End Flashback: Eight Years later: Location: Unknown Regions: Unknown Planet: Domino City: Kame Game Shop: Jaden's room:
Jaden woke up with a gasp, sweating and panting in her warm safe bed. She is now fifteen years old. It had been eight years since that day but still she had nightmares about it. Jaden sighed to herself as she took a moment to came down before climbing out of her bed slowly, stumbling to her small bathroom to splash some cold water onto her face to wake up properly. However, when she looked up into the mirror, she sighed softly at the sight. Her eyes were red and bloodshot and there were dark bags under them.
Jaden looked away, shaking her head slowly before she grabbed her towel and headed to the shower. Afterward finishing up, she shook her head to dry it off and smiled sadly as she grabbed her hairbrush and tugged it through her short brown hair quickly. She sighed to herself and her gaze flicked to the reflection of her Millennium Armband in the mirror. The Armband are golden like all of the other Millennium Items, but this one covered much of her upper arm and had the Eye of Wdjat dead center on it. At the edges were lines of Egyptian hieroglyphics that read 'By the power of the Gentle Darkness, the light of Ruination will never rule. In this armband, exists the King with the power to control Spirits. Only one worthy can call on the power of the Supreme King. This power hidden within can only be summoned by the one who commands spirits and only he can use them to save the world and fight the ways of Chaos.'
Jaden turned around quickly from the mirror, since thinking about the Millennium items always made her think about her Dad…And the promise she had made to herself after he disappeared. She would find him. She'd find him and bring him home, no matter where he was, even if he was trapped in the Shadow Realm and at any and all costs, even if she had to sacrifice herself to do it. Jaden shook her head sadly to get rid of those thoughts as she walked back into her bedroom and quickly got dressed. As she was pulling on a pair of jeans and a black shirt underneath a very dark blue jacket with a black outline, her thoughts turned back to her Millennium item, as much as she hated it.
There were also some shadow spells written out on the Millennium Armband, but she would only use them if and when she had to. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts again, Jaden grabbed her duel disk, strapped onto her arm and then her decks. With one final check over to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything, Jaden darted down the stairs and ran out the door. Luckily it was still early so there wasn't a crowd at her family's card shack, so she didn't have to watch out for any customers. As she was calling to tell her great-grandpa and mom that she was leaving, she was also tugging on her shoes before she walked out of the door and then making her way to the Kaiba Dome, but since she was on time, even without setting her alarm clock, she was in no hurry.
As she walked on the street, her newly made duel disk on her arm was making her get a couple of strange stares from people, as most hadn't seen the new duel disk. Most people were still on the academy issued X-100, but Jaden had the newly made XC-450, which is designed to look like the right arm of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman with the center of the duel disk looking like a dragon's head with the 'mouth' keeping the deck in place. When it was activated, it looked like an ancient Egyptian DiaDhank. It was a gift from her Uncle Seto for her last birthday. Her deck was in her deck pack on her belt. Although the God cards which her mother had given to her after she had found in her bedroom that she shared with Yugi shortly after Yugi had disappeared, were in her jacket pocket because people would get suspicious if she used the God Cards.
"So, I see you're enjoying yourself," An amused voice said behind her. When she turned around she saw Seto Kaiba standing behind her with his arms crossed. He was wearing his usual outfit, which consists of a long white sleeveless Kaibacorp designed coat featuring shoulder pads and a raised studded collar with black sleeves from his shirt coming out from underneath. He has extra belts in pairs strapped round his upper arms and shins. He has brown hair and eyes.
"Well, you know how I get, Seto. A duel just gives me the biggest rush in the world." Jaden said with a smile on her face as Seto shook his head.
"So we all know," Seto said as he walked up to Jaden and gave her a subtle, but very large hug as he ruffled the girl's hair.
"So, what are you doing here and why aren't people crowing around you. I mean, you are Seto Kaiba, Uncle" Jaden asked innocently as Seto groaned at that question noticing that some people had noticed his presence, but were keeping their distance for their sakes. They had also noticed what Jaden had said and most had wide eyes. Jaden noticed it as well as she crossed her arms,
"Never mind," She muttered under her breath as Seto nodded.
