A/N: Again, reader's of the previous versions won't notice many changes in the early parts of this chapter aside from some minor tweaks, including the opening scene of this chapter being moved, some dialogue that is different because Kaigen dueled Midori last chapter, and this time there is actually a duel in this chapter. Consider this a mix of the original (which followed the anime more) and the first revision (which followed the style of the game more). Also this merges two chapters of the first revision into one longer chapter.

Episode Two: "Welcome to Duel Academy"

"Attention, students. If you look out your windows you will see your new home away from home." the pilot announced, and then chuckled when he noticed most of the former hopefuls were plastered to the windows of the helicopter as their hopes were fulfilled, "Now, now, I know your excited but please don't shove."

Leading up to our departure for Academy Island, I had assumed we were going to take a boat. After all, why fly when there's a ferry? Syrus, however, apparently really liked helicopters. The small duelist had even made the whirring noises when he first saw it before he remembered he wasn't alone. What a kid. Jaden seemed to not like the idea a lot (he'd been kinda adamant about not having a window seat), and I can sympathize. I'm not good with heights either, not in the least. In fact when I heard we were taking a helicopter to the island, I'd gone white as a sheet and wondered if I'd been cursed or something. Once we were in the air, it quickly became clear which of us were worse off.

"Oh thank god! BLEEECK!...I can't take...bleeeck...much more fly...BLUUUURGH...ing!" I managed to force out some words at the tail end of a marathon barfing session. Actually, I had spoken a few times before, but that had been mostly repeating "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" and "HIGH! HIGH!" over and over in various combinations and at several different volumes.

It would be an understatement saying that it was a relief when we finally landed and the way off was opened. Someone noticed that vomiting for an hour and a half straight had taken a lot out of me and helped me steady myself as I climbed down the stairs. I was pretty sure it was Jaden at the time, since he was sitting next to me on the ride over, but I was too out of it to know for sure. Once I had my feet on the ground though, I was left to regain my own footing. Whoever it was probably knew I wanted to conserve what little dignity I had left after that display.

I heard some people laughing at me, but I was mostly used to that from my old school. It was easy to ignore. Especially when that guy from the exams with the slicked back hair placed a hand on my shoulder and inquired about my state, "Are you alright now, friend?"

Standing up straight, I cleared my throat, "Yeah. Thanks, Bastion was it?"

Bastion nodded, "Yes, indeed, and you are Kaigen Kou. Your performance at the exams was most impressive."

"Not really." I replied, uninterested in his kind words. "I was using combinations specifically geared to take advantage of the lower life point format. Even then I still lost."

Bastion scoffed at the sentiment, "Against an opponent that, if rumors are to be believed, is the single strongest duelist in the entire school. Nearly winning against that sort of opposition is nothing to undersell."

"I didn't nearly win. She was holding back until I forced her to stop."

"Either way, you 'forced her to stop'." the teen pressed.

I shrugged, indifferent but passingly appreciative of his attempts at complimenting me. The teen's opinion mattered very little to me. In a way, Bastion immediately struck me as both very similar to me and at the same time almost totally different on some levels. He came off as a very proud person, but not actually all that confident at the core. The visual clues were all there. The careful way he spoke with perfect grammar, the neatness of his appearance, the way he spoke the compliment like he hoped for one in return. All major hints that this Bastion fellow was a perfectionist. Sure many smart people are the same, but there was subtle differences in his kind and the truly confident kind. Namely, the level of precision. Bastion's bordered on a compulsive disorder. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had a ruler in his grooming set. Oh and you can be certain he had a 'grooming set' rather than just random stuff used for grooming, like a toothbrush, comb, and disposable razor.

Not that I was one to talk about personality flaws. I was hardly the saint, habitually seeking out everything wrong about people with a critical, analyzing eye. While Bastion might have had a compulsive obsession with getting approval, my compulsion was finding reasons for me to not give it. Compulsively hating everyone is far worse than a compulsive desire to be liked, even if both were defense mechanisms created by self-consciousness. Not that I was quite that self-aware at the time.

Bastion, not knowing my thoughts, simply smiled and shrugged slightly at my behavior, "That aside, I must say that your card playing sense is remarkable. I look forward to facing you in a duel one day." He offered a hand in friendship, "My name is Bastion Misawa. Pleasure to meet you."

Leave me alone already. My actions did not coincide with my frustrated thoughts, as I took the offered hand, albeit half-heartedly. I wasn't even actually looking directly at him as I did it. "Kaigen Kou. Kai is fine."

"A good name. Kaigen means 'enlightenment' doesn't it? I believe it is also a sacred ritual for the completion of a statue of Buddha."

Aren't you the smart one? I thought with barbed annoyance, "I guess."

