In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh; Duel Academy was saved by none other than Jaden Yuki, resulting in everything going back to peace. New students would arrive at Duel Academy, and the ones who graduated moved on to their futures. The Graduation ended in a blast as Jaden and Yami Yuki had a final duel to truly seal the deal, and restored Jaden's love for dueling. However a new event would present itself that would forever change the lives of Jaden Yuki and the one known as Alexis Rhodes.

In the background, a tournament was being organized and setup. A new Academy for duelists was being opened on a remote island known as the Duelist Kingdom, home to it's owner; Maximilian Pegasus, with the assistance of Seto Kaiba. The wealthy business man, partnered with the creator of Duel Monsters, worked together to organize another tournament but this time, to be taught by the creator himself.

Several months later...

Jaden Yuki and Alexis Rhodes would receive an invitation to a Duelist Tournament. It was titled; Duel University. The letter would read:

Dear Duelist.

I am writing to invite you and many others to a tournament on my home island; Duelist Kingdom. There, you will find a University structure where if the top five were to win? Then you will have the honour of being taught by the original creator of Duel Monsters.

Prepare to pack your personal belongings and duel to your heart's content, because you could not be in better hands. The lessons would involve live-duels against yours truly as well as the legendary Seto Kaiba himself.

Looking forward to seeing you all at my home.
~ Maximilian Pegasus.

Seeing the invitation, Alexis couldn't help but wonder if any of her friends were also invited to this tournament, but the honour of being taught by the creator himself? It would be stupid to pass such an once in a lifetime opportunity. Packing her essentials and clothing, she exited her home and journeyed towards a harbor. When she would arrive, she would greet the one taking tickets to a Cruise-liner. So many different faces and individuals were boarding the ship, must of been the multitude of others who signed on to the tournament.

With her clothing resembling that of her Obelisk Blue uniform of Duel Academy, she stuck out like a sore thumb to anyone who would of been or hail from Duel Academy.

In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh; Duel Academy was one of the most prestigious places one can go for dueling, it was saved overall by Jaden Yuki, though in some ways he had suspected of being guided to this destiny. The Graduation day he would never forget and that was with Yami Yugi of all people! It restored his love for dueling.

During the several months after this, Jaden was sharpening his dueling skills to be as sharp as he could be in order to deal with now according to Yubel, a former foe now duel spirit “the waves of chaos” would eventually come. Problem was, that this was unknown. The time could be anything at least to Jaden but in typical fashion he chose not to worry about it as much as he would have.

Seeing the invite Jaden was amazed! He remembered Pegasus the creator well from their first encounter, now to hear this from him along with Yugi's rival Kaiba in the mix was too much. He didn't want to get his hopes up of Yugi showing up, how much of a press coverage would that be?! Excited he went ahead packing his essentials and clothing not wanting to waste time THIS time of all times while carrying the invite as proof if he needed it.

Coming to the harbor he would greet the ones taking tickets and he would soon get on, being dressed in his Silfer Red clothing that it resembled of his school days he would stick out to anyone that went there as he was taken by just how many people were there.

Handing in her ticket to Duelist Kingdom, Alexis boarded the Cruise-liner. After everyone had boarded, the ship set sail towards the Kingdom, which would be a long journey. Wandering around the ship, Alexis was in awe over how many actually took his invitation. She recognized a few of the entrants but the one who truly stuck out like a sore thumb was a Slifer Red dressed individual. Approaching him, she had a smile on her face.

"Jaden! It's good to see you again. I presume you were also invited to this tournament too by Pegasus?"

Alexis asked with a composed tone of voice. Who'd of thought she'd meet Jaden here? Then again as she ran it by her head, she wasn't surprised that the allure of dueling would make him want to appear here, especially after everything that had happened during their time at Duel Academy.

Having his ticket with him to Duelist Kingdom, Jaden had boarded and he had his decks ready to go. It was a long journey and with him seeing duel spirits he knew the cards were talking about the tournament. Jaden did change with his hair and height to a degree but even then he tried to not change too much.

Hearing a familiar voice he turned and he saw Alexis Rhodes not only there but composed as well. He remembered her words of wanting a duel down the line, but she was here...So he figured a duel was out of the question.

So far she did not seem to change in comparison with her long blonde hair and her attire though modified it still kinda highlighted her body how she wanted but him being unaware was just happy to see her.

“Hey Alexis.” He said happy to see a familiar face out of some of the entrants. “Sounds like you got a invitation too from the sounds of it.”

"Yeah, it came in this morning. I'm hoping we can win so we can show them just what we learned at Duel Academy. I also brought all my decks."

Alexis stated as the Cruise ship continued sailing. Throughout the entirety of the journey, the ship had to offer a dining hall with a fully staffed cafeteria including drinks and refreshments, a bedroom sweet equipped to handle hundreds of people and a top of the line video player. Some of the people Pegasus treated like Royalty whereas it also accommodated for normal folk.

"I wouldn't of thought this opportunity would happen; the chance to learn under the creator of Duel Monsters himself. Although if Kaiba is also going to be here, he'll not be an easy opponent."

