Welcome to Duel Academy

Some time had passed since the entrance exams and a plane was on it's way to Academy Island. Jaden and Syrus were looking out the window and staring at the ocean, Bastion was taking a nap in his seat and Ryan was doing some research on the island to get acquainted to his new home.

*'It's not much longer until we arrive at the academy.'* Ryan thought to himself while staring out the window of the plane, looking forward to life at the Academy.

**"Attention new Duel Academy students, if you look outside your windows, you'll see your new home away from home."** The helicopter pilot announced in a monotonous tone as he was still piloting a large helicopter meant for transporting the new students towards Duel Academy as everyone looked through the windows excited, **"Now, now. I know you're excited, but don't shove. Quite a sight, eh? Now, fasten your seat belts and send your seats back to a right position. We're going up to land. Next up, Academy Island."** The captain announced.

"So how is your family doing?" Someone asked a friend.

"Hey." Bastion was rousted out of his nap.

He stared up at Kaoru Shiba.

"What can I help you with?" Bastion asked.

"I'd like to discuss Duel strategies with you if you don't mind." They spent the remainder of the flight doing just that.

The plane descended towards the island and then landed at the harbor.

The future students then exited the plane and set foot on Academy Island.

There were boys and girls dorms for the students in Slifer Red and Ra Yellow as well as Obelisk Blue.

"I heard the Chancellor asked for all the students to head to the auditorium." Ryan told Jaden and Syrus.

"Really, well then let's get going." The trio made their way to the auditorium where the speech would take place.

They arrived as they waited before the screen right in the middle of the auditorium had a little bit of a static problem, but was quickly overwhelmed a few seconds later when a bald man with a beard popped into the screen.

**"Good morning and welcome, my students! I'm Chancellor Sheppard, headmaster here! And you, are the best and brightest young duelists in the world! Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms! I think you'll find them quite comfortable, depending on how you rank, of course!"** Jaden was snoring during the speech.

The Chancellor's speech then ended.

Afterwards Jaden and Syrus sat on a statue outside the building.

"According to this, I'm in Slifer Red." Jaden announced, checking his PDA.

"Me too." Syrus responded.

Then Ryan approached them. He was wearing a blue blazer and held a book in his hands.

"Are you in red too?" Jaden asked his duel partner.

"No, I did well enough on the written exam to get into Obelisk Blue." Ryan informed him, closing the book and putting it in his pocket.

"And she's in Ra Yellow." He pointed to Kaoru who was wearing a girl's version of the Ra Yellow uniform.

"Hello." She greeted them.

Bastion came over a few seconds later wearing a yellow blazer.

"Hey Bastion, would you happen to be in red?"

"Let's see. Yellow sleeves, yellow buttons, I don't think so." Bastion looked over himself.

"Oh, so that's how it works." It dawned on Jaden as he looked at his red blazer.

"Please tell me you didn't just figure that out." Bastion sweat dropped.

"What? Are you insinuating I'm color-blind!" Jaden snapped, feeling insulted.

"It depends. Are you color-blind?" Bastion asked.

Jaden then proceeded to chuckle. "No, but I could have been."

"See you guys around the dorms!" He called out. The Obelisk and Ra's looked at each other briefly before turning back to Jaden and Syrus.

"No you won't actually. Don't you know. The Red Dorm is not far from the lighthouse on the east side of the island." Ryan pointed towards a rundown building towards the east. "My dorm is to the west near the Academy building and the Yellow Dorm is located on the southern part of the island."

Ryan, Kaoru and Bastion headed off to their respective dorms on different sides of the island.

After they had left, Jaden and Syrus headed east to the Red Dorm.

Syrus was a bit disappointed by the state of the Red Dorm. It was run down for a unknown reason.

"You call this a dorm. It's a outhouse with a deck!" He complained.

"It's not as bad as you make it sound, Sy." Jaden argued.

"I guess you're right." Syrus sighed in disappointment.

