A decrepit-looking station wagon made its way slowly down the streets of Domino City; the driver cautiously trying to avoid the slickness of the roads from the most recent rain. The sky above was still a dismal shade of gray. However, even that seemed to pale in comparison to the mood of the passenger in the backseat of the car. Aster Phoenix sighed inwardly to himself as he looked idly out of the window, his dark blue eyes barely focusing on anything for more than a few seconds. He had not wanted to enroll in Duel Academy. However, he knew all-too well by now that destiny had a way of interfering with his life when he didn't want it to.
The driver, Emeralda, who was Aster's schedule manager for his Pro League career, decided to say something. "I bet you're glad that I was able to borrow this old junk bucket from Earl for today. Who knows how long you would be held up here if they saw you come out of a limo!" She joked.
Aster smiled wryly. "That's an understatement. I can't have anyone recognizing me before I get in there. I don't want to miss the entrance exam-if you can even call it that-by being held up at the gate by the media. I'll have to send Earl an appropriate thank-you gift for this. You think he'll like having about half a year's worth of paid vacation leave?" He said casually.
"Who doesn't?" Emeralda asked with false innocence.
"Us workaholics, of course." Aster answered in amusement.
After the brief light-hearted exchange, Aster fell back into a glum silence.
"It might not be so bad, you know. You have a chance to duel different people, make some new friends…" Emeralda said hesitantly. She hadn't worked for Aster very long, but she already saw that he had started to lose his innocence a long time ago. Witnessing death could do that to a person. She didn't know what kind of life Aster had lived under the care of his legal guardian before entering the Pro Leagues. But it was obvious to Emeralda that between that and Aster's dueling and celebrity career, it felt more like she was talking with a 30-something year old man instead of a teenage boy every day whenever she worked with him. To her, there was something desperately sad about that.
"There's only one reason I came here. Everything else will just be an inconvenience for me." Aster replied coldly.
For what seemed like the thousandth time, Aster recalled the conversation he had had with his manager last month.
Begin Flashback:
"Duel Academy? Why would I want to go there? I already finished my education after getting my second PhD last year. And I'm already in the Pro Leagues now. There is nothing to gain from attending a school with a bunch of children who have had no real experience in dueling like me." Aster said into the cellphone as he leaned against the wall, tossing a bottle of water back and forth between his hands. He had just finished running a few laps in the gym in the penthouse suite of the apartment building that he had started living in once his win record in the league had started to resemble a miracle. It wasn't that different from where he had lived before, even with living alone now. After a few years, the D had pretty much left Aster on his own most of the time to go on more championship tours, so he was used to looking after himself.
"Circumstances have changed, Aster. However adverse you are to it now does not matter. I have already predicted that this is the path that you will follow now. Let's just say that I have found a…divergence in your destiny." Aster's manager, Sartorius, explained cryptically.
"And just how is it a real prediction anymore now that you have told me what has happened?" Aster asked skeptically.
"It wouldn't matter if I hadn't told you anything at all about this. You still would have chosen to go to Duel Academy. There are many things that I don't tell you beforehand that also end up happening. But here is one detail that I will share with you: The one that you have been searching for will be on that island." Sartorius said.
It took Aster a minute to control his breathing. The one he was searching for: his father's murderer. This was the real reason behind why he had worked to get into the Pro Leagues, so that he could travel around the world to find him. And now, he finally had a real lead and location. It was too good to be true. No matter how much a waste of time Duel Academy itself turned out to be, Aster knew that he could not pass up this chance.
"Then it is settled. I'll enroll in Duel Academy as a student." Aster said firmly.
End Flashback
"We're here." Emeralda's voice announced, breaking Aster out of his thoughts.
"Alright. Thanks again, Emeralda." Aster said as he started to get out of the car.
"Sure. I'll call you tomorrow night so that we can go over the details for your matches this weekend. Good luck, Aster." Emeralda said with a smile.
"Like I need it! Weekends are going to be my only real challenge when it comes to dueling." Aster complained. Even though his dueling schedule in the league was going to be severely limited due to being enrolled at Duel Academy-including the loss of any international travel and duels-Aster would still be allowed to have matches at the Kaiba Dome in town during the weekends and stay at his apartment during those days.
After Emeralda had left, Aster headed quickly towards the main entrance. He was wearing a simple dark blue sweatshirt with a hoodie and jeans in order to avoid anyone recognizing him too easily before he made it inside the building where the testing was taking place.
"Your name, please?" The Academy worker at the entrance asked once Aster was in front of him.
