Right then, back on with the show and a new 'hero' *evil laugh* any who…where was I?

Chapter 35:

Another companion.

Three things come to mind right now as we leave the boat…yawn. Blink. Slap self silly.

"Craig, what are you doing?" Simon asked, Justin and Andrew looking as confused as he was.

"Sorry, just slightly tired" I replied, smiling.

"Slightly?" Justin asked.

"Good enough to ride"

"Really?"

"Yes…come on, I've been through worse"

"True, considering the shadow games"

"Enough talk, let's just go" James moaned. He had a point, driving off with the lads in his car.

"Wait up" Elendil told him, riding off on her D wheel. I rode after her, smiling as she somehow did a wheelie.

Hawaii: A collection of islands located in the middle of the ocean, part of the US and, I suppose, Andrew's favourite type of shirts. I looked more at the surrounds then the road, comparing this to the America I saw when over there. The island was relatively small, the sea washed upon the beach leaving behind white foam, the top…well; let's just say I wouldn't want to roll down it anytime soon. The trees were just about everywhere up the mountain (or rather volcano or whatever it is) and birds sang in them.

"This place is beautiful" I said to myself…probably a bit too loud.

"Well, what do you expect? It's one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world. Something has to be bringing them here" James told me over the telecom.

"He has a point Dark" Elendil chipped in.

"I know, but I never dreamed it'd be this good" I retorted. I heard someone laugh a bit.

"Come on Craig, nothing is how we expect them to be" Jack told me.

"Good point" Simon concurred.

"The roads lead us by the shore, so you probably want to stay on them around the turns" Jack told us.

"Do you think you can handle them James?" Justin asked my brother.

"Sure, this old girl'll take it" he answered.

"I don't think it's him we need to worry about" Andrew chipped in, looking out the back of the car at me and Elendil. "Are you two going to be ok on those things?"

"Hey, we're pros, just watch and learn" Elendil proudly told them, smiling. I just nodded, raising a hand for my own little salute. A phone could then be heard ringing in the car.

"Hang on" Justin told me. I could see him going into his pocket and pulling out a phone. "Austin?"

"Austin?" Andrew asked, looking at his mate. "I was wondering if he'd get in touch"

"Um, if I may" Jack started, looking at the pair. "Who's Austin?" Justin took the call, Andrew looking at Jack.

"He's a friend of ours back home, leader of the 'ZS'. I'm vice master, Justin is an 'elder' and Austin is leader and law maker"

"That sounds quite entertaining" I cut in. Andrew looked backwards to look at me.

"It is, considering there's more then just us three"

"Oh, I thought it was you three, sorry about that" I smiled nervously after saying that.

"To be fair, I only said us three, so I guess you could have just assumed"

"Thanks Austin" Justin finished, ending his call. "Well, he's at the next stage"

"What, duelling?" I asked, to see a nod. "Well, the more the merrier I guess"

"Agreed. And it sorts out the team up problem" James replied.

"Team up issue?" Jack asked.

"Next stage is a tag force round"

"So now we have…what?" Elendil started counting on her fingers. "Me, Dark, Justin, Andrew…8 people"

"4 teams" Ryan commented, then smiling (I can just see it.)

"Should be fun" Justin commented.

"Just remind me why we're not talking about what happened on the boat?" Andrew asked.

"Because we don't have to" I told him, smiling. "I'll handle that myself, Andrew"

"But shouldn't we be talking about what we do if it happens again?"

"No because I'll handle it"

"But what if…"

"Relax Andrew" Jack told him. Andrew turned towards the salesman. "If it happens it happens, we'll let Craig deal with it up to then, then do what has to be done when it does happen"

"Makes sense" I commented.

The rest of the ride was oddly quiet, like we weren't there at all. All you could hear were engines, coughs, sneezes and breathing. I watched the scene pass by me, enjoying the views of the island as we went by them. After a while, we got to the top of the mountain, where we stopped. Everyone getting out/off and stretching their legs and arms.

The view from the top was BEYOND amazing…I don't know how to describe it, but it was a hell of a long way down, with lots of trees, flowers, animals and the sea, along with a beach. If duel academy was set up here, man must they have edited a lot out when they did an aerial view.

"If you look to the…east, you'll see it" Jack told us. Everyone looked at him in amazement.

"How do you know?" Andrew asked.

"Simple, I looked at the map before hand"

"Right" sarcasm much?

"Look, we're nearly there. Leave the arguments for the duels" James interrupted.

"Jack doesn't duel" I told him, slapping my face gently.

