New Duelists on the Block

Welcome to Domino City, home of some world famous duelists of the Duel Monsters circuit; including Seto Kaiba, CEO of the Kaiba Corporation, Joey Wheeler, a duelist with an extremely amount of good luck and the King of Games: Yugi Moto. It's also home to the Kaiba Dome where some young, upcoming duelists plan to apply for the most famous and prestigious dueling school: Duel Academy. In fact, one duelist is heading his way to the Kaiba Dome now. His name: Claudio Osbourne.
"All right boys, time to show this school how to rock." Claudio said, as he looked over his deck and walked up the hill to the Kaiba Dome. He wore the 2nd edition of the Kaiba Corp. Duel Disc that he got around his 12th birthday. He was a 6' 5'' with black hair, wearing a white shirt with a symbol of a rock band, blue jeans and black sneakers. He also carries a flying-V guitar on his back. As soon as he got there, he registered for the tests and had his deck checked for illegal cards. After a while, he was showed to the duel field where all new, old and applicant students where hanging around. Most of the kids he noticed wore red, yellow or blue jackets. 'Must be the Academy students.'
Down below, Claudio noticed a duel going on duel between a boy about his age wearing a grayish-white school uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two defense monsters known as Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (800/2200) and Big Shield Gardna (100/2600). The monster opposing the dueling proctor was a Vorse Raider (1900/1200) and there was also a face down spell/trap card.
"Alright new guy." The proctor called to the boy. "Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to mamma?"
"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before pressing a button on his duel disk. "I choose to activate my trap card. You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."
A Ring of red bombs appeared around the Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact, dropping the boy's life points to 1300, while the proctor's dropped to zero ending the duel. As the holograms disappeared the Proctor smiled.
"Clever move." He said. "Welcome to the academy."
The boy bowed to him and said dryly, "Thank you oh wise proctor."
'Sweet combo.' Claudio thought. 'Not many duelists would sacrifice their monsters like that, but this guy was able to put himself in the position for the win.'
Up in the stands, he saw three boys wearing Obelisk Blue Academy blazers who also watched the boy's duel intently.
"Wow, that guy's pretty good huh, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair and glasses said.
"Guess the rumors about him being some whiz kid were true, huh Chazz?" The boy on the other side said.
"He's a punk," The person they were referring to, a spiky dark-haired boy named Chazz. "We went to Duel prep school for the past three years. We're ready for the academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into. But they'll learn…the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."
'Chazz Princeton, huh?' Claudio thought. 'No amount of prep school's gonna help if don't work hard on the arena.'
"Attention. Will Claudio Osbourne please report to Dueling Field #2," An voice over the PA announced. "I repeat, Claudio Osbourne to Dueling Field 2."
'Showtime...' He thought as reported to the designated field.
Meanwhile, in another part of the dome a short, blue-haired boy also got finished watching Bastion's duel as another teenager with reddish-brown hair commented on it. "Wow, that guy really tore it up." He said.
Syrus looked at the teen. "Yeah, Bastion Misawa; they said he got a perfect score on his written exams out of all of us new applicants.
"Wow really, I barely made it through mine. Oh yeah, name's Jaden!"
"Same here, my name's Syrus by the way, nice to meet ya." Syrus then looked somewhat depressed. "I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my duel."
"So you're in!" Jaden exclaimed slapping Syrus on the back. "Congratulations, I will be too as soon as I have my duel."
"Wait, you mean you haven't dueled yet?" Syrus asked shocked at the boy's ignorance of the current situation.
"Nope." Jaden replied, still psyched from the last duel.
"Then you might have a problem, you see there's one more duel after Bastion's and it's getting ready to start." Syrus explained before turning his attention to the duel arena where Claudio's duel was supposed to take place.
Claudio rose up from an elevated platform wearing his duel disk. In front of him rose another platform where a man wearing the purple outfits of one of the dueling proctors stood. The man looked at Claudio with a steady glance.
"Alright, applicant." He said with an overbearing tone. "What is your name?"
"Claudio Osbourne, sir." Claudio replied, respectfully.
"Well you know the rules: you win, you're in." The proctor said, starting up his duel disc. "If not, better luck next year."
"Oh, I'll be in this year," Claudio said, starting up his own duel disc. "Count on it!"
"Duel!"