Instead of answering, Aster took a notepad and pen out of his pocket and quickly signed his name. He then handed the sheet of paper to the guard, who did a double-take when he saw Aster's name.
Before the guard could say anything, Aster silently put his finger to his lips and motioned towards the door with his other hand.
"Please. I need to get inside before anyone sees me." Aster whispered urgently.
"Of course. Go right ahead." The guard reassured Aster. He was still looking a bit dazed.
"Thank you." Aster said gratefully before slipping inside the building.
Xxx
Inside the testing arena, one of the dueling proctors sat down next to a couple others and pointed to Aster's name on the list of student applicants.
"He's here. Which one of you wants to test him?" The head proctor asked.
Dr. Vellian Crowler, the head teacher of the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm-who had also been sitting near the proctors-spoke up. "Now, now, gentlemen. We can't give this boy a simple test duel. Not only is he a seasoned professional duelist, but he also scored 100% on the written test. I shall duel him personally with my own deck." He said with grin.
For a moment, the head proctor looked as if he was wondering if he should object, then changed his mind instead. They couldn't deny that Aster would probably be able to beat every test theme deck they had made, probably even all of their personal ones as well.
"I suppose you're right, sir." The proctor agreed, sighing inwardly at the same time because he also knew that Dr. Crowler wanted to do this just to have a little spotlight time of his own.
"WILL ASTER PHOENIX PLEASE REPORT TO DUELING ARENA #2?" A voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
Great. Like nobody heard THAT. Aster thought to himself in annoyance as he took out his duel disk and headed towards the arena.
All around the arena, students started conversing excitedly with one another, especially the female students.
"Wait. Did he say, "Aster Phoenix?" What would a professional duelist be doing coming here? He's already got his whole career set for him!" A boy with spiky black hair wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform asked indignantly.
"Who knows, Chazz? Maybe he just wanted a more "extracurricular dueling experience?" One of the boy's two friends said sarcastically.
"I don't like this. Nearly everyone here would kill to get into the Pro Leagues early and this kid looks like he is just flaunting his fame all over us by enrolling like this when he already has everything. If he thinks that he can just throw it in our faces that he is better than us, then he's got another thing coming!" Chazz said scornfully.
In another part of the arena higher up above the stands, two Obelisk Blue students-a boy with longish dark blue hair and a girl with long blonde hair-looked on with interest.
"I've heard of this guy before. They say he won 30 matches in a row in the Pro League, making it into the top ten. He's supposed to be some kind of dueling celebrity or something. Why does he even want to be here? I know that I would stay in the League as long as I could if I had the chance to be there…" The girl said.
"That doesn't mean that he couldn't learn new things here, Alexis. Besides, this could be just the challenge that I'm looking for. I was getting bored." The boy said.
"Wow, Zane. It looks like you've got dueling fever." Alexis said with an amused smile.
"We'll see… But were there always so many…girls here?" Zane asked in surprise as he looked around the arena. He accidentally bumped into another girl who was standing near them.
"Oh, um…hi, Zane." The girl said nervously, her face turning bright red when she noticed that it was him.
"Hello." Zane answered awkwardly. The girl then giggled before turning her attention back to the arena below where Aster was getting ready for his duel.
Alexis rolled her eyes. "It's his fan base. But it looks like that it still doesn't make them immune to you, Zane." She teased.
"Let's just watch the duel." Zane said firmly.
"Hello, Mr. Phoenix. My name is Dr. Vellian Crowler, and I shall be your opponent for your entrance exam duel. Since your experience exceeds what we are usually used to testing here, we decided that you deserve a greater challenge than what the usual test decks can provide. I understand that it is still not the same as what you are used to facing by now. But as Duel Academy's leading professor, I do still hope that you will be able to learn something from this duel." Dr. Crowler said.
Aster pulled his hood down, revealing his striking silver hair. The girls in the arena screamed loudly enough to wake the dead. "OH, MY GOD! HE'S SO HOT!" "ASTER, I LOVE YOU!" "MARRY ME, ASTER!" It was loud enough to bust his eardrums out, but Aster managed to ignore them. He readied his deck and dueling disk.
"Not really. I can learn far more on the professional circuit than here. But since I needed to finish testing this new deck out, I suppose that this won't be a total waste of my time. So, let's get this over with." Aster said as he returned his focus back to Dr. Crowler.
Dr. Crowler frowned at Aster's reaction. Professional or not, he didn't appreciate a student talking back to him like this. "You may be a pro, but you should still learn to respect your elders. We've dueled long enough to learn a few things that might even surprise you!" He scolded.
