The streets of Domino City where relatively quiet, though on the other hand it was still pretty early in the morning, well aside from one young duellist bolting down the street as fast as his legs could carry him.

"How the hell did I sleep in this morning?" The duellist, a young man with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes who was wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots and wearing a duel disk on his arm, thought as he ran towards his destination, namely where Duel Academy was holding there entrance exams, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the building in site, he slowed down in order to catch his breath when he saw a car pull up, the passenger side door opened and a teenage girl around his age (17) stepped out, she had elbow length dark brown hair, green eyes and was wearing a green jacket over a stomach exposing black top, blue jeans and black boots, and most importantly she was carrying her own Duel Disk.

"Thanks for the lift dad." The young woman said as she got out, the other duellist blinked a couple of times before he recognised her voice.

"Chloe? You didn't tell me you where applying." The male duellist said, the girl turned around and smirked.

"Neither did you Lance." Chloe pointed out before rubbing the back of her head nervously. "How else am I going to get better at Duel Monsters anyway?"

"I thought your step dad was teaching you?" Lance asked.

"I can answer that for her." Chloe's stepdad said stepping out of the car, he was bald and had blue eyes; he was wearing a nice looking business suit. "I may have been a good duellist back in the day but I'm out of practice, besides the folks at Duel Academy will be able to teach her stuff I couldn't even dream off."

"That's if I qualify." Chloe sighed before getting her deck out of the duel disk; she looked through it before finding Silent Magician Level 4 (4/1000/1000). "If nothing else though my Silent Magician should help me qualify and get into Duel Academy, actually that reminds me." Chloe said putting the card back in her deck. "How did you do on the exam Lance?"

"I did pretty well." Lance shrugged. "And don't worry Chloe you'll do fine, sure you've only been duelling for two months now but other than that I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Chloe said. "I honestly don't know how well I did on the exam; after all I'm still learning the game."

"Guess we'll have to see." Lance said. "Anyway let's head in, I don't want to be any later than I am already."

"I agree there." Chloe said, her dad got in the car and drove off and the two teens entered the building, it was packed with people ranging from students that where already at the academy to prospective students like Chloe and Lance.

"Your dad's not sticking around?" Lance asked.

"He can't, he has a gameshop to run remember?" Chloe pointed out as she leaned forward on the rail. "Looks like we're in luck, the duels haven't started yet."

"So I ran from my home for nothing?" Lance said causing Chloe to look at him funny.

"You ran half way across the city? Why didn't you ask your parents for a lift?" Chloe asked and Lance blushed a bit.

"I didn't want to wake them up." Lance admitted. "I couldn't call you either because my cell phone needs topping up."

"Chloe Richardson, please report to Duel Field 1 for the first duel of the day." A voice rang out over the PA system, Chloe grinned.

"That's my cue, wish me luck." Chloe said before pausing. "How do I get down to the duel field?" Chloe asked and Lance facepalmed.

"You forgot already?" Lance asked before shaking his head. "Never mind, I'm sure that there's someone that can show you around."

"You guys need some help?" A male voice rang out; they turned around and saw a blonde teenager in an Obelisk Blue Uniform who had been sitting not far from the two of them.

"Err, yeah my friend here is up first and she doesn't know the way to the duel fields." Lance replied; the Obelisk Blue student nodded in understanding.

"I understand; this place can be a pain to navigate if you've never been here before." The student said standing up. "I'll show her the way."

"Are you sure? I could find it myself?" Chloe blinked in surprise.

"I'm sure, besides new students are given five minutes to get to the Duel Field in time and this place is hard to navigate if you don't know the way." The student said stepping out of the row and onto the walkway. "My name's Brandon by the way."

"I'm Chloe, he's Lance." Chloe introduced the two of them. "To be honest I wasn't expecting an Obelisk Blue to be so friendly."

"Not all Obelisk Blue students are uptight assholes with too much money." Brandon shrugged as he led Chloe to the elevator that would take her down to the duel arenas, Brandon pressed the button for the ground floor and whilst he waited for the elevator he turned to her. "Chloe, if you don't mind me asking how long have you been duelling?"

"I've only been duelling a little over two months." Chloe sighed.

"Don't worry about it, most of the students in Osiris Red are rookies, what kind of deck do you run?" Brandon reassured her.

"Combination of warriors and Spellcasters, alongside support spell and trap cards." Chloe said, the elevator arrived at that moment and Chloe entered. "If you want to see them in action you'll have to watch my duel."

"I look forward to it." Brandon said walking off, the elevator doors closed and the elevator took her to the due fields and when the elevator arrived she exited and looked around for the duel field.

"Chloe Richardson?" A male voice rang out; she turned around and saw a male duel proctor with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Let me guess, had trouble finding the way?"

"Guilty as charged." She admitted, the proctor led her to the duel field and they stood opposite each other. "So, who's going first?"

"I am." The proctor said activating his duel disk, Chloe did likewise and the two duellists drew their opening hands, Chloe took one look at her hand and winced.

"Great, this isn't exactly my strongest opening hand." Chloe sighed. "At least he's going first." She thought as the proctor drew his first card.

"Not bad." The proctor thought as he observed his hand. "I will begin by activating the spell card Dangerous Machine Type 6!" The proctor slid his spell card into the slot and a large, circular machine with six symbols in the centre of it in a circle and in the middle of it was an arrow.

"Okay...what does that do?" Chloe blinked.