Soon I was saved by an approaching faculty member who had probably been waiting at the base of the landing zone for the chopper to land. It was some random female teacher whose name I to this day cannot recall, even though I'm sure she gave it, "Welcome to Central Duel Academy, the most prestigious duel academy in the world. I'll lead you to the main hall where you will be given your dorm assignments and school issue PDAs. I would appreciate it if you followed me in an orderly fashion."

Bastion turned to me as the teacher turned and lead the way and we fell in step with the rest of the group. "Well, I suppose this is the moment of truth. We can talk more later."

"I guess."

Not long after setting out for the main hall, I was checked off of a list of incoming students and handed a simple red jacket with a white trim, gray pants, and a black shirt along with the aforementioned PDA. The pants and shirt seemed a common theme between dorms, and the jackets were mostly identical except in color. Some of the blue dorm were wearing longer jackets, indicating elite status, as the teachers all wore similar ones.

All I had was a backpack for luggage, so I just changed in a nearby bathroom and headed into the auditorium, stepping in line with the other Slifer Reds. According to all the information I had seen on the school, I was in the lowest-ranked dorm. It made sense considering I'd lost my duel. I didn't mind it to be honest. For one, working up from the bottom would make things interesting, plus there was another thing that would probably come up at some point and become an issue if I was in any other dorm. It was the fact that I was related to a certain someone in high places.

A big screen that was on one side of the room lit up once everyone was in place and a jolly bald man with a goatee and a big smile appeared on it. I raised my collar to conceal my face from any glances my way and prayed that nobody would notice any family resemblance I had to my uncle.

"Good morning and welcome my students! I'm Chancellor Shepard, the head of this school, and you are the best and brightest young duelists in the world." his smile got even bigger, "Now please, get yourselves settled in to your assigned dorms. I think you'll find them quite comfortable, depending upon how you ranked of course! Ha-ha-ho-ho-ho!"

What was funny? Moron. I rolled my eyes.

Once the short and quite over-hyped announcement was made; we were given a brief tutorial on how to use the duel radar built into their PDAs to find opponents and a quick overview of the standard functions like e-mail and data management. I'd already figured all that out on my on and used the handy Duelist Info section to make some notes on what I had learned about the professor that had defeated me. The school network had even more information, including the contact information that students could use to consult her, her exact position at the school, and some things I already knew. For example it said her deck was built around dark fairy monsters called Fallen Angels, which were called Darklords back in the United States. That strange 'dual monster' fairy didn't seem a part of the archetype though. It was probably just in her deck for the fact it was level four with decent attack points and was the right type and attribute. The effect probably didn't hurt either, but seemed sort of impractical. It was strong, but I imagined it was something that required a lot of work and special circumstances.

"Come on, Kai, we've been dismissed." Syrus snapped me out of my thoughts, Jaden being his usual jovial self behind him, but not speaking up.

"Oh, sorry." I closed the function on my PDA and looked to the pair, "Have you guys checked the map yet? I don't have much luggage but I should get settled in soon."

Jaden waved off the idea, "Don't you worry about that. A few of the trainee teachers were on luggage duty."

Syrus seemed to be in on that little fact too, "You didn't wonder why they had us check in our bags too?"

I twitched a little at the thought of strangers handling my things, but it's not like I actually had anything important inside. I was never the type to have 'prized possessions'. "Alright... I guess I'll just check in on that and get unpacked."

I used the map function to locate the Slifer Dorms, and noted with the radar that a good number of duelists were already there. The posted schedule said there was going to be some 'time to explore', then a welcome dinner. Going over the information, I idly walked out of the hall and towards the entrance.

I didn't notice that the two of them followed me until Jaden said something, "You can do that later, right? We just got here. Don't you wanna look around?"

"Um..." I tensed. It was then that I spotted Bastion waiting outside, adjusting the sleeves of his yellow jacket with his usual precision. The thing might as well have been taped in place.

He was probably waiting to see what dorm I was in, so I decided to get his disappointment out of my way and avoid the two friendly Slifers in one fell swoop. If I was lucky he wouldn't talk to me again after finding out I was in a lower dorm. "Oh hey, Nisawa, I see you got into Ra Yellow."

"It's Misawa, with an M." said the Ra, slightly annoyed, "I'm surprised to see you in Slifer, you seemed so knowledgeable and skilled. Perhaps you had test anxiety on the written section?"

Odd, he didn't seem to care that I was a Slifer, "Something like that."

There was a brief but awkward silence"You don't talk much do you?"

"Not really." I was too busy wondering why the heck he still wanted to be my friend. What the heck is up with these people?

"To each his own as they say." Bastion shrugged, "Changing the subject, are you looking forward to the coming year as much as I am?"

