AN: These chapters aren't Beta'd. So thank you for being patient with any mistakes you might see. I hope to not miss much.
Also, I've decided that girl students can be assigned in to any of the three dorms, not just Obelisk, although it won't be a big deal in the story anytime soon.
As for what other cards might be in Alex's deck, they'll come up as the story progresses. I already have more of the modern Amazoness cards planned to appear in the story without breaking the power level of GX era dueling. Hopefully. Until then there's definitely some more generic cards that will see play as we see more duels.
Thank you for any comments, favorites, or follows! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Academy Island was probably the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. Alex stared in awe where he stood, donned in his Ra yellow academy blazer, at just the main building of the academy. There were some students around the courtyard talking, but most had rushed to their dorm rooms to check out where they'd be staying.
Amazoness Princess appeared beside him and whistled at the appearance of the huge building in front of them.
"Whoa. They really went all out for this huh?" Princess rhetorically asked as she stared up at the building too.
Alex just nodded his head before finally taking his eyes off the building and deciding to look for the Ra yellow dorm. After, he'd have to find his way to the auditorium for a welcoming by the Chancellor of Duel Academy.
He spotted a flash of pink hair in an Obelisk blue school uniform and the flash of guilt bubbled up again. She was walking towards what he assumed was the Obelisk blue women's dorm. Away from where he was going so he really couldn't catch up right now.
'Good for her, ending up in Obelisk right from the beginning. I really have to apologize when I get the chance.'
Kaiba had supposedly decided the rankings of the dorm rooms himself. Kaiba had been in control of the God card, Obelisk The Tormentor during his Battle City Tournament, before losing it to Yugi Muto due to the tournaments ante rule. He must've still had a soft spot for it to make it the best ranking in the academy. Slifer was the worst ranking for the students and easiest to get in to. Which left Ra right in the middle. Obelisk was notoriously hard for a first year to get assigned to without an impressive transcript from an impressive prep school.
'Obelisk is the goal then.' Alex thought determined. He turned forward to where the Ra Yellow dorm building should be according to his map on the PDA.
Apparently, Ra Yellow students get their own private rooms furnished with a desk and wardrobe. That's a big plus, but seeing the mostly spartan room had for some reason made it sink in that he'd be away from home for near ten months. Not even 3 hours in to the year and he was already half homesick. He sighed and threw off his blazer so he could get to unpacking easier. He tried to pack semi lightly, but his mom was a little over zealous with helping him. If she had her way, he would have brought his whole room. His parents had thrown him a nice going away celebration after the packing to mark the occasion. After, came plenty of hugs, with tears flowing before they sent him off on the helicopter in the morning.
His thoughts and unpacking were interrupted by a knocking on his door. An upperclassman let him know that orientation was about to begin and to hurry up down to the auditorium.
He grabbed his PDA and blazer to rush out the room. While trying to get his blazer buttoned on right on his way out of his room, he was surprised to see he knew his dorm neighbor who was also stepping out of their room. He was a little shorter than Alex, but his flushed back black hair with the Ra Yellow uniform neatly buttoned up made him look much more put together.
"Bastion? I knew I read that you'd be coming to Duel Academy too." Alex greeted, shaking the boys hand.
Bastion Misawa was probably the best duelist, near Alex's age at least, that he'd ever gone against. Even at the age of 11. It made sense, apparently Bastion had gotten good enough to be near the number 1 student at one of the best prep academies in the country. Even good enough to be written about in a duelist magazine along with some others. That tournament Alex had lost at the Industrial Illusions camp was won by Bastion. He had gone on to face the winner of the counselors tournament and nearly won that too. Which brought up the question of why Bastion was even in Ra Yellow in the first place.
"Alexander! I didn't see you during the test duels. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You were at the camp too and showed plenty skill." Bastion spoke in the same posh voice Alex remembered, just in a deeper tone.
"Please. You wiped the floor with me and the rest of us back then man." Alex said good naturedly.
"We were all just kids still fine tuning our deck formulas." Bastion started humbly. "Have you figured out yours yet? If I recall, you played a deck focused on equip cards boosting your monsters attack."
Alex was more than a little impressed Bastion even remembered something like that. He really couldn't remember any of the decks the other kids at camp ran. He mostly remembered cards he saw that he liked, mostly if they were cards a famous pro had run. Like Bastion had Magnet Warriors in his deck. Alex remembered, because Yugi had the same in his deck and Yugi's deck was the coolest thing to talk about for every kid in to dueling.