"You'll find out soon enough." The proctor said as he picked up another card. "Now I'll summon the mighty Tiger Axe in attack mode." The proctor put the card down and a humanoid tiger in grey armour and wielding an axe appeared on the field. (4/1300/1100). "And I'll end my turn by setting two cards facedown, make your move."

"Gladly." Chloe said drawing her card. "Why would he open with such a weak monster? He'll regret soon enough." She thought before turning her attention to the card she had drawn. "I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode." Chloe put the card down on the disk and a tall blonde man with shoulder length hair appeared on the field, his grey armour was decorated with various symbols and he was wielding a large sword. (4/1700/1000) "Neo, attack Tiger Axe now!" Neo charged at Tiger Axe, as he did his sword started glowing...

"You've fallen into my trap, GO MAGIC CYLINDER!" The proctor activated one of his face down cards and two jars appeared on the field. "But that's not all, I activate my other face down card Rush Recklessly, this quick play spell allows me to increase the attack power of a monster of my choice by 700 points."

"So you're choosing Tiger Axe?" Chloe asked but the proctor shook his head.

"Your thinking too small, my choice is Neo the Magic Swordsman!" As the Proctor said this Neo's attack increased to 2400. "And with Magic Cylinder the attack that would've destroyed Tiger Axe instead decimates your life points!" Chloe's eyes widened as Neo went in one Cylinder and came out the other; she braced herself for the attack as Neo slashed her.

P: 8000

C: 5600

"If you keep making mistakes like that you'll never get into Duel Academy." The Proctor said folding his arms. "Any other moves you want to make?" Chloe examined her hand and picked up two cards.

"Yes, I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn." Chloe set the two cards and the proctor drew his card.

"And now I activate the effect of Dangerous Machine Type 6." The proctor said as the arrow started spinning. "Here's what it does, depending on what number it lands on it can have a variety of effects that affect both players." As the proctor said that the arrow slowed down and landed on five. "For example when the arrow lands on five I can destroy one monster on your side of the field." The machine fired a laser at Neo, when it hit Neo collapsed to the ground and the hologram shattered. "Now I shall sacrifice Tiger Axe to bring out Swordstalker in attack mode." Tiger Axe disappeared and in its place stood a purple, muscular being wearing a red cape and carrying a jagged yellow sword. (6/2000/1600) "Swordstalker, attack her lifepoints!" Swordstalker charged at Chloe who quickly activated her facedown card.

"Don't count on it; I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to bring back Neo." As she said that Neo reappeared on the field. "And now I activate my other trap card Reinforcements increasing Neo's attack by five hundred." She activated her other card and Neo's attack rose to 2200, as Swordstalker lowered it sword to attack Neo Chloe's monster rose its own sword to defend it's self.

"Not bad but I activate a second Rush Recklessly from my hand." The proctor said picking up the last card in his hand and just like that Swordstalker's attack rose to 2700, Neo's sword broke in half and Swordstalker slashed it down the middle.

P: 8000

C: 5100

"Your friend's not doing well." Brandon commented. "She's lost a lot of lifepoints and it's still early in the game."

"Don't count her out just yet." Lance said folding his arms. "She's been in tougher spots before."

"There you are." A female voice rang out; the two boys turned around and saw a female Obelisk Blue student with dark brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. "Wanted to get a better look at her duel huh?"

"Yes, though I honestly doubt she'll last much longer." Brandon admitted. "Lance this is Theresa, she's my girlfriend." Brandon introduced Lance.

"It's nice to meet you." Lance said with a nod. "And like I just said I wouldn't count her out yet."

"With that much of her lifepoints already lost?" Theresa asked. "It'll take a miracle."

"Is it my move now?" Chloe asked, the proctor nodded and she drew her card. "I don't have anything in my hand that can beat Swordstalker and I've already wasted my Reinforcements card." Chloe thought before looking at her new card. "But this might help." Chloe thought before activated the card she drew. "I activate my Spell Card, Card Destruction."

"Is that how desperate you are? You're willing to discard your entire hand?" The proctor asked before discarding his three cards and drawing a new set of cards, Chloe did likewise and drew her cards.

"Call it what you want but that move has worked in my favour, I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Chloe activated her card and three golden swords rained down from the sky pinning down Swordstalker. "Now you can't attack for three turns but that's not all." Chloe said picking up another card. "It's time I brought out my most powerful monster, Silent Magician Level 4 in attack mode." Chloe put her card down and a young girl in white and blue robes appeared, she was also wearing a large white hat with a blue gem in the centre of it and was she was carrying a staff (4/1000/1000).

"That's your strongest monster?" The proctor scoffed. "You're a fool, when Swords of Revealing Light expire my Swordstalker will make quick work of it but failing that if my Dangerous Machine lands on a five it will be destroyed." However back in the rafters Brandon and Theresa knew better.

"Where did she get such a rare card? She told me herself that she only has two months worth of experience." Brandon asked.

"Duelling runs in her family, her stepdad is a former duellist who retired to run a gameshop, he taught her everything she knows." Lance answered. "That card was a birthday present from him to her, out of respect for her privacy I won't go into detail but that card means a lot to her, much more than any birthday present."

"If you're done mocking my monster I'll end my turn." Chloe said, the proctor said nothing a drew his card, as he did that the gem on Silent Magicians hat glowed and suddenly Silent Magician's attack rose to 1500.

"What's the meaning of this?" The proctor demanded as the Dangerous Machine's arrow started spinning.

"My Magician gains a Spell Counter every time you draw and for each spell counter she gains 500 attack points." Chloe said folding her arms. "It does have a limit though, it can only hold a total of five spell counters but by then it'll have a grand total of 3500 attack points."

