Woohoo! I have finally posted Season 2 of my Shadow Rise series! I am so happy! Well, on to the notes for this story.

Erm, do I have notes for this story?

Well, this story does follow the canon storyline with my own twists and turns (as you'll see when we get to both the Domino City Field Trip as well as the GX Tournament) and will include a pretty large group of brand-new OCs submitted by reviewers. I have the outline planned out and I am almost done with Chapter 8 so updates will be weekly until I run out of pre-written chapters. I will try to keep ahead so that I won't keep everyone waiting but I make no promises.

Also, as will be pointed out in this story, I have altered things so that girls are now allowed to choose whether they want to go straight to Obelisk Blue or if they wish to start out at the rank that they tested into (or as a Slifer and work their way up). I did this only because I think it's rather unfair that girls are automatically placed in the "best" dorm there is even if they aren't that great.

Also, I have decided that I am going to post Raiden's deck on my profile when I get to a certain chapter in this story so as not to give ya any spoilers for what is to come, though, I suppose, that is a slight spoiler itself. Eh, whatever.

Let's see, what else do I have to tell you?

Actually, I can't think of anything else. I'm probably forgetting something but I'll tell ya in other author's notes when I do finally remember.

I hope that you enjoy the first chapter of White Radiance and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. I never have and I never will and I am only saying this once. Also, sUbSoNiCSoundwave owns Dante Broaden, decode9 owns Hikari Suzuku [formerly Yami but changed with permission], Justrayawsome owns Justin Ray, callofduty1944 owns Nathan and Zoey Bradford, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight owns Kira Ryuki, Numbuh24InsaneBrain owns Gareth Conway and GateMasterGreen owns Max Drau (who won't make an appearance until the third part of this story).

White Radiance

1

The Start of Second Year

It was late afternoon and two people were running toward the otherwise empty docks. One was a tall man with long blonde hair in a ponytail; Dr. Vellian Crowler, the Headmaster of the Obelisk Blue Dorm. The second one was a short and fat bald man with a dark-green and gold blazer and black hair; Jean-Louis Bonaparte.

"Hurry up, you Swedish meatball. We've wasted enough time already," Crowler exclaimed, glancing over his shoulder at the shorter man.

"Pardoné moi, 'Chancellor'. It's not my fault I've got petit legs," Bonaparte replied irritably.

Crowler had been promoted to Chancellor of Duel Academy on a temporary basis while the real chancellor was away doing business. He stopped running and turned to face Bonaparte, who was his Vice-Chancellor, as the shorter man also came to a stop behind him, breathless.

"What are we running for anyway?" Bonaparte asked.

"A special new student is enrolling here at Duel Academy and we need to be there to greet him," Crowler replied, holding up a magazine.

"Are you joking?" the Vice-Chancellor gasped.

"Are you calling Aster Phoenix a joke?" Crowler demanded as he opened the magazine and showed the picture of a young silver-haired man in a white tuxedo with piercing blue eyes.

"He's ranked number one in the Pro League. Why, in the world, would he enroll here at our school?" Bonaparte asked.

"Who knows? But if he comes here, he'll make our school world-famous," the temporary Chancellor practically squealed. "After all, everyone knows Aster Phoenix."

. . .

Near the Slifer Red Dorm, Jaden was standing on the cliff across from a silver-haired boy. Jaden hadn't changed much during the summer in terms of looks but if one were to look into his eyes, they would see the haunted look of a boy who had witnessed horrible things in the span of a short time.

"All right, if you want a duel, then you can have one," Jaden said quietly.

The silver-haired boy, who was known as Aster Phoenix, though Jaden didn't know it, nodded and activated his duel disk.

Nearby, sitting cross-legged on the ground, was a blue-haired Slifer named Syrus and a brown-haired woman named Dorothy, who was carrying a fat tabby named Pharaoh in her arms.

"It's not even the first official day and Jaden's already dueling," Dorothy commented.

Syrus nodded in agreement. "Is it just me or does this guy look familiar?" he wondered aloud.

Dorothy shrugged.

"So what's your name anyway?" Jaden asked curiously.

"You can call me A.P.," Aster replied calmly.

"Well, A.P., get your game on," Jaden said as he and Aster drew their opening hands.

Aster: 8000

Jaden: 8000

Three people approached the spectators who were watching the duel as A.P. drew his sixth card. The first was a tall slender girl with long blonde hair that she was now wearing over her shoulder in waves dressed in the Obelisk blue uniform with a silver heart-shaped pendant hanging around her neck. The second was a black-haired boy wearing a long black coat and holding the hand of the third girl, who was also in the Obelisk blue uniform with black leggings beneath the skirt and light-blonde hair. These three were Alexis Rhodes, Chazz Princeton, and Arina Zharkov.

"All things considered, I'm surprised Jaden is actually dueling," Alexis commented, gazing at her boyfriend.

Chazz nodded in agreement. All throughout the summer, Jaden had been rather hesitant about dueling; based on what he had told his siblings and Chazz, while Chazz was staying with the Yukis, he kept getting flashbacks every time he tried to duel. He kept remembering what happened with Kaage over the summer, and especially that final duel between them. It took a lot of talking with the therapist he finally consented on seeing—though that had taken a good few weeks to accomplish because he was stubborn and refused to admit that he needed help—to help with those flashbacks, though he still did get them a lot. His therapist had told him that he needed to start trying to stop avoiding anything associated with the trauma he experienced. One of those things was dueling.

"Yeah, well, he"—Syrus pointed at Jaden's opponent—"just showed up at our doorstep, wanting to 'battle the best duelist on the island.'" He knew of what happened during the summer because Jaden had told him; he said that since he was sharing a room with Syrus, the blue-haired little Slifer should know what happened, especially since Jaden did have rather violent nightmares.

"Do we know anything about his opponent, though?" Chazz asked curiously.

"He looks familiar," Arina said, observing the silver-haired boy.

"He does. Maybe he's like you, Chazz, a stuck-up rich kid," Syrus suggested with a smirk.

Chazz glowered at him. "Zip it, shrimp. He's nothing like me," he snapped.

"Ojama Yellow, Defense Mode."

Chazz face-faulted, much to everyone's amusement, as the yellow creature wearing red bikini briefs appeared, crossing his arms (A: 0/D: 1000).

Jaden raised an eyebrow in amusement as he gazed at one of his foster brother's most known monsters. "Ojama Yellow? Are you taking lessons from Chazz?" he asked.

Chazz glowered as he got to his feet while everyone else snickered. "I would never start with that card," he grunted.

The spirit form of Ojama Yellow appeared on Chazz's shoulder. 'That's right, boss. You save the best cards for last,' he said happily.

Chazz swiped Ojama Yellow off his shoulder. "No one asked your opinion, so shut it," he snapped.

Arina giggled, already knowing that her boyfriend was talking to one of his duel spirits.

