Domino City, a place home to many people all for either different or the same reasons. If anything could be said about this town, it had birthed a lot of crazy events from the past few years prior to the creation of a certain card game that took the world by storm. For all who knew of the answer, it could only be one game in particular.
Duel Monsters.
However, even with all these crazy events, there comes a time where the next generation must come forth and take over. There's always bound to be new characters ready to take on the world. Although, for such characters, they never realize how important they become when they decide to take center stage. What makes me say this? Well-
"Man, to think I'd be running late like this. I got up early, ate a good breakfast, and had all my stuff pre-packed before dashing out the door. You'd think a guy would make it on time. Oh well, at least I'm not ending up in detention for tardiness since I'm not a student yet."
A young man could be seen dashing in a park, making his way through the public space as he was in a hurry to arrive at his destination. "Excuse me" could be heard as the teen sprinted past the bystanders who were caught off guard by a teenager sprinting like a bat out of hell. While some did move out the way for him, the one thing everyone couldn't help in doing was glancing at the young man who was running for wherever he was trying to make his presence known. The moment they did, the biggest distinct feature that immediately caught their attention was brown and orange hair.
That's right. The boy currently making a dash on such a day happened to be the one and only Jaden Yuki.
"You wouldn't have a need to rush like this if you would've let me take care of the matter involving the train."
The now revealed Jaden sent a small glance towards his right, catching sight of a certain being after hearing a voice that was all too familiar to him. A slight sigh escaped his lips before it turned into a smile. Suddenly, a large wing(?) entered his peripheral vision, something that didn't seem to alarm nor bother him in the slightest. Before he knew it, a full body had come into his view, the wings flapping slightly ever so often.
"Yubel, while I'm grateful for the fact you would've taken care of it, none of us knew what the problem was that caused the train delay. I didn't want you doing anything that could cause another problem on top of it even if you have my best interest at heart." Jaden thought, knowing his mind was being read by the now revealed Yubel who scowled as her blue lips curved into a frown.
"Well thanks to that train, my precious Jaden is gonna be late for his exam."
"Just relax, Yubel. It's not the end of the world if I'm a little late. Plus, it makes it better knowing that you're here with me."
"Why wouldn't I be? I promised to always be with you."
After Yubel let those words leave her mouth, she gave the teen duelist a smile before moving beside him. Noticing this, the brown-eyed teen watched as she flew closer to him, their faces inches apart in which it distracted the boy. His eyes landed on her heterochromatic ones, seeing the way she looked at him mischievously before giving a small wink, much to his embarrassment. Due to this, he failed to notice a figure in the distance ahead of him. The result was the boy colliding into them, falling backwards as he smacked the ground. Yubel, having witnessed this, proceeded to land beside him with a small amount of concern on her face.
"Jaden, are you ok?" She asked, worried about any injuries he could've possibly obtained.
"Don't worry Yubel, I'm fine." The Yuki teen thought, picking himself up off the ground. While he did so, Yubel released a predatory growl, casting her sight over to the person he bumped into as she was ready to retaliate.
"Who dares hurt Jaden?!" Yubel exclaimed, her white and purple hair flaring about until her eyes suddenly widened.
"Yubel, chill. There's nothing to worry about…" Jaden paused, his eyes landing on who he bumped into before his brain had taken a second to come to a realization.
"I see. So, you're a duelist?" The man replied, snapping them back to reality.
"Yeah, I am. How could you tell?"
"Well, I don't think anyone just has monsters, spells, and trap cards lying around in their backpack." The man spoke, pointing down towards the ground.
Getting the message, Jaden immediately turned his head towards the ground. A gasp escaped his lips due to finding out that his cards had spilled from his bag that was now open. The brown and orange-haired duelist immediately crouched down to collect them, dusting off each one he had picked up before storing them away into his bag and zipping it closed. While he did so, the other male began taking out something from his deck holder, presenting it to Jaden once he got his attention again.
"Here. Why don't you take this card as a little gift from me? I'm sure it would be better in your hands than mine."
Suddenly, the man passed the card to Jaden, him and Yubel examining it before muttering the words "Winged Kuriboh." Meanwhile, the other duelist began walking past the duo, alerting the both of them as they turned their heads back to stare at his form. While this was unexpected, and one of the best moments of his life, the duelist couldn't bear the thought of not saying something to his fellow duelist. The BEST duelist.
