Here it is! The origin of the "Perfect Duelist"!

P.s. there are typos on some of my past duels. In the first duel in chapter 2 the Team cards are supposed to be 300 attack 100 defense. They were the other way around. Another one was Cannon Ball Shell is actually Shell Cannon the card used by Nils in chapter 9. I was watching pirates of the Caribbean and was thinking cannons for some reason.

Anyway thought I'd point that out here's chapter 10!

Chapter 10

Nils sat alone on the roof of Duel Academy. He was deep in thought but his mind was wrapped around his nickname and his recent loss.

'When was the last time I lost? Why did I have to milk this freaking nickname.' The boy scratched his head as many more thoughts ran through his head.

As he thought Nils watched all the students down below. The entire was school was getting ready for the finals of the opening year tournament. Nils recognized some of the students but couldn't find any of his friends.

'I guess making a jerk of myself drove them away,' Nils frowned. He layed back on the hard surface his short spiky hair rubbing against the concrete.

Watching the sky he could hear all the students down below cheering as the finalists obviously entered the crowd. Nils didn't care who had made it. He had much more on his mind.

As he watched the clouds and listened to the cheering students the Slifer began wondering did anyone even care he was up here? Do any of his friends care that he's hiding away from them on an eight-story roof.

"Probably not," Nils said aloud. "Not like I told anyone I was coming up here."

Stretching, Nils pulled out his cards. Looking at his prized Cyber Tortoise deck he started talking aloud once again.

"I love these cards. It's unfortunate they couldn't win me this tournament." He sat up a looked at each individual card.

"I wonder if Alexis threw that first duel we had," Nils pondered. "We tied last time and she didn't duel as hard last time." Nils was now standing on his feet.

"Heh, then again neither was I!"

"You weren't? Could have fooled me!"

Nils turned around quickly and saw his friend Plex with Erica smiling at him.

"Oh, hey guys. What's up?" 'Why are they here?' Nils wondered.

Plex walked up to his friend and looked him over.

"You look alright. Why are you up here Nils? Don't you want to see the finals? And what was with the emo mood earlier?"

Nils raised an eyebrow and pat Plex's head. "Slow down there buddy! One question at a time."

Erica gave Nils an amusing glare before she also walked over to him.

"You can cut the act Nils, we all know you are stressed about something." Nils scratched his head again and tried to change the subject.

"Don't try it Nils!" The boy was silenced before he even got started.

"Don't tell me you're one of those shallow duelists that are only happy when they win! I can't stand people like that!"

Plex laid his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. He waited a few moments before bringing his attention back to the pervert.

"I agree Nils, there is something you're hiding. I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me what it is."

Nils' smile turned into a grimace. He turned his back toward them and slid down onto his bottom. He sat there thinking of a way to respond before deciding to tell them the truth.

The boy looked back at his friends and sighed. "Sit down guys. I have a lengthy story to tell…"

Plex and Erica sat down listening intently.

"I'll tell you how I got my nickname. It all began roughly two years ago…"

"Back in my home town dueling was basically considered the top sport. Sure it wasn't a very big town, only about 10,000 people there, but there were tons of duelists. Me and my friends were among the top ones. One day we got word from the local card shop about a big promotional tournament coming to our town. The event was to be hosted by the top pro league duelist Elijah Rodman…"

"When we heard about this tournament needless to say the entire town was excited. This was about the time I inherited my Cyber Tortoises that I run today. I knew they'd prove invaluable in the tournament. You see this wasn't just a tournament for fun. The price was definitely worth fighting for. The winner would receive free tuition to Duel Academy but they'd still have to pass the entrance test. Not having to pay is probably the only reason I'm here today…"

Plex interrupted Nils' with a question.

"Wait, if you're here that means it was you who won that big tournament wasn't it? That's pretty impressive!"

Erica nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, I didn't think you were that good!"

Nils however wasn't finished yet.

"Keep in mind that I was 14 years of age. Most of the competitors were around my age or in high school. Sure coming out ahead of hundreds of duelists is impressive no matter who they are, but to get the prize the winner of the tournament had one more task to complete…"

Plex and Erica were very interested. "What was it?" They asked in unison.

Nils nodded.

"You had to beat Elijah Rodman in a duel…"

"WHAT?? You beat a pro league duelists?!?" The two students asked.

Nils couldn't look them in the face while he responded, "No, I didn't…"

Plex and Erica were confused now.

Plex rubbed his chin. "But… how did you get the free tuition if you didn't beat that guy?"