"Yes thank you I can do basic math as well." The Proctor responded. "But your assuming that I will allow you to get that far in the duel, for all you know Dangerous Machine could destroy it right now." As the proctor said that the arrow slowed down and landed on four. "Seems Dangerous Machine decided to be merciful, when it lands on four you get to draw an extra card." Chloe smirked at that and drew her card, Chloe looked at it and her grin drew bigger.

"Yeah, it's being merciful in more ways than one." She thought before turning to him. "Anything else you want to do?" The proctor looked at his card and shook his head.

"There's nothing I can do, go ahead." The proctor said; Chloe looked at her card.

"Thanks to Dangerous Machine I was able to draw Pitch Black Power Stone early, with this I can add three more counters to Silent Magician." She thought as she drew her card. "I set two cards face down and I summer Gearfried, The Iron Knight in attack mode!" Chloe set the two cards down and a knight in jet black armour that seemed to have a sword a shield for its hands (4/1800/1600). "That's all for me." The proctor drew his card and Silent Magician's attack rose to 2000 and the arrow started spinning again this time stopping on three.

"When Dangerous Machine lands on 3 I can draw an extra card." The proctor drew his card and Magician's attack rose again to 2500. "Your Magician may be stronger than my Swordstalker now but not for long, first I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your swords." He played the card and a tornado appeared on the field sweeping away the remaining swords. "And next I will sacrifice Swordstalker to bring out my ultimate creature, the unstoppable Jinzo." Swordstalker disappeared from the field...

"That's what you think, I activate my trap card Trap Hole which automatic..." Chloe never got a chance to finish as twin red lasers cut through the holograms of both cards and the android appeared on the field much larger than Chloe's monsters. (6/2400/1500). "What...what happened to my traps?"

"You want to join Duel Academy and yet you don't know what Jinzo does? Pathetic, when Jinzo is summoned to the field it automatically negates the effects and activations of any and all trap cards." The proctor explained.

"In case you haven't noticed my Silent Magician still has a higher attack power than Jinzo does." Chloe pointed out.

"Yes, and that is exactly why I activate my own Swords of Revealing Light!" The proctor said activating his card and just like that three swords rained down on Silent Magician and Gearfriend. "Jinzo attack Gearfriend now!" Jinzo put its palms together and charged up its attack and a ball of black energy appeared between its hands, Jinzo fired it at Gearfriend who screamed before it was disintegrated.

"And I activate the effect of Kuriboh, by discarding this card from my hand I can reduce the damage I would've received to zero." Chloe said discarding her card. "But the bad news is that leaves me with no cards in my hand and that was my only copy of Kuriboh."

"I'll give you credit for a good move, with your lifepoints so low you can't afford to lose anymore lifepoints." The proctor complemented her. "I'll set a card facedown and activate Amplifier which I equip to Jinzo." The proctor played his last two cards and a small dome shaped helmet appeared on Jinzo's head. "With this spell card I can now activate any trap cards I want."

"That leaves your friend with a serious disadvantage." Theresa said folding her arms. "And the proctor's right, for all she knows Dangerous Machine could destroy her monster before his Swords wear off."

"My turn." Chloe said drawing her card. "I need to get rid of Jinzo and fast; I know I have Eternal Rest in my deck but I have no way of getting it to my hand." She thought. "I set a monster in defence mode, which will do it for me." Chloe said setting the card down, the card appeared on the field and the first of the swords disappeared, the proctor drew his card and Silent Magician's attack rose to 3000 as the arrow started spinning, it eventually stopped...on a five, Chloe's eyes widened. "No!"

"To bad, your Silent Magician is gone!" The proctor said and just like that the machine fired its laser, Silent Magician raised its staff in defence but it was disintegrated. "And now I activate my facedown card Stop Defence forcing your facedown monster into attack mode." The proctor activated his card and Chloe's facedown Battle Warrior (3/700/1000) appeared on the field. "And that's not all, you may remember my other card, it's another Rush Recklessly! Now Jinzo attack Battle Warrior and annihilate her life points!" The proctor said as Jinzo charged up its attack and fired it at Chloe's monster, it was quickly destroyed.

P: 8000

C: 2700

"This is nuts! His lifepoints haven't even been touched and I can't take another attack like that!" Chloe thought. "Come on Deck; give me something I can use!" Chloe thought as she drew her card, when she saw it she grinned. "I activate Card of Sanctity!" She activated her card and both players drew 6 cards, when she saw what she had drawn her grin widened. "I activate the Spell Card Eternal Rest!"

"NO! That destroys all monsters with equip cards attached to them!" The Proctor's eyes widened as Jinzo started to short circuit before exploding.

"I'm not done yet!" Chloe said discarding a card and playing another card. "I activate Monster Reincarnation, by discarding a card from my hand I can return one card from my graveyard to my hand and I think you can guess what my choice is."

"You're bringing back your Silent Magician." The proctor realized as Chloe retrieved the card.

"Bingo and I'm summoning her now!" She said as the Magician returned to the field. "But she's not staying around, I activate Level Up!" She said sliding the card into the card slot and Silent Magician started glowing. "I must confess, I wasn't being entirely truthful when I said that Silent Magician was my strongest monster, to be more pacific it's my second strongest!" The magician started growing until it eventually stopped revealing a grown up version of Silent Magician Level 4. "Say hello to my strongest monster, Silent Magician Level 8!" (8/3500/1000).

"Impressive monster, but Swords of Revealing Light is still in play!" The Proctor pointed out, Chloe just grinned.

