Dr. Vellian Crowler strode with pride through the empty halls of Duel Academy. Even though it was currently summer vacation, the man was still careful about the aura he emitted. Because he knew if he would slack off now, it would transfer over to when the new school year started. And if that happened, then the students wouldn't be afraid of him anymore. Something that must not happen under any circumstances!
That topic aside, there was a reason the good doctor was making his way through the prestigious school. You see normally at this time of the year, he would be busy with not only preparing classes but also for the upcoming application tests at the end of summer vacation. Sadly he needed to rearrange his schedule a little bit because the Chancellor wanted to speak with Crowler about something regarding a potential new student.
Now Crowler already had a pretty good idea about who this potential student was since she had frequented these very halls for the past month already. He shouldn't really be surprised that the Chancellor would give her a chance to be a student at this very academy, after all, she had proven to be a rather good duelist. There were just certain circumstances regarding this potential student that made her case rather exceptional, to say the least.
Crowler reached the door to the Chancellor's office without any interruptions. Most staff members used the summer time for their own vacations or simply prepared their lessons at home, away from the island. The doctor knocked at the door politely three times and almost immediately heard a response coming from the other side.
"Yes, come in Crowler."
The sliding door opened on its own, allowing Crowler to step into the office. Said office was really spacious with a marble red polished ground, a few plants here and there and a large window behind the chancellor's desk, which allowed him to have a full view over the academy. Chancellor Shepherd sat behind said desk with his usual good-hearted smile plastered across his face. Although Crowler did not always agree with the chancellor and definitely didn't share his kind-hearted nature, the blonde still respected the man wearing the purple uniform.
"You wanted to see me, Chancellor Sheppard?" asked Crowler, walking right in front of his boss' desk.
"Yes, thank you for coming." Sheppard nodded. "I'm sorry for taking you away from work, but as I mentioned in the e-mail, there's something I wanted to discuss with you. Please, have a seat."
Doctor Crowler nodded and placed himself on the chair, which had been offered to him. "You said it was about a potential student, chancellor. Although I think I can already guess who you were referring to," he spoke, sounding none-to-pleased.
"Haha, as sharp as ever, I see," Sheppard laughed good heartily. "Yes, I am referring to our newest addition here at Duel Academy. I have been thinking a lot about it these past few weeks and have come to the conclusion we should at least let her take the entrance exam. I mean, what could it hurt?"
Crowler suppressed a sigh and instead spoke directly to his superior. "Sir, with all due respect, I do not think this is a good idea. Even after two months we barely know anything about her, let alone how she even got on this island! We have asked the police, the orphanages and you even went so far as calling Seto Kaiba himself! We should count our lucky stars that our school's budget didn't get cut after you asked him to look up for some random girl that just appeared on our school grounds!"
It was the chancellor's turn to suppress a sigh. Of course, he fully understood his second in commands concerns, yet he had hoped that the duel potential that the potential student showed would sway Crowler to give the girl some leeway.
"I know that there are certain issues…"
"More than just issues, sir." Crowler interrupted Sheppard rather rudely and getting slightly aggressive. "Excuse me for my behavior, but we're treading on thin ice here. We have yet to inform the authorities about her, something we technically should have done from day one."
"And who do we call, Crowler?" asked Sheppard in return. "Duel Academy may belong to Kaiba corporation, a Japanese gaming company, but at the same time this very island isn't claimed by any country."
"It's not?!" exclaimed Crowler surprised. "Surely you're pulling my leg here."
"I'm afraid it's true." Sheppard gestured towards his personal computer. "While I have been looking for any clues about our mysterious girl, I at the same time tried to find a place for her stay. The problem there as I found out is that this island is officially not claimed by any country, no even a small one. Aside from the other glaring issues this presents, it also means that I cannot hand over the girl to the Japanese Government, who would then put her in foster care most likely. But as things stand, if we're really technical, she is an inhabitant, in fact, the only inhabitant on this island."
"Nonsense!" Crowler slammed his hands on the desk. "Surely there must be something you overlooked. The most likely scenario is that this island belongs to the Kaiba Corporation. It wouldn't be beyond Seto Kaiba to buy an island and build this magnificent facility on it. Ergo, we just give her over to the Japanese. There. Problem solved."
But the Sheppard shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not that easy Crowler."
"Huh? Why not?" the man asked, sitting back in his chair.
"Because even if this island belongs to Kaiba corporation it wouldn't automatically make it Japanese soil. Trust me, I have looked into the matter thoroughly, once it came up. Seto Kaiba was even so generous to assign one of his lawyers on the case to help me out. But so far, we haven't come up with any solution."
