"Youyu, did you really beat him all by yourself?" Yusei expressed surprise after hearing Youyu recount the events.
"Youyu... Sensei, you're amazing!" Judai immediately showed his admiration.
Youyu, with a slightly annoyed look, said, "No, not really, I said 'almost.' If you guys were just a second later, it might have been over."
Yusei: "..."
Judai: "..."
Right now, they felt like Kyle Reese, the future warrior from the "Terminator" movie, who traveled back in time to save the world, only to find that Sarah Connor, supposed to be the one they protect, was holding a gun in one hand and an ax in the other, stepping on a Terminator now turned to scrap metal, with a black face saying "What took you so long?"
Thinking about it, Youyu felt like he got the short end of the stick and figured he should find a way to get some compensation. However, he couldn't possibly target Crab-brother's (Yusei's) D-Wheel, or else without it, these protagonists might be stuck here forever...
Unexpectedly, before he could say anything, Yusei had already thought for a moment and then pulled out a card from somewhere: "Oh, Youyu-san, here's this..."
Upon taking a look, Youyu saw it was a "Drill Synchro."
The Synchro series, the theme card deck of Fudo Yusei as the protagonist!
Youyu: "!"
Are future youths really so perceptive? I haven't said a word!
As Youyu took the card in his hand, he protested, "This... isn't quite right."
"It's alright, this is the proof of our bonds across time and space." Yusei smiled meaningfully, "Please do accept it."
Youyu made a courteous refusal, then decided "Better to obey than to decline" and accepted this "proof of bond."
Youyu's mood instantly brightened, throwing thoughts of Paradox and his Malefic Deck behind him.
Ha, what is a Malefic Deck? Such a Performapal Deck, just let him slip away.
A card deck centered around Yusei's "Synchro" was once a championship deck in the real-life card environment!
However, the "Synchro" deck relies on "Synchro Summon," something that wasn't developed until many years later to unleash its power, and due to the era's limitations, it might not be used for quite a while.
But that doesn't matter, Youyu is definitely right to start collecting these cards now.
Judai seemed slightly impressed: "I feel like you seem to really understand Youyu, Yusei..."
...
Luckily, the president arranged a villa for Youyu just in time, otherwise he wouldn't have found a place to host two big shots from the future.
If necessary, they'd probably just have to book a hotel room.
Considering they traveled hurriedly, Judai and Yusei didn't bring much besides dueling discs, decks, and their must-have tools for card play.
If Paradox doesn't show up for a while, they might have to stay for some time. So things like changing clothes and daily necessities will also have to be borrowed from Youyu for now.
Anyway, men are inherently creatures who don't fuss over details, so these little problems are unimportant.
It might even help the trio of card friends from different times to understand each other better and strengthen their bonds.
Sharing a pair of shorts is naturally a mark of brotherhood.
That evening, after Judai finished his hot shower, wiping his wet hair after coming out of the bathroom, he unsurprisingly locked his eyes on Youyu with a fiery gaze...
"Youyu-san! Let's have a duel!"
Youyu: "..."
I knew it.
Although Judai's dueling style is closer to Yugi, his "duel-centric mindset" resembles Kaiba more — essentially, he excels at handling everything by playing cards, and when that doesn't work, resolve the problem-causers with cards.
... Not sure who this kid resembles more.
In the end, the two didn't formally duel.
They merely dragged a table over, laid out a duel mat, sat across from each other, and casually went through their decks a few times.
It felt somewhat like playing cards with buddies at the board game club in a previous life.
Judai often did this with his roommates and friends in the dormitory while studying at Duel Academy (and even frequently lost to his junior Marufuji Shou). This is strictly speaking not a duel, merely exchanging tactics and insights, promoting camaraderie.
Youyu figured that if he were to actually duel, he probably wouldn't stand a chance against this Yuki Judai before him.
After all, this Judai comes from after the ending of the entire GX chapters, long past peak level - maybe more.
Who knows how many cheats Judai had privately developed and how many cards printed after the GX finale, over all these years...
With innate talent, drawing godly pulls like drinking water, as the storyline unfolds, later on, he gained power from the distant Nebula M78 (allegedly) gaining new space power, unlocking and accepting the invincible Supreme King power deep within, and even merging the soul of Yubel, possessing twisted dimension-level strength...
