"Duel!" - Regular Speech
'Tricky…' - Thoughts
Chapter 1: Duel Academy Entrance Exam
Exam Hall, Domino City
Doctor Vellian Crowler gazed around the exam hall as the last few duels were wrapped up. Oh, he didn't actually care about them whatsoever, but he had to put on the façade for the watching parents and the like. Of all of the duellists who passed the exam today, the vast majority would be going into the Slifer Red or Ra Yellow dorms. The true elite, those who scored in the top percentile AND had appropriately wealthy parents, would enter Obelisk Blue, HIS dorm.
He watched as Bastion Misawa defeated one of the Examiners using the Trap Card [Ring of Destruction], which he used to destroy his own monster, [Vorse Raider]. It cut his life points down to 1300 from 3200, but wiped out all of his opponent's life points.
It wasn't actually all that hard to defeat someone using the Test Decks which all Examiners were required to use, Crowler thought distastefully. All it required was a calm head, a lick of talent and some half-decent Duel Monsters Cards.
"Right, that's the last of them." Crowler said with barely-concealed relief, "Let's get packed up and back to Academy Island n-"
"Ahem." an attendant interrupted him, "'Doctor' Crowler, two applicants have just shown up to take their exams."
He hated it when people were so doubtful about him. He had a PhD in Duelling for crying out loud!
"Tell them to come back next year!" he snapped at the man, "If they can't be bothered to show up on time, they are obviously slackers!"
"But Doctor, I'm sure we can squeeze in two more applicants." one Examiner protested mildly, "We're half-an-hour ahead of schedule, so they aren't technically late even!"
"I said no! The last duel just ended!" Crowler growled petulantly, "To be late is the height of rudeness and I have no time for slackers, as you all should well know!"
Just then, Crowler's mobile phone started to ring. Muttering darkly to himself, the pale-faced man answered it without looking at the Caller ID.
"Yes, yes, who is it?!" he snapped grumpily before he froze upon hearing the voice on the other end, "Ch-Ch-chancellor Sheppard, sir!"
"Crowler! I just rang to make sure everything's running smoothly over there!" the voice of the chancellor boomed over the phone.
"Gah!" Crowler managed to say.
"We do not want a repeat of last year when you cut a third of the applicants for accidentally referring to you as 'Miss' or 'Mrs.'" Sheppard said firmly as he laid down the law, "Anyway, just make sure every single applicant gets a fair shot!"
After his boss hung up, Crowler glowered menacingly at the phone.
'Fine. The slacker newcomers will be given a 'fair' shot…for a given value of fair, anyway…hehehehe.' Crowler thought as he stood up. Time to show them not to underestimate Duel Academy.
The Stands
-{Jaden Yuuki, please report to Duelling Field #4}-
"Looks like I'm up!" Jaden commented to Bastion Misawa and Syrus Truesdale. A girl seated next to Bastion, in a white hoodie with the hood up and covering her head, looked at him for a moment before returning her gaze to the Duelling Arena. She was the other latecomer.
"Hold on!" Bastion protested, "You say that I'm the SECOND-best Duellist here. Who's number one?"
"That'd be me, dude." Jaden replied with a grin as he walked off.
"Isn't he the interesting one…" Bastion mused aloud. He had neatly cut brown hair and a very calm attitude.
"I'll say." Syrus agreed. He was short, with messy blue hair.
A minute or two later, they spotted Jaden standing opposite a man in a long blue coat with a large Duel Disk attached to it.
"Who's that?" Syrus asked.
"Vellian Crowler, the Department Chair of Techniques at Duel Academy." the girl, silent until now spoke up, "He is also the man in charge of the Obelisk Blue Dorms. He supposedly had a PhD in Duelling."
As the duel got underway, it was revealed that Jaden used a deck full of warrior-type monsters, the series known as the Elemental Heroes, while Crowler used Machine-type monsters, the Ancient Gear series. Crowler then destroyed two cards he had just Set in the Magic/Trap Zone with the [Heavy Storm] Magic Card.
"Why'd he just destroy his own trap cards?" Syrus asked before two monsters appeared, "And where'd they come from."
"The cards Crowler destroyed were Trap Cards known as [Statue of the Wicked]." Bastion explained, "When it is destroyed while face-down on the field, it summons a 'Wicked Token' to the field. He destroyed two of them, so he gets two Token Monsters."