"I wonder what else this guy has," Alexis said.

"Who knows? There are some combos that he could pull off with Ojamas," Arina pointed out.

"That's true."

"There isn't much he can do with that deck, though," Dorothy said.

"Why do you say that?"

"He came by the card shack this morning," Dorothy replied. "I hadn't stocked the shelves with new cards yet and he asked for any leftovers. He bought eight packs and created a 40-card deck from them."

"You mean Jaden's dueling a guy with mix-matched cards?" Syrus echoed.

Chazz raised an eyebrow. "Then this should be an easy match for him," he said.

"That's supposing they're not compatible cards," Arina pointed out.

"True."

"All right, my draw," Jaden said, drawing a card. "And I'm starting off by Special Summoning my Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy to my field in Attack Made. Since I have no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon him directly from my hand." Jaden placed the card on his duel disk and a Fiend with pale-green skin and two black-and-red wings on his back and jutting out over his head appeared (A: 300/D: 600).

"And then I play my Dark Fusion Spell Card to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand in order to summon Evil Hero Inferno Wing in Attack Mode," Jaden added.

His Fiend with the large dark-blue wings, spiky green hair and a blue V-shaped visor over her eyes appeared on the field, a cruel smirk on her face (A: 2100/D: 1200).

"Now, Inferno Wing, attack Ojama Yellow, and when she attacks a monster who's in Defense Mode, you get dealt piercing damage," Jaden added as his fiend flew into the air and shot a blast of blue flames at Ojama Yellow, enveloping him until he shattered into golden pixels.

Aster: 6900

Jaden: 8000

"And Inferno Wing's effect deals you damage equal to your monster's Defense," Jaden added and Aster shielded himself with his duel disk as he was bathed in blue flames.

Aster: 5900

Jaden: 8000

"Now, Infernal Prodigy, attack him directly," Jaden added and his other fiend grinned before dashing forward and sinking his claws into Aster's duel disk.

Aster: 5600

Jaden: 8000

"And I will end my turn with that," Jaden added.

"Wow, that's not like Jaden at all," Syrus said quietly. "It's as if he's trying to end this duel as quickly as possible."

Alexis, Chazz, and Arina looked at each other. This wasn't the first time that Jaden had done this since his duel against Kaage. And that reminded Alexis of a question that she had wanted to ask Chazz but had forgotten about until then. "How has he been, Chazz?" Alexis asked quietly. "I mean…"

"He has his good days and he has his bad days," Chazz admitted. "He still has flashbacks, bad ones at times, and he still has nightmares but he's seeing a therapist and whatever Dr. Nakamura is doing, it's helping a lot."

Alexis nodded, relieved.

"Wow, I guess you are as good as everyone says," Aster said, pretending to look impressed.

Jaden shrugged. "I guess. It's your move," he said.

"Right." Aster drew a card and looked over his hand. Soon I'll learn all of Jaden's strategies. Let's start with this, he thought. "First, I play one card face down and then I activate Reload. This allows me to shuffle my hand back into my deck and then draw a new one." He did so and glanced at his new hand.

Jaden raised an eyebrow. Must've had a bad hand, he thought.

"And then I play the Field Spell The Sanctuary in the Sky," Aster added, placing the card on his duel disk and the field was shrouded in clouds as a large temple rose up behind Aster.

"Interesting. Must have some Fairy monsters in his hand," Arina said.

"And then I summon Warrior of Zera in Attack Mode," Aster added, placing the card on his disk.

A dark-skinned warrior with green gauntlets around his arms, a red scarf around his neck and a green helmet topped with two red devil-like horns jutting out of his head appeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 1600).

"But now I tribute him in order to Special Summon Archlord Zerato in Attack Mode," Aster added.

A tall pale-purple skinned fairy with a reddish-orange scarf around his neck and large glowing aqua-green wings appeared on the field (A: 2800/D: 2300).

"Oh boy, that's not good," Arina said.

Alexis nodded in agreement. "Having Archlord Zerato and The Sanctuary in the Sky in play can lead to a rather devastating effect that could put Jaden in a tough position," she said.

"And next, I activate Zerato's effect: since The Sanctuary in the Sky is in play, I can now discard my Mystical Shine Ball to destroy all monsters on your side of the field."

Jaden cringed as The Sanctuary in the Sky opened up and unleashed a bright flash of light that enveloped his side of the field and his monsters shattered, conjuring up smoke. When the smoke cleared, his field was empty.

"Now, Zerato, attack Jaden directly with Sacred Surge," Aster ordered.

Jaden barely contained the yelp as Zerato unleashed another storm of glowing aqua-green feathers that exploded around him.

Aster: 5600

Jaden: 5200

"So, how was that?" Aster asked, signaling the end of his turn.

Jaden nodded, taking a deep breath. "Not bad," he said as he drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." He did so and then added, "And then I summon Elemental Hero Ice Edge in Attack Mode."

His child-like white-armored hero appeared on the field (A: 800/D: 900).

'Hiya, Jay, how are ya?' Ice Edge asked, glancing at Jaden.

Jaden gave him a small smile. "I'm okay," he assured him, hoping he sounded convincing.

'Uh huh. So want me to attack this guy?' Ice Edge asked, pointing at Aster.

"Go ahead. I activate Ice Edge's effect and, by discarding one card, he can attack you directly," Jaden said, discarding one card in his hand and Ice Edge happily dashed forward, head-butting Aster in the gut.

Aster: 4800

Jaden: 5200

"Ice Edge other effect activates: since he inflicted battle damage by a direct attack, I can now destroy one Set Spell or Trap Card on your field," Jaden went on, pointing at his opponent's lone facedown card before Ice Edge blasted it away with his ice powers.

"And then I'll place this facedown and end my turn," he added, inserting the card into his duel disk and a vertical facedown appeared at his feet.

"My draw," Aster said, drawing a card. "And I activate Zerato's effect and discard the Spirit of the Pot of Greed I just drew to destroy all monsters on your field."

Once again, that bright flash of light enveloped the field.

'Aww man,' Ice Edge whined just as he was destroyed.

"Now, Zerato, attack Jaden directly," Aster ordered.

"I activate my The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh to summon Winged Kuriboh to my field in Defense Mode," Jaden said quickly, revealing his facedown and his winged furball appeared with a little coo (A: 300/D: 200).

"Zerato, attack and destroy Winged Kuriboh instead," Aster ordered.

Sorry, pal, Jaden thought as the glowing feathers crashed into Winged Kuriboh and destroyed him.

"And I will end my turn with that," Aster said.

"My draw," Jaden said, drawing a card. "And I activate Card of Sanctity so we each draw until we're each holding six cards." They each drew until they had a full hand.

"And next I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in Defense Mode," he added and his blue-and-gold armored hero appeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 1400).