Crowler needed a moment to take all the information in. If this girl hadn't been a headache before, she certainly was now. With his arm, he rubbed a bit of sweat from his forehead and started thinking. Sadly, his PhD did not cover anything about law, especially international law.
"Well what do we do then?" asked Crowler. "She can't just stay here forever. She has to have a home somewhere. I mean she most likely arrived on this island via boat and then hid here for who knows how long, until we found her. She could be a runaway child for all we know with a family looking for her somewhere."
"That is true." Sheppard acknowledge. "Which is why I propose the following. Let her take the test, written and practical exam for Duel Academy. If she passes, we keep her for the duration of the time here, until she graduates. I already spoke with the lawyer and he agrees that this might be the best temporary solution until we find out more. All I need now is the "okay" from Seto Kaiba and we could start."
"Hmm…" Crowler thought about this for a moment. He had already half a mind set on disagreeing with this, but he also knew that the Sheppard was too kind of a man to just throw the girl out and into the bureaucratic mess that was registering an unidentified person somewhere. He briefly thought about faking some papers, in order to get rid of her, but that would be too risky. And now that he seriously thought about it, even if they managed to get the girl to be accepted as a legal citizen of any country, it would mean tons and tons of paperwork for him. He would rather let the lawyer deal with that.
This time, Crowler couldn't suppress the sigh escaping his mouth. "I don't like this chancellor. There are just too many "what ifs" involved for my taste. But, I have to admit, I cannot come up with a better solution at the moment."
Sheppard nodded seriously. "I understand, Crowler. Truly, I wish we could help the girl out more, but… well, she can't exactly help us."
"Ah, yes. You mean the fact that she is suffering from amnesia?" Crowler asked, just for clarity's sake. Upon receiving a nod from his boss, Crowler continued. "With all due respect chancellor, but even you have to admit that this is a sketchy story, all things considered. I mean isn't that just too convenient?"
"Of course it is," Sheppard replied immediately. "But think back Crowler, remember how we found her: confused, scared, disoriented and dehydrated."
"Your point being?" Crowler asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"That we have to win her trust." The chancellor leaned forward. "As I see it, the girl is just as wary of us, as we're of her. By actively including her in our everyday school life, I believe she will eventually warm up to us and tell her story."
It took everything out of Dr. Crowler not to facepalm. "Chancellor, I sometimes wonder where you get your goodwill from. Fine, you're the boss. I will arrange everything immediately."
"Thank you, Crowler." Sheppard nodded. "I will personally inform our guest about this new development," he said and already pressed a button on his desk to call another teacher. Dr. Crowler in the meantime grumbled about Sheppard, the girl and the fact that he would have twenty minutes more of paperwork to do.
"What's so special about her anyway?" Dr. Crowler wondered aloud. "Sure she is a good duelist and has some interesting cards, but here at Duel Academy, we're teaching the elite of the elite. Hah, I bet she doesn't even make it to Slifer Red."
XXX
Back in the chancellor's office, Sheppard was just about to finish his call to Professor Banner. "Send her over immediately, will you?"
"Of course, chancellor," came it from the PDA Sheppard was holding. "I'll tell her as soon as she returns from the bathroom. Anything else I can help you with?"
"No, that will be all for now. I presume you're still busy preparing your classes for this year?"
"Don't worry, chancellor. I am way ahead of my schedule."
The call ended with that and Sheppard closed his PDA as a result. Having everything prepared, he turned his attention to the screen of his computer, where a certain picture of a card was shown. This card was rather special, as it had zero attack and zero defense points and ten stars! Sheppard's own deck didn't contain a card that was level ten! Plus, there was this really nasty special ability that card had, having taken off guard more than just a couple of students at the time the owner of this card had been a part of this school.
And here was another thing: the owner of this card. At first, Sheppard thought the girl either had been lucky with a booster or someone bought that card for her or maybe even she inherited it from a family member. That all changed, when Sheppard received a phone call from the parents of a certain applicant, who would take his entrance exam in a couple of weeks. The information he received had been highly unnerving and, to an extent, controversial. Okay, to a heavy extent, controversial. That is why Chancellor Sheppard wanted to clear things up and the first step was to get her into his school properly. And even without all of this going on, he would still give her a spot, just without contacting Seto Kaiba. But under the given circumstances, it was best to involve someone who had plenty of experience with Duel Monsters.
"Yubel" Sheppard mumbled to himself "I don't know if you're just another card or if you're the card. But I suppose, we will find out in time, won't we?"
