Chapter Two: Road to Duel Academania Part 2
Ken was lifted up on the platform to the surface of the stage, and found himself facing off against another old man in a purple blazer wearing dark shades.
"Applicant, you stand here ready to show your skill to the other students who have already been admitted into Duel Academy." he told the teen. "Present yourself proudly."
"Hey, I'm doing the best I can, all things considered." Ken responded, rubbing the back of his head. "Look, I thought they came to see a duel."
"Indeed they have. So, Mr. Warren, prepare yourself. It's time for your practical exam."
Ken nodded, and placed his deck into his dueldisk, then activated it. His opponent did the same, and the duel began.
"I'll kick things off here." the proctor announced, drawing a card from his deck.
He looked at the card he drew, then at the cards in his hand, then placed the card he drew onto the dueldisk.
"I play Big Insect in Defense Mode." he announced.
A large black ant the size of a car appeared onto the field chattering excitedly. It had 1200 ATK. Up in the bleachers, with Hailey, Rakaia, and Jason, the five girls who were with Hailey before re-appeared again, like the Duel Spirits that were with Ken before. They glanced at the Big Insect, and screamed in surprise.
"That's the biggest bug I've ever seen!" shrieked the girl with the odangos.
"Kill it! Kill it with fire!" the other blond-haired girl pleaded.
Jason, who was standing directly in front of the two girls, cringed from the sudden scream, and raised a pinky finger to his ear to clean it out.
"Those decibels." he muttered.
"Trust me, it takes some getting used to." said Hailey.
"Man, one dude's got a Kingdom Hearts deck, and this chick runs a Sailor Moon deck, and the monsters are all Duel Spirits." Rakaia listed, mentally. "I can't decide if this is so cool or so weird."
Back down at the duel, the proctor continued his turn by setting two cards down onto the field.
"I play these facedown, and end my turn." he announced. "It's your move now, applicant."
Ken nodded, and drew a card from his deck to start his turn.
"Keyblade Warrior- Lea, Attack Mode!" he called, holding up his card.
He placed the card onto the field, and the red-headed man from earlier appeared onto the field, this time carrying a strange weapon with him. It looked like a stream of flames attacked to a red and silver chakram, and a handle in the center of the chakram. A chain of smaller chakrams was attached to the other end of the weapon. He had 1600 ATK. Up in the bleachers, the girl with the ponytail went starry-eyed when she saw Lea.
"He looks exactly like the guy who broke my heart." she gasped.
Hearing this, the other girls nearby groaned and facepalmed, while Rakaia and Jason looked at her, startled.
"What?" the two boys asked.
"Not this again." muttered the blond-haired girl with the ribbon. "Mako, that's what you said the last time."
"I'm serious though this time." said Mako.
"That's what you said the last time, too." the dark-haired girl quipped.
"What's that strange weapon he's carrying?" asked the blue-haired girl.
"That, Ami, is a Keyblade." replied Hailey. "They come in different shapes and sizes."
Back to the duel, Ken took another card form his hand, and placed it into one of the slots of the dueldisk.
"Just to be safe, I'm gonna equip Lea with this Keyblade Armor." he said. "It not only increases his ATK and DEF by a hundred points times the wearer's level, but it keeps him safe from all cards that try to destroy him."
As he said this, Lea was enveloped by a golden light, and was encased in a black, red, and silver-trimmed metal armor with golden yellow-trimmed boots. His ATK now went up to 2000.
"Alright, Lea, attack!" called Ken. "Roast that bug!"
Lea raced off towards the Big Insect, and held his Keyblade beside him, then leapt into the air. He slashed at the ant, but the attack never connected.
"I activate a Trap!" the proctor called out, as his set card flipped up. "Spellbinding Circle!"
A glowing ring with four circles with triangles in them appeared from the card's surface, and ensnared Lea around the torso, stopping him. The young male squirmed in the Trap's grasp, but could not get free, and was pulled back to Ken's side of the field.
"What gives?!" the Keyblade Warrior grunted.