I wasn't totally sure how I felt right then, which was odd...

"Hey ya, Bastion! You in red dorm too?" I turned to see Jaden and Syrus had not fallen behind that far.

Bastion motioned to his jacket, "Let's see, yellow sleeves, yellow buttons...nope, don't think so."

Jaden suddenly came to a realization, "Oh so that's why me and Syrus are in red!"

"Please don't tell me you're just figuring that out?"

Jaden got all stuffy, "So what? You ever think I might be color blind?"

"No, are you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not. He just mentioned the color of his jacket. He wouldn't know it if he was."

"No foolin' you, huh Kai?" Jaden laughed, "It's too bad we aren't all in the same dorm, but at least you and Syrus are with me. We can be dorm buddies."

"You do know that Slifer is the lowest ranked dorm, right?" I said, annoyed at the muffin-headed duelist.

Syrus didn't seem to know, "What? Really?"

"Not that it matters, but yeah. Slifer's the bottom, Ra Yellow is next up, and blue's the top."

Syrus slumped his shoulders and hung his head low, "Ah, man."

I sighed, the poor little guy was probably beating himself up for performing so poorly. I could tell he was bright, but for whatever reason he'd just messed up when it mattered, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you can work you're way up in the ranks. When you fall, learn why and you'll trip less. You're never truly beaten if you learn from a defeat."

"Kai's right, Sy, what really matters is the duels. Getting your game on and having fun getting better." Jaden gave his friend a reassuring pat on the back and smiled. It wasn't quite what I'd meant, but it was close enough.

I fully intended to part ways with the lot of them right then and there as the three of them talked among themselves, but Jaden had other plans. The conversion quickly came back to include me again, "So you guys wanna join us for some exploration? We're gonna take a look around the island."

I held back a sigh, "Sure. I might as well come with you."

Bastion shook his head, "I still haven't unpacked yet, and I want to get that done before that dinner. I'm afraid I'll have to pass."

Jaden was disappointed, but cool about it, "Too bad. Well, we'll walk you there. That way we can get some sight-seeing in along the way."

"That's fine by me. Perhaps we can discuss you're match with Professor Crowler."

Somehow, once we reached the Ra Yellow dorm Bastion was able to excuse himself and escape in a feat of minor social grace that seemed beyond my feeble skills. I kicked myself for not being able to do the same. I was stuck with the muffinhead and his bluenette admirer. We had a wonderful time too, but I'll spare you the details of our thrilling day of getting strange looks at the simple but comfortable and stylish yellow building and getting mocked by random students outside the palace-like blue dorm then forced to leave. A lot of ridicule just for being Slifers. There was only a little extra luck when were found ourselves getting stopped at another blue palace by a harsh female voice.

Come to think of it, that was when I met Alexis. "What are you three doing here? It looks very suspicious if you ask me."

We turned away from our inspection of the dorm in front of us and spotted an unquestionably beautiful girl. No, that word doesn't quite fit. Something about the way she carried herself, back straight and feet firmly planted in place, eyes full of strength and defiance, that made it not the right word. She looked good mind you, but she also looked like she would, and could, destroy us if we truly deserved it.

"Suspicious? Who's suspicious?" Jaden questioned, legitimately confused.

The girl raised an eyebrow, "You are. This is the girls dorm you know. For girls."

I spoke up, "We didn't know. We just got here not long ago and were looking around."

Suddenly she recognized us, "Oh, that's right. I remember you two from the exams. You're freshmen. I guess I can forgive you this time."

"Right, thanks for understanding," strangely, without even thinking about it, I extended my hand in friendship, "I'm Kaigen Kou by the way, Kai is fine."

Taking my hand, she smiled, "I'm Alexis Rhodes."

Jaden waved, "Nice to meet you, I'm Jaden Yuki. This here is Syrus."

Alexis nodded, her stern exterior totally gone. The strength was still there, but she wasn't anywhere near as guarded, "Right. You guys should get going though. It's almost time for the welcome parties at each dorm. You don't wanna be late do you?"

Jaden went wide-eyed, "Really? It's that late?"

Syrus checked his watch, "If we don't hurry there won't be any food left!"

"That'd be a tragedy!" with that, the muffinhead ran off, and a startled Syrus took off after them.

I shook my head and sighed, looking to Alexis, "Where do that get that energy I wonder?"

"Oh well, takes all kinds I guess. Seems like a fun pair to hang out with." she seemed to share my amusement.

Shrugging, I rechecked the route to the red dorm on my PDA, "I suppose. So far all they've done is tire me out."

"You sound like a old man."

"Yeah, I really do. If I had a lawn I'd probably spend half my day telling them to keep off of it." we both chuckled lightly at that one, "Well anyway, talk to you later."

