Supreme King: "!"
What is this kid saying?
He's trying to make me—the ruler who dominates the Twelve Dimensions, the embodiment of darkness—see a future of light?
Did that last impact scramble his brains?
But Jaden's voice cut through his thoughts.
"My turn. I draw!"
Jaden said, "I activate the Spell Card, Contact Gate! I banish two 'Neo-Spacian' monsters of different names from my Graveyard, and Special Summon two 'Neo-Spacian' monsters from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard."
Jaden slid out two cards from the Graveyard.
"I banish 'Neo-Spacian Dark Panther' and 'Neo-Spacian Glow Moss' from my Graveyard, and Special Summon 'Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab' from my Deck!
And also the 'Neo-Spacian Grand Mole' that was returned to the Deck by Fusion last turn!"
[Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab, ATK 500]
[Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, ATK 900]
The Supreme King narrowed his eyes.
The mole.
Again.
But it's not a big problem.
He still had a massive 5400 Life Points. Even if Malicious Bane… gets bounced…
"I return Elemental HERO Neos, Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab, and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole to the Deck—Triple Contact Fusion!"
Supreme King: "Triple contact?"
"The power of fire and earth unite—blazing might, burn!
—Elemental HERO Magma Neos!!!"
One of late-anime Jaden's signature finishers, the artifact of overwhelming lethality: the triple-fusion Magma Neos!
Magma Neos has a base ATK of 3000, and gains 400 ATK for each card on both players' fields.
With "Neo Space" on the field, he gains 500 from the Field, and his effect reads the field card itself for +400. Counting himself as a card on the field, that's a guaranteed +1300 baseline.
Add in the rest of the cards on both fields, and it's easy to hit six or seven thousand ATK.
The Supreme King didn't know Magma Neos's exact effect, but triple fusion plus that thunderous entrance made it clear this was no ordinary monster.
So he didn't hesitate: "Counter Trap, Grand Horn of Heaven!
When the opponent Special Summons a monster during the Main Phase, negate that Special Summon and destroy those monsters.
After that, your opponent can draw one card, however… their Main Phase ends immediately!"
Jaden: "!"
Not only did Magma Neos get blown away before it even landed, his Main Phase was forcibly ended. Jaden watched his Duel Disk force-skip straight into the Battle Phase while his field was completely empty. His options this turn had suddenly narrowed to almost nothing.
Meaning he either had to find a way to summon a monster during the Battle Phase, or end the Battle Phase and proceed to Main Phase 2 to operate—at the cost of forfeiting his right to attack this turn.
"...Then I'll draw one card, and move to Main Phase 2," Jaden said.
"Now do you understand? Your struggle is futile," the Supreme King said. "You can't even battle…"
"I'll win," Jaden said.
The Supreme King stiffened.
"What?"
"I said, I'll win," Jaden looked up and flashed a brilliant smile. "This turn."
Supreme King: "!"
This guy's already been stripped of his Battle Phase and he's still bluffing that he'll win this turn?
What a joke.
"You don't have to win a duel by attacking. That's something I learned from an irreplaceable friend."
Jaden smiled even brighter—so bright even the ruler of twelve dimensions felt a twinge of foreboding.
"Let me show you.
I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Burial from a Different Dimension, returning up to three banished monsters to the Graveyard.
I return the Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix that were banished by Fusion Gate."
"Next I activate the Spell Card, Spider Web, to take a card that was sent to the opponent's Graveyard one turn ago," Jaden said. "From your Graveyard, I'll take the Quick-Play Spell, Trap Booster!"
"Then I activate Trap Booster! I discard a card to activate a Trap from my hand."
"I activate the Trap Card, Chain Material!
This turn, when I conduct a Fusion Summon, I can banish monsters from my hand, field, Graveyard, or Deck as Fusion Materials."
"Use any fusion materials you like," the Supreme King said coldly. "But the turn Chain Material is activated, you can't attack, and the Fusion Monster is destroyed at the end of the turn.
And your Battle Phase is already gone—what good is Fusion now?"
"You'll see soon enough," Jaden said. "I activate the Field Spell, Terraforming, to add a Field Spell from my Deck to my hand.
I add a second Fusion Gate."
"Then I activate Fusion Gate again! I can Fusion Summon by banishing monsters."
"And I activate the Continuous Spell, Dimensional Fissure! While this card is face-up, any monster that would be sent to the Graveyard is banished instead for both players."
The Supreme King kept frowning, still unable to read what this was building toward.
"With that, the setup is complete."
Jaden gently closed his eyes.
Before him, as if reflected on a screen, appeared the sunny lawn of Duel Academy some time ago—he and Kira swapping Decks, testing and studying under warm sunlight.
