Chapter 1: The HERO Meets The Archfiend
Again, I Had The Same Dream, I Found Myself Standing In Front Of a Massive Stone Gate, The Sheer Pressure Of The Imposing Structure Was Nearly Enough To Drive Me My Knees, After What Felt a Eternity In a Almost Deafening Silence, Pouding Could Be Heard From Within, Whatever It Was It Wanted Desperately To Be Let Free, The Pouding Only Got Louder And Louder, With Each Powerful Blow The Doors Began To Give In…..And Then Silence, The Pouding Had Ceased, The Stone Doors Had Open Ever So Slightly, Against My Instincts, Which Were Begging Me To Simply Get Away From The Gates, I Simply Couldn't, When I Peeked Inside I Was Met By A Blinding Darkness….Them I Heard The Most Ferocious Roar To Ever Haunted My Ears, After That I Could See a Pair Of Red Eyes Staring Directly Into My Soul From Across The Endless Void.
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*
I Groaned As The Sound Of My Alarm Rang Loudly In My Room, A Quick Suckerpunch That Sended The Damm Piece Of Junk Crashing Against The Floor Of My Room. Then I Tucked Myself In My Covers Ready To Let Sandman Drag Me Away To The Wonderful Dreamland….Then My Eyes Shot Open
"DAMMIT! IT 'S TODAY! TODAY IS THE DAY!" My Despair Filled Shout Could Be Heard From All Across The Orphanage, After A Quick Bath I Threw Some Clothes That I Had And Decided To Take A Look In The Mirror, A Boy With Black Hair And Two Emerald Green-Eyes Was Staring Back At Me, I Decided To Go With a More Casual Look, Plain White T-Shirt With a Black Jacket Over It, Blue Jeans Extended Until They Touched On My Pair Of Gray Sneakers…And Who Could Forget? The Birthmark…..While It's True That Birthmarks Follow a Trend Of Being Weird-Looking, Like Having Two Eyes Of Different Colors, But This One Almost Did Not Looked Like a Birthmark, But a Tattoo, It Resembles a Sneering Face, The Most Bizarre Part Of All Is The Faint Crimson Light That It Shimmered From Time To Time, Looking At The Clock ( Or What Remained Of The Poor Thing ) I Saw That Time Was TIGHT So I Bolted My Way Out Of The Room, With My Trusty Duel Disk And Deck In Hand. Only To Be Stopped By Miss Martha, The Orphanage Caretaker…
"Well Well Well…If Isn't Mister Erwin Freig, I See Your Habits Of Morning Runs On The Corridors Of My Orphanage Are Still In Action" She Said In A Cold Tone
"I Am So Sorry Miss Martha! But Please, If I Don't Hurry I Will Be Late For The Practical Exam!" I Begged For Her To Understand
"Hmm…Its Okay Sweetheart, I Will Let You Off The Hook This One Time" Came The Response As She Flashed Me a Smile
"Thanks Martha! You Are The Best!" After I Gave Her a Hug I Made My Way To The Nearest Bus Station, Okay If I Take The Bus I Should Arrive With Time To Spa-
My Thoughts Were Interrupted When I Bumped Into a Boy Who Was Also Running, He Had Messy Brown Hair That Kinda Looked Like a….Kuriboh? He Was Also Carrying a Duel Disk, So It's Safe To Assume That He Was Also On His Way To Take The Practical Exam.
"OOF" Came My Response
"ACK" Came His Response
"I AM SO SORRY" Said The Both Of Us.
"Huh? Wait a Sec…Is That a Duel Disk? Sweet! Are You By Any Chance On Your Way To Take The Exam To Enter The Duel Academy?" The Boy Asked With Childlike Excitement
"Uh…Yeah I Am…."I Answered Carefully, Was This Guy For Real? Most People Would Be Upset By The Fact That Someone Just Bumped Into You, Yet The Second He Saw My Duel Disk Any Possible Frustrations Was Replaced With Excitement.
"All Right! Nice To See a Fellow Late Comer To The Party, My Name Is Jaden! Jaden Yuki! Nice To Meet Ya!" He Said While Extending His Hand Of a Handshake, Boy Was He Full Of Energy He Nearly Dislodged My Shoulder.
"Y-Yeah" I Said As I Rubbed My Shoulder "My Name Is Erwin, Erwin Freig"
"All Right! Now That We Are Friends, How About a Duel? Bet You Have Some Swe-" He Was Cut Off As We Heard The Sound Of The Bus Leaving Without Us….Great
"OH NO! COME ON ERWIN, IF WE RUN WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO REACH ON TIME!" Jaden Said, All His Enthusiasm Replaced By Pure Despair, I Just Hope We Can Make It In Time…!
