"Hold it, kid."
Jaden took a few steps further in, and as expected, someone appeared to block his path, flashing a duel disk.
"It won't be so easy to see Lord Mello."
"I figured."
Jaden showed not a hint of discouragement—he looked impatient, even. He snapped his duel disk open.
"Come on! Let's talk with a duel!"
"Heh, a straightforward guy," the Society member chuckled.
"Duel!" x2
"I'll go first. Draw!" the member said. "I summon 'Berserk Gorilla'!"
[Berserk Gorilla, ATK 2000]
"Oh, starting with a 2000-ATK beater? Not bad," Jaden said cheerfully. "My turn.
I summon 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman'!"
[Elemental HERO Bubbleman, ATK 800]
"When Bubbleman is successfully summoned and you control no other cards, draw 2 cards from your Deck."
"Then I activate Polymerization! I fuse 'Elemental HERO Avian' in my hand with 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman' on the field!
Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Mariner!"
[Elemental HERO Mariner, ATK 1400]
The opponent immediately laid on the taunt: "After all that for a fusion with only 1400 ATK… trash."
"My HEROes aren't trash," Jaden smiled confidently. "I activate the Equip Spell 'Mage Power' and equip it to Mariner.
For each Spell/Trap on my field, the equipped monster gains 500 ATK."
"Then I set one card to my back row.
Next I activate the Equip Spell 'Assault Armor'!"
A new equip appeared, like a burning energy cuirass overlaying Mariner. It's a GX-era Spell; though not specifically tied to HERO or Neo-Spacian, its art depicts a powering-up Neos.
"When you control exactly 1 Warrior-Type monster, equip to that monster; it gains 300 ATK.
I now have three Spell/Trap cards total in my back row, so Mage Power gives another 1500 ATK."
[Elemental HERO Mariner, ATK 3200]
"ATK jumps to 3200?" The Society member's face finally changed.
"And Mariner's effect—when there's at least one face-down card in my back row, it can attack directly!"
"NANI!?" His face went pale.
A 3200 direct attack…
"But even so, the Light in my heart can endure—"
"No, it can't," Jaden cut in mercilessly. "Before that, I'll activate Assault Armor's other effect.
Send the equipped card to the GY; this turn, the equipped monster can attack twice during one Battle Phase."
"!?"
Two attacks? Then that means…
[Elemental HERO Mariner, ATK 3200 → ATK 2400]
"Mariner, direct attack!" Jaden swept his hand. "Double strike!"
The anchor-like weapon on Mariner's forearm shot out on its chain, piercing straight through the man's chest.
"Guwaaah!"
[Society Member, LP 4000 → LP 0]
The man in white collapsed to his knees, feeling as though an enormous, distorted shadow of darkness loomed behind the red-clad youth—an insurmountable mountain.
OTK.
Too much. I didn't even get to play a card…
Jaden cheerfully stepped over the fallen, unconscious man, rubbing his hands in anticipation.
"Alright, who's next? I can't wait."
…
Top floor. In the office, Mello narrowed his eyes slightly, took a sip of red wine, then slowly stood, speaking as if to himself.
"Have your friends make a feint to draw attention so you can slip straight in here yourself?"
He spoke toward an empty patch of air.
"Is that really wise? You've thrown your friends into the thick of the siege."
"It's fine. They'll have fun."
From some shadow in the room, Kira stepped out at a leisurely pace, smiling.
"Your underlings aren't much, but there sure are a lot of them. Cutting my way through would take time—especially since I didn't know if you'd try to run. So…"
"Ha!"
Mello gave a dry laugh.
"No need to worry—I'm not running anymore."
He stood, his eyes turning dangerous.
"At least not until I rid myself of the nuisance that is you."
"Good. I was counting on you saying that." Kira stepped forward. "You kidnapped President Pegasus and borrowed his power—the deck you've built must be quite refined, right?"
"Well, you can see for yourself," Mello said with a faint smile. "I promise you won't be disappointed."
"We'll see. I'm looking forward to it."
They took their positions on opposite sides of the room.
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Mello, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw," Mello said. "I summon 'Gladiator Beast Samnite' in Attack Position!"
A white, upright tiger, a Gladiator Beast warrior bearing a heavy shield, appeared on the field and let out a deep roar.
[Gladiator Beast Samnite, ATK 1600]
"Then I set two cards and end my turn."
"My turn. Draw!" Kira said. "The power of Roman gladiators—just what I wanted to experience.
I activate the Continuous Spell 'Volcanic Wall'!"
The ground split under roaring flames; a wall of fire shot skyward, forming a rampart like a great wall guarding Kira.
Though it never got a physical print, it appears in the classic Power of Chaos PC games and in Duel Links.
"Volcanic Wall: once per turn, send the top three cards of your Deck to the GY. For each Pyro monster among them, inflict 500 damage to your opponent."
In the single-player games, its effect matches the anime; in Duel Links, with 4000 LP format, burn values were often halved as a balance measure.
Kira milled three cards, then fanned them to show.
"Two Pyros—deal 1000 damage."
The wall of fire roared in approval; two flames shot out one after the other and exploded in Mello's face.
[Mello, LP 4000 → LP 3000]
"Volcanics," Mello frowned slightly.
Yet another deck not in the Duel King's prior records—but he knew this one liked to switch decks anyway.
Was he underestimating me—using me to test a new build?
Or… is this chosen specifically to counter me?