"Duel!"
The Truesdale brothers stood on opposite sides of the commuter train platform, both standing tall. Neither said a word about the stakes or consequences after this duel—they just started.
[Hell Kaiser, LP: 4000]
[Syrus Truesdale, LP: 4000]
"My turn. I set a monster in Defense Position and one face-down card. Turn end."
Hell Kaiser's dueling style had completely changed from before—no grandstanding, no summoning monsters upright. Just a simple face-down monster.
"My turn, draw!"
Syrus drew a card, glanced at his hand. "Spell Card, Pot of Greed. I draw two more cards."
"Then, Normal Summon, Mixeroid!"
A yellow cement mixer spun as it flew from the card, its drum rotating slowly, with a painted "Fusion" symbol on its side.
[Mixeroid] Level 4│WIND│Machine│0 ATK
"As expected, Fusion, huh—"
"He's still wearing that purple uniform?"
"Don't tell me he's one of the Fusion Army remnants? Dangerous! Stay back!"
Many bystanders—some duelists, others people looking to cause trouble for Hell Kaiser—stepped back after seeing Syrus's move.
"Syrus... Kaiser..." Jaden stood off to the side, watching.
He was the most conflicted of all.
His respected big brother had turned dark in the Pro Circuit, losing all respect for opponents and even humiliating them—he'd just stomped on someone's thrown emblem earlier.
His once-cheerful little brother, who'd just been playing happily with friends at the Union Branch, had become a henchman of a cross-dimensional terrorist group, locked up and interrogated for a week.
Now, the two had barely exchanged words before diving into a life-or-death-looking duel—
"I activate Mixeroid's effect! I tribute 1 Machine monster on the field to Special Summon 1 non-WIND "roid" monster from my Deck!
"I tribute Mixeroid to Special Summon... Submarineroid!"
The ground swirled like a whirlpool, and a humanoid submarine peeked out with just its periscope-like head.
[Submarineroid] Level 4│WATER│Machine│800 ATK
"Submarineroid can attack directly, then switch to Defense Position!"
"What?"
"So cheap!"
"Battle! Submarineroid attacks!"
The sub dove underground, surfacing just enough to fire a torpedo that struck Hell Kaiser, filling the area with dust.
[Hell Kaiser, LP: 4000 → 3200]
"Heh heh heh... You made me bleed." The eerie smile never left Hell Kaiser's face.
"Submarineroid switches to Defense Position."
[Submarineroid, ATK: 800 → DEF: 1800]
"I set one card face-down. Turn end."
"Sneaky, but not bad. Bypassing the set monster and going straight for LP damage," a pro duelist in the crowd commented.
"Tch, Fusion Army scum," another muttered in disgust.
"My turn—"
Hell Kaiser drew a card.
He glanced at his hand, then, without even checking the drawn card, said, "Flip Summon."
The face-down monster flipped up, revealing its bizarre huge eyes and round, hard body.
"Morphing Jar."
[Morphing Jar] Level 2│EARTH│Rock│700 ATK
"That!?"
Upon being flipped face-up, its effect triggered: Both players discarded their entire hands, then drew five new cards!
"If he had this, why didn't he set any Spells or Traps before?!" someone nearby exclaimed.
"Ha, is Hell Kaiser really losing it?"
Alexis watched with concern.
Atticus, however, stared at the face-down card.
Who said he hadn't set anything?
"Both players discard all cards in hand and draw five!"
Hell Kaiser and Syrus dumped their entire hands into the Graveyard and drew five new cards each.
"Next—tribute Morphing Jar to Tribute Summon... Cyber Dragon!"
Morphing Jar vanished, replaced by a gleaming mechanical dragon, crackling with electricity.
[Cyber Dragon] Level 5│LIGHT│Machine│2100 ATK
'Cyber Dragon!?'
Jaden, Atticus, and Alexis were all frozen, while Syrus stood speechless.
How was there a Cyber Dragon!?
Wasn't it supposed to be all Cyberdark now?
"Next, I activate my face-down from last turn—" Zane laughed as he flipped it up. "Spell Card, Dragon's Mirror!"
'Dragon's Mirror!?'
The shocks just kept coming.
"A Fusion Spell for Dragons! By banishing Dragon-Type monsters from my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon!"
"What?"
"A Dragon Fusion?"
"And this guy still dares to use Fusion—" Syrus's pupils shrank as he watched his brother play the card, visibly falling into deep thought.
At that moment, Dennis McField, who had shown up unnoticed, saw the unfolding scene.
A duel between the Truesdale brothers?
And it was the older brother using Fusion first?
Moreover... a Dragon Fusion?
"Why... Why are you still using Fusion, brother?" Syrus finally couldn't hold back and asked.
"Heh... What does it matter? Fusion Army, not Fusion Army, dimension or not... I care about only one thing: Victory!"
"I banish five Dragon monsters from my Graveyard!
"Fusion Summon!
"You should all know its name!
"Five-Headed Dragon!!
"ROOOOAAAAAAR!!!"
The legendary five-headed dragon, each head representing Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Darkness, rose to the field, letting out a deafening roar aimed right at Syrus.
[Five-Headed Dragon] Level 12│DARK│Dragon│5000 ATK
"Five-Headed Dragon!?"
"This is my first time seeing someone actually summon it!"
"It needs five different Attributes of Dragon monsters, right?"
Spectators all around began excitedly chattering about the appearance of this ancient, legendary beast.
At this point, no one cared about Fusion Army or whatever.
Seeing such a legendary monster appear in person—it was thrilling.
"It's over. Syrus." Hell Kaiser pointed coldly. "Battle. Cyber Dragon attacks Submarineroid."
The silver mechanical dragon howled skyward, then lunged at Syrus, smashing his submersible robot with its tail.
"Next, Five-Headed Dragon attacks directly!"
"Whoa, with 5000 Attack, that'll wipe out 4000 LP in one blow."
"I activate my face-down card! Continuous Trap, Life Force!
I pay 400 Life Points to reduce the battle damage to zero!"
Five-Headed Dragon's attack failed to inflict damage, but Syrus still had to endure the physical blow.
The overwhelming force sent him flying backward. He hit the ground hard, rolling over with a groan.
[Syrus Truesdale, LP: 4000 → 3600]
"Heh... I set two cards face-down. Turn end."