NOTES:
These first few chapters will just be in the introductory stages before any real plot can begin to develop.
This takes place after the 2nd Season.
I'm going to use the TCG/OCG rules for duels (8000 LP, TCG/OCG card effects, etc.) as well as my own created cards. If I use them in the duels, I will post them and their effects at the end of the chapter.
I'm open to any constructive criticism (That does not mean flaming is acceptable)
Chapter 1:New Year, New Opportunities
It was once again a new year and once again a new opportunity for new possibilities. New students have been arriving all day as the returning students adjusted to their promotion to the next year. Things still remained the same. The students who were transfers from smaller dueling schools were automatically promoted into Obelisk Blue, while others who just excelled at the dueling entrance exams – both the written test and the actual dueling – were promoted to Ra Yellow. Anyone else who did make it to the school was placed into land of broken dreams (Read: Slifer Red).
One duelist in particular felt indifferent to it all, as he had other matters on his mind. Jaden Yuki, one of the Academy's top-ranked duelists on the island despite his rank as a Slifer. As he laid on the ground leaning his head against the tree near his dorm in relaxation, thoughts came to mind of what has happened since the first two years in the academy. First there was the whole Shadow Riders deal that involving the Sacred Beast cards that, due to their effects, almost wiped out every duel spirit in the world. The biggest revelations were that his teacher, Professor Lyman Banner, was one of the Shadow Riders all this time and Kagemaru, the Academy's Superintendent, was the one who started all of this.
Then there was Satorious and the whole "White Light" thing that happened last year. It all started with his loss to Aster Phoenix that caused him not to be able to see his cards. Then when he came back from him leaving out of his own uselessness (No use staying at Duel Academy if he couldn't see his cards.), he saw Chazz wearing his old Obelisk Blue uniform, only it was all white. He thought that Chazz was acting a bit weird. Must've been a new fad, he thought at first, but when he noticed the Obelisk Blue dorm being painted white as well as just about all Obelisk Blue duelist converting to white, including Alexis, save for Bastion and a handful of Ra Yellows, it was starting to get serious. While he did managed to bring Chazz and Alexis back, and Bastion snapped out of it on his own, he still felt a bit guilty! Feeling that he should've seen this happening before it happened.
He was questioning his feelings about dueling. Of course he would always love to throw down! Dueling was his life! He always believed that dueling was supposed to be fun, but why did it seem to be so depressing lately? Ever since he arrived at Duel Academy, he's been seeing it more used as a means of power and to determine the fate of the world. He often wondered why things couldn't go back to the way things were before? When dueling was supposed to be fun? A way of life, maybe, but it was still fun in the end. Maybe it was wishful thinking or just being in denial, but this wasn't what Pegasus intended when he created Duel Monsters! It was meant to be a fun game, not as a tool of war and power!
Jaden sighed. Maybe that was why he didn't take the most serious matters seriously unless it came down to a life or death situation. Again, that could've been wishful thinking that the game of Duel Monsters could be at the end seen as just that. A game. However, from the way it seemed, he would just have to get used to the fact that the game he fell in loved with has changed. Maybe it was for the better. Then again, maybe it wasn't…
"Is this a private place?" A female voice asked as Jaden looked behind, only for his eyebrow to be raised.
"You lost or something?" He asked in confusion. Usually she'd be around the Obelisk dorms if anything like most girls would, except Alexis at least, so seeing her here was a bit unusual. "Normally you'd be around the Obelisk Blue dorms.
"It's the last place anyone would look to find me!" Mindy stated with a slight frown on her face.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing…" She replied as she looked down at her blue boots. "At least not much…" She didn't even know why she was even near the Slifer Red dorm anyway? Maybe she just needed someone to talk to. She couldn't just talk to Jasmine or Alexis, not for this problem. The people she knew were either busy doing their own thing or haven't arrived yet. And no matter how she tried to, she couldn't even get to talk to Chazz. He was too busy repainting the Obelisk Blue boys dorm from white back to blue. She didn't even know Tyranno, Who knew what Bastion was doing, and she wasn't going to talk to Syrus! He might've been promoted to Ra Yellow and she thought that he was okay, but he was still like somebody's kid brother. Her last option was Jaden. Like Syrus, he appeared to be okay but, despite his dueling ability, he was the textbook example of a "Slifer Slacker."
