Hello, people! Just as promised, I'm here with a new and improved start to the new remake of my Female Jaden fanfic! I mentioned that I was going to input a ton of changes, and that's starting with this chapter! Thank you all so much for sticking with me all this time and being so understanding! I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own any Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!


"Damnit, damnit, damnit! I'm late! I can't believe this!" complained a young girl, running as fast as she could to her destination while bypassing several people along the way. "Never again am I staying up till 4 o'clock in the frickin' morning watching tutorials on how to build a pancake helicopter! Especially when the exam is today! Oh, well! At least since I'm not a student yet, they can't throw in detention hall for being late!"

The young girl running was Jaden Yuki, an average everyday teenage girl with a passion and love for dueling. She had short, tomboyish hair with light and dark tones of brown, chocolate brown eyes, jeans, and a dark jacket over a red shirt. On the sides of her hair were an X-shaped red hairpin along with two parallel pink hairpins. She could have been mistaken for a guy if it weren't for her soft, feminine traits mainly on her face.

A young tri-colored star-shaped haired man was walking down the street when he heard footsteps approaching and a voice calling out for him.

"Ah! Watch out!"

Jaden, seeing as she was about to collide into the young man in her hurry, tried to stop herself but was too late and fell back on her bottom, sending her duel disk and cards scattered all over the ground.

"Oh, the pain!" Jaden groaned in pain before pulling herself together. As she scrambled to hurriedly collect her cards, she gave a quick side-glance behind her shoulder towards the person she accidentally crashed into. "Sorry!"

As Jaden finished gathering the rest of her belongings, the young man noticed what sort of belongings she had and inquired a question. "You're a duelist, aren't you?"

"Whhhhyyyyyyyy, yes I am!" Jaden chirped happily, smiling at the man. "I was just on my way to the Duel Academy Entrance Exam!"

The man chuckled, fetching a card out of his deck set from his belt. "You don't say."

"Yup! Eheheheh!~" Standing up, Jaden giggled to herself before taking another look at the man she crashed into. Her eyes widened when she realized who the man was in front of her. "H-Hey, you're-!"

Holding up a Duel Monsters card of his own, the young man said, "Why don't you take this? Something just tells me that it belongs to you."

Now recognizing the young man as Yugi Muto, also known as the King of Games, Jaden happily accepted the card given to her, seeing it as some sort of honor. "W-Wow...really? Th-Thank you..."

Yugi walked past her, leaving with some final words of encouragement. "Good luck."

Hearing his last words to her prompted Jaden to snap out of her honorary moment. She had so much she wanted to talk about, ask about, a bunch of things that she was certain that big Yugi fans like her were dying to know. Instead, she chose to turn around and bow her head. "U-Um-! Thank you! I'll...I'll make you proud!"

Yugi paused, stopping only to give her thumbs-up before leaving. Though they met for only a short while, Yugi knew that it wasn't just his guts telling him that the card he gave her belonged to her. No, that card chose that duelist, so who was he to deny new ownership to a worthy duelist?

If that card was in that youngster's hands...he could see that she would have a bright future ahead of her.

Jaden only stared at Yugi in amazement as he continued walking away; his silhouette fading into nothing the further he walked away until he was gone entirely. She still couldn't believe that she had just met the King of Games himself! And on top of that, he just gave her one of his cards! How awesome was that?!

Come to think of it, Jaden didn't know what card Yugi gave her. The only time, she's only been holding the backside of the card, so she had no idea what kind of Duel Monsters card it is. Flipping the card over, the card was revealed only to her, and her first reaction?

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

Yugi halted, startled by the sudden scream that was heard even in his current location. He glanced around to see if anyone else had screamed, but he was the only person around at his area. Was someone in danger or something? Was that a cry for help?

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SO CUTEEEEEEEE! WINGED KURIBOH IS SO CUTEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEKKK!"

Yugi nearly fell over in shock before controlling himself in time, though sweatdropping upon the realization of what was happening. He sighed and shook his head before continuing on his way. Right...Winged Kuriboh was rather cute, so beforehand, he didn't consider that Winged Kuriboh would now be stuck in the hands of yet another one of his fangirls.

'Well, at least I know he'll at least be in good hands of a great duelist rather than a neglectful owner,' Yugi thought. '...Very, VERY good hands.'

Meanwhile, Jaden couldn't believe it when she had not only obtained one of Yugi Muto's previous cards, but an absolute cutie of a Monster card as well! It wasn't just any ordinary Kuriboh card...IT WAS A WINGED KURIBOH CARD!

As Jaden continued admiring (fangirling) all over her new card, a soft light-hearted toned noise snapped her out of it, making her look around her surroundings in confusion. 'Wait, what was that?' she thought. Figuring it was probably the wind or just her imagination, Jaden glanced down at her watch to see how much time remained; her eyes widening.

"Oh, crap! Oh, crap! OH, CRAP! I'm gonna be late!"

Picking up her pace, Jaden raced towards her destination as fast as she could. While doing so, she placed her new Winged Kuriboh card into her deck pack. If she was going to be the next King of Games, then she surely couldn't be late to her entrance exams!


"Once again, all Academy applicants who have already passed their entrance exams, please proceed to registration. To those who have failed, better luck next year."

'And have fun at Duel Monsters Community College!' thought Professor Crowler, a high-ranking, feminine-looking male teacher. He was currently overseeing all of the entrance exam dueling with some other instructors acting as judges, though he seemed unimpressed by the efforts of the other potential students.