Procter: 4000
Claudio: 4000
"I'll start the show, if you don't mind." Claudio said, drawing his five cards and then the starting draw phase.
"By all means." The Procter offered.
"Cool!" Without a beat, he placed a card horizontally onto the duel disk. "I'll set a monster in face-down defense mode and let you have a shot." A hologram of a face down monster card appeared in front of him.
The proctor drew his card. "Not bad, my turn." He looked as his card and then his opponent's field. 'He probably has 2000 DEF point monster waiting in the wings. But I'll have something better for it.' The proctor slipped in a green card. "I play the spell Polymerization; fusing Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Befomet to form..." Images of two beast-type monsters, one was brown standing on all fours and a sharp on its head, the other was a four-armed, red beast with yellow horns on the head. They swirled together in a vortex for a few seconds and then reappeared as a single monster. A two-headed monster with faces of the monster that formed it standing on all fours, with two white wings and a tail that was a snake. "... Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (2100/1800)!"
"Whoa, one of Yugi's monsters!?" Claudio asked. "This is going to fun!"
"Well let's see how fun you think this is; Chimera, attack his face down monster!" The proctor commanded. Chimera roared as it flew over to the face down card. As it bit into the card image, the monster was revealed. Or rather a sliver drum set with a flaming aura. (0/2200) The mythical beast was blown back by the impact, but was not mortally injured. "What was that?"
"My Soul Drums with 2200 defense points!" Claudio replied. "Not too many monsters have this kind of defense power, and it just so happens I was lucky to have one!"
Procter: 3900
"Clever, applicant." The proctor congratulated. "I'll set a card face down and end my turn." A face down card appeared behind Chimera.
"Here we go again." Claudio drew his card. "Now, you're probably gonna hate or like me for this."
"How's that?" The proctor asked.
"I play the spell Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your face down card!" A cyclone ripped through the proctor's face down card. "Next, I'll play De-Fusion splitting up the fusion monster and returning the ones that created it!" Chimera suddenly flashed in an orange and then was split apart into two monsters; Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) and Berfomet (1400/1800). "Third, I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" Claudio drew two more cards from the deck. "Then, I'll sacrifice the Soul Drum and summon a monster known as Jukebox Hero Smooth Criminal!" The Soul Drum disappeared and then the lights turned off.
"What's going on?" The people around in the dome, murmured about the lights.
"Don't worry people, its part of the show!" Claudio replied. "Watch!"
A silver coin suddenly appeared out of nowhere and inserted into a holographic jukebox that appeared out of nowhere. As soon as it was in, the lights turned back on, a person in front of Claudio appeared. He wore a white gangster suit complete with the hat and blue shirt inside the suit. (2200/1500)
"Impressive, huh?"
"So these are the Jukebox Heroes that came out recently?" The proctor asked. "You must be the kid that won that create-a-new-archetype contest a couple months back."
The crowd started to murmur about the recent contest; it was a simple designing contest Industrial Illusions set up months ago. Safe to say, who won it now...
"Whoa, I've never seen these cards before." Syrus said, staring down at the Jukebox Hero monster.
"They sound like monsters I got in my deck." Jaden added, and got a big grin on his face. "Wouldn't mind battling that guy and his cards!"
"You mean Claudio Osbourne?" Both boys turned to see Bastion taking a seat in a row in front of Syrus. "A smart yet strange individual; he was able to score the second-best after me in the written exam."
"Wow, that is smart if he was able to nearly match your score." Syrus stated.
"By the way, tight duel Bastion!" Jaden exclaimed.
"Thank you." Bastion said politely.
"From the looks of things, you could be the second best duelist here!" Jaden said, confusing Bastion.
"Guys, talk later!" Syrus jumped in, turning their attention back to the duel.
"Yup! And got to say, these guys are incredible to see in hologram form!" Claudio said excitedly. "And even the attack is incredible, too! Smooth Criminal, attack Berfomet with Smooth Takedown!"
Smooth Criminal dashed over to Befomet and stopped right in front of the beast. "Woo!" He shouts as he kicked the monster in the gut and then threw him over his shoulders with incredible strength and slammed it to the ground, destroying it.
"And it doesn't stop there!" Claudio added. "When Smooth Criminal destroys a monster in battle, I gain life points equal to 100 times the number of stars the defeated monster had. And since Berformet was at level 5, I gain 500 life points!"
