DUEL ACADEMY

Serafino Temura muted the television as his phone beeped to life. He checked the caller ID before answering.

"Hello, Haschel."

"Serafino, the dirty deed has been done," Haschel reported. "Those brats won't be a problem for us anymore."

"And you're certain they're dead?"

"Totally positive, sir."

Serafino remained quiet for a moment, letting Haschel's words hang in the air. He smacked his lips as he tried to come up with the right words.

At last, he spoke.

"Haschel, about an hour ago, I saw a news report from out of Avis City. Do you know what that could have possibly been about?"

"The...cave collapse," Haschel said hesitantly.

"And in the report, they said that four people were successfully rescued from the rubble. Who do you think that could have been?"

"Those children and the man that was with them."

"Very good. Now - and I want you to use your brain for this one, Haschel - if those brats are still alive, what does that mean for us?"

"It means they're going to continue to be a problem."

"Exactly. And you just assumed that they had been killed?"

"Honestly, sir, I didn't stick around. As soon as the bombs started going off, I got out of the cave, and then I had to hurry out of town before the authorities arrived on the scene."

"You should have stayed to make sure those brats were dead. You are a member of the Cultura Mortis. Death is what we're all about, the death of the human race, and yes, that includes ourselves. You should have stayed to make sure that they were dead. One of our operatives or even Arkhan would have reported to me." Haschel remained silent. "You don't have anything to say?"

"No."

Serafino took a breath; he could feel his temper starting to rise, and needed to calm himself down. "Mistakes were made. But it's nothing we can't recover from."

"So what now?"

"Let them do whatever it is they're doing in Avis City. In the meantime, I need both you and Arkhan to return to headquarters. We can figure out our next move from there."

"Sure thing. But now that it's brought up, there is one thing that's bugging me."

"That is?"

"How did they survive?"

Serafino fell quiet again. He had to admit, Haschel had a point. A cave collapse like that should have killed those kids and whoever else was in there with them. It just didn't make sense. He turned his gaze back to the television; the news was once again playing the footage of the people being lifted out of the rubble. Now that he got a good look at it, the rubble seemed to have an almost perfect domed shape to it. It almost looked like something was holding the debris up from the inside.

"Questions for later," he said. "For now, I just need you and Arkhan to get come back. Our operatives in the field will keeps tabs on those kids. Based on what we've seen, there appears to be a pattern to their movements. Each town they go to seems to be a deliberate choice, and from my understanding one of them is challenging the gym leaders. But we'll worry about that later. For now, just come back." He turned the phone off, set it on his desk, and took a sip of his wine.

The report had changed focus now to those three kids. Shelly Cavanaugh, the little runaway, was easily recognized even without her name being flashed on the screen. He had no idea who the boy, Hugo Akiba, was, nor did he care.

But when it came to Yuka Rumiko...

Serafino closed his eyes and shook his head. An image quickly flashed through his mind, an image of him in a park with a young child. This child looked very much like a smaller version of this Yuka girl.

Strange, these memories.

He shook his head again and downed his wine. He couldn't begin to know why that image had flashed through his mind.

Maybe he just needed some sleep.

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After what felt like hours, the questions finally came to an end. Between the medics, the police, and the news reporters, they were beginning to get tired of answering the same questions. Just how many times were they going to have to how Haschel brought the cave down on top of them? It was starting to become monotonous.

At last, they were free to go. It was well into the evening at this point; the sun was starting to go down, painting the sky a brilliant purple and orange hue. The temperature was beginning to drop. Street lights began to come to life as the city slowly began to shut down for the night.

Whatever plans the three friends might have had before they started making their way to Avis City clearly had to be changed after what had happened today.

They'd since made their way to a nearby hotel.

"I don't know about you guys, but I could use a shower," Shelly said.

"I think we all could," Hugo said.

"You go first, Shelly," Yuka said. "It'll give me and Hugo time to figure out who's going next."

"Duel for it?" Hugo suggested.

"After today, I'd rather do Rock-Paper-Scissors," Yuka answered.

Shelly let them begin their game as she went into the bathroom and climbed into the shower. Now that things had calmed down and were out of danger and not being hounded by questions, she could finally think. She hadn't expected to see Haschel in the cave, let alone bump into them at all. If she hadn't frozen up, she would have been able to warn Yuka about how Haschel dueled sooner. Or maybe she should have told Yuka and Hugo about the cult's dueling styles after meeting them.

Of course, she didn't know how all of them dueled, despite her years with them. She'd never seen the cult's second in command, Arkhan Fizban, duel, and so she didn't know what he used or what his strategies were. She also didn't know how the cult's leader, Serafino Temura, dueled, despite him being the one who groomed her for years after Haschel convinced her parents to end their own lives.

Then again, how could she tell her friends how all the cult members dueled? The cult had hundreds, if not thousands, of members all across the region - maybe the world. It would be impossible to say who used what decks or strategies. For all she knew, some of them used the same strategies. Who was to say that there couldn't be multiple cultists using the same Ancient Gear or Elemental Charmers deck?

Shelly shut off the water, dried herself off, and got dressed. "Who's next?" she called as she left the bathroom and returned to the main room.