"Before you go, I just wanted to say that I promise I'll make you proud!"
With those words leaving his mouth, Jaden bowed towards the older man, Yubel simply staring in awe and disbelief that they got to meet him so early in life (along with another given reason). This in turn caused said figure to stop, slightly turning towards Jaden with a smirk before giving the young lad a thumbs up. With this final gesture, he had parted from the two, leaving them all alone to their thoughts. After he disappeared from sight, Jaden and Yubel casted their vision amongst Winged Kuriboh one more time, the latter trying to figure out why the man would give him the small fuzzball.
That's when they heard a sound come from the card.
"Was that-" Jaden began to question, his partner already knowing the answer to that before a thought occurred to him. "Crap, the exam! Come on Yubel! I can't be the next King of Games if I'm late to the games!"
"..." Taking one last look at the direction the man disappeared off to, the duel spirit shook her head before taking off towards her partner. She would ignore this for now. After all, making sure Jaden made it to his exams was more important than the man who became the King himself.
Aside from that, today was gonna be a long day.
Turn 1: A Gentle Approach to a new world. Introducing Yugi's successor.
Summary: Years after the events of Yugi's adventure, a new stage has been set where new characters must shine and forge a new story. Looks like we found that in our star Jaden Yuki, a growing duelist with the power to see and speak to duel spirits inside the very cards that he uses. Even then, it seems like this superpower can't even allow him to be on time. With the Duel Academy exam having arrived, Jaden has been given the chance to prove that he's ready to take the mantle King of Games. However, when a train delay causes him to be behind schedule, one of the teachers at the school takes it upon himself to show that tardiness won't be accepted no matter the reason. Will Jaden be able to tackle the first challenge standing in his way of attending Duel Academy?
Currently, outside of a certain dome owned by a well known blue-eyes user, a member of security was checking a watch attached to his wrist for the current time. Upon confirmation, he turned his head and gave a nod towards two young ladies clad in yellow and white uniforms who proceeded to pack up the table they had been occupying for some time now. However, as they were getting ready to close up, an exclamation of "wait" caught their attention. From their right, all their eyes began to land on a pair of hands grabbing the railing surrounding the parking lot of the Kaiba dome. From the depths of the forest emerged the one and only Jaden Yuki, Yubel coming up right beside him.
"Number one-hundred and ten, Jaden Yuki has arrived!" He exclaimed, giving them a peace sign much to the awe and confusion of three people present.
"And you better let him in for his exam. Otherwise you'll be answering to me." Yubel thought, sending a glare towards the three people there much to the obliviousness of Jaden himself.
Meanwhile, inside of the Kaiba Dome, a glasses wearing teen with blue hair could be spotted wiping away sweat from his forehead from nervousness. Said teen had finished his exam not too long ago, giving off a timid look as the only thing occupying his mind was if he did well enough to make it into the school.
"Alright, they're still going at it!"
"Wah!" He found himself shouting slightly in fright, scared by Jaden's sudden appearance who unconsciously ignored him by accident. As for Yubel, she sat there silently, taking in the sight of his happy form which made her smile, making it obvious that she would do anything to protect his happiness.
Down on the field, a tall black-haired teen clad in a white tracksuit could be seen with a monster currently in attack position, and one card face down on his side of the field. On the side was his examiner, sporting two monsters in face-up defense position. With the defense that the examiner had, it posed one problem against the teen. His monster didn't have enough strength to beat either creature.
"I'll admit it kid, you've played well up until this point, considering the fact you got a perfect score on your practical, so it was to be expected. However, you're stuck with no way to power through now that you can't get past my impenetrable defense. You might as well call it quits for yourself."
"Is that so? Trap card, reveal! Ring of destruction!" The examinee exclaimed, catching the examiner off guard.
"So that's what you had set."
"Precisely. This card destroys my monster on the field, and then both players take damage equal to its attack."
From nowhere, a collar of grenades appeared around the monster's neck before exploding moments later, dealing damage to both players before ending the duel. After the dust cleared, the examiner couldn't help but smirk. As he expected, number one passed without much hassle.
"The examination duel is over. Congratulations on passing."
"Thank you."
Both men gave each other a slight bow in appreciation of the other before making their way off the duel field. The crowd could be heard cheering as they departed, showing their appreciation for such a good duel. Yet, they were unaware of the final duel to come.