"Yeah, see you around." Alexis went back towards her dorm and I started off towards my own.

It took me a minute to realize what had just happened, Wait... did I just make a friend? What the...?

I ended up making it just in time for the start of the formalities, coming in to find that Jaden and Syrus had found a place where we could sit together, my seat facing the door and my back towards the kitchen. Maybe I was being too nice to them or something. They seemed totally insistent on being my friend, even though I barely spoke when I was around them. It was annoying sure, but not enough to bother telling them off or anything. Since I was apparently going to make friends whether I liked it or not, I supposed I could do worse. I was still perplexed about the situation though. I wasn't entirely sure how or why I'd made friends with Alexis, or why I didn't resist the friendship of the two Slifers more. I couldn't figure out why I was less stand-offish than before. I mean, sure I was still a bit anti-social, but I wasn't as dismissive. You'd have to know the me from before better to notice I suppose.

Anyway, I had only been seated for a moment when the others looked to the kitchen door. It was clear the headmaster was coming out. He was a wiry man with a strange face, not that he was ugly. In fact, he probably could be considered somewhat handsome. It was more like it was hard to tell if his face was cat-like or snake-like. It was the face of a person that could either be a nice and loyal guy or a manipulative traitor. The guy was hard to read and that bugged me. Also, he was apparently a teacher, even though he wore dress clothes with no jacket and the sleeves rolled up rather than the standard uniform I had seen.

"Greetings students, I am Professor Lyman Banner. I am the headmaster here for second years and up. The freshman headmaster, Professor Midori Hibiki, is just finishing up some extra side dishes in the kitchen. While we wait, how about we start by introducing ourselves and saying something about us. I'll start. You know my name, and I am an avid scholar of alchemy, so I use that talent to teach both alchemy and the more conventional chemistry. I also cover some of the less conventional duel strategies."

The other students went through the motions as they were pointed to. I ignored most of them, simply because I didn't give a crap about anyone in the dorm. I only paid enough attention to not miss my turn when it came up. More pressing to me was the strange, albeit slight change in my outlook. It was as if something had put a crack in my shell. I was thinking on it so hard that I barely heard the clinking of plates in the kitchen as Banner called my name. I somewhat subconsciously concluded that the other headmaster, Professor Hibiki, would be coming out of the kitchen, but didn't find such information worth fully processing.

When I stood and turned though, there was a small repeat of what had come over me when I first laid eyes on the woman. Every detail of the experience flowed over me like a wave. The illusory flash was more of a radiance this time, her smile just as devastating as it had been before. The slight swish of her flowing hair as she turned slightly on her way in the room might as well have be accompanied by sparkles. Even the slight weariness from working in the kitchen simply added to the majesty. It was like a goddess had come to Earth. No mortal being could possibly be that soul-obliteratingly beautiful. Every cell in my body wanted to jump up and down and shout "WOOHOO!"

I nearly drifted off into that strange fantasy with the field of flowers again, but obviously I was staring longer than I thought. Banner snapped me out of it by clearing his throat and speaking up, "Mr. Kou, any time now would be good."

Fortunately, the goddess didn't seem to notice and the chuckles of the other students were too irrelevant to pay any mind to.

"Oh um...yes...hello... um, I'm Kaigen Kou, 17 years old. I was born in Dice City, but lived in America with my foster mom for most of my life. That's really all there is to me. To be quite honest I'm a pretty simple fellow."

I sat down hard, too overwhelmed to really have any truly coherent thought. I'm truly astounded I'd been able to speak at all without it sounding like my tongue had gone numb. The urge to frolic over a field of daisies was overwhelming and I wasn't so stupid that I didn't know what was up. Basically, I was more sprung than a rocket-powered jackrabbit.

Jaden probably grinned or raised an eyebrow or some other expression fitting the moment, but I was still too dumbstruck to compute much of anything, "What's wrong, Kai" You bad with public-speaking?"

"Y-yeah." Not really. A little maybe, but not any more than a normal person.

The goddess started introducing herself, her voice filled with happiness and as beautiful as a thousand angel choir. I dare not turn again to look at her. Surely she would be able to read the expression of adoration on my face. It took all my strength right then to resist composing cheesy poetry. "Hello, I'm the freshman headmaster, Professor Midori Hibiki. I'm not much of a stickler for titles and I know we have at least one student here that wasn't raised in Japan; so Ms. Hibiki, Hibiki-san, Hibiki-sensei, any permutation is fine. I teach Math, some of the cultural classes, and a few of the classes about effect monsters. I hope we all get along swimmingly."

I heard a whisper from some nearby students that were probably too far away for the teachers to hear them "Hey, you hear that? She said Miss Hibiki."

"Yeah, awesome! She's not married. You think I have a chance?"