"Silent Magician, attack his lifepoints directly." Chloe commanded and to the proctor's surprise the monster charged up her staff and fired a beam hitting the proctor in the chest.

P: 4500

C: 2700

"How is this possible?" The proctor demanded.

"My Silent Magician isn't affected by your spell cards, even your swords." Chloe said looking at her last card. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." The proctor drew his card and the Machine's arrow started spinning again. "Come on, anything but five, anything but five!" Chloe thought as she watched the arrow slow down...and to the proctor's shock it landed on 6.

"NO! This can't be happening, when the arrow lands on 6 the machine Self Destructs!" The proctor said as the machine started to short circuit, both duellists shielded themselves as the machine exploded.

"Good riddance." Chloe thought, then to her surprise the proctor surrendered.

"There is nothing I can do, you win." The proctor admitted. "Welcome to Duel Academy." Chloe blinked a couple of times as it started to set in; once it did she jumped for joy.

"YES! Way to go Chloe!" Lance shouted with a grin before turning to Theresa. "See? What did I tell you?"

"That magician of hers packs a punch, I have to admit that." Theresa admitted. "But the fact that she is a rookie is pretty obvious, still she has potential."

"I have to agree there." Brandon nodded as they watched Chloe make her way back to the elevator, soon she rejoined them. "Congratulations Chloe, you had us worried there."

"Thanks, I thought it was over once Silent Magician was destroyed to be honest." Chloe admitted.

"Sorry to interrupt your celebration young lady." Chloe turned around and saw an elderly woman in a business suit. "I am the Headmistress of the Osiris Red Girl's Dorm, I thought I'd take the opportunity to welcome you, not to mention get you fitted for a blazer." The woman introduced herself.

"Osiris Red? I'm going to be in the worst dorm?" Chloe said with clear disappointment in her voice.

"Now, now, don't fret." The woman reassured her. "I acknowledge the fact that you where able to turn back the duel in your favour despite the massive difference in life points but it was agreed that due to your clear inexperience and bellow average test score Osiris Red would be best for you."

"I guess you're right." She admitted, Lance put a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax; it's better than not making it altogether."Lance reassured her.

"Lance has anyone ever told you that you're cheering up skills need work?" Chloe joked.

"Lance Alvers, please report to Duel Field Five." A voice over the PA called out.

"And that's my cue." Lance said walking off towards the elevator. "Here's hoping I have an easier time in this duel than you did." Lance added glancing towards Chloe who nodded in agreement before turning to the older woman.

"Do we have to get me fitted now? I'd like to watch my friend duel." Chloe asked.

"I understand, out of curiosity what deck does he play?" The headmistress nodded in understanding.

"He plays a fire deck; he has a ton of Trap and Spell cards that can severely damage his opponent's life points." Chloe explained.

"A burn deck in other words." Theresa nodded. "Not something I'd recommend running myself, if used incorrectly it could wreck havoc on the user's lifepoints."

"He's had plenty of practice using it." Chloe answered leaning forward on the rail as Lance arrived at the duel arena. "Unless his test proctor is as tough as mine was he shouldn't have any problems."

"Then I have some unfortunate news, the proctor you faced was the weakest test proctor in Duel Academy's employee." The headmistress sighed.

"What? But...but I could barely beat him." Chloe said in surprise before sighing. "No wonder I'm being stuck in Osiris Red."

Whilst that was going on Lance stepped onto the Duel Field and activated his duel disk. "Oh right, where's my opponent?"

"Impatient aren't we?" An old sounding voice rang out and an elderly duel proctor with glasses so thick Lance couldn't see his eyes and balding grey hair stepped onto the field. "Welcome Mr. Alvers, I will be your evaluator for today."

"Err; please just call me Lance, your embarrassing me." Lance responded. "Just a fair warning, I don't hold back on anyone regardless of age."

"Excellent, I like to have a challenge once in a while." The old man clapped his hands together with a grin. "I have my own fair warning for you young man, not only am I the most experienced test proctor but I am the best."

"He's kidding, right?" Chloe said her eyes wide.

"He isn't." Brandon shook his head. "When I applied last year I had to duel him, it was the toughest duel I had ever fought up until I met Theresa, and Lance has a tough duel ahead of him." Chloe gulped.

"Suddenly I'm glad that I ended up duelling that other guy." Chloe gulped. "How tough can he be any way? I doubt he can see threw those glasses of his."

"I made the same assumption but believe me Chloe, if you had duelled him at your current skill level you would've failed." Brandon said, usually Chloe would try to defend her duelling skills but now she had a feeling Brandon was right, Lance and the old proctor drew their cards and Lance observed his hand.

"Hmmmm, this combo of cards could work in my favour." Lance thought. "Still, it's better to be safe than sorry." Lance thought before turning to the proctor. "I'll let you go first."

"Very well." The elderly proctor said drawing his first card. "Very interesting, I'll set a card facedown and a monster facedown, your move."

"Oh right then." Lance said drawing his first card. "I kick things off by bringing out Great Angus in attack mode." Lance played his card and a muscular blood red beast appeared on the field. (4/1800/600) "Great Angus attack his defence." Great Angus leaped forward and took a bite out of his facedown card, but what it was caught him off guard. "RIGHT ARM OF THE FORBIDDON ONE?" (1/200/300) Lance yelled in surprise.

"Ah, so you know about the all powerful Exodia." The old man said pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Do you have anything else to play?"

