Chapter 1: Back to School
Jaden looked out the window of the boat, behind him, and stared up at the Duel Academy
School. It hadn't changed that much in the one year. A few upgrades to the presentation, like
silver lining for the roofs and windows. A brief look at the dorms, looked like even the Slifer
rooms, got an upgrade. The boat slowly pulled into the dock, and then stopped next to the
ramp.
All passengers, destined for Duel Academy, please get off here, came the Captain's voice, over
the intercom.
"Yaghh!" Jaden shrieked, holding his ears, and darting off his chair. The speaker was right behind
his head. Jaden stuck his fingers in his ears, in order to keep the sound out. Finally, he marched
off the boat, and onto the dock. He looked around, and smelled the air, "Aw, man! I had
forgotten how nice the air smelled here."
Jaden walked along the dock and turned into the mainland. He looked around at some familiar
faces, from the time that he was last here. He walked off the dock, and found a bench to sit on.
Jaden flopped down on the bench and sighed. It had been an 8 hour ride to Academy Island,
so Jaden was pooped. Jaden laid down, along the length of the bench, and closed his eyes.
"Some peace, to sleep!" Jaden yawned.
"JADEN!!!!"
"Aghh!"
Shocked, Jaden fell off the side of the bench, and hit the ground. He picked himself up, shook
his head, and turned around, to see who interrupted his nap. Two guys were running his way,
from off the docks. After the his eyes focused, with the sun, glazing in his face, he noticed that
it was his best buds, Sy and Chumley.
"Jaden!" Sy laughed, stopping next to the bench, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it has!" Jaden agreed, standing up, and brushing off his pants, "You look like have all the
confidence in the world! Way more, than last year!"
"Oh, yeah!" Sy agreed, smiling, "Thanks to you, I'm a whole new Duelist!"
"And I've become way better as well!" Chumley joined in, "I'm no longer just a lazy guy, who
only fights with Koala's."
"That's great!" Jaden praised, "look's like you got here, right behind me!"
"Ya!" Sy agreed, "how about we hurry and get the best places in the stadium?!"
"Ok, sounds good!" Jaden agreed, as he turned around, and started walking up the ramp to the
school.
Jaden, Sy and Chumley all walked together, and talked about what they had done over the year.
"I actually beat my dad in a match!" Chumley boasted, "he was a little ticked off at first, but then
he congratulated me, with a big bowl of hot sauce...I still have the tongue burns."
"I impressed my friends, by beating the number one Duelist at my school," Sy grinned, "man was
he angry. He used to always challenge me, cause he knew that I couldn't win! That's all in the
past, now!"
"So, Jaden?!" Chumley asked, "what did you do for the year?"
"Me?..." Jaden hesitates,"...um...well, I slept all day, rearranged my decks...then, um...slept
some more?"
"Huh?" Sy gasped, "you didn't brush up on your Dueling skills?"
"Why should I?" Jaden grinned, folding his arms, behind his head, "I don't like practicing that
much. I'm more of a "play for real" gamer!"
"I figured that," Sy sighed, "looks like you haven't changed much, over the year!"
"That's what makes Dueling fun to me!" Jaden admitted, "If I change my attitude and my
playing routine, then i'll probably lose all my matches!"
"Mmm!" Sy thought, "I guess your right! Why mess with perfection!"
The group walked along the road, and came to the steps of the Academy. They stopped at the
bottom of the stairs, and looked up. Standing at the top of the steps, was Chazz Princeton. He
was chatting with a group of guys. Jaden and the rest, continued their walk up the stairs.
"Yo, Chazz!" Jaden cheered, waving to Chazz. Chazz stopped talking, and turned around.
"Wel, well!" Chazz chuckled, "look what the cat dragged in!"
"Same as ever!" Jaden smiled, "so happy to see me?"
"Heh!" Chazz laughed, "you must be joking! I'm well prepared to beat you, this time! So, Yeah! I
guess I am happy to see you! I'm going to be happy, when I make you eat my dust!"
"Well, then!" Jaden smiled, a little goofy looking, "then let's hope that we meet soon, in a Duel!"
The three walked past Chazz and his two friends, and walked in through the front door. Chazz
watched him all the way. As soon as Jaden and the rest were gone, Chazz got angry.