Twenty minutes passed and in that time Sheppard did some paperwork that needed to be done anyways. He only stopped, when he heard a knock coming from the door leading into his room. He stopped reading the file in his hands and put it away into one of his drawers.
"Come in!" he shouted while closing said drawer. A second later the door opened, revealing a girl standing on the other side. The girl was about average height for a girl in her teenage years. She had a light brown skin, which probably came from her spending so much time at the beach. Well, Sheppard couldn't blame her. If he had the time, he would go out and lay in the sun every day as well.
Her hair was short and in purple and she wore a golden chain around her head with a blue crystal hanging in the middle, in front of her forehead. Her eyes were a beautiful turquoise color and as an additional accessory, she wore a golden ring around her neck.
Her clothes looked somewhat primitive, for the lack of better term. She wore a purple shirt that had been stitched by hand and hung a little loosely around her body. She also wore two long, black armbands. Her black trousers were about as short as the ones included in the female school uniforms and black and her shoes shared the same color. Speaking of the shoes, if the clothes didn't look old enough on their own, the shoes definitely were. Even from so far away Sheppard could see that they were thinner than his winter socks. He was honestly surprised the girl in front of him wasn't in need of a new pair already.
"Ah, Jen, please come in." Sheppard gestured towards a chair in front of his desk. The girl in question nodded and walked into the room, the door closing behind her. She quietly made her way over to the chair and placed herself upon it.
"Thank you for coming on such a short notice, Jen. I know it must have been coming out of nowhere."
Jen shrugged, not seeming to mind.
"For you see Jen, I find myself in a little bit of a predicament regarding your case. Now, don't get me wrong, none of this is your fault." Sheppard made a peaceful gesture with his hands. "However at the same time, we cannot let someone stay here for free for an extended period of time. Usually, we would have long shipped you home, but given your amnesia, this has proven to be difficult."
Jen had the dignity to look apologetic.
"But as long as we don't know where you even came from, we can't just toss you into the ocean. Unless of course, you're a disguised mermaid." The chancellor laughed at his own joke. Jen for her part produced a notepad and a roller pen, quickly writing something on the paper. When she was done, she showed what she had written to the chancellor. It read: "If I was a mermaid, I would be a siren, luring your ferries into the nearby cliffs. Then all your booster packs would be mine."
The chancellor couldn't help but snort at the mental image he was getting. "Oh dear. I guess we'll have to issue earplugs to our captains very soon. But all joking aside, you see the problem we're having. Unless you remember anytime soon anything about your past, we both will be in trouble. Luckily, I believe I have found a solution for this."
Jen raised an eyebrow and motioned for the chancellor to go on.
"You see, while we cannot let you stay here as a freeloader, we can let you stay here as a student."
Jen put a hand under her chin, but else didn't give any indication to her emotions. "As a student, not only would you be partaking in normal student life, but the issue of you staying here would be solved, at least for the time. And by the time you're done here, you will be to use the knowledge you gained here for your future career. Who knows, maybe you'll design the cards of tomorrow. Or you could become a professional duelist. There are many options available to you afterward."
Jen lowered her eyes, seemingly thinking deeply about the subject. She idly spun the roller pen in her hand and occasionally tapped with it on her notepad. After a while, she wrote a single line on a piece of paper: "Would it really be okay for me to become a student?"
"Of course it would," Sheppard nodded smiling. "The teachers have seen you duel against our students. You're good, Jen. Very good, indeed. I would go so far as to say you have a natural talent for dueling. And here at the academy, we will be able to help you nurture that talent."
Jen looked down at her notepad, contemplating as to how she should answer that. Sheppard waited patiently for the girl in front of him to make up her mind, which took about five minutes until she finally wrote an answer.
"Let's say I agree, wouldn't there be a problem with me dueling? The only way I dueled so far was by hand or using those PD-thingies."
"The PDAs you mean." Sheppard corrected, holding up his own device. "And I presume you mean, you not being able to use a duel disc because you obviously can't use the voice recognition system in order to tell your monsters to attack. Don't worry, I think I have already found a solution to this problem, but that isn't the issue for now."
After the chancellor was finished, Jen had already written her next question.
"So I'd be in the academy? Just like that?"
"Well, not just like that," Sheppard conceded. "You would have to go through a written and a practical exam, like any other applicant. You would take both tests here and if you pass, you're in. And if not... let's cross that bridge, when we get there. But I'm confident you'll pass both tests without a problem. So what do you say?"
An easy question.
"I don't say anything. I'm a mute, remember?"
