It was a new year at Duel Academy and there were some big changes at the school this semester. While everyone had been away, the old Slifer Red Dorm had been torn down and replaced with a new building. It was a safe distance from the cliff, but still offered a great ocean view from the second level. Along with the new dorm came the new Slifer Headmaster, an old friend of Michael's father, Ryan Drake.

He had short black hair and blue eyes, a black pair of rectangular glasses, and typically wore a black blazer over a plain white shirt, a pair of blue denim jeans, and black leather shoes. But he wasn't the only staff change. Before the start of the year, Sheppard took an emergency leave and left Crowler as the Chancellor in his place, with the position of Vice Chancellor being filled out by another new staff member, Jean-Louis Bonaparte. The two of them were currently headed down to the docks to greet this year's freshman class.

Crowler: Keep up you Swedish meatball, they're almost here.

Bonaparte: I'm French you imbecile, and pardonne moi for not having longer legs. And since when do you care about the students?

Crowler: I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly. That, and I want to personally greet one of the new students.

Bonaparte: Who?

Crowler: Haven't you heard? The pro duelist Aster Phoenix has enrolled in this year's freshman class.

Bonaparte: Surely this is a mistake of some kind. I mean why would a professional duelist go back to school?

Crowler: I don't know, but I do know that the publicity will be great for the school. After all, everyone in the world knows Aster Phoenix.

Down at the bay, Jaden was about to have a duel with one of the new students. Little did he know he was facing the very person Crowler and Bonaparte were talking about. Up on the cliff, Dorothy and Syrus sat down to watch Jaden duel, Dorothy holding Pharaoh in her arms.

Dorothy: First day back and Jaden is already dueling, but who's his opponent?

Syrus: Beats me, but he definitely looks familiar.

Jaden: So what's your name freshman?

Aster: You can call me A P.

Jaden: Okay Ap, it's time to duel. Wait, wrong catchphrase. What I meant to say was get your game on!

Jaden: 4000 LP

Aster: 4000 LP

Alexis: Wow, Jaden doesn't waste any time, does he?

Syrus and Dorothy turned to see Alexis, Chazz, and Lily walking up to them.

Syrus: Hey guys.

Alexis: Hey Sy. So who's Jaden dueling?

Syrus: One of the new students, but he seems kind of familiar.

Chazz: Really?

He looked down and instantly recognized Jaden's opponent.

Chazz: He should look familiar, that's Aster Phoenix.

Alexis: He's right.

Lily: I guess the rumors about Aster enrolling in this year's freshman class were true.

Chazz: So Jaden challenged one of the top ranked pros to a duel? Even for him that's a bit much.

Syrus: Actually, Aster challenged him. Jaden and I were unpacking our things when he showed up at our room and said he wanted to duel Jaden.

Alexis: I wonder why.

Lily: I don't know, but I do know that this is something we should get on film.

Chazz: Why?

Syrus: How often do you get to see your friend take on a pro?

Lily pulled out a video camera and began recording the duel.

Jaden: You can take the first move.

Aster: Thanks. I summon Ojama Yellow in defense mode.

Level 2/Light/Beast

ATK 0/DEF 1000

Chazz: What gives? This guy is a pro and that's the first move he makes?

Dorothy: Actually, his deck is made from leftover packs I had in the shop from last year.

Alexis: How does he expect to win with a deck like that?

Lily: I guess we'll see.

Jaden: Alright, here goes. I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!

Level 4/Light/Warrior

ATK 1600/DEF 1400

Jaden: Now Sparkman, go and attack Ojama Yellow!

Sparkman raised his hand and shot a beam of electricity at Ojama Yellow, vaporizing him on the spot.

Jaden: I'll end my turn there.

Aster: Alright, I draw. And I place one card face-down and-

He was interrupted when his cell phone went off.

Aster: Sorry, let me get this. Yeah, it's me. No, I'm not busy at all.

Chazz: Pro or not, who whips out a cell phone in the middle of a duel?

Syrus: I know, talk about being rude.

Jaden: Calm down Jaden, it's just a phone call. You know, I didn't even think we got reception out here.

Aster: Yeah, I'm dueling him as we speak.

On the other end of the phone, a man wearing a white cloak was sitting at a table doing a tarot card reading.

Man: Excellent.

Aster: So, got any last-minute words of advice?

Man: The Reaper of Souls is in reverse. You know what must be done.

Aster: Absolutely, thanks for the call.

Jaden: Alright, if your conversation is over, get your phone off and your game on.

