Chazz smugly walked back to the bench to join his teammates, listening with no small amount of satisfaction to the faint sounds of the opposing team arguing about the third game.

“So, what do you think?” Jaden questioned Chazz and Phil once the Obelisk Blue student had reclaimed his spot on the bench.

Phil raised his eyebrow at Jaden. “About what? Give us something to work with dude.”

“Well, North Academy can’t continue on in the tournament with their two losses. Do you think I’ll be able to duel against one of them anyways, or are they gonna leave?”

Chazz leaned into the wall, the cool stone that the bench was sat against feeling quite nice against his back. “I think that’s what that blue-haired kid is arguing about with that Czar guy over there. I wouldn’t worry, Jaden. If they’re true duelists, someone will step forward. If not, then they aren’t worth the time in the first place.”

Just as Jaden began to open his mouth to reply to Chazz, he was nudged forwards off the bench by Phil as a shout came from Roland. Clearly, North Academy’s argument was decided.

“THIRD GAME! JADEN YUKI VERSUS JESSE ANDERSON!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Jaden sprinted onto the central platform, as happy as a kid in a candy shop that North Academy hadn’t ditched the third duel, even though even Jaden knew the results of this third duel were useless no matter who won.

But that’s the best part! No worrying about winning, just having fun!

Still, the name Jesse Anderson seemed somehow familiar, even though Jaden was sure he had never met the boy before. Just where had he heard that name…

“Hey there Jaden!” Jesse’s boisterous greeting drove those thoughts out of Jaden’s mind as the two faced each other in the arena. “Sorry about this, I know this duel doesn’t matter much, but I want to have some fun before we get shuttled back to the academy!”

Jaden laughed. “Aw don’t worry about that, this’ll be a sweet duel for sure! Heck, I was worried that you guys were going to up and leave on us without playing game three!”

“Eh, that old fusspot Czar wanted to, but I managed to convince him. I told him I’d jump out of the car window if I had to just so I could finish things up here, believe it or not!”

As soon as those words left Jesse’s mouth, Czar stood up and shouted back at him from the sidelines. “And you’d better be damn well happy with this waste of time!”

Both Jesse and Jaden laughed uproariously in response as they readied their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

“Right on, Jaden, if you don’t mind, I’ll go first!” Jesse shouted, clearly in high spirits as Jaden nodded his assent.

“First things first, I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (1800/1200) in attack mode!”

On the field, a brilliantly-white Pegasus, decked out with bejeweled wings and a wickedly sharp horn trotted out from behind Jesse, proudly neighing and clearly happy to be the first monster out on the field.

“Sapphire Pegasus’s effect activates! When he’s summoned, I get to place one Crystal Beast monster from my hand, deck, or grave in my spell and trap card zone as a continuous spell card! I choose you, Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle! Then, to heat things up a little bit, I activate the field spell, Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins! Now, this fella is a bit unique, since it gets different effects depending on how many Crystal Beasts are in my spell and trap card zones. This being one at the moment, it’s only immune to destruction by card effects. However, I promise you, Jaden, that this card will be loads of fun later. Finally, I place two cards face down and end my turn!”

Jaden looked around the stadium with wide eyes, drinking in how the stunning white marble of the arena had been placed with ancient, worn stone not unlike that of a historical colosseum, all topped off by a beautiful rainbow that stretched far into the sky.

“Crazy cool! I draw!” Jaden answered with stars in his eyes. “Jesse, I like how you roll, and those Crystal Beast cards look awesome! However, I’m sorry to say but your Pegasus won’t be around for long. I summon my Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600)! Then, I activate my own field spell. Skyscraper!

At once several dark skyscrapers grew out of the ground, twisting around the ancient, ruined arena that Jesse had created to hide the brutal, tattooed figure of Elemental Hero Wildheart. Then, Jaden went straight into his battle phase.

“Elemental Hero Wildheart, tear through that shiny horse for me!” Jaden ordered, pointing straight towards the brilliantly white monster in question.

