Author's Note: I'm not sure I like this chapter. It doesn't feel right to me but I felt it's important to introduce this character because he will be important. Also, this is probably the shortest chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh and credit goes to GL999 for subs of GX episode 5.
Episode 5: The Mysterious Challenger
It was another peaceful day at the island of South Duel Academy. Students were attending their classes, taking notes or sleeping through. A certain maroon-haired girl made sure that she would wake up in time for her classes…..by buying ten alarm clocks.
The narrator blinked at one of the clocks, "Oh look! A Yami Kuriboh alarm clock! ….could it be a gift from Kurai?" He held his thumb up and snickered and suddenly he was splattered with red paint.
The same girl had accidentally spilt red paint all over, "Opps…" She accidentally tripped over the bucket while holding a large paintbrush over the wall of her dorm hut since her dorm was previously marred with graffiti. The Osiris Red staff decided to replace the marked woods of the hut with new woods, of course. They didn't bother painting and left the work to the person who lived in it.
The red-haired guy, Tsubaki, came to check up the noise while holding a large paintbrush mop, "Aw man, you spilled paint again? Are you some kinda klutz or something?"
"Not most of the time!" The girl named Izumi countered, "I must have got it from my sister. She's more klutzy than me."
"And yet, she mastered dueling in only one mouth." Tsubaki pointed out.
Izumi frowned with fuming eyes, "Oh shut up and help me finish painting!"
"At least be grateful that I'm helping you!" Tsubaki complained as he splattered the brush on the wall, "…Why am I helping you?"
"Because you were being such a gentleman and said that you're going to help me?" Izumi repeated his line.
Tsubaki laughed sarcastically, "Har. Har. Har. I only meant to beat up those people who did this to your dorm!"
"Oh sure, beat up the entire class until they're bloody pulps and then get me kicked out. Like that's going to help me." Izumi replied back in the same tone as him with doubtful eyes.
"Well it beat doing this!" Tsubaki retorted as he swung his mop and accidentally tripped over the other paint bucket, "…Uh oh…."
Izumi closed her eyes as she heard a numerous crashes and then a huge splash. She slowly opened her left eye and sweat-dropped, "Tsubaki, you're alright?"
"Well depends. I got a bucket full of red paint stuck in my head. I have red paint splattered all over my clothes and soaking wet too. And I also have smelly fishes swimming through my pants. And do I forget to mention that I'm feeling peachy?" Tsubaki spat out mixed paint and sea water since the bucket fell on his head, causing him to trip over the gates and fell into the water.
Izumi blinked and laughed hysterically.
Tsubaki frowned, "What's so funny?"
Izumi commented, "Now who's a klutz?"
"Oh whatever," Tsubaki pouted as he climbed back up, "And what's that cold-hearted stiff doing here?" Suddenly he was slammed back into the ocean by a thrown paint bucket.
The cold hearted Osiris Red student's forehead vein twitched as he was holding a small paintbrush.
Izumi sweat-dropped and explained to Tsubaki, "Well I asked him."
"Sureeeeeeee! He can't refuse a girl! That's why!" Tsubaki spat out the fish and climbed back in again.
Izumi just shrugged him off, "Oh you're just being rubbish."
Kurai painted the finishing touch, "I'm done."
Both Tsubaki and Izumi spoke at the same time, "Huh?" They both went to take a look.
Suddenly thunder was heard and lightning struck in the black background behind Izumi and Tsubaki, both of them turned pale white out of shock.
The reason of their shock was an amazing masterpiece that showed that Kurai knew his art really well but that's not why they were shocked.
Izumi had a giant droplet on the back of her head, "It's a giant Yami Kuriboh rampaging on New York City."
Tsubaki had even bigger droplet, "Is that me in its claw?"
"…yeah…You were supposed to be eaten." Kurai commented in bored tone.
Tsubaki's vein twitched as he clenched his fist, "Care to repeat that again?"
"Where am I?" Izumi asked out of curiosity.
Kurai replied coldly, "In Yami Kuriboh's stomach already."
Izumi turned white as ghost as the ominous winds blew by.
"What?" Kurai asked annoyingly because he could have done something better instead of wasting his time painting.
Tsubaki complained, "If I have dueled better at the dueling exam, I could have been in Ra Yellow instead of here."
"And be the same dorm as that creepy guy? I find it hard to believe that he's one of the best second year Ra Yellow with that creepy personality like his," Izumi commented, "and beside Osiris Red is not that bad and I'm glad I'm here with you guys. Plus we have a unique structure beside a mansion and a castle. A tons of huts floating over the ocean!"
