29 Chapter 26
The duel between Atem and Marik is an odd test of Atem's skills as a Pharoah.
When given a choice to sacrifice someone to protect his people, Atem's choice is to protect both.
While the decision is praiseworthy yet successful, people like (ZEXAL) Nash look down on Atem for the decision. It may not have been intentional but Atem's decision seems indecisive.
The duel's outcome seemed to weigh heavily on Atem's mind and caused him to potentially miss out on victory. Compared to IV vs Nash where Nash was fighting through similar acts of indecisiveness, Nash used whatever means possible to make the decision he is required to make.
For all of the leaders seen in the myriad worlds, Atem's ranking wasn't high.
The Supreme King Jaden is a man who stood against Darkness and fought against everything saying mankind is destined for nothingness. He denied vehemently the opponent's philosophy and convinced his people that they can find their way out of the darkness.
If Supreme King Jaden fought against Marik, he likely would've helped his better half obtain control without relying on the bystander Odion to convince him.
Nash made a choice rooted in the needs of his people. If he was placed in Atem's place, he would've gone through the entire duel with the conviction to defeat Marik at the cost of his better half.
This led to Atem's current ranking among the "kings" the myriad worlds have seen on the list. While his fans admire him for being a fantastic duelist who deserves to return to the afterlife, they would never want him as their leader.
(AN: It is not a dismissive comment on Atem's character but a constructive analysis by the characters based on the footage they've seen. Only three "king" characters have been explored and the characters of Jaden and Nash were fleshed out as much nobler people than Atem whose character resolves around the mystical element of destiny. You can say Atem wasn't Pharoah because he had the qualities but that he was born as one and used his qualities as a warrior to face the dangers destiny put on his path. His ruling philosophy wasn't truly established, unlike Jaden and Nash whose actions describe how they would rule if given more time.)
The present-day (DM) Atem doesn't care though as his role is just to help Yugi fight the battles he isn't ready to fight yet. As soon as Yugi gets the three Egyptian God cards and the two gather the seven Millenium Items, Atem is ready to complete the ceremonial duel.
No matter how much the two know about future events, mystical circumstances require Atem to go through the proper procedures of defeating Zorc and completing the ceremonial duel. So for the foreseeable future, what will happen will happen.
The next duel though is something away from the concept of rulers.
"Next duel. (GX World): Hell Kaiser Zane Vs Yubel-Jesse."
"Yubel?" (GX) Jaden wonders while looking at his duel spirit.
"Why is my name hyphenated next to Yubel's?" (GX) Jesse pondered.
"Hell Kaiser?" (GX) Zane wondered. Kaiser is one of his titles but where did "Hell" come from?
The screen opens up to a vast desert with a pair of large doors in the middle of nowhere. In front, two unexpected figures can be seen.
One figure is a spectacularly dressed Professor Crowler and the other is Zane clad in an intense black trenchcoat.
The sight of their top student sent the (GX) students of Duel Academy into a frenzy. Unlike their prim and proper king, the one on the screen looked like he was out for blood. There was also an air of exhaustion to him like a candle threatening to go out by a light breeze.
The weak Zane got up as if sensing the looming presence beyond the door.
The double doors open to reveal an odd-looking Jesse Anderson in a strange-looking attire.
If anyone can connect the dots, they will find this attire to be the same one he wore in the Jaden vs Yubel video.
Professor Crowler moved to run toward the spontaneously appearing Jesse but Zane motioned for him to stay back.
"Where's Jaden?" "Jesse" asked.
"That's some greeting... after crossing dimensions that's the first thing you ask?" Zane responds.
Through a few exchanges, it becomes clear to everyone that the hyphen in the title of the duel refers to Yubel being in possession of Jesse's body. Before Jaden fought Yubel to stop the merger of the twelve dimensions, Yubel used Jesse's body as a puppet to move.
Not that Zane on the screen cares. His life is running out and he wants one last good duel before the flame of his life goes out.
"Big brother," (GX) Syrus whimpers.
The (GX) present-day Zane narrows his eyes wondering what happened to his other self.