As soon as Wildheart’s blade was swung forward, the fierce warrior let out a brutal scream as its attack points shot up to a respectable 2500 due to Skyscraper’s effect. Yet, right as the weapon made contact and shattered the monster into a million pieces, Jesse’s eyes flashed as a several distant figures appeared behind Sapphire Pegasus

“Not so fast! I activate my continuous trap card, Crystal Conclave! Once per turn, if a Crystal Beast monster is destroyed, I can special summon another Crystal Beast monster straight from my deck! Show yourself, Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise (600/2000)! Then, I activate Sapphire Pegasus’s effect, which will put him in the spell and trap card zone after he’s destroyed!

Jaden watched it all with a wide grin as a green tortoise covered in thick emeralds shuffled onto the field in defense position.

So that makes two monsters in total placed in his spell and trap card zones. I can’t wait to find out what the heck he’s doing that for!

“Well, you still take the damage!” Jaden cheerfully reminded his opponent as Jesse’s life point counter went from 4000 down to 3300. Then, Jaden also placed two cards face down as he ended his turn.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Chazz narrowed his eyes from where he sat on the bench. “Crystal Beasts… now where do I recognize that name…”

“I think that was the set of cards Pegasus specifically made?” Phil ventured a guess.

“Ah. That’s right.” Chazz muttered to himself in thought. “I recognize the name now, too. Jesse Anderson. He won a big tournament a while back and got the Crystal Beast cards from Pegasus himself as the prize.”

Phil shrugged. In all honesty, he didn’t give much of a shit how Jesse got his signature deck. It wouldn’t affect him regardless. Instead, there was a far more interesting development happening on the field.

“Ignoring that, how the hell are there two field spells out at the same time? Wouldn’t one of them get destroyed?”

Chazz laughed in response. “And here I thought you would know something as basic as that. Field spells used to work that way, but Pegasus changed that rule one, maybe two years ago? Now each player can control a field spell a piece.”

Interesting… coulda’ sworn that was changed during the Zexal time period. Or was it during Arc-V? Hell if I know for sure, but it should be following the old way at this point, where activating a field spell destroys the one already in play. This… could be a problem. I’ll have to check with Bastion when the academy brings over the students to watch the finals, see if any other rule changes were brought in early. If the field spell rule was changed earlier than it was supposed to, there’s no telling what other miscellaneous changes could have been made as well.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Your Wildheart may be strong on the offense, but I’ll show you a fella that’s even better!” Shouted Jesse. “I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1600/1000), and equip him with the spell card Crystal Release, which boosts his attack by 800 (1600 -> 2400)! Furthermore, by attacking, Topaz Tiger boosts his own attack by an additional 400 points! Topaz Tiger, destroy Jaden’s Wildheart!”

Immediately after Jesse’s order, the white tiger with black stripes pounced towards the fearless warrior, the ring of gems around its paws boosting the tiger’s speed so that its every movement was like a blur while its claws lengthened with each step it took. Yet, as Elemental Hero Wildheart was torn apart by the claws of Topaz Tiger, Jaden let out a wide smile.

(Jaden: 2700 Jesse: 3300)

“Sorry Jesse, but you just activated my trap card. Hero Signal! When a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I get to summon a level four or lower Elemental Hero monster from my deck! Elemental Hero Ocean (1500/1200), come out to play!”

Among the skyscrapers that littered the field, a bright, white light shone out onto the sky, drawing an elaborate ‘H’ onto the sky. For a moment, all was still, until a blue, fish-like hero carrying a staff outfitted with curved blades dove from the tallest skyscraper to hit the ground in a perfect three-point landing where Wildheart had once stood.

“Hehe, well-played.” Jesse acknowledged as he ended his turn.

“I draw! Standby phase, I activate Elemental Hero Ocean’s effect! Once per turn, I can return one Hero monster from my grave to my hand. Wildheart, return!”

Jaden then observed the cards in his hand with a smile. Truly, the changes Phil had suggested were making his plays come together even quicker than normal.

