Yugioh GX: Konami/Kazuki Takahashi
(A/N: Hello, this is one of the few fanfics I wanted out of the way due to writer's block with Reverse of Arcadia and this just popped into my head. You may have seen this kind of story many times on this site but I figured I'd do it anyway. The main character I use here is very familiar so you know the pattern in the deck he'll use, although he uses the same archetype as one of the other characters in the anime. But still I plan to make that deck to use his own way, so don't judge me too much. Try reading this through and tell me what you think. If you'd like to help me with this story, or if you'd like to off any OC characters, please review of PM me...)
There he was floating around in the dark. It took him a while and he was exhausted but he finally managed to go in. This was where he unwound his mind and muscles for the next day. And every now and then it was where he let his mind run loose, he felt he didn't want to leave. Suddenly a siren exploded from out of nowhere. His world was rumbling and torn asunder until everything went silent.
The siren still went off hurting his ears. His first act was swinging his arm and knocked the machine on the floor. A bright light began stinging his eyes from between the blinds, forcing his eyes shut. But he knew he had to wake up rather soon so he sat up on his bed. After sitting there trying to collect his thoughts he reminded himself that he had somewhere to go.
After stumbling out of bed he went to the restroom to take a quick shower. He got out a few minutes later and walked to the bathroom mirror. He wiped the steam off and was met with a boy of about 15 with his black hair unkempt and falling in front of his blue eyes. Then putting on some clothes he brought with him to the bathroom, he was now wearing a white t-shirt under an open short-sleeve jean jacket, a pair of baggy blue jeans and black, red-rimmed sneakers. Going back to the mirror, he grabbed a comb and some hair gel and fixed his hair. As much as he hates having to use this sticky stuff, he knew it was better to be presentable. With his hair now done, he now sported a large cowlick bang grown over his forehead and around the front of his right side, with a grey highlighted mark in the middle.
Not wanting to wake his uncle he left the house and went on his way to the bus station. He had a fair amount of trouble trying to get to the station, no matter how close by it was. He had only moved to town yesterday so he had little idea of how to get where he was. After a few wrong turns he managed to reach the station just in time to buy the next ticket and get on the bus that he almost missed. After twenty minutes of riding the bus suddenly stopped, a major traffic of cars blocking the way. He thought of waiting it out, but according to the time it would be very unlikely that the bus will make it to his destination in time. So he decided to get off and started running. It was only a block up the sidewalk and he was lucky enough to enter the pedestrian area where the only traffic he had to worry about was people. He ran past small crowds trying not to bump into anyone...
"Look out!" he didn't have time to look before he bumped into something and fell on his side. He stood up and shook off the pain."Hey, need a hand?" he looked up and saw a hand belonging to a boy his age. He had brown hair dyed in two tones, the top half lighter than the bottom, and chocolate-brown eyes; he wore a dark-grey jacket with a red shirt underneath. He took his hand and let him pull him up. "Sorry about that. You alright."
"...I think so. Yeah." he said in a small tone.
"Hey, you're going to the Duel Academy entrance exams, aren't you?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"You dropped your cards." the boy looked to the ground and found his cards scattered all over the place; he scrambled to pick them up, "Here, let me help!" the brown-haired boy helped him pick up the cards, looking at each one he picked up, "I never seen any of these before. Where'd you get 'em?"
"I got these cards from a flea market back home." the boy said as he took his cards back. "Wait, are you going to the exams too?"
That's right! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Jaden."
"My name's Jason." the two greeted with a handshake. "I'm just wondering, are you sure you're ready for this kind of school? The tuition wasn't so cheap for them to let just anyone in. I just hope I can just pass."
"Well, why not? We got our decks, we got the gear, and we only got- Oh wait a minute..." Jaden checked his watch and then panicked. "2 minutes! I better get going!" he started sprinting off, with Jason following. Their shoes pounded the pavement as they ran past a crowd of gawking people.
As they passed by the park, Jason spotted someone walking in their path. "Uh, Jaden-"
But man could only turned to see and feel a mass of brown hair run into his chest and fall to the ground. The brunette automatically turned to pick up his duel disk and the cards that had fallen out of the deck slot.
"Ugh! Sorry!" Jaden apologized, but his first concern clearly seemed to be for his cards. He quickly gather up his own cards, picking one up and brushed off the dirt, blowing on it gently.
"You kids are duelist, aren't you?" the stranger asked, apparently he hasn't left.
"Yup. We're on our way to try out at the Academy." Jaden answered.
The stranger smiles, and reaches for a small on his hip, popping it open. "You don't say."
"Yeah!" Jaden stood, ready to laugh the whole thing off before he saw the face of the person he just ran into: this individual wore a black shirt and a fashion collar. His hairstyle was black tinged with red, and a few blonde bangs hovered around his face. "Hey... Hey, you're-"
The stranger offered him a single card, "Why don't you take this. Something just tells me that it belongs with you."
"Huh? Wow! For real?" he breathed, taking the gift and looking at it intensely.
"Good luck." The leather-clad man walked past the boys and continued on his way, but suddenly stopped, "Oh, while I'm at it..." he took his cards back and and looked into it, until he picked one out, presenting it to Jason, "You can have this one. It's not really my style but maybe you can make better use of it."
"Uh..." Jason took the card from the man, Thank you.".
"Oh! Hey, wait! Thank you!", Jaden bowed in gratitude and then stuttered, "I… I'll make you proud!"