Smooth Criminal then flicked a sliver coin at Claudio's duel disk and it disappeared when it hit the life point counter.
P: 3200
C: 4500
"Not bad, never expected to have my monster disassembled so quickly." The proctor informed him. "But it's not over yet! I still have more powerful monsters at my disposal."
"Okay, I'll set a face down card and turn it over to you proctor!" A face down card appeared behind Smooth Criminal.
"My move!" The proctor drew his next card. "I'll sacrifice Gazelle to the summon Chaos Command Magician in attack mode!" Gazelle disappeared in a flash of light before being replaced by a blue-skinned spellcaster. The monster wore dark green robes and hood with a scepter of the same color with a red spherical jewel. (2400/1900) "Magician, attack Smooth Criminal with Chaos Magic!"
The magician charged up power in his scepter and then let off a red lighting blast that struck the Jukebox Hero head on and destroyed it.
P: 3200
C: 4400
"Rest in peace, my dear friend." Claudio said in a somber tone.
"Right..." The proctor said, feeling awkward at his opponent's mannerism. "Okay, I'll end my turn here!"
"Alrighty!" Claudio said drawing his next card and then his initial hand. 'Yes, time to take this game up a notch!' "I'll start by playing my face down card, the Spell Foolish Burial, which lets me send a monster to my deck to the graveyard!" Claudio checked through his deck and pulled out a monster card and placed it in the graveyard slot. "I'll send Jukebox Hero KG to the graveyard." Claudio then, reshuffled his deck and placed it back in the disk. "Next, I'll summon Jukebox Hero JB to the field!" In a flash of light, appeared a man wearing a plain gray shirt and teal jeans holding a modern guitar with letter "JB" on it with a cloud and thunderbolts with it.
'I shall bring the fans out there to the promised land of rock!' The new hero proclaimed. (1400/1200) 'But first, I need my heavy metal brother; Come forward, KG!'
From Claudio's graveyard slot came the monster card he just placed in with Foolish Burial. "That's right JB." The young duelist proclaimed, as he took the monster card and set on the field. "When JB is summoned, I can also summon Jukebox Hero KG from the graveyard!" In another flash of light, a bald, fat man in a plan yellow shirt and blue shorts appeared carrying a modern, tan guitar.
'Finally! I didn't think I'd get out of that place; it's dark in there!' (1200/ 1400)
"Not to be rude applicant, but unless you have something else in your hand to remedy the current situation you're in, your monsters won't be able to stand up to my magician." The proctor said as his monster tightened his grip on his scepter.
"Aw, crap he's right!" JB shouted.
"He's gonna kill us!" KG added.
"Calm down, guys!" Claudio said to his monsters. "I got something else for ya!" He slipped in another spell card. "I play Polymerization, to fuse my Jukebox Heroes together!"
"Yeah!" The two Jukebox heroes jumped into the hologram of the polymerization and then reappeared in new attire: (A/N: Think of 'Master Exploder' from the Pick of Destiny Movie) (2600/2600)
"You were saying teach?" The proctor was speechless as he was proven wrong on the spot. Claudio grinned. "No? Okay, how's this? I play the equip spell card Clementine!" KG's guitar was replaced with a black flying-V guitar with 5 silver strings. "You see, Clementine raise the ATK power of a Jukebox Hero monster by 600 points!" (3200/2600) "Now attack!"
"Bring the thunder!" JB and KG started playing their guitars that summoned lightning and zapped the magician into the dust. The proctor had to cover his face with his duel disk because of the smoke.
Proctor: 3100
Claudio: 4400
"Next comes a face down and my turn's over!" Claudio said as a face down card appeared in front of him.
"I don't why you bothered playing an ATK-increasing when your monster was clearly superior already." The proctor said as he drew his next card. "But it's time to show you that should have saved it."
Claudio was confused at that statement. "Why's that?" A hologram of a spell card showed up on the proctor's field. The picture was of a lightning bolt barrage. "Lightning Vortex!?"
The proctor smiled. "I take you know its effects, since you know the card's name, but I'll tell you anyway. At the cost of one card from my hand..." He slipped a card into the graveyard slot of his disk. "I get to destroy all monsters on your side of the field!" Lightning quickly shot out of the card and fried Tenacious D on the spot, causing them to scream.
