Both Yumi and Jaden faced each other with matching smiles, an unspoken understanding passing between them. The thrill of the duel was in full swing, and neither showed any signs of backing down.
On Yumi's field, Elemental HERO Lady Heat knelt at the ready, flames gently flickering around her form. He held two cards in his hand.
Across from him, Jaden mirrored the stance. He, too, held two cards; his expression was excited. Beside him stood Elemental HERO Bubbleman, crouched with his arms crossed.
[Yumi, LP 4000]
[Jaden, LP 3100]
"My turn!" Jaden declared, placing his hand on his deck. "Draw!"
He looked at the card he drew and grinned, immediately slotting it onto his Duel Disk. "I equip Bubble Blaster to Bubbleman! That boosts his ATK by 800, and I switch him to Attack Position!"
A large, blue water bubble designed rocket launcher materialized on Bubbleman's shoulder as he rose to his feet, ready to fight.
[Elemental HERO Bubbleman, 800 -> 1600 ATK]
"Battle! Bubbleman, attack Lady Heat!"
Bubbleman launched a high-pressure water burst from the blaster. The projectile slammed into Lady Heat, dousing her flames and shattering her into particles of light.
"I'll set one card and end my turn." Jaden added, sliding a card face-down.
Yumi didn't flinch.
"My turn! Draw!" he declared, drawing a card in one smooth motion. A smirk crept across his lips as he looked at it.
"I activate the Spell Card, Heat Crystals!"
The Spell rose up before him, glowing brightly. Two fiery crystals emerged, each containing the image of Burstinatrix and Lady Heat inside.
"Heat Crystals lets me banish two FIRE monsters from my Graveyard to Fusion Summon one FIRE Attribute 'Elemental HERO' monster!"
The two crystals collided, forming a blazing vortex that scorched the air.
"Descend in a blaze of glory, Elemental HERO Inferno!"
The fire vortex exploded, and from it stepped a towering warrior clad in blazing orange armor, carrying a flaming theme.
[Elemental HERO Inferno, 2300 ATK]
"Whoa! Another new HERO?!" Jaden's eyes widened with excitement. "Man, you've got some cool stuff in that deck!"
Yumi smirked, hearing Jaden's words, he felt a bit bad that this version of Jaden had never met his big brother in the Manga. A Pro HERO Duelist, Koyo Hibiki.
Elemental HERO Inferno was one of Koyo Hibiki's monsters, which he gave Jaden after he fell into a coma, and later Jaden returned it to him.
"I'm not done yet!" Yumi slapped another card onto his Duel Disk. "I equip Assault Armor to Inferno! That boosts his ATK by 300!"
A golden, glowing armor wrapped around Inferno, igniting with even greater intensity.
[Elemental HERO Inferno, 2300 -> 2600 ATK]
"Not so fast!" Jaden interjected, flipping his set card. "Quick-Play Spell, Bubble Shuffle!"
A vortex of spinning bubbles enveloped the battlefield.
"This lets me target Bubbleman and one of your face-up Attack Position monsters, then switch them both to Defense Position!"
Bubbleman quickly dropped into a crouch, and Inferno was forced to his knees by the spell's effect.
[Elemental HERO Bubbleman, 1200 DEF]
[Elemental HERO Inferno, 1600 DEF]
"But that's not all!" Jaden continued. "I then can tribute Bubbleman to Special Summon a HERO from my hand!"
As Bubbleman's form dissolved into light, Jaden slapped down a card with a sharp grin.
"I Special Summon, Elemental HERO Bladedge!"
A hulking warrior clad in golden armor and armed with massive, serrated blades appeared with a heavy stomp.
[Elemental HERO Bladedge, 2600 ATK]
"Tch…" Yumi narrowed his eyes, watching the momentum shift. Without hesitation, he threw down his final card.
"I set one card and end my turn," he said coldly.
A new face-down card materialized on his side of the field.
"My turn! Draw!"Jaden declared with his usual confident grin as he looked at the card he'd just drawn.
"I activate Graceful Charity! This lets me draw three cards from my deck, then discard two."He swiftly pulled three cards from his deck and then slid two into his Graveyard without hesitation.
"Next, I'll Normal Summon Elemental HERO Sparkman!"
Sparks of electricity burst across the field as the armored lightning warrior appeared beside Bladedge, crackling with energy.