The two Slifers then stood in front of the door to their room.

"This is where we're staying. Let's head in." Jaden opened the door. The room was pitch black inside.

"Why's it so dark?" Syrus asked Jaden.

"Don't know, but let's brighten it up." Jaden walked to the blinds in the back and pulled them apart. The rays of the sun poured into the room.

"I closed those for a reason." A voice called down from the top of the bed.

"Oh my bad, didn't notice anyone was up there." Jaden apologized.

"How about now." A boy resembling a koala glared down at Jaden and Syrus.

Jaden and Syrus held onto each other out of fear and proceeded to scream.

"Will you keep it down." The boy demanded. "Who are you and why are you in my room?"

"My name's Jaden and this is Syrus. The two of us are your new roommates." Jaden introduced himself and Syrus.

"Yeah, you two are new alright." The boy scoffed, grouchy. "Let me tell you how it works around here."

"Like when Parent's Visit is?" Syrus asked.

"No, the whole color thing. There are three types of students at the Academy. Obelisk Blue's, the highest ranked students. Ra Yellow's, kids with lots of potential and Slifer Reds, the students who fail miserably."

"The name's Chumley Huffington, by the way." Chumley introduced himself before rolling back onto his side and facing away from Jaden and Syrus.

At the same time Kaoru and Bastion headed south to the yellow dorm.

"So this is the yellow dorm, looks nice." Kaoru said.

"Yes it is." Bastion nodded. He was looking forward to seeing what his room would look like.

They opened the doors and went inside.

The interior of the yellow dorm resembled a somewhat fancy apartment building.

"Let's go find our rooms." Kaoru and Bastion went to find their assigned rooms.

The standard room in the yellow dorm had a desk, closet, bed and TV.

"I'm going to like it here." Kaoru smiled.

Ryan eventually reached the dorm he would be staying in. It was like a king's castle made of white stone with a tower at each corner. The door was large and made of wood that was painted blue.

"Whoa." He was speechless.

He then pushed the doors open to see what it was like. The inside had a marble staircase and diamond chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

He headed to his room.

*Back near the Red Dorm...*

Jaden and Syrus were walking along a path away from their dorm.

"Why are you still depressed?" Jaden questioned.

"Chumley said that the reds fail miserably." Syrus sighed. Jaden shook his head.

"Ignore him. The year hasn't even started yet." He encouraged. The brunette then lifted his head up and stared off to the west.

"What's going on?" Syrus asked his friend.

"I can't help but feel there's a duel going on nearby." Jaden explained.

"How can you tell?" Syrus replied, slightly confused.

"I just can." Jaden responded back.

Jaden ran on ahead leaving Syrus alone.

"Hey wait up!" Syrus pleaded as he attempted to catch up.

Jaden and Syrus headed into a large room and whistled. It was enormous, with stands on both sides of the walls and right in the center was a large platform that had wires sticking out of it.

"This is the coolest arena I've ever seen!"

Syrus frowned. "Do you think we're allowed to be in here? We might get in trouble."

"Why wouldn't we be? We're all students here after all." Jaden shook his head.

"This is the Obelisk Blue campus. No Slifer Red rejects are welcome."

Jaden and Syrus turned their heads and saw two teenage boys walking up to them, wearing dark blue blazers. One boy had dark blue hair that curled up in front of his forehead. The other boy had spiky brown hair that pointed straight up.

The brown haired boy then pointed behind Jaden and Syrus.

"Check out the crest." It was Obelisk the Tormentor.

"This is the Blue's territory. No reds allowed!" The blue haired Obelisk sneered.

Syrus turned back towards them.

"Sorry. We didn't know that. We'll leave, right Jaden?" He asked, looking at Jaden.

"Not unless one of you wants to duel me. I'll be a guest here." He offered.

The blue haired boy stared at Jaden for a few minutes.