"I'm here to make sure you're on time and I got this for you," he finished as he handed it to Jaden. Jaden took the package and opened it up to reveal a new Duel Monster card, a new Elemental Hero, styled to look like her.
"Good luck and make us proud, Jay," Seto said ruffling Jaden's hair and then leaving the shocked girl who was looking at the card with a smile on her face as she added it with the others in her jacket pocket. She would only use it when she had to since its ability was so strong. With that, she looked around for Seto who had vanished as if he wasn't there to begin with.
Sweat faulting as she thought, I have to learn that someday, though I wonder how he does that in the first place. Does it come with being a pro or…something? With that, she turned around and continued on towards the Kaiba dome. She would have to take the written part of the test which was one of the reasons why she was early.
Jaden was incredibly bored when she was taking her exam. Hell, if it wasn't for her godforsaken pride, she would not have taken this exam in the first place, but she didn't work like that. She would get accepted into this school on her own merit, even if it was Mokuba that had created the written exam this year. He should be very proud with its capabilities since already half the people who were taking it left, without handing it in which counted as a drop out. So here she was, waiting for the minimum time to go off so she could leave and get in line to get her practical exam over with.
It was quite simple how the grading worked. Good grades on the written exam meant a chance into Ra Yellow. Barely passing grades meant a chance into Slifer Red. Then when it came to the practical, failure for those with good grades meant Slifer Red, passing the practical meant Ra Yellow. Those with passing scores on the written that passed their practical exam were still in Slifer Red regardless however. The Obelisk Blue dorm was strange for the reason that all female duelists were placed into Obelisk Blue regardless of their skill, grades or connections.
Jaden didn't want to be an Obelisk just because of her gender, so she wouldn't be an Obelisk Blue from the beginning. For the male duelists and with how her Uncle Seto put it, it was good grades from the middle schools and the skill to be at the top or they had the connections to get in. Jaden had asked her Uncle why he let people just buy their way into Obelisk Blue. The answer was...
"They have cash, so let them buy their way in. They're missing a valuable lesson they're never going to be able to buy anyway." Of course it had taken Jaden a little while to comprehend what her Uncle meant by that, but after asking Mokuba and looking into her Uncle Seto's past, she understood. Seto Kaiba grew up with nothing and every achievement he ever had was done by his own tears, sweat and blood, whether it be tricking Gozaburo Kaiba into a chess game or taking over Kaibacorp or helping her father save the world. Jaden had to force a sob down at that thought as she was remembered of her father; but that thought only fueled her desire to find him by her own means just like her Uncle Seto had accomplished his goals by himself.
It was he who had done it, not his parents or anyone else. That is what Jaden was aiming at, a hard earned Obelisk Blue and to get there by her own merit, not by her father's name, not by her father, not by her godfathers, just what she could do and that's it. She had to, if she ever hoped to save her father and bring him back, wherever he is.
"Alright, you may leave if you're done," The proctor said suddenly shocking Jaden out of her dark thoughts. As soon as the proctor had said that, Jaden was up as was another boy two rows in front of her. The two of them handed in their tests and left the room, much to the disbelief of a couple of the other applicants who couldn't believe that someone could finish the test so fast.
Once Jaden got outside the room, she looked over at the other person that finished with faint interest. More so her Yami, who was looking at the boy hoping that like in the written exam, he would be a strong duelist. His black hair is nearly arranged with a large portion flushed back and slightly to his left, featuring different layers where the sloping changes direction. His skin seemed to be much tanner than everyone else's and his face is much more squared and regal. Great, another far too serious duelist, she thought sadly. The boy wore a white school uniform to a local public school.
"So you thought that test wasn't that bad either," The boy said and extended his hand to Jaden as he introduced himself, "Bastion Misawa," Jaden took his hand and shook it as she said,
"Jaden and yeah the test wasn't too bad," Especially since Mokuba did create it with some of my help.
"Yeah, I practiced on a couple of older ones, but this one was…off. I guess it was slightly harder this year or something," Bastion commented. Jaden shrugged, but inside she was making a mental note to tell Mokuba that his test was a success. He should be very proud. She thought happily.
