Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

A/N: Just a little info about this fic I think you should know. First, this is something of a retelling of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, although there are differences. It will mostly follow the basic GX storyline for a while, except for a couple of new characters. As for rules, I'm mostly using the TCG rules (8000 LP, normal tributes, and so on). If I change anything, I'll put it at the end of the chapter it's in. By the same token, any cards I make up will be at the end of the chapters they're in as well. I'm sure you're fed up with my rambling, so, on with the fic!

Yu-Gi-Oh GX - A New Duelist Legend

Chapter 1 - A Hero Emerges

It was the day of the entrance exam for the legendary East Duel Academy. Aspiring duelists from all over flocked to the exam, in hopes of being accepted to one of the most prestigious Dueling institutions in the world, joining the elite, the greatest ever.

"Excuse me! Watch your step! In a hurry here!"

And Jaden Yuki was late. Very late.

The brown-haired teenager was currently barreling down a park walkway at max speed, trying desperately to get to the exam hall before it closed.

"Woah, hey, watch where you're going!"

Barreling so fast, that he missed the fact that there was a person right in front of him.

WHAM!

Jaden felt rather like he had hit a brick wall. He fell on his back, dazed.

"Owww... that hurt..." Jaden moaned.

"Need any help?"

The question was accompanied by an outstretched hand from the person Jaden had run into. He was a rather lean man in his mid 20s, wearing a black tank top, and he had a strange golden pendent hanging from his neck by a thick chain.

"Thanks." Jaden accepted the man's hand and pulled himself off the ground. As he did, a bell tolled four times in the distance.

"Oh man, I'm gonna be late!" Jaden exclaimed, almost panicking, "I gotta go!"

"Wait," the man said, "you're a duelist, right?"

"Yeah..." Jaden replied, a little unsure why the man wanted to know.

The man smirked. "I feel that this belongs with you..." he said, pulling a card out of the deck case at his waist and handing it to Jaden. Before Jaden could even thank him, he walked off.

Jaden looked at the card. "Winged Kuriboh...?" he said in wonder.

He stared at the card for a second, before snapping back to reality. "I'm gonna be late!"

With that, he dashed off to the exam hall.

"Mr. Crowler? Sir?"

Doctor Vellian Crowler, the head of Obelisk Blue dorm and Department Chair of Techniques at East Duel Academy, was rather annoyed.

"Mister? Did you just call me MISTER!"

"Oh, sorry." Replied the suited official, "Ms. Crowler..."

"I have a PhD in Dueling, and I have earned the title of Doctor, thank you very much." replied the rather feminine-looking Crowler, adjusting his blue coat.

The official coughed and started again. "Dr. Crowler, we have two late arriving applicants for examination."

"Tell the truants to come back next year." Crowler replied tersely. "Duel Academy is for the elite, and someone who can't even get to a test on time is not elite."

The official coughed again. "I also have a memo from Chancellor Sheppard, which instructs you to make sure all the applicants get a fair shot. He says he'll check the records and make certain everyone who signed in dueled.."

Crowler flinched. "Very well." he sighed. "What are their names?"

The official looked at the paper he was holding. "Jaden Yuki and Tsukanna Kanshisha."

"Which one got here last?"

"That would be Jaden Yuki."

Crowler grunted. "I'll deal with him personally. Set up a proctor for the other one."

"Yes, sir."

"That's DOCTOR!"

Jaden had barely managed to get to the exam hall in time. He had gotten there only seconds before they closed the registration. He had since made his way to the dueling hall, where he jumped behind a short boy.

"Man, this is sweet!"

"Ahhh!" The short, silver-blue haired boy jumped a foot into the air and spun around. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Oh, sorry," Jaden replied absentmindedly, "All this dueling just gets me completely psyched!"

"Well glad someone's happy..." the boy sighed.

Jaden blinked. "What's wrong? Lose your duel?"

"No..." the boy replied, "I won, but just barely..."

Jaden slapped him on the back, eliciting another shout from the blue-haired boy. "Congratulations! You're in! I'll be in too, just as soon as I duel!"

"Umm... I think this supposed to be the last duel..."

"Huh?" Jaden nearly fell over.

"Look!" The boy pointed to the big board which displayed all of the applicants. As soon as he did however, The names "Jaden Yuki" and "Tsukanna Kanshisha" were added after "Bastion Misawa".