Chazz was in the stands chuckling. "Let's see that no-name handle that!" But to everyone's surprise, the monster(s) survived! "What!?"
"What's the meaning of this?" The proctor asked.
"Surprise!" The Jukebox hero duelist shouted. "A monster equipped with Clementine also gets immunity to all other spells cards!" Everyone gasped at the revelation.
"Hmm, you seemed a little TOO calm when I told you about saving your cards." The proctor wondered. "But I guess the poor judgment was on my part. I'll play Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode to end my turn." Like the name said, a stone soldier with two stone swords appeared and defended himself with his arms. (1300/2000)
"My time again!" Claudio drew his next card. "I activate Smashing Ground, which lets me destroy a face up monster in defense mode! Guess who?" A massive fist appeared from the sky and smashed the stone warrior to rubble. "Now the stage is set; Tenacious D, the grand finale please?"
"We are the D!" Tenacious D shouted as fire erupted around the proctor, knocking his life points down to 0.
Proctor: 0
Claudio: 4400, Winner.
The proctor dusted off his blazer and then smiled. "A well played duel; the Academy welcomes you!"
"Thank you very much!" Claudio replied and bowed in respect. He was then led down by the elevator again.
Up in the stands, another couple of individuals from the very top of the dome were watching Claudio's duel as well. A girl with sandy blonde hair that ended at the bottom of her neck with grayish-brown eyes and outfitted in the standard Obelisk Blue girls uniform: white top with blue trimming, a blue miniskirt, and royal blue boots. Her name is Alexis Rhodes. And a taller boy with blue hair, also down to the neck but had some bangs near his blue eyes. He was also in Obelisk Blue like Alexis and Chazz, but his outfit was more white than blue. It was a long white coat with blue outlines, and the same pattern was on his shirt. His name was Zane Truesdale, the senior and top student at Duel Academy.
"He's sure to be an interesting one, with that new batch of monsters he's got." Alexis replied, as she saw the duel ending. Zane just stayed silent not really giving his two cents into the conversation.
Right below them, in the VIP seats for Academy faculty members, the teachers watched as Claudio left the dueling arena.
"Looks like we've got a pretty good crop this year." One of them said.
"Yes, indeed." Another teacher agreed.
Also right next to them, another teacher sat there silent not paying attention to the other teachers' talk. He was person who could easily be mistaken as woman if you didn't know who he was. He wore a blue blazer similar to Chazz but had some gold shoulder plates and trimmings along with a ruffled pink collar. He also styled his blonde hair in a ponytail and wore makeup. This was Dr. Vellian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm.
'Hmm, another student signed at the Academy,' He thought as he gather up the papers from the exams. 'At least he didn't lose many life points; if only he'd gone to prep school he'd be in my dorm.'
He was about to get up and leave when…
"I'm sorry to interrupt," A man in a black, business suit appeared stopping Crowler from leaving. "But one last applicant has arrived to take his exam, Mr. Crowler."
"Excuse me," Crowler said with almost a scowl. "Did you just call me, 'mister'?"
"I'm sorry," The man apologized. "I'm new here Miss…"
Before he could continue, Crowler interrupted him. "I have a PhD in dueling to earn the title 'doctor' thank you." If there's one thing about Crowler, he takes his title serious with what he has accomplished. He then looked away. "Now tell the truant that he'll have to come back next year."
The other teachers looked at him like he lost his mind.
"Come on, Dr. Crowler, we have time for one more."
"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot."
As they pleaded him, Dr. Crowler looked as though he was about to reach breaking point.
"He was just a bit late, that's all."
That comment finally made Crowler snap, "LATE IS RUDE!" He slammed his hands down, freaking out the other people around him. "I have no time for slackers!" Just then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it a bored tone. "Hello, who may I ask is…?"
Before Crowler could continue, another voice on the other hand interrupted him. "It's Sheppard."
"Oh, Chancellor Sheppard, how nice of you to call." Crowler said, changing his tone to a pleasant one.
"Just calling to make sure everything is running smoothly," Chancellor Sheppard said. "We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year." That made Crowler a bit uneasy as he remembered what happened. "When you cut a third of our student applicants because someone called you 'mister' or 'missus'? Never mind, just make sure everyone gets a fair shot!"