"It's best to just talk it out!" Jaden advised. "I mean if I'm having a problem I don't keep it bottled up inside otherwise it'd just explode."
She sighed as she decided to take a seat next to him. Maybe he had a point. "Have you ever felt that you could do something, yet feel that there was something holding you down?"
"Besides the whole dorm ranking thing, I can't say that I have…" Jaden admitted, "But what's wrong?"
"You do know that the Miss Duel Academy pageant is coming up, right?" She asked.
"Umm…we have one?" Jaden raised an eyebrow. This was news to him.
Mindy shot him an annoyed look. "You don't even know about Miss Duel Academy? It's basically the talk around the guys! Everyone has to place in a vote online!"
"Sorry, Mindy! I'm not really into things like that! And I don't mess with computers. Especially after last time…" Jaden cringing in remembrance the last time he was on the computer in the computer labs at Duel Academy. Let's just say that he'd never look at Dr. Crowler the same way again.
"What happened?" Mindy asked. No matter who or what it was, she was never the one to pass up on any gossip.
"Let's just say that I never want to enter a chat room ever again. But enough about my problems with computers, what's with you?"
"You have to promise to keep it to yourself!" Mindy narrowed her eyes towards the auburn-haired boy. "You can't tell anyone about this, even Pharaoh."
"Okay, my lips are shut! So spill!"
"I'm serious! If you tell anyone about this I'll beat you to a bloody pulp, you Slifer Slacker!" Venom crept into Mindy's voice. Maybe a bit too much venom…
'I won't even tell Winged Kuriboh! Sheesh!' Jaden was taken back by her sudden change of tone. "I swear I won't tell anyone! Chill okay!"
Mindy let him go as she sighed, "…I'm starting to dislike Alexis." She admitted.
"Say wha?" Jaden raised an eyebrow at this.
"I'm just tired of being seen as just her sidekick." Mindy explained. "Maybe it started after Jas and I got creamed by that wine guy, and Alexis had to basically save our butts, basically proving that Alexis was the star of our trio and that we were just her sidekicks. I mean I love Alexis like a sister and all, but lately it's like I'm always being overlooked for her."
"It's about Chazz, isn't it?" Jaden suggested, much to the shock of the raven-haired Obelisk Duelist.
"How did you-?"
"When Chazz left and you called him your 'poor Chazzy,' it's not that hard to figure out that you'd have a thing for him. I mean, I may not be an expert when it comes to love and relationships, but I can see obvious affection for someone."
"Even when you don't even know what a fiancée is!" Mindy shot at the Slifer Duelist, poking fun at his ineptness from not knowing what a fiancée was.
"Hey, it's not like I thought it was some kind of food or something!" Jaden said in his defense. "Like I said, I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to love and relationships!"
"Anyway, yes I had a crush on Chazz. But I've all but given that up now!" Mindy admitted. "Chazz is too into Alexis for him to even notice me…"
"I have to go with you on that one!" Jaden scratched his head, "Have you seen his new screen name, 'LexiesThunder?'"
"I thought you didn't go into the chat rooms anymore!"
"I don't, but Syrus and Hassleberry keep trying to get me into them!" Jaden mimicked Syrus, "'Come on, Jay! You can even laugh at Chazz's new screen name!' Anyway, it wouldn't be so tough if Chazz didn't try so hard. If anything he's freaking her out!" He then noticed Mindy's sad expression. "Oh, sorry!"
"It's okay, I'm over that now!" Mindy sighed. "Anyway I was wondering if I should challenge Alexis to a duel or not. I mean, I'm not sure how well I'd do if I actually dueled her, but if she can beat a guy who I couldn't even beat with Jas, I doubt that I could last long. After all, she is the Queen of Obelisk Blue!"
"That's no reason not to try, though!" Jaden stated. "Sure, Alexis is good and has a sweet deck. But you're pretty good, yourself! I mean you are an Obelisk Blue! I'm sure you could give Lex a good run for her money!"
A small smile formed on the ebony-haired girl's face. "You think so?"
"I know so!" Jaden stood up, his voice filled with determination. "After all, I did! And you can too! You and Lex will both throw down and you'll both get your game on!"
"But what if there is tension between us afterwards?" Mindy asked. "I mean, I want to still be friends with Alexis after this!"