"As long as my Spellbinding Circle is in play, your monster cannot attack or change it's Battle Position." explained the proctor. "If that's all you can do, end your turn now."
"Be patient, I still have a couple of cards to play." said Ken.
He examined his hand again, and took two cards out.
"They might not do much for Lea, but I can still set the field for a big play." he thought, as he set the cards in his dueldisk. "Sorry, Lea, but I can't help you out here. That Keyblade Armor's is all the protection you've got for now."
After the two cards appeared onto the field behind Lea, the Proctor began his turn. He drew a card from his deck, then opened the Field Spell tray at one end of his dueldisk, and placed a card in it.
"I activate the Field Spell Gaia Power!" he announced. "Now all EARTH monsters gain a 500 ATK pt. boost!"
As he said this, the area's background changed to a beautiful, grassy meadow with a gigantic tree in the center of the field. Both Ken and Lea slowly looked up at the massive tree in surprise, and sweatdropped.
"Isn't this the tree from that video game you play so much?" asked Lea.
"Yggdrasil provides dew that restores life, and brings back the dead, Lea." Ken responded, mentally. "This tree gives strength to monsters of the EARTH variety. And you're a FIRE dude."
"So, is that bug strong enough to beat me?"
"Well, it shouldn't be. The Big Insect had 1200 ATK pts., add 500 to it, and it's 1700 now. But you're at 2000. It's still weaker by 300 pts.. Hakuna Matata, dude."
"Excuse me? I don't speak Spanish."
"...It's Swahili, and it means 'no worries'. Got it memorized?"
"I thought I told you to stop saying that. That is my schtick, only I get to do that."
Meanwhile, the proctor was continuing his move, and took another card from his hand, and placed it onto the dueldisk.
"I summon the Chainsaw Insect in Attack Mode!" he called.
A large beetle-like creature with two pincers that looked like chainsaw blades appeared onto the field armed with 2400 ATK. However, because of Gaia Power's effect, it rose up to 2900. Lea looked up at the new bug, and cringed in shock.
"Hello." he gulped, nervously.
"Next I equip my Big Insect with the Big Bang Shot Equip Spell Card." the proctor continued, as another card appeared onto the field. "Now it gains 400 bonus ATK pts.."
The Big Insect's ATK rose up slowly to 2100, causing Lea to slowly turn to glare at Ken.
"What was that you were saying about Hakuna Matata?" he asked.
"I'm a teenager playing with cards, Lea," Ken mentally responded, deadpanned. "Do I look like I can see into the future?"
"Chainsaw Insect, tear that Keyblade Warrior apart!" shouted the proctor.
Chainsaw Insect chattered excitedly while its pincers revved up, and charged towards Lea and Ken. Lea gritted his teeth together, and held his Keyblade tightly in front of him.
"You wanna go, bugbrain?!" he roared. "Let's go then!"
He let out a battlecry, as an aura of red and orange flames surged around him. His ATK shot up to 2400, as he raced back at the insect.
"How is that thing gaining ATK pts.?" asked the proctor.
"It's his special ability." explained Ken. "Lea's kind of a hothead, and when he's going into battle, no matter who's waging the war, he gains 400 bonus points. Sure, it doesn't help us much this round, but it'll save me some points."
Lea thrusted his blade towards the insect's head, but it was caught between the pincers. The Chainsaw Insect yanked the weapon out of the wielder's hands up into the air, then proceeded to tear the Keyblade Warrior apart. Ken lost 500 life points from that battle, leaving him with 3500. However, Lea remained in one piece, and the force of the explosion from his armor being shredded off forced the Chainsaw Insect back away.
"Why wasn't your monster destroyed?" asked the proctor. "Explain yourself!"
"Keyblade Armor protects the wearer from being destroyed." replied Ken. "And when it goes to the graveyard, I can draw one card, and I get to draw one because of Chainsaw Insect's effect."
He drew two cards from his deck, while Lea's ATK dropped down to 1600 again.
"Now my Big Insect will do battle with your Keyblade Warrior." announced the proctor.