"As a matter of fact yes." Lance nodded. "I set the remainder of my hand facedown and end my turn." Lance said, the old man drew his card and as he did Lance activated two of them. "I activate two of my traps, Solemn Wishes and Bad Reaction to Simochi, with Solemn Wishes I gain five hundred life points each time I draw and with Bad Reaction any cards that would heal you would instead deal the same amount of damage as the card would've restored your lifepoints with."

"Ah, very impressive." The old man nodded. "Unfortunately for you I lack any healing cards in my deck."

"Is that a fact?" Lance asked as he activated another card. "I also activate Backfire, with this card every time you destroy a fire type monster you suffer 500 points of damage, and my deck is loaded with fire types."

"Very good but I have noticed a glaring flaw in your strategy young man, based on the fact that you've loaded your magic and trap card zones with cards on your first turn I think it's a safe bet that your deck is made up mostly of trap and magic cards." The old man said pushing his glasses up your nose. "A flaw that could be easily exploited by a duelist with the right card in his deck." The old man then looked at the card he drew. "And I just happen to have that card in my hand, I set a card face down and a monster in defence mode, it's your move."

"Right then." Lance said drawing his card, Solemn Wishes took effect giving him an extra five hundred lifepoints.

P: 8000

L: 8500

"Enjoy those lifepoints whilst you can for I activate the Trap Card Royal Decree." The old man said as he activated his trap, Lance's eyes widened when he saw that. "Remember the last duel where my associate used Jinzo? This trap card has the exact same effect, normally this would be devastating enough but you've just crippled your duelling field."

"And I thought I was in trouble in my duel." Chloe said. "Most of Lance's deck is magic and trap cards but usually when he plays this strategy he has some kind of backup plan."

"Let's hope for his sake that he has." Brandon nodded.

"Sorry old man but I came prepared; I activate my facedown card Mystical Space Typhoon!" Lance activated his card and a tornado prepared to wreck havoc on the field.

"I don't think so; I activate my other facedown card Magic Jammer." The old man said picking up one of the cards in his hand. "Now by discarding one card from my hand I can negate the activation of Mystical Space Typhoon and since you chained your activation of Mystical Space Typhoon with the activation of Royal Decree and I chained the activation of Magic Jammer with the previous two chains..."

"Magic Jammer's unaffected by Royal Decree." Lance finished it for him as he put Mystical Space Typhoon in his graveyard. "Well the good news is I now have a Magic/Trap slot free, bad news is he's rendered my traps useless." Lance thought.

"By the way Lance, if you are curious the card I just discarded was another Exodia piece." The old man said causing Lance to do a double take.

"Wait what? You're getting rid of Exodia pieces on purpose?" Lance realized, up on the rampway Chloe had the same reaction.

"I'm surprised that guy's won any matches, let alone against duellists like Lance." Chloe commented folding her arms.

"Don't underestimate him young lady, your proctor made the same mistake when he was duelling you." The headmistress scolded her.

"Yes ma'am." Chloe gulped nervously.

"Now back to my move." The old man said as he looked at the card he drew. "Very interesting indeed, I shall set this card face down in defence mode and I shall end my turn at that." Lance drew his card and his eyes narrowed.

"Soul Release? This card is useful as it would allow me to remove up to five cards from either my graveyard or his." Lance thought. "However I want to know just what he's up to before I activate anything else." Lance thought before turning his attention to Great Angus. "Great Angus attack his defence." Great Angus leapt forward again and bit into it revealing it to be Exodia, The Forbidden One. (3/1000/1000). "I don't know what you're up too old man; initially I thought your plan was to use Backup Soldier to return the two discarded Exodia pieces but since the card I just destroyed was an effect monster that throws that idea out the window."

"How observant of you." The Proctor said pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Do you have any other moves?"

"No, it's your move." Lance said as the old man drew his card.

"I shall now activate the Spell Card, Card Destruction." The old man said activating it. "I can now force both of us to discard the remainder of our hands and draw new hands." The old man drew his cards and Lance did likewise "Lance, you have fought well but this is where the duel and your hopes of getting into Duel Academy end." The old man said with a chuckle. "Now that all five pieces of Exodia are in my graveyard I can activate the dreaded Spell Card Contract with Exodia!"

"Contract with Exodia?" Lance echoed. "I've never heard of that card."

"I am not surprised, it is a very rare card and as I stated before it requires that all five pieces of Exodia be in my graveyard but it is well worth it because with it I can summon a monster that rivals Exodia himself in terms of power." The old man placed the card down and grinned. "Come forth Exodia Necross!" The old man called and a single massive, Jet Black Hand suddenly came out of the ground, it was soon accompanied by a second and soon a monster that could only be described as a jet black version of Exodia. (4/1800/0) Lance did a double take when he saw the stats.

"That's supposed to rival Exodia? My grandmother is a better rival for Exodia than that thing." Lance said with a smirk.

"Well in that case I wouldn't want to meet your grandmother in a dark alley." The old man answered back. "Allow me to demonstrate just one of Exodia Necross' many abilities; Exodia Necross attack Great Angus with Exodia Crush!" Exodia pulled back his fist and slammed it into the Great Angus flattening him.

"What just happened? That should've been a tie!" Lance pointed out.

"That's the thing young man." The old man said folding his arms. "Exodia Necross cannot be destroyed in battle, you may not have lost any lifepoints in that attack but I have just crushed your only defence."

"He's right, unless I draw something I can use I'm done for." Lance thought as he drew his card, when he saw it he grinned. "Exodia Necross is no more! I activate Lightning Vortex, now by discarding one card from my hand I can destroy all faceup monsters on your side of the field and I count one!" Lance said discarding his card and lightning struck the massive monster, however Lance's grin quickly disappeared once the lightning faded and he saw that Exodia Necross was still standing. "Please don't tell me that Spell Cards can't destroy it either?"

