Chapter 137: VS Aster Phoenix
"Is that him?"
Every member of Slifer Red stared tensely into the early morning mist. The clock tower showed exactly six o'clock. That was even earlier than Synchro Academy's morning roll call schedule. Professor Napoleon had chosen this specific hour deliberately, minimizing any chance that Jaden Yuki could make it back in time regardless of where he was or what he was doing.
Even after losing once to Aster Phoenix, Jaden had been the one who lit the sky during the Sacred Beasts arc. Whatever Napoleon said publicly, some part of him was still wary of Jaden making it back.
"The appointed time has arrived."
Napoleon arrived alongside Aster, the two of them clearly operating under an arrangement. Napoleon had apparently offered Aster information related to the man who had killed his father, trading that lead as a condition for Aster taking the field again to demolish Slifer Red. A hero whose sense of justice had been buried under years of personal grief, with no clear line left between what he was fighting for and what he was simply angry about.
Amano found himself thinking of someone.
Red hair, honest to a fault, the official title of a Wein family daughter but consistently light in the pocket.
He caught himself and tapped both hands against his cheeks.
This was not the time to be thinking about her.
"The time is here," Napoleon announced with both hands behind his back, the satisfied smirk of someone watching a long-running plan reach its conclusion. He was shorter than Kaiba Chiha, a fact Amano noted without particular reason. "Have you decided who from Slifer Red will be taking the field today?"
The group exchanged looks. When Amano's eyes landed on Alexis, she gave him a single nod.
Within the Chronicle's own logic, he was the natural representative. The Chronicle memory established it clearly.
"I'll go." Amano stepped out from the group and activated his Duel Disk.
The Eva Terminal had disappeared from his wrist when the Chronicle began. In its place was the classic Duel Disk design from the GX era, one per duelist. His uniform had shifted to the standard Slifer Red jacket as well. He had checked his deck beforehand and confirmed it was still his actual Eden deck with all his system skills intact, just packaged inside a different presentation.
Napoleon looked him over.
"Ah, Amano Rei."
He was not unfamiliar to Napoleon. In this Chronicle, Amano had been active alongside Jaden through the Shadow Riders and Sacred Beasts storylines, making him a known name.
Napoleon laughed.
"The two-man dunce brigade of Slifer Red taking turns stepping up? Delightful."
The dunce brigade. Apparently that was the title history had assigned to Amano Rei and Jaden Yuki collectively. The Chronicle memory confirmed the reason: both of them consistently failed the written portion of every exam.
Sakuya, standing with Chiaki at the edge of the scene, did not quite manage to maintain her usual expressionless composure.
If Amano was in the dunce bracket, where did that put her?
She processed the implications in silence.
Amano himself found it strange. At Synchro Academy he could answer dueling theory questions half-asleep. Even completely tuning out every lecture, he could put together reasonable answers on anything card-game related without effort. Was the GX Academy's exam structure genuinely harder, or was this just the Chronicle's narrative assignment?
Either way, it was not worth arguing with. It was a Chronicle setting, not a permanent label.
Aster activated his Duel Disk across the field.
"Whoever stands in front of me, the strongest HEROes my father left behind will not lose."
Both Duel Disks extended simultaneously, life points appearing on both sides as if the two boards had clicked into alignment.
Amano Rei LP: 4000
Aster Phoenix LP: 4000
No Eva Network connection required, no terminal handshake. In this world duelists simply locked eyes and called it.
"Duel!"
Both of them, at the same time.
"My turn, draw!"
Aster had gone first. He moved quickly.
"I set one card face-down. Turn end."
Start fast, end fast. That was the GX rhythm as Amano remembered it. The era had not developed the sprawling combo lines that came later. No Synchro, no Xyz, just clean Fusion-focused play with none of the extra mechanics that turned modern dueling into architecture projects. Which did not mean GX-era duelists were weak. Card strength and duelist strength were not the same measurement, and the animated series had made that clear across every generation. A Pharaoh playing with a deck that looked unplayable by modern standards was still a Pharaoh.