"Which is why you should not underestimate him."

Exclaimed a voice out of nowhere as a familiar face to Jaden presented himself as Yami Yugi.



"Good to see you again, Jaden."

"You two have met?"

Alexis asked, looking towards Jaden.

Jaden looked behind him and he recognized that voice all too well seeing Yami Yugi there. He obviously looked serious about dueling but he was also friendly too, more of a mix right now while Jaden would figured Alexis would be in shock.

“Yeah I met Yugi before.” Jaden said. “We actually dueled.” He didn't tell anyone that he had dueled Yugi and it sparked his passion for dueling again, heck he wondered who else would be around but if Yugi's words were true he knew not to underestimate Pegasus in any way.

“Well sounds like you have experience with him.”

"You've actually dueled against him?"

Alexis stated in shock, unbelieving that they had actually duelled. But that would explain how he regained his love for dueling again, and where he went during the Graduation Ceremony.

"Indeed, and Jaden is a very powerful opponent. But so is Seto Kaiba. His strength lies within his Dragon's deck, with his strongest cards being the Blue Eyes White Dragons. However I didn't come here willingly. Young Yugi entered himself, I merely step in to assist."

"In that case, we had better give it our all, right Jaden?"

Alexis asked Jaden with a smile on her face but with also a competitive spirit behind it. She was confident, but she also knew not to underestimate her opponent so easily.

"I don't have the privilege of your name."

"Alexis Rhodes. I went to the same Academy as Jaden."

"I see. Good luck in the tournament, for this will be a special case for all three of us. Perhaps we may encounter old friends, or old enemies. That reminds me. Jaden, I trust you are looking after Winged Kuriboh?"

Jaden then was treated to the shock that would come from Alexis, he didn't take into consideration of the fact that he did duel against Yugi himself who many considered as the best duelist in the world.
“Kaiba huh? Well that'll be a duel to see.” Jaden said thinking of seeing Kaiba and Yugi duel or him dueling one of them.

“Kaiba's dragons huh? So we better give it our all here once we get there.” Jaden said while he would look at Yugi and then at Alexis nodding her direction and he would be happy to be dueling again.

“Winged Kuriboh is doing great.”

"Great. Well, I shall be taking my leave. Good luck in the tournament, and I look forward to our eventual duel."

Yami then walked away from the duo into the ground he emerged from. From a distance, the two of them would notice him crowded around people that his young self would be familiar with. Alexis however focused on Jaden.

"Well Jaden, I hope we both can win. If we do face each other however, I won't go easy on you."

Jaden would smile and he looked at Alexis hearing if they had to duel she wouldn't go easy on him and actually he would have not preferred it either way looking at her after looking at Yami Yugi get attention though it was not his fault entirely but he was a master duelist after all.

“I wouldn't have it any other way.” Jaden said to her giving her a thumbs up and lastly a wink. He remembered their first duel as it was on the lake of Duel Academy, it was more of the start of their friendship in his mind while he would just be happy of the prospect of dueling.

Several Hours Later...

The ship had then stopped at Duelist Kingdom:



Docking at the port, everyone got off and got themselves ready when all of a sudden a horn went off, followed by a man walking down the pathway alongside another. The two men was none other than Maximilian Pegasus and Seto Kaiba.



"Greetings everyone and welcome to Duelist Kingdom. You all know me by now surely, but I am Maximilian Pegasus. My partner here is the Legendary Seto Kaiba, owner of KaibaCorp."



"You should consider yourselves honoured to be here. If not for me, this tournament wouldn't have the funding necessary."

"Now now, Kaiba-boy. Ahem. The rules are simple. Stationed around this island are numerous Dueling Stations which are all active. From there, several challengers shall await you. These are the top rated duelists garnered by me, with the station in front of my Castle / University being owned by Seto."

"Challenge me if you dare, but you wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me."

"Quite the confident one, isn't he? At the dock here will be housing accommodations for all of you. Good luck~!"

After his introduction, everyone rushed off towards the housing section past the docks. Pegasus and Kaiba stayed behind for a while to confront Alexis and Jaden.

"Ah, Jaden. I see dueling hasn't stopped in your heart. I recall you being a fierce opponent."

"From someone who came from my Duel Academy,"

Seto Kaiba stepped in, eyeing Jaden first then Alexis.

"Slifer Red and Obelisk Blue dormitories, you should expect highly. But don't think I'd let students from my own academy defeat me."

"We're stronger than you'd think, Kaiba. We've gone through a lot while at Duel Academy. Jaden more than most."

Sure it took several hours but soon enough seeing Duelist Kingdom in the sights was in fact almost unchanged from when Yugi first got there, sure it was changed in the means of technology and in fact it was used as a means for duelists to get recognition like this as well as it being the former home of Pegasus did not hurt either.

When it came to docking he would at least see the two men coming down it, none other than Pegasus and Kaiba. During the several hours Jaden did spend casual time with Alexis talking with her, in terms of what she had planned for herself.