"You catch on fast young man." The old man said with a nod. "Not that it matters thanks to Royal Decree but it can't be destroyed by traps either."

"That thing has to have a weakness, right?" Chloe asked once the realization hit her.

"It does, whether or not your boyfriend can figure it out is..." Theresa started.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Chloe quickly asserted.

"Really? You do seem to be blushing." Theresa pointed out before shaking her head. "As I was saying, whether or not Lance can figure it out is another story."

"In that case I have no choice but to end my turn." Lance said bracing himself for the upcoming assault, the proctor drew his card and to Lance's surprise Exodia Necross' strength increased by 500 making its strength 2300. "It has a similar effect to Silent Magician Level 4?"

"Indeed, but unlike Silent Magician it gains its strength during each of my standby phases, and it doesn't have a limit." The proctor answered pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Exodia Necross attack his lifepoints directly, EXODIA CRUSH!" Necross pulled back its fist and slammed it into Lance sending him flying back.

P: 8000

L: 6200

Lance got back to his feet and winced. "I have to think of something fast." Lance thought as he drew his card. "Rush Recklessly? Chloe's opponent used this in her duel." Lance thought glancing at the other Rush Recklessly in his hand. "And I have two, and my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian provides an adequate de...wait a second...." Lance thought. "It seems Exodia Necross has a weakness after all."

"Really? Would you mind sharing it?" The proctor asked.

"Gladly, I start by summoning Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode." Lance played the card and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian appeared on the field. (4/1400/1200).

"What's he thinking? That monster is nowhere near the strength of Necross." Chloe said as she watched the duel.

"And now I activate Megamorph, as long as my lifepoints are lower than yours my Celtic Guardian's attack is doubled and as you can see." Lance said raising his duel disk so that his lifepoint counter was showing. "There's a fairly large gap between my lifepoints and yours." As Lance said that Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's attack rose to 2800. "And now I activate the one Facedown Card that wasn't affected by Royal Decree, go Rush Recklessly!" Lance activated his card and Celtic Guardian's attack rose to 3500. "And I have two more copies of that card in my hand and I'm activating them both." Lance slid the two cards in one after the other increasing Celtic Guardian's attack to 4900. "Now let's see if my theory is correct, Celtic Guardian attack Necross!" Celtic Guardian charged at Necross and slashed it, the monster remained standing but the proctor's life points where another story.

P: 5400

L: 6200

"Well done young man, you have discovered one of my monster's weaknesses, can you discover the other?" The proctor applauded.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Lance said before smirking even as Celtic Guardian's attack was cut in half. "And guess what? Whilst Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's attack might be cut in half by the side effect of Megamorph it can't be destroyed by monsters with 1900 attack or more so in other words my lifepoints will be safe once I switch him to defence mode, for now though I'll end my turn."

"Very well." The proctor said drawing his card and just like before Necross' attack rose to 2800. "Exodia Necross doesn't need to destroy your monster in order to deal damage to your life points; and with your monster's attack at 700 it's perfect bait for my monster, Exodia Necross attack Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! EXODIA CRUSH!" Necross pulled back its fist and slammed it into Celtic Guardian; Celtic Guardian got up slowly and glared at the much larger monster.

P: 5400

L: 4100

"That ends my turn for now Lance." The old proctor said and Lance drew his new card as Celtic Guardian's attack doubled again.

"I switch Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to defence mode and I activate Hinotama which deals 500 points of damage to your life points." Celtic Guardian knelt down and raised its sword in defence, as he did this a meteor came down from the sky and struck the proctor.

P: 4900

L: 4100

"I'm not done yet, I activate Pot of Duality!" Lance said activating his card. "This card requires that I show you the next three cards in my deck, once I do that I can add one of them to my hand and return the rest to my deck which is subsequently shuffled." Lance said showing his cards to the proctor: Heavy Storm, Little Chimara (2/600/550) and a second Backfire, Lance picked up one of the cards and shuffled the other two into his deck. "And now I activate the spell card I just drew Heavy Storm!" As Lance activated it a storm swept through the field destroying all the spell and trap cards. "Sure, I lost all my remaining trap cards and my Megamorph but they took your Royal Decree with them." Lance said before looking at his remaining cards. "That's all for me." The proctor nodded and drew his card; he frowned even as Necross' power increased to 3200.

"Why did Lance destroy his own card?" Chloe asked.

"Megamorph is to unreliable, you saw that Celtic Guardian's attack strength was cut in half due to Lance's lifepoints being higher than the proctor's and it cost him heavily." Brandon said folding his arms. "Still, it worked in his favour as he was able to figure out one of the weaknesses of Exodia Necross.

"I pass for now." The proctor said and Lance drew his card.

