Chapter 42: Chapter 34
Seto Kaiba's victory went down in flames.
While not everyone was a fan of Seto Kaiba, his loss was so demeaning for someone like him.
(DM) Seto hung his head in shame, a burning rage filling his entire body. Next time he sees Yugi and Atem, he will have to settle the score!
Since (DM) Seto Kaiba and Kaiba Corporation have received a blow courtesy of the duel on the screen, many bloodthirsty sharks in the water have come looking to gobble it up. Among them, was a certain ancient duelist and his organization.
(5DS) Z-ONE sits in front of a screen, playing Atem's duel with Seto over again. Atem's words constantly reverberate in his head.
The same can be said for many others who are trying to change things in their future.
Before long, the screen reappeared with its next entry.
"Next duel. (GX World): Jaden Yuki vs Zane Truesdale."
The screen loads up to the image of Zane lying on his back, thinking back to the morning. As the top graduate of the school, he gets to duel one duelist of his choosing for the graduation duel.
If he gets only one duel before leaving Duel Academy, his choice can only be him.
The next morning, Syrus's screams ring out as Zane visits the Slifer Red dormitory with a challenge for Jaden.
Jaden tries to laugh it off as a fun duel he cannot wait for but Syrus knows how important the duel is. He asks Jaden to take it seriously as this will be the last duel he will get to have with Zane before the other leaves Duel Academy.
The news travels around Duel Academy and some of Jaden's closest friends cannot help but gossip about the duel themselves.
Instinct and intellect collide head to head. This will be Jaden's toughest challenge as he has already lost to Zane once before.
Jaden watches over the waves as the pressure builds inside him. Zane tries to tell him to duel as usual but he is no longer able to cast aside the weight on his shoulders.
The next day, the audience gathers to welcome the two duelists walking onto the dueling platform. Jaden wearing an unusually serious look on his face. With a shake of their hands, the duel begins.
[4000 LP] [4000 LP]
The audience watches the screen in fierce anticipation, Jaden and Zane having already proven themselves in previous duels. (GX) Yubel wears a stern look as it stares at Zane on the screen, an opponent who made even it feel fear.
Zane gives the choice of the first move to Jaden and the young duelist decides to uncharacteristically choose to go second. This is in preparation for Zane's opening hand having Cyber Dragon.
Zane disappoints Jaden by activating the spell card Polymerization. Using it, he fusion summons using all three of his Cyber Dragons in his hand as fusion materials.
Fusion Summon! Cyber End Dragon!
Cyber End Dragon: [4000 ATK]
Zane's prided Cyber End Dragon appears on his side of the field, shocking all of the audience members watching the duel. Shock fills Jaden but he entered this duel ready for the possibility that Zane would fusion summon his Cyber End Dragon on the first turn.
Zane then activates the spell card Different Dimension Capsule, using its spell effect to remove a select card in his deck from the game. After two turns, that card will then be added to his hand.
In their previous duel, it was thanks to Different Dimension Capsule that Zane was able to activate his spell card Power Bond and overwhelmingly defeat Jaden. Now that it has returned, will Zane be making a re-enactment of what happened in their last duel?
Zane sets a card and ends his turn. Jaden stares down at Zane's set card, guessing it to be the quick-play spell card De-Fusion. Once Zane gets Power Bond, he will split apart his Cyber End Dragon and use Power Bond to fusion summon it with double its ATK.
Zane calls for Jaden to take his turn, his thought processes slowing down the duel. In the stands, Jaden's friends are worried that Jaden is being different from normal as he is acting very cautiously at the moment.
Jaden normal summons Elemental Hero Wildheart.
Wildheart: [1500 ATK]
Jaden then activates the spell card Wild Half and uses its effect to halve Cyber End Dragon's ATK before special summoning a token copy to Zane's side of the field.
Cyber End Dragon + token: [2000 ATK]
Jaden activates the spell card Cyclone Boomerang and equips it to Elemental Hero Wildheart, increasing its ATK by 500.
Wildheart: [2000 ATK]
Wildheart attacks Zane's original Cyber End Dragon and Zane activates his quick-play spell card De-Fusion to split it into the three original Cyber Dragons that were used as fusion materials to fusion summon it.