"See? Told you I'm next!" replied the now grinning Jaden, slapping the boy on the back again.

"Yeah... so, your name's Jaden, right?" The boy asked.

"Yep!" replied Jaden, "What's yours?"

"Huh? Oh, my name's Syrus. Syrus Truesdale."

"Sweet!"

At that moment, the loudspeaker crackled to life. "Jaden Yuki, please report to the field for your exam duel."

"Awesome!" Shouted Jaden, "I'm up!" He then ran off in the indicated direction, calling over his shoulder "See you later Sy!"

"Good luck..." replied Syrus.

Jaden finished fitting his D2 Duel Disc onto his arm as he walked into the dueling arena. Already in the arena was Dr. Crowler, his Duel Vest being adjusted by two female attendants. As they finished the adjustments, Crowler waved them off and introduced himself.

"Greetings, young scholar, I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, Head of Obelisk Blue Dorm and Department Chair of Techniques at Duel Academy, and I will be your proctor for this exam."

"A department chair? Sweet!" Replied Jaden, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "Man, where did you get that Awesome Duel Vest?"

"Oh this? A lot of hard work and a regional championship or two."

Jaden grinned. "Awesome! Now, let's throw down! Duel Disc, ON!"

Crowler smirked. "Duel Vest, on!"

CLP: 8000

JLP: 8000

Up in the stands, a nervous looking Syrus was joined by another teenager who had his black hair in a single spike.

"You're friend's in for quite a challenge." The spike-haired boy said in a British accent.

Syrus turned around. "Hey you're Bastion Misawa!" He said. "I watched you duel."

"Indeed I am," replied Bastion, "And you are?"

"Oh, right. My name's Syrus!" Syrus replied, "And what did you mean about Jaden being in for a challenge?"

"That's Dr. Vellian Crowler, one of the Dorm heads, and a very accomplished duelist." Bastion replied.

Syrus turned back to the arena, even more nervous then before.

"Now," said Dr. Crowler, "The test rules state that the student goes first. So, make your move, young scholar."

"Right! I draw!" Jaden replied, drawing a sixth card. He placed it in his hand, and took out another one.

"I play Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!" Jaden called as he placed the card in his disk. In front of Jaden, the green-clad birdman appeared, standing ready to attack. (1000/1000)

Jaden smirked. "I also play one card facedown! Sweet move, huh teach? I end my turn!"

Crowler caught a card as it flew off his duel vest and placed it in his hand. "Hmm... This is good, this is good but, young scholar, now I'll show you some real dueling!"

Crowler placed a card in a magic/trap slot. "I play the spell card Confiscation! For the low cost of 1000 life points I can look at your hand, chose a card in it, and send that card to the graveyard!"

CLP: 7000

JLP: 8000

The image of confiscation appeared in front of Crowler along with four cards with their backs to Jaden - his hand.

"My, my, my," exclaimed Crowler "I remember some of these cards from when I was a naive rookie! Hmmm, I pick... Monster Reborn, to the graveyard!" Crowler pointed, the image of Monster Reborn shattered, and the other images disappeared. Jaden grimaced as he discarded the powerful spell.

High up in the stands sat three Obelisk Blue students. However, only one of them has any real significance - the one in the center, with spiky black hair and his feet leaning on the seat in front of him. Chazz Princeton.

Chazz was one of Duel Academy's elite. One of the top duelists in the school. And rich to boot. He also possessed intelligence - though nowhere near the level of Bastion's IQ, he was still smart enough to know that a card as powerful as Confiscation would never be in any of the test decks. Which meant, of course, that Crowler was using his personal deck. Chazz laughed to himself.

"Come on, Crowler, show that slacker he doesn't belong in Duel Academy!"

Higher still, up in an overlooking observation room were two more Obelisk Blues, one male with a long white coat and dark blue hair, the other female with a standard girl's uniform and short blonde hair.

At the moment, the girl was more then a little irritated by Crowler.

"Using his own deck against a rookie? Someone should report him!"

"Calm down Alexis," the boy replied, "If he loses, he loses, regardless of who he's up against."

"Zane..." Alexis replied.

"Besides," finished Zane, "This will be a good opportunity to see that 'ultra rare monster' Crowler supposedly has in his deck."

Alexis just bit her lip and turned back to the escalating duel below.