The girl spoke up again. "Testing Decks are not supposed to have a card as powerful as [Heavy Storm] in them. Crowler's cheating and using his own Deck."
"That would fit." Bastion conceded.
"And this proves it." the girl pointed at Crowler as he summoned an enormous monster by sacrificing the two tokens, "That is the [Ancient Gear Golem], a super rare and powerful card that Crowler is rumoured to possess in his Deck."
"Not good." Bastion commented.
[Ancient Gear Golem] reared back and attacked [Elemental Hero Wingman] with its attack, [Mechanical Melee], utterly destroying the weaker monster.
"Hey! Avian was in defensive mode, so why is Jaden losing so many life points?" Syrus asked in alarm as Jaden's life points were halved.
"It's [Ancient Gear Golem's] special effect." Bastion explained, "When it attacks a monster in Defence Mode and destroys it, the difference between [Ancient Gear Golem's] Attack Points and the target monster's defence points are deducted from the defence monster's owner's life points, which is two-thousand in this case as [Ancient Gear Golem] has 3000 Attack Points and Avian had only a thousand Defence Points."
"That attack power and special effect is the reason it is so sought after." the girl in the hoodie explained, "And the reason most people try to stop it from being summoned in the first place."
Down on the field, Jaden summoned what looked like a ball of fluff with chibi-wings on its back.
"Well, well…Jaden knows what he's doing here…" the girl said in amusement.
"Are you kidding? That thing will be squashed like a bug by [Ancient Gear Golem] in no time flat!" Syrus exclaimed, "Then Jaden can say bye-bye to the rest of his life points and Duel Academy!"
"Trust me on this." the girl said with a chuckle, "This Duel isn't over yet."
Sure enough, when [Ancient Gear Golem] smashed the fluff ball, nothing happened to Jaden's life points.
"That is the effect of the [Winged Kuriboh]. Once destroyed, the owning Duellist receives no damage for the rest of the turn." the girl said smugly, "Crowler really should keep up with the latest releases by Industrial Illusions."
Using the [Hero Signal] Trap Card, Jaden summoned a female monster this time, [Elemental Hero Burstinatrix]. Once Crowler ended his turn, Jaden drew and returned Avian to his hand before summoning him to the field.
"Ah…the main strategy of an Elemental Hero Deck." the girl nodded knowingly.
"What do you mean?" Syrus asked in confusion.
"Individually, each Elemental Hero is about average or below average in both attack or defence." the girl explained, "What makes them powerful are the numerous Fusion monsters that can be formed from them. Like that one."
Down on the field, Jaden had played the Magic Card [Polymerisation] and fused his two Heroes together to become a single, more powerful one, [Elemental Hero Flame Wingman].
"If he actually pulls off a successful attack with that monster, Crowler is finished." Bastion stated, "[Flame Wingman] deals the Attack Points of any monster it destroys as damage to the monster's owner. Since he used [Confiscation] near the start, it would wipe him out."
"Yeah, but Jaden's monster falls short by 900 points for a draw." Syrus pointed out.
"Not for long. He just played a Field magic Card, [Skyscraper]." the girl pointed it out. The entire field, except where [Ancient Gear Golem] stood, was covered in tall buildings.
"Odd. Neither monster seems to have been effected by it." Bastion commented.
"That's because [Skyscraper] only effects Elemental Heroes and only when they attack a monster stronger than they are." the girl replied, "It raises their attack points by a thousand. Meaning…"
"Crowler's lost the duel!" Bastion realised with eyes wide.
Sure enough, Crowler's prized [Ancient Gear Golem] was turned into scrap metal by [Elemental Hero Flame Wingman's] [Skydive Scorcher], then Crowler himself got squashed by the remains of the machine-type monster, reducing the Doctor's life points to zero.
"Unbelievable…" Syrus gasped, "He beat a teacher! He beat a teacher who was using his own deck!"
"Crowler underestimated him severely." the girl said laconically, "That wouldn't happen if they were going for best two out of three. Looks like I'm going to be up next."
"Oh! What's your name anyway?" the blue-haired boy asked curiously.