Cyber Dragon x3: [2100 ATK]
Since Wildheart's attack target is removed from the field, he gets to set a new attack target: Cyber End Dragon's token copy. The two monsters go up in flames, Cyclone Boomerang going to the graveyard. Cyclone Boomerang's spell effect activates upon hitting the graveyard, destroying Zane's Different Dimension Capsule and inflicting 500 points of damage.
Zane: [3500 LP]
Jaden wants to prove to Zane that he is capable of reaching the peak just like him. That's why he is willing to do what he's never done before: study!
The myriad world's audience cannot help but chuckle a little as they realize Jaden was a bad student. No one said good duelists needed good grades...
Zane stares down at Jaden as he set his card before ending the turn.
He warns Jaden to stop dueling like this as Jaden duels his best when he uses his instincts. The spell effect of Card from a Different Dimension activates since it was removed from the game during Zane's previous turn, forcing both duelists to draw two cards from their deck and adding itself back to Zane's hand.
In the stands, Bastion explains to the audience that this was originally meant to off-load the side effects of fusion summoning as summoning Cyber End Dragon requires four cards from Zane's hand to be fusion summoned. If Zane added Power Bond, he would be at risk of being unable to use it during the turn he added it to his hand.
Zane attacks with his Cyber Dragon and Jaden activates the trap card, Draining Shield. Cyber Dragon's attack is negated and Jaden gains LP equal to Cyber Dragon's ATK.
Jaden: [6100 LP]
Zane's last two Cyber Dragons blast through Jaden's LP before Zane ends his turn by setting a card.
Jaden: [1900 LP]
Jaden's friends exhaled the breath they were holding in but things still weren't looking good for Jaden. Syrus got angry saying that Jaden wasn't dueling like his usual carefree self. If he was, then things would be looking up for him right now.
This is news for the myriad worlds as they have never seen the carefree Jaden. In the duels against Yubel and Darkness, he has been nothing else but serious. Now that they think about it, if Jaden wasn't goofing off at the beginning before the duel they wouldn't even know he could have such a carefree smile.
Then, was Jaden not even dueling at full strength when he was playing against Yubel and Darkness because he couldn't smile at the time?
Jaden didn't know what kind of dispute he has started because he still wants to go through the duel by virtue of his brains. Activating the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive, Jaden adds the warrior-type Elemental Hero Wildheart from his graveyard to his hand. He then activates the spell card Polymerization and uses it to fusion summon using the Elemental Hero Bladedge and Elemental Hero Wilheart in his hand as fusion materials.
Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Wildedge.
Wildedge: [2600 ATK]
The monster effect of Wildedge allows it to attack each of Zane's monsters on the field. With three swift swings, Zane's Cyber Dragons are destroyed in one fell swoop.
Zane: [2000 LP]
Jaden gloats over his strategy but Zane dismisses his efforts. Activating the trap card Return Soul, he uses its effect to return all three destroyed Cyber Dragons back to his deck.
"How can they help him from inside his deck?" (DM) Joey scratches his head.
"Is he planning on adding them back to his hand?" (ARC-V) Shingo wonders.
"He could be planning to activate a card that requires them in his deck," (5DS) Jack speculates.
Zane laments that he chose Jaden as his opponent with him not dueling as usual. Jaden cannot believe what he is hearing as he is trying to take the duel seriously, not realizing that is his problem.
Zane activates the spell card Future Fusion and sends to the graveyard the three Cyber Dragons in his deck in order to use them as fusion materials for a fusion summon.
Fusion Summon! Cyber End Dragon!
Cyber End Dragon: [4000 ATK]
Cyber End Dragon cannot attack during the turn it is fusion summoned using the spell effect of Future Fusion so Zane ends his turn.
Jaden stares down at Cyber End Dragon and sets three cards before ending his turn.
Zane tries to get Jaden to understand what he's been doing wrong this entire time but Jaden won't listen. Left with no other choice, Zane moves to end things this turn.
Zane activates the spell card De-Fusion and splits his Cyber End Dragon into its three fusion materials.
Cyber Dragon x3: [2100 ATK]
Zane then activates the spell card Power Bond and uses it to turn his Cyber Dragons into fusion materials to fusion summon Cyber End Dragon back to the field. The new Cyber End Dragon will be fusion summoned with double its ATK.