The stranger stopped walking and replied with a thumbs-up, before strolling away. Jaden watches him go, amazed, then stares with awe at the card in his hand.
"So..." Jason then spoke up, "You know who that guy was?"
Jaden stared at him for a moment before trying to stifle a laugh, "Yeah, that's a good one!" before running off again. Jason stood there confused before he chased after him.
Back outside at the registration table, now empty, a black-suited school official and two young women wearing white Academy blazers trimmed with yellow were packing up, ready to leave. The official checked his watch, then turned to the ladies and said, "Well, ladies, that's it. Mark all the no-shows, no-shows."
"Wait!" a voice came and they turned to the bushes by the railing; Jaden and Jason himself up, apparently climbed up the cliff to get there. Their clothes were smutched and hair full of leaves, "You can... count Jaden Yuki as present, thank you! Well, just so long as I... don't lose my grip!" the three stared as Jason stumbled over the rails and fell on his back trying to catch his breath.
In a large dome ontop of a hill, the Duel Academy entrance exams are well underway. On the stadium floor, at least four separate duel arenas have been walled off, in which Academy hopefuls square off against test proctors. In a special set of risers, proctors who weren't dueling were watching the matches or working on paperwork. Among them sat a couple of faculty. One wore pink frills at the cuffs, collar, and shoulders of his blue Academy blazer, and wore his blonde hair in a rather girlishly long ponytail. Thin-faced, sharp-nosed, with dark purple lips and a skeletal neck, he was strange and quite unhealthy-looking. The other was a woman with a dark completion and dark hair. She wore a black leather blazer lined with gold silk, with black fingerless gloves. And what made this woman special was these long horn-like extensions sticking upward. With her piercing green eyes she glared at every aspect of the arenas like a persistent guard dog.
"Once again, all Academy applicants who have already passed their duel entrance exam please proceed to registration," someone announced from the loudspeakers. "For those who have failed, better luck next year."
'And have fun at Duel Monsters community college!' the girly man sneered.
Down on one of the dueling fields, a match was raging. The proctor summon a purple bug with piercing fangs. It emerged from a giant card and attacked a rather tiny kid opposite. This Academy hopeful wore a grey sort of japanese-style school suit and sneakers. He had a pair of small glasses on his nose, and his hair was turquoise and somewhat unruly. He looked up miserably at the stadium bleachers with wide grey eyes as he recovered from the attack. 'Aw, man. I can barely concentrate with all these Academy kids staring at me, judging me! What I wouldn't give to already be enrolled in the school, like them!'
"Last call for all Academy applicants," the loudspeaker repeated, "If you have not checked in for your exam, please do so now."
Another duel went on another arena. A boy with short and spiky red hair and wore a red biker jacket and blue jeans was facing a horned orange creature with two mouths.
"Alright! Ultimate Baseball Kid, take out his life-points!" a small person in a baseball uniform swatted a ball of fire at the test proctor, taking the rest of his life-points.
"Alright, you win," the proctor said in a boring tone. "Welcome to Duel Academy."
"Yes! Made it!" the boy said pumping his fist.
In a third arena, a girl with long black hair was facing a proctor with a large child-like dragon on his field.
"I activate the trap card Return from the Different Dimension!" five dragons in different forms suddenly appeared, "Now attack!" the dragon army fired off and destroyed the child-dragon and the proctor's life-points.
"Congratulations, miss!" the proctor praised, "You've officially enrolled to Duel Academy!"
The girl just scoffed, and walked away without saying a word.
The turquoise-haired hopeful rubbed the sweat off his forehead in relief. He passed, albeit just barely. He breathed a nervous sigh of relief, on the sidelines after his match.
Jaden and Jason ran up behind him, the former grabbing the railing separating them from the top row of bleachers. "Haha, wow, look at 'em go!"
At the forth arena, the trio noticed a duel going on duel between a boy about their wearing a grayish-white school uniform and another dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two monsters kneeling, wan was a bulky man kneeling behind a giant shield, the other a large robot with spikes. The monster opposing the dueling proctor was a beastly-looking fighter wielding an axe and there was also a face-down card.
"Alright, new guy. Multiple choice!" the proctor said, "Ya got two monsters starin' ya down. Do you, A: throw in the towel; B: beg for mercy; or C: run home to mama!"
"I'll go with D: none of the above!" the applicant said, and a card with a magenta background flipped up.
"A trap?!"
"Exactly. You see, with Ring of Destruction, I can destroy any monster on the field that's in ATK mode; and then we both take damage equal to that monster's ATK points." A Ring of red bombs appeared around his monster's neck and exploded on impact, damaging both their life-points, the proctor's points dropping to zero.
"Clever move," He said. "Welcome to the academy."
The boy bowed to him and said dryly, "Thank you, oh wise proctor."
Up in the stands, a trio of blue-blazered students had just watched the duel end. The first had smooth, slate-blue hair and little glasses. The second had spiky brown hair sticking straight up. The third had spiky black hair, brown-grey eyes, and exceptionally pale skin.
"Wow, that guy's pretty good, don'tcha think, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair and glasses asked.
"Guess the rumors about him being some kinda whiz-kid were true, huh, Chazz?" The boy on the other side said.
"He's a punk." The person in the middle called Chazz scoffed. "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."
"Wow, that last guy really tore it up!" Jaden commented.
"I wonder who that guy was..." Jason spoke.
"That's Bastion Misawa. They say he got the highest score on the written exam of all us applicants."