"Don't worry! Duels are played against friends all the time and they're still tight afterwards! Making friends and having fun! That's what dueling's all about!"
A soft giggle came from Mindy. He knew that he wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer and that he hardly took anything seriously, but Jaden did have his moments. Maybe if dueling didn't work out for him, he could have a career in motivational speaking. After all, he was the reason why she decided, when she was ready, to challenge Alexis to a duel to see who was the better female Obelisk Blue duelist.
…
Bastion Misawa typed away on his computer in his dorm room as he went over possible card combinations and strategies with the cards he currently owned. After leaving the White Organization, the first thing he did was to remove the white hair dye from his hair. As the school year ended last year, he decided to take a sabbatical from dueling. From working on seven decks – including the one used to specifically counter Jaden Yuki's deck – it was safe to say that he was burned out. He decided that he would work on his eighth and final deck. A deck that would serve only as a base to adapt to when the situation arose for it! He would still maintain his six decks: One for each attribute. He would just apply them to his base deck. Question was what would his base deck be?
He could base his deck on magnets, his old Earth deck. He did exceptionally well with them, but when he fell for Tania and lost his will to duel against Chazz, he lost. They were a good deck idea, but adapting his earth-based magnets with his Water Dragon, for example, may go against their synergy.
"You're thinking too hard…"
Bastion nodded. Maybe he was thinking too hard on this. After all, the best ideas usually came naturally instead of putting too much pressure no himself. Then again, classes began tomorrow and the last thing he needed was to be one step behind the rest of the class. To be even behind of the freshman students would make him the laughingstock of the entire academy. No, he must keep working, despite the possible stress that could be made. After all, Einstein didn't become well renown for his greatness by taking it easy! An accomplishment on that scale takes true hard work and true determination.
"You need to go out and have some fun! You're so lame…"
Fun? Fun! Fun was the last thing he should be worrying about when there was work to be done? That was the most ridiculous most absurd thing he could possibly do now! If he was to prepare his deck to be in top form by tomorrow then it was best for him to get to work! Immediately!
"Come on Bastion, you're always doing that same old thing! Going over equations, making calculations, it's like dueling's just one huge math problem!"
"Yeah, Bor-ring!"
Bastion blinked, finally realizing what was going on. Who was saying all of such nonsense to him? Was he going insane? No, it couldn't be so. But then, why was he hearing voices if there wasn't anyone else in his room? Maybe it was fatigue getting to him. That was it! Maybe it was him feeling tired from working so hard. He sighed, "I really need some sleep…"
"That's right! Get some rest! You have a big day tomorrow!"
There was that voice again! Sweet, innocent, and pure! He must've been going crazy! No one in their right mind would be able to hear voices in their heads.
"Don't listen to Miss Goody-two-shoes! What you need is to have a little innocent fun! I do have a good few ideas…"
There was the other voice he had heard. Similar to the first, but more mischievous and rather bratty! He must've really been going crazy if he was hearing two voices… Unless there really were two people here!
Bastion quickly stood up from his seat as he searched around in his room. "Who's there?" He asked, with a hint of concern in his voice. Was this a kidnapping attempt, or was it someone playing a joke on him? The lights were on so nobody could just hide in the shadows. But after what happened with the Shadow Riders and Satorious, anything was just about possible, no matter how absurd and illogical it seemed to be. He may have been considered to be a nerd by some, but this nerd knew how to defend himself. "I'm warning you, I suggest that you show yourself now or suffer the consequences!"
"Look on your bed!"
There was that first voice again…
"Yeah, it's so obvious!"
And now the second one! Following the advice of the two voices, Bastion looked on his bed where his pile of cards rested. He did spot his favorites such as Vorse Raider, Ring of Destruction, Water Dragon, and Barrel Dragon. He then spotted one particular card resting near his pillow. Namely, White Magician Pikeru! At times he had often wondered why he kept a card like this in his deck. It had no place with his other themes such as his magnets. Otherwise it was rather useless… He scoffed, "Silly distraction…"
"Hey! Who are you calling a distraction?" As if she just instantly came to life by his words, the young white Lolita Magician snapped from the card as Bastion fell back out of shock!
"Y-y-you're…" This was insane! She was a card! How could he see her, let alone see her floating above him? This was beyond strange and illogical! And yet here she was right before him!
