The loud roaring of dozens of voices echoed through the stands as Julian took his seat with a fixed gaze in the center of the arena. The elevator on the examiner's side rose to reveal the blonde doctor with a huge duel disk attached to his chest. As he well knew, Crowler would take care of this duel himself, and using his personal deck. It was the first real challenge the show revealed, and he knew it by heart.
While the professor adjusted his deck into the appropriate slot and made sure that its leather strap was well fixed, the other platform slowly raised, revealing the other contestant. No other duels were going on, as Crowler's challenge happened exactly because of Jaden's tardiness. All eyes on the stadium were on the field and on the challenger that Dr. Vellian Crowler chose to test himself.
"All right, test time!" started the Duel PhD, activating the shuffle function on his deck. "So, son… your name?"
Jaden instantly stop looking around, standed at attention and answered "Jaden, Jaden Yuki."
"Well, Jaden Yuki. I'm Dr. Velian Crowler, general director of practical applications here at Duel Academy." His tone was characteristic of a man of status showing his qualifications and asserting himself as superior. If he was trying some kind of intimidation technique, it certainly wouldn't get through the kid's thick skull.
Smiling at the professor, Jaden responded while placing one hand behind his head and scratching his hair "What honour. To think that the practical director himself would challenge me. I'm sure you are expecting a lot!"
The professor really looked dumbfounded for a second after Jaden's words, but quickly recomposed himself and got ready. "Duel coat, on!" exclaimed, activating the duel function on his chest.
"This thing is really impressive!" noted the student, activating his test disk as well. "Teacher, can I have one of those as well?"
"The highly ranked students are given the option." answered Crowling, drawing his starting hand.
"Nice, I'll give my best then." Jaden stated cheerfully, also drawing his hand.
"DUEL!" both duel disks flared for a second, getting ready to project the cards being used.
"My turn, draw!" started the student, getting his sixth card in the hand. "I'm gonna play the Elemental Hero Woodsman in defense mode! Also, I'm gonna set one card facedown and finish my turn."
The hulking projection of the green warrior with wood bits taking part of his body took the center of the field, with him kneeling onto the field and crossing his arms in a X (EARTH/Warrior/Level 4/2000 DEF). The projection of the facedown followed soon after, with the professor showing clear amusement for the young boy's play.
"Very well, my turn. I'll start activating Graceful Charity, it allows me to draw three cards and discard two." Resolving the card effect, the man's smirk widened as he activated another draw support. "Now, Pot of Greed. With that, I draw two more cards."
"That's a lot of stuff, huh teach?" noted Jaden amicably.
"That is Doctor for you, boy! And I'm just getting started! I'll activate Terraforming to add from my deck to my hand a Field spell card. Come, Geartown!" by the declaration of the card, his deck extended the intended card which was promptly added to his hand.
With the declaration of the field spell name, the entire stadium began to discuss among themselves, grasping the choice of the PhD.
In the Obelisk balcony, Chazz leaned forward over the rail, eyes narrowing at the scenario change as the director activated his field spell.
"Who would think that Doctor Crowler would deal with that personally? With his own deck!" noted one of his friends.
The other fiend swallowed. "T-That's Professor Crowler's real deck, right? Not an exam build? This number 110 kid must be very good for him to do that."
Chazz, clearly in disbelief stated. "The Ancient Gear package, he's not going for warm-up. The doctor wants a full blown massacre, to shatter the dreams of this dropout boy without a single bit of hope."
On the Upper Tier, Zane watched in silence as the professor activated one more spell card: Ancient Gear Castle. One more tool for the setup of his tribute monsters, this one also being able to strengthen their attack points.
"This goes beyond a demonstration." he said, voice even. "His Ancient Gear Deck, at least we'll have the honour of seeing his rare cards in this duel, and that's thanks to 110."
"I feel sorry for 110. The Doctor clearly has something against him." the blonde girl stated, caressing her hair with her fingers. "That's clearly excessive to do against a first-timer in a test like that. It's like he just doesn't want him to pass."
Down in the arena, the director continued on the offense. "With the effect of my field spell, I can summon Ancient Gear Monsters with one less tribute. And that's just perfect for my Ancient Gear Beast!"
