At the duel arena, with less than three minutes remaining before the commercial break ended, Chazz Princeton—Jaden's opponent—still hadn't appeared. This made Slade Princeton and Jaggar Princeton, who intended to use this duel to build momentum, visibly anxious.
"What on earth is Chazz doing? If he's late for the match, it'll hurt the group's public image too. And he's not answering his phone at all… what is he thinking?"
Jaggar clenched his teeth and hung up the call after listening to the busy tone on his phone.
"What's going on, Chazz…"
On the duel field, Jaden tapped his toes restlessly. Earlier, Chazz's two brothers had pulled him aside and said a lot of things. He hadn't really understood most of it, but he could clearly feel the pressure Chazz was under.
"Sorry about that. I had to teach a few ill-intentioned thieves a lesson on the way here, so I got held up for a bit."
As everyone waited anxiously for Chazz and the commercial break ended, officially transitioning into the live stream, the lights in the duel arena suddenly went out. Amid the crowd's shock, a spotlight snapped on, shining toward the entrance.
Dressed in black, Chazz Princeton walked in slowly, his face brimming with confidence.
Seeing Chazz appear, Jaden let out a cry of surprise. "Chazz! You finally made it!"
With fighting spirit written all over his face, Chazz took out his Deck and slotted it into his Duel Disk. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Jaden! Now then, let our duel begin!"
Seeing Chazz appear so confidently, even Jaggar—who had never thought much of him—couldn't help but comment, "So that's how he planned to make his entrance? Could it be that he actually understands showmanship?"
TURN.1
"Looks like I've got the first move. My turn, draw!"
After drawing a card from his Deck, Chazz smiled faintly.
"As the player going first, I'll show a bit of gentlemanly courtesy. I Set one monster in my Monster Zone, then Set two cards. End my turn."
Whether it was because his hand was like that or because he genuinely didn't want to commit to an early play, Chazz simply Set a few cards and declared the end of his turn.
TURN.2
"Oh? Then I'll get started. My turn, draw!"
"I Normal Summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman, then activate its effect to draw two cards from my Deck~"
"Now I've got a fresh new hand!"
Jaden first Normal Summoned his anime-favorite Bubbleman. After thinking for a moment, he activated another card.
"I activate the Normal Spell Polymerization, using its effect to fuse my Bubbleman and—"
Once again, Jaden went for his signature Fusion play. Having already suffered from it once before, Chazz immediately flipped one of his set cards.
"I won't let you Summon Absolute Zero! I flip the set card Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! I discard a Spell Card from my hand to negate the activation of your Polymerization and destroy it."
"For the rest of this duel, you can't activate that destroyed Spell Card or any cards with the same name! I discard Ojamagic from my hand."
Chazz briefly revealed Ojamagic in his hand before sending it to the Graveyard.
The Polymerization on Jaden's field suddenly lost its color, then shattered.
Although Polymerization could no longer be used in this duel, Jaden was still thrilled by Chazz's carefully prepared counterplay. "You actually sealed my Polymerization?! Just what I'd expect from you, Chazz!"
"That Absolute Zero put a lot of pressure on me last time. I activate the effect of Ojamagic that was sent from my hand to the Graveyard."
"I add Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my Deck to my hand."
Chazz displayed the three Normal Monsters he had added to his hand. "Now your Fusion strategy is sealed, and my hand size has increased. Anything else you want to do, Jaden?"
As the camera broadcast Chazz's hand containing the three lowly monsters to the audience.
A puzzled expression appeared on Slade's face. "Those three monsters definitely aren't ones we gave to Chazz, are they? Why is he using cards like that? They only have 0 Attack, and their Defense isn't impressive either. They're trash among trash."
Jaggar thought for a moment and said, "Probably just to replenish his hand. In the end, this card game is about managing the resources in your hand, so having more cards is always useful. It's just that these three cards are really unsightly. We should definitely make Chazz replace them later."
"Whoa, you not only sealed my Fusion, you even increased your hand?!"
Jaden exclaimed. "But… so you have Card Spirits too, Chazz. That means you're a fellow duelist with spirits, just like me and Youmi."
Jaden looked at Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black appearing beside Chazz—figures the cameras couldn't capture. "Still, don't think that's all I've got~ I activate the Normal Spell E - Emergency Call from my hand to add Elemental HERO Stratos from my Deck to my hand. And then—"
Jaden activated another Spell Card. "I activate Fake Hero. I Special Summon one Elemental HERO monster from my hand. The monster Special Summoned by this effect can't attack, and it returns to my hand during the End Phase. I Special Summon the Elemental HERO Stratos I just added to my hand!"