Despite Lea raising his ATK power again, this time to 2000, he was no match for the Big Insect's new might, and was squashed. The battle cost Ken 100 life points. Up in the bleachers, Chazz's two friends laughed themselves silly at the sight of the onslaught.
"Nice job protecting your monster!" the blue-haired kid called out.
"Yeah, might be a good time to throw in the towel now!" the brown-haired kid yelled, tauntingly.
Above them, Zane and the girl frowned upon hearing those comments.
"What a couple of poor sports." the girl growled. "The duel's not over yet."
"And I think that kid's far from done, Alexis." agreed Zane. "If he's using Keyblade Warriors, he's setting up for the main event."
Alexis looked up at him, confused.
"'Main event'?" she repeated.
"He still has two cards on the field." Zane explained to her. "He hasn't played them yet, so that kid is waiting for something."
Back with Rakaia, Hailey, and Jason, they were thinking about the same thing.
"What do you think he's up to?" asked Rakaia. "He's got two cards facedown, but he hasn't played them yet."
"Whatever it is, he better play it quick." a new voice answered, timidly.
The trio turned to see a new face standing beside him, and this wasn't a Duel Spirit. It was a teenage boy with fluffy bright blue hair, and gray eyes. He wore a small pair of glasses on his face, and a dark blue long-sleeved suit.
"These proctors are pretty tough, and this guy's already got your friend on the ropes." he stated.
"Heh, not for long, if he's going for the combo I think he's going for." Jason reassured him. "You'll see."
Down below, Ken drew a card to start his turn, then placed it in his hand, and took another card, and placed it onto the dueldisk's surface.
"I play Keyblade Warrior- Kairi in Attack Mode!" he called.
This time, a teenage girl with shoulder-length red hair, but darker than Lea's, and violet-blue eyes appeared onto the field. She wore a pink strapless mini-dress with three zippers running down the front, with a hooded white halter top beneath it, a black belt with a bag attached to it on the side. On her left wrist were three different-colored bracelets, and she wore a pair of lavender and white sneakers. She had 700 ATK. Held before Kairi was a Keyblade, but of a different design than Lea's, which made it seem harmless. The shaft was multi-colored like a rainbow, with a beige vine wrapped around it, linking from the hilt to the teeth, which looked like a bouquet of flowers forming a heart, like the hilt itself. The keychain was a small star-shaped object attached to a red silk thread. The two boys heckling Ken before guffawed again.
"Could this bonehead get any lamer?" asked the brown-haired boy.
"Dunno, let's see what he pulls next." the other boy answered.
Kairi glared up at them, her face turning red with anger.
"How about you come down here, wiseguys?!" she shouted up at them. "Then you'll see how lame we are!"
"Kairi, I don't think those bozos can hear you." Ken explained to her, telepathically, while sweatdropping. "Their brains are too small anyway to communicate with Duel Spirits."
"Good thing, too. I've got a thousand more things that I'd say to them anyway."
"Well, we are in the middle of something, like the duel."
Ken examined his hand again, and took the card he drew this turn, and set it down.
"I'll play this facedown, and end my turn." he finished.
"Back to me then." the proctor said, as he began his turn.
After drawing his card, he looked at it, and held it up.
"I equip my Big Insect with the Insect Armor with Laser Cannon." he announced. "Now my bug gets an upgrade."
The Big Insect was now adorned with a spike-covered blue armor with a pair of spiked red shoulder pads, and attached to them was a headgear with a silver cannon perched on to the top of it. This caused the giant ant's ATK to shoot up to 2800.
"Oh, boy." gulped Kairi. "Ken, you do have something for this, right?"
"Bring it on!" called Ken. "I triple dog dare ya!"
This didn't ease his friend's worries.
"Alright, I think I will!" shouted the proctor.
The old man thrusted his arm before him, and ordered his Big Insect to attack first, and the giant ant scurried over towards Kairi. Ken was ready this time.
"I activate my Trap Card!" he called. "Go, Dodge Roll!"
Kairi dove to the side, and somersaulted out of the way, landing in a kneeling position with her arms crossed before her. She had changed to DEF mode, and her DEF pt. meter clocked at 1400.