"So I've never seen you at school before. Do you go to a private school or are you from out of town?" Bastion asked as Jaden inwardly frowned at that so-called innocent question since it brought up some bad memories from her school life, but she was able to quickly force them down and answer his question.
"I went to Domino Elementary School for a few years, but after that it was mostly home schooled." Jaden said with a slight frown remember the bullies she had to deal with there.
"My mother, father, Godfathers, uncles, aunts, and godmother taught me." Jaden chuckled, "I guess you can say that I have a close family that helps each other in everything." She said as Bastion nodded. "Now I think it's time if I try going to school with other people, you know?" She asked. Bastion nodded at that.
"Yeah, I guess I'm sort of home schooled myself. My parents are both college professors so they teach me a lot," Bastion then chuckled to himself, "In fact I skipped a couple of grades."
"So I take it you're pretty smart," Jaden commented with a slight frown. There was such a thing as too smart for your own good, but Bastion just shrugged.
"Well, I would be lying if I didn't think so, so yeah," he said as the tow of them continued to walk until they reached the entrance to the stadium where they would be taking their practical exams. As they approached the door, there was a small ticket machine with the sign, 'take one and wait your turn' written on it. Seriously and no one to watch over it, Jaden thought making sure that she would tell Uncle Seto about this when she could. Bastion took his and got the number 25 and seemed pretty happy about it. Jaden was blessed with 165.
"Great," Jaden pouted out, "First one done with the test, last one to duel,"
Time Skip: Some hours later: Location: Unknown Regions: Unknown Planet: Domino City: Kaiba Dome: Stadium Seats:
"Well, that's a risky move and he sacrificed two of his own monsters and lost some life points to win. Still that was risky, but not bad, not bad at all," Jaden grinned, but then turned to the blue haired boy next to her.
"My name's Jaden and you are?" She asked lightly. The small blue haired boy smiled shyly,
"I'm Syrus," He told her. "It's nice to meet you," Jaden nodded as she turned her attention back to where the duels were commencing. Each passing duel came a new sense of adrenaline gone to waste as Jaden watched duel after duel after duel and after each one, her adrenaline would spike up and then drop. It was not a pleasant experience.
"Nice to meet you, too," Jaden said. "Most of the duels have been interesting to say the least." Syrus gave a small laugh,
"Yeah, it was a good duel. That was Bastion Misawa. I heard that he got the second highest score on the exam out of everyone," He told her as Jaden raised an eye-brow at that.
"Wow…I wonder what I got," She lied knowing that she got the top score, but Syrus just nodded.
"Me too, I kind of get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match," He stated looking down. Jaden smiled as she gently lifted his head up to look up at her.
"Chin up, Sy, at least you're already in. I'm number 165. I'm the last one to duel," She told him as she turned back to the duel field.
"Sy"
"What? Too short or too soon" Jaden asked as Syrus remained silent as Bastion came up the steps to sit down in front of them.
"Hey, that was a good duel," Jaden said leaning over the seat to speak to him.
"Thank you, Jaden," He said, but then turned slowly away to look back towards the duel field. He was still wondering about the rumors he had heard that he hadn't gotten the top scores on the written exam. Not knowing what Bastion was thinking, Jaden felt a bubble of annoyance from what he had done with she quickly suppressed before smirking,
"From the looks of it, you might be the second best duelist here," She drawled out perfectly relaxed as Bastion turned around, his eyes wide. Then a voice came over the loud speakers,
"Number 165, please go to duel area 5."
"Finally," She grinned bright winking at Syrus as she ruffled his hair before starting to head down the stairs. "Wish me luck, guys," She stated brightly only to be stopped by Bastion grabbing her arm.
"Hey, wait, if I'm the second best then who's the best?" He asked in confusion as Jaden grinned back at him.
"Me. I have been dueling since I was three and I have had this deck since I was five. I have never lost a duel," She admitted with a part of her tempted to tell them that she'd even beaten Seto Kaiba. Both boys' eyes widened in shock and Syrus stared at her with barely concealed awe.