* At The Kaiba Corp Building *
I Was Tired, Felt Like I Ran The Entirety Of Domino City, But Somehow By Some Miracle We Made It.
"Uhh….Can I You Two?" Said a Woman That Was Behind a Counter Organizing Some Paperwork, That Must Be The List Of Applicants.
"Yes…I Am Jaden….Jaden Yuki…This Here…Is My Buddy…Erwin Freig" Jaden Said Between Ragged Breaths.
"Yeah…We Are Here To Participate The Exam To Enter The Duel Academy ... .Did We Arrived Too Late…?" I Said, My Voice Filled With Worry
"Well…We Were About To Wrap Things Up, But I Don't See Any Problem Letting You Two In" She Said In an Upbeat Tone.
"All Right, Thank You Lady, You Are An Angel, Come On Jaden! Last One To Arrive Is a Frog The Jam!" I Said As I Bolted Inside The Building
Jaden Stood There For a Solid Second, When The Gears In His Brain Finally Decided To Function Properly.
"Huh? Hey Come On! Wait For Meeeeee!" Jaden Said As He Made a Run For It In a Desperate Bid To Catch Up To Me.
"Kids These Days…." The Lady Said With a Smile As She Returned To Her Task Of Organizing The Paperwork.
* Inside The Building *
"Okay….I…Won" I Said Between Ragged Breaths
"No! I….I-I Won…." Jaden Said, He Looked Like He Was
"Okay..Okay….Lets Call It a Draw" I Said As I Extended a Hand Wich Jaden Accepted, But For The Record I Arrived FIRST. As We Made Our Way We Arrived The Area Where The Practical Exams Were Taking Place, It Was a Collection Of Arenas, Most Of Which Were Being Used. Jaden And I Found Ourselves In The Company Of Two Other Boys, One Had Baby Blue Hair, He Was Half Of Jaden's Height So Not Very Tall, He Had Small Glasses Resting On Top Of The Bridge Of His Nose, Besides Him a Taller Boy Stood, He Had Brown Hair Swept Backwards.
"Oh Hey There You Two! Here To Take The Exam Too?" Jaden Waved At Both Of The Boys
"Oh…Hey There…." The Blue Haired Boy Said In a Depressed Tone.
"Hm? Oh Hello There To You Two" The Brown Haired Boy Said " I Name Is Bastion Misawa And This Boy Grieving Over His Failed Attempt At The Practical Exam Attends By The Name Syrus Truesdale" Bastion Said While Pointing At Syrus.
"Hey Come On Now! I Don't Need More People Making Fun Of Me….." He Said On The Verge Of Tears, Honestly I Felt Bad For Him, So I Decided To Cheer Him Up.
"Instead Of Allowing That Loss To Get At You, Find Strength In That Weakness. Because It's The Job Of Every Duelist To Learn From Everything, Be It Winning Or Losing, In Order To Go Above And Beyond Your Limits" And I Meant Every Single Word That Came Out Of My Mouth.
"Yeah? So What, I Will Be Placed At Slifer Red, Trash Belonging In The Trash I Suppose" Well, At Least I Tried
"Huh? Slifer Red What Is That?" Jaden Asked Confused.
"Allow Me To Shed Some Light Into The Matter, For You See, The Duel Academy Is Divided Into Tree Dorms, Obelisk Blue The Very Best, Ra Yellow The Middle Of The Road And Slifer Red Considered The Worst Possible Rank" As Bastion Finished His Explanation He Was Met By The Snoring Of Syrus And Jaden.
Their Beauty Sleep However Was Interrupted By The Intercon
"JADEN YUKI PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO DUEL ARENA 23"
"ERWIN FREIG PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO DUEL ARENA 9"
"Well, Its Go Time Apparently…."I Said In a Somber Tone.
"All Right! Time To Get My Game On!" Jaden Did Not Wasted a Single Second And Made His Way To The Arena
"Good Luck To You Erwin, I Hope You Can Win" Bastion Said Extending a Hand, After Shaking It I Made My Way To The Arena. I Can't Lie I Was a Nervous Wreck, What If I Lose Wha- No, If I Doubt Myself I Will, But I WILL NOT LOSE, Get Ready Duel Academy! Erwin Freight Is Coming For You! Are You Watching Me Everyone? I Will Rise To The Top!
And So With New Found Resolve, I Made My Way To The Arena Ready To Meet My Fate Head On!