"Yes, of course, sir." Crowler said as he hung up before scowling. 'Furry-chinned windbag; doesn't he realize that there are enough talent-less flunkies at this academy? But he's the boss, and if he wants to give this scrim shaker a duel…fine.'
He then got up from his seat. "Pardon me, gentlemen, I'll be right back." But before he could go any further, one of the teachers picked up a box full of Duel Monster decks.
"But sir, who will be the boy's dueling proctor and which exam deck should we use?"
Crowler just huffed and walked away. "Leave that to me." He mysteriously pulled out a deck from inside his blazer, grinning evilly.
Back with Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion, Jaden was just excited after seeing Claudio duel. "Man that was one sweet duel!"
"Indeed," Bastion said as he looked at Jaden. "Claudio performed very well, and I must say those cards of his were quite impressive themselves."
"I guess that guy's going to be the third best duelist in the freshman class."
"Jaden Yuki, please report to exam field four," The PA announced again. "Jaden Yuki, to exam field four."
"Go time!" Jaden said as he got ready to go. "Wish me luck, guys."
"Wait," Bastion interrupted him, "Before you go, what did you mean by me being the second best duelist and Claudio being the third best? Who's the first?"
Jaden pointed his thumb to himself. "Why yours truly." He said with a confident grin. "It's what I'm best at." He then continued his stride down to the exam floor.
"He sure is confident." Syrus noticed.
"He's going to need, too." Bastion said, pointing to the exam field in question. "Look who's he up against..."
"Yeah..." Bastion and Syrus turned around to see Claudio looking down at field, also. "Who is she?"
"He is Dr. Crowler; he's in charge of these exams and also the head of the top dorm in the Academy." Bastion replied.
"Whoa! That's a dude!" Claudio shouted.
"Very, also congratulations on winning your match." Bastion said.
"Thanks!" Claudio replied. "Oh, duel's on! And what's up with that gear? Looks like he's ready to play at a rock concert."
On the field, Dr. Crowler was being prepped and ready to duel. The duel disk he was equipped with looked as though it was crafted into his blazer. The part that held his graveyard and deck slots was strapped to his chest, while the duel tray looked as though it was being held up like a guitar. In fact, the duel tray itself looked almost like a rock guitar itself.
"Alright, test time!" Crowler said looking at Jaden very confidently. "So, son, your name?"
Jaden stood at attention like a soldier and replied. "Uh…Jaden, Jaden Yuki."
"Well 'Uh-Jaden-Yuki', I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chair and Techniques Professor here at Duel Academy."
"Wow," Jaden said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hearty laugh. "A Department chair, I had no idea. From the way you were dressed I thought you were some kind of Academy mascot." Crowler sweatdropped at that comment.
"Now that he mentions it," The boy wearing glasses next to Chazz said.
"This guy's got some lip, huh Chazz?" The other said.
Chazz, on the other hand, didn't look too pleased at what Jaden was saying down there. 'Who does this kid think he is?'
Crowler then activated his, what he calls, duel vest and drew his five cards. Jaden was just amazed by the machinery as well as the blazer that Crowler wore. Crowler just simply acted as though this was going to be a quick one.
"Hey, that's some sweet gear, teach. How do I get one of those?" Jaden asked.
"Oh, a lot of hard work, high marks and dedication," Crowler answered. "Of course, you have to be accepted first." He then mentally added, 'Which I will make sure you don't.'
"Well, I'm ready!" Jaden said.
"So let's duel!" Both players shouted as Jaden cut on his duel disk.
Crowler: 4000
Jaden: 4000
"Here goes." Jaden said as he drew his first card and looked at his hand. "Sweet, I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!" As he placed the card horizontally on the field, a green bird man appeared and knelt on its card image (1000/1000). "I'll also throw down a face-down." The image of a face-down card appeared on Jaden's field.
"Alright, another hero boy!" Claudio exclaimed.
"Huh?" Syrus asked.
"He's using the Elemental Hero archetype that basically relies on fusion tactics to win." Bastion explained.
"And it's hard to rock that deck properly." Claudio added.
"Alright, get your game on!" Jaden said excitedly.
"Yes, of course." Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his card. 'Don't tell me what to do,' He then took a look at his hand. 'After all, since I'm using my own personal deck rather than those puny test ones, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail that miserable little brat and send him home in no time flat.' He grinned as he saw the cards in his hand. "I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the spell card Confiscation!"
