Chapter 4:

The sound of cans getting opened and clanged together formally started the celebration of Blake's victory between his manager and him. Both took large gulps from their beverages, soda for Blake and beer for her, before relaxing back into the couch they sat on, content looks going over the money and other prizes they won that night.

Aside from the already big prizemoney, the extra from bets easily tripled the overall amount and was further increased by the contract for monthly payment as the champion. Along with that came two rare cards for Blake; the Diabolos card – which served as identification for the Abyss Arena's champion – and Panik's rarest card in Great Maju Garzett, which Blake gladly took off of him to further enhance his deck.

"You son of a bitch really did it. Who would've thought you'd make it this far", his seat neighbour said as she nipped on her beer. Before he could retort, she continued, waving him off. "Yeah, yeah, you told me years ago that you could do that. But be honest with me here; would you've believed a little child that passed out every time he dueled that he could perform like that?"

He wouldn't have, which is why he shrugged at her while taking a sip. "Exactly. While I may have not believed you then, I fully believe in your capabilities now. Which is why I made some preparations for your eventual victory. There are good and bad news for you; which do you want to hear first?"

Intrigued, Blake rose an eyebrow and put his can away. "Let's start with the bad ones to get them out of the way."

"Ever the pragmatist, eh? Fine by me", she chuckled and opened up a briefcase, she picked up from beside the couch. Two sets of papers were put on the table in front of them, medical reports, it seemed. "To make it short; your parents are gone. Your mom was found out cold in the park and the hospital announced her death shortly after. Overdose from drug abuse. Your father got into a car crash that claimed his life, no one else was hurt aside from him."

The information left Blake cold. It's weird, while they were his parents, they were shitty people. But he didn't feel bad about it. He didn't really give a shit about these people, but just enough to be happy that they're gone now. The world, and more importantly he himself, would be better off without them, and their landlord would be ecstatic as well – until he saw how much he had to renovate in their flat.

"So, what's the bad news? 'Cause that ain't them for sure", he said as he laid back in the couch, unfazed by what she just told him.

She looked at him, her eyes widening for a brief moment, before she burst out laughing. "Damn, you really are one tough cookie. But seeing as how they treated you; I can understand that. Well, then the only bad news is that you've got to find another place to live in. Since you're going to attend the academy soon, it won't really be an issue, though."

A sudden thought made Blake ask an important question, however. "Okay, but I'm still a minor. Doesn't that mean I'm gonna be put in some orphanage or something?" The image of having to deal with that would've ruined the rest of the night for him, but it seemed like he didn't have to worry.

The woman put another document down, which held both her and his parents' signatures. "Nope", she said, popping the p. "As a condition of them receiving a big pay out from your win tonight, I had them sign this beforehand, which makes me your legal guardian. You'll also have to live with me until you leave for the academy."

Blake breathed out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding. He looked at her outstretched hand curiously before she spoke again. "Since we're now more or less family, I guess introductions are in order. Can't have you call me manager or ma'am when others are around now, can I? Katherine Moore, it's your pleasure."

He shook her hand, looking into her calculating, if slightly amused, eyes as he said with a chuckle. "Guess that makes me Blake Moore now?" New name new him, he thought. 'And the less I'm associated with those human failures the better.'

"Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I guess that's one of the good news, but I've got more. Aside from your new room having been finished this morning, I already sent out the form for your exam taking place next month. All you have to do is study hard until then and get accepted, the gods know that you won't have trouble with the practical exam. Well, when you're done doing chores and walking my dog, but that's a small price to pay to live together with a beauty like me, am I right?"

Katherine let out a hearty laugh, one which Blake joined in on. Finally, things were looking up. It only had taken him six long years of physical and mental abuse to get there. He knew that he was still required to duel in the arena once in a while, and that behind the face of his gorgeous guardian laid whatever other plans she made with him in mind, but he didn't care. This was his one chance and he'd do anything to make the most of it, even if it entailed walking a dog at ungodly hours.

For the next month, Blake studied the best he could to get back up to speed on things he'd need to know in order to pass the exam. He had finished regular school earlier this year with terrible grades, but Katherine managed to get him accepted to the exam for the academy anyway. When he asked her about how she did that, she waved him off, telling him "Someone owed me a favour" and left it at that.