The location of the Duel Academy entrance exams was taking place inside a domed building belonging to Kaiba Land, where several Duel Fields were occupied by student candidates dueling other Duel Proctors for a chance to attend Duel Academy. The entrance exams were meant to test the skills of the student candidates, to see if they had what it took to be granted the right to attend an academy meant for training elite duelists.

"Also, attention duelists! A Mokey Mokey has been found! If you are the owner, please come collect it at the office!"

"Oh, that's mine!"

"No, it's not! It's mine!"

"Are you kidding me? I lost it when I was 7!"

'Watching children play a card game is like punching a small squirrel,' Crowler thought with a bored expression. 'It's funny at first, but...then you start to lose interest.'

During one of the duels currently happening, one of the proctors summoned a Monster called Leghul to attack one of the student candidates directly using Leghul's effect. The student candidate who was just attacked was a light-blue haired glasses-wearing boy named Syrus, who flinched from the assault.

'Aw, man!' Syrus thought, looking up and seeing a wide number of student candidates and other Academy students sitting in the sidelines, watching all of the duels taking place, including his. 'I could barely concentrate with all of these Academy kids staring at me! Judging me! Oh, what I wouldn't give to already be enrolled in a school like them!'

Syrus felt that he was pretty lucky to have passed the first part of the entrance exams, which was the written portion. After all, only examinees that proven and were selected through the written exams were allowed to advance to the second and final part of the entrance exams, which was the practical portion, where they showcased their dueling skills. Winning a duel against one of the proctors was guaranteed to land one a spot onto Duel Academy, but still difficult as the proctors were all trained and skilled duelists.

"Last call for all Academy applicants! If you're not checked in for your exam, do so now."

Outside of the stadium building and in the middle of the parking lot, there were a few organizers standing guard in front of the entrance, waiting for anymore student applicants to arrive. Seeing as the entrance exams were nearly over, one of the organizers, a man in a suit, checked his watch. He turned to the other two organizers and nodded his head.

"Well, it doesn't look like anyone else is coming. Pack it up, ladies! Mark all of the no-shows no-shows!"

"Okay!" The other two organizers said, beginning to gather their papers.

"WAIT! I'm no no-show!"

Grunting as she struggled to climb up, Jaden gripped the railings as she pulled herself up over the fence, having gone through the rough obstacles to bypass a shortcut to arrive at her destination.

"Jaden Yuki, Examinee #110, at your service! You can count me as present, thank you! ...Please don't tell me that I'm late."


Applause and cheers filled the entirety of the stadium as other students were pulling off impressive strategies during their duels. It seems that the last of the duels were approaching their conclusions with either the proctor or the student candidates as the victors.

Syrus wiped away any sweat of doubt from his forehead as he watched the last remaining match. He was lucky enough to pass the second half of his entrance exam, but it was a close call! It was just like the rumors stated; the proctors were all tough shells and definitely didn't hold anything back!

Suddenly, Jaden, who was given permission to enter inside, rushed right in, standing next to him and was excited to see the match just like everyone else in the stadium. "Ahaha! Wow, look at them go!"

Currently, the most impressed duel garnering a lot of attention was between a proctor and a student examinee named Bastion Misawa. On the proctor's side of the field, he had two Monsters best known for their high defense: Big Shield Gardna and Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, along with 1900 Life Points. On Bastion's side, his Life Points were higher at 3200 LP and he had only Vorse Raider and a Set card, but just the Monster's strength alone wouldn't be enough to shatter through the proctor's high defenses. Still, it seemed like an even match and could go either way.

Bastion - 3200 LP

Proctor - 1900 LP

"Alright, new guy! Multiple choice!" called out the proctor. "You've got two Monsters staring you down! You got A) Throw in the towel! B) Beg for mercy! Or C) Run home to Mama! Then again, it doesn't matter! No matter how well capable you may be, in the face of my most defensive Monsters, you've got no chance of winning!"

With confidence in his calm and composed nature, Bastion retorted with, "Well, what if I play Ring of Destruction?"

"Well then, you'd probably win. But it's a good thing you don't-"

At that moment, Bastion activated and then flipped over his facedown Set card, revealing it to be Ring of Destruction.

"Ah, come on!"

"Exactly." Bastion nodded, taking satisfaction in witnessing the proctor's disbelieved expression. "You see, with Ring of Destruction, I can destroy any Monster that's in Attack Mode, and we each take damage equal to that Monster's Attack Points!"

Red lights from a collar that just appeared around Vorse Raider's neck lit up the second the collar wrapped itself around his neck. A huge explosion happened afterwards, taking down Vorse Raider as well as the two duelists' Life Points depending on the Monster's Attack Points.

Vorse Raider's Attack Points were 1900. The proctor's Life Points were also at the same amount coincidentally, whereas Bastion's Life Points were much higher. Combined with the usage of Ring of Destruction, it didn't even need to take long to guess the results of the duel.

Bastion - 1300 LP

Proctor - 0 LP

Winner: Bastion

"Clever move, applicant! You passed! Welcome to the Academy!" the Proctor welcomed, impressed.

Bastion bowed his head, showing respect to his opponent. "Thank you, oh wise proctor."

Amongst the audience were three male students dressed in blue uniforms. Two of them looked impressed by Bastion's performance, whereas the young man in the middle, the one with spiky black hair, was laidback and nonchalant about Bastion's victory, not caring one bit about the duel nor his performance.

"That Bastion Misawa guy's pretty good, don't ya think, Chazz?" The glasses-wearing male student spoke up.

The third companion of the trio, a brown-haired male student, said, "It was worth coming all this way to see him after hearing the rumors, wasn't it, Chazz?"

