Chapter 3:

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Only own any OCs.

AN: Sorry for the very long wait, but I was rewriting a lot of this story's future plans. I wasn't satisfied with where this story would've gone had I continued it, so I reworked a lot of what I had in mind. I even went back and redid the first two chapters. And as much as I love making all of you satisfied, I feel it's just as important for me to satisfy me as much as you. After all, if I'm not having fun, then no one will get enjoyment out of this.

So, I decided that we will have Synchros and XYZ Summonings in this story as well to increase the variety of the Duels. If this is an issue for you, I do apologize, but this is an AU. Canon doesn't need to be followed when taking that into account. If it helps, the other summonings will have an in-story reason for showing up, but it won't be for a while.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 3: Arrival at Academy Island! Non-Fusion Area!

After an hour, the students having to get off the boat one by one and check in to make sure everyone was here, Jaden and the others found themselves in a large classroom you'd commonly see in a College or a University. All the first years were clammed up next to one another, Jaden having to stand up in a similar vein to an army soldier. He was standing with Syrus with the other Slifer Reds, picking out Jason standing with Bastion by the Ra Yellows. Chazz was staring blankly ahead with the Obelisk Blues towards the back.

Seconds later, a man in his late forties or early fifties appeared on the giant screen before every new student. He was bald but had a tan goatee around the chin. He wore a red blazer that was slightly darker than normal over a shirt and tie.

Jaden turned to Jason and gave a smirk. He was wearing the same color shade as the head guy of the school. So, that made him and the Slifers cooler than the others.

Jason's clever retort was to hold a fist, take his other hand, turn it like if he was working a lever, and slowly raised his middle finger.

"Good morning and welcome my students," the guy on screen said in a pleasant voice. Jaden and Jason halted their actions, "I am Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster here, and you are the best and brightest duelists in the world." As he talked, Jaden picked out some cocky laughs from the Obelisks. He turned to see if his new 'buddy' Chazz was amongst them. He was just staring ahead with a blank stare Jaden hoped was a thoughtful one. They locked eyes when Chazz turned. The Obelisk shrugged Jaden's stare off as the Chancellor continued to speak. "Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I hope you find them quite comfortable; depending on how you ranked of course." He said with a slight chuckle. "Classes begin tomorrow at 8am sharp. Pick your schedule up from our Duel Monsters Artwork teacher, Callie Elric!"

Jason and Syrus' turned their attention to the front after hearing that name. Bastion looked to Syrus with a questioning gaze, the shorter boy nodding his head at the unasked question – that was Asami's sister. Jason watched the holder of his affection be handed her schedule with a smile shared between the two of them, his lips upturning into a smile as his face took on a red hue.

Jaden stood on the side, using his pinkie to clean out his ear.

The group of four stood in line as they awaited their turn to be handed their schedules. After passing their entrance tests, they were given a form that had the list of classes and activities the school provided. The amount of branched off classes that the school provided was nothing short of marvelous, so the student body loved having options to pick from that would make their experience here even more satisfying and fun. They were still required to take stuff like Math and Literature for their curriculum. They each nodded and bowed in respect to their teacher before standing outside of the hall.

Jaden snatched Jason's schedule, getting a glare from his younger twin as he rubbed his hand. "Time to compare schedules!"

Syrus and Bastion laughed as they put theirs outward for them to see.

"Hmmm..." Jaden pondered, Jason peeking over his shoulder. "Me, Syrus, and Bastion share Gym..."

"Jason and Bastion share Dueling Techniques."

"We all share Lunch..."

"Syrus and Jaden share Duel Monsters History while Jason has it on his own."

"Jaden and Jason share Monster Types."

"Jason and Bastion share Geometry, which I'm happy to say that Syrus and I will stay in good 'ol Remedial Math." The two Ras laughed. "We all have different Literature classes and Spell and Trap classes. We each have our own unique courses, like Syrus' Ritual Class, Bastion's Duel Puzzles Class and my Fusion Course."

Jason rolled his eye. Gee, he wondered why Jaden chose that on the registration form.

Jaden blinked when he saw Jason's schedule, "Duel Monsters Artwork?" He turned for an explanation. He eyed his brother's fingers as he went to explaining.

'I can't take Gym, so I had to pick another regional course. It was either that or another Math class. Since I already draw, I might as well get graded on it.' Jason finished with a shrug. The three nodded in understanding.

"Looks like we'll see each other enough times to stay acquainted." Syrus stated, happy that he'd being seeing his new friends enough times outside of the dorms. Maybe he wouldn't be so alone now. He'd hardly see Zane according to the elder Truesdale due to his own classes and dorm affiliation.

"Fine with me," Bastion nodded, satisfied with the schedule.

"Things are okay on my end." Jaden agreed. Jason shrugged as his answer. "Now then, we might as well check out our dorms while we're at it. Don't we have Welcome Dinners soon?"

"Towards the middle of the day. It's still kinda early." Bastion answered.

"Alright. Well, we'll see you guys later!" Jaden grabbed Jason's shoulder, squeezing tightly when his brother looked away in anxiety. "Hey, Jace," the younger Yuki looked towards his brother. "Be strong for me, okay?" He gave a grin that Jason couldn't help to return. "Thanks! See ya!" He pecked his brother's forehead before running off with Syrus when Jason went to strangle him.