Aside from studying, he used his new free time to go jogging – with and without a dog by his side. The dog, a border collie breed called Baskerville, was very energetic and almost always went out with him, as long as his owner wasn't there. Blake had a feeling that the dogs name had some meaning he didn't quite get, but it wasn't important enough for him to ask. The point of going out was to get his body, but more importantly his left leg in shape. After being practically imprisoned in a tiny room for years, this showed him just how much freedom he had. It also helped with getting used to the limp in his left leg, something he had to get used to, it seemed.

Another thing he had to deal with, because of his last duel in the Abyss Arena, were the scars left by the shock collars burning into his skin. Luckily enough, there were only four of them; one around his neck, two at his wrists on each side, and the last one on his left forearm, on the spot where he carried his duel disk. Katherine and he agreed that it wouldn't be wise to let them out on full display, especially when going to a school where experts, who all unanimously hated underground duels with a burning passion, were teaching.

The solution for his neck were bandages combined with high-collar shirts, long-sleeves for the rest, and sweatbands for the scars on his wrist, as they'd be noticed the easiest. For that, Katherine gifted him a few pairs, all with black and white chess patterns. She chuckled darkly as she told him "The colours just suit you. And since we're both playing our own game, it fits even better."

After his preparation time was over, he took his exam in one of the big sports halls in Domino City. He was surprised to see that there were a lot of questions that either only partially focused on the card game or not at all. While he had studied up on the curriculum – which his guardian managed to get somehow – it was difficult enough that he spent most of his time on those questions, while breezing through the others. 'Why would a school focused on teaching its students how to become pro duelists in a card game want me to calculate the speed of an unburdened swallow?!' All in all, he managed to barely pass the written exam and was thus invited to the practical one a week later.

During this time, Blake acquired a few new cards that allowed him to alter his game plan on the fly. He had usually played around his two virus trap cards to rid his opponents of their resources and overwhelm them with various low-level monsters, that could replace or boost themselves. His new cards enabled him to quickly summon high-level monsters and swing over stronger monsters. Cards like Double Summon, Cost Down, cards that allowed him to summon monsters from his graveyard, as well as pro- and reactive attack point boosters were now side-decked and at the ready.

For the practical exam, he aimed for showing off with an OTK, with his card ratios altered accordingly. 'That way maybe the elitists of Obelisk Blue will think twice about bothering me. Since I'm most likely starting as a Slifer, I'll be a prime target for them. Although now that I think about it … that could actually help me with getting promoted quickly. So many possibilities ...'

The hall was bustling with activity, as the examinees shuffled around to see the duels on the ground below. Over half of the exams were already done and the newly accepted students stood on another ramp, together with senior students that wanted to attend, to watch the remaining duels.

Blake, dressed in the supplied gym outfit all the examinees were wearing but with the addition of his trademark black cap, a tracksuit in white and pale blue, didn't pay much attention to the duels, but rather to where the winning examinees would be sorted. It seemed like none of those that took the exam were placed in Obelisk Blue, despite there being quite a high number of blues on the other ramp. While it could've been second years, he was pretty sure he saw neither of the two 'main first year Blues' – that being Alexis and Chazz –, nor any of their cronies' duel in one of the arenas.

What did surprise him, however, was that there were actually quite a number of female duelists that took the exam. A girl with a dark-green bob was assigned to Ra Yellow as well. As far as he remembered, there only ever were girls in the Obelisk Blue dorm, and there weren't many girls in the academy to begin with.

As he was leaning onto the rails, waiting for him to get called down, some guy chatted him up from his right. The boy was around half a head shorter than him, his black hair neatly arranged, with a large portion flushed back. Blake blinked as he realized who he was talking to.

"Quite the competition down there, am I right? There's almost a perfect 50/50 split of examinees that pass and fail, according to my calculations", the boy said, looking down at the arenas, before turning to him. "But where are my manners. My name's Bastion Misawa."

Blake nodded at him. "Misawa, eh? So, you're the one with perfect marks in the written exam?" Bastion positively gloated but tried to play it off cool. "Well, my preparations were on point, I suppose."