"But he won't be here long as I activate Double Summon and tribute Sparkman in order to summon my Evil Hero Malicious Edge in Attack Mode," Jaden added and Sparkman, muttering 'hmph, so the showoff gets the limelight again', vanished. He was replaced by a vicious looking blue fiend with spikes jutting out of his body and three long silver claws jutting out of the back of his hands (A: 2600/D: 1800).

'Hmph, I'm not as big a showoff as Fiend,' Malicious Edge muttered.

"Wait, he's a Level seven monster," Aster said with a frown.

"Yeah, but I can tribute summon him with only one tribute if you have a monster on your field," Jaden explained, picking another card in his hand and inserting it into his duel disk. "Next, I equip Malicious Edge with Vicious Claw, which increases his Attack by 300." Malicious Edge smirked as a large silver dragon-like claw appeared on his hand (A: 2600-2900).

"Now, Malicious Edge, attack Archlord Zerato," Jaden ordered and Malicious Edge grinned and dashed forward, grabbing Archlord Zerato with the claw and ripping his wings off, which led to the rest of his body shattering into golden pixels, though Aster didn't take damage because of The Sanctuary in the Sky.

'Vicious much,' Yubel said dryly. 'But, all things considered, I'm not surprised.'

'Don't look at me. He was like that even before everything happened,' Haou retorted.

What are you two talking about? Jaden thought.

'Nothing to concern yourself over right now, Judai,' Yubel assured him.

"My draw," Aster said, starting to draw a card, only to pause when a phone started ringing. "Wait, hold on a second." He stopped the draw and pulled out a cell phone from his pocket instead.

"Just my phone. I've gotta take this." He answered the call, much to Jaden's irritation. "Hello? Oh, no, I'm not busy. I can talk."

Jaden's eye twitched.

"Who whips out a cell phone in the middle of a duel?" Chazz exclaimed. "That's obnoxious."

"Reminds me of you, Chazz," Syrus teased.

Chazz glowered at him. "I'm not like that anymore, shrimp," he snapped.

"I wonder what that's about," Arina murmured.

"That's right, I'm dueling him as we speak," Aster said into the phone.

. . .

The person on the other line was sitting in a white room in an unknown place. He wore a white cloak that hid his face and there were some tarot cards lying on the table in front of him. "Excellent," he said.

"So, any last minute advice?" Aster asked.

The cloaked man turned over a card. It was an upside down picture of a grim reaper with a scythe in his hands. "The Reaper of Souls is upright," he said. "You know what must be done."

. . .

"Cool, thanks for the call," Aster said and hung up before slipping the phone away. "Well, it's my turn now. I draw."

He drew a card and then said, "And I play Double Summon to summon my second Mystical Shine Ball and White Magician Pikeru in Attack Mode." The first to appear was a shining sphere (A: 500/D: 500) while the second was a pink-haired little magician in a white-and-pink robe carrying a small wand in her hand and a lamb-shaped hat on her head (A: 1200/D: 0).

Jaden raised an eyebrow, wondering what he planned on doing with that.

"And next I play Premature Burial, paying 800 Life Points to bring back Warrior of Zera in Attack Mode," Aster said and the dark-skinned Warrior returned to the field (A: 1600/D: 1600).

Aster: 4000

Jaden: 5200

"Then I activate Order to Charge," he added, holding up the card. "With this, I can target one monster on my field and tribute it in order to destroy one monster on your field."

"Oh boy," Jaden said, watching as one of the Mystical Shine Balls vanished and a blast of light obliterated Malicious Edge and leaving his field wide-opened.

"Now, White Magician Pikeru, attack Jaden directly," Aster ordered and his magician unleashed a blast of light that slammed hard into Jaden's duel disk, sending him skidding back a foot.

Aster:4000

Jaden: 4000

Jaden took a deep breath. He really was thankful that he hadn't experienced any flashbacks in this duel so far. He hoped that it stayed that way.

"And now I'll have my Warrior of Zera attack as well," Aster added and Jaden winced as his opponent's other monster struck his duel disk.

Aster:4000

Jaden:2400

"Aw man, A.P.'s in the lead now," Syrus murmured.

"I'm sure Jaden'll be fine," Alexis said.

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn," Aster added and two vertical facedowns appeared at his feet.

Jaden took another deep breath. "My draw," he said, drawing a card. "And I play The Warrior Returning Alive to add Avian back into my hand." He retrieved the card and added, "And next I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental Heroes Ocean and Avian in my hand in order to create Elemental Hero Great Tornado in Attack Mode."

A warrior in green, black and yellow armor with a tattered black cloak hanging over his left shoulder appeared on the field (A: 2800/D: 2200).

"And when Great Tornado is summoned, the Attack and Defense of all of your monsters is cut in half," Jaden added as a great wind picked up and Aster's monsters weakened (Pikeru A: 1200-600/D: 0) (Zera A: 1600-800/D: 1600-800).

"Now, Great Tornado, attack Pikeru," Jaden ordered.

"I activate my Negate Attack to stop your attack and end the Battle Phase," Aster said, revealing the card and Jaden sighed.

"I guess I'll just end my turn then," he said.

"Are you okay?" Aster asked.

Jaden smiled at him. "I'm fine. I'm having a lot of fun and it's nice having a match where nothing is on the line," he added the last part quietly. The one thing about everything that happened during the summer that hadn't affected him was when Alexis and Kyle's souls had been taken in that Shadow Duel that Kaage Naka forced them into. That was primarily because he had seen it happen before and, while it hurt because Alexis and Kyle were much closer to Jaden than Zane and Crowler were, he had been able to come to terms with and push it aside.

Everything else that happened, however, was another story entirely.

"It's your move," he added.

Aster nodded and drew a card. "Now let's see what fate has in store for me," he said, studying the field. "I've got the lead now. I simply have to keep it."

Jaden raised an eyebrow again. "It's not about fate, it's about listening to your cards, y'know," he said.

"You're crazy," Aster snorted. "You expect me to have a conversation with my cards?"

"That's not exactly what I meant," Jaden said. "I just mean trust your deck, not fate and you might just get what you need."

Coo. Winged Kuriboh appeared from Jaden's Graveyard and landed on his shoulder and he smiled softly at the winged furball. "Glad to see ya, buddy," he said quietly.

Winged Kuriboh cooed.

Aster was watching incredulously. Doesn't give that great of advice and hears voices in his head. Jaden's not what I expected in being the best of this academy. Time to find a way to end this duel and move on with my life, he thought.

. . .

In that white room, the cloaked man flipped over another tarot card, revealing a knight riding a two-headed snake/horse. "Ah, the inverted chariot, the end is near," he said.

. . .

While that happened, Syrus turned to Chazz, Alexis, and Arina. "He is getting help, isn't he?" he asked quietly. He had been meaning to ask that for a while now and decided that he might as well do so now.

"It took a lot of convincing, but yeah, he's seeing a therapist," Alexis said. "And it has been helping. Believe me, he was worse off during those first few weeks after everything was over and done with."