“Alright! Since I’m still lacking the final piece of the puzzle, I activate E – Emergency Call to find that piece, adding Elemental Hero Woodsman from my deck to my hand! Then, I activate the spell card, Polymerization, fusing Ocean and Woodsman to bring forth the wrath of the planet itself, Elemental Hero Terra Firma (2500/2000)!

The sky darkened as a single, colossal figure clad in white armor, dark shoulder pads, and a single glowing red ruby set in his chest slowly descended from above the skyscrapers. Every second the hero got closer to the ground, was a second in which the ancient ruins that curled around the skyscrapers trembled under the his mere presence. Finally, the hero reached the ground, not even seeing fit to let out a battle cry, or even a roar to announce his arrival. Instead, Elemental Hero Terra Firma simply crossed his arms and stared down at the trembling tiger in his path.

“Now since I have my buddy Terra Firma on the field, I summon a friend of his. Elemental Hero Flash (1100/1600), come forth in attack position!”

A bright light lit up the field as a blue-suited hero tumbled out of a window on the third floor of the nearest skyscraper, hitting the ground with a loud ‘thump’ and immediately scurrying forwards to hide between one of Terra Firma’s telephone-pole sized legs.

Jaden’s eyes flashed and he pointed forwards as he entered the battle phase. “Elemental Hero Terra Firma, crush that Topaz Tiger!”

The tiger in question fell with a wimper, but Jesse could only whisper a quiet ‘sorry buddy’ to it as his Crystal Conclave activated to summon the grey-skinned Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1700/1600) to the field, while the Crystal Release equip spell activated its effect upon its destruction to set Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat in Jesse’s final empty spell and trap card zone.

“Man, that trap card of yours sure is tenacious!” Jaden whined, half in jest and half in legitimate exasperation, which Jesse simply replied with a laugh of understanding.

“Welp, since your big wooly mammoth is bigger than my Elemental Hero Flash, I end my turn. Ha! That’s what I would say, but my heroes love to shine and the big city is the perfect place for them! Elemental Hero Flash, attack Jesse’s Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth!”

Jesse grimaced as Elemental Hero Flash began to race towards the giant wooly mammoth, before sighing and sweeping his hand forward. “I activate Crystal Conclave’s second effect. By sending Conclave to the graveyard, I can target one Crystal Beast card on my side of the field, Sapphire Pegasus, and one card on your side of the field, Elemental Hero Terra Firma, returning both of them to the hand.” Then, Elemental Hero Flash, boosted up to 2100 attack by Skyscraper, continued on uninterrupted as it felled Jesse’s mammoth with a brutal lariat before cowering behind one of the many skyscrapers that dotted the field.

(Jaden: 2700 Jesse: 2800)

Jaden raised an eyebrow. “No offense, but why didn’t you use that effect to save your tiger? Wouldn’t that be a better monster to have on the field than the big elephant?”

“You would think.” Jesse shrugged mysteriously. “But I needed Amber Mammoth to be summoned and then sent to a spell and trap card zone, and then next turn I’ll show you why.”

Jaden was immediately intrigued by Jesse’s declaration, placing one card face down as he ended his turn.

“Now, Jaden, I can finally show you. One of my best friends, who I have been waiting all duel to summon! But first, I need to get one more thing out of the way before you see him. I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in attack position, using his effect to set Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle in the spell and trap card zone that Conclave just vacated. Now… since I have seven Crystal Beast cards with different names on my field and in my graveyard, I activate the trap card I’ve been hanging onto since the duel began. Rainbow Gravity! Ruler of all gems below the Earth’s crust, heed my call! I summon my strongest monster and one of my best friends! Rainbow Dragon (4000/0)!

Contrasting how Terra Firma’s entrance had caused the skyscrapers around the field to rumble, Rainbow Dragon’s entrance caused more than a few of the buildings to outright shatter into a fine dust, creating a large, clear area where the shining dragon could comfortably curl around the ancient, cracked stone of the Rainbow Ruins.