[Elemental HERO Sparkman, 1600 ATK]
"Battle time! Bladedge, attack Inferno! Go, Edge Hammer!"
The blades on Bladedge's arms extended and glowed as he charged forward. With a powerful leap, he slashed through Inferno, cutting the flaming warrior down.
"And, when Bladedge attacks a Defense Position monster, he deals piercing battle damage!" Jaden added.
[Yumi, LP 4000 -> 3000]
Yumi raised an arm to shield himself from the resulting shockwave and debris, then calmly waved his hand, triggering his face-down card.
"Trap Card, Transaction Rollback! I pay half my LP to activate one of your Normal Trap Cards from your Graveyard directly."
[Yumi, LP 3000 -> 1500]
A flash of light mirrored the activation of a trap, only this time, it wasn't one of Yumi's.
Jaden blinked. "My trap?"
The hologram of Transaction Rollback shifted, transforming into Hero Signal.
"That's right," Yumi said with a grin. "I'm using your Hero Signal. Now I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my Deck or hand!"
Yumi pulled a card from his deck and slapped it onto his Duel Disk.
"Come forth, Elemental HERO Woodsman!"
A tall, broad-shouldered warrior emerged, his green, bark-covered armor making him look like a living tree. He knelt beside Yumi, arms crossed.
[Elemental HERO Woodsman, 2000 DEF]
"But that's not all," Yumi continued. "When Inferno is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can retrieve one Spell Card from either of our Graveyards."
A Spell Card ejected from Yumi's Graveyard, and he smoothly added it to his hand.
Jaden's eyes lit up. "No way… Woodsman too?! I didn't think I'd see this many new HEROs in one day!"
Yumi smirked at his rival's excitement, appreciating the pure Duelist spirit behind it.
"I end my turn," Jaden said, his tone still filled with wonder at Yumi's unique HERO arsenal.
Yumi glanced down at the card he'd just added to his hand. It was a gamble, but one worth taking. As long as he drew another HERO, the odds would tip in his favor.
He placed his hand on his deck, closed his eyes.
His deck was made up of most of his own spirit energy, many monster cards in his deck are actually spirit cards.
For ordinary cards, he would just care about utility and strength, and whether carrying some weird card would brick his hand. But spirits were different.
Unless you've excavated Egyptian relics and found God Cards, Duel Monster spirits are the easiest way for duelists to access the supernatural, making up 80% of all supernatural encounters.
Like in the anime, where Jaden Yuki once relied on Winged Kuriboh to guide him through Shadow Duels long before he awakened his Supreme King powers. Later, Neos would fly straight out of the deck to punch satellites and villains alike.
In a world like this, even if a Spirit Card wasn't meta or practical, having one could mean the difference between life and death.
"Draw!" Yumi declared, drawing his card from the deck. Without even looking at it, he pointed toward Woodsman.
"During my Standby Phase, Woodsman's effect activates! I can add one Fusion Spell from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand!"
Originally, Woodsman only fetched Polymerization. But Yumi had subtly modified the card's effect, broadening it to any Fusion Spell. A small change, but a significant upgrade.
He returned his deck to the slot and immediately activated the card he retrieved. "Spell Card- Polymerization! I fuse Woodsman on my field with Ocean in my hand!"
"Fusion condition: Two HERO monsters with different Attributes! Rise up, Elemental HERO Sunrise!"
A warm light broke across the field like a morning sun. From its center descended a red-armored warrior with a long blue cape, billowing as if caught in a divine breeze.
[Elemental HERO Sunrise, 2500 ATK]
"Sunrise's effect! When he's summoned, I can add Miracle Fusion from my deck or Graveyard to my hand!"
Another modification, subtle, yet efficient. The original Sunrise could only add Miracle Fusion from the deck, but Yumi made sure it worked from the Graveyard too.
A card shot out from his Graveyard, and he caught it in one smooth motion. It was the only copy of Miracle Fusion in his deck, sent earlier by Take Over 5.
"And now, Miracle Fusion! I banish Woodsman and Ocean from my Graveyard to Fusion Summon a new HERO!"
The silhouettes of Woodsman and Ocean appeared behind Yumi before leaping into a swirling vortex.
"Make your entrance, Elemental HERO The Earth!"
