Jaden had dreamed of this moment more than once.
In truth, even those who seemed closest to him didn't truly understand him. The minion who trailed him day and night, the classmates at his side, the rivals who often connected with him through duels…
Each thought they understood him. They were all wrong.
They didn't know the real Jaden Yuki.
Jaden was rare: outwardly warm, inwardly cold. He looked carefree, a thoroughgoing optimist—but that was the image he allowed others to see.
He buried his thoughts deep, leaving only the strongest, most optimistic front to others.
Just like now.
Ever since learning about the Supreme King, not a single day had passed without him thinking about it. The darkness in his heart, the tyrant who exploited and ruled another world—that was an opponent he had to defeat, a fate he had to face.
And now he had come here—to the Supreme King's castle, to the deepest chamber.
To face that black armor: the physical form of the most terrifying darkness he had hidden for years—so deep he might not even have known it existed.
Jaden faced the Supreme King; the Supreme King faced Jaden.
It felt strange, like looking into a mirror. He could faintly sense that the figure in the mirror was himself—only darker, more dreadful.
The two stood in silence, face to face, as the air grew denser, each breath heavier.
"So you're the Supreme King," Jaden said.
But the moment he spoke, it felt odd to say that to a face identical to his own.
"The darkness… in my heart," Jaden murmured.
"No."
The Supreme King spoke too. The same voice, but stripped of all emotion, stiff as if altered.
"You are the weakness in my heart," he said. "The only weakness. But after today—"
The Supreme King opened his unique Duel Disk.
"That weakness will be destroyed."
Jaden took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
What must come will come. What must be faced must be faced.
Today. This very moment.
He would sever himself from himself.
"Duel!" ×2
[Jaden, LP 4000]
[Supreme King, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw."
The Supreme King drew and, without hesitation, summoned a monster.
"I set Elemental HERO Clayman in defense."
The thick-bodied clay hero landed on the field. The Clayman card hovered horizontally beneath him as he crouched defensively, arms crossed.
It was the exact same card as Jaden's—but even this Elemental HERO seemed corrupted, his eyes glowing a dangerous dark red.
[Elemental HERO Clayman, DEF 2000]
"Clayman…" Jaden's expression was complicated.
Facing an opponent with the same face, using the same Elemental HEROes—it felt… peculiar.
"I set one card. Turn end," said the Supreme King.
Jaden: "My turn. Draw!"
This duel, of all duels, he could not lose.
For himself—and for all the worlds he'd passed through and witnessed along the way.
"I activate the Field Spell, Fusion Gate!"
Jaden raised his hand. A chaotic fusion void yawned open midair, like a portal to the unknown.
"As long as Fusion Gate is on the field, I don't need Polymerization for Fusion Summons. I can banish Fusion Materials from my hand or field to Fusion Summon."
He tossed two cards. They flared in midair, projecting silhouettes—a green-winged hero and a curvaceous lady wreathed in flame.
The Elemental HERO power couple.
"I banish Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix from my hand," Jaden declared. "Fusion Summon! My beloved hero—
—Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"
Avian and Burstinatrix were drawn into the black vortex and vanished. An explosive surge burst from the void; a green whirlwind entwined with roaring fire. A white single wing cleaved the blaze; within that fiery storm, a hero took shape.
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK 2100]
"If you symbolize the deepest darkness in me, then I'll burn it away with the hottest flame!" Jaden shouted. "Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, attack Elemental HERO Clayman!
Flame Shot!"
Flame Wingman soared, riding a whirlwind that ignited into flame and swallowed him whole. At his apex, he dove with a flaming kick like a living cannon shell!
Clayman was pierced through; with a boom, he shattered to dust.
"Flame Wingman's effect: when it destroys a monster by battle, inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's original ATK," Jaden said. "Clayman's ATK is 800, so you take 800!"
Flame Wingman landed in front of the Supreme King; the dragon-head arm lifted, spewing a spiral blaze that slammed into him.
The Supreme King closed his eyes, expressionless, enduring the sear.
[Supreme King, LP 4000 → LP 3200]
"Activate set card," the Supreme King said. "Trap: HERO Signal.
When a monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY, Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from your hand or Deck."
A searchlight beam shot from the flipped trap, painting the sky with a hero's call.
The Supreme King spread his Deck and slid out a card.
"I Special Summon Elemental HERO Avian from the Deck."
A green whirlwind rose on the Supreme King's field—darker, deeper in hue. The Avian that appeared was more somber in color than Jaden's, his eyes glinting with a sinister air.
[Elemental HERO Avian, DEF 1000]
Jaden: "I set one card. Turn end."
"My turn. Draw."
The Supreme King drew—not looking at the card, but at Flame Wingman.
"'Beloved hero'? You really are my weakest part."
"What did you say?" Jaden frowned.
"Only those with power deserve to be called heroes," the Supreme King said coldly. "Justice without power can accomplish nothing. Power is justice itself.
And this card is the symbol of power—the decisive difference between you and me!
I activate the Spell Card Dark Fusion!
A dark fusion that transforms Elemental HEROes into fiends!"
...
2 Bonus chapters at 500 pS