Era of Spirits and Shadows Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Era of Spirits and Shadows! I’ve gotten quite the positive response for this story already and the Muse is reveling in it! So let’s see how the arrival and settling in of Jaden, Drake, and all of the other new First Year students goes!

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 2 – Welcome to Duel Academy

A large helicopter bearing the Duel Academy logo of a blue ‘D’ and a red ‘A’ on a white background flew over the ocean. The destination of the helicopter was known as Academy Island, the private island owned by Seto Kaiba that housed the Academy he’d built from the ground up in less than five years. It was considered one of the best schools in the world for up and coming Professional Duelists. On said helicopter were one third of the new First Year students. Two other helicopters were bringing in their own third of the new students shortly behind this one.

“There it is,” Jaden grinned as he looked out the window as Academy Island came into view. “This is gonna be sweet.”

“Looks like they have everything covered and then some,” Drake chuckled as he sat beside Jaden for the flight. “They even have a white sand beach down there.” He pointed out the beach on one side of the island, though the rest of the island’s shoreline seemed to be made up of mostly rocky cliffs.

“When spring comes around we should totally hit the beach.” Jaden nodded with a big smile as they closed in on the island.

Once the helicopter landed, the students were ushered off the helipad and onto the island proper. Jaden and Drake looked around as a member of the faculty led them towards the nearest locker rooms to change into their Academy Uniforms. Jaden and Drake both donned the black undershirts, red boots, and then the red and white blazers they’d been given. Both kept their blazers open in the front, rather than zipping them up properly. The biggest difference in their style of wearing their blazers was that Drake’s flowed downward, being a little longer due to him giving the Academy different measurements when he filled out his form. Jaden’s was shorter and when it was left open it seemed to flare outwards slightly near the waist.

After a short time, all of the First Years were gathered in a large classroom facing a screen that covered a large part of the wall with the Academy logo on it. The screen switched over to show the face of an older man in a dark-maroon Duel Blazer. He had a bald head, but a thick, black mustache and beard. His eyes were warm as he looked over the new First Years through the video feed.

“Good morning and welcome, my students!” The man smiled at the teens. “I’m Chancellor Sheppard, the Headmaster of this Academy. You represent the best and brightest of upcoming Duelists in the world! Now please get yourselves settled in at your assigned Dorms. I’m sure that you’ll find them quite comfortable, depending upon how you rank of course.” Sheppard chuckled and Drake cocked an eyebrow at the remark as the First Year students filed out of the room.

“I’m pretty sure the blazers represent our Dorms.” Drake noted the three different colors of blazers that the students wore.

“Then we’re both in Slifer.” Jaden smiled and held out his fist towards Drake.

“Seems that way.” Drake fist-bumped Jaden as they looked over the Student Handbook and the Personal Duel Assistant, or PDA they’d been given along with their uniforms. Their Academy-issued Duel Disks would be given to them tomorrow during their first class.

“Huh, there’s a curfew and no Dueling can take place after it.” Jaden noted as he looked over the Student Handbook.

“Makes sense, they track our Dueling with the Academy Duel Disks to pay out our DP bonus for winning.” Drake tapped a few buttons on his PDA to access his Student Account. “Our first month’s balance has already been given to us too.” He held the screen up to show Jaden the 1,000 DP balance on his account.

“Sweet!” Jaden accessed his own account and smiled at the 1,000 DP balance. “We should totally check out the Card Shop after classes tomorrow!”

“Of course,” Drake had a wide grin on his face. “Duel Academy supposedly gets preferential treatment from Industrial Illusions, so new and rare cards are available here that would be harder and more expensive to get on the open market.”

“Having fun, are we?” Bastion smiled at the two of them as he approached. He was dressed in the standard Ra Yellow Uniform with black pants.

“Hey Bastion, you got into Ra huh? Congratulations!” Jaden gave the black-haired teen thumbs up.

“Yes, though I must admit I’m surprised that either of you are in Slifer.” Bastion looked curious about their placement in the lowest ranked Dorm. “You both Dueled amazingly during the Entrance Exams.”

“Yeah…” Drake sighed heavily. “I bombed the Math portion of the written exam. I even studied like crazy for it. I did fine on the other portions, but my score on the Math portion brought my total down to about Sixty-Four percent. Math and I have never been friends, and I’m fairly certain Advanced Algebra is out to ruin me.”

“I just did kinda average in all subjects and barely passed the written exam.” Jaden rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

“Ah, that would explain it.” Bastion gave them both an understanding smile. “Well, no need to feel down, the first promotion exams of the year are in just about a month. With three of them a year I’m sure you’ll both earn a promotion to Ra Yellow with your Dueling skills.” He encouraged the other teens.

“Thanks for the support, Bastion.” Drake gave the other teen a grin.

“We should probably go check out our Dorms.” Jaden looked at the key he held and the number on it.