The four-legged mecha (EARTH/Machine/Level 6/2000 ATK) surged onto the field, howling aggressively as its attack points were increased (ATK 2000 → 2300) as the professor stated "My continuous spell Ancient Gear Castle increases the attack of all Ancient Gear monsters by 300 points. Also, everytime one monster is Normal Summoned or Set, it gains one counter."
A faint count sound marked the light sphere of the counter now orbiting the castle's tower.
"Battle! Ancient Gear beast, make that hero of his into lumber!" the machine lunged forward, pouncing into the warrior.
"Not yet, I'll activate my…" Jaden started to respond, but as he activated the button for his facedown, the card simply would not activate. "Wait, what?"
The beast dropped Woodsman onto the floor, its claws on his chest shattering it into fragments.
"Tut tut." Mocked the professor, signaling a no with his finger. "One lesson for you, tardy-boy! Like many of my Ancient Gear monsters, when Beast attacks the opponent is unable to activate any spell or trap cards until the end of the Damage Step! No response for you!"
On the applicants' stand, Syrus squeezed the rail, commenting alarmed "Not only does he normal summon a level 6 monster, but Jaden can't even use his trap cards? There's no way he could know of that effect. How is he going to prepare against something like that when he does not even know what it does?"
Surprised by the impetus on the director's first round, Bastion dropped his two cents about the matter "He's optimizing the curve of his deck with that field spell and going all out from the first second, his archetype taking care of the most common battle responses. It's certainly a pickle."
A bit surprised by the changes compared to what he expected by watching the anime, Julian answered the short boy with an analytical voice "A duelist only has to explain the effect of its cards when their effect is relevant in the duel. Until something matters, if you don't know what your opponent's cards do, you're completely blind. Knowledge of the cards gives you the advantage of preparing for an adversary's plays instead of just responding to them."
"Back home, you can just ask to read the opponent's card as soon as it is public knowledge, but that's not how things work here. Card knowledge is one hundred times more valuable." he thought, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Here, that kind of ignorance could cost the match."
Jaden was freezed for one second, before erupting in a joyous laughter "I'm glad to know the General Director is playing seriously against me. There is no point in a test duel if it's not a challenge. Draw!"
As the student got a fifth card into his hand, one more backrow was set, with another hero being summoned for battle "I'll summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in defense position. Also, one more set card to finish my turn. Oh, one more thing. At the end of my turn, Lady Heat inflicts damage to you in proportion to the number of Elemental Hero monsters I control, including herself. That's 200 of burn damage to you, sir."
The pyro hero girl was also knelt on the battlefield (FIRE/Pyro/Level 4/1000 DEF), but her arms lighted ablaze as a bolt of flames arose from her and jolted to the doctor, diminishing his Life Points and claiming first blood in the duel (Crowler LP 4000 → 3800). "You're up!"
The joy in the boy's voice despite the absolute pressure being exerted was clearly something infuriating for the doctor. Drawing one more card to start his turn, the PhD went directly for full gas.
"As I have one Ancient Gear monster on the field, I can summon my Ancient Gear in defense position." a small cogged construct appeared near the Beast, before becoming translucent for the teacher's next play. "As already explained in my previous lesson, Ancient Gear monsters require one less tribute with my Geartown on the field. Therefore, by tributing only my Ancient Gear I can summon a monster that would normally require two sacrifices! Come forth, Ancient Gear Golem!"
As the small machine disappeared, the projected illusory field began to tremble and the sound of grinding gears echoed throughout the arena. As the colossal form of the giant started to appear, the sound of its machinations came to a sudden stop with the gears locking into place with a deafening clang. It wasn't just big, it was colossal.
The Ancient Gear Golem towered over the platform, a colossus of worn iron plates and exposed pistons. Steam hissed from the gaps in its armor as its massive arms locked into position like hydraulic battering rams. Its single, glassy eye pulsed with an amber glow, scanning the field with cold mechanical precision.
The stadium lights dimmed for a heartbeat as the holographic projectors strained to render the giant's sheer bulk. Students leaned forward instinctively to look at the doctor's legendary card, their shadows swallowed by the looming figure of the projection — ten meters (about thirty feet) of silent, unstoppable machinery now standing between Jaden and victory.