Bastion chuckled at the display of affection between the brothers. "Let's go check out our living quarters for the year..." Jason nodded as the two left in the direction of their dorm.

Little known to them, they were being watched by a cold set of brown eyes from two doors down... And behind that set of eyes, hovering by the top of the ceiling, was one dark brown eye peering at Jason and Bastion from behind a black headmask.

'That little prick...' Both thought at the same time.

...

Both newly Slifer Red students headed in the direction of their dorm after gathering their luggage and found their dorm building by a cliff that oversaw the ocean that cut the island off from the outside world. But, strangely, the place hardly seemed like a dorm at all...

"This isn't a dorm, it's an outhouse with a deck!"

Syrus' observation was the polite way of putting it.

It was more akin to an old apartment building with two floors, at least five rooms on each side of the floors, giving a total of twenty overall. Jaden didn't have any complaints, or at least any that he cared to voice. He leaned against a railing, looking at the ocean near the dorm.

"Trust me when I say it could be a lot worse, Syrus." Jaden stated.

Syrus grumbled in agreement.

They went into their assigned room, both laughing when it just so happened to be the same one. "Alrighty, this here is our room Sy."

As they looked in they saw long, two-seated desk along the left wall, window straight across from the door and a three-person bunk bed along the right wall. And near the door was a little stove. Jaden contrasted the room with the messy apartment he and Jason lived in that he hated with very fiber of his being.

This wasn't nearly as good as that place, but it would work.

"It's pretty small don't you think?" Syrus commented on the small room.

"Hey, you're a small guy. You probably won't notice." Jaden replied, smirking when Syrus frowned up at him. "But anyway," Jaden skipped off to change the subject, noticing that Syrus' glare was more adorable than intimidating. "I like it! This'll be a sweet pad for our first year at the academy!"

"Yeah, kinda weird meeting up at the entrance exams, and now roommates?" Syrus said, changing his glare to a stare of excitement. "Do you think it's fate!? Like, maybe we were meant to be together and meet up to do something amazing?!"

Jaden gave an amused laugh as his response. "I wouldn't say so. Probably coincidence. Life is full of ironies."

"Yeah, and mine are full of the joking ones..." Syrus muttered.

"We need to work on that confidence of yours," Jaden pointed out as went over to the window. Now he had two boys to build up mentally and emotionally. He felt like a construction worker, only dealing with a much heavier load and weight. "But first let's work on some lights!" He pulled back the curtain, letting in the bright sunlight.

"Hey! Those were closed for a reason." A new voice bellowed in the room. Jaden quickly pushed the curtains closed and turned to the source of the voice, coming from the top bunk.

"Sorry." Syrus said.

"Yeah, we didn't see you up there." Jaden sheepishly added.

"Well can you see me now!?" The covers pulled back revealing an angry, heavy-set boy with a face and hair like a koala's. Syrus suddenly screamed in fear at the boy and latched onto Jaden, who blinked. Jason's face was scarier unwrapped. "Will you stop your screaming!? Who are you and what are you doing in my room!?"

"Oh, name's Jaden Yuki!"

"And I'm Syrus."

"We're your new..." As Jaden tried to explain himself, the boy in bed turned his back to the new kids. "...roommates?"

"You're new alright, so lemme tell you how things work," the grouchy boy muttered.

Syrus blinked, "Like when Parent's Visit is?" he asked. Jaden huffed. He'd like to know too, but not for what Syrus was probably asking for. He'd much rather tell his father the week after it already went by... That is if he bothered to pick up the phone for him.

"Duh, like the whole color thing works. That's the most important thing you should worry about here,"

Jaden and Syrus blinked.

"There are three colored dorms here. One named after each of the Egyptian God cards. There's the Obelisk Blue students, the Ra Yellow students, and the Slifer Red Students. Now, the Obelisk Blue students are the highest-ranking students. Most of them get into the school and their rank by really high grades while others get in by connections."

Jaden remembered that Chazz was in a crisis because of that tidbit. Whatever. If you asked him, Chazz had earned his admittance.

"Ra Yellow students are really gifted kids that have a lot of potential..."

Jaden grinned in pride for his younger brother.

"And then there are us, the Red Wonders,"

"The Wonders...," Syrus murmured, "That doesn't sound too bad. Like a group of superheroes or something..."

Ignoring Syrus' comment, the large boy continued, "The Red Wonders as in 'I wonder how rejects like us made it even this far'. A lot of people look down on the Slifers because they're the lowest ranking students on the island...nothing but the bottom of the barrel."

"That's kinda harsh..." Jaden murmured sarcastically. He hadn't been here more than an hour and already he could pick out that there was discrimination going about amongst the students due to the color of their jacket. Might as well just paint them all green to avoid the hassle. Still... Jaden found himself smirking as an idea formed. If Jason were here, he'd start trying to convince Jaden not to do what he's about to do. Luckily for the elder Yuki, Syrus and Koala Man didn't know the clues to the formation of his evil ideas.