Syrus nodded, looking relieved.

"During the Standby Phase, White Magician Pikeru's effect activates, granting me 400 Life Points for each monster on my field," Aster said as his Life Points increased by 800 for the two monsters he had out.

Aster: 4800

Jaden: 2400

"Next, I'll summon Bountiful Artemis in Defense Mode."

A white-winged creature with a diamond-shaped lower body and a purple cloak around his shoulders appeared (A: 1600/D: 1700).

Jaden studied the monster. "A good wall monster, I suppose," he said. "I'm going to assume that you have a plan."

"Perhaps, perhaps I don't want to win. Ever think about that?" Aster asked. "I mean, when you accepted my challenge, did you ever think about my wants, the reasons why I came to this academy or why, out of everyone that's here now, I challenged you?"

"Uh, was I supposed to?" Jaden was now confused.

"I heard you were the best, so I came to test you," Aster replied.

"A test? Really?"

"Of course, though this isn't about grades, it's about destiny," Aster explained.

"Oookay then." Poor Jaden was even more confused than he was before.

"Perhaps this will show you. I activate my second facedown, Solar Ray, which deals you 600 points of damage for every Light monster on my side of the field, which is three so you take 1800 points of damage," Aster added, revealing his facedown and three blasts of light shot forward and struck Jaden's duel disk.

Aster: 4800

Jaden:600

"And then I'll switch both White Magician Pikeru and Warrior of Zera to Defense Mode and end my turn," Aster added and his two monsters took on Defensive Positions. Not much else I can do now. But I believe destiny will help me in the end, he thought.

"So what were you saying about destiny?" Jaden asked.

"It's simple," Aster said. "Everything that happens in our lives is predetermined. Losers were born to be losers and legends are born to be legends."

"Rrrrrright," Jaden mumbled, not really believing that. He didn't want to consider that everything that happened in his life was predetermined, especially not some of the worst things; those kidnappers, Kaage, he didn't want to think he was destined to deal with all of that.

While he was deep in thought, so was Aster.

Aster stood in front of the table while the Chariot tarot card was upside down facing the cloaked man.

"When you find this Jaden, he's to defeat you in a duel, understood?" the cloaked man asked. "It's the only way to see if he is one of the two we've been seeking. Trust me, it's for the best."

"But there's gotta be another way," Aster protested. "I've never thrown a duel."

"Aster, have I ever steered you wrong?" the man asked. "Trust me, it's for the best.

How can a manager tell his star player to lose? Aster thought.

"All right, my turn," Jaden said, drawing a card. "And I play Spellbook Inside the Pot so that we each draw three cards," he said and they each drew three cards. "Next, I summon Elemental Hero Heat to my field in Attack Mode," Jaden added and the red, silver and gold armored warrior appeared on the field (A: 1600-2000/D: 1200). "And he gains 200 Attack for every Elemental Hero on the field. And then I'll activate Lightning Vortex, discarding one card in order to destroy all monsters on your field."

He discarded the lone card in his hand and strikes of lightning erupted from the sky to obliterate all of Aster's monsters.

"Now, Great Tornado, attack A.P. directly with Great Wind Blast," Jaden ordered and Great Tornado sent a cyclone of wind that slammed into Aster, sending him skidding backwards.

Aster: 2000

Jaden:600

"Heat, attack him directly and end this duel," Jaden ordered and Heat nodded before unleashing a blast of fire that struck Aster's duel disk, knocking out the last of his Life Points.

Aster: 0

Jaden:600WINNER

"And that's game," Jaden said, giving the other boy a two fingered salute.

"Nice game," Aster said with a nod.

Jaden smiled a little. "Thanks, you had some sweet moves," he said.

"What a duel," Dorothy said. "Don't you think, guys? And that new student is quite the looker. Did anyone catch his name?"

"He said it was A.P." Syrus said.

Aster walked away from the group, thinking about the duel. I don't get it, he thought. Sure, Jaden's a decent duelist, but I don't see why my manager is so obsessed with this one. I still don't understand how joining this school is going to help my career. But I guess Sartorius knows best. As for the other duelist, well, Hikari'll take care of him, I'm sure.

He glanced briefly toward the spectators and Dorothy waved at him.

"Don't be a stranger, stranger," she called.

Aster smiled a little and nodded before walking away.

"So, guys, what'd you think?" Jaden asked as he joined his friends.

"You rocked, Jay," Syrus said with a smile.

"A good duel," Alexis said, curling her arms around Jaden and kissing him. He smiled and kissed her back, curling his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder once he pulled back from the kiss.

"Well, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of A.P.," he said.

"Wait a sec, A.P…." Syrus suddenly reached into his back and pulled out a magazine with Aster's picture on it. "I knew it. That was Aster Phoenix."

"Who?" Jaden repeated.

Alexis released Jaden and glanced at him. "Aster Phoenix is the number one duelist in the World League. He's a pro," she said. "You beat a pro!"

Jaden looked startled and then he smiled. "Sweet!"

Alexis chuckled. There's the Jaden I know and fell in love with, she thought fondly.

"Uh, Jaden, that wasn't Aster's real deck," Dorothy said suddenly. "It was just a deck he created out of eight random packs of cards."

"Oh." Jaden sulked a little at that.

"At least you won," Syrus pointed out.

"True," Jaden said with a small smile. "I'll get my rematch someday."

. . .

Raiden and Atticus were walking toward the main building when Raiden spotted a familiar boy with messy shoulder-length black hair kept in a ponytail with lightly tanned skin dressed in the Ra Yellow uniform sitting on the ground near one of the pillars, looking through his cards. "Hey, Steven, how was your summer?" Raiden asked brightly, walking over to join the former Shadow Rider with Atticus just behind him. Raiden did have nightmares over what happened to him over the summer, especially when he had been stabbed by Kaage, but he was gradually getting over it. He was more concerned about his brother and was too busy helping Jaden to think about helping himself.

He had healed physically but he still had mental scars and only Rogue knew about them. She had tried to convince him to see a therapist as well but Raiden had insisted that he was fine.

Steven Ravenholm lifted his head from his cards. "Oh, hello, Raiden, Atticus, it was good. How was yours?" he asked politely.

"Could've been better," Raiden admitted.

"Oh, so not that great? What about you, Atticus?" Steven glanced toward the other Obelisk, who shrugged.

"Well, the latter half was okay," he said.

"Oh. What happened to your hand?" Steven asked, concerned, when he noticed that the fingers of one of Atticus's hands were still splinted. The doctors had insisted that he keep the splints on if he wanted to keep dueling, for at least a few more months, so that he wouldn't risk reinjuring his fingers.

"Oh, erm, just an accident," Atticus said uncomfortably.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope they get better soon," Steven said.

"Excuse me! Coming through!" A shout sounded and Raiden and Atticus turned and moved out of the way just in time for the familiar black-haired green-eyed former Shadow Rider known as Raven Johnson to skate past on her skateboard.