Erica placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah if you didn't win then none of this makes sense!"

Nils sighed again before continuing his story.

"There was more to it than a simple duel. You see I may have survived my friends and other duelists, but my duel with Elijah wasn't as expected. You see I had him cornered in our duel. Judging by the positions we were in there was one of two things going on."

"He was either dueling very poorly or I was dueling brilliantly. It wasn't really either of them but it sure looked like I was schooling this guy. It came down to him not drawing a useful card and that allowed me to finish him. I was so excited! I couldn't believe what I just accomplished. I had won the biggest tournament in town and the biggest duel of my life…"

"I was praised by all my friends and the towns people! I was a local hero! I was even greeted by tons of paparazzi and featured in newspapers. But…"

"When I traveled to Elijah's trailer to sign the prize contract his manager greeted me. There I learned the truth…"

Nils' two friends new by this point what had happened.

Plex bowed his head. "He threw the duel didn't he?" "And it was all to bring attention to Elijah wasn't?" Erica added in.

Nils nodded slowly.

"That's right. They used me as a publicity stunt. They wanted to push Elijah as the pro league's next big star and that's why the tournament was thrown. To make him look good by allowing a promising young duelists to beat him and go to Duel Academy. I was the unfortunate one to have my dreams shattered…"

All three of the students sat in silence for awhile. Nils was unsure how to continue and his friends didn't know quite what to say. Nils decided to continue anyway…

"The act was only known to me, Elijah and his manager. No one else besides to pro league board of directors knew about it. By that point I was a hero to everyone in town. All the young kids looked up to me and I was a celebrity among my friends. I was already a well-known skilled duelists but this was just icing on the cake. People started calling me… The Perfect Duelist…"

Nils paused for another moment before going on.

"Sure it was all in good fun. The problem was many people actually believed in it. It felt so good to get that kind of attention. So… I never mentioned the publicity stunt to anyone. I didn't want to…"

"So as the months passed I kept hearing the name over…and over…and over. At first I knew it was STUPID! There was no such thing as a perfect duelist and there never will be. But as the months turned to years the name became so indented in my head that even I started to believe it…"

"I would never lose a duel because I was better than my friends. That didn't help my developing attitude. At one point I thought so much of my nickname and fame I started becoming cocky. I honestly started to believe I was perfect at dueling because everyone I hung around insisted on it. It was like peer pressure on steroids…"

"I suppose deep down I always knew the name was a load of bull. But those thoughts were buried and the name came with me when I finally enrolled here in Duel Academy. When I lost to Alexis it threw me off. Not because I can't stand a loss it was because I hadn't lost a duel since that fateful day. And my attitude and nickname was so embedded in me that I couldn't take it at first. That's why I'm up here guys. I need to get my head straight…"

The trio sat silently again. Plex spoke up first.

"Wow, what a story Nils. I had no idea…" Plex stopped there. He didn't want to hit Nils too hard while he was in this current state.

Nils nodded and actually smiled. Not a fake smile… this one was real. He even started laughing.

The boy jumped up to his feet and kept laughing.

Erica's sweat dropped and she looked at Plex. "What's going on with him?" Plex shook his head. "I've only known him for two days give me a break."

Nils stopped laughing and looked down at his friends.

"You know what? I should really think Alexis! I had know idea but I guess what I really needed was a good loss to snap be back to normal. I'm not a perfect duelist! No one is! I'm finally good ol' Nils again!"

Nils' new attitude pleases his friends. They were glad to see him back to normal.

"You know what Plex, Erica? I don't want you to call me a perfect duelist anymore! I don't want to be like I was ever again!"

Plex was about to agree but something held him back. He already met Nils as the perfect duelist, so what was he going to be now?

"Say Nils, I don't mind calling you the perfect duelist. I met you as the so called perfect duelist, so to me you'll always be the so called perfect duelist!"

Nils considered the words. "So, you guys don't mind that nickname?" He asked.

The two shook their heads. Erica said, "As long as you don't let it go to your head I'll be willing to call you a perfect duelists. It's a little dumb now that you openly admit there's no such thing but hey, it's just a nickname!"

Nils smiled at the two. "Alright if you insist!"

The three were all in good moods now. Nils decided it would be a good time to check up on the finals going on below. They looked down and saw only two duelists dueling.

"Hey guys, when did you get knocked out of the tournament?" Nils asked.

Plex blushed and replied, "Well, we got eliminated by…my sister…"

Nils stared awkwardly at them. "You… have a sister Plex? What year?"