"Yep, I'm sure am!" Pikeru greeted him with a smile. "I was wondering when you were going to realize it!"
"But how? You're a card!" Bastion was shaking his head. There was no way Pikeru could be actually talking to him! Unless… "You're a…"
"That's right! I'm a Duel Spirit!" Pride was evident in her voice, pointing to herself, before her happy, perky mood dropped a bit. "She's here, too!"
"She? Who's also in…" Bastion stood up as he instantly placed two and two together. If Pikeru was one of the voices he heard, then the other must also be one of his cards. As the Ra Yellow duelist went back to his bed filled with cards he began to search through the pile. He didn't have any possible leads. All he knew was that one of his cards sounded like Pikeru, but wasn't!
"Hello! I'm right here!" Sassed a girl who looked similar to Pikeru, but had long, blonde hair instead of pink hair in pigtails, wore a black bunny cap instead of a white goat cap and was dressed in black instead of white. Save for the red whip in her hand instead of the pink wand. "I'm Curran, and unlike Miss Killjoy over there, I'm the one who's really looking out for your best interests!"
"Best interests? Yeah right!" Pikeru scoffed. "Don't listen to her Bastion, she's just going to get you into trouble!"
Curran rolled her eyes, "Says the girl who's afraid to even get her hands dirty! And by that I mean literally!"
"At least I have some reservations instead of just jumping into things!"
"If I were to do things your way, I'd be a dull and bland as you are!"
Bastion closed his eyes as he covered his head, feeling a migraine growing from the bickering of the two Duel Spirits. This was getting out of hand! How could he get through the year having these two Duel Spirits? He wondered if there was anyone else with this problem! He blinked, as the answer was obvious! He could've sworn that he saw Jaden and Chazz – Especially Chazz – had their insane moments during a duel. It was clear to him now.
Bastion quickly grabbed the two cards and placed them inside of his yellow blazer before rushing out of his room. There was only one place to go if he wanted any hope to have some peace…
…
"Ha! Eat 'em and weep, Slacker!" Chazz taunted as he placed two cards face down on the field. His righteous smirk said it all. Once again, he was dueling Jaden! Sure, he may've lost the past few times, but this time would be different. This was a game that was as different as the end results of their encounter would be. "Face it, Slacker! There's no way you can come back now! Next turn, it'll all be over for you! Because after this, there won't be any cards left that you can play!"
Jaden looked at his remaining hand. In all honestly, after burning his hand earlier, he didn't have much of it. One of his bad habits from dueling was that he recklessly managed to burn off his hand, thus using a lot of valuable resources. Because of this mainly, he had found himself in a few close calls. Too close for anyone's comfort! He looked to his opponent with a face of determination, "Okay Chazz, here goes…" He examined his hand, only consisting a single card, before declaring his move. It was time to throw down or give up now. "Got any threes?" He asked, much to Chazz's satisfaction.
He scoffed, "Go fish!" Jaden drew the last card on the table as the audience watched. There was no way that slacker could come back now.
"Well what'd ya know, Chazz? Looks like I win again!" He said in a cheery voice, much to the ebony-haired boy's chagrin as he showed the two cards in his hand: A three of clubs and a three of spades. "And that's game!"
"…" It took everything inside him to prevent Chazz from leaping across table in the dining area in the Slifer Red dorm and slapping that clown in the face. He did it again! That slacker beat him again! How could he have let this happen?
"And that makes it 3-2 in Jaden's favor, putting the overall score of this triathlon 2 to 1." Syrus informed as he recorded the score onto a notepad. "Way to play, Jay!"
"Way to play nothing!" Chazz hissed. "Three out of five, Slacker! You got me?"
"Chill! It's just a game!" Jaden held his hands up, trying to calm down the enraged teen.
"I AM CHILL! THE CHAZZ IS ALWAYS CHILL, YOU GOT THAT?" He snapped.
"Okay, fine! Sheesh!" Jaden responded. Did Chazz always act like this when he lost or was it just to him? He soon heard the familiar cries as he looked behind him to see his longtime friend since his entrance exam. "What's up, Pal? Two duel spirits?"
"Err…Jay, are you spacing out again?" Syrus asked.
"Yeah, you're acting weird…well…. Weirder than usual!" Chazz added. It wouldn't be long before he was greeted, or bothered in Chazz's case, by his own Duel Spirit!