-{Could Yuri Yamayuri please report to Duelling Field #3}-
"That would be me." Yuri said as she took off her hoodie, revealing her platinum-blond hair and a white t-shirt. She grabbed her bag, pulled an old Kaiba Corps Battle City Duel Disk from it and slipped it onto her left arm, "Wish me luck."
She passed Jaden on the way down and exchanged a nod with him before heading to the Duelling Field.
With Crowler, Duelling Field #3
Vellian Crowler was furious. He had just been humiliated by a slacker, a deadbeat, a lowly dropout! Well now the gloves were coming off! No more Mr Nice-Guy! This next slacker would be crushed with extreme prejudice!
He stomped over to the Examiner's side of the field and stood waiting for his victim to arrive. When she emerged via the elevator, he snorted in disgust. She was dressed casually, in grey trousers, a white shirt and a white hoodie tied around her waist. She had long platinum blond hair tied into a ponytail that reached down to the small of her back and piercing ice-blue eyes.
"So, you are Yuri Yamayuri?" he asked imperiously.
She nodded and deployed her Duel Disk.
"Humph. At least you aren't as mouthy as the last one." Crowler sniffed as he readied his Duel Jacket.
"You will still lose, 'Doctor' Crowler." Yuri said bluntly.
"Is that a fact?" the man snorted, "Miracles do not happen so often, girl. Lightning doesn't strike twice."
"We'll see." the girl smirked, "Time for the teacher to get schooled."
"You can certainly talk big…let's see how you back it up!" Crowler growled. He could not believe the audacity of this girl!
""Duel!""
Yuri - 4000
Crowler - 4000
"I draw." Yuri declared. She looked at her hand before picking one out, "I activate the Magic Card [Solar Recharge]. By discarding a monster with [Lightsworn] in its name from my hand to the Graveyard, I can draw two cards. I then have to send two cards from my deck to the graveyard."
She discarded a card, drew two and then sent two cards from her deck to the graveyard.
"I then summon [Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress] in Attack mode!"
A dark-haired woman clad in diaphanous white robes with gold trimming and wielding a golden sceptre appeared on Yuri's side of the arena.
[Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress] - Attack 1700
"Then, I'll equip her with [Lightsworn Sabre], raising her attack by 700." Yuri declared. As she inserted the Equip Magic Card, Lyla's sceptre transformed into a sword with a golden hilt and a blade of pure white light.
Attack: 1700 + 700 = 2400
"I'll play the Continuous Magic Card [Card Trader] and Set one card facedown before ending my turn." the blond said, placing a card on the field, "During my end phase, [Lyla's] effect forces me to send three cards from my deck to the graveyard."
As she did so, Bastion up in the stands raised an eyebrow. "A Lightsworn Deck, eh?"
"Never heard of them." Jaden and Syrus chimed in simultaneously.
"They're a series of monsters that focus on sending cards from the deck to the graveyard in order to activate various effects." Bastion explained, "Almost all of them are effect monsters, and more than a few only activate when sent to the graveyard from the deck."
"Sounds sweet!" Jaden said with a grin.
"However, Lightsworn decks have several weaknesses." Bastion continued, "The most common one is running the risk of 'Decking Out', or running out of cards to draw from the deck, thus automatically losing."
"That's…a real risky deck." Syrus said nervously.
"Oh, it is." Bastion nodded, "But played right, it can be devastating. Let's see if Crowler can handle it."
"It's my turn!" the pale man declared. He drew before mentally cursing. He didn't have a single trap card, only one magic card, one monster that required a sacrifice to be summoned and four weak monsters.
'I'll have to check my Duel Jacket's Auto-Shuffler after this and tone it down somewhat.' he thought as he decided to make the best of what he had.
"I summon [Ancient Gear Soldier] in Defence Mode!" he declared. A human-sized version of [Ancient Gear Golem] with a clockwork gun arm appeared kneeling on its card.
[Ancient Gear Soldier] - Defence: 1300
"I then discard a card in order to activate the Magic Card [Ancient Gear Drill]!" Crowler continued, the card appearing next to him as he inserted it, "It allows me to Set any Magic Card from my Deck onto the field, with the provision that it cannot be activated on this turn."
A single card stuck out of his deck which he placed on the field. His deck was then shuffled by the Auto-Shuffler.
"I end my turn." the Doctor said with a moue of irritation.