"Now" said Crowler, "That's only the beginning of my turn! I play two cards facedown! And then," Crowler continued, placing the two cards in his Duel Vest and preparing to add another, "I play another spell card! Heavy Storm!"

A soon as Crowler placed the card in a slot, A massive wind whipped up, which picked up both Jaden's facedown Mirror Force and Crowler's facedowns and shattered them.

"Heavy Storm destroys every spell and trap card on the field." Said Crowler, completing the move by placing his spent spell in the graveyard.

"Hah!" Jaden called "Did you forget? You had two facedown cards!"

Crowler just smirked as two golden serpent-looking monsters appeared on the field. (1000/1000)x2

"Huh?" Syrus leaned forward in confusion and shock. "Where did those come from!"

"The two facedown cards Crowler destroyed were traps called Statue of the Wicked," Bastion replied, a picture of composure. "It creates a token monster when destroyed."

"So Crowler destroyed his facedown cards on purpose?" asked Syrus, still confused.

Bastion nodded. "And," he replied "I think I know what he intends to do with them..."

"Alright, young scholar," Crowler said, "Watch carefully, you'll only get to see this move once! I tribute my two Wicked Tokens to summon..." Crowler dramatically flourished his card before placing it in his Duel Vest's center monster slot. "The legendary... Ancient Gear Golem!"

A titanic metallic construct rose up on the field, easily towering fifty feet in the air. It was a mass of clockwork gears and brown metal, with a single glowing crimson eye on it's head. (3000/3000)

"Woah!" exclaimed Jaden.

In the stands, Chazz began laughing like a madman, and then he yelled. "Show him where he belongs, Crowler!" at the top of his lungs.

Up in the observation room Alexis looked like she was about leave to go tell one of the other dorm heads, until Zane put a hand on her arm to stop her.

"What are you doing, Zane? He shouldn't be allowed to use a monster that powerful against a rookie like that!"

"Wait." replied Zane, "I want to see how that kid handles it."

"So, young scholar, are you impressed with my ultimate monster?" cackled Crowler, "You can give up if you like, and try again next year!"

Jaden's head was hanging forward, obscuring his eyes, and he was shaking.

"Scared, young scholar?" Crowler called mockingly.

Jaden's head lifted, an his mouth was set in a fierce grin, and he laughed. "No way! I've always wanted to throw down against an Ancient Gear Golem! And your moves are great! Nope, I'm having WAY to much fun to give up!"

Crowler frowned. "Very well, young scholar, I'll just give you a taste of it's power firsthand! Ancient Gear Golem, attack with Mechanized Melee!"

The massive Golem's gears whirled, and it lunged forward, slamming one huge fist into Avian, instantly smashing him into pixels. The shockwave continued through to Jaden, knocking him off his feet and cutting his life points by a quarter.

CLP: 7000

JLP: 6000

"How do you like that, young scholar?" asked Crowler mockingly, "And not only that, Ancient Gear Golem's special abilities prevent you from activating spell or trap cards while it attacks, and they also makes defense position monsters useless, because it deals damage even when you're monsters are in defense mode!"

"Hahahahahahah!" Jaden laughed again. "Man, this is awesome! Is it my turn yet!"

Crowler frowned. "Yes, it's your turn."

"Sweet! I draw!" Jaden pulled a card off the top of his deck and looked at it. "Winged Kuriboh?"

coo!

Jaden blinked. "What was that?" He blinked again. "Ah well, I'll take it as a sign I should play you!"

coo!

"I play Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" shouted Jaden as he placed the card on his duel disc and the winged fuzzball appeared in front of him. (300/200)

"And I end my turn!" finished Jaden.

"Winged Kuriboh? In DEFENSE MODE! Didn't you just hear me say that defense mode isn't a protection against my Ancient Gear Golem!" Yelled Crowler. "Fool."

Almost negligently, Crowler drew a card, glanced at it, and put in one of his magic/trap slots.. "I play a facedown, and then, Ancient Gear Golem, attack that fuzzball with Mechanized Melee!"

Once again, the massive beast's gears spun, and it plowed it's massive fist into Winged Kuriboh, annihilating it completely.

"Sorry, Winged Kuriboh," Jaden said as he put the monster in his graveyard, "But thanks for taking one for the team!"

"Check your gear!" barked Crowler, "Your Life Points didn't change!"