"Wow, I just barely passed." Jaden confessed.
"Yeah, me too. My name's Syrus, by the way, nice to meetcha. I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety; I don't know how I won my match..."
"So you're in!" Jaden gave Syrus a friendly slap on the back, startling him. "Congratulations! I'll be in too, as soon as I win my duel!"
"Wait. You haven't dueled yet?"
"Naw."
"Then you might have a problem. I think this was supposed to be the last one!" What Syrus had said just caused Jason to stand stiff. He had to travel halfway across the world to enroll in this special school and now he just wasted all that money just because he was late.
In the teachers' seats, the purple-blazered proctors were chatting among themselves.
"Looks like we have a pretty good crop this year." one of them said.
"Yes, indeed.", agreed another.
As Crowler closed a book he was writing on, getting ready to pack up, the black official from the parking lot came over and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but two remaining applicant have arrived to take their exam, Mister Crowler."
"Did you just call me Mister?!"
"Oh, sorry, I'm new here, Missus-"
"I have a Ph.D in dueling, I've earned the title Doctor, thank you! Now, tell the truants that they'll just have to come back next year."
"Oh, come on, Dr. Crowler. We have time for a couple more." protested one of the proctors.
"Yes, let's give these duelist their chance."
"They were just a bit late, that's all-"
"Which is why there's no point to even bother," the proctors turned to see the woman in black speak up, "We've already finished our last examination just now and we have twelve minutes spared only to gather our belongings and leave. Having to test a couple of latecomers would no doubt set us back and-" the tone of a cell phone suddenly rang.
Crowler answered it, with an irritable tone, "Hello, and who may I ask is-"
"It's Sheppard." said the caller.
"Ah, Chancellor Sheppard!"
"Just calling to be sure that everything's running smoothly, Crowler. Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year..." Crowler was at a loss for words, "...when you cut a third of our student applicants for some ridiculous reason. What was it? Calling you 'Mr.', or 'Mrs.'...? Whatever! Just make sure everyone gets a fair shot!"
"Absolutely!" Crowler replied but before he could hang up she snatched the phone away and answered it.
"Chancellor Sheppard!"
"Yes, can I help you?"
"I feel you'd like to know we've already finished our exams and we only have time to pack up and leave."
"And everyone's been tested?"
"There are two who just arrived, but they won't be taking the-."
"If we still have examinees then they should have their chance."
"...With all due respect, sir, I don't think they should be allowed to test if they should be late for their own exams."
"We've been over this; anyone who managed to register should be able to duel."
"I understand that sir, but-"
"You can test them yourself if you want to, but I expect you to give these would-be students a chance."
"Yes sir..." with that said, she hung up. "We'll have to test the remaining two registers." she said grudgely and walked away.
'Furry-chinned windbag!, Crowler thought. 'Doesn't he realize that there are enough talentless flunkies at this Academy? But he's the boss, and if he wants to give these scrimshankers a duel, fine!'
"But, uh, who's gonna be the boys' dueling proctors, and what exam deck shall we use?" asked one of the proctors.
"Leave that to me!" Crowler left, leaving the proctors dumbfolded.
Bastion, the student who won the last exam duel, took a seat in the top of the bleachers, "Tight duel, Bastion!" he looked over his shoulder at Jaden, leaning over the divider next to Syrus and Jason.
"Thank you." he answered with aloof modesty.
"From the looks of it, you just might be the second best duelist here!"
"Jaden Yuki, Jason Hutchins, please report to exam field 2," the announcer said.
"Go time!" Jaden said, him and Jason running down the steps, "Wish me luck, guys!"
"Wait for me, I don't know how to get there..." Jason spoke trying to catch up with him.
"Hey, wait, if I'm second best, then who's first?" Bastion asked.
"Ha! Yours truly," he said, pointing to himself. "It's what I'm best at!"
"Wow! He's so sure of himself. I wonder if he's really that good." Syrus sighed sceptically.
"Well, he's going to need to be. Because look who they're dueling." Bastion said and watched as two people walked into the appointed area.
On the field, Dr. Crowler and the woman in black being prepped and ready to duel. Crowler's disk looked as though it was crafted into his blazer. The part that held his deck slot was strapped to his chest. The tray Crowler used to play his cards looked like a long and giant axe-blade. It was separated from the main device and had to be held by hand.
The other's device was a jackal's head that held her deck in its mouth and was strapped to her left wrist. In her right hand look nothing more that a golden chromed staff with a set of scales at the tip, while there was another gadget strapped to her left hip. They waited until Jaden Yuki entered the arena through a rising floor platform, looking around in the wrong direction.
"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; like, a... a majorette, or a cheerleader!" Crowler sweatdropped at that comment.
A loud clank brought Crowler and Jaden's attention as the looked towards the woman in black who banged on the floor with her staff. "There were supposed to be two of you here," she said, so where's the other one?"
The door opened up and Jason poked his through, "Excuse me, is this the right place?"
"This is duel arena 4, yes." the woman in black replied. Jason entered and stood beside Jaden.
"Well, then, since everyone's accounted for, let's begin, shall we?" Crowler insisted, pressing a button on the unusual duel-disk he was wearing, "Duel vest on!"
The two teens watched in awe as Crowler operated the machine. The button he pressed causes the deck to spit out five cards for an opening hand, and Crowler smoothly caught them. His posture with the duel-vest conveyed the appearance almost that he was playing a musical instrument with grace and ease.