"How about I show you after orientation?" Alex grinned. "A duel to see if you're still the measuring stick."
Winning against a duelist like Bastion would be a good step in showing that he was worthy with his Amazoness deck. He'd surely have to be better than the Bastions of the world with or without Amazoness Queen if he wanted to take on his destiny.
"I hope you realize I plan to be the number 1 duelist in this academy. By my calculations, I'm already in the top five best of our year." Bastion confidently spoke.
Alex had no idea how Bastion could possibly already know what place in the school he was, but if he was right, then it would be even more of a reason to duel.
"Sounds like even more of a reason then. I don't know who you think is number 1, but it'll be me after our duel." Alex boasted with more confidence than he should probably have.
His deck was incomplete after all and that would be a source of concern in every duel he had. The kids in the academy were no joke and dueling with a handicap would make every duel here a challenge. But, Alex wasn't afraid of taking a loss to a good duelist, even if it would hurt. After that duel against the test deck, he needed to know if he could hang with the best here.
"Our itinerary says we have dinner sometime after orientation. If we have the time… you've got your duel."
…
The orientation was more simple than Alex had expected. It simply consisted of a speech filled with congratulations by the chancellor of the academy, Chancellor Shepard, and a reminder that each dorm would have a dinner a little later on with their heads of the dorm. Chancellor Shepard seemed nice enough at least.
Alex had gotten separated from Bastion during the seating for the orientation, but before he could begin searching for him now that orientation was over, he noticed the pink haired girl standing with another girl outside.
An apology wouldn't take long enough to stop his duel with Bastion. It was now or never.
"Akari! Hey!" Alex called out as he approached.
Akaris friend perked up at the boy approaching them. She had shoulder length brown colored hair and grey eyes with an easy smile on her face.
"Who's the cutie Akari? Are you already holding out on your dorm neighbor?" The girl winked at Alex.
Alex blushed at the compliment. He would describe himself as pretty comfortable around girls, but bold, pretty ones were a different story he supposed. Maybe it'd be better to say he was comfortable around girls who talked about dueling as much as he did.
"Really Jasmine?" Akari sighed as Jasmine just shrugged unabashed.
"You… I never got your name." Akari turned to Alex with narrowed eyes.
"Uh, Alex. Listen I just wanted to apologize for what I-"
"It's fine. Now, duel me." Akari interrupted.
Alex blinked at the interruption. She accepted his apology before he even got it out, but wanted to duel him anyways. He supposed that made sense considering she had thought he was underestimating her skills.
'I should probably wait to duel her though. A couple of days after she stops glaring at least'
"I would, but well, I kind of had another duel lined up and y'know dinner is coming up…" Alex had started to explain before spotting Bastion approaching.
"Ladies, charmed to meet you." Bastion greeted.
"Another cutie. I knew it was smart to stick close to you Akari." Jasmine spoke up with a grin on her face.
Alex laughed at the confusion on Bastions face.
"Bastion, this is Akari and Jasmine. Girls, this is Bastion and we have a duel to get to. Sorry, bye." Alex tried to hurriedly drag Bastion away before Akari demanded another duel.
Akari was too quick and grabbed his hand before he could go.
"Nope. Me first. You wouldn't mind, would you Bastion?" Akari asked Bastion sweetly, still holding Alex in place.
"Akari is fierce. Who would've known?" Jasmine smiled amused at the byplay.
"I suppose it would let me see what kind of deck Alexander has built." Bastion mused before nodding. "Ladies first."
'Traitor' Alex thought with a sigh.
…
5 minutes later and Alex was standing across from Akari, shuffling his deck, at one of the empty duel fields the academy had throughout the island. Alex wasn't surprised to see no one else using it. Nobody really wanted to do too much on the first day at a new place like this he supposed.
"Duel/Duel" Both duelist drew 5 cards. (Akari: 4000/Alex: 4000)
"Go Akari!" Jasmine cheered from the side of the duel field.
"You can go first." Akari motioned.
"So be it. I draw!" Alex said, drawing to bring his hand to 6.
'If those two cards are what her deck is centered around, then I'll need find a way to strike fast before the burn damage adds up or her life points get too high.'