But the boy had a plan. Just as the titan hit the field, Jaden's voice cut through the metallic roar. "I activate Trap Hole! Your monster is nothing but a pile of junk now. Sorry, teach!"
The arena floor under the titan splintered open. Bronze light bled into black as the Ancient Gear Golem lurched, one massive leg dropping into the void and the metal cracking as the huge creature was reduced to nothing.
Crowler didn't flinch. "Despite that, Castle gains one more counter for the normal summon. On the chain's resolution, I activate the quick spell Cybernetic Fusion Support. For its effect I pay half my Life Points." The characteristic tingling noise of the loss of Life Points sounded while the card appeared on his backrow (Crowler LP 3800 1900) and a second orb of light surged into the castle's tower. "For the rest of this turn, I can fuse using materials from my hand, field, or graveyard—by banishing them."
In the Upper Balcony, Zane's eyes tightened: not in surprise, but recognition. "Cybernetic Fusion Support. That's a card from the Cyber school of duelling, not something easy to get from a pack, even for a doctor like him."
Alexis appeared unable to avert her eyes from the duel below as she answered her brother's friend "Crowler's been on staff for years. If anyone could sign that out of the vault for him, it's the Chancellor, and Crowler would absolutely ask." raising her shoulders indifferently, she completed "It seems like your sensei gave permission."
Down there, the doctor raised a second card, crisp and deliberate. "Polymerization. I combine the Ancient Gear Golem in my hand with Ancient Gear and Ancient Gear Soldier in the Graveyard by banishing the three of them. Arise…"
As the professor moved the last card on his hand and a couple from the grave the slot below a huge summoning circle appeared. It didn't just flare, it expanded. Dozens of teeth of interlocking gears rotating nonstop and expanding until they filled half the platform. What climbed out of the fusion vortex made the previous titan look like a training dummy.
"Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem" finished the director. The gargantuan creature (EARTH/Machine/Level 10/4400 ATK) stepped forward, each footfall a seismic punch. Its forearms were reinforced into layered rams, piston spines hissing in a synchronized rhythm. It had a form similar to the mythological centaur, with a quadruped form below the waist and a humanoid-like torso. The plates along its body unfolded and relocked nonstop in different patterns as if trying to achieve an optimal shape. The projection of its humongous size being clearly capped by the ceiling on the arena, making the projectors resize the creature to its limits. Gods know how tall it would be in the open sky. Someone close to the action would be able to hear the faint humming on Crowler's Duel Disk as tiny cooling fans whispered to life, like the unit had been overclocked just to render the creature into the duel.
"Trap Hole just ate that thing," one of the blues in the balcony above blurted, "and he… made a bigger one?"
Chazz's mouth curled, half irritated, half impressed. "He didn't dodge the fall; he leveraged it. You kill the body, he cashes the graveyard and upgrades. That…" he nodded at the colossus "... I don't know how we can keep calling that an exam."
The other crony swallowed. "A legendary card above the legendary card. Geez, what do they even feed the professors here?"
In the applicants' stand, the reaction was also noticed. Even the cold and collected Bastion seemed surprised, the analytical play-by-play comment being ignored to a simple comment. "Can Jaden even punch through that?"
"I… I don't know how he could do it. That thing is stronger than the god cards we saw in the Battle City tapes." noticed Syrus.
"Don't count him out yet. He is not looking like a desperate guy to me." Julian analyzed, looking at Jaden's expression. In his thoughts, a bit more was going on. "This is going beyond the anime duel, by a lot. But come on, man. A removal spell, a trap before the battle. You are too important to the story to go down here! Do something!"
The Ultimate Golem's single amber eye swept the field like a searchlight, and for a moment the arena felt smaller—like everyone was standing inside a machine that had decided to move.
"With the effect of my Castle still active, Ultimate's attack grows even further." the titan flexed its mechanical arms for a second (Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem ATK 4400 → 4700) before locking its single eye on the lonely hero below. "Battle! My Ultimate Golem attacks your Elemental HERO Lady Heat… "
"Before the attack declaration: at the start of the Battle Phase." Jaden snapped, flipping his set, "I activate Heroes' Endurance! It can be used on a Level 4 or lower Elemental HERO, and my Lady Heat fits the bill perfectly! It can't be destroyed by battle this turn!"