Jesse was one of the only few duelists whose passion lit a fire in Zane's dueling spirit. While it isn't Jesse in the driver's seat, if he looks the same and uses the same deck then it's enough.
A duel between two twisted individuals is about to begin.
[4000 LP] [4000 LP]
Jesse starts the duel by activating the field spell card Advanced Dark. A dark blue ring expands to the surrounding area, trapping the duelists within. Jesse then normal summons the monster card Advanced Crytal Beast Amethyst Cat and sets a card.
Advanced Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat: [1200 ATK]
Advanced Crystal Beast?
For those in the GX world like (GX) Jesse, they know that the crystal beast are seven jewels taken form as monster cards. These crystal beasts possess come consciousness that led them to Jesse and become his partners.
The "Advanced" Crystal Beast on the screen however lacks the sentience the series is known for and seems incredibly aggressive.
Zane confidently starts his turn and special summons Cyber Dragon from his hand since he has no monsters to Jesse's Amethyst Cat.
Cyber Dragon: [2100 ATK]
To the side, Jaden and his ragtag group come to Professor Crowler's side to watch the duel.
Cyber Dragon attacks Amethyst Cat but deals no damage. That is because Jesse used the field spell effect of Advanced Dark to send one of his "Advanced Crystal Beast" monsters from his deck to the graveyard in order to reduce the battle damage to 0. The beast selected is Cobalt Eagle. Amethyst Cat then changes into a crystal, a continuous spell card on Jesse's side of the field.
Zane sets a card and ends his turn.
Jesse normal summons Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and uses its monster effect to place the Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle in his deck in the spell and trap card zone as a continuous spell card.
Sapphire Pegasus: [1800 ATK]
The spell effect of Ruby Carbuncle activates in the spell and trap card zone, reviving itself and Amethyst Cat as monster cards.
Ruby Carbuncle: [300 ATK]
Amethyst Cat: [1200 ATK]
"Ruby," (GX) Jesse is shocked to see his little partner looking so different. The crystal beasts share the same emotions with the little carbuncle jumping in the air from surprise.
The Jesse on the screen activates the spell card M Force and increases Saphire Pegasus ATK by 500.
Sapphire Pegasus: [2300 ATK]
Sapphire Pegasus attempts to destroy Cyber Dragon but Zane activates the trap card Attack Reflector Unit to tribute his Cyber Dragon and special summon from his deck Cyber Barrier Dragon in defense position.
Cyber Barrier Dragon: [2800 DEF]
Jesse cancels his Saphire Pegasus's attack. Jesse then attacks with Amethyst Cat, using its monster effect to reduce its ATK by half for a battle to attack Zane directly.
Zane: [3400 LP]
Jesse sets a card and ends his turn. Zane's body starts to shudder as his body's condition worsens.
Jaden tries to get Jesse to stop the duel but that is impossible. Yubel is the one dueling and it wants to show Jaden the love it learned all these years away from him.
Jaden tries to take over from Zane but Zane does not want to give up the most thrilling duel he will ever have in his life.
Zane draws his card and laughs at the sight of Polymerization in his hand. He switches Cyber Barrier Dragon into attack mode and activates the spell card Polymerization in his hand.
Cyber Barrier Dragon: [800 ATK]
Behind the Cyber Barrier Dragon, a wave of light condenses as two Cyber Dragons merge together into Cyber Twin Dragon.
Cyber Twin Dragon: [2800 ATK]
Cyber Twin Dragon can attack two times during the battle phase. Cyber Twin Dragon's first attack hits Sapphire Pegasus, Jesse preventing the damage using Advanced Dark's field effect to send Advanced Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise from his deck to the graveyard. Sapphire Pegasus turns into a continuous spell card after being destroyed.
Cyber Twin Dragon attacks Amethyst Cat. Jesse sends Advanced Crystal Amber Mammoth to the graveyard for the cost of Advanced Dark to reduce his damage to 0. Amethyst Cat then turns into a continuous spell card gem.
