Chapter One: It's Crazy, but That's How it Goes…

Jaden Yuki was never more prepared for anything in his life. He had swiped some neato clothes from one of his best friends, Syrus, who also got accepted into the academy. Syrus's clothes were a little small, but eh by wearing the slightly bigger Slifer red jacket he was able to get by with it.

He combed his hair all nice that morning, and dyed it the night before and cut it so that he had a fresh new look. Then he grabbed his bags, ate a little food with his parents and carried on his way out the door.

There was no way he was going to live with his parents when he wanted to be number one. Jaden always dreamed the life of living out completely on his own, and it excited him to think that soon he was going to be able to.

Along the street, Jaden saw a bunch of other kids his age (and some even a few years older) start towards the college. Some of them were in yellow uniforms, and some of them had blue on. Jaden wondered what all the different colors meant, but shrugged it off and hauled his rolling black bag towards the large building that rested within the center of the city of Domino.

Wow the academy was sure an impressive building. It loomed high above in the sky, towering over the city about as high as the Kaiba Corp. tower stretched into the sky. The man who owned the academy was just that man that owned the tower, and that was Seto Kaiba. He was an elite duelist, and ranked number one in the world. No one ever saw him much anymore, but it was sure impressive to see such high quality taken into a college facility.

There were fences all around the school- some say they were even electric. Jaden circled around this building and saw a nice baseball field out in the distance, the dorms, and it was all nearby the park too. This place was amazing! Jaden wondered if it even had an indoor swimming pool or something sweet on the inside.

"Hello there, newbie!"

Jaden was suddenly turned around and spotted a kid in a yellow jacket that he had seen drove past him in a white Honda Civic a few minutes ago.

"Uh hi, I'm Jaden!" Jaden smiled with a huge grin on his face, shaking the hand of the intruder quickly.

"…I'm Bastion."

"Neat! Have you been here before?" Jaden asked him.

Bastion stepped back and titled his head at an awkward angle. "Did you not read the handout on the history of our college or something?"

"No, I um… didn't get that sheet I guess…" Jaden blinked his brown eyes innocently. "What's the difference?"

"Slifers are the ones who took the placement exam and got in the 50th percentile or lower. Ras are ones who were between the 51st percentile or 89th percentile, and the Obelisks have a 90th percentile or higher."

"Oh." Jaden suddenly did the math and realized that with his red jacket he was showing everyone he failed the beginning exam. He blushed. "So I guess that answers how well I did on that exam…"

"What percentile are you?" Bastion questioned, which threw Jaden in a huge loop.

"I'm uh… I don't really remember… what about you?"

"I was in the 89th percentile." Bastion answered. "There was one more person I had to beat, and then I would have been an Obelisk Blue."

"Well that sucks. Hey at least it's better than me though." Jaden laughed.

"True. I'm sure if I had been a Slifer Red I would have not bothered to be a part of the academy. It takes some real courage though to stand here and accept this today, and I certainly applaud you."

"Uh… thanks. And I think it's really neat you're just one person away. You must be one heck of a duelist."

"Indeed I am, and if you wish to, I'll be dueling later against an the examiner and you can see how well I'll do."

"Wait a minute, an examiner?" Jaden's mouth dropped.

"Oh my goodness, did you not get that sheet either?" Bastion exclaimed.

"What is this about?"

"Oh my goodness, you better talk to the secretary and see what time your duel against the examiner will be!" Bastion cried.

"Thanks! I just hope my duel hasn't happened yet!" Jaden began to worry, and he wondered why his buddy Syrus hadn't come by yet.

"Yes well then, I'll let you go! Run, hurry!" Bastion snapped.

"Thanks dude, I owe you big!" Jaden began rushing off.

Bastion shook his head after Jaden left. "Slifers…"

Jaden rushed inside the school and went inside the office. "What time is my duel against the examiner?"

"What is your name?"

"My name is…" Jaden suddenly stopped and realized that a Jaden Yuki probably wouldn't exist on their record file.

"Syrus Truesdale." Jaden answered.

"Truesdale…" The secretary went down the list. "Your duel starts in five minutes."

"Oh my goodness thanks!" Jaden began rushing out the door and then realized one other problem. He rushed back through the doors. "And where is my examination at?"

"In the Slifer Red Gymnasium."

"And where's that at?" Jaden asked.

"Down the hall room number seventy-five. You cannot miss it."

"Thank you so much, lady!" Jaden sprinted out the doors going down the hallway.

The secretary rolled her eyes. "Slifers…"

Jaden went racing through the doors and noticed he opened the door right during the middle of someone's duel.

"Ooh crap!" Jaden exclaimed loudly, upon which a guard on the inside told him to shut up and not enter.

He quickly closed the door and sighed. "Crap! Crap! Crap! What in the heck am I getting myself into?"

"I play the card, Change of Heart!" A duelist yelled, and Jaden heard lots of cheering and clapping. "Now that I have taken your only defense monster and you have no face down cards left, you're finished! Battle Ox, Wall of Illusions, attack him and take away his life points!"

More cheering and clapping came from inside the gymnasium. Then there was a huge announcement that rang out so all could hear. "Slifer Red Dormitory, please welcome the newest member Denver Red!"

Lots of cheers and roars came.

"Here, you can come in now." The guard pushed open the door and sent a nasty glare at Jaden.

Jaden maneuvered his way past the joyous red cheering fans and made his way down to the bottom of the field.

The guard snorted after he had seen the kid pass. "Slifers…"

"Mr. Syrus Truesdale, will you please come to the dueling arena now for your next duel?" The announcement rang.

"I'ma coming! I'ma coming! Give me a second!" Jaden rushed down the silver stairs and met down at the floor below. He looked to see if Syrus was actually around, and found that he had not appeared yet. Good, this meant he could save his buddy and that way he could get into the academy as well.

"Syrus Trusedale, you have one minute to get down to the field, otherwise you will be denied access into the academy!"

"Here I am!" Jaden hopped on the sea green stage and clicked on a duel disk. "Sorry to keep you all waiting, but I had some important business to take care of."

"You know, they say patience is a virtue not easily obtained…" The examiner glared hatefully at the next kid he had to duel.

"Yeah, and time management goes the same way. Let's do this!"

"I'll teach you, you little brat…"

"Game on!" Jaden began the duel that would decide his fate at the academy.