For the next month, the Mane 6 and Spike worked hard to get used to Duel Monsters. Each and every day, they dueled and remade their decks to fit with whatever would work out in a duel better, as well as visiting home so that they wouldn't miss out on their home lives. Everyone was able to get used to the game and how it worked over time. Even Rainbow Dash, who had failed hard during her first duel, showed some remarkable improvement when given the time to learn the rules.
Finally, after a month of getting used to the game, and learning more about how this world worked, Pegasus had the group flown out to Domino City in order to apply for the Academy. First, they took the written exam, which everyone was thankfully able to pass, with varying results. The next day, they were to take their dueling exams. If they won, they would be able to enter the Academy and begin their quest to stop the Sacred Beasts.
"Once again, all Academy applicants who have already passed their dueling exam, please report to registration," a voice on a loudspeaker called out. "For those who have failed, better luck next year."
"And have fun at Duel Monsters Community College," a man with yellow hair thought as he responded to the message.
Meanwhile, most of the Mane 6 had finished and passed their dueling exams. Now, they were sitting down in the stands waiting for Rainbow Dash to arrive and take her duel exam. She had slept in, and was taking a long time to get to the arena. In fact, the remaining five were starting to get worried that Rainbow Dash wouldn't make it in time.
"Last call for all Academy applicants. If you have not signed in for your exam, please do so now," a voice on a loudspeaker said, which made it outside.
"Well ladies, that's it. Mark all the no shows no shows," a man in charge of signing students in said to two ladies in white and orange.
"Wait! You can count Jaden Yuki as present! At least, so long as I can keep my grip," Jaden said, holding onto the side bar on top of the railing.
"Same here! Rainbow Dash can also be counted as present!" Rainbow Dash said as she climbed up next to Jaden.
The two proceeded to climb over the railing and started to enter into the arena
"Sweet! So, Rainbow Dash, you're going to take your duel exam too?" Jaden asked.
"Um, no duh. Everyone is here for that," Rainbow Dash responded.
"So, you mind telling me what your duel style is?" Jaden was curious.
"I duel with a lot of power-based cards, of course!" Rainbow Dash answered.
"Sweet. As for me, I duel with a bunch of my favorite Elemental Heroes. Sweet, huh?" Jaden said.
"Sounds cool. Hey, it looks like we got here just in time to see a duel," Rainbow Dash said as the duo approached a kid with glasses, wearing blue, and having blue hair.
In the arena, a young teen wearing white clothes was dueling one of the proctors who had two monsters in defense mode, Big Shield Gardna and Gear Golem the Moving Fortress. The proctor had 1900 Life Points remaining while the teen had 3200 Life Points and was controlling
Vorse Raider and one facedown card.
Proctor
1900
Bastion Misawa
3200
The proctor then said, "All right, new guy. You have two monsters staring you down from my defensive deck. What do you plan to do in order to fight back against this? You can't exactly lower my Life Points with these monsters protecting me,"
"Simple. I play a trap card named Ring of Destruction. With this card, I can destroy a monster on the field and inflict damage to both of our Life Points equal to said monster's attack points," the teen said as the ring appeared down his Vorse Raider's neck. Said monster blew up, inflicting 1900 Life Points of damage to both players, with the teen's being reduced to 1300 and the proctor's to 0.
"Clever move. Welcome to the Academy," the proctor congratulated the teen.
"Thank you, oh wise proctor," the teen thanked the proctor with a bow.
"Wow. That kid sure is good, dontcha think so Chazz?" one kid in blue and with blue hair asked a friend of his.
"Guess the rumors of him being some sort of whizz kid were true, huh Chazz?" another kid with black hair asked.
"He's a punk. We've gone to prep school for the last three years. We're ready for the Academy," Chazz said. "These kids don't know what they are getting into, but they'll learn the hard way. The Chazz Princeton way.
Back with Jaden and Rainbow Dash, the duo were surprised at seeing Bastion handily defeat his opponent.
"Man, that last guy really tore it up," Jaden said.
"I know, right? Say, who do you think he is anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Bastion Misawa. They say he got the highest score on the written exam out of all us applicants. Well, him and some girl named Twilight Sparkle," the blue haired kid answered.