"Which I kept falling in because of the certain cold hearted stiff." Tsubaki pointed out while frowning at Kurai.
Few seconds later, there was a loud POW and Tsubaki was sent flying and falling into the ocean again.
Izumi sweat-dropped as Kurai unclenched his used fist, "…that was mean…"
Suddenly they heard a strange alert from Professor Tyrell on the intercom, "Any students remaining in the Osiris Red Dorms, please evacuate the area. Please evacuate…Ah damnit, I'm too late! Oh well, it's not like any of you are stupid enough to stay here at this time anyway." He laughed proudly.
Izumi blinked in confusion at this strange announcement, "Huh? Yuki, what is Professor Tyrell talking about?" Yuki was staring at something and not paying attention to her, "Yuki?" She looked toward him and her eyes turned wide as dinner plates.
Tsubaki climbed back up again, "Damn you, you cold-hearted stiff bastard!" He noticed Izumi was in shock, "Huh, what's wrong?" He looked at Izumi's direction and his eyes turned wide as dinner plates too.
Facing them was a gigantic tidal wave coming toward their dorms.
Izumi shrieked, "A tidal wave?"
Tsubaki screamed, "Not more fishes!"
Kurai just silently cussed to himself, "Shit."
The gigantic wave piled upon the dorm with a great splash.
Tsubaki and Izumi screamed with white blank panicked eyes and Kurai just sweat-dropped as they were swallowed away by the wave.
Meanwhile at the Ra Yellow dorms, there was a loud high-pitched blood curling scream echoing throughout the mansion. All the Ra Yellow students stopped doing their daily activities as they pondered where the scream came from and who it belonged to. Fortunately, they got their answer soon as suddenly, Domon, the notorious Chinese zombie duelist, was running and screaming down the hallway in extreme fear. The girls screamed in shock as Domon wasn't wearing his pants but only his skull boxers.
Rad Cielo, a 1st year Ra Yellow duelist, blinked in surprise as he watched Domon fleeing for his life. He laughed, "Wow, I wonder what scare him so much?" He walked back to his room.
Soon after, Professor Morgan came stomping out of the Ra Yellow teacher's office holding a butcher knife in her hand, "Domon Yaku! Get back here and accept your punishment!"
Schmitt came running after her, "Please Miss Morgan! You need to calm down and put that butcher knife down!"
Morgan scoffed, "Hmph, if I don't scare him enough, he'll just come back to the abandoned dorms." She pointed her butcher knife at curious Ra Yellow students nearby, "You heard me? Abandoned Dorms are off-limit!"
Schmitt sighed, "I appreciate it that you took the duty to enforce discipline but Domon is under my jurisdiction."
"And what good have that done?" Morgan criticized.
Schmitt sighed annoyingly as he rubbed his forehead, "When I retire, I'm going to work in a small orphanage."
"Hey, Carol! Schmitt!" Tyrell ran up to them and he quickly noticed the butcher knife in Morgan's hand, "Oh my god! Did you actually do it? You cut a man's most prized possession?"
Morgan corrected, "It's Miss or Professor Morgan. And no, I do not." She twirled the butcher knife with her hand, "This is just prop to scare Domon into not causing havoc anymore." She accidently dropped the item, letting the knife pierced the floor.
There was a long uncomfortable silence between the teachers.
"Huh," Morgan assumed, "I thought I grabbed the fake one."
"How can you say it so casually?" Tyrell panicked, "You were this close to actually cut someone's treasured jewels!"
"I may have surgical experiences," said Schmitt, "but I have no desire to do that sort of surgery anytime soon."
"It did not happen! So it's fine. Anyway," Morgan narrowed her eyes toward Tyrell, "You didn't make the tidal wave announcement till the last minute, didn't you?"
Tyrell sweat-dropped even more, "Er…" He laughed nervously, "Oh come on, am I that stupid?" Morgan was about to answer, "Do not answer that!
Morgan lectured, "Professor Tyrell, it is important to make a tidal wave announcement or otherwise students might get washed away and we'll have to bring in the lifeguards to find them."
Tyrell waved his hand to calm her down, "Hey, don't worry, even if I missed making the announcement, I'm sure there's no one at the dorms at this time of the year."
Inside the Duel Academy central building within the large staff room, a small Professor, Rebecca, just walked in, "Hey, Fish guy!"
A female staff assistant, sitting behind a secretary's desk, looked up from her paper works to a small teenager, "Mr. Kahil is not here at the moment."
"What?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes, "Don't tell me…"
The female staff sweat-dropped, "He said it's a nice day to go fishing." She sweat-dropped even more as she watched Rebecca glowing in red demonic aura.