"Hi, Raiden, Atticus, Steven, bye Raiden, Atticus, Steven," Raven said, waving as she skateboarded past with two irritated-looking Obelisk blue girls chasing after her and the students she skateboarded past shouting at her to pay attention as they leapt out of the way.

Raiden raised an eyebrow but decided against asking.

"I'm going to head back to my dorm now," Steven said, shuffling his deck and returning it to his deck case and then standing up.

"All right, see ya later, Steven," Raiden said and Steven walked off.

"So what do ya wanna do now?" Atticus asked.

Raiden was about to respond when someone called his name and he turned to find an unfamiliar girl walking over to join him. She was slender with golden-blonde hair falling down to the middle of her back; her eyes were an amber red and she was dressed in the female white-inverted version of the Slifer uniform—Raiden had learned that the policy had changed and that girls now had the choice of whether to go into the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm or start off at whatever rank they got from their entrance exam scores, if it wasn't Obelisk, or start off at Slifer and work their way up—and a silver metal bracelet and a duel disk on her left arm.

"Uh, hello, who are you?" Raiden asked curiously.

The girl smiled as she came to a stop in front of him. "My name's Hikari Suzuki and I hear that you're one of the best duelists in the Obelisk Blue dorm and I wanted to see for myself just how good you are," she said with a smile.

"So you want to duel? Okay. I never say no to a challenge," Raiden said as he removed his deck from his deck case and inserted it into his duel disk as Hikari did the same.

"Great, just don't hold back, okay?" Hikari said.

"I never do," Raiden replied.

"Duel!" The two of them drew their opening hands while Atticus moved to watch from the sidelines.

Hikari: 8000

Raiden: 8000

"I'll go first," Hikari said, drawing a card. "And I'll start by summoning Shining Angel in Defense Mode." She placed the card on her duel disk and a blonde fairy with large golden angel wings appeared on the field (A: 1400/D: 800).

"And that's it for me," Hikari said.

"All right, my draw," Raiden said, drawing a card.

"He's already dueling and it's not even the first day yet." That had come from a lean boy with shaggy brown hair walking toward them dressed in the Ra Yellow uniform. This was Kyle Rhodes. Beside him was a black-haired boy also in the Ra Yellow uniform; this was Bastion Misawa.

"Hey, Kyle, Bastion," Atticus greeted them. "And Hikari challenged him. Raiden never says no to a challenge."

"Like his brother," Bastion commented.

"Yup."

"All right, my turn," Raiden said, drawing a card and then placing it on his duel disk. "I summon Shadow Reckoner Assassin in Attack Mode."

A woman in a black bodysuit with black fingerless gloves, holding a dagger in each hand appeared (A: 1000/D: 800).

'That guy doesn't look so tough,' Assassin commented.

"He's got an effect, though," Raiden reminded her.

'Well, yeah, I know that. Should I attack?'

Raiden nodded. "Might as well. Go ahead, Assassin, attack Shining Angel," he ordered and Assassin dashed forward before sinking her daggers into Shining Angel, destroying him.

"Thanks for that," Hikari said. "Since you destroyed Shining Angel, I'm allowed to Special Summon one Light monster with 1500 or less Attack from my deck." She pulled out her deck and fanned it open before selecting a card. She then shuffled her deck and returned it and placed the card she picked onto her duel disk.

"And I choose my Silent Magician LV4 in Attack Mode," she added.

A star-speckled cyclone spun onto the field and a small figure stepped out of it. He had silver hair and brown eyes and was dressed in white and blue with a white headdress on his head; he was also wielding a blue-and-white staff in his arms and had white gauntlets on his arms (A: 1000/D: 1000).

"All right, I'll end my turn with one facedown card," Raiden said, inserting the card into his duel disk.

Hikari drew a card. "I summon Shining Abyss in Attack Mode," she said, placing the card on her duel disk.

A blue figure with a round body and large golden wings appeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 1800).

"Now, Shining Abyss, attack Shadow Reckoner Assassin with Shining Blast," Hikari ordered and her monster unleashed a blast of bright blue light that struck Assassin, causing her to shatter.

Hikari: 8000

Raiden: 7400

"Silent Magician LV4, attack Raiden directly," Hikari ordered and her magician launched a blast of blue magic from his staff that struck Raiden's duel disk.

Hikari: 8000

Raiden: 6400

"Wow, you're pretty good," Raiden complimented her.

She smiled. "I end my turn," she said.

Raiden drew a card.

"And that activates my Silent Magician's effect," Hikari said. "He gains a Spell Counter and 500 extra Attack for each Spell Counter on him every time you draw a card or cards." Silent Magician was surrounded by a blue light (A: 1000-1500) (Spell Counters: 1).

"Unfortunately, he won't be around for much longer," Raiden said, pushing a button on his duel disk. "I activate my facedown card, Call of the Haunted, to bring back Shadow Reckoner Assassin and then I tribute her in order to summon Shadow Reckoner Ice Queen in Attack Mode."

Assassin returned momentarily, but was replaced by a slim beautiful pale-blue haired woman in a midnight blue dress wielding a wand in one hand (A: 2300/D: 1500).

"Dang it," Hikari muttered.

'He's cute,' Ice Queen mused, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at the uncomfortable Silent Magician.

Raiden facepalmed. "Ice, really?" he muttered.

'I can't help it when it comes to cute guys,' Ice Queen said brightly.

Raiden sighed. "Just attack, would ya?" he said.

Ice Queen pouted. 'Fine,' she muttered and unleashed a blast of ice that froze Silent Magician LV4 and he shattered into icy pixels.

Hikari: 7200

Raiden: 6400

"And I will end my turn with that."

Hikari drew a card. "Not bad, Raiden, not bad at all. Let's see how you handle this, though. First, I play two cards facedown and then summon Silent Swordsman LV3 in Attack Mode."

A yellow-haired man in silver and dark-blue cloak with a large, jagged sword in his hand appeared on the field (A: 1000/D: 1000).

"And next I equip Shining Abyss with United We Stand, which increases his Attack by 800 times the number of monsters on my side of the field, which is two," Hikari said, inserting the card into her duel disk and Shining Abyss was surrounded by a bright light as his strength doubled (A: 1600-3200).

"Wow, that's not good," Atticus whistled.

"Shining Abyss, attack Raiden's Ice Queen," Hikari ordered.

'Rai, sweetie?' Ice Queen said warily, watching as the blast of blue energy shot toward her.

"Not to worry, Ice. I activate Ice Queen's effect, which negates your attack once per turn and deals damage back to you equal to half of your monster's original Attack," Raiden said Ice Queen conjured up a shield of ice that caught the blast of energy and sent it back at Hikari, who winced.

Hikari: 6400

Raiden: 6400

"All right then, I'll end my turn with that," Hikari said, straightening. He certainly is good and this duel is getting interesting. He's got some interesting monsters, too. But I still don't understand why Aster asked me to duel him, she thought.

