A few days before Duel Academy's placement exams, two students in the Slifer exams were busy going over their decks, making revisions and coming up with different strategies.
Yumei, who had taken Yuki's dorm upon her twin's moving to Ra was devising a plan to better get her three ace monsters out faster. "So there's the normal way by tributing 3 other monsters, and that triggers his effect. I can also use Cost Down, and then use Call of the Haunted or Monster Reborn in conjunction. And then I can use Release Restraint. And if I can get my two Valkyries on the field, they're not touching me at all."
Yumei nodded, approving of her strategy. "But maybe a few more cards wouldn't hurt. Well, card shop it is!"
"Okay, so there's DNA Surgery and Insect Barrier." The Slifer that Yuki had helped on their first day said while looking over his deck. His name was Miko Myazaki. He had barely passed on both his written and practical exam, as he was so nervous about making a mistake during his duel, and heavily embarrassing himself. Worse still, was that he'd been so nervous at making such a large mistake during another duel, he hadn't dueled since arriving on the island.
Miko groaned. "Oh who am I kidding…? I'll never make it into the Ra dorms…"
He groaned, getting out of his chair. Miko decided to go to the card shop at the main building, as for some reason it always seemed to make him feel better. He grabbed his deck, as he was paranoid that someone would mess with it, before leaving his dorm.
Miko's eyes widened. One rare card spread across several packs was lucky for him, but three in one? He vaguely wondered what god took pity on him, when he was snapped back to reality by another voice close by.
"Th-there's no way…" It was a girls voice from somewhere behind him. Curious, Miko turned his attention to whoever it was, and briefly for a moment thought he saw Yuki, but then remembered Yuki had been transferred to Ra. This was his twin.
Yumei's shock soon turned to giddy laughter. "I finally found one~"
"Um… get something good?" Miko asked, slowly approaching Yumie.
"Yeah!" Yumei replied with an elated giggle, before noting the cards in Miko's hand. "You get anything good?"
"U-uh yeah…" Miko said shyly, showing Yumei what he had drawn from the pack he had purchased.
"Woah… those are super rare." Yumei said, her eyes widened when she saw just what it was that Miko had pulled. "Maybe secret rare."
"Well if they're that rare." A new voice said, before a hand reached out in an attempt to take Miko's rare cards. "Then they belong with me."
Instinctively, Yumei grabbed the offender's hand. Roughly yanking the hand away from Miko's cards. "Don't you even think about it. Taking someone else's cards is a real low down thing to do."
Yumei had the left arm of Chazz Princeton in a vice like grip, and was holding it an awkward angle which had forced Chazz to one knee. "Argh! Get your hand off me you Slifer Slime! Nobody touches Chazz Princeton!"
"Looks like I just did." Yumei said icily. "You want rare cards, buy them like everyone else in this academy."
It was then Miko had a sudden idea … a really stupid idea, because he'd never picked up his duel disk. "U-um… why don't we duel for them? If you win… you can have these cards."
"Hey are you serious?" Yumei asked, still keeping her grip on Chazz's arm. "If you lose, you'll lose those awesome cards."
"W-well, I haven't dueled since getting here … but neither has this guy." Miko replied.
"I only duel the best at this school!" Chazz growled, before Yumei put more torque on his arm.
"Put your money where your mouth is." She said icily yet again. "Duel."
"Fine…" Chazz growled relenting, before Yumei released his arm. "But when I win, those rare cards are mine."
"Duel!"
Miko-LP 4000
Chazz-LP 4000
Chazz and Miko were dueling in front of the academy's main building. Yumei was watching, while standing next to her classmate.
"Since I outrank you, i'll draw first." Chazz smirked. "I activate Cost Down! By sending a monster card from my hand to my graveyard, I can summon a higher level monster! So I summon Mefist the Infernal General!" A warrior clad in dark armor, with an equally looking dark horse appeared on Chazz's field. Atk-1800 Def-1700. "Then I'll place a card face down and end my turn."
Miko gulped, as he drew his sixth card. "O-okay… I guess I'll summon Petite Moth in defense mode, but then I'll summon the Cocoon of Evolution which is treated as an equip card for my moth. Now my insect monster's points are treated the same as the Cocoon."
The small green moth crawled inside of the large cocoon in front of Miko. Atk-0 Def-2000. "Then I play the spell card Insect Barrier, and set one card face down and end my turn."
Chazz smirked. "Perfect, now I can activate my trap card. Call of the Haunted. Now I can bring back the monster I sent to the graveyard with Cost Down. Now come back Cthonian Emperor Dragon!" A large fierce looking black dragon materialized in front of Chazz. Atk-2400 Def-1500.