Amano's memory of early Aster was specific: at this stage, Aster did not run Fusion at all. His Destiny HERO strategy was built around tribute summoning and hand effects, not Polymerization.
No Fusion in the Destiny HERO deck. That made him think of Finesse again, which he immediately set aside.
"My turn, draw."
"Normal Summon: Elemental HERO Avian, in Attack Position."
Elemental HERO Avian. Level 3 WIND Warrior. 1000 ATK / 1000 DEF. The unsung workhorse of GX history, the monster that had unlocked more Chronicle chapters in his list than probably any other card. It spread its wings and landed on the field.
Napoleon's commentary was immediate.
"Hmph. The dunce pair really does play alike. Such a weak little monster."
This caught Chiaki's attention.
She had never seen a Chronicle with embedded identity and background story before. The whole format was new to her, and she found herself curious about the specifics.
"What is Amano usually like, around the Academy?" she asked Alexis quietly.
Alexis thought about it for a moment, then answered with genuine consideration.
"He seems careless on the surface. Not particularly interested in studying, a bit loose with things. But when the moment actually matters, he's reliable. That's the kind of person he is."
"Understood," Chiaki said. "That's the character type."
"The character type?" Alexis was puzzled by the phrasing.
Sakuya said nothing, but her disagreement was readable.
The Chronicle's assigned description of Amano bore very little resemblance to the person she had spent the past months sitting next to in Class 1-E. The Amano she knew was meticulous, academically quick, genuinely kind to the people around him, and unfailingly dependable at every hour of the day. A person without visible flaws.
If she were pressed to name one, there was technically one.
The number of women around him had been increasing. Sakuya found this increasingly inconvenient, though she had not finished organizing her thoughts on exactly why.
Chiaki turned to her next, lowering her voice.
"Nanki'in heir. Record this."
"Record it?"
"Duel Chronicle footage is extraordinarily rare documentation. It will advance historical research within Eden Tower. Since we have been brought in regardless, we may as well contribute what we can."
"So, take a video," Sakuya said, the concept clicking into place.
She vaguely remembered being asked almost exactly this same thing a few days earlier, in Mizuki's streaming room.
"Sakuya, you spend the most time with Amano. If he plays something impressive, use this app to capture it. I'll edit the footage into a video."
Sakuya opened the livestreaming assistant app Mizuki had installed on her Eva Terminal.
This app required an active Eva Network connection to function.
She was currently inside a virtual Chronicle space.
It worked anyway.
At the same moment, Mizuki, sitting in her streaming setup considering what to broadcast next, received an incoming transmission signal from Nanki'in Sakuya.
She had asked Sakuya to record video. Sakuya had opened a live broadcast instead.
Mizuki pulled up the feed.
The image that resolved was Amano Rei calling his attack on an empty field.
"Direct attack! Avian! 'Wing Kick'!"
The hero's strike cut through the air toward Aster Phoenix.
Aster flipped his face-down card.
"Quick-Play Spell: Scapegoat, activate!"
Four tokens appeared in Defense Position on Aster's field. Pink, red, orange, blue, four small woolly shapes materializing as living shields. Avian's kick connected with the blue one and sent it scattering.
Mizuki stared at the screen for exactly one second, then made her professional assessment and acted on it.
"Everyone," she announced into her broadcast, the stream going live at speed, "special unscheduled episode of 'Alright, Let's Play Cards Today.' HERO vs. HERO! Our favorite Amano is currently in a duel against a mystery HERO duelist! Live coverage from our on-site correspondent, Sakuya! Let's go!"
The viewer count climbed immediately. Most of them were people who had followed the channel after the previous broadcast.
"Thought you quit streaming."
"Grandpa, the streamer you follow finally went live."
"HERO vs. HERO, interesting. That Duel Disk looks weird though."
"Where is this? I don't recognize the location. That's not anywhere in the mid-district."
Amano set one card face-down and ended his turn.
Aster drew.
"My turn! Normal Summon: Destiny HERO - Doom Lord!"