The ground trembled, then cracked open as a towering warrior emerged. His white armor gleamed like stone, embedded with blue gems at the shoulders and a single red crystal in the center of his chest. His glowing yellow eyes scanned the field.
[Elemental HERO The Earth, 2500 ATK]
In the official English release, this card was known as Terra Firma. While the name "The Earth" is the Japanese translated version.
Yumi originally planned to keep the name Terra Firma, but when he thought about it, the name "The Earth" sounded cooler, so he kept the Japanese translated name instead.
He looked across the field at Jaden and smiled.
He already knew about Jaden's role as the protagonist in the GX storyline. One of the best ways to defeat a protagonist is with a quick, instant kill hit. If he let Jaden's Life Point fall to a low amount, then he would be able to perform a Destiny Draw, drawing the card he needed to turn the tide of the duel.
Or he could directly awaken his Supreme King, print a card during mid-duel to pull off an epic comeback.
Surely, Jaden wouldn't go that far… right?
"I activate The Earth's effect! I tribute Sunrise-"
Sunrise glowed and dissolved into golden particles, which flowed into The Earth, empowering him.
"-and The Earth gains his ATK and DEF until the end of this turn!"
"The Earth Magma!"
[Elemental HERO The Earth, 2500 -> 5000 ATK]
"Five thousand attack points?!" Syrus and Celina shouted in unison, stunned. That was more than Obelisk the Tormentor's legendary 4000 ATK.
"And finally, I equip Assault Armor to The Earth!" Yumi played the card he had recovered earlier from Inferno's effect.
[Elemental HERO The Earth, 5000 -> 5300 ATK]
"Battle! The Earth, attack Sparkman!"
The massive warrior lunged forward with crushing force.
"I activate Necro Gardna's effect from my Graveyard!" Jaden countered quickly.
A ghostly warrior appeared, blocking The Earth's punch at the last second.
"By banishing this card, I negate your attack!"
As expected of Jaden Yuki, his protagonist's aura is indeed strong enough for him to send Necro Gardna to the grave at the start of his previous turn. In the anime, Necro Gardna was one of Jaden's most-used cards, despite not being an Elemental HERO monster.
Necro Gardna appeared during the time of Season 2 and kept on appearing all the way to Season 4, saving Jaden just in time for a fatal attack.
But Yumi already knew about this, which is why he added Assault Armor back to his hand.
"Then I activate Assault Armor's effect! By sending it to the Graveyard, the equipped monster can attack again this turn!"
The armor around The Earth shattered into golden shards, reigniting it power.
[Elemental HERO The Earth, 5300 -> 5000 ATK]
"Nani?!" (What?!) Jaden gasped.
"The Earth, second strike, attack Sparkman again!"
The Earth charged toward the electric warrior once more, this time with nothing defending him.
"Earth Impact!"
The massive fist collided with Sparkman, engulfing the field in a powerful shockwave and dust cloud.
[Jaden, LP 3100 -> 0]
As the smoke cleared, golden spirit energy shimmered from Jaden's body and drifted toward Yumi.
"Gotcha," Yumi said, smirking. "That was a fun duel."
Using Jaden, also known as Judai Yuki in the sub's catchphrase.
Jaden smiled as he stood up, still beaming with that boundless enthusiasm.
"Yeah! That was awesome!" he laughed, running up to Yumi. "Hey, can I check out the rest of your HEROs? I've never seen some of those before!"
Yumi returned the smile…
"No."
...
Yumi walked ahead with Celina trailing just a step behind, the two casually chatting as they made their way back. Their conversation had drifted into the topic of Lunalight monsters and the potential of pushing their evolution even further.
"You sure you weren't up to anything indecent last night?" Celina asked with a teasing smirk, nudging him lightly with her elbow. "You've got way too much energy to duel like that, but every morning, you look like you've been hit by a truck."
"Of course not," Yumi replied quickly, a bit too quickly.
He couldn't exactly admit the truth, that he was staying up late burning spirit energy just to print new cards.
Even though he considered both Celina and Jaden his friends, his bond with Celina was closer. That's why, even after everything, he still wasn't ready to show Jaden his full HERO deck.
Dueling Jaden hadn't just been about gaining spirit energy. It was also to send a message.
Yumi hoped that Jaden would remember and count on him during tough times; he already knew that Jaden, later on, would fall into depression and lose his joy in dueling.
Yumi wanted to see if he could help Jaden avoid this.