"So it would seem. In which of the halves do you see yourself?", Blake asked. He knew the answer and he knew what would happen, but talking to the guy was a better pastime than watching on. That and the direct interaction with someone he knew about was something he was looking forward to. 'Even if the show did Bastion dirty.'

As predicted, Bastion's answer was clear and confident. "Without sounding arrogant, I'd like to believe that I will pass the practical just like I pass the written exam."

Blake nodded, and an idea that just went through his head caused him to smirk. "Then how about a little competition?"

"What do you have in mind?", Bastion asked, seemingly intrigued.

"Nothing major, just a little bout between future co-students. How about this; whoever finishes his duel in less turns than the other gets a free meal once we're on the island?"

Seeing nothing wrong with that and eager to measure himself with another duelist who practically beamed with confidence, Bastion agreed. "Alright, I'm in. But you still didn't tell me your-"

Just as they were about to shake on that, the loud announcement interrupted them. "Examinees Bastion Misawa and Blake Moore to the arenas. I repeat; Examinees Bastion Misawa and Blake Moore to the arenas."

Getting up from the rails, Blake nudged towards Bastion. "There you have it. Just don't keep we waiting on that meal for too long."

With Blake having arrived down in the arena, one of the examiners, dressed in the same grey-blue jacket as the others, took a deck out of one of the briefcases that were laid out on tables near the arena. He and Blake met in the middle, handing the other their deck for shuffling.

"Hello examinee, you can call me Wilson, Mister Wilson if you manage to pass. The rules for this exam are as follows: We go with the standard 4000 life points and you make the first move. If you can win the duel, you're in, otherwise you'll have to reapply next year. Any questions?"

Blake noted the mechanical way the man had basically read down the rules, as he probably had to repeat them dozens of times today. "Only one; your first name wouldn't happen to be Wade?"

They exchanged their decks, putting them into their respective duel disks. "It is. Why do you ask?" Blake was about to answer, before he asked himself that question. It seemed kind off nostalgic, but he couldn't place how he came up with it or what it may have been referring to in the first place. Since he didn't know what to say, he just shook his head. "Never mind."

Wilson accepted that and both of them took their positions in the arena, activating their duel disks. (Blake 4000 / Wade 4000)

Since he was going first, Blake drew his sixth card and took a moment to look over his cards. He had one of his, if not his best, high-level playmaker and an attack-boosting card at the ready, together with his trusty Mystic Tomato, that would ensure him having tribute fodder. Along with a low-level monster, he had two trap cards, with which he could make sure he would control the field to bring the duel to a swift end. The new card he drew was Premature Burial, which he could use when his monster gets destroyed in order to lower his life points to make a play with Megamorph, if he drew it. He'd have to wait and see if it would be necessary.

"I'll start with a regular L-formation. One monster in defence mode and two face-downs", Blake said, before he ended his turn.

His opponent drew his card. "A solid defensive move when the strength of your opponent is unknown. Let's see how good those defences are. First, I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the set card on your left." A light blue stream of wind shot out towards Blake's card, destroying his set Trap Hole.

"Good thing I got rid of that. I wonder if the other one can still protect you. I summon Regenerating Mummy in attack mode!" (1800/1500) A half-formed mummy whose lower body was a swirl of turquoise plasma appeared on the field. "Attack his set monster!" The plasma formed around one if its hands into a claw, as it slashed at Blake's monster, revealing and destroying his Mystic Tomato.

"When my Tomato gets destroyed by battle and send to the graveyard, I'm allowed to special summon a dark monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck in face-up attack position." The giant red fruit grinned before it exploded, revealing a black dragon. "I summon my Pitch-Dark Dragon!" (900/600)

"A monster that can either empower a specific monster you probably have on your hand or at least in your deck, or act as a tribute. I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Thanks to his opponent playing a monster with the exact attribute he needed to make the plan with only the cards he had in hand work, everything was set in place to finish this duel. The face-down would've been a problem, if he wasn't prepared.

"Before you end your turn, I activate my face-down; Dust Tornado! With it, I destroy your face-down." The gust of dust destroyed the freshly placed Sakuretsu Armor, before Blake drew for turn. 'Good thing I got rid of that one for sure.'

