EPISODE 3: WELCOME TO DUEL ACADEMY

"Greetings young duelists! I am Saleth Rousenhall and I am the one blessed to be your humble headmaster." A man who appeared to be in his late-20's with jet black hair and blue eyes had stepped out onto the stage. He seemed like he could be on the front of a magazine cover, and pretty much all the girls in the crowd were already swooning over him. All except one.

Jen stood leaned up against a railing on the upper level, grumbling to herself. This is NOT what I wanted my first day to be….

She stared down at her bright red blazer and inwardly groaned.

3 Hours earlier…..

"What do you mean I'm Slifer Red?!" Jen's shout broke out among the crowd of people gathered for their results, causing everyone to look at her. The faculty member seemed taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"I'm...I'm sorry miss. But the results are set. If you want, you can look at them yourself." Jen almost tore the paper from his hand before he finished speaking. Looking it over, she saw the examiner had given her a pass by only about 15 points.

You've gotta be kidding me. I beat him down! She found the spot for the instructors notes and read them aloud to herself.

"While Miss Valentine is great at constructing her deck and allowing it to synergize well together, her reckless temper and thoughtlessness during duels almost caused her to lose. I believe…" She didn't even finish reading it. I mean, how could she? This was utterly ridiculous.

The staff member cleared his throat. "Ummm, Miss. If you really want, we could always take your written exam scores over your practical?"

Jen thought about it for a moment and sighed. I only passed the written exam by a single point…..

She walked back over slumped down, defeated. "No...these results are fine…."

Present time…

"While you are all within these halls, I firmly believe not only will you advance as duelists, but people as well. I want you to look at this as a firm opportunity for you to show everyone just what you're capable of." Saleth had continued with his speech, Jen only half paying attention.

"Now, as much as I'd love to sit here and talk to you all more...I believe now is the time for you all to head over to your dormitories to meet your fellow students. So, once again let me say...Welcome to Duel Academy!" Saleth ended his speech with a bow, and everyone clapped.

With the speech done, Jen removed herself from the main hall and looked down at her PDA, which included the location of her dorm. Huh. The Slifer Red dorm seems kinda far away compared to everything else. Guess I should get going then.

Before too long, Jen arrived at her destination. The sight before her was of an old dormhouse set on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. It looked as if it hadn't been renovated in at least 5 years. "You've got to be kidding me!" Her shout echoed out all around her before she just fell to her knees.

"I go through all the trouble of getting into Duel Academy...and this is what I get." It felt as if the world was crashing down around her. Like she was in some kind of nightmare that she couldn't wake up from. She actually slapped her face hoping against hope she would find it to actually be a nightmare. Unfortunately for her….it was real.

Someone was in front of Jen, though she hadn't noticed until they spoke. "Ummm...are you ok? You're not hurt are you?"

Jen looked up to see a small brunette girl with yellow eyes staring down at her. She had the same red blazer as Jen did, implying they were in the same dorm. Jen collected herself. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." She stood up and looked at the dorm again. "This is our dorm..huh?"

The other girl turned to look too. "Yeah, I guess so. I knew Slifer Red was the bottom of the barrel, but this makes the other dorms look like 4 star hotels." The girl seemed to gasp, realizing something. "Oh, I'm Robin by the way. What's your name?"

Jen smiled. "I'm Jen. Nice to meet ya, Robin."

After the two acquainted themselves with each other, they made their way into the dormitories. The inside wasn't much better than out, and Jen swore she even saw some hastily hammered in wooden planks masking some holes in the wall. The smell wasn't anything to write home about either.

Robin seemed a little more upbeat than Jen. "Feels homey….I think?"

Homey. I guess that's a word we could use….at least we're getting some food. They were led to the dinning hall, where all the other students had gathered. Jen knew Slifer Red wasn't a big dorm, but seeing only a handful of students gather really reinforced the message that she was an outlier.