"Hey, you're that kid." The spiky brown-haired boy looked up to someone in the stands and called out. "Chazz, one of the guys that defeated Dr. Crowler is here."

A tall boy with spiky black hair stared down at the two or more specifically Jaden with a cold expression. Jaden waved at the new kid.

"Hey, sup? I'm Jaden and you're...Chuzz, was it?" He asked, looking at the first two blues.

"His name is Chazz Princeton." A voice called out. The four turned and saw Ryan entering the arena with a open book in his hands. "He and his brothers seek to rule the worlds of Duel Monsters, finance and politics."

"Chazz was the number one duelist at Duelist Prep School. Show him some respect!" The blue-haired teen snapped. His partner nodded.

"Yeah, he's going to be the Next King of Games. The world's best duelist."

"Impossible." Jaden scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What was that?" The first Obelisk demanded.

"It's impossible for him to become the next King of Games. Because that's what I'm going to be." Jaden explained, grinning at them.

The boys stared at him and then busted out laughing.

"You, a Slifer Slacker the next King of Games. What a joke!"

"Can it you two!" Chazz ordered.

He walked down the stands and came into view.

"Maybe the new kid is right. He is one of the people that defeated Crowler after all. And his legendary monster. I guess that requires some skill to pull off."

"You know it." Jaden replied.

"Or was it luck? Let's find out right now." Chazz snorted, ignoring what Jaden was saying.

"Bring it on!" He challenged.

"Hey Chazz, isn't there somewhere we need to be?" Ryan reminded him.

"This sure is a motley crew." A new voice said.

The group turned to see a Obelisk student walk up to them.

"Hey Alexis. Did you come to see me wipe the floor with our new friend Jaden. This duel won't take long."

"No, you're late for the welcome dinner. It seems you've forgotten about that." Alexis lightly glared at him and crossed her arms.

"Oh right." Chazz hopped over the railing and onto the arena floor. "Let's go guys."

Alexis shook her head as the three exited the arena.

When they did, Kaoru and her brother and sister entered the arena.

"Sorry about what just happened. Not all Obelisks act like that. Chazz is just a jerk especially in regard to Slifers." She turned to the Slifers.

"No big deal."

"Huh?" Alexis looked at Jaden, surprised with his reaction.

"Those types don't really bother me. I could probably take him down in a single turn, alright maybe two or three." Jaden admitted.

"You two should probably leave. The Welcome Dinner for the red dorm is starting shortly and something tells me you don't want to be late." Ryan informed Jaden and Syrus.

Jaden and Syrus began to run back to the red dorm.

"What's your name?" Jaden asked, turning around.

"Alexis Rhodes." Alexis smiled. "Yours."

"Jaden Yuki. See ya."

"You call this a welcome dinner?" The Slifer Reds were inside their dorm's cafeteria and right in front of them were trays of sardines, rice, what looked like gravy with chunks in it and a few pieces of pineapple.

*'What's with the cat?'* Syrus thought out loud. "I hope that's not our headmaster."

Then a tall man with black hair entered the dining hall.

"Hello children, I'm Professor Lyman Banner the headmaster of the Slifer Red Dorm." Prof. Banner smiled while waving at the kids. "I would like for you to share something about-"

Banner was cut off.

"This stuff is really good."

Everyone turned to the back to see Jaden stuffing his face. Syrus leaned forward.

"Jaden we're supposed to share something about ourselves." He whispered to the brunette.

"Alright, I love this food!"

"Jaden, he's getting closer and closer."

"You should try this."

"I'm serious, Jaden."

"Well since some of us are impatient..."

Jaden almost choked on his food and he looked up to see Banner standing right behind Syrus, hands behind his back.

"Let's eat."

Everyone chowed down on their food.

Back in their room, Jaden plopped down onto the floor.

"Banner is a great cook." He happily sighed.

"Yeah, and he seems like a nice guy as well." Syrus walked over with a mug in his hand.

Jaden nodded as he reached for a mug.