The napping boy waved lazily at them, "Oh, by the way, I'm Chumley. Nice to meet you."

Jaden stood still for a few seconds before shrugging and grabbing Syrus' shoulder. "Let's go..."

"Go where!?" He asked frightened.

Jaden smirked, "To spread the name of the Wonders." He ignored Syrus' protests as he ushered him out of the door and into the direction of the Academy building.

Chumley chuckled when he heard Jaden's words, "Good luck with that..."

...

Back with the two Ras, they found themselves standing outside their dorm building. The Ra Yellow dorm building was the size of a small apartment building and looked like a fancy bookstore according to Bastion, Jason content to downloading his reading material as it was easier for him. Translation: He had an easier time avoiding people. It was very clean and true to the name, very yellow with small dark green patches sporadically thrown in every few intervals. Bastion and Jason walked inside and found they were neighbors, much to their amusement. After unlocking Bastion's door with the keys they got in registration, the opened to a fairly sized room with a bed near a window, a desk with a computer and drawers for the clothes with the bathroom near the right side of the window. It even had a small fridge and stove for cooking.

All in all, it was cool.

"I'm surprised we get our own rooms..." Bastion commented as he set his suitcase down on the floor by the door. Jason hovered in the doorway to avoid intruding. "With the number of students here, I guessed we would need to room with others."

Jason hypothesized that maybe people were rooming together and he and Bastion were the lucky ones to get their own rooms.

"It's even more surprising that our rooms are right next to each other." Bastion smirked at that tidbit, feeling even more amused at that it was the mute Yuki that he would be spending more time with. "I'd say it was fate or something of the sort if I wasn't a man of logic." Jason gave a smirk at that. He just thought it was coincidence. Bastion examined the room a little bit more before nodding, "It's a good setup for the beginning of the year. Not that it matters much to me since I plan to be admitted into Obelisk before too long."

Jason blinked in surprise at that revelation. He admired it though. Having a plan was good, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to move up in ranking. He stayed in the doorway as Bastion went through the room, opening the drawers to presumably get a good idea of the size.

"And it's good that I get to start my year here with a good fellow like yourself..."

Jason almost fell from his spot by the doorway. He couldn't see Bastion's face as he was still measuring out the drawers with his fingers, but he wanted to believe that there was a smile somewhere in there. He hadn't heard anything like that since the whole incident with Shane - regrettably - forced him to be wary of people and who to get close to. He wanted to respond accordingly, even having a hand outstretched, but pulled back just as quickly as he put it out.

He scratched at his wrist, turning away and going next door. He would apologize for abruptly leaving later.

He tossed his bag off to the side, laying down on the bed as he tried to ignore the claustrophobic feeling beating within his chest. He swore the walls closed in towards him. He shook his head. He couldn't believe how pathetic he was. Not even a half hour away from Jaden and he was already gonna faint. He thought about retreating back to Bastion, but he hated intruding on someone; even more so when it was someone he saw as a nice guy.

He still had to go though. He stood up and left his room, hastily locking it when he remembered that Bastion would hear or see him in his hysteria. He didn't get two feet, stopping by Bastion's room again.

"You were right..." Another voice suddenly came through. Jason turned around as Bastion stuck his head out the door. Coming their way were three different people. One was a rather short, nervous looking boy with long green hair; the second was a very large, heavy set Ra who was as tall as the ceiling and required to be standing behind the other two people with him to allow them to move; and the third was a black haired guy with a smirk.

"That is the guy who beat Professor Koga..." The black haired guy continued. "He doesn't look as cool up close though." Jason repressed a flinch while Bastion raised an eyebrow.

The big guy lightly nudged the kid's shoulder disapprovingly. Even the shy looking kid had a disappointed look on his face.

"That's not nice, Dimitri..." The shy kid whispered out.

Dimitri realized the rude tone he had used and immediately went to apologizing. "Sorry about that. Sometimes I just talk without thinking..." He pointed to himself, "I'm Dimitri," he pointed to the big guy, "That's Beauregard," he ended off at the short kid, "And that's Brier."

Bastion nodded at the introductions, "I'm Bastion Misawa and my friend here is Jason Yuki. And yes, he is the one who defeated Professor Koga, rather impressively too..." He turned to smirk at Jason, who blushed at the praise, "It's why he's one of the two here that I hope to defeat." Jason turned surprised at that, easily finding himself curling a smirk of his own in response to Bastion's.

"Anyway," Dimitri intervened, "We were hoping to get to know the kid who defeated a teacher a little bit better. While the kid who defeated Crowler is causing up a bigger storm, this one is in our own dorm." Jason didn't think his victory of Professor Koga would cause any kind of ruckus. Especially not when Jaden had a much more impressive showing than he had.

"We, being mostly Dimitri, are curious as to your skills, Jason." Brier elaborated. "We didn't expect to see you so soon, so we don't have our disks on us, but we would still like to see your skills for ourselves up close sometime." Beauregard, staying silent, gave a half-nod in addition to Brier's statement. Dimitri did give a small betrayed stare at Brier for being singled out, but didn't hold it for long.