"Well, it's great to see that Twilight's egg headedness came in handy. As for me, I barely passed," Rainbow Dash responded.
'Wow. Those two sound like real brainiacs. I just barely passed as well," Jaden revealed.
"Me too. It's nice to meet you two. My name's Syrus by the way. I kinda have a thing about test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match," Syrus revealed.
"So you're in!" Jaden congratulated, slapping Syrus on the back. "I'll be in too, just as soon as I win my Duel."
"Make that the two of us," Rainbow Dash remarked confidently.
"Wait, you two haven't dueled yet? Well, then you two might have a problem. I think this was supposed to be the last one," Syrus explained to the duo, who were both taken aback by the news.
Meanwhile, where the teachers were, they were looking over the results of the dueling exams. "Looks we have a pretty good crop this year," one of the proctors said.
"Yes indeedy," another proctor answered.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Crowler, but two more applicants have just arrived to take their duel exams," the man from outside said to a man with yellow hair and a blue suit.
"Did you just call me Mister?" Crowler asked irritably.
"Sorry. I am new here Mrs." the man apologized.
"I have a PhD in dueling. I've earned the title Dr. thank you. Now, tell the truants that they'll have to come in next year, thank you," Crowler rudely responded.
"Come on Dr. Crowler. We have time for two more," one of the proctors pleaded with the doctor.
"Yeah, they were just a bit late. In fact, one of them is only late because their train was delayed," another proctor argued.
"Late is rude!" Crowler yelled out. "I have no time for slackers," Crowler growled as his phone suddenly started to ring. "Yes? Who might this be?"
"It's Sheppard," the man on the other end answered.
Crowler's tone immediately relaxed, "Oh, it's Chancellor Sheppard."
"Just calling in about the two late students. Now, I know that the two of them don't exactly have the highest written scores, but they are still students looking to learn, which is what our Academy is all about; bringing out the best in its students. Now, please tell me that you will give these two a fair shot," the Chancellor explained.
"Oh, don't worry I will," Crowler then hung up the phone, frustrated with what he had been told. The school was made to help bring out the talent in its duelists, true. But did they really have to give the same chance to these obvious dropouts? While Crowler did have to follow orders and give them a chance, that didn't mean that he had to pass them automatically. "Pardon me, gentlemen. I'll be right back. I'm to duel these two truants myself."
"Hold on, sir," one of the proctors interrupted. "What about the dueling deck to be used?"
"I don't need one of the test decks. I'll be using my own, thank you," Crowler responded.
Back in the stands, Bastion was sitting down in the row below Jaden, Rainbow, and Syrus. "Tight duel, Bastion," Jaden said to the young genius, much to his initial confusion.
"Thank you," Bastion accepted the compliment.
"From the looks of it, you might just be the second best duelist here," Jaden said, much to the rest of the group's confusion and surprise.
"Jaden Yuki, please report to duel field four," said a voice on the loudspeaker.
"Aw yeah. Go time. Wish me luck guys," Jaden said.
As Jaden was walking down the steps, he was interrupted by Bastion. "Wait, if I am the second best duelist who's first?"
"That would be me. It's what I'm best at," Jaden boasted.
"Make that the third best, Bastion. Don't forget about me," Rainbow Dash boasted.
"Wow. He seems so sure of himself. I wonder if he is really that good," Syrus was amazed.
"He's going to need to be. Look who he is facing," Bastion warned.
Down at the duel arena, two of the same ladies in white and orange from earlier were helping Dr. Crowler put on this special duel disk. Jaden, meanwhile, was entering the room from an elevator right on his side of the field. "So, son. Your name?"
"Uh, Jaden. Jaden Yuki," Jaden answered as he faced Crowler.
"Well "Uh Jaden Yuki," I'm Dr. Veillian Crowler. Department Chair for Techniques at Duel Academy".
"Wow, well let me tell you it is an honor to meet and duel you, sir," Jaden responded to the teacher. "You must be expecting a lot out of me to duel me yourself. Just know that I won't let you down." Crowler, meanwhile, was frustrated and confused with the boy's attitude.
"Wow, this kid must be quite talented if Crowler himself is dueling him," the blue haired kid that was friends with Chazz said.