Jaden’s mouth hung wide open as he watched the majestic pop out of nowhere. He wasn’t even sure what to say, except…

“Woah! That dragon is! So! Coooool!” Jaden shouted, pumping his fists in excitement.

“I know right? Isn’t he super slick?” Jesse replied with equal gusto. “But, I’m gonna see if he can be even cooler! Since I have four Crystal Beasts in my spell and trap card zones, that being Ruby Carbuncle, Amber Mammoth, Cobalt Eagle, and Amethyst Cat, I can activate the fourth effect of Rainbow Ruins, letting me draw an additional card! Perfect!” Jesse grinned as soon as he saw the card. “I activate the spell card, Crystal Promise, which lets me special summon one Crystal Beast monster from my spell and trap card zone. I choose Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle (300/300), in attack position! On summon, Ruby’s effect activates, allowing me to special summon as many Crystal Beast monsters from my spell and trap card zones as possible! Sadly, I only have room for one more, so say hello to Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1700/1600) again!”

Jaden gulped as Jesse entered his battle phase.

“Amber Mammoth! Take your revenge against Elemental Hero Flash! Stomp him into oblivion!”

The hero in question vanished with a cry, but no sooner was it gone than Jaden stepped forward with an expression full of focus.

(Jaden: 2100 Jesse: 2800)

“Not so fast! When Elemental Hero Flash dies, I can activate his effect. By banishing Flash, Woodsman, Ocean, and Wildheart from my graveyard, I can add one normal spell from my grave to my hand. I choose to add Polymerization! Also, when Flash is destroyed by battle, I activate my trap card. Hero Counterattack! Choose one card in my hand at random, Jesse, and if it’s an Elemental Hero monster that you choose, I can special summon it and destroy a monster you control!”

Jesse’s face flooded with shock as he realized the implications of a bad choice. “I just have to get real lucky, huh?” He muttered as he started at the backs of the cards in Jaden’s hand. “Which one… which one… aw to hell with it, I choose the middle card!”

Jaden peeked at the card Jesse chose and his face flooded with relief. “Sorry Jesse, but you chose wrong! Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000), it’s time to show off your rockin’ bod! And, if you don’t mind, destroy Jesse’s Rainbow Dragon!

“Aw man, and after all I had to do to bring my boy out! What a crying shame.” Jesse loudly complained, though the slight smile on his face was a good indicator that he wasn’t bothered too much with his hard work going to nothing. “Welp, I guess none of my friends can out power the defense of your Clayman right now, so I end my turn.”

Jaden nervously glanced at his cards. I’m so close to being able to do something cool too, but man I’m gonna need the heart of the cards for this one!

“Well, since my Terra Firma is back in the fusion deck, there isn’t much I can do…” Jaden mumbled. “I summon Elemental Hero Blazeman (1200/1800) in defense position, activating his effect on summon to add another Polymerization from my deck to my hand. Then, I end my turn.”

“Well, it looks like we’re at quite a standstill.” Jesse observed, looking at his own hand and shaking his head. “Totally not cool, though the suspense is killing me! I wonder which one of us will draw the one card they need to break the Mexican standoff. Anyways, I switch Ruby Carbuncle into defense position, set one card face down, and I end my turn.”

“Phew. I get another turn after all.” Jaden sighed with relief. At this point, anything Jesse could boost over 2000 attack could spell the end for him. But, it seemed luck, or the heart of the cards, was finally with him.

“Finally! I activate Polymerization from my hand, fusing Clayman from my field and Sparkman from my hand to summon the always-reliable Elemental Hero Thunder Giant (2400/1500)! Then, I activate Thunder Giant’s effect by discarding one card from my hand. Thunder Giant, use that card to destroy Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!

The yellow and purple giant crackled with electricity, throwing a massive orb of lightning to directly hit the Pegasus’s chest, sending it straight back to the spell and trap card zone from whence it came.

“Now, Thunder Giant, destroy Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth!”