Jason was fine with Brier's statement. He'd gladly show his skills whenever. He did promise Jaden he would try to make it through without him around all the time. He stepped aside so Bastion could exit and lock his door. He still hovered a little closer to Bastion as the now group of five headed towards the ceremony hall for their welcome dinner after Bastion reminded them.

...

Over at the Obelisk Dorm, sitting in his fancy room with a bed that would've taken up all the space of a single room in the Slifer Dorm, Chazz stared down at the black deck case that he had resting on the white sheets. Ever since his duel with Jaden and what he told him, he found his thoughts going back to his old ace monster more so than he would've liked this early in the year. He could hear the voice of the monster, muffled from being locked in the case, asking when he could be brought back out. Chazz resisted the desire to walk away to spare himself the guilt.

He had his hand extended outward, fingers twitching as his heart begged him to just listen to Jaden's words and take it. He didn't have to go this far to prove himself to a bunch of punks who knew nothing about him and what he was capable of. On top of that, he didn't wanna permanently lose his favorite card with no hope of getting it back, not when it was right there. He extended his reach.

But then his head told him that that was the reason why he should prove them wrong. He could take them all by storm and rub it in their faces that he wasn't even at his best in doing so. He retracted his reach.

Chazz growled, holding his head in his hands. His frustration slowly escalated to where he wanted to fall to his knees and scream. He stormed out of his room without sparing his deck box a second glance.

…

Back with Jaden and Syrus, the two had stopped at the edge of the rooftop of the Main Building. They could see for miles and miles. Jaden had one hand over his face to block off the rays of the sun. He caught glimpse of what he thought was a small town like area on the very far outskirts.

"I'm not just seeing things, right Syrus?" Jaden asked as he pointed out the town.

Syrus followed his line of sight and shook his head. "Nope. Actually..." He reached into his back pocket to pull out the pamphlet that all students were given. "It says that, with the rise of demand for jobs and spots for this number one Duel Academy, and to keep up with our four school branches, they built a small little town that students can go to on the weekends. There's a movie theater, restaurants, laundromats if you don't wanna do your own washing, etc. If your grades are high enough, you can even rent out one of the apartments there for yourself."

"Awesome!" Jaden exclaimed.

"It is, yes!" Syrus agreed with a nod. "Seto Kaiba built it after much demand from not just the staff and students, but even from his younger brother and Yugi Muto himself!"

"I gotta say we picked the right time to enroll. This is gonna be a fun three years I tell you!" Jaden said. "Well, what'd you say we go check that place out this weekend!"

"As if Slifer Slackers like you two can ever hope to get a spot in Kaiba Town!"

Jaden and Syrus turned around to see that two Obelisk Blue students were standing there by the entrance to the roof. Two teenage boys walked up to them, wearing dark blue blazers. They were the same guys hanging around Chazz at the entrance exams.

"What's up?" Jaden gave a wave as Syrus inched closer to Jaden's side.

"Your dreams, apparently!" The one with no glasses exclaimed. "No Slifer Slacker has ever gained access to the Kaiba Town Complexes before!"

"Well I guess we'll be the first ones then." Jaden shrugged. His droopy eyes indicated his absolute joy in having this conversation. He guessed where this was going and didn't want to deal with the headache of it all.

"Jaden, maybe you shouldn't press their buttons..." Syrus advised against his friend's actions.

The blue haired student looked at Jaden for a few moments, "Wait a minute...you're that kid!"

Before Jaden or Syrus could ask them by what he meant, the brown-haired student turned his head, "Hey Chazz! The guy who beat Dr. Crowler is here!" he called out.

Both Slifer students saw Chazz ascend the steps towards the roof. Jaden and Chazz shared a quick nod of the head with one another, although Chazz avoided giving away that what Jaden said was still fresh on his mind, his eyes taking on a tired hue to them since his talk with Jaden. He touched his side where he normally carried his deck case.

"This is Chazz Princeton and he was the number one duelist at Duelist Prep School, so you be sure to pay the proper respect!" the blue haired teen snapped.

His partner nodded, "Yeah, he's gonna be the next King of Games, the best duelist in the world!"

"How've you been, Chazz?" Jaden asked casually, causing Chazz's friends Torimaki and Raizou to fall over in shock and Syrus to widen his eyes at Jaden's tone of voice. "You thought about what I said on the boat?"

"I did..."

"So...?"

"I'm working on it." He explained. Jaden narrowed his eyes, but shrugged. Maybe Chazz just worked at his own pace.

"You guys know each other?" Syrus asked as Torimaki and Raizou were still lying on the floor at Jaden's familiar tone with Chazz.

"We met on the boat coming here," Jaden explained. "We dueled each other. It was a fun game." Jaden neglected to say that he was the victor of that duel. It didn't seem that big of a deal, nor did it matter. "Anyway, what brings you and your friends here?" Jaden asked, turning attention back to them.

"Professor Koga said for these two to find you..." Chazz pointed to his ascending friends, "And for them to 'initiate the first duel of your Duel Academy education'."

"Whatever that means..." Jaden mumbled.

"I said the same."

"Sure, I'm always up for a duel." He shrugged, grabbing at his backpack where he had his duel disk. He saw Chazz start to smirk at him when he saw that it was the Academy-Issued one. "Yes, Chazz, I changed my Duel Disk."