Unimpressed, Chazz replied, "He's a punk, an absolute nobody just like everyone else. And besides, these entrance exam duels are just set at a low level. Coming out of the academy for this was such a waste of time. We're way better than that smart wiz kid, anyways. After all, we went to duel prep school. We're ready for the academy."

Opening his eyes, Chazz smirked. He murmured, "These kids don't know what they're getting into. But they'll learn. The hard way. The Chazz Princeton way."

Like many other people, Jaden and Syrus were left impressed and with strong respect in Bastion after watching his duel. "Wow! He really tore it up!" exclaimed Jaden, excited. "His combo was simply amazing!"

"Well, of course," said Syrus, turning to Jaden. "That was Bastion Misawa. They say he got first place in the written exam of all us applicants."

"Wow, really? I just barely passed," Jaden admitted, winching at the memory. She struggled through the written test that had a lot of hard questions, especially the essay questions!

Even Syrus had to agree about the difficulty of the exam. "Yeah, me too. You pass depending on your grades on the written portion and your skills from the dueling portion. And even though I managed to win my duel by sheer luck, I'm not sure if I'll be accepted at all..."

"Don't sweat it!" cheered Jaden, slapping him on the back. "If you're lucky enough, you'll pass for sure! And I'll be in as soon as I win my duel!"

Syrus blinked in surprise. "Wait, you haven't dueled yet?"

"Nope!"

"Then, you might have a problem. I think THIS was supposed to be the last one!"

"H-HUH?!"


Meanwhile, on the other side of the stadium, instead of students occupying that part of the stadium seats, it was meant for the other Duel Academy officials such as the proctors and teachers, including Professor Crowler. Their job was to witness each students' duels and evaluate their skills to see whether or not they would qualify as upcoming students.

Judging from what they witnessed from Bastion's duel, many seemed impressed and amazed, indicating that Bastion also left a strong impression on them.

"We don't even need to deliberate on Bastion Misawa! I think it's settled."

"That's right. I think it's safe to say he's passed!"

"Yup! And, he was the last of them!"

Meanwhile, Crowler was focused on writing something on his papers. One would assume that he, too, was evaluating and taking notes like the others, but in actuality, he was fixated on his poetry, trying to recite some words into rhymes inside his head.

'Hmm...What rhymes with 'Golem?' Molem? No..Tolem? No...Mary-Palolem? ...That's not even a word. ...Solemn? Yes! Solemn! I must write it down!' thought Crowler, eagerly writing down his new discovery on his papers.

Just as Crowler and several other proctors were packing up and getting ready to leave, another Duel Academy official hastily came up to them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's one more student that made it to registration at the last minute. She's here now and arrived to take her exam, Mr. Crowler."

Crowler twitched one of his eyes. "Did you just call me, 'Mr.?'"

"Oh, sorry, I'm new here, Missus."

"I have a PhD in dueling; I've earned the title of 'Dr.,' thank you! Now, tell the applicant that she'll just have to come back next year!"

However, the other teachers seemed to disagree with Crowler and started voicing their protests.

"Oh, come on, Dr. Crowler! We have time for one more!"

"Yes, let's give this duelist her shot!"

"She was just a bit late, that's all!"

"Yes, she did arrive, so she does quality for the exam."

"Not letting her take it might not be a good idea, don't you think?"

"LATE IS RUDE!" snapped Crowler, his frustration and impatience exploding and startling the people around him. "You people just don't understand! I'm a very busy man! And, as a busy man, I have certain things to attend to, like poetry! You just don't understand what it's like being a great poet like myself!"

One of the teachers spoke up hesitantly. "U-Um...I don't think poetry is really important right now-"

"POETRY IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT, YOU FRICKIN'-!"

At that moment, Crowler's cell phone rang loudly, causing Crowler to calm his temper enough to cease his outburst. As professionally as he could, he tried to compose himself as he answered it.

"Hello? And who may I ask is-"

"It's Sheppard."

Crowler's cranky attitude vanished as he tried to keep a professional and polite tone around his boss, the Chancellor of Duel Academy. "Oh! Chancellor Sheppard!"

"Just calling to make sure everything's running smoothly, Crowler! Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year, when you cut a third of our student applicants for some ridiculous reason! What was it? Calling you Mister or Missus? Er...whatever! Just make sure everyone gets a fair shot! After all, our school's objective is to garner a wide variety of talents within students and train them to be top-notch duelists."

"Absolutely!" After hanging up, Crowler had a scowl on his face, displeased that he's forced to change his previous decision. 'Furry-chinned windbag! Doesn't he realize that there are enough of these flunkies at this academy? But, he's the boss, and if he wants to give this punk a duel, fine!'

Crowler than announced, "Pardon me, gentlemen! I'll be right back! I shall be dueling that late applicant, after all!"

"P-Please wait!" one of the teachers said, picking up a case full of different kinds of decks meant for the entrance exam duels. "Professor Crowler, please take one of the examination decks!"

"Hmph! I have no need for those!" said Crowler, turning away with a huff. "I shall be using my own deck, thank you! Now, where was I...? I believe that there was something before I got interrupted...?"

"Um...Something about poetry?"

"Oh, yes, you're absolutely-POETRY IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT YOU FREAKIN-!"


"YOU FREAKIN' MORON! OF COURSE IT'S BAD! IT'S SUPER DUPER BAD! LIKE, SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME BAD!"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh! S-s-s-s-s-s-s-stop s-s-s-s-s-s-s-shaking m-m-m-m-m-meeeeeee!"

Ever since discovering the bad news that Bastion's duel was possibly the last one and that there might be no chance of Jaden getting her turn, she was panicking and now shaking Syrus back and forth like a rag doll.