"Get real man."

"Oh come on, that would be like making a pass at my big sister."

"I've seen your big sister. I'd make a pass at her too."

"Hey! Watch it!"

It took some effort to not stand up right then and shout at them that they couldn't have her, that she was mine. Thankfully, I had mostly regained my senses at that point. Plus Professor Banner chose that moment to finish the formalities, "Well, now that we all know each other, once the rest of the meal is served we can go ahead and dig in."

As the rest of the room started eating, I noticed that Jaden had already finished what food was already in front of him, and for the life of me couldn't recall when he had eaten it. Was he that fast or had he eaten when I was daydreaming? Not that it really mattered, but when the side dishes were served I intended to find out. For no reason, I made a mental note to keep an eye on the possible eating prodigy.

A hand, a very nice-looking hand, came into my field of view, reaching past me to put a plate in front of Jaden, then Syrus, then me. I recklessly glanced at the owner of that arm as she stood up again and she smiled gently at me. Even though that smile was one she would have given to any student, seeing it again so soon left me unable to say anything. I had to wonder if the sunrise would ever seem beautiful again, after seeing what beauty truly looking like. Perhaps I would never enjoy such poetic things again. Maybe seeing her would make everything look ugly by comparison. In that moment I didn't really mind though. Living in the deepest pits of hell would be heaven if I could still look at Midori Hibiki.

Did I mention I was more sprung than a caffeine junkie on a pogo-stick? Actually, I was starting to think I'd gone completely out of my mind.

"Mr. Kou, pardon my arrogance but you seem a bit intimidated." she said, breaking into my thoughts. She seemed as amused by that fact as she was averse to the idea, "I hope I didn't leave you with a negative impression before."

"What? No." I said, uncomfortably looking away, "Nothing like that. It's just I'm not good with dealing with people I don't know well."

The professor seemed intrigued, "Hm. I was thinking this again when you had trouble speaking, but it's strange that you're so shy. Before we dueled I figured you for a loner, but you're surprisingly shy."

"Um..." SAY SOMETHING! REPLY! YOU LOOK LIKE A DORK! I kept kicking myself mentally, trying to figure out how to reply. I'd never been much for conversation before and had no idea what I was supposed to say, "Aren't most, if not all, loners inherently shy?"

"I suppose." she agreed, then casually changed topics, "Anyway, it's a pleasure to see you again. The same goes for you, Jaden."

I looked at Jaden, who had somehow already finished the plate of side dishes that Hibiki-sensei had only moments before had set down, "You know the professor, Jaden?"

He smiled a bit, "Yeah, I met Professor Hibiki a long time ago when I was in the hospital for a broken leg. Her brother taught me the game."

She nodded, "I even bought Jaden here his first duel disk."

Jaden smiled at the memory, "I still have that one in my closet at home. It's a precious keepsake even if it's too small for me now."

"Too small?" Hibiki-sensei placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair, teasingly, "Strange, you don't seem any taller."

Brushing the hand away, Jaden fixed his hair back with his hands, "Professor! Don't tease me like that, sheesh! I'm not a little kid anymore."

"You'll always be little to me. At least until you prove otherwise."

Jaden grinned big, "Well I beat that Professor Crowler didn't I?"

A few Slifers who were from different exam sessions looked at our table skeptically at that. Hibiki-sensei continued the conversation regardless, "That was impressive, but don't get too big of a head about it. Kaigen here actually came very close to beating me."

I jumped slightly at being mentioned suddenly, "That was... I mean..." What was I supposed to say?

Jaden cut me off, standing suddenly with a look of amazement on his face, "Really? I heard you dueled and figured you did pretty good, but you nearly won?"

"N-not-really. I mean-"

Hibiki-sensei put a hand on my shoulder, cutting me off with a smile, "I give credit where credit is due, Kaigen. You were taking advantage of the format sure, and it was only 4000 life, but the fact is you did nearly win."

"Whoa." Jaden was amazed, "Even I can't hold a candle to Professor Hibiki. Now I really can't wait to duel you!"

Syrus, who had been as out of place in the exchange as I was, finally spoke up, "I have to see that duel. That would be awesome."

"Um... sure?"

Hibiki-sensei chuckled, as if one of her little brothers was being cute, "Hey, calm down. Kaigen hasn't even started eating yet."

Jaden looked at my plate and realized she was right, "Oh, sorry. I can wait I guess."

"You really haven't changed a bit, Jaden." Midori noted happily.