"You got that right, he's good people."

"Hey Chumley." Syrus looked up at the top bunk. "Want some tea?"

"Did I say I was thirsty?" Chumley growled.

Jaden glanced up at the top bunk.

"He was just asking you a question. You don't have snap at him!"

"I'm used to it Jaden." Syrus sadly said.

Chumley turned onto his side. "Besides, tea makes you wet the bed. Not that I do that. You get the point. I don't want any tea."

A beeping noise caused Chumley and Syrus to look in Jaden's direction. He pulled his jacket to the side and removed his PDA.

"Looks like I got mail." Jaden turned the PDA on and Chazz's face appeared on the screen.

**"You're not off the hook, slacker. Later tonight, you and I are going to duel. And to make things more interesting, winner gets the loser's best card."**

The PDA shut off when the message ended. Chumley heard what Chazz had said and rolled over, looking at Jaden.

"If that's Chazz you're dueling, all you've got is trouble."

Jaden and Syrus ran out of the room, closing the door behind them.

It hadn't taken long for them to return to the arena.

"You sure you want to do this Jaden?" Syrus asked.

"Of course." Jaden responded. "When someone challenges you to a duel, you don't turn it down."

After passing through the entrance, they saw Chazz and his cronies. Chazz smirked.

"Well well well...you showed up, Slacker." He greeted.

Jaden nodded.

"I wasn't about to turn down a duel." He shot back as he climbed up onto the dueling platform. Syrus headed to the sidelines as the two duelists went to their respective ends of the platform.

"Now we'll find out if you defeating Dr. Crowler was fluke or fact." Chazz moved his black hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah." Jaden nodded. "And we'll also find out who really deserves to be the next King of Games."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Just be sure to hand your rarest card over after you lose."

"You too, Chazz. Now let's do it."

Their duel disks activated and they each drew their starting hands.

"DUEL!" They both cried.

**Chazz**: 4000

**Jaden**: 4000

"Alright Slacker." Chazz drew his card and looked at his hand. "I'll summon Reborn Zombie (1000/1600) in Defense Mode and play a card face down."

"I guess that's one way to start a duel. Guess I'm gonna go even bigger. Here goes!" Jaden drew his card and looked over his hand. "Okay, first off, I'll play the spell card Polymerization and I'll fuse my Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!"

The three spectators watched as Avian and Burstinatrix appeared on the field before swirling into each other once again. Now in their place, Flame Wingman was on the field.

"I told you I'd start big, didn't I?"

Chazz chuckled softly.

"I hoped you would do that."

"Why's that?" Jaden asked slowly, not liking Chazz's tone.

Chazz smirked.

"Because my face down was a trap card that you just set off! Chthonian Polymer, do your stuff!" He ordered. The holographic face down rose to reveal a card that had a image of a man wrapped in flames.

"What's Chthonian Polymer's stuff?" Syrus asked meekly.

"Jaden walked right into that." Ryan said, appearing out nowhere. "Chthonian Polymer will allow Chazz to take control of a fusion monster by sacrificing a monster on the field."

"He's right." Alexis nodded.

"But Jaden just brought out a fusion monster." Syrus looked back at his roommate.

"I now sacrifice my Reborn Zombie to take control of your Wingman, Slacker!" Chazz laughed as his monster exploded in a blast of light and Jaden's Elemental Hero appeared on his side of the field.

"Aw man." Jaden groaned after losing his best monster.

Chazz shook his head. "You're so predictable Jaden. You wouldn't stop talking about this monster during the exams. I knew that you would use it soon."

"Big deal. I haven't normal summoned this turn." Jaden reminded him then looked at his cards. *'Not that it matters. None of my monsters are strong enough to deal with Flame Wingman.'*

Chazz was enjoying this a little too much. On his side of the field was the monster that defeated Crowler.