"I can't believe that he made the Top 100 Duelists to make it for this Tournament!" Chazz hissed.
"Yeah, I mean he doesn't take his game seriously," Travis, one of Chazz's friends said, "and he
doesn't practice at all!"
"I will beat that pathetic Jaden!" Chazz growled, "if it's the last thing I do!"
Jaden, Sy and Chumley sat down in the middle of the conference room. This was the same one
that they had sat in before, last year, for when the teacher made announcements. The room
was packed and full of a lot of kids.
"I'm surprised that all the kids didn't return this year!" Jaden wondered, out loud, "there only
looks like there's around one hundred students, here. What's up with that?"
"Um...Jaden...?" Sy started, but got cut of by a loud voice.
"Attention!!!"
The loud voice sounded familiar to Jaden, so he looked down at the head of the class, down
below. At the table, down at the front, was none other, then head Teacher. Dr. Crowler. Jaden
found humor in seeing him, and stood up.
"HEY! DR. C!!!" Jaden yelled down, "HOW"S IT GOiNG! LONG TIME NO SEE!"
"Ukk!" Dr. Crowler gasped, stumbling a little, at the sound of the voice, "that cant be! Could it
be?...NO! IT IS! JADEN YUKI! HOW DID HE GET CHOSEN FOR THE TOURNAMENT!"
Jaden waved, erratically, until Chumely and Sy had to pull him back down to his seat.
"I can't believe he was chosen to attend this Tournament!" Dr. Crowler mumbled, "it must have
been Chancellor Sheppard. He always had a kind spot in his heart for that dumb Jaden!"
"So, Jaden?" Chumely asked, after being quiet for quite a while, "did you even get that notice by
mail, a few weeks ago?"
Jaden had laid back in his chair and was resting his eyes, "What notice?"
"Oh, Man!" Sy gasped, "you have no idea about that tournament then!"
"Tournament?" Jaden asked, now awake, "Notice? Tournament?"
"Jaden!" Sy cried.
"Oh, yeah!" Jaden laughed, "I got the notice!"
Sy and Chumely sighed.
"I ran out of newspaper, so I put in my Birds cage!"
"Huh?" Sy and Chumely fell of their chairs.
"Now, Students!" Dr. Crowler began his speech, "today we have bought back, one-hundred of
the best Duelists from last year...and one loser Duelist! Before the next year starts, as you all
know, we will be hosting a "School Tournament" to break in the new year!
"Wow!" Jaden gasped, amazed by Crowler's words, "there really is a Tournament!"
"We will pit all one-hundred of you Duelists, against each other!" Dr. Crowler continued, "the one
who wins will be named School Champion for the Year!" We will call out two random Duelists, to
battle it out, over the next few weeks, and we will see who is the victor! So, then! Let us
begin!"
Dr. Crowler stepped down from his podium, and walked off the floor. Right after, the wall behind
the stage opened up, down the middle, and split apart. It opened up, and once fully open,
showed off a large Dueling Stage and giant Black, Scoreboard. The wall finished opening up.
"We will use our computers, to pick two random people from the chosen hundred, and they will
proceed to Duel! If you lose, you do not miss out on the school year! You will simply wait till the
Tournament is over! Let the Dueling begin!"
Cheers
The Giant Computer Billboard, had two large screens on the side and one in the middle. The
middle screen showed a small "VS" in the centre. There were two long rectangular screens above
the two large, side screens. The big ones, would show the picture of the student, while the
rectangular screen above, would show the name. The two names would show in the middle as
well, one on top, and the other on the bottom of the screen.
"Well, now! Isn't this a fun Reunion!" Came a voice, besides them.
All three turned around, to see Bastion, and Alexis, smiling at them.
"May we join you?" Alexis asked. She and Bastion sat down and watched the Billboard, as well.
"Boy, am I glad that you two are here!" Jaden laughed.
"Really? Why is that?" Bastion asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"You and Alexis are two of my closest friends," Jaden told the two, "and are also, two of the
best Duelists I've faced."
"Before we start with the matches!" Dr. Crowler yelled out, "I have a special surprise for you, that
was not mentioned in the NewsLetter!"