"Sorry teach," replied Jaden with a grin, "But on the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I don't take damage!"

Crowler frowned again. "I end my turn."

Jaden smirked, and drew. He looked at the card he drew, then his hand, and smirked again. "Time to turn this Duel around!"

"What are you blathering about?" asked Crowler, "What could you possibly have that can destroy my Ancient Gear Golem?"

"Watch and see, teach!" responded Jaden, "First, I play the spell card Silent Doom! It lets me revive Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!" As Jaden slammed the card into it's slot, the green-suited birdman appeared, and crouched in defense mode. (1000/1000)

"Next," Jaden continued "I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode!" A red-suited woman with a mask, white skin, and long black hair appeared next to Avian, and made a heroic pose. (1200/800)

"But," Jaden said, "Neither of them is staying long! I play another spell, Polymerization!" As Jaden placed the card in his Duel Disk, a vortex appeared, and swirled together Avian and Burstinatrix. "This spell card will fuse them in order to create ELEMENTAL HERO FLAME WINGMAN!

A tall figure in green appeared in the place of the two former monsters, with a single wing and one arm ending in a dragon head. (2100/1200)

"Impressive, young scholar," Crowler said, "But it's still 900 points weaker then my golem!"

"Not for long," replied Jaden "Because I play a field card! Skyscraper!"

All around the two duelists, massive buildings shot up, creating a giant city in every direction. Flame Wingman flew up and perched on top of one of the buildings.

"HAH!" Crowler cackled, "Your field spell didn't lower my golem's attack by one point!"

"It wasn't supposed to!" replied Jaden, "Skyscraper's effect raises the attack power of any monster with "Elemental Hero" in it's name by 1000 points when it battles with a stronger monster! Which means..."

"It has more attack points then my golem!" finished Crowler in a panicked voice.

"Exactly!" yelled Jaden, "Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Attack Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!"

"NO!" Crowler yelled, as, true to Jaden's word, Flame Wingman's attack skyrocketed. (2100/1200)–(3100/1200)

BOOM! With a massive explosion, Flame Wingman collided with Ancient Gear Golem, and completely smashed it, taking a small bite out of Crowler's Life Points.

CLP: 6900

JLP: 6000

"Now," cried Jaden "My Wingman's special effect activates! You take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!"

Crowler's eyes widened, and he looked up. The massive mechanical carcass of Ancient Gear Golem was still standing - for a second at least. With a groaning noise, the rubble fell on Crowler, taking a massive chunk out of his life points, then fading away.

CLP: 3900

JLP: 6000

"Of course," Jaden finished, "Now Wingman's Attack goes back to normal." (3100/1200)(2100/1200) "And it's your turn."

Crowler got up with a growl. "I can't let this slacker humiliate me!" he thought as he drew a card. He immediately played it.

"I play Pot of Greed, to draw two cards." The green jar appeared, Crowler looked at the two cards he drew, and smiled. "First, I activate my facedown: Red Gadget: Stronghold! It creates a gadget token on my field." At the card flipped, a bulky mechanical man with three holes on his chest appeared. (0/2000)

"However," Crowler continued, "He won't be here long! I tribute the token to summon Ancient Gear Beast in attack mode!" As the token vanished, what appeared to be a large wolf made out of the same materials as Ancient Gear Golem appeared. (2000/2000)

"And I'm still not done! I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Skyscraper!" A narrow tornado appeared, streaked towards Jaden's Skyscraper, and destroyed it. As he did, all of the surrounding buildings vanished.

"And, last but not least, I play 7 Completed on Ancient Gear Beast to increase it's attack by 700!" Three slot-machine esque sevens appeared on Ancient Gear Beast's back, and it's attack jumped. (2000/2000)--(2700/2000)

"Now," Crowler yelled triumphantly, "Ancient Gear Beast, attack with Mechanical Hunter!"

Crowler's gear beast leapt through the air and landed on Flame Wingman, shattering it and dropping Jaden's Life Points again.

"No way! Flame Wingman!" Jaden exclaimed.

CLP: 3900

JLP: 5400

"Now, young scholar," Crowler said sarcastically, "It's your turn"

"Right." Jaden drew, and immediately played the drawn card. "I play Graceful Charity!" An angel appeared and handed Jaden three cards from his deck. He looked at them, smirked and handed two of them back to the angel, who placed them in his discard slot. Jaden then grabbed one of his remaining cards.

