The day of the team duel has arrived.
Although it's a punishment duel, quite a few people in the academy were interested when it spread. Many students who had nothing better to do came to watch, and the teachers and leaders in the academy also gathered.
Judai and Yugen were already quite famous among the new students this year. Especially those students who had been personally defeated by them so far had no reason to miss today's duel, whether to learn or just for fun.
The only one whose face looked awful was Professor Chronos, who proposed this card game activity from the start.
Because the student he originally designated, Marufuji Sho, known as 'eternally trailing at the back' and planned to send off together with Yuki Judai, was replaced.
Chronos watched Yugen and Judai, who had already stepped onto the stage, with a bitter face the whole time.
Given this unexpected turn of events, it seems that even if they lose, it's unlikely they can expel the poor students.
In that case, why did he go to the trouble of organizing this duel and even invited the big shot Nonne...
On the spectator stand, Chazz Princeton watched the two of them step onto the stage, unconsciously clenching his fists, as veins bulged on his forehead.
"Damn, they are opponents number one and two, who I must defeat..."
"Damn Chronos, this was supposed to be my duel." Chazz gritted his teeth, "Both of them are opponents I should be defeating..."
Little Brother B beside him was confused: "Huh? But Boss can't beat either of them, adding them together he might really get crushed... mmm mmm mmm..."
But before he finished speaking, he had his mouth covered by Little Brother A next to him, who was quick-eyed and swift-handed. But it was a step too late, and Chazz, having been poked at his sore spot, glared at the two of them viciously.
"Hmph!"
He kept a cold face.
Just wait, one day, Chazz Princeton will crush them all beneath him.
By then, he will become the new king of this academy!
...
"Alright, it seems like the students are all ready." Principal Jiaodao rubbed his hands excitedly, "Professor Chronos, quickly bring up the duelists you invited."
"Ahem, of course."
Chronos took the microphone.
"This time, I specially invited experts with a deep understanding of team duels. Look!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two bald figures emerged from the crowd!
The two of them flipped onto the stage from left and right, performed several backflips like an acrobat, and then stood back-to-back.
One had "Maze" written on his forehead, and the other had "Brother."
"We are the wandering guardians, Maze Brothers!" The two bald figures crossed their arms, full of confidence on their faces, "We have no grudge against you, just a full-force battle."
"Defeat us, and the road ahead will open!"
The crowd erupted.
"Are those... legendary duelists!?" A student stood up in shock.
"That's right, the Maze Brothers have fought against the Duel King, Muto Yuugi, they are legendary duelists." Chronos introduced, "Experts of team duels!"
The entire arena of students was stunned.
Even though it's a punishment duel, the opponents are actually legendary duelists!
Isn't this a bit too outrageous?
"I've heard of them," Asuka said, "It's said even the Duel King found them to be a tough opponent..."
"Indeed, to assign such opponents..."
Mitsuzawa paused, frowning as he looked at Yugen and Judai on the field.
He knew that Yugen had a precedent of defeating legendary duelists even before coming to the academy.
"Then let's see if they can surpass the legend." Mitsuzawa muttered to himself.
...
Judai's eyes sparkled: "They are the real deal! They're the real deal! We actually get to duel with legendary duelists, isn't that amazing?"
"Haha, it's not bad." Yugen chuckled.
The "encountered the Duel King" aspect of the Maze Brothers is subjective, and when they encountered Yuugi, it was during Duel Kingdom with a labyrinth to play through, different from the current rules, which aren't highly comparable.
"Don't get too excited and remember our strategy." Yugen reminded.
Judai nodded with a grin: "I remember, I remember."
The four of them stood ready, and Chronos, holding the microphone, walked to the center of the field.
"Each side has a shared 8000 LP, and both sides' fields and graveyard are shared. In the first turn, both sides cannot attack. Now, if everyone is ready..."
Chronos swung his arm down.
"Team duel, begin!"
After finishing, he quickly jumped off the stage to avoid getting in the way.
"Duel!" x4
[Yugen x Judai, LP 8000]
[Maze Brothers, LP 8000]
"Our side goes first, draw card."
The leader of the Maze Brothers took the first move.
"Summon 'Landmine Spider,' turn ends."
[Landmine Spider, Attack Power 2200]
With an opening move identical to that in the animations starring the Maze Brothers.
Judai: "Oh oh, right off the bat a monster with 2200 Attack Power!"
In the stands, Mitsuzawa raised an eyebrow.
"Landmine Spider, although it's a Four-Star monster with high Attack Power, it must flip a coin when attacking. If it guesses wrong, it has to halve its own LP to continue the attack, which has substantial risk.
It's suitable for a first-turn presence, but..."
Asuka: "But what?"
"Uh, nothing. It's just that it's Yugen's turn next." Mitsuzawa frowned, "With such a simple first turn, they might not have such an easy opportunity later..."
Asuka immediately understood what he meant and nodded: "Indeed."
Only those who have personally dueled Yugen know how luxurious it is to have an unresisted, freely operable first turn.
And this legendary duelist duo wasted that turn with just a single monster, they may soon realize what a waste it was...
Yugen: "My turn, draw card.
Activate the Magic Card 'Pot of Greed', draw two cards from the deck."
Then he revealed a Monster Card.
"Summon 'Ojama Yellow' in defense position."
The thick-lipped, golden-yellow little monster jumped onto the field, still wearing bright red triangular shorts.
The Maze Brothers frowned upon seeing this thing.
What kind of senseless miscellaneous monster is this?
"Oj... Ojama?"