Fusion Summon! Cyber End Dragon!
Cyber End Dragon: [8000 ATK]
Cyber End Dragon makes its glorious re-appearance amidst the blue lightning.
Zane mourns that this is the duel he leaves Duel Academy with as he attacks with Cyber End Dragon. Jaden activates the trap card Soul Union and uses its effect to add the ATK of the Elemental Hero Bladedge in his graveyard to Wildedge.
Wildedge: [5200 ATK]
Jaden then activates the spell card Emergency Provisions and uses it to tribute his activated Soul Union in order to regain 1000 LP.
Jaden: [2900 LP]
Wildedge is destroyed by Cyber End Dragon's energy bursts and Jaden loses most of his LP.
Jaden: [100 LP]
Since Wildedge was destroyed in battle, Jaden activates the trap card Hero Signal and uses its effect to special summon from his deck a level 4 or lower "Elemental Hero" monster.
Special summon! Elemental Hero Bubbleman.
Bubbleman: [1200 DEF]
Thanks to the monster effect of Bubbleman, when he is summoned to the field while Jaden controls no other cards he gets to draw two cards. Zane normal summons Cyber Kirin and uses its monster effect to tribute itself in order to take no effect damage during this turn.
Zane avoided the damage from Power Bond!
"As expected from the top graduate," (GX) Shephard compliments.
"His dueling is impeccable," (ZEXAL) Kite remarks.
"How can Jaden get out of this?" (ARC-V) Serena wonders.
Zane and Jaden banter some more about Jaden's unusual dueling but it grounds to a halt as Jaden falls to the ground, his stomach growling in hunger. Unexpectedly, he calls out for some food making the duel come to a standstill.
The audience is shocked by the turn of events and a couple of women in the myriad worlds cannot help but think of their idiotic friends. (ZEXAL) Yuma was getting an annoyed but relieved look from his friend Kotori.
Jaden cannot help but laugh as he realizes he was making a mistake by not playing as usual. After consuming his fill of meals courtesy of the store's staff, Jaden jumps to his feet and continues dueling.
Activating the spell card Pot of Greed, Jaden draws two cards. He then summons Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode.
Avian: [1000 DEF]
Jaden activates the spell card Spy Hero and uses its effect to send two random cards in his deck to the graveyard in order to use Zane's Future Fusion from his graveyard. Using the fusion materials Elemental Hero Clayman and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in his deck, Jaden fusion summons Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster in defense mode.
Rampart Blaster: [2500 DEF]
Jaden sets two cards before ending his turn.
Zane normal summons Cyber Phoenix.
Cyber Phoenix: [1200 ATK]
The monster effect of Cyber Phoenix allows Zane to negate the effects of spells and trap cards that target his machine-type monsters by tributing Cyber Phoenix. Zane attacks Rampart Blaster with Cyber End Dragon but Jaden activates the spell card De-Fusion.
Zane warns against targeting Cyber End Dragon but Jaden splits apart his Rampart Blaster.
Burstinatrix: [1200 ATK]
Clayman: [800 ATK]
Now that Jaden has earth-attribute, water-attribute, wind-attribute, and fire-attribute monsters on his side of the field he can activate his trap card Elemental Burst and use its effect to send all of Zane's cards to the graveyard at the cost of his heroes.
Several attributed symbols flash on the four elemental heroes' foreheads before turning them into their respective attributes. These attributes then shoot out at Zane's field, destroying them.
Zane looks around in surprise at the elemental spectacle. Jaden laughs at the fact that he managed to take down Zane's large Cyber End Dragon. Thanks to the monster effect of Cyber Phoenix, Zane gets to draw a card when it is destroyed.
Zane compliments Jaden's move but reminds him that Cyber End Dragon isn't so easily defeated. Activating the spell card Time Fusion, Zane targets his Cyber End Dragon by removing from play a card from his hand. At the start of his next turn, Cyber End Dragon will be special summoned to his side of the field ignoring its summoning conditions.
A shining fissure in time gathers above Zane's head, ready to unleash his ultimate monster. Jaden sets a card and ends his turn.
At the start of Zane's turn, the spell effect of Card from a Different Dimension activates since it was removed from the game thanks to the effect of Time Fusion. Card from a Different Dimension returns to Zane's hand and both duelists draw two cards from their decks.
