Ovala Academy

Junko ran up the grassy hill that overlooked a massive building that was painted a ruby red. with some places left white to create an intricate design. The school reached high up into the sky, almost up there with the clouds. Junko gawked at the sight. "Amazing. Hey Riley, you've gotta see this."

"Junko, come on already!" Riley yelled. He was already down the hill and headed for the school. He had gotten too impatient to keep waiting for Junko who stopped to look at all the sights every second. "Hurry up."

"Okay, here I come." Junko smiled taking in the fresh air as it wisped through his hair and clothes. He laughed as he ran down the hill and towards Ovala Academy.

Once the boys made it to the school they were assigned their classes and dorm rooms. Junko and Riley were given the same room after multiple begging attempts.

They both set their bags down. The room was simple. Just plain white walls, a small television, a mini-fridge, and a triple bunk bed.

A standard dorm room. The triple bunk beds caught Riley's attention, however. "Hey, how come there are three beds?"

As if on cue, a girl with long straight blonde hair barged into the room. "Hello everyone!" She opened her sapphire blue eyes and saw Junko's and Riley's faces. "Oh you two losers are my roommates?"

Riley scowled at the girl. "How do you know we're losers? You don't even know us!"

"Yeah," Junko agreed with his friend, although more calmly.

"I can just tell," the blonde girl said rudely, crossing her arms. "I'm amazing when it comes to character judgment. Well and everything else." She brushed her hair behind her shoulder and smirked with pride.

"Oh, so that means you're amazing at sucking too, right?" Riley snickered.

"Petty of you to try and make seem as if I wasn't perfect just because you're full of flaws." She twirled a strand of her hair around and shook her head. "So sad."

Riley's eyebrow twitched. "What was that?!"

"It's okay, I'll forgive you for your attitude this time."

Riley leaned over to whisper to Junko, "So we're gonna have to live with this girl?"

"I think so," Junko whispered back.

Riley looked over to the wall, contemplating slamming his head against it. "Oh boy, this is gonna suck."

"You two can be gentlemen now and unpack my bags," the blonde flipping her hair over her shoulder again. "Oh by the way my name's Ashley."

"We don't care what your name is! And unpack your own stupid bags!" Riley yelled at the girl named Ashley. "Junko!"

Junko was already halfway finished with unpacking Ashley's bags when he looked up at Riley. "Yes?"

"Don't do her work for her!"

"But Ninju taught me to be a gentleman and always mind my manners."

Ashley grinned smugly at Riley. "See you could learn a few things from your friend here."

"So do we not have a bed time anymore or…" Riley contemplated having decided to ignore Ashley.

"It says here on our class schedule that bedtime is at nine o'clock," Junko said, reading the sheet of paper.

The next morning, Junko and Riley had gone to class together. They shared the same first-period Ovala tactics. Riley sat through the entire class dozing off. Junko however, tried his best to keep up with the notes. They were pretty complicated but he was fairly sure he'd be able to understand them if he studied them once school ended.

The next class was Ovala history which Junko shared with Ashley.

All of the wooden desks were aligned neatly in a row as they faced the dirty green chalkboard at the front of the classroom. Several posters of famous Ovala figures and previous students were displayed throughout the room.

"Pull out my seat for me," Ashley demanded.

"Okay." Junko smiled as he pulled out the chair for her.

"Geez, you actually listened to me? You really are a loser, Junko."

Once again Junko just began jotting down notes of every word he heard the teacher say. But he started to slow down when something perked his interest greatly. "The Ovala Kings are some of the strongest Ovalas to have ever lived," the teacher said as he wrote on the chalkboard.

"The Nine Ovala Kings are all famous heroes and powerful warriors who we honor greatly. However, some of the greatest ones include the Shadow User Junkaya who freed the slaves of the Shadow Realm, during the Dragon Era War. And of course, our very own Principal, Cody Romano."

Ovala King, huh? Junko thought to himself. It sounded like it would be awesome to be one. Some of the strongest Ovalas to have ever lived? If he could achieve that feat, he would become a famous and respected warrior all around the world. All he had to do was do well in Ovala Academy and then use everything he learned. He was sure he would become an Ovala King in no time. Now that would definitely impress Ninju.

Just thinking about how happy it would make Ninju that his student had become an Ovala King filled Junko with giddy feelings. It's settled then. He would become the next Ovala King. That was his ultimate goal.

The dong of the bell rung in Junko's ears. Shuffling papers and hurried footsteps livened the classroom up as Junko looked up from his notes. "Oh, looks like school's over." Junko stuffed his notebook in his black cotton backpack, then looked up again and realized that he was surrounded by a group of his classmates. They were all fawning over his necklace. Some were even prodding and poking at it. "It looks so real!" one of the girls shirked. "Like an exact copy of the Fourth Ovala's King's one!"

"Where did you get it? " one of the boys asked.

"I-I don't know."

"Awww. Come on, how do you not know where you got it at?"

"Sorry everyone," Junko apologized to his fellow classmates. He really hoped they weren't too mad at him. The brown-haired boy threw his book bag onto his back as he headed out the classroom.

"Hey, Junko!" Riley waved at Junko from the other side of the hallway.

"Hey!" Junko beamed as he ran over to Riley.

As the friends walked down the hallway, an interesting poster caught Junko's eye. "Look at this," Junko said, walking over to the poster. It says tomorrow we compete to see what rank we'll be classified in."

Riley studied the poster, squinting his eyes. "Rank? What's that?"

Junko began tapping his chin. "I don't know. Ninju never said anything about ranks."

"So not only are you two losers but you're also idiots." Ashley walked in between Junko and Riley. "Honestly, I can't believe you don't know what ranks are." Ashley didn't understand why she should have to put up with these two dolts.

Junko clapped his hands together and bowed his head. "Could you please tell us, Ashley."

Riley nudged Junko in the shoulder. "Stop being so darn polite all the time."

Ashley sighed. "I guess I can explain it to you morons. Everyone at Ovala Academy is given a rank. Once they're given a rank, that's how everyone is separated. There's D-Rank, C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank, and S-Rank. Since we're first years, we have to get our ranks assigned tomorrow."

Riley pumped his fist. "Oh yeah, I just know I'm gonna get S-Rank!" He knew whatever kind of tests the school was planning to give him, he'd get himself into S-Rank. Nothing was going to stand in his way.

Junko smiled warmly at Riley. "Yeah, good luck." He was glad to see such incredible determination in his friend. And it really helped boost his morale as well, even if he was still a little nervous.

Meanwhile, in the Fire Realm, Ninju stood on a mountain above a burning town. Only a small squad of Ovalas was in said town, however. The flames flickering off the houses and building reflected in Ninju's dark sunglasses as he looked down. He took a deep breath before cupping his hands in front of his mouth. "Burning Flames." He blew a blast of fireballs out of his mouth, each one crashing into one of the Ovalas below him.

"Fire Ball!" One man shouted as he launched a ball of fire from in between his hands.

"Fire Reflector." A rectangular mirror of fire appeared in front of Ninju just before the ball of flame hit him. It reflected off the mirror and flew rapidly back at the man who launched it.

The dark-haired man coughed. "You haven't seen the last of us Ninju Gersko. The Narahara family will have revenge!

Ninju ignored the man as he jumped down from the mountain. He pressed his wrists together and slowly walked towards the dark-haired man. "Volcanic Ash." Fire came out from Ninju's palm and encased the area. "Hmph, two down, eight more to go."