A young woman with short brown hair tied into a ponytail smiled as they entered. "Great! Everyone's here." Her voice sounded so sweet and sincere it almost took Jen aback. She beckoned everyone to take a seat so she could speak.

"Hello everyone. My name is Nicole Rogers. I'm the head teacher of the Slifer Red Dorm. So, I guess you could say I'm sorta the one watching you guys." Her maroon eyes scanned the crowd, taking in everyone's appearances.

"Now, I want to make sure I say something. I know how you all feel. You feel disheartened by your scores. Thinking there's no hope because of your placement." Some students looked down, reinforcing her point.

"Well, I believe you're wrong. When I look at all of you, I see a very bright star looking back at me. You see, the thing about those other dorms is...they are already good. It's hard to get better if you don't know what better is. You guys may be the bottom of the barrel, but you have a long way to go, and I think you all could even become better than those other guys!"

She continued her little speech, but Jen wasn't paying too much attention. Instead she was looking at the "food" they were gonna be eating. To be honest, it looked more like a TV dinner with the way it was arranged. She shook her head a little to not think like that. I mean, this wasn't the first time she's had food look bad but actually taste good.

Unfortunately, when she went to go take a bite, she found it tasted...well not bad. But also not good. It seemed painfully average. "This tastes kinda bland…" She didn't even realize she had said that out loud.

The teacher looked over to her and actually looked genuinely concerned. "Oh no, does it? I thought I got it right this time. It's really hard for me to cook for so many people…" She seemed sad.

Jen was about to say something but saw that everyone had turned to look at her with looks that looked like they were shooting daggers at her. A lot of them also appeared to be older students. "Ah...I mean...it's not bad….heheheh." Jen sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, hoping to make up for it.

The teacher seemed to nod. "Alright. But honestly...if you think it tastes bad I can try to get something else-"

"No, no! It's fine! Honest!" Jen didn't want to know what would happen if she continued to "insult" her cooking. Just great. A rotten dorm, and now a rotten dinner too.

The dinner came and went. Before long, Jen found herself standing outside her room. 205. "Well, this is it." Before she could enter she heard someone speak from nearby.

"Wait...is this your room too?" She turned to see the girl from before, Robin standing there with a smile. "What a coincidence. I already know my roomate!"

Jen chuckled. "Yeah, that is weird. Guess it's nice to know I've already met you then." Jen used her key to unlock the door and walk inside. Despite the dorm's outside appearance, the inside of the room looked recently clean and not bad at all.

There was a bunk bed in the room with 3 spots, a desk with a computer on it, and a sitting area with a small table. "Not bad." Robin moved inside as well and seemed to agree.

"Yeah. this is actually pretty cozy!" She seemed confused. "3 beds? I guess we have another roommate then."

Jen took note of it as well, but given the fact it was only the two of them, didn't worry about it. "Well they'll show up when they show up. Let's get settled in." As if on cue, the door to their room opened, and a third girl came walking in. She had brown hair tied on the side, and similar colored eyes. Instead of the normal red blazers Jen and Robin were wearing, she had a white base with red stripes instead.

She smiled once she saw them. "Aha, so you're my new roomates!" She held out a hand almost immediately. "I'm Yuki Lowell. I'm a second-year, so you guys are in good hands."

Robin seemed happy at that sentiment. "Oh that's good. I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep track of everything by myself."

"I think I'll be fine…" Jen said as she began unpacking her stuff. "...but thanks for the offer." Jen came off as a little more rude than she intended, but thankfully it didn't bother Yuki too much.

"Yes...well, if that's how you feel, that's fine. But if you ever change your mind, I'm always here to help out!" Jen noted this girl seemed almost a little too friendly, given her station. Regardless the three girls got their arrangements sorted, and were left to their own devices as the night went on.

Eventually, Yuki decided to say something. "We're all roommates now, so we should get to know each other, don't you think?" To be honest, Jen had thought the less she knew about these girls, the easier it'd be when she moved to the upper dorms, but Robin seemed to agree with Yuki's idea.