“Hey, we have the same number.” Drake held up his own key to show that his and Jaden’s numbers matched.

“I guess that makes us dorm mates then,” Jaden was fine with that and fist-bumped Drake. “It’s gonna be cool.”

“As long as you don’t snore,” Drake chuckled at the two-toned brunette. “I might have to smother you in your sleep.”

“I’ll just sleep through your smothering, probably.” Jaden laughed and Drake cracked up too.

“Well, your Dorm Building is down the road over there, see you in classes.” Bastion pointed them in the right direction before excusing himself to check out his own Dorm.

A bit of a walk from the main campus down the dirt road led the two Slifers to their Dorm Building. It was styled after a cheap apartment building and neither Jaden nor Drake was as impressed by it as they had been when they’d seen the Ra Dorm from a distance. They walked up to the building to find it in relatively good condition at least. It wasn’t falling apart and didn’t seem to have a pest problem, but that was about the extent of the luxuries offered by the Slifer Dorms. The duo walked around to check the place out and looked at the numbers on the various doors to try and find their room.

“We only have the one space for bathing and bathroom stalls?” Drake looked a little put out by the information. Their bathroom facilities were basically the equivalent of a public restroom!

“Hey at least we have enough showers, even though we don’t have bathtubs to relax and enjoy a soak.” Jaden tried to look on the bright side.

They walked around a bit more and then went upstairs looking for their room number. They both enjoyed the deck on the second level as it provided a nice view of the ocean. The sea breeze was nice and Drake was mildly curious as to what technological miracle the Academy implemented to keep the seagulls away. He’d only seen the white, sea birds on the rocks around the island, but none on the island itself.

“Hey, Jaden, this is our number.” Drake noted as he checked the first door from the stairs.

“So we got the end room, huh?” Jaden was still smiling as he inserted his key and unlocked the door.

“Kinda small…” Drake noted, seeing a triple bunk bed against one wall, a single window covered by thick curtains, a long desk with two small computers sitting on top, and a small kitchenette against the same wall as the door. “The closet is pretty tiny too.” He mentioned while looking at the small folding door to said closet.

“It’s cool,” Jaden shrugged as they took the room in. “It’ll be a good room for however long we’re here.”

“There’s also our other roommate up top.” Drake mentioned while pointing to the top bunk with his thumb.

“Other roommate?” Jaden blinked as he pulled the thick curtains aside and the room filled with bright sunlight.

“Hey, those were closed for a reason, man!” A new voice grumbled and movement could be seen from the top bunk. “New students with heads full of dreams, huh?” The other teen sat up and looked over the edge of the railing. Both Jaden and Drake got the distinct impression of the Monster card ‘Des Koala’ when they looked at the guy. He had a very ‘Koala’ look about him with his hair and facial features.

“Des Koala?!” Jaden couldn’t hold back and the teen in the bunk glared at him.

“Don’t call me a koala!” He snapped at Jaden. “My name’s Chumley and this is my room!”

“S-sorry about that,” Jaden apologized to Chumley. “I’m Jaden Yuki.”

“Drake Roth, nice to meet you.” Drake nodded to the other teen. Chumley promptly rolled over and pulled his blanket over himself.

“Do you guys know what the Slifer Red color means?” Chumley asked while facing towards the wall.

“I know it’s basically the Ranking System at the Academy.” Drake spoke up and Jaden looked over at him. “Obelisk Blue is on top, Ra Yellow is in the middle, and Slifer Red is on the bottom.”

“Yeah,” Chumley acknowledged without moving to face them. “Obelisk Blue is filled with all of the kids from the Duel Prep School that is associated with the Academy. They’ve all had great grades throughout Junior High and the Prep School’s connections assure them a place at the top. All of the girls in the Academy are also Obelisk Blues since they have the only female dorm.”

“I wondered why I didn’t see any girls wearing Ra Yellow or Slifer Red uniforms.” Jaden nodded having noticed the anomaly during their greeting from Chancellor Sheppard.

“The Ra Yellows are all the guys that had great grades on the entrance exam and won their Exam Duels. They’re expected to do well and be promoted to Obelisk during their time at the Academy.” Chumley rolled onto his back with a sigh.

“What of us Slifer Red students then?” Drake asked even though he was fairly sure of what Chumley was going to say.

“Slifer Reds are the students that’re expected to drop out and fail the Academy.” Chumley stated flatly. “If you were assigned to this Dorm it means you have no future, get it?” With that he rolled over and pulled his blanket over his head.

“Bit of a defeatist aren’t you?” Drake remarked as he and Jaden prepared to head out and explore the campus a bit.

The two teens left their dorm room behind and walked down the stairs. Drake noted a smell in the air and blinked. He stopped walking and turned to face the mess hall of the Slifer Dorm. The kitchen had a metal exhaust pipe coming out of the top and it was wafting out wispy white smoke.