"AHEM! Excuse me!" spoke up the previous student candidate from earlier, Bastion Misawa. He had just finished his duel and had gotten to the top rows of the stands to gain a better view when he couldn't concentrate thanks to Jaden and Syrus. "You're being quite too loud! Could you please stop? And put down that young man this instant!"

Syrus took this chance to try and calm down Jaden. "Y-Yeah! H-H-He's right! Jaden, just...chill, alright? It's not the end of the world, you know! After all, if you were late to the entrance exam, then I think it should be alright! I don't think Duel Academy's entrance exam would skip out on ALL of it's applicants, you know?"

Inside Syrus' mind, he thought, 'Wow, I have no idea what I'm even saying! But I'll just have to wing it! If only to get her to calm down and put me down!'

Fortunately, Syrus' words seemed to have calmed down the previously panicked girl, as she finally released Syrus and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "S-Sorry...I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Syrus took a moment to catch his breath, shaking his head and looking up at Jaden. "Nah. I mean, I was pretty rattled there, but you're alright. You didn't hurt me or anything. But anyways, it'll be fine, Jaden! I'm sure that...well, maybe they'll have you do some sort of make-up test for being late!"

Jaden threw her head back and groaned. "Awwwww! But I hate studying! And that written exam was really hard! I don't want to take another test like that!"

"Er...then, maybe a make-up test for dueling! Like, they're testing you, but the test is in the form of a duel!"

At the sound of a duel, Jaden immediately perked up. "Ooh! Dueling! Now THAT I can do!"

"Great, now that you two reconciled, can you please keep quiet right now?" requested Bastion, a little bit annoyed about their earlier banter. "Some of us are trying to concentrate on something else!"

Jaden gave an awkward grin. "Ahahaha...right, sorry about that! But, tight duel, Bastion! You were great out there!"

"Huh?" Realizing that, like many others, Jaden knew his name because she just so happened to see his duel with one of the proctors, Bastion remained nonchalant, yet polite about the whole thing. "Oh, thank you."

"From the looks of it, you just might be the SECOND best duelist here!"

Such a confident statement surprised Bastion and Syrus, who glanced over at Jaden. Before either of them could question her, a loudspeaker made an announcement echoing throughout the stadium building. "Applicant Jaden Yuki, please report to Exam Field 4."

Jaden's spirit and confidence rose upon hearing her name from the announcement. That just meant that she still had a chance to qualify as a student! "Go time! Wish me luck, guys!"

"Hey, wait!" called out Bastion, stopping Jaden as she was descending down the stairs. "If I'm second best, then who's first?"

Grinning, Jaden pointed at herself. "Why, yours truly, of course!~ It's what I'm best at!"

While watching Jaden leave, Syrus wondered out loud, "Wow! She's so sure of herself! I wonder if she's really that good?"

"She's going to need to be. Look who she's dueling," Bastion said, pointing out who exactly it was that Jaden was about to face off. It certainly wasn't some normal proctor, that's for sure. No, perhaps Jaden was about the face the strongest of all the proctors.

Professor Vellian Crowler.


Entering the duel field through a sort of grid, Jaden arrived at the exam field where she was designated to be in. Two female staff workers were helping prep Crowler's duel disk equipment before stepping off the exam field, leaving just Jaden and her opponent, Professor Crowler himself.

Radiating a sense of arrogant confidence, Crowler was fully prepared to crush what he viewed as a worthless maggot underneath him. "Well! You've come so far only to lose to the great poet and duelist! Me! Dr. Vellian Crowler! So, what's your name?"

"Hmm?" Jaden, who had been admiring the exam field, stood up straight, giving her upmost attention towards Crowler. "U-Uh, Jaden! Jaden Yuki, ma'am!"

Crowler was keeping his cool, but the moment Jaden mistaken his gender, he couldn't control himself. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

"Eep!"

"I, DR. VELLIAN CROWLER, AM. A. MAN! DO I LOOK ANYTHING REMOTELY LIKE A WOMAN?!"

Jaden hesitated before assuming that speaking honestly would be alright. "W-well, yeah...I mean, you've got that really long robe, that long hair, and that lipstick on! I just-just kinda assumed that you were some sort of hideous-looking woman, is all!"

Crowler was about to yell at Jaden again, but then remembered that he must act professional. Besides, there was a large number of applicants and students watching since this is the last duel of the exam and that he himself personally stepped in to duel Jaden. And if news were to reach Chancellor Sheppard's ears about his unprofessionalism, well, it would be bad. Crowler knew he just needed to defeat Jaden in a duel, and he would never have to see her face again!

Clearing his throat, Crowler introduced himself. "I am Dr. Crowler, acting Chief General Director of Practical Application! You should be grateful that I, of all people, have the time to be dueling you!"

"Yeah!" chirped Jaden happily. "With a title like that, you must be someone pretty special and important, huh? By the way, sorry for mistaking you as a lady! I mainly thought thanks to the whole lipstick and makeup and stuff! Ahahaha!"

Once again, Crowler fought the urge to throttle her and instead took a few deep breaths to calm him, mentally preparing for the duel.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Chazz and his friends were just as intrigued as everyone else and wondering whether Jaden was either brave or foolish for her previous comments towards Crowler.

"Wow, that girl's got some lip on her," commented the young man with glasses. "Wonder why Crowler himself personally went out to duel her?"

"Yeah, I know, right? She must be pretty strong or careless. I'm voting on careless," said the other young man with brown hair.

Chazz didn't respond to either of his friends, though he was pretty curious and a bit more interested on how the duel will play out. Will Crowler crush the new applicant like a bug? Or is this Jaden Yuki a lot more skillful than she appears?

