Going Pro

Chapter 25: Next Steps

They ended up talking for hours.

It was actually the most Jesse had spoken to his mother in probably three years.

Jesse wasn't sure how he did it, but he managed to keep a calm and level voice when he broached the topic of Trapper.

There had been silence on the line for several seconds when he did. He let her process what he was talking about and weigh her options. All it took was patients and understanding. It was a difficult topic for her too. In the end, she came clean.

She said she was trying to protect her son.

When Jesse's grandfather was drawing close to his end, he had warned her that Jesse's unique gift could put him in danger. She otherwise tried to live a normal life, but then Trapper raised a red flag. She knew the man liked to hunt, so she asked him what he liked to hunt. He didn't have a dog, so she expected him to say deer or even bears.

He had been very honest when he simply told her, "Duel Spirits".

By the time she learned this, it was too late. Even though she tried to report Trapper, the man managed to disappear over and over again. He had only showed up whenever he wanted something, usually information. She had to get Jesse far away and disappear.

Jesse had no idea his mother knew so much about duel spirits and certain problems in society around them.

Then she confessed something that blindsided Jesse.

"Your father disappeared chasing the duel spirits," she said. "He was presumed dead; because it was around the same time the Rare Hunters were most active and committing arson and armed robberies. Many people were hurt."

Jesse was glad he was on the phone now. He was speechless as his stomach dropped. His silence was an opening for her to continue.

"There was a card designer in the United States that was murdered in his own home, if someone had rare cards, or rarer duel spirits, they were targets."

"Rare Hunters…" Jesse whispered. "You think–"

"I don't know," his mother interrupted. "I just don't know. Today's Trappers are just more focused than the Rare Hunters from eleven years ago. I was so scared something terrible would happen to you too."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before I left for North Academy?" Jesse asked.

"I didn't know how to tell you," she admitted. "I should have, I'm sorry."

After that, they continued to talk. They talked about a lot of things. His father and grandfather were the topic for at least an hour. Then she caught up on his time at North Academy and he caught up with her on her new job and home.

He had to plug in his phone in order to keep the call going.

"I should get going now, Opal will have my hide if she finds out I was up so late," Jesse said once they caught a lull in the conversation.

"You're right, you should sleep," his mother said. "Thank you for calling, Jesse, I miss you."

Jesse felt a sharp pang of sympathy and regret. He suddenly didn't want to hang up. "I'm glad we got this chance to talk."

They both said goodbye and Jesse put his phone down.

The room was suddenly very silent. He turned on the television just so there would be noise as he prepared for bed. He still had to take a shower too.

"Rubi-bi-bi," Ruby Carbuncle chirped when he returned to the bed with damp hair and comfy clothes.

Jesse smiled and stroked the little spirit's head.

"You're awfully quiet, Jesse," Amethyst Cat said. "Are you alright?"

Jesse blinked at first and then nodded. "Yeah, just a lot to take in," he said.

Amethyst Cat simply nodded and put her head down on her paws. She was still looking at him, willing and ready to listen if he wanted to talk about it.

However, he didn't need to talk about it. The Crystal Beasts were present for the entire phone call and knew about everything he learned. It was one thing to be able to speak with his mother, and it was another to feel close to her again. He wasn't sure if he ever would.

Sure he missed the times when he was a little kid and they were able to garden together and she would teach him all sorts of things about plants and whatever insect he happened to find. Those times were behind him now and he would cherish those memories. He missed it, but he didn't want to go back.

There was so much to look forward to ahead of him. That was where his sights were.

"Goodnight everyone."

His stay in Japan was a little longer than the other destinations. He had multiple industry invents to attend, including a meet and greet signing this time. He was more comfortable speaking Japanese compared to some of the other languages he had to try. The Japanese fans really loved the Crystal Beasts and wanted to learn more about them.

His schedule did not allow for any free time to go out and do anything else, but he was able to get through it all just fine. It helped that he knew he would get to rest all he wanted in his dorm at the academy once he returned.

Opal had a slightly different schedule for herself at the end of the tour. She made sure Jesse was able to get on the last plane he needed and then she was off to return to Los Angeles and Industrial Illusions. After becoming so comfortable with Opal, Jesse hoped they would work together in the future.

After all was said and done, the sight of North Academy was a welcomed one. Even though it was not quite as cold as before, he enjoyed the familiar weight of his brown academy jacket. His bed in his cabin room was much smaller than the many hotels he just stayed in, but it was his and he looked forward to sleeping there again.

First he had to drop off his things in his room and check in with the chancellor.

He trekked across the campus and enjoyed the familiar sights he had grown used to since entering the academy. After entering the main building, he went straight for the chancellor's office. Before knocking, Jesse squared his shoulders and lifted his chin.