"Not good." Yumei said, knowing that monsters effect. "That monster can attack twice in one turn."
"Yeah, and that means, I can win this now!" Chazz smirked. "Go dragon, attack and win me this Slifer Slacker's rare cards!"
"Not this turn…" Miko said softly. "I have a trap; DNA Surgery. Now all monsters summoned to the field are insects."
"Perfect!" Yumei said smiling, as Cthonian Emperor Dragon hit a barrier of criss-crossing yellow lines. "Now Chazz can't attack you at all."
Chazz scoffed in irritation. "Lucky break."
"Alright, my turn." Miko said drawing his next card. "And I'll play Card of Sanctity. Now we both draw until we have 6 cards." Miko's eyes widened, when he saw what was now in his hand. "Now I'll summon Armored Hornet in attack mode."
A large hornet with yellow and black colored armor on its thorax and stinger buzzed angrily as Miko summoned it. Atk-1600 Def-1200. "And his effect, is that when he attacks, the monster that is attacked loses half of its attack points."
'Miko's good. For not having dueled since he's gotten here he's got some real tallent, and he's made no mistakes so far.' Yumei thought to herself, as Miko's turn continued.
"B-but I'm not done. See I used one of the rare cards we're dueling for, and it's a special variant of a monster; Superior Cocoon of Evolution. It cuts the time I need to summon one of my Greath Moth monsters in half. And now Chazz, my cocoon is hatching, and you're gonna meet My Greath Moth!" Miko's cocoon cracked, and a large green moth crawled out of it. Atk-2600 Def-2500.
"Armored Hornet attack Emperor Dragon!" The large hornet buzzed angrily as it flew towards the dark looking dragon.
Emperor Dragon Atk-2400-1200.
Armored Hornet plunged its armored stinger into the dragon, which melted from the poison in the stinger.
Chazz-LP 3600
"And now my Great Moth attacks Mefist!" A large gust of wind formed from the intense flapping of Great Moth's wings, which ripped Mefist to pieces.
Chazz-LP 2800
"And now I'll set a card face down and end my turn." Miko set a card into his duel disk, as his turn ended.
"Hey check it out, someone's dueling!" Jaden's voice called out, before the Slifer student ran up to see who it was. He was joined seconds later by Cyrus, and Chumley who was heavily out of breath.
"Why do we always run?" Chumley complained, while trying to catch his breath.
Chazz looked irritated at Jaden's arrival. "Alright fine, my turn. I play Monster Reborn and bring back Cthonian Emperor Dragon!" The dark looking dragon once again appeared on Chazz's field. Atk-2400 Def-1500. "And I'm not done there, I'll summon Cthonian Soldier in defense mode.
A dark angry looking warrior with a wicked looking blade appeared on Chazz's field. Atk-1200 Def-1400. "And that's not all, I activate the spell card Infernal Reckless Summon! It allows us to summon as many monsters from our hand, deck, and graveyard that are the same name of whatever monsters we have on the field. And I know just the monsters to bring out."
Two more dark soldiers appeared on Chazz's field, as another Armored Hornet appeared on Miko's field.
"But I'm not finished yet, I have another spell card to play. The equip card Cthonian Alliance! This card gives any monster 800 attack points for each monster on the field with the same name as the equipped monster." Chazz smirked, as his middle soldier grew up to three times its original size.
Cthonian Soldier. Atk-3600.
"Not licious." Chumley said worried.
"Miko's fine, he's got Insect Barrier and DNA Surgery on his field." Jaden said smiling. "Miko's got this."
"Not for long he doesn't." Chazz said with an evil smirk. "I have this card! Mystical Space Typhoon, and now I'll use it to destroy that Insect Barrier!"
"N-not g-gonna happen Chazz." Miko said, as the reveal of Chazz's spell card made him nervous once again. "I h-have a trap card to play. My f-face down Magic Jammer."
"Alright, now Chazz's card is history." Jaden's smile grew, as Miko discarded one card to his graveyard.
"Fine." Chazz growled. "Make your move."
"Okay…" Miko said, as he drew his next card. "I'm gonna play my own Monster Reborn, and bring back my monster that I discarded. Come back to my field Insect Queen!" A large female looking spider rose to Yuki's field next to his Great Moth. Atk-2500 Def-2400.
"Now that's licious." Chumley said, even though he was creeped out by the sight of all of Miko's insect monsters.
"And her effect makes her stronger." Cyrus said pointing to the spider monster.
Insect Queen. Atk-3600
"Awsome, now she's just as powerful as Chazz's soldier!" Jaden's smile grew, as he was getting fired up from watching this duel.