"Duel Vest, on!" announced Crowler, pressing a button on the duel disk attached to his blue coat. He hummed a small tune to himself as five cards were automatically ejected from his duel disk to his hand.

Jaden watched the process in astonishment. "Wow! That thing is pretty awesome! Hey, teach, how do I get one of those cool blue duel blazers?"

"Oh, a lot of hard work and extremely high marks. All of the high-achieving students have one," replied Crowler, taking her response to be at least a compliment. 'Of course, you have to get INTO Duel Academy, and I intend to make sure that won't be happening!'

"DUEL!" Both duelists cried out, the game starting.

- DUEL -

Jaden Yuki - 4000 LP

VS

Dr. Crowler - 4000 LP

Turn 1: Jaden

Taking a good look at the fresh hand she drew, Jaden made her decision quickly. "Alright, here I go! First, I'm summoning my cute Elemental Hero Knospe in Defense Mode!"

Elemental Hero Knospe - (EARTH/Plant) - LV3 - (600/1000)

Crowler's reaction to Jaden's first Monster summoning on the field was that of annoyance. 'That's it? That's the first Monster she chooses to play? Typical. Girls always choose what they perceive as cute and adorable. Why am I not surprise? This duel will be done quicker than I imagined. After all, since I'm using my own, personal deck, rather than one of those test ones, I'll be calling the shots! I'll fail that insolent little brat and send her home in no time!'

"Next, I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn!" said Jaden, finishing her turn. She was practically jumping with joy! Even though Knospe wasn't the greatest Monster out there, she was always happy seeing her cutest Monsters out on the field!

Turn 2: Crowler

Hand: 6

"My turn, then." Pressing a button on the duel disk attached to his coat, the top card automatically flew out and onto Crowler's hand, granting him a total of 6 cards. "Alright! For this first move, I think I'll start nice and easy! I choose to play the Spell card, Confiscation!"

Surprised, yet curious about the unknown Spell card, Jaden asked, "Okay...So, what's it do?"

Crowler answered, "What it does is allowed me to pay 1000 Life Points for a chance to look at your hand and then discard one of your cards into the Graveyard! Now, let's see here..."

Jaden - 4000 LP

Crowler - 3000 LP

Jaden's entire hand glowed brightly and as soon as Crowler paid the price for his Spell card, Jaden's entire card hand was shown as holograms in front of Crowler, allowing him to view everything within Jaden's hands.

Upon seeing all of the cards, Crowler didn't seemed impressed. "Hmmm...a pathetic and weak set of cards, I see. It's quite nostalgic seeing some of these old cards back in my days, but now? Just worthless in my eyes."

Jaden seemed surprised by Crowler's remark of her own cards. 'Huh? Why would a teacher say such horrible things about my deck?'

Pointing at one of the holographic cards, Crowler announced, "I shall choose Monster Reborn and send it to the Graveyard!" Afterwards, Crowler continued his turn. "Next, I shall set two cards facedown and then activate the Spell card, Heavy Storm! This Spell card destroys all Spells and Traps on the field!"

Strong typhoon-like winds swarmed the entire dueling field as both of Crowler's facedown cards and Jaden's own Set card were blown away and destroyed.

Realizing that Crowler had wasted two of his own Set cards, Jaden was quick to point this out. "Aha! You just made a mistake there, teach! You destroyed your own Spells and Traps as well!"

Crowler merely chuckled at Jaden's naivety as dark and stormy clouds filled up Crowler's side of the dueling field like some kind of shrouded fog. "Oh, you don't think I'm not aware of that? Fool! I intended on having my facedown cards destroyed for THIS! Come forth, my two Wicked Tokens!"

Wicked Token - (DARK/Fiend) - LV4 - (1000/1000)

The audience gasped at such talented dueling skill that Crowler pulled off, while others, like Syrus were confused at such play. "Uh...could somebody tell me what's going on?"

"The two Trap cards that Dr. Crowler had on the field were called Statue of the Wicked," explained Bastion. "They're special Trap cards that creates Wicked Tokens when they're destroyed. That's why he used Heavy Storm, to utilize their effects."

"Ohhhh..."

More and more of the audience already familiar with Crowler started to realize that Crowler wasn't just going all out on the newcomer in more ways than one. No, Crowler was using his own, personal deck; one that made him the reason why he's regarded as one of the strongest teachers in Duel Academy!

"A card that strong couldn't possibly be in one of the test decks!" said one of the blue uniformed students in glasses. "It must be Crowler's own deck!"

"Then this is over," realized a brown-haired student. "No applicant can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler!"

Chazz just sat back comfortably with a cocky smirk on his face. "Oh, I think I'm going to enjoy this even more than I imagined. At first, I thought that weakling had some kind of potential, but I was sorely mistaken. Crowler plans on crushing that girl's dreams as though they're nothing more than ants waiting to be squished. I almost feel bad for her...almost."

Meanwhile, a young blond-haired girl was watching the duel with her friend, a taller, dark blue-haired young man; both intrigued by the sudden turn of events in the duel. Though, the girl couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted at what was happening.

"What an elitist snob, bullying some amateur with his very best cards," muttered the young girl. "I mean, it's clear that Crowler doesn't like her, but still..."

"You're too soft, Alexis," the dark blue-haired young man lightly scolded. "Still, this should be worth seeing. Thanks to that applicant there, we may have a chance to see that legendary rare card that Crowler's been keeping stacked in his deck."

"My turn's not quite over yet, you know!" called out Crowler, enthusiastic on finishing off the applicant with no mercy whatsoever. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Jaden said, laughing heartily. "You bet! I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun! So what are you going to show me this time, Professor?"