*'Go on Slifer Slacker, summon another monster. After all, I haven't forgotten Flame Wingman's special ability.'* He thought wickedly as he watched Jaden scan the three cards he had left in his hand.

"Alright. I summon Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in Defense Mode!" Jaden declared as he slapped another card onto his disk. A large, round man made of clay and mud appeared on the field, arms crossed, the red dome of a head shining in the light of the arena.

"I'm all set up."

Chazz shook his head as he drew another card from his deck. "Set up only to be knocked down again. Rise Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400)!" A man in dark armor wielding a large blade appeared on the field next to the stolen Wingman.

"And now...Flame Wingman wipe that monster out with Skydive Scorcher!"

The winged hero flew into the air, then dove at Clayman as the flames rose around his body once again. With a groan of pain, Clayman was destroyed in a flash of light and Wingman landed in front of Jaden, arm stretched out to him.

A torrent of flames erupted from the Wingman's dragon head arm and engulfed Jaden, knocking a small chunk of life points off.

**Chazz**: 4000

**Jaden**: 3200

"But I'm not done yet! Chthonian Soldier, attack with Windstorm Slash!"

While still recovering from Flame Wingman's effect, Jaden felt the blade go through him as the Soldier sliced into him, reducing his life points further.

**Chazz**: 4000

**Jaden**: 2000

"Let's see if Jaden can get himself out of this predicament." Ryan whispered.

Jaden was on his knees now and Chazz was loving every bit of it.

"Have you learned your place now, Slifer? You may have been someone back home, but here you're nothing but a little amateur, you Slifer Slime!" He paused to insert a card into the bottom row of his duel disk. "I'll end my turn with a face down card."

Muffled sounds could be heard as Jaden's shoulders shook. Chazz's grin grew wider.

"Aw, what's wrong baby? Are you crying?" He taunted.

The 'crying' turned into laughter as Jaden lifted his head, a large goofy smile on his face.

"This is so fun!"

Chazz stared at him. "What!"

Jaden wiped his chin. "This is exactly what I came here for. I mean the trash talking, the action...it's all so great!"

"Now I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)!" Another strange looking human appeared on the field, this one dressed in yellow and blue garb with a curved blue helmet.

"Alright, Sparkman. Now attack with Static Shock Wave!" Jaden ordered. Sparkman jumped into the air and pointed it's fist directly at Chthonian Soldier. It's arm surged with electrical sparks before a beam shot forth from it's hand and hit the enemy monster dead on, destroying it completely.

**Chazz**: 3600

**Jaden**: 2000

*'That's going to cost you.'* Chazz growled as he watched his Soldier's curved blade rise above the smoke and fly straight at Jaden, hitting him in the chest. Surprised, Jaden fell to one knee, holding himself.

"Still think you won that one? Whenever Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, you take the same amount of damage to your life points as I just did...with one difference, you're not going to have a whole lot of them left."

**Chazz**: 3600

**Jaden**: 1600

Jaden lifted his head, glaring at his opponent, but not too angry with the strategy. Dueling was his life and this is what he lived for...although a less annoying opponent would be nice.

"It won't be long until your best card is mine, Slacker." Chazz cackled.

Jaden shook his head as he inserted a card into one of the slots on his duel disk. "This ain't over yet. I play a card face down and end my turn."

"Play whatever you want, Slacker, it won't make any difference! My next attack will finish off what's left of your life points." Chazz scoffed as he drew another card. "And that attack's coming right now! Go Flame Wingman!"

As Flame Wingman's body began to become covered in flames again, Jaden shook his head. "Not if my trap can help it."

"A trap?" Chazz's eye twitched. He wasn't expecting this...he had this in the bag and now it could go flying out the window.

"And that's not any ordinary trap card either. Mirror Gate switches the control of one monster on either side of the field. In other words Jaden just got Flame Wingman back." Ryan explained as Sparkman appeared on Chazz's side of the field.

The two heroes grappled with each other in the air, sparks of flames and electricity cracking around their hands. It didn't take long before Sparkman was covered with electrical currents and was in the graveyard.

