The sun was rising over Duel Academy the next morning. By now, most of the older students were awake. However, most of the newer students were still asleep. But something special was in mind for them. Over the summer break, new clocks had been added to the rooms. The clocks had very loud alarm bells that could wake anyone up. It could be shut off, but only if one examined the clock.
Unfortunately for Chris, he hadn't discovered the alarm. So at 7:00 a.m. the alarm went off. The deafening noise caused Chris to literally jump from his bed. He ran to the clock and punched the snooze button. Grumbling to himself, Chris took a shower and put on his Ra Yellow jackets and tan pants. As he was leaving his room, he noticed a piece of paper tacked to his door. Grabbing the piece of paper, he realized that it was his schedule.
Placing the paper in his pocket, Chris made his way to the Ra Yellow cafeteria. He couldn't find Caden or Dustin so he grabbed Breakfast and ate it in silence. After eating his breakfast, he went to the main building. His first class was Dueling Strategies, taught by Professor Toma. Chris thought that this class was sort of interesting. Professor Toma was a good teacher and taught about interesting things, but one can only enjoy a class so much.
The next class was Spells/Traps Usage, taught by Professor Ginsea. Chris decided that he hated this class within the first five minutes. First, he didn't like Professor Ginsea. Professor Ginsea resembled a woman and was very biased. That became clear when he asked an Obelisk Blue what Pot of Greed does, then asked a Slifer Red to explain the effects of Dangerous Machine Type 6. Secondly, most of the questions were questions anyone could answer if they paid any attention to anything dueling related.
Then came lunch. He still was unable to find Caden or Dustin so he had no one to talk too. The next class he had was Dueling History, taught by Professor Aaron. Chris didn't know whether or not this guy was better than the last guy. According to the older students he had heard talking, Professor Aaron was better than the last guy. Professor Aaron did make lectures, but he used diagrams, prepared presentations and other things.
Chris's next class was surprisingly PE. Chris thought he had misread his schedule, but he found that the class was in a gymnasium. The class was taught huge, muscular man named Professor Higema. Chris soon found that he did not like this class much either. The class was mostly running several laps around the gym. By the time the class was over, he was very tired. But he still had one more class to go to.
His last class was Duel Monsters Studies, taught by his sister Anthia. He really hoped that his sister would not pronounce the fact that they were siblings. He was one of the last students to enter the class. He side into a seat in the middle of the room.
Anthia was sitting at her desk at the bottom of the room. She was looking down at some papers on the desk. Once the bell rang, so stood up and took attendance. Once she was finished, she put away the list of students.
"Welcome to Duel Monsters Studies students." she said, looking around at them. "I think to start the year off, we should have a duel. So who would like to volunteer?" Several hands went up. She pointed to a Ra Yellow boy in the back row. "You there, in the back. Peter, was it?"
"Yes, Professor." said the boy. He was about a head taller than everyone else. He had short brown hair and cold, emotionless face. He walked down to the front of the room.
"Alright, who else would like to volunteer?" asked Anthia. This time, only Chris rose his hand. Anthia pointed to him. "Alright, come down here Chris." Chris went down to the front of the room. Chris and Peter took up positions across from each other. "I'll flip a coin." Anthia flipped a coin. "Who calls heads?"
"I do." said Chris. Anthia nodded and flipped the coin. It went up into the air and Anthia caught it, and slapped it onto her arm. She lifted her hand. It was tails.
"Peter gets to go first." Anthia said as she moved out of the way so the duel could start. They both drew their hands. Chris put on his reading glasses as Peter drew his sixth card.
"I set one monster in defense mode." said Peter coldly as he placed the card facedown. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."
Chris drew a card. "I summon Blast Magician in attack mode (1400/1700). Now my Blast Magician will attack your facedown!" Blast Magician lifted his staff and fired several fire balls at the facedown monster, blasting it to pieces.
"The card that you attacked was my Deep Space Probe (500/500)." said Peter coldly. "When it is flipped, I get to add a card from my deck to my hand."
"Fine, I place one card facedown and end my turn." finished Chris.
Peter drew a card. "I activate the spell card Heavy Storm! This will destroy all spell and trap cards on the field." Peter's facedown and Chris's facedown cards were destroyed. "Next, I summon Card Dragon in attack mode (1900/0)." A small origami dragon made of cards appeared on the field. "Now my Card Dragon will destroy your Blast Magician." Card Dragon fired a stream of flaming cards at Blast Magician and destroyed it. Chris's life points dropped from 4000-3500. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."