"Examinee number one isn't half bad is he?" A student wearing glasses clad in a mostly blue attire stated amongst a trio residing in the crowd.
"It was worth coming out here just to see him duel after all the rumors. Wouldn't you say Chazz?" The taller male of the trio spoke.
"Such nonsense. These entry duels are just for low level plays that even a grade schooler could pull off. Leaving the academy to watch this snoozefest was such a waste of time." Chazz said, making his annoyance and disappointment known as he kept his eyes from glancing back down to the duel arena.
"Man, his combo was pretty sweet huh?" Jaden asked the blue-haired teen, giving his attention towards the shorter male since if he said anything to Yubel in the open, he would get some questioning glances. There was also the fact that speaking to her mentally while staring at nothing would probably make him seem like a weirdo.
"Of course it was. Not to sound rude, but that was Bastion Misawa who placed first in the written exam." The shorter teen replied.
"Not to sound rude huh? You better watch how you speak to Jaden." Yubel said openly, flying towards the blue-haired duelist with an expression that spoke of harm.
"Chill Yubel, he's not hurting anyone. I get what he means by it." He thought, seeing the demonic spirit pout before she flew back over towards him before saying aloud "So that's what our numbers were for. I thought they just gave them to us at random."
"Nope. You pass or fail depending on your grades for both the written portion, and the written details of your duel. I managed to win my duel, but with me being number one-nineteen, I'm not sure if I'll be accepted. I'm Syrus by the way."
"Hey, don't sweat the small stuff. If you're lucky enough, you'll pass no doubt. After all, I'm number one-hundred and ten. Also, I'm Jaden. Nice to meet you bro."
"So you're also an examinee. Well, I hate to tell you, but you've got a problem on your hands. The group to have their duels first were the one-hundreds, and they ended a while ago."
"Huh?" The brown-eyed teen said, feeling the color drain from his body as his duel partner immediately flew in front of his face to console him.
Meanwhile, in a section not too far from the other various students currently attending Duel Academy, the examiners were having a discussion about their applicants. Apart from finishing up their scores based on their duel performances, they were currently deciding where the examinees would end up, and what uniform they would require. As you guessed, the final applicant being discussed was obviously Bastion Misawa, whom the faculty have already taken a liking to.
"Considering his placement with a perfect score, and how he did in the duel, I think the matter is settled now."
"Definitely. I think it's safe to confirm he was the last applicant."
With the conversation coming to a close, one of the examiners stacked the papers in front of him before being approached by the guard from earlier who was standing outside. This brought a little confusion to the examiners there, but they decided to hear him out on a matter he wanted to make known.
"If I can have your attention for a minute, we have one last examinee who just made it here."
"Well, how did he place on the written test?" The head of the examiners asked.
"He's number one-hundred and ten sir. He would've been here earlier, but was stopped by a train delay. He spent his time running here, and even climbed through the forest on the mountain side outside of the Kaiba Dome to make registration." This part put them in disbelief as the head examiner shook his head.
"I suppose he has a little sense of readiness if he's arriving late then. We have no need for a dropout boy in the academy who'll just barely make the grade, no?" The man stated, sounding rather annoyed.
"Even so, he still went through all the trouble to get here."
"He does have some time left, so he technically qualifies to still have his test."
"Not to mention that a train is to blame, and I'd hate to send him home if he really climbed the mountain side forest just to get here. That's a bit harsh."
"Don't you find it bad to not let him have his exam duel after all that trouble?"
"Well I guess you'll have to tell him better luck next year!" The head examiner stood up, slamming his hands on the desk which scared the others. Out of nowhere, a phone call grabbed their attention before the blonde-haired man reached inside his coat pocket to take a hold of said item. Checking the name, he answered without hesitation.
"Chancellor Sheppard, how may I help you?"
"Well Crowller, I've overheard that a student arrived late due to a train delay. Even though he did poorly on his written exam, we can't deprive him of his chance to enter here as a duelist. Especially considering all the trouble he went through to get there from what I've heard. We aim to garner a wide range of well-rounded duelists to hone and train their skills after all."
"Such sharp ears. Don't worry, I'll see to it that he gets his chance." The now revealed Crowler ended the call before muttering "You sly old dog."
The man didn't understand why the headmaster was allowing this late dropout boy to even have a chance here, but he was not going to have it. Since he now has to give him a duel, he'll make it one the new arrival will never forget. And when it's over, that boy will have no shot at getting in.