Hearing the rules of the duels here on the island as he didn't expect Dueling Stations, well he figured this was the case when you have these two working on to improve dueling under the attention of everyone. So far it sounded like they only needed to defeat the duelists at these stations. To Jaden, that sounded simple enough but also knew it wasn't as simple.

He did notice a housing section not too far off from the docks but seeing the creator and Seto come to them and Alexis he wondered what was up. And then hearing Alexis speak he wasn't too surprised by the brave words she spoke. Jaden looked at Kaiba, he did not like the air he had about him. He seemed selfish and arrogant right now while he would somewhat pay attention to Pegasus and he nodded.
“Well dueling is a passion.” Jaden said. “And in regards to your words Seto...That's just arrogance to me.”

"Seems like Jaden might make you think twice about your words, Kaiba-boy."

"Hmph. Just wait and see. You wouldn't last two minutes."

Kaiba than wandered off towards the direction of Pegasus's Castle, leaving Maximilian Pegasus with the two.

"I'd truly be impressed if you can defeat him. Well, I bid you farewell. Good luck in the tournament, you two. Everyone here will be playing for keeps."

Then Pegasus wandered off towards his castle.

"So what now? We're going to need to climb the leaderboard somehow. How does Pegasus know you? He spoke of you as if you've met."

Alexis asked with a finger on her chin.

Jaden believed in his abilities as a duelist while believing his deck and monsters while he would look at the two talk and interact while he would look at them leaving while smiling at Pegasus's words while now alone with Alexis.

“Well..I guess we got to duel to get to the top.” Jaden said believing that to be the case while he would be thinking of another way and then he turned over to her when she asked how Pegasus knew of Jaden.
“Oh yeah we met before...Back at his main building. Talk about a eye for detail there Alexis.”

"Well, I guess that's the only option now. It's time to duel ourselves to the top."

Alexis then wandered off towards the housing area and picked out her room. All the while the sounds of duels ringed throughout the forest. As the tournament would go on, numerous individuals would be spotted moving to the docking area with her heads down in defeat. Alexis defeated her opponents with ease as many of the ones she encountered has much less experience than her.

Kaiba on the other hand was thrashing every opponent who dared challenge his podium in front of Pegasus's Castle. He clearly wasn't playing around.

"Those two that came from my Duel Academy. They may prove to be a worthy challenge if they graduated. Perhaps with an ace up my sleeve, I could get the upper hand against Yugi, or even the Obelisk and the Slifer could defeat him. But they won't last long against me."

"Well that is the only thing we can do right now." Jaden said while looking at her and then going to the housing area. Though he experienced dorms before as he saw the dorms were in fact separated by gender and not by color while he would spot people who have lost soon leaving realiing it wass a single elimination.

"So..One shot huh?" Jaden said softly to himself while he would soon get himself ready to duel. The duels were fun as Jaden was keeping that passion burning and his Elemental Heroes were proving to be a great asset for Jaden in his duels while he would see some were less experienced than him but they still had potential.

Several Hours Later...

The tournament numbers began to thin out. More and more of the entrants gathered at the dock houses, packing their bags and leaving due to having been defeated. Alexis however was not one of them as she was slaughtering her opponents with her traditional Cyber Girl deck. Seto Kaiba continued demolishing anyone who dared step onto his Dueling Station.

"All these participants so far have been weak. As I told everyone at the beginning, they wouldn't last two minutes."

Meanwhile...

As Jaden would approach his next Dueling Station, two people were there dueling; a young man and a young woman.



"Looks like I win. I guess I'm the better best friend, huh?"



"I need more female friends. But that statement isn't up for you to decide."
"I guess you're right, but I still won."

The two of them got off the Station and were about to head their separate ways when they both would spot Jaden.

"If you're here to duel, Joey's your opponent."
"We just finished. I still think after that, I'm the better best friend for Yugi."
"You say that, yet I defended him from you, remember?"
"Ahh... Right, haha."

Jaden was not sure on what to make of this, was this friends? Or a argument between them? Well he couldn't determine what really happened here but so far he would listen to the girl and he would look over to the two of them while he wouldn't get involved in matters lke that while seeing them both get off the station.

"Guess I'm dueling you huh? And you two were arguing for Yugi's best friend? Don't be like that." Jaden said but he was excited to duel at least.

"He treats us all like best friends anyway. Joey can get like that sometimes."
"He's stuck his neck out for all of us, including that character from his Millennium Puzzle."
"Well, good luck. Joey is one of the greatest Duelists in the world after all. He didn't get onto that list easy."

The girl wandered past Jaden then stopped, turning her head.

"My name's Tea Gardner. Good luck against Joey Wheeler."

She then continued walking, leaving the two alone.

"How'd you know Yugi anyway?"

Jaden looked at Joey as he did ask him on how he knew his best friend and he smiled almost happy about this while he did listen to Yugi's other friend now Tea and now his mind would be on her for a moment. “Nice to meet you Tea..I'm Jaden.” He said before she would leave and then soon his attention was on Joey.
“Me and Yugi dueled actually.” He said to Joey shuffling his hero deck and was ready to duel but since he did not know what Joey used he knew it would be difficult.