Note: I really need to stop coming up with story ideas… it's bad for my updating…. In any case, now that finals are over, I will have more time to write! :D For my other stories as well…
Forewarning, this story will closely follow the actual events of the series, with several twists. The further it goes, the further it may stray from the original storyline.
Arg! I can't come up with creative title! Oh well…
Enjoy!
Tipping the Scale
Chapter 1
It was a crisp, clear September morning and a small townhouse in suburban Domino City, Japan was in a peaceful silence.
But not for long.
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!" THWACK!
A brunet teen hit the alarm, missing the snooze button and causing it to fall off of the table and onto the floor.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
"Shut up!" He snarled, clambering out of bed and unplugging Hell's machine. "Silence at last…" The boy, named Jaden Yuki, had scruffy brown hair with orange roots, and big chocolate-colored eyes, matching his rather boyish face. Jaden stretched and groaned, getting up and staggering to the bathroom. If you couldn't tell by now, he was NOT a morning person.
"Mom?" He called. "Dad?" When silence followed, the brunet nodded. He hadn't expected them to answer anyways as they were never home, but he had hoped that they would at least see him off. Today was a special day after all, the day he started at Duel Academy!
Duel Academy was the top ranking dueling school in the world! Second only to the American Branch. Jaden couldn't wait to go! Granted, you had to pass an entrance exam to get in, but he was a pretty good duelist, so he was sure to get in! In fact, he would probably be number one!
Though, since his parents weren't home, it meant he didn't have to hide them anymore… this this thought, Jaden pulled his shirt off over his head and fully stretched the large, black, leathery wings that sprouted from between his shoulder blades. They were similar to bat wings, but had no fur. Rather, tiny black scales along the top, and a thin layer of skin be
Surprised? He had been too. About the time he was finishing elementary school, Jaden had developed severe back pains, one day he took a bad fall and the wings tore through his back; though they had grown since then. It had been quite painful, and bloody. Fortunately Jaden's parents hadn't been home at that time. Both his mother and father were very religious, and even at that young of an age, Jaden had no desire to go through an exorcism. Since then, he kept his wings folded in small grooves on each side of his spine which kept them perfectly hidden under his shirt. The grooves were from when they had formed. He figured he would have to tell his parents one day, but not any time soon.
Jaden flapped his wings experimentally and added a small hop. Nothing. The one perk that there could be from sprouting wings, flying, he couldn't do. Not that he hadn't tried, but it was hard to explain to the neighbor why he had jumped off the roof, and proceeded to break his leg. The excuse he told the hospital was playing baseball.
When he finished his stretches, Jaden proceeded to brush his teeth, wash his face, throw his comb at the mirror after attempting to tame his hair, and finally do his business. After finishing up in the bathroom, Jaden went back to his room and fished his current grey high school uniform from the bottom of his closet. He sorely hoped that Duel Academy's uniforms weren't grey. He hated grey.
Before he put his shirt on, the brunet found the makeshift back brace he had put together. He put it on over his folded wings, making sure no movement appeared from the back of his shirt. It may have been a bit uncomfortable, but it worked. He finished putting his uniform on and ran downstairs for breakfast. He still had plenty of time before he had to leave…. Until he saw the clock.
"ACK! I'M LATE!" And with that, Jaden tore out the door, with one sock on and a piece of toast dangling from his mouth. Damn, he wish he was able to fly at a time like this!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*(BlackWing)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
Several pedestrians backed off as a streak of brown and grey raced past them down the road. Jaden was running as hard as he could to make it to the Kaiba Corporation duel arenas. He HAD to make it in time! His wings strained against their bindings as they itched to flap. Not that it would have done any good, he didn't know how to fly! He was sprinting so fast that he didn't have time to react when a taller, and very familiar-looking man stepped in front of him.
"Ack! Watch out!" His warning came a tad too late as he crashed right into the other person. Whom didn't budge as Jaden wound up crashing on his behind, his cards scattering everywhere. "Sorry about that!" He chuckled sheepishly, gathering his fallen cards. A deep voice spoke behind him.
"You're a duelist, aren't you?" At Jaden's affirmative nod, the stranger's lips tweaked into a small half-smile. "I see…" He reached into his deck holder and pulled out a single card, and handed it to Jaden. "Here… something tells me it belongs with you." Jaden took the card, but before he had a chance to properly thank him, the stranger was walking away.
"U-um thank you!" The brunet stuttered. The stranger flashed him a thumbs up, and Jaden remembered seeing a familiar gesture on TV at the latest championship…. 'Hey… isn't that…' A toll from the Domino Square clock interrupted his thought, alerting him to the current time. Which was very late!
"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
It wasn't long before Jaden crashed headlong into someone. Again. Except this time they both went sprawling on the ground, Jaden landing on top of the other person.