"Gentleman, Electric Elendil's are proud to sponsor the match of the centaury" Elendil joked, pretending to have a microphone and walking between the two. "In this corner, Andrew, in that corner, Jack…"

"I think it might be wise to…" Justin started.

"FIGHT!"

"£50 on Andrew" Ryan told Elendil

"Knock it off!" Simon shouted, pushing Elendil from between the two and looking round the group. "We're here as friends, alright? Now let's act like it"

"But don't you get the feeling he's hiding something?"

"Nope" I answered. I trusted Jack; he wouldn't lie to us about this stuff. I doubt he's hiding anything anyway. "Look, shouldn't we get going rather then arguing about junk?"

"He's right, now before we argue again, get in!" James told them, walking over to his car.

The other guys just followed suit, slowly getting into the car. Jack and Andrew took the longest, purposely finding spaces away from the other. Me and Elendil got onto our bikes, stretching our arms and setting the things up. I think we needed longer to stretch off then we got, so I wouldn't be surprised when we get to the place we have a bit of cramp.

The rest of the journey was silent, apart from the obvious. We eventually got to the academy, which didn't really have too much to see to be honest. We then proceeded to be pushed into the main building and into a few seats. Justin and Andrew were behind me, the others a row in front. James took one to the right of me, Elendil to the left. Someone looked odd next to Justin and Andrew, but we didn't really pay him any attention.

"Duellists, one and all, welcome to Duel academy!" we heard someone shout. We looked to the centre to see that…erm…what's his name? You know the…guy? That…chancellor…guy? "To those of you who don't know…" please say a name. "I'm the esteemed Chancellor…" go on, say it. "…and maker of Cyber style…" please say it. A dramatic pause occurred. "…Who is here to guide you in this stage of the tourney"

You know in the anime where the guys would just fall down head first somehow with their legs up above their heads and moving every so often…that happened. I felt like an idiot for forgetting his name. James and Elendil looked at me, watching my feet twitch then just shrugging and turning back to the guy in the centre.

"A little help" I told them, trying to get back up. They both ignored me, dodging the flailing feet. I somehow fought my way back up, my feet hitting James' head and latching onto his seat. "Just ignore me then!"

"I was" He told me, smiling. "And it's Sheppard"

"Thank you" whoever made him say that, thanks.

"This round of matches shall include tag force matches and one other item"

"This could be fun" Simon commented, James looking surprised.

"I wasn't filled in on this" he told us.

"To be fair, you probably lost the right to know when you became a duellist like us" Elendil told him, smiling.

"You were an official?" that boy next to Justin asked. Me and James turned around to look at him.

"Yeah…didn't you see the opening exhibition?" James retorted. The lad looked a bit dumbstruck as James asked this.

"I…wasn't at that match" he replied, looking at the ground. "Sorry"

"Either way" I butted in, smiling. "I'm Craig, but I prefer being called Dark. that's James" I started to point around the group. "That's Simon; next to him are Ryan and Jack. The lovely lady here is Elendil and the two next to you are…"

"Justin and Andrew"

"Justin and…" I stopped realising what he just said. "You recognise those two and not the rest of us?"

"I know them from back home"

"Just thought we'd tell you after all of this" Andrew told us, smiling. Justin looked at us as well. "That's Austin, Leader of the 'ZS'"

"Oh…well, pleased to meet you mate" I held my hand out.

"Same here" he gave me five…not what I was expecting. "I'm guessing you don't mind if I tag along, do you?"

"Hell no" James looked at me oddly, as did Austin. I guess I could have worded that better. "You can come along if you want. The more the merrier"

"He's damn well coming along" Justin told me, looking smug. "Heck, we even organised teams"

"Really?"

"In this section of the event, we challenge not only your duelling skills, but your minds as well" Sheppard continued, causing us to shut up and concentrate. "As an academy, we set tests as well as duels" he looked around, smiling. "The finest get the best dorms and vice versa. During your stay, you must follow our rules…however, we might not even set up the test thing, so take where you want tonight, and we'll see what we here at duel academy decide to do"

Ok, now I'm scared. It's not that I'm not smart, it's just I'm not exactly the best in terms of Yugioh knowledge. I have a feeling I'll be the flunky of this group for some reason.

Hey, if it works then it works. I just thought it'd be something different. It's not set in stone and what not, so if you don't want the tests to happen, then tell me, alright?

And here we have Austin. I'm not sure if I said everything right in this chapter, but I've done what I can with what I know. And Austin, I don't have the details I asked for so I'm having to assume from Andrew's stories. Sorry if I've got anyone OOC, but I've done the best I can.