"You're so confident," He stated softly as Jaden span around and darted down the steps jumping the last five and landing in a slight couch before jogging into the exam field.
Jaden was looking around at the technology, which wasn't as amazing as most would believe consider that face that she is Seto Kaiba's goddaughter, when an annoyingly gratin voice broke her train of thoughts by announcing, "Alright, test time," She span to face the man as he asked, "So, son, what's your name?"
"Jaden Mo…" Jaden froze for a second with her eyes going wide before she fixed her mistake. "Yuki," She finished. The man, who now that she was actually paying attention to him, was freaky since he was wearing a stupid blue jacket with pink frills around the collar. He had long blonde hair tied back and his lips were dark purple. "I believe that you must be my proctor. I honestly didn't expect a female instructor though," She said as everyone in the Kaiba dome gasped in bemused shock.
"I AM NOT A WOMAN! My name is Dr. Vellian Crowler, a member of the Dual Academy Board, the department chair of techniques and I have a PhD in Duel Physics," Jaden cocked her head to the side and shrugged,
"Hmm, you're right. A mistake on your fashion statement and looks, I'm afraid. I honestly thought you were the school's strange mascot for a minute there since with how everyone talks about you being a clown, I wouldn't have imagined." She said making the doctor angrier and getting a loud round of laughter from the rest of the spectators, other than Syrus and Bastion.
In the stands, one spiky black-haired boy watched as Dr. Crowler got humiliated, but he wasn't laughing like his two baboons of friend were. This boy was Chazz Princeton, in all of his self-righteous arrogance, who was leaning against several of the stadium seats as if to create a sort of throne only for himself.
Although his friends kept on making sly comments about the boy and Crowler, he prided himself on knowing who to friend and who not to make friends with. He was keeping quiet, even as they continued to laugh and make comments. He was above them. After all, he had these two baboons as friends, making it much easier for him to establish his authority. At school, in the city and now at Duel Academy, Chazz mentally smirked at that, but it quickly vanished as he was looking at the boy. Number 165, He thought as he could tell this was not someone anyone wanted to cross, but why?
He didn't look like much, but there was something to him, something that Chazz had felt when he was in the presence of Zane or his brothers. A certain aura he projected almost screaming of uncontrollable power, unquestionable authority and charisma only found in those in Obelisk Blue and only among the best of them. Chazz mentally frowned, there was something more to this duelist then met the eye and he would be paying extra attention to his duel against Crowler to see if there was something more to this duelist or it was nothing, which it probably is.
Crowler was sneering at the duelist in front of him. The best this kid would be at the Academy was a Ra Yellow and he didn't have time to deal with Ra Yellows now. He had Zane Truesdale, the current Kaiser of Obelisk Blue and number one student at Duel Academy, Chazz Princeton, the top male student at Dueling Prep school and youngest brother of the Princeton boys, Alexis Rhodes and the top student overall in dueling prep school. He certainly had his hands full at the moment, but now he had to duel some new recruit and he was far from happy. What could this boy possible award him in the end? After all, he looked to help students who success would help him in the end. He could care less about all the other slackers.
As he watched duelist number 165 take his stance across from him, he got this strange feeling around him. It certainly wasn't the clothes. He looked like some common teenage. It wasn't the expression on his face, all excited and determined. God, he just hated that in slackers. No, it was a certain aura he projected almost screaming uncontrollable power, unquestionable authority and charisma only found in Atticus Rhodes. Crowler just scoffed at what he was thinking. No, this boy was just some boy, nothing special.
"Enough, you will learn to respect me right here and now! It's a shame that such intellect is wasted in a disrespectful brat. Even with the fact you got the highest test score, you're truly fit in the useless Slifer reds."
Syrus and Bastion were shocked, both going as far as to nearly face-fault when they heard what Crowler had said. However, they weren't alone as everyone else was in the Kaiba Dome had acted in similar manners as they all looked down at Jaden, wide-eyed.