"Dodge Roll not only saves my Keyblade Warrior, but it has her switch into Defense Mode, and it gets better, if I have her switch to Defense Mode this turn, I can end the Battle Phase here." explained Ken. "Tough break, man."
"Not a bad move. But she won't survive the next turn." the proctor told him, as he set a card down facedown in his dueldisk.
"We'll see about that."
Ken drew his card to begin his turn and looked at it.
"Just what I was waiting for." he said. "The final piece of the puzzle."
He took another card from his hand, and placed it down onto the dueldisk.
"I summon Keyblade Warrior- Sora! Attack Mode!" called Ken.
This time, the brown-haired boy from before appeared onto the field, holding a silver key-shaped Keyblade in his hand. He had 1200 ATK.
"And because Kairi is on the field, her friends gain a bonus in ATK strength. 200 times their own level, which means Sora's Level 3 times that number." said Ken. "Pretty cool, huh?"
Sure enough, Sora's ATK rose up to 1800.
"Not cool enough." said the proctor. "That runt's ATK power doesn't stand a chance against my bugs."
"Not by himself, but Sora can get stronger if his friends lend him more power." Ken told him. "But before we get to that, I've gotta activate a Trap Card."
One of the set cards he played on his first turn flipped up, and began to glow.
"This is the Dimension Link, and with it, while I have at least one Keyblade Warrior on my field, I can take a monster from my deck, and Special Summon it directly to the field." explained Ken. "And I choose Goofy, Captain of the Guards."
As he said this, the card began to glow even more brightly, and an anthropomorphic dog with black fur and droopy ears and two buck teeth appeared onto the field. He wore an orange hat on his head with a blue belt around it, and a pair of red goggles at the bottom of it, a green long-sleeved sweater, with a black vest over it, white gloves, yellow pants with brown straps, and brown steel-toed boots. He carried a blue and yellow shield with a black mouse head-shaped pattern on the front, and had 1350 ATK pts.. The dog-like being looked around, curiously, then looked back at Ken.
"Hey, Ken, is this the place you were telling us about?" he asked.
"No, Goof, this is the entrance exams still." Ken answered, telepathically. "Now we get to show our stuff."
"Ah-hyuck! You don't say. So, what's the plan?"
"You'll see."
Ken shot his hand out in front of him.
"Goofy, lend your power to Sora!" he ordered. "Give him the power he needs to activate Drive Form!"
"Let's go!" called Sora.
Goofy concentrated his power, and he disappeared, just as Sora became encased in a glowing light sphere, which shattered apart like glass. Goofy did not re-appear, but something did change. Sora was wearing a new outfit. It was red and black with a fleur-de-lis pattern on the sleeves and pant legs, and he now wielded two Keyblades. One was the Keyblade he was holding before, and the other was much different. It was blue closer to the hilt, but purple closer to the teeth, and it was decorated with stars. The tip of the blade had a curved top with four spikes on one side, and a crescent moon holding a star inside it in the other. The handle resembled a pair of angelic wings with two stars at the guard, and two other stars on either end of the hilt. The keychain attached to the end of the hilt was a chain of silver attached to a small crescent moon. This form of Sora's had 1800 ATK.
"What is this?" asked the proctor.
"This is Keyblade Warrior- Sora's Valor Form!" replied Ken. "And with Kairi's special ability, since Sora's Valor Form is Level 6, multiply that by 200, and he gains another 1200 ATK pts., outmatching your insects."
Sora began to glow with a rainbow-colored aura, and his ATK shot up to 3000.
"But unfortunately, I'm not gonna stop there." said Ken. "I say 'unfortunately', because while I hate to end a duel so quickly, but I've gotta win this so I can get into Duel Academy."
He held up one of the remaining cards in his hand, then placed it in his dueldisk.
"I equip Sora with the Charm Change Spell, and this changes the keychain on his Keyblade." he explained. "But it depends on the power of the wielder, so I take the Level of the Keyblade Warrior I've equipped this Spell Card to, and multiply that by 200 again. But we all know the answer to that, right?"