"DUEL!" Aster and Dr. Crowler both shouted.
"The first move is yours, Mr. Phoenix." Dr. Crowler said.
"Okay. Not that I'll need any kind of handicaps, though. I set one monster facedown in defense position and one card facedown. That ends my turn." Aster said.
"It's my turn! First, I play the spell card, Confiscation! By paying 1000 life points, I can look at your hand and choose one card to send to the graveyard." Dr. Crowler said.
Aster shrugged carelessly as he displayed his hand for Dr. Crowler to see.
Hmm… A fairy deck. Probably lots of low level monsters. I guess he wasn't kidding when he said that he was testing this out. Not a wise decision in a high stakes' match such as this. It looks like he has some good cards in here, though. Dr. Crowler thought to himself carefully.
"Archlord Zerato will do nicely." Dr. Crowler said as he selected it.
Aster didn't look fazed at all as he discarded his monster.
"Now, I set two cards facedown and activate the spell card, Heavy Storm, destroying all of our set spell and trap cards!" Dr. Crowler said triumphantly as a huge whirlwind blew away their facedown cards.
"Widespread Ruin. That's a nice card. Too bad that it wouldn't have helped you either way. Now that I've destroyed my two Statue of the Wicked trap cards, I get to summon two Wicked Tokens to my field! And I'm sure that a pro duelist such as yourself does not need me to explain why I did that. I will use my Wicked Tokens to tribute summon Ancient Gear Golem!" (ATK 3000 DEF 3000) Dr. Crowler said.
Over in the stands, Alexis looked on in awe. "So that's the professor's legendary rare monster… To bring it out on his first turn like this! This could be a huge upset." She said.
"For a normal duelist, yes. But Aster looks bored. I have a feeling that we'll get to see firsthand just how fast he can adapt to any situation in a duel. He didn't get where he's at by being unprepared." Zane said, keeping his eyes on the duel in rapt attention.
Of course. He gets his big monster all loaded up right away when he can't even ensure a win yet with this attack alone. I'm dueling an amateur. Aster thought to himself in irritation.
"Go, Ancient Gear Golem! Attack his facedown monster!" Dr. Crowler commanded.
Aster's facedown monster Kelbek (ATK 1500 DEF 1800) disappeared from the field as Dr. Crowler's monster smashed it with a giant fist.
"When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense position, the difference between it's attack points and a monster's defense points is dealt to your life points as piercing damage." Dr. Crowler explained as Aster's life point counter dropped a bit.
This is going great! If I can defeat a pro duelist, I'll be promoted for sure! Maybe even to Headmaster! Dr. Crowler thought excitedly as he got lost in his own fantasy.
Aster smirked in amusement. "Well, you tried to account for everything: my trap, my hand, and my monster. That is good, but it is not good enough to defeat me. You see, whenever a monster attacks Kelbek, it will be returned to the owner's hand. Too bad, Sensei~." He said tauntingly, drawing out the last word in an annoying fashion.
Dr. Crowler blanched as his ultimate monster disappeared from the field to return to his hand in the blink of an eye. "I…end my turn." He said reluctantly.
Aster- LP 2800 Dr. Crowler- LP 3000
Up in the balcony, Zane and Alexis looked on silently in surprise, not sure what to make of Aster's move.
"Well…that's one way to deal with a monster like that. I never expected to see it, though." Zane admitted thoughtfully.
"And now Dr. Crowler's field is completely empty. Aster must have planned this from the start. But I don't like the way that he has been talking to him. We're not supposed to talk to instructors like that. Aster is being a jerk for no reason at all." Alexis pointed out.
"I must admit that despite his skills, I don't care for his dueling etiquette at all." Zane agreed. As a duelist who believed in always respecting his opponents, Zane was appalled by Aster's comments during this duel.
"It's my turn. I draw! Now that you have no monsters and no facedown cards on your field, you are completely wide open. And trust me when I say that that is NOT a position that you want yourself in when dueling against me." Aster warned Dr. Crowler before looking at his hand.
"I activate my spell card, Pot of Greed! I'll use it's effect to draw two cards from my deck." Aster said.
Hmm… Not bad, but I could do better. I should try to finish this as quickly as I can before he can summon Ancient Gear Golem again. Aster thought to himself as he looked at the cards in his hand.
"Now, I activate the spell card, Reload! First, I will put the cards in my hand back into my deck, shuffle it, and then replace my hand by drawing as many cards that I just sent back to my deck." Aster explained.