"Whoa, pretty sweet, teach!" Jaden said, "How do I get one a' those cool blue duel blazers?"
"Oh, a lot of hard work and extremely high marks," Crowler said, 'Of course, you first have to get into Duel Academy, and I intend to make certain that won't be happening!'
"Wait, where is your duel-disk?" the woman in black asked Jason after banging her staff again on the floor.
"Huh? What, me?"
"Yes, you; where is it?"
"Um, well, I don't have it."
"You mean you intended to try out without bringing a duel-disk?"
"No... I don't even own a duel-disk." Jason answered, causing her to scowl.
"Of course..." she muttered.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Crowler replied scornfully, "Unfortunately you can't participate in the field test without a duel-disk, so if you don't mind..."
"I've ordered someone to bring a spare disk to this area. It will take a couple of minutes." she interrupted.
"Um, excuse me?" Crowler asked distrustful, "Are you sure that would ba a good idea to-"
"If an examinee does not own a duel-disk for the exam, a test proctor will appoint one to them for the duration of their test," she recited, "As long as it doesn't break there's no problem with letting a participant borrow a duel-disk." soon the same assistants returned to the field and gave Jason a duel-disk for him to put on. "Now that you're properly equipped, let me introduce myself: my name is Ms. Anais, and my partner is named Dr. Crowler. We will be your opponents for your duel exam," Anais placed her staff in front of her and four extensions folded out from the bottom, letting the staff stand on its end. Then the shaft lowered itself to half its height. She then removed a mechanical pad from her side that was the same gold as the staff. She placed it ontop of the staff where it held the scales. It fanned itself out to fit a set of five cards on top and slots to fit five inside, all held by a large green gem. She fiddled with her gold podium before turning back to the two young duelists, "I've set a timer on my duel-disk to go off in fifteen minutes. If you lose the duel or are unable to defeat your opponents before the timer goes off, you won't pass. Am I clear?"
"Uh, yeah." Jason answered.
"Loud and clear!" Jaden added.
"Good. Then let us duel! Activate virtual simulator!" the gem on her podium lit up.
Jaden: 4000
Crowler: 4000
Jason: 4000
Anais: 4000
"Allow me to give you a few rules before we begin. We each take turns drawing but we'll each be playing one-on-one. That means Mr. Yuki will duel Dr. Crowler and Mr. Hutchins will be facing me. That means when one duelist is facing their opponent they cannot use their cards to influence any other opposing player. Now on with the duel; and Mr. Yuki will take the first turn."
"Here goes!" Jaden drew his first card, "Sweet! I'm gonna summon, (1) Elemental Hero Avian(3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) in DEF mode!" the monster in suggestions was a white-winged masked man dressed in all but his buff chest in green feathers. He roosted onto his card with his arms crossed (DEF: 1000), "I'll also throw down a face-down," a face-down reverse-card appeared behind Avian, "All right, get your game on!"
"Yes, very good.", remarked Crowler. He then thought bitterly, 'Don't tell me what to do!' he drew his sixth card, and grinned wickedly at his options, 'After all, since I'm using my own personal deck, rather than one of those test ones, I'll be calling all the shots! I'll fail those two insolent brat and send them home in no time!' "All right, for this first move, I think I'll start nice and easy! I choose to play the spell card Confiscation!"
"Okay…" Jaden replied nervously, "So what's it do?"
"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life-points for the chance to see your hand and toss one of your cards to the graveyard!", Jaden's cards glowed, and holographic images of them appeared in front of Crowler, "Hmm… Oh, yes, I remember some these when I was just a naïve rookie. Now which of these shall I banish…?", Crowler thought it over before pointing to a card, "Monster Reborn, to the graveyard!", the card he pointed at flipped over to Jaden and 'shattered'. Jaden was forced to put the Monster Reborn on his hand into his duel-disk's Graveyard slot.
Jaden: 4000
Crowler: 3000
"Next, I lay two cards face-down on the playing field." Crowler sets two cards, "And, last but not least, I play my Heavy Storm spell card! This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field!" there was plenty of wind and not only did it destroy Jaden's face-down Draining Shield, it also destroyed Crowler's two reverse-cards.
"Whoopsie!", Jaden smirked, "Did you forget that you had two Trap Cards out on the field yourself?"
"Now, now, you mustn't speak out of turn, young scholar!", Grey, stormy clouds appeared around Crowler, as through he and Jaden were dueling atop an imminent rainstorm.
"Uhh…What's happening?"
"Nothing's happening," Two golden serpents in masks and headdresses then rose from the fog underneath, "Not yet, but that's about to change!"
"Uh, could somebody tell me what's going on?" Syrus wondered aloud.
"The two trap cards that Doctor Crowler had on the field were called Statue of the Wicked," Bastion explained, "It's a special trap that creates a Vicious Token (4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000) monster when destroyed. That's why he played Heavy Storm."
"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler sneered.
"You bet!" Jaden laughed, "I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!"
"Hm. Yes, well. I'm quite an excellent teacher, thank you. and now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens, and summon (*) Ancient Gear Golem(8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000)!" the two worm-like creatures were melded down and up rose a robotic colossus made of gears and iron, towering over Crowler (ATK: 3000).
"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem?" Crowler asked sarcastically.
"Aw, no way!" Jaden beamed, "I've always wanted to take one on!"
"Golem, atta-a-a-ck!" Crowler cackled, "Mechanized Melee!" The gears in Golem's face started to whir; it cranked back one massive first, and punched straight for Avian. Jaden's monster was smashed.
