Chapter Forty-One

41

The wave had washed him ashore upon what looked like a barren ice block. Or perhaps it was just white rock. He grunted as he wobbled to his hands and knees to stand again.

"Crazy old kook..." he grumbled,"My attorney will be in touch with you..." he glanced around the area and saw nothing, other than a lone tower-like structure ahead.

Where the hell am I?

He thought to himself.

"Oh well...atleast I'm back in civilization...Kind of." he shrugged,"Whatever. One call and I'm out of here." he huffed and started off down the road in front of him.

"Not a bad spread." he snickered as he approached the door of the towering building,"Of course...my pad is bigger~" He began pounding on the door with a balled fist, calling for whoever may be inside.

"Hello!? Anyone Home!?"

"Oh they're home..." a sudden voice sounded at the side of the closed building. An old man sat alone with a small camp fire, hugging his knees.

"But you'll need 40 cards before they let you in...that's just how things workd here at North Academy."

"North Academy?" Chazz blinked and glanced back at the heavy duty door,"So this is the school that's Duel Academy's Arch Rival..."

"That's right." the old man sighed,"Come, take a seat with me, friend." he said softly,"I could use some company...For I have been here a long time."

"Hmm..." Chazz felt skeptical, but seeing as he had nothing better to do, he obliged and took a seat next to the old man and his little fire.

"How things work here is that there are cards hidden all around in glacial crevices and ice cliffs...it's kind of like a test." the old man explained, "If you find 40...they will let you in."

"I see..." Chazz blinked,"So how many do you have?"

"Well I managed to find 39 cards." he chuckled,"But it took all of my energy to do so,I'm too tired now to search for the 40th."

"Then you have no need for the other 39." Chazz stated,"Here, I'll buy them off you."

"No way!" the old man cried out, hugging his duel disk to his chest,"Besides the clothes on my back and this fire, they are all I have!" he stated,"They're priceless!"

"Fine." Chazz huffed as he stood and took off walking,"I'll just find my own."

"Good luck then young duelist..." the old man chuckled under his breath as he watched Chazz walk off,"...You'll need it."

Chazz's ventures were rough on him. He scaled ice walls. Swam in frigid waters. And climbed numerous cliffs to gather the cards he needed.

I can't believe I have to find 40 cards just to get North Academy to open the door...

He thought to himself.

Talk about a school that's hard to get into...

The search took him all night...but he finally had the 40 cards he needed for access.

"Well." Chazz huffed as he saw that the same old man still sat in the same spot that he left him in,"I see you've been busy doing nothing~!"

"Ah, you're back!" the old man stated as he stood to his feet,"So...did you find 40 cards?"

"Of course I did!" Chazz scoffed as he flashed his now fully loaded duel disk.

"I see..." said the man,"Congratulations...I guess you will be moving on to better things." he sighed.

"Aw quit your whining, already!" Chazz huffed as he pulled out his deck,"I lied. I didn't just find 40 cards." he stated,"I found 41...an extra. So you can come in too."

"I get to enter?" the old man blinked,"Really?"

"Yeah yeah yeah." He chuckled as he spread his deck,"Here take your stupid card...no need to make a big deal about it." He smiled as he pulled the Ojama card from his hand and tried to hand it over. However, an unseen force seemed to stop him from doing so. His arm wavered in every direction, except for the intended one.

"Well?" The old man blinked in confusion,"Are you gonna give it to me or not!?"

"I'm trying...my hand..." He winced and tried to pull his hand back in,"I can't let go!"
Suddenly a puff of light shone from within the card in his hand and a yellow gremlin like creature floated all around him waving his arms in a panic.

"You can't give me away, boss!" it was none other than the Ojama Yellow card that he held in his hand,"We're best friends! Pals! Chums!"

"Uh, No we are not!" Chazz huffed.

"Huh?" the old man blinked in confusion,"What' going on?"

"Don't you see it?" Chazz asked.

"See what?"

"Hehe, Sorry Boss~ but you're the only one that can see me!"

"Then go away!" Chazz huffed.

"Boss, if we're gonna be partners then you have to stop being so uptight!"

"You're not even real!" Chazz snapped,"Now get lost!"

"Get lost?" the Ojama blinked,"Funny you should say that...I have two brothers who are lost..."

"Beat it!" Chazz huffed, and slapped the Ojama away before replacing its card back into his new found deck.

"Never mind." he said,"That was the wrong card. Take this one instead."

"Of course! Whatever you say!" the old man cheered happily,"I really appreciate this-"

"Chazz Princeton." he huffed and wandered off back to sit by the still burning fire,"Now get inside." he snipped,"The Chazz makes his own entrance!"

"Yes, of course!" the old man beamed,"Thanks again!" and with that he hurried inside leaving Chazz to mumble to himself.

"Thanks for nothing..." he grumbled,"I really only found 40 cards...now I'm one card short."

He blinked and narrowed his eyes.

One card short...

"You know, Connar...I swear, sometimes I think you're one card short of a deck." said Chazz.

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me~!?" she pouted,"You know my dad says the same thing!?"

"HaHaHa!" Norika and Chazz laughed together.

"It's not funny!" she pouted, "I swear I think it might really be an issue~!" she puffed her cheeks and pouted which only made them laugh that much harder.

"Heh." He hummed with a light chuckle.

"HaHaHaHa~ You know~ Connar always saw you as a nice guy!"

Chazz let out a growl as the annoying aperition of Jaden haunted his mind once again.

"Shut it!" he snapped and punched at nothing, but as he lunged forward, something on the ground caught his attention.

"When you do something nice...nice things happen!"

XXXXX

"All right open the door!" Chazz shouted from the other side,"I got your 40 damn cards, right here!"

When he held up his duel disk, censor beams activated from above and scanned the cards he had within it. Having what he needed, the door finally opened for him, but inside was like a different world. Unlike the outside, where ice and snow seemed to be the favored decor, inside looked like an old western style town, with some weird pyramid over seeing all of the building. And not a soul was in sight.

"This is it?" Chazz blinked,"North Academy? What a dump!" Not far up ahead the old man he had met previously suddenly came flying through the doors of what looked like an old saloon.

"Hey, old guy!" Chazz called as he went to check on the man's condition,"Are you okay?"

"What happened...?" the man groaned in pain.

"You got the North Academy welcome is what happened." A muscularly structured student chuckled as he rocked back and forth in an old rocking chair,"And it's your turn." He smirked as he hung his gaze on Chazz,"So...think you're up to the challenge?"

Turns out the hazing ritual for entry into North Academy was what was known as the 50 man Duel Gauntlet. At least according to the rocking chair punk who called himself The Czar. Apparently that was how they ranked students at North Academy.

"...SO I have to win 50 times?" Chazz blinked,"That's it?" Chazz scoffed,"What a joke."

"Easier said than done, Rookie!" said one of the other students, most likely part of the challenge.

"The name is Chazz!" he huffed,"Chazz Princeton. And soon...your Czar will fall...and the Princeton will rise!" he grinned as he took his stance and readied his duel disk without hesitation.

"And now~ you all go bye bye!"

To Be Continued