With only one left for both sides, Zane attacks Ruby Carbuncle with Cyber Barrier Dragon. Jesse sends the last Advanced Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger from his deck to the graveyard in order to reduce the damage to 0. Ruby Carbuncle then changes into its continuous spell card gem form.
Jesse has no monsters left so Zane uses the spell card De-Fusion to change his Cyber Twin Dragon into the two Cyber Dragons used to fusion summon it.
Cyber Dragon x2: [2100 ATK]
The first Cyber Dragon attacks Jesse directly and successfully lands.
Jesse: [1900 LP]
Zane moves to end Jesse with his second Cyber Dragon but Jesse activates his set trap card Rainbow Path. By sending his continuous spell card Ruby Carbuncle to the graveyard, Jesse negated Cyber Dragon's attack and added to his hand a certain card in his deck.
No one else gets to see Jesse add the card to his hand but upon starting his turn, Jesse immediately summons it. Since all seven Advanced Crystal Beasts are on the field or in his graveyard, Jesse is able to special summon from his hand Rainbow Dark Dragon!
Seven colorful lights fly up into the air before meeting in a rainbow radiance.
Rainbow Dark Dragon: [4000 ATK]
Zane's heart begins to beat fiercely as the duel escalates in tension. Rainbow Dark Dragon attacks Cyber Barrier Dragon. Zane tries to negate the attack using Cyber Barrier Dragon's monster effect but the field spell card Advanced Dark negates the effects of an opponent's monster when one of Jesse's "Ultimate Crystal" monsters attacks it.
Zane: [200 LP]
Zane grasps his chest as his heart threatens to give out under the damage. Jesse sets a card and ends his turn.
Zane starts his turn and activates the spell card Photon Generator Unit, using it to tribute his two Cyber Dragons to special summon Cyber Laser Dragon.
Cyber Laser Dragon: [2400 ATK]
Zane attempts to use the monster effect of Cyber Laser Dragon to destroy Rainbow Dark Dragon since its ATK is more than Cyber Laser Dragon's. Jesse sends the Amethyst Cat in his spell and trap card zone to the graveyard as a cost for Rainbow Dark Dragon's monster effect in order to negate its destruction. Zane sets a card and ends his turn.
Rainbow Dark Dragon attacks Cyber Laser Dragon and Zane activates his set continuous trap card Cybernetic Hidden Technology. Zane tributes his Cyber Laser Dragon for Cybernetic Hidden Technology's effect in order to end the battle phase and destroy Rainbow Dark Dragon.
Jesse uses his last gem Sapphire Pegasus in order to negate Rainbow Dark Dragon's destruction. With no gems, if Zane can turn things around on his turn he will be able to defeat Rainbow Dark Dragon.
With things at the direst, Zane begins to share his life experience. He never found meaning in just winning, yet it was for those victories that he walked through hell and destroyed his body in underground duels. All of it seemed to be for this one moment when his life shines its brightest!
The myriad worlds' viewers were speechless at Zane's words. They never lived the life Zane had and so they want to deny the meaning of his life that he came to, yet there is something about it that makes them unable to tell him he's wrong.
Is the meaning of a living hell, the moment when it ends?
Jesse sets a card and ends his turn.
Zane draws and normal summons Cyber Valley. Using its monster effect Zane removes both it and the continuous trap card Cybernetic Hidden Technology from play in order to draw two more cards from his deck.
Zane draws and activates the spell card Overload Fusion. Removing from play all three Cyber Dragons, Cyber Barrier Dragon, and Cyber Laser Dragon from his graveyard, Zane fuses all of them as fusion materials to fusion summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.
Chimeratech Fortress Dragon: [0 ATK]
For each of its fusion materials, Chimeratech Fortress Drago can declare an attack. During those battles, neither player loses a monster or takes battle damage from battles involving Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. Chimeratech Fortress Dragon can also inflict 400 points of damage each time it declares an attack.
Chimeratech opens its hatches one at a time, revealing a Cyber Dragon head inside coming out to inflict a sonic attack on Jesse. Zane's fierce voice shouts out with each attack.