Sora's ATK rose up again, this time to 4200, while the new Keyblade that he was holding a while ago changed. The blade looked like a stream of red-orange flames being shot out by the mouth of the red dragon head-shaped guard. The handle of the new Keyblade looked like to puffs of red smoke. Attached to the end of the golden hilt was a golden medallion.
"Alright, Sora, let's finish this!" shouted Ken. "Attack the Chainsaw Insect with Brave Shot!"
Sora dashed off towards the opposite side of the field, his Keyblades scratching the surface of the ground behind him, then leapt high into the air. He gave a mighty yell, and slashed his way through the Chainsaw Insect, cutting it into two. The proctor grunted, as he held his arms up to shield himself from the backfire of the explosion, while his life points meter dropped by 1300. He had 2700 remaining. The people in the bleachers gasped in amazement at how well that move played out.
"Atta boy, Ken!" shouted Jason. "Finish it!"
"'Finish it'?" the blue-haired boy asked, confused. "How?"
"Even if Kairi was in Attack Mode, she doesn't have the means to finish off the last of the proctor's points." said Hailey.
"No, but Sora does." Jason explained to her.
"But Sora already attacked." Rakaia pointed out.
"Exactly."
The girl standing behind Hailey with the odango hairstyle slumped over one of the seats.
"I'm lost." she declared.
Mako, the dark-haired girl, and the other blond-haired girl next to her followed suit.
"Didn't you say that you'd end this duel this turn?" asked the proctor. "I don't see how you're gonna pull that off."
"With a little help from Sora's special ability, Synch-Blade, he can attack one more time, as long as he's already battled a monster this round." answered Ken.
"But he doesn't have enough points still. My Big Insect has 2800 ATK pts., and subtract that from your Keyblade Warrior's 4200, that's not enough to defeat me this round."
"Who said we were gonna attack that big fella? Sora's gonna attack you directly, and here's how."
The second set card on Ken's side of the field flipped up, and began to glow.
"With the power of Flowmotion, Sora can bypass your monsters, and attack you directly." he explained. "So, there you have it."
"You planned this all from the start." the proctor realized.
"Kinda. But to make sure this didn't fail, I had to check you with Lea and Kairi first, so Sora could bring the grand finale."
The Flowmotion Trap Card began to glow with a bright pinkish-purple light, which caused Sora to glow in the same color, then he began to zip around the field until he was above their opponent. Sora slashed at the proctor with his other Keyblade, and cut the rest of his life points down, ending the duel. Before disappearing with the rest of the holograms, Sora reverted back to his normal state, and leapt back to Ken's side of the field.
"That was a bit of an overkill." grunted the proctor.
"Sorry 'bout that." apologized Ken. "You had a card out still, and I didn't know if that could increase your bugs' ATK strength again."
He walked over to shake hands with the older man, while the audience gaped in surprise at what they saw.
"Man, that punk's got some skills." the brown-haired teen spoke.
"So what?" Chazz muttered, stiffly. "He's not so special. Just a gamer geek with some luck. But he's clearly not ready for the big leagues."
Meanwhile, a few ways off from where they were sitting, Hailey, Rakaia, Jason, and the other boy watched as Ken started to make his way back towards them.
"You're insane." commented Rakaia. "A cool duelist, but insane."
"I know, the insanity is a requirement to be a part of my family." said Ken.
"At least, that's what our great aunt Pat told us." Jason added, shrugging.
"I think that's a requirement for all families." the blue-haired kid said.
At this time, another boy suddenly appeared beside him, and laughed excitedly. It was Jaden himself.
"Wow, look at 'em go!" he exclaimed.
The others followed his gaze towards the other duel that had been going on. A tall teenage boy with grayish brown hair that was neatly combed back, and eyes just as gray. He wore a white and black trimmed jacket with matching white pants and black shoes, and a standardized duel disk was strapped to his left arm. He had just 3200 lifepoints left, with one card facedown in his Spell and Trap Card Zone, while Vorse Raider, his only monster, was left standing in Attack Mode on his side of the field. His opponent, another dueling proctor, had just a Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and a Big Shield Guardna on his side of the field in Defense Mode, with DEF pts. higher than the boy's monster's ATK.