"My second Soul Release? Great off all the times to get a dead draw...wait I just realized something, in order to summon Necross he sent the Exodia pieces to the graveyard but what happens if I remove the Exodia pieces? It's worth a shot." Lance thought as he activated his Spell Card. "I activate my Spell Card Soul Release!" As Lance activated his card the proctor's jaw dropped. "Judging from the look on your face I think it's a safe bet that this was the last thing you needed to happen, off course my graveyard doesn't contain anything special but yours on the other hand? It contains the five pieces of Exodia and I'm targeting those cards!" The proctor reluctantly retrieved the Exodia pieces and to Lance's surprise Necross started falling apart until there was nothing left. "Well, that was unexpected." Lance said as the proctor sent Necross to the graveyard, Lance regained his composure and switched Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to attack mode. "I switch my Celtic Guardian to attack mode and I summon Darkfire Soldier number 1 in attack mode!" Lance placed the card on the duel disk and a topless blonde man appeared on the field whose lower half was covered entirely in fire. (4/1700/1150) "And to top things off I activate the Field Spell Card Molten Destruction! With this I can increase my Soldiers attack by 500, sure it also reduces its defence by the same amount but that's not my concern!" As Lance activated his card the scenery changed as it now included a massive volcano, just as Lance said Darkfire Soldier's attack rose to 2200. "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, Darkfire Soldier, attack his lifepoints directly!" The two monsters charged at the proctor, Celtic Guardian slashed at him with his sword and Darkfire Soldier punched him with a fist encased in flame.

P: 1300

L: 4100

"Are you all right?" Lance asked the proctor who was breathing heavily, he nodded in response and Lance smiled. "I end my turn at that." The proctor drew his card and smiled.

"Lance, you have certainly earned your place at Duel Academy, but unlike my associate I have too much pride to surrender on the spot, so instead I'll set one monster in defence mode and end my turn." The proctor said, Lance drew his card and added it to his hand. "Celtic Guardian attack his defence." Celtic Guardian leapt forward and slashed the facedown card revealing it to be Sangan (3/1000/600), the proctor added a card to his hand thanks to Sangan's effect but both duelists knew that it didn't matter at that point. "Darkfire Soldier, finish it." Darkfire Soldier leapt forward and punched the proctor with a fist encased in flame.

P: 0000

L: 4100

"Congratulations Lance, welcome to Duel Academy." The proctor nodded, Lance smiled and deactivated his duel disk, and he left the field and made his way back to the elevator.

"Lance Alvers?" Lance blinked and turned around and saw a tall muscular man with brown hair who was wearing a business suit. "I am the headmaster for the Ra Yellow boy's dorm; I wanted to personally welcome you to the dorm."

"Ra Yellow?" Lance asked. "Looks like me and Chloe are in different dorms."

"Chloe? You mean that girl who duelled before you?" The Ra Yellow headmaster asked as Lance pressed the button for the elevator.

"Yeah, we've been friends for as long as I can remember, truth be told I'm disappointed we won't be in the same dorm." Lance answered.

"Just because you're not in the same dorm doesn't mean you can't see her, it'll just be a tad bit more difficult." He answered. "In the meantime I need to get you fitted for a Ra Yellow blazer." He added as the elevator arrived.

"In that case lead the way." Lance said entering the elevator, to his surprise the headmaster followed him in, the headmaster pressed the button for the floor where Chloe was.

"We need to pick up your friend first; she wanted to watch your duel before she got fitted for a blazer." The headmaster explained.

"I'm not surprised, Chloe loves watching me duel." Lance shrugged. "Will we have to stick around for the other duels?"

"You can if you like." The headmaster nodded. "But seeing as how you two have already qualified for the Duel Academy your presence isn't required." The Ra headmaster said as the elevator door opened, they were greeted by Chloe and the headmistress for the Osiris Red dorm. "Maria, I'm guessing you're going up as well."

"Yes I am Jeffery." The Osiris Red headmistress said as she and Chloe entered the elevator. "And I see that Lance will be in the Ra Yellow dorm."

"Yes I will be." Lance nodded, he glanced towards Chloe. "And that means that we will be in separate dorms."

"Yeah." Chloe nodded clearly disappointed by this. "At least this means that we'll still get to see each other though."

"You know by the way you two are interacting I'd say that you too are more than just friends." The Ra Yellow Headmaster pointed out.

"Then you'd think wrong." Lance said trying desperately to hide his blush. "When does the boat leave for Duel Academy?"

"In about four days, you two can use the time to strengthen your decks." The Ra Yellow headmaster said as the elevator arrived at its destination. "And pack of course."

"Believe me, we'll be doing both." Chloe answered and Lance nodded in agreement. "The fact that my dad runs a gameshop will definitely help."

"It certainly sounds like it." The Osiris Red headmistress nodded as they stepped out of the elevator. "Chloe come with me, Lance your going with Jeffery." Chloe didn't say anything and followed her and Lance did likewise.

"Tell me Lance, is there any special reason you duel?" Jeffery asked.

"I'm afraid I don't understand the question." Lance blinked. "I duel because I enjoy duelling."

"Many prospective students do, however for some duelling is much more than that, some duel for fame and fortune, some even duel for a personal reason." Jeffery answered.

"Now that you put it that way, Chloe duels for a personal reason." Lance said and Jeffery stopped in his tracks and glanced at him.

"She must trust you a lot if she's willing to tell you that." Jeffery said folding his arms. "Out of respect for her privacy I won't ask for the details."

"You wouldn't get them if you did." Lance said and Jeffery smiled.

"It's good to see that her trust is well placed," Jeffery nodded before motioning to the door that he had stopped in front of. "We have arrived at Ra Yellow's training room." Jeffery said opening the door for him, Lance entered and whilst that was going Chloe was having a bit of trouble keeping up with the headmistress.

"Err, could you slow down a bit?" Chloe asked nervously, Maria smiled and slowed down.

"Chloe, if you don't mind I would like to ask you something." Maria said stopping in front of a door. "Why do you duel?"

"Huh?" Chloe blinked. "Do you ask every possible student this or am I special case?"

"I ask all my possible students this." Maria asserted.

"The reason why I duel is none of your business." Chloe folded her arms. "Just know that it's for personal reasons."