Crowler blinked once, then smiled thinly. "How quaint. My Ultimate Golem still inflicts piercing damage. Any Attack that exceeds your monster's Defense hits you instead." He pointed. "Proceed."
The colossus lunged. Projector arrays screamed to full brightness as the titan's piston-arm plowed into Lady Heat's guard, the impact cone burst outward in a shock of light and simulated pressure. Simulated wind blasted across the platform, Jaden reflexively threw up an arm, eyes half-shut as the system's holographic projection roared past him. The HERO held, anchored by the glowing, chainlike sigil of the equipment. However, the numbers told a different story (Jaden's LP ATK 4000 → 300).
The crowd recoiled in a single breath. Bits of holographic particles drifted in the air as Crowler adjusted a cuff, satisfied. "Your little trinket keeps her standing and the game proceeding. Unfortunately my Ancient Gear Beast can't chew through a monster that can't be destroyed. A pity." The mechanical beast looked voracious, but remained still without an attack order. "I'll end my turn."
He let the smile linger just long enough to sting. "Do be quick, Mr. Yuki. Next turn, the little that remains of your hope of joining our prestigious academy will end. It would be better for you to just accept your fate in my last attack."
As the wind wound down leaving a hush in their wake, Jaden's LP display blinked 300 in harsh red. Zane didn't look away from the board. "He survived the swing." he said, voice flat, but kind. "That matters."
Alexis let out the breath she'd been holding. "Barely. One more hit and it's over." Her eyes tracked the Ultimate's piston-spine as it seemed to cool down, steam bleeding into the bronze glow of Ancient Gear Castle. "The doctor played it clean. He paid a hefty price, but the fact that 110 is still in the duel is nothing short of a miracle."
"It doesn't matter." Zane answered. "It doesn't matter how close you get to defeat, if the opponent's life points hit zero before yours." Zane's gaze cut to the professors empty hand with no backrow "He cashed a lot of resources to put that thing on the table and the boy survived. If he has a line for a comeback, he can reverse the flow of the game and win."
Alexis glanced at Jaden, squared and small under the shadow of the colossus. "So… does he have that line?"
Zane didn't answer. Not with words. He just kept watching.
"Three hundred." one of the blues in the balcony below whispered, as if saying it louder might finish the job. "He's done."
Chazz rested his elbows on the rail, eyes narrowed at the massive silhouette. The red indicator of 4700 attack points floated like a verdict above the titan's shoulder. "If he panics, yeah."
"But how do you not panic?" the other crony said. "Crowler just made the boys destruction into a bigger golem out of nothing."
Chazz's mouth twisted. "He did exactly what a real duelist does: turned the opponent's answer into a new line of play. In this case, into an upgrade." His eyes flicked, calculating. "Which means the only moment left to fight is this turn. If that kid has any teeth, he bites now."
One crony nervously looked at the monster and rebated. "And if he doesn't?"
"Then Crowler writes his name in the loss column and we all forget him by lunch." Chazz said. But he didn't look away.
In the applicants' stand, Syrus gripped the rail so hard his knuckles went white. "Three hundred… He can't even take a poke from Beast if Crowler finds a way around that equip. And endurance is now gone, so he can't even count on that for his turn."
"The card already did its job, it bought him this turn." Bastion said, trying to recollect his facade to make a proper analysis. "The Lady would not survive another attack from the Ultimate Golem anyway, it's irrelevant. More importantly… " he tapped his chin "Crowler's Cybernetic Fusion Support banished his materials. He chose power over recursion going for a one turn kill. If Jaden clears the board, his rebuild isn't instant. He has a chance."
Julian's eyes moved across the field, quiet and relentless: Castle live; Ultimate idle for one turn; Beast boxed out by the trap card; two backrows masked in bronze light. "Three hundred isn't zero" he told himself. "It's a turn."
Aloud, he said "Crowler telegraphed his win condition: lock interaction on attacks and make the swing lethal with the archetypal effects rendering Jaden unable to play defense during battle. He bought a turn, but I doubt he has other non-battle tricks on his hand." He exhaled through his nose. "He has to solve it before the next Battle Phase starts."