Crowler narrowed his eyes, unamused that Jaden wasn't the very bit slightest scared of what move he was going to make next. Two Tokens up for a sacrifice? It was obvious that his own field held the correct conditions to summon a high-leveled Monster. No matter, maybe after summoning his ace Monster will finally make the girl tremble in fear.

"I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens and summon Ancient Gear Golem!"

With the two Wicked Tokens squirming and roaring silently in pain from the infernos that engulfed them entirely, they were sacrificed in order to bring out a terrifying, more powerful mechanized giant never before seen up until now. Visible gears running courses throughout its body, its one red eye glowed ominously as it rose from the ground through the sacrificed lives of the previous Tokens, fully prepared to annihilate any and all of its enemies.

Ancient Gear Golem - (EARTH/Machine) - LV8 - (3000/3000)

"There it is!" gasped Alexis. "The legendary rare card!"

"Now, now! I'm sure you aren't scared of my Ancient Gear Golem!" said Crowler in a mocking tone, feeling more proud and confident now that his ace Monster has appeared. Now he felt as though there was no chance of him losing at all!

"Nah, no way! I've ALWAYS wanted to take one on!" dared Jaden, confidence shown on her face as she stood her ground with no fear whatsoever. No, rather than fear, she was excited.

The audience gasped upon hearing Jaden's brave declaration, wondering whether she was crazy or just overconfident, or perhaps both. Even Jaden's new friends, Bastion and Syrus, were astonished by her words.

"Either Jaden's brave or she's nuts!" exclaimed Syrus. "That's a Level 8 Monster she's facing right there! And a tough one at that!"

Even Alexis' dark-haired friend himself was a bit impressed by Jaden's bravery to take on Crowler's ace Monster. "Dr. Crowler has yet to lose once he's summoned that card. I never would have guessed some applicant to have forced Crowler's hand in summoning that Monster."

"Come on, give it a rest, Zane," spoke Alexis. "At least the girl's showing some backbone. Unlike some other girls in my dorm..."

"There won't be much to show after this."

Crowler laughed, now overflowing with vigor as he was ready to utterly crush Jaden with his ace Monster. "Ahahahahaha! Here I go! Golem, attack! Mechanized Melee!"

The machinery-like golem complied with its master's orders, throwing a fist back before launching the fist towards Knospe, who closed her eyes and braced for impact. The little bud-like hero didn't stand a chance against the full force of Ancient Gear Golem's attack, being knocked back and crashed into a wall before being destroyed.

"Ah! Jaden's Monster didn't stand a chance! Her Defense Points were way too low!" cried out Syrus, worried. "This isn't looking good!"

"And it gets much worst," addressed Bastion. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a Monster in Defense Mode, whose Defense Points are lower than Golem's Attack Points, its effect deals that difference as damage to Jaden. In other words, piercing damage!"

Bastion's words rang true as soon as Ancient Gear Golem's effect activated. The impact of the fist that the powerful Monster threw dealt a great deal of damage towards Jaden as a visionary effect.

Jaden - 2000 LP

Crowler - 3000 LP

Thinking Jaden was trembling in fear and seemingly sobbing, Crowler couldn't help but boast his own ego by laughing. "Oh? Already lost your fighting spirit, have you? Well, don't feel bad! This is the top dueling school in the country! Some...simply aren't cut out...for...?"

Crowler slowly trailed off, realizing that Jaden was neither scared nor crying. In fact, Jaden was laughing, looking up at Crowler with a gleeful expression that proved that she was enjoying the duel far more than she expected.

"Boy, I REALLY want to come to this school now! You really know your stuff, teach!"

Surprise turned into irritation as Crowler gritted his teeth. 'What?! Can't she just take a hint?! How stupid can she be? She will NOT be allowed to pass this exam! EVER! I'll make sure of that!' "Whatever! I end my turn!"

Jaden placed a hand on the top of her deck, ready to draw. 'Alright! Time to get my game on! This is where my true power will be put to the test!' she thought.

Just as Jaden moved in to draw her card, she heard a strange noise, sounding something like, "Kuri Kuri Kuri!" Confused, yet curious, Jaden drew her card, revealing it to be the very same card she received from Yugi Muto himself: Winged Kuriboh.

Turn 3: Jaden

Hand: 4

Winged Kuriboh had only known Jaden for less than an hour, but she had a kind fighting spirit that just attracted him towards her. As sad as it is, most power-hungry duelists would have scoffed at his level of power and thrown him away with no regrets, but it was duelists like Yugi and Jaden that made Winged Kuriboh want to work hard more than ever.

In a way, Winged Kuriboh could see himself in his new owner. They were both starting off small, supposedly weak, but hidden inside is a strong spirit that prevails their own fighting power. With their combined efforts, Winged Kuriboh felt as though they could do anything! Besides, now that she's seen him, Winged Kuriboh's definitely certain that Jaden won't discard him like trash, judging by how she's ready to squeal and is trembling with joy.

Jaden didn't even hesitate to do what was next. "I SUMMON WINGED KURIBOH IN DEFENSE MODE!"

Winged Kuriboh - (LIGHT/Fairy) - LV1 - (300/200)

The next thing anyone knew, Jaden was squealing at the top of her lungs so loudly, her squeals could shatter the glass windows inside the dueling stadium.

"CUTE. WINGED. KURIBOH! EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!"

Many others within the stadium, including Crowler, sweatdropped upon Jaden fangirling over the "cute" Monster she just summoned. Others, like Alexis, were annoyed. THIS was the best option she could offer? She couldn't have chosen a stronger defense to go up against Ancient Gear Golem, even if there was a low chance of her winning?