"Since the late arrival has been given a chance to take his duel exam, I'll be dueling the examinee."
"Wait, Professor Crowler. Before you go, please take an examination deck." The other examiner tried to give the deck to the professor, but he immediately declined.
"I have no need for one of those. I'll be using my own deck, thank you. Also, it's DOCTOR." The blonde walked away, worrying the other examiners who were hoping he'd take it easy on the boy.
Meanwhile, Bastion had just sat himself down, taking off his duel disk while releasing a breath. He felt a little exhausted from the damage he took earlier, but it didn't really matter in the end. He passed with flying colors, and was officially going to become a student of Duel Academy.
"Bro, you're one tough customer." Bastion found his attention being grabbed by Jaden, receiving a thumbs up seconds later.
After seeing this, Bastion didn't seem to pay mind to the brown and orange-haired duelist any further as he looked away, only bothering to respond with a small "I guess." Yubel on the other hand didn't like this, proceeding to say "why is everyone so focused on being rude to you today," before landing on her feet to stand beside the young duelist.
"It's no harm to me. Not everyone is in the given mood for conversation, but that won't stop me." He said, giving the duel spirit a smile.
Yubel pouted at this. With a small huff, she folded her arms and crossed them over her bust. A small tint of pink adorned her cheeks at how easy going Jaden was, but that nature also slightly annoyed the fiend due to the possibility that he'll wind up letting someone walk all over him. Aside from that, the demonic spirit watched as the Yuki teen dropped his hand, giving a reply that would change the course of his interactions with Bastion and Syrus from here on out.
"By the looks of it, you might be the second best duelist here."
"Huh?" They both said in confusion before the PA system came on.
"Examinee number one-hundred and ten, Jaden Yuki, please report to the duel field."
"Alright, it's go time." Pulling out his duel disk and cards, Jaden began to make his way down the steps, Bastion calling out to him with a question.
"Pray tell, why am I number two?"
Upon being asked that, Jaden's response was to place his thumb against his chest with a proud smile. "Because I'm number one," was his last remark to the black-haired teen, leaving shortly thereafter since he didn't want to keep the examiner waiting.
"He only scored nine points higher than me, so why does he have this much confidence when he did poorly as well on the written exam? Lucky guy…" Syrus said, Bastion paying no mind to what he said as those words of what Jaden casually replied rang through his head. He'll watch him closely for sure, but could there really be another examinee that's better than him?
"Now that we're free from prying eyes, are you ready to show them what we're capable of Jaden?"
"Of course I am. I've been dreaming of attending Duel Academy since I was a little kid. Now I get to do that with my best friend by my side."
The brown-eyed teen smiled at her, earning one back from the heterochromia spirit. Putting forth her hand, Jaden took it whilst arriving at a little elevator that would bring them out to the duel field. Glancing over to his partner, he couldn't help but appreciate her presence, comforted by the fact that she's been by his side for so long. However, the mixed color-haired spirit placed her vision on his own, catching him in the act of staring at her. A small blush adorned his cheek since Yubel started to tease him after they stepped onto the elevator which departed for the duel field.
"Seems someone got caught staring at my beauty. Since it's you, I don't mind if you look at me like that. Stare all you want."
"It wasn't, well-"
"Hmm? Yes?" She placed her face in front of his, smirking slightly which caused Jaden to lean back sheepishly.
"I was just thinking about how grateful I am for you being my closest bond I've had with anyone." He admitted, glancing off to the side.
Unexpectedly, Yubel nuzzled her head against his, shocking the poor teen who found himself being wrapped in her wings. While he can't exactly feel her touch, being able to see what she was doing put him in a position that made him embarrassed by the nature of her actions. Eventually, she released her hold the moment they finally came up to the duel field. After doing so, a man in a blue coat appeared before them, Crowler finally revealing himself before brushing his blonde hair to the side.
"Alright son. Before we begin, may I have your name?"
Hearing his words, the brown-eyed duelist stood at attention, speaking "Jaden. Jaden Yuki," a serious expression coming onto his face. Since it was his first time meeting the man before him, he didn't know how strict the man in question would be. For now, he figured he'd play it safe.
"Well then Jaden Yuki, I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, the academy's acting Chief General Director of practical application."
"Chief General Director? Is that even a thing? I honestly thought he was some sort of ballerina disguising himself amongst the rest of the human body." Yubel said, tilting her head in confusion.