Rebecca growled as she gritted her teeth and raised her shaking clenched fist. She snapped, "That lazy idiot! I'm going to beat the crap out of him when I find him!"
On the opposite side of the island across from the Osiris Red dorms, the same fisherman, that Rebecca just threatened, suddenly sneezed, "Achoo! Hmm…is someone talking about me? I wonder if it's cute Rebecca?" He hummed happily as he was fishing off on top of the rocks lying on an isolated beach, "Fishing is fun. Dueling is fun. Making Rebecca crazy is fun…" Instantly, the fishing rod was pulled, "Oh? I got something! Wait…that never happened before…" He grinned, "I guess all my years of patience finally paid off!" He reeled in and a red-haired head popped out of the water with a hook attached to his jacket. The fisherman blinked and confusion and gaped, "I caught a merman!"
Tsubaki lifted his head out of the water, "I'm not a merman!" He coughed out water.
Izumi gasped for air as she suddenly had her head out of water, "We made it. We're alive!" She was starry eyed.
Kurai just swam to shore with a bored expression.
Izumi sweat-dropped, "Tsubaki, what are you doing?" Tsubaki was struggling with the hook.
"Trying to be a fish," Tsubaki glared, "I got a hook on my jacket! What does it look like we're doing?"
The fisherman smiled, "Oh look, more fish people!"
Tsubaki snapped, "We're not fish people! We're merman! Wait, no…Er….you know what I mean!"
Kurai stood up once he reached shore, "….Annoying."
Few minutes later, the Osiris Red students were out of the ocean and on dry lands.
Izumi twisted her outer uniform to drench the water out, "I knew that I want to surf one day but not like this!"
"Ouch!" Tsubaki winced as he grabbed a small spiky object off his back, "Damn sea urchin." He grabbed a fish out of his pant, "Damn fishes!" He tossed it back to the ocean.
"You're Osiris Red students," The fisherman noticed their uniforms, "Ah, it's must be the time of the year again."
"The time of the year?" Izumi asked, ignoring Tsubaki grabbing more fishes from his clothes.
"During the late season, there's always an annual high tide and a huge tidal wave occurred during the lower parts of the island." The fisherman explained.
"Oh that explains why the construction materials are very strong," Izumi pointed out.
Tsubaki sweat-dropped, "If there's a yearly tidal wave, why bother building the dorms on top of the ocean if it's going to be this dangerous?"
Fisherman looked offended, "I thought it's very cool that there's a dorm on top of the ocean."
Tsubaki sweat-dropped even more, "Is the duel academy designer trying to go extreme or something? It's insanity!"
Izumi laughed nervously as she tried to calm her friend down, "Let's not worry about that, Tsubaki, at least we're alright!" She looked back at the fisherman, "Um, so do you often come here?"
"Naturally." The fisherman smiled, "It's the best fishing spot even though I never got a fish for years but patience will reward me someday.
Tsubaki sweat-dropped, "Hey old man, why is it the best fishing spot if you never caught a fish?"
The fisherman exclaimed, "Because I said so, that's why!" He laughed manically.
Both of them sweat-dropped.
"I'm Izumi. That guy over there is Tsubaki. And he's Yuki!" Izumi introduced them.
The fisherman smiled, "You may call me a mysterious wicked cool awesome best of the world fisherman!"
Izumi and Tsubaki sweat-dropped and shared the same thoughts, 'Is this guy crazy?'
The fisherman smirked, "You know, I think this is really the best fishing spot because I should thank the sea god for allowing me to meet such a beautiful girl."
Izumi blushed, "Why thank you for the compliment." She giggled as she moved her body shyly.
Tsubaki's left eye twitched out of disgust, "Um okay…you're a weird pervert. Yuki, let's get outta here!"
Kurai was already walking back.
"Hey, wait for me!" Tsubaki followed him.
"Sorry about that," Izumi bowed, "I hope we meet again, Fisherman-san!" She quickly went after her friends, "Hey, wait up, you guys!"
The fisherman smiled as he flicked his fishing rod toward the ocean, "Interesting trio. I sense great things will happen around them. And slowly, the destiny weaves the path for the new duelists into ancient battle."
Tsubaki complained as he walked with his arms behind his head, "That was really annoying! Someone should have warned us about that crazy tidal wave."
Izumi laughed nervously, "Well, at least we're alright now, right?"
"We could have got standard in some unknown island!" Tsubaki scowled.
"Well technically, we are standard in an island." Izumi laughed.
Tsubaki sweat-dropped, "That was a bad joke, Izumi. Hey, Yuki!"