"Okay, so what's it do?" Jaden asked.
"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and toss one of your cards to the graveyard." As his explanation finished, holographic images of Jaden's cards appeared. They were Monster Reborn, The Warrior Returning Alive, Hero Signal, and Polymerization.
Crowler: 3000
Jaden: 4000
"Ah yes, I remember some of these when I was a naïve rookie. Now which one shall I banish?" He looked at each card carefully and made his decision. "I know, Monster Reborn to the graveyard!" Jaden's Monster Reborn card was sent there. "Next I'll set two cards face down," Two face-down cards appeared in front of Crowler and he then took one more card and showed it to Jaden. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field."
A heavy wind picked up and Jaden's face-down Draining Shield was destroyed along with Crowler's two face-down cards. Jaden even noticed this. "Woopsie, did you forget that you had two cards on the field as well?" Jaden said teasingly.
"Now, now, young scholar, you mustn't speak out-of-turn." Crowler countered as he waggled his finger. After that dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.
"Hey, what's happening?"
"Nothing's happening," Crowler said dismissively before adding, "Not yet anyway!" Just as he did, two yellow worm-like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."
The audience was awestruck by these two monsters but Syrus was confused, again. "Could someone tell me what's happening?"
"Those two trap cards that Dr. Crowler had out on the field were called Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained as he observed the duel with Syrus. "It's a special trap card that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."
"And speaking of Heavy Storm, I don't think that's a test deck." Claudio deduced.
"Why's that?" Syrus asked.
"Of course! And that goes the same for a card like Confiscation; they're both rare cards that can change the tide of the battle without any serious costs!" Bastion realized.
"Meaning?"
"It's probably his main deck!" Claudio answered.
And he wasn't the only one who came to the same conclusion.
"Crowler must be using his own deck in this duel." Torimaki, the boy with glasses and one of the boys with Chazz, said.
"Then this duel is over," Raizou, the other boy, said. "No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler."
Chazz grinned at this. "I think I'm going to enjoy Crowler wipe the floor with that kid. I just wish they treated all the other second-rate duelists that apply at this academy the same way."
"What an elitist snob," Alexis said, "Bullying some kid with his very best cards."
"You're too soft, Alexis," Zane spoke up. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler had stashed in that deck of his."
"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler called to Jaden from his side of the field.
"You bet!" Jaden replied with an excited laugh. "I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!"
Crowler simply regarded it negatively. "Yes, well I am quite the teacher, thank you." His monsters then started to glow and started writhing in flames. "And now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" In the place of Crowler's worm-like creatures stood a giant robotic monster that one could clearly see the working gears of it. Once again audience members were in awe of the sight of the monster, more so than its stats. (3000/3000)
"That's it, that's his legendary card!" Alexis gasped.
"Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary." Zane said as he observed the duel.
"Whoo, a monster that can stand toe to toe with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!?" Claudio shouted.
"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically towards Jaden.
Jaden, however, looked as though he was having the time of his life! "No way, I've always wanted to take one on."
This shocked many people again, including Syrus. "Either Jaden's really brave or he's nuts!"
"He's staring down that legendary rare monster like he doesn't have a care in the world," Zane said incredulously. "I guess youth and inexperience have its benefits after all."
"Give it a rest, Zane." Alexis said. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."
"There won't be much to show after this."
Dr. Crowler cackled as he ordered, "Golem attack, Mechanized Melee!" His Ancient Gear Golem's red mono-eye glowed slightly before pulling back its fist and sucker-punched Jaden's Avian to pieces.
"Oh man, Jaden's defense monster didn't stand a chance!" Syrus complained as he watched the duel. "Its attack points were way to low." His shoulders then slumped. "This doesn't look good."
"And it's about to look a whole lot worse." Bastion said as he remembered what he knows about Ancient Gear Golem. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the defending monster's defense points are dealt to the opponent as damage."
"But that would mean that Jaden's life points are gonna take a hit!" Syrus cried as he realized what was going to happen. Just as Syrus mentioned that, a transparent version of Ancient Gear Golem's fist slammed through Jaden's body.
Jaden: 2000
Crowler: 3000
"Yeesh, already at half his score." Claudio said, wincing. "He's gotta step up."