"Well, regardless of title, I'm ready to give my best to be accepted." Jaden thought, knowing Yubel was reading his mind before giving a nod towards Crowler whilst readying his duel disk.
"Funny enough you say that when we both know you're gonna be accepted, but I guess you have your work cut out for you if you're dueling the Chief General Director whatever."
Seeing Jaden slide his cards into the deck slot, Crowled couldn't help but reply "Eager to duel aren't we? Well, let's get down to business. Duel vest, on," before five cards were deposited into his right hand. The brown-eyed duelist found himself fascinated with the coat's way of drawing cards, but didn't bother to speak on it for now. He'll ask about it later in due time.
"Huh? Professor Crowler is dealing with this personally?" The glasses wearer stated amongst Chazz's friends, leaning forward a bit.
"Is that Jaden dude that big a deal?" The brown-haired duelist asked, his sight focused on Jaden as he had no idea why Crowler would personally place himself on the duel field for one student.
"That can't be it." Chazz thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he grew angrier by the second.
"Now that we both have five cards in hand, we can officially begin."
"Alrighty then, I'll do my best."
"Hmm. I bet you will, young scholar."
"Duel!" Crowler, Jaden, and Yubel shouted in unison, a familiar system coming up that recognized a duel was in progress.
Crowler - 4000LP [Hand: 5/Deck: 55/Field: 0] Graveyard: 0
Jaden - 4000LP [Hand: 5/Deck: 55/Field: 0] Graveyard: 0
"As the examiner, I'm giving you the chance to go first." The blonde man said.
Hearing this, Jaden and Yubel looked at his cards, the former smiling at his starting hand while the other smirked. Yubel couldn't help but point at one of the cards in his palm, revealing said card to be herself as she looked over to Jaden. Seeing that look in the corner of his eye, the teen couldn't help but nod at what she was getting at.
Victory was guaranteed the moment he was allowed to go first.
"First, I'll start by playing the spell card, A Hero Lives! Since I have no face up monsters on my side of the field, I pay half my life points to summon a hero monster from my deck!"
Announcing this, Jaden began to pull his deck from the holder. He glanced over all his HERO monsters before pulling a single card and adding it to his hand. Placing his deck back into his deck slot, the duel disk began shuffling his cards whilst he made his next move.
"From my deck, comes Elemental HERO Airman!"
A small whooshing sound could be heard before the noise began to pick up. Green winds began to swirl amongst the duel field, generating large amounts of said elemental until a man began to fly down from the sky. A pair of wings attached to his back seemed to be carrying spinning blades that allowed for easier air control. His mask kept his true identity concealed while he made his presence known to all the onlookers, landing safely a few inches above the ground with his arms crossed over his nearly bare chest.
Elemental HERO Stratos LV4 - ATK: 1800/DEF: 300
Jaden - [4000LP - (2000) 2000LP]
"Since Airman was summoned, I get to add one hero monster from my deck to my hand. I'll be choosing Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier." Jaden stated, pulling out said card that his duel disk pushed out for him.
"Adding Liquid Soldier to your hand is interesting when we both know you're not gonna be fusion summoning this turn."
"Never hurts to have him just in case there's a next turn."
Seeing him add Liquid Soldier to his hand, Crowler couldn't help but remark "Using a hero deck? I presume you were a small town hero of the sort where you came from," which in turn made Jaden flinch slightly.
Where he came from, he was no hero.
"Yeah, I guess so." He lied, something Yubel picked up on as it made her frown in sadness. She knew why though, and it made her slightly angry that Crowler would ask him that, regardless of the fact that he didn't know about the loneliness Jaden was in for most of his life. All because people wouldn't stop hurting him.
"Well then, don't mind me. You may continue with your turn."
"Since you said it so nicely teach, I'll resume by playing the spell card hero's bond. Since I control a face-up Elemental HERO, I'm allowed to special summon two more just like him from my hand. So say hello to Elemental Heroes Blazeman, and Liquid Soldier."
From his hand, Jaden slammed down the two respective heroes on his duel disk, the elements of both water and fire beginning to swirl around Airman. Seconds later, the corresponding powers slammed onto the duel field, birthing two heroes covered from head to toe in the colors red and blue.
Elemental HERO Blazeman LV4 - ATK: 1200/DEF: 1800
Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier LV4 - ATK: 1400/DEF: 1300
"Thanks to Blazeman being summoned, I can now add polymerization from deck to hand." Jaden pulled the respective card from his deck, glancing over to Yubel as he gave her a smile. "You ready Yubel?"