Winged Kuriboh felt more embarrassed than ever, hiding his face with his claws, which only made Jaden squeal in joy from seeing this rather questionable action. And then, Winged Kuriboh remembered that he's set up in a position where he has to take a big blow from a giant, mechanized golem whose punches could probably topple mountains, so he could only look on in horror at his inevitable fate.

Crowler coughed. "Ahem! If you would pay attention now! Have you finished your turn or not?"

Jaden stopped her fangirling squeals at how adorable Winged Kuriboh looked before looking up at Crowler. "Hmm? Oh, right! I set a card and end my turn!"

Turn 4: Crowler

Hand: 2

"Hmph, finally! A Kuriboh, is it not?" said Crowler, unimpressed. "And a rather rare one at that! But, however rare it may be, it's still a low-level Monster, is it not? Even if it's in Defense Mode, it'll not stave off Ancient Gear Golem's piercing effect! But I suppose it's fitting; a small fry owner having such a small fry Monster!"

Jaden pouted. "Hey! Winged Kuriboh may be low-leveled, but he's no small fry! He's tiny and adorable! Get that right!"

Crowler didn't seem to care as he nonchalantly drew his card. "Hmph, whatever! This is the end! Ancient Gear Golem, squash that Winged Kuriboh into paste! Mechanized Melee!"

Winged Kuriboh braced himself, taking the full blunt force of Ancient Gear Golem's fist attack in order to protect Jaden in more ways than one. As a result, Winged Kuriboh shattered upon impact while Jaden looked on sadly.

"Awww! That was one of my most cutest Monsters!" whined Jaden. 'Sorry, Winged Kuriboh!'

Crowler frowned in confusion, wondering why the duel hasn't declared a winner yet. "Why haven't your Life Points decreased?"

Jaden focused back to the duel, explaining, "Easy! On the turn that Winged Kuriboh's destroyed, I take 0 Battle Damage!"

Like Crowler, the audience were surprised to hear such a useful effect and an sort of unexpected twist that allowed Jaden to survive another turn. Even Alexis, who was mildly annoyed with Jaden earlier, was impressed.

"Well, how about that? Who'd think that there's a card that even Dr. Crowler doesn't know about?" commented Alexis.

"No one can be expected to know every single card out there, Alexis," reminded Zane. "After all, the Dueling World is boundless."

Alexis smiled. "And I guess that's what makes dueling interesting."

"Fine, fine! I guess your lame little Monster saved you there with that ability of his," commented Crowler, insulting Winged Kuriboh in the process.

Angered that Crowler chose to refer to Winged Kuriboh as "lame," as though his special ability (and cute looks) meant nothing, Jaden defended her Monster. "Hey! Don't call him lame just because you beat him! He's adorable and soft-looking and fluffy and cute and would totally pound you to the ground if it weren't for your machine monster there! In fact, if you're calling my cute Monster lame, then...then I'm calling your Ancient monster lame! LAME!"

Crowler sweatdropped at her descriptive use of words towards Winged Kuriboh, as well as her childish tantrum against his own ace Monster which hardly bothered him. "Ah, yes, I forget how attached you new duelists get to your Monsters. I'm so sorry!"

"Yeah? Well, you should be!" Jaden said. "Because by destroying and sending Winged Kuriboh to the Graveyard, I can now Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Elemental Hero Monster from my deck thanks to my facedown card! Hero Signal! And that brings out my second Elemental Hero! Meet Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!"

Elemental Hero Burstinatrix - (FIRE/Warrior) - LV3 - (1200/800)

Even though Jaden summoned a Monster, it was of no concern to Crowler. After all, it was only a weak Monster in his eyes, not a threat to his Ancient Gear Golem. "Hmph! I end my turn, then!"

Turn 5: Jaden

Hand: 3

"My turn, draw!" said Jaden. "I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two more cards! Alright, Winged Kuriboh! This next one's gonna be for you! I summon my adorable Card Ejector in Attack Mode!"

Card Ejector - (EARTH/Spellcaster) - LV3 - (400/400)

"...Does your entire deck consist of 'cute" Monsters?!" shouted Crowler.

Jaden held up a hand. "Now, hold on! I wasn't done yet! Next, I play the Spell card, Hero Mask! All I have to do is target a Monster I control, then send 1 Elemental Hero from my deck to the Graveyard! Then, for the rest of my turn, that target's name becomes the sent Monster's name! So, I send Elemental Hero Avian to the Graveyard so that Card Ejector could take on his name for this turn only!"

Afterwards, Card Ejector received a face mask that closely resembled Elemental Hero Avian's face. Putting it on, she didn't feel any newfound power, but she did feel like the presence of Avian was by her side, supporting her.

Crowler grew only confused. "Okay, so what? What does this have to do with anything? Are you simply trying to show off or something?"

Jaden shook her head. "Nah, you'll see! See, I know my two Monsters aren't very powerful by themselves. But, if I can form them together, it's another story! And I have just the card to unite them! I activate the Spell card, Polymerization! I fuse Burstinatrix with Card Ejector, who now holds the name of 'Elemental Hero Avian!' Together, they unite as Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! I hope your Gear Golem is ready for the clash of the Titans!"

Burstinatrix and Card Ejector, with Avian's spirit supporting her, hovered upwards, entering a strange vortex of blue and orange colors. Emerging from the vortex known as Polymerization was a rather powerful Monster with mixture colors of green and red. His arm was coated with the jaw of a monstrosity as his one wing spread out and he took a battle pose, ready for combat anytime.

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman - (WIND/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (2100/1200)

"Oh, wow! Amazing! Jaden Fusion Summoned!" exclaimed Syrus excitedly.