"I'm up then. Draw." Yuri said. She drew then gestured at her [Card trader], "I activate the effect of [Card Trader], which allows me to shuffle any card from my hand into my deck and draw a new card, once per turn and only during the standby phase."
After doing so, she selected one card from her hand and said, "I summon [Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior] in Attack Mode!"
This time a heavily muscled and armoured warrior with blue hair and wielding a halberd appeared next to [Lyla].
[Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior] - Attack: 1850
"Now…[Garoth], attack [Ancient Gear Soldier] with [Bardiche Barrage]!" Yuri ordered.
The warrior charged at the mechanical soldier and destroyed it with a well placed smash of his weapon.
"[Lyla], attack his life points directly!"
The sorceress pointed the rapier in her hand at Crowler and blasted him with a large bolt of light.
Crowler - 4000 - 2400 = 1600
"I'll throw down another facedown card and end my turn there." Yuri said with a smirk, "[Lyla's] Effect activates during the end phase, forcing me to send three cards to the graveyard from my deck."
After doing so, the blond continued, "That, in turn, allows me to activate [Garoth's] effect. I send two more cards to the graveyard from my deck, and, for every [Lightsworn] monster sent by this effect, I can draw an additional card."
She sent two cards to the graveyard and was allowed to draw a single new card.
"Over to you, 'Doctor' Crowler." she said with another smirk.
'Impudent…!' Crowler growled to himself. He drew a card, then smirked.
"I play the Magic Card [Pot of Greed], which lets me draw two additional cards." he stated, drawing twice more. He then pressed a button on his Duel Jacket.
"I then activate my facedown Card…[Ancient Gear Castle]!" he declared.
Behind him, a large stone castle bristling with weaponry and gears appeared. Crowler inserted another Magic Card into the Duel Jacket.
"I'll follow up on that by playing another Magic Card…[Magnet Circle LV2], which allows me to call forth any level two machine monster from my hand! Come forth, [Ancient Gear]!"
A waist high machine made entirely of gears appeared in front of Crowler and it was weak.
[Ancient Gear] - Attack: 100
"He isn't going to be sticking around for long, because I'm going to sacrifice him to summon [Ancient Gear Beast]!"
The small machine exploded. Once the dust from the explosion cleared, a horse-sized machine vaguely resembling a tiger stood in its place.
[Ancient Gear Beast] - Attack: 2000
Yuri eyed it, knowing it was stronger than her [Garoth].
"Thanks to my [Ancient Gear Castle], all monsters with [Ancient Gear] in their name get a 300 point boost to their attack!" Crowler continued smugly.
"You neglected to mention how normal summoning monsters with [Ancient Gear] in their name adds tokens to your castle, allowing you to use it instead of monsters to tribute-summon level six or higher [Ancient Gear] monsters." Yuri stated with a yawn.
Crowler glared at her. How could she know that?
"A-Anyway, I'm not done just yet!" he spluttered, "Just for that cheek of yours, I'll also equip [Ancient Gear Beast] with [Ancient Gear Tank]!"
A two-wheeled gear-themed device appeared underneath [Ancient Gear Beast].
Yuri raised an eyebrow at this. "It looks more like [Ancient Gear Motorbike], but whatever."
Crowler spluttered again.
Up at the top of the stands, a girl wearing the uniform of a female student in Obelisk Blue giggled. She had short blond hair and light blue eyes.
"That girl does have a point, doesn't she Zane?"
The boy next to her said nothing, just focussing on the match before him.
"[Ancient Gear TANK] raises the Attack of my monster by 600!" Crowler said, emphasising the word tank to make sure there wasn't any mistaking what he was talking about.
[Ancient Gear Beast] - 2000 + 300 + 600 = 2900
"Not good! Now Crowler's monster is stronger!" Bastion said worriedly.
"[Ancient Gear Beast], attack [Garoth] with [Armoured Gear Grind Assault]!" Crowler ordered.
[Ancient Gear Beast] (Attack: 2900) Vs. [Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior] (Attack: 1850)
The tank riding mechanical beast slammed into [Garoth] and fired the nose-mounted cannon, destroying him. Yuri flinched as her monster was destroyed and her life points went down.
Yuri - 4000 - 1050 = 2950
"I think that shall do for now." Crowler stated smugly.