“Drake? What’s up?” Jaden asked when he noticed Drake wasn’t walking with him.

“Someone’s cooking,” Drake nodded towards the kitchen area. Jaden had to speed-walk to catch up to Drake as he headed for the kitchen to see what was up.

“Oh, hello students,” A rather tall man, with long, black hair greeted them as they poked their heads into the kitchen. He had small glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and wore a white button-up shirt with black slacks. He currently also had a dark-red apron on and his hair tied back to avoid getting any into the food he was preparing. “I’m Lyman Banner, your Dorm Head and Alchemy Professor.”

“Alchemy?” Jaden blinked and even Drake looked perplexed by the subject.

“Is there something you need?” Banner asked with a smile even as he continued to work.

“Would you like some help, Professor?” Drake offered without much thought. Seeing the Professor cooking all alone, clearly preparing many meals for the students, made Drake react just like when his mother’s diner got busy. “I’ve had experience cooking at my mother’s diner. I don’t mind lending a hand.”

“I couldn’t ask that of a new student,” Banner shook his head.

“Good thing I’m the one asking then, huh?” Drake grinned as he headed over to the sink and washed his hands. “You have a spare apron?”

“Thank you for the help, Mr. Roth.” Banner gave the teen a bright smile.

“Drake is fine, sir.” Drake waved off as he spotted an apron hanging on a hook and put it on.

“Uh…I don’t really know much about cooking.” Jaden looked a little lost in the kitchen.

“Feel free to explore the campus, dude.” Drake shot his new friend a grin. “I’ll want a tour tomorrow after classes since I’m cooking your dinner!”

“You got it, Drake!” Jaden chuckled as he headed out to explore the campus while Drake and Banner worked on the welcome meal for the First Year Slifer Red students.

“Hmm, are we having fish and rice?” Drake wondered, seeing the rather plain meal that Banner was making.

“Yes, I’m afraid it’s all I can cook when I have to make this many servings by myself.” Banner lamented as he continued to prepare ingredients.

“Can you get us steaks? They don’t have to be fancy cuts, or expensive or anything,” Drake had a fond smile on his face as he remembered learning to make this particular meal from his mother. “If you can, we could easily make the steak dinner set from my mother’s diner. We can even use the fish you’ve prepared for a tempura side dish.”

“Oh, that does sound nice,” Banner grinned at his new student. “Yes, I can get us enough steaks for the welcome dinner. I’ll just be a moment to make the call to the office to have them sent to us.” He walked away and washed his hands before pulling out a cellphone.

“A welcome meal should be special,” Drake grinned as he tended to the Miso Soup that was slowly simmering in a large pot. “Even if the majority of our meals are standard issue school slop, this first one should be nice.”

-With Jaden-

The two-toned brunette was happily exploring the Duel Academy campus when he felt it, the excitement of a Duel! Someone was Dueling somewhere. He knew it! It was like a smell in the air for a Duelist like Jaden who loved Dueling almost as much as breathing.

“Where is it?” Jaden wondered as he followed his gut through the halls of the main campus. “Over here, I think?” He walked up a slight ramp and into a huge Duel Arena. The platform, the lighting, the seats, the projectors, the speakers, all of it state of the art for the most realistic and immersive Duels! Duel Academy didn’t cut corners when it came to Dueling at all and Jaden was psyched to see it. “It would be awesome to Duel here!”

“I’m afraid you can’t do that.” A blue-haired Obelisk First Year spoke up as he and a brown-haired Obelisk guy, also a First Year, walked over to Jaden.

“This is no place for a Slifer drop out.” The brown-haired guy stated while looking down on Jaden. “Look up there.” He pointed behind Jaden. “Don’t you see the crest?”

“Crest?” Jaden turned and spotted what the Obelisk Blue was pointing at. Above the entryway that he’d just walked up was a plaque with Obelisk the Tormentor’s face on it.

“This is an Obelisk practice arena.” The brown-haired teen informed Jaden. “So you can get lost.”

“Well, if one of you were to Duel with me then it’d be okay, right?” Jaden grinned at both of the other teens.

“Wait, you’re the guy that beat Crowler at the entrance exams!” The blue-haired guy pointed at Jaden.

“Hey Chazz, that kid that beat Crowler is here.” The brown-haired guy called out to the stands.

“Huh?” Another First Year Obelisk Blue stood up from his seat and looked down at Jaden from up in the stands.

“Uh, hey, Jaden Yuki, nice to meet you.” Jaden waved at the black-haired teen in the blue, long blazer of an Obelisk Blue. “Who’s he?” He whispered to the two teens he’d been talking to. Chazz glared down at Jaden when he heard what the Slifer had asked.

“You don’t know Chazz Princeton?” The blue-haired teen questioned in shock. “He’s a First Year, but he’s, like, Number 1 of the super elite! He’s a dedicated player that’s scored in the top of his classes since the first year of Junior High at Duel Prep School!”