He drew a copy of Graceful Charity – another one of the super expensive cards he luckily won off another duelist – and promptly activated it. After he finished drawing and discarding, he had cards to win with a different approach that would need him to damage his life points to win, but he wanted to win flawlessly. Looking up from his hand at the examiner, Blake smiled confidently. "Thank you for playing just the type of monster I needed, Mister Wilson. I'm afraid I'll have to cut our duel short."

That drew the attention of the examiner, along with maybe a little annoyance by Blake's cockiness. It didn't stop him from exacting his plan, however. "I tribute my dragon in order to summon the lord of shadows himself. Arise, Caius the Shadow Monarch!" The familiar fiend in grey and purple took the place of the dragon, his hand pointing at the opponent's monster (2400/1000). "If my Caius is tribute summoned, he's allowed to remove one of the cards on the field from the game, and if it's a dark monster you'll receive 1000 points of damage."

A flick of the demon's wrist later and the opposing zombie was no more, swallowed by an orb of pure darkness. (Blake 4000 / Wade 3000) The teacher clapped his hands shortly, before adjusting his sunglasses. "A good play, but you're short on some points, examinee."

"Caius alone isn't strong enough, that's true. But I was planning with that in mind." Ordering his monster to attack, Blake activated a quick play spell from his hand. "By activating Rush Recklessly, one face-up monster on the field gains 700 attack points until the end of turn. Just enough to take what's left of your life points." (3100/1000) Caius sped towards the man, attacking him and thus winning Blake the game in just three turns. (Blake 4000 / Wade 0000)

Both Mister Wilson and a big part of the audience were surprised, shocked even, of how quickly this duel ended. Clearing his throat, Wilson made his way over to Blake, shaking his hand. "It sure has been a few years since an examinee managed to defeat me with a one-turn kill. Well played, student. You can wait over here for a few minutes until you are assigned to a dorm. Welcome to Duel Academy."

In the stands above, a certain Obelisk Blue student watched the duel of the boy with the black cap with much interest. She wasn't the only one, but one of the few that could appreciate the strategy that the boy used. While a small group of boys further to the side raved on about the examinee just having a lot of luck, she thought there was more to it. While luck always was a factor with this game, every card this Blake-guy played has brought him closer to victory. None of them were wasted and he still had three cards left when the duel ended.

Another female student not far from her, whom she had to begrudgingly accept was a tall beauty, her long blonde hair and model-like figure drawing the more attention of the students than the actual duels going on, pointed out that fact to the man beside her. If she remembered right, he was a third year, and the best duelist of the school. The Kaiser looked positively interested in the new student, smirking for just a moment when the teacher down in the arena said something about being defeated in one turn years prior.

A duelist of that calibre could make a fine asset for her. While he wouldn't be a blue, otherwise he wouldn't have been dueling today in the first place. His performance today would certainly cause members of her dorm to seek him out and duel him, either out of arrogance or simple ill will. She had heard about the tension between the different dorms, which mainly were caused by the Blues to boost their confidence or flaunt their parents' money, but she hoped it would be the loud minority, not the norm.

If this student showed that the exam duel wasn't just pure luck on his part, she might approach him in the future and offer him a place in her ranks. That way, she could use him to attain her desired title of Duelist Academy's Queen. A queen needed to be cunning, charming, and have powerful allies that would heed her call. He would be one the later, while she, Kami Umeno, was all of the rest.

That concludes the short prologue arc that hopefully showed you how the MC got to where he's now and why he'll behave the way he does. For anyone still here; thank you very much for reading and I hope you'll stay to see how the story unfolds. As written in the summary, the world this story takes place in is a mishmash of the GX Anime, Manga and TagForce games, which introduces new characters to the story and does a few changes to existing ones - you'll have to see for yourself how much. Along with that I'm taking some liberties on general world-building and systems regarding the Duel Academy. I'm not sure how much I'll go - or should, honestly - go into numbers for students, DP and so on, but we'll see. While the MC has some knowledge, I wonder how much of it applies in this "new" mixed universe ...