Chris drew a card. "I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light! This will stop your attacks for three turns." Large shinning swords appeared on the field, stopping his monsters. "Next I set one monster facedown. Then I place one card facedown and end my turn."
Peter drew a card. "I activate the trap card The Balance of Power. When this trap cards is activated, I get to take three monsters whose level is 3 or less from my deck." Peter took three cards from his deck. "Now you get to special summon one monster whose level is 4 or less from your hand."
This surprised Chris. Why would Peter help him like that? Chris started to worry about the cards that Peter took from his deck. "Okay, I special summon A Man with Wdjat in defense mode."
"I end my turn without doing anything else." Peter said, folding his arms across his chest.
Chris drew a card. "I sacrifice my facedown monster to summon Chaos Command Magician in attack mode (2400/1900). Now my Chaos Command Magician will destroy your Card Dragon!" Chaos Command Magician pointed its staff at Card Dragon. Magical energy blasted out of the staff and hit Card Dragon, destroying it. Peter's life points dropped from 4000-3500.
"I activate the effect of Card Dragon." Peter said coldly. "When it is destroyed, I get to add a card from my deck to my hand." Peter took a card from his deck and added it to his hand. "I win." he said simply.
Chris almost fell over. "What?" he shouted. "Who do you figure that?!" Peter took five cards from his hand and flipped them around. "Exodia!" Chris shouted as the life point counter dropped to 0.
"The winner is Peter Noro!" said Anthia clapping lightly. The crowd started clapping politely as Chris and Peter returned to their seats. Some students snickered at Chris walked past them. Chris didn't pay any attention to anything else of the class. He was fuming with rage over his quick defeat. When the class ended, he stormed from the room before anyone could comment. He stormed out of the main building, determined to destroy the first duelist he came upon. Luckily for him, the first duelists he saw were a group four of Slifer Reds.
"Hey you guys!" Chris shouted. "I want to duel one of you!"
A largest of the Slifer Red boys stepped forward. He was both taller, and wider than the rest of the boys. He also had light blonde hair and was slightly tanned. "I am Isao Abe." he said. "I am the leader of the Crimson Comets!"
Chris stopped. "The what?"
"The Crimson Comets!" Isao shouted. "We are the Slifer Reds who are the top of our class!"
Chris put on his reading glasses and activated his duel disk. "I don't care who you are. I just want to duel."
"With us, it is not that simple." said Isao. "In our group, you have to duel from the bottom up. Then…"
"I don't care!" Chris shouted. "Lets just get the duels started."
Isao stepped back and the smallest boy of the group stepped forward. "I am Yori. Since I am the lowest member of our group, you will duel me first."
"Finally!" Chris shouted in relief. Both picked up their hands. "Since you'll lose, I'll let you go first."
"I'm going I'm going!" muttered Yori as he drew a card. "I summon Karate Man in attack mode (1000/1000). Next, I play two cards facedown and end my turn."
Chris drew a card. By now, Chris had calmed down and was thinking clearly. "I summon The Spell Caller in attack mode (1400/1200)." A young man in flowing robes, holding a large wooden horn appeared on the field. "I activate the effect of my Spell Caller. If I pay 800 life points, I can take two spell cards from my deck. However, I chose to by 1600 life points so I can take two spell cards from my deck." Chris's life points dropped from 4000-2400 as he took two cards from his deck. "Now I activate one of the spell cards I just took, which is Heavy Storm!"
A large storm appeared and blew away Yori's spell and trap cards. "Next," continued Chris. "I activate the other spell card I took from my deck, Magical Dimension! This allows me to sacrifice my Spell Caller so I can special summon my Dark Magician in attack mode (2500/2000). Lastly, my spell card will destroy your Karate Man!"
Yori gasped as Karate Man was destroyed. "No! I'm defenseless!"
"Gee, yeah think!" Chris said sarcastically. "I activate one more spell card known as Megamorph! Since my life points are lower, my Dark Magician's attack points are doubled (2500-5000/2000). Dark Magician, attack him directly!" Dark Magician pointed its staff at Yori and fired a ball of black magical energy that bashed Yori into the ground, his life points dropping to 0. Yori got up off the ground and ran behind the rest of the Crimson Comets.