Hikari was waiting outside the room when Aster joined her after having spoken to his manager. "Hey, Aster," she greeted him.

"Oh, hello, Hikari," Aster greeted her.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. Just…Hey, would you mind doing a favor for me?"

"What kind of favor?" Hikari was already doing Aster the favor of attending Duel Academy with him, though she knew he wouldn't be there the entire time because of his work with the Pro League.

"Well, there's this kid attending Duel Academy. His name's Raiden and he's rumored to be one of the best duelists of the Obelisk Blue dorm."

Hikari tilted her head to the side. "You want me to duel him and see if he really is as good as everyone says he is," she guessed.

Aster nodded. "Do you mind?"

"No, I don't mind, Aster, but why?"

"My manager wants to see if he's really as good as people say," Aster admitted.

Hikari was still confused. "Is he looking for another protégé?"

"I dunno. He just asked if I knew someone who was a good duelist who could duel Raiden," Aster explained.

"Well, okay then, I guess."

"Thank you, Hikari."

"Hey, Hikari, are you all right?" Raiden called, breaking Hikari out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Hikari assured him, deciding to focus back on to the duel. She and Raiden were tied in Life Points so neither had the advantage at the moment since they also both had monsters on the field, but Hikari wasn't stupid enough to think that would last.

"All right then, I draw," Raiden said, drawing a card and glancing at it. He tucked it in with the other cards in his hand and pointed at Silent Swordsman. "Ice Queen, attack Silent Swordsman LV3."

'On it, sweetie,' Ice Queen said brightly.

Raiden sweatdropped as Ice Queen unleashed a blast of icy light that shot toward Hikari's monster.

"I'm gonna stop you right there with my facedown, Waboku. Now my monster is not destroyed and I take no damage this turn," Hikari said, revealing her facedown.

"Drat. Ah well, I end my turn," Raiden said.

Hikari drew a card. "And I start by activating my Silent Swordsman's effect. During the Standby Phase of my turn, I can tribute him in order to summon Silent Swordsman LV5 in Attack Mode," she said.

Her first swordsman vanished and, in a pillar of light, another monster appeared. This one was an older and taller version of Silent Swordsman LV3, with a larger silver sword and white gauntlets around his arms, his dark-blue and silver robe sweeping around his legs (A: 2300/D: 1000).

"He's got the same attack as Ice Queen," Kyle noted.

"Yes, but Hikari likely has a card in her hand that can help with that," Bastion said.

"And I do," Hikari said, inserting a card into her duel disk. "But first, I play Premature Burial, paying 800 Life Points to bring back Silent Magician LV4 in Attack Mode."

Hikari: 5600

Raiden: 6400

Her blue-and-silver robed magician returned to the field (A: 1000/D: 1000) (Abyss A: 3200-4000).

"And next, since my Life Points are less than yours, I can activate Megamorph to double my Silent Swordsman LV5's Attack," Hikari added, inserting another card into her duel disk. Silent Swordsman LV5 was surrounded by an aura of blue light (A: 2300-4600).

"Well, that ain't good," Raiden murmured.

"Now, Shining Abyss, attack Ice Queen," Hikari ordered and her monster unleashed another blast of blue energy.

"I activate Ice Queen's effect," Raiden said and Ice Queen conjured up a shield of ice that redirected the attack back at the blonde girl.

Hikari: 4800

Raiden: 6400

"Good thing I'm not done yet, Silent Swordsman, attack Ice Queen," Hikari ordered and her swordsman shot forward before cutting through Ice Queen, causing her to cry out in pain and shatter.

Hikari: 4800

Raiden: 4100

"Now, Silent Magician, attack Raiden directly," Hikari ordered, even as her swordsman's power decreased (A: 4600-2300-1150) since her Life Points were now greater than Raiden's.

Silent Magician unleashed a blast of blue energy that struck Raiden's duel disk.

Hikari: 4800

Raiden: 3100

"And I will end my turn with that," Hikari added.

Raiden lowered his duel disk. "Not a bad move, Hikari. My turn," he said, drawing a card (Silent Magician LV4 A: 1000-1500/D: 1000, Spell Counters: 1).

"And I activate my facedown, Solar Ray, which deals you 600 points of damage times the number of Light monsters I have face-up on the field, and that's three so you get dealt 1800 points of damage," Hikari added, revealing her final facedown.

Raiden cringed as he was hit by three blasts of light.

Hikari: 4800

Raiden: 1300

"Okay then, I activate Fatal Alliance. I can now remove from play Shadow Reckoner Rogue and Shadow Reckoner Night Marauder in my hand in order to Fusion Summon Shadow Reckoner Rogue Marauder in Attack Mode," he said, placing the card on his duel disk.

A silver-haired woman and a black-armored warrior appeared momentarily. They fused to create a beautiful silver-haired woman in black armor wielding a staff in one hand with a silver, crescent-moon shaped necklace around her neck (A: 2700/D: 2300).

"And when Rogue Marauder is Fusion Summoned, I can select up to two face-up monsters on your field with an Attack lower than hers and remove them from play," Raiden added. "And I choose Silent Swordsman and Silent Magician."

Hikari pocketed the two cards as Shining Abyss's attack went down (A: 4000-2400).

"Now, Rogue Marauder, attack Shining Abyss," Raiden ordered and his monster nodded before silently unleashing a blast of energy that struck Shining Abyss, causing it to shatter.

Hikari: 4500

Raiden: 1300

"And then I end my turn," Raiden said.

Hikari drew a card. Okay, so he is rather good, she thought, glancing at her hand and the card she drew. Can't do anything this turn but set up defense. "I summon my second Silent Swordsman LV3 in Defense Mode and end my turn," she said and another yellow-haired man in silver and dark-blue cloak appeared and knelt down (A: 1000/D: 1000).

Raiden drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards," he said and drew again. "Then I activate my Rise of a Reckoner Spell to Special Summon my Shadow Reckoner Assassin from my Graveyard to my field." His black-suited assassin returned to the field (A: 1000/D: 800).

"But she's not going to stay as I tribute her in order to summon Shadow Reckoner Storm Knight in Attack Mode," Raiden added and the assassin vanished.

A tall armored young man with stormy blue-gray eyes and a broadsword in his hands appeared on the field (A: 2000/D: 200).

"And when he's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Shadow Reckoner monster from my hand or my deck," Raiden added, pulling out his deck and fanning it out as he searched for an appropriate card. "And I choose Shadow Reckoner Watchman in Attack Mode."

An armored man with a visored helmet over his head wielding a staff appeared on the field (A: 1500/D: 1300).

Hikari whistled. "Not bad," she commented, knowing she had lost this duel.

Raiden smiled. "Watchman, attack Silent Swordsman LV3," he ordered. The watchman nodded and dashed forward, striking the blonde swordsman with his staff, destroying him.

