It was a new year at Duel Academy and there were some big changes at the school this semester. While everyone had been away, the old Slifer Red Dorm had been torn down and replaced with a new building. It was a safe distance from the cliff, but still offered a great ocean view from the second level, and along with the new dorm came the new Slifer Headmaster, an old friend of Michael's father, Ryan Drake.

He had short black hair and blue eyes, a black pair of rectangular glasses, and typically wore a black blazer over a plain white shirt, a pair of blue denim jeans, and black leather shoes. But he wasn't the only staff change. Before the start of the year, Sheppard took an emergency leave and left Crowler as the Chancellor in his place, with the position of Vice Chancellor being filled out by another new staff member, Jean-Louis Bonaparte, and the two of them were currently headed down to the docks to greet this year's freshman class.

Crowler said "Keep up you Swedish meatball, they're almost here," and Bonaparte responded "I'm French you imbecile, and pardonne moi for not having longer legs. And since when do you care about the students?" Crowler said he wanted to make sure things went smoothly, and that he wanted to personally greet one of the new students.

Bonaparte asked who he was talking about, and Crowler pulled out a magazine, the main article telling that Aster Phoenix, one of the top-ranked professional duelists, was enrolled in Duel Academy's freshman class this year. Bonaparte was surprised, asking why a pro would go back to school, and Crowler said he didn't know and didn't care, but that he did know that it would be great publicity for the school, as everyone in the world knew Aster Phoenix.

Down at the bay, Jaden was about to have a duel with one of the new students, but little did he know he was facing the very person Crowler and Bonaparte were talking about. Up on the cliff, Dorothy and Syrus sat down to watch Jaden duel, Dorothy holding Pharaoh in her arms.

"First day back and Jaden is already dueling, but who's his opponent?" Dorothy asked, and Syrus said that while he didn't know him, he did seem familiar. Jaden asked Aster for his name, and Aster said to just call him A P. "Okay Ap, it's time to duel. Wait, wrong catchphrase. What I meant to say was, 'Get your game on!'" Jaden exclaimed before activating his duel disk.

Jaden: 4000 LP

Aster: 4000 LP

"Wow, Jaden doesn't waste any time, does he?" Alexis asked, Syrus and Dorothy turning to see her, Chazz, and Lily walking up to them. Syrus greeted them and Alexis asked who Jaden was dueling, Syrus saying it was one of the new students, but the person seemed familiar.

Chazz looked down and immediately recognized Jaden's opponent, identifying him as Aster Phoenix. Alexis looked down and realized Chazz was right, Lily saying this was a rare opportunity as she reached into her bag and grabbed a video camera, recording the duel.

"So Jaden challenged one of the top-ranked pros to a duel? Even for him, that's a bit much," Chazz noted, and Syrus told him Aster challenged him, telling them he and Jaden had been unpacking their things when Aster showed up at their room and said he wanted to duel Jaden. Down at the duel, Aster took the first move and summoned Ojama Yellow in defense mode.

Level 2/Light/Beast

ATK 0/DEF 1000

"What gives? This guy is a pro and that's the first move he makes?" Chazz asked, and Dorothy told him that Aster constructed his deck using packs Dorothy had left in the shop from last year. Alexis asked how Aster expected to win with a deck like that, and Lily said they'd just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, Jaden had started his turn and summoned his Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode.

Level 4/Light/Warrior

ATK 1600/DEF 1400

"Alright Sparkman, take out Ojama Yellow with Static Shockwave!" Jaden ordered before his monster raised his hand and fired a blast of electricity at Ojama Yellow, vaporizing him on the spot. Jaden then ended his turn, and when Aster started his turn, he placed a card face-down, but before he could continue, his phone went off.

Aster looked at the number and apologized, saying it was important before answering the call. "Pro or not, who whips out a cell phone in the middle of a duel?" Chazz asked, Syrus agreeing that it was pretty rude. Jaden took a breath to calm himself down, saying it couldn't be helped. Meanwhile, Aster was on the phone with his manager, Sartorius Kumar, and he was doing a tarot reading.

Aster asked for some advice, and his manager told him that the Reaper of Souls was in reverse. Aster thanked him before hanging up, returning his attention to the duel. "Alright then, I play the spell card Reload. With it, I can return all the cards in my hand to the deck in order to shuffle and draw a new hand," he explained before he shuffled his deck and drew four new cards.