XXX
That evening, Jen found herself sitting in the academy's cafeteria alone at a table. Sadie and Ms. Dorothy had been so nice to prepare a small meal for her. Speaking of those two, they were currently busy in the kitchen, preparing their own meals, chatting among themselves about this and that. Since there were practically no students around, they were finally able to use the kitchen to cook something special for themselves and they were fully using (abusing) their temporary freedom. As in, they were at their final stage of preparing a five-course menu for themselves.
Jen for her part had barely touched her food, as she was currently inspecting her deck with a box full of cards being placed next to her dinner plate. She stopped at a particular card called: Savage Colosseum. It basically forced the players to attack with their monsters, because every monster that didn't fight would be destroyed at the End Phase. On the upside, for each monster that attacked, the controlling player received 300 life points.
Jen was contemplating whether to leave the card inside or take it out. It was the second Savage Colosseum card in her deck, one she put in, in case her field spell got destroyed by her opponent playing another field spell. But one thing she had noticed was that barely anyone bothered using field spells for some reason and those who did, usually got their asses handed to them by her anyways.
She was brought out of her musings when Jen noticed something dark from the corner of her eye. Looking to the side, she saw the transparent form of a monster spirit. But not any monster spirit, but a particularly ugly one. She or he, that was still up to debate, had half the upper body being male, the other female, a third eye, two different eye colors, two hair colors, a bad case of bed hair on a side note, demonic wings and overall looked like a demon. It was none other than Yubel, the crazy demon bitch, who suffered from a bad case of cray-crayz and was literally madly in love with Jaden. And for some reason, she used turquoise lipstick.
"What do you want?" Jen asked, using sign-language.
"What I want to know is why you told the chancellor that you need to "think about your decision"?" Yubel asked, sounding none too happy.
"I needed to come over convincingly." Jen signed back. "No need to make me look more suspicious than I already am. There's no need to worry. I am practically part of the student body already."
"Make sure it stays that way or else you might find yourself buried alive," Yubel threatened, before disappearing seemingly into thin air.
("Well, that was a short talk.") Jen thought to herself, refocusing on her deck. She wasn't too worried about Yubel's latest threat. The duel spirit found a reason every day to threaten the girl, so as a result it kind of lost its effectiveness relatively quickly. Besides, Yubel knew that there was no one better around to help her with her plans, than Jen. As long as Jen was useful to the duel spirit, there was no reason for the girl to worry about her life just yet.
Jen once again came to a sudden stop in looking through her cards, when she noticed that a Synchro Monster had somehow sneaked itself into her deck. Wondering just how the thing got there, she took the card out and put it into the box with all of the other cards. After this, she started anew looking through her decks, this time specifically looking for monsters that didn't belong there, read: XYZ-Summons, Synchro Summons, Pendulum Summons or even Link Summons. And as it turned out, she somehow managed to get some cards for her extra deck mixed up. Luckily this didn't happen during a duel. That would have been awkward.
While she was busy sorting out her cards, Dr. Crowler was making his way into the cafeteria, being told that he could find the mute girl here. He spotted her, just as she was stuffing some cards into the box. He wasn't really interested in the cards, having seen her deck a couple of times already. He had business to do with her.
Quickly making his way through the rows of tables and chairs, the girl could hear him approaching long before he even arrived. She looked up and raised an eyebrow upon seeing the head of the Obelisk Blue Male dorm approaching her.
"There you're Jen," the teacher spoke up. "Chancellor Sheppard just told me that he was given the okay to accept you as a student. I am here to ask you if you accept his proposal of becoming a student at our prestigious academy."
Jen fully turned her body on the chair around, in order to fully face the professor and then gave him a nod.
"I see. Well, at least my work wasn't for nothing." Crowler cleared his throat. "Well then, I hope you're ready for the test then. I will personally test you and your dueling skills in two weeks after you have taken the written exam. I suggest you use this time to study at our library. And" Crowler stepped closer, his face hardening "do not take this lightly. Getting a position at this academy means you're one of the elite. I will not allow some lazy freeloader to attend classes, as long as I am a teacher at this institution. Understood?"
Jen wasn't intimidated at all by the man's demeanor. If anything his voice started to sound like it belonged to a woman, the further he went on with his thread. Nevertheless, she gave the doctor a nod, which seemed to satisfy him.
"Good. Remember, two weeks. I would start hitting those books if I were you." Having said his piece, Dr. Crowler turned around and walked away. "Unbelievable," he grumbled aloud "that I, Dr. Crowler, have to waste my precious time with some freeloader. I didn't get a PhD in dueling for this."
Jen facepalmed at the last sentence. ("He got a doctor title for a stupid card game? And I am here trying to destroy this world with said stupid card game. Why did I agree to this again?")