It had been sinking in for the past few moments, but right then it all finally clicked and I realized that the professor was trying the make sure I was making friends. She knew Jaden well enough to bait him into furthering the relationship with a duel. Somehow, even though teachers had tried to set me up in friendships before, it didn't feel condescending at all. It was, however, and testament to how sprung I was that in that moment I wanted to make friend mostly just to please Hibiki-sensei. It solved the mystery about what had caused the crack in my shell that I was brooding over before. I had gotten my first crush.

I looked over at Jaden, "Whenever you want to throw down, I'm up for it. I want to see this professor-defeating strength of yours too."

Jaden sprang up, all but flying out the roof and landing outside. Seriously, the kid had lots of energy, "Great! Let's go!"

Hibiki-sensei glared gently, "Jaden."

He immediately sat down, the suddenness was actually pretty comical, "Right! Food! My bad!"

Despite myself, I chuckled and stood up, "It's fine. I actually don't like eating in crowds anyway. Let's go."

Hibiki-sensei, pleased with the small success, got up as well, picking up my untouched plate, "I'll wrap this up for later then. When you get back I'll heat it up for you."

Right then I could definitely see how some people would not be able to get past the sisterly aspect of her personality. Actually it was almost motherly, but I just couldn't think of her as my sister or mother, "T-thanks."

"It's nothing. Have fun, but be back soon, the curfew is in an hour." her warm smile, though only a small one, sent my heart a flutter. Just add that to the list of uncharacteristic feelings she'd given me, right next to the desire to frolic through a meadow.

Boy did I ever want to frolic through a meadow right then...

Outside the dorm there was a large patch of dirt that I imagined was normally set aside for Slifer duels or maybe gatherings like picnics. It wasn't fancy. I assumed it was the worst of the duel fields due to our standings, and I was shortly proven right.

Jaden either had the same impression or wasn't aware the patch of dirt was the dorm's official duel field, "I hear they have a really awesome duel arena in the main building. Since this is gonna be epic, we should do it on the greatest possible stage!"

"I think you're overselling this a little, Jaden."

"Of course I'm not, Kai. Let's do this right! The main field should still be open." and with that, the guy was off, running towards his goal like he was headed for a candy shop or something.

Syrus was quick to follow, "Wait for me, Jaden! I want to see this too!"

I could only sigh and follow. I mean, wasn't the entire point of duel disks to remove the need for a duel field? If there wasn't going to be a crowd we could technically duel anywhere.

It turned out there was going to be a crowd though. A small, but hostile crowd.

The field itself was much grander than ours, but that really wasn't saying much considering ours was literally made of dirt. It wasn't actually all that impressive, it boiled down to being little more than a fancy gym with a duel field instead of a basketball court. I didn't really see the point in the multitude of wires leading out of the slightly raised field either. All the information the only electronic part of the duel field needed (the score board) could easily be sent to it wirelessly by the duel disks. Perhaps it's for audio equipment.

"Too cool..." Jaden was mystified for some reason, "Wow... this is a the sweetest duel arena I've ever seen!"

I looked to the excitable teen, "I hate to use a line twice, but I think you're overselling this a little, Jaden. It's just a duel field."

"Whe-"

A deep voice cut Jaden off, "What are you Slifer rejects doing in here?"

Glancing over, I spotted a tall, tanned guy with spiky brown hair that had apparently been talking with a smaller guy wearing oddly small glasses and sporting hair that... took me off guard. If you think back to the fact that I was used to Syrus indescribable hair style, then that's a really big claim.

Jaden spoke up as I struggled with the sight, "What? We're students here to."

"This is Obelisk territory." the smaller guy with the hair scoffed arrogantly.

The bigger guy accented the point by pointing behind us, "Yeah, check out the crest."

A quick look revealed a metal plate bearing the image of Obelisk the Tormentor on it. At least their dorm was aptly named.

The larger tormentor continued, "This place isn't fit for your kind."

Syrus started backing away, "Sorry, um... we didn't know. We'll leave right away."

Jaden grinned, then turned back from the symbol to look at the pair, "We don't have to leave. Now if one of you guys would be willing to duel me with the loser having to take off... I mean, I could be kinda like a guest duelist!"

The guy with the hair went wide-eyed in recognition, "Wait, a second. You're the guy that beat Professor Crowler!"

"Guilty as ch-"

"I'm sorry," I blurted out suddenly, derailing the scene by motioning somewhat comically at the guy with that hair, "but what the heck is up with that hair-style? I mean... Dear god! That is the stupidest haircut I've ever seen in my entire life and that's really saying something considering I'm with this guy." I pointed to Syrus.

"Hey!" the little guy and the guy I was insulting both protested in unison, "My hair isn't that bad!"

I motioned again, "Look at it! He looks like a poor imitation of the Artist Formerly Known as Prince!"

"Why I oughta!"