He then continued, "Now I play the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky. While this card is on the field, we don't take damage from battles involving fairy monsters we control," Syrus pointing out that since Jaden's Elemental Heroes were all warrior monsters, the field spell wouldn't help him, Alexis pointing out it would still make it harder for him to win. Aster then proceeded to summon Warrior of Zera in attack mode.

Level 4/Earth/Warrior

ATK 1600/DEF 1600

"And now I sacrifice him to summon Archlord Zerato!"

Level 8/Light/Fairy

ATK 2800/DEF 2300

Aster then activated his monster's effect, explaining that by discarding a light attribute monster, such as his Mystical Shine Ball, he could destroy all the monsters on Jaden's field. A bright light shone from the tower of his sanctuary before firing a beam of energy at Sparkman, destroying him. "Now I'll have Archlord Zerato attack your life points directly with Sacred Surge!" Aster shouted as his monster flew up in the air before firing a barrage of energy blasts from his wings at Jaden.

Jaden: 1200 LP

Aster ended his turn, asking Jaden if he was okay, and Jaden responded that he was great, saying "I've been waiting all summer for a duel like this. My draw! And I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode."

Level 4/Earth/Warrior

ATK 800/DEF 2000

"And now I play the spell Metamorphosis to sacrifice Clayman to summon Elemental Hero Clay Guardian!"

Level 4/Earth/Warrior

ATK 0/DEF 2800

"And now I activate his special ability. Go, Patrol Penalty!" Jaden said as his monster slammed his shield against the ground, sending a shockwave toward Aster.

Aster: 3400 LP

Aster asked what happened, and Jaden explained that when Clay Guardian is summoned, it deals damage to the opponent equal to the number of cards they have on their field multiplied by 200. Jaden then placed a card face-down and ended his turn.

"You may have been a little hasty using your Zerato's effect. You may have dealt me a big hit, but since you don't have any cards in your hand, and your Archlord's attack is the same as Guardian's defense, he won't be able to beat him in battle, which means your chance to win the duel comes down to whether or not you can draw a monster card," Jaden pointed out.

"But in the end, leaving it to the draw means leaving it up to luck, doesn't it?" Aster asked, but Jaden disagreed, saying "When a duelist draws, he communicates with the hearts of his spirits." Aster asked if the rumors were true and that Jaden could talk to duel spirits, and Jaden said that whether Aster believed it or not, Jaden could communicate with spirits, Winged Kuriboh appearing by his side and smiling.

"I don't believe this. I heard he even managed to beat Zane, so I thought he'd use some more serious tactics, but it looks like this duel is over, just like he said," Aster thought to himself before he started his turn, seeing he drew his Monster Gate spell card. "Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing you didn't draw the card you wanted," Jaden assumed.

"Yeah. Guess I lost your little battle of luck, but then duels are about more than just luck. Someone once said that luck and destiny are two different things and that a person's destiny is decided the day they're born. That's why predicting the future is impossible. Who wins and who loses, it's predetermined," Aster said, but Jaden didn't agree, saying that way of thinking was boring, and that not knowing what comes next is what makes life interesting.

"Think that way if you want, but what happens next is already predetermined," Aster responded before activating his face-down. "Due to the effect of my Beckoning Light trap card, I first have to discard my entire hand, but then I can choose the same number of light attribute monsters in my graveyard as the number of cards I discarded and add them to my hand," he explained as his Mystical Shine Ball exited his graveyard.

Aster then proceeded to activate his Zerato's effect, discarding his Shine Ball to destroy Clay Guardian before attacking Jaden directly, stating the duel was over. "I'm afraid we're not done yet. I play the spell Flute of Summoning Kuriboh, so I can special summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck in defense mode," Jaden explained as his spirit partner appeared on the field.

Level 1/Light/Fairy

ATK 300/DEF 200

Aster ordered his monster to attack Kuriboh, and Zerato fired a barrage of energy blasts from his wings that tore straight through Winged Kuriboh. "Thanks for taking the hit pal. Looks like my spirits overturned your prediction," Jaden said, and Aster just ended his turn. Jaden began his turn and immediately summoned his Elemental Hero Bubbleman.

Level 4/Water/Warrior

ATK 800/DEF 1200

"And since there were no other cards on my field when he was summoned, I can draw two more. Next, I play the spell Silent Doom to summon Sparkman from my graveyard in defense mode, and with him back, I can use Polymerization to fuse him, Bubbleman, and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Tempest in attack mode!" Jaden exclaimed as he summoned one of his strongest monsters.