"But Insect Queen can't attack unless Miko tributes one monster." Yumei said, wondering if Miko had anything else up his sleeve.
"B-but my move isn't done yet Chazz." Miko said, taking two more cards from his hand. "I'll play Block Attack, which forces one of your monsters into defense mode. And I chose your powerful Cthonian Soldier."
Chazz Scoffed, as his monster took a knee. "Big deal, it doesn't change anything."
Cthonian Soldier Def-1400
"And then I'll summon my Pinch Hopper in defense mode, but he won't be sticking around for long. I sacrifice him so my Insect Queen can attack your defending soldier." Everyone winced, when Insect queen gobbled up Pinch Hopper, before doing the same to Chazz's largest Cthonian Solder.
"Big deal, I didn't lose any life points." Chazz huffed. "And your overgrown spider got weaker."
Insect Queen Atk-3600
"Wait, hold on, your monster should be weaker." Chazz said in confusion.
"Not with her effect." Miko explained. "Once she destroys a monster, I get an insect token like the one on my field." And true to his word, there was a small egg on Miko's field. Atk-100 Def-100.
"Big deal." Chazz scoffed.
"And now my Armored Hornet destroys your dragon. And don't forget about his effect, he cuts your monsters attack in half."
Chtonian Emperor Dragon Atk-1200
Yet again, the dark dragon melted when Armored Hornet stung it.
Chazz-LP 2400
"And with one last card face down, I end my turn." Miko said, placing his card into his duel disk.
"Alright fine." Chazz growled. "Then I'll sacrifice one of my Soldiers along with all the cards in my hand to summon Infernal Incinerator!" A large pillar of flame engulfed the chosen soldier, and taking its place was a large feindish-like salamander creature,with the upper body of Cthonian soldier. Atk-2800 Def-1800
"Oh and lets not forget my monsters special ability." Chazz said mockingly. "He gets an extra 200 attack for every monster on your field
Infernal Incinerator Atk-3800
"That makes Chazz's monster stronger than Insect Queen…" Cyrus groaned.
"It's okay Cy." Jaden said, lightly shaking his friends shoulder. "Miko still has his Insect Barrier up. And with DNA Surgery still on the field, Chazz can't attack."
"Yeah… But I still have the feeling that Chazz is planning on bringing out something even worse…" Cyrus said worriedly.
"My turn." Miko smiled. The card he had just drawn, was going to end the duel. "It's over now Chazz. I activate the spell card Murmur of the Forest. With it, I can change all your monsters to face down defense position!"
Chazz looked shocked at this news, as Infernal Incinerator was flipped face down. "Wait, what? But that means…!"
"By sacrificing my insect token, Insect Queen can destroy your monster!" Insect Queen devoured Chazz's monster, after consuming her own token, before laying another egg. "Now go Great Moth, attack Chthonan Solder!"
Great Moth flapped its large wings, that once again created a powerful gust of wind that ripped apart Chazz face down solder.
"And now my hornets attack directly!" Both of Milo's hornets stung Chazz in the abdomen melting away his life points.
Chazz-LP 0000
Chazz grumbled as he walked away. "Lousy Slifer…"
Miko blinked in shock, as the realization that he had won his first duel since coming to Duel Academy set in. And he'd dueled and defeated an Obelisk Blue student. He began chuckling to himself, which gave away to full on laughter. "I won!"
The day before the first year placement exams found those particular students in Professor Banner's class, while the perpetually smiling and relaxed teacher was finishing his lecture.
"Now remember class, tomorrow's exam will be divided into two parts. Like your entrance exam, you will have both a written examination, which I will be in charge of, and practical dueling exam. Should you do well on both, you may have the opportunity to move to the next dorm."
"Or in my case, stay at the top." Chazz said, which earned a few glares from the other students. Most notably Yuki and Yumie, who knew exactly what had transpired a few days ago. Even Torimaki gave Chazz a look that said he shouldn't be talking so much smack, since he's lost every duel he's been in.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Princeton." Professor Banner said. "I wish you all good luck tomorrow, class dismissed."
"Hey Yuki." A voice got the Ra's attention. He turned around and saw Alexis was the one who had called out to him as the class slowly emptied. "I was wondering if you'd like to study for the exams tomorrow."
Yuki felt his face turn red. "Ah, s-sure."
Unbeknownst to the two, another student was watching the exchange, and was positively seething in anger and jealously.