"NOOOO!" Chazz screamed at the loss of his monster and his life points.

**Chazz**: 3100

**Jaden**: 1600

"And like you just mentioned a while ago, my Wingman's special ability kicks in! You take damage to your life points equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!" Jaden reminded him as Wingman sent waves of both flames and electricity down at Chazz. Once again, the Obelisk duelist screamed as his life points went down considerably.

**Chazz**: 1500

**Jaden**: 1600

Chazz glared daggers at Jaden as he drew his next card. "Lucky move, Slifer Slacker. Now I play the spell card, Chthonian Blast! Since you've destroyed one of my monsters, I can destroy one of yours!"

A swirling mist appeared on the bottom of the field just before it ensnared the Wingman and destroyed it without mercy.

"Plus, you take damage equal to half your destroyed monster's attack points!" Chazz added gleefully.

**Chazz**: 1500

**Jaden**: 550

"Now I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted!" Chazz went on as his card flipped upward to reveal a card with tombstones as a picture. "This lets me bring back a monster from my graveyard to the field in attack mode! I summon Chthonian Soldier, but he won't be staying long because I'll be sacrificing him to summon Mefist the Infernal General (1800/1700) to the field!"

Jaden looked calmly at the mounted horseman in front of him. "Not bad."

"Not bad?" Chazz looked at him for a few moments. "You're something else, you know that Slacker? Acting all confident...but your lousy monsters won't get you out of this jam."

Jaden looked at the only card in his hand. The Winged Kuriboh and he smiled at it. "I know he's wrong Winged Kuriboh..because we both know that my monsters and I have a bond." He drew his next card and smiled slightly. *'Speaking of which...'*

"This duel's over." Ryan interrupted. He heard footsteps coming this way.

"What for?" Jaden asked.

"Campus security! If we get caught here, we're all gonna get seriously busted." She snapped her head back to the two duelists.

"What!" Syrus yelped.

Jaden looked at her. "What? Why? I mean we're all students here, so why should we worry?" He asked her. Ryan provided the answer.

"This is why." He pulled his PDA out of his pocket and showed them the school rules. "After hour duels are prohibited at the Academy. Chazz is aware of that, but didn't bother to tell you."

The blue-haired Obelisk student leaned forward from his watching place. "C'mon Chazz, let's go."

Chazz snorted and turned away from the others. "Let's go."

"Hey wait a minute, the duel isn't over!" Jaden protested, not believing what was happening.

Chazz hopped off the platform and started walking away. "Yeah it is Slacker. I saw what I needed to see. You're a sorry duelist and you beating Crowler was a fluke."

"But..."

"Jay! We gotta get out of here now!" Syrus urged. He had to be dragged out of the arena by Syrus.

There were a few close calls, but Alexis and the others made it out of the arena. She looked back to Jaden who was being pushed and dragged by Syrus.

"You sure are stubborn aren't you?" She asked him.

"Only about my dueling?" Jaden scowled.

Syrus sweat dropped. "Anyway thanks for showing us the back way out, Alexis."

She smiled and nodded. "No problem. I'm just sorry that you didn't get to finish your duel with Chazz, Jaden."

Jaden shrugged. "It's okay. I already know how it would've ended anyway."

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Oh? From my point of view, it could have gone either way."

"Not after I drew this." Jaden lifted up the card he had drawn before they escaped the patrol. It was the Monster Reborn spell card. Alexis looked at it, surprised at the luck he must've had to have drawn the card.

Jaden smiled and began to walk away as they began to understand the strategy he had.

"Catch ya later, Alexis!" Syrus walked right behind him, leaving Ryan and Alexis behind.

Alexis watched as the two Slifers walked away together.

*'This is going to be one interesting year.'* She thought with a smile before she headed back to her own dorm. Ryan followed suit and returned to the Blue boys dorm.