Syrus swallowed. "Solve that?" He pointed at the walking fortress.
"Either remove it, take control of it or diminish its power in some sort, pivoting the math so this lethal isn't that lethal." noticed the written exams top scorer.
"There are several cards in the game that can turn this game around." completed Julian. "Several even on the Elemental Hero archetype. The question is, can he get them?"
Skyscraper would not help here, there was not a single hero that came to his mind that could achieve more than 3700 attack, with the exception of Shining Flame Wingman. But even in his case, Jaden didn't have enough heroes in the grave. Smashing ground? Tribute to the doomed? Something to destroy this god forsaken creature. Julian knew the cards third effect and that Crowler had prepared himself and left the Golem destroyed by the Trap Hole in his graveyard to be brought back in the event of the Ultimate's destruction, but a regular one would surely be more manageable.
"Come on, Jaden. Three hundred left." he thought, steady now. "You have one window, one play. If you find it, everyone here will remember your name. You dealt with much worse in games with so much more in the stakes."
The arena's roar thinned into an absolute silence. The only sound that could be heard was the gears still turning, but even they were dampened by the sound system of the duel disk after its last movement as a form to minimize unnecessary noise. Jaden stood very still, shoulders squared beneath the shadow of the machine citadel.
In Julian's head, something uncommon could be noticed. A faint aura next to him could be seen for a fraction of a second. He knew then. Winged Kuriboh, his spirit partner. But that wasn't all. A voice, much similar to Jaden's but fundamentally different resonated in his own mind. "Not yet. I promised you. When you wake up… I'll be a pro and we'll finish that duel."
Jaden lowered his chin, slowly inspiring and expiring. Once… and twice. Then, he murmured something to himself that surely no one would be able to grasp. Whatever it was, it steadied him. His grip reset on the Duel Disk, the fidget vanished from his fingers, and a quiet focus settled over his face like a visor.
From the applicants' rail, Julian couldn't make out the exact words, only the change. The kid who'd been taking punches a moment ago with a smile on his face was gone. In his place stood someone who carried responsibility, a duelist with something to protect. In his eyes, there was someone who had just found a line.
"Last turn, draw." Jaden said, and reached for the top card. The declaration could be interpreted as defeatist, but everyone there could notice easily that this was not the boy's intent. He declared, clear as day, that he would win on that very turn. Three cards in hand and a dream.
Jaden didn't smile. He didn't posture. He just raised a card. "Upstart Goblin."
Crowler's Life Points ticked up (Crowler's LP 1900 → 2900), and the professor laughed soundly. "How generous. Making my life even easier, are we?"
Jaden slid another Spell onto the disk ignoring the director's quip. "Pot of Greed - draw two." The cards snapped into his hand, bringing it to four total. Crowler's lip curled again in a smirk.
"Draw your whole deck if you like." he said, perfectly pleasant. "The result is inevitable."
Once again, Jaden didn't answer. "The Warrior Returning Alive - I can add a warrior monster from my graveyard to my hand. Woodsman come back to me."
One card after another, the student continued his combo without ceremony. "Normal Summon: Elemental HERO Prisma."
The warrior's prismatic armor caught the arena lights, scattering them in pale rainbows. Jaden raised a card from his Extra Deck.
"Prisma's effect: I reveal a Fusion Monster from my Extra deck and send monster from my deck to my graveyard that is listed in the Fusion Monster's materials." Taking a card from his deck and sliding into the grave slot on the disk, he continued "Prisma's name becomes Elemental HERO Ocean."
The hero's armor refracted, the rainbow colors of the light spectrum deepening and getting sorted into the blue shade of its skin. Its silhouette shifted, matching Ocean's lines as if the light itself had morphed into another substance.
And with one more spell, his intent was clear. "Polymerization. I combine the Prisma in my field with Elemental HERO Woodsman in my hand. Fusion Summon!"