"That," Yuri said calmly, "was a tactical error on your part. You should have destroyed [Lyla] rather than [Garoth]. Draw."
After drawing and using the effect of [Card Trader], Yuri grinned.
"First off, I'll equip [Lyla with a second [Lightsworn Sabre]!"
A second rapier appeared in front of [Lyla] and was grabbed by her free hand.
[Lyla] - Attack: 2400 + 700 = 3100
"3100 Attack points?!" Crowler gasped.
"Did you really think the only one with multiple Equip Magic Cards was you?" Yuri asked mockingly, "Next, I'll activate a facedown card of mine: [Beckoning Light]! I discard my entire hand to the deck, then add an equal number of Light-attribute monsters to the number of cards I discarded, which is two!"
After taking the cards she wanted from the Graveyard, the blond girl smiled.
"Allow me to introduce you to my third Lightsworn…[Jain, Lightsworn Paladin]!"
This one was a handsome white-haired man in ornate white and gold armour, a white and red cape, with a white-bladed sword and white and gold shield in his hands.
[Jain, Lightsworn Paladin] - Attack: 1800
"[Lyla], take that tank apart!" Yuri ordered, "[Light Cross]!"
[Lyla] - (Attack: 3100) Vs [Ancient Gear Beast] - (Attack: 2900)
The sorceress formed a cross with the blades of her swords and blasted [Ancient Gear Beast] and its tank into smithereens.
Crowler - 1600 - 200 = 1400
"Oh, and I lose 600 points because of the effect of [Ancient Gear Tank]." Yuri added nonchalantly, "Oh well. You have to spend life points to take life points."
Yuri - 2950 - 600 = 2350
"Th-this can't be happening!" the Doctor gibbered, "Twice? I'm going to lose to two latecomers in a row?!"
"Them's the breaks. You underestimated Jaden and lost and then you made the same mistake with me." Yuri said with a casual shrug, "Now…[Jain]! Drive the message home to the good doctor! Attack with [Holy Slash]!"
[Jain] saluted with his sword and leapt at Crowler, striking him across the midriff and sending him careening back into his [Ancient Gear Castle].
Crowler - 1400 - 1800 = -400
Victor: Yuri Yamayuri
As the duel holograms disappeared, Yuri collected her cards and returned them to her belt-mounted deck box before collapsing her Duel Disk.
"My victory. See you at Duel Academy…Doctor." she said with a smirk before turning and walking off.
Up in the stands, Jaden, Syrus and Bastion each had different thoughts about her.
'She's strong! I don't wanna duel her!' was what Syrus thought.
Jaden, by contrast, couldn't wait to duel her.
'Hmmm…with both Jaden and Yuri at Duel Academy, my school life will be anything but dull. I'll be able to keep at the top of my game with them as rivals.' was Bastion's conclusion.
With Yuri
"Haaahhh…why'd he have to be such a hardass? I made a flashy entrance!" was what the blond-haired girl sighed as she walked out of the Exam Hall.
"I mean, he got his ass handed to him by someone just before me!" she continued to grumble as she took a mobile phone out of her trouser pocket and started to dial a number she knew by heart, "You'd think that, as a PhD in Duelling, he'd be more cautious! Ah well…"
She finished dialling and put the phone to her ear. It was answered a moment later.
"You passed, I take it." the person who answered asked abruptly.
"Of course. I duelled Crowler, with his real deck." Yuri replied.
"An acceptable light warm-up exercise." the man said with a snort.
"Another kid duelled him before me." Yuri told him, "Someone called Jaden Yuuki. He won too."
"Jaden Yuuki…" the man breathed, "He is known to me. Keep an eye on him."
"Yes sir." Yuri replied.
"The mission begins once you arrive at Duel Academy." the man continued, "Once there, you will officially be in the cold. Only Chancellor Sheppard will know of you and your mission, but do not count on him aiding you. Do not contact me unless something of truly…significant import arises. Understood?"
"It is." Yuri replied, "I trust you will alert me if…that is discovered?"
"I keep my deals, child." the man told her coldly, "Complete this mission and all your requests will be fulfilled."
"I will trust in that…Seto Kaiba." the girl replied before she hung up.
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Next Chapter: Welcome to Duel Academy
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