"I didn't say anything…"

"I saw your face. Living with a mute brother has taught me how to read facial expressions. I know exactly what you're thinking," Chazz just extended his smirk. "Anyway," Jaden gave him an annoyed look before turning back to his would-be challengers. "Which of you two is it gonna be?"

"I will!" Torimaki stepped up with his deck inserted into his Duel Disk. "I specifically added a few cards to my deck to take you out when Professor Koga approached us!"

"All in a few hours? Wow, talk about commitment." Jaden laughed.

Both boys activated their Duel Disks as the other three moved off to the side away from the action.

"Duel!"

Jaden: 4000

Torimaki: 4000

…

In the surveillance room, Ichiro sat in front of the monitors to watch for the duel. He approached the first two Obelisks he could find and promised them a passing grade for the first semester if they could find and defeat Yuki. When he saw them going to the roof where Jaden was, he assumed they were gonna ask him where the other one was.

He nearly punched the monitor when he saw them start their duel.

"Those idiots!" He exclaimed. "Not that one! Why would I care about that Yuki brat! He's not the one who made me look like a punk! I thought it would be obvious I wanted the one-eyed sack of shit!"

"Who's in here?" A different voice called out from outside the room. Ichiro composed himself as Crowler entered the room. "Professor? What're you…" his thoughts were halted when he saw the screen. His eyes bulged, "Yuki is gonna duel an Obelisk!?" he crackled with laughter soon after, "Yes! This is perfect! That'll show him to mess with me!"

He took the seat next to Ichiro, looking at the screen excitedly while Ichiro looked annoyed and ready to rip Torimaki's throat out.

…

"I'll start!" Torimaki drew his sixth card. "I start by placing a facedown and summoning Giant Germ in defense mode!"

One set card appeared by his feet while a purple blob with brown fragments of dirt took the spot to the left of it. (ATK: 1000/DEF: 100)

"And that'll end my turn!"

"Okay…" Jaden stared unimpressed, drawing. He examined his hand. "I summon out Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" On Jaden's field appeared a man with bulky blue armor with two holsters attached to his glove. (ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) "And since he's the only card on my field, I can draw two more cards from my deck." He did so.

"And then I play Polymerization," Jaden missed the smirk that appeared on Torimaki's face. "Now I fuse the Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to make the Flame Wingman!"

Swooping down next to the Bubbleman was one of the Fusion monsters that Jaden used in his duel with Crowler. (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200)

"Running scared?" Jaden taunted with a smirk.

"Nope," Torimaki's cool attitude had Jaden raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Because you fell right for my trap!" His facedown flipped open to show the swirling vortex present on the Polymerization card being sucked into a device. "Anti-Fusion Device destroys one Fusion monster on the field."

Jaden's eyes widened when he saw the device from the card appear and suck his Flame Wingman into it before sinking into the ground. He growled, "Damn…"

"He took out Jaden's Wingman like if it was nothing!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Torimaki specifically altered his deck to be capable of countering the Fusion playstyle of the Elemental Heroes!" Raizou stated with a grin. "That Slifer stands no chance!"

Chazz stayed silent, curious at how Jaden will get out of this.

Jaden looked at his four-card hand. 'Well, that sucked. I don't have anything else to do right now and I left my Bubbleman in attack mode like an idiot.' He chastised himself. "I place two facedowns and end my turn." He concluded with a frown as two set cards appeared by his feet.

"Back to me," Torimaki drew, feeling a lot more confident after taking out Jaden's Wingman with little trouble. "I switch my Giant Germ into attack mode and summon out Pitch-Black Warwolf in attack mode!" Next to the Giant Germ came out a black werewolf wearing armor carrying a sword. (ATK: 1600/DEF: 600) "And now you can't activate any Trap Cards during the Battle Phase!"

Jaden growled.

"Giant Germ, take out his Bubbleman." The Germ expanded as it moved closer to Bubbleman, sucking him up and blowing him up into little fragments.

Jaden: 3800

Torimaki: 4000

"Now Warwolf, attack him directly!"

The wolf charged as it raised its sword, cutting down the middle of Jaden's torso.

Jaden: 2200

Torimaki: 4000

"Jaden just took a massive hit!" Syrus gasped.

…

Back at the surveillance room, Crowler was shaking with joy. "Yes, that's it, Torimaki! Show that Slacker that he was lucky in defeating me and doesn't belong here!"

Ichiro was silent. He was close to leaving as he had no incentive to stay when the one he wanted wasn't even around. Seeing his brother take a beating did little to get his blood moving.

…

Back at the duel, Torimaki held two cards. "I place these facedown to end my turn." He concluded. "I guess it's true – you did get lucky in defeating Dr. Crowler if this is all you got."

Jaden growled, "Spare me the victory speech. I haven't lost yet." He drew his card. "I play Magician's Archive!" A spell showcasing the Dark Magician glancing around a library appeared. "Now I can add any Spell Card I want from my deck to my hand!" He fanned out his deck to see what it was that he wanted. "I pick E-Emergency Call, and then I play it, allowing me to take my Stratos and add him to my hand." He did so.