This time, Jesse declined to put the mammoth in his backrow, choosing only to activate the effect of Rainbow Ruins to half the damage he took from the battle since he had at least two Crystal Beast cards in his spell and trap card zones.

(Jaden: 2100 Jesse: 2450)

“I’ll be interested to see how you reverse this situation, Jesse!” Jaden declared as he ended his turn.

Jesse shrugged. “I’ll be interested too. I draw!” Then, he let out a sigh. “Hm. Good thing I didn’t send my buddy mammoth to my last spell and trap card zone. I place another card face down, and I end my turn.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Chazz watched the duel develop from the sidelines with mild interest. “Quite a slugfest. See, Phil? This is how you should duel. Both Jaden and that Jesse have a measure of respect for each other, and they’re both testing their own limits as duelists to find answers for each problem that pops up.” However, upon noticing that there was no snarky answer coming his way, Chazz glanced over to where Phil was… getting up from the bench?

“Phil, where are you going? The duel is still in full swing!”

Phil glanced over to Chazz. “It was damn cool to watch, but it looks like Jaden’s gonna finish this in a turn or two once he gets some more fusion materials. I’m gonna stretch my legs, maybe scout out some of the opposition. No point hanging around here, really.”

Chazz scowled, yelling back at Phil to ‘let him duel first next time, damn it’, before falling back into his thoughts. This is all my fault, isn’t it? I wasn’t strong enough to win the bet, and now this son of a bitch won’t even stick around to see his teammates duel. I get that Jaden’s only a Slifer, but leaving now would only embarrass the academy further!

Still, by now Chazz understood fully that embarrassing the academy wasn’t something that Phil gave a single hoot about.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Phil silently walked away from where Chazz sat on the bench, ignoring the daggers the boy was glaring into his back. Truly, Phil wouldn’t have minded watching the end of the match, something he would normally do to support his buddies. Plus, watching Jaden go through nutty, heart-of-the-cards-fueled plays was always a special treat. Unfortunately, as soon as Jaden had summoned Elemental Hero Terra Firma, Phil had glanced up to the stands where the representatives of the American academy sat, noting their expressions. Expressions that he absolutely did not like to see on their faces.

Fucking hell. I get that he’s one of your aces, but why did you have to go for Terra Firma over Wingman today, of all days? Phil mentally complained as he slipped out of the arena and began to climb the stairs to reach the stands two at a time, doing his absolute best to remain completely silent as he approached where the Americans sat and leaned against a pillar out of sight. Damnit. If those crazy guys with the American academies decide to do something bold because of this… well hopefully they’ll say something about it within eavesdropping range. I need to know if I will have to pull an all-nighter tonight in the hotel room to watch for ambushes. No fuckin’ way they’re catching me off guard.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Chazz’s attention turned back to the match in progress, his mood still soured by Phil’s abrupt departure as he watched a well-placed trap card called Crystal Raigeki bring forth the destruction of Jaden’s Thunder Giant. Still, while the trap removed Jaden’s monster, even that wasn’t enough to fully stop Jaden from dealing a minute amount of damage with his Elemental Hero Knospe (600/1000), which could attack directly even if the opponent still had monsters in play.

Huh. Just like how I used to be, Jaden could have used some spell and trap card destruction there to save his giant.

Chazz stopped his thoughts right there as he remembered exactly who had told him about his former weakness, shoving that irritating face from his memories to focus on the game. Then, Chazz’s eyes widened as Jaden somehow survived Jesse’s counterattack after Thunder Giant was destroyed, and then fusion summoned a third time since the game had started. It was a monster Chazz had never seen before, although that meant little considering how many fusion monsters Jaden tended to pull out of absolutely nowhere.