Now this guy is a walking cheat, Youyu assessed his abilities, deciding the odds of winning weren't high.
... This was Youyu's thought before their "friendly exchange."
After they settled at the table, shuffled through a few rounds, Youyu's mindset shifted to—
—What kind of game is this?!
Gosh, this game just can't be played!
Round one, Judai has a Flame Wingman on the field along with two Set Cards.
In a cautious move, Youyu decides to Normal Summon Solidman, and then use Solidman's effect to Special Summon Airman from his hand. With Airman's effect, he destroys one of the Set Cards, then activates Mask Change from his hand to transform Airman into Masked Hero Blast, cutting Flame Wingman's attack in half and sending the second Set Card back to Judai's hand, aiming for a one-turn kill...
The plan was solid. But before Youyu could even play his cards, Judai dramatically flips one of the Set Cards on the field—
—I totally got Mind Crushed!
"The card I declare is Mask Change!" Judai says with a peculiar smile. "If Youyu-san has this card, please discard all copies of it."
Youyu: "..."
Youyu silently discards "Mask Change," his expression involuntarily twitching.
Damn!
Judai, you bushy-browed rascal, how did you end up squeezing Mind Crush into your deck? Who taught you to do this?
Why are you picking up only the bad habits and not the good ones?
Always the one to crush others' minds, Youyu experiences the bitter taste of being Mind Crushed for the first time.
The feeling is very blue and unbearable, the kind of blue you can't talk about...
(In heaven, Dartz approves.)
"..."
Round two.
"I activate from my hand, Magic Card - D.D. Designator!" Judai plays a Magic Card. "Declare a card name, and if the opponent has that card in their hand, they must banish it from the game, otherwise, they randomly banish one card from their hand.
The card I declare is Elemental Hero Airman!"
Youyu: "..."
Youyu silently glances at the Airman he spent tons of money to draw from his deck, then silently picks it out and banishes it from the game.
"..."
Round three.
Youyu: "Activate Magic Card - Miracle Fusion, which allows Elemental Hero Monsters to Fusion Summon from the graveyard. I'll banish 'Elemental Hero Sparkman' and 'Elemental Hero Flame Wingman' from the game to Fusion Summon Shining Flame Wingman..."
"Mr. Youyu, wait a moment!"
In what appears to be an emotional outburst, Judai accidentally calls him 'teacher' again.
Then he excitedly flips open a Set Card with a bright smile.
"Quick-Play Magic - Called by the Grave!" Judai's smile shines even brighter. "Banish a card from my own deck, and during this turn, negate the effects of all cards with the same name as the card I banished!
I banish 'Miracle Fusion' from my deck, so the 'Miracle Fusion' you activated is negated, teacher!"
Youyu: "......"
Watching Judai's 'smile brought by dueling,' Youyu couldn't help but ponder.
Perhaps... should I just punch him?
Since he's calling me 'teacher,' slapping a student wouldn't be such a big deal, right?
Round four.
This time, Judai announced that we first activate 'Neos Fusion,' which allows his Ultraman to Fusion Summon from the deck. Then, we discard 'Honest Neos' from the hand during the battle phase, which can raise an Elemental Hero's attack by 2500 points on the field...
Youyu: "..."
Neos Fusion, simply put, allows Fusion Monsters using Elemental Hero Neos as material to Fusion Summon by sending materials from the deck to the graveyard.
Honest Neos can be discarded from the hand during the battle between both players' monsters to raise the attack of one 'Elemental Hero' on the field by 2500.
Clearly, until the conclusion of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yuki Judai didn't have such overpowered tricks.
So there's only one answer.
These are all cards he printed post-finale as his formidable powers grew.
"..."
Youyu anticipated a challenging duel with Judai, but never imagined it would unfold like this.
Whose devious idea was it to teach Judai how to play cards this way? It's reaching 'Other Dimension' levels!
They've led our good Hero lad astray...
Perhaps it's true, then, that those who pit others fall into pits themselves.
Youyu never expected one day he'd also be specifically targeted, stuck, and unable to respond...
Judai remains with a sunny, radiant smile, as if saying—
—Ha, today it's your turn!