"I summon out Stratos in attack mode!" A Hero wearing blue armor with fans spinning rapidly on his back as jet turbine wings flew down to Jaden's side. (ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) "Now his special ability activates and I can add one Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand."

"This is the third time this turn he's searching for something," Chazz muttered.

"I pick my Bladedge…"

"Search for anything you want, you still won't win." Torimaki mocked. "Especially when I activate my facedown Success Probability 0%! Now, two of your Fusion Monsters are randomly sent to the graveyard!"

Jaden gasped as he saw his Thunder Giant and his Rampart Blaster get sent to the graveyard. He glared at Torimaki.

"Man, this guy keeps wrecking Jaden's Fusion cards. Pretty soon, Jaden won't have any monsters left to fuse into." Syrus worriedly stated.

"Him beating Crowler was the biggest fluke in the history of this school!" Raizou said.

"I attack your Pitch-Black Warwolf with my Stratos!" He pointed forward. His Stratos propelled forward to send the Wolf packing to the graveyard with a strong kick.

Jaden: 2200

Torimaki: 3800

"Now the coast is clear for me to use my facedown Soul Fusion trap card!" A trap showing the familiar vortex with the letter 'S' in between appeared. "Now I pay 1000 life points to Fusion Summon a monster with the cards in my graveyard!"

A red aura surrounded Jaden as he pocketed his Bubbleman and Burstinatrix.

Jaden: 1200

Torimaki: 3800

Appearing by Jaden's Stratos was a monster with purple and red robotic armor with steam pipes attached to his back. (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000) "This is the Elemental Steam Healer! Now, attack his Giant Germ!"

Steam Healer held his hand out in the direction of the Germ. A big gust of steam shot out, destroying the blob of disease rather easily.

Jaden: 1200

Torimaki: 3000

"Now Steam Healer's effect activates! Since it destroyed your monster, I gain life points equal to its attack points!"

"But before then, Giant Germ activates its effect, allowing me to deal 500 points of damage and summoning out two more of them from my deck."

Jaden watched as the remains of the blob formed into two matching images of the monster from before. (ATK: 1000/DEF: 100)x2

A purple aura surrounded Jaden shortly before a green one did to heal the damage done to him.

Jaden: 1700

Torimaki: 3000

"I end my turn…"

"Back to me," Torimaki drew, having a hand of three. He smirked at the card he had. "Since you love all my Anti-Fusion Cards, allow me to summon out Fusion Devourer; guess what he does!" Torimaki taunted as a monster with multiple tentacles with white faces on them appeared. (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200) "Now whenever he battles a Fusion monster, its attack points drop down to 0."

Jaden glared at him.

"I attack your Steam Healer with Fusion Devourer!" Torimaki held his hand out as the many tentacles reached out to drain Steam Healer of all its strength. (ATK: 1800-0) The face in the middle opened its jaw, taking Steam Healer in and swallowing him whole. All those present cringed, even Crowler did. Ichiro was the only stoic one.

Jaden: 300

Torimaki: 3000

"Now, Giant Germ, attack his Stratos!"

"Huh?" Syrus asked, "Why would he do that? Stratos is way stronger than that Germ."

"Because Jaden will take 500 points of damage if it's destroyed, and with only 300 left he won't survive the round." Chazz explained, causing Syrus to gasp and turn to Jaden worriedly. He watched Jaden stare at the facedown that he had resting on his field.

Jaden pressed a button on his disk, "I activate Elemental Recharge to gain 1000 life points for every Elemental Hero that I have on the field. I guess I survive this round," he smirked at Torimaki, who glared at him.

"I'll still have both of my monsters attack your Stratos!"

Stratos held out both hands when the twin Germs came in his direction. He grabbed them, smashed them together, and evaporated them from the field.

Jaden: 300

Torimaki: 1400

He glared again, "You got lucky, Yuki. Next turn I'll end this for sure." He placed one facedown to end his turn.

"We'll see about that," Jaden drew, having three cards.

"I activate my facedown Non-Fusion Area!"

"Now neither of them can Fusion Summon anything!" Syrus gasped. "How's Jaden gonna get out of this?"

"He's not," Raizou commented smugly. "He might as well surrender now and give Torimaki his victory!"

Chazz stayed quiet.

Back with Crowler and Ichiro, the former was shaking in complete and utter delight. "That slacker is just one turn away from losing! He'll be so broken that he'll drop out and I can pretend that he never existed to begin with."

Jaden didn't pay the card any mind. After being rejected of his Fusions the entire duel, nothing that Torimaki played would catch him off guard again. Not that it mattered since he was ending this duel right now.

"I activate the Hero Mask spell card!" A spell showing Avian's mask appeared. "Now I can send an Elemental Hero from my deck to the graveyard to allow one of my monster's to be counted as the monster I discard."

"I don't know what you're trying to make, but it doesn't matter. My Non-Fusion Area stops you from summoning any Fusion monsters. It's over."

Jaden paid no mind, discarding Necroshade. "Now that I sent Necroshade to the graveyard, my Stratos counts as him." A mask that matched Necroshade's face landed in Stratos' hand, who put it on. "And now that he's in my graveyard, I can summon out one Elemental Hero without a sacrifice just once."