That was when Kira showed him an unimagined path.
"Amazing!"
Jaden had practically jumped with excitement.
"Elemental HERO can do that too?"
"Yeah."
Kira put away a few demo cards, returned them to Jaden's Deck, shuffled, and handed it back with a smile.
"I'm just showing you that even Elemental HERO can break its own limits."
He spoke, then patted Jaden's shoulder with earnest weight.
"Your HEROes have infinite possibilities, Jaden."
"And you have infinite possibilities."
"You just need to discover them."
"…"
Jaden opened his eyes again.
Right—his future held infinite possibilities. Even the Duel King told him that.
How could he possibly stop here?
"I activate Fusion Gate to Fusion Summon!" Jaden said. "At this moment, thanks to Chain Material, I can choose materials from my Deck and Graveyard.
So I banish Elemental HERO Avian, Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, Elemental HERO Clayman, and Elemental HERO Bubbleman—four monsters—for a fourfold fusion! Appear—
—Elemental HERO Electrum!"
Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind unite. Empowered by four attributes, Jaden's early-era ace, the HERO who defeated the Sacred Beasts when equipped with the Philosopher's Stone!
[Elemental HERO Electrum, ATK 2900]
"When Electrum is Fusion Summoned, all banished cards are returned to their owners' Decks," Jaden said. "So the four HEROes I banished as Fusion Materials are all returned to my Deck!"
Avian, Burstinatrix, Sparkman, and Bubbleman appeared overhead, then became four beams of light flying back into Jaden's Deck.
"Then I tribute Elemental HERO Electrum for an Advance Summon!"
Jaden paused, glanced at the card in his hand, and murmured softly.
"Kira, lend me your strength too…"
Then he raised his head.
"I Tribute Summon, Catapult Turtle!"
Supreme King: "?"
What the hell?
At the climactic peak of a clash between righteous and wicked HEROes, the tone suddenly swerved: a green-shelled turtle lugging an electromagnetic cannon clattered onto Jaden's field.
[Catapult Turtle, ATK 1000]
Elemental HERO—Catapult Turtle, summoned!
"Due to Dimensional Fissure, the tributed Electrum is not sent to the Graveyard—it's banished," Jaden said. "Next I activate Fusion Gate again!
And using Chain Material, I banish the freshly returned Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman, and Bubbleman from the Deck for a Fusion Summon—
—Elemental HERO Electrum, number 2!"
[Elemental HERO Electrum B, ATK 2900]
"Upon Fusion Summon, Electrum shuffles the four HERO materials banished by Fusion Gate and the Electrum A that was tributed and banished back into my Deck!"
Jaden swept his arm.
"Then Catapult Turtle's effect: Tribute a monster on my field to inflict damage to the opponent equal to half that monster's ATK.
I tribute Elemental HERO Electrum number 2 to deal damage equal to half its ATK!"
[Supreme King, LP 5400 → LP 3950]
With his Life that high, he could still take it. Even so, the Supreme King's expression had begun to change.
"This is…"
"The Electrum tributed by Catapult Turtle is banished due to Dimensional Fissure!"
"Then I activate Fusion Gate once more. With Chain Material, I fuse the four HERO attributes from the Deck! Fusion Summon—
—Elemental HERO Electrum number 1!"
"Upon Electrum number 1's summon, the four banished HEROes and Electrum 2 are shuffled back into the Deck."
"Then Catapult Turtle's effect—tribute Electrum A, fire!"
[Supreme King, LP 3950 → LP 2500]
The Supreme King dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
An infinite loop!
And this is the famed real-card-era HERO-exclusive loop, known as the "Electrum Cannon." Two Electrum copies alternate, each one returning the other and all needed Fusion materials to the Deck in an endless cycle. Once it's set, the opponent is condemned to a hell of infinite Electrum artillery.
This is Elemental HERO: infinite possibilities.
Literally "infinite."
"Impossible…"
For the first time, a hint of fear flickered in the Supreme King's golden pupils.
He is the Supreme King.
He is the invincible Supreme King, master of absolute darkness, embodiment of power. With such power, he would never lose again, never suffer loss again, never feel pain again.
That's how it should have been.
How could he be defeated by this feeble shadow of himself…
He jerked his head up to find Jaden looking back at him.
Still that sunny smile, warm as spring sunlight.
"It's over," Jaden said softly. "All the pain you sealed away, all the darkness—starting now, we'll shoulder it together."
Supreme King: "…"
[Supreme King, LP 1050]
One last shot.
"Catapult Turtle, activate your effect," Jaden said. "Tribute Elemental HERO Electrum to inflict damage equal to half its ATK to the Supreme King."
[Supreme King, LP 1050 → LP 0]