"Umm….I'll start then. I'm Robin Rosewood. I hope we get along well…."

Jen almost let out an audible gasp. "Rosewood?! As in...Rosewood Technologies?!"

Yuki was equally impressed. "Don't they work directly with Kaiba Corp? You're not really one of them, are you?"

Robin chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah...you caught me. My father is the current CEO." Jen couldn't believe such a petite little girl could really be the heiress to a company that had worked hand in hand with Kaiba Corp in developing new tech for the dueling world. Considering how nervous Robin seemed about it, she decided to continue the conversation.

"Well, I'll go next. I'm Jen Valentine. I don't have any pedigree like that, but…." Jen let a smile show on her face as she stared very confidently at her new roommates. "I'm gonna be the next King of Games."

Yuki chuckled. "Really now? That's quite a lofty goal. Especially considering you'd have to beat THE Yugi Muto to get that title. You sure you can do that?"

Jen blushed with embarrassment. "O-of course I do! But I'll get there! Once I graduate from here, I'll go into the pros and work my way up, just you see!" The girls all laughed amongst themselves.

Yuki was the next to speak up. "Well I already said who I am, so if I had to give a goal like you did Jen, I guess it's just to get better at dueling because of how much fun I have with it."

She chuckled nervously. "I don't really have any lofty goals. Probably why I'm still a Slifer Red." She looked downward at that last statement, a lingering sadness in the air before she perked herself back up and looked at Robin. "Do you have any goals?"

Robin blinked in surprise. "M-me?! Oh, well...I mean….not really. Honestly...I was just hoping to make some friends…." Robin was rubbing her head and shied away.

Yuki and Robin kept talking, but Jen was in her own thoughts. Maybe these girls aren't so bad after all. She smiled. After realizing that, she shook her head.

Wait, what are you saying Jen, you can't stick around in Slifer Red. If you wanna get at Kai, you have to become at least Ra Yellow as fast as possible.

After a bit, Yuki clasped her hands together. "Ok, now that we've gotten to know each other a bit, how about I show you guys around? I'm a second-year, so I pretty much know the layout of the school in my head."

Robin perked up at the suggestion. "Oh, that would be nice."

Jen didn't offer any input one way or another. Yuki smiled. "Great. I'll give you the best tour ever!"

The trio of girls wandered off from the dorms in quick order. Now that Jen had gotten over her initial discomfort regarding her dorm placement, she could actually take a real look around.

The outside of the dorm still didn't look impressive, but she did note it had a nice view of the ocean, and she could also see the harbor they arrived on just a short walk away.

"As you already know, this is the Slifer Red Dorm. It's not much to look at, but I think it's a great place to live." Jen could argue with that, but she chose to say nothing.

"Over there is the harbor. That's where you guys all came in to the island. We get shipments pretty much every day, so you'll always see people walking around down there. It's also not a bad place to duel either."

Yuki led them along the cliffside, taking them to the main road for the campus. The forest surrounded them on all sides, and the main building towered over everything else. The main building had multiple levels to it, and had the 3 dorm colors all represented on the roof.

She could also see a gym building nearby, and even a volcano off in the distance behind the building. There were a lot of students milling about, some first years like her, while others were older students like Yuki.

"This is the main campus. You'll be here most of the time you attend school. We have a card shop, library, and all the dueling arenas and classes you could hope for. Gym classes are held in that building there."

Jen perked up at the dueling arena comment. "Hey, would we be able to check out one of those dueling arenas?"

Yuki looked over to Jen. "Oh, of course we could! I'll show you the way."

They headed into the main building of the campus. After a short walk, they arrived at their destination. A large ornate dueling field set up in the center of the building. Large stands encircled the whole field, and it seemed like the whole school could fit in there.

Robin's eye lit up with excitement. "Wow, this place is huge!" Jen agreed with Robin's comment. It was a sight to behold. She could almost imagine herself on the stage….