A boy, slightly taller than Yori, with short, dyed blue hair stepped forward. "I am Nao. I will be your next opponent." He activated his duel disk.
"I'll be nice and let you go first." said Chris as he shuffled his deck and drew his hand.
Nao nodded as he drew his sixth card. "I summon Abaki in attack mode (1700/1100). Next, I play two cards facedown and end my turn."
Chris drew a card. "I summon Magician of Null and Void in attack mode (1400/200)." A tall man wearing a long, black robe appeared on the field. "Now I equip my monster with Axe of Despair! This will increase my monster's attack points by 1000!" A small axe appeared in Magician of Null and Void's hands, and his attack points rose to 2400. "Now my Magician of Null and Void will destroy your Abaki!"
"Nope! Because I activate the trap card Negate Attack!" shouted Nao as his trap card flipped up. It shattered instantly. "What the…!"
"I guess that now is as good a time as any to mention my monster's effect." said Chris. "Once per turn, he can negate any spell or trap card." Magician of Null and Void destroyed Abaki. Nao's life points dropped from 4000-2800, and Chris's life points dropped from 4000-3500. "No need to explain Abaki's effect. I finish off by placing one card facedown."
Nao drew a card. "I summon Flame Tower in attack mode (0/1100)." A large tower that was in flames from top to bottom appeared on the field. Suddenly, four balls of flame jumped from the burning tower and landed in Nao's monster slots. "When this monster is summoned, I get four flame tokens (1000/1000)." explained Nao. "Since they are on the field, you can't attack my Flame Tower. I place one card facedown and end my turn."
Chris drew a card. "I activate my facedown trap card Skill Drain! If I pay 1000 life points, the effects of all effect monsters are negated."
"Crap!" shouted Nao as the flame tokens from Flame Tower disappeared. Chris's life points dropped from 3500-2500.
"Next I equip my Magician of Null and Void with Black Pendent, increasing his attack points by 500!" shouted Chris (2400-2900/200). "Magician of Null and Void will attack your Flame Tower and destroy the rest of your life points!" Magician of Null and Void charged forward and slashed Flame Tower in half with Axe of Despair. Nao life points dropped to 0.
Nao ran off to stand by Yori. Both looked down at the ground in shame. The third Slifer Red stepped forward. This time, it was a girl with long blond hair and slightly taller than Nao, but shorter than Isao. "I am Aimi. I am your next opponent."
"Okay." said Chris, shuffling his deck again. "I'll be a gentleman and let you go first."
"Why thank you," Aimi said sarcastically. She drew her hand and a sixth card. "I summon Warrior Princess in attack mode (1600/1200)." A young woman wearing shinning metal armor and holding a short sword appeared on the field. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."
Chris drew a card. "I summon Magical Exemplar in attack mode (1700/1400). Now I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards." Chris drew two cards. "This in turn activates the effect of my Magical Exemplar. When a spell card is activated, two spell counters are placed on it (SCx2). Now my Magical Exemplar will destroy your Warrior Princess!"
"I activate the trap card Negate Attack!" shouted Aimi. "This stops your attack and ends your battle phase."
Chris shrugged. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."
Aimi drew a card. "I summon Queen of Defense in attack mode (0/2100)." A woman in long robes holding a large staff with a shield carving on the end of it appeared on the field. "Next, I play the spell card Block Attack, which I use to switch my Queen of Defense to defense mode." Queen of Defense switched to defense mode and two more tokens appeared on Magical Exemplar (SCx4). "I end my turn by placing one card facedown."
Chris drew a card. "I activate the spell card Reload! This allows me to shuffle my hand into my deck and draw the same number of cards!" Chris shuffled his hand back into his deck and drew a new hand. Two more tokens appeared on Magical Exemplar (SCx6). "Now my Magical Exemplar will attack your Warrior Princess!" Magical Exemplar fired a ball of magical energy at Warrior Princess.
"I activate the effect of my Queen of Defense!" shouted Aimi. "Once per turn, I can negate one attack." A force field appeared around Warrior Princess and Magical Exemplar's attack bounced off.
"I place one card facedown and end my turn." said Chris.
Aimi drew a card. "I equip my Warrior Princess with Sword of Royalty! This will increase her attack points by 600." A large magnificent sword appeared in Warrior Princess's hands (1600-2200/1200). Then two spell counters appeared on Magical Exemplar (SCx8). "Now my Warrior Princess will attack your Magical Exemplar!" Warrior Princess charged forward.
