Isaaru, Tori and Sissero touch down on the island. Isaaru still has his deck loaded into the metal duel disk on his forearm. When they land on the landing pad, the three of them step out of the helicopter, where they are met by a young man dressed in a grey suit, with matted brown hair. Sissero walks over to him, and hands over his duel disk with the Final Countdown deck in it. He then turns back to Isaaru and Tori, and introduces the young man.
"Isaaru. Tori. This is Mister Edo Phoenix," explained Sissero. "He will be competing in this little tournament of ours. Not only that, but he is a personal friend of the World Champion himself, and has helped to organise this whole event. He is the one who has been monitoring your progress for the past few weeks, and the one who invited you here. I will leave you now, but Mister Phoenix will take it from here, and explain to you the rules of the competition."
"Ok then," replied Isaaru. "Goodbye Sissero, and thanks for a great match." Isaaru smiled and showed his appreciation by waving his goodbye to Sissero. Tori followed suit and waved casually to Sissero, as he walked away. Edo stepped forward and introduced himself a bit more formally.
"Welcome to Duel Academy," said Edo. "Allow me to welcome you to the island, on behalf of my good friend Andrew Roswell."
"Who's Andrew Roswell?" asked Tori, bemused to the fact that she can't picture the name in her head.
"Andrew is the World Champion of Duel Monsters, didn't you know?" replied Edo. "He cleared out the World finals, defeating the one and only Seto Kaiba using a deck full of monsters that had less than 1000 attack points. Anyway, I told him you were on your way, and he personally wishes to talk to you, and take a look at your deck."
"Seriously?" replied Isaaru. "He asked for me, personally?"
"Well, technically, no he didn't," said Edo, sighing. "He looks at everyone's decks before they enter the tournament. He had to help me re-build my own deck before he let me into the tournament. Anyway, he asked me to lead you to his office so he can meet you personally."
"Oh. Fine, very well," said Isaaru.
"What about me?" asked Tori.
"Oh right," remembered Edo. He clicked his fingers and a woman dressed in a similar grey suit, except with a short grey skirt in place of grey trousers, appeared before the two of them, and led Tori off towards another part of the island. "Don't worry," said Edo, to Isaaru, who looked a bit puzzled. "Her deck is being assessed by a different official. She will meet up with you again at your living quarters once her skill level has been assessed." Tori waved goodbye to Isaaru as she walked off with the other woman.
"Ok then," said Isaaru, mockingly. "Where's this "World Champion" who I'm supposed to be meeting with."
"Well, I'll take you to him right now," said Edo. He began to walk off towards the main academy building, and Isaaru followed him with excitement in his eyes. They entered the building, and are greeted by several builders working hard to restore the interior of the school. They start walking through the many long corridors of the academy, seeing several pictures of historical figures that had been taught at the school previously. They passed paintings of people such as Jaden Yuki, Zane and Syrus Trusdale, even the school's founder, Seto Kaiba. Eventually, they came across a large door. Edo stood outside it, and pushed it open, beckoning Isaaru inside the room. Isaaru entered, to see a man sitting behind a glass desk, covered with the images o powerful Duel Monsters, such as the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the Elemental Hero cards, Cyber End Dragon and even the Egyptian God cards. The man looked up from his paper, and stood up. He was wearing a long black trench coat, with a white shirt underneath it. He had his jewel-encrusted duel disk strapped to his arm. He walked over to Isaaru, towering above him, and extended his hand.
"Welcome, Isaaru Watanabe," he said. "My name is Andrew Roswell. I am the tournament organiser around here, and I'm sure you will have heard of me by now."
"Of course," replied Isaaru.
"Anyway, you're here to compete in my tournament, aren't you?" said Andrew. "Therefore, you need to verify your deck with me before you enter. Let me see our cards."
"Ok then," said Isaaru. He took his deck out of its slot on his duel disk, and handed it over to Andrew. Andrew began looking through the deck, and his facial expression went from a smile, to a frown, and then to a look of disgust.
"These are the cards you duel with?" asked Andrew.
"Erm… Yeah," said Isaaru. "Is there some sort of problem?"
"Well, obviously!" replied Andrew. "These cards suck!"
