A helicopter with Duel Academy's logo on the side was making it's way towards the island. The newest students heading to the academy were on board. They included Bastion, Syrus and Ryan.
Duel Academy was established on a island and was owned by Kaiba Corp. The primary purpose of the academy was to train the next generation of duelists.
Syrus and Bastion were both staring out the window as they got closer to the island, where they saw it in full. Bastion had a impressed smile on his face while Syrus was awestruck with the island. Ryan, on the other hand was opened a box on his belt and placing a new deck in his duel disk.
"Are you preparing to duel already?" He looked up and saw a red-haired young woman standing close by.
"You could say that. And who might you be?" Ryan replied, before asking her a question. "Are you another new student?"
"Akiza Inzinski. I just transferred here." Akiza introduced herself.
"Right, anyway I'm Ryan Yuki." He held his hand out and she shook it.
"I'm already aware of who you are. I saw your duel against Crowler and I gotta say I'm impressed. You handled yourself rather well. It was apparent you knew exactly how to deal with Crowler and his Ancient Gear Golem."
"Wasn't that hard to figure out a solution, really." Ryan admitted.
"Don't let that victory get to your head though." Akiza advised him. "There are a lot of strong and talented duelists at the academy."
"Thanks for the advice." Ryan appreciated her warning. "I'll be prepared for anyone I might face on the island."
"Hopefully that's the case, because we're arriving as we speak." Akiza told him as the helicopter was approaching the island and the pilot announced over the intercom.
"Attention, new Duel Academy students, if you look outside the windows; you'll see your new home away from home." The pilot saw as the students mutter in excitement for seeing the sight of the school.
"Now, now, I know you're all excited but don't shove. Quite a sight, eh? Now then fasten your seat belts and send your seats to an upright position. We're going in to land. Next stop, Academy Island." The pilot continued as the helicopter landed.
"Well, it seems as though we arrived." Ryan said to himself.
"I'll see you later." Akiza said before making her way to her dorm while he walked with the new students to the main hall of the Academy building.
Once there they received their dorm placements and academy uniforms. Bastion had a Ra Yellow uniform on. Syrus and Ryan received a Slifer Red uniform. He and Syrus stood next to Bastion and the other students as they gathered together in a classroom all lined up. Appearing on the big screen was a bald man with a beard, red jacket and welcoming smile on his face.
"Good morning and welcome my students. I am Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster of Duel Academy, and you are the best brightest young Duelists in the world." Sheppard said on the video screen. The new students were all paying close attention to what he says.
"Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I think you will find them quite comfortable, depending how you ranked of course." He finished with a chuckle.
"Well, it seems we're both in Slifer Red." Ryan told the small boy. They were sitting close to the school's entrance and looking at their PDA's.
"That's cool." Syrus added, also looking at his PDA.
Then Ryan noticed Bastion walking past them and waved at him in a casual manner.
"How's it going, Bastion!" He called out to the black-haired teen.
"Are you in Red as well?" Ryan asked.
"Let's see, yellow sleeves, yellow buttons. I don't think so." Bastion said, pretending to not know the obvious.
"Okay, so that's a no." He remarked simply before looking at the map on his PDA.
"Come on, Syrus. According to this our dorm is over this way." Ryan led the small teen towards the western part of the island while Bastion made his way to Ra Yellow.
After arriving at the spot where their dorm was, Syrus was disappointed to say the least.
"This isn't a dorm, it's a outhouse with a deck." Syrus said in disappointment. This was not he was expecting his stay at the Academy.
"It's not that bad. Go check out the room we're staying in." Ryan instructed before heading in a different direction.
"Where are you going?" Syrus questioned him, slightly confused.
"There's something I need to get." He headed down the path leading to the docks leaving Syrus passing the entrance exam Ryan requested his blue Duel Runner to be transported to the island and they were dropping it off at this moment.
Ever since Duel Runner's have been manufactured by Kaiba Corp, Turbo Duels have become very popular and has been set up with their own Turbo Duel tournaments for Turbo Duelists to participate. There are two types of Turbo Duel tournaments, there is the Turbo Duel Circuit for solo Turbo Duelists and then there is the Turbo Duel Grand Prix for teams
Duel Academy built their own Duel Runner Track and Turbo Duel class in case there are students who wish to be Turbo Duelists after graduation. When he learned about these classes in Turbo Duels and their track, he had to bring his Duel Runner to the Academy.