"I activate the trap card Negate Attack!" shouted Chris. "I know you already know what is does so continue your turn." Warrior Princess's attack was negated.
"I end my turn." muttered Aimi.
Chris drew a card. "I activate the spell card Lightning Vortex (ME SCx10)!" Chris shouted. "If I discard a card from my hand, all over you're faceup monsters are destroyed!" Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky and destroyed Warrior Princess and Queen of Defense. "Now I activate Magical Exemplar's other effect. For ever spell counter I remove from her, I can special summon a monster whose level is equal to the number of removed spell counters." Chris smirked. "I remove eight spell counters so I can special summon my Dark Magician in attack mode (2500/2000). Now my Dark Magician and my Magical Exemplar will attack your life points directly!"
Dark Magician and Magical Exemplar attacked simultaneously and Aimi's life points dropped to 0. She ran away to stand next to Nao and Yori. Isao sighed. "If you want something done, you got to do it yourself." He activated his duel disk. Chris noted that he had been to the Duel Disk modifier. It was bright red with a pattern of comets running across it.
"Finally," said Chris as he shuffled his deck once more.
"I may be a Slifer Red, but I'm no push over." said Isao. He drew his hand, and then drew a sixth card. "I summon Space Rock in attack mode (0/0)." A rock about the size of a human head appeared on the field. "Next, I play the field spell Asteroid Field!" Suddenly, several hundreds of rocks in all shapes and all sizes appeared between Chris and Isao. "Whenever we attack, we must flip a coin. If heads, the attack continues as normal. If tails, the attacking monster is destroyed. I finish my turn by placing one card facedown."
Chris drew a card. "I summon Star Witch in attack mode (1700/1300). I chose to place one card facedown and end my turn."
Isao drew a card. "I activate the effect of my Space Rock. When one is faceup one the field during my standby phase, I can special summon another one from my deck." A second Space Rock appeared on the field. "Next I activate the spell card Star Gazing! This allows me to look at the top three cards of my deck. Then I gain 200 life points for every monster." Isao picked up three cards. "Would you look at that! All three are monsters!" Isao's life points rose to 4600. "Now I summon my Star Man in attack mode (400/700)." A small cartoonish star with large eyes, and small arms and legs appeared on the field. "My Star Man has an interesting effect. He can attack your life points directly. Also, he is unaffected by spells or traps so he can bypass my Asteroid Field." Star Man jumped into the air, flew over Asteroid Field, and slammed into Chris. His life points dropped from 4000-3600. "I finish my turn by placing one card facedown."
Chris drew a card. "I summon Sage of Spell Absorption in attack mode (1500/1600). I activate the effect of my Sage of Spell Absorption to destroy your Asteroid Field."
"Not so fast!" shouted Isao. "I activate the trap card Stars of Ill Omen!" A constellation of stars formed as a skull appeared above Sage of Spell Absorption. A black aura appeared around him. He winced as he fell to one knee. "My trap card has negated your monster's effect." explained Isao. "Also, it switches your monster to defense mode."
"I place one card facedown and end my turn." said Chris.
Isao drew a card. "My third and finally Space Rock come to my field." said Isao as the third Space Rock appeared next to the other two. "I activate the spell card Meteor Shower! Since I have a Space Rock on the field, this card will inflect 1000 points of damage for each one on the field!" The three space rocks flew high into the air and came down right on Chris. His life points dropped from 3600-600. "Now my Star Man will attack your life points directly!" Star Man flew over Asteroid Field and kicked Chris in the back of the head. His life points dropped from 600-200. "I finish my turn by place two cards facedown."
Chris drew a card. "I sacrifice my Sage of Spell Absorption and my Star Witch to summon my Mystical Paladin in attack mode (2000/2000). Now the effect of my Star Witch activates! When it is sent to the graveyard, I get to take two spell cards from deck." Chris took two cards from his deck. "I activate one of the spells I just took, Heavy Storm! This will destroy every spell or trap card on the field." A large storm appeared on the field and blew away Asteroid Field, Isao's and Chris's cards. "Next I activate the other spell card I took, Megamorph. This will double my monster's attack points (2000-4000/2000). Last, but not least, I activate the spell card Curse of the Spellcaster. If I remove one spellcaster from play I can inflect half of that monster's attack points as damage to your life points. So I remove my Star Witch from play to inflect 850 points of damage." Isao's life points dropped from 4600-3750. "Now my Mystical Paladin will attack your life points directly!" Mystical Paladin charge forward and hit Isao with its sword, causing him to be thrown back three or four feet.