"Excuse me?" asked Isaaru.
"I can see your deck is going for a low-level kind of theme, but why use such weak cards over some strong level 3 cards?" he asked. "I mean, we have cards like Mataza the Zapper, Kinetic Soldier, and they all work incredibly well, yet you instead use…" he picks out the Swordsman of Landstar from his deck, and shows it to Isaaru. "You use this!"
"Hey. I win with these cards!" shouted Isaaru. "Obviously, they must be some good to me if I can win with them."
"Well, I'd say that I disagree, but you could always show me this theory of yours."
"What do you mean?"
"A duel. Me and you. A way of starting off the tournament with a bang. This could be a way of you showing me how good that deck of yours really is."
"Well…well…" stuttered Isaaru.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of a match against the World Champion now. Oh wait, your deck wouldn't keep you in for five minutes. I'd be scared in your position." Isaaru began to get angry at this statement.
"Fine. If you're so confident. I'll duel you, and win too!" shouted Isaaru. "We'll see if my deck really is as bad as you say so."
"Good." Andrew walked over to a microphone on his desk, and began to speak into it. "All tournament participants please report to the main duelling arena. It's time to begin this tournament properly." Andrew smile and, walked over to Edo, and whispered, "set up the duel arena."
Meanwhile, at the landing pad, Dominic Donovan crawled out of the landed helicopter. There was no one around, so he stepped off the pad, and ran up to the academy doors. He stepped through the main doors, and saw another opening with a bright light coming from inside it, shining out to him. He walked up to it, and saw Isaaru and Andrew standing opposite each other on a duelling field, both with activated duel disks on their arms, about to begin their duel. Edo Phoenix stepped up to the middle of the ring, and began to talk into a microphone in his hand.
"Welcome, to the first duel of this World Tournament," shouted Edo. "The following match will be a warm-up match to get you all in the duelling spirit, between Isaaru Watanabe and the World Champion, Mister Andrew Roswell!" Suddenly, the entire crowd began to cheer and applaud. "This match will now get underway. Both players will start with 8000 life points. Players, shuffle your decks, and duel!" Edo jumped down from the stage, as both Andrew and Isaaru drew five cards from their shuffled decks, and began to duel.
Isaaru – 8000, Andrew – 8000.
"I'll begin this match then," said Andrew, drawing a sixth card from his deck. "I set one face-down card on the field, and summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode!" A mighty Spellcaster materialised on the field, dressed in a bright red suit of armour, holding a short blue sword and a red ruby-encrusted shield. "When I summon Breaker, he is given one spell counter. This spell counter gives him an extra 300 attack points (1900/1000). With that, I'll end my turn."
"Good. My move!" exclaimed Isaaru, drawing a card. "I activate the spell card, Landstar Forces! This allows me to special summon any normal Landstar monsters from my hand to the field, and I have three in my hand. Swordsman (500/1200), Brigadier (900/1200) and Knight of Landstar (500/2200), all in defence mode." Isaaru's three warriors appeared on the field, appearing to defend themselves. "And now, I'll set two face-down cards to end my turn."
"Well, time to begin winning this duel," smirked Andrew, drawing a card, and adding it to his hand. "I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 more cards from my deck." A large green pot appeared on the field, with a large grimacing smile on it, and two cards came out of it, and shot into Andrew's hand. "Now, I activate Heavy Storm!" shouted Andrew, showing Isaaru a spell card with a twister on it. "This will rid me of those two face-down cards, and my own face-down, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Now, I'll activate another spell card. Polymerization!" As he placed the second spell card onto his duel disk, a vortex appeared on the field, and sucked up two of the cards in Andrew's hand. "I fuse Buster Blader and King of the Swamp to form, Dark Paladin (2900/2400)." Another powerful monster appeared on the field, beside Breaker, dressed in dark green armour, holding a long staff with a large blade on the end of it.
"Wait a minute," questioned Isaaru. "Dark Paladin is a fusion of Dark Magician and Buster Blader. How can you summon it without Dark Magician?"
"Well, I used King of the Swamp," laughed Andrew. "He acts as a fusion substitute in any fusion summoning. In other words, by using him as one of the fusion materials, I don't need to use Dark Magician to summon my Paladin. And now, my new fusion monster can destroy every one of your monsters, and practically eliminate you from this duel. I play the spell card Diffusion Wave Motion! By paying 1000 life points (Andrew 8000 – 1000 7000), my Dark Paladin can destroy everything on your field. Now then, Paladin! Attack his three monsters, and show him why I'm the champion around here." Dark Paladin held up his staff, and emitted a large wave of bright light from it, slicing through each of Isaaru's monsters, eventually destroying them all. "You're lucky they were all in defence mode, or this would have been a very short duel. And now, Breaker, attack him directly." Breaker launched himself at Isaaru, and swung at him with his blue crystal sword (Isaaru 8000 – 1900 6100). Isaaru clutched his stomach, where Breaker had hit him. "And now, I'll summon one monster in defence mode. Now, go."
Isaaru – 6100, Andrew – 7000
"Good. Time for me to come back into this match," said Isaaru.
"And how on earth do you expect to do anything like that?" questioned Andrew. "You have nothing out on the field, nothing in your hand, and a weak deck. You can't win."
"Well, I'll draw my card, and go down fighting," said Isaaru. "I summon Grappler of Landstar (1000/500) in attack mode. My monster can now attack your face-down monster." Isaaru's monster lunged at the brown rectangle on the floor, as it flipped over to reveal a clay pot containing an ugly, black creature, which appeared to be laughing at Isaaru.
"You fool," remarked Andrew. "You see, my deck uses up my cards very quickly, so I need to replenish my hand as quickly as I can. Therefore, I have Morphing Jar. This can let me draw 5 new cards when he's flipped over, and you too." Both players drew five cards, and Isaaru continued with his turn.
"Ok then, I'll play Polymerization, just like you!" exclaimed Isaaru. "With this, I'll fuse Grappler on my field with Swordsman of Landstar in my hand, to make Raging Swordsman of Landstar (2200/1500) in attack mode. My new fusion monster can now attack Breaker the Magical Warrior!" The powerful swordsman that Isaaru had summoned, lunged at Breaker, and sliced him clean in half. (Andrew 7000 – 2200 + 1900 6700) "I'll now activate Swords of Revealing Light, to stop you attacking me for a few turns…"
Isaaru – 6100, Andrew - 6700
"I don't think so Isaaru," replied Andrew. "I'm activating the special effect of my Dark Paladin. By discarding one card in my hand…" Andrew selects "Des Kangaroo" in his hand and sends it to the grave. "…I can negate your spell, and destroy it. Now then, I believe you were going to end your turn there?" Isaaru nodded, scornfully. "Very well, I draw my card, and once again, activate Polymerization! This time, I'll fuse Red-Eyes B. Dragon, and another King of the Swamps together, to summon the Meteor B. Dragon (3500/2000) in attack mode" This time, the vortex that appeared on the field enveloped two more cards, but instead of a smart-looking Spellcaster, a large red Dragon covered in magma and fire came down to the field. "This time, you can't escape my wrath. I will attack your monster with Dark Paladin (3900/2400), who now has an extra 1000 attack points from two dragons being on my field and in my graveyard. Go, and attack with magical blade strike." Dark Paladin once again, raised his staff to the sky, and sliced Raging Swordsman of Landstar in half using the bright ray of light that emitted from it (Isaaru 6100 – 3900 + 2200 4400). "And now, I will use Meteor B. Dragon to attack again! Flaming Meteor Strike!" Meteor B. Dragon flew at Isaaru, ready to take his life points dangerously low.
Isaaru – 4400, Andrew – 6700
"Not so fast Andrew!" shouted Isaaru. "I discard Kuriboh from my hand, to negate the attack of Meteor B. Dragon." Andrew takes a card in his hand, and sends it to the grave. A wall of furry Kuribohs appeared in front of Isaaru, and they bounce the Dragon's attack away to a safe distance."
"Good play, at such a dire moment," said Andrew. "But I'm afraid that was just luck. I'll end my turn for now, and next turn, I'll finish this."
"Well then," laughed Isaaru. "Not even the World Champion is capable of such a comeback. It's time to start winning this game." Isaaru draws his card, and laughed. "I play the spell card, re-fusion! This allows me to pay 800 life points to summon Raging Swordsman back to the field. Next, I'll go ahead and summon my Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. His effect lets me add Landstar God Ritual to my hand. But, it won't stay in my hand for very much longer, because I'm activating it!" A large bubbling cauldron appeared on the field, about to summon a powerful creature. "When I play this, I can sacrifice Manju, Raging Swordsman, and my Sinister Serpent to summon one of my most devastating cards. I summon Sun God of Landstar (2000/1900)!" The cauldron bubbled, and up from it, rose a large fiery dragon that rivalled Andrew's Meteor Dragon in size. "My god has a very special effect. By paying 1500 life points, I can wipe out everything you have on the field (Isaaru 4400 – 1500 2900)." Sure enough, the large, sacred dragon used his volcanic breath to destroy both of Andrew's monsters, leaving him wide open.
Isaaru – 2900, Andrew – 6700
Andrew laughed at this move. "Well, that's impressive, but once again you have nothing in your hand, and so you can't win in this one turn, can you?"
"I may not be able to win this turn, but I can sure make a start," remarked Isaaru. "I attack you directly with my Sun God. Sacred Flame Blaze!" The dragon launched his fiery breath once again, this time, striking at Andrew's life points (Andrew 6700 – 2000 4700). "And that ends my turn."
Isaaru – 2900, Andrew - 4700
"Your final turn, that is," said Andrew. "I bet you I can win in this turn, because you've left yourself too vulnerable."
"Don't be stupid," said Isaaru. "To win this, you would need to summon a monster with, about 5000 attack points. You can't possibly do that." Isaaru just laughed at this thought.
"And that is exactly what I can do," replied Andrew. At this, Isaaru's smile dropped into a frown. "I draw my card, and I play another Polymerization card!" A third vortex appeared on the field, and absorbed both of the cards Andrew had in his hand. "This one can let me fuse Black Luster Soldier and another fusion substitute monster, to summon the most powerful monster in the entire game. The Master of Dragon Soldier (5000/5000)!" A large 3-headed, white Dragon materialised out of the vortex, with the Black Luster Soldier standing on top of it. "This is your end around here."
"But… how can you… summon that…?" stuttered Isaaru.
"Simple, I have the cards in my deck, and I just summoned it. Master of Dragons! Attack the false god, with Dragon Sabre Blast! Finish this." The dragon's three mouths opened to reveal three orbs of lightning, which all fired at the Sun God. The Soldier on top of it also released a beam of energy from his sword, destroying the Sun God, and ending the duel (Isaaru 2900 – 5000 + 2000 -100 0).
Isaaru – 0, Andrew – 4700
Isaaru collapsed to the ground, amazed that he lost to such an amazing creature. The crowd who had been watching the duel began cheering Andrew's victory, as the Master of Dragon Soldier disappeared. Andrew then walked over to Isaaru.
"You may have lost Isaaru, but I can give you a second chance in the tournament," said Andrew. "I'll allow you to compete. Go to your room. Your sister should be there soon, once she has won her entry duel. However, you'll have a different roommate if she happens to lose. We'll just have to see, won't we?"
"We will. Thank you Andrew," said Isaaru, restlessly. Isaaru got up, and Edo escorted him to his living quarters, after announcing the results of the duel. Isaaru walked into his new room, and collapsed on the bed, exhausted from his match, awaiting the arrival of his sister, or whoever his new roommate will be.
END
Next time (Chapter 5: The qualifying round):
Tori is led to a duelling arena at one corner of the academy. She arrives just in time to see the end of a duel, in which Bastion Misawa wins a duel using the powers of the "Divine Protector – Exordo" She is then greeted my Alexis Rhodes, who explains that she is helping to organise the tournament, for the girls. She tells Tori that she has to win a short qualifier duel before she can be admitted into the tournament. She is then introduced to another duellist, who appears to be obsessed with gadgets and machines. When they duel, Tori finds herself facing a powerful machine deck, containing the legendary Gadget monsters. Tori is almost defeated, and is just about to lose, when she realises that there is one card in her deck that might just be able to save her life points.