Plex replied, "Well, she's a second year Ra Yellow. She taught me everything I know and was the one who got me involved in the game in the first place. She's really good!"

Nils laughed. "I'm going to have to duel her sometime. But hey, where's Jaden, Chazz and the others?"

Erica looked down and didn't see them dueling. "Oh I remember, while Jaden was getting lunch he refused to budge. Alexis, Chazz and him were all disqualified because he made them late! Isn't that ridiculous!"

Nils and Plex's sweat dropped. "Alrighty then…" they both responded.

The pervert boy looked back down at the duel. "You guys know who those two are?" Nils asked.

Plex nodded. "Yeah, the girl just so happens to be my sister Sheena. The other guy… he's a transfer student from North Academy, his name is Tannin."

Erica nodded. "I don't think anyone knows much about him. He keeps to himself. He's like that guy who used to go here named Zane. Thing is, he isn't just rumored to be good, he's a total jerk!!"

Nils listened to their explanations while watching the duel. It hadn't been going on too long.

Down below…

Sheena was staring confidently at Tannin. She smirked and grabbed a card from her hand.

"Here we go, I play Temple of the Monarchs! This card allows me once per turn to summon a monarch martyr token. If it isn't used as a tribute for a monarch monster then in disappears at the end of the turn."

Tannin wasn't even phased by his opponent's remark.

Sheen shrugged it off and played another card. "I offer my token to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch! (2400/1000). "His effect now kicks in," she continued. "I can destroy your defense monster!" Zaborg formed a lightning bolt in its hand and threw it at the defense position monster destroying it with ease. Again, Tannin paid it now head.

"Alright maybe this will knock some sense into you! I arm my monarch with Axe of Despair! (3400/1000) "Now Zaborg hits you directly!" The monarch threw another lightning bolt. This one struck Tannin instead.

Tannin-600

Sheena- 2200

Tannin smiled and pressed a button on his duel disk. "I activate Inferno Tempest! You dealt me more than 3000 damage now all the monsters in our graveyards and decks are removed from the game!"

A massive explosion overtook the field destroying the spirits of many monsters.

Sheena shrugged and ended her turn.

Tannin coolly drew his card. "I play Different Dimension Spring. Now if I have to remove monsters in my graveyard to activate and effect then I do the opposite. I send removed from play monsters back to the graveyard instead."

The card confused most people watching the duel, Sheena on the other hand understood fully what the card did.

Tannin continued his turn. "Behold, the instrument of your destruction…" As the tall young man spoke those words four spirits of monsters returned to his graveyard.

"First three skull servants and a happy lover return to my graveyard. I then play Dien Kento the Cure Master giving 1000 more points."

Tannin-1600

Sheena-2200

"Now watch as my ultimate monster rises…" A massive dark portal opened on the field. From it emerged a demonic looked angel…

"This is Sky Scourge Norleras!" (2400/1500) "Now I use his ability…"

Sheena wasn't afraid at all. "What can that thing do? It doesn't look that strong." Tannin smiled.

"You fool, first I offer 1000 points. Now all things on the field and hand including him are destroyed!"

Sheena watched in horror as EVERYTHING was destroyed.

Tannin laughed as he drew a card. "Norleras also lets me draw one card when the destruction ends. My card is Monster Reborn! I reborn your Zaborg!" The lightning monarch rose again this time on Tannin's field.

Sheena knew it was over. Tannin walked all over her.

Tannin savored the moment before finally screaming, "ATTACK HER NOW!" Zaborg lauched yet another lightning bolt as Sheena finishing the duel…

Tannin-600

Sheena-0

Everyone was amazed at Tannin's dueling skill and his bizarre Sky Scourge card. They simply watched as he walked away and was declared the winner of the tournament. This earned him the top ranked Obelisk Blue in the school.

Back on the roof of Duel Academy Nils, Plex and Erica were amazed. Plex couldn't believe his sister was beaten so easily. Nils couldn't believe the way Tannin played Sheena so well.

The three left the roof all thinking about what they just saw.

Nils wasn't disturbed by this turn of events he was excited. 'Good, I'm going to need as much competition as I can get!'

The three all went back to their dorms. Nils was ready now more than ever to face his first school year. Now that he had his head on straight he was ready to take Duel Academy by storm…

Alright there we go, chapter 10 is complete. I hope everyone likes this story so far. This happens to be the end of the first story arc.

Think of the past ten chapters to be an oversized prologue. The real story begans in the next arc beginning in chapter 11! Stay tuned!