Isao got to his feet. "Grr……good duel….I suppose…." Isao said, and the rest of the Crimson Comets ran off towards the forest nearby.
"Oh come on!" Chris shouted after them. "Show some dignity!"
"Who are you shouting at Chris?" Chris turned around to see Rubye walking towards him.
"Hello Rubye." said Chris, as he took off his reading glasses. "We you watching want just happened?" Rubye shook her head. "Good, because you didn't want to see that. I mean I know there just Slifer Reds, but I was hoping for more of a challenge than that!"
Rubye giggled at Chris's exasperation. "By the way, they're going to start the school's first Ridding Duel. Do you want to come watch?"
"Sure." replied Chris, as he followed Rubye to the Ridding Duel Stadium.
Chris's Cards
The Spell Caller
Type: monster/light/spellcaster-effect
Level: 4
Stats: (1400/1200)
Effect: You may pay 800 life points to take one spell card from your deck and add it to your hand. This effect can be used a maximum of three times per turn.
Magician of Null and Void
Type: monster/dark/spellcaster-effect
Level: 4
Stats: (1400/200)
Effect: Once during your, or your opponent's turn you may negate a spell or trap card and destroy it.
Curse of the Spellcaster
Type: normal spell
Image: a skeleton in old wizard's robes pulling a maiden down into a grave.
Effect: Remove one spellcaster monster from your graveyard from play. Then inflect half of that monster's attack points as damage to your opponent's life points.
Peter's Cards
Deep Space Probe
Type: monster/earth/machine-effect
Level: 2
Stats: (500/500)
Effect: Flip: take one card from your deck and add it to your hand.
Card Dragon
Type: monster/fire/dragon-effect
Level: 4
Stats: (1900/0)
Effect: When this card is destroyed as a result of battle, add one card from your deck to your hand.
The Balance of Power
Type: trap
Image: a large, green scale. on one side is the ojama brothers. On the other side as a Vorse Raider.
Effect: Take three level 3 or lower monsters from your deck and add them to your hand. Then your opponent can special summon a level 4 monster from their hand if possible.
Nao
Flame Tower
Type: monster/fire/pyro-effect
Level: 4
Stats: (0/1100)
Effect: When this card is summon, fill all available monster slots with Flame Tokens (1000/1000). As long as there is a flame token on the field, this card can't be attacked. During your turn, you may discard on monster from your hand to special summon one Flame Token.
Aimi
Warrior Princess
Type: monster/earth/warrior
Level: 4
Stats: (1600/1200)
Effect: none
Queen of Defense
Type: monster/light/warrior-effect
Level: 4
Stats: (0/2100)
Effect: Once per turn, you may negate one battle.
Sword of Royalty
Type: equip spell
Image: a large, beautiful sword.
Effect: This card can only be equipped to a 'warrior' type monster. Increase that monster's attack points by 600.
Isao's cards
Space Rock
Type: monster/dark/earth-effect
Level: 1
Stats: (0/0)
Effect: During your standby phase, special summon one 'Space Rock' from your deck or hand in attack mode.
Star Man
Type: monster/light/fairy-effect
Level: 3
Stats: (400/700)
Effect: This card can't be affected by spell or trap cards. This card can attack your opponent's life points directly.
Meteor Shower
Type: quick spell
Image: several meteors falling down onto a fiend.
Effect: When this card is activated, inflect 1000 points of damage to your opponent for every 'Space Rock' on your side of the field.
Asteroid Field
Type: field spell
Image: a large asteroid field containing rocks of all shapes and all sizes.
Effect: When a monster attacks, the owner must flip a coin. If heads, the attack goes on as normal. If tails, the attacking monster is destroyed.
Star Gazing
Type: spell
Image: a small boy looking up at the night sky with a telescope.
Effect: Pick up the top three cards of your deck. You gain 200 life points for every card that is a monster. Place the three cards back on the deck in the same order.
Stars of Ill Omen
Type: trap
Image: a constellation in the shape of a skull.
Effect: Negate the effects of one monster on the field. The switch that monster to defense mode.