"If it's you Jaden, I'm always ready."
"Then here I go." Jaden thought, smirking as he pulled Yubel's card from his hand.
Seeing this, the duel spirit took off to the sky, flying up until she neared the ceiling. Any time Jaden summoned her, she needed to make a grand entrance. He was her king after all, and she wouldn't have him earning anything less than her best. From below, Jaden said "Get ready, teach, because you're about to witness a whole new monster! I sacrifice Elemental HERO Blazeman, and Elemental HERO Airman, in order to tribute summon-"
A purple light struck down onto the field from the ceiling, alarming everyone watching while Crowler just watched it with indifference. Whilst Blazeman and Airman burst into pixels, the ground began to crack underneath Liquid Soldier until it began rising, creating two curved hilltops to stand on. Liquid Soldier stood tall on the smallest one.
"Yubel! She may not be a hero, but she's my partner!"
The light began to dissipate, reforming itself into a swirling dust cloud as someone, or something stood on the largest hilltop. Slowly, a pair of wings began to unwrap themselves around the sole figure, revealing three sets of eyes with the colors brown, green, yellow, and red. Her arms began to follow the same action of her wings, unfolding themselves from across her body as she exposed her covered breast (and half male chest). Those sickly pink and black arms "welcomed" the blonde duelist with a hug, but that sinister smile of hers gave him the creeps, making the older man shiver as he had no idea what was in store for him.
Yubel LV10 - ATK: 0/DEF: 0
"Aside from your little friend there giving me the creeps-"
"Tch!" Yubel grit her teeth with a growl.
"Summoning such a high level monster in attack position with no attack or defense points whatsoever is quite the misplay."
"Well teach, if you think so, then how about you come and show me? I sent one card face down and Yubel's superpower activates since it's my end phase. For as long as she remains on the field, I must sacrifice a monster to keep her, so it's goodbye for now to my Liquid Soldier."
As Jaden removed Liquid Soldier from his monster slot, said hero began to grab his mask in response. Slowly, he started withdrawing the item from the top of his face, a blue light shining in response. Before anyone could even get a chance to see who was underneath, he dispersed into a puddle of water.
"With that, I end my turn. Your move." Jaden said naturally, smirking as he and Yubel were gonna make said teacher take back his words.
"You're right, it is my move. I draw."
Crowler - 4000LP [Hand: 6/Deck: 54/Field: 0] Graveyard: 0
Jaden - 2000LP [Hand: 1/Deck: 52/Field: 2] Graveyard: 5
"I don't understand. Why would he summon a monster with zero attack and defense points?" Syrus asked, not really expecting an answer.
"It's more than just that actually. What Jaden did would seem like a risky play, but presented Dr. Crowler with the question "what's the biggest threat" on Jaden's side of the field." Bastion replied casually, getting the shorter teen's attention.
"What do you mean?"
"Jaden sacrificed three monsters for a level ten advance (tribute) summon in attack position knowing it had no attack or defense points, played one face down, and called his end phase. Now, most would see this as a moronic play, but it's brilliant on the the stakes that-"
1: Jaden's sacrifice of three monsters mean this Yubel, a card I've never heard of before, must have a pretty disastrous effect, and-
2: He has one face down lined up behind said monster. While this isn't that big, his face down is most likely a trap that supports this Yubel.
"Because of this, Crowler has to pick. He can either engage Jaden's monster head on and take on its effect, or destroy it and deal with his face down."
"Wow. I can't believe I didn't see it that way."
"That's only because you took it at first glance. If you analyze it for what the situation is, you'll get a clearer picture." The black-haired teen finished, leaving Syrus with a better grasp of things.
"To start my turn, I'll begin by activating the magic card "Confiscation!" Crowler spoke, catching Jaden and Yubel's attention.
"Confiscation?" Yubel questioned, putting both her and Jaden on guard.
"Simply put, I pay one-thousand life points to see your hand, then I get to send one of your cards to the graveyard. Since the only card in your hand is polymerization, I want to remove any possibility of you being able to use it if you manage to survive this turn."
Crowler - [4000LP - (1000) 3000LP]
Seeing Crowler's life points take a hit, Jaden watched as the blonde man sent polymerization to the graveyard, rendering the hero user handless. After sending confiscation to the graveyard, the older duelist set two cards face down. Even then, there was a bigger question coming to mind. What did he mean by if he managed to survive this turn?