The bigger guy took his turn recognizing folks, "You! You're the one that dueled Professor Hibiki! HA! You should try coming back and talking when you can actually win a duel. Right Torimaki? "

The hair guy saw his chance at revenge, "I don't know, Mototani. I mean, he nearly won. Maybe Professor Hibiki isn't as strong as they say. I mean, she's headmaster of the Slifers. Queen of the filth pile."

Jaden of course took offense at the insult to his friend, "Hey! Take that back right now!"

I grabbed his shoulder, playing it cool even though I was glaring a hole through Torimaki, "Now, Jaden, that was actually a pretty good jab. Not masterful, but he managed to not only insult me, our whole dorm, and Hibiki-sensei, but did it in such as way that technically, because I lost to her, insults me a grand total of three times. A multi-tiered insult."

Torimaki grinned.

"I doubt his dueling's even on one tier though, much less a low one."

Torimaki started to lunge at me, but another new voice – this one a bit gruff and barbed with frustration – broke in, "Everybody talks too much."

We all turned to the source, a teenager around Jaden's size and age with sweeping black hair that went a good distance in a bit of organized chaos.

Torimaki was surprised at the interruption, "Manjoume-san! Wha-"

"If you are going to talk big, don't follow it up by letting Slifers talk down to you like that. We're the elite of Central Duel Academy for god's sake! If they talk flak about you, silence them with the duel they want so badly and show them their place!"

I gave Torimaki a wry smile, "You should listen to him, and that includes hair tips. Since somehow you still have the ugliest hair in the entire room."

"You-"

"I'd love a duel, thank you for asking." I cut him off smugly.

"You. Are. ON!" the teen glared, "Mototani! Let's send both these losers packing here and know."

"There's only one field." the larger guy was clearly the dumber one.

"A tag duel!"

"Now hang on a second!" I protested. "I've never tag dueled before! Frankly I don't even want to-"

"What? Are you backing down"

Jaden stepped up, "Of course he isn't. Right, Kai?"

I readied my disk, "If that's how you want to play; then I don't have much choice. Jaden."

"Yeah?"

"I'll go first. I don't know what kind of deck you use because I never saw your duel, but I'll clear your way."

"Got it. I won't let you down!"

Stepping onto the field, the duel began, "Duel!"

Jaden and Kaigen: 8000 vs Mototani and Torimaki: 8000

The duel system randomly selected one team to go first, the light on the top of my disk blinking to indicate it was my move, "My draw."

"Let's see what you've got, Slacker!" Mototani was apparently the one leading the way for his team.

I took as much time looking at the postures and subtle mannerisms of the pair as I did my starting hand. Thankfully, the cards matched the results of my analysis. "I set a monster, then two cards face down." I was careful with my placement, and precise with my planning.

The big guy drew to being his turn, which went much like I expected. His plays started with a small mistake, "I set a monster, then activate the spell Mystical Space Typhoon to take out the face-down on my right!"

"Bad play, Mototani." I extended my hand, "I activate it in response, discarding a card to destroy your set monster with Raigeki Break!"

A bolt of lightning shot out from the activating trap and struck his set monster, a very nasty defensive card. Running into that meant taking double the normal damage if you didn't have more attack than its hefty 2000 defense. Its owner recoiled from the loss, "Gah!"

"If you're gonna go after my cards, make sure to not give them a target first."

"Y-you little... BAH! I set two face-downs and end my turn."

The turn indicator went to Jaden so I took a step back as he stepped up, "He's a defensive player, Jaden, that trap of his is probably bad news, but I left a couple of presents for you."

"Thanks." the Slifer drew and checked the cards I left him with. "Nice! Solid hand-off, buddy! I'll start off by laying down two face-downs and then summoning Elemental Hero Sparkman!" a figured in a blue armored bodysuit with a golden chest-plate appeared in a flash of lightning, "Next I flip Kai's Morphing Jar!"

As the creepy jar monster came into view I explained the effect, "Each active player discards their entire hand and then draws five cards." Both sides did so, "Even though this refreshes your hand, it will be a full turn before you benefit, while we benefit right now."

Jaden gave me a thumbs up, "Right now I'm aiming for a direct attack to your life points! Sparkman leads the way!"

"Guess again!" Mototani reached for the troublesome face-down as Jaden's Hero monster launched a bolt of electricity at him, making another rookie error in an attempt at gaining an early lead, "I'm hitting you with a Mirror Force! All your attack position monsters are toast!"

The bolt bounced of a shield and shattered every monster on Jaden's field. He was all laughs about it though, and even I was smiling. At Jaden's prompting I activated the face-down I'd left him, "I activate Soul Rope by paying 1000 life points. Since one of our monsters was destroyed, Jaden can special summon a level 4 or lower monster from his deck!"