"I'll start this by summoning my Amazoness Fighter! (1500/1300)" A woman that even the Amazoness would call tall and muscular appeared with a stomp on the field. Her blue clothing only covered the essentials as her long, tied up black hair spiked wildly upwards defying gravity.
"Then, I'll set two face downs and end my turn!" Alex finished.
"My turn then!" Akari drew to make a hand of 6.
"I'll start by playing the spell card Double Summon! This lets me make two normal summons this turn. First, I'll summon one of the cards you underestimated! Come on out my ace White Magician Pikeru! (1200/0)"
A very young looking, pink haired girl with an all white tunic and a hat that resembled an orange Scapegoat token appeared on the field.
"Next, I'll summon Magicians Valkyria! (1600/1800) Her effect means you can only target her for attack and I'll equip it with the spell card Mist Body, so you won't be able to get past her!"
The magician wore the same style of attire most of the magician girl cards wore, but it transformed into mist along with the rest of her body and scepter as the spell card took effect.
…
"Her ace White Magician Pikeru huh? Alexis did say Akari ran a pretty interesting deck. What do you think Bastion?" Jasmine asked her fellow duel watcher.
Jasmine looked over to see Bastion staring at Pikeru with a healthy blush on his face.
"Uh, earth to Bastion." Jasmine waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention.
"R-right, um, yes it certainly might be considered unique if she wins with it. Her Magician Valkyria with Mist Body gives her more of a control deck style than a burn or heal."
Bastion cleared his throat to compose himself, still stealing glances at the card on the field.
"Somebody has a card crush~" Jasmine sing-songed
"Don't be ridiculous. A crush on a card is illogical. Who would have such a thing?" Bastion scoffed.
"You know, Akari kind of looks like Pikeru. Pink haired and short. Maybe we should get her a scapegoat hat. What do you think?" Jasmine teased
Bastions blush returned in full force.
…
"Attack, my Magician! Destroy his Amazoness!" Akari ordered.
Magicians Valkyria body became corporal again as it shot a bolt of magic, from its scepter, right in to the body of Amazoness Fighter instantly destroying it.
"My Amazoness Fighter's effect means I take no battle damage!" Alex explained.
"That's fine because now you're wide open! White Magician Pikeru! Show why no one should underestimate you!" Akari ordered her attack.
The young looking magician twirled her staff and shot a bolt of green energy directly in to Alex. (Alex: 4000- 2800/Akari: 4000)
"I guess we have to give you a break now. That's the end of my turn." Akari smirked.
"Good. I draw!" Alex drew to bring his hand up to 4.
'Have to get rid of Mist Body so I can start actually getting damage. And this just might be able to do it.'
"I'll start by summoning my Amazoness Sage. (1400/700) and I know that isn't strong enough, so I'll play the continuous spell card Amazoness Fighting Spirit!"
A much more average looking caped Amazoness appeared on the field. She was taller than most human women, but was still one of the shortest and least muscular Amazoness. She carried a staff made of bone and her long blue hair was done up. Her focus seemed to be on something else as she stared in a direction away from the duel.
"Amazoness Fighting Spirit means my Amazoness gain 1000 attack points when they attack a monster with a higher attack stat. So my Amazoness Sage (1400-2400/700) go and attack her Magicians Valkyria! (1600/1800)" Alex moved in to his battle phase declaring his attack.
The declaration snapped Amazoness Sage's back to the duel as she rushed forward to attack the body made of mist.
"Did you forget about Mist Body?! My Valkyria can't be destroyed by battle! I'll just gain those Life Points right back!" Akari said as the attack swiped through the mist. (Alex: 2800/Akari: 4000- 3200)
"Of course I didn't forget." Alex smirked. "Amazoness Sage has an effect. If it's still on the field after attacking, then I can destroy one spell or trap on your field!"
Amazoness Sage smacked the bottom of her staff on to the floor with a thud and Akari's Mist Body spell was instantly destroyed. Magicians Valkyria body turned corporeal once again.
"To finish off, I'll set one more card in my back row and end my turn." Alex said as a third set card materialized in front of him.
'With Amazoness Archers set, as soon as she attacks I should be able to get rid of both of her monsters and turn this duel around.'
"Fine then! I draw!" Akari brought her hand count up to 3
"Now, my White Magician Pikeru's effect kicks in! I gain 400 life points for every monster I control!" (Alex: 2800/Akari: 3200- 4000)
"Now, I'll play the spell card Pot Of Greed! It's okay if you don't know what it does, I'll tell you. It lets me draw two cards!" Akari grinned as she drew two more cards to bring her hand count to 4.