"Since that has been taken care of, from my hand comes the spell card heavy storm! Thanks to my spell, I can now destroy every spell and trap card currently on both our fields."
Jaden and Yubel began to shield themselves from the high winds that took form into a tornado. In less than three seconds, two cards from Crowler's backrow, along with Jaden's only card in his backrow flew to the winds. Reaching the top of his storm, all three cards were sucked inside before being shredded into small pixels.
"Ah, call of the haunted? Well, not like your destroyed trap will do you any good now compared to what mine will do for me." Crowler smirked, making Jaden perturbed by the action whilst Yubel growled in annoyance.
"Since you destroyed your own cards, I guess activating heavy storm was your plan from the beginning."
"I see you learn quickly young scholar. Well, you're correct, because now I can achieve a greater height on my first turn." Suddenly, the field was covered in a dark gray mist whilst Jaden clicked his teeth, watching as two shadowy silhouettes began to rise from within the fog.
"What the heck is this?"
"Of course a dropout boy such as yourself wouldn't know what this is, so I'll explain it in simple words. By destroying my two face down cards Statue of the Wicked with the effect of heavy storm, I get to special summon two Wicked Lord Tokens!"
And just like that, two gold monsters with a ferocious bite appeared before Crowler, the man smirking as he was confident he'd win without much difficulty. If there was one thing he wasn't gonna let happen, it was allowing this dropout boy to join Duel Academy. So for now, he had to pull out all the stops.
Wicked Token LV4 - ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000 (TOKEN)
Wicked Token LV4 - ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000 (TOKEN)
"That's no entry exam deck! It's the professor's Dark Ages deck!" Chazz's friend stated, the glasses wearer watching the duel intently.
"He got his combo going, and removed that Yuki kid's only trap card. Thanks to that, one monster isn't gonna be enough to stop Professor Crowler." His other friend stated, seeing that winning against that deck as an examinee was hopeless.
"Hmph. I thought one-ten might've been someone special. Guess I was mistaken since he's about to receive a one sided beatdown. Looks like Crowler wants to give the dropout's dream a very thorough crushing." The princeton stated, smirking to himself at the display.
"I feel sorry for him. He's only been out there for almost ten minutes and Crowler doesn't fancy him." A blonde haired girl spoke.
"Now that's a sight. Thanks to number one-ten, we might finally get a glimpse of the professor's legendary card." Said a dark blue-haired teen standing next to the blonde, the latter looking at him curiously.
"Now that I have these tokens, I'll tribute them to show you an opponent you've never witnessed. I summon Ancient Gear Golem!"
With the tokens exploding into a fireball of flames, a giant mechanical beast began to rise from the depths of the earth and fire. Its metal body made all types of sounds, creating a noise so loud it shook the ears of almost everyone that heard it. By the time its full form was realized, said giant towered over everyone within the Kaiba Dome. As for Jaden, he couldn't help but marvel at the sight of it, finding it hard to contain his excitement of fighting a beast of that size.
Ancient Gear Golem LV8 - ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000
"That's his legendary rare monster card!" The blonde teen exclaimed, her eyes in disbelief as the crowd broke out into shocked expressions with some gasps here and then.
"And once that card has been summoned, there hasn't been one duel that he's lost while it's out on the field. I wouldn't have pegged the examinee to have the power to make the professor take this duel seriously." The teen next to her replied casually.
"For an opponent I've never witnessed, it's doing a terrible job of being better than metal scrap." Yubel announced openly.
"With this, I'll attack. Go Ancient Gear Golem! Destroy his monster with mechanized melee!"
Heading the command of his summoner, the massive Golem pulled his arm back, its metal fingers curling into a punch. Then its arm shot towards the demonic duel spirit whose eyes had a present glare before her blue lips curled into a sinister smirk. With a flap of her wings, Yubel took off towards the Ancient Gear monster before cocking back her fist in response to the attack. Crowler's sudden shot of "With this, your exam is over," which in turn caused Jaden to smirk as he stared down Crowler.
"Trust me, you don't even know the half of it, teach." The hero user remarked, both Ancient Gear Golem and Yubel clashing their fist together.
"And what makes you say that-"
An ear piercing scream interrupted the Ancient Gear duelist as almost everyone there covered their ears. The sudden yell sent shivers down their spines, sans Jaden, who already knew who was responsible for it.