~IN JEN'S MIND~

Jen was standing in the center of the stage, the announcer declaring her victory. "Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the brand new Queen of Games!"

There was a roar of thunderous applause from the stands, as she took her seat upon a throne of her fallen opponents. "Hahahahaha! Thank you, thank you!"

There was a man that approached Jen's throne and bowed before her. It was none other than Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp. "Jen, I am in awe of your raw talent and ability. Please, will you become my wife?"

Jen's face blushed as she was taken aback from the proclamation. "Oh, Seto...I…"

"Don't do it Jen! He won't treat you the way a Queen deserves to be treated!"

Jen looked to the source of the noise. It was Yugi Muto, breaking through the crowd to reach her. "I deserve to be the one to have your hand! A King needs his Queen, and you're the only one for me!"

"Yugi! You won't get in my way this time. I challenge you to a duel for Jen's hand in marriage!"

Jen's heart almost jumped from her chest. The men of her dreams were about to fight over her. She almost couldn't take it.

"Very well Kaiba. But we all know how this will end. Let's Duel!"

~OUTSIDE~

"Well, what do we have here? A bunch of Slifer slackers checking out our dueling field?" Jen's daydream was broken by that voice.

"Huh?" She turned around and saw three girls had entered. They appeared to be Obelisk Blue students. The one that seemed to be the "leader" of the group is the one who spoke. She had long blonde hair that ended in orange highlights and had burning crimson eyes that almost looked like it couldn't care less for what they were seeing.

Robin also seemed confused. "What do you mean, "your" duel field?"

The girl walked up to them and smiled. "I mean exactly what I said. This dueling arena is reserved specifically for Obelisk Blue students. Little reds like you should run along back to that dirty hole you call a dorm."

Yuki looked down immediately. Jen figured that meant she was used to this sort of thing. Unfortunately for this girl, she wasn't known to back down. "Oh really? I don't see your name anywhere on it."

The girl just scoffed a bit. "Attitude, huh? You slackers never learn, do you. This is an elite dueling school. Meaning punks like you who could barely get in don't deserve to be here. Honestly, if I had my way, the Slifer Red dorm wouldn't even exist."

Robin frowned. "Hey, that's kind of harsh."

The girl's friends giggled. "Well it's true," said the on of the left, looking at Robin. "You guys are so, like, third class."

Jen could feel her anger rising. "Oh really?! Well you better watch who you're talking to. My brother is the top student at this school, Kai Valentine!"

The girls looked taken aback for a moment, before bursting into laughter even harder than before. The lead girl was the one to speak again in between the fits of giggles.

"Y-you...expect me to believe. That someone like Kai...could have a sister...that is a Slifer Slacker!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That is the funniest thing I've heard all day!"

The girls continued to giggle, and Jen's anger was reaching a boiling point. "Don't look down on me! If you're so good, how about we throw down right here?"

Now even Jen's roommates were shocked. Yuki looked at Jen with concern. "Jen...you can't be serious."

The lead girl's giggle died down. "You are just too much. You really think someone like me has time to play around with someone like you? Why don't you just run along little girl."

Robin tried to calm Jen down with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Jen. Don't let her get to you. Let's just go."

The girl continued to belittle Jen. "Besides. If you really are Kai's sister, you must just be a constant disappointment to him."

*SLAP*

Jen's body reacted before her mind could. She ran forward and slapped the girl across the face. Everyone audibly gasped at the motion.

The lead girl pulled herself back and placed a hand on her face, a red mark actually appearing on it. "You...slapped me?"

Jen looked her dead in the eyes. "Yeah. I did."

The girl smirked and took her hand away. "Honey...you just earned yourself a duel…"

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 4: LIGHTS, CAMERA, DUEL!

(A/N: No cards appeared in this episode, so no card section this time around. Thank you for being patient and waiting so long for this to continue. I will try to post semi-regular updates, but we'll see how it goes. Don't forget to review the story! I want to know how I'm doing.)