“Chazz is considered by many to be in the running to be the next King of Games!” The brown-haired teen informed Jaden with a smug grin.

“Well that’s weird…” Jaden shook his head and looked like he was thinking about something.

“How’s so?” The taller teen questioned confused.

“The King of Games is the best of the best, right?” Jaden questioned and both of the Obelisks nodded at his words. “But the Number 1 of the Academy is me.” He pointed his thumb at his chest with a confident smirk.

He wasn’t expecting both teens to burst into laughter at his statement.

“Quiet down,” Chazz finally spoke from where he was standing. “Stop laughing, Raizou, Taiyou.” He glanced at the blue-haired teen and then the brown-haired teen. “He was able to beat Crowler, even if it was due to carelessness or dumb luck, so he’s better than you two.”

“That was all skill,” Jaden smirked with his fist raised in front of him.

“So you say,” Chazz stared him down. “I’d like to see you talk so big after a Duel with me.”

“Sounds good.” Jaden was itching for a challenge and it seemed like he was about to get one!

“What are you guys doing?” A female voice spoke up and all four of the boys turned to face the speaker. Jaden looked her in the eye for a long moment and the blonde teen returned his gaze.

‘She’s tough, I can tell.’ Jaden thought to himself as their gaze broke and his eyes instinctively ran up and down her form once. He was a teenage guy, so that was to be expected. ‘Beautiful too.’

“Alexis,” Chazz gave the lovely girl a smile, trying to look suave. “Our Slifer friend here doesn’t seem to know how the Academy works. I was thinking I’d teach him myself.”

“It’s almost time for the welcoming parties to begin,” Alexis informed all four of the boys while crossing her arms over her chest to break Taiyou and Raizou’s line of sight. She’d noticed the two staring from the corners of their eyes. They might think they were being subtle, but they weren’t, at all. “You’ll all be late if you don’t leave.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Chazz turned away and walked off. Raizou and Taiyou quickly fell in line behind him and left the arena.

“Try not to get riled up by Chazz’s provocations,” Alexis looked Jaden in the eye again as she dropped her arms to her sides. “They act like a bunch of good-for-nothings and give Obelisk students a bad reputation.”

“Going out of your way to warn me like that…” Jaden gave her a teasing grin while pointing towards himself. “Did you fall for me at first sight?”

“Pfft…” Alexis hid her mouth behind her hand as she giggled for a second. When was the last time a boy had just joked with her without any ulterior motive? Jaden’s eyes told the whole story, the Slifer Red wore his emotions and intentions on his sleeve and Alexis could tell he was honestly joking.

“What kind of Casanova do you think you are all of a sudden?” Drake chuckled as he walked up the ramp behind Jaden.

“Hey Drake, finished helping Professor Banner with the cooking?” Jaden chuckled as they fist-bumped.

“Yeah, the welcoming party is about to start and if you miss the meal I cooked then I’m eating yours,” Drake stated with a smirk. “You can go to bed hungry.”

“No way!” Jaden denied with a quick shake of his head. “I never miss a meal!”

“Then say goodbye to the lady that’s clearly out of your league and let’s go eat.” Drake shot Alexis a grin and the blonde couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. These two were a regular comedy act, weren’t they?

“Oh right, my name’s Jaden Yuki, what’s yours?” Jaden asked as he gave Alexis a short bow and a friendly smile.

“Alexis Rhodes,” Alexis introduced herself with her own short bow.

“Drake Roth, it’s nice to meet you Alexis.” Drake introduced himself as well. “If you’ll excuse us, we have a welcoming party to get to. I might even be getting two meals out of it.”

“No you’re not!” Jaden retorted quickly as both Slifer teens nodded to Alexis and took off back towards their Dorm Building.

“Those two are kind of interesting…” Alexis noted as her eyes strayed to Jaden’s retreating back.

-Slifer Mess Hall-

Just over twenty new First Years sat in the Mess hall at the simple wooden tables with smiles on their faces. The steak dinner sets in front of them smelled great and even came with fish tempura and veggie tempura! It may not be a fancy banquet like the Obelisk Blue’s or the Ra Yellow’s were having, but it was going to taste great. As Professor Banner introduced himself to the new Slifer’s, Drake’s hand was latched around Jaden’s wrist preventing his friend from digging into his meal before Banner was done.

“I’d like everyone to stand up one at a time and tell us your name and something simple about yourself.” Banner smiled at his students and pointed to the teen closest to him. It was only a minute or two later that it was Jaden’s turn and Drake let go of his wrist.

“I’m Jaden Yuki!” Jaden introduced with a wide smile. “I’m going to be the next King of Games!” He sat back down with the same smile and tried to reach for his chopsticks only to find them in Drake’s hand. Once again his new friend was preventing him from digging into this great food!