"Wow, totally new information for me." Alex sarcastically shot back.
"And it gave me just what I needed. First I'll pla-" Akari started her turn only to be interrupted.
"Jasmine! Akari! There you are!" A girl came running in to the area where the duel field was.
The girl was another Obelisk Blue member as noted by the white and blue uniform she was wearing. Her black hair was longer than Jasmine's even when though it was tied up. Her brown eyes scanned the two boys she had never met before focusing back on her two friends.
"We're supposed to be checking out boys on the first day, not dueling them!" Mindy said exasperated.
"That's what I said! But Akari totally had it out for this Alex guy and just had to duel him. So as the good dorm neighbor I am, I came along." Jasmine said to Mindy.
"Guys! I kind of have a duel going on here!" Akari yelled towards the two girls.
"Alexis said she already had to stop Chazz from starting a duel with some Slifer kid and now I have to stop you two." Mindy sighed. "We have dinner girl. We're going to be late if you finish the duel."
"She's correct Alexander! Ra's dinner is scheduled to start any moment. We shouldn't make a bad first impression with the head of our dorm." Bastion said after checking his watch.
"Ugh, fine!" Akari said annoyed.
Alex realized this duel was right to be over and stepped away from his dueling side. The holograms on both sides of the field immediately dissipated signaling the duels end.
"I totally would've had you by the way." Akari grinned to Alex as they approached each other and the group.
"No way!" Alex laughed. "You were good, but It was still early. I had plenty of cards to still play. What cards did you draw with Pot Of Greed?"
"Guess you'll just have to see next time like I have to see those plays you think you still had." Akari smiled holding out her hand.
Alex took it with a grin. The duel didn't really get to kick in to gear at all, but Akari was obviously no pushover. Her deck, just from her could tell in those 3 turns, seemed much more about controlling her opponents moves than quick burn damage.
'Something to keep in mind for next time I guess.' Alex thought, realizing he was excited for another chance to duel the girl. Akari and Bastion. He already had two people he was eager to measure his skills again.
"Give me your PDA information. You too Bastion. After I'm done showing Alex why he shouldn't underestimate me, I'll beat you too so he doesn't have to be sad alone."
Alex noticed Bastion blushed when Akari asked for his information too. He didn't seem to be the only one to notice, as Jasmine was looking at Bastion silently laughing. That made the eventual duel between the two much more interesting. And possibly much funnier.
"I'm in for this little dueling club too!" Jasmine said taking out her PDA. "Don't worry boys, I'll go easy on you." She finished with a wink.
…
After everyone exchanged info, Alex and Bastion had rushed to their dorm dinner. They were some of the last Ra Yellows to make it and take a seat, but their head of dorm didn't seem to mind. Neither did the middle aged woman who, he assumed, was the female Ra Yellow dorm head that stood next to him.
Professor Satyr was an older man with a kind smile on his face as he stood in the front of the room. Along with Professor Kato, they both seemed like the easy going types. He seemed happy to let the kids quiet down on their own while the meal was being served to all the tables.
"Welcome to the Ra Yellow welcoming dinner. I'm sure we'll all have a good year and…" the professor started his speech, but Alex wasn't paying attention.
Alex looked around the hall and noticed just how many students ended being in Ra Yellow. Boys and girls filled the hall up to the max and he supposed that it made sense. The very best would get promoted to Obelisk and the very worst of the student body would get demoted to Slifer. This probably left Ra carrying most of the student body in their ranks. Made it even more impressive that they all seemed to get their own dorm room in Ra.
"…If you ever need me, I will be in the art room willing to lend an ear. Professor Kato will mostly be in the history room for anyone who needs her. But enough of my ramblings, let's eat!" Professor Satyr finished off the welcome speech to a light round of applause.
"Hehehe finally, now I can keep planning how I'm going to destroy that loser Rex Raptor." Said a kid, seemingly to himself, sitting across from Bastion and Alex
The boy had his brown-reddish hair matted down in to a mop top with round yellow glasses on his face. The boy wore his yellow blazer closed with a large button that looked like a beetle sticking to the front. He ignored the food in front of him, instead focusing on cards that he sprayed out in front of him. As far as Alex could tell they were all insect related.