"Aw, Jaden's monster didn't stand a chance!" Syrus groaned, "His DEF points were way too low! This isn't looking good."
"And it's about to look a lot worse," Bastion added, "When that Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in DEF mode, the difference between its ATK points and the defending monster's DEF points gets dealt to the opponent as damage."
"But that would mean... Jaden's life-points are going to take a hit!"
And the giant metal fist turned on Jaden, and the hologram punched right through him; his life-points dropped, leaving him momentarily winded.
Jaden: 1000
Crowler: 3000
Crowler cackled as he watched the boy's shoulders shake, "Don't feel bad, this is the top dueling school in the country! Some people simply aren't..." during his boasting, Crowler has started to notice that Jaden wasn't crying... "cut out... for..."
"Boy, I really wanna come to this school now!" Jaden laughed, "You really know your stuff, teach!"
That took the scowling Crowler by surprise, "Rggh, can't he take a hint?! He will not be allowed to pass this exam! And he certainly won't be permitted to make a mockery of my deck!"
"Just look at 'im tremble!" Jaden thought, "He must really be impressed by me!"
"Doctor Crowler, if you are to just stand around not doing anything..." Anais said with a glare, "I would assume your turn is over?"
"Yes, I end my turn!" Crowler answered, annoyed.
"Very well..." she turned her glare back to Jason, "There are ten minutes on the timer remaining. Make your move, Examinee."
"O-okay..." Jason said and drew his next card. After scanning his hand, he decided to pick one out, "I activate the magic card, A Hero Lives!" a lager version of the card appeared on the field, "When there are no monsters on my field, I can summon an Elemental Hero that's level-4 or below... So the monster I decide on will be (5) Elemental Hero Knospe(3/ATK: 600/DEF: 1000)," the card he summoned was something that looked like a walking plant. It stood on large grass blades and its body was made of big flower buds, one that made up its torso and another its head that also had a face; and two more made up its hands (ATK: 600), "And since it's a special-summon... I can summon another monster from my hand. And I summon (6) Elemental Hero Lady Heat(4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000)!" next to the plant monster came a young woman with glowing red hair; she wore a white spandex accented in red plumes of flame, and attache with shoulder-pads and a short orange cape, as well as a red headdress with a small orange gem (ATK: 1300), "Now I end my turn, which activates the effect of Lady Heat. She can inflict 200 points of damage to your life-points for every Elemental Hero on my field. And since I have 2, I can inflict 400 points of damage to your life-points!" Lady Heat lift raised her hand and a ball of fire appeared in each open palm. She then threw then at the opponent and they both made a small explosion on contact. "I'll end my turn now."
Jason: 2000
Anais: 3600
"You spent three more minutes on the clock. It's now my turn," she drew a card from her gauntlet and added it to her hand before placing a card on her pedestal, "First I set a card face-down. Next I activate the spell card Instant Fusion. By paying 1000 of my life-points, I can summon a fusion monster from my fusion-deck that is level-5 or below." a green dinosaur with a metal laser cannon for an arm appeared.
Jason: 2000
Anais: 2600
"A fusion monster without a fusion...?" Jason muttered to himself.
"Unfortunately, I cannot attack with the same monster summoned by Instant Fusion. But it can be used for another purpose. But first, I will activate another spell card: Cost Down. By discarding one card from my hand, the levels of all of the monsters in my hand are decreased by two. Now I sacrifice Cyber Saurus(5/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1400) to summon the (*) Mystical Knight of Jackal(7/ATK: 2700/DEF: 1200)!" in place of the dinosaur came a caped, cobalt-armored warrior with a jackal's face. In both hands he held a pair of katar blade (ATK: 2700), "Mystical Knight of Jackal, attack the Elemental Hero Lady Heat!" the jackal warrior rushed in and slashed at Lady Heat, destroying her.
Jason: 600
Anais: 2600
"And now the effect on my Mystical Knight's effect activates. Whenever he destroys a monster, instead of being sent to the graveyard, that very monster goes back to the top of your deck."
"That means that other kid'll have to draw that same monster on his next turn!" the boy in glasses solved, " A card like that couldn't be in one a' the test decks. Crowler and Anais must be usin' their own."
"Then this is over," the one with brown hair added, "No applicant could beat the deck of an expert."
"Yeah, it's impossible. Don'tcha think, Chazz?"
"Yeah, whadda you think, Chazz?"
"I think I'm gonna enjoy watching Crowler and Anais mop the floor in Round 2," Chazz sneered, "I only wish they'd treated all of the other second-rate duelists who applied at this Academy the same way!"
"Three more minutes ran out of the clock," Anais reported, "Jaden Yuki, your turn begins now!"
"Okay! Here Goes!" As Jaden reached for his deck to draw his next card he suddenly stopped, as if something distracted him.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Yuki!" Anais asked impatiently.
"Uh, no! All good!" Jaden drew his next card to be caught in another episode of awe. Soon after, he looked into his hand and smiled, "Okay, I summon (4) Winged Kuriboh(1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200), in DEF mode!" a small ball of brown ith eyes, suspended by a small pair of white wings (DEF: 200), "And I'll place one card face-down! Not bad, huh, teach?"