“Drake Roth, nice to meet you all, I learned how to cook the food you’re eating from my mother, and she also taught me how to Duel better than most too!” He shot a challenging grin at his fellow Slifer First Years. He sat down with a grin and Banner told everyone to dig in. Jaden nearly snatched his chopsticks back from a chuckling Drake as he dove into his meal. The sounds of joy and compliments on the taste brought a smile to his face as he ate and enjoyed the familiar flavors. Banner also made really good tempura and Drake wouldn’t have minded having seconds.

After the welcoming dinner, Jaden and Drake retreated to their dorm room to relax. They chatted quietly, being mindful of the dozing Chumley, and Jaden offered to make tea. He may not know his way around a kitchen, but even he could make a simple cup of green tea. As the two were enjoying their tea, Jaden’s PDA beeped to alert him to a new message. Opening the device and clicking the appropriate button made a video message begin playing.

“Yo, drop out, I’ll be waiting at the Duel Arena at midnight,” Chazz stated on the video message while Drake watched over Jaden’s shoulder. “It’ll be an Ante Rules match, with both of our best cards on the line. Come, if you have the courage.” The message finished and closed.

“Oh yeah, that’s not suspicious at all.” Drake drawled out unamused. “Let’s see, breaking curfew, Ante Rules, and probably another two or three rules we’re not aware of are going to be broken if you go tonight.”

“But he challenged me, Drake.” Jaden had a fire in his brown-eyes as he grinned at his friend. “A real Duelist doesn’t back down from a challenge!”

“You do realize he could be setting you up and the only people that you’re going to meet there is Campus Security.” Drake raised an eyebrow at him. “You want to be caught breaking curfew and participating in an Ante Rules Duel on your first day by Camp Sec?”

“I don’t think he’s the type,” Jaden shook his head slowly. “He’s definitely the type of person that enjoys beating others to prove his superiority. I’ve dueled with a lot of guys like him before.”

“Well, we’ve got a few hours to kill; want to show me how you plan to win?” Drake questioned as he leaned back against the edge of the bunk bed.

“You’re coming with me?” Jaden blinked at his dorm mate.

“Duh,” Drake smirked at him. “Who else is going to help you escape if Camp Sec finds you?”

“Thanks, Drake!” Jaden smiled and then pulled out his Deck. “Let me show you some of my Side Deck options.” Jaden then pulled out another deck box from underneath his pillow.

“This should be interesting.” Drake chuckled as Jaden began to spread out his cards. ‘Worst case scenario, a simple Shadow Game of Hide and Seek should let us escape if this is a set-up.’

-Midnight ~ Obelisk Duel Arena-

“I’m surprised you had the guts to show up, drop out.” Chazz taunted with Raizou and Taiyou behind him. His eyes darted to Drake when he noticed the black and silver-haired teen next to Jaden.

“When I heard there was going to be a Duel, I had to come.” Jaden retorted with a smirk.

“Make it quick, Jaden, the faster we get this done the sooner we can book it back to our dorm.” Drake encouraged his friend while also tossing a barb in the Obelisk’s direction. He grinned when he saw all three Obelisk students glare at him.

“We’ll see if your defeat of Crowler was a fluke or not, right here and now.” Chazz smirked as he and Jaden stood across from each other on the Duel Platform.

“I wanted to see how strong the ‘Elite’ Obelisk Blues were too, so this saves me some time.” Jaden shot right back. Truly, pre-Duel trash talk was a tried and true tradition of the game.

“Don’t forget that we’re playing Ante Rules, so the loser hands over his best card.” Chazz reminded with a smug smirk on his face.

“Sure, bring it on.” Jaden had no fear in his eyes at the outcome of this Duel. Both teens raised their arms and activated their ‘Battle City’ style Duel Disks. They wouldn’t get their Academy-issued ones until tomorrow and even if they had them right now, they wouldn’t use them as this off-hours Duel would be recorded and they’d both get in trouble.

“Duel!” Both teens called out as their Duel Disks lit up.

Jaden – 4000

Chazz – 4000

“I’ll go first!” Chazz declared as he drew for his turn. He looked over his hand as he developed his strategy. “I’ll set one Monster and then set a face-down! Your move, slacker.”

‘That’s it? What’s he up to?’ Drake wondered from the sidelines as he saw Chazz make such a basic opening play.

“Draw!” Jaden drew for his turn and grinned as he looked over his six cards. “Hey, Winged Kuriboh, great to see you, little buddy.” He grinned at the Monster he’d added to his Deck. Winged Kuriboh’s Effect was useful for almost any kind of Deck. After all, not taking any battle damage for the entire turn that Winged Kuriboh was sent from the field to the graveyard was a helpful ability. He swore he heard the card coo at him but put it out of his mind for the moment. He had a Duel to win! “I’ll start things off by playing a Spell card, Unexpected Dai!”