"I call out Elemental Hero Stratos!" another Hero came out, yanked from the deck by a tether coming out of my trap. It looked a bit like Sparkman, but without golden parts and with a flight pack on, "He has a sweet power that lets me search out another E-Hero in my deck and bring it to my hand. I choose Elemental Hero Clayman!"

I pointed at Mototani, "Also, it's still the battle phase."

Jaden nodded to me and then signaled to attack, "Elemental Hero Stratos attacks directly!"

The two propellers on Stratos' pack flared up and created two cyclones that pelted its target for a decent 1800 points of damage. We'd paid some life, but it gave us an edge.

Jaden & Kaigen: 7000 vs Mototani & Torimaki: 6200

"I put one more face-down on my field and that's all for my turn." Jaden turned back to give me a high five and I was caught up enough in the moment to go along with it. Something about the energy he had was contagious.

Torimaki almost growled at his partner, "What the heck are you doing? That was terrible!"

"I couldn't help it!"

Sighing, the less stylish of the two (which is even graver an insult looking at Mototani) drew a card and got started, "I'll start by bringing out Luster Dragon! It's 1900 attack is enough to take out Stratos!"

Torimaki's sinister dragon made of sapphires took to the air and dove hungrily and Stratos, but Jaden had come prepared, "I activate Hero Barrier!" a gadget flew out from the card erecting a protective field in front of Stratos, knocking the dragon aside, "It negates one attack made against an Elemental Hero monster!"

"Dang!"

Mototani huffed, "What was that about my play being bad?"

"Quiet! At least I'm leaving you with a face-down to work with!" Torimaki set a card and ended his turn.

I grinned, it was probably a little malicious looking, "Thanks for telling me that the cards he set is useless and that yours is the one I should go after." I drew to start my turn as Torimaki was mentally kicking himself, "I was worried I might guess wrong." I played a Mystical Space Typhoon of my own that had been in my starting hand.

Torimaki was livid, "Dangit! You-"

Glancing at my hand... I didn't have anything big enough to take out Luster Dragon...

Jaden picked up on my hesitation, "Kai, I left you a present!"

I checked the second card he had set and smiled, "I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and then discarding two." I placed my hand to the top of my deck and for some reason glanced at Jaden, who fist-pumped to cheer me on.

Right before I was about to draw, some kind of chime sounded over the PA system as an alarm sounded on my PDA. It was only a few minutes before curfew, a voice over the PA system elaborated, "Attention all students, it is time to head back to your dorms. Do so promptly and put all duels in progress on hold. After hours dueling is strictly prohibited. That is all."

Mototani was apparently as upset as I was, "You mean we gotta back off? We just gotta let them punk us like that? We were turning this around! He didn't have anything else!"

I scoffed at the notion, "Are you kidding?"

In the stands, Manjoume stood and started to leave, "This is pointless. I've seen all I needed."

Torimaki was shocked, "But, Boss-"

Without even bothering to turn, the teen replied, "I could see Yuki's hand from my seat. It doesn't matter what Kou did. Next turn he would've taken you two apart."

"You can't be serious!"

The Obelisk resumed his departure, "I'm leaving. I don't plan on getting detention for wasting my time."

The two goons took the time to cast a glare and then hurried to catch up with their boss. I went over to look at Jaden's hand. I didn't know the full spectrum of what his deck could do, but there was a Polymerization spell, enough monsters to be possible material, and 'Hero Bond' something that special summoned several E-Heroes from his hand. I noted that his other face down was Call of the Haunted, which could have brought back his Sparkman, anything I discarded for Graceful Charity, or anything he used to fusion summon.

"This... this is a good hand."

Jaden laughed, "Yeah, I'm kinda bummed I didn't get to use it! Let's see what you would've drawn." He reached to my deck and pulled the top three cards of my deck, then looked at them, "Sweet! We had it even better than I thought!"

I took the three cards. 'The Sanctuary in the Sky', 'Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin', and Airknight Parshath'. "If I'd discarded Airknight Parshath and brought it back with Call of the Haunted..."

"You could have played your ace monster right then!"

"Wow... that's a lucky draw right there."

Jaden shook his head, "Nothing lucky about it. Our decks just knew how badly we wanted to win. That's all it was." he gave me a friendly punch in the shoulder and started out, "Let's go, I don't want detention either. Plus Professor Hibiki has a disappointed glare that cold burn through steel. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Syrus, who I'd nearly forgotten about, quickly followed, "Wait for me. I'm pretty sure I don't want to find that out for myself."

I paused for a second before joining them, turning over the thoughts in my head, Our decks did it huh? He sounds like one of those people from those stories about my dad... Looking in Jaden direction, I then took a long look at my deck, This school could be a lot more interesting than I thought.

Next Chapter: A Key Difference