[Yumi, LP 4000]
[Jaden, LP 6500]
[Jesse, LP 3000]
[Sky Striker Ace - Kagari, 4400 -> 1500 ATK]
[Sky Striker Ace - Yumi, 1100 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Neos Knight, 3600 -> 2500 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Grand Neos, 3000 -> 2500 ATK]
[Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise, 2000 DEF]
The effect of Domain Expansion remained active long enough to suppress the effects of every face-up card on the field, forcing Kagari's blazing aura to dim, while Neos Knight and Grand Neos lost the boosts they had gained from Neo Space. The pressure that had been building over the duel faded for a moment, but only a moment.
Only one monster was unaffected by the collapse of the Field Spell.
Sky Striker Ace - Yumi stood beside Kagari with the same composed expression as before, his scarf shifting slightly as the field stabilized around him. He looked almost amused that the entire battlefield had just been forced to reset around his play.
"The effect of Sky Striker Ace - Yumi activates," he said. "When this card is Special Summoned, I can return one of my banished cards to my hand."
His gaze flicked toward the banished zone, and with a smooth motion, he pulled a familiar card out from it.
"I'll add back Take Over 5."
He slid the card into his hand, then lifted his head again and looked across the field. Then, without hesitation, he raised his right hand and let his attention settle on the two monsters in front of him.
"The condition is two Effect Monsters."
Jaden and Jesse both already understood what he was about to do before he even finished speaking.
The Sky Striker version of Yumi and Kagari looked at each other briefly, and the expression on both of their faces shifted into the same small, knowing smile. It was the kind of look that suggested they had already done this before, or at least something very close to it.
Kagari casually adjusted her stance and rested her massive blade against her shoulder. Yumi did the same with complete ease, and for a second, they looked more like two people meeting for a familiar handshake than two monsters standing in the middle of a duel.
Then they both stepped forward.
The two raised their hands and high-fived each other.
Golden particles burst outward at the moment their palms touched. Their bodies dissolved into streams of light, then spiraled upward together before fusing into a single, brilliant core suspended above the battlefield.
"Fusion Summon! Come forth! Sky Striker Ace - Camellia!"
The light exploded.
A new figure descended from above and landed lightly in front of Yumi.
Unlike Kagari's flame-oriented suit or Zeke's massive mechanical frame, Camellia had a more balanced combat exosuit, one that looked designed for direct confrontation rather than specialized support.
Dark emerald lines ran across the armor in a clean, sleek pattern, and her silver-white hair fell just past her shoulders, with distinct drill-shaped side bangs framing her face. Her red eyes scanned the field once before settling calmly on the opposing duelists, while an oversized buster sword rested on her shoulder as though it weighed very little.
She landed with a metallic clang and planted the sword into the ground in front of her.
[Sky Striker Ace - Camellia, 1500 ATK]
The moment she appeared, the male population of Duel Academy immediately reacted as though they had been struck by a direct attack they could not defend against.
"...Another one?"
"No way..."
"HE SUMMONED ANOTHER ONE!"
"DAMN IT! HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!"
"WHY DOES EVERY SKY STRIKER HE PLAYS LOOK THIS COOL?!"
"I CAN'T EVEN GET A GIRLFRIEND WHILE THIS GUY KEEPS SUMMONING NEW WAIFUS MATERIAL MONSTERS!"
"IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME! NOT HIM!"
Several students dramatically clutched their heads, while others simply stared with the hollow expression of someone whose dreams had been shattered in real time. Even a few of the girls had to admit that Camellia looked undeniably cool, which only made the screaming from the boys even louder.
Midori, standing nearby and already looking exhausted from the day, pressed two fingers against her temple and let out a long breath.
"…I'm going to have to shut down another few unofficial fan clubs after this duel."
That was not an exaggeration.
Duel Academy did, of course, allow clubs and after-school organizations. In fact, a lot of students used them for proper dueling practice or to study strategies together. But every now and then, the students managed to create some ridiculous club that had absolutely no useful purpose in helping them improve at Duel Monsters.