The Spell card appeared as a hologram on the field. It depicted Warrior Dai Grepher kneeling inside a sphere of magical energy. Chazz looked like he was wracking his brain to see if he knew the effects of the card.

“When I control no Monsters I can special summon one Level Four or lower Normal Monster from my Deck!” Jaden explained as he pulled his Deck out of the Duel Disk and fanned it out until he saw the card he wanted. He picked up the card and then placed his Deck back into his Duel Disk, the device automatically shuffling the Deck for him. “I special summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in Attack Mode!” In a flash of holographic lightning a Monster appeared in a navy-blue spandex suit with gold-colored armor on his torso, arms, legs, a pair of metal wing-like attachments on his back, and a helmet-like mask that covered his entire head from view.

Elemental Hero Sparkman – LIGHT – Level 4 – Warrior – 1600 ATK/1400 DEF

“Now I’ll normal summon Elemental Hero Heat in Attack Mode!” Jaden declared as he placed another Monster card on the field. This time a blast of fire covered part of the field as a Monster appeared. It was a muscular man in a white and red skintight outfit. On his forearms were large gauntlets with a flame motif and his elbows and knees sported metallic armor in yellow. His mask was white with a red, metal helmet with a wing motif resting on his head.

Elemental Hero Heat – FIRE – Level 4 – Pyro/Effect – 1600 ATK/1200 DEF

“Now, Elemental Hero Heat’s effect activates!” Jaden grinned at Chazz who looked hard at Jaden’s plays. “For every ‘Elemental Hero’ Monster on my side of the field, his attack increases by 200 points!”

Elemental Hero Heat – FIRE – Level 4 – Pyro/Effect – 2000 ATK/1200 DEF

“Wait a minute!” Chazz demanded as his Duel Disk registered the Fire Monster’s increased ATK. “You only have one other Elemental Hero on your field, so why did his ATK go up by 400?!”

“Because Elemental Hero Heat is also an ‘Elemental Hero’, of course!” Jaden smirked and Chazz’s eyes widened. “Now let’s see if that backrow face-down of yours can stop my attack! Elemental Hero Heat, blast that face-down Monster!”

Elemental Hero Heat rushed the face-down card and blasted it with fire. The hologram of the face-down card flipped face-up and a Zombie Type Monster appeared.

Reborn Zombie – DARK – Level 4 – Zombie/Effect – 1000 ATK/1600 DEF

With a cry the zombie was incinerated and burst apart into fragments. Chazz clenched his teeth as his plan to take one of Jaden’s Fusion Monsters and beat him with it went down the drain. Why wasn’t he bringing out a big Fusion Monster? That’s how he beat Crowler!

“I guess not,” Jaden pointed at Chazz. “Elemental Hero Sparkman, attack him directly!” Sparkman leapt into action and was in front of Chazz in a blink. Sparkman blasted Chazz with electricity making the teen flinch from the realistic hologram.

Jaden – 4000

Chazz – 2400

“Now I’ll throw down a face-down and end my turn.” Jaden placed a card into one of the Spell/Trap slots of his Duel Disk. The hologram of a face-down card appeared on the field behind Elemental Hero Sparkman.

“You just got lucky!” Chazz growled as he drew for his turn. He glanced at his newly drawn card and grimaced. He had two Chthonian Soldier Monster cards in his hand, but they’d be easy pickings for Jaden’s Heroes. If only he had Chthonian Alliance in his hand, he’d be able to take out Elemental Hero Heat this turn and then force Jaden onto the defensive when he summoned his second Chthonian Soldier next turn. “I set a Monster and one face-down, and then I’ll end my turn!”

“I wondered where those three were headed so late at night.” Alexis commented as she walked up behind Drake.

“Good evening, Alexis,” Drake nodded to the blonde teen, hiding his surprise that she was there. “I see your curiosity got the better of you too.” He admitted to his own curiosity about this midnight Duel.

“You could say that.” Alexis shrugged with her arms crossed over her chest. “Jaden is playing rather well.”

“Yeah, he expected Chazz to have some kind of response to Fusion Summons, so he’s going out of his way to not use them for this Duel.” Drake chuckled as he watched Jaden draw.

“My turn, draw!” Jaden drew his next card. “Allow me to introduce the other fiery lady Hero of my Deck! I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat!” Jaden set the Monster card on his Duel Disk. In another blast of flames a new Hero appeared. She was a rather beautiful blonde woman with sharp blue eyes. She wore a matching skintight white and red suit to match Elemental Hero Heat’s and had red bracers on her forearms with gold-colored armor around her waist and shoulders. On her head sat a gold and red helmet, which -unlike her male counterpart- left her face uncovered.

Elemental Hero Lady Heat – FIRE – Level 4 – Pyro/Effect – 1300 ATK/1000 DEF

“Now that I have another Elemental Hero on my field, Heat’s attack points increase by another 200!” Jaden smiled as Heat’s ATK climbed higher.