The summoning circle bloomed, brighter than before. Once again, the energy vortex of the polymerization covered the field. Dozens of colors mixed in its domain as a marboreal light spiraled upward, and when it fell away, a titan of living bedrock (EARTH/Warrior/Level 8/2500 ATK) stood with its fists clenched and sigils burning along its forearms, a spectral projection of Earth itself behind it. "Let's finish this duel, Elemental HERO Terra Firma."
For a heartbeat, the arena forgot to breathe. Even the projectors seemed to hesitate before catching up to the weight of the thing.
High above, Zane's eyes narrowed. Alexis's lips parted. On the Obelisk balcony, Chazz straightened like he'd been yanked by a thread. In the applicants' stand, Syrus grabbed Bastion's sleeve. Julian didn't move at all.
He didn't need to. He understood what it meant the second the name left Jaden's mouth.
That wasn't just a fusion. That was Koyo Hibiki's card. A legend, born not from the anime, but from the manga. A legacy from the former World Champion, called to the field by someone who had been trusted to carry it. The mark of a vow, a promise between them. In this world, Jaden's Winged Kuriboh didn't came from Yugi, it was the last legacy of the spirit partner of his beloved mentor accompanied by his own cards.
For a heartbeat the arena blue-screened: sound gone, faces still, the world holding its breath around the name Terra Firma. Only Julian moved at all: a small intake of breath, recognition settling behind his eyes.
And then… the silence cracked.
Zane's gaze sharpened, not with surprise but with context snapping into place. "That card is one-of-a-kind." he said, voice low. "Pegasus awarded it when Koyo Hibiki won the World Championship."
"Not just once." Alexis added, eyes widening as memory aligned. "Three years in a row. That Terra Firma was his proof, his ace."
Zane's jaw set. "And Professor Hibiki… Midori." His eyes flicked toward the faculty tier. "Koyo's older sister, she has to know this kid."
Alexis exhaled, stunned into a half-laugh. "So this isn't a kid copying a famous deck." She looked back down at the stone-veined titan. "He's playing the champion's deck. He's carrying the legacy. No wonder Crowler went that far to test him personally."
"It's the real one" one of the blues in the balcony below whispered, almost reverent now. "The Pegasus prize: a card he only printed once. Just as rare as the god cards!"
Chazz didn't answer right away. He'd straightened the instant the name was said, and now his glare softened, barely, into something like respect. "Koyo Hibiki's Terra Firma." he said, as if testing the weight of the sentence. "The guy who won Worlds three times. Every duelist worth his salt knows his name. He's someone you put up there with Yugi and Kaiba…"
Another crony swallowed. "So how does a first-year…"
Chazz cut him off without looking. "He's not stealing a name. There is no way he could get his hands on this card and go to the academy publicly using it like that. He's his heir, it has to be." For a second, the competitive fire in his eyes was naked. "I heard the champion retired because of this hospitalization, but that changes everything."
In the applicants' stand, Syrus tugged at Bastion's sleeve, his voice a hushed squeak. "Th-that Terra Firma. Pegasus gave it to Koyo when he became world champion, right? The special print?"
Bastion glared at the field unable to avert his own eyes as he answered the other kid. "Correct. A non-circulating, ceremonial copy — truly unique. A mark of his rule in name and history. It's a shame Yugi stepped away from professional dueling and that Kaiba never saw the merit of continuing without him, we will never know who would have won among them."
Julian also could not take his eyes off the field. The understanding that had hit him first now washed over everyone else like a second wave. There were elements already present of the anime, but that card was pure manga. Whatever happened to him, he was in a mix of both. Aloud, quietly noted. "It's not a tribute. It's succession."
Syrus swallowed, eyes shining. "So Jaden's deck is—"
"Koyo's deck," Bastion finished for him. "One lineage, passed forward."
Julian felt the hairs on his arms lift. The world he once watched either animated through a screen or in the pages of a manga had just looked back and acknowledged itself as real: with history, with promises, with inheritances that meant something real.
At the Center Stage, Crowler's composure rippled, only for a moment. The name, the lore, the way the stadium bent toward the newcomer: he felt it all. Then the professor reset his cuffs once again: smile returning by force of habit.
"A charming museum piece." he said, too pleasantly, eyes never leaving the stone titan. "But legacies crumble like any other stone." He lifted his chin toward the hulking fortress at his side. "And my Ultimate Golem does not care whose autograph is on your card."