"And he's been holding Bladedge since last turn," Chazz reminded.

"Now I summon out Elemental Hero Bladedge in attack mode!" A large bulky hero wearing golden armor with multiple razor-sharp extensions skated down next to his Stratos. (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800) "Now this duel is mine! Stratos, attack his Fusion Devourer!" The wind hero turned his turbine wings into overdrive as he charged forward to punch the multi-tentacle monster.

Jaden: 300

Torimaki: 1000

"Now, Bladedge, attack him directly!"

"I activate my Fires of Doomsday!" Torimaki's lone facedown appeared to show two little monsters of black flames standing together. "Now I get two tokens."

Jaden and Chazz were the only two that were staring at him in confusion. Two little black fire monsters appeared shielding Torimaki. (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)x2

"That doesn't matter," Jaden shook his head. "Bladedge does piercing damage when he attacks a monster in defense mode!"

Torimaki paled as Bladedge skated over to kick the little token of black fire into ash.

Jaden: 300 (Winner)

Torimaki: 0

"And that's game!" Jaden said. "That was an impressive duel, that final move aside. Hopefully when you lose that smug attitude we can have a rematch. Although I am curious," Jaden walked over to him. "Why did Professor Koga want you to duel me specifically?"

Torimaki growled, "I'm not telling you anything. Just watch your back, Yuki." He warned, pushing on pass Syrus and Chazz to exit off the roof. Raizou followed behind him.

Jaden shrugged, "That was weird…"

"Yeah, no kidding," Syrus agreed. "Congratulations on defeating an Obelisk."

"Thanks, buddy," Jaden grinned. "Well, Chazz," he turned to the other Obelisk, who looked back at him upon being addressed. "How'd you like that?"

"If you would've lost, I'd have jumped off the roof for losing to you." He joked, getting Jaden's forehead to tick. "Good game either way. I honestly expected you to win a lot sooner with Torimaki as your opponent. I guess that being bought into the Blue Dorm for some doesn't necessarily mean you have zero skill." He shrugged.

"It was a tough one, I admit. If I learned anything, I shouldn't rely solely on my Fusions to win a duel." He laughed. Syrus laughed too. Chazz settled for smiling. The three stayed up there for a little bit more before leaving off to their respective dorms for their Welcome Dinners.

Back down at the surveillance room, Crowler was pulling his hair in frustration. "No! How could this happen! Professor, how!?" he turned to see that Ichiro had left already. He blinked, "Professor?" he stood up and looked around the room. He exited to try and find his fellow faculty member.

Unbeknownst to him, someone else was in the room watching the duel. He stepped out of the shadows to show that he was wearing a black leather jacket, a blue undershirt, dark blue jeans, and black combat boots. He had a black headmask on that covered his entire face except his left eye, which was a dark brown. He had a hole in his throat, a black device inside it being visible to the naked eye. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair as he sat down in the chair to stare at the monitor showing Jaden, Syrus, and Chazz walking away.

"I forgot how good Jaden was," the figure muttered in a robotic voice, the sound coming out of the hole in his throat – now identified as a speaker. "I probably should kill him asap, but that's too dangerous to do. First thing's first, I gotta draw out his latent energy for the switch." He sat in the chair, humming. "Now, how did it happen before?" he asked himself. He smirked behind the mask. "Yes… The Spirit Caller incident." He grabbed the phone by the keyboard. "If this goes right, maybe I can make myself known to my other self sooner than expected." He laughed as he dialed a number.

…

At the Obelisk Dorm, Chazz was eating his fancy welcome dinner alone in the corner as everyone else moved around to talk to each other. They even had the girls over from their Blue Dorm since they were all the same rank. He didn't pay any mind to anyone here. He kept his eyes moving around to try and see if he recognized anyone here from any stories that he heard. He needed a good challenge to make himself known as a tough duelist.

He did spot Zane, but wasn't jumping right to the top of the food chain yet. No one could scrape his life points the entire time he's been here and he was sure that he wasn't ready for that yet, especially when he was nerfing himself on purpose to stand out. Maybe later when he had proved himself.

He did spot Alexis Rhodes and Asami Elric, the top two female students of his year from the entrance exams talking to a few other girls. Maybe he could try it out with them for a challenge.

He walked over to them, "Excuse me,"

"Not interested," Alexis immediately shot him down with an annoyed look. "I'm not looking for any romance."

"Neither am I…" Asami added.

"Huh?" Chazz looked so hopelessly confused. "I just wanted to ask if I could duel you two sometime. I heard you two were good and wanted to see for myself." He looked around to maybe see if there was someone else near him that they were referring to.

Alexis and Asami's eyes widened, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Alexis apologized. "It's just that, we've been hearing dating requests since the moment we stepped onto this island and we're getting sick of it." Asami nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Chazz nodded in understanding. "I'd be mad too." Not that he didn't think they weren't good looking – he thought they were – he just didn't care about romance.

"To answer your question, yes, I'd like to duel you soon. I've been hearing all these rumors about you, Chazz." Asami said.

Chazz groaned, "What rumors?" he already knew, but still felt inclined to ask. He never knew, but maybe it would be something else, although it never was.