The Anti-Yumi Club was one of them.
So was the Take Back Our Waifus Club.
There had even been a How Do We Get Raye Club at one point, which Midori had personally shut down before it could become any worse.
Most of the time, these clubs were just a bunch of hormonal teenagers complaining that Yumi kept summoning attractive Duel Spirits and then making absurd demands about wanting to "take" them from him. Midori had seen enough of that nonsense to know the second one started looking like it would become a real problem, she had to step in immediately.
After all, she had years of experience dealing with the Kawakami family's chaos.
Momoyo had already sent hundreds of students to the infirmary during her years at Duel Academy, and Midori had been her dorm teacher the entire time until she finally managed to get Zane to convince Momoyo to move into Obelisk Blue during her third year. She had thought that would be the end of it.
Then Yumi showed up in Slifer Red.
So yes, she had seen enough to know exactly how this was likely going to end if she let it go unchecked.
Yumi, naturally, ignored the entire uproar.
"Since Camellia was Special Summoned, I activate the effect of Sky Striker Mecha - Adhilsaber in my Graveyard."
A card rose from his Graveyard slot and slid into view.
He caught it, turned it once between his fingers, then placed it neatly into his Spell and Trap Zone.
The familiar white support machine appeared again, descending from above before transforming in midair. Its armor unfolded and locked onto Camellia's exosuit with precise mechanical clicks, additional thrusters extending from her back while reinforced plating covered her arms.
[Sky Striker Ace - Camellia, 1500 -> 3000 ATK]
Yumi didn't stop there.
"I activate the Equip Spell, Sky Striker Mecharmory - Hercules Base."
A gigantic mechanical carrier appeared behind Camellia, silently hovering over the battlefield. Its enormous frame cast a shadow across both of the opposing duelists, while cranes extended from beneath it and opened storage containers loaded with additional equipment.
"Hercules Base lets the equipped monster attack twice during each Battle Phase, but she can't attack directly. And if she destroyed a monster I get to draw one card."
Yumi placed another card down.
"Spell Card, Magician's Library."
A massive floating tome appeared, its pages flipping rapidly on their own.
"This allows me to add a spell from my deck to my hand."
The spell's effect immediately resolved as his deck shuffled itself and a single card ejected from the top.
He caught it and placed it into his hand.
"I activate Double Spell."
The moment the card hit the field, Yumi took advantage of the opportunity without a second of hesitation.
"This lets me use any number of Spell Cards in your Graveyard that were previously used last turn."
Jaden's Graveyard lit up, and two cards floated out of it before appearing on Yumi's side of the field.
"The first Spell, Harpie's Feather Duster!"
A massive feather duster appeared overhead before sweeping across both opposing fields.
The gust instantly blew on Jesse's lonely field while Jaden's two set cards were blown apart into fragments.
"The second Spell, Instant Contact!"
[Yumi, LP 4000 -> 3000]
A thousand Life Points disappeared as the next effect resolved, and space tore open behind Camellia.
A crimson-armored HERO stepped through the rift and landed beside her. His blue cape fluttered behind him in the digital wind, and he carried himself with the proud composure of a warrior who had just stepped onto the battlefield.
"Come forth. Elemental HERO Sunrise!"
[Elemental HERO Sunrise, 2500 ATK]
Jaden smiled a little at the summon. "Nice choice, AIBO."
Then he crossed his arms and continued, almost immediately sounding like he was explaining a card he had memorized too many times.
"But Instant Contact isn't that simple. If you don't have Elemental HERO Neos in your Graveyard or on your field, then the monster summoned this way has its effects negated, it can't attack, and it goes back to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn."
Yumi hummed softly.
"Interesting."
He already knew exactly how Instant Contact worked. Still, watching his Aibo continue to print out more cards without even realizing how many resources he was generating was entertaining in its own way. As the protagonist, Jaden had subconsciously print out cards into his deck that he previously didn't know he had, and those cards usually came at the right moment when he needed them too.