Jaden didn't blink at Crowler's taunt. His voice stayed even. "Then let's finish this." He slid a card into the disk. "Miracle Fusion. I banish Elemental HERO Ocean and Elemental HERO Woodsman from my Graveyard. Fusion Summon! Descend, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero."
Cold mist rolled out from the summoning circle. A white-cloaked hero strode forward (WATER/Warrior/Level 8/2500 ATK), frost blooming across the platform with each step and ice crystals in the air refracting the light from the projections like a kaleidoscope.
Jaden's hand cut through the air. "Terra Firma effect. I tribute Absolute Zero — Terra Firma gains ATK equal to that monster's ATK until the End Phase."
Chains of light wrapped Absolute Zero and pulled him skyward, the field temperature plunged. Terra Firma's sigils flared as the power transferred, the numbers flicking up above the titan (Elemental Hero Terra Firma 2500 ATK → 5000 ATK).
From the applicants' rail, Syrus yelped. "F-five thousand?!"
Julian didn't look away and quietly complemented. "Not just that. Absolute Zero has an effect of his own."
Promptly, Jaden explained without flourish. "When Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monsters you control are destroyed, Professor."
Crowler's eyes widened. "What…"
The frost wave hit like a silent bomb. Ice raced over Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem and Ancient Gear Beast, locking plates, pistons, and joints under a glassy sheath. A beat later, the field cracked with a single, loud ringing, like sound in the resonance frequency shattering glass. The ice shattered outward, and so did the monsters beneath it, vanishing into a storm of holographic fragments that dissolved to blue.
Up on the Obelisk balcony, one crony forgot to breathe. "He wiped everything!"
Chazz's knuckles whitened on the rail, but his voice was steady. "That's the line."
On the upper tier, Alexis let out a stunned laugh. "He sacked his own monster to pull the pin…"
Zane's expression didn't change, but his eyes did. "And turned a field wipe into a monster with five thousand attack."
Crowler snapped back into motion, flinging a hand at his graveyard. "It is not over! Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem — when it's destroyed, I Special Summon an 'Ancient Gear Golem' from my Graveyard, ignoring its Summoning conditions!"
Bronze cogs sparked in the GY slots; a moment later, the original Ancient Gear Golem heaved back onto the platform, Defense Position, arms braced like a fallen gate.
Bastion's brows shot up. "He even accounted for the death trigger. With Golem returned in defense, Jaden can't finish…"
Jaden placed his last card without ceremony. "H – Heated Heart. Terra Firma gains 500 ATK, and when it battles a Defense Position monster this turn, it inflicts piercing damage."
The titan's forearms glowed a hard orange, heat haze rippling off the stone-veined muscles (Elemental Hero Terra Firma 5000 → 5500 ATK).
Jaden raised his arm, still calm as a scalpel in a surgeon's hand. "I switch Elemental HERO Lady Heat to Attack Position."
Crowler's composure finally cracked. "W-wait!"
"Battle!" Jaden's voice was steel. "Terra Firma, break through! Magma Slash!"
The HERO drove a furnace-bright punch into the turtled Ancient Gear Golem, blowing it apart and driving the excess force through the shattered shell (Crowler's Life Points: 2900 → 400). Jaden didn't stop. He pointed across the empty field. "Lady Heat, finish this!"
A lance of flame (1300ATK) carved the last of the numbers from the air as the doctor's life points hit zero (Crowler's Life Points 400 → 0).
The arena detonated in cheers as the holograms from the entire duel bled away to blue sparks, disappearing a second later.
On the Obelisk tier, one of Chazz's cronies just sat down hard. Chazz didn't. He watched the kid below with a new, hard glint.
Zane exhaled soundly, his approval without a smile. Like he forgot for a moment how to breathe. Alexis shook her head, half in disbelief, half in delight. When she looked at Zane, he already turned his back on the field and was walking in the direction of the dark corridors of the arena.
Back at the stage, Jaden's shoulders loosened. The steel in his expression softened back into something familiar as he turned to Crowler and bowed, sincere. "Gotcha! Thanks for the duel, Professor. It was a fun one."