"Oowww….." Jaden lifted himself up by his arms and looked down. "Sorry!" He paused, seeing who he landed on top of.
It was a young boy who looked about his age with messy teal-colored hair and wearing a lavender blouse with frilled cuffs at the ends. He was pretty sure it wasn't a high school uniform. The boy opened emerald-green eyes and looked up at him, and Jaden noticed how sharp and delicate his features were. He might be a foreigner.
"No, it's my fault." The bluenet sat up and smiled sheepishly at Jaden. His Japanese was spoken carefully, as though he didn't know the language well, and he had a European accent. Yup. Definitely a foreigner. "Um…" The boy spoke again. "Can you get off of me please?" Jaden started, realizing he was still kneeling on the other teen, gathering some curious looks from bystanders…
"Oh! Sorry again!" He jumped off and helped the European up. "Hey, I should introduce myself, I'm Jaden Yuki!" The blue-haired boy smiled.
"Nice to meet you, my name's Jesse Anderson!" The two simply stood there smiling at each other when the clock tolled again.
"Wah! I'm late!" Jaden and Jesse paused and looked at each other, for they had spoken in unison.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Where are you headed?"
"I'm trying out for Duel Academy."
"Wow, really? Me too!"
"Cool!"
They smiled and laughed at this coincidence. Jaden's grin grew wider, but he thought of something. "Wait… if you're from Europe, and I'm just assuming by your accent, why aren't you applying at North Academy?"
Jesse donned the deer-in-the-headlights look at this question. "U-um… I uh, wasn't accepted to North Academy… so I thought I'd apply here instead!"
This guy… was an awful liar. But Jaden supposed he had a good reason so he wouldn't push the matter. In any case, now it looked like he gained a friend! "Wanna go together?"
Jesse brightened considerably. "Ok! Honestly I don't have a clue where I am…" He chuckled sheepishly. "I get lost easily…"
"Ok then!" With that, Jaden grabbed his new friend's hand and pulled him towards the Kaiba Duel Arena.
"Wah! S-slow down!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*(BlackWing)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Will all applicants who have won their entrance duels please report to registration!" The announcer called. A small teenage boy named Syrus Truesdale collapsed on a seat in the stands. The petite green-haired applicant had just barely won his duel exam and was accepted into Duel Academy!
'Now I can follow in my big brother's footsteps!' He looked across the arena to a tall senior student with long dark teal hair. He yelped in surprise when two new faces came barging in through the entrance. "Ack! W-who are you?" The brown-haired one spoke first.
"Whew! We barely made it!" He threw a beaming smile in Syrus's direction, causing the smaller male to blush slightly. "Hey! My name's Jaden! I'm here for the entrance exam to get into Duel Academy!"
Syrus nodded. "I am too… I just barely won my duel-" He barely finished his sentence when a slightly tanned hand clapped him on the back.
"Well congratulations, Sy!" He flashed that big grin again. "Now it's my turn!"
"Um…" Syrus hesitated. "Jaden… I think that last duel… was supposed to be the last one…"
"WHAT?"
Up in the stands, the chairman, Dr. Vellian Crowler, began packing up his papers. Until he was interrupted by one of the duel proctors.
"Um, excuse me, sir… there are two new arrivals."
"What?" Crowler sniffed in annoyance. "Toss them out! I have no time for late slackers!"
"But sir!" The proctor stressed. "The Chancellor won't allow that this year!" Crowler cringed, remembering the conversation he had with Chancellor Sheppard…
"Very well!" He looked down to the field and saw the two late entries. One was a cocky-looking brunet, the other, a curious foreigner. "Well… I'll duel the one in grey… you duel the other one." With that, Crowler descended to the duel arena. "Ok, Slacker!" He caught Jaden's attention. "You'll be dueling me!" He turned to Jesse. "And you will be dueling in the other arena.
"Ok!" Jesse wished Jaden good luck and went to duel the proctor. "Now!" Jaden's grin grew.
"Get your game on!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*(Can'tWriteDuelScenes)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I win!" Jaden cheered, jumping up and down. He had just barely beat Crowler, and he was in! He looked over to where Jesse was. Jesse had trounced the proctor pretty badly with his own unique monsters! Jaden hadn't been able to watch though, he was too busy with his own duel. He jumped over to the bluenet's arena and grabbed Jesse's hands, spinning with him. "We did it, Jess!"
"Go, Jay!" Syrus was cheering, along with a good portion of the first year crowd.
It wasn't long after that, that they all found themselves on a helicopter… and could see the outline of the island in the distance.
"Students! Welcome to Duel Academy!"
To Be Continued….
Whew. Had to get that out. The next few chapters should be more exciting. And also, the loose ends will be tied up in later chapters.
Oh, and most of the characters that show up later will show up much sooner (Cause they're too awesome to wait for!)
The whole incident with the wings will be explained throughout the story
Tell me what you think! Any critique is welcome!