"Interesting…well that answers why he was so calm about the test," Bastion muttered under his breath while Syrus looked at Jaden in awe. Well, that would explain that aura, Chazz thought as he looked at Jaden, nearly missing the loud
"There is no way he beat me!" shout that came from above. A beautiful blonde girl in an Obelisk Blue female uniform was growling with her hazel eyes boring into the boy facing Crowler when she heard what the professor had said. The person beside her chuckled at that,
"You don't have to get all worked up, Alexis. He probably just got lucky. It's just an exam, not a contest," He said. He was wearing a white, twin tailed third year Obelisk Blue jacket with blue trim.
"It's not 'just an exam', Zane! It was my goal to be the best, not the second best! You don't know how that feels, Zane!" Alexis Rhodes huffed as Zane Truesdale shook his head with a frown on his face for a half of a second until his expression returned to stoic like normal.
"Actually, I do, but you don't have to overreact like that. As I said, he probably just got lucky, that's all," He said while Alexis scowled while glaring at the teen in the area. None noticed by everyone, there was another person watching from the shadows…
"Let's just duel," Crowler snapped causing Jaden to shrug and set up her duel disk, quickly drawing her hand. She stared at the cards for a moment before grinning.
"I think I'll summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode," She declared as she put her card down, "And finish by throwing down a face down," She stated as she then looked up at Crowler.
"You better get your game on, teach," She said with a plan already forming in her mind. Crowler scowled and muttered something as he looked through his hand.
"Alright, for my first move, I'll take it nice and easy and chose to play the spell card Confiscation." He stated calmly as Jaden's eyes widened. Great, she thought,
"You get to look at my hand and send one of my cards to the graveyard," She said as Crowler smirked.
"Correct, in exchange for 1000 life points, I can do exactly that." He bragged as Jaden scowled slight as the man smirked while looking at her hand. "Oh, yes, I remember some of these cards from my days as a rookie." He taunted. Ok, this guy doesn't want to know who my deck beat… and just for that this professor is going to pay, Jaden thought with narrowed eyes. Crowler smirked cruelly at her as he declared,
"I'll send Monster Reborn to the graveyard," with a plan already ready for Jaden. Jaden just put the spell card into the graveyard calmly, however. Jaden kept her expression stoic and perfectly calm as Crowler continued his move, since she knew she would win.
"Next I'll lay two cards face down on the field and last, but not least, I'll play Heavy Storm. This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card on the field." He stated sneering as Jaden's trap was destroyed. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Why would he do that…unless… She thought as a gale swept through the field and destroyed the two face-downs only to reveal two sphinxlike monsters. "You laid down two of the Statue of the wicked trap cards. That means you gain a Wicked Statue token for each one destroyed. You have an eight level monster in your hand to summon," Jaden said.
"Correct, Mr. Yuki, it is true. Thus I sacrifice my two tokens to summon my Ancient Gear Golem in attack mode," Jaden watched as the monster's hologram appeared to show a machine that was made of gears rising behind Crowler as she smiled, showing no fear. She had gone up against the Blue Eyes Ultimate White Dragon before. This monster didn't scare her. "Golem attack, mechanized Maylay!" Crowler laughed as Jaden grimaced as the monster attacked and destroyed Avian, making a surge of fury tip through her as her life points went down. "I end my turn," Crowler said as everyone looked at Jaden shocked. She was looking down, shaking with anger before she started to laugh. She would beat this stuck up asshole! "Don't feel bad. This is the top dueling school in the country. Some people simply aren't cut out for it…" He taunted before trailing off when he realized she was laughing.
"Boy, I really want to come to this school now. You really know your stuff, teach," She said as she glared at Crowler and his monster with a determined look on her face as well as enjoying the look of outrage on Crowler's face. If he wanted to play dirty then she could play, even just beating him would humiliate him. He's staring down that monster like it's nothing, why? Zane asked as he waited and watched.
"Still, it might be a little unfair, for that monster behind you and the Statue of the Wicked is far too strong to be in a proctor's deck, meaning I must be dueling against your own personal deck. This is going to be more interesting than I thought and such fun to destroy it," She said as Crowler's eyes narrowed at that.
"I take it you're enjoying your lesson," He snapped as she nodded.