Aster: Alright then, I play the spell card Reload. With it, I can return all the cards in my hand to the deck in order to shuffle and draw a new hand. Now I play the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky. While this card is on the field, we don't take damage from battles involving fairy monsters we control.

Syrus: But Jaden's Elemental Heroes are all warrior monsters, so that field spell won't affect him.

Alexis: Maybe not, but it'll still make it harder for Jaden to win.

Aster: I summon Warrior of Zera in attack mode.

Level 4/Earth/Warrior

ATK & DEF 1600

Aster: And now I sacrifice him to summon Archlord Zerato!

Level 8/Light/Fairy

ATK 2800/DEF 2300

Aster: And now I activate his special ability. By sending my light attribute Mystical Shine Ball from my hand to the graveyard, all the monsters on your field are destroyed.

A bright light shone from the tower of his sanctuary before firing a beam of energy at Sparkman, destroying him.

Aster: Now I'll have Archlord Zerato attack your life points directly with Sacred Surge!

His monster flew up in the air before firing a barrage of energy blasts from his wings at Jaden.

Jaden: 1200 LP

Syrus: That's gonna leave a mark.

Aster: That's all for now. Are you okay?

Jaden: Are you kidding? I've been waiting all summer for a duel like this. My draw! And I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode.

Level 4/Earth/Warrior

ATK 800/DEF 2000

Jaden: And now I play the spell Metamorphosis to sacrifice Clayman to summon Elemental Hero Clay Guardian!

Level 4/Earth/Warrior

ATK 0/DEF 2800

Jaden: And now I activate his special ability. Go, Patrol Penalty!

His monster slammed his shield against the ground, sending a shockwave towards Aster.

Aster: 3400 LP

Aster: What was that?

Jaden: Clay Guardian's special ability. When he's summoned, he automatically deals you 200 points of damage for every card on your field. Next, I'll throw down a face-down and call it a turn.

Chazz: Well, Jaden has the advantage for now. Since Aster doesn't have any cards in his hand, he can't use his Archlord's effect to destroy Clay Guardian, and since its attack points are the same as Guardian's defense, it can't destroy it in battle.

Alexis: That may be true, but if Aster draws a light monster, he can use Zerato's effect to destroy Guardian and attack directly.

Aster: I guess it's my turn then. Let's see what fate has in store for me.

Jaden: It's not about fate, it's about listening. Take me for example. I always listen to what my cards have to say.

Aster: You really are nuts. You expect me to have a conversation with my cards?

Jaden: You could use your cell. Maybe if you send a text, they'll actually respond.

Aster: This Jaden kid isn't who I expected at all. He has some dueling skills, but nothing special, and he thinks he can actually talk to his cards. Guess it's time to end this duel and move on with my life. My move.

He looked at the card he drew and saw it was his Monster Gate spell card.

Jaden: Bad card? You might wanna work on that poker face a bit.

Aster: Perhaps. Or maybe I just want you to think it's a bad card. Or could it be that I don't want to win?

Jaden: And you called me crazy.

Aster: When you accepted my challenge, did you ever stop and ask yourself "What do I want?", "Why did I come here?", and "Out of everyone in this school, why did I challenge you?" Well the truth is, I heard you were the best, and I wanted to test you.

Jaden: You can't be serious. I mean this is Duel Academy, we get tested here all the time, of course they're never as sweet as this.

Aster: Of course they're not, because this isn't about grades, it's about destiny.

Jaden: What?

Aster: Maybe my Beckoning Light will clear things up. By sending all the cards in my hand to the graveyard, I can add a number of light attribute monsters from my graveyard to my hand, equal to the number of cards I threw out.

Syrus: Not good.

Aster: And now that Mystical Shine Ball is in my hand again, I'll send it right back to the graveyard to activate Zerato's special ability, which means your Guardian's a goner!

A beam of light fired from the tower, destroying Clay Guardian.

Alexis: Oh no, he's wide open!

Aster: Zerato, end this duel with Sacred Surge!

Jaden: Not so fast, I play Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This will let me summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck in defense mode!

Level 1/Light/Fairy

ATK 300/DEF 200

Aster: Fine. Zerato, destroy that Kuriboh!

Zerato fired a barrage of energy blasts from his wings that tore straight through Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden: Thanks for taking the hit pal. Now what was all that business back there about destiny?

Aster: It's simple. Everything that happens to us is planned out from the day we're born. Losers are born to be losers, and legends are born to be legends, it's as simple as that.

Jaden: Legend? Who, me? I wouldn't say that. I'm just a guy who loves to duel.