Crowler cackled, "No, not bad, but you must understand I'm a master technician. A Kuriboh, to me, is rather pedestrian. Even one with wings, you see, its DEF points are still no match for my Ancient Gear Golem. It's a textbook mistake, don't feel bad. Now let's proceed. With the legendary Ancient Gear Golem! Attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!" After the golem attacked and destroyed Kuriboh, Jaden shielded his eyes from the blast as the remains turned into little sparks in the air.
"Sorry, Winged Kuriboh..." Jaden mourned.
Jaden: 2000
Crowler: 3000
"Check your gear, your life-points haven't changed." Crowler scoffed.
"My gear's fine. On the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take 0 damage." Crowler was thunderstruck that he didn't know that.
"How 'bout that," Alexis, "a technique the good Doctor didn't know."
"No one can be expected to know every technique, Alexis!" Zane replied, "Especially one as obscure as that."
"Yeah? Well, that kid sure knew it."
"Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you there." Crowler said.
Jaden picked up Winged Kuriboh from his duel-disk and put it into the graveyard slot. "Hey, slow down there, teach! You may've beat 'im, but that doesn't give you the right to call 'im lame!"
"Oh yes, I forgot how attached you new duelists get to your monsters," Crowler spat, "I'm sorry."
"Yeah? Well you should be, because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh, you set off a trap card! One a' my favorites, too: Hero Signal!" Jaden's trap flipped open, and shot a beam of light into the ceiling above the field, emblazoning a glowing letter H in the sky above the field, "And that brings out my second (2) Elemental Hero: Burstinatrix(3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)!" Jaden pulled this card straight out of the middle of his deck. Crowler winced as an unnatural red fire flashed into existence in one of Jaden's monster card spaces. Amid the flames, a second fire-themed superhero appeared, a lady in a shiny red catsuit, boots, and gloves. The edges of her black hair were white, like burned charcoal, her costume completed with a gold helmet with a small emerald gem (ATK: 1200), "That's it for my turn!"
"Three minutes out," Anais said, "It's your turn now, Jason Hutchins."
"Okay..." Jason drew out his monster card, "And I summon... (7) Elemental Hero, Ice Edge(3/ATK: 800/DEF: 900)!" a small, child-like figure wearing blue spandex under angular white armor appeared. The warior shot a glare from under his horned white helmet (ATK: 800). "Next, I switch elemental Hero Knospe to ATK position!" the small plant-man rose up (ATK: 600).
"There had better be a reason behind putting those two monsters into ATK position," Anais said, unimpressed, "My monster is leagues more powerful than yours."
"Elemental Heroes, attack!" the two heroes bounded from the floor. Ice Edge fired small shards of ice from his hands while Knopse fired small seeds from its open buds. Anais shielded herself from the combined attack.
Jason: 600
Anais: 1200
Anais looked back up as the two heroes landed, slightly amazed, "Both monsters attacked directly? But how?!"
"By sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, Ice Edge can attack your life-points even when there's a monster on your field," Jason answered, "And then there's another Elemental Hero on my side of the field with Knospe he can do the same thing! And when inflicts damage, his ATK points increases by 100, while his DEF points decreased by the same amount!"
Elemental Hero Knospe: (ATK: 700/DEF: 900)
'I guess there's more to that other kid than meets the eye as well,' Zane thought as he continued to watch the exam, 'But that would be the case if he could protect his life-points from Anais' next attack..."
"I activate the magic card Fusion Sage!" Jason played another spell card, "This allows me to add another magic card called 'Polymerization' from my deck to my hand!" he removed his deck and looked into it until he found the card he was looking for. He added the card into his hand and then sat down onto the floor.
"What are you doing...?" Anais wondered. She watched as Jason divided his deck into two, and held them close to the floor. He then shifted his fingers, letting the cards fall and made sure that not too many cards from one half fell before the cards from the other. After that he pushed the interleaved cards together into a single stack. He did it a couple more times before standing back up and placing the deck back into the duel-disk. Anais frowned slightly grew, "So are you done shuffling your deck?"
"Yes, ma'am. And I activate the spell card Polymerization!" Jason placed yet another spell into his duel-disk, "By sending two or more monsters from my hand or my field to the graveyard, I can summon a fusion-monster from my fusion-deck!"
"I know what fusion does, applicant!" Anais scowled, "Don't bother telling me what anyone who played this game already knows!"
"I send Elemental Hero Ice Edge and Elemental Hero Knospe on my field to the graveyard to summon from my fusion-deck!" an bluish-greed vortex appeared in which the two heroes were absorbed inside. In their place came out a larger warrior with white armor and a cape. He looked like a much larger version of Ice Edge."(8) Elemental Hero Absolute Zero(8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000) in DEF position! I place 1 card face-down! I end my turn now!"
"All of that flourish and it's only a monster 200 ATK points short," Anais criticized as she drew her next card, "You wasted four minutes but you managed to inflict damage and replace attacking monsters with a defending one. Now on with my turn. I activate the face-down trap card, Non-Agression Area! By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, you will be unable to summon any monsters not already on the field on your next , I activate the equip-spell card Black Pendant! This card increases the ATK points of the monster attached to it by 500!" a necklace with a small black gem hanging from it appeared around Mystical Knight's neck (ATK: 3200), "Mystical Knight of Jackal, attack the Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!" like before, the jackal warrior rushed into enemy likes for an attack. But when he thrust his katars towards his target, his attack was blocked by Absolute Zero with his gauntlets.