"Hehehe and with this, I'll become champion of Japan once again hehehe." The unnamed kid kept laughing to himself as he built his deck.
Alex and Bastion glanced at each other in confusion at the weird behavior.
"Uh, you alright man?" Alex decided to ask.
"Alright? I'm better than alright! My ultimate insect deck is complete and with it, Weevil Demitri Underwood will take back his championship." The now named 'Weevil' declared.
"Wasn't Weevil Underwood the champion of Japan some years ago? Are you related to him perhaps?" Bastion asked
"Related to him? I am him! Can't you tell hehehe. I'm on my way to becoming champion again right after I deal with Rex." 'Weevil' boasted.
'Now the name rings a bell. Weevil was regional champion after defeating the dinosaur duelist Rex Raptor. That was all before Yugi Muto came on to the scene.' Alex remembered.
Alex looked around to see if anyone was noticing the nonsense 'Weevil' was speaking. He noticed all the kids around them were absorbed in their own conversations though, not sparing them a second glance. Before him or Bastion could respond, the kid got up and dashed out the room.
"What just happened?" Alex wondered aloud.
"He's a copycat most likely. They use other people's successful decks as their own. Although, I've never seen someone… um, dedicate, themselves to copying someone's life as well." Bastion explained a little unsure.
"Uh, right. Let's stay away from that kid."
…
Later that night Alex laid underneath the covers in his bed to be for the next 9 months, thumbing through his deck. He reflected on his first day at Duel Academy. Some new and old friends and great duelists to practice against was exactly the reason he was here. Now, if he could just figure out the other part of his problem.
Amazoness Queen and Amazoness Tiger.
He looked at both cards wishing the two duel spirits would show up and just explain all the answers to questions he had. Waiting for Yugi to make an arrangement for Alex to talk to Mai could take months as well. Patience really wasn't his strong suit either so this was all frustrating.
Thinking about it, Princess hadn't appeared since the morning. Alex took out her card trying to will her to show up.
"Prin?" Alex asked the card.
Talking to his cards would probably make him look crazy, but it had always worked to get Princess out. When he was younger, it had helped tighten the believe that they were truly connected.
Just as it did in the past, Amazoness Princess appeared sitting, or floating technically, next to him on the bed. Her normal eager energy was gone though. Instead she looked deep in thought. It took her a second to even notice she had appeared in her duel spirit it seemed.
"Alex! Nice duel earlier. We would've had her for sure." Princess said putting on a smile.
"Something happened, didn't it?" Alex asked knowingly.
"Figured you noticed." Princess sighed. "Sage felt something earlier."
"And you waited til now to say something?! Wait, it was when I summoned her wasn't it?"
"Yup. But duel spirits feel other spirits energies all the time, you know that. We thought it might be similar…" Princess explained.
"But…" Alex lead, knowing there was more to this.
"But what she felt was strong, obviously, if she felt it as soon as you summoned her. Maybe it was just all the cards in one spot. Lot of energy built up. Or it could've came from a teachers deck. They must have some strong duelists teaching here." Princess tried to dismiss any concerns.
"How strong? Yugi strong?" Alex couldn't imagine any thing stacking up to Yugi's.
Princess had described the spirit energy rolling off Yugi as immense. She said the power would probably feel suffocating if he and his deck focused it all on another duel spirit.
"That's the problem. I don't know. I didn't feel anything. I still don't. Sage has always been the best at sensing this stuff, but if it was that strong, then we all should have noticed." Princess pouted.
"How's that possible?! Does she still sense something?"
"We don't know. We're trying to figure that out ourselves. And she doesn't sense anything either now." Princess sighed.
"So, that means it happened when I summoned her. Can it only be felt during a duel?" Alex wondered more to himself.
"This is why we didn't say anything yet. It's the first day Alex. Let's worry about classes and showing these other kids how Amazoness fight." Princess grinned, flexing her muscles in different poses.
Alex laughed at his friend's antics, calming down.
'She's right. Can't duel if I flunk out.' Alex thought with a sigh. 'Sage was the one who thought Duel Academy might be needed on our way to our destiny. One day in and she might be proven right already.'
Somehow it's canon that Bastions card crush is White Magician Pikeru. Hilarious.
Also, Jaden and Alexis should be introduced next chapter for anyone wanting them. They'll be important for the story. Plus I love both their decks and have plans on how to upgrade them as the story progresses more.