"Okay, new guy, multiple choice: You've got two monsters staring you down," the proctor told his opponent. "Do you: 'A.) Throw in the towel, B.) Beg for mercy, or C.) Run home to mama?"
The teenager across from him answered without hesitation, and with bold confidence.
"I'll go with D.) None of the above!" he responded.
His facedown card flipped up, revealing to be a well-known Trap Card.
"A trap?!" the proctor exclaimed.
"Exactly," the boy replied, calmly. "You see with Ring of Destruction, I can destroy any monster on the field that's in Attack Mode, and then we both take damage equal to that monster's ATK pts.."
As he said this, a metallic black ring with red bulbs protruding around it enveloped around Vorse Raider's neck, surprising the proctor. The ring exploded, destroying the monster, and dealt 1900 pts. of direct damage, which was all the proctor had, compared to his opponent's now remaining 1300 points.
"Clever move, applicant!" the proctor announced. "Welcome to the Academy!"
The boy bowed politely to him in a manner of respect.
"Thank you, O' wise proctor." he replied.
As the holograms faded away, Chazz listened to his two friends commenting on this duel.
"Wow, that guy's pretty good, don't'cha think, Chazz?" the blue-haired boy asked, impressed.
"Guess the rumors about him being some kind of wiz kid were true." the brown-haired boy added. "Huh, Chazz? Huh?"
"He's a punk, just like the other nerdlinger," Chazz declared, sticking his nose up in the air with an air of snobbery. "We went to Duel Prep School for the past three years, we're ready for the Academy."
He then opened his eyes, looking forward once more.
"These kids don't know what they're getting into, but they'll learn," he continued, with a smirk. "The hard way. The Chazz Princeton way."
As for the others, who were watching nearby, they didn't seem to think that way.
"Wow, that new guy really tore it up." said Jaden.
"Yeah, Bastion Misawa," the blue-haired boy told him. "They say he got the highest score out of the written exam out of all of us applicants."
"No kidding?" asked Rakaia.
"Dude..." Ken said, with a low, long whistle.
"Wow, I just barely passed." said Jaden.
"Same here." muttered Rakaia.
"Hey, same with me." added Jason.
Hailey cleared her throat, and looked away, awkwardly.
"Yeah, me too, my name's Syrus by the way. Nice to meet you, guys." the other boy spoke, with timidity in his voice. "I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match."
"So you're in!" Jaden spoke, giving him a very enthusiastic pat on the back, surprising him. "Congratulations, I'll be in too as soon as I win my duel!"
"Wait, you haven't dueled yet?" asked Syrus.
"Naw."
"Then you might have a problem, I think this was supposed to be the last one."
This caused Jaden to freak out. This could be bad, but luckily for Jaden, the Universe is always happy to perform a random act of kindness. Several yards away, a group of staff members of the Academy were conversing with one another over the amount of students that were enrolling this year, all except for a lone teacher that sat at the end of the area, about to head off, until the man from the check-in area headed over to him to tell him about their last arrival ready to take his duel test. The teacher was a man with long blond-haired pulled back into a ponytail, attached to a bowl cut hairstyle, and beady black eyes. His jacket resembled the one that Chazz and his two cronies were wearing, but it was longer and had pink ruffles coming out of the sleeves, and frilly pink collar.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but one last applicant has arrived to take his exam, Mr. Crowler." the man in the suit spoke.
"Did you just call me 'mister'?" asked the blond-haired man.
"Oh, sorry, I'm new here, missus."
The teacher hardly showed he was annoyed at the honest mistake the man before him was making, correcting him that he was to be called "doctor", as he had a Ph.D in dueling. He then told the man to head off to tell Jaden he wasn't going to take his exam and would have to wait next year.
"Oh, come on, Dr. Crowler," one of the other proctors pleaded with him. "We have time for one more."