Perfect! Aster thought to himself with a grin on his face as he viewed his new hand.
"I summon Freya, Spirit of Victory (ATK 100 DEF 100) in attack mode! Next, I play my continuous spell card, Court of Justice! As long as I have one face-up level one fairy type monster on my field, I can special summon a fairy type monster from my hand one time during my turn. So, I will now use its effect to special summon Guardian Angel Joan (ATK 2800 DEF 2000) to the field. And due to Freya's effect, she gains 400 attack and defense points! (ATK 3200 DEF 2400) I think you know what this means!" Aster said triumphantly.
Dr. Crowler gulped nervously. He knew that he probably wouldn't have won this duel anyway, but he hadn't expected it to end this quickly. Or brutally.
"First, I will attack you with Freya! Technically, I don't need to since Guardian Angel Joan has more than enough attack points to end this, but this is just more fun." Aster gloated as Freya zoomed towards Dr. Crowler and hit him in the face with her pom-poms. Aster laughed nastily.
"Now, it's time to end this! Guardian Angel Joan, attack him directly!" Aster commanded.
Aster- LP 2800 Dr. Crowler- LP 0 Winner- Aster
"Yes, well done, young man. I didn't expect anything less from you! Welcome to Duel Academy!" Dr. Crowler said with a somewhat forced smile on his face. With his dueling results and grade on the written exam, there was no question about it. Aster would be going to Obelisk Blue for sure.
"And you're a teacher here? Well, maybe they should rethink their hiring policies!" Aster sneered. He had gone too far, and he knew it, but he was too used to dueling like this now.
"Once you are in the Pro Leagues, everyone you face will be older, bigger, and have a longer dueling record than you. And they will not let you forget it for a moment. So, don't let them. Instead, let them know that you are the one who is in control, Aster. Good sportsmanship will get you nowhere. Don't let them own you. Own them instead." Aster recalled the D's words of advice to him from before. They had proved to be more effective than he had ever imagined at the time. Eventually, it got to a point where he even enjoyed his trash-talking to his opponents sometimes.
Over in the stands, one of Chazz's friends laughed. "Geez! That guy makes you look nice, Chazz!" He joked.
"Whatever. I don't care how good he is. There's only room for one King at this school, and that's me!" Chazz vowed.
Up on the balcony, Zane shook his head at Aster's reaction to winning the duel. "That was uncalled for. But it's about time that there is someone who can pose a challenge to me. This should be interesting…" He said.
"Yeah, well have fun with that, I guess. I don't want to be anywhere near that guy." Alexis said in disgust.
All over the arena, Aster's oblivious fan girls were shouting like crazy while attempting to catch up with him, causing Alexis to roll her eyes. Aster Phoenix? More like Asshole Phoenix. I don't know how they can still think that he is so great after seeing him act like that! She thought to herself in irritation.
I'm glad that is over with. Now, once I get to Duel Academy, I'll be able to concentrate on a much more important matter. Aster thought to himself as he walked towards one of the waiting rooms. He was going to find the bastard who had killed his father and ruined his life and then make him pay. Nothing else really mattered to him. Little did he just how wrong that would end up being…
AN: I forgot to mention a few things when I first posted this, so I will add them in now: This is an AU version of the canon with Aster as the main character instead of Jaden. Jaden will still be in this eventually, though. Alexis is listed first as the main character, but that is a mistake. I meant to list Aster first, but this somehow happened and even when I tried to change the order of the characters, it still got stuck like that. This also isn't going to go through every episode of the anime, especially the more silly ones like the one about the "Draw Guy" who trained in the wild. Aster will use a few different decks, as well as the Elemental Heroes. It will be a little while until I start making him use the Destiny Heroes, but when I do, it will include cards for it that he didn't use in the GX anime like Dystopia or his manga cards. I am not great at writing duels, but I try my best to at least make it believable and not make the protagonist use a bunch of super-powerful cards (real or fanmade god cards, evil heroes, summoning methods that should not exist in GX, etc.) that can easily destroy any of the anime duelists' decks. Aster is, well...an asshole at first. But that is until he gets more character development and softens up a bit. The pairing is Aster/Alexis eventually. I understand that this is not a popular pairing and will probably cost me a lot of readers, but I just think that it is a sort of interesting "what-if?" pairing. Feel free to review or ask questions, but no flames, please. Feedback is helpful to me since this will be a difficult project for me. I just don't want any hate. (I can't tell if the Aster stuff on here gets less attention because of people maybe hating him, or if it just the story quality in general.)