Kurai didn't answer as he was in deep thought, 'That guy…there's something strange about him…'
Tsubaki shrugged, "I guess Yuki's not listening." He sighed as he looked at Izumi, "Maybe you're right. We should be grateful that we're alright. At least, we didn't drown."
Izumi nodded, "That's true. Good thing, we didn't end up like that dead guy over there." She laughed as she pointed to a soaking wet human body dressed in black desert robe nearby on the beach.
Tsubaki laughed along, "Ha! Ha! You're right! Otherwise we'll be dead like that guy!"
Both of them finally registered what they saw and stood there in long uncomfortable silence.
Kurai stopped walking as he too stared at the body on the beach, "Ah…a dead body."
Tsubaki and Izumi screamed like hell, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Tsubaki panicked, "Oh my god! There's a dead body! A dead human!"
Izumi shook her head frantically, "I didn't mean to kill him! I'm so sorry!"
Tsubaki stopped panicking, "What do you mean you didn't mean to kill him?"
Izumi cried, "Because you said we didn't drown and I said good thing, we didn't end up like him! I cursed him! I'm a murderer!"
Tsubaki pointed out, "Hold on just a minute! That body could have been there for awhile or who knows how long it was there! There's no way that he would have died right after you said that! "
Izumi stopped crying right away, "Ah, you have a point there."
Tsubaki fell down.
Izumi noticed Kurai crouching near the body, "Yuki, what are you doing?"
Kurai rolled his eyes, "Making sure he's dead." He looked back toward the black robed man. He was dark-skinned like the Fisherman they just met and he was wearing a black turban. Kurai narrowed his eyes as he recognized the clothes in the school textbook, 'An Egyptain?' He then noticed black markings hidden slightly under his turban. Out of curiosity, he decided to pull off his turban just to see black tattoos on his bald forehead. As soon as he did it, Kurai's head suddenly hurt as the millennium symbol flashed in his mind. He winced as he held his head, 'What the…what the hell was that?'
Izumi walked up to Kurai, "Yuki, you okay?"
Tsubaki followed, "Hey, is he dead?"
Kurai scowled, "I haven't check yet." He grabbed the man's wrist and checked for his pulse. He stood up, "He's still alive." He walked past them, "But it's faint."
"Really?" Izumi sighed in relief, "That's good," she realized, "Wait…it's faint?"
Tsubaki blinked as he looked back at Kurai, "Why are you behind us?"
Kurai crossed his arms, "I'm not giving him CPR."
Both Izumi and Tsubaki just stood there in silence again while the ominous winds blew past by.
Kurai looked away, "I ain't doing it."
Tsubaki blushed while panicking, "CPR!"
Izumi blushed as she glanced at the unconscious man, 'CPR….if we don't give him CPR, he might not live…but it's my first kiss…but it's only CPR…but it's my first kiss!' She quickly turned her head to Tsubaki, "Tsubaki! I'm going to press his chest and you need to give him CPR!"
Tsubaki's eyes widened in shock, "What? Oh hell no, I'm locking lips with a guy! You do it!"
"A first kiss is important to a girl!" Izumi countered, "You're a guy! You should kiss plenty of times before!"
Tsubaki retorted, "Hey! Don't compare me to an average hormone-raged American!"
Suddenly, the wet man's blue eyes snapped open as he quickly sat up.
Tsubaki and Izumi screamed as they hugged each other out of fear, "AHHHHHHHHH!"
Kurai sighed annoyingly, 'Note to myself, never ever hang out with them again. You're bound for something crazy if you stay with these idiots.'
The black-robed man glanced around as he was wondering where he was right now. He then looked at three duelists with an eerie gaze, "Where am I"
"Um…" Izumi replied nervously, "You're at the South Duel Academy, sir…"
"I see." The black-robed stranger stood up, "I thank you for your guidance." He walked away. The teenagers couldn't help but watch him walked away because there was an air of mystery around that stranger.
Izumi blinked, "Who was he?"
Tsubaki shrugged, "How am I supposed to know? He just got up and walked off."
Kurai just stared at the retreating figure before he disappeared from his sight. He narrowed his eyes as he trying to figure out the strange symbol that appeared in his mind awhile ago.
"Hey, Yuki," Izumi interrupted Kurai's thought, "Do you know him?"
Kurai looked at Izumi as she was a complete idiot.
Izumi sweat-dropped, "Alright, I guess that's a no." She noticed that Tsubaki was thinking very hard, "What's wrong, Tsubaki?"
"I couldn't help but think that guy looked so familiar." Tsubaki answered.