"I activate my magic card, Spell Shattering Arrow!" Jason revealed his face-down, "This card destroys all face-up magic cards on your field and you take 500 points of damage for each one destroyed!" the hero pushed them back and quickly summoned a small spear made of ice and threw at at the Mystical Knight. The speak didn't pierce the armor but shattered the amulet (ATK: 2700). "And since it's a quick-play magic card, I can use it like a trap card... Right?"
Jason: 600
Anais: 700
"That's correct, but Black Pendant has another ability. When it's sent to the graveyard, you take 500 points of damage." Anais said as the remains of the pendant released some dark energy and shocked Jason.
Jason: 100
Anais: 700
"And as my monster is stronger, yours is still destroyed," Mystical Knight of Jackal slashed away at Absolute Zero. The hero staggared back as his armor recieved a pair of long gashes, glowing with energy from the inside. Absolute Zero then charged in and grabbed the jackal warrior, "What effect is this...?"
"When Elemental Hero Absolute Zero is destroyed, all other monsters on your side of the field are destroyed along with him!" Jason said as Absolute Zero self-destructed, and managed to freeze Mystical Knight of Jackal solid right before the knight shattered.
"Did you see that?!" the boy with brown hair gasped, "That hero-guy took Anais' rarest monster out along with 'im!"
"I never seen a monster even to something like that before!" the one in glasses added.
Chazz scoffed and looked away with a scowl, "All he did was put up his monster to pasture. It's no different from using a spell card to destroy it."
"My turn!" Jaden drew his next card, "All right, Winged Kuriboh, this next one's gonna be for you... Here goes nothin'. First off, I'm gonna bring back Avian to my hand with the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive! And now, I'm gonna summon him to the field!" the winged hero returned and joined Burstinatrix beside her (ATK: 1000)
Crowler smirk condescendingly, "Oh, okay, another amateurish mistake. But this is good, this is good. Now, would anyone like to tell me what our little friend did wrong here-"
"Actually, I wasn't done yet. Haven't you learned anything from my Jason's last move? See, I know my two heroes aren't very powerful by themselves. But, if I can form them together it's another story! And I have just the card to unite them!" Jaden showed a card from his hand and Crowler growled silently, "Look familiar? It's Polymerization! Join Avian and Burstinatrix! Fusion Summon!" the same blue vortex appeared and absorbed the two heroes; and and like before, a larger one took their place. This one, a melding of fire and wind, looked more alien. He had one huge feathery wing, and the other shoulder was all red scales and muscle, culminating in a dragon's head for a right arm. He had a long, red reptilian tail and talons for feet, "There he is: the (3) Elemental Hero Flame Wingman(6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200)! So. Teach. Whaddaya think?"
"I think you're dueling 'very well', for an amateur," Crowler mocked, "But next time try playing a monster that has more ATK points than what's already out?"
"What's he mean?" Syrus wondered.
"He means that Wingman's ATK points are no match for his Golem's 3000," Bastion explained, "Shame, too, because when the Wingman destroys a monster, that monster's ATK points are dealt as damage to its owner."
"Wait, you mean they're deducted right out of his life-points?" Syrus asked, "Oh, that would've been a great way for Jaden to turn things around."
"Well, if your friend's as good as he says he is, he might still find a way."
"Wow, did we really seem like friends?"
"All right, young scholar. I don't mean to rush you, but I am a busy man. Are you done yet?"
"Of course I'm not done yet! And of course, I knew my Wingman had less attack points than your Golem. That's why I have this: Skyscraper!" he threw another spell card into the field-spell slot on the end of his duel disk, "Go!" the ground around Jaden started to shimmer with iridescent light, and tall buildings began to shoot up from the floor of the entire arena like fast-growing trees. Before anyone knew it, Jaden and Crowler were dueling on a cityscape of humongous buildings, lit by the illuminated windows and the full moon above the tallest building. Some of the buildings were taller than Ancient Gear Golem was, standing on the ground, and some aren't. Flame Wingman, in his element, can be seen standing on the tip of the metal spire atop the tallest building, silhouetted by the moon, "All right, Flame Wingman! Go show those heroics- and attack that Ancient Gear Golem!" Flame Wingman faced his foe, below him in the streets of the city, and leap into a glide.
"Fine with me! Bring him on!" Crowler sneered, "This silly little Skyscraper field card hasn't lowered my Golem's ATK level by one point!"
Flame Wingman continued his dive, darting between buildings too quick to be seen. He landed on the ground in front, then kicked off, soaring high into the air above Gear Golem's head, "Y'know what, teach? You're right! This Skyscraper field hasn't lowered your Golem's ATK points; what it's done is raise my Elemental Hero Wingman's, by a grand total of 1000!"
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman: (ATK: 3100)
Crowler became flabbergasted when Flame Wingman became stronger. "Wait! Time out!"
"Go! Skydive Scorcher!" Flame Wingman had hit the top of his upward arc, and his power soared as he flipped and dived straight downward, beginning to flame around the edges like a meteor, heading right for Gear Golem. Crowler freaked, wringing his hair in agony as Flame Wingman collided with Gear Golem. The crowd collectively gasps as there was a huge explosion of golden light, with lots of smoke.
Debris rained down on Crowler. "This can't be! He was my very best card!" a small block of falling concrete beaned him on the head.
Wingman landed nimbly next to Jaden. "And 'cause of my Wingman's super-power, the ATK points of that Golem are dealt straight to your life-points. Sweet, huh?"