"Storm Knight, attack Hikari directly with Storm Slash," Raiden ordered and his knight nodded.

'I do apologize for this, my lady,' Storm Knight said as he dashed forward and struck Hikari's duel disk.

Hikari: 2500

Raiden: 1300

"Now, Rogue Marauder, end this duel," Raiden ordered.

'Yes sir,' Rogue Marauder said, half-mockingly, half-serious as she unleashed a blast of magical energy that shot forward and struck Hikari's duel disk and sent her flying to the ground.

Hikari: 0

Raiden: 1300 WINNER

"And, to steal my brother's line just for the heck of it, that's game," Raiden said brightly. "You okay?"

Hikari got to her feet. "Yeah, I'm okay. That was a nice duel," she said. She was a bit upset that she lost but she did figure out that Raiden was just as good a duel as Aster's manager thought he was. "I guess I'll be seeing ya around and we've gotta have a rematch someday."

"I look forward to it," Raiden said and Hikari walked off.

I should find Aster and let him know how this duel went, she thought as she wandered off, accidentally bumping into someone and sending the two of them tumbling to the ground.

"Oh, my bad, I wasn't paying attention," a startlingly familiar blue-black haired girl said as she quickly got to her feet and Hikari stood up as well, gazing at the girl in shock. She recognized her in an instant.

"Uh, are you okay?" the girl asked with a frown. "Wait…" Her eyes widened in shock.

"Kasumi?" Hikari breathed.

"Hikari?!" the girl exclaimed in utter shock.

"What are you doing here?" they both exclaimed at the exact same time.

"I go to school here," Kasumi said.

"Well, I just transferred here. Got into second year 'cause I completed my first year at another school," Hikari said.

"But what happened to you? You ran away and…" Kasumi trailed off.

Hikari sighed. The main reason she had run away was because she had been scared. Hikari was special, to say the least. She was what was known as a Psychic Duelist and her powers had manifested when she was eight. She had lost her temper when she had dueled against a bully who had stolen one of Kasumi's cards and she accidentally sent that bully to the hospital. Scared, she ran away and had been staying on the streets for a while. Then, soon after she had found out her parents were dead, she was found by the pro duelist, the D, and he willingly took her in. He even told her that he knew how to control her powers and had given her the bracelet that she wore to inhibit her powers.

Kasumi swallowed, tears were in her eyes and she suddenly hugged Hikari. "I thought you were dead," she whispered.

Hikari's amber-red eyes softened and she gently hugged her sister. "I thought you had died with our parents," she said softly, feel her own eyes wet.

The two reunited sisters said nothing more and just held each other for several minutes, both of them sobbing quietly, before Kasumi released Hikari and wiped the tears from her eyes. "So what happened to you after you ran way?" she asked.

"I just...wandered the streets and finally a pro duelist by the name of the D took me in out of the kindness of his heart," Hikari explained. "What about you?"

"Well, I was adopted, too," Kasumi admitted. "We have so much to catch up on."

Hikari nodded in agreement, smiling at her sister. I can track down Aster later, she thought as she and Kasumi decided to go someplace to talk, both of them still had tears in their eyes as they headed toward the Obelisk Girl's Dormitory where they could talk without interruption.

. . .

As the boat glided across the ocean, a tall boy with lightly tanned skin and short but messy blue hair stood on the deck, sapphire-blue eyes locked on the island that was gradually getting bigger. Academy Island was only a few minutes away and Dante Broaden was looking forward to attending. Japan was definitely different from Australia; of that, Dante was sure but it was a good thing he had been taught how to speak Japanese.

He leaned against the railing, hoping that he wouldn't screw up his chances here at the main branch of Duel Academy. He did enjoy playing pranks but that was the reason why he had bene kicked out of South Academy—how was he to know that South Academy's Chancellor was able to trace phone calls back to their source?—or, at least, one of the reasons.

He was hoping for a new start at Duel Academy, even if he was sure some things about himself would never change. Hopefully, he wouldn't get kicked out of the school this time as he had from his last school though.

Well, I suppose I just have to make sure I don't get caught, he thought with a smile.

. . .

Nearby, also on the deck of the boat that was heading towards Academy Island, was a Filipino boy with short black hair and black eyes named Justin Ray. He was dressed in the Slifer Red uniform with a gray shirt under it and had a pair of rectangle black-framed glasses resting on his face. Justin was feeling just a bit nervous about attending a new school but then he was sure everyone was.

Justin hadn't even thought he would be able to attend Duel Academy. His family was rather poor and they would not have been able to afford to send him there even though he really wanted to go. He also didn't get a high enough score on the Entrance Exam to qualify for a scholarship. The only reason he was there was because of Pegasus.

The creator of Duel Monsters, and current president of Industrial Illusions, had been present when Justin had won a Duel Monsters tournament that was held the year before. Seeing the potential in him, Pegasus offered to pay for Justin to attend Duel Academy to become a better duelist.

"You have the potential to be a great duelist, Justin-boy, and I'm sure Duel Academy is exactly what you need."

Justin was determined to become a great duelist; he wanted to prove to Pegasus that he hadn't made a mistake in providing Justin with that once in a lifetime chance.

. . .

"Did you just call me short?!" A short girl with ginger red hair in a low-side ponytail that reached just above her shoulders exclaimed. She had green eyes, fair skin and freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. There was also a white-banded watch on her left wrist and she was dressed in the regular Obelisk Blue uniform.

"You are, shrimp," the boy across from her snarked back.

"You take that back!"

"Zoey, calm down," a boy who was a few inches taller than the girl with the same ginger-red hair cut crew-cut style said. He had blue eyes, fair skin and freckles on his cheeks and was also wearing a black-and-blue wristband on his right wrist. While he did wear the usual Obelisk Blue uniform, he currently wasn't wearing the jacket.

"He's not the first person to call you short. Just ignore him," the boy said, guiding his twin sister away from the boy before she punched him in the face.

"I really can't stand it when they call me that. I'm not that short, Nathan," Zoey Bradford growled.

"C'mon, let's go get something to eat," Nathan suggested.

Zoey, throwing another glare at the boy whom had insulted her, nodded and then followed her brother toward the dining hall. "How much longer?" she asked.

"We should be almost there," Nathan said.

Zoey nodded.

. . .

Also on one of the decks, watching the waves crash against the side of the boat, was a girl with silver eyes and fair skin. Her long black hair was held away from her face by two hairpins, one in the shape of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight and the other in the shape of Kamen Rider Wing Knight. She also had a black torn scarf wrapped around her neck despite the heat.

Kira Ryuki smiled as the warm and gentle breeze caressed her cheeks and her eyes fixed on the island that was gradually getting closer. "Can't believe I'm almost there. I'm looking forward to it," she said quietly. "What about you guys?"