"Come in," Foster said from the other side.

"Good day, Chancellor Foster," Jesse greeted when he opened the door.

"Ah Mr. Anderson, welcome back!" Foster greeted. "How was the tour?"

"It went very well," Jesse said.

"Good, good," Foster said. "I reviewed your duels and if you like, I think it would be a valuable opportunity for you to review the duel footage from Industrial Illusions, this way you can study it," he offered.

"That could be great, sir," Jesse nodded.

"Now I have a proposition for you," Foster began. "Some of the incoming first years are aiming for pro dueling careers, and based on their test results, I can tell that while there is promising talent among them, so they could use the guidance of a more experienced peer."

"What it is you would like me to do?" Jesse asked.

"With your cooperation, I would like to organize a student-teacher-like position for you to have time to spend with other wishful duelists," Foster said. "Just once every other week, and I do believe it would be a beneficial experience for you, to work close others and share your experiences."

Jesse thought about it for a few seconds. He did not really see any reason why not. "I would be happy to give it a try," he said.

"Perfect," Foster said. "Don't worry about making lesson plans or anything formal like that, I really want to leave it open."

So it was like peer tutoring from a duelist in the industry, he could cover that. There was something else too. "Sir, would this also cover duel spirits?" he asked.

Chancellor Foster thought about it for a second before deciding. "I don't see why not, however, I would recommend you take a wait and see approach when it comes to that."

"I understand."

"It would be quite beneficial to you if we get another duelist close to duel spirits, and I am sure you have advice from your many experiences to pass along," he said. "For example, I certain transfer I had just last year before you arrived could have used a little guidance from a peer on the subject."

Jesse remembered what the other boys in his cabin had said about Chazz Princeton. That he looked a little insane sometimes, because he would get angry and argue with seemingly nothing. It had sounded completely new to him. Perhaps a little help would have been nice.

"Do you know if there is another entering?" Jesse asked.

"Not yet, but if I find out, I'll be sure to let you know," Foster said.

The conversation was quickly wrapped up. Jesse then went to pick up his new class schedule and materials before returning to his dorm. He was excited to be a second year academy student. His new role as a student tutor should be an interesting experience at least.

"Jesse!" Ray exclaimed and jumped on him. "Good to see you're back man!"

"Yeah, I just got in a little while ago," Jesse said as Ray hopped away and Sean got up from one of the couches in the common area.

"Sean, you look different," Jesse said. Sean hair was brown instead of orange.

"Don't get used to it, I'm dying my hair back tomorrow," he said. "I didn't get to dye it again before I left home."

Jesse felt his own hair. It did not need to be cut since it was trimmed many times during his tour. Sean's hair was freshly cut so it was short again. It looked like he had all his orange hair cut off when it grew out over break.

"Are either you signed up to play Battle City Challenge?" Ray asked. Both Jesse and Sean shook their heads, indicating they were not. "It's great, you get to make your own avatar and run around the battle city doing missions like challenging a certain number of people, finding rare hunters, and collecting clues in order to find the blimp where the finals are held," he explained. "It's an MMO, and I've only played like three cities so far, but it's a lot of fun."

Jesse wasn't sure he wanted to deal with rare hunters in a video game for fun. "Sounds cool, Ray, but I don't think I'll get to try it any time soon with classes starting up again."

"I was thinking about checking it out, but like Jesse said, I probably won't get to play much either," Sean said.

"Bummer," Ray said, but did not seem all that upset about it and then looked around. "Hey, I don't think we're getting a new first year to take over the vacant room."

"There are still a few more rounds of students that have to arrive, there might still be a new person," Sean said.

"Oh yeah," Ray laughed.

"I also heard this year's curriculum was amended again, I hope it's not as intense as last term," Sean said.

"That was crazy!" Ray said and shuddered. "I showed my family and they said it was more work than even many college students!"

"Same," Sean nodded. "I don't know what they were thinking putting such a heavy work load on us," he said.

"I think it was more to keep us busy than it was to compete with the other academies," Jesse admitted.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Sean agreed.

"What? It's not like there's much trouble being caused, we're like the chilliest duel academy," Ray said.

"Pun intended?" Sean asked.

Ray blinked. "Coincidence," he said and laughed.

The boys continued to joke and catch up on their breaks. Jesse was able to share some of the highlights of his tour. Then just like old times, they headed to the cafeteria together to get some dinner. It was really nice not having things to do for once and to be able to get settled in.

"Looks like some first years are already here," Sean said when they all sat down.

Jesse had noticed the new faces too when they arrived. "Guess so," he nodded.

"I think they noticed you too," Ray chuckled.

"Hm?" Jesse blinked.