Elemental Hero Darkbright… it seems quite situational, but… ah, it seems that monster inflicts piercing damage. Now I see why Jaden chose that one. Chazz observed as Elemental Hero Darkbright (2000/1000) attacked the Ruby Carbuncle on Jesse’s field that was still in defense position, inflicting just enough damage to reduce Jesse’s life points to zero. Chazz’s mood soured once more when he realized Phil had been right about the duel being nearly over, almost proving enough to break through the joy he felt upon realizing that his team had won all three duels so far. Almost. Instead, Chazz’s joy led him to do something the prideful Obelisk Blue would normally never even consider: pat Jaden on the back in congratulations of a duel well fought.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Jesse turned towards his teammates, shrugging at them with a sheepish grin.

“Sorry guys, I thought I might be able to send us home with at least one win, but it looks like that wasn’t in the cards today.”

Czar rolled his eyes, still seething after his disgraceful duel with Phil. “Whatever. The profs want us at the dock in 20 to depart. No sense in hanging around, that’s for sure. The profs certainly didn’t.”

“Fair.” Jesse nodded, keeping to himself how he thought it was a shame to miss the other duels. “I’m gonna go talk with Jaden for a bit, see if I can get a rematch later. I’ll meet you at the dock!”

Without even waiting for Czar’s reply, Jesse shot off towards Jaden, only stopping when a strange, clown-like professor stepped into his path with a calculating look in his eye.

“Mr. Anderson? A moment of your time if you please.”

Jesse glanced at Jaden, and then looked back at the professor once he judged that his opponent was going to stand around talking for at least a few more minutes.

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

The clown man nodded at Jesse. “I am Professor Vellian Crowler, the head of Obelisk Blue dorm at Duel Academy. You are currently enrolled in the North Academy, correct?”

Jesse nodded his head, completely clueless as to where Professor Crowler was going.

“You dueled well, Mr. Anderson. Not perfectly, but well. Perhaps you might be interested in transferring to Duel Academy? I looked up your prior tournament record earlier, Mr. Anderson. With abilities like yours, placement in the Obelisk Blue dorm wouldn’t be impossible.”

Jesse scratched his head in thought, and then grinned. “Are all the students at the academy as strong as that Jaden guy?”

“I- um…” Crowler faltered for a second, and then forcefully reasserted his professional expression. “Certainly. In fact, that sla- that student you faced is only in the Slifer dorm, the weakest of the three.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ms. Hibiki rested her head in her hands, unable to bear watching Crowler shamelessly scouting students without even waiting for the tournament to end, for heavens sake! It truly was too shameless, even though she did agree that Jesse Anderson would be a good addition to Duel Academy if he was willing. But still!

“Wow. Ol’ Crowler still hasn’t lost his touch after all these years.” Bernardello mused from beside her, their previous argument forgotten after viewing the rather impressive back-to-back duels of Chazz and Jaden, along with the less honorable but still as impressive win by Phil. “Hell, I think it was at a tournament like this, but a bit smaller, where I got scouted by the guy. Don’t worry too much, Hibiki. Crowler might be a bit shameless now, but a crisp twenty says the other academies are sending a scout over there as we speak.”

“Sadly, I know enough not to take you up on that bet, Bernardello.” Ms. Hibiki sighed, raising her head to watch Crowler glare at a handful of approaching professors so hard that it felt like the air cracked, scaring the men off before he smiled and shook hands with Jesse. Then, Ms. Hibiki’s face took on a curious expression.

“That aside, what was that between you and Viper earlier?”

Bernardello laughed uproariously at her question, and then winked at Ms. Hibiki. “Oh, you know, at one point in time we were both running around the pro dueling circuit. That cazzone still hasn’t gotten over the fact that I’ve beaten him three times in a row, while he hasn’t won a single game against me yet.”

Ms. Hibiki stared at Bernardello for a second, and then joined in his laughter with a little chuckle of her own once her brain translated the scrap of Italian that the hairy professor had a habit of slipping into.

“Ah, that is a little funny. Though, if I catch you using language like that in front of the kids, even if its not in a language they know…” Ms. Hibiki abruptly stopped chuckling as she glared daggers at her fellow professor, who raised his hands in defeat immediately.

“Sorry, sorry. Sheesh.”