Jesse: [1900 LP] - [1500 LP] - [1100 LP] - [700 LP] - [300 LP]
Jesse's face looks damp as sweat begins to pour out of his pain-stricken face. With four attacks down, Zane declares his final attack. When the smoke clears, Jesse is standing looking perfectly fine like nothing had ever happened.
Using his set Rainbow Life trap card, Jesse discarded a card to regain LP equal to the damage he lost during the turn prior to its activation and negate that damage.
Jesse: [300 LP] - [3500 LP] - [3100 LP]
Zane sets the last card in his hand and ends his turn.
Seeing his brother's last duel start to come to an end, Syrus begins to break down on the screen. His brother is oblivious to it all as he is euphoric for that moment when his life shines brightest. Jaden is the only one on the side who knows that the moment Zane is talking about isn't some mad thing only he knows about.
Zane's desire is to leave proof that he existed by having the greatest duel anyone has ever seen.
Myriads of duelists feel a thumping in their heartbeats as they too want to have a duel that can proudly say to the world that they exist.
Jesse attacks with Rainbow Dark Dragon. Zane activates the set spell card Dimension Explosion to return his Chimeratech Fortress Dragon back to the extra deck and special summon to both players' sides of the field the monsters they removed from the game.
Five varieties of Cyber Dragon surround Zane as they are summoned to the field. Cyber Valley's monster effect then activates to remove it from the game in order to end the battle phase and draw Zane a card.
Zane managed to survive another turn but his body is nearing its limits.
If he wants to win, he will need to draw that specific card...
Zane draws from his deck and immediately activates the spell card Power Bond!
In all of Zane's dueling career, Power Pond has been the card to symbolize his dueling philosophy. A strong fierce monster who can end the duel in an instant if the opponent is not careful but also a fire that will go out if it overstays its welcome.
For the last moments of his life, no other way than to activate Power Bond and summon his most loyal monster the Cyber End Dragon.
The three Cyber Dragons on Zane's field merge together to make a behemoth-sized fusion of the three. The monster summoned by Power Bond will gain ATK equal to its original but inflict damage to its user during the end phase equal to that same amount.
Cyber End Dragon: [8000 ATK]
The myriad worlds watch awestruck as the symbol of Kaiser makes its last triumphant hurrah onto the scene.
[AN: I'm not hearing anything otherwise. Zane's duel career ended at this moment and whatever happened after is just filler.]
As Jaden watches, he cannot help remembering Zane's graduation duel with him in Duel Academy where Zane thought he had reached his peak. While Jaden kept growing, Zane too didn't stay in place and became Hell Kaiser. Now, he is showing his current limit to Jaden as a challenge to his future.
If Zane is to die, then let him remove Yubel from Jesse's body. Yubel accepts the challenge and says that he might as well be killing them all.
Cyber End Dragon attacks and Jesse activates the set trap card Counter Gem. Jesse replaces his spell and trap cards on the field and fills his spell and trap card zone with the Advanced Crystal Beasts in his graveyard, reviving them as continuous spell cards. Rainbow Dark Dragon then uses its monster effect to send all of them to the graveyard and gain 1000 ATK for each of them.
Rainbow Dark Dragon: [9000 ATK]
Yubel laughs in Jesse's body as he sees Zane about to lose but Zane isn't going to give him the satisfaction. He activates from his hand the spell card Cybernetic Zone to remove from the game his Cyber End Dragon. Without Cyber End Dragon, the battle ends.
Zane falls to his knees as his Cyber End Dragon returns to the field during the end phase, twice as strong as before.
Cyber End Dragon: [16,000 ATK]
Since Zane didn't end things during his turn, the effect of the spell card Power Bond activates. Zane loses LP equal to Cyber End Dragon's original ATK.
The screen closes up on Zane's heart slowing to a stop. The screen moves away from Zane's body lying on the ground.
Zane: [0 LP]
"(GX World): Hell Kaiser Zane vs Yubel-Jesse. The winner is Yubel-Jesse."
[AN: There was a near minute left setting up Yubel-Jesse Vs Jaden but I felt there was no need to show that. Let me know in the comments if you felt this was a good decision.]