And if Yumi really wanted to, he could easily print out three copies of Neos with the amount of Spirit Energy he now had.
But he didn't.
There was no reason to do that.
Jaden and Yumi had always had that strange kind of mirrored relationship, like they were looking at different reflections of each other.
Both of them could see and interact with Duel Spirits.
Both of them could print cards.
Both of them used HERO decks.
Both of them had Kuribohs.
And both of them had a complicated relationship with their female Duel Spirits, though in very different ways. One will soon be dealing with the lingering attention of a yandere spirit girlfriend from a previous life, while the other was constantly being surrounded and jumped by multiple spirit girls.
Their similarities were obvious.
That was exactly why Yumi didn't see any reason to blur the line by using Neos as a signature monster. The resemblance was already there in too many other places.
"You misunderstood me, Aibo," Yumi said with a faint smile as he placed another card onto his Duel Disk. "Spell Card, Gift of the Martyr. I send Sunrise to the Graveyard, and his original ATK is transferred to Camellia!"
Sunrise dissolved into golden particles.
Instead of fading into nothing, that energy surged directly into Camellia's armor. She held out one hand calmly as the light wrapped around her exosuit, the emerald lines across her body glowing more intensely while the massive sword in her hand gave off a deep metallic hum.
[Sky Striker Ace - Camellia, 3000 -> 5500 ATK]
Yumi kept going.
"Now I activate the Spell, Hidden Armory. By sending one card from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard, I can add an Equip Spell from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand."
He sent the top card of his deck to the Graveyard and retrieved another card, which popped out a second later.
"Equip Spell, Blade Graveyard. I'll equip it to Camellia."
The moment the spell resolved, old rusted swords began falling from the sky around Camellia. They stabbed into the ground one after another, surrounding her like a graveyard made entirely of abandoned weapons.
[Sky Striker Ace - Camellia, 5500 -> 6300 ATK]
The whole field now looked like a battlefield that had been forgotten for centuries.
Yumi lifted his hand.
"Battle!" He thrust his palm forward. "Camellia, attack Neos Knight!"
Camellia didn't even hesitate.
Her body vanished in a blur.
A sonic boom echoed across the arena as she reappeared in front of Neos Knight and brought the enormous buster sword down in a single, clean swing.
The blade cut straight through the HERO's chest.
An explosion erupted across the field.
[Jaden, LP 6500 -> 2700]
The shockwave rolled through the arena and sent dust scattering in every direction. Jaden slid back several steps before catching himself, grinning even after losing nearly four thousand Life Points in one strike.
Smoke briefly swallowed the battlefield.
Then two figures appeared out of it beside Yumi.
One was Roze, the silver twin-tailed Sky Striker Ace, who stepped out of the lingering light with her usual composed calm.
The other was Neos Knight, which had just returned through the effect lingering on the field.
[Sky Striker Ace - Roze, 1500 ATK]
[Elemental HERO Neos Knight, 2500 ATK]
"Roze's effect," Yumi said. "Once per turn, when an Extra Monster leaves your side of the field, I can Special Summon her from my Graveyard."
He then gestured toward the face-up Quick-Play Spell on his side of the field.
"Quick-Spell, Necro Illusion..." Jaden murmurs, instantly recognizing the card since he has the same card in his deck.
"With it, I can bring back one of your monsters that was destroyed by this battle until the end of this turn." Yumi finishes explaining the effect of the spell.
The last part barely needed saying. By now, the outcome was already obvious.
With all their current cards suppressed or stripped away, the line-up Yumi had assembled was too much for either of them to answer cleanly. There was no way for them to stop the remaining assault with their current board state.
Jesse understood it too. He looked from Camellia to Roze to Neos Knight, then back to Yumi. "…Yeah. That's not good."
Yumi didn't waste time.
"Neos Knight, Roze. Attack Jesse."
The two warriors moved at once.