Crowler noticed that Jaden's body was shaking and laughed. "Now don't feel bad," He taunted, "This is the top dueling school in the country, some people simply aren't…" Crowler's voice trailed off as he then started hearing the familiar sound of Jaden's laughter.
"Now I really wanna come to this school now!" He exclaimed excitedly. "You really know your stuff teach!"
This actually took Crower by surprise before he began to scowl angrily at Jaden. 'Doesn't he take a hint? He will not be permitted to pass this exam!' He cursed mentally, 'And he will certainly not make a mockery of my deck!'
'Just look at him tremble,' Jaden mused as he reached to draw a card from his deck. 'He must really be impressed by me!' But just as he was about to draw his card, he heard a faint cooing sound. He paused for a second before drawing the card and taking a look at it. He then remembered that it was the card a guy he bumped into gave to him. He also recalled that he said that it belonged to him. 'You know, something tells me I'm starting to believe that too.' Then, whether if it was his imagination or not, he noticed that the card actually winked at him! His initial shock wore off and he then made his decision. I guess that's a sign that I should play ya.'
"Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" When he declared that, a small furry creature with for green paws and a pair of angelic wings appeared above its card image (300/200). Some of the girls in the audience noted how cute the creature looked. "Next, I play one card face-down. Not bad, huh, teach?" He finished as a face-down card appeared behind the fur ball.
"Looks like hero boy's safe for know." Claudio commented.
"What do you mean?" Syrus asked, confused as ever.
"Wait and see."
Crowler simply laughed at this. "No, not bad, but you must understand that I'm a master technician." He teased Jaden. "A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian; even one with wings its defense points are no match for my Ancient Gear Golem! It's a textbook mistake, so let's proceed." He then drew his next card. "Okay Ancient Gear Golem, attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"
Once again, the giant walking gear monster reared back a fist and threw a punch at the tiny creature and shattered the hologram to pieces. Jaden mentally said, 'Sorry Winged Kuriboh.'
But Dr. Crowler noticed that Jaden's life points hadn't dropped. "Check your gear, your life points haven't changed."
Jaden simply shrugged. "My gear's fine," He replied. "On the turn that Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero damage!"
The info actually took Crowler by surprise. He knew what the original Kuriboh could do, but he never expected that his attack would be thwarted by a Kuriboh with wings. Some of the audience members were stunned that Crowler didn't know that.
"Well how about that," Alexis said as she watched. "A technique the good doctor didn't know."
"No one can expect to know every technique, Alexis." Zane argued with a scolding tone. "Especially one as obscure as that."
"Yeah, well that kid sure knew it." Alexis countered with a slight laugh.
Claudio laughed at Crowler's reaction. "Man, people like him really need to learn to stop underestimating the Kuribohs!"
"Fine, fine, I guess your little lame monster saved you there." Crowler taunted as Jaden placed Winged Kuriboh into his graveyard.
"Whoa, slow down there, teach!" Jaden shot back, "Just because you beat him doesn't give you the excuse to call him lame!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot how you new duelists get attached to your monsters," Crowler taunted again. "I'm sorry."
"Show a little respect, why don't ya?" Claudio muttered.
should be sorry," Jaden said as he pressed a button on his duel disk. "Because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap card, one of my favorites too, Hero Signal!" As his trap card activated, a spotlight with a unique 'H' symbol appeared on the ceiling. "And that lets me bring out my second Elemental Hero," As a card shot out from his deck into his hand, he placed the card on the duel tray. "Burstinatrix!" From a column of red flames a gray-skinned woman in a red body-suit appeared and landed on the field (1200/800). Just as she appeared, Jaden drew another card. "Now it's my move!" He then looked over his cards again. "Okay, Winged Kuriboh, this one's for you!"
He placed one of the cards in his hand into the spell/trap card zone. "First I'll bring Avian back to my hand with the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive." The card came out of the graveyard slot of his duel disk. "And now, I'll summon him to the field!" After Jaden played Avian again, it reappeared next to Elemental Hero Burstinatrix.
"Oh, okay, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good, now would anyone like to tell me what our little friend here…" Crowler began to taunt, but before he could go any further Jaden interrupted him yet again.