"He does? How so?" Izumi asked.
"I don't know. I know I saw him somewhere!" Tsubaki smacked his head, hoping his memory would come back to him.
"That's because he appeared on the newspaper many times." A calm voice answered.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Izumi jumped in fright as a familiar Obelisk Blue student was behind her.
"Jeeze!" Tsubaki had his hand over his chest, trying to calm his panicking heart, "Where the hell did you come from?"
Alexander smiled, "I was sent from the Academy staff to pick up someone and then I saw you."
Izumi groaned, "Please don't do that again, Alex…" Then she remembered what Alexander said, "Wait, you say he appeared on the newspapers many times?"
Kurai glanced at Alexander with slight interest as he wanted to know more about the mysterious stranger.
Alexander answered, "He's actually a famous duelist."
"Really? How come we never notice him?" Tsubaki asked.
Alex explained, "He never participated in any official tournaments and he just recently appeared couple of months ago. All over the world, he challenged strong duelists and won. They never knew his real name or his origin. Thus he came to be known as…"
"Known as?" Izumi pleaded him on.
Alexander closed his eyes, "Shadow."
"So that's why he looked so familiar," Tsubaki exclaimed, "He defeated lot of Pro League duelists of various rankings. No one knows why he's doing it or what his goal is." His eyes widened, "And that guy is here on our island?"
Izumi asked, "If he's that famous, why would he be here at the Duel Academy?"
Tsubaki shrugged, "I don't know, we don't have a Pro League duelist here, do we?"
Alexander smiled, "Actually, we do."
Tsubaki blinked in surprise, "We do?"
Alexander chuckled, "Just kidding."
Tsubaki groaned, "Oh, come on!"
Alexander smirked, "Maybe, I'm not kidding."
Tsubaki twitched, "Which is it? True or not true?"
Alexander smiled, "I'm not telling."
"Boys! Boys! We're drifting away from the subject here," Izumi interfered, "What about Shadow?"
"Oh yeah, huh?" Tsubaki rubbed his chin, "If Shadow's here, he might be targeting strong duelist."
Izumi rolled her eyes, "Well, that's certainly obvious but the bigger question is how many strong duelists are here on this island?"
Alexander chuckled, "A lot?"
Kurai sighed as he headed back to the dorm.
"Eh, Yuki, where are you going?" Izumi called.
Alexander assumed, "I bet he's thinking that Shadow has nothing to do with him, so he doesn't give a care and just want to go back to the dorm, leaving us fools behind."
Tsubaki sweat-dropped, "Somehow…that sound about right."
Suddenly, the millennium symbol flashed inside Kurai's head, forcing him to stop. The cold duelist groaned as he held his head. The symbol was giving him an overbearing headache. He gritted his teeth, 'What the hell was that? ...Why am I seeing the eye of Anubis?'
At Duel Academia, below the abandoned Obelisk Blue dorms.
Titan held up his Millennium Puzzle that gave a bright golden flash, causing the Osiris Red students to cover their eyes. Titan chuckled evilly, "Begin to vanish. Your body will gradually disappear in accordance to your Life Points."
Hayato yelled, "Judai!"
Sho's eyes widened in horror, "Aniki!"
Judai looked down in surprise as parts of his body vanished, "My body…"
Suddenly, a black fog spread throughout the dueling field.
Titan smirked, "Kid, didn't I tell you? That this Game of Darkness has already begun?"
Judai gritted his teeth, "Is this really a Game of Darkness?"
Titan continued, "The enshrouding black fog…the heavy, black fog is engulfing you all." He smirked, "Hard to breath now, isn't it?"
Sho winced as he held his neck in attempt to breath.
Hayato narrowed his eyes, "What's this choking us up?" He groaned as he too was being suffocated.
Titan answered, "It's the pressure of the Game of Darkness. Your legs will no longer move, so no one will be able to run away from this game."
Sho tried to move, "He's right! I can't budge my legs!"
Titan laughed evilly, "Squirm…suffer…but the moment you'll find yourselves longing for the suffering is approaching. For what awaits the loser of a Game of Darkness is eternal darkness."
"No!" Judai stepped forward, "I don't believe that. I've heard that to play a Game of Darkness, you need to have a Millennium Item! Do you have one?"
Titan pulled up his Millennium Puzzle up again, "Behold. This is the legendary item, the Millennium Puzzle. It proves this is the Game of Darkness." His Millennium Puzzle glowed again.
"What?" Judai narrowed his eyes.
PART A END
Author's Note 2: If anyone can guess who Shadow is or the Fisherman Kahil is, I'll give you a cookie lol.