Over the next hour, both Hugo and Yuka took their turns in the shower. It was almost half past nine by the time they were finished.

"Don't know about you guys, but I am starved," Hugo said. "Anyone up for some room service?"

"Sure. What's on the menu?" Shelly asked.

"Let's see." Hugo grabbed a menu off the nearby nightstand.

"Wait, hold on!" Yuka suddenly cried. "I have to call my mom! She must have heard about what happened and is worried sick!"

"Oh, yeah. That's probably a good idea," Shelly agreed. Must be nice, having a parent to worry about you, she thought solemnly.

Though she didn't say anything, Yuka saw the sullen look on Shelly's face. "Oh, Shelly. I'm sorry. I didn't hurt your feelings, did I?"

"No, it's fine," Shelly said softly. She took the phone off its stand and handed it to Yuka. "You better call her before she starts to panic."

Yuka took the phone from Shelly and dialed the number. She pressed a button on the phone to turn it to speaker mode; this phone didn't have a video screen. The phone rang a few times before someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's me."

"Oh my gosh! Yuka! Are you okay? Are your friends okay? I heard about the cave explosion. Please tell me you're all okay."

"We're fine, Mom," Yuka said. "Though...We did kind of get caught in that."

"You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, we're fine," Yuka answered. "We're in a hotel room now. Hugo and Shelly are here too."

"Hi Mrs. Yuka's Mom," Hugo called.

"Hello," Shelly said.

They heard Yuka's mom let out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. When I saw the news, I got so scared that something terrible had happened. I'm so glad to hear that you kids are okay. Was there anyone else in the cave? Were they hurt?"

"There was another person, but he got out with us," Yuka answered. "He's okay."

"That's good. What are you going to do now?"

"Get us some food, go to sleep later, and then I think Yuka wanted to find the next gym leader tomorrow," Hugo said.

"Yeah, what he said," Yuka said. "Get this, the next gym leader I have to face is also a teacher at the local Duel Academy."

"I guess they have to pay their bills somehow," her mom said. "I'm still just so relieved that you three are safe. Well, I'm going to let you guys go. Get some rest and good luck."

"Thanks, Mom," Yuka said. "Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie." The line went dead as her mother hung up.

"Be thankful you have a mom who lives you," Hugo said as Yuka put the phone back on its stand. "And not going to lie, I'm a little jealous."

"Sorry," Yuka said sheepishly.

"Don't be," Shelly said. "Hugo's right. Your mom loves and supports you. That's what matters. You know what else matters? Getting some food. Hugo, what's on the menu?"

"We got the usual," Hugo said, looking at the room service menu. "Cheeseburgers and fries, shrimp alfredo, cilantro and lime chicken, a bunch of salad options, and different drinks - sodas, juices, teas, and...Yeah, I think we're going to stay away from the booze."

"Good idea," Shelly agreed. "I'll take some shrimp alfredo."

"Same," Yuka put in.

"Might as well make it unanimous," Hugo said. He picked up the phone and dialed the number.

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Jasper Phoenix washed his hands after using the bathroom. After returning home from helping with the rescue efforts, the first thing he did was climb in the shower before ordering a pizza. It was now well into the night, and he had to get ready for bed.

There hadn't been any word yet about the school being open tomorrow or now. That was something he would have to find out in the morning. He doubted Headmaster DeLisle would open the school tomorrow; he'd probably wait a day or two to let things settle down. Not that he could blame his boss; if he were in his position, he'd have done the same, just to make sure that there weren't any more incidents like what had happened today.

He was there to see the four people who were trapped in the cave get lifted out. Part of him wished he'd been able to talk to them. But after the ordeal they'd just gone through, not to mention all the other questions they were having to answer, he figured it would be better to leave them be.

Besides, he'd head enough during the news after getting home. It seemed like one of those four in the cave saved the rest with her quick thinking and summoned a bunch of dragon type Duel Monsters to hold the cave up until they could be rescued. Jasper wasn't sure if he would have thought of something like that. He probably would have been too busy panicking to even consider it.

Tomorrow, he would talk to DeLisle about what was going to happen with the school. Right now, it was time for sleep.

###############################################

Duel Academy was located in the center of Avis City. It was hard to miss, being a large, dome shaped building. Standing at five stories tall, its silver, glass like outer walls shimmered in the afternoon sun. A school of this size could hold two thousand students, easily, plus all the hundreds of staff.

When Seto Kaiba started the Duel Academy school close to a century ago, he set the student body up into three distinct classes, all based on the old Egyptian God Cards: The elite Obelisk Blue, for the students with the highest grades and, in many cases, the families having the money to put their children in the most prestegious class; Ra Yellow, for students who did well on their tests but were just shy of the highest ranks; and Slifer Red, where the students with the lowest grades were placed. Any student placed in Slifer Red had to work harder than most to increase their grades and their rank, eventually working their way up to Ra Yellow and eventually Obelisk Blue.