Aster: Just make your move.

Jaden: Alright, I draw! And I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!

Level 4/Water/Warrior

ATK 800/DEF 1200

Jaden: And since there were no other cards on my field when he was summoned, I can draw 2 more. Next, I play the spell Silent Doom to summon Sparkman from my graveyard in defense mode. With him back, I can use Polymerization to fuse him, Bubbleman, and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Tempest in attack mode!

Level 8/Wind/Warrior

ATK & DEF 2800

Jaden: Next, I'll throw down a face-down. Now Tempest, attack Zerato with Chaos Tempest!

Syrus: He'll be wide open!

Chazz: No he won't.

Alexis: Don't you remember Tempest's special ability?

Jaden: By sending a card on my field to the graveyard, Tempest can't be destroyed in this battle, but your Zerato will be.

Tempest fired a beam of energy from his cannon at Zerato, destroying him in a single blast.

Aster: Not a bad move.

Jaden: If you liked that, just wait till you see what's next. I play the spell card De-fusion, so Tempest returns to the extra deck and Avian, Bubbleman, and Sparkman are summoned from my graveyard.

Lily: Combined, they have 3400 attack points.

Alexis: Which is exactly how many life points Aster has left.

Jaden: Now go and attack Ap directly!

His monsters unleashed their attacks on Aster, forcing him to cover his face.

Aster: 0 LP

Winner: Jaden

Jaden: That's game. Hope my triple threat didn't rock ya too hard.

Aster: Nah, I'm fine. Nice game.

Jaden: You were pretty good yourself. Let's duel again sometime.

Aster: Believe me, we will.

Aster turned around and left and Jaden joined his friends up on the cliff.

Jaden: Hey guys. You enjoy the duel?

Syrus: You rocked.

Alexis: Especially considering who your opponent was.

Jaden: You guys know him?

Chazz: Jaden, that was Aster Phoenix. You know, the top ranked duelist in the world league?

Jaden: Well, I guess the pro took a schooling from the student.

Dorothy: Um, Jaden. That wasn't Aster's real deck. He made it this morning from packs I had lying around the shop.

Jaden: You mean I beat a guy who was using leftover cards?

Syrus: Well, the fact that you beat him has got to count for something, right?

Jaden: I guess so. And this just means I can look forward to our rematch that much more.

Down at the docks, nearly all the students had departed the boat, and Crowler and Bonaparte were still waiting for Aster.

Crowler: Well, I guess he's a no-show.

Bonaparte: Who's that?

The two looked at the last student leaving the boat, a muscular Ra Yellow Student with a dinosaur themed bandanna.

Ra: Could you ladies tell me who's in charge 'round here?

Crowler & Bonaparte: Ladies?

Ra: You heard me. Who's top in command in these parts?

Crowler: That would be me. Is there something I can help you with?

Ra: I got a bone to pick, you got that?

Crowler: 10-4?

Ra: I'm the best duelist west of the Rio Grande, so why am I stationed in the yellow barracks?

Crowler: Well you see, uh, feel free to jump in Bonaparte.

Ra: Listen, I want in the blue dorm!

Crowler: Bonaparte, feel free to chime in any time now.

Bonaparte: Right. What my colleague here is trying to say is that you don't want to be in the blue dorm.

Ra: Yeah, why is that?

Crowler: You're far too daring. A thrill seeker like you doesn't belong in the blue dorm.

Bonaparte: Yes, you have way too much charm. Not to mention Joie de vivre. And tons of je na sais quoi.

Ra: Well thanks. At least, I think. You two are alright.

The Ra student patted Crowler on the shoulder and left.

Crowler: Thanks Bonaparte.

Bonaparte: I was just worried he'd come after me next.

Crowler: Well I think it's time to face facts. Aster isn't coming. Oh, the whole school will be a laughingstock after this. What are we going to do?

Bonaparte: Well, if we can't have a star enroll at the school, we'll turn one of our students into a star.

Crowler: Hmm, that could work.

Bonaparte: And I have just the idea where to start. The Red Dorm.

Crowler: Well I suppose Jaden is one of our best duelists, but he's far from a model student.

Bonaparte: You misunderstand monsieur, we don't make a Red student a star, we get rid of the Red Dorm.

Crowler: Out of the question Bonaparte.

Bonaparte: But why? The red students are the worst at the school. We get rid of them and the whole school looks better.

Crowler: It won't happen Bonaparte. That's my final word on the subject.

Bonaparte: Fine. If you won't get rid of the Red students, then I will.