A red-armored duel spirit with a dragon-shaped gauntlet on his arm materialized in spirit form right behind Kira. 'It seems like it will be interesting,' Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, otherwise known as Kit to Kira, said. 'I hope you can make some friends here.'

Kira shrugged. "I'll try," she said. She wasn't a very sociable person. That was only because she had suddenly moved to Japan to live with the only family she had left after her parents were killed in a fire years earlier. It was rather hard for her to adjust to living in a completely different culture and so she ended up spending most of her time watching television, usually Kamen Rider Dragon Knight.

She got into Duel Monsters mostly because her new guardians had wanted her to do something other than watching television and try to help her become more sociable. She ended up enjoying the game and had even entered a create-an-archetype contest held by KaibaCorp where she created the Kamen Rider cards.

She had been pleasantly surprised when she learned that her new cards also contained duel spirits within them and that she could actually see and speak to them. In the years that followed, Kira had become close friends with her duel spirits. They were the only ones who understood her.

Plus, she didn't know if there was anyone else out there who could also see duel spirits. She hoped that there was because she didn't want to be the only one.

'Well, you have all of us here to support you, Kira,' Kit told her.

"Thanks, Kit."

. . .

"I hope you have a great time at your new school. I'm sure you'll do great," Miss Thomas's voice said over the phone that Celina White held to her ear.

"I will do my best," Celina replied in English and then hung up after saying goodbye. Only a few months had passed by since she got her student visa and was able to move to Japan as Ryou Bakura's apprentice. Thankfully, Bakura had taken it upon himself to teach her Japanese and she had managed to pick up enough of the language to get by and was still learning.

She smiled. Ryou Bakura was definitely a better mentor than Slade and Jagger Princeton ever were. He knew what he was talking about, especially when it came to discussing the Pro Leagues since he was an actual pro himself and he was very patient with her. He never tried to force her to use cards she didn't want to use and was always encouraging her to learn from any mistakes she made to get better.

She still hadn't beaten him in a duel yet but she was hoping that, someday, she would be able to. Besides, it had only been a few months since she had become Bakura's protégé.

She turned toward the window in her cabin as the captain announced that they were approaching Academy Island. Pulling her white hair into a ponytail so that it was out of her way, Celina began grabbing her suitcases and everything else she had brought with her.

She had wanted to attend Duel Academy and, thanks to Bakura, she could afford to do so. She was looking forward to it and she was looking forward to becoming better and making her new mentor proud of her.

. . .

At the docks, Crowler and Bonaparte were seated on the ground, tired from having waited for Aster Phoenix to show up. Unfortunately, he hadn't and they were beginning to lose hope that he would.

"We've been stood up," Crowler whined, watching the other new students wander off the boat and head toward the main building for the orientation assembly. "This school needs a star, not more slackers."

"Left, Right! Left, Right!"

Crowler and Bonaparte, confused, turned to the noise to find a dark-skinned student walking down the boarding ramp with a military-issue backpack on his shoulders. There was a yellow bandana made to look like a dinosaur's head tied around his neck and black dreadlocks shot out in all directions from beneath the bandana. He wore a yellow blazer with no sleeves, showing off his thick muscles, khaki pants and boots.

"Who's that?" Crowler wondered.

"Hey, ladies! Can you direct me to who's in charge around here?" the boy asked as he approached the two of them.

Ladies? Crowler thought outraged. "I'm in charge around…" he began, only to be interrupted when the boy seized his collar and yanked him up.

"I demand to know why I'm in the Yellow barracks. I want Blue," he snapped.

"Um, well, you see, erm…Bonaparte, anytime you want to jump in?" Crowler said warily.

"What my partner here is trying to say is that you don't want to be in Obelisk Blue. You're way too daring," Bonaparte replied.

"Yeah, that's right, what he said," Crowler said quickly.

"Oh, really? That's mighty neighborly for you to say that. You ladies are all right," the boy said and marched off.

For a moment, the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor remained in silence and then Crowler turned to Bonaparte. "Now, as I was saying, we need a star like Aster Phoenix, not more slackers," he said and sighed.

Bonaparte crossed his arms in thought and then his eyes lit up as an idea came to him. "Why do we need Aster Phoenix when we can have a school full of stars?" he asked.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"I mean, we eliminate the Slifer Red Dorm. With all of the slackers gone, we can focus on turning our other students into stars," Bonaparte explained.

Crowler stared at his colleague in confusion and then smiled and the two of them began to laugh.

"Excuse me?"

The voice cut through the laughter, though it was quiet and Crowler and Bonaparte stopped laughing and turned to look at the source of the voice. They found a tall man with a five o clock shadow and well-kept black hair that had a few gray hairs starting show in it; his brown eyes were kind and there were only a few wrinkles on his face, suggesting that he wasn't quite that old. He was dressed in khaki pants and a white shirt with a red blazer placed over it and a messenger bag resting on his hip.

"Who are you?" Crowler asked rudely.

The man reached into the messenger bag and pulled out a few documents. "My name is Gareth Conway and I'm the new Slifer Headmaster," he said.

"What?!" Crowler and Bonaparte exclaimed.

"I never authorized this," Crowler snapped.

"I was hired by Chancellor Sheppard after the untimely death of Professor Banner at the end of last year," Conway explained. "Here, I have everything in order." He held out the contract to Crowler and Bonaparte, the first of whom took it and scanned it, scowling when he saw that the hired date was before he had become Chancellor and that it was signed by both Chancellor Sheppard and Seto Kaiba himself. There was nothing Crowler or Bonaparte could do about it.

"Those slackers don't need another slacker teacher," Bonaparte growled.

"The rules state that every dorm at Duel Academy is required to have a headmaster," Conway said calmly. "And Seto Kaiba, himself, approved of my appointment."

"Fine, fine, carry on," Crowler said with a sigh.

Conway inclined his head. "By the way, I happened to overhear you and I must tell you this, don't think about messing with the residents of my dorm," he said calmly and walked off.

"Wonderful, those slackers have a new headmaster," Crowler growled.

"Calm down. There's a simple solution to that," Bonaparte said.

"I'm listening."

"All we have to do is promote the students out of that dorm and then we can take it down and focus on creating more stars."

Crowler gazed at Bonaparte and then grinned and the two of them started laughing again.

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: and, there you have it, the first chapter of White Radiance has been posted!

Bakura: whatever (stabbing Viper)

Ryou: (sweatdrops but says nothing)

Yami: I suppose I should be thankful he's not trying to do that to me

Yugi: agreed

Jesse: so what happens next?

Blaze: Chazz's duel against Reggie and Jaden's first written therapy session with his therapist

Jaden: cool

Chazz: so I get to kick the ass of that Reggie punk in a duel?

Blaze: of course

Chazz: awesome

Blaze: well, I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of White Radiance. The second chapter will be up sometime next week, though I don't have a specific date in mind at the moment since I'm trying to get as far ahead in this story as I can. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.