"Yeah, what do you think, Chazz?" his other friend asked Chazz. Chazz on the other hand was seething in anger, upset with Jaden both for being apparently above him and for his overall attitude.
"Duel vest on," Crowler said as five cards popped out and he put them into his hand.
"Nice duel vest. Where can I get one of those cool looking blue duel blazers?" Jaden asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, a lot of hard work and extremely high marks," Crowler responded. He then thought to himself. "Of course a dropout boy like you shouldn't concern yourself with that, seeing as how you won't be here for very long at all."
"Well, I'm ready to duel!" Jaden called out.
"Let's duel!" both Crowler and Jaden called out at the same time.
"Here goes!" Jaden yelled as he drew a card. He just drew Elemental Hero Avian, which was the only monster card available in his hand. "Sweet. I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!" The Hero, wearing green and with claws and talons, was summoned to Jaden's side of the field (1000/1000). "I'll also throw down a facedown. Your move. Get your game on!" Jaden said as he finished his turn.
"Very good. Very good. Don't tell me what to do," Crowler grumbled to himself, irritated at how this dropout boy was trying to tell him what to do. He could tell that Jaden was using an Elemental Hero deck, which could mean that the kid was somewhat of a small-town Hero of sorts. However, Crowler planned to show Jaden how much wider the world can be by beating him in a duel with his own personal deck. "Okay, for my first move I'll play the spell card Confiscation."
"Okay. So whats it do?" Jaden asked the teacher.
"By paying 1000 Life Points, it allows me to take a look at your hand and send one of your cards for the graveyard," After looking over Jaden's cards, Crowler said, "Wow, looking at these cards I can tell that this truly is a dropout boy's deck."
"Why is he criticizing the deck that I put so much work into making like this?" Jaden wondered.
Crowler
3000
Jaden Yuki
4000
Back in the stands, Rainbow Dash was fuming. How could Crowler criticize Jaden's deck like this. He barely even got to see what his deck could do yet.
Similarly, Twilight and her friends were also not pleased. Sure they didn't get to know Jaden like Rainbow Dash did, but that still didn't mean that the teacher should be allowed to bully another student.
"I'll send Monster Reborn to the graveyard," Crowler decided as he sent the card to the graveyard. "Next, I'll play two cards facedown on the field. And last, but not least, I'll play Heavy Storm, which destroys all the spell and trap cards on the field." At this, all the spell and trap cards on both sides of the field were destroyed by a powerful gust of wind.
"Ooopsie. Didn't you forget that you had two trap cards on the field yourself?" Jaden quipped.
Crowler chuckled to himself before saying, "Now, now, you shouldn't talk out of turn young scholar."
"What's happening?" Jaden asked Crowler.
"Oh, nothing's happening. Not yet anyway," Crowler responded as two Wicked Tokens suddenly appeared on the field.
"Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" Syrus was confused by what had occurred.
"Same here. I may know more about this game than I have before, but i still don't know every trick there is," Rainbow Dash was curious.
"The trap card that Crowler played was Statue of the Wicked, two at that. It allows for the user to summon a vicious token when destroyed. That is why he played Heavy Storm," Bastion Misawa explained to the confused duo.
"So, in other words, he can now tribute summon a powerful monster on his first turn," Rainbow Dash realized.
"Correct," Bastion confirmed.
Back with Chazz and his friends.
"Whoa, a card that strong couldn't be in one of the test decks. Crowler must be using his own," the blue haired teen said.
"Yeah, there is no way that an applicant could beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler," the dark haired teen said.
"Yeah, what do you think Chazz?"
"I think that our little friend isn't so special after all. In fact, I'm going to enjoy watching him lose," Chazz answered.
"What an elitist snob, bullying some amateur with his very best cards," a girl with blonde hair and wearing a white and blue outfit said to her friend.
"You're too soft, Alexis. Let's just hope that we get to see that legendary rare monster that Crowler has stashed away in that deck of his," another older teen, named Zane, said to Alexis.
"Are you ready for your next lesson?" Crowler asked from Jaden.
"Are you kidding? I can't remember the last time that learning was this much fun!" Jaden announced.