"Who does that wretch think he is? Talking to Alexis so formally. He should know that Alexis is mine…"
"So here's the actual order." Yuki explained to Alexis. The two had taken to studying in the school's library, as they were both concerned people would talk if the two studied in private. Yuki had laid out several cards on the table they were using for an example. "A trap card has priority over a magic card, a quick play spell has priority over the trap, a reverse trap will have priority over the quick play spell, and a monster effect has priority over everything."
"So I did have that wrong." Alexis mused, following Yuki's example of the cards laid out. Though she did have something to add … a small test. "So what if someone summoned Jinzo, and Mask of Restrict was played before Jinzo hit the field…"
"Well Jinzo may cancel out all traps, unless the controller plays the Amplifier card." Yuki answered. "But Mask of Restrict cancels out the summoning of the monster, so Jinzo couldn't cancel out Mask of Restrict, since he never hit the field."
"Oh you are good." Alexis smiled, which made Yuki's cheeks turn red. 'And he's really cute when he blushes too.' "I think you'll ace the written exam tomorrow."
"Thanks Alexis." Yuki said smiling. "But it's not the written exam I'm worried about."
"Oh come on, you'll do great on the practical." Alexis reassured. "You haven't lost a duel here yet, and I highly doubt you'll lose tomorrow."
The day of the placement exams, a fleet of warships and fighter planes were heading straight for academy island. "Well everyone, it's been a long journey, and it seems like everyone's been after us. But it's about to all pay off soon. We'll arrive at our destination with our payload intact. Full speed ahead. This is the moment we've been waiting for, the moment Duel Academy get their new rare cards."
That morning in the Slifer dorms, Cyrus was praying in front of a large poster with the Egyptian god card Slifer printed on it. "Please, please, please let me pass this test. I don't want to be stuck in this red jacket forever. N-not that there's anything wrong with red. I-I mean it looks good on you Slifer, but I really want to be a Ra Yellow."
Yumei knocked on Cyrus' door the second his alarm clock went off.
"SLIFER!" Cyrus cried out in alarm, in the same moment Yumei opened the door.
"Relax Cyrus it's just me." She said while trying to hold back her laughter.
Cyrus sighed, and turned off his alarm clock. "And as usual, Jaden sleeps through the alarm." Cyrus stood up, went over to Jaden. "Come on Jaden wake up, tests are today." But it was to no avail, as Jaden knocked him away while continuing to sleep.
"Wrong!" Jaden said in his sleep. "Because I played a trap!"
"Why can't he ever be dreaming in defense mode when I wake him up?" Cyrus groaned, as Yumei helped the smaller boy to his feet.
"Duh Cyrus." Chumley said from the topmost bunk. "You shouldn't be waking him up at all. After our written test we have our field test, so we should let Jaden sleep. Get what I mean?"
"Chumley, I never get anything you say. Cyrus replied, as Yumei left for the main building.
"The field test pairs you up against classmates in the same dorm, and I don't want to duel the guy who beat Dr. Crowler. Jaden sleeps in, we're good. Get it?"
"Yeah I get it Chumley. And I'm starting to get why you were held back for three years." Cyrus replied trying to wake Jaden up yet again. "Jaden come on, wake up." The alarm on Cyrus' watch beeped, and he rushed out of the dorm. "I'll save you a seat!"
Chumley simply shrugged. "Oh well, Plan B."
"Man, Chumley sure can cook!" Jaden said after finally waking up. He was running as fast as he could towards the main building of the academy. "A five course breakfast."
As Jaden neared the main building he passed by a woman wearing a pink blouse, blue overalls, and glasses. "Well let's see? Do I help or be on time?" He asked, before running back down the hill. "Never fear, Jaden's here!"
"Oh thank you." The woman sounded incredibly relieved. "You must be from the auto club."
"Don't let the red jacket fool you, I'm just your average good deed dude."
Meanwhile in the exam room, everyone was working on the written portion of their exams, when Professor Banner spoke up.
"You all have 45 minutes to complete your exams."
"A field spell counters a normal spell…" Cyrus said while fast asleep.
"I didn't know this was an oral exam." Jaden said waking Cyrus up. "Maybe next time you should skip the Slifer Seance."
"Hey slacker, keep it down. Some of us are trying to pass." Chazz growled in irritation.
"Hey I try to pass … it just doesn't always end up that way." Jaden said, with his perpetual smile on his face.
"Jaden, why don't you come down here and get your exam." Professor Banner gave an amused huff of laughter, while stroking the fur on his over large cat Pharoh.
"Be there in a jiff!"
'He better be. We're 15 minutes into this, and he'll be lucky to finish.' Alexis thought, looking up from her exam.
Bastion shook his head. 'Look at him, if only he applied himself he could be a great duelist.'