"Just wait, they'll learn the great Jesse Anderson is a huge nerd once the glamor wears off," Sean said.

"Hey!" Jesse said in mock offense. "I am no more of a nerd than anyone else here."

"So you're normal!" Ray grinned.

Jesse could not help but smile at that. Him? Normal? No one has ever said that before and meant it. "Let them bask in this so-called nerd glamor while it lasts, give them hope," Jesse said.

"Nah, I think it would be fun to crush their dreams of what a… princely duelist you are," Sean said and was chuckling under his hand.

Jesse groaned. "Grah, you saw that too?"

"I think everyone saw it," Ray said. "And I think it's a compliment!"

"Prince of the Nerds is more like it," Sean teased.

"I shall treat all my subjects well when I am Nerd King," Jesse said with a hand to his heart.

"You have my vote!" Ray cheered.

"Thank you, my loyal subject," Jesse said dramatically.

"Shouldn't your goal be to be King of Games?" Sean asked.

Jesse laughed. "That title is for the best duelist in the world, and I think I would need to complete my deck first."

"No word on your dragon card?" Sean asked.

"Nope, not yet."

"What will you do if you never get it?" Ray asked.

Jesse shrugged. "Just keep doing what I've been doing I guess. I'm happy just being able to travel and duel so many different people."

"Yeah, that sounds like you," Sean said.

Jesse laughed and returned his focus to his meal. Ray talked about his new computer game. Sean was already planning his end of term project.

More and more students arrived over the following days. Jesse quickly discovered there was not another duel spirit wielder like him this year. The new boy in the cabin had first year friends in the other cabins already, and spent a lot of time with them. He got along fine with the older Celtic Guardian boys.

The attendance was high. Prestige for North Academy had been steadily increasing. There were very few vacant rooms on the entire campus, so there was already a rumor that the next year would require room-sharing until another cabin was built. That was if the plans to build a bigger dorm to replace the cabins did not go through.

As it was, the campus was set to start renovations this year. First was the main building. It was going to be expanded in stages to include a band new state of the art duel arena with stadium seating. School wide lectures would be held inside once it was finished. In order to complete the expansion, the back wall of the campus was already being expanded. They had already started building the new back wall before they would remove the old one.

The crew was hard at work to get the project done so they would not have to board at the academy too long. Every day it was like watching a transformation.

It was a little annoying to wake up hearing construction sounds each and every morning in what used to be a very quiet campus. When the main building was no longer blocked off from the students, they were allowed to volunteer their extra time to the project.

Jesse joined in when he could. They painted walls, helped put down flooring, cleaned up, installed the seating in the stadium. By the end of the term, all that left was the primping and polishing, this was left to the students while the construction crew left.

It was not a large stadium, but it would allow for the rest of the campus to grow around it. There was more than enough seating for everyone. Everyone was pretty excited about it.

Just like that, over the months, the campus had transformed and grown before their eyes. It was just in time for a new battle royal to determine who would be nominated to participate in the GenX Tournament held on the Duel Academy campus soon. For North Academy, the event was in place of the annual School Duel, which was not held this year for unknown reasons.

"Jesse should go," Ray said. "He's like the most famous duelist we have."

"I agree," Sean said.

"Are you going to participate, Jesse?" Evan asked.

"Sure am!" Jesse said. "I can't wait to try out the new duel arena. Everyone is going to be amazed by my Crystal Beasts once they see them with extra high resolution."

"I heard there's going to be famous people from all over the world participating and all of the students there," Sean said.

"Sounds fun," Jesse said. "Anyone else participating in the battle royal?"

"Yes!" Ray raised his hand and the others nodded. "I don't even care if I lose, I'm not missing out!"

Everyone agreed.

Just like for the School Duel nomination, whoever had the highest win count would represent the school. Unlike the School Duel, three students were chosen to give North Academy a better chance at acquiring a high rank into the GenX Tournament. There was one from each class year.

Jesse Anderson was one of them as the representative of the second year students.

However, when it was time for the three students to board the submarine and depart something happened.

"It's gone!"

Chancellor Foster reviewed the security footage of the gates and discovered it was stolen by a student. He was a third year by the name of Lucien Grimley. It was not the only thing he stole. He also stole a rare card that was sealed and put in North Academy's protection, the Grim Reaper.

"That card is too dangerous to use," Foster said. "But he has likely already sold his soul and made a deal with the Grim Reaper, this will not bode well…"

Jesse knew Lucien Grimley used a deck heavy with spell cards and was particularly upset to have lost early in the battle royal. His envy and humiliation drove him to commit his crime and take the risk to prove himself at the tournament.