Even the students on the stands who knew Yugen were momentarily taken aback.
The Ojama series is so common that no one doesn't recognize them, but they are generally seen as weaklings. However, based on experience, since they're in Yugen's hand, nobody dares to easily underestimate them.
What strange and bizarre strategy will it be this time?
Yugen drew three more cards.
"Set three cards in the back row, turn ends."
Starting with three cover cards as a sign of goodwill. Asuka and Mitsuzawa both showed expressions of "see, I told you so," and the students from the Yellow Dormitory couldn't help but look expectant.
However, the foreign Maze Brothers hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation yet.
Maze Brother: "Then, it's my turn, draw a card.
First, I want to use this card..."
He revealed a card from his hand, the projection of the Magic Card shimmering in gold appeared on the field.
"Magic Card - Sacrificial Puppet!
Use one monster on your field as a sacrifice to Special Summon a Seven-Star Monster that can be normally summoned from your hand, but that monster cannot attack this turn."
The younger Maze Brother paused, smiling at his older brother: "Big brother, I'll have to borrow one of your monsters."
The older Maze Brother laughed: "What are brothers for? Feel free to use it."
"Alright, then I'll use Big Brother's 'Landmine Spider' as a sacrifice! From my hand, I Special Summon one of our brother's trump cards!
Guardian of Wind, appear——
——Wind Demon God - Shuga!!"
A green tornado surged upward, and the green Demon God with a big "wind" character on its chest appeared on the field, its arms strong and muscular.
[Wind Demon God - Shuga, Attack Power 2400]
Miyakan crossed his arms proudly: "Wind Demon God - Shuga! This is one of the three major Demon Gods of our brothers, possessing unparalleled power..."
"Activate Cover Card, Trap Card - Bottomless Trap Hole." Yugen opened the back field, "When the opponent summons a monster with Attack Power over 1500, destroy and remove it from the game."
The pit opened, and one of the three major Demon Gods, the Wind Demon God, was swept away just as quickly as it appeared, vanishing into the giant pit with no trace.
While maintaining a charismatic pose, Miyakan suddenly froze in awkwardness.
"....."
"Uh... impressive."
A few seconds later, he cleared his throat lightly, trying hard to maintain the image of a Legendary Duelist.
"Then I'll continue by activating the Magic Card 'Dark Nominator'! Declare a Monster Card name, if there is a declared Monster Card in the opponent's deck, that card is added to the opponent's hand!"
Judai was startled: "Eh? Declare the opponent's card?"
"No," Yugen prompted him, "In a team duel, teammates can also be considered opponents."
"Is that so?"
The Maze Brother laughed: "Yes! Therefore, the name of the monster I'm declaring..."
He reached a hand out and pointed sharply at his older brother.
"'Water Demon God - Siga'!"
Beside him, the older brother calmly crossed his arms, chuckled lowly, and said, "Oh, quite unexpected. My deck happens to have 'Water Demon God - Siga', thanks to my little brother.
According to the effect of 'Dark Nominator', I add 'Water Demon God - Siga' to my hand."
He smiled, drawing the retrieved card from the deck, briefly showed it, then added it to his hand.
Outside the field, ace commentator Mitsuzawa furrowed his brow: "They cleverly utilize the 'teammate can also be seen as an opponent' rule in a team duel..."
"Using teammate's cards to achieve precise deck retrieval, this is definitely a deck built for team dueling." Asuka also looked worried, "These two are really strong; I wonder if Judai and Yugen will be okay..."
After completing the retrieval, the Maze Brothers both raised their arms arrogantly.
Maze Brother: "Let us!"
Maze Brother: "Tell you!"
Together in unison: "The true essence of team dueling!"
"Impressive, to utilize the team battle rule so cleverly to retrieve, very strong," Yugen praised, "Then I'll continue by activating the Trap Card 'Spiritual Breakdown'!
Declare a card name, if the declared card is present in the opponent's hand, they must discard that card.
If it is not present, I must randomly discard one card from my hand."
The Maze Brothers' expressions changed: "What!?"
Spiritual Breakdown, once rampaging in the physical card environment as a super versatile card. Though it wasn't favored by early-era players when first released, as the Yu-Gi-Oh! environment accelerated, and deck search effects became increasingly common, the potential of this ancient trap was gradually discovered by players.
In Yugen's memory of playing cards back then, during its peak time, it was treated somewhat like the modern Yu-Gi-Oh!'s "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring", and was a must-have search-counter divine artifact in competitive environments.
Especially in the early days when deck-building often didn't have the resilience of modern mainstream decks to withstand several counterattacks and still keep going. Back then, even many mainstream key searches could stop abruptly when hit by a Spiritual Breakdown, handing the power to play Yu-Gi-Oh! to the opponent with a begrudging look.
Hence the card's name was quite appropriate, "Spiritual Breakdown"; getting slammed by this could genuinely lead to a momentary breakdown...
Yugen: "What should I declare... it really has to be this.
I declare 'Water Demon God - Siga'."
The Maze Brothers exchanged a glance and gritted their teeth.
"Tch..."
With a cold face, the Maze Brother revealed the 'Water Demon God - Siga' that hadn't even warmed in his hand yet, throwing it into the graveyard area of the Duel Disc.
"Oh, quite unexpected, to actually have 'Water Demon God - Siga' in hand."
Yugen chuckled, sounding as if he was mimicking the annoying tone when the older Maze Brother retrieved earlier.
"Good luck."
A "井" (cross) symbol appeared on the bald heads of the Maze Brothers each.
Rage meter accumulating.