Destiny HERO Doom Lord. Level 4 DARK Warrior, 600 ATK / 800 DEF.
"Doom Lord's effect activates! I discard one Destiny HERO card from my hand to deal 500 points of damage to you, Amano Rei!"
He discarded Destiny HERO - Departed from his hand. A massive gauntleted fist channeled the discarded card's energy into a strike that hit Amano directly.
Amano Rei LP: 4000 to 3500
"Next, I activate the effect of Destiny HERO - Departed from the Graveyard. By banishing itself, I Special Summon another copy of Departed from my deck!"
Destiny HERO Departed. Level 6 DARK Warrior, 800 ATK / 800 DEF. The second copy appeared on the field with the D insignia carved across its chest, filling the last available monster zone.
Aster's field now held three Scapegoat tokens in Defense Position plus Doom Lord and Departed.
"The Destiny HEROes my father left me are superior to the Elemental HEROes you and Jaden play. I will prove that D is the strongest archetype."
Three cards on Aster's field began to glow. Three tribute lights rose.
"I release Destiny HERO - Departed and two Scapegoat tokens for a total of three monsters to Special Summon from my hand: Destiny HERO - Dogma!"
The tokens could not be used as Tribute Summon material, but they were valid for Special Summon releases. That was the purpose of setting Scapegoat on the first turn rather than summoning any monster. The setup for Dogma had been in motion from the very start.
"Come forth, the mightiest Destiny that judges all creation! Destiny HERO - Dogma!"
Destiny HERO Dogma. Level 8 DARK Warrior Special Summon, 3400 ATK / 2400 DEF.
This card cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned by releasing three monsters from your field, including at least one Destiny HERO.
Dark wings spread as the hero descended, silver blades extending from each wrist.
"Three thousand four hundred attack points!" Alexis said, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. "A HERO monster can have that much ATK?"
"Three thousand four hundred is already higher than the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Syrus added.
Chiaki's expression did not change, but the air around her shifted slightly.
"This is the power of Destiny that completely surpasses Elemental HEROes," Aster said, raising one hand toward the Battle Phase. "Your Elemental HEROes cannot stop my Destiny!"
Amano remembered this clearly. At this stage of the story, Aster held an absolute conviction that the Destiny HEROes left by his father were superior to every other HERO variant. He could not yet perform Fusion Summon with them. He did not need to. Dogma at 3400 ATK was doing the work by itself.
Early-arc Aster was still a legitimate threat regardless of the simplified deck structure. He was not Finesse-level in terms of raw competitive play, but he was not someone to take lightly either.
"Destiny HERO - Dogma! Destroy Avian! 'Destiny Slash'!"
The silver blade swept across Avian's chest in a single motion.
The high ATK differential meant the destruction came with real force behind it, the Chronicle's physical feedback translating the numbers into actual impact as Amano was sent skidding backward.
Elemental HERO Avian: destroyed.
Amano Rei LP: 3500 to 1100
1100 LP remaining, and Doom Lord still had not attacked. Its 600 ATK was exactly enough to close out the remaining life points in a direct attack.
"This ends here, Amano Rei!"
"Elemental HEROes and Destiny HEROes..." Amano straightened up. "Same family of heroes, and yet you're fighting like they're enemies. That doesn't seem right to me, Aster Phoenix."
"What are you saying?"
"Let me show you what I mean! Face-down Trap Card, activate!"
He still did not know the hidden reward condition for this Chronicle. The trigger was unknown.
But the HEROes in his deck were calling him to fight.
So he would answer that call. He would bring out as many of the heroes in his limited lineup as the duel allowed, and he would use them to push back against a destiny that had been twisted by grief.
"Trap Card: Hero Signal, activate!"
When a monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can activate this card. Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Elemental HERO monster from your hand or deck.
The last ember of Avian's will burned upward into the sky, a signal flare marking the next hero's arrival.
"Using the trap's effect, I Special Summon from my deck: everyone's favorite hero! Elemental HERO Sparkman!"
***
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