"That you're here because your family bought your way in," Alexis explained. Chazz sunk his head. He was close to going on the school loud speaker and yelling at everyone to stop accusing him of being a cheat. "The curiosity of it all is interesting."

"Well the answer is no, I can tell you." Chazz muttered. "But, you will duel, right?"

"Not now," Asami giggled. "Now it's time to relax."

Chazz laughed, "Of course!" The three laughed together, deciding to hang out for the rest of the party together.

…

At the Ra Dorm, Jason was sitting with Bastion and his other Ra friends at a table in the middle of the cafeteria. They were in the middle of the cafeteria with their other Ras sitting patiently waiting for their headmaster to begin their meal.

"So, you use Dark World because you find the monsters cool?" Brier asked from his spot to Jason's left. Jason nodded, shrugging his shoulders modestly. "I guess I can see why. I mean, I use Goblins because I find their design cool." Beauregard, having gotten looks at Brier's deck, nodded in agreement.

"I might try them out for myself," Dimitri mumbled from across Jason, rubbing a finger under his chin. "They were able to help you beat one of our teachers. Or, maybe I'll try to use Heroes since your brother used them to beat the head of Obelisk, which is a little bit more of an impressive feat, no offense." Jason shrugged again, not feeling bad about Dimitri's comment. He couldn't be hurt at the truth.

Bastion laughed, "They're both impressive achievements. Makes it hard for me to decide which one I'm gonna duel and defeat first." He shared a friendly smirk with Jason. Brier, Beauregard, and Dimitri looked at them staring at each other, silently trying to make guesses as to who would win between the number one applicant and one of the two Yukis that had defeated a teacher. It would definitely be an interesting Duel.

Rising from his spot at the end of the table where Jason and they were sitting was a man with a moustache with a long yellow trench coat like what Crowler wore.

"Hello, my Ra Yellows," he spoke with a Spanish accent. "My name is Professor Sartyr and I'll be your headmaster for your stay in this dorm." The Ras clapped. "Thank you," he laughed, "Now, before we begin our meal, I'd like to say that I'm happy to know that one of our new brethren defeated a teacher." Jason shrunk in his seat at being indirectly addressed. Bastion smirked at his mannerism while Brier looked sympathetic to his acts.

"This makes me happy because being the middle dorm makes it hard for us to stand out. Let's make it known to the island that the Ra Yellows can stand out against the Slifers and the Obelisks."

The Ras cheered.

"Let's eat!"

…

Over at the Slifer Dorm…

"This is our big fancy welcome dinner?" One Slifer student said to no one in particular.

Jaden and Syrus had made it back to the dorm just before the dinner started and saw what they rushed for. A small dish of rice, sardines, and chopsticks with some sauces. Syrus face-planted when he saw how little they were being given. Not the big welcome that he was expecting to have, although they shoulda seen something like this coming with the state of the dorm. Jaden was too busy staring at the food with hunger, the typical Yuki hunger and eating talents about to be revealed to the entire Slifer Dorm.

"Forget the dinner, look at our headmaster! It's a cat!" Another said pointing at a brown and black striped cat that was taking a snooze at the Slifer dining hall table. That thought was blown out of everyone's head when a tall and skinny looking man with a dark hair and a pair of glasses came out from the kitchen area. He seemed like a nice enough guy. At least he didn't wear makeup like that buffoon Crowler did, Jaden thought before he turned back to his food with his hungry grin.

"Hello children. I'm Professor Banner," he greeted them all in a light German accent. "Before we eat, I would like everyone to say some…" Before he could continue he was interrupted by Jaden.

"This is great!" He had already begun to stuff his face with rice. Everyone was staring at the Hero Duelist.

"Jay, I think he wanted us to say something about ourselves." Syrus said, trying to stop his friend from eating. Jaden seemed to be ignoring him, going over to his sardines.

"Okay, how 'bout this, I'm starving!" Jaden said with his mouth full.

"He's walking over here." Syrus warned but Jaden was still stuffing his face full of food. "I mean it, he's…" Syrus didn't finish since Professor Banner now stood over the two of them.

"Well, since some of us can't wait…" He said almost with a small smile. "Let's just eat!"

"Yeah!" Jaden cheered.

End of Chapter 3 of Yu-Gi-Oh: Diffusion

After a long break, here's the next chapter. The reason for the delay being because I changed the story for this a lot. I mean A LOT. I mean, I had to switch Jason's deck into a Dark World deck to have future plot elements make sense. Maybe I'll reveal all of the old ideas one day.

Hopefully you enjoyed the duel between Jaden and Torimaki. I was actually surprised I allowed Torimaki to have that big of an edge on Jaden. And his mishap at the end of the duel will be a factor in the upcoming story arc, which I've gracefully nicknamed – The Dormitory Civil War Arc.

And who is this mysterious figure that seems to know Jaden and his latent power? Who is Ghost? Oh boy, I can't wait for their identities to be revealed.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, which will hopefully be up at a considerable pace. Like mentioned before, personal problems and writing my own original Adventure/Crime story has taken up all of my time.

Next Time: Rise of the Ra Rejects! Banished Dark World!