"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot." an elder proctor on Dr. Crowler's left agreed.
"He was just a bit late, that's all." a third proctor piped up.
Dr. Crowler exploded right there and then, and was about to let them have it, if it were not for the phone call that stopped him. He clicked a button and held the phone to his ear.
"Hello, and who may I ask is-" he began, still fuming.
"It's Sheppard." a voice on the other end replied.
This changed Dr. Crowler's mood completely.
"Ah, Chancellor Sheppard!" he spoke, in a more calmer tone.
"Just calling to make sure that everything's running smoothly, Crowler," the Chancellor announced, in a mildly stern tone. "Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year."
Dr. Crowler's eyes widened in shock and remembrance. Don't you just love the way the Universe works?
"When you cut a third of our applicants for some ridiculous reason?" Chancellor Sheppard continued, his voice growing more annoyed as he reminded the doctor. "What was it? Calling you 'mister' or 'missus'? Whatever, just make sure everyone gets a fair shot."
"Absolutely!" Dr. Crowler replied, annoyed. "Furry-chinned windbag!" he added, after hanging up.
"Doesn't he realize there are enough talentless flunkies at this Academy?!" Dr. Crowler mentally griped. "But he's the boss. And if he wants to give this scrimshanker a duel, fine."
"Pardon me, gentlemen," he said, as he got up. "I'll be right back."
He began to walk away, until one of the other proctors asked him who would duel Jaden, and which deck to use. However, Dr. Crowler had other plans.
While he did this, Jaden led Syrus, Rakaia, Ken, Jason, and Hailey down the steps towards the row of seats that Bastion was sitting in. As Bastion removed his dueldisk with an exhausted sigh, Jaden stopped behind him with a smile.
"Tight duel, Bastion!" he complimented the prodigy.
Bastion was a bit taken aback by the compliment, or the fact that someone was talking to him as if they were good pals, then regained his natural composure.
"Thank you." he replied.
"From the looks of it, you might just be the second-best duelist here!" Jaden continued, with a pleasant smile still.
The statement itself caused both Syrus and Bastion to be taken aback, as they wondered what he meant.
"And what were we, chopped liver?" Ken asked, looking at Hailey and Rakaia.
"Apparently so." replied Hailey.
Suddenly, the voice from before rang out from the PA system again.
"Jaden Yuki, please report to Exam Field 4." it called out.
Jaden smiled upon hearing that he was being given his shot.
"Go time!" he cheered. "Wish me luck, guys!"
As he began heading down the stairs, Bastion stopped him, still curious as to what he meant.
"If I'm second-best, who's first?" he asked.
Jaden pointed to himself, confidently.
"Yours truly!" he declared. "It's what I'm best at!"
The other six watched as he continued down the stairs, wondering if he was as good as he said.
"Wow, he's so sure of himself," observed Syrus. "I wonder if he's really that good."
"He's going to need to be." said Bastion. "Look who he's dueling."
He nodded at Dr. Crowler, who was getting his dueldisk attached to his coat by two other staff members. Jason tilted his head to the side, squinting a little, confused.
"Uh, I'm not trying to be offensive or anything, but is that a..." he started, unwilling to complete the sentence.
"Jason, for the life of me, I do not know." replied Rakaia.
"That'd be a he." answered Hailey.
"How do you know?"
"Women's intuition."
The other boys around her looked at each other, raising an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Jaden was elevated up onto the platform to the field, where his opponent was waiting, and looked at him.
"Alright, test time!" announced Dr. Crowler.
Part of a double update. I will be updating the Kingdom Hearts cards later.
Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Kazehaya and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera (who will be featured in later chapters) is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn Yuki and Jessi Nozomi are owned by Dyusu, Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985 now known as RoseTheOneForeverUnloved, Peter Salvatore is owned by a1993, and a mystery character is owned by Neo-Warkid4. As for my OCs, Ken and Jason, they're owned by me and my cousin, along with more OCs to come.
Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Let me make this very clear, I do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix. I'm just a fan of their work. Sailor Moon, both anime and characters, is owned by Naoko Takeuchi.