"Hmmm?" Jaden hummed, curiously, "what does he mean?"
"We lied in the Letter!" Dr. Crowler continued, "there are not One-Hundred Duelists from this
school, here today! There are only Ninety-Five! That is because, I have invited 5 special Guest
Duelists, to participate, along with the rest of you, to become the School Champion. Four of the
Duelists have come here from different Academies from all over the world. They have also
decided to transfer here, in order to give everyone here, lessons to all of you, for the brand
new school year!"
"Wow!" Alexis gasped, with a hint of excitement in her voice, "that certainly will make this year, a
lot more interesting!"
"So, without further adu!" Dr. Crowler announced, waving his arm in the air, "let me introduce
you to our Guest Duelists! First, Ranked Number 1, at the Red Fountain Academy in California,
U.S.A, Brittany Eastwood!
Loud cheers fro the crowd
From behind the splitting walls, emerged a tall, slender girl, with burning blonde hair. She wore a
red, short sleeve Uniform coat, lined with white rims. She wore long, black high heel boots,
zippered up on the sides, and a knee-length black skirt. Once she came out, all the guys went
nuts.
"Oh, Brother!" Alexis sighed, rolling her eyes. She walked out, and stood to the right of Dr.
Crowler.
"Next!" Dr. Crowler spoke up, in order to drown out the hooting of the guys, "Ranked Number 2
at GreenDale Academy in Sydney, Australia, Steven Oswald!"
A young man, no more then 20, walked out from behind the stage. He wore a black Uniform
jacket, opened to show a simple white T-Shirt, underneath. He had brown hair, with blonde
highlights, that glowed in the sun, coming in through the windows. He wore simple looking black
sneakers and black socks. He stood beside Brittany.
"Our Next Guest, is from SunStone Academy, in Rome, Italy. Ranked Number 1, please welcome,
Morgan Schaefer!"
Morgan came out, dressed in a black trench coat, opened to show a black shirt and black pants.
He had Jet Black hair, and black shoes. He seemed like the type, that didn't have any friends at
all. If he did, they were closely similar to him. He stood on the other side of Dr.Crowler.
"Last, but certainly not least!" Dr. Crowler boomed, with a big smile, "I introduce the International
Champion of LongBeach Academy, only 3 hours from here. He's been International Champion for
4 years running. Please welcome the great International Champion, Rockwell Denton!"
More Cheers from the crowd, indicating that a lot of people know who he is.
"Never heard of this guy!" Jaden admitted, scratching his head, "Is he famous?"
"You've never heard of Rockwell Denton?" Alexis gasped, turning her attention away form the
stage, and looked at Jaden.
"Should I know him?" Jaden asked.
"He's only one of the best Duelists in the world!" Bastion explained, "He's been champion for over
4 years now, and is going for World champion! This man has won Duels, that I have only Dreamt
about!"
"Wow?!" Jaden awed, "I'm going to love batting this guy!"
Rockwell came out from behind the stage and stood beside Morgan. He had blonde hair, tied
back in a ponytail. He wore a red and black Bandana on his head, that covered almost his
whole head. He wore a short-sleeve, white Uniform jacket, opened to show a white dess shirt,
along with a white tie. On the left side of the jacket, near the heart, the initials "RD", stood out
with big, bold Red letters, outlined in black. He wore white slacks and white shoes. He wore red
gloves on both his hands. The kind of gloves, that don't have fingers, and only fit the palm part.
"Wow!" Alexis giggled, "I can't believe that we actually have Rockwell Denton, in our school. How
cool is that!"
"I guess!" Jaden shrugged, eyeing Rockwell some more.
"Welcome the four, of the top Duelists in the world!" Dr. Crowler cheered, "and now we come
to the biggest Guest we have today!"
"Hmmm?" Jaden wondered, interested in Dr. Crowler's words.
"I introduce you, to a great Duelist!" Dr. Crowler began, "a Duelist, that is one of the best in the
world! Even better then our 4 other guests here! Even though, these 4 are very well known and
talented! This is a man that has made the Duel Monster Game, all the more exciting! A man that
invented numerous ways to improve the game, and made it more of a Grander Game than it
already is! Please welcome, the President of the Kaiba Corp. Enterprises...Seto Kaiba!"