"My ears! What was that scream?" Syrus winced in pain.
"If I had to say, my guess would be Jaden's Yubel card." Bastion answered after him.
Both teens looked towards Yubel, said monster's body cracking under the strength behind the golem. However, this scream wasn't just one of pain. You could tell by the way the three-eyed spirit's face began to contort from anguish to pleasure with a sadistic smile. Before everyone's eyes, her body began to restore itself, all cracks that appeared on her from the clash repairing itself.
"What kind of monster is that?" The blonde teen in the stands from earlier asked.
"Whatever it is, it's no ordinary card if it took on that Golem so casually." The taller duelist next to her stated calmly, unfazed by everything Yubel has done so far.
"What in blazes! How was your monster not destroyed?!"
"Sorry to tell ya teach, but it's your own fault."
"Oh really now? How is that so?" Crowler scowled, hating the smirk that Jaden was giving him.
"It's because of Yubel's superpower. Unfortunately for you, she can't be destroyed in battle."
"That doesn't explain how she negated the damage you should've taken."
"Now that he mentions it, Crowler is right. That attack should've gone through and ended the duel, so how come Jaden didn't take any damage?" Syrus thought, confused on what happened to the negated damage as Bastion watched in silence.
"Negated damage?" Jaden responded, chuckling slightly before saying "Who said the damage was negated?"
"Well it doesn't explain how you're still in this duel, so the only other answer is that she negates damage you take from my monster during battle. I'm correct aren't I?" The blonde responded, watching as Jaden shook his head.
"Actually, she does something better. So far you've only heard of two of her abilities, so here's something else for you. See, Yubel has another superpower that I forgot to mention. A super sweet move in which any time your monster's attack goes through against her, the damage that you should've dealt to me are rerouted straight to your life points. Pretty sweet huh?"
"Wait, the damage is sent back to me?!" The Ancient Gear user shouted, panic beginning to set in from the realization.
Yubel, who was still in the air, managed to muster the strength that knocked back the mechanical beast, sending it stumbling backwards near the older duelist. Promptly, all three of her eyes began to glow before the body of Ancient Gear Golem was copied onto her own, creating the perfect afterimage to resemble it from head to toe. The demonic spirit brought her arm back, the afterimage following the details of the one who created her before the white and purple-haired fiend sent her limb forward. Copying the movement, a ginormous arm shot towards Crowler, the latter panicking whilst his Ancient Gear monster regained its balance to protect him. Its main goal was to grab the metal limb and stop the attack, but that's where everything fell apart at. You can't grab what you can't physically touch, therefore, the after image struck the older man head on, causing him to fly into the wall.
Crowler - 0LP [Hand: 1/Deck: 54/Field: 0] Graveyard: 5
Jaden - 2000LP [Hand: 1/Deck: 52/Field: 1] Graveyard: 6
"Gotcha! Thanks for the duel teach!" Jaden smiled brightly, pointing two fingers at the downed duelist whilst Yubel landed by his side, a cocky smirk plastered on her face.
"To think I would be defeated by a dropout boy…" Crowler said to himself, his body shaking a bit from all the pain he endured.
Meanwhile, Chazz could only watch in disbelief and anger. This no-one defeated Professor Crowler, and his ace monster all in one go. What even makes it worse is the fact that he's ranked one of the lowest as an examinee.
"He's interesting, wouldn't you say?" The blonde from earlier asked the blue-haired guy next to her. However, he didn't respond, something she noticed before turning her head to him. He chose to walk away from her.
"Yeah! Way to play!" Syrus shouted, happy at the outcome of Jaden's due to earn his rightful place in Duel Academy.
"You might turn out to be a fine rival Jaden. I'll need a challenge, and I see that you have the skills to bring it." Bastion thought to himself, watching the brown and orange-haired teen cheer about his win as the crowd applauded the hero user for such an amazing duel.
"Well Duel Academy, here we come. Yubel, let's give it our A-game together." Jaden said, looking at her after waving towards the crowd of students and teachers.
"Oh, I will Jaden. Wherever you bring your best, I'll give you all of mine." She responded, bending over slightly and kissing Jaden's cheek which left him blushing and embarrassed.
Unbeknownst to the pair, a certain card from Jaden's deck made the sound "Kuri Kuri" amongst the cheering student body.