"Boss, I think we gonna have visitors!" The scratchy, annoying voice of Ojama Yellow informed as the yellow Ojama appeared on Chazz's shoulder.
"Get lost!" Chazz snapped at the Duel Spirit. The last thing he needed right now was to deal with him!
"Now you're acting weird!" Syrus informed. First Jaden, now Chazz! Was there some kind of epidemic going around? He was snapped out of his thinking as he heard a knock on the door.
"I got it!" Jaden walked over to the door as he opened it, finding a familiar face on the other side. "Oh, hey Bastion!" He greeted casually.
"Jaden, I really need to talk to you and Chazz." He said, worry evident on his face.
"Oh, why do you have to bother them for?" Pikeru asked Bastion from his left.
"Yeah, like those morons could help. You're the only one who can see us anyway!" Curran added righteously.
Winged Kuriboh appeared besides Jaden as he pointed towards the two girls with a cry. "What's that pal?" He asked as he then saw Pikeru and Curran. He may have not been the brightest person at the academy, but he can put two and two together. "So they're the duel spirits!" He smiled at Bastion. "So Bastion, who're your new friends?"
"Wha!" Bastion's eyes went wide. He thought he was the only one who could see Pikeru and Curran. "You can see them?"
"Yeah! You're not the only one who can see Duel Spirits!" Jaden explained as Winged Kuriboh let out a cry, nodding in agreement.
"Oohh…He's so cute!" Pikeru fawned over the Winged Kuriboh.
"Feh, just an annoying furball!" Curran scoffed as Bastion noticed the Kuriboh. If he had the ability to see Duel Spirits like Jaden and Chazz, then why didn't he notice theirs before? Perhaps he was a late bloomer when it came to those abilities.
"What now?" Chazz said in an annoyed tone as he walked up to the duel. He noticed the Pikeru and Curran as he smirked. "I guess you have that problem now, too?"
"Problem?" Bastion asked, confused.
"The annoying spirits you have! Those things that'll never give you a moment of peace?" Chazz explained as, if on cue, Ojama Yellow once again appeared on his shoulder.
"Wow, those girls look cute! Don't they Boss?" He asked excitedly as he then jumped over towards a shocked Bastion before smiling at the Ebon Magician. "Hey toots? You're looking good!"
"Get away from me, freak!" She snapped, knocked the Ojama away with a single backhand as Pikeru and Bastion watched on.
"Okay…" The white magician commented, a bit freaked out, as she could see Chazz shaking his head in embarrassment.
"See how annoying they are?" He asked in an "I told you so" tone as the two duel spirits instantly glared at him. "What's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?"
"It's okay if ya did, Boss!" The gruff voice of Ojama Black stated as it appeared on his shoulder. "Broads like them are nuthin' but trouble!"
"Yeah!" Ojama Green appeared on Chazz's other shoulder, nodding in agreement. "Like they say, girls would drive any man crazy!"
"Why don't you freaks go back to the well where you came from, losers?" Curran snapped at the two Ojamas as Bastion, Jaden, and Pikeru watched on, eyes wide, and Chazz was growing closer to gaining a migraine.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Chazz screamed as it caused everyone to look towards he raven-haired duelist. It was bad enough his Ojama spirits were annoying without having to deal with them bickering with Bastion's new spirits.
Syrus, meanwhile, was confused at what was going on. All of this talk about Duel Spirits! That made for interesting discussion. Too bad he didn't have any idea what they were talking about, as he couldn't hear any of them. Syrus then watch Chazz pull out something form the pocket of his black coat before handing it to Bastion.
"Take them." He said, placing the item into Bastion's hand.
The Ra Yellow duelist looked down to find a pack of earplugs. "What am I supposed to-"
"You'll need 'em, trust me…" Chazz said as he walked off, knowing very well how a duel spirit could cause you sleepless nights.
"They're not that bad…" Jaden explained to Bastion. Not wanting to Chazz to influence his negative opinions on Duel Spirits on them. "I'm sure you'll come to love 'em once you get used to them."
"I hope you're right Jaden…" Bastion sighed. He already had two opinions that opposed each other, both from people who were experienced with dealing with Duel Spirits. Honestly, he wasn't sure whom to believe, but for his sake he hoped that Jaden was right. Otherwise, it would be a very long year at Duel Academy.