"Yeah, it's been a long time since I found a challenging opponent. My turn, draw," She said as she quickly drew a card and smiled. "I activate Pot of Greed and draw another two cards." She said as she did and smiled at one of them since it was Winged Kuriboh. She didn't even notice the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as he winked at her. She laughed softly at that,
"I summon 'Winged Kuriboh' in defense mode," She said remembering the time she'd used this exact move against Seto. She knew Crowler would fall into the same trap as he had. "And I'll place two cards face down. Not bad, huh teach?" She asked for an added affect.
"No, not that bad," Crowler laughed, "But you must understand. I'm a master tactician. A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian, even one with wings. You see, its' defense points are still no match for me Golem. It's a textbook mistake, don't feel bad. Now let's proceed with the legendary Ancient Gear Golem! Attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Maylay." He ordered as Jaden smirked, although she did wince slightly when Kuriboh was destroyed. Crowler scowled when he noticed that her life points hadn't changed.
"Check your gear. Your life points have stayed the same." He ordered, only to have Jaden laugh again.
"And here I thought you were a professor. Don't you know that the turn that my Winged Kuriboh is destroyed I take zero damage?" She asked as Crowler's eyes widened in shock at that.
"Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you there," He snapped as Jaden's eyes narrowed.
"Hey, just because you beat him, doesn't give you the right to call him lame," She snarled out as Crowler rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, I forget how attacked junior duelists get to your monsters. I'm so sorry." He sneered sarcastically as Jaden growled,
"That was a gift from my father on my seventh birthday just before he disappeared. You could not being to understand how much he means to me!" She yelled furiously before taking a deep breath, "But you should be sorry, because your attack set off my trap card. One of my favorite's too. Go, Hero Signal." She yelled.
Jaden relished the look of shock on Crowler's face as her card activated. "And that brings out my second Elemental Hero, Burstinatrix!" She yelled as she summoned her monster. "And now it's my turn," She declared as she drew a card and grinned. "First off, I'm going to bring back Avian to my hand using the spell card Warrior returning alive and now I'm summoning him to the field," She stated confidently causing Crowler to laugh,
"Oh, ok, another amateur mistake, but this is good, this is good…" he began to taunt but Jaden interrupted him.
"I'm not finished. My heroes might not be strong enough to beat the Ancient Gear Golem on their own, but lucky me, I have another face-down. You left your monster completely unprotected, teach, go Spellbinding Circle." She yelled as her card launched a magical ring right at Crowler's monster, binding it and making it lose 700 attack points.
"More importantly I have polymerization in my hand," She stated sweetly as she used it and she summoned "I give you my Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and I'm still not done. I know Wingman still has less attack points than your Golem, but I also have Skyscraper" She yelled as she placed the field card in its place as the area around the two changed into a massive city.
"Meaning that his attack goes up by 1000," She declared laughing at the look of horror on his face. "Now, Wingman, attack," She ordered grinning as her Hero destroyed the Golem.
Once the attack finished, she decided to say, "And in case you didn't realize, my Wingman has a special ability. Your Golem's original attack points are taken right out of your life points when he finish his attack," She stated casually as Crowler's life points drained to zero and the holograms disappeared.
"Gotcha, that was a fun match, teach and I passed." She stated confidently as Crowler mumbled nonsense form the floor. The crowd was going wild as they were screaming in applause of her victory. She grinned as she span around, jumping up and down, waving at Syrus and Bastion.
"I'm in! I'm in guys!" She yelled. "Yeah, go Jaden," Syrus cheered as Bastion smirked.
Impressive, I could use some competition. He thought with a smile. Meanwhile in the shadows from where no one could see a long blonde haired female wearing a short-sleeved purple coat over her white tube top, along with purple high-heeled boots and long white fingerless gloves was Mai Valentine. So that's Tea's and Yugi's little girl? She inwardly squealed. She's so cute, however that thought was brought with a frown.
A shame that Yugi isn't here, he would be so proud. Honestly, I had wished that woman with those tail-like things was making Yugi's disappearance up, but she was completely right. I wonder if what she said about that GZ are true as well, but I hope she is wrong about the danger that Jaden will be getting involved in and with. Mai thought as she left remembering what happened those months ago.