Elemental Hero Heat – FIRE – Level 4 – Pyro/Effect – 2200 ATK/1200 DEF

“I activate my Trap card!” Chazz declared and the newest face-down hologram rose up to reveal itself. “Call of the Haunted!” The Trap card depicted a graveyard with an eerie purple smoke rising from it. “With this I can bring back one Monster from my graveyard in Attack Mode! Return, Reborn Zombie!”

The Reborn Zombie Monster emerged from a thick, purple smoke produced by the Trap card and stood on the field once more.

Reborn Zombie – DARK – Level 4 – Zombie/Effect – 1000 ATK/1600 DEF

“I’ll send that Zombie back to the grave then, Elemental Hero Lady Heat attack Reborn Zombie!” Jaden declared his attack and the female Hero blitzed the undead Monster. In seconds the half-decayed zombie was engulfed in flames before it burst apart into fragments. The Call of the Haunted Trap card also burst apart when the Reborn Zombie was destroyed.

Jaden – 4000

Chazz – 2100

‘Damn it, if I didn’t have any cards in my hand then Reborn Zombie wouldn’t be able to be destroyed by battle!’ Chazz seethed internally at how badly this Duel was going. Jaden wasn’t playing anything like when he beat Crowler at the entrance exams! The Hero Archetype was all about Fusion Summoning powerful Monsters! Anyone from Duel Prep School knew that! How was this nobody Slifer playing so well while completely ignoring how the Archetype was supposed to be played? Had he predicted that Chazz would be well-prepared for Fusion Summons? Did this drop out have the foresight to prepare for that? He was a Slifer, the bottom of the barrel here at Duel Academy! This Duel should’ve been a walk in the park!

“Now I attack your set Monster with Elemental Hero Heat!” Jaden pointed at the face-down Monster. Heat crossed the distance and Chazz’s Chthonian Soldier appeared.

Chthonian Soldier – DARK – Level 4 – Warrior/Effect – 1200 ATK/1400 DEF

In the next instant Elemental Hero Heat’s flame-covered fist punched straight through the Defense Mode Monster. With a cry, Chazz’s Monster burst apart and disappeared.

“Well darn, I could’ve destroyed that Monster with Sparkman.” Jaden noted before he sent Sparkman into battle. “Attack him directly Sparkman!” Sparkman appeared in front of Chazz again and blasted him with holographic lightning. Chazz couldn’t help the way his body jerked backwards as the hologram washed over him. It was instinctive to flinch away from things that looked like they could harm you. Kaiba Corp holograms were as real as you could get while still being perfectly safe.

Jaden – 4000

Chazz – 500

“You haven’t won yet, Slifer slacker!” Chazz growled as he waited for Jaden to end his turn. The brown-eyed teen had no other Monsters to attack with, unless he was going to play a spell or activate his face-down, then his turn was over.

“I kinda have, actually,” Jaden smirked as he pointed to Lady Heat. “You see Lady Heat has her own Effect. When I enter my End Phase, like I am right now, she can deal burn damage directly to your Life Points, 200 for each Elemental Hero on the field, herself included!”

“No! This isn’t possible!” Chazz was wide-eyed and both Raizou and Taiyou were staring with their jaws agape at Chazz being completely trounced by a Slifer.

“Lady Heat, do your thing!” Jaden smiled at his Monster. Between Lady Heat’s hands a fireball appeared. She launched the ball of flames at Chazz and with a blast the last of Chazz’s Life Points vanished.

Jaden – 4000

Chazz – 0

The holograms faded away as Chazz stood stock still, unable to comprehend that he’d lost so utterly. Jaden had achieved a flawless victory and not lost a single Life Point!

“That’s game!” Jaden declared with a grin. “Not bad Chazz, but I bet you can do better! Next time bring your absolute best!”

The sound of footsteps echoing in the corridor caught both Drake and Alexis’ attention. Both of them bit back a curse as they got everyone’s attention.

“Campus Security is coming! We have to get out of here!” Alexis stated clearly and everyone else seemed to notice the sound of the approaching security.

“Time to book it, Jaden!” Drake waved Jaden down off the Dueling Platform while Taiyou and Raizou practically hauled Chazz away in the opposite direction.

“Follow me! I know a hallway that leads outside from here!” Alexis waved the two Slifer students over as she left through a different corridor than the one they’d entered from. Jaden and Drake rushed after her and were around the first corner before Camp Sec had even entered the now empty Duel Arena.

-Outside-

“Well, that was closer than I’d have liked.” Drake gave Jaden a stare while his dorm mate rubbed the back of his head.

“Sorry, but hey, I won the Duel and we didn’t get caught!” Jaden grinned and gave a ‘victory’ sign.