Level 8/Wind/Warrior

ATK 2800/DEF 2800

"Next, I'll throw down a face-down and have Tempest attack Zerato with Chaos Tempest!" Jaden shouted as his monster fired a powerful laser blast at Zerato. "Normally that would destroy both of them, but thanks to Tempest's special ability, Jaden can send another one of his cards to the graveyard to protect it," Alexis pointed out before Jaden sent his face-down card to the graveyard as Zerato was destroyed.

"If you liked that, just wait till you see what's next. I play the spell card De-fusion, so Tempest returns to the extra deck and Avian, Bubbleman, and Sparkman are summoned from my graveyard," Jaden explained as Tempest split apart.

Avian

Level 3/Wind/Warrior

ATK 1000/DEF 1000

Chazz pointed out that combined, Jaden's monsters' attack points equaled 3400 points, which was exactly how many life points Aster had left. Jaden ordered his heroes to attack, Sparkman launching a blast of electricity while Avian fired a volley of feathers from his wings and Bubbleman shot a stream of water from his cannon.

Aster: 0 LP

Winner: Jaden

"That's game. Hope my triple threat didn't rock ya too hard," Jaden said as he walked over to Aster, who said he was fine before telling Jaden it was a good duel. Jaden suggested they duel again sometime, and Aster assured him they would. "Well, it looks like Jaden won," Dorothy commented as Aster walked back up the path to the top of the cliff.

"Well, that was a let-down. The duel went as he predicted, but how was dueling Jaden supposed to help me grow? For the first time in my life, I find myself doubting his predictions," Aster mused to himself as he walked off. "Hey guys. You enjoy the duel?" Jaden asked as he rejoined his friends, and Syrus said he did well, especially considering who his opponent was.

Jaden asked what he meant, and Chazz told him he just dueled against one of the best-ranked duelists on the professional circuit, Aster Phoenix. Jaden was ecstatic he beat someone like that, but Dorothy piped up, telling him he only assembled his deck from spare packs that morning, leaving Jaden somewhat deflated, although Alexis consoled him, saying that his winning had to count for something.

Jaden agreed, saying that he just had that much more to look forward to during their rematch. Down at the docks, nearly all the students had departed the boat, and Crowler and Bonaparte were still waiting for Aster. "Well, that's the last group, and there's no sign of him," Crowler sighed, but Bonaparte pointed out one last student getting off the boat.

The two looked at the person in question, but it certainly wasn't Aster. Walking down the ramp was a muscular Ra Yellow Student with a dinosaur-themed bandanna. He turned to the duo, asking them who was in charge. Crowler told him that he was the one in charge, only for the student to grab him by the collar, looking rather angered.

"I got a bone to pick, you got that? Say the name 'Tyranno Hassleberry' in my home town and there's not a duelist that doesn't know me or fears me, so why am I in the yellow dorm?" the student asked. "Well you see, uh, feel free to jump in Bonaparte," Crowler asked, and Bonaparte obliged.

"What my colleague here is trying to say is that you don't want to be in the blue dorm. You're far too daring. A thrill seeker like you doesn't belong in the blue dorm. You have way too much charm. Not to mention Joie de vivre. And tons of je ne sais quoi," Bonaparte said.

"Well, thanks. At least, I think. You two are alright," Hassleberry said as he patted Crowler on the shoulder and walked off. Crowler thanked Bonaparte for stepping in, but Bonaparte told him he was just worried Hassleberry would come after him next. "Well, I think it's time to face facts. Aster isn't coming. Oh, the whole school will be a laughingstock after this. What are we going to do?" Crowler asked, and Bonaparte said if they couldn't have a star enroll, they'd just have to make one of the students a star.

Crowler said that could work, and Bonaparte said they should start at the Red Dorm. Crowler thought he meant Jaden, saying that while Jaden was one of the best duelists in the school, he was far from a model student. "You misunderstand monsieur, we don't make a Red student a star, we get rid of the Red Dorm," Bonaparte suggested, but Crowler immediately rejected the idea.

Bonaparte asked why, as the red students were the worst in the school and that cutting them loose would make the school better, but Crowler refused to entertain the thought, saying his mind was made up. "Fine. If you won't get rid of the Red students, then I will," Bonaparte thought to himself as they walked back to campus.