The spell effect of Time Fusion then activates and special summons Cyber End Dragon at the cost of being unable to attack this turn. Zane then sets a card to end his turn.
Cyber End Dragon: [4000 ATK]
Jaden activates the spell card Fusion Recovery and uses its effect to add Elemental Hero Burstinatrix and Polymerization from his graveyard to his hand since they were used to fusion summon a monster. Jaden then normal summons Elemental Hero Burstinatrix.
Burstinatrix: [1200 ATK]
Jaden activates the spell card Miracle Fusion and removes from the game the Elemental Hero Avian in his graveyard and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix on his field. The two heroes are then used as fusion materials for a fusion summon.
Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!
Flame Wingman: [2100 ATK]
Jaden's original ace! That's not all either. Jaden activates the spell card Polymerization and turns his Elemental Hero Flame Wingman on the field and Elemental Sparkman in his hand into fusion materials.
Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!
Shining Flare Wingman: [2500 ATK]
A flamboyant hero radiating light comes to Jaden's side of the field, attracting the attention of all of the children watching the duel. The newly evolved form of Jaden's Flame Wingman gains the monster effect of increasing its ATK by 300 for each of his "Elemental Hero" monsters in his graveyard.
Shining Flare Wingman: [4900 ATK]
Shining Flare Wingman attacks and destroys Cyber End Dragon.
Zane: [1100 LP]
Jaden activates the monster effect of Shining Flare Wingman to inflict damage equal to the destroyed Cyber End Dragon's ATK. Zane activates the trap card Damage Polarizer and uses its effect to reduce the effect damage to 0. Both Zane and Jaden then draw one card.
The screen pulls out to show the card both duelists drew was the spell card Battle Fusion.
"Both of them drew the same card!" (GX) Professor Crowler exclaims.
"So cool!" (5DS) Leo shouts.
"Looks like this is the deciding turn," (ARC-V) Crow calls out.
Zane smiles as he activates the spell card Power Bond and combines it with his quick-play spell card Cybernetic Fusion Support. At the cost of half of his LP, Zane is able to fusion summon by removing the fusion materials in his graveyard from the game.
Zane: [550 LP]
Fusion Summon! Cyber End Dragon!
Cyber End Dragon: [4000 ATK]
The spell effect of Power Bond activates, doubling Cyber End Dragon's ATK.
Cyber End Dragon: [8000 ATK]
Zane isn't finished as he activates from his hand the spell card, Limiter Removal. Zane doubles the ATK of his machine-type Cyber End Dragon but the monster is destroyed during his end phase.
Cyber End Dragon: [16,000 ATK]
Cyber End Dragon attacks Shining Flare Wingman but Jaden activates the spell card Battle Fusion and uses its effect to increase Shining Flare Wingman's ATK by the total amount of the monster it's battling.
Shining Flare Wingman: [20,900 ATK]
Zane stuns the field by reaching an outrageous amount but Jaden matches him beat for beat. The Duel Academy audience gets excited as the duel ramps up. Zane warns Jaden that timing is everything as he activates his own Battle Fusion.
Cyber End Dragon: [36,900 ATK]
So much power! The audience watches in shock as the conversation they caught a glimpse of during Zane's duel with Yubel-Jesse replays itself.
"Jaden, remember that inside of you is limitless potential," Zane instructs Jaden.
"I'll firmly hold onto your words, graduate!" Jaden agrees. "As the representative of your underclassmen, here's something to honor your graduation!"
Jaden activates his trap card Final Fusion!
Due to the effect of Final Fusion, the combined ATK of both of their battling monsters is taken and inflicted on both duelists as damage. Both duelists happily welcome the damage as they welcome the double finish.
An explosion occurs in the center of the dueling field as Zane falls to his knees and Jaden lies flat on his back.
Zane: [0 LP]
Jaden: [0 LP]
One by one, the collective audience begins applauding the two duelists. Whether it be the Duel Academy students or the viewers of the myriad worlds. Jaden and Zane clasp each other's hands one last time before falling to the ground in laughter, happy to send each other off like this.
"(GX World): Jaden Yuki vs Zane Truesdale. The duel ends in a draw."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone