[Yumi, LP 4000]
[Jaden, LP 7500]
[Jesse, LP 3000]
"My turn! Draw!"
Yumi drew a card from the top of his deck, adding it to his hand before quietly scanning through his options. His eyes lingered on the two girls standing on his field before a faint smile appeared on his face.
"The condition is two monsters, including a Sky Striker Ace monster."
The moment he spoke, both Raye and Roze looked toward one another before giving small smiles. The Duel Spirits already understood what was coming.
Light gathered around their bodies as the two girls stepped forward together. Their figures floated into the air, surrounded by crimson and blue streams of energy that spiraled around each other before completely swallowing them.
"Are you ready?" Raye asked with a grin.
Roze simply nodded. "Let's go."
The two reached toward one another, their hands meeting as the light completely engulfed them.
"Fusion Henshin! Sky Striker Ace - Zeke!"
The sphere of light suddenly burst apart.
Instead of another Sky Striker girl wearing a mechanical combat suit, what descended onto the field was a gigantic humanoid machine easily towering over the other monsters on the field. Its armor was forged from sleek black metal with silver edges, giving it the appearance of a woman wearing an elegant black dress made entirely of steel. A massive sword rested in both of its hands as crimson lights slowly lit up beneath its visor-like face.
The enormous machine landed heavily behind Yumi.
[Sky Striker Ace - Zeke, 1500 ATK]
"...Whoa." Jaden couldn't help but stare upward. "That's amazing!"
Even Jesse looked impressed. "So that's another Sky Striker Ace..."
Many of the students and teachers watching from the audience had similar reactions. Most of them were already amazed by Doombroker earlier, yet this new form looked even more imposing simply because of its size.
The giant machine slowly rested its sword on one shoulder while standing silently behind Yumi.
"Since a monster was Special Summoned," Yumi continued calmly, "I can activate the effect of Sky Striker Mecha - Adhilsaber from my Graveyard."
A card rose out of his Graveyard slot.
He picked it up, spun it once between his fingers, then slid it into his Spell and Trap Zone.
"I equip it to Zeke. The equipped monster gains 1500 ATK and DEF."
Mechanical parts unfolded from behind Zeke's shoulders before locking themselves onto her body. Additional crimson energy lines spread throughout the machine as the enormous sword became noticeably larger.
[Sky Striker Ace - Zeke, 1500 -> 3000 ATK]
"When Zeke is Special Summoned, I can banish one monster on the field until its owner's next turn." Yumi smiled as he continued.
His finger moved and pointed directly at Jesse's Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise. "So I'll banish that turtle of your."
Emerald Tortoise: I'm a tor-
Before the Duel Spirit could finish correcting him, a black dimensional crack opened underneath it, making it fall into the rift before slamming shut and disappearing from the field.
Jaden scratched his cheek. "...I think it was trying to say something."
"It probably was," Yumi replied calmly.
Jesse laughed helplessly. "He is a tortoise, not a turtle."
Yumi simply ignored the correction.
"Battle." He extended one hand toward Jesse. "Zeke, attack Jesse directly."
The giant machine lifted its colossal sword with both hands before stepping forward. Every footstep shook the holographic battlefield as it raised the blade high above its head.
Seeing a three-thousand-point sword about to come crashing down on him made Jesse instinctively take half a step backward.
"I activate my Trap Card!" Jesse shouted as his face-down card flipped open. "Waboku!"
A warm barrier of light surrounded him.
"This turn I take no battle damage, and my monsters can't be destroyed by battle."
The gigantic sword came crashing down against the barrier, sending sparks and shockwaves throughout the arena. The protective wall trembled but remained intact, completely nullifying the attack.
Jesse let out a relieved sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"...That was close."
Seeing his attack was blocked, Yumi didn't look bothered by it. He simply looked down at the remaining cards in his hand.
"I set one card." He slid one card onto his Duel Disk. A face-down card appeared behind Zeke.
Yumi then waved his hand forward.
"I activate Zeke's second effect."
The newly set card disappeared before anyone could even wonder what it was.
"By sending another card I control to the Graveyard, Zeke gains 1000 ATK and DEF."
The face-down dissolved into particles that flowed directly into the giant machine.
Its armor expanded slightly as additional thrusters unfolded across its back. Crimson energy surged across every joint as its enormous sword emitted a deeper glow.
[Sky Striker Ace - Zeke, 3000 -> 4000 ATK]
The bracelet on Jaden and Jesse's wrists glows a bright orange. Yumi continued as though nothing unusual had happened, as the one on his wrist was broken.
"I'll set another card." Another face-down card materialized behind Zeke. "Then I activate the Spell Card, Foolish Burial."
He placed the Spell onto his Duel Disk.
"This lets me send one monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."
His Deck automatically presented a single card. Yumi pulled it out, glanced at it briefly, then calmly placed it into his Graveyard.
The familiar red-framed monster card disappeared into the grave.
"Turn end."
By this point, the sight of the towering 4000 ATK Sky Striker Ace - Zeke standing silently behind Yumi had completely changed the atmosphere in the arena.
The first-year students, who had only heard rumors about Slifer Red before enrolling, finally understood why everyone kept referring to it as the worst dorm but contained the school's strongest Duelist.
"So this is the level of the top student..."
"I don't even have a monster over 2500 ATK..."
"And he's already summoned something with four thousand..."
Even some of the second-years quietly swallowed.
Watching from the sidelines was one thing. Standing across from Yumi in an actual duel was a completely different experience.
"My turn! Draw!"
Jesse drew his card and calmly looked through his hand. His expression remained relaxed, though anyone paying close attention could see him thinking much harder than before.
He glanced between Yumi's enormous machine and Jaden's lineup of HERO before letting out a small, helpless laugh.
"...Yeah, I don't think I can beat either of you in a straight fight. So..."
Jesse slid a single card onto his Duel Disk.
"I'll set one card."
A lone face-down card materialized behind his empty field.
"...And I'll end my turn."
Almost as soon as he spoke, the dimensional rift created by Zeke's effect reopened beside him.
A familiar emerald-colored shell slowly emerged from inside the crack in space.
The Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise blinked twice after returning before looking around.
"...I'm back?"
[Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise, 2000 DEF]
Jaden placed his fingers on top of his deck. "Alright, now it's my turn!"
"Draw!" He pulled his next card and immediately smiled
"I activate the Spell Card, Duel!" Without any hesitation, he placed it onto his Duel Disk. "This lets every player draw until they have six cards in their hand!"
The three drew until they had six cards in their hands.
Without slowing down, Jaden revealed another Spell.
"I activate Harpie's Feather Duster! This let me destroyed all of your Spells and Traps."
A giant feather duster materialized above the field before sweeping across both of his opponents' sides.
The powerful gust scattered every Spell and Trap in its path.
Yumi's back row shattered into fragments of light.
Jesse's face-down disappeared as well.
At the same time, the mechanical equipment attached to Zeke vanished. The giant machine's armor released a burst of steam as its extra power disappeared.
[Sky Striker Ace - Zeke, 4000 -> 2500 ATK]
"Sorry, AIBO." Jaden rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "I couldn't just leave all those back there."
"I wasn't expecting you to." Yumi answered with a smile.
Jaden immediately placed another card onto his Duel Disk. "Next, I activate the Spell, Instant Contact! By paying 1000 Life Points, I get to Special Summon a Level 7 or lower, Elemental HERO or Neo-Spacian from my Extra Deck."
[Jaden, 7500 -> 6500 LP]
Space distorted beside him.
A brilliant portal opened high above the arena before a muscular warrior descended from Neo Space.
His bulky dark-green armor reflected the rainbow light of the rift, while the enormous drill mounted on his right arm slowly rotated.
"Come forth! Elemental HERO Grand Neos!"
[Elemental HERO Grand Neos, 2500 ATK]
Jesse looked genuinely impressed. "So that's another Neos Fusion."
Jaden nodded proudly as Grand Neos stepped forward and lowered his massive drill.
"I activate Grand Neos's effect!" Jaden pointed directly toward Yumi's field. "Once per turn, I can target one monster you control and return it to your hand!"
"Grand Neos! Send Zeke back!"
The HERO thrust his drill into the ground.
Instead of drilling through the floor, the spinning weapon tore open space itself.
The crack rapidly expanded into a swirling dimensional vortex beneath Zeke.
The giant Sky Striker machine sank into it piece by piece before disappearing completely as the rift quietly closed.
The audience collectively let out surprised voices.
"He bounced it away?"
"Even that giant machine can just disappear?"
Yumi remained as calm as ever. "Since a Sky Striker Ace monster left my field..."
A card slid halfway out of his Graveyard.
"...I activate Raye's effect from my grave."
He caught the card between two fingers before placing it onto his Duel Disk.
Blue streams of data gathered beside him.
They quickly formed into the familiar figure of the blonde swordswoman. Raye landed lightly beside Yumi before resting one hand on the hilt of her weapon.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 ATK]
Seeing Raye reappearing once more, Jaden couldn't help but smile, his rapid heartbeat growing louder in his chest.
"I activate the Spell, Take Over 5!" Jaden placed down another card from his hand. "This allows me to send the top five cards from my deck to my grave."
Pulling out the five cards from the top of his deck and placed them into his grave.
Without giving anyone much time to think, Jaden continued.
"Now I activate the Field Spell, Neo Space!"
The card slid into his Field Spell Zone.
Immediately, the arena around them began changing.
The arena disappeared beneath layers of holographic light as streams of rainbow-colored energy flowed through space in every direction.
It felt as though everyone had been transported into Neo Space itself.
[Elemental HERO Neos Knight, 3100 -> 3600 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Grand Neos, 2500 -> 3000 ATK]
Jaden smiled confidently. "Battle! Neos Knight! Attack Raye!"
The armored HERO lowered his body before charging forward with his sword drawn.
"I activate Raye's effect!" Yumi answered immediately. "By tributing her, I Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace from my Extra Deck!"
Golden light enveloped Raye's body.
Mechanical armor assembled around her in an instant. Orange thrusters ignited behind her back as six metallic wings unfolded one after another.
She drew her long tachi as flames burst from every engine.
"Henshin! Sky Striker Ace - Kagari!"
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 1500 ATK]
She landed gracefully in front of Neos Knight, flames swirling around her boots.
"Kagari's effect activates." Yumi reached toward his Graveyard. "When she's Special Summoned, I can add one Sky Striker Spell from my Graveyard to my hand."
A familiar card rose out of the Graveyard.
Yumi caught it before briefly showing it. "I'll add Widow Anchor back to my hand."
Almost immediately, another card emerged.
"And because a monster was Special Summoned, Adhilsaber activates from my Graveyard."
The white mechanical support unit shot into the air before attaching itself to Kagari's armor piece by piece.
Additional armor locked into place across her shoulders and arms.
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 1500 -> 3000 ATK]
"And Kagari gains 100 ATK and DEF for every Spell in my Graveyard."
The flames erupting from her engines immediately intensified.
The orange glow became almost white-hot as magical circles continued appearing beneath her feet.
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 3000 -> 4400 ATK]
The entire audience fell silent.
"...Four thousand four hundred?"
"It got even stronger than the giant one!"
"Is there even a limit to his deck?"
Even Jesse couldn't help laughing. "I think every time we remove one of your monsters, another stronger one comes out."
Yumi shrugged. "That does happen sometimes."
Jaden stared at Kagari before breaking into a wide grin.
"...As expected of my AIBO."
There wasn't even the slightest hint of discouragement on his face.
Instead, his excitement only continued growing.
Most duelists would have felt overwhelmed after watching their opponent replace one powerful monster with an even stronger one while recovering resources at the same time.
Jaden wasn't like most duelists.
The stronger the opponent standing across from him became, the brighter his smile grew.
He wanted difficult duels.
He wanted rivals capable of pushing him beyond his limits.
Without someone strong enough to stand in front of him, there was no reason to become stronger himself.
Just as the rivalry between the Nameless Pharaoh and President Kaiba had pushed both of them higher than either could have reached alone, Yumi is that kind of rival for Jaden.
Not only Jaden, but the students in their friend group had begun improving simply from trying to keep up with the two of them.
The gap was still enormous. But every duel closed it just a little more.
Jaden looked down at the remaining cards in his hand before nodding to himself.
"I'll set two cards."
Two face-down cards quietly materialized behind his HERO monsters.
He looked back up at Yumi with the same energetic smile as always.
"Turn end."
"My turn then. Draw!" Yumi said as he pulled a card from his deck, his eyes lowering to the card in his hand before a small smile formed on his lips.
He didn't spend long looking at it.
Without hesitation, he placed the drawn card onto his Duel Disk.
"Quick-Play Spell, Domain Expansion! Upon activation, it negates the effects of all other cards on the field until the end of this turn. By speaking this card's name, the player can activate its effect and directly activate a Field Spell from their Deck."
The moment those words left his mouth, Jaden's eyes sharpened. He immediately caught on to what Yumi was trying to do, and Jesse understood a second later as well.
Even the audience, who had been following the duel closely from the stands, seemed to go quiet all at once. They could tell something unusual was about to happen, even if they did not fully understand what.
Yumi placed his right hand over his chest and raised his left hand forward, his posture steady and deliberate.
Jaden smiled back at him, just as calm, and placed his fingers together in front of him.
Jesse held his ground as well and crossed both hands over his chest.
The air in the room changed almost immediately.
Even the students in the audience, who had been noisy only moments ago, gradually fell quiet. A few leaned forward in their seats, sensing that something unusual was about to happen. The tension spread through the room quickly enough that even the teachers stopped talking.
Then, almost at the same time, the three duelists spoke.
"Domain Expansion!"
Darkness surged outward from beneath their feet, spreading rapidly across the floor before rising into the air like a massive wave. In the span of a moment, the entire battlefield was swallowed by a black sphere that expanded outward, enclosing all three of them inside.
The world outside disappeared.
When the darkness finally settled, the sky above them had become a deep night-black expanse with a single full moon hanging overhead. Tall skyscrapers rose into the distance, stone colosseum seating spread around the edges of the arena, and red and yellow digital beacons shot upward into the sky like glowing pillars. The whole place felt as though the field itself had been replaced by an enormous city suspended in an artificial night.
The audience outside could only stare.
Unlike the newer Master Rule, where each player could hold their own Field Spell without interfering with the others, the current Master Rule did not allow that kind of overlap. Only one Field Spell could remain on the field at a time.
And since the three of them had all activated a Field Spell at once...
...all three collapsed.
The black dome shattered in an instant, splitting apart like glass under pressure. The three duelists were revealed again, standing inside the ruined darkness as each one's Field Spell was sent to the Graveyard.
Yumi didn't look bothered in the slightest.
"Sky Striker Airspace - Area Zero's effect activates," he said with a faint smirk. "When this card leaves my Field Zone, I can Special Summon a Sky Striker Ace from my Deck."
His Deck shuffled on its own for a moment, the card selection cycling through a few possibilities before one slid out from the top.
He caught it and placed it down without delay.
"Show yourself, Sky Striker Ace - Yumi."
A figure appeared on his field.
At first glance, it looked like Yumi himself, but not exactly. The new figure wore a male version of the Sky Striker-style uniform, split cleanly down the middle with one half black and the other white. A long black-and-white scarf wrapped around his neck and swayed lightly in the digital wind, giving him a sharp, almost intimidating presence despite the familiar face.
[Sky Striker Ace - Yumi, 1100 ATK]