"Is this your Duel Runner?" A staff member asked.
"Yeah. Thanks for bringing it here." He said gratefully while removing it from the crate.
"No problem. The garage is that way along with the track." The worker said while pointing where it is. "Though the school has practice plenty of Duel Runners you can use if you wanted to get your Turbo Duelist license. There was no need to bring this one all the way here."
"I made this runner myself. It wouldn't feel right to use anything else." He said mounting the runner, started it up and drove over to the academy's garage.
Meanwhile walking down the pathway from the school was Chazz and his two friends, Taiyou and Raizou. Taiyou is the one with blue hair and glasses while Raizou is the one with brown hair. Chazz had a unhappy expression on his face, unable to get over how Ryan managed to defeat Dr. Crowler.
"What's the matter Chazz?" Taiyou asked.
"Nothing." Chazz grumbled.
"Was it because of the applicant that schooled Crowler?" Raizou asked. Chazz angrily turned to them with a glare.
"So what if it is?!" Chazz angrily asked, scaring the two. "There was no way he could have defeated Crowler. It had to be some fluke."
"Calm down Chazz. That doesn't make him a better duelist than you." Taiyou assured him.
"Yeah, there's no way he can beat you in a duel." Raizou added. Then out of nowhere, a blue blur moved past them in great speed, startling the three. "Whoa! What was that?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out." Chazz said as he ran after where the blur drove off to.
"Chazz, wait up." Taiyou said as he and Raizou followed him.
They followed to where that blur went to and it arrived at the Academy's Duel Field Track garage. Once they arrived, they hid behind the garage to see what they saw. To their surprise, the blur they saw was a red Duel Runner and it's rider.
"No way, is that-" Taiyou began.
"A Duel Runner." Chazz finished.
"And not one of the practice ones the Academy uses." Raizou said. "It's a custom Duel Runner like the ones the Pro Turbo Duelists uses. I wonder who it belongs to?"
They see the rider dismounting and taking his helmet off. Their eyes widen in shock and surprise when they see who the rider was, it turned out to be Ryan.
"I don't believe it." Taiyou said in shock.
"That's Ryan Yuki." Raizou said, just as surprised.
"You gotta be kidding me. He has his own Duel Runner." Chazz said with a mix of shock and jealousy.
They see him moving his runner into the garage and locking it up before walking away. Chazz glared at him and gritted his teeth.
'This guy thinks he's so cool. If he believes he's going to be the next big shot at the academy, he's sadly mistaken. I'll show everyone that Chazz Princeton is the number one duelist around.'
...
After locking up his runner, Ryan and Syrus walked to where their dorm was. It was nothing like the other dorms on the island. The Obelisk Blue dorm for boys and girls was a giant mansion. Ra Yellow was a smaller mansion. Slifer Red, though was a small apartment building.
"This isn't a dorm, it's a outhouse with a deck." Syrus said with disappointment, this wasn't how he expected his stay at the academy to be.
"It's not that bad." Ryan replied, admiring the view.
He and then found their room. The room wasn't that big, the inside was standard for a dorm room. It had three-stacked bunk bed, a small kitchen, a small couch and desk.
"This is where we'll be staying."
"It's kinda small, don't you think?" Syrus replied.
"We'll make do."
"Yeah, kinda weird after meeting at the entrance exams and now we're roommates." Syrus said. "Think we were somehow connected to each other in some ancient life? You know, like you were an Egyptian pharaoh and I was the guardian Seto."
"I doubt it, honestly." Ryan remarked.
"Well it could be true." Syrus defended.
"Yeah right. We're cut from a different cloth."
"Yeah, for different reasons." Syrus said nervously.
"We need to work on that confidence. For the time being though, let's brighten this room." Ryan pulled the blinds open.
"Hey, those were closed for a reason!" A grumpy voice shouted, coming from the top bunk.
"Oh, sorry." Syrus apologized.
"Didn't notice you up there."
"Well can you see me now?" the voice said which revealed a student with an angry expression on his face. He had a large built, had black hair and big nose that made his face look like that of a koala. He wore a Slifer Red uniform like Ryan and Syrus, only his jacket is white with blue rims. His appearance caused Syrus to scream in fear.
"Would you stop your screaming! Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" He asked.
"I'm Ryan Yuki." Ryan gestured to himself. "And this is Syrus Truesdale."
"The two of us are your new roommates." The guy just huffed, went back into his sheets and turned away.
"You're new alright, so let me tell you how things work here." He said.
"Which are?" Ryan asked.
"Like when parents weekend is gonna be?" Syrus asked.
"Duh, like how the whole color thing works. That's more important than anything." he replied. "You got three different kinds of students here. Obelisk Blue students, Ra Yellow students and Slifer Red students. Now the Blues are the highest rank students, some kids are blue because of grades, others through connections. The Yellows are second highest, mostly younger students with lots of potential. Then there's us, the Red Wonders."
"The Wonders. That's a cool name." Syrus said.
"As in, I wonder how flunkies like us ever got this far maybe." He said causing Syrus to sweat drop. "Sorry, but we're bottom of the barrel here. Dueling duds. I'm Chumley by the way."
After meeting Chumley, Ryan and Syrus went out for a walk. Syrus sighed, still feeling depressed about their ranking at the Academy.
"You're seriously still depressed?" Ryan questioned the boy with glasses.
"But Chumley said we Reds are the worst." Syrus said in a disappointed tone.
"So, we just got here." He countered. "There's no way we can be the worst."
"Yeah, you're right. Red is for red hot, scorching, dangerous, hot." Syrus said as he was literally burning with determination.
"I'm like a furnace or a really big bottle of spicy, hot salsa dip, right?" he said before he saw Ryan walk off towards the school before running after him.
"Wait, I'm not a dip, wait up."
"I can't help but feel a duel is going on over there."
"How do you know?" Syrus asked.
"I can just tell."
"How can you be so sure? Do you have some kind of sixth sense for Dueling or something?" Syrus asked. Ryan simply led him inside a duel arena and they were in awe by the set up and the size of it.
"Nice place." Ryan whistled.
"Yeah, no kidding. It looks completely state of the art." Syrus said, just as amazed as him. "I bet it would be amazing to duel here."
"Let's see, shall we?"
"Do you think we're allowed?" Syrus asked hesitantly.
"Why wouldn't we be, we're students here as well right?"
"Wrong, this is the Obelisk Blue campus." said Taiyou with Raizou next to him as they walked up to the two Slifers.
"And you Slifer Red rejects aren't welcomed here. You got that? Check out the crest." Raizou said while pointing a crest that had Obelisk the Tormentor above the door.
"This arena is our turf." Taiyou said.
"Sorry, we were just looking around." Syrus said before turning to his friend. "But we'll leave now, right?"
"Here's the deal. I'll leave after one of you duels me." He replied. "Does that sound fair."
"Hey, you're that kid." Taiyou said, recognizing him.
"Hey, Chazz, that applicant that beat Dr. Crowler is here. Check it out." Raizou called out. Chazz then showed himself from the stands near them. Chazz looked at the two Slifers with narrowed eyes.
"Chazz, huh? My name's Ryan."
"His name is Chazz Princeton, and he was the number one Duelist back in Duel Prep School. So you better make sure to pay the proper respect. Got it?!" Taiyou explained.
"Yeah, he's gonna be the future King of Games. The best Duelist in the world." Raizou added.
"We'll see about that. I'm going to be the next King of Games."
This confused the two Obelisk students at first before they laughed. "A Slifer Slacker is King of Games? That'll be the day." Taiyou said sarcastically as he and Raizou glared at Jaden.
"Can it you two!" Chazz said. "Maybe the new kid is right."
"Whaddya mean there, Chazz?" Taiyou asked.
"He did manage to beat Crowler and that legendary rare monster of his. I suppose it takes some skill to pull that off."
"You know it."
"Or was it luck?" Chazz asked with a cocky smirk on his face. "I say that we find out right now."
"You're on."
"That will be something I'd like to see." a voice said belong to someone standing behind Ryan and Syrus.
Behind them was a student leaning against the wall who had his eyes closed and a smirk on his face. This student was the same age as Ryan, has large, spiky orange hair and a blue headband around his head that had two silver rings embroidered on it's right side. This guy had multiple marks on his face; one on his forehead that was shaped like the letter 'M', one next to it that looked like a dot, and two identical jagged marks under his eyes. The guy also wore a Slifer Red uniform, but the sleeves to blazer were torn off and unbuttoned with a black shirt underneath.
"But it wasn't luck that helped him win that duel with Crowler, it was skill." he said with confident smile. "He played his cards right in that duel and that is what helped him win."
"Would you look at this, boys. Another Slifer Slime who doesn't know where he isn't supposed to be." Chazz said as stepped down from the seats to walk up to this new Slifer with a smirk. "So, who are you supposed to be?"
"People call me Crow, and let's just say that I have zero tolerance to bullies." Crow said.
"Well, you mind your own business, punk." Chazz said with his smirk still present. "Since you're new here, Slifer Scum, you don't know how things work here yet. At Duel Academy, you need to give the proper respect to better Duelists."
"Better Duelists, you say?" Crow asked with a smirk of his own. "So tell me, where can I find these better Duelists?" That comment got Ryan to chuckle a bit, while Chazz growled.
"Why you! You got a big mouth for a Slifer." Chazz said as he glared at Crow. "You know what I think? I think you're asking me to crush you in a Duel first."
"Then I say bring it on." Crow replied still having his confident smile. "I don't care what color you're wearing, I'll beat you anyway."
"Well, isn't this an motley crew." they turned behind them and the voice belonged to a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and wearing a Obelisk Blue girls uniform. It was Alexis Rhodes.
"Whoa, who is that?" Syrus asked.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't mind having the same class as her." Crow said with a flirty smile.
"Hey, Alexis." Chazz said, trying to make himself look and sound cool in front of her. "Have you come to watch me mop the floor with my two new friends here. Both duels will be short, but entertaining ones for sure."
"On the contrary Princeton, there's something you seem to have forgotten." A well-built male with spiky blond hair added. He was very muscular and a scar ran under his left eye.
"The welcome dinner, you're late." Alexis remarked.
"Oh yeah, come on, guys." Chazz said as he and his friends leave the arena.
"Sorry if Chazz rubbed you the wrong way." Alexis apologized to the three Slifers. "All of us Obelisks are like that. He's just a jerk, especially with Slifers."
"Don't worry about it." This response confused Alexis. "It didn't bother me one bit. Besides I could easily beat him if I wanted to."
"We have to work on that overconfidence." Syrus said.
"What overconfidence?" Alexis just giggled and Crow chuckled.
"I like that attitude of yours, but better not let that confidence go to your head." Crow said.
"Thanks for the advice." Ryan replied, before adding. "We should be going as well, our dorm's welcome dinner will be starting soon." He said as he and Crow ran for the door.
"Hey, wait up." Syrus said as he followed them.
"Oh yeah, what's your name?" Ryan stopped, realizing he doesn't know who the young woman is.
"Alexis Rhodes. And yours?" She asked.
"Ryan Yuki." He replied.
"Hey, if you are done flirting let's go so we can get something to eat already." Crow said while he and Syrus were waiting by the door.
"Coming." Ryan replied, then turned to Alexis. "Later."
...
After leaving the school building, Ryan, Syrus and Crow were walking the rest of the way to their dorm.
"Thanks standing up for us back there." Syrus said to Crow. "But still, why did you do that?" Crow turned to them smiling.
"Hey, we Slifers need to stick together." Crow said. "Those jerks looked like they were causing you guys some trouble. I wasn't just going to stand around and do nothing."
"That's appreciated. I'm Ryan Yuki."
"I'm Syrus Truesdale." Syrus said nervously.
"Nice to meet ya. The name is Crow Hogan." Crow said as he pointed at himself. "By the way, why were you guys at the arena?"
"It felt like a duel was underway inside the arena." Ryan explained.
"What about you, Crow? What were you doing back there?" Syrus asked.
"I wanted to get a look around the school before classes start tomorrow." Crow said.
"Let's head back." They all made their way to the Slifer Red dorm.
After the four Slifers went inside, the welcoming dinner of all the Academy dorms begins. The Obelisk Blue dorm, both boys and girls dorm, have a very fancy welcoming dinner for all the new students and the students from the previous students. The Ra Yellow Dorm also have a extravagant feast for their welcome dinner as well for the new and veteran students.
The Slifer Red Dorm however aren't as fortunate, the food they have were rice bowls with dried fish and miso soup, much to their satisfaction. The headmaster of the Slifer Dorm wasn't present right now, the one who is present with the other students is his cat Pharaoh. That is until a tall man with long black hair squinted eyes and glasses entered the room.
"Hello, children. My name is Professor Banner." He greeted with a kind smile. "Now, before we eat, I like you each to tell us something about yourselves."
"This is good." Ryan said as he calmly ate his food.
"Hey Ryan, we're supposed to say something about ourselves." Syrus said, slightly embarrassed at his friend's behavior.
"How about this, I'm famished." He replied.
"You might close your big mouth and open up your eyes. He's right in front of you." Crow said with a amused smile. Ryan opened his eyes and sweat dropped as he sees Professor Banner was at his table and looking right at him.
"Since some of us don't feel like waiting, let's just eat." Professor Banner said as the other students smiled and started eating their food. They admit that while their dinner isn't as fancy like the ones from the other dorms, it is still good.
...
Back in Ryan and Syrus' room, he was relaxing on the floor while Syrus was pouring tea. Chumley in the meantime was still in his bed.
"That was good." Ryan happily sighed. "Prof. Banner is a great cook."
"Yeah, and he seems to be a pretty nice guy as well." Syrus said as he brought the tea over.
"Hey, Chumley, want some tea?" Syrus asked as he looked up at Chumley's bed.
"Did I say I was thirsty?" Chumley replied rudely.
"Hey, don't snap at him." Ryan scolded his second roommate.
"It's fine. I'm use to it." Syrus sighed.
"Tea makes you wet the bed. Not that I ever do-whatever! I'm trying to sleep!" Chumley said. Suddenly Ryan got a call from his Academy PDA. When he answered, it was Chazz.
"Hey, Slifer Slacker, don't think you're off the hook. Tonight at midnight, it's on. Oh, why don't we make it more interesting. Whoever wins, gets the other guy's best card." Chazz said.
'You're on Chazz, but you don't get the honor to face my Elemental Hero deck. You'll be going up against another deck of mine and with it I'll make you regret disrespecting me.' Ryan thought inserting a deck into his duel disk.
"If that's Chazz you're dueling, then all you're getting is trouble." Chumley warned them.
He and Syrus left their dorm room and ran for the school so Ryan can duel Chazz. Unknown to them however, Crow saw then through the door window.
"Where are those two going?" Crow asked, before leaving his room to follow them.
"I'm not so sure this is such a good idea." Syrus said as they walked through the hallway.
"Even so, I'm not going to turn his challenge down." Ryan replied as they made their way to the arena where Chazz was there along with his two friends.
"Well, well, well, he shows." Chazz said as he and his friends smirked.
"Of course I did, I'm not a coward." Ryan remarked.
"Time to find out you beating Crowler was either a fluke or fact." Chazz said.
"We'll also find out who really deserves to be the next King of Games." Ryan stated back.
"Yeah, yeah, just make sure you have your best card ready to hand over once you lose." Chazz said, confident that he can win no problem.
"Same to you." Ryan commented.
"Let's duel!" They both said.
Ryan: 4000 LP.
Chazz: 4000 LP.
"All right, Slacker." Chazz started as he drew his first card and looked at his hand cards. "For my first move, I'll summon Reborn Zombie in Defense Mode." he said as he placed his card on his Duel Disk and a decaying zombie with ragged clothing appeared on his field.
Reborn Zombie: 1600 DEF. Level 4.
"And I'll also place one card face down and end my turn." Chazz said as he set a card face down.
"I'll show you how to really start a duel." Ryan said as he drew his next card and started his turn. He looked at his cards and quickly came up with a plan.
"I summon Vice Dragon in defense mode."
Vice Dragon: 2400 DEF. Level 5.
"But that's a level 5 monster! You would have to tribute a monster to summon it!" Chazz shouted.
"Generally yes I would. When I control no monsters though, this can be special summoned but it's attack and defense are cut in half." Ryan explained, before continuing to speak. "Vice Dragon won't be staying though as I sacrifice him to summon Strong Wind Dragon in attack mode."
Strong Wind Dragon: 2400 ATK. Level 6.
"And when a dragon-type monster is tributed to summon it, Strong Wind Dragon gains half of the tributed dragon's attack points."
Strong Wind Dragon: 3400 ATK
Chazz gritted his teeth in frustration, this wasn't how he planned for the duel to go. Since his opponent didn't fusion summon anything, Chthonian Polymer was useless.
"I had a feeling I might find you guys here." A voice said. Syrus turned and the voice was from Alexis as she entered the room. Then a lightning bolt passed by her before it turned into Laxus.
"Alexis?" Syrus asked.
"So did I." Another voice said. They both turned to see Crow enter the arena.
"Crow? What are you doing here?" Syrus asked.
"Saw you two leaving and took it upon myself to follow you." Crow said.
"Strong Wind Dragon attack his Reborn Zombie!" Strong Wind Dragon flew over and bit into Reborn Zombie, destroying it.
Chazz: 2200 LP
"What gives? Why did Chazz lose life points when his monster was in defense mode?" Syrus questioned, confused.
"My Strong Wind Dragon has another effect, one you should be familiar with. When it attacks a defense position monster piercing damage is inflicted." Ryan explained.
"What!" Chazz's eyes widened in shock.
"Last but not least I set a face down to end my turn." He added.
"My turn." Chazz said as he drew a card. "Rise, Chthonian Soldier!" He said as a demonic warrior in silver armor with a sword and shield appeared.
Chthonian Soldier: 1200 ATK.
"He's in the lead for now, but that could change." Crow said.
"I'll end my turn with two face down cards. Go ahead, Slacker." Chazz said as he set two cards on his field before ending his turn, he then heard Ryan starting to chuckle, but he thought he was sobbing.
"What's wrong? Baby starting to cry?" Chazz said mockingly, to his surprise Ryan had a smirk on his face.
"Is that all you have to say." He retorted.
"What?" Chazz said confused.
"It's my turn." Ryan drew his next card. "And this duel is over."
"Strong Wind Dragon attack Chthonian Soldier." Strong Wind Dragon produced a stream of fire that destroyed Chthonian Soldier.
Chazz: 0 LP
After Chthonian Soldier was destroyed, it's sword flew up in the air, before it dived down right at Ryan and slashed him, causing him to lose life points as well.
Ryan: 1800 LP.
"Wait, what just happened? How come he lost life points too?" Syrus asked.
"When Chthonian Soldier is destroyed by battle, I take the same amount of Chazz does." Ryan explained. "But it doesn't matter."
After the duel ended Alexis heard footsteps heading towards the arena. This means campus security is heading their way. If they get caught by having a duel this late, they would all be in huge trouble.
"We're gonna have a few words later, Princeton." Laxus glared at the black-haired Obelisk.
"Guys, we got company." Alexis said, getting everyone's attention. "If they find us all in here, we'll get seriously busted."
"What?" Syrus asked panicked.
"What for?" Ryan questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Alexis shook her head and showed them her Academy PDA. "The rules say no off hour arena duels. Chazz knew that, but let me guess, he didn't tell you." Alexis said which got Chazz to blush in embarrassment.
"You lousy-" Ryan angrily turned towards his opponent.
"Come on, let's go!" Taiyou said to Chazz.
"I'll get you back for this, mark my words." Chazz said, wanting a rematch for his embarrassing loss.
"You know where to find me Chazz." Ryan declared.
"We gotta get out of here." Syrus said.
"He's right." Alexis agreed.
"Let's go." Syrus said.
"Coming." He replied, running after them. Laxus meanwhile, turned himself into lightning and sped out of the arena.
They left just in time too. As soon as they left, security came in and found no one in the arena with the lights turned off.
"Thanks for showing us the way out, Alexis." Syrus said.
"Sure." Alexis said before turning to Ryan.
Alexis just watched as he and his friends left back to their dorm. She couldn't help but smile at Ryan.
'This is going to be one interesting year.' She thought as she watches the three Slifers returning to their dorm.