“You didn’t just win, Jaden,” Alexis looked at him with such interest that Jaden blinked. Meanwhile Drake raised an eyebrow at how much Alexis seemed to be reevaluating Jaden as a Duelist. “That was a flawless victory, against an Obelisk no less. You turned what is normally a hazing into a beat down.”

“I think Chazz over-prepared for Fusion Monsters and lost initiative when I didn’t use any.” Jaden shrugged with a smile. “It’s good to have Side Deck options.”

“True.” Alexis conceded with a small grin. “Well, it’s late and I don’t feel like getting caught out after curfew. Have a good night you two.”

“Thanks for showing us the way, Alexis.” Jaden thanked the Obelisk Blue girl.

“Good night.” Drake waved over his shoulder as he and Jaden headed back towards the Slifer Dorm. Their forms quickly faded in the darkness of the night.

‘Jaden is pretty interesting.’ Alexis grinned at the teen that had caught her attention so thoroughly. ‘I wouldn’t mind a chance to Duel him myself.’ She began to make her way back to the Girl’s Dorm along a little used path she knew about. It would get her to her Dorm without anyone the wiser.

-Slifer Dorm-

“What an eventful evening, let’s not do it again soon.” Drake suggested as the door to their dorm room was closed and locked behind them.

“Yeah, sorry, I just didn’t want to turn down the challenge.” Jaden apologized and Drake sighed before grinning at his friend.

“Don’t worry about it. It was pretty nice to see you stomp that arrogant punk.” Drake chuckled, making Jaden grin in return. “I can’t help but notice that you achieved that flawless victory with Alexis watching…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jaden cocked his head to the side and raised one of his eyebrows.

“Nothing, nothing, don’t mind me.” Drake chuckled before Jaden blinked twice at him.

“Hey!” Jaden pointed a finger at Drake accusingly. The black-haired teen with slight silver streaks cracked up as Jaden caught on to his teasing. “It’s not like that and you know it!”

“Not like that, yet!” Drake muffled his snickers to not wake up Chumley, but the other teen hadn’t so much as twitched since they’d been back. The only movements had been the slow breathing of a sleeping person.

“You’re lucky I don’t have anything to toss at you.” Jaden gave him a harmless glare. “I did pull some good cards this time around. I guess this little guy is lucky!” He pulled out Winged Kuriboh and smiled at the card. Drake’s eyes darted to the Spirit that hovered over the card and cooed at Jaden. It would seem that Jaden couldn’t see the puffball of a Spirit yet.

“Oh it’s far more than lucky,” Drake smiled as he brought out his Ba and let it fill the room a bit. Jaden blinked as he felt something change in the air, then before his eyes Winged Kuriboh appeared! The Monster was right there, but see-through, like an old school hologram.

“Kuri kuri!” Winged Kuriboh seemed to perk up when it noticed that Jaden could see it. It fluttered up and down in the air and even had the whole ‘eye smile’ going on.

“What the, Winged Kuriboh? But how? What? Why?” Jaden blinked when he realized that Drake wasn’t reacting to the appearance of his newest Monster Card. “Drake?”

“How about I tell you a story, Jaden?” Drake suggested with a calm tone. “It’ll help you with your little friend there. You can even meet my not-so-little friend if you want.”

“Dude, I’m really confused right now, I’ll take any explanation you can give me.” Jaden admitted even as he pet the Spirit that was cuddling up to him. Winged Kuriboh’s fur was surprisingly soft.

“Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, Egyptian Kings played a game of great and terrible power…” Drake began and Jaden listened with rapt attention.

They didn’t get to bed until the early hours of the morning, which would suck for classes tomorrow, but Jaden had just been introduced to a whole new part of Dueling. The most Ancient form of the game that now practically ran the entire world. He was excited beyond belief and couldn’t wait to get started!

-End Chapter-

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Whoa! That’s different! Jaden can play the Hero Archetype without playing Polymerization?! You don’t see THAT in Canon! Side Decks can be super helpful!

You may have noticed there was no, “I summon [Blank Monster] in Defense Mode!” That’s because we’re following the rules of the game here! You SET Monsters in Defense Mode/Position unless another card’s effect makes you summon a Monster in face-up Defense Position.

Aside from the 4000 Life Point standard, I’m sticking as close to the IRL Rules as possible. Disregarding the Ban List as it has never been stated to exist in the Anime. Otherwise none of our Protags could use their Pot of Greed’s and we all know how much THAT particular card is used in the series!

Alexis is even more interested in Jaden, who achieved a flawless victory against Chazz. I wonder if that’ll lead to their Duel being different?

Now Drake has informed Jaden of Winged Kuriboh’s existence. It’s time for Jaden to learn the Original and most Ancient form of Duel Monsters! It’s time for Drake to teach another Duelist his age about Ba and Ka. The Ancient Shadow Magic will make a bit of a comeback this generation, but this time in the hands of those with kind hearts.

How will THAT shake things up?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!