Of course, that was how it had been long ago. Since then, at least within the last twenty years, the ranking system of Duel Academy had been amended. Now, every student who enrolled in Duel Academy had to begin in Slifer Red and then work their way up to Obelisk Blue. It ensured maximum fairness among the students, even those who were able to pay their way into the higher Obelisk Blue ranks. The idea being that in order to become one of the elite, a duelist had to earn the right to be called that; niether money alone nor skill alone were enough to reach such heights.

It had been two days since the incident at the cave. Duel Academy was closed yesterday, due to fear of another incident like what happened at the cave. Yuka figured she'd have done the same if she were in charge of this city's dueling school; better to ensure the students stay safe rather than risk anything terrible happening.

At nine in the morning, students were filing into the school. It made Duel Academy look less like a high class dueling school and more like an ordinary middle city high school. There were students of every class, all identified by the color coded jackets they wore. All the jackets of the three classes were solid colors with white highlights. Some wore their jackets fully fastened, others had them open, and every student had a duel pad strapped to their arms.

"So what do we do, just walk in?" Hugo asked.

"Maybe there's a receptionist we can talk to," Shelly guessed. "They might be able to tell us where to find Jasper Phoenix."

"He's a teacher, so he'll probably be in class," Yuka said. "Still, not a bad idea, Shelly. Let's go see."

They had to wait a bit for the crowd to thin before they made their way to the front door. There were two security guards by the door, one on either side. One of the guards held up a hand as they approached, stopping them.

"Can we help you kids?"

"Hi. We were wondering if there was someone we could speak to about having a meeting with Jasper Phoenix," Yuka said. She booted up her duel pad, bringing up her duelist profile. "I was hoping to challenge him to a duel for a gym badge."

The two guards shared a glance before turning back to Yuka. "Fine. We'll let you in. But just know that after what happened yesterday, you we're going to be keeping an eye on you three. You understand?"

"We do," Shelly said.

"Lead the way, guys," Hugo added.

They followed the guards inside. The air inside felt cool, compared to the subtle warmth from outside. The floors and walls were a bluish-white in color, not unlike the outside walls, giving the place an even cooler feeling. Some students could still be seen removing supplies from their lockers before moving on to their classes, some just as the bell rang.

The guards led them down the hall. The hall curved to the left, following the circular, domed shape of the building. Each room was labeled as a different classroom, each marked with a letter and a number; from what Yuka could tell, all the classes on this floor were labeled as "1A", "2A", and so on.

The guards led them to Classroom 15A. One of the guards knocked on the door.

"Come on in," someone in the room called.

The guard opened the door. The room inside was large and oval shaped, with a single platform and podium facing ten ascending rows of benched seats. There had to have been at least a hundred students in this classroom, all from the three different classes. They had expected that the seating arrangements would be separated by class, but instead it looked like students were allowed to sit wherever they wanted.

"Morning, fellas," the teacher said. "Something we can do for you?"

"Sorry for interrupting your class, Mr. Phoenix," a guard said. "But I think you have a challenger."

Mr. Phoenix...That had to be Jasper Phoenix. Yuka got a good look at him as he stepped away from the podium and approached. She was expecting him to be an older man, but here he was, maybe less than a decade older than she was, though that was only a guess; she couldn't be entirely sure with his clean-shaven, boyish face. His black hair was short in the front and long in the back; one of his bangs hung down between his yes. He was wearing a gray suit with a white undershirt and blue tie, looking very professional.

"One of these kids, I'm guessing?" he asked.

Hugo put his hands on Yuka's shoulders. "Right here. Yuka's your challenger."

"I can speak for myself, Hugo, thanks," Yuka snarked.

"Wait a minute," Jasper said. "I saw you kids on the news the other night. You were the ones who got pulled out of the cave."

The students started to silently murmur amongst themselves. Yuka tried to ignore the whispered conversations, but she still couldn't help but these students might have been starting with each other. Maybe they were going to say that Yuka and her friends were responsible for the cave collapse, or that maybe the cave collapse was meant to get rid of them somehow.

Of course, that second one would have been the correct one.

As if he could sense what Yuka was thinking, Jasper turned to his class. "Everyone, please stop that. The last thing we need is anyone starting any rumors about these three. If you want to start saying anything about these three being involved in the cave collapse, please keep it to yourselves. Or at the very least ask them about it. It's better than starting rumors." he turned back to Yuka. "Yuka, right?"

"Yeah. I was hoping to challenge you for a badge. Once class was over, of course."

Jasper couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, probably a good idea. As much as I love a good duel, I still have a job to do as a teacher. But I'll tell you what - a duel that was scheduled for this afternoon had to be cancelled, but I think we can have our duel in place of that one. The duel arenas are all on the fifth floor; I'll meet you at 1:30 in room 15E. It probably wouldn't hurt for you kids to use one of the empty arenas as practice until then."

"Is that going to be okay?" Shelly asked. "Aren't those just for students and challengers?"

"Well, Yuka's a challenger and you two are with her, so I don't see why it would hurt anything," Jasper answered. "Of course, I'll have to let the headmaster know so he can make the official announcement about the duel, but I'll have time after class. Until then, I have a class to continue, so remember, Yuka: 1:30 in room 15E."

"I guess we'll see you then," Yuka said.

With that, the guards led them out of the classroom.