not done yet!" Jaden replied as he took the card he drew and opened up the Field Spell Zone. "And, of course, I knew my Wingman had less ATK points than your golem. That's why I'm activating the Field Spell, Skyscraper!" After he played the card, buildings and skyscrapers literally, sprouted up from the field. In the middle of the cityscape, Crowler's Golem looked like a giant monster attacking the city itself while Jaden's Wingman was perched on top of the highest building's steeple roof's lightning rod with its arms crossed.
"Alright, Flame Wingman!" Jaden called out. "Time to show those heroics! Attack that Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!" After he announced that, Flame Wingman jumped from the building it stood on and dove towards it.
"Fine, bring him on." Crowler said not worried. "This field spell of yours hasn't lowered a single ATK point of my Golem!" Flame Wingman then landed on the pavement in front of the Ancient Gear Golem before leaping up into the air again.
"You're right, teach. What it's done is raise my Flame Wingman's ATK by a grand total of 1000 ATK points!"
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman – (6/ATK: 2100–3100/DEF: 1200)
"Wait, what?" Crowler shrieked, but it didn't stop Flame Wingman from attacking as it launched itself at the Ancient Gear Golem as flames covered its body. Crowler looked like he was having a heart attack as Flame Wingman slammed into Ancient Gear Golem, breaking into pieces.
Jaden: 2000
Crowler: 2900
"No, my best card!" Crowler complained before a piece of debris fell on his head.
"And I don't want to forget my Wingman's effect. You see, when Wingman destroys a Monster in battle, the ATK points of that Monster are dealt as Damage to your Life Points. Sweet huh?" The crumbled pieces of Ancient Gear Golem fell on top of Crowler, who tried to get away but failed, burying him and depleting his Life Points.
Jaden: 2000
Crowler: 0
"And that's game!" Jaden announced doing a two finger salute with his index and middle finger. "So, I guess I passed the test\?" The holograms faded, a lot of people were actually stunned. First Davis with the "This Is It!" declaration and now a rookie beating an expert teacher, who used his own personal deck!
"Impossible… There's no way this delinquent could've beat me!" Crowler growled.
"It must be dumb luck!" Chazz said with the same expression when he watched Davis's duel. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"
Alexis smiled at Jaden's victory. "This kid's definitely got a future here, wow." She then saw Zane walking away.
"Yay! Jaden won!" Syrus cheered.
"Nice! He took down that Golem good!" Davis smirked.
'Nice. I could use some competition.' Bastion thought smiling at Jaden's victory while the latter did a victory dance. After that, Jaden took out and looked at the Winged Kuriboh card. "We made it!" He said. "And from here on in, we're gonna be partners." Again, Jaden could've sworn he heard Winged Kuriboh coo and wink at him.
As they celebrate their victories, Davis noticed a group of girls passing by them. One of them was the Deena look-a-like. Davis checked her out as she and her friends pass by without noticing. Definitely going to be worth attending the school.