Neos Knight cut straight through Jesse's Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise before continuing the strike into Jesse himself, while Roze followed through with a finishing blow that left no room for a recovery.
[Jesse, LP 3000 -> 500 -> 0]
Yumi didn't even glance in his direction for long.
"Camellia, finish this!"
The massive buster sword rested against her shoulder for a brief second before she stepped forward again.
Grand Neos raised his arm instinctively, but it was already too late.
Camellia moved faster than the eye could comfortably follow.
A silver flash crossed the battlefield, and her sword came down cleanly through the HERO in front of her.
The resulting explosion echoed through the arena as Jaden's Life Points dropped to zero.
[Jaden, LP 2700 -> 0]
Both Jaden and Jesse collapsed to the ground at the same time, their faces going pale as the duel finally came to an end. The two of them lost consciousness almost immediately, their bodies falling limp after the strain of the duel.
The moment Yumi saw them drop, he stopped short.
He usually had a habit of making the small gesture after winning a duel, something casual and almost automatic, but this time he didn't even get that far. His breathing turned uneven for a second, and his heartbeat kicked up sharply as the sight of the two boys lying on the ground hit him all at once.
It reminded him of Kaito.
His right hand moved to his chest before he even fully realized it, fingers clenching tightly over the spot as if he was trying to steady something inside himself. Dark Law overlapped with his body at once, appearing just enough to keep him from stumbling as the feeling passed through him.
Around him, the mood changed immediately.
The cheerful atmosphere that had filled the arena moments ago vanished in an instant. Students who had been cheering only a second earlier suddenly quieted down, and several of Jaden's friends hurried forward the moment they saw the two unconscious boys lying there. They moved quickly, helping carry them toward the infirmary while the teachers looked on and made sure things didn't get even more chaotic than they already were.
Yumi followed behind them without saying much.
The earlier noise of the duel was gone now, replaced by the more awkward silence that always came after a match ended too suddenly. The crowd slowly dispersed as the two boys were taken away, and what had been a lively exhibition match now looked more like a scene that had caught everyone off guard.
At the infirmary, the nurse examined both Jaden and Jesse and quickly dismissed the worst of the concern. According to her, they were only exhausted and needed rest. Nothing serious. Just too much strain from the duel, nothing to worry about.
That should have been enough to settle things.
But Yumi still wasn't acting normal.
"Hey, are you okay?" Celina asked softly after noticing the way he was still holding his chest.
Yumi glanced at her for a second. "I'm fine..."
The answer came out too quickly, and Celina immediately knew that wasn't true.
A bead of cold sweat had formed at his forehead, and the expression he was trying to keep calm wasn't convincing at all. He looked like he was forcing himself to stand there without showing whatever was going on inside his head.
Celina frowned.
"You're clearly not fine."
"I said I'm fine!"
His voice came out sharper than intended.
Celina narrowed her eyes at him, but she didn't back off. If anything, his stubbornness just made her more certain that he was hiding something.
Since he refused to say anything, she decided not to keep asking.
Instead, Celina stepped forward, grabbed his collar, and pulled him down slightly toward her.
Yumi blinked once, caught off guard by the sudden movement.
Before he could even react properly, she headbutted him hard.
The impact was enough to leave him stunned for a second, and then his body went limp as she caught him before he could fall.
Without saying anything further, Celina shifted her grip and wrapped her arms around him properly, lifting him with ease before turning around and carrying him back toward their dorm.
She didn't say anything about it while walking.
She didn't need to.
Whatever was bothering him, she had clearly decided that knocking him out first and letting him rest was better than letting his thoughts run wild any longer. She didn't fully understand what had set him off, and from the looks of it, neither did anyone else. Everyone's attention was still on Jaden and Jesse, both of whom had collapsed after the duel, so Yumi's odd behavior mostly went unnoticed.
Still, Celina had seen enough to know that something was wrong.
And if Yumi was too stubborn to stop himself, then she would do it for him.
At the very least, she could make sure he got some rest before his thoughts dragged him somewhere worse.