Dressed in blue, Stratos landed on Jaden's field. At the same time, another card popped out from Jaden's Duel Disk.
"I activate Stratos's effect! I add one HERO monster from my Deck to my hand. I add Elemental HERO Captain Gold!"
After searching the HERO with a full 2100 Attack, Jaden sent it straight to the Graveyard. "I discard Elemental HERO Captain Gold from my hand to search the battlefield where HEROes fight—Skyscraper! I activate it!"
The towering Skyscraper rose onto the field. Gazing at the transformed environment with passion, Jaden exclaimed excitedly, "The field is ready! If only there were HERO theme music too~"
"Anyway, Chazz, you said you sealed my Fusion strategy, right? But HEROes never retreat in the face of adversity. Even in tough situations, miracles can still happen. I activate Miracle Fusion from my hand!"
A wave of bad memories surfaced in Chazz's mind. "You drew Miracle Fusion?! The same card as back then… But if you do that, you'll have to go minus to Fusion Summon. Miracle Fusion can only use monsters on the field and in the Graveyard as materials—don't forget that!"
"Of course I wouldn't forget. I fuse the Stratos on my field with the Captain Gold in my Graveyard. Fusion Summon the radiant hero—Elemental HERO The Shining!"
"I enter the Battle Phase! Bubbleman, attack his face-down monster! Aqua Cannon!"
Bubbleman's arm cannons fired a stream of foamy light, striking Chazz's face-down monster.
"My Set monster has 1100 Defense. It's Masked Dragon. Bubbleman's Attack is only 800!"
The face-down monster was flipped up during damage calculation, revealing a dragon with a sinister grin.
"But Masked Dragon's Attack is also higher than Bubbleman's. Because of Skyscraper's effect, Bubbleman's Attack increases by 1000 to 1800! Destroy Masked Dragon, Bubbleman!"
Empowered by the HERO's field spell, the foamy beam obliterated Masked Dragon in a single blow. And as Masked Dragon let out its final roar, it awakened new power within Chazz's Deck.
"You walked right into my trap, Jaden! Masked Dragon's effect activates when it's destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard. I Special Summon a Dragon monster with 1500 or less Attack from my Deck! Appear—Armed Dragon LV3!"
The small and adorable Dragon appeared on Chazz's field, still seemingly unsure of what was going on.
Jaden carefully examined the Armed Dragon LV3 on the field but couldn't see anything special. "A Dragon with only 1200 Attack… what can it even do? I attack Armed Dragon LV3 with Shining The Shining! Shining Burst!"
Among the spectators, Bastion had already noticed the issue.
"It's an LV monster that can evolve through Special Summoning. How does Chazz have a card like that?"
Syrus, who hadn't realized it at first but now connected the dots, said, "So it's like the Silent Magician and Silent Swordsman used by the Duel King, Yugi Muto—monsters that can evolve? By the way, Bastion, didn't you say you had something to take care of today?"
Bastion nodded. "It wrapped up fast, so I came to watch. That's right—Chazz's Deck is different from before. Instead of just cramming in powerful Dragons, it's starting to function as a cohesive system."
The Shining's light gathered into a beam, about to pierce straight through Armed Dragon LV3.
"I flip the set card—Blazing Mirror Force! This card can be activated when an opponent's monster declares an attack. Destroy all Attack Position monsters your opponent controls. I take damage equal to half of their original combined Attack, then inflict that same amount of damage to my opponent!"
At the instant the beam was about to strike Armed Dragon LV3, a blazing wall suddenly rose up, blocking the attack while scorching both duelists.
[Chazz, LP: 4000 → 1600]
[Jaden, LP: 4000 → 1600]
"Gah! Bubbleman, The Shining! When they're destroyed, The Shining's effect activates! I recover Captain Gold and Stratos from my banished cards!"
"Then I enter Main Phase 2, Set two cards, and end my turn. As expected of you, Chazz! You even had that up your sleeve!"
"Hmph. Who do you think I am?"
Chazz snorted. The upward curl of his lips showed he was in a good mood as he raised his right hand high.
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands! Chazz Thunder!!!"
As he shouted, the North Academy students and even the principal leapt to their feet and joined in.
"Thunder!!! Thunder!!! Chazz Thunder!!!"
...
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