Here it is, the next chapter! If you've watched the Yu-Gi-Oh GX series, then a lot of this is going to be very familiar, but the characters need to get to know each other for the rest of the story to happen. So read on!

The Past Part I: Jaden Yuki

"What do you mean by 'wild ride'?" Yusei asked. Jaden grinned wider at his roommate's confused expression.

"You'll see," Jaden said while smirking. "I guess the best place to start would be at the beginning.

"I grew up in a small city, not too far from Tokyo. It was just me and my parents; I grew up as your typical kid. I had friends, I went to school, and lived the basic life of a basic kid. And like any other kid, I enjoyed Duel Monsters.

"I guess my life began changing when I was 15. I had really gotten into dueling by then. I had even saved up enough money and had bought my own duel disk. I began entering amateur tournaments, some just for fun and others to practice. I was training; I wanted to be a professional duelist. Then the time came, the auditions for Duel Academy."

"I'm assuming that Duel Academy is a school for duelists," Yusei stated.

Jaden nodded. "You would be correct, but they don't just let anybody in. There's a huge entrance exam you have to take first.

"So where was I? Oh, yeah, exam day! See before we can actually take the exam, every applicant must submit an essay on dueling. It can be anything from why you love dueling to why you believe that Exodia should have been considered amongst the Egyptian God cards. The possibilities are limitless, just as long as the essay is well thought out and organized. I'm actually amazed that mine made the cut; I'm not the best at essays. But once your essay passes, it's still not a guarantee that you're in.

"See, after the essay comes the real test. Once an essay's been passed, the duelist who wrote it has to attend the DA exam day that is closest to them. During exam days, all applicants whose essays were accepted have to duel one of the Academy's Prompters. You win the duel, you're in; you lose, you better hope that your essay for the next year makes the cut. Fortunately, I won mine. I was really a lucky dog; instead of dueling a prompter, I had to duel Doctor Crowler. Crowler was one of the professors for the Obelisk Blue kids, and he's a very skilled dueler. But I beat him, to the amazement of everyone, myself included even if I didn't show it."

"Hold on a sec," Yusei said. "You said something about Obelisk. Does that refer to the Legendary Egyptian God Card, Obelisk the Tormentor? And what do you mean by 'Obelisk Blue kids'?"

Jaden held up his hands. "Whoa there, Yus. I'm getting there, just hang on." Yusei nodded and leaned back in his chair. And I thought I was the curious one, Jaden thought.

"After entrance exams are done, the new students are ranked and placed in dorms. Your rank represents how good of a duelist you're supposed to be. There are three different ranks, Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Slifer Red. Yes, the three ranks are named after the three Egyptian Gods, so you were right about Obelisk. Speaking of Obelisk, the Obelisk Blues are at the top of the food chain at DA. A lot of the first years that are placed in Obelisk come from previous dueling schools, though not as prestigious; everyone else just has to work their way up. The Obelisks have everything from great food to dorms that are like five-star hotels.

"The Ra Yellows are next in line. First year Ras are either duelists who scored high on their exams or they come from duel schools like the Obelisks, but they didn't do as well. If I remember right, most students end up as a Ra. I never did, but I'm fine with that. But the Ras had more moderate dorms. Don't get me wrong, their food was still good and their dorms were still pretty nice, but they weren't as nice as the Obelisks'

"The Slifer Reds are the last ones. I was a Slifer back at DA. So was my friend Syrus, but he eventually worked his way up to an Obelisk. He's a really good duelist and my best friend, but I haven't seen him in a couple of years. Anyway, Slifers are considered by some to be the scum of the school. We're kinda like the nerdy kids in a normal school, the ones that half the school picks on. Sure I had friends in Ra and Obelisk, but I wasn't their equal, technically speaking. The Slifer food and dorms are definitely the worst. We're shoved into triple bunk beds and honestly, the food is like a school cafeteria's, blech. But, I'm proud to be a Slifer, it's part of who I am." Jaden fingered the edge of his jacket subconsciously.

"Is that jacket from your school days?" Yusei asked.

"Yeah," Jaden said, nodding. "I never could bring myself to get rid of it. Too many good memories, I guess."

"I understand that," Yusei said. "I feel the same about mine."

Jaden grinned. "I bet you've never saved the world in yours."

"You wanna bet?"

"Oh yeah. I didn't just attend DA. Me and my friends fought evil back during our school days."

"Oh really?"

"You bet! We battled all kinds of evil-doers, including the Shadow Riders and the Society of Light. If it wasn't stopping someone from bringing back the creatures of the Shadow Games, it was trying to keep our world in this dimension. It was a lot for a bunch of high school kids, but we did it. But I had a bunch of other experiences during my time at DA too."

"Like what?"

"Well, on the day of the exams, I was running late. That was pretty typical for me back then, I had a hard time being on time for anything. In my rush, I bumped into this guy on the street. My duel disk and cards spilled out of my bag and I ended up on my butt. I apologized and began picking all of my stuff up. Then the guy handed me a card and said 'Here. Something just tells me it belongs with you'. I barely missed seeing his face, but you'll never believe who it was!"

"I've seen a lot in my time," Yusei said. "Try me."

Jaden shrugged. "Alright then. Yugi Muto, the King of Games!" Jaden laughed as Yusei's eyes widened.

"You've actually met him?"

"I've done more than met him, Yus," Jaden said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "I've dueled him."

"Really? That must have been some experience," Yusei commented. "So who won?"

"Now that is something that I won't reveal," Jaden said, waggling his pointer finger. Then he came back to being serious and looked Yusei in the eye. "But I will say that that duel reminded me why I fell in love with dueling to begin with. It changed me and helped make me who I am today."

The two sat in silence for a while. I'd forgotten what is was like to have fun while dueling. All of those problems we faced made me too serious. I'm still grateful to Yugi for reminiding me, Jaden thought.

"I see what you meant by saying your past was a wild ride," Yusei said, snapping Jaden from his thoughts.

Jaden nodded. "I told you. Now, what about you? Why'd you become a turbo-duelist? Where'd you get that tattoo? When'd you-"

"Hey, easy with the questions!" Yusei said, slamming his hand over Jaden's mouth. "I'll explain, give me a minute. But I'm going to warn you, my past is just as crazy as yours, but it won't be as pleasant."

So, there's that. The next chapter's going to be very similar, just Yusei's past. I'm going to do a Yugi one too, but it'll be my own creation, not stuff from the series. Two more chapters then DuelCon, the convention, will begin! But until then, review please!