"I didn't say I was done yet," He said. "See, I know that my two monsters aren't very powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together it's another story!" He then took the last card in his hand and showed it to Crowler. "And I have just the card to unite them! Go Polymerization!" The two Elemental Heroes leapt up into the air and started to swirl together as the effects of Polymerization activated. "Fusion Summon!" After the two monsters were done, a new monster appeared that had some of the same looks as Avian and Burstinatrix. It had one of Avian's wings along with a few of Burstinatrix's colors. The only thing that neither monster had was the dragon-like hand on the monster's left arm (2100/1200). "And there he is, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Hope your Golem's ready for a Clash of the Titans!"
'Show's about to be over soon, if Jaden has the right card in his hand!' Claudio thought as he grinned.
"I must say, you're dueling quite well for an amateur but next time try summoning a monster with more attack points than the one that's already out." Crowler said with a little disappointment in his voice as he didn't consider the fusion monster to be a threat.
"What does he mean by that?" Syrus asked as he looked at Jaden's monster.
"He means that the Wingman's attack points are lower than the Golem's 3000 attack points," Bastion answered. "A shame too, because that Elemental Hero of Jaden's has a very powerful ability."
"Relax, boys." Claudio said to them. "Hero boy's fine."
"Alright, young scholar," Crowler said in an almost exasperated tone, "I don't mean to rush you but I am a busy man...are you done yet?"
"Of course I'm not done yet!" Jaden replied as he took the card he drew and opened the field spell slot of his duel disk. "And, of course, I knew my Wingman had less attack points than your golem." He then placed the card in the field spell slot. "That's why I'm activating the field spell, Skyscraper!" After he played the card, buildings that you would normally see in a big city like New York, literally, sprouted up from the field.
In the middle of the cityscape, Crowler's Golem looked like a giant monster attacking the city itself. Meanwhile, Jaden's Wingman was perched on top of the highest building's steeple roof's lightning rod with its arms crossed. Claudio was anticipating Jaden's next move.
"Alright, Flame Wingman," Jaden called out. "Time to show those heroics!" He then pointed at the cog-powered machine. "Attack that Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!" After he announced that, Flame Wingman jumped from the building it stood on and dove towards Crowler's monster.
"Fine, bring him on," Crowler said as though he wasn't worried. "This field spell of yours hasn't lowered a single attack point of my Golem!" Flame Wingman then landed on the pavement in front of the Ancient Gear Golem before leaping up into the air again.
"You're right, teach," Jaden revealed, confusing Crowler. "What it's done is raise my Flame Wingman's attack by a total of 1000 points!"
"Wait Time Out!" Crowler cried, but it didn't stop Flame Wingman's attack as it launched itself at the Ancient Gear Golem as flames covered its body (3100/2100). Crowler looked as though he was going to have a panic attack as Jaden's monster slammed into his, breaking pieces of it off.
"No, he was my best card!" Crowler complained before a piece of debris fell on his head giving the good doctor a good headache.
"And I don't want to forget my Wingman's special power." Jaden said, catching Crowler's attention. "You see, when Wingman destroys a monster in battle, the attack points of that monster are dealt as damage to your life points."
Just as Jaden said that, the crumbled pieces of Ancient Gear Golem fell on top of Crowler burying him in its pieces, despite his attempts to get away.
Jaden: 2000
Crowler: 0
"And that's game!" Jaden announced as he pointed his index and middle fingers at Crowler in a sort of salute. "So, I guess I passed the test, huh teach?"
As the holograms faded, a lot of people were actually stunned to see that Jaden actually beat the teacher in a duel, while the said teacher used his own deck. Crowler was aghast at this whole thing. He had been beaten by a kid who was late and who was a mere amateur!
"Impossible." He seethed, "There's no way this delinquent could've beat me!"
Up in the stands, Chazz was having the same thought. "It must be dumb luck." He said through his clenched teeth. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"
Alexis was also smiling at Jaden's victory. "This kid's definitely got a future here, wow." She then noticed that Zane huffed and walked away.
Syrus was cheering for Jaden himself, "Yay! Jaden won!"
"Heck yeah! Wish I had that kind of action in my test duel; makes me feel jealous of the kid!" Claudio added.
'Nice.' Bastion mused as he watched Jaden do a victory dance. 'I could use some competition.'
After his victory dance, Jaden took out the Winged Kuriboh card he got earlier. "We made it." He said. "And from here on in, we're gonna be partners."
Again, Jaden could've sworn he heard Winged Kuriboh coo and wink at him.