Bastion nodded. "Yes, an impressive performance. However, this still isn't enough to defeat Crowler's Gear Golem. Their Monsters' Attack Points are still much too different. Jaden will need to give her Monster a power boost of some sorts if she hopes to beat that Monster."

"Yeah...I mean, Flame Wingman's Attack Points are 2100 and Ancient Gear Golem's Attack Points are 3000...How's Jaden going to pull off that kind of miracle?"

"Don't worry. If she's really #1 like she claims to be, she'll figure something out."

"I will admit, I was surprised by your sudden move of Fusion Summoning," admitted Crowler. "Although, I did somewhat expected you to Fusion Summon another one of your 'cutesy' Monsters."

"Oh, I wish!" commented Jaden. "That would have been awesome! But I love cool-looking heroic Monsters like Flame Wingman, too!"

"Ahem! As I was saying, you may have Fusion Summoned that Monster, but his Attack Points are still 2100. He comes well short compared to my Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Well, duh! Of course I know that my Flame Wingman's weaker than your Monster!" Jaden said. "That's why I have another trick up my sleeve! Well, it's more like I'm setting up the background for the battle arena fit just for heroes! I now activate the Field Spell, Skyscraper!"

Buildings surrounded the entire playing field with the night sky and the full moon shining down upon the field. It looked like a grand city in the middle of the night; a fit setting for heroes catching villains lurking in the shadows of the night. To perfectly fit the setting of a heroic environment, Flame Wingman was standing at the tip of the tallest building, glaring at the monstrous villain known as Ancient Gear Golem.

"Okay! The stage is set!" cheered Jaden. "Go, Flame Wingman! Attack Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Fine with me! Bring it on!" challenged Crowler. "This silly little Skyscraper Field card hasn't lowered my Golem's Attack Power by one point! Your Monster's Attack Points don't hold a candle to my Golem's power!"

"My Skyscraper's not meant to lower your Golem's Attack Points!" corrected Jaden as Flame Wingman came soaring towards Ancient Gear Golem like a flaming eagle. " In fact, should an Elemental Hero fight against a Monster whose Attack Points is higher than his, then the Attack Points of that Elemental Hero increases by 1000!"

"WAIT! WHAT?!"

"Go! Skydive Scorcher!"

Cloaked in the fiery flames of justice and fierce fighting spirit, Flame Wingman dove down towards Ancient Gear Golem, pummeling down with enough force to shake the entire city. Once the attack made contact, Ancient Gear Golem was left devastated and close to collapsing from its destructive state.

This sent a wave of shock across the audience, including a very frantic Crowler, who was in denial over what happened. "This can't be! He was my very best card!" cried out Crowler right before a chunk of rock slammed down on his head from the near ruins of his Ancient Gear Golem.

Flame Wingman landed besides his owner after accomplishing the goal of defeating the villain of the day. "And there's more!" said Jaden confidently. "Flame Wingman's effect makes you take damage equal to the destroyed Monster's Attack Points! In other words, Gear Golem's Attack Points!"

"N-no way!" Crowler panicked, seeing how his Ancient Gear Golem was creaking and ready to collapse. He tried to run away, but it was too late as his defeated Monster collapsed and landed right on top of him, trapping him in the debris and ruins of its metal body while the rest of his Life Points depleted.

Jaden - 2000 LP

Crowler - 0 LP

Winner: Jaden Yuki

Giving off a victory hand gesture as the dueling field and its Monsters faded away upon the completion of the duel, Jaden said, "That's game! Thank God I'm absolutely flawless! So, I guess I pass the test, huh, teach?"

Despite the debris disappearing and nothing no longer restricting him to the ground, Crowler was still too shocked to move. "T-There's no way this...annoying brat could defeat me-!"

Like many others, Chazz was just as shocked upon witnessing the defeat of someone as talented as Crowler towards an applicant like Jaden. "I-It must be dumb luck! No way could Crowler lose to some...some flunky!"

"Wow, that girl's really talented! Guess she's got a future at the academy, huh?" muttered Alexis as Zane walked away now that the duel had concluded.

"Alright! Yeah, Jaden!" Syrus was cheering happily for his new friend while Bastion smiled in acknowledgement.

'Nice! I could use a little competition!' Bastion thought, intrigued in what the future might hold if someone like Jaden was attending Duel Academy.

Jaden was gladly soaking in all of the attention and credit by the crowd, making her do a little victory dance and blow kisses to the audience. "Yeah! I did it! Believe it!" She giggled to herself, happy that she won her duel and a one-way ticket to Duel Academy.

Taking out Winged Kuriboh from her deck, Jaden knew that even though she had the help with her other cards, her newest Winged Kuriboh truly pulled through for her in this important duel.

"I'll be counting on you from now on, my cute little new Partner!"

Winged Kuriboh winked at her, though he did slightly sweatdrop when he did. Although it was clear that his new master will be quite the handful, he was looking forward to having new adventures with her.


Hi! Wow, this took me such a long time to finish, but here I am! Fully finished for this first new chapter!

Instead of tomboy Jaden Yuki, I mean, not exactly, because she still will be a bit of a tomboy, I also decided to make Jaden girly! I'll try not to make her too girly, but I can't stop her from being girly when it comes to absolutely adorable things! Seriously, some of the Duel Monsters are cute, especially Winged kuriboh with his cute little wings and tiny paws!~

And yes, the conclusion fight of the duel was the same: Flame Wingman against Ancient Gear Goldem with the help of Skyscraper. But, I did make several of Jaden's moves different. Like, I used a manga-exclusive Elemental Hero and some different cards, so there! Same solution, but different methods!

Read and review, folks!