Hi all! For anyone who cares, I'm NOT stopping Project Monster Reborn, or even postponing; I'll keep working on both at the same time (I really don't think I couldn't, setting aside all questions of my ability to multitask!)

I'm writing this because I've notice most if not all of the Duel Academy Stories follow the story of the actual show almost exactly, just changing names and decks, etc (sometimes not even that). I also wanted to do it as a joke of my interactions in the Game, because by the time I reach King, Crowler's body would definitely have ended up belly-up in the lake, if ya know what I mean? (I'd have killed him }:D )

Chapter One: Joey Devlin

"Son, I need you to tell me straight; what in the name of all that is holy makes you think you could get into any school, let alone duel academy, with your track record?"

Joey grinned, the principal was a condescending sunnuvabitch, but Joey needed him as an ally.

"Well, sir, I'm not sure what you mean; my grades are fine!"

Inwardly he winced; that was gonna sound snide.

"You know very well what I mean!"-cue the angry double-chin quiver of doom-"Five fights in the last week, two resulting in minor injuries, one resulting in hospitalization! Seventeen counts of using Duel-Disks on campus during school hours! Destruction of school property, resulting in a total fine of six-hundred dollars, still unpaid! AND THAT. IS JUST. THIS YEAR!" the principal was all-out screaming at the end, his voice surprisingly high-pitched for such a burly man.

"And? With my dueling skills, grades, and general likability amongst student body and staff alike, I don't really see how divulging my private record to another school (isn't there a privacy law, there?) is going to be too much of push against me."

His apt (or at least he thought so) remark landed him a special appearance of the 'someone is going to be expelled, fired, or killed' vein.

However, the Principal's voice was surprisingly calm, "We'll see."

-LineBreak-

Joey Devlin smiled, his bright green eyes and wild red hair reminding them all of his mother's pure celtic warrior heritage as he stared down Mr. Ushio, the school security guard and former mental patient, who normally terrorized the students of the school.

Normally Joey tried not to lock heads with the guy, but he was being way out of line with one of the younger students (extortion as usual, but with way too much money this time), and it was only a week till the Duel Academy Written Exam, so he wasn't too worried about repercussions.

Ushio hadn't gotten any smaller since his pre-breakdown days of terrorizing the student body (the work-out room in the nuthouse had done quite a bit for him, in fact), but Joey was no slouch either; he possessed a wiry kind of muscle, much like his name-sake, and his martial arts abilities weren't bad at all.

From behind him, best friend and fellow DA applicant Atemu Kaiba was standing, stone-faced as always, but somehow more ominous than usual, adding very much to the intense atmosphere of the room.

Ushio gave a growl he apparently thought either manly or intimidating.

Joey couldn't help it; he smirked.

The bully straightened, eyes widening, hands making tearing motions in the air.

The rest doesn't really need a description, needless to say, for the third and final time than year, Joey Devlin, son of game-store chain magnate and famed gambler Duke Devlin, was suspended for fighting on school property (Ushio was fired and put even deeper into debt, but that's another story).

-LineBreak-

After the pre-screening (which Josh managed to somehow pass), the written exam began.

The first few questions were easy, multiple choice questions on card rulings, types of spell and traps, easy stuff.

Then there was word problems, the 'you have such and such in your hand, your opponent has such and such on the field, what do you do?' kind of stuff.

Then there were about a dozen very complicated queries on various card usages and what type of deck would be best used against other decks.

Lastly, there was the one page 'Personal' section. Three dreaded questions, rumored to have nullified any other scores on the test; 'what kind of deck do you use', 'what was your best moment in dueling' and 'where do you see yourself after graduation'?

The answer to those three questions, for Joey, were as followed;

1. A Fate Deck, full of cards like Time Wizard and Dicephoon, but with some added toughies like Mage Power, Vorse Raider, and useful cards like Hayabusa Knight and Mirage Dragon.

2. My best moment in dueling is when a rich kid running a run of the mill snobby Six Samurai Deck got all of his strongest on the field in on the first turn (which I find super-annoying), and I turned it around in the next one by playing Time Wizard, and then calling the right toss (he quit right then, but the thing was, my hand was really bad!)

3. I'm not sure, devoting five+ years to something like the academy will undoubtedly change my outlook, so making a promise I end up not keeping would be wishy-washy to say the least.

When it was done, he almost cried with relief, instead, he went outside and trashed one of the other applicants in a duel right there on the street.

-LineBreak-

Former-Chancellor Professor Sheppard sat on the bench overlooking the ocean, old eyes shining as the sun set.

It had been many a year since students of great destiny had walked the island, far too long. But something different was coming, he could feel it. Maybe, he hoped, just maybe, the likes of Jaden and his friends might one day appear.

It would be fun to watch Chancellor Crowler deal with that particular trauma once more.

He smiled. Yes indeed, a new story was coming.

He was glad he'd get to see it.

END OF CHAPTER WON!

I like Joey more than I like Josh…. '''(-_-)

He just seems more…me, I guess.

Too soon to tell, though, he could mellow out!