"I'm gonna end this now, teach!" Jaden proclaimed. "I play Miracle Fusion!"

"What on earth is that?" asked Crowler.

"Simple," replied Jaden, "It's like Polymerization, with three differences. First, whatever monsters I use as components are removed from the game. Second, it can only summon Elemental Heroes, and third, It lets me use monsters from my graveyard as components!"

"WHAT?" Crowler yelled.

"I'll fuse the two cards I discarded for Graceful Charity: Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman!" A shining portal appeared and the two Elemental Heros floated into it. "And I create... Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" Out of the portal came a massive hero in yellow metal armor. The portal disappeared behind him. (2400/1500)

"It's still to weak to destroy my Beast!" yelled Crowler.

"It doesn't need to be stronger!" responded Jaden, "Because when it comes into play, it's effect activates, which lets me destroy one monster on the field with fewer original attack points then him!"

"NO!" Screamed Crowler as Thunder Giant pointed and shot a lightning bolt at Ancient Gear Beast, destroying it.

"But I'm still not done!" said Jaden "I'll play the last card of this duel: Fusion Weapon! I can only equip it to a fusion monster of level six or below, but it raises that monster's attack and defense by 1500 points!"

"AAAAHHHHH!" Crowler shrieked as Thunder Giant's arm turned into a cannon and it's power raised to exactly his life points. (2400/1500)–(3900/3000)

"Now!" Jaden yelled, "Elemental Hero Thunder Giant! Finish this duel with Fusion Thunder Attack!" Thunder Giant powered up a massive surge of electricity in his arm-cannon and shot it directly at Crowler, blasting him across the arena.

CLP: 0

JLP: 5400

"WHAT!" Chazz sat bolt upright in his seat. "How on earth did that slacker win? GRRRRR..." Chazz got up and stalked out of the arena, his two toadies following him.

Up in the observation box, Zane looked at Jaden impassively, and Alexis looked impressed.

"I never expected him to be able to pull it off," said Alexis, "That was pretty impressive."

Zane simply walked off towards the exit.

"Huh? Zane, where are you going?" Alexis started to follow him, but happened to glance at the board. "Zane, there's still another duel!"

Zane stopped, looked at the board, then walked back to his previous position, still not saying anything. Alexis sighed, and went to stand next to him.

Jaden met up with Syrus and Bastion in the lobby.

"Hey Sy," he asked, "Who's this guy?"

"Oh!" Syrus exclaimed, "This is..."

"My name is Bastion Misawa." Bastion stepped forward and offered Jaden his hand.

Jaden shook it. "Jaden Yuki. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." replied Bastion, "And your duel with Crowler was an added bonus. You're quite a skilled player."

"Thanks!"

"Hey guys," Syrus piped up, "How about we go see how we ranked?"

"Sounds good to me." Jaden replied. "Bastion?"

Bastion simply nodded and walked of in the direction of the ranking room.

Which unfortunately, was out of range of the loudspeaker, so they didn't hear it chime: "Tsukanna Kanshisha, please report to the Exam Field for your exam duel."

Up at the top of the stands, above the top seats but just below the observation boxes, stood another figure who had watched Jaden's duel.

If you saw this person, you probably wouldn't see many stranger looking people after that. The figure was a girl of about fifteen, with an unremarkable build and skin tone. No, there were other strange things about her.

First were her eyes. They were a deep violet. Naturally a deep violet. No contacts. But what was really strange was her hair. Her hair was a mass of braids. Not a single strand of her hair wasn't in a braid. Even stranger was the fact that one of the two "ropes" of hair that made up each braid was black, and the other was dyed crimson. Also, the end of each braid was secured with a pair of silver bells, so she made chiming noises whenever her head moved.

She had a single earring in each ear, a pair of small silver rings, each of which had a red stone and a black stone on it. She was wearing a loose black tank top shirt and grey cargo pants. Lastly, she had a fingerless black leather glove on her left arm which went up past her elbow.

"Finally..." The girl smirked. "It's my turn."

New Cards:

None

Changes:

I'm using the anime effect for Thunder Giant. The real effect is the same, except it requires a discard and can be used once each turn.

Next Time: The abilities of the mysterious Tsukanna are revealed, as she duels against a dorm leader with a powerful - and unusual - deck in her exam match! Don't miss "D.D. Trainer"!