Crowler, already carrying a piece of concrete on his head and looking like a idiot, was just stunned, "No way...!" he yelped and frantically looks around, looking for some way to take cover from the tilting golem, but it collapses right on top of him. Crowler can be seen under the pile of scrap metal, mussed and defeated. as life-points completely depleted, Jaden gave him a jaunty two-fingered salute. "That's game!" he winked, "So I guess I passed the test; huh, teach?"
His duel done, Flame Wingman faded and the skyscrapers disappear, and so did the pile of metal, returning to the testing arena with Crowler is lying on the field, completely shell-shocked.
"Impossible..." he groaned, "there's no way this delinquent could defeat me...!"
Chazz's partners were agape. Chazz himself was even more thunderstruck; his eyes were wide, intense, almost frightened. "It must be dumb luck...!" he muttered, "No way Crowler could lose to some flunky!"
"That kid's got a future here. Wow!" Alexis praised. She glanced over to see if Zane agreed, just to see him turn and walk away with a grunt.
"All right! Yeah, Jaden!" Syrus cheered.
Even Bastion was smiling, 'Nice. I could use a little competition.'
Jaden was jumping up and down on the field and continued to cheer back at the crowd. But they were all interupted as they were forced to cover their ears from a shrilling, screeching noise.
"If you're all quite done?!" Anais snapped after whistling, "Only one applicant passed their exam. There's still one more!" she turned back to Jason, "So if you're ready, applicant, your turn begins now!"
"Okay..." Jason drew his next card, "I activate the Ookazi magic card! With this I can inflict 800 points of damage to my opponent's life-points!" a huge ball of fire shot out of the card and hit Anais.
Jason: 100
Anais: 0
Anais lowered her arms and looked back up at her opponent with her unchanged expression, "You won the duel, it seems," she said walking towards him, "Nevertheless you dueling is nothing to be impressed about," she stopped right behind the applicant, "Let me ask you something; Fusion Sage, you had that card in your deck from the beginning, didn't you?"
Jason looked back towards her, "Yeah, but how did you..."
"You were unable to draw any new cards the turn after my Mystical Knight of Jackal destroyed your monster. It's only logical. If you had used it in the beginning you may have been able to summon a stronger monster so you wouldn't have to lose so many life-points on the first attack. And just halving you life-points right off the bat, that was just plain ridiculous. All you did was put your life-points at risk," Anais continued to walk away, "What you did was nothing special. But you have the school year to shape up. Welcome to the academy in the meantime..."
As he watched Anais leave the arena he thought about what she just said. He didn't know he would be criticized like that. This game must be some kind of a big deal for her to act like that. He didn't even get to use the card that guy gave him. He thought he did his best but it looked like he had a long way to go if he wanted to go to the academy. Before he knew it Jaden wrapped an arm around him, "That's just great! Now we're all going to the academy!" he let go and pat him on the back, "Hey, those heroes are really something! When we meet back at the academy, let's have a duel first thing! Later..." Jason stood there being the only person in the arena as everyone else left. He guessed that Duel Academy must be as special as they say. He also guessed that he better leave because he gets locked inside.
DUEL-MON DATABASE
(1) Elemental Hero Avian
Stats: [Warrior] LV: 3 (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)
Attribute: WIND
(2) Elemental Hero Burstinatrix
Stats: [Warrior] LV: 3 (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)
Attribute: FIRE
(3) Elemental Hero Flame Wingman
Stats: [Warrior/Fusion/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200)
Attribute: WIND
Effect: "Elemental HERO Avian" + "Elemental HERO Burstinatrix"
This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.
(4) Winged Kuriboh
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 300/DEF: 200)
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: You take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. After this card on the field is destroyed, any Battle Damage the controller of this card takes this turn becomes 0.
(5) Elemental Hero Knospe
Stats: [Plant/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 600/DEF: 1000)
Attribute: EARTH
Effect: Each time this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: It gains 100 ATK and loses 100 DEF. While you control another face-up "Elemental HERO" monster, your opponent cannot target this card for an attack, and this card can attack your opponent directly.
(6) Elemental Hero Lady Heat
Stats: [Pyro/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000)
Attribute: FIRE
Effect: During each of your End Phases: Inflict 200 damage to your opponent for each face-up "Elemental HERO" monster you control.
(7) Elemental Hero Ice Edge
Stats: [Warrior/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 600/DEF: 800)
Attribute: WATER
Effect: When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent by a direct attack: You can target 1 Set card in your opponent's Spell & Trap Card Zone; destroy that target. Once per turn, during your Main Phase 1: You can discard 1 card; this card can attack your opponent directly this turn.
(8) Elemental Hero Absolute Zero
Stats: [Warrior/Fusion/Effect] LV: 3 (ATK: 600/DEF: 1000)
Attribute: WATER
Effect: 1 "HERO" monster + 1 WATER monster
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card gains 500 ATK for each face-up WATER monster on the field, except "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero". When this card leaves the field: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.
(9) Ancient Gear Golem
Stats: [Machine/Effect] LV: 8 (ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000)
Attribute: EARTH
Effect: This card cannot be Special Summoned. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any set Spell or Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step.
(10) Mystical Knight of Jackal
Stats: [Machine/Effect] LV: 7 (ATK: 2700/DEF: 1200)
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: When this card destroys 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field and sends it to your opponent's Graveyard as a result of battle, you can then return the card to the top of your opponent's Deck.
DUEL-MON TRIVIA
"Hey, Duelists! Did you know..."
"Absolute Zero" represents 0 Kelvin. At absolute zero, life cannot exist."
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