'Good luck buddy.' Yuki thought, turning his attention back to his exam.
At the hour mark, Professor Banner called an end to the written portion of the exam. "Alright class, the written exam is over. Now please, walk don't run to get in line for today's new rare cards."
"They're here!?" One student asked.
Yuki sighed, catching Alexis' eye. He held up three fingers, counting down until the last finger curled into his fist, which made Alexis giggle at the mad dash the rest of the students made to get to the card shop.
"Guess people want all those rare cards." Yumei mused, rubbing the back of her head.
"It would appear so." Bastion said, shaking both Jaden and Cyrus who had fallen asleep. "Come on you two, wake up."
"Huh?" Jaden asked stretching. "Where is everyone?"
"At the card shop, hoping to use today's rare cards in today's field test." Bastion replied.
"What rare cards?" Cyrus asked. "Nobody told us."
"That's because everyone wants the best cards for themselves." Yuki said.
"Then why aren't you guys going?" Cyrus asked yet again.
Bastion simply shook his head. "Oh pease, one errant card and the balance of my deck is thrown off."
"Yeah, I'm good too." Yuki said. "My decks are strong enough to beat anything the field test has for me."
"I drew a couple of really good cards a few days ago, so I'm all set." Yumei said, grabbing her duel disk.
"Well my deck wouldn't mind." Cyrus said.
"Well then let's go!" Jaden said excitedly as he and Cyrus ran off. "There's nothing like the smell of new cards!"
At the card shop, a sea of students were waiting rather impatiently to get in.
"Oh children." Someone in a military uniform said, getting the student's attention. "Looking for these?" He placed a hand on the metal briefcase next to him, much to the delight of the students. "Then come and get them!"
The soldier opened the case, only to reveal that it was empty which made all the gathered students groan in disappointment.
"We're sorry…" The girl working the counter said. "It is first come, first serve."
"Yes, and I was first." Said a man in a dark coat. "So I took all of them!"
In an empty hallway, Raizou and Torimaki were explaining just what had happened in the card shop to Chazz.
"We couldn't get you a single one Chazz, sorry…" Raizou said, looking at the ground.
Chazz growled. "You know what's sorry? You two. But it doesn't matter, because no student here can beat me, no matter what cards they have in their deck."
"Unless that student is Jaden Yuki." A man's voice said, getting their attention.
"That's him Chazz!" Torimaki said pointing to the man dressed in the dark coat.
"What's the matter Chazz? Don't you recognize me?" The man took off his hat revealing it was Dr. Crowler.
"You looked better covered up." Chazz said simply, causing the head of Obelisk to face fault.
"Well I know a way to make us all look better, and it starts with you beating Jaden in todays field test." Crowler said smirking, revealing the rare cards in his coat.
"Now that's style!" Raizou said.
"But we're not in the same dorm, they won't let us duel." Chazz replied.
"You just let me worry about that." Crower said smirking. "And you, Torimaki was it? I believe you have a score to settle with Yumei Hyoudou correct?"
"Is there room for one more in all of this?" Another voice said getting everyone's attention. He was an Obelisk with dark wavy blue hair, and heterocromatic blue and green eyes.
"Lance?" Crowler asked. "Lance Osbourne, what are you doing here?"
"I followed you." The Obelisk named Lance answered in response to Crowler's question. "I want in on this, because I want to put Yuki Hyoudou in his place."
Crowler thought for a moment, before agreeing. "Alright fine, this should be interesting to say the least."
Yuki smiled, as Alexis had just finished her practical duel. "You were great out there."
Alexis smiled, taking a seat next to Yuki. "Thanks, your match is coming up soon isn't it?"
"Yeah, I should be one of the next-"
"Will Yuki Hyoudou please report to exam field 4. Yuki Hyoudou to exam field 4."
"Well, gotta go." Yuki said.
"Hopefully you'll win." Alexis said smiling. "It would be nice to see more people like you in Obelisk."
"If my exam results are high enough." Yuki replied with a small laugh, before he made his way to the exam field.
'With the way you know your way around this sport, you'll make it into Obelisk. There's no doubt.' Alexis thought.
'BURN IT DOWN!'
"Guess that wasn't a one time thing." Yuki laughed, as the music played as he entered his exam field … to find another Obelisk student standing across from him.
"Huh… You're not a Ra." Yuki mused, as Lance scowled at him.
"A special gift from a friend." Lance said continuing to scowl. "I'm going to knock you down a peg, send you back to Slifer, and enjoy every second of it."
"You can try." Yuki replied activating his duel disk.
"Oh I'll do more than try. I'll succeed."
"Duel!"