North Academy was about to have a helicopter sent in place of the submarine, but dangerous reports and reviews were quickly flooding in from Duel Academy. The situation was clearly unstable. Jesse was willing to take the risk, but Chancellor Foster ultimately made the call to withdraw all participation in favor of the student safety.

To make up for the disappointment, North Academy hosted a private tournament as a part of a campus wide festival. They pulled out all the stops and even invited back Joey Wheeler to oversee the event. A few other big names had attended as well.

Jesse applied for the exchange to attend Duel Academy for a term. He was accepted spent his school break brushing up on his Japanese in preparation. He only attended industry events for the whole year. Trapper's escape last time made a lot of tournaments much more difficult to manage.

"You're really going to Duel Academy?" Julia asked over the phone.

"Yep, I start on the first day back to class," Jesse said.

"That's great! It must be like a dream come true!"

"Yeah! It's really exciting."

"I'll be back at home from Canada soon, and you're leaving again," she said.

"We'll visit again someday," he said.

"Promise?"

Jesse laughed. "Yeah, I promise, it's just might take a while."

"Don't forget to tell me all about Duel Academy once you're settled in," she said. "There's a lot of rumors about that school, and I'm curious too."

Jesse laughed again. "Sure thing."

After saying their goodbyes, Jesse hung up and went to the common room.

"Traitor!" Ray said with a happy grin.

"What?" Jesse blinked.

"You're betraying us by going to our rival school," Ray said.

"We are hardly their rival," Sean said. "They beat us every time, remember?"

Ray laughed. "I know! That's why we need Jesse here!"

"Jesse needs to go there for the prestige and his pro dueling career, it's the best school if you plan to go pro," Sean reasoned.

"But he has the Maximillian Pegasus backing him," Ray whined.

"I'm sure Jesse doesn't want to rely on Pegasus to be successful, he's too good of a duelist for that," Sean said.

"Now, now," Jesse cut in. "That's all true, but I haven't even been in an industry tournament since before the year started, so I will get to meet many of the other up and coming pro duelists who are like me, so think of it as a networking opportunity."

Sean pointed at Jesse while looking at Ray. "See, it's completely beneficial to his future, he needs to go."

Ray huffed, even though he still smiled. "You better have fun, okay?"

Jesse smiled. "Of course, as long as I get to duel, it'll be great."

"Good luck, man!" Ray patted his shoulder.

"Hey, Ray," Sean started with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "You know what Duel Academy has that North Academy doesn't?"

"What?" Ray blinked.

"Beaches," Sean said. "You know what else it has that we don't?"

Ray seemed to be catching on to Sean's train of thought. "What?" he asked.

"Girls."

Ray's eyes blew wide. "Beaches and girls… girls on the beach… in their swimsuits!" He glared at Jesse. "Take me with you!" he shouted and shook Jesse by his coat.

"Sean, why!" Jesse cried while Sean laughed.

"Consider it my own way of getting back at you for betraying us," Sean chuckled.

After convincing Ray there would not be any time to enjoy the beach and it would quickly be the wrong time of year to be on it anyway, Jesse was freed from Ray's grasp.

"As soon as break is over, I'll be leaving, so I probably won't get to see you when you guys come back to start our third year," Jesse said.

"Too bad, we were going to throw you a wicked going away party," Sean said.

"No," Jesse said flatly. "I'm not going to risk getting in trouble and not getting to go because of a party."

"Aw…" Ray sighed. "He saw through our plan to keep him here," he said and then laughed. "Just kidding."

"I hope so," Jesse said.

After a year of teaching new students about the pro leagues and sharing dueling tips, Jesse had become an even better duelist. It had kept him up to date and taught him a lot in turn. He was surely in the same league as those at Duel Academy. At the very least, he wanted to make North Academy proud. He wouldn't let them down.

- - - - - - - - Line - - - - - - - -

Author's Note:

Family is complicated for many people. Even though Jesse learned more from his mother, he still doesn't feel that close to her. The Crystal Beasts are his comfort zone. And yep, there was a cameo mention of Aster Phoenix's father's death. In the 4kids dub, he disappeared. Originally, his spirit was taken, leaving the body lifeless for young Aster/Edo to find on the floor in their home… ANimE iS fUn!

Gonna miss Julia and Opal. Those ladies were awesome to write and develop for the short time they were a part of this story.

Love to see that Julia and Jesse's relationship is like Friendship Goals TM. I myself have woken up early to drive about one hour and a half just to have breakfast with my friends in another town, so Julia taking a train to see Jesse again does not seem all that out of the way to me.

Fun Fact: The reason Czar was not in the North Academy arc is simply because I could not decide if he was going to be a 3rd year or a teacher or what, so even though I had planned to at least mention him more, he ended up not being in the story. Oops. Heh.

One chapter left.