"Well I am just that good of a teacher," Crowler grumbled. "Now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens in order to summon my Ancient Gear Golem!" said golem, which was made up of many gears and scrap pieces rose onto the field (3000/3000).
Everyone was in awe upon seeing the rare golem. "There it is. The legendary Ancient Gear Golem," Alexis said in awe.
"And from the looks of it, we are about to see what makes it so legendary," Zane added on.
"Ancient Gear Golem? What's that?" Rarity asked her friends.
"It's a legendary and rare card that is the headliner of the Ancient Gear archetype. Not many of them were put into circulation," Twilight explained.
"Now, now. I hope you aren't too scared of my Ancient Gear Golem," Crowler falsely comforted.
"Are you kidding? I always wanted to take one on. I'm just surprised that you got it out so quickly," Jaden said.
This statement shocked everyone in the stands. "Either Jaden is brave or he's nuts," Syrus said in shock.
"He's staring down that legendary monster like he doesn't have a care in the world. Which is surprising considering that Crowler usually wins after playing that card. I guess the youth and inexperience have their benefits after all, huh Alexis?" Zane said, impressed by Jaden's spirit.
"Aw, come on Zane. Give it a rest. At least he's showing some backbone. Still, it's a bit sad that the kid might not even get into Duel Academy after all," Alexis defended sadly.
"Now, my golem, attack! Mechanized Melee!" Crowler called out. The golem proceeded to punch out Elemental Hero Avian.
"Aw, man. Jaden's monster didn't stand a chance. His defense points were way too low. This doesn't look good," Syrus was worried.
"And it's about to look even worse," Bastion interrupted. "You see, when Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode the difference between the golem's attack points and the other monster's defense points get dealt to the opponent as damage."
"Then that would mean… Jaden's Life Points are going to take a hit!" Syrus realized.
Crowler
3000
Jaden Yuki
2000
Jaden, upon getting hit by the golem's fist and losing 2000 Life Points proceeded to crouch over slightly. "Don't feel bad. This is the top dueling school in the country. Some people simply aren't cut out for-for-," Crowler was saying, believing that he broke Jaden's spirit. However, the truth was Jaden wasn't crying, he was laughing.
"Boy, I really want to get into this school now, teach. You really are giving this duel your all," Jaden was impressed.
Crowler then thought to himself, "I'm only trying so hard so that you dropout will not be getting into this school. I will not let you make a mockery of me, the school, or my deck any longer!"
Jaden, meanwhile, was thinking to himself, "Doing great so far. Now is when I truly give it my all and show what I can do." As Jaden prepared to draw his next card, he heard a coo come from his dueling deck. "Huh? What was that?" Jaden drew his card, which turned out to be Winged Kuriboh. Thinking about what Yugi had told him earlier, he decided to put his trust in Winged Kuriboh and summon him. Jaden then said aloud, "Okay, I'll be summoning Winged Kuriboh in defense mode and place one card facedown. Pretty cool, huh Crowler?"
"Yes, while Winged Kuriboh is a rare card, it is still only a low level monster. My Ancient Gear Golem will still inflict piercing damage to it when I attack. Though, I suppose such a small-fry monster would fit a small-fry duelist like you." Crowler drew his next card. "Alright, Ancient Gear Golem, attack with Mechanized Melee!"
Ancient Gear Golem proceeded to attack Winged Kuriboh, with all that remained afterward being sparkles. "Sorry, Winged Kuriboh," Jaden apologized.
"Huh, what's going on? Why are your Life Points not going down?" Crowler was confused.
"Well, you see, that's the effect of Winged Kuriboh. On the turn he's destroyed I take zero damage," Jaden explained.
"Wow, what do you know? An effect that the good doctor didn't know," Alexis was intrigued.
"Well, there are some places that even the professors can't reach and effects they can't know. In that way, I suppose the dueling world is boundless," Zane explained to Alexis.
"Well, it was an effect that that kid knew then," Alexis said, impressed with Jaden.
As Jaden placed Winged Kuriboh in his graveyard, Crowler said, "Well, I guess your lame little monster saved you there."
"Hey, hold on! Just because you beat him doesn't give you the right to call him lame," Jaden protested.
"Oh, right. I apologize. I forget how attached you new duelists get with your cards," Crowler mock apologized.
"Well, you should be because Winged Kuriboh's cry for help will be heard thanks to my trap card Hero Signal!" Jaden yelled as he played his trap card. "With this card, I can summon my second Elemental Hero. Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" With this, a red flame burst onto the field, forming to create said Elemental Hero, a lady wearing red spandex (1200/800). "It's my turn now!" Jaden said as he drew a card, which turned out to be Skyscraper. "All right, Winged Kuriboh. This next one is going to be for you. Here goes nothing. I play the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive in order to return Elemental Hero Avian to my hand. Next, I'll summon him back to the field."
After Avian returned to the field, Crowler was confused and confident. "So what? Those two are only Normal Monster cards playing Heroes. What good can they do?" Crowler responded.
"Well you see I know they aren't that good on their own, but when combined, they form a monster of much greater strength. Which is what I am going to summon now with Polymerization! Which I will use to create my favorite card, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)! Now, we really are about to have a clash of the titans!" Jaden said, with his spirits rising high. "So, Crowler. What do you think?"
"Well, I think you are dueling quite well, for an amateur. But next time, try playing a card with more attack points than what is already out on the field," Crowler responded to Jaden's confidence.
"What does he mean?" Syrus asked Bastion.
"He means that the Wingman's attack power is no match for the Gear Golem's 3000. Shame too, because when the Wingman destroys a monster in battle, the attack points of the destroyed monster is dealt to the opponent's Life Points as damage," Bastion explained.
"Wow! That sounds like a great effect to have! So Awesome!" Rainbow Dash cried out.
"I know! That would have been a great way for Jaden to turn things around," Syrus said.
"Well, if your guy's friend is as good as he says he is he may just find a way to turn things around," Bastion gave hope to the two.
"Wow. Did we really seem like friends?" Syrus asked, not being used to having friends.
"Now young scholar, I am a busy man and I don't mean to rush you, but I have more work to do including one more duel after this. So if you're not done yet I suppose you get a move on," Crowler tried to hurry Jaden up.
"Of course I'm not done yet! And I knew that my Flame Wingman was weaker than your Golem's. That's why I'm going to play this. Skyscraper!" Jaden revealed as, to Crowler's shock, several buildings formed all across the field, with Flame Wingman standing atop the tallest building, being silhouetted by the moon. "Okay, Flame Wingman, go show those heroics and attack that Ancient Gear Golem!"
"Okay then, bring him on. Your silly little Skyscraper field spell hasn't dropped my Gear Golem's attack power by a single point," Crowler said over confidently as Flame Wingman flew towards his monster.
"You know what? You're right. My field spell hasn't lowered your monster's attack points. What is has actually done is increase my monster's attack points by a grand total of 1000!" Jasden revealed.
Crowler's confidence quickly fell into panic. "Wait! Time-out!"
"Now, attack with Skydive Scorcher!" E-Hero Flame Wingman's attack power went up from 2100 to 3100. He proceeded to attack and destroy Ancient Gear Golem, much to the shock of everyone present.
Crowler
2900
Jaden Yuki
2000
Crowler was in horror as his monster was falling apart around him. "No! This can't be happening! He was my very best card!"
"And, thanks to his special ability, the attack points of your Golem are dealt straight to your Life Points as damage. Sweet, huh?" Jaden said. At this, Crowler's Golem proceeded to fall over onto Crowler, lowering his Life Points from 2900 to 0. "That's game! So, I guess I passed, huh teach?"
"No way! This can't be happening! There is no way I could have lost to a dropout boy," Crowler was saying to himself.
Chazz, meanwhile, was equally as shocked as Crowler. "There's no way an examinee could have lost to Crowler. It must have been dumb luck, that's all!"
Alexis, meanwhile, was impressed. "Wow, that kid has a future here, huh Zane?" To Alexis's confusion, Zane responded by simply walking away, not having an opinion either way on Jaden Yuki.
Syrus and Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, were happy to see their new friend win. "Yes! I knew it! I knew he had it in him to win!" Rainbow Dash was cheering loudly.
Bastion, meanwhile, was thinking to himself, "I guess I can use some competition."
"I made it! I made it in!" Jaden was cheering to the crowd. "We're both in." Jaden said to Winged Kuriboh. "And from now on, we're going to be partners." After Jaden said this, Winged Kuriboh winked at Jaden.
"Grr.. Well, at least I can fail one dropout today," Crowler figured that he could defeat his other opponent. "Bring me the other student."
"So, Dr. Crowler, all I have to do is beat you and I get into the Academy?" Rainbow Dash was making sure. "If so, prepare to lose again because I will get into Duel Academy. You'll see.
"Hmm.. that is assuming that you do defeat me. I don't plan on losing again today.
"Well, then. Let's duel!" Rainbow Dash and Crowler said at the same time.
"I'll start this off," Crowler said. "And I'll play two cards facedown. Next, I play Heavy Storm! This card will destroy both of my facedowns." At this, two Wicked Tokens were summoned to Crowler's field. "Next, I play the spell card Double Summon. This card lets me normal summon twice in one turn. First, I summon Ancient Gear Soldier to the field in defense mode." A soldier made of scrap metal and gears was summoned, crouching down on one knee(1300/1300). "Lastly, I'll tribute both of my tokens in order to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" Once again, a giant made of scrap and gears (3000/3000). "That will be it for my turn."
"That all? Please. I can defeat your monsters in no time flat. My turn!" Rainbow Dash said full of confidence. "And I'll start my turn by playing Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards. And, my hand is looking good."
"You must be joking," Crowler said in vain, not wanting to lose again.
"Well, you think wrong. I now special summon Vice Dragon from my hand!" a purple dragon was summoned onto the field (2000/2400). "You see, I can special summon this beast from my hand if you control a monster and I don't. Of course, summoning him this way cuts his strength in half (1000/1200). Next, I summon Dark Resonator in attack mode." A strange fiend was summoned onto Rainbow's field (1300/300).
"So, any reason you summoned these two monsters or are you just messing with me?" Crowler asked, seeing as how weak both of Rainbow's monsters were.
"Oh, there is more to my move. I now tune my Dark Resonator with my Vice Dragon in order to Synchro Summon Red Dragon Archfiend!" Everyone but the Mane 5 and Spike were immediately shocked. Most people had heard of the unique new summoning method, but to actually see a student summon a Synchro monster was unheard of. The mighty dragon was summoned onto Rainbow's field in attack mode (3000/2000).
"A Synchro Monster?!" Crowler was completely shocked.
"Any last words before I win?"
"How about a nice try, but no dice! Our monster's attack points are equal. There is no way you can stop me," Crowler gloated.
"Hmm. I thought you'd say that. That is why I also have this. Block Attack. Which I will use to switch your monster into defense mode." The mighty golem suddenly started to crouch on one knee. "And next, I'll activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Vice Dragon, now at full strength (2000/2400). Now, Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Ancient Gear Soldier!" the mighty dragon attacked and destroyed the soldier, which to everyone's shock, also destroyed Ancient Gear Golem as well.
"Wait, what happened?! Where is my Ancient Gear Golem?!"
"Surprised? I guess you should be. You see, when the Red Dragon Archfiend destroys a defense position, it can destroy all monsters on the opponent's field in defense mode. But I'm not done yet. Next I activate Trap Booster, discarding one card in order to play this trap, Lineage of Destruction! By playing this card, I can allow my Red Dragon Archfiend to attack you once again this turn."
"Wait, stop!" Crowler cried out.
"Red Dragon Archfiend, attack with Absolute Powerforce!" the dragon attacked Crowler directly, reducing his Life Points from 4000 to 1000.
Crowler
1000
Rainbow Dash
4000
"And I'm not done yet! Vice Dragon, attack Crowler directly!" Vice Dragon sliced at Crowler, reducing his Life Points to 0. "Well, looks like I win!" Rainbow Dash cheered loudly as she went to look for her friends, which all embraced her in a hug when she found them.
"Congratulations, Rainbow Dash. You're in the Academy!" Twilight congratulated her friend.
"How do you feel?" Fluttershy asked her.
"I feel great!" Rainbow Dash said as she looked towards Jaden and Syrus, hoping that she would see more from her two new friends while at Duel Academy.