"Then I will respect your right to privacy." Maria nodded seemingly unaffected by Chloe's bluntness, though Chloe bit her lip already regretting her choice of words. "We have arrived young lady." Maria said opening the door for her, she entered the room and the door closed behind her, around five minutes later both duelists emerged wearing their blazers, Chloe was wearing hers open showing that she was still wearing her top, Lance on the other hand was wearing his blazer closed, the two duelists followed their respective headmasters and met up with each other again.

"You know, despite how you feel about being in Osiris Red that blazer does suit you Chloe." Lance commented and Chloe blushed a bit.

"I could say the same." Chloe said and Jeffery smirked.

"Are you sure there isn't something more between you." Jeff asked causing both teens to blush furiously.

"I'm as sure as she's inexperienced...no offence." Lance said before turning to Chloe who shook her head.

"No offence taken." Chloe said before pausing. "So Lance, do you want to check out the other duelists' duels or head home?"

"Let's head home; I can't wait to tell my parents the good news." Lance said before pausing. "Would your dad be willing to give me a lift? I am not running half way across the city again." Lance asked earning himself odd looks from the dorm heads. "What can I say? I slept in."

"You did stop for rests along the way, right?" Jeffery asked.

"I'm a lot of things, stupid isn't one of them." Lance said. "So Chloe, about my question."

"I'm sure dad won't mind," Chloe nodded before reaching into her pocket and retrieving her cell phone. "Err, what's the reception like in here?" Chloe asked the dorm heads.

"It's pretty good." Jeffery said pushing the button for the elevator; Chloe started dialling as the dorm heads entered the elevator. "If you excuse us we have to return to the other dorm heads but we look forward to seeing the both of you on the island." The elevator doors closed and Lance leaned against the wall.

"Chloe, be honest with me, how nervous are you about going into Duel Academy." Lance asked, Chloe sighed.

"Honestly? I was nervous enough going into my test match and we had a hard enough time defeating our proctors..." Chloe trailed off.

"And the students at the academy beat them in order to make it that far." Lance finished for her. "I think it's best that we avoid duellists like Brandon and Theresa whilst looking for opponents, at the very least we should try duelling students in our own dorms." Lance said as he pressed the elevator button.

"I agree there." Chloe nodded. "Though knowing our luck we'll probably face them somewhere down the line, I thought your Dorm Headmaster said that the reception was good here..." Chloe stopped when she finally got through. "Hey Dad, me and Lance had our duels, yes we did well, I'd rather tell you the result in person which reminds me, would you mind giving Lance a lift home, really? Great thanks!" Chloe hung up. "He'll be here in a few minutes and yes, he agreed to give you a lift." Chloe said as the elevator arrived, the two teens entered and Lance pressed the button for the floor where Brandon and Theresa was, once they arrived they made their way to where Brandon and Theresa was and walked over to them. "Hey guys."

"Chloe, Lance, great timing." Brandon said motioning to the duel arenas. "The duels are really heating up."

"Unfortunately we are heading home; we're both excited to give our respective parents the good news." Lance said with a smile. "Did anyone else qualify?"

"As a matter of fact no." Theresa said shaking her head. "The duellist that duelled after you did got creamed in four turns, I think his nerves got the better of him."

"To bad." Lance nodded. "I guess we'll see you on the island."

"Good because we'd like a match with either of you two." Brandon said and the two teens gulped.

"Please tell me you're joking." Chloe said nervously.

"He isn't." Theresa said. "I can see that your nervous about that but you can't exactly get better by not challenging yourself."

"You have a point, and we look forward to it." Lance smiled, unprepared for Chloe subsequently yelling in his ear.

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU SPEAK FOR ME!" Chloe yelled, she regained her composure whilst Lance rubbed his ear. "Well, we'd better get going; my stepdad's picking us up." Chloe said as the two teens left the building.

"Thanks for costing me my hearing." Lance said annoyed. "Seriously though they had a point."

"Lance you know as well as I do that they have far more experience than I do and I could barely beat the weakest proctor." Chloe sighed. "Hell if I hadn't drawn Monster Reincarnation and Eternal Rest when I did I would've failed."

"Just like how I would've failed if I hadn't drawn Soul Release." Lance nodded. "Don't worry about it Chloe, we qualified and that's all that matters in the end." Lance added and Chloe couldn't help but agree there, it was around that time that the car that Chloe's stepdad drove pulled up and her stepdad stepped out.

"Chloe, Lance how did..." It was then that her stepdad saw the uniforms. "You qualified? Congratulations, I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks dad." Chloe said blushing a bit at the praise. "I'm guessing you're still willing to drive Lance?"

"Of course I am, hop in." Her dad said opening the door for the two teens, they climbed in and her dad got in the driver's seat and started the car. "I'll drop you off first Lance, Chloe's mother was called in at the hospital and I don't want to think of what could happen if I leave her alone in the store and some idiots decide to rob it."

"I thought it was mom's day off?" Chloe asked.

"It was an emergency, that's all she could say, she did say that she plans on treating the three of us to a meal out on the night before the boat left if you two qualified though." Her stepdad added.

"Sounds good, speaking of food I haven't eaten all day." Lance said once he realized that his stomach was rumbling.

"I'm sure your parents can sort something out for you when you return home, though they were worried sick that you had taken off without telling them where you were going." Chloe's stepdad said and Lance winced. "I told them that you didn't want to wake them up and that you where worried about being late though."

"Thanks." Lance